about ten o'clock at
night
He , too , believed that probably his brother had become a vampire , who nightly left the tomb to go and suck his blood . For his own sake , as well as for that of the whole town , it would be well to exorcise the ghost . The matter , however , had to be kept a profound secret , as the Government had put its veto on vampire-killing , and looked upon all such practices as illegal . It was , therefore , agreed that Vranic , together with his relations and some friends , should go to the curate 's about ten o'clock at night ; there the curate would be waiting for them with another priest ; from there the little party would stealthily proceed to the cemetery where the ceremony was to be held . The Friday fixed upon arrived . The night was dark , the weather sultry ; a storm had been brooding in the heavy clouds overhead and was now ready to burst every moment . As soon as the muffled people got to the gate of the burying-ground the mortuary chapel was opened to them by the sexton .