He Took Me in the Night

Chapter XVII: Collided

“At once I exulted and feared. For now, for good or ill, the end was near.” -Bram Stoker, Dracula

Chapter XVII: Collided

Drake didn’t hesitate again. He squared his shoulders, held his head up high and walked with confidence towards the dungeon. Though the weather was unruly; thunder, lightening and rain disturbing the sky and colliding with the earth, and a vicious and violent wind was thrashing against the trees and pelting against the stone walls of the castle, Drake was calm.

A surreal peace had settled over him. He knew what he had to do now. It was time for him to do the right thing. He was going to save Erik.

He wasn’t particularly thrilled about seeing the human boy again, let alone preserving his life, but something else had him excited and quickening his pace as he strode through the castle.

For the first time ever, Drake welcomed his humanity. In fact, he wanted to embrace it firmly and finally. He knew it would leave him vulnerable to all the emotions and fears he didn’t want to face, but it also meant an end to the darkness, the meaninglessness that had long consumed him. He was now free to love and be loved.

Rose.

He smiled as he thought of her. She was the reason for this abrupt and unexpected change within him. A few weeks ago he would have chastised with the valor of his tongue anyone who dared to tell him that he would soon find someone worth fighting for. It was that too good to be true that he might have even ripped their head off. But here he was, running down the flight of stairs, Rose’s faith guiding the way. 

This was it.

He grasped the doorknob, pulled it towards him and then he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Erik, the guy he was meant to save, was dead on the ground! His eyes left the human boy’s battered body and met Demetrious and Romano’s.

Their countenances were triumphant, as if they had fulfilled a difficult but necessary deed, and now they were worthy of Drake’s praise. But as soon as they registered his expression- cold and utterly irate- the smug look on their faces vanished.

“What happened here?” Drake demanded, his voice beyond dangerous. 

The two vampires didn’t reply, instead, they exchanged a fleeting anxious look before casting their gaze down to the bloodstained floor in shame.

“I said, what happened here?” Drake repeated again.

The blond one, Demetrious, cleared his throat. “We were ordered to deal with a security breach, sir.”

Romano nodded his head in agreement, “This mortal man broke vampire law and it was our job to punish him, sir.”

Drake could scarcely contain the rage that boiled inside of him. These self-serving bastards had cost him everything! In their selfish attempts to gain his favour by impressing him with their cruelty, they had simultaneously sabotaged his chance at happiness.

His hands balled into tight fists, but he couldn’t kill them, no matter how much they deserved it. Too much blood was already on his hands.

He directed a regretful look in the dead boy’s direction, before turning away from him and the vampires in defeat. He bowed his head as he realised the enormity of his despair. Not only had he failed Rose, the girl who dared to trust him against her better judgment, but he had also failed himself.

What was he going to do?

“Dispose of the body,” he said miserably, feeling a mixture of guilt and remorse wash through him.