That night, the king of Vampires invited me to stay at his castle and enjoy dinner for two. My blonde-haired, blue-eyed muse once more, Dracula took his place at the head of the dining table. I lit the candles with a flick of my wrist, shimmering into the seat reserved for the queen, eyes on Dracula as Jeeves served the meal. A deer-blood, Cabernet Sauvignon mix in a crystal flute for Dracula, and steak on a Westchester plate for me–rare, the way I liked it. Fine dining at it's finest–yet all I could imagine was him eating me.
Elbow on the table, he brought his fist to his lips, and squeezed.
"So what happened?" I paused to sip my wine, white to his red. "How did you wind up in Tidus' body--when? I mean, it wasn't while you and I were--"
"Of course not." Tidus shifted in his seat, visibly ruffled. "The change happened long before we met. I would never..." He cleared his throat, started over. "The person I am now would never do that to you. For as long as we have known each other, I have been me."
"You as in, the you masquerading as your son... What happened to him? What happened to you?"
Dracula set his glass aside, features darkening as he sat back in his chair, fingers tracing the rim of his drink. "My son had a good heart, like his mother, my wife. I didn't appreciate them when I had them--but he always tried to see the best in me. After his mother died, he sought to reverse the damage I had caused, both here, and in the Otherworld. He thought he could save me from myself." Dracula's blue eyes were overbright, his lips tightly set. "Tidus made a deal with a Warlock who performed a spell that switched our bodies."
"And it worked."
He nodded. "Everything changed when I lost Tidus--I changed."
I turned the wine stem, watching the candlelight strike the glass and turn it all to diamonds. "How did he die?" In a strange way, I had lost him as well.
"Someone mistook him for me--he was killed. And then Catherine took him, because she had mistaken him as well." His eyes slipped to onyx. He knocked his wine from the table and sat back in his chair, waiting for something else to come along that he could break.
"We'll get him back. I promise." Does he believe me? He must have, because his deadly eyes went tame again, black becoming blue. "She's going through all this trouble to get him back--obviously Catherine doesn't know who you really are."
Dracula shook his head. "She will if she raises my son."
"Then we won't let her. But I wont lie, I'd kill to see her reaction to the truth--that you've been alive this entire time, right beneath her nose..." I twirled my fork up close, observing the meat speared on the end. "She loves you. What made you stop loving her?"
"Not what, who. I fell for Catherine centuries after I lost my wife. I thought it was love, a replacement for what I lost... but it was just a crutch--Catherine and I, we enjoy the same hobbies."
"Oh, right--torture, maiming, blood baths, mass murder."
"Et cetera..." Dracula smirk revealed his amusement.
"Who else knows your secret?" Knowing him, Dracula was keeping the circle tight.
"Olyvia and my staff. No one else."
"Not even Hadrian?"
"I love my family, Naomi. But as I said before, not all of them are to be trusted."
"I'm more concerned with Catherine. The Leadership isn't having much luck tracking down her or her headquarters. Chandler says even if we made a door to the Otherworld, there's next to zero chance it would be the right door. Catherine's basically--a ghost."
If hearing Chandler's name was irritating, Dracula was doing a good job of hiding it. "She's clever, like you, but she's not as creative--which means we'll find a way to her." Dracula snapped his fingers and Jeeves re-emerged from his smoke-puff, glass and pitcher at hand. He refilled Dracula's drink, bowed to his master, and took the same exit.
"Since we're on the subject..." I drummed my fingers along the table, more from anticipation than anxiety. "When the time comes, I'm going to be the one who finishes Catherine."
"Are you?" Dracula lifted his drink, swirling it to check that Jeeves had it properly mixed. "Because I thought perhaps I should be the one who sends her to the afterlife."
"Then maybe you should stop. Thinking, I mean."
He put down the drink, handsome head tipping sideways. Is she fucking with me?
Ignoring his fascination, I licked the steak sauce from my finger. "Apologies, I didn't realize you were so sensitive, Drake."
His features clouded, eyes narrowing as his love slipped to black. Oh, how he hated my pet names...
I shimmered on command, clearing the path of his super speed. Dracula gripped my chair back, ticked off and turned on by the image of me twiddling my fingers from yards away. Perched at the edge of his dining room table, legs crossed, I ruffled my curls.
"Give it up, Blondie. You're gonna need more juice than that to catch up to me. And Catherine... she's mine."
Dracula flitted to the table edge as I shimmered into the king's seat, reclining in all my sordid satisfaction. I chuckled, despite his sweet-and-sour face. "We spar, all the way, no holds barred. First to submit wins Catherine's head--and one night with me."
"Only one?"
"Ride em' slow, cowboy." I shimmered halfway down the table and called for Jeeves. "We need our dear one at full strength. Be a team player and fetch him a real drink--then send him to the ballroom. Make sure he's armed."
I was practicing my fencing moves when Dracula caught up to me. He hadn't bothered to freshen up, shirtfront still bloody from his meal, essence of so-and-so fresh on his lips and chin. As always I saw past the carnage, to the eternal, unblemished soul beneath. I loved Dracula all the more for his complexities, but I would slice him open for lying to me.
I released the sword; it stayed put, obedient as I adjusted my sleeves and swept my hair in a bun. My gaze was steady as the arrow's path, never straying from the twisting, gold-flecked walls even as the first and greatest of Vampires circled me like a shark out of water. I turned, squatting in the ready position, sword on my sleeve, the tip focused on my target like the assassin's scope. I would be as heartless.
"What are you waiting for?"
His roar and flex were fearsome as the almighty jetting of his fangs - but I would not be moved. So he came for me.
I ducked his sword, retaliating with a swift kick. He faltered, the grip on his weapon failing to loosen. I kicked with the opposite leg and this time he staggered. Turning on my heel, I sent my blade backwards, between the gap in my arm and waist–twisting for good measure. Satisfied with his groan, I wrenched the sword from his gut and strolled on, whistling as I twirled the blade to clear the ichor.
Dracula was on his knees, sword askew in his free hand, starstruck by the wound streaming beneath his fingers. I had pierced his new liver.
He smiled. "You're strong, Naomi. But you'll have to be stronger than that to beat Catherine."
"Why don't you try saying that on your feet, slick?"
He flitted, I shimmered–not quick enough to escape. A fully-healed Dracula grabbed me by the shoulder, swung me around, and released. I hit the cold marble floor rolling, losing the the sword and gaining a new sense of pain. I crawled to my feet, hand on my knee as I wiped the blood from the corner of my cheek. Dracula cast his sword aside and I took that as an opportunity to shimmer his way.
"Hi."
He growled, lashing out with his fists.
I ducked, sweeping Dracula's feet from beneath him. He landed on the ground and I landed on my hands, performing backwards handsprings until I retrieved my fallen sword. I turned, sinking in the half-splits, weapon at the ready, heedless of the sweat in my eyes and the hair in my face. This was a long time coming - and we both knew it.
Dracula flitted to his feet, across the ballroom, up the ceiling - and disappeared. Eyes narrow, I searched the glass ceiling we had once danced–thrown off guard when Dracula grabbed me from behind. His arms circled my body in an unbreakable grip; I was tangled in his sinker, sitting pretty on his hook.
He spoke low in my ear, his nose against my cheek. "I never meant to hurt you, Naomi."
"But you did; I forgave you, but when I look in your eyes, I see someone else--and that hurts too."
"You know exactly who you fell in love with. You said you would accept me--for whoever I was--remember? Or were you lying too?"
I shimmered from his grip, re-materializing behind Dracula to kick him shoulder-first in one of the ballroom's many supporting columns. He recovered, the column didn't; it was still raining chunks as his super speed carried him from my fury.
Dracula gripped his left arm, squinting in pain, ichor trickling down the corner of his forehead, congealing with a shine. "Why are we fighting each other when we should be fighting Catherine?"
"One--because Olyvia asked me to give you a push--you needed human blood. She's welcome, by the way. And two--because I've always wanted to kick Dracula's ass. If I can beat you, I can beat the witches. Capiche?"
Fangs on display, Dracula laughed his mirth, lips curved in a smile that went down smooth as the cold water I craved. "I can't promise I won't fail you again, but I can promise my loyalty." Dracula knelt before me, spectacular in all his bloody devotion. "Everything I am is yours."
I pushed the sword tip beneath his chin, lifting his face. "I want Catherine."
After consenting to my demand, Dracula attended my needs in his shower. He embraced me from behind, lips on my neck as the warm water fell and shattered like crystal drops. Finally, I surrendered to his touch, his soapy sponge and expert hands gliding over my skin, across my most intimate places. I closed my eyes, letting Dracula sweep my hair aside, his incisors grazing my neck...
Just like that we were back with the waterfalls. Except this time we were naked atop the burnt orange cliffs, watching the water rush hundreds of feet to the mushroom cap of steam below.
"I didn't tell you who I really was because I thought you needed saving, Naomi. I thought I had to protect you from the the world, even me." Dracula let go and stepped back. "But you were right–you don't me, you never did. You're the most exasperating, charming, beautiful thing I have ever met--and our enemies can only hope to be as fierce as you." Dracula flitted to the cliff's edge, his back on the Otherworld, and everything else that stood between us. He spread his arms wide, smiling as he let go.
Then I did what I always did when Dracula got away from me. I leaped without looking.
Hey, guys! I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter, it was SOOOOOO fun to write! If you loved this scene too, pretty please click that little star up above and VOTE for Naomi! And don't forget to add SF to your reading list so you don't miss any update! More Dracula ahead <3 <3 <3