A/N: This is my first fan fiction. I've been debating for a while whether to publish this or not. I haven't written all but I have the general lines of the story in my head. This story happens in a vampire universe and will be focused on Chuck and Blair but Serena, Dan, Nate, Jenny, Vanessa (all of them the original 7 cast members that were the school age kids in the show) along with little Eric will be almost as important as Chuck and Blair. The parents will appear down the road but their role will be limited in this story, you will see why. Other characters in the GG universe will appear along the road as well. There is a chance that this story will end up including not only other supernatural beings but characters of other shows as well, if that happens I might have to consider label it as crossover. The vampire nature of the characters might also include vampire features beyond the ones in stories like Dracula, but for the moment vampire-style Dracula is mainly going to be pattern. From the start, I apologize if I made grammar and spelling mistakes because English is not my first language. This story is also going to go through several countries and time eras so I also apologize if I made geographical, historical or cultural mistakes, it's not my intention to offend or disrespect anybody and in fact I'm a sucker for history and for the last days I've been trying to research things in Wikipedia and Google to try to not mess this up.
I do not own any GG or other show and stories characters; if I did the TV show would not be ending up like it is.
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Germany, 1802
It was a dark night, no moon, and the carriage moved rapidly towards its destination. Inside the carriage lay its two occupants. Once was a dark-haired man with dark eyes, pale skin, who was sitting towards the left side of the carriage's back seat. The other occupant was a young man not too different from the dark-haired man, since he also had dark hair and eyes and pale skin, except that his facial features were not really similar to the ones of his traveling companion. Through their clothes it could be easily determined that they were both members of the upper class, since they were using the customary tall hats, vests, jackets, coats, boots and other clothes proper of the Neoclassical fashion that had taken among the European elites. They were both silent.
The carriage moved as fast as it could between the roads and forests that had to go through. Its driver had strict orders of not stopping except in very specific circumstances (which included reaching their destination) and for this he was receiving a handsome pay. However, it was also known by the carriage's driver and its occupants that this was the last stretch of this part of the journey. Just four hours after twilight, they finally arrived.
The mansion was at the end of a well-built up but rather secluded road that felt even more secluded by the trees lined up at its sides. It was the type of mansion that some at the time would have considered more like a country house, if it wasn't for the imposing façade that appeared before the eyes when it was first made visible at the end of the road. Upon seeing it, it was perfectly clear that whoever lived there was a member of the upper classes, either an aristocrat or a least someone with the means to live there.
The carriage stopped and since there was no lackey in it, the driver left his seat to also do the functions proper of a lackey like open the carriage's door and unload the luggage. As soon as he opened the right side door of the carriage, its occupants started descending. Even though the dark-haired man was by the left side, he descended first, followed by the young man. Actually, they were both young, but you could tell the dark-haired man was already a man while the young man had just left puberty behind. It if wasn't for the fact that their features weren't really that similar, you might think they were brothers, in fact they could still be and maybe they simply weren't much similar to one another. Carrying their hats in one hand and their canes in the other, once they descended the carriage they proceeded to take a look at the mansion's façade while the driver took care of their luggage.
Before any of them could say a word to each other, a young kid appeared at the doorway. He couldn't have been more than 8 years old, maybe 10 at the most. He had really jet black hair, and his skin was pale, but not so much as the two young men that he had in front of him. He dressed with clothes similar to those of a lackey, if it wasn't by the color, because the vest, breeches, shoes and jacket were all black. Only the stockings, his shirt and the cravat were white. Even the small cloak around his shoulders was black. Upon seeing the visitors, he made the customary bow reserved for the upper classes and addressed them in German.
"Good evening, Gentlemen. Your ladyship is waiting for you."
Looking at the driver unloading their luggage, the kid said: "Your driver can take your luggage to the back entrance and I will join him shortly to help him unload and show him where he and the horses will rest for the night."
The dark-haired man (and for the moment we will call him like that to help distinguish him from the younger man) proceeded to tell the driver to follow the kid's instructions. Luckily for everybody, a little more ahead of the right side of the mansion was the start of a path, made visible by the torches that were lit up along the driveway in front of the mansion and seemed to continue inside that path, which clearly lead to the back entrance of the mansion, so the driver only had to upload the unloaded luggage, resume his post in the front of the carriage and follow the path that would conduct him to the back entrance, as instructed.
Meanwhile, the two visitors proceeded to follow the kid, who had turned around without a word and had entered to the interior of the mansion. The kid waited for them to follow him inside the main hall to take their coats, hats and canes, and left them alone for a moment to properly accommodate the garments. Once he rejoined them, the kid led the way of the visitors without seemingly worry about the entrance doors, which were left open. Then again, nor the kid nor the visitors had any reason to worry about this, and they all knew it.
Going through the main hall and some other rooms, it could have been expected they would be lavishly decorated under the Rococo style that had still been all the rage a decade ago, or even the Baroque style that had preceded and originated the Rococo style. But even though the walls and ceiling of the main hall had Rococo influences and some of the furniture had it as well, it was actually an austere, if well tasteful, interior decoration. It was like its occupant had already embraced and implemented the austere and classic forms of the new Neoclassical style. Instead of the golden and pastel colors of the Rococo, after the main hall and going more and more inside the mansion, there were more wood and dark colors and furniture, although the golden and pastels never disappeared entirely because some of it was still being kept by the new style and obviously the paintings and other Rococo decoration considered worthy still remained. It wasn't a sunny mansion, but it was a tasteful one. Finally, they reached a room lit up mostly by a fireplace, some candelabra, and with mostly Neoclassical style furniture.
Once they were all inside the room, the little boy, who had remained near the room's entrance, proceeded to announce:
"Gentlemen, I present you your ladyship the Countess."
In the entrance appeared a woman wearing a red dress, of empire style but with long sleeves. The woman had wavy brown hear, that was loose and in curls, a hairdo that was certainly not among the Neoclassical fashion styles of the time, but that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin, ruby-red lips, and made a great combination with her dark eyes. She wasn't wearing any jewelry, but she didn't need it because her loose curls were more than enough to enhance her beauty. She was also wearing a dark cape with a hood in the style of the evening capes that noble women had used for the past decades under the Rococo style. This meant that even though the hood was covering her hair, it was wide enough to allow seeing how her hair styled.
Once she appeared in the entrance, with a small smile she used both hands to remove the hood from her hair, while the boy made a bow addressing all the presents and proceeded to leave the room through another entrance (this one with a door), unnoticed until that moment by the visitors.
Now alone, the lady and the two gentlemen silently exchanged bows of their own, and once this part of the protocol was satisfy, the dark-haired man addressed her in the following terms (and in English):
"Countess…"
"Waldorf" she replied, and she started walking towards them. "Countess Waldorf" she added while walking. "And you are?"
"Mr. Bass", he replied, smirking. "Mr. Charles Bass".
"Mr. Bass" she repeated, finally in front of them. "Sounds English", she added, signaling where they could seat.
"That's the idea" Mr. Bass said, still smirking.
"And you are?" asked the countess to the young man, while they were all sitting.
"Mr. Richard Rhodes" the boy replied, sitting next to Mr. Bass in a sofa, while the countess seated in a single chair.
"I see. Nicely done, Lucius" she politely said with another smile.
The boy then re-appeared in the room and after bowing again to all the presents, like the perfect butler he was, he said in German:
"The gentlemen's luggage was unloaded and the driver showed to his chambers. His dinner has also been served. The horses are in the stables and fed as well."
"Thank you Fritz. That will be all for now" the Countess replied.
With another bow, the boy proceeded to retire.
"Did you receive our message?" Mr. Bass asked the Countess once they were alone again.
"Yes I did, and it was only the gravity in it and the fact that Celia sent it what convinced me to allow this meeting."
"I know, but we wouldn't have sent it if the matter wasn't serious."
"You know that's not true" the Countess replied.
"What Charles is trying to say," Mr. Rhodes decided to intervene before things escalated, "is that we wouldn't have sent such a message if we didn't believe that the situation is alarming."
"Alright, but I'm still not sure why you needed to contact me for. Your message did convey that the matter was urgent but did not specify what is actually going on."
"There is a thread that we have uncovered…" Mr. Bass started saying.
"A threat?" asked the Countess, raising her eyebrows.
"A threat that is dangerous not only to humans, but those of our kind as well." Mr. Bass continued where he had left of.
"Well can't you take care of it?" the Countess replied.
"This is the kind of threat where all the help we can get to fight against it will be necessary" Mr. Bass replied back.
"What exactly is this threat?" the Countess asked.
"We would prefer to explain it to you and the rest once we are all gathered" Mr. Bass answered.
"Now wait a minute…"
"We have come to ask you to come to England with us", young Mr. Rhodes jumped in to say, knowing that a storm was coming again.
"Why should I? You haven't even told me what is going on, and now I should go to England with you?" the Countess replied annoyed, and only contained herself because of the fact that Mr. Rhodes had intervened.
"All I can say is, this is the kind of threat that could expose us all, and that is precisely why it's dangerous for us and needs be contained as soon as possible" Mr. Bass explained.
The Countess eyed Mr. Bass's face for a while, gauging his expression. She was pondering in her head everything they had said. It seemed she did this for a long while, even though only a few minutes passed. Finally she said:
"Alright. When do you need me to go?"
"As soon as possible" Mr. Bass replied.
"I need to take Fritz with me" she said.
"I know. I have made arrangements so we can all travel." Mr. Bass said.
"Does your driver know…?" the Countess asked.
"He only knows, that he's been paid generously to travel only at night, to stop and rest during the day, and that he's to travel fast and leave us in Calais to board the ship for which I have also made arrangements for. No questions asked" Mr. Bass stated.
The Countess sighed. "In that case, I will go tell Fritz that we are to travel soon. Are you hungry?" she asked, standing up in the process.
"A bit" Mr. Bass answered with a smirk, while he and Mr. Rhodes were standing up as well.
"Alright. Wait for me here" she said, and with another round of bows among the three of them, she proceeded to leave the room.
After she gave Fritz the necessary instructions to start their travel arrangements, and she made sure he had dinned and started his homework, she returned to the room where her visitors were waiting for her.
"Fritz says that your driver already dinned and retired to his chamber. Are you sure he's not going to come out again?" she asked, addressing Mr. Bass.
"Like I said," Mr. Bass replied with his usual smirk, "he's been paid to not ask any questions."
"Follow me then" she said, and proceeded to guide them through the door that Fritz had used for his last appearance and that she herself had used to look for him just a moment ago.
Through corridors and other rooms, they finally reached the kitchens. There in the light of the kitchen fire and of some candles, was Fritz sitting in the kitchen table going over a book. Before leaving the kitchen, the Countess went near him, and standing at his left side, she whispered something in his ear, which the visitors couldn't hear and only guess that was in German. She then kissed the boy's left temple and straightening her posture, guided her visitors again, this time out of the kitchens and towards the stables.
Once they reached the stables, the Countess showed them the horses that the three of them were to use. Once they finished saddling and preparing the horses, they climbed over them and with the Countess ahead, they took the road.
Upon reaching the nearest town, the Countess and her companions stopped outside it and she signaled ahead, saying: "That is the main street. If you follow it, you will find the tavern after passing four blocks to the left. Another three blocks ahead and to the right, are the town's authorities. There is also an inn two blocks ahead of the town's entrance at the right side. There is a hospital as well, but it's on the other side of town. I wouldn't advice that side, is farther from this road and it's near the river, unless you want a midnight dive in it?" she said, rather playful.
"I think we are fine on this side, thank you" Mr. Bass said, not entirely able to hide the amusement in his voice.
The men were going to start riding again when they noticed their guide wasn't moving. "Aren't you coming?" Mr. Rhodes asked, turning around a little.
"I already ate" the Countess said, with a half-smile. "That's why I joined you in the room after you arrived, I had just returned to the mansion when your carriage arrived."
"What if we need to call you for anything? What should we call you in public?" Mr. Rhodes asked.
"Constanze" she replied. "Countess Constanze Waldorf". "I will stay back around here waiting for you" she added.
"You should come with us" Mr. Rhodes said.
"I'll be alright" she replied.
"Very well then" Mr. Bass said, knowing that she would not be convinced to follow then. "We will see you in a while" he said.
Both men starting riding towards the town for their meal.
A/N: I'm not sure how this is going to look once published so I also apologized if it's too long, I wasn't even sure to end it here because it wasn't exactly how I imaged the first chapter would end but I figured it would be longer if I continued it and it looked like an O.K. cliffhanger to me. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Some of you might wonder who is who and what's the deal with the names, I will explain that along the way, but I just realized that for the record, I need to clear that the three main characters here are Chuck, Blair and Eric. I did invented Fritz and the carriage's driver, so I guess I own them? Anyways, things will be clearer down the road, I promise.