Disclaimer: I do not make any profit or claim any copyrights to Dracula Untold and any of its characters only Mackenzie Callaghan and any other future original characters are mine.
AN: This chapter will be from both Vlad and Mackenzie's points of view and shorter chapter five will be twice as long. Please go back and read the whole thing again as I have made adjustments. I still need and want a beta reader let me know if anyone is interested in helping me. Thanks.
Dracula Untold: A Story of a Love and Soul Reborn
Vlad Reflects on the Day's Events, Introducing Marius and Briana Callaghan, and Marius the Water Baby
Vlad spent the 22-minute car journey back home to his Regency Georgian terraced town house in Westminster thinking of that days turn of events, namely his young and appealing employee Mackenzie. He stopped and waited for the early evening traffic to start moving again, and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for the red light to turn green. As the light finally turned green Vlad, put the car into gear and drove onward.
He thought about how he wanted to see Mackenzie again and not just during work hours. He wondered whether he wanting to see Mackenzie again was for all of the right reasons. He had no idea whether it was Mackenzie's scent and eye colour and shape and the other similarities the younger man and his late wife shared that had caught his attention, or if it were Mackenzie himself that was holding his interest. What he did know however was that he needed to find out and come to a decision concerning the younger man and fast before anyone could be hurt.
As he drove home, he continued to think and consider the situation, and knew if he kept in contact with the younger man outside of work and none professional basis, then he had to see the man as himself and not as who he reminded him of. Doing otherwise would not only be dishonest, unfair and insulting to Mackenzie, but also truly and horrendously dishonouring his beloved Mirena's memory. He would be serving both Mirena and Mackenzie a gross injustice.
Fifteen minutes later Vlad parked his car and switched off the engine. He removed his keys from the ignition and grabbed his briefcase before opening the door, gracefully climbing out, and closing it behind him. He pressed a button on the key ring, the doors automatically locked, and the state of the art alarm activated. He then made his way up to the door of his home and let himself inside.
Once inside he placed his keys on the side table, removed his gloves, and placed them on the table alongside his keys, before removing his coat and placing it on the coat and hat stand. He did not bother with putting any lights on as being a vampire gave him perfect night vision. He made his way down the hallway and into his office; he had some paperwork to take care of. He figured he would do it before going out to feed and get it out of the way.
When he returned home, he could relax in front of a lit fire with a book and a glass of red wine with an Italian opera playing in the background, the perfect evening in Vlad's opinion. He found no appeal in nightlife such as clubs, pubs and the like, the smell of cheap booze, sprits, and cigarette smoke, accompanied by the smell of their blood rushing through their veins. The constant thick sickly overpowering, repugnant scent of sweat, perfume and aftershave, those humans practically bathed themselves in it. All of this combined lacked any such appeal for the more than five-century-old vampire's taste.
He would wait an hour or so until it was pitch black out before he left to go and feed. It had been two days since his last meal combined with going to the business meetings, walking around the market place on top of being in constant contract with humans all day long the scent of their blood strong in his nostrils. To say the very least it had all taken somewhat of a toll on him, and he needed to feed and soon.
Meanwhile Mackenzie opened the front door to the town house he shared with his son and Lucy. Within moments of closing the door, the first sound he heard was his son's delighted squeals of laughter followed soon by the sound of tiny running feet fast approaching. Seconds later Marius appeared and threw himself at his father, and wrapped his little arms around his father's legs in a hug.
Mackenzie beamed lovingly down at his son before putting his briefcase down on the floor and his keys and the two bunches of flowers on the side table. He then bent over, removed the little arms from around his legs, picked up the little boy, and cuddled him to his chest. Marius wrapped his arms around his father's neck and his legs around his waist. Mackenzie playfully rained kisses over his son's cheeks and forehead causing the little boy to let out squeals and giggles of delight as his father's five o clock shadow tickled his baby soft skin.
Two women observed father and son from the other end of the hallway, one in her early forties and blond haired and green eyed and the other younger in her mid twenties, red haired and blue eyed. Brianna Callaghan chuckled and said warmly, "Oh thank heavens your home, a certain little mischievous monster is trying to give Aunt Lucy and I the slip so he can go hunting for his birthday presents a day early."
Mackenzie narrowed his eyes at his son playfully and commented somewhat mildly, "Indeed so Aunt Lucy has informed me." He paused to bop his son gently on his nose as he asked him in a gentle yet chiding tone, "Now Marius we have already discussed this, so tell me what I said last year when you attempted to do this on your fifth birthday?" Marius pouted cutely as he answered in a somewhat sheepish tone, "That I had to be a good boy and wait until my birthday, that waiting was a part of the fun, and that naughty boys and girls do not get presents."
Mackenzie nodded even as he saw his own mothers all too knowing grin, and Lucy was stifling the urge to giggle behind the palm of her hand. Thankfully, Marius had his back to his Grandmother and his Aunt, which meant thankfully he would not take their reactions as a sign of encouragement. Just because he was, gentle whilst reprimanding his son did not mean he did not mean the reprimand, and would insist that his son learnt the difference between right and wrong and considered the proper way to behave. At the age he currently was Mackenzie knew it meant the lesson was liable to stick as it had for himself at that age.
He kissed his son on the forehead before lowering him to the floor. He said, "My answer is still the same as last year, and that is no you do not have permission to open any of your birthday presents early, do not do it I will be disappointed in you if you disobey me Marius." Even as his son silently pouted, he was relieved and somewhat amused that he did not protest out aloud. His son knew doing this would not get him anywhere fast with him and that he would just end up further reprimanding him.
Mackenzie decided to let his son have a moment to think about what he had said, and knew it would sink in at some point. He removed his gloves, put them with his keys and the flowers on the side table, before removing his long coat, and placed it on the coat and hat stand. He then picked up his briefcase followed by the two bunches of flowers. He handed the lilacs and baby's breath to his son and said, "Now be a good boy and go and give those to your Gran."
Marius made his way to his grandmother and beamed sweetly up at her as he held up the flowers to her. Brianna grinned gently down at her precious grandson, before lowering herself to kneel in front of the little boy and accepted the flowers from him. She leaned forward, kissed him gently upon the forehead, and said in her lovely warm Irish accent, "Oh they are beautiful, thank you sweetheart."
Mackenzie grinned in gentle amusement at his son, even as his mother looked up at him and winked and mouthed her thanks to her son. Mackenzie just shrugged before making his way over to his best friend. He handed the remaining bunch of flowers to his beautiful red haired friend and asked in a somewhat amused yet cool tone, "I got you these before you had your lack of tact episode over the phone, still think you deserve these Luce?"
Lucy pouted around a playful frown before kissing him on the cheek and said, "Oh you love me do not deny it." He smirked, raised a single brow, even as she brought the yellow and white Gerbera Daisies up to her nose, and took in their scent appreciatively. She murmured, "My favourites, thank you Kenzie, you are far too good and sweet for your own good my friend."
Mackenzie said around a bland and knowing drawl, "Oh and don't I know it." He added in a more serious tone, "Though Luce I meant what I said earlier we need to finish that conversation it is not over by a long shot. There are things I have to discuss with you so we can go on and avoid another annoying and awkward conversation like the one we are definitely going to be having once I have put Marius to bed." Lucy grimaced but still nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile Vlad left his home as it finally darkened to give him enough cover to come and go without anyone really paying attention to him. He walked for the next fifteen minutes until he came to a deserted alley and then transformed into bats and flew off into the night sky in search of his meal. Vlad preferred to feed on criminals and even then, he did not drain them and only left them passed out from minor blood loss. He drank enough partially sating his hunger before moving onto the next, and he would do this twice before he was satisfied.
He flew for at least fifteen minutes before his keen senses noticed a disturbance in an alleyway. He discovered some man was in the process of mugging a teenage girl. Vlad figured the man would not stop at robbing her but might sexually assault her. Vlad hated and felt nothing short of repulsed by rapists and men who preyed on innocent and defenceless women. Vlad was not about to take that chance.
He quickly swooped down in a shower of bats, and as expected the man and girl startled as the bats come pelting down towards them. The girl screamed in terror, and because the man was no better off and distracted by the bats, she managed to run away and escape from the alleyway. Whilst the man's back was turned and he continued to fend off the bats, Vlad chose that moment to change back and move so quickly behind of the man that he never stood a chance.
Before he knew what was happening he grabbed the man from behind and quickly sank his fangs into the man's neck and started to feed, drawing the blood from the man in quick rapid pulls. As soon as the man stopped fighting against him and screaming and seem to noticeably weaken, Vlad let him go and lowered him onto the dirty alleyway floor where he passed out cold. He was still alive and would soon come around feeling weak and sickly but he would live. Vlad quickly turned back into bats and let the alleyway before the man could come around and see him.
He flew off in search of the second criminal and soon found them less than twenty minutes later. He made certain to place several miles between the man from the alleyway and the man he was about to feed from. It did not pay to have them both be so close and draw any sort of suspicion towards himself. He could not afford to expose himself to the world at large he had no desire to find himself hunted.
After feeding from the second man, he left again in shower of bats and headed back home. He was looking forward to his glass of red wine and the latest history book he was reading. Of course, there was the new Italian opera he wanted to listen to that Renfield had purchased as a gift for him when he had been away in Rome on business. A male and female sang on the CD that Vlad had not yet heard.
Later on that evening, a soaking wet Mackenzie towel dried Marius after lifting him from the bathtub. Marius had absolutely drenched not only the bathroom floor but his father also. The boy did it without fail each bath time whether it is his father or his Aunt Lucy, not even his Gran managed to escape unscathed when it came to the young hyperactive mischievous Irish Romanian little boy's bath time.
Mackenzie inwardly growled in pure exasperation, truly looking forward to when Marius was old enough to take a bath on his own safely. Mackenzie loved his son dearly but he surely would not miss the splashing, which always led to a soaking wet floor and him soaked right through, and his water-saturated clothing clinging uncomfortably to his skin. Marius loved bath time, he loved water in general was a true water baby. Getting him out of the tub was always a minor wrestling match due to him not wanting to get out of the water.
Five minutes later Mackenzie managed to wrestle his wriggling and resisting son into his pyjamas. Marius disliked going to bed as much as he loved water, and the fact the following day was his birthday meant the little boy was overexcited to open his presents and eat birthday cake the next day. Thus in turn meant it was more of a struggle to get him to settle down. Marius in general was a good natured and well-behaved boy, but like most young children, he was a terror to get to bed and to make sure he stayed there once in the bed.
In the end, it took his Gran bribing him with not one but two bedtime stories as long as he agreed to go to sleep once the second was finished. What sealed the deal in the end was Lucy telling him the sooner he went to sleep the quicker his birthday would come and he could open his presents and eat cake. However, if he was not a good boy and went to sleep then his birthday would take longer to come.
After that, Mackenzie and Lucy kissed Marius goodnight and left Brianna to read to Marius. Mackenzie went off to dry himself and change into his sleepwear, whilst Lucy said she would go downstairs and grab an expensive bottle of fruity medium dry white wine and a few nibbles for them to snack on whilst they talked. Mackenzie agreed to meet her in his office in ten minutes, and told her to grab his favourite chocolate.
AN: Okay this is chapter four chapter five next and will be from Mackenzie and Lucy's point of view. Vlad will return in chapter six.