Author's Note: So, all-in-all this chapter wasn't the easiest to write, and I needed to seriously consider a few major questions before I could even contemplate writing. In the end I decided to be evil and give you this chapter in two parts (mainly because this first half is intended to focus on two key characters). Second chapter will be up on Monday, because I love you all—and the next chapter (fingers crossed) will be up (as per usual) on Friday.
Special mentions to the following:
Lilycullen1997, you asked if Vlad will find Erin—all I can say is hang tight and wait to the completion of the story. It will (if it goes according to plan) all come together at the very end, as that is the nature of this story. *Cue evil laughter here*
"Cba 2 login" {if I knew your real name this wouldn't feel so strange to type :)} Thanks so much for your complement! I have every intention of sticking with this story until completion so don't you fret, and please...continue reading! As for the mysterious elements they seem to be writing themselves in… quite odd. *calculating expression*
ForeverDreamandImagin, *overly formal voice* My dear friend you know exactly what to say to have one's ego swelling… or smoldering, one of the two. You're always there to iron out details, so stick around and continue to join in the fun!
You may begin your reading! Remember, Monday for the next part to this chapter!
Drink My Soul
Chapter 3: Sort it Out (part 1)
"History keeps her secrets longer than most of us.
But she has one secret that I will reveal to you tonight in the greatest confidence.
Sometimes there are no winners at all.
And sometimes nobody need lose." –John Lecarre
Arching her lower back and stretching her arms above her head, Erin gave a slow moan as muscles unknotted. Vlad watched, face flushed red and a goofy smile in place. The smile itself was becoming more common whenever he was around Erin, and one that he couldn't quite shake. If he didn't sort it out soon, Vlad was sure Bertrand would hit him upside the head, not that he hadn't already mind you. Vlad gave a soft chuckle remembering the latest incident. Erin turned to give him a questioning look. Blue eyes narrowed as her brow locked in a light frown.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" Vlad, goofy smile still in place, could only smile wider. "Y'know Vlad, I'm starting to think that each day you get even stranger."
"C'mon Erin, can you blame me? My sister's back with us, my Dad is finally finding something to do with his time, even if it is teaching Wolfie stuff. Not to mention Bertand's sister made an appearance last night, and I'm in an amazing relationship with a beautiful girl."
Erin rolled her eyes. "If you were any sweeter…" she broke off with a laugh, then repeated what he had said in her head, something about Bertrand, "Wait—you mentioned something about a sister?"
"Ingrid?"
"No, not—"
"Oh, then Myra."
Erin gave Vlad a pointed look, and the latter shot her an apologetic smile. "And who's Myra?"
"Bertrand's sister. He found her in an alleyway just outside of Garside. They seemed really surprised to see one another... so I invited her to stay with us."
"You mean another vampire?" Erin sighed, "Vlad, it's hard enough keeping your family in the dark about me being human. Don't you think it'd get harder if you add another vampire to the mix?" Erin reached for the bottle of spray, which masked her scent and heartbeat. She shook it, listening to how much was left in the bottle—there was about half remaining…she couldn't keep pretending for much longer. Either Vlad came out to his Dad, or she had to leave. Erin frowned, noting that 'coming out' was probably not the best choice of words, more like 'come clean' or 'explain'. With another sigh of frustration, she began to spray.
Erin couldn't seem to get anything right.
There was the problem of food… she was a vegetarian, and the sight of blood tended to make her feel queasy. Not the bottled sort though, that looked more like tomato juice, Erin thought—though the fresh kind of blood was a whole different matter.
She couldn't kill Ingrid. Couldn't slay a vampire, technically… and she was a slayer. But of course it came down to the crux of the matter—Erin was dating Vlad.
Vladimir Dracula… a vampire, the Chosen One, named in honour of his father—Count Dracula, Prince of Darkness. No matter what label, or name he was under, Erin was still in the wrong. She threw the bottle into the opened coffin in anger.
"I'm sorry Erin, but she was in danger—I couldn't just let her walk away knowing that. What if she got hurt?" Erin looked over at Vlad having forgotten for a moment he was even there. His brow was lowered in an annoyed frown, the blue eyes hard. He stood, back against the wall, and taught—as if ready to run at any sign of said danger. "She didn't even want to stay with us—something about keeping dangerous company, but that was even more incentive for her to stay. At least this way, whoever's chasing her will think twice before attacking, we offer her protection from the sun as well as the bad people. How could you want to walk away from that?"
Erin was more concerned with something else though. "Bad people?" she queried.
"Y'know," Vlad replied in a singsong manner, "The evil vampires which want nothing more than to kill innocent vampires."
"You make it sound like there are innocent Vampires," Erin shook her head.
"If you know where to look," Vlad cocked his head to the side, "They'll probably be reluctant to bite bunnies."
Erin gave a laugh. "Bunnies? Is this some way of saying that you're innocent?"
"Oh garlic, no! Me, innocent? I shudder to think of what would happen if I were!" Vlad placed his hands over his eyes and tossed his head back in a dramatic pose. "How I would disappoint my dear father!" he paused, "Well… disappoint him any more."
"That aside—Do you always need to play the hero?" she gave him a small smile, eyes twinkling in subdued happiness. Even if it was wrong, she couldn't help herself. They had been in their 'unofficial' (technically) relationship for only a couple of weeks. But they were the happiest of her life. Vlad had showered her with his attention and playful banter in the moments they had alone. But Erin had seen the way Bertrand and the Count had begun to look at her, with a growing anger in their eyes.
Well, anger with Bertrand, frustration with the Count. Erin could tell that the Count wanted Vlad to find a nice 'full-fanged' vampire for him to sink his teeth into, and after the 'Erin-almost-being-thrown-into-a-giant-firey-pit-so-as-to-humour-a-bunch-of-snarky-vampires' she had tried to avoid the Dracula Head of House as much as humanly possible. But it didn't stop the other part of her—the part that despised Vampires for having ruined her life and that of her brother's. If anything, the relationship with Vlad was the ice, attempting to stop the swelling of an injury that was so twisted, she wasn't sure it could be helped. Sometimes Erin would struggle just to look at Vlad without feeling guilty, other times it was guilt over allowing herself to get too close and other times…
"I don't mean to be a hero, Erin—but I can't allow someone to just walk into danger." Erin raised an eyebrow at his statement… couldn't he see her? Vlad had allowed Erin to not only 'walk' into danger, but to run at it with open arms, practically naked. She grimaced slightly at the mental image, before shaking her head to clear it entirely. Vlad rolled his eyes and walked forwards, with a lopsided grin. "Oh, you know what I mean—it was you whom walked into this danger."
"So you're saying I should be grateful that you're playing the hero, then?" Vlad placed his hands on her hips, as Erin wrapped her arms around his neck slowly but narrowing her eyes all the same.
"Well, since you put it that way. My ego could always use a boost, and if you're offering me your gratefulness, I'd be more than happy to accept."
The two laughed, before Vlad abruptly came to his senses. Drinking Erin in, the warmth of her body against his, the slender curve of her neck, not yet hidden by a scarf. Vlad felt an urge to hold Erin against him, and to never let her go. He felt a certain hunger, one that didn't stem from his stomach, and lost himself entirely trying to figure out what the hunger meant. Erin watched Vlad, with a small smile. That was until the blue eyes she was slowly getting used, bleed black.
This just proved her internal battle, other times Erin was in constant fear that this would happen—Vlad was, after all, a vampire. Stupidly, Erin had to remind herself of that everyday… he was so sweet; it was easy to forget herself and fall in sync with whatever he felt at the time. In panic, she pushed Vlad away. "Y-you have training, right now, d-don't you?" the question melded in with itself, words mashing into one another causing her to stutter.
Vlad blinked slowly, not catching her words, but instantly missing the loss of warmth. He shook his head in the attempts to clear it. "What just happened?"
Erin immediately had her guard up and hissed, "You attempted to feed on me, that's what!" Vlad shook his head, but she continued. "Don't you shake your head! I've seen Bertrand, the Count and Ingrid enough times to know that when your eyes go black… bad stuff happens."
"Erin, I didn't feel the need to feed," he replied softly, pleadingly almost, "I just felt… something else." Erin frowned, before moving to tie the scarf around her neck, fumbling in her haste. Vlad felt his chest constrict in sadness.
"You should go. Bertrand will be mad that you're late. I have some stuff I need to sort out."
"'Stuff'," he echoed, "got it."
Vlad tipped his head slightly, before making his way out of her room, and towards the dining room—trying to decipher his feelings. When he heard Bertrand's voice, soft and panicky. It was strange enough to snap Vlad out of his stupor. Bertrand was always a statue—never showing any more emotion than strictly necessary. Vlad thought, perhaps Bertrand wanted something from Myra, but it didn't explain the panic. He made a mental note to figure out what had happened between him and Erin later, for now he had more important things to do. Vlad flitted towards the room, but paused as he listened to what was happening—just incase he was interrupting a 'heart-to-heart' moment between the siblings. He shuddered to think what would happen if that were the case. Last night, he felt the storm of emotions between the two of them as easily as if he were watching it on TV.
"Myra—open your eyes," Bertrand repeated the line twice more, each time growing in frustration. Vlad heard Myra's voice only once during the altercation muttering something along the lines of,
"Need to escape… have to get out of here."
Vlad tapped on the door once, "Bertrand! It's Vlad…"
The door swung open to show an irate Bertrand. Brow furrowed and lips pursed in agitation. "I know—for the first time that I'm late, but this can't be helped." He took a step to the side, allowing the younger vampire in. "I can't seem to wake her up," he muttered, "Perhaps you can…" Bertrand seemed to struggle slightly with saying the word. Part of Vlad felt he should allow Bertrand to suffer, just for a little bit longer, but Myra didn't deserve that.
Besides, Vlad understood what he meant.
"It's alright Bertrand, I'll help you," Bertrand flinched but nodded his head in acknowledgement before returning to the opened coffin of which was encasing Myra. Vlad asked, "So what's happened? Why can't you wake her up?"
"I'm not certain. I was going to wake her and offer her something to drink since she hardly had a drop last night," Vlad flinched, realizing the bleeding breather had been Myra's doing not Bertrand's like he originally thought, but he pushed passed the distaste and attempted to focus on Bertrand, "…so I knocked on her coffin, when she didn't reply, I opened it only to find her like this. She's in the dream world, I know of it—but she must be in danger, I've been trying to wake her for the past hour. Usually Myra is a light sleeper, the softest sound tends to wake her up…but this?" Bertrand shook his head, "I'm at a loss."
Vlad lent over the coffin to see Myra, a light sheen of sweat covering her. Eyes moving rapidly under the closed eyelids, as her raspy breath met his ears. He noticed a soft red shape against her neck and moved forwards to inspect it. But that was when the whole of her neck exploded in paler white, as if a hand had grabbed her, and Myra's breathing choked to a halt. Vlad panicked, "Myra!"
Grabbing her shoulder, Vlad shook it violently, but received no response. Bertrand, joined in with Vlad—both in the attempts to cause enough of a sound in the hopes of waking her. The ground beneath Vlad's feet reverberated, and the young vampires froze. Vlad heard his father give a deafening shout. The Count despised being awoken, especially if it led to trouble first thing in the morning and he hadn't had his morning cup of blood. Knowing this (having experienced the wrath first hand, and not wanting a repeat experience) Bertrand moved to stand at the door, in the attempt to block access to the room, but the Count arrived before he could. Bertrand, subdued and frustrated lent against the wall—making eye contact only with the floor.
"What in the name of holy water is going on here?" the glare was directed at Bertrand until they moved about the room where his eyes connected to Vlad. In a second, the Count went from anger to eagerness. "Oh, my little Vlady, you've finally done it!" He clapped Bertrand on the shoulder, though the latter did not react, "Did Bertrand find you this little Vampiric minx or did you use the good old Dracula charm—" as he spoke he moved towards to coffin, where Vlad glanced worriedly between his father and Myra, "—you take after me a lot Vlady, the high cheek bones, the—" the Count stopped in his tracks as he looked down at Myra, recognizing her instantly. Falling from his face; the eager grin was changed into a shocked expression. "It can't be…"
His hand extended forwards, slowly.
Surely, this had to be a trick.
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