He was coping, slowly but certainly. He could smell, now, had realized that the scents were because humans had been in the room, and that he was likely underground or enclosed by thick stone walls. How recently the humans had been present, he could not tell. They could have left moments before he woke, or weeks ago. He'd been fed, so concluded it had to have been in the last day or so. His throat and nose no longer felt so raw, so abraded, but were functioning.
what to do next? The thought of the pain that any movement, opening his eyes, would create caused him to stay very still. He wanted to whimper, all pride long since gone, but fear of the pain stopped him. He'd been hurt before, yes. Tortured, raped, abused, starved. As a vampire, he had been staked, burned, injured as he defended his lands and family from holy hunters. The pain he had already experienced at the hands of Van Helsing and now, as he recovered, was as bad as anything that had ever occurred. His eyes...they had burned but it was nothing like the pain his body had given to him. Slowly and carefully, they opened.
The ceiling still twisted above him, sometimes seeming to swoop down at him, lunging at his coffin, and other times extending a phenomenal distance above. He had no means of determining distance, no more than he could determine the true strength of the scents. The shapes turned and rolled, and the sensations were making him ill. Dracula closed his eyes, resting briefly, before opening them again.
So intent was he on regaining sight that he was neglecting hearing.
x x x x x x
Nearly dawn. The vampire had remained motionless all night according to the reports he'd reviewed upon waking. Time for one last check, and this one would be conducted in person by Abraham. Irate at the continued failure of the vampire to wake and respond, Abraham shoved the door open harder than usual. It slammed back against the wall after a deafining creak, and swung heavily shut behind him as Abraham unlocked the second door. Picking up the lantern, he opened the door-
And the screams began.
x x x x x x x
The NOISE! It was deafening, incredible, and Dracula cringed in the coffin. The movement, slight though it was, set his skin on fire and he nearly yelped. And then on top of this pain, his eyes were suddenly ablaze, light scorching and burning him through the skin of his eyelids. A thundering sound approached him, heartbeat? Footsteps? Dazed, his mind cracked, feeling himself immersed to burn in a fire, at the mercy of a giant or a firestorm from the sheer volume of the noise. Panicking, he screamed, the noise and the sensations of the scream ripping away his awareness.
He was nothing BUT pain, intense and penetrating.
x x x x x x
Abraham nearly dropped his lantern, then rushed to look at the vampire. It was arched in the coffin, head and heels touching, the rest suspended in a rictus of agony. The shrieking had ceased, all muscles seeming contracted and contorted. Bloody tears ran from the beast's clenched eyes as the mouth stretched wide, gleaming fangs on display. It began to thrash, then, flinging itself from side to side, and the screaming resumed, the sound of a creature in great agony.
Abraham was astounded; what was happening? He looked closely, careful to stay out of the vampire's reach, to see absolutely nothing in the coffin that could be causing this distress. He set the lantern down, it thudding to the floor as he lunged toward's the beast's arms, trying to pin them, to hold it down, only to be flung halfway across the room as the vampire twisted and writhed.
Behind him, racing steps and shouting voices. Within moments, the Harkers and Seward had joined him, stopping to stand and stare at the convulsing vampire beside him.
"Leave, now." Abraham's worried eyes turned towards the vampire. "I don't know what's causing this. And I don't know what he'll do next. Quickly, out of the room." He herded them out the doors, locking both tightly behind him. Clustered in the hall, Seward began to speak, and Abraham hushed him, listening intently to the vampire's agony in the cell he had been consigned to.
The noise level slowly abated, breaking down from screams to sobs, then quieting further. Grabbing their lanterns, the quartet carefully and slowly opened the doors, moving into the dark room. The vampire was entirely soundless, and they crept to the coffin carefully, weapons clenched tightly in their hands. The vampire didn't respond, and Abraham lifted the lantern to take a closer look at the beast's face.
Instantly the face spasmed, the head arcing painfully back and the monster screaming in agony. Seward's face suddenly flashed into comprehension, and he pulled at Abraham's arm, calling to him to leave. As soon as Seward spoke, the vampire's pain obviously spiked, and he jerked and began to shriek endlessly, shrilly, in agony.
"What...how..." Abraham could do nothing but stare at his charge, bewildered by its behavior. He yielded to Seward's tugs, following the others out of the room with a few puzzled glances at the thrashing beast. The doors clicked behind them, then the monster was left to the cold, dark, and silent tomb of his prison.
x x x x x x x
"Sensory deprivation." Seward's cool and collected voice put a name on the horror they'd just experienced. "It's been observed in prisoners and is a reason that solitary confinement is so very effective a punishment. Contained in his coffin, he had no light, no fresh air, nothing to see or smell. His hearing was likely quite diminished as well, and while he could initially move, we all saw the damage he'd received. Once he was unable to move, he lost yet another sense." Seward took a large drink of brandy, far too much alcohol for far too early in the morning, but no one was about to gainsay him. "I've got two patients that came to me from prisons where they'd been confined alone. Their behavior had lost them almost all their priviledges. One is essentially comatose, entirely unresponsive. The other has broken his mind. He clearly hallucinates, carrying on conversations and responding to people and situations that simply do not exist."
Abraham nodded. Yes, he'd never even considered the mental well-being of the beast. He had simply wanted to bring it back to England, revive it, and study it. Once he knew that it was physically contained and secure he hadn't worried any further. Had he broken it permanently?
"John, do you expect he'll recover?"
Seward shrugged hopelessly. "I don't know. There's not much literature on observing lunatics created from these situations. Usually, they simply went from prison to an asylum." Reaching into a pocket, John pulled out a pad and pencil. "Explain to me what occurred when you went into the cell." His eyes fixed on Abraham, waiting for the information.
After a long description, questions, and discussions, John seemed slightly heartened. "So, he was silent still when you opened the door, despite the noise. He didn't begin to scream until the lantern light reached him? And when we re-entered the room, he was silent again until the light struck him." A brief pondering of this evidence. "I think the light dazzled him, rather like being in a dark theater then walking out into a glaring winter day with the sun bright on the ice. He seemed able to cope with the sound as long it was relatively quiet. The door was clearly not so, but when we were in the hall afterwards, he should have been able to hear us." A smile up at Abraham. "I do suspect he'll recover, because he could handle the noise, just not the light. Leave him to rest today, feed him while he's unconcious. Make noise outside his cell after dark, not loud, but there; walk past it, perhaps speak quietly. We want to revive his senses slowly. Leave a candle or lantern in the hallway. It will let a small amount of light into his cell via the windows, but a minimal amount."
Seward nodded to himself. "Yes, a slow revival. I'd like to stay tomorrow, taking notes on the process. This might have applications for humans."
Abraham chafed at the delay. It could be days, weeks, before his vampire was usable. But then again, it appeared his new property would recover; much better than it being permanently broken. If would have been nearly impossible to determine what was an effective weapon against vampires and what wasn't when the vampire was screaming in pain continually. Still, this was good news, good news indeed, and he agreed with Seward's analysis of the situation.
"John, I will say that I am very, very pleased that you did not follow Arthur off and return to work today." He smiled at the younger man, practically beaming. "As soon as the sun rises, would you like to go down with me to see if he is sleeping during the day? I'd like to feed him late in the afternoon, shortly before dark."
"Abraham, it might be wise to feed him earlier. We've seen that blood heals him; if he injured himself, a speedy healing might help. It might also encourage greater recovery during the day."
A bit nonplussed at having his wishes contradicted but once again finding himself in full agreement with John's advice, Abraham nodded. A light breakfast for everyone, then once the sun was well into the sky, a trip down to see the vampire and feed it. Fresh blood had arrived from the hospital yesterday, nowhere near the seven gallons given by the multiple hospitals, but more than two quarts. The beast would have a good meal. And then they'd see what happened.
