The church was adorned with fresh white flowers. The vivid colours of the frescoes were shining over the rays of a powerful sunlight. Every detail was dancing and singing the joy of that day and… oh! At his side there was an angel: Carmen was so beautiful in her bridal dress!
The Count directed his gaze to the priest, who was lifting up the crown and approaching it to his head, according to the Orthodox rite.
«What are you doing?!», exclaimed the Count opening his eyes wide. «Take your place immediately! Where's the priest!?». In front of him there was Igor, dressed in some golden liturgical vestments. He would had been funny, if it wasn't for the fact than, for the nth time, he was there to nose around, interrupt, annoy and ruin everything.
«I am the priest, Milord»
«What…»
«Allow me to put the crown on your head, please»
The groom watched the golden object and recognised the crown with whom his butler used to torment him in occasion of some of the stupid recurrences that, according with the jammer, had to mark the life of a Duckula.
«Take this junk away from me!», yelled the Count sending off the object with a hand.
«But the bride is waiting... and there is no turning back», answered the servant with an evil snigger.
The woman had her back turned, exactly like he saw her in the lab. He knew she was going to turn to him but he didn't want to see her face.
Suddenly he felt frightened. Terrified. "Don't look at me!", he would have screamed but his voice didn't come out. He couldn't run. She was slowly turning. "Don't look at me!".
When the terror was about to reach its apex, finally he woke up.

He was in his bedroom, still immersed in the darkness of the night.
He stood still: the fear took some minute to leave him. When he felt a bit calmer, he looked at the alarm clock: it was about 4:20. He could had slept for a little while longer. No! Better! He would had slept until late: he deserved it!
He pulled the blanket, closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again, but that bed seemed to him every second more uncomfortable. He lied on his side, then on his back: after fainting he'd been carried in his bedroom by Nanny and she put him in his bed dressed exactly as he was, so, the more he tossed and turned, the more the cape rolled him up, annoying him increasingly.
No sooner had one minute passed than he had thrown away the blanket and leaped to his feet.
He began to go up and down the room, staging his own outburst, as if the woman was there, listening in religious silence:
«You not even let me sleep in peace now! Even in my dreams you bother me! Ruin my existence wasn't enough for you, eh!? What do you want? You wanted to marry my father? This happened just because you were an idiot! That is not my business! Not my business! Not my problem! Not my p-r-o-b-lem! He has gone, deceased, dead, incinerated and I have nothing to do with him! Deal with it!», he crossed his arms and stood silent for a moment, than he continued, even more theatrical than before: «I wonder what are you doing back here! Mmm… let's see! Ah! You want what's your by right, uh? You don't say! Well! Given that I'm a gentleman and I don't want to use the brute force with a woman… we will face one another in front of the court! And than we'll see… the triumph of truth and justice!», menaced pointing the finger, than he turned his back to his imaginary interlocutor, facing the window, and concluded: «I suggest you to find a good lawyer, sugar!».
But all his audacity vanished when he looked ahead, toward the window, because the "sugar" was there, in the flesh!
He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes: his bedroom was placed at a dizzy height! To climb up there with her bare hands she needed a superhuman strength… otherwise… did she fly? Those question multiplied his terror. He would have had an heart break… if he would have been alive.
«Please, open the window», she said gently. But the Count didn't even think about it: if she was already there a minute before, listening to what he was saying, that would have been the end of him.
Seeing that the Count had turned a deaf ear she opened herself: she laid her hands on the glass and the handle, on the inside, as by magic began to move under his increasingly disbelieving eyes. It rotated slowly, than clicked and the windows opened. The woman entered with a graceful lead.
The young man run to escape from the room but, after a gesture of her hand, the door locked. He pulled on the handle several times, but it didn't want to open. He was trapped.
The woman quietly walked toward him, actually she seemed all but intentioned to hurt someone, but the Count was in a panic and unable to notice it. "Please, keep it down", she would have wanted to say, but no sooner did she open her mouth that his lungs were loaded of air and ready to shout the word "Nanny" the louder they could.
She made a sprint and in a fraction of a second she immobilized him and shut him up with a hand, before he could scream. He felt even more terrified than before, he began to struggle and tried to shout, despite the woman's hand on his mouth. Alina tried to calm him down with gentle words but there was no way. She had to play the menace card... but without shocking him too much:
«Shut up!», she told with a scratched whisper, approaching her face to the Count's one and staring at him straight in his eyes, with an horrific gaze.
That time the fright was so big that he stopped moving, screaming… and almost breathing.
«Sorry for scaring you like this but I had no choice, I don't want anyone to know I'm here. I swear I won't hurt you. Really. I only want to talk». He was still trembling. «It's not easy to believe me, is it? Especially now that you know who I am… Igor told you who I am, did he?»
The Count nodded. It was true: the only thought that the hands that were tying him where the ones of his predecessor's wife made him shudder. If Igor used to tell the truth about the "previous himself", she must have been at least as terrible and merciless as him.
«I don't want to hurt you, I swear! If my intention was to hurt you, well, I had month of time to do it, but I didn't. Right?». It was true. She stood silent for a moment, than she tried to say something reassuring again «Do you remember when we talked that night? When I told you that I'm not proud of my past, that I made many mistakes…? Probably you didn't think that my dark side was so… dark. But please, trust in what I told you: judge me for what you've seen during this time! Judge me for what I am, not for what I was. So many years have passed… I'm not a threat, really. Can you believe me? There is a reason for everything… I mean: the fake name, the disguise… I'm so sorry for what I put you through, especially for the fact that you get involved… I mean, emotionally. You deserve an explanation for all», she really looked sincere and sorry. «Listen, now I'll let you free, if this can help, but you must promise me you won't shout or run or… you should keep calm, ok?».
The Count nodded again and she let him free. Alina waited for a moment, expecting an answer but he wasn't able to form a sentence.
«That night, I wanted so bad to tell you the whole truth! But how could I? I was afraid to make a mess… exactly as you were! You see, the fact is that…», she felt silent for a moment, staring at him, than she lowered her eyes and a light almost imperceptible smile spread across her lips. What did that mean?
The Count remembered very well that night: if he feared to ruin everything, it was only because he was in love with her! If she'd have become aware of his nature she'd have left and he would had missed any chance to be with her. That's what he used to think at the time. So what was she trying to tell? Was she worried for the same reason? Was she in love with him too?
Well, the matter hadn't any importance by now and he knew it very well: Carmen was a lie, she never existed, she was a vampire, she was the one who made all that mess in the lab and he should had been angry, sad and disappointed. He should had been totally indifferent to the matter… and instead… in spite of everything, in that very moment, that doubt was making him very upset. Why? Was he still seeing the woman he felt in love with in that face? Was he still following that ghost like a mirage in the desert? Maybe that her appearance was almost the same of Carmen? He was seeing her better, now that she was next to him and not as deformed as before, in the lab.
Actually, Igor was right: she was not simply in disguise. There was also something different in her features, despite the huge similarity. Carmen was a pretty girl, Alina a beautiful woman. You could say this last was the major sister of the two. Not that she was looking older: she seemed somehow shaped by the experience. The traits more marked, mature, voluptuous… Carmen was like a flower, Alina like a juicy ripe fruit.
He shook his head: a juicy ripe…? What the heck was he thinking?!
«The fact…», she continued «is that, unfortunately, it was complicated for me to appear always detached. Because you… you look so… identical to him». She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, as if she wanted to fill her lungs with the words she had just pronounced. She stood silent for a long moment, than she opened her eyes and stared in his. The Count felt strange, pleasantly clouded.
«It is very complicated for me to have you around without feeling… upset»
He swallowed a lump. Her voice now was a soft and sultry whisper, embracing like the warm flavour of coffee, disarming like a drug, «and so… sometimes, I get carried away».
"She's a vampire", he mentally repeated to himself, but the sound of that "carried away" was a caressing aphrodisiac perfume and he had lost both the ability and the will to follow rationality. The woman gently placed her hands on his chest and he didn't put any resistance.
«Almost a century and a half have passed since the last time we… were together, if you know what I mean», she murmured while her fingers were sliding under the jacket, over the cotton of the dress shirt, up to the nape, to undid his bow tie that felt to the ground. What she meant was all but unclear. He stopped breathing for a moment, a hot flush overwhelmed him, from his chest to the bottom of his head.
"She's a vam…", said again the voice of his conscience, but it was nothing more than an indefinite background noise, fading away into the sweetness of compliancy. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes, letting her unfasten the buttons of his dress shirt.
The touch of her warm hands and the kiss of her lips, were soft and pleasing like a steaming cup of chocolate in a cold winter's evening. He feared that they'd have been cold, and instead... The thought reduced for a moment all the beautiful narcotisation: logically, her body could be warm because… "A vam…". He realized that her breath tasted of iron. He opened his eyes wide and escaped from her embrace.
«A VAAAAAAAAAAAM-»
«NO!», yelled the woman starting and sealing his mouth again. Than she realized she had to talk softly. «No no no! I'm an idiot! Sorry!». She said getting back to her old self and letting him free.
«Oh my goodness! My gosh! My…», kept repeating the Count panting traumatized with two widened eyes.
«My God, I knew it would had happened sooner or later. I'm so sorry!», she said covering her own face with a hand «Please, just try to stay calm… try to-»
«Sta-tay calm? I could have di-died! You almost ki-kill me», whined the Count trembling.
Alina stopped and frowned, than she burst out laughing. A merry, pleasant laugh, without a trace of wickedness.
«What's so funny about it?»
«You escaped because... You really thought my intention was to kill you?»
He stand silent, thinking honestly for a moment.
«Always be-better to be cautious, with ce-certain people!», he ventured than, trying to look though, despite his voice was all but firm.
«In fact, you seemed very cautious, just a moment ago», she replied tauntingly.
«You subjugated my mind!», he protested.
«This power doesn't work on you, if you don't allow me to use it. And just so you know, before it was like forcing an open door!», she smirked.
The Count crossed his arm and looked away, blushing.
«Hey, there's no shame! Things happen», she said shrudding.
«I don't know what you mean!»
«You're stubborn! Just like someone else I knew, eh eh! Anyway, you can rest easy, I promise won't do it again»
«Good!», he stated.
She stood silent and stared at him frowning.
«What else is there?», he asked annoyed.
«You seem disappointed»
«Would you stop with that?»
«Yes! Yes, I was joking», she giggled. «Just to defuse the issue»
Effectively, he had stopped trembling. She had irritate him just to loosen him up.
«Anyway, you're right… sorry, I shouldn't have done what I did! But I couldn't stop myself!», she shook her head, sincerely displeased. «And this is the point! It's the reason why I'm here!»
«Stop! Stop! I'm just not getting this!»
«You're right. I'll explain you everything»
She stopped, like captured by a sound or something.
«Damn it!»
«What's up?»,
«Igor, he's coming. We can't let him see we're talking».
«Why?» he asked. Although he wasn't much surprised: was it possible to trust in Igor?
«I must explain you everything. He's still far away but we don't have much time. So listen carefully:
Count Duckula the 16th has died one hundred and forty-six years ago. Many things happened to me, things that changed my life radically! Almost a century and a hundred, do you realize how much it is?... I should've forgot him… Well, no! I don't want to let the memory of him disappear! I just what this torture to stop! I see him in the crowd, I hear his voice! I still suffer as the very day I saw him dying in my arms!»
her voice began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears.
While grimacing from sorrow, she involuntarily revealed her sharp fangs. The Count felt very strange, confused, someway sorry. "So, even the vampires cry", he thought. "Even the real ones".
She wiped the tears, then she deeply breath and firmly continued.
«I feel there is something supernatural, something wrong that is holding me to him! And, above all, that is holding him to this earth… something is trapping his spirit here in this life! Before coming here, for several months I had a dream: he used to tell me "you have to go home and free me". At first I thought it wasn't wise, but then I decided to come back. I must break this curse that keeps my love from being finally free, but I don't know how».
The Count waited for a moment, to be sure she had finished, than he asked:
«You didn't answered about Igor»
The woman become very serious and sad.
«I have reason to believe that he is the cause of this curse, in some way»
«What?»
«You don't even imagine what is capable of», she seemed bitter, almost on the verge of cry again. «and also, I know that each single information I'd give him, he'd find the way to use it for something eviler. I can't tell him that I suspect the soul of your... so called "father" is still there. And if it's true? What would he do? This is the reason why I came here in disguise, I needed to search for something in the Castle without arousing suspicion in him… the housekeeper thing had been very helpful», she smiled.
«Thank you», answered the Count.
«You're welcome»
«What are you searching for, precisely?»
She shrugged her shoulders
«Well, I don't know either to tell the truth»
«This is a good starting point», commented the man.
She smiled.
«Anything that regards me or both of us, for a start, since I didn't find a single trace of myself in the castle… It seems I've been erased from that place for some reason. Anything that regard your father… objects, informations…», she put her hands behind her neck and frowned, concentrating to open the clasp of a necklace she was wearing. «Now that my cover has blown, I must disappear for a bit. Igor will wonder why I come back… and why I'm alive! Damn it! I have to come up with something!». Finally the clasp opened.
«Keep these», she said putting the necklace in the man's hand. They were two golden rings and a little key. «Don't lose them. Act like everything is normal», she said walking to the window.
«When will you come back?», asked the Count.
«I don't know. I must go now, he's going to arrive»
«Alina»
She turned to him.
«There's something I must know about Igor?»
She remain silent.
«There's something, is there?»
«I'll be back soon, I promise you»

He felt the sound of some steps along the corridor and then someone knocked at the door.
«M'lord…»
It was Igor. He looked at the door for a second, than again toward her, but she wasn't there anymore. The window was closed. He quickly thrust the necklace in his pocket. The door opened.
«You called, M'lord?» he asked.
«NO!» he answered with an excessively loud tone of voice.
«I was only asking»
«I know, I still have ears. And I answered "no"»
«Are you sure you're feeling fine, sir?»
«Why do you ask?»
«You seem a bit… dishevelled», pointed out the butler, watching the dress shirt still unbuttoned and half out of his pants.
The Count suddenly recalled what had happened shortly before.
«I was… I was simply changing! Can I sleep in my clothes? Do you sleep in your clothes, Igor? Do you?»
«No, I don't. It just… seem to me that you don't look well. Your face, it is upset, Sir»
The Count felt like if over him there was a huge lighten sign, bearing the words "I was letting myself be undressed and kissed by a vampire woman, until about 10 minutes ago".
He tried his best to appear normal, but it was almost impossible. So he played another card:
«YES!», he exclaimed talking too loud again «if you really want to know, I am upset! And I was giving vent to my stress loudly! That's way you thought I was calling for you! And now, if you don't mind, I'd like to put my pyjamas and sleep late!»
«Indeed, M'lord! So, I can return to my room»
«Yes you can!»
The butler left the room, rolling up his eyes.
"I'd like to see your face, if you'd know what I just did", thought the Count watching is mentor's back going away.
Once the door was closed he couldn't contain a smirk of satisfaction. He felt stupid, but now he was alone and nobody could have watched.
He was alone, was he?
He walked to the window. Nothing.
He put his hand into the pocket where the golden necklace was hidden.

It all happened so fast! His mind was full of images, thoughts, feelings, question without an answer… like pieces of a mosaic scattered here and there… he deserved to discover the truth.