Galaxy 1001D presents:

Bram Stoker's Kagato

Starring Tenchi Masaki as Tenchi Harker

Ryoko Hakubi as Ryoko Westenra

Washu Hakubi as Doctor K. T. von Washu

Aeka Masaki Jurai as Ayeka Murray

Sasami Masaki Jurai as Sasami Morris

Mihoshi Kuramitsu as Mihoshi Renfield

Kiyone Makibi as Doctor Kiyone Seward

Special Guest Star Kagato as Count Vladimir Kagato

Tenchi Muyo and all related characters are © AIC/Pioneer. This story is written solely for entertainment and is not intended to make a profit in any way.

Based on "Dracula" created by Bram Stoker

And "Tenchi Muyo" created by Masaki Kajishima

Chapter Ten: Dreams of Delirium

In the kitchen Sasami looked around for something to feed her little pet. "Let's see," the blue-haired girl set the animal down on the counter. "You have your stomach in the part of your body that looks like a rabbit. Let's start you on vegetables and go on from there."

Reaching into a bowl of crunchy vegetables, Sasami pulled out a bright orange carrot. The bunny-kitten sniffed at it suspiciously and then took a tiny nibble. Its big yellow eyes bulged out and then it started eating like a rabbit, literally.

"Hey, it looks like we found something you like," smiled Sasami.

"Me-yow-ow," purred the tiny cabbit.

Back in the parlor, Washu had once again deflected Ayeka's accusations and was taking control. "I'd like to see Ryoko's diary and other personal effects," the redhead stated. "While I'm at it, I'd like to interview you and find out more about Ryoko."

"Why are you so curious?" Kiyone asked suspiciously.

"If my theory is correct, it will be important to build an accurate psychological profile of her," Washu replied matter-of-factly.

"Why?" Kiyone asked again. "She's… dead isn't she?"

"After last night I'm not so sure," Washu replied.

"Von Washu!" Ayeka gasped. "Oww!" she cried as Washu hit her with a backhanded slap. "I mean Doctor von Washu! What do you mean? Do you think that Ryoko might still be alive?"

"I don't know," Washu replied. "All I know is that something got into Sasami's room and killed her little pets the same way Ryoko was killed. I don't see why a fiend that would kill an innocent woman like Ryoko would spare a helpless child like Sasami. Her life was spared for a reason."

"Aha!" Mihoshi exclaimed, causing Ayeka, Kiyone and Washu to involuntarily jump. "You did find a clue on those carcasses I gave you!"

"That's right, I did," Washu put her hands on her hips and tried to look humble and haughty at the same time. She succeeded in looking haughty. "You can't hide clues that obvious from a genius. The puncture marks on the animals were similar but not identical to the ones on Ryoko's throat, but they were identical to each other. That means that a different, but similar creature to the vampire that killed Ryoko is loose out there, feasting on the blood of the living."

"A different one?" Ayeka asked hesitantly. "There are two?"

"Yep," Washu nodded. "There are at least two vampires out there, and both of them can get into your home it seems. Now why would a feral creature of the night spare easy prey like Sasami?"

"Because she is so sweet and innocent!" Mihoshi answered.

"Why would it care?" Washu countered. "How would it know that Sasami was sweet and innocent? For all it knows, she could be a brat."

"Because of the prayer beads and crucifixes she went to bed with last night?" Ayeka guessed.

"Miss Ayeka, you have garlic and crosses hanging from the ceiling of every room in this house," Washu shook her head. "Try again."

"Um… the vampire wasn't very thirsty?" Mihoshi guessed timidly.

"Nope," Washu shook her head. "If that was the case, Sasami would have woke up the next morning with two little marks on her neck and not realized anything was wrong. The vampire would only take a little bit at a time, try again."

"Let me try," Kiyone raised her hand sarcastically. "The psychiatrist grabs a hammer and hits Doctor von Washu over the head until she gets to the point? Cut to the chase already. Why do you think that Sasami was spared? Do you think that the vampire was sending us a message or something?"

"It's hard to say," Washu crossed her arms and started to pace back and forth. "Still, I have a feeling that the second vampire was someone who actually lived in this house during life. Someone who still feels like she is still a part of this place…"

"Oh no!" Ayeka put her hands over her mouth. "Do mean that the second vampire could be… Ryoko?"

"Yep," Washu nodded. "That's my hunch. We don't have much time, and I need to know all about her. Warts and all. If I'm right, none of you are safe. If Ryoko is one of the undead, she will be driven by a twisted version of what motivated her in life. Love will become obsession. Dislike will become hatred. She will have no sense of right or wrong, just selfish desire. Couple that with her supernatural powers and she will be more dangerous than Bismarck with an unlimited military budget."

"But this is Ryoko," Mihoshi insisted. "Surely there will be some part of her that will still care for us."

Washu shook her head. "Sorry, Mihoshi, but this is a vampire you are talking about. They don't have human souls, just demons to animate their undead shells and walk about. It would be different if Ryoko was still in there, but we are talking about an evil spirit that is using Ryoko's memories and persona to achieve sentience."

Kiyone crossed her arms skeptically. "If that's the case, then why would Ryoko's psychological profile matter?" the delicious doctor asked the short scientist. "If it's not Ryoko in there, why would it be affected by her wants and desires?"

"Because the demon is an empty creature," Washu replied. "In its natural state, it is completely empty. It depends on us for motivation, sustenance, experience, its very existence! It is driven to consume… life, memory, joy, sadness, vitality, power… its appetite knows no bounds!"

"How will we know if someone is a vampire?" Ayeka asked. "They could look just like you or I couldn't they? How do we know if someone has a soul?"

"Oh that's easy," Washu cracked a grim smile. "People without souls don't have reflections. In a vampire's case, symbolism takes precedence over physics."

"Doctor von Washu," Ayeka asked timidly. "If Ryoko has risen from the dead, what can we expect her to be like?"

"The creature inhabiting Ryoko's shell will be affected symbolically by the life she lived as a human. Her psychological traits will become supernatural weaknesses. Her desires as a human will be obsessions as a vampire." Washu paused in her lecture to carefully eye the three incredulous women. "Now tell me, what did Ryoko desire the most in this world over anything else?"

Ayeka, Mihoshi, and Kiyone blurted out the word simultaneously. "Tenchi!"

Tenchi Harker was enveloped in darkness. He felt as if he was drifting through the air, but he didn't feel the wind on his face. Presently a light was visible, and his feet found solid ground. He heard a familiar voice. "Tenchi… Tenchi…" He turned to see Ryoko behind him, her features pale in the dim light. "Tenchi, why didn't you protect me?" Ryoko whined pitifully. "I loved you… and you let me die…" She stepped out of the shadows and Tenchi could see her collar of her blouse had been rudely torn open to reveal her bleeding throat. Suddenly Ryoko was not dressed in her Victorian walking clothes but was barely covered by a white nightshirt that was open in the front, exposing her slender neck and her curvaceous alabaster bosom. Blood was dripping from two punctures on her neck to stain Ryoko's white nightgown crimson. Ryoko's eyes were empty of life, of hope. She wasn't even angry, she was almost too drained to feel despair. "Why did you let me die, Tenchi…?"

Tenchi tried to speak but he couldn't hear his own voice. It was as if his mouth was moving and no words came out.

Washu's voice came from the light at his back. "He didn't believe me. I told him there was a vampire after you, but Tenchi didn't believe me." Tenchi turned to see the mad doctor sitting in Ayeka's study, calmly thumbing through a book on the occult. "Hey, I only have ten PhD's, what do I know? There's no point listening to me," the redheaded genius commented sarcastically.

"Doctor von Washu!" Tenchi gasped. "What…?"

"It's all right Tenchi," Ayeka appeared out of the shadows, clad in her pink flowing robes known by the rich as 'morning dress,' "Everybody knows there's no such thing as vampires."

"M-miss Ayeka!" Tenchi pointed at the heiress in horror. "Y-your neck! You're bleeding from your neck!"

As Ayeka stepped into the light, the two tiny wounds on her neck started bleeding profusely. At the same time, the front of her robe fell open to reveal the heiress' cleavage. "What are you talking about Tenchi?" Ayeka's eyes seemed glazed over as a scarlet trickle seeped down past her shoulder and into her décolletage. "There are no such things as vampires. I know, because you told me."

"Ayeka!" Tenchi cried. "Oh no! You've got to see a doctor!"

Kiyone's comforting voice floated out of the darkness. "Calm down Tenchi," she said as the light expanded to illuminate the teal-haired woman reclining on a psychiatrists couch. She was wearing an exquisite evening gown with opera gloves and jewelry. Like Ayeka and Ryoko before her, her neck was bleeding. A sanguinary puddle was forming underneath the couch, the drops causing ripples on the surface. "There is no such thing as vampires," she muttered weakly as her eyes flickered. "Anyone who thinks there is should be committed."

The young solicitor jumped as Mihoshi's voice chirped in his ear. "It's okay, Tenchi, I believe you! Vampires are hazardous to your health." Tenchi turned to see Mihoshi dressed in a jacket with leg-o-mutton sleeves, her blouse buttoned up to the tie at her neck and a long dress that nearly obscured the ankles of her boots. Hands clad in kidskin gloves clasped her suitcase before her, as if she was about to embark on a voyage. "I'm ready to go to Transylvania, hope you feel better!"

"M-Mihoshi!" Tenchi stammered, tears forming in his eyes. "Don't go! That trip will only end in disaster!"

"I'll be okay," Mihoshi waved to the boy jauntily. "You worry too much! I'm a big girl and can take care of myself. I'm not a child."

"Tenchi, is Ayeka going to die like my parents did?" Sasami asked as she tugged on his sleeve. "She sure has lost a lot of blood. If everybody dies, what do I do? I'm frightened! I'm too young to be all alone!"

"Hello Tenchi! I'm back from my trip!" Mihoshi grinned as she lay on the floor, her arms restrained in a straightjacket. "You see, Tenchi? You were right! Everything worked out okay! I was scared to go overseas by myself, but you convinced me I could do it!"

"Why did you let me die?" Ryoko asked as wind that Tenchi couldn't feel ruffled her hair and made her nightshirt cling to her lithe and curvaceous body. "Didn't you love me? I would have done anything to save you."

"Th-there's no such thing as vampires…" Ayeka murmured weakly as the trickle of blood continued to stain her morning dress and dripped onto the floor. "Y-you s-said that there's no such thing… Oooh." She closed her eyes and swayed back and forth before dropping to the floor in a faint.

"Ayeka!" Tenchi cried, unable to catch her. For some reason his arms didn't seem to be working. Neither were his legs for that matter. He could only watch as Ayeka fell to the ground to land in a growing pool of her own blood.

"Ayeka," a teary-eyed Sasami crouched by her fallen mistress. "Please don't leave me… I don't want to be alone again!"

"You let me die," a teary eyed Ryoko murmured lifelessly.

"I'll help you!" Mihoshi offered as she thrashed on the ground in her straightjacket. "I believe you! Of course, you'll have to let me out of this straightjacket first, and I might hurt myself and others, but hey? It beats no help at all, right?"

Tenchi could hardly see them through the tears in his eyes. "Kiyone!" he called. "They need a doctor!"

Kiyone simply lay on her couch with her eyes closed. The pool of blood under her seemed to be growing.

"Doctor von Washu!" Tenchi begged. "Please! Help us!"

"I thought you didn't believe in vampires," Washu eyed Tenchi critically as she closed her book. "I thought that I was a charlatan who stole Ryoko's body and probably caused her death. Isn't that what you were thinking?"

"I… I," Tenchi stuttered lamely. "Of course not!"

Washu rose from her chair and put her hands on her hips. "Then why are you packin' heat, Tenchi? What's the deal with your father's service revolver? What were ya gonna do, force a confession out of me?"

"Er, uh… that is… I mean…" Tenchi searched lamely for an answer.

"If you're so convinced of my guilt, why are you still carrying that cross Ayeka gave you, Tenchi?" Washu asked slyly. "Could it be that you're starting to believe me?"

"Um…"

"Well, which is it?" Washu snapped irritably. "I haven't got all day! Do you believe me or not?"

"Don't let me die, Tenchi," Ryoko moaned quietly.

"Don't die Ayeka!" Sasami cried. "Don't leave me all alone!"

"Stop it!" Tenchi closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears. "I'm going crazy!"

"When you're crazy all the time, you act merry and sublime," Mihoshi chanted as she rolled on the floor in her straightjacket. "Then you hear things you can't see, and then you start to rhyme… just like me!"

"You're out of your mind!" Tenchi shouted at the dizzy blonde. "I won't rhyme!"

"So do ya believe me or not?" Washu repeated, her emerald eyes piercing Tenchi's soul.

"Yes!" Tenchi cried. "Please Doctor von Washu! If you can help them, I'll believe anything!"

"Too late!" Washu grinned like a lunatic as she pulled out a loaded crossbow from behind her chair. "Check your neck, Tenchi!"

"Wha?" Tenchi put his hand to his throat and felt something warm and sticky. When he pulled it away his fingers were stained in blood.

"Better safe than sorry!" Washu cried gleefully as she pulled the trigger.

"Yaah!" Tenchi awoke with a start and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. It was dark. What time was it? "Huh?" he blinked stupidly as stood up groggily and rubbed his neck. "Oh great. I fell asleep," he muttered, not realizing where he was. "I missed all my appointments and everyone's gone…" He stopped when he looked out the window and realized that he was in a lounge or study on the top floor of a tower atop the Science Building of London University and not in his office after all. His head jerked as he heard as strange ringing noise.

"Meow."

Tenchi looked down and spotted Sasami's kitten in the corner of the room. He knew it was Sasami's cat even in the dim light because it was wearing the collar with the bell on it that the young housemaid had put on it so that she would always know where it was. "Kitty!" Tenchi softly exclaimed. "H-how the heck did you get in here?"

The cat meowed again and ran towards him. Tenchi knelt down to pick it up when the feline vanished before his eyes.

"Huh?" Tenchi froze as he heard the familiar ringing behind him. It sounded a lot higher up. A woman's laughter broke the silence, bringing the young solicitor back to life as he rose, turned and beheld the stranger behind him.

She was hidden in the shadows, but her wild hair made her appear to have escaped from a madhouse. She was sitting atop a sturdy bookcase so that her feet swung just inches above eye level. The roof of the conical tower study was nearly twenty feet above the floor, but in the darkness it appeared to be a yawning chasm into infinity.

The woman was twirling the cat's ribbon collar in her fingers, causing the bell to ring eerily. Abruptly she caught it in her fist and caressed it against her cheek closing her eyes in apparent ecstasy. Without opening her eyes, she tossed it to Tenchi, who gaped as he saw the collar leave a trail of fairy-like sparks behind it as it sailed through the air.

"Oh," Tenchi gasped as he caught the little collar with both hands.

"Ryoko," the strange woman murmured, exposing perfectly straight teeth with sharp canines.

"Ah?" Tenchi looked up from his hands to take a better look at the mysterious woman.

"That's my name…" she said teasingly. She opened her eyes to reveal two glowing green lanterns where her pupils should have been.

Tenchi's breath caught in his throat.

Next: It Was Cold In There…