We laid together, legs entangled, on a soft pile of leaves after making love for the first time as husband and wife. True, the ceremony was not the traditional one I always longed to be a part of, but it was perfect none the less. I couldn't even begin to fathom how a girl such as I who was once the purest, most innocent and compassionate person my friends claimed to know, could end up the wife of the most feared character in all of history. How I could kill so easily, make love so passionately, and care so little for the damage I may leave in my wake. I didn't understand how one glance from him could make me forget everything I used to be. But it could…and I did.
Lying there, naked and natural, my body kept warm by his arms wrapped about me, I gazed up at the stars, which were brighter than I had ever seen them before. The glowed in shades of gold, and I quietly began to hum to myself a song that I had loved for the longest time, and had actually become my life.
"That's beautiful." Dracula whispered. "Does it have words?"
"Yes…but I am hardly the person to sing them. I will do them no justice."
"Well, we'll have to see then, won't we?" He kissed the top of my head. "Sing to me, Jenna." Taking a deep breath, I began to sing. The voice that escaped my lips seemed polyphonic, as if more than one person were singing along with me. It was haunting, and even I shivered in response.
Come into these arms again
And lay your body down
The rhythm of this trembling heart
Is beating like a drum
It beats for you, it bleeds for you
It knows not how it sounds
For it is the drum of drums
It is the song of songs
Once I had the rarest rose
That ever deemed to bloom
Cruel winter chilled the bud
And stole my flower too soon
The loneliness, the hopelessness
To search the ends of time
For there is in all the world
No greater love than mine
Let me be the only one
To keep you from the cold
Now the floor of heaven's laid
With stars of brightest gold
They shine for you
They shine for you
They burn for all to see
Come into these arms again
And set this spirit free…
Dracula remained silent for a moment, then said, "That…was more beautiful than I could ever have imagined it to be. Where did you learn that song? What is it?"
"You'll laugh…"
"I'll try to restrain myself. Tell me." I sighed.
"Well, I'm sure you are well aware of the fact that popular culture has immortalized you into literature's and Hollywood's greatest villain. But this one film…I saw it a long time ago…showed you as you are…or were…lost, and looking for someone to love who will love you in return. That song is from that film."
"Perhaps I'll see it. Films fascinate me."
"Although…that brings me to a question."
"What?"
"When we first met, you revealed to me your true identity. Why then, throughout all of these years have historians claimed you to be the immortalized persona of Prince Vlad of Romania…otherwise known as…"
"Vlad the Impaler…yes…not my most glamorous years, but me nonetheless. People credit that time period for my transformation because of the violent ways I chose to try and prove to God and Christ that I was still worthy of Their love. I killed countless Muslims in defense of Christianity, praying that would redeem me. However, I was already Nosferatu before that…I just kept a lower profile."
"And what of your wife?"
"You know of her?"
"History…was she the first love you spoke of?" Dracula shook his head.
"No, but she was a good Catholic girl preparing to enter a nunnery. She was yet another attempt at my salvation, a pure woman to seal my happier fate. However…when she learned of my true identity, she flung herself off of the battlements of my palace, and I decided then too many lives had been lost in pursuit of forgiveness. So I gave up." I decided to dig a little deeper into the mystery that was my new husband.
"Who was the woman, then? The one who you loved before me?"
"First, I must tell you that I thought I loved her…I didn't know what true love was until I met you." I nestled deeper into his embrace. "Her name was Mary Van Helsing." I shot up with a start.
"Van Helsing? Like-"
"Like Abraham Van Helsing, from that Irish man's novel."
"Bram Stoker."
"Yes, fool almost knew what he was talking about…almost…anyway, Mary was Abraham's daughter. Abraham, determined to keep me at bay for all eternity injected himself with viles of my blood, giving himself the closest thing to immortality. When I was freed again, my blood called to me, and for that reason and that reason alone, I felt the need to have her. Now that I look back, I think my main motive was to keep myself immune from their power to restrain me, not love."
"You've been through so much. Where do you find the strength?"
"Before, I was never sure. The knowledge that I couldn't die, even if I wanted to forced me to make the most of my eternal life. Now…I find my strength in you." I leaned toward him and kissed his lips tenderly. "So beautiful…" he whispered.
"So are you." And as I kissed him again, I felt something I never thought I could feel while in the arms of the man I loved. Somewhere behind the immense happiness I felt, I could also feel the faintest pang of loneliness and loss.