Chapter 21:

Relocation

The world was spiraling at the speed of light. Finally, after a matter of seconds, the vortex slowed and the blurred rainbow of colors began to come into focus. With a flash of white light, Dracula and Lauren were hurled to the ground as they reached their destination. Dracula landed gracefully on his feet, while Lauren stumbled to the hard ground with a thud. "OW!" she groaned and wobbled to stand up.

Dracula laughed, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Allow me," he offered. In the blink of an eye, Dracula had Lauren's hands intertwined in his own, she was standing up, and her body was pressed against him. Lauren gasped at the delicious friction between them. Her body felt like thousands of wondrous red-hot flames were erupting from her skin. She gulped and jerked away from Dracula and his impish gaze. "Thank you," Lauren replied curtly and bent down to pick up her bag.

"My pleasure," the Count responded, his devious look never fading. He was making progress. She would be his. Lauren dusted herself off and took a step towards the front door of her brother's condo. The building was larger than the average-sized condo however, because Harry had built extensions over the years. The small condo was now the size of the average two-story house.

Lauren put her thumb to the doorbell to announce their arrival. After a few seconds, the oak door swung open to reveal a young man with blue eyes, tanned skin, and sandy blonde hair that sat on his head like an unruly mop. "Lauren!" he cried happily, and embraced his sister. "Hi Harry!" Lauren answered and grinned.

"Come on in!" Harry exclaimed with a smile. He hadn't seen his sister in a long time. Lauren took a step into the building with her sack on her shoulder, stopped, and turned to see Dracula lingering on the porch. "That means you too, Count," Lauren called. Dracula cautiously stepped through the doorframe and into the house. Nothing happened. He was not thrust backwards or filled with excruciating pain. He had permission.

A young woman with light green eyes and short, chocolate-colored hair came downstairs. "Lauren!" Bonnie screamed and bolted to her sister-in-law. Lauren laughed and hugged Bonnie. "Good to see ya, Bon-bon." Bonnie groaned. "Oh God, please don't call me that! You know I hate it!" Lauren smirked. "I know." Bonnie glanced past Lauren and stepped to her husband's side, nervously clasping his hand. Lauren took note of Bonnie's sudden discomfort and cleared her throat. "And this is-"

"Count Vladislaus Draguila," Dracula finished and regally bowed his head. Harry clapped and Lauren rolled her eyes. "He likes introducing himself," she explained dryly. Bonnie giggled and Dracula narrowed his eyes. She always has to have something clever to say! he thought crossly. Harry extended his right hand to shake the Count's. "Nice to meet you, Count. Sorry if I'm too bold, but I'm seriously surprised that you haven't bitten my sister yet and made her one of your mindless brides." Bonnie gasped at her husband's blunt comment and Lauren scowled, a livid blush spreading across her face. "Harry!"

"What?" he replied and removed his hand. Dracula chuckled. "I will not lie and say that I did not make an attempt to, Mr. DiCamillo. I did try. But your sister is very hard to… persuade." Harry smirked knowingly. "I'm not surprised. You're welcome in our house, Count, as long as you don't bite anybody. Is that ok?"

Dracula nodded his head. "That is agreeable." He snuck a glance at Lauren and grinned. "But what if someone were to ask me to bite them?" Lauren huffed. "That will never happen!" Harry laughed. "Then it's ok. Just try to keep your hands off my sister in public please."

"HARRY!"

The oldest DiCamillo sibling ignored his fuming sister. As funny as he found Dracula's attraction to his sister to be, he knew it was also very dangerous. He'd talk to the Count in private later about how protective of his sister he was, and how far Harry would go to defend her, if necessary. Bonnie chose to stay out of the storm brewing between her husband and sister-in-law. She shook her head at the sight of Harry and Count Dracula conversing over Lauren, turned to the stairs and called, "Holly! Chris! Your aunt is here!"

Two childish screams could be heard, followed by the sound of two pairs of feet scampering down the stairs. "AUNTIE LAUREN!" The two blurs tackled their aunt in an inescapable hug. "Auntie Lauren, Auntie Lauren! You're here!" Holly cried. But because she was three, it sounded like, 'Auntie Wauwen.' "You haven't visited us in a long time!" Chris accused.

Lauren laughed, and the happiness of her reunion with her niece and nephew made her eyes shine like rare jewels. "I know, I'm sorry. But if I'm going to get such a warm reception every time I visit, I'll stay away longer."

"NO!" Holly screeched and clung to her aunt. "Don't go away ever!" Harry snickered at the sight of his children embracing and scolding their aunt. "Yeah, Auntie Wauwen. Don't go away! That's not nice."

"Oh shut up Harry!" Lauren shot defensively. "Don't mock the fact that Holly can't say 'Lauren' right yet!"

Holly tugged on her aunt's pant leg insistently. "Auntie Lauren! Look what I can do!" The three year-old dashed into the next room and brought back a small ball. She handed it to her aunt and said, "Ok, now throw it!" Lauren did as she was told. The ball flew up, but didn't come back down. With a flick of her hands, Holly froze it midair. "Look! I can keep stuff frozen now!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"That's great!" Lauren replied with a proud smile. "You've been practicing I see." Holly beamed and ran to her aunt's side again. Chris huffed, annoyed that he was out of the spotlight. "That's nothing! Look what I can do!" Chris waved his hand to the left, and the ball was forcibly removed from its unmoving position. It went flying into the wall with loud splat.

"Wow!" Lauren replied and her smile widened. "You've been practicing too!" Chris grinned impishly. "Yep!" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "A little too much, I'm afraid. No playing ball in the house!" Lauren laughed and gave the young witch and warlock a hug again.

Dracula watched Lauren hold her niece and nephew. Their love and adoration for their aunt was obvious. And Lauren was just as crazy about them. A ghost of a smile grazed his lips. The bond between the children and their aunt was so cute and loving. Judging from Lauren's face and the way she teased, yet protectively held her niece and nephew, she couldn't love them more if they were her own. Finally, he cleared his throat to break up the display. He was being forgotten about.

Lauren looked up. "Chris, Holly, this is Count Dracula. He's going to stay with us for a while, and help us fight some demons." The two children looked up in awe at the name. "Count Dracula?" Chris breathed, obviously impressed. "Like the man in the story you told us?"

Dracula stared at Lauren intently. "Story?" Lauren's face flushed red. "Uh," she stammered, at loss on how to how explain. Dracula smiled and folded his arms across his chest. "You told them a story about Dracula?" Bonnie asked incredulously. "Well, you see-" Lauren nervously began.

"Auntie Lauren told us a bedtime story about Count Dracula once when she was babysitting us!" Chris proudly explained. "You did?" Dracula inquired. "That's a story I gotta hear," Harry added. "How about now?" Lauren shook her head. "Uh, no. Maybe some other time."

"But I want to hear it again!" Chris protested and put on a puppy dog-like face. "Yeah!" Holly shouted with an innocent smile. Whatever her brother wanted to do, she wanted to do too. Lauren looked at everyone in the room watching her. She was trapped. "Well… Ok. But I told the story a long time ago, so I've probably forgotten a lot of it."

"Nuh uh!" Chris said, his corrections for his aunt on a roll. "You never forget a story! We want to hear everything! No cheating Auntie Lauren!"

"Yeah," Harry agreed with a smirk. "No cheating." Lauren groaned with defeat. "Alright, alright. But let's go in the living room so we can sit down, and can't I just put my bag upstairs real fast?"

"We'll go in the living room, Lauren. But you can put your bag upstairs later. I think we all want to hear this story," Harry answered, still grinning. Lauren sighed. "I surrender!" she cried and raised her arms in the air. Harry laughed. "That's a first."

Dracula grinned as well. Now if I can just convince her to surrender to me. The troop herded themselves into the living room much too fast for Lauren's liking. Everyone took a seat on the white leather couch supplied there, with Lauren at the top of the circle in a chair. Dracula is never going to let me live this down! Why did Chris have to remember that story I told? This is so humiliating!

Now Lauren, telling a story about me is not humiliating. I am quite flattered actually. I am most anxious to hear what you could have told your niece and nephew about me.

Lauren rolled her eyes in irritation. I'd appreciate it if you'd stay out of my head please!

But it is such a fascinating place. Your mind is one of the many places I'd like to… explore.

Tough. Do you want me to tell the story or not?

Please proceed, came the obviously gloating answer.

Lauren took a deep breath. "Ok. There was once a prince of Wallachia who-"

"That's not right!" Holly interrupted. "You're supposed to start with 'once upon a time!'" Lauren fought the urge to roll her eyes and snap at her young niece. "Sorry. You're right Holly. Once upon a time, there was a prince. His name was Vlad Dracul III. He's more commonly known today as Count Dracula. Vlad's kingdom was the polity of Wallachia. Vlad had two brothers, Mircea, his older brother, and Radu, his younger brother."

Dracula sat on the couch cushion, his face completely emotionless. Except for his eyes, which revealed his curiosity and intrigue. He was hearing his story from Lauren's lips, through her eyes. This would be most the most fascinating tale to be certain. Not to mention, every time she said 'Vlad,' he felt like trembling from head to foot in sinful delight. He enjoyed, no hungered for his name, his true name, to be on her lips.

"The Prince's country was at war with the Turks. He loathed and despised them with a passion. When Vlad was a child, he and his brother Radu were prisoners of the Turks. Vlad was not released until many years after his brother was. Once he did however, he made the Turks pay for imprisoning him for so long. I won't go into it, but is was really, really bloody."

Chris leaned forward with child-like enthrallment. "Cool!" he breathed. Bonnie looked horrified at her child, Harry coughed to hide his laughter, Holly shrieked, "EW!" and Dracula curved his lips in amusement. The naïve child, he thought humorously.

"Uh, not really Chris," Lauren corrected. How do you explain impalement to a five-year old? "Anyway, Prince Vlad soon became feared throughout Europe. He did everything in his power to keep a rebellion from rising. He did an excellent job of that, until his death that is. As to how he died, just ask him that because he's sitting right there on the couch."

Harry burst into uncontrollable laughter and Bonnie rolled her eyes. Dracula cocked an eyebrow. The majority of him was immensely amused. However, another part of him was clinging to her words. They illustrated no harsh judgment of him. Is this what she truly thinks of me? Or was that just a tale to tell her niece and nephew? Dracula gazed at Lauren with fierce yearning. He ached for her touch, her acceptance. What did he have to do to convince her to be his?

"So," Lauren began. "How accurate was that?" Dracula met her gaze and grinned. "Almost impeccably. My only complaint is that you left out many details." Lauren rolled her eyes and glared at him. "Well duh! Holly and Chris are just kids! I don't want to scare them half to death and scar them for life thank you very much!"

"Hey!" the two toddlers protested, both of them furious. "We're not that little!" Chris and Holly then started up the boastings of, "I'm three and a half!" Or, "I'm a big boy now! See!" By the time the two siblings finished their demonstrations of their obvious maturity, Lauren and Dracula were shown to the two guest rooms they would occupy upstairs, side by side. Lauren would be 'in charge' of Dracula to insure that he behaved himself. Harry had been unsure what Dracula would prefer, an actually bedroom or the darkness of his basement. The Count chose the bedroom.

Dracula idly looked about his quarters, small, but quaint. He wouldn't need the room for much anyway. Perking his ears, he could distinctly hear Lauren singing to herself next door. Grinning, the Count stepped out into the hall and knocked twice on Lauren's door.

"Come in," she called, and ceased her song. Dracula wordlessly entered the room, disappointed that she had stopped singing, and found Lauren sprawled on the bed, strands of her blonde hair loosely out of place, and piles upon piles of large, bulky books surrounding her, including the one in her hand. She looked up to acknowledge her visitor. "Count. What's up?"

Dracula took a moment to take in the amount of books around his singer. "What are you reading?"

"Spell books. I'm formulating different ideas for the other demon-hunters at the Las Vegas DHWW Headquarters. We meet with them in two days." Lauren looked back down at the scribbles of magical rituals in her current book.

"I see."

"Yeah, what did you think of my family? Is the DiCamillo Hotel satisfactory?"

Dracula chuckled. "Your family is kind and very generous to honor me with hospitality. I actually think I'll like living here."

"Don't pick out curtains or anything though, because that's Bonnie's pride and joy." Dracula said nothing, but his amusement was plain on his face. "By the way," Lauren added. "You have to get your story down for the other demon-hunters."

"Pardon?"

Lauren sighed, and book-marked her book. "The other demon-hunters are going to want to know exactly why the infamous Count Dracula is helping the cause of Good. You're going to have to convince them that you're not going to double-cross us. I'm forewarning you, they can be a very judgmental group. " As she said this, there was a hint of anger hidden in her voice.

"I will simply tell them the truth. I was betrayed, and I now have no ties to my past accomplices. Besides, I can be very… persuasive when I want to be."

Lauren laughed out loud. "So I've noticed. But be very careful on what you say. The slightest word can condemn you. You already have your record against you."

"My record?" Dracula repeated. "Yes, well. I will show your council of demon-hunters that I mean them no harm, and only wish for revenge against Alan Barlow."

"Hey, you've got my trust on that Dracula. But with the demon-hunters, you might want to leave out the word, 'revenge.'"

Dracula eyed Lauren with a peculiar look etched into his face when she said the word 'trust.' "While we are on the topic of stories, Lauren, enlighten me. What you told your niece and nephew about me, is that the truth, or just a story?"

Lauren removed her eyes from his burning gaze. "I-. It-." She sighed, exasperated. "Truth," she finally muttered. Dracula felt his glee radiate from within him like a glorious flame. "I enjoyed hearing my story from you."

Lauren shrugged and bit her lip, something she seemed to be doing quite a lot lately. "Well, would you like me to help you examine your books?" Dracula questioned, sensing her discomfort.

"If you like."

"I do."

Lauren scooted over and handed Dracula a pile of her books. The Count took a seat on the bed, and in between watching Lauren, basking in her warmth, he actually read her spell books for the next several hours. Both man and woman were perfectly aware of the other, and the appealing contact of their bodies. Lauren herself found it difficult to read, what with Dracula's strong physique resting beside her own. Risking a brief moment to glance at the Count, the blonde couldn't help but admit in her mind, Damn! His enticing sex appeal is not fair!

She didn't notice the victorious curl of the vampire's lips, nor the dancing fire in his eyes. He had heard, and his pleasure knew no bounds. My dear, what truly is not fair, is your denial!

Me thinks that Lauren should watch her thoughts, no? hehehe. I'll update as soon as I can!

-ForeverACharmedOne