A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.
Four chapters to go after this…
Over the last couple of days I've become more optimistic about typing unfortunately it's still a slow process at the moment but I'm actually looking forward to writing the final instalment of this once more.
Thank you to Yd rox, Molly and reality slayer the dreamer for making me feel optimistic again about typing YD stories.
So I think I'm going to keep on typing Young Dracula fics, that's if people would like more stories from me…
Chapter 26: Entrances and Exits
The throne was deathly quiet but occupied. Everyone stared at the roughly sketched plan of Vlad's manor trying to make heads and tails of it.
Vlad's throne room was three times the size of the one at Garside Grange School, with more comfortable chairs too. There was a gaping hole where his throne was supposed to sit but by law he couldn't have on until his eighteenth birthday, it was a raised platform so he could see above his 'subjects' when he was seated with three small steps to lead up to it. There was enough room for two thrones. The room was filled with light. There was a long narrow oak table stretching twelve feet down the centre of the hall.
At first the Count seemed a little put out that Vlad's throne room was much bigger than he remembered but then he had to admit Vlad's position demanded that his home was to be greater in size than the normal vampire's.
At the moment the vampires stood on one side and the slayers stood on the other. The subconscious divide was still there.
"Is that supposed to be here?" Vlad tipped his head, angling it painfully as he looked at the sloped lines on the diagram, they definitely weren't straight.
"It's the best I could do!" Jonno protested immediately, he didn't think his ground plan was too bad. He had limited resources to work with, google maps and being in the rooms could only do so much, he'd gotten lost three times. As you went further into Vlad's mansion the corridors and rooms began to look more and more similar. The last time he'd climbed out of the window and walked around the school to the front.
"It still looks like a slice of cheese," Ingrid mumbled, to her it looked like a piece of that sliced Edam cheese.
Jonno clenched his fists beginning to get exasperated, "Look are we going to stand here discussing my drawing skills or we can actually start to plan this thing, what are we going to do?"
Wolfie decided to interrupt them, "What looks like cheese?" He poked his nose over the top of the table but he couldn't see the plans, even though he was at his full height and on tiptoes.
"Can we get on?" Jonno shouted. Wolfie looked at him before sticking his tongue out at the slayer and walking away. Ingrid bit her lip to stop laughing at Wolfie's childish reaction although at the moment she didn't blame him.
The room was once more quiet, Jonno looked around the room. Very few of his own kind and the vampires could meet his gaze without looking amused.
"Right," He began a lot more confidently than he sounded. "We need to lure them in, that means drawing them into this hall." Jonno pointed to the largest hall down the twisting and winding corridors. "Hartleigh will station slayers down these corridors where they intersect, that means fewer slayers will be attacking us in the hall."
Erin shook her head, "It means they'll have reinforcements."
"It'll be staggered though," Vlad informed her quietly, "We can't fight them all in one go. It'll be easier in groups." Vlad leaned over the table bracing his hands, glancing at the map for anything they'd missed.
Jonno sighed, "George will be there leading the charge."
"Are you sure?" Vlad asked him, they only needed to get the contract off him and make the slayers listen.
"He's never missed being at the front of a fight before." Thomas answered. Vlad gave him a wary glance and Jonno nodded in agreement. Vlad wasn't in any hurry to trust Erin's parents until they gave him a reason to do so.
"In this hall there are three more exits than the other hall." That made five exits, one in the west, one in the east, two in the north wall and one large door in the south. "They'll make their way using those doors."
"But there's a lot more entrances." Ingrid pointed out, they could block them easier. There were windows and doors.
"Yes but that means there's also a lot more exits. We can't have our kind being pinned in for too long. All we have to do it clear, two?" He looked at Bertrand who nodded, two exits would be plenty for vampires to morph or vanish through. "Exits and then our kind can begin to escape."
Bertrand pointed to the five exits, "Also their defences will be stretched thin trying to protect them, they'll be in small groups. A group protecting each exit and a larger group in the middle attacking the vampires, not to mention groups outside should anyone escape through the main doors."
"They might try and use another UV generator." Ingrid pointed out. "Trap us all inside."
"We destroyed their main one, they wouldn't have had time to built a new one." Vlad reminded her, looking at Jonno who shrugged. He didn't *think* it was possible to build a new one but no one knew what George had been working on. "Besides the UV protective coating on all the windows would filter out all the effects we wouldn't be powerless."
Ingrid nodded, she'd forgotten about the windows. She wasn't used to them.
Vlad studied his sister, Ingrid looked flustered by something. She seemed to look at Bertrand then duck her head back down in embarrassment. It made him all the more curious to know what had happened, and he knew something obviously had from the way she was reacting.
"Are you going to tell them what's going on?" Jonno asked, it was only fair that the vampires should know.
Vlad shook his head, he didn't want the slayers finding out what they had planned. "No, they'll be bait but they won't know it. The Hartleighs should have been accidentally informed by now." They'd made sure one invite wasn't as discrete as the others so it was intercepted by Hartleigh's slayers.
Jonno placed a taser on the table, "We've got more of these arriving, we've ordered some and we've also got tranquilliser darts on their way." He informed Vlad of the weapons.
Vlad nodded gravely, "We're not going to bite anyone, hopefully." He looked at his father, Ingrid and Bertrand pointedly as he said that. "But you should carry a stake, just in case one of the other vampires decides to join in and go after the wrong side."
Jonno looked into Vlad's eyes. The Nobles looked at Vlad stunned, he was giving them permission to kill in self-defence. It wasn't an easy decision but he wanted to protect them. "Are you sure?" Jonno wanted to know for certain.
"Yeah." Vlad stood fully, his back cracking as he did. "I think that's everything." They all nodded. "So all we have to do now is make sure everything is in place… easy."
It sounded easier than it looked.
YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL
"I don't know where you're going." The Count called to Erin and Vlad as he threw himself down into the chair with a bang making those around him jump. "You need to plan your Betrothal Ball."
Vlad and Erin turned back as one; they'd been trying to creep out unseen.
"I need to have my stitches out!" Erin protested a little too highly. "And Vlad's supposed to be there with me." She defended including her fiancé in the comment. Vlad sent her a grateful glance and she nodded accepting his thanks.
"Your stitches can wait until you've sorted out a menu. Vampire gourmet, only the best for my Vladdy." Ingrid snorted at that, she wasn't jealous with this one. She wasn't a fan of vampire food either so she knew how her baby brother felt. "So what are you going to serve?" The Count's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas.
"Fish and chips." Erin muttered under her breath, Vlad coughed and looked down.
"Nonsense, no son of mine is going to have breather food…" Vlad and Erin rolled their eyes at each other, they were perfectly happy with breather food and looking across to Ingrid she was too. "Ocelot, diced eel, slugs, badger noses, chicken brain blancmange…"
Vlad was going to stop him before he got too carried away. "Dad, Erin doesn't eat meat."
The Count gave Erin a wide-eyed look of outrage before a smirk covered his face as he remembered something. "She ate ocelot." He immediately pointed out. Vlad winced at the memory; Erin hadn't eaten it she'd tossed it onto his plate every single time. Vlad only wished he had someone he could have done the same to.
"Actually I had her portion each time." Vlad admitted to him.
"She did that without me finding out?" Erin looked down as she expected to be scolded. The Count surprised her by placing a soft kiss to her forehead, "I'm impressed."
Vlad rolled his eyes at the 'compliment', Erin looked at him and he just shrugged.
"But you have to have these things…" His voice came out more of a worried protest than a whine and it had alarm bells ringing in Vlad's head.
The Count's eyes twitched nervously, Vlad picked up on it immediately despite his father's attempts to hide it. "What have you done?" He questioned politely but with no room for discussion.
"I may have given Renfield the menu without checking with you."
Vlad didn't feel like shouting or losing his temper, he just let out a resigned sigh and nodded, "Fine." He glanced at Erin who shrugged, she'd go along with him. They'd never hear the end of it if they didn't have vampire food, they'd just have to make sure they were filled with soy blood for the evening instead to keep their hunger at bay "Do whatever you want with the food. Saves us a job, for now we're going to…"
Vlad tried again to leave, but a firm hand clamped down on his back. "If you want to best Hartleigh you're going to train."
Vlad groaned and Erin shook her head, at least she was free to do whatever she wanted – until Renfield insisted on pulling her stitches out.
YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL
Training had been a lot more intense than usual with Bertrand deliberately trying new tactics and moves to get him to think quicker and quicker each time. It had worked for a while until Bertrand had declared he had something to do and ended the lesson. Vlad found that was strange considering Bertrand seemed to value training above everything else.
In the last twelve hours Bertrand had seemed more relaxed for some reason and that was making him feel nervous, a happy and relaxed Bertrand always had him worrying.
Vlad looked around the library; Erin seemed small in the massive room. She glanced up at him as he moved across to her. She seemed unaware that he was even in the same room as her, he smiled to himself and looked over her shoulder.
She seemed too engrossed in the book. He looked at the title printed on the top of the page, in the centre, throughout the book. He shook his head. Out of all the books in the library, trust her to find that one. He didn't even have a clue where the alphabet started in this library. The pages yellowed with age making it easier for her to read.
"You know I hate that play now, right?" Romeo and Juliet had become a little bit too literal for his tastes recently.
Erin jumped a foot in the air, banging her legs on the table. She rubbed them thankful she didn't bruise anymore.
She looked apologetic as she looked at the book, "I didn't think you'd mind…" She began but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Its your home too… that's if you want it to be." He finished quietly, before looking at her expressionless face. "Do you want it to be?"
TBC
A/N: What do you think?
Do you want the final part set immediately after or a few years time?
Thanks for reading.