Memories And Guilt
Dracula crept quietly into the dark room and shut the door slowly so it wouldn't creak. He could make out the dim shape of the bed in the pitch black room, and he started to creep towards it. However he only just missed tripping over Verona, who was lying on the floor, eyes tightly shut. Studying his surroundings he saw Marishka hanging from the ceiling upside down, her back to him, and Aleera was sprawled out on the bed, her pale naked form standing out from the darkness.
Dracula stood smirking for a moment, knowing these women were his to do with what he pleased, then he raised his arms in the air, lighting the many candles in the room. "Up!" he roared, causing his brides to raise from their stupor with a start. Verona was the first to notice Dracula and she immediately threw herself at him, flaunting her naked body. He ran one hand roughly over her chest and kissed her harshly.
They were suddenly joined by Marishka and Aleera, who had decided that Verona was getting far too much attention from their master. Slowly they pulled Dracula back to the bed, undressing him, as he kissed them harshly, none of the intimacy or warmth as when he kissed Lara. This was more raw, more animalistic. There were no words of love spoken, just the raw animal passion.
After his brides had given Dracula what he wanted, he pushed them away roughly, barely even looking at them. Verona, Marishka and Aleera gathered at the end of the large bed, kneeling before their master, fully clothed again now that their master had finished with them. Dracula lay back on the bed, ignoring his brides for the moment.
Guilt was gnawing inside Dracula's head. He had slept with his brides twice now. But he shouldn't have, he was supposed to be in love with Lara. His brides were merely tools to him, tools to give him satisfaction. He loved Lara. But he had loved his brides once, a long time ago. And he knew deep down at those certain moments, when they smiled, when the laughed together he still did. But know he had Lara. He and Lara had more than love, it was something different.
But his brides would do whatever he wanted, including sleep with him, one thing Lara said she would not do. Not for the first time Dracula wished he had just said yes when she had asked him the other night. If the situation ever arose again he would sleep with her. No question. Sex with his brides was good. But sex with Lara? He shivered at the very thought of it. He knew it would be amazing.
Remembering his brides he sat up, and beckoned for them to come to him. They lay next to him, Marishka on his right, Aleera on his left and Verona at his feet. They all rested against him, Marishka and Aleera stroking his chest softly. He lay back for a moment just relaxing at their touch. He knew Lara wouldn't mind him sleeping with his brides. It was only sex and if Lara didn't want to sleep with him, he would have to find sex elsewhere. He was really doing Lara a favour. Lara would definitely not mind.
The room's main feature was the large glass dome in the centre of the ceiling, looking out to the heavens above, the shining stars, the half moon shining silvery moonlight down on the old piano in the middle of the room. It was covered with an old dusty sheet, and it was surrounded by old crackly leaves which had blown in from the hole in the spectacular glass dome.
Lara brushed the leaves away from the piano, with her hands, leaving them in the corner of one room. She went back to the piano and with a deep breath pulled the sheet of the piano, which exhaled a large quantity of dust into the air. When the dust settled, the piano was finally revealed, and she dropped the sheet to the floor. It was beautiful, shining black, embossed with roses on the lid. She stroked the cool wood softly, and then lifted the lid to reveal the sparkling keys. The piano was in beautiful condition.
Lara sat herself gracefully at the piano stool and held her fingers above the keys, before playing a simple scale. The notes came out pure and true, the piano sounded beautiful, the notes were of such purity they made Lara want to cry. Her fingers trembled slightly on the keys, and she quickly withdrew her hands, breathing on them gently to warm them. Again she moved her hands to the keys, breathing steadily, and gradually ran her slender finders progressively along the scales. As she let her fingers grow re-accustomed to the keys and notes she began to play simple tunes, until finally she began to recall the melodies she used to play.
Lilting songs, sad marches, and melodic tunes filled the lonely hall, echoing from one corner of the hall to another. The pieces brought her back to her old life, the life before Dracula. She remembered herself, a child, sat at the piano, the candlelight flickering softly around the room. Her mother, stood behind her, smiling softly as she sang. She remembered her old wooden piano, the one her father made for her, and how mother wouldn't even venture into the room after her father's death. Lana didn't notice the tears fall down her face as she played. The music was lifted out of the glass dome, and the tinkling tunes echoed out in the moonlight, the stars seeming to shine and flicker to the beat. The music woke the birds and the night animals raised their hands to this wonder.
Lara forget everything, all there was in her world was the piano and the music she played. Continuously she played slipping form tune to tune, major to minor. Her fingers flew across the keys, each one pressed lovingly as she played. Her eyes flashed, and she tossed her hair carelessly out of the way.
Somewhere on the other side of the castle, music slowly trickled into Dracula's ears, making him stop and listen for a moment, marveling at the purity of it, but then the music was lost, drowned out by the excessive giggling of his brides. Back in the room where Lara poured her soul into the piano, the leaves flew around Lara as a small wind blew in from the hole in the dome.
When Lara had run out of songs to play, she kept playing, just improvising, making her own song. She hummed softly and then realized what she was playing. It was the music she heard when she was with Dracula, like when they danced, or at the masquerade ball. She had smiled gently at the memory, but then remembered the night before she had first heard the music.
She stopped suddenly backing away from the piano as if it was a snake. She fell backwards over the stool in her haste and crashed to the silvery stone floor. She sat up, panting heavily, realizing that the piano wasn't going to do anything. She looked down at her own hands as if they had betrayed her. She was being silly. The past couldn't hurt her.
She was over reacting. But then why then, when she played the music did it bring up those horrible memories, in vivid detail? She had forgotten half of that stuff, blocking it out of her memory, until now that is. Now it was coming back in full force like it was happening right that very moment. It was like she was trying to show herself what a bad man Dracula was. Had been, she told herself firmly. Dracula had changed, for the good. He was kind, caring, and gentle now.
But then earlier when he had shouted at her, he had scared her badly. Why had he over reacted to a simple question? Lara shook her head frantically trying to lose all the thoughts that were rushing around her head. She didn't want to think badly of Dracula, she loved him, she was happy. However as soon as she thought that, doubts swarmed into her head. "Get out!" she screamed at her own head.
Instantly a great silence filled the hall, and her mind. Her thoughts had disappeared. Breathing a sigh of relief she stood up and walked cautiously towards the piano and sat down again. Nervously she pressed one of the keys imagining it would suddenly take on a life of it's own and start playing the song again, dragging up more memories.
However all it did was play a D note and then fade away as soon as her finger left the key. "Keep playing." came a small voice from behind her. Lana spun around, to see Matana dressed in blue silk, her hair piled on top of her head.. "What are you doing here Matana?" she asked nervously. Matana moved over to her, and ran one pale hand over the piano's keys. Lana tried to back away but there was no where to go. "You were playing so beautifully. You play better then my father does." she told Lara, turning to face her. "Will you play for me?" Lara nodded, gulping, nervous in the company of Matana.
Lara sat down on the stool, and Matana joined her, watching Lana's hands expectantly. She began to play choosing a lively song for the little girl. "Another," she encouraged Lara once she was finished. Lara played another song, this time a slow and dramatic piece. "How long had you been listening to me play Matana?" Lara asked as her hands flew across the keys. "Quite a while," she replied, watching Lara's hands eagerly. "I heard you from my room." Lara nodded. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you." she said politely wondering what to say to the little vampire girl.
"Don't be," said Matana breathlessly. "But tell me something. What was the song you were playing before you fell over?" Lara stopped playing, letting the last few notes fade into the air. Matana jumped up onto the piano top, and tapped a few of the keys with her feet. "A song, I sometimes hear it when I'm with your father." she told the little girl.
Matana bounded to a small ledge in the wall, in one clean jump, where she sat watching Lara. "You really like him don't you?" she asked. Lara nodded, slightly embarrassed. Matana continued on. "He likes you too, you know. He never spends anytime with me now and when he is with me, all he does is talk about you. And thinks about you. You know, he's really annoyed and angry that you won't sleep with him."
Lara blushed to hear such things coming from a little girl's mouth. "Did he say that to you?" she asked softly. Matana shook her head. "No, but he thinks about it all the time, and I overheard him thinking about it. You should hear some of the things he wants to do to you, and the things he wants you to do to him!" she giggled mischievously from her perch. "You should give him what he wants and then he'll stop being angry with you."
"You really shouldn't talk of things like that Matana." she told the little girl, her face almost bright red. "You know you should really sleep with him Lara." Matana said, ignoring Lara. "Because if you don't, he'll just make you again. Remember how he did it before? Either that or he'll go back to his other brides." The air was tense, the conversation seemed to have turned sinister, Matana was smirking from the shadows. "I offered to sleep with him the other night," she said angrily to the little girl. "But he said no."
Matana stopped giggling. "You didn't mean it Lara. You wouldn't have slept with him if he had agreed. All I'm saying is don't expect him to stay celibate for the rest of your life. Because I know my father. He won't. There were girls before you Lara. Granted that, they didn't last as long as you have. But don't be surprised if one day, you find yourself being replaced, like my mothers were replaced by you."
There was an awkward silence. Lara was confused. Matana was well beyond her years, speaking with her always left Lara feeling puzzled about herself. "Are you trying to make me sleep with your father?" she asked Matana, who flipped herself down from the wall. "No, I'm not trying to make you do anything. I'm just giving you some advice. And a warning, that's all." Matana told her.
Matana looked up at the roof, at the glass dome. "Do you want to go up there?" she asked Lara who had followed her gaze. "I'll take you if you want." Lara shook her head. "I'd rather not," she told the little girl, but Matana grabbed onto her arm. "Don't be scared," she told Lara, "You'll love it up there." And within seconds they were standing on the tiled roof of Castle Frankenstein.
The view in the moonlight spread out for miles. In the distance she could see the Carpathian Mountains, in another direction a shimmering blue lake. "It's beautiful," she told Matana softly, sitting down on the sloped roof. On one side the tower stretched out above her. "It's a little cold, but it's still beautiful." She smiled at Matana and the little girl smiled back. "I told you you'd like it. But I have something better to show you. Close your eyes and count to 3" The smile on her face turned to a grin
Lara did what Matana told her to do, wondering what the little vampire was going to show her. When she reached 3, she opened her eyes and looked around unbelievingly. Matana was gone. Cursing angrily she stood up, looking for Matana or a way off the roof, but there was none. She was trapped, the little vampire girl had caught her nicely. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. Matana had tricked her nicely.
For a moment Lara had almost thought of Matana as a friend when they had smiled at each other. But that was all a lie to deceive her. What about the stuff she had said before? Was that a lie? She didn't think so, everything she had said about Dracula seemed to be exactly like Dracula, even if the things she had said were quite embarrassing. She wondered what Dracula wanted to do to her, and then blushed again. She remembered Dracula had told her before to stay away from Matana. She just wish she had remembered sooner and then she wouldn't have been stuck up here. No doubt this was one of the brides plans, to get her out of the way so they could get at Dracula..
She was stuck up here now, until Dracula decided to come looking for her. Which could be a while, she had no idea what the time was or when Dracula would be finished with whatever he was doing. The moon was still high in the sky, but it seemed to be setting, not rising. She shivered and huddled inside her dress. It was cold and her dress was little more than a piece of silk.
She was alone for now. She sat just looking out at the view, thinking of nothing, but slowly memories began to grip her mind, the memories she didn't want to see. She shook in terror as they rolled over her, engulfing her, taking her back to that night. She tried to stop them, but now this gate had been opened they wouldn't stop coming in. She tried to block them out with other memories but it didn't work.
Gradually she just let the memories over take her, fill her head. She cried in terror, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Eventually no more tears would come and the memories faded away almost as if they had never been there. Lara's head was buried in her knees. She jumped suddenly when she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.
Looking up she saw it was Dracula, dressed in his cloak, another smaller one at his feet. She hurriedly wiped away the tears that still clung to her face and smiled. "You weren't crying because you were stuck up here were you Lara?" he asked jokingly, noting her red eyes. Lara shook her head, but didn't elaborate, she didn't want to tell him the real reason and Dracula made a mental reminder to ask her later. "You're freezing Lara," he said worriedly feeling her arms, running his hands up and down them. He handed her the cloak. "Here put this on." Lara put it on and instantly felt warmer.
Dracula drew her into his arms, comforting her. "I thought you had run away from me Lara," he told her softly. "I couldn't find you in the piano room. But I've found you now. You'll never run away from me will you Lara?" he asked her, as she buried her face into his muscular chest, almost glad that he hadn't kissed her, for fears of what memories it would bring with it. She shook her head lightly, and then looked up at Dracula. "Are we going somewhere?" she asked him, motioning to their cloaks.
Dracula nodded. "We're going to Castle Dracula." he said offering no reason. "How do I get there?" she asked. Dracula smiled and placed one finger on her head. She fell back unconscious in his arms. "Just sleep Lara," he whispered, "Just sleep."