I must admit - I'm really curious to see how you guys respond to this chapter. Dracula, as we all know, has been undergoing some hefty character development, but as you're about to see - he still has that arrogant asshole streak in him. I'm trying to make his transformation realistic, you guys - so don't get too frustrated with him. ;) People don't dramatically change overnight.
I do love reading your reactions to the things that have been happening in this story though; but what I love even more is when you guys dive into the characters and what they're experiencing and try to unveil the deeper layers hidden beneath everything else.
Either way, I hope you enjoy. Forgive any mistakes I may have missed and don't forget to review!
Thank you to alexc1209, the invisible reader, Scarlet Empress, She-Devil Red, ForeverACharmedOne, Nyx-Arae, bloodyrose2014, ShadowSpade, Bloodsired, RegencyPoet, TendernessOfTheHeart, Guest, AnimeFan001, and Forbidden Moons for reviewing chapter 34. You guys are awesome!
Oh! And before I forget - I have a proposition I'd like to put before you guys. It's at the end of the chapter. Would appreciate your input! :)
XXXV
Debts to Pay, Promises to Keep
The deep forest was already cool with the chill of fall, hinting at the bite of winter. In the misty gloom and fading moonlight, Velkan was bound to the sacrificial post, his hands tied over his head. He flexed against his bonds, but gave no struggle. An unusual silence had descended on the forest—even the early morning mountain winds could barely be heard rustling through the branches. If the gypsy prince felt any growing anxiety, he gave no apparent sign, scanning the trees around him, boldly prepared to meet his fate.
He had made a deal—and despite his better judgment, it was time to pay up.
Snap.
A twig fell from above.
The rustle of leaves.
Remarkably small indications considering what they heralded.
More noise.
The creak of a tree.
Velkan's head suddenly craned upward, feeling the beast he had been struggling to vanquish circle him.
Even from thirty feet below, the creature was remarkably agile for something with its great mass and its height of more than seven feet. Using its very large and sharp claws, the werewolf clung nearly horizontally to the bark of the tree. It took a moment to study its prey with terrible cunning in its eyes, allowing its master to see through those disgusting rings of yellow.
Through the wolf's eyes and being a significantly safe distance from the clearing, Dracula watched Prince Velkan with interest, noticing how the prince stayed alert, but steady and defiant, remarkably so for someone facing one of the most dangerous creatures on Earth. The wolf was getting impatient. The vampire could sense this, but with his will bent against the beast, he ordered it to remain silent and in position.
"Come on," Velkan challenged the wolf, unaware that its master was only a few feet away. "Dracula unleashed you for a reason."
Dracula's lips curved into a twisted smile.
"That's right, little prince," he whispered softly. "I did."
With a flick of his wrist, he ordered the wolf to attack.
Snarling viciously through its awful, oversized canines, it leaped down from its perch, all too eager to tear its helpless victim to shreds.
"I'm going to enjoy this," Dracula muttered to himself, waiting for the wolf to tear the human's body to nothing but ribbons of carnage, but something happened that the vampire had only half expected.
The prince had ripped loose of his bindings as the hunt came full circle. Turning, Velkan reached up and vaulted to the top of the post the instant before the werewolf slammed into it. He then lunged to grab the vine hanging above him, even as one of his men on the ground threw a lever.
Instantly the vine pulled Velkan up and away from the monster toward safety. Or so he thought. It suddenly came to an abrupt halt and Velkan began to panic. The Prince's face drained of blood, fear pounding in his heart as the wolf climbed to the top of the post, attempting to grab hold of the human's flailing foot.
The sound of sliding metal, like a sword being unsheathed, caught the attention of the Count and he turned his head to see Princess Anna with her sword drawn, determination in her face.
He nearly burst out laughing.
"No! Anna! It will kill you!" one of the villagers called, trying to stop her, but she tore out of the older man's grip.
"That's my brother out there!" she shouted.
They had surprised the wolf and that had made it a bit more cautious. But they had also angered it, and that made it even more dangerous.
Anna charged out of the bushes, holding her sword in front of her.
Dracula, with the widening of his eyes and a snap of his will against the raging beast, commanded the werewolf to turn and the creature's eyes were instantly on the princess, as were Velkan's.
"Anna! NO!" the gypsy prince shouted.
Naturally, she ignored him, unwilling to let her brother die without at least attempting to help him.
Dracula watched as she covered the distance between herself and her brother rather quickly, raising her blade higher. The beast had a hint of hesitance in its eyes as it eyed the two siblings. Dracula was having a difficult time deciding too. Should he just take care of Velkan and stick to the plan? Or should he kill Anna?
Either way, he couldn't lose, so he ordered the beast to attack the princess, and it did, diving off the post and into her direction. Steeling herself, Anna lifted her weapon and prepared to strike, but before she could, she watched as the werewolf sailed through the air. It landed hard on the ground just a few feet in front of her and it kept falling, into the hidden trap, the exact location of which even Anna had forgotten in the heat of the moment.
The vampire in the shadows cursed viciously under his breath, his eyes glowing a hellish blue, fangs peeking between his lips. What infuriated him even more was when one of the villagers raised an ax to cut a rope and a huge iron cage seemed to rip itself from the ground in front of Anna with the werewolf inside of it. Velkan had a revolver in his hand, loaded with silver bullets from what the vampire could sense and his rage magnified as the Valerious brats continued to outsmart him.
He did, however, receive a hint of satisfaction as he watched the gun get knocked from Velkan's hands as he sat helpless in the tree, getting hit with the cage, the beast raging, fighting to get out. Villagers began to shoot at the monster—a very foolish venture. If they succeeded in hitting the werewolf, they would only enrage it.
"NO!" came Anna's voice as she tore through the men. "Find Velkan's gun! It has to be the silver bullets!"
Dracula watched as several of the ropes sustaining the cage snapped from the force of the beast's thrashing and a malicious smile began to curve his lips. Just a few more ropes, and the wolf would be free. He urged it with his mind to fight harder, and the monster began to thrash more violently in the cage.
Just before Anna could grab the revolver lying on the ground, the cage came crashing down. An instant later, the werewolf burst forth from its smashed prison, and Anna saw the anger blazing in its horrible yellow eyes.
"Kill her!" Dracula screamed in the werewolf's mind and the wolf growled as it tore out of the cage, watching as Anna turned and ran for her life. "Kill her now!"
She did not have to look back to know that the werewolf was on her heels. As Anna and the monster vanished into the forest, Dracula's attention turned to that of Velkan who had leapt from the tree to the forest floor, grabbing hold of his revolver and bolting after Anna.
The vampire hissed and took off into the skies. The sun was just about to break through those mountains; he was running out of time!
He could see Anna on the edge of a cliff looking over the Danube just a few yards ahead, the wolf ready to tear her to pieces, when the impossible happened. Dracula watched from above as Velkan pushed his sister roughly aside, his gun raised at the airborne wolf and a loud bang resonated off the canyon walls. The werewolf howled in pain but managed to lunge forward, biting into Velkan's shoulder and throwing him backward in the abyss.
Relieved, and not to mention satisfied beyond reason, Dracula took off towards the banks of the river, never really noticing Anna and her tears. He hardly cared, his eyes frantically searching for the Valerious brat.
Cursing softly under his breath, he quickly materialized farther downstream to the calmer waters. It took some patience, but within moments he caught sight of a head of brown hair, the water surrounding the floating body a lusting red. Dracula kept his hunger in check as Velkan floated toward the shore, unwittingly climbing towards his new master—the very man he had sworn to never bow down to.
The promise Velkan had intended on keeping this morning hadn't been the one he had made with Dracula. It had been the one he had made to his father—to protect the people and to keep his sister safe.
He had done that much today.
But at a cost he hadn't considered.
Velkan continued to climb to shore, still unaware that Dracula stood in front of him, until he accidentally grabbed his boots with his wet, bloodstained hands and managed to lift his head, despite the profuse pain in his shoulder that was now creeping up to his neck. The blur in his vision dissipated rather quickly and the vampire came into focus.
"Dracula," was the one word the prince uttered. It was more of a gasp than anything else—his voice filled with dread.
"Prince Velkan Valerious," the Count drawled.
The vampire noticed the wound on the prince's shoulder and his expression turned to that of revulsion.
"You reek of wet dog," he sneered, moving to kick the human's hands that were holding him up and instead striking him in the face.
"Just let me die, Count," Velkan pleaded, rolling over onto his back on the rocky shore, panting for air. "Even that is an offer you can't refuse."
"I would, but that would defeat the object," the vampire explained darkly, and with a flick of his wrist, Velkan was thrown up into the air by an invisible force.
A twisted smile marred the Count's features as amusement glittered in his eyes. Already, he had power over the Prince's body. Another sharp movement of his hand and Velkan was soon colliding with the canyon wall, a loud cry of pain echoing in the air as he crumbled to the earth while the vampire chuckled to himself before his expression drained of all emotion.
The throbbing pain in Velkan's shoulder had crept up his neck and was now spreading to his brain—it felt like his skull was on fire.
"You should have left her to me, Velkan," and the prince went soaring once more, much harder and faster now, landing flat on his face in the rocky shore beside the river, dark clouds looming over head, blocking the sun and its rays.
"You never should have slept with her, either," the Count added, his expression deadly. "You knew what you were risking that night, but you did it anyway. Deciding it was better to satisfy your own lusts than keeping your cover, keeping her safe."
Velkan was soon hurdled back into the canyon wall, a sickening crunch of the prince's shattered ribs resonating in the vampire's ears – like music. Velkan was in a heap on the ground, bloodied up, filthy, and sobbing quietly. Not only because he was in pain, but because of all the stupid, selfish mistakes he had made.
He had lost Hera to this man, this monster.
And in his mind, he had no one to blame but himself.
Dracula bent down beside the human, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"I'm curious though, little prince. Why did you do it? Why did you use her?"
"Why do you even care?"
That wasn't the answer the vampire wanted, and a nice tug of the human's hair made that abundantly clear.
"Try again," Dracula hissed.
Velkan just wept.
These last few weeks had been so hard on him. He missed Hera—God, did he miss her. He beat himself up repeatedly for letting her slip through his fingers, for treating her as he had. The moment he had lost her, he had realized.
He had loved her.
More than he had loved anyone else. And he ruined that. It wasn't Dracula's fault, he thought to himself, it was his own.
The vampire repeated his earlier question and Velkan did his best to control his emotions, but it was useless.
"I wanted to keep her away… from you," he insisted, staring defiantly into the Count's menacing eyes.
"And you've done an extraordinary job, your highness," Dracula mocked, throwing Velkan's face back into the ground. "She is mine now."
Velkan sent the vampire a nasty look and Dracula sneered, pulling the human's hair so his ear was right beside the monster's cold, dead lips.
"You know, when I took her, she never once tried to stop me. In fact, she begged me for more."
Velkan growled slightly, enraged, giving the reaction the Count had wanted.
"I'll kill you. I'll KILL you!" Velkan swore.
"She has forgotten all about you, little prince," he drawled. "All she wants is me. All she thinks about is me."
Velkan began to cry pitifully, the image of the scene that the vampire king was painting in his head appalling.
"She is mine. Her loyalty is mine, her body is mine, and soon," he whispered in the prince's ear, "her soul will be mine. And as of this moment, you work for me now, your grace," the Count informed him, hardly caring that Velkan was beginning to lose consciousness.
He had lost too much blood and the poison that was now pumping through his veins was beginning to take its toll on him. The change would happen soon. With a snap of Dracula's fingers, Igor, accompanied with several Dwergi appeared from the forests, heading down towards the shore where their master and his new slave resided.
"Igor!" Dracula shouted impatiently.
"Yes, master?"
"Take Prince Velkan to his new home," he ordered. "I want him broken before the week is out."
"Yes master. Of course. Igor will obey."
Dracula watched with a twisted smile as Velkan was carried away. Everything was going according to plan. He had Hera on his side, he had just acquired Velkan, and Boris was long dead. All he had to do now was take care of Anna. He'd have to do it without informing Hera, of course—the woman was still attached to the gypsy princess. But he knew of the most perfect individuals to take care of the job so his hands could remain clean.
With his confidence inflated, the Count stalked back into the depths of the forest before taking to flight, heading back home.
Hera would forgive him for his time away. Besides, he needed to put some space between himself and that woman. Things were getting far too dangerous between them. He had been playing with fire for too long now, and it was only a matter of time before things got out of hand once more.
Only when that time came, the repercussions of it would be felt, ten-fold.
He needed to maintain a better sense of control over himself, over his cravings and impulses. Hera was an excellent insurance policy, yes, but she was trouble, a risk he wasn't so sure he could take, although he wanted to. God, did he want to lose control completely once more.
And the longer he denied himself the pleasure of taking her, the more ferocious and demanding his inner demon became. The mortal made him feel like he was parched and starving and it was something that not even his brides could seem to quench or sate anymore, despite their experience and constant attempts.
A growing part of him almost didn't care if those three discovered he and Hera in the act, but it was these rash thoughts and behaviors that frightened the Count so.
No woman had ever been able to successfully distract him to such a degree and that knowledge worried him, especially as the days continued on and the real danger grew ever closer.
Alright friends, I have a bit of a confession to make.
Although I know the vast majority of you guys are thoroughly enjoying this story (and you have no idea how happy that makes me), I've been working on this revamp shenanigans for over a year now and I'm just so done. I love this story, but I need it out of my system so I can move on to other things. It's holding me back and that's just driving me crazy. I know this all makes me sound a little... odd... but trust me. Your authoress confined is not as fun as it sounds. She gets vicious and impatient and stops caring about quality. And we don't want that, do we?
Muse: No, we don't.
Authoress: Precisely. SO! I have a proposition for you -
Now, you'll recall, throughout the month of July, I posted 4 chapters a week. It was a TON of work to get chapters update-worthy on time, but I definitely think you guys enjoyed the frequency and I know I thoroughly enjoyed hearing from you all as much as I did. Now, I want to do that again, but for the rest of the story (we have like 30 chapters left) AND I'd like to take it one step further. Instead of 4 chapters a week (1 on Monday, 1 on Wednesday, and 2 on Friday) I kind of want to see if I can do 6 (yes, you read that right - SIX) chapters a week (so 2 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday OR 1 Monday through Thursday and 2 on Friday).
I've set up a poll on my bio/profile thingy and I want you all to vote! If you don't have an account, I want you to tell me via review! Your opinion is important to me and I want to hear from you!
My only request is that you guys continue to give feedback as the updates become more frequent. I'm finalizing my plans for my next big story and I need to know what works here and what doesn't so when I go to write that new story, I'll be better prepared. I'm counting on you all, so don't let me down!
Okay my lovelies, go vote and don't forget to leave a review for this chapter! Love and appreciate you guys more than you could possibly know! Thank you for your constant support!
- T