Chapter 1: Strings

Perry

It was a quiet, gloomy afternoon. The rain was coming down too hard to ignore, but light enough that there were no floods in the streets. My neighbors, Ichabod Crane and Victor Frankenstein, were out on another case. The young men were up-and-coming detectives. I suppose I ought to have chosen a different profession, especially since the charmers were cheating me out of so many cases. I needed cases, not just for money, but also to distract from my strange thoughts.

Ever since I could remember, I had been having these… visions. There have been theories suggested of reincarnation; in other words, of people being reborn from different lives. That was a sort of hell I didn't wish for, to be reborn again and again, stuck in eternal purgatory. I didn't think God hated me that much.

The year is 1899. We shall be entering a new century soon. Such thoughts as mine needed to be put out or else I might see more trouble than I would care for. Yet… no matter how hard I try, they only seem to get stronger. Not only am I seeing strange places and people I have never met, but all of my senses seem to be in the moment. Every odor, every taste, every touch… it all felt so real.

I turned from the window back to the room. Perhaps my neighbors were not the only ones who were stealing my business. My sitting room had been turned into an investigation area. My thoughts from my visions plagued me so much, I had to put them on display. I thought having them out of my head would make them make more sense, but this was not the case. Everything was as a puzzle as ever. Sketches I had drawn were pinned up on the walls and to the ceiling and they all hung from strings.

There were a few sketches of a minotaur. There were sketches of silver dragons. There were sketches of people I knew and didn't know in strange clothing. There were technologies from fantasy. There were lights I had seen and sounds I remembered that made no sense to me. While dreaming, it had all seemed perfectly logical, but upon waking, I was in a confused daze.

Then, there was her. A turquoise platypus with bangs covering her left eye. The eye that was visible was a shining, radiant blue. It was like staring into the night sky, only more. They never remained that color though. They would change to a violet shade when she became emotional. They would turn red when she carried a look of lust upon her face. They would turn an icy light blue whenever she was angry beyond reason. These colors combined with her to form someone I knew in my dreaming state, but I did not know her in my world. Among these details, there was one final one: upon waking, I never remembered her name and I was sure I knew it while I was sleeping. My sketches of her, though accurate enough, could never capture everything.

A knock upon my door disturbed me from further musings. I sighed and went to answer it. "Vlad! Old friend! Won't you let us in?" asked Ichabod. Victor, quiet as ever, was close behind him. I opened the door and let them enter.

"What brings you two here?" I asked.

"We just solved another case, of course," replied the red-haired youth.

"Surely you did not mean to come all this way just to gloat, did you?" I asked.

"Very perceptive of you, Dracula. We were just wondering how Christine was these days."

"She wants nothing more to do with you, Ichabod."

"That's only because you took her away from me and fed her useless lies!" the red-head back-handed me across the face and I fell back. "You're weak, Vlad Dracula. Someday, she'll see that and come back to me."

"I will never allow it," I replied coldly.

"If it's all the same to you, platypus, then perhaps we can just kill you," said Victor, combing his lengthy green hair out of his face.

"She's gotten better since coming away from you two. Why would I send her back?" I asked. I cowered underneath the table in the corner.

Ichabod got on one knee and drew close to me, saying, "There will come a day when you don't have much choice. Don't make us bring Mr. Hyde here… or, perhaps you'd like to take it up with someone higher. Someone like… Frederick?"

"What would Frederick want with Christine?" I asked.

"The same thing every man wants with Christine, Dracula. Surely you've noticed what being around her does?" asked Ichabod.

"I have. It makes good men into monsters," I replied.

He shook me by the shoulders and scolded, "Think! Man! Think! There is something of the supernatural about her. Among giving men power beyond reason, she might even be able to grant immortality. Imagine, living forever. What I might do in that kind of time."

"And yet you wonder why I make her stay here." I pleaded, "Please, seek her no longer."

"If you won't talk, then you know what must happen. Right?"

"Go ahead. You won't break me." He and his cohort began throwing punches at my ribcage and face. They even took turns throwing me into the walls. It was everything I could do to keep it together. I was not made for fighting nor was I trained for it… but no one could say I didn't know how to take a hit. They quit when I lost consciousness.

When I awoke, I was on my sofa, looking into the sapphire eyes of Christine. Her long black hair was curled and tangled. I knew she often twirled her hair when nervous and, from her hiding spot behind the bookcase, she certainly must have been nervous when she heard those men.

I put a hand to her face as she dabbed my forehead with a wet cloth. She smiled gently at me. "My dear Christine, what did I do to deserve a gem like you?" I asked.

"Well, you certainly never heed my advice. I would say you are certainly lucky I stay around," she replied.

"Perhaps if you told me more about how or why you are as you are, I might be more understanding."

"You told me you would never ask."

"Then, I'll ask a different question. What sort of damage have I accrued this time?"

She laughed. "Nothing less than the usual." She sighed, nearly agitatedly. "You lose more blood than anyone else I know."

"It is the price I pay for being a gentleman in a strongman's world."

She smiled. "Don't ever change that."

I smiled back. "I won't." She continued tending to my wounds and I felt myself being lulled to a more peaceful sleep.

I was keenly aware I was dreaming once again. I was in a dark place that felt cold and there was a flat surface beneath me. A light began shining in the distance and came closer, slowly. I kept my heart at a steady pace. If I panicked, the dream would end and I would have no answers.

The light turned out to be a torch being carried by- "It's you!" I said. It was the turquoise platypus once again.

She looked at me differently than I had ever seen her look at me. It occurred to me that her name was not coming to me as it usually did when I was dreaming. "I didn't think it was possible to see you again. I went to sleep, because I had to try, but… I suppose I should rest easy knowing you're safe," she said.

"Who are you? I swear we've met before in other dreams I've had."

"Have you?" she asked. I nodded. "We may be separated, for now, but I'm glad I was able to get even this far." She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "I'm afraid I can't tell you who I am or where I am. I might never see you again otherwise."

"What do you mean? This is my dream. Why are you so afraid?"

"Well, you can either choose to believe that I am a reflection of the things you think and feel while awake or you can try to believe me when I say that I love you. Knowing that you're alive makes all the difference in the world.

"Listen to me, I will most likely not be able to contact you like this again. If I am able, we shall meet in a different place than this. My powers are very limited right now. As it is, there is something I have to take care of first. Some people need my help and I know you would do the same for them."

"I only wish I could. I'm not nearly as brave as you would hope I am."

She laughed, the kind of laugh I wanted to hear again for the rest of my life. "You foolish boy. If you only knew." She smiled and handed me the torch. "I'm holding you back from waking up and you need to be getting back. I promise we shall see each other again. That is an eventuality you can be sure of." She cupped my face with her hands and leaned forward to kiss me, but something pulled her back. Tears sprung to her eyes. "I will come back. I promise. Please, have faith. I have to go. I love you!" She ran off and I tried chasing after her.

"Wait!" I cried out. She kept fading away until I couldn't see her anymore. Still, I ran. "Wait!" I called again. The darkness was more numbing than ever. The light in my torch was fading and I felt something pulling me back. I let it and I woke up.

So, we got to see a few of our favorite characters come back. Famous horror genre names were totally intentional and that reason shall be hashed out later. Oh, and for those of you reading "Guilty Innocents", yes, I did use the same year ;) If you're not reading that one already, I encourage it. It's not part of the series, but it does have the same characters. All that aside, please keep reading and reviewing, thanks :)