NIGHTMARES FROM THE PAST-CHAPTER 4
By Red Star
NOTE: I do not own any of these characters, no matter what that badly dressed man on FOX says.
Today, Dracula rescues the Cardcaptor crew from one of his turncoat followers.
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The group had just begun to start for the house again when they heard an explosion. They turned to see the hotel they had just been staring at engulfed in flames, or more specifically, the top half. Sakura gasped and her eyes opened astonishingly wide at the flames which now cast it's light against the clouds in the night sky. Madison, of course, captured it on her camera. The rest just regarded it silently. "Shouldn't we…do something?" Sakura murmured. Kero shook his head sadly. "Nothing to do. No one could have survived that blast." The group then turned back to get to the house.
It was too bad that they did so. Otherwise they might have seen the smoke suddenly swirl wraithlike around the roof, and seen the two blazing red eyes that suddenly appeared in the middle of the cloud.
The house that stood before the group was grand. Sakura thought it might have been built in the 1920's. "A perfect place for ghosts," she said under her breath. Yue turned to her and asked, "Did you say something, Mistress?" Sakura blushed a little. "No, nothing."
A stone porch in front of the house greeted them with two statues of Western style dragons.
(Authors note: Dragons in Asia are considered to be benevolent beings with abilities to grant good health and fortune. Dragons of the west are the kind that eat women with pointy hats and are always being slain by a guy in armor.)
Li tried the door. "Locked," he declared over his shoulder. He took out that large sword of his and hacked the door to pieces within a minute. He then stepped inside, followed by the rest. Li took out his Lazon board and called out the words to activate it. "Force, know my plight, release the light!" The lazon fired off a beam down the hall and into a room. "This way," he said and they followed the beam. They found what was obviously the library. Piles of books that weren't on the tables were placed sloppily around the shelves.
"About time you got here," said a voice. Suddenly a lamp was clicked on. There stood a tall, dark-haired man in a black suit that had a black shirt under it. He gave a sly grin. Li instantly knew why. In his hands was a small machine gun. There came footsteps from behind. Li turned to see three more men had appeared. All with guns. One of them had his pressed against Sakura's throat. Li narrowed his eyes. "Don't you dare hurt…"
The first man waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Oh, don't worry. We have orders to bring her alive to the Countess. Not one hair will be harmed. But now, since we're going to be spending some time together, allow me to introduce myself. I am Gosako Fushimori."
The firemen desperately spread out to control the blaze. Fire trucks from small towns outside the city came in to back them up. One man was pumping water into what had previously been an executive suite. The fireman squinted to see beyond the flames to see a dark shape coming toward him. A man? But surely no one could have survived the explosion?
As he watched, the dark form seemed to twist and dissolve. An optical illusion?
He got his answer when a massive cloud of mist rushed past him. He grabbed onto the rail to keep himself steady. And then he heard a voice.
Excellent work, my friend. I'll see to it you get a medal.
Fushimori slipped a cell phone out of his pocket. "Fushimori here, I have the Cardcaptor." He seemed to be listening to instructions. "Alright, I'll be there at …" he checked his watch, "ten-thirty. What's that?" he asked, "Oh, him. Don't worry. He's been taken care of."
He put the cell phone back and turned to the captive group. "Well, guys. You're about to meet the new Lady of the…" The large windows on the other side of the library suddenly burst open and a cloud of mist poured in. Fushimori spun around. His eyes snapped wide open as he watched the mist suddenly swirl up and form into a tall dark figure. The thugs didn't waste a second. They rushed up beside their leader. The figure spoke, "Fushimori, you have betrayed me." Fushimori, his hands trembling, snapped back, "Yeah, so what if I did?" The man's eyes glowed red and Fushimori yelled as an invisible iron hand enclosed around him and hurl him across the room. The thugs fired their weapons into this dark fellow when he held up one hand and fired a red colored bolt of lightning at them. The lightning split into three parts and surged into the thug's guns. The weapons literally fell apart in their hands, cascading down to the floor in a shower of tubes, bullets and other pieces of now worthless junk. The man held up both his hands and fired a stream of red colored lightning at the thugs. The energy snapped and sizzled as they were pushed back, cringing in pain. The man finally stopped. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a revolver and aimed it at the thugs. "Enough games," he murmured and fired three shots while moving his hand steadily to catch them all in his field of destruction. To Sakura's amazement, the three dissolved into dust. It was then that Sakura saw the man's face. "Dr. Sulov?" she cried. Fushimori looked from her to Sulov and then leaped at her and held his gun to her head. "She's coming with me, Vlad! Your time is over!" Vlad? thought Sakura, who's Vlad? Vlad approached the terrified girl and the madman holding her. Suddenly a smirk fell across his face. He then gave a loud cackle. Fushimori began to feel nervous. His eyes darted from side to side, trying to see if his opponent had brought some un-earthly ally that was coming out of the shadows. "I always knew you were a coward!" snapped Vlad. "You always thought of yourself as clever. As a survivor. You were always willing to grab onto the coat-tails of someone you thought could help you toward ultimate power. And you always planned to let go if that person failed. You little fool!" Vlad held both of his sharp nailed hands up in a glorifying gesture. "I , and my father played that game centuries before you were born!" He then sneered, "But we were not cowardly enough to hide behind a little girl!" Fushimori was red with rage at this insult. He shoved Sakura aside and began firing his gun at Vlad, who calmly and quickly moved forward. Those long pale hands emerged from beneath his flowing black cape again. His left snatched the gun from Fushimori's hand and crushed it while the right gripped his throat and lifted him into the air. Fushimori struggled desperately, but it was like a scrawny teenager fighting a Sumo wrestler. Vlad threw away the gun and retrieved a wooden stake from inside his black jacket. He then plunged it into Fushimori's heart. The man's eyes bulged in a mixture of pain, terror, and pleas. And then, Fushimori dissolved into dust.
Vlad turned to the group. His eyes traced over them. He reached down and helped Sakura up with startling easiness. He spoke, "We must leave quickly. They are probably on their way to pick Fushimori up." The group didn't need much prompting. They walked, a little shaken, out the front door.
Sakura was silent. The memory of having a gun pressed against her head lingered.
Vlad had joined them in their walk. He seemed more relaxed than the other members of the group. Even Madison wasn't trying to tape him. Finally, a frustrated Li drew his sword, whipped around with the tip pointed at Vlad and demanded, "Who are you!?"
Vlad smiled and said "Forgive me, I did not think of it, with all the excitement tonight."
He spread out his black cape, bowed and said, "I am Count Vlad Dracula,"
The woods became very silent then, except for the restarted whirring of Madison's camera.