NIGHTMARES FROM THE PAST-CHAPTER 5
By Red Star
NOTE: I do not own Cardcaptors or Dracula. They belong to, uh…other…people.
Sorry it took so long to write up a new chapter. I would also like to ask you something: WHY AREN'T YOU PEOPLE REVIEWING MY STUFF?!? I WANNA HEAR YOUR OPINIONS!! READ & REVIEW!!!
It was later that night at Sakura's house, in fact in her bedroom. Li took off his cap and laid it beside him on the bed as he watched the Count look around with apparent interest at the room he was in. It looked rather like a normal young girl's room should but Li guessed that the man standing before them had very few chances of seeing a mortal girl's room without seducing her first, and besides, he had come to talk, not to feed.
Sakura sat at her desk chair and put the Clow Key on her desk, as if she would need the wand as they spoke with the legendary Count Vlad Dracula. Kero and Yue hovered behind their Mistress and peered suspiciously at the vampire. Meilin was standing on the opposite side of Sakura's bed with Madison, who had fortunately thought ahead to bring a spare videotape and was still taping the Count, who had cast curious looks at Sakura's best friend as they had made their way to the house.
Dracula was dressed in an elegant manner; not in a tuxedo, of course, but in a black tail-coat with long black pants. A black vest covered his belly and most of his chest, where a few pieces of white shirt peered out from where it wasn't covered with a black ascot that was decorated with a gold pin that had a black eagle emblazoned on it. He had thrown his black cape across the bed, but still looked malevolent enough as he if he were wearing it. His nails were long and sharp, his hair was shockingly black, and his eyes appeared to glitter with power. He glanced at Yue and Kero before clearing his throat and saying,
"I believe that you have questions for me?"
"What are you doing here?!" snapped Kero. "Kero…" sighed Sakura. Dracula smiled at the small creature.
"I am in pursuit of an enemy that has opposed me for, quite literally, centuries. Perhaps over 300 years. The men you encountered are-excuse me, were-her agents."
"Who is she?" asked Li.
Dracula's eyes seemed to sparkle at that question. "Her name is Countess Elizabeth Bathory, and she could very well be the first female mass murderer in history. As a noblewoman in the 1600's Kingdom of Hungary, she abducted hundreds of young girls and…" His eyes went around the room. "Ah, but forgive me. Such things should not be told to such young ears."
Meilin raised an eyebrow, "So, why is she after Sakura? Shouldn't she be off in some castle sucking blood?"
"My young friend, I fear you have seen too many films. The truth is she is much like a nomad. Over the past 300 years, she has tried to raise rebellions against me in many lands: Hungary, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Catalonia, Sicily, Cuba, once she tried to raise a rebel force in Afghanistan," he snickered, "But, of course, I destroyed her savages and she ran off to find new supporters."
"Savages?" asked Li.
"The Afghans, young man. Would a truly civilized nation do what they do to it's people? It's wives? It's CHILDREN!?"
Dracula turned to the group with a red blaze in his eyes.
"I have humored her existence for three centuries, but now it ends!! I will not permit this nonsense any more! She has defied the Fallen Ones for too long! Now…now I will destroy her as all enemies of the House of Dracula are destroyed: with swift, True Death!"
The light went from his eyes and he gave a kind smile.
"But, now, I wish to hear of how you stumbled upon the supernatural world, young Sakura." Sakura blinked in surprise, and Dracula grinned with a set of pearl white teeth.
"Your blood, as I said before, betrays you. Whatever magic that you have encountered has made you it's own and has…shall we say, assimilated with you…"
Dracula then turned his piercing eyes to Yue and Kero. "You two fascinate me," said the Count, "An Angel, perhaps? And a talking…" "Yeah, yeah, I know. Stuffed toy," sighed Kero, his eyes downcast. Dracula's silence caused the Guardian Beast to look up and see the Count's bushy black eyebrow raised in curiosity. "I would have said miniature lion, or some sort of griffin, actually," Kero's eyes brightened and sped right into Dracula's chest, hugging the vampire closely. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I thought no one would ever call me something else than a teddy bear!!" Dracula looked down at the creature and smirked in amusement. He turned his eyes back to Sakura. She sighed and started, "It started a few years ago, when I opened a book called the Clow…"
Some time later, with Madison dozing off and Li still staring intensely at the undead visitor, Sakura finished telling her story. Dracula nodded in understanding, with a thoughtful look on his face. Sakura then thought of something, "Have you ever heard of the Cards before?" Dracula nodded. "I first heard of them in Venice in 1534, where I encountered their creator, Clow Reed, when he was traveling to a gathering of sorcerers in Milan." He smiled at the memory. "A pleasant fellow. We met at a small inn in the countryside." He noticed the confused looks on their faces. "I frequented the area to…collect some of my family's property." He leaned against the wall with a wistful look in his eyes. He looked over at Sakura. "So, I suspect that the Countess is after your cards, Friend Sakura. The question is, why?" He clasped his hands behind his back and turned to Sakura's mirror on the wall, watching them through his non-existent reflection. "Maybe she wants to use them to overthrow you," ventured Meilin. That drew a short laugh from the Count, a snicker at some private amusement. "Elizabeth does not consider herself a better Leader than I," the Count explained, "She merely wants to have a position that raises her from other nosferatu. Its all a matter of ego…" he trailed off. He turned to Sakura and approached her. "Tell me, Mistress Sakura, are any of your cards capable of transference?" She looked somewhat surprised. "I…I don't know." She frowned in thought, "Wait, yes, there's the Change Card! Li and Kero got their bodies switched by it one time." Dracula raised his eyebrows and turned to the two mentioned characters with an amused expression. "I must admit," chuckled Dracula, "I regret not coming here sooner,"
He whipped back to Sakura. "This…Change Card…if it has the ability to transfer the minds of individuals, perhaps it is able to transfer Life Forces as well." He put a sharp-nailed finger to his chin. "Ah, yes, Elizabeth is still the selfish tramp she was so many years ago…" "What do you mean?" asked Li. Dracula answered, "In her Breathing days, Elizabeth believed that the blood of young girls granted youth. She would drink it and bathe in the blood of her victims." He sneered at the memory. "She was a selfish woman, even becoming a vampire was not enough for her search for eternal youth. You see my friends, vampires must constantly feed, both to sustain our existence and also preserve our desired appearance. For example," he held a hand to his face, "How old do I appear? 40? 37?" Madison answered, "37." Dracula nodded. "I am actually 569 years old. But, as long as I frequently feed, I can make myself grow younger and maintain that age. Elizabeth, unfortunately, was not satisfied with this, and began searching for a better way to maintain her youthful appearance. She also came to represent my far reaching hand, for she desired to become greater than I and use the vampire race's resources to lock her body in immortal beauty." "She wants to use the Change Card to make herself beautiful forever?" asked Sakura, "Why did she want me? Why didn't she take the card itself?" Dracula shook his head, "Sakura, the Card will obey you and only you. Since you have captured the cards, been exposed to them, and have called upon their magic, they have become connected to your life force. They are, quite literally, a part of you, like an extra arm." His eyes bore into the increasingly nervous Sakura. "Elizabeth, despite the pompous fool she is, realizes this and most likely would have forced you to command the card to do what she wanted." The vampire picked up his cape, swung it around his shoulders, and connected the two gold clasps that kept the long cloth on him. He then turned to the group and smiled. "I, my friends, shall prevent this." He looked toward the clock. "I think it is best that you get a good night's sleep, my young friends, we shall discuss this further tomorrow at…what do you call it? King Penguin Park?… say, 7:30? Until then, my young friends, farewell."
Vlad Dracula then wrapped his cape around him and dissolved into smoke. The smoke itself soon vanished.
The group was silent for a few moments, and then left Sakura and Kero to sleep in the suddenly unfamiliar night.