NIGHTMARES FROM THE PAST-CHAPTER 6
By Red Star
ANNOUNCEMENT: I am proud to introduce "Red Star's Fanfic Illustration Contest"! Any one out there who considers themselves a worthwhile artist is invited to make a stab at making a drawing for my fic, "Nightmares from the Past". The winner will receive reviews for all their stories and the digital "Hero of Fanarts" medal that you can admire for a few minutes before shoving it aside and get to work on your own story! The rules are:
- No pornographic drawings
- No parodies of the story
I will put up my e-mail address on my Bio page on Fanfiction. Net. If you are interested, E-mail your drawing to me. I will judge it and announce the winner in a future story. Good Luck!
NOTE: I do not own Cardcaptors.
"Hey, squirt, were you talking to your stuffed animal last night again?" Tory teased, "I kept hearing you last night," Sakura blushed and growled "Tory…" But then, he said something that drained the blood from her face: "I didn't know you could pitch your voice that low…" She became silent and stayed that way as the two siblings traveled to their respective schools.
"I'm telling you, Sakura, this guy's big trouble," said Kero as he hovered over his Mistress as she worked on some math. She sighed, "Kero, Dracula saved my life last night. I can't just act ungrateful," Kero shook his head and landed on a shelf facing her.
"Sakura, if you think Elizabeth was bad, Dracula was evil incarnate." She looked up at him, giving him her full attention, "Before he became the Count Dracula in books and movies, He was Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia. He murdered thousands of people by impaling them on long wooden stakes,"
"Of course, his victims were always those who defied his laws, or who he felt betrayed him," Sakura spun around to see Yue behind her, with a blank expression on his face as usual. "Dracula has a strange sense of honor and duty, Mistress, his father died in battle against the people who were invading his land. Dracula has a very complicated history."
"Yue? Shouldn't you be napping away inside Julian's head?" asked Kero. "I believe it is time to go," the Angelic being said. Sakura turned to a clock. 7:14. "HOOEE! I've still got all this…" Yue placed a hand on her notebook. Little marks began appearing on the paper. Numbers. She looked at Yue, then back at her finished homework. "Uh…thanks, lets go."
Li and Meilin had already arrived at the park before Sakura and Madison came. Sakura was dressed in a black costume, similar to the one she wore when she was after the Create Card, only with a black cape lined with red satin that hung from her epaulettes down to her shins. Madison was recording like crazy. Kero and Yue hovered behind their Mistress. Li looked at his watch in an impatient manner. "Where is he? It's already 7:30,"
He got his answer a moment later as a massive black bat swooped down past the Chinese sorcerer and hovered in mid-air. The bat's body began shifting. The wings extended outward to become arm and cloak. The legs sped down toward the Earth. The creature's eyes glowed a brilliant red through the whole transformation. Finally, Count Vlad Dracula was complete, with a long black cape whipping around him as he landed on the ground with his arms crossed and a grim smile. "Good evening, my friends, it is good to see you," He looked at Sakura. He approached the girl, circled her once, examining her with those powerful eyes of his, and finally said, "I like it…"
The group slinked behind the vampire, who seemed to effortlessly tread through the forest silently himself. Finally, the group halted, as Dracula sighted about five young men who were laughing about something as they strolled through the park. "Sakura," he hissed as he turned to the girl, "Do you have a water card?" "Yes," "I want you to command it to circle those men over there," he said, pointing toward them with a pointed forefinger nail. "Why?" He grinned at her with his white teeth, "You shall see…"
The Cardcaptors plus Vampire watched the Water card slither over to the group and encircle them. The young men stopped suddenly and looked at the trail of water that was moving around them. Their pleasant faces turned downwards and they began to talk in anxious tones. "What the…?" Li was about to ask, but Dracula moved forward. He signaled for them to come with him.
Dracula approached the trapped teenagers with ease and good humor. He cleared his throat and the captives turned toward him. One's eyes opened wide and he immediately kneeled and mumbled, "Lord Impaler, I am your servant," The others, upon hearing that that also fell to their knees and uttered words of greeting. Dracula smiled at them and said to Sakura, "My friend, we can trust them. Withdraw the water card." She was so shocked she obeyed and summoned the card to it's original shape. The Count then opened his arms to the young fellows facing him. "Forgive me, my young friends, but these days, I must be cautious." The leader nodded. "We understand, my lord, what do you command?" "What do you know of Elizabeth Bathory's whereabouts?" "Nothing, master. But it is said that she has been seen in a Shrine outside the city." Dracula silently took this in and growled, "On your way," The small group then went off into the night…
"Who were they?" asked Meilin as Dracula led them to a cemetery. "Vampires," answered the Count, "Young ones, I would surmise, they couldn't be more than 42…"
He stopped in front of the graveyard and touched a pale hand to one of the stone markers. "This place crawls with nosferatu," he muttered to no one in particular. "Right you are, Count," hissed an unpleasant voice. About eight men appeared from behind the graves. They carried medieval weapons; some, trying to look tough and hide their fear from the Count, slapped their weapons against their palms. Dracula appeared amused upon seeing them. He smiled grimly, shook his head, and said, "How many more will betray me and die before you give up?" "We have no quarrel with you, Lord Impaler, give us the girl and leave you in peace," Dracula sneered and seemed to float back toward the Card Mistress. He placed a long nailed hand on her shoulder and said dryly, "This girl is under my protection, as are her friends," Kero looked startled and felt a little envy. He had thought of himself as Sakura's guardian, but his size left much to be desired. Dracula, with his great height and intimidating eyes, was already making the gang of vampires nervous. "I will not permit you to harm her in any way. Attack us at your own peril," he hissed. The apparent leader's eyes narrowed and he approached, "Listen, Count, just…" A flash of black and Dracula now held the vampire's throat in an iron grip. The Count unceremoniously impaled the vampire with a wooden stake. He took a look at the other vampires, whose eyes were wide now with shock. They snapped out of it and advanced on Vlad Dracula. Yue, Kero and Li leaped forward into battle. Dracula grabbed one by the neck and snapped the creature's neck, disabling it long enough to drive his stake through the heart. Kero turned into his true shape and sent a fireball into a vampire's stomach. The walking corpse screamed and ran out of the graveyard. Yue sent a bolt of magic into about three of them. The vampires sailed through the air and were impaled on a nearby tree. Dracula sent his own kind of magical attack into another one, then darted behind them and staked them. The last one looked around in panic at the mounting piles of dust and ran, actually leaped over the gravestones as he raced for safety. The Count was soon in pursuit, flying over the stones as he went after and dragged back the vampire.
Dracula slammed the undead creature against the ground, shook him and snarled, "Where is Countess Elizabeth?!" The vampire wheezed, "I…I…I'll never tell!!" Dracula then laughed unpleasantly in his prisoner's face. "Ah, you would die for her, eh?" He turned to the group and said, "Start walking, I will join you momentarily…"
The group had made it about halfway to Li's apartment when they heard a scream, "NNNNNOOOOO!!!", and Count Dracula's horrible laugh echoing over the city.
Li's hand shook as he poured a cup of tea for Sakura, half out of fear and half out of Oh, jeez, I got her here, I can't believe I got her here and But not for a date. Crap. The group was silent. Yue just stood by with his arms crossed, probably wishing he could go to sleep soon. Kero was happily munching away on a few crackers.
The silence was broken as a cloud of mist hissed through a crack in the window. The mist floated to a nearby chair, swirled around into a long thin form, and Dracula sat there a few seconds later. He looked at the glum group with a strange twinkle in his eyes.
"I have found her, at Tushiko Shrine."
He looked at Madison, who was still recording him, smiled and said,
"Who wants to hear about the time I met Napoleon?"