NIGHTMARES FROM THE PAST-CHAPTER 8
NOTE: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura.
Within the walls of a massive abandoned house, Count Vlad Dracula lay stretched out on a couch, reading the book he had picked up at Sakura's house. Every now and then, since he began reading it at one in the morning, a chuckle escaped his lips as he read another example of Dr. Van Helsing's ignorance of Dracula's true nature. None of the doctor's precious herbs or religious objects had really worked. And it was Van Helsing who killed Lucy Westenra with his blood transfusions. The doctor, brilliant though he was, had transferred to Lucy a different blood type! And, to add insult to injury, he had given her three different blood types as well! It was a disaster waiting to happen and it was only because of Dracula's nightly visitations that kept the poor young lady going. As for Mina, well, Dracula, upon visiting the Royal Opera in 1901, sighted her with her arm around that of a young Scottish Baron. We'll leave it at that…
The sun had already risen outside. It would soon be time for
Sakura and her friends to make their way toward school (If Sakura woke up on
time, that is) Dracula glanced at the time in a bored fashion as he turned a
page. He looked back down at the book. His eyes caught something that
interested him. He read the part through and through until he was satisfied. He
smiled menacingly.
With this, I will destroy Countess Elizabeth.
But first, he would have to talk with Sakura. He went to his feet and strolled to the stairs leading to the basement.
Sakura penciled in another answer to the math quiz. Miss. Mackenzie calmly sat and looked pleasantly out at the students before her. She was a strange person, and often acted like she knew all the cards that everyone was holding. So to speak.
She had never appeared to be an enemy of Sakura or her friends, but the mystery around her made Li suspicious. Suddenly her pleasant expression changed. She put her hands together and began nervously tapping her thumbs together. Sakura finished and walked up to her math teacher with the completed assignment. "Miss. Mackenzie," she started. The teacher appeared to jump a little and she looked at Sakura a little warily at first but soon calmed down. "Thank you, Sakura." She took the quiz and set it down at her desk. Then she seemed to stare off into space for the rest of the class.
In the equipment storage closet downstairs, a coach looked around the shelves. "Now where did I put that…Ah-Ha!" He reached over and plucked a small case of golf balls from it's spot on the shelf. He turned to go and meet up with the Principle for their tee-time when he heard a scratching sound. He whipped around and looked around the closet. "Anyone there?" Silence. He shrugged, flipped off the lights, and left mumbling, "Must be mice or somethin'" He left just as a pale finger emerged from the concrete floor under a shelf full of basketballs. The finger withdrew, to be replaced by a cloud of mist that poured out of the hole and swirled around into a tall, menacing, shape. Red-blazing eyes appeared as the mist solidified. The sound of a cane's gold tip hitting the ground was heard. Footsteps echoed in the closet as Vlad Dracula crossed the room and opened a door to the school outside.
The black clad man walked through the hallways, avoiding the light that came from the windows. Hearts beat all around him and the scent of young blood flooded the school. After a little wandering he came upon a young brown haired girl. He caught a whiff of Sakura off of her and he approached her. "Good morning," Dracula said in his most pleasant voice. The girl smiled and said, "Hello," "Tell me, do you know a Sakura Avalon?" "Yeah, why?" "Ah, forgive me. I am Doctor Victor Sulov, an old friend of hers. Her father wanted me to deliver a message to her." The girl had a questioning look on her face. "Uh…why didn't he just call?" Dracula looked into her eyes and said quietly, "It does not matter," The girl then shrugged. "Sorry if I was intruding." "Not at all, Young Friend, you are young and curious, I was that way once. Forgive me, but what is your name? "Sasaki Rika," The Count nodded in understanding. "You seem to be waiting for someone, Rika, who is it?" She blushed a little and said, "My fiancée," Dracula smiled. Ah, yes. Adolescent love. He had seen this sort of thing throughout his five hundred years and it never failed to strike him as cute. "Engaged to a young lad, eh? Who is he?" Dracula heard heavier footsteps approaching and turned to see a man in his twenties approaching. Dracula was about to turn back to the girl for her answer when the new fellow sped up a little and kneeled down to Rika. "Sorry I'm late, honey," he said as he kissed her. The Count then noticed a ring on the man's finger. He looked at the girl's hand and they were wearing the same ring! Was he…No, it couldn't be!
"Who is this, Rika?" The man gestured toward Dracula. "This is Dr. Sulov. Dr. Sulov, this is my fiancée, Mr. Terada." Dracula put out his hand to shake Mr. Terada's in greeting. "Well, our booth is waiting, dear, let's go." Rika took Terada's hand. "Nice meeting you, Doctor,"
Dracula watched them go with a shocked expression that he had not worn since 1906.
Sakura sat at her place in the library, flipping through books on the vampire.
So far, she had found that vampires could not cross running water, which explained the events of the other night. It was when she came to the section title The Fallen Ones that her mouth dried as she paired up what she read and her experience with Dracula.
The Fallen Ones are an enigma within the vampire
community. According to folklore, Fallen Ones are vampires created out of dead
murder victims who are never avenged for their deaths. These creatures rise
from the grave to wreak vengeance upon those who killed them. Once their
mission is done, these vampires continue to roam the Earth. The process by
which these victims become vampires is said to require a strong will and is
very rare. For some reason, these creatures are gifted with abilities that
exceed those of their normal brethren, therefore making them the leaders of the
vampire world. They are also invulnerable to the things that ward off other
vampires including Crucifixes, Holy Water, garlic, running water and other
items.
Sakura rubbed her chin thoughtfully. So Dracula was invulnerable to normal vampire's weaknesses. So, what now?
Dracula shook his head as he stalked down a hallway toward a small group of children. "What kind of a country is this?" he mumbled, "Ten year olds marrying twenty-five year olds? What is wrong with them?" He walked up to a young boy and placed his long nailed hands on the boy's shoulders. He turned around. Dracula cocked an eyebrow at the sight of the boy's squinted eyes. "Excuse me, young man, can you tell me where Sakura Avalon is?" "Yes sir, I'm the class President, I can tell you about that. She's in the music room." "Ah, and which room is that? I do not know this school very well," "Room 132."
Dracula smiled and thanked him. And went off to find the room.
"132, eh?" he grumbled as he found the room. His sensitive ears could not pick up the usual sound of instruments being tuned. There was instead the chatter of students.
"The teacher must not be in." he mumbled as he turned the handle and went in…to find a group of young girls changing into gym uniforms. There was a startled silence…and then came the screams.
Sakura gave a start when a pale hand clamped down on her shoulder. She turned to the face of Count Vlad Dracula, who had an uncomfortable look on his face as he nervously looked around the hallway. He led her into a janitor's closet and shut the door quickly.
"First of all, your friends are insane," he began, "Second, I've found a way to defeat Countess Bathory." Sakura's eyes widened and said, "Really? What?"
"Keep quiet! Now, here is my plan…"