Chapter Twenty Three: A Broken Soul in a Secret Room
The dramatic silence is nearly enough to kill you. The Count does not move and it does not look like he plans on moving far for a few minutes. Still, you are prepared for any sudden movements. "I see you've familiarized yourself with my fortress. That is very good," he says, folding his hands gracefully behind his back and smirking at you. "The longer you live here, the better you will know all of the secret paths…"
"I don't plan on living here," you retort, a guarding hand on your sword hilt. Dracula laughs softly. The lightning flashes off of his pale face, the thunder following in a slow rumble. It makes you nervous and plans fly through your mind. What can you do to distract him long enough to gain more time? "You might want to…check your laboratory, Vladislaus," you finally say, assuming a relaxed position. You expect that this remark will hit him hard, and it does. His eyes narrow and then he shoves past, stepping into the laboratory.
The instant he turns his back, you run as fast as possible. You slam the door, jamming a nearby table into the handle. Then you continue running through the dark corridor, just hoping Dracula will not catch you right away. Halfway down the pillared hallway, you can hear him coming. You quickly veer off behind the columns and stop at the wall with a gasp. The Count lands on the stairs at the far end, his cape rushing forward and back in the darkness, until he stands in silence.
"You have taken more liberties than I would have liked!" He hisses. His eyes search the hall wildly and angrily. He recomposes himself. "It is no large matter. Our children will live yet. The control center can be rebuilt in three days. I have some of the best scientists working for me…" He walks down and starts looking through the pillars. You start to back away, your eyes never leaving the place where he walks. The other door is so close but so far away. "Do you remember this room, Adriana?" He asks, walking and staring straight through the pillars at you. Suddenly, your impulses are failing you as he transforms your memories into a magnificent vision.
You look down and see the white silk medieval gown; sleeves flowing nearly floor-length lined in silver brocade. So the woman had indeed been Adriana. The Count appears younger by at least ten years and he beckons you forward from the shadows. You practically float to his side and then, you are waltzing across a bright floor to nonexistent but haunting music. He speaks to you as if in a dream.
"When we were young," he says, pulling you closer, "We never used to fret about immortality or death…" He dips you low to the ground. "…or deceit, or sorrow… there was only love." He pulls you up firmly, looking into your eyes. His hand seems to burn your skin icily. It instills deep memories of winter moons and empty graves; fallen forests and deceitful whispers.
"But you no longer think of love," you remind. "Now, you think of only death." He dips you again, suspending your delicate form from his arms that are like steel supports. It is an angry gesture. You gasp with surprise and realization. "Because love forsook you…"
"You forsook me!" He hisses, leaning close to your neck in a hateful anguish. You close your eyes as he draws your neck under his lips, gently hypnotizing you with his chilling touch. His voice goes low and soft, making you shiver. "I'm tired of games, Adriana…I'm tired of chasing you through immortal realms and the mortal world…tired of losing you to the madness of my jealousy; my jealousy that has murdered you twice already and slowly suffocates you even now…" He trails his lips across your collarbone. "No more, Adriana. No more will the cockcrow start your living hours. Forget the sun. Remember the moon in its lifeless eternity, hanging in the deepening darkness, stealing away your breath with every second of the night. Let the day die, and embrace becoming one with the night…" He pulls you up and you open your eyes, looking at his entrancing pools of darkness. "But this is not where we were placed, is it? You are too weak to deny your own instincts. My power draws you in like a magnet. This you know, Princess Adriana…it is not too late to succomb to the desires of a lost heart." His voice echoes off mystically and you look across the hall. Then, there in the shadows appears, for a fleeting moment, the figure of Gabriel Van Helsing. He is young, handsome still, and dressed in the fashion of the day. The Count follows your gaze and then snarls, throwing you. The mystical moment is destroyed.
Now you scuttle across a dusty floor and retain your position among the shadows. The door seems lifetimes away. The Count composes himself at the center of the hall. "You can't run forever, Mira," he warns. You continue slowly inching towards the door. "Are you forgetting that no matter where you go, I will find you? You are better off surrendering now, my love." Your fingers grasp the edge of the door and you almost sigh, thinking of running again. But you are tired already. "You think going through that door will get you anywhere?" He asks coldly. You are amazed at his severe personality changes, but slowly begin to slip around the corner. "Where do you plan to run to?" You whirl around and see him standing yet again in your way. "Mira, Mira…" He chides, smiling at you, "Always running…" You back away again, into the hall. He does not follow but stands in the doorway that leads to your temporary salvation.
"It's over, Vladislaus," you say, a hand on your sword by instinct only, "Why do you pursue something that cannot and will not exist?"
"Cannot, will not," he repeats almost thoughtfully. Then he smiles a devious smile and begins to approach you, each step so soft but so loud. Your life flashes before you. "Here we are, alone in the dark…" he whispers. He looks around at the multitude of torches that offer light.
"No…" You whisper, following his gaze. Then, one by one, the torches begin to burn out. But the process is slow, and there are many torches. So he takes delight in circling you like a predator circling his prey. You become frantic but there is now no escape for you.
"Where will you run, Mira? Where will you run when the lights go out?" He laughs. "For I rule the darkness; the darkness that you fear…the darkness that all fear!" He starts moving in closer to you, still circling. "And they should fear us!"
"I do not fear you," you say softly. It is a lie, but you make it sound convincing. "I do not fear lies, deceit, lust, jealousy…they lack meaning."
"You fear death, then. And I am death." His eyes gleam as the last torches flicker out. Now it is dark and only faintly can you see his form. The only light comes from the moonbeams shining through the ceiling and the windows. Still, his eyes glow menacingly.
"Why should I fear death?" You ask. Inside, you keep telling yourself to keep talking. Maybe it will delay him. "Everyone dies someday."
"You fear death, and living again," Dracula answers. He is close to you now. His cold lips affix themselves to your warm neck, threatening to pierce the tender flesh and drain your life. You catch your breath and close your eyes against the horrid darkness, wishing for light; wishing to be free. "Fear…" he murmurs in your ear, "Nightmares…terrible dreams and visions…yes, you are a haunted woman…and you shall be…life after life…" He grasps you suddenly in his iron grip. "Haunted," he hisses like a beast. You stare at him, bedazzled and confused. "But no more haunted if you begin an eternity with me!"
"Love prevails…" you murmur, "Love prevails…" He laughs coldly into your ears, echoing throughout your tortured mind and breaking your soul.
"You were never meant for love. I was never meant for love," he says, "We were meant to lust for one another…to desire only for the purpose of darkness…your father promised you to me, and you broke that promise!" He begins to grow angry again, his tone hissing with rage, "With a kiss, you betrayed me!" His nails cut into your neck's flesh. You cry out.
"Vladislaus, you betrayed yourself!" You nearly scream. His cold tongue swiftly licks away the blood flowing from the cuts he made. Then he drops you, seeming to be satisfied for the moment. You know he is not finished though. You place a protective hand on your neck and cry, feeling ultimately broken.
"And how did I betray myself, Mira?" He asks.
"Mortal instincts can be controlled…" You choke, "But you let them consume you. You let the guilt, the jealousy, the anguish, the rage, the sorrow…you let them consume you like wild-fire!" He snarls and you fall lower to the ground in fear. "And having become immune to the extremes, you feel nothing…" You whisper. The darkness envelops you like a suffocating blanket. You cannot escape it. A cloud has covered the moon. Dracula is silent now, and suddenly, you hear a sound you would never think to hear from Count Vladislaus Dracula. He sobs. It is a bitter sound coming from him. For some reason, it sounds only hollow and without feeling, as if he is acting. But you know he is not acting. You do not raise yourself, afraid that he might suddenly have an outburst. Finally, he quiets himself and stands in the silence.
"Complete me, Mira," he says gently. When you look up, the moon has come out from behind the clouds and Dracula's form is silhouetted. But his back is to you. You don't move. Right now is an opportunity to get away. "The beauty and the beast. We shall be a lovely pair," he says, "Only you can tame me."
"You can't be tamed," you whisper, inching away without a sound, "And I don't want to try it." You reach the pillars and the doorway looms behind you now. You keep your eyes fixated on the Count. He doesn't seem to have noticed that you have gotten so far away. He chuckles to himself, as if he is regaining his spark of wickedness.
"No, of course not…Dracula tamed…" He says aloud. But he is thinking to himself aloud. "I could never be tamed…no, not I. I was born to be wild and free…to rule the darkness and be feared always…" You rise at the door without a sound. Not even your heels click the surface of the floor. "Yet you claim not to fear me…" You hear a devilish smile enter his voice. "I shall have to try harder." But when he turns around, you are gone.
Soon you are entering warm torchlight again and it makes you feel better. But you do not look back. You know that if he appears, it will be a frontal assault. It would be unlike him to attack from behind. You know that he wanted to see the fear in his prey's eyes. Then, there is the open door you are looking for. You throw yourself in, exhausted, and hear the sound of low voices talking. You reach up and slam the door behind you, locking it and then grabbing a large array of chairs and tables. You block it off efficiently with these items and then fall backward with a gasp. Vladimir and Carl simply stare at you.
Carl is the first to approach. When you open your eyes, he stands over you. "Well?" He asks.
"Frankenstein's Laboratory is temporarily out of service," you state. Carl grins.
"I knew you could do it…!" He says. Vladimir comes over and lifts you from the ground, placing you back on the bed. He first notices the cuts on your neck.
"What is this?" He asks, reaching a hand out to touch them.
"Nothing!" You say defensively, pushing his hand away. He is looking at you seriously. "I almost died, Vladimir," you whisper, closing your eyes and turning over in the bed, trying not to cry, "I almost died…"
"But you're alive," Vladimir says, reaching out to touch your back.
"Somehow…I don't know how…somehow I knew his weaknesses…how to stall him…" You say, "I have memories…these flashbacks of deaths and moments…" Your voice becomes frantic, "Horrible nightmares! And always he is there! Always!" You lose the words now as you weep into the pillow. Vladimir puts a comforting hand on your shoulder.
"Mira…do not worry. He will not find us here. It is a secret room," he consoles, sitting on the edge of the bed. You slowly sit up, looking at him through a tear-stricken face.
"A secret room?" You repeat. He nods, lifting a finger to wipe a tear from your face. He pulls out a note and hands it to you, getting up and walking away. You open the note and read it.
"Do not lose hope," it reads, "This room was created by the ancients to protect those who seek to vanquish the evil that dwells here. Do not fear any longer, for this room can only be revealed fully in the daylight. Evil creatures will see solely stones in place of this room, for it is barely tangible to things that should have passed into the underworld. Use this sanctuary as you will. Signed, Saint Peter." You look up at Vladimir.
"How did you know of this place?" You ask in amazement.
"I read a lot," says Vladimir, "That is why I said we should hide away…I knew of a safe place. I just didn't want to tell you until I knew if this was the place and only after Carl had helped you escape did I find this note. It is truly a miracle that we have been so fortunate." You sigh deeply, falling back into the pillows.
"Thank you, God…" You whisper. But even then, dread grows upon your heart for the hours before dawn. You fear leaving this sanctuary, and find that you want to live, more than anything anymore. You look at Dracula's ring upon your finger, and trace the insignia in curiosity. You do not care about any answers to any of your questions anymore, save one: Why?