Nicola
watched as her master left the room. He was going to feed. This she
was certain of and it would give her some time. Quickly she picked up
Arene's limp body and laid her gently on the bed. The girl's pulse
was starting to get stronger again.
Nicola sat in a nearby
chair and waited. Soon she would have to try and wake this Arene. As
she had drunk the girl's blood everything had come back to her. She
knew what had happened but now she didn't know what to do. She wanted
to help Arene and the others but she loved her lord. That was not
part of his spell. She had been his back when she hadn't known he was
even real. She couldn't leave him. Arene would want to try and
destroy him but she couldn't let that happen either. She was his
bride and had to protect him. Why was everything so
complicated?
Nicola stood and moved towards the bed. She leant
over the form lying there and, grasping Arene's shoulders, shook her
carefully.
"Arene, wake up!"
Arene
heard her friend's voice calling out to her from the darkness and
opened her eyes. She looked up and saw Nicola standing over her,
shaking her awake. She smiled.
"Nicola.... you
remembered." A tear came to her eye as the two girls embraced.
"I thought you had forgotten everything."
"Not
everything," Nicola said, happy that her friend was okay. "I'm
just happy I didn't kill you."
"So am I," Arene
smiled and rose from the bed, still a little weak, but she was able
to stand with Nicola's help. "Come on, we have to stop
Dra-"
"No!" Nicola said sharply. So sharply it
almost frightened the other girl.
"What do you mean?"
Arene asked, wondering why her friend would be acting like this.
"I
love him, Arene. That is not a part of the spell," Nicola
confessed. "I will help you protect the others.... but I will
not let you kill him."
Arene stared hard at the other
girl, her heart also torn in two. She wanted Dracula destroyed, but
her friend's love was at stake as well. Knowing this might not be
such a good idea, she nodded in consent.
"All right. If
that is what you want... I understand. But I won't let any harm come
to you as well, even if it means my own death."
Nicola
nodded and the two headed for the stairway. Nicola let go of Arene
and pointed upward. "The old laboratory is up there, you might
be able to find something. I know he's planning to take all the girls
up there. I will go to him and tell him you have died. Be
careful."
"All right. You too."
Arene
nodded, hugged her friend and started up the stairs.
"Wait!"
Nicola called.
"What?" Arene asked, turning
around.
"Just then... you reminded me of someone. Someone
my master knew... from a long time ago. Someone who...."
"What?"
Arene asked.
"Nothing, go." Nicola said as she
spread her wings and began to fly to her master. But something still
worried her. Was it possible? Was that one of the things Dracula was
keeping from them. Could Arene possibly be the descendant
of........Van Helsing?
She flew
upwards outside the walls of the castle till she sensed Dracula's
presence and entered a nearby window. She transformed back and stood
in front of her master.
"She is gone," she said,
smiling sweetly.
"Good," stated Dracula as he
clasped her in a tight embrace. "Nothing can stop us now, my
bride. Soon we and our daughters will be together and we shall all
live forever."
"Our daughters," questioned
Nicola, trying not to appear too eager for information.
"Yes,
the other girls downstairs. They will all become vampires before the
night is out. But you, my bride, your love for me was so strong that
I chose you to be their mother." He gently stroked her cheek and
Nicola could tell that he really did care for her in someway, even if
he couldn't feel love.
"What of that girl, Arene,"
she asked carefully. "Did you have any plan for her before she
realised what was happening?"
"She is the last of
her blood line," Dracula explained slowly. "The blood of
Gabriel Van Helsing flows in her veins. To have conquered her would
have been a triumph indeed but it is no matter since she no longer
figures in my plan."
She had been right! Nicola began to
worry. She was sure now that Arene would save the others but at what
cost? She would not allow her lord to be hurt. She decided to keep
this information from Arene. If the other woman knew the truth she
might change her mind about letting Dracula live.
"How
long before we begin?" Nicola questioned a moment later, feeling
her lord's questioning gaze upon her. She had been silent too
long.
"A few hours, not long before daybreak," he
answered as he tightened his grip around her waist. "We have
some time, my bride."
This said he leant in and claimed
her mouth in a passionate kiss, which Nicola eagerly returned.
Together they disappeared into the darkness...
