Tatiana rested all the time now; it was very close to her due date and she, being a first-time mother, thought that labor was best happening as late as possibly in the pregnancy. Dracula smiled and let her do what she wanted.
He had hid his true self—his vampire self—from her ever since the night that he had nearly bit her and had begged God (and then the Devil) for mercy. Every week he went to feed, much more than his usual schedule, for he did not want to ever feel bloodlust for his wife (or their child) again. Tatiana was, of course, a little concerned that her husband never wanted to eat with her anymore, but he brushed it off, claiming that he had "business" to attend to in the evenings (after all, he wasnobility)and assured her that he took food from the kitchens whenever he was hungry.
One night, while Dracula was feeding, he was interrupted by the village bell. It was clanging "fire" loudly and people were rushing everywhere as he finished his meal; he left the victim partially covered behind a building and ran, hoping that no one would notice the body for several days.
However, Dracula had forgotten two things: his fangs left very noticeable marks, and Van Helsing was still in the area. The next day, his manservant came into his room, where Tatiana was still asleep, bearing the news that a Mr. Van Helsing and a Lord Valerious wanted to have a word with him. And with his wife, the manservant added somewhat nervously.
Dracula knew what was going to happen, although he didn't want to think about it. There was, of course, the slim chance that Tatiana would not believe any of it nor question anything, in her state; this was very doubtful, however, as she was a very curious, intelligent woman. He said, "Tell the gentlemen that my wife and I will be with them in a few minutes."
"Very good, sir."
When the man left, Dracula sat down and buried his face in his hands. God has abandoned me, and the puppet master is pulling all my strings at once. He sat thus for nearly a full minute before smiling sadly and taking his bride's hand, stroking it lightly until she opened her eyes, smiling sleepily. "Good morning, dearest," she said softly.
He leaned over and kissed her, then said, "Two men are here to see us, my darling. We must…entertain them for some time."
Tatiana frowned and sat up with some difficulty. "Why? What has happened?"
Her husband shook his head. "Nothing has happened, my lovely Tatiana, but they expect that the mistress of the house be present as well."
"Tell them I'm sick, I'm not disposed, anything." Tatiana took his face in her hands. "You'll know what to do," she said, and kissed him with a feather-light brush of her lips against his.
Dracula smiled at her, and, inwardly rejoicing at her decision not to see them, went out to the sitting room. "So, gentlemen," he said cordially, though not without a small dash of sarcasm, "we meet again. Is there something in which I might assist you?"
Van Helsing—how Dracula hated the sight of that man!—smirked at him. "Where is the lovely Countess Dracula?"
"She is disinclined to appear today," Dracula said smoothly. "Would either of you care for a drink? I have excellent brandy." He fetched a decanter from a small cupboard and set it on the table.
"No, thank you," replied both.
Van Helsing stood. "I'm afraid that Countess Dracula will have to become inclined rather quickly, Vladislaus."
"Do not use that name, Gabriel." The warning in his eyes was clear.
Van Helsing smiled, tilted his head in apology. "My mistake, Dracula. As I said, your lovely wife must be present." He dropped all pretense of courtesy, and stared at Dracula with flint-hard eyes. "NOW."
Tatiana opened the door, having decided to get up on her own. "Good day, gentlemen." She curtsied as well as she could in her maternity gown.
Van Helsing sat back down and managed a bow of the head to the pregnant woman. Valerious was staring at her, his chin in his hand. "Dear God," was all he managed.
"Gabriel, Valerious, my wife, Tatiana Dracula. Now, what is this urgent business that you must have come so very far to discuss with me—us?"
Van Helsing frowned, then grinned. "Very well, Dracula." He leaned forward across the table. "An older man was found this morning in the alley. He was dead. On his neck were two small marks that you may very well recognize, Count. He had been drained of his blood."
Tatiana was wide awake now. "How awful! But sir, why should my husband recognize these marks? What were they?"
Valerious cleared his throat gruffly. "They were bite marks, Countess, fang marks. The marks of a vampire."
"I…I don't understand."
Dracula sat very stiffly as Van Helsing leaned toward her and said softly, "Your husband, Countess, is a vampire."
"What! That is not possible!"
"Have you heard nothing of the strange disappearances in the village? Every week, another person goes missing. If they are found at all, they have the marks on their necks. Your husband is a vampire. He has been dead for over two hundred years."
Tatiana stared at him, then at her husband, who had been sitting perfectly still the whole time and had neither agreed with nor protested any of the statements. "Who are you, exactly? How could you know something like that?" She realized that she hadn't seen Vladislaus eat solid food for a few days—weeks, really. Then what was he eating?
"I killed him. 1462, Romania, I killed Vladislaus Dracula, son of Lord Valerious and his wife Anna. I am immortal, the Left Hand of God, the angel Gabriel."
Anna. Tatiana remembered suddenly that Vladislaus had wanted to name their child Eleanor Anna, after her mother and his. "Vladislaus?" She turned to him, disbelieving, wanting him to tell her that they were liars and frauds. He remained silent, keeping his eyes, which were filled with an unbelievable pain, fixed on a spot on the opposite side of the table.
She didn't know if the "angel Gabriel, the Left Hand of God" part was true, but she did recall having heard of the great Van Helsing when she was a very small girl, and she knew instinctively that this was the same man. He only looked to be around 35 or so; he must be immortal, for he could not have been a famous monster hunter at 15 years of age. Yet she could not believe, would not believe, that the wonderful man she had married was a vampire. "Prove it to me," she said flatly.
"Very well," Van Helsing said. "Have you mirrors in this lovely home?"
"Yes, of course we do," Tatiana said, very surprised. "In fact, there's a fine one right there." She gestured off to her right but looked at Van Helsing.
"And you have noticed your husband's reflection in it before?"
"Yes, why wouldn't I? That would be odd if my husband didn't have a reflec…" Her voice trailed off as she glanced at the mirror and her eyes found the blank spot where Dracula should have been. She gasped. "Oh, my God!"
"He had a reflection before?" Van Helsing frowned. "Strange…"
Valerious shrugged. "One more thing, Countess. Vampires do not have heartbeats."
He looked at her significantly, and she reluctantly stood up, going to her husband and placing her hand on his chest. A few moments later, her face went ashen. "Oh, God, what have I done?" She stared at Dracula. "That night—in the garden—you were going to…to…" She shuddered.
"Countess, there is one more thing. We can take you from here"—Dracula started at that—"but your…child…carries the Devil's blood in its veins, for Dracula is the son of the Devil. Perhaps we could…" Valerious did not get any farther, for Tatiana had sunk back into her chair in a faint.
Finally, Dracula acted. "OUT!" he roared, jumping to his feet. Valerious was obviously not one of the bravest of his clan, for he scuttled out of the house. Van Helsing, however, sauntered to the door and turned at the last moment to face his enemy. "We'll finish this one day, you and I, Count. One day, you will pay for your crimes." He smiled, turned, and left.
So now we have met Van Helsing himself...not like you expected, is he? lol but I do think that he would have acted like that ("...details from your sordid past...") in that situation. You'll find out later what I'm talking about. RR:)
