Angel of Beauty: Hola y gracias. And aha, it continues on… heheh. Hope you like this new era. Gracias!

Chapter Twelve: 1886

No Angel

I know I can be afraid but I'm alive
And I hope that you trust this heart behind my tired eyes
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I won't try and try
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I can't live my life
I'm no angel, but please don't think that I can't cry
I'm no angel, but does that mean that I won't fly

-Dido "I'm No Angel"

"Back!" The Count shouted at yet another villager who had come to his castle to destroy him. The man began to tremble nervously as he held out his silver stake.

"Come on, I am beginning to become bored," the Count teased.

The man held out the stake and thrust it into the Count's heart.

"AGGGH!" He grasped at his chest and screamed in agony. "Not," he stopped his act and grinned evilly at the man before pulling the stake out and tossing it aside.

The tiny man began to tremble even harder.

"Let me put you out of your misery," the Count said with a play-sympathetic smile as he advanced on the villager, licking his lips as he came.

"N-no, please—nooooo!" The man screamed in agony as the Count grabbed him and bit deep into his neck.

The Count dropped the man's limp body and walked casually wiping the blood from his lips.

"Vlad!" A woman with long, dark hair came flying off the ceiling as the Count walked into the main hall.

"Good evening, Verona my love," he said to her as she grabbed his shoulders and embraced him with her vampiric strength.

The Count smiled and flashed her and himself up to their bedroom. He always wondered exactly how the flash worked. It was like a more materialistic version of teleportation…

Verona giggled sadistically as the Count laid her down on their bed.

"Good day Vlad, very good day," she said as she gazed out at the cloudy afternoon. It was usually cloudy in Transylvania now. According to legend it hadn't been truly sunny for about four hundred years.

"Very good," he said as he pulled up her wispy, silk shirt.

"Ooh," two other women suddenly walked out of the darkness and joined the couple on the bed.

"Good girl," the orange-haired one said as she stroked Verona's hair. Good for exciting the Count…

The Count spread his wings as he stood on the top of one of the towers later that night. His three brides were out hunting and he felt like taking a simple fly.

He flew over the trees and down towards the lake. He swooped down and touched his body to the water before flying back up and soaring with a group of vampire bats that were enjoying the eve.

He looked up when three slender, white vampires flew towards him. Around them was a little group of about sixteen tiny gray bat-like creatures. His children. Using a spell given to him by the Queen of Hell's son, Johnny, he was able to have his children born undead, instead of dead. It made him rather… happy. Although he did not think he felt happy too often, this was one of the times he did.

"Vlad!" The orange-haired vampire called out as a few of her babies flew around their mother.

"Aleera," he made himself turn back into the human-like Count as he landed gracefully onto a secluded field. "Good eve," he said.

Aleera and Verona landed next to him as the brown-haired Marishka led her own children down with them. The babies squeaked happily as they greeted their father.

"And good eve to you as well," the Count said as he held out his arm, allowing one of Verona's babies to land on it. The child screeched something to him in the language of the bats. Her father smiled and tossed her upward so she could fly.

"Enjoy," he called out as the children flew off to hunt as the young female demon had told him.

"Yes, enjoy!" The three brides called out happily as they watched their babies fly off excitedly.

"I think I am ready, Vlad," Aleera said to her love as she held tightly to his arm. It was time for her birthing. As a vampire she could almost choose when she wanted to give birth. Whenever it felt right. And now it felt perfect.

"Lie," the Count laid her down on the field as the other two brides looked on. He always delivered the brides' demon children.

"Go! Fetch her some water, and some food! Go!" He commanded the other two.

"Yes, Master!" They cried as they quickly turned into their vampire forms and flew off.

"Fare well, sister!" Verona called down to Aleera as she flew off.

"We must find food and water," Verona said to Marishka as they flew above the little village below their master's castle.

"Yes!" Marishka shouted as she pointed down towards a lone man walking through the village.

"V-vampires!" He cried as the two brides flew rapidly down at him. Verona leapt down and grabbed him with her clawed feet. She bit into his neck and drank a bit of his blood to knock him out.

"Go!" She roared at Marishka, "go fetch some water!" She said as she flew back towards the field.

"Yes, sister!" Marishka said as she flew down the road towards the well.

She landed on the edge of the well and looked down into it.

"Hmmm," she muttered as she spotted a bucket to the side of the well. She grabbed it and dove down the well. She quickly swashed up some of the water and flew up out of the well. She looked quickly around and snatched a small wooden board and held it over the water bucket as she flew as not to upset the water.

"Verona!" She called as she flew into the field. When she looked down she saw Aleera lying on the field admiring the many tiny creatures flying unsurely around her. "I've got the water, Verona!" She called.

"Bring it here!" Verona called.

Marishka flew down and placed the bucket of water next to the Count who was covered in blood and a whitish-green slimy substance.

"Thank you Marishka," he said as he kissed her on the cheek and pulled his military coat off. He dipped in the water Marishka had delivered and began to clean Aleera off.

"Sister, such wonderful children," Verona said as she used a flowing strip of silk from her dress to wipe Aleera's face off. One of Aleera's new babies landed lovingly on Verona's shoulder. It squeaked in its bat-like language, making her smile.

"V-Vlad," Aleera took the Count in her arms and embraced him as he leaned over her.

"Congratulations my darling," he muttered softly in her ear as she released him. She smiled and looked up a Verona, the oldest.

"Yes, much congratulations," the eldest bride agreed.

"Indeed," Marishka, the youngest bride said as she caressed Aleera's beautifully curled orange hair.

"Come, we must get Aleera back to the castle," the Count said as he lifted his bride into his arms and transformed into his vampire form. He flew up towards the castle followed by his other two brides and Aleera's newborn children who were born with the wonderful ability to fly.

"How lovely," the Count said as he sat next to Aleera on his bed later that evening.

"Thank you so much, Vlad, thank you," she whispered for her lost strength.

He leaned down and kissed her before he felt the strange dizziness.

"V-Vlad?" She reached up and touched his face. "What is it, my love?" She asked.

The Count gasped and fell backwards. Aleera gasped as well and used the mental link the three brides bore to call her sisters in for again her lost strength.

"Hello, my name is Chantal," a child's voice sounded through the white mist. The Count looked around in confusion.

"Who are you? Where am I?" He asked the mist.

"You are in Rumania, of the new age and I am Chantal Lydie. Welcome," the child's voice suddenly had a face.