Hello to all the readers! I was so sad that only one person reviewed my last chapter, please be kind and review this one! Hope you'll like Dracula in it!
Dracula was sitting in a large armchair in his chambers. He was drinking from a goblet, waiting for the demons' return. Patience was not among his virtues though, and annoyed, he soon started walking around the castle, kicking everything out of his way. Then finally he could feel the presence of a demon in the castle. He quickly appeared in front of the creature which had jus landed in the grand hall. Dracula was raised to fury upon seeing that only one of them had returned, and it didn't even bring Elizabeth along. The demon knelt down before him, it still had Agnes' knife in its back.
„ Forgive me my master, but we have failed." it said. Dracula's eyes turned light blue with anger and disgust because of the demons' uselessness. He grew his fangs and was already thinking about the cruelest form of death to punish the traitor with, as the demon went on.
„ The others were killed." upon hearing this Dracula got even angrier, and grabbed the demon by its throat. He thought he would burn it to a crisp with his touch, after interrogating it.
„ Haven't I told you not to come back without her? And now you expect me to believe this nonsense! You are immortal; no mere human can kill you! Where did the other two cowards get to?!" he shouted, his voice echoed in the large hall. It was then that Dracula noticed the knife sticking out from the demon's back. He let go of the creature's throat and pulled the knife out ignoring the demon's loud shriek. He wiped the blood off the blade with his sleeve, and examined the whole weapon substantially, and tried to interpret the engraved runes.
„ I am the fear of the creatures of the night, I belong to the gifted children." Dracula read the lettering out loud „ A demon-slaying knife! I haven't seen any of these for centuries! A unique masterpiece!" he thought „ Who owns such a precious piece of armour these days?"
„ What man was brave enough to stick up to you three?" asked Dracula as he turned back to the demon.
„ It was no man, master" answered the demon in an evil tone as it narrowed its eyes „ It was a bitch that showed up from nowhere! This belonged to her until we took it." it said, and handed Agnes' necklace over to Dracula. The latter looked at it with amazement and couldn't believe his eyes. Dracula was staring at the beautiful gem for ages and got lost in sight of the beautifully crafted crystals and the silver, which seemed to be luminous in the cold and dim hall.
„ This is no ordinary jewel, its owner must be...but it can't be, that hadn't happened since....." the thoughts were running in his head " Yes, it is possible." The thought of what he had found out made his lips curve into a wide smile, and fire blazed up in his eyes.
„ Leave me alone now! „ he said to the demon „ Your work is done for today!" He turned around upon finishing the sentence and walked away Dracula didn't stop until he got to the mirror room. He came to a stand in front of his large mirror that was metallic black at the moment. But as soon as he began concentrating on Agnes' gem, the mirror's black changed colour: it looked like as if some poisonous green-black-purple liquid would whirl upon its surface, then finally the chaos of colours faded away, and an image was revealed. Agnes was lying in her bed sleeping soundly with her back bandaged now. Her eyelashes cast a shadow over her cheeks, which were white as porcelain. Her full red lips made a beautiful contrast to it along with the wavy locks of her hair covering her neck.
„Yes, it can happen." ran through Dracula's mind „ I never dreamt of witnessing such myself!" He gave a loud sigh and couldn't help smiling, and was already making plans for the following day. He stood in front of the mirror with his gaze fixed on Agnes' face for a long time, until the hours of the night passed by and Dracula had to retire to his coffin for the day.
Early in the morning Agnes and Elizabeth were arguing in the latter's temporary room. They both were in their dressing gowns; Elizabeth was sitting on the bed sulking, while Agnes was searching the cupboards for some kind of bag. She turned around to face her sister with folded arms.
„ I can't believe my words fall on stony ground! Why can't you understand that you have to get out of here?!"
„ Why would I want to? This is my favourite place in the world!"
„ Elizabeth, those demons came here to take you away! I don't know why, but that was the reason! And they will come back!" Elizabeth answered in an ironic tone:
„ What if we only dreamt the whole thing, and our fantasy is deceiving us:"
„ These wounds on my back seem quite real!" said Agnes sarcastically „ Just in case you didn't know, Marton was working to remove the chips of glass for hours!"
„ How can you be so sure they will come back?"
„ I am not sure, but let's not give them a chance, alright?"
„ And why are you sure they wanted me?"
„ You might have been too scared to remember, but I can recall every word that left their disgusting mouths! And they wanted to take you! You're lucky you remember little, Julia has been in a shock since last night!"
„ You said you would protect me from anything!" Agnes rolled her eyes, looked up to the ceiling and began murmuring something. The she walked to the table, and leant on it, crinkling the tablecloth angrily.
„ Listen Elizabeth, I am wounded, I am not sure I could protect you. I am not taking the risk of losing you, do you understand?"
„ I-I-I-I, that's all you can say!" said Elizabeth as she walked up to the other side of the table, facing her sister.
„ Stop being so bossy!" she said.
„I'm not bossy!" Somebody knocked at the door.
„ Come in!" they both shouted angrily. The door opened and Ferenc stepped inside.
„ Good morning ladies!" he greeted them politely „ Did I interrupt something?"
„ No" they both answered, then turned back to face each other.
„ Alright, will you leave if I admit I'm bossy?" asked Agnes sarcastically.
„ No!" came the answer from the obstinate Elizabeth.
Agnes buried her face in her hands, and gave a loud sigh. The suddenly she lifted her head.
„ Alright, then if you don't want to leave then you can have my sword and protect yourself! I will get it right away!" she said, then set off towards the door.
„ Come back here, you know I can't even lift your sword!" said Elizabeth
„ Darling I think your sister is right this time! That was the reason for my coming to your room as well! I want to take you with me somewhere where it's safe! I am worried about you" said Ferenc
Elizabeth sat back onto the bed again, with a huffy look on her face. Agnes and Ferenc were both standing by the door, the latter looking at her lovingly, while the former inquiringly. She gave a loud sigh after a while.
„ Alright, I will start packing right away, you convinced me!"
„ Pack only a few things, I have the rest sent after us later!" said Ferenc.
„ You should leave as soon as possible!" said Agnes, as she walked out the door towards her room. Ferenc looked at her as she was leaving and asked
„ And I suppose you're coming with us Miss Agnes?"
„ No, I have a few things to settle before I leave."
A few hours later a beautiful cart was waiting by the main entrance of the mansion. The sky was blue and Sun was shining, but a light snow covered the ground already. The air was cold, and fresh Agnes, Marton and Ferenc were outside the main entrance waiting for Elizabeth. Richard was already in the coach; he was trying to avoid meeting Agnes after last night's event with the perfume-bottle. Agnes was talking to Marton
„ I wanted to thank you for helping me. I wouldn't have survived without you!"
„ And I could never have stood up against those demons, you behaved bravely! It was a pleasure to aid such a wonderful lady, and am glad your back is better now." answered Marton with a wide smile on his face. Ferenc stepped closer to them.
„ I do not mean to disturb your conversation, but I have to ask you something Miss Agnes. Why do you want to stay here? You said those demons would come back."
„ I really hope they will, in fact. They took my necklace yesterday, and I want it back! It used to belong to my grandmother once, and then my mother wore it. You have to understand that I cannot let it fall into the hands of such evil creatures!"
„ I know I have no authority over you, but I'd rather you came with us instead! I heard you told Elizabeth that you couldn't protect her because you were wounded."
„ I wasn't lying, I cannot protect her, but I can defend myself. You shouldn't worry, I will be fine. And I will get my necklace back even if I have to slaughter a thousand demons for it!"
„ Well, its your decision." said Ferenc, then cleared his throat „ I never managed to thank you for saving her. You saved two lives at one time."
„ You would have done the same I'm sure" said Agnes „ But it was more to luck then my skills. Fortunately they didn't organize the attack. I suppose if they come back, their offence will be more planned than previous night. But I will be prepared for them as well, no more surprises for me!"
Elizabeth and Imre showed up as she finished the sentence. Both Ferenc and Marton kissed Agnes' hand and said goodbye to her, and the sisters were left alone.
„ Sorry if I seemed bossy before." said Agnes
„ Never mind, I know it was for my own good. I wanted to apologise, I didn't even thank you for saving Julia and me. I guess I still can't recall much of the events, but everybody said you acted bravely." Agnes hugged her sister.
„ You're one of those people who are the most important to me in this world. I couldn't put up with it if anything happened to you."
„ I am worried about you. I don't want those whatever creatures to hurt you. I want you to come with us to Kolozsvár"
„ I have to get my necklace back, then I will join you, sooner than you could start missing me. Perhaps I will wake up tomorrow under the same roof as you! Midnight could get me thee in a night's time if I can settle things here quickly." answered Agnes in a cheerful tone „ But you have to leave now, you must reach Kolozsvár before dusk! „
„ Alright, alright. See you soon, big-sister!" said Elizabeth in a happy voice. She was smiling widely with tears in her eyes. The sisters kissed each other on the cheeks before they parted. Elizabeth sat in the cart, while Agnes walked up to the horses in front of it, and whispered something in their ears. Then she patted the leading one on the bottom, and the cart set off. Elizabeth was waving to her sister until they disappeared behind the stone fence of the mansion. Then Agnes turned to Imre.
„ Tell me Imre, is there a library in Gyergyószentmiklós?"
„ Yes Miss, the county library is there near the city hall. Should I have a cart prepared for you as well?" asked the butler politely.
„ No thank you, I will ride my own horse. I will be back before nightfall, please have a light supper prepared for me." said Agnes, as she hurried of towards the equerry.
„ As you wish Miss, have a pleasant journey!"
So we're turning north by the nearest turnout?" asked Elizabeth after they were sitting in the cart for a while.
„ Yes, this is the shorter way to get to Kolozsvár, it will take less time as if we took the path of the coach." answered Ferenc.
„ I really hope my sister will be fine. How is her back actually?" turned Elizabeth to Marton
„ Well, I hope I have successfully removed all the chips. It was bleeding heavily, but the cuts weren't deep fortunately. And she seemed to look better today!"
„ Well, if you say so, but I think it is a silly idea to stay there, but she is even more headstrong than I am!"
„ Can you hear that?" asked Ferenc „ A horseman is approaching!" Elizabeth looked out the window of the coach and saw a rider on a black horse pass by in a crazy zest.
„ Was that Agnes?" asked Marton
„ I think so...I couldn't see it clearly, she will break her neck if she goes on riding like this!" said Elizabeth.
„ At least now we know that her back is fine!" said Ferenc in a cheerful tone.
Elizabeth gave a loud sigh, and took her 'Tales from the Arabian Nights' book out of her bag and started reading it.
Upon reaching the turnout Agnes went straight on to Gyergyószentmiklós, while the cart, which got there later, turned right towards Kolozsvár.
Well, well, thanks for reading, and pretty please review! I would greatly appreciate it! And I can still send that drawing of Midnight which I mentioned before.
