Disclaimer: See first chapter.
A/N: Nerys is pronounced (Nair.ee.s). Sorry for not explaining that earlier! Wow! I don't think I've ever had so many reviews for the first chapter. Thanks guys!
Lestatforever: Thanks for the review!
Ti Sly: Thank you for your compliments!
Cvd: I'm glad you like it!
Elena: Thank you very much!
Mouseisi: I'm happy you gave my story a chance, and sorry for not letting you know the pronouncement earlier. Thanks for reviewing!
Fro: Thanks! BTW, I love your name!
Crazyness586: Thanks for reviewing. Also, thanks for telling me tat piece of information. I shall remember it.
TearDrops: You know what, I think I will! ;-) Thanks for the review!
Sinister-Darkness: Glad it caught your attention and thank you so very much for reviewing my story.
Lady Lestat: I didn't really see any DVOC fics, so I decided to write one myself, and I'm glad you like it so far!
The four brides sat in a large open drawing room in Castle Dracula. Nerys sat at an old, forgotten grand piano, her long, delicate fingers sliding over the ivory keys. Verona sat in a seat by the window, reading a novel from the library and Aleera and Marishka were having a discussion about young blood over matured. Their master wished not to be disturbed, but he had told the brides to wait for him in this very room.
Nerys pressed down on the keys, playing a melody she played almost everyday: Moonlight Sonata. It was a song all of the girls enjoyed. It was during this song when Dracula chose to make his appearance. The noise ceased immediately and all eyes turned to him.
"My brides, I have a simple job for you. I want you to go down to the village, and this time you must kill the Princess. There is news of a stranger, also. Let him know what happens when strangers come to Transylvania," the Count said with an evil smile. Verona, Marishka, and Aleera reflected his smile. Aleera wrapped her arms around his neck before giving him a kiss on the cheek. Verona and Marishka did the same then flew out the window towards the village. Nerys merely continued to play her slow, sorrowful song.
"Why do you hide?" Dracula drawled, although he knew her answer. Nerys answered without looking up or stop playing.
"I was born with nobility, pride, and honor. My name used to be well known. I would not taint it with what I have become," Nerys said quietly, her English accent standing from his own Romanian one.
"Oh really? I would not think taking your own life an honorable way to die." Dracula grabbed Nerys's right wrist, forcing her to stop playing. She looked up at him. He ran gentle fingers over the many scars that lined the underside of her wrist and fore arm. Despite how good his touch felt, she jerked her arm away from him at the accusation.
Nerys dropped her eyes in shame of herself, and ignoring him, continued to play her song.
"Such a sad song. A sad song to match a sad girl." Dracula walked to stand behind Nerys. He ran a hand through her soft, slightly curly hair. He bent down a bit.
"Why do you torture yourself?" Dracula whispered in her ear. Nerys felt a shiver run up her spine.
"Are you so sure that it is I who tortures me?" Nerys answered quietly. Her hands went limp on the piano. Dracula gently turned her to face him, his finger under her chin.
"Why do you hate me so? Did I not save your life?" Dracula resumed his massage on her scars. Nerys could feel her eyes watering; it was not something she wished to remember. She jerked her arm away from him.
"Only to take it away," Nerys said spitefully.
"And do you remember what I told you when I turned you?" Dracula asked, ignoring her disrespectful tones.
"You said I would become your queen, that you would give me a life I never dreamed of. You said I would be happy again, that you wouldn't let me slip into depression ever again. As far as I'm concerned, you have yet to fulfill your promises," Nerys said with anger, stepping away from the count
"Do you mean to say that life here is worse than it was in London, where you were surrounded by the very things that made you wish for life to end? That this is worse? I know you are angry, but be honest," Dracula said matter-of-factly.
"I am not saying anything. For all you know, these scars may not be as old as you think." Nerys walked towards the bay window, looking into the grey and dismal sky. Dracula turned towards her, watching her from where he stood. She was truly beautiful; long, curled blonde hair Ð not honeyed, like Marishka's, but purely blonde- with the pale skin every vampire had, but Nerys had had pale skin before she was turned. Her lips were full and pink, and her blue eyes, that once had such life in them, though now hollow, still reflected the inner beauty and strength she held. She was not very short, but not very tall either. Her hourglass figure made her irresistible, despite how pissed she made him.
"You know as well as I that vampires do not scar, they heal. Stop trying to fool me, Nerys. I know you better than anyone," Dracula retaliated.
"Oh really! If that were so, then you would know that I wish to be ALONE!" Nerys yelled, facing him. Okay, not she saw really starting to piss him off. Dracula tossed away her taunts, but he hated when she yelled. Her voice became amazingly high pitched and annoying, it made him want to rip her throat out. So, he picked up the piano and chucked at the wall right next to her. She didn't even flinch, rather, grew a hell of a lot angrier.
"Hey! I liked that piano! Now you can buy me a new one!" Nerys yelled more, leaping out the window, shattering the window. Dracula leaned out the window, watching her fly away.
"And you can buy me a new window!" He called out to her. Dracula sighed and shook his head. How did she always make him lose his temper?
Nerys stretched her wings. She rarely flew, if ever. She hated her demons, so why would she exercise their powers? She could see Verona and Aleera approaching the castle, their faces set into a grieving expression. Something was terribly wrong. Nerys flew up to them.
"What is it? What has happened?" Nerys asked fervently. Verona bent her head and Aleera wailed pitifully.
"What has happened?" Nerys repeated; she hated repeating herself. "Where is Marishka?" Nerys asked, this time a bit more worriedly. She felt a jolt in the pit of her stomach, and with realization, she froze. She began to fall through the air before she remembered to beat her wings.
The three remaining brides flew into the castle, just to hear the Master cry out in anguish and anger.
"Marishkaaa!!!
Nerys landed on the floor, while Aleera and Verona hung from a beam, clinging to each other. Nerys paced the floor, thinking hard, while Dracula walked up a pillar.
"If it's not that Christians, it's the Moors! Why can't they just leave us alone? We never kill more than our fill. And less than our share. Can they say the same?" Dracula ranted. Nerys kept herself from saying that they attacked their village unexpectedly. Dracula reached the ceiling and walked over to Verona and Aleera. He reached into their minds and got the information he needed. The princess and the stranger. Dracula could feel his anger rising.
"Did I not say how important it was to finish with these Valerious? Now that we are so close to achieving our dream?" Dracula rambled on. His tone softened when he heard his brides wail.
"There, there, my lovelies. Do not worry, I shall find another bride.
"Do we mean so little to you?" Aleera asked sadly.
"Have you no heart?" Verona asked. Dracula went from soft to dangerous in a flash.
"No! I have no heart. I feel no love. Nor fear, nor joy, nor sorrow. I am hollow! Soulless! At war with the world and every living soul in it!" Dracula said loudly into what should have been an echoing chamber. Nerys looked up at him from where she stood.
"You speak so passionately for someone who has no heart, and it makes one wonder," Nerys said. Dracula hissed at her, but she ignored her.
"Soon, so very soon, the final battle will begin," Dracula said with an evil smile. "We must find out who our visitor is.
"And he shall die," Nerys said calmly, though she bared her fangs. Marishka was like a daughter t her, and her death would not go unavenged.
"Yes, he shall." Dracula dropped to the ground to face her. Perhaps Nerys has become more vampiric. "We'll have to make a special aperitif out of him. We are much too close to success to be interrupted now." Aleera and Verona dropped to the floor next to him again.
"You fool!" Nerys exploded. "How many times must I say it? You put your brides in heartache for no reason! Even the werewolf venom won't work! I thought you were smarter than that! We are no closer as ever!" Nerys yelled. Dracula backhanded her and she flew backwards into the stone wall, and some rocks fell from the ceiling.
"You dare to call me a fool?! How dare you disrespect your Master!" Dracula yelled at her. Verona and Aleera cowered behind a pillar at his wrath.
"I have no Master! Damn, that hurt! You didn't have to hit me!" Nerys added, holding a hand to her face. "Talk about anger management," she said under her breath. Dracula's wrath dissipated and a wicked grin broke out on his face.
"Please say you won't try again, my lord!" Aleera pleaded, breaking out of her reverie. Nerys and Dracula's sparring could become confusing at times.
"My heart could not bear the sorrow if we fail again," Verona added.
"Silence!" Dracula countered, stern once again. The two brides once again hid behind the pillar. The count immediately regretted frightening them; they had seen enough this day. He enveloped them in his cape, soothing them with his will and strong voice.
"Do not fear me, everyone else fears me," Dracula said to the now purring brides. Nerys felt like gagging herself. She loved her sisters, but these little shows disgusted her. Dracula inhaled the intoxicating scent of his brides, and could feel the life running through their veins.
"We must try . . . . for our own survival," Dracula said softly. The werewolf howled, and their heads turned towards it. The small, broken figure of Igor was poking the beast with a cattle prod.
"Igor!" Dracula called out. Nerys began walking towards the beast as Igor slid across the ice-covered snow to his master.
"Yes, Master!" Nerys cringed at the voice. It was disgusting.
"Why d you torment that thing so?" the Count asked, still holding his brides. Nerys approached the chained wolf, but nobody noticed yet. All eyes were on Igor and Dracula.
"It's what I do." Nerys mock repeated in a high pitch voice, much to the annoyance of Dracula and Igor. Nerys reached a hand out to the wolf to sniff.
"Remember, Igor: Do unto others . . . .
"Yes Master, before they do unto me," the gnarled man replied. Nerys scrunched her nose at the ugly twist of the once healthy saying. The werewolf cautiously sniffed her hand, before trying to take a bite at it. Nerys jerked her hand back from it. This caught Dracula's attention.
"Keep distance from the lycon, Nerys. You know what would happen if you were to be bit," Dracula drawled, paying no attention to the brides that clung so desperately to him. Nerys ignored him. She angrily grabbed the wolf's snout, keeping his jaws together. She leaned her head close to his, looking dangerously into his eyes.
Stop," Nerys ordered in a low voice. The werewolf let out a low whine, and Nerys let go of him. This time it did not object when she stroked it behind the ears.
Dracula, Aleera, and Verona looked on in wonderment. "How did you that?" Verona asked in a barely audible voice.
"Fear the feared, and the feared will fear you," Nerys said, scratching the beast behind its ear. Its hind leg began to pound on the stone floor, and Nerys let loose a broad smile.
"Aren't you adorable," she whispered. Dracula broke out of his trance, and called out to her. Nerys turned to look at him questioningly.
"To Castle Frankenstein!" Dracula announced.
A/N: That chapter was a lot longer than the first one, and took me a while to write. I kept forgetting what I wanted to say! LoL. Please Review!