A/N: Leah: The story takes place in London. One of the lines in the last chapter clarifies that. And I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've had so much schoolwork late, and will for a while.
In Dreams
"What!" I gasped, trying not to seem guilty. "Are you serious? That's not possible!"
"I'm afraid it is," said Mary wearily. "I just don't know how this could have happened. All the locks in the safe were encoded directly to me. How could someone have opened them without me?"
"The same way as they did for your father," said Simon grimly. "With inside help."
"I hope you're not thinking of suspecting my mother," I began.
"No, no, of course not!" said Mary. "Your mother is a wonderful woman, and I know I can trust her."
"Good," I said, much relieved. I didn't want Mom taking the fall for my wrongdoing. "I was just afraid, you know, this didn't happen until she started working here and all-"
"I know what you meant, and I don't believe a woman with integrity like your mother's could have done this," Mary assured me. I smiled and turned back to Damien.
"C'mon. I want you to meet Mom." Together we went up to Mom's office, and I made the necessary intros. Mom was thrilled to meet Damien, and thankfully restrained her inherent parental instinct to embarrass me.
While Mary and Simon worried about the safe and its contents (or lack thereof, possibly) Damien and I had a great weekend together. We went to see Dracula: the Play at a playhouse near Carfax, had a nice dinner together just the two of us (though it wasn't exactly a date, per se) and wandered in and out of all sorts of cool pagan shops on Sunday night. I was truly sorry for the weekend to have ended so soon, but I had school with Damien to look forward to at least.
School seemed to be going well for me. I scored a solo in one of our songs in choir (though the song was so disgustingly religious it almost made me gag to sing it), and two of the girls asked if I wanted to do a song with them for our school's upcoming talent show. I agreed, and we talked about it on the walk to our next classes, deciding to sing "I Put a Spell on You" from Hocus Pocus. I would be Winifred, Hana (one of the other girls) would be Sarah, and Brooke (the other other girl) would be Mary. We set up a meeting after school to practice, and swapped numbers and AIM screen names. I got the feeling that I had just made my first ever "gal pals".
Class and lunch with Damien was enjoyable as well, as we spent the whole time discussing supernatural happenings, Wicca, and other such things that frighten most other people because they don't understand them. Damien walked me to Carfax and didn't leave until I was safely inside the building. I was very happy, happier than I had been in a long time.
Mom and I went out to a nice dinner that night, as I had finished all my homework, and had a great time. The waiter, a sweet cutie with an Irish accent, was making eyes at Mom all through the meal. I urged her to talk to him, and she did. It turned out that he was in college and thought Mom was my sister, but he was a good sport about it when he found out that she was my mom. We went home laughing about it. When we returned home it had gotten rather late, so I fed my sanguivorous pet bat, Nocturne, from my fingertip (hey, he didn't need all that much blood), showered, and went to bed. As I drifted off, I hoped I'd either dream of Damien or the Vampire. As it turned out, I got them both.
Damien and I crouched down together as the Code-C announcement blared out. It claimed that it wasn't a drill, but whoever was in the building was probably just a cop in a student's get-up testing the school. I lay in Damien's arms, smiling. Everything was from a third-person's point of view, so I could see everything around us. That meant I could see the mist seeping under the classroom door, and the silhouette in the window.
The door burst open suddenly, and everyone shrieked except for Damien and me. We sat up quickly, looking to see what was going on. I stared as I recognized the Vampire from the abbey. I looked at Damien, who was startled and confused.
"Stay down," he whispered. "I don't think he'll hurt us, but I won't let him lay a hand on you."
I almost protested before I remembered that Damien didn't know the whole story yet. So I kept my mouth shut and watched. The Vampire came closer, smiling at us all in a deliciously chilling way. I was scared, and I loved it. I rather hoped the Vampire would chose me out of all the others, but, to my surprise, he looked directly at…Damien. I didn't know what he wanted with Damien, but I prayed he wouldn't hurt him.
Damien rose slowly, as if in accordance with some unspoken command. The Vampire only smiled wider. Damien was uncertain, his hands clenching and unclenching as though of their own accord, but he didn't move otherwise.
"Come to me," said the Vampire. "Come to me, Damien."
"No," said Damien, though I heard a tremor in his voice. The Vampire laughed gently and raised his hand. Suddenly he was barely two inches from Damien, his hands closed around Damien's upper arms. Damien struggled, but he could not break free. The Vampire leaned down slowly, and bit Damien's throat. Several of the girls were screaming and/or crying. I was only staring, fascinated. I felt a lovely shiver go through my body, a strange clenching feeling in my stomach that made my legs shake. I couldn't look away from the spectacle, nor raise a hand to help Damien. Suddenly both he and the Vampire disappeared, and I was alone again.
Here the dream faded out, but it wasn't nearly finished.
Damien woke lying on a bed in a huge room with a fireplace lighting it all. The Vampire stood next to the fireplace, gazing into the flames pensively. Damien sat up slowly and slid off the bed.
"I can hear you," commented the Vampire, not bothering to turn around. His voice had lost that irresistible note of command, but not its striking beauty. Damien stopped in his tracks, unsure of what to do. "You're much braver than most men," the Vampire continued. "And I've taken down tried and true men, brave warriors who had hunted my kind for all their lives. Each of them died begging for life. But not you. You stood tall to protect the one you love."
"What are you-" began Damien, but the Vampire cut him off.
"I know you love her, dear boy," he said with a smile, still gazing into the fire. "I could taste it in your blood. I can hear it in every beat of your young heart. You love my Ebony, and sought to protect her from me. Little did you know that she is the one who released me."
"What do you mean, 'your' Ebony?" Damien demanded. "She's not a possession!"
"A man refers to his daughter as 'my daughter'," replied the Vampire. "I meant the same thing. She was given life through my blood, and so is my daughter."
"The transfusion," breathed Damien.
"Ah," said the Vampire, finally turning from the fireplace to smile at Damien. "Now you understand." Damien took an involuntary step backward.
"But what do you want with me?" he asked.
"She loves you too," answered the Vampire. "When she comes over to me, I don't want her to be lonely. I want her to have you." Now he began to move towards Damien, who moved away.
"Wh-what are you doing?" he asked shakily.
"Don't be afraid, Damien," said the Vampire soothingly. "It only hurts for an instant." At these words, Damien turned tail and bolted for the door. Somehow, though, he ended up running right into the Vampire's arms. The Vampire laughed. "Ah, you're going to fight for your life. Brave indeed." Damien wrenched free, but the Vampire caught him, not fiercely, by the throat and held him still. Smiling at him, he took Damien's right wrist and raised it to his mouth.
"No," said Damien, struggling. "Let me go! Let go! Don't!" But the Vampire didn't heed him and his fangs pierced Damien's wrist. Damien gasped and tried to pull free but lacked the strength to combat the preternatural creature. He kicked and hit with his free hand, but none of it even fazed the Vampire. Finally the Vampire released him and Damien stumbled back, clutching his wrist. Blood droplets ran through his fingers, but he didn't take his eyes off the Vampire for an instant. The Vampire only smiled that chilling smile again.
"One," he said simply. Then he was gone. Damien spun around, eyes darting around wildly.
"Come out where I can see you, you coward!" he shouted, trying to keep his voice from breaking.
"As you wish," came a voice form behind him. Before he had time to react, Damien found himself pinned back against the Vampire's muscular chest. He fought, tensing his muscles to keep the Vampire from biting his other wrist, as he was certain he would. But, to his abject shock, the Vampire actually tickled him, effectively loosening his arm. Again Damien gasped as those fangs were driven into the soft flesh of his wrist and the strange sensation of having his blood drained slowly by this voracious creature began again. He weakened as more of his blood was stolen from him. Slowly the Vampire released him, only whispering "Two," in his ear before vanishing again. Damien groaned as he sank to his knees, dizzy and weak, hardly able to stand. A shadow fell over him, and he didn't bother to look up.
"Here, let me help you!" said the Vampire, raising Damien up and pushing him back so he fell back on the bed. Again Damien groaned, hating this feeling of helplessness, of wanting someone to come and save him. The Vampire stood watching him for a moment, contemplating. Then, to Damien's surprise, he took off his trenchcoat and cut his wrist, holding it close to Damien's mouth. Damien didn't know what to do. This creature, whoever he was and whatever he wanted, was offering him immortality. And he had told Damien he planned to do it to me too. What was Damien to do?
Slowly he pushed himself up, only to fall back. The Vampire, his cobalt eyes now filled with compassion and love, sat down on the bed next to Damien and gently raised his head. Damien licked his dry lips briefly before willingly drinking from the bleeding wound. He wasn't sure how long the Vampire – Dracula, as he learned from drinking his blood – allowed him to drink, but it didn't seem long enough. All too soon Dracula pulled away. He rose, watching his wrist heal itself disinterestedly before turning back to Damien. Damien stood, now strengthened by Dracula's blood, looking at Dracula curiously. Dracula smiled at him.
"Feel better?" he asked. Damien only nodded. "Good." Out of nowhere, he caught hold of Damien, twining his fingers carefully in his hair and pulling his head to the side. Damien struggled, caught off his guard and scared. "Shh," said Dracula gently. "It's all right now." So saying, he bit Damien's throat, draining him. Damien's knees gave out and he sank to the floor, but still Dracula fed off him. Finally the youth had lost too much blood and went limp in Dracula's arms, dead, exsanguinated. Dracula released him and caught him deftly in his arms, laying him gently on the bed. "Sleep now, young one," he said softly, brushing Damien's hair out of his face. "When you wake, she'll be here waiting. I promise you."
I woke to the sound of my clock radio blaring out a weather report through the static that came from not being properly tuned. I reached out blindly and snapped off the switch that controlled the alarm, still thinking about the dream. It had all felt so real, like it was actually happening while I dreamt it. Was that even possible? Was the Vampire I resurrected in the abbey really the Dracula, Vlad Tepes, Vladislaus Dragulia from whom I was descended? And more importantly, did he really have Damien? Unfortunately, I didn't have the leisure to contemplate it all carefully.
"Rise an' shine, sweetie!" came Mom's irritatingly perky voice. "C'mon, up, up, up! Time for school!" I groaned and got out of bed, shivering in the cold. I thought about the dreams as I dressed for school. Something in me told me that this was much more than a dream, and I needed to see Damien as soon as possible. I was worried, but about what I don't know. All I knew is that I didn't want Damien to go through all that before he learned the truth from me. I had to find him. I had to tell him what I had done. I only hoped that he would be there.