The Insult of a Good Dream
This scene, was it London, the London of back at the time, the time of my sweet Mina. The street were simpler, and there were no cars but sleek carriages going up and down, the people too were different, wearing the old fashion suits and dresses.
It was broad daylight, I caught my reflection on the polished glass of one of the stores, and saw myself with my old look, wearing the black Victorian suit and cape with red tie, with my smooth face and messy long hair in curls, yes this was me a hundred years ago.
What's going on here, why am I back in this time…this place, I thought, noticing that Carfax manor was just up ahead. The dreaded building was still up as it was when I lived in it, the memories that place held for me were too fresh for me to contemplate so soon.
"Darling, there you are, I thought I lost you back there." came a voice that very well nearly brought tears to my eyes.
I turned my head so fast I might have dislocated my neck, running up to meet me, smiling and radiant as ever was Mina, her curly hair fell freely, her red lips and warm brown eyes as I remembered, even the dress was the same, showing a decent amount of cleavage without being obscene.
"M…mina." I whispered, my voice seemed to have left me.
"yes silly, come on don't disappear on me like that, you know how easily I get worried, no w come, we don't want to be late to Dr. Van Hellsing's dinner."
"Van Hellsing?" I muttered, the name was yet another surge of déjà vu.
"yes,, oh don't tell me you've forgotten, I must have mentioned it to you a hundred times last night, just because we got… comfortable with each other doesn't mean you can pretend you didn't hear." She said, a bit piqued, but in a cute manner as always.
"I…I…I'm sorry." before I could get over the shock she took a hold of my arm and lead me up to the dreaded mansion.
All the while we walked up she kept talking, mostly trivial things about life, I didn't really pay any attention, my eyes and my thoughts were on her, absorbing her as if she were about to banish any minute.
Before I knew we were at the door, she knocked a few times and we waited, she hummed to herself as I contemplated her.
"Are you okay dear?"
"Huh" I said stupidly.
"It's just that you keep starring at me, do I have something on my face." She said suddenly nervous, quickly pulling her make up from her bag but I held her hand.
"You're beautiful, absolutely perfect as it is." I said, to which she kissed me, my god the taste of her lips was the same, absolute bliss at the sugary flavor of them, time seemed to have stop, in a way different from the one I had grown accustomed to.
"hmp hmp." We turned sideways to look into the face of the other person who lived in my dreams, slightly aged, with neck sleek grey hair pulled back until the neck and smart eyes, the same crimson coat I used on the present save for the fedora hat and glassed.
"Well don't let me brake you up love bird." He said with a hearty voice, one that I had never heard him use, or at least not on me.
"Hehehe, sorry Abraham." Said mina sniggering.
"Now now, come inside, everyone dying to see you two." He said, motioning us inside, the place was very different from what I remembered, less dark and filled with light and art, handsome chandeliers and furniture in each room.
"Ahh there you are Vlad, about damn time you got here." Came a rough but friendly voice, a tall and imposing man in a brown jacket, boots and western hat ran to my side and patted on the back affectionately, his mustache drenched in the beer of his glass.
"Hey Quincy let the man get inside for crying out loud." This time the fellow was short, with a light afro and beard, wearing an olive waistcoat and gray pants.
"Seward's Right, you're not drunk enough yet to act like that." Now a gentleman with fine tailored clothes, his hair neatly combed and his mannerism impeccable. To his side was a young woman with red hair and a sensual body.
"Arthur dear, don't be so mean to Quincy, he so adorable when he's like that." She said as he embraced her with his arm.
"Mam, I trust you'll managed to cure old Arthur of his stiffness for parties, God only knows I've tried." said Quincy, shoving a glass in my hand as he dragged me to the center of the living room with the others.
"Ahh Lucy, so good to see you again." Said mina, rushing off to her side, both girls held hands greeted each other for a while.
"I've missed you so much, since you got married you and Vlad have practically disappear from our lives."
"Oh don't say that Lucy, besides, you'll get to experience it very soon, isn't that right." Lucy beamed at Arthur at this.
"Yes, in the end we settled for a June wedding, of course we expect you all to be there, especially you two, Mina, Vlad, you're the inspiration of our love after all. I'll be happy if ours is even half as good at your wedding." said Arthur, smiling at us.
I looked down at my finger and noticed the golden ring; Mina too had one, a 24 carat beauty with a translucent diamond on it. We were married, together bound for live, or eternity in my case, wait on that note, why weren't they terrified at me.
Something wasn't right, I didn't feel as always, my senses were dull and my body felt almost frail. I unconsciously reached my fingers to my mouth, there were no fangs. In the moment of silence I came to hear a tiny but true sound, one I had almost forgotten, the sound of my heart beating. So I was human again, how, was all this possible, why was everything so perfect.
"Ahh Vlad, I got a little surprise for you, I managed to get an old friend to come to our little reunion." Said Van Hellsing while entering the room, but not alone. To his side was a man with grey almost white hair and matching clothes, walking with a cane to support himself, his face was young but tired.
"Mr. Harker was hard to find all the way in Budapest, but business finally gave him a rest to see old friends." Harker smiled and held his hand outstretched, I looked at it callously, unsure of whether the rage I held for him was still present.
"Now Vlad, be a little more polite to your best man would you." said Van Hellsing, taking my hand by force and stretching it with Harker's, passing it as a joke I did not laugh at.
"Come now, let's have some brandy," he poured all of us a cup and raised his in a sign of toast. "To this group of old John Bulls, may we all meet again twice as happy and healthy as today."
"Cheers." they all said and drank, I looked at my glass absentmindedly for a moment before draining it.
"Vlad, how about a word?" proposed Van Hellsing, to which they all agreed and cheered.
"I stood up and looked at all their faces, these were the men I had come to respect and admired, the men who had bested me, defeated me…imprisoned me, and yet here they were, as my friends, my equals, and for some reason that filled me with joy, it was like a repressed fantasy come true.
And Mina, so beautiful, and full of love for me,, my wife and companion for life, a mortal life, one where I could live with the pride and dignity of a man, no longer will I have to bear the shame of being a monster.
"You…all of you are…all I ever wanted, and all can ever ask for." I said simply but meaningful, their faces lit up in appreciation.
"You said my friend" said Quincy.
Mina came to my side and hugged me; we shared a quick kiss before looking deep into each other's eyes
"How I lived a century without ill never know." I told her, gaining a little laugh from her part.
"You're so romantic my love." I'm just glad you're happy." She said, her eyes burning into mine.
"As Long as I have you." I said huskily, noticing suddenly how she seemed to be fading.
"What a shame for you then." Said a new voice, it was simple and soft, but it rang around the room, disturbing it as a pebble thrown into a lake, reality tear itself apart to pieces, like it had all been images of a film, leaving me in total blackness.
It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the room, then I saw them, the man standing in from me, with spiked long hair and funny shades, behind him, another one in a long black suit carried another in his arms, this one was blond and kind of short plus terribly injured, yes, it all came back to me now.
"Did you have a good dream, ya freak?' said the one in front, puffing some smoke from his nostrils.
I didn't react, I tried to grasp what I had seen in my mind, to hold it there at least, so futile, the pain was low key, but ran through me like hot water.
I felt something warm fall in my cheeks, I touched them and saw it was tears, not blood tears vampires had, but real crystal clear tears, it was something I had not seen since I lost Mina for the first time. I had grown accustomed to the idea that I would never feel this kind of suffering, this humiliation again, so why did it happen, why did I have to experience it like this again, so worse than before. I crawled to fetal position and cried, for the first time in a hundred years I cried to my heart's content.
"Hey, don't be such a little bitch about it, get yourself up, your masters want her little fanged pet back and I my money, so move it." He said, his voice changed things completely; all the emotion in me remained, but tunes to pure white hot rage.
"You thought that because you had lost everything you no longer had to fear being hurt, but all it takes to shake someone up a bit is a little hope, show them what they want, even if they know they won't get, and they fall to pieces in desperation, even monster like you."
I stood up and faced him, in all my life, mortal or immortal, had I been offended like this, and this conceited little punk wasn't going to get away with being the first.
I concentrated hard and allowed the tattoo on my hands to shine as bright as they ever had, my body slowly shrinking and changing, the hair turned silky and smooth, the face molded itself with feminine features, inspired on those of my lovely Mina, the clothes turned white, with matching scarf and Russian hat, only the angry crimson eyes stayed the same.
"You fucking piece of shit, I will carve the meaning of desperation into your body, your mind and your soul, tear your entrails apart and kill you a hundred, thousand million times, and even then I don't think I'll be satisfied." Slowly but surely, the blood of all the dead peoples in the Infinity Fortress answered my call, slowly oozing all the way from the entire lower floor to the top of Babylon Tower.
Soon a sea of blood rose behind me, surrounding us and feeding me, I allowed myself and insane laugh at the emotion of so much food, feeling blend with me.
"I'm so hungry when I get pissed, don't worry though, even with all this I'll make room for you."