Okay this is where the story picks up. Geeze it feels good to sit down and write again. Sorry guys I've been getting my but whooped by a lot of different things.
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The dinner was tense to say the least, though Dracula had done a good job at keeping everyone from panicking and it was a bit of a relief to be able to sit and rest. So, he sat at the table leisurely sipping on a wine glass of blood substitute and listened to the excited chatter rattling around the table from their new guests. Apparently the group of them had quite a few interesting adventures since Johnny left to travel the world.
Jonny's friends were slowly making their way around the table running through interviews with everyone there. The only thing that had gone wrong so far was when Lawrence, the idiot he was, tried to light up a cigarette. Emphasis on tried. It took forever to calm poor Frank, and then more time to set up the dining hall again. Lawrence felt pretty awful about that, though Gemma just kept telling him it was awesome footage.
Dracula was crazy paranoid; he was more on edge now than he had been in hundreds of years and it wasn't from the humans. That feeling, the need to run, to just leave everything take everyone and run and hide. The itch had grown in intensity until it was no longer an itch, it was a burning need. He could feel it in every fiber of his being and he was afraid. He wanted to know why he was so afraid. He hadn't felt fear such as this since…..no. No it couldn't be that. Not….that.
There was no need to think of them, the nameless ones, They of the Void, the devouring evil that never slept and never grew full.
He was done with that and would never again dwell on such things, for thinking of an impossibility was useless.
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With a great leap Inmoon flew over the canyon that separated her from the massive hotel that her dear friend Vlad had created. Her blood beat loudly in her ears as her mind filled with horror. She steadied herself on all fours as she looked up the tall stone wall of the hotel. Her ears twitched as she found the sound of the dinner and she ignored the scent of humans, which were not Jonny. Her claws dug deep into the stone fortress and she scaled the outside wall, she quickly found a window and crawled in.
She pulled her cloak close to her body and carefully entered the hallway. She followed her nose to find the dinner party and peeked through the red curtain into the vast room.
Her purple eyes grew wide at the sight of even more humans gathered at a table holding strange devices that Inmoon didn't bother to try and decipher. She leaped into the rafters and kept her cloak close so her silver fur didn't reflect the candlelight. Being as quiet as she could she prepared to do what she came here to do.
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Dracula's mouth was dry, his tongue swollen like cotton, and his mind racing. Every sense was enhanced more than usual, it got that way when adrenaline raced through his cold veins. He focused hard on the need to keep calm and stay in control. His vision switched and swapped and he did everything he could to keep them looking human.
He looked at Jonny, at Lawrence and Gemma and the rest of the humans but the only thing he saw of them was their blood filled veins and their beating hearts and he lost the battle to see more of them than that. He saw straight through their flesh and bone and that human smell became…..enticing.
His mind was screaming at him to attack, to feed. He needed the strength that human blood gave him for the fight. But…..what fight?
His fight or flight response was taking over. The feeling was taking over but he had to control himself. He took another drink of the blood substitute in his glass and it suddenly tasted foul. Like rotten meat. That's not what he needed, what he needed was sitting at the other end of the table.
One bite, just one bite couldn't hurt. Could it? He wanted-no-needed it. He wouldn't kill them, no. He could control himself. He was Vladislav Dracula after all. He was Shadow itself.
Plunk
Something fell in his glass and finally drew him away from the strange instinct that overtook him. Now he was even more scared than he had ever been. He almost lost his control and that had never happened. If he had attacked, no one would have been able to stop him, not even himself. He would have killed them all.
He lifted the glass to his lips and allowed his tongue to lengthen and sweep through the drink. It looked like a long, leisurely sip. The forked tip ran into a small capsule, a silk cocoon, he wrapped his tongue around it and drew it into his mouth. He tasted it carefully and then bit down. Immediately a voice echoed in his head.
I do not have the time to explain in this way. You must leave somewhere no one can see you so that I may speak of what has happened.
Inmoon.
Suddenly Dracula grew annoyed bordering on angry. This was an important meeting, no matter how unimportant the guests were. This meeting was the key to gaining a positive relationship with the human world. Whatever Inmoon wanted it would have to wait.
He stiffened and calmly placed his wine glass back on the table and tilted his right ear toward the rafters above him whilst placing half of his attention on the conversation in front of him. Jonny was being interviewed now and he was telling them the story of how he first came across the hotel and met Dracula and Mavis. The Count couldn't help but smile at Jonny's impersonations of everyone.
"Vladislav, I know you can hear me." Inmoon whispered as loud as she dared from the rafters.
Dracula sighed.
"Vlad rub your right ear if you can hear me."
Dracula casually did so.
"I knew it! Now, find a way to leave the room or I'll come down there and have this conversation with you."
Dracula took a long sip from his glass.
"Vladislav, I've never met any of these dear friends of yours and you know how I love to make an impression."
He nearly choked on his drink at that and set it down quick as he could as he shot up out of seat sending his chair to the floor.
"I…um…need to go…take care of something. Everyone just enjoy yourselves." He stuttered out nervously with a mixture between an apologetic smile and a pained grimace on his face.
He righted the chair and, with a burst of inhuman speed, ran out of the dining room and right into Inmoon sending them both crashing into a housekeeping cart. Everyone left at the table turned to the sound of the crash and watched as a Witch Maid suddenly got a horrified look and rushed behind the curtain screaming her apologies to Dracula.
They all laughed and returned to their interviews.
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After magically drying himself, Inmoon, the floor, and resetting the cart he quickly shooed away the witch and waited until she was out of sight with her cart to signal Inmoon out of her hiding place. She had immediately jumped into the rafters again to hide after pushing Dracula off of her.
"What is it now? This is a very bad time Inmoon."
"The seal is breaking. The seal on the Gate we made to hold them. The Gate with no name so as to take away the power of a name so no one could hold power over it."
"…WHAT!?"
The dining hall ran silent.
"WHAT DO YOU MEA-mmmph!" Inmoon quickly silenced him by clamping a hand over his mouth.
They waited a few tense and very silent moments until the conversation in the other room started up again. They waited even longer until the room's noise level increased a bit more.
They pulled their eyes away from the curtain and back at each other.
"What do you mean its breaking?" He hissed.
"I mean its breaking as in not going to work soon as in kaput, as in broken."
"Inmoon you know what I mean! How could the seal be breaking? That's impossible."
"I don't know Vlad but I saw it for myself and we don't have much time. The seal will break tonight and Sorry Night is approaching fast. They will break through, and just like last time there will be nothing to hold them back, to force them back into the void. We have to fight again."
"You're certain of this?"
"Of course Vlad."
"They've tricked us from beyond the Gate before. What if that's what this is?"
"You can't possibly tell me you haven't seen the omens. Omens of a doom fast approaching. The images in fire, a feeling of pure terror, the need to do nothing but run and hide. A sudden thirst for human blood. I've felt this! You went farther than any of us and if I can feel it then I know that you can."
Dracula fell to his knees as the knowledge of what they must face again hit him and stole away his breath. Inmoon fell down beside him as her adrenaline rush faded and weariness settled on her shoulders.
"Open the vault Lord Dracula."
"We will need to do more than last time if we want to bind them permanently. We cannot risk this again. We cannot risk They of the Void ever truly breaking free. To run the world unhindered and unstopped. It is a thing unthinkable."
"What?" Frank's suspicious voice sounded out behind him.
Dracula leaped to his feet and spun around to lay wide eyes upon Frank, Murray, Wayne, Griffin's glasses, Jonny, Mavis and all of Jonny's friends. Camera still running and pointed at them.
"Who is that?" Wayne pointed to Inmoon who seemed to be trying melt into Dracula's back.
He looked back at her with a mild glare and bumped her roughly with his elbow. She gave out a pained grunt and stepped out beside Dracula, her cloak brought close and hiding everything.
"Dad? What's going on? What were you talking about? What did she mean?" Mavis's bright blue eyes bore into him and suddenly he froze.
He didn't know what to do. Should she know? Didn't she have a right to know what was coming? Didn't they all?
But they had sworn themselves to secrecy after the fact. They could talk about it with only each other, only the six of them were ever to know. That was the vow.
Now he didn't know if he could keep it.
Inmoon snarled at him and that snapped him out of his thoughts.
"And Drac, what did she mean 'thirst for human blood'?" Dracula's eye twitched, leave it to Griffin to ask that question.
"Its all…very difficult to explain." He stumbled over his words.
"Difficult how? Drac if the blood substitute isn't working like it should-"
Inmoon quickly cut Frank off.
"The point my dear old friend is trying to make is that we have to go. Now and you do not need to know why."
Dracula slapped a hand over his eyes and hung his head.
"Of course we need to know why!" Frank yelled. "From what we heard something is seriously wrong here. The least you can tell us, Drac, is how long you'll be gone." He looked over her to address the Count.
"Indefinitely. Goodbye."
Dracula couldn't help but wince at that.
"Oh no! You are not leaving here until we get some answers!" Frank roared and everyone else threw in agreements as they advanced on her.
"Oh just try and stop-yipe!" Inmoon yipped loudly as Dracula grabbed her by the hood of her cloak and yanked her backwards off her feet.
"There is no way in hell I am allowing you to start a fight with my friends." He hissed at her when she had regained her balance.
Everyone else just stood staring at her, and Wayne couldn't help but be afraid. Silver was the color of death after all.
"This," He waved toward the group. "is why I do the talking! Not you, never you because I can do people and you can't. So, shut your face before you make this worse. I can't imagine how it could get worse but I'm certain that you could accomplish that!"
"This is awesome James, keep rolling get everything." Gemma whispered to the black haired man holding the camera.
"Drac, I think its explanation time." Murray said.
"Not one word." Dracula hissed angrily at Inmoon then turned back toward the group. "Unfortunately Lady Inmoon is right-not a word-" He jabbed a finger in her face. "I have to go. You cannot come with me. I do not know when I will return and we promised to tell no one about this….specific…situation."
"Promised?" Jonny asked.
"Well…..it was more of a…..blood oath."
"WHAT?!" Was the collective response.
"Well, time's a wasting gotta go now bye bye!"
Both him and Inmoon took off down the hallway leaving a stunned group standing there for a few seconds before the rest of them took off after the two. Jonny and his friends fell pitifully behind the chase.
"Oh, so that was your grand master plan Vlad!? Nice going!"
"Shut up and run!"
"They're right behind us!"
"I KNOW!"
"Dracula get back here!" Wayne shouted.
"You're in trouble." Inmoon giggled.
"I am not above hitting you."
The two of them rushed through the hotel and into his room. He lifted his coffin and threw it across the room pushing a stone into the ground as he did so. A spiral staircase opened up that descended into blackness. Inmoon remained while Dracula raced down the stairs. In a few seconds he was back and dressed from head to toe in armor. Not metal armor, instead it was bone. The armor fit snugly and seemed to melt itself to his shape. The staircase closed the moment he was back.
They ran as quickly as they could for the front door but Frank and Mavis had thought to take everyone there first to try and stop Dracula from leaving. Jonny apparently thought to go there before the others because there the camera crew was, filming everything.
"Dracula, I think everyone deserves and explanation." Jonny was ever the peacemaker.
"I think so too but you aren't getting one and no one is coming with us."
"Why not?"
"Because dying is a rather high possibility."
"Whoa whoa! Drac, buddy if you think that we're going to let you go-" Dracula cut off Frank with a shout.
"ENOUGH!" His shout sounded more like an animalistic roar.
The bone armor rattled as a pair of massive wings stretched out from his back. Everyone gasped in surprise and quickly the bone armor moved to protect his wings. The top sections of his wings were left open where his own bone protruded from the flesh to form sharp blades that could cut through nearly everything.
He extended his wings as fully as he could and when he looked back at his daughter his eyes were pitch black and his voice seemed to be the same voice whispering and speaking at the same time. His teeth lengthened, all of them, and it was horrifying. But he still looked sad.
"I am sorry Mavis but I have to go. I am uncertain if I will return and if I do not then I am truly sorry and, though I know I have no right to ask anything of you, I request that you care for the hotel and I ask that you rule our kind in my stead. I Love you my dear and that will never change. Goodbye."
Before anyone could react he flapped those massive wings sending out a gust of wind that blew out all of the candles and torches that lit the lobby sending the room into darkness for a few short seconds.
By the time the magical charm that relit the candles kicked in, Dracula and Inmoon were long gone.
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There we go. I'd love to know what you guys think. Hope you enjoyed and please review. Until next time see ya!