… Garnet twisted and turned in bed once again that night, as she dreamt of that strange man again. She was dreaming that she was in the armory, in that room with the cross door.
There was an open silver coffin with eerie mist pouring out at every crevice and chink. She heard a scream and turned her head in its direction, and nearly screamed herself as she saw the body of Justin with his throat ripped out.
What could have done such a thing? An animal?
A sudden flash of movement caught her eye and she quickly faced the figure in the semi-darkness. It was her visitor from the night before!
He stood in the room, dispassionately staring at the corpse next to the coffin, a thin trickle of blood escaping his full lips. He seemed to see her and moved closer to see who she was.
'Wake up, Garnet' she thought to herself, fighting the urge to scream 'WAKE UP'
The man moved closer, with an intense stare that commanded attention.
"WAKE UP" she screamed to herself as the man came even closer…
…Garnet awoke to the sound of the phone ringing and sat bolt upright in bed.
"Holy shit, Garnet" she said to herself, clutching her sheets hard as she heard her father answer the phone "You have to stop dreaming like that"
She started to settle down some until she realized she wasn't alone in the room. A figure stood near her bedroom door, moving closer.
"Oh shit" she mouthed to herself, reaching for the baseball bat she kept under her bed "this can't be happening"
The figure moved out of the shadows and into the pale moonlight that filtered into her bedroom. Garnet could tell that it was the very handsome man standing before her. His lips curved into a half-smile as he got a good look at her.
"Garnet" she heard him whisper with obvious mirth as his eyes sparkled "You're Garnet"
"Who are you?" she whispered to him, slowly relaxing as he moved closer.
Suddenly, Garnet's bedroom light opened and the handsome man disappeared as her father rushed into the room.
"Garnet" he said, breathlessly "Someone tripped the silent alarm at Carfax. I have to go there at once. The guards were drugged"
"Oh shit" Garnet said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes "I hope nothing was stolen"
"I hope so too" was all her father said, before rushing out of the room…
"I'm telling you" Garnet said, twirling her straw as she sat with her best friend Serena in the courtyard of the National Library in the area near King's Cross station.
"He was standing in my bedroom, I swear. It was so weird. It's like he came out of my dreams and into reality."
"Honestly, Garnet" Serena said, laughing at her "You've seen the Nightmare on Elm Street movies so much that you believe that your dreams can be reality. There's no such thing!"
"But that's not the weird thing" Garnet said, tossing her shoulder length mane of dyed platinum blonde hair behind her shoulders with a slight shake of her head "When he stood there in my room, he said my name"
"That does it" Serena said, throwing a crumpled up piece of aluminum foil at Garnet "We are going out tonight. You need to get laid."
"Hardy har har" Garnet shot back, rolling her eyes at Serena's eagerness to shed sexual energy.
Although she was hardly the good Catholic girl her mother raised her to be, her best friend was much worse. A child of divorced parents, living with her businesswoman mother, Serena had a serious case of father issues and took it out on any available man she set her sights on.
Garnet had a rebellious nature herself, but compared to Serena, a navel piercing, a couple of tattoos, and a modest yet responsible sexual track record made her look like a goody-two-shoes.
"Seriously, Gar!" Serena groused dramatically, putting her hands on her friend's shoulders. "If you find a man to bring to bed, you might be able to forget about the man in your head!"
Garnet shook her head, huffing at Serena's cavalier attitude towards sex.
"You know very well that I don't do one-nighters!" Garnet snapped, taking Serena's hands off of her shoulders. "My parents would lock me up in my bedroom if I hooked up with a gent right after meeting him!"
Serena sighed, knowing how stubborn Garnet could be when it came to her convictions.
"Fine…at least let us go out and enjoy ourselves at Eternal. A couple of drinks wouldn't hurt us!"
She then proceeded to make her most pathetic puppy dog expression…something she did whenever she had to convince Garnet to do anything she wanted.
Garnet took one look at her friend's exaggerated expression and burst out laughing.
"Fine!" she agreed, glancing at her watch. "But I don't want to be out too late tonight. My parents will be on lockdown mode because of the break-in at my dad's antiquities office."
"You know very well that all you have to do is tell your mum and dad that you will be at my house tonight. They trust my mum even though they have no idea how little she spends time at home." Serena insisted, smiling in victory. "I will come get you and we'll go to Eternal!"…
…He awoke to the sound of a nearby cat yowling and glanced at his shadowed surroundings.
The abandoned chapel made a great hideaway for a vampire. He was able to make himself at home in the basement where the sun's damaging rays couldn't harm his body.
It was near an old seminary that was no more than ruins and protected by an ancient cemetery forgotten by all who lived in London.
He missed the days of Victorian London, where he felt right at home. The gothic manors and abbeys fit him like a second skin.
Now, everything he'd come to love had become clean and clinical…something he despised. Gone were the cobblestoned streets and hansom cabs…replaced by complicated machinery and urgency.
While New Orleans was just as modern as the new version of his former home, there was something magical about it. The people of that particular city embraced the occult and all things gothic. It was a pleasant combination of the present and the throwback of the past. He longed for such comforts again.
As he rose from his makeshift casket, he was greeted with cool, crisp air and a full moon which illuminated his new abode. Part of him hated being in hiding, but he knew Shepard and his wife would be searching for him doggedly.
He smiled in spite of himself as he walked through the ruins. He may have let Mary Van Helsing slip through his undead fingers, but now he had a second chance.
Garnet Shepard seemed more superior in ways that her mother wasn't when she was in her prime. She had dazzling beauty, obviously a trait inherited from her paternal side…blessed with dark eyes, a full cupid's bow mouth, and a voluptuous bosom that could spill out of any gown he'd have her wear for him.
While Mary had the clean cut look of the Catholic school girl, her daughter was blessed with a sensuality that would make mortal men fall at their feet. He knew it had to be a trait passed down to her from his own bloodline.
From the moment the child was born, she was destined to be his. Lying in his prison for the past quarter century, he'd watched his bride grow from a pale haired infant to the promise of beauty he'd longed for when he invaded her dreams…the only way he could ever see her.
She was ripe for the taking…a ripe, plump berry ready to fall into his waiting mouth.
Ascending the stairs to the main floor of the chapel, he looked out into the night and closed his eyes, relishing his newfound freedom.
He knew he had to find her before his archenemy found him first. He had many things going in his favor this time, including distance.
Stepping out into the night, his cloak billowing around him, he traced to where he saw her last…