Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T, Shadows
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Prompt: Styrofoam

"My dear boy, we've heard so much about you," an ancient said, gliding forward to greet us as if on wheels. "And you're lovely bride, whom we've been told great tales regarding." They both had skin as thin as onion skins and bright red eyes as they crowded around my hand to kiss it. One was shorter than the other, but that seemed to be the only thing that distinguished them.

"I am Stefan, and this is Vladimir," the one who had spoken before said. "I see Edward has yet to give you his gift. Is there a reason for the wait?"

"Oh, we're in the room next to them," Vickie piped up, offering her hand for kissing. "I assure you, he's been giving her something." Her laughter was met with polite chuckles as Vladimir took her hand and pulled her in. "Do they pay you boys well for acting?"

Stefan shot Edward a look. "May I please introduce our shipmates Vickie and her husband Jimmy? Vickie was hoping someone would be here to play the part of vampires," Edward told him with a smirk.

Vladimir was pulling her away, toward a staircase. "I assure you, our being here has its compensations."

Edward stopped him. "Don't take her anywhere that she'll miss her flight home," he said pointedly. "She will be expected."

"Pity," Stefan said. "I was hoping they'd join us for dinner."

"Sorry, boys, gotta catch a flight at five," Jimmy said, shaking Stefan's hand. "Gotta give it to you, though. The whole get-up is really convincing. Do those red contacts bother you?"

"Red eyes do not bother us," Vladimir said, returning with Vickie to the group. "Black, however, can be rather uncomfortable."

"Please," Stefan said, waving his arm in front of him. "Let us show the castle. We know places most people never see."

"Oh," Vickie exclaimed, clapping her hands, "a private tour!"

Vladimir smiled at her as he came alongside her and directed back to the stairwell he first was pulling her toward. "This castle was built in 1212 by the Knights of the Tuetonic Order. By the end of the thirteenth century is was overrun by the Saxons who used it to protect the local town, an important place for trade."

Jimmy walked up with his wife, but I slipped back to walk with Edward and Stefan. "Vlad Tepes used this castle as the point from which he made incursions into Transylvania," Vladimir continued.

"Until he was bitten by his creator," Stefan added with a chuckle.

"You?" I asked, getting a nod in reply. "Why did you choose him?"

"Because he was bloodthirsty as a human, and I wanted a coven that could rule the world," Stefan explained as if we were discussing the weather.

"Are these real?" Vickie asked, pointing to some planters in the middle of a courtyard.

"They are. Styrofoam doesn't last for centuries," Vladimir told her.

"Did the original Dracula really impale people?" she asked, looking a little ill as she spied some timbers leaning against the walls.

"Of course. Is it really so much more brutal than what others have done? History is full of the debasement of enemies. No country is exempt, including your own," Vladimir said. "Those were brutal times, my dear lady, but even so humanity hasn't changed so very much."

"What do you mean?" I asked, getting him to turn to me.

"Husbands beat wives, parents destroy children, bombs and nerve gasses sever limbs. Torture continues today. At least my kind had a point," he said.

"Yeah, I'd say they got the point, all right," Jimmy said with a laugh.

Vladimir laughed along with him. "Seeing twenty thousand corpses impaled along the banks of the Danube was enough to send the Ottoman Emperor fleeing. Anything to protect Wallachia, as it was then called."

The tour ended with Stefan pulling me in close. "Little one, when the time comes that you wish to fight, join with us. We would love to overthrow the usurpers. With you occupying the witch we just might win."

"But she can hurt others," I told him. "It's only me she has no effect on."

"For now. There's no telling what you might become. If they come against you again, count on us," Vladimir offered. "We would love to rip their limbs from their bodies and set fire to them as they watch. Then we'll throw their torsos on and laugh as they scream. They are not the only ones watching you."

Vickie was thrilled with their performance, but it sent a shiver of fear down my spine. Edward hadn't mentioned any other vampires in the area, only those belonging to the Volturi.

Later, after exchanging contact information with Vickie and Jimmy and seeing them off to the airport, I asked Edward what Vladimir meant. "They have spies in Volterra," he said. "Lowly vampires that Aro takes no notice of, and as a result never touches them. It's a dangerous game they play."

"What do they think I can do?" I asked, trying not to become dizzy from watching him pack. "I thought we didn't have to worry about them anymore."

He stopped his flight around the room. "You don't, I promise. Well, at least about them. Classes start in three days, so you need to get over your jet lag quickly."

"Nice try," I said, "but all you've managed to do is give me something else to worry about."

"Hmm," he said, sauntering over to wrap his arms around me. "Our plane doesn't leave for another three hours. There's a perfectly good bed over there. How about I distract you?"

I didn't answer, my lips were otherwise occupied.

Long days at work mean short chapters here. Sorry! Doesn't Vladimir make a great Dracula? LOL!