Chapter 3: Blood


England around 1895


If, like me, you have walked the earth for centuries, there is very little that seems strange or impossible to you. There is no pleasure that one has not indulged in, no vice that one has not indulged in, and no miracle that one has not marvelled at.

However, where a mere mortal can enjoy the simple things of his life until his last breath, with each new decade I outlasted, all I was left with was the stale aftertaste of a life that had given me many, perhaps too many, memories, some of which I had come to deeply hate.

Whatever had been done to me in that night-dark dungeon had deprived me of the joys of a simple life. With each day I spent on the battlefield, love, warmth, affection and devotion gave way to the urge to conquer, to win and to watch impassively as the defeated died a cruel death.

Like a deadly fever, bloodlust ran through my veins, transforming me into the being I am today - and killed the man I once was.

Once, on the battlefields of the Balkans, the blood of my enemies ran down my hands, today the blood of my victims wets my lips when I am forced to quench my thirst on them.

Forced!

Oh, yes, my opponents in the never-ending battle of good versus evil would certainly be astonished to learn that, no matter how hard I tried to quench that thirst by other means, I had no other choice. If I wanted to live, it required the life force of another, and like a parasite destroying the creature it feeds on, the curse of Dracula destroyed the innocent child I once was.

Part of me longed for death, but another part of my being clung so powerfully to life, as cruelly changed as it was, that on that day ten years ago I was even able to muster the strength to resist my opponents united in battle against me.

The more they opposed me, the more the will to live arose in me and here we are, to compete once again - although it might become an unequal fight.

My old antagonists were broken, scarred and weak, while I, at the head of the Circle of Seven, was able to stand up to even the mighty British Empire.

Abraham van Helsing returned to Amsterdam and gave in to drunkenness, hardly able to continue his studies.

Jonathan Harker, although happy for a while at his beautiful wife's side, was unable to retain this happiness. He didn't know it, but nothing he did was hidden from me, and sooner or later his nightmares would probably drive him crazy.

And Mina?

She was gone, turned her back on Jonathan Harker - after their son's death. Quentin...

She was in my thoughts as I was in hers. She denied it, chalked it up to her nightmares, her desperation, her disappointment, and yet she knew that the truth was different. Her blood had mingled with mine, just as mine had mingled with hers, and I used that invisible bond to be close to her in a way that Harker would never be able to share with her.

I knew he was plagued by doubts, I knew he hadn't been able to hide his distrust of Mina from her, and I knew that he was afraid of what he believed had happened between his beloved and me. Had he known how strong the bond really was, Mina and I were bound by, he would have gone mad.

However, it was not the thought of his beautiful wife that made me follow his steps this time, but rather the acquaintance he had made with a certain Dr. Ryan. I knew that this man was dedicated to the study of blood and its diseases, and I admit that I hoped his studies could help me.

Of course, I did not know what had been done to me centuries before, however, I suspected that the curse of the Draculas lay in their blood.

So what if this curse was actually a disease that could be cured?

Couldn't the research of Dr. Ryan then be of use to me too?

If I wanted an answer to this question, I had to act quickly, knowing that the day would come when my enemies would become aware of my return, but as is so often the case, it was that one big unknown that thwarted my calculations. And so once again my enemies were on my heels and I had no choice but to look for another way to heal - with a woman who had managed to convince Dr. Ryan to share his knowledge with her.

"What went wrong," I heard the half-worried, half-amused voice of Victor Frankenstein ask as I took my seat next to him inside the black carriage.

"Can't you imagine?"

"Unexpected trouble, I would suspect?"

"Worse!"

"The documents...?"

"Fell victim to the flames, as did the doctor and his wife…"

"Perhaps you should think about conducting your negotiations differently!"

"Don't tell me what to do and what not, Frankenstein! You'd better make sure we leave this place behind as quickly as possible. I already have a different goal in mind which will be of similar benefit to me."

"What about this woman? Miss Harker?"

"Mina?" I smiled: "Don't rack your brain about her, Frankenstein! She will be mine, and I will use the jealousy of both her husband and her lover to drive her back into my arms."

"She must have made a real impression on you, Dracula, if you still can't let go of her after all these years..."

Victor Frankenstein didn't know how close he had come to the truth at that moment...