Into The Shadows, page 16
He knew why he couldn't dispose of this Hera Garret, though doing so would certainly make his life easier.
She intrigued him.
She fascinated him.
Naturally, Dracula was convinced that what he was experiencing for the human was, at its core, a mere passing fancy, something that would undoubtedly pass the instant he conquered her; but in the meantime, he could not ignore the very really obsession that was developing within him with every passing day.
He wanted to talk with her again, wanted to linger a little longer in her presence. Outside of his more physical attraction towards the woman, he also had so many questions about the future, the state of the world she lived in, the technological and scientific advances. He craved stimulating conversation, a dialogue that would force him to keep on his toes and pay attention.
Count Dracula was woefully in need of a challenge, and Miss Garret was the perfect mountain to climb.
But she had threatened him, according to his brides.
She had openly threatened him.
Dracula smirked at the thought of that mortal defying him, claiming that there would be consequences if he tried to manipulate her again. Sure, it vexed him to no end when impertinent mortals and immortals alike challenged his authority, but the fact that she wasn't scared was something he found deeply amusing.
Princess Anna was frightened of him – once more, another wonderful contrast between the two women living within the Valerious manor. But the thought of Anna sent an idea skidding across his mind and his lips curved into a grin that was borderline Machiavellian as he began to formulate a plan.
Perhaps he could pay the Valerious household a visit?
It had been years since he had done so.
Hera and Anna sat quietly in the library, the two of them curled up on opposite sofas by a fire, the former with a text of Transylvanian folklore propped open on her lap while the latter sharpened and polished various weapons in a mutually comfortable silence.
It had been almost a week since the incident in the village and though Anna had missed the entire conversation between Hera and Dracula's brides due to unconsciousness, Hera found it prudent to confide in the gypsy princess the events that had taken place leading up to and including that point – save her snogging-session with Velkan. Hera did, however, share a handful of details regarding her conversation with Dracula and the purpose for the brides' visit to the village, along with her own speculations, assessments, and personal suspicions as to why Dracula wanted to talk to her.
Hera had concluded that Dracula either wanted to ensure her neutrality, or he would attempt to compel her into choosing a side – an option Hera assured the princess would not even be considered. Naturally, Anna forbade Hera to go outside unaccompanied, even in broad daylight and Hera was contented with this prudent course of action.
Normally, the prospect of being confined indoors for an indeterminate amount of time was something Hera would fight, but given her present situation, she was grateful Anna was so adamant on keeping her away from Count Dracula. Staying inside meant being safe from the vampire and his poison-ridden lips.
The sound of a sigh interrupted Hera's reading and she glanced up at the princess who seemed thoroughly bored. Nothing of note had occurred since the brides' unexpected visit last week, which left Anna with absolutely nothing to do except sit and wait. Hera almost pitied the woman and her chosen stress pertaining to the whole ordeal with Dracula. Normally Anna was more in control, but with Velkan's continued absence and no word in over a week, her anxieties were understandable.
Settling better into the sofa, Hera allowed her mind to wander a bit, her thoughts naturally turning to the gypsy prince. Truth be told, she missed having him around. Sure, she loved Anna's company, but with Velkan, there was never a moment of dull silence.
Hera liked Velkan – although what existed between them was an infatuation and a forbidden one at that. But she loved the butterflies that fluttered inside of her each time she recalled their first kiss. How she wished Dracula hadn't spoiled that moment between them.
Dracula.
Her thoughts suddenly took a turn now towards the mysterious and lethally seductive Count. That man had the lips of an angel and the intentions of the devil himself. He was like dark food for the soul, and something about him made Hera feel wicked, sneaky, and deliciously filthy.
She was genuinely torn.
Both men were, technically speaking, off limits.
Hera made a face as she contemplated the strange "love triangle" – if she could even call it that – she now unwittingly found herself in. She always managed to fall for the unavailable men. It was apparently her curse in life – Velkan was betrothed to another, and Dracula was, for all intents and purposes, a villain married three times over. The last thing she wanted was to be bound to that man and his three other brides for all eternity.
Although she could tolerate Verona if it came down to it, where she was sitting right now, she'd be perfectly happy to never see those three again. Sure, they had their good qualities, and Verona was certainly growing on her, but Hera could never live with them day in and day out. Never. Especially with a sadistic psychopath like Aleera. She shuddered at the thought.
"Forgive me, Miss Anna?" Hera and Anna both looked up to see Sorina, one of the maids, standing in the doorway. "Can I get you two anything?" she inquired as she moved over to the coffee table in the center of the sitting area and she began to pick up the remnants of the light snacks and drinks.
"I'm alright. What about you Hera?" Anna asked.
"Thank you, but I'm fine as well."
The maid nodded and turned to leave the room when she bumped into one of the other servants and both came crashing down with all the food.
"Sorina, you are so clumsy sometimes, I often wonder what we'll do with you," Anna replied teasingly as she made her way over to the servant and began to help her clean up the mess.
They were interrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the door and Anna sat up, exhaling loudly.
"Hera, could you help her with this? I've been expecting word from father and Velkan for days. Maybe it's the post."
Hera made a face as she knelt beside Sorina.
"At this time of night?" she mused. "I doubt it …" and she watched the gypsy princess stand up, dusting herself off of the crumbs on her lap before she left the room and made her way to the main foyer. Hera listened as Anna moved down the hall towards the front door, asking one of the other servants to go help clean up in the library. She then returned her attention to the preoccupied maid beside her.
"You've been kind of jumpy the last night or two, Sorina. Is everything alright?"
"I'm alright, Miss. Actually, to own the truth, I think I may be ill."
"Outside of your nervousness, you seem fine to me."
"True, but I've been seeing things on the grounds outside of the manor the last few nights."
"What kind of things?"
"Well, a man, to be specific."
Hera felt something unsettling in the pit of her stomach suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as she turned her head to look at the maid whose voice had grown more hushed as the conversation continued.
"Did you recognize this man?"
"I think so, miss, but I could be wrong."
"Who was he?"
"I think it was Co…" but she was never allowed to finish her sentence.
The sound of Anna screaming and slamming the front door rang out through the house and left an unpleasant tension to hang in the air.
Hera stood, leaning her head out into the empty hall, her ears acute to the silence.
"Anna? Anna, what is it? Everything okay?" Hera called cautiously as she moved over to the door slowly, the stillness in the air eerie and foreboding. The moment she stepped out into the hall, Hera noticed her friend standing in front of the door, holding it shut with all her might, everything locked and bolted. "What's going on?"
Anna turned her head of dark curls, eyes filled with fear.
"He's here," the princess whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Who?"
"Count Dracula."
"What?"
"It's true!" Anna insisted. "I opened the door and he was just standing there…"
"Did he say anything?"
"He just said 'hello Anna,' and I slammed the door in his face."
Hera tried to suppress her laugh.
"Anna, calm down. He can't get inside the house. You have to invite him in, remember? You didn't invite him in, did you?"
"Of course not!" the princess exclaimed, offended by the suggestion.
"Then why are you still trying to hold the door shut? What – are you expecting an unnatural gust of wind to blow open the door so he can come waltzing in?"
As if on cue, the entrance suddenly flew open and Anna went flying, her body colliding with Hera's as both women fell to the ground in a heap. Hera groaned as Anna rolled off of her and both women sat up, eyes on the entryway, only there was… nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
The doorway was completely empty.
Not even footprints existed in the snow.
Just the night.
Hera began to sit up more, her eyes transfixed on the white night fantasy of snow and black trees, the sky up above, clear and brilliant. The candles and lights that had offered a comforting glow to the main foyer then blew out as an eerie white mist began to billow out in the courtyard, soon pouring in across the floor from the open door, extinguishing all the lights in the foyer.
The temperature in the room dropped dramatically to the point where both women could see their breath in the air. Hera and Anna glanced at one another with unsure expressions before standing as the mist encircled them both, yet touching neither, as if they were protected by something.
Hera, intrigued by this odd phenomenon, stared out towards the black night outside, eyes narrowing slightly when she sensed the presence of another, as though someone were watching her from the shadows, quietly beckoning. She could feel the darkness calling to her, something unseen lightly scratching in the back of her mind, urging her to let it – whatever it was – in.
She took a step forward, determined to investigate this force further, but Anna grabbed her hand before she could step into the mist.
"Hera, no!" she called, holding to her arm in order to keep her from moving.
The instant Anna pulled the woman back, the presence vanished and the mist abruptly retreated from the room. When it was gone, the lights relit themselves and the temperature miraculously returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
But the door remained wide open and the two stood there in silence for a full minute before Hera, in an effort to dispel the tension, exhaled loudly.
"Perhaps he left?"
"How can you be sure?"
"He's not making an appearance, and everything is normal again."
"I don't know…" Anna began, but before she could even begin to protest, Hera had slipped out of her grasp and was moving for the door.
The princess reached out her hand and began to move toward the woman.
"Hera, what are you doing?! Get back here!"
Hera just smiled as she stopped at the threshold.
"I am going to prove to you that there's nothing to be scared of. In fact, I think you seeing Dracula was just a figment of your imagination."
Anna recoiled her hand as she nervously watched Hera step out into the night, her boots making a deep imprint in the freshly fallen snow just outside the door.
"Hera, I don't like this…"
But the woman would not be deterred as she continued to venture out into the snow. Hera shivered from the chill of the night, dressed in her dark riding pants, a thin blouse with the loose-fitting sleeves pushed up to her elbows, and a dark burgundy underbust corset with riding boots – and that was all. She had no weapons, no means of defending herself if in fact she needed to, and the cold seemed to devour her whole.
Anna remained just inside, shivering slightly as she watched Hera venture out a bit more, staring up at the house and then toward the sky.
"Hey! Dracula!" Hera shouted into the night. "Bat boy!"
Anna covered her mouth in shock.
"Hera, don't! He'll hear you! Come back inside!"
"Dracula! Where the hell are you?!" Hera continued. "What's the matter? You too scared to come out? Did Anna hurt you when she slammed the door in your face?! Aww! Poor baby! Go run home to your brides. They'll kiss it all better!"
Anna laughed quietly. Although Hera's actions were extremely foolish, that didn't mean it wasn't entertaining to witness.
"Hera… come back inside. It's freezing," Anna called warily.
Hera merely laughed as she spun around in circles in the snow, her eyes searching everywhere for the Count who she assumed wasn't even there anymore.
"Vladislaus!" she sang. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Nothing.
Deciding to give up, Hera shrugged and looked back at Anna to find her suppressing a chuckle.
"I guess you scared him," Hera announced, digging her hands into the pockets of her pants to keep her fingers from freezing. Anna sighed, regaining her composure.
"I suppose so…" she replied resolutely. "Come back inside, you'll catch your death out there!"
Hera was about to comply when a black blur of something came out of nowhere and backhanded her, sending her face first into the ground, the throbbing cheek burning in the ice cold of the snow. Hera could hear Anna screaming her name and she peered upwards, discovering a dark figure looming over her, the wet cold slowly sinking into her blouse and chilling her flesh.
She knew that figure… and those eyes.
"Hello, bastard," Hera answered behind the gritted teeth of a forced smile.
Dracula regarded the woman in the snow with an expression of dark amusement.
"Watch how you address me, Miss Garret. I've been known to hit harder."
"Is that a kinky threat or just a regular threat?"
Before he could answer her baited query, they both turned to see Anna running outside, unsheathing her sword in the process.
"Let her go, you monster!" Anna yelled.
Dracula never moved.
He only considered the woman with severe apathy, remaining utterly composed and disinterested, even when the tip of Anna's sword tore through his clothes and into the taut, pale flesh of his chest, making the gory voyage straight through his body until it came out on the other side, covered in his dark blood.
Hera stared in amazement as the blood retraced itself off the blade of the sword and into his body with the weapon still intact.
Anna, on the other hand, viewed the spectacle with unadulterated shock as she released the hilt and backed up a few steps as Dracula continued to stand there, observing the sword in his chest with a diverted grin. He removed the weapon with relative ease and, for the sheer pleasure of watching Anna squirm, he licked the blood off the cold steel before examining the craftsmanship with muted interest.
"Are you quite finished, princess?" he asked.
"That… that sword is silver-plated… blessed by the pope himself! You… you should be…" Anna stammered, but she couldn't even get the words out.
"What? Dead?" he mused. "Princess, I had expected more from you. Your brother is rather dense to be sure, but you?" and he tsked mockingly while balancing the blade on one finger, evidently approving of the balance between the steel and the hilt. "You know, in my day, women didn't yield swords." He glanced back up at Anna. "Especially delicate little princesses. They could get hurt!"
With lightning reflexes, he stretched forth his hand, the power of his will sending Anna flying back towards the house, her sword slicing through the air after her, heading straight for her heart. Hera screamed and grabbed hold of the Count's extended arm, knocking him off his concentration slightly, so the sword swerved to the right and hit the house mere inches from Anna's head.
The gypsy princess sighed in relief and slid down to the ground, her gaze transfixed on her own weapon that nearly killed her. Meanwhile, Dracula had snatched Hera's wrist, forcing her to look at him.
"As for you, Miss Garret, you and I need to have a little talk," he added matter-of-factly.
"And what do you call what we're doing now, smart ass?" she snapped, her face still stinging from his slap. His grin was devilment itself as he pulled her sharply to her feet before wrapping an arm around her waist so their bodies collided, his face inches from hers.
"I meant in private," he cooed.
Before she could abuse him with more sarcasm, he had shifted into his hell-beast form, lifting her up into his arms, taking off into the night with Anna calling after them. Hera squirmed in his grasp, not at all liking the idea of being alone with this man again, and at night, no less!
"Let me go!" she demanded, trying to push herself out of his grip, but he only held tighter.
"Do you wish to fall to your death?"
She glared into his demonically marred face, surprised that despite his altered appearance, his eyes were still the same. Hera should have been terrified – and perhaps there was a small, more reasonable part of her that was. But she was too angry with him to indulge in fear, so she continued to beat him with her ineffectual fists, furious that he had the nerve to not only strike her, but kidnap her.
"It's better than being in your arms!" she shot. He smirked wickedly.
"So be it," and he threw her up into the air and watched as gravity took hold of her and she began to plummet to the earth.
Hera was too afraid to scream, the ground growing closer and closer at an alarming rate. Just before she could collide with the village down below, she felt something grab her by the ankle and yank her up into the sky again, the freezing air wrapping around her body as she rocketed high above the clouds. She only remained airborne for a matter of seconds, just enough time for her to take in the wonder of the night, the embroidery of the stars in a tapestry of black and blue, the call of the wind like a nocturnal concerto – what lay beneath her: the sea of endless clouds.
