2: Oh, How We Danced...

3: The Immortal Vows = Part One

Foreword: This story will continue over three chapters...

SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN GERMANY, 1862

The full moon was out. Big and bright.

The owl was hooting in the trees, and a vixon screamed.

Fitz Fischer stood at the window of a stately home, way out in the country side.

He had been waiting for sometime. His Uncle Cain had gone inside on the rob and he was playing look out again.

What was keeping him for so long? This wasn't like the other times, Cain was always swift, no sooner was he in a place, he was out of it like a shot.

Fitz stood back and looked up at the place, the moon sending shadows of the nearby trees dancing on the face of the mansion.

Somewhere in all those rooms, Cain was. Maybe in such a big house he had got lost or something, but somehow he doubted it.

After watching a fox dart across the well tended lawns, he decided enough was enough, he was gonna go inside and find him. Clawing his fingers to the window ledge, Fitz heaved himself up and managed to tuck his legs up and roll over inside.

He lost his balance and fell into the room beyond, nearly tearing down the long velvet drapes that hung at the window in the process.

He picked himself up and looked quickly about him, he was in the dining room, there was a great big table with silver candelabre's positioned down the lacy top dressing. There was china plates at each sitting waiting for some splendid feast to start.

Light on his feet, Fitz crossed the room to a huge oak door that lead out to a well polished floor that was the entrance hall. There was a huge middle staircase in front of him where the banisters went into opposite directions on the next floor.

The full moon shone through two arch like windows that sat in the skylight above.

He heard movement from the dark shadows, so he ducked into an alcove. His heart was pounding as he peered his head round to see Cain dart up the stairs something jingling in his uncle's tight grasp.

"Cain..." he hissed out, but his uncle hadn't heard him. Feeling frustrated, he was hot on Cain's tale, till he got to the top of the staircase. What direction had Cain gone in? Fitz looked up onto the walls and felt a bit freaked out by the painted portraits that hung in a line down the hall. The eyes from each of the figures in the portraits seemed to stare right through him, and move as he moved.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Cain came out of one of the rooms, his uncle narrowed his eyes at him, " what are YOU doing in here, you're supposed to be out keeping watch!" he hissed angrily.

"I was...but you've been gone ages!" Fitz hissed back, noticing the swag bag that Cain clutched hold of, was cramped full of stuff.

"There's some nice pieces isn't there, there's a lot to look out for...tell you what, you should SEE what I've got in here! This'a keep me going for weeks when I sell it on, lad", told Cain with a glint of the eye as if he was proud of himself.

Suddenly, a door creaked out nearby.

Both Uncle and Nephew snapped there necks round to see a figure coming out of one of the bedroom down the long narrow hall. A girl in a long white night-gown.

"Whose out there?" she voice called.

"RUN!" Cried Cain.

Xxxxx

Cain came flying down the staircase and nearly went skidding across the polished floor into a grandfather clock.

"Come on!" he cried urgently.

Fitz hurried down the stairs with his heart in his mouth, he had NEVER done anything like this before. At the base of the stairs he twisted around and saw the lights of oil lamps being lit and there were doors banging and cries.

Cain pulled at the handle to the front door but it was locked and bolted up fast. Fitz nearly went smacking into him as Cain darted into the lounge area. Fitz was in a daze as the light of oil lamps was at the top of the stairs. His and Cain's only saving grace was the moon, it was now obscured behind a cloud and no light shone in the windows.

"GET THE DOGS, MR HOFFMANN! WE ARE BEING BURGLED!"

Fitz ducked into an alcove and splayed out in the shadows. There he waited, till he had his chance to flee.

Xxxxx

Cain practically fell out of the window to the grass. The swag cluttered next to him.

Where the hell was Fitz?

Why hadn't he kept up?

WHY had the silly idiot even come inside, if he had stayed put as he was told to, then they would both be making a run for it by now.

There was a gun shot that made the rabbits flee for their lives. Cain climbed to his feet, and snatched up the swag then made a run for it across the grounds, he kept looking about for Fitz...What a complete idiot following him inside in the first place.

Fitz's mother was going go spare if Fitz was snatched by the law, or even got hurt.

As he threw himself into some bushes, he twisted around ignoring the cuts from the brambles. There was a lad shifting it across the lawn at top speed...it was Fitz.

"Come on lad!" Cain called out.

Fitz turned at the sounds of dogs barking and another gunshot, Cain grabbed his arm and pulled him through the brambles, both of them being torn to shreds, they came to a 10 foot high stone wall.

Another gunshot echoed out into the night sky.

The barking and shouting getting nearer to them. Even the moon was betraying them as it was coming out from behind the clouds again.

With all his force, Cain hurtled the swag over the wall and prayed it landed somewhere soft. He then dug his fingers into the stone and managed to get a foothold, Fitz did the same as both of them in turn struggled to scale up to the top of the wall.

"THERE!" came a voice.

Cain acted on instinct and made a jump for it to the other side, Fitz turned, and with eyes bolt wide, looked down and saw the dogs barking and snapping at him from the base of the wall.

At the shout of another voice, there was final gunshot and Fitz jumped as the pain ripped up his arm.

Falling to the ground, Cain pulled him up and dragged him across the country track, and into the bushes where both laid low in a ditch for a few moments.

Cain looked his nephew over, " Did he hit you?"

Fitz looked down to his shoulder from where they squatted near the cold stream, there was blood, his black shirt was wet and as Fitz touched it, he found the blood smeared on his fingers.

Cain pointed to the stream quickly, " Come on lad! The dogs'a lose our scent if we keep to the water, we gotta get you back and get that looked at..."

Fitz nodded and was about to cross when he saw the coach and horses parked on the track. He gasped and crossed his chest.

Cain yelled out, "Fitz come on!"

Fitz pointed to the coach. Cain came forward, his swag clattering with the bounty, glanced at the black coach. The stallions that pulled it were standing still. Two horses quietly,he backed towards the stream as a fox screamed out, "we need to go NOW!"

"It's him, is't it? The one all us Gypsies fear!"

"RUN!"

And they both ran.

Xxxxx

THE NEXT MORNING

In the mansion house, Mr Schulze, the lord squire, patted the younger fellow on the back, "Well done Frederic, I think you hit him"

Frederic laughed as he watched the groundsmen return to the house, "Hoffmann said he saw blood on the brambles near the high wall - one of them is wounded, Miss Zara-Eloise said she saw two of them"

Schulze looked at the gentleman, " You like my daughter don't you?"

"You know I do...she is a fine young lady...I know that she and I have only been acquainted for a few short months, but I did hope that one day..."

"You would like to have her hand in marriage?"

They both went into the vast drawing room. Schulze went to the grand fireplace and turned, "You have proved yourself as my land manager...and I see that you are fast with a shotgun and would protect my daughter to the last"

Frederic nodded, "Of course I would sir, it is a given oath I'd lay my life on the line"

"Then I will speak to Zara-Eloise...she has dreamed of getting married ever since she was a young girl, it looks like her dream is about to come true..."

Xxxxxx

AT THE VILLAGE

The two nuns had arrived at the Inn in the nearby village. Sister Mary looked at the room up and down as she entered. Her companion Sister Ruth looked around herself. The room was basic. Two beds, a wood side cupboard and an oil lamp on a dresser near the tiny roof window.

Sister Ruth sat on the bed and nodded, "the beds are really soft"

Sister Mary was at the window looking out and then she looked back at her, "we are not here to sleep"

"But we have been travelling all night..."

Mary reached into her kit bag and pulled out a small glass bottle. Ruth saw that there was a blue sheen to it, like something inside was glowing somehow, "the holy water shines so bright...he is near"

Ruth was feeling hot in her habit and robes because it was so stuffy in the attic room, "Where could he be? In the next room?"

Mary shook her head in disappointment and gently placed the bottle back in her kit bag, "Sister Ruth, you must take this seriously"

The younger nun sighed pulling at the wood cross that hung on a chain around her neck, "where then?"

Mary considered this. So long had she been chasing Count Dracula she was getting used to all the habits he got up to, "Past experience tells me somewhere dark...some where underground, a cellar, or in a windowless room. There he will have his resting place, with his native soil he so very needs to lie on, close to hand"

The younger nun looked across to the older nun, "and does your past experience really tell he is so abominable as the order makes out"

Mary sat on her bed that creaked beneath her. Her eyes looked at her. Stared at her with much knowledge and wisdom, "my dear Sister...worse...I have seen...witnessed... with my naked eyes how he has destroyed people...families...whole communities...with his unnatural dark desires..."

Ruth didn't know whether it was right to bring this up. She hesitated but came out with it, " I heard...rumors, back at the convent...that he destroyed your family"

There is a flash of memory in Sister Mary's mind. She is a child and the screams of her mother terrified her...

Mary looked vacant, then stood, "there is much to prepare for..."

Ruth knew that was the older nuns subtle hint she didn't want to talk about it, "alright...somewhere dark...",she did think of a place that would fit in, "...what about that old ruin on the hill? It looks like it is the sort of place that would house a dark crypt, would it not?"

The old nun smiled, looking pleased. The lines on her face showing a woman well into her 70's, although she was very fit and healthy for her age, "Just what I was thinking...I was waiting for you say that...my thoughts entirely"

Ruth sighed, "look...can we at least eat first...?"

Mary stood and placed her kit bag beneath her bed, "Yes, the sun will not set for a few more hours yet...lets go downstairs and see what this Inn has to offer..."

Xxxxxx

AT THE SCHULZE MANSION

Zara-Eloise nearly dropped her bone china cup. Her jaw had simply dropped after what her father had just told her over morning tea.

Mr Schulze sat at the head of the table while his two daughters sat either side. Their was a gentle breeze coming in through the open french doors and the sun was shining very brightly.

Mr Schulze looked across to his eldest daughter and gently wiped his mouth with a starched napkin, "Did you hear what I just told you? I have decided Frederic should have your hand in marriage"

Zara-Eloise was most put out, "Marriage? To Frederic?"

Her father nodded, "yes...you and him have been acquainted for a while now...ever since he took up the estate manager position here"

"So...", Zara-Eloise choice her words carefully, "...just because he sees off a couple of midnight intruders, I AM his reward...?"

Her younger sibling Greta smirked as she finished her tea.

Schulse was confused, "But you like Frederic, don't you? You could do a whole lot worse than him, you know, he has a good social standing and his family have some very useful connections in Munich"

Looking a little annoyed that her future it seemed, was all mapped out, she dabbed her mouth with her napkin and looked up, "he's a dreadful bore...but...if I look on the bright side, at least I now get to have my big day"

Mr Schulse rose from his chair, "then it is decided, you have always dreamed of your wedding day ever since you were a little girl...now thanks to having Frederic in our lives, your dream will finally be a reality"

He nodded his head to his daughters and then vacated the table. Greta turned, "You should be happy...you are going to have a wedding...and marry a fine man"

Zara-Eloise glared at her, "yes, I have always dreamed of my wedding day...but I have always pictured my future husband to be tall dark and handsome...not short, balding and dreadfully dull"

She stood up and moved to the french doors to get some morning air. Greta watched her. She had always looked up to her older sibling. She looked delectably elegant in her long green dress and her dark hair braided in ribbons and ringlets.

Greta was frumpier. Her face was round and she always knew that she would never get the attention from male admirers like her sister did.

"At least you WILL get married...you should be grateful", and she stormed out the parlor. Zara-Eloise watched her go and just shrugged and listened to the birdsong.

Xxxxx

AT THE VILLAGE

At the Inn, the two nuns finished their lunch. Mr Kruger the innkeeper came over and took the plates, "I hope all was satisfactory?"

Sister Mary shook her head, finishing her water, "it was thank you"

Sister Ruth watched Mr Kruger take away the plates back to the bar, and in turn looked around her. The tavern was semi-busy with men drinking ale from their tankards up at the bar.

In one corner a scantily dressed bar maid was sitting in the lap of one of the local squires having a good old laugh and a sing song. She turned her head to see a young teenage boy looking at her from the corner, an older man was with him.

"Gypsy's...", said Mr Kruger. He was at their table again waiting payment for their meal.

Ruth looked up, "Yes, I thought they were...have they been here long?"

Sister Mary paid Mr Kruger for the food as he answered, "they arrived a few days ago...they are with the circus"

Sister Mary stood, "Come along...it's time we went back upstairs to pray"

Ruth nodded, "Yes...of course"

The two nuns made for the internal door and went up the creaky steps. Fitz turned to Cain, "do you think they are here for him"

Cain looked back at him sharply and downed his ale, "you know the rules...we stay out of it"

Fitz nodded and held his arm. Cain stood and pointed, "Hows your arm?"

"It's okay..."

"good...it will soon be dark, we better get back to the circus"

The two Gypsies left the tavern as Frederic came in with Zara-Eloise and Greta. Frederic removed his hat and cloak and barked over to Mr Kruger, "an ale and two red wines here innkeeper"

He held out a chair for his intended in the corner and Zara-Eloise sat down. Greta saw to herself as Frederic went over to the bar and collected the tray of drinks, "here...and keep whats left over", he dropped a few coins in Krugers hand.

"aye"

"I hear you have a couple of nuns staying here", Frederic remarked.

Kruger wiped down the grotty bar top, "yes they arrived late this morning...they staying for a few days"

"But, they must be a long way from home, there isn't any convent around for miles", Frederic laughed.

"they've paid their board, their business is no concern of mine"

Xxxxx

Outside, Fitz caught up with his uncle up the lane, "Did you see? That's the lot from the manor house we chored last night"

Cain nodded. The sun was starting to set, "I know...and they didn't even twig that we robbed them"

Fitz saw the birds in the surrounding trees start to roost, "it's sun down...we've got to get back"

Cain nodded, "come...it's quicker through the woods"

Fitz didn't know about that, but without question, he followed Cain into the darkening wood.

Xxxxx

Back at the tavern, things were getting busy. Frederic raised his tankard and announced, "this is a celebration...", he held Zara-Eloise's gaze, "...we are to get married"

The girl glanced at Greta somewhat put out and simply said, "But...you have not asked me"

Frederic shrugged as he sank the rest of his ale, "but I have asked your father...he has given his consent, so it is all settled"

Zara-Eloise nodded, she would do anything to please her father, she tried to be a good daughter, "the wedding day must be just so...I want the day to be big and lavish and talked about for years to come"

Frederic didn't look too bothered, "well, your father will be paying for it, speak to him"

Zara-Eloise didn't like his attitude, "you could act a little more excited over it"

Frederic reached for the bar maids hand and said, "another ale here", he then looked at his fiancee, "why must I? To get married is just what is expected of us"

Zara-Eloise looked deflated, "but surely there is more to life"

Frederic shrugged, as the bar began to get crowded around them, "having children?"

He then looked over at the barmaid, who leaned forward with the foamy ale, her breasts nearly spilling out of her top, "thanks Heidi"

He looked at the two siblings, "right...it is time to get you two home"

Greta looked up, "but it is still early...I only come out once a week and I don't want to go back so early"

Zara-Eloise stood and pulled her cloak around her, "no...lets go..."

Frederic stood and tried to help her fasten the cloak tie, she waved him off her, "Oh, Frederick I didn't know I was going to marry a bore"

Frederic frowned at her, "how dare you"

"You take us out because you feel like that is your duty...but the truth is, you don't even want us here", told Zara-Eloise.

Frederic laughed, "you should be grateful that I have even looked at you...do you know how wealthy my family are?"

"Money? All that wealth and you expect my father to pay for our wedding"

Frederic looked at her like she was dirt on his boot, "wedding? I don't think so...a bride of mine would have to show a little more respect"

And he walked out.

Greta looked at her sister. All sorts of unsavouries were looking at them, "Zara...I want to go home"

Her sister took her hand, "come on...he'll be outside waiting for us I'd expect"

Xxxxx

"Oh I cannot simply believe it...how dare Frederic just run out on me...I'm a lady and he dares treat me like this...I am going to tell Papa on him", cried Zara-Eloise as she looked up and down the empty street outside.

Greta huddled next to her, "Oh sister dear, we don't live that far away, plus we have our cloaks...not that we will need them...look at the sky, the moon is radiant"

Zara looked up at the full fat moon. It was so bright that their faces seemed to glow, "Oh, how I love the moon"

Greta turned, "why did you have to say all that to him"

"Ohh it was all so frightfully tiresome really, I just told him the truth, he is such a stuffy bore, I don't not wish to marry him"

"But Papa likes him...and he was the one who shot the robber", Greta pointed out.

"Oh...how very heroic of him, maybe you can marry him if you are that impressed by his impeevish attitude", cried Zara and led the way out of the village and into the narrow lanes surrounded by thick forests.

Greta could see the rays of moonlight shining in through the trees and onto the track. It was then she heard the sounds of horse hooves and was first to see the black coach roll up ahead of them, "Look...", she pointed, "...Could it be Frederic? Maybe he has come back for us"

Zara pulled her cloak around her, "He hasn't a coach like that"

Greta frowned as the coach and horses came to a halt beside them, "It looks more like a hearse"

The figure leaned out and smiled at them both, "And why are two lovely ladies like yourselves walking alone in the dark...?"

Zara-Eloise and her sister kept close, "We fancied some fresh air"

The man nodded and looked up to the sky, "Yes, the night is warm...", he then looked back to them, dark eyes focusing more on Zara-Eloise, "...but beware of the wolves, even in summer they are known to hunger for blood"

Greta laughed, "don't be silly...everybody knows they live up in the mountains"

The man smirked at her, "not always...", he seemed to look over and beyond her, "...ahhh"

Zara-Eloise jumped, "what?"

The man pointed towards the dark forests, "over there...I can see their shiny little eyes reflecting in the moonlight"

Greta looked nervous as she glanced around to take a look into the gloomy surrounding woods, "What..."

"The wolves of course"

Zara shuddered, "Disgusting creatures...are they as dangerous as people tell?"

The man looked at her. Zara couldn't help but be held by those dark eyes, "worse...with my own eyes I have seen a pack of them rip a villager apart...there really wasn't that much left of him afterwards"

Greta was clearly frustrated and scorned at her sister, "why did you have to say all of that to Frederic? He would have got us home safely"

The man clicked the door of the coach and it swung open. He ushered his hand at the seat opposite him, "would both of you care for a ride...in my coach?"

Zara-Eloise could see that the coaches inside was very luxuriant. It was all lined with a rich padding of red satin.

"are you sure you will not be going out of your way if we were to accept?"

Greta wasn't so sure and stalled her, "are you sure Zara? Papa says we must never ride with strangers"

Zara looked at her, "Oh Greta don't be such a bore"

The man shook his head, "No your sister is right and very sensible is she too...", he gave her a nod, "...but let us get acquainted, I am Count Dracula"

Zara-Eloise was instantly impressed, "A count? A nobleman?", she looked at her sister,"...see, there you go...", she turned back to the count, "...we accept, kind sir"

Dracula extended his hand and helped Zara into the coach, he then gave his hand to Greta and did the same for her, he then slammed the door shut and sat back looking at them with a keen smirk and a twinkle in his eyes, "now...where too?"

TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT CHAPTER...

4: The Immortal Vows = Part Two

STILL SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN GERMANY, 1862

Count Dracula's coach rolled up the lane, as Zara-Eloise told the count about all what they had been through that evening, "...and then he simply walked out on us...leaving two ladies of some wealth at the mercy of some incredibly horrid looking undesirables"

Greta looked at her, "Oh come on sister dear, they weren't exactly foaming at the mouth you know...", she looked at the Count, who till this time, sat back in his seat looking very amused at their bickering over the story, "...you have to forgive my sister Count, she does tend to over exaggerate her tales"

Dracula brushed his fingers over his lips and leaned forward, "not at all, I think that this young gentlemen of hers must be very immature to even think of doing that"

"he is...", Zara then smoothed her hand across the lush red satin, "...the workmanship of this coach is simply divine...so soft and luxurious"

Dracula chuckled, "yes it is, isn't it! Everybody says that when they ride with me...some just don't ever want to leave..."

Greta didn't like his grin...it was a grin you could interrupt two ways...one of innocent amusement...or one heralding something more sinister and dark.

She found herself reaching for the brass door release, "have you locked this door?"

Dracula's eyes landed on her, "the door is always locked when we are in transit...", he chuckled again, "...we wouldn't want anyone falling out, would we?"

Zara-Eloise laughed, "Oh sister dear...you are such a bore sometimes...cannot you see the Count is doing us a kind turn here"

Dracula sat back and looked at his nails, "No no...it doesn't matter, I do have this effect on people"

Greta pointed, "We have arrived"

Dracula nodded, not bothering to look out the window, "So we have...how time simply flies by"

Zara looked across to the Count, "It's so strange, but I feel that, although it's only been a very few short minutes, I feel like I've know you forever"

Dracula raised his eyebrows, "I do seem to have that reaction from people as well"

"But I feel so at ease with you"

Greta realised that the coach had come to a halt, "speak for yourself"

Dracula looked over to the door and nodded, "It's not locked..."

Greta opened it and climbed out. Zara Elosie felt embarrassed and her face revealed that to him, "I do very much apologise for my sister...how awfully ungrateful she must come cross to you"

He reached out and took her hand, "Not at all...besides, she is not who I am interested in...", he let her work that one out herself whilst holding her gaze.

"Thank you...for the ride home"

"The pleasure is all mine...safe journey to the house", and he kissed her hand and let her go.

As Zara walked away from the coach, she turned and saw the Count looking out the window, "till we meet again..."

And then the coach went along it's way up the lane. Greta lead the way across the moonlit grounds to the mansion, "By the lord...he was creepy!"

Zara-Elosie frowned at her as they made for the entrance steps to the manor, "were we riding in the same coach? He was nothing less than a fine gentleman"

Greta pulled her cloak off as they trod the checkered floor of the entrance hall, "and how did he know we were sisters?"

Zara untied her cloak cord, "sorry?"

"He said and I quote, your sister is right and very sensible...his words...how did he know we were sisters...?"

Zara laughed at her as she made for the grand staircase, the moon shining in through the skylight, "Oh, I'm sure he just guessed"

Greta wasn't convinced at all, "we do not even look alike...you are tall, slim and beautiful...and I am..."

"short, fat and frumpy? Oh sister dear, it is no crime, you can come out and say it"

They reached the upper landing. Zara yawned, "I feel so drained. I really need to sleep now, I fear that Frederic's tiresome behaviour has really taken it out of me..."

Greta leaned on the banister and watched her sister enter her bedroom and close the door behind her. Feeling deflated, Greta crossed the hall to her room and did the same.

Xxxxxx

Up the lane, the two gypsies from the circus had just done over another house. With their sack of treasures, they strolled in the moonlight, "you see lad, that went like clockwork...selling all of this on will bring us a tidy sum", told Uncle Cain.

Fitz nodded as an owl hooted in the surrounding forests. They came to the track, "we better not take no more...otherwise the finger will point to us...they always blame the gypsies for robberies"

Cain laughed, "funny and always true"

Fitz looked to the lane and saw the black coach. He stopped still his his tracks with fear glazed in his eyes. Cain stopped behind him, "don't be drawn to it, put your back to it and stride forth"

Both Cain and Fitz walked down the dark lane. The circus was settled in a field around the lower bend. About a miles hike.

There was the sound of horse hooves. And as they got further down the lane, there was a sound of a gallop. Fitz turned around and widened his eyes at the sight of the coach and horses speeding up towards them.

Cain sprinted forward. The bramble was too thick at the edges of the road to take safety. Fitz gasped as he looked around at the sound of a cracking whip. Cain shouted at him, "never look back...never"

But his Uncle tripped on a stone and went flying to the ground. He cried out in pain as his knee was gaping open where his pants were torn through.

The swag they had stolen went flying into the bracken and was lost. Fitz turned and saw his Uncle on the ground. He went to approach him and help.

"Noooooo, get away!", cried his Uncle seething in pain.

Fitz backed off as the coach and horses came crashing forward and ran straight into his Uncle as he tried to stand. It was all to late.

Cain's body was trampled on like a rag roll, and his battered body was soon beneath the wheels of the coach. Being dragged along. His skin was ripping from his bones and his cries of pain were soon silenced as his body was left twisted on the track behind the coach.

Fitz gasped as he backed into the thorny bracken. A hawthorn bush. If the legends of his people were correct, he should be safe. The thorns were dangerous to a vampire. The coach was at a stop. The horses whining. And snorting in anticipation.

Dracula jumped out of the coach and looked towards the lad, "You...boy...come here", he ordered.

Fitz swallowed down and although the bracken thorns was cutting him to shreds, he crawled further in. His heart racing and threatening to beat right out of his chest.

Dracula was amused and laughed, "Oh come on...must I really do all the chasing?"

Fitz had tears rolling down his cheeks. All he could hear was his Uncle's last dying cries in his head.

"...look, if this is about your Uncles little accident, I can assure you it was unavoidable...", he chuckled as his dark eyes narrowed scanning the forest, "...but I must say, his last cries of pain were silenced far too quickly...I'll bravely promise you that yours won't be..."

Fitz reached the end of the stood up and caught Dracula's eye.

"Ah! There you are...", he went to come forward and gasped at the Hawthorn bush, "...ahhhh...just like a good gypsy from the old country, you know all the legends...it's a shame, how I would loved to have savoured that young supple flavour of yours..."

Disappointed, Dracula looked up to the night sky and lifted his hands and parted them, he laughed out loud, "I hope you can run young boy...because you will need to..."

And with that, Fitz was running though the trees of the forest. Foxes, deer and rabbits bolted out of his way. And then he shrieked as a cloud of bats seemed to appear out of nowhere. The bats darted down and he waved his hands in a frenzy to push forward, but they kept on coming showing no sign of abating.

Fitz threw himself to the next track and saw the village up ahead. He ran into the main street and the bats disappeared off into the roof tops above. Fitz turned and saw the door to the ale store open at the tavern. Seeking refuge, he darted inside and hid among the stacked barrels of ale.

Xxxxx

Sister Mary looked out of the small roof window of their room. Something had crashed into one of the small window panes. Sister Ruth looked over from her bed, "what was it?"

Mary pulled the thin drape across and nodded, "It looked like a bat...or possibly a confused bird flying in the dark, when it should have gone to roost hours ago"

Sister Mary settled back into bed and pulled the thread worn covers around her, "We should get some sleep...we need to look at that ruin tomorrow"

She blew out her candle, and the soft glowing yellow light of the room suddenly went black with dark shadows.

"What will we find if he is there?"

Mary turned her head on the hard pillow, it was more of a sack, "he will have his resting place...if he is there, then we can watch him"

Ruth swallowed, "I want to learn...but I am afraid"

"He is a Vampire...there is much to be afraid of child...it is too dangerous for us to tackle him on our own...the good we do is that we can watch him, and warn those who have taken his eye for his darkest needs"

"how long have you been doing this?", wondered Sister Ruth out aloud.

The older nun turned her head in the darkness, "Count Dracula has taken up most of my life...ever since...", she stopped in mid sentence and then said, "...he is a much twisted individual, who preys on those who are weaker than himself...one has to be one step ahead of him, because he can exploit ones fears and turn them into a reality"

"Does he know we are here?"

"He always knows...but please try not to be afraid...because being afraid is the only way he can get into your mind...you need to be strong...and have God's gift in your sole...your faith"

Ruth nodded and turned over and faced the musty wall. She hoped she was strong...this could turn out to be the biggest test of her faith yet.

Xxxxx

THE NEXT MORNING

Zara-Eloise was far from happy as she entered the parlor. The sun was bright and the maid had set down the breakfast, "I'm sorry Papa, but the man is deplorable...he left Greta and I in the most ghastly of venues"

Mr Schulze sighed as he and Frederic followed her, "But Frederic has explained that your behaviour was a clear factor of his actions...you forget...you are my eldest daughter and I know you too well"

Frederic waved a hand, "I was probably very much to blame...I was hurt when she accused me of being simply dull"

Zara sat at the table and poured herself some tea. Greta, who was already sat at the table looked up, "Oh Papa, you know what Zara is like...I'm sure they will sort it all through if you let them...although the only nitpick was after you left us we were picked up by a creep of a man who said he was noble..."

Zara lifted her china cup to her lips and glared at her, "just because his attention was focused on me and not you...you didn't even thank him for the ride home"

Mr Schulze sat down, and settled his napkin, "at least you got home safely...and...I would warn you Frederic that that behaviour of abandonment must never happen again"

Frederic shook his head, "Never again, sir...this girl will never come to harm on my watch"

He reached out across the breakfast table and took Zara's hand, and she looked back at him with a far away smile...

Xxxxx

AT THE VILLAGE

"Well, that was all a waste of time...it seems that Dracula is not resting in that old ruin on the hill after all"

Coming in from the hot afternoon heat, Sister Mary entered the tavern and Mr Kruger was up at the bar uncapping a barrel of ale, "Sisters...", he said in greeting.

Ruth nodded and turned to her superior, "...and there was no sign from the holy water...maybe Dracula has moved on..."

Sister Mary sat down, "No...I don't think so...he is nearby...I just know it"

Mr Kruger came over to them, "can I get you something? A drink it is hot today"

Mary looked up and said with a wave of the hand, "two waters will go down very nicely..."

As Mr Kruger pumped them two jugs of water from the well in the corner, he turned to the nuns, "Oh, that young gypsy boy was here earlier, I found him hiding in the barrel store...shaking like a leaf he was...I asked him what he was doing in there, and if he was alright, and he kept on asking to see you"

Sister Mary looked up and frowned, "Did he say why he wanted to see us?"

"No...he is resting in the stable out the back, shall I stir him?"

The nun nodded, "yes...I think I might be very interested in what he has to say..."

The Inn keeper went out the back and into the stable. Earlier he had left the boy to sleep on the straw, but the only occupant in the stable now was the shire horse.

He made a quick fuss of the beast and then went back inside, "it seems that the boy has left", he informed.

Ruth turned, "Where would he go?"

Sister Mary stood, "I know where...Mr Kruger, the boy came with the gypsy circus...where might I find that..."

XXXxxxx

LATER

The two nuns strolled down the lane and turned the corner. The field was empty. Mr Kruger had said that this was where the circus had settled, but it had already packed up and gone along it's way, "there...", pointed Ruth.

Mary could see the line of colourful gypsy caravans being pulled up the lane over the yonder in the late afternoon haze.

"Sister Mary, one caravan has been left behind...look"

Ruth was right, in the field was a caravan, but it looked like that it had been ravaged by fire.

Crossing the field of long grass, the nuns cautiously approached the wreck. Both of them nearly jumped out of their skins when Fitz came out from behind it.

He was pointing to the his disappearing clan, "they have ousted me...Uncle Cain was killed by him...they say it's put a blight on the community... they turned their backs on me"

Sister Mary was gentle, "Young man...what is it...your Uncle is dead?"

Fitz nodded, he was sweating in the heat, "HE killed him...trampled him to death with his horses...and then he went under the wheels"

The older nun glanced to the younger one, "Count Dracula?"

Fitz nodded, unable to utter that dreadful name.

Ruth frowned, "but why would the rest of them shun you"

"They think he will come after ME..."

Sister Mary understood, "rest easy...come with us...there is no way you can stay in that thing", she nodded towards the charred out shell of his mobile home.

"Where is your Uncle's body", asked Ruth.

"It was on the road...but now it is gone...HE must have moved it...disposed of his works like he always does"

Mary glanced to the heavens, the late afternoon seemed to pick up a breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees in the thick forests around them, "it is getting late...we must head back to the inn, we can talk again there"

Fitz took one final glance at his blackened abode, and then followed the two nuns across the grass towards the lane.

Xxxxxx

As dusk came, the two nuns settled back in their room at the inn. Both sisters of the order were on their knees and praying to God. After, they got undressed for bed.

"do you think the gypsy boy will be alright?", asked Ruth as she crawled into bed.

"I have paid for a room here for the night, and Mr Kruger gave him a good meal, I think he will be safe enough"

Sister Mary then reached for her kit bag from underneath her bed, and picked out the blue bottle of holy water. It glowed eeriely in the darkness of their room.

"He stirs..."

Ruth looked uneasy, "do you think the boy was right about the girl up at the manor house?"

"he seemed sure enough...and it fits in with him seeing Dracula's coach loitering up the lane nearby...he has chosen his next victim"

"Do you think he is there now?"

Mary placed the bottle away and settled back, "it's sun down isn't it? If he is not there yet, I'm sure he soon will be...we will pay a visit there tomorrow...there will be signs"

"And if there are? Will they believe you?"

Sister Mary sighed, "lets just hope so..."

XXXX

It was after dark. Zara-Eloise put the book down on the antique bedside table, and stifled a small yawn. She was tired.

She looked to the french doors of her room that went out to the balcony. The room was hot. Indeed it had been a long hot summers day. As the candle flickered on the side, the room was filled with ghostly shadows as she slid out of bed and padded over the wood floor in bare foot to the french doors, and opened them. The very lightest of cool breezes touched her hot cheeks.

She could hear an owl hoot, and there was the odd scream of a fox in the distance. The lace curtain flapped around her as she stepped out to the warm stone of the balcony. It was only slowly cooling off from being long baked all day by the sun.

As she looked up to the lazy half moon, she heard movement and gasped out when she turned and saw Count Dracula standing in his cloak on the other side of the balcony. He too was looking up at the moon. But he wasn't there earlier, when she came out.

"It's you", she whispered. Her voice so quiet, but so loud of a whisper.

Dracula turned his attention from the moon to look at her and smiled, "Of course it's me"

Zara put her hands together and edged a little nearer, "But how...?"

Dracula shrugged, as he too stepped nearer to her, "was you expecting somebody else?"

Zara could see his wonderful dark eyes. He held hers, "I've been thinking about you all day", she whispered.

Dracula smiled at her, "I know"

Zara managed to break the eye contact, and felt slightly dazed. She looked to the well kept grounds below, shrouded by the moonlight, then realised how far down it actually was, she looked back at him in awe, "How did you get up here?"

Dracula slid his hand across the balcony top and hinted a smirk, "I climbed the walls"

Zara didn't understand. Climbed the walls? But surely they were too smooth to get a hand let alone a foothold of. She felt a rush of gidderness sweep over her.

"You make my head rush so"

Dracula was in front of her now, and looked down at her, he reached out and gently lifted her chin, "just a blood rush...you are excited...I can hear the beat of your heart...it sounds like you are pleased to see me"

Zara's eyes were simply lost in his, "I am...what must I do?"

Dracula caresses his sharp fingers on her cheeks and tilted his head with a smirk, "You only have to invite me in"

Zara was strong. She had always been strong willed. She tore away from his alluring gaze and breathed out, "I suddenly feel more afraid"

Dracula was soothing, "It won't last for long", he reassured.

Zara bit her cherry lips and looked back at him. The moonlight casting her shadow against the wall...but not his...he had no shadow, "Do you want me...?"

Dracula licked his lips and was looking at the pulse of her neck, giving one the impression of a fox eyeing up it's prey, he swallowed down, craving it, "I want of you...", eyes still fixed at her slender neck, "...I can almost taste you", he whispered in excited anticipation.

She looked afraid of him, so he instead reached out and gathered up her hand into his, and turned it over to see her wrist. He stared at it, gently putting his sharp finger to her tiny pulse, and feeling the blood move in her veins, he looked at her and said, "May I? Shhhhusssh, Don't be afraid...it will be just the smallest of nips"

And with his sharp nail he pierced her vein, the blood trickled out over her wrist and hand. He then stooped and put his mouth to her wrist vein, and started to feed gently. She stared out to the moon. Her heartbeat was racing. She felt hot and cold all at the same time. She also felt excitement. Her life had been so dull. Dull, dull, dull. She felt alive. She breathed out fast. He suddenly stopped and looked up at her. A bead of blood ran from his lips, "I know what you are dreaming of...close your eyes and I will make it happen..."

"You can?"

"I promise..."

She closed her eyes and she didn't seem to be on the balcony anymore. She was somewhere else.

She was dressed in pure white. She looked up to the ugly gargoyles hanging greedily off the gantries of the arches of what looked like a church. This was a really old church. This was a wedding venue.

Zara heard the church-organ play, and she was carried off by, what only can be described as invisible hands down the aisle. Dracula was waiting for her. There was no congregation. Just Dracula, dressed in a smart black dress suit with a blood red rose withering on his lapel. Zara moved to his side and she looked up at him. Dracula smiled...his dark eyes seeming to smile back at her. He then looked up ahead, and pointed.

In some old castle somewhere, Zara was In his arms. Dracula caressed her neck and held her gaze. he then slowly and gently brushed his mouth over her sweet lips...

Zara laid on her the floor of her balcony, and she opened her eyes as the warmth of the first rays of sun hit her soft skin. She was chilled too. Goose bumps on her bare arms.

Had she dreamed all of that? Had she passed out on the balcony, and only now coming around? She felt weak and giddy as she slowly got to her feet.

She went back into the bedroom and flopped onto her bed. She turned over and felt the pain of her wrist. She next examined the puncture marks. They looked sore, but were healing quickly.

She gasped and bit her lips.

He had been there. Count Dracula. He had given her the most wonderful of dreams. He had made her feel so alive...she smiled as her door knocked and the maid came in with a cup of morning refreshment.

"Good morning miss"

"thank you"

Zara settled back and wondered when she would see him again...

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.

5: The Immortal Vows = Part Three

AND STILL SOMEWHERE IN SOUTHERN GERMANY, 1862

The moon was radiant. The air was still. The only sound was the foxes screaming in the woods. Zara-Eloise sat up in bed and looked towards the french doors. There had been a gentle rap.

Somewhat on the weak side, she slid herself out of bed, and went over to the doors and unlocked them. Count Dracula was leaning on the door-frame with a lopsided grin, "why, hello..."

Zara smiled sweetly at him, "you are late you naughty boy"

Dracula chuckled and grabbed her by the shoulders, his eyes hungry for her neck, "there was this little peasant girl I visited..."

"you cheated..."

Dracula's eyes yearned for that jugular of hers, "ohhh it was only little cheat...she was nothing to get excited over, her flavour was dreadfully plain..."

Zara licked her lips and tilted her head to one side and pulled her hair back, "I think I'd like to go all the way tonight..."

Dracula looked like he was fit to burst, "ohhh you tease..."

"Do you want me...?"

"Yes"

"you promise me my dreams..."

Dracula swallowed down, eyes fixed adoringly at her beating neck pulse, "of course...anything for you"

She raised her hand and touched Dracula's cheek, he in turn took her hand and kissed it and moved down to her pulse in her wrist.

He looked at her, "May I?"

"To start off with...then you can go further"

He closed his eyes and set his fangs down onto the soft vein and started to drink, and Zara gasped to the heavens like she was about to orgasm.

She closed her eyes and like so many nights before, she wasn't on the balcony anymore. She was somewhere else.

She was dressed in white. She looked up to the ugly gargoyles hanging greedily off the gantries of the arches of the church. This was a really old church. This was a wedding venue.

Zara heard the church-organ play and she was carried by what only can be described as invisible hands down the aisle. Dracula was waiting for her. There was no congregation. Just Dracula, dressed in a smart black dress suit with a blood red rose withering on his lapel. Zara moved to his side and she looked up at him. Dracula smiled...his dark eyes seeming to smile at her. He looked up ahead and pointed.

In some old castle somewhere, she and Dracula were dancing. He held her eyes as he swept her across the flagstones like she was floating, "Your dancing is majestic"

Dracula smiled at her, "I have had years of practice. How I love to dance. I can't remember the last time...oh yes...her name was Valeria and she was so beautiful..."

"As beautiful as me?"

"Oh, come now, I don't like to make comparisons...it wouldn't be fair...oh, how I wanted Valeria...we danced on her birthday...she was so fair...so warm and had the smoothest of skin...so soft, and that tiny little pulse...it called to me...I wanted to taste her so badly..."

Zara-Eloise detected sadness in his eyes as they stopped dancing, "...what happened to her?"

He looked at her and shrugged, "She stayed mortal..."

Zara was breathing hard as she stared into his dark eyes, "have me...like you wanted to have her..."

Dracula took this as an invitation and lowered his mouth to her full lips and kissed her softly, she responded and then he moved his lips down to the pulse of her neck. He paused, then opening his mouth wide, his fangs sunk into her jugular.

She wanted to scream out in ecstasy. She shook and felt like air. She was swirling in a vortex of red and black. She could smell incense and burning and the life's of a hundred years.

And the there seemed to be nothing at all. Just a peacefulness. She was conscious, but unconscious at the same time. It was all so incredibly inexplicable.

But what she did know...was that she never felt so alive.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Zara-Eloise was in bed. She felt very weak as she looked up at the artex ceiling and drifted off to sleep again.

The doctor placed a hand over her forehead, then got his brass trumpet from his medical case, and put it to her chest and listened intently.

Mr Schulze, Frederic and Greta were all nearby watching. The doctor placed his things back into his case and removed his specs, "how long has she been like this..."

"For a few days...she refuses to to leave the room", answered her father, "do you know what is wrong with her?"

The doctor turned and looked at him, "She has no fever, no sign that she has contracted any kind of virus...yet she is very pale...is there anemia in your family?"

"No"

The doctor went and gently lifted her hand, "these marks on her wrist...bruising...do you know how she obtained them?"

Greta came forward, "no...but she has the very same marks on her neck"

The doctor glanced at her, then went and very gently turned Zara's head towards him. Nothing. He turned her head away from him, and saw the purple bruising.

"I see"

Mr Schulze was puzzled and very concerned for his daughters welfare, "what possibly could cause that? The anemia? Has she been bitten by some unruly insect, the nights have been so hot and she does have her doors open"

The doctor sighed, "I do not know...I advise to keep a careful watch on her...make sure she is giving plenty of fluids as well...hot tea is good"

Greta lifted her dress and made for the french doors, "I should close them..."

The doctor shook his head as he readied to make leave, "no, no...the fresh air will do her good"

Downstairs, the maid had just opened the door when the bell had chimed. Sister Mary was standing there with Sister Ruth. The maid was unsure to let them in, because they had called around before and the master had quickly shown them the door.

The doctor came down the grand stairs and fetched up his hat from the stand. Mr Schulze was with him, "so remember what I said, plenty of fluids"

Mr Schulze nodded and then saw the nuns on the doorstep, "You two again?"

The doctor turned on the fresh hold, "I'm sure praying with them would be a great comfort"

"Praying? They called here a few days ago harping on about Vampires!"

The doctor looked at the nuns and then back at Mr Schulze, "the thought of that did occur to me if I am honest...it's something that is not talked about, but I have heard of such cases"

The nuns looked grateful to him.

"You mean to say, I should listen to them?"

The doctor wasn't committing himself, but he said, "all I am telling you, is what ever they suggest, it wouldn't do any harm to her"

Once the doctor was on his way, the nuns were shown upstairs. Frederic came out of the bedroom and stopped at the landing looking at them, "What is this? You and your fantasy stories of creatures of the night?"

Mr Schulze came up the stairs, "Frederic please...let them do what they have to do...as the doctor just said, what harm could it do?"

Frederic lifted his hands, "it's absurd. I've never heard of such claptrap in all of my years...you are on your own squire..."

Frederic made for the stairs, Schulze turned, "if you leave this house, then don't bother coming back...your wife to be needs your support"

Frederic laughed at him with snide in his expression, "Marry her? I don't think so...she is too sickly...and you are all deranged to even listen to what they have to say...I'm having no part of it"

And Frederic was gone.

In the Bedroom, Greta looked up to see the nuns enter. Father was behind them. Sister Mary went over to Zara and took her hand and smiled, "there is still time to save this child"

Schulze didn't want to believe it, but asked, "what is it you want us to do?"

The older nun turned, "there are certain rituals I want to carry out...I understand that she is always found out on the balcony...is that correct sir?"

"that is correct"

Their was a breather of relief from her, "that is a positive thing...it means that she hasn't invited him into the house"

Greta glanced at her father and then at the nun, "you are talking about this...Vampire?"

"Indeed"

The nun went back to Zara and pulled back the bed sheets a little, "now...she must have a blessed cross around her neck...that will be a valuable deterrent"

Greta went over to a chest and lifted the ornate lid, "she had a few necklaces in here I think...oh, is this one too small?

Mary looked at the tiny crucifix in Greta's palm in dismay, "...it is and I dare say it isn't blessed", she looked at her younger aid in training, "Sister Ruth...remove the chain around from your neck and we will put it on the child"

Ruth did as instructed and lifted the chain from over her habit, and went over and put it around the slumbering girl gently.

The large silver cross on the chain was nesting at her bosom.

Mary was pleased, "Yes...that will do very nicely", she looked at her pupil, "what else must we do...?"

Ruth was already putting her hand into the kit bag, "we must dowse the room with holy water"

"Correct"

And she lifted the blue bottle of blessed water and undid the cork, and performed a sprinkling around the bedroom.

Greta came to Mary's side, "Who is it? The Vampire...do you know?"

"His name is Count Dracula...he is one of the more notorious of them...there are others...Styria and this region are haunted by them"

She noticed the horror in Greta's face.

She immediately touched her arm, "Child what is wrong?"

Greta looked at her and then at her father and then at Ruth, "It was him...he was the one who rode us back to the house when Frederic abandoned us in the village...Count Dracula...we brought him here!"

Mr Schulze was alarmed, "but that was over two weeks ago!"

Sister Mary quickly picked up the hand mirror from the side and held it to Zara, "She still has a reflection...there is still time to save her"

Zara was mumbling in her sleep, "mmmm...the church...the bells...the wedding...such a beautiful wedding day..."

Mary wasn't too concerned by this, "she is dreaming...Vampires will make dreams come true when they feed on them...it's all apart of their seduction"

Schulze's face was so sad, "she always wanted to get married...since she was a little girl...getting all dressed up and many times I was acting as the bridegroom in her childhood games"

Mary looked at him from across the bed, "and he knows that..."

Xxxxx

THE VILLAGE

It was in the late afternoon shadows, the two nuns arrived back to the village. As they entered the tavern, Mr Kruger was sat ashen faced.

Sister Mary went over to him to where sat in a chair near the taverns fireplace, "Mr Kruger what is it...you look like you have just seen a ghost"

The inn keeper looked at her. His eyes were wide, "It...it is the gypsy boy..."

"Fitz? What about him?"

"After you left here this morning for the manor house, I went into the stable to ready the shire horse for the cart to collect an ale delivery in town..."

Mary nodded, "yes..."

He looked at her and the horror in his eyes betrayed him. Mary made her way to the back, Mr Kruger got up, "sister no"

But it was too late, Sister Mary was already in the stable, and the horror was clear in her eyes as she looked up to Fitz swinging on a hang man's noose from the rafters.

His neck had been slit open, and there was a pool of dried and congealed blood under where he swung.

"I'm sorry...", said Mr Kruger, "I should have stopped you from..."

She whirled around, her face just as ashen as his, "Mr Kruger...do you have a cellar here?"

"Yes...a wine cellar..."

The nun was desperate and tugged at him, "Show me...show me now!"

Ruth watched as she and the inn keeper went down some very musty steps to a bolted up wooden door. Cobwebs hung from the tiny arch.

"Open it"

Mr Kruger really didn't know what all this was about as he put the key in the lock, but Ruth was beginning to understand, as she came up the rear as they entered the damp cellar.

Mary surveyed her surroundings. There were racks upon racks of vintage wine gathering dust and cobwebs. It was dark, just the light from the doorway.

"Yes...I knew it..."

She reached into her kit bag on her shoulder, and dug out the bottle of holy water. It was shining so bright. So bright it hurt her eyes. Mr Kruger shook his head in amazement as Ruth came forward, "He's here?"

Mary stared at the bottle. There was an image of Dracula's face and he was laughing at her. it was mocking laughter.

The bottle suddenly began to get red hot, and she threw it to the ground where it smashed into tiny shards. The water drying on the floor almost instantly in a steam.

"Mr Kruger have you a candle...?"

He went outside and was back again at an instant with a lit wick. She took it from him and all their faces illumed in the gloom of the cellar. There had been a space. Where something had rested in the far corner.

"I knew it...I KNEW IT!", she almost cried, "he was here all the time"

She looked at Ruth sadly, "You jested when we first came here remember, that he was in the next room...little did we know how close to the truth you was"

Mr Kruger was baffled, "what is this all about...?"

Xxxxxx

MIDNIGHT

Zara-Eloise was moaning in her sleep. She opened her eyes and sat up. There was a gentle breeze and it was wafting the lace curtain up at her french doors.

Dracula was on the balcony. With new found strength, she slipped out of the bed and padded over to the doors.

"I wish you would invite me in"

Zara looked at him, "I want to..."

His smile faded when he saw what was around her neck, "I see you have had unwelcome visitors"

He then sniffed the air, "Ahhhh the stench of holy water"

Zara smiled at him, "What of it? You can have me"

Dracula scratched his head and looked at her, "Ohhhh, I so wanted your blood...yours was a good faviour...one of the best in years...but alas, it is now tainted"

Zara frowned, "tainted?"

He nodded, "I'm afraid so"

She reached for his head and tried to pull him to her neck, "Please...I want you to"

He grabbed hold her hand tightly, and turned his gaze away from the cross at her breast, "I cannot...it is the end..."

Her voice was quiet and small, "End?"

He looked to the moon and smiled, "isn't it just radiant tonight? The moon"

Caught unawares, she looked up, "Yes...it is"

And then he slit her neck with his finger nail, and she fell to the stone choking for air, he had gone straight through the windpipe.

He stood over her, watching the dark blood pool out around her, "Awwwww, Zara, what a waste...how I wanted it all"

She was fitting and the fits stopped.

It was them her bedroom door burst open. Dracula looked up and tilted his head. Mr Schulze came forward, "Get away from her! Get away from her", and he rose the shotgun.

Dracula was amused, "ahhhhh the father...he has come to protect his daughter from the devil incarnate..."

Zara's father raised the gun and took aim. When he fired, it shook the house. Dracula jumped over the balcony. Schulze hurried over and looked over the rail. The Vampire was gone.

He stooped to his daughter, "Zara...oh Zara, my precious daughter"

Greta was then at the doorway in her night gown, he looked up, "get the kitchen boy to run to the village...I want that nun, now!"

A hour later, Zara was on the bed. The doctor shook his head sadly, "She has lost too much blood. There is no hope"

Sister Mary crossed herself over the chest. Feeling the anger build, Schulze turned to her,"you...you said she would be saved...you said there was time to save her!"

Mary shook her head, "Dracula is more powerful than I imagined. I thought it would work. I am truly sorry"

"Get out of here...GET OUT OF HERE!"

Sister Mary was upset at herself as she came down the stairs and leaned on the post. Greta was waiting at the open door. Mary looked up at her and tried to explain, "I am truly sorry...I thought I could stop him with..."

Greta shook her head, "I loved my sister dearly...I really did...but for the first time in my life, I am glad I am not tall, slim and beautiful. That I am short frumpy and fat. Because I think it was that what saved me..."

Sister Mary just nodded her head and was out the door. She felt gutted. Glancing back at the house in the moonlight, she made along her way.

XXxxx

THE VILLAGE

Sister Mary entered the empty tavern and saw Count Dracula sitting near the fire place at a table. He rose the goblet at her and smiled, "ahhh, please...won't you join me for a drink? I've been expecting you"

Mary looked at him. He was dressed in his shirt and waist coat with the collar loose. The Count dipped his finger into the goblet and put it to his mouth. God only knows whose blood it was. The Innkeepers?

She approached him, "I must say Count Dracula, you are casually attired..."

He smirked and looked at her like she really should have known, "oh come now Ivana, I haven't come far, as well as you know"

She shook her head clutching the chain around her neck, "so you have been resting in the cellar here, I saw you in the holy water"

Dracula didn't answer. He just raised his eyebrows.

"Did you have to kill the gypsy boy? He did nothing to you"

Dracula waved a hand as if the mention of the boy was an irritant, "something to pass away the time..."

Mary looked about the tavern, "Why is it so quiet in here? Is that the Inn Keepers blood you have in that poison chalice"

"He's is not a flavour I could savour, Ivana"

Mary came close still clutching her chain, "Don't call me that!"

Dracula laughed, "Why not? It is your name isn't it?"

The nun swallowed, "I am Sister Mary of the holy order..."

Dracula laughed at her, "but I prefer you as Ivana"

She didn't like the images her birth name conjured up in her mind. She shuddered and tried to force the past away to the back of her mind...but he knew that.

"Oh Ivana...do you remember when I taught you to dance? How old were you? 12? No. I think it was 13, coming of age. Your mother let me in the house and we had a splendid evening, did we not?"

The nun breathed hard.

Dracula drank from the goblet and wiped his mouth and continued, "...your mother was too trusting...how I tortured her soul, do you remember? She screamed and she screamed...it was a wonderful end to the proceedings that evening, don't you think?"

Mary tried to hold her emotions in check.

"...and there you was, watching me...those little eyes full of shock and fear of me..."

She found her voice, "Not anymore"

Dracula shrugged and leaned forward in the chair. The fire crackled in the hearth, "do you know why she had to die? It was your mother who was responsible for the up-rising in the village. It was her and her misguided friends who came up to my castle, armed with their pitch forks and their fire torches"

"You were the plague...you were the one responsible for the darkness sweeping over our land...your unholy stance...your reeking of the unnatural and everything that is not sacred...they wanted to destroy you"

Dracula shrugged it off, "I can understand that...I'm Undead not Unreasonable...it was just a pity for them that I was safely snug in my tomb...and there was absolutely nothing the fires could take hold of"

The nun slumped to a chair, "but the reign of terror you caused"

"Yes, do you think I would let her get away with it? No. So I killed her in the most painfully way possible and not just you, but for all the village to see...I made her an example of...I can't say fairer than that...OHHHH this blood really is divine, you should try some"

"I'm afraid it really isn't my taste"

Dracula looked at her, "you'd be surprised...", he held the goblet up and mused, "...I will call this one the sauce of a dirty little prostitute who found her escape through the holy order..."

And he looked at her with a dark grin.

Sister Mary jumped out the chair. It was so sudden, the chair kicked over onto it's back with a crash, "NO!"

She ran to the stairwell and up the creaky stairs to her room. Upon opening the door, she could already see what she knew was true before entering.

Sister Ruth was on the bed. She looked so peaceful except for a chunk of her neck ripped out and a trail of blood staining the bed sheets.

Dracula came to the doorway and leaned on the frame, "not the best I've tasted...but far, the most sensual...the things she got up to...", he chuckled, "...the things some men dream of"

Sister Mary had her back to him. Her eyes fixed on Ruth's lifeless form. Ruth's own eyes staring out and looking vacant.

"Has the time come for me? You keep on threatening to do it...", she swung around, "...so why not now"

Dracula was most amused, "what? And take away the such failure that you feel? She was your acolyte was she not? She thought she was safe...little did she know that was untrue...didn't you not think I'd recognise the chain and cross around Zara's neck? I did instantly...I took that as an open invitation for dinner..."

Sister Mary closed eyes tight. And a tear ran down her cheek, but she wasn't going to allow him to see the pain she was in. That she in-fact did feel like she had failed her novice in training, not only that, but was stupid enough to realise she had left the younger nun completely vulnerable.

But of course, Dracula knew all too well. He turned to leave, but just before going down the steps he said, "the time has to be right before I kill you...I want it to be something I can savour and enjoy...something I can look forward to...just the thought of you forever wondering when that time will be, will keep me enthralled in the game"

The lightening haze outside the window caught his dark eyes.

"Ahhhh sunrise approaches, I must go...till we meet again, Ivana"

And he was gone. Sister Mary picked up her robes to stop her self tripping, as she hurried down the creaky steps. But Dracula was nowhere to be seen, just the outside door swinging open.

She looked out, but he was gone. Nothing but the dawn chorus. She closed the door and rested her back on it and looked to the ceiling for celestial guidance.

Another death.

This vile creature. One day, she would get him, and if not her, then somebody in the holy order.

One day...