Author's Note: This chapter takes a dark turn, and is not recommended family friendly reading. Be aware - and enjoy!
I walked up to Vlad's door with a sense of foreboding in my heart and a chill running down my spine. Somehow, I knew this was a bad idea... but I digress. First I should explain.
My day had started out pretty normally. Taking care of my bees and the garden was a daily chore that I have quickly come to love doing.
Then, I have breakfast and spend some time painting. I'm getting pretty good, but there's always room for improvement. The gallery says my paintings sell like hotcakes, and to keep them coming.. but there's only so much time in a day.
Today, however, thoughts of doom were interrupting my idyllic retreat. That old vampire was still waiting for me to come meet him at his house. I wasn't sure of his intentions, but the friend he sent to threaten me definitely had me worried. I wondered if I should meet him before anything else could happen. I couldn't figure out another way to keep myself and my family-to-be safe other than to confront the him and ask him to leave me and mine alone from now on. We were practically neighbors and I certainly didn't plan on making friends, but perhaps listening to whatever he had to say about my family's history would satisfy whatever he wanted, and we could learn to co-exist in peace.
So here I was, terrified. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Come in, my son. The door is open.”
With a gulp, I drew myself up to my full height and turned the handle of the massive door.
At once, pipe organ music completely assailed my senses, and I tried not to blink in consternation. I don’t know what I had expected, but this nearly pristine Victorian Mansion had definitely not been on the list. Surreptitiously, I looked around for cobwebs, but didn’t see any.
Suddenly, the music stopped and the old vampire began laughing, almost as if he could read my mind. Wait a minute... could vampires read minds?? Damnit, I should have read more in those books from the library.
“Welcome to my home, Dusan.” He said, rising from the pipe organ and holding out his weathered hand to me in greeting, “whether you feel it or not - you are truly welcome here, although I understand your reluctance. I have so few human acquaintances, these days - sometimes I forget how to treat them. But please - be my guest. Have a seat.” He motioned to a nearby love seat that was - of course - right next to a skull on display. Fabulous.
We both sat down, me almost as far away as I could get from him, and again - he smiled at me as if he knew.
“I suppose you wish to know about your family?” He asked.
“Actually - I want you to have your friends stop stalking me at night and threatening me. I came here to live on my mother’s beloved homeland, and, god willing - raise a family here. I know the history and I certainly don’t need lecturing from you.” I was mostly bluffing, and I dearly hoped he didn’t know it.
He chuckled slightly, and raised an aquiline eyebrow before he began speaking again, “Dear child - had you truly known your history, you would not have come back. Your family had made itself unwelcome here, but we vampires had no part to play in the final accident. We even tried to step in during the tragedy to help rescue, but our services were denied. Your lovely mother was the only survivor - and the house was gone. There was nothing left for the child here, so she left to find a new life. For our part, we were very moved by her loss - even a vampire understands family - and we certainly also understand loss. Since then, the grudge held against your family has been erased and you are as welcome here as you would be anywhere.”
I looked away, mulling over his words. Was he hinting that I wasn’t welcome anywhere? I shook my head slightly, trying to get rid of that idea. “It was arson, the police said. If my family weren’t wanted here, how am I supposed to know that it wasn’t you and yours that began it to get rid of us?”
”Because, childe, that’s not how we operate.” He had moved closer so that he was sitting right next to me, and I found myself compelled to watch his eyes. In fact... I couldn’t look away. What was happening here??
Things started fading around me, until I could see nothing but Vlad.
Then my vision went completely black.
I remember nothing else until I woke up in a box. A dark softly-lined box. And it smelled like old mothballs. Wrinkling my nose, I tried opening and closing my eyes several times, but to no avail. I had no idea whether I was just in the dark or whether I was utterly blind. In a panick, I pushed at the fabric lined wood above me, and, much to my surprise, it swung open easily.
Not in any mind to stay where I was, I quickly got out of the box - only to turn around and see that it was a cobweb-covered coffin. What the hell!?
Shivers of fear ran down my spine, and I would have completely bolted had I not been nearly struck down by a pain in my midsection.
I cursed in both of the languages I knew, and tried to gather my thoughts through the pain. The only thing I could settle on was that I needed to get out of here - quickly and without being seen. After a glance around this ... dungeon - for I could see nothing else to call it - I quickly found the stairs leading up.
I tried to be as stealthy as possible, but with the pain I was in - I really don’t know if I had managed any stealth at all.
Somehow, however, my luck held and I finally reached the front door, unnoticed.
Once through it as quietly as possible, I broke into a painful, shambling run. All I wanted was to get home.
Finally, I got back to my little campsite, nearly exhausted. I sat down on my cooler to catch my breath. Or - at least, try to.
Thinking that perhaps my stomach pain was due to hunger - that was what it felt like, after all - I pulled out some breakfast and started eating. Within the first bite I knew something was wrong. The milk for my cereal must have gone bad - because this was awful. Looked like I was going to head into town soon for new supplies... but perhaps I’d just take a nap first. The sun seemed especially bright today, after all, and I could always go later, right?
