The Blood of Caine

The Watchman and the Wolves

Once everyone, that should have been there, was there Vlad stood up and addressed his army, "Draculesti soldiers, as you are well aware Castle Dracula was attacked a couple of minutes ago by the blood witches. Another thing you may have noticed is that they attacked with werewolves as well as two other ghastly creatures, the species of which I am blissfully unaware." This earned a few chuckles among the soldiers and he continued. "As exciting as all of that was; there is now a gaping hole in the side of my castle and we've agreed that this may prove dangerous during the daylight hours. The solution we've come up with is to appoint a watchman or watchmen, to guard this new entry way, until I can get it fixed. Are there any volunteers?"

Freya immediately raised her hand. She had no idea why, but she did, "I volunteer."

Vlad offered her a warm smile, "Thank you, Miss Craven. Anybody else?"

Dmitri stood up, "I'll do it."

Disappointment spread over Vlad'd face, "Two. Two Draculesti soldiers! Is that all?"

There were no more so Caine cleared his throat and Vlad turned to face him, "Add me."

"Thank you, your duties as watchmen start immediately. Freya, since you were the first to volunteer, you will take first watch."

Freya smiled, "Yes, sir."

Vlad turned back to the rest of The Order, "You may go," and a few grumbles later, the room was clear.

Freya stood and made her way down to the crypts. She stared out into the garden, watching the shadows for movement. An hour had passed when she checked her watch. Three hours until sunrise.

Watching had grown quite tedious so she decided it would be more pleasant if she sat down. She crouched and saw a figure dart from the shadows. She shot up and squinted into the darkness, then she heard it. A deep growl right in front of her. She looked down to see a snow white wolf growling at her, teeth bared and hackles up.

Panic made her freeze for a moment as she thought, Where in the name of all that is good did you come from? Then she was reaching for her gun, her fingers brushed the holster as she heard a voice behind her.

"Back away!" Vlad ordered.

The wolf backed away and sat down. Vlad walked towards it and scratched it behind the ears. What had been a fearsome predator - not even a minute before - was reduced to a household pet, "Good girl," he praised the wolf, then crouched and kissed her between the eyes.

He looked up at Freya, beckoning her with his eyes. She went to him and he invited her to scratch the wolf's head. She obliged and the wolf panted happily. Vlad seated himself on the ground, "Fancy that. I was just on my way to warn you about them."

Freya seated herself beside him, "Them?"

He nodded slowly, "My pets."

Freya remembered a line from Bram Stoker's Dracula and recited it, "Listen to them, the..."

Vlad finished it, "Children of the night. What music they make." The wolf howled and Vlad offered a perfect imitation in return.

Freya tilted her head, "You really said that?"

He chuckled, "No, I decided to read the novel. I wanted to get an idea of the Western world's perception of me."

"So you never did any of that stuff?" she pressed, "involving Lucy and Mina, I mean?"

A, somewhat, far off look appeared in his eyes as if he were remembering something he did not wish to remember, "No, the case of Lucy Westenra was not, I assure you, a product of my vampirism. It was however based on the case of Mercy Brown and her tuberculosis."

Freya recalled watching a documentary on that, but wasn't sure if she could believe any of it while sitting in the presence of The Legend, himself, "Have you ever been to England?"

Vlad laughed, "Yes, I did go to England. How do you think Caine ended up dressing the way he does?"

"I'm sorry, I thought..."

"No, no child. I said the events involving Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker did not occur but I didn't say that Bram Stoker did not depict me, and my and my dwellings, with disturbing accuracy because he actually did. I especially love the way he described the Carpathians and the Bourgo Pass."

Freya realised that she'd actually travelled down the Bourgo Pass the night she'd almost died, but it looked nothing like what had been described by Bram Stoker, "It doesn't look like that anymore."

A sad smile danced on his lips, "Ah, sadly, it does not. This land was once too beautiful to comprehend but now here I sit, in my ancient castle with the remnants of The Order. Ah, Miss Craven, I was once a powerful prince and my people listened. I had armies under my control but now... now I am reduced to a child of the darkness myself."

Freya's heart sank as she saw the sadness in the Count's eyes and she decided to give him a hug. He accepted it - awkwardly at first - and it gradually got more comfortable and she whispered into his ear, "And a damned legendary child of the darkness you are."

She felt his face contort and he held her at arms length, "You know something, Freya?"

"Yes?"

"You remind me of someone, I once admired."

"Who?"

"My wife," with that he got up and left her with the wolf so she gave it a scratch behind the ears.

Freya stared out into the starry sky thinking about what Vlad had said to her. Something made her wonder how many people he had actually said that to. She thought about what his wife would have might've looked like and what his family was like, in fact, she had to stop herself from running after him to ask. Who was Cont Dracula? Who was he, really? Behind the strange smile and celebrity being the world's most iconic Gothic Horror character brought. Her thoughts then led her high school English teacher, Miss Handle, who had several quotes about vampires in her classroom and would have, most likely, throttled her for not asking him.

After a minute or two Dmitri appeared, "Caine requires your... why is there a wolf on your lap?"

"Vlad was here and probably told her to keep me company, I got bored."

Dmitri frowned, mentally arguing about whether what she had said was normal or not, then finished what he had tried to say, "Caine requires your presence in his library, that I didn't actually know existed until now."

She got up, "Okay, have fun." The last she saw of Dmitri, that evening, was the she wolf settling down next to him as he began his watch.