Dracula And Anna: Finding The truth

Ch 12: Hidden Feelings And A Witch's Curse

Having carried Anna back to his castle in his hell-beast form, Dracula carries her through the castle, but as he does so, Anna becomes conscious again. Dracula stops to look at her face.

A soft 'mm,' sound comes from her, as she slowly opens her eyes. She looks at Dracula. He knows that she hasn't had enough time to sleep it off, and continues to walk to her bedroom, to lay her down to sleep.

But Anna surprises him.

In her intoxicated state, she starts giving him butterfly kisses along his neck, causing him to stop. Since Anna had been knocked unconscious for a month, and then she'd woken with amnesia, he knew what he wanted, but he knew he couldn't have it. He loved Anna too much to take advantage of her.

Fighting his instincts, he carries her to her bedroom door; carefully he pushes it open with his foot. He lays Anna down on the bed, and then covers her over. After making sure she was comfortable, he moves to leave, but Anna surprises him again.

Just after he gives Anna his usual "goodnight" kiss on the forehead, her hand touches his cheek, and her lips touch him in a kiss. Her soft lips touch his for some time, but Dracula gently breaks the kiss and moves away.

'Anna, sleep it off,' is all he says before he leaves the room, heading for his little office, or study, planning to take a nap on the couch, only to discover it occupied.

Rose was sleeping, completely unaware that the Count was back from his hunt with Anna, while Lily was sound asleep in his chair. There was no other seating furniture in the room. Sighing, he shook his head.

Rose yawned; stretching her arms, she opens an eye to see Dracula, who is staring right back at her. In shock, though she doesn't scream, she falls off the lounge and hits the floor.

'It's alright Rose, you're not in trouble.' Rose can see he needs his rest and begins to wonder what Anna did to him. Since Rose was the only bride old enough to know that Anna hated the Count, while secretly deep down she had always loved him. She knows what Anna used to be like around the Count.

Sighing once again, Dracula extends his hand to help her up. She takes it, and he gives her a soft kiss on her cheek, before he lays himself down on the couch, gesturing for her to join him.

Rose places herself beside him, gently snuggling up against him, his arm around her, his hand resting on her waist. She almost immediately falls asleep, but the Count has things on his mind...

He'd never expected Anna to end up like his other brides, (being intimate with him) not even in the long run. After one week, she'd planted a kiss on his lips. Although Anna had done it to try and get him to leave Van Helsing alone, he had turned down the deal, he'd wanted her the old-fashioned way – no deals - in fact he had been expecting it to happen again, when he'd watched her yelling at Igor to leave Van Helsing alone, a few nights back, but she hadn't.

But that didn't mean she wasn't going to.

For years she had defied him, but one night, when he'd been half asleep in his chair by the fire before he'd realised what was happening, she'd slinked over and was kissing him. Although he'd surprised her by pulling her over the arm of the chair onto him, so that she was no longer on her feet, gently pressed against him, lying on top of him, in the chair. The kiss had stopped, but their faces had remained close together.

'What is it you want now?' he'd asked. He'd been thinking that she was trying yet another deal. She had looked hurt.

'Just you,' she'd whispered. There was no way he could have mistaken the truth in her tone. She had been honest; she'd just wanted him...

At last, he fell asleep, once again dreaming of Anna Valerious.

A young boy, with short brown hair, was playing around in a large tree. He was howling like a wolf, scaring little animals in the trees, and on the ground, causing them to run off. After a while, he stopped and stared at the horizon, the sun was rising.

Now that the night had passed, and that it was morning, though very early, he then began pretending he was a monkey and started swinging from tree branch to tree branch.

Then something strange and unnatural happened.

As he landed on the ground, he felt strange inside. He saw a gleam of something in the ground, half covered in dirt, which was strange for spring, but nothing ever grew there in that dirt, since it was the road, so it wasn't so odd, but that didn't stop the disquiet he felt.

Slowly he approached the gleaming item that was reflecting the sunlight. Carefully he dragged it out of the dirt. It was long and the colour of silver. At first glance, he knew what it was.

It was his father's sword.

At that moment, he heard the sound of hooves coming from his right. Seeing the coach with its dark brown horses, the boy jumped backwards out of the way. The coach stopped in front of him, the driver jumped down to open the door.

Sitting in the coach was an elderly lady, wearing very old-fashioned clothes. Her face was covered by a dark moth-eaten veil that was connected to the black hat - that looked like a bonnet but without the tie under the chin - she wore.

'Give that here you thief, that does not belong to you,' her voice reminded him of a crackling fire.

'No I won't,' he shouted, 'this is rightfully mine!'

The old lady did not look pleased, 'then I curse you, to remain the age you are, until either, you return the sword to it's rightful owner, or your cousin reaches your age in appearance!'

The man shut the door, climbed back into the seat of the coach driver, and gave a flick of the reins, causing the horses to push ahead. The coach was gone at amazing speed.

The old lady was joking, that was impossible; no one could curse someone like that!

Could they?

He opened his eyes, to see himself somewhere else. He was laying in his bed, now sweating from the memory he had just dreamt, his mother at his bedside.

'Do I have a cousin?' he asked. It wasn't the first time he'd had the memory dream, and it wasn't the first time he'd asked either. His mother answered the same as always.

'No Velkir, you don't have a cousin.'

He thought about the old witch that had cursed him so long ago. His mother had told him the story of his father, but the boy hadn't told her about the old witch, or the sword. Only that he had been cursed, though not how to cure him.

Wasn't he the rightful owner of the sword with his father gone? Did his father steal it? Or was he still alive?

'I'm ok, mother, what time is it?'

'It's morning, Velkir, time to get up.'