My Vampires

Chapter 16

Where am I...? I started to panic at my unfamiliar surroundings and tried to sit up.

Young Man with Piercing
"Ah, she woke up, Docteur! Wow! I knew you'd have pretty eyes!!"

Man with Glasses
"Carlos, stop screaming in the poor girl's ear. I'll sew your mouth shut."

Two men I'd never seen before were staring at me. Startled, jumped back away from them. Who are they?

Man with Glasses
"See? You were carrying on so much that you scared her."

Young Man with Piercing
"Huh? She's just a little surprised, that's all."

Kira
"Um, excuse me, but who are you...?

Carlos
"My name is Carlos Hayes. Nice to meet you, Kira." "And this is Docteur Flynn."

Flynn
"Hello. We live here in the castle with Lord Vlad."

Oh, that reminds me... Vlad said he lived with two other men.

Kira
"Nice to meet you... I'm Kira. Um, so this is..."

Carlos
"Yes, this is the castle we live in. Lord Vlad saved you from a burning building and brought you here."

A burning building... That's right, the gallery was on fire and I rushed inside!  I clearly remembered desperately calling for help as I stared at the flames engulfing my surroundings. Vlad saved me?

Kira
"Where's Vlad? He's not hurt is he?!"

Flynn
"There's no need to worry. That old goat has a body of steel. You couldn't kill him even if you tried."

Carlos
"That's right! Le Voivode is invincible!"

Wait, I'm so confused. Old goat? Le voivode? Are they talking about Vlad?  They certainly seemed comfortable calling him those things, so maybe they were just affectionate nicknames?

Carlos
"See? He's right there, alive and well."

I followed Carlos's  gaze and saw that Vlad had just entered the room.

Vlad
"You're awake! Morning, Kira."

Kira
"Vlad..! Are you sure you're not injured?"

Vlad
"I'm just fine, as you can see. Not a scratch on me. But..."

He trailed off and looked down at my ankle, his crimson eyes narrowing sorrowfully.

Vlad
"I'm sorry I didn't come save you before you got injured."

Kira
"Please don't apologize. If you hadn't come, I'd..." ".....Thank you, Vlad. Thank you so much."

Vlad
"Of course. I'm just glad you're safe."

Kira
"The painting of the wheat field!"

Vlad
"Don't worry. I gave it to the art dealer you live with. It was unscathed."

Kira
"'m so, so glad..."

Flynn
"You risked your life for a single painting? I don't know if you're reckless or just a thoughtless fool."

Carlos
"Docteur!"

Flynn
"If both of you had burned up in that fire together, your death would've been in vain."

... Faust is right. I shouldn't be congratulated for my actions at all. If Vlad hadn't come to save me, I certainly would've died in that fire. But...

Flashback

Theo
"He told me that he hopes this painting will give hope to the people here who are suffering through poverty."

Flashback Ends