Dracula's Groom

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE: Nightmare

Dracula

In the weeks that followed, I noticed a slight change that hanged in the air. Like a dark cloud, it loomed over Castle Dracula carrying a scent that was rather unknown to me. I followed it where it led me straight to my mate as he stood looking out the window towards the hedge maze and the botanical garden greenhouse that could be seen in the background.

I touched his arm as he sighed quietly and turned to face me, his eyes dead and unresponsive. His skin was deathly pale, his lips bleached like bone. He looked like death and that scared me. I took him into my arms and as I squeezed, his body cracked and crumbled where it fell to the floor into a pile right in front of me. Dropping to my knees in horror, no sound came out, I was too shocked.

As a bloody tear brimmed in my eye and slid down my cheek, something moved from within the pile. I brushed the debris away only to reveal a baby in its place. A baby with eyes like mine and lips like Nathan. Taking the newborn into my arms, the baby cooed with an adorable little smile as it desperately tried to touch my face. In that moment, a streak of sunlight appeared through the clouds.

The sun filtered in through the window where it landed directly onto the baby. My first instinct was to hide it from the light. But then something happened I couldn't quite explain. The baby's skin didn't burn. It remained intact and became warm by the rising sun as the rest of the clouds gave way to a beautiful day. I held the baby up to the light and couldn't help but laugh at what I was seeing.

Yet my moment of happiness was short lived as multiple truck engines came racing up the gravel driveway. Danger spiked in my blood as I took the newborn upstairs and laid it down on the floor in the master bedroom before reaching for my sword. In my haste I closed and locked the door behind me as I raced down the corridor and stood at the top of the stairs, my fangs extensive and sharp.

The double doors burst open caused by an explosion as a group of armed men stormed the vestibule. And when the dust finally settled, another figure emerged dressed in a fine expensive suit. My anger rose to new heights at the very sight of him. For I remember him perfectly. A face that I have not seen for many centuries, has now returned living under a new name, new whole identity.

My father stands in the center, flanked by his goons as he unbuttons the jacket and fixes his cuffs. I hold the sword tighter in my hand as my body surges for a fight. In my mind, I've already mapped out ten different ways how I plan to kill them all. I smirk in triumph, feeling like I've already won. With my sword at my side, I listen to the delicate pounding of each of their heartbeats.

They have no idea that they're staring into the eyes of death himself. They had no right to break into my home and threaten my family. I'll kill every last one of them if its the last thing I do on this earth. My father gains my attention as I glance down at him with cold, dead eyes. He will die last and it will be slow and painful. In the end, he'll be begging me to kill him. Just like he killed, Nathan.

"Give us the baby, son." He said.

"If you want her, come and claim her!"

With a glance, my father orders his men to advance on me as they slowly walk up the grand staircase with their fingers on the trigger. I wait until the time is right as I leap into the air with my sword raised high above my head and attack them head on. Screams of bloodshed and gunfire erupted throughout the room as mangled body parts and fresh blood paint the walls and floor.

I breathe heavily as my chest and face is covered in blood. An arm lays on one of the steps as I kick it off to the side and descend the stairs.

"Is that all you've got?" I asked.

"Impressive. Your skill with a sword has improved since the first time I taught you how to defend yourself. Do you remember that, son?"

"I remember the day I said goodbye to you. I stood by my mother's side and watched as you and my brother marched off to war, never to be heard or seen from again. But, obviously you survived somehow and yet here you are. However, you're no longer the man I once knew."