Episode 32 - Flash Fanfiction - Dracula

Chapter 3

"Vampires!" Astrid sighed as she and Caitlin walked towards her office, leaving Barry and Cisco in the cortex to plan without them.

"I know... it seems... unbelievable." Caitlin said, "There has to be some sort of explanation."

"There are a lot of explanations why a man would pretend to be a vampire... all of those point to mental instability, unfortunately I can't think of anything that explains waking up from the dead." Astrid said.

"There have been a few cases where strange things like that have happened, but... nothing like this. This is just... odd." Caitlin replied.

"But, hey... if we are dealing with Dracula, I should be fine. I'm pretty stable when it comes to mind compulsion. I can play out the part of Buffy." Astrid said with a grin, still clutching the stake in her hand.

"You sound like you're enjoying this," Caitlin laughed.

"She was one of my heroes growing up. We need more females who can actually kick ass and aren't just loved for being a damsel in distress or a sex icon!" Astrid said adamantly.

They could hear Barry and Cisco excitedly speak strategy from out in the cortex. "We should go out there and join them." Caitlin said.

"Hey, Cait. Is everything okay between you and Barry?" Astrid asked her, noticing what her friend wasn't saying.

"Things are fine between Barry and I... actually they're very great!" Caitlin said, there was a truth to that, but something still seemed off.

"Caitlin..." Astrid continued.

"I'm going to go and join them." Caitlin said taking her leave.

Astrid went to follow her out, but she immediately sensed the presence of Kent Nelson behind her.

"Kent... what can I do for you?" she addressed him, before turning to face him.

"You can tell Cisco that he is correct. Dracula left Gotham City in search of Batman when he assisted you the night the Cadre attacked. He decided to stay around." Kent said.

"Wait, do you mean... Dracula? As in, 'I vant to zuck your blood' actual Dracula?" She asked, impersonating the Transylvanian accent from the movies.

"I assure you, it's not as animated. But, the ancient Count Rominoff who is back from the dead. I believe that he was brought back to life by a criminal in Gotham who goes by the name of the Penguin. But don't underestimate his power." Kent said. He looked up behind Astrid, they had been joined by the rest of the group.

"Wait, Penguin brought back Dracula? That just makes me hate him all the more... Penguin, I mean." Cisco groaned. "But on the bright side, I can't believe I'm right... We're dealing with the actual Dracula!"

"How do we find him?" Barry asked.

"Well, he's nocturnal. So you will need to wait until the sun goes down." Kent replied.

"Stakeout!" Cisco said with a grin. Caitlin and Astrid shook their heads.

"But, there are also a few people about the town that are currently in transformation. You will need to stop them too." Kent added.

"I'll take the grave duty," Astrid said picking up the stake in her hand.

"I was kind of hoping to avoid the graveyard," Cisco replied. "You know... since Wells..." they all looked down at the floor, and remembered what he was referring to. "but that's okay! Flash and I can go hunting vamps around town! You can go all Buffy on their asses at the grave yard!"

"I can't believe that I'm going to say this... but, I'm actually looking forward to the grave yard shift..." Caitlin said with a smile.

As they had been talking amongst themselves, Kent had once again left without them realizing. "See? That's what I meant by weird!" Astrid scoffed. "Alright we have four more hours until sundown. Let's get prepared!"

"So, spill!" Astrid said, as she and Caitlin traced the graveyard together with flashlights and stake's in hand.

"Spill what? This really reminds me of that show!" Caitlin joked.

"What you're hiding. If it's not about Barry... then, what's it about? And yeah, it's pretty exciting, isn't it?"

"Okay, it's Frost. I can feel her aching to get out. But without Wells being here, I know that she won't be a problem. What do you think?" Caitlin asked.

"I think that you might be right. The only reason she was unstable was because of Harry..."

"...But, while we're all grieving over him... Cisco included, it could still be a little dicey."

"Yeah. Pretty much. But after all of this vampire business is done with, I promise you that I will speak with Frost and work out her level of instability." Astrid said with a smile.

"Thank you. Speaking of Wells..." Caitlin said, noticing the fresh tomb stone with flowers that had been planted there three days ago, the day of his funeral.

Caitlin and Astrid both planted some fresh flowers down.

"Cisco hasn't been here since the funeral." Astrid said sadly.

"How's he doing?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, right now... he's clinging to his movies and wit for dear life... So I'm certain he'll be fine." 

"At least, he has you... also, I heard your conversation today... What's this about getting engaged?"

"That too... it's not public knowledge yet, so let's just leave it on the down low, for now." Astrid said with a smile.

"Did you hear that?" Caitlin asked jumping almost a mile in the air.

Astrid shun her torch and held her stake ready. She crept towards a large tomb. She jumped back as something ran out at her. "Oh my God! it was just a cat!" she laughed in relief.

They continued on their way, speaking amongst themselves.
"I bet you had a real thing for Angel growing up" Caitlin joked, referring to the TV show.

"No... I could never decide between the lovable underdog Xander or the bad boy – Spike."

"Sounds a little like your life story." Caitlin laughed.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked.

"Excuse me." The casual voice of a very handsome, dark haired stranger broke into their conversation. He was dressed in a black suit, he had a very dominant jawline and his eyes were simply hypnotic, stopping both Astrid and Caitlin in their tracks.

Astrid could feel the compulsion washing over her, just as it had clearly done to her friend. She tried to fight it off. "It's you." She said softly. "How is this happening to me?"

"Do not resist me. I understand that you are very powerful... but... it is clear that I am simply stronger." He said approaching the both of them. He spoke with a foreign accent, and his tone was ultimately hypnotic. "The two of you are very beautiful..." he said stroking their cheeks at the same time. "I have a very special task for the both of you."

Astrid and Caitlin were entirely under the man's spell. They dropped their flashlights, phones and weapons and followed him out of the graveyard willingly.