10 Minute Tales

May 14th - Unwitting Heir

The insomnia was back. He stared out of the window at the sleeping city, as awake now as he'd ever been. A glass of thick wine sat on the table beside him, innocuous but for an odd viscosity. He sighed as he picked it up, sniffing at it. He hated the texture, but everything else he ate or drank tasted like ash, and water burnt his throat. The doctors had no explanation; other than low blood pressure, he seemed to be relatively healthy. He grunted as he drank again, the same old gentle rush filling his body.

"Damn it..." he muttered, taking a second mouthful. He reached for his laptop to drag it over, but he was interrupted by a gentle knock on the door. Confused, he got up. His apartment very rarely received visitors normally; one at this hour was even weirder. "Hello?" he asked quietly, worried about his neighbours.

"Lord Leonidas?" a voice asked. He stopped. It was a voice he didn't recognise, but the owner had known his full first name. The voice was too quiet to know anything about the person, barely a whisper. He had to look through the peephole to get a vague idea of the speaker. He couldn't dislike what he saw, though; a woman with long, white hair was nervously glancing from side to side as she waited. He saw her generous curves, a wonderful hourglass figure covered by what looked to be a long, black dress with white lace that only served to attract more of his attention. "Lord Leonidas, is that you?"

"Who... who are you?" he asked, fighting his attraction down. "How do you know my name?" She smiled, a pure smile that melted his heart and helped to ease his sorrows.

"Pardon the intrusion, sir. My name is Felicia. May I come in?"

"Y-yeah, you can.... you can come in." he unlocked the chain and the door, stepping back as he pulled it open. She was even more beautiful without the distortion of the peephole, her pale skin and ruby eyes... wait, red eyes? He blinked, a little confused as she glided in elegantly.

"Thank you, sir. I do not believe we have had the pleasure of meeting before."

"Well, uh, you know my name, so... how'd you figure that one out?"

"Pardon, sir." she curtsied briefly. "I learnt your given name from your sire."

"Wait, my sire? You mean..." he blinked, even more confused now. "You met my dad?"

"Not your human father, no."

"My... human dad?" he raised an eyebrow. He couldn't be more confused if he tried. "What the hell are you talking about?" her eyes widened in mild surprise.

"Sir, you... you do not know?"

"Know what?"

"Your heritage. You have descended directly from one of the strongest blood lines going."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" 

"You are descended from Dracula, the king of vampires." This stunned him. Descended from Dracula? No way.

"The hell do you...?"

"I am not talking about that impersonator Vlad, I am talking about the real Dracula. Lord of the night, spirit of darkness, he had many names. Now, however, he is simply Leonidas. You are his blood. You are a vampire."