Dracula: Jonathan's Story

England

Jonathan's Journal:

As we reached Paris, Alexei's body began breaking down. I was feeding from three or four different people a night; usually homeless, and drunks. Sometimes we'd find a whorehouse or two that had "unique preferences". The night's last victim would wind up dead; it was only a matter of time before authorities caught up with me.

Separating was a matter of taking off a suit. I parted his stomach as one would a zipper, and once my arms were free I ripped it up to the face. He yelled with the pain, but once we separated he died of the shock. And now as I sit in my cabin aboard a ship about land on the south coast, I'm not sure how I'll return to my life as an ordinary lawyer. I don't know if I can, if I should. How do you get past the need for blood? How do you suppress it? Keep your loved ones safe? 

***

"You don't." Dracula's voice spoke up, as loud as if he sat on the bed behind him. Jonathan dropped the pen across the notebook, and turned in the desk chair. "Don't worry, I won't harm the fair Whilemina yet,"

Jonathan stood and pounced on his maker. "I'm sitting at the bottom of the channel. Would you believe that Van Helsing bitch blew a hole in the ship's Hull, and trapped me in a casket weighed down with enough lead to keep me there until someone finds me?  Turn the other cheek indeed," he said. 

"From what I understand, it's her job,"

The comment earned him an indifferent shoulder shrug. "The joke's on her anyway. Drowning kills mortals a permanent basis.  From what I gather, it's not a very pleasant way to die." He laughed. "Back to the subject at hand. You feed as much as you want, on whomever you want. You've been doing a beautiful job of that so far. I've enjoyed watching you flexing those newborn powers of yours, stretch those positively starched boundaries you cling to. I've given you Carfax Abbey in the event of my incapacitation. The papers have already been forwarded to Hawkins, and await you on your return. I have a coach waiting for you near port."

A bitter smile as Jonathan chose to see the positive; at least he had a home for Mina. He set his jaw, "Thank you."

"I did it so that I had somewhere I could live with my bride," Dracula grinned at Jonathan. He'd found the late night visits to his room at Castle Dracula alarming at first, but after the first few nights, he craved the count's touch and became a willing participant in bed. Even now, his fingers twitched to touch the other man.

"Your screams made me young again dear Johnny. They seasoned your blood just right," he kissed the tips of the fingers in one hand in the Italian fashion.

"You will never have me," Jonathan hissed.  He spat at the image. "Until we meet again Johnny. Enjoy your life with the fair Mina, I think she might have a little surprise for you." Dracula disappeared before Jonathan had a chance to reply.

He sniffed the breeze through the cabin window; the breeze carried the sounds of sailors shouting, loading other vessels. They'd be arriving in port soon.

***

Jonathan pushed the door open to find his boss Nathaniel Hawkins bowed over a legal size pad of paper scrawling notes in his usual method of crafting his arguments for court. He leaned back rubbing his eyes in fatigue, and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Jon. As I live and breathe; an answer to our prayers. We were going to hire someone else if you didn't return home soon.

"The count required more attention than we thought he would need. But he will follow shortly," Jonathan replied. Dealing with a difficult client covered a multitude of sins, and he was glad of it.

Hawkins began rustling through the papers. "He left days after you did, taking ship from Budapest. His ship had an accident and wrecked off the coast; he left you the deed to Carfax Abbey." He leaned against his desk, holding the folder out to Jonathan. "Take a few days to see the property. Visit Mina, she's been asking everyday for you."

At her name, Jonathan saw the memory of her entering the storefront offices that morning. "When she visits tomorrow, tell her I've returned, and I'll come to her."

"The flat upstairs is yours as long as you need it."

"Thank you," Jonathan said. He withdrew and climbed the stairs to his second floor rooms. They were exactly as he left them; rumpled bedsheets the evidence of his final night with her. He sat on the bed, and sniffed them; the tang of dried blood was still there. He could feel her hands on his chest, her blonde hair enveloping them as if in a world of their own making.

"My north star, always guiding me home," he whispered to her as he left that morning to take ship for Hungary; a guiding force in his life since they'd first met. He'd tell her everything, start their marriage on an honest footing.

Mina's voice woke him near midday. "He's here," she replied to Nathaniel after he'd told her. She dismissed the rest of his instructions and the next sound was her knocking on the door. "Johnny,"

He opened the door half-dressed in an undershirt with his five o'clock shadow showing. "We need to talk," she informed him. He pulled her inside by the hand, and guided her to the bed. She made an elaborate show of taking of her full length coat and draping it over a chair.

It was then he noticed a bulge on her waist, and blinked. "It's yours," she informed him. He picked up the baby's heartbeat.

"You should sit down," he advised patting the mattress beside him. She sat, and put her head down on his shoulder. He took in her scent; hormones giving her a sweet perfume. At the base of her was clean lavender oil. "You still use it," he said. It was his last gift to her before leaving.

"Everyday, as a reminder of you." She didn't lift her head, and the lapsed into silence with him counting the beats of both mother and baby.

"I want to marry you," he said.

"Tonight. You, me, and a judge. Hawkins can witness it. It's all settled," she informed him. She determined she wouldn't spend another night as Mina Murray.

"We need to talk, about what this is going to mean for us. I'm like... him." He avoided using the count's name.

"I know. I've known even before that night at the convent. Agatha found me, and told me I would need to fight for your soul. She spent the entire journey telling me tales of the count and his unnatural abilities. She wants to see you use your abilities to keep humanity safe from him, and other creatures. She lifted her head and looked straight into his eyes. I promise to help you,"

His Mina. A fighter, a lover, and a soon-to mother. He distanced himself from her walking the length of the apartment to the door, and back to stand in front of her. "I crave it all the time. Looking at you now, hearing your heartbeat; it's all I can do not to tear your neck open with my teeth and drain you to your last breath. And that won't be the end of it; I'll move onto Hawkins, the young messenger he uses to take dispatches, the other lawyers in the practice. It won't stop."

She gasped at his honesty. "But it can be managed. Sitting here, next to me you've proven that. You want to survive, and there's nothing wrong with that." He sat next to her, and she placed her forehead against his, showing trust.

"I haven't told you everything," he admitted. And then he proceeded to tell her of the intercourse, and other abilities.

"I have you back now Jonathan, and I don't intend to lose you. Whatever happens, we'll find a way together." She held his hand on her belly, and they were rewarded with a kick. Jonathan couldn't hold back a smile at the baby's gesture.

"I'm your dad," he told the bump. The baby kicked his hand again, and they laughed as any young couple in love would.