Dracula Arrives To Beach City

Chapter 12: A compromise of sorts

Dracula POV: I had pulled the stake out of my heart after my encounter with VS after all these years. The pain of pulling it out was miniscule compared to the pain of reliving those memories, besides the wound would heal up in a few seconds. I carried the gems carefully in a sack I usually use to carry things for travel, the sack was resting on my back. By the time I had reached the city it was already night.
I had decided to stick to the shadows, I didn't need any curious bystanders to get in my way and I wasn't particularly in the mood for talking.
The sand crunched softly under my boots, if I wanted I could make no audible sound in even the sand. But I didn't care about stealth, not right now. It was the night and the momentary darkness belonged to me.
It will always be long to me. I finally reached what I presumed to be the gem's home, I looked and noticed the damage I caused to the house was repaired and I also noticed another peculiar sight, an older man was sitting on one of the steps looking extremely worried. He didn't seem to notice me until I spoke out to him, "hello" I calmly said to him, even still he jumped at my sudden presence. "Hello?, can I help you?" He asked, "As a matter of fact, you can, tell me, what is you're name?" I asked, he responded with "Greg, Greg universe"
"Hmm, you wouldn't happen to be related to Steven universe would you?" I asked, "Yes, I'm his father" He answered, "Good, you can help me then." I said as I opened the door to the house, I walked and immediately set the sack down what I presumed is their kitchen counter, I carefully and easily grabbed each gem from the sack and set them down. "What did you do to them?!" Greg shouted as soon as he saw the gemstones, "I defended myself from their attacks and came out victorious, simple as that." I answered calmly, "They will be fine, they just need time to heal and then we are all going to talk." "Wait, you're Dracula aren't you?" Greg asked in grim realization, "Indeed I am." I answered truthfully. In that moment I saw Greg reaching for something nearby on the counter, "Don't, I'll tear you're heart out before you could even remotely hurt me with that knife." I told him, this seemed to have deterred him from attacking me, good. I have already killed enough fathers for several lifetimes. "So, what do you plan on doing?" He asked with a nervous chuckle, "I plan on sitting here and watching over them until they have been fully healed, then I am going to attempt to have a discussion with them about my presence in beach city." I answered. A week passed by, during that week I told Greg he could leave if he wished, he told me not to take it the wrong way but he didn't feel comfortable with leaving me with the gems, understandable I suppose. Another human came by the house on friday, she was a child named Connie, I guessed they were around Steven's age. At first she freaked out after seeing the gemstones and realizing who I was. After several minutes of calming her down, I assured her no harm will come to her. Content with that she asked me what I was doing, I answered and she nodded. She left after I assured her no harm will come to her friends. Saturday night, I finally noticed a glow from the counter and realized that they were finally emerging from their healing process.

Dracula watched in awe as the gems fully reformed, at first they seemed confused on where they were, then Pearl noticed Dracula and immediately pulled out her spear from her gem. The others soon followed with their weapons being summoned. "Lay down you're weapons, I have no interest in fighting you all again." Dracula said, "How can we trust you?" Asked Lapis, "Because if wanted it I already would have shattered you're gems." Dracula answered in a cold tone.
"I want to talk, I want you all to know I mean no harm towards this town nor the beings that reside in it, what I'm saying is that I don't want us to be enemies." Dracula said. "Fine, let's talk but we have a lot of questions about you." Garnet said, the gems and Dracula walked over towards the couch, with the gems sitting on the couch and standing near it while Dracula was on the opposite side standing up. "Alright, each of you may ask you're own question." Dracula said. Pearl went first, "Why did you choose to become what humans call a "Vampire"?"
Dracula laughed a little then said "I choose it to save my people, and my family but I failed in the end to save them." Dracula said with a frown.
Amethyst asked next, "What is that red stuff that came out you're eyes earlier?"
"Blood, a vampire no longer cries normal tears, blood acts as a disturbing substitute for it." Dracula answered with a deadpan expression.
Amethyst looked a bit uneasy by the answer and so did the others but she nodded anyway. "You feed on human blood correct?" Garnet asked, "Yes but I can substitute it with animals" Dracula answered. The gems continued with their questions, by the time they were done, Pearl noticed how late it was. "Alright Steven it's time for bed." "Awww" Steven answered.

Dracula bid the gems farewell and walked out the door outside into the cold night. "Pearl, let's follow him" Garnet said. "Alright Garnet." Pearl answered. Pearl and Garnet kept their distance but managed to keep an eye on Dracula as they followed him. Pearl and Garnet were still in complete awe of this being known as Dracula, and the only thing that scared them more was that there were supposedly more creatures out there like him. How did they never encounter Vampires before? Did they exist during the gem war? Did they even exist before that? And how many of them were there? Hopefully, none of them are as nearly as powerful as Dracula. Dracula, he had taken on the entire Crystal gems and won. The only reason why there even alive is because he choose to spare them, again. They continued to follow him until he came to a complete stop in the middle of the woods, he turned and calmly said, "step out gems, I know you are following me." With hesitation, Garnet and Pearl stepped out of their hiding spots. "How?" Garnet asked with a stoic face, "I've known since we entered the woods, I just wanted to figure out your intentions first. They didn't seem hostile, then again, I have been wrong before about these things." Dracula said with a cold stare.  "Dracula, you said you became a vampire to save your family and people, you mentioned you failed.  You also mentioned before you poofed us that you said were left with nothing but the corpses after. What did you mean by that?" Garnet asked.  Dracula gave both gems a strange look, then he sighed. "Do you really wish to know? He asked skeptically.  "If we are to understand your reasons for staying in Beach city better than yes." Pearl answered.  Dracula studied both of intently, the two gems couldn't help but feel nervous. Dracula after studying them for a bit longer motioned for both of them to follow him.

They followed him to the house he created out of magic,  they all stepped inside.  "Both of you, stand near me and prepare for what comes next." Dracula said.  All three of them stood next to each other as Dracula spoke in a language that nether gem recognized. Then, a circle of fire appeared around them.  In a flash, the three were transported around the world. They arrived back to Dracula's castle.  They ended up in the main hall that had Dracula's thrown in it. "Dracula, we have your armor. Do you wish to have it back? Pearl asked.
No, that armor is a painful reminder of what once was and what it could have been." He said with a frown while walking away.

Dracula lead them down the lower levels of the castle, Pearl used her gem as a source of light for her and  Garnet. Dracula didn't need one, being a creature of the night guaranteed him amazing senses, especially when in the darkness. 

They all arrived at a giant door made of stone, a symbol of a dragon was on it.

To be continued...