Doctor of Darkness 3 - Darker as the night

"I am no longer young, and my heart, through years of mourning the dead, is not attuned to cheerfulness. Moreover, the walls of my castle are broken. The shadows are numerous, and the wind blows cold through the shattered battlements and shutters. I love the shadows and the darkness, and would be alone with my thoughts if I could."

From Bram Stoker's book 'Dracula' (1897)

We have here a vampire story.

That means it's about:

- blood,

- pointy teeth

- monsters

- and even more blood!

But, it's also about

- friendship

- family

- and true love!

We are all adults, so have fun reading and don't

take everything so seriously ;)

- Vlads POV -

A perfect sunset... I couldn't describe this spectacle before my eyes any other way. Magnificent colours ranging from deep red to purple filled the clear evening sky at the threshold of night. In the distance, the first faint hint of a crescent moon was already visible, and now it won't be long before the light of the first stars follows. Two small birds appeared in front of me, but they only visited me briefly before disappearing into the nearest treetops. I was completely alone here and could hear the sounds of the approaching night all around me. The laughter of the living in the nearest village, the murmur of the Charente River, which separated this island from its surroundings. Even the trampling of a young herd of wild animals, just a stone's throw away from me in a small wooded area, was audible to me. This kind of silence was not unfamiliar to me... It was the famous calm before the storm.

We were in France, more precisely in the New Aquitaine region, hidden in a 13th-century ruin with various additions and alterations from the following centuries. Some parts of the former castle were hardly older than me, but at least I had kept myself in much better shape than these walls. In the end, only the rocky foundation remained, overgrown with ivy and moss. Not far from here, there is an old chapel that has indeed survived the passage of time quite solidly, but none of us used it for obvious reasons. After the last carnage on my land, I could only take the vampires and werewolves from Dragan and my own forces with me. It had simply become too dangerous for the human inhabitants. I could only hope that they were far enough under the radar in their homeland to not attract the attention of our enemies.

One last time, I looked at the red edge of the sun, which was just setting in the distance. It has become a routine for me to stand here in the evening and at night to observe the nature as a kind of glimmer of hope in our current situation. Perhaps I shouldn't sound so annoyed, because at least we were safe for now. Something that most fellow creatures out there cannot claim. This place was ideal. It was quiet, easy to monitor, and none of our enemies would look for us here... at least for now.

"Pathetic b*st*rd through and through... Isn't that right, Lord Vlad?"

Groaning inwardly, I focused even more on the sunset, which was actually already over, while Elisabeth Báthory appeared next to me. Her black heels made a slight clicking sound as she jumped onto the massive stone wall next to me. She made no secret of how little she appreciated my existence, but I paid her hardly any attention, and so she finally sat down on the wall with a rather dramatic sigh. The last remnants of the warm light had now disappeared, and so there was nothing left to captivate my gaze on the sky. But I remained stubborn.

"Really! Don't start accidentally a conversation with me, Vlad. How long have we both already been here, that you can't even do that?"

Two months, eight days and 14 hours, but I kept that thought to myself. Elisabeth would only read too much into it.

"Too long for my liking, Elisabeth..."

An icy laugh, so sharp it could cut glass, came from Báthory's mouth, causing me to tilt my face slightly in her direction. She wore a red suit that matched the colour of her lipstick. Her black heels were from that brand with red soles and completed her outfit. For a former Baroque noblewoman, Elisabeth has the most modern dress style of us all, you have to give her that.

"When do you think they'll release Dragan?"

"Didn't you ask me that already yesterday?"

"And the day before... And the day before that too, I think."

Shaking my head, I looked back at the edge of the forest, slightly overwhelmed by her honesty.

Dragan... We're all just waiting for him. The dragons were still holding him in protective custody, without charge or official reason for detention. My spies were able to determine that he was no longer in Ireland, but where had they taken him? I didn't know. And so we could all only wait. The entire High Council of Vampires, or at least the part that hasn't disappeared yet, has now lodged a complaint against the detention of a founding member without justification. But since Re appeared, this world has changed. My castle lay in ruins. Dragan's residence has also been wiped off the face of the earth after Ramses' attack. Some of our vassals have fled to all corners of the world, and we have lost contact with our werewolf partners in North America. There is no real coordinated resistance... Instead, we hide in the darkness. A fact that burns more fiercely in my veins than my own fire.

"My lord!"

Aurelius's rather bright voice could be heard even before he appeared beside us. Over decades as my closest confidant, he had developed a calmness that rarely allowed for nervousness. His now slightly irritated voice therefore surprised me somewhat, even though he was the one who broke the silence between me and the Báthory. We did not turn to him, but with a simple movement of my hand, I signalled that we were listening. Meanwhile, the first white rays of the moon were visible, cold, unapproachable and yet beautiful to behold.

"She... I mean..."

"Speak, Aurelius! Or are you already demanding that we read your thoughts?"

With a click of her tongue, Elisabeth stood up and stared disapprovingly at my right hand. Aurelius did not look directly into her eyes or mine, and that alone told me enough about the seriousness of the situation. It could only be about her...

"She hasn't drunk again, has she?"

Just a simple twitch of his eyebrow betrayed his surprise when his thoughts were guessed without words. I knew Aurelius was talking about her, just as he knew that I was thinking about her constantly... about Selena. It had been my decision to transform her, fully aware that she herself did not want it. Now I had to live with the consequences. And like no other creature before her, Selena had a stubbornness stronger than these ancient walls.

"Yes, my lord. The blood bag remained untouched once again."

I nodded and immediately left my favourit spot. I left behind the moon, which slowly bathed the weed-covered castle courtyard in bright light. Elisabeth and Aurelius followed me silently as we jumped off the wall, stepped through the magical protective shield that provided us with additional security, and descended into the depths. The old castle ruins were beyond saving, but the real reason we were here lay much deeper, below the earth. Metres-long underground catacombs stretched beneath the entire former castle and the surrounding island. Old walls, replaced by modern concrete structures, housed those who still stood loyally by our side. God alone knows that there are not many left.

Aurelius led the way, but neither his nor our footsteps made any noise. Vampires did not need light to perceive their surroundings in the dark, and so we scurried through the corridors like ghosts. Noiseless and silent... We soon came to a few old iron gates that exuded genuine medieval charm. Pure deception, because firstly, the entire tunnels were under video surveillance and secondly, the bars were coated with silver and no more than perhaps 50 years old. I also had several devices with poison darts installed throughout the tunnels. You could say I learned from Johann's bunkers. It may not stop our enemies, but it's definitely incredibly annoying.

Behind the old tunnels from the 14th and 15th centuries lies the ‘modern’ wing, built by the last owner, who wanted to be protected here in the event of a new world war. Now we used the many rooms and chambers, mainly as storage for blood reserves. Our small group stopped in front of an iron door worthy of any bunker. Hector, an impressively large black man who had been at Dragan's side for years, stood guard here. He protected what was most precious in this world to his master. With a short nod, he shows me a blood bag in his right hand, the delicious smell of which we had all noticed at the beginning of the tunnel.

"Again?"

"Yes, Lord Tepes. She didn't even try to reach for it."

"How is that even possible? No young vampire can resist fresh blood... She must be starving by now?"

Elisabeth was right, even if I didn't admit it out loud. Her ego was already big enough. Instead, I took the bag from Hector and turned to the door. It was my job, not his, so no one protested, and with no creature with a heartbeat or pulse nearby, the dark corridor seemed dead. I felt the Báthory's fiery eyes on me as I stepped over the threshold into the cell, and I felt HER eyes on me the moment the door closed behind me. The brief gust of wind that had penetrated the isolated chamber from outside caused her hair to sway gently back and forth. I stood frozen in place while she looked at me. Not as a friend or saviour... but as the prey she was hunting.I swallowed hard, the dust in my throat choking me as the weight of my own guilt crushed me once again. Every single time I visited her.

Selena was more beautiful than any creature that had ever been allowed to exist in the shadows of the night. Her transformation two months ago, in the ruins of my own castle, was the most cruel and at the same time the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen. Because while my home burned and my people died, I brought Selena back from the dead. Her hair, once as golden as the sun, transformed before my eyes into liquid silver, bright as starlight. The blue of her eyes turned black and sent a shiver down my spine whenever she looked at me. I had transformed her... Selena was now a vampire. But I felt no triumph that my own prophecy had truly come to pass.

"Vlad!"

My name came out like a growl from her lips, accompanied by the rustling of the chains that held her to the stone wall. It was for her own protection... Or maybe more for ours.

"You must drink, Selena. Your body needs blood to function."

I tried to sound gentle, even understanding, as I took a step towards her, the open blood bag in my hand, but Selena didn't move. On the first day after her transformation, we were able to administer several bags intravenously to her unconscious body. However, when she woke up three days later, all that was over. Since then, Selena has stubbornly refused to accept even a single drop. After more than two months, her body must be exhausted and extremely weak. But even though her craving for blood must be overwhelming, she didn't even bat an eyelid. It was almost as if she didn't care about her own hunger. So we just stood there facing each other, staring at the other one and we wait to see who would do the first move. Her body radiated waves of pure, unfiltered anger, which I honestly deserved. But it was all to no avail. She had to drink, and as her creator, it was my job to help her.

"Very well... If you don't want to do it voluntarily, then there's no other way. I apologise in advance, my beauty."

My voice was supposed to sound playful, but it didn't really work. The tension in it would have been obvious to anyone. Nevertheless, I put the bag's opening to my lips and dripped a few sips into my mouth. Selena watched me suspiciously as I took a step closer and gently cupped her cheeks. She immediately understood what I was up to and began to tremble all over.

"NO!"

Selena whimpered as she pulled at her bonds with all her might. But after weeks without food, her body was too weak to really fight back. I pressed my lips onto hers with force, and by everything that was sacred to me, I would be lying if I said that this kiss was not the fulfilment of all my dreams. Captivated by her scent, I pressed my body against hers before my tongue found its way into her mouth. In a single moment of carelessness, she opened herself to me, and so I let the blood flow. She eagerly drank every drop from my mouth, the nourishment she had so vehemently refused until now. A gentle tremor ran through her body as my hand tenderly wandered over her hip. It was almost impossible to stop myself. Every fibre of my body craved her, and I was so close to what I truly desired. But the feeling was one-sided, even now. Reluctantly, I pulled away from Selena again, but unable to hide a smug grin.

"I knew the hunger would become overwhelming at some point. Here... Drink, Selena."

I wanted to put the blood bag directly to her mouth, hoping to finally get through to her. But once again, I underestimated the will of this unique woman. I could hardly react when she slammed her own head against my forehead. She even used enough force to knock me back a few steps.

"Go away... OUT! GO!"

Hate... There was nothing but hate in her eyes. She demonised my entire existence just by looking at me. Was it my pride or my heart that had stopped beating right now...? Something inside me just clearly shattered. I left Selena's chamber without another word, but not without leaving the remains of the blood bag lying near her. Aurelius, Elisabeth and even Hector looked at me expectantly, but I gave no one an answer. Instead, I immediately left the cellar vault and returned to my wall. The only place where I could still breathe, metaphorically speaking, of course. My mobile phone vibrated with several text messages, a welcome distraction after the disaster that had just occurred.

Jesina - Dragan will be discharged tomorrow.

Jesina - Don't be to noisy when you pick him up.

The message brought relief at first, but guilt followed immediately. My friend will have questions and I have to answer them. A feeling of helplessness came over me again. Would I ever be able to make amends enough? Would things ever be the same as they used to be?

- Selena's POV -

Vlad had run out of the room as fast as he could. His escape left me feeling a little satisfied, at least for a split second. His presence had become torture for me, and so I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when the door closed behind him. What remained, however, was his scent, an extremely strong smell of burning wood and smoke. It clung to me... to my mouth, and no matter how often I ran my tongue over my lips, it wouldn't go away. After several minutes, I stopped trying and sank to my knees instead.

Drip... drip...

My prison was small and dark. There was no light in the room, yet I could see everything as clearly as if it were the middle of the day. Right next to me was a simple wooden bed with a mattress, but no bedding. At the front of the room, someone had left me a table with two chairs. There was paper and even a pen. It was now the sixth or seventh pencil, since I had broken the first ones while trying to pu