Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Andrei has business nearby so Avram and Dracula stay on the boat. See what's happening in this week's chapter of Dracula. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
“Are you sure you’ve rested enough?” Avram shot Dracula a concerned glance once his heart had returned to a more sedate pace. Sometimes he acted like a mother hen, he knew. Which was foolish when the chick in question was a vampire well over a hundred years old. And yet Avram worried about his employer/guardian. He knew Nico had his weaknesses as well as his strengths. He only prayed that others did not discover the former or fall prey to the latter.
“I am fine,” Nico assured him, his gaze wandering about the boat, as if searching for something. “Where is your friend? Why have we stopped here?” His brow furrowed. Avram wasn’t sure if he was more displeased or puzzled.
“He had some business nearby. You are hungry?” Avram held out the bread and cheese he’d saved from earlier.
The vampire’s look of disinterest told Avram all he needed to know. He shrugged and set the food aside. “Maybe later.’ But somehow he doubted that time would come.
“And so we just sit here and wait?” Dracula leaned over the side of the boat, staring into the water intently..
“Yes, we sit here and wait. Unless you have a better idea? Perhaps we should swim to Vienna?” Avram brushed the remnants of his breakfast into one hand and set it on the rail for some passing bird to find. He dipped his hands, one at a time, into the clear water to rinse them, almost touching a passing carp. Shaking his hands, he swiveled toward Nico, awaiting some undoubtedly stinging and witty repartee. But the vampire was unaccustomedly silent.
“You can swim, yes?” Avram asked. Funny, he’d never considered the question before, the subject never having arisen. But to be fair, this was their first time fleeing over water. Hopefully the last.
“I can swim, no.”
Avram suppressed an internal groan as he realized what it was Nico was doing. Namely staring into his own reflection in the moving waters of the river.
Vanity, thy name is Dracula.
“Would you like to learn?” He bit back any commentary on the vampire’s preoccupation with himself, opting for something a little less caustic. “Or is it because… I mean…” He was trying to be delicate, but he had no idea if swimming was something vampires were inherently unable to do due to their nature, or if this was a lack of training. Or perhaps a lack of interest. Strange to live so long in a village situated beside a river, such as Bistritza was, and not learn to swim. But then he suddenly remembered that he had learned how thanks to Gunther’s family, not Dracula.
“No,” the vampire responded curtly. Avram decided to let the matter drop.
Several minutes passed in a silence that Avram would not have described as companionable. He couldn’t tell if Nico was grumpy, annoyed, angry, or simply had nothing to say.
“Do you need to…” Again with the delicacy. Why couldn’t he just come out and ask the man if he needed blood. Not a difficult question. So why the reluctance to speak the words? Perhaps because in a space as open as this, as opposed to being inside the castle, they could never be sure of not being overheard. And Avram was nothing if not cautious.
to be continued
Now go see what's up with the other Briefers!
No comments:
Post a Comment