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.
Well, this night is not going well. Dracula's paramour is dead and so is her husband, though not by the same hand. Now he and Avram have to hide before the villagers catch up to them. What are they to do? See what's going on 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!
Avram
shot Dracula a look that clearly warned him not to argue. The vampire managed
to hold his tongue, although he was clearly disgruntled at having to do so.
You’ll
get over it.
“I have
to make arrangements to get you both away from here,” Gunther continued, “but
I’ll need a little time. In the meantime—”
“Time is
what we don’t have,” Dracula snapped. So much for good intentions. “Did you not
hear what I just said? Villagers with torches are headed in this direction.
Unless you want to see a bloodbath in your precious church, it is imperative
that we leave here immediately.”
Gunther
took a deep breath before responding. “There is no need for the threat of
violence, Count Dracula. Might I remind you that we are in a holy place—”
“I am
very well aware of that, priest, and I have been coming to this so-called
sacred place of yours for far longer than you have walked on this earth. Longer
than anyone else in this village.” The vampire drew himself up to his full
height, his fists balled by his side, as if he intended to strike. Despite his
outward ferocity, Avram realized that was just a façade to cover his inner
turmoil. He could tell that the woman’s death had affected him more than he
cared to admit. Despite having seen many deaths during his lifetime, he was not
the hardened warrior his ancestor had been. Avram had known Nico far too long
to be fooled by his affectations in front of others. But he was also revealing
secrets he should not reveal to anyone. Did he not understand the meaning of
discretion?
“We do
not have time for this. Nico, please.” He placed a firm hand upon
Dracula’s sleeve. He could feel the tension in the arm beneath the white silk
of his expensive shirt. Not that he really expected him to attack Gunther. His
words were meant as much to reassure the priest as to deter the vampire. “In
the meantime, what?” That question was aimed at Gunther.
“There
is no other recourse,” Gunther continued, as though Dracula had not spoken. “It’s
dangerous for you to leave the church, and you can’t afford to be caught here
either. You have to hide, at least for now. Obviously, returning to the castle
is not an option.”
“Obviously,”
Dracula seemed about to begin another rant, but he subsided when Avram applied
subtle pressure to the arm he still held. Gentle but firm.
“But
where can we hide?” Avram asked Gunther.
“Come, I
will show you.” He beckoned them to follow as he hurried in the direction of
the altar. “And bring that trunk. Unless you don’t care if it’s found.”
“Wait a
moment.” Avram forestalled the complaint the vampire was no doubt about to voice,
holding him in place where he stood. He stared into Dracula’s hazel eyes
intently, wondering if Shakespeare was correct when he claimed that the eyes
were the window to the soul. If so,
Nico’s did not seem as impure as others would choose to think. “You don’t have
to do this, you know. As fast as you are, you can evade the villagers quite
easily if you leave here alone. There’s no need for you to be burdened by me,
I’ll only slow you down. You should get away, Nico. Go quickly and I will
follow you as soon as possible. We can arrange—”
Dracula was
shaking his head before Avram had even finished speaking. “No, no, no. I
will not have that. You think you are so clever but your so-called solution is
out of the question. We will leave together or not at all. Do you think I am so
weak as that? Come, let us see what this priest of yours thinks he can do for
us.”
“And
yes, first the trunk,” he added before Avram could remind him. He couldn’t help
but smile behind Nico’s back but hid it quickly on his return with the item in
question.
Confident
that Dracula would now follow without argument, he led him past the pew where
the blacksmith’s wife lay, past the altar, to the spot where Gunther stood
waiting. Dracula gave no indication that
he’d noticed his coat no longer covered the dead woman, or that Avram now
carried the garment. Avram wasn’t sure
if that was due to indifference or distraction. He hoped it was the latter.
The
church lay in almost total darkness. The only light came from a few candles
grouped about the altar that someone had lit, and what moonlight that was
filtered through the stained-glass windows. The flames flickered eerily, but Avram
wasn’t bothered by the almost ghostly shadows they cast. He didn’t find the
darkness unnerving, as many of the villagers did. Residing as he did with
Dracula, he’d become accustomed to living mostly during the hours of the night.
“Where
is this hiding place, priest?” Dracula’s patience seemed to be reaching an end.
In
response. Gunther pressed on the floor with one foot. At first, nothing
happened. Then Avram watched in amazement as the floor began to move back,
revealing an opening just beneath. He gestured toward it. “There is the hiding
place, Count.”
Avram
had a feeling this revelation would not go over well with Nico, and it didn’t.
Something about the blackness beneath their foot bore too strong a resemblance
to a tomb, and he knew that was something the vampire could not abide.
“You
expect us to… to scurry underground, like rats?” His indignation was rising
steadily. “And then what, you seal us up, perhaps forever? What if you die,
what then? We are unable to exit your tomb. I—”
He
stopped abruptly, listening. Now Avram heard it too. Angry voices. Many of
them.
No
choice now. It was either descend into the earth or face the villagers. Into
the darkness they went.
to be continued
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