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
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