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.
Dracula decides to take advantage of Andrei's absence to take a walk on dry land, to Avram's chagrin. But why? 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 saw
no use in arguing with a stubborn vampire. “If you say so,” he muttered under
his breath. Although there was no such thing as whispering around Nico. He had
the heightened senses of his kind and heard everything.
They
strolled in silence for a few moments. Perhaps this walk was a good thing. Nico
spent far too much time shut up in the castle, seldom venturing outside for any
reason. Avram understood his need for privacy, all things considered, but such
a lifestyle was not healthy. Even for a vampire. The thought made him chuckle.
Dracula would be amused to hear him express such a concern.
“Something
is funny?”
Avram
coughed, waving his hand as if to show his struggle with his breathing. “No,
no, just a little bit of a cough. Nothing to worry about.” He surreptitiously
glanced at the vampire, who did not look as though he believed him. Time to
change the subject.
“I
imagine, once we reach Vienna, that you will wish to go straight to the
Palace?” He tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible, as if their
destination was of little matter to him, when the truth was he hated going
there. But they had little choice, at the moment.
Nico said
nothing immediately. Avram focused his attention on the forest they were
passing through instead. Scots pines and Norway spruce in abundance on either
side of the road, the latter redolent of Christmas. German settlers had brought
the tradition of decorating the tree to Transylvania, and the inhabitants had
embraced it with enthusiasm.
Except for
Nico, of course. He was never known to do anything that might be considered
traditional. But Gunther’s family had, and Avram had come to appreciate the
rich, sweet scent of the beautiful trees. Gunther’s mother had been a wonderful
cook, and he could still remember dinners with the family. Especially he loved
the sarmale, cabbage rolls filled with pork and cooked alongside pickled
cabbage, then served with a helping of polenta and sour cream and pickled hot
peppers.
And of
course, there were the desserts. Avram especially loved the lamaita cake
she made, so light, so delicate, filled with the most delicious lemon cream and
vanilla. She always gave him an extra big piece, convinced that Dracula was
starving him, although she would never speak such apprehensions aloud. She,
like most of the villagers feared him. Those who said they didn’t were either
lying or fooling only themselves, as none dared to cross him and most did their
best to avoid him if they saw him during his rare sojourns to the village. He,
and before him his family, had a reputation that went back many years, and the
villagers had long memories.
How long
ago those days of innocence. How joyful time spent in the bosom of Gunther’s
warm and loving family. Life at the castle was… different. Nico chose not to celebrate holidays and Avram
never questioned his choice. But he often wondered what had happened to cause
him to be the way he was.
to be continued
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