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.
Avram is appalled at what he sees when he enters the church. Now it is imperative that they get away. 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!
Avram
was appalled by the sight that met his eyes upon entering the church. He’d come
to awareness, after being punched by the rude server, to find Gunther hovering
over him, desperately trying to wake him. He told Avram that they had to hurry,
that Dracula was in imminent danger of being discovered. God knew what the man
might do if cornered. Luckily, no one knew where he actually was, and were
hopefully looking for him in all the wrong places, but Avram knew precisely
where he was. He and Gunther retrieved his horse from the stable and rode like
hell to the church, hoping they would have some time before the villagers—Bogdan
in particular—figured out what was actually going on and where it was
happening.
Unfortunately,
as he was quick to realize, Bogdan had already discovered the location of his
wife and her lover—to his detriment.
Dracula’s
previously pristine suit was stained with crimson blotches. Blood had splattered
across his face and hair as though thrown there. Avram couldn’t help but think
of the infamous Countess Bathory, who was said to bathe in the blood of her
young victims. He knew Dracula was not prone to such behavior, but it was also
fairly obvious that he was responsible for the death of the blacksmith.
Avram
had feared that such a day as this might come, although he’d foolishly hoped
that it wouldn’t. He’d done his best to keep his master under control, at least
when they were close to home, and he thought he’d accomplished his task fairly
well. He’d been less successful when they traveled abroad. Even so, no suspicion
had ever fallen upon them. Thank goodness for superstitious but clueless people
who wouldn’t know a strigoi unless it bit them.
Leaving
Dracula to his thoughts, he approached the pew where the dead woman lay,
removing his hat out of respect. “Shalom,” he murmured. God knows she’d found
little peace in her lifetime. Sleeping with Dracula had hopefully brought her
at least a little happiness, although it had ultimately brought about her
death.
He
glanced apprehensively at her neck, just to be sure in his own mind that Nico
had not contributed to her death in his own way. He spied what might have been
two small puncture wounds, but they were clearly not recent. So Dracula had
been doing what he promised not to do. Big surprise there. The blood-stained
bodice was a dead giveaway as to her actual cause of death. Dracul had said her
husband did that and he believed him. He had no doubt Dracula had mirrored her
death by using the same weapon when he could have easily torn the fool apart
with his hands.
He
reached down and gently closed her eyes.
“Give me your jacket,” he said to the vampire. Gunther stood beside him,
murmuring what was undoubtedly a prayer in soft tones.
“Why?”
“Because
I need it.”
Dracula
grumbled as he rose to his feet, kicking Bogdan’s corpse rather maliciously as
he did so. Not that the blacksmith felt anything. He was beyond that now. He
brushed off his breeches before handing his coat to Avram, who laid it tenderly
over Doina. Seeing this, Dracula made no further objections, although he did
give Gunther a look that was not particularly friendly.
“Tell me
how you propose we should leave this place since you had the lack of foresight
to sell my carriage and most of my beautiful horses.”
Avram
held up one hand in protest of Dracula’s complaint. “That was a financial
necessity and you know it, so quit your kvetching. As to how we will go, I
don’t know, I’m still thinking about that. But in the meantime, I need you to go
to go the castle and bring back the trunk.” Avram was not one to leave things
to chance. The trunk he referred to contained items he had set aside against
the day they might have to make a hasty exit from Bistritz. It contained what money
he’d been able to hide before Dracula spent it as well as enough clothing for
each of them to get by until they could acquire more. He knew his employer
would not be happy at this, but he would have to learn to live with it. He also
knew Dracula had admirers that would be more than happy to clothe him (and
unclothe him). He himself would manage somehow. He’d also hidden a few pieces
of jewelry that the vampire had not noticed were missing…yet. These could be
sold if needs dictated. And of course the manuscripts he’d recently finished
that were ready to be turned over to the publisher. Luckily, he could continue
to write wherever they went as long as he had the means to acquire writing
materials. Those books would come in handy, since they would most definitely be
in need of funds if they were to travel for any length of time. He had no
reason to suppose they could return to Bistritz anytime soon.
“Why
me?” Dracula managed to sound angry and petulant at the same time.
Avram
arched his brows even as he gave him his most withering look. “You want to wait
here for me to ride all the way up to the castle? And then what? Levitate the
trunk down here? In the meantime, while you are waiting for me to return, do
you want to give them a chance to figure out where you are? Nico, we don’t have
time for this. Please.”
Dracula scowled,
but Avram knew he would do what was best for them. He shot Gunther a warning
look before he could either comment or giggle—neither was a smart option.
“Besides,
you’re much stronger than I am and you know it.” Appealing to his vanity
couldn’t hurt, he had a huge ego.
“Very
well,” Dracula groused. And then he was gone.
to be continued
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