Dracula Ascending (Gothic Horror Mash-up)

by Cindy Winget

  “By pressing my eye to one of the holes in my new home, I discovered that people inhabited the larger portion of the house. My first instinct was to enter the house and drain them of their blood, but I found them beautiful to behold. Unlike the old man that I had discovered by the fire, these two human beings were young and had an energy and brightness to them that I found endearing. Although I quickly learned that there was an older gentleman there with them, I had no desire to do him harm as I saw the deferential way in which the other two young people treated this man, whom they called father or sometimes papa. Having nothing else to do other than go to the nearby forest at night and satiate myself with the blood of animals, I spent my time observing them.

  “They often opened their mouths and made peculiar sounds at each other. These noises must have had some significance because the other person would respond back in similar tones. Whatever sound made had the power to bring either a smile, a frown, or other expressions to the faces of those around them. In time I learned that they were conversing one with another and I took it upon myself to learn to make these same sounds and learn what they meant. As I tried to say these words, the sounds issuing forth from my mouth sounded gruff and foreign to my own ears.

  “In the ensuing months, which I spent watching the family, I learned they were called Agatha; the female, Felix; the male, and De Lacey; the older gentleman called father. Each day Agatha and Felix would spend time digging about in a plot of dirt which I later learned was a garden as the plants came up. Then Felix would take a metal and wooden tool—an axe—and go to the woods, coming back with an armload of wood for the fire and Agatha would busy herself inside the house, cleaning and cooking food. The old man, whom I later learned was blind, didn’t do much but sit by the fire or sleep upon the single bed. It was during this time that I learned the process that went into duplicating the fire.

  “I became increasingly bothered by the fact that I was not the same as them. They were beautiful in appearance and graceful of movement, while I was lumbering and ugly. Stronger and quicker, it is true, but there was something inexplicably lacking in me as well, and I was ignorant to what it was. I caught my own reflection in a pond one day and was repulsed at my own appearance, whereas before my reflection had not given rise to such passions, but only served to show me what manner of creature I was. I pondered why I was so much larger and taller. Why my lips and cheeks did not glow with the same pinkish hues except immediately following a feeding or why my pallid and waxen skin did not bear a likeness to their honey glow. I remembered thinking that perhaps I was a separate species from humans altogether. Similar, but different.

  “One day, a curious phenomenon occurred when Felix grabbed a small rectangular object from off the shelf, opened it, and began to make the same sounds as when he conversed with Agatha or De Lacey, only this time no one spoke back. I later learned that he was reading out loud. Then Agatha began making sounds that, though similar, were wholly different from talking. It was melodious like unto the birds and I realized that she was singing. De Lacey took up a curious object and began plucking at some strings attached to it and music issued forth from it. The combination of sounds was wondrous to hear! In time, I began to put together these sounds they made, this talking, and I began to understand some of the words they said.

  “They seemed happy at times, particularly when conversing, playing games, reading out loud to each other from the selection of three books they owned, or making music. But at times they also seemed very melancholy and dejected of spirit. I could not account for their seeming unhappiness. They had food, shelter, a warm fire, and each other’s company, what more could they want?

  “I began to do little deeds for them in the hopes of making them happy. I shoveled snow from their path to the garden and helped break up the frozen earth. I cut down wood at night and would leave it stacked up by the house so that Felix didn’t have to do it. All these things allowed them to have more time in the evenings for the things that they seemed to enjoy.

  “To my consternation and dismay, they continued to be sad. I noticed that often, the two younger people would give a larger portion of the food to the older man, without him knowing it, and they themselves ate very little food or sometimes no food at all. They owned a single milk cow and often the milk and cheese made from this creature was their only source of food, the winter being hard on their plants. Therefore, I began to leave fresh meat on their doorstep as well, drained of blood of course. At first this anomaly scared them away from devouring the food that I left, but in time their hunger got the better of them and they ate my offerings.

  “I had to drain the animals before offering it to them because from time to time I longed to drink their blood. But I had come to admire these people. They fascinated me in ways I cannot describe. So, when the temptation became too great, I would leave for a time. Before I trusted myself to return, I would slake my thirst, at least somewhat, on the blood of animals and bring them home to offer up to the family.

  “For this reason, when the five men who were with me at the beginning suddenly reappeared as I hunted in the forest, I promptly, and without question, began draining them of their blood. I had gone so long without the taste of human blood, and these men were nothing to me, so I felt no compunction in ending their lives. The last man begged me to listen to him, and then if I still felt that his life was worth more to me in death than in life, then he would gladly allow me to drink his blood. He began to tell me that if he were to drink some of my blood, since I had already had some of his own, I could compel him to me at any time, and that he would have no choice but to serve me. Which was apparently these men’s aim all along. I had no patience for this speech, however, and felt no desire for a servant; therefore, I swiftly drained him of his blood and returned to the hovel.

  Victor gave a shudder as Dracula continued.

  “In time, I came to know the reason for the unhappiness of my friends. It was a thing called poverty. They were also sad to have been forced to leave their native land of France. Felix seemed especially sad. More so than the others. At first, I reasoned that this was because of the responsibility he felt as the provider of his family, but later I would come to realize that it was because he missed a girl that he was in love with and whom he had been forced to leave because of her overbearing and powerful father. I couldn’t figure out why that should make him sadder than the rest, having no concept yet of the various nuances of love—familial versus romantic.

  “Around this time, I began to have dreams or visions, none of which made any sense to me. I eventually came to the conclusion that I was receiving memories from a former life. I had a hard time reconciling myself to this fact as it had no logical bearing on my current condition and circumstances.

  “Then one day, a raven-haired beauty turned up, whom Felix received with an almost overwhelming amount of pleasure. Upon her arrival he ran to her and gathered her up in his arms, swinging her around and laughing joyfully. He called her his Arabian Princess. Agatha and the old man were also happy, though to a lesser degree. They rejoiced with music and singing and started stamping their feet and moving their arms in a strange manner. Felix and this Arabian Princess joined hands or arms and swayed together in time to the music and I came to know that they were dancing.

  “I found myself unable to understand the words that were coming from this new person, whose real name, as it turned out, was Safie. She would babble nonsense words, use a word I was familiar with, and then chatter on with more nonsense. Every day Felix began to sit down with her and babble the same nonsense and then she would randomly spout out a word I knew like plate or bowl. It was then that I came to realize that the world was a lot bigger than I suspected and that she was from a different land than this family and therefore spoke a different language. Felix was teaching her how to speak French. I realized that I could learn alongside her, for although I had come a long way in that regard, I still struggled. He also taught her English and German and she in turn tau
ght him her native language of Turkish and also Romanian. I was gratified to note that I was able to pick up on these languages better and faster than both Felix and Safie and startled to realize that this was the language of my dreams and that is when I figured out, at least in part, who I was. At some point in my existence, I was known as Vlad Tepes, the Warlord Prince of Wallachia.

  “It was then that I grasped what had happened to me and who the five men were who had performed the ritual that turned me into what I am. During my life as a mere human, I had a cult following who practically worshiped me. So impressed by me was this sect, that they had taken it upon themselves to find a way to make me immortal so that I could continue to be a scourge to my enemies should the need ever arise. They knew I feared the thought of my holy resting place being disturbed, so they collectively decided that should that ever take place, they would make the rumors of my returning as an undead creature a reality. These disciples passed down to their children and grandchildren stories about me and the heroic deeds I had done for my country. It is my understanding that the five men who found me at your residence, made a pact with the devil to instill in me the great strength and power of the vampyr. Nosferatu. As so many others have done since the dawn of man. They gave up their souls so that I could arise as a walking plague upon mankind.”

  “As the memories of my former life began to make sense to me, I felt a certain loathing for Safie’s origins and was tempted to rush in and suck her blood, but out of my admiration for Felix, I resisted.”

  So, it is true! thought Victor. This monster before him truly was the accursed Dracula the people of Romania foretold would arise as an undead creature to wreak havoc and drink the blood of his enemies. Yet in this case, his enemies are not the Turks of the Ottoman Empire, but rather Victor himself, along with the entire Frankenstein family.

  What had ever possessed him to use the remains of such a man as Vlad the Impaler? He had been taken in by the admiration of the local people of Romania who hailed Vlad Tepes as a national hero, a freedom fighter with a brilliant military mind. It had never occurred to Victor that the superstitions surrounding Vlad death and burial could be true. Victor felt jaded by the inclination of his contemporaries back in Europe to think of Vlad the Impaler as a cruel psychopathic despot.

  “Safie had brought a few books with her,” Dracula continued, “and they read to each other out of all the books that they had available to them, which contained mostly history. Often, I would steal into the house at night while they slept and borrow the books upon the shelf, teaching myself how to read out of an old school reader that was among the rest. It was through this that I learned further about different countries, politics, war, and geography.

  “I was startled one day when I came across passages in one of the texts that spoke of Switzerland and England. In the pocket of my trousers I had discovered papers—I had grabbed these papers off your desk the morning that I left your abode and went out into the world—belonging to a man called Victor Frankenstein and in them he mentions these two countries.

  “I pored over these papers of Frankenstein’s and realized that it was a sort of journal, giving an account of his life. As I reached the last pages of the journal, I came to find out that I was created, not born, from the remains of Vlad Tepes. I finally had some insight into my origins. Having wondered at my own creation and why there was no one else like me, this was a boon to me. I had since learned the process of having babies and had wondered why I had not been born in like manner. Had I a father or mother? Having entered the world in a different fashion, was I to leave it in the same way as these? In contemplating my own mortality, I questioned if I was perhaps doomed to live a solitary and immortal life, for unlike these beings I observed, I healed from lesions and cuts remarkably quickly.” Dracula stared off into the distance, as if deep in thought before continuing his tale.

  “In time, I began to long to be a part of their family and enjoy their company and friendship, but I was scared to reveal myself, not knowing how my appearance would be received. In observing them, I had come to love them and I felt sure that if only they could come to know me as intimately as I knew them, that they would love me back and welcome me into their social circle. I thought if I approached them as a wolf first, I could feel them out and perhaps become a beloved pet. To my dismay, upon seeing me, Felix grabbed up the musket that sat by the door and took a shot at me. I was angry at first until I realized my mistake. Felix had supposed that I was after their milk cow. I was certain that vermin such as a rat or a bat would be similarly dealt with. I would have to bide my time and approach as a man.

  “I laid out my plan and instigated it when the children were away, leaving old De Lacey at home by himself. Being blind, he would therefore not be frightened away by my appearance. Upon hearing my footsteps in the doorway of his home, De Lacey called out, ‘Who is there?’

  “‘A stranger in need of rest and respite from the winter storm,’ I told him. He invited me in and instructed me to take a seat by the fire. I did so, denying his offering of refreshment, knowing that my need for blood could not be satisfied here. We engaged in polite small talk until I gained enough courage to venture my request for his friendship. I revealed to this gentle and simple man that I had not a friend nor family of any kind in this world and that I had not been well-received by others on account of my appearance. He sympathized with my plight and I felt sure that I was well on my way to earning his love and respect, when the children arrived home.

  “Agatha screamed as she entered at finding such a hulking brute beside her beloved father. Safie and Felix entered on her heels and Felix landed a punch to my jaw. It didn’t hurt much. He yelled at me to leave. I held my hands up in supplication, trying in vain to explain myself, but he wouldn’t listen. He gave me a shove. Hurt and angry by his behavior, I grabbed Felix by his shoulders and sank my fangs deep into his neck, drinking from the fountain of blood that spewed forth as I did so. I let go only when I had drained every last drop of blood from his body, Safie and Agatha screaming all the while and De Lacey frantically inquiring after what was happening. They all fled the house, never to return.

  “For another week or two, I stayed at the house, my anger and disappointment simmering inside me. When it became clear that they would not return, in a rage, I burned down the house. I sought out other villages, but they all shunned me, the people running away in fear and disgust or else throwing rocks at me. I was angry and depressed as I stared down an eternity of loneliness, doomed to wander the earth alone for the rest of my days.

  “Utilizing what I had learned, and now knowing of the deceptions of men, through sly trickery and staying in the shadows, I retained several places of residence and amassed a fortune. I read everything I could get my hands on, deeming that knowledge was power.

  “When I was satisfied as to the material comforts of this world, I felt compelled to seek out my maker. Knowing from your journal that you were from Geneva, Switzerland, I told myself that I would travel to this land once I worked out the logistics of its location, and I would find you and confront you. I thought that if I could meet my creator, perhaps my strange differences could be explained to me, and I could then reconcile myself to them.

  “But upon reaching Geneva, I came upon a little boy laughing and playing, and thought to myself that surely one so young doesn’t have the same prejudices as a grown man. I decided to try and befriend him, but the boy proved obstinate and was afraid of me, as all the rest had been. I would kidnap him then. He would learn to love me in time, since I would be his benefactor and father-figure. He would become my constant companion and together we would rule this world full of petty humans who grubbed about, trying to become better than those around them, for I had learned of the selfish and greedy ways of man. This child and I would soon become greater than them all.

  “But the little boy’s yells and screams as he tried to get away from me made my rage and loathing for his kind bubble back up to the surface. He told me th
at his father was the great Alphonse Frankenstein and that if I didn’t release him at once, I would come to rue the day I ever tried to make off with him. Upon mention of the name Frankenstein, my anger hit a fever-pitch and in my hatred for the creator who brought me into this uncaring world, I strangled the boy. Rather than waste such a fine and fresh meal, I then proceeded to feast upon his blood. Having learned of the mischief that man can devise against each other, I then framed a young woman sleeping in a barn nearby for his murder.”

  That was it then. Confirmation that Dracula had indeed been the one to mete out death and misery to Victor’s family. The sympathy that Victor had begun to feel during the course of the fiend’s tale disappeared, replaced by hatred to match Dracula’s own.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I do not wish to be alone,” Dracula was saying. “Build for me a wife to share my days with, and I promise most ardently that I shall leave these shores and you will never see me again.”

  Victor was shocked by this request. “A wife?”

  Dracula stood up and took a step closer to Victor. “Yes. Is it not right that I should have a helpmate like Adam of old? If it is truly ‘not good for man to be alone’ then why not I? I am a solitary creature, wholly unlike my human counterparts, but am I not still entitled to love? Build for me a wife as large and ugly as myself and surely she will not desert or despise me as all others have.

  “I am malicious because I am miserable, but if I was afforded this small kindness, I would quit the world of men and go off into some uninhabitable part of the world. I would only drink the blood of animals, abstaining from the blood of man completely. No person will even know of our existence. We will travel far into the icy climbs of the mountains or the upper regions of the earth, as high as we can go, where no man can follow. The love of another will destroy the cause of my crimes.”