The Dhampir Dimension

by Viktoria Alukard

  Anubis screeched in pain, and the other two detectives took advantage to pepper him with bullets. This distracted Anubis for enough time for the blade of the katana behind him to stealthily halve the creature straight down the middle. The two sliced halves of his body unzipped cleanly like a curtain and revealed a sword-wielding Enttu holding the katana with both hands by the hilt. The bloodlust made his eyes glow bright red, and some of Anubis’s blood was splattered on his face. Vittorio and Marc looked at each other, and then looked at him, gulping in silence.

  “I would never want to be on your bad side,” Vittorio remarked at his blonde friend, as he reloaded a new magazine into his pistol. The two halves of Anubis were sprawled in a giant, shiny red pool of blood, and some of it had splattered and repainted the walls.

  “You are wiser than average, and that’s why I like you,” the dhampir stated in a low monotone.

  “I’m wiser than average too, right?” asked Marc, seeking validation from either one of the two men, as he jogged behind them.

  They kept on with their exit strategy. Malakae came to find the two halves of Anubis’s carcass in his own blood and mourned the death of the beast ephemerally. He dipped his finger into the spilt blood and tasted it, for the blood memories of Anubis. A vision flashed in his mind of the Selenian half-vampire prince brutally slaying him after the showdown, and then showed him and his detectives escaping the building. He rose to his feet and began to go after them in vain attempt.

  Malakae made his way up to the main first floor from the third subterranean deck and he ran into a human couple hanging out in the lobby. He asked them if they’d seen a tall blonde-haired male and two men in tuxedos that were with him. They shook their heads in a “no.”

  The loud tire screeches of a stolen black Bentley answered his question for him. It sped from the parking lot onto the main highway, and almost hit several pedestrians along the way. Enttu slammed on the gas pedal all the way to the floor of the car, and peeled out rapidly, ignoring the speed limits and then, the red and blue flashing sirens of Dubai patrol cars behind him.

  “Well, good thing that we’re cops too,” Vittorio said, as he sipped a brand-new and full iced coffee he found in the cupholder. No adventure ever lacked his comic relief.

  “You and your fucking iced coffee,” Enttu dryly remarked, in the end budging a fang-revealing smirk.

  BUCHAREST, ROMANIA. The Marlboro Mansion:

  Night time had long ago set in and Regina could not sleep continuously through. She laid in a languid state of sleep and awake for a few minutes before realizing she had to make a quick trip to the bathroom. She fumbled for her slippers before sliding her feet into each one and stumbled like a zombie towards the door of her bathroom. She was still under the dreaded heaviness of wanting to go back to sleep, and after she washed her hands with a floral bar soap, that still was her intent. From the mirror she could still see the moonlight of dawn peeking in through her window and illuminating the walkway on the left side of her bed, the blue-white translucence waving on the curtains.

  Then, in a split second, she noticed a tall black shadow of a being standing at the left foot side of her bed beside the headboard. It frightened her right into being wide awake, the color draining from her face, eyes wide with fear. She turned to face the shadow, going against her gut feeling that she probably shouldn’t have. There was no way she was going to let whatever was in the room make her live in fear. No, she had done that enough in her life as it was.

  Much to her disappointment, nothing was there anymore when she walked toward the bed and curtains, and even looked behind the curtains, under the bed, in the walk-in closet, and there was no one or nothing there. Not even a remote presence was felt. She resigned and crawled back under her violet duvet, staring out the window at the grand, full moon, illuminating everything outside, as if it were the midnight sun. The soft hand of Morpheus, the god of dreams, began to wash over her again, lulling her back to sleep, into comfortable, crisp silence. But the silence was soon broken, by a soft melody of a female voice in the distance. The melody was somber yet captivating, and Regina couldn’t make out where it was coming from. The curiosity won her over. She slid back into her slippers and began to follow the source of the sound.

  It was coming from outside of her room, she quietly made her way out her bedroom door. The singing echoed through the house, sounding louder towards the left stairwell, past where the old couple slept. She felt hypnotically drawn to it, and unconsciously made her way up the left wingwall to the third story of the house, which was a giant, spacious ballroom or courtroom of some sort. It had a checkered tile floor, and a crystal chandelier taller than a grown man hanging from the ceiling about 30 feet above. The singing was very audible here though she couldn’t quite distinguish nor see the source of the song, and she wasn’t sure that she really wanted to.

  “Ahhh-looooo-carrr, Ahhh-looooo-caaarrr, come to me, come to me…”

  Regina tried to annunciate back the song without singing it to try to decipher the lyrics. And like a sign from the universe, there was an inscription carved into the wooden panels above several paintings of people who seemed like old time, aristocratic figures. The inscription above read in all capital letters: ALUCARD.

  That was the word in the song still echoing in the ballroom, and the sound became cleaner towards the right corner, where there was a set of doors leading to an outside balcony. She walked towards them and squinted hard, to believe if what the image before her that she saw was real or a dream. A diaphanous figure of a beautiful woman with long black hair, red lips, and an all-white gown embedded with pearls was staring at the moon, singing her tune towards the sky, and didn’t even notice Regina standing behind the balcony doors.

  “Alucard, Alucard, come be with me, Alucard,”

  Who or what was Alucard? Regina stepped out of the balcony doors, curious to touch or talk to the woman to try to get her attention, but when she tried to grab the train of her dress, her hand went right through it, and when she looked up to the woman’s face, the woman was no longer there. Disappeared right into thin air! Argh, how upsetting!!

  Regina looked down the balcony and could see the tombstone from there. In disbelief, she saw the mysterious blonde that she had had a peculiar sexual encounter, staring back at her as he sat on the tombstone observing her, the moonlight casting a blue light over his pale skin. His face was expressionless, and his long hair was tied with black ribbon into a loose ponytail.

  “What the fuck,” Regina whispered to herself. Could it really be him one more time? Who was he and what exactly was his intent in this next distant encounter?

  “Not a dream, but dimension,” a deep voice behind her telepathically communicated. At this next thing, Regina felt a dread sink to her gut before she turned to see what exactly had just said that. She was horrified at the creature right behind her when their glances met together. Its oversized black eyes stared at her, like two black orbs reflecting the moonlight from two pools of black liquid vinyl. Its grey skin was opaque, and the creature was no taller than she was. It didn’t speak from its slit for a mouth but conveyed mentally instead. She let out a blood curdling shriek into the night.

  Around 6 AM, she kicked off the duvet and waved her arms frantically in front of her face. There was no doubt at what she saw in her dream. A woman, the blonde man who was possibly a vampire, and now apparently, an alien too. It seemed that Romania truly was the place of all things supernatural to manifest themselves. She was convinced there had to be some sort of energy field or vortex that allowed these things to manifest or she was going temporarily mad from the stress of moving and starting over. She needed alcohol or a cigarette. She settled down from her frenzy, feeling a cold sweat that made her shirt stick to her back.

  She got up to brush her teeth and brush her medium length hair that was finally getting past her shoulders a bit. The dream from earlier was very fresh in her mind
and she couldn’t get the tune from her dream out her mind. It stayed lingering well into her taking a shower, and she was humming it along as she shampooed her hair. Everything that was happening or at least the visions she was having seemed way to real and happening way too frequently for it to just be a coincidence that something occult wasn’t occurring in the property, and maybe the rumors about it being built over a vampire gravesite could have been true.

  Who was that blonde man that kept coming to her in dream? This was the second time she had another encounter with him, or at least it looked like the same person this time again. Her eyes could have been deceiving her since it was nighttime when it happened, and the apparition was a bit translucent like the black-haired lady by the balcony she had seen. The only tangible creature she witnessed was the alien-like being with grey skin, that wore no clothing but had no visible genitalia, just four fingers, and two oversized black ovals for eyes.

  “And just what would an alien be doing in having any connection with a supposed vampire cemetery?” she thought to herself.

  She debated whether she would tell the couple, or at least Magnus since he loved to strike up a conversation about such topics. But after the thought of the possibility that she would probably get ridiculed or even worse, that they were figments of her mind brought on by the strange energy of the house, and the old couple was probably used to spooks and creeps every so often, Regina decided for now she would guard the information for herself.

  She finished getting ready a half hour later, dousing herself in perfume and a swipe of red lipstick, stepping out into civilization and the company of the old folk’s downstairs. She was excited to join them soon, relieved to be in the company of other humans to dissipate the anxiety brought on by her supernatural dreams and visions. When she approached the dining table, there was no one there however. There was a folded sheet of parchment paper wrapped in a black ribbon, and when she leaned in closer to investigate it, it read her name.

  To Miss Regina Brighton:

  So meticulously, she undid the ribbon in one pull and opened the letter.

  “Dear Regina,

  We are very pleased to have you as a new tenant and wish to consider you like family, because anyone who stays in this mansion is family. We know your arrival here is soon and you are getting settled in with your new surroundings. Please do enjoy the mansion, please do know that this is your new home and treat it as such. Enjoy the food and goodies we have left for you in the refrigerator and in the pantry, and a great selection of wines located in the cellar underneath the stairs. The keys to the house and to the spare black BMW M3 are located behind the false wall of the Alucard portrait room (third floor, behind the painting of the blue moon goddess and the silver stars.) You can use your American license here in Romania until it expires. Our insurance covers a third driver. Unfortunately, due to personal business, Ophelia and I will be out of town, to the United States for a month. So sorry to leave you by yourself so suddenly. For any ghouls and nillie willies, there is a Smith and Wesson shotgun located in the garage with the BMW that will be your car if you are living here. Please stay safe, en guarde, and don’t let anything frighten you too badly. This neighborhood is the safest in all the city, but still sleep with a weapon if need be. Have a blessed stay. Don’t worry about rent until you start collecting a paycheck.

  With best regards, Magnus and Ophelia,”

  Sigh. Oh. Fucking. Great. As if this place already wasn’t giving her the heebie- jeebies, now she was going to be left to fend for herself. Ah, but she shouldn’t have been so ungrateful; she was still in a way better situation than other people, and especially given the dire situation she was in more than a month ago.

  “At least you’re not living with your shitty ex-husband or paying $1500 just to live in a shack with no AC. This is better than California,”

  She resigned to her optimism and prepared herself a cup of joe, accompanied with a cinnamon roll, all in the company of only herself. She hummed the “Alucard” tune almost in autopilot.

  “Where do you know that song from, child?”, the familiar voice of Ophelia said behind the chair Regina sat in, startling her and almost making her choke on her coffee.

  “Ophelia! I thought you and Magnus were gone!” she exclaimed, her heart beating fast in her chest. The old woman gave her a gentle smile.

  “We’re about to be. We are awaiting our taxi to the airport” the woman replied solemnly, staring dead ahead outdoors. The bright red rays of the morning sun struck in through the window panes, creating slivers of light on the wooden floor of the dining hall.

  “Where is Magnus right now?” Regina asked her, through another swallow of coffee.

  “He is gathering his medicine, he will be down shortly,”

  Regina remained quiet for a while before she really pondered on Ophelia’s initial question about the tune she was humming.

  “What made you ask about the song I was singing earlier,”

  Ophelia turned her violet gaze at the young doe-eyed girl, finishing her breakfast.

  “Not many people know it, only a certain lineage of people, either a Celentano or a Tepes, unless you have read the sheet music on our piano,”

  The girl was musically illiterate though she did love to sing to herself, and as a matter of fact, she had quite an angelic singing voice when she did put effort and passion into a song. She didn’t press the issue. Yet she heard the very name again, Tepes, from Ophelia herself.

  “Who are the Celentano and the Tepes,” Regina mustered the strength to ask the old woman.

  “Oh, in case you weren’t informed, all of Meytros Estates is a bunch of refurbished ruins of a former vampire settlement. The Tepes were the royal family in charge back in the late 1800’s and were far distant relatives of Vlad the Impaler himself. The Celentano’s, a family of witches, which I am a part of, became close alliances after the destruction of the city with the one rumored survivor, though others say he perished with the rest of his coven. His name was Prince Enttu Stefan Tepes. Legend tells that he was a very handsome vampire, and had a wife and daughter, also both attested dead. You’re a witch too, I could easily tell, if you didn’t know that about yourself.” Ophelia stated through a pleasant smile. The diamonds on her delicate wrinkled fingers illuminated like tiny stars, refracting the sunlight.

  Upon receipt of this information, the color drained from Regina’s face again. She felt very uneasy.

  “So…. they are related to Dracula. You are telling me that Dracula and his minions possibly dwell here?” asked Regina, through rapid sips of coffee.

  “My love don’t worry. Their side of the Tepes despised Dracula and did everything in their efforts to keep him and his legion away from here. Prince Enttu was a good-hearted vampire, very warriorlike, but he had the best intentions for his people and the civilians around him. If he isn’t alive now, then he died a martyr,”

  “Do you know what he loo..” Regina was cut off by Magnus’s presence which Ophelia quickly diverted her attention too.

  The two folks smiled at each other, and Magnus led Ophelia out the door, and they quickly faced her once more, waving goodbye to her. She sheepishly waved back, and watched the door shut, leaving her to only her loneliness in such a vast, new atmosphere. She sat for the next hour or so, contemplating on the string of information she had learned. What exactly did Ophelia mean by her being a witch? Yes, on occasion, Regina burned sage and lit candles for good luck, protection, and prosperity, but she never dubbed herself a “witch.” Who in the world was this mysterious vampire, and what on Earth had she just walked into.

  “Am I here by fate?” she questioned herself and invisible entities.

  One of the black cats brushed up against her leg, under the table, and she scooped up the feline with her hands, and touched her nose with its. She would need a drink or ten later into the night.

  The wine cellar was behind
a partition with a sliding door hidden at the floor of the left wingwall of stairs, and behind the sliding door was a spiral staircase that led to a circular room with bottles upon bottles of wine lining the top and bottom of the walls. Each type of wine was labeled and neatly organized into its own section.

  Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Ploesti Malbec, Petite Syrah, Lambrusco, California Blends, Texas Wineries, Pinot Noir, Spumante, Sauvignon Blanc.

  These were just the labels she recognized right away, there had to be at least 50 other labels she didn’t take the time to read but would come back to later. She walked to the section of red wines, and pulled out a bottle of Ploesti Malbec type wine, and a bottle of Cabernet Franc from the region, and walked out the cellar with two bottles in her arms. She killed the light switch at the top of the spiral staircase, later setting the bottles on the table.

  It was strange to her that she still hadn’t received any notification or phone call from her future place of employment, because she was really looking forward to it, and she couldn’t live too much from her savings account. It is not a thing she preferred to do, despite the fact she had only spent about two grand to move out to Romania. She did some research herself by looking up the place from her saved application that she pulled up on her phone.

  “Citadel Electric.”

  Very peculiar name. It sounded more like a top secret, underground security company, than a power plant as it was stated in the online job description. In her belongings, Regina had a list and copies of all the electrical certifications and training she had completed successfully over the course of time, from 2008-2018. She was a talented motor rewinding technician, a generator hand stoning technician, could read schematics like the back of her hand, could easily rewire an entire motor controller, and was not afraid to receive an electric shock every now and then. No one would have ever believed that someone as girly as she was, could be so industrially inclined in the field of engineering.