Blueblood 4: Dracula - 4. Iilya

After our meal, we got ready to go out on the town. This was my first exposure to a true European village, I thought. Because of that, I thought there weren’t going to be the flashy buildings and lights being one of the things of in a modern city or town. There really weren’t that many, but there were a couple of places we heard when we walked the streets. I knew there was more to this village than just being famous for that one vampire. What I found amusing was when we were getting ready, I found Stan sitting near the computer rather than getting ready himself.

“Uh, Stan?” I began questioningly.

He looked up at me questioningly. “Yes?”

“Why aren’t you getting ready?” I asked.

“I am ready,” Stan said looking at where he was. He had his coffee and the computer was on.

I looked at his jeans and t-shirt. “That’s fine if you want to see Sighisoara dressed like that, but you might want to put on shoes. Going barefoot would be nice, I suppose…”

Stan’s eyes grew. “You mean out there!?” He pointed to the wall and village beyond. “I’ve always been the computer guy! I always look things up and provide background support!”

I chuckled. “Not on this trip,” I said coming to him and standing over him while I put both hands on his shoulders and forced him to look at me. “I’ll bring my tablet if we need to look something up,” I said stood up again. He looked surprised. “You are our computer guy, but tonight, we see Sighisoara.”

Mark came out of the bathroom used for guests and visitors for the house. There were three other bathrooms in the house. He brushed his dark blue shirt to smoothness and looked up and then looked puzzled. “He’s not dressed.” He looked at me. “Why is he not dressed?” Mark waved at Stan.

I shook my head. “You need to ask him.”

“You’re not dressed!” Mark said to Stan.

Stan was a little flustered. “But I..but..but…” He pointed at the computer.

Mark nodded. “But, but…speaking of butts!” Mark said happily. “You have those great pants that show off that great butt of yours!” He turned Stan around and began to push Stan toward the bathroom to change. Mark grinned at me. “If you’re a girl with a great set of boobs, they say, if you got it, flaunt it! Stan’s got a great ass, I say flaunt that!” He winked at me as he pushed Stan into the bathroom.

I shook my head and thought about it and gave a shrug. “Well, they both have great asses.” I then smiled when I thought of Colin’s ass. “Yeah, his is better.” I nodded and went to find Colin. I had the sudden urge to see it again. I’d probably touch it, too. I did.

We asked both Eva and Greta where to go that night.

Greta smiled. “There are only a few. One sticks out in my mind. Biserica din Cornseti.” She said in perfect but accented English. “It was a church, but now it is a dance and night club. There is also the Vertigo Club.”

No matter what country, city, town or village; there is always one constant. People liked to enjoy themselves. Getting to Biscrica din Cornseti we knew what was happening. It was a big white church in the village with the tall bell tower in the front, but the stained glass windows that had multicolored lights flashing and the throbbing bass was a signature and once inside they were doing it. Dancing! Nothing odd here, except there was a picture of the Last Supper, only it was rigged with those colored lights that flashed to the beat of the music. I did chuckle internally at the picture of the Nativity with Mary, Joseph, and a baby, but the baby had a full white beard and a red and white hat for Santa Clause. A baby Santa? Really! It is there!

Mom shook her head when she noticed the picture. “Is that…sacrilegious?”

Willie gave a slight nod. “It’s a statement for sure; a tribute to modern Christmas.”

I smiled. “Sure, Santa is seen as Christ often at Christmas.” I waved at the picture. “That’s how I see it anyway.”

We stayed a few hours before I saw Gabriella get very still. Alex was looking around the crowd that was there and then I felt it. There was a vampire in the group of people dancing and drinking. Looking at where the sensation was coming from. We saw a young man in his late twenties or early thirties come closer. Dark hair and he had the eyes of a vampire, lacking the needed moisture that was a signature visually for all vampires. He was about my size of five feet and ten inches. He was Eastern European in looks, you know what I mean if you’ve seen it, but not a bad looking man. He wasn’t even interested in the abundance of people that were human to my relief.

He stopped in front of us. “You are vampires.” He said in accented, but perfect English. “I didn’t dare hope.”

Colin nodded. “Are you Andrei?”

The man nodded. “The real name is Alin. Andrei is just a name for the Internet. It is Romanian and Greek for Andreas.” He smiled.

I nodded. “Okay. You didn’t respond to any emails. Have you changed your mind about us?”

He shook his head. “No, but things here…have gotten a little more complicated.” He admitted with a nod and shrug.

“Complicated? How?” I asked.

“Recently, there has been a rise of a group, a man really, that became rivals to vampires here,” Alin said. “He is a vampire hunter.”

George’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

Alin shook his head. “I am serious.”

“You’re in danger?” I asked.

Alin nodded. “We all are.” He looked at me. “I mean you and the others, including those of us here. That’s why no one has really responded to your emails. They are afraid to reveal anything that will tell them where we are; including me.”

“He’s human,” Colin said.

Alin chuckled. “Worse, he’s Russian.”

“Russian?” Colin asked. “Can he do it?”

Alin nodded. “Yes, I took a big risk coming here. You did also telling me where you were going.” He frowned. “They are led by the Russian who is a vampire.”

“A vampire hunter that’s a vampire himself!?” My mother asked.

“Yes.” Alin nodded. “His name is Iilya. He was KGB back in the 1950s and 1960s. He was turned when on a mission here for the USSR.”

“How can he hunt his own kind?” Colin asked.

“According to him, he hates what he is and has vowed to rid the world of vampires. He did it in Russia, he says.” Alin explained and smiled. “But there are still vampires in Russia, but he thinks they came from this area in the first place.”

I nodded. “Because of all the vampire lore here?”

Alin nodded. “Because of the vampire lore and others.”

Stan came forward a little. “Is the leader here, the First Vampire here…?”

Alin frowned. “There is a vampire leader, has been for several centuries.”

Stan nodded. “There is a vampire leader that old?” He waved at Colin. “He’s over two hundred.” He pointed to Burke. “He’s nearly four hundred and Amasis…”

Amasis growled. “Don’t say it.” He said to Stan.

Stan grinned. “Well, he’s sensitive about his age. Let’s just say, he’s the oldest of us here.”

“Could this leader be Dracula?” I asked again carefully knowing how they felt about Dracula and Vlad Tepes. “Or is it Vlad Dracul?”

Alin shrugged. “I don’t know. He won’t say for certain. I do know he’s old.”

“Will he see us?” George asked.

Alin shook his head. “He’s not certain about you.”

“Why did you contact us? You were certain enough to reach out to us.” I said.

“Because we don’t change…” Alin said sadly. “I was turned right at the end of the USSR. That was in the early 1990s. Since then, I have tried to stay in the world as it is.” He shook his head. “That’s so hard this way.” He waved at himself. “I can only move around at night and I must feed every day.” He sighed sadly. “They are old.” He said. “And I’m not speaking about their age in years, I mean, the way things are run here. That’s old. Christian is the leader here. He’s been doing it a long time. Is that his real name?” He shrugged. “No one can remember.”

That’s when we all felt it; another vampire had just arrived.

Alin looked a little panicked. “He’s here!”

“Does he track?” Colin asked quickly.

“Does he what?” Alin asked.

“Can he sense where you go?” I asked. “Can he smell you?”

Alin shook his head. “I don’t know. He can sense a vampire when he sees one.”

“Go!” Willie said. “You know where we are. We’ll hold him off.” Willie shoved him away. “Run!”

Alin didn’t question Willie and ran into the crowd.

I looked over the crowd to see some men come in the club. The one in the center, I knew was Iilya. I knew Sasha was big, born and raised in Moscow. This man was just as big. Dark hair in his late thirties or early forties and…BIG. He had four men with him. They were human.

Colin reached for me and drew me closer to him. All of us drew closer to who we were with, but moved to the area that Alin had been to confuse Iilya when he came over. Iilya was no tracker, but he sensed all the others here partying and dancing...and human. His eyes traveled over everyone until he looked at us. His moisture lacking eyes narrowed and he walked over. He looked confused as he got closer.

Iilya stopped in front of us. “You are a vampire.” He said in accented English.

Colin didn’t back down. “So are you.”

Iilya wandered between all of us. “You are not.” He said to Mark and sniffed near Stan. “Not you. I sense…something different.”

“We’re all different,” George said. “Those here that are vampires are not like you.”

I nodded. “You can sense that, can’t you?” I said taking a drink I had ordered earlier and drank it in front of Iilya. “As you can see, we can drink more than blood.”

Iilya frowned. “How is possible?”

“Tell you what, Iilya.” Colin began and watched Iilya’s eyebrows rise when Colin called him by name. “Yes, we know your name.” He worked on his translator. “Why not stick to Russian. It might be easier to follow you.” The translator came out with: Почему бы не придерживаться русский. Это может быть легче следовать за вами.

Iilya looked startled and what Colin was wearing and what he heard. “What did you do?”

We all had adjusted our translators and understood what he asked.

“We had our words changed to Russian, to be understood by you,” Colin said.

Iilya was interested in our translators, but right now, he was looking for vampires and we were right there. “You are not vampires, but I sense you are. Why?”

Colin gave the whole condition and medication explanation for Iilya.

“So, you are in between?” Iilya asked.

George nodded. “You could see it that way. None of us wanted to become vampires.”

Iilya nodded. “We should have died.”

Colin nodded. “And yet, here you are.” His eyes narrowed. “We heard you were trying to get rid of these vampires here.”

Iilya nodded again. “I was turned here.”

I nodded. “Ah,” I said understanding more now, “that’s why you’re hunting them here. To get rid of the one that turned you.”

“What kind of vampire was it?” Colin asked.

Iilya frowned. “It was a vampire.”

Wayne chuckled. “Do you know the different kind of vampires out there?”

“They are vampires,” Iilya said again simply.

“Do you want to kill us, too?” My mother asked.

Iilya looked at my mother who was holding on to Willie’s hand. “I didn’t know you can be in between as a vampire. I don’t know.” He looked at George. “Can you cure us?”

George shook his head. “Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

“This medication; if you don’t take it, will you become a vampire again?” Iilya asked.

“Yes.” Colin nodded.

“I won’t hunt you as long as you’re on the medication,” Iilya said roughly.

“If we get the vampires here on the medication…will you still hunt them?” I asked.

That’s when Iilya’s eyes narrowed. “They turned me. They cursed me to be this.” He said waving at his own face. “I will hunt down and kill that one that did this.”

I nodded. “So, this is revenge.” I wanted to clarify.

Iilya was beginning to turn red with anger. “I will slaughter the thing that did this to me. I know he did it to others. They will all die.”

Colin nodded. “But not all of them were involved. Why kill them all? There are innocent ones as well as the guilty.”

“They know the one that did this!” Iilya spat. “They are guilty of not dealing with it and killing that one.”

“How do you even know if this creature is even alive?” Alex asked. “Vampires can die. We’re talking about fifty or sixty years ago, he could already be dead.”

Iilya shook his head. “No. He lives. I feel it in here.” He pounded his own chest as his eyebrows came together.

“Do you feel him more or less right now?” I asked. “Can you tell if he’s close, or far away?”

“I feel he is here! In Sighisoara.” Iilya said angrily.

“See? That’s why we use these translators.” I said holding mine up. “The problem is now for this is the many voices and that music, it’s having a difficult time. You see, there is a difference in what you are saying. There is the feeling that you know and a belief that you know.” I shook my head. “I’m getting the feeling that you believe he’s here, but aren’t sensing him.” I looked at him. “You believe he’s here, but you don’t know he’s here.”

Iilya frowned now more. He was getting angrier. “I will kill all vampires here. That way I know he’s gone.”

“And how did you get back to Russia?” I asked.

Iilya looked surprised at the change of subject. “I had a comrade take me home.”

I nodded. “And don’t you see that this vampire could have moved on, too?”

Iilya let out a gruff sound of frustration and came a little closer to me, which Colin stepped in between us. Toe to toe, they were about the same size.

“Listen to him, Iilya.” Colin said equally as gruff. “He’s making sense and I won’t let you or any of these others touch him or anyone here with us.”

Iilya’s frown became more than a frown, it was almost rage. “They are the ENEMY!! They should all die!”

Willie came up behind Colin. “So, you do want to kill us.”

Mom nodded. “If we get these vampires on the medication, you won’t be able to catch them as easily.”

Gabriella added. “They will be able to travel anywhere at any time and scatter.”

“We became a threat to you getting the vampires here because of what we offer,” Wayne said.

“The only thing you can do; is kill us.” Alex reasoned. “If we’re dead, we can’t give the medication and you have a better chance of killing all these vampires.”

Colin nodded. “We’ve met vampires that aren’t nice. In fact, there are vampires out there that are criminals, killers, and general sadists.” Colin said. “I was turned by one.” He waved at Gabriella. “My daughter was turned by the same one.”

“But because one turned you…” I said to Iilya, “…you have determined we all should die.”

Amasis grinned. “So, go ahead.” He challenged. “Do it now. Right here in front of all these people.” He waved at the many dancing people.

“How can you do this?” Mom asked him using the tone I knew when she scolded me and ashamed of what I did; not that there were too many of those for her to do it to me. “Condemning all of us because of what one creature did to you?”

“Are you really that important?” I asked.

“Americans.” Iilya spat. “Decadent, selfish Americans!”

“And there it is.” Colin chuckled. “Yes, we are!” He grinned at Wayne. “All, but Wayne. Amasis and Amir are becoming Americans. The old American versus Russian ploy.”

“You did know that there is no USSR now, didn’t you?” I asked. “The Cold War ended. The Communistic Government there is gone in Russia?” We all turned as we heard a beeping sound.

George was grinning. “It works!” He said holding a wand looking thing at Iilya. He was looking at a tablet that would beep, only when pointed at Iilya. “If I didn’t sense he is a vampire," he raised the device slightly, "this says he is a vampire!”

Colin grinned. “That’s great!” He looked back at Iilya. “See, we’re trying to put an end to the vampire stuff, too. Only, we’re looking for a cure for it.” He motioned to Chuck, Shelly, Mark, and Stan. “Now, they can tell as well if a person is a vampire.” He looked at Iilya’s eyes. “Seeing your eyes would tell close up, but George is a good distance away. We wouldn’t want you that close if you are. We aren’t the enemy, Iilya. Don’t make us one. If you do this, you will be. We will find the vampires here and we will help them.”

“Who is backing you?” I asked. “The government in Russia, or someone privately?” I waved at us as a group and then waved at his four accompanying men. “They are getting something to be here with you. We have the backing of a few in our government. They know where we are and why we’re here. If anything happens to us, there will be questions.” I pulled up my tablet and hit the photo icon and there was a flash. I scripted a quick message. “And I’ve just sent them a picture of you and your group to them and explained why you’re here and what you want to do. We have a Senator, a member of Congress and a pretty good director in charge of the FBI in America that are backing us. Now, there will be questions that will need answering if anything happens to any of us.” I turned the tablet to Iilya. “I’d say that’s a pretty good picture, wouldn’t you? It looks just like you.”

Colin walked closer to Iilya. “In other words…” he said getting closer to Iilya’s face. “…BACK OFF!!”

Iilya let out an almost roar of fury! “This isn’t over!” He said and headed out of the club as he barged through some of the dancers who were surprised, but shrugged and went back to dancing.

Willie walked over to Colin and put his arm around his shoulders. “Nicely done, Colin.”

I composed another message sending a warning. Attached was Iilya’s photo and warning that he was dangerous. “I had a group contact created,” I said and hit send. “Now, they all know around the world! Even those in Russia!”

Stan nodded with a smile. “Ain’t technology great?”

Burke, who almost never spoke up much frowned and shook his head. “How could he hunt us? He is a vampire!”

I nodded. “He’s angry,” I said simply. “For decades, the only thing he was focused on was killing the vampire that turned him.” I grinned at Colin. “Other than not trusting, the other thing about vampires is they get fixated.”

Colin rolled his eyes. “I had a reason with Brett! Didn’t I?”

I chuckled. “I was talking about Brett having the fixation. Not you.”

“Oh,” Colin said softly and nodded. “I guess I was, too.”

I smiled pulling in for a kiss. “You’re good. That’s over.” I looked at the others. “The emails and postings we’re done recently…he knew if he was going to do that killing, he needed to do it now.”

Stan grinned. “And now we can resume our search for Dracula.”

“Dracula!?” We heard behind us. “You’re kidding. We talked about him, but…I don’t…”

We all turned to see Alin was back.

“We were looking for him or the vampire that inspired Bram Stoker to write Dracula,” I told Alin. “We’re not here to hurt him, but…maybe get help from him if possible or whoever is in charge here...if possible.”

Alin nodded. “I see.” He waved at where Iilya had been. “I heard and saw the whole thing. Good hearing.” He pointed to his own ears and looked at Willie. “I was going to run as you said, but I saw you were handling him, so, I stayed.”

“Do you have the trust of this Christian?” I asked.

Alin nodded. “I do.”

I looked at George. “What better way to show Christian we mean no harm to him…” I waved at Alin and turned back to Alin. “Do you still want the serum?”

Alin nodded. “Yes, very much.”

Colin nodded coming up behind me. “It does hurt at first. It will be very painful.”

Alin nodded looking at us. “I read on the many postings and emails that it was painful.” He smiled. “But I see you all. You’re out in the world…traveling and doing things…I’m willing.”

George came to Alin. “Okay, you go to Christian and tell him what we’re going to do. Tell him it takes about a week to begin the treatment, but tell him, when he sees you on the serum, he’ll know what we can do for all of you here.”

Alin smiled even bigger. “Where do I need to go? At where you’re staying?”

George looked at Colin. “I am a doctor.” He began. “We can tell Eva and Greta we have a patient coming and to keep out of the room. Do you think that will work?”

Colin nodded. “I think so. He won’t burn in the daylight after the first two doses. We’ll have to choose a dark room to start.”

George nodded. “Tell Christian and then give us two days. Come at night after you feed.” He looked at Alin. “You don’t feed on humans, do you?” He asked cautiously.

Alin’s eyes widened. “What? No! I never have.” He chuckled. “I read that in the postings and emails, too. No, I’ve fed on cattle. They survive the bite and have enough blood. I just rotate the cows.” He grinned. “I’ve gotten to know a few cows and know who I’ve fed on. They never seem to mind.” He shrugged.

Willie snorted. “That beats rats.”

“Rats!?” Alin balked.

“New York City,” I explained quickly. “Dad didn’t have the cows to feed on in the abandoned subway.” I chuckled at Alin. “How are you getting home? Do you think Iilya will come after you?”

Alin shook his head. “He can sense me, I can sense him.” He smiled. “I’ve managed to avoid him and will continue to do so. I’ll be fine.” He assured.

George smiled. “The week after we give you the serum, we’ll come back here. We’ll buy you a drink.”

Alin’s eyes showed excitement at that thought. “Wow, a drink that isn’t blood! It’s been thirty years!”

I nodded. “Well, it’s about time you had one.” I looked at my watch. “It’s a few hours until sunrise, care to join us. We can talk and get to know you.”

“Sure.” Alin smiled. “I’d like that. What are you telling this Eva I have?”

Colin and George looked at each other. Colin said with a simple shrug. “You have Severe Polymorphic Light Eruption, just like I did.”

George nodded. “It is a real condition and covers the why you have to be in a dark room.”

I nodded. “That’s what Colin told me when we first met.”

We talked a while, I leaned closer to Colin. “What do you get from Alin?”

Colin nodded. “He is what he says he is. I trust him.” He frowned. “What did you get from Iilya?”

“He’s a man obsessed to the point he’s unstable,” I answered sadly. “Did you trust him?”

Colin shook his head. “It’s not that I didn’t trust him, he meant everything he said. He wants to kill all vampires. Would I trust him with you, Gabriella or anyone? No. He would do whatever to get what he wants.”

“Do you think he’ll be a threat to us?”

Colin shrugged. “I don’t know.” He leaned in kissing me. “You were smart to send his picture and information to everyone. He’ll be less likely to hit us anytime soon.”

I nodded. “I hope so.”

Colin grinned. “I love you.”

“I know,” I said kissing him again. “I love you.”

Colin smiled. “I know.”