CHAPTER XXII

The room is bright as fluorescent light illuminates its walls bringing out the beauty of the colorful pictures on them.

All the art in this room carries a representation of a hidden history understood only by the enlightened mind.

This mini-gallery is home to paintings such as The Expulsion from The Garden of Eden, The picture of Archangel Michael standing above Fallen Angels by Luca Giordano, Bruegel and His Fallen Angels, The Chalice and so many others.

Though their authenticity is something that only an expert can tell.

Although these pieces of art are well recognized in the world the only artwork Count Dracula adorns like a deity is the picture of a beautiful maiden, her gold hair reflects the light of the room like little diamonds were mixed into the artwork.

This art is no ordinary art to this man, it is worth more than all the holy artwork in this world; this painting takes Dracula back through his memories of happier days and it gives him hope that one day those happy days will return and to do that he needs the death of his sons, Gabriel and Samuel.

It was the only reason he fathered them in the first place, their bodies and their souls were made specifically to be destroyed for his benefit and the love of his horrid and immortal life.

He never loved them, he never tried to for it would only make killing them difficult and he needs to kill them.

It is the only way to restore his happiness.

How can one live for centuries and still be miserable?

They say time heals all, but when you are an immortal all you have is time and memories are the only things you can hold on to since everything else dies out.

It's been centuries since Count Dracula lost his beloved and he had done everything to bring her back but to no avail until he got an offer from the prince of darkness himself.

Dracula sips the glass of wine in his hand; Alex and Adrian enter the room.

Even with all that happened somehow this room managed to stay unscathed; "We have eyes around their club, don't we?" he asks not taking his eyes off the painting of his beautiful goddess.

"Yes, my lord" they answer, "I want you to turn that place upside down," he says, "Find them and bring them back to me", he adds.

"That may be troublesome my lord", Alex says, Dracula grunts and turns to face the 6foot redhead.

She feels his angry gaze crawl underneath her skin like a cancerous infection.

"The police have been at our doorstep since the attack, we had to hypnotize them so that the situation wouldn't escalate and right now their club is under surveillance by the NYPD" Alex says just as he walks close to her, staring down into her eyes with the rage of a hungry crocodile.

Alex can feel his rage as goosebumps open up on her skin and he crushes the glass cup in his hand.

"Adrian, tell the Trackers to surround their club. I want to know their friends, business associates and everything else that is worth knowing about them. I underestimated them once, it won't happen again" he says.

"And Alex, send for the sisters" Dracula orders, "I will take everything away from them and I will crush their spirit".

Alex and Adrian share a gaze as Dracula walks out of the room; the two, feeling relieved that he did not kill any of them out of anger.

"Are you going to tell him about Marcel?" Adrian asks Alex, "Of course, let him just cool off first before I get my head slapped off", she says and Adrian nods in agreement.

"Good idea, but don't wait too long. Marcel is no ordinary vampire," Adrian says, "Let's get going".

Rachael opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling, she lays on the bed for a few minutes before she stands up and goes into the bathroom.

She looks in the mirror and sees her face which looks like a rag drenched in tears and sweat, she washes her face and looks back up at the mirror.

She remembers when her father used to brush her teeth as a little girl, her mother would walk into the bathroom and try to convince her father to let Rachael brush her teeth.

I will be strong.

Rachael takes off her clothes and gets into the shower.

She enjoys the cold shower as it washes away the dirt and cleans off the dried tears underneath her eyes.

She finishes up but remembers that she left the towel and the clothes Elma gave her in the bedroom.

She walks back into the bedroom and goes to carry the towel on the side of the bed just beside a pair of black jeans.

She cleans herself up and starts to dry her wet hair as it hangs over her face, she turns to go to the bathroom but jumps in shock as she sees his blue glowing eyes stare at her.

"Fuck," she jerks up and pulls the towel over her naked body, "What the hell is wrong with you? You scared me," she says to her boss, "I am sorry Miss McQueen, I didn't mean to scare you".

She stares into his mesmerizing eyes and recalls the reason she accepted his job offer in the first place.

To know the secrets behind the one with the blue glowing eyes, then she remembers when he killed their assailants at the club and looks away so as not to stare too hard.

The last time she did that he complained.

Samuel gets a mental image of what's is going through her mind, "I just…" he pauses not knowing how to react to her thoughts, "I will be in the living room if you need me," he says before he walks out of the room.

That was awkward, why were his eyes glowing throughout?

Samuel walks into the living room where Elma, John and Gabriel are chatting.

Gabriel notices his brother's eyes just before their glow dies, he looks behind Samuel to see if Rachael is behind him.

"Sammy, are you alright?" "Yeah," "How's she?" "She will be alright," Samuel answers as he takes a seat beside Elma on one of the sofas.

Rachael walks into the room all dressed, she sits beside Gabriel, "Now that we are all here, why don't we come up with a plan?" Elma suggests.

"Yes, let's leave the fucking country…" John says, "…then we come back and kill him," the immortals in the room turn and look at him, "It's only a suggestion," he says.

Gabriel drops Nightmare on the glass table in the middle of the room, "We have this, so we have an advantage now we just need an opportunity" he says.

"A dagger?" Rachael asks perceiving a weak plan, "Not just any dagger love, this is Nightmare. The dagger that kills all" Elma says.

Nightmare?

Rachael remembers when she was in Dracula's lair, he asked her about the dagger and where her father hid it. So this is Nightmare?

She goes close to it to inspect it, "Be careful, the dagger is dangerous" Gabriel warns, but Rachael picks it up to take a closer look at the old looking heel of the dagger and its jagged edge.

"Rachael," the men shout, "What?", they all pause as they notice that nothing happened.

John and Gabriel picked the dagger and it burnt them but it didn't hurt Rachael, "I will be damned," Samuel mumbles.

"That's right. When Mary found the dagger it didn't hurt her", John says, "So, the dagger is allergic to supernatural creatures, great" Samuel says feeling demoralized.

"Is it supposed to hurt me?" Rachael asks, "Well, since you are human…no" John answers her.

"So this can kill all of you?" she asks and the room goes silent as they all stare at the dagger in her hand.

"Yes," John answers reluctantly, "Can it kill Dracula?" "Yes," John says.

Elma wears a mischievous smile across her face, "What are you thinking, human?" she asks, "I want to kill Dracula".