CHAPTER XXI
A stone does not live but it still exists; a vampire's heart does not beat but it still aches.
This is the case for John, the memories he has shared over the years with Mary McQueen will always remain with him and the sight of Dracula killing her will always haunt him.
The monster took his family and now his friend.
He knew Mary McQueen when she was still Mary Tremblay.
The Tremblay family was one he was familiar with since he knew their ancestors from Québec, Canada.
A hunter family, he always worked with a selected few of the family members secretly.
And in recent years Mary was his favorite but she was more than a hunter to him, she was a true friend.
He is going to pick up Rachael with the twins but who is going to tell her about her mother, he wonders.
1475.
"The Turks think I'm not loyal to them. I just sent them the tributes and they dare doubt my loyalty," Vlad says in anger as he paces around in his royal chambers.
"They do not know how great you are my love," his wife says.
Justina Szilágyi, a beautiful noblewoman from a noble family.
She stands at 5'11ft, her blond hair glitters like gold as the lantern illuminates the room.
Her fair skin is smooth and beautiful as fairy tales snow white, her green eyes as beautiful as gems and her lips as red as blood.
Her golden jewelry beautifies her neck, slender as a snake and graceful as a swan.
"You should kill them all," she says to her husband, "That I should, but it's not the right time. I can't expose myself just yet.
Heaven still has its sight set on killing my kind,".
Justina stands up and meets her husband, she puts her arms around his neck.
"You are the greatest of your kind. Men bow before your feet, they sacrifice their loved ones to gain your power, hell praises you as you send the souls of your enemies to its demons and angels fear you because they know who you are.
Nothing can stop you and nothing will stop you," she praises Vlad.
He wraps his hands around her waist and kisses her roughly.
His tongue writhes in her mouth as the scent of rosemary mixed with sandalwood caresses his nostrils.
His hands dig into her garment like a Terrier dog and he tears at her garment like a ravaging hyena.
He presses underneath her garment and places his hands around her ass and caresses her like cotton.
He nibbles at her neck aggressively and she pushes him away, she slaps him and he smiles.
A mischievous smile; Justina removes the strands of his long hair over his face and she bites his lower lip and pushes him against their bed.
She sits on top of her man like a throne, unbuckling her garment and revealing her smooth shoulders.
He twists her and puts her on the bed; he kisses her neck gently as he holds her hands against the bed.
"Save me," she whimpers.
"What?", he raises his head and all the beauty of his queen turns into a gruesome nightmare.
Her eyes show nothing but darkness and her face wriggle with pain. And she screams in a high-pitched voice, "Save me,".
Dracula wakes up, panting hard and sweating profusely.
Adrian stands beside his bed, "My lord", Dracula raises his hand to stop him.
He never thought he would have a nightmare.
He who lurks in the dark and brings misery upon his enemies has something to fear.
What could it be?
Little Bay Park.
John, Gabriel and Samuel stare at Rachael from a distance. There are a few people in the park having a little barbecue party; Cassandra and Rachael sit at a wooden table where they eat.
The twins share a gaze and without exchanging words they know this is the hard part of seeing Rachael again.
A small girl goes to sit beside Rachael, they seem to converse and Rachael smiles. This weighs on the heart of the twins as this makes it even worse for them.
Who would take that smile away from her?
Cassandra sniffs into the air before sighting John and the twins, she taps Rachael and points in their direction.
Rachael smiles and immediately leaves the table and she begins to make her way to the men.
"She is coming," John says; Cassandra walks behind Rachael.
Samuel looks at the man carrying the same face with him, "Breaking this little bird's heart is not going to be easy but we have to tell her the truth" he says.
"Yeah," Gabriel says in a low tone.
If he could he would love to avoid this situation, he would prefer to manipulate her memories to shield her away from the pain but he knows that will only make things worse.
Gabriel sees her cheerful aura as she gets closer to them and it breaks his heart knowing they are about to take that happy energy away.
He notices Samuel looking down at his feet, he places a hand on Samuel's shoulder and he knows exactly what his brother is feeling.
Samuel raises his head and adjusts himself to look more confident.
"You are alright," Rachael says as she hugs John and the twins.
She turns her attention to the twins and eyes attentively knowing the situation she had left them in and she hugs them again.
"I'm glad you guys are safe, I was worried," she says. Samuel smiles and nods his head. "Are you alright?" he asks.
"Yes, Cassandra treated me well" she says.
Cassandra greets them and they respond with a nod as she turns her attention to John and the two excuse themselves from the group.
"Do you have a phone on you? I want to call my mum. I need to know that she is okay" Rachael says.
They pause for a while and she reads the awkwardness between them, "What's wrong?" she asks.
"She… she…" Gabriel begins to stutter, Samuel places a hand on her shoulder gently, "I'm sorry Rachael; she didn't make it" he says.
"What do you mean by she didn't make it? What are you guys talking about?" Rachael's voice grows weak as she perceives the meaning of his words, "Your mother is…dead" Gabriel says faintly.
"No, no, no" she stammers and covers her mouth as her heart breaks into her a like shards of glass.
Like a fountain, tears begin to fall out of her eyes as her knees go weak like a building resting on a broken foundation.
Samuel immediately presses her against his chest, "I promise you, she will be avenged" he says.
She cries hard as she buries her head in Samuel's embrace, she never thought she would lose the one person left in the world that would always have her back.
And now there is no one left; no father and no mother.
She curses the supernatural, even without knowing much about this strange new world it has taken everything away from her.
Why me?
Roosevelt Auto Wrecking, Queens, NY.
Steven Gerard sits on the trunk of an old Honda, eating a burger and enjoying the scenery of the evening sky as the sun moves towards the night.
The hard-looking man is disturbed by the noise of a car and he looks straight ahead to see a red Impala drive towards him.
Mary?
No, it's not her. That's just Philip.
The red impala parks in front of him and the thin-looking man walks out of the car; "You brought back my equipment?", he asks in a brassy voice and Philip shakes his head, "No".
"Where the hell is Mary?" he asks.
"She's not here Steve. Mary is dead" Philip says and the look on Steven's face changes into a bewildered one.
"Tell me this is some sick joke," "It's not," "And the vampire?" "Needless to say, he probably made it", Philip scratches his head and gets a bit of his grey hair between his fingers.
"We have to tell her family," Philip says, "We are. Get ready, we are going to the Tremblays".