What Come After Death Is Decay (4)

''Speak''

'Thought'

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~Ryu POV~

Mary Shelley and Bram stoker? There is no way this is a coincidence.

''Really, Bram Stoker? As in the Bram Stoker? The one who write Dracula?''

''The very same,'' He answer.

''But he's dead.''

''They thought that I am dead, I simply fake my death, it's a very easy thing to do.'' He answers before walking toward his coffin.

''Then are you saying that you based Dracula on yourself?'' I ask. It might be obvious, but I need to know.

''Of course not; the only thing that bases on me on that book is the powers and some weakness that I have,'' Bram said before going back inside the coffin.

''What are you-?'' Before I could even the sentence, the coffin door closed on its own.

''Look like he only wakes up to check you up.'' Mary said, still writing down some notes.

''So... Are you also the Mary Shelley too?'' I ask her.

''Oh god no, I simply have the same name as her.'' Mary answer

''Is that so?'' I said before turning back toward the coffin ''Is he an actual-''

''Vampire? Why yes, he is. That is why he is my patient!! To turn him back from vampire to human.''

''Ok, but does he have the same weakness in the book?'' I ask her.

Vampire, I knew there were going to be vampires here in the castle, and the person who is a vampire just so happened to be the one who wrote Dracula. Not only that, the doctor that trying to fix him also just happened to name Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein. What kind of coincidence is that?

Anyway, I want to know whether or not he has the same weakness as Dracula or not so that I can be prepared. I don't want to be turned into a vampire anytime soon.

''You read Dracula, and you even know about Mary Shelley? You sure read a lot of books for someone as young as you.''

''I just like reading.'' I simply answer.

''Well, as for your question, yes, he does have the same weakness as Dracula in the book, not all of them, of course.

He has these weaknesses because he suffers from the extreme case of Porphyria, you know, the vampire disease. His body also produces an extreme amount of vitamin D.

But instead of causing harm to his bones instead, it causes his bone to become so strong that it gives him super strength, and the longer he lives, the more he produces and the stronger he become.

Not only that, but he also seems to have these special cells, which I called V-cell for a simple term. These cells seem to be the one that is responsible for giving him night vision, enhancing smell, super strength and speed, but what most impressive power out of them all is the ability to heal from these cells. This also explains why he is still alive today.

These cells also act like a virus, where it can be transferred by blood or bite from Bram himself, and when this virus enters your body, it will also turn you into what I call a ghoul, not a vampire but ghoul.

They all have the same strength and weaknesses as Bram, but they will simply become mindless because V-cell will enter their mind and take control of their body, reverting to the most basic instinct.

It also seems Bram can control them somehow, and I theorised that he release some pheromone so that those ghouls will listen to him and act with a hive mind mentality.''

That is a lot of information, information that I don't need, all I ask is the weakness of that old man, but here she is rambling about the old man powers and strength and the reason behind these power.

Look like she loved something like this, huh?

''Uh doc, I only ask for his weaknesses, not his strength,'' I said

''Oh yes!! I forgot, let me explain in weakness by weakness.

First, the most well know weakness, sunlight. Since his body produces a lot of vitamin D and suffers from an extreme case of Porphyria, whenever sunlight touches his body, it will burn his skin to the extreme because of how sensitive Bram skin is.

But Bram somehow evolves past that, and now sunlight is nothing more than a nuisance to him. I expect V-cells are the ones that are responsible for this.

Next is his weakness to garlic; well, this one is also because of his Porphyria and sensitive nose. If he smells it, it just causes him some discomfort; while eating it will cause him to have an allergic reaction because of the sulphur in it. But his reaction would just be him coughing out the blood at worst.

As for the thirst for blood, I think it is V-cells that are responsible for this. It seems that these cells can only sustain themself by absorbing oxygen from red blood cells, don't ask me how they do it.

To deal with this, V-cells that need oxygen will cause the stomach to produce a specific version of ghrelin that causes Bram to have a hunger for blood. When blood enters the digestive system, it will be transferred into the V-cells, absorbing all of the oxygen from red blood cells.

V-cells will then destroy those red blood cells with no oxygen to not cause any harm to Bram body.

I think that all of his weakness.'' Mary finishes her explanation while never looking up from her note.

[A/N: Yeah, science!! Well, mostly science anyway.]

That sure is a lot of information, and here I thought she would only give me his weakness, not explain why he has those weaknesses. I guess she is passionate when coming to the human body.

''What? No, stake to the heart, silver or the fact that they can get in living place without invites in, or the one that they can't cross running water, or the one that-''

''Yes, yes, I know what are you talking about? Those are just weaknesses that Bram made up for his book, and he only has two weaknesses.''

Huh, now when she said it like that, it sounded like Bram is a...

''So what you are saying is, he a mutant?'' I ask

''Hm, you could say that.''

''Then, do you think are there real vampires out there?'' I ask her

''Yes, there are.'' Mary answered without missing the beat.

''Are you sure?''

''While I was working with Bram, we met some self proclaim vampire hunter; they seem to carry around wooden stakes and silver bullets while trying to kill Bram. Since vampire hunters exist, without doubt, vampires with those silly weaknesses might also exist.''

Vampire hunter? Now that is something I did not expect to hear. But her confirmation that actual vampires exist kind of put me on edge.

''You seem to don't mind telling me all of this.''

''Well, I simply find these kinds of things exciting, and it's been a long time for me to have someone to talk to that is not Bram.'' She explains

Well, I guess that makes a lot of sense...

Wait a minute!!

''Oi doc, ain't these arms belong to Bram?''

''Yes, so?'' She asks, turning around.

''From what I hear from your explanation, these arms have Bram blood in them. Does that mean I'm going to get transformed into one of those ghouls now!?'' I ask with slight panic

''Oh no, your not. Remember what I said? I will make your arms better than ever!! There are not many V-cells in those arms, so you have not too worried about you turning into a vampire.

I tried this before. None of the humans turns into a vampire, so you don't have to worry about it.

If anything, with a little bit of V-cells in your body, it should give you more strength, speed and healing, so that is a massive plus for you.'' Mary said

That good, I guess?

I mean, when coming to body strength, it can simply be said that it's pathetic. Without my Rashomon, I am nothing, but I might become physically stronger with these V-cells, which is a very good thing.

But that brings me another question.

What if my Rashomon eats these V-cells?

Will it somehow, in a weird way, transform into some vampire Rashomon or ghoul-like Rashomon? But if that is the case then, my Rashomon would spread these V-cells like wildfire.

''Now then, brat.'' Mary said, gaining my attention, ''Since I heal you, why don't you pay me back.''

Pay her back? I guess that makes sense, she did heal me after all, and I hate owning someone, so paying her back as fast as possible.

''What do you need?''

''Well, it been a long time since I have a live specim- I mean patient, I want to test something on your body.'' Mary casually said

''So... human experiment?'' I ask, not caring, and if she causes any harm toward me, my Rashomon would simply kill her immediately.

''Hm, you could say that. Now, lay on the table.'' Mary said, pointing toward the table in the middle of the room, quickly following her order and immediately lay on the table.

''Now, I will give you some sedative so that you can go to sleep, and with your pain receptor still off, you will not wake up until morning comes.'' She said, showing a needle with liquid dripping from it.

''Ok,'' I simply answer

I know that if she tries to do anything dangerous toward me, Rashomon will protect me anyway. I know that even when I lose consciousness or sleep, my Rashomon can activate on its own anyway, so I'm not worried at this point.

So with that, Mary quickly injects me with it, and slowly but surely, I can feel my eyelids getting heavy, readying to go back into the dream world or maybe wake up from this dream and back to that bad reality.

Let just hop I will not be sleeping to long.