He stepped towards us, and I nearly gasped at the true breadth of his height. He appeared to be nearly seven feet tall, towering over all the men in the room. I forced myself to not shrink back as he continued forward, extending a long, tapered hand towards us in a gesture of greeting.
“I am Radu,” he said, his politeness shaded with warmth. “Gabriel has told me of you, Wilhelmina.” It was odd to be called my full name. Clara and Father rarely used it, but it fell naturally from Radu’s lips. “It is my assumption that this gentleman is your fiancé?” he inquired, his eyes sliding towards Abe.
“He’s not my fiancé,” I interjected, flushing. “This is Doctor Abraham Van Helsing, and this is Inspector Jack Seward of Scotland Yard in London.”
“It is my deepest pleasure to meet you all,” Radu said, with an amiable nod. “You have been acquainted with my daughter Anara,” he continued, gesturing towards her with a surprising trace of humor. “Again, I must apologize for her actions. May I offer you tea or food? You must be famished after your journey.”
I was taken aback by his kindness. Though I sensed the same genuine sincerity from him that Gabriel displayed, I remained hesitant. How could Radu be so kind and Anara so hostile? My eyes strayed nervously towards Anara, who still glared openly at us. Radu followed my gaze.
“I will not allow Anara to harm you. If it puts you at ease, she will not remain in the room with us.”
“Radu—” Anara protested.
“Silence, my love,” he said, the endearment contradicting the harsh look he directed towards her. “You have frightened Gabriel’s sister and her friends. Please leave us while I speak with our guests.”
Anara’s eyes flashed with anger, but she obligingly left the room. Radu gestured for us to sit at the small round table in the center of the room before disappearing briefly and returning with a tray of tea. I was surprised. From the quiet grandeur of his home, I would have expected a small army of servants.
“I am unable to keep servants for long. My daughter frightens them,” Radu said, by way of explanation, giving us a rueful smile as he set down the tray, and I was again struck by his amiability. Radu was a large and intimidating vampire, yet I felt increasingly comfortable in his presence. He folded his lengthy body into the chair across from us. “What is the matter you require my assistance with?”
“My fiancé Jonathan was abducted from London by a group of vampires,” I replied. “We’re traveling to a fortress in Transylvania where we believe he’s being held, but we don’t know who took him.”
Radu stilled before handing us each a cup of tea, his piercing black gaze settling on me. I was coming to learn that vampires had a disconcerting manner of not breaking eye contact, and I shifted in my seat at his scrutiny.
“Where is this fortress located?” he asked.
“A vampire under hypnosis told us it’s located in the Carpathians, in some sort of ‘old home’,” I replied, recalling Lucy’s words. Abe reached into his bag and handed Radu his crumpled map of the region.
“We recognized your last name,” Abe said, as Radu studied the map. “Our research indicates that the Draculesti were one of the families to occupy this fortress at some point in the past. Is that correct?”
Radu grew even more pale as he stared down at the map. I didn’t know if he was reacting to Abe’s words or to the map itself.
“Yes,” Radu said. When he looked up, I saw a faint shimmer of blood red tears, and I had to will myself not to recoil in shock and revulsion at the sight. “And I believe I know who presently dwells there.”
All of the air seemed to suck out of the room. Abe, Seward and Gabriel all froze. In Radu’s eyes, I now saw a maelstrom of pain, regret—and guilt.
“They are the last descendants of one of the oldest vampire families in Europe. They long to restore their family name to its previous glory. They are my children,” he whispered. “It is my family. I am the monster you seek.”
In the stunned space of silence that followed Radu’s words, I stumbled to my feet, my hand instinctively reaching for the kukri that was tucked in my sleeve, while Abe, Seward and Gabriel remained frozen with shock. Anara must have somehow sensed the tension in the room, because she was instantly back in the drawing room and at Radu’s side in a flash of movement, crouched in a protective stance, her eyes blazing in my direction.
“I will tear out your throat if you attempt to harm him!” she hissed.
I didn’t move, barely heeding her presence. I was still reeling from Radu’s words. He was the monster we sought? Was he working with the vampires who had taken Jonathan—his children? Had Gabriel brought us into some sort of trap after all? I looked at Gabriel, but he looked just as stupefied as I felt.
“I am responsible for all of this,” Radu continued, his voice dropping with sorrow. “I deserve your wrath.”
“Radu, silence!” Anara shouted, before turning to her focus back to me. “Lower the kukri. I will kill you!”
“You’ll not harm my sister, Anara,” Gabriel managed to bite out in warning, though he still looked shaken.
“What do you mean? Explain!” I demanded from Radu, ignoring Anara and maintaining a solid grip on my kukri.
In a quick blur of movement, Anara sprang towards me and yanked the kukri from my hand before retreating back to Radu’s side. I blinked, astonished by the rapid movement. Abe, Seward and Gabriel instantly rose to their feet, crowding protectively around me.
“Please. Answer me,” I pleaded, my voice quavering as I returned my focus back to Radu. “What are you—”
“Radu’s biological children have been carrying out the attacks and abductions around Europe. Vlad and Ilona,” Anara said, spitting out the names like they were a bitter poison. “They are evil. Father,” Anara said, her voice softening as she rested her hand on his shoulder. “Their evil is no fault of your own.”
Vlad and Ilona, I thought with a daze. I recalled the male and female vampire at the Langham. Were they the children of the anguished vampire who sat before me? Two as one, Lucy had said. Brother and sister . . . working together? Two leaders?
Dazed, I sank back down into my chair, as Abe, Seward and Gabriel followed suit. I leaned forward, pressing my forehead against my trembling fingertips, and I forced myself to speak.
“Where . . . where are they now?” I asked.
“I do not know, I swear it,” Radu answered swiftly. “If I did, they would not be causing so much destruction. I would do what needs to be done. They must be stopped. I understand that now.”
“Now?” Seward asked, his eyes narrowed. “Did you have the chance to stop them before?”
“Do not speak harshly to him,” Anara snapped. “You do not know what—”
“Anara, it is all right. They have a right to know everything. Especially Wilhelmina,” Radu said quietly, his regretful eyes holding mine. “Yes, I did have the chance to kill them once, but I could not do it. How could I? They are my blood. My son calls himself Vlad, after the many voivode rulers from our line. But my beloved—my now departed wife Ludmila—” He paused, his gaze straying to the painting on the wall of the sad, green-eyed woman. “She named him Alexandru. Alexandru and my daughter Ilona shared the same womb. We soon realized they share the same evil nature. Alexandru became particularly obsessed with the past great rulers of our line—their cruelty, their power. As he grew older, I realized that he wanted to restore our line to its previous glory. Ilona was not as desperate for power as my son. He has been the true leader, and she his most loyal follower; she loves him so.”
Radu stopped speaking for a moment, a bloody tear trickling down his cheek.
“I tried to make my son understand the reason our line died out was because of our obsession with power. Centuries of infighting cannibalized our ancestors. But I could not reach him—nor could my Ludmila. I knew there was no hope when my children massacred a small human village for sport when they were barely adults. Ludmila was so heartbroken at the monsters that they had be
come, she starved herself to death. But even this did not affect my children,” he continued, his voice dropping to a raw whisper. “Vlad began to gather followers—human and vampire alike. Vlad wanted to rule over not just the humans—but other vampires as well. He destroyed all who opposed him. As he gained more power, he gained more followers. Many of our kind fought against him.”
“Vlad was the cause of the civil war?” Gabriel asked, horrified.
“One of the causes, yes. He was not the only vampire who wanted power, but they came the closest to an all-out invasion. With the disappearances and massacres, they were bringing potential attention to vampires, which risked our annihilation. Humans still greatly outnumber us; it is why we live in the shadows. That is when it was decided that—that they needed to be executed,” he added, with great difficulty. “But I . . . I could not bear—”
Radu’s voice caught, and Anara kneeled down at his side. Her eyes shimmered with tears of blood as well. She took his hands, pressing her lips to his knuckles.
“Este de inteles, tata,” she whispered.
Her words seemed to give him the strength to continue, and he turned back to face me.
“Several members of the Order—I do not know who, I could not bear to know—tracked my son to a forest in central Transylvania, where he was preparing to carry out more attacks on human villages. There was a violent confrontation—many died—but the attempt to kill him failed. He was left on the verge of death, and it is believed that he survived in a weakened state for years somewhere in Transylvania. He must have subsisted off of animals, the occasional human—whatever it took to keep his strength for all those years. My daughter was not with him, and no one was able to track her down. The attacks on humans ceased, and I thought their threat had been eliminated. Three years ago, rumors began to spread about his resurrection and the regrouping of his followers. The attacks on humans began once more.”
“How many followers do your children have?” Abe asked. “How many oppose them?”
“I do not know their numbers, but there are many. We believe that the feral packs of vampires, like the ones you came across, are of their creation. Newborn vampires not given time to adjust to their hunger or abilities. They move quickly and kill many. As for those who oppose them—they are not as many as his followers, I am afraid. Many have gone into hiding for fear of retribution.”
My thoughts raced in a frantic blur. Three years ago. The forest in central Transylvania. That was where I had witnessed the creature feasting on my father. I recalled its torn and ragged flesh, its cold eyes on me—the same eyes I felt at the Langham and on the Westminster Bridge.
My entire body went cold as the revelation slammed into me with the force of a sledgehammer. The creature who had taken Jonathan and killed my father were one and the same—Radu’s son. And now I had a name. Vlad Alexandru Draculesti.
I repeated the name in my mind, over and over again, until it was a litany, and I felt a swell of rage so great that my entire body began to shake.
“My . . . my father—” I whispered. “He was killed in the forests of Transylvania three years ago by a weakened vampire. Abe and I saw it happen.”
The silence stretched as Radu met my stare, his eyes widening in horror.
“Oh, Wilhelmina,” he breathed. “I heard Vlad killed a human to fully restore himself. I did not know. I am . . . I am so sorry.”
I lurched weakly to my feet. Abe buried his face in his hands, while Gabriel and Seward studied me with sympathy and concern. Anara moved protectively closer to Radu, as if preparing for me to strike. But my rage had already begun to subside, transforming back to the grief that had been my constant companion since Father’s death.
“I–I need—” I began. I felt claustrophobic and struggled to breathe, as I had in the Langham a few nights ago when Abe had whispered in my ear that the creature from Transylvania was in London, and I uttered the same words. “I need air.”
Not waiting for a response, I turned and stumbled from the room. I made my way out of the drawing room, out the front door and into the courtyard, sinking to my knees as I took in great gasps of air.
The sheer enormity of all I had learned sank down onto my shoulders like a great weight. Legions of vampires living in our midst. A secret war between them. A half-brother who was vampire. Parents who kept a multitude of secrets from me. Confirmation that Father had died at the hands of this Vlad. And Jonathan, innocent and unaware of any of this, imprisoned at the hands of monsters who wanted to take over the human world.
I closed my eyes, once again longing for my previous ignorance; my peaceful life back in London with Jonathan, Clara and my students, and no knowledge of this hidden world that was possibly about to bring mine to an end.
Footsteps approaching from behind me brought me back to the present, and I climbed back to my feet. Abe and Seward approached me cautiously, as if I were a wounded animal.
“I’m quite all right,” I said. “There was no need for you to—”
“You are not all right,” Abe interjected.
He stepped forward to enfold me in the comforting warmth of his arms, and I allowed the tears that I had been holding at bay to fall, thinking of not only my father and Jonathan, but of all the victims of these monsters, and the immensity of the fight that still lay ahead.
When my tears subsided, I stepped out of Abe’s arms, and we all stood in somber silence.
“We know who took Jonathan. Radu can find and kill his son,” Seward said. “We can return to London, and let them fight their own—”
“No,” I said swiftly. “I won’t turn back now, Seward. I’m too close to rescuing Jonathan.”
“Mina, you heard him. Vlad has many followers,” Seward said, frowning. “We don’t have the—”
“I’m not returning to London without Jonathan!” I cried, staring at him in disbelief. “And now that I know my father died at Vlad’s hands, I won’t let my fiancé suffer the same fate.”
“What if he already has?” Seward asked bluntly.
“Jack!” Abe cried.
“Then I will avenge him,” I returned, though the thought of Jonathan’s possible death sent a spiral of grief through the pit of my stomach. “As I will avenge my father, and Arthur, and Lucy, and all the deaths that monster is responsible for!”
I was now keenly aware that this journey was about more than rescuing my fiancé. It was about stopping the impending threat of vampires from taking over the human world. I had severely underestimated the treacherous path that lay ahead of us when we’d left London. The best weapons and a small army of vengeful villagers wouldn’t be enough to take on Vlad, Ilona and his followers. I knew what we had to do going forward, though a rush of dread filled me at the thought.
“Radu said that there are other vampires who oppose Vlad. We need to ally ourselves with them to destroy him,” I said, meeting their eyes. “We need to join the war.”
THE END
of
THE BEAST OF LONDON
“And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.”’
– Genesis 9:7
1
The Order
“No,” Anara said, barely containing her fury as she shot to her feet. “Radu has given you the information you need. We will not ally with humans.”
I stood in Radu Draculesti’s gilded drawing room opposite Anara, with Abraham Van Helsing and Jack Seward hovering behind me. Radu and my half-brother Gabriel were still seated, looking at us with quiet astonishment.
I had just proposed to Radu that we work together to defeat the vampires who had abducted my fiancé, Jonathan Harker . . . vampires that happened to be his biological children. Vlad Draculesti and his sister Ilona were not only responsible for Jonathan’s abduction, but other abductions and murders occurring all around Europe as well. We needed to stop them, and the only way to do so was to work together.
I was hardly surprised at Anara’s protest—she
seemed to hate me the moment she laid eyes on me. Ignoring her protest, I kept my gaze trained firmly on Radu.
“Anara, please,” Radu said, frowning at her. “If it were not for my cowardice . . . if I had just forced myself to kill Vlad years ago . . .”
His voice trailed off, dipping with regret, but Anara interrupted him.
“You told me we were done with this fight!”
“I was in denial, my love. I have known that I would one day be forced to confront my children. It seems that day has come. I can no longer close my eyes to what is happening.”
Anara vibrated with fury, but she turned and vanished from the room in a flash of movement. The tension dissipated with her departure, and I instantly felt more at ease. Yet I still found it hard to believe that we were even in the presence of vampires—I’d been in denial about their very existence for years.
Only days ago, Abe had approached me on the street in London, and then at a society ball, warning me that the mysterious murders all over Europe were linked to a creature we had encountered in Transylvania—a vampire. I’d refused to believe him; it seemed impossible, but when my fiancé was abducted before my very eyes at the same ball by vampires, I could no longer deny what was happening. We had set out from London, determined to track down and destroy the creatures who had abducted my fiancé and bring him home.
But along the way, our train had derailed on the way to Transylvania, and in the aftermath, I discovered the existence of my half-brother Gabriel, a human-vampire hybrid whose very existence revealed that my mother kept more secrets than my father ever had. Gabriel had brought us here to Budapest to meet Radu for answers . . . of which he had many.
“Are there others who would be willing to fight with us?” I asked Radu, forcing my mind back to the present. “You told us of a group that was sent to kill Vlad—an order. Who were they?”
The Mina Murray Series Bundle, A Dracula Retelling: Books 1-3 Page 18