The Dragon Coin

by Aiden James

  “Isn’t it always, Judas?” He snickered sadly. “Whether chasing your coins, eternal peace, or happiness on earth with those you love, time is always against us.”

  Chapter Ten

  The beach near the dilapidated pier in Budva wasn’t as crowded as I feared it would be when the sun finally descended into the sea along the western horizon. However, the logistics of how our plan would work remained a constant worry for me, especially since there would likely be a number of witnesses from nearly every vantage point near the pier. Then again, it wasn’t Roderick’s or my idea to be here at dusk. It was Dracul’s.

  More like a command to be here, and it came to us written in blood—his third such correspondence since contacting Roderick in D.C. less than a week earlier. After arriving in Podgorica that afternoon, we raced back to our hotel room in Budva, hoping we’d receive at least a clue as to where he had taken my family.

  We found more than that waiting for us, of course. This time, the rose was white, with only a slight coat of crimson along the stem. Surely this was to ensure the handwritten message avoided the blood drench obscuring much of the first two messages. Only a slight trickle escaped the stem, dripping down the flat screen television’s face that it and the note had been carefully placed upon.

  Return at dusk to the pier where you were collected previously. My carriage will be waiting.

  That was it. No signature, and worse, nothing as to the fate of Beatrice, Alistair, and Amy. If not for the familiar exaggerated script favored by him, I might’ve believed the note came from someone else, someone with limited knowledge as to what in the hell was going on.

  “He will continue to toy with us,” Roderick assured me, as I began to tremble again, staring helplessly at the white budded messenger.

  A symbol of innocence and purity for longer than my earthly existence, this one laced in blood was especially unsettling. As if instead of the rose, I looked upon the prone carcasses of my wife and son. I wanted to scream. Yet, knowing how futile it was to speculate on their condition, I bottled the powerful flood of emotions within my heart and looked away.

  “He toys with more than just you and me,” I said, weakly, moving over to our lone window. “I can’t bear to consider the torment Alistair and Amy are enduring as we speak. And, the love of my life…what shall become of Beatrice?”

  “It’s not too late, Judas. I assure it upon my very soul, they remain unharmed.” Roderick came up behind me, and gently patted my shoulder. “We still have time to lure him out.”

  “No, we don’t!” I snapped at him. “They’ll be dead tonight, and perhaps he’ll impale them all while we travel in his accursed Jaguar! It’s almost five o’clock, and sunset will be here within the next three hours.”

  “All the more reason to make our plan,” said Roderick, moving to his bed, where his laptop case lay unopened. “I’ll contact Andrew and see if the girl is ready to step out as bait.”

  “Christ, will you not let that absurd notion go?!” I seethed. “It’s frigging nonsense, Rod, to think Dracul is going to give a damn about some kid who can identify him as a day-walker! What we need is a plan for just you and me. No one else can save our asses and those we love this time!”

  He paused to study me, and I expected him to make a renewed plea. Perhaps he was about to do that very thing, but he caught himself just before speaking again. He shook his head wearily.

  “All right,” he said, powering on his computer and pulling out a chair from the room’s lone desk. “What do you have in mind?”

  Actually, nothing, at least not at first. Perhaps it was the intimidation of Roderick tapping his fingers against the face of his MAC that initially threw me off course. But for the next minute, my mind was a complete blank. I almost considered following his plan instead, after thinking about our need to take Dracul and his small army of henchmen and vampires by surprise.

  An impossible task, it seemed. The worst thing about it was Dracul already knew we were back in Budva. Not to mention, the bleeding rose and note preempted any other fantasies of sneaking up on him.

  “We need to get inside his castle without an escort this time,” I said, drawing a look of surprise from Roderick. “Although we can’t be certain as to whether it’s Arso, Gajo, or Markia coming for us tonight, or even whether they’re driving a horse-drawn carriage or luxury car, we will lose the contest the minute we step inside whatever vehicle arrives for us. I may lack your sentient abilities, Rod, but I’m as sure of this as anything I’ve ever known.”

  He stared at me as if he had become a catatonic mute, and didn’t flinch for the better part of a full minute. All the evidence I needed to know he hadn’t considered the early trap being set for us. Like me, his focus was on how to rescue three precious hostages and avoid being impaled in the process. We assumed we wouldn’t have to worry about our personal survival until we stood before our nemesis a second time. Exactly what Vlad would want, and I pictured him relishing the treachery that would be mere icing upon his sadistic designs.

  “On such short notice, what do you propose we do to avoid it? It’s not like we can rent a tank or a Hummer and run over them when the mist clears and the road to the castle reappears.”

  “A big vehicle wouldn’t work,” I told him, seeing a different ‘plan’ form before my mind’s eye. The irony he was now panicking while I carried the torch of hope brought an elfin smile to my face. “Do you sense any voyeurism going on at present?”

  “Why are you asking me this?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? We’re in Dracul’s realm, and have been since we arrived in Rome the other day.” I quietly motioned with my eyes toward the ceiling in each corner of the room—the very thing he had done in Rome earlier. “Do you sense him?”

  He followed my gaze and then performed his own protective scan around the room, pausing to close his eyes as if confirming with his deeper senses what his physical vision revealed.

  “Not sure, but likely no,” he said, shivering as if suddenly bombarded by contradictory signals. “My gut tells me he’s viewing our whereabouts without the expenditure of full energy.”

  “What? Like he’s saving it up for later?”

  It was intended as a small, sarcastic joke. Roderick’s worried gaze that quickly intensified was answer enough.

  “Save your words and thoughts, old boy,” I told him, feeding off my own sudden wave of inspiration. “I’ve got an idea here, move over and let me see your laptop.”

  “Huh? But—”

  “Shhh!”

  Ahhh, it was a sweet moment where the spiritual student held the upper hand. He almost resisted, but must have gained something from the images roiling around inside my head.

  “Carry on, Judas,” he said, grinning slightly. “I just hope you know what in the hell you’re doing.”

  Honestly, so did I.

  * * * * *

  “Are you thinking happy thoughts, my good man?”

  Roderick smiled in response to me, before returning his gaze toward the open water beyond the pier. Twilight would give way to darkness soon, and in fact was already losing the battle to hang onto the last vestiges of the sun’s rays. The day’s humid warmth had yet to ebb, cooled only by a slight breeze blowing toward us from the sea. I could tell my druid buddy was a tad irritated. His sunglasses had fogged up again, yet I let the balminess embrace me. Meanwhile, I allowed myself to think only of what I hoped to accomplish, to secure Beatrice, Alistair, and Amy’s freedom. I pictured Dracul listening to my impassioned plea for leniency, and then granting his mercy upon both Roderick and me, and finally releasing us all. To be given safe transport back to this very beach in Budva.

  Tony Robbins would be so proud.

  The ruse was necessary. If he were to discover what Roderick and I had spent the last two hours procuring, our welcoming committee would likely consist of vampire drone strikes instead of some version of a luxury welcome wagon, as we expected.

  “‘I see trees of green, red roses too.
I see ‘em bloom for me and you.’”

  “Ha! That’s the spirit, my brother. But easy on the roses, especially the red ones, if you don’t mind.”

  “Well, okay, Judas. ‘And I think to myself, what a wonderful world’.”

  “Glad I don’t have to listen to you sing much, since a wonderful world would be an impossibility if that were the case.”

  “I’m no worse than you.”

  “In your dreams, Rod.”

  At least we had something to laugh about. The sky grew darker as the day’s light faded. Still, occasional couples strode past us. I worried they might keep our reclusive host at bay until the night was fully upon us. The pull of the waves gently crashing against the shore and the pier ahead provided enough peace to quiet my mind, until I worried that maybe a beach patron, or patrons, would fall under the spell of Dracul’s spirit and approach us. It certainly could unnerve me if done deceptively.

  “Quiet your mind, my friend. Don’t give him any ideas.” Roderick chuckled.

  “I’m picturing Elysian Fields, and a land filled with milk and honey…damn it!” I teased, pausing to scan our surroundings once again. I smiled and waved at an older couple that studied us as they walked past. Their smiles were weak, but non-threatening. “Nothing but Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, and….”

  I believe we both heard it at the same time. A rumble coming from the depths of the sea, it sounded like an earthquake. The ground shook below us, and yet the last few beach visitors around us seemed oblivious of the turmoil going on beneath the sand. We fought to remain standing, holding on to each other as another sound arose from less than a mile from the pier.

  If I had never experienced first hand the power of Dracul’s mind, or gone through what we had endured the past couple of days, I would’ve fled the area. Even the casual responses of people around us would’ve caused alarm. But knowing we had stepped out of our reality and into the one our enemy flourished in was enough to keep us where we stood.

  What sounded like heavy boulders crashing into the water a quarter mile from the pier was followed by the sound of a high performance engine racing toward the beach from the empty sea. Preposterous no more, I scanned the area on either side and behind us. At least some people seemed to give a damn about leaving the beach before curfew hit, but those that remained continued to appear carefree.

  “He’s coming.”

  “You think?”

  Yes, I couldn’t resist one last fear-killing, playful barb.

  “I’m going to find a way to royally pay you back, once this is over, Judas.”

  “Hey, it’s just the price for admission into my world.” I laughed. I could make out the sides of a highway bridge and the sudden appearance of a thickening mist above it.

  “Well, it does appear your price is escalating, and might not be affordable for much longer. Should we grab the bikes yet?”

  He reached down and grazed his fingertips across the Suzuki’s handle bar. We had purchased two GSXs that evening, selecting the darkest models the local dealer carried. Again, thinking happy thoughts as if we had instead purchased mopeds for some sightseeing, we brought the bikes to the beach and prayed no one took issue with us bringing them to within a hundred feet of the water’s edge. Maybe the endearing vibrations worked to keep the local police at bay as well as an ancient, and apparently overconfident, vampire.

  “Not yet…let them get a little closer,” I advised, pleased he was letting me call the shots entirely for this one. “We want to make sure Vlad’s wonderful world fully materializes.”

  I said this with glee, picturing Coney Island and Disneyworld. This was going to be such fun! ...Well, it could be delightful as presently possible, so long as the high-powered luxury sedan continued to race toward us. A calculated gamble based on prior facts, it came from information gleaned from only one experience, the one last night.

  The sedan raced on, just behind the mist closing in on the pier and shoreline like a Tsunami tidal wave. By then, I believe Roderick and I both understood the dimension had changed and the stragglers on the beach were no longer aware of our presence.

  When the misty wave drew within five hundred feet of the pier, I motioned it was time. We hurriedly picked up our motorcycles and started the engines. By the time the mist hit the edge of the pier, Roderick and I were racing toward it on the bikes through the sand.

  As I feared, the sedan began to slow down as the road consumed the pier. But, as I hoped, it was traveling too fast to stop before it reached the edge, and the ramp from last night suddenly appeared at the water’s edge.

  “It’s Showtime!” I shouted, and Roderick let out a tribal yell from his mortal days in Britain. We headed straight for the sedan, another Jaguar, this time red. He knew we had little room for error. There was only so much free space on the narrow one lane highway to Dracul’s castle, and the car took up ninety percent of it.

  Arso and Gajo’s surprised faces stared back at us when we closed to within forty feet. A head-on crash seemed imminent. Nonetheless, we rocketed up the ramp as the car went airborne. Call it the grace or providence of The Almighty, as miraculously I veered far enough to the right to squeeze the bike in between the sedan and the edge of the bridge. I sped on by before Gajo tried to crush me. Roderick, however, hit the vehicle head on.

  My heart sank, and I almost turned to go back for him. I stopped and waited, ever fearful the crash lacerations would prove fatal to him. But then his tall frame peered over the top of the bike as it climbed over the car.

  How in the hell?!...

  Roderick’s Suzuki flew through the air and nearly crashed next to where I waited.

  “You are still a cat with nine lives!” I exclaimed, beside myself with joy that he remained among the living.

  For those interested, Roderick’s healing process is similar to mine, though not nearly as quick. Lacerations take a few hours to regenerate new tissue. But, broken bones can take considerably longer. And, if set incorrectly, he shares the same condition with our mortal brethren, and will either have to live with a permanent infirmity or have the bones re-broken and reset.

  “It’s too early to celebrate, and I believe I spent several of those lives just now,” he said, pointing to his right ankle, and his foot that dangled at an impossible angle. I reached for it, but he stopped me, restarting his bike that had stalled with his left foot. Meanwhile, the Jaguar was spinning sand on the beach as it made its way back to the ramp. “Three vamps are in the back seat, including our new friend, Markita.”

  I recalled her incredible strength from last night, when she brought Roderick and me to where Dracul waited.

  “We can outrun them—the Suzukis can stay ahead of the Jag,” I said, preparing to turn back toward the castle looming in the distance. Unlike our previous visit, it looked much bigger and definitely closer. “Let’s go!”

  Together we sped toward the castle no longer sheltered by the mist. The mighty fortress’s spires glistened in the moonlight. But unlike last night, the edifice was dark inside. No fiery lights were visible from within, as if the windows were either cloaked or empty.

  Meanwhile, we managed to put more distance between our pursuers and us. I started to feel better about eluding them and set my attention on the massive gate ahead. It appeared to be opening.

  “Looks like we’ve got a straight shot—”

  “They’re coming up fast—all three have left the car and are headed for us!” Roderick warned, pulling my attention behind us. Three black silhouettes sped toward us through the air. Vampires. Highly aggressive, and seemingly very angry vampires. The bikes were approaching two hundred kilometers per hour, but the vamps were moving much faster. “We can’t outrun them!”

  “The hell you say!”

  I was determined to beat the trio to the castle, and then deal with them there, if necessary. Yet, to my surprise and horror, the gate began to close rapidly. Did I mention the sharp spikes along the bottom of the gate? I assumed Vlad had them custom made
for occasions such as this.

  “We’re going to crash! We won’t…”

  “Yes, we will make it, Rod—hang on!” I prayed he stayed with me, and I gunned the engine. Meanwhile, the gate had nearly closed, lacking roughly a dozen feet until it locked us out of the castle. The unsettling screeches and venomous threats from the inhuman trio were close enough for me to understand the Serbian inflections.

  I worried about Roderick’s leg, and what would happen to the rest of his physical body if we crashed into the gate or any other unforgiving object. Yet, I had no choice but to leave his fate and person in the hands of The Almighty. We would reach the gate in a matter of seconds, as it finished closing. I pushed the throttle fully open, and less than a second before I crashed into the gate’s unforgiving iron teeth, I laid the bike down and tumbled in through the slightest of openings.

  But at least I was inside the not-so-humble abode of one Vlad Tepes. Dracul.

  Chapter Eleven

  It took me a moment to awaken, lying on a cold marble floor. I had no immediate idea where I was, and only knew I had broken several ribs, both legs, and my right arm that had shielded my head. The room—an immense chamber judging by the echoed sound of water dripping in a far corner—was dimly lit, with a pair of torches more than one hundred feet apart. As my eyes adjusted to the murkiness, I remembered the crash and how I had slipped inside the main gate to Vlad Tepes’ latest castle in his long, bloody reign.

  Roderick…where is he? Did he survive?!

  I wanted to call out into the dimness, but waited for my eyes and ears to fully adjust to my newfound environment. Since Dracul’s vampire breed doesn’t breathe air, as we commonly understand that process, my ears would have to pick up on some other sign to let me know if I was being observed or not, and if I was in immediate danger. Dracul’s presence permeated the fortress’s interior, which I already expected. And, in truth, I could feel him. Obviously, even without this notion, he surely knew I had made it inside the gate. After all, someone inside the castle worked furiously to try and keep us out by lowering the damned thing.