Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's)

by Albert Gallant

  Lauren was so happy to see him it was difficult for her to remain angry. “Come here. And why didn’t you call when you found your phone?”

  Michael kissed her to shut her up, hoping that she wouldn’t hit him again. They hugged then kissed passionately until they almost tripped and fell over. He smelled her neck and she smelled like heaven.

  “I got something for you. Here open it.” He gave her the box of chocolates and she threw it down on the coffee table, it landed with a thump. “Easy you might break it.”

  “Break chocolates?”

  “Special chocolates.”

  “I don’t want any stupid chocolates.”

  Michael was anxious but tried not to show it. He hugged her again while whispering into her ear. “Please open the chocolates.”

  “I cannot believe that you had me so worried for nothing.”

  “Open the damn chocolates. Please.”

  Again they kissed and kissed. “Oh, Michael, you taste so good.”

  “Better than pizza?”

  “Much better.”

  “I got something for you. Here open it.” Michael gave her the box of chocolates and she threw it down on the coffee table and it landed with a thump. “Easy, you might break it.”

  “Break chocolates?”

  “They are special chocolates.”

  Lauren’s eyebrows tightened with curiosity. What was so special about a stupid box of chocolates? She shook them and they sounded like ordinary chocolates. Smelling the box she could detect the chocolates inside. She pretended that she was going to put them away. “I’ll open them later.”

  “Lauren please.”

  “Something special inside huh?”

  “Oh my GOD. What is wrong with you? I know you want to open it. I can see it in your face. The curiosity is eating you up from the inside out, and yet you have to play this game. Open it or I’m going to throw it out the window.”

  “Go ahead, throw it out the window.”

  “Are you going to open them or not?”

  “I’d rather make out. Wouldn’t you rather make out?”

  “After you open it.”

  Lauren took her fingernail and sunk it into the plastic wrap, taking her time to open it. The wrap was thrown into the garbage. “There, it’s open. Is Michael happy now?”

  “Keep going.”

  Lauren again shook the box and watched his face. “Every time I shake the box you act as if I can break it. What on earth could be inside a box of chocolates that I could break?”

  Michael let himself fall onto the sofa. “I can be broken I can tell you that.”

  “Ok, ok.” Lauren opened the box of chocolates and thousands of Monarch butterflies flew out, so many that they filled the room. The expression on her face was priceless. She realized that her mouth was open and she closed it, lest a butterfly get in there. After a few seconds they started to gather onto the white wall, one after the other as they apparently waited their turn to take their places. It was a fascinating process to watch. They formed the letter L and then an A.

  “Wow.” Although Michael knew what they were going to do he was impressed nonetheless.

  The sheriff was mesmerized as she watched the words form; she could smell the scent of flowers in the air. It was a beautiful spell, the butterflies weren’t genuine but they sure looked real. Michael had purchased it at a small booth called Special Spells. In just over a minute they had formed the words Lauren, will you marry me? She turned to Michael and gasped. “Oh Michael, yes.”

  The vampire showed her the engagement ring that was under one of the chocolates. It was admired as she put it on. Not long ago the answer would have been no, but with the recent event she now felt didn’t know how long she had, especially as a red sheriff.

  He picked her up and twirled her around.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  KEITH HAD SET UP A 55 INCH ROUND POKER TABLE in the forest with four chairs. He had the dead black bear jammed into one chair as best he could. The decomposing bear was starting to stink but the vampire didn’t notice. The bear had an experienced poker face with no tells, definitely calm and collected. It had told Keith that he had only played a few hands of poker in his life but he didn’t believe it. It wasn’t that he thought the bear was a professional poker player, but he knew he wasn’t a novice either, but that was okay because poker could be serious business. A crow landed on the bear’s head and Keith chased it away.

  Keith dealt the bear five cards and did the same for himself. The bear looked at his cards but Keith couldn’t tell if he had a good hand or not. The bear winked and that threw off his concentration. The vampire winked but then found that he couldn’t stop as it was the birth of a tic. He winked and blinked and winked.

  “Damn it! Now you got me winking like crazy. Stupid bear. Don’t you be cheating this time. We’re only playing for fun. If I win it doesn’t mean that I’m a better man than you are so relax.”

  The black bear nodded and then Keith returned the nod. The bear nodded again and Keith did as well. On the seventh nod he was becoming annoyed but couldn’t seem to stop. It went on for almost five minutes when they both decided to give up on the reciprocal nod.

  “I never cheated.” The bear stared intently at his cards.

  “Bear, don’t tell me you never cheated. The very first hand you had five aces? I know you don’t have sleeves so where did you have that extra ace?”

  The black bear nodded slightly, almost imperceptible. “I don’t like your tone. It was in my left nostril. Are you happy now?”

  Keith blinked several times and nodded. “Now that is smart, for a bear. People think that bears are not smart, but you guys are definitely smart.”

  “Especially for a dead bear.” The bear clapped his paws together. Either the animal had another good hand or he was pretending. Playing poker was all about pretending. The best poker players should have been able to earn Academy awards. Play-acting was the prerequisite to being a great poker man.

  “Let me see inside those nostrils.”

  The bear tilted its head at just the right angle so Keith could stare in his nose. No cards up there just a couple of bear-sized boogers. Keith checked his cards and all he had was a pair of seven’s, so he decided he was going to fake it. He threw out three cards but in the end only had two seven’s. His face showed a big fake smile but it looked disingenuous. He wasn’t fooling the dead bear.

  The black bear sniffed and sniffed his cards, and then he sniffed towards Keith’s hand. “What do you have over there? A pair of seven’s? Smells like a pair of seven’s.”

  “Not a pair of seven’s you asshole!”

  “All right, I’ll raise you a barrel of honey.”

  “I thought you said honey makes you fart?”

  “I’m not gonna eat it I’m gonna sell it back to the bees.”

  “Oh.”

  “And anyway, bears have to fart too.”

  “I suppose. I’ll see you three bottles of whiskey. I’m good for it.”

  The bear nodded. “All right, what do you got?”

  “I got a pair of seven’s. What do you got?”

  “Five more aces.”

  “Damn it. I’ve never seen such a lucky bear!”

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  ABBEY HELD HANDS WITH THE SHERIF as they watched the polar bear at the Central Park Zoo. Gus was swimming and seemed to be having a great time in the 90,000 gallons of freshwater. The bear pawed and moved a chunk of ice around. Gus, spotting his ball, grabbed it and swam on his back. Alexander remembered a photo of polar bears awhile back that had been checking out the fast attack submarine USS Honolulu about three hundred miles from the North Pole. The polar bears had examined the boat for about two hours before finally wandering off. He would have liked to have been there to see that.

  “Did you know that polar bears have been seen swimming as far as two hundred miles from land?” Abbey waited for his response. She hoped that he wasn’t a know-it-all that didn’t as she fou
nd that very unattractive in a man.

  “No, I didn’t know that. They are incredible animals. Nature is fascinating. ”

  “I know. Wish I had a cub for a pet. It would have to be a cub that would stay a cub.”

  “Sounds like a lot of work.” Alexander looked down at her waiting for the right time for the first kiss. “Did you know that it’s only the female polar bears that hibernate in the winter when they birth the cubs?”

  “I didn’t know that. What a harsh environment to live in, I mean in the wild. It’s a good thing they have that fur coat. You wouldn’t think that anything could survive in such cold.”

  He kissed her and she happily returned the affection. She wasn’t sure if it was wise to get involved with a vampire, but what the hell. They kissed a little too long and discovered that people were staring. Moving away they headed for the penguin exhibit. Some of the penguins were standing so still that they didn’t look real. She stared at the four King penguins, seeing them in the flesh was certainly different than seeing them on television. She counted over 30 Chinstrap penguins but then lost count; their names originated from the narrow black lines under their heads which make them look as if they were wearing black helmets, making them one of the most easily identified penguins. The zoo had long-tailed Gentoo penguins as well.

  And then it happened. A vampire was attacking a man right beside them. Alexander pulled his gun and shot, the vampire blurred but ended up right in the line of the bullet. He fell as people screamed; Alexander pulled his sword and decapitated the attacker as Abbey watched him turn to bones. It had been a frightening experience for all.

  Alexander pressed his badge on his left chest. “This is Sheriff Alexander at the Central Park Zoo near the penguin exhibit. I have bones ready for extraction at this location. Video upload is to follow.”

  The voice exited from his red badge was female. “Roger that.”

  People clapped, they knew that without the sheriff being present it would be likely that some of them would not be going home this day. The protection of a red sheriff was much appreciated.

  “Sorry you had to see that Abbey. It was certainly not an image I wanted you to have on our first date.”

  Abbey looked down at the bones of the attacker; she was impressed at how quickly he had responded. His counter attack had been so rapid that it had been blurry. “Don’t apologize. We both know what would have happened had you not been here. Evil gets enough attention it doesn’t need any more. Let’s go have lunch.”

  They both had burgers at the Central Park Zoo Café and talked. Alexander sprinkled flakes of blood on his burger as Abbey added more ketchup to hers. The sheriff continued to love the taste of food, like a hug at the end of a rough day.

  “Abbey, I’m surprised that you weren’t more upset at what happened.”

  She swallowed her hamburger and a mouthful of her delicious Coke. Abbey had always had a thing for Coke. “When that vampire killed my husband it changed me. I’d kill all the bad vampires if I could. I’d have killed that bastard myself.”

  Alexander noticed that a young redheaded woman was staring, obviously attracted to him. Abbey also noticed but said nothing. There was definitely nothing wrong with looking. “You got some passion in you Abbey.”

  “Can I ask you a strange question?”

  “Ask away.”

  “Is it true that vampires don’t go to the washroom? And if so, what happens to the food?”

  “The food gets absorbed so fast that I guess it doesn’t have time to turn into anything.”

  Abbey thought about what she really wanted to bring up, but they were so new as a couple, if they were indeed a couple. A single kiss didn’t make them a couple. It was probably not the time or place, and he might actually think different of her if she brought it up, but it was what was in her heart and so she went with it. She tried to imagine their roles being reversed. How would she respond? No matter how hard she tried she wasn’t a vampire and therefore could not even guess at it with any amount of correctness. She finished her hamburger and wiped the ketchup off her mouth.

  “Abbey, you look like you want to say something? If you’re considering this thing, before it becomes a bigger thing I understand. That’s okay; the truth is best served first. It is so important to be honest. Don’t ignore your feelings.”

  Abbey wiped her mouth. “No, it’s not that at all. I was just wondering. I don’t know how to say it. I don’t want you to think less of me.”

  “What?”

  “Well, Alexander, if I asked you to turn me, would you?”

  Alexander was surprised at the request. The sheriff was not expecting that. “No, I would have to think long and hard on that, as would you. There’s actually a book So You Want to be a Vampire? It lists all the pros and cons of life as one of us. You should definitely read it. But I don’t know if I could do that to you. I would certainly have to know you a lot better.”

  “Do you think less of me for asking?”

  “Not at all. After all I am a vampire. Why don’t you at least wait and see how your daughter handles it. I think that it would be a good way for you the judge. Your family would not be happy.”

  “I know.”

  “What would you like to do now?”

  She thought about it. “We could go back to my place and watch a movie?”

  “How about my place? I have an 80 inch big screen.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  IN THE BOREAL FOREST there were demon voices in the wind.

  Achak exited the wigwam with the large Blood Book under his arm. He placed it on the small antique table and flicked through the pages. The roaring fire behind him warmed his back, cracking and snapping with the consumption of oxygen. It was a pleasant enough morning but he had had a restless night as shadowy figures danced in his dreams, wakening him every hour or so. His eyes were tired from lack of sleep but he had excitement in his heart; he couldn’t wait to get back at it.

  The voices encircled him. Several of the whispers went past one ear and then the other, whispering words of encouragement. One had approached so near that it felt as if it had lingered near his eardrum and he swatted at it. They cut through the air like embers of fire being tossed around.

  The sorcerer performed his own Ghost Dance around the fire, chanting in his deep tone. It was preparations for the spell that was to be unleashed by and into the flames. His voice climbed into the blaze and shimmied into the light of the fire, dancing inside its energy; he repeatedly threw his voice into the fire. A flame leaped a dozen feet above the fire and then fell back into it. His voice was smooth and yet at times overemotional as he connected to some of the spirit souls. They wanted out into the physical world so much that some of them cried. Achak’s vision blurred but that didn’t stop him.

  “Ya ta heyyyyy Ohoooooooooo.”

  The fire burned from more than a dozen spelled logs and was more than twice as tall as Achak. It snapped and popped as it sent out awful smells of burnt flesh. The smell was so strong that he could detect its salty taste. The yellow, blue and gold flame had a life of its own, containing malevolent spirits desperately hoping for their opportunity to flee. Skulls were observed floating in the flames as they tried to escape but could not. A single torso was burning near the very top of the fire. Several hearts of fire were seen and observed by the wizard; he was transfixed by the sounds of those beating hearts for a time as they had synchronised with his own heart. It felt as though his chest was on fire from the inside, intimately connected to the enchantment.

  Being a wizard was tricky business. The magic could turn on him without sufficient spells of protection, but sometimes the error was in knowing how much protection was enough. It involved supernatural substances that no one fully understood, and even the so-called experts had holes in their body of knowledge that one could run a freight train through. Playing with the unknown was not for those with weak spirits. It was trial and error and the exper
ience of both was what shaped a wizard. The Blood Book called to him like a naked lady in the night. It was a large tome that contained such a high level of magic that wizards felt its pull from miles away. Achak picked up his black coffee and downed the remainder of it.

  Achak stood turning pages in the book. He needed to get back to the same spell that he had been perusing last night, and normally it wasn’t a problem as the book usually started with the last thing viewed.

  The Blood Book that had attached itself to Achak was now only showing him evil spells. He had increased his level of negative energy to such a degree that he had caught the attention of evil ghosts. Those evil spirits were now stretching from one dimension to another. They now played with his mind and clawed at his soul with razor sharp talons. One threw a ball of fire out of the flames and when it burst at his feet the spirit took some satisfaction that it had interacted with the outside world; it hoped for its release and the taste of fresh blood. The sound of the crackling fire was soothing to the wizard like the pleasant sound of rain on a tent.