Dracula Prologue: Undying Love

There was a knock at the door. Count Dracula rose from his chair and crossed the room in one swift motion. He adjusted his outfit and made sure that everything was in order for the arrival that he had been waiting for. Pausing a short while for dramatic effect, he eventually opened the door as slowly as possible, emphasising the sinister creak that he had no intention of fixing.

        

Stood on his doorstep was not, however, the person that he had been expecting.

It was a woman swathed in robes as black as night. Her head and arms emerged from the cloak with skin whiter than a full moon. When she opened her mouth to smile, she displayed her set of sharp fangs, from which blood trickled down. She had brought nothing with her, it seemed, only silence, as the two of them stood facing each other, saying nothing, because it had all already been said.

        

“Hello,” said Dracula simply. His ice-cold heart was pounding in his chest.

        

“Sorry about this,” said the woman, as she wiped the blood away from around her mouth. “I feasted on a young farmhand on the way over here. Couldn’t resist. There he was, in the field, sweet as anything. Just crying out for the kiss of a vampire. Bit greedy of me, really. I’m planning to attack a family of four on holiday in the woods tonight. But now I might only be hungry enough for the parents. What a shame. But I can always go back for the orphans later.”

        

“What are you doing here, Susan?” he asked. All those times he had offered her the chance to come round and talk things through over a goblet, and she had always declined. Yet she had decided to come tonight.

        

“Just stopped by,” she said, “to check on my castle. And it is mine, remember? I got the house and the carriages, and you got to keep the coffins and the CDs. Can I come in?”

        

“You don’t even have to ask,” said the Count.

        

“Actually, I do,” she said. “Can’t step over the threshold without an invitation. You know the rules. I mean, you invented most of them.”

        

Susan glided through the door, which slammed shut behind her, and took a seat at the elongated dining table. Dracula sat at the opposite end, almost a mile away.

        

“Are you expecting company?” she asked, noticing how tidy everything was.

        

“Yes,” said Dracula. “I’ve got some friends coming over. Well, a friend. Well, an acquaintance. Well, a complete stranger, actually. But there is definitely a human being who will be stepping through those doors any minute now. So if you could just get on with whatever it is you wanted...”

        

“Oh, always in such a hurry,” said Susan, laughing. “That’s one of the reasons why I had to leave you. One of the many, many, many... Don’t give me that look. You know it’s true. Anyway, I came to pick up a few of my things, that’s all. I left some of my other black robes here, when I left. Do you know how hard it is to find these in shops? I refuse to buy eveningwear in somewhere called ‘Just For Fun’.”

        

Dracula directed her to the nearby cupboard with his thin, bony finger, and Susan went to retrieve her belongings.

        

“That’s three of them,” she said, examining the pile of clothes, “but I’m sure I left four here.”

        

The Count pulled the robe that he was wearing closer around his body, as though that might hide its origins. His ex-wife looked him up and down, by no means fooled by him, and raised an eyebrow.

        

“When you left,” he said sheepishly, “I couldn’t get the washing machine to work. I’ve been running a little low on clothes, so...”

        

“No, that’s fine,” said Susan. “I mean, if you want to wear my robes, then good for you. And while I’m here, by the closet, there’s something else in here. You!”

        

“Susan, we’re not having this discussion again!” said Dracula angrily. “I’ll have you know, as soon as you left me, I went out and converted three young girls into vampires. They’re here, in the castle, at my beck and call. So, I guess that debunks your theory, doesn’t it?”

        

Susan wasn’t convinced. “And what about this friend of yours?” she asked. “The one who’s coming over? Is it a man?”

        

“Well, yes,” said the Count. “But it’s not like that. He’s my estate agent. I’m buying a house, in London. I have to, don’t I? You’re taking my home from me. I don’t see why you get my castle, anyway. My family have owned this land for centuries, so why do you just get it handed to you on a plate, for free? It’s not like I even get your semi-detached in Swindon.”

        

Susan checked her watch. “Look,” she said. “It’s getting late. I only came for these.” She held up the robes. “And you can keep that one. Something to remember me by.”

        

Count Dracula led her to the door, where they said their goodbyes.

        

“Try to find someone,” she said. “I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”

        

She rubbed his arm softly, and made a patronising noise that was usually only reserved for kittens and puppies. Not, that is, that these two vampires had much to do with either of those.

        

Realising how pathetic his ex-wife must have thought him, Dracula called out into the darkness after her.

        

“I don’t need your sympathy!” he said. “I’m a Count!”

        

“Well,” she said, “almost. You’re only one letter out, I suppose.”

        

And then she was gone, into the dead of night. Dracula closed the door and collapsed against it. He was so drained, so tired. His head ached and so did his heart. He wiped the tears from his eyes and composed himself, when there was another knock at the door. This, he knew, would be the guest he had been expecting.

        

He opened the door, but had no opportunity to introduce himself.

        

“Say ‘cheese’!” said the new arrival immediately. He wore a huge grin on his face, like a child on Christmas morning.

        

Then, Dracula was blinded by a great flash that could only assume had come from the camera than the excited man was holding.

        

“This Kodak’s fantastic!” said the man on the doorstep excitedly. “Pleased to meet you, I’m Jonathan Harker.”

        

“Charmed,” said the Count, putting all thought of his lost love to the back of his mind. He had work to do. “I am Dracula.”