CHAPTER 21: DISNEYLAND (5)

1

The chaos on the highway. What rose into the air were screams instead of honks, and it wasn't road rage, although there was plenty of rage wherever you looked. Damien's body rose, moving in a clumsy and artificial manner, like a puppet handled by someone who wasn't even good at it. Or who was missing a few strings. Not to mention the entire head. Which didn't last long. His head regenerated as he staggered forward in what should have been blind, but the creature acted as if not having a head was no impediment to seeing.

Men and women fell everywhere, cars forced to stop, victims torn along with glass and metal, twisting, scratching, biting.

Even babies suffered the same fate, being infected, although they wouldn't be particularly effective vampires without teeth or the ability to stand, by the way.

But this wasn't a sane massacre, with some purpose.

It was madness perpetrated to the rhythm of the instinct of beings who were themselves newborns.

Driven mad by pain.

By the taste of a new form of life. By the sensation of sunlight on their skin for the first time.

It's not like they were going to turn into a pile of ashes from sun exposure, but from the effect it had on them, they instinctively understood that they now existed in a world where they were undesirable, where they could only exist in darkness.

So there were the screams of terror from the victims, who died and were revived as vampires.

And there were also the screams of the vampires themselves, raging at their fate. Those screams drowned out the honks, the cars, the shattering glass, everything else.

Both types of screams were an infernal cacophony on their own.

In this hell of asphalt, glass, guts, and blood, who were the torturers and who were the tortured?

There seemed to be no way to know.

It didn't seem to have any meaning even if there was.

After all, both sides were in hell. There wasn't really one that suffered more. Both were condemned to hell. That was what mattered in the end.

And the simple fact that this massacre couldn't be hidden, no matter what the powers in the shadows tried. So many years of effort and sacrifice. So many years of fighting the monsters in the shadows. Executing them, keeping their growth at bay.

The fragile house of cards that was always destined to fall apart would fall today.

And its impact would be felt around the world. It would be like the largest earthquake in history.

Although it wasn't really that much.

Although it would only mean going back to the beginning. When humanity was still young and had very good reasons to be afraid of the dark.

2

"What a disaster!"

The Watchtower was coming down. Not literally, not yet at least, but everything indicated that it wouldn't be long before it became literal. Even the highest-ranking officials were running around like ants whose anthill was being crushed and since they practically came from another world, they couldn't resist or hide.

"The cannibal forest was still not contained, and now this. Is it really going to end like this?"

A thousand years of effort. A carefully crafted masquerade for the good of the entire world, so they could live peaceful lives. It had always been something fragile, hanging from a precipice. Sooner or later it would fall apart. That was something that had been known from the beginning. But no one ever thought it would be their turn to live it, although, like everything in this world, it was only a matter of time.

"I need a list of all the agents near the area! We have to do everything to cover this up, whatever it takes! Kill them all, erase memories, make it look like an accident, poisonous gas, whatever it takes, whatever we can do."

Most were aware that it was already too late. No one could cover up a disaster of this scale. Maybe a hundred years ago or even just fifty, but it was simply impossible in the age of satellites, cameras, the internet.

Even so, they couldn't just sit around waiting for the end.

No one wanted to feel like someone on death row.

So the little ants went to obey useless orders, striving uselessly.

3

Dracula got tired of the woman whose name he had already forgotten, of the stupid game and the prize they weren't going to give him. He was magnanimous enough, to his own surprise, not to tear that woman apart for insulting him.

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And for thinking she could offer herself as some kind of prize.

She wasn't that special anyway. In any case, if he wanted something from her, he could simply hypnotize her and turn her into his sex slave.

Not that he was interested, but what the hell was that about a date? What good was it to him? None, of course, none. He took what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted.

So Dracula left there empty-handed...

It felt like something was wrong, but he supposed it was better to restrain himself (at least for now) than to cause a scandal and have the organizers close the place and call the authorities as soon as they found the mangled corpse.

He could keep trying to enjoy Disneyland, although things weren't going well for him at the moment, that could change. Damn, why not? There were attractions everywhere and he had only visited a handful.

Maybe the one that would make him understand why this place was so damn famous and why people had fun here in the first place was just around the corner.

He hoped.

Anyway, what else could he do? Cross his fingers, hope.

And go see what that Pirates of the Caribbean thing was about. At first, he wasn't interested at all in either pirates or that place called the Caribbean, but for some reason, he ended up thinking about it more than he should, that is, more than anything else.

It was worth taking a look to see if there was a good reason to be interested.

The only thing he could lose was time and he had literally all the time in the world.

When the show ended, Dracula had to admit he was impressed. It was a good story, although a bit sad. So much effort to maintain his evil empire (a modest ship, but he did what he could) only for a drunken effeminate man to come and ruin all the protagonist's plans. They didn't even give him time to deliver a good line, that is, to lick his wounds and think about how to try again.

Shame.

Real shame.

But he was impressed. By Davy Jones. He had never heard his story before. It must have happened in the years he had been asleep. A thousand years gave way to many things, if he had learned anything from the modern world, it was that. Everything had changed. Not step by step but by leaps and bounds. The traces of the past were barely visible anymore.

Maybe that's why he approached that octopus from behind with a smile on his face.

"Hey."

He turned to him. If he were less intelligent and astute, he would have sworn that Davy Jones had been quite startled by his sudden appearance. Which of course was nonsense. Someone like him wouldn't be afraid of a stranger. That was the key word. He couldn't know he was Dracula, so he had no reason to fear him.

For now. We'll see how the negotiations go.

Although he didn't really plan to negotiate.

He had seen what he wanted and had made a decision. That was all.

"Join me."

Davy Jones didn't even blink.

"You mean you're going to hire me?"

Dracula supposed that wasn't an incorrect way to put it.

"That's right. I'll pay you with the blood and flesh of the innocent."

"What the hell are you talking about, friend? I don't know what you're getting at, or who wears a suit to Disneyland..."

"Me."

"But explain yourself. Is this some kind of role-playing game?"

Dracula got bored of negotiating, so he waved a hand and hypnotized him.

Well, the game had been nice while it lasted, but he wasn't very patient. Rather, he wanted what he wanted right now, like everyone else. It wasn't strange at all.

"I'll join you," said Davy Jones.

His octopus tentacles were strangely still and his face was strange too, but it was, he had impressed him or rather fallen into sympathy perhaps.

In any case, he would be a good toy. Until he got bored of him, like any other toy.

By the way...

A terrible headache struck him.

He knew Justin had died.

"Damn, I leave them at home so calmly and they still find a way to get into trouble. Damn it."

Dracula suddenly got serious.

Because the contemporary way of speaking of humans was starting to take its toll on him, it was clear. Elegance. He should speak more elegantly.

"Come with me, my friend."

The hypnotized Davy Jones followed him, staggering without protest, of course.

"You're going to be a good pawn. It's good that you've left that thing about being tied to a ghost ship. It was a nice touch, part of the whole ghost pirate effect, but it severely limited your options. And your ability to have fun. But don't worry. I'll show you how it's done."

He was an expert in so many things that he couldn't even count them for obvious reasons.

In boredom, of course, but he also knew how to have fun. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lasted so long. Otherwise, surely one of his various deaths would have been the final one.

If life had a trick, it was knowing how to have fun.

4

Alex was sweating in front of her superiors. Daniela too, but it was a bit hard for her to worry about her right now. All she could think was: you had to open your mouth, of course.

Even clearer that it was something unfair, neither of them had known before opening their mouths, the only fault Daniela had was speaking before her. Irrational.

Unfair. That's why she hadn't said anything to her and wouldn't.

But right now she was a bit upset, because if they had pretended to be as surprised as the rest of the world, they could have avoided the interrogation, no more.

As far as she knew, the self-proclaimed Dracula wasn't even involved in the crisis situation, so this at least seemed doubly unnecessary.

Anyway, the job had its advantages... There must be some.

And inconveniences like this.

Alex sighed.

When she said they were sweating in front of their superiors, she didn't even mean it literally. Their giant faces floated in a circle around them. It would be easier and faster to achieve the same with technology, but the Watchtower had its customs and its pride, so they felt the need to put on this extravagant show as if shouting that technology was superior.

However, she didn't see them abandoning their tablets and computers, no sir.

She understood why. She didn't have to like it, but she understood why.

Anyway, given the circumstances, it was most likely that they wouldn't bother her with their rules and traditions and all that for much longer. The main question would be who would go up in flames first, them or the Watchtower along with the fragile masquerade for the sake of which it existed.

Disneyland (5): FIN