“As soon as Dimiti’s neck is healed, we leave,” Hailwic said. Her tone left no room for argument. “We head directly to Paris. Then London if we’re too late. No more exploring. Whatever Dracula has gotten us into, we need to cut its head off.”

“Yes, Hailwic,” Vasilja sighed. “And when we find him, I really shall let Senka bite him. He’s ruined my holiday.”

“This wasn’t a holiday.”

“Well, it was for me. I was even beginning to enjoy it. I wanted to go to Munich.”

“We’ll still pass through Munich.”

“Yes, but it’s not the same. We’ll be in a rush.” Her eyes narrowed slightly, almost hopeful. “Unless you plan on letting us stay a few days…”

“The longer we remain in one place, the more likely it is they’ll find us again. We need to be more careful than ever. These hunters sound too organised for my liking. I can’t believe they deliberately sent one man. I think he was only supposed to be watching us. He saw Dimiti leave the room and took his chance. The others won’t be so foolish, I feel.”

“Senka was lucky.”

“Yes, she was.” Hailwic paced the room. Fists at her sides. “It mustn’t happen again. We were stupid, Vasilja. Stupid to let our guard down. It’s been too long since we left the castle. We’ve forgotten how dangerous it is. How easy it can be to reveal what we are.”

“You’re overreacting, Hailwic.”

“The coffeehouse we went to. They had mirrors along the wall. Mirrors! And we didn’t even pay attention to them. These cursed lights ensure the rooms are bright enough anyone could notice our lack of reflection in them.”

“Really. Overreacting.”

“No, I’m not. We’ll stay away from the coffeehouses.”

“Honestly, Hailwic. Please. You really are overreacting. This is a city. People are not as religious as they used to be. Haven’t you listened? People don’t talk about God anymore. Or our Master. They talk about science. They discuss the philosophies of maths, architecture, and poetry. I listened to a man talking about how he was interpreting people’s dreams. Their dreams, Hailwic. A hundred years ago, he’d have been burned at the stake for even thinking about such nonsense.”

“Can’t you see that’s even more dangerous? They’ll not settle for a stake. They’ll want proof. Evidence. They’ll cut us up. Dig around inside our bodies with their knives. Holmwood had all kinds of instruments in his bag. Take a look if you don’t believe me.”

Vasilja took the small couch by the window and shook her head as she positioned herself elegantly. She brushed her dress smooth before folding her hands on her lap. “You should hear yourself. You’re being paranoid.”

“Protective.”

“Possessive.”

“Promise me, Vasilja. I know you. You’ll test the limits of what I’m saying. But promise me you’ll be careful. Especially with Senka. She’s the one I worry for most of all. She lacks our experience.”

“You can’t blame me for how she is. You can blame him. He seduced her with his Bargain. You know, she actually dreams about it. Dreams she’s leading armies all over Europe. Crushing them all in Lucifer’s name. I wake before her, and I hear her talking to herself.”

“We all hold to the Bargain.”

“That’s rubbish, Hailwic, and you know it.” Vasilja snorted. “What have we done to achieve it? When was the last time we performed a sacrifice? Fifty years? More? Dracula has hidden in his decaying old loft for all that time. He hasn’t done a thing. And has he even heard from our Master? I’m beginning to wonder if he even cares what we’re doing now. If he gave up on it a long time ago.”

“Dracula hasn’t forgotten the Bargain. How could he?”

“I don’t know. But something changed in him after he found Senka.”

“She changed us all.”

“Not me. I haven’t changed.”

“Of course you have. Did you even dare argue with me before she arrived? You used to hide in my shadow like a little mouse.” Hailwic twisted her mouth. “I think I preferred you like that, sometimes.”

Vasilja gazed back, her eyes drained of emotion. “Hailwic! What an awful thing to suggest.”

“Just don’t let her out of your sight. Keep her close.”

“Fine.” Vasilja waved an arm and slumped her shoulders. “I’ll put a little leash on her, if you like. You did that to me, remember?”

“It worked.”

“It was humiliating.”

“As I said,” Hailwic’s grin was malicious. “It worked.”

Vasilja’s mouth curled. “Beast.”

“Mouse.”

The affection in her voice made Vasilja wince as she half-expected the other vampire to reach across and pat her on the head. Sighing, she turned the conversation. “What did the lawyer say?”

“Only that he hasn’t heard from Dracula in months. That our finances are still doing well. He wants to invest in a company which is researching ways to change these cursed gas lights to electrical ones.”

“Electrical?” Vasilja raised an eyebrow. “That sounds exciting.”

“It’s apparently the next big thing. All the cities are investing in it, he claims. Paris. London. He wants to rush into it before it’s too late.”

“Why doesn’t he, then? It sounds very sensible to me.”

“Magnin isn’t releasing the funds. He seems to believe that electricity is a fad. And Dracula hasn’t yet replied to letters requesting funds to be allocated.”

“What is he doing, Hailwic? Dracula, not the lawyer.”

“I don’t know.” Pause. “I thought he might be searching for another Bride. But now? I’m not so sure. Perhaps he’s not going to London after all. We could be wrong about that…”

Hailwic’s voice trailed off as she stared out the window at the glittering lights which dotted the streets.

Vasilja tugged at her lip, thinking.

Watching as the eldest paced.

“You said this vampire hunter was from London, Hailwic?”

“Yes.” Thoughtful.

“Do you promise not to get mad?”

Stopped rigid. Turned slowly, fists curling out into claws. “What did you do?”

“Well, nothing. I didn’t do anything at all.”

“Then what didn’t you do?”

“I might have forgotten to tell you something.”

“Forgotten.”

“Must you make this difficult?”

Hailwic flew across the room. Snarl hissing through lips. Fangs revealed in the soft gaslight. Reaching with her long arm, she snatched Vasilja tight by the dress. Jerked her out of the couch and lifted so the younger vampire’s head was brushing the ceiling.

Vasilja winced, but didn’t try to shake free. She’d learnt a long time ago how pointless such a struggle would be.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Hailwic’s eyes burned fiercely. “What haven’t you told me?”

“Hailwic, you’re really being very emotional about this. Can’t you put me down, please? Let’s talk about this like sisters.”

“Tell me!”

It was Senka who answered, sliding gracefully into the room without a sound. “We already know for sure that he’s going to London,” she said. “And why. Jonathan Harker had a fiancée. Vasilja said Dracula wants to make her one of us. I think that’s silly. Isn’t three Brides more than enough?”

Hailwic’s eyes blazed. “You knew where he was going, and you let me wander all over Europe?”

“We’ve hardly gone anywhere in a hundred years,” Vasilja complained. “I wanted to come to Vienna. That’s all. It’s not even out of our way. We’d have had to come here to go to London anyway, Hailwic. Honestly, I didn’t think it was important for us to hurry.”

“You told Senka!”

“Well, I had to tell her something. You know what she’s like. She was bored. She wanted to bring the whole castle with her. And she wanted to find him, too. I just wanted you both to enjoy the journey.”

“If hunters came after us, what have they sent after him? Vasilja, he might need us.”

“I didn’t know at the time!” She put her hands around Hailwic’s wrists. “Now, please. Let me down, Hailwic. I didn’t know. I thought he was just chasing some little English girl. I thought, what’s the point in rushing to him? Let them have their moment. We’d meet her soon enough, anyway. Why shouldn’t we enjoy ourselves? And we have, haven’t we? It was fun while it lasted. I saw a recital. Senka saw a coffeehouse. You got to sneak around the city. I’m sure that was a lot of fun for you. You like sneaking.”

“She was nearly killed!”

“But I wasn’t,” Senka said. “I’m here, you know. In the room. You don’t have talk about me like I’m not. I know you both think I’m stupid. And too young. And fragile. But that’s not what I am.”

“We don’t think that about you,” Hailwic said. Looked over her shoulder. Frowned. “You’re our sister, Senka. Our youngest sister. If anything, we just want to protect you more.”

“Shelter her, you mean,” Vasilja muttered.

“Think before you speak.” Hailwic glared. “Don’t make things worse than they are.”

With a grunt, she let Vasilja go. Released, Vasilja hovered weightless where she was. Not trusting it was safe yet to move. Nodding gently, she let out a tentative sigh. “Yes, Hailwic. I’m very sorry, Hailwic. I truly didn’t expect any of this. How could I? We haven’t seen proper vampire hunters in years.”

“That’s the only reason I don’t bite you.”

“Well, I would hope there were other reasons, too.”

“Think.” Held up a long finger, repeating her words. “Before you speak.”

“I want to go to London,” Senka said, clenching her fingers into a tight fist. “I want to find Dracula. And I want to find the others. The ones who hurt Dimiti. I want to find Jonathan Harker. All of them. I want to find them. And then I want to bite them.”

“Of course, Senka,” Vasilja said. Lowered herself to the ground and drew her lips into a tired smile. Rubbed her neck. “I do think that would be for the best.”

“Then you should tell Hailwic everything.”

“I have!”

“There was another man, you said. In Jonathan’s diary. You told me his name. A German name.”

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Hailwic! I didn’t hide it from you this time. I just forgot is all. I mean, I really forgot until Senka mentioned it just now.”

“What name?”

“It’s a silly name.” She closed her eyes for a moment, dredging her memory. “Van Helsing. Yes, I think that was it. Jonathan Harker mentioned him a few times. He might have been his employer. I’m not sure.”

“That name also appears in Holmwood’s diary,” Hailwic snarled. “Holmwood practically worships the man. He calls him a genius.”

Vasilja flinched, not taking her hand from her throat. “Yes, well. I didn’t remember it until just now. Thank you, Senka, for reminding me. It was most convenient. And considerate...”

“Who else?” Hailwic fumed. “Names, Vasilja. Give me all their names.”

“I’m not sure…”

“Think! It didn’t matter before, but it matters now.”

“Well, there was also a John Seward, I suppose. He’s a doctor, I think. A doctor of minds. He probably thinks dreams are very important, too. I think Mister Harker knew Doctor Seward well, but he mentioned Van Helsing quite a bit more. He seemed to look up to the man, too.” Sigh. “I think Van Helsing has an interest in the occult.”

“And vampires?”

“Maybe. It wasn’t mentioned specifically.”

“But probably.”

“Probably.” Winced. “Now I think about it, it’s possible Harker’s diary was deliberately vague because he feared we might find it.”

“Vasilja!”

“You can’t blame me! Most rich men these days have an interest in the occult. It’s just something they do. Like going on long walks. It doesn’t mean they actually do anything. They just sit around in coffeehouses and talk about it a lot. All very boring, if you ask me. Isn’t that right, Senka?”

“Leave her out of this, Vasilja. What else was in this diary?”

“Nothing much. Mostly, he wrote about his fiancée. How beautiful she was. The kinds of things he couldn’t wait to teach her. All very disgusting, of course. And he has too much of a fondness for prostitutes. And not in a positive way. His thoughts on women are a little disturbing, actually. I felt sorry for the last one he visited. The things he said he did to her were quite revolting. Honestly, it turned my stomach and it takes a lot to do that.”

“What was her name?”

“I don’t know, Hailwic. He seemed to visit so many of them and didn’t bother taking their names.”

“The fiancée!”

“There’s no need to shout. Her name was Mina. Don’t ask me to remember her last name, because I don’t.” Pause. “Murray. Her last name is Murray. Oh, and there was Quincey Morris. Something about him being an American. I don’t like him already. Jonathan didn’t like him, either. Someone called Lucy did, though. I think Lucy is John Seward’s friend. But I’m reading between the lines, I think. I can’t be sure about that. And, well, you won’t like this. But Jonathan did mention Arthur Holmwood now that I think about it, but only that he was some kind of aristocrat. Which is hard to believe. I mean, he didn’t look like an aristocrat, did he? He looked like a gypsy. He might have been engaged to Lucy.”

Hailwic spun angrily, looking like she wanted to hit something. “Vasilja!”

“What?”

“How could you hide all of this?”

“All of what? It’s just the names of his friends. There was nothing obvious in what he wrote to suggest he was hunting us. Or that anyone else was. I only read his diary because he wanted to keep it secret. I thought there had to be something interesting in it. But it was mostly boring, like I said.”

“Are you sure there wasn’t anything else?”

“That’s all there was, Hailwic. It was just the diary of a very simple pervert.”

“Was Jonathan interested in the occult?”

“Not very much. He seemed to find it rather entertaining, but wasn’t taking it very seriously. He thought of it mostly as a kind of game to play with other men.” She grinned wickedly. “We must have been something of a shock to him, I think.”

“We should have bitten him when we had the chance,” Senka said.

“Was he there to kill us? Or to confirm our existence?” Hailwic paced again, eyes slitted and mouth hard. “Or was he bait?”

Vasilja blinked. “Bait?”

“Transylvania is ours. It’s where we’re strongest. The further we move away from it, the weaker we become. London is as far away as they could take us. It’s even across water.”

“It can’t be that bad. Dracula has gone to London before.”

“They must have known we’d follow him.”

“But why try killing us here? If we’ll be weaker there, then why not wait for us to get to London, too?”

“Maybe he didn’t think we’d be going to London at all.” Senka pushed her brows together, concentrating. “I saw Holmwood in the coffeehouse. I didn’t think about him at the time. But he was standing close when I was talking to Peter. And I was telling Peter how much I wanted to see the city. He asked me how long I would be here, and I told him I didn’t know. I said I wanted to stay for a year, at least. But I only said that because I knew it wasn’t wise to tell him our plans. Is it my fault, Hailwic? Is it my fault that he hurt Dimiti?”

“No, Senka. It’s not your fault. It’s our fault. We’re older, and we should have known the risks. We should have been prepared.”

“There shouldn’t be any risks,” the young vampire hissed, flaring suddenly. “We’re vampires. What are humans compared to us? They’re the ones who are mortal and weak.”

“Yet, they can kill us while we sleep.”

Senka scowled. “Not if we had an army. We need an army. Why don’t we have one?”

“Don’t be silly, Senka. Times have changed. If we tried to raise an army, all of Europe would rise up and kill us. There’s too many armies these days. And most of them have better guns than we could afford.”

“Then we need more money. And better guns!” She frowned fiercely. “Maybe we should bite a King and take over his Kingdom. Vasilja could control him. Then we’d have his armies, wouldn’t we?”

“Will you look at this, Hailwic,” Vasilja said. Amusement in her tone. “Our little girl is discovering politics. I’m so very proud.”

“Don’t laugh at me, Vasilja,” Senka stamped a foot while pointing her finger. “Don’t ever laugh. You’re both just like him. When he came to me, he told me all about the Bargain he’d made. And I couldn’t wait to be part of it. I begged for this. I wanted this. And when we arrived at his castle, I thought I’d find an army. I found you. He said we were the army. Maybe in his head he thinks he can make more of us, but it wouldn’t matter if there were ten of us. Twenty of us. Could we take Europe? The world? We need an army. That’s why you were first, Hailwic. He knew that, once. Knew enough to know he needed you to lead it. But something changed. And he stopped. Now you’re all so afraid of them. Afraid they’ll come to us while we sleep. Well, I’m scared, too. But we shouldn’t be hiding! Why should we? We’re vampires. We feed on them, not they on us.”

Hailwic nodded as the young vampire spoke.

Turned to look at Vasilja, who shrugged and offered a rueful smile. “From the mouths of babes…”

Hailwic sighed. “He tried to raise an army. More than once. The last one was disastrous. Hungarians chased us for weeks. They nearly caught us. Very few of our soldiers survived. We started with thousands, Senka. And we were left with less than a hundred.”

“Maybe he went about it the wrong way,” Senka said.

“Raising an army is relatively easy, Senka,” Vasilja said. “There’s not really a wrong way. It just requires a lot of money and someone very skilled with managing supplies.”

“I can tell you we don’t have that kind of money anymore,” Hailwic said. “And neither do any Kings these days.”

Senka looked grim. “Then, who does? Let’s bite them.”

“How will biting them solve anything?”

“Then you bite them, Vasilja. Make them like Dimiti.”

“It’s not as easy as that, Senka. Not everyone is like him.”

“Then maybe we need a new army. One which doesn’t need money.”

Vasilja laughed, a soft tinkle of gems spilling across the floor. “Darling, Senka. I thought you were growing up and then you say that. Don’t you understand humans? They’re too influenced by our master’s past experiments. Greed is so much a part of their soul now. You’ll never find people who’ll fight for you for nothing. Everyone always wants something for themselves. Isn’t that true, Hailwic?”

“I wasn’t talking about people.” The younger vampire looked carefully from one to the other. “I think I need to tell you about my dreams.”

“Dreams?” Vasilja settled into the couch and put her fingers to her forehead. Kneading her temples, she curled her lips into a rueful grin. “Oh, dear Senka. You spent too much time listening to that dreadful hypnotist and his ridiculous theory of dream interpretation, didn’t you?”