Blueblood

Story: Blueblood / Blueblood: Dracula

Chapter 35 / 1 Their Next Stop

Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)

Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex

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Our team goes to their next Vampire Capitol.

Their Next Stop

The wedding was beginning. I am sorry, it was pretty, but some of us weren't that...motivated to be that fabulous! Here it is, it was happening in the yard. There were ribbons and it was blue and white. Not the rosy pink for most weddings. What I didn't expect were the roses because they were white, pink, or red and somewhere in between. Yet, there were! They were blue. Yes, we had blue roses with white roses. Later I'd find out how she did it. There were other roses that were white, so that made the blue in the other roses easier to see. The blue roses were very blue! I walked Colin down the stairs of our house so he could meet Gabriella and walk her out the back door to escort her to the aisle we created with the white chairs arranged on either side of the palest blue runner (that long white...or in this case light blue) carpet that Gabriella and Colin would walk down to meet Alex.

I got to see who arrived and the yard was filling up with people. Alex's niece and nephew were here with their spouses. I smiled when I saw Mitch was there with his cousin David and David's husband Sasha. Katie, Sean, and Kelly were there, more as friends, but Colin and I both thought of them as family because of Wayne who was definitely a member of our family. Karen was still in school or working and Scott graduated and who knew with him? Chuck, Shelly, Stan, Mark came. I chuckled as I saw...rather than heard Mark was pointing to Gabriella's side to sit and Stan was pointing at Alex's side of the chairs separated by the runner to sit. I wondered how they managed to stay together. What one wanted, the other wanted the other. Yet, I couldn't argue with the results, they were joined at the hip. Almost literally. It worked for them.

They had a quartet playing as the guests assembled and were escorted to seats on either side. The ends of the rows of chairs were the blue and white roses. If God was giving an opinion, I'd say He gave this wedding his favor. The weather was beautiful with a cool breeze, the sky blue and none of those tridactyl sized mosquitos. We had those in abundance in this part of the South. Then again, Colin had the lawn treated with something to keep them away. What was different about the wedding, Colin was not only giving his daughter away, but he was also her witness and Alex's best man was me. Mom was her matron of honor. I left Colin at the back door just as Gabriella arrived in her wedding dress. This wasn't a usual wedding. We weren't normal people. If people knew the truth...here was a woman born in the 19th century, who was marrying a man that lived in the 20th century marrying each other in the 21st century! This was a true Twilight Zone moment. I was married to a man born in the 19th century and should have died in the 19th century. I lived mostly in the 21st century. A man, married to a man is enough of a problem for some people in this century still, but vampires!? Vampires! Not those creatures of romance, capable of near magical abilities or those scary ones that shock you with gore and viciousness. We weren't those kinds of creatures. Eyes told you one thing; reality told you something else. I was looking at a man I loved, who my eyes said had just turned forty, with a woman in her mid-thirties. Yet, the reality was she was his daughter. My mind was still struggling with my eyes about this. I was the stepfather to this woman. I smiled as she looked at her father and they joined arms. My mother went down the aisle with me. We took our places and the wedding march began. The guests rose and turned to see Gabriella and Colin come down the aisle. There was no veil, her hair was done up pinned in place with small roses of blue and white in her hair. The minister asked who gave this woman and Colin said he was. He kissed his daughter's cheek, handed his daughter's arm to Alex and then he took his place beside me. We watched this nontraditional couple marry. Alex wore a tuxedo that was a version of Colin's and mine, but a lighter blue. You get the theme, there was a lot of blue. They exchanged vows and pronounced man and wife. A very happy couple went down the aisle followed by the three of us.

The reception was in the ballroom. There was enough food for everyone, including Colin. We mingled with other guests as we danced to lively music and shared the happy moment. The wedding cake was brought out...and yes...it was a light blue with those little flower edges in white, topped with the blue and white roses done in icing. I went to my mother.

"Okay," I said to her. "How are some of the roses blue?"

Mom chuckled. "It's a nontoxic dye. Those roses were raised this way, fed by the dye that turned the white to blue. They were dipped in more blue dye to make them so vibrantly blue."

I nodded. "Now, it makes sense. Thanks for telling me."

Even Amasis and Amir were there, dressed formally, but looked extremely happy to be included.

"We had ceremonies like this in Egypt," Amasis said smiling as he munched on his piece of cake. He held it out as he looked appreciatively at the cake. "There was no cake, but..." he nodded. "...this is very good!"

Alex and Gabriella were going on their honeymoon. This was a subject that Colin was having a hard time with. Not that his daughter was going off with Alex, but that we hadn't gone on ours.

"We've been very busy!" I said to Colin. "You were there. I don't care that we didn't go on it. We have traveled to England and Egypt! I don't need another trip."

Colin nodded. "And kidnapped on our wedding day. You were turned into a vampire! I promised you all those places and we haven't been to one!"

I shook my head at him. "I don't need that. I know you love me."

We watched as the limo took Gabriella and Alex to the airport to begin their honeymoon and afterward, I looked for Colin who had disappeared. I began looking for him. Wentworth was big, but not that big. I asked people that were still there if they'd seen him. They all said they saw him, but didn't know where he'd gone. I looked until I went into the media room and spotted him at a computer.

"What happened to you?" I asked Colin smiled at me and got up.

"I had something I needed to do." He said simply. "You'll know in two days what it's about." He grinned and came around to me. He kissed me lightly. I looked at the computer and he pulled me to him and shook his head. "No, you can't know. It's a surprise."

I just nodded. I wasn't stupid and knew he had done something about our lack of a honeymoon, so I knew it was somewhere for that reason. I wanted to know but could wait. Colin was very pleased with himself. Almost smug. I didn't ask about it or badger him, that would ruin the surprise for me and him. On the second day, Colin got up and came with a couple of carryon bags already packed. There wasn't a lot in either of them.

I looked at Colin. "I need to change clothes, don't I?" I waved down at my jeans and t-shirt that I had on.

He shook his head. "No." He smiled more as I know I had a confused look on my face. "Come on, we've got a plane to catch. I packed your passport and other IDs."

I did love the suspense. I loved how happy he was to do this, so I just nodded and got in the waiting limousine. "We're going without saying good-bye to anyone?"

"They know we're going away and when we'll be back," Colin said simply and shrugged. "Take us to the airport." He said to our driver.

He grinned as he looked back. "On our way, Mr. Wentworth."

At the airport, we went and waited for a fight and I got my first clue. We were headed for the Bahamas. I still puzzled about the lack of clothes, but let it go. We got to the Bahamas and took another smaller plane. What was interesting about this plane, was it was one of those that land on water. I smiled as I watched the Bahamas vanish behind us and we flew over water for an hour and then we lowered near an island. It wasn't a big island and had one single house on it. The island was about six or seven acres. Landing we slowly got to a pier. The pilot helped us off and promised to return in two weeks except for a supply run in a week. He mentioned the channel needed if there was an emergency and handed Colin some keys. Then he got back in his plane and took off as we stood waiting as he flew away.

It was warm here and smelled of salt and vegetation. It was tropical. The only sounds were the sounds of waves and the breeze in the trees...oh and the occasional seagull sound which I can't describe.

Colin took my hand and jutted his head in the direction of the structure. "Let's see our home for this honeymoon."

Once we got there, the house was one large room surrounded by glass walls. Colin opened a portion of the glass wall that had a lock. After he unlocked it, he pushed the wall which retracted on a track and soon he had the entire structure open on all sides allowing the warm breeze in with the door secured away. There was a separate room I saw the toilet in, but other than that, it was just one large room. There was a very large bed, there was a kitchen with all the things...stove, oven and even a microwave. There was a freezer and refrigerator.

"What do you think?" Colin asked waving his hands at the room as he came to me wrapping his arms around me.

"Two weeks here?" I asked with a smile. "And what do we do for these two weeks?" I asked enjoying his kissing of me.

Colin grinned as he unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. He kicked his shoes off and began unzipping his pants. "You're asking what we'll do?" He said pulling his pants and underwear off in one motion. He chuckled as he walked over hugging me. "We'll lie in the sand. Make love. We'll eat. Make love. We'll tan. Make love. No people. No vampires. Nothing to bother us. We'll make a lot of love." He pulled on my shirt. "But you're overdressed."

I smiled as I kissed him deeply in a consuming kiss of desire and love. "You can help me with that," I said pulling his hands to my shirt which he pulled and took it over my head. "What was that second thing? And fourth and sixth...make love?"

Colin nodded. "That's right." He said as he pulled my trousers off. "Let's get started."

"I love you, Colin."

He smiled as he kissed his way down my neck. "I know, but why don't you show me?"

We did just what Colin said we'd do. I don't know how you deal with having suddenly nothing to do, but make love, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I really did have a little issue with having nothing to do. I loved Colin, so spending time with him was great. Loving him was wonderful. The problem was we had nowhere to be and no set time to be there except when it was time to leave, but that was two weeks away! I fought the feeling that I had to be somewhere at a certain time. Some habits are hard to break! It was hard, but not impossible. It was nice being here with Colin. It was nice to always have a naked Colin with me twenty-four seven! I've said it so many times, I don't need to repeat it, but I will. He was a gorgeous man! Wherever I turned, there he was. That part was great. He didn't mind having me around that long and I was just as naked. It was day three when I realized. This is nice! We were lying on that beautiful beach, naked as when we arrived in the world and getting our tans. I know, but that's how long it took me to finally relax. No vampires, no one to kidnap us...I smiled and rolled over. Colin wasn't asleep, but his eyes were closed as he was getting the sun on his beautiful back, his head resting on his arms as he faced me. I felt the feelings again. How I felt for him. I leaned in kissing his face going to his ear and kissing his neck. I saw him smile, but he didn't open his eyes.

"Thank you, Colin," I said softly. "I can't express how much I totally adore you. This honeymoon was not anything like I imagined we'd have, but it's perfect and just what we needed. Thank you for including me in your life."

Now Colin did open his emerald eyes and smiled at me. "Are you finally getting it now?"

"What?"

Colin rose up resting his head on his hand as he looked at me. "To me...there is not one person, alive, dead or yet to be born more important to me than you are." He got this very serious look in his eyes. "Yes, more important than anyone; anyone, including Willie, George or even Gabriella and more than Josiah ever was." He moved so we were not even an inch apart as he looked in my eyes. "You are the reason I'm alive. I'd do anything to protect you and keep you safe." He said what he said next right in my face, our eyes locked on each other. "I...love...you."

He had said it before and I believed him then. I really, really believed him now. The intensity of his raw emotion was so powerful. I felt my mouth go dry and my heart rate increase. Unblinking, I nodded. "I know. I believe you. I...love...you." I said softly, but never taking my eyes off his. We had been close before, but I never felt as much a part of him as I did at this moment.

Colin smiled. "I know. I believe you." He kissed me gently. "You're a part of me. We are equal parts, of us." He said. "We...are one."

Now, I couldn't get enough of the man. I don't care what people think about who puts what in whom, we were connecting on a level that surpassed simple sex. People don't see that a man can connect on this level with another man and they are so wrong. We were binding together so tightly. It was as if we were trying to literally climb into each other's soul. We did our best to do that!

This house, in the tropics, was amazing. What was equally amazing was they knew Colin would eat a lot. They made these dinners. Whole dinners and put them in the freezer. Colin and I would take a container out, pop it in the microwave and followed the instructions. We had solar power so no problem. If not enough power, there was the oven and stove that used gas. The food was damned good! I had to make two for Colin, but they were very good. What made me chuckle was the supply of Death Wish coffee for Colin.

"How did you get this done in two days!?" I asked.

Colin shrugged looking away. "Money gets things done."

I nodded. "This was probably expensive."

Colin smiled but still wouldn't look at me. "It is worth it."

I smiled at him and walked over, making him look at me. "It is." I put my arm around his neck and pulled him closer. "This is what a honeymoon is about. I feel more connected to you than we ever were before."

Colin smiled as he embraced me tighter. "That's what I wanted to do."

"You did very well again."

Colin buried his face in my neck. "Anything for you, baby."

We walked the entire island. We swam in that beautiful warm waters and didn't put on a thing. There was a hammock when we weren't in the sun, or water or making love...and often we made love in the sun and water. Time had ceased to exist. We were lazy and I loved it. Then one day I heard the drone of an engine. I opened my eyes and Colin struggled to get out of the hammock.

"Sorry, love." Colin smiled. "We have guests arriving."

"Guests?" I asked.

"They're bringing more food and supplies." Colin chuckled. "I don't care if you dress or not, but I'm putting something on." He waggled his eyebrows. "You're the only one to see this." He waved down at his naked body.

I smiled at him. "Sincerely, I mean what I'm going to say, I am a lucky man to be able to do that." I held my hand out to him. "Help me up. These are great, but hell to get out of."

"Maybe God should have started with Adam and Steve." Colin chuckled. "I can't imagine Adam and Eve getting along better than we do."

I nodded as I got to my feet. "There's a problem with that. Who'll have the kids?"

Colin nodded. "I know, but He could have worked something out." He waved at the sky.

I laughed as I looked for something to put on. "Where did we stash our clothes?"

This was a great week and we had another one coming. There were times when it paid to be a vampire. The enhanced senses sometimes kicked in at the right times. Remember? We were made to be predators? Able to hear soft rubber soles of shoes, hearing a heartbeat? That and the only voice I'd heard was Colin's for a while. Only sounds were the breeze, waves, and gulls. This time there were two in the plane; the pilot that brought us here and one other. Colin managed to find a pair of shorts and put those on. I got myself together first and headed for the pier. I saw the two get out of the plane and the second man stopped looking surprised at me...and beyond me. I looked back and saw Colin coming. They were still a good ways off when they talked. I heard them like they were standing next to me.

The second man asked the pilot. "I thought this was a honeymooning couple."

The pilot nodded. "That's right." He waved at me and Colin.

"They're guys!"

The pilot nodded. "Very rich guys that paid me triple for this! Do not blow this for us!" He hissed at the other guy.

"They're fags!?"

"Oh, grow up!" The pilot said shortly. "Their money's good!"

I held my hand up to Colin. "Let's make this fast."

Colin looked at me and then back at the two coming toward us. "Why? What happened?"

"Let's just say there is the old intolerance of men that are gay," I said sadly and walked on to meet the men bringing our supplies.

As the two took our used containers and put the new ones in the freezer I really didn't have much to say to them. Only, in the end, I did say. "I love this place and I'd like to come back," I said to the pilot. "As long as we're welcome." I looked at the second man. "Though, it seems not everyone is welcoming." I looked at the pilot raised eyebrows. "Our money was welcomed, but others were more bothered by the fact that we're gay. Fags was the term used." I said looking at the other man.

The pilot looked shocked at me and looked at his partner as his eyes narrowed. He looked back at me. "I'm sorry. My brother-in-law is not...that evolved."

I nodded. "I'm not saying anything to Colin about what I overheard. I would like to think we can come back. This has been the nicest place we've stayed."

"I apologize for..." he looked at his brother-in-law, "...his nasty words."

"I only bring this up to give a point," I said. "I don't know the circumstance about his birth, but he is clearly biracial. I hope there was no crime involved, but a union of two races would never have met approval for some people...and still don't for some. Should I say something about a zebra to him? How about an Oreo cookie? Who needed to consult him before Colin and I married? It was none of his business."

The pilot nodded. "Or is it mine." He smiled. "Again, I apologize." He said sincerely.

"Enough said." I smiled and shook his hand. "This is a lovely island. I will talk Colin into coming back. I assure you."

The pilot nodded again. "You'll be more than welcome."

I watched as they headed back to the plane and they were having a rather heated discussion, but trying to keep it low so I couldn't overhear. I smiled when the pilot finally turned and swung his fist at his brother-in-law sending him into the warm water. He made his point and got in the plane to wait for his brother-in-law to get out of the water and get in.

Later during dinner, Colin looked at me. "Are you going to tell me what happened? Who said what?"

I smiled at Colin. "I never keep things from you. I never will. I'll tell you, but I handled it. Can I leave it there?"

Colin looked fondly at me and smiled. "Okay. I'll let it go." He grinned leaning in at the table kissing me. "I trust you."

The next week came to a close and we dressed again to go back to Charleston.

"This was nice," I said smiling at Colin. "I understand you paid triple to stay here."

Colin looked at me astonished I knew that. "How...Who...?"

I grinned kissing him. "I just know. When we come back...and we will come back; how about we just pay what's normally charged?"

Colin frowned. "I did that because it was last minute. There was little time for them to get it ready."

I hugged him. "I got that. I'm fine with it. This was paradise. Thank you."

Colin nodded, but still looked at me trying to figure out how I knew as he thought about how I found out.

We got back to Wentworth Manor and again, greeted by Robert who looked at us from head to toe.

"We sure are tan!" Robert grinned looking at the two of us.

I nodded. "And no tan lines!" I chuckled as Robert got what I was meaning.

"I'll take your word for that," Robert said. "Stan and Mark stayed in the pool house for the week following the wedding."

Colin nodded. "That's fine. They're always welcome to stay."

"You have a message from Mitch McKenzie yesterday. He wants to talk to you about the Delkenzie program." Robert reported. "I'm sure there are many emails and messages." He smiled at us. "Welcome home."

I smiled at seeing the house. "It will be hard to get the swing back," I admitted. "I got used to being lazy."

Colin nodded with a chuckle. "But it was very nice." He kissed me. "I love you."

I smiled back. "I know."

Colin sighed. "We're getting some hardware samples together for the translators. The Delkenzie program will be accessed through those." He smiled. "It will be a nice money maker for both us and Mitch. I think the Language Buddy will sell well."

I nodded. "I have no doubt." I raised my carryon. "Not a lot of laundry. I liked our honeymoon; not a lot of work afterward."

Gabriella and Alex returned the day before from Europe. We met after we got back, having dinner with Gabriella, Alex, Mom, Willie, Wayne, Amasis, and Amir.

Gabriella was telling us about some of the things they had seen.

"...Paris was wonderful. I loved the French Rivera." Gabriella said happily.

Alex looked at her. "Are we telling them the other part?"

Gabriella frowned. "We have to now. You brought it up." She sighed and took a deep breath before she said. "There were vampires in Paris."

Colin nodded. "Not surprising. We're everywhere."

Alex nodded. "We didn't see them. We smelled and sensed them."

I thought about the many contacts we'd gotten from Europe, not only in Paris but other countries in Eastern Europe. "Perhaps we need to contact those? There were a lot from Paris, but...not that many from Eastern Europe. Why?"

"Eastern Europe? You mean the Ukraine and Romania and those places?" Alex asked.

I smiled as the idea took place in my head. "Let's just admit it. Haven't any of you thought of looking for Dracula?"

Colin's eyes widened and everyone else at the table was staring at me in shock.

"Oh, come on people," I said smiling. "Don't you want to know if there is a real Dracula? He was a real person. We know about Vlad the Impaler. Bram Stoker wrote a novel in the late 19th Century about that vampire. You have to wonder about where all that came from."

"It's just a story." Mom said.

I nodded. "There is a story." I agreed and looked at her. "That came from where? Who could make up things like that? It had to be based on knowledge about someone."

"Who? The vampire? Or that ruler?" Colin asked.

"That's my point!" I nodded. "That's what we can look for. With the cooperation of those vampires...and I mean, just like us over there, they should know whether or not there was a Dracula or if it's Vlad. Or both! Were they even the same? Was there another man that took on the title? There aren't that many contacts over there, why? Is someone over there running those vampires already? Who? Is it Dracula?"

"We look for Dracula," Wayne said nodding confirming what I said.

"There are vampires there that need help, right?" I asked. "If for no other reason, helping them while seeking this Dracula, will bring needed attention to the VUN!" I was getting excited about this. "We can blog about it!"

"Blog!?" Colin asked.

"We don't have to blog, but keeping a record that we send to the other vampires on the contact list will give more credibility," I said smiling. "If we find this vampire...assuming he's still alive since the...." I looked at them. "...was it the 15th Century?" I waved at Amasis. "We know a vampire can live a long time. Why do we assume he's dead? Imagine, we get Dracula on the serum and he becomes more human! Imagine that! He is THE vampire!"

They all looked at each other, seeing uncertainty become a more determined look.

Colin slowly nodded. "Well, Devon was right about Egypt." He waved at Amasis. "We have a former pharaoh at the table." He chuckled. "Why not have Dracula join us here, too?"

"He may help us locate more of the Old Ones," I said. "I'm sure they were there."

Colin nodded. "Okay." He grinned. "I guess we're heading to Transylvania! That's our next stop."

"Do we have to go when it's cold?" Wayne asked. "All the movies I saw about Dracula it was cold."

Alex grinned at Wayne. "Bring warm clothes." He said logically. Amasis nodded and raised a hand. "Question."

We looked at him.

"Who's Dracula?" Amasis asked.

I chuckled and nodded. "Dracula was after your time. He is the most famous vampire that really made an impact with the 20th and 21st Centuries." I quickly told him about the novel and movies that came from the story and embellishments on the theme. Amasis had more questions, but I just took his hand. "I'll get you the book, but know this story and others shaped our fear of vampires. Many contain the magic we are supposed to have and that power we are supposed to have in us."

"I don't read English very well," Amasis said with a sad grin. "Yet."

I smiled bigger. "Well, there's always my favorite thing...movies!"

Amasis chuckled. "And you know which one I should see."

I brightened. "I do!"

"What if it is all just fiction?" Mom asked.

"That fiction had to come from somewhere," Colin said logically. "We can look and find out." He shrugged and then he smiled at me. "We need to get all information available for Dracula. We should call Stan."

Wayne smiled. "He'll be thrilled!"

We waited for our daily conference call to Stan. I was early, but I established the connection to see Mark sitting where Stan usually sat.

Mark frowned. "This is a restricted channel. No unauthorized..." he squinted his eyes. "Oh! It's you, Devon! I saw this dark-skinned guy and thought it was someone else!" He smiled. "You're really tan!"

I chuckled. "Thanks. Two weeks in the sun and that's what happens. Where's Stan?"

That's when I heard. "What are you...?" Stan said. "Wait! He's five minutes early!" Then I saw Stan's handwave him away. "Out! I sit there."

Mark smiled and winked at me and then turned to Stan. "I was keeping the seat warm."

"Out!" Stan repeated and sat down. He smiled at me and looked at his watch. "I had five minutes. Nature called and I thought I had time."

I nodded. "I know. Sorry about that." I grinned. "We have a new destination."

"We do?" Stan asked. "Where?"

"Eastern Europe," I said. "Specifically, we are looking for Dracula."

Stan's eyes widened as he just said. "What!?"

Mark, however, was instantly in the frame as he was smiling even more. "Really!? That...would be awesome!"

Stan looked at Mark and just rolled his eyes.

"We're going on this trip, right?" Mark asked.

I nodded. "I don't see why not. We still have the CPU we had in Egypt?"

"Of course," Stan said. "I'll need to make sure the Romanian and other languages of Eastern Europe are in and ready." Then he looked back. "Wait, are we going after Vlad the Impaler or Bram Stoker's Dracula?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"We're searching for the ruler...or the fictional character?" Stan asked.

I frowned. "Stan, we're looking. That's what we're looking for. Evidence!"

Stan looked a moment and thought. He slowly nodded. "Okay. I guess we'll need all the information about Dracula and Vlad." He thought. "I'll get Buddy to look at all information to find commonalities."

I nodded. "At first, we stick with the novel and historical records," I said. "I would say all information prior to 1897."

"Why 1897?" Mark asked.

"That's when Stoker wrote Dracula," Stan answered. "He would have to know details before that to write the story." He grinned. "Dracula literally means bad blood in Gaelic. Bram Stoker was Irish and he used his knowledge. Drac Ullah is the Gaelic words. Vlad Dracula was nicknamed Vlad Tepes, Vlad the Impaler." He looked at me seriously. "My point is...he wasn't a nice guy. "

Mark looked at Stan. His usual banter and kidding was forgotten a second. "How do you know all of this?"

Stan frowned. "I was a lonely kid and even more of a lonely teenager. I had a lot of time. I read a lot." He looked at me. "Including Dracula. In that part of Romania, they didn't like the story that Stoker wrote. It wasn't even translated into Romanian until 1990."

I nodded. "They will be more cautious about giving him away." I sighed. "They will be protective of him."

Stan nodded. "Of Vlad Dracul. Dracula also means son of the devil in Romanian. Dracul was given to Vlad's father, Dracula means the devil's son. This may not be a good person, vampire or whatever."

"Count Dracula was a fictional character," I said. "There are just too many..." I thought, "...odd things about this. Based on fact or based on a real person. He may be a nasty person. I believe there is a vampire here. He may welcome us, he may not. We can help those that are vampires there. This..." I frowned, "...could be the most important contact we've ever made."

Stan nodded. "I'll make sure Buddy is updated with the latest of the Delkenzie program."

"Why?"

"There are several languages in Romania. Romanian is just the official language of Romania. There is also Hungarian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, Slovak, Romani, Ukrainian, and German." Stan nodded. "It literally is a melting pot," Stan said with a nod that he gave for the monumental task.

"It's a good thing Mitch programmed his program well for Russian and the other languages." I smiled at Stan. "We'll gather the information with Buddy about Dracula, but I'm glad you'll be there Stan. Your knowledge of Vlad and history will prove very valuable."

"The Romanian people of that era during Vlad's reign were very superstitious. A lot of that will be still with most people there." Stan said.

"The contacts that we do have in that area, is there one more vocal? Someone who wants help?" I asked. "They might be more cooperative."

Stan nodded. "I can say the one that sticks out in my mind is Andrei. His name I've seen more than any other. I'll send you his email address. He has been more vocal since Edwin was turned back to more human. That's all I know about him."

"Sure." I nodded. "And maybe send me those emails, so I know about what he would like to have done and I can tell him what we hope to do."

I was feeling something else about this trip. Did we have special abilities? Maybe. What I was now feeling was like a heavy weight on my heart or soul. If there was a figure that inspired the creation of this character of Dracula. Was he a vampire? Was he still holding any humanity in him? Did he feed on people like he was supposed to have in the book? If he did, he could be more dangerous than any wild vampire. He retained that part of being human that made him more dangerous.

Colin came in as I was looking over the Internet about this area of Romania that Dracula was supposed to have been. He sat next to me in a chair. "How's the research?"

"There is a lot about Vlad Dracul," I said waving at the screen. "Everything from where he was born to where he was a ruler. He was born in Sighisoara. That's just northwest of Bucharest." I looked at Colin. "The idea of looking for him was...I can't explain it. It was more like a tickle in the back of my mind. Now, I'm starting to feel the weight of it. He could be very dangerous." I said softly. "In many ways, I now feel like we're going into real alien territory." I looked at Colin. "You have this ability to tell about a man. Whether we can trust or not." I smiled tightly. "Has anyone ever surprised you?"

Colin thought a minute. "Not really."

"When we go, this person may be old. Would he be able to fool you?" I asked.

Colin frowned. "He might try, but usually I can tell that they are trying to fool me and that's my first clue not to trust." He looked at me closer. "You, however, seem to have this...intuition about where we go and what we'll find there. What do you feel about this?"

"I'm no psychic." I smiled dismissing the thought.

"You were right about a lot of people. Marissa and Adrian. You were right about England with Edwin, Matt and even Wayne. You were right about Egypt, now we have Amasis and Amir." He said. "What do you feel about going after this...Dracula?"

"I think it's something else. Bigger. It's a heavy feeling, is the only way I can describe it." I said. "I don't think he's Vlad Dracul. I don't think he's Count Dracula either." I admitted. "Is there a vampire?" I chuckled with a nod. "I do feel there is one. I think he knew Bram Stoker and believe he was the inspiration for this...Count Dracula. His experiences and what he did may have influenced a lot that Bram wrote." I shrugged. "But with Artistic License, this vampire's experiences were...embellished. I don't want to take away any of the stories about Dracula or about Vlad Dracul, but there is a story that's different than the story told."

Colin nodded with a short sigh. "That's what we're going to find out." He smiled. "And we will find out. If nothing else, we help those there that need help."

I nodded. "Sure." I frowned. "We don't have magic abilities. We have our talents that pretty much seem like magic. Suppose he has abilities we're never encountered before?"

"We'll be fine," Colin said kissing me. "I may have told you before...I love you."

I chuckled. "I know. I said it before, I think. I love you."

Colin shrugged a nod. "Once or twice." He nodded as he ran his hand through my hair. "You're everything to me, Devon. We'll be fine." He assured and kissed me gently.

Going into Romania was not difficult, but we wanted to have people there to understand what we were doing, at least on the surface; why we were there. If for no other reason than upgrading the Delkenzie Language Program. It was a good cover. That meant Mitch had to know what we were doing. We invited him to dinner with Colin, me, Wayne and Amasis to let him know what we planned to do so he could back us up if called.

Mitch grinned as the steaming plate of Shrimp and Grits were being served by Bertie.

"This is the only way I'll ever eat grits," Mitch confessed with a chuckle.

I grinned back. "Me, too." I shook my head. "I'm a lousy Southerner. I hate grits, don't like plain rice and no greens of any kind on my plate...ever."

Mitch nodded. "I like my coffee cold as you know. I was fine in New York. Tony had the problem in the South with some of our...unique customs and sayings." He looked up at me and added. "Tad Morsi called me a few days ago. It seems he really wants that program."

Colin's eyebrows rose surprised. "Really?"

Mitch nodded. "Really. It seems you two impressed him." He looked at us. "What happened over there?"

We briefly told him about his brother Rafa and how he was holding a few vampires in hopes of creating a perfect soldier and that his brother was killed in a struggle. I left out the Fredrick Hoffman desire to become an immortal to make more money.

Mitch nodded. "Well, whatever happened. He wants that program."

"I'm surprised." He looked suddenly happy. "But pleased. We're thinking of using it again." Colin explained.

"You said you wanted to buy in," Mitch said. "You wanted to invest money and become partners."

"We will provide the hardware and some of the distribution." Colin nodded and smiled. "I will admit, when we went to Egypt, it was to cover what we were really doing. Which is why I was surprised. But it's a good program."

Mitch nodded. "Because you went to find vampires."

Amasis smiled. "Well, they did." He held his hands out for himself.

"Where are you going now? Is there another few vampires you're looking for?" Mitch asked.

I nodded. "Yes." I looked at Mitch. "We're looking for Dracula." There, I told him.

Mitch dropped his fork on his plate as his eyes widened. "You're kidding."

Once again, we presented Mitch with the how and why.

At the end of our explanation, to which Mitch listened and didn't interrupt. When we were done, he just nodded. "Okay."

Colin was more shocked that Mitch was. "Okay. That's it!?" He shook his head. "We tell you we're vampires. We tell you that our dear friend Amasis is over two thousand years old and a vampire as well. You said okay then, too. How is it that you just accept what we say? You don't ask for proof or verification, just accept it."

Mitch chuckled and gave a nod. "I told Devon when he first told me. What he told me was too...unusual and too outlandish not to be true. He didn't strike me as a liar nor did I think he was crazy. Therefore, it had to be true." He waved at me. "I can't dismiss the obvious things that are right here." He sighed. "I hear something new like this. You want to find Dracula. That sounds dangerous, but I can see it. If you exist, perhaps he does, too." He shrugged. "As partners with me, you will be doing the field work. There should be no questions asked by anyone. If there are. I'll back you up. No problem." He smiled a little in a smirk. "And he has a trustworthy face." His eyebrows danced. He munched on some of his shrimp. "God, this is good!" He shook his head loving the taste.

Arranging with the government in Romania, we told them the truth. We would be there to further our program. They weren't suspicious and told us to come. Now arrangements were being made to travel there. We would again take the plane for Holms Laboratories to get there. No tickets needed and we would carry what we needed in equipment.

Colin was packing when he passed me. "The house we're renting should be big enough. We'll be staying in Sighisoara. We're inside the city proper. From the images I got, we should be okay. There are seven to eight bedrooms. One is a den, sort of that can be a bedroom. Some of us will have to double up."

I chuckled. "I don't think that will be a problem. You and me, Stan and Mark, Mom and Dad, Gabriella and Alex..."

Colin nodded. "George and Burke..." he waved. "I'm just thinking out loud."

"Do we have the scanners packed, the extra tablets and laptops? Earpieces?"

Colin looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Do you think I'd forget those? It's why we're going. Officially."

I laughed. "Just crossing them off the list." I shrugged. "It's still summer. This could take a while."

"We'll bring what we may need," Colin said. "I'm sure they have clothing stores in Romania." The feeling I got now, was even heavier. What we were about to do, was very important.

First Night on the Town