Blood is Life

Never in his life had he viewed the world in  pristine filth! Returning to London brought  such an unnerving sensation in gazing upon a world he once called home. A fool-hearted choice on his part, if not for the eye opening realization the Master blessed him with; he could have lived a life of ignorant bliss. Completely  unaware of the potential that ran through his  very veins. If only he had learned this secret  sooner.

Unfortunately, not everyone shared this grand  understanding. Instead he was left in the dark as a consideration for what to come next. His  fate twisted from his own hands to God knows  what. Ah, but even God could not save his  tainted soul now. 

As Renfield’s warning came, a sense of anxiety began to churn and twist deep within the realms of the young bride’s very soul. He spoke such truths. Unlikely, so many would think from a man that everyone in the sane world deemed utterly mad. A man that had fallen from God’s graces and was desperately trying to seek the refuge for his mind in any conceivable outlet he could decipher. As many judged this envisioned “Master” to be, a phantom to offer the weakened man a sense of purpose.  But so many knew the truths now, not solely her, but Van Helsing and Dr Seward too. It disturbed Mina’s tender thoughts slightly to note that despite the truths the madman spouted, they were still viewing him as a separate entity. A tool of the vampire that had been tortured beyond recognition. Had her beloved Jonathan not once been in such a state? Had she not nurtured him back to health with tender love and affection? Perhaps what Mr Renfield required was the kindness of a wife, not the confines of his cell.   If she would willingly walk into the monster’s arms, should she not be in the cell too? Especially so if even a madman thought to warn her of the dangers such an affair could carry. Even the insane knew when to deny death it’s opportunity.  Mina.  Doe eyes drew wide as intoxicating lure drifted through the realms of delicate mind. That dark, smooth voice that possessed so many promises and secrets with each seductive word that brushed her ear, it took all her will to possess a sense of clarity in that tense moment.  Glancing up to the barred window fearfully, brown curls were instantly taken between soft fingertips, gentle weaving forming a braid as she anxiously toyed in distraction. “I fear that it is not quite so simple. The voice does things to me that I can’t quite explain.” 

As though walking through a graveyard in the  light of early dawn, a chill ran down his spine.  For the first time since he had been blessed  with the Master’s voice in his head, he noted  Mrs. Harker’s own reaction. His gut dropped  at the notion she too was under that hypnotic  spell. That darker sense of allure even he could  not stop forever.

Panic swept over him as his gaze turned to  the window. Despite those fools who found  comfort in false gods, no door or window would  keep them safe. A fault that plagued his own  mind. How foolish he had been in believing  this to be a reasonable way to let the Master in?! Alas, his choices became folly when a young life  hung in the balance.

Dare he assist in a moment such as this? How good  he was in obeying the Master! Even now he could  feel the grips of sanity fleeting him where he stood.  That sheepish man he once was taking control again  to allow the horrors enter the room.

“Mina,” he said in a voice barely audible over a whisper. His hands daring to touch the smooth skin of her arm, yet he did not hold her tightly. That fear of showing off  any mark still existed in the knowledge his madness  gave him insane amounts of strength at times.

“Of course, Mr Renfield. I could bestow you such kindness  as that.” Not that the good doctor would likely take well to  the fact that Mina had been escorted to his cell with little  protection. This entire endeavour to explore the far reaches  of this country in pursuit of the destruction of the vampire would  all have been for nothing if she were to come to harm under  the touch of his patient’s hand. A patient that claimed to have  strong connections with the very creature that sought to do  her harm.  Yet, tender heart still wished to help this poor man, so plagued by  dark thoughts that the most innocent of questions roused suspicion  and rage. Doe eyes observed him with gentle curiosity, evidently  intrigued at how swiftly such powerful emotions could seize control  only to flutter away in moments.  Rosy blush coloured fair cheeks at his enquiry, blue eyes dropping to  folded palm as the young bride contemplated how much should be  disclosed. Images of dark figures in the moonlight, warm lips meeting  chilled in a passionate embrace, the sharp prick of pain quickly being  flooded with the greatest euphoria known to little sweet body. Such  private, sinful memories that they could not possibly be spoken aloud.  “There is mist.” She whispered softly, not wishing to lie completely to  the poor man. “Dark mist, that swirls and drifts through the air as if  it possesses purpose. There are dogs howling sometimes, awful carnal  sounds, and… I hear my name. A voice calls my name again and again,  I feel myself drawn to it.”  A voice that she had followed many times now, stalked out among the  shadow and the dewy grass to fall into his chilled embrace. She wondered,  for one awful moment, if the man may know such scandalous things… If  his master had bequeathed words of their affair. 

For the briefest of moments, a sense of ease came  over Renfield. Among the rows of cellmates he gathered in this pitiful hell, he had one friend on the outside. At  least, that was what he considered her to be.While those  foolish enough to oppose the Master found him the  villain in speaking with her, he could live in comfort to know  he assisted in moments like these. Far from the Master’s  horrid gaze that left him renounced of all sanity and mindfulness.

Instantly dread washed over him at the words this angel spoke  of. The mist. It became one object the Master preferred to use.  An easier sense of movement he could never gather in his  own human form. Oh how he yearned for that simple movement!  Something supernatural but graceful in the end. It was never a  surprise he could enter ones home given his powers. Even he  had witnessed mist pass through his own cell to escape out the  door.

Muscles tensed as he dreaded the inevitable. Could he bring her  a sense of sanity when he, himself could not? In speaking words  of understanding, he feared the walls would talk. Such horrible  things they said when all were gone, and he was left in the dark.

“Mrs. Harker, you must not follow that voice,” he pleaded. Was this  his place to throw her away from all the Master promised? She could become one of the damned and in her beauty become a creature  of the night. No. No he could never allow that to happen. Too many  loved her so, as they were just in doing so.

Soft hues widened in quiet panic at the sudden turn of mood, though gentle visage refused to flicker an inch as cruel accusations were posed. It had been her own fault really, asking after his welfare was foolish in the realms of the asylum. This was a place where his mind was to be prodded and teased until some suitable reaction of normalcy was produced. Mina couldn’t help but feel a touch of shame to know that this gentleman thought her willing to cast such manipulations upon him.  Yet, as he drifted from her, sympathy stirred within the depths of tender heart. Little palm lifting to him for a moment, then thinking better of it and simply placing delicate hands into her lap. Oh, how she wished to bestow gentle comforts upon him. Tend to him with the warmth that had so soothed Jonathan’s own madness within the depths of Budapest. Yet, Dr Seward had already informed her that touching his patient could provoke a violent reaction. Her careful bandaging had likely already been testing the waters a tad too close for the good doctor’s comforts.  “I see.” Came soft whisper at his admission of the struggles rendered by sleep. It was not a confession that shocked the young bride, since the men had taken to confining her within the asylum for her own protection, there had been many a night where she found herself haunted by his ravings echoing in the corridors. Not many men appeared to sleep well within these walls it seemed. “Do let me know if there is anything that could be done to help, Mr Renfield.”  At his query, sweet expression faltered slightly. Blue hues flickering down from the patient’s features to glance upon clasped palms still sat snugly in the cotton of her skirts. Disturbance was evident in her gentle eyes, that and a touch of guilt that swirled within the depths as they lifted to the gentleman once more. A brief look of mutual understanding was offered, only to be masked in moments by quiet restraint.  “I am finding it difficult to adjust to a bed that is not truly my own, Mr Renfield. I do admit such things.” She murmured quietly, forefinger toying lightly with the gold of her wedding band. “But my dreams are… Simply dreams, nothing to concern yourself with, I assure you.”

He knew that look well. Far too many gave it to him in fits of passion he desperately tried to hold back.  A foolish endeavor even he was not immune to. Such was the shame to know of the delicate dove  that now saw of his true behavior. Should he dare to stuff a delectable play between his lips, he feared to know what she might think.

“Perhaps you speaking alone to the good doctor  should help me, Mrs. Harker,” he replied in the  proper tone he held upon her first entry. As though every ounce of madness had fled from his thoughts  in a simple act of courage. He once used the similar act on the good doctor. Foolish of him, he knew, but  one that left him helpless in the asylum.

A pang struck his heart to hear her own response to his inquiry. How important it was, yet foolish he felt to learn of the truth. She was no safer here than any other place he wished the men would ship her to. Beyond all else the Master would discover her. A  gentle soul as sweet as hers would never be free from his grasp. Not truly.

“Might I ask of you what these dreams are? Please? If I should help in preventing them, then do tell. I may not have complete control in moments like these, but I can keep in mind your request. I wish not to harbor you any problems, Mrs. Harker. You do not deserve that for me.”

Help? Among his task of locating a meal to quench is taste of insect blood, it gave him a moment of clarity. He held  authority here. A matter in which Doctor Seward would never dare give him. Let alone he questioned exactly where he was with the heavenly angel standing there before his cell.

Almost like a proper gentleman, he adjusted his long sleeved shirt before approaching the bars of his abode. 

Softly, dainty hands weaved around his bloodied palms, slowly  binding the marred skin in the pale cloth of the bandage. Jonathan’s  injuries had been vastly more severe than this, arms as if a wild creature  had attempted to rip him to shreds. With the assistance of the nuns, she  had been shown how to correctly wrap wounds and ensure the area  was treated properly to reduce risk of infection.  Arguably, the mental wounds inflicted on Jonathan were the worst  that he had endured. Where flesh and bone had already healed suitably  well, the mental torments that haunted him still reared their ugly heads  when he least expected it. One moment, they were laid peacefully in  bed, relishing in the other’s sweet embrace. The next, he had his head  in his hands and Mina was getting lashed out at whenever she rested a  hand upon him to quell his screams.  Patience had become one of her greatest virtues.  “I will hold you to it then.” She teased gently, finishing the last of the binding  and tying it into a small knot to keep it secured to him. If he would begin  picking at the area again, she hoped his focus would become the knots.  “A pity, I find kindness can soothe many a troubled soul.” Mina’s hands  came to rest behind her back, subtly offering the bandage roll back to the  nurse as she enchanted the madman in conversation. “Are you sleeping  any better?”

Silently he could only offer his awkward smile as he looked over her work. He shall not touch it. He dare not to touch  it. A single mistake and this act of kindness should bring such cruel intentions. Perhaps not by her hand, but by  those other hunters. A small army against the greatness his Master held. Oh how he hoped they would be victorious in keeping the sweet maiden safe. She needed to be more than he could possibly ever say.

“Is that a question the good doctor asked you to question me on?!?! Another way for him to spy on poor Renfield,” a hint of annoyance in his voice. The sudden mood was not of his own accord but a call in the depths of insanity to  lure the sweet thing away. An anger that fell on the idea this man of medicine should be so foolish to not understand the code he persuaded him with. 

The realization hit him far quicker than usual nights as he  looked to the lovely Mrs. Harker. His eyes suddenly became soft as he lowered his head in recogonition of his rude behavior. Almost like a child he scooted himself back into his cell away from her. Surely this guardian that stood at his door should take her away. For that he feared the idea more than what his Lord  of damnation would do.

“I am sorry,” he quickly apologized in an almost gentle tone. “I did not mean to upset you so. Nor did I intend to be so rude to  you.” He sighed before daring to continuing his words, another form to keep his sanity straight. “My sleep is... not so kind as  you think. It comes either by the leave of the moon, or the  inducement of the good doctor’s drugs. I still have no control over this sense of normalcy that I should.”

Perhaps this was a chance he needed. Knowing exactly how deep in the Count’s power she fell was all he needed now. If she should be seeing him, her soul would be as good as lost. If not.... By this heavenly God, he could silently pray these hunters would be able to save her still.

“Do you also wish to stare upon the famed madman the  good doctor speaks of?” 

The words were harsh and far less kind than those he would give a gentle heart. The words that whispered ever so softly in the back of his mind told him of this man’s betrayal to the Master. Another babe for the slaughter he supposed. Unfortunately, the use of this ones name escaped him. With so many in this group of hunters, he could only focus on the select few that  were of true concern to the Master. Not that he dare think of the fact this should be a gentleman standing there before him.

Arrogance was one of The Count’s many vices, and to see a creature submit himself so willingly struck  a chord deep within him. Whether it was a product of  an unstable mind or not, that adoration resonated  within Vlad. 

Why her? 

The question stirred even more thought in Vlad.  Yes, why her? It was a question he had asked himself countless times already, and to hear it vocalized  only brought irritation to him. 

It was irritation solely because he didn’t know the  exact answer. He didn’t understand the feelings that  came with Mina Harker’s presence. 

Love was what some would call it. And yet he had  long since believed such a notion was not possible for his black heart.

So, as was his custom, he lied with half truths. 

“Revenge, Renfield. They think they are more powerful than I am. We must prove that they are not– and Mina  Harker is the key.”  

Revenge. Of course it should be revenge that hungered the Master’s acts. Even gods had their own enemies on human plains. How sad it became to learn that none knew  of his existence besides the few that dared to cross him.

His heart grew heavy at the thought of the lovely Mrs. Harker becoming the key in his  plots. How lovely she had been in her visits. A true angel of radiance with every word she spoke. If any should be worthy of his  gift, she certainly fell into place.

“Surely, Master, they shall not defeat you.” A hint of worry hid in the madman’s voice. “Their powers are weakened by the night to your effortless command. If they should learn of these... choices of yours. Must there be an action I take?”