They came to the end of the moving strip, just
short of a door. The Count led them through and they were on one of the upper
tiers of the rotunda of the Grand Hall. In the vast open space their steps and
Dracula’s voice echoed. “This palace can house twenty thousand people but I
choose to live alone now—I even dismissed my personal servants a few weeks ago.
You and I are the only persons on this entire planet.” He lapsed into silence
and Van Helsing said nothing. The radius of the rotunda was over two hundred
feet and traversing a quarter of the circle took several minutes.
Finally
they came to a radiating hallway—like many they had already passed—and stepped
onto another moving strip. As they got under way Dracula asked, “What do you
remember last before I captured you?”
“I
had gone to England—London—to meet a literary and theatrical man. I remember
leaving his home one night and a cab approached. I hailed it and got in—the
next thing I remember is you torturing me.”
“You
do not believe me but I am indeed so sorry for that treatment. I was in that
cab—I had mesmerized the driver and was awaiting you. Some time before that I
had broken into your lodgings in Vienna while you slept one night and read your
memoir and your correspondence with Mr. Stoker. I preceded you to London and
was prepared to act upon your arrival. I killed you—made you undead, like
myself. I returned to Mr. Stoker’s home sometime after midnight dragging your
corpse. It was a most effective demonstration and he chose to cooperate with me
at once. You may be pleased to hear that Mr. Stoker published your memoir—as a
work of fiction, I’m afraid. There were some significant revisions—I was
instrumental in most. It was a tremendous success and I secretly held a portion
of the publishing and theatrical rights. I was wealthy before, but that book
made me a fortune. That is another debt I owe you. Careful, now. We’re going to
step off at that door coming up on the left—it leads to my personal apartment.”
They
stepped off of the sliding floor and it stopped moving as the door in front of
them opened. The space within was plain, Spartan when contrasted to the
opulence of the rest of the palace. The Count led them through a sitting room,
past a bedroom and into a kitchen. He guided Dr. Van Helsing into a chair by a
small round table. “Do sit here while I rustle something up. Will pea soup do?”
“I
should be ashamed to take your hospitality—but I am famished. Yes, that sounds
like it would be very satisfying.”
“Good!”
Dracula turned to the cooking area and got busy. Soon the small room was filled
with a hearty warm aroma and the Count brought two steaming bowls to the table.
He presented one to his guest then took his own bowl to the other space at the
table and sat down.
Van
Helsing took up the spoon from his bowl and tasted the soup. It was thick and
hearty indeed, made from a rich vegetable broth. It had a complex blend of
flavors, one of the foremost being garlic. He took a second sip and put his
spoon down to speak, “I fail to comprehend any of what I see—least of all you.
You scarcely seem the foul creature whom I stalked. I suppose this may all be a
perverted joke of your contrivance, if so, I fail to see the object.”
“There
is no joke—I assure you. All will be made plain, I hope. There have been many
changes to my mode of being and most were initiated by the occasion of our
encounter. I learned from you of the world of science and I realized that I
could not maintain my covert existence in an era of forensic pathologists. My
kind thrive in times of superstition and ignorance, chaos is the vampire’s
handmaiden. The rationalized, technological world that followed on
industrialization shines too much light into the shadows we operate in. You
were only the first man of science to attempt my destruction and you almost
succeeded. I realized from that experience that I had to learn a whole new way
of operating.
“My
motive in kidnapping you was complex. Foremost I wanted to punish you for
attempting my destruction, but before I could do that I first needed to learn
from you about science. With mesmerism, and torture, I extracted everything you
knew—most of it far beyond my comprehension to be sure.
“My
other first encounter with the modern world was through that unfortunate
business agent, Herr Joachim Hocher, who liquidated my Transylvanian estate. He
introduced me to the world of investing and finance and it turned out that I
had a talent for it. I began with a small fortune and made a vast fortune.
Subsequent reinvestments, plus the not inconsiderable royalties from Mr.
Stoker’s book and its derivatives—the name Dracula has generated quite a
franchise over the ages—children even had dolls in my likeness—all made for a
financial empire that rivaled the Great Powers of the world.
“You’ve
finished your soup—would you like more?”
“No,
thank you. It was quite good.”
“Let
me fetch us some more tonic for dessert.” Dracula rose from his seat and went
across the room. He took a bottle of the orange fluid from a refrigerator and
two tall glasses from a cupboard. He returned to his seat and poured out the
beverage.
“What
is it?” Dr. Van Helsing asked.
“All
the nutrition a vampire needs. It’s based on an artificial blood compound used
in surgery, with some vitamins and minerals added—and this batch has a modest lacing
of alcohol to make the time more pleasant and our tongues freer. I assure you
that no humans or animals died to produce it.”
“This
is your diet?”
“I
prefer it to blood and it is easier to obtain—I own the factory, after all.
Drink up!” Dracula hoisted his glass and drained it.
Van
Helsing followed suit.
“I’m
close to a thousand years old now. I’ve been everywhere and done everything I
ever dreamed that I might. I’ve conquered worlds and enslaved nations—I’ve also
given huge fortunes to charities of all sorts. I’ve saved millions of lives,
not just once, but on countless occasions. There is nothing left for me to do
so I have decided to end it all at sunrise tomorrow. I am asking if you wish to
die at my side, if you do not, there is still time for you to evacuate to
safety.”
“Safety
from what?”
“I
intend to expose myself to the full radiation of this sun—it should blast me to
atoms in seconds. But as a backup I have installed a hyper-thermal device—a
large bomb that burns with the intensity of suns—in the castle. It will
detonate exactly one minute after a sensor on the roof indicates that the sun
has risen. Everything within a half-mile radius of this castle will be
vaporized.”
“And
if I choose to continue existence, where am I to go?”
“There
is a vessel ready if you wish to go. It has an automatic pilot and can take you
anywhere. I have established a very handsomely endowed foundation expressly to
take care of the needs of vampires—such as yourself. You may go and never want
for a thing—you will live quite comfortably, in fact.”
“Have
you no fear to face the Lord God?”
“He
seems to have resigned the fray long ago, I’m afraid. None of the Judaic
monotheisms have followed the human race out to the stars. I think there are
still some Christians back on Earth—perhaps on Mt. Athos or in some desert
monastery. Besides, I could never understand why my so-called eternal soul
should be damned for what is, after all, a medical condition.”
“Do
you deny that you reveled in blood lust?”
“I
do not—I fully own up to it. But I ask you how you would face the situation. I
had to kill to live; I had to drink the gore of my victims—that was my
survival. Of course I reveled in blood lust! But before I became a vampire I
was a warrior—a fierce man who slaughtered the Turk and his treacherous allies
with abandon. I did terrible, bloody things for my country and I was hailed for
it. So, you see, blood lust boiled in my veins long before I was undead.
Becoming a vampire has allowed me to live long enough to recover from that
madness. If there is a Final Judgement, I am better prepared to face it now
than I ever was as a mere man.”
“Then
you repent your evil past?”
“I’ve
nothing to repent—nature drove me to be the monster you knew. If there is a
Lord God master of Creation did He not create my vampire kind? My sins are
His.”
Van
Helsing visibly recoiled, “That is blasphemy!”
“Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment