SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER NINE
DRACULA SAT ON HIS SOFA with Moon Diamond comfortably in his lap. Zacharia didn’t want to be in that position, but the cat did, so the vampire acquiesced. The Master was in a better mood as he waited for Carrington to show up, with thoughts of his daughter prancing around in his head. Carrington had lots of knowledge of vampires and blood wizards in particular. He would either help or direct him to someone that could. And contrary to what many people thought, Dracula didn’t know everything, and in this case, Carrington’s help was essential. The cat awoke, stared intently toward the front door as it stretched, then looked up at Dracula.
“I know he’s coming. He may be related to the bogeyman. His brother, I imagine.”
Piers Anthony never just showed up for conversation. There was always some trouble brewing, some problem with nasty biters that he wanted the Master to solve. Dracula liked Piers, though not likely to admit it; he enjoyed his company but pretended otherwise. He appreciated that the author was looking out for the mortals in his way, and that way was, of course, to get Dracula to solve whatever emergency he could dig up. Perhaps it was all research for some new book for all he knew.
The cell phone rang, and Dracula placed it to his right ear. “Yes? Carrington, please tell me that your arrival is imminent.” He listened intently, and the look on his face told the story. “A delay of several days. I don’t like it, but if you gave your word. Alright, bye now.”
The author Piers Anthony walked into the living room with the two Chinese red sheriffs, Wei and Bao. They were an impressive duo dressed in matching black dragon silk brocade jackets with dancing dragons on their left shoulders and equipped with swords. Dracula remembered Wei’s gray-blue eyes and two feet long queue of hair down his back from the night he had turned him into a red sheriff. He was happy to see them both still alive. Bao’s dark brown eyes scanned the Master’s residence and were impressed with its upscale décor; his Cute Boy hairstyle wasn’t precisely to Dracula’s liking, but he thought it looked good. Their rugged masculinity was impressive to most, and everyone exchanged nods out of respect. Piers wore a white shirt with a blue tie and gray dress pants. He cocked his head ever so slightly at the Master, and of course, Dracula knew what was coming.
“Piers, I’ll tell you about Mona Lisa’s smile if you promise not to bother me anymore. What do you say?”
Piers smiled. “I’d like to say yes, but I can’t.
“Of course. What is it now?”
“We need your help to rescue some seniors from an old folk’s home. There are a bunch of vampires in there. I’m sure you can imagine how frightened they must be.”
The Siamese cat jumped up with excitement. It was a task, a fight, a chance to battle miscreant vampires that should die. It was an adventure. Last night, Dracula discovered Zacharia curled beside one of his swords and assumed he had been reminiscing about old times. Moon Diamond ran to the door, pounded on it with both paws, and then quickly ran back. It slapped fast and furious at Dracula’s leg and let go with several meows. He said, inside the Master’s head, let’s do this!
“Oh, Zacharia,” said Piers. “Please forgive me for not acknowledging your presence.”
The cat made its best attempt to speak the words Piers Anthony. “Miers meowmamee.”
Wei and Bao looked at each other, trying to figure out what was happening. They both wanted to laugh at the cat but didn’t dare. “Is Zacharia here?”
Bao stared down at the cat. “Master?”
Dracula took a deep breath. “Oh, that’s right. Ah, well, Zacharia animated his Siamese cat Moon Diamond with a small piece of his soul because he couldn’t stand the thought of his precious cat perishing of natural causes. You boys will find this part interesting; Zacharia died, but instead of his soul moving on, it was sucked into the cat. Now he’s trapped in there.”
“I have to assume this is some jest, but I don’t get it.” Bao had known Zacharia as an acquaintance and liked him.
Dracula was beginning to get bored with the cat thing. “Go ahead, mind him.”
Wei went into the cat’s mind, and sure enough, Zacharia was sitting on an imaginary white chair, looking bored.
“Hello,” said Zacharia. “It’s true I’m stuck in here. I don’t have a body. I’ll never really get accustomed to it. It’s a hell of a thing being a cat.”
“Shit, I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Wei now saw the Siamese as Zacharia; it was one of the weirdest things he’d ever experienced. “That is both sad and fascinating. My condolences to you, Zacharia. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Moon Diamond growled in protest, one of the fiercest growls ever emanating from a cat.
“Don’t antagonize him. He’ll rip your face off; he remains a powerful vampire.”
“My apologies Zacharia I meant no disrespect.” Wei bowed to the cat and the cat reciprocated.
Bao finally closed his mouth from the shock of it all. “Master, may I ask a question?”
“I suppose.”
“Well, a small girl named Jenny saved our asses with some spell. Is there anything that you can tell us about her? Do you know her? She has blond hair, about so high. She has to be a wizard.”
Dracula smiled. “Jenny is my daughter.”
Wei looked at Bao. “Is he serious?”
Bao shrugged.
The cat looked up at the Master and gestured toward the door with its head, indicating that he wanted to go and do battle. Piers nodded appreciatively to the cat, as Zacharia was in Dracula’s mind wanting him to agree to the seniors’ rescue.
“All right, Piers,” said Dracula, “we’ll rescue the old folks under one condition. The condition is that you must engage in battle.”
The grimace on Piers Anthony’s face said it all. “Is that necessary?”
“It is.”
“Oh, all right. But I won’t be happy if I end up dead.”
Dracula bent down and pulled out a samurai sword in its scabbard that had killed over a thousand vampires over the centuries; its hilt was partially silver. On its handguard was a tiny samurai warrior who went through several attack motions as it glowed eerily green. “Piers, use this enchanted sword. Any evil vampire that it comes into contact with will be immediately destroyed. Beware, though, as it won’t improve your fighting skills or aid in your lack of experience. But just a scratch from it will do the trick, so it won’t be necessary for their heads to come off.”
Piers took the sword and was impressed by how it felt in his hands; when he pulled it from its scabbard mouth, the weapon felt alive. He had never experienced anything like it. Of course, Dracula observed his expression and knew what he was sensing. The blade fed off the good inside the author.
Dracula, Piers, Wei, and Bao blurred onto the steps of the red-bricked 1900 neoclassical house and almost immediately received permission to enter from 90-year-old Annie Baker, who stood with her oxygen tank behind her. Life was a living hell for Annie, and she hoped to die before it was all over. Moon Diamond was on the Master’s left shoulder and raring to go. The old lady stared through the window and recognized Dracula immediately; he went into her mind and told her why they had come, which was good enough for her.
The five entered and attacked. Archie, Uberto, Gage, Vaile, Snyder, Nash, and Nate. Assaulting Dracula was foolish. However, he went into their minds and told them he was there to kill them, so they had nothing to lose by their boldness of attack. Dracula grabbed Archie by the head, and with a vigorous shake, his head came off, turning to bones. Moon Diamond attached himself to Snyder’s face, and his screams were quite satisfying to Annie because of the torture he put the seniors through. Dracula took Snyder’s head even with the Siamese still attached to his face. The head bounced once on the floor as the cat fell off it.
The battle moved further into the large living room as old Annie reached Archie’s bones and kicked them. “Take that, you piece of vampire shit! Looks good on you!”
Bao blocked Nate’s attempt at decapitation and, with a reverse turning, kick sent him cartwheeling across the room. He blurred to him and their blades collided violently five times. Bao stuck his sword through his heart, pulled it out, and then with a swing of his blade, Nate’s head flew off, and he also turned to bones. Annie slowly made her way through the carnage, pulling her oxygen behind her; she made her way to Nate’s skeletal remains and kicked those as well. Her bravado did not go unnoticed by the Master.
Wei’s katana had no problem deflecting Uberto’s sword; he booted Uberto in the chest so hard that it sent him flying into the fireplace, dislodging several bricks. Annie kicked him and was about to be decapitated when Wei’s sword took his head off; his skin turned to dust, and his bones fell to the floor. Annie shook the dust out of her hair. Annie also kicked Uberto’s bones as well.
Piers Anthony split Nash into two equal parts, and his skin turned to dust and littered the floor. To the author, it was a distasteful but necessary deed. The battle raged on as Dracula observed how each vampire handled the fight of their lives. He then had to block Nate and prevent him from removing the author’s head. The sounds of battle were loud and disturbing to the other seniors who hid, hoping it would all be over soon. Some plugged their ears as others turned off their hearing aids.
Nash and Vaile attacked Dracula simultaneously. He enjoyed the battle until then, especially fighting side by side with Zacharia. But unfortunately, it had been enough of a distraction for Gage to cut through Piers Anthony’s neck.
Dracula turned. “No!”