Dark Matters

Chapter 16: The great picture

After he had returned with the lamia to the Black Tower, the Count remained thoughtful. Of course he had talked with Virginia about what he had learned and the ageless woman agreed with him on it's significance. The only thing he had kept to himself was the fact that the description of his enemy seemed to fit his old friend Gabriel perfectly.

The Count agreed with her that it was best to discuss the subject with the mage upon his return. Only then he would decide whether to tell Lace about it implying Gabriel or not. It was not something Dracula envied to share, thinking about the vampire hunter had been something he had tried to avoid for centuries. But apparently it was no use, their fates seemed to be intertwined and he doubted that he ever would be able to put his old friend behind him.

Thinking about it, he should have known that they would meet again. All those years he had known Gabriel as a mortal man, the so-called Left Hand of God, hasn't aged one day. Vladislaus remembered the evening, when his father had brought the handsome young man home with him. Being a knight of the Holy Order, Valerious the Elder, had been given the honour of taking the man without memory in.

Teaching him in languages and the art of fighting, because everyone agreed that he was something special. An emissary from god. Vladislaus had been twelve years old, then. Nothing more but a boy eager to learn as much as he could to impress his father. First he had been frustrated how quickly Gabriel had mastered his lessons, but then they began to train together. The stranger without memories had been both for him - brother and mentor. In time they both had become Knights of the Order.

He had never even found out if Gabriel's sudden order to visit Tibet - for some additional training tactics - had something to do with the Cardinal's disapproval of the deep, almost intimate relationship, that grown between them and was far from just being brotherly or platonic. Back then he had not given it any thought. He had been very busy accomplishing difficult and bloody mission for the church. Then the years went by, he grew older while Gabriel was caught up elsewhere.

He probably should have notice that Gabriel hadn't ages, but the long beard and the anger in his eyes must have deceived Vladislaus. And after the betrayal nothing but hate and thoughts of revenge had been upon his mind.

Except for those moments, when there had been nothing to keep him distracted and this empty feeling had befallen him. Somewhat during this time, it seemed that he had lost all feelings that have been good. Which wasn't entirely true as he had discovered only recently. Determined to stop thinking about this depressing subject, Dracula forced himself to read the history book. Which was very informative, but became very dull to read due to the dry and entirely un-poetic way in which it was written.

It was almost three days before Lace returned and the whole time the Count had not left his quarters. The feeling of unhappiness left him rather unmotivated and he felt not up to do anything but read. Like he had used all his concentration to get a hold of the book and the information inside. Even worse was the realisation that the virus was feeding of him. An altogether unpleasant feeling for the vampire. His energies were fading too fast and since he had not grabbed himself a victim on this joint hunt with the lamia, there was no snack available close by and still he did not wanted to go out and feed again.

Virginia noticed the lethargy, but at the same time, she was too polite to poke deeper into his wounds. Paying a visit she brought him a present - a healthy young man to feed off - and offered an open ear. Dracula was very grateful, especially since she left without giving any sign of being upset when he did not wanted to talk. Vladislaus wondered if Lace had ordered everyone to take care of his needs or what other reason the lamia had to be this thoughtful about his well-fare.

But the blood did not helped much. First he took just a little sip, it strengthened him where his powers had grown weaker, but as continued to drink he felt how much of the energy was drained right away from that dreadful virus polluting his blood. Although Lace had told him that this was happening, it was the first time the Count felt it so explicitly.

As the day went by with Vladislaus contemplating his misfortune he was informed that the mage had returned and would be very happy if Dracula would join him later somewhere upstairs. The vampire wasn't going to miss this opportunity, especially since the magician might have some good news for him.

Somewhat slow but with growing enthusiasm he began to dress properly. He had forgotten how enthralling the satin of that black shirt had felt against his skin. Sometimes it was really dreadful not to have a reflection, but looking down at the black trouser which were rather tight at the back but very comfortable on the legs. Vladislaus was sure he looked fantastic. In honour of the new modern wardrobe, he decided to leave his hair open.

With swift steps he approached the elevator which took him to one of the top floors and followed the description; first corridor to the right and then the second to the left after that he was standing in front of a huge two-winged, leather-padded door. To his surprise it opened all by it self and revealed a luxurious lounge with large comfortable sofas. The walls were also leather padded and on the heavy, but small tables little lamps and green flowers were carefully placed. The light was comfortable as if his host had given extra thought to his improved eye-sight which made brighter light so uncomfortable to him.

"Good evening Count, as I have heard you had quite the interesting encounter the other day", the mage greeted him.

"That is one way to put it," Vladislaus said and took a seat.

He wasn't surprised that the mage already knew, Dracula just wondered who told him first, Virginia, Bale or Lake, herself.

"She seemed to have convinced you of her authenticity," Lace said.

"You think she isn't reliable?"

Lace poured himself a drink from the bar. "I am afraid, we should take her very seriously. She possesses the power and is not the kind of person to use it just for the fun of upsetting others."

"So what are you going to do about this?" the Count wanted to know.

"I am?" the mage seemed amused.

Dracula's eyes flashed with anger. Not just because of the reaction, but that it had seemed so natural to assume the magician would take care of a problem that was in fact his own to solve. Part of him wished to rip the mage limb from limb, but the wiser element got the upper end and he bit his tongue. Literally, actually, letting it slide against the sharp end of his fangs. Blood had such a soothing effect on him in times of anger, even if it was just his own tainted blood.

"I just wanted to clear up, that I am going to take care of this problem and that I do not like interference," the vampire said as convincing as he could.

"I most certainly won't argue with you on that. I just wonder, who is this Gabriel?"

The mage's information network worked a bit to good for the Count's taste. "He is a pawn - one that seems to miraculously appear at the right time at the right place..."

"Well I haven't heard of a crusader that goes by that name, at least no one of consequence, which is surprising considering the problem is supposed to be an immortal."

Dracula had already decided not to tell the mage more about Gabriel, like him having used the name Van Helsing in the past. The vampire was just revealing enough to get rid of the questions. If Gabriel indeed was to show up here, the Count would deal with him properly. Lace knew too much anyway, that could prove to be unhealthy. Especially since Vladislaus was not prepared to take his old friend out so fast. His murderer, the slayer of his brides and children, would not walk away untarnished or find a quick an easy way out like a fast kill.

He also wondered if he was really the only one that could kill Van Helsing, he did not believed that the prophecy was that accurate about this particular point. Maybe it was just up to him to stop him at the right point. Make him a vampire. What a nice thought this was, the Count had to think about all the beautiful torture techniques where mortals tended to lose conscience to fast. Letting go of his train of thought, he finally replied.

"He goes by many names probably due to his very bad memory."

Lace appeared calm, but his eyes seemed to stare at the vampire even through the glasses. "Interesting."

The manner in which his host replied, made him wish he had not said this. It was like his piece of the puzzle had given the mage an even greater part to the puzzle. Especially since the Count new very little about who Van Helsing really was. His knowledge was of more profound things, but nothing about what he truly was or who he was now. Even though the body was probably not so forgetful as his mind was, there was little use for it at the moment.

"I find it more taxing, what good is it to take revenge upon someone who does not even remember his crimes?"

The mage nodded. "Indeed that is very unsatisfactory. Sometimes lost memory can be brought back - tell me this 'Gabriel' - does he loose all of his memories or only certain parts?"

Dracula pondered the question. "I don't think he knows he is immortal. But I have come to believe he is even olden than I am."

"Any particular reason to believe that?"

"No, it's just a feeling ..." Vladislaus lied. In fact he knew that Gabriel was older than him.

The Count had referred to another quite solid suspicion of his, that his old friend had been around even longer than that. He might have realised this sooner had not all his energies been spent on not thinking about the past.

"... but I was wondering how much progress your research has made. Also I have no doubt that I could take care of matter right now."

"Unfortunately I still haven't found the right match. I know for what to look, but so far I haven't encountered a similar force. A werewolf is not necessarily evil, it was made evil, basically it is a force of nature; brutal and nearly uncontrollable. So the counterforce has to come from a force turned to good. I'm quite sure of that."

"Van Helsing?" Dracula said. Somewhat amused by the thought of Gabriel poisoning him and then being the cure of it.

"Well, bring him to me an we can test the matter - or better yet, suck him dry. You will feel it when you are whole again," Lace smiled. "Tell me, how much did improve Elaine's blood your condition so far?"

Dracula licked his lips remembering the taste of her powerful life elixir. "It was an incredible power boost...", he stopped. "And yet I have felt for the first time the venom draining power from it as well."

As long as the vampire concentrated he still could feel it. He was far from loosing control over his talents again and yet so far from being back to his old self. Almost as if realising that his guest felt bad about his state, the mage slightly changed the topic. "So did you took the chance of extracting information from her beforehand?"

"Would have been a waste if I didn't," the Count said.

"True, so what do you think of the Masked One's point?" Lace asked him.

Considering the fact that Lace seemed to be able to read him like an open book anyway, Dracula replied truthfully: "I think it is wrong to value mortal lives more than those of our kind."

Observing his host's reaction after revealing a slight agreement with his enemies opinion, all Vlad could see was amusement. Even before the Mage chuckled slightly..

"That is the thing, I do not value mortal lives more than those of witches, mages, creatures of the night and the like. I just think natural selection should apply to everyone whether one is mortal or something else."

"There is no natural selection among the likes of us, we live forever ..." the Count insisted.

"I beg to differ, everything can be killed, destroyed. There is no real immortality - everything has a weakness. The most common one among the most powerful is arrogance. There are those who are smart and those who are not, sometimes it is hard to determine who belongs to which faction. "

The vampire had to admit that the mage had a point. But that still did not explain why Lace made things so difficult for those blessed with powers. Although the Count was getting the idea of Lace separating people not into mortal or not, but into his smart/dumb scheme, he was still puzzled.

"I see, you still don't see the necessity to handle things my way. Probably because your world was blessed with an abundance of life-stock. But you have seen this world, you know how things are outside, where the demons run free. Where not even a witch can travel safely." Lace sighed slightly. "What would ultimately happen if let them kill here at will?"

It did not took Dracula long to see the city as she would be without Lace's rules. Dead and bare of life. Now Vladislaus saw the point. Lace wasn't protecting the mortals at all. Human numbers were decreasing all over the world, he nearly starved on the way here. Without control they might lose their food supply, or as probably in Lace's case the source of amusement, forever.

"I guess, I see your point."

"I know you would," Lace said honestly. "It's a shame when men - or women - in our league can't see the great picture. I'm not letting everything go to hell because of some random idiots, causing their own destruction in blind need for blood and torture."

"Still 'natural selection' seems a strange expression, when involving unnatural beings," Dracula replied.

"That would depend on the definition of the world 'natural'."

After some time of intense discussion on linguistics, a knock on the door interrupted the two. Madira and Jasmine entered the room. The mage had asked the dancers to join them. He actually found an non-offensive way of telling the Count that he thought he needed to indulge himself more into physical pleasures. In fact the vampire could not agree more.

Especially since his host had chosen so well. True enough, Jasmine wasn't really holding his interests, but she had an inspiring body and was intrigued enough by him to be a willing participant.

The two women sat down next to them. Within seconds Madira lay on the sofa, her head on Lace's lap, her knees bend with her feet resting near the edge. The manner in which the mage and his lover interacted was so sweet and playful that it was hard to believe he actually could inspire so much terror; yet alone just by looking him into the eyes.

Jasmine leaned closer and caught his attention. "There we meet again, I hope you approve of Lace inviting me to entertain you."

They separated, after half an hour filled with enthusiastic talk about the oldest sin in the book and the book just written around it. The Kamasutra, brought up by an innocent question of Madira's who had wanted to know if the famous vampire had tried all of them yet. Soon afterwards everyone agreed with the Count's point of view, that reading it was a waste of time; especially when having the opportunity to discover things on their own.

Jasmine spend a lot of time in the quarters of Dracula after this evening. She was really demanding and thus keeping him of too depressive thoughts about Gabriel most of the time. Not to mention that she was great source of inside information on the dancers and other things going on. The woman was talking quite careless when in bed, or whatever location they chose. Especially Alicia and her almost inseparable roommate Sonja, where topics the slightly jealous woman was eager to talk about. At least as far as it came to how they spent their time, what they liked and disliked and what they said about him and what others thought about them.

Everyone was kind of suspicious about the two girls who appeared out of no where and immediately got jobs and living priviliges in the tower and could begin their training as dancers. Jasmine was especially detailed about the wild, unclean state those two had been in when arriving. The vampire however thought it only to be natural, considering how tattered his own clothing were. He was more amazed how such young girls would manage to travel such distance all alone in such dangerous fields.

Unlike the rest of town who were assuming Lace had discovered his paedophilic site for Alicia, Vladislaus believed he must have seen her potential. In fact the mage had hinted more than once that both carried supernatural blood in their veins. He remembered that Alicia's mother was a witch and that the mage wasn't sure what being had snuck his way into Sonja's bloodline. But even now when it was so obvious that Lace was interested in her magic talent, there was a rumour that Alicia was his real lover and Madira just covering for show.

He knew that woman, Lace's new apprentice was not the least bit interested in any form of sexual interaction. Most of the dancers had accepted it by now, but people who only saw her dance could not believe it. Considering how professional and concentrated that woman was going on about everything she did, Dracula began to believe that she just had played the hungry for love woman when he had seen her first. But there was of course only one way to find it out for sure and the vampire was still working on it.

Sonja was more of an open book, everyone knew she was party girl and easy to get along with. Some also said she was easy to get in bed with but that did not quite fit it. Sometimes he would stand outside looking down in her apartment and he did not saw her very often having sex in that month. She often worked with two of the male dancers who obviously were in a very open relationship. And they often studied in performances together.

One evening, much to Vlad's surprise, the three of them ended up having the most appetizing ménage-a-troi he had seen so far. It convinced him all the more that Sonja had all the qualities a good bride needed. That woman had some passion boiling inside of her. He wasn't surprised to hear from Jasmine that the brunette dancer participated on quite a lot of group sex oriented parties, when she first became one of them.

Things became a little quieter after Lace had forbidden those parties. It was heard that some of the dancers had been feed to the ghouls for overdoing their freedoms a bit. Still parties among the dancer weren't uncommon and a lot of couples were into the partner exchange thing. Jasmine main reason for staying out of it, was because her boy-friend left her after some of those escapades or so she told the Count.