We sit for about five minutes, then Dracula swerves around the deer and speeds off again. I can tell he's getting a little aggravated.
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"No, I'm about to be pissed to the high heavens."
"Why?"
"For one, you won't quick asking me stupid questions. For two, I have police cars on my tail that won't go away. And for three, these people drive so fucking slow!"
Then, before I realize what he's doing, he shoots out the front two tires of the first police car behind him. He puts the gun back and swerves in front of the cars in front of him. They all give him a dirty look as he drives passed them.
"DRACULA, SLOW DOWN!!" I scream and he slams on the brakes.
He pulls over to the side of the road and gets out. He slams the door shut and walks back to the police car that stopped behind him. I watch as he busts the window and threatens the police officer. I turn back around and close my eyes. I take a deep, shaky breath and let it out. I open my eyes just as Dracula gets back in the car. I turn my head and look out the window, tears silently streaming down my face. I don't say anything for the rest of the ride.
*****
About six hours later, we arrive at the JFK International Airport. We get on the plane after he puts his car in the back of the plane. I sit down beside the window and put my bag on the sit in between us. I look out the window and wait until the plane takes off. After about an hour of waiting, the plane finally takes off and we head on our way to Romania.
Two hours later, I feel someone shaking me.
"Hey, Nikki, you hungry?"
I open my eyes and stretch. I rub my eyes.
"I was asleep?" I ask groggily.
"Yes. You hungry?"
"No. I want sleep." I yawn. "And I don't want to talk right now."
I turn away and close my eyes. I fall asleep.
Some time later, I feel someone shaking me again.
I stretch and yawn. "What?"
"Come on. We have to go."
"What time is it?" I ask groggily as I rub my eyes.
"It's 8:10 in the morning."
"It's 8:10? I thought it would be--"
"We're in a different time zone. Heck, we're almost across the world from America."
I groan and look around. I gasp. "Where's everyone else?"
"They already left. Now come on, let's go. We don't have much time. I already got my car out of the back of the plane."
I get up and grab my bag. I follow him off the airplane and to his car. I hand him my bag and get in the car as he puts my bag in the trunk. He gets in the drivers' seat and puts his seatbelt on. He starts the engine and we head to the Borgo Pass.
"What do you want for breakfast? I'll get you anything you want. I have the money."
"I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat. You haven't ate for quite a while."
"And, so?"
"If you don't give your body nutrition, then it'll shut down and use the fat in your body for food and energy. You need to eat."
I mutter something under my breath and look out the window.
An hour later, Dracula pulls into an area in the trees that hides his black car perfectly in the shadows. Then, before I understand what's going on, I'm having romance with a centuries old vampire that I'm supposedly supposed to destroy and rid the earth of. He stops kissing me and looks in my eyes.
"What was that for?" I ask.
"I don't know." He leans in and kisses me again.
"This isn't getting us to the Borgo Pass or your castle any quicker than before."
"I know."
"Did you do this to get me to eat something?"
"Maybe. Maybe not." He gets back in the drivers' seat and starts the engine.
I crawl back into the passenger seat and buckle my seatbelt. Suddenly, my stomach growls really loudly and I look away, blushing in embarrassment.
"See? I told you so."
"Fine, I'll eat. As long as it's something good."
"Well, there's plenty of McDonalds around."
"What? There's McDonalds in Romania?"
"Yes. There is."
"Wow."
*****
About eight and a half hours later, I look up from my book and look through the front window to see a grand, centuries old medieval castle in the distance. I gasp.
"Wow," I breathe.
"You impressed?"
"How on earth is it still standing?"
"It's still standing because I take care of it."
We drive up into the 'driveway' of the castle and I pop up the lock and yank open the car door before it stops. I slam the door shut and walk up the path, looking around.
"This is amazing!" I shout. "WOOHOO!!"
I run up to the double doors as Dracula gets out of the car. He smiles at me and walks up the path to me. As soon as he gets to the doors, I wrap my arms around him in a tight hug.
"Oh, nice." He chuckles nervously.
I let go and he opens the doors. I go inside and gaze around.
"This is huge. Heck, it's marvelous."
Dracula chuckles. "You like it?"
"Yes, I do." I glance at him. "So, are we staying here?"
"Mostly, yes."
I sigh. "I hope we find my father soon. I'm already feeling a little homesick."
He comes over to me and lifts my chin. He leans in and whispers in my ear, "You'll still be mine when you leave me, Agatha Zoe Van Helsing." He pulls back and gazes into my eyes. Then, he leans in a kisses me on my lips.
I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
After five minutes of kissing, he pulls away. He gazes at me.
"You're so much like Sister Agatha," he says softly. "More so than Zoe. Or your father. And they both had quite a bit of Agatha in them. Even though your father is the opposite gender." He sighs. "And yet, you're able to hide it so well."
"Yeah. And I'm supposedly supposed to be a 'prophet' that's supposedly supposed to rid the world of all vampires, including you." I sigh. "But I don't want to. If anything, I want to help vampires....Not really spread, but survive. I mean, vampires may not be a normal thing for the earth, but they have every right to live just as we humans do."
"Oh, how sweet. Cute speech. But what about your bloodline? Your ancestry?"
"I don't care about that." I look at him intently. "Your ancestry shouldn't tell you how to live. If you know what I mean."
"Yes, Zoe, I know what you mean. You shouldn't live a certain way just because of who you're related to, or who runs in your blood." He lifts my chin again. "I'm not very fond of promises, but I'll try my best to find your father as quickly as I possibly can. And I don't really want to tell you this, but after we do find your father...Well, this may be the last time you see me. I have a country to protect. Romania's government is getting out of control and it's really getting to me. The government hired what you Americans call hit men to kill all the female wolves in the area and construction people to tear down the forest around my castle. I can't let that happen."
"But I don't want to leave."
"You know you'll have to for your safety. And your family's."
I sigh and lean against him as tears stream down my face. "Like I said before Dracula, I love you. I'd protect you with my life if I had to."
"Please don't. It's not worth your time to do something that stupid."
"It's not stupid. I'm sure when you were a human, you protected the one's you loved with your life."
He sighs. "I'm a vampire. You're a human. Why risk your life to keep me protected when I am able to come back from the dead? If you die, you're dead. There's no changing that. That's one of the main things that makes you and myself different."
"Then change me into a vampire."
He looks at me, stunned. "What? No. That's definitely not going to happen. Heck, there's no telling if it'll work or not. It may not."
I groan and turn away. "Then just fricking kill me."
"Definitely not!" He walks over to me and scoops me into his arms like a bride. He takes me upstairs and takes me to a bedroom. He puts shuts the door with his foot and puts me on the bed. He takes his shoes off and lies down on the bed beside me on his left side. He pulls me close and wraps his arms around me. After thirty minutes, I fall asleep with his scent in my nose.
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