I, Dracula

I, DRACULA

a novel by

Jackson Stein

BOOKS BY JACKSON STEIN

Vampire Mafia: Santa Cruz

Dracula Rising

Dracula Reigns

I, Dracula

Dracula Reigns

Copyright © 2014 by Jackson Stein

All rights reserved.

ebook Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Jackson Stein

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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I, Dracula

CHAPTER ONE

May 28th 1448

A soft breeze drifting in from the high arching windows woke me from a vivid dream. It was of my upcoming wedding day. I stood ready, waiting at the altar as my beloved Helena approached, her dress a stunning white satin and lace, the same one my mother had donned the day she’d married my father.

In the dream, this was the happiest moment of my life. My lovely Helena kept her gaze cast to the ground as she walked toward me, lifting one hand out for me to accept. I reached forward, stretching toward her with my palm turned up to take her hand.

Her hand touched mine with a sudden burst of strength as she gripped my fingers. Her head snapped up, dark and sunken eyes glaring at me, blood-red veins spreading through the whites of her eyes like cracking glass. Her lips curled into a disturbing smile as her iron-tight grip bit down on my hand like the jaws of a crazed animal…and then she leapt forward.

She came at me in a flash, springing on top of me like a wild beast, knocking me onto my back, her sharp white teeth flashing at my throat. I felt searing pain, as she tasted the soft, wet flesh under my chin. Then she sat up on my chest as I lay there, tilting her head back, looking into the sky, licking the blood smeared across her swollen, red lips with a long flicking tongue. I stared back at her voluptuous body, watching it vanish, leaving only a wispy-white mist in her wake.

I awoke, startled and breathing hard, the powerful dream weighing down on my mind. I realized, to my great relief, our pending marriage was still seven days away, so I lay back on my pillow, exhaling a deep sigh of relief.

I looked across the sea of white linen that separated me from my bride. I watched her sleep, each breath slow and measured, her timeless beauty almost motionless, silent and at peace. I pulled in another slow breath, trying to convince myself it was only a meaningless dream. Then I exhaled, blotting my damp face and forehead, my thoughts still jarred by the blood-wet images my nightmare painted across the canvas of my mind.

I slid across the bed toward her, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her fair cheek, as she lay there oblivious to the frightening things I’d seen flashing behind my eyes.

I got up, quickly dressed, and headed down the long shadow-filled hallway that led to my throne room to attend a critical meeting with my top advisors.

Two important ceremonies approached, each momentous in their own way, each coming but once in a lifetime, and time had indeed grown short.

The first event loomed just five days away. It was my public coronation to the throne where I, Vlad III of Wallachia would officially become king, and the second, just two days later, was our royal wedding, for all the ages to remember.

I needed to have any official business in perfect order for the days leading up to these two ceremonies and through the weeks of celebration to follow.

Everything needed to be coordinated without flaw.

And I was willing spare no expense to make it so.

I stepped into the throne room, watching the thick beams of bright morning sunlight stream down from the high windows. The sharp yellow light glinted across the rows of jewels embedded in the giant royal chair. I strode forward, across the dark green marble floor, toward my brother, Radu, who waited there next to a frowning Amir Hassan. Amir’s face was washed with gray.

For such a glorious morning, they did not seem pleased.

Radu’s brows were drawn down tight over simmering black eyes as he paced the area behind the huge throne, his tall frame throwing long black shadows across the shiny stone floor. I sensed his uneasiness, and my gaze shifted between him and Hassan.

Radu, what is it? I questioned. What bears so heavily on your mind on a morning such as this?

We have received an urgent message from our informants from the south, he said, looking at Hassan, his eyes sharp and watchful. Hassan returned a quick, stone-faced nod of approval. Then Radu shifted his gaze back to me and continued. We have indeed received grave news, my brother…regarding the forbidden book. It has been stolen from the sultan’s castle in Adrianople.

I froze in place, feeling the blood drain away from my mind with my heart pumping harder to resupply it. My thoughts ran through the implications of that godforsaken book ending up in the wrong hands. The very same parchment had been used to transform six men into undead vampire kings…all six I’d killed trying to keep our land safe from their vicious attacks on our good townspeople. I stared back at him, thinking of the many sacrifices we had already been forced to make to contain its damage. Violent memories of the blood spilled as a result of the instructions contained in the evil vellum flooded into my mind like water from a collapsing dam. I stared down at our family crest displayed at my feet, then lifted my head to meet Radu’s stone-cold glare as he spoke again.

The thief slaughtered many in his escape. Blood has been shed, my brother; innocent lives are already lost in the wake of this crime. Vladdie, from what we were told, it was a massacre.

I stared back at him in silence, the meaning of his words penetrating my mind, burning their way down into my shocked heart. I looked up at the high arches spanning the distance of the throne room ceiling, shaking my head in mystified astonishment, as if time itself now threatened to stand still. The thought of that evil book in the wrong hands was…unthinkable.

But how? I felt my jaw moving. The words sounded hollow and far away. This cannot be. What of the sultan’s vast security forces? How could they have been so careless?

My eyes shifted to rest squarely on Radu’s focused stare, my heart pounding hard in my chest, my palms going damp. We should have burned that godforsaken vellum back to hell when we had the chance, when we held it in our very hands! I shouted, fingers balling up into fists, grasping at nothing more than bitter cold morning air.

Yes, we could have, Radu replied in just more than a whisper, his icy stare now softening. But we did not.

At the time, Radu continued, it would have been unwise. The sultan would have charged me with treason, sentenced me for public execution. Vladdie, that charge may have been valid. I know many who did willingly give their lives to keep it safe.

I stepped forward, turning to take my place on the enormous, gleaming chair, thinking of how safe the text seemed then, protected in the sultan’s secret vault. I thought back to the moment we had held the evil parchment in our possession, shaking my head.

Radu shifted his gaze across the chamber as if suddenly lost in thought, his pale face and reddish-brown hair lit by the casting light of the morning sun. Vladdie…the unthinkable…it has indeed happened.

But who? Who is this murderous thief?

The thief is believed to be Mathias the Wicked, the highest consultant of Queen Anna Beth Bathory. He paused to let the information settle into my already spinning mind.

Has she gone mad? I said, now shouting out in utter disbelief, leaning forward from my throne, my palms reaching out to Radu for some further explanation. Then she shall also suffer the merciless wrath of the entire Ottoman army at her doorstep, I declared, baffled by the queen’s inexcusable actions.

Not if she can successfully carry out the ritual again, Radu said, his frozen stare now sending gooseflesh crawling across my body. If she can successfully perform another seeding of her land with six more vampire kings, all may be lost. Each vampire king would then create his own army of undead followers. And don’t forget, Vladdie, she still has the full support of the Holy Roman Empire. The Ottomans cannot attack her so easily, not without starting the next great war. If she does succeed, it may be the Ottomans who have to answer to her bidding and that of her Dark Order.

I sat statue-still on my throne, rendered speechless by the horrible scenario unfolding in my mind. I felt my eyes stretching wider, the cold fear seeping deeper as I silently stared back into my brother’s icy gaze.

Vladdie, do you remember when we read that text? I’m sure you recall what it instructed. It stated the ritual must be carried out on the sixth day of the sixth month and by six men at exactly midnight. Vladdie, June sixth…is only ten short days away.

I closed my eyes, recalling the evil words scrawled in the text, my shoulders slumping forward in the bleak reality of this new development. All thoughts of my impending coronation, the glorious wedding and the full month of celebration to follow had gone away…all dissipating from my mind like the fading mist, swirling into the cold, unforgiving air of this cursed land.

How did they manage to steal it with so much security? I asked again. How could this have happened?

It should have been impossible for anyone to have overcome such extensive Ottoman security. Vladdie, there is only one way they could have done it—Mathias the Wicked must have been transformed into a vampire, and there is evidence to prove it. I saw his lip curl up as he said the words, as if disgusted even by the thought of the undead. I felt the sudden chill in the air, sensing his conflicted thoughts as he gazed back at me, one of the very creatures that disturbed him so. I knew the notion secretly ate away at his mind, hacking into what he so deeply believed to be right and wrong, the conflict boring down at his core.

A black force had transformed me into a vampire just moments after I killed my father. The dark force entered my body…changing me in powerful ways. My father had been one of the original six vampire kings created by the dark magic used in the forbidden book. Each of the six vampire