Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts

LAUREN RETURNED TO CONSCIOUSNESS inside a glass-covered coffin. She slowly opened her eyes and stared through the dirty glass; she could see multiple fingerprints smudged on it. She had no idea how she got in there. A beam of light shone through it onto her left breast but then vanished as the clouds blocked the sun. It was no ordinary coffin, it was shallow, and she could barely move. She was pressed on both sides of the narrow box. Besides that, the casket had been spelled. It was an entrapment spell put on the box by a high-level wizard, which meant big trouble. Lauren had an enchantment placed on her several years earlier that would allow her to break free of any binding. However, whatever wizard had her now was much stronger than the one that had created her anti-entrapment incantation. Either that or her magic had simply worn off.

“How the hell did I get in here?”

Lauren noticed that her badge was missing. Therefore, no one could track her. She could see her swords near her on an old Mexican copper inlaid elegant coffee table on a stylish iron stand, but she couldn’t get to them. The coffee table had two cubby holes and four long drawers. Inside one of the cubby holes was an hourglass with pale blue sand the color of the ocean. The sand was slowly draining.

It was then that she realized that she could only move her head. She couldn’t wiggle her toes or fingers or move her arms; her head was it, and what a terrible feeling it was. It was as if the sheriff was paralyzed from the neck down. She was resting on a flat surface about two feet off the floor. She was in a log cabin with a high wooden ceiling; from what she could see, it was an expensive-looking place. Apparently, she was alone as she couldn’t hear anyone. It would have been the perfect opportunity to escape.

“Someone’s gonna get a shit-kicking.”

Lauren put all her concentration into one kick that would bust it open. She thought that if she put her mind to it, she could accomplish something; she hoped that the power Dracula had infused in her had some countermagic. She visualized it, over and over, kicking that thing open so she could get out of there. Lauren put several minutes into it but soon became discouraged. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move an inch. Being trapped in such a fashion was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Although she didn’t know, the spell placed on her was not only supposed to paralyze her but meant to have kept her unconscious. The extra energy that Dracula had infused in her had interfered somewhat with the enchantment.

“Damn it!”

A loud crash of thunder got her attention. Lightning lit up the place as it started to pour. It surprised her as the sun had just been shining through the window. The sound of the rain hitting the roof and windows would have been pleasant enough if it wasn’t for her situation. Lauren had always liked the sights and sounds of a rainstorm and used to dance in it as a child; she loved how it brought life to the world with its invigorating touch. Lauren had always thought about how the flowers and plants must love the rain. It was a great atmosphere for the last day of her life. If she couldn’t get out of that damn coffin, she was at the mercy of whoever put her there, and apparently, he didn’t just want to bid her a good afternoon.

“Whoever did this is going to lose his damn head!”

Her concentration wasn’t precisely working; she had seconds of fuzziness ebbing and flowing through her mind. Her options were so limited that she really couldn’t think of any. That’s what really frightened her.

Lauren could hear a clock ticking somewhere in the back, perhaps ticking away the seconds of her life. She could also listen to a pair of zebra finches singing back there, with birdseed being scratched around. Lauren tried hard to remember what had happened, but her mind was disjointed. Michael’s face popped into her head which saddened her; if this were how she was to suffer her demise, he would never know her fate. Her mind suddenly became a little clearer. She now knew why she was there; perhaps the asshole wizard was looking to kill and drain the excess energy that Dracula had placed into her to augment his power. The Master had warned them about that possibility, but as time went by, she had put it out of her mind, more or less. It was annoying that she couldn’t remember what had happened. The last thing she could recall was someone in Harlem requesting backup, then heading out to the scene, but obviously, she never made it. Perhaps someone had been waiting for her outside the building? There was no recollection of arriving in Harlem.

A cell phone rang, and she recognized the tone. She turned her head and saw that it was her phone at the end of the coffee table, but it might as well have been on the moon without being able to move. The sound of it was frustrating, like it was teasing her. When it stopped, it was as if her only opportunity had abandoned her. They should invent a voice-activated phone because that would have saved her. No tracking device in that one, either.

The torrential rain eased off and then stopped. It had been a small system, so a brief shower. She could see part of a rainbow in the distance through the crack in the curtains and an old-fashioned fence. Apparently, she was in some ranch house on a ranch. There was lots of space out there from what she could see. Probably not a working farm, as wizards tended to be solitary, especially the bad ones. Although she supposed that whoever had her could have killed the owners. Unfortunately, it appeared that no outside help was forthcoming. She tried to call for help with her mind and shouted out to Dracula, but she sensed that the Master was too far away to hear it.

“Why the hell can’t I move! Ahhhhhhhhh!” If she survived this, she would seek a spell to ensure that it never happened again. She cursed and screamed her loudest, but no one came. It did shut the birds up, though. She even tried to mind the birds to come to her aid, which only served to confuse them.

Lauren thought that had she been a wizard, it might be easy to get out of that thing, but she didn’t know much about spells or wizards. She tried to bang the back of her head through the coffin, but it only made her dizzy. Even though she couldn’t feel much at all, somehow, she still felt weak. What a predicament.

“I’m sorry, Michael.”

The hourglass continued to flow, and it bothered her. Did it measure time like in a countdown? Something familiar and disturbing nagged her about it. That yellow sand was just about at the halfway point. Now she could see tiny bugs inside it, not much bigger than the grains of sand. When they collided, they caused blue sparks. What was going to happen when the sand ran out?

Suddenly she heard a loud thump. She tried hard to see what or who was making the noise. It sounded like someone outside on the steps. Was the wizard now returning? Her stress level increased as she struggled to see what was happening. More steps on the porch outside. Someone or something was approaching.