Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts

DRACULA SAT ON HIS SOFA with Allison in his lap. He was wearing a gray monogrammed robe, and she had on plaid red pajama bottoms with a red top. She snuggled into him, enjoying his strength. Allison worried about Jenny’s safety and what predicament she might currently find herself in. Distraction was almost impossible, but she was trying. The girl was capable of handling herself, but she wasn’t indestructible. It was an awful feeling not having her in the house. Would she be changed when she returned? Experiences had a way of doing that, for good or bad. But strength was often acquired from the struggle. Would she be transformed and want to go out there and battle even more of the evil vampires? What knowledge would she bring back with her?

Allison could see that Dracula was becoming pensive and going into himself; he had that distant look. It had been a pleasant morning with lots of time in bed. Moon Diamond was asleep on the opposite end of the sofa, dreaming of mice and men from past battles; simultaneous dreams were going on there. The cat’s right paw clenched as Zacharia held his sword tightly in his battle dream.

The Master knew the time had come because of all the evil vampires; he wanted to force all those thoughts out and enjoy Allison, but he couldn’t. Ideas were encroaching like soldiers approaching a battle. It was time to take a more active role in the carnage that was to come.

“I know you have to do something about all this immoral shit that’s going on. You should have done something years ago. How many innocent people would be alive today had you stepped up?”

Dracula knew she was right as he stared into those gorgeous green eyes. “The past cannot be undone; the future cannot be unsung. It needs heroes to pull it into the light. Someone told me that though I don’t remember who.”

“What are you going to do?”

Dracula smelled her neck and took in her natural aroma. He massaged the back of her neck, and it felt great. “Allison, I know what I have to do, but I don’t like it.”

“What do you mean? What do you have to do?”

“To begin with, I’d have to create more red sheriffs. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. Each vampire has to be scrutinized. They have to have a good heart. Hearts of fire that are unable to smother. They cannot be evil with a spell that conceals their true self. It happened several times in the past. I placed red sheriffs on the streets only to be told they were evil son-of-a-bitches that had masked themselves; I had to track them down and kill them. It took me almost a year to find one of them, the carnage he had caused. It was my fault. The world is not so small when you’re searching for someone.”

Allison kissed him long and lovingly. “You know what; I’ll bet that Jenny could help you with that. Why don’t you call her back? I’ll bet she can tell a good vampire from a bad one.”

Dracula briefly considered. “No, she’s in an important phase of her development. She’ll return in due time.”

“What if something happens to her?”

“Allison, I know you don’t want to hear this, but Jenny is a big part of the solution. Should she perish, I fear that all would be lost. She needs to progress rapidly.”

Moon Diamond stretched as he awoke. It scratched its ear briefly and then shook its head. The cat wanted to dig into the sofa with its nails, but Zacharia discouraged it; he didn’t feel like being tossed across the room by the Master. He sat up, stared, and listened. For a moment, he forgot about his situation. Again the cat scratched its ear.

“Zacharia, I think that cat needs a bath. I’ll run the water later, and you can jump in the tub.”

Zacharia didn’t like the thought of fighting with the cat, but it did indeed need a bath. He could feel the itch in his left ear. He guessed that it was going to be a horrible experience, or it might be fun.

“How long will it take to create more Red Sheriffs and get them out there?”

“I’m not sure. We’ll have to track down the right people. It could take a while.”

“I want to be a red sheriff!” screamed Zacharia from inside the cat.

Dracula turned to the cat and laughed. “Zacharia, you a red sheriff? You’re a cat. Where would we stick the badge? What do you think, Allison?”

“Don’t ask me about such things. The more red sheriffs you create, the less Jenny will have to fight.”

“I suppose we could get you a collar and stick it on that. Would you be willing to wear a collar?”

The Siamese nodded several times. “If that dog can be a sheriff, so can I.” He placed those words into Dracula’s mind with emphasis. The thought of being a sheriff would perhaps bring some meaning to his life; if he perished from it, so be it. If only he could wield a sword. The paws of a cat were limited in what they could accomplish. How would he arrest someone? Not much of that is going on these days; it was mostly killing the evil vampires that needed to be destroyed. How would he call for backup? Still, with the extra energy that Dracula would place in him, he would become a supercharged cat. The cat showed him a dead wet mouse covered in dew; he told it to give him a break from all the freaking mice. Then it revealed a crumpled piece of paper in the corner that he wanted to play with, and he told Moon Diamond that they would do it later.

“Oh, you mean Tessy? The German shepherd vampire is a rare animal. She’s a beautiful dog. When the ceremony occurs, Zacharia, my friend, you shall be the first cat to become a red sheriff, hopefully, the last one. This world is getting too weird.”

The cat took after the ball of paper and pounced on it. Moon Diamond threw it in the air and jumped up several feet, performing an acrobatic aerial leap to bat it. It raced through the house, pursuing and hitting the improvised toy. A glass in the kitchen shattered on the floor as the cat ran out of there. Zacharia stood in the cat’s mind with his arms crossed, waiting for the feline to play itself out.

Dracula laughed. “Poor Zacharia.”