6. The Return Home

After a stressful day at the office, Samantha and Bullock return home for some rest and relaxation, maybe.

          The drive back to Raleigh was tedious but remarkably uneventful.  The prisoner was quiet, almost comatose for the entirety of the trip.  Still Samantha and Bullock dare not talk openly for fear of prying ears.  Bullock, never much of a talker, was not at all bothered by the silence, but Samantha had a lot on her mind that she wanted to discuss.  There was the issue of her family, the hesitation of Bullock during the fight with Edgar, and suddenly the dreams that she had been having nearly all of her life seemed important.  She could not have explained why the later seemed so urgent but she could not deny that it was.  To her the miles seemed endless, despite the fact that they made excellent time and arrived well before sunrise.

                When finally they pulled the sedan into the underground garage and had transferred the prisoner into the custody of the detention officers Samantha turned to Bullock and said.  “Do I need to request a new partner?”

                “I do not wish you to, but whom you work with is your choice.”  Bullock said calmly.  “Is that what you want to do?”

                “I don’t know right now.  I just don’t know.”  She said glaring at him over the top of the car.  “No, that is not what I want but I do want…  No, I need an explanation of your inaction tonight.” 

                “You did well Samantha.  You proved that you are capable of doing this job.  You proved it to me and you proved it to Edgar.  Did you prove it to yourself?  On the way to Port Rock you openly contemplated quitting.  Now you can make a more informed decision.”   Bullock said climbing into his Mercedes sports car.  “The most important thing is that you survived.”

                “I am going home.”  Samantha said leaning over the top of her rusty old pickup.  “And I suggest you do the same.  It will soon be sunrise.  In two days time we will be back here behind a desk and we can discuss this then.”

                “That is a wise decision.”  Bullock agreed.  “In the meantime we need to analyze Edgar’s statements.  He called me a traitor.”

                “Most rogue vampires consider you a traitor.  Along with every vampire who works for VHC.”  Samantha said surprised.  “Why does that worry you?”

                “That is true enough, but I have never heard one refer to a master before.  Vampires do not allow themselves to be subjugated very often.  Even here, I work for VHC because I choose to do so.  In my capacity as an agent I have supervisors, some human and some vampire, but they are not my masters.  Vampires are not mindless brutes, as you well know, we know that without some governing body we could easily degenerate into such.  So there again we choose to live by The Vampire Council’s laws.”

                “So to whom would someone like Edgar surrender his independence?”  Samantha asked seeing Bullock’s point, and forgetting their quarrel. 

                “There is only one, which I can think of, but he is long in his grave.  And by all accounts that one is not to rise again.  I must admit that I feel a little silly even talking about him.  I was never one to put much stock in the old tales.”  Bullock said.

                “Who?  What old tales?”  Samantha asked as her curiosity peaked.

                “Prince Radu was one of his names.  He has had many over the centuries.  They say he is The Original, the progenitor of our entire race.  He is the one Stoker based Dracula upon.  Let me make some calls and I will talk to you later tonight.”  He said as he shifted the small sports car into reverse.  “For now I must get going.”

                Though disturbed by what Bullock had said Samantha knew that if he was to make it home before sunrise he did indeed have to go quickly, and Bullock hated to stay at the office during the day.  Because they had to cater to vampires The VHC offices were underground and they had quarters that resembled nice hotel rooms.  So she said goodbye and watched the silver car squeal tires as he turned up the ramp to the exit. 

                Samantha lived in a studio apartment located above an elderly gentleman’s garage.  The place was small but she thought well appointed considering that she was not there to often.  The best attribute of her apartment was Mr. Robertson, the landlord.  He was many years her senior but did not seem, like so many others of his age, to concern himself with her comings and goings.  In fact the two rarely saw each other.  As a consequence of the job she lived mostly by night, and slept through much of the day, while Mr. Robertson was one who believed in Ben Franklin’s old adage about early to bed and early to rise. 

                When she was at home she was sleeping, packing for yet another trip, or eating.  She had little to no social life, no boyfriend, and not many friends in general.  A fact that seemed to distress Bullock more than it did her.  She had often explained to him that as a child in a family whose business it was to hunt the undead she had learned to live as an outsider, shunned from all normal human attachments that so many people saw as vital to a healthy life. 

                She ignored the fact that her father had nothing to do with the family business.  Both he and her mother were college professors, another profession that did not invite close friendships for a child.  Most of the people who visited her home were other professors and college administrators.  After school and during the vacations she spent all of her time on the campus of Lehman College, the small private school at which the McDuffs taught.  Gone were the days she dreamed of a big wedding and living the Barbie lifestyle.  There would be no mansions, Corvettes, or Kens in her life.  In fact she could not ever remember having such dreams.

                As soon as she walked in the door she dropped her bag, and fell across the unmade bed with every intention of not moving of at least twelve hours.  That dream lasted about ten minutes before it was rudely interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.  Because of her lack of social life she had never seen the point in having a personal phone and the only people with her work number were work related.  A quick check of the caller ID proved her right.  The call was from Bullock.

                “What?”  She asked in a sleepy voice that she had tried hard to hide.

                “I just talked to some friends of mine in Romania.  Castle Radu has been purchased by a wealthy Englishman.”  Bullock began in a rush.  His usually quiet dignified timber was now jagged and rough.

                “Whoa, you woke me up.  Give me a chance to reset my brain.”  Samantha said sounding a little more like herself.  “Now what are you talking about?”

                “Prince Radu.  The Original.  Something is going on with him.”  Bullock said quickly.  “His castle has been sold for the first time to a human.  Some Brit bought it and apparently paid through the nose for it.  No one there knows much about him.   I got his name though and I know some people, well vampires, with connections in London.” 

                “I thought it was Werewolves of London.”  Samantha said with a weary laugh.

                “What?”  Bullock asked then made the connection.  “Samantha this is big.  There is a reason that the castle has never been in human control.  It is rumored that Prince Radu’s remains are buried in the castle itself.  If this Brit knows the legends who knows what kind of havoc he could cause.  Radu is The Original.  He can’t be stopped once he is unleashed.  Not by human or vampire, nor will he take mercy or pity on either.  He is as dangerous to my kind as he is yours.”

                “His remains?”  She asked.  “A dead vampire goes to dust.  I have heard of vampires hibernating to escape discovery but they don’t decompose.  They lay in state so to speak.”

                “A vampire’s body that is somehow dismembered will decay.  According to legend Radu’s first victim, the second vampire was a Roman centurion.  A man destined for greatness within the empire.  He was beloved of the emperor and many believed would inherit the crown.  But when the Emperor died the centurion was skipped over, declared a traitor and exiled.  He was saved from the executioner by the fact that he had one or two friends still left in the Senate.  In the deepest of his despair he turned to a local occultist, Radu.  He begged Radu to strike back at his enemies with his magic but Radu made a counter offer.”

                “Same old story.  Humans believe that being a vampire will solve their problems.”  Samantha said.

                “No, not this guy.  He saw the power that he could wield and lusted for it.  The centurion became Radu’s faithful servant.  He was the student and Radu the master.  For centuries the two of them were inseparable and unstoppable.  Sure all vampires are children of Prince Radu, The Original, but the centurion was special.”

                “How special?”  Samantha asked.  “You mean he treated him like a son?  I bet that was a hell of a family picnic.”

                Bullock was becoming frustrated with her lack of seriousness.  “Then it all changed.  The centurion had been passed over for one crown and after centuries of loyal service to Radu he began to think that his master would never step aside and allow him this crown, and so he betrayed Radu.”

                “You said that Radu could not be killed, so what did he do?”  Samantha reminded her overly excited partner.

                “That’s right, but the centurion found a way to separate some part of Radu’s body from the rest.  No one knows what piece exactly, but many believe it was his very fangs that the centurion stole.”  Bullock said.

                “But you said it had to be a bone.”  Samantha said argumentatively. 

                “Yes, teeth and bone are made of the same material, and his fangs are a vampire’s vanity.  No vampire would want to live without them.  Sure one could and many have, it has no effect on the drinking of blood, but Radu, The King of Vampires?  Never.” 

                “Okay, so where are the teeth now?  They need to be found by some authority before this Brit, who may or may not know of Prince Radu, decides to find some fangs that have been lost to history for centuries.  Then attempts to bring back a vampire who is unkillable from the dead.  Have I got this right?”  She asked incredulously.  “How do we know that the teeth were not destroyed somehow, or that he didn’t jump a ship and throw them in the ocean?  For all we know they could be at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.”

                “The legend is very clear on that point.  Because Radu was cursed by God directly he cannot rest.  His own body would betray him.  Even if he were to stand in the street at high noon as soon as the rays of the sun struck the dust he would regenerate.  The fangs would find a way to return to the castle.”  Bullock said.

                “Oh, now we have teeth that can think.  I didn’t realize.”  Samantha said.  “This is a vampire fairy tale.  Surely you see that.”

                “I have never really believed the legend.  I never could wrap my brain around it.  And I still don’t know that it is true but with what Edgar said about a master and the fact that the castle is now in human hands scares me.”  Bullock admitted without shame.  “Prince Radu is the most ruthless force that has ever existed.  He cares not for the lives of humans or vampires.”

                “Why have I never heard any of this.  I feel like it is my first day at the academy again.  No I feel worse than that. All my life I have lived in a family of vampire hunters.”  Samantha said.

                “You said yourself that your father steered clear of anything vampire related.  Most vampires would compare the legend of Prince Radu to the story of Santa Claus, or King Arthur.  Yes, he may have been a historical character but time and circumstance has caused him to be imbued with special powers.”  Bullock said.  “No one really believes the legend, Samantha.  Therefore few if anyone talks about it.”

                “There’s an interesting mental picture.   Santa Claus the Vampire.”  Samantha said but without her normal good humor.

                “I’ll call you back.”  Bullock said suddenly and hung up without a word more.

                Samantha, though intrigued by the story was still bone tire and quickly fell asleep again.  She dreamed but knew she would not remember it upon awaking.  It was not the recurring dream that again seemed to haunt her.  Her sleep was restless until Bullock called back a few hours later.

                “Okay,” he said without preamble.  “The Brit that bought the place is dead and had no children.  The place is in dispute.  No one really knows who owns it.  So I think we are safe enough.  Edgar must have just been raving.”

                “Well thank God.”  Samantha said.  “Can I go back to bed now?”