LATE NIGHT

A Short Story

Anette looked up from her paper to glance at her clock. It was already past midnight. Her aunt would be mad when she found out that she had been up that late. "If she finds out.." Anette thought. She opened up her book and continued copying quotes out of it for her project as her clock played her favorite music. She continued working as Nightwish's 'The Kinslayer' played. Anette glanced out her window to see a full moon shining above Castle Dracula. Anette loved to listen to music as she read a book while sitting on the bench built into her windowsill. She would glance up from her book to stare at the castle. She often fantasised of something living in the castle that would come one night as she slept and take her back to the castle. She would wake up in a luxurious bed with black satin sheets to see the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life standing before her. It would turn out that he was deeply in love with her and had been alone for centuries. "How have you been alive for centuries?" she would ask. "I am a vampire." he would answer. Anette loved vampires. Ever since she was a little girl she had always believed in them. And she still did. He would give her attention and affection trying to win her heart. And it would work. She blushed as she realized how naive she sounded. Anette straightened her messy bun and started writing more quotes from her book.

Dracula rose from his coffin as the clock chimed midnight. He smiled at the full moon he saw shining gloriously. His smile grew as he sensed that she was still awake. He teleported into her bedroom to see her sitting at her desk with her wavy raven hair pulled away from her face as she worked on a paper that was due in a few days. He watched her clearly fascinated at her aqua eyes glancing from the pages of her book to her paper with words flowing from her black pen. He stared at her exposed pale neck. Just the sight of it made him crave her sweet blood. He made himself invisible as her eyes darted from her work to the window. She gazed at the full moon. She fantasised once more as he smiled. Little did she know that her fantasies would come true. He would make sure that they did. Dracula silently waked up behind Anette. He glanced at her book to see that it was a biography over Vlad Tepes. Vlad the impaler, him. He read over her shoulder as she wrote. He smiled at how she was explaining if he was a hero or not. And she was explaining why he was a hero. He continued reading over her shoulder and his grin grew as he read her completely correct agrument. Every single piece of information she wrote was absolutely correct. He wanted more than anything to make himself visible and make her fantasies come true. But he held himself back. Anette was only 17. She was still in high school. Dracula as much as he wanted to take her away couldn't. He loved her too much not to keep her from receiving a education. He wanted her to do well on her project and wanted her to know what the books and documentaries didn't say about him. He quickly teleported back to his castle and went into the library. Amongst the dusty volumes he found what he was looking for. He pulled the red book off of the shelf and wiped the dust off of it. On the cover was an insignia of a dragon. He teleported back to her room and saw that she had fallen asleep. Her head was resting on her arms that laid across her paper. Dracula smiled as he set down the book and took her hair out of its messy bun. He ran his fingers softly through the wavy strands. He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bed. He pulled back the covers and laid her down gently on the mattress. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead gently. He moved the book to her nightstand and closed her book. He silently closed her notebook and put the cap on her pen. He arranged them together neatly. Dracula looked back at Anette who was sleeping soundly. He smiled at her lovingly and kissed her cheek gently before he teleported back to his castle.

The sun was beginning to rise as Dracula climbed into his coffin. He closed the lid and fell asleep dreaming of his future bride.

Anette woke up the next morning feeling completely refreshed. She looked at her book and notebook to find them oddly shut and arranged neatly as she usually did. But she didn't remember arranging them like that before falling asleep. And she had no memory of getting in bed either. She looked at her nightstand and saw a sight that puzzled her. A red book was sitting there. Curious, Anette picked it up and looked at the cover. There was a insignia of a dragon on the red cover. She recognized the insignia. It was the Dragulia insignia. The book smelt of dust, old parchment, and ink. She opened it and leafed through the yellowed pages. There were letters written in Romanian. Anette read the letters and was completely amazed. She almost dropped the book. The letters were from Vlad Tepes! Anette's heart rate increased. She somehow posessed a extremely valuable piece of history! She continued reading the letter. It was writting in black ink with a strong hand. When she finished reading the letter she stared at the signature. She delicately brushed her fingers across the signature. She leafed through more of the book and found a cloth stuck inbetween the pages. She took it out and felt something hard in it. She set the book in her lap and unwrapped the cloth. Her jawdropped at what was inside. She picked up the necklace and placed it in her palm as she stared in awe at the pendant. It was a silver cross with a dragon wrapping around it. She analyzed the details that were so artistically well done. She couldn't believe it. Anette was holding in her very hands a cross which had belong to Vlad Tepes! She was completely ecstatic. She couldn't let anyone find out about the book. She hid it in her nightstand and placed a few books over it. "The necklace!" she thought. She unburied the book and wrapped the cross back up in the cloth she found it in. She hid the necklace in the book and placed the in its hiding place. She laid back down on her bed. She stared at her ceiling in wonderment. How could the book have gotten here? Anette asked herself. She didn't really care nor did she give it a second thought. She went to her desk and got back to work on her project. Anette kept glancing at her nightstand and gave in. She took the book out and sat on the window bench reading what the great Wallachian prince had to say.

Dracula woke up that night and teleported to Anette's room. He found her asleep on her bed with the book wide open in front of her. He smiled as he picked up the book closing it and set it on her nightstand. He looked back at her and noticed something that filled him with hope and joy. Anette was wearing the cross he hid in the book for her. He gave her the cross centuries ago and she always wore it. He hoped that she would keep that habit. He held onto that hope as he tucked her in bed and kissed her cheek gently. He teleported back to his castle with a smile on his face. There was hope that she would remember everything she didn't and she would find the love she never thought she had once more.

THE END.