A Wolf's Cry

Summary: The gang continues their semester at sea with a stop in Romania. Soon afterward, Zack and Cody notice their friends have began to act very strangely. Zack and Cody soon learn that once again a great evil is at work and is terrorizing the countryside. Will they be able to save their friends in time or fall victim themselves?

(A/N) See A/N at end after reading.

Chapter 1:

Zack Martin sat at his desk playing with his pencil as his teacher, Ms. Tutwiler, attempted to teach the class their history lesson for the day. Barely minutes into the class, he tuned her out, put his Ipod ear phones in, and set his favorite play list to play.

A few seats in front of Zack, was his twin Cody. Unlike Zack, Cody loved school and was busy taking in everything Ms. Tutwiler said. Also each time she asked a question, his hand would be the first one to shoot up.

"So class," Ms. Tutwiler said. "Who can tell me what Romania used to be called back in the fourteen hundreds?" She moved her hand over Central Europe on a map that hung down in front of the chalkboard. As usual, Cody's hand was in the air. "Yes Cody?"

"Transylvania," Cody said, smiling.

"Yes that's right," Ms. Tutwiler said, as if it had come as no surprise. "Can you tell us some more Bailey?" Ms. Tutwiler continued, motioning to a girl sitting behind Cody.

Cody turned around in his seat. He secretly liked Bailey a lot, but never could find the courage to tell her. One thing about her though that somewhat bothered Cody was that she always seemed to like to prove that she was just as smart as he was.

"It was also the home of Vlad Tepish," Bailey said. "Or Vlad the Impaler. He was a ruthless ruler that controlled his people with an iron fist."

"Yes, that's right," Ms. Tutwiler repeated, looking away. "Speaking of Romania, we'll be stopping there next. We should be docking early this evening. Depending on how clear it is, you all will be able to see the beautiful Carpathian Mountains."

A moment later, the ship's horn sounded throughout the room, telling everyone that class was over. Ms. Tutwiler tried to give them their homework assignment, but quickly gave up as the sounds from the kids rushing out drowned out her voice.

"What's going on?" Zack asked, seeing everyone rush out. "Is class over already?"

"What do you think?" Cody responded, rolling his eyes. Zack just made a confused face as he followed his brother and Bailey up onto the sky deck.

"You guys working this afternoon?" Bailey asked Cody.

"Yea, unfortunately," Cody replied with a groan. He shot a look over at Zack. During the early part of their trip, Zack had spent all the money stored on both his and Cody's student cards, which were supposed to be used for food and school supplies. As a result, Mr. Moseby, the ship and school's manager had given each of the boys jobs so they could use the money they earned for food. Cody was the ship's towel boy, and Zack worked at the Easy Squeezy, a drink shop located on the sky deck.

Impulsively, Cody remembered what Ms. Tutweiler had said about the Carpathian Mountains, and how they might be able to see them when the ship pulled in. "Hey Bailey," Cody said, after taking a deep breath, he continued. "You wanna watch the ship pull into port later?"

"Ok, let me know when you get off," Bailey said.

Cody looked at her before giggling a little. "O-ok," he said. "Sounds good."

Zack rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly to himself. With that, she left the twins who both went to their rooms, got changed, and went to work.

Throughout the afternoon, the ocean grew choppy. The closer the ship got to the shore, more clouds and fog rolled in, so many passengers retreated to their room, making the shift pretty easy on Zack and Cody.

"I hope this clears up," Cody said, setting a towel on the counter in front of Zack and leaning on it. "I wanted to see the sunset glimmering off the mountains when we got there."

Zack shook his head. "Why don't you just tell her you like her?"

Cody fumbled with the towel he was leaning on. "I…um…" he began.

"Hey towel boy!" A remaining passenger called. Without answering Zack's question Cody turned to toss a towel to him as he got up out of the hot tub to go back to his room. All the while, Cody continued to watch the ocean, which didn't seem like it was going to give in to his wishes. Throughout the rest of his shift, he constantly watched the surf, but as the afternoon drew on, the cloudier the sky became, and more and more fog became visible as the shore neared.

After his shift, Cody went to Bailey's cabin. He knocked on the door.

"Hello?" Another voice called. It belonged to Bailey's roommate, London Tipton.

"Hey London," Cody said, cracking the door open. "Bailey around?"

"One sec," Bailey's voice called. A moment later, she met him in the hall.

"Hey, wanna go up to the deck anyway?" Cody asked. "Probably won't be able to see much, but may…I dunno." His voice showed a nervous tone as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Ok," Bailey said. The two made their way up to the sky deck. Although neither could see the sun due to the clouds and fog, it was obvious that it was in the process of setting. The surf had also become a lot rougher. On the way up, the deck, Cody and Bailey ran into Mr. Moseby.

"Mr. Moseby," Cody asked. "Are we going to be able to dock in this weather?"

"Of course," Mr. Moseby replied. "The captains pulled into port with it worse than this before."

Suddenly the ship shuddered and vibrated violently as the pier came into view next to the port side of the ship. Cody looked at Mr. Moseby with a "you're kidding me right?" face.

Mr. Moseby laughed nervously. "I'll be right back," He said as he hurried off towards the bridge.

"Ladies and gentlemen," A somewhat nervous voice said over the ship's PA. "We have arrived."

Cody shook his head, grumbling under his breath. As he looked off the port side of the ship however, he noticed a single ray of the dying sun poking through the clouds and fog. Suddenly, he got an idea. "Hey Bailey, let's go ashore, maybe we'll be able to see the mountains from the town before it gets too dark."

Bailey, who was usually up for most things nodded her head in agreement. "Yea, the only mountains we have back home is when my uncle piles the fertilizer too high. We called it 'Mt. Smelly.'

Cody looked at her. "Ok," he replied, unsure of what to say. The two of them swiped their student cards on the gangplank so the ship wouldn't leave without them and walked into town.

Cody and Bailey looked around. The streets were entirely empty. Nearly every single shop was closed and locked up. Since the town was relatively small, it wasn't too long before the street Cody and Bailey were on took them across it. On the other side of town, there was a field that had a few more buildings in it. From the field, they could make out the outline of the Carpathian mountains. The dying sunlight broke through in a few more places, and glittered off the outlying mountains. As if spellbound by the beauty of the rays reflecting off the fog and mountains, Cody and Bailey continued forward towards them to get a better look.

Cody also noticed the windows of several shops had a small plant wedged in each of the cracks. He walked over to an older building on the left side of the street that said, "Borgo Inn" over it its door. Carefully, Cody pulled a piece of the wedged plant out and looked at it.

"What the," Cody muttered to himself as he studied the plant. It had a long thin stem with a few leaves and purple flowers on top.

"That's wolfs bane," Bailey muttered.

"HEY!" Both Cody and Bailey turned to see a man running out from the inn towards them. He was short and fat and had an apron on. His brown hair was graying and there was a large bald spot in the middle of his head. "Put that back!"

"S-sorry," Cody said. The man snatched the plant back from Cody and shoved it back into the crack between the window and the window frame. He looked at the man with confused eyes. "I-didn't know that was supposed to be there."

The man growled before looking at Cody again. "It must stay there, for our protection." Cody and Bailey's eyes twisted further in confusion. "We the people of the mountains know that vampires live in the castle," he motioned towards the mountains.

Cody and Bailey exchanged glances as they fought down chuckles.

The man grew angrier when he saw this. "It's not funny!"

"No, of course not," Bailey said. After clearing his throat, Cody also did his best to hide his amusement.

"They take the form of wolves, and bats," the man continued. "At night, they feed on the blood of the living."

"We call those 'sceeters back home," Bailey replied. "But they're just small, little buggers."

"And its physically impossible for something to change its shape like that," Cody added. He coughed out a chuckle, before straightening himself up again.

The man was about to respond, when his eyes caught the horizon. The sun was gone. Their only light was the moonlight that broke through the cloud layer and the light coming from inside the in. "Come, come!" The man said. "The sun is gone, we must go indoors!"

"Thanks," Cody said. "But we gotta get back and meet Frankenstein and the wolfman for dinner."

Suddenly, in the distance, all three could hear a wolf howl. When he heard this, the man began to shake violently, his eyes filled with fear. "S-suit yourselves young ones," he stammered out. He put his hand in his pocket. "But if you are going to travel at night, take this." He shoved a metal crucifix into Cody's hand. With that he quickly scurried around the back of the inn and slammed the door behind him.

"O-ok," Cody said. "That was um…interesting." With that, he put the crucifix in his pocket.

"I can't believe the people around here believe in those kinda cow pies!" Bailey said, shaking her head.

The two teenagers tried to make their way through the dark town back towards the harbor. It wasn't long before they figured out that they were lost. "This is great," Bailey said. "You got a flashlight?"

"Uh, yea sure…one sec," Cody said. He began fumbling through his pocket. "Let's see um…" Bailey shook her head. Although the streetlights offered some help, the town was still incredibly dark.

Suddenly Bailey noticed a man walking down the opposite side of the street. "Hey, maybe he can help us find the port again," she said tugging on Cody's sleeve. Unsure, he followed her over. "Hey! Sir! You know how to get to the port from here?"

The man stopped and watched the two approaching teenagers.

When they got close, Cody saw he had stopped under a street light, and almost seemed to smile at them as they approached. The man had short black hair that was slicked back, revealing a widow's peak at the top of his forehead. He had two dark eyes that stood out against his pale skin. He wore a black cape with a popped collar, black pants, and black shoes. He also had a black tuxedo coat on top of a white shirt and vest. Around his neck was a thick red band with a golden eight point star pendant that connected it. In the middle of the gold pendant was a blood red stone. "Yes," the man said in a somewhat heavy accent. "How may I help you?"

"Can you tell us where the port is?" Cody asked. Although he had no idea why a slight shiver ran down his spine.

"Certainly," the man replied with a smile. "You continue on this way until the end and make a left turn. The port will be on your right."

"Thanks," Bailey said, she looked into the man's eyes and seemed to get lost in them. Although she didn't know why, she couldn't take her eyes off him.

"Of, course," the man continued. "I would be delighted to escort you there myself." He motioned with his hand.

"Wow," Bailey said. "That would be great. Thank you very much."

"Yea," Cody added. "Thanks."

"It is no problem at all," the man continued. "I am always glad to help such enterprising young individuals." Bailey giggled slightly, before straightening up. "But how rude of me to not have made your acquaintance already," the man finished. "I hope you will pardon my rudeness."

"No problem. I'm Bailey," Bailey said extending her hand.

The man took it and kissed it lightly, drawing a look from Cody, which he then ignored. "I am Count Dracula." He then complemented her again, causing Cody's eyes to flash again.

"I'm Cody," Cody said, extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you as well," Dracula said. "I bid you welcome. I hope you will find my country most inviting and comfortable."

"It's lovely," Bailey said.

"Except for the storms when we pulled in," Cody said.

"Yes, that does happen," Dracula said. "But it becomes a lost matter. As it is said, every rose must have its thorns. That is, except for this one." Bailey smiled again, trying to hide her blushing. "However that is a discussion for another time, I must escort you back to your guardians before the night grows too old."

The whole way back to the port, Bailey was fascinated by Count Dracula and the stories he told them during their walk back.

"Cody! Bailey!" A familiar voice called when they reached the port. Both of them looked to see Mr. Moseby and Ms. Tutweiler waiting for them on the gangplank. "Why'd you wonder off?"

"Sorry Mr. Moseby," Cody said, twisting his eyebrows. "I thought we were always allowed to disembark when we got somewhere as long was we swiped our cards?"

"Except for this time," Mr. Moseby said. He looked over at their escort. "Who are you?"

"Count Dracula," Dracula said. "I have had the pleasure of escorting these fine students back. Both are very smart, and cordial. Of course we have heard nothing but good things about your school even over here."

"Thanks," Ms. Tutweiler said, giggling. "I try." She motioned for him as well as Cody and Bailey to follow them up the gangplank and into the ship.

"As do I," Mr. Moseby said. "But they are good students. Thank you for your help. You two get back to your cabins, you'll find all the information there."

"It was a pleasure," Dracula replied. He then looked at Cody and Bailey. "It would be best to do as your guardian advises. Good night." With that he turned and left.

Bailey watched Dracula leave as long as she could. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about him and his stories, just absolutely fascinated her. Finally Cody's voice snapped her back to reality. "What's going on?" Cody asked.

"Well, the captain had a little problem pulling in and whacked the rudder and propellers," Mr. Moseby said. "So until they can get fixed, we're going to be stuck at this port."

"A-are you serious?" Cody said, looking at him.

"I am powerless to be otherwise," Mr. Moseby replied.

(A/N) As I hinted at the beginning (for some tension, I couldn't say what the crossover would be from the very beginning) this is somewhat of a crossover with Dracula. As for a visual and related vampire aspects (since there's so many out there), the Dracula in this story takes after Bela Lugosi's and the Dracula in the 1931 Universal Classic (in my opinion, hands down the BEST Dracula movie). I don't own Dracula or Suite Life. Please read and review. (slight correction at the end, thanks to NightWolfMoon for spotting)