Black Steampunk (Volume 3.5) Bloodlust

It has been one year since Jonathan Dracul and Ludwig Frye. It was 1887, and Jonathan was on a journey to discover what he should do next for himself and his life as he was now Dracula, King of Vampires. He has since returned to his homeland of Romania.

It was a night, and it was pouring rain outside. Jonathan was riding a black horse with A leather, ragged cloak over him. He rode through the rain, looking for shelter for the night. But he stumbled upon a small village, where he figured he would find an inn for the night. He entered the town, where he entered the local inn.

He enters the inn lobby and sees a young woman. She has long brown curly hair, light blue eyes, and light-colored skin with rosy cheeks. She wears a beautiful brown dress that shows her features and curves. For someone her age, she owns this inn. She barely noticed him enter the inn.

Jonathan walks up to the counter, “Excuse me?”

The Girl gets spooked when she does not hear him walk in. She turns to him and sees him standing there. She tries to see his face, but Jonathan uses his vampire ability to make sure she cannot see his face by controlling her blood.

“How can I help you tonight?” The girl would ask, confused, what was going on and why she could look at him.

“I would like to rent a room for the night.” He asked.

“Yes, sir. I have an empty room,” the girl said as she went to get a key for him.

She turned around and placed a key on the counter. Jonathan took some money from his pocket and laid it down. She accepted the payment, and Jonathan started heading toward his room.

“Thank you,” he said as he walked away.

“Excuse me? Would you also like a warm meal? It’s free,” she asked.

He paused, considering it. It had been a while since he had eaten, so he replied, “That would be fine, but after that, I would prefer not to be disturbed. I will also be gone before morning.”

“Very well, sir. It will take a while before it is ready. I will bring it to your room.”

“Alright, thanks,” Jonathan finally leaves for his room so he can relax for the night.

He enters the room he has rented. He looks around and sees a bed, a wash basin, and a place without a working sink, since he lived with his siblings in Frye Manor in London. He heads to the wash basin and takes a razor from his travel bag under his cloak. He begins to shave his face as his head starts to sweat.

He hangs his cloak so it can dry from how soaked it is. He still wore the demon-hunting attire that Ludwig had given him. He places his traveling and sword next to the bed and heads for the window. He looked and saw the rain had stopped, but was confused when he saw a massive, strange castle in the distance from the village.

Jonathan thought, strangely, that I had not seen that before. But it was a bad storm.

He heard the girl from the lobby scream. Jonathan grabbed his sword and went to investigate what was going on.

Jonathan was looking from a corner when he saw the girl being harassed by two men were harassing. He would be surprised because the men he saw were vampires.

“Hey, miss. You would like to join us in a room for a good time?” one of the men asked as he licked his lips.

“Sorry, Gentlemen, we do not offer that service here. I must ask you gentlemen to leave my inn, please,” she said, trying to get them to leave her and the inn.

The vampire grabs her right arm with his left hand, but; he gets too intense and says, “Sorry, we don’t take no for an answer, bitch. You will feel much better when we are done with you.”

Jonathan, in a matter of seconds, came out and used his blade to sever the vampire who was holding the girl. They look to see who did this, but are more afraid as they see Jonathan’s dark eyes.

“Gentlemen, I am afraid you have overstayed your welcome for being too rude to a lady,” Jonathan glared at them with the intent to kill.

“He likes Lord Dante; let’s get out of here,” the vampire says. The vampire helps the other one, and they both leave the inn.

The girl looks at Jonathan and sees that he is also a vampire, but she is not afraid of him.

“Thank you, sir. I had no idea you were one of them,” the girl explained.

Jonathan looks at her and speaks, “Wait? Are you afraid of me?”

“No, why would I be? You have saved me from harm done by those fools who nearly violated me.”

“Have there always been vampires around here?”

“I’m afraid so. Six months ago, a strange castle appeared, and that was when they appeared in this town. Their Lord Dante is the master of that castle. They come into the village to feed us. It’s how I lost my parents and why most of the town is in hiding.”

She seemed very upset. She said that it has been hard for her since the death of her parents.

“Sorry for your loss, girl,” Jonathan felt he may have asked her the wrong question.

“That's alright, but they would be shocked that a vampire saved me. My name is Alyssa. What do they call you? By the look of you? Are you a hunter?”

“I am Jonathan Dracul. I am an unofficial hunter for the Frye Order in London, even though that man has tried many times to get me to join.”

“Dracul? So, that means you are part of the Dracula lineage?”

“Correct. But I am not Dracula,” Jonathan hides the fact from her that he is Dracula.

“Oh, alright, but it feels awkward now that I have a royal guest here,” Alyssa commented, learning who Jonathan is.

Jonathan turns around and heads for the door, which would confuse the girl.

“Where are you going?”

“I think I am going to pay this Dante a visit,”

Jonathan leaves the inn, gets on his horse, and goes to the castle ruled by the vampire Dante.

Meanwhile, in Dante’s castle, the vampires attacking Alyssa were kneeling before a man who resembled Jonathan, a Dark Vampire. He had long black hair and red pupil eyes surrounded by darkness. He had light-colored skin. He wore fancy attire, which was only worn by vampires. This was the Master of this strange castle, known as Dante.

He was a stronger dark vampire than Jonathan because he drank more human blood, which a dark vampire uses to gain more power. However, he sacrifices his ability to stand in the sunlight, which Jonathan can do. The difference between these two is that they are like night and day. Jonathan hates being a dark vampire, but Dante embraces his dark lineage, an actual creature of darkness.

“My Lord, we have encountered a strange vampire, and he shares the same eyes as you,” the vampire before him said nervously.

Dante looked down at him and grinned, “Of course, I already know him, as he seems to be coming here as we speak. But I can tell this vampire is no ordinary vampire. It seems this one is Dracula himself.”

The vampires were stunned to find out that the vampire they had met was Dracula and not some drifter.

“It matters not to me. This Dracula seems to be weak compared to my powers. This shall be a treat as I, Dante, will take his title away, and I plan to do so.”

Jonathan dismounted his horse and began to walk up to the strange castle that belonged to Dante. He saw it was odd, made from stone, pipes that blew smoke out, and gears with cracks. He stood before a drawbridge that lowered down before him. He knew now he was being invited in. But Jonathan, who has no fears, walked across the bridge, ready for what this castle held before him.

He entered the castle’s entrance hall, a large room with red, fancy-textured walls and white marble pillars. As he walked forward, he saw a large staircase before him. A dark cloud formed above the stairs, and Dante appeared out of it. Jonathan could see that he was a dark vampire like him.

“Welcome to my castle, Lord Dracula,” Dante bows to him.

Jonathan was silent, but would start to draw his blade.

“Now, let’s not get too hasty. I was not expecting an important guest tonight. But you must be curious about my domain?”

A door opens near Jonathan. He does not know why it opened, but Jonathan had something else in mind. He leaps up towards Dante with his blade in his hands. But Dante turns black smoke to dodge it and disappears.

Dante’s voice echoes throughout the room, and he is seen saying, “Nice try, Dracula. Until we meet again.”

“He's going to be a pain in my neck,” Jonathan commented, putting his blade away.

He looked at the door and thought it could be a trap, but he had few options. So, he entered the open door and saw what Dante had in store for him.