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Language:
English
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Published:
2020-05-09
Completed:
2020-07-05
Words:
25,685
Chapters:
20/20
Comments:
8
Kudos:
30
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3
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Trials

Summary:

Vlad and his girlfriend Talitha discover a mysterious amulet will visiting Romania. Drawn to the artifact, Vlad works with his sister to try to uncover it's secrets. However, the amulet proves to be difficult to control forcing Vlad to lose sight of his morals.

Chapter Text

Sounds of digging echoed through a cave. Most everyone had gone home for the night, but two men remained, a professor and his assistant.

“Sir, it’s really late. We should get some rest and get back at it tomorrow,” the assistant said.

“You can go if you like, but I’m certain we are close,” the professor said.

“I’m not going to leave you here by yourself...” Before he could argue further a sharp cling was heard after the professor hit something just below his feet. “What was that?”

The professor dug around more which revealed a black metal box. Other than some scratches and dings, it was in good condition. He hoped that he had found something related to his theory.

“How can you be sure it’s connected?” His assistant asked. “This cave has been explored before and could be something left from past expeditions.”

The professor frowned at his pessimistic attitude. “We can’t be sure until we study it, but look. This lettering here is ancient. This is from years beyond what we were looking for.”

“What does it say?”

“I’m not sure,” the professor said as he attempted to remove the lid from the box.

Snap. The two stood frozen in time.

“Well I was hoping those two would have left by now,” Talitha complained.

Vlad appeared next to the professor and took the box from his hands. “At least they did the work for us.” He handed the box to Talitha for her to examine it.

“He was right,” Talitha said. “This language is older. It’s Aramaic.” She showed Vlad pointing at the dark red lettering on the front. “You studied this right?”

“I did,” Vlad said. “I only know some, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get it to the council.”

“You don’t care to know why they would want this?” Talitha asked.

“It’s the high council,” Vlad said. “It’s probably just a collectors item. They never do any real work.”

Talitha had to agree. The council had no interest in anything other than sitting on their asses and drinking blood from a wine glass. Still, it worried her they would send for Vlad to find anything. She couldn’t figure out why he would pretend to be so uninterested.

Talitha was about to ask what was wrong, but Vlad interrupted by saying, “Let’s go.”

Annoyed, Talitha attempted to open the black box, but even with her vampiric strength, it wouldn't budge.

“What are you doing?” Vlad asked.

“You’re the most suspicious person I know,” Talitha said. “If you aren’t curious about this then it bothers me, or maybe you’ve just become complacent. Either way, I want to know why they want this.”

Talitha turned the box over and noticed a familiar symbol on the bottom.

“This is your family’s coat of arms,” she pointed. “Right?”

He took the box from Talitha to confirm it.

“We are in Romania,” Talitha said.

“But still hours away from where my family is from,” Vlad said.

He pulled at the lid and it opened with ease.

“Well I loosened it,” Talitha teased.

Vlad pulled an amulet from the metal box. It hung on a chain and had the same symbol as on the outside.

“What’s that?” She asked.

Vlad wasn’t sure, but it clearly belonged to his family. He had no idea how something like this ended up forgotten, deep in a constricted cave.

“We can’t take this to the council,” Vlad felt an unfamiliar power pulsing from it.

Vlad flitted out before Talitha could get in a word. She turned to the two men who were still hypnotized. “You remember nothing. You never found anything.”

Snap.

Talitha disappeared to the entrance of the cave to find Vlad still examining the amulet. “If we aren’t taking it to the council then where?”

“Not that I trust them, but I trust them more than the council,” Vlad said. “Probably to my family. Last I heard Ingrid is still at the school.”

Talitha agreed. The amulet had something to do with the Dracula line. If the council wanted it, then they likely were doing some digging into the Dracula family. It would be disadvantageous and possibly dangerous for them to know something Vlad didn't.

Vlad put the artifact back in the box and looked at the lettering. Before he could read much of it he was alerted by the sound of something rustling in the woods.

“Slayers are here,” Vlad said.

“I sense them too,” Talitha replied. “Let's go...”

Suddenly, a bright light flashed just above them smashing into the rock. A UV bomb.

The slayers moved quickly surrounding both of them. They had their faces covered with darkened face shields.

“Don’t move,” a male slayer ordered. Fifteen guns pointed at them asserting his demand.

A low growl vibrated in Vlad’s throat. Talitha reflexively grabbed his hand to help relax him. He felt a little less tense after that.

The truce between slayers and vampires was dead, but having a friend within the Guild meant they normally left him alone. He figured that wouldn’t last much longer either.

“Put the box on the ground,” the slayer demanded.

“I can’t do that,” Vlad said.

“I know who you are, Vladimir Dracula,” the slayer said. “We aren’t here for you.”

Vlad stayed still, silent thinking. They could most likely flit away but that UV bomb had range. Their shot might manage to still hit them.

“This doesn’t have to be ugly,” the slayer continued.

“You shot at us and now you’re pointing your guns,” Vlad argued.

The slayer eased his stance and signaled for the others to do the same. He took a few steps toward them, but kept at a comfortable distance. Vlad allowed it, but remained cautious. He focused on everyone around him listening for any sudden movements.

The slayer removed his face shield that had previously hidden his identity. He was rather pale. Sometimes that happens to slayers as they adopt vampire habits in order to hunt for them. He had many scars on his face and hands. Most of them were dangerously close to his eyes. Vampires typically liked targeting the eyes. It was both cruel and effective in disabling an opponent, so this man must have had some close calls.

“My name is Charles,” he introduced. “I’m a captain within the Slayers Guild. I know it’s hard to believe, but we really don’t want anything to do with you. We just want the box.”

“Why?” Vlad asked.

“I’m just a man following orders, but I do know who the professor who is studying this land is. He’s a historian who works out of a university in America. He was looking for artifacts left behind from what they believed was a religious gathering, but I think you knew all that.”

“You’ve been watching them for hours,” Charles continued when Vlad didn’t say anything. “So you tell me. Why is that box so important?”

Vlad shrugged, “Beats me.”

Charles laughed, “Come on, Vladimir. Let’s not play games. We don’t have a lot of friends of your kind. Would be a shame to ruin this valuable relationship.”

“I don’t have any sort of friendship with you,” Vlad said.

“Vlad,” Talitha used telepathy. “Don’t make this worse.”

“Where’s VanHelsing?” Vlad asked. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Don’t think that will be immediately possible,” Charles said. “He’s not part of this mission.”

Vlad figured that was the case. He had no intention in cooperating with them unless both he and Talitha were guaranteed safety and there was no way he could take this slayer’s word.

“Then tell him that if the slayers want this, he’ll have to come get it himself,” Vlad said. “He knows how to get in touch.”

Vlad grabbed Talitha’s hand and flitted.

“Stop them!” Charles shouted.

As they flitted away, Vlad felt a sharp pain in his side.