Making Monsters of Men {Dracula}

[William Fenris]

All Will had wanted was to see if he could find out who his mysterious benefactor was. The town supposedly had been partly owned by the Grayle Corporation, and he decided someone here he needed to thank. Already, life felt smoother, better. 

The wolf he once was had been pushed away, enough for him to be himself for the first time in his life. The delights of a full human life! To wear warm clothes, to draw with ink and paper. Even with his wolfish tendencies; he can enjoy rare meat, the nature around him and real company without the other stereotypes that were associated with his kind...

And someone had to be thanked for that. Someone had to be told that he was grateful. 

The building was overgrown and abandoned however when he found it, much like the rest of the city, and still Will thought, maybe the door would be open, with a few tugs at the vines and things. 

What he expected he didn't know, but he didn't expect someone to be watching him in the dark.

[Vlad Dracula]

When one was trying to assemble an army of darkness, one needed a proper lair from which to do all the sinister planning a good world conquest required. Dracula had not explored most of this eerie, mostly-abandoned town; it had only been three days and two nights so far, and he'd been a little preoccupied by the fact that there really just weren't a lot of people around to be a potential food source. He hadn't counted on that; the last time he'd been in this place, back before the portals closed, there had been a thriving community.

His priority, then, had been to scout out the places he could detect people, and not just any people, but vulnerable ones who might not be thinking to protect themselves from a hungry vampire. No large groups, no warriors who were more trouble than they were worth.

This young man he had tracked through the streets since just after sundown, when he had emerged from the dark, mostly dilapidated building he'd spent the day in. He took his time, following Will's movements, waiting for the right moment...and this was it. His quarry was distracted by the overgrown door, and Dracula approached behind him.

"Need a hand with that?" he offered. He stood there, not overtly threatening (any more than he could avoid, anyway), hands in the pockets of his coat, and offered the younger man a smile, closed-mouthed and friendly.

[William Fenris]

The sound of a voice made the young humanoid turn quickly on the balls of his feet, his hands out in defence. But there was no attack, just a man. He was being warmly spoken too by a good looking gentleman, probably a bit older than he was (though, human ages he couldn't be sure) He looked a bit stern, but not threatening, not that Will could see.

But something about him, set his teeth on edge, and he stared at him for a long time.

"I--I maybe? I was just.....trying to see if the owner was here."

He rubbed at his arms, a little embarrassed he'd been caught out. Perhaps the strange man could help him.

"I --- I wanted to thank who ever invited me to the school, and the scholarship and everything, I thought....they might be here somewhere."

[Vlad Dracula]

There were a few things Dracula could judge based on people's reactions to him; the way this boy watched him, he imagined he was probably trying to decide whether he could be trusted. Not with the important things, but in a more immediate sense. Was he dangerous? The answer to that question was yes, of course, but he wasn't trying to give off that impression at the moment.

"There hasn't been anyone around this building for quite some time, as far as I've seen," he said, then, lifting a hand to wave at the darkness around them, added, "especially not at this hour."

A scholarship, was it? Well...someone had wanted this young man here at this school for something, and Dracula had money. He wasn't going to come out and pretend to be a mysterious benefactor without any more information on the situation, but that didn't mean he couldn't...strongly imply.

"They could be anywhere," he said, smiling again. "You never know with these things. Sometimes the thing you're looking for is closer than you think."

[William Fenris]

Dracula's smooth reply was enough to give Will that same thought. After all, the man looked stylish enough, in and around the building, dangerous but --- perhaps not the sort of danger he was thinking of. Was it just his wolfish senses or just him being unused to humans?

If he was human, if he too was pretending to be someone else.

"Oh, you mean the time? I...I've been cleaning all day and....and I like the night, it's soothing. I like to walk in it sometimes. Stupid huh?"

His hands went into his jumper, before realising he was probably being rude in that human way sullen teenagers seem, and after realising from Judy he had made that fatal error earlier, he stuck out his hand in greeting for Dracula to shake.

"I'm....William Fenris. I'm from The Woods. Perhaps you know it?"

He gave his best crooked smile and hoped that this was the man he had to thank. He'd be forever in his debt after all.

[Vlad Dracula]

"Not stupid at all," Dracula assured him. "I'm out here in the night as well, you might notice." Ironically enough, he too had spent his day doing some cleaning, tidying up his favorite parts of the casino. He didn't want it to look too cleared out, the last thing he wanted was for some student to come wandering along and think oh, this casino looks tidy and friendly, I'll just pop in and look around.

Dracula certainly knew of woods, plenty of them. Forests back in Transylvania, forests around this place...but he had a feeling from the way the boy said The Woods that these particular woods were something special, something he should definitely know about if he were a mysterious benefactor looking there for scholarship cases. So Dracula did what he did best in situations where he didn't know an answer; he ignored the question completely.

He put out one gloved hand and took hold of Will's, shaking it firmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you, I assure you," he said. "I'm Vlad." And you smell like the untamed wilderness, he thought, but didn't say, although the temptation was strong. "Tell me more about your love of the darkness."

[William Fenris]

"Well, yeah, but most people don't like the dark...I do. It's comforting."

Will had been born to the dark, as most wolves are. Blind and deaf to the world, and as they grow, the more they start to see, and gosh, the dark and the stars, and the grass under his feet, the first time he'd heard the sounds of the forest, the rustling of trees.

It had sounded like home, until home became a prison, a world of survival of the fittest and the fittest he would never be. To be bad, was to be good in the eyes of the wolves, and the less said about his father the better.

"Hello, Vlad." Will said, quietly, the firm handshake made him feel comfort too, perhaps as his smile lingered. "There's not much to say, the darkness was all I really knew for a while...even though I love the sun, and people, people are so interesting, like, my friend J--"

And he stopped, swallowed, Vlad was an important person, why would he want to know about his life, or his friends. He swallowed his words down.

"I like the night more though..."

[Vlad Dracula]

Will was certainly correct in his assumption that Dracula could not care much less about his life and his boring little human friends. Everyone had friends, everyone had their little activities they liked to keep themselves entertained with. Dracula wasn't interested in any of that. He was interested in this person in particular. Someone had wanted this boy here for some reason, badly enough to send money to a place anonymously to bring him here to this school that wasn't even much of a school at the moment. If it was worth that to someone, Dracula wanted to know why.

"The sun is cruel and unforgiving," he said, holding onto the handshake for just a moment too long before releasing it. "The night...the night is a kind companion to those the sunlight does not deem worthy." He gave Will a smile, a genuine smile, one he had used to lure in many a young man or woman in times before.

"William...do you prefer William, or is it Will?" He reached over to rest one hand on Will's shoulder. "You have a purpose here, my friend. Hold onto your place in the darkness...it is not everyone who can walk here in comfort. It is a beautiful thing to be chosen by the night."

[William Fenris]

Chosen by the night. Never had Will been made to feel....special, chosen, wanted. He had been reprimanded and chided all his life, that now in the presence of this gentleman, he could feel his eyes widen and his heart lift. It was all he'd ever wanted. To be appreciated, to be given that genuine smile. To feel like he belonged. It was easier not to ignore his instincts when he was charmed by such kindness, a level that was so small that the level of --unkindness must have been astronomical where he'd been from.

"Will is fine, but....I don't mind." Another quiet pause, before considering asking the next question. "Have you been chosen by the night too?"

He could still feel tense, ever so slightly a tremor of something, a warning, but Will was no listening, how could he, when such a kind man was treating him better than any of his family ever had?

[Vlad Dracula]

Dracula took a step closer to him, met his eyes, projecting all the reassurance and warmth he could. He reached out with one hand, and laid it on the side of Will's face, running his thumb along his cheekbone gently.

"My dear boy," he said, still smiling, "I am the night." He moved his hand away from Will's face, gesturing up at the darkness around them. "I have walked in the darkness long enough that we are one. You will know that too, someday, if you stop fighting it."

He tucked his hand back into the pocket of his coat. "What do you hope to learn here?" he asked, his tone light and curious, as if he hadn't just moved into a whole new level of sinister melodrama seconds earlier. "You are wanted here, of course, but what do you want for yourself? What do you want to learn, what do you want to experience? Or, maybe..." He paused, licking his lips. "Maybe it is a matter of the places you don't want to be instead."

[William Fenris]

Projecting all that warmth was a good thing. Wolf pups are bred to fear everything but their families, except in Will's case when even his family set up on trying to make him fear them in the hopes that it will have the reverse affect.

So this, tenderness, whether it was fake, was more assurance than he'd ever received from am adult in his life. He still looked hunched, but perhaps less afraid as he stood listening intently to what Vlad had to say for himself.

That he was the night.

And if he was the night, and he, Will, enjoyed the dark, then --- well, they belong together didn't they? it was what the obvious answer, even though, something like fear was still pressing from somewhere within.

"What---what did I want to learn? Oh...." Will was about to answer that question, but Dracula instead, put pressure on his sorest question, and he visably seemed to wince, as though Dracula was pressing his thumb literally on that pressure point.

"....I don't ever want to go back through my portal, I want to stay here."

[Vlad Dracula]

Oh, this one was starving for affection, wasn't he? He didn't even seem put off or unsettled by the physical contact there. Not a problem...quite the opposite, in fact. Dracula did some of his best work with lonely people, those who had been turned away by the world, those who couldn't quite find their place elsewhere.

"I'm sure arrangements will be made, or have been already," he said, giving Will a knowing look. "Don't worry. You needn't go back if you don't want to. There is plenty to be done here, plenty to be learned." He looked the younger man over, unblinking, as if he could look right through him into his soul.

"You know," he mused, "you have a unique position." Dracula was, as usual, cooking up a plan for how he could use this person he'd just met, and he already had an idea. "You are of the night, that much is obvious, but if you are here for classes, you will be conducting most of your business by day. That is a luxury that I," and here he paused to glance up at the night sky, "do not have."

[William Fenris]

"Yes, yes I want to be useful, I want to --- mean something here." Will couldn't help the excitement, until he realised that Dracula couldn't leave the night. Will looked surprised, then concerned for his new friend. He was completely enthralled by the world that Dracula had enticed him with thus far. He even smiled, he felt....welcomed.

"You really can't leave the dark? I.....well I can help you there, if that's what you need."

It was the least he can do for the man who was surely his benefactor. "I can keep an eye on things, tell you about the school...I bet you can't do all that learning yourself if you're trapped in the dark..."

Will stopped, then rephrased, "I mean, not that you're trapped....exactly, but I can walk in both. Like you said, it's a luxury."

[Vlad Dracula]

Oh, this was perfect. Dracula barely managed to suppress a distinctly sinister smile. He didn't even have to ask and this boy was stumbling over himself to volunteer his services. Well, Dracula certainly wasn't going to turn that down.

"Look at you," he said, proudly. "Useful and bright. You've read my mind." He reached over and ran a hand through Will's hair along the side of his head, smoothing it a little. "I knew the second I saw you that you'd be perfect for this." A slight exaggeration, but again, flattery and affection went a long way when a person was unused to one and starved for the other.

"The people at this school aren't bad people, far from it. But they can be...well, let's say they would benefit from some guidance. They're afraid of darkness, afraid of anything that doesn't fit into the picture they've painted of their world. I want to change that, I want to open their eyes to how glorious the world can be when you don't limit yourself that way." He watched Will's face carefully, trying to measure his reaction to that, waiting for the slightest sign of resistance or disagreement.

[William Fenris]

He could feel his cheeks blush a little surprised at the compliment, so much so, he didn't even really know how to react to it. It wasn't that Will wasn't unsettled by the whole thing, far from it. The man seemed kind, considerate. Though even with that, he still did move slightly in surprise at first but settled as Dracula continued to talk.

And it was like being hit with a sledgehammer, as Dracula continued to express that whole talk about fear, he thoguht about his own fear. He thought about those friends he'd made, who'd had bad experiences. He thought of Judy who lived in basically a paradise.

He wanted everyone to have that.

"Yes, yes of course! I....I don't want to be limited, I want to be myself, I don't....I don't want to be the wolf anymore. I just want to be whoever I want, no more ties, no more beatings, just me. I want to be me."

And then he realised that it wasn't an internal thought, he'd saying it out loud, with rather a passionate tone, so much so, that it was probably the loudest he'd spoken apart from shouting in fear since he'd arrived. 

"S-Sorry. I shouldn't have --- that was odd of me, I'm...." he mumbled.