˚ʚ memories ɞ˚
pairing: dracula x fem!reader warnings: implied intimacy, it really only gets to heavy petting, mentions of blood/death, reader gets bittennnnnnnn, this is the celebration scene rewritten a/n: aah!!! my first real fic for vlad, i've been so obsessed with the movie & the actors' performances so i had to write something
Lace-trimmed gowns, fur-lined capes, and wool suits blurred in your vision as Maria led you through the mirrored ballroom. Her usual excitement seemed even brighter, pulling you by the hand while grinning broadly and laughing from her belly. Delectable hot chocolate was the excuse for visiting this hotel in particular, only later Maria seemed to coincidentally remember that her gentleman-friend was staying at the very same hotel - an introduction was in order.
Maria's energy was contagious, leaving a permanent smile on your lips and lending you a more carefree attitude towards meeting strangers, wandering about the city all day, and celebrating the anniversary of the country's revolution that didn't necessarily have a great personal meaning to you. You'd dressed as quickly as you could in an ensemble of white and vivid red - a small homage to the country's flag. The red fabric and jewelry felt bold for an unmarried woman, yet you wore them with a possibly brash sense of pride.
"Oh! I see him, he's absolutely going to love you." Maria assured you with a quick glance over her shoulder.
"Don't interrupt if he's already speaking with someone." You pleaded.
Maria snorted, "He's been waiting for us to arrive, he isn't paying a drop of attention to anything else."
An exaggeration, you were sure. At least, until you stood face to face with the mysterious man. He was silent, but his eyes spoke for him. Deep blue, shining with a building glaze of sentiment, and unblinking as they admired your face. The rest of the room almost seemed to fade away as you stood across from him. Your heart seemed to stop, though you couldn't possibly explain why.
Clearing your throat, you tried to cover your impolite staring with an introduction: "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. Are you specially visiting for the celebration?"
He remained still, lost in all the thoughts you could see behind his eyes. Your brows moved in concern, trying to read more from his expression. That was when Maria intervened.
"I know my friend is very beautiful, but you haven't introduced yourself, Your Highness." She snickered, prompting him to speak.
"Yes. Forgive me. I... I have lost my mind and manners." He began, his accent and low voice going straight to your heart. "Vlad the Second, Prince of Wallachia, Count Dracula."
"You possess a great deal of titles, Your Grace." You smiled as he charmingly brought your hand to his lips.
"And you? A princess, I presume?"
"No," you laughed, "nothing of the sort, sir."
"Vlad." He corrected you, pressing his lips again to the back of your gloved hand.
Something of his touch... his lips over your knuckles, the intensity of his gaze, made the rest of the ballroom disappear once again. If the novels you'd read were accurate at all, this had to be a sign of true love. Or perhaps just infatuation, as your practical, adult mind told you. Still, you let yourself wonder what this feeling was, where it was originating from.
As your mind wandered, a memory... or a dream came to you. Like you were trying to place him and his familiarity. Candlelight, an old castle, kisses starting at your hand and trailing higher up your arm...
Then you shook away the vision. Just a foolish flash of your imagination. You forced a polite smile of nonchalance and nodded at whatever he'd said. His name. Correcting you. The way you addressed him. Allowing you to stand as his equal. Your heart was racing.
Swallowing and trying to find a moment to breathe, you faced Maria again, "I believe you mentioned hot chocolate?"
"Yes! But first, let me show you to the jardin! There are games, and shows, and curiosities, and-"
You couldn't hear the rest of her eager words as she pulled you out of the crowded space, your mind solely on the handsome nobleman you'd just met. What he provoked in you, what you couldn't control or suppress. Prince Vlad.
As Maria walked you out of the doors to the Louvre's manicured gardens where all the festivities were going on, you felt your heart jump. Not from performers or entertainment, from a premonition. You glanced around, turning your head back and seeing him, Vlad, following you both at a polite distance. A small smile bloomed across your lips as you looked to Maria again.
He remained near you both for the evening, not intervening unless asked to contribute and placing himself in a position solely to watch over. When Maria brought you to a game to shoot, he kindly corrected your form upon your announcement of being intimidated by the weapon in your hands. Vlad remained at your side, his face tucked beside your neck to show you where to target and directing you up to the point of pulling the trigger.
The noise brought another memory, or fantasy, or dream to you. A man pressed to your side and kissing at your neck, setting his hands just where Vlad's were then. But the gun was aimed at a pillow, decorated with gold thread. Again, the vision disappeared as soon as it had come.
"A bullseye!" Maria squealed, "You are a natural, my dear."
You grinned and turned to Vlad, "Only thanks to my instructor."
He bowed his head politely, but said nothing further.
You found yourself leaning into him again when standing in an exposition of a real, live mermaid. She'd glided up to the surface of the water and gazed at the audience dripping with the water of her aquarium. Then, she let out a shrill screech.
When you jumped, you jumped into his side. His arm shielded you. All of it felt inexplicably natural. Instinctual. It should've alarmed you to be so comfortable with the prince and embarrassed despite him being so gracious in assisting you. Again, you wished to believe it was all love at first sight, fascination, something with a name.
Maria brought you to another stand, to toss sacks at pins. Then to see human curiosities on display. A man seeming to consume the fire from a burning stake. A woman with a beard. Another performer lifting heavier and heavier still weights up over his head with ease. Vlad remained a chivalrous pace away from you both but followed along, seemingly to ensure your safety.
As the sky grew dark, Maria decided it was the perfect time to take you through the haunted house. Everything was dark inside, barely any light showing you the spooking decorations inside. Cobwebs strung across the corners of the labyrinth, loud noises playing from a gramophone hidden from view, electric lights flashing like lightning. Maria had run ahead, calling you along to follow as you felt your way through the dark. Then, you could no longer see or hear her.
There must've been a turn somewhere up ahead, somewhere she had turned into and happened to be out of your sight. You walked cautiously, calling out Maria's name between nervous laughs. A pale skeleton jumped out at you from out of nowhere. You couldn't help the scream that burst from your throat. Your steps stumbled backward, until you ran into something and screamed again.
"Shh, it is just me. You are safe." The prince's steady voice reassured you.
Gradually, your breaths slowed as you faced him, thanking him in a whisper for catching you. Vlad kept an arm around your back in support, holding you steady but not so tightly that anyone would consider it improper. You caught your breaths and took a step forward, signaling that you were ready to continue.
The prince offered his hand, "This way."
You happily took it, trusting him to keep you feeling much more secure regardless of what other horror-decorations jumped out at you. Vlad even managed to warn you just before something moved in front of you, somehow knowing when something was about to happen.
Only at the end of the haunted house did you spot Maria again, catching her breath and greeting you eagerly. Vlad, again, decided to remain at a distance behind you two.
In the center of the gardens was an open space, live music playing to provide accompaniment to the dancing couples over the grass. Maria stood just outside the space alongside many other nicely-dressed guests. You stood with her, until Vlad stood before you with his hand offered to you. Not a single inkling of a thought to refuse entered your mind; you took his hand and set your other one over his shoulder, allowing the prince to guide you into an easy rhythm.
Again, visions flashed in your mind like vivid memories. Being in a linen nightgown and dancing in a bed chamber, daylight streaming in through stained glass windows. A man standing against your backside and holding your middle with one arm, the other reaching to curl his warm hand over your throat. The touch of a burning kiss stamped at your sternum.
Your breath caught and you stumbled in your steps again, held over your feet by Vlad. The music came to an opportune pause as you found stability. Vlad bowed as the rest of the men-partners did and you stepped away to find air.
He and Maria shadowed you, your friend pulling your arm over her shoulders and asking if you were alright. The prince, meanwhile, apologized for directing you too vigorously if his guiding of the dance had been the cause of your affected state.
"No, it is not your fault. I just... became lost in thought, I couldn't help myself. Forgive me if I stepped on your foot or made you worry."
"You are forgiven." Vlad replied with a quite serious tone. "Would you like to rest? My suite is not far and you can still have a good view of the night's performance."
"Yes! Then we can order the hotel's hot chocolate directly to the room!" Maria chimed in.
"That may be wise." You accepted breathlessly, allowing him to chivalrously walk you up to his suite while Maria remained dotingly at your other side.
Granted, it was not so wise for an unmarried woman to walk directly into the suite of a titled, wealthy man you'd only just met. However, he had been nothing but kind and mindful of you throughout the evening. He asked to set a hand upon yours to guide your aim, and kept his hands exactly where they were supposed to be during your dance. When you looked at him, you felt only safety.
Your own mind was the only thing that troubled you, the flame-like flickers of visions that seemed to be brought on by your meeting the prince. Vivid scenes of intimacy, warmth, elation, lips wandering across your skin, and your own hands... your hands grasping at a man's frame - his, you sensed. It made your face burn, though not in shame, in desire. One you wouldn't be bold enough to confess to.
Maria helped you sit over a chaise, promising to finally bring you the hot chocolate she'd mentioned since the start of the evening. You hardly cared for it anymore but savored the opportunity to rest after all your walking around the gardens. She left you alone in the room, beside the open doors of the balcony letting in the cool night air.
You shut your eyes, breathing in the chill and feeling your composure come back to you. Just as quickly, you felt it dissolve again at the sound of the prince's steady, even steps approach. You sat up and opened your eyes to see him.
His hat, coat, and walking stick had been stowed away while you languished. Vlad stood a few paces away from the foot of the chaise, his gaze solely fixed upon your face with the same deep admiration in his expressive eyes. You didn't have the heart to remind him it was rude to stare, especially when you were doing just the same.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation tonight."
You smiled and gave an acknowledging nod.
"I have something I'd like to show you." He announced softly. "I wonder if you recall seeing it anywhere before."
Your brows raised in interest, "Please do."
Vlad stepped across to the adjacent room, and you found yourself rising back up onto your feet to follow after. His hands reached for something set atop the dresser, wrapped in a fine handkerchief, and displayed the hidden item in his palm. The unoccupied hand reached to pull away the handkerchief and your eyes saw a silver box. A music box, as he explained, likely one of the first in the world.
The prince reached to twist the cog in the back, "I gave this to my wife when I returned from my travels."
"You're married?" You interrupted, unable to help the question.
He paused, "Widowed. I am sorry if I have caused you discomfort, but you remind me so much of her... it may be foolish of me, but I hoped you might... react to it, to the melody."
Your heart still could not stand to stop him, to tell him that it was impossible, that you would've remembered a man like him.
A small bit of hope had risen within you when the prince confessed his own hopes to you. The visions you'd experienced were mere fantasies, you convinced yourself. And yet, what if they really were memories? What if everything you were feeling was somehow tied into this previous existence with him?
It was impossible, your own reasoning insisted. Yet, your heart yearned to seek out another explanation. God was capable of miracles, of things that were beyond human understanding, and perhaps the man standing before you was deemed deserving of such a blessing.
The lid of the box opened and the prince continued his sentimental storytelling: "When my wife wanted me, she would use this gift. Its melody would echo through the castle walls and I would run to her the moment I heard it. Now, I play it for you."
His finger deftly extended a piece of the mechanism to let the slow, haunting song begin.
Barely a pace remained between you, heads bowed over the music box as its melody wrapped around your mind, enchanting you back into your imagination. Delicate feathers floating through the candlelit air of the bedchamber. Your laughter and another's weaving together. Horseback riding across a snow-blanketed field side by side. Warm breaths fanning between lips in the refreshing, winter air.
You searched for a face, for whether it was really Vlad you could see in your mind's eye. The music brought tears down your cheeks, your heart sore and swelling. It made your breathing heavy and audible as you tried to let yourself sink into the melody and what it was causing within you.
"I... feel as though I'm reaching for something, but I cannot see it fully," you confessed in a whisper.
"Keep searching."
With your eyes shut lightly, you let his voice reverberate through your mind and accompany the echoes of the music there. Again, you found yourself elsewhere.
A hearth fire with a dragon carved into the stone behind its flames. Your cheek pressed against rough, silver armor. Hands holding still your bared hips while you heard panting in your ear. Being spun around a throne room with a heavy crown atop your head and those same, sturdy arms around your lower half to hoist you into the air carefree.
"I can see a fire, silver scales... a dragon," you spoke thoughtlessly.
The prince's breath caught and you felt his unoccupied hand come to your cheek, "The last time I saw my wife was in my armor. I held her as blood drained from her veins. The last thing she said to me was before battle. She told me to take care of myself- "
"My prince, my king," you continued, the words coming to your lips before you could think, "my life, because I... cannot survive without you."
Your eyes stared up into his, your breaths paused, and your heart beating wildly. After centuries, he remembered your words to him.
Precisely as you'd spoken them, not knowing that they'd be your last to him. And you... you knew them as your own, you knew him to be your own. Not just a charming stranger who captured your affections upon first sight, but your prince from all that time ago and cursed to wait for your return. Your prince who had not ceased his search for your soul since the day it left the mortal world.
Fireworks began to burst from outside the windows, giving you a start that made you lean into Vlad once again for support. He happily caught you, only now his arms circled around you entirely. His lips pressed to the crown of your head as tears fell upon your styled hair.
You brought your head up and kissed him deeply, your mind whirling as it remembered everything in a haze; your husband's devotion at the forefront of it. The very same depth of adoration that you felt within yourself, both of you sinking further and further into it as you saw your desires and sentiments mirrored in one another.
Tears mingled between your cheeks as you remained intertwined, cheering and bursting outside fading far from your awareness. Your hands clutched tightly to him, unable to believe your prince was back in your arms. All of that time spent in the ether and being so ignorant of what awaited you, what your soul had been aching for impossibly out of your husband's reach.
And Vlad, suffering from the slowly dying faith that you'd ever return to him. Burning with insurmountable pain and hope upon finally saw you standing before him, wondering if you'd recognize your husband in your new form. Trying to spark your memory in any manner he could until this very moment when everything fell together. His hands trembling as they reached around you, disbelieving that he could finally feel you, tangibly, against himself.
Pulling away, you looked up into his face, admiring the familiar features and brushing tear-slicked strands of hair from his cheeks. Your own eyes were glazed over and mirroring your vision through the ever-building and ever-spilling tears. The delicate touch of his ringed fingers tracing the side of your face made your eyes squeeze shut, tracts of saltwater running down your skin.
"My beloved," he whispered, wrought with the feeling pouring out of his heart.
You leaned into his hand, pressing a kiss to his fingertips, "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you before, my prince."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I am sorry for not finding you sooner, for not having saved your life centuries ago."
You shook your head vigorously, caressing the side of his face, "Don't blame yourself, my prince. We were separated before and we are now reunited, that is all that matters, is it not?"
A smile came over his pale lips and he pulled you into his chest by the hand he cupped at the back of your head. Grateful kisses were planted along its crown, though still too restrained for your liking. The strings of his trousers found their way between your fingers, easily coming apart with a few simple tugs. Vlad seemed to choke at your boldness, catching your wrists and leaning down to kiss your lips again instead.
You ignored his direction, your hands roaming anywhere they pleased to grasp at more and more of him. Nothing could suppress your desire or limit your measures of taking it as you pleased; even your own husband couldn't find the resolve to refuse you. He let go of your hands and reciprocated your actions instead, working your gown off your shoulders so it fell to the floor in a puddle.
It became a familiar dance, one whose movements you remembered as you executed them. Vlad lifting you up in his arms. Your breaths warming his cool face and fingertips running across his freckled arms. Saliva slicking over bared skin following the touch of lips and tongue. A gasp stolen from your lungs. The responding low grunt from the base od his throat. Eyes taking in the scene and refusing to close for longer than a momentary blink.
"Take me," you breathed against his lips, "body and blood. Bind us together for eternity."
Your husband lifted his head from between your parted thighs, "We have been bound, my beloved, across life and death."
"You misunderstand, my love. Give me your curse. Please. If you cannot die, then let me be deathless beside you."
His tongue traced a vein just beneath your skin, "No... it is not a life for you. I would condemn you to sustain yourself on fresh blood, to never stand in the full light of the day, to be isolated from anyone and anything else... it is too great a sacrifice."
The refusal, considerate as it was, made your heart hurt and your stomach sink. Fire burned in your veins at the mere hint of ever parting from him again. To undergo the torment of separation between your souls and to leave him yearning for centuries again. No. This is the only thing you would refuse your husband.
You reached to touch him and keep his gaze on your desperate expression, "To be with you, my prince, anything is a worthy sacrifice. I beg you, let me share your curse. Let me share it or I will force your hand, o-or think that you do not truly love me."
Vlad went still, sharp nails just barely digging into your flesh, eyes gravely wide, "You cannot question my love for you. I am only trying to save you from my devilish existence, for you are of the heavens, but you know I cannot refuse you."
Relief eased your tension away as quickly as it had come, though your expression only reflected appreciation. Your legs circled around him to rest on his back, pulling him in closer. His elongated, sharp teeth peeked out from under his parted lips as his tongue drew a line along the inside of your thigh. Hands gliding along your skin devotedly and eyes never glancing away from yours.
"Where do you want it?" The prince asked in a low tone, mouth muffled against the skin of your leg. "The bite, my beloved. It scars forever."
A wicked grin formed over your lips, "Right where you are, so only you see it."
Your smile was mirrored on his own features as he tilted his head sideways, lining up his fangs with the curve of your form. Vlad gradually leaned down lower and lower, breath teasing gooseflesh up across your thigh. He was gentle first, sinking the sharp points into the surface of your skin slowly and smoothly. Blood flowed freely from you as a burning pain spread across the muscle, though you forced yourself still so that your husband could finish doing as you had asked.
Now the contact from his tongue was broad, drinking in your blood to avoid any loss of the rich liquid. As you felt your head spin faintly and let out a weak whimper, Vlad tried to distract you and reached a free hand to the pearl of nerves just below his bite. It distracted you, mixing with the sensation of pain and easing it as the pleasure overpowered any other feeling. Your husband pulled his mouth away, clearing some of the flow with a final lap of his tongue and stopping the wound from draining you entirely.
"Your fangs will form soon, my beloved. I advise you to rest now." He spoke soothingly, guiding your legs down into a more comfortable position. "I will watch over you and clean the blood away. Is there anything you wish to have before you sleep?"
"You, beside me, my prince," you reached a hand to his, "I feel hungry, not tired. I desire to have you again, I feel my strength returning to me."
His deep blue eyes seemed to darken further as he took in a heavy breath, "I cannot refuse you anything. Only feed from me first, it will help you. I will bring you proper, fresh blood before the dawn."
