Vampires in Storybrooke ~ PG-13
Title: Vampires in Storybrooke
Summary: With the curse broken, Storybrooke is finding that one so-called fairy tale character they never expected is also back. Now it's up to Emma and Henry to find a way to break the curse Dracula has placed on his new victims before those in Storybrooke awake as vampires.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: S1
Pairing/Characters: Dracula/Sophie, Emma, Henry, Ruby/Red Riding Hood, Dr. Whale, Mary Margaret/Snow White, mentions others
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not owned by me, but by ABC. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
A/N: The idea of this Dracula comes from a 90s show called "Dracula: the Series." Never watched? No worries. You don't need to know more than the Dracula basics and that this Dracula and Sophie aren't entirely OCs, though it's not a full on crossover either. Enjoy. And Happy Halloween. ;)
~~
It had taken only a moment for those in Storybrooke to feel the wave of magic as it broke over the town. It left most of them momentarily stilled as they were suddenly able to recall who they were. For some, the memories that were returning had been merely difficult to understand. Particularly since the returning memories hadn't erased the memories of who they had believed they were for the past 28 years.
For others the returning memories, coupled with those of their more recent time in Storybrooke, were a bit of a shock to take in. Even if a number of things suddenly made sense because of them. For 28 years stories had seemed no more than that. And for those years they had mostly had to rely only on what they could recall themselves from the books they already owned as the library had been boarded up for as long as anyone could remember.
Sitting alone in his purposely dim home as he had daily for these years, even since time had begun moving again, the wealthy though reclusive man who in Storybrooke had been known as Alister Verrity, had a bit more to readjust to than simply his centuries worth of memories returning.
Straightening up in the high back leather chair facing his vast fireplace, it was becoming clear to him that even he had underestimated the Evil Queen's powers. For she had somehow managed to render even him mortal in this land until the moment her curse had been broken.
He also began to realize that the existence he had been forced to suffer in for these past 28 years had to have been a lie, and therefore the reason for his reclusive nature was a lie as well. If there was any comfort to be found in any of this for him, it seemed to be that.
Focusing elsewhere, he now no longer felt the need to remain as Alister had been. No longer wishing to remain isolated neither in his vast home, nor as mild mannered as Alister had been. No. Now he was returning to his true nature, embracing that he was once again a character feared by anyone with enough sense. Once again he was Dracula... or rather Alexander as he had preferred in the more recent years leading up to the curse. And he had awoken with a thirst only one thing could satiate.
Come morning in Storybrooke things were hardly any closer to normal for most of the town; particularly since few could decide what they considered normal given everything that had recently happened.
Some had preferred who they had become since the curse had taken effect. Red Riding Hood was one. As Ruby she had never had to fear a full moon or hunters. Jiminy Cricket was another. As Dr. Archie Hopper he had never thought of his human form as its own curse, however now he certainly did.
Then there were others who wished only to fully return to who they now recalled being. Ella for one, Snow White and Prince James for others. But most were also hoping to find their friends or family the curse had parted them from. Even with some magic beginning to return, that was proving to be difficult still.
Even Dracula had been no different in that sense. The curse had forced him to believe his beloved had been killed, though the exact cause had remained a haze. It seemed the more details he tried to remember, the more elusive the false memories became. He had supposed he may have drunk the memory away with enough wine. As Alister he had believed he was somehow responsible; whether directly or simply because he hadn't been able to protect her from whatever had caused her harm. Now he was certain it had been a cruel gift from Regina, a play on his and his Sophie's being of the undead previous to the curse.
Had it not already been daylight once again, he would have been happy to pay Regina a visit for those years of being left completely alone with his guilt and inner torment. As it was he felt it was better to take the day to rest and regain what strength he could before either declaring his own war on the Queen or going into the night to attempt to reunite with his bride. If nothing else, he decided, this would give him ample time to fantasize just how he would go about ripping Regina's throat out when the time finally came.
Meanwhile there was no rest to be had for Emma either as she had chosen the sheriff's station to go to attempt to piece together her past 36 hours. Everything from having been so close to returning to Boston, to Henry dying, to having brought him back, to realizing he had been right all along about the curse and characters, to doing battle with a freaking dragon... She decided it was no wonder she was likely in shock. Could anyone have blamed her?
It was only the sharp ringing of the phone at her desk that managed to finally distract her from her thoughts. "Yeah?" she answered, forgetting for a moment how she should have answered.
"Sheriff Swan?" a familiar male voice asked.
"Yes," she replied, wondering who would be calling the sheriff's station that early. Or why Storybrooke might even still need a sheriff.
"Sheriff, it's Dr. Whale." He wasn't sure he should tell her his real name, or if he should go with how she had known him best. Just before dialing he had decided the latter might be best. It had hardly been a day since they had all regained their memories, after all. "I'm afraid I may need you to come down to the hospital as soon as you can."
"Why?" Were some fairy tale characters turning back into creatures? She really hoped not. She was better with things she could actually fix.
"It seems a number of patients have been admitted since this morning, all appearing to have been attacked by the same person or wild animal."
"I'm on my way," was all she could tell him. Of course she was still in shock that all of this was real, but that didn't mean she wasn't still the sheriff. And really she decided she could use the distraction, as long as the culprit was indeed human.
Still unsure what was awaiting her inside the hospital, it put Emma even more on edge to see Dr. Whale meeting her not far from the doors and wasting no time in showing her to the patients. There was a total of four of them. At least so far. They were all adults, three men and one woman; none of whom Emma could remember having seen before. And they all appeared to have the same paleness, exhaustion, and marks in common: two deep punctures at the side of their necks.
Emma listened as each of their stories matched the others' to the letter. They had all been out walking the night before, none of them had any memory of what had happened once they had been taken hold of by the man or beast which had found them, and they had all awoken in their beds that morning to find the wounds at their necks.
"In your medical opinion, what do you think could've caused all of that with so many victims in one night?" Emma asked when they were alone in the hallway once again. She wished to hear Whale say something along the lines of mosquitoes, but she knew she wasn't that lucky.
"My opinion? A dog, maybe. Or a wolf. It would've been something or someone they wouldn't have seen until it was too late but large enough to inflict those wounds yet leave them alive. That's why I'm at a loss and called you. Plus, the trauma of it all could explain why they don't even remember getting home or into bed."
"A dog or a wolf?" Emma asked, hating her mind for immediately thinking of Ruby. She was the only wolf they knew of. Henry had certainly never mentioned any other but Graham's wolf companion and no one had seen that wolf since Graham had died.
"I've never known anything else to cause something like this. I can only think it was some kind of animal or someone who thinks they're an animal."
Emma sighed. "Well, thanks. I'll be in touch," she told him before deciding she needed air. And perhaps a trip to the bed and breakfast to see what Ruby may have remembered about the night before. She really couldn't think of any other explanation. If the curse had been broken then it was likely some of those in Storybrooke would be reverting to their past selves in more ways than one. At least for those like Ruby who had more than one type of past self to revert back to.
She thought about Whale first, of course. But then if he had been an actual whale he wouldn't have been able to inflict such minor damage on those people as just those mere punctures. Then there was Archie, who as a cricket wouldn't have been able to truly attack anyone like that either. Well, maybe if he used his tiny umbrella, she decided. Shaking her head, Emma knew better. Archie, or Jiminy, wouldn't have that in him. Back to square one in her mind, she parked the cruiser and headed up to the door of the bed and breakfast.
Red had been sitting at the dining room table of the inn when she heard the knock at the door. Granny was upstairs digging through the closets for her cloak, insisting Red had to be ready for wolfs' time, and she had found she simply couldn't take it. These past 28 years, while confusing now and even a little upsetting in retrospect, she still wasn't quite ready to return to her life as Red Riding Hood... or as one of the Big Bad Wolves.
Opening the door, she was surprised to find Emma. "Emma? Do you need a room?" was all she could think to ask. But why would she need one? she wondered. Surely Snow White wouldn't kick her own daughter out of her apartment... Well unless perhaps she wished to have a night, or day, reuniting with her prince. That much she could certainly understand.
"No. I'm here because I need to ask you a few questions," Emma told her. She really hadn't wanted to do this, but it seemed the closest thing she had to a rational explanation.
"Okay, uh, come on in," she told her as she stepped aside for Emma. "What's up?"
"Did you happen to see anything out of the ordinary last night? Say, any animals you maybe hadn't seen until last night?"
"No," she told her with a shake of her head. She had been at the inn all night, desperate to piece together exactly how much of Ruby's personality had been her own. The answer had proven to be more than a little surprising.
"So if I told you that four people woke up this morning with punctures in their necks, you wouldn't know anything about it?"
"Wait, four people what?" Red didn't want to think she had heard right. Punctures were hardly her forte, but it did make her heart beat a bit faster to know whose they sounded like.
"Dr. Whale called it in. I'm not sure if it was because I'm still technically the sheriff or because I seem to be the resident curse breaker, but there are four people at the hospital right now who seem to be recovering from an animal attack. What I need to know now is what you remember about last night."
With that Red began to understand this line of questioning then. She couldn't claim she was surprised, but it did sting a little. "Me? Where I was? You're suspecting me?"
Emma sighed. "It seems there was a dog or wolf attack last night, and since you are who and what you are, I -"
"Wow, so you hear about a dog or wolf attack and immediately come to me? I'm flattered, really."
"Ruby, please. There are four people in the hospital right now, all of whom were attacked last night. I'm just trying to figure this out, and with what Whale said..."
"Yeah, Whale, real genius there," Ruby replied with a roll of her eyes.
"I don't like him either, but -"
"Last night, you said?" Ruby interrupted.
"Yes. Anything you can remember would help."
"I can do you one better than that. If it was last night then it definitely couldn't have been me," Ruby told her, smiling in her relief at that fact.
"How can you be so sure. I mean, with your story being what it is?" Emma asked. She didn't want to believe her friend could have been responsible but there were few other suspects she could think of.
"I'm sure because of my story. No full moon equals no wolf, plus I was here all night. You can ask Granny if you don't believe me, she's pretty happy about it. Also, when a wolf does attack, it doesn't just leave punctures at a victim's neck. Most likely in the case of a wolf there wouldn't even be a throat left for you to notice punctures."
Emma had to swallow at that somewhat graphic description, but she had to admit the girl had a point. Even in Henry's story book Red's victims had been shown with scratches and most were barely recognizable beneath all the blood. They had also, for the most part, been dead. None of that could be said about the people she had just seen.
Red decided then to ask, "So, about these victims, you said they're still alive?"
"Yes. Does that help you think of someone?"
"Maybe. If it's possible. I mean, there were rumors, but..."
"After yesterday, I might believe anything at this point. Tell me, please." Emma insisted.
"Would you say their punctures were in pairs, small, and fairly perfectly spaced? Say, about two inches apart?"
"Yes," Emma answered, hoping Red was onto something.
Sighing herself that time, Red then told her, "In that case, I can only think of one type of person that would leave that kind of, I guess, evidence behind. Especially since you said these victims are turning up alive."
"Who?" Emma asked, her blue eyes wide.
Red glanced away for a moment. She couldn't believe she was about to say it. She had never seen any of them back in their past lands. Alright, maybe the wolf had, but she sure hadn't as her human herself. But right then it seemed to be the only thing that made sense. "A vampire."
"You mean like Dracula?" Just like that Emma was questioning her stance on if she would in fact believe anything at that point. Fairy tales were one thing now, but vampires? Really?
Red thought about it. He was the most famous vampire of them all and his tale, the vampire's tale rather than that of the Romanian prince, had originated in a book... "Probably Dracula himself. If any vampire were to leave his victims alive, it would be him. The Count needs a staff, right? What better way to get one than to turn some people into mindless drones? And then there's also that part about how he likes to leave others under his control for a while before killing them. Plus he wouldn't want angry villagers showing up with torches and pitchforks. He'd take what he needs from a few people and move on. At least if the rumors are true."
"So you're saying it's possible he may not actually kill anyone?"
"That depends mostly on the victims. If they anger him? If they try to kill him? Those would be the ones he'd kill. And even then kill seems to be relative with Dracula. He doesn't seem to think being undead equals dead. Other than that, I'd ask Henry. If anyone's the expert these days it'd be him. Or you could try Rumpelstiltskin if you can find him, but I'm not sure how much he'd tell you about Dracula. Even he wouldn't want him as an enemy."
Henry it was then, Emma decided. "Thanks, Ruby."
"Good luck," she told her as she watched the princess head out of the inn, not even minding she was still calling her by her Storybrooke name.
"Henry!" Emma called when she reached the apartment. She couldn't help the rush she was in. She could only think she had until sunset before the victims may begin piling up. With the possibility of Dracula being on the loose time was most definitely of the essence.
"Emma!" Snow called back, surprised to see her looking so panicked. Had she had another run-in with Regina?
"Is Henry here?"
"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?" he asked as he came into the main room.
"I need to see your book," she told him.
Henry smiled as he moved to the kitchen table where his backpack was resting. He had a feeling she'd come looking for it sooner rather than later. Now that she believed anyway.
"Is everything alright?" Snow asked her.
"I don't know yet. Henry, what character from your book could attack someone and have it seem like an animal did it, but not completely be considered an animal?"
"Is this a trick question?" he asked her.
"No, Henry. Something isn't right, and people are getting hurt. This time it doesn't seem to be Regina but I'm not sure I can believe who Ruby -"
"Red Riding Hood," he corrected.
"Who she thinks is behind it. So please, who or what comes to mind?"
"Well, what kind of attacks?"
"A wolf?" Snow asked, concerned for Red herself then.
"No, definitely not after what Ruby told me. These victims are still alive. They're pale and tired, and with very distinctive marks at their necks, but alive."
"That sounds like a vampire," Henry spoke up, sounding as sure as ever as he flipped through a few more pages of the book.
"You're telling me Ruby could be right? Is Dracula is a character in your book too?" Emma asked him.
"Not exactly. He isn't even called Dracula in it more than once. Instead he's called Alexander for some reason. But Dracula is referred to as a fairy tale by a lot of people, which would make his book one of fairy tales too. Or maybe people calling him a fairy tale gave him enough power to exist in the world of fairy tales like everyone else here. I guess The Evil Queen was right. Storybrooke really might be bigger and full of more characters than we thought."
"Assuming this is true then, how do we stop him? Holy water? Garlic?"
"That will only ward him off and not for very long. Driving a stake through his heart would. But because this is Storybrooke, and the power of true love has more power than anything, there might be another way."
"Lay it on me, kid." If there was any other way where she wouldn't have to play Van Helsing and face Dracula, she would be happy. She was still having issues with her all too recent dragon encounter.
Henry looked up at Emma and told her, "We'd have to find his true love. If we can, and can reunite them, then any curse he's put on his victims would be broken, since he wouldn't really need them anymore. They wouldn't even remember being attacked or anything else about it."
"So, about this whole true love thing and how it's the key to everything here... Wouldn't finding Dracula's true love also break his vampire curse?" Emma asked him.
"If he wanted it to, maybe. But I don't really think he'd want to lose that. I mean, what's Dracula without being a vampire? It'd be like the Mad Hatter without his hats."
Emma sighed. While she hated the idea of putting two vampires together, the idea of breaking at least one of Dracula's curses seemed a better alternative to trying to stake him. Blonde and fairly righteous she may be, but that hardly made her Buffy. "Okay then. Who does your book say his true love is? Mina? Lucy? Or is this where your book branches off from its more traditional route again?"
"The last one," Henry told her as he turned the page to reveal a petite, long dark haired, and seemingly young woman standing beside the tall, blonde vampire. "Her name's Sophie. She was a ward of Van Helsing's great-grandson when they met. She was staying with him while she went to school. But once she found out vampires were real and that it really was Dracula living in the castle near their home, she teamed up with that Helsing to help put a stop to Dracula. Only one night another vampire found her and turned her. The book says that she went to Dracula later that night and wanted him to teach her all he knew. Since he'd already tried to get her a few times himself, that was basically all the convincing he needed."
Emma took a deep breath and then looked back to Henry. "Any idea how we figure out who or where this Sophie is?" She supposed, again, that Henry was her best bet. He had figured out who almost everyone else was in Storybrooke. Maybe he had seen Sophie at some point too.
"If Storybrooke had an opera house, it'd be easy. But we don't, so I guess that leaves theaters or restaurants with people who play the violin." It was the best he could come up with. Where else would a former vampire go but back to her human roots once returned to her human state and without any memory of her past?
With that Emma finally let herself take a seat at the table. She had hoped to put a stop to this before sunset, she had been desperate to even. But it seemed there wouldn't be a chance of that now. Not if Dracula's true love was a vampire herself. She doubted finding either of them right then would be possible.
"Henry, did you say a violin?" Snow asked him.
"Well, in the story she plays the viola, but..."
"I think I know her. Sonya Pease. She was one of the few who was nice to me while the rest of the town hated me over the whole David and Kathryn thing. I remember her having a violin case with her when she sat down. She never had it out of her sight."
"Wait. What?" Emma asked her. She couldn't believe she was only just now hearing about this. Hearing that even one other person hadn't blamed Mary Margaret for how things had gone with David was a relief.
"She was at Granny's one night while I was getting used to being ignored or called names, and yes, she was working as a violin teacher. Anyway, she sat with me for a while and explained that she could understand some of what I was going through. She told me that I couldn't let the town see they were getting to me; though this was before I was being accused of murder. She went on to tell me she had been involved with an older man, at least twice her age I would guess, and that he had died under mysterious circumstances. Of course the town hadn't blamed her for the man's death, but it seemed she had become used to being gossiped about herself. We didn't talk for very long, but something about it just felt familiar. And now I remember."
"What?" Henry asked.
"Sophie. I happened by her castle, well I guess it was Dracula's castle, one night. Of course I had no idea because I never saw him, but when she recognized me from the posters she seemed happy to help lead me to an almost hidden path to escape Regina's guards."
"Happy to find a meal, you mean?" Emma asked.
"No. It seemed she was genuinely happy to find someone the queen hated so much and wished to help me if only to further anger Regina. I guess now she has a new reason to hate Regina as well. I can't begin to imagine if I'd thought James was dead for longer than I did. Sophie had to live with that for the whole time we were here."
"But Dracula's alive. Or as alive as he can be," Henry replied.
"True, obviously. But even if she had seen him in town she wouldn't have recognized him. I saw James every day when I was volunteering at the hospital, but until I began reading to him I didn't know him from any of the other patients. If I felt anything at all before then, it was mild curiosity."
"So what do I do now?" Emma asked. "Go around knocking on doors of violin players? Call every restaurant to see who hired this violin player who supposedly had an affair with a man twice her age?"
"Sophie would be back to her old self now," Henry explained, "you should wait until it gets dark and then drive around. She always answers the call of the night, she has ever since she became a vampire."
"The call of the night?" Emma still couldn't believe this had somehow become her day, her life.
"She can't resist it, neither can Dracula. You'll definitely find her walking around somewhere. Maybe hunting, maybe just trying to clear her head, or searching for Dracula. Either way, you will find her. You've just gotta look."
Taking Henry's advice, Emma waited until it was dark before climbing back into the cruiser to drive around Storybrooke. She tried outside of the hospital first, then the square. No luck. The streets seemed completely deserted.
Until she came upon Storybrooke's closed theater, that was. No one had seemed to know why, like the library, it was closed but it was clear it still seemed to serve some purpose to some. At least to the seemingly young woman sitting on a concrete bench just outside of it.
The first thing Emma noticed was how normal she appeared. She was pale and petite, with long, wavy dark brown hair, a round face and cleft chin, dressed in black and green and staring up at the stars as if they held an answer for some sort of a silent question.
Emma really wasn't sure how to go about approaching her. Particularly as she was a little afraid. What if Sophie hadn't eaten today? What if she was in a bad mood and didn't care who she took it out on? But she managed to convince herself to park and climb out of the cruiser all the same. Then, she called to her.
Shaken suddenly from her reverie of what all had happened in the past day and how, Sophie turned at the sound of her name, her real name, and found herself struggling to place the blonde sheriff. Had she been someone from the past lands herself? Or had Alexander sent her? Would Alexander have even known to send someone? "Do I know you?" she asked finally.
"No, you don't. I'm Emma, uh, Sheriff Swan, and I'm here to help you. In a way, I guess I'm trying to help all of us."
"I don't understand." Really Sophie was unsure what, if anything, she did understand right then. It was clear it had been some kind of curse but she hadn't thought that a curse, well save for the vampire curses, could affect her.
"Dracula," was all Emma could say. This still seemed so unbelievable, yet here she was.
Immediately fresh tears stung Sophie's blue eyes, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry. Vampires didn't cry. Or if they did they certainly didn't do so in front of mortals and not over a curse. She knew she had been made to believe a lie about her love being dead. She was certain now he was in Storybrooke somewhere, she could feel him. She just couldn't figure out where exactly he could be. Clearly not everything had entirely come back with the breaking of the curse and it made her wonder if that was the same reason his powers hadn't brought him to her yet as well. Looking back to Emma, she asked, "Will you help me find him?"
In that moment Emma couldn't find the fierce predator she had feared being faced with. Rather she saw the appearance of a young woman, one who appeared to not be much younger than herself, and seeming so lost and lonely. Dare she even say heartbroken? That wasn't something she had ever expected to find in the face of a vampire; if she had ever expected to be faced with a vampire at all. With that Emma nodded. "I'll try. You'll have to tell me more about what I'm looking for though. A black cape and fangs will only get me so far."
"And tall, blonde, and almost unnaturally handsome still isn't enough to go on?" Sophie asked, almost wanting to laugh. It just seemed so foreign to her that someone couldn't know what Alexander looked like. True most would run from him once they saw his true face, but they would still know him when they saw him.
"Some would say that's Prince Charming's description too," Emma answered.
"Point taken," Sophie nodded before taking a moment to think of where she should begin. "Well, he is tall. Six feet or so, nearly a foot taller than I am. He's slim, or was when I last saw him, broad-shouldered and imposing with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Or, that's his usual human appearance at least. Otherwise you would know him by his yellow eyes and long fangs."
"And I'm guessing no mustache or any immediately identifying marks?" When Sophie shook her head, likely still going on her memories of the man, she added, "So nothing like the other Dracula?"
"No. I think that's part of the reason he didn't mind the book getting out. No one would look at him and immediately think of Dracula, aside from perhaps the cape he often wore when he went out. He hadn't even really used the name in ages. When I met him he was calling himself Alexander and it just stuck. Even I've only called him Dracula once or twice. But if you do find him, you might also notice him by him being very well dressed. I'm not sure what this new land may have done to him or his mind, but before the curse, Alexander was the kind of man to even spend his leisure in the castle in a tuxedo and to wear a suit while exercising, only ever removing his jacket while doing so."
"Any idea where I might start looking for him? Anywhere you can think of that he'd be sure to go now that he'd have his memories back?" Of course a blood bank came to mind but Storybrooke only had the hospital and she was sure someone would notice something like that.
"I would say a castle, but I haven't been able to find any tonight and I can't say I've managed to get a bat's eye view of the town yet." Her powers still not having fully returned made her nervous. She hoped it was just residual from the curse, or would at least be fixed after she had a proper meal.
So these vampires could turn into bats, Emma thought. Somehow she wasn't gaining any comfort in this. Still, she told Sophie, "I don't think there are any castles here. If there were, I'm sure Regina would be in one now."
"Then I guess you really are Storybrooke's only hope. Though, there is one place I can think of now that you mention Regina."
"Where?"
Sophie's blues once again met Emma's. "Regina made him forget centuries of his life, and me, and she also rendered him mortal for these 28 years. If there was anyone he would kill, it would be her and I don't think he would take his time as he usually prefers to."
Great, Emma decided. Now she had to go protect her mother's, and possibly her own, mortal enemy from Dracula. Would this nightmare never end? "Do me a favor, and take this," Emma told her as she handed her a card. "If he finds you before I find him, call me. I'm sure our former mayor would appreciate the reprieve."
Sophie took the card from Emma's outstretched hand and agreed. She just hoped she would be able to make that call. She couldn't help but worry something had happened to him in these past 28 years to keep him from her even now that the curse had been broken.
When she was alone again another moment later, Emma likely heading to Regina's home to make sure the witch was still alive, Sophie stood from her seat and decided to head into the theater. It was closed, but that didn't mean there weren't even simple ways in. Most didn't bother, but there was a harpsichord inside that she found quite relaxing to play. She knew she could use that then. She wasn't hungry or tired and she knew she couldn't keep walking the Storybrooke streets chasing phantom castles. She just hoped this would do the trick to calm her as it used to.
What she hadn't expected however was that the music she was playing, a rather familiar tune at that, could be heard from just outside the theater as well by anyone who was happening by. She also would have doubted that most would recognize if off the top of their heads, but this man did. Perhaps it wasn't the call of the night he was used to, but as it was a song for the dead it seemed fitting and he wouldn't let himself ignore it.
So engrossed in the familiar piece she was playing, remembering the night Alexander had first played for her as if it had been the night before, Sophie hadn't heard anyone come into the theater. Not until she heard the man speak.
"Mozart's Mass for the Dead. Slightly out of tune, but I doubt that is any fault of yours," he stated from behind her, the hint of a Romanian accent still present in his voice. "I would know that piece anywhere; particularly with as beautifully as you play it, my dear."
Immediately Sophie froze, her fingers stilling above the keys. She couldn't even bring herself to turn to face the man that familiar, deep accented voice belonged to in that moment. It was only when she heard the slow footsteps of his patent leather shoes against the floor towards her that she did finally look back to find the very man she had feared she wouldn't see standing there.
When her blue eyes met his own, he added, "I'm pleased to see you reuniting with your first love."
"Alexander," she stated barely above a whisper. Since the night before she had thought about this very moment, expecting she would rush into his arms when she saw him. Instead she found herself still seemingly frozen in her disbelief. She was nervous, even terrified, that if she moved this image would shatter.
"Oh, my darling Sophie, how did your harpsichord ever wind up here?" He couldn't help the momentary distraction, it had only just then dawned on him that she was in fact seated at the very harpsichord he had gifted her with so very long ago. In truth he was glad to see her back with it as he was sure it wouldn't have gotten much if any use had it remained in his home without her. But how so many of the things belonging to the various residents of Storybrooke had become scattered still managed to surprise him.
"I would guess Rumpelstiltskin," she told him, thinking of the former Imp's store. "Or perhaps the Queen's curse meant to part us all from every form of the things which we loved, not just the people in our old lives."
"And now the curse is broken," he replied quietly as he moved close and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his lean fingers.
Sophie's eyes slowly closed at the tender action. Though she hadn't felt his touch in years, it already felt like home. Finally a bit of her nervousness was beginning to ever so slightly subside.
"Is there anything else you wish to play tonight? Or would you rather go to the place you should have been all along?" he asked, still keeping his voice low.
Sophie smiled as she opened her eyes again to look back up at him. "Is it a castle? With a fireplace we can curl up in front of while we sip wine and you choose to ignore that nagging voice of our friendly vampire doctor telling you how you shouldn't consume such normal foods or beverages for mortals?"
Alexander smiled in reply, almost chuckling at her questions. His queen of the night was certainly back, just as it seemed her memories of their previous time together were. "It may seem a castle," he answered. It surely was large enough. Far too large for just one man, much like some would claim his castle had been. Though just as he always had in the past, he preferred excess. Having such a large home had allowed him wallow even further in his grief and loneliness, neither of which he found he wished to dwell on any longer "And yes, there is a rather large fireplace in the front room."
"Like the one back at the old castle?" she grinned as she finally rose from the piano bench. She couldn't help but feel nostalgic now. That castle had held so many memories for her, both good and bad. Mostly she remembered it as the place she had gone when she had first wished to learn all she could from him, where she had first revealed herself as a vampire to him, and where he had made her his queen; his bride.
"Almost identical. And it seems the very chairs that sat in front of the former fireplace survived the trip to this new land as well," he smirked.
"It's nice to know some things stayed where they belong," Sophie told him.
"It's nicer to know some things may soon be on their way to returning to their rightful places."
Sophie gave a soft, slow smile. "I can agree with that."
Alexander returned the smile as he asked, "Shall we go home then?"
Relieved this was even possible, that the man she still loved and had been unknowingly longing for even when she had no memory of him was asking her to return home with him, she continued to stare up at him as she said, "Yes."
In a moment Alexander proved his powers had returned, with a quick turn and swirl of his cape his solid form changed to that of a swarm of bats. Smiling, reveling in the familiarity of this, Sophie followed his lead and found her own powers seemed to have finally returned themselves and allowing her own form to change as well and soon they were flying home side by side.
A bit of the sight catching Emma's eye from inside the parked cruiser moments later, she could only think that this meant it was over, at least for the night. Maybe vampires really were in Storybrooke, but now she was convinced, though she couldn't be sure how or why, that not only had they found one another but that this meant Regina would live to face her foes another day. Now she could only hope she could get back to the apartment before Regina ever found out she had been there, even if she had been there with the intention of protecting her from Dracula's wrath.
"That was amazing!" Sophie cried out when she and Alexander materialized in the main room of his home. All of the worry and wonder and even fear she had felt earlier was gone. She felt exhilarated and finally like herself for the first time in ages. For a moment it was as though nothing had changed.
"I'm pleased to see you embracing this life once again," he replied with another soft smile. He had worried slightly she may have come to miss her years as a human from either time, wondering if that hadn't been the reason she had chosen to go to the theater rather than trying to find him or perhaps finding a meal of her own for the night.
"Speaking of embracing this life, why aren't you with Regina? I would have thought you would be holding her throat in your hand by now."
Alexander's smile changed from relief to amusement. Any other night he likely would have been. But he had hardly gone soft during his more recent years as a mortal. Grief-stricken and so introverted that not even the Imp-turned-pawnbroker had bothered him, perhaps, but that had still left him with years of his anger, bitterness, and resentment towards whomever responsible mounting. Finally he replied, "I couldn't see a reason to wait any longer to reclaim what I have missed most." Nearly completely closing the gap between them, he added, "Last night I chose to rebuild my strength. Tonight I chose to reunite with my beautiful bride. Regina shall be allowed to rest well tonight, for I'm sure the rest of the town will grant her a visit come sunrise. Tonight shall belong to us. Tomorrow, however, shall be our turn to seek our own revenge against the witch."
Sophie grinned. "Any plan in particular you care to share?"
"I think it's time the queen did a bit of our bidding for a change, don't you?" he asked her.
Sophie was happy to agree, knowing she would never forget the false memories she had been forced to suffer under Regina's spell. Excited, she rose up and kissed Alexander with as much vigor as she could muster, enjoying his instant response to her. Maybe they wouldn't be spilling her blood, nor drinking it, but she knew Alexander would find an even more fitting punishment for Regina's crimes. She also doubted the rest of the town would come after them for exacting it.
Breaking their kiss after a moment to pepper kisses along her cheek, chin, and neck, Alexander told her, "I have missed you, Sophie."
"You couldn't have. You couldn't have known it was me," Sophie replied through her soft moans as Alexander's hands moved to her waist.
"I knew I had a wife. And I knew I'd lost her. It was you; I know it was because there was never going to be anyone who could replace you."
Leaning back against the wall to look up at him, Sophie smirked as she asked, "Eileen?"
"She renounced me. You were there, you saw her do it."
"Margaux?" She knew there had been possibly hundreds of women he had been with, and possibly even loved, before her. She hadn't felt threatened by it, she just knew it was a fact. But that was just it. She couldn't believe there hadn't been anyone for him in Storybrooke. Even she had dated somewhat as Sonya, even if nothing had ever become of those few dates.
"She... had her chance." That had been years before the curse had hit and Alexander had done well to keep anyone from knowing what had become of the woman for choosing her mortal life and another man over him. He would be sure not to wreck that tonight. Though he decided Sophie hardly need fear as she had chosen him, and now for the second time.
"Those rumors about Alister were true, weren't they?" she asked him finally. She had heard he never left his home, that even Mr. Gold didn't bother him. As Sonya she had felt a little sorry for him, but decided Alister had his reasons. Now she was beginning to understand the truth behind it, and why Regina had chosen that fate for his cursed Storybrooke persona.
Alexander would have sighed if he still could have, but instead told her, "As Alister, I never did leave this home. I had no reason to. Instead I lost myself in wine and grief over memories I couldn't entirely remember. But I knew I had lost someone I considered more important than anyone else, even over myself, and I was made to feel responsible. Now here we are."
"Regina's curse did a bit of the same to me," Sophie admitted. "I believed I had had an affair, and was deeply in love with an older man who died unexpectedly. Only instead of wine or grief, I took to music. The violin instead of my old viola; and to the harpsichord. I never felt closer to you than when I was there, until now."
Alexander gave a small smile and moved close to her again. "The witch always did have a cruel sense of humor." Letting his lean fingers comb through her dark hair, he added, "Something I hope to show her we have in common as early as tomorrow's sun sets."
With that, Sophie slipped her arms around Alexander's waist and all but crushed her slender body to his own as she raised up to kiss him again. This time her mouth was relentless against his and he matched her with equal fervor. Until the next sunset, this would be all that mattered.
"Hey," Snow said a little cautiously when she saw Emma, clearly exhausted, come back into the apartment.
"Did you find her?" Henry asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
"I did," she answered as she all but collapsed into a chair. "She was outside of the old theater."
"Do you think Dracula found her too?" Snow asked.
"I would say I know he did, though I'm not sure how I know that," she answered.
"What do you mean?"
Emma shook her head. "It's weird. Not any weirder than the rest of this, I guess, but still weird. I told Sophie to call me if he found her before I found him when she told me she thought he might show up at Regina's to pay her back for the curse. She doubted he would be happy about having been rendered mortal again. Anyway, when I was outside of Regina's house, I saw this swarm of bats fly overhead and when they did I got this strong sense that one of them had definitely found the other. That's part of what got me to decide to call it a night on watching Regina's place and come back here."
Henry smiled. "They can do that."
"Find each other?" Emma asked him. He decided to tell her this now?
"Well duh, usually. But he wasn't the one who turned her into a vampire. If he had been, they wouldn't have needed you. I meant that they can send suggestions. Not quite mind control if they haven't bitten you, but they can definitely send some thoughts here and there; like letting you know an evil queen is safe for the night."
Emma smiled a little at that. She would have preferred a phone call, but at least this would save her another fight with Regina when she actually would have been trying to help her. And she was relieved too to know it really had been alright to leave Regina's. If Dracula and Sophie had found one another she doubted Dracula would choose that night to exact his revenge over making up for lost time with his apparent vampire bride.
"As much as I hate to bring this up since it seems you had a pretty busy day already... Are you sure they're the only vampires Storybrooke has to worry about?" Snow asked her.
Emma shrugged, and then looked to Henry.
"Hey, Dracula and Sophie were only mentioned in my book. All I can tell you is what I've being saying since I found you in Boston. Fairy tales are real, and if Dracula and Sophie are real, then others might be too. As for which ones and who we might have known them as, I don't know."
"But Regina's still okay? Or alive at least?" Snow asked. She wasn't sure why she cared, or why she hoped the answer was yes. She supposed it was because part of her feared who might rise up in her place if she were gone.
"Yeah," Emma told her with a nod. "I saw her when I pulled up, but I made sure to stay out of sight. I feel like I got lucky not getting attacked by Dracula. I didn't want to chance it with Regina."
Snow nodded. "Well then I guess we should all get some sleep. We should be ready for whatever might be coming tomorrow. Vampires, pirates, Regina... Who knows."
Those thoughts certainly weren't going to help Emma sleep better, but she knew Mary Margaret... Snow White... her mother... was right. They had no idea what was to come, but Emma knew it would likely be something big and they would all be better off if they were ready. Clearly Regina, Rumpelstiltskin, and Dracula were only the tip of this fairy tale iceberg.
The End
Summary: With the curse broken, Storybrooke is finding that one so-called fairy tale character they never expected is also back. Now it's up to Emma and Henry to find a way to break the curse Dracula has placed on his new victims before those in Storybrooke awake as vampires.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: S1
Pairing/Characters: Dracula/Sophie, Emma, Henry, Ruby/Red Riding Hood, Dr. Whale, Mary Margaret/Snow White, mentions others
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not owned by me, but by ABC. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.
A/N: The idea of this Dracula comes from a 90s show called "Dracula: the Series." Never watched? No worries. You don't need to know more than the Dracula basics and that this Dracula and Sophie aren't entirely OCs, though it's not a full on crossover either. Enjoy. And Happy Halloween. ;)
~~
It had taken only a moment for those in Storybrooke to feel the wave of magic as it broke over the town. It left most of them momentarily stilled as they were suddenly able to recall who they were. For some, the memories that were returning had been merely difficult to understand. Particularly since the returning memories hadn't erased the memories of who they had believed they were for the past 28 years.
For others the returning memories, coupled with those of their more recent time in Storybrooke, were a bit of a shock to take in. Even if a number of things suddenly made sense because of them. For 28 years stories had seemed no more than that. And for those years they had mostly had to rely only on what they could recall themselves from the books they already owned as the library had been boarded up for as long as anyone could remember.
Sitting alone in his purposely dim home as he had daily for these years, even since time had begun moving again, the wealthy though reclusive man who in Storybrooke had been known as Alister Verrity, had a bit more to readjust to than simply his centuries worth of memories returning.
Straightening up in the high back leather chair facing his vast fireplace, it was becoming clear to him that even he had underestimated the Evil Queen's powers. For she had somehow managed to render even him mortal in this land until the moment her curse had been broken.
He also began to realize that the existence he had been forced to suffer in for these past 28 years had to have been a lie, and therefore the reason for his reclusive nature was a lie as well. If there was any comfort to be found in any of this for him, it seemed to be that.
Focusing elsewhere, he now no longer felt the need to remain as Alister had been. No longer wishing to remain isolated neither in his vast home, nor as mild mannered as Alister had been. No. Now he was returning to his true nature, embracing that he was once again a character feared by anyone with enough sense. Once again he was Dracula... or rather Alexander as he had preferred in the more recent years leading up to the curse. And he had awoken with a thirst only one thing could satiate.
Come morning in Storybrooke things were hardly any closer to normal for most of the town; particularly since few could decide what they considered normal given everything that had recently happened.
Some had preferred who they had become since the curse had taken effect. Red Riding Hood was one. As Ruby she had never had to fear a full moon or hunters. Jiminy Cricket was another. As Dr. Archie Hopper he had never thought of his human form as its own curse, however now he certainly did.
Then there were others who wished only to fully return to who they now recalled being. Ella for one, Snow White and Prince James for others. But most were also hoping to find their friends or family the curse had parted them from. Even with some magic beginning to return, that was proving to be difficult still.
Even Dracula had been no different in that sense. The curse had forced him to believe his beloved had been killed, though the exact cause had remained a haze. It seemed the more details he tried to remember, the more elusive the false memories became. He had supposed he may have drunk the memory away with enough wine. As Alister he had believed he was somehow responsible; whether directly or simply because he hadn't been able to protect her from whatever had caused her harm. Now he was certain it had been a cruel gift from Regina, a play on his and his Sophie's being of the undead previous to the curse.
Had it not already been daylight once again, he would have been happy to pay Regina a visit for those years of being left completely alone with his guilt and inner torment. As it was he felt it was better to take the day to rest and regain what strength he could before either declaring his own war on the Queen or going into the night to attempt to reunite with his bride. If nothing else, he decided, this would give him ample time to fantasize just how he would go about ripping Regina's throat out when the time finally came.
Meanwhile there was no rest to be had for Emma either as she had chosen the sheriff's station to go to attempt to piece together her past 36 hours. Everything from having been so close to returning to Boston, to Henry dying, to having brought him back, to realizing he had been right all along about the curse and characters, to doing battle with a freaking dragon... She decided it was no wonder she was likely in shock. Could anyone have blamed her?
It was only the sharp ringing of the phone at her desk that managed to finally distract her from her thoughts. "Yeah?" she answered, forgetting for a moment how she should have answered.
"Sheriff Swan?" a familiar male voice asked.
"Yes," she replied, wondering who would be calling the sheriff's station that early. Or why Storybrooke might even still need a sheriff.
"Sheriff, it's Dr. Whale." He wasn't sure he should tell her his real name, or if he should go with how she had known him best. Just before dialing he had decided the latter might be best. It had hardly been a day since they had all regained their memories, after all. "I'm afraid I may need you to come down to the hospital as soon as you can."
"Why?" Were some fairy tale characters turning back into creatures? She really hoped not. She was better with things she could actually fix.
"It seems a number of patients have been admitted since this morning, all appearing to have been attacked by the same person or wild animal."
"I'm on my way," was all she could tell him. Of course she was still in shock that all of this was real, but that didn't mean she wasn't still the sheriff. And really she decided she could use the distraction, as long as the culprit was indeed human.
Still unsure what was awaiting her inside the hospital, it put Emma even more on edge to see Dr. Whale meeting her not far from the doors and wasting no time in showing her to the patients. There was a total of four of them. At least so far. They were all adults, three men and one woman; none of whom Emma could remember having seen before. And they all appeared to have the same paleness, exhaustion, and marks in common: two deep punctures at the side of their necks.
Emma listened as each of their stories matched the others' to the letter. They had all been out walking the night before, none of them had any memory of what had happened once they had been taken hold of by the man or beast which had found them, and they had all awoken in their beds that morning to find the wounds at their necks.
"In your medical opinion, what do you think could've caused all of that with so many victims in one night?" Emma asked when they were alone in the hallway once again. She wished to hear Whale say something along the lines of mosquitoes, but she knew she wasn't that lucky.
"My opinion? A dog, maybe. Or a wolf. It would've been something or someone they wouldn't have seen until it was too late but large enough to inflict those wounds yet leave them alive. That's why I'm at a loss and called you. Plus, the trauma of it all could explain why they don't even remember getting home or into bed."
"A dog or a wolf?" Emma asked, hating her mind for immediately thinking of Ruby. She was the only wolf they knew of. Henry had certainly never mentioned any other but Graham's wolf companion and no one had seen that wolf since Graham had died.
"I've never known anything else to cause something like this. I can only think it was some kind of animal or someone who thinks they're an animal."
Emma sighed. "Well, thanks. I'll be in touch," she told him before deciding she needed air. And perhaps a trip to the bed and breakfast to see what Ruby may have remembered about the night before. She really couldn't think of any other explanation. If the curse had been broken then it was likely some of those in Storybrooke would be reverting to their past selves in more ways than one. At least for those like Ruby who had more than one type of past self to revert back to.
She thought about Whale first, of course. But then if he had been an actual whale he wouldn't have been able to inflict such minor damage on those people as just those mere punctures. Then there was Archie, who as a cricket wouldn't have been able to truly attack anyone like that either. Well, maybe if he used his tiny umbrella, she decided. Shaking her head, Emma knew better. Archie, or Jiminy, wouldn't have that in him. Back to square one in her mind, she parked the cruiser and headed up to the door of the bed and breakfast.
Red had been sitting at the dining room table of the inn when she heard the knock at the door. Granny was upstairs digging through the closets for her cloak, insisting Red had to be ready for wolfs' time, and she had found she simply couldn't take it. These past 28 years, while confusing now and even a little upsetting in retrospect, she still wasn't quite ready to return to her life as Red Riding Hood... or as one of the Big Bad Wolves.
Opening the door, she was surprised to find Emma. "Emma? Do you need a room?" was all she could think to ask. But why would she need one? she wondered. Surely Snow White wouldn't kick her own daughter out of her apartment... Well unless perhaps she wished to have a night, or day, reuniting with her prince. That much she could certainly understand.
"No. I'm here because I need to ask you a few questions," Emma told her. She really hadn't wanted to do this, but it seemed the closest thing she had to a rational explanation.
"Okay, uh, come on in," she told her as she stepped aside for Emma. "What's up?"
"Did you happen to see anything out of the ordinary last night? Say, any animals you maybe hadn't seen until last night?"
"No," she told her with a shake of her head. She had been at the inn all night, desperate to piece together exactly how much of Ruby's personality had been her own. The answer had proven to be more than a little surprising.
"So if I told you that four people woke up this morning with punctures in their necks, you wouldn't know anything about it?"
"Wait, four people what?" Red didn't want to think she had heard right. Punctures were hardly her forte, but it did make her heart beat a bit faster to know whose they sounded like.
"Dr. Whale called it in. I'm not sure if it was because I'm still technically the sheriff or because I seem to be the resident curse breaker, but there are four people at the hospital right now who seem to be recovering from an animal attack. What I need to know now is what you remember about last night."
With that Red began to understand this line of questioning then. She couldn't claim she was surprised, but it did sting a little. "Me? Where I was? You're suspecting me?"
Emma sighed. "It seems there was a dog or wolf attack last night, and since you are who and what you are, I -"
"Wow, so you hear about a dog or wolf attack and immediately come to me? I'm flattered, really."
"Ruby, please. There are four people in the hospital right now, all of whom were attacked last night. I'm just trying to figure this out, and with what Whale said..."
"Yeah, Whale, real genius there," Ruby replied with a roll of her eyes.
"I don't like him either, but -"
"Last night, you said?" Ruby interrupted.
"Yes. Anything you can remember would help."
"I can do you one better than that. If it was last night then it definitely couldn't have been me," Ruby told her, smiling in her relief at that fact.
"How can you be so sure. I mean, with your story being what it is?" Emma asked. She didn't want to believe her friend could have been responsible but there were few other suspects she could think of.
"I'm sure because of my story. No full moon equals no wolf, plus I was here all night. You can ask Granny if you don't believe me, she's pretty happy about it. Also, when a wolf does attack, it doesn't just leave punctures at a victim's neck. Most likely in the case of a wolf there wouldn't even be a throat left for you to notice punctures."
Emma had to swallow at that somewhat graphic description, but she had to admit the girl had a point. Even in Henry's story book Red's victims had been shown with scratches and most were barely recognizable beneath all the blood. They had also, for the most part, been dead. None of that could be said about the people she had just seen.
Red decided then to ask, "So, about these victims, you said they're still alive?"
"Yes. Does that help you think of someone?"
"Maybe. If it's possible. I mean, there were rumors, but..."
"After yesterday, I might believe anything at this point. Tell me, please." Emma insisted.
"Would you say their punctures were in pairs, small, and fairly perfectly spaced? Say, about two inches apart?"
"Yes," Emma answered, hoping Red was onto something.
Sighing herself that time, Red then told her, "In that case, I can only think of one type of person that would leave that kind of, I guess, evidence behind. Especially since you said these victims are turning up alive."
"Who?" Emma asked, her blue eyes wide.
Red glanced away for a moment. She couldn't believe she was about to say it. She had never seen any of them back in their past lands. Alright, maybe the wolf had, but she sure hadn't as her human herself. But right then it seemed to be the only thing that made sense. "A vampire."
"You mean like Dracula?" Just like that Emma was questioning her stance on if she would in fact believe anything at that point. Fairy tales were one thing now, but vampires? Really?
Red thought about it. He was the most famous vampire of them all and his tale, the vampire's tale rather than that of the Romanian prince, had originated in a book... "Probably Dracula himself. If any vampire were to leave his victims alive, it would be him. The Count needs a staff, right? What better way to get one than to turn some people into mindless drones? And then there's also that part about how he likes to leave others under his control for a while before killing them. Plus he wouldn't want angry villagers showing up with torches and pitchforks. He'd take what he needs from a few people and move on. At least if the rumors are true."
"So you're saying it's possible he may not actually kill anyone?"
"That depends mostly on the victims. If they anger him? If they try to kill him? Those would be the ones he'd kill. And even then kill seems to be relative with Dracula. He doesn't seem to think being undead equals dead. Other than that, I'd ask Henry. If anyone's the expert these days it'd be him. Or you could try Rumpelstiltskin if you can find him, but I'm not sure how much he'd tell you about Dracula. Even he wouldn't want him as an enemy."
Henry it was then, Emma decided. "Thanks, Ruby."
"Good luck," she told her as she watched the princess head out of the inn, not even minding she was still calling her by her Storybrooke name.
"Henry!" Emma called when she reached the apartment. She couldn't help the rush she was in. She could only think she had until sunset before the victims may begin piling up. With the possibility of Dracula being on the loose time was most definitely of the essence.
"Emma!" Snow called back, surprised to see her looking so panicked. Had she had another run-in with Regina?
"Is Henry here?"
"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?" he asked as he came into the main room.
"I need to see your book," she told him.
Henry smiled as he moved to the kitchen table where his backpack was resting. He had a feeling she'd come looking for it sooner rather than later. Now that she believed anyway.
"Is everything alright?" Snow asked her.
"I don't know yet. Henry, what character from your book could attack someone and have it seem like an animal did it, but not completely be considered an animal?"
"Is this a trick question?" he asked her.
"No, Henry. Something isn't right, and people are getting hurt. This time it doesn't seem to be Regina but I'm not sure I can believe who Ruby -"
"Red Riding Hood," he corrected.
"Who she thinks is behind it. So please, who or what comes to mind?"
"Well, what kind of attacks?"
"A wolf?" Snow asked, concerned for Red herself then.
"No, definitely not after what Ruby told me. These victims are still alive. They're pale and tired, and with very distinctive marks at their necks, but alive."
"That sounds like a vampire," Henry spoke up, sounding as sure as ever as he flipped through a few more pages of the book.
"You're telling me Ruby could be right? Is Dracula is a character in your book too?" Emma asked him.
"Not exactly. He isn't even called Dracula in it more than once. Instead he's called Alexander for some reason. But Dracula is referred to as a fairy tale by a lot of people, which would make his book one of fairy tales too. Or maybe people calling him a fairy tale gave him enough power to exist in the world of fairy tales like everyone else here. I guess The Evil Queen was right. Storybrooke really might be bigger and full of more characters than we thought."
"Assuming this is true then, how do we stop him? Holy water? Garlic?"
"That will only ward him off and not for very long. Driving a stake through his heart would. But because this is Storybrooke, and the power of true love has more power than anything, there might be another way."
"Lay it on me, kid." If there was any other way where she wouldn't have to play Van Helsing and face Dracula, she would be happy. She was still having issues with her all too recent dragon encounter.
Henry looked up at Emma and told her, "We'd have to find his true love. If we can, and can reunite them, then any curse he's put on his victims would be broken, since he wouldn't really need them anymore. They wouldn't even remember being attacked or anything else about it."
"So, about this whole true love thing and how it's the key to everything here... Wouldn't finding Dracula's true love also break his vampire curse?" Emma asked him.
"If he wanted it to, maybe. But I don't really think he'd want to lose that. I mean, what's Dracula without being a vampire? It'd be like the Mad Hatter without his hats."
Emma sighed. While she hated the idea of putting two vampires together, the idea of breaking at least one of Dracula's curses seemed a better alternative to trying to stake him. Blonde and fairly righteous she may be, but that hardly made her Buffy. "Okay then. Who does your book say his true love is? Mina? Lucy? Or is this where your book branches off from its more traditional route again?"
"The last one," Henry told her as he turned the page to reveal a petite, long dark haired, and seemingly young woman standing beside the tall, blonde vampire. "Her name's Sophie. She was a ward of Van Helsing's great-grandson when they met. She was staying with him while she went to school. But once she found out vampires were real and that it really was Dracula living in the castle near their home, she teamed up with that Helsing to help put a stop to Dracula. Only one night another vampire found her and turned her. The book says that she went to Dracula later that night and wanted him to teach her all he knew. Since he'd already tried to get her a few times himself, that was basically all the convincing he needed."
Emma took a deep breath and then looked back to Henry. "Any idea how we figure out who or where this Sophie is?" She supposed, again, that Henry was her best bet. He had figured out who almost everyone else was in Storybrooke. Maybe he had seen Sophie at some point too.
"If Storybrooke had an opera house, it'd be easy. But we don't, so I guess that leaves theaters or restaurants with people who play the violin." It was the best he could come up with. Where else would a former vampire go but back to her human roots once returned to her human state and without any memory of her past?
With that Emma finally let herself take a seat at the table. She had hoped to put a stop to this before sunset, she had been desperate to even. But it seemed there wouldn't be a chance of that now. Not if Dracula's true love was a vampire herself. She doubted finding either of them right then would be possible.
"Henry, did you say a violin?" Snow asked him.
"Well, in the story she plays the viola, but..."
"I think I know her. Sonya Pease. She was one of the few who was nice to me while the rest of the town hated me over the whole David and Kathryn thing. I remember her having a violin case with her when she sat down. She never had it out of her sight."
"Wait. What?" Emma asked her. She couldn't believe she was only just now hearing about this. Hearing that even one other person hadn't blamed Mary Margaret for how things had gone with David was a relief.
"She was at Granny's one night while I was getting used to being ignored or called names, and yes, she was working as a violin teacher. Anyway, she sat with me for a while and explained that she could understand some of what I was going through. She told me that I couldn't let the town see they were getting to me; though this was before I was being accused of murder. She went on to tell me she had been involved with an older man, at least twice her age I would guess, and that he had died under mysterious circumstances. Of course the town hadn't blamed her for the man's death, but it seemed she had become used to being gossiped about herself. We didn't talk for very long, but something about it just felt familiar. And now I remember."
"What?" Henry asked.
"Sophie. I happened by her castle, well I guess it was Dracula's castle, one night. Of course I had no idea because I never saw him, but when she recognized me from the posters she seemed happy to help lead me to an almost hidden path to escape Regina's guards."
"Happy to find a meal, you mean?" Emma asked.
"No. It seemed she was genuinely happy to find someone the queen hated so much and wished to help me if only to further anger Regina. I guess now she has a new reason to hate Regina as well. I can't begin to imagine if I'd thought James was dead for longer than I did. Sophie had to live with that for the whole time we were here."
"But Dracula's alive. Or as alive as he can be," Henry replied.
"True, obviously. But even if she had seen him in town she wouldn't have recognized him. I saw James every day when I was volunteering at the hospital, but until I began reading to him I didn't know him from any of the other patients. If I felt anything at all before then, it was mild curiosity."
"So what do I do now?" Emma asked. "Go around knocking on doors of violin players? Call every restaurant to see who hired this violin player who supposedly had an affair with a man twice her age?"
"Sophie would be back to her old self now," Henry explained, "you should wait until it gets dark and then drive around. She always answers the call of the night, she has ever since she became a vampire."
"The call of the night?" Emma still couldn't believe this had somehow become her day, her life.
"She can't resist it, neither can Dracula. You'll definitely find her walking around somewhere. Maybe hunting, maybe just trying to clear her head, or searching for Dracula. Either way, you will find her. You've just gotta look."
Taking Henry's advice, Emma waited until it was dark before climbing back into the cruiser to drive around Storybrooke. She tried outside of the hospital first, then the square. No luck. The streets seemed completely deserted.
Until she came upon Storybrooke's closed theater, that was. No one had seemed to know why, like the library, it was closed but it was clear it still seemed to serve some purpose to some. At least to the seemingly young woman sitting on a concrete bench just outside of it.
The first thing Emma noticed was how normal she appeared. She was pale and petite, with long, wavy dark brown hair, a round face and cleft chin, dressed in black and green and staring up at the stars as if they held an answer for some sort of a silent question.
Emma really wasn't sure how to go about approaching her. Particularly as she was a little afraid. What if Sophie hadn't eaten today? What if she was in a bad mood and didn't care who she took it out on? But she managed to convince herself to park and climb out of the cruiser all the same. Then, she called to her.
Shaken suddenly from her reverie of what all had happened in the past day and how, Sophie turned at the sound of her name, her real name, and found herself struggling to place the blonde sheriff. Had she been someone from the past lands herself? Or had Alexander sent her? Would Alexander have even known to send someone? "Do I know you?" she asked finally.
"No, you don't. I'm Emma, uh, Sheriff Swan, and I'm here to help you. In a way, I guess I'm trying to help all of us."
"I don't understand." Really Sophie was unsure what, if anything, she did understand right then. It was clear it had been some kind of curse but she hadn't thought that a curse, well save for the vampire curses, could affect her.
"Dracula," was all Emma could say. This still seemed so unbelievable, yet here she was.
Immediately fresh tears stung Sophie's blue eyes, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry. Vampires didn't cry. Or if they did they certainly didn't do so in front of mortals and not over a curse. She knew she had been made to believe a lie about her love being dead. She was certain now he was in Storybrooke somewhere, she could feel him. She just couldn't figure out where exactly he could be. Clearly not everything had entirely come back with the breaking of the curse and it made her wonder if that was the same reason his powers hadn't brought him to her yet as well. Looking back to Emma, she asked, "Will you help me find him?"
In that moment Emma couldn't find the fierce predator she had feared being faced with. Rather she saw the appearance of a young woman, one who appeared to not be much younger than herself, and seeming so lost and lonely. Dare she even say heartbroken? That wasn't something she had ever expected to find in the face of a vampire; if she had ever expected to be faced with a vampire at all. With that Emma nodded. "I'll try. You'll have to tell me more about what I'm looking for though. A black cape and fangs will only get me so far."
"And tall, blonde, and almost unnaturally handsome still isn't enough to go on?" Sophie asked, almost wanting to laugh. It just seemed so foreign to her that someone couldn't know what Alexander looked like. True most would run from him once they saw his true face, but they would still know him when they saw him.
"Some would say that's Prince Charming's description too," Emma answered.
"Point taken," Sophie nodded before taking a moment to think of where she should begin. "Well, he is tall. Six feet or so, nearly a foot taller than I am. He's slim, or was when I last saw him, broad-shouldered and imposing with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Or, that's his usual human appearance at least. Otherwise you would know him by his yellow eyes and long fangs."
"And I'm guessing no mustache or any immediately identifying marks?" When Sophie shook her head, likely still going on her memories of the man, she added, "So nothing like the other Dracula?"
"No. I think that's part of the reason he didn't mind the book getting out. No one would look at him and immediately think of Dracula, aside from perhaps the cape he often wore when he went out. He hadn't even really used the name in ages. When I met him he was calling himself Alexander and it just stuck. Even I've only called him Dracula once or twice. But if you do find him, you might also notice him by him being very well dressed. I'm not sure what this new land may have done to him or his mind, but before the curse, Alexander was the kind of man to even spend his leisure in the castle in a tuxedo and to wear a suit while exercising, only ever removing his jacket while doing so."
"Any idea where I might start looking for him? Anywhere you can think of that he'd be sure to go now that he'd have his memories back?" Of course a blood bank came to mind but Storybrooke only had the hospital and she was sure someone would notice something like that.
"I would say a castle, but I haven't been able to find any tonight and I can't say I've managed to get a bat's eye view of the town yet." Her powers still not having fully returned made her nervous. She hoped it was just residual from the curse, or would at least be fixed after she had a proper meal.
So these vampires could turn into bats, Emma thought. Somehow she wasn't gaining any comfort in this. Still, she told Sophie, "I don't think there are any castles here. If there were, I'm sure Regina would be in one now."
"Then I guess you really are Storybrooke's only hope. Though, there is one place I can think of now that you mention Regina."
"Where?"
Sophie's blues once again met Emma's. "Regina made him forget centuries of his life, and me, and she also rendered him mortal for these 28 years. If there was anyone he would kill, it would be her and I don't think he would take his time as he usually prefers to."
Great, Emma decided. Now she had to go protect her mother's, and possibly her own, mortal enemy from Dracula. Would this nightmare never end? "Do me a favor, and take this," Emma told her as she handed her a card. "If he finds you before I find him, call me. I'm sure our former mayor would appreciate the reprieve."
Sophie took the card from Emma's outstretched hand and agreed. She just hoped she would be able to make that call. She couldn't help but worry something had happened to him in these past 28 years to keep him from her even now that the curse had been broken.
When she was alone again another moment later, Emma likely heading to Regina's home to make sure the witch was still alive, Sophie stood from her seat and decided to head into the theater. It was closed, but that didn't mean there weren't even simple ways in. Most didn't bother, but there was a harpsichord inside that she found quite relaxing to play. She knew she could use that then. She wasn't hungry or tired and she knew she couldn't keep walking the Storybrooke streets chasing phantom castles. She just hoped this would do the trick to calm her as it used to.
What she hadn't expected however was that the music she was playing, a rather familiar tune at that, could be heard from just outside the theater as well by anyone who was happening by. She also would have doubted that most would recognize if off the top of their heads, but this man did. Perhaps it wasn't the call of the night he was used to, but as it was a song for the dead it seemed fitting and he wouldn't let himself ignore it.
So engrossed in the familiar piece she was playing, remembering the night Alexander had first played for her as if it had been the night before, Sophie hadn't heard anyone come into the theater. Not until she heard the man speak.
"Mozart's Mass for the Dead. Slightly out of tune, but I doubt that is any fault of yours," he stated from behind her, the hint of a Romanian accent still present in his voice. "I would know that piece anywhere; particularly with as beautifully as you play it, my dear."
Immediately Sophie froze, her fingers stilling above the keys. She couldn't even bring herself to turn to face the man that familiar, deep accented voice belonged to in that moment. It was only when she heard the slow footsteps of his patent leather shoes against the floor towards her that she did finally look back to find the very man she had feared she wouldn't see standing there.
When her blue eyes met his own, he added, "I'm pleased to see you reuniting with your first love."
"Alexander," she stated barely above a whisper. Since the night before she had thought about this very moment, expecting she would rush into his arms when she saw him. Instead she found herself still seemingly frozen in her disbelief. She was nervous, even terrified, that if she moved this image would shatter.
"Oh, my darling Sophie, how did your harpsichord ever wind up here?" He couldn't help the momentary distraction, it had only just then dawned on him that she was in fact seated at the very harpsichord he had gifted her with so very long ago. In truth he was glad to see her back with it as he was sure it wouldn't have gotten much if any use had it remained in his home without her. But how so many of the things belonging to the various residents of Storybrooke had become scattered still managed to surprise him.
"I would guess Rumpelstiltskin," she told him, thinking of the former Imp's store. "Or perhaps the Queen's curse meant to part us all from every form of the things which we loved, not just the people in our old lives."
"And now the curse is broken," he replied quietly as he moved close and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his lean fingers.
Sophie's eyes slowly closed at the tender action. Though she hadn't felt his touch in years, it already felt like home. Finally a bit of her nervousness was beginning to ever so slightly subside.
"Is there anything else you wish to play tonight? Or would you rather go to the place you should have been all along?" he asked, still keeping his voice low.
Sophie smiled as she opened her eyes again to look back up at him. "Is it a castle? With a fireplace we can curl up in front of while we sip wine and you choose to ignore that nagging voice of our friendly vampire doctor telling you how you shouldn't consume such normal foods or beverages for mortals?"
Alexander smiled in reply, almost chuckling at her questions. His queen of the night was certainly back, just as it seemed her memories of their previous time together were. "It may seem a castle," he answered. It surely was large enough. Far too large for just one man, much like some would claim his castle had been. Though just as he always had in the past, he preferred excess. Having such a large home had allowed him wallow even further in his grief and loneliness, neither of which he found he wished to dwell on any longer "And yes, there is a rather large fireplace in the front room."
"Like the one back at the old castle?" she grinned as she finally rose from the piano bench. She couldn't help but feel nostalgic now. That castle had held so many memories for her, both good and bad. Mostly she remembered it as the place she had gone when she had first wished to learn all she could from him, where she had first revealed herself as a vampire to him, and where he had made her his queen; his bride.
"Almost identical. And it seems the very chairs that sat in front of the former fireplace survived the trip to this new land as well," he smirked.
"It's nice to know some things stayed where they belong," Sophie told him.
"It's nicer to know some things may soon be on their way to returning to their rightful places."
Sophie gave a soft, slow smile. "I can agree with that."
Alexander returned the smile as he asked, "Shall we go home then?"
Relieved this was even possible, that the man she still loved and had been unknowingly longing for even when she had no memory of him was asking her to return home with him, she continued to stare up at him as she said, "Yes."
In a moment Alexander proved his powers had returned, with a quick turn and swirl of his cape his solid form changed to that of a swarm of bats. Smiling, reveling in the familiarity of this, Sophie followed his lead and found her own powers seemed to have finally returned themselves and allowing her own form to change as well and soon they were flying home side by side.
A bit of the sight catching Emma's eye from inside the parked cruiser moments later, she could only think that this meant it was over, at least for the night. Maybe vampires really were in Storybrooke, but now she was convinced, though she couldn't be sure how or why, that not only had they found one another but that this meant Regina would live to face her foes another day. Now she could only hope she could get back to the apartment before Regina ever found out she had been there, even if she had been there with the intention of protecting her from Dracula's wrath.
"That was amazing!" Sophie cried out when she and Alexander materialized in the main room of his home. All of the worry and wonder and even fear she had felt earlier was gone. She felt exhilarated and finally like herself for the first time in ages. For a moment it was as though nothing had changed.
"I'm pleased to see you embracing this life once again," he replied with another soft smile. He had worried slightly she may have come to miss her years as a human from either time, wondering if that hadn't been the reason she had chosen to go to the theater rather than trying to find him or perhaps finding a meal of her own for the night.
"Speaking of embracing this life, why aren't you with Regina? I would have thought you would be holding her throat in your hand by now."
Alexander's smile changed from relief to amusement. Any other night he likely would have been. But he had hardly gone soft during his more recent years as a mortal. Grief-stricken and so introverted that not even the Imp-turned-pawnbroker had bothered him, perhaps, but that had still left him with years of his anger, bitterness, and resentment towards whomever responsible mounting. Finally he replied, "I couldn't see a reason to wait any longer to reclaim what I have missed most." Nearly completely closing the gap between them, he added, "Last night I chose to rebuild my strength. Tonight I chose to reunite with my beautiful bride. Regina shall be allowed to rest well tonight, for I'm sure the rest of the town will grant her a visit come sunrise. Tonight shall belong to us. Tomorrow, however, shall be our turn to seek our own revenge against the witch."
Sophie grinned. "Any plan in particular you care to share?"
"I think it's time the queen did a bit of our bidding for a change, don't you?" he asked her.
Sophie was happy to agree, knowing she would never forget the false memories she had been forced to suffer under Regina's spell. Excited, she rose up and kissed Alexander with as much vigor as she could muster, enjoying his instant response to her. Maybe they wouldn't be spilling her blood, nor drinking it, but she knew Alexander would find an even more fitting punishment for Regina's crimes. She also doubted the rest of the town would come after them for exacting it.
Breaking their kiss after a moment to pepper kisses along her cheek, chin, and neck, Alexander told her, "I have missed you, Sophie."
"You couldn't have. You couldn't have known it was me," Sophie replied through her soft moans as Alexander's hands moved to her waist.
"I knew I had a wife. And I knew I'd lost her. It was you; I know it was because there was never going to be anyone who could replace you."
Leaning back against the wall to look up at him, Sophie smirked as she asked, "Eileen?"
"She renounced me. You were there, you saw her do it."
"Margaux?" She knew there had been possibly hundreds of women he had been with, and possibly even loved, before her. She hadn't felt threatened by it, she just knew it was a fact. But that was just it. She couldn't believe there hadn't been anyone for him in Storybrooke. Even she had dated somewhat as Sonya, even if nothing had ever become of those few dates.
"She... had her chance." That had been years before the curse had hit and Alexander had done well to keep anyone from knowing what had become of the woman for choosing her mortal life and another man over him. He would be sure not to wreck that tonight. Though he decided Sophie hardly need fear as she had chosen him, and now for the second time.
"Those rumors about Alister were true, weren't they?" she asked him finally. She had heard he never left his home, that even Mr. Gold didn't bother him. As Sonya she had felt a little sorry for him, but decided Alister had his reasons. Now she was beginning to understand the truth behind it, and why Regina had chosen that fate for his cursed Storybrooke persona.
Alexander would have sighed if he still could have, but instead told her, "As Alister, I never did leave this home. I had no reason to. Instead I lost myself in wine and grief over memories I couldn't entirely remember. But I knew I had lost someone I considered more important than anyone else, even over myself, and I was made to feel responsible. Now here we are."
"Regina's curse did a bit of the same to me," Sophie admitted. "I believed I had had an affair, and was deeply in love with an older man who died unexpectedly. Only instead of wine or grief, I took to music. The violin instead of my old viola; and to the harpsichord. I never felt closer to you than when I was there, until now."
Alexander gave a small smile and moved close to her again. "The witch always did have a cruel sense of humor." Letting his lean fingers comb through her dark hair, he added, "Something I hope to show her we have in common as early as tomorrow's sun sets."
With that, Sophie slipped her arms around Alexander's waist and all but crushed her slender body to his own as she raised up to kiss him again. This time her mouth was relentless against his and he matched her with equal fervor. Until the next sunset, this would be all that mattered.
"Hey," Snow said a little cautiously when she saw Emma, clearly exhausted, come back into the apartment.
"Did you find her?" Henry asked, his eyes wide with excitement.
"I did," she answered as she all but collapsed into a chair. "She was outside of the old theater."
"Do you think Dracula found her too?" Snow asked.
"I would say I know he did, though I'm not sure how I know that," she answered.
"What do you mean?"
Emma shook her head. "It's weird. Not any weirder than the rest of this, I guess, but still weird. I told Sophie to call me if he found her before I found him when she told me she thought he might show up at Regina's to pay her back for the curse. She doubted he would be happy about having been rendered mortal again. Anyway, when I was outside of Regina's house, I saw this swarm of bats fly overhead and when they did I got this strong sense that one of them had definitely found the other. That's part of what got me to decide to call it a night on watching Regina's place and come back here."
Henry smiled. "They can do that."
"Find each other?" Emma asked him. He decided to tell her this now?
"Well duh, usually. But he wasn't the one who turned her into a vampire. If he had been, they wouldn't have needed you. I meant that they can send suggestions. Not quite mind control if they haven't bitten you, but they can definitely send some thoughts here and there; like letting you know an evil queen is safe for the night."
Emma smiled a little at that. She would have preferred a phone call, but at least this would save her another fight with Regina when she actually would have been trying to help her. And she was relieved too to know it really had been alright to leave Regina's. If Dracula and Sophie had found one another she doubted Dracula would choose that night to exact his revenge over making up for lost time with his apparent vampire bride.
"As much as I hate to bring this up since it seems you had a pretty busy day already... Are you sure they're the only vampires Storybrooke has to worry about?" Snow asked her.
Emma shrugged, and then looked to Henry.
"Hey, Dracula and Sophie were only mentioned in my book. All I can tell you is what I've being saying since I found you in Boston. Fairy tales are real, and if Dracula and Sophie are real, then others might be too. As for which ones and who we might have known them as, I don't know."
"But Regina's still okay? Or alive at least?" Snow asked. She wasn't sure why she cared, or why she hoped the answer was yes. She supposed it was because part of her feared who might rise up in her place if she were gone.
"Yeah," Emma told her with a nod. "I saw her when I pulled up, but I made sure to stay out of sight. I feel like I got lucky not getting attacked by Dracula. I didn't want to chance it with Regina."
Snow nodded. "Well then I guess we should all get some sleep. We should be ready for whatever might be coming tomorrow. Vampires, pirates, Regina... Who knows."
Those thoughts certainly weren't going to help Emma sleep better, but she knew Mary Margaret... Snow White... her mother... was right. They had no idea what was to come, but Emma knew it would likely be something big and they would all be better off if they were ready. Clearly Regina, Rumpelstiltskin, and Dracula were only the tip of this fairy tale iceberg.
The End