Wapplurgis Nacht".by Mark Antony Raines -Inspired by Bram Stoker

 It was an usually sunny day in Munich,Germany the air seemed to be full of joyousness before my journey.

I meet Herr Derbruick the marite of Quatre Saisons where i am staying,he came on duty to say to me and my fellow travellers to have a good journey as form of good luck as it was the custom to do so.

When we started for our drive the sun was shining,just aswe wereto depart i overheard Herr Delbruck telling the coach driver to be back by nightfall to which the driver replied that he knew what night it was and evey intention of being back by nightfall.

After we were away from town i asked my fellow travellers what was so special about tonight one repliedit was"Wapplurgis Nacht".

The driver took out his silver pocket watch to check the time,then proceed to encourage the horses to.pick up speed,as we on ouf journey all.i coulc see was a bleak road untill i saw an old but unussd road which seemed to call out to md so i banged on thd carriage roof to signal the driver to stop the coach.

The coach driver was a bewildered why i wished him to take the coach on a new route despite my generous offer of payment to which he would profit but he made all sorts of excuses why this was a bad idea,he then muttered it was "Walpurgis Nacht" in a mixture of german and bad english and whilst doing so made the sign of the cross on himself several times.

The horses sniffed the air and where becoming restless,then i heard the driver whilst pointing and turning the carriage back towards its previous direction "People buried them that killec themselfx"

As he was talking a sudden howling of dogs was heard at this thd horses became so restless to the point of bolting,thd driver said

"That howling sounds like wolfs but there are no wolves now to bd in these woods for decades"

I did find this a bit odd.

The wind became cold ,i noticed the drivers hands holding the reins in a deathlike grip,i asked him "Tell me where does this road lead"

He said it was "Unholy and the nearby village it lead to a legend has it that hunderds of years ago man and woman who were buried in their graves  from which were heard ths sounds of haunting moans and whsn the graves were opened  inside instead of being pale of ashen all were rosy with life and had blood on thier lips.

The coach driver during this narration was showing me a paroxysm of fear as he white faced ,trembling ,and perspiring 

And yet again he said .

"Walpurgis Nicht"

At this point i decided to make my own way down the road that was calling to me and took out my possessions and informed the coach driver i was not afraid of this night,and as i stood to one side the coach driver whipped the horses into a frenzy and the carriage went off at speed leaving me to carry on down the road.

I walked for hours untill i came to fringe of a wood were i decided to sit diwn and rest my wary legs,i noticed the tempture get colder i thought i could hear i strange sighing noise in the atomsphere as i looked up to the sky great thick clouds were forming the sign upcoming tempest.

I carried on my walk the brightness of the day slowly merged into the plutoium darkness of night.

Yet again the howling of a wolf was heard at intervels,then in the distance i saw a deserted village and i followed my unseen path as i needed to seek shelter as the heavens were being torn by vivid lightning and driving heavy rain.

I went to yet another near by bit of woods and stood amongst the trees for shelter soon like most storms it passed and was on its way to further fields .

As i walked again on my path the moon appeared in its full glory giving me a silvery light to aid my walking .

I came upon old foundations which at the edge of a copse was a low wall encircling it  i carried on walking to enter a graveyard and before my eyes was a massive tomb of marble and yet again i heard long haunting howls of wolves so i walked on untill i came upon a sepulchre which my curious nature i walked closer to the doric door and over which written in german was .

Countess Dolingen of Gratz in Styria sought and found death 1801as i looked above this tomb i saw a great iron spike inbedded in the blocks of stone and above that in Russian was.

"The dead travel fast".

This instantly made me feel weird and faint  and i heard in my sub consious mind the warnings of the coach driver then it struck me like as if i was struck by lighting this was "Walpurgis Night"

The night the devil was awake and graves were opened and the dead awoke and walked the earth and revel with other evil things the myth the ciach driver had told me to shun,this was the site of the depopulated village of many a century ago.

This made my flight response kick in paniced by overwhelming fear i started to run with all my might untill i seeked shelter couching against the bronze door of the tomb for i had just ran in a endless circle and a unknown force kept drawing me back to the tomb of  the Countess .

As i lay their inbetween fear and sensibility i saw before me in the hazy light of thd moon a woman of stunning beauty who as she got a bit closer i saw rounded cheeks,red lips seemly sleeping on a beir this shocked me into awelike state and i had a feeling i was no longer alone suddenely a storm gathered force agian in the sky the clouds became very dark i heard the rumble of thunder then a fork of lighting struck the iron spike that surmounted the tomb causing the crumbling of the marble at this point the woman on the beir rose from the slumber of the dead and let she let out a bitter scream of pain.

Then i was seized and dragged away and in the background was the reberbant howling of wolves i began to pass out i sensed in my dreamlike state as if the surrounding graves around the tomb of the Countess had sent out phantoms of the dead and they were closing in on me.

After a while i came back to the vague beginning of consciousness then a sense of weariness.

My feet were racked with pain but as much as tried i could not move them as their were numb.

I had a icy feeling down the back of my spine and neck yet in this torment my breast was a sense of warmth which felt delicious i realised i was having a physical nightmare and my chest was finding it difficult to breathe as i must have some sort of heavy weight on my chest.

I must have gone back into a swoon as i awoke it felt like the beginning of being sea sick then a sort of loathing then a overwhelming desire to be free from what i did not know.

It was as if i was between the world of sleep or dead this was broken by the sound of some animal close to me panting.

Thier was a warm rasping at my throat this chilled me to my heart and i sensed blood surging through my brain.

Yes it was some animal lying on me licking at my throat i feared to to stir and somehow the animal on top of me sensed a change in me.

My vision came back into focus and thier it was for my eyes to clearly see two flaming eyes of a gigantic wolf with its sharp teeth gleeming and its red mouth gaping and i could feel its hot breath fierce and acid upon me.

I went back to a state of unconsciousness when i regained my conscious i heard a low growl followed by a yelp then i heard voices call out"Hollloa,Holloa,i cautiously managed to raise my head and tried to look in the direction the  sound was coming from but my view was blocked.

I awoke again half a sleep or was I hear death when for no reason the  The wolf let out almighty yelp and I thought I I saw a human hand grab it but throat and toss it away as if it was a rag doll ,then I fell back into a stupor.

Later I was awoken by the sound of a dinner gong and as I became more aware of my surroundings I got up almost dizzy at first then my legs found their bearings I walked towards the ringing sound of the dinner gong .

I walked down a creaking stairs and I perused my surroundings a bit better I was in a castle I guest built in the 15th century of a Turkish design which was most off as a student of history the Turkish near came this far north into German borders.

I was truly amazed to see in front of me a table lauded out with food and drink and at the head of the long table sat a man dressed entirely in jet black with only a bit of red of his shirt collar,he was ashen faced with ruby red lips and his eyes glazed at me with a hypnotic quality.

I sat down at the table,I have to admit my gentleman like behaviour left me as I was ravenous,the man at the end of the table just sat and observed me.

He then spoke in a gravel voice.

 "It is good to have company once again ,I hope the food is to your taste"

 "Yes,but you don't seem to be hungry yourself"

 " No I eat earlier And it filled me up"

 "Pardon my ignorance sir but thank you for your rescue and how may I address you"

 "My name is Count Dracula you were found near by late wives tomb"

 "You mean the Countess   Dolingen  but how come her last name is different from your s if you do not mind me asking"

 " No I don't mind you asking Mark as I am a open book,it was to hide the fact she was my bride as she was the one who made me change my ways and no longer feed off humans for life essence but instead I made a deal with the German government to rid them of any of their enemies and not make them one of my undead,but like all tales it went wrong when my wife turned into a beast of a wolf who's hunger had no bounds and she unknown to me as I slept by the day in my coffin began a killing spree of the village,so we had to move deeper into the outskirts of the town to hide ,but I wife could not understand why and finally she was trapped and thought killed and placed in her tomb on which was placed an iron spike as to keep imprisoned so I could still visit her But she could do no more harm,but tonight the curse of Walparus Night struck again releasing her,I came just in time to stop her drinking all your blood and making you a creature of the night "

I choked on my food,my knife and fork clanged upon the ground,I was about to get up but as I looked into the Counts eyes I was glued to my chair unable to escape I realised my time was near the end ,as like all the books I read it A villain reveals the plot the person being told ends up dead.

 "No Mark I can read your mind I do not wish to kill you just for you to write this event down to record in history his I Count Dracula saved your life"

 "But No one will believe it"

 "Thier my friend you are as wrong for a will give you this letter"

 I looked upon the letter it was written in blood

 "I Count Dracula saved the life of Mar k White and I am no longer the villain written about by that Irish man Bram Stokes

Signe d 

Count Dracula"

 Then a whirl of red mist and I was back on the carriage with my fellow travellers and the coach driver ready to leave the Quatre Saisons as if nothing had happened and it was just my vivid imagination,I checked my coat pocket inside which was said letter signed and I revealed it and went on this time to my original destination back to England were I was inspired to write this event as it happened.