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Nothing ever grew in Dracula’s castle. Despite its walls teeming with scientific machinations and knowledge of another time, there were no gardens. No trees, no greenhouses; only stone, metal, and darkness. Why would something so dead have use for something so alive yet entirely bloodless? That was his reasoning. The lord relished in the myth of flowers wilting and dying whenever he entered a room.
Lisa took it upon herself to change this and years following their first encounter, she’s glad that she did. There’s always her clinic in Lupu but the dirt there is too rough while also being prone to thieves of both the human and animal variety. Here in the castle, so much more can grow. While Dracula hides from the light of day, fresh medicinal herbs and vegetables glisten in the spring sunlight. Bushes of white lilies and roses occupy every corner of this little haven. Thanks to a bit of unseen help (provided by Mr. Tepes himself), they survive even the harshest winter months. If Eden was a place that truly existed, then Lisa’s garden would be the closest thing to it.
Using a small pair of scissors, she cuts off a few stems of lavender, chamomile, and lemon balm. Just some small things to take back to her clinic. Beside her feet are two baskets, one for medicine and the other to feed her family. It may seem silly to her, but Lisa wonder if she should offer recipes along with cures to her patients. The key to a long healthy life is good food, which the people of Wallachia are in desperate need of. Then again, is there anything they aren’t in need of?
Her calm thoughts are interrupted by a noise coming from the farthest corner of the garden. It’s soft and faint, easily mistaken for a gust of wind rustling through the bushes. Lisa could ignore it, but curiosity (a dangerous impulse to have in this era) is still very much in her nature. After all, it was curiosity which brought her to her husband. Standing up, she lifts the hem of her dress and carefully walks among the rows of newly grown basil, tomatoes, and much more. The heels of her shoes dig deep into the rich soil with every step.
Closer, and closer, and the sound begins to resemble something familiar. Crying. Still soft and very, very young. When a head of golden hair and a small body clothed in the finest threads comes into view, Lisa’s most prevalent worry is confirmed. “Adrian?”
The moment he hears her voice, Adrian Tepes turns around, looks up with eyes red and swollen with tears, and crawls into his mother’s open arms. He’s always been a sensitive child, a trait that Lisa encourages. To have a soft heart in a hardened world is a source of courage and strength. She hopes it will carry on once Adrian becomes a man.
“What happened? Are you hurt?” Lisa asks, stroking his soft hair. Adrian tries to speak in between sobs and hiccups.
“N... no.”
“Then what’s wrong, my little bat? You can tell me.”
“I... I was in... papa’s library...” As he says this, the young dhampir dissolves into more weeping. He presses his flushed face against Lisa’s body while she comforts him.
“Is that all? You know you’re always welcome in there. You did nothing wrong, Adrian.”
“I found a book,” he exclaims. Lisa pauses, that slight yet growing sense of dread creeping back.
“What sort of book?”
Adrian’s tears have slowed, but his voice still cannot slip past the lump in his throat. “It was about... bad people. People who hurt us...”
Vampire hunters. Dracula makes every effort to acquire any and all information he can on those who will dedicate their lives to destroying his ilk. Whether they be families, covens, or lone individuals. What was that quote she once read in a book from the very same library? If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result or a hundred battles. Lisa calls it an obsession, he calls it necessary. A precaution. Now she fears it’s given her greatest joy the worst nightmares.
“Oh, my darling.”
“I got scared...”
“I know you did, and that’s alright. Anyone would get scared reading those things.”
“They all want to kill me.”
With the same suddenness and intensity of a knife, a jab of sharp pain hits her chest. “That’s not true. No one wants to kill you.”
“Yes, they do!”
Lisa flinches - it’s been so long since Adrian raised his voice. She hasn’t heard it since the last time he threw a tantrum. This is different. There’s raw anger, but it’s mixed with undeniable fear, like being confronted by one’s own ability to die.
“The book... it said I was a monster.”
Lisa looks down at her son; her golden, wonderful son who shines like the clearest skies during winter. She feels his anger towards the book, other vampire lords who decry his birth, and hunters who might seek him out. She takes his trembling hands and holds them tight. “Listen to me - you are not a monster. Anyone and anything that tells you otherwise is lying. They’re just scared themselves. Scared, spiteful, and don’t understand. No one will ever harm you while I’m around.”
“Do you promise?”
She kisses his tiny fingers. “I promise.”
Adrian stares up at her before lowering his gaze. His arms grow heavy as he lets them drop to his sides. Judging from his silence, Lisa worries her promise isn’t enough to convince him or quell his awful emotions. She tries a different approach. “Would you like to help me around the garden?”
He sniffs, wiping his nose on his sleeve, before nodding. Lisa smiles - weary and tired but a smile nonetheless. She gives Adrian the basket heavy with vegetables and tells him to pick the ripest tomatoes he can find. While he sets off to do that, she returns to her herbs. Yet something isn’t sitting right within her gut. Adrian is still quiet, abnormally so. Lisa spends more time looking over her shoulder to make sure he’s fine than she does filling her own basket. She wracks her mind, hoping to find a distraction for him, until it comes to her.
“Adrian... do you want to show me the new trick you learned?”
His head perks up, emerging out of a bushel of bright red tomatoes. It takes a second, but Lisa finally gets to see the smile she’s been waiting for. A few mornings earlier, Adrian came bursting into the master bedchamber eager to tell his parents exciting news. “Mama! Papa! I did it! I learned a new trick!” Unable to contain his enthusiasm, he bounded onto their bed before either of them were given the chance to wake up. They both agreed to be shown this new trick when they had more time (and weren’t bogged down by the lasting effects of sleep). Lisa feels the guilt from making her son wait alleviate when he bounds down the garden towards her.
“Close your eyes!”
She does and after a patient moment, a gentle gust of wind blows through her hair. Always the curious one, Lisa slowly opens her eyes and is almost knocked right off her feet. Sitting in front of her surrounded by dissolving wisps of mist is a small wolf pup. Apart from its fur, whiter than the purest snow, the animal could very well be the twin of the toy Adrian always sleeps with.
“Adrian?” Lisa shouts in disbelief. She’s heard of vampires transforming into wolves; she even read of legends where the earliest of her husband’s kind were descended from werewolves. Neither she nor Dracula ever prepared themselves for this. Adrian gives off a high-pitched bark before jumping into her arms, his tail wagging so much, it might swing off at any moment.
I have a lot of explaining to do to your father... But Lisa’s concerns are quickly replaced by a much happier feeling. Of course Vlad will be ecstatic, just as she is now. “My, what a trick this is! I’m so proud of you!” While Lisa laughs, the pup licks her face. All is well. And there’s no doubt that one day her son will grow into the strongest wolf in Wallachia. He won’t need his mother or father to protect him any longer.