Work Text:
“Tell me, Lisa, what is this used for?”
The blonde woman studied the plant set on the table by her inhuman teacher, towering above her in the coldness of his laboratory. Golden tools, whirring with life via mechanisms wholly unrelated to magic, surrounded the two of them. Tall ceilings brought forth a dome that, if he were mortal once more, Dracula would like to open and have sunlight dapple in.
“I- Basil,” Lisa replied. Her tone of voice was laced with exhaustion and a lack of confidence.
“Comfrey. The leaves are far too large and too coarse to be basil,” Dracula corrected her. He narrowed his eyes. “Do you remember what we use it for?”
“Boil it like a tea,” she said with a smile. “Promotes the healing of broken bones.”
“You’re close. Boil the roots, soak linens in the water, set the bones with them as wrappings. Have you been studying, Lisa?” The pallid man’s red eyes shot a beam of a glare through his apprentice. It had been two months since she appeared on his doorstep, demanding to learn. First, he had to teach her to read properly. Second was the actual training of the medical techniques. She had caught on to reading quickly, yet the process of remembering the herbs and treatments gripped her in a struggle.
“Every day before bed,” Lisa promised. “And then again at breakfast.” She stifled a yawn, holding her hand over her mouth and tilting her head down, but Dracula could still tell from her movements and her eyes closing that she couldn’t help herself.
“It’s nearly that time,” he said, looking over at the towering clock in the laboratory. “Get yourself some dinner and head off to bed, then. Be back here by sundown tomorrow.”
“Same as always,” she nodded, scooping up her books. The woman ran off, leaving the man alone.
He scooped up the comfrey roots and went to work preparing them for storage, wondering why it was taking her so long to remember. He looked at the clock. Nearly five in the morning.
Lisa hadn’t truly adapted to her new sleep schedule.
Four centuries of immortality had grown Dracula accustomed to a nocturnal lifestyle. His vampirism made the change much easier. Lisa was human, though, and humans were creatures of the sun. She had been ill with a slight cough the other week, and he knew it was the result of him enforcing a harsh lifestyle on her. He put the comfrey away and left the laboratory. It was his bedtime as well in about an hour, and he was losing moonlight fast. If he wanted a bite before bed, he had to leave.
The forest outside the castle was abundant with wildlife. To stave off his cravings for human blood, he enjoyed the taste of a fresh-killed rabbit, or a fox if he was truly ravenous. His ears pricked up, hearing the faint footsteps of a deer fawn. His stomach rumbled. It would be a nice meal before bed.
A couple flash-steps led him to the adolescent creature. Paralyzed in fear, it did not move as the vampire extended his claws and slashed out its throat. He held it up by the ears, messily drinking its blood. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and dragged the carcass to the castle grounds, where he devoured it until it was but scraps of bone and sinew. He went to leave, but remembered Lisa’s words about not littering his lawn with rotting bones. That woman was so needy, he thought to himself as he buried what remained of his meal. Always fussing about his bad manners. What manners did he need? He was an immortal, glorious vampire, barely ever interacting with the commonfolk.
He supposed he was in need of an attitude change. He didn’t offer her anything when she first visited him. He was once a noble, respected man who kept a clean, tidy house, but years upon years of utter isolation made him cease to care. His court didn’t question his life decisions. They even saw him as too close to humanity with some of his behaviors.
He hadn’t seen his court in ten years. Not that he needed them. They paid their tribute and in turn he sent them whatever they desired so as to survive, and that was that. If they knew he had taken a human apprentice…
They didn’t need to know. Why was it any of their business? Dracula wiped his face, seeing stains of blood on the back of his hand, and ascended to the bathroom. A nice warm shower would do him some good, and maybe a quick dip in the bath.
Dressed in a bathrobe and pajamas underneath, with his hair tied up in a bun at the crown of his head, Dracula made his way down the hall to his bedroom. He passed the room he gave to Lisa, but found it empty. He raised an eyebrow, sniffing the air. Her soft lily-scented perfume lead a trail up the stairs and out to a window, which had been opened to the balcony beyond.
Lisa of Lupu sat outside, biting into a piece of bread as she lay a book on the ground. In her other hand, she took notes in the leather-bound notebook that Dracula had taught her to bind herself. A cup of tea sat on top of a precarious stack of books.
The dawn broke, illuminating Lisa’s hair in a golden fire. Her baby blue eyes were cast downward as she flipped the page. She looked up at Dracula, an air of surprise on her face.
Dracula couldn’t help but stare at the morning sun casting a halo on her. Even drowned in shadow, he could discern her soft, gentle face.
He turned and left before she could say a word.
The next evening, Lisa was yawning and rubbing her eyes as she helped around the laboratory.
“Quick test,” Dracula said. “Come here.”
The woman looked up from her seat and joined him. “Yes sir?”
“Find samples of c. canephora,” he said. “Grind them in a mortar and pestle, and filter hot water through them. Make two cups. Just use drinking mugs.”
“I… I’m unsure…” she yawned, not even bothering to cover her face. “I don’t remember reading what that’s the cure for.”
“I never asked you what it cures. Time starts now.”
“Yes sir,” she said, bustling around the laboratory. Thankfully, she had reorganized the supply cabinets in alphabetical order and relabeled the jars, and quickly found the black-brown beans, then set a kettle atop a flame. “How much of the beans?”
“Just enough to fill the mortar,” he called back.
Lisa nodded and ground the beans as best she could, keeping an ear out for the telltale whistle of boiling water. When they were ground, she set the mugs up for filtering, and as she waited for the boiling, she shut her eyes but for a moment and began nodding off.
The high-pitched whine of the kettle brought her back to the waking world. She looked up to see if her master caught her, but he was busy flipping through a book on the far side of the room. Lisa filtered the water through the ground beans, then carried the mugs to her master.
“Ready,” she said.
Dracula took a mug and sipped it. “Mmm… should have some sugar in it. Far too bitter.”
“I-I’m sorry! I must’ve forgotten!” Lisa cried.
“Oh no no no, don’t fret,” he promised. He raised the mug and smirked. “It’s a matter of personal preference.”
“What did I make?” Lisa asked. “You’ve never told me about the healing properties of c. canephora. I’m unsure what elixir I have just brewed.”
“Coffee.”
“Coffee? I…” Realization hit her. “I see.”
“Drink up. Add sugar if you’d like,” Dracula said. He sat down his mug and found the jar of cane sugar in the cabinet. “Should wake you up.”
“I’m so sorry, sir,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I-I-I’ve been… it’s hard to adapt to these cold walls… I usually…” The woman yawned, holding her hand over her mouth. “-sleep beside a fire.”
“As I said, drink up, then come to me. We need to go and harvest some ingredients,” Dracula said.
“We’re out of things already? But you see no patients,” Lisa asked.
“Oh, I’ve been out of them for years. Surely you’ve seen the empty jars,” he said.
“I- Huh.” Lisa sipped her coffee. “It’s warm.”
“You boiled the water, after all,” he chuckled. “You’re still not awake yet, are you?”
“I’m waking up, I promise… Earlier in the day I couldn’t sleep, so I did a bit more studying,” she said. “Ended up staying awake for hours.”
“I’ll go easy on you tonight,” the man said. “I’ll lead the way. You can be my pack mule. Carry all of my things.” He flashed a fanged smile. “We’ll be bringing the cart.”
After breakfast, the two left the castle. Lisa pulled a wheeled wagon behind her as they entered the surrounding forest. “Oh, we moved,” she said.
“Yes, to the southernmost tip of the country,” Dracula said. “I have a secret herb garden here. I harvest them every spring.”
“Why not build a greenhouse into the castle?” Lisa asked. “Keep a close eye on them instead of having to travel.”
“Too much work,” he laughed. “Besides, my secret herb garden is actually someone else’s. I steal from them. Their garden is big enough as it is. They won’t notice.”
“I can excuse your misanthropy and your murder, but thievery? Now you’ve gone too far, Mister Tepes,” Lisa joked. “What are we looking for?”
“I’ll quiz you,” he said. “First is Achillea millefolium. What is it and what’s its use?”
“Uh… yarrow,” Lisa said. “And… I-I think it’s a cold cure. I-I’m sorry, I’m better with visuals.”
“Then find me some. Fill up its jar,” he requested. “You have your clippers?”
“All in my bag,” Lisa said. She grabbed the empty jar and made her way through the garden.
Dracula opened his notes to look at what was needed, glancing up at Lisa every so often. He went to work harvesting the herbs that he didn’t trust Lisa to properly identify in the low light of the moon. Out of the corner of his eye, he would see the woman bob up and down in the garden, kneeling as she found the best specimen of yarrow and standing up to find more.
They were at work for a decent half of the night, filling up multiple jars, before Dracula called her over to a clearing. He spread out a blanket and sat down. “Let’s eat,” he said, pulling his knapsack from the cart. He handed Lisa a slice of bread as he pulled out some dried meats. Two corked bottles of liquid were inside as well - one filled with water, and the other with blood.
“I hope that’s not human blood,” Lisa joked.
“Harvested from you in your sleep,” the vampire replied. “It is in fact that of a swine. Nasty blood, pigs have, but I tend to bottle and save a lot of it when I’m storing blood.”
“Oh, so you’re calling me a swine, then?” Lisa winked.
Dracula threw back his head in a laugh as his apprentice covered her smiling face with her hand. He watched as she bit her bread, then tore a chunk out of the dried meat. “Try this,” he said, taking the food from her. He cut through the loaf and stuck the meat inside. “Should be good with some tomatoes. One moment.” He got up and flash-stepped off, then returned a moment later with three spherical vegetables. He sat down and took out his knife.
“What are those?” Lisa asked, taking one in her hand.
“As I said, these are called tomatoes. They come from the new world,” he said. “West of Europe and Africa is a massive land that few have traveled to. It is full of delicacies unknown to our tongues, but my court has brought back some. I should give you a taste of chocolate when we return.”
“Can you eat it like an apple?” Lisa asked, taking one of the tomatoes.
“Yes, but-”
The woman bit into it, and the juices exploded all over her chin. She gasped, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “It’s delicious!” The sight of the redness on her face, dribbling down her lips and jaw, gave her the appearance of one of his own kind, especially in the golden moonlight.
Dracula took out a handkerchief and gave it to her, then assembled her a sandwich. “I don’t know why you don’t eat more efficiently, Lisa. If you want to eat bread and meat at the same time, why not stick them together?”
“Too much prepwork,” she said. “I’m not much of a chef.”
“Cooking brings out nutrients in the food, and burns away disease,” he explained. “It’s best if you cook your food, especially meat, else you get ill.”
“I never had much time to cook back home,” Lisa explained. “I was always taking care of my mother. I would run off to neighboring villages to find a cure for her illness, but… there was nothing I could do.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“She’s why I came to you,” Lisa continued. “If I couldn’t save my mama, at least I could try and save others.”
“What about your father? Did he help at all?” Dracula asked.
“I never met him.” The woman bit into the sandwich. “Mmm, this is efficient!”
After finishing off their meals, the two sat in silence, listening to the quiet forest. The castle could be seen beyond a few hills, shrouded in clouds. Lisa took out her notes and flipped through them, reading aloud to herself in a whisper.
Dracula’s ears perked up as he heard some movement. He stood up, putting a hand on Lisa’s shoulder.
“What’s-?”
“Shh,” he said. A figure tumbled out of a line of shrubbery. Dracula stood up, watching the creature reveal itself.
It was a child, about four years old.
The vampire stepped forward. “Someone can’t sleep,” he chuckled.
“Sir, Mister Tepes, what are you…?” Lisa whispered, following him. “If you hurt that baby-”
“Did you get scared?” Dracula asked, kneeling down. He brushed the unruly brown hair out of the child’s face. The boy whimpered and nodded, wiping his eyes.
“Nightmare,” he mumbled.
“Why’d you come all the way outside, then?”
“Mama gets mad and yells…”
Dracula nodded and scooped the boy up. “She’ll get even more mad if you’re not in bed,” he said. “Let’s bring you home, alright?”
“M’kay,” the child whispered.
The vampire motioned for his assistant to follow as he walked through the trees. His cloak swept behind him, snagging on some twigs. “Would you like to tell me about your nightmare?”
“There was a fire…” the boy yawned, snuggling up into the vampire’s arms. “Someone got burnt real bad. She was screaming and crying…” His blue eyes fluttered shut.
“Tell me, do you know what the good thing about a bad dream is?” Dracula asked. As he pushed past the trees, Lisa could see a large estate. Two tapestries boasted golden crests on it, flapping in the wind. Horses were asleep in a nearby stable, and two carts were parked near the front door. Flowers were dutifully planted around the perimeter. Whoever lived here had wealth untold.
The boy didn’t respond. He had fallen asleep. Dracula approached one wall of the manor and leaped up, grabbing onto some bars outside a window. He opened the glass and jumped inside, then returned a moment later. Turning into a flurry of bats, he descended, reappearing beside Lisa.
“I don’t recognize that crest,” Lisa said.
“This is House Belmont,” Dracula replied.
“But they’re-”
“Yes yes, I am aware of their occupation. However, that boy is but a child,” he said. “He bears no sins. In fact, I… sometimes check up on the Belmonts from time to time using my distance mirror. That boy already has it hard enough without a grumpy old vampire eating him. His mother beats him.”
“That’s awful,” Lisa breathed. “But why check up on your worst enemy? And harvest from their garden.”
“Their ancestor used to be my lover,” he said. “Old Leon, what a bastard of a man. They always depict him in paintings as being this tall, glorious godlike creature, but he was actually quite short. He just wore heeled boots.”
“Anyone is short compared to you,” Lisa said.
“Oh, but he was shorter than you,” Dracula mused. “I know a secret about him that not even his descendants know. He was born a woman. Leina. I was the one he confided in about his desire to become a man.”
“Huh. I’ve never heard of that before,” Lisa said. “Was he ill?”
“No, but he was in a lot of pain. As we both were, during those days. That’s when I lost my wife.” The man sighed, looking out over the moonlight pouring over the Belmont garden.
Lisa bit her lip. “You were good with that boy. I can’t imagine you as the type to get along well with children.”
“I was going to be a father, back when I was mortal. Before my wife could give birth, she passed away. I couldn’t even save the baby. We were to have a daughter,” he said. He made sure not to step on any plants as he guided Lisa back to their picnic. “It was my idea to have a child. To this day I wish the two survived.”
“I’m so sorry…”
“Life goes on, dear Lisa. No need to lament over what’s lost, although I should take some of my own advice once in a while.”
Lisa kept confusing her herbs whenever Dracula quizzed her. Though her sleeping habits had fallen into a solid routine, thanks to having a coffee every sundown, her memory still wasn’t the best.
He found her once more on the balcony, pouring over her books. The sun wouldn’t be up for a while. Dracula opened the door and stepped outside, sitting beside his apprentice. “Hard at work I see?”
“I’m trying to study,” she promised. She tucked a golden lock behind her ear. “I really am.”
“I think I’ve been approaching this in the wrong way,” Dracula said. “Maybe I should teach you, instead of throwing you into this all on your own.” He took the book from her and began an explanation.
The hour was filled with the immortal man answering Lisa’s questions on the herbs and medicines.
“How do I distinguish it from this plant? These sketches have the same leaf shape.”
“By coarse, do you mean leathery or like felt?”
“Tonight can you show me the proper way to grind these seeds? I feel like I don’t do the hand motion properly.”
She was a natural. All Lisa needed was someone to read the words aloud to her. A cloud of shame overcame Dracula as he realized she still couldn’t read properly.
“Now, what plant is Zingiber officinale?”
“Ginger. They’re flowers, but we use the roots.”
“And what for?”
“It treats nausea of all sorts, but you specifically note that it treats morning sickness,” Lisa said. “That’s easy.”
“Hmm, how about Rubus idaeus?”
“Red raspberries. The leaves are used for all sorts of curative properties, but mostly for aid in delivering a child. I sense a theme here,” Lisa smirked.
“I had to do lots of research on those plants back when Elisabeta and I were expecting,” he admitted. “I would quiz myself with them. Now, what other use does the raspberry plant have?”
Lisa’s stomach rumbled. “Besides making a nice pie? Um…”
“That’s what I was going to say,” Dracula laughed. “Perhaps tonight I shall bake one.” As he looked down at Lisa’s smiling face, her hair erupted in a golden flame.
Dracula felt his face burn. He cried out in panic and a look of surprise spread in Lisa’s eyes. The woman jumped up and threw her cloak over him, and pulled him to his feet. She rushed him inside, far beyond the reaches of the morning sun.
“Oh! It’s dawn already!” Lisa gasped. Dracula lowered the woman’s red cloak, holding it around his shoulders. “Did I hurt you? Ooh, I’m so sorry…”
“Now now, what do we use to treat burns?” Dracula asked.
“Aloe vera. I have one in my room,” Lisa said, pulling him up the stairs and to her room. She shut her blinds and plucked a leaf from her plant. She set it down on a table and pulled out her pocket knife, cutting it in half. She applied the gel insides to her fingertips, then dabbed the ointment on her patient. “There you go.”
Dracula smirked. “Good job.”
“Did you do that on purpose?” Lisa asked, putting her hands on her hips. “You stayed out just to test me!”
“No no, I truly lost track of time,” Dracula promised. “Though, this was a good application of your skills. I would appreciate better bedside manners, however. I’ll give you an 85.”
Lisa stuck out her bottom lip as she pouted playfully. “Well, maybe if you paid attention to the time!”
“Ah-ah-ah, you don’t want me to dock points, do you?” He sighed and paced around Lisa’s room, which had become a mess of books, diagrams, and clothes in the short time she lived there. “I admire your tenacity, Lisa of Lupu. Your courage, your drive to learn.” He picked up a book and flipped through it. “After you learn all that you can, perhaps consider staying around a bit longer.”
“I have no intention of leaving,” Lisa replied. The woman got up on a box and pulled Dracula down to her level before giving him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re stuck with me forever.”