Dracula

I
Disembarkation

The clouds murmured and roared,
Echoing war drums across the water.
Lightning scarred the horizon
In violent arcs of energy.
The torrential rain claimed all,
An intense, wrathful baptism.

My nails scoring the Earth,
I crawled onto the slick shore.
Unleashing a baleful howl,
Declaring my arrival
And want of company.

In dream you heard me.
Ears ringing, eyes fluttering
Your heart was lulled by my call.
Alone, I slept in the dirt of my ancestors,
Whispering, mouthing words of comfort:
“Mina”





II.
Visitation

Across silken shadows
Your heartbeat murmured,
Gently tugging my limbs into action.
Wreathed in shadow and mist
I followed the ethereal sound,
Thud-thud,
To your high window.
With soft eyes I gazed
Upon your silent beauty;
A solace to my solitude.

Beckoning with my soul,
You awoke, fumbling with the latch
And we glided into the night.
Your head rested upon my chest,
My thundering heart.
Hanging in the moonlight,
As if suspended on spider silk,
We pirouetted ever so slowly.

Your long, brown hair
Curled within my fingers
As I laid you down
(Careful not to wake the other).
I took my leave, silently
Returning to my tomb.
Lonelier than before,
I held the name in my teeth:
“Mina”





III.
Predilection

All day, I dreamt in color.
The brown glint of your hair;
Pale pink of your cheeks;
Black of your irises;
White arch of your neck.
The thought of you is fresh,
A constant reminder of loneliness,
That makes my jaw and chest ache.

I slid into your room,
And you stir, blinking.
Our brown eyes meet.
My wrist turns slightly;
Your feet comply.
I take your hand within mine;
We dance in the pale moonlight;
The moonlight danced upon your skin.

Our skin meets,
As I plant a tender kiss upon your neck.
My lips tremble, but I resist.
The current flows in your neck,
Filling your cheeks with color.
Carefully, I replace thee
And dance back to the dirt.
The soft syllables on my lips,
“Mina”





IV.
Impression

Daylight stretches on forever,
Horizon to horizon;
Confining me within the Earth.
As intimate and protective as it is,
It feels hollow and cold.
As grateful as I am,
I grow jealous that I must wait,
Quarantined from your essence.

Once the last bar of sunlight vanishes,
My prison cell gone,
I make no waste of time.
By your side in an instant;
A blink, a breath, a heartbeat.

You tremble at the speed,
The quickness and intention
Of my movements.
Chin aimed upwards,
You memorize the ceiling,
As my lips memorize
The contour of your neck.
Pressure builds, and then releases,
Trickling and flowing into my mouth.

Swooning, you stumble into dreams.
Your eyes shoot open: All is well.
I have left my seal on your throat,
Its ink on my tongue:
“Miiiinaaa”





V.
Possession

Clouds slither across the sky,
Sheathing the country in complete darkness.
Unhindered, I bound and leap on all fours,
Eyes blazing, mouth open, mind racing.
You have already opened the window,
Waiting expectantly on the sill.

I barely have to whisper the words
For you to do my bidding;
Silently creeping in the house,
Walking into the vacant cemetery,
You leap into my arms.
Light as a feather I guide you around
Twisting, ducking, weaving,
Stepping around gravestones,
Ghosts, and ghouls.

Eagerly, my mouth finds your neck,
Lap after lap I draw blood,
Slowly, draining you of the Music.
The Orchestra of Life.
The notes and chords are played
From deep, deep within you
Conducted by my baton-tongue.

In the space between our lips,
I fill the void with blood-stained lyrics:
“My Mina”





VI.
Exsanguination

For three days I lie in wait,
Fasting, preparing my body and mind.
The warmth of your blood
Is fresh in my throat,
The fluttering of your heart
A whisper on my lips:
Caged like a white dove.

The frail chorus still lives,
Echoing in your thinning veins.
A vessel must first be emptied
Before it can be refilled.
On the third night, I strike,
More precise and quickly
Than ever before.

Your hands claw at my chest,
Futile and innocent,
As I smile and begin.
It is a hunt, a chase, a battle.
Your young heart races,
And I trudge on patiently,
Until at last you are depleted;
A beautiful shell of a woman;
A masterpiece to be finished.

With deft hands,
I press your lips to my neck
Moving your jaw to bite,
Your throat to swallow,
Heart to pump.
At last, flesh of my flesh,
Blood of my blood,
You are luminous and complete.
Our rouged lips paint the air:
“Dracula”
“Mina”





VII.
Transformation

The sun ravages the Earth
Pinioning everything in heat and light
In the cool, damp dirt I wait,
Slowly sensing your new presence:
A pin prick of light
Within the pressing darkness.

With even, steady steps
You are drifting from the living,
Shedding mortality like clothes,
Radiating the glow of immortality.
Each footfall, a distant echo in Time;
I have waited five centuries
To hear such a thing.

I feel the sun descending far off,
Losing its grip on its dominion.
I begin to waken, stirred by a chorus
Sad, thin voices wailing:
“Mina”