log: vanessa i, dracula, mina m
Dracula was observing.
Upon his return from Romania, he had sought to procure invitations to as many gatherings as possible. Information was rife, if one could sift through the gossip in order to separate fact from fiction, and occasionally there were those who caught his eye for reasons that did not bode well for those unlucky enough to be chosen. Vanessa Ives was a challenge, to be sure, and he would not strike unprepared again. He would not fail. Patience was key. He had lived for centuries upon centuries, surely a month or two in the grand scheme of his end goal was a sufficient sacrifice.
Tonight, he was rather disappointed to find that neither occupants of the Murray house were in attendance. Disappointed, but not surprised—at least until the cries were raised. The screams, thrilled by the horror that roused them.
He vanished. There one moment, gone the next, wisps of smoke at the feet of the guests that went unnoticed in the slight hysteria raised by cries of a corpse in the courtyard. Outside the crowd thickened, pressed back by brave gentlemen who appointed themselves guardians of the poor dead woman. How quaint. In between the illumination were patches of darkness, shadows, and they hid their master well. It did not surprise him that a woman could get so close to the body, surely the men suspected less of the fairer sex. Curious. What interested her so? And, perhaps, he felt a stab of irritation, that he would be left with a corpse already inspected. Dracula was no fool; he knew what he saw. Later, he would question those in attendance.
Later.
The woman straightened, and in the darkness Dracula smiled. He drifted forth, seemingly materializing from the crowd, stepping out in his finery as the rude little boy was dragged inside. "Miss Ives." He interrupted before the pale gentleman could speak, a note of pleased surprise in his voice. Then his gaze slid to the corpse, and his expression sobered appropriately. "Unfortunate," he mused, "that we should meet again under such tragic circumstances."