Clash Of Worlds (21 page)

The pair brought their long kiss to an end and Chad brushed his hand softly through the fringe of her long brown hair. Stacey’s hazel eyes were a thing of beauty and the agent wished to look into them once more.

“I’ve missed you,” said Stacey, who could not remove the smile from her face. Chad’s work as an agent meant he spent long periods away from everyone, including her. Chad could see that Stacey was a little overcome with emotion and attempted to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, I know you have,” he said in a playful way.

“It’s been so long Chad,” she said, with a serious look in her eyes.

He realised that a more serious attitude was what Stacey needed at this moment. “I know, it’s been hard for me too. You’re here now, that’s all that matters.” The two embraced with a hug once more. “Here, let me take those for you,” said Chad, who picked up Stacey’s two large suitcases. “What have you got in here? Your entire wardrobe?” he asked, referring to the size and weight of the suitcases.

“A girl always travels heavy,” she answered, cheering up a little.

The pair began to make their way out of the airport. “I’ve got something special planned,” said Chad, as they exited through the main exit of the airport. Outside, parked on the roadside, was a Silver Mercedes Benz. “So, you like it?”

Stacey stared at the car for a few moments in awe. “Wow.”

The car was a thing of beauty. It was a three-door ‘SL’ class A vehicle. Chad pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and pressed a button. The vehicles roof began to automatically pull down from the car.

Stacey knew a thing or two about cars. Her father was formerly an engineer for the army and had a hobby for collecting antique motors. She knew that cars such as the one Chad had purchased did not come cheap and knew that it would have cost an awful lot of money to acquire such a vehicle. “Aren’t you meant to be keeping a low profile while you’re out here?” she asked him, referring to the orders given to all agents not to stand out from the crowd.

“Oh don’t worry, I am,” he replied. He tossed Stacey’s luggage into the boot of the car and took his place in the driver’s seat.

“Yeah I’m sure you are,” said Stacey, not sounding convinced at all as she looked at the Mercedes once again.

“Come on get in.”

Stacey took her place in the passenger seat and they sped off out onto the road.

This was Stacey’s first visit to the city of Paris and Chad made a conscious effort to drive through the streets to show her the sights of the great city. It was 9 pm in the evening and the city was even more beautiful in the night. With streets lighten only by lampposts and moonlight, Stacey looked around in awe as they passed the famous Notre Dame, one of the cities greatest gothic masterpieces. Chad next drove her up as close as he could get to the Eiffel Tower. Stacey admired the beauty of the tower as bright lights lit it up against the dark night sky.

“Can we go up?” she asked Chad.

“Tomorrow, I’ve got something special planned for tonight,” he answered, giving her a funny look.

“There’s plenty of time for that later Chad!” she said, giving him a playful slap on the arm.

Realising that Stacey thought he was talking about sex, Chad quickly shook his head. “Not that, something else.” Chad had been planning this evening since he learnt a few weeks earlier that Stacey would be coming over to visit him. Stacey had long talked about her love of theatre and art. In fact, when she had learned that Chad had been assigned to Paris several months ago, she was more excited than he was!

Stacey was aware that her father was keeping a close eye on Chad, so the pair had waited a few months before deciding to hook up in the city. Chad did not share his girlfriend’s love of art and theatre, but he wished to do something special for her since they had been apart for so long. Stacey was now very curious as to what Chad had planned for them in the night ahead. She tried numerous times to get it out of him as they drove across the city, but he let nothing slip.

Several hours later the pair arrived outside a large white building. There was a crowd of people gathered outside the structure. The people were queuing up outside two large glass doors. Above the doors was a large banner. On it, in gold writing read
Le Theatre Des Champs Elysees
. The building was very tall in height and since it was built in 1913, was made of a very old and rare kind of stone. Stacey looked at the building full of wonder, marvelling over the ancient designs of the walls. She had read about the building and performances that had taken place over the many decades it had stood, and it was always a dream of hers to watch a performance inside the historical building.

Chad knew this, and it was for this reason that he had booked two tickets to see a play inside the French theatre. As they exited Chad’s Mercedes, he tossed the keys to one of the theatre staff. The staff at the theatre would park the cars for the guests so they could enter the building without having to worry about parking. Chad wasn’t best pleased with this. He would rather have parked his precious Mercedes himself. The staff member, who was quite elderly, caught the keys. Chad then got the man’s attention. “Hey, not a scratch granddad!” he barked in French at the man.

“I didn’t realise you could speak French!” said Stacey.

“Just a little,” replied Chad who gave her a wink.

Stacey’s took his arm and they made their way inside the auditorium. Chad had managed to get hold of tickets fairly close to the stage and they took their seats along with everyone else. Stacey looked around the whole auditorium, which was huge. Directly above them was a large glass plated chandelier, which was over sixty feet in width. This was the main light source for the theatre. Below the large light source were several rows of balconies. This was where the more upper-class person would tend to watch the performances. Just above the highest balcony, were old paintings from famous artists such as Michelangelo.

As Stacey looked around the auditorium she noticed one odd looking gentleman in a balcony high above them. The man, who looked in his early twenties, was dressed in a dark suit and tie, like the majority of the people in attendance however his hair was very distinctive. He had long white hair, a style that Stacey had never seen before. She was just about to nod Chad with her elbow to show him the man when all the lights in the theatre went out. The performance now began and everything else went to the back of Stacey’s mind.

The performance was a play entitled
Dracula
, which was, of course, a tale about the legendary vampire from Transylvania. A spotlight came down upon the darkened stage and centred upon a girl sat with her back to the audience She was dressed in what looked like maids clothing and wore a hood over here head. The girl rocked back and forth and looked to be holding a small baby in her arms. The girl began to sing a song in French.
“Ring-a-ring-a-roses, a pocket full of posies; Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down…Aaaahhhhhh!”
Suddenly out of nowhere, the girl screamed out and quickly rose to her feet. She turned around and looked at the audience. “My baby! MY BABY!” she screamed. The baby the girl held was covered in blood underneath the small blanket she held the child in.

Stacey held her mouth to her hand in shock. She really was fully engrossed in the performance. Chad, on the other hand, looked bemused. He had no care for the theatre. The only reason he had come to the performance was because he knew Stacey would enjoy it. Even though the performance was in French, Stacey was smart enough to understand what was going on simply by the performers actions alone.

The performance was different from your regular plays about vampires. This one focused more on how Dracula would hurt his victims mentally, torturing his prey with terrible nightmares of pain and despair. Only after the men and women had been driven insane and were literally begging for death, would Dracula end their torment.

High above, sat on the balconies, many of the viewers looked on at the performance through their binoculars. The long silver haired man, who had caught Stacey’s attention briefly before the performance had begun, looked down from his balcony. However, the man wasn’t watching the performance, his eye had turned to Chad. After several moments of observing him through his binoculars, the silver-haired man took them down from his line of vision. The man’s eyes narrowed as he gazed upon Chad with his own eyes.

Several hours later the performance came to an end, with the infamous vampire hunter Van Helsing failing in another of his attempts to rid the world of his arch nemesis. As the lights in the auditorium came back on, the crowd rose to it’s feet and thunderous applause filled the theatre. Everyone was clapping and cheering wildly apart from Chad, who was clearly unimpressed by what he’d just seen. Stacey noticed Chad’s lack of enthusiasm and nudged him with her elbow. Chad finally began clapping but with a little less heart and passion than the others.

Long after the performance had ended and the galleries had dispersed out of the theatre, the lead conductor of the performance stood in the middle of the stage. He was a man in his late forties and looked someone of great importance. He wore thin glasses that were edged on the end of his long beak of a nose and he wore a slightly old-fashioned suit, one that looked like it was from a time gone by.

“What a lovely performance that was tonight,” said the man.

“Yes it was indeed an intriguing tale,” spoke a male voice from behind a curtain that was just off stage to the right. The silver-haired man, who had watched the performance from the balcony high above Chad and Stacey, emerged from behind the curtain. On closer view, this was no ordinary man. It was Lucius of the realm of Underworld.

Since his battle with Auron in the Dark Forest two years earlier, he had come to Earth through the gateway that led between the two worlds and which lay within the Wilderness. He did this under the orders of his king, Kanto. He had remained on Earth for the majority of the time since. The exact reason for his presence on Earth remained a mystery. Only Kanto and Lucius knew the true purpose of why he was here.

Lucius continued to talk about the performance. “A story of tragedy, despair and also…of love.”

“Love? I didn’t see any love in the performance,” said the theatre conductor.

“You misunderstand my interpretation of love,” replied Lucius. “The story of Dracula’s love is truly a gripping tale.”

“Sure…if you say so,” said the conductor who sounded very puzzled. He continued on “So how was Tokyo? I hear it was eventful?”

“Yes the vermin was in attendance,” answered Lucius.

“What do you mean?” asked the conductor.

“You know vermin? Rats I believe you call them? And like all vermin, if you leave a few bread crumbs, they shall fall into your lap.”

“You always speak in riddles,” replied the conductor, sounding more confused than ever.

“It is of no importance to you little man. Did you obtain the artefact I requested?”

“Yes sir it is in the back, shall I get for you?”

“Yes,” said Lucius candidly.

The conductor began to set off towards the curtain, which led off the stage. As the conductor walked alongside Lucius, the silver-haired man held out his arm into the conductor’s path, stopping him in his tracks.

“One more thing I wanted to ask?”

“What is it?” asked the conductor.

“Did you see a strange young man, and a pretty lady in the crowd today. Two newcomers?” asked Lucius, who referred to Chad and Stacey.

“Pretty lady? Shall I arrange a meeting?”

During Lucius’ stay on Earth, he had become acquainted with many women it would seem, and the conductor appeared to know Lucius a little better than a theatre conductor simply speaking to a regular audience member. “A meeting shall not be required.”

“As you wish.”

“Strange, the male who was with her. I have long searched for him,” said Lucius, who sounded deeply intrigued by Chad’s presence at the theatre.

“Do you know him?” asked the conductor.

“You might say that,” said Lucius. The silver haired man now began to talk to himself, just as if he was talking to another person. “Never would I have imagined running into you in a place like this my old friend. It must be fate.”

“Sir you must be tired,” said the conductor who began to think that it was fatigue behind the silver-haired man’s strange behaviour.

Lucius continued to speak aloud to himself. “Soon Dracula will enter your dreams, and your dreams shall become your reality.”

The conductor, who was now clearly freaked out by Lucius’ odd behaviour, began to tiptoe away to the curtain, which led off the stage. Lucius, without even turning around to face the man, shouted out to him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

The conductor began to stutter. “I…erm…”

“Bring me the artefact, I must make haste.”

“So you’re not staying?” asked the conductor, who didn’t sound too disappointed by the prospect of this.

“No I will be leaving tonight, the vermin must be done away with before they become more than simply a pest.”

The conductor stood for a few moments, again trying to figure out the riddles in which Lucius spoke in. “Bring me the artefact!” shouted Lucius, who was becoming increasingly impatient with the conductor.

“Yes sir!” answered the man; fear was now edged in his voice. He rushed off through the curtain in order retrieve the object that Lucius demanded.

Lucius, who was alone for the first time, gave a distinct look of displeasure. He simply wished to reign destruction on this world, but Kanto, his king, had grander plans for Earth and so the white-haired man had to bid his time. The conductor rushed back onto the stage carrying a stone gem, around the size of a fist. He placed it into Lucius’ hand and smiled, almost like a dog would do when returning a stick that had been thrown by its master. The conductor simply looked for praise or some acknowledgement that Lucius was no longer angry with him.

“Leave!” Lucius barked at him. The man quickly rushed off back through the curtain. Lucius slowly walked to the edge of the stage, near to where the front row of seats where stationed. He held out the stone in his right hand. The stone omitted a yellow glow, similar to that of which the dagger with the dragon shaped head had done that James had discovered in the tower over two years earlier.