Yes, another twisted tale from yours truly. But really, what else could you expect from me at this point?

Well, I would like to apologize for not updating in so long. Life keeps us busy sometimes doesn't it? But I hope that this new story makes up for it a little.

WARNING: Contains some blood and violence, its Dracula after all. It's gonna be scary

P.S. This is AU. The setting starts out in Transylvania and the time is 1477. And yes I have been reading the original Bram Stoker's Dracula. That should give you a pretty big hint as to what direction the story will take and who Vlad will be playing as. *wink, wink*

Dracula's Journal

December of the year 1477

What have I done? What have I become? An eternal horror seizes me, even this every moment, as I pen these accursed words. All is dark around me, all is cold. I am alone. Utterly and infinitely alone! I cry for hours on end but no amount of tears can soothe me.

Alcohol and wine, which I have engorged by the barrel, no longer has any effect on me. And my spirit! If there is indeed any human soul left in me, has been gnawed away by memories I can not chase away.

This image of her that I wanted to banish forever now haunts me every moment. It is a curse! She will make of me what I have dreamed of being in my moments of anger!

Only the creatures of the night hear my cries and testify to my terror. I will soon fall into madness and become the obedient puppet of the demon inside me, the demon who denies my gaze when I search of it in the mirror, the demon who tortures me at the morning's glow forcing me under the earth and into the darkness.

I am no longer human, of this I am sure. I can feel it in my icy flesh and in the hollow of my chest where the beating of my heart has seized to exist. Only hunger remains and it comes whenever I think of the truly alive and I can not resist the intoxication that comes from appeasing this hunger, even as I contemplate its horror.

This is why I must write, if only to preserve what little sanity I have remaining. To put down on these pages my history, my original era of being, so that the madness can not make who I am, or who I was, disappear…

It was I, Vlad Tepes, nay! Vlad Dracula who conquered this land. Of all the warriors I was the most ferocious and most feared. It was I who won impossible and decisive victories, leading to the deaths of hundreds of my comrades. At the mere mention of my name, my enemies trembled. A the sight of my banner, they fled.

It was always the same. War. Bloodshed. Victory.

This pagan land was conquered in the name of God, but in truth it had nothing to do with saintly beliefs. For we did not show the mercy of God, but rather destroyed everything in the wantonness of power and cruelty.

Entire villages were burned. The shrill screams and piercing cries of women and children rang high in the air. Roads were boarded with cadavers hanging from gallows. Hundreds of erect stakes stood pointing to the heavens, dripping with blood like wine from a press.

Children, women, elders, so many innocent lambs sacrificed in these wars of terror.

Everywhere we marched the odor of decaying carrion mixed with the nauseating stench of burnt human flesh lingered. Bloated, bent, and broken bodies eaten by worms. And so much blood…

Victory in these lands came to he who showed the most determination in the face of the horrors of atrocities, he who was first to instill a supernatural terror in their enemy, regardless of the price.

And it was me.

Thus came peace, but certain men aren't made for peace.

When the wars had ceased I had them come and stay at my castle, the knights who had fought at my side, as well as their families. In this devastated land it was the only dignified residence for these brave warriors and their noble dames.

It was then that I saw her. Madeline. The daughter of one of my fallen comrades. She was everything. I saw nothing but her. It was she who filled the castle with enchanting light and warmth. Her beauty transformed the world, transformed people.

She was, at the same time, the ultimate happiness and the most destructive suffering when I had to stand next to her without being able to kiss her and embrace her and make her mine.

Thus my court was started, propelled by a total and sincere love. But voices came to her. Voices that recounted the war and its battles. That recounted villages burned with pleasure and the abominable tortures performed under my command.

That recounted the hundreds of innocents decapitated in a move of anger. That recounted foremost, my cruel laughter in this bloodbath.

Despite my efforts to make her share my passion I was greeted with a coldness marked with disgust. Mostly I wanted to show her the light of love in the depths of my eyes. Mostly she saw the blackness of death.

And then he came, larger than life in every sense of the word. My old friend Jack, rejoining us after the battle and, with handsome shield still in hand, turned the heads of the ladies with every step.

Generous and likeable, he shone in peacetime as I had once made him to during wartime.

He and Madeline became inseparable. He held her arm and she called him, "my lordship." He praised God with the excitement and joy of a child and she drank in his words.

But hadn't I also served God? Hadn't I risked death a million times for his glory? And yet it was to this oaf that God gave the right to charm my beloved, my only one, in his name?

Thus, a hellish rage grew in me, and in the bitterness of my heart I cursed him. In the depths of my soul I broke all ties to God and swore to combat his defenders with ten times more vigor than ever his enemies.

It was then that the thirst for vengeance grew in me and I felt myself becoming a beast.

The castle's inhabitants looked at me with a growing fear, my foul temper having much to do with it. I began to whip clumsy servants or those who delayed in carrying out my orders. My brother's in arms turned from me.

Next came the marriage announcement that threw me into the abyss of despair and hatred. Jack and Madeline announced their engagement and thus, their imminent wedding. Everyone present applauded the news and I felt the mocking and condescending looks drift over me, the inevitable lot of the spurned lover.

At that moment, right before my eyes, the red veil of anger and blood fell.

I managed, however, to contain my despair and fury and invited the whole court to a great banquet to be given the next day in honor of the would be wedded couple. I retired then and, during all the preparations, I was convulsed with pain and hatred, alone in my chamber to cultivate my fury.

When the evening came and in the absence of Madeline who had left to put on a dress that I had previously offered, I proposed a toast at the banquet table, having already ordered the servants to leave the hall in order to allow only the guests of noble lineage to remain.

As the knights and dames, all without exception, raised their goblets to their lips I began a speech of the hypocrisy they had shown in the name of God and of the true villainy they did for his glory.

How dare they pray while the wine that they drank came from land soiled by the blood of innocents massacred as they said, "in the name of God"!

How dare they laugh at me, the lord of this castle! I who nourished them and who had won them a lifetime of affluence in troubled times!

None answered. But this was due to the drug I had obtained from a local hag which I had poured into the goblets, paralyzing them although they could still see and hear perfectly.

Only my cup and that of Jack's had been spared.

He sprung up and demanded my repentance. I laughed in the face of this buffoon as he clamored with the kind of hate that I had experienced after he stole my loved one.

My emotions, contained for so long and so deeply, exploded.

I bounded across the room and threw myself onto my rival like a savage beast. My hands clasped with his as I tried to hold him down but the force of his conviction began to make me lose my grip.

It was thus that I sealed my demonic pact with blood.

With all the strength of my hatred and fury I threw my jaws into my adversary's neck. I plunged my canines deeply into his flesh and binged on the vital liquid as the predator feeds from his prey.

An unnatural intoxication swept over me as I felt the grasp on my arms release. Yet I could not bring myself to tear away from this crimson fountain from which I had imbibed.

When the source dried up I separated myself from the pale carcass and stood up, face stained with scarlet trails, and stalked towards my guests now rigid and feverish.

But as I walked towards them I was overcome with wild visions of stakes, gallows, and decapitations.

Half mad and blood drunk, I armed myself with the sword leaning against my chair and, leaping onto the table, began a dance of death in which each of my twirls was greeted by a fountain of blood flowing up from the necks of my captives.

Undoubtedly attracted by my shrieks of laughter Madeline entered the hall and witnessed the scene. I attempted to explain that my infinite love for her was the source of everything and that this spectacular and unimaginable horror was the proof.

But she was determined not to hear me and fled up the stairs above the dungeon and I pursued her, all the while, proclaiming my love.

When I caught up with her on the crenulated roof, in the feeble glow of the moonlight, she screamed into the wind all of the hatred she felt for me that I could not respond to but with words of love.

As I stepped forward to finally claim my prize Madeline threw herself into the void, into the mist that masks the cliffs encircling the castle.

I sunk to the ground divided between an incredible force that I felt growing inside me and the sadness of an unfathomable black pit into which I fell, body and soul, and which, with jealousy and hatred, I had dug myself.

July 21st, 1898

It is incredible! After centuries of sadness and resignation, hope has been reborn in me! I feel the palpitations of love take possession of my spirit!

The phantom memory of my adored darling that I searched in vain through evil pleasures and impossible flirtations I can now see in my mind and contemplate with delight!

After crossing oceans of time and seas of hopelessness I have seen the face of my dear Madeline back from the dead! Alas, it was only a picture, but in it she remains unchanged from so many years ago. Still so beautiful…

I will soon be journeying to London where my beloved awaits. Soon she will be by my side where she was always meant to be.

Wow. This took me soooo long! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Poor Vlad! All he wanted was love! *cries uncontrollably*

And I know what you're thinking. Where the heck is Danny in all this? Patience my friends, patience. He will be entering the story soon as Van Hellsing's young apprentice and the young hero we all know him as!

He may also be Vlad's one change at redemption…

So stayed tuned to find out! Oh, and one more thing. The rest of the story will be told from my Pov. as the author or from Danny or Vlad's pov. There probably won't be another dairy entry like this one. This was only used the beginning. It's special.

REVIEW!