Inside Of Me

[Yazoo]

When a group of archaeologists find the remains of Vlad Tepes, also known as Vladitmere Dracula on one of their expeditions, they have no idea what they're unleashing upon the world.

Dracula sets out to find Jace, the decendant of one of his three late brides with every intention to make him his. What's an a-sexual gothic boy to do when he has a vampire lusting after his body?

Both humour and angst packed in one as Vlad Dracula abandons his gory ways to become Jace's history teacher to worm his way into both Jace's heart and pants.

[Yazoo]

“Andrew! Look what I found!” John calls over to the leader of the expedition.
Andrew looks up, his pale blonde hair almost white in the harsh sunlight of the Romanian climate. Making his way to the dark-haired man, he motions for the two others, Laku and Pete, to join him.
The three crowd around the brown haired and green-eyed John as the man excitedly bounces from one foot to another. Andrew smiles as he sees a crack in the wall of the monastery which they overlooked. The crack seems big enough for a child to squeeze through.
”Finally…” the blonde man sighs as Pete and John exchange high-fives. Their search for Vlad the Tempe’s remains might be drawing to an end faster then they thought.
After hours of carefully removing more of the wall, the group stands before a hole big enough for even the tall and broad sandy blonde Pete to fit through.
”Come on then.” Andrew smiles at his small but fast team, flicking on his flashlight with a soft click. “Let’s get in, shall we?”
After the chorus of agreement and identical clicking of flashlights being turned on, Andrew cautiously grabs hold of the wall, moving one foot into the hole slowly. His foot moves lightly over the floor; he can feel some remains of the wall which they broke off, before he gets into the hole slowly, crouching as he tests the floor, shining around his flashlight.
Cobwebs hang onto the unsteady looking walls thickly, vermin crawling and running around. The ceiling is high and clouded by darkness, but probably just as unsteady as the walls seem to be.
”Wow…” Andrew breathes out, slowly rising to his full height before he cautiously moves forwards, inspecting the walls to check if they aren’t ready to crumble at any given movement. They’re not.
”Come on in guy’s, but be careful.” Andrew murmurs softly, wiping away some cobwebs to inspect more of the walls.
Slowly and just as carefully as Andrew, the other three come into the dark room, their flashlights moving around in front of them, lighting up several parts.
Pete scrunches up his nose slightly as dust enters it, before looking around like John and Laku.
”Come on, guys! Let’s see if we can find anything so we can continue on from here!” Andrew whispers excitedly.
Laku steps over some piles of rotten wood, wincing as cobwebs stick to his brown khaki pants.
”What do you recon this used to be?” John asks, inspecting some shards in a corner of the room.
”Probably just an old storage room, come on!” Andrew whispers urgently. The sooner they finish this expedition, the faster he can return to his son.
Laku shakes his head at his friends impatience but helps Andrew search the walls, weaving thick cobwebs away with his darkly tanned hand to see if there’s a passage

[Yazoo]

behind them that may lead to another wall while Pete and John continue to search the floor for any remains to proof what exactly the room was.
Andrew winces as he steps on a shard. His boot protects his foot from damage, but there might be some small shards in the sole of his boot. Letting out a sigh, he takes his attention from the wall to lift his foot and point his flashlight at the sole. Then he frowns. There’s not a single shard there.
Directing the flashlight to the floor, he sees the broken shard lying in several pieces, though half of it looks like dirt. “That’s strange…” he murmurs under his breath. Why would it have cracked so loudly if it was only dirt?
Shaking his head, Andrew figures the crack probably came from one of the others, before he continues searching the walls again.
Pete and John grin at each other as they play around with shards seemingly belonging to a pot, fitting them together. The shards are quite big and there are only three of them, so they’re done easily. When they fit, they frown slightly.
”Hey, look at this you guys!” Pete calls out softly at Andrew and Laku.
Andrew and Laku share a look before pausing what they’re doing and walking to the two. Finding their team mates with the shards, they roll their eyes slightly.
Pete and John are pretty new to archaeology, and this is only the second find for Pete and the fourth for John. It’s no wonder they get exited by the smallest things… Though the looks on Pete and John’s faces are far from exited, if anything, they look confused.
“What is it?” Laku asks, crouching down while Andrew goes back to inspecting the walls.
”Look at this!” John says urgently, pointing at something on the cracked pot.
Laku shines his flashlight over what John points at. A small sign is carved into the pot, a dragon which seems to have faded over time.
Laku grins, before shining his flashlight at Andrew. “Looks like we’re on the right path, ‘Drew. The sign of the Order of the Dragon is on this thing.”
Andrew blinks, abandoning the walls at once to inspect the pot while Pete and John look at each other questionably.

[Yazoo]

”Order of the Dragon?” Pete asks, even more confused now. “What’s that? I’m sure I’ve heard something of before, but-“
”Both Vlad the third and his father, Vlad the second were in it, idiot.” Andrew rolls his eyes while running his fingers over the pot, pressing several points. “Don’t you do any research before going on an expedi- huh?”
The four gawk as the parts of the pot that Andrew pressed crumble with small cracks, ending in dirt at the inside of the now fully ruined pot.
John frowns slightly, reaching in and picking some of the dirt up. “It’s just earth… but how? How can normal earth be changed into a whole pot and survive over so many years? If it would’ve been thickened with water then the pot shouldn’t be here anymore, and if it was baked that shouldn’t have destroyed it…”
”Unless, of course…” Andrew frowns.
”The pot wasn’t that old…” Laku finishes, also frowning.
Pete looks around at his frowning comrades “So… somewhere put it in here recently? But why? How? It doesn’t seem like anyone has been here recently…”
Andrew sighs, watching John dust the earth off of his fingers “Let’s just continue to look for a way to continue, okay?”
The four each take a part of the room for themselves, cleaning and searching, testing the walls if they can be moved, and knocking softly to see if there is an open space behind them.
After hours of searching, the small group sits down together, batting rats and spiders away.
”God… I’m so hungry…” Pete groans, rubbing his rumbling stomach.
Andrew rolls his eyes, but can’t help but smile slightly at the younger man in front of him. “That’s why we’re pausing, idiot.” He laughs softly.
Laku smiles, taking off the bag he has carried on his back all this time, and opens it, taking out some boxed lunches and bottles of water and handing them around.
”Dear old Laku, the housewife of the group.” John grins, happily opening his lunchbox and taking out his cheese and cucumber sandwich.

[Yazoo]

”Yes, though I don’t think I could’ve handled making enough food to fill up Pete.” Laku jokes.
”Hey! It’s not my fault I have big bones!” Pete protests, taking out his own salami sandwich.
”Calm down, children, just eat now.” Andrew smiles, taking out his apple.
”Yes, mom.” The other three chorus, making Andrew’s eye twitch, though he’s wise enough not to reply, least he be pummelled with more ‘mom’ jokes.
After taking enough time to fill themselves with food and water, relaxing a bit and battling away more vermin, the group starts their search again.
”This seems easier with a full stomach.” Pete smiles slightly, rapping his knuckles over a wall softly, putting his ear against it to hear a possible echo.
”Everything seems easier on a full stomach.” John chuckles, trying to get some cobwebs off of his hand.
”Yes, even seeing a trapdoor in the floor seems easier on a full stomach.” Laku blanks, crouched on his knees, inspecting the trapdoor.
Andrew, John and Pete look up at him surprised.
”A trapdoor?” Andrew repeats. Why, oh why didn’t he think of actually inspecting the floor, only inspecting the walls!? He figures he watched too many movies which had their trapdoors in the walls…
Laku nods, beckoning the others over with one hand as the other hand carefully removes the dirt and dust from the trapdoor. It seems to be made of a thin rock, and has the remains of papers sticking to it, though naturally, not much of the paper is left.
Andrew, Pete and John stand by, watching Laku reveal more and more of the trapdoor carefully. Laku smiles as the trapdoor is fully revealed. It’s a square, and not a big one either.
Andrew blinks at it “Hey… where’s the handle?” he leans closer to the trapdoor, inspecting it carefully, fingers fluttering over the thin flat stone lightly. A part of it is rough, showing that there has been something there before.

[Yazoo]

John sighs as Andrew shares the news. “Well… someone must’ve wanted to guard those bones pretty well… wonder if there’s gold there too or anything… How do we lift it now?”
Pete licks his lower lip, running his index finger past the side of the stone “I think we can lift it like this… it doesn’t look so heavy. I’d say we shove it aside, but the floor is higher then this stone is…”
”Well then? What are we waiting for?” Andrew grins “Let’s get this thing off.”
The four of them take one side each, wriggling their fingers under it as far as they can, before pulling… the stone doesn’t budge.
”What the hell!?” John yells, letting go of the stone. “It doesn’t even look that heavy! Did they attach it to the hole or something!?”
”Seems like it.” Laku sight, rubbing at his sore and now scraped fingers.
Andrew sighs, getting on his knees and placing his face almost on top of the dirty floor. “It looks like they used cement, we’ll have to cut it away.”
”Then cut it away we will.” John growls, making Pete frown.
”What’s gotten into you, John?” he questions “Why are you suddenly so aggressive?”
John lets out a sigh before taking a few deep gulps of air “We might be very close to doing what no one else ever did; find Vlad the Tepes’ remains, and then we get something like this!” he grits out “It’s just so frustrating!”
Andrew places a hand on John’s shoulder. “Calm down, Jonathan,” he says calmly, using John’s full name “all of us feel the same way, so just calm down.”
John nods, letting out a shivering breath “I know, I know, I’m sorry, it’s just…” he doesn’t finish his sentence, looking at the ground instead “I just want to be able to go home to my family with something achieved… Rachel’s pregnant again you know…”
Pete’s eyes widen “Why didn’t you say anything!? You could’ve skipped out on this one, you know! And you could’ve stayed home to take care of your wife!”
John smiles slightly, shaking his head. “I’d rather go back with a big discovery on my name so I’d have the money to take care of her.” He chuckles lowly.
”Well, whatever the thing is, we need to keep going. I also have a kid I need to get back to so don’t let him wait, understand?” Andrew commands.

[Yazoo]

The others nod before they get out their materials again, starting to hack away at the stone.

After a while, the stone is removed, showing a square hole even smaller then the stone is.
Andrew frowns slightly as they direct their flashlights into it. A stone staircase is revealed, some parts of the staircase have broken away over time, leaving it unstable, even more so then the walls.
”Do you recon its safe to use?” John wonders, reaching into the hole to press his hand against the stone staircase.
Pete shrugs, looking at Andrew and Laku. Laku shrugs back at Pete, while Andrew gets up from his previously crouched position. “Only one way to find out, right?”
John and Pete look at Andrew in awe as the older man carefully steps on the top of the stairs, while Laku smiles knowingly. He has known Andrew for a close thirteen years now, and never in his life has he seen the man back down on a new challenge.
The three watch as Andrew steps down carefully, holding onto the rim of the hole with one hand, the other hand making the flashlight point down to see the next step.
Slowly and carefully Andrew moves down the stone steps with a racing heart, stumbling here and there, but managing to catch himself just in time each time. He only dares to let out a breath of relief as he is standing on the ground.
Pointing his flashlight up at the three hanging over the hole, he cracks a smile. “Safe.” He breathes out, heart rate returning to normal again before he starts to move his flashlight around him.
The room he’s in now is smaller then the room upstairs and seems if possible, even more unstable. The walls are wet and covered with mould, spiders crawling over cobwebs that hang from the ceiling like drapes.

[Yazoo]

Rats scatter away as Andrew walks around, hearing John come down carefully.
“Quite the crappy place here, isn’t it?” John murmurs, looking around as he moves his flashlight to the stairs to help Laku see where he’s going better.
”I think it’s brilliant.” Andrew breathes, trying to pick cobwebs from his fingers. “Absolutely brilliant…” he crouches down next to a pile of shards that probably used to belong to the same kind of pots as the shards upstairs did. The earth covering parts of the shards only confirms this thought.
That, however, makes him wonder. How did the shards get here? Again they shouldn’t still be here if they were as old as these chambers look, and if they are newer then that, then how did they get here? Is there another entrance? Because their entrance looked like it hadn’t been used since it was created.
“Yes, absolutely brilliant, this dirty place is, especially the mould, nice mould you know.” John mumbles, scrunching up his nose.
Laku laughs slightly “Don’t be so hard on Andrew, John. He likes places like this because they’re old and seem untouched. Which is good, by the wa-ah!” Laku stumbles slightly as part of the stairs gives out under him, sending him to the floor faster then he expected getting there.
”Dear sweet mother in heaven, Laku! Are you alright?” John asks, crouching down next to his tanned friend.
Laku gets up with a slight groan. “Yeah, though I don’t think those stairs will be able to hold much more.” He points at the part that gave out “Never knew I was that heavy.” He jokes.
”Jesus Christ, Laku, don’t fool around after something like this…” John mumbles, rubbing the back of his head as he stands straight again. “Gave me quite a scare there too.”
”Sorry John, couldn’t help it.” Laku chuckles slightly, dusting himself off.
”Do you recon its safe for me to go down?” Pete calls down from where he’s still upstairs.
”I honestly don’t know, Pete.” Laku frowns slightly.
It would be a lie to call Pete skinny or even slim. He’s overweight but with muscle in stead of fat.

[Yazoo]

Pete lets out a sigh “I thought so… well, I guess I’ll just wait up here for you guys then!” he says the last part in mock-cheerfulness, forcing a grin on his face that looks even less real under the fake light the flashlights create.
“I hate to break it to you, but I think that might be best…” Laku murmurs, eying the stairs distrusting. Just how are they going to get back up? Will the stairs hold them all once again or will they crumble completely?
“Come on, guys!” Andrew calls. “If you have the time to chit-chat here, then you have time to look for the next room! We didn’t come this far just to stop here, understand?”
John looks at Pete in apology before turning away from the other to help Andrew and Laku in their search.
’It’s not fair…’ Pete thinks, watching his –dare he say it?- friends search for the room he isn’t allowed to enter. ‘We came this far together! What if they do find Vlad’s remains? Or something else that’s an equally big event? Even if my name will be on the list of archaeologists participating in the search, people will ask me questions I won’t ever be able to answer because I was stopped half-way by my weight!?’
Only when it’s quiet on the level below him, does Pete stop his mental rant to look down with the help of his flashlight. It is only then that Pete realises he’s alone.
‘They left me!’ Pete thinks with a frown. ‘They just upped and left without a word!’ Though Pete knows that if either his good friend John or dear Laku told him they were leaving, that he wouldn’t have heard them anyway; too focussed on thinking. Pete doesn’t even dare to think that Andrew, in the face of new discovery, would remember him long enough to tell him they’re going ahead.
Pete shines his flashlight around, trying to find out where the others left off to. Not finding anything, Pete figures that it’s somewhere behind the stairs; out of his view.
Biting his lip, Pete starts to think. He wants to go down too, but what if the stairs give out? It’s an amazing feat that they managed to stay almost completely whole up until now.

[Yazoo]

Breathing in the dry and humid air, Pete lets out a long sigh. ‘What to do, what to do…’
He can already imagine himself on the television, answering questions about the remains of Vlad the Tepes, answering questions about the treasures hidden with the remains! Questions he’d only be able to answer because he was there…
Well, that’s the first option. The second option is that the stairs will indeed give out under him and that the black-haired man will be buried under stone and dust. Even if Pete would survive something like that, the state he would be in would make it impossible for him to go move anymore.
‘But this can’t be the end.’ Pete thinks determined, straightening himself so he’s standing in front of the hole at which the stairs start. ‘This can’t be the en of my career! Not when it barely started!’
The strain Pete unknowingly put on his shoulders lessens as a sound echo’s through the now empty room underneath the one he is at; the sound of a foot stepping on the stone steps.
One step, then another, then another. Slowly, more and more steps sound as Pete shakily starts to make his way down the stairs, trying to ignore the movements in the old stone and the small parts breaking off.
’Yes… this is it, it’s going great!’ A slow smile spreads over Pete’s lips. ‘I’ll be able to answer questions too! I’ll see the remains too! The treasure! Hold on guys, hold-‘
Laku winces as he hears the sound of stones crashing down in the previous room. “I guess those stairs finally did crumble…”
”Yeah, I just hope Pete is alright…” John adds, paling slightly at the thought of his friend being harmed.
”Of course he is.” Andrew rolls his eyes “He wouldn’t be as stupid as to actually try the stairs so he’ll be fine. Maybe a bit shocked, but that’s it.”
”If you say so…” Laku and John glance at each other warily before continuing the search.
Unbeknownst to them, Pete is laying under several piles of stone, not moving, not breathing. While Pete himself chose option one, fate chose option two…

[Yazoo]

Andrew, Laku and John gaze at the room they enter in awe. They have been walking with just the three of them for quite a while now, never once coming to the subject of the fallen stairs; their only known way out and the place where their friend is.
“This is… remarkable!” Andrew smiles broadly, his eyes gazing over the room like a child’s eyes follows a cookie.
Surprisingly well-kept linen is draped throughout the entire room; hanging from the ceiling and draped past the walls. If it isn’t for the small holes in the material and the old smell it emits, one can easily think of the linen as new.
“How… How have these things been kept so well over time?” John asks in awe, reaching out to touch the soft-looking linen.
However soft the material appears however, it feels rough to the brunette’s hands though that is only to be expected if it’s actually been there for how long the room is.
“I honestly don’t know…” Andrew murmurs, eying the room appreciating.
“With all that has been happening and all that we’ve been seeing I wonder if this isn’t just some kind of sad joke…” Laku murmurs with a small sigh.
”Or a movie!” John says exited “What if we stumbled upon a set and we’re being filmed? We can be stars, guys! Rich movie stars!”
The growl coming from Andrew shuts them up. “Don’t be foolish!” the blonde man scoffs at the two “No one is skilled enough to set up this kind of joke and there isn’t even any reason to do so! And a set? Old pass ways of a monastery aren’t used for sets John, and you know it.”
Laku winces at the harsh tone used by his best friend “Relax, ‘Drew. But don’t you feel the same? I mean; dirt pots being well-kept, linen that isn’t rotting away yet… These rooms look old and like no one has entered them for decades, nor has there been any signs of another exit! It’s just not real!”
”To rot linen water is needed, and the air feels dry, that may be a reason…” Andrew trails off, not sounding all that sure himself. And even if he can explain the linen, he can’t explain the pots.

[Yazoo]

“Do you guys believe in magic?” John pipes up, breaking the serious atmosphere created by Andrew and Laku and earning himself some disbelieving looks. “You know! Magic and monsters! The supernatural stuff!” the brunette happily continues.
Andrew shakes his head, an amused chuckle escaping through his lips. “Let’s just find out by going through with this if it’s real or not, okay?” he compromises, eyes going back to the room again. “Though with all the linen in the way it’s bound to be pretty hard…”
”If there is a next room…” Laku interrupts with a frown on his face.
”Of course there is a next room!” John grins “We still have to fight the monsters!”
Andrew and Laku can’t help but to smile slightly at John’s attempts to lighten the mood. Leave it to the youngest of the three to stay positive and child-like even when things look like this.
“Well, let’s get going then, shall we?” Andrew suggests, pushing some of the linen aside to get further into the room, only to be met with more linen.
Laku and John nod at Andrew’s back before starting to push linen aside as well to move to another side of the room.

[Yazoo]

Surprisingly, it doesn’t take all that long for John to call out that he found something; maybe a minute or ten. However, getting to John proves to take a little longer then that because they can’t see the brunette who can’t keep calling out of fear of shaking up the room.
When they do reach John however, Andrew and Laku are pleasantly surprised. The last few rooms had the three searching for a door in a strange room, but now the trio is standing in front of a hole in the wall, shaped like a door to a passage way.
“Well… that wasn’t too hard.” Andrew blinks, slightly disappointed. It’s looking for the passage ways that make this work interesting. He can still remember the time that the way to the next room was actually in the ceiling. It’s obstacles like that that make him believe that there’s actually something at the end of the search; something worth all the trouble they’re going through.
“No it wasn’t…” Laku frowns slightly. Could it be that there’s an exit somewhere near? Where there two openings somewhere in this underground maze and did they fail to take the right one? Or maybe their ultimate treasure; the remains of Vlad the Tepes they’re looking for, is in one of the rooms they previously passed? Hidden and out of plain eye’s view.
John shrugs at the reaction of his two friends. “It doesn’t matter, does it? It’s the way to the next room; that’s all that matters.” The man doesn’t really believe the ridiculous ideas he gave the two before; he grew out of monsters and magic when he turned eleven. The brunette doesn’t think this is a set either. Stardom isn’t for people like them, he reasons, though if they actually find what they’re looking for that might just as well change. If they find the remains of Vlad the Tepes, then there is fame for them; immortality in books that are yet to come. With all the research and the failed attempts at getting anywhere, John thinks hat the fame is rightfully theirs.

[Yazoo]

John has been with Andrew and Laku since the two started to search for the legendary remains of Vlad. Their first try at going out and finding them was his first time on a true expedition. This, however, is the first time that he is ultimately convinced there is something here, waiting to be found and exposed to the world. His group is going to find the remains of the legendary Vladitmere, and that’s it.
Laku’s head snaps up as the tanned man strains his ears. Andrew and John look at him strangely, but don’t comment on it. Laku has been under heavy training since he was young; training to sharpen the senses of his body and to train the mind. There is no doubt about it that his senses work best over the three of them.
”Do you hear that?” Laku asks quietly, glancing at Andrew and John.
”Do I hear… what?” Andrew blanches, tilting his head to the side slightly in question.
“I hear squeaking… I think. It’s pretty soft so I’m not all too sure, but it’s getting louder, like it’s moving here…”
Andrew narrows his eyes slightly, straining his ears to hear what Laku is able to hear. After only a few short moments, he can hear it too. “You’re right. It sounds like… mice?”
”M-Mice?” John stutters with a gulp, paling considerately. Back when he was a little boy, a virus-infected mouse once bit him. Fortunately for the brunette, the virus didn’t spread fast enough to be lethal, but it was strong enough to knock the boy off of his feet for two whole weeks. John has been scared of mice ever since then.
“Yes, I think so too…” Laku murmurs, nodding at Andrew in agreement. “That means that we’re either close to an exit, or that there’s at least a small hole somewhere near since I doubt there’s actually anything to eat around here…”
A small crack is heard and John jumps with a small yelp. Pointing his flashlight to the ground, as he’s sure he felt himself step on something, Andrew realises that he stepped on the small skull of a mouse. “Well… it’s not like it can feel that anymore…” he muses softly, making Laku snicker.
While that was a joke to both Andrew and Laku, to John it’s a sign. A sign that tells him to go back; to go home to his wife, daughter, and soon to be baby. Gone are the thoughts of fame as the man can only hear the sounds of squeaking and the cracking of the skull echoing through his head.

[Yazoo]

Noticing John isn’t following, Laku stops and turns around while tugging the sleeve of Andrew’s shirt to make the other do the same.
With a frown, Andrew turns around “John, what’re you doing? Hurry up!” the blonde scowls with a frown though he pays in mind to keep his voice down to keep the walls standing.
“C-Coming!” John stutters, not even trying to be brave as he speed-walks to the others, ignoring the sounds of small bones cracking under his weight as he walks the path that goes up slightly.
Andrew rolls his eyes at the obvious terrified male while Laku watches the other come closer sympathetically. The fake light coming from the flashlight only serves to make the brunette appear paler then he already is.
“We’ve come this far, John. This isn’t the time to be scared.” Andrew reprimands.
“Y-Yes…” John sighs, finally catching up to the other two. He shivers as he feels a mouse rush past him.
”Are you okay?” Laku asks as they start moving again, shining his flashlight on John.
John smiles at Laku nervously, the smile looking more like a grimace then anything else with the way the shadows of the fake light fall. “Not really. What if the mice transform into monsters?” he jokes shakily.
Laku laughs, shining the flashlight to the ground again, simply mistaking John’s fright for nervousness and paranoia of the unreal. “Don’t worry John, I don’t think they will. And if they do, they’ll eat Andrew first anyway.”
Andrew rolls his eyes; part annoyed, part amused. “And why, pray tell, would they eat me first?” he asks, humouring the two anyway.
“Because you’re the leader of course! You’re walking up front.” Laku says in a tone that implies that it’s the most logical thing in the world.
“Oh? Doesn’t the leader survive most of the time because he’s the hero of the story?” Andrew asks, turning his head to Laku slightly to look at the other sceptically.
“Not always. And even if you do survive you’ll get kidnapped and tortured for information you, of course, won’t give.” Laku grins at the older man.
“And what if the monsters attack from behind?” Andrew shoots back.
”Then… John’s screwed.” Laku shrugs “Unless the monsters attack from either the middle or all sides, I’m generally safe.”