ARABELLA SHOT UP, she found herself stuffed in a closet. She heard muffled voices on the other side of the door. Twisting around in her small space, Arabella ended up bashing her head against the side of the closet, resulting in a loud pained groan to escape her lips. The door flung open and Arabella almost fell out onto the wooden floor if it wasn't for the strong embrace that caught her. She looked up and locked her eyes on Dracula, who was smiling down at her. "I see your awake and well then, Arabella," he commented, his arms wrapped around her waist.

Arabella coughed softly, noticing the other people around the room. She winced at the sight of Dr Sharma and Yamini holding up makeshift crosses in their direction, yet she shielded herself using Dracula's chest. "What happened exactly?"

"You don't remember?" Dracula questioned. Arabella shook her head, furrowing her brow at Lord Ruthven pointing his gun at Dr Sharma. "To put a long story short, dearest, we've been exposed."

"Oh, dear," Arabella spoke, her voice quiet. "Does this mean you have to kill them?"

Dracula grinned, bending his head down to press a short yet passionate kiss to Arabella's lips. "Of course, my girl!"

"What's going on here then?" Arabella waved her hand around, gesturing towards Dr Sharma, Yamini and Lord Ruthven.

"Ah, well. Lord Ruthven, here, has become my partner of sorts. Dr Sharma and his daughter haven't taken to us warmly, to put it lightly."

"Understandable, surely?" Arabella pointed out. Dracula beamed with a nod, turning back to the mortal trio.

Lord Ruthven coked his gun at Dr Sharma's head. "Drop it! Do you hear me?!"

Dr Sharma quivered, yet didn't drop his cross. "I would see my daughter die before letting her become like you!" He declared.

"I wonder if you mean that," Lord Ruthven spoke mockingly as he approached the doctor, directing his gun to point at Yamini. "Drop the cross or I'll shoot her right in front of you."

Arabella furrowed her brow in anger and worry. "My Lord, that's a tad extreme-" Arabella began yet Dracula shushed her.

"You couldn't," Dr Sharma's face was etched with fear and worry.

Lord Ruthven sneered down at Sacha. "Surrender yourself to us, or I swear I will pull this trigger!"

"What's it to be, man of reason? Dead or undead?"

Dr Sharma closed his eyes, his breath trembling at a thought or memory in his head. He slowly lowered his cross with a shaky sigh. He spoke a quiet prayer in his foreign tongue. Arabella furrowed her brows as she watched Yamini over his shoulder. The young girl grabbed a small blue bottle and brought it to her mouth, gulping the entire contents. Sacha turned and began cursing and yelling protests at his daughter. Arabella gasped as Yamini groaned and coughed, her body growing weak as it became clear she had poisoned herself to avoid being murdered. Dr Sharma cried silently as he cradled his dead daughter's body in his arms. "This thing - this Dracula is only a monster. You were supposed to be a man," he seethed out through ragged breaths.

"I shall be more than a man," Lord Ruthven countered, looking down on Sacha once again. Dr Sharma yelled, shooting up from his place on the floor and tackling Lord Ruthven to the wall. Arabella winced and hid her head in Dracula's neck once she heard the gunshot. She didn't need to watch to know that Sacha had been shot - she only needed to hear the loud thud hitting the ground and Lord Ruthven's pants to know her 'friend' - if you can call him that - was dead.

Dracula sighed. "Now look what you've done," Dracula sneered out as he walked over to the lord.

"I did it for you," Lord  Ruthven's voice which was laced with fear complimented his wide terror-filled eyes. "I thought you'd chosen me?"

"I chose you," Dracula began, his hand wrapping around Lord Ruthven's jaw. "For Dorabella," his voice drawled out. "And now you've inherited her money, I'll inherit it from you...partner," Lord Ruthven shook his head, already knowing his fate. "Thank you for everything. Try and stay calm. You're doing very well," Dracula praised as the lord in his grip began crying. Dracula's plunged his fangs into Lord Ruthven's neck. Arabella gagged at the sight, turning her head away yet she could still hear the slurping and sucking that emitted from Dracula's assault on the corpse.

Hearing a knock at the door, she leaned closer to hear Piotr's voice calling fro Dr Sharma. When he didn't get a response, he pushed the door open, hiding Arabella behind it. He stood petrified as he witnessed Dracula's blood-stained mouth and the victim's ripped open throat. After a moment, Piotr finally ran out of the room after Dracula growled over his shoulder.

Arabella shut the door behind him. "I think you exhausted the blood supply already, dear," Arabella shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her hands on her hips. Dracula raised his head from Lord Ruthven's neck and nodded. He stood up, his chest heaving. Arabella's raked over his bloodied face and shirt. "Let's get you looking more... presentable, shall we?"

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Hours passed and it was now approaching midnight. Dracula was now clad in blood-free clothes and Arabella had wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and arms. The two lurked around the main deck, watching the remaining cabinmates sit in the circle of the sacred text, waiting for one of them to crack.

It wasn't long until Agatha started becoming sceptical of Piotr as he was to only one to watch Dracula murder Lord Ruthven and stepped into the circle before it was complete. She was a smart woman, Arabella had to admire her intellect. The other men too grew anxious of Piotr and ordered him to step out of the circle and step back in to ensure he was the real Piotr.

Of course, he was, but it was reluctant to leave in case Dracula or Arabella got to him before he could gain safety again in the circle. Dracula grew excited at the thought of Piotr stepping outside and was about to reveal himself, but Arabella stopped him. She clasped her hand around his bicep, pointing to Piotr's feet - only one was out of the circle - he wasn't complete vulnerable yet. That was until Agatha ordered him to leave completely.

And like the wind, Arabella and Dracula swooped in and shrieked at Piotr, causing all crewmates to scream, hauling Piotr back into the circle.

Arabella and Dracula laughed at their faces. "That was hilarious, wasn't it darling?"

Arabella nodded, clutching her sides. "Très drôle!"

Dracula grinned down his lover, linking his arm around her shoulder. "This again?" He nodded down to the circle. "Tedious book," he muttered.

"Are you just a one-trick pony, Agatha? I expected more from an intellectual like you," Arabella sarcastically spoke to the nun.

"I am if the trick works," Agatha countered, holding her head high, as if to look down upon the witch, but failing. "What do you want?"

"Ah," Dracula breathed out. "What I always want - something to eat, a bit of company."

Agatha stepped forward. "Your boxes have been destroyed. You have no refuge, no place of solace."

"I noticed one of my boxes is still being held below deck," Dracula commented.

"Oh, you're welcome to sleep in it anytime you like," Agatha raised a stake between the vampire and herself. "We won't wake you."

Dracula grinned. "I see. And what makes you think my dear Arabella here won't conjure me up some more boxes?"

Agatha smiled. "It's funny that you think we don't have plans for the witch," she nodded over to Yuri and Olgaren who held up chains and an anchor.

Arabella raised an eyebrow. "Very imaginative, I must say. Not seen this technique before," Arabella slowly clapped her hands. "We will miss you, Aggie."

"I'll spare you the heartache," 

"Too kind," Dracula simpered. "Well... I wonder which of you it's going to be. One of you is going to break. The night is young."

Adisa stepped forward declaring how idiotic it was - the idea of Arabelle being a witch and Dracula being a vampire. Dracula hauled his lover to the stairwell and pulled her into his lap. "He killed Tom Ruthven! The love of my life! Where is he?!"

"Fresh meat. Like the rest of them. One learns to keep a tidy slaughterhouse," Dracula teased Adisa.

An evil smirk grew on Arabella's lips. "Oh, Dracula. Stop teasing him. Adisa, do you wish to see your lover?"

"What are you doing?" Dracula whispered against the shell of her ear.

"You'll see," she whispered back as she watched Adisa nod with tearful eyes. Arabella grinned. "Very well," she rose from Dracula's knee and knelt in front of the circle. "May I borrow a few candles?" She pointed to three lit candles surrounding the sacred circle. Adisa rushed to grab them and placed them in front of her. She sent a silent thank you in his direction and extracted a few crystals, flowers and potions from her pockets - laying them around her. Finally, the last two items she displayed was a dagger and a small vile, which contained a few dark brown strands of hair that belonged to Lord Tom Ruthven. Arabella began muttered in tongues, her eyes flickering closed. Her hand wrapped around the handle of the dagger and drew the blade across her palm, dragging the blood across the wooden deck. She briefly heard Dracula's breathe hitch at the smell and sight of the red liquid oozing out of her palm. Everything was silent as Arabella finished her spell. Adisa went to speak but Arabella held her finger up to silence him, only to hear uneven heavy footsteps from below deck. Arabella smiled, rising to her feet and moving from the circle. "He's here," she sang.

The door leading up to the main deck flung open to reveal a sickly looking Lord Ruthven. His skin sagged when it should be tight, and it was tight were it should be loose. His once full head of brown locks was not messy and missing thick patches of hair. His neck was still bloodied from his murder. His brown eyes were now fully black and his once white teeth were rotting and yellow. His corpse stumbled up to the edge of the circle but stopped right in front of Adisa.

"Well, Adisa? Why don't you give your loverboy a kiss?" She cackled as Adisa screamed, stepping back to Dracula and sitting in his lap. "What? Don't you like my handiwork?"

"Ah, my dear, Arabella, you've outdone yourself. He's lovely," Dracula laughed, clinging onto Arabella's waist.

"You bitch!" Adisa screamed at Arabella, tears streaming down his eyes. This only caused Arabella to giggle. "What have you done to him?!"

Arabella mockingly pouted. "If you didn't like it, you shouldn't have agreed," she snapped her fingers and Lord Ruthven's undead body began to melt away, his blood, flesh and dissolved blood seeping into the gaps of the floorboards. "And I won't try and lick that, Dracula. It's rotten. It'll make you ill."

Dracula smiled. "Aw, thank you, my sweet. I do appreciate you looking out for me," he pressed a simple kiss to her temple before turning to Adisa. "If you're so angry, why don't you step out of the circle and dance with us?"

Adisa reached for his gun that laid in his jacket. Dracula continued to mock him until he finally stepped beyond the circle barrier. "Ah, I knew you could do it. Finally. Your own man at the end," Dracula grinned, still sitting on the stairs, yet he gently moved Arabella to sit beside him. 

"This is an execution. This is for Tom!" Adisa shouted, shooting three bullets into Dracula's chest then three in Arabella's. Both immortal beings remained unflinching and intact. Arabella turned to Dracula with a sickening smile.

"Ow," they both spoke in unison. Dracula rushed up to attack Adisa, his teeth sinking into his neck and draining him of his precious blood. He threw Adisa's lifeless body to the ground with a loud thud. Yuri, Olgaren and Piotr charged at him at full force, knocking Dracula to the lower deck. Arabella screamed, leaping from her seat. She watched Dracula struggled on the floor. 

Agatha shouted down to him with a candle in her hand. "Go to hell!" She threw the flame down at him, lighting him up. "You two, witch!" Agatha roughly pushed Arabella onto the lower deck. She landed on top of Dracula, the flames licking at her dress, cascading up her body and burning her fragile skin. The witch screamed in pain. She felt two strong, fiery arms wrap around her wriggling body and soon the heat left and was replaced with the chilly embrace of the seawater, the arms that saved her vanishing from her body.

Arabella continued to scream underwater from the stinging sensation. That was the closest trip to hell she had ever taken and she didn't fancy going the full journey. Soon, her lungs gave up on her and she fainted, her body sinking further in the depths of the water.

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very sorry for the very, very, VERY slow update. i've been rewatching Harry Potter and got hooked into this story i've been wanting to create for YEARS but never got round to it until now.