Dracula, Ergo, Terror!

  Chapter 2

  Saturday morning saw Ergo strolling across a tarmac of the Mesomorph Municipal airport to a small transport shuttle that sat waiting, with a humming engine and jets of steam erupting from various exhaust ports. Resembling a small airplane with massive cylindrical power units on each wing, it was designed for incredible speed for a limited number of passengers. Angst was in the control seat going through the pre-launch checklist while Henry was seated in the passenger area, re-reading through letters from his daughter, a dire look of concern etched on his face.

  Ergo found a seat, stowed his backpack under it, and buckled himself in. The California sky was bright and clear through the circular window, and all things considered he was anxious to begin the trip.

  “Ergo,” began Henry, “thank you. This means a great deal to me, and even though it might mean our certain deaths, I’m grateful you’re willing to make the sacrifice.”

  Ergo grimaced and nodded.

  Angst gave no warning, but merely completed his pre-launch sequence and then proceeded right into launch. The tiny craft rumbled, shot skyward a thousand feet, and then after a momentary pause, vaulted forward through the clouds. The speed was incredible but the ship was equipped with stabilizing features so for Ergo and the crew there was nothing noticeably different. The landscape zoomed past below them, and shortly Angst stepped back to check on the passengers.

  “We’ll be over Transylvania in about an hour,” he said sternly. “Once we land, we’ll meet with a carriage driver who will take us directly to the village.”

  “Who’s going to meet us there?” asked Ergo.

  “It was impossible to reach anyone in the village, so Henry arranged for transport from a service at the airport.”

  Henry nodded. “When I told the fellow on the phone where we wanted to go, he grew very quiet and initially refused to go there. I offered double, and he only agreed if it was conditional that he take us only to the far edge of the village. I questioned what it was that troubled him, but he would not say.”

  Ergo nodded. Time dawdled and he popped individual honey-roasted peanuts into his mouth as he watched clouds rip past. Across the aisle, Henry snored loudly. Indeed, the cabin was warm and comfortable, and Ergo closed his eyes and let his mind drift. His thoughts a complex tangle, he too was soon in a restless sleep, finding himself back in a time long ago, far out in the depths of space, at a particularly troubling point when he’d hung suspended in a weightless, airless environment, desperate for life. It seemed as if the end was very near when suddenly a pale hand reached out for his…

  A loud pinging noise rustled Ergo from his sleep and he opened his eyes, right away noticing the lights signaling to fasten safety belts. Angst’s voice thundered through the intercom.

  “Prepare for landing. We’re over Transylvanian airspace now.”