A familiar beeping noise caused two groans from two teens as it rang out through an empty house. The pair untangled themselves from each other; they had been making out on the sofa since they had the house to themselves as teenage couples tended to do. They sat up and Kim answered the Kimmunicator.
“What’s the sitch, Wade?” the redhead inquired as usual.
“Am I interrupting something?” Wade asked because the hero looked rather flushed in his opinion.
“What’s the sitch?” Kim deadpanned because of the teasing smirk that the computer genius was wearing.
“Well, I’m getting mixed messages about something going on in Romania. Now, I’m pretty sure people are disappearing from villages around a certain area,” Wade reported.
“So, what’s the mixed messages?”
“Well, some people are saying that a vampire is doing it,” he answered.
“A vampire?” she echoed with an arched eyebrow.
“Hey, that’s what people are saying, some people anyway. I mean, they all agree that people are vanishing, but they’re not agreeing why.”
“When you say vampire, you mean like Dracula?” Ron inquired while edging his way into the screen of the Kimmunicator.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what they mean,” Wade answered.
“Wow,” the blonde boy muttered.
“So…?” Wade said because he wanted to know what the team was going to do.
“You got a ride for me or what?” Kim asked. She would get down to the bottom of it and show that there was no vampire. Hey, she believed a lot of things, but vampires were way too far out.
“Of course,” Wade answered.
“Well, then, we’ll go check it out and get to the bottom of everything,” Kim stated and with that, she and Ron were now on their way to Romania. Ron would have preferred to just stay at the house and make out with his girlfriend, but then again, most boys would have preferred that more than likely, especially if they believed in vampires like Ron did.
Kim and Ron quickly got details on the situation from several villagers in several different villages. It would seem that the center of the controversy was some woods where a castle sat ominously in the middle atop a hill. They had been cautioned about the castle because it was where the supposed vampire lived. Kim was skeptical while Ron, as expected, believed every word of their stories, no matter how wild the tale. In fact, the stranger the story, the more believable it was to him.
Apparently, the vampire that lived in the castle, according to the villagers’ legends anyway, was an ancient. He moved around the globe at his own leisure, having castles or other estates everywhere, but every now and then he always returned to that castle in the center of the forests because he liked the view. He also liked the blood of the young people around the castle and they claimed that he had already abducted a dozen teens from various villages in the past few months.
“K.P, maybe we should wait for dawn to do this,” Ron commented. They still had a few hours of daylight, but he would prefer to have a whole day ahead of them if they were going to be wandering around vampire-infested woods.
“Come on, Ron. You don’t really believe all this vampire stuff, do you?” she asked as she searched the forest for clues regarding the missing people.
“Um…yeah!” he answered. They had seen crazier things in their lives. Why was she being so skeptical about things, he wondered. He was close to believing in the tooth fairy again thanks to all of the bizarre things that they had seen.
Kim only shook her head. She could not see how he believed all of those stories about a vampire. The people claimed that the vampire, who they called Adrian, liked to kidnap young people, hoping to find a companion among them. But, then they claimed that he never found one. He was supposed to be hundreds of years old, but had yet to find a companion? She did not think that was likely. After a hundred or so years, anyone could meet someone to complement them in her opinion. Since the vampire could not, it just added to her skepticism on the whole story.
“Find anything, Ron?” Kim asked.
“You mean found any freakishly scary vampires? No and I’m not trying to,” he answered.
“What are you talking about? Will you forget about the vampire stuff? Take things seriously and look for some clues on the missing people. Twelve people are missing or did you forget that?” she pointed out.
“Did you forget about the freaky vampire?” he countered.
“There is no vampire!” she huffed. Damn it, they had a serious crisis on their hands. Twelve people were missing and who knew what happened to them and he was focusing on some mythological monster.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Okay, Ron, have you ever met a vampire?” Kim asked. She was going to try to get his mind off of the vampire nonsense, so he could help her search for clues on what happened to the missing individuals.
“Nope,” he answered honestly.
“Have you ever met someone who met a vampire?”
“Nope.”
“Have you ever met someone that’s even seen a vampire?”
“Nope,” he admitted. None of the villagers that they talked to had seen the vampire and no living soul had met the vampire either, so he had record of zero going on with vampire sightings.
“Well, wouldn’t that lead you to believe that there’s no vampire?” Kim reasoned.
“Why would there be a mystical castle on the woods like that then?” he inquired while pointing to the spooky castle on the hill.
“We’re in Romania. There’re probably hundreds of creepy castles on hills,” she pointed out. She would like to go a country on the entire massive continent of Euroasia and not find a castle on a hill somewhere.
“But, how many of them have vampires in them?” he countered.
Kim growled and balled up her fists in anger. She then took a calming breath and just told herself to drop the subject. After all, Ron was the type that could carry on the conversation for a billion years considering the fact that he more than likely did believe that there was a vampire. Nothing that she said would convince him otherwise more than likely, she told herself, so it was best to just let it go.
“Just look for clues about the missing people,” Kim sighed.
“Fine, but can we get out of here before the sun goes down?” he requested.
Kim sighed again. “If we can figure this out, yes.”
Ron got to work because of that answer. He was not looking to find out if there was really a vampire or if it was just a myth. He could understand Kim’s skepticism, but he really preferred erring on the side of caution. After all, they were not prepared to fight a vampire.
They were not finding much evidence on anything and the sun was getting closer to setting. Ron was getting nervous and antsy with each second that ticked by. He kept glancing up at the sky and it was starting to bother Kim. They were supposed to trying to find missing people and he was not even trying anymore it seemed.
“K.P, can we get going now?” Ron requested with a tremble in his voice.
“Relax, Ron. It’s not even night time yet,” she replied.
“It’s close enough! Look, do you want to find out if there’s a vampire or not?” he hollered in a panic. He was really not looking to find out about the thing, especially since he believed that the villagers might have a point.
“There is no vampire,” she huffed. What did he not get? There was no such thing was a vampire and there never would be.
They searched around for a little while until Ron seriously started freaking out about the sun going down. So, they turned to leave, returning to a path that led out of the forest. As they hit the path, Ron thought that he noticed movement in the trees. He gulped and walked closer to Kim, as if she would protect him. Unmanly, yes, but safe as hell.
“Um…Ron,” Kim said.
“Yeah?” he replied while looking around in every direction. No vampire or other supernatural being was going to get the drop on him.
“What are you doing?” she inquired.
“Um…checking to make sure you’re not cold,” he lied.
“Be serious.”
“Well, you didn’t see something in the bushes, did you?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t and if you did, we’re in the woods. It’s more than likely an animal of some kind,” she informed him.
The blonde boy nodded to that because it could have been an animal. They were in the woods, but still, all he could think about was the vampire and everything that the villagers had said about the creature of the night. He started pushing Kim, hoping to get her to walk faster. Hey, he was supposed to protect her, being her boyfriend and everything. He felt the best way to protect her would be to get her out of the dangerous forest.
“Will you quit pushing me,” Kim huffed.
Ron did not respond and continued pushing her. She turned to him about to yell, but she tripped over a rock and fell on her face because of his shoving. She muttered mock-swear words into the dirt while Ron tried to help her up. She pulled away from him and was about to holler at him when she noticed the color drain from his face. Ron looked absolutely terrified, which told Kim that she needed to turn around.
Kim was not sure what she expected to see as she turned around. Maybe a wolf or a bear, just some kind of an animal in the forest that might attack her. She was probably not too far off as far as Ron was concerned, but she did not see the big deal. She was facing a tall young man dressed in black. She thought that he was probably one of the villagers.
The young man was blonde and pale. He looked rather dignified and debonair. He had a slender long face with piercing blue eyes. His hair was short and wavy, falling to his shoulders. He appeared to be in his twenties or so.
“Ron, why are you looking like that?” Kim asked. “He’s just a guy.”
“Kim, he just rose out of the shadows. I’m talking right up out of the shadows,” Ron answered. He had seen the guy just appear while Kim missed out on that fact since the guy was at her back.
“Don’t be silly, Ron,” Kim said.
“Oh, he’s not being silly, my dear. I did come right out of the shadows. You two were making so much noise that I just had to come see what it was all about and here it is I find a curious creature,” the guy remarked in a charming voice while eyeing Kim in a way that she would say was like a snake with its senses locked on a mouse.
Ron did not say anything; he just grabbed Kim and made a run for it. Kim did not object and they bolted down the path, only to find out that it was useless. They ran right into the well-dressed, pale young man again. They stopped before they ran him over and he lounged at the both of them. They leaped apart and the pale, blonde young man went after Ron.
Ron yelped when he noticed that he was the target. He dived behind a bush for cover and Kim launched herself at the young man that was attacking her best friend. The pale male turned to her when the blow landed. He was stunned that she had come at him in such a way and he smirked at her, revealing some rather long fangs for a human being. She got into a fighting stance.
“You are quite a thing. I suppose it was good that I came to inspect the noise,” he commented. From his experience, most women would have fled while they had the chance if he went after the male. And even if they did not flee, they would scream or attack him in some weak fashion. She had hit him rather strongly.
“Leave him alone,” Kim warned the black-clad male.
“I think I will.”
The tall, trim male urged Kim to attack with two long fingers, but Kim did not take him up on the offer. He decided to goat her in a different way. He grabbed Ron with a speed that neither of member of Team Possible could comprehend. They had not even seen him move. He held the teenage boy by the throat and squeezed enough to get Ron to scream in pain.
“Let him go!” Kim ordered and she attacked.
The pale man watched as the redheaded hero came at him with a flurry of kicks that seemed to pass right through him. He craned a blonde eyebrow as he watched Kim come at him with such determination. Yes, he was very happy that he had come to see what all the commotion was about. She was entertaining. He had not met a woman like her before.
He flung Ron away as if the boy was useless and worthless. Ron’s back impacted a tree, as did his head. He dropped to the forest floor in a heap, but had enough energy to look up and check on Kim. She was giving the guy her all, but she was not even hitting him.
“You are a darling thing. I’m Lord Adrian and you are?” the pale male asked Kim as she backed away from him to rethink her attack.
“Adrian? He’s the vampire, K.P!” Ron realized. It certainly explained a lot to him, like why the guy moved so swiftly.
“There aren’t any vampires,” Kim replied.
“Oh, but there are,” Adrian commented and he moved toward Kim.
Before the redhead realized it, Adrian had her in his grip. And then before she could scream, he sank his teeth into her flesh. Ron gasped while Kim struggled against the pale man biting her.
“Let her go!” Ron ordered as he charged Adrian.
The vampire put out a hand and Ron was stopped in his tracks. Adrian then waved and sent Ron flying into a tree. Ron wished that someone had mentioned that the vampire was telekinetic. The tree was uprooted from the force that the teen boy hit it with and Ron collapsed to the ground. Adrian turned his attention back to Kim as she fell limp in his arms, unconscious due to blood loss.
“I’m going to take this one with me, boy. You’re lucky because she has satisfied my thirst for now. You’re free to go,” Adrian informed Ron.
“I won’t let you have her,” Ron declared in a weak voice as he attempted to climb to his feet.
“You don’t have any choice. Just be happy I left you with your life. The woman is mine now,” Adrian said and disappeared into a shadow.
“No, K.P!” Ron cried. “No.”
The blonde struggled to stay on his feet and then wondered what he should do. Should he run to the castle and try to face Adrian again before the vampire killed Kim? He doubted that he would do Kim much good doing that. Adrian did just mop the floor with him with a wave of his hand, after all.
The alternative was not much better. He could call Wade and explain that a vampire kidnapped Kim and he needed backup of all kinds to come help him get her back. Even if Wade believed him, how many other people would? He doubted that anyone that could help would believe him. He had to try, though; Kim’s life was on the line, after all. He pulled out his Kimmunicator.
“Ron?” Wade said when he saw who was calling him. “If you’re trying to ask about the webcam thing again—”
“No, Wade, this is serious! K.P was kidnapped by a vampire!” Ron reported.
“A vampire?”
“Look, those people were right. There is a vampire and he’s got K.P!”
“Ron, calm down—” Wade tried to say.
“How can I calm down? A monster just sucked K.P’s blood and kidnapped her right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything to stop him!” the blonde boy pointed out in a heated tone. He had been totally useless to his best friend and girlfriend.
“Okay, Ron, calm down. I’ll get help and you’ll find Kim. I’m sure she’s all right,” the computer genius tried to assure his friend.
“How can she be all right with a vampire drinking her blood?” Ron asked in a panic.
“Ron, just calm down.”
Wade stayed on the line with Ron to try to keep him calm while trying to find some help for Kim. He doubted that things were as bad as Ron were making them out to be. After all, Kim could do anything, so even if she was kidnapped, she probably would not stay that way for long. Whoever had her was probably going to regret it in due time. And he highly doubted that it was a vampire that had her.
Global Justice sent a couple of agents to help Ron search for Kim. It was clear that Doctor Director had not taken the distress call very seriously. She thought along the same lines as Wade. If Kim was kidnapped, which she actually doubted, the girl would undoubtedly get away on her own. So, the agents she sent were there to see if Kim might have actually been abducted. They were not there to find Kim, which Ron picked up on.
“Hey, can you two stop looking around?” the blonde hollered at the pair of agents. “I told you she’s in the castle and if we want to get her back, we’ll need a hell of a lot more than the three of us!”
Ron was pretty much ignored. The pair of Global Justice agents did not see any signs of Kim being taken away from the spot that they were standing in. All of the footprints around the area were in that location as were all the signs of a struggle. Perhaps Kim was kidnapped, but they were not sure how the person got her away from the space that they were in now. There were no broken tree branches to indicate that the person flew away with her and no single pair of tracks to show that the person ran off with her. It was like they vanished, which Ron tried to them was just what happened.
The agents decided that Kim’s disappearance deserved “further investigation,” but by that time they had lost young Mister Stoppable. Ron set off for the castle on his own. He was not sure what he was going to do once he got there, but he was going to get his best friend/girlfriend back before Adrian had a chance to kill her or worse. He knew that they did not have time to fool around like Global Justice seemed to think.
When Ron got to the castle, he was out of breath and still lacking a plan of attack. None of the doors were opened for him to get in and neither were any windows. He was not put off by that because he wanted Kim back now. He found a large rock and chucked it at a low window, shattering the glass. He did that a few more times and then climbed into the now open window. He cut his palms on the broken glass, but he could care less about that. He barely even registered that he had injured his hands.
“My, you are a persistent young lad,” Adrian commented as he appeared right in front of Ron from a shadow. The boy yelped in surprise and fell back against the wall.
“Where’s K.P?” Ron demanded to know as he regained his composure. He reminded himself that he was not only the sidekick of the great Kim Possible, but he was also holder of mystical monkey magic. He could take the vampire, he tried to assure himself.
“Resting in my bed. I’m hoping she gets her strength back up slowly. I want it to take a while before I drain her of every last drop of blood,” Adrian answered as if that was the most logical response to the question. He wore a half-smile as he spoke.
“I won’t let you kill her,” Ron declared.
“You don’t have a say in the matter. Now, I was merciful before, boy, but you seem to have a death wish,” the pale vampire stated with an amused smirk on his chalk white face.
“Give her back!” the teenager growled as he launched himself at Adrian.
The vampire laughed and dodged the boy’s attack. Adrian appeared behind Ron, but the sidekick seemed to be aware of that and kicked at the vampire. Adrian caught Ron’s leg and smiled again.
“Both of you seem to be interesting characters, but I get the feeling that she has a stronger will than you do and that’s what I want. I’ve made my decision, boy. I’m keeping the girl and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Adrian informed Ron.
“There’s plenty I can do!” Ron declared. He was going to get Kim back or die trying, he silently vowed.
The teen tried to strike at Adrian, hoping that his mystical monkey kung-fu would pay off in someway, but alas, no. Adrian dropped the boy with ease and seemed to vanish again. Ron realized a split second too late where Adrian was. The vampire grabbed the boy and bit into his neck. Ron quickly lost consciousness as his blood was rapidly drained from his system.
Ron groaned as he woke up in a hospital bed. He felt so sore, he noted as he opened his eyes. He looked around the room and noticed that he was in the hospital. Had it all been a dream? He hoped so because that meant that Kim was all right.
“Finally awake, Mister Possible,” Doctor Director commented, causing him to turn his head in her direction. She was standing in the doorway.
“Doctor Director? Where’s Kim?” Ron asked curiously.
“We don’t know, Mister Possible,” she admitted.
“What?” He did not understand. It had to be a dream. It could not have been real.
“We don’t know where Miss Possible is. She’s been missing for two days now,” Doctor Director informed him.
“Two days? How long have I been out?” he asked in shock.
“Approximately the same amount of time. My agents found you unconscious at the foot of the hill that that castle was on in Romania. You were bruised, bleeding, pale, and cold. You would’ve died if they hadn’t found you. You should be more careful in high places,” she commented. They were back in Middleton. They had left Romania when they were certain that it was all right to move the unconscious Mister Stoppable.
“What? You think I fell? I didn’t fall! The vampire that kidnapped K.P bit me!” Ron insisted. The vampire bit him and then probably chucked him down the hill. It would explain why everything hurt on him.
“If that’s the case, why aren’t you a vampire?” she inquired, mostly to humor him. Of course she did not believe his ridiculous tale of vampires.
“Hell if I know! That’s not important. You have to get K.P out of that castle before he kills her!” Ron implored the leader of Global Justice. What good was GJ if they could not save Kim?
“Mister Stoppable, I’ve already got agents checking every part of that castle. If Miss Possible is there, they’ll find her. Don’t worry. She’s done us plenty of favors already, so it’s time for us to return one. Relax, we will find her,” Doctor Director tried to assure him.
Ron had to take her word on it. He was too weak at the moment to do anything else. He felt his neck and could feel two scars on the back. He did wonder why he was not a vampire since he was certain that Adrian had bitten him. He guessed he should just be thankful that he was not a blood-sucker and it was also plausible that Kim was not one if he was not.
(New day)
Adrian held Kim’s limp body in his arms as he drained her of the last of her blood. She tasted so sweet. He doubted that there was a fruit on the planet that could even rival the flavor of her blood. She had struggled against him the whole time, which he enjoyed. She had so much energy; he wished he could devour that too. But, now, he would have her to entertain him for a while, like the others.
Maybe she would be different, he silently hoped. He doubted it, though. Sooner or later, they all gave in and then they started getting boring. They got predictable for the most part in some way or another. They got predictable in a way that was not amusing, thinking that they were lofty creatures because of their new lives or groveling because they thought that he enjoyed the submissiveness. Things like that were the reasons that he tended to rid himself of companions and then go to sleep for a decade or more. Things just got so boring.
Adrian carried Kim’s lifeless body to a pearl white coffin in the lower levels of his castle. He closed the lid and then climbed into his own tomb. He would see what to expect come sunset.
Next time: Shego enters the picture while Adrian gets to see what comes at sunset and beyond.