Lord in Wonderland?

As Vladimirescu and Roland looked at Kingsteignton in amazement, Count Antonescu burst out laughing.

‘Oh well done Kingsteignton! You have missed your calling; you really should have gone on the stage. You almost had me going then, but it’s just another little ruse to save your own miserable skin isn’t it?’

Kingsteignton just gulped and let a tear roll down his cheek.

Vlad turned to the Count and asked him anxiously ‘Do you really think that he’s making it up? He seems pretty upset to me? I’ve never seen or heard of Kingsteignton losing his cool like this before?’

‘Well you’ve never seen him at the pointy end of two stakes and with a werewolf at his throat before’ pointed out the Count reasonably.

Roland was still visibly rippling with anger and frustration, liable to turn at any minute.

‘Look’ he snapped ‘I don’t know what Kingsteignton is drivelling on about and I don’t frankly care! I don’t know why you lot are trying to drag me and my Clan into your internecine spats anyway. All I want is my Clan member back!’

‘How do you know that there really is a missing Clan member?’ asked Vlad ‘It could just be another of Kingsteignton’s lies to stir up trouble?’

Roland thrust the wad of werewolf fur into Vlad’s face.

‘I’d know the scent of one of my Clan anywhere. Kingsteignton gave me this and he implied that he had gotten it from you! That you lot have my Clan member chained up somewhere in one of your miserable Romanian caves!’

Vlad shrank back a bit as Roland was fairly shouting by now. He also stood at well over six feet tall, his canines had sprung long and gleaming out of his gums and tufts of reddish fur were beginning to sprout from the tips of his ears.

‘Well you can take it from me that we haven’t got one of your Clan!’ stated Vlad a little indignantly ‘Why on earth would we? Quite frankly we have enough problems of our own without stirring up more trouble with the Clans! I also find it a bit strange that you never knew that this Clan member existed?’

Roland backed off a bit and surveyed Vlad thoughtfully.

‘How do I know that I can trust you to tell the truth, Vladimirescu?’ he ground out ‘All I have had from your fellow vampire here is spin and obfuscations!’

He whirled around and advanced on Kingsteignton who was still whimpering miserably on his chair.

‘You can drop your little act Kingsteignton and finally get to the truth’ Roland howled in his face ‘And if you don’t I will rip your throat out with my bare fangs. I realise that it won’t kill you; but it will hurt like hell. And when it heals over, as unfortunately your kind heals very rapidly, I will rip it out again and again until I get to the bottom of what is going on here!!!’

‘I have told you what truth I can’ blubbered Kingsteignton pitifully ‘Rip my throat out as many times as you like; it is infinitely preferable to what he would do if I said more!’

Roland gave throat to a full-blooded wolf howl of frustration at that point, rattling the door frames and windows and terrifying the other guests of the club who had been sedately reading the newspapers in the main lounge.

‘You don’t think he’s on drugs do you’ Vlad asked Count Antonescu gesturing in the direction of Kingsteignton from whom now emanated the distinct odour of having soiled himself.

‘No, I think that his Lordship is either a very good actor or has finally lost his mind; it runs in the bloodline you know’ replied the Count gravely.

At his words somewhere in a deep, dank cavern a long way away, a grating noise could be heard, as though a large stone was being pushed slowly aside. All the bats and the scorpions fled when they heard the sound, and so the cavern was empty of all life when the deep, low laughing began.