'Dracula' and the Maiden

"What do we do if something goes wrong?" Asked Cheri sincerely.

"If something happens to the wound/blood prosthetic you will just remove it and continue without it. We also have a "panic button" nearby if there is an emergency like a fainter or heart attack or someone gets sick. Anything else?"

Jason and Cheri looked at each other but neither spoke. They both were inwardly reeling with the prospect of such intimate contact. Jason was afraid his growing lust for her might become obvious, Cheri was actually excited by the opportunity this presented. She tried not to show what she was thinking even as she noticed she had become decidedly wet between her thighs.

"Okay, I'll show you the staging but I'll leave it to you to develop your acting and tomorrow we'll check what you have accomplished. There will be no dialog, but Cheri you could add a scream if you like. Think about silent film acting...over act! Sell the story. Got it?"

Jason and Cheri again remained silent but looked at each other.

"We've marked the staging on the floor here" Hume pointed to some masking tape on the floor that Jason hadn't noticed before. "The glass panel will be here (Hume pointed to a strip of tape on the floor) with Dracula waiting behind it. A dim light is shining from in front of the panel, then a brighter light comes on behind the panel and directly over your head. You will seem to appear from nowhere. You will approach Cheri on the bed, she sees you, reacts, and you mesmerize her with your eyes, you approach her bed then lower your head to above her neck and take an exaggerated bite. Cheri squeezes the blood out as you lift your head, you will want to cue her in some way. Dracula looks at her for a moment and seems startled by the presence of the audience and withdraws behind the glass panel and disappears. Shortly after our prop will pop out at the audience scaring them etc etc etc. Okay?

"Sure" answered Cheri.

"Yep" answered Jason at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Okay let's walk through it. I must get to the mummies next" suddenly looking at his watch and looking hopelessly flustered.

"Places." Both of the actors took their places

"Action." Hume paused a second, "Light goes on, the audience sees you....the audience is waiting," said Hume a little impatiently. Jason started to think about the action and did his best Dracula imitation. "Focus on your victim....yes. Good, now approach a step and pause. Maybe work the cape. Cheri you see him," Cheri fell into character immediately, "Dracula take another small step," Cheri reacted and looked genuinely frightened, then she suddenly emitted a blood curdling scream. Jason and Hume both jumped! Cheri started laughing and Jason had the tingles up and down his spine.

"Wonderful, perfect! I love it! Yes! Now hover over her Dracula, drop to one knee making sure the audience can see the hunger in your eyes."

That was one thing Jason did not have to fake. Cheri lay back in the chair that was serving as the bed for now and gazed at him as if in a trance. She was breathing hard which caused her breasts to press against the thin material of her blouse. Her hard nipples poked like small bullets from the mounds of her ample breasts causing Jason to get hard.

Cheri wasn't acting either, ...very much. She was acting out a fantasy she had fostered since she was in high school: a 'quasi sexual' encounter with her favorite crush.

"Okay," Hume continued, "Now, Dracula go in for the bite."

"Really?"

"Yes, I need to see how this is going to look. Go on... bite.

"Are you ready?"Jason asked Cheri. He was afraid she would be repulsed by an 'old man' putting his mouth on her.

"Go for it." She smiled at him so adorably he feared he would completely succumb to her charms.

He lowered his mouth with an exaggerated bite motion and enveloped her delicate neck in his wide open mouth. He tried to keep his tongue back up out the way but he was unable to totally succeed.

"Wait at long moment, make some sucking motions...you're drinking her blood after all."

"Yes, that's it!" Hummer interjected when Jason followed his direction.

Cheri swooned beneath his touch which was only half acting. She had goose pimples up and down her arms and a tingling in her crotch that suddenly made her fear she may actually cum right there in front of Hume.

"Now Dracula, you withdraw from her neck,... now her bed. Yes, now stand up and notice the audience and act startled by their presence then back up quickly behind the panel. Yes. In the meantime," He looked at Cheri, "Yes, just keep breathing as if you have been pleasantly ravished ...just as you are doing perfect. Yes!"

She wasn't acting, her first actual personal encounter with Jason Wheeler had left her breathless and extremely aroused. She could feel his breath on her neck as he approached and felt his teeth and tongue on her during the "bite". Oh how she wished they were alone in his bed, and naked...yes she desired to be naked with him.

"Now, here are the teeth, Dracula. They retract as you bite so it looks very realistic. Cheri, the bite may actually hurt a tiny bit but it will not break the skin. I think once you have experienced it you will think it of little consequence.

Hume squirted a substance into a dental cup and had Jason bite down on it. "We have a dental lab tech who will make the teeth fit to your bite, it looks more realistic and feels more comfortable to you, But for now here is a trial set...they have not been used by anyone."

Hume handed him the generic teeth and he slipped them into place, they were quite uncomfortable but they would serve the purpose. "Now let's try the bite again.....Action!"

They repeated the scene but this time with the teeth. When it came time to bite Cheri, Jason found he had to really exaggerate his movement just to get the teeth over Cheri's neck. When he bit down he thought he had hurt her as she jerked a tiny bit and her pelvis and back arched a bit.

"God!" Thought Cheri, "I hope I can get used to that. If we have to do that twenty or thirty times in one night I'm going to be cumming before the House closes!

"Did I hurt you?" Jason asked.

"No at all." Cheri purred, but tried to tone down the sexual slurring that took control of her mouth.

"Perfect!" Exclaimed Hume, "You two have a real chemistry, don't lose that! Oops, I gotta go work with the mummies," he cried as he glanced at his watch and off he went in the same fashion he had come.

The two remaining actors looked at each other and then began to gather their stuff. "Do you want to go to drinks somewhere and chat?" Cheri asked him, reluctant to release her fantasy just yet.

"Sure, where do you suggest?"

"I've heard the Ramada on Third street has I nice quiet lounge."

"I know it, meet you there in 20 minutes?"

"Sounds good"

Jason regretted almost immediately making the date. Not that he didn't want to spend time with this wonderful creature that he had put his mouth on ....several times! But he knew there was no future with her because she was so much younger than he. He still couldn't place what class she had been in, but she had to be in her mid twenties at the most, she was so young looking. He knew that the more time he spent with her the more likely he would do something to make her think he was a old creepy perv.

They met for drinks at the TIkI Lounge at the Ramada Inn. They had booths with very high backs giving each almost complete privacy. She had changed into another blouse that was in fact almost as revealing as her costume. Furthermore, Jason could not detect any visible sign of a bra. He managed to keep his eyes up most of the time and when he did glance down at her cleavage he tried to make it very brief. She caught him once and he thought he detected a little smile cross her face.

He learned she was older than he guessed. She was 34, taught English Literature at the High School. She had been teaching almost 10 years, the last 6 here at her old alma mater. She was not and never had been married and she hinted that she wasn't very 'experienced'. She still sang and presently sang in the local community choir. She stated emphatically that she was hoping to become friends and suggested they have dinner together before their performances each day. Overall it was a very pleasant evening and when Jason walked through his front door he was in a much better mood than he had been in a very long time.

No sooner had he dropped the key's to his Lincoln in the silver bowl, than his phone rang, it was John.

"Hello, you lying son of a bitch," he greeted his friend.

"Whoah!" laughed John, "What brought that on!"

"You told me, it was for only one night, asshole.

"No I didn't, I said you never know what can happen in one night."

"You knew how I would take that, shithead. You said I wouldn't have to wear a costume!"

"You're right, I did lie about that, but, come on, you should have known better - you've been to a haunted house before!" Jason could hear his mirth in his voice.

"You said the other volunteers would be my age, that maybe I'd meet someone there."

"Did you meet new people?"

"Yes, but they were all wet behind the ears, twenty somethings, you fucking lair!"

John was laughing, and could hardly talk. Pretty soon Jason started laughing too.

"So what did you call me about, asshole."

"I just wanted to hear how it went. Did you meet Cheri Iñiguez?

"Yes, I did, Why?"

"What did you think of her?"

"She's gorgeous

"All the single guys and about half the married ones are panting after her, but she never gives in to a one."

"So?"

"Well, she wasn't interested in volunteering for the Haunted House when Gerald Hume was trying to recruit her, until she found out you were playing Dracula, then she couldn't sign up quickly enough."

"Why would that make any difference?"

'I don't know, I thought maybe you could tell me. Maybe she likes you."

'Well, she is the only thing that has made this whole thing worthwhile! We had drinks after and talked."

"Whoa ho ho...She must really like you! She never goes out with anyone for anything!"

"Ah, I'm sure you must be really full of shit!

"Good night, Jason."

"Good night, asshole." He heard John laughing as he hung up.

Jason thought for a moment. Why would a young woman like Cheri want to spend time with him, a dried up old curmudgeon? He tried to remember the conversations with her, thinking about her demeanor. He wasn't particularly good at reading people especially women. Judith told him she had planned their romance from the beginning, he didn't have a clue! He decided that it was dangerous for him to get any ideas based on something in which he was admittedly lacking. It seemed to him it was a recipe for disaster.

The dress rehearsal was the next evening, and Jason studied himself in the mirror as he got ready for bed. He was decidedly more gray than he realized. The salt and pepper hair was swiftly become more salt all the time. His face was holding up well, he had been told when the situation warranted that he looked much younger than 54. He was skeptical. He shook his flab that hung over the waist band of his boxers. "I'm going to have to do something about that." He determined.

He pulled himself up to his full 5' 10" height. When he sucked in his gut he looked almost like he did 3 years ago, before.... "John and Bill are right, I need to rejoin the land of the living. He ran his fingers through his hair, and turned his head to the right and then the left. "I need a hair cut." He brushed his teeth and flossed for the first time in a month or two, or was it longer? He would start tomorrow. Tomorrow he would get a haircut, and start working on the flab. He slapped his flab and watch it jiggle. Then he scoffed at his image and turned off the light. He set his alarm for the first time since he retired. "I'm going to go for a run in the morning." He muttered as he set it for 6:00 am.

He was tired, but he had a hard time falling asleep. In spite of his own skepticism, Cheri filled the visions of his mind. There was something about her that he found...compelling. He tried to shake her face from his mind, she was so young, she would surely not be interested in an old man like himself. It was ridiculous to even consider it.

October 22 Thursday

The alarm jarred him awake, "What the fuck is that?" he thought. He turned off the obnoxious noise then recalled his resolve from the day before. He almost rolled over to go back to sleep but Cheri came to his mind again. It annoyed him that he couldn't shake her from his thoughts, certain that any pursuit on his part would surely end in heartbreak for him. What was it John said? "All the single and half the married guys were panting after her and she never gives in to any of them." Right! "She probably has a boy friend tucked away somewhere," he decided.

He drug himself out of bed and dressed for a run. He wasn't able to run as far as he hoped. He got winded and his knees started to ache. He showered and ate a small breakfast watching his portion sizes, something he had long ago abandoned. It felt good to exercise again. He weighed in to establish a baseline, 225 lbs!

"Shit!" he exclaimed, "I need to lose a few pounds,". He fetched his free weights from the garage and spent thirty minutes working his arms, legs and abs. He was careful not to over do it, "It would be embarrassing to try to bend over to bite Cheri and groan from sore muscles."

He called to get a haircut and was surprised they could take him right away.

"We had a cancelation just now so if you can get here in 15 minutes we can get you in today," , His regular barber had retired, he learned, but his son Rudy Jr. would be able to get him in. "I won't have to learn a new name anyway." He thought.

He sat down in the chair as Rudy threw the large apron over him. Rudy Jr. looked like his Dad except he had a perpetual frown on his face. Jason watched him as he went about his work. He started complaining almost immediately about the traffic, and the weather, and about people and about his wife, and anything else that came to mind. Jason got tired of it after a short while, and that was when he realized, "I must sound like Rudy, complaining all the time. I wonder why anyone even wants to spend time with me." Then he thought another moment, "Maybe they don't!" He realized that invitations to golfing, dinners and parties had all but ceased. Suddenly he felt ashamed. The epiphany set him on a quest of self examination. He knew that he had some bad habits to break, the first being his grumpy outlook! "I need to look at the positive." He decided, but he knew that it would be hard. He had wallowed in self pity and general disgust with life for two years, it would be difficult to break the cycle of negative monologue that had gripped his waking hours.

The run, the workout and a fresh haircut lifted Jason's spirits considerably. He decided that it was a good start to a new direction, who knew where it may lead, anywhere would be better than where he had been! There was only one thing he was still skeptical of, any possibility of a life with Cheri. It was foolish to even consider it. He wondered if there were any women like Cheri out there that were, say, 10 to 15 years older. He would have to start looking around.

He still couldn't roll back his excitement to see Cheri for dinner and then get to actually 'bite' her neck. Even with the stupid teeth and the prosthetic 'bite wound' in the way, her neck was delightful! He had never thought of it before, the beauty of a woman's neck, the softness of her skin there, the tendons and muscles that flex and relax as she turns her head and breaths , and the pulsing of her heart...right there beneath his tongue! Then he caught the aroma of her when he drew close to her. Her sweet smelling hair, the heady bouquet of her body wash, perfume, shampoo and even her perspiration filled his nostrils and lit flames he had forgotten after all these years.

"I can't keep following this path of thought," He told himself. She is far too young to even be considering him as a potential suitor, so this 'meditation' on her delights, deserved as they were, could only serve to provoke him to inappropriate words and actions. "I'll just be satisfied with her company while we are in this project together. There will be no future for us but her presence with me will be wondrous."

The time to leave for the restaurant where he and Cheri would dine finally came, and Jason gathered his costume and make-up kit and loaded them in his Lincoln. When he arrived, she was already waiting at a table in the back. When she caught sight of him her face blossomed into a smile while scooting from her seat.

"Good evening, Mr.Wheeler," she said cheerfully and stood on her tip toes to put her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug.

The close nearly full frontal contact surprised him causing him to stiffen a little. Such hugs with students had been forbidden, and even though he was no longer her teacher, the protocol was nevertheless engrained in him. He decide as she released him after a long moment that he would ignore the old protocol and embrace her embrace so to speak.

"Please Cheri, call me Jason. I'm not your teacher anymore, we are colleagues in 0- equals.

"Okay, Mr Whe...I mean Jason. That is going to be hard, I've always called you Mr. Wheeler all these years." Cheri smiled coyly. It seemed odd to Jason but she seemed to imply he had often been a part of her conversation.

"So, are you ready for tonight" asked Jason watching her face closely, just relishing the play of the light across her features and the twinkle in her eyes played the blue in her eyes and then the green.

"It's our first run-through. It'll be just the families and friends of the cast and sponsors. It will be a piece of cake!

They chatted about their skit, and how they came to be a part of the annual Haunted House.

"How did you get involved?" she asked him with a smile, she was always smiling it seemed.

"I kind of got hoodwinked into it," he told her without adding any expletives, after a short pause he added, "by John O'Donnell."

"He's one of my favorite colleagues, he is always so helpful."

Helpful would hardly describe what Jason thought of John these days, though he was having a hard time being angry with his best friend who had forced him to work closely with Cheri. Then

Something that John had said suddenly came to his mind.

"Why did you volunteer?" He asked her.

She smiled and blushed and looked at him from the top of her eyes, "When I heard you were playing Dracula I just had to take the opportunity to work with my favorite teacher." She blinked a few times and blushed all the more. She didn't tell him that the deciding factor for her was the revelation that Dracula would actually be sucking on her neck. The prospect of such a unlikely encounter had given her goose bumps and a wet pussy instantly. She was at that very moment contemplating his lips, teeth and tongue on her later this evening evening and the very thought of it had her wet again. She had a difficult time stifling the urge to grind her pussy into her seat. The hardest part of the whole skit for her was staying still!

Jason heard her explanation and tried to make sense of it. The big question from his standpoint was 'why'. Why did she want to be in this with him in particular. She was so young and so beautiful she could have any man she desired, yet, according to John, She didn't seem to be interested in the eligible men about her.

He wanted to ask her these things but they were out of time and needed to leave for the haunted house. They didn't take their leftovers because there was no refrigerated storage. Jason noted she hardly touched her food. They hurried to the haunted house to get their make up done. This first time they would have help but tomorrow and all of the other performances this weekend and next, they would need to do it themselves. Jason and Cheri had agreed to help each other in the make up process. So they stayed together the whole process.