As Vlad drank and waited in the Lion and Bull and the day wore on, more of the locals arrived for their daily pint.  The place was becoming quite full, and pipe smoke gave the entire place a hazy appearance.  Despite the crowd, Vlad grew weary from both ale and boredom, and he found himself swimming in and out of consciousness. 

He had visions of his imprisoned father, shackled and thin, a ghostly shadow of his former self.  Vlad then imagined the revenge he would exact upon his father’s captors, and the visions became bloody and violent.

And then above the din there was a voice more boisterous than the rest, a voice that constantly issued a greeting or joke with everyone.

This is the one, Vlad thought to himself. 

Vlad looked between the folds...

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