title: Reign of the Vampire: A Tribute to the Perseverance of Bela Lugosi
author:  Leo Wiltshire 
description: Leo Wiltshire lives in Virginia with his wife, Eileen, their dog and black cat, and whatever foster child is placed with them. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications degree from Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA, and a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership degree from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. He has been a fan of Bela Lugosi since 1968 when, as a boy, he was afraid that Dracula and the Frankenstein monster were hiding in his bedroom closet, waiting to get him every night as he fell asleep. As an adult, Leo now understands that there is no such thing as monsters hiding in the closet. They're under the bed!!!
zlib_text: **Chapter One**
  
    
  
  “SUNRISE IS COMING,” BALTHAZAR SAID.
  
  Those were the first words anyone had spoken aloud in hours. Although I didn’t
  want to hear anything Balthazar had to say — about this or anything else — I
  knew he was right. Vampires could always feel the approaching dawn deep in
  their bones.
  
  Could Lucas feel it, too?
  
  We sat in the projection room of an abandoned theater, where the poster-
  covered walls still bore marks from last night’s battle. Vic, the only human
  in the room, dozed on Ranulf’s shoulder, his sandy hair mussed from sleep;
  Ranulf sat quietly, bloodstained ax across his lap as though he expected more
  danger at any second. His long, thin face and bowl haircut had never made him
  look more like a medieval saint. Balthazar stood in the far corner of the
  room, keeping his distance out of respect for my grief. Yet his height and his
  broad shoulders meant he took up more than his share of room.
  
  I cradled Lucas’s head in my lap. Had I been alive, or a vampire, so man