Dracula is the anti-Barbie. Where Barbie is sun-drenched, pink, and synthetic, Dracula is nocturnal, crimson, and organic (undead). He represents the taboo: decay, hunger, and the eroticism of fear. He is the shadow that follows the light. He reminds us that beneath the plastic sheen of Barbie and the delicate petals of the Fleur, there is blood and bone.
By the third night, he is sitting cross-legged on the floor, whispering his childhood fears to her. She does not respond. But her orchid joints unfurl one millimeter closer.