The story begins with Vlad and his younger brother Radu being held captive by the Ottomans after their father sold them out. There they encounter a young gir(later revealed to be Carmilla/Bloody Mary) who offers them the power to return home and fight off their captors and be the strong men their father "Dracul" wanted them to be.
Both of them refuse, due to her being "an unholy abomination", and Vlad Dracula earns her interest when he threatens to crucify her. She responds by telling Vlad not to threaten her with a good time and promises that one day he'll be just like her.
Time passes by, and the two grow up in the Ottoman empire. They learn, though, that their father and older brother have been killed/captured by John Hunyadi who has seized the throne. Vlad wants to escape to take back their family's throne, viewing it as his duty, whilst Radu wants to remain in the Ottoman Empire. For now, they cannot leave as the Ottomans will not let them.
However, things change when Carmilla returns, massacring the Ottoman guards one night and offering both Vlad and Radu the power to take back their throne. Both refuse and she leaves, annoyed at their stubbornness, but not before stating that they'll end up living to regret it sooner or later. Vlad does take the opportunity to flee on horseback, whilst Radu stays behind.
Vlad rides out on horseback to Wallachia, and along the way, Carmilla tags along and keeps talking to him. Vlad still hates her and views her as unholy, but can't kill her, and so he begrudgingly tolerates her for now. Carmilla questions why he cares so much about the throne, and Vlad says that a ruler owes a duty to their people. Due to coming across plenty of people suffering under the usurper, Vlad concludes that he must take power. Carmilla gives a misanthropic speech about how humans are nasty hateful wriggly little things, and that they'll never appreciate what Vlad is doing for them. Vlad rejects this.
The two break into the castle where one of Vlad's family members is held. They break in and free the person. Vlad has the family member die in his arms and he's told that he needs to be a strong ruler for his country. Carmilla offers him power once more and once more he rejects it, saying his people need a ruler not a monster. Carmilla then leaves saying she'll leave him to think over what his country really needs.
Vlad is then confronted by John Hunyadi and duels him in a sword fight, but he loses and is forced to flee. Vlad flees to Hungary. In Hungary, he entreats with the nobles and manages to get an army with their backing. The war to reclaim his home rages on, and over the course of the several year long conflict, Vlad learns to be cruel and cunning to eke out the win. Ultimately, he claims victory though.
Before long though, new troubles crop up with messengers from the Ottoman empire demanding that he surrender his country to them and submit to their rule as he is still their subject. Vlad kills them and states that no one will take his country from him. Goaded by his advisors, he chooses to impale the emissaries and leave them on display for all to see. As a follow up Vlad attacks and destroys a town to ensure that he will not be toppled like his father was and prepares for war.
Back in the Ottoman empire, news of Vlad's actions has spread back to them and they are horrified. The Ottomans are planning on installing Radu, who has since converted to Islam and assimilated into the culture, as the new ruler. Radu feels torn about this as he doesn't want to fight his brother. Carmilla then shows up and basically gushes about Dracula to Radu and how he's slowly becoming what she wants him to be which causes Radu to believe that she's gained influence over him and that he needs to depose Vlad to save the people. Radu now has his resolve solidified and he prepares to capture and defeat his brother.
Vlad battles the Ottomans for years and grows ever crueler in his attempts to end the war and break their spirit as the unending tide of Ottomans means he can't win the numbers game. Eventually this culminates in Vlad deciding to create "the forest of Targoviste" a brutal monument of over 20,000 Ottoman soldiers impaled on stakes, in the hopes that showing others the consequences of fighting against him will break the Ottoman's spirits. It nearly does so, with the monument utterly terrifying people, but Radu's will hardens even more and he rallies his forces.
The night before Radu and Vlad are due to clash once more, Carmilla warns him that he'll lose as he's not strong enough. Vlad preemptively rejects her aid and threatens to kill her, which Carmilla mockingly states that he's so cruel to the only person who has ever helped him. His family sold him to the Ottomans, his people rebelled against his family and his brother is out to kill him for trying to be a good king. Only she has aided him through thick and thin. Vlad snaps and tries to kill her, but Carmilla turns into mist and fades away, promising that she'll continue to help him.
The battle ensues and Radu and Vlad battle, with Vlad furious at Radu for abandoning the traditions of their people and Radu viewing Vlad as a tyrant and a monster. Radu successfully baits Vlad into growing enraged, causing Vlad to mess up and his army to be defeated. Vlad realizes that he's lost as his men flee the battlefield and are beginning to get routed. Radu claims that it's over and holds Vlad at sword point.
By this point the battle has reached nighttime and so Carmilla shows up and saves Vlad by causing chaos amongst the Ottomans, distracting Radu long enough for Vlad to get away. Vlad flees and once more goes to Hungary. Radu curses Vlad and sends out messengers instead of trying to directly chase him down.
Vlad has his faith in the people who abandoned him in this battle broken, despite his successes in inflicting very heavy losses on the Ottomans, and instead once more flees to Hungary to try and get backing to claim his throne. This time, however, Vlad is captured and imprisoned as the king of Hungary has received a message from Radu. It insinuates that Vlad is consorting with devils, and that his monstrous actions with "the forest of Targoviste" prove that he's beyond redemption. The King of Hungary takes this at face value and imprisons Vlad in the dungeons. Vlad is likely to be executed later.
In prison, betrayed or abandoned by everyone else, Carmilla once more offers Vlad power, not for others or for the greater good but for himself so he can make his own justice and get what he deserves. And finally as a broken and bitter man, Vlad agrees and is transformed into the vampire Dracula. The two of them team up and break out of the Hungarian prison and head out into the night.
Dracula massacres the Ottomans with his newfound supernatural powers and confronts Radu with Carmilla by his side. Radu tries to fight but is easily swatted aside. Dracula then confronts his brother about selling out their people and giving up on their birthright, calling him a traitor no better than the man who killed their father. Radu fires back by stating that Dracula has become an unholy abomination, one that his younger self would not have hesitated to try and destroy. Carmilla interjects by stating that this is true, and she's so happy that her attempts to turn Vlad into her own personal prince of darkness worked out so well. Radu's starting to annoy her though with his preaching.
Radu claims this is proof of how far he has fallen and Dracula gets angry, stating that everyone abandoned him and treated him like a monster and so now he's just giving them what they wanted. Radu states that he never wanted this.
Dracula prepares to kill his brother but hesitates and at the last second, even as a vampire, he can't go through with it. He attempts to justify it, stating that making Radu into a captive will let them turn back the Ottomans more effectively. Carmilla sees through it and says that he's still a little human in the end despite being a vampire. She promises to fix that real fast though. In the blink of an eye, before Dracula realizes what she's planning, Carmilla races to Radu and rips his heart out, crushing it in her palm and killing Dracula's brother instantly.
Dracula grows enraged and states that he will kill Carmilla while Carmilla claims she was only doing him a favor. They fight and Dracula ultimately proves to be immensely powerful and whilst he can't kill Carmilla he is able to hurt her despite them being evenly matched. Carmilla grows irritated at this and plans to leave but not before getting one last dig in. She claims to be Dracula's metaphorical mother, having given birth to him and unlike everyone else in the world, she loves him just the way he is, a monster like herself. She says she'll leave him to spread his wings and enjoy his rebellious phase but someday she'll come around to check on him. Carmilla then leaves.
Dracula then retreats into seclusion, living alone in an abandoned castle, accumulating power but still gathering strength, always fearful that Carmilla will return. He ends up creating/turning his brides as a way to thumb his nose at Carmilla and prove that she's wrong in her statements but he's unable to cover up the deep insecurities and fear he has about forever being alone. As time goes on Dracula loses sight of what kind of man he was before turning and eventually he becomes the monster Van Helsing and co encounter.
Carmilla meanwhile entertains herself elsewhere, content in knowing that Dracula is at large in the world and finding other ways to make herself happy through the suffering of others. And that is the origin of Dracula.
