1463 Transylvania-Old Romania
The sound of his plough hitting the ground rung out around the dark and desolate field. The night was still and cloudless as the farmer brought the plough scythe above his head and hammered away at the hard earth below him.
It had been almost a year since the news of Vlad the Impaler's death had spread to his homeland. The years of ternary where now over and they could concentrate on the more important things in life.
He hammered the ground again. The farmer looked up at the full moon, a small smile crossing his lips. His name was Gorkan Couschescu, he used to be a captain in the army led by the impaler himself. After His downfall he made his way home. Back to his wife and child, and the farm he left behind to join the army.
He had seen things in that time, things that no man should ever have to see. They didn't call him the impaler for nothing. You don't earn a nick name like that for showing mercy to his enemies. But now it was different, all behind him, and now he was going to have a normal life. It was hard, difficult, but it was his.
A sudden chill swept across the field. Gorkan looked up and around the isolated field. He scanned the clear field. Nothing, maybe it was just the wind. He went back to hammering away at the earth, only to feel another gust. He looked up again.
This time though, there was a cloud in the sky. It was black, dark and unnerving. And it was slowly heading straight for him. He looked down to see a low lying mist clawing its way towards him. The mist soon past him and covered the entire field that went for miles. Gorkan picked up his plough and made his way towards his home. He could finish this field in the morning after it had rained.
But as he walked back, he had the uneasy feeling that he was being watched. He tried to look behind him as discretely as possible, and only saw the low lying mist behind him with the dark cloud in the sky with the full moon shining bright in the sky. He breathed deeply and continued to walk back towards his home.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end, he knew he was being watched now. At least the army had taught him something. He turned round abruptly with his plough raised. Ready to attack any oncoming person. But again, nothing was behind him.
He shook his head, maybe he was imagining things. He breathed deeply and then turned away, back towards the house.
SKREEE!
He turned round again with the plough raised. But when he saw what was before him, he froze. It was grotesque, it looked like a man, but he had leathery skin, and his arms had bat wings flapping down from them. It let out another scream, It then bared its teeth which where dripping with blood.
Gorkan shouted in the vein hope someone could hear him. The beast roared before throwing him across the field. He somersaulted through the air before slamming into the already ploughed ground. He skidded along the ground with the dirt pulling up behind him tell he came to a stop. He groaned and looked up at the night sky.
The beast landed by the hole Gorkan had created. It landed and transformed, it was now a wearing a suit with coattails. He adjusted the cuffs and walked towards the hole without stretched arms with a grin on his face.
(Translated from Romanian.)
"Gorkan." He said, like he was greeting an old friend. Gorkan squinted his eyes at the dark figure in front of him. The voice was definitely familiar.
"Don't get up." He continued, "It's just an old friend dropping by to say hello." He walked down into the pit and his face became clear. Gorkan breathed in sharply, it was Vlad. Vlad the impaler
"No, no." said Gorkan shaking his head, "It can't be. I watched you die!"
"That you did." He said shrugging. "But as the old saying goes." He reached Gorkan and got on his haunches and grabbed his cheeks.
"You can't keep a good man down."
"But you're not a good man." Gorkan spat out. Vlad tightened his grip on Gorkan's face.
"That's a matter of opinion." Said Vlad coldly. "Now, you left me to die and decided not to carry on my work."
"But you died." Said Gorkan.
"Ah, yes. But I'm back. Me and Lucifer worked something out." Said Vlad. "Where now actually quite close."
"You would be."
"You know, I did hate that insolent tongue of yours." Said Vlad. "Constantly second guessing my decisions." He squeezed Gorkan's cheek tighter.
"I could kill you with a mere squeeze." He said lightly. "But…" he moved Gorkan's face to the side. "You can be the first to witness just one of my new powers." Vlad moved towards him. Gorkan struggled against the vice like grip as he got closer towards him. Vlad opened his mouth, his teeth though weren't human they were more likes spikes. Vlad's jaw then clamped around Gorkan's neck. Vlad let out a pleasurable groan as he sucked in the blood of his victim while Gorkan screamed out in pain. Suddenly, the screaming died down. Vlad then pulled away sharply. Blood seeping from his mouth, running down his mouth and onto his clothes. He was breathing deeply while dapping his finger in the blood protruding from his lips and slipped it into his mouth. He smiled at the taste as Gorkan's lifeless corpse dropped to the floor.
"Well, love to stay and chat." Said Vlad, "But, you know, places to go and that." He breathed deeply again.
"This is just the beginning."
1860-Genneva
A young man looked up from his hood at the drizzle above him. He pulled his newspaper close to him and walked down the cobbled streets towards his apartment. He weaved in and out of a couple of people and then crossed the road, dodging a couple of horses before opening the door of his building. He walked inside and shook his coat down of all the excess water. He walked up the dilapidated stairs towards his apartment. He fumbled with his keys before slipping it into the lock. He opened the door and closed it.
"Doctor Frankenstein…" Frankenstein whipped round to see the intruder sitting in his chair. Expect, it wasn't who he was expecting. It was a woman. She was in her early twenties and was very pretty, though it was hard to see past the large tinted glasses she was wearing. She was wearing a raincoat and a scarf over her head, but it couldn't hide her blonde hair.
"Junior." Frankenstein's shoulders relaxed. He pulled his hood down, he had curled brown hair and blue eyes. He watched the woman carefully though as she smiled.
"Look, if you're looking for some exclusive on my father and his work then I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken." Said young Frankenstein. "Yes, he created what some narrow people believe to be a 'monster'. But those who see the big picture will see that he has helped save countless lives by discovering the possibilities of transplants and bringing back the recently deceased through means of electricity." He opened the door.
"So if you please, I would like to be left alone while I continue to live my life in peace." The woman giggled. Frankenstein pulled a face as she rose from the chair.
"No I'm not here for 'an exclusive' Doctor." She said, "I am quite familiar with your work. In fact." She got very close to him, so their bodies where almost flush.
"You could say I was rather excited by it."
"Who are you?
"My name is Francesca." She said. "I know about the stories about your father and his creation." She continued. "But I am not here for that. My employer has sent me to extend you an invitation."
"An invitation?" Frankenstein said confused.
"Yes." Francesca said. "He has been a huge fan of your father's work." She walked around the apartment. Victor couldn't keep his eyes of her body as she moved. It screamed confidence and sexuality as she put emphasis on each step.
"In fact, he wants you to continue to It." she said smiling. Victor narrowed his eyes at Francesca.
"Continue?" She nodded.
"My Employer wishes for you to carry on your father's work. As you said yourself, he was a pioneer to the enlightened. What better way to honour his memory by carrying on his work and discovering new possibilities." Victor stood still as Francesca walked to the fire place, she picked up a photo of his family. She smiled and placed it down again.
"So…what do you say."
"No." he said, "I promised my father that I would never continue his work as he said it would get my in trouble with forces far beyond my understanding." Francesca nodded.
"I understand." She said. She walked back towards the chair she had been sitting in. She bent over, making sure that Victor was looking at her and picked up a briefcase she had been hiding beneath the chair. She walked to the table and placed it down. She unclipped the attachments and opened it.
Victor looked over at the brief case and his jaw dropped. It was lined with money than he had seen in his life.
"One hundred thousand Swiss Francs." Said Francesca. "This is only a down payment. If you accept, you will have unlimited funds to carry on your research, this, and another generous amount for when it is done."
Victor bit his lip. It was certainly interesting. Having close to five hundred thousand Francs would be a ludicrous amount of money to own. The images of a thousand things he could do with the money swam through his head, houses, studs and all the girls he could think off. But the moral and ethical issues where too great. In theory, he was too dangerous to be left alive. He sighed and shook his head again.
"I'm sorry, I truly am." He said. "But my father's research is not to be continued at any price." Victor bowed his head. "I'm sorry." Francesca smiled and stood up from the table.
"So am I Doctor Frankenstein." She said with a small smile, she then took her scarf off and let her long blonde hair fall. "Because you see." She then took her glasses off to reveal her eyes, for the first time. Except they her irises where blood red.
"I was told to get you to agree to come with me. By any means necessary." She started to undo her coat. Victor raised his eyebrow, only for both of them to shoot up his head when he realised she wasn't wearing anything beneath the coat.
"And by any means necessary." She walked towards him and looked at him seriously. "I was instructed to give you what ever want." She leaned up on her tip toes so she could reach his ear.
"By any means necessary."
"You." said Victor a little breathless. Francesca nodded.
"My Employer wants you to have everything you want to help you continue your father's work." Victor was now breathing deeply as he inspected the naked woman offering herself to him. His breathing was becoming more and more erratic as Francesca raised a teasing eyebrow. Victor sighed in bittersweet defeat.
"God forgive me." He said. He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her.
Many moments later they were lying in the messy bed of Victor's flat. He was breathing deeply, he looked dishevelled and spent while Francesca didn't look like she had broken sweat at all.
"Your Employer." Said Victor. "He seems very interesting."
"That he is." Said Francesca. "He does get around a lot."
"So what is he? A Businessman? A philanthropist?"
"A little of both." Said Francesca distantly. "But he knows an opportunity when he sees it."
"What's his name?" asked Victor. "If I'm going to work with him, I should know his name?"
Francesca was quiet and was daydreaming as she looked out of the window. Rain had stopped and the sun was starting to seep in. She got up quickly and began to change.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yes, I did." Said Francesca. "And I will tell you in time. But for now we must leave, it is a long way to Transylvania."
"Where going to Transylvania?" said Victor shocked, but now getting changed.
"Yes." said Francesca as she reapplied her head scarf. "That is where your new laboratory is being built. So I suggest you pack everything that you will need."
"You still haven't told me who I will be working with." Said Victor as he gathered some files from around his apartment. He opened a secret file underneath his chest of draws and pulled out some more files.
"He's a very brilliant man." Said Francesca. "He works so much he could well be a creature of the night."
"Just like me." Victor chuckled. "I think we'll get on just fine with him. What's his name."
"He likes to called by a codename if that's ok." Said Francesca.
"That's fine by me." Said Victor. "What's his codename?" Francesca's mouth curled into a smile.
"Dracula." She said.
"Count Dracula."
1890-Transylvania
The small orange light was nothing more than a speck in the distance. It looked beautiful against the driving rain and consequent thunder storm. To the naked eye it could have been the last reminisce of the sun set. But that wasn't the case, soon, the small dot became two, then three, then more and more. Then the noise of irate shouting as a mob came over the hill towards the castle. They were brandishing pitchforks and spades as they ascended up the steep and bogged down track to the old nobleman's castle, now known as Castle Frankenstein.
Lightning then shot down from the sky and hit the top of the castle. Inside the castle, where the upstairs dining hall was situated, there was something else at play. The reason for the angry mob. The room was full of complex gadgets and machines that's sole purpose was to help generate and amplify electrical current. All these machines though where linked to a table near the centre of the room. There was a corpse on the table, it was stitched together with stiches running all along its green putrid body.
Victor Frankenstein, he was much older and greyer from the first time he and Francesca had met. While he had grown old, she had not aged a day. In fact, it was almost like she hadn't changed at all in the thirty years they had known each other. Frankenstein then moved over towards one of the complicated machines and checked the reading. He then looked up at the high ceiling and watched the turbines spin faster and faster as the spare electricity built up, spreading the white lightning bolts in harmonious waves across the turbines. He needed it to build up more energy, before he could release the charge.
BANG
Victor's gaze went to the door. Outside, the villagers had brought a battering ram up to the castle's walls door. Even in the storm he could feel the shudder of the ram spread through the grounds. His focus was then placed imeadietly on the project at hand, he checked the read outs again and swore. He needed more power. One more lightning strike would do it.
BANG.
He didn't look this time. He knew the door wouldn't be able to last much longer. He looked up at the sky, a lightning bolt shot through the air. It connected with one of the many towers with rails which collected the power and relayed it down lots of mini transformers till it reached the turbine.
BANG.
The door shattered and the villagers then all clambered through, storming towards the castle doors. Victor looked up as another lightning bolt tore through the sky. It hit the transformer and the turbine storing the electricity was now blue with the power. Victor grabbed a huge switch. He looked towards the corpse before pulling it down. The turbine span faster and then blue lightning shot down two wires which were connected to the corpses brain.
When the electricity hit the corpse it surrounded it with a blue aura. Victor shielded his eyes as the process took hold.
BANG
He looked outside to see the villagers banging on the main doors with the battering ram. He then looked to the corpse and saw a finger tense.
"Come on, just a little more." He begged. The corpse's finger then relaxed. Victor had given up hope.
BANG
The corpses then made a fist. Victor let out a breathless laugh.
"It's alive." He said quietly. The corpse's legs began moving slowly.
"It's alive!" he said with more loudly as the creature opened its mouth, it let out a deafening roar.
"IT'S ALIVE!" The sky was now filled with flashes of lightning and roars of thunder at the creation of yet another abomination. Victor slumped against one of the machines, he wiped away the sweat that was building on his brow.
"SUCCESS!?" Victor scrambled back in shock as his employer appeared from nowhere. He was still a young man, he had long black hair in a ponytail and was dressed in nobleman clothes. He was good looking, though Victor had known him to be this way for the past thirty years, just like Francesca, he never aged.
"Oh, thank god Count, it's just you." he said relived. "I thought those savages had already broken in."
"I was beginning to lose faith Victor." Said Dracula. "Though." He looked out the window to see the villagers setting up the ram again.
"It's such a shame that your success had been overshadowed by a little thing called grave robbery." He turned to Victor and smirked. Victor smiled sheepishly.
"Well, then…" he then moved away from Dracula towards the creature he had created.
"We must leave this place." Said Victor. The creature was moaning softly as air filled it's partially decayed lungs. "Carry on our research." He looked back to where Dracula had stood. He frowned as the space was now empty, but the only way down was past him. He shook his head, the count was doing that all the time.
"Where have you left to run Victor?" He looked around to see where his voice was coming from. "Your…peculiar experiments have made you unwelcome in most of the civilised world." Victor was gathering his possessions
"Then I'll go away." said Frankenstein, he opened a chest and stuffed paperwork inside it. "Me and Fran, and the creation, we'll go far away, where no one will ever find us."
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Victor." He looked up to see Dracula walking on top of the turbines, he quickly went back to packing.
"The time has now come for me to take control of him?" Victor raised his head from the chest he was packing, put not looking over it.
"What are you saying?" asked Victor. The chest he was packing then slammed shut. He jumped back to see Dracula standing in front of him.
"Why did you think I brought you here Victor!" he shouted, "Why did you think I gave you the money to set up your experiments, gave you this castle to help set up your laboratory!"
"But…but Fran said you believed in my work. For the benefit of medicine." He said meekly, rubbing his hands together. The count regained composure and straightened his waist coat.
"But I do." He said. He walked away from the chest and towards the machines. "After literally going to hell and back to create life." He turned around to face Victor. "I have travelled to distant lands to no avail, I have sort the wisdom of magicians and sorcerer's. But none of them have been able to raise dead." Dracula then smiled.
"Unlike them, you father before you, and now you, you have accomplished what many conceived to be impossible." He continued. "You have created something that will give me hope."
"But…what does my creation have to do with this?" asked Frankenstein.
"Since that abomination is a result of my money, it must now serve its purpose." Victor stood up, concern all over his face. He started to back track.
"What purpose?" he asked gingerly. Dracula grinned.
"He will give life to the rest of my kind." He said. "My brides have laid the bodies of a million baby Vampires. Your creature will be an avatar for their life."
"But…they'll kill innocents." Said Victor. He shook his head.
"No, no I would rather kill myself then help with this monstrosity." He hit the table where the creature let out a strangled cry.
"Well you can." Said Dracula like it was a viable option. "I really don't need you anymore." He walked over towards the table.
"I just need him." said Dracula looking down at the monster.
"I could never allow my work to be used for such evil." Said Victor. Dracula smirked.
"I could." He said now looking at Victor. "In fact." He started to walk towards him. Victor backtracked towards the wall.
"My brides have been insisting upon it." The blood drained from Victor's face. He hit the wall.
"Fran!" he shouted. "Francesca."
"Yes Victor." Victor turned round to see Francesca by his side.
"He's a monster." He said pointing at Dracula, who feigned hurt.
"Victor my love." Said Fran. "You have been kind. Thoughtful towards me." She continued. She then stood away from him and moved towards Dracula.
"But my heart belongs to him." she said looking up lovingly at Dracula.
"But…Fran…"
"It was never real love Victor." She said. "We could never be together fully, I was instructed to give you what you wanted, you wanted to my body, so I gave it to you." Victor started to cry. The love he had known for so long was now a lie, exposed, she never loved him.
"And now your creation is alive." She said, "We no longer need you." Victor pulled the sword from behind him and pointed it at both of them.
"Stay Back!" he warned. Both of them smiled.
"You can't kill me Victor." Said Dracula. He walked forward and the tip touched his chest, he then impaled himself on the sword.
Victor's eyes almost bulged out of his head as Dracula made his way down the sword till he was standing right in front of Victor.
"I'm already dead." He said. He grabbed Victor, the sword still impaled in his chest, he then opened his mouth. He sank his teeth into Victor's neck, Dracula sucked the blood and pulled the sword from his own body. He then unceremoniously threw the Doctor's body to the floor.
"You were right my dear." Said Dracula wiping his mouth, he sauntered over to her. She was standing by the table looking down at a bare table.
"Where is it?" said Fran. "The creature, where is it?"
"RAGHHHH!" They both turned round. One of the machines came hurtling towards them. It hit them and they crashed into the wall. The creature walked to its creator, it groaned and picked Victor up. He started to limp towards the exit of the castle, it clumsily opened the latch to a spiral staircase and limped down.
Inside the lab, the machine that was pressed on the wall was thrown back across the lab. Dracula and Francesca emerged from the wreckage. Dracula adjusted his waistcoat and placed some hair behind his ear. He screamed and sprouted wings.
The monster made its way outside into the rain with its dead master in his arms. It's primitive mind urging him towards the next piece of shelter he could find. The only thing in sight was an old wooden windmill he creature cried out and made its way towards it.
"OVER THERE!" the creature turned its head to see the villagers. "It's heading for the windmill, come on!" The creature wailed and limped its way towards the windmill. The villagers with their makeshift weapons made their way to the windmill. The creature stumbled in placed the barricade over the door. It stumbled up, smashing bottles from the alcoholic keeper as it made its accented towards the top.
Outside the villagers were gathered around it. "Burn it!" shouted one. "Burn it to the ground!" The villagers then threw their torches onto the wooden structure. Slowly the building began to catch fire. The groaning of the monster still audible as it climbed the stairs. It opened a door near the top and was on a platform looking down at the villagers with the doctor still in its arms.
The shouting from the crowd died down. They all looked up at shock at the monster at the top of the burning building.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They all stepped back. The men that were filled with such confidence where now scared as the monster was now looking down at them. Its eyes scanning for the first time, the savagery of man.
"WHU-WHU-WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" it shouted.
PSHIIT
The villagers turned round to see two dark figures fly through the roof of the castle. Their wings where beating strongly against the weather. Then, from the mountains surrounding the castle two more figures emerged.
"Vampires!"
"Run for your lives!" The villagers began to run away from the scene as the four vampires came closer towards the wind mill. The monster looked down at its master, dead in its arms. The floor creaked from underneath it. He looked at the four advancing figures and the floor gave away. The monster screamed as it was engulfed in a tomb of fire and burning wood.
Dracula landed and resumed his human form. Francesca and the rest of his brides landed on the ground beside him.
"My love." Said Francesca. Dracula didn't say anything, he just watched the fire crackle. He then turned away and faced his brides. Francesca, blonde, Amelia, the red head, and Rosanna, the brunette. His life force ran through them, and they trusted him the bring their children to life. He looked back to the fire.
"It seems that the good doctor has taken the secret to life, to his grave." HE turned round again.
"But we will find a way." He said.
1964
Lyall Lupin stared down at the man before them. He was dirty, unkempt, wild bird nest hair along with huge sideburns and a beard. But there was something that Lyall didn't quite trust. The rest of the department, The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures weren't so wary.
"Why did you bring this guy here?" The head of the department, Walter Rithbridge. Lyall turned to him, his slightly curly brown hair and stubble showed the features of a man who had been hunting for a long time.
"He was caught by the murder of two children with a werewolf pack." Said Lyall. He stared down at the cage holding the man. "But, the werewolf registry is so badly maintained we don't know whether he is or not."
"He doesn't look like one." said Rithbridge.
"Looks can be deceiving." Said Lyall. "But you know werewolves." He looked at the guy. This was a tactic Alec Potter taught him. Demine them to provoke a reaction.
"Soulless, evil, deserving nothing but death." The man twitched and looked up at Lyall. He growled at him and then looked forward.
"Looks you guys." He said. "I'm just a tramp, I have no home, look. I'm really sorry what happened to them two kids, but, you know, I had nothing to do with it, you have to believe me!" Rithbridge frowned and looked down at his papers.
"Mister Greyback. After hearing your account of these tragic events, it is now for this council to decide your fate. Please wait while we deliberate." The four men filed out of the room to the back of the room.
"Well gentlemen. What do we think?" Asked Rithbridge.
"Innocent."
"Nothing for doing, poor blokes at the wrong place, wrong time." said the other. "What do you think Lyall?" Lyall was watching Greyback through the two way mirror.
"Lyall?"
"They used to teach the Auror's that evil always lurked in the shadows." Said Lyall. "Until one day, an Auror named Teddy Stone made them change it, he changed it to Evil almost always lies in plain sight." He looked back at the men. "Because it's the easiest place to hide."
"What's that got to do with this case Lupin?" asked Rithbridge.
"This is evil in plain sight." Said Lyall. "He's a werewolf. The signs are all there."
"What signs?"
"How the hell did you get in this department if you don't know that." Said Lyall. "Look, give it twenty four hours, after the full moon. You'll see."
"Lyall unless you have solid evidence that he is a werewolf we can't hold him. He's a muggle."
"It's only a day." Said Lyall. "One day, and where going to wipe his mind anyway, no harm done."
"Lyall. This is unethical, you have to get evidence."
"I'll get Alec Potter to do it, he owes me a favour."
"You can't, he's retired." said Rithbridge.
"As I said. He owes me a favour."
"Enough." Said Rithbridge. "I'm sorry Lyall, I really am but he's got no connection to this, he has to be let go, the evidence is overwhelmingly in his favour."
"For fucks sake, it's only one day!" he shouted.
"If you want to be dismissed from this task force then carry on!" He said. "However, if you wish to remain on this team then shut up and accept the decision!" Lyall swallowed hard. This job was his life, he wanted it so much.
"…Fine." He said.
"Excellent." Said Rithbridge. "Now, let's deliver the verdict." The four men walked back through and sat back down. Lyall though just looked down at him with steely eyes. Even though he didn't agree with the verdict, he wanted him to know he couldn't hide for long.
"Mister Greyback, after extensive deliberation with my colleagues, Mr Herman Gallows, Mister James Day, and Mister Lyall Lupin, we at The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures have decided to release you without charge."
Greyback punched the air in delight while Lyall scowled at him.
"You will now go with the Custode who will wipe your memory. Sorry for inconveniencing you sir." He was led away. He looked back though at Lyall, and although he couldn't be sure. He was certain that Greyback smirked at him.
"Ok Sir, where just going to use a small charm on you to alter your memory." Said one of the Custodes walking out. "And then you'll be let go."
"Thanks, but the charm won't be necessary." The Custodes looked at each other with confused looks.
"Won't be-" Greyback shrugged them off with a burst of strength and bared his razor sharp teeth. One of the Custodes got to his feet to try and stun him with Greyback punched him into the corridor wall. He then picked up the other Custode and snapped his neck, his body falling to floor with a thud. A curse then smashed the roof above his head.
"STOP!" Greyback turned and saw Lyall Lupin with his wand prepped for another hit. Greyback ran off down the corridor. Lupin running to keep up with him. Greyback skidded round the corner and saw two more Custodes.
"Stop that man!" shouted Lyall. Greyback though had already jumped over them. He grabbed one of them by the shoulders mid-flight and thrown him down the corridor into a security door. He grabbed the other in head lock as Lyall came round the corner.
"Nowhere to run." Said Lyall. "Let him go." Greyback snarled and then bit down on the Custodes neck. Blood squirted out of the wound and Greyback let him fall to the floor and then ran. Lyall ran up to the Custode, he was going to die if Lyall couldn't stop the bleed.
"Looks like you have a choice on your hands." Said Greyback looking back at Lyall. "He'll die if you pursue me, but, is one life worth all the ones you could probably save by catching me?" Lyall seethed. What he wanted to do and what he should do playing hard on his mind. After a second of mental deliberation he kneeled down tend to the Custode.
"You're weak, and it will be your downfall." When Lyall looked up, Greyback was gone.
"Don't worry." Said Lyall as he turned back to the Custode. "You'll be just fine."
"Did they catch him?"
"No, he'd gone by the time back up arrived." Said Lyall. He walked round to his side of the bed and slipped inside. His wife, Hope Lupin gently rubbed his stomach and snuggled up closer to him. "I could see it, I only I had the evidence to do so." Hope tossed her blonde hair back.
"So, where do you think he is now?" she asked. Her brown eyes looking up at him.
"Somewhere far away from here." Said Lyall as he flicked the night light off.
"At least I hope he is."
But deep in the shadows, between the trees, there was something watching the house. It was panting, heavily, its eyes fixated on a small boy.
Fresh Meat.
It bounded out of the woods at the front of the house and stopped. It then silently climbed the drain drip and looked at the dark room with the man and his wife. Its paw went out to open it, but it was locked.
It then moved across to the other side, the window was unlocked.
It moved in silently as if fluid and looked around. The room was bright and full of toys. It then looked to the left and there was a small boy inside the bed. It got to the edge of the bed and growled.
He could hear the heartbeat of the boy increase as he looked around and then settled again. It then snarled and rose up from the edge of the bed. The boy screamed.
Its jaws sinking into the boys flesh. There was a banging sound and the hit of a curse as he tumbled out the window.
He now needed a place to hide, because although he was injured, the damage had been done.
Saint Mungo's
Lyall was sitting in a waiting room with his head in his hands. How could he of let this happen, how could he of been so careless, his son, his only, attacked by that monster, and he wasn't there to protect him. Lyall was sitting next him and holding onto this hand very tightly. What Greyback had told him running through his mind.
"Is one life worth all the ones you could probably save by catching me?"
In that moment, he wished he let that Custode die.
"This is all my fault." He said shaking his head. "All my bloody fault. If, only I had lobbied louder. If, if only I hadn't said that stupid thing!" He broke down into his wife's lap how stroked his hair soothingly.
"It'll be ok." She croaked. "I just have to pray it will all be ok." She pulled his face up and framed it in her hands.
"All will be well."
"Mr and Mrs Lupin." Lyall and Hope looked up to see the doctor looking gravely down at him. He went to speak but then didn't.
"Is he ok?" asked Hope. "How's my boy?"
"Why don't you step into my office." Lyall and Hope followed him into a small medical office. He sat down behind his desk.
"Mr and Mrs Lupin this is going to be very hard to take and understand. Your son is ok, and he will be fine." Lyall and Hope looked at each other surprised. "But, he will never be the same again." Both faces dropped.
"What do you mean, never be the same again?" asked Lyall.
"There's no easy way to say this…your son was attacked by a werewolf…the attack wasn't to kill, but…to pass on the curse." Hope began to weep.
"He's a werewolf now as well."
"Mum, I don't feel so well." Said Remus, he was sitting at the table with his head in his hands, his food barely touched in front of him.
"I…know, sweetheart." She said, it was his first full moon since the accident, and he had been ill for the last couple of days. The two parallel scars that went down his cheeks now stood out as sore reminders of what had happened to him.
"Now come on, we have to get you ready." Remus pushed his chair out and followed his mum out the kitchen and down the hall to the basement. Remus looked over at his mum who nodded encouragement and they walked down the steps to a huge metal door and the bottom of it.
Inside, Lyall was waiting for them.
"Why are we coming down here?" asked Remus.
"It's for your own good honey." Said Hope with tears in her eyes. They walked to the centre of the room where there was a pole hammered into the ground with a length of thick rope with a collar at the end of it.
"What's that for?" asked Remus. Hope sniffed.
"It's for you." she barely got the words out. She kneeled down in front of her son. She smiled and brushed some of his fringe out of his eyes.
"I love you so much Remus." She said. "You know that, don't you."
"Of course I do mum." Said Remus. Hope smiled more.
"But I don't understand, what's going on, why are we down here?" Hope bowed her head. Lyall came down and kneeled down next to her.
"Remus, you're going to be going through some changes over the next few months." He said. "And…there going to be challenging. So you have to promise to be a big strong boy for us, ok?"
Remus nodded, even though he didn't know what was really going on. Lyall then got the collar and placed it round his son's neck.
"We love you son." He said kissing the top of his head. Hope, who was now in tears was helped up by Lyall and he gently walked her out.
"Mum, dad, where are you going?" asked Remus, "You're, you're not going to leave me down here are you?" Hope cried more and more as Lyall led her out of the steel door.
"Mum! Dad!" he cried, tears streaming down his face.
Lyall turned back round and saw his son starring so innocently at him, it really did break his heart to see it happening, and, it was all his fault it was happening to.
"MUM!"
With a heave, he closed the steel door and bolted it shut.
1971
The years had taken their toll on Hope. Nearly five years had come and gone since Remus's accident and it hadn't got any easier. He had been a very good boy but it was getting harder now the wolf inside him was getting bigger. Hope was looking at herself in the mirror.
Her once youthful skin was strained and starting to wrinkle with bags under her eyes and now greying hair. She looked down at the sink before her and looked at the small hipflask and the now full bottle of scotch that was in her other hand.
She always promised herself, every day for five years that today was the day she poured the bottle down the plughole than the flask.
But alas, as she unscrewed the bottle.
Today was not that day she thought as the liquid filled up her bottle and screwed the top on it. Despite her name, she seemed to of lost all hope of her son having a normal life.
He would have to be dependent on them for the rest of his life. He couldn't possibly have gone to school, muggle or the magic one that Lyall went to, it was crazy, just too farfetched. Someone would have noticed it straight away.
She placed the flask on the inside pocket of her cardigan and walked out towards the front door where the post lay.
Hope sighed.
Amongst the usual bills and junk mail lay another letter on top with green writing on the top. Hope slowly bent down and picked it up. She looked over her shoulder at the kitchen where Remus was eating his breakfast. He had been down about his letter, that he hadn't received one. But Hope opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs and placed this one on the top of a neat stack of identical letters.
She couldn't see how Remus would be allowed into school with his affliction. The world still treated werewolves with fear and contempt. There were even rumours of them being segregated into their own society.
"Has the post been mum?"
"Yes dear." Said Hope closing the door.
"Has my letter come yet?"
"No." said Hope ruffling his hair. "Don't worry dear. Soon." She kissed him on the head and went to the kitchen counter.
"Hey." Lyall came in and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm heading off to work."
"Have a nice day." Said Hope smiling at him. They were interrupted by a knock on the door. All three looked over at each other and then the door as it knocked again.
Lyall went towards the door and opened it. Standing in front of him in purple robes with his tall hat and long white beard. Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah…Professor Dumbledore?" Lyall said confused.
"Hello Lyall." Said Dumbledore. "Do you mind if I?" He gestured inside.
"Yes, yes of course." Said Lyall standing aside and showing him in. Dumbledore walked into the kitchen and saw Remus at the table.
"Hello I'm Albus Dumbledore." He said smiling warmly. "Lyall's old teacher. And this must be Remus." He said looking at Remus. "What is that you're reading?"
"Jonathan Croak, Sir." Said Remus timidly.
"Ah, a fine read." He said. Lyall had now joined them in the kitchen.
"Uhm, professor, what are you doing here?" asked Lyall.
"I wouldn't be here if you had answered our letters." Said Dumbledore looking back at them. Lyall looked stunned while Hope placed her head in her hands.
"What!" Remus pushed his seat out and was now staring at them both. "I've had letters and you didn't tell me!"
"Remus, listen-"
"No!" said Remus. "I've been waiting for this for years and you kept it from me!"
"It was for your own good." Said Hope.
"Like-"
"Remus." The simple utter of the word made him silent. "Your parents love you very much, and they have had nothing but your best interests at heart." He said. "The reason I am here is so we can discuss the arrangement of your, Uhm...little problem." Everyone looked on stunned at the old man.
"Professor-" Dumbledore held up his hand for silence.
"Can you please leave us for a moment while we discuss this." He asked. "You may also just want to finish your book." he said handing it back to him. "I hear it has a very good ending." Remus looked back at the old man and then at his parents before walking away slowly.
"Look, Professor I-" Again, he held his hand up.
"You needn't explain." Said Dumbledore looking at them both. "I know that Remus is a werewolf." They both looked at each other in astonishment.
"How?"
"A mutual friend, Alec Potter, heard Fennier Greyback bragging about how he attacked the son of a man in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Said Dumbledore.
"They don't call him the World's Greatest Detective for nothing."
"Clearly." Said Lyall. "But…Professor, how can we send our son to Hogwarts. He's a werewolf, have you seen on the news about how they are segregating these poor people."
"I know." Said Dumbledore. "But that shouldn't mean that it should deprive Remus of an education. What was your plan for him if I hadn't come knocking on your door?"
Both Lyall and Hope looked at each other.
"I was going to home school him." said Lyall. "We can't allow him to be exposed to the outside world."
"And then what."
"We, uh, didn't discuss that."
"And what happens when he becomes a bigger werewolf, a stronger werewolf." Said Dumbledore. "Are you going to be strong enough to stop him when he is an adult werewolf?"
"Are you strong enough?" Asked Lyall fiercely. "Because you don't look strong enough."
"Physique isn't the only indication of strength." Said Dumbledore. "As you are aware. Your strength charms alone can't hold your son during his transformation. As he becomes older, he will become stronger, far too much for one man to control." Lyall bowed his head.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Lyall?"
"This is my old teacher." Said Lyall to Hope. "If anyone can help him, it's him." Hope shook her head.
"Like all those bloody potioneers you took him to!" said Hope. "Having him prodded and poked and force fed potions, where did that get you!"
"Hope, please."
"I understand your trepidation." Said Dumbledore. "But keeping him tied up in your basement praying he doesn't get out isn't a long term solution."
Hope and Lyall both knew he was right. But who else could they trust with this. It was their son, what if he was bullied, or ridiculed…what if he was ousted, and persecuted, or worse still, he was killed.
"The Potter's own an old building on the outskirts of Hogsmede, its old and dilapidated, and much gone by for human habitation." Said Dumbledore. "But, it has a secret tunnel in the basement that leads to Hogwarts."
"And what use does an old Potter house have for us." Said Lyall. "That just means one day that some student will find him, either Remus will pass on the curse or worse." Hope gulped and looked away. Her Remus wasn't capable of such a thing, but the wolf on the other hand.
"Professor Sprout has forever pestered me for a whomping willow." He said. "I have always said no because they are a danger for students, the violent branches and temperamental nature. But, now, I can see a reason why we should."
"I don't understand?" said Lyall.
"Every month, Remus will go to this house to transform, Alec assures me that it can stand up to the strongest punishment, it was built by his ancestor during the giant wars. Remus will be able to transform in peace, and not be able to get out into Hogsmede, the whomping willow will protect any student from wondering across him."
Hope stammered "So, Remus-"
"Remus will be able to go to school. And transform in peace." He said. Hope's eyes began to sting with tears. She…she hadn't thought of Remus going to school for years, and, now, by some miracle, he now was. The tears flowed and she hugged him fiercely.
"Thank you." she barely said it, but was sure that it was out there somewhere, and that she knew her gratitude had come across.
"If we take the necessary precautions, there is no reason he can't." said Dumbledore. "Alec has already placed the necessary charms round the building to protect it further. It won't be disturbed by the villagers or the Students." Dumbledore smiled at the small family.
"There is a reason to hope again."
Later, after Dumbledore had left and the details finalised, Hope was in the bathroom again, but this time, with a smile on her face and found herself in the same position she was this morning.
Bottle in one hand, flask in the other.
She smiled widely and she poured both down the sink. Who knew today was the day.
The Marauders Proudly Present: The Marauders Year Two
Chapter One
Cryptozoology
Written By Chambers10
Hi everyone, sorry about the wait for this but I really got into the grove of writing this, I thought I'd only have a ten or twelve chapters by this point by I have twenty eight. Yes, 28, including the ending, I just need to write about five more and I need to connect them all but the first five are finished and ready to put out.
Speaking of which I'll be updating every Saturday until it's finished, and after I've finished year two it'll be straight onto year three which I have a tonne of notes for already. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review.
Happy reading.
Chambers.