It's like a mix between Van Helsing and Underworld, but the only charater that you will recognize is Dracula. He's the ultimate vampire, so I couldn't leave him out. Hope you enjoy it!
Rage
Chapter 1
The Storm Inside
The rain seeped through the narrow stone window soaking the silk drapes and the person sitting underneath them. The lightening flashed and the thunder clapped when she finally lifted her head to the moon, fighting its way through the menacing clouds. She had been sitting there for years, devoid of hope and pain, for the hunger was draining her strength. Even after all of the years she remembered what had happened to her mother.
It had been one of the most gruesome event she had ever witnessed in her entire life. She was used to seeing the Count murder thousands of people, but never one like this. She never thought that her own father could do such a thing. She heard his loud footsteps coming up the crackled stairwell to the room that he had been keeping her in. She backed herself into the corner of the twelve by twelve room with her fangs readied to attack if necessary.
The door's dead-bolt lock clunked as it was unlocked and she watched the doorknob slowly twist open. The door slowly opened with her father's shadowy outline coming through the doorway. Adjusting her eyes to see him clearly she noticed the scar he still bore on his right cheek and smiled to herself.
"Now Rage," the Count said with a malicious tone in his voice, "It was all for the best that this happened. She had something that could've helped us and she kept it to herself. She got what she deserved, don't you think?"
"I despise you, Count. You're an evil man and Paig will punish you for the ultimate sin you have committed." Rage said halfway crying and spit at his feet.
Dracula closed his eyes, took a deep breath and kicked Rage as hard as he could in the mouth and scratched her side. His hair had fallen from the ponytail that kept his black hair neatly out of his face. She was slammed into the wall and looked back into his face breathing hard trying not to show weakness.
"Now, you know I hate it when you call me that, but you do remember who's side we're on? If it wasn't for the Red Lord telling me, you would have died in the sun right along with your pathetic mother."
Rage had had enough of him insulting her mother. She stood up and bore her fangs at him, challenging him to say another word. She started to turn the usual jet-black transformation color and spread her bat-like wings. Even though Dracula's fangs were four times as long as hers, she didn't care what happened in the end. She wouldn't let anyone say anything like that about her mother. They stared at each other waiting for one or the other to make the first move. The suspense was killing Rage and she couldn't take it any longer. The fury was too much for her to handle so she flew at her father. Before she reached him, he turned jet-black and swiped at her already swollen and bloody face. Rage ducked but didn't notice the other hand swing around and punch her in the stomach. She fell down on the hard stone floor back in her human state puking up blood.
"You're over-confident which is why you fell. You're nothing-." Count said stopping and catching the scent of the fresh blood. He dropped to his hands and knees following the scent to the puddle of blood. He almost got his serpent-like tongue in the warm liquid until Bryan, his human colleague, walked in. Immediately Dracula turned to his human state and stood up flattening his black hair, once again, to his head.
"Sorry, my Lord, but Lady Illieanna wishes to speak with you. She says it's a matter of importance." Bryan said waiting for his lord to exit before him. Dracula stared down at his beaten daughter and turned to exit. Dracula had just passed the doorway when he stopped and stared at the warm blood still on the floor, inviting him for a feast. He could have, he would have but he knew he had to refrain from it or the secret would be lost forever. He turned back to Bryan and spoke to him in a way that was highly unusual.
"Clean up this mess, now!" Dracula said then turning on his heels and slamming the door in Bryan's face. Bryan looked out the slit, that was supposed to be a window, watching his lord fade from his sight then shook his head when he knew the Count was gone. He slowly made his way across the room weary of making any quick movements for fear that Rage might still be on the defensive.
Finally he was standing at the lone, narrow window and ripped the silk drapes off their rods. He bent down on his knees and started to mop up the blood that Rage was still laying in staring at her the whole time, ready to jump back to protect himself.
Rage sat up and leaned against the wall, her head in her hands, staring at Bryan through the cracks of her fingers.
"Why do you do this to him?" Bryan asked very frustrated . He was always having to clean up after the Count when he was done teaching anybody a lesson he thought that they needed.
"Do what?"
"Agitate him so. It's not doing you any good. Just look at the state he left you in this time. Why don't you just give it up and tell him what your mom told you?"
"A child doesn't have a choice of who their parents are. And do you really think I would tell him a secret that would get everyone killed? I could never like him anyway. He killed the only person who loved me no matter what."
"You're lucky he didn't kill you tonight. He almost did if it wasn't for me coming to deliver a message. You shouldn't have fought him over your mother. That was a big mistake."
"I don't care. I would rather die in the sun or be drained of every last drop of the blood that runs through my veins than to hear anymore insult my mother." She said with her fangs bore right in Bryan's pale face. He then broken out into a cold sweat and started shaking violently, breathing hard. Rage stared into his small, beady brown eyes seeing right through him.
You know, umm, if I were you, I'd have done things a little differently."
"What do you mean? Be his friend. Ha!"
"Well, yeah. Don't you understand how powerful you'd be if you were at your father's side?"
"Like I said, I hate my father. A child doesn't choose their father. He was wrong about my mother. If he would have had different ideas about the world then she would have told him the secret, but he just wanted power. That's not what the secret's for. He was going to abuse it. She couldn't tell him. It wouldn't be right."
"But Count said it was for the best and that was the price she had to pay to keep it secret."
"Do you always believe what the Count says?" Rage said staring more intently into his eyes, like reading his mind, and leaning back up against the wall.
"Answer me," she screamed, "I'm tired of being tested!" She said grabbing him by the throat, holding him up against the wall.
"No." Bryan said finally choking out the words.
Rage dropped him at her feet and he back slowly away from her coughing with his whole body. He stopped when he reached the door and stared into her face holding his chest. He realized now why he loved her. She was strong, determined, and forceful. If he could tame her, control her, he would be the King of the Dead. But she was beautiful, even with a black eye and the blood dripping to the ground from her nose and lip.
"Since your willing to sacrifice your freedom for me then I think I know how you can earn it."
"Now how would I do that? I thought you didn't like me and now you seem to care about me?"
"I never said I liked you. I'm persuading you to do some work for me that could get you killed. I understand though if you don't want to do it, it'll just prove to me and Count that you're not willing to take risks."
"No, I want to be one of you so bad. I'll do anything."
"Are you willing to risk your relationship with my father?"
He looked away and stared out the lone, narrow window at the moon. Rage folded her arms and leaned back into the dark corner of the room. Bryan finally turned back and looked into her dark crimson red eyes.
"Yes."
Maliciously she smiled back at him.
Dracula had just entered his chamber when his wife, Lady Illieanna, was already talking rapidly to him.
"You need to do something about Bryan. He's getting way too close to Rage."
"She needs something to keep her busy…and it'll keep that human off my back for a few minutes. I still have his stench on my clothes. "
"Why don't you just kill her," she said walking up to him and caressing his face, "Get it over with now. It'll be for the best that this is done soon. You haven't been the same since you killed Anna-Lee. Are you growing weak?"
"Don't you ever bring her up ever again. She is in the past and that's where she'll stay." He said pushing her away.
"Sorry, but it was for the best. She didn't want you to have the secret. She didn't think you were man enough to handle it and she left it with that brat you call your daughter. You need to prove to Anna-Lee and the brat that you are a man, not a coward. Now go and beat it out of her or I will."
"I'll only say this once and you'll know your place. She's important to the plan. If we kill her now, all that we've worked for will be lost. I was sure of a break through today until-."
"Until you brought up her mother," she said going back and sitting in front of her vanity staring at the nothingness in the mirror, "How many times must I tell you? Do not bring up that witch when you are talking to Rage."
Dracula sat down in the throne he had Sinas build for him two thousand years ago. He held his strong chin in the palm of his hand and sighed. He began contemplating about the many things he could say to Rage to make her want to confess, but nothing came to mind. It was all quiet until Lady Illieanna spoke.
"Or maybe you can get Bryan to do it. Rage seems to like him better than she does us."
"I was thinking," Dracula said getting up and walking over to Lady Illieanna kissing and rubbing his fangs on her soft, warm neck. "Maybe…you can do it."
"Mmm, you can be terribly persuasive, but as you say…mmm, I can be hard-headed." She said standing up and walking a few feet away from him.
"Why do you test me Illieanna? I will not have you leading me on. Haven't I not told you?" Dracula said raising his voice slightly.
"How can you be sure though. I'm sensing that Bryan is going to be getting in the way. Like you've said, I will not see this plan fail, all because of some stupid human."
Count roared his superiority. She coward down to his feet crying uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry, my Lord. I didn't mean to offend you. I've been sensing a change in Bryan every time he visits her room."
"Yes, I have noticed that too, but he knows what he wants and I what I want," he said walking up to her and putting his hands on her forearms, "He won't dare defy me."
"Are you sure about this? This all seems way to dangerous."
"Don't be weak! Now are you going to help me or not?"
"You turn me into a vampire first…then I'll do it. It won't take long anyway."
"You must not be very smart Bryan. He'll know that you've been changed."
"No he won't. I'll look normal, won't I?"
"Of course not, you'll be a bat for the first twenty-four hours and have to stay in the complete dark. He must not have told you what you were getting yourself into then. Your biggest enemy is the sun. Put one finger in it and you'll be very badly burnt, think about it, if it's what you really want."
"I'll do it. Now I don't know how I'm going to do this but I'll try. I'll need help though. I need Orit."
"Who's Orit?"
"Orit...is just a friend. He's very good at what he does and he's on good terms with the Count. He can help. I'll see you in a few minutes. He always stays close by…just in case."
Bryan left the room and locked the door. He had to or Dracula would get suspicious of him. Rage walked over to the window and looked up at the moon. The storm was finally calming down and the moon shone very clear in the sky. She let her wings out and stretched them to their full length. She hadn't used them in a while, it's been so long and she wasn't sure she could carry herself. Rage folded her wings around her shoulders and checked them for loose skin. It was a sign her mother had told her when she was loosing muscle tone. It had started going black when she realized that she was falling into a deep sleep.
"Rage? Rage, Orit's here."
Rage jerked awake and grabbed Bryan's throat.
"It's me Rage! Orit's here." He said hanging onto the hand that held his throat. She quickly released him and looked out the window listening to the high-pitched echo she was hearing. It must have been Orit. Bryan said that he could turn himself into a bat. A few minutes later the little bat came into the window and fluttered in front of Rage's face. Her eyes turned to slits as the little bat flew around her head.
"Umm, Orit. I need to talk to you, you need to be a human for this. Come on, we don't have much time before Count wonders what I'm doing."
Orit flew to an empty spot in the room and went to his natural state. He wasn't really tall but he had muscle. He had brilliant bronzed skin and it had reminded Rage of the treasure room her mother had designed. His hair seemed to match his skin and she wasn't sure if it was natural or chemically changed. Rage looked him up and down and saw that he was dressed in khaki pants that had a few tears at the bottom like they had been snagged on briars. Orit was probably a great escape artist. Tuck tail and run was what Rage could guess about his nature, always running away. Never staying to fight. That was probably why he was alone. Orit looked at Rage and looked back at Bryan with a disappointed look on his face.
"So, this is Rage. You lied to me. I had expected the daughter of a King and all I see is a beaten prisoner." Orit said.
"She is the daughter of the Count and she's guarding something that will change the course of everyone's life, even you Orit are apart of this without your consent." Bryan stated defensively.
"I'll understand if he doesn't want to help, Bryan. Orit can die for all I care. It's just one more person I don't have to worry about getting in my way." Rage said folding her arms and leaning on the wall.
Orit looked back and forth at Bryan and Rage, both were staring back at him.
" Why do you guys have to do that?" Orit said with an annoyed tone like he was in a situation like this before. "It makes me feel bad…You know what? Fine, I'll do it. What do I need to do? You know you guys owe me. It's not my nature to be this caring."
"Well, at least we know you have some feelings."
Rage smiled at Orit that made both of them look at each other a little worried. The plan took a little longer than Rage anticipated on telling but with due time she got to the part where Orit came into action.
"You want me to lure the King of the Dead out of his castle? Are you barking mad? I'm not going to lie to him."
"She's not mad. She's a genius. The only flaw I see is if you screw up, but you won't, will you Orit?" Bryan said getting within an inch of Orit's face.
"No. Just give me a signal and I'll do my best. It's hard because I actually like the King, but if my life is in danger than its worth to make him a little annoyed with me," Orit walked over to the window and turned back to Bryan and Rage, "Besides…I never pledged my allegiance to him." He then turned to the window, transformed, and was gone.
"Do you trust him?"
"I think this time, we can. He only cares about his life when it's in danger…and it is." Bryan said looking out the window until Orit was out of sight.
"We all are in danger. Let's go."
To Be Continued...
This is my first major story so please tell me what you think of it!