The year is 1998. a veil of darkness corrupts the innocent, turning all of England into a mindless, savage land. The only one not affected is the one who had caused it many years ago; the same man to come to one Julius Belmont's door in the pouring rain...
Bang. "Julius! Open the door!"
The door bursts open to reveal a much surprised Julius sporting a dagger. When he realized who it was, the dagger dissolved into light and joined the necklace he wore. "Arikado! What are you doing here?" He stepped out. The boy was only nineteen, but he had well-defined muscles, trained his whole life to wield a whip he couldn't hold. "Where is it, man?"
Arikado had a solemn look etched on his handsome face. "It's gone."
Julius seemed to be confused. "Where is it?"
"I don't know. I asked Charlotte, and I was given the same answer. I searched the Morris house and came up empty. May I come in? I simply must get out of this damned rain."
Julius widened the door and stepped aside for Arikado to enter. "There are some letters from Richter that were never sent to the Morrises. They're in the writing desk in the fourth room down the hall, on the left." He started down the other passageway.
"Julius. Where are you going?" Arikado asked. He peered down the hall only to see a pretty girl dive back into a room with an open door. She shut the door with a snap. "Who was that?" Julius blushed a deep shade of magenta.
"It's not really any of your business, but if you need to know, it's my girlfriend. I'm having her go through our - my room, that is - for information. I haven't found anything on the prophecy yet, but I hope to soon. this is a big house, after all." He turned and walked down the hall and gently opened the door and closed it behind him.
"Fourth door on the left, did he say?" Julius wasn't wrong. The house was almost like a mansion, filled with bookshelves, they had a library filled with bibles, scrolls, ancient magical texts, and many others. They had a kitchen that was run by magic. "He speaks of destiny so casually... almost as if he doesn't even care." He turned into the room and saw that it was not a high ceiling room as the others were, but was furnished with two silver filing cabinets - one on either side - a large writing desk, and aa chair on wheels. Above the desk hung a clock with a pendulum swinging noisily below it.
Arikado walked up to the desk and examined the familiar clock. Etched in tiny, sloppy letters read 'Simon's defeat of Count Dracula'. "Hm. What a brave line of men and women. I didn't know he stole one of these from the clock tower." He pulled out the drawer on the left and found pens, quills, pencils, among other writing utensils. He opened the other drawers to find papers, envelopes, stamps, and inkpots.
In the filing cabinet on the left, The top drawer was empty, but there were still some shavings and erasers in the bottom of the drawer, and Arikado took that to mean that it was recently emptied. The bottom drawer held files filled with ancient sketches of sub weapon and the necklace that Julius, among other Belmonts and Arikado himself, wore around their necks.
The filing cabinet on the right contained files full of old letters from the Hakuba, Morris, Aulin, and Belnades clans. Arikado pulled one out and saw that it was from Richter to Hunter Belmont, Julius's father. Arikado put it back in the drawer and opened the last drawer.
There were four sealed letters from Richter to John Morris, and one to Jonathan, John's son. Arikado pulled out the letter to Jonathan and opened it.
I know you feel angry at your father, but all will be revealed in time. You may feel frustrated, angry, even. I do not blame you. As bad as you feel, you are humanity's only hope. I have news that Dracula's castle has been active recently. I would appreciate it if you could look for clues as to why this is so. Please don't give up.
Your friend,
Richter.
Arikado placed the letter in the drawer again and reached for one to John. He was about to open it when he heard the sound of running footsteps. The door to the room swung open, and Julius another dagger in his hand. "We simply must stop this tradition," Arikado said. Julius agreed and the dagger dissolved once more into light. "Now, tell me what is wrong, boy."
Julius looked into Genya's cold, grey eyes. "A man just came to our room. Scared her to pieces... Arikado. He... he had the Vampire Killer. I saw it."
Arikado stepped forward. "Where is he now?"
"I don't know."
"What does that mean?"
"I summoned a cross, and when I did, he... vanished."
"What did he say?"
"H-he told me to stop looking for the whip. He wanted the sub weapon necklace."
What did the girl do? Is she..." Arikado leaned over and examined the shy girl. She was very pretty. Julius moved aside and she stepped into the room.
"I'm not 'the girl'. My name is Yamelia Freeman. You must be Genya Arikado, Julius's, er, business partner?"
Arikado nodded. "Indeed. Tell me more about this man." Julius told Arikado about the man, but he was wearing a hood and mask. "I see. If you'll excuse me, I must examine the place where he... 'vanished'".
Julius and Yamelia led Arikado to the doorway of their room. "Did she move from this spot?" They shook their heads. Arikado examined it with great care. "There appear to be faint traces of dark magic. Should I unseal my power, I might be able to use the traces of magic to track him down. However, I cannot."
"Why not?" Yamelia inquired.
Julius answered before Arikado had a chance. "Because his seal keeps his dark power from drawing the demons and monsters to him. Unsealing it would also send a ripple of power strong enough to wake Dracula himself." There was an awkward pause at the name "Dracula". Arikado was the first to break the silence.
"Julius, have you spoken with Natasha recently?" he asked thoughtfully. Julius opened his mouth to answer and suddenly looked over at Yamelia, who was looking in the opposite direction, blushing furiously. "Yamelia, perhaps you should-"
"Yeah. I'll be in the other room. Don't mind me." She strutted out of the room in a dignified sort of way. The two men felt another mutual awkwardness.
"Sorry about that, she-"
"Don't worry about it. Tell me, have you heard from any of the Belnades clan?" Julius thought about it for a second, looked at the doorway, and then shut and locked the door. Then he pulled out his phone.
"I've been meaning to show you this, but I didn't want Yamelia getting too worked up over that man, but... I have reason to believe that he has been stalking the Belnades and Belmonts for over two months." For once, he looked genuinely scared. He stared at Arikado for support. It took Arikado a long time to respond - he seemed to be trying to think about what he was going to say carefully.
"Stay inside the house," he said slowly, "I will draw a sealing circle around the house. I will bring your food as well... don't leave unless told. Do you understand?" He said sharply. Julius looked stunned, and then he closed his mouth and nodded silently. "I will figure out who this man is.