Richter Belmont approached the entrance of the final tower with a triumphant glow. His battle through the castle had been long and hellish, but finally, here, he would find and destroy Draculas secret of eternal life. The door before him was huge and solid, but seemed otherwise unremarkable. No mystical keys or hexes guarded it. Belmont stayed cautious. He had expected an army of undead fiends waiting for him. Was this not Draculas very source of ageless power?
A giggle suddenly broke the cold silence of the room.
Brandishing his whip and holy weapons Belmont turned to witness the nightmare that waited him. To his surprised however, there sat only a small man, crouched on a pile of broken rubble. The man looked tiny, but Belmont realised it was only due to his crooked back, leaving him eternally hunched. He gibbered to himself, cradling a small metal bolt in his dirty hand. Stepping closer, he saw that the man was freakishly deformed, his huge bulging eyes wandered the room aimlessly, a long wrinkled nose seemed to smell him approaching. His teeth were broken and stained, and grimy fingernails picked at the rusty metal he clasped. Belmont had expected to fight hell itself, but instead found this...
The tiny frame of the hunched man looked pathetic compared to the fiendish black servants he had vanquished on his quest. Despite this he approached with caution. Dracula had the ability to twist men's minds, and turn them against their brothers. The strange gibbering of the man stopped abruptly as he came closer.
"Leave this place!" His voice was scratched with madness and age. "I am cursed to protect this room until I find a way to undo what I helped to create!"
Belmont paused. The ugly little man was so broken, bound by some unknown insanity; he couldn't help but pity him. He rested his hand on the hunchbacks shoulder.
"You are cursed no longer my friend, you master, Dracula, will have his power broken by dawn. Leave this castle and make a new life for yourself"
The man laughed shrilly.
"Dracula holds no power over me! I am cursed by my past, by my own arrogance. My loyalty to a dead fool means I must guard the secret of eternal death forever! Now leave this place or face your own death!"
Belmont was taken aback. His offer of freedom meant nothing to this broken man.
"Guard the room if you must, but I will pass through. Nothing, least of all you, will hinder my quest to put a stop to the demon who owns this castle!"
Suddenly the hunched man pounced with a burst of speed. Leaping onto the stunned hunter, he pulled a blade from beneath his cape and pressed it to his throat. Belmont's eyes were level with his, and for a second he saw the fear and madness in the swollen orbs. The hunchback may have killed a lesser man, but before he could deliver the killing strike Belmont drew his own blade and plunged it into his attacker's stomach. Falling from the attacking strike he clasped his hands over the blade embedded in him. The look of fear in the madman's eyes was replaced with shock, and suddenly a quiet acceptance. Sinking to the floor he smiled at his killer.
"You chose death to try and protect Draculas secret of eternal life?" Belmont asked, disgusted
The hunchbacks grin grew wider.
"No" he replied, spitting a tiny shower of blood onto his chin. "I chose death to try and protect you..." Closing his eyes, the broken shell of a man finally found peace and drifted into death.
Retrieving his blade Belmont left the dead man where he lay and gripped the handle of the ancient door, swinging it open with a deep groan.
Dracula closed his eyes, meditating deeply he could sense the inner workings of his castle. He felt the dark energy that glowed from the faithful servants that guarded him. The pure light of his great love, and the cursed hunter determined to end it all... His claw like fingers gripped the handle of his throne, cutting into the eloquent fabrics of his ancestral seat. His forces were becoming thin. Everything he had thrown at the cursed Belmont had fallen. Hatred burned in him, yet deep down, he could not help feeling a shimmer of respect for his tenacity.
Before him his dedicated advisor, the dark priest Shaft, bowed to the ground. His skeletal face hidden by an extravagant head mask, and his body inked with ancient incantations and runes.
"Master" Each word from the unholy mans lips sounded like the last croak of a dying man "The cursed hunter has escaped the dungeon...but I believe his failed quest will soon come to a...satisfying end my lord..."
The piercing eyes of Dracula burned through his servant. The fools pet wolves and decrepit army has proven no match for the skill of the Belmont heir, and his reassurances of Belmont's doom in the darkest dungeon had failed yet again. The old man had proven useful, but his years of loyal service would not protect him from his masters wrath forever...
"Speak!" Dracula spoke, his voice both commanding and terrifying.
"My lord...it seems that the hunter has made a grave error...he approaches the Western tower convinced that the secret of your power is concealed within...your servant would...humbly...suggest that the beast within will be more than match for the crusader...as it has proven...resilient...before"
The vampire lord sat back in his throne, closing his eyes once again. He focused his vision on the tower, on the dark madness that lay within. An insanity that not even he controlled...Ever since he had brought the foolish mortal here who promised to give him servants beyond imagining, the tower had remained locked. The creature within had destroyed its creator and every minion he had sent in to finish it off...and now perhaps it would finally prove useful.
Focusing his sight, he saw the essence of Belmont pass into the forbidden tower, and with a wave of his hand, a terrible trap was activated.
Belmont stepped through the heavy door and immediately realised that this was no ordinary tower. The luxurious draping that decorated the other towers of the Castle was nowhere to be seen, nor were the horrors that filled the dark recedes of Draculas castle. Instead he found himself confronted by hundreds of pieces of strange equipment, bottles, beakers, knives and test tubes. It reminded Belmont of the strange alchemist's shop he had visited as a child. The sparkle of the equipment in the flaming torchlight was contrasted by the very centre of the room, dark and shadowy, like some unnatural cloak was protecting it.
Suddenly the heavy wooden door he had stepped through swung shut with a loud crash. Though no one had closed it he knew he heard the sound of locks turning invisibly, sealing him in. One by one the torches of the room began to extinguish. Though he could not see it, Belmont knew that the dark hand of Dracula was passing over the room, slowly filling it with blackness. As he was enveloped by the inky black he saw the brilliant skylight that allowed the moon to fill the room with a hint of silvery light.
From the centre of the blackness came a roar that filled him with dread...
Belmont held steady...again from the darkness came a fowl, sorrowful moan. A large shadow moved in the darkness, barely noticeable but for the sound of crashing equipment as it lumbered forward. The beast towered over Belmont, causing him to grip the handle of the whip even tighter...A foul odious stench of decay filled the air. Slowly it stumbled forward and into the light.
It seemed to be a man...though like no man Belmont had ever laid eyes on before...he stood tall, his huge frame barely contained by the room despite it immense size. His skin was a sickening combination of green and yellow, like a ripe corpse left in sunlight. Neat stitching covered his body, at various joints, and surrounding the cap of the monsters skull. It was partially dressed in a combination of plain black clothing that had rotted away with time and neglect. Two points of metal were embedded symmetrically in its thick neck. It stepped forward again with a heavy thud.
Despite the horrors of its appearance, Belmont found himself staring into its eyes. Deep and sunken, like a man who had not slept for many nights, its pupils were faded and glassy. The hulking thing parted its black lips to reveal a set of pearly white teeth and snarled. Nothing had prepared him for this...the horrors that Dracula kept in his fortress were beyond the worst nightmares of mortal men...but this...thing...almost human...but so twisted and dead...it chilled him in a way he couldn't comprehend.
Suddenly the beast swung. Its mighty fist sailed so close to Belmont's face that the air tingled before it. It collided with one of the stone columns, causing it to crumble into a pile of rubble and dust in an instant. A table of dusty equipment was shattered as it clumsily lifted its other arm high above its head and swung closer. Without thinking Belmont leap backwards. The second fist crunched into the stone floor, cracking it with ease. Brandishing his whip, he lashed out as it lifted itself upright and stepped closer. The whip tore into the monsters arm, ripping its dried old flesh away, but the beast barely noticed.
Instinctively Belmont reached for the small glass bottle tied to his belt. Hurling it with all his strength, he launched it into the creatures face. It shattered, dousing it with holy water so pure it would burn away the flesh of Dracula himself. The water trickled off its face and down to the floor and the lumbering corpse continued unfazed.
"You are no demon!" Belmont cursed, his razor sharp whip licking through the air, ripping at the monsters flesh again. "What foul magic could give you life?" Unwilling, or perhaps unable to reply, the monster lunged forward with sudden speed and drove its fist into his chest with earth shattering force. Belmont felt one of his ribs crack as he was thrown backwards by the blow, crashing into a table of papers and diagrams.
The monster gave a pitiful moan of victory and continued its approach; Belmont lay in a crumpled head and clutched at his wounded body. Pushing past the pain in his chest he looked up and saw the monsters heavy boot rushing towards him. He rolled to the side and grabbed his concealed dagger. With all his strength he leapt to his feet and drove it into the middle of the heavy figure. The beast paused for a second to look at the weapon embedded in its own body, then violently struck Belmont a second time. A second disturbing crack told him that he was badly injured...this thing was going to kill him, to simply smash him into a bloody pulp. Spitting out a glob of blood and shattered tooth he staggered to his feet, wanting to die facing his foe rather that cowering in a corner.
The roaring monster could sense that his victim was close to death. Reaching for a crude weapon, it laid its hands on the last remaining table. Various jars of brilliantly colours chemicals fell to the floor and smashed as the beast lifted the table high above its head to deliver the killing blow.
Suddenly the chemicals ignited! Belmont had no idea what caused it, but the various mixings caused a small flame to burst into life. The huge being dropped the table and screamed out in pain, covering its weak eyes and retreating backwards. Instantaneously Belmont realised what a fool he had been. He believed the darkness to be one of Dracula's theatricalities, his deceptions designed to confuse and frighten those who would opposed him. In this room that was irrelevant, the flame was how he controlled the wild monster contained within it.
With renewed strength he leapt to the pile of papers and writings and threw them into the weak flame. The kindling cause the weak flame to suddenly roar into life. The monster howled and staggered back further, terrified of the naked flame before it. It began to lash out at its surroundings; the room shook as its incredible fists collided with the walls and furniture, smashing them to splinters. Pressing his advantage, Belmont grabbed a handful of the burning notes and hurled them at the confused beast. One of the flames licked at its musty clothing, causing it to ignite too.
The creature was engulfed in a brilliant flame, lighting the room once again. In panic it turned and ran. In the locked tower it had nowhere to turn and simply charged into the outer wall, breaking it with ease. With one last hideous howl the monster plunged into the endless black of the pits that surrounded the nightmarish fortress, the flames that surrounded it disappearing into a tiny speck of light no bigger than a star before vanishing completely. Belmont collapsed to the floor, beaten and exhausted, the monster that not even Dracula himself had commanded was defeated. As he slipped into unconsciousness the last of the burning papers shrivelled into black ash, destroying Victor Frankenstein's secret of eternal life, and eternal death, forever...