He stirred.
He had slept for centuries, years he had long since lost count of, though he could still feel the rumblings of the world around him. He was aware of the time passing; the cemetery where he had once found refuge had long since been destroyed, and yet his resting place, twelve feet below the surface, had remained undisturbed. He saw no need to make his presence known; humanities need to advance was only matched by their ability to self-destruct. They would do more damage to themselves than his kind ever could.

Yet, for this...his eyes were almost forced open, greeting the pitch blackness around him.
The movement of the Earth had been unlike anything he had felt. It was almost as if the disturbance had begun miles below the ground, deeper than anything charted, and then dragged to the surface. It wasn't natural, it had been against the planet's will and it had screamed its resistance.
There were dark forces at work.

He had felt darkness before, and would've dismissed it as another war until he felt the screams of lives being torn away violently. In war lives were lost suddenly, spontaneously. This was the scream of something being hunted, savaged, and eaten alive. It was the scream of trapped prey.
Death was present, and hard at work.

"No..."
In one fluent motion, he sat up, bracing his right hand at the top of his coffin and thrusting it open, splintering the hinges in the process. He felt the strain of the sudden movement; he had not fed in a long time. The outside swamp life would see to that.
Pouring himself from the grand casket, he fell to the floor in a heap, his stomach collapsing on itself. For a second he writhed, with the pain of waking from long slumber, fatigue, and the ubiquitous hunger that his mother had taught him to control...control...he had to control it...
And as he stood and exhaled, he felt the beast within him calm down. Upon meeting his enemies, the spell Dark Metamorphosis would restore him completely. He would need all of his strength for the task ahead of him.
He brushed aside his long, white hair, lacking its usual luster as he stood up. Reaching back into the casket he retrieved his weapons of war; the sword, shield, cloak and helm he had used when he stood against his father before. if Death dared to try to claim them he would suffer his own fate this time.
He was donning the battle gear when a large THUD went off above him, as though someone had dropped a five-tone object on the ground above him. It was followed by another, slightly softer thud, then rumblings that grew bigger as seconds ticked off. Something large was coming for him.

Just as he registered the thought the ceiling exploded above him, giving way to a Scylla worm unlike any he had encountered before. It was at least fifty feet long and half as tall, a slinky cylinder shape that gave way to thousands of teeth that it bared, bellowing its intentions and shaking the room.

He could only smile. An enemy not human, that would bleed just the same. His right hand clenched his sword and he waited...it was not a long wait. The Scylla dove at him and he almost glided to the right, letting the worm crash into the ground. In a second, he latched onto the worm with his left hand, digging claws into the beast and sinking his teeth into its hide.
The beast shrieked in pain as it was bled dry, and slowly gave as its heart beat its last. As it died, he released the animal, letting its top half fall listlessly to the ground.

And he felt the blood race through him, his heart beat with the rush of new life pouring through his body and he felt relief. He was up to the task at hand, and yet he was wary; his father had struck first at him this time...

And there was a familiar smell in the air, moving, it had purpose. More of a pampered boy than a warrior, but there was potential there. And fear. He had never smelled fear in this blood before, but it was moving just the same.
Belmont.

It would be different this time. The castle would be ready for them, and after being vanquished so many times, who knew what Dracula had waiting for them...

Closing his eyes, he allowed his body to dissipate into mist, and rose. He felt his way through the dirt above him and began moving towards the surface.

His name was Alucard.
And he was here to destroy this castle...