Malady unscrewed the cork on a vial and poured a thick red fluid into the bubbling mixture of the kettle. The mixture seemed to radiate unholy energy- a result of the many cursed items placed in it. Skulls, blood, Daemon horns, even a chip of rare hellstone ore was submerged in the thick brown liquid. Malady meditated on the unholy aura of the kettle.
She was shocked when she saw tonight's vision, her death. She saw a man dressed in black. He had carried a cross with a knife at the end, and a flintlock. She gazed into the details of the man. His name was Cade. Father Cade, a priest of the Lightist church coming for her. Coming to end her life.
While reading the future is possible, it does not make the future fixed. The future can be changed. Malady would change it to turn the tables. She knew he was coming, thus she knew what to do. The witch opened her eyes and the vision ended. She climbed to her feet and proceeded toward the back room. The room was cluttered with shelves of vials and ingredients. At the back was her bed- a man was sleeping in it. A slave seduced by satanic magic. While Malady was young, self mutilation and satanic taint have long since destroyed her beauty and black magic was necessary if she was to fulfill her desires.
She took her gaze away from the bed and shifted it toward a coffin lying on a table. It was one of wood framed with gold plating. An upside down cross was carved into it. It was the coffin of Malady's vampiric assistant. Quietly she strode over to the coffin and removed its cover. The hideous form of Lady Oliver lied within. She was one of the bald ones, as many hunters called them. Her head was hairless, and her ears were grotesquely pointed. Her elongated fingers ended in razor sharp claws. The vampire opened her eyes at the disturbance and sat up.
"What is it you require Lady Malady?" she asked. Oliver was always the obedient type, always ready to receive orders from her master. Oliver was the recovered 10 year old child from the ruins of a vampire cult hideout. The village had rallied and burned down the manor, but miraculously Oliver survived. Oliver was about 16 years of age, but she would never truly age past 23 or so. Such was the nature of vampires.
Malady smiled, though the smile could barely be identified with so much self afflicted cuts and punctures. "The powers of hell have warned me of danger. I need your assistance in this matter." Oliver tilted her head. "How so Lady Malady? What do you ask of me?" she asked.
Malady thought for a moment as if she forgot something. "I need you to bait a werebeast." she said. Werebeasts were not uncommon in these parts. Most importantly, the purestrains (werebeasts who were never human) hated vampires and could easily sniff them out. All Malady needed to do was head to the nearby den with Oliver and draw one out. "That sounds dangerous Lady Malady!" said Oliver. Malady pat Oliver on her bald head. "Fear not, child. I will be sure that we both leave the den unharmed."
Cade was closing in on the Witch's home at last. He had traveled for 6 hours today, only stopping to feed the horse once. He was hungry, but food was of secondary importance right now. He was eager to slay the witch he came for. He held the silver cross necklace tightly. On the horizon, he can see the old shack the witch lived in. The house seemed to radiate unholy energy that made Cade's stomach hurt. Finally, he brought the horse to a stop and climbed off his saddle. Cade walked toward the house carefully, searching for signs of danger. So far there was nothing to be concerned about. The house's unholy aura strengthened slightly as Cade walked closer. He walked up the steps quietly, and the wood floor of the porch creaked as he stepped on a loose board. Carefully he lifted his foot and set it on a more stable part of the floor. The door hung open slightly. Cade placed his hand on the rusted knob. Before he could pull the door open further, something slammed into his back and he was pushed into the door. The door broke from its hinges. Cade saw the fur covered form of a lycan looking down at him. It pounced on him. Cade struggled to keep its jaws from biting down on him. Cade kicked the werewolf in the stomach and it fell backwards, but quickly regained its balance. It growled menacingly as Cade climbed to his feet, flintlock and cross ready. He let off a shot at the wolf, which hit the things chest. It was bleeding, but not dead. Cade held the knife in a defensive stance and he holstered the flintlock. Reloading now would be risky. He charged at the wolf daringly and tackled it to the ground.
Cade heard a feminine voice behind him say "You must be Father Cade...". Cade lost focus on the wolf from the distracting voice of Malady and was quickly knocked onto his back. Lady Malady snapped her fingers and the wolf got on all fours obediently. "Calm boy! You'll have you're meal soon enough!" she told the werewolf. "You must be the witch I've been sent to kill." Father Cade said. "And it looks like you have an assistant with you!" he continued as he noticed the frightened vampire girl behind Malady. "I'm afraid fate has undergone a shift in plans, Lightist." declared Malady. The werebeast growled menacingly at Cade. Cade looked around him for anything he could use to his advantage, but there was nothing but three unholies ready to kill him if he was to take action against them. "Fetch me the rope Oliver." Malady said. "Yes'm!" exclaimed Oliver enthusiastically. The vampire walked into the back room. Cade heard her sorting through various items until an "Aha!" confirmed that she found it. She rushed back into the room holding the rope. "What might we do with it?" asked Oliver. "Tie him. We're going to summon a Daemon to possess him." replied Malady. Malady made a quick commanding hand gesture at the wolf. Cade felt the clenched claw of the werebeast slam into the back of his head before blacking out.
Cade woke up tied to a table with the blood red upside down cross nailed to the ceiling above him. A red mist whirled about the unholy symbol. For a moment, Cade didn't notice anything about it until he realized that the mist was taking on a recognizable form. The mist was beginning to show hateful orange glowing eyes and a torso. The arms and legs followed. The thing finally tore itself from the blaspheming cross and drifted toward Cade's face. It gazed hatefully into his eyes and growled. Cade struggled against the rope but it was of no use. Across the room stood the vampire. "You will both suffer in hell for this. Pray that God makes your punishment a short one!" Cade growled. The joyful facial expression on the vampire's face shifted to an angered one. She bared her fangs and hissed. "God will do nothing! You Lightist bastards claim your god protects, that his power is unending, but where is your God now?! Why does the world suffer at the hands of Satan's followers if God is so protecting?!" she yelled. Father Cade subconsciously fought against his restraints in an angry attempt to get a hold of Oliver until he felt a flash of pain on his back. He writhed in agony as the pain seemed to spread throughout his entire body. Something was happening to him. He saw the look of fear on the vampire's face, and her frightened scream until a tortured ringing sound prevented him from hearing anything else.
Cade felt overwhelming waves of pain as his body changed. His back bent forward, grey fur began to cover him, his clothes tore. Everything he saw faded into a blood-red color. He cut the restraints with a claw. Inside, Cade was screaming for control but it was of no use. The wolf was in control now. He dropped off of the table and charged at the vampire. She tried to run but tripped and fell. Oliver tried to get back on her feet, but was immediately pounced on by Cade. Cade dug his claws into her shoulder blades. With the strength of five men, he tore her into bloody halves. Cade gnawed viciously on her right arm and growled. The girl's vampiric blood was disgusting. Cade heard Malady run into the house. "Oliver! Oliver! Whats happening?!" she yelled. Cade looked around him for an escape. At the back of the room there was a window. He charged and jumped through it, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
Malady barged through the door of the back room. Her eyes widened in horror at the bloody scene. On the floor was Oliver's body, torn in half and dripping fresh blood. She spotted a lock of grey fur on the floor and examined it closely. "Lycan..." she said. It was all she could say before she pulled Oliver's bloody body toward her, crying on one bloody shoulder.