Disclaimer: not mine, just playing with the characters
Summary: Chagal's last few moments as a human.
Shadows
by Kadira
Chagal was a simple man and he was not stupid enough to claim otherwise. Intellect wasn't his fortune, certainly not in the way the Professor and the boy could claim. He didn't want it either. It was unnecessary knowledge, which wouldn't help him in his life. And Chagal knew all about life, about the shadows that lurked in the darkness and about the fragile balance he had sworn to maintain, to keep those he cared about save.
But most of all, Chagal wasn't a brave man. He knew that better than anyone else. Chagal never had desired adventures in his life. He was content the way things were going. There was Sarah, so wonderful and so stubborn, too beautiful and too naïve for this world, and there was Magda, who was the only excitement Chagal really needed. And there was Rebecca, of course, his wife of forever, exasperating, almost boring, yet also his steadfast haven, which would never change for as long as they were alive.
That and his tavern was all Chagal had ever needed and wanted.
In fact, one could (and did, more than once) call him a coward and Chagal would readily, almost eagerly agree with that person.
His life had been almost perfect, apart from the terrifying, godless creatures in the castle. And even them Chagal had managed to include in his existence, until they had almost faded into the background, like the last remains of a nightmare, brought back to reality only by the (far too frequent) visits of that dreadful servant of the Count, who was no more than an invisible shadow. At least until this evening, when the shadow had destroyed the balance, when it had broken into Chagal's life and had taken what was most precious to him.
Chagal blamed the professor and the boy for it, who just had to meddle with something they shouldn't even think about. Chagal might not be clever, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut and when to forget about something, like the existence of a certain castle and the creatures living there. But the professor, of course, did have other ideas and just had to disrupt the peaceful live – Chagal's life! – that Chagal had managed to build, against all odds. And now they had ended up in the focus of those creatures, especially Sarah.
Sarah, his sweet daughter. Chagal shivered as coldness much harsher than the winter night took possession over him. He had tried so hard to keep her safe, body and mind. As soon as it had been possible, he had sent her away to school, oblivious (blessed obliviousness! He had envied her for it) about the things that lurked in the dark, and once she had returned from school, once he couldn't keep her away anymore, and once he had seen what she had become, the beautiful and radiant woman his little girl had turned into, he had become even harder on her.
Not that it had done him any good. She hadn't understood, of course, but Chagal had decided that he would rather have that she hated him than her being dead.
And now... Chagal blamed the Professor and the boy his daughter had taking a shining to. Before they had entered his tavern, nobody had dared to invite the danger into Chagal's life by asking the wrong kind of questions!
He let out a choked wail, which didn't even start to get to the bottom of his despair.
"Chagal, Chagal. Foolish, old Chagal." Almost a sing-sang, the voice hypnotically and paralyzing.
Chagal turned around so fast as he tried to locate the source of the voice, that he lost his balance and fell into the snow.
Before Chagal's feeble attempt at getting up could show any result, the creature was above him, seemingly hovering in the cold air, observing Chagal intently out of bright blue eyes, which held no trace of humanity in them.
"My daughter. Release her," Chagal demanded, voice raspy from fear.
"But Chagal," the creature said, eyes locked with his, the inhuman gaze radiant by mocking, cold amusement and a hint of boredom, a combination that promised nothing less than death. "But how can I release her when she came to me willingly? Begging me to free her of the prison you imposed on her."
"She is my daughter! She is not yours!" Then: "Please. Let her go." Desperate, oh-so desperate, but Chagal was not beyond begging anymore.
"But don't you see – you gave her to me, foolish Chagal. It seems, the way to hell is indeed paved with good intentions," followed by a laugh, cold and amused. Chagal realized with a sinking, chilling feeling of hopelessness that he had lost, that his illusion of a peaceful life had come to an abrupt end. For even if Chagal would survive this encounter, even if he would be able to banish the shadows once more, even if he would be able to save Sarah, nothing would be the same anymore. Not after he had faced this dreadful creature that shouldn't exist under the eyes of god.
"The professor," Chagal pressed out in an unfamiliar spur of bravery, born out of the despair that had taken hold of him, "he will find you. And then he will kill you."
That obviously got the Count's interest. The boredom in his eyes was replaced by curiosity, which added a special gleam to his gaze, making it even more horrifying. "What professor, Chagal? Koukol did not tell me that you had a guest. Did you maybe hid him from me the same way you tried to hide the lovely Sarah?"
When Chagal didn't answer, the Count leaned forward, pushing Chagal back into the snow until he was flat on his back. The grin that followed those words was more terrifying than anything else Chagal had ever seen, rendering the cold of the snow and his worry for Sarah almost insignificant.
All Chagal could still feel was a bone shattering fear for his very existence, a terror unlike anything Chagal had felt before. And when he saw the teeth flashing in the moonlight, sharp and dangerous, more than that of the wolves he could hear even now (instinctively keeping a save distance to a predator even more dangerous than them), Chagal knew that he had indeed reached the end of his life.
Chagal was going to die, here and now, cold and alone, far away from his home, far away from Rebecca's harsh words, from Sarah's resentment, away from the beautiful Magda and from his friends. He would die without that he had accomplished his last goal, without being able to keep to the promise he gave Rebecca.
"Sarah," he whimpered. "Please," in direction of the creature that didn't know any mercy, but unable to just give up.
The Count grinned, a gesture made even more terrible by the gleaming teeth. "Old, foolish Chagal. As if I could just let her go. Her blood smells delicious. She will nourish me and then she will become one of mine, just as she wishes for. I will set her free."
Chagal couldn't suppress the desperation building up in him any longer and let out a heartfelt wail. The Count looked at him with undisguised resentment as the sound escaped him, loud and clear yet still unable to really convey Chagal's pain, his despair and his fear. "Of course, I don't expect one like you to understand it. You peasants never do. But you see, Chagal, I'm not a cruel man. More so, I am a father as well, so I understand your situation. And because of that, I will not only allow you to see your daughter again, but I will also show you what it is she desires and what great gift I'm going to bestow upon her. Life beyond death. The loss of all boundaries and restrictions! She will be free to live her life the way she wants, to be happy. Isn't a child's happiness that what, above everything else, a father should want for his child? Certainly you are no exception, are you, Chagal?"
Horrified, Chagal could only shake his head and stare at the creature above him. "Of course, you won't understand it yet, but soon you will, Chagal. And then you will spread it even further, to your family, and your friends, the village, guests, everybody. You will sate your thirst on them and set them free, and all the time you will only wonder why you resented the idea before, why you tried so hard to hide your daughter from me."
For a moment, the Count looked at him with something that Chagal could only describe as excitement and satisfaction, the gleaming eyes adding something even scarier to his inhuman appearance. Chagal shivered and shook his head almost violently, but before he could say something, the expression had vanished again, was replaced by the determined, bone-chilling smile of a deadly creature that had set its mind on something and was determined to make it happen.
"Of course, that will only happen if you will manage to survive the next few hours. Let us see how your fellow peasants and this professor you mentioned will react to what will happen now. If you survive until the coming night, the world will be yours. It will be interesting!"
Before Chagal's fear infested mind could even process the words, the Count had moved forward, faster than Chagal's eyes could follow.
There was a moment of blinding pain as the large teeth ripped into his flesh, carelessly, too harsh and fast as that Chagal could have screamed, not even leaving him time to regret anymore before darkness claimed him.
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