Chapter VI: Reunited
The moment the door flew open Hugh and Nathan charged forward, ready to take on anything coming through it.
"Nathan, Hugh it's us!" Trevor shouted dodging Hugh's sword by mere inches.
"Trevor?" Hugh said as they backed away from the door dropping their weapons to their sides.
He nodded and walked into the room followed closely by Mina, Soma, Simon, and the others.
Nathan scanned the group and asked sternly, "Where is Eric and Isaac?"
"They are below us fighting Lisa and Camilla." Trevor replied.
"What?!" Nathan shouted, "You just left them there by themselves?"
Mina stepped forward and put a hand to Nathan's shoulder, "Be calm Nathan, they can take care of themselves. And besides, they told us to continue on. Have faith in them."
Nathan dropped his head and nodded, he then looked at the others and stated, "Well there is no need to stand around, let's get to the throne."
"Wait, Nathan do you know where Serenity is? Maybe we should try to find her first." Mina questioned nervously.
Nathan turned to her, considered for a moment then shook his head. "I don't know where she is, but I think we better move forward. After we lost her, she could be anywhere in the castle."
"I agree with Nathan." Hugh said turning his head to gaze out the window, "Even though I want to know if she is safe we need to continue on. We have to get out of here as soon as possible."
In agreement they walked through the room silently until they passed the broken window where Nathan and Hugh crashed through. "Nathan, Hugh?" Simon asked, stopping just beyond the light glistening through the broken shards of glass.
"What is it Simon?" Nathan replied turning back.
"There is no doubt in my mind that you felt the disturbance in the castle several minutes ago." he stated simply.
A slight smile played on Jonathan's lips as he said, "I'm pretty sure we all felt it, the entire castle was shaking."
Simon's face tightened as he said, "No, I was not referring to that. We all know that was Chaos. While we were running up the stairs I felt...something that I haven't felt in a long time."
At this all eyes turned to him and stared with mixed emotions of fear and concern. "Go on Simon, what was it?" Charlotte urged nervously.
"He doesn't have to, I felt it too. And I'm sure Adrian did as well." Nathan said gravely, his eyes glancing at Adrian's cold face.
"What is it? I feel something, but I don't know exactly what it is." Mina asked.
Before Nathan could reply Eric and Isaac burst through the door and both turned and slammed it shut behind them. "What are you doing here?!" Eric shouted behind his shoulder, "You should be long gone from here already!"
"Mina, Charlotte! Seal the door, do it now! Hurry!" Isaac demanded with as much force as Eric had.
The two snapped into action and in seconds the door was sealed with strong magic. "What's going on?" Jonathan asked as Eric and Isaac joined them.
"It's Morris and his friends. They're after us and it won't be long before they get in here." Eric said.
"We have to get to the throne as quickly as possible, there's something not right here." Isaac stated as they continued their journey out of the dim room and emerged into a brightly lit hall.
"We were just talking about that before you ran in." Trevor explained.
"It couldn't be what I think it is, it's impossible." Nathan stated almost to himself.
Suddenly Adrian stopped cold in his steps, his clam, cool eyes growing wide in almost horror. He absently put his head down to meet his hand rising to touch his brow.
"Adrian?" Jonathan asked with concern.
"No..." Trevor said coldly, "That's not possible, it can't be." Trevor was now wearing the same look as Adrian and soon Simon and the Graves brothers had the same look of terror and disbelief.
"How?!" Eric demanded and slammed a fist into the wall. "I thought this was over!"
Not one had to ask what they were talking about, they all knew as soon as Adrian stopped walking what it was. None could believe it, and none wanted to believe it. What they sensed now was pure horror, grief, and defiance all in one. Every being in the castle, alive and dead, could feel it now. The pure malice that was surging through the castle and the land put everyone on edge, and, unknown to everyone, it was about to get much, much worse.
Serenity almost dropped her sword in complete horror and amazement at the figure standing in front of her. The figure's pitch black cape fell with grace behind him, resting ever so lightly against his back a few inches above the floor.
His deep crimson eyes regarded her with amusement as he remarked, "You look as if you have seen a spirit my dear. Surely you are not so surprised to see me standing in front of you?"
Serenity swallowed once, then twice trying to calm herself enough to speak. When she finally did speak her voice came in a quivering whisper, "Lord Dracula..."
The Lord of Darkness smiled at her slightly, the tips of his fangs glimmering faintly in the dim light of the dungeon.
"How?" she asked bringing her sword up to meet his chest, "How is it possible that you are here now? We sealed you away."
Dracula's laughter echoed off the walls much like the other voice had, "My child, I have broken many seals in my time. I admit the one you placed was quite troublesome even for me, but as you can clearly see I broke free."
"No, that shouldn't have been possible. The cavern you were sealed in could have only been opened from the outside, and even then we placed over six hundred seals around the cavern." Serenity stated, talking to herself and Dracula both.
At this Lord Dracula did not respond, he merely smiled slightly at her wondering what she would do now.
"You...Why did you save me from the dragon?" she questioned not risking dropping her guard for a second.
Again he did not answer her but his smiled vanished and he turned from her. Serenity took a deep breath and slashed at his back, only to get a rush of air in her face while her sword hit the damp stone floor where he had been standing.
"I do not wish to fight you here. In fact I do not wish to fight you at all at the moment." Dracula's voice sounded behind her.
Serenity whipped around in time to face Dracula before he gripped her wrist with so much force her sword left her hand and clanged against the floor. Her left arm lashed out against him but he dogged her assault and grasped her left wrist as well.
"What do you want then?" Serenity asked with anger in her voice.
At first she didn't think she would get an answer but soon his deep and seductive voice rang through the catacombs again, "There are countless things I want my dear Serenity."
He brought his face closer to hers and for an endless second she thought he would kiss her, but an even horrid event happened. Dracula slid his frozen face down Serenity's already chilled cheek and stopped at her neck. Serenity's heartbeat had slowed due to the curse of being half vampire but now it was back to its regular pace.
She thought it would burst from her chest as she tried to protest, "No...please don't..."
Her breath left her, she knew what her heart wanted and she wanted so much to give into her desires but she had a job to do. Chaos had stated before that she had been in love with him and she had denied it. Now, in his presence once again, she could not deny it anymore.
"Serenity," he whispered against her neck, "you know you cannot lie to me, I can feel you, all of you. I know what your heart desires, your blood is to thank for that."
It was true, that was one thing she could not deny. Lord Dracula was the one who turned her, they had shared blood and because of that they could feel what the other felt. It was the same for her, her brothers, and Hugh.
Without another word Dracula bit down on Serenity's neck, drawing long mouthfuls of blood into his mouth. There was only a single sharp pain and then she was in a cloud of desire.
"Is it true?" Serenity thought as her light body leaned into Dracula's, his powerful arms drawing around her.
"Am I really in love with him?"
Dracula's voice echoed through Serenity's mind, "What does your heart tell you Serenity?"
Dracula drew away from her, only to come forward again to catch her in his arms. "Serenity..." he said simply.
Her clear eyes drew up to meet his in question before he continued, "You have not been taking care of yourself."
It had been ages since Serenity had blood and even longer since she had her blood taken. At the shake of her head Dracula drew across his wrist with a sharp nail and soon a thin line of blood appeared.
"No..." Serenity whispered, "I can't..."
"You must, if you do not you will die in this castle next to the Ice Dragon." he replied with a smile playing at his ruby lips.
She knew this would happen if she let him take her blood, she was weak from not drinking regularly and the thought of letting it touch her tongue again set her nerves on fire. Both loved the taste of each other's blood; Serenity's was the sweetest and flavorful for all vampires and Lord Dracula's was by far the most addicting and powerful of them all.
Against her better judgment Serenity licked at Dracula's wrist then began to drink as deeply as he had on her neck. His blood would help her in the coming battle, there was no doubt in her mind that it would. Dracula smiled as his eyes closed, he had her, once more he had Serenity in his grasp. It would be only a matter of time before he tried to take her over again.
Nathan, Hugh, and the others had started their assent to the throne room once again, after the pleas of Isaac, Charlotte, and Mina they had all turned from the door leading back into the darkened room and began treading up the next set of stairs.
"If he's come back shouldn't we find Serenity before we continue on any further?" Soma asked as they came to the top of the staircase.
"She will have felt him no doubt; I do not think she will be looking for him by herself. And if he finds her we will all know it." Eric said with certainty.
Both Hugh and Nathan looked down; they knew all too well what Dracula was capable of. He could twist even the purest of hearts, and they both had seen him on countless occasions get into Serenity's mind. In only a few short minutes they were on the top floor staring down the hall that would lead to the throne room.
"I can't sense anything, not even Camilla and Lisa." Mina stated nervously.
"It's too quiet. Morris should be coming with his wolves but I don't hear anything." Soma projected back to her.
They kept perfectly still, but Soma was right, it was far too quiet for a castle infested with monsters and demons. In fact they hadn't even seen any signs of monsters since they left Morris. Trevor shook his head and was the first to walk into the hallway; he walked lightly but swiftly, his hand on the handle of his whip. When nothing happened the others followed, all were on guard.
"What is going on here? This makes no sense at all." Simon said trailing off into his mind.
The throne room door came into view a few paces ahead of them. Upon reaching it Nathan stopped and looked behind him, something was wrong. Besides the unusual silence of the top floor something else had happened, but he could not think of what it was. One thing did stand out to him and he almost said what was on his mind before holding his tongue.
"Nathan?" Hugh said from inside the throne room.
They had all ventured inside except for Nathan and most were staring back at him.
"Something has happened, am I right?" Simon asked, although he could tell from Nathan's body language that he had assumed right.
Nathan looked down and shook his head, "I can't say for certain, something feels wrong to me."
"It is a little too quiet up here." Jonathan said walking over to the door.
"It's not just that," Nathan continued, "I think…I feel something has happened with Serenity."
"Is it..?" Charlotte asked but before she could answer Mina screamed from inside the throne room.
A blood red arm had shot out of the wall and grabbed her around the waist.
"Mina!" Soma yelled.
Nathan ran past Hugh, Simon, Jonathan, and Charlotte to see what had happened and was filled with horror. The entire room was filled with red arms and each one was trying to catch one of the hunters. Suddenly the door behind them slammed shut, sealing them off from the castle.
"Damn!" Nathan said between clenched teeth. "It was a trap after all!"
"Get this thing off of me!" Jonathan yelled.
Nathan turned just in time to see Jonathan and Charlotte catapult into the air and slam against the wall. The same had happened to everyone who was captured by these demonic arms.
"Get to the center of the room!" Simon commanded.
The only four who were still on the ground ran to the center and braced themselves back to back against one another. Nathan, Adrian, Hugh, and Simon all unleashed their weapons and prepared for the next wave of arms.
"What the hell is this?" Hugh demanded. "I thought these things were only in the bloody lakes and streams."
Simon cursed to himself before answering, "It would seem Chaos turned them into wall monsters instead of lake monsters."
"We can't move up here, magic isn't working either!" Charlotte called down to them.
"Well that's just great; magic is the only thing that worked on these things in the past." Hugh said.
One arm flew towards Adrian, and circled the five warriors. They each jumped out of the way as it closed in on them, but as they landed a second arm shot out of the wall catching Hugh.
"Hugh!" Nathan shouted as he dodged another arm.
"Nathan, Adrian! Get out of here! Regular attacks don't work on them either!" Simon shouted.
Nathan turned and saw an arm taking hits from Simon's whip. To his astonishment nothing happened to it, the arm did not even flinch away from the whip. It circled Simon and brought him up to the wall with the others. Adrian and Nathan stood back to back, there was nothing they could do, the door was shut and it was the only way out of the throne room.
"Serenity…" Nathan said simply as he closed his eyes and charged at a group of arms.
Adrian and Nathan stayed fighting for ten minutes longer before they both joined their comrades on the walls. They were now trophies, Chaos and bested them and this time he might just kill them all.