You guys know the drill. This is Stephanie Meyer's world, I'm just…ah…toying with it.
Leah shrank down into her seat as Count Dracula, Voivode of Wallach and King of the Vampires glared down at her with eyes black as night, his withered white skin and shiny silver hair a far cry from the dashing, ruggedly handsome playboy many modern fictions portrayed him as. No, this monstrosity was ancient and it showed in his stooped posture and twisted limbs, his elongated fingers and sharp claw-like nails. Yet Leah knew her vampire lore well, and she knew that all it took was fresh blood to revitalize the King Vampire, she lowered her head and turned slightly in an attempt to shield her neck from Dracula, but never took her eyes off the ancient evil.
Outside his castle walls, somewhere in the dark, dead twisted forest that surrounded Castle Dracula, a wolf howled, joined by it's pack mates. The howling of a wolf should not have frightened Leah Clearwater for many reasons ranging from the spiritual to the practical, but somehow, knowing the connection this monstrosity had with her four legged 'cousins the sound carried menace. Dracula grinned at his guest, his captive, his victim, then tilted back his head and laughed, spreading his arms wide as if to embrace the sound itself.
"Listen to them!" The ancient vampire exclaimed, exulting as though in triumph. "The Children of the Night!" He chuckled. His head lowered and his gaze once more fell upon his helpless captive, his mouth twisting into an arrogant smirk. He gestured with his clawed hand. "What sweet music they make." He offered, almost in a soothing tone, but beneath his placating voice there was an undercurrent of menace that spoke volumes.
'You are mine.' The mightiest of all Cold Ones was telling his captive with his tone of voice alone. 'You are helpless and you will never escape. Your life is mine to end, and after you are dead your corpse will serve me until I have no further use for it. This is the truth of things, for it is my way, and my way is the only way for my power is greater than yours.'
Outside of his castle, Dracula's wolves howled as if to drive home their master's message. Quill elbowed Embry in the ribs and then gestured to Leah, grinning at her as Dracula gloated.
"Music?" Keanu Reeves demanded, sneering like a petulant child. His English accent as shitty as his constantly changing wig would be latter in the film. "Those animals?"
Beside her, Paul laughed as he finally took notice of her wide eyed expression. The wonder and fear in her gaze as she regarded Gary Oldman's portrayal of the mighty King Vampire. Her eyes never leaving the screen, she reached out with one hand, grabbed Paul by the collar of his shirt, and then tossed him to the floor. The other members of The Pack guffawed at Paul's sudden displacement, and he glared up at her. Leah didn't care.
This had always been her favorite part of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the opening scenes that took place in Prince Dracul's ancestral home of Transylvania. Before it was revealed that Dracula was really nothing more than a love sick puppy pining for a girl that looked like his long dead wife. A antihero to be sympathized with, in spite of all the pain and death and destruction he had caused in his centuries long reign of mortal terror. In this section of the film Dracula was a cruel, cunning, manipulative monster. A fearsome lord of the undead, the patriarch and progenitor of a family line of ferocious predators that had spread across the planet like a plague. A truly worthy adversary. In Leah's opinion Dracula was a foe that should be respected but never sympathized with.
And at least he didn't sparkle.
Like many horror film fans, Leah generally preferred the early portrayals by Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi as the very best Draculas. Leah generally went with Lugosi if asked to pick between the two for nothing more than nostalgia's sake. Gary Oldman however, brought a creepiness to the character, even in those latter scenes of him prancing around with Mina, that harkened back to the book in ways Lee and Lugosi never did.
"Looks like the big bad she-wolf is afraid of a cheesy dude in a cape with a widow's peek." Quill snorted.
Leah flipped him the bird but remained silent, not wanting to waste time telling him to go copulate with himself. They really had no comprehension or respect for true horror classics. Leah guessed that being a werewolf could do that to people.
"I think she has the hots for him." Her younger brother taunted. "She's always had a thing for older guys."
Leah furrowed her brow and tried to concentrate on the movie. The boys would shut up once Dracula's brides, bare breasted and snarling, came out of the walls to start dry humping and chewing on Keanu Reeves' poor attempt at playing Jonathon Harker. The other members of The Pack began to talk animatedly. Leah's grimaced at the noise, turned to her 'brothers' and was about to start swearing up at storm when an ear piercing scream of pain and horror split the night from beneath Jacob Black's house. It was a desperate, agonized wail of torment that silenced every single one of them. Even Jacob, who had heard the sound three times a month for ten years froze at the noise.
The screaming continued for a good ten seconds before finally stopping. It was without doubt the most terrifying thing The Pack had ever heard. Terrifying, and yet at the same time heart wrenching, because each and every one of them knew the person making that sound. Many of them resented him, insulted him, but they all knew him. He was a human being, they had grown up with him. Played with him as children. He even went to the same school they did, and now he was suffering a torment none of them could even imagine.
They sat in Jacob's living room, rigid and alert, and although none of them would admit it, frightened. Paul's looked up at Jacob, who was sitting in a recliner right next to him.
"Was that it?" He asked.
Jacob winced and shook his head.
"No. It gets worse."
Then the thing in the basement howled. The entire house shook, doors and windows rattling as the thing made it's presence known to the world outside. 'I am here at last, free. Make peace with whatever gods you worship. I am here and I hunger.' It was a voice they had heard pale imitations of in movies and on TV for years. And when they had finally changed and become wolves themselves? They had laughed at all that bullshit hokum about silver bullets and full moons. Bites and curses and pentagrams and gypsies. Hollywood tripe.
No one laughed now.
Their own howls were like sirens in the night, their growls like thunder cracking, but none of them had ever made noises like the ones coming from the basement. Leah honestly sounded thought like some kind of primeval dinosaur. They were strong and swift and even beautiful in their wolf forms. The werewolf movies became laughable, and then outright offensive to some of the Pack Members in their portrayal of werewolves.
They weren't monsters, they were just people, people who had superpowers but people still. Even Leah, who hated being a werewolf, had to roll her eyes at mentions of the full moon and silver bullets among tribe members who knew about the power, even if it was in jest. Still, as the silver light of the full moon streamed in from window and the monster beneath their feet raged, these facts were little comfort. They all felt like they were standing over a nuclear bomb, and in many ways they were. If it had ever broken out of it's containment somehow, they would be in for the fight of their lives. And unprepared as they were now, they would all likely perish in the battle.
A few moments latter Billy Black, Sherriff Charlie Swan and Sam Uley emerged from the basement. Billy had watched over the creature since it had first been placed under his care ten years ago, but his wheel chair had made it all the more difficult to be it's guardian. He had seen the transformation every night for ten years, his face was grave but determined. He held in his hands the only weapon capable of stopping it, a rifle loaded with silver bullets. Without silver, destroying the beast would be next to impossible. Sherriff Swan had been aware of the creature for as long, and it was even he himself who had placed it in Billy's care. He had managed to watch the transformation all the way through twice, counting tonight. He was ill and sad, but he shared his friend's steely determination. Sam was wide eyed and terrified, sweating. She was the first to run up to him, reaching out to steady him when he began to sway. He looked up at her, and she could smell that he had vomited.
"We don't stand a chance." He said simply. The implication was clear, whatever he had seen had terrified him to the point were he didn't believe The Pack could defeat it if it ever escaped.
Paul snorted and said something that was probably stupid behind her, but Leah didn't hear. She looked up, past Sam, to the darkened basement doorway.
"This is part of your duty now. To watch over him when the curse rises in his blood." Billy Black began, telling them all the things they had already been told before. "He entrusts his care and the care of those he might attack to us, he…they came to us looking for help." Billy looked at Charlie, who's eyes were full of shame. "If he escapes, it is you who must stop his inevitable rampage."
"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Jacob snapped irritably.
"You will learn how." Billy said with a shrug. "He will teach you. Learn from him when he is in his human form, and you will discover the secret to defeating him when he is a wolf."
Charlie turned and walked away, not wanting to hear the rest of the speech.
"No." Sam said finally. "No. I will not have that…that thing on my land or near my family." His eyes flicked up to Charlie, then back at Billy. "I don't care who his father is, kill him Billy."
Silence fell over the house. Charlie slurped at a beer he had brought over from his house as he watched The Alpha demand the creature be slain. As if to answer, the beast roared, a sound like the Earth herself cracking open. It sounded like a new era had begun, and for the first time in a long time Leah Clearwater knew what it felt like to be afraid of the monsters in the dark.
"He heard you. He has excellent hearing." Charlie snapped.
"He trusts us with his life, Sam." Billy demanded, eyes narrowing. "We all promised, even your father,-"
"I'm not my father! Kill it!" Sam screamed.
The thing roared and howled again, barking and snarling, it was like a series of bombs going off in the basement. Everyone present covered their ears at the renewed cries.
"It understands him?" Quill screamed over the noise, nearly in hysterics. "How can it understand him? It's a mindless animal!"
"No!" Charlie demanded, his eyes flashing with uncharacteristic anger. "He's not just an animal, and he's not just a person! Not anymore! Go and see!" He gestured. "Go and look!"
At his challenge, everyone exchanged uncomfortable looks. Paul sneered at the Chief.
"You think I'm afraid of that mongrel?" He demanded.
Charlie shrugged. The noise had finally died down.
"I'm not afraid!" Paul insisted. He crossed the room, stomping his feet as if trying to intimidate the creature in the basement. He turned to look at the others, face still a mask of pride and defiance. When his eyes fell on Sam, a hint of disgust crept into his face. He turned to Jacob then.
"I wouldn't." Was all he could say. He had been living with the thing for ten years, among The Pack he probably knew the most about it.
"You must." Billy said simply, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world and that they should know this by now. "You all must."
"Billy!" Sam huffed, about to make his argument again when Paul took the first step down into the basement. The thing howled at the sudden intrusion, a warning sound it would seem. Everyone whipped around to look at Paul, who had jumped about two feet away from the door.
"Yeah, you aren't afraid." Charlie said, popping the top off a second beer and then handing another to Billy. "Big bad wolf boy. You aren't scared of nothing, are ya?"
Leah looked around at the others. None of them were really to keen on facing down the creature even if it was locked in a silver cage. They had fought and killed vampires before, well, a vampire. Killing leeches was what they were made for, what they were designed to do. In spite of their rather limited body count The Pack, even Leah who hadn't even taken part in the kill, had been fairly cocky about their new status as vampire slayers. This was different however, the creature that was currently locked up in Jacob's basement was in a whole different weight class. This was the real deep shit, and they had just been led up to their necks in it.
So Leah made her way to the doorway, pushing past Paul as she did so. She stood at the doorway, and again it howled. A threat, a warning that if it could it would kill her. Rip her apart and cast her about it's lair. She turned to take one good look at the others, the other Pack members staring at her like she had gone out of her skull with madness, Charlie Swan starred at her with a face she found impossible to read. Billy Black smiled reassuringly at her.
It wasn't that she wasn't scared of the creature, she was just as scared of it as the others, but she knew that she had to see it. Had to look it in it's eye. Had to know what she was up against.
And she would never let the others forget that she had gone down there when they wouldn't.
The steps creaked beneath her feet as she descended, but she couldn't hear them of the monster, which was now roaring in fury and defiance. The basement itself was actually well lit, it was the walkway down that was darkened. Over half of the basement was sealed off by a silver and iron cage. She was actually surprised at how thin the bars were, with her enhanced strength she could probably break through the cage in her human form, but cold iron, when properly treated, had all manner of use in combating the supernatural, and silver was anathema to the massive beast's race. It wasn't just allergic to it, silver was the creature's natural and mortal enemy. Any other metal and the creature would have smashed right through and gone on a merry rampage, but because the cage was silver all of it's massive strength was worthless in the face of the magical laws it had to obey. It's flesh would burn, it's fur would catch fire, it's rending claws and crushing teeth would snap and break off. And in the cage, she saw it for the first time.
It was…him. It was not him. It was monstrous, it was disgusting. It was thrilling. It was nothing she had expected, but everything she had feared. She was expecting it to be something like a spirit wolf, but there was nothing majestic or glorious about this…this thing. This perversion of a person she had known. It was it's own kind of monster. It was sitting in the middle of the large enclosure that served as it's home. It had never left this place as a wolf, only as a human, it had never been free. It's head was tossed back as it howled it's warning, and when it realized she was in the basement with it, it stopped to look at her. It bared teeth that made theirs look thin and feeble in comparison, and glared at her with it's massive ice yellow eyes tinged with the faintest flecks of green. And then, in the den, it roared at her! Lord, what a sound! Her bones rattled in her flesh as the noise reverberated, went through her. Made her quiver with fear.
When she looked into it's eyes for the first time, fully expecting them to be full of a wild, mindless fury. Everything she had been told about this creature had brought her to the conclusion that this thing was nothing more than a savage, soulless brute. There would be no intelligence to those eyes, just empty rage and hunger. What she saw when she looked into those eyes terrified -and enthralled- her even more. This thing was not a mindless killing machine. No, even more terrifying it was a highly intelligent killing machine. It was sentient, self aware, sapient. She could see in those eyes that were as soulful and expressive as any human's and yet at the same time so hideous and frightful that this creature was anything but mindless. And that's why it was so dangerous, because it was smart, and cunning, and it was stronger than they were and harder to kill and it knew it. It was the ultimate supernatural predator, and it hunted other predators for sport. Worst of all these things that she had discovered in the moments in which it had looked in her eyes and hers in its, it knew her. It remembered her from their interactions as a human being.
'Dear God, is it really him in there? Somewhere?' She wondered to herself as it barked and snarled and roared at her.
She bared her teeth and growled right back.
She wasn't shifted, she probably looked silly standing there as a human woman, snarling at a creature that was at the top of the magical food chain. Somehow though, it felt right. The thing, impossibly, fell quiet then. Instead it simply studied her, taking her in. It's eyes shifted, staring at her breasts, then lowered again, staring at her hips. It licked it's chops.
"You're a perv in any form, aren't you?" Leah managed to choke out.
It snarled, looked back up at her face. Eyes blazed, but they no longer held the naked fury at her presence.
"Yeah, that's right, my eyes are up here Dog Boy." Leah said, a little more forcefully this time.
It growled, but not so loud that it was deafening. Somehow that made it even more threatening. It's eyes lowered back to her chest, narrowing as they did so.
"Hey!" She shouted. The growled barked back at her but it's gaze shot back to her eyes.
"That's better. Good doggy." She wondered if it could sense how scared she was. Wondered if it could see through her false bravado. Wondered if it cared. It stood, standing taller than Sam when he was phased and approached the cage. Striding forward on two powerful legs. Leah stood her ground, knowing she had to. It stopped at the cage, sniffed the bars, it's snout crinkling in disgust at the hated metal, but then it's gaze caught hers again and if Leah was insane she would swear that it's gaze softened. It had yellow eyes, not gold like Bella's pet vampire, but hot yellow. Burning sickly as a dying sun. Those eyes held her, they would always hold her above all else.
She began to move, walking to her right, never taking her eyes off of the creature. It mirrored her movements, stalking along beside her. They moved as one, in sync, like they had always known each other. Like they belonged as one.
"You're not so bad. Like a big puppy." Leah admonished. It snorted, and looked at her with a face that told her they both knew it wasn't true.
She made her way to the far wall. A big comfortable rocking chair was set up beside a small side table. How many nights had old Billy Black sat at that table with his big hunting rifle, just watching it until morning came? She sat down in the chair, and the creature mirrored her once again, crouching low and staring intently at her, as if she was the most important thing in it's world. A stack of books sat on the table, and she picked one up, noting that it was covered in dust, just like the table and the chair were. She read the title.
"Dracula." She frowned. "What are the odds?" She looked up to see the big creature was staring intently at the book, and then it looked back up at her. It glanced back down at the book for a moment.
"You want me to read this to you?" She asked.
It looked at her with wide, pleading eyes that spoke volumes more than most people she met could say with words. Funny, when it looked at her that way it didn't look like a monster.
She opened the book and started.
It laid down then, ears twitching as it listened to her speak.
Maybe monsters weren't so bad after all.
It's baaack.