Chapter 3

Cass and Blanche were miles beyond the city limits. The further they got from civilization, the more ominous and dilapidated the surroundings seemed to become. Blanche kept close to Cass, shivering a bit.

"Hey, Cass, um... I'm startin' to get second thoughts here... M-maybe if we leave him alone, Dracula will just, like... get bored...?"

Cass scoffed. "Hard to believe I'm listening to the grand-daughter of the brave Eric Lecarde here."

"Of course Grandpa was brave!" Blanche protested. "It's easy when you're hoistin' around a big honkin' spear! Look at me, I got a rock that I picked up off the road! Thing's good for one, maybe two uses!"

Cass let out a small chuckle. "Put the rock down, B. I think I've got something a little more confidence-inspiring for you." She unholstered the pistol in her belt and placed it gently in Blanche's hands. "This is a Beretta 70. It's not the newest model with all the bells and whistles, but it's served me well. She's been custom-loaded with silver ammunition that'll stop any creature of the night dead in its tracks." She unloaded the magazine and showed the top bullet off to Blanche. "See the ring around the tip? Pressure sensitive. As soon as it enters the body, it releases a tiny reservoir of holy water inside. This thing is an undead nightmare's worst nightmare."

Blanche gave Cass a bewildered look. "...You had time to painstakingly craft custom bullets before you got on the plane?"

"No, of course not! I made these babies ages ago in case something like this came up."

"Uh-huh... But didn't you say you were only 50% sure this had anything to do with Dracula?"

"Well, worst case scenario, I'd wind up having to shoot some humans with it, but hey, a bullet's a bullet."

Blanche took the gun in her right hand and pointed it straight at a road sign. Cass put her hand on Blanche's, shaking her head. "That's a good stance if you're looking to snap your elbow out of place, but let me show you a better way."

She walked around behind Blanche, maintaining hand contact. She then took her left hand, brought it up to the other side of the grip, and adjusted the position of the pistol ahead of Blanche's face. Blanche blushed lightly as she felt Cass' breath on the back of her neck.

"You want to make sure your dominant eye is aligned with the aim of the gun, but you also have to brace it with both hands. Fire it one-armed and the recoil will pull it up and over to the open side. There's ways to compensate for that, but you're safer playing it straight. Adjust your thumbs' positions so they don't get in the way of the slide lock and aren't burnt by the gas chamber when you shoot, and square your legs like this." She reached down and guided Blanche's legs into position with her hands. Blanche's face went a little more red. Cass unfastened the holster belt from her hips and wrapped it around Blanche, securing it. She then stepped away.

"Good. Now, I want to see you holster it and draw it in that exact position twenty times."

"Twenty times?!" Blanche whined. "Do we really have that kind of time?"

"Well, we could always rush in unprepared and die. Does that sound better?"

Blanche groaned. She began repeating her draw, having to start over everytime Cass pointed out a flaw in her stance.

"Made it to sixteen that time. Not bad, but you can do better," Cass observed.

"Wouldn't it be easier for the one trained with the gun here to use the gun?"

"I've got the whip here, and I'm the only one who can use it, so that's what I've gotta do. You can do this, Blanche. You've made a lot of progress in an unbelievably small amount of time. Besides, you're a Lecarde, aren't you? If your grandpa could see you now, I know he'd be proud."

"C-Cass..." Blanche could feel her heart pounding out of control and her face burning. Trying to calm herself, she positioned herself and began her repeat draws once again. Finally, she made it to twenty without any error.

"See? You're a natural! You handle the shooting, I'll handle the whipping. Oh, and... you might want this." She approached her and slid the magazine back into its chamber. "Ten shots in each mag. Try to remember how many you've got left at all times."

"Gotcha!" Blanche exclaimed, smiling...

Their expedition soon took them to the ivy-laden gate that stood between them and Castlevania. Steeling herself, Cass took Blanche's hand and stepped through the entrance. Almost as soon as they entered, a rusted steel gate slammed shut behind them.

"Well, that's reassuring. So much for getting back to our 'home away from home,'" said Blanche.

"Well, it's not as though there would've been much point in heading back now that we're here. Besides, it just makes it easier for me to justify not running away," Cass replied.

"Wait, you gave me all that hassle when you were scared, too?!"

Cass laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm terrified beyond reason! I just don't have the luxury of acting on it. Honestly, trying to help you get past your fears kind of helped me get past mine."

"Heh. Okay, I kinda get that. But also-" Blanche slapped Cass in the back of the head. "Don't ever lie to me again, we clear?"

"Ow!" Cass exclaimed, rubbing her head. "Crystal..."

When she looked up, she saw that several human figures with dead white eyes and rotten flesh were approaching them, and still more were emerging from the ground.

"...They all came while we were indulging in witty banter, didn't they?" Blanche asked.

"Almost definitely yes. So, zombies exist. Of course, so does this!" Cass grabbed the Vampire Killer by the handle and began to whip it about, decapitating a large number of their shambling foes with the force of her strikes.

"Y-yeah! Time to deliver some holy justice!" Blanche yelled as she drew her pistol and pulled the trigger.

There was a click, and then silence. Cass sighed. "Okay, it works better if you take the safety off, but that one's my bad."

Blanche's body trembled as she kept pulling the trigger to no avail. The zombies continued to close in on them, Cass holding off as many as she could with her whip.

"Blanche! The thumb lever on the back of the slide lock!" Cass pleaded, but Blanche seemed to be deaf to it.

Suddenly, a cross-shaped boomerang tore through several of the walking corpses, reducing them to piles of flesh and bone. A well-built young man in a stylish blue and black overcoat jumped down from the roof of an abandoned shack, catching the cross as it returned to his hand. As he walked toward them, they were able to make him out. His skin was white as snow. He had long, luxurious red hair and fine features that framed his bright green eyes and long, dark lashes. He began to speak in a fair tenor voice.

"Go home, Americans. Romania is not another problem you can solve like Vietnam or Laos. How are those turning out for you, by the way?"

Cass was having trouble picking her jaw off the floor and getting her words together after seeing him. Blanche, however, had finally managed to recompose herself and had a few choice words.

"Listen, pal, we appreciate the save, but in case you ain't noticed, that's the legendary Vampire Killer my gal Cass is holdin'! You can't give her that kinda lip! Ain't that right, Cass?!"

"B-... Beautiful..." Cass mumbled.

"Alright, clearly, she's in a daze from all the zombie smashin' she had to do before your pasty ass got here, but if she were right in the head right now, she would verbally destroy you."

The young man chuckled to himself. "Clearly. But perhaps her mind would be in a more capable and ready state were her ally even semi-competent with her weaponry."

"You aren't allowed to talk to us like that! We're only allowed to talk to each other like that! Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?!"

"My name is Andre Belmont, and you have something that belongs to me."