An: Welcome back, folks!
As per the usual bullshit, i am nearly about to leap out of a window, and leap into the window of my nearest Canadian forces recruitment centre. And no, the second part isn't a joke, excluding the jumping through their window. Probably would end with me being shot by someone with reflexes like the bloody Flash, if i know anything about our men at arms. Those guys are very well trained, and will beat you into the ground.
As for the story, hope you guys are enjoying it. Writing is one of the few things that doesn't make me depressed, now a days. So, reviews are appreciated :D
On a unrelated note, if i suddenly stop posting, it means that A) I was booted onto the street by my parents, or B) I left on my own will. If so, Even on the street, I will attempt to continue writing. Well, probably. I can't confirm or deny my future at this point.
Now, lets get started before i continue to rant about how my life is terrible, even if i know for a fact that it could be a lot worse. So, onto the story!
Chapter 4: Crimson Desires
Nikolai sniffled, rubbing his nose. The smell of this place was terrible, and was driving him up a wall. He would have stuck his face into a Ogre's armpit to escape the stench, which was apparently unnoticeable to the boy and his mate. Turning another corner, he frowned, and wondered if it was too late to take a left.
Looking down the alleyway, he spotted a strange creature, which he found himself looking at from the bottom up. It had the body of a lion, if lions were the size of small trucks, and multiple necks, each snaking up towards 8 similar faces, each with the same expression of odd glee. It had obviously saw him, and approached slowly, each face speaking bits of the sentence, some in tune, others not.
"Oh? The demon comes this way!"
"It does, it does! But it doesn't know it is one."
"No, it doesn't! It has not figured out the truth, it hasn't."
Growling, he felt his hands twitch into fists, before loosening them. "What do you mean, creature?" he asked, trying not to incite another fight.
"Your not of vampire blood, but of demon!"
"Yes, you were given the blood of the Ruler of the sphere, and he is not vampire!"
"You think yourself one, because you and the girl share similar abilites."
"Yes, yes you do!"
"But, she is not just a vampire, she is half demon as well! That is why you two are akin to each other, not whole of blood in any aspect!"
He watched the strange Hydra laugh, and continue to explain.
"You are demon, Doctor!"
"You are no better then us, and we aren't even demons!"
"No, we aren't, are we?"
"Why not join us, and take to what your blood tells you!"
"Join us, join us!"
looking towards his furry hands, he frowned, watching them quietly. "...You say I am Demonkin?"
"Of course, that is why you breathe, and eat, and fight!"
"...Then whats stopping me from eating you all?" he asked, looking up with a mad grin.
He found great amusement as the faces all flinched, staring at him slowly. "You wouldn't try, you need to save the girl!"
"The girl, the girl!"
"Then why not get out of my way before I put a hole in you!" he snarled, the creature flinching, fleeing down an alleyway with surprising speed.
He laughed lightly, realizing that the creature was a coward, even if it was probably just as unkillable as the strange six legged Minotaur that had been molesting them (and eventually gutted, yet still moved as if a small trail of guts were not hanging out)
Approaching the concert hall, which had been abandoned after a fire, from what he was told, he walked into the large glass doors, and found himself in some form of cave.
He frowned, staying still. Whatever was about to occur, he needed to know, in order to break this accursed barrier.
Glancing about, he could make out the small frame of Marceline, staked into a cross. They seemed to be inside some form of cave, with writing in old English written on the floor. His eyes barely made it out "Demon that brought the bomb upon us, leave it here to rot forever!"
Looking up, he say that the way out of the cave was blocked by some form of massive stone, which he knew he couldn't move without bringing the cave down. He heard a voice on the other side of the stone, mumbling in what he recognized as Russian.
"What the hell is this thing...might be treasure on the other side?" the voice spoke, obviously male.
He heard the stone being moved, sliding out of the way of the door, allowing small rays of sunlight to illuminate the cave. He wondered how long the cave had been sealed off, and watched the man enter. He wore thick clothing, made of what seemed to be a variety of furs and old jackets. Staring outside, he could tell that it had been many years since the blast, and wondered how many.
Spotting the small girl, hung on the foreboding cross, he cursed loudly. "What the hell! This poor girl!"
Approaching, he pulled a knife from his jacket, and hacked at the cross, able to wrench the stakes from her hands and allow her to fall, catching her gently. He brushed the hair from her face, frowning deeply. "Stupid bastards! Always hated that stupid cult, putting these poor people on crosses, claiming them to be 'bomb bringers'" spitting, he looked at her again. "Is she...breathing?"
Shaking her gently, the girl murmured lightly, and the man swore again, louder and more upset. "She's a vampire, then? Poor thing." He leaned down, whispering into her ear gently. "I'll give you some blood, but you can't drink me dry, eh?"
Slipping a thick glove off, he drove the knife across his flesh, the slit now revealed leaking the crimson liquid. He placed it to her mouth, and cried out when she latched on, sucking hungrily. "Dear god, this hurts like all hell!" he cried, struggling to not detatch and flee.
After a few moments, she stopped, and looked up at the man with curious eyes. "Who are you?" she said, speaking in English. The man frowned, and responded in broken English.
"My name...is Sokolov. And you are..."
"M-M-Marceline." she stuttered out, watching the man slip the glove back on.
"Well then, Marceline, we...need to...shit!" he swore, and crept deeper into the cave, shushing her. He placed her down against the rocks, and kept the knife at arm, apparently wary. Nikolai realized what it was, having dealt with them a long time ago; Leech Lizards.
The horrible things had become a plague for many years, the things lusting for blood and nothing else. They were as large as a dog, and possessed multiple rows of teeth, loving to feed on anything warm and alive. The horrid things were dangerous, more so in packs, being able to take down creatures of much greater size. Eventually, they were wiped out by hunting parties, who began trapping and killing them in order to stop the rampant growth of them.
To this day, the sound they make still haunts him.
Shuddering at the noise, he watched what must have been ten of them crawl into the cave, obviously bee-lining towards Marceline and Sokolov, the man apparently having realized they were coming before Nikolai could. He charged at them, apparently not wanting to wait for their slow, planned attack, and he watched with much surprise as he gutted two of them in a single swipe, slitting their stomachs and causing them to slump over, dead. The things weakness was just that, their soft bellies were the only weak point of the creatures, the scaled bodies as tough as stone.
Two latched onto him, holding his arm in place and biting through the leather, and the rest descended on him, the man gutting several of them before his neck was bit into, the man giving a short groan, slumping over. Nikolai frowned, and realized what haunted her.
The things devoured him, draining every drop of blood from his flesh, before leaving the cave, making the odd sucking sounds that haunted Nikolai so. He watched the girl hold the mans body, crying softly.
He watched the world reset, and realized that this entire scene would play out again unless he acted. He mentally wondered if what he was doing was actually having an effect on the timeline, or merely breaking the memory, but he didn't care.
Watching the man slip in, he slipped past him, and looked about. The entire area was blanketed in snow, enough of the white powder to make movement difficult. He could see the pack of them already, hunched under the wreckage of a building, using each other to keep warm. He growled, and charged across the snow, diving into the home.
Grabbing the first one he could get his mitts on, he snapped it's neck, and tossed it aside. The others did not wait, leaping from the huddle to attack the wolf demon. He grabbed two of them by the bellies, squeezing until he heard a disgusting pop, and watched several of them latch onto his chest. He brought his claws down, dismembering head from body on some of them, but felt himself already missing mass amounts of blood. Snapping the neck of the others, he found himself staring at what was probably the leader. This one was larger then the rest, and had been watching him, sitting on top of a old television. It leapt off, and latched onto his neck, attempting to end the fight in a single move. This caused Nikolai to laugh, and grabbed it by it's neck.
With a loud snap, it fell limp, and Nikolai held his bloodied neck, not feeling too well. Watching the world fade away, he found himself standing in the rafters of the concert hall, and could see the torturer at work.
Said torturer seemed to have taken Princess Bubblegum's form, shifting from yelling at her about how "its all your fault" to crying and pleading for her life. Marceline was hung up on the curtains of the stage, her eyes closed, whimpering and tossing about. Nikolai snarled, his vision having long been perfect. And took a deep breath, trying to get a semblance of balance back in his aching body.
After gaining the ability to stop seeing double, he threw himself off of the balcony and drove his fists directly into the torturers skull, watching it turn to ash as he did so. The body went the same way, and a sudden gust took the ashes off of the stage, a laughter echoing about. Turning, he cut down Marceline, only to have her disappear in his arms. He frowned, wondering what had happened. He presumed that because she didn't actually exist here, that he had only freed her from the nightmare that gripped her.
Laying down on the old wood, he huffed, and decided a small nap might be a good idea, closing his eyes slowly, keeping his senses alert for danger, which he had become very use to doing.
Maybe he would try and free the wizard when he woke up.