A black car slowly edged past the melancholy castle, as if in fear of something that might come out of it. Up ahead it saw the city hall and sped toward the building with a purpose.
On the silent sidewalk stood a lone creature in a yellow suit, glasses hiding his whiteless eyes. As the vehicle lurched into the parking space in front of him, the shadow monster moved to open the driver side door. "Madam Pertinax, so good of you to make it. The Mayor has been waiting patiently for your arrival and sends his gratitude in your service."
The witch scoffed. "Save your pleasantries for someone who requires them, Dartwright. Just lead me to the office." Hilda was in no mood to deal with this man. She knew about Justin's ridiculous epiphany of godlike power, a goal set by a heretic ready to suffer the consequences of his skewed mind.
Blaine locked his jaw and chuckled. Right. His job was to be a pawn, and when Justin achieved true power, Blaine would be rewarded with a new rank, and a seat next to strength greater than Earth itself. If his boss pulled the strings right anyway. Blaine just had to deal with petty tasks, then he'd get the profits of his pain.
All the shadow man needed to do was get the witch to Justin. Shoddy work to get to the top. "I trust the trip went well, madam."
The blonde glared at him, not desiring the small talk he was wanting to bring up.
They passed office after office, keeping the silence of the outside world.
"If you believe calling me once more to this city comes without a price, Justin," Hilda kept her statement firm as her path stopped at the Mayor's office. "You'll have another matter to deal with beside him." Hilda was very aware of the incident sixteen years ago and who was involved in the struggle. Her hopes lied somewhere else though.
The man laughed merrily. "Oh, I know that very well, Hilda. I wouldn't have thought otherwise." He sat in his elected seat with his arms resting on his desk, his composure hiding an excitement he hadn't felt since- "Now, about this meeting…"
"And, once again, your ambition is a non-existent spell that can and will end up killing you instead of giving you the power you crave. How many times do I have to put that into your thick skull?" Hilda watched him laugh again, like she was joking about her warning. Fine. If he felt like killing himself, then so be it. The witch held no regard for his well-being, as he had already lost himself to his daft mentality.
It reminded her of a certain other.
The spell Justin spoke of was one to become a god. A sacrifice of six people- supernatural creatures, to be exact- to gain the ultimate powers, strength greater than anything imaginable by any soul. The spell was almost close to completion now and only needed one more sacrifice for for the requirement of six.
Disregarding her comments, Justin decided it was time to fill the witch in on the new information. He stood from his chair and cleared his throat. "The last sacrifice has been decided. A young lass named Lucy, who has been turned, will be the final piece of the spell. All I need now is for you to help with the in-"
He was interrupted by a ghost, Florence, who stumbled into the room. She gulped as the two of them looked to her. "S-Sir. Lucy- She-"
Justin knew this would happen. "The girl hasn't been…?" He growled, fists tightened and eyes showing his slowly built up rage.
"N-No, sir."
Hilda was surprised, to say the least. He didn't suck out all the blood of a human? How odd, seeing as he had the thirst of a million men traveling through the scorching desert. This girl was quite the lucky one.
This needed to be investigated.
The blonde got up from her seat and put a hand on Florence's shoulder. "Justin, I require your assistants' help for something. You'll have your final subject turned. Just give me sometime." This idea would be risky, for her, these lackeys, and this 'Lucy' girl.
For his sake, Hilda hoped this wasn't a dangerous risk.
Was it really what he thought it was?
Alfendi couldn't quite understand what that fool planned for him and what Lucy had to do with it, but he had a hunch.
It couldn't be that spell, could it?
As the pace of his feet suddenly changed, he came to the revelation that Justin might still believe that old rumor. He was dense enough, naive enough, and all the pieces were in place.
All but one.
Growling, Alfendi felt his path turn and lead him back to the master bedroom, where he had treated Lucy as best he could. The bite had healed, but that cut on her head was something he couldn't quite fix with the power he had now.
If this really meant Lucy was in trouble, Alfendi would be sure nothing horrible came near her.
It's far to late for that.
His hand froze right on the door knob. Closing his eyes, he felt his other side trying to take control once again. The lie. Everything that was wrong with him. He couldn't let him be the villain here and take away the one thing his heart craved more than blood.
But she is so tempting. You cannot keep yourself- no, the real Alfendi Layton- from getting her blood.
She is mine, not yours, like this body, and when you finally accept that, I can kill her and the rest of them, and be free of your stupid curse.
No matter how much he pushed, the lie kept forcing itself back in, so he decided to continue, letting it do what it pleased in his head. As he opened the door, he felt the fake in his mind like a cold, unsettled fog, bringing chills up his spine. He shut the door behind him and walked over to the bed.
And if you love her so much, maybe I'll make her a vampire so she can stay with 'us' forever. I wonder; how would she manage as a sadistic killer? With those blood red eyes of hers striking fear into the hearts of her victims, I'd imagine quite well.
Those eyes were a mystery. So unique, like Lucy herself. He couldn't turn such a beautiful gaze into a bloodthirsty one.
So against the code of a monster, isn't it? To kill and feed, isn't that what a vampire is? Isn't that what I wanted?
The lie practically screamed into his ear that final question. Yes, he did want that. But there was something keeping him from completely taking Lucy's blood.
She rested with her back to him, her body moving only for her breathing. She was curled up on the bed, a hand under her head and the pillow it rested on, the rest of her body bundled up beneath a white sheet.
He pulled out the now blood-free hat from his pocket and placed it near her head, then put his hand back into its former position between the yellowed newspapers. Alfendi could still see the wound on her head which thankfully stopped bleeding at a certain point.
Take her. Take the blood. Take whatever is left and go. She obviously doesn't need it all. Finish what I've started, for 'us'. For me.
All Alfendi heard was a growl.
That… Was not him.
Listening carefully, he heard it again. From below him, the sound came, and it seemed to get louder with every slow breath Lucy took. He sensed something near him, a presence, maybe more than one. In the dull light of the moon, he noticed the small figure sitting in the dark corner of the room. It looked lonely and frightened, and its face was shrouded by long, black locks of hair. Everything about this figure was pale and fragile looking.
Like a ghost.
"Florence?" As much as Alfendi hated her and the rest of the trio, whatever was happening to her didn't appear all that healthy, even with who she was. Florence never appeared so… Broken, dead and scared of… Something. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and he could see blue veins almost pulsing underneath the skin on her hands. Alfendi could barely see her eyes, bloodshot and wide, from behind the curtain of hair. "What happened to-"
Suddenly, she disappeared. Not 'faded into the wall' or 'slunk into the floorboards', but just vanished, before the vampire could even blink.
Immediately, he knew something unnatural was going to occur. He ran out the room, after checking that Lucy was unharmed and still silently asleep, and into the hall, down the stairs and to the ground floor. That growling from before must have had something to do with Florence and he intended to find out what it was.
"P-Prof?" Lucy murmured, feeling the vampire leave the room. He was talking to someone- Florence, from what she heard- and he went off somewhere right after. Sitting up, the brunette felt a rush of energy, like she could do almost anything right now, and she felt the tips of her fingers tingle as she held them up to see what was different.
She hadn't changed at all, and she felt fine. Her curiosity though, drove her out of the bed, grabbing her clean hat and putting it on as she went. Out the door, she ran, hearing a loud commotion downstairs. A powerful roar almost made her jump, but she kept pace. "Prof!"
The creature that slid out of the living room area on its back was not Alfendi. It was a screeching demon with long, sharp talons for nails and horns that almost dug into the marble floor as it slipped across the tiles. Stopping at Lucy's feet, it smiled with its pointed shark teeth.
The demon was Sniffer, or once was him at least. Lucy barely recognized the clothing he wore, most of it torn up and battered up like he was at the moment. Slowly, he rose, and Lucy realized she no longer had the height advantage she would have once had by him. He was half a head taller that her now, even without the extra few inches the horns had given him.
And to him, now, Lucy was a puny mortal.
With strength he never knew existed, the devil whipped its sharp tail towards the lass, as a simple example of what exactly Lucy would be challenging. He readily aimed his talons at her, a strike imminent.
The beast howled as pain struck at its gut, and then its back. Its body collided with the demon's and they both narrowly missed Lucy, who was quick to dodge the clash of monsters. The werewolf, Lucy could barely tag the name Dustin onto it, pounded its huge paws onto the floor as it composed itself and held its ground on all fours.
Finally, Lucy heard the defying laughter of the master of Forbodium Castle, and while their expressions masked it, Lucy knew the two tall creatures were afraid.
Wails followed the vampire, but Alfendi quickly silenced them with a flick of his wrist. The seemingly lifeless entity that was Florence faded out of sight, her figure flickering back moments later with a blue, hazy glow. Her eyes were hollow, devoid of any sense of sanity, and almost focused on Lucy.
Murderous intent overshadowing all other thoughts, Alfendi darted to Lucy. He had to keep her safe.
That spell. It was. She would be next.
The trio rushed in on all sides, but to Alfendi, they seemed to move in slow motion. He swiped his fingers along Sniffer's face, and the demon screeched. Not a second later, a shoe knocked him senseless. As he shifted against waiting directional patterns, the bloodsucker grabbed the unsuspecting ghost, having her form flung deep underground.
In those final ticks of time, he did not hesitate in his transformation. Elongated canines riddled the mad muzzle of the full wolf that had taken the vampire's place. Instantly, those massive bones were buried into the arm of the opposing beast. Yanking in every which way, the monster had its prey into a lock of strength. They both held firm, and a whirl of purples, red, and bright reds rapidly destroyed the floor around Lucy.
She could barely keep track of it all. One minute, Sniffer was poised to cut at her throat, the next, the trio was unable to struggle any longer, or even retreat for that matter.
"I'm afraid we must get going." Came a nonchalant voice from beside Lucy. She knew who it was.
"Blaine! 'Ow did you-?"
"No time for that!" Shadows began surround her, and the blond had evaporated into them in no time during so. It was a whirlwind of cool, black flames that threatened to carry or slice Lucy, whichever fate dealt.
Fate was not in Blaine's hands though, and he seemed to forget the very person that did, the person he despised in this situation.
Blood had dripped from two sources, and one easily sliced the dark tornado to shreds, Blaine's leg caught in the jaws of one hungry hound.
With crushes and cracks reverberating through the castle, the insanity settled, and the gruesome mutt licked its chops of the blood- and whatever extra they had dug up along with it.
A golden eye observed bloodshed Alfendi's lie reveled in. Dead silence. Two and a half bodies littering the marble floor, and red all around, a splendorous disarray that sent shivers through his body as it slowly turned.
The spine snapping sounds told Lucy it was safe to finally open her eyes and see her savior in the white coat.
"L-Lucy." With wavering breaths, Alfendi crouched down to evaluate any other wounds his companion may have acquired. The brunette kept silent, red eyes concentrating in fear at a figure over his shoulder.
Who the hell else had the gall to enter his domain?
"Alfendi Layton."
The voice brought a cluster of memories back to light, mistakes from years past that his "true self" took a little remorse in admitting it true. It was less shocking though, that he was still alive.
"If a person ever told me some odd years back that the man who made me who I am today would be confined helplessly to this this excuse of a castle, I would have killed them for lying. I never believed that the man who conquered enemies history knew little for, had been reduced to nothing more than a rat in a cage. It's too bad. I had praised a monster no man feared in the end."
This man, from what Lucy could deduce, another vampire, took his time getting down the stairs as he spoke. She knew him, but the air around him was much darker than Lucy remembered.
"You say words you have no right to, Keelan. Those are words you say to other brutes, or even mortals for that matter. Words like those aren't meant for the vampire who turned you. My charity," Alfendi swerved on his heel to meet the eyes of his former fledgling, "would have been for naught." He spoke and a hiss ensnared a few of his phrases. His anger was fueled, but his strength was limited, he realized, having exhausted enough already on those lackeys. However, he knew he could handle his simple, and likely only, subordinate.
An arm hooked itself around Lucy's neck.
How did anyone get past-
The human cried out as the world blurred and tumbled in her vision.
Suddenly, the light.
"Lucy!"
