The world seemed to have grown so much darker with the following year of betrayal. After dwelling in the dungeons of his own castle for endless months the Count's mind began to slip, his sanity almost overwhelmed by his thirst and cruel, dominating nature.
He was released by Igor eventually. It happened one night whilst the Count was thinking of Mina and wondering how the lycanthrope had come to be. The potion had taken it away from her, so why had she changed?
He shuddered as he felt his throat burn with thirst. It was all he could think of to take his mind from the dreams. The dreams were of the hot blood flowing through Mina's neck. She always appeared lying on the bed in her castle chamber, smiling in her dreams. The covers were of thin red silk, the stars and moon always shone through her tower window in such a way that every beautiful curve of her body could be seen.
Every time he dreamt he could not resist her resting form. He always moved closer, always crawled on top of her. At this point she always woke and wrapped her arms around his neck, pleased to see him. At first he embraced her until the beating of her heart vibrated through him like an earthquake, the flow of her blood as enticing to him as water to a man lost in a desert. He looked slightly above her to see the mirror set on the wall above the pillow.
His eyes reflected red, with blood-lust and desire in equal measure. He always tried to wake but it continued until he bit into her soft white flesh. The blood always flowed from her, warm and refreshing with each sup of the liquid. It never was enough. His throat always burned and he continued to drink until she grew whiter, almost translucent in his arms. When there was nothing left in her he dropped her carcass horrified with himself. He wished for his true death in every dream, which is when he woke.
The day Igor released him the Count almost tore him apart until he tossed a young women in front of him. A stranger meaning nothing; always a test. He had continued to resist her for the past months but his darker side took over that night and he plunged his fangs into the blonde haired women. She made no sound as he took her life slowly; a pleasurable death for many. His cruelty had returned; he cared nothing for humanity any longer. Nothing for her. She was but another helpless lamb to his wolf.
Igor enjoyed the sight of his master returning to his former glory. His presence caused a shudder as he dropped the maiden and moved passed him without a word, eyes dark and cold. He would be glad to relay the message to Lake-monster.
Igor's pleasure lasted only a short while however, his master was silent. He never spoke. The darkness had taken him completely. He felt nothing, not even the urge to beat Igor came over him. He lived, fed and looked as a vampire should, but there was something missing. He dreaded to think it was Mina but after a few more months, he found it was something worse. It was the change Mina had made in him. The change had in fact made him a better vampire, now that Mina was gone, there was a void inside him. Killing gave him no pleasure as it had before Mina nor pained restraint as it had when she was with him.
Igor did not know what to do.
He thought his plan for getting rid of Mina had been fool proof. He thought that tainting the antidote with actual original loup-garou blood would raise instincts in his master so powerful that he would be repulsed by her. And so he had, but it had only been temporary. His love for the human was stronger than any instinct he had.
When his friends arrived at his castle for the annual hunt, the Count felt lost. He became less than an animal. Blood was all he could see, all that he could consume and yet he was never complete nor satisfied. He was hollow. Even his friends noticed the change in him, the old vampire had once had a bond with each and every one of them; it was gone now. By severing one bond he had inadvertently severed them all.
There had been many rumours of a giant dog prowling the coastline closest to the town. The dog was said to bring sorrow and misery in its wake. It was an unlucky creature to see. Its howls rung through the night like an echo, almost forcing soul-wrenching weeping onto any who heard its cry.
For a loup-garou, Mina was coping well with her curse. However the pain of loss was almost too much to bear. She stared at the moon in wolf form every night, sometimes letting herself change back to her human nakedness, sometimes staying in that form.
She had tried to get on with her life, she had tried getting a job but for reasons she didn't understand anger burned inside of her as often as she wept. In her current state, her anger was deadly. It changed her very form. Her eyes burned gold and her teeth grew sharp.
She barely managed to escape an interview once. So she left home instead. Living as the 'Bloody Coast Wolf' had hardened her. She killed any wild creatures so she may feed; the blood and meat tasted good in both forms, though her guilt was lessened as a wolf. In her moments of rage she vented her anger on anyone unlucky enough to cross her path. Humans, animals and monsters alike, she took no prisoners.
Her innocence had been destroyed by betrayal, she was no longer the women she had been with the Count.
A few months after his release the Count heard a knock on his door. His emptiness of feeling had not abated, he dutifully got up and opened the door for a friend. His smile was hollow, practiced. "Vhat is it this time?" he turned and let Mummy inside but he wasn't alone. Another friend came limping through the door, bloodied and bedraggled. Lake-monster could barely walk. The fins on his head had been ripped clean off, his right arm looked broken and a huge gash in his right leg tormented him. He leant against the stone wall once inside. He breathed as best as he could.
"My fault" he said at last. An ember of feelings began to burn inside the Count at the sight of his mutilated friend. Lake-monster looked round for Igor and found him in the shadows, hiding. He pointed his only good arm at him. "You did this" he panted through his jagged teeth. The Count looked round at Igor. He had no choice. He needed to confess.
He stepped into the light, his ugly form looking hesitant. "Vell?"
"Master, Mina changed into a Loup-Garou because of us" he looked at Lake-monster grimacing in pain. He looked down at his pudgy deformed hands before rephrasing. "Because of me". A spark seemed to spit out from the embers inside the Count but it was soon extinguished by his cruelty. "Vhat have you done Igor?" he growled his voice rumbled with extra venom. "Speak".
"I thought you were getting too close to the human, I thought she was extinguishing the monster within you." For a hunchback he was very poetic, but in truth he had expected to be caught out and so he had thought about this argument many times over. "I told Lake-monster the truth, that I had deceived the tribunal. I told him that Mina was human".
Mummy was ripping off some of his own wrappings to bandage the worst of the wounds. Lake-monster groaned in pain. "Vlad, I had seen the love you had for her when you saved her from me. It scared me that you were getting so close to a werewolf. When I found out she was human I had to act." More sparks flared from the embers.
Igor took over from Lake-monster. "After the tribunal, I spoke to Lake-monster and both of us devised a plan. I tainted the antidote to the lycanthrope potion with Loup-Garou blood." Igor was sweating now. "It was original Loup-Garou blood. Poisonous to humans. She would have had a slow death. After her first transformation she would get ill constantly and after a month, be dead."
"We took advantage of your instincts to part you." Lake-monster looked at the purplish coloured blood on his webbed hands. "She is far stronger than we thought; your influence on her changed her into something more than human."
There was a moment of silence; the Count only broke it by pacing slowly. "I had heard rumour of a giant volf close to the town. Heard its cries." He turned to face Lake-monster. "I thought it vas one of our own gotten out into the open".
Mummy looked up. "So did we. A few monsters went to dispose of the problem. None came back". The Count felt slight pain of emotional feeling in his chest, he willed it away.
He looked over at Igor now. "Because you thought I vas veak enough to forget myself, both of you, she has exposed the monster vorld. Because you used my instincts against me, you have created a beast who feels nothing but rage, hate and misery. It vill be on both your heads." He stopped for a moment.
Something came to mind and he didn't like the thought despite his attempts to stamp out all feeling within himself. "Vhy did you come here?"
Lake-monster leaned forwards. "You are the only one who can destroy her; you are the only one she will not attack on sight. Only you can end her life, her curse". His eyes grew cold.
"I vill not be sucked back into this. This is your doing." He turned on his heel and returned to his coffin down in the crypt without hesitation. The remaining three looked at each other.
"You've destroyed him Igor. There is nothing left of him to care." Mummy looked like he regretted his earlier feelings about the human. "She made him into a better monster. By separating them you have brought out a cold creature without feelings as well as created one with an all-consuming rage, able to destroy all she wishes. This is your fault."
"I know" Igor admitted.
"Make him change his mind; he must remember his duty to monster-kind."
"Master will not listen to me."
"Then find something that will make him listen" Mummy turned on him to tend to Lake-monster. Igor sighed and hobbled away, thinking how he could change his master's mind. He thought through the years the Count had been with Mina. He had watched the change in him but had not understood. As he walked by the wall beside his laboratory he saw the carvings Mina had made what seemed so long ago.
The word 'Mine' was inside a heart and underneath were the words 'never leave me'. An idea pieced itself together in his mind, slowly at first he began to plan. It took a while, so long in fact it made his head hurt.
He shuffled as fast as he could back to Lake-monster and Mummy. He explained what he thought might work and fix everything. "Losing her will kill him". Igor shook his head and continued and both monsters' eyes widened unsure of what to make of the plan.
Mina prowled the darkness beneath the trees. Her mouth still wet with oddly flavoured blood. She was satisfied however. The memory of that fish-man's interference in her life burned deep. She had seen him approach her and held back nothing. Her fury was unleashed upon him. She would have willingly killed him as she had the other monsters that came poking around. The Mummy had intervened and distracted her whilst he got away. She hoped he rotted to death.
Madness had almost taken over her mind. Her emotions destroyed any logical thought. One more month of this life and she would be no more than a mindless, savage beast with a concept of neither love nor hate; or perhaps mercy may be granted to her in the form of death.
Igor trudged down the steps into his master's crypt and began to walk over to the coffin when a voice rumbled behind him. "You should not have come down here". Turning, only red eyes could be seen burning in the shadows. In seconds he flew out of the darkness and grabbed Igor's collar raising him as high as he possibly could. "My sanity almost rotted in that dungeon vhile you roamed free. I spent an entire year blaming myself for something you did! Tell me vhy I should spare your life. Because of you I lost her and almost lost myself."
Igor could barely breathe, only a few words came from his mouth. "I came because I can help." The Count did not loosen his grip.
"You have helped enough already" he answered coldly before dropping him.
Igor rubbed his neck and pressed onwards with the plan, "you once told her you would never leave her" the Count froze. "And yet here you are turning away from her, by your own will this time". Igor realised his very life was on the line if he continued to tread on such thin ice. "So what does that make you now, a liar or a traitor?"
The Count spun round so fast Igor barely saw him move. The old vampire slammed him into the opposite wall, eyes blazing and fangs readied. "You vud know the meaning of traitor vudn't you?" he hit him with such force it almost blinded him. "I am no traitor, I vill save her. I von't lose her again" he cried before shape-shifting into a wolf and racing out into the hallway, ignoring the other two as he charged past them. Igor felt triumphant even as he tested his newly broken jaw. His master was back and he was determined.
The clouds of grey wool drifted over the moonlight, shielding the world from its gaze. Mina was making a home for herself in the clearing. She curled up, warm in her russet fur until the unmistakable sound of a charge breaking through the night's silence made her ears prick. It was the beat of a four legged animal, small in comparison to her, perhaps half her size.
She prepared herself for what would come but did not expect a black wolf with red eyes to launch itself from above her. Fangs dug into the back of her neck making her roar in pain. She wildly swung her neck until her attacker let go. He launched again, going for the throat but she was ready this time. She darted to one side and snapped at his haunches, drawing blood as he shot away from her.
Mina licked her lips eager for more violence, her darker side almost fully in control now. The wolf limped a little. He realised he needed to end this quickly, she was more than an equal match for him. He darted towards a tree in front of her and she swerved to watch him. He used the tree to propel himself into her, grasping her throat tightly between his fangs. The force of his attack rolled her over completely. On her back she lay surprised for a moment before her senses returned. She simply got up, the wolf hanging of the thick skin and fur of her throat. She tried to bite him, but she could not get a hold of him. Her fangs had no purchase on his flesh from that angle.
Memory flashed behind her eyes at the sight of the red eyed black wolf but it was only a flash and it passed without incident. She may have been able to beat it off if she were human but then she would be putting herself in danger.
They were at a stalemate. She could not harm him, he could not harm her. She tried to speak but being a great wolf did not help. Instead she took the risk and changed back. It took a while for her body to obey but eventually, her fur receded and her bones and muscles realigned and shaped themselves. It was not painful anymore. The wolf dropped from her throat as soon as he felt her change.
The Count did not change back immediately, Mina's body took him over completely. Naked she stood there in the brief moonlight shining through the trees. Her eyes glowed gold now with the Loup-Garou blood in her veins. The desire to kill each other as their ancestors had done burned within both of them so deeply. After a while of silence, the black wolf changed. His form evaporated into black mist before reforming to become the man she had once known so well and loved so much more. Mina wasn't sure what to think at first; here he stood as though there had been no change, as though no time had passed.
"I kept my promise" his smile was small, unsure of her reaction. Blood boiled in both wolf and vampire, their instincts were strong. Mina wiped her mouth clean of blood. He approached but Mina backed away almost immediately. There was fear in her eyes.
"You did no such thing," she said so sure of herself. "You abandoned me when I needed you most." She held back the hot tears that were beginning to build. He still approached her desperately; he wanted nothing more than to console her. His fight against his own nature was natural to him now. She leant against a nearby tree for support, her emotions weakening her. "You have no idea what I have been through, what I have done, what I have become". She looked at her hands, still unsure after all this time that they were hers. "I've killed and I've consumed" she looked up at him, her gold eyes meeting his red ones. "And you weren't there to save me...you weren't there..." she couldn't hold them back any longer, tears poured mercilessly down her cheeks. All the pain and anger she had felt, that she had bottled up inside as she slowly became a monster was now let loose.
The wind blew but she felt nothing, the wolf blood protected her from the cold. The Count dropped to his knees in despair. "I could not save you, I vasn't there because they kept me from you."
"No" she said simply. "It was you who kept you from me, your nature compelled you to turn from me, and so after all these years of fighting, you gave in."
"I never gave up on you Mina, my nature is behind bars now. I can lock it avay and ve can still be together."
"No, I'm a wolf and you're a vampire. It's a death sentence for us to be together now. I have been living with that all this time. It's not the poison in my blood that's killing me Count, but the realisation that I must be apart from you forever." Despite her petty struggles to keep herself away from him he held her to his chest. She tried to resist, her blood almost as strong as her will. She felt herself giving in; she had forgiven him long ago. It took her a while to understand everything.
Igor had always desired their separation and now he had gotten his wish. He had poisoned her. She felt the blood burn like fire when she was scared or angry. It was becoming more and more frequent now. Mina was sure that she would die soon, the blood was too hard for her to resist any longer. Even as she lay in the Count's arms close to his un-beating heart she fought like a wild animal inside, besting the blood and poison as best she could. "I'm dying." The Count held her closer, afraid of the thought, of the vision he had seen in his dreams.
"Don't say that" he begged her kissing her as she raised her head to look at him. The love they had for each other was never truly lost, only waiting. Passion held back however, is a very dangerous thing is when it is between a wolf and vampire.
"You know it as well as me". She remembered her small quest of searching for the reason of her change. At that point she had known it was Igor, she wanted to know what caused her emotions to almost dominate her, what caused her blood to burn. She found it in a hideaway corner in the small town library. The blood of the Loup-Garou was in her veins, killing her sanity as well as her body, only time would tell of which would survive. She told this to the Count. He nodded but still would not let go of her.
"I don't vant to lose you". Mina cupped his beautiful face in her hands before giving him one last kiss. It seemed to last forever. Their breathe speeding up as they held onto each other. Life could get no more wonderful then that one moment. The Count wound his fingers into her hair clutching the small of her back. He wanted her to be closer than this. Mina stroked his cheek and gently moved away.
"You are going to have to. If I were to die, I want to die sane and in your arms. Why not let it be by your fangs as well? After all this time alone, after all the killing and pain I desire nothing more than an end."
It was the first time she had seen the Count cry. His tears were of blood. "Please, little one. Do not make me do this". In answer Mina swung her russet hair out of the way of her neck. Her skin was still marble white and soft to the touch as he always remembered her.
He kissed her neck, his last goodbye to her before he gently bit into her throat. The venom released from his fangs as he bit into her, as it had to so many victims before her, made her peaceful. It was barely strong enough for Mina however, her wolf blood countering its effect. She was in no pain but unlike his other victims she was fully aware and would have it no other way.
As the life drained from her slowly, all she felt was tired. He was giving her everything by taking all she had left. She studied him with a lover's interest as he continued to drain her dry. He had rearranged the way he was holding her. She had been holding onto him until their previous kiss had pressed her against the tree. Now she had the tree at her back as she had kept the Count close by wrapping her legs round his waist. She leant back slightly so the blood would flow more easily for him. She was almost glad they were in the forest given their intimate position and then she remembered it would be her death and no longer cared.
He pressed harder into her neck making her groan with both pain and pleasure. She had lost her sight and grew cold quickly now, her body had no strength to hold onto life any longer. Soon the last seconds of her life were in the balance and even though she was blind, she opened her eyes to stare at the Count as he released her. The golden eyes returned to their natural dark brown as all the poison was taken from her, along with her life. The life and fire that had once so many years ago captivated him faded and was gone. He closed her eyes and moved her so that she was securely in his arms. He wept openly for the first time in his un-life. The one person who had made his un-life worth living was now gone. She deserved so much better. He took her with him and walked her back to the castle unknowing that there was another pair of eyes on him.
He dressed her in her favourite dress, the one she had picked out last time they met, and took her down to the crypt. Laying her there where he would lay beside her once he was finished with Igor. Revenge was on his mind now. He left the crypt as a bat and sought his servant.
Igor had hidden in the shadows of the crypt, lucky that his master had been so overwhelmed in his grief to notice that he was being followed. He moved towards Mina's body to see that her lips were redder than those of the dead should have been. It would take a day to be sure, if she were that lucky. His plan may have yet failed but they needed to be sure, so a day it would take for the Count to find him.
In the main hall the Lake-monster was back on his webbed feet and was surprised to see the Count back so soon. "Did you do it?"
"Vouldn't you like to know?" he said before backhanding his old friend into the wall. "Tell me vhere that maggot of a servant is" Lake-monster was no coward. He told the Count nothing which earned him a mild amount of pain before the Count left continuing his search. It was only a few hours away until dusk the next day and Mina had still not shown any signs of life, undead or otherwise. The Count had been up all day trying to find Igor and eventually retired to the crypt where he found him standing over Mina.
There was no power in this world or the next that could have calmed the Count's fury. He flew at Igor and flung him against the wall. "All this is because of you, you deserve no mercy". He held Igor so tightly by the throat he could hardly breathe never mind speak.
"Stop"
A small voice came from behind them. It was weak and dry. The Count froze, he recognised the voice and so wanted to believe it came from the source, but the pain of turning round only to find that he was mistaken would be too much to bear. Then a white hand placed itself upon his cheek and gently pulled until he faced its owner.
Her features were perfectly preserved, white as she had always been with russet coloured hair falling about her shoulders. Her eyes were different; they were not the heart warming chocolate brown he had once loved instead they were blood red, like his. The shock of her change was overwhelmed by the fact that she was alive, in a sense, and with him. He dropped Igor and turned to face her almost afraid to touch her in case she might disappear.
"You're alive" he whisper touching her face. She put her hand over his and kissed it. Igor's restrained coughing brought him back to the present. He glared at him "how?" he asked. Mina stood beside him, trying to concentrate on the matter at hand but she could not take her eyes off the Count. She thought she'd lost him forever. Her eyesight had improved and to look at his face when she already thought he was perfect, was to see him as a god or perhaps given the circumstances, a demonic prince; dark, powerful and the most desirable creature in existence.
Igor had just managed to get his breath back to answer when she managed to pay attention. "I followed you when you left, master. When you attacked she ingested some of your blood. My hope was that her unusual strength would save her. Usually vampire blood is poisonous to werewolves of all kinds, Loup-Garou included. The blood settled in her stomach only after you had drained the original poison from her." The Count looked round at Mina, seeing her face again, he didn't want to ever look away. He sighed and looked back at Igor.
"Once she vas dead, the blood came alive and moved freely vith the absence of the Loup-Garou blood" he finished.
Igor nodded then moved until he was on his knees before his master. "Forgive my interference master" he begged, head bowed. Mina frowned, thinking as the Count spoke.
"I can never forgive vhat you have done Igor. Perhaps Mina can but not I". Mina looked up.
"He'll just receive an eternity of beatings from us both then won't he?" both looked round at her, surprised with her mercy. "There has been enough bloodshed, at least for me." She still felt incredibly guilty about the lives she had taken.
"At least for now" the Count laughed as he stroked her throat. It felt dry and felt as though she had spent the entirety of her death swallowing sand. They left Igor on the floor of the crypt as they both made their way up the stairs to the main hall. "I have a destination in mind". Mina looked up at him slightly confused. "It is not very far and it is in an upwards direction". He pointed towards the stairs and if Mina's mind had been elsewhere she would have had no clue of what he was talking about. However since she had longed to venture there too, it was an easy allusion to guess.
The naughty smile Mina had once had was now gone and in its place was something that looked like a seductive smirk. It worked on the Count, that's for sure. "Meet me upstairs" she said and evaporated into scarlet mist. She snaked her way up the stairs into her tower bedroom and reappeared undressed and ready for her dark prince as she lay on top of her red silken bed.
"I'd best take my leave" said a snarly voice behind the Count. Lake-monster limped over to him. "Mummy has already gone to report the handling of the wolf situation." The Count nodded in reply, feeling slight guilt of his treatment of his friend.
"Forgive my earlier behaviour."
"No Vlad, you have nothing to forgive. It was all of us who judged the young woman far too quickly. We are happy to have you back, Vlad." He put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed a little.
"I look forward to next hunting night, and so does Mina" Lake-monster had a feeling it would be different hunting with Mina. She had already proven her strength; it would be interesting to see what she does with her un-life. With that the Lake-monster limped out into the darkness leaving the Count longing for Mina's touch.
Unable to resist any longer he too became black mist and soared up the stairs until he reached the closed door. Within he saw light, candlelight. She was really going for mood. He knocked though he needn't have bothered; it swung open on Mina's command. She was a natural with her powers; the long hours she must have studied him.
Almost identical to his dream, there she lay, her naked body barely hidden beneath the thin silk sheets of scarlet. She stared up at him longingly with those ruby eyes. The Count moved forwards and as he slid on the bed beside her, misted his clothes away. Mina's eyes went slightly wider, she had never seen him unclothed before but with the expression on her face, could see she was far more than just pleased with what she saw.
She moved with almost catlike grace to be near him, kneeling now, the covers keeping her hidden no longer. She leant up and kissed him with such sweetness, poor Vlad almost lost control. He held her neck with one hand to make sure she didn't let go of him to quickly whilst the other pressed her body into his. The smoothness of his skin and the gentleness of his touch was enough for Mina to entirely lose herself to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he leant forwards, carefully letting Mina down onto the bed. She spread her legs for him naturally ready and continued to kiss him from his mouth down to his neck as she felt along his only slightly muscled body. His well chiselled features would have been destroyed by too much muscle, she thought.
Her fingers traced his abs and lower as he too got closer to her until they were finally together. The sounds she made were tripled compared to what they had been when he'd drained her. The night was warm for them as Mina wrapped herself around the Count, he was reluctant to let go. He had no more desire to hunt and kill as he once had when he was in her presence. Now all he wanted was to give her such pleasure that she would never leave him. Mina wished the same, that the Count to be happy and for nothing to hurt him as she had with her selfish wish for death.
As they finished what seemed ages later she lay in his arms, wishing to be nowhere else. He nuzzled her hair loving her scent. "If this is Hell, Heaven can go and fuck itself" she said and pressed closer to him. He smiled into her hair in return.
