With a flash we arrived to a crowd on the 37th floor. It was dark out, like usual here, as we walked into the downtown area. The theme of the 37th floor was Halloween but not the childish one. True, the town was decorated with jack o lanterns and the houses had a purple and orange theme but other than that this place was truly scary. The bright yellow moon lit up the fairly desolate town on most nights, the town of Sleepy Hollow. The church bell rang and everyone gathered in Town Square in front of the church. At the very front stood Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath and leader of the clearing group nearly every level.

" Welcome. Our scouts have found the base of the boss rather easily up there," Heathcliff said and pointed to the mountain. There was an ominous looking mansion with storm clouds constantly above it and lightning striking on cue to create a spooky element. " Our clearers have mapped the room to the boss and the scouts spotted a large bat as the boss. To get there we will need our beast tamers in the front along with several members to volunteer as torch and lamp holders. We will move out in 10 minutes so if you need any healing or teleport crystals get them now. Beast tamers should come up here now."

People began muttering and moving to the shops in town to buy some last minute things. " Ok Inferno and I are heading up," I said.

" Oi Megumi," Klein said making me look back. " Be careful up there."

I nodded and moved forward. When I stood in front of Heathcliff I saw one person with a hawk on their shoulder and another with what looked like a basset hound. " Thank you all for coming. All of you will be in the front followed by a half dozen lantern and torch holders. You will also be given one teammate in case you need assistance in the front. I've already picked out our best three fighters for each of you," Heathcliff said.

There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see Asuna. " Asuna it's been a while," I said giving her a quick hug.

" Yes it has we haven't talked since the 30th floor. When did you become a beast tamer?"

" A week ago actually I saved this little guy's mom and he grew pretty fond of me so he followed me home."

She leaned down scratched behind his ears making Inferno pant and smile. " What's his name?"

" Inferno."

" He's so cute! Are you sure he's ready to be at he front though?"

" Trust me Inferno is stronger than he looks."

" Who's wolf is this?" Kirito asked suddenly appearing.

" K-Kirito where did you come from?" Asuna asked taking a step back.

" I've been here the whole time we're working together remember?"

" Oh right ha-ha," Asuna said blushing a little. I smiled at the two of them playing with Inferno. They were really quite cute together but they didn't even know it. There was a whistle and everyone lined up.

" We're off!" Heathcliff shouted right behind us as the two other beast tamers and I lead the way. As soon as we left town the moon that shone so bright a moment ago dulled, making the path almost impossible to see. That's why we needed lantern and torch holders scattered throughout the party, so we could see the road ahead. But, if you were a torch or lantern holder you couldn't hold a weapon, a necessity but danger as well. The lantern's turned on and the path became visible once again.

" Inferno use Flame Coat," I commanded. He paused mid step and inhaled then suddenly he was on fire.

" That's amazing!" Asuna said as Inferno took a few steps ahead, making the path even brighter. Not too long into our journey we reached the Forest of Dread, a small but deadly, if not careful, forest leading up to the mountain. We walked on and suddenly Inferno and the basset hound growled. This is why animal tamers went to the front, animals can sense when an enemy is getting near and fighters can prepare for it. Several zombies stepped out from the woods and I drew my sword, running forward with Asuna beside me. Together we moved in pace, both speed fighters with speed weapons.

" Nice work," I said putting away my weapon as we walked forward again.

" You too. Why the sword?"

" Trying to level it up a bit. Almost got taken out last week because I was attacked from behind."

Asuna nodded and we all moved forward again. The rest of the forest was filled with zombies, skeletal monsters, and a couple of witches and werewolves before we got to the foot of the mountain. We began the trek up from there, which was filled with rock trolls and a few more werewolves. We passed a church with graveyard in front but surprisingly no attack then a half hour later arrived at the mansion on the hill. " Alright is everyone ready?" Heathcliff called out.

There were resounding cheers as he opened the door to the castle and we continued inside. Through the winding halls we faced mostly skeletal warriors and a few more witches until we faced a large ornate door. " This is it then?" I asked drawing my bow.

" Yes. Be ready for when the bat flies into the air you need to be prepared to shoot him down for us."

" Yes sir," I said testing the string on my lightning bow.

Heathcliff opened the door and we all stepped inside. Inferno growled softly towards the corner and I raised my bow, drawing it for the power attack. I saw bright red eyes in the corner and shot. There was a shriek and a flash of movement then the bat hovered above us. The name Alucard appeared above him and I faltered before I made my next shot. His name is supposed to be Bat King not Alucard. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of my stomach as I shot down the bat. " He's grounded go!" I shouted.

All the swordsmen charged the bat and they began to kill Alucard slowly but surely. His wings were still powerful when swung around and his bite even more so. Just because the enemy is down does not mean it is over. I made a power shot and hit him right between the eyes, paralyzing him. But right when the bat's health got in the read it disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Everyone cheered but I looked around finding no quest completion or experience gained message.

Suddenly a scream rang out and everyone silenced. The smoke finally cleared and everyone saw a man holding one of our swordsmen and sucking at his throat. It read Alucard above his head then the letters shook and shifted to Dracula. This wasn't in the original game! " Fall back!" Heathcliff shouted.

I watched in terror as the swordsman struggled in Dracula's grasp then slowly his movements became less and less sporadic until he stopped moving at all and burst into a million pieces. Dracula's health went from red to yellow, nearly green, in a second's time, and his weak looking body grew fit and muscular. In a flash he ran across and grabbed another person but before he could bite him I shot him in the arm. " Everyone go on defense!" I shouted.

And so when Dracula went to attack another victim, the swordsman would block him and I would get a few good shots in before he flashed away to his next prey. Inferno and I worked together, him hitting Dracula with fireballs and me with my arrows. Just when I got him in the red Dracula's red eyes landed on me. I watched him run right for me but at his speed my attempt to dodge him was futile. Just as the vampire was about to pounce on me Inferno howled. Dracula grabbed me but pulled back hissing as he was caught on fire, his health severely dropping now. I looked down and saw Inferno activated the flame cloak technique on me, saving my life most likely. " Get away from her!" Klein shouted and started attacking Dracula.

" Klein don't!" I cried out. Dracula grabbed Klein and brought him to his throat and to my horror began to suck him dry. I growled in anger and pulled out my sword, charging forth and striking Dracula's back as hard and as fast as I could. I went faster and faster, much faster than I should have been able to go with my sword mastery level, until Dracula finally dropped Klein. " Klein!" I shouted kneeling beside him.

His health was only in the yellow, thank god, but when I pulled out my health crystal to heal him I found it did nothing. Meanwhile, Dracula had retreated to the other side of the room, opened a teleporter, and went through it. " Why won't he heal?" Dale asked kneeling with me now.

" I don't know damn it I don't know!" I shouted angrily, still pointing the crystal at Klein as if that would somehow work. Suddenly a quest popped up in my window.

It was titled The Cure and read 'One of your teammates has been bitten by a vampire. In an hours time he will turn into one of them, and therefore, die. In order to prevent that you must collect the following ingredients for the cure: 2 vampire fangs, holy water, and garlic. Only one may follow the vampire into its lair. Do you accept this quest?'

" Megumi I should go I-" Kunimittz began.

I accepted the quest and ran for the closing portal Dracula left behind. " Megumi don't do it! He's just one man!" Heathcliff called after me.

" I don't care I won't let him die!" I shouted back without turning around. The portal began to close and I jumped through at the last moment, landing on the ground with a tumble. I turned back to see Inferno jump after me and then the portal finally shut. " Inferno you shouldn't be here," I said crawling to him and giving him a quick pet.

Inferno growled and I turned to see Dracula on the other end of our playing field. Looking around I saw we were on top of the castle, looking over level 37 from possibly the highest point in the level. I pulled out my sword, knowing that I couldn't protect myself and shoot with my bow, and stood at the ready. Dracula may have been in the red but he was still just as fast as before as he charged at me. I held up my blade to block just in time as he attacked. Inferno spat a fireball and hit Dracula square in the back.

I used the vampire's distraction to strike at his chest. And strike again and again as hard I could, grunting in exertion. Together, Inferno and I were able to take the mythical monster on without much problem. Finally I stabbed Dracula in the heart. He fell back and I panted, hands on my knees. But just when I thought it was over Dracula pulled his arms in and his entire body expanded in muscle mass and he grew a solid foot in height. He jumped forward and I held up my sword to block but it was slapped away and I was thrown across the top of the tower. At the last second I reached out and caught the edge of the tower, panting and trying to climb up.

Dracula stood above me and stepped on my first hand. Shit what was I going to do? Suddenly, Inferno jumped up and bit Dracula in the jugular, pulling him away from the edge. With all my strength I pulled myself up and saw Inferno tearing Dracula apart. I grabbed my sword and this time went for his head, slicing it right off. Finally, Dracula was dead. I panted, looking around and saw no way down. I have to get to the church there was only a half an hour left!

" Inferno what are we-" I began but saw Inferno glowing.

'Inferno leveled up!' read the words in front of me and I watched my little pup turn into a full sized flame wolf. He was now at height with me and he walked over lapping at my face. I laughed a little then an idea flashed through my mind.

" Inferno can you help me get down?"

Inferno sat and I cautiously got on his back before he jumped into the air. I screamed as Inferno skidded across the roof of the castle and clawed into the building itself before we finally landed. Then Inferno ran straight down the hill towards the church as if reading my mind. As soon as we arrived the previously quiet graveyard began to rumble and zombies rose out of the ground. Before I could draw my sword Inferno inhaled then suddenly spewed fire all across the graveyard, burning up all the zombies. 'Inferno learned 2 new moves!' flashed before me.

" Ya no shit," I said hopping off Inferno and for the church. There was a howl and I turned to the side to see a werewolf. " Oh come on!"

Inferno tackled the werewolf and they began to battle it out. I ran inside the church and saw at the very front a pedestal holding a white bowl of liquid stood shining under the moonlight. Quickly I ran for the bowl but suddenly the doors were thrown open and the werewolf ran in, Inferno injured and whining on the ground behind him. " It's ok boy I'll take care of him," I said drawing my sword.

I read his name and realized this was no ordinary werewolf; he was the boss wolf Draugluin and the most powerful wolf of the level. This has suddenly become much harder I thought to myself as the wolf ran forward. I slashed out and hit the wolf dead on but the normal damage I would have done was halved. This wolf, and all other boss wolves, required a weapon made of silver to do the max amount of damage. He turned, obviously not affected, and slapped me across the room. I landed on a chest in the corner that smashed to bits when I fell. The wolf growled and began to stride over to me as I blinked and stared ahead. The contents of the box lay before me and I saw half a dozen arrows. I grabbed one and examined it, finding the tips to be silver.

Before I could draw my bow I had to leap to the side to avoid the werewolves attack. I stood and ran, jumping from pew to pew as the wolf sliced through each one behind me. Just as I thought I was safe, the wolf jumped one pew farther and tackled me to the ground, biting me in the shoulder. I screamed in pain and watched my health drop into the yellow. There was a growl and I saw Inferno at the church entrance, his front paw off hovering above the ground. He ran forward and tackled the werewolf off of me, giving me the chance to bring out my bow. I reached to pull it back but winced at the sting in my shoulder. My arm was in pain because of the bite the wolf made and I only had a few health crystals left. I risked it and used my first crystal to heal then shot the silver arrows.

I decided to do power shots on the werewolf and after the second shot he turned and glared at me before charging forward. I dove to the side, still powering up my shot, and then fired again before running to the other side of the church. I turned back and fired the second to last arrow before diving under one of the pews. The werewolf scratched and clawed through the pew and I crawled under the rest of the rows to the back. I jumped up and saw the wolf diving over the pews. This was it, my last chance. I felt the bow power up as the wolf was just a foot away and fired, hitting him right between the eyes.

The wolf fell to the side and burst into million pieces. I ran over to Inferno who was whimpering on the ground. " Hey boy I know you're tired but we still need to run back and save Klein ok?" I asked as I used the last health crystal.

He stood up and yipped after his health was 100% again. Quickly, I ran tot eh front of the church and tapped the bowl with my finger. 'Do you want to collect 1 vial of holy water?' I tapped yes and it was added to my inventory.

I went into my inventory and found some garlic then combined all the ingredients. In a flash I made 'vampiric cure', a glass bottle with a red cross on the front filled with clear liquid. The timer in my top left vision read…15 minutes! " Come on Inferno!" I shouted as we ran for the front.

Inferno ran behind me, tilted his head down, and then flicked me up. I screamed in the air as I landed on Inferno's back and he continued his run back up to the castle. We burst through the front doors and I knew we really could make it. That is until the ground shook and all the bones from earlier began to compile together. Should have known it was weird that they didn't disappear when we killed them the first time. The doorway was right there, Klein was right there, right behind that monstrous skeleton forming before me. The door opened and I saw Kirito and Asuna. " What is that?" Kirito called out as the skeleton monster formed, standing 2 stories tall and letting out a roar in my direction.

" Trouble," I said back as I drew my bow and fired. Kirito and Asuna struck at the monsters ankles as I aimed higher up. The skeleton's chest was glowing and I saw an orb in the middle, most likely his heart or soul. " Inferno climb up the skeleton!" I shouted and held on tight as he began to run. The skeleton attempted to swipe at Kirito and Asuna and as the hand came down Inferno jumped on it's hand then ran up its arm. " Shoot a fireball at his chest!"

Inferno opened his mouth wide and fired at the chest, opening the cavity and showing the glowing object. I jumped up and off of Inferno, sword drawn, and dove for the chest then pierced the glowing orb and I watched the skeletal monster's health dramatically decrease. " Megumi look out!" Asuna shouted.

The skeleton's chest got brighter and brighter until it exploded. I was thrown back and landed against the wall then began to fall. From this height, and after the damage I took from the explosion, I would surely die. But just as this thought crossed my mind Inferno jumped up and caught me before landing on the ground. 2 minutes left! " Run Inferno!"

He ran towards the main hall and skidded to a halt. " Megumi!" Dale shouted in surprise.

I fell off Inferno with a thud panting. My whole body was in pain as I raised my head to see Klein on the ground coughing, his health in the red. I grunted and stood, stumbling over to Klein while going into my inventory and pulling out the vile. Carefully, I took his head and rested it in my lap, then poured the contents into his mouth. He was so pale and barely breathing it was almost like he was already dead. Please don't go Klein you can't leave us, me, yet. His health rested at a low red and I pulled out my last healing crystal, holding it over him. A moment later it burst and Klein coughed and his eyes burst open. He bolted up and inhaled looking around. " Wh-where is he? Where's the vampire?" he asked looking around.

All the guys in our party were crying tears of happiness and they tackled Klein in a hug. 'Congratulations' appeared in front of me and I raised my shaking hand to close it. Inferno came up behind me and I leaned against him tiredly. " Good job boy, you did good," I mumbled.

I forgot how tiring fighting a floor boss and 2 lower level bosses were. Inferno whimpered and leaned down, licking my head. I suddenly felt much better and I looked at my health to find it rose to the mid yellow range. What did Inferno learn exactly? I went into my inventory and looked at Inferno's stats. His first new ability was called 'Flame Thrower', a fire stream that came out of his mouth and was demonstrated earlier at the graveyard. The other was 'Healing touch', a healing ability that gave the recipient an increase in health based on how strong the relationship is between you and your beast.

" Megumi?" Klein asked.

He was standing now looking down on me. I must have looked like shit given the hell I just went through to get that little vile. I stood and grabbed Klein in a death hug, squeezing him as tight as I could. " Don't you ever try to take a hit for me again ever! You're so stupid I hate you!" I shouted as my voice quivered.

" Megumi it's ok just don't cry," Klein said ripping himself from my hug.

I felt my face and indeed there were tears. " It's your fault I'm crying. I don't want to lose you!"

Klein's face reddened and he looked to the side for a moment before looking back at me. " I know you said not to but I'd do it again and I again. Because I love you Megumi."

Before I could respond Klein slammed his lips on mine. Just as I was about to react he pulled away and looked down. " Klein-"

" I'm sorry I won't do it again!" Klein said still looking down.

I carefully tilted his head up and smiled. " It's ok for you to do it because I love you too," and then kissed him myself.

This one was longer and much sweeter than the last. I knew this wasn't real, in reality we were both coma like patients, but this felt real. My feelings for him were real. I pulled away and panted and I suddenly felt really dizzy. " Are you ok Megumi?"

" Ya I'm just… just a little dizzy," I mumbled before fainting. And nothing could get me up from sleep after that.