A/N: Just a quick 'thank you' to everyone who posted me their kind reviews! I totally appreciate it and I'm glad you all are having a good time with this story. I'm certainly having fun writing it!
Dante and Vergil are just a ton of fun in this one. I admit they might be a bit ridiculous and OOC, especially Dante, but it's intended to be rather silly. I hope I'm not making Dante too much of a dolt. I love Dante dearly, don't get me wrong. But just go with it, LOL, I think it works well for this story if he's a bit 'thick'. LOL
Anyway, enough chit-chat ... so on with the show!
Yours Truly,
N.
Dante told his scary story, animating every move in his frightful tale. "Then the demon lunged and I – I mean – the hero was all like, yeah, whatever. Is that all you got? And he swung his sword like this – ," Dante said enthusiastically animating the motion. "Tossing the demon into the air, he then pulled out his totally sweet dual custom hand guns and juggled the demon in the air with rapid fire style until it burst into ashes and disappeared," he proudly stated.
The group stared at him with blank disinterested faces.
"Uh, Dante –," Niki flatly spoke up.
"Wait! Here's the best part," Dante held up a finger halting Niki's comment. "Then I – I mean –the bad ass demon hunter ... ," he corrected himself.
Vergil just sat back in the chair with his ankle crossed over his knee. He lazily leaned on the arm of the chair, resting his head in his hand, finger against his temple and another across his lip as he managed to tolerate Dante weaving his fantastic narrative.
" ... he finished off the horde of demons, dropping some serious stylish moves on their asses all gunslinger berserk style," Dante finished as he held up his arms and pretend fired guns with his fingers.
Niki wasn't amused at all. Not to mention she was finding it pretty difficult to take him seriously, dressed in the Poindexter get up he was in. "Dante," Niki spoke up again, "This story isn't scary at all."
"Agreed," Vergil blandly added.
"Aw, come on! That group of demi-demons was pretty tough," Dante frowned.
"Really Dante?" Niki added, "That was pretty lame," she corrected and folded her arms.
Vergil shifted in his seat dully adding, "Yes, truly."
"What?" Dante whined.
"I believe it would have been more to the 'hero's' advantage –," Vergil started as he made quotations with his fingers, "– if he had utilized his sword in the battle rather than relying on his pistols, making for a more efficient and distinguished kill," he observedly stated.
"Yeah, well ... were you there?" Dante questioningly eyed him.
"No, but –,"
"Then crimp it, bro. The hero was wicked awesome and the guns did just as good of a job and looked a hell of a lot cooler," Dante boldly stated and shoved the black framed glasses up his nose.
Disinterested in the whole topic Niki questioned, "Alright guys, is it possible to tell an actual scary story?" She then took a handful of cheesy snack cracker bites she'd been sharing with Beth and shoved them in her mouth and munched loudly.
"Yeah, I think it's Verg's turn!" Dante responded excitedly and quickly turned to look at his brother.
"What?" Vergil squawked as he sat up in the chair. "I'm not going to tell a scary story," he sourly objected.
"Aw, c 'mon Verg, don't be the party pooper," Dante teased.
"Yeah, Vergil, why don't you tell us a story," Niki chimed in and Beth nodded her head eagerly at him while munching on her snack.
Vergil looked back and forth at the group then closed his eyes and scowled. "Fine," he stated with a huff. He then took a deep breath, and in one shot blurted out, "A group of stupid teenagers went into an abandoned house. They all stupidly split up making it easy for the murderer to kill them off one by one. In the end they all died and everyone was satisfied, including this narrator," he dryly stated. "The end."
The girls giggled at Vergil's attempt at sarcasm as Dante frowned and sighed, "Dude, that's stupid."
"Yes, it was wasn't it?" Vergil agreed, side glancing at his brother.
"C 'mon Verg, tell a real scary story," Dante taunted. "Here!" he added as he tossed the flashlight he was holding for 'mood effect' at Vergil.
Vergil caught it and eyed it questioningly.
"Dude, do the flashlight thingy! C 'mon, do it," Dante demanded and mocked holding it under his own chin.
Vergil scowled and sighed as he tossed the light back to Dante. "I am not going to do the 'flashlight thingy'," he sourly stated.
Dante caught it saying, "Party pooper," under his breath then turned on the light and held it under his own chin making a rather silly face at his brother.
The group watched as Vergil looked down at his lap and thought a moment. Then slowly, he lifted his head. He emerged with a devilish grin spread on his face and stared out at the group from under his brow. "Alright," he started slowly. "I'll tell you a real scary story," he said in a sly and sinister tone with a slight curl to his upper lip.
Dante smacked his hands together. "Alright, here we go!" he said excitedly.
The girls shifted on the couch, turning their attention to Vergil, and took more handfuls of snacks, eagerly ready for what he was about to tell.
Vergil slightly shifted in the chair and leaned forward. The glow of the fire illuminated him from behind, outlining him in a sort of eerie red aura. Then looking up from under his furrowed brow, he began.
"You did all know that these woods are cursed, didn't you?" he deviously stated as his eyes slowly panned around the room at the captive audience.
"Wait, what?" Dante questioned as Vergil gave him a quick glance.
"Oh yes, you didn't know brother?" Vergil's upper lip curled into a sneer, "These woods hold a dark curse placed on them."
"No way! Dante, you didn't know about this?" Niki questioned apprehensively to which Dante shook his head in disbelief.
Vergil took a deep breath then began his tale. "You see, it's been said that many years ago lived a young beautiful maiden in these very woods. She arrived suddenly one day and no one knows where she came from. She lived alone and kept to herself, away from the other townsfolk. Unfortunately, her oddly mismatched eyes fired up talk and rumors spread that this young beauty was in reality a terrible demon in disguise. The townsfolk began to believe that by day she took the form of the lovely lass, but by nightfall changed into a horrible and fierce demon."
The girls mindlessly shoveled snacks in their mouths while staring fixedly at Vergil as he continued his story.
"The townsfolk became suspicious, you see, as strange things started to happen one night after the girl had arrived. Their live stock began to go missing, only to turn up days later mutilated ... the flesh ripped from the bones and limbs missing."
Dante's eyes grew wide as Vergil unfolded his terrible tale. He quickly stood up from where he had been planted on the floor and dug a gingham wedgie out of his backside. He grabbed his bottle of amber spirits and scurried over to where the girls sat on the small couch. He scooted in and plunked down, tightly wedging himself in between them. The girls shifted to make room, but Dante put his arms around them and pulled them in close to him.
"C 'mon ladies, don't be shy," he stated, "get friendly and make a Dante sandwich. This is gettin' good!"
The girls sighed and squirmed in his embrace. Beth giggled and pushed him off, playfully slugging him in the arm.
Vergil then continued the tale as the three on the couch sat close to each other intent on every word coming out of his mouth.
"Finally the townspeople had had enough when one night two of the local children went missing. They searched and searched but couldn't find the missing children. Three days later a local farmer tending to his field, came across the very bodies of the two missing younglings. Their bodies, much like that of the ravaged livestock, were strewn around the ground like pieces of tattered rag dolls."
Niki gulped at those words then ripped Dante's bottle of spirits from his clutches and took a long hard swig. As she shoved it back at him, Dante in turn did the same chugging down the amber liquid.
Vergil continued, "Devastated and convinced that the mysterious reclusive maiden was behind all of this, the townspeople organized a slaying party one night to strike down the vile creature in disguise. They made their way to her domicile secluded deep in these very woods, and dragged her out. They beat and maimed her, then bound her tightly to an old tree." Vergil ended his sentence with a twisted pleasurable grin on his face as he stared over his nose at the enticed crowd.
The trio on the couch stared dumbfounded and unblinking as Vergil spoke, mouths hung open in awe. Niki then grabbed the bottle of alcohol from Dante ... again and took another hard gulp.
"The girl hung her head low in silence as the hunting party then asked, what they thought to be the demon, if it had anything to say for it's vehement behavior before they prepared to send it back to hell. When suddenly the girl began to laugh. She raised her head and eyed them crookedly with her unmatched eyes."
Dante and the girls were leaning intently forward, hanging on Vergil's every word. They sat so far on the edge of the seat, they might as well have hit the floor.
Vergil continued, "The girl spat at them, calling them fools. She confessed that she was a demon hunter and had been tracking the creature that had moved into these woods. She cursed them saying that if they killed her, they would never be rid of the beast and it shall remain in these woods for all times. Unfortunately for her, the townsfolk didn't believe a word she said."
Vergil paused briefly, keeping his attentive audience in suspense. Then a devious grimace spread across his face as he continued, "And so they lit the innocent human girl ablaze and burned her alive. The townsfolk had been foolishly wrong and the next night the demon came for them all, destroying the whole town. Not one soul survived. It's said the demon still wanders these woods, preying on the innocent and unknowing who carelessly enter here."
Vergil grinned and was quite pleased with himself as he finished his tale of horror. The room was silent as the rest in the group just stared at him wide eyed in disbelief.
Finally Dante spoke up, "Are you serious, bro? I mean, is that for real?" he nervously questioned.
Vergil smirked when suddenly a rather loud crashing noise came from somewhere outside and took everyone by surprise. Vergil winced and shuddered at the girls heart stopping screams as they latched onto Dante. Beth grabbed and squeezed Dante's arm and Niki jumped, putting Dante in a rather tight headlock causing him to gag and choke in the process.
"What the hell was that?!" Dante exclaimed pulling Niki's arms from his face.
"I'm not sure," Vergil raised a brow in question. He narrowed his eyes and panned around the room to gauge where the noise had come from. Then they heard it again. This time it was a loud 'clunking' sound that came from somewhere around the backside of the cabin. The girls screamed again and gripped on tight to Dante.
"Relax ladies, Dante's here," he said with a cocky smirk. Vergil moaned heavily and rolled his eyes.
"Dante! What if it's the demon?" Niki fretted, her big green eyes staring at him wide with terror.
"Then he picked the wrong cabin to jack with!" he confidently stated to the group. Dante then turned to Niki and thoughtfully gazed at her with his sincere blue eyes. "It's alright, babe, we'll check it out," Dante dreamily cooed to the blonde.
"Oh Dante," Niki sighed and tenderly caressed the side of his cheek with her hand. "Be careful," she worriedly added.
"Sure thing, babe," he confidently replied. "C 'mon Verg, let's check it out," Dante then ordered, grabbing Vergil by the arm.
"Alright! I'm up," Vergil growled shrugging off Dante's grip.
They heard the noise again, loudly rattling against the side of the cabin. The girls whimpered fearfully, now clinging to each other as the boys got up and headed for the front door.
Dante grabbed an old broom the girls had been using to clean up with earlier and handed Vergil the flashlight. He then clicked the latch on the front door and salute-waved to the weary girls.
"Don't worry ladies, we'll take care of it!" Dante smirked. "C 'mon bro, lets rock!"
Vergil just sighed at Dante as he opened the door to the terror that lurked on the other side.