To die, to drown, to remember me

by shadowanime1

Sequel to Angels fall. Set approximately one year later, when the former imprisoned king of darkness regained his freedom. Yet freedom...freedom is just an illusion easily taken away. And memories, memories die as easily as they were made to start with.

21. Chapter 21

Next chapter's up :)

Thanks to all who reviewed and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 16

With a powerful scream Seras's body jolts into life, eyes snapping open and displaying a frightened expression consumed by torment and genuine pain as she finds herself in an unknown room sprawled out on the blush canopy bed while wearing the same ripped and tattered nightgown. There was nothing but darkness all around her, pitch black, and utterly devoid of life. She sits up panting desperately for breath. She's confused and harboring an incredibly painful headache as pain still lingered within her chest, a dull yet constant throbbing and her eyes failed to adjust to the darkness immediately upon waking causing her more distress once the heavy scent of her own blood surrounding her filled her nose. The sheets were soft against the bare skin of her arms and legs, but the fabric of the nightgown was wet and filled with dried blood and clinging to her chest and sides. The scent of blood, her blood, filled her nostrils almost like a suffocating blanket.

Her fingers grasp the sheet beneath her so hard her nails cut through it with great ease. Her eyes finally blink, but as they close the repeated image of the axe's sharp bloody blade coming down flashed in her mind causing her to scream yet again in pure agony while tilting her head back all the way so that her forehead touches the sheets and her back arches up from the mattress beneath her. Her fangs peer out from behind her parted lips cutting her plump flesh as they extend. The entire castle shook with her sorrow filled cry.

Eventually the sound of her voice died down and the counters of the room slowly began taking shape: than walls, the canopy, the shadows slowly moving up and down the walls like fine dust particles; the flicker of light catches her attention from one of the parts of the room. It was nothing more than a crack on a distant wooden surface and no sooner it calls her body bolts out of bed running towards it despite the heavy weight her own body felt like.

Her hands pressed against the structure with force pushing what in reality were two wooden doors open without stopping and kept moving forward until her stomach hit the stone railing of the snow covered balcony on the other side. Her head and chest went over it, arms on either side of her upper body bent at the elbows and feet ankle deep in frozen snow.

"AHHHHH!"

She screamed as loud and for as long as her lungs permitted until her body fell almost completely lifeless and numb against the railing. The warmth of her breath came out in the form of small white puffs one after another. Somehow the shouting helped ease the massive headache ravaging through her skull. She managed to get up, head held down and eyes shut tight. It took a few more moments, but when she finally did open them, she acknowledged herself standing in daylight high up in the breathtaking Carpathian Mountains. Strands of white blocked her vision, yet she could still clearly see the vast mountain range in the distance between them. The many, either naked or snow roofed peaks, surrounded by pure white clouds which moved ever so gracefully in the morning wind. Deep mist covered the valley below and the lower structure of the castle. The white blanked sparkled and shimmered like crystals in the sunlight. The winter morning was cold, the sky pearl white and the castle's outer walls coated in a shimmering white blanket. The view was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Hhmm." She whined bringing her right hand to her forehead in an attempt to further calm the pain and remove the troublesome white strands obscuring her view. Unfortunately, not until she began pulling, did she realize they were in fact strands of her once yellow hair. The former gold like color had been replaced by a far whiter one than the snow beneath her feet similar in color to stardust.

A strong gust of wind had her shut her eyes not long after then turn her head and take one step back. Her long, stardust colored hair danced all around her uncovering her skin and presenting it to the warm light of the shining sun.

"Where am I?" her voice was still raw and broken from the harsh scream and she had yet to find the strength to speak louder than a whisper.

Seras…

.

.

Seras…

.

.

The alluring tune, as gentle as a child's whisper, called her back inside. The draculina opened her twin ruby eyes to look, but found nothing other than the open doors from where she came form and the dark, empty room starring back. The tattered and ripped mahogany brown curtains were spread out towards her like two strings arm offering a comforting embrace while swaying silently in the current.

.

Seras…

.

There it was again. The same voice, the same gentle allure.

"Wait." Seras replied before starting to move in its direction, towards the calling and welcoming darkness. The fabric of the curtains seemed to have a mind of its own as it reached out towards her like a pair of transparent wings. The air all around seemed even colder than outside as the so called arms spread out wrapping themselves around her frame with gentle movement and great ease.

Her eyes could not see much through the darkness of the room despite the light shining in from outside, but what she could see looked liked a liquid seeping off the walls, infiltrating the cracks and drowning the stone tablets. And just like the thin fabric surrounding her it too got closer and closer to the point of hovering just a few inches above their head.

Seras gazed up at the unknown presence running her eyes over it and steadying her breath until her lungs stopped and her chest grew silent. Their pull was gentle and it wasn't long before the two wooden doors shut tight behind her bare feet as soon as she set foot in the darkness.

.

.

The figure of a young girl stirred within the confinement of a reddish brown coffin unable to rest. The sun had recently set ushering in a new night, yet despite many daylight hours spent attempting to sleep she still felt utterly drained from recent rather unsettling events. She pushes the coffin lid open without a sound and sits up letting the light of her room wash over her. She wore a dark green long sleeved top with black pants and had her short hair brown in a rather messy style giving her lack of proper sleep and the restless day she had had.

"You are still troubled." Her master's voice reaches her causing her to turn her head to the right and spot the elegant vampire sitting in the armchair by her vanity table. Through the events of the night in question had already passed Madalene could not bring herself to forget so easily. The room itself wasn't overly big, but it had beautiful decorations and elegant pieces of Victorian style furniture. Thick caramel colored curtains framed the two large walls of her room letting the night air and light seep through. The vanity table held an oval shaped mirror and a few wooden jewelry cases on top of it and in its reflection was the back of the auburn haired vampire.

Her hair was up another elegant bun with several long, freed curls over her right shoulder. She wore a simple yet elegant dark blue gown with a corset over her chest and long sleeves parted in two just above the elbow.

After a moment of meeting her gaze Madalene lowered hers with a soft sigh.

"Yes my master."

"You should not. It should not be something to keep you in such distress."

"I know." She replies keeping her voice down and smiles though it is an ironic one. "I just forgot how the world works. How people work."

"Did a hundred years make you forget?"

"I hoped it would."

"No amount of time will ever change man's nature. We, as most vampires do, know that better than any new generation to come. Cruelty was always so much more interesting in the past, though it to changes with the present and will continue on in the future to come."

"Why harm the boy?" Madalene asks turning her gaze back to her master. "If they are truly priests and he an angel why…"

Elena chuckled placing her left elbow on the surface of the vanity table and leaning her head into her open hand.

"Angel is too strong a word I should think."

"Why? We exist."

"We do, yes. But we don't come out from a phrase in a book as he did. At least not to my knowledge." She smiles. "It is an easy question to ask, but difficult to answer. And I have none that would make much sense at this point."

"Does it matter," Madalene asks before she briefly pauses considering her words more carefully. "That they cut his wings off?"

Flashback

The angel's cries tore into the young vampire's ears with utter ruthlessness as she forced her eyes to lower from the carnage in front of her. The scent of blood immediately assaulted her nose as she picked up on the sound of the broken appendage hitting the frozen, snow covered ground.

"Blasphemy!" she hears Heinkel shout in anger before preceding to stomp on the freshly made wound grinding the heel of her boot against Walter's back.

"And intolerable!" She repeats the motion whilst also twisting the broken wings anew relishing in his cries. Hidden in the distance on the very rooftop of the manor over the opposite wing to the infirmary, Madalene stood hidden behind the brick body of the chimney watching the entire scene unfold from above. He house was on fire burning brightly and violently illuminating the night sky and even her very position had it not been for the shadow cast by the chimney itself to offer her adequate protection. Screams fill her ears from all sides of the large Victorian house, ashes, blood, snow and death…it soon overwhelms her forcing her to reach out for her master with a broken and fearful cry.

Stay. Came the reply not a moment later and with it a comforting hand upon her left shoulder forcing her to turn around and meet her Elena's hidden gaze beneath the black hood covering her face. Only the lower part of her face bore witness to the light while the rest remained obscured by the shadow of the hood.

"Ash to ash…" Heinkel's words echoes anew drawing both their attention. The thin strands of platinum hair falling in front of the raven haired teen seemed to shine in the flicker of growing flames as they swayed through the air in front of his face before touching down on the cold snow. "And dust to dust. And I have wondered…" By now they could see the other man approach the woman whose face was covered by thick white bandages that failed to conceal the sinister and satisfied grin marring her lips. Elena's grip on her shoulder increased telling her without words to stay put and wait as she tended to other matters and faded from sight as soon as Heinkel's laughter faded and she began speaking anew. "If I would get as much as a tear from you."

The screams that night would continue to haunt the fledgling vampire…

Flashback end

"We'll find out." Elena replies bringing her right hand up in front of her chest; a card appearing within it: the Fool. Always new, always the endless possibility of existence regardless of what came before.

"And now my master?" Madalene asks sitting up from her coffin and crossing the room to take the empty seat on the chair in front of her vanity table and thus sit next to her master.

"I fear your questions about the boy's divinity or lack there of is the least of our problems." Her tone turns much more serious as dropped the card holding the Fool placing the latter onto the surface of the wooden table before her. "I can no longer sense the young vampire in his castle."

"She has gone?"

"She cannot. She is tied to that place however horrid and painful it may be. Leaving will bring her pain such as she's never experienced before. I fear," a new card appeared within her palm, the Ripper. "That regardless of how bright her Sun may be, the tower's shadow will eclipse its light to the breaking point." Placing the card down next to the fool she draws another, but its face is black and its image unseen. "He will ask, eventually he'll have no other choice but to ask. Blood holds life 'a mate's a vampire's lifeline', however ridiculous that notion may be. Though not in words and not in action, his life now hangs in her fragile hands and the forgiveness her heart will allow her to feel. Everything else is nothing but an illusion, one I fear he'll regret waking from when all is final and done."

As the black card touches its sisters the picture reappears, but it's a broken one: the lion bleeds and the woman lays in a pool of her own blood at its feet with the shadow of a ripper's scythe hovering over her throat. "Death will come, one way or another and not even my master can change that no matter what he does or how hard he tries."

"I don't understand." Madalene tells her voicing her confusion.

"Sometimes," her very last card is the Sun: bright and shining against the piece of paper it was printed on despite the evident changes in the other cards. "Neither do I."

Flashback

"This blood you have told me about, such a thing is…hard to believe." With the deed now done and Seras securely placed inside her coffin deep within the catacombs of the dark castle, Alucard and Elena walk through the barren courtyard heading towards the main gate in front of the bridge.

"What it is matters not. It's what it does that poses the problem."

"Even we can't do such a thing." Elena snorted indignantly. "We hold the pedestal on manipulation, no one else can accomplish the feats we do, the changes we bring to the plate of existence. We make believe, we enslave and ensnare minds, senses, their very minds into believing, acknowledging a truth we deem worthy. But We can not…"

"Just as we, I, can never step out into the sun like simple mortals." The vampire made his point in a very low tone, yet one that hinted a tad of resentment towards the sarcastic statement himself. "Our eternity is one of darkness with the moon as our sun and the stars as our guide, yet I have learned to walk the light as I do the night where as you must hide away beneath layers of clothing, the dark, that house." He paused, the small moment of silence adding mush more depth to the words he'd spoke. "I can exist anywhere I choose, go and be anywhere and everywhere I whish without needing to change anything about myself. A gift and a curse just as our own existence of this earth is." His voice was hoarse and his tone turned harsher for in truth, there was just so much any soul could stand in the raging current of time while carrying the heaviest of loads on already crumbling shoulders.

"I do not understand then Vlad. You extracted it out of her, all of it?" her own tone reeked of suspicion. Was it perhaps the simplicity of the matter that had her fail in her deduction? Had he not removed 'all of it' as she'd initially thought?

"Yes." Alucard's reply came as quickly and as sharply as the tip of a dull sword into its intended victim; with the intent to kill yet failing to do so miserably. The word to roll off his lips was meant to reveal a plain and simple answer, however, the manner in which he spoke it revealed far more: Yes, I removed that blood.

"There's more, isn't there?" Elena asked already knowing the answer. It was obvious from the barely noticeable twitch of his brow and the subtle clench of his strong jaw. It took the ancient master several minutes before finally opening up to his former lover.

"I gave her all the blood I could spare the night death found her a second time. It has festered inside me for over 30 years becoming an intricate part of all that I was. And now it's in her as well and not just a small part. She'd never taken blood from me before, always refusing till the day I vanished." he chuckled softly remising the sad look on the young vampire's face whenever she'd declined his offer. "She should have easily accepted it, but instead her body could do no more than taste it. She went into seizures coughing it up along with an even greater amount of her own. I had to forcefully bind her to my strength and will to keep the balance she required. I was…" he pauses and his words echo like a twisting knife in a deep wound.

Take the blood Seras. Do not close your eyes and take the blood I offer. Please, please take it.

"Seras needed more than a year to fully accept it and any amount no matter how small always brought her more suffering. No blood would do, she couldn't taste any without becoming violently ill again. I had to starve her for almost a year with nothing but the taste of my on blood on her lips." His tone became dangerously dark. "And now she has been given that lethal dose of poison again, the dosage needed to destroy her completely. She's so unbalance I can't hope to hold her existence together any longer. My draculina is facing her true death, a death that will undoubtedly come."

"Why?" the auburn vampire felt obligated to ask that same redundant question again and again despite it having been used to many times already. "Recognizing ones self comes natural to us. We do not to linger on that knowledge."

"No, we don't." Alucard confirmed her words. "But she does. Seras has never been a simple fledgling to begin with. She refused more than just her blood, but her existence as anything other than human as well for a long time. She couldn't see anything else and I must admit I'm ashamed to have waited so long to properly notice. I was convinced, so convinced; she would eventually drink and embrace the gift I have given her. And when she finally did I thought nothing more about it, how foolish." He scolded himself while turning to face Elena and reach under the cloak covering her head plucking a hidden white lily from her auburn locks. He regarded the tiny, delicate white flower for a moment or two before crushing it in his large gloved hand and letting the broken petals fall to the snow covered ground before his feet. "The flower before she died, the ruin after and," He raised the bent stem still in his right hand while his other waved once over the discarded petals making them rise back up towards the discarded stem. The pieces took their former position around the latter and partially reformed the shape of the beautiful flower, but a persistent, eerie red glow continued to surround each and every petal like a steady lifeline. "And this is what lays before you now: like glass unfit to be mended and an existence unable to exist safe for that which holds it together. Yet to that," the glow slowly intensified in three places until the white petals turned completely black and their edges blood red. "I was forced to alter certain aspects and recreate memories while making her both forget and remember and cling to them so that she would not remember the incident itself and unbalance herself. I both destroyed and recreated her at the same time. Do you understand?"

That was what the vampire presented to the witch at the end of his long speech. She in turn was forced to gulp with difficulty as words came incredibly hard. Her crimson eyes had roamed over and over the tiny, yet highly meaningful visual offering Alucard had made. She watched until the delicate blossom withered away before her eyes, the petals drying up and detaching themselves, before laying utterly still over the surface of the vampire's open palm. A minute or so later he balled his fist crushing them; the sound came much stronger than it should have. Afterwards the black and white remains fell lifeless once again. "Do you understand?" Alucard repeated not at all please with the lack of reply he'd gotten from the witch. She in turn could only nod before tuning her head the other way.

Elena remained in that position a good few minutes thinking things over and didn't react at all when the elder creature of the night settled beside and in front of her and placed his right hand over the ball of her exposed right shoulder lightly squeezing. It a silent, yet clear gesture of his demand for her to speak her mind.

"What you desire for that child is both salvation and recovery. But you want that to happen beneath the layer of lies you have weaved to protect her. That can't be done." she tells him sighing while bringing her left hand up to her forehead and moving it up as to readjust the loose auburn curled strands hanging over it; she pushes most of them behind the lobe of her ear. "Is it you life you'll use?"

"Yes." He answers her truthfully before she even had a chance to put it in proper words.

"You ask the impossible!" this time she felt forced to scold him as harshly as she could. Not only that but she pushed his hand away in a rather unkind manner as though the very touch of him repulsed her greatly. "What of that child is hers then? What have you not touched in any way?"

It was not something Alucard could provide adequate answer to. He'd had Seras's entire life at his disposal after draining her of blood and yet a small, so very small, part had eluded him all these years.

"Her past." Alucard whispered in a softer voice. He stared into the woman's crimson orbs without blinking. He regarded them with such intensity and focus it soon became reflected in her as well. At that point he did not feel it necessary to reach into her mind and see how the wheels inside turned. An answer, her decision, had already been made.

"And?" she presses on.

"The first time I took blood from her I did not care. The second found me in too much despair to care and the third," he paused. "My hands are tied beyond measure."

"And what of your past then?" and then she asked it, the question he'd hopped to avoid during; the twitching of his left eye alone spoke volumes. "Would you be willing to share that? If she's bound to your will she's bound to your life. You will lose her consciousness if the two ever merge." Elena had to stop for a moment unable to stop the sudden, sarcastic, outburst of laughter to escape passed her lips. "Good God did you even think before doing it?"

"She was dying!"

"And what stopped you from letting her?" she shouts and her crimson orbs burn with a passion. "The ruthless beast does not care for a dying girl! You don not care, have not cared! You demanded compensation for helping me live!" she never once broke eye contact with him. "You demanded payment for a life, my own, just because you lifted one finger to help me once."

"Things change." Alucard with as much calm as he could muster through clenched teeth. "And it was you that ultimately asked for the gift."

"I'll bet they do." Elena replied sarcastically. She breathes in deep allowing her senses to compose themselves before returning to the question a hand.

"If you merged her consciousness within yours she'll be lost completely. You said you killed all those souls, all of the just to find yourself in the end. How many does she have? How many…"

"None." Al replies giving her a solemn look. "none were inside to begin with and those were already lost the moment her mind shut down when the sword claimed her. Whatever remained was held by the smallest amount of blood she could take. And on the very stones of this forsaken place I had to feed her and watch as her body fought against it. Every gulp nothing but agony until she begged me to stop."

"No more…." Her voice was beyond broken, body curled in the bed and sickly pale instead of the beautiful marble white her pale skin would have had. "No more…"

"Seras." He calls her name silently requesting and urging her to drink.

"N..No…"

"You must."

She never answers him back, but buries her face into the blood soaked pillow wrapping her arms over her head and curling her weak body into a ball as if to protect herself.

Speaking he slowly detached his gaze from the auburn haired vampire and stepped closer towards the gate in the distance. The cool night air caressed his face while his boots crushed the blanket of snow covering the ground. And although the layer was thick, neither his feet nor he, sank into its depth, but walked upon it as if it were no more than a few mm high. The breeze swept his hair letting it move around his broad shoulders with the ever-changing current.

"Then one day, everything was back to normal. Seras was just Seras. She started drinking, living."

"You mated her? Then?"

"Apparently. It was hardly my concern at the time, but…"

"You let her go." It was then that Elena's tone grew in depth as certainty took the place of what should have been a new question. That said her lips curl in a smile and she chuckles unable to hid both wander and disbelief from passing her lips. "What a fool you are. You have changed."

"We rise in the fall of others. I have told you this before."

"Yet not once had your conscience ever demanded something of this magnitude before. Had it you would not be standing here praying for miracles. You of all creatures."

"Yet once I too believed in God."

"So did I, but there was never a God for us. Nothing we did made him descend from heaven and stop us our own stupidity. Not even now." Walking forward she takes hold of his right upper arm applying gentle pressure to make him turn around and face her. And as she smiles it is soft and melancholic and her crimson irises reflect a piece of wisdom only the two of them could ever come to understand. "You have become the Fool in the strangest of ways my master. It is strange to have the Childe teach her Sire wisdom." As she speaks she brings up her free hand carrying the matching card within it. "The Fool's quests are many and in his haste the one he truly desires may pass him without knowledge of the fact. You must wake or find yourself the fool beside a crumbling tower."

"War has its risks little one." Alucard cups her right cheeks with his left had raising her chin. "And I cheated death before." He lens in placing a simple, yet chaste kiss upon her lips. The moment passes in silence between them.

"I put her under this spell; her choices will doom her because of you."

"She knows herself and her name. That is enough matters."

"She knows 'Seras', what you call." Elena shook her head in denial. "Calling is not understanding nor is it knowing ones true self. Let her live while she sleeps. Make a lie or show her something true, it doesn't matter, just put her in a situation where she remembers who she is and what she is. Your draculina is a vampire like us, she needs to see that. Anything more lies in your hands."

Flashback end

"Master?" Madalene calls noticing the rather far away look in her master's eyes. She'd gone silent for several minutes now playing with marred strength card. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Elena smiles placing the card still in her hand face down on top of the others. "I am merely considering my next options. I fear much will happen this night and not all well. But the child is under my watch so I am bound to look after her."

"Then would it not be wise for you to go to the castle master?"

"It would, but I cannot." She says rising from the chair and walking passed and behind her fledgling placing both hands on her shoulders. "I must see to other things as well. You will go in my place."

"Must I?" Madalene questions with hesitation in voice.

"Feed first then make yourself ready." Eelena tells her slightly gripping her shoulders a little tighter. "My intention isn't to endanger. You will go and see what is happening and report back. Do not engage her, do not do anything to provoke her and if anything feels wrong come back without fail."

"Yes master."

"Also beware of the large black hound. Alucard has left him to watch over the Childe, but I suspect something else lurks within those walls. I've felt it before, it's dangerous."

"You mean the familiar?"

"Yes." Elena smiles though her tone is filled with melancholy as if remising something from her own past. "The demands of that family have always been strange and impossible. And even so, the hound is not your immediate concern." She pauses and the crimson of her eyes reflects a dangerous truth. "He is something else entirely and he will not let you touch her."

"The Hound?"

"No, not the hound." Elena replies tightening the grip she had on the young fledgling's shoulder. "The devil in the flesh." She grins remembering that one moment back at the castle when in front of the bridge's gate with the raven haired vampire she had turned around to take one last look at the castle before crossing the gate and saw utter darkness starring back at her from a distant window of the castle; the darkness ablaze with two perfectly ocean blue orbs piercing her soul and watching her demonically from behind that thin layer of glass. "The devil within that man."

"May I not go master?" Madalene aks concerned by the look still lingering in her master's eyes.

"You must and I must let you." Elena replies gazing deeply into her eyes and offering her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "He is my master above all and I must obey."

.

.

Seras's eyes opened once more to complete and utter darkness in the same room it all started from. This time, however, she had enough state of mind to take her surroundings in first and let her eyes roam over the uneven cracks in the ceiling and the many rips in the fabric of the once blush colored canopy which now had a dirty, faded and dark grey color. The walls fared no better, the bed frame broken and the balcony door she'd walked through…or had she?

Had she really…gone?

Groaning she sits up pushing herself on her elbows though her body more or less protests against the movement, the muscles sore and her joints stiff. She moves her left arm raising it just in time to notice the ribbon slipping off her wrist. Grabbing it with her right she starts to retie it, but stops midway lost in though for a moment, eyes locked on the small bangle and the symbol etched into it. The dragon…

A whine caught her attention next, soft and gentle, yet there was nothing in the room with her. The castle was silent, eerily quite for that matter.

Dropping her hand Seras sits up, yet as she does so bringing her knees up to her chest, several thick locks of silvery white hair fall forward over her shoulders catching her attention. She hadn't had time to examine it before, but looking at it now and treading her fingers through it, it felt more than a little strange to her. Despite it being white just like her skin there was still a clear distinction between the two, more so when brought up to the deep crimson of the long, silken ribbon wrapped several times around her wrist.

It is then that the same whine comes again, much stronger than before, and a large black hound steps out of the darkness, eyes red and ablaze as he takes on step after another until its final one causes a dent in the mattress. The wolf's head leans forward and his cold, wet nose touches her right knee. His ear lay back and his tail slowly sways from side to side.

"I know you…" she whispers softly petting the left side of the hound's head with slow and gentle strokes. Baskerville whimpers in reply leaning his head further into her touch. "Where's master?" she asks, but before anything more can happen the hound abruptly pulls back, ears erect, and turns his head around emitting a low pitched growl from the pit of his lungs. The sheer intensity of the growl sends vibrations though the castle wall.

His claws scratched at the stone floor sensing a foreign entity enter the castle grounds. He bolts from the spot clawing the floor and leaving deep indentations in his place.

"Wait!" Seras calls out reaching out for the large hellhound, but the ground beneath her as well as the bed transform into a big black hole that swallow her up.

She falls with a cry…

.

"Hello?" Madalene called out into the otherwise quite night air as she cleared the second, spiked, door leading into the vast courtyard. Not a single footprint disturbed the tranquility of the snowy blanket. As she made her way across the grounds of the castle and towards the main entrance she couldn't help shake of the feeling of someone watching her every move. Her ruby eye scanned the highpoints of the structure, the towers and pathways leading from one wing to another. Each time she turned something snuck in the corner of her eyes like a dark presence, a moving shadow, following her relentlessly. Still, she had a purpose; her master had been quite clear on the subject. She just needed to go in and search, it shouldn't be difficult right?

Strengthening her resolve she took a deep breath and continued forward. Clearing the flight of stairs leading up to the large carved doors she came to a halt after the very last step and took a moment. The sky above her seemed restless as though a storm was on its way. Flashes of light broke through the dark grey clouds every now and then, a rumble after each one. The cold temperature made it seem strange that such a storm could take place at this time of year. Then again, this wasn't exactly a normal place to begin with. The eerie feeling hadn't left her at all, if any, it only got stronger the closer she got to the main door and stepped in the castle for the very first time.

"Hello?" She asks a second time pushing one of two twin wooden doors aside and stepping into the great hall of the ancient castle. The massive door creaked when opened, the hall was bathing in darkness and the sole occupant other than her was the gust of cold air passing beneath her feet and around her, accompanying her as she entered. The curtains hanging above the windows were all torn and ripped, the colors faded from age, much like that of the once beautiful carpet slithering up the main staircase; it too had suffered greatly. Both the cold and the darkness were as unappealing as the weather outside and, yet not as uninviting as the sense of dread washing down over her from the very moment she'd crossed the bridge. And all that time she knew nothing of the multiple pairs of eyes following her every move with the utmost interest.

Touching the stone balustrade with her left hand she look up and to the sides searching for any sign that someone might be there.

"Hello? I'm here to…" scanning the room she thought to have seen something from the corner of her eyes, a shadow moving against the walls, but it disappeared before she could fully appreciate it's nature. The main door closed on its own banging loudly as the twin sides met filling the hall with their reverberating echo. Madalene gasps in surprise immediately turn around; the room itself seemed to be getting darker…colder….

"I'm here to…Elena sent me look after the o…" the rest was left unsaid once the low rumbling sound of a deep growl reached her ears; shortly after her eyes lay witness to the birth of the large hellhound as he emerges from within the darkness and slowly walks alongside the upper left railing. The black of his fur stood out with ease despite the dark color of the stones making up the castle, it was a black that shone as if glistening in soft moonlight instead of the dull and lifeless color of everything else around him. The hound's movement was slow and deliberate, the growl low and protective, and the irises blood red and carefully watching. The tip of muzzle stuck out as he scented the air, his ears were up and alert, and the sharp fangs shinnying despite the darkness.

Then, just as she though he would attack her, the wolf disappeared back into the darkness and a door creaked somewhere around her, but she paid it no heed. The same growl came again taunting the young vampire.

Madalene calmed her thoughts and strengthened her resolve once more, but did not take that first step up the stairs towards the second level of the castle. Instead she turned form it and slowly paced back towards the door with careful steps. She barely made it halfway when the floor beneath her feet started to shake forcing her onto her knees. Without warning something hard slammed into her form the front sending her flying backwards and into the door itself pushing it open forcing the hinges at an inverted angle and successfully breaking one on each side. Her back hit the front porch and the white of the snow became visible. For a brief second she caught a quick glimpse of a black shadow running over the pure snow before it too vanished like a trick of the mind and nothing else. Her eye widened at seeing more than just her footprints marrying it this time around. They were distinctive in their shape, the pads and claws extending from each tow, wolf prints.

A piercing howl pushed itself into her core as soon as the echo died; then another and another before the distinctive growling of several wolves took over forming a beautiful symphony that prequels the beginning of hell. The sound echoed loudly as the stone slabs crumbled to pieces. The left side of the north wall fell first and a few moments later the entire structure along with the main tower holding it together. It all crumbled in large sized chunks which then got smaller and smaller as though the wind rubbed of layer after layer until there was barely anything left as evidence.

The ground shook violently and with it the castle began to crumble. Two high pitched howls caught the fledgling's attention not seconds later and her eyes finally landed on the two large wolves came out of the shadows on the other side of the courtyard. The blackness of their fur mixed well with the so far still standing walls, but stood out like a sore thumb once their paws touched the virgin white snow. They were closing in, shoulders down and muscles tense in preparation, scenting the air and growling as they closed in. However, it was the ungodly screeching howl and falling rocks from above that had her look up despite the upcoming danger. There, several feet above her head, stood the largest of the creatures, the same one she'd seen moment's before: Baskerville. Its teeth were bared and lips pulled back all the way, ears tuned back and slightly sideways. His body leaned over the edge as he made good use of the strength in his claws to keep himself suspended in such a dangerous position. What's worse, two more appeared on the nearby ledges. He had caused enough of a distraction for the courtyard creatures to move in quick and disappeared from her line of sight. They growled regaining her attention but as she turned nothing was there other than the disturbed snow and their prints which led to her very position. The ground cracked open where the former northern wall once stood tall and proud as a powerful quake overcame the entire cliff the castle was built upon. Madalene fell to her knees due to its force unable to hold herself up any longer. The lead wolf raised his head and howled. It was long and the tone used deep and distracted the young fledgling from further observing her surroundings. The ones on top jumped down from their perches while one of the two already in the yard attacked her head on by crashing its body into her left side and thus shoving her back inside the now unstable structure. The others followed through the door surrounding her within seconds. None of the wolves had bitten her and Magdalena quickly recovered, got up and jumped out of their circle just as the chandelier came crashing down on the very spot she occupied. Her inhuman reflexes were the only ones that saved her.

The metal shattered from both age as well as the force of the impact and just as the final piece stopped moving over the stone floor every window in the hall broke and shattered as though an unknown force had collided with them from the outside sending various sized pieces of sharp glass inside. At this point the vampire no longer waited for things to happen and instead used her speed to evade the oncoming attack. The three doors leading away from the main hall were closed and as she had no time to check if they were actually locked or not. She therefore headed for the main staircase and the wolves followed without a moment to spare. Taking the left path she ran through the stone archway and across the long hallway leading from it. Reaching the end of the hall she passed straight through the closed door and kept on going.

One of the wolves following her crashed into the remains of once many armored suits lining up the two sides of the hall as he took the abrupt curve the vampire had taken second before. Unlike the fledgling, being much larger in size and having a heavier bulk, he slid over the floor and remains of the carpet the moment its front paws made contact with the dark green edged fabric. The creature crashed into the awaiting metal and wall behind it. The rest were thus fortunate to have the obstacle cleared before following her. The closes wolf behind the leader dug its claws deeply into the cracks separating the stone slabs from another and used the momentum to propel his body forward and slam into the door at the other end once he reached it. The violent impact shattered the metal hinges and sent the door crashing into the side of the tone wall. A third wolf jumped not only over the recovering one on the hall but the second one as well and headed straight up the small flight of spiral stairs hidden behind the door in question. Their strategy was simple but quite effective: intimidate and chase till they prey couldn't go any further. If one fell another would take its place and the hunt would continue. All the while the alpha kept his distance patiently waiting for the right moment to strike as ordered. The girl kept moving east, north-east towards the forbidden rooms and that would not due.

The castle continued to deteriorate. The entire north wing broke apart. The stones holding the walls together separated one after the other while the ground holding the foundation could no longer support its massive weight. The main part of the castle as well as that particular side of the grand structure rested on the cliff's edge with the bridge connecting it to the cliff directly opposite while the rest maintained its connection with the main mountain. It had always been the more dangerous side due to its hanging position over the deadly ravine, yet at the same time more secure exactly because of that strategic location. Even so many things took place in the span of six centuries passed; especially after the vampire's almost complete abandonment of the place once called home. The vast amount of blood spilled upon its grounds formed a unique connection, a bond capable of allowing the manipulation of its very structure down to the smallest of rocks. Unfortunately, that connection could no longer sustain the strain put upon it by the binding ritual; the blood could no longer act as mortar and hold the pieces together nor could the shadows maintain the illusion of splendor and grandeur the castle once so proudly displayed centuries ago.

By this time the fleeing vampire had changed her path for a third time and was now running across the makeshift bridge joining the decaying north side and the forbidden east side together; the three wolves on her tail. She would have reached the next door if not for one wolf biting her left calf after the second one jumped onto her back, claws extended as to embed themselves with ease into her flesh. All three beings crashed into the closed door in front of them shoving it open. A distinct crack was heard before their bodies hit the floor with a loud thumb. The door had been locked and the girl's shoulder broke due to the intense force of the impact. The last wolf jumped over her and turned as she fell forward, claws circling within the flesh of her shoulders as he did so, and the jumped away to land before her teeth barred. He'd used his weight to push down upon her even more than the first creature had. Just then floor split open just like the rest of the side walls did. The crack formed beneath Madalene's torso but grew to fast for her to have much time to due anything other than free her leg from the wolf's grasp. Using her freed foot she hit him hard over the eyes, her heel successfully blinding his right eye as it pierced it on the second try. The wolf howled in pain releasing her immediately and backing away in pain. Blood trickled down his black fur as she penetrated the fragile organ, more so once the creature pulled away.

Just then the entire half of the high tower fell backwards as its base crumbled layer after layer. Howling wind struck her face the very next moment, the void created sucking in the surrounding air. Her body fell forward to the point of dangling in mid air as she managed to get a firm hold on the remaining floor with her good hand. Her dark brown hair moved as one with the violent wind while in the distance a raging storm gave birth to vicious lightning and raging thunder. For a terrifying moment she forgot all about the wolves around her as her wide ruby eyes stared down at the crumbling remains and the breaking cliff. The tower crashed into the right wall of the main north wing room, the master's room, breaking it with ease. The heavy rocks pushed all the way through; the act itself causing the upper half of the cylinder shaped structure to curve and turn sideways in its fall towards the cliff's rim. The rocks destroyed the tile ceiling, the inner and outer balconies, everything nearest to the edge. Every single remaining window broke, shattering into thousand of pieces. A massive lightning bold cut through the air right next to her before mashing against the already damaged ground. The side of cliff along with the majority of the north wing collapsed into the dark, murky depths of the abyss below.

The unfortunate wolf, the same to have jumped her, fell along with the dying structure its howling joining the destruction's echoes which reverberated in full force across the entire valley. The floor beneath them tilted downward pushing her forward towards her doom. The same terror inspiring howl reached her ears seconds before a much larger body pushed her off the edge completely.

"Ahhhhh!" she screamed plummeting to her death. The fall was four stories high, the bone in her leg crushed by the creature's teeth in one single bite, and creature's body followed suit a moment longer before he diapered into a mass of shadows blown away by the vicious wind. Her keen sight saw the jagged rocks at the bottom of the ravine, saw her death come fast and quick….then….another hit to the side had her propelled back into the very base of the former tower before she could pass the edge of the cliff and the point of no return. She crashed head first into the thick double wall jut before catching glimpse of the most terrifying set of ruby eyes she'd ever seen. Fortunately, her head didn't make actual contact with stone as a black portal appeared in the very last second sucking her in. And when her eyes reopened she met the cracked ceiling of the main hall once again. She lay in between the broken bits of glass and crystal pieces one belonging to both the windows and chandelier. The farthest wall to the left was halfway caved in, the two doors leading up to the dining room broken and the wooden boards sticking out at unnatural angles. Should she pass through she would discover the collapsed ceiling revealing the room above, every piece of furniture destroyed from the weight of the slabs as well as the height from which they had fallen. There were the remains of living chairs, dressers and even a medium sized bed scattered all over the piled up block, rugs and sheets ripped and ruined almost entirely from the impact. The main staircase had lost it intricately sculptured balustrade more than halfway down the right side while glass lined almost each and every step.

Ice cold breath hit her face again and again in tune with the creature's breath as it hovered over her ready to go all the way. Blood and saliva dripped from his parted jaws and razor sharp teeth while his hellish eyes pierced her soul with such intensity she could not move from the sheer fear they inspired. Baskerville's front legs were on either side of her shoulders above her head, the muscles tense to the point of sticking out from the shaggy mass of ebony fur covering it and claws deeply dug into the stone. He growled low and deep, a profound sound from the very pit of his massive chest as a few stray droplets touched her cheeks. Around them the destruction began to lessen, yet that was at this point the farthest thing from her mind. She was trapped, pinned down by a ruthless killer and completely surrounded. One by one the remaining creatures joined their alpha forming a deadly circle around the intruding vampire. Madalene was too frightened to move, too scared to even call out for her master's help. She just starred, stared into the twin pools of burning hellfire so ready and eager to due away with her pathetic undead existence.

The wolf lowered his deadly jaws, muzzle but a few cm from actually touching her skin when a voice spoke in a low and threatening tone: "Get out!" it demanded. With those two simple words it had her full attention, eyes wide and gasping out of pure shock. Her lack of response infuriated the wolf so much he growled in her face for a second time this time pushing a clawed paw onto the already injured shoulder to emphasize the unquestionable demand. He then sneered, an angry sneer quickly followed by those of his pack. All of them wanted her out. Again she failed to respond, but the wolf would not have it and struck without a second thought going for her throat. If not for the increased pressure upon her wounded shoulder just before he acted the fledgling would have most like lost her head then and there. Her survival instincts kicked in tenfold before the strike took place. Her body faded into black mist, the one defensive mechanism her master had taught her to use in such dire situations and the one move that wouldn't fail to save her life no matter what. She reformed a good distance away yet still remained in the direct path of the door frame to be exact.

The snow was cold around her feet. The part of the courtyard behind her was damaged beyond repair as most of the ground had been swallowed in the quake along with everything built over it. The large ravine separating the two mountain parts became even larger.

Despite it all, the main gate survived though its right pillar had been shattered rendering it useless. Not only that, but the bridge was nowhere to be seen. It had disappeared as well leaving only a small platform close to the shattered gate behind. A large part of the mountain side in which the northern half of the castle had been built was ripped from its source during the violent tremor and fell with its spike like bottom in the aftermath of the remains of the castle's walls and towers. The impact shattered the larger parts left behind as gravity pulled it down embedding it into the frozen soil. More than three quarters of it then broke apart before falling backwards to crash into the sturdy side of the heaven high rock. The other part maintained its vertical position reaching up almost two and a half stories high. The place of the stables was gone, eaten by the every hungry earth along with the other four small buildings which had kept it company till now. A vast vine shaped crack ran from the new edge of the cliff all the way across the courtyard to where the fledgling now stood, less than a few feet and the stairs behind her separating them.

The wolves encircled their prey taunting her to act out against them and make the first move. Several drops of blood dripped onto the disturbed snow from her fingers on each hand. She kept her left leg off the ground as she finally concentrated enough on the wound to have the bone reform within seconds. She regained her strength and her eyes lost their fear and refused to display anything more than the anger reflected back at her in Baskerville's own bloody irises; they mimicked it down to very last detail.

It as an act of sheer defiance and she had had enough. Her stalker growled in protest and closed in on the door, his pointed ears raised in a halfway turned position, upper lip curling back with each taken breath that produced a low pitched snarl. His right front paw touched the snow covered floor first before the rest of his body stepped into the blackness of the night to be partially illuminated from time to time by the many lightning bolts raging through the thick accumulation of clouds surrounding the last remaining tower. The ceiling was broken allowing the night to enter into the ancient castle along with the sound of the howling wind and raging thunder. Yet even they could not overthrow the sound of soft and deadly pads sinking into the snow and leaving their mark; each step became a new mark. He moved forward stalking her with grace and elegance and as he did so the muscles in his shoulders and lean body shifted while his tail swung twice then retained its raised and dominant position. Two more sets of hellish glowing irises, three in total, joined his own once appearing out of nowhere to flank him: the first the same wolf she'd injured and blind in one eye, while the other had been the creature to ruin her back with his claws. Madalene bared her fangs at the three creatures attempting to ignore all other sets of eyes peering at her from behind tones of ruble. The choir gathered anew, but it was still Baskerville's howl that rang the loudest, his chest rumbling like thunder during the harshest of storms.

"What do you want? What are you?" she demands of the creature before her gazing into its hellish and soulless eyes not sure if she should expect adequate reply in return. She then lowers her voice as if sensing something within those blazing irises. "Who are you?"

Baskerville stares the vampire down turning his left ear to the side and swishing his tail slowly, tauntingly. He appeared as if waiting for something, perhaps someone. The wind picked up and with it the storm intensified and snowflakes grew in side and speed as the fell all around them.

"Answer me!" she demands whilst keeping her tone as neutral as possible. The battle appeared to have reached a stand still, at least for little while. And so she took a chance and spoke again. "I have to be here, don't you understand? I was sent."

Baskerville growls exposing his canines, curling his upper lip and revealing his sharp fangs. He walks forward one step at a time tainting the pure white snow with his large black paws. His shoulders were tense and his body high strung and corded ready to strike at any moment.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Madalene answers her own question. Afterwards, seeing that the large wolf wasn't about to stop any time soon she began to back up taking a step to match his every one. The hound's claws grazed the snow as he walked cutting it before his paws sank in under the weight of his body; his chest continued to rumble. The fledgling had more than outstayed her welcome.

"Have it your way."

Making good on her words and her speed she made no foolish attempt to fight something she knew nothing of and had never encountered till that night. She turned and ran as fast as her long legs could carry her, but the devil hound was on her heels not a second later from the instant the soles of her feet lifted off the ground. The chase was short lived and ended at the very edge of the cliff with the fledgling vampire disappeared in a black portal only to reappear safely on the other side, beyond the bridge and the ravine and out of harms way.

Baskerville on the other hand continued to run forward until his jaws almost made contact with one of her arms and even after her reaching the edge of the ravine. He pressed on and continued despite running out of solid ground beneath his feet. He had missed her by a tenth of an inch and the inertia of his movement propelled his body forward over the edge of the cliff the very moment his jaws clenched shut on nothing but thin air.

His upper body bent backwardly over the uneven edge until his front paws met a small rock formation protruding from the rest of the cliff below and gave him the necessary support to hold onto and sink his deadly claws into despite hanging over the edge at a dangerous angle. His head immediately shot up into an ear shattering, ferocious howl that loudly echoed thought-out the gorge below and the mountains all around before ending it in a hoarse and vicious snarl.

Somehow, it even succeeded in finding a way into the vast underground dungeon system below beneath the castle's foundation. By then it was nothing more than a light rumbling sound echoing off the damp, cold and musty walls like the sound of dying flute.

.

Madalene's simple 'hello' as she entered the castle awoke something deep within the darkness of the dungeon and twin crimson orbs fluttered open to a strangely familiar sight. The main structure of the castle was the same with the exception that it was colder, darker and uninviting; isolation at its worst. And the squeaking of a hanging chain dangling high above her head and visible thought a collapsed part the upper floors sounded worse than scratching a chalkboard with a sharp, rusty nail. The five sizable links moved from left to right while dangling in a semi circle capturing Seras's full attention.

The white haired draculina lay on the floor gazing upward while the dark mass which had swallowed her up earlier continued to pull back exposing more and more of the room around her; it lay in ruins much like the rest of the castle as the structures had crumbled under their own weight above the ground. Following the line of a large crack in the wall opposite from her it led her five feet high along the wall and then two more feet in the other direction. More than half of the ceiling was missing as it lay crumbled on both the floor and in the pit itself. However, as she looked up passed its borders, Seras saw the remains of further rooms above her head. After a closer inspection they weren't just rooms but a prison; a prison that went all the way up towards the heavens above. At least it once used too. Metal grates stuck of from the collapsed slabs of stone, pieces of wood still clung to their joints and more than one chain swayed with the wind. The prison like structure rose around 6 more feet from where the ceiling ended, but it was only visible from her point of view as the rest of the tower lay in ruins; most of the debris lay no doubt scattered somewhere in the vast courtyard. The left side of the wall rose a foot and a half taller while the right barely reached one.

Despite all the violent rumbling, the falling walls and the quake of the building nothing seem to bother her. Nothing seemed to matter more than that dangling chain high above: back and forth, back and forth, back and f…

The room above was at least three stories high, its walls as well as the majority of the ceiling gone allowing the light of the dark sky and snow to enter and slowly sink to the floor beside her bare legs, over them and her short thigh high nightgown.

"A chain…" the voice that spoke was hardly a voice at all and more like a distorted tone shattered by the wind.

"Despair." Seras replied without blinking remembering where she'd last seen that particular link of chain.

This will cost you boy!"

The voice echoed viciously around her and with it she saw a boy hanging from a rope and that very last link of chain not overly bigger than the remaining four. The tip of a whip cut through the air and the image was gone, as was the painful expression on the child's face. The stairs, the stairs were no longer there and the once small crawl space was just a hole, barely visible as floor she had once stood was missing.

Seras turned her head to the right raising her arm in the process and reaching out for one of the withdrawing black tendril and instead of fine black mist she found a somewhat solid mass, solid enough to grab and hold onto. Unfortunately, pain shot through her limb the very second she touched it, fast and swift, like the prick of a sharp needle or the sting of a bee. And it wasn't long before the tell tale mark of warm liquid trickled down the length of her forearm in the form of thin rivulet. The mass grew and shifted more beside her and then changed into the shape of a face, a small yet well defined jaw, chin and thin, pale lips; the rest remained hidden by a dark hood and the shadow it cast.

"The walls are cold." The voice whispers, thin lips moving, and she recognized it as the same voice from before. A speak of black peered from under the hood as though it were a stray strand of hair, but she didn't move to investigate it further.

"No their warm." She replies without thinking, without blinking, like a robot programmed to speak on command. "You're the one that's cold."

"We are as we were left." The voice pauses then whispers, tone of voice lowering. "Blood upon the floor. Nothing. No one. Death condemned to these walls, cold. And the chain never stops." It growls almost animalistic ally with that one simple word.

Seras's eye flashed an eerie and intense crimson that coincided with the midnight lullaby of the wolves' first chorus.

"No…" she whispers lowering her hand from the figure's head and instead reaches out around it towards the missing ceiling and sky above. There was no way for her to touch the dangling link and yet, as her fingers curled above her head, they did it to the feeling of bare metal brushing against her skin. The rattling came to halt. "It moves because you let it."

The calmness of the hidden figure vanished as the face contorted in anger, words bursting with anger.

"We do not!"

And after that initial moment of rage the voice as well as the figure calmed once more, yet the words spoken continued to linger on the edge of anger and resentment. "We do not. We can not."

The vampire stood silent, her fingers still entwined around the cold metal link. She eventually lowered her gaze turning it to the figure beside her clad in black. The second chorus reverberated off the walls and Seras let go of the ling lowering her hand.

"One cannot leave us." There was no shouting or screaming, but deep and well hidden fear, longing, alone.

"One must…"

The walls began to crumble around her and the stones came undone as the ground finally shook beneath her feet at a far greater intensity. A metal door eventually screeched amidst it all making its presence known in the darkness and gaining the white haired vampire's attention once the figure distanced itself from her. Sitting up she follows his movements watching as his feet thread through the layers of dust and debris and steps from the part of the floor that was perfectly level to one rough and destroyed cluster of fallen and uneven stones most likely form the ceiling above. The stones were all gathered in a pile, but instead of being sprawled all over the floor the majority of the debris was neatly packed and gathered in what seemed to be a hole in the ground.

The black hooded figure kept backing up until a set of stairs on the wall behind him also emerged, the railing completely broken and the first four stairs cracked with the pieces scattered.

"I've always hated that tower."

It was the first time that 'we' was replaced by 'I'.

"Father..."

The words were broken into a frail whisper, a cry that had once reached deaf ears and cruel, uncaring hearts. His cries reached deaf ears and were lost to the soul crushing silence of the pit and the metal sound of the large door closing behind them man in question imprisoning him, sealing his fate and ending his life as he knew it as though it were worth nothing at all.

"I….have….no….

Just then the remaining chunk of the ceiling broke off falling to the floor directly in front of her, yet Seras did not move, her eyes clued to the pile of rumble laying at her feet. The red of her eyes swirled and she blinked the once haunted look away, dazed irises changing and the tiny black pupils growing and returning to normal.

"Master?" she asks as though waking from a dream she never knew she was in to begin with. The falling block of stone never touched her…

Instead the pieces broke off landing loudly around and behind her cracking open the intact stone slabs of the floor while completely breaking those already scarred by earlier transgression against them.

I've always hated that tower

The tower? Seras's head tilted backwards as she gazed up upward where that particular link of chain slowly started to sway once more.

Always…hated…that tower….

Seras gasps, recognition finally sinking in. Shock and misery…agony…filled her blood shot eyes until the flow of tears could not be contained any longer and the rivulets ran down her cheeks joining under her chin and dripping to the floor between her parted legs. The pit lay before her, four feet deep, blood on its walls and blood on its straw covered floor. She could see the room come to life: the blood, the screaming, people moving hurting others or defending themselves preparing for death. Stillness descended around the draculina surrounding her completely until she had the strength to avert her gaze towards the cause of her inquiry and move in its direction once more. Step by step Seras crossed the slightly elevated threshold just as the figure had; step by step the wide hole in the middle of the circular room came into view as she carefully made her way forward. It wasn't long until she found herself, literally, face to face with the objection in question; her body looms over the rugged edge as she stares down into the dark abyss below: bones littered its end, perhaps some straw and a dried up muddy looking dirt, blood most likely.

Throw them in.

No!

AHHHHH!

It racked of death, its stench and that of the many liters of blood no doubly spilled within its confining edge, impregnated into the stone itself. The voices seemed to come live: fresh as though they were right there beside her, raw from endless screams and utterly hopeless regarding their fate. There was and there would be no salvation what so ever for them; they were resigned to the cruel twist in fate which would soon end their pathetic lives.

It hurts to leave…

The voice came back and this time she recognized it for what it truly was, the boy's, and not a distorted, unclear and distorted sound that only her subconscious had known to be true and had found the appropriate means by which to talk to it.

Her head jerked to the side, eyes falling on the broken staircase and the squeaking, rusty metal door at its top.

She stars walking forward, bare feet moving over the piled up blocks of stone filling the pit, yet each of the six steps it took to do so, filled her head with more haunting cries of those whose remains she was most like stepping on, those who'd found death at the bottom of the food chain, one step above hell.

Reaching the foot of the stairs she hesitated for a moment placing her right hand on a small part of the still intact stone forming the railing. Her other hand moved to wipe the bloody tears from her face, tears she only noticed trickling down her skin when the door opened a little more letting in a small gust of air. Her legs moved fast climbing the small flight of 10 stairs before reaching the platform on which the door then stood a little to her left. The hallway that opened in front of her continued with a dark stairway just a few feet away where the light of the night could no longer enter; it was worse than simply pitch black.

Scanning her surroundings a few moments more her eyes fell on the pit on last time and lingered there for several minutes….just staring at it. The walls around her were coming apart and yet she remained motionless and grounded on her spot at the top of the small staircase and next to the opened rusty door whose hinges continued to creek.

Seras….

The voice called her name as a thin black tendril encircled her waist without her noticing. It gently pulled her forward urging her legs to move and come along in the desired direction.

Seras…

It was such a beautiful sound. The way it so softly and lovingly called easing the sight of death and despair itself….from a cruel world that was left behind and a past forgotten never to be remembered by future generation that themselves would never see the light of day and instead drown right then and there held down by the weight and cruelty of those considered their piers.

The draculina's bare feet made no sound as she climbed up the darkened staircase, her eye allowing her to see perfectly despite the lack of a proper light. Blood coated the walls and blood coated the very steps she walked upon as well and yet, whenever the soles of her feet came in contact with the stone in question, the blood would disappear and the stone would age revealing the ages passed since that very crimson was spilled so long ago. The higher she climbed the less quite her steps became. Boots formed and her nightgown blackened growing longer and turning into a single, solid black mass that covered her entire body. And as it retracted her heels made first contact with the stone clinging rather loudly in the small space as the sound echoed along the walls and ceiling. Black pants covered her legs while a crimson shirt formed over her chest with a black vest reaching just under her chest over it. A silken black tie appeared next and twin belts over her hips along with a black leather coat that then quickly shifted into a long cloak and hood instead. The clothing came from memo and felt, once again, just right. The mass of stardust colored hair flowed behind her in evident contrast to the dark and rich color of the cloak reaching passed her ankles and brushing the stone structures. The hall led up to a second floor and corridor with two doors at the end, one in front and the other to her left. Taking a moment Seras weighed her chances before walking forward.

Where are you going?

The soft murmur stopped her in her tracks not one step after and the thin shadow around her waist which till then had never left her gently tugged at her waist directing her to the door on the left. 'Where are you going?' it called. 'It isn't the right path for you to take'. The voice whispered with actually offering a single word and yet, as the unspoken words caressed her mind she could not bring herself to forget the familiarity of said tone and that distinct and particular voice: a smooth, rich baritone sound always in a distinctive low pitch which, sensual with the lingering promise of more each and every time it was whispered; always caressing her ears whenever it was spoken. This way….this way…it would call over and over and the sweet sound burned and lured her in effortlessly.

Both hinges were loose, the upper barring more damage than the lower thus barely holding the door up. The latter was partially open and hanging crooked and ready to fall at any given time. It took two hard thrusts for it to give way and even then it only opened about a third of the way. A ruined statue blocked further movement. Glass lined most of the floor while bits and pieces of stone and dust formed a separate layer altogether. The somewhat larger pieces of glass cracked and broke under the weight of her steps as she crossed the small room with care. She stopped, however, near the archway leading into the adjacent chamber: a skeleton, partially hidden behind a small, ruined, dusty living chair blocked her path. It laid spread before her feet on its stomach with the left arm missing from the elbow down and the right fully extended above his cracked skull.

Ratty, worn out clothes barely covered it; a knife lay in between his broken ribs.

Where are you going?

Once more the soft flowing voice moved passed her like a whisper in the wind. The new room she entered in consisted of a large space split in two uneven halves by a wall and a large arch and was filled with various wooden and metal devices warm, rotten, aged and rusted with time. They littered the floor especially around the second half where a wooden table stood at the far end. The wood was so rotten the metal skeleton underneath shone through. Chains of various shapes and sizes, now mostly plain pieces of several links long, hung from the wall immediately adjacent ending in rusty shackles. A fire place lay barren of flame to warm it up decorated the opposite wall on the room, but the large assortment of metal pokers and long, thin pieces of metal gathered together in a wooden box beside it, confirmed it's purpose for something other than simply warming the room. The chamber itself was nothing more than an antechamber leading into a much wider space that held even more appalling instruments: several large metal cages, some on the floor others hanging from the ceiling and still harboring 1 or 2 skeletal remains from centuries passed. The most distinct object of them all however, was a large rack made from solid and sturdy wood as well as a second much smaller one propped up in a vertical position against the wall opposed to the former which took up the largest part of the room and lay in a horizontal position.

A simple wooden door opened revealing another narrowed passageway no more than 1 meter long that bore, unlike the rest, one single lit torch that lit up a second much wider hall situated parallel to the direction she just came from. The new path then forked a few feet later and a after 5-6 min more of walking she found yet another door, though this one was not only intact but also bolted down to prevent entry by two mobile metal bars that acted like locks sealing the door from the outside in.

Seras stared at the door for a moment unsure what to make of it or what her next move would be, but the tendril tugged at her waist once more. The way was forward no question about it, yet she still hesitated. The room all around was filled with so much death, death and blood upon the walls; there was so much death in that one room, so much she could somehow feel it as though it had barely just happened hours, if not days ago.

Come little one…

The voice was so much deeper.

This way…

A small side branch of the tendril broke of from the main body curling around her left hand pricking the pad of her left index finger as though it were a nail and drawing a little bit of blood no bigger than a dew drop. No sooner had her finger touched the middle of the door a reddish glow radiated from her finger filling the many cracks in the metal until all 4 edges were reached and then disappeared just as fast. The door gave of laud screeching sound as the locks clicked and the bars made a 180 degree turn before sliding upon. The door then opened and more torches burst into life: two on the left and 1 on the far end on the right behind what appeared to be a series of cells made entirely out of metal grates for walls. They lined the right side wall entirely, 4 in nr, before the later was then continued with a stone portion several feet long and an even larger portion made out of flat metal bars. All four cages held a sturdy metal door and all were empty except for the last, but even that one had nothing but dust and crashed bones within.

The total of 3 torches couldn't provide sufficient lighting to reveal secrets still remaining hidden within the darkness. It became the only place in her journey thus far that the vampire felt a sense of reservation towards, insecurity and dread. And so she moved passed them all and took that right turn she found by the last torch. The small corridor ended with a solid metal wall made entirely out of flat bars and a crooked open door hanging on only the lower hinge. Beyond it lay another series of stairs as well a second matching metal wall, this one almost completely broken on the right side from top to bottom. Weapon stands, old, musty, cracked and broken lined the subsequent walls though they were mostly piles of rotten wood and rusty metal bundled together.

One final door lay before here, partially open and encased in snow and ice at the bottom. Thus, more than two hours, after the disaster, Seras's feet found soft, ice cold snow beneath the soles of her boots and cold wind treading through her hair and brushing her face, and utter and complete devastation.

It was a room, but the ceiling was completely missing as were all four walls surrounding it with the exception of a small portion no higher than a foot. It almost looked like a column and not a wall at all. There was a small pile in what appeared to be the middle of the room and sticking out of the thick blanket of snow covering it. The stench of death emanated strongly from it and as she stepped forward her foot sank in passed her ankle almost tripping her had it not been for the shadow still wrapped around her holding her up. The ground was so much lower than the rest of the ground and the snow covering it made it all the more worse to see. The tendril was pulling her back stopping her from going any further. Yet she insisted and kept on going until she tripped once more three steps later and fell tripping over something solid sticking out of the ground; tripping over a human bone like a hand reaching out form the grave. A grave she just fell into.

All of you, you will die!

Suddenly the room was completely lit and intact and people everywhere were screaming in horror. Blood splattered all around her from every angel, every person desperately trying to flee. Seras was trapped watching death unfold in its most brutal and violent form; no leniency and no mercy for any of those present. They would all die. Bodies fell one after another….a raven haired man amongst them moved his sword with amazing precision, left, right, turning, stabbing and swinging….they were all dying until finally the body next to the fireplace fell lifeless at her feet. The room was on fire as the bright light, hot flames and screams made it look like a scene out of hell itself.

And the man was there, just next to her, with his sword deeply embedded into his enemy's chest, straight through his heart and the tip scratching a deep grove into the wall behind him. His face was concealed, masked by locks of blood stained raven hair and marred by the sins of his doing as the warm red liquid dripped down his cheeks, chin and throat. And as he pulled his sword back, a trickle of blood following in its path, the victim fell lifeless on his knees then his stomach. His killer grinned, evil, satisfied: "Die…" he said emotionless before stepping on his head and smashing his skull.

"Hahhh." Seras gasped snapping out of the bloody vision. She immediately pulled her ankle free crawling to the side of the room where the column stood and pressing her back against the cold stone surface. Her breathing was irregular, deep breaths and searching eyes rapidly moving from side to side. When they finally landed on the decayed corps she immediately had to pull away from the sight of her foot on the crushed, dusty leftovers of the victims head.

Where are you going? The sweet voice returned.

What are you doing?

"I don't know." Seras eventually whispers in sheer reflex answering the question. Her eyes never left the floor and the mass grave hidden behind a virgin blanket of snow.

Come little one…come…

She did lured by the softly pleading tone so full of patience and understanding. The tendril tugged at her waist gently helping her up, turning her gaze away from a deed forgotten throughout the annals of time. The night was still young and the courtyard vast. Besides, it would not be the last bloody sight linked to the ancient structure. It was after all a castle built in blood.

The path led from the eastern part of the castle to the southern one and finally towards the west were the door to freedom lay. The castle lay in ruins: the mighty walls broken and divided, the ground cracked beneath her feet, stone after stone slabs filling it to the bring all around the once sturdy foundation. The tower was gone…

The courtyard was eerily silent and devoid of all life and commotion; there weren't even any more prints left from either wolf or man to mar it or the scent of blood belonging to the young fledgling or the wolves. There was nothing just an endless sea of white and black.

The castle was eerily quite as Seras took a few steps forward leaving the broken room behind and fully stepping into the vast yard. The wind hardly made a sound whatsoever despite seeping through and crashing against the fallen rocks littering the ground as well as playing with the edges of Seras's long black cloak.

Walking through the yard one step at a time she event came closer to the main entrance of the castle and the very spot where Madalene's blood had stained the otherwise virgin snow some time ago; the stain was light pink instead of vibrant red and barely visible any longer. The large twin wooden doors stood open to her left while further away in the distance to her right were the distant remains of the front gate and the bridge leading from it. And on the steps themselves in front of the broken door, lying on his belly, was the large hellhound with his front legs cross one on top of the other and partially dangling of the top stair and his head resting upon them, ears down and eyes closed. A thin layer of snow covered his midnight black fur and the warmth of his breath came out in the form of a tiny white cloud surrounding his muzzle with each silent exhale.

As if sensing her presence his ears perked up and he opened his eyes scenting the air and raising his head. He yawns loudly showing off his teeth and extending his long tongue before standing up and shaking the snow of his body. Afterwards he descended down the stairs stopping in front of her until his head was at an even level with the chest. He whimpers leaning his head forward and into her touch and the cradle of her awaiting palm. His nose is cold against her flesh and softly twitching while sniffing.

"You're still here." She whispers gently petting the large hound for a moment or two before her fingers slip through it as though the creature before was nothing short of a ghost. His body slowly fades before her eyes turning transparent as he whimpers a second time and his crimson eyes close, ears going down once again. His chest rumbled the sound low pitched, playful and fading as was his body.

In less than a minute the hound was gone and she was all alone, the wind caressing her hair.

To be continued….

Till next time. :)