Living with Man-Eaters

by KaijuCrazy02

After a botched mission to liberate a small village within Romania goes horribly wrong, Ryan Miles is forced to do his best to endure the harsh elements and conditions of the Transylvanian wilderness. Eventually finding a village with a massive gothic castle, he discovers there is more than meets the eye. His new life comes at a cost though, living with blood drinking women...

2. Chapter 2

(Chapter 2: The hunter becomes the hunted)

Location: The Village

Year: 2021

Rats scurried around aimlessly on the stone brick floors, dark brownish red stains littering the cracks between them from previous victims. The vermin squeaking as they communicated amongst themselves, the room smelled of death, and the rusty stench of human blood. An arm was seen sticking out of a barrel, the fingertips of the hand colored a blood red, a former maiden to this castle.

Suddenly, the large red door within the room opened, causing the rats to squeak, and scatter into the darkness of their hiding places as a tall vampiric woman emerged from the doorway.

Lady Dimitrescu entered the wine cellar with a look of disgust for the rats that were scampering around on the ground, hearing their squeaks only added to her annoyance. The countess of House Dimitrescu selecting a bottle from the many that were bunched together within the shelves on the wall, examining it for a moment.

There was a wine glass sitting on a table out at her front, and with a lick of her lips in anticipation of tasting the ever amazing Sanguis Virginis, she poured it into the cup. The mere sound of the alcoholic beverage filling the glass made her salivate, but she kept her mouth closed to prevent any of it from leaking out. A grin on her ruby painted lips.

After pouring half a glass full, she took it into her gloved hand, and downed a sip of the crimson colored drink. Feeling the warmth of the beverage run down her throat made her groan with satisfaction as she turned around, leaving the room to see none other than the middle child, Cassandra in front of her.

"Mother, I'm finally awake. May I have permission to go hunt some breakfast?" The brunette asked with a smile, Lady Dimitrescu was hesitant at first. A Winter storm had been brewing, and it would only be a matter of time before it reached their lands, but it was still sunny out, and the weather wasn't too cold.

"Cassandra, I hope you noticed those black clouds rolling in. A storm is coming, and as you know it is the Winter season. I cannot lose you in the storm, such would be devastating." The tall lady explained.

"Oh come on, Dani is outside in the back tending to her plants. Why can't I have my fun?" The black haired daughter complained with a playful wine, this took Lady Dimitrescu off guard, as she didn't know her youngest one was out in the back of the castle.

"Fine, but if you start feeling cold or you begin to shiver, come back to the warm confines of my castle. Is this understood?"

"Of course mother!"

Cassandra performed a cute little twirl as she materialized into a swarm of blood sucking flies, heading out towards the front of the castle to go out on her hunts. In the Spring season, she would have the privilege of hunting deer. Since it was Winter, humans from the village at the bottom of the hill were on the menu...

Not too far away from the castle sat what seemed to be an industrial mill, but on the inside it was way different. A large factory owned by Karl Heisenberg who was keeping his works, and projects secret from everyone in the village, even his superior, Mother Miranda.

Within an office room, several pictures were mounted on a wall over a desk. The largest picture was of Mother Miranda, there was a picture of Lady Dimitrescu, Angie, a doll created by Donna Beneviento, and Salvatore Moreau, a hunch backed fish humanoid.

From down below a trap door came Heisenberg, holding a map of the entire village that had been purchased by him from the Duke. He had been planning to rebel against Mother Miranda for reasons that he kept unknown from all of his fellow lords of the village, spreading the map out across the table, he began to examine it after turning on a radio to play some music.

He looked around in his small cottage, breathing heavily after waking up from that horrid dream. It was a nightmare of the past, when he and the Forgotten Ops failed to keep the horde of lycans at bay at the medieval village. As far as the American knew, he was the only survivor, and he was damn lucky to be alive right now.

He had been taught the hard way on how to live on his own, but also taught himself by watching loads of videos in his time with the crew. It had been ten years since that fateful day in that Carpathian village, now Ryan sported a thick beard that was well kept. His hair was still spiked up as it always had been, and he had gotten stronger. His body was more muscular than it ever was before due to eating a diet mostly consisting of meat from the various animals he had in the forest.

From time to time the man had tried to call his old buddies, but nothing ever worked. He had given up hope on ever seeing them again, now his phone was dead. Parked outside of the worn down log cabin he had built was his fighter jet, he had collected all of the fuel of the other fighter jets, and safely stored it into his fighter jet when he discovered the fuel to be low.

The one thing that Ryan had on his mind was revenge, one way or another, he would get back at those fiends that over-ran the village, and defeated his allies in battle. He figured that the only way to finally destroy the lycan menace was to find out where they came from, but he had no clue where...

Everything in this log cabin, he had made for himself. He had built himself a fireplace, crafted a makeshift bed, and he even had a crate where he kept his ammunition. The only two guns he could forage from the battleground in that village was an AR-15 rifle, and a 1911 firearm. There was another crate where he would store his clothes, washing them the next day in a nearby spring. He had taken apart the other fighter jets of his comrades, crafting the steel into barrels that would hold the jet fuel for his flight back to the United States.

The man rubbed some sweat from his brow before letting out a nice morning yawn, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs of that sleepy feeling. It was time to hunt some deer for a morning meal. The man stood up from his makeshift bed, approaching his crate. Ryan would slide on a dark green shirt, followed by a black tactical vest, black fingerless gloves, a black armband with a red logo attached to it, the logo of the Forgotten Ops. The man had made a bold assumption that they were all slaughtered by the lycans, and he wore that band wherever he went as he felt as if their strength was with him always. He also wouldn't be leaving without the cross necklace, not only did Ryan have the spiritual strength of the Forgotten Ops, but he had the strength of God with him as well.

Up next came his black combat pants, followed by his black socks, and combat boots. As for weaponry, he wouldn't be taking his AR-15 or his 1911, he didn't want to waste ammo on the deer. Instead, he had crafted a spiked club, a knife, and a bow with several arrows placed inside of a quiver that he had attached to the back of his vest.

The spikes he had nailed into his makeshift wooden club were made out of deer antlers that he had collected, also crafting the blade of his knife out of deer antlers as well. He made sure to honor every animal he slain, making their hides into something he could think of.

With a deep breath, the man slowly left his cabin. It was an overcast day, the sun popping in rays of light every now and then. The air was cold, as it was within the Winter season. His camp was built on the top of a large hill, not as big as a mountain, but large enough for him to see miles around him in this mountain range. The scenery was purely stunning, and things were made only better when he received a pleasant scent of burning firewood from his fireplace, the smoke exiting his chimney.

As he turned his head to look North, he noticed dark clouds coming in. A snowstorm was on the horizon, his eyes narrowed as he let out a hard breath through his nostrils, frosty air blowing forth from them. While it was chilly outside, it wasn't enough to give him the shivers, and it wasn't enough to induce hypothermia, seeing this snowstorm brewing in the distance, the man knew he had to move with haste to get a kill.

Ryan reached down into a pocket of his black tactical vest that had shown some wear and tear after countless battles, before he went on the campaign to weed out the lycans, he served two tours in the Marine corps, all while wearing the same vest. The man pulled out a small handheld radio, pulling the antenna all the way up before scrolling through the channels he could find with the dial.

He was a bit bummed out that he couldn't listen to his favorite bands such as Five Finger Death Punch, Demon Hunter, Sleeping Giant, or Trivium, but he had a fond likeness to all types of music, one of them being oldies music from the distant past such as Sam Cooke, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin, and the Righteous Brothers, just to name a few. Thankfully for Ryan, there was someplace that was broadcasting oldies music within these mountains, but he didn't know where.

Through the crackled grain of the radio, was the song: Over the Mountain, and Across the Sea, by the singer Bobby Vinton.

A smile came to Ryan's face as the man began to sing, his voice, as well as the music continued to fade out and in the static. Wherever the station that was playing this music, must have been a decent ways away from where he stood now. With a sigh, the ex-marine began to advance down the path towards the forest, stretching out his arms to wake himself up further, to get his body ready for the day.

"Cross over the river, beyond every cloud, she's past the wind, that's blowing loud." Bobby Vinton sang on the radio, Ryan humming the song to himself as he would eventually reach the bottom of the hill, now marching through a field towards the forest that wasn't too far in the distance now.

"Over the mountain, a girl waits for me." Bobby continued to sing, static and fuzz overtaking it for a brief moment as Ryan felt the soft tall grass brush through his hands as he advanced towards the trees.

He would eventually be in the forest, and he sniffed the air to see if he could catch the scent of any nearby animal, looking all around him for possible signs of deer or tracks that belonged to one, doe or buck, it didn't matter. Ryan walked through a creek, noticing that it became a small waterfall nearby. The man walked to the bottom of the natural formation, placing the radio down on a rock nearby as he cupped his hands into the water, lifting them up to drink.

This water was perfect to drink, having come from a natural spring within the mountain from where the creek above him was flowing from. He also approached the tiny waterfall, allowing the rushing water to splash upon his back, cooling his body off, as well as waking him up, washing the crust from his eyes after his nightly slumber.

"Tell all the sands, and every blade of grass, please tell the wind to let my love pass. Over the mountain, a girl waits for me." Bobby sang once more as the ex-marine cooled himself off by using the waterfall.

(Meanwhile, over the nearby mountain)

"The damned cold, my poor daughters won't be able to have their fun..." Grumbled none other than Alcina Dimitrescu as she gazed out from her chambers upstairs within her castle. The countess could see the storm clouds in the distance, closer to her location than Ryan's.

When the air wasn't so frigid outside, her daughters could leave and do as they please. One of them loved to go hunting, while the other two usually stayed inside where it was nice and cozy. She was aware that Cassandra was somewhere within the village below, feasting on any humans that she could find. Alcina knew the storm would kill her middle child if she wasn't careful.

The tall woman left the chambers, closing the door as soon as the phone on her table began to ring out. Alcina would answer almost every call she received, it was mostly Mother Miranda who called upon her, but sometimes the other lords of this village would phone her just to chat. This time it was Karl Heisenberg who was calling her, and he rarely did, he couldn't stand Alcina the two of them having a "sibling rivalry."

Meanwhile within his factory, Heisenberg was growing impatient the longer the phone buzzed on the other line, sitting in the front of his desk where multiple large pictures of the other lords were hung over it, nailed to the wall. The buzzing of one of his factories creations blared out from below a trap door in the room, which only added to his annoyance.

Within seconds, he had enough of waiting, and with a furious shout, he turned over the table! All of the items that sat on top of it becoming clutter on the floor. He stood up, and started to pace around the room.

"Dammit!" He screamed furiously as he pounded his fist on a wall, but the static of his radio, combined with the loud revving beneath the trap door only pushed him further over the edge. He stormed over to the door, and opened it to give whatever was down there a piece of his mind.

"Shut the fuck up!" He barked, and the noise came to a silence, but the radio static still remained, which he rolled his eyes over behind his dark glasses.

"Lady Gigantis can't answer the fucking phone when I need her to..." He growled through his clenched teeth, approaching his desk to set it back up. Placing his small box television, and other items on top of it to make sure his office room didn't look like a mess.

His eyes glared up towards the picture of Mother Miranda, his eyes twitching as his hands balled up into fists that were clenched tightly. If you thought he didn't call Alcina often, it was even worse for Miranda, he had only called her a total of 3 times in his life so far. Today would mark it the 4th time he would do so, he picked up the phone, and started to dial her number while huffing in anger.

"I really hate doing this..." He said to himself.

Heisenberg's teeth grinded together with each dreaded buzz, his fists still tightly clenched. If he wasn't wearing those fancy glasses of his, you would see that his eyes were full of nothing but vexation for Mother Miranda. Eventually, the woman would pick up on the other line...

"Well if it isn't Heisenberg, it has been a while since you've last contacted me!" Mother Miranda said on the other side, sounding surprised that the man had called her in the first place.

"Yeah, I was trying to get hold of Alcina but the bitch wouldn't answer me, so now I've came calling to you for a last ditch effort..." He grumbled with a roll of his eyes, hearing Mother Miranda's snickering didn't help it either.

"What is troubling you, dearest Heisenberg?" She asked.

"My fucking radio has gone back to static again, it has been doing that a shitload of times, I can't tell you how many, as numerous as the stars! I can't listen to my damn oldies in peace?!" He barked, Mother Miranda found this comical, and she couldn't help but continue laughing at the man's annoyance, which was even more of a nuisance to him than she initially thought.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you would be able to fix that with your powers. However, could you tell me where you think it is coming from? I have a hunch it is somebody I know." The woman responded on the other line.

Somebody you know? Heisenberg thought, the only people she could have possibly known was the people in this village, and the various other lords of the village. It is all that he'd ever known Miranda to speak with, but she always kept secrets, and it was that reason that he was conspiring against her.

"My best guess is that somebody out there has a radio with them, and they must be using the same channel as mine. Somehow it's screwing around with the broadcast, this has been happening consistently for the past ten years, and I've used several radios to no avail. Maybe it's just the shitty tower outside of my factory." He said, making a guess as to what could be causing the disturbances on his radio within his office.

"Or maybe it could be Ryan Miles." Miranda snickered, sounding like a smartass with her tone of voice.

"Ryan Miles?" Heisenberg questioned. "Never heard of such a name before."

"Precisely, big and strong. He's been on a campaign to save neighboring villages, and populations of our lycans. He has been the only survivor, he would be a great asset to us, and to my cause." Miranda explained.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure he would..." Heisenberg stated, he clearly didn't care about this man, as his fate would ultimately be no different than the one shared among the villagers.

"Be on the lookout for him, he cannot be far if his radio is frequently interrupting yours. If you catch him, bring him to the meeting, where we shall decide his fate." Miranda said, already making preparations for Ryan's arrival.

"Sure."

(Meanwhile, in the woods)

Ryan continued his search for deer, thankfully he had come across some tracks. The prints appeared to be fresh, so whatever caused the tracks had to be close by. The ex-marine froze, trying to listen in on the sounds around him to get any audio clues on where the herbivore was located.

The only sounds he could hear was the snapping of limbs in the distance, birds chirping in the trees, and running water within a creek nearby. After a few moments of waiting, he heard grass being stepped on, followed by the snap of a limb.

The hunter crept towards the sound, keeping a low posture to make sure he wasn't seen by his soon to be prey. He made sure to make his movements as slow, and silent as possible to avoid being detected by the deer. He rounded a corner, and there it was in the distance around fifty yards away!

A lone buck, grazing on some of the frosty grass. Having it's head leaning down to feast, Ryan took out his bow, and carefully walked behind a rock that was big enough to hide his body behind, leaving room for only his head, and arms to stick out as he took aim at it's heart.

With a deep breath in, and out, the man squinted his eyes as he focused on his target not too far away from him. Watching his soon to be meal chew the grass within it's mouth, he pulled back the bow, and a smirk slowly crept upon his face, ready to release at any given moment.

Suddenly, a lycan jumped out from the shadows, leaping on the deer with a furious roar. The humanoid sank it's claws deep into the sides of the deer as it began to run, thrashing it's body around in a helpless effort to throw the mutant off!

Ryan didn't want to have his skill stolen, so he followed after them as best as he could with his bow. It proved to be challenging as he struggled to keep up with the erratic pace at which the two bodies were moving. The lycan, scrambling as it tried to stay on top of the deer on it's back, the deer, thrashing and kicking wildly.

When the ex-marine released the bow, the arrow only managed to clip the antler of the buck by luck, becoming partly lodged into one of them. Ryan cursed under his breath as he witnessed the lycan sink it's jagged teeth into the neck of the herbivore, the deer letting out a roar of pain before collapsing to the side as it's windpipe was crushed under the incredible pressure of the humanoid's bite.

"Fucking lycans..." The man growled to himself before turning around, previously it was nigh deafening silent as he tried to focus on his kill that was now failed, but the silence was unexpectedly broken by another lycan that was right behind Ryan, roaring right in his face!

The ex-marine was startled as he fell back against the rock as the lycan slammed it's hand into his chest, knocking him back some before attempting to pounce on the man! Ryan correctly guessed that it would go for his neck, so he raised up his meaty forearm to block the attack. The razor sharp teeth of the mutant sank deeply into his forearm, forcing the ex-marine to let out a loud shout of pain as he watched blood ooze forth from the puncture wounds. The bloodthirsty, psychotic eyes of the lycan stared into the hazel ones of Ryan as they wrestled for control!

Ryan thrashed around, kicked, doing anything he could in hopes of throwing his enemy off of him, but it was too heavy, and his position made it near impossible to perform such a maneuver. He would have to think of something quick as he could feel the teeth of the lycan starting to pull back, wanting to rip off a chunk of flesh from his forearm. The ex-marine unsheathed his knife with his free arm, and quickly stabbed the side of the neck of his enemy repeatedly until it finally collapsed at his side, screaming with every strike!

The bold man grabbed hold of his wounded arm, blood smearing all over his left forearm, making the texture of his black gloves a shade darker than normal. His fingers were also covered in his blood as well. The wound wasn't bad enough for him to bleed out, but it hurt like hell, and the scent of it would attract other lycans. He gritted his teeth in a mixture of pain, and fury as he waddled away from the rock. Turning his head to face the lycan in which had taken down the deer, it was now staring right at him.

The lycan had blood smeared all over it's mouth, staining it's nasty looking teeth. The humanoid snarling at Ryan with a nasty glare as the man done the same towards it, as if he was challenging it.

The rest of "Over the Mountain, and Across the Sea" continued to play as Ryan fought for his life against the lycans, Bobby Vinton's voice bouncing off the trees of the forest as the storm in the distance grew even closer, the sky above Ryan, and the lycan growing darker as time went by.

The lycan howled before charging towards Ryan, the ex-marine squared up, teeth gritted, eyes narrowed scornfully as he readied himself for a fight. Once the humanoid was close enough, Ryan lowered his body a bit before driving into the lycan with his heels, his shoulder slamming right into the underside of the fiend's jaw, chipping a few teeth as it was knocked to the ground with authority by the soldier.

Ryan wasn't done yet, and he came in running, planting his boot right into the side of the lycan's head as it turned to face him, the punt kick having just enough impact to get the carnivorous mutant to roll over to it's stomach. It started to slowly get back up, but the ex-marine wasn't about to let that happen. Ryan approached the lycan, and lifted his foot a few inches over the head of his enemy before curb stomping it with a ruthless cry! The skull of the lycan burst as brain matter flew everywhere as it's head was forcefully slammed into the rock below it!

The man patted his armband right on the logo of the Forgotten Ops before pointing to the sky above as to thank his old friends for aiding him in battle. Killing the lycans was honoring those that had fallen in battle that day ten years ago.

"As I walk through the valley, of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me; your rod, and your staff, they comfort me." Ryan said to himself, holding his cross necklace tightly as if to draw strength from the Lord himself, his eyes staring all around to try and detect any other lycans that could be coming his way. Phrasing a bible passage of Psalm 23:4 to uplift him in this time of calamity.

The ex-marine turned towards a rocky hill, he would have to abandon his bow and arrow if he wanted to climb it. He still needed to get some meat in his system, and he felt that there were way more deer than just one. He took a deep breath as he abandoned his bow, as well as his arrows. Ryan grabbed the radio, tucked the antenna back in as he placed the handheld device into his quiver before starting to scale up the hill, too steep to walk up.

Each time he used his arms to pull his muscular body up, the wound on his left forearm ached terribly. It was a chore to climb up these rocks, something that would be easy if he hadn't been bitten as badly. Once he was about halfway up to the top of the hill, he then heard a dreadful growl coming from behind him, and down below him. Ryan looked over his shoulder to see a lycan staring up at him from the bottom of the hill, his eyes widened as he then watched as the humanoid leap up to right where he was in one spectacular bound!

Ryan abandoned his climbing as he turned to face his enemy that quickly had him pinned against the rocky wall, just as he was earlier. The lycan attempted to slash into his face with it's hideous claws, but the ex-marine caught the arm, having a firm grip of it. The fiend snarled viciously as it attempted to strike him again with it's other arm only to have it caught by the man's bad arm. As Ryan tried to get a firm grip of the left arm of the beast with his left arm, the wound ached incredibly, making him grit his teeth in agony as the lycan resorted to using it's teeth to try and bite at the face of it's prey!

Ryan screamed in defiance as he cocked his head back before smashing it forwards with all the power he could generate, stunning the lycan with a monstrous headbutt! The lycan growled in pain as it staggered back, allowing the ex-marine to slowly climb backwards up the hill, his hands searching for a rock to grab. The lycan's pain was quickly replaced by a primitive rage as it lunged forward blindly only to get kicked in the face, and knocked down the hill!

The soldier eventually reached the top of the hill with moderate struggle as he tossed himself on the edge, and rolled further away from the edge so he wouldn't potentially be tackled down the rocky slope, knowing it would be catastrophic for him if it happened. When he slowly rose back to his feet, he noticed that a few more lycans were coming his way. He growled in determination as he marched forwards without fear, as he was taught to by the Forgotten Ops.

"Come and fight me!" He exclaimed, putting power into his voice as he lifted up his knife, stabbing it down into the chest of a lycan that had gotten too close. Another one happened to be right behind it, foaming at the mouth, hellbent on feasting upon the ex-marine's flesh, but it was gutted, and disemboweled by Ryan's blade. Two of those demons down within mere seconds as the brave man continued forward with adrenaline pumping through his veins, his heart racing within his chest a mile a minute as he fought like a man possessed for his life.

A large lycan was seen approaching in the distance, it was the only one left of this swarm on this cliff from what he had seen. It was one of those bulky ones with a bone mask, and spiked gauntlets on their arms. This would be a challenge for sure, as all of the other fiendish foes were not as large or as tough as these were, it would take more effort to strike it down.

With a defiant cry, Ryan hurled his knife towards the beast only to have it swatted away with ease. The large lycan then began to charge towards him at full speed while roaring at the top of it's lungs, it deep pitched howl of a roar bouncing off the trees. The ex-marine was quick to pull out his spiked club, and with a scream he delivered a powerful swing like a baseball bat towards the head of the beast, a shot that even Mickey Mantle would be proud of!

The bone mask cracked apart with a loud snap that sounded similar to a gunshot, the lycan appeared stunned for only a moment before it roared up to the man once again. It attempted to bite at Ryan's head, but he was able to smash his right forearm against the neck of the beast, preventing it from getting any closer. Ryan growled as he took his club, and grabbed the spiked end of it as he jammed the thin bottom of the club right into the mouth of his foe, shoving it right down it's throat!

The lycan gagged, and coughed as it desperately tried to get that weapon from it's mouth, but Ryan grabbed the wider end of the club and continued to force the beast to deepthroat the club. Eventually, the man ripped it from the throat of the monster, quickly smashing it's gauntlets with his club! The attack leaving only it's hands to attack with. As Ryan was about to smash it's head in with his club once more, it was caught, and quickly thrown away against a tree, the club snapping in two!

The ex-marine didn't care, he knew he had to stay on the attack, and not let this beast have any room to breathe. As soon as he felt his melee weapon leave his hands, he cocked his right arm back, and with a brave shout, launched his fist right into the face of the large lycan for a right cross! Unfortunately for the man, the fiend didn't collapse, it retaliated with a vicious slap that was hard enough to knock Ryan on his back with authority! The impact being so hard that his ears were starting to ring as if he got a flashbang. The radio that Ryan had within his quiver was broken under the weight of the beefy hunk of man, the old music abruptly coming to a halt!

(Meanwhile, within the village)

Heisenberg was standing over a table with a large map spread out across it, a detailed aerial view of the village, Castle Dimitrescu, Moreau's Reservoir, Donna's home, and including his factory as well, there was also a strange blacked out location on the map that Miranda never disclosed on what it was, which is another reason Heisenberg was conspiring against her. He was making battle plans for some unknown reason, having drawn several dots and lines where his army would move in.

He found making plans for battle obscenely difficult with the constant static his radio was emitting, and the constant revving of what sounded like chainsaws beneath the trap door, his eyes twitched as it was starting to infuriate the man of steel.

"I get so damn tired of..." Heisenberg growled through his teeth as he grabbed the map, about to rip it with all of his frustration until the radio suddenly burst to life! Playing the song "Why you wanna make me blue," by a soul band known as The Temptations.

It was then that Heisenberg reared his head back, giving out a sigh of relief as he uncurled his fingers from the map, flattening out the wrinkles he had created when he clenched his hands together tightly like a vice.

"Fucking finally..." He huffed, but then came the revving of the chainsaw motors beneath the trap door, echoing into the room.

"I didn't ask for your two cents, asshole!" He barked, and the sound went silent.

Since Ryan's radio could not screw with his broadcast anymore, the music played clearly, and it would continue to do so unless the ex-marine somehow found himself another radio to play some tunes on.

Within Castle Dimitrescu, Alcina made her way into her chambers with her long cigar in her hand, having the appearance as some kind of wand rather than a cigar. She inhaled the enticing scent of the cigar before puffing it out, gazing through the window to see the storm clouds only getting closer now, with the environment around the village becoming darker.

The countess had managed to bring her middle child, Cassandra, back inside. The brunette daughter had been feasting on a woman that she had slain with her sickle in the village while it was still relatively okay to be outside, it was not cold enough to be deadly towards her. Now the middle child was relaxing on the sofa, chilling out.

Suddenly, the phone on Alcina's table began to ring, and she quickly put out her cigar as she took a seat to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Mother Miranda asked on the other line, Alcina's eyes widened as the highest figure in power wanted to speak with her.

"Yes, Mother Miranda?" The countess asked.

"We have an outsider coming to this village, going by the name of one Ryan Miles. He hails from the United States of America, and has proven to be quite the challenge for our lycans. He could be a great asset to my cause, and if he wishes to join us, would make a fine new lord for this village, but if he puts all of our work in danger, he must be eliminated, if you happen to see him, catch him, and bring him to the meeting, we shall decide his fate." Miranda explained.

A devious grin spread across Alcina's red painted lips, enjoying the thought on feasting upon his blood and flesh. Hell, even a snicker came from her as she thought about this Ryan Miles. He may have the strength to take them on, but would he be a match for her and her daughters? She predicted that he wouldn't stand a chance even if he did step up.

"Excellent..." Alcina said coldly." It will be done, Mother Miranda. I can assure you he will never see the light of day again once he steps foot in my castle..."

"Very well, I'll see you soon." Miranda said before hanging up.

Alcina stood up from her table, and left the room to give the news to her daughters that a new man-thing would be arriving soon, news that her daughters would be glad to listen to...

(Meanwhile in the forest)

Ryan screamed as he was grabbed by the ankle, and thrown a few feet away by the large lycan that was still standing. The brave man was having trouble fighting back against this beast as he no longer had any sort of weaponry, his knife wouldn't slow the beast down as it only became more enraged than it already was. His tactical vest, and dark green shirt in which was already showing signs of wear and tear, had started to completely rip apart in his battle against the humanoid.

The large lycan approached, ready to finish it's prey off, once it tried to lunge upon the ex-marine, it received two boots to the chest, knocking it back towards a tall pine tree nearby.

Ryan scrambled to his feet, and rushed the fiend as he rammed his shoulder into the side of the mutant, forcing it against the pine tree with tremendous force! As the humanoid began to move away from the tree, the ex-marine delivered yet another right cross to the side of the beast's head, forcing it's head to slam against the tree. The lycan kept coming, so the man grabbed hold of it's head, and slammed it into the tree again before backing away!

The mutant attempted to raise it's arm up to slash him with the claws, but it was grabbed by the wrist by Ryan's good arm. The ex-marine stretched the arm out beyond the natural limits, hyperextending it, but he wasn't done yet. He used his bad arm to slam it into the elbow, snapping the bone of the arm in half at the elbow with a ruthless cry! The lycan roared in pain, and Ryan grabbed hold of one end of the bone, and used the jagged edges to ram it right into it's mouth, the pointed edge piercing the skull as blood oozed out from it's mouth, it's body going limp. The bone that had punctured the skull was drenched in blood, and wrapped in brain matter, fragment's of it's skull were all over the ground.

Ryan was exhausted from going up against so many of these fiends, he took a moment to take in deep breaths as his heart raced in his chest, sweat rolling down the sides of his face, and drenching his body underneath the clothing he wore. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have time to wait as another lycan clamped down on his meaty shoulder from behind, it's jagged fangs sinking deep into his muscular flesh. Blood oozed out from where the bite connected, staining the creature's teeth, Ryan screamed in shock as well as pain before reacting as fast as he could!

He reached back with his arm, and leaned forwards as quickly as his body allowed him to. The lycan sailed over him, landing at his front as it's jaws slipped from his right shoulder. As it turned out, this one was carrying a machete with it. It's blade was slick with blood, perhaps it had killed something earlier before detecting Ryan Miles in the area.

"How many of them are you around here?" The ex-marine asked, knowing he wouldn't get an answer from the seemingly mindless savage that stood before him, salivating.

The lycan roared as it attempted to stab the soldier, but Ryan swiftly sidestepped, connecting with a right cross to the head of the lycan. His punch didn't seem to slow the humanoid down, and it kept putting pressure. It attempted to chop his head in two, but Ryan dodged again. His heart rate starting to rush again after initially calming down as he was taking those deep breaths mere moments earlier.

The sky had continued to darken even more, now it seemed as if it was almost night. The air around them grew colder, and now Ryan was starting to shiver some as the frigid air became intense. The snowstorm was closing in quickly, and he had to do something before he succumbed to hypothermia. As the lycan attempted to stab Ryan in the gut once more, the ex-marine snagged the arm into his grasp and slammed his elbow down in the middle of it, breaking the arm with ease with a snap!

The lycan howled in pain, frosty air coming from it's opened jaws as it dropped the machete to the ground in which was starting to accumulate with frost. Ryan screamed in defiance as he picked up the blade, and ruthlessly decapitated his foe with it's own weapon, it's head falling to the ground, leaving only a fleshy, bloody husk of what it once was. The body of the mutant collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Ryan thought he was done, but he saw another one of those things rushing at him from the distance, growing closer as it was determined to take the man down. So many of it's brethren, and sisters had been decimated by Ryan alone over the years, now he would pay!

"Fuck off!" Ryan yelled at the top of his lungs, taking the bloody machete, and lobbing it towards the charging mutant. The blade was lodged into it's shoulder, but it didn't seem to hurt the humanoid as it just continued to run, roaring hatefully towards the ex-marine with rage in it's ghastly looking eyes.

Come on Ryan...use your head. Ryan thought to himself as he watched as the enemy grew closer, he then looked down to the ground to see the severed head of the lycan he had slain moments ago.

A smirk came to his face as he grabbed the messed up hair on the lycan's head, pulling it from the ground. His eyes narrowed as the vicious creature continued to rush at him with everything it had, he timed it as it got closer, as if he was aiming for when he would attack.

Once the creature was within ten yards away, Ryan launched the severed head towards the lycan, the head smashing against the skull of the one that was alive. The impact was hard enough to crack it's skull open, brain matter flying all over the place as it was stopped in it's tracks, dead.

Ryan reared his head back, screaming into the sky in victory but also as a challenge for any other of those fiends to step up to him. He would go down fighting if he had to, but almost immediately afterwards, he slumped down against a tree he stood against, exhausted, and just wanting to rest. With every breath he took, he watched the frosty air emerge from his mouth in this cold. His body shivered, it also ached, his left arm was covered in his own blood, some of it had dried, but some was still fresh. His shoulder was now bleeding from being bit, bruises littered his body in various places underneath his armor, and clothing that was now starting to rip apart on him.

His black tactical vest was covered in a mixture of Ryan's blood, lycan blood, and gore from how he brutally slain them. The vest was in shambles now, several holes had been put in it, it was almost dangling off of him at this point. His dark green shirt was ripped in a few locations, scratch marks where the cuts were made. His black cargo pants had been nasty looking holes in them too, bruises were skin was exposed. His boots, and gloves seemed to be the only things that came out unscathed although they were covered in blood.

Chilly winds blew his well kept beard into a shaggy mess, his spiked hair was ruffled around as well. The soldier was a complete mess, desperation started to slip into his mind that he needed to get back to warmth, back to his cottage. He knew his limits, he could not afford to fight against any more lycans as the weather conditions continued to only worsen over time.

A loud, guttural howl was heard in the distance, followed by several more howls. Lycans, and there were several of them coming his way from a few miles away. Ryan shook his head in disbelief, they would be able to track him down with the blood in which was dripping from him if he went back to his cabin, he would have only one option left...

"I-I've got to get back to America..." He groaned as he forced himself up on shaky legs, he began to slowly march back towards his cabin, every move he made hurt him at this point.

"Budweiser, hot dogs, and women await..." He tried to motivate himself, a last ditch effort to escape these dreaded mountains with his fighter jet. He could only hope it had enough fuel to get him across the entire ocean back to Pensacola as he hoped.

Eventually, Ryan had made it back to his cabin. The storm creeping up on him with every minute that went by. Snow had started to fall, he would have to get his fighter jet started quick.

Since he was taking a trip back to the United States, away from these lycans, he felt that he wouldn't need to pack anything into his jet, he would completely abandon this cabin he had made for himself, and the thing he had lived in for the past ten years.

"You've s-served me well." Ryan groaned, speaking to the cabin as he climbed into the cockpit of his fighter jet, shutting the door over him. He crossed his heart as he prepared the engines, getting ready to take off into the cold Winter sky.

Finally, the jet roared to life, ready to go. Ryan turned the jet away from the cabin, and began to pilot the aircraft, rushing across the flat topped hill before finally taking off into the air!

"I'm done with this fucking place, all of it." He grumbled as his jet climbed high into the sky, making sure not to fly too high to avoid the storm, but also making sure not to fly too low so his jet wouldn't crash into the tall trees.

For around ten minutes, it was perfectly smooth sailing, flying high to get over mountains before stooping back down to avoid the storm. It was strangely peaceful, the thought of not having to deal with these threats anymore, at least for a while, brought him comfort. He could finally go back to Pensacola, find a wife, get married, and possibly raise a son or a daughter. He swore an oath that he would vanquish all of the enemies of the Forgotten Ops, and he would return back to these mountains to destroy them all one day, with proper military force, he accepted the fact that he couldn't do it alone.

However, it wasn't long until things started to shift against his favor once more. For around the fifteen minute mark of consistent flying, snow clouded the cockpit window. Everything around him suddenly became white, and the air grew rough as the jet was rocked from side to side.

"Dammit, I can't see shit through this snow!" Ryan cussed loudly, angered at how things were going wrong for him at every turn he made. Would he ever escape this place?

The ex-marine struggled to control the aircraft as it shook out of control, the blinding snow making things all the more worse for his situation. He gritted his teeth as he tried to pull his jet up, wanting to soar above the clouds if he could so he could get over the storm, but his jet continued to rock around out of his control. It only got worse the higher his jet climbed in altitude, or so he thought he was climbing in altitude.

Suddenly, the roughness of his flight stopped. Everything had strangely returned to normal, smooth sailing. Upon closer inspection though, it turned out that Ryan was in a whole lot more danger than simply flying in a storm cloud...

The jet was taking a nosedive straight for the ground, falling rapidly. Ryan could feel the pressure of the fall within the cockpit, he desperately tried to pull the jet back up, but at this point it was too late, it was in freefall, and there was no stopping it. The storm must be screwing with it somehow for it to be messing up on him this badly.

"Shit, shit, shit!" He exclaimed in horror, but as well as anger. All he wanted to do was to return back to Pensacola, and have a normal life for a while before returning to his duties. However, it seemed like he would fight until the end in this environment.

Everything outside of the jet was nothing but blurs, and even Ryan didn't know how long it would take before it inevitably smashed into the frosty grounds. He had no choice but to eject from his jet. With a pull of a switch, the cockpit window burst open as his chair was launched out of it! The ex-marine quickly activated his parachute as his chair started to plummet to the ground.

He shook his head in disbelief as he watched his only means of escape back to America go up in flames after it went spiraling out of control to the ground, slamming into the trees, and erupting into flames. His seat joined the inferno as well.

The man steered his parachute to head away from the flaming rubble that was once his fighter jet, his eyes glued to the fires that were quickly being put out by the falling snow. When he turned his head back to facing forward, he was met with a line of trees. The ex-marine would end up smashing through several thin tree limbs, his face being nailed repeatedly by leaves, and sticks. His already bruised, and battered body slammed into tree after tree, helplessly bouncing off of each one until his parachute finally broke, where he would end up falling through several dead limbs before he crash landed into a dead bush, the dried, brittle twigs breaking under his weight!

Once the man hit the ground, his vision flashed black a few times as he went in and out of consciousness, the fall damn near knocking him out with the impact. He was lucky he wasn't so high up when he began to fall, he would have been killed had it been any higher. The soldier flipped himself over to his back to look up at the sky, it was pitch black due to the storm. Everything almost appeared as if it was night time, he slowly glanced over to his side to see the glowing light of the small fires in which were being put out.

"Dammit..." He groaned as pain shot through his entire body, but also as his only source of natural light began to fade out. He knew that he would be totally lost if he didn't pull out his flashlight that he had within the pockets of his cargo pants. He slowly reached down, and pulled it out.

With a press of a button, the ex-marine turned on his secondary light source as the fires finally went out due to the unforgiving cold air, and snow in which was already starting to pile up on the ground. It had already been raging through this area before he arrived with his jet, he hoped that the worst of it was over, as it wasn't coming down as hard as he expected it to be, but the temperature of the air was brutal.

To make matters even worse, his flashlight only added a small amount of light, for it was old, and outdated. Having a couple packs of spare batteries with him, within the flashlight was the last set of them, so he had to make it count.

"Dogshit flashlight, what are the odds...?" Ryan grumbled as he slowly crawled over to a tree, using it to help himself up, his entire body aching like hell as he struggled to even stand.

He had no clue where he was at, all that surrounded him was snow, as well as dead trees, and bushes. Dried, brittle twigs littered the snowy ground as his boots crunched the snow beneath him as he stumbled forward. Shining his light as best as he could forward some so he could light his pathway to see where he was going.

No matter what happens in life, keep marching forward. Never look back, never stray from your goal. The voice of Malosi spoke in Ryan's head, it wasn't his ghost speaking to him, it was something the Samoan-American had told him in the past right before Ryan served his first tour in the Marine Corps at a young age of 19.

We will all perish one day, and move on to our destined places. However, as long as one of us survives these encounters. We will never be forgotten, I don't expect many of us to survive this campaign. I pray that one of you can live to start a family, and pass on our tale to your children of our adventures. It will feel amazing to be a legend in the eyes of the child that belongs to the man I once called a brother in arms. Dan said, yet another memory for Ryan to uplift himself with as he added more power into his steps.

Dan had told him that right before they went on the campaign to annihilate the lycan horde from Europe, of course only one of them had survived, and it was Ryan. The one who was least expected to live. Due to constant training, and traveling around the world. The man didn't really have that much of a social life, he had no friends outside of the Forgotten Ops, hell, he didn't even get a girlfriend. He only knew his parents for a short time before they were murdered, as well as the entire town he lived in going missing strangely.

The solitude, and isolation from the world with no one but himself was starting to get to him. Sometimes at night when it was warm outside, he would gaze up at the stars while sitting on that hill he had once lived at the top of. Imagining a beautiful wife sitting next to him, stargazing along with him. However, that life he longed for wasn't real. Now it didn't seem like it would ever happen.

Just as Malosi had told him several years in the past, Ryan kept moving forward through the darkness of the forest. His breathe was shaky as his body shivered in the cold, he had to find shelter or a means of warmth, and fast before hypothermia started to settle in.

Every move he made was a stumble, at times he would have to catch himself on a tree to prevent himself from falling. He had fought so hard, and even though he held his own against a horde of lycans earlier, he did not come out of that fight unscathed. Bruises, freshly made red scars, and blood smeared all over his body was proof of it. Eventually, he came to a fence that was blocked off by what appeared to be rusty barbed wire. Or was it rust?

Ryan started to fear that he had stumbled upon a person's property, and the barbed wire meant keep out, but he also believed that whatever property this could belong to would provide him shelter and warmth. He used his gloved hand to press it under the barbed wire, sliding his flashlight under it so he could try to get through. He slowly shimmied his way under the obstacle, but once he let go, the barbed wire dropped down unexpectedly, slicing through the fabric of his glove, creating a cut on his hand!

The ex-marine cussed under his breath, and wiped the blood away on the remains of his completely torn apart vest, and shirt. A cut like that would hurt like a bitch, but it wouldn't be enough to kill him, so he pressed forward while gritting his teeth, fighting through the pain.

It wouldn't take too long before Ryan started to realize that there was something wrong with this forest, or wherever he was. As he continued to move forward, he would see a dead crow laying on the ground. Frozen solid, it had been completely disemboweled and torn apart by some kind of predator. Seeing it like that sent a shiver down his spine, but then he heard a noise of what sounded like a rock sliding down a hill! He froze in place, and looked around to see nothing but darkness, and the tree limbs that looked like ghoulish hands.

He began to feel like he was being watched, or stalked. It was a feeling he hated with a burning passion, he always felt that there was something you cannot see, and it would always shift out of view when you tried to face it. That dreaded feeling was even worse due to the fact that there was a lycan plague spreading across the country, he was too weak to fight now, he could hardly even stand as it is.

"Leave me alone...you s-sons of bitches." He groaned in defiance before continuing to move forward, but it only gave him more hideous sights to view. Several more dead crows littering the snowy ground, some of them hanging from the trees. An abandoned wheelbarrow with what appeared to be dried up blood within it, but this was a clue that he was getting somewhere, surely a wheelbarrow just can't be laying in the middle of nowhere.

Ryan attempted to pick up the pace a little, as the cold was starting to become too much for him to handle. Stumbling through the mist some more until he finally seen more items on the ground close to each other. A tire, wheelbarrow, and several bags laying against a rock. There turned out to be a small wooden house, just what he needed!

He was a bit hesitant to open the wooden door at first, but as he looked up, he noticed there was a window above it. Behind the window was nothing but darkness, this place had long been abandoned. The ex-marine let out a sigh of relief as he passed into the house, closing the door behind him. Although he was indoors now, it was still cold, but it wasn't as horrible as it was outside of this two story cottage.

Was this the only building in this entire forest aside from Ryan's cabin? No, it couldn't be. There had to be other buildings around here somewhere, or so Ryan had hoped.

The soldier took a seat on a table, trying to rest for a moment to regain his strength. Needing it for the journey ahead of him as he tried to find civilization of any kind, or any kind of place that would provide him with better shelter than an old dilapidated cottage such as this one. After around five minutes of taking in deep breaths, and checking himself for any signs of infection of where he had been bit or clawed at by lycans, he stood up. Continuing his search through the house.

Furniture was turned over, junk was all over the floor. It smelled of rotten food in some places of the house, he also noticed a patch of blood on the table in another room as he continued to lurk through the house. The strange feeling of being watched had followed him into this building, and it wasn't leaving him. Ryan found himself looking over his shoulder just to stare into a dark void, a cold sweat running down him as he expected something to jump out of the shadows. He was on high alert the entire time he rummaged through the house for clues.

There was a sink with shitty brown water in it, the sink wouldn't even work. A dresser had dusty, tattered clothing hanging within it next to a box with several files contained within it, the contents of those files spilling out into the dresser amongst the other junk that was contained within it. He also found a picture of a strange person on it. It was a woman, who appeared to have a halo behind her head, she also wore a mask, and seemed to have several wings sprouting from her back. It reminded Ryan of what people call "bible accurate angels" or seraphim from her appearance, little did he know that this person was the highest figure in power of this region, Mother Miranda.

Due to the rotten smell of every provision in the cottage, there was no food for Ryan to devour, and the water had to have been contaminated at this point that was sitting in the sink. To prepare himself for continuing his stroll through the dark forest, he grabbed some of the clothes from the dresser, and covered his shoulders in it like a caveman wearing animal skin. It wouldn't offer him perfect protection, but it would be enough to satisfy for now.

A loud thud shook him from his calmed state, he braced himself for an attack, a hateful scowl etched on his face! Nothing ever came though, no lycan lunged at him from the shadows, no person emerged to attack him, perhaps something had broken, and it caused something else to fall over. Ryan traced the sound to a room where another dresser had fallen over against a chest, creating a crawl space for him to get under. As he started to shimmy his way underneath the fallen dresser, he noticed a patch of blood on the ground, when his hand pressed in it, it was fresh...

There was also a large hole in the wall, leading to the outside. Within this room, books were scattered all over the floor. Chairs, and tables had been turned over, and blood was everywhere. Fresh blood. The scent was horrid, and it caused Ryan to nearly vomit, but he kept his composure as he left through the hole in the wall. He knew it was a lycan attack, it had to have been one with this much blood all over the house, and how it looked like a cyclone had went through it.

Ryan ended up in the backyard, and the first thing he noticed was that he could see without a flashlight now. It seemed that the storm had finished passing over this region, and regular daylight was returning, although slowly, as it was still noticeably cloudy. The soldier kept moving forward, hopping over the fence, and walked through a narrow pathway between two steep rocky hills.

Once he reached the end of the path, the sight shook him to his core, but not in an intimidated way, but more of surprise and awe.

He happened to be standing on a large hill, offering a pitch perfect view of the lands around him. Far in the distance, and surrounding him was mountains as far as the eye could see. It was like the mountains had formed a circle around these several acres of land, rising out of the cold Winter mist was a mighty castle, which is what surprised him the most. A gothic looking castle straight from the middle ages, he shook his head in disbelief at the sight. The castle wasn't the only thing here though, for at the bottom of this hill he stood on was a great village!

The village was not bustling with life at all, there were no people outside of the buildings. He could hear no one talking, no animals making noises. It was almost silent with the exception of crows cawing, and a large gong far in the distance, more than likely coming from the castle, the sound echoing off the mountains, giving this view a rather eerie feeling.

"Where the world am I?" Ryan thought to himself as he examined the environment with awe, but he knew he had to keep moving. If you told Ryan that taking the steps into the village would ultimately change his life forever, he would think you are crazy, but he would soon find out that his life was about to take a sharp turn, but would it be for the better or for the worst?