Constanta sat upon the coast of the Black Sea, with it's warm winds sparring the town of bitter cold winters which consumed the lands passed the sea. It's beach spanned over 13km, and on the southernmost tip of that shoreline was an abrupt cliff side which loomed over the seas. Hidden from common knowledge, a large crevice was upon its front. Waters flowed over it's rocky edge, forming a hidden tide pool which thrived with all sorts of sea life. The water thrashed and swirled that particular night, the winds were strong, and it's people kept indoors to wait out the brewing storm. There was no desire from the local fishermen who saw the crevice to feel the need to step in, the waves that crashed against the rock and flooded the caverns left most fearful of drowning. But if you were foolish enough to adventure in, even a mere twenty feet, you would see beyond the tides...it was quite dry, warm, even.
A structure sat within the deepest reaches of the cavern system, hidden from natural light and nestled within the thick stone of the earth, just around a sharp turn out towards the surface. There was a sudden rumbling, sparks of violet light…
And a man stepped forth, down it's stairs and onto the sands. He looked back, and decided to discard the rope he kept around himself for safety.
"Hm, seems I was overly concerned." He murmured to himself, looking ahead at the distant sound of water crashing upon rocky shores.
Windhelm of The Frontier, not exactly a famous individual by any means- but no vampire was to be messed with. The average man would lose their lives upon an unexpected encounter. Windhelm would begin his slow navigation to the surface, stepping across rocky and wet terrain with a hand close to the cold wall for balance. Moonlight shone down upon his pale complexion as he stood before the endless body of water. With ease, he flew to the top of the cliff side in the form of thick smoke. Materializing, he stood before the distant city in awe. Buildings of sun bleached stone stood tall upon the hilly shoreline. Illuminated by candlelight within many windows, few people quietly walked along its streets, bearing outfits of simple cloth and simple colors.
Oh, so it was inhabited? Excellent.
With a look of excited malice, he quickly moved towards the city by foot. There was a small group of six men who stood around a well with drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces. One of them took notice of Windhelm's presence when he came closer, and upon seeing the pale complexion, the unnatural eyes, and then fangs…
They cried out- Vampire! Vampire!- and Windhelm soared forward with a launching step, his claws sinking into the flesh of one's chest with a sickening crack from the force of it. The grin on his face was wild, with pinprick pupils that quivered as he threw the lifeless body into a group that attempted to flee. He turned sharp to one of them, who scrambled into a building and slammed the door shut. He approached in a mere blink and reduced the door to splinters. The Constantanite trembled as he fell to the floor, with a woman letting out a guttural cry as she dropped her wicker basket. Blood flowed quickly down the vampire's throat as he drank from their corpses, holding the severed arm of the male above himself as he let the crimson flow, staining his clothing, raining down faster than he could swallow.
He did not care for waste, there were many cattle for him to freely slaughter. Their lack of experience with the creatures of the night were obvious to Windhelm, and so he would take advantage of it to its fullest.
"It's been so long since I could kill with such ease!" he yelled out excitedly as he jumped back into the streets, his razor claws slicing flesh like butter. A mighty bell would toll from it's tower, and men in leather armor would begin to traverse the streets. In their hands were swords and spears, coming towards him in great numbers.
Windhelm would simply smile, and he readied himself as they approached from all sides.
"I'll tear you all to fucking shreds!" Windhelm howled with a wide grin, ready to pounce when a figure would jump down from the rooftops. They would land right in front of the other, causing his would-be attackers to hesitate and step back.
The woman glanced down upon Windhelm with fiery eyes, her hair flowing loosely down her shoulders. She pointed a long spear directly at his throat, the tip barely pushing into the pale skin. The men who were going to attack had fled, and she bared her fangs at the outsider. Her appearance gave herself away. The Black shine to her flat hair, the elegant cloth that clung to her body. The fine jewelry upon her chest, the earrings which bore lilac hued gemstones. Her lifeless skin...sharp fangs, and violet eyes. A vampire.
"I suggest you leave before I take off your head. Constanta is my territory. Usually I don't spare trespassers." She smiled as she tilted his chin up with the spear tip, Windhelm kept his look stern.
"I'm not scared of a bitch like you." He spat, and the mistress simply stared.
"So you're brainless, then." She would reply with a curl to her lilac lips. Windhelm simply looked back with a similar curl, and he let his throat be impaled by her blade. In a sharp twisting motion, the handle was pulled from her grasp, flinging it across the streets with a loud clang! Windhelm charged forward with claws unsheathed, and the other vampire would flicker from view, reappearing several feet ahead. Blood oozed from Windhelm's neck wound like a syrup, dripping down his already soaked front. The powerful woman couldn't help but stare with a mixture of shock, and admiration.
She eyed her blade for a moment, and went forth to grab hold, only to be met full force by Windhelm's body. They flew into the side of one of the buildings, the stone crumbling like mere stacks of loose pebbles.
"Tell me." Windhelm smiled as he rolled atop of her form, his hands shakingly inching closer, barely held back by her own. "I must know the name that matches your face." Windhelm continued, wincing hard as she flung her skull forward to head butt him. He couldn't help a pained cry as his claw strained.
"Oh! Oh- you fucking bitch!" He howled as he was thrown, with the woman now on top.
"Aren't you rude? I thought you wanted my name." she simply smirked as she dipped down to sink her teeth into his flesh, and his claws quickly dug in between her breasts, just barely keeping her fangs from grazing his skin. Windhelm would proceed to kick her firmly in the abdomen, sending her off of his claws, and onto the city cobble streets. Her hand instinctively hovered over her already healing wounds. She looked up in a stubborn fury and would take to the skies before Windhelm would trap her in his bloody hands. She took on the appearance of dense fog, swirling around her enemy and shoving her way into his facial orifices. She attempted to suffocate him, to wriggle into his very body and tear him apart from the inside out. Windhelm staggered back as he clawed at the fog, but his fingers simply went through, yet it felt as dense as thick mud as his lungs would burn. The vampire would cry out, and in a desperate attempt to escape, he allowed his body to burst into a heavy flame- like a flash of lighting. His assailant fell before him in her physical form, and quickly grabbed her by the throat, with smoke flowing over the fabric he wore. She was in too shocked of a state to respond until her face was thrust down towards the earth.
There was no vampire she knew of that could pull off such a spell- to cover his body in flame yet remain unscatched? What kind of vampire was this? Not even an elder vampire born under the desert sun could harness the abilities of fire in such a way.
Several times would he smash her skull into the stone, leaving her more feeble with each crack of bone and splatter of blood. Her face was bruised and broken, with popped blood vessels around her eyes as she let out a bubbly breath. Was he going to kill her? Let his nails dig into her brain and tear off her head?
"What is your name?" Windhelm breathed, his tongue trailing over his upper lip to take in her blood. His hand would clench as her eyes fluttered. It was silent for several moments.
"..Lilian." she would rasp, and Windhelm's grin went from ear to ear. His hair was wild, loose strands draping over his face as he tilted her head in a fonder manner.
"Lilian? Marvelous. You will be of use to me."
D could not fathom the form of the beast before him, the unholy monstrosity that pulled him into the well. It was the flesh of corpses, meshed and entwined upon a single skeleton with several limbs and gaping holes filled with teeth. No eyes were visible, and it sported clumps of stringy, oily hairs all over its body in generous clumps. It had several hands wrapped around D's body, their dirty nails digging tightly into him. D had expected a fall into cold waters when he was pulled into the well, but they only sat a mere twenty feet down. The flesh worm used it's several arms to grab onto stone and keep itself perched as it tried to shove the dhampir into one of it's many open mouths. He flexed, managing to just barely tear away his right arm to push himself back from the mouth, his nails digging into it's squishy flesh. It let out a cry of pain, which sounded like several people vocalizing a singular wail. D didn't unfurl his grip, leaving the creature in a pained panic as it tried to pull him back, which ended in a torn top lip falling into the waters below. D quickly pulled a dagger from his hip, and would wildly slash at the hands that swarmed to pin him once more. D would be in a difficult struggle with a fleshy mass in the hamlet well, with the creature giving another cry as D kicked a few teeth out of place with a hard blow.
Thankfully for him, the sounds would be heard by Alucard, who would rush towards the well, and peer down below. His eyes were wide in horror at the sight of what squirmed down below with D in it's old.
"D! Duck!"
The familiar would strike upon the front of the mass with a whistling speed. Though the act of doing so caused any hold it had upon the well walls to cease, and the monster would fall, with D quick to fly up and out.
He shot right up, splintering the wood and causing Alucard to fall back as D would land gracefully, his cape flowing around him like a shadow. D would bend down quietly to pull Alucard up, turning back towards the well with a suspicious glint. The familiar would whizz out of the well, and return to Alucard's side.
"Is it dead?" Alucard would speak aloud as they both approached, with D being the first to peer down into the seemingly endless abyss. Just faintly he could hear the waters below...and something trashing within it.
"I'm afraid not. We need to finish it off." D would declare, and Alucard would nod in agreement. The space to deal with such a thing would be minimal, and it seemed to be trying to pull itself back up, unless it simply couldn't swim. D didn't plan to take chances by simply leaving the monstrosity, should it manage to pull itself out. And so he stepped up upon the lip of the well, looking behind himself towards the other.
"Stay here. Further investigate. It may be tied to some sort of ritual, and will not die unless it's altar is destroyed."
"Altar? D-" Alucard went to ask, but he was already gone. This left Alucard to quickly rush off and turn the helmet upside down looking for some sort of demonic object- symbol painted into wood, maybe, anything he could find. If D were to die in the well, he would never forgive himself.
Alucard went through the homes, the merchant shop, the blacksmith's hut, the town storage barn, and the church. Nothing. There was absolutely no hint of anything demonic, only signs of the attack that took place here. Night creatures had wandered Romania and all over Europe for centuries, rare instances that often simmered out. Men and women could summon the army of Satan to do their bidding for a cost, a cost most were too afraid to pay. But ever since Dracula summoned forth a personal hoard to take over the land, a demon sighting was every other night. Only God knows of their true numbers upon the earth, and it's people were left to clean up the mess. Alucard would continue his fruitless efforts as D would quickly descend down the stone well.
To his surprise when he landed in freezing waters, the natural reservoir which the hamlet pulled its drinking water from was much larger than he could have anticipated. Upon diving in and quickly coming to the water's surface, D did not touch the bottom of the pool. The earth walls spread out from the small opening to the surface with the curving of an egg. The creature from before was nowhere to be seen, with the waters only disturbed by D himself. Quickly he scanned his surroundings and spotted a mound of earth above the waterline, which led off into a root filled burrow. With strong strides, D would begin to make his way towards it, but suddenly his leg was grabbed and he was sharply pulled under. The flesh mound seemed to be able to swim, and D found himself fighting blind.
Again did it try to shove the hunter into its hungry maw, with D using his strength to only barely prevent it. It's teeth tug into his flesh as they would sink further below. D couldn't waste time, if he were to drown, he would be left in a comatose state until he could be pulled from the water, and have it drained from his lungs. When vampires found themselves in a state in which they could not revive, they would remain as a living corpse until conditions were changed.
The flesh mound was growing frustrated with D's resilience.
Up above, Alucard was re-checking the church. He knocked over wooden pews to check every surface for some sort of maliceful symbol. He did a quick scour over the buildings already with his inhuman speed, but there were good chances he was seeking for something that wouldn't simply be in the open. The smell of blood and rotting flesh was becoming suffocating with the sun shining down upon the hamlet. Alucard found himself covering his sensitive nose with the hem of his sleeve as he forced his way into the church attic. There was no floor above, merely support beams and the ropes of the bells. There was a singular walkway close to the left wall, and it would lead to the narrow church tower. Alucard would quickly jump across, rushing up the stairs to the tower top. The door would open with a dull creak, and Alucard was coughing at the feather dandruff. A voice cried out which caused Alucard to freeze in his tracks.
"Stay back!" They would cry, holding out a pitchfork with shaking hands. It was an eldery woman of all things, and Alucard quickly held up his hands.
"I am not here to harm you." He spoke calmly as he went to approach, but the pitchfork was quickly pointed to his chest.
"I know what you are-" The woman would quickly reply. "I see those fangs- you're a vampire! A demon! You've come to finish off this village, have you? Stay back!"
"No! I fight the demons you speak of!" Alucard spoke back sternly. "There is something in the well- an evil created through dark magic. I need to destroy it."
"I can't let you do that- it protects us-"
"Protects?" Alucard would question, and he quickly realized he stood before it's maker, A frail old woman, obviously to her wits end.
"We- we were slaughtered." She would explain with a wobbly voice. "The demons- they came in the night. Everyone around me was torn apart like straw dolls! I had no choice- I used their bodies to create a being to ward off evil. And- and it works! But.."
"You were the only one alive by the time you finished it, right?" Alucard would ask softly, and the eldery woman finally pulled back her pitchfork, leaning against it as her eyes would water.
"I did what had to be done." She spoke simply, Alucard had to be careful.
"You did. Now it's work is done. We must put those people to rest." Alucard would speak softly, and he moved a few steps closer.
"No- not yet. It's work is not done. You stand before me, vampire." She would scowl, and she thrust forth her pitchfork, square into Alucard's chest. Immediately did he grimace, sucking in a weak breath as she pushed it further, forcing Alucard to take a few steps back. His hands clutched around the metal prongs, and he slowly pushed them back.
"I'm not a vampire of evil. I am a vampire with a human soul. Do you not see it in my eyes?" He spoke softly, staring directly back at her. The woman tried to push back, but her strength was nothing to him.
"My mother was human. I am no fiend who draws blood for fun." He pleaded to her, her hands began to shake, and she dropped the pitchfork handle, letting it fall to the floor. The puncture wounds bled lightly, and Alucard held out his hand.
"Let me help you. We will put the village people to rest, and you will live to see the next sunrise."
Of course, the woman was still hesitant. She had all the right to be. Though considering the monster she birthed into the world outside, she knew her way around witchcraft and magic. But, she seemed to have no evil intentions, simply acting upon survival instincts in a desperate situation. Alucard could feel sympathy, even if it was faint. What she had done to the corpses of her neighbours would reserve her a place in an unsightly afterlife. A few more moments would pass, and the eldery woman would simply scowl.
"I don't need your help." She decided as she rummaged through the top of her blouse, leaving Alucard to stare with both confusion, and disappointment. Quickly she tossed at him a voodoo doll, resembling the many victims, which had been sewn poorly with thin twine.
"Burn it- and it's over with." She explained to him simply, going out the door and leaving Alucard even more bewildered. Seems the old woman had elderberries where her brain should've been. But there was no time to worry about that. Alucard clutched the doll firmly in his hand, and set it ablaze in an instant.
Simultaneously, the flesh mound was no more. It let out a final wail before seeming to crumble into sand, and separate corpses. D was finally able to breach the surface with a sputtering cough and sharp inhale. The monstrosity had toyed with him, wanting to drown him so it could be consumed and become a part of it's flesh. D slowly dragged himself from the water, and collapsed on the earth. His mind was fuzzy and oxygen starved, swirling with dancing visions of his past.
With visions of Alucard.
"Seems- seems you were worried, eh?" The hand would sputter, and D pressed it into the dirt as he grumbled a weak 'shut the hell up.'