(The vampires bodies mentioned here come from a recent story that is still ongoing in the Wolverine comic. Dracula and the vampire nation are seeking to rise just as the mutant nation has done, and they found that Logan's blood allows them to become daywalkers, so they want him. And they were attacking towns in the north to build their ranks 30 days of Night style. So this that is the context for the vampire bodies, and the disaster that overtook the town.)

Chapter 4

Under the moonless night, the wind howled through the valley where the old quarry settlement once stood, a tension seemed to charge the air around the remains of the old graveyard. Then, just above the opened grave the darkness seemed to deepen, thicken unnaturally, a cold void seeming to form just over the grave. A series of red eyes gradually became visible, and on the wind the sounds of countless unearthly screams and sobs could be heard as from the void the red eyes emerged as barely visible shades, who started to rushed together and started to coalesces in a single dark whole. Soon only two flaming red eyes remained, glaring malevolently out into the night as gradually a larger shadowy form could be seen. For a moment there was an impression of a horned skull in red armour taking shape, before the intangible shade began to move rapidly, flying invisibly through the night sky at great speed.

Eventually it came to a small decaying town, lost in the icy north, long forgotten by the world at large, and now empty and deserted when sudden doom visited this town in a tide of blood, it's people victims of the machinations of ancient evil seeking to stake it's place in the new order forming in the world.

The shade stopped over a recently and hasty erected snow covered mound, where the evil had been checked, though too late for the townsfolk swallowed whole, and the dread being's eyes glowed brighter. Suddenly there was stirring in the ground, and a pale white hand shot out, breaking the snow, and soon a man with dirty blond hair struggled out, his clothes ragged and bloody, a wooden stake through his heart. It stood still for a moment, looking blankly into the shade's eyes, a corpse standing on his feet. His mouth hanging open, showing long, razor sharp canines, and eyes that seemed to glow red in the dark.

For a moment they stayed like that, and then the shade rushed into the standing corpse, vanishing into it like smoke, the figure jerked and began to shift, infernal flame flashed for the eyes for a moment, his fangs growing longer, his teeth sharper, forming a demonic grin of razor sharp teeth. It's ears grew more bat-like, horns forming on it's head, a terrible demonic visage leered out into the night with flaming eyes. His arms grew longer and elongated into claws that burned with the same unholy fire as his eyes. The whole body become unnaturally elongated, warped and monstrous, the creature laughed triumphantly, pulling the stake out of it's heart, and the injury began to repair.

'This form will do for now,' the creature said, as the body shifted back again to the form of the vampire it had been, though it's eyes still burnt with an unholy light.

Raising his hand, soon other figures arose from the ground in the settlement, and they eyes glowed with demonic fire, and walked up to the first, speaking as one they said, 'you were right sorcerer, the power you gained from possessing and taking the soul the mutant Persephone and uniting to your abilities allows you to raise bodies as vessels for us inhabit. And the unholy and more powerful nature of these vampire bodies will do for now, but they, attuned more to our infernal essence as they are will soon burn out. Nor can we use our full power in them, without almost immediately using them up.'

'We must move,' the figure of the blood vampire responded, 'but we have work to do. Not only do we have her power but also what remains of Persephone's resources will be ours. Once we are ready then I shall finally possess my perfect vessel and with his undying nature united to us, the bodies raised for you and your brethren to inhabit will always renew and strengthen, you shall possess them indefinitely, as promised.'

'That had best be soon, to repay us for freeing you from imprisonment in the mind of the human Sharpe, and restoring your power. And remember, to possess the vessel will take all our strength,' the others again speaking as one, 'we have both tried to possess him in the past, and both have failed and been cast out.'

'Not this time,' the blond figure flashing a fanged predatory grin, 'this time he will be mine, with all the power of hell your kind invested in him before. We shall also have help, I have prepared for some special guests to join us from the pit, they too are desperate to reacquaint themselves with our target. This time Logan-san will be mine.'

'The woman could be a danger,' the voices intoned. 'We must be ready for her as well.'

'Well shall be. Now come, we must move,' the sorcerer commanded.

With that, in full possession of the vampiric abilities drawn from the host body they shifted into large bats with hell-fire eyes, and fled into the deep shadows of the night.

Canada, early 1900's

Dog had been wandering the wilds of the Northern Fronter for years, searching for any sign of James, his hatred and vengeance burning in his chest, feeling the cold wind burn along the three scars on his face. If he were challenged he might have said his tireless hunt was about revenge for his father, to kill the monstrous abomination James had become, but in truth, deep down, he hated James because his father had loved him, whilst Dog's own had beaten and hated him, because James had everything, even Rose. But even more, as soft as he was, James had humiliated him twice, first when James gave him the face he now wore, a permanent reminder of how he humbled him, and then, stripped of all he once had, James had still beaten him, and nearly killed him. His only consolation was that in the battle James had accidentally killed that Irish tart, and it seemed to have driven the boy mad, Dog grinned viciously at the thought.

In the end it was envy, and wounded ego and pride that drove Dog on, determined to prove he was better, and take revenge for James having the better father, the better life, for being the better man, and for still being better even after he'd been stripped down to a bottom. He'd still survived, and he'd bested Dog again, the humiliation burned in Dog, driving on unwavering hatred and determination.

But as good a tracker as he was, he'd come up again on a false trail, a few more wolf pelts to add to those he would trade, more corpses in his wake, but no sign of James anywhere.

One day, during a particularly rough snow storm, Dog had retreated back into a cave for shelter, there had been no sign of any animal, and Dog began to prepare a fire, when he hear a whisper calling to him from the depth of the cave. Dog couldn't quite make out what it was saying, but felt compelled to following the hissing whisper deeper into the darkness.

The cave seemed to extend far further than he had initially thought, and soon found Dog lost in the dark passage that seemed to go forever, though there was no way the cave could be this deep. He had checked, something deep inside pleaded and begged for him to go back, but something else stronger compelled him on deeper and deeper.

Then Dog found himself face to face with darkness so deep it's presence was almost physical, there was no passing it and he soon felt himself frozen, paralysed and locked in place, a terrible cold coming upon him, seeping into his very bones. A cold fire seemed to burn him, and he wanted to scream from the pain, but couldn't open his month, he cold only stare into the void before him. After what seemed like an eternity, a pair of flaming eyes gradually took shape in the darkness before, boring into his mind and soul, stripping him bare, and soon Dog lost all sense of himself in those flaming depths. A red, horned demonic face took shape in the darkness, it's fanged mouth locked in a cruel laugh, as it hovered in the void starting back at him.

'Good, gaijin you are ready,' the red demonic face intoned. 'There is someone who wishes to speak to you.'

The face receded back into the darkness from which it came, and a new pair of red eyes appeared in the darkness, 'ah my other useless excuse of a son, nothin' but disappointment. I might hate my other one, but you were nothin' but a failure all along, couldn't back me up, an' got me killed, and you couldn't even avenge me or yourself at all. Thought I might have beaten some better sense into you, but in the end, you're worthless. Nothin' but a mangy dog after all.'

Dog's eyes widened, cold sweat breaking out from the fear that voice still evoked in him after all these years. I couldn't be, Dog thought, that ol' bastard dead.

Mocking laughter returned to him, 'dead? Yeah, I'm dead, that soft James fixed me good, I'll give him that. But I'm not gone, just in hell. But soon I'll get revenge for both of us, but as always I'll have to do it myself. But you'll help, and this time you won't fail me boy. Gotta get you and your body ready though, I'm not exactly here right now, but speaking to you through the hell of many doors, supposed to torment us by reliving all our pain and regrets. But with enough power, sometimes somethin' can cross back into that time, or so I'm told. And here we are boy, and now I need you to final do somethin' right for me. Get out that knife of yours and plunge into heart for your dear old Pa,' the voice of Thomas finished, laughing that him cruelly.

Dog wanted to refuse, but found to his horror his right hand was now free and was reaching to his belt, and pulled his bowie knife free, then lifted and turned it towards blade first towards his chest and placed the point over his own heart. Soon his left hand had joined it, putting itself over the pommel. He was screaming for himself to stop, but he had no control over his body, with a hard thrust he felt an incredible, sharp pain tear through him as the knife transfixed him right up to the hilt. Dog felt his life blood pouring away from, and soon he dropped to his knees.

As he felt the pain grow more distance, and his vision fade as his blood poured from him and his heart cease to beat, he felt the darkness rush into him, freezing him in place, sealing his whole body.

'That it,' Thomas voiced mocked him, 'keep that body nice and preserved, I'll be back for you both eventually. So enough for me now, longer I guess you my boy. But look on the bright side, you'll finally get your shot at both James and his Irish tart.'

At that darkness took him.