CHAPTER 4
*background music : (Bloody Tears)*
So the adventure had begun. Hugh and Nathan both picked up a new partner to aid them in their new quest. Audrey Belmont claimed she knew the way to CastleVania; so Nathan and Hugh decided to put their trust into her. After all, she did help them win the fight against Slogra and Gaibon. However, Audrey is reluctant to believe that it was her father 'Derick Belmont' who resurrected Count Dracula. Audrey would have to fight out for herself that this indeed was true.
Their adventure began in the first stage of the CastleVania area; the haunted forest. It was crawling with certain minions for sure, so Hugh and Nathan were both wary. Audrey also held firm to her whip to make sure the area around them would be safe. "Stick close to me" Hugh addressed Audrey, "I wouldn't want anything to happen to a lady now." "Don't worry" Audrey addressed Hugh, "You don't have to worry about me. I'm a skilled hunter myself." "As much as I'm unsure to believe that, I guess I'll have to go along with what you say" Hugh said. "Does your friend always have this attitude towards women?" Audrey asked Nathan. "Sometimes" Nathan said "But he's not that bad. I'm sure he'll think you're useful." Just then, a loud fluttering came into the air. At that moment, an entire swarm of bats appeared. The vicious flying creatures flapped their huge wings, and bared their fangs. There were about ten of them in the swarm. They began to flutter around the three vampire killers. "Damn bats!" Nathan growled "They're always more of a nuisance than a danger." "Okay guys, let's just knock em down" Audrey yelled. Audrey grabbed out her whip and lashed it into the air. She nailed one of the ten bats dead on. The bat disappeared in a fog of it's own blood. Bits of what was left of the bat fell to the ground. Nathan then ran after some more bats as they tried to swoop down to sink their fangs into his neck. Nathan twirled his whip around to ward the bats off a bit. Then, with a mighty jump, he lashed his whip, and hit two bats dead on. The two bats became a puddle of blood in a matter of seconds. The other seven bats screeched louder, and began to fly in random patterns to avoid the whips. But Hugh swung his sword around, and nailed another two bats with one blow. Now, only five bats remained. "Guys, why are we wasting our time with bats?" Audrey asked "Let's just save our strength for when we really need it." "Because, these little fuckers won't stop until they hunt you down" Hugh yelled back. Audrey then lashed her whip into the air, and struck two bats again. They too became puddles of blood. "Hey ..nice shot with the whip" Hugh said. "Thank you" Audrey said "I guess your opinion on me is changing already." But then, a bat was right behind Audrey, and about to bite her neck. But before it could do so, Nathan whipped the little bat which became bloody bits in seconds. "Just two more" Nathan said. But just as he said it, the remaining bats flew away. Their loud screechs were now just mere echoes. "Hmph ...cowardly shits!" Hugh muttered "Those bats were worthless." "Whaddya expect?" Audrey asked "They're just small furry little freaks that casually fly in the woods." "Enough" Nathan said "We're wasting out time here. Let's just go." Just then, they heard a really loud screech in the air. Then, there were sudden gusts of wind. "What the Fuck was that?" Hugh asked in disbelief. "I dunnno. But we better get outta here while we still can" Audrey exclaimed "Hurry. We gotta get going without anymore delays." "She's right" Nathan said "Let's get going!"
The three vampire killers ran through the forest, whizzing by dead trees with moss covered branches. The ground crunched beneath them as they ran over dead branches and various insects. The sky was still dark, and fog was more than present in the woods. Suddenly, dark figures were scurrying through the fog. Their sihoulletes were clearly seen through the fog. "The Hell?" Hugh asked in disbelief. "HERE THEY COME!!!" Audrey yelled. And sure enough, out from the fog came three skeletons. They began to hurl long white bones at the three vampire killers. Their empty eye sockets glared back at the trio, and their dry jointed mouths let out dry crackling laughter as they seemed to delight in throwing their bones at Hugh, Nathan, and Audrey. "Oh man, not more of these guys again" Nathan complained. "Just one more reason to toast em" Hugh said "So let's take a swing at the mother fuckers!" Hugh took his sword and made a charge at one of the skeletons. The skeleton jumped back and held a long white bone of his to try and club Hugh with. Hugh just swung his sword at the skeleton, and lopped its skull off. "Hmph, worthless shit" Hugh said as he crushed the decapitated skull with his boot. Audrey leaped at the lead skeleton. The skeleton threw another bone at her, but missed. Audrey cracked her whip at the skeleton's skull. It shattered into many tiny pieces as the bony body fell like a heap to the ground. Nathan then took the other one by force. When the bone thrown by the skeleton was about to hit him, Nathan just whipped it, and it turned to dust. Nathan then cracked his whip at the skeleton's rib cage, causing it to disintegrate. "This is too easy" Hugh said. "No kidding" Audrey said back "A swarm of useless bats and a couple of wimpy skeletons." "I mean ...Slogra and Gaibon were hard" Hugh said "But why are there only weak enemies out?" "Guys, don't let it fool you" Nathan exclaimed "I'm sure there's more perils up ahead. And not to mention that loud screech we just heard." "Enough talking. Let's just get the Hell outta here!" Hugh yelled.
Once again, they ran through the forest. The fog began to clear now, and the trees in the forest formed a large pattern into what appeared to be a circle. On the sides of the road were stones stacked to form small columns. "Nothing forboding here yet" Hugh said. "YOU THINK WRONG!!!" boomed a voice. "Huh?" The trio then looked up. A swooping figure was flying over them. It had horns on it's head, and cloven hooves on his feet. He also had a pair of bat wings as he fluttered relentlessly around the vampire hunters. "Holy shit!" Nathan yelled "It's a demon". "GOT THAT RIGHT!" the yellowish green demon yelled "AN EARTH DEMON TO BE PRECISE!!! HEEEYYYA!!!!" The Earth Demon spread his hands out. At that point, the ground began to rumble. Then, huge spear headed pieces of earth began to emerge from the ground. "Shit!" Hugh yelled. He then jumped out of the way. Audrey back flipped out of the way too. But Nathan was a bit too late. The large pieces of earth hit him. Nathan was thrown back onto the ground. He was certain he was injured. He staggered a bit as he got to his feet. But somehow, regained the strength to stand fully tall again. "WELL ...VERY BRAVE!!!" the demon laughed. "I'll get you for that you shit!" Nathan yelled. Nathan then jumped up and lashed his whip at the Earth Demon. The Demon flew back as Nathan lashed him with his whip. The demon just laughed. "HA! PATHETIC HUMANS!!" it snarled "I FELT NOTHING FROM THAT PATHETIC WHIP OF YOURS!" "Then feel this bastard!" Audrey yelled. She then lashed her whip at the demon from behind. She hit the demon, but it didn't seem to care. "DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK BITCH!!" the Earth Demon snarled. It then released another wave of sharp pointed earth at Audrey. Audrey back flipped again, but the demon knew, and then swooped down at her. The demon then punched Audrey in her sides, knocking her to the ground, with the pieces of earth coming towards her. She could not get up in time. But then, Hugh swooped down and pulled her out of the way. "HMPH!" the demon snarled "SO THIS ONE'S QUICK!!! TIME TO ELIMINATE THIS ONE FIRST!" The demon then swooped down at Hugh. Hugh made sure Audrey could stand again. "you okay?" Hugh asked. "No problem. Thanks Hugh" Audrey said. "HUGH!! AUDREY!!! LOOK OUT FOR THE DEMON!!" Nathan yelled. At that moment, the Earth Demon released another large wave of sharp pointed earth towards Audrey and Hugh. "FUCKIN HELL!!" Hugh yelled! Hugh and Audrey both tried to dodge the earth, but both were hit as the great mounds swept them of their feet, hurling them onto the ground on quite a hard impact. The Earth Demon laughed more. "YOU PATHETIC HUMANS ARE NO THREAT TO US!!! I WILL KILL ALL THREE OF YOU WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM!!!" the demon laughed. Nathan then leaped into the air. "Not so fast asshole!" Nathan yelled. He then lashed his whip at the demon, hitting him on his upper torso. There, more damage was caused. The demon then staggered a little, but was still fully flying. "HA! NOT BAD HUMAN! I SEE YOU'VE STILL GOT SOME FIGHT IN YOU!!! BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SAVE YOU OR YOUR FRIENDS!!" The demon then released another stream of earth. Nathan lied in wait for it. "C'mon you flying scumball. Show me what you got!" Nathan muttered. Just when the pointed earth was about to hit Nathan, Nathan leaped high into the air. He jumped on the side of one of the pointed pieces of earth, and then leaped at the demon. He then lashed his whip at the demon, wrapping it around its neck. Nathan then landed back on the ground, and held his whip tight as the demon tried to get the whip off from around its neck. "GAUGH!!!! YOU BASTARD!!!!" the demon yelled. Nathan pulled harder at his whip, causing the demon to choke. Audrey saw this as an opportunity. She pulled out an axe sub weapon, and hurled at the demon's wings. The axe cut off the demon's right wing, causing him to hover lower over the ground. The demon's bloody severed wing lied in a puddle of blood on the forest floor. The demon then began to panic. "IMPOSSIBLE!!!" he shouted "HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN BEATEN BY THESE WORTHLESS HUMANS!!!?" Hugh then stood up and raised his sword. "Maybe someone didn't tell you what kind you were messing with" Hugh yelled "NOW DIE!!!!" Hugh rushed towards the wounded demon, and with a mighty thrust, plunged his huge sword into the demon's black heart. The demon gasped for air, as blood poured from his mouth and wounds. Nathan then pulled back his whip, slitting the demon's throat. The demon laid dead in a huge puddle of blood.
Hugh, Nathan, and Audrey looked ahead of the path before them. "Hey Audrey" Hugh replied, "I thought you said you knew where we were goin'." "Of course I do" Audrey insisted, "The presence of my father never leaves me. This is the exact direction where CastleVania is located." "C'mon Hugh" Nathan insisted, "You gotta trust her." "Just a gut feeling" Hugh replied "The bats and the skeletons were nothing; but this Earth Demon was something else. Even they can't be as powerful as this. Something tells me we're being led into a direction straight to Hell." "No shit Hugh" Nathan muttered "Cause we're trying to get to Dracula's castle." "That's right" Audrey replied "So stop worrying and just follow me. So what if we run into danger on the way? It's all part of the adventure right? So stop sulking Hughey and follow me." With that, Audrey ran ahead of the two men. "Did she just call me ..Hughey?" Hugh snapped. "Heh heh ...I think so man" Nathan replied with a slight laugh. "GRGH! I hate it when people call me that!! How'd she know that was the name that aggravated me the most?" "I dunno ..Hughey!" Nathan replied, and ran away after Audrey laughing. "GRRRR!! NOT YOU TOO!" Hugh yelled back at Nathan. "HEY!!! WAIT UP!!!" Hugh ran after Audrey and Nathan who ran clear into the woods. But even as they left, Hugh swore he heard that same screeching sound he heard earlier. It was distant, but still heard.