Disclaimer: I do not own anyone of "Flint: The Time Detective," and the monsters are mostly borrowed from the way beyond cool Playstation game "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night." I own the castle, the monsters, and the count. I know this is probably my shortest chapter, but I'll make up for it next chapter with Flint vs. Merlock! Hail to Merlock and Sara! Enjoy!
Chapter 5
Welcome to Your Nightmares
~ Castle of Count Ezekeil ~
- West Wing -
Dr. Goodman was a bit horrified and babbling about Merlock's behavior, more or less he let Merlock know that it was not only trip free, but Merlock looked like he knew what he was doing, and liked it. Merlock didn't recall anything but saving the chatty man's life and avoiding being eaten by the she-beast. He was a little amazed at himself too. Never in his life had he ever been so….graceful. He had to admit it, no tripping, falling, no teasing, just a fight to the death and nothing but the air at his back, with snapping, drooling jaws a breath away. It'd felt so good, he felt so strong lately, like he could take on any monster in the realm.
He felt so damned alive and free fighting for more than just time and space. Fighting for Sara and his love, his friends as well so deathly was exhilarating. It was dead serious, which only pushed him on. There had been a few illusions off and on of ghosts and monsters he garnet eyes saw right through, but the Sara illusions were harder to resist running to. He missed her so badly. Even the illusions were temporary comfort for his ailing heart, only to break it into a thousand pieces whenever the image would vanish.
Goodman didn't help by pointing out that Sara wasn't real after Merlock ran through the illusions into walls and doors. He'd shoot the man a terse look with a bruised face, then plod on. Now he saw why Jillian jilted the man, he never shut up and what he spoke of was near and far of the subject at hand. He was a brilliant scientist, but still, he could talk you to death about nonsense.
At least Tony wasn't with him, he and Getalong were safe outside. He looked out what windows he could after saving Tony, he'd seen them out there. By now, they had to be in town, maybe. He just hoped outside was safer than inside, for humans anyway. He still had Flint, Jillian and his dearest Sara to save. "You seen Bindi yet?" Goodman piped as Merlock tried a new door, finding it locked. He sneered at her name, nearly breaking the knob before moving on. "I owe Bindi nothing but a swift kick in the shell. She gave Sara away to those things. I won't forgive her for that….she's got a one way trip back to the Land of Time. Sara and I had a wonderful date, and Bindi took her from me out of petty jealousy….oops…." he said angrily at first, then held his mouth.
Goodman had stopped walking, and was staring at him. Merlock could almost feel it boring into his back. "Date….so that's why she's been missing from her room lately." He said calmly enough, but Merlock heard a bit of temperament in it. He turned his head a bit, looking at the man. "I guess Jillian doesn't know….yet."
Merlock shook his head then felt his face redden as Dr. Goodman smiled. "Don't worry, son, I was rooting for you. Jillian….is a bit cold a lot. I dunno why she'd forbid either of you to see each other over a simple thing as Petra escaping again. I thought she was in love with you."
"I don't know….I just was….given a chance to see Sara again and took it. Please….don't forbid me too…I'll just break it and steal her away. I can't stand to be without her, please." Merlock begged, but the man kept smiling.
"Calm down, Merlock. Your secret is safe with me….I always wanted you two to get together, you treat her right and you dote on her endlessly. You remind me a little of me when I was your age….but you….well, I have to admit it, you're not blinding in love with her, like I am with Jillian. I doubt it'll ever be something, but no harm in trying. Not like I'm stalking her…heh, heh. You live your life….however you see fit with your heart. I approved of you long ago…even before Sara probably did….just know if you break her heart, I'll turn you into stone and put you in the park." Goodman grinned.
Merlock nodded slowly, knowing he'd never harm Sara's precious, golden heart. "Deal….now onward." Merlock grinned with prominent fangs. Sometimes, Dr. Goodman made sense.
"Hey who knows, maybe if I try hard enough and act as fancy as you do, Jillian will come around and see what handsome catch I am too." Goodman chirped. Merlock's face fell. 'Sometimes he makes sense….other times….hasn't got a clue.' He thought, frowning with a roll of his eyes.
Merlock tested the next door, and it surprisingly turned. He looked up at it, and there was a symbol on it, an eye. He frowned a bit. "Now what….beholders*? Giant floating eyes dribbling puss and slimed up blood? What new gross horrors are in store for me, hmm?" he mutters, griping the hilt of his blade tightly as he kicked the door in.
He blinked, silent a moment, not daring to breathe. "What is it?" Goodman said loudly behind him. Merlock jumped five feet in the air with a screech and landed on the poor man's head. Merlock picked himself, not bothering to help the man up. He'd nearly scared the life out of him. "Nothing….but a bedroom…." Merlock said tersely, walking inside.
Goodman just looked up, rubbing his sore head. "Nice bedroom…looks almost…romantic. Red and pink everywhere, you could really woo heavily in there." Goodman announced. Merlock looked back at him as he stroked the satin sheets. They were terribly soft and silky, almost making his skin quiver with delight. He always dreamed of his and Sara's honeymoon looking like this, in fact exactly, except not so much pink, maybe some lavenders and blues instead. Red had been one of his ideas for it, the other shades on other days. It looked so shiny and inviting, the smell of roses, his Sara's sweet smell wafting in his delicate nostrils.
Sleep, little boy, sleep with love….eternally….
His head swam a bit with thoughts of her, like she was beside him. 'Lay down….yeah….wanna lay down.' He thought groggily, his eyes lidding a bit off and on. He felt so tired suddenly, so loose and relaxed. He did want to lay down, just rest, maybe for a minute. Merlock could see the sheets getting closer, almost reaching out to him like a lover to draw him in.
Soon he saw nothing but red as his mind drifted to sleep. He barely heard the door slam shut with Dr. Goodman screaming out his name. It was all so far away and unnecessary.
Sleep little boy….sleep….so I can love you to death.
The voice was so soft, so faraway, but his body was helpless to do anything but agree and obey. He'd sleep….yes.
Sleep and die….heh…heh.
~ Nightmare ~
Merlock felt something licking his neck. It was soft and small, wetly warm. He moaned gently, it felt so nice. His body was still half-asleep, but the senses were coming again. Someone was lying beside him, fingering his body through his clothing. He felt a hand on his thigh, rubbing it in such small circles it made his entire form warm. 'Sara….' He thought, smiling a little, he figured he was.
He opened his garnet eyes gently, and saw her, his Sara, licked his neck, her hair covering most of her. She was next to him, her other hand, flicking at his buttons. He felt so drugged and tired that he allowed it, watched her. "Sara….my love, you're…safe." He managed out, feeling so tired. She nipped him, which made him feel odd, not turned on, more like worried. She starts to sit up, kneeling.
Merlock focused a bit better on her and choked. She was half-naked, only her underwear on, and her long fuchsia hair covering her lovely breasts barely. He felt his pants tighten slightly, and hit at his groin to stop any urges. 'Sara…you're so…no, no, can't be Sara. She wanted to wait a few more months….till we told everyone we were dating….no..she said it would be perfect….didn't she…gods she's so gorgeous….such small panties…' he was thinking, his mind wandering the harder her looked. His face was getting purple now.
"You want me, Merlock. Please….I've been so scared without you. I need you…I want you inside me…"she purred, rubbing herself in such an alluring way" You wouldn't deny me your love, would you? I won't know you still love if you don't show me."
His pants really felt like a burden right now, but it died down as he absorbed her words, not the sexual movements she was making, exposing her chest to him off and on.
He quickly shoved her away and leapt off the bed, drawing his blade. "You're not my beloved! Sara wouldn't talk like that. Sex isn't love….she wouldn't say such a thing. Who are you!?" he demanded, his eyes flashing hatefully at the imposter.
The girl turned her head, and the eyes of blue became red, her hair shortening and body changing. He nearly bit his tongue off, backing away quickly as the scantily clad woman stood on the bed.
"J-Jillian?!" he gasped, not able to believe what he was seeing. It was Jillian, same hair and face, but she wasn't human anymore. She had demon wings on her back and small wings on her head sticking out of her pinkish hair. She was in studded leather tanktop and underwear, black as oil. She wore boots up to her creamy thighs of the same color, a tail of a demon swishing behind her to and for furiously.
"So your stupid love saw past my perfect spell, little boy…too bad…I wanted to give you a good first…and last time," she tittered, her voice sounding utterly evil and seductive," You're stronger than most intruders in the Master's castle."
"Why do you look like that!? You can't be Jillian!" he gasped, watching her hover off the bed, not bothering to touch the ground as her breasts jiggled heavily under the tanktop. This wasn't Jillian's body, she was more conservative, and she wasn't that big on top. The face was thinner, like she was somebody else.
"I am technically the creature Jillian. I'm just borrowing her pathetic body to ensnare some beautifully sexual men to keep this body young. I intend to screw a lot of men's dreams up. Its what a succubus does, lovely. We make love to unsuspecting male dreamers, lost and lonely ones….and drain them dry during it. But our bodies don't last forever….once the body is marred or injured, gotta get a new one by melding the old with the new. The Master gave me this one recently. I just gave her some of my better features, little jealous thing…." She purred, stroking her sides daringly.
Merlock sneered. "Jealous? Of what?"
The succubus with Jillian's body cackled, her wings spreading widely. "Oh Sara….she seems to be attached to you as your legal guardian too heavily. She fell in love with you, child, and dear Sara's competition. When she saw you were getting too close, she tried to stop it, but she lost you in turn. She's still jealous like that floating pink snail brat….but she was so lost and upset with her mistake with you….she was easy prey. Now….enough of this talk. Let's see how strong you are, little boy. Time to play."
With that the room expanded into a graveyard, the succubus flying high above him as her wings flapped harsh and loud. He watched her as she dove at him, raising her hands over her head swiftly. He jumped out of her way only to get a shock in the side. He looked back and saw her throwing balls of lightening at him. His side hurt, probably burned badly. He could faintly smell his own blood flowing, but not enough to worry about.
He growled at her, his eyes flaring up angrily. Not only had she tried to seduce him and pretended unjustly to be his Sara, he was using Jillian's body to kill him. If he killed the succubus, he'd kill Jillian. He didn't hate her that much. 'I have to reach Jillian somehow….I have to make her see she doesn't have to feel guilty anymore…but how. I'm mad about the jealous crap,' he thought, leaping out of the way of her clawing hands and lightening balls.
He cut her arm, and she wailed, her red eyes flashing blue a bit. 'Jillian's still alive in there….I have to be careful, be smart. Talk and injure….' He thought, jumping at the succubus and kicking her in the face. She flew back, out of range and threw several lightening balls. He dodged them all, watching gravestone after gravestone suffering the aim.
"JILLIAN! WAKE UP! IT'S OK NOW!" he yelled, slashing the other arm. She went higher after that, and stayed up there, firing at him. He growled a bit, and pulled his wand out. "Jillian please! Don't let her hurt me. I love you really…but as my guardian. We never could have been, not just because of our ages….because I don't feel that way about you. You were a mother to me….you took care of me, you taught me everything I know about being a Time Detective. Don't let her ruin all that love you gave an orphaned boy. PLEASE JILLIAN, FIGHT HER!" he shouted, sending fireballs at the creature. One hit her leg, but the others missed their target as she spiraled down, grabbing her head.
"Jillian! Don't let her destroy all you've worked for. Think of all the people who will miss you, not just me! Dr. Goodman, the Old Timer, Tony and Sara, all the Shifters. Don't hurt them because you're upset. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you. Please, don't give up because one thing wasn't meant to work out. Don't leave us all behind, HAH!" Merlock shouted as he jumped up and bashed the wand against the creature's head.
She wailed and he kicked her in the stomach, grabbing onto her body as she sailed down and hit the ground. He started to hit her again, then was violently kicked off, ramming though several gravestones painfully. He tasted blood a moment, then got up swiftly to keep pounding on the thing. He stopped halfway, seeing she was hovering up slightly, screams ripping past her crimson lips horridly as he skin began to toil. Her face was splitting in different direction with a wet rip. Her left half was cut up and burned, while the other was Jillian, moaning and crying in pain.
"NOOOOO!!!! I WON'T HURT MERLOCK AGAIN!! NEVER!!" she wailed, and they split in two. Jillian scantily clad body rolling off to the right. The other body, horribly burned and cut, was the succubus. She was horrible to behold, especially in so little clothing. Only tufts of long black hair stuck out in a few place, one of her eyes missing. She was moaning painfully, the only thing she and Jillian having in common were the burns on their left leg and the cuts on their arms.
The succubus fell weakly to her knees, moaning still. "How could you….defeat me….how could you even survive so long….you can't be…a vampire….can you?" she said in a lovely voice through her charred lips. Her blood was fragrant, like winter lilies on a lake. His fangs poked out a bit more as he smelled it, then his eyes narrowed sharply as he raised his blade and wand.
"You'll never know, beast….die in your chamber of nightmares and suffer forever for this atrocity. May you wander endlessly between the worlds of life and death…." He said coldly, his red eyes flashing at her. Her blood flowed in his eyes so perfectly, and the blade came down. Her head rolled away past the crimson fountain of her neck, bath his front a bit in the scented life of the dream killer. Then he burned her body with his wand, so she would never be used to harm anything again. She was writhing dust in minutes, as she crumbled, so did the dream.
~ Room of Endless Sleep ~
Dr. Goodman had been pounding on the locked door for nearly two hours before it opened on its own, the poor man fall inside and only the now dusty floor. He picked himself up and found the room was different. It looked like it had been abandoned for centuries, endless dust and cobwebs littering the weathered furniture and bedding.
He rubbed his eyes moment, not sure he was seeing this correctly. It had been so lusciously red and pink before, so romantic, now it was like a ratty motel room. His eyes scanned the place a little till he saw a clean spot, the closet that was of fine stained oak. He wondered why it was so clean until something banged against it, then again and again. He waited a few moments before touching the knob, then braced himself with a deep breath and yanked it open, jumping back.
He yelped loudly as a large dusty coffin fell on his feet. He yanked them free, whimpering terribly as they throbbed with pain. Then the coffin lid flew off and he fell over screaming.
Merlock's head popped out, shaking his lavender hair gently as he crawled out and stared at Goodman. "What's all the screaming for….? You see a rat?" he asked plainly.
Dr. Goodman frowned a bit, watching Merlock reach back in the coffin to pull out Miss Jillian, dressed rather….sexy. He drooled a bit, then shook his head and got up. He shrugged out of his lab coat and gave it to Merlock. "Cover the poor woman, she'll be mortified if she goes home in just that….and no, it was not a rat. I have a think about coffins leaping out of nowhere."
Merlock nodded and put Jillian into the long white coat, then handed her over to Goodman. "I have to fight these things….not you two. Who knows what's next, the boogie man?" He uttered.
Dr. Goodman nodded and kept her close, smiling a bit. He'd always wanted her in his arms, but under better circumstances.
"Quite right, lad….this is your fight, not that of mere…soft humans." A sensual male voice uttered from everywhere. He quivered, and saw Merlock sneer at a corner of shadows.
"Ezekeil….how dare you use Jillian to try and make me succubus supper! How dare you have her image used as a sex tart! You fiend! You will pay dearly for this atrocity against my beloved angel!" Merlock growled, pointing his blade at the shadowy figure.
"Oh pish posh, lad, just testing your skills. You really must love this…second rate human…."Ezekeil was saying, but as soon as he did Merlock rushed at him angrily with his blade. The shadows fluttered apart like ravens flying from danger, and setting in another.
"Don't you dare speak of my perfect love like that! You have no right to speak of love at all, you heartless fiend!" Merlock yelled, his eyes flaring red and fangs over an inch long. Dr. Goodman backed away from them both, scared that either one of them would blow any second.
"Such spirit….I am so proud….you are much better than I had thought. I do wonder though, how are your urges lately for the red?" Ezekeil asked. Merlock visible shook. Goodman didn't understand fully what the man meant, then remembered Merlock's battle with the Scylla creature. His eyes flared up a lot during that whenever blood was shed, as if Merlock was lusting for it. Merlock was part vampire, of sorts, but never showed a lust for blood….till now.
"I….can control it. It's not your concern." Merlock said in a quiet voice.
Ezekeil laughed. "Oh please, you nearly had an orgasm when you smelled her blood for the first time. Gentleman vampire….a hormonal little necker….soon. I wonder how long you will be able to control yourself, so naïve to your true nature. How long will you last….or how far will you go for love. You want all of her so terribly, to drink her, pierce her skin, her maiden flesh….so sweet."
"SHUT UP YOU BASTARD! I'll rescue Sara from your dirty clutches, soon…you'll see and then you will pay for this!" Merlock growled.
"Yes, yes, the unjust suffer all the time, super hero nonsense and such. Whatever, child. But….we don't need these peasants around. You saved them fair and square….so they may go." He uttered, snapping his fingers.
Dr. Goodman wanted to object to being called a peasant, but in the mere snapping sound, he didn't see Merlock anymore, he saw Tony and Getalong and the time cycle. "Oh….Merlock….what on Earth is going on?" was all he could ask as his nephew came to him, nearly in tears that his uncle was alive. Dr. Goodman only hoped that Merlock and Sara would survive this mad game, not simply, against their dark host, but against what other terror lay in wait, to bring Merlock closer to the point of bloodlust.
~ Gallery of Gold ~
Merlock trudged on, worried about anything the count did or said. The conversation ended abruptly after Goodman and Jillian vanished. All of the shadows left the room as a trap door appeared inside the coffin. It slid out loudly enough for him to know where it was, revealing a staircase. He went down carefully, the words of the count still flooding his mind.
It was true, he'd felt the urge to lick Sara's blood away, to taste it. He'd felt all those things, shamefully, he had. He felt so badly he wanted such things, but he was a good person. He wouldn't hurt Sara, ever. He was doing this mainly for her. He had to protect her and her friends and family. She didn't appreciate him only saving her and nearly letting the others get hurt. He knew that well enough, he'd never overlook his friends for their love if they were all in danger. That was the case now.
"I won't fail you Sara….now there's just Flint, Pterri…hmph, and Bindi left to rescue I'll find them. I've gotten this far….I won't stop till I reach Ezekeil himself and stop him once and for all. I'll save them all….cause we're….together in this. They've been my friends for a long time….and they don't deserve to suffer like this. I won't let him use them against me….he's gone too damn far." Merlock told himself, clutching his pendant tightly," For you mother….I'll be strong. This time, I won't run away. No taunting or darkness will scare me this time."
To Be Continued….
Teaser: Merlock battles Flint to save himself and Pterri from becoming pate. Will Merlock have to kill Flint to save himself, or will he have to give into his blood and make his urge for the crimson flow to grow?
