Transylvania
Episode 2
Loving A Monster
Part 2
Jack and Quincey were crouched down behind a bush outside Drakul's castle, Jack peeking his head out to make sure the coast was clear, and Quincey glaring at the back of Jack's head. 'I swear' Quincey thought to himself, 'if this wasn't so goddamned ludicrous, I'd be humming the Mission: Impossible theme song right now.' "Jack, man, this is insane."
"Come on, the coast is clear," Jack stated, moving forwards and out from behind the bush. Quincey remained where he was, and after a few steps, Jack turned around and came back. Quincey figured Jack was calling it quits, which is why he was surprised when Jack grabbed him by his collar and glared straight into his eyes. "Quincey, the fact of the matter is that I'm going into that castle, and I'm going to come back out with Delphi. I can do that with or without your help, but with will be a whole lot easier, and it increases the chances of survival. Now, are you coming, or not?" Without waiting for a response, Jack turned and ran towards the entrance to the castle, trying to make as little noise as possible. After a moment, Quincey followed him, looking somewhat shocked.
"When did you become Jack Slater, last action hero?"
"Love makes a man crazy," Jack returned. "Help me with this door." Together, the two of them quietly opened the door just wide enough for them to fit one at a time. Quincey was the last one in, and let the door close behind him.
"Which way," Quincey whispered, a wave of uneasiness striking him like a sack full of bricks.
"Not sure," Jack replied, sticking close to the darkened wall on the left. "Just follow me. Bedrooms are usually on the higher floors, so if you see some steps, let me know." Quincey nodded before moving over to the right wall, twirling a vial of Holy Water in his fingers.
"So, do we have any semblance of a plan," Quincey asked, not out of real curiosity, but finding the silence claustrophobic and frightening.
"Yeah. It consists of three steps. Step one: Find Delphi. Step two: Get back to my place. Step three: Take out anything that tries to stop us."
"…That's it?"
"Pretty much," Jack responded, still searching the hallway for a set of stairs.
"Do we have any weapons?"
"We have the Holy Water."
"That's it?"
"Pretty much."
"…I should've stayed in bed." Quincey's regret was ringing in his voice like a church bell in a ghost town.
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Drakul sat in conference with Philandra and Beatrice, the two of whom still attended these things, and who actually gave a damn about what was said. "Now, ladies…you attacked Van Helsing. This is not only a good thing, but laudable, as well." The two women appeared to be preening themselves. "That is, if these were normal circumstances." Both women stopped dead in their tracks, suddenly afraid of where this meeting was going. "However, these are not normal circumstances. You know of my plans for the girl, you know how close I am to final success…why would you attack my mortal enemy without at least consulting me?" Philandra opened her mouth to answer, but Drakul waved his hand and added, "Don't bother trying to explain yourselves. None of your reasons would be even halfway good enough." Philandra's jaw went slack, hanging open in either shock, fear, or a bit of both. Beatrice had the presence of mind to cower in her chair. Drakul got up, turned his back on the women, and began pacing between his spot at the table and the wall, moving his chair aside gently with his foot.
After a few minutes of this, Philandra cracked. "My lord, we were only trying to-"
Drakul spun and slammed both his hands down, palms open, on the table, shaking the table and causing a loud thud to echo throughout the otherwise silent room. His face was twisted in rage, his mouth a tight line, his jaw muscles tense. "I do not care what your reasons are! Just shut up!" Both women had jumped when the elder vampire had slammed his hands against the table, and now they were up out of their seats, clinging to each other in a corner, afraid for their unlives. "It's bad enough that you did this without my permission! I could overlook that! I could overlook your absolutely horrible sense of timing in most normal situations!" He stormed over to them, kicking chairs out of his way in the process. He grabbed each of them roughly by the throat and hauled them up into the air, slamming them against the wall and pinning their struggling, wriggling forms there. "But now, with my plans finally coming to fruition, with my risks greater than ever, I can not simply overlook this!"
"We…we…understand, my lord," Beatrice pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper due to the vice-like hold Drakul had on her throat. "It won't…happen…please, my lord, you're…hurting me."
"That is the point, you ignorant little bitch," Drakul spat. "My plans could have been foiled quite easily had you been followed, had you been questioned by Van Helsing, any of the girl's little teenage friends, or worse…apprehended by the police!!!" He snarled at them in utter fury and spun, launching them both through the table. "All these things you risked! And how little you know of what further risk you took! He lurks somewhere in the city!" He walked over, picked up a pointy piece of wood, and held it over Philandra's chest. "Beatrice is a rookie compared to you, so she could almost be excused. You, Philandra…there is no excuse."
"Please…my lord…we can…take care of him...," Philandra's weak voice begged.
"Yes, just like you did the last time," Drakul snorted sarcastically. He glared at her for a few more moments before getting up, letting the makeshift stake fall harmlessly to his side. "Fine. If you can do as you have said, you will be saved in my graces." He paused, and then called over his shoulder, "Should you allow him to meet up with the teenagers or Van Helsing, both of your unlives are forfeit." Drakul stormed out the door, leaving the two female vampires to heal slowly.
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Jack and Quincey had spotted stairs soon after they had entered, and had reached the top when they heard a door open and slam. Jack peered around the corner and saw Drakul storming out, his face revealing his anger. Jack was about to follow him when he heard a soft, harsh whisper. "Jack," came the familiar female voice.
"Delphi," he asked, peering into the darkness on the other side of the hall. Delphi emerged from the shadows in a nightgown covered in a bathrobe. She grabbed him by the wrist and began to pull him back the way she came. "Delphi…I brought my friend Quincey with me. He's over there."
"I know," Delphi responded, reaching out and grabbing Quincey by the wrist as well. "Come on. We can talk in my room." She dragged the pair of them down the long, dark hallway, until finally taking a left, climbing another set of stairs, and almost immediately going through a set of large double doors. They had to squint until their eyes adjusted to the bright artificial light in the room, but when they did, they both stood, mouths gaping.
Delphi's room was HUGE, easily the size of a large classroom at school. She had a large, plush bed, decorated with black bed sheets, a frilly blue comforter that Jack had given her for the winters, and a black heart shaped pillow at the headboard. She had a vanity over on the far wall, and a bathroom connected to the right wall. A large TV sat directly across from her bed, a DVD player on top. A stack of DVDs the size of a Cadillac sat next to it, and the entire left wall was taken up with huge bookshelves. Both the DVDs and the books showed an eclectic taste: Lying directly atop Scarface was Shrek, and on top of Schlinder's List lay Spider-Man. The books were no different, with the giant, all-in-one tome of Lord of the Rings resting comfortably in between both of Mick Foley's autobiographies.
The carpet was hot pink shag, and was quite comfy, from what the boys could tell as it rubbed against their ankles. A walk-in closet the size of a public restroom sat nestled in a corner of the right wall, though it looked well used. Incense was burning on a desk next to a computer, and a tarot deck sat in front of the incense holder. The walls were covered with posters, either of movies or of bands, Sprocket being one of them. Particularly Jack, considering he had an entire little shrine to himself next to her bed. "Hey," Quincey said, nudging jack and grinning, "check that out." Jack blushed and shoved Quincey, who then proceeded to look at the bed.
"You guys are here, you might as well get comfortable," Delphi sighed. Jack nodded and went to sit down on the edge of her bed, while Quincey walked towards the same object at a slower pace.
"No coffin," he asked suddenly, his brow furrowed. Delphi's face instantly snapped around, to look at Jack.
"You know…you know what I am?"
"I know," Jack responded, nodding. "When I was coming back from seeing you earlier, I saw Chris getting carted away to the nuthouse, and Professor Van Helsing was standing there. He wouldn't tell me what happened, so I went back to his place, and he started to explain. Then those other two that you're with attacked us, and we managed to fight them off-"
"Wait, whoa, whoa, hold on a minute," Delphi muttered, waving her hands to try and get Jack to stop. "If you know what I am, why are you here?"
"To get you out," Jack replied. "I mean, that is what you want, right?" Jack sounded hopeful, but wasn't sure if he even believed his own words.
"Jack, I…yes," she breathed. "I've wanted that for a long, long time…but I was too afraid to do it on my own." Jack smiled, standing up and sweeping her up into a tight hug.
"You're never alone anymore, Delphi. You've got me." Quincey put his hand on Jack's shoulder.
"You've both got me," he stated, "but maybe we should go. No offense meant, but this place is getting creepier by the minute."
"You get used to it," Delphi replied. "But you're right, we should get going." Jack nodded, heading to the door.
"Alright, everyone stay quiet, don't fight unless there's no other choice," Jack instructed, slipping out the door.
"When did he become Jack Slater," Delphi asked, glancing at Quincey.
"Y'know," Quincey replied, laughing softly, "I asked him the same thing." Quincey was out the door next, leaving Delphi to give her room of several hundred years one last look over before slipping out the door.
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As Quincey slipped out the door, he bumped into Jack, and Delphi in turn bumped into him. "Jack, what," Delphi began, but when she laid eyes on the two female vampires that were standing in front of them, fists on their hips, glaring at them, she knew what had happened. "Delphi, what's going on," Beatrice questioned.
"She's trying to escape," Philandra snapped back. "Obviously."
"She can't do that," Beatrice replied.
"She can try," Philandra returned, glancing her opponents up and down. "I don't see how a couple of mortals could-" Suddenly she screeched and ducked back, holding her face as smoke began to waft from the suddenly sizzling flesh. Jack had thrown Holy Water on her, and was now facing down the other vampiress. The pair were circling each other, Beatrice's fangs extended, Jack putting pressure on the lid of the new vial he held in his hand. Quincey noticed what he was doing and grabbed Delphi's arm, guiding her away from her oncoming vampiric sister, following Jack's path.
When the pair of them got to the entrance of the stairway, they turned and bolted down it, Jack waving a little good-bye to Delphi before doing the same. "Move! Two at a time if you can," Jack called, knowing that Beatrice was still following them, both from the sounds behind him and from the hatred he'd seen in Beatrice's eyes. They ran down the stairway, Quincey taking a right, Delphi following, Jack behind. He was bringing up the rear, slower, trying to get the lid of the Holy Water open. Beatrice was gaining as they headed for the set of steps that would lead to the last hallway before freedom, and Jack did the only thing he could.
He brought the vial to his mouth, put the stubborn stopper between his upper and lower molars, clamped down, and yanked the stopper out. He then tossed the vial backwards, intending to not only hit Beatrice, but create a barrier on the floor that she couldn't pass.
He gave no more thought to that as he saw Quincey and Delphi disappear around the corner, down the stairs. Jack turned, skidded, and was forced to jump down the stairs to keep from falling. Delphi reached out her hands and caught him, much to his grateful relief. The three could hear Beatrice shouting from upstairs, along with Drakul's heavy footsteps pounding toward the stairs after them, and pumped on the speed, scooping Jack and Quincey up in her arms and bursting through the front door of Drakul's household. "Just tell me where to turn," she stated, "because right now, we all have a need for speed that's headed right to Jack's place."
Unbeknownst to the two teenagers and one vampire, another pair of eyes watched them leave from the bushes near where Jack and Quincey had hid previously.