You check your weapons briefly while walking down the hall. Your pistol is loaded, your sword is sheathed, and your knives are accessible. Vladimir checks his weapons as well, but Carl seems to be more concerned with watching the hallway ahead.
"Carl, are you armed?" You finally ask. The voices that you have been hearing ahead suddenly drop low and then stop completely.
"Hm, what?" Carl answers, turning to look at you, "Oh, yes. Of course." He pats his gun fondly and smiles, turning back. You reach the end of this corridor and enter a vast hall. Looking up, you see multitudes of mucus-laden globes attached to wires. They are open. You glance around nervously. There must be hundreds, even thousands of them.
"What are they?" You ask softly, feeling a dread wash over you. Carl looks at you with an expression of pity.
"Vampires don't breed like humans do…they are cold-blooded, therefore, they reproduce in multitudes…" Carl explains. He motions around the room, "These are what vampire offspring hatch out of," he says. You look around in horror. Vladimir pats your shoulder.
"That is why you kill yourself before he can make you his," Vladimir states. You pass through the hall and enter another dark corridor. "Over here," says Vladimir, pulling you and Carl behind the columns on the side, "This is too close to our adversary's treasure to not be guarded." You walk slowly behind the columns, looking across the dusty tile floor.
Staring at this floor, you have a flashback of dancing on it. It is you, but it is not you…it is Adriana Valerious, you guess. You stare at the floor, entranced. This woman is wearing a gorgeous white silk medieval gown and laden with all kinds of jewels and pearls. She seems to smile and then you look at the man courting her. It is Vladislaus Dracula; young and merry-looking. There is absolutely nothing dark about his poise or his face. He is simply a man in love. His gaze falls across the floor and lands on you, piercing you through with a strange sincerity. He was elegant. He was…incredibly likeable. You shake your head and the figures vanish, leaving the dust-laden floor. You sigh softly and move onward, troubled.
You see a movement on the other side and draw your pistol. Vladimir is searching the opposite shadows carefully, raking with his eyes. Carl just walks nervously ahead, glancing every so often across. Suddenly, a gun goes off, hitting the wall just an inch above Vladimir's head. (If he hadn't been slightly bent over, it would have hit him square in the forehead). You quickly take cover. There is a lengthy moment of silence as you move furtively from behind the pillar, pistol ready. You hear the click of a gun and fire before your enemy can. His shot goes off but you fling yourself clear of it, landing next to Carl. He is shaking again.
There is another flourish of gunfire and then Vladimir moves in beside you. All of a sudden, your enemies decide to reveal themselves. They are barbaric-looking men and heavily armed with blades and guns. Each is well over six feet tall and there are seven of them. They move toward the row of pillars slowly, but the hall is wide.
"Carl!" You whisper, "Just stay put!" You leap without a sound to the next pillar and climb up with some difficulty. Vladimir climbs up the other pillar, exchanging glances with you. Carl is left on the ground. The poor friar is too frightened to even whimper.
"Come on out," says a gruff voice, "And we may spare your lives!" They laugh amongst themselves. When they are in perfect range of any of your weapons, you take aim and shoot the closest one. Vladimir does the same. The guards, surprised, fire back but do not succeed in hitting you. One reaches forward and drags Carl out of the shadows, putting a gun to his head. You shoot down one more guard before leaping to the ground while drawing your sword. Vladimir continues shooting from his perch.
You swipe the guard that holds Carl and drive him back. Carl crawls away with a whimper. The guard draws his blade in a rage to meet the challenge. Vladimir succeeds in destroying another. That is four down and three to go. You sense another guard at your back and swerve around just in time to parry another blade (that would have landed in your back). You whip out your knife and take on both attackers in a fit of mild and slightly desperate defense. Vladimir is able to shoot down one more. Then he leaps to the floor, drawing a blade.
Vladimir moves one of the remaining guards back, crossing blades with him. You attack your assailant with merciless rage and drive him back to the wall. He manages to knick you in the shoulder, but it is insignificant to your morale. You finally kill him with one blow. You meet Vladimir in the middle, after he has defeated his attacker. Then you nod at each other respectfully.
"Nice work," comments Vladimir, looking around at the seven demolished guards.
"You too," you reply, sheathing your blades.
"Come on, Carl," Vladimir says. Carl comes out slowly, shaking. Without a comment, you move onward to the end of the hall, pausing at another stairwell that leads to the shorter, wider tower. This is not a spiral stair; it is a wide, shallow one leading to an enormous doorway. Past the doorway, shadows seem to waltz about a maze of wires and machines. Thunder cracks outside again.
"Oh God," you say. Van Helsing's words run through your head: Stop the progress in the laboratory. You gulp, a hand on your sword. "How do we take out a scientific laboratory?" You ask. Carl shrugs.
"I would have read about it had I known we needed to do it," Carl admits. Vladimir is staring at the doorway.
"We can't," he says softly, "I don't see how it's possible."
"We have to!" You say, "Van Helsing said so!"
"Mira," Vladimir says seriously, "There could be well over a hundred operators in there. Any could catch you, imprison you, and then you'd be a dead woman or an undead woman."
"Vladimir—"
"—Mira! Since I am charged with defending your life, I feel that order precedes Van Helsing's other order, since it was spoken first. In conclusion, I think we should go hide out until a bit before dawn, and then put the remainder of the plan into action," Vladimir says. You narrow your eyes at him and draw your blade.
"I will not desert this part of the plan!" You say. Then, resolutely, you walk up the stairs to the doorway. Vladimir grabs your arm and you wrench away. "Stay away from me, Vladimir!" You growl. He looks at you sternly. Carl still stands at the foot of the stairs. Vladimir grabs you by the waist.
"Don't make me do something I'll regret," Vladimir says sternly. You struggle against his firm muscles. He grips tighter and stops your resistance with a smooth, passionate kiss. It takes you completely by surprise. You drop your struggle and suddenly find yourself inhaling fumes. Briefly, you whimper, and then, you black out.
You awake drowsily in a dark room with Vladimir standing nearby, holding a sword. You sit up with a gasp and glare at him. "You have no brains!" You cry, getting up and trying to attack him. He holds you at bay easily. You draw your sword, fire in your gaze. "What time is it, Vladimir?" You demand, shaking your sword at him.
"Five minutes till dusk," he replies calmly, looking around the room.
"Vladimir, you must let me go! I must disarm the laboratory!" You say.
"You're going nowhere. We stay here till dawn," he answers stubbornly. Suddenly, a scroll comes out of nowhere, hitting Vladimir square in the head. He is unconscious instantaneously. Through the dim light, you see Carl's trembling figure.
"Go, Mira. And hurry," Carl says. You are very surprised by Carl's action, but you don't waste a second. You take off down the hall running. The storm is hitting full-force on the castle now. You can hear the wind blowing ferociously through the walls and the rain pelting the roof like shards of ice. Perhaps they are shards of ice. It might be too cold for rain. The thunder rolls violently all around and the fortress seems to shudder. Soon, you are coming up on the laboratory. You pause at the door, looking in.
It is a mess of equipment and wires, but somehow is arranged for operational understanding. There are hundreds of figures working at different stations but they are all too absorbed to notice you. You turn back into the doorway to catch your breath and think.
"Who are you?" A voice asks, nearly in your ear. With a quiet shriek, you bolt to the opposite side of the doorway and look back. Through a barred window, you see a face that is human, but at the same time, is not human. Whatever it is, it does not look evil and is looking at you with a certain curiosity.
"Mira DeLune," you respond, finally catching your breath. His eyes go wide.
"You should not be here! He will find you!" He says. You move back to his side of the doorway.
"I am here with Van Helsing," you say, "He is imprisoned and I must stop the processes in the laboratory."
"Van Helsing?" The name sparks some interest in the creature, but he quickly recovers. "Run, child. Save yourself," the creature says.
"Who are you?" You ask.
"Some call me monster…Frankenstein's monster," he replies. He looks sad. You cannot see far beyond the bars but you can tell he must be kept in a rather small chamber.
"Frankenstein!" You exclaim, "Can you tell me where the control center is?"
"It's too dangerous for you to be here. Run while you can," says the monster, shaking his head and looking at you worriedly.
"I made a promise!" You say, tears in your eyes, "A promise to Van Helsing. I will keep that promise. Please. Where is the control center?"
"That will only delay him," replies the monster, "I am the key to my father's machine…with me, all he will need to do is rebuild the laboratory and then all will be set again."
"I only need a delay!" You say impatiently, "Where is the control center!?" He hesitates, looking at you. He sighs.
"Far left corner…you can't miss it." He says. You smile.
"Thank you," you say. Then, you enter the laboratory and slink along the side. It is dark, offering you a shield from the workers' eyes. You glance ahead at a large control center. Looking up, you note all kinds of hanging objects. The wires, you see, run along the ceiling and out through openings in the wall. There are two catwalks high up in the cathedral-like ceiling and a bridge runs across the mid-level. Altogether, the laboratory has five levels of circling walkways and the main contraption appears to be on the roof. The buzzing and the motors hurt your ears.
As you approach the control center unnoticed, you note at least ten people are manning it. Taking them all on at once would be suicide. It would alert the entire room to your presence. You must think quickly. Looking up again, you see a possible solution. Above all hangs a very heavy-looking platform; a bit larger than 10 feet long. If you shoot out the bolts or damage the supports enough, it will fall. Then, it will likely catch the ropes beneath. So, if you cut the ropes, you could maneuver the platform straight into the control center. Of course, this is all a great risk, but if you concentrate enough, you may be able to accomplish it and get out alive.
You focus attention on the platform and play out the angles in your head. Then, you take steady aim with your pistol and shoot at the bolt. The first shot misses, and the sound is lost amidst the whir of the machinery. The second scrapes the supports. The third knocks the first bolt out, and the fourth knocks the second bolt out. The platform creaks and breaks, falling as you had planned into the ropes. The workers have noticed the disruption by now and are rushing to the scene. You quickly slice the ropes, giving a mighty pull. The platform topples down into the control center, smashing it in a terrific electrical explosion. Mission accomplished, you glance at the laboratory to make sure all the machinery is failing. Then, you run.
The workers are on to you now, but they still cannot see you. Finally, however ,you must sacrifice a view as you bolt through the nearest room. The full moon is shining through a net of black clouds, low in the tall window. The sound of the workers' shouts diminishes. In front of the window is a red velvet chaise. Your heart nearly stops as you seem to glimpse a dead woman on the chair. When you blink, the face changes and the clothes change, and when you blink again, you see yourself in that place. You think you must be going insane. You rush past it, turn the corner, and skid to a stop as you come face-to-face with Count Vladislaus Dracula. You quickly back away. His face is not friendly, but he smiles anyway.
"Hello, my love. So nice of you to visit," he says.