"Ladies and gentleman welcome to the J.F.K International Airport. Tonight you will be boarding a jet that is on its way to Eastern Europe. Look beside you. There are fifteen other people besides yourself. You will get to know them because for the next three months you will live in a place unknown to the last five or more centuries. I will begin to go over the set up of this game.

Out of the sixteen people here. Two will be left in the end. There will be eight teams of two which will be decided at random once you enter the castle. The teams will be determined by your room number. Once you are in the teams you will not be able to switch unless by the "Change of Heart" event which can happen once a week. When you are all in your rooms, you will notice camera equipment in the corners of each room…As well as a personal camera equipment that will be strapped around you.

You people will be the first people to step inside this castle. The game will work like this: Each room is in a different wing of the castle. That means eight wings. Each team is responsible for discovering a different part of that castle. Some rooms will be locked or rusted we are sure but it is your job to find out how to open these doors. Points will be handed out reasonably to each team. At the end of the second week the team with the least points is eliminated. That wing will be off limits until the end of five weeks.

Each week you will move out to the lobby and the Change of Heart event will commence. Here a test of mind and physique will prove you and your team-mate's cunning . Here there are no team points just personal points. The way your body works will determine two team switches at the end of this night. Post the Change of Heart event will be the eviction of one of the teams. Oh by the way, it is said that this Castle is the birth place of evil…So watch your back. Is everybody clear on the rules?" The man pauses for a moment and than says, "Good now everybody board the jet and I will talk to you in there." he told the contestants.

Once in the jet and everybody had a seat, the man from outside came in. "My name is Darius Fox and I am going to be your pilot for the flight." Than one of the teenage boys turned to the girl beside him and said, "Hello my name is Raymond Bauman and I will be sitting beside you for the flight." He said that almost mocking the pilot. "Excuse me Raymond Bauman do you have something to say because if not I would like you to sit down and shut up." Darius told the young Raymond… "No, I didn't think so!" He exclaimed." The pilot, Mr. Fox turned around and walked into the cockpit.

The girl that was beside Bauman turned to him and said while chuckling, "Please to meet you Raymond. My name is Elle Gough, and the jack-ass behind you…" she began to say before a head popped up behind there seat. "My name is Michael Strode. I am glad to meet your acquaintance." Michael told Raymond as he extended his hand, but Raymond just turned back to look at the girl. "Who is he supposed to be decked out in the schoolboy outfit?" he asked Elle. "Well he is a trekkie…a star trek fan, so I guess he is a William Shatner want to be. As nerdy as he is, he is a really good friend. He lives in the same town I do, next door to me as a matter of fact." she told him. Minutes later the jet lifted off the ground and the teens were on there way to the most horrifying land they would ever see.

It was a long trip, but finally they were off the plane and in a land vehicle…a van. The children seemed to enjoy the European countryside and the rest of the scenery that is everybody except Michael, who enjoyed a good thrill anytime instead of beautiful scenery. I guess that is what set Michael Strode apart from the rest…He was willing to do anything to get a chill to run up his spine. The vans that they were in came to a stop at a set of large brown doors. Nobody got out of the van so how did they open up. Elle whispered quietly into Ray' ear… "I thought we were supposed to be the first people inside the castle." Than looking up she though she seen somebody in the window of the tallest tower of the castle. She looked back at Michael and Ray as if to say something but than she looked back and whatever was there was gone.

They were made to empty the vans and more surprise was going to meet them here. "I know what your thinking. You are thinking that there are other people in there. That is wrong there were, you are going to be the first to explore it. They are not there anymore. Now one more thing. The clothes you are wearing right now is your only wardrobe from home. From here on a set of clothes found and cleaned from this castle will be your clothes. Now from here on out your on your own. Oh, your teams. Come here and from this bag pick a piece of paper. You will have to find your way through the wing and to the room on your own." Than the contestants drew a piece of paper from the bag one at a time. A sign on the lobby pointed to the different wings. Looking at the sign to the Study and sacred garden corridor, Raymond found himself joined by Elle. "So you are joining me are you?"

Elle and Raymond opened the doors to the large corridor. Immediately they began looking for there room, that is until something caught the eye of Elle. The long corridor started off all in stone and than it turned to glass, with a stone floor bridging over a garden. The garden was filled with plant life that neither Elle or Raymond seen before. "It…Is beautiful. Why do they call this place the birth place of evil?" asked Elle. "Wait, you do not know the story of him?" Raymond asked in response, "Who's, him?" "He is the previous owner of this castle. He is evil. Though he was considered just a myth, a legend, this castle being found confirms everything. This castle being found confirms that the legend of Dracula and Castlevania are true." he told his friend. Hesitantly Elle replied… "So this is the castle people have been talking about?". Elle put her left hand up against the glass and turned towards Raymond. "No, this is not Castlevania. Castlevania is a castle erect from the hearts of evil. The powers of Castlevania come true in the form of an evil spirit. However, this can not be Castlevania…Dracula as according to legend has been dead for the past few centuries. Simon Belmont killed him." He told Elle. Just than Elle retracted her hand from the glass and the glass shattered. A group of bats flew through the large pane of glass. "Umm Raymond, we should be going now!" Elle screamed and ran to the other end of the corridor to a large stair well.

Raymond pursued and began to walk to the stairs. He heard the wings of the bats flapping and he began to walk with a little faster pace now. One of the bats caught up to Raymond and tried to bite him in the neck region but he put his arm up, and his arm caught the bite. Raymond than heard something, like a footstep on glass. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. It was a man…tall and dressed all in black with a hood. He picked up the glass, shattered by the bats. In shards he through the glass towards the bats. One of the shards grazed Raymond' face before hitting the bat. Than there was one more bat left. A larger one. Raymond seen the man reach for something in his pocket. He pulled out a knife and stabbed the larger bat with it, as it stapled him to a picture in the wall. He walked over to the picture and pulled the knife out of the bat's body and it fell to the ground instantaneously.

A dark fog filled the corridor from the place where the bats infiltrated the castle. Raymond went over to the man but he disappeared along with the fog. He left his knife on the ground next to the bat, so Ray picked it up and put it in his pants pocket. As he got up, out of the corner of the eye he thought he seen the woman in the painting on the wall move. Than When he looked directly at it, everything seemed normal. As he continued to walk towards the stairwell he heard a woman screaming. 'I have to get back to Elle' he thought to himself. He ran up the stairwell and at the end there were two rooms. One was locked with a weird insignia and the other was graced by two large wooden doors. He opened both of the doors and walked in. Elle hearing the door open was scared and hid under the desk, and Raymond seen this. "It's okay Elle, it is just me." Raymond told her, she got up from under the desk and ran down the stairs. That lead to the main level. "So I take it this is the study. He had quite the collection of books didn't he." Raymond said out loud but still to himself. He looked at Elle with a sincere face…She was as pale as a ghost. "What is wrong, Elle?" Raymond asked her, "A man, there was a man. Right over there at that table…He was at that table, that desk with that book!" she exclaimed. Elle covered her face while slowly Raymond made his way over to the desk that Elle pointed too. There he noticed an old green book with an insignia on it and beside it was an old gas lantern.

Raymond sat down at the desk and put his hand on the book. Something happened to him…something supernatural filled his body from the bottom up. Than he looked around as heard a voice saying something. The voice said… 'It Has Begun' and that was it. However a memory almost or maybe something that was going to happen. He seen himself sitting at the desk but not looking at the book with that insignia he was looking at a book that was marked only with a name…The name of "Tepes". Than he broke out of that with a cold shiver running up the spine he looked at the insignia, the letter was a B…just a B, though it was very fancy B. Elle came over to him, "B, as in Bauman?" she wondered, "Or B as in…Belmont." Raymond said opening up to the very first page of the book, and there it was on the first page, it said Belmont…as clear as day. He opened up to the first page where it had said "Simon" it explained that his idea of slaying Dracula and scattering his remains to destroy them had failed as he came back to life. Through the rest of the pages, he seen more names and more legends. Such as Alucard and Juste and the story of the Carfax estate and Van Helsing . The very last page was a family tree that started from the roots and worked its way up. "What the? It has been updated over the years. Somebody has tampered with this book. Somebody stole this book and put it here…This must be a part of the game. I will hold on to this. Well I would say that the other room over there is our chamber, and that is locked so it looks like we will be spending the night here.

So the night commenced and the two found two different chairs to sleep in. Just as they were asleep something woke Elle up. It was some sort of music coming from outside that room. She walked to the door, the melody was so soothing on the ears. She opened the wooden doors and stepped out. There was a woman standing outside her room playing the harp. She softly treaded down the stairs and so followed Elle. At the bottom was a man in all white, with white hair. The woman disappeared into the wall, as the man put his finger up to Elle' lips and said, 'Shush' and passed her a white key. Than more bats ascended the corridor windows and Elle began to scream…

"Elle, Elle…Wake up." Raymond said softly, and Elle did wake up. "You were just having a bad dream." he stated. With a sad look on her face, Elle stood up and walked to the door. "Where are you going?" the young man asked. "The painting, the man." she said to him. "I never told you about the painting or the man." he said, but as if she was ignoring him, he opened the door and walked down the stairs. Raymond followed him. "The picture…" Elle said blankly. She than walked over to Raymond. A song was heard by Raymond. "Elle, listen…Shh." he said to her. "Raymond, this is just like that dream I had. You have a key in your hand. Put your hand out." and so he did, and into Elle' hand as she extended it dropped a key from the hands of Raymond. "The bats!" she screamed, "The bats are the reason I was screaming." but no bats came up. The two young teenagers re-ascended the staircase and at the top, from Elle she put the key into the door. There was a note upon the door telling Raymond and Elle to meet in the lobby for breakfast.

Inside the room the was a black tuxedo laying on the bed along with a long red dress, both look like they were made long ago. At first glace another vision came to Raymond. A ballroom and everybody was clapping, and than red and he returned from the vision. He went into the dressing room that was there and put on his tuxedo. While he was changing in there, Elle changed into her dress in the main chamber. He came out and was stunned by her beauty. Another vision came to him and it was a vision of him dancing with a girl wearing that dress but it was not Elle, and he woke up. "What is it Raymond?" she asked, "Oh nothing. Don't you think it is about time we get going down stairs."

So they descended the long staircase and through the corridor and it somehow felt very familiar to them both. They through open the large door to a large set up for breakfast and everybody looked different. Than they seen one of the boys with his back towards them, dressed all in white with a white cape and black shoes, a red tie. The dream from last night seemed foggy now, it was that boy in her dream but the key came from Raymond. A terrible chill swept over Elle as if she knew something big was about to happen.

TO BE CONTINUED…