Disclaimer: Check for it in chapter 1.
Castlevania: Sonnet of Legends
Chapter 8
The darkness illusions
Rachael's house
Rachael woke up, and saw that she was in her bed. She could barely remember if the night before was just a dream. She looked at herself, and saw that she was wearing her beige colored nightie.
"(Was it all really a dream)?" She asked herself. She looked around her room. Everything appeared to be normal. Her computer was still on its desk, basking its dark glow. It was still on, and all that displayed was the screensaver, with a little ball bouncing back and forth. Her closet was closed, and her pictures seemed to be in the right places. However, it was still dark outside. She assumed that she must've woken up too early, but when she glanced at her clock, she began to worry, for the clock read '8:23 a.m.' She quickly jumped out of bed, and over to the window. It wasn't raining, and it wasn't cloudy, either. If it wasn't for the slight tint of red in the sky, she would've thought it was still night time.
"(So it wasn't a dream. What's going on here)?"
So she walked to her closet to find something to wear. It surprised her to see that her outfit she got from Renon was nicely hanging on a coat hanger. She looked down, and saw the family whip. It was in an open box. It looked so plain now when compared to when she first wielded it, back when it had a dim glow to it. Looking at it brought back the horrible memories of the castle, where she gave in to Dracula's demands in order to save her friends. Now he was going to take over this world, and the suffering inhabitants would have 'her' to thank for that. She let out some tears before kneeling to the ground. She prayed for forgiveness, but felt that she did not deserve it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"I'll be out in a moment!" she quickly said. "Give me some time to get dressed!"
"Okay, Rachael." It was Nate's voice. "We'll be downstairs."
"Rachael looked in closet, and found some black jeans, another pair of open-toed sandals, and a black tank top. She grabbed them, and proceeded to get dressed.
Laboratory
Meanwhile, in the laboratory of Dracula's castle, Alucard was attached to a bed post, with glowing chains that securely kept him at bay, like the ones you would see in a Frankenstein lab. There was also a metallic looking headpiece on his forehead. The machine kept him asleep, so that he wouldn't try to stop his father from plunging the world into darkness, which he already has. All that was needed was to conquer it.
Alucard was being watched by a rather thin looking vampire in a white lab coat. He had a bald head, skin as white as a ghost, his nose was crooked, and his fangs were together, much like that Nosferatu vampire. He was writing on a notepad while he watched the Dhampire slowly toss and turn. He then walked over to the machine that Alucard was attached to, and pushed a few buttons. Looking back at the Halfling, he saw him calm down. Then he sat back down, and continued to take notes.
Suddenly, his vampire senses kicked in, and he quickly stood up and greeted the rather powerful and young looking vampire that appeared behind him. He bowed, showing the utmost respect.
"Master." He started. "It is wonderful to see that your plan has worked."
Dracula didn't say anything, but let the scientist continue with his talking.
"As you can see, this invention that I have created will keep the young master in a deep sleep. At the moment, I have adjusted the wave patterns so that he will be dreaming pleasant dreams. It should be a long time before he can actually break free."
"I see." Dracula finally said. "However, if I wanted my son to live in a fictional world, I would've slain him a long time ago. No, I want him to rekindle his vampiric side, so that he can finally stop this foolish nonsense, and take his rightful place, ruling by my side in this new world of darkness."
"Which reminds me." The scientist added. "The ebony stone is reacting very well to the machine. It had no trouble activating the power it had to bring not only this castle, but the entire world into darkness. Now vampires can freely roam the lands as they please. No human will be safe from your rule!"
"Yes, I have already sent a horde of vampires and demons into the world. They should be able to mix things up for me. The pathetic humans will most likely try to stop them, but without the knowledge on how to kill them, they don't stand a chance. Besides, their number is too few when compared to that of the demons about to terrorize them."
"Yes, it is as you say, master. But what of the other Belmonts? Wouldn't 'they' pose a threat?"
"Not at all. They might be able to defend themselves, but without the legendary whip powered up to its fullest, they won't be able to defeat me! Every Belmont that even tries will meet his doom! They made the grave mistake of entrusting it to an unworthy Belmont, but enough about that." He then turned his attention towards Alucard. "Set the machine to a level that will bring him unpleasant dreams. The succubus should take care of the rest."
"Consider it done, master." He then quickly pushed some more buttons. He looked at Alucard, who was now tossing and turning again.
Seconds later, a stunningly beautiful figure walked in. Her skin, much like the vampires was pale. She had green eyes and flaming red hair. Her garment was a very questionable and revealing leather outfit, each piece fitting tightly around her body. She also wore black laced gloves, black stiletto heels, and see-through stockings. She bowed when she saw her masters' presence.
"It is good to finally see you again, master." She said. "What is it that you would have me do?"
The scientist spoke for him. "The master and I are to go to the throne room to contact the human world leaders. He wants you to sway the young master into coming back to our side. Any means necessary, as long as it doesn't kill him, will suffice."
She then looked at her master, as if the scientist had never spoken to her. "Anything master wants, master gets. Consider it done."
"Good." He finally said. "I will leave you to your work."
Then both the Count and his vampire lackey left the room. The succubus walked towards Alucard, climbed on the bed, and sat on him, her legs adjacent from each of his sides.
"Now then." She said. "Let's first see what you're dreaming about."
Rachael's house
Meanwhile, Rachael had gone downstairs, and had told everybody what had happened. Her mother was in shock. She normally didn't believe in this stuff, but the darkness outside was giving her second thoughts. Her grandfather sighed.
"I know you meant well, Rachael," he said, "but two human lives weren't worth the damnation of the entire human race."
"Hey!" Kim exclaimed.
"It's okay." Said Nate. "I see where he's going with this. Still, what she did came from the heart, and that's all that counts with me."
"That's true."
Rachael's grandfather shook his head. "I know that, Nate, and I know that she feels terrible about this, but now we must think of a way to stop all of this."
"Well, whatever." Kim said, rolling her eyes. "I still think that Rachael did the right thing. If anyone needs me, I'm going back home. My parents are probably worried sick, and I should get going before ol' Drac decides to unleash some of his dark forces on this place." She was being sarcastic, but it only made the old man worry even more. She then shrugged, and left the house in a hurry.
Rachael's grandfather quickly got up. "She's right, about the demons, that is! I better go and purify the house so that no evil can enter it." Then looked at Phillip, Rachael's little brother. "Let's go! I need some help doing this!"
"Yes, gramps." He said, and then hugged Rachael, who was just sitting there, not saying anything. "Thanks for saving me, sis. Without you, I would've been vampire food. And for what it's worth, I still think of you as a hero." Then he rushed off to help his grandfather.
Rachael's mother noticed how troubled her daughter looked. She sat down next to her, and tried to comfort her.
"It's alright, sweetie." She said, hugging her. "If I were in your position, I would've done the same thing. So don't worry about it. We'll find some way to handle this."
"Yeah, what she said." Nate added. "Besides, with that treasure that my squad hauled off, we should have more than enough funding to fight a million demons. We'll use all the conventional means; Holy water, fire, wooden stakes, silver bullets, solar beams, and high powered explosives. Want to join us? I'm sure we could make our way back to Dracula's castle and give you a rematch."
Rachael didn't say a word, but instead, had her head downcast.
"Well, if you change your mind, give me a call. You have my number. In the meantime," He then hugged her. "try to take it easy."
Seconds later, a helicopter could be heard. It was Nate's team. He quickly thanked everybody for the stay, ran outside and to the street, and jumped aboard as it took off into the sky.
Laboratory
Meanwhile, Alucard was having a nightmare. However, he had no idea that he was sleeping. The machine made things seem very real. The last thing he remembered was Death pulling him into some dark realm, and then he blacked out. When he awoke, he saw a village that was friendly towards him. Moments later, demons attacked the village. He was fighting the demons as they tried to attack him. There were so many, though, that he could only defend himself, and the human innocents were being slaughtered. When he saw a young red haired woman in the horizon, it strangely piqued his interest. She was successfully fighting off the demons, making her way towards him. When she got close enough, she talked to him while fighting.
"Need a hand?" she asked.
"If you can afford it."
So they both fought the demons until they finally ran off. After catching their breath, they turned towards each other.
"So who are you, handsome?" she asked.
After a few seconds of silence, he answered. "Alucard."
"Alucard? Well, mine's Morgan. Pleased to meet you."
"Where did you learn to fight so well?"
"I was born from a rough part of the neighborhood, so it kind of came natural. And you?"
"Since I was young, I knew how to fight."
Before their talk to get interesting, several more villagers appeared from houses. They had torches, pitchforks, and shotguns. They surrounded the two.
"They're the ones that cursed our village!" one of them shouted.
"Kill them!" said another.
"Burn them!" another one said.
"Listen, everybody!" Morgan shouted. "We didn't do this! Please listen to us! These demons came out of nowhere! All we did was drive them off!"
"Liar!" one of the said. "Let's kill them now!"
So they rushed in. Alucard jumped on a roof. He was hoping that they would start following him. However, with Morgan still there, and was getting beaten for it. She cried for someone to help her, but the villagers wouldn't listen. Finally, Alucard jumped back into the crowd, grabbed her, and jumped back on the roof. The young woman was trembling in his arms.
"I-I've never b-been so scared in my life." She said. "If I were to attack one, they would think I was evil for sure. I thought I going to die!"
Meanwhile, the villagers were shooting their guns at them. With great pain, Alucard took the shots to his back, protecting Morgan from harm. There was no pause in their gunfire, and the pain was getting worse. Finally, without having another option, he jumped to a tree, still holding the woman. Before the villagers could fire back, all they could see was mist. It traveled towards the villagers, and turned into a bat. This, of course, frightened the villagers.
"It's a vampire!" they shouted. They tried to shoot it, but Alucard reverted back to human form, took out his shield, and blocked the bullets. He bared his fangs at them, and they ran away in terror. Seeing that everything was safe, he went back to Morgan, picked her up, and entered one of the villagers' homes to treat her wounds.
Rachael's house
It was much later in the day, and the house was finally demon proof, so to speak. Electric poles covered the front and back lawns, crosses were on every door in the house, and every wall, door, and window in the house was anointed with olive oil. The family then prayed, but Rachael was far too focused on her thoughts about the events occurring. She wished that she could fix her mistake whilst still saving her friends, but that didn't look like an option. She began to doubt herself, as well as her faith.
A couple of hours later, screams could be heard from outside. They looked out the window to see people running and being killed by demons and vampires that seemed to come from nowhere. Her grandfather looked through the window with slight fear.
"The time has come." He said. "I'm afraid that I have no choice. 'I' must battle with the Count."
Rachael heard this, and grabbed his arm. "No, you mustn't! You're too old to fight him!"
He ignored her, and picked up the whip. It seemed to glow again in his grasp. He then showed it to her. "You see this? If you bring up your faith, you should be able to wield its power once again. However, in order for it to be strong enough to defeat the Count, you're going to have to get rid of every ounce of self doubt you have."
Rachael wasn't sure of what to say. She wanted to believe her grandfather, but he just couldn't understand the situation she was in. How could she forgive herself after what she done? And even 'if' she killed Nate that day, she would've been torn at the fact that she had to kill her friends to do it. What if Dracula was right about God? What if she's been doing all this for nothing? All these doubts and second thoughts were putting her beside herself.
"Well?" her grandfather said. "If you're not going, then 'I' am!"
This made Rachael quickly grab the whip away from him. The glow faded away at her grasp.
"No! I'll go! I'll just have to re-train my faith again, that's all! I don't want you to get killed for something 'I' done!"
Her grandfather smiled. "Well then, grandchild. You better start training right away."
Rachael was now worried. She was actually going to confront Dracula, and get killed for doing it. But something told her that it didn't matter if she died, as long as she tried. In a way, she would be redeeming, as well as punishing, herself. The whip seemed to give off a very faint glow, but then subsided. She then remembered that Kim was in danger, due to all these demons running about. She quickly gave the whip to her grandfather.
"Keep this safe until I get back."
"Where are you going?"
"To help Kim. I let her down once, and I'm not going to do it again!"
She then ran upstairs, grabbed her belt that contained the weapons she found in the castle, and buckled it up. She would've taken the whip as well, instead of giving it to her grandfather, but taking around a weapon you couldn't use what a little pointless. She then ran back downstairs, hugged everybody, and ran out the door. The sensors on the electric poles only stopped demons and vampires, so she was okay.
The demons nearby stopped what they were doing, and looked at her. One of the burly goblins approached her. She had her hand on the bottle of holy water, ready to attack in case it tried to hurt her. The demon examined her, smiled, and then turned towards its demon friends.
"Hey, check this out! It's the human that helped our master!"
The demonic crowd cheered in delight. Rachael, however, only felt worse about it. The demon then turned back in her direction.
"Don't worry, girlie. We won't hurt you, just so long as you don't get in our way. You're like a hero to us, anyways."
The demons cheered again, making her feel much worse. The demon that was talking to her heard another human footstep in the distant horizon.
"Well, duty calls." Then he turned back to Rachael. "Thanks again for helping our master. Just don't try to have any second thoughts, and you shouldn't have any problems with us." Then he walked back towards the other demons. "Let's kill!"
They cheered once more, and went back to terrorizing the streets. Rachael felt like throwing up, but remembered about Kim. She rushed towards her house, hoping that it wasn't too late.
End of chapter 8.
Well, that's the end of this chapter. It looks like I won't be getting this finished by Halloween, but I "should" be able to get this done before mid November.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to hear from you as well.