CHAPTER FIVE: The Curse of UnDeath
The night was dark and cold. The waning moon filled the dale with her dim light, more concealing than illuminating. She danced through the heavens, her light slowly fading, trying to hide herself behind the black wisps of cloud.
In the courtyard of the Burns manor, Smithers, Violet, and Dr. Nick Riviera stood before an intricate stone design, waiting. Smithers checked his watch. The second hand twitched. It was midnight. He nodded to the vampiress.
"Pour the blood!" she ordered.
The doctor pushed a large canister, toppling it. It's contents, seeming black in the moonlight, poured forth. The thin veins of liquid ran along the many grooves of the stones, forming an intricate symbol: a many-armed goat, standing atop an inverted cross, by which the image of a woman was weeping. The blood collected in a deep basin in at the goat's heart. It trickled it through many tiny channels. It slowly the small black pile that lay at the bottom of the pool.
The blood had spread out fully. The pool at the centre of the sigil was full to the brim. Silence.
They doctor walked over to the other two, who stared anxiously at the pool of blood. Nothing. A tear welled up in one of Smithers' eyes.
A shadow passed over the moon, and the city was plunged into darkness. The wind picked up, bringing cold, stinging air from the north.
A bubble rose. It came to the surface of the pool of blood, and popped. Then came another, and another, and then several, all at once. The pool began to froth and foam. A ball of flame like mist, a brilliant blue will-o-wisp, appeared above the pool, and settled on it's surface. It spread across it, stilling the bubbling blood. It faded, dissolving into the blood.
A round head broke the surface. Mr. Burns' emaciated form ascended from the blood, the thick, clinging liquid running off of his skin as though he were oil.
He strode forth, his long, thin limbs moving with the tremulous grace of a marionette. He looked up at the sky, a distant look upon his countenance. He turned toward Smithers and the Vampiress, who genuflected before him. With a motion like the strike of a snake, he held out his hand. His signet ring gleamed upon it in the dim light.
Crawling forward like infants, they kissed it adoringly.
"Bring me clothes…" he commanded in a soft, terrifying voice. Smithers rose, and picked up a long, fur-lined robe. He placed it over his master's shoulders, then backed away, bowing. The Vampyr lord looked to his slave.
"I thirst," he growled.
Both Smithers and the vampiress looked at Dr. Nick. He turned, and began to back away nervously.
"Well, it's great to see everything turned out okay. Mr. Burns, good luck with that world domination thing. Heh heh. Hoo."
He turned and ran. Smithers and Violet tackled him to the ground, and punched and kicked him until he ceased to struggle. They seized him by each arm, and threw him before Mr. Burns.
"Good-bye, Dr. Nick!" he laughed viciously.
His jaws extended out, stretching like a snake's. His sharp fangs grew longer. His eyes began to glow a smouldering red. He sank his fangs into the doctor's neck. With thick, powerful gulps, he swallowed his blood. He felt it flow into his veins. The blood vessels in his face began to swell with each powerful suck. He felt the heart of his victim slow, weaken, flutter…cease. The blood began to cool, and taste sour. He tossed the body aside as though like it were a doll. He rose to his full height, bright blood staining his lips and throat.
"Bring me more!"