Seated in the main dining hall of the castle, a tall man with shoulder length black hair waited for the return of his servants. He was dressed in a white silk shirt, black pants, and a pair of boots, while the rich blue overcoat he wore draped down the chair. In his left hand was a goblet half-filled with blood, while his right hand tapped impatiently on the arm of his chair. Pale skin with a corpse blue tinge, eyes bright blue like ice, and a very bored expression on his face which told of his lack of patience.

"What is taking that brat so long to get back?" he muttered before sipping on the blood in his goblet. With a sigh, Jonathan Tremere stood up and left the dining room, now wandering about the castle. As he entered the expansive ballroom, his eyes looked up at the massive portrait that hung on the wall before him. A name was etched into a small plate at the bottom edged of the frame; "Vlad Crusadus".

Such an odd person he'd found the previous owner of the castle to be. A vampire, no denying it, but one that refused to treat the humans like the livestock they were. One of those vanpyr no doubt, a race which was quite at odds even with itself. The oldest of their kind were determined to protect the humans, while the younger ones had fortunately figured out that it was better to accept what they were and indulge their bloodlust.

Footsteps rang through the castle halls. Tremere sighed as he turned to find out who was stumbling their way through his domain. As luck would have it, the source of the footsteps were none other than Grigori and Reidai, returned from their mission. Oddly, Nore was missing, and Tremere could not feel the two werewolves he'd sent with the thralls. "Where is she?" he asked after taking another sip from the goblet. "I assume that Nore took her to the guest chambers?"

The thralls glanced at each other, then to Tremere before they bowed in apology. "Forgive us," Grigori stated, not yet raising his gaze to meet the eyes of his master. "The girl's family has hired a hunter to protect her." He didn't need to look up to know that his master was glaring at him. "A dhampir, and a well trained one at that."

Now that angered expression became one of intrigued curiosity. "A dhampir hunter?" the vampire said, now gesturing for his servants to rise. "Interesting. Most interesting. Most dhampir don't live long enough to become well trained hunters, let alone live to rebel against their ancestors." He turned now, gesturing for his thralls to follow him. "Which leads me to question where Nore is."

Hesitation. Girgori knew that Tremere wasn't going to like this. "The dhampir hunter killed him," he stated. As he'd thought, their vampire master came to a halt and turned his head back to look at them from over his shoulder. "The hunter is different than anyone we've faced before, and he insists that he's not a dhampir."

Tremere's eyes narrowed. "He refers to himself as a dunpeal then?" he asked, and the answering nod confirmed his suspicion. This as going to be interesting indeed if it was a dunpeal instead of some simple dhampir. "Perhaps Hyrem Greymare left behind some legacy with which to haunt me by," the vampire muttered before continuing down the hall. His thralls quickly hurried to resume their place behind him. "What did he look like?"

"Short guy," Reidai replied. "About five foot seven or so. Blonde hair, a bit pale, and he wore a lot of red and black."

"And he has red eyes."

Tremere came to a halt when Grigori mentioned the hunter's eyes. The description quickly formed an image in his mind. "Red eyes?" he repeated. "Were they bright red, or more of blood crimson?"

"Definitely looked like fresh blood," Grigori stated. From the perturbed look on their master's face, the thralls knew that something was wrong. "Is he someone you know?"

There was no immediate answer. Tremere simply continued down the hall, hands behind his back. He could not make assumptions about this hunter, but there was a worry growing in the back of his mind. "This hunter," he at last said, turning his head slightly toward his servants. "He will indeed be an interesting opponent." A pause. "Don't underestimate him, Girgori. This vampire hunter may be a half-breed, but make no mistake, he is a foe to be taken seriously."

The thrall nodded and bowed, he and Reidai standing there as Tremere continued on into his private chambers. It was well past midnight now, meaning that in a few hours the sun would begin to rise. Grigori growled and turned to Reidai. "I want info on this dhampir hunter," he hissed angrily. "I want his name, where he comes from, anything you can find!"

The older thrall nodded and walked off, leaving Grigori to stare in the direction of Tremere's quarters. After a moment, he turned and as well left. Even if he was empowered by his master's vampire blood, he still needed rest. Tomorrow would be another day and chance to kill the hunter.

As the powerful engine of his motorcycle growled, D tapped on the control board keypad and activated the overdrive thrusters, tearing off through the countryside at high speed. He'd only stopped off at the ranch to gather a few pieces of equipment before leaving again, now heading for the castle. Already the sun had begun to set. No doubt, Tremere would send his minions again tonight in attempt to take Catherine. If he was lucky, D would already be finished with the vampire by then.

"What's with you now?" Varda asked as his face appeared once more. "You're usually not this moody about a job."

The hunter narrowed his eyes when the castle came in sight. "Get me high-def images from the Enoch satellite network of Greymare Castle," he ordered to the motorcycle's on-board computer. After a few moments, an array of images appeared on the visor, revealing the deep chasm which split the castle from the main region. A single bridge led across the ravine, but it looked to be some kind of retractable drawbridge instead of a static crossing. Why was the bridge down if it was not yet nighttime?

"Look, I'm know I'm a demon living in your gauntlet," Varda said as he tried to get D's attention. "But damnit, I'm a useful demon, and you know it!" Still no response. "Stop ignoring me!"

"Don't distract me when I'm at the wheel," D replied while shutting down the thrusters and shifting the engine into a lower drive. Something didn't feel right about how the lowered drawbridge was practically an open invitation to enter. Did Tremere want him to get inside the castle? Or was it Grigori who was behind this? Speaking of Grigori...

Varda picked up on that thought as well. "You know, that kid in charge of Tremere's thralls seems a bit odd," he said while sniffing. "The scent is a bit off for a thrall, even a high one who's about to become a vampire."

A nod. D wasn't so sure either about Grigori being what he claimed to be. "From what he said, Grigori is rather well favored by Tremere, meaning that he's been serving him for quite a while."

The front tire hit the bridge, causing a slight jolt while D drove down the length of the crossing. Cobalt blue steel, so there was no chance in hell of it collapsing under him. Something didn't feel right though. He was being allowed to just walk right in to the place. It reeked of a trap.

"Careful, D," Varda intoned while the motorcycle's headlight now came on to light the way down the dark foyer corridor. "You're driving right into a trap."

The young hunter snorted as he cracked a smile. "Tell me something I don't know." Leave it to Varda to point out the obvious. No readings from the satellite network, which meant that something about the castle was disrupting the signal. D frowned as he finally pulled his motorcycle to a halt in the expansive foyer and got off, engaging the security system, then tapping another code into the arm mounted keypad. Seconds later, a series of metal panels slid out and locked around the driver seat of the vehicle, closing it off while a large metal piece of armor came up to lock over the windshield.

Satisfied, and with his helmet left behind in the motorcycle, D proceeded down the foyer path. His right hand came up to brush back his hair, now revealing the pointed ears which he'd been so careful to hide before. Hiding what he was here would be pointless, since Girgori and the other thrall had no doubt informed Tremere about him and what he was. Correction, what they thought he was. Leave it to a Kinthea to ignore the fact that there was a huge difference between their kind and the vanpyr.

It was quite in the castle. Strange, since being that Tremere was undoubtedly expecting him, D should have run into a plethora of mutants and monsters intended to slow him down and kill him. Or perhaps he just wasn't looking as hard as he could. Not a problem. In an instant, his eyes shifted into feline slits, now glowing brightly while he looked about for any sign of trouble.

Entering a corridor, D tilted his head back. Something was following him, but it wasn't visible. "I can't see it," he said in a low tone while clenching his left fist. "Varda, what's back there."

The face quickly formed on the back of his hand. "Let me see," came the demon's reply. After a moment, Varda gasped, now forcing out the wide blade from his form. "Phantom jaguar! It's coming up fast, D!"

He turned, bringing up Varda and thrusting once the specter became visible. The blade cut into the necroplasmic flesh, but the ghost was only stopped for a moment before it came around and snapped its jaws at the hunter. D clenched his teeth and held up his right arm, fighting the urge to yell when the phantom bit hard into his arm. It pulled away, allowing him to look around for any sign of a way out. His arm was bleeding badly, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal in a few moments when he had the chance to relax. The problem was, with a phantom jaguar, he had to get rid of the ghost before he could recover.

The blade shimmered and reacted back into the gauntlet. "Varda," D stated while raising his left hand and opening it wide to point his fingers at the phantom. "Fry him."

The demon gave a delighted laugh. "I thought you'd never ask!" he exclaimed, now unleashing a storm of lightning from the fingers of the gauntlet. The electrical barrage wrapped around the specter, causing it to writhe about before D flung his aim to the side and sent the ghost flying back. It was still coming, however. Something was controlling the damned thing.

Was somebody laughing at him? Wait, behind that wall. There had to be some kind of room just past it. A hidden switch or something most likely controlled the entrance, but he didn't have time to search. "Time for a universal lockpick," D muttered as he ran over and slammed his left fist right into the stone, causing it to crumble before him. As he stumbled into the hidden chamber, the jaguar ghost vanished the moment it followed him inside. It was then that he looked up to see the source of the specter sitting before him. An old mutant witch, face looking to have rotted off halfway, tattered rags for clothes, and standing next to her was Grigori, who still had that insufferable grin on his face.

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon," the thrall said in greeting.

The witch laughed as she saw D's bleeding right arm. "Any other man would have lost his arm to my pet," she stated as she stood up, now flexing her bony fingers and showing off her long nails. "That's nothing to say of his life, but you kept both." A grin to reveal her decrepit yellow teeth. "The sign of a true dhampir."

Now the witch was insulting him. Was the whole world that determined to piss him off? "That's dunpeal, old hag," D snapped angrily. He brought down his left arm, blade forming from Varda while his right arm finally began to rapidly heal. "Call me dhampir again, and I'll rip your goddamn throat out."

Grigori raised an amused brow. It was interesting how this hybrid took so much offense to being referred to as what he was. "Regardless of what you call yourself," he said while snapping out his hand to form those metal claws, "you're still a half-breed, and your blood is as filthy as the human whore who bore you."

Crimson eyes now blazing, D brought up his gauntlet to flash the blade in what little light there was in the room. "Fine words from a guy who's just a human with borrowed vampire blood." There was that scent again. This wasn't the smell of a thrall, it was something else. More so, now that he was able to get a good look at him, D found that Grigori looked somehow familiar. Best to worry about that later, after he dealt with the current problem. "How long have you been kissing Tremere's ass, Grigori? Ten, twenty years?"

"I have served my master for three centuries," the thrall replied angrily. He narrowed his eyes at the hunter. "Faithfully, and unfailingly. In return, he grants me my continued youth, and after he claims the girl as his bride, he will grant me the gift of endless life as a noble."

There was a smirk on D's lips. That explained a few things. "Three hundred years," he said, voice dripping with his own sadistic amusement, "and you're still just some thrall?" Now he gave a laugh. "I'd say you're being strung along, Grigori. If Tremere hasn't made you a vampire by now, then there's a good chance he never will."

The young thrall hissed, moved to attack, but was held back by the witch. No, he was not to fight the hunter here, and as much as he wanted to, Grigori dared not disobey his orders. "I wish I could continue the fight from last night," he said while relaxing his posture. "However, I've been ordered to divert you elsewhere."

There was confusion in D's eyes, but then he understood when a flash of light tore around him in a circle and brought the ground beneath him crumbling away. The young hunter gasped in surprise, unable to reach the newly formed ledge, and he fell down into the black depths of the castle, swallowed by the shadows.

Nightfall. It had been hours since D left, and he as of yet hadn't returned. Daniel was starting to get worried about the hunter now. The moon was full in the sky, now tinged red like blood, just as D had said it would be this night. Hopefully, the hunter was right and the blood moon meant that Catherine would be safe while the situation in the castle was handled.

"Danny," came the call from Iria. Daniel turned to see her standing at the foot of the stairs, holding a rifle in her left hand. "That guy knows what he's doing, you shouldn't worry about him."

The boy nodded, but he didn't feel any more at easy. "It's not D I'm worried about," he replied softly while looking out the window again. His own rifle, charged with a fresh power cell, was in his right hand. He was ready for anything right now, or at least, he hoped so. "It's us." Daniel glanced back at his sister. "I wouldn't put it past Tremere to come for Katie tonight, even if he won't turn her now."

The barriers outside suddenly went out. Seconds later, the power failed, leaving the house in darkness. Daniel raised his rifle even as Catherine came running out of her room and hugged close to their older sister. After an unnerving silence, the front wall caved in, revealing a large werewolf and a tall man with grey hair that was streaked with red.

A series of shots fired from Daniel's rifle, energy blasts flying out, but failing to make their mark as the tall man sprang forward and grabbed the rifle from him, his other hand curling around the young man's neck. The werewolf moved for Iria and Catherine, taking every shot fired at it, and backhanding the older of the two girls to the ground. Now, glaring at Catherine, the beast bared its fangs, growling as it took a step closer.

"That's enough!"

The beast halted, looked back, then stepped away while a young man with black hair, pale blue eyes, and a smug grin on his lips walked into the house; Grigori. He gestured for the beast to keep Iria pinned, then made his way over to Catherine and reached out to hold her face. "You are a pretty thing," he said softly, leering at her while taking note of her curves. "I can see why Master Tremere has picked you for his bride."

"Get your hands off of me!" the girl snapped angrily. "Let my brother and sister go, or-" She gulped when Grigori's expression went cold, realizing that perhaps trying to order this thrall around was not such a good idea. "I'll...I'll..."

"You'll what?" the youthful thrall replied as he squeezed her face. "Bite your own tongue out and bleed to death? While I doubt that you would go through with it, I certainly can't take that chance...or can I?" He glanced to Reidai, who had a demented grin on his face. Now he looked to the werewolf. "You know, Garu has been rather frustrated lately. I'm sure that your older sister would do quite nicely for him, and she'll quickly learn to enjoy being the fuckdoll of a werewolf!"

"No!" Catherine shook her head while the werewolf was tearing open her sister's shirt. "No, leave her alone!"

Again, that demented laugh escaped Grigori's lips. He was enjoying this little scene. Certainly, he wasn't lying about how this werewolf had been rather deprived, and indeed, it would probably enjoy using the girl's older sister as a relief. But, there were so many other more viable uses for such a lovely young woman. Being that his master was claiming this girl, it wouldn't hurt to save the older sister to be his own prize. "I have a better idea," he said, now looking to the werewolf Garu. "Let the woman be for now, we'll get you one of your kind as a fuck buddy tonight."

The creature growled in delight and stepped away from Iria, who was now pulling her shirt shut. Reidai only laughed at the sight before tightening his grip around Daniel's neck. "What about him?" the thrall asked. "Do I snap his neck?"

For a moment, Gigori almost agreed. However, perhaps it would do well to let these humans have a favor; a present in honor of their younger sister's wedding to his master. "Leave them be," he ordered while now grabbing Catherine by the waist and picking her up. With the girl now slung on his shoulder, he grinned to his underlings. "They've got their invitation to the wedding, and we should make sure they'll be alive to attend." His eyes shifted to look at Iria now. "Besides, I've got my own little prize picked out for when I'm granted my rank."

Reidai grinned and dropped Daniel to the ground, now leaping back out through the hole left by the collapsed wall. The werewolf behind remained until Grigori had departed with Catherine, then bounded away after his keepers.

When they were finally safe, Daniel coughed as he tried to breathe again. Reidai's grip was like steel, and if he'd exerted any more pressure, Daniel's windpipe would have been crushed. "Katie," he wheezed before looking over to Iria. There was fear in her eyes from Grigori's proclamation; she was next. Well, it was going to be a cold day in hell before Daniel let that happen. "D will save her," he said, thought now he wasn't so sure. In fact, he couldn't be sure that the young hunter was even still alive.

Had they already lost?

Nothing but darkness now. He wasn't dead, so that was a good sign, but he wasn't all too sure where he was either. All that he could tell was that it was dark. Oh, and it was wet. After that spell the witch had cast, collapsing the floor and dumping him into the underways of the castle, it was anybody's guess how to get out.

His eyes shifted, now glowing to allow him night vision, but it was only good enough for a few feet in front of him. "Damnit, where is that thing," the hunter muttered as he searched through his coat. Finally, he found what he was looking for and pulled out a small device that was quickly clipped onto his chest armor. A tap of a switch and a bright cone of light shined out, now allowing him to see where he was going.

"That was one hell of a nasty trick those guys pulled," Varda chimed as D began to make his way into the underway. The constant drip of water was the only other sound besides the hunter's movement and Varda's voice. "Have to admit though, interesting place they dumped us into. These catacombs are definitely pre-war."

The young half-breed hunter gave a snort while climbing over a pile of rubble. "Just like going on a field trip with Miss Davers' history class," he remarked sarcastically. With a grunt, D dropped down from the debris, his feet landing in a puddle of water. The stench was putrid, causing him to wrinkle his nose in attempt to block it out. No such luck. "Man, what the hell died down here? Smells like a herd of ulgnas keeled over."

The demon gauntlet couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed that his owner's sense of humor and tenacity for cracking a joke at the most inappropriate time was returning. "Now that's more like the D I know," he remarked. There was a wide smile on the demon's face now. "Let's find a way out of this dump and pay that turd thrall a visit, huh?"

The boy was about to nod when he heard something from deeper in the catacombs. He glanced back the way he came, but that wasn't an option, being that there was no other tunnel leading out. "Fuck," he swore, now turning in the direction of the noise. No choice now but to find out what it was. "This is just great." D sighed as he made his way over the rubble and ancient remains. Risking running into even more trouble was not exactly high on his list of things to do right now, but he needed to find a way out of the underways.

It was about half-an-hour before he finally managed to find where the sound was coming from. At least, he thought it was around half-an-hour. For all he knew, it could have been more. He always did have a lousy sense of time. "Sounds like someone's playing an acoustic guitar or something," he muttered while hopping down from a debris pile. It was then he stopped and looked around. Something felt very strangely familiar about all this. Not a situation he'd been in before, but deja vu all the same. Maybe it was something he'd heard about, or read, or...

"Ah, shit," the hunter growled as he realized why this felt familiar. "It's right out of that damn book!"

Varda raised a brow at his owner. "Book?" the demon asked quizzingly. He hadn't expected this kind of reaction from D over the problem they were facing. "What book is this...oh." Now he got the reference. "That book, the one the Japanese guy wrote."

A nod from D as he gripped his left fist. There was the chance he was being paranoid, but as the saying went, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that they weren't out to get you. In D's case, it all too often proved true. As such, he had learned to be very cautious in these kinds of situations.

Now turning to find himself in a massive chamber, D could see what appeared to be a shallow underground lake. At the center of the lake, seated on a crop of rocks, was an inhumanly beautiful red-haired woman with a guitar in hand. Her skin was a rich blue color, and one could clearly see that she had legs through the black dress she wore. The top of the dress, however, looked to be missing, as one could see as she looked up from her practice. A pair of red tresses came down over her chest, almost conveniently placed as she smiled at the hunter.

"Welcome to my home," she said, standing up and setting her instrument down next to the crop of rocks. She gave an enticing smile, and D, finding that this wasn't what he had been expecting, took the invitation to walk over to the woman. "I assume that this is your first time to the catacombs." The woman brushed back those tresses of hair now to reveal her large breasts.

Raising a brow while he gave a smirk, D couldn't help but nod. "Definitely," he replied as the woman now draped one arm on his shoulder. "The name's D. You are?"

A softly laugh from the woman. "You can call me Marrigan." With a fanciful gaze into D's eyes, the woman ran one finger down the center seam of his armored vest. "It's been so long since I have a visitor. Tremere keeps me locked up down here, all alone." There was a hungry gleam in her eyes now as she looked at the young hunter. "You seem like a vital young man, and very handsome to boot."

"D," Varda intoned, trying to get the young man's attention. "D, there's something wrong here, she's obviously not human!"

With a grin, D didn't bother much in the way of responding. His attention was more on the woman who was just about fawning over him. "In case you forgot," he softly hissed at the gauntlet, "neither am I."

The demon groaned. "That's all we need," he muttered in a whispered tone. "Now the kid starts thinking with his dick."

Marrigan calmly ignored the complaints from the gauntlet while now holding D's face gently. "It's so sad," she continued, pressing her body against his. "I'm so lonely down here, with no one to spend time with." Once more, she gave that enticing smile. "Will you stay with me?"

"Well, I don't know," D replied, now placing in right hand around her waist. "Are you gonn'a be real nice to me?"

With a chuckle, the woman nodded and curled her arms around D's neck. "Oh, I'll be very nice to you." She smiled, then pulled him into a deep kiss. Small surges of lightning crackled from D's mouth to hers, and she moaned while pulling him over to the crop of stones that served as a seat. She didn't break the kiss, and with every second that their lips connected, Marrigan siphoned a bit of his life away from him.