I dedicate this fanfiction to my girlfriend and all my readers, reviewers and the beta reader floodmaster16.
Hi all, finally the new chapter!
CHAPTER 14 – A demon can't die
Erzsebet stood up and looked at Mavis, proud, "My little Mavy," She said, "You're stronger than I imagined... unlike your father. My teachings have helped."
"Mavis,..." Dracula gasped, exhausted, he was on the floor beside Jonathan, both unable to get up, but they were not in serious condition. Mavis, looked at them for a moment, then turned and stared at the woman in her eyes, "Ertzy, Ruth. W-what's going on? I was looking for you to warn you that we run the risk of being caught by humans and you lose time fighting? I've not found your maids, they are human and they could not keep up with us if we had to flee."
"Do not worry about them, do given what I promised." Erzsebeth replied.
"Have you turned into vampire? You have no idea how dangerous the neo-reborn?" Mavis exclaimed, worried.
"I said do not worry about them." The woman replied, impassive.
"You have not turned them, right?" Dracula broke in, attracting the attention of the two, "You promised them that they would never become old... every time the same promise... You killed them all, bled one after the other while they were giving themselves to their executioners believing that they would awaken as vampiress while instead they will not wake up anymore... That's why now you are so much stronger..."
Mavis returned to the Countess, "Is it true?" She asked, trembling, maybe she preferred to have no answer.
The woman smiled sinisterly, "You caught us." She exclaimed, amused.
The girl frowned, filled of anger and guilt for having trusted her instead her father, "At least tell me why..." It was the only thing she managed to say, although it seemed little more than a faint sigh, the anger was choking her to the point of not being able to speak and her gaze was cold.
"Because we want to be stronger, you think you have the exclusive?" The woman said, "We want to know how to become demons."
The young vampiress narrowed her eyes, "Demons? Is that really what you want? You used me, you captured my confidence ... I thought I had found a friend and instead ... How could you betray me like this?" Mavis could no longer hold back the tears that silently began to run down her cheeks.
"Do not cry, little Mavis," said Erzsebet with maternal voice, the woman had appeared behind the young vampiress without her noticing it and and with a finger she wiped a tear on her cheek, "Don't be angry, you know how is the world, you cannot really trust anyone, not even the people you love: your father has lied about everything, humans, monster, your true nature, even see what his obsession with control prompted him to do to convince you not to leave the castle. And what about your boyfriend? When he was going to warn you that he was not a monster? Now tell me, who do you trust?"
Mavis was silent for a moment, "My father wanted to protect me, he was wrong to be so dictatorial, but he did it for me and for that I forgive him. Jonny found himself in a world unknown to him, but if he has hidden his true identity he did it to be with me and for that I forgive him." Then she turned and looked at the noblewoman in her eyes, "But you... you have no excuse for what you have done..." The voice of the young vampiress began to tremble in rage, "I don't care if you pretended to be my friends, but I'll never forgive you for having hurt my father, Jonny and to those girls..." She concluded, clenching her fists.
Erzsebet smiled, "Anger, revenge... You bring out the best of you in these conditions, you're still a bit rough, but if you keep so you'll become a true vampire, not a spineless like your father..."
"I don't allow you to insult him!" Mavis countered even more angry.
"Mavis stop..." Her father said while slowly get up leaning on his sword, "You're doing her play. Bring Jonny in safe, it's a battle that I have to fight by myself..."
"What do you think you can do? You can't even stand up." Mavis replied.
"You want to fight against us, little princess?" Ruthven asked, "Or do you understand that there is a diplomatic solution?"
Mavis replied by unsheathing her claws.
"I see..." The Lord sighed, dissatisfied.
"Go easy on her. She has a lot of potential, so try not to kill her." Erzsebeth said, looking at the girl with a veil of sadness, "How can you prefer humans instead of us, who are your brothers. After all they have done to us monsters. After all they have done to you..."
"Humans have changed. There are still bad people, of course, but there are also evil monsters like you, but we can't paint them all with the same brush. Humans are not as bad as they were when they killed my mother, not anymore, and I can't punish them for their ancestors' atrocities. I can't do anything but forgive them and let it pass." Mavis replied, promptly.
Erzsebet chuckled, amused, "But then, you forgive everyone except us?" shifting her gaze to Ruthven, who seemed to understand what that look meant.
The Lord reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold medallion that he twirled on his fingers. It was a seven-pointed star with a large ruby.
"That's your medallion, right Drac? I saw it on your paintings of when you were human, it was on your crown. Also it's a cliché that appears in every movie about you." Johnny said.
"Yes, it's true, that is my jewel. Why do you have it? I thought I'd lost it many years ago."
"I see you're an informed guy. What story is told about Count Dracula in the human world?" Ruth asked.
The boy was confused about why he asked this, but, chatterbox as he was, he did not need to ask twice, "Dracula bought a palace in England because the population in Transylvania was hiding from him. However, he was not known abroad and he would have had more food ... "Jonathan stopped seeing the Count puffed, bored for the slanders about him, but the boy continued," In Britain, he began to rack up his victim count, and no one suspected of a monster, except for Abraham Van Helsing who hunted him. Drac fled to his castle in Transylvania, but was eventually hunted down and killed. "
The Count rolled his eyes as a sign of dissent, "How many bullshit has been said about me? I've never been in Britain..." But he stopped suddenly, thoughtfully, as if he had got a revelation, and looked up at Ruthven, "I haven't, but you have. You are British..."
The Lord chuckled, "Perspicacious." He cut short.
"Don't take all the credit, Ruth," Erzsebeth exclaimed, "After all, the plan was mine. But Vlad here is so spineless that it didn't work out as I thought..."
"Dad, what are they talking about?" Mavis asked, confused.
"They... they are responsible for the death of your mother ..." The Count said, growling in rage of not being strong enough to avenge his wife, "He pretended to be me to turn humans against me. It's thanks to them that Martha is dead!"
Mavis clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She was blinded by rage.
In a moment she jumped against the woman, but Ruthven appeared ahead her intercepting her blow and he had no problems to stop it, so she tried with her other hand, but he stopped that too.
The man clasped both arms of the young vampire who seemed in trouble, but he looked up and stared at Ruthven into his eyes, smirking.
"What's so funny?" The Lord asked, curious about her strange behavior, but he could barely finish the sentence before Mavis, taking advantage of his distraction, dematerialized an arm and threw a quick blow that hurt the vampire on his chest. Then she freed the other arm and tried to hit him with a lunge, but he used the same strategy of his young opponent and turned into a purple mist, which was crossed by claws of the girl with no consequences.
Despite the failed attack she remained focused and took advantage of the defenses lack of his enemy in that immaterial form; she loaded energy in her still stretched arm to the point that a pink luminescent aura formed around it, and then she squeezed vigorously the mist of Ruthven that flashed and moved in spasms, as was suffering, so Mavis squeezed again and fog reacted in the same way, and the third time Ruthven rematerialized falling to the ground with the girl's hand stuck deeply in his chest.
The Lord took her wrist with both hands in a desperate attempt to break free, but the wounds were too serious. Mavis had man's life in her hands.
Clap, Clap, Clap.
Mavis looked up, his eyes were blood red. Erzebeth was applauding slowly as she smiled smugly, seemed happy to see the young girl killing her partner.
"You're far stronger than I expected, young vampiress. I'm so proud of you." The countess admitted.
The girl gritted her teeth and growled like a rabid dog, then she started to crush the heart of the vampire who gasped in pain.
"There's just something wrong with you..." Erzsebet said, "It's your soul to make you weak and only when you lose control you can express all your true strength."
The countess reached Mavis and Ruthven in a silent flash. The girl was too busy to torture the man to notice the woman, instead he raised his hand in search for her help, but she did not even look at him, with a quick movement, almost imperceptible, she ran her dagger on Mavis' throat, cutting it.
"Mavy!" Dracula and Jonathan cried in unison in despair.
Mavis stood motionless, as if paralyzed, with her tight shut eyes and her mouth open in a grin of pain, but no, she was not paralyzed, she was screaming a silent scream, the cut was so deep that it had damaged her vocal cords, and the only thing that came out of her mouth was only her blood.
The wound was severe even for a vampire, the beating of her heart were slow, but even though she tried to stop the bleeding by pressing the wound with her hand, with every heartbeat the blood spurting and the risk of bleeding to death was high if the cut had not healed quickly.
Ruthven pushed away the girl who fell to the floor and he was helped to get up by Erzsebet. He was badly wounded. He but now that he should not consume his energy to defend himself from the grip of the young vampire, his body began to slowly regenerate.
"Next time wait she kills me before help me!" The Lord complained sarcastically.
"You deserved it, you almost got killed by a little girl." The woman mocked him.
The countess looked at the bloodied kriss, "I can't smell alive blood live. Tell me the truth, you were looking for me not only to speak about the invaders, isn't it?" She concluded, moving her eyes on the injured girl, knowing that she would never replied.
"W_what do you mean? Why in the blood of my daughter should have been living blood?" Dracula asked, still down.
Erzsebet glanced on him, "Let's say that the girl has fallen into temptation, or rather, we made her fall!"
"Coward..." Jonathan gasped, getting up, "You're just a coward bastard!" He reiterated louder.
Also Drac had raised, but his condition was worse than human, "Damned..."
"Here come the heroes to save the little princess in peril. But you need not worry about her, she 's strong and can take care of herself." Erzsebet said, chuckling, "After all, she has stood up to the great Van Helsing and in such a short time she's healed wounds worse than that and, moreover, without scars."
In fact, the Countess was right, Mavis had fainted on the floor on a pool of blood, but the wound appeared to be almost healed.
The woman moves her attention on the two and with a wave of her hand, they came off the ground, remaining hung a few inches from the floor.
Ruthven approached Mavis, took her by her hair and pulled her to her feet. The pain made her wake, but she was too weak to steady herself.
"Sorry, but I have a score to settle with her..." The Lord said, and walked toward Jonathan dragging her with him.
Mavis could not help but yelp in pain and try to take a few steps, but the man was walking too fast for the weak leg of the girl who fell, but he did not flinch and continued to drag her up to the human where he lifted her, face to face to the boy.
-You will not survive much longer little brat, although now the cut is not deep you're too weak to heal completely. You just extended your sofferenze.- Ruthven said, full of contempt.
"One way or another you'll talk, after all I warned you." Erzsebet began to speak, "One by one I'll take everything you love, until you no longer have a reason to live." Then the Countess opened her hand and did appear a full blood bag, "The choice is yours, you know what we want."
"Hey..." Jonathan sighed, looking his girlfriend in her eyes, but she looked away, "Don't worry about me, I've got worse problems." He tried to calm her, but she was still in an semi-unconscious state and seemed to get worse.
"Don't you dare pass out now. Wake up bitch!" The man exclaimed, shaking the girl but she just seemed like a puppet with cut strings.
Meanwhile, Jonathan put a hand in his mouth and bit it until it bled. The young vampire's eyes widened, they had the same color of blood.
It was not her.
Charged by a mysterious energy she pushed the Lord away and jumped on the human knocking him down, she opened her mouth and the boy shut his eyes in an expression frightened and ready to pain, but he did nothing to defend himself, it was a sacrifice that he was willing to do.
Drac wanted to help him, but the magic of the two evil vampires continued to block him, and he was too weak to counter it.
But soon Jonny realized that was not happening anything and opened his eyes slowly and fearfully. Mavis was still over him, her eyes were closed and her head down, she was shaking.
"Erzsebet." The girl said, her voice was still hoarse, "I accept your proposal. I can't hurt Jonathan."
"No!" The human exclaimed, trying to bring his bloody hand to her, but Ruthven stopped him stomping his arm, "Drac, tell her you too!" Jonathan begged the vampire, but he said nothing, perhaps his daughter had made the right decision, he could not risk that she killed him.
Mavis was helped to get up by Ruthven who continued to hold her up, now that she had decided to talk to the man seemed friendlier.
"I'll tell you the truth, I promise." The young vampire said in a trembling voice, putting in full view her open hands, "You can never become demons..."
At these words Erzsebet replied with a glare, "What do you mean?"
"It's a real curse, in fact, only who doesn't want become a demon can become it. Only the voluntary sacrifice of the loved one can create no soul so strong to awaken a demon. But you... you have no soul, you can't love, and you can't be loved." Mavis replied, defiantly, she knew that two evil vampires had failed their mission.
"Invented a better story, who would be sacrificed for Vlad? His wife died long time ago." Ruthven exclaimed, nervously.
"Ruth, the girl isn't lying, remember what she promised. But it's possible that someone has lied to her." The countess said, "Do you know anything?" She continued turning to Drac who did not answer, "I'm tired of waste time, kill her." She concluded, coldly.
"No!" Drac and Jonathan exclaimed in unison and without a second thought the boy ran against the Lord, but he was stopped by his magic.
"Where you going? Enjoy the show!" The man said to the boy and then put his hand on Mavis' breast and slowly dug his claws over her heart.
"Where you going? Enjoy the show!" The man said to the boy and then put his hand on Mavis' chest and slowly dug his claws over her heart.
She gritted her teeth against the pain and the only thing Drac and Jonny could do was watching the scene helplessly; tell them the truth would only make things worse.
"I'm so sorry dad, I'm so sorry..." The young vampire sobbed.
"It's not your fault, it's mine, I failed to protect you." Her father replied.
"I'm sorry to disobey my mom, but..." The girl continued.
"You're delirious?" Ruthven said, "Don't try to pass out or die too soon, I want you to suffer more than you've made me suffer." He kept holding her by her neck, but he noticed that her wound was suddenly and perfectly healed.
"Be careful to rummage in people's hearts," Mavis whispered, her voice was back to normal and calm as if he felt no pain, "You never know what you can find..."
The Lord was puzzled for a moment to those words, but his defiant face broke into a grimace of pain.
"Argh!" Ruthven cried, pulling his hand away from Mavis' chest and fell to the ground, "It's you, it's you, it's you..." He began to pant, very agitated, so that even Erzsebet was confused by his behavior, "That's why she wasn't there in Vlad's memories!" The man continued.
"What the hell are you babbling about?" Erzsebet asked irritated, "Don't tell me you have trouble to kill a half-dead little vampiress!"
The Lord looked down at his hand in pain, on it there was a faint dark aura, then looked up at the woman as to call for her help, but before he could speak he was interrupted by Mavis:
"I'm not a vampiress anymore..." She sighed, distressed and full of remorse, then after a wave of her left hand, there was a flash of darkness, a split second in which not even the vampires were able to see anything, and when the light returned, Ruthven was immersed in a blaze of black fire which was extinguished in a moment, but did not let no chance to the old vampire who fell to the ground, and his charred skin crumbled crashing to the floor. His only recognizable thing were his clothes, perfectly intact.
With his death also his magic was dissolved, freeing Jonathan and Dracula.
"You were right, all of you were right..." Mavis muttered thoughtfully, "A demon can't die." She concluded, looking at her left hand obscured by black flames that enveloped it.
"A lot of potential... I always believed in you from the first day I met you, but I didn't think so much." Erzsebet said, the girl looked up at her, her left eye was yellow and bright, full of anger and revenge, eager to violence, and the other was blue, feeble and scared.
The countess contemplated Mavis avoiding meet her gaze, "A demon... I would never expected from you. This means you told the truth. But the fact that Jonathan was sent by lamias just means that sooner or later their will come to you. Maybe is you who are carrying the Great Mother? It would be fun..." Erzsebet paused, "Unfortunately I was born human, and therefore I have the bad habit of never being satisfied typical of humans. I spent my mortal life to fight olding and when I won I wanted to have more and more, and this led me to ruin. I don't wanna beg or crawl at your feet, so I'll ask you just one time, do you want to join me? "The woman asked, but Mavis replied by lifting the hand on which the shadow fire flared stronger, "I understand, I imagined it. Just one last thing, stop it with blood substitutes, your body needs genuine energy and if you don't get it from human blood, you could take it from the demon, risking to awaken it. I have a good stock in the fridge of my room, it's yours as my clothes."
"Why should I believe you? Do you want to bribe me just hoping not to end up like Ruth?" Mavis growled.
"No," The countess cut short, "It's just that I've always liked you. Maybe if I had a soul and I were not a psychopathic killer we would have been friends. Now if you'll excuse me I'll not let you ruin my perfect face." That said The woman opened her hand where appeared the kris, she grasped it and stabbed her heart, killing herself instantly and astounding everyone.
Drac and Jonny remained still and silent. They remembered well those feelings, the tightness in the chest, chills down the spine, breathing hard... Mavis emitted pure fear just like when she was Camazotz, despite now she had the usual appearance of a petite girl. "I know I shouldn't do it, Mom told me that it's dangerous, but..." But she was interrupted by her father, who embraced her, regardless of the shadow flames on her arm which was cold to the touch, but totally innocuous, "You did the right thing, it was a dangerous move, but really you couldn't do anything else." Her father said in a soothing voice, "But now we must deal with the humans, even though I use it all the hotel staff to slow them down, sooner or later they'll come here."
Mavis had finally calmed down, her yellow eyes returned blue and the flames on her arm vanished.
Also Jonathan approached her cautiously, but Mavis turned into a cloud of thick black smoke and moved away up to the lifeless body of the countess where she turned human and knelt to pick up the blood bag , "Jonny," The girl murmured, "Go get medicating that wound, I don't want it hurts you." She concluded, turning to him with an encouraging half smile.
Jonathan was about to answer, but Drac put a hand on his shoulder and he understood that the problem was the smell of his blood, so he made an embarrassed smile and walked away silently.
The vampire turned to his daughter, "Mavy wavy, I was hoping it was not necessary, but we have to talk about what happened to you, what Erzsebet said about Jonny is true, if he is a pawn of lamias, sooner or later they will come too, and they'll be much worse than Ruthven and Erzsebet."
The young vampire sighed irritated by the memories that her father would come back to her mind, but she knew it would be a sacrifice even for him, so she smiled, took his hand and together ran inside the castle before the sun was burning them.
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