Pitch darkness was all that surrounded him while slouched against the stone wall of his cell. Where he was he wasn't sure , but the only thing Arnold knew was that he had been down here for two months straight. Grabbing a rock from the ground he began to engrave another tally on the wall as a way to keep track of the time spent locked away. Literally starving to death for the small servings of blood he gotten every two weeks weren't enough and was causing him to feel weak from lack of nutrition. With silver bars that made up of his cell it left Arnold with no doubt in his mind who was behind all of this. No one other than Dracula could have been behind all of this and it repulsed him even more as each day ended with another beginning.
Arnold's head turned quickly to a sound that was coming from the door in the corner. The unlocking of the door could be heard and soon after light flooded the room from which he had been occupying for quite some time. He shielded his eyes for the light nearly blinded him before they finally adjusted to see who was standing before him. " Well hello Arnold, I see you are settling quite nicely down here." Said Dracula . Dracula was holding a flashlight and purposefully point the light directly into Arnold's eyes, in a sick twisted way he enjoyed seeing Arnold so weakened and vulnerable. " I knew ….. I knew it was you all along." Whispered Arnold. " You have no one to blame, but yourself Arnold. Did I not warn you stay away from Astrid the moment I knew when you returned?" asked Dracula. " What are you planning on doing with me then? Keep me down here till I rot?" Enraged with anger Arnold grabbed onto the bars of his cells while at the same time attempting to claw at Dracula who was in close range.
Arnold let out a blood curdling scream as the silver was causing a burning reaction against his skin before he immediately let go falling to the ground as he did. Dracula's laughter at Arnold's anguish seemed to echo throughout the dungeon. " You fool! I have no use for you alive. I plan to send to you back to the depths of hell where you belong, my father is very eager for you to join him once more. " Arnold's hands were blistered and were hardly healing from being deprived of blood. All he could do was lay there weak on the stone floor of his cell while Dracula's blue orbs beamed down on him.
" Astrid by the way gave birth to another son two weeks ago. It seems she has forgotten all about you Arnold. You're nothing but a far distant memory to her ." said Dracula. Dracula tucked a lose hair behind his ear that was hanging in his face with his pinkie before crouching to the ground so he was now eye level with Arnold. " Her place is with me, I ask that you do respect that till you are euthanized, is that understood?" asked Dracula. Arnold remained silent he dared not look at his enemy who was before him nor would he give him the satisfaction of answering his question. Dracula stood up straight after it was clear that Arnold wasn't going to comply with his demands. He looked down at the sorry excuse for a man who was lying on the ground in a fetal position, it angered him for he had no clue what Astrid could've loved about someone who was so weak. " It ends tomorrow my friend. Be thankful in the knowledge that I shall bring your suffering to an end." Said Dracula before making an exit out of the dungeon.
Astrid stirred in her sleep for she could hear crying in the distance. Her eyes were heavy and she was in need of much rest, but Logan didn't quite grasp this for he was only two weeks old. She groaned as she turned onto her side in her bed to find the other side of the bed was empty. Where could Vlad be she thought for the clock on the wall said it was three in the morning? Logan's cries that could be heard through the baby monitor persisted till she finally threw a pillow over her head and groaned some more in dismay. The infant was relentless since the moment he was born ,she had hardly any time to rest and it wasn't like Vlad could help her much for he was most of the time at work. She waited for another five minutes hoping that maybe just maybe he would fall back to sleep, but it was no use he was up and probably in need of a feeding.
Half a sleep almost in a daze she walked down the hallway towards Logan's room. The cries got louder as she approached and she wondered to herself how her other children could sleep through the terrible cries he made. Astrid flicked the light switch on to see Logan almost beet red crying while remaining on his back. She scooped him up gently in her arms before taking a seat in the rocking chair near the window. Logan immediately sank his long teeth into Astrid's finger as he slowly began to draw blood from her. Logan like her other two boys resembled their father very much, his hair however was straight and almost black. It surprised Astrid how much hair he had at only being two weeks old. Unlike the twins he did have Dracula's piercing blue eyes and thin lips, she couldn't see any of herself in him , but nevertheless she loved him just the same.
Looking out the window from the baby's room she could see headlights drawing closer to the mansion down the driveway. Astrid recognized it as Dracula's car before he even stepped out of the vehicle. Definitely she was beginning to feel the postpartum depression kicking in for she was forbidden to leave the mansion and was made to take care of the young infant all in her own. Dracula could come and go as he pleased which bothered her to no end. This wasn't the first time she had caught him coming home late at night, where he went off to she didn't know and felt even afraid to ask. The front door closing could be heard upstairs causing Logan to stir in her arms.
His footsteps echoed up the stairway as he approached closer to Logan's room. He could sense Astrid was with the baby and proceeded to head in that direction. The door creaked open as Dracula entered the room and before him sat Astrid in her red dress robes while in the rocking chair with the baby. Walking up to her she didn't even go as far as saying hello or acknowledging him, this troubled him as he coughed under his breath to get her attention. " It seems Logan has no interest in sleeping I take it?" Still no reply for all she did was look down at Logan as she continued to nurse him. Something troubling you my dear?" " Where did you go off to? I woke up in the middle of the night to find you gone." Asked Astrid. " Awe it seems one has missed me I take it?" chuckled Dracula. Astrid didn't find it all amusing for it seemed he was disappearing at least once a week with no explanation as to where he was. " I'd like to know where you've been going to at all hours of the night while I'm forced to remain indoors and tend to the children?"
" Why you ask? Are you writing a book?" asked Dracula. Logan had seemed to fall asleep in her arms for he had a full belly. Gently she got up and leaned down over the crib to lay him down while covering him up with the blankets at the same time. Astrid could feel Dracula's arms snake around her waist just as she lay down her son. " Worried I might be with someone else hmmm?" asked Dracula into her ear. " I can assure Astrid that is not the case." He spun her around and showed her the massive binder in his brief case with documents from work he been assigned to complete. " With the rest of Europe being asked to engage in war along side the Americans , work has been non-stop for me I'm afraid. I really do hope you can understand for I'd like to be around more than I have been." " I doubt your job requires you come into the office at 3am." Astrid felt horrible for questioning him for he did try to spend time with her and the rest of the family as much as he could, however somethings weren't adding up to her. " Perhaps I was out looking for this." Digging into his pocket he placed in the palm of his hand a small black box. Astrid was speechless for she knew all too well what it could be. " Well please open it. I felt our marriage wasn't official yet until I got you another ring. Oh and please don't pawn this one will you." It was absolutely exquisite thought Astrid. There was one large circular diamond in the middle with two layers of smaller diamonds surrounding it. Even the white gold band also had diamonds on it . She immediately embraced him before kissing him gently on the lips, it seemed all was forgiven while she held onto him. " I have a hunch you approve?" chuckled Dracula. " It is amazing, you didn't have to do that." Said Astrid. " Only the best for you my love. Let's retire before our little one wakes up…. again." She glanced down at Logan making sure he was still asleep before following him out of the room closing the door quietly behind her.
Oh how naïve she was he thought while he snuggled up to her in bed while watching her drift back to sleep. She still didn't know about him abducting Arnold and enslaving him, in a location that no one other than him and a select few people knew about. That was where he found himself visiting once or twice a week making sure his prisoner was weak in health but not to the brink of death. Tomorrow was the planned date to finish off Arnold and Dracula did have an endless supply of werewolf venom in his possession that he intended on using. Arnold would be no more, while Astrid would be his and his alone. The possibility of expanding his family even more and retaining his status of king of the vampires was at the utmost importance to him at this very moment. No one not even Arnold Vasile was going to get in the way of that. " Astrid my love are you still awake?" Dracula could hear her mutter something inaudible underneath before she went back to sleep again. Chuckling to himself he pulled her closer towards him so that he was spooning her and held onto her tight as he himself began to fall fast asleep.
His hands were raw his body ached all over, it was the beginning of the end thought Arnold while still remaining lying down in his cell. A apart of him welcomed death for he knew death did not like to be cheated and being a vampire only angered death even more. At the same time he cringed at the thought of dying for what awaited him in hell was much worse than what death would do onto him. Lucifer was not merciful for his punishments were cruel and unjust. He had to get out of here or at least try , for his other attempts were futile with silver bars scarring/weakening him in the end. The dungeon door opened again once more , but this time it was the same two men who abducted him in the first place. " Rise and shine Arnold, it that special time." Said Robert. The tall stocky man was accompanied by another man about the same height both wearing their usual black ski masks. Arnold had to shield his eyes once more as he was blinded by the flashlight they were pointing into him eyes. He watched as Robert fiddled with the key ring to unlock the door to Arnold's cell. The two men were also vampires themselves for the whole two months he had been down here he could detect no heart beat of theirs. Being outnumbered the chances of him beating them and escaping seemed rather slim , but he had to try. The door to his cell opened and Robert grabbed him by the chains that held his two hands together.
" Up you go now." Said the other man who carried a silver stake with a wooden handle to it. Arnold felt uneasy on both of his two feet as he slowly went to follow Robert up the stone steps. It was now or never he thought before swinging the chain that bond his hands together around Robert's neck strangling him as he did. Quickly Arnold turned Robert around so that they were facing his partner with the stake still gripped within his hand. " Don't…..just…stand there, do…something!" choked Robert. The chains were ripping into his flesh as Arnold pulled the chains tighter around his neck. " Arnold lets be civil now, I'll put the stake down and you let go of Robert deal?" The other man dropped the stake to the ground creating a clanking noise as it did. His partner held up his hands to up to his shoulders awaiting for Arnold to release Robert. Arnold wasn't sure what the best action to take was, killing the both of them would be ideal but with his current condition he had to improvise. He immediately released the chains from Robert's neck and kicked him in the back causing him fall and crash on to the other man.
With a head start Arnold bolted out of the dungeon before finding himself running up a flight of stairs. " Come back here Arnold. There is no escape!" shouted Robert as he picked himself off the floor. Arnold's legs gave out from underneath him just as he made it to the top of the steps. Looking around the room it appeared to be a grand hallway to a mansion of some sort. The long hall way had basin like structures that held fire within them as they lined up one by one down the middle. Arnold saw an empty suit of armor in the corner standing up as decoration and made way over to it. He had to resort to limping pushing his body to the max while his two captors were gaining up on him.
" Where did he go?" asked the one captor . Robert scanned the room sniffing the air under his mask as he did. "Look!" said Robert pointing to the ground in means of getting his partner's attention. There was a trail of blood before them leading towards the suit of Armor in the corner. Arnold remained frozen still while watching them walk closer towards his hiding spot. " It seems you're corned Arnold. Make it easier on all us and surrender now." Said Robert. The two slowly inched over to the suite of armor before looking at one another. " You stab him as soon as I move the armor out the way ok?" asked Robert. His partner just shook his head while he awaited for Robert to make his move. The suite of armor fell into pieces as it came crashing to the ground leaving both looking puzzled for it was nothing but an empty wall behind it.
Before Robert was able to tear down the armored suite Arnold used the rest of his strength to teleport behind the two men. With their backs still towards him he immediately grabbed the stake from the one man's hand causing him to turn around. A look of shock filled both of their faces but Arnold didn't waste time as he rammed the silver stake into the one man's heart. It was a horrible sight the man's body started to be covered in these green blisters while he crying out in agony at the same time. He dropped to his knees while ripping the ski mask off his face exposing more green blisters. The stake was flung into the air as it zoomed right past Arnold's face just before the man's body burst into a million pieces. Arnold and Robert shielded both of their faces with their arms as green slime exploded everywhere. Arnold felt victorious for a few seconds till Robert turned towards him anger etched all over his face. His eyes began to turn a yellowish gold while his teeth lengthened past his bottom lip. Arnold slowly backed away till his back hit the basin filled with molten lava and fire. " Don't you see Arnold the Master wants you dead and what the master says goes." Said Robert. " Oh don't you worry Robert I'm well aware of this. If anything I find your master to be a coward for having others do his biddings." Said Arnold before reaching over and tipping the basin filled with molten lava to the ground. Robert screamed and his hands immediately went to his face as lava splashed onto his face. It burned away his skin showing his skull that was underneath.
This was Arnold's queue to leave as he changed into his hell beast form and took off crashing through the stained glass window above the main door. Robert doubled over in pain before falling to the ground. Slowly he could feel himself start to heal as his skin formed back over his skull. There was no use on running after Arnold, he was in far too much pain. He had to let the master know immediately what happened for there was no doubt in his mind he would be going after Astrid. Miraculously the fire didn't touch his pocket where he kept his phone and a feeling of dread started overcome him as his dialed the Dracula's number.