Chapter 4: Homecoming
Nshina stopped feeding and was lying in the snow smiling to herself; next to her was a pile of 30 bodies. She felt power dunk. She couldn't feel anything now; she was numb with pain and power. The pain came from the betrayal that her master and sisters and put on her, the power from how many people she has slain. Nshina didn't want to think about her home, it was a very touchy subject for her at that moment. Few villagers came near her and the ones who did walked past incredibly quickly, Nshina was worn out and too full up to move let alone attacking them. In the distance she could see the lights from castle Frankenstein, she turned her hear away and sighed. The air had become cold and as the people walked past her she could see their breath in the air,
They don't know how lucky they are,
She thought to herself. But right at the moment not one of them felt lucky; there was a vampire in the middle of the village with a pile of dead bodies beside them. They couldn't even take them away to morn and bury them. Nshina closed her eyes and let her mind broaden; she did not fall asleep but fell into a trance, one that she did not want to be disturbed from.
Igor and William were hiding on the outskirts if the village, Dracula had sent them to see where Nshina was and what she was doing, but Igor was confused. If Nshina was as angry and his Master had made her out to be why was she not attacking anyone? William was standing beside him, his senses became alert and he lowered his head to Igor's ear,
"I am sorry to be the bearer of very bad news but I can sense the full moon and very soon I think I am about to change,"
Igor looked around and him and sighed irritably,
"Can you do it quietly? We don't want to alert our mistress,"
William shot Igor a confused look,
"Your mistress?"
"She is still a bride of my master; therefore, she is still my mistress,"
William shook hid head and walked off into the trees. Igor turned his head around and continued to watch Nshina. He heard a snort from behind him and a large, brown werewolf stalked up behind him,
"Wow that was quiet!"
The werewolf did nothing but just sat down beside Igor and started to lick his fur. Out of no where a group of Dwerger ran up to Igor and jumped around in front of him,
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the castle?"
The Dwerger said nothing but started to become louder, Igor did everything he could to make them quiet but nothing worked, soon what never wanted to happen did.
Nshina flicker eyes open and growled loudly, she could hear something, something that wasn't natural. Within a heartbeat she stood up and looked over in the exact place the noise was coming from, in the darkness she could see a very pale figure,
"IGOR!"
She screamed, the Dwerger ran out at her and started to attack. She looked down at them and kicked them off her, 2 of them hit the tree and lay motionless on the ground and she knew instantly that they were dead. She ran over to Igor and picked him up by his throat, she snarled at him showing her fangs,
"What are you doing here? "
She said nothing but started to quiver,
"You obviously have a death wish,"
A movement came from the shadows and Nshina looked over, a werewolf was standing on its hind legs grinning. Igor dropped to the floor and ran over to William; Nshina narrowed her eyes at the pair of them. The Dwerger ran up behind her and over to William, Nshina started to advance towards them but Igor held up a silver stake,
"You wouldn't dare,"
She growled dangerously,
"If I have to I will, Master does not want me killed my you,"
Nshina stared at them for a moment and turned around, as she swung her hips as she walked her skirt flowed from side to side, she kicked off the ground and flew to an old barn just outside the village and sat on the roof. William and the others started the journey back to the castle; they kept looking behind them in case Nshina was following them.
Nshina sat moodily on the rooftop. Anger was simmering inside her; the fight she had just had was not even a little bit close to relieving any anger from her. She hated them all,
Why would Master favour a little rat over me? Surely I'm worth more to master than Igor is!
She slammed her fist against the roof and it cracked, sending her to the ground below. There was a familiar smell in the air, she had smelt it before but couldn't remember where,
"Burning coal,"
She said to herself,
"This must be the place where the vials are kept!"
As she looked around she confirmed her idea, there were pots of the liquid scattered across the barn and there were holes burnt into the floor,
That must be where they set alight to the stuff,
This revelation was the thing that made her ager wash away, in its place was anticipation. She couldn't wait to go and tell her master about what she had found. Nshina kicked off the ground hard and flew in a straight line back to the castle; she was shaking with the anticipation that flooded her mind,
This must be something useful to Master! I'm sure he will want to investigate what I have found as soon as I tell him,
Pride swelled up in her chest as she landed outside the doors. She walked in and looked around but she couldn't see anyone, Nshina thought that the werewolf and his friends wouldn't be back there by now so her Master wouldn't know about her little episode until later, but she was wrong. William was sitting in the shadows, as soon as he saw Nshina he howled and Dracula appeared in front of her,
"Master! You will never guess what I have found out,"
But he didn't reply, he looked at her with a blank expression on his face,
"Master, what is wrong?"
Nshina went to put a hand on his shoulder but he caught her wrist,
"You Nshina are a thorn in my side,"
He pushed her wrist back so that she flew backwards into a wall; Nshina lay there for a moment dazed,
"First you attack your sister, then my workers and after that my most loyal servant! I have had enough of you Nshina,"
Nshina looked up at him and pulled herself up to her feet, she couldn't believe what she was hearing,
"But Master! They had provoked me, I was angry I didn't know what to do,"
Her voice trailed off. Dracula walked back over to her and kicked her back down to the floor,
"You knew fully well what you were doing! That is no excuse! I don't care if you were provoked!"
Dracula roared at her, she tried to stand back up but William had galloped out and pinned her to the floor with one of his gigantic claws, Nshina tried to break free of his grasp but he was too strong and his claws were digging in to her side creating deep holes. She looked up in a panic and saw that Marishka, Aleera and Verona were standing above her, they were looking down on her, Marishka and Verona were scowling at her but Aleera looked down on her with sympathy. There was nothing she could do to help Nshina so she just stood there, the sympathy poring out of her. William picked Nshina up and took her to the doors and Dracula was following,
"I have every right to cast you away from my family and never let you back! You are the most disobedient person I have ever met! I REGRET turning you into a vampire at all,"
And with that William threw her out of the castle, she landed on the last few steps and rolled down them. She landed in the untouched snow beneath her not moving a muscle, the last thing she remembered was a snowflake falling on her face and she slipped into black.
Aleera screamed and flew out to her, Dracula tried to stop her but she flew right past him and down to Nshina. Dark red blood was staining the snow and Aleera's hands; Aleera rested her head on Nshina's chest and began to weep,
"Why master! What did you do that for?"
Dracula looked down at his red-headed bride, the anger swept away and he looked down at his hands,
What have I done?
Was the thought that rushed through his mind. He looked down on Aleera; she was not standing up at them showing her hands to Dracula. They were stained red with Nshina's blood. Verona swooped down and kneeled beside Nshina, she tried to wake her but nothing worked. Nshina's limp body lie in the snow becoming colder and colder, showing so signs of waking up,
"Master please! Help us,"
She cried up to him. Marishka was standing next to William, tears pouring out of her eyes,
"If it wasn't for me none of this would have happened,"
The werewolf looked at Marishka and licked her cheek; she looked at him and clung to his fur. But Dracula still just stood there, he had never displayed such anger towards a bride before, he had hurt her so much that she didn't wake up. He and Marishka flew down to her and rested Nshina's head on his knees, but she still didn't wake.
Suddenly Nshina became aware of how cold she was, she could feel her left hand and she felt weaker than ever. The power she had gained from her feed had poured out of her and most of her strength had gone with it. Nshina barley managed to peel back her eyelids, the first thing she saw was Aleera resting her head on her chest. Aleera saw that Nshina was awake and cried out in relief, Aleera hugged her tightly never wanting to let go of Nshina,
"Thank goodness Nshina!"
Nshina looked up and saw that Dracula was standing over her clutching her arm, she stood up weakly and tried to run but because she was so weak her legs gave way and she fell back to the ground. Just before she hit the ground strong hands caught her shoulders. She looked up and saw that Lucifer, the devil was holding her,
"Tut-Tut Nshina, please come with me. We need to talk,"
Aleera rushed over to her just before she disappeared, Nshina looked up into her soft pink eyes,
"Listen Aleera, there is a barn outside the village! Go, have a looked inside, our answers are there,"
And with that they both disappeared. Aleera's hands dropped to her side and she sat in the snow. Verona ran to her side,
"Verona, I know what to do,"
Verona looked puzzled,
"How do you know sister?"
"Will you help me?"
Aleera looked into Verona's cold eyes and Verona looked back into Aleera's
"Anything to save dear Nshina,"