Aleera was as beautiful as the day she had died. She circled the trio, her eyes lingering on Murundio.
"Did I scare you?" she asked sweetly. Carl shook his head.
"No," he trembled. Aleera laughed.
"Then maybe I need to try a little harder. Murundio, my love, how have you been?"
"Do not call me that- I am not your love and you're not the woman I married," Murundio said coldly. Aleera cocked her head curiously at Murundio.
"But Murundio, I am the woman you married," Aleera purred, smiling. But Murundio shook his head.
"No, the woman I married died the day Dracula took her. The monster standing before me is but a shadow of the one I loved." Murundio aimed his silver stake at Aleera.
"The real Aleera would want me to do this," he said. That's when Anna made her move. Stepping forward, she pushed the glass jar off the pedestal. The glass smashed on the stone floor, spraying Aleera with acid. She let out a blood curdling scream as it melted her skin. The cure went rolling away.
"Grab it! Grab it!" Anna shouted. Carl hastily grabbed the cure.
Anna picked up a piece of the glass that had acid in it and used it to melt the iron gate.
"C'mon, c'mon! We have to get the antidote to Van Helsing!" She shoved Carl through it. Murundio gave Carl the silver stake.
"Go!" he hissed. Carl obeyed. Suddenly, Murundio felt hands that might as well be made out of iron grip him and send him flying across the room. He hit his head hard, splitting the skin around his temple.
"You can't go until I say you can go," Aleera hissed at Anna. The Princess was in trouble! Murundio had to get up- had to do something! But against a force like Aleera, they were powerless.
"And I say you can go when you're DEAD!" Aleera shouted, hurling Anna across the room. She landed beside Murundio. Anna gave him a panicked look and they both quickly got to their feet. Like a cat stalking a cornered mouse, Aleera approached them, half-smile on her face. Anna scowled at her and ran for the nearest wall, grabbing a flaming torch. Turning quickly, Anna shoved the torch in Aleera's face. Murundio waited for the Bride to go up in flames. He was disappointed when she simply blew the flame out. Laughing, Aleera waved her hand and all the torches in the room blew out.
Murundio cussed as the room was plunged into darkness. Lightning illuminated the room and Aleera's ghostly face. She met Murundio's eyes and gave a grin-
And then Murundio blinked and suddenly she was gone. With a curse, he moved up next to Anna.
"Where'd she go?" he asked.
"Sssh, she's still here in the room," Anna hissed, still clutching the torch. They moved towards the iron gate. If only they could get out of this room, then they might have a chance. The problem was, Aleera could see in the dark- giving her a significant advantage over them.
As if she doesn't have enough advantages over us, Murundio thought sarcastically. He heard giggling to his left and whirled around. Aleera wasn't there. She could kill them at any moment and they knew it. It was only a matter of time before Aleera got tired of playing her little games and moved in for the kill.
Blood from his injured head dripped into his eyes, blurring them. He hastily rubbed at them. When his vision cleared, Aleera was right there. He tried to warn Anna, who hadn't seen her, but Aleera blurred and Murundio was once again thrown across the room. She slammed her hand under Anna's chin with such force, that the princess's head snapped back and she crumbled to the ground, out cold.
By that point, Murundio knew they were going to die if he didn't do something right now. But what?
"Why did you leave me for Dracula?" Murundio asked, in an effort to stall. Aleera sniggered at him.
"Dracula is my one true love. He gave me the gift of immortality and I am bound to him," she said simply.
"No, you were bound to me! We were married! I loved you, Aleera. And you loved me," Murundio spat.
"Yes, but that was the old me. This is the new me." Aleera's eyes shone sadly at Murundio. "You look at me, and all you see is a monster. You will never understand what it is like to be a vampire- how freeing it is. Yes, I loved you, my dear Murundio, but I love Dracula more."
Beside her, Anna stirred. Aleera's eyes hardened.
"And this witch is hell bent on destroying my children and my future with Dracula. You see, my Master has always had his eyes on her. But no more!" Aleera transformed into her bat-form, her long white teeth flashing in the lightning.
"You will not take my Master away from me, Anna Valerious!" she hissed, picking Anna up by the throat. Anna was too dazed to do anything.
"Put her down!" Murundio shouted. Aleera bared her fangs at him.
"Be happy with the knowledge that I shall weep over both your dead bodies," she said. Her fangs lengthened and she prepared to bite Anna.
"Aleera… please!" Murundio begged. He prepared to rush at her… to do something at least before they died. As Murundio prepared to move, something crashed into the room. Murundio thought for a split second that Van Helsing had used some of his exploding liquid but then he realised that it was a figure that had crashed through the window.
The Frankenstein Monster!
He had crashed through the window (Although Murundio didn't know how) and slammed into Aleera, making her drop Anna.
The Monster…
Had saved their lives.
But they weren't out of trouble yet. Aleera recovered quickly and lunged for Anna. But Frankenstein grabbed her and pulled her pack- just out of reach of Anna.
"Go!" he shouted. "Go and help Van Helsing!" In one movement of super-human strength, he hurled Aleera across the room. Anna looked unsure.
"Don't worry, we got did covered," Murundio told her.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Both of you."
Frankenstein nodded and turned to deal with Aleera. Murundio wasn't sure what he could do. When he looked back to see where Anna was, he saw that she was pushing herself out of the window on a cable. He heard Frankenstein give a cry and turned to see that Aleera backhand the monster with her supernatural strength. Frankenstein went flying. Aleera snarled and tried to fly out the window to stop Anna.
"No!" Murundio shouted and grabbed at Aleera. He managed to grab hold of her taloned feet before she flew out the window. His arms were nearly jerked out of their sockets as she surged forward. Suddenly, they were out of the Castle and into open air. Murundio looked down and a wave of vertigo hit him.
They were so high up that he couldn't even see the ground. He held on to Aleera for dear life as she twisted and flew fast, trying to shake him off. She was so focused on shaking him off that she didn't see Anna swinging on the wire, cure in hand. Aleera crashed into Anna which sent the princess flying. Murundio lost his grip on Aleera and suddenly, he was falling…
Falling to his death.
So this is how it ends, Murundio thought grimly as he saw the ground far, far below him, rushing up to greet him.