Finally I got Chapter 1 out! Life was a bit crazy for the past few weeks and now I finally found the free time to finish my chapter 1. Enjoy and Review! Please no flames! Try and guess what fairytales I'm pulling from!
Chapter 1
A week and a few days later, Alexander wearily came up to an ivy covered, stone wall, having finally escaped the forest. He had long ago lost the hunter the witch had conjured up and sent after him. Though tired, he was glad he was alive and not a dead decoration upon the witch's shoulders. With that thought in mind, he took note of his current surroundings. He blinked up at the massive wall, however, he was too tired to even try and look for a way inside. With fatigue quickly clouding his mind, he gave up looking around and lowered his battered body to the ground. Not long after doing so, his eyes had closed and he was fast asleep, not even caring if his place beside the wall was safe or not.
Within the walls stood a castle that was once filled with happiness and love. It had life and laughter and the gardens were always in bloom. The ivy did not even want to blemish the castle walls and stayed to nearer to the ground. Now the castle, still inhabited, looked like it hasn't been cared for in years. It was a perpetually dark place where even the sun was afraid to show its face. There were no servants or nobles milling about or even any children playing in the overgrown, under tended garden that surrounded the castle. Ivy had grown everywhere, making the castle seemed to have been made of the stuff rather than of stone. The place looked dead and deserted, despite the contrary.
Suddenly a sound one would not expect from such a dreary, evil looking place was heard. It was the sound of a little girl's laughter as she escaped her handlers and ran into the gardens to make sure a bird she had set free from her uncle's workroom reached freedom. As soon as she reached the gardens, she opened her hands and the bird flew out, flying away from the castle, the image of the bird becoming smaller and smaller until she could see it no longer. After watching the bird fly away, she ran to an overgrown bush and crawled underneath it, not caring about the dirt that was quickly ruining her dress or about the bush particles getting into her hair, and waited for her uncle's servants to cease looking for her in the gardens and return inside the castle.
Six-year old Katarina, with her long, curly black hair and big, innocent brown eyes, was a very pretty little princess. She was good and pure, despite her uncle's attempts during the last six years to train her in the dark arts. It seemed that evil was beyond the little princess, even when it was trying to be taught to her, and the uncle soon realized this and decided to just ignore her until she was older and more useful to him. Therefore, he kept the little princess caged within the castle; appointing his own servants to guard her and make sure she didn't find a way to leave the castle grounds. He had plans for her and was not going to let anyone ruin it, even the princess herself.
Katarina peeked out from under the bushes and saw that the servants had left the gardens. She quickly crawled out and ran towards the hidden door that led out of the gardens. The door was covered in ivy and trees blocked it from being seen. Only she knew about it, having discovered it accidentally when she was trying to hide from her uncle and his attempts at teaching her the dark magic that he so frequently practices. She opened the door, slipped outside the castle walls and quickly tripped on the ground, having stumbled over something. She got up quickly, and seeing what it was she tripped over, her eyes widened as she scrambled away from it.
Alexander, rudely awaken from his deep slumber by someone kicking and then falling over him, growls awake and opens his piercing eyes to look at the person. He was not expecting to find a little girl with dirt on her dress, hair and face, staring wide-eyed at him. He lets out a growl, hoping he would frighten her and thus run away and leave him alone. Quite the opposite happened really.
Katarina, oblivious to the obvious danger posed in front of her in the form of a wolf, smiled and crawled over to him. She started petting him, ignoring his growling, since she had no idea that he was a wolf, only that he was a cute, furry animal.
"How cute!!!! I think I'll take you home with me. At least, I'll have one friend," murmured Katarina as she hugged the soft animal. "I think I'll name you Hunter," she said while kissing his nose.
Alex, pondering if allowing her to take him as a pet was a good idea, decided to give in the moment he saw her fishing out a piece of dried meat from her pocket. She offered it to him and he ate it ravenously, having not eaten in a while, too much in fear to go hunting for food like all the other animals. He saw her get up and move to the hidden door, and he followed obediently, believing that he will like this young girl. He stayed close to her heels and followed her into the gardens and into the castle.
A resounding slap quickly echoed the halls as soon as they entered. Katarina fell to the ground and started to cry, her cheek forming a red hand print. Her uncle, the King, stood before her, furious that she had hidden herself from the servants. Alexander quickly went to her defense, growling low in his throat as he moved protectively in front of Katarina. Her uncle saw the young wolf and his lips moved into an ugly sneer. He reached down and picked up the cub by the scruff of his neck, raising him to the level of his eyes.
"Well, what do we have here?" sneered the king as he recognized the powerful spell over the wolf.
Before he could do anything further, a figure clothed in the shadows, came up behind him. The air became saturated with the stench of evil and the fur on Alexander's back rose while goose bumps appeared on Katarina's arms as she shrunkaway from them both, both of them consciously aware of the danger this figure presented to them. The King put the cub back down and Alex moved to Katarina's side once more, using his body as a barrier between the young princess and the two men who epitomized evil.
"Picking on cubs now, Alucard?" his voice, smooth and deadly. "Come, we have better things to do than this." He had a smile on his face, but his eyes betrayed all the evil within him. The King nodded in agreement and walked off, not too happy with the situation, but not wanting to make this person upset. The figure leaned over, holding his hand out to the princess as a gentlemanly gesture to help her up. Katarina just shrunk further from him and moved her arms around Alex. He drew back, the smile still on his face. 'You'll come to me sooner or later little one,' he whispered in his thoughts, and gave a short bow and walked off to join the King.
"I don't like him at all!" whispered Katarina to Alex. "He's the one teaching all that dark magic to my uncle. He tried to do that to me too but I wouldn't let him! It scares me so much!" she exclaimed as passionately as one her age could.
Alex licked her cheek and nudged her to get up. Katarina got up and headed off to the kitchens to find them both a snack. She came to the kitchen doors and peeked inside. "Be very quiet, cook hates it when I come in here, but I'm hungry and I bet you are too," she whispered down to him. She slipped inside, grabbed the jar that held the biscuits and cookies and slipped back out. "Come on! I know where we can have these and not be caught!" and she ran off, Alex trailing after her, to the castle wing where her room was.
She plopped down on the rug in the middle of the room and began the task of splitting the biscuit and cookies in half so that they could share. As she does so, she spoke to him, telling him about herself and animatedly expressing how wonderful it is to have a friend at last. Alex listened, eating the cookie at the same time, wishing he could speak back, tell her he's under a spell. He was also in two minds about whether to stay, protect and be her friend, or to find a way to win back his kingdom and save his people and family. In the end though, he decided that he'd have to grow up so more, and so he would have to stay and make a life for himself here until he is ready and able to fight the witch that stole his life and family from him.