Alright I am so feeling this story again! Let us pray to the almighty fanfiction gods that my inspiration sticks this time. I do so love this story.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Hotel Transylvania or any of the characters therein. The OC's Viore, Zeyphx, Isobel, Inmoon, and Lorelay are mine and I spent a while thinking them up.
Mavis walked down the stairwell and emerged in a place that was nothing more than a massive pile of rubble. Everywhere around her lay crumbling boulders, stone slabs, and steel girders that formed a steep slope littered with loose rubble. She had seen several movies thanks to Johnny and the place looked like it had been hit by a bomb. She looked behind her to see the remains of a stone wall. There was nothing on the other side of it but the staircase led up into the enveloping darkness she had descended from.
Above her the sky was black with clouds and the air was damp but no rain fell. She shifted her feet uneasily in the darkness, that was physically oppressive as well as visually, and sent a handful of dirt and gravel tumbling down the slope. She glanced back at Inmoon and saw a child's doll beneath her massive paw. Inmoon took a step forward and her claws shredded the dusty toy.
"There is only one way to go now." Inmoon said as she began the treacherous journey down the steep slope.
Mavis gulped although her throat was dry and followed behind Inmoon. This level felt different somehow, fresher almost and Mavis knew that it was within this level that her father was held captive. Her hands shook as she anticipated the horrors of this level and in what condition she might find her father. Her footsteps faltered and a sudden feeling crashed upon her as a tidal wave. Suddenly her earlier confidence was swept away in the wake of her anxiety and she was unsure if she could stand the sight of whatever these horrors had reduced her father to.
Tears fell unbidden down her cheeks in crystal streaks quickly polluted by the dust in the air. She wiped them away with her hand but only succeeded in smearing the wet trails of dirt that clung to her face. Her vision blurred and she was forced to nearly crawl upon her hands and knees to evade slipping on the unsteady surface beneath her. This attempt did her no good in the end and her feet lost purchase as the rock she stood on shifted and tumbled away. She fell with it and could only wrap her arms protectively around her head. Her back hit a stone slab and the thing shuddered from the impact of her light form.
She heard the rumble as the precariously unstable structure began to tilt toward her and she yelled in fear as the wall of rock rushed down. She closed her eyes and prepared to feel the terrible pain of her bones grinding to dust beneath the weight but the boom sounded as the slab fell and she was unharmed. She pried open her tear clouded eyes to see Inmoon panting and looking upon her with such worry Mavis was shocked.
Inmoon leaned down and reverently cleaned her face of her tears with a few gentle licks.
"Hush child." She soothed. "I know your fear. It is well placed but your father is strong. He will survive this as long as his family remains."
Mavis shuddered and wept more under the kind words from the she-wolf above her, who had only shown a fierce and bitter personality. Inmoon seemed an enigma to the young vampire who wept bitter tears for her father's trials. What was the truth of her, Mavis wondered. Was she bitter, resentful, and hard or was this what was hidden away and guarded? Could this ferocious creature before her be so strong, kind, and, odd as it sounded, motherly? Mavis' head spun as she struggled to regain her control.
"Take your time child." Inmoon said gently. "There is no lack of it on this level."
Mavis shuddered at the deep sadness she heard in Inmoon's voice and she remembered the entries in her father's journal. Not only was Inmoon older than Mavis could comprehend but she had been put through such darkness and betrayal that Mavis could not contain another shudder, though she wasn't cold. She breathed deep to steady herself as Inmoon gently licked her face clean once more.
"You are his greatest treasure Mavis. Know that. Never forget it. His love for you is unequal to anything else this world can summon. You may free him from this hell sooner than I ever could."
Strengthened by the she-wolf's words, Mavis gathered the remaining shreds of her courage and hauled herself to her feet using Inmoon's fur as hand holds. The two remained where they were for a few oppressively silent moments and stared down the slope into the blackness that ate away the crumbled path before them. Mavis moved first and carefully chose her steps as she moved and Inmoon no longer walked on ahead of her in impatience.
The blackness parted before the pair even as it swallowed the rubble behind them in a never ending abyss. There was naught a sound as the two journeyed down a slope that led them on for hours and never ceased. The air smelled of ash and rain and still not a drop fell. The thunder rolled and the lightning flashed as the place seemed to grow angrier the farther they walked. It felt as though days had passed as they continued to walk and Mavis' entire body ached, but she pressed on. She grew emboldened in the knowledge that every step forward took her closer to her father.
No words were exchanged as the determined pair continued forward passed the point of utter exhaustion. Mavis stumbled and Inmoon steadied her as they took each step one at a time. Inmoon's bare paws spread out upon splintered wood and sharp stone but she dug her claws deep despite the pain to find purchase and each step drew more blood from her flesh. Both were weakened by thirst and hunger and they fought hard for every bit of ground gained.
Mavis lifted her eyes from the ground as they split company to move around a splintered wooden pole and a single sound broke the silence of the place aside from the booming thunder. The faint sound of fabric reached Mavis' ears as it flapped in a nonexistent breeze. Inmoon's ears pricked at the noise and both turned their attention to the top of the mangled wooden spire. Before their very eyes, waving tattered in a phantom wind, was something Mavis was intimately familiar with. It had comforted her in the long dark nights of her childhood when she slept alone. It was a simple thing that meant so much to her and had been one of the few things saved from the fire that had ripped Castle Lubov asunder with the wrath of a night her father would never forget.
It was her baby blanket and it waved about forlornly atop the wooden spire as if lamenting it's abandon. With Inmoon's help she reached the precious item and wrestled it free from the grasp of the cruel wood that had bitten into the soft fabric. She clutched it to her face and smiled as she realized that this final token meant that they were drawing close to finding her father. The lightning flashed and the thunder boomed, shouting curses down upon them for their interference but they neither faltered nor weakened in their mission. Rejuvenated by their find they pressed on with a speed they had forgotten they possessed and the darkness continued to eat away the path behind them as it cleared before their feet.
It could have been minutes, hours, or days that passed by before the sound of sobbing reached their ears. They stopped in their tracks as a single broken wail pierced the darkness and the thunder and lightning ceased. A sudden shyness descended upon them and it felt wrong to interrupt the lamenting of the voice but their mission urged them forward into the darkness that refused to part. They passed blindly through the black curtain and Mavis shouted in terror as she broke through and nearly fell from the cliff at the end of the slope.
Inmoon was equally shocked and she yelped as her own paws scrabbled to find purchase and the two barely managed to keep from tumbling down into the abyss beneath their feet. They steadied themselves before following the sound of weeping that scared them more than anything they had faced thus far. As they wandered the edge of the cliff, their feet sending rubble tumbling down, the sound grew clearer and clearer.
Though she had never heard her father cry before, Mavis recognized her father's voice and she could hear a second voice as it tormented him.
"Why?" It whispered. "Won't you help me? Don't you love me?" It was her own voice that made Dracula cry so brokenly. "This is your fault daddy."
Mavis' filled with rage and it pushed her forward to crawl over the boulder that blocked her path and she was finally greeted with the sight of her father. He sat upon the damp, destroyed ground at the base of the slope and held the mangled form of his daughter in his shaking grasp. The left side of her face had been torn open by long talons and the wounds bubbled blood. Her legs had been ripped from her torso and Mavis gaped at the sight of her own body so viciously mutilated. Her guts tumbled from the remains of her abdomen and her spine protruded from the flesh in a sharp splinter of bone.
"You let them get me." The Fearscape Mavis accused as Dracula clutched her and cried.
"I'm sorry." He whispered and Mavis had never felt more pain than in those moments as she gazed upon the entirely ruined form of her father. "I'm sorry."
"Why didn't you save me?" Fearscape Mavis choked on the blood in her throat and Dracula stroked her face soothingly.
"Shhhh, baby. Shhhhhh." He soothed. "Don't speak honey. I'm sorry."
Mavis and Inmoon could only stare in shock at the final horror the Vour had concocted for Dracula and as they looked upon him, they knew that it had indeed shattered him. Inmoon held the courage to take that first tentative step forward and the air grew thick around them. The tang of blood mixed with the scent of ash and the dampness of the air only served to heighten the smells.
"Daddy..." Fearscape Mavis choked. "It hurts. You've made me hurt. Help me please!"
Dracula clutched tightly to the imposter in his arms completely unaware that his true daughter stood mere feet behind him, healthy, whole, and wanting nothing more than her father.
"Vlad." Inmoon called out quietly and Mavis grew afraid at seeing her seven tails tuck beneath her sturdy frame in fear. "Vladislav." She called again and he stiffened when her voice reached his ears.
His brow creased in confusion and a simple touch from the creature in his arms brought his attention away from his friend.
"Vlad, look at me." Inmoon said and again his head lifted in recognition of her voice. "Over here Vlad. Turn your head and look upon me."
Slowly his head turned and the sheer confusion and disbelief in those eyes shook Inmoon. Yes, she had seen this before but it never grew any easier and every journey into the Fearscape grew worse as they grew older. Their age was a weakness in this area of their lives. The Pillars had seen countless horrors, had endless tortures inflicted upon them, and through all of their trials their list of fears only grew longer.
By all rights Mavis should not have been here and Inmoon's heart wrenched at that knowledge. These burdens, these horrors were for no one's eyes but the Pillars'. Mavis should not have such a thing thrust upon her and Dracula would weep over the knowledge that he had been unable to keep his past and his duties from tainting his beloved daughter. It was all he had wanted. If he gained no other sense of happiness or peace he wanted Mavis to remain innocent of the true nature of her father's life. His journal was one thing but Mavis had seen far too much here than Dracula would be comfortable with.
She would ask about the first level and Inmoon's stomach churned at the mere idea of such a thing. No, they never spoke of it. Not even amongst themselves and they would not break that now.
Inmoon shook her head and stood tall under Dracula's bewildered stare.
"Inmoon?" He asked through tears.
"Aye Vlad, it's me." She nodded.
The creature in his arms whimpered in pain and clutched at his cloak and he cradled her as he hushed her soothingly.
"Vlad, no." Inmoon growled. "This isn't real. She isn't real." She stamped her paw and sent stones tumbling.
"Daddy...daddy don't leave me." The imposter whimpered. "She's trying to trick you daddy." The creature began to grow hysterical in his arms. "Please don't leave me after what you've done to me!"
"No, no, no baby!" Dracula hurriedly soothed. "No, I won't leave. Hush now. Calm down my sweet fangs." He choked on the nickname, it seemed wrong when her blood stained his hands.
"Vlad, don't." Inmoon was nearly begging.
"You won't take me from her." Dracula snarled. "I did this. I should stay and be with her now."
"Vlad, look around you!" Inmoon shouted. "None of this is real. Look at her! She shouldn't be alive!"
Dracula buried his face in the imposter's neck and bared his sharp fangs at Inmoon.
"Shut up!" He snarled dangerously.
"Don't succumb." Inmoon urged.
"Silence you mangy dog!" He bellowed as he launched a stone at Inmoon's face. "Knowing you has cost me much. You won't cost me this!"
"Dad stop!" Mavis cried when she could take no more and his head snapped up.
"No daddy!" The Fearscape Mavis shrieked. "Don't listen!"
Mavis ran forward, passed Inmoon, and stood beside her father.
"Look at me dad." She said with as much strength as she could muster. "Don't let it fool you like this. Inmoon is right, this isn't real. You're in the Fearscape.
Dracula's chest heaved with terrified breaths as his form trembled. His confusion mounted with each passing second and he clutched tighter to the bloody form in his arms. He could not afford to be wrong this time.
"Don't listen to them daddy." He looked back down as his daughter whimpered in his arms. "It's the Vours. You let them in. You let them get me. Don't let them get me again!" Her frantic blabbering splattered blood across his cheeks.
"No dad!" He looked back up at the daughter beside him and barely bit back a wail of frustration and bitter despair. "You're in the Fearscape! You've been here before, you have to try dad! I came here to get you out and you can't just give up!"
Dracula wanted to scream until his throat tore at the assault from both forms of his daughter and their voices pierced his heart like a white hot stake. He knew one of them was false, a vision, a trick of his broken mind but he knew not which. Both voices continued their onslaught upon him, one quiet, weak, and pleading and the other was bold, strong, and confident.
He couldn't remember how he had gotten here but he knew one thing for certain, the Vours were to blame and if he made the wrong decision now...the thought was too painful to finish. He couldn't bear the idea of leaving his sweet little girl to agony and death while he followed the whim of a Vour. He had wronged her enough by putting her in that pain when he surrendered to the will of the Vours. So much had been taken from him in his life, too much and he reached through the blackness to clutch desperately at the fading strands tying him to those he held dear.
He couldn't remember anything other than the crushing despair that gripped him now. He vaguely recalled once possessing an unchallenged strength and determination but it seemed more like a foggy dream than reality. His hands shook and his head spun as he tried to reach what was just beyond the grasp of his broken mind. Their voices slammed into him with the force of a sledgehammer and tormented him beyond what he felt he could bear.
"Shut up!" Mavis yelled at her doppelganger. "He's my father! You can't have him! Let him go, I fought through this hell of yours and I'm not letting you win!"
"Daddy please!" The mirror image gurgled. "Please make it stop!"
Dracula fought to find his voice and could only succeed in making strangled noises as his mouth gaped open and closed. Tears ran freely down his pale cheeks and cleared streaks through the smears of crimson.
"You have no right to talk to him!" Mavis shrieked. "Don't you say another word! Dad! Look at me! It's me! It's your daughter, Mavis! I love you dad, please don't give up!"
"Listen to her Vlad." Inmoon spoke with confidence. "Somewhere in there you know that we're telling the truth. You've been in the Fearscape before. You have to remember Vlad!"
Dracula's fists curled tightly in his daughter's clothes as she wept in this arms and begged him not to leave her. He could scarcely breathe as he looked back and forth between the two who claimed to be his daughter.
"You don't get to do this to him!" Mavis snarled. "You don't get to tear him apart like this! He's mine! He's my father! I fought for him! Me! I'll make you give him back!"
Mavis was growing desperate. She wanted nothing more than to leap forward and rip that creature from his arms but she knew it would do no good. She had come all this way, fought through nightmares and horrors she never could have imagined in all her life and she wasn't going to give up now. The sight of her father looking between her and the thing in his arms so brokenly was almost more than she could bear.
"The tokens, child." Spirit's strong voice whispered in her head.
Mavis' head snapped up and her eyes grew wide as she recalled the tokens in her possession. She looked down at the blanket in her grip and slowly pulled the picture and the ring from her pocket. All of her hardness melted away as she knelt beside her father and gently laid a hand upon his shoulder. She allowed the tears to fall at the searing pain of him flinching away from her touch, but she persisted and laid her hand down. The creature in his arms screamed at the action but she drew his attention to her.
"Dad, it really is me and I can prove it." She said gently as she cried. "You left a few things behind didn't you? I found them for you."
The first thing she showed him was the ornate wedding ring that she had never seen off of his finger. She held it out to him in an open palm and he stared as he struggled to remember where he had seen it. He knew that ring! It was important but he couldn't recall from where. He reached forward tentatively and his daughter caught his wrist in a terrified grip.
"Don't daddy." She rasped. "It's a trick."
Mavis said nothing and simply held the ring out for him to take. He reached forward despite his daughter's protests and reverently picked up the ring. Mavis contained her smile but her hope flared at that. He held it up to his face and stared as he swallowed thickly.
"Here." Mavis offered. "I know where you always wear it." She reached a hand forward and guided the precious item onto the ring finger of her father's left hand.
At once a flash of lightning ripped across the dark sky and revealed faces all around them. Dracula, too mesmerized by the token on his finger did not see the inky swirling faces twisted in rage as they hissed at Mavis. Long dagger teeth bared and red eyes bore into her but she ignored them.
She pushed the picture into his hand next and his other hand left the creature in his arms who released a sorrowful cry that made him hesitate.
"Don't leave me!" She begged.
He took the photo with both hands and his tears slowly faded as he looked upon the faces of all those he loved so dearly. They weren't hateful, they weren't mutilated, they were happy and entirely peaceful. His breathing steadied and he could feel something within him knit back together as he gazed upon the second token.
The hidden faces shrieked but Mavis refused to cover her ears to shield herself from the horrible sound. Dracula didn't react and Mavis realized that he was unable to see or hear the presence of the Vour within his mind. She grit her teeth and pulled the last token out and into her father's line of vision. He recognized it instantly and there was no hesitation as he snatched it desperately out of her hands. The creature in his lap yelled and screamed. He clutched the blanket tightly in a white knuckled grip and as he stood the false Mavis toppled to the ground. With each confident plant of his feet the landscape shook and there was a roar of rage as somewhere, something ancient awoke from its forced slumber.
He stood proud before Mavis and Inmoon and when he met the eyes of his daughter she knew she had won. She smiled and all around her the landscape cracked and began to fall away in shards, leaving only blackness behind. She tumbled down beside Inmoon and could only watch as her father faded from her sight where he stood. There was something else there, wrapped around him and burrowed into his flesh. She gasped in fear for a moment before bright blue eyes met hers and both her father and the thing woven into him smiled.
Her vision darkened and she smiled in her victory as she fell.
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Ta-da! Oh I'm quite happy with how these turned out! What about you my fellow readers? How did you enjoy the Fearscape chapters? Tough writing, I'm kinda glad I'm done. So much the thanks to CreatorSama for help designing the Fearscape levels and helping me out so much! Alright please feed a starving author today by clicking on the review button. Come on...it's the season of joy...bring me joy with reviews dammit!