Chapter 8
Well, since I felt that the last chapter was a bit of a fail, I thought I'd better update soon… :)
While others were unwillingly faced with the troublesome effects of his unfortunate love potion, Lukas was endlessly disappointed and intrigued by its ineffectiveness. Especially since it had worked just fine before… So what the hell was wrong with it now? Tormented by this unexpected and ravishing failure, soon he too abandoned the assigned paperwork and took advantage of Arthur's absence to investigate. It eventually became obvious that since the Englishman possessed magic powers that were above everyone else's and on top of everything - as the vampire had said - was not exactly a loving kind of person, a much stronger concoction was required in his case. He used his cross shaped hairclip to pick the lock of Arthur's special magic supplies cupboard and extracted a single long unicorn hair. No one would notice that, would they?
"Ah, here it is!" he gasped out loud in surprise, having eventually found the much searched after recipe. Checking once more that no one was coming up the stairs, he quickly lit a small fire under the cauldron and threw in all the necessary ingredients.
A single white thread of unicorn hair
A spoon full of earth from the black wolf's lair
A fresh pink bud of spring peony
Drink this and instantly you will love me
As he finished the incantation, the Norwegian gave the mixture one last stir, briefly wondering whether Harmonius Peake, the wizard who'd invented the respective potion, hadn't been drunk when he'd written the accompanying poem. Well, anyway… By the time the result of his toil was finished and bottled in a carefully corked phial, it was well past midnight. Arthur usually ate and went to bed early, so the opportunity of slipping it into his favorite stew at dinner was lost, and that would not have been easy… Then he recalled hearing one of the servants mention that the Englishman sometimes used to keep a teapot by his bedside. Eventually he decided to try his luck that way.
Lukas was tiptoeing carefully down the corridor which led to the wizard's chambers when he was faced with a disturbing sight. The troll was there, in the middle of the hallway, and appeared to be chuckling to himself. For some mysterious reason he was now smaller, but still just as misshaped, grey skinned, crooked teethed, hairy and bad smelling as ever. There also appeared to be a mischievous grin plastered over his gruesome features, which was further emphasized by the gaze of his small, muddy green eyes.
"Hey you! Come here this instant!" the blonde ordered in what he thought to be a tone of authority, but the creature let out some sort of croaked laughter and sprinted in the direction of Arthur's bedroom.
"Oh NO!" Lukas murmured and covered his mouth with both hands, as all color drained from his face.
-x-
"Hey Dragos! Are you in there? Why is your door locked? DRAGOS!"
The vampire jumped from his sleep and sat up in his coffin, shooting a terrified glance at the door which was pounded at desperately. His right hand clutching the pink letter which he had failed to answer, he still thought that the voice calling from outside did not seem to be Alfred's after all.
"The door is locked because my chambers are private, damn it! As in stay the fuck out!" the Romanian grumbled as he stood up slowly and walked to the door, cracking it open reluctantly. "Oh, it's you…"
"I wouldn't have come… this late… but it's urgent!" Lukas panted, out of breath. "It's the troll! I just saw him and he seemed up to no good!"
Oh really? He crossed his arms and pulled the collar of his unbuttoned shirt tighter around his neck. "Okay so where the hell is he?"
"Arthur's bedroom… He was clearly headed that way! And he was laughing too!" the Norwegian explained terrified.
They both hurried all the way from the basement to the second floor, where the wizard's chambers were located. Once in front of the massive oak door they stopped indecisively, not really knowing what to do. The vampire placed his ear against the door, but no other sound aside from a soft snore was coming from inside.
"Is he in there? Do you hear him laugh?"
"No, but good to know that he has a sense of humor!" Dragos murmured as he eventually decided to open the door ever so slightly and to peek inside.
On one side of a large four poster bed, quite dangerously close to the edge, Arthur slept peacefully, carefully wrapped in a bright green blanket. The reason for this was that the rest of the bed was occupied by the troll, who had also appropriated the Englishman's nightcap and was rolling excitedly from one side to the other on the soft cushions.
"Oh no!" Lukas shrieked.
"Look, he's not that big, I think I can take him on and capture him" his companion observed. "But I'll need your help"
They both crept into bedroom and made towards the bed as quietly as possible, but the troll was not to be underestimated. He quickly sat up as they approached and shot them an evil and somewhat cross-eyed glare.
"No! Please don't-"the Norwegian begged, but the creature wasted no time and pushed Arthur off the bed with one swift move, so that the wizard landed face first into his night pot.
He then sprang forward with surprising agility and grabbed the trembling boy, shoving him down on top of the Englishman, just as the latter was struggling to get up while muttering something unintelligible. After which he darted out of the room before the Romanian could even attempt to get hold of him. The vampire ran after him down the corridor determined, oblivious to the fact that poor Lukas had undoubtedly fallen prey to Arthur's wrath. Chuckling darkly, the troll opened another door a bit further down and disappeared inside, slamming it behind him.
"Stupid troll you will not thwart me again!" Dragos shouted as he followed the creature inside. He quickly glanced around the dimly lit bedroom, which was just as big and richly decorated as Arthur's and briefly had a sinister suspicion, just before he spotted the troll diving under the bed.
"Come out of there now, you demented shit!" he demanded, kneeling and lifting the covers. But the troll had already emerged on the other side and now jumped on the Romanian's back, causing him to collapse and slam his head into one of the bed's posters.
"Owww!" The vampire managed to get up just in time to catch a glimpse of the troll's fat behind as he once more darted out the door, this time turning the lock. "What? No!"
"Let me out of here, you mindless beast!" Dragos shouted, although aware it was useless. Judging by how hard the troll was laughing outside, it was obvious that he had no such intention.
Stupid troll fuck you a million times! the vampire inwardly cursed pulling at the knob, until the door was unexpectedly swung open.
"Aw dude, I totally knew you'd come!" Alfred stated excited, flashing a broad smile. "See my letters have never failed, not once! By the way, I thought I saw a troll prancing about on the way here, how awesome is that?"
"Yes indeed, so maybe I should…" He murmured as he unsuccessfully tried to slip past the American's massive frame.
"Now, now, Dragos…" Alfred said, lifting his chin with two fingers. "What did I say about you being nervous? There's no need…"
Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think… :) Ugh, I said that again…