A/N: chapter contains graphic depictions of violence

He heard the cackles before he even saw what was making them.

Slowly raising his head from the cool, stone ground, Drac raised an eyelid open, and then the other, and began to get a sense of his surroundings. In the haste of his flight, he hadn't truly taken a good look to where he was landing. All he comprehended was that it was safety, somewhere far enough away from the humans. But now, as he sat up and assessed his surroundings, he felt the dread begin to creep up his spine like icy fingers when realization hit him.

This wasn't a cave. It was a lair, inhabited by creatures that he could sense lurking in the dark.

Again, the strange laughing noises sounded, bouncing off of the walls in an eerie fashion. He rose to standing position just as he made out a glowing pair of eyes, red and burning with malice, peering back at him through the darkness. A second pair gleamed just as menacingly from behind him, more and more pairs coming into view one after the other like some kind of domino effect. Dracula swallowed thickly. It was a mistake to come here.

"Well well well," a voice drawled out, sounding chillingly calm despite its foreboding undertones. "What do we have here?"

"A trespasser!" another voice hissed. "A trespasser in our cave!"

"You mean the Master's cave," corrected a third voice. "And this intruder will have to answer to him."

Dracula clenched his fists and straightened his back. He was not about to be intimidated. "I answer to no-one," he stated coolly. "Especially not to the Master of some abomination like you. Now, begone! I don't have time to deal with your insipid nonsense!"

In a rush of wind, one of the creatures descended before him, his body landing as a jarring thud against the ground. It was ugly, with a personality that perfectly matched to its hideous appearance. It stood a great ten feet or so in height from what Drac could approximate, its head a huge contorted mass with thick leathery ears and a large jaw with a protruding pair of underbite fangs. The rest of the thing's body was mostly covered by a thick coating of deep, gray fur that lined its upper body like a mane. The monster's glowing red eyes were sunken into a ghoulish face, its mouth open just wide enough to reveal rows upon rows of rotting yellow teeth as the foul creature laughed. The sound was a horrible, animalistic rasp that rattled against Dracula's bones and bounced off the cave walls.

"Well, would you look at that! A feisty one, eh? He's telling me what to do," the foul creature sneered. "He thinks he's the Master himself!" The cronies joined in his laughter, howling in rambunctious glee and flailing about wildly. What was so funny, Drac did not know. But, what he did know was that he was not about to allow this abomination and his vile pack of goons to harm his family. A low growl began to rumble in the back of his throat as the laughter died away.

He was about to launch a scathing remark when the second creature's voice piped up, his words tingling with excitement.

"Hey, look, Bela! Look what I found!" The second creature, sharing the same grotesque features as the first, hopped from foot to foot in an enthusiastic manner. He and some of the other creatures who began to maneuver their way out of the shadows were creeping in curiously upon where Martha and Mavis lay. The second creature approached Mavis's bundle of blankets and reached a claw to draw back the cloth covering and see her face. But an invisible force, accompanied by a blue mist, arrested him from touching the babe. The same force seized his body and threw him backwards into the other monsters, knocking them over and away like rag dolls. The first creature - Bela as Drac remembered he was called - connected the dots, his thoughts confirmed when he saw Dracula standing there with his hand raised, the magic having come from the Dark Prince.

"Call off your pathetic pets," he ordered, his voice booming across the small space.

Bela seemed unfazed at Drac's display and simply laughed again. "Only the Master can give that order," he replied, grinning madly as if daring Drac to counter. "And if I remember correctly, nobody invited you here. Finders keepers, pretty boy!"

Dracula had had enough. His patience had been tested to its limits. He had endured the havoc of the mob not even a half hour ago. He would rather fight these beasts to the death before letting another monster near his child.

Dracula let loose a blood-curdling roar as he flung himself at Bela, tackling the fiend to the ground. They both tumbled to the floor beneath a cloud of dust. Bela quickly regained his bearings and scrambled to his feet away from the Count, bristling with the rage that had finally boiled over. He charged at Drac, dark muscles rippling with every stride, claws outstretched. When he got close enough, he launched a vicious swipe at the prince's head. Agile as the vampire was, he easily dodged the attack, retaliating with a blow of his own that sent the bat demon sprawling.

The small stream of moonlight that shone through into the cave glinted on the tips of his talon-like nails as he raised the hand high into the air, extending the curved claws outward and pointed them directly at Bela. The beast screeched out in anger again and charged at him just as the vampire expected. Drac ducked from its path and caught the monster on the shoulder, unbalancing it. The creature fell to its back, exposing the soft underside, and Dracula did not hesitate to pounce on it and sink his claws into the throat. Blood welled profusely as the Count ripped him open with a single vicious slash. The creature, once hissing with rage, now hissed with terror and pain. Coils of intestines slid out of the beast's gash, the scent in the air filling with the rank odor of death. A scream erupted from its throat, but that too broke off as the sound was stifled with gurgling as the dark, crimson liquid spurted out of its jaws at irregular intervals. Its claws scratched desperately at the rock beneath, body convulsing violently, and limbs twitching uncontrollably. It lifted its head, weakly so, and shot Dracula one last look of fury before sputtering one last time, finally going still and staring sightlessly up at the cave ceiling.

The sight of their comrade suffering such a horrid mutilation sent the rest of the demonic beings into a frenzy. Screeches and roars echoed off of the cave walls, the earlier taunting long forgotten as they sprang forward, eager to feel the vampire's pale flesh within their claws.

Baring his fangs in a feral display of aggression, Drac met the attackers head-on, taking each in turn in a brutal flurry of blows as he dodged around them, slashing and snapping his jaws indiscriminately. Their battle cries quickly turned to screams as the sharp incisors sliced cleanly through their throats, brutally tearing through bone and muscle like butter. With another savage swipe of his claws, he sent two more of them plummeting to the ground, a skull severed on one and the bloodied remains of an arm hanging limply from the last tendons of the other. His movements were precise and powerful, allowing him to land blow after devastating blow without mercy. He watched dispassionately as the bodies collapsed at his feet, their eyes glazing over as the grisly wounds inflicted did their job and they succumbed to their injuries.

Dracula was aiming for the throat of another when, in an unprecedented turn of events, a powerful surge of energy suddenly filled the chamber, forcing the attacks to come to a screeching halt. Drac paused, jaws mid strike, cocking his head quizzically at how the cronies appeared to have instantly shifted from hostile aggression to a fearful standstill. Something about the way they held themselves, tense with alertness, unnerved him slightly. It was a feeling he hadn't quite felt in a long time. Not since...

"Well, well, well," an all too familiar voice from the entrance of the cave spoke up. "It would seem I have a visitor."

Dracula's jaw dropped.

"Vlad?!"