The morning sky was red and pink; they were Blossom's colours.
Bubbles watched them with large blue eyes. How long she had wanted to know what had happened to her dear sisters? And now she knew, but she wasn't sure if the truth was worse than the not knowing.
Buttercup had lent her some clothes. They were thick smelly animal skins that had to be tied around her body with coarse, thick string. However, she did not complain. She was too grateful to be warm.
Something large settled down beside her; it was the pale, blue eyed wolf.
"Buttercup and I should name you," she said fondly, digging her cold hands in its warm fur.
After a moment she placed a kiss on its snout. It blinked up at her stupidly, making her laugh again.
"He suits being your pet," said the hoarse voice of her sister.
Bubbles turned to see Buttercup and the dark wolf standing at the mouth of their cave. Buttercup was tightening the strap around her waist which held her short sword.
"Where did you get your weapons from?" she asked.
"I found the dagger I put in my boot near the castle. I reckon it was an old kitchen knife that maybe one of the victims was smart enough to take. The sword was bought to me by him," she smiled at her black wolf and patted his neck roughly. His tongue lolled out of his snout, but unlike Bubbles wolf, he seemed less friendly and more volatile, panting as if ready and willing to get into a fight.
"He suits being your pet," Bubbles said to Buttercup, a smile shared between them. "Let's just hope the red-eyed wolf appears today."
Climbing onto a wolf each they made their way down to the castle.
As soon as they reached it shadow, the wolves halted, unable or unwilling to go any further. The girls slid off and walked alone. Buttercup handed Bubbles the kitchen knife.
"I would give you my sword," she said, "but I doubt you could wield it as well as I can so I shall have to protect you when that dagger isn't enough."
Bubbles nodded. It was no secret that her sister was the stronger one out of the two of them.
"There is another way inside." She said, "when I was captive in the basement, there was a small window which let in some light. You could not see outside, for there was too much snow covering it."
"Then we shall have to dig our way in."
Remembering the rough layout of the castle, Bubbles led her sister around the side of the castle. The snow by the castle wall here was less thick and white, but more clear and icy.
"It's warmer here," said Bubbles, "because this is where all the humans are being stored. It must be melting the snow slightly."
They began to scoop the snow away with their hands and after around fifteen minutes they could hear the dim cries and groans of human suffering. They shivered, feeling the bile rising in their throats, but continued.
Finally, after making what was a small hole they both had to climb into, the small grated window began to appear. Buttercup peeked through it.
"Can you see that awful maid of theirs Buttercup?"
"No, I think it's safe to start our rescue." Immediately Buttercup began to kick in the window using both of her heavily booted feet.
The cries inside became quieter; clearly they had caught the people's attention.
Soon, Buttercup slid through the window. Bubbles followed shortly after.
The stench of bodily fluids hit them powerfully, though the strong, cold wind blew in through the window, breathing air and hope and light into the dungeon.
The locks on the cages were rusted and stiff, but the girls were able to smash through the rust, tearing apart the weakened metal.
Then they began to lead the men towards the window.
"Go for the sane looking ones first," Buttercup whispered to Bubbles, who nodded. It was clear to Bubbles from her own short time in captivity that some of the people had gone mad in the cages, but now all the people were silent, watching the girls with large and careful eyes.
"Thank you!" gasped one thin man as he stepped out of his cage, "thank you so much!"
"There are some wolves outside," Buttercup announced, loud enough for everyone to hear but quiet enough to not rouse the vampires, "go stand by the wolves, do not be afraid of them."
A number of people in the cages were already dead. Their bodies, thin and sad, lay crumpled on the cold floor of their traps. Bubbles felt a few hot tears fall down her cheeks; if only they had done this earlier then these people wouldn't have had to have died such long, painful and horrible deaths. If they did manage to destroy the vampires, they would need to bury these people, it was the least they could do.
In all there were about twenty living men, all of whom made it out into the cold snow. As instructed, they all huddled around the large, fluffy wolves.
"Alright," Buttercup started, "darkness will arrive soon, and we need to get you guys away from the vampires. Who of you is strong enough to get to the village?"
Two boys, one blond and one a brunet, raised their hands nervously. They were dirty and thin, but being younger had held on longer than many of the old men.
"Excellent, the black wolf, he will lead you down into the village." She ruffled the wolf's head fondly, and he whined a little, clearly not happy to leave her. "You need to go get help. If we get the villagers up here then we have a better chance of getting those weakest among us down to where there are doctors and food."
Bubbles blinked, knowing that there was no food or medication in the village, but she did not want to interrupt her sister, or take away what little hope these people had left.
As the boys climbed onto the large wolf and began to walk down towards the village, Buttercup returned her gaze to the others. "Now you will all go with the white, blue eyed wolf. He will lead you to a great cave. There are runes outside that cave which will keep you safe. You can go out in the day to forage, but, hopefully, you will not need to stay there long." She paused momentarily, "our sister," she begin slowly, "was a servant at this house. Her name was Blossom. Has anyone seen her?"
Most of the survivors were too fraught and exhausted to even answer, but man, slender and pale eyed muttered, "they took her."
Bubbles felt fear grip her heart, she had hoped that Ms. Scara had just been trying to frighten her. The image of her sister with a binding of thorns around her eyes flashed into her mind, "The vampires? Where did they take her?"
The man shook his head, "all I know is that the servant, Ms. Scara, took her out of the cage and out of the kitchen. She was shouting and fighting. I don't know what happened to her. But, I don't think she was killed."
"Why not?" Hope dared bloom in the girls faces.
"Because normally when the vampires return their faces are full and even more beautiful. This time we heard angry shrieks and Ms. Scara had to take out some of us to feed the
vampires for the night. So they couldn't have gotten your sister."
The sisters thanked the man who then walked away with the rest of the survivors and the blue eyed wolf. Buttercup then turned to look at Bubbles, "we need to find her! Somehow we need to find Blossom."
But then, as if hearing their complaints, out of the black woods came another wolf. It was larger than its brothers, and fierce looking, with red eyes and long, shaggy fur.
"That's the wolf," Bubbles said to her sister, "the one who tore the head of Seduca."
"He's a monster," Buttercup whispered back before grinning, "I'm glad he's on our side."
The large wolf passed by the pale one, them huffing at each other for a moment. The men trailing after the white wolf watched this display dispassionately, they were too ill and tired to be scared of this new wolf's great size and frightening image.
The large wolf met the sisters. Not as friendly as the other two wolves, it watched them closely instead of licking them. Neither girl risked stroking it.
Instead, the wolf turned its eyes to the castle, and the girls followed its gaze.
Bubbles looked at the red-eyed wolf who seemed completely focused on a certain window in the middle of the tower.
"Blossom must be in there," said Bubbles, "it must be why he's staring. I bet he's her wolf."
Buttercup turned to her, "we have one each?"
"Don't you think so? It cannot be a coincidence. They protect us, and each shares the same eye colour as us. They must be our guardians. Sent by god perhaps."
"We have to go in," said Buttercup, her fists clenching, looking back at the castle.
Bubbles gulped. She remembered the dark, cold hallways, the paintings of sinister men and women, of Elizabeth Morebucks admiring her looks in the mirror as snowflakes blew around her. She jolted from her thoughts when a rough hand held her own. She turned to see her sister's green eyes looking at her fiercely.
"Don't be a baby," commanded Buttercup, reminding Bubbles of their younger days where she had often been ridiculed by Buttercup for not being strong enough. "We have to go back in there," continued Buttercup, "for the sake of Blossom."
"I know!" Bubbles pulled her hand away in frustration but immediately regreted the loss of support and warmth. She forced the image of Blossom back to the forefront of her mind; Blossom's large eyes and her long, red hair. She was the eldest of the trio, and the prettiest and the smartest. She needed to be saved. Who knew what those monsters had done to her? Plus, Bubbles had only been in Castle Čachtice for a day; Blossom had been there for months.
There was a long, melancholy howl in the distance. The survivors and the blue-eyed wolf had reached their destination. The red-eyed wolf whined at the Castle.
"You can't come in with us, can you?" asked Bubbles, stroking its long coarse fur. The wolf hung his head.
"Don't be ashamed," said Buttercup, "we can do this. We'll see you soon wolf."
The girls finally moved. The climbed into the stinking pit of the basement. The cages lay torn and ugly, with only the dead inside. It stank. Had it not been winter the place would have been awash with flies.
Bubbles had her knife close to her chest, while Buttercup held out her sword. They moved cautiously through the human filth until they reached the door.
Opening it, they stepped out into the foyer. It looked the same as it had when Bubbles had first arrived, pristine but dark.
"Red eyes was looking to the middle of the castle," whispered Buttercup, "is there anywhere that seemed strange to you when you were here?"
Bubbles nodded, "yes, there were these rooms. They looked like they belonged to children many years ago. Scara was furious when she caught me in them."
Buttercup looked pleased, "can you remember where they are?"
Bubbles thought for a moment before nodding, "follow me," she suggested, hoping her voice didn't shake too much. She didn't want to go first, with every step they took she was worried that a vampire would leap out of the shadows. But she had to go first, because she knew where to go. It couldn't just be Buttercup taking all the risks.
They climbed the stairs steadily until they reached the second floor. After a moment's though Bubbles turned right and they began to head towards the West Wing. "It's a blue door," she whispered quietly.
The house was silent but for the flickering of the flames. Even the loud wind outside was silenced by the thick walls. The second floor was still clean from Bubbles previous efforts from her time as a maid, but the area was notably in more disrepair compared to the rest of the castle.
They reached the blue door in no time at all. Bubbles opened it cautiously, halting now and then whenever it was at risk of creaking loudly. Unlike the first time, there was no gust of dust. Instead, the room was reasonably tidy. The toys had stayed put away, the beds had remained set up. The only thing that had been replaced were the state of the heavy curtains, which were once more shut up.
Bubbles closed the door behind them carefully as Buttercup began to scour the room for clues.
"What is this?" she asked, "who stayed here?"
"I don't know," muttered Bubbles before turning to Buttercup and asking, "what if she's one of them?"
Buttercup froze, "what do you mean?"
"You said that you saw Blossom, standing the snow, with no footprints around her," Bubbles continued. She was breathing quickly, stressed about her sister's reaction as well as bringing up thoughts that had plagued her since Buttercup's confession, "What if she's now a vampire too?"
Buttercup whirled around to face her sister, "then she would have been a monster like the ones here. She would have killed me, and papa and you also. I was dreaming, that's all. I felt guilt about abandoning her here. Now help me look."
Bubbles didn't feel satisfied, but she didn't want to push it further. Walking passed the beds she picked up the picture of the triplets and popped them into her fur outfit. She then continued to the curtains where she ripped the open. The late morning sun burned into the room, lighting it up.
There was an angry hiss.
The girls leapt and jumped together, back to back, with their weapons out and ready.
The room was round, so there were no corners to hide in. Due to Bubbles' efforts from a few days ago, the room was also quite clear and tidy.
Where had the hiss come from?
It was then that, slowly, Buttercup looked up.
She gasped.
Bubbles followed her lead. Immediately her teeth clenched together.
Up on the ceiling was Blossom. She was tied up in many ropes. Her skin was deathly pale. She writhed in pain from the sunlight, that seemed to be burning her.
Without thinking, Bubbles immediately closed one of the curtains, engulfing Blossom back into shadow.
"Well there's your answer Bubbles!" spat out Buttercup, her voice thick with emotion. Bubbles couldn't look at her, but if she had, she would have seen that Buttercup's eyes were full of tears, just as her own were.
The thing that had once been their sister hissed again and thrashed in her confinement.
Bubbles felt sick. Had Blossom been in here before, the same time she had? When she had been tidying up, her dead sister had hung from the ceiling, watching her?
"There has to be a way of saving her," wept Bubbles, "of lifting the vampire curse. There has to be…"
"Have you ever heard of any?" Buttercup yelled, not caring about waking up any vampires, "'cause I haven't!"
Outside there was a mighty howl. It was the red-eyed wolf. Buttercup ran to the window not covered by the curtain and looked out. The wolf seemed keen to get as close to the castle as possible. It was coming up to midday, and the shadow of the castle was shrinking.
Bubbles watched Blossom as she began to renew her efforts against the ropes, grunting and moaning.
"We need to get her down," she decided. She ran to the children's toy box, using them to help buoy her up the bookcase. Standing on her tip toes she began to swipe at the lowest rope connected to a wall chandelier.
"What are you doing?" hissed Buttercup, having turned away from the window.
Outside, Red-eyes howled again.
"Following my instincts," panted Buttercup, "she didn't attack us that night, when she was clearly no longer human. If she was evil, they wouldn't have tied her up and kept her weak like this."
Buttercup seemed torn for a moment, but soon joined her sister. She was slightly taller and had a larger weapon and so reached the rope better. After a few moment's it frayed enough the snap under Blossom's weight.
The ropes untangled, falling down uselessly. Blossom dropped for a moment, before suddenly righting herself and slowly drifting to the ground as soft as the dust molecules around her. Her hair fanned out, long and red, catching the light of the sun. Her neck exposed itself, dark, purple bruises littered one side of it. It made Buttercup wince; it felt like a damnation.
Her sisters climbed down from the bookcase and stood staring at her back. Where Blossom had once been tanned, kissed by the sun, she was now as pale as the snow.
Slowly, she turned and faced her sisters.
She gave them a small and cautious smile, but neither of the living girls could return it due to being so stressed and frightened.
Instead, she walked towards them.
The girls held their breaths, as she touched each of them on the face. Her hands were cold like ice, but the touch was gentle.
With her intentions of their well-being clear, she then moved passed them both and opened the bedroom door.
The girls followed the eldest sister silently as she walked through the hallway and down the stairs, as silent as a ghost. It was only as they reached the landing that a Ms. Scara suddenly came into view. She stood in front of the main door, behind which you could hear the red-eyed wolf sniffing and growling and scratching, with her arms folded and her face pinched.
"So, found your sister, have you?" she sneered at Blossom, who stood ethereal but deadly, "a monster! A dead one at that!"
"Shut your mouth!" cried Buttercup, "she's nothing like you or that vicious creature Morbucks!"
"She killed and ate many of those down in the basement," said Scara, still smirking.
"Lies," whispered Bubbles.
Scara's smirk slowly slipped away, "you little foul witch," she hissed at Bubbles, "I can't wait to gobble you up. I'll scalp you and keep your hair as a keep-sake."
"That's enough!" roared Buttercup, running towards Scara with frightening speed, her sword out and glinting murderously in the candlelight.
Letting out a hiss, Scara arched her back like a cat, her hands out and clawed. The pair clashed viciously, as Blossom continued her serene walk to the front door.
Bubbles, standing on the side-lines feeling almost like a ghost, watched as her sister put her hand on the front door's handle.
Scara, seeing this, momentarily ignored Buttercup and her sword to cry, "you cannot do anything, we cut out your tongue!"
Her lapse in attention cost her, for as she finished her statement, Buttercup swung her heavy sword and sliced off Ms. Scara's head.
Bubbles yelped and closed her eyes as she felt the cold spatter of thickened vampiric blood smashed against her face.
She slowly opened her eyes. Buttercup was panting over the bloodied and headless body of Ms. Scara, but she was looking to the front door. Bubbles followed her gaze and saw the light of day blaring through the front door, shining directly on to Blossom.
"Blossom," she muttered, a frown marring her pretty face, "Blossom, no, no! You can't! The sun!"
Before Blossom, who was starting to smoke and burn in the light, stood the large red-eyed wolf. It loomed over their sister, watching her with too intelligent eyes.
Unseen by the sisters, Blossom smiled at it and gestured with her hand for it to come inside.
Its red tongue lolling out, the wolf obliged. It walked into the foyer and after a moment of sniffing the air, turned and attacked Blossom.
It gripped her in its jaws, tearing into the already burned and damaged skin. She didn't scream or cry out, though her eyes shut with seeming inevitability.
The girls both screamed in rage, running towards the wolf. Vampire or not, Blossom was their sister and she was good! She hung like a doll in the wolf's mouth, and before the girls could begin to beat it, a bright white light burst out of it.
The girls were hurled backwards by the forced of magic emanating out of the wolf.
A loud noise, like intense wind, began to blow around them, blurring their vision and affecting their hearing. They both gripped down on the ground, terrified of being thrown further by the din of magical noise.
It was so over whelming that it took Bubbles a while to notice something; the air was warm. For the first time in years, she felt warm. Truly warm; down to her bones.
It was a familiar feeling…it was…
Her blue eyes burst open with the realisation. It was the feeling of summer.
The girls had not realised, being at the very forefront of the hit, but a magical tsunami hit the land. Bursting out of the castle, in engulfed the forest and the hill, reaching to the top of the Little Carpathians, and hitting the lowlands, rushing through the village and all who lived there.
The magic slowly calmed down, dispersing into smaller particles until the atmosphere reorganised itself.
Buttercup stood up, her arms shaking. At the open front door was a rather snobbish looking boy with red-hair and red-eyes. His hair was wild and too long, and his clothes, whilst very well made, looked old and too small. In his arms, was Blossom.
As Buttercup ran to her sister, Bubbles was staring beyond the boy out into the wilderness around them. Outside, she could hear actual bird song. There was grass on the ground, and the sky looked a deep, forever blue. Her eyes welled with tears once more.
How had this come to be?
"She's alive," whispered Buttercup. Blossom's natural skin tone was back, and she was breathing normally.
"She's like me now," said the boy.
Buttercup gave him a curious and distrusting look, "and what are you?"
"A werewolf," he responded, "it's always the same with us Morbucks, you're a wolf, or a vampire. The wolf bite overrode the vampire's kiss."
He lifted Blossom slightly so her neck could be seen; the dark purple bruise on her neck was gone, but Buttercup hazarded a guess that a large bite mark would now exist beneath her sister's clothes were the wolf had gripped her.
"How come you didn't change back to human before?" she asked.
"We were cursed," he shrugged, as if this sort of thing was perfectly normal. Suddenly he looked down at Blossom, his face changing from a slight sneer to a look of genuine concern. Blossom shifted in his arms before slowly opening her eyes.
He smiled at her softly. Buttercup watched them both and scoffed before walking away.
Outside, the world had woken up. Everything was warm and beautiful.
It really had been a curse on the land.
"It's amazing," said Bubbles, joining her, "everything might get better now."
"Not completely," answered Buttercup, "we still have another enemy."
She turned and looked up at the Castle Catciche.
"We still have Elizabeth Morbucks hiding in the shadows up there. If she could defeat the wolf boys and ruin this whole land once, she can do it again. It's not over yet."