Chapter -8-
"Dracula's Stone"

The injured werewolf leaned against a mirrored wall, panting from lack of blood. He clinched his teeth together to keep them from chattering due to the chill that racked through him. The dizzy youth placed the back of his paw against his forehead and stumbled against the reflective wall, leaving a smear of blood on the glassy surface at hip level.

He glanced off of the mirror and stumbled again. Justus stopped in the middle of the room with a sigh and turned to face the mirrored wall. He lifted his shirt, gazing at the wound above his appendix. The sanguine trail of blood matted his fur from just beneath his rib down to his waistline. Something rustled the soft strands of fur on the side of his neck. His eyes flitted back to the mirror but he saw nothing. He cut his amber orbs, looking in the reflection for something like a window that might have caused his fur to ripple in such a way. The hall appeared windowless; not so much as a vent; nothing physical appeared in the mirror. His ears flickered at the sound of fabric brushing against something. It was a soft noise; it resembled ashes being strewn against rice paper.

His new instincts seized his body and adrenaline filled his weary form. Justus jerked his right elbow back and pivoted on his heel. His bicep met a young man in the neck which smashed the man's Adam's apple. The neonate vampire stumbled back, hitting the opposite wall with a grunt.

"What the hell…?" Justus glared at the lone boy, no older than sixteen.

The kid stood up in the hallway but cast no reflection on the reflective surface behind him. "Where is the stone," he demanded, reaching to his throat as if loosening a tight necktie. "And where is the girl?"

"You don't know?" Justus replied with his own inquiry. He thrust both of his paws out then froze; his claws stopped against the rookie vampire's torso, threatening to impale the humanoid's abs. "Do you want your intestines all over the floor?"

"I doubt I still have them," replied the teenager. "I've been a vampire for so long, I'm sure they've probably rotted away. So where is the stone, beast? Your claws won't kill the undead, Fido."

Justus narrowed his gaze further then inched his paws forward, drawing blood from the neonate vampire. "I still have a difficult time believing in vampires but if you're the real deal, you're not at the top of the food chain, buddy."

"I'm further up than you," said the teenager with a smile. He stepped forward, impaling himself on Bell's claws. The vampire winced slightly but returned with a tight smile. "See? You can't hurt me. So, you're the new beast on the block. Rumor has it you just transformed today. Scylla says you're still a little on the naïve side… just the way we like… I heard you popped your cherry; made your first kill today. Congratulations."

Bell snarled, curling his top lip up to show his fangs. "We're not friends and we're not on the same side," Justus said. He jerked his forearms up, slamming his claws all the way into the young Vampire's gut then forced the leach's body up against the wall so that his feet were suspended two feet off the ground. The werewolf struggled to lift from the pain in his abs but kept his stern expression in an attempt to look stoic. "So, head game aside, where is Molly?"

"Last I heard she was with you in the Clock Tower," said the Vampire, squirming slightly from the odd sensation of the claws in his abdomin. They rested against the bottom of his ribcage, leaving four inch gashes across the length of his bowels. "Your fancy fingernails are really rather cold, Fido."

"The name is Justus Bell…-Mont."

"Belmont?" asked the vampire. "As in the Vampire Hunter Clan? They have werewolves in their family? First I've heard of it."

"I heard Vampires can't survive decapitation," Justus retorted. "Unless you want to experience it, I suggest you talk." He leaned forward, canted his head to the right and opened his muzzle. He clamped his jaw down over the rookie bloodsucker's throat.

"You're quite correct," the vampire said in a quick and nervous tone. "We can't survive a beheading. Very few beings can survive such – all of which are insects." Justus bared down, breaking the skin beneath his fangs. The vampire, growing alarmed, said, "You don't want to do that. You'd be drinking my blood and, while that won't transform you unless I drain you first, it's still a dangerous game for you to play."

Justus straightened his legs and extended his animalistic ankles then craned his neck, allowing the vampiric blood to drain from his muzzle. It dripped down the front of his chin. He tightened his jaw further; blood ran down the vampire's collarbone, soaking its shirt. The young vampire reached up and grasped the lupine's muzzle, trying to keep Justus from biting any harder. Bell replied to physical force by clamping down further.

"STOP!" cried the teenager, adding, "I have information you may need concerning the stone she has. If she's not with you and she's not been captured by us, then there's something far more sinister going on because we don't have her!"

Justus released his neck and pivoted on his right heel. He forced his arms out and threw the injured vampire into the opposite wall with tremendous force. The neonate cracked the mirrored surface and dropped to the floor with a grunt. He sat up on his knees and reached for his throat. "You're really a Belmont? Where's your whip, Vampire Hunter?"

Justus took a moment to salivate, trying to rinse his fangs with backwash. He turned to the left and spit a wad of red onto the floor. "Your blood is cold and tastes like… Well I can't describe the taste but it makes me feel weird… so I guess I believe you now. What is that stone and why would anyone want it?"

The neonate bloodsucker sat up on his rump, his legs half-tucked beneath him. "In the year Dracula was defeated, Julius Belmont stormed the castle with such ferocity that our forces were torn apart. He was only nineteen years old and we didn't take him seriously. It was quite humbling. Dracula possessed the Vampire's Stone at the time and invoked a blood ritual to put his essence into the stone. Julius wasn't a priest and because Dracula wasn't given his Last Rites, his soul became reincarnated. But the essence of his evil and hate live on in this stone; they were never passed on - his reborn soul has Original Sin, of course, but wasn't a vessel of his iniquity. If any Vampire comes into contact with the stone, they will be given the essence of Dracula. We want to find Alucard and force him to take possession of it… if we can't use it on him, we'll settle for Countess Bathory. However, if we can put that much hatred and evil into someone as powerful as Alucard …It would restore the Tepes Legacy. He's here. The castle recognizes his presence. The countess has spotted him and she wants the blood stone to herself. The rest of us, while afraid of her abilities, want the power to go to Dracula's wayward son."

"Why is he wayward?"

"He attacked the Castle several hundred years ago," said the vampire youth. "I suspect he even helped Soma Cruz, nearly a decade ago. He's no stranger to these walls. The Countess is angry that we conspire against her and so she's surrounded herself with her closest allies and outcast the rest of the Castle's demons. There is a power struggle going on and you're in the middle of it. The Castle's hierarchy structure has crumbled in only three days, since the girl entered. This castle normally remains in a dark spirit realm beyond the veil of the umbra but it appeared to capture the girl. Now there are two factions; haven't you spoken to any monsters who've spoken ill of the Countess?"

Justus blinked. "Scylla spoke very poorly of the Countess and one of her henchmen. So if your side doesn't have Molly then the Countess must have her, which means she must have the stone."

"Now you're getting it," said the vampire. "You're not a human. Help our side win back the Castle for the Tepes name and the Order of the Dragon. Without order and structure, the Turkish soldiers have been vying to take the Castle; they're everywhere."

"I saw," said Justus with a frown. "I'm not on your side. I saw the Turkish Soldiers, but they've been dead for centuries…. They're zombified corpses wearing brittle armor. Are they attacking because the two sides can't come together to fend them off? I don't understand."

The young vampire remained quiet for a moment. Justus put his claws to the vampire's neck and growled in a low tone. The vampire cringed, scooting up against the wall again. He cleared his throat and explained, "Just as we are eternal, the twenty-thousand impaled Turks killed by Dracula have tried to attack us throughout the last several centuries. Belmonts, Graves', Morris' Belnades' and the Townsfolk aren't the only fools to try and stop us. Amusingly enough, the towns of the land have long since forgotten us and now Dracula is celebrated as a local hero throughout Romania. But just the same, why do you think Dracula always had an army of monsters protecting his castle at any given moment? He kept his forces strong to fend off his many enemies, natural and supernatural alike. However, the supernatural forces were never able to achieve success and always withdrew when human forces interfered. This time, however, they're trying to seize the opportunity to use this time of chaos against us. The only way to kill them permanently is by decapitation or complete dismemberment."

"And why are you helping me?" Justus curled his top lip again, displaying his pearly incisors.

"Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend," said the vampire in an attempt at diplomacy.

Justus face faulted with a groan. "There's only one way to prove that we're not friends." The vampire blinked twice then, in realization of what the wolf was suggesting, he bared his fangs defensively. Bell reached out to either side of his head and cupped it into his palms and muttered, "Give me a break; you call those fangs?" Then, without thinking further into his next action, his instincts took over and he jerked his wrists. The sickening pop of snapping vertebrae shocked the responsible werewolf; the young vampire's head slumped in a limp manner to the left.

The neonate rolled his eyes. "You can't kill the undead, dog of Belmont." His body became limp, held aloft by the massive padded palms still on either side of his face. The lupine jerked his paws away from the vampire's cheeks, offended by what he'd just done. He flopped back against the wall, leaning against it. The situation caused the vampire to chortle. "Look at you… a born killer with all the right moves who is shocked and appalled by his own fantastic ability to kill. You're an irony to yourself. Look at you; a monster with humanity. What a moron - I told you I'm undead. You broke my neck and in a moment, I'll have healed it." His body slumped the rest of the way down the wall, unable to move his arms and legs yet.

"What… the hell?" Justus backed away from the teenage-looking young man. He was shocked that he could kill so swiftly without regard and, at the same time, he knew that should have ended anyone's life. Everything felt strange. Was Uncle Julius' claim about vampires real?

The bloodsucker slowly lifted his head; his neck mended itself and the teeth marks on his throat began to fade. He hissed, baring his fangs again then slowly came to his feet. "And you're going to pay for all of that. I was told to befriend you and allow you leeway so that you'd come to trust me… but trying to kill me, even though that wasn't the way to do it… is still rather offensive."

Justus took a clean swipe at the Vampire's head. His claws left gashes along the side of the young man's teenaged face. Justus' attack left a gaping set of claw marks that cleanly removed sections of skull, exposing the gelatinous sludge of his gray matter. His body shuttered from a temporary lack of motor-skills after having part of his brain exposed. After only a short few seconds, the flesh began to mend along with the bone beneath. Justus backed away slowly.

"That's definitely unnatural." He shook his head slowly. "It's plain sick..." His voice lowered and he licked his lips apprehensivly, whispering, "I could see straight into your head."

The vampire balled his hands into fists then tugged on his clothes to free them of wrinkles. He straightened his back and canted his head slightly to the right, stretching his stiff neck joints. "You're a werewolf who doesn't believe in the supernatural? Are you stupid?" He cocked his head sharply to the left, popping his neck with a sigh of relief. "Or are you just in denial?"

Justus snarled again then lunged forward but this time, the vampire was ready. He planted his palms in the werewolf's torso and lifted with undead strength. Bell's body sailed upwards only to find himself slammed into the marble tiles. He skittered across the floor in agony from his wound. Justus moved to his knees and lifted his head just in time to see a boot connect with his face. The vampire kicked the Belmont descendant across the hall with incredible force.

The teenage vampire, starved after healing so many wounds, pounced. He sailed across the hall and planted his feet into the tiles on either side of Justus' hips. He then leaned down to the werewolf's neck with his fangs bared. He lifted his right hand to push back the strands of gray fur, to locate the jugular. "This is the place to bite; your blood is at the end of its trek, heading back towards the heart. You'll stay conscious longer. Drinking from the Jugular doesn't provide the purest taste but at least you will suffer more before you die. I have no plans to turn you; this world has no need for such abominations… I'm just going to bleed you dry and leave you to rot for insulting me and wasting my time."

Without warning, the vampire was launched into the air. He sailed down the hallway and came to rest flat on his face. A woman with flowing blonde hair and a strangely military-looking business suit folded her arms beneath the broad expanse of her chest. In her right hand, she held a fancy looking scepter with a clear round stone at the end.

Justus recognized her as the woman to whom he spoke outside of Scylla's chambers. He paused to try and recall her name, gazing at her with a blank stare.

She noted his expression and sighed. "Yoko," she told him in a matter-of-fact tone. "You look as though you've been injured." She nodded to his torso where his cloak was opened enough to display the red stain on his shirt. In reply to his acknowledging nod she offered a smirk. The woman, only in her mid-thirties, hooked a thumb at the heathen collapsed further down the hall and told the wolf, "One moment; let me take care of this ancillae leach."

The teenaged looking vampire sprung back up from the floor and sprinted through the hallway. Yoko rolled backwards doing an impressive handspring then she landed back on her feet with the scepter held in a threatening posture. He bounded to the left, planted his foot on the reflective wall then dove back at her, fangs bared.

The athletic built woman snatched his collar in mid air then pivoted hard, following through so that he slammed head first into the facing wall. She put her hands together and drew her left knee up, balanced on her right foot. Her clothes ruffled as though an unseen wind caused them to billow up. A conjured orb of intense fire spewed forth, engulfing the young looking vampire. His body combusted as though he was covered in an invisible accelerant. He threw his head back to shout but the fire disallowed him the luxury of oxygen with which to vocalize his pain. He dropped to his knees then thrashed to the left, falling over onto the floor. He squirmed wildly but the fire overtook him at an unprecedented pace.

Justus sat up slowly, watching the sorceress try and twirl her scepter like a marching band baton. She faltered only slightly then muttered, "I need to practice my flair; no pun intended." She glanced back to the werewolf with a friendly smile. "Vampires don't get along with sunlight or fire. Thank Archangel Michael for that curse. He was going to have you for dinner. You should be glad I lost my way back to Hammer or you'd be dead and Julius would be pissed off. You had a clear offensive advantage over a vampire that young; why didn't you rip him to pieces?"

"I took a bullet," Justus mumbled through clinched teeth. "Over an hour ago. Then I climbed up the Clock Tower, fought monsters and a two-headed… dragon thing… I'm just dizzy and off balance."

Yoko approached him, remaining cautious. "You saw what I did to that vampire; don't do anything funny, or I won't help you." She knelt down in front of him then said, "Open the cloak and lift your shirt; I need to see your wound."

Justus Bell did as he was told and displayed the bullet would above his appendix. "She didn't hit anything serious. How lucky is that? If she did, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead by now."

"Who is it that shot you?"

Bell sighed in discomfort. "Molly. She was abducted by this ...hand... that reached out of the wall - I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it. We have to get her back; she has something called the "Dracula's Vampire Stone" or …something like that. I think she might be the reason this castle appeared. Either her or the stone she's carrying. It's a diamond, really. We have to keep it away from other vampires."

"Oh dear," Yoko said, looking down at the wound. She knelt close, examining the injury surrounded by matted fur. "That's bad news for everyone and, if I may be so bold, this wound is serious. It goes clean through your gut and out the backside. The damage is, well, pretty extensive but you're right: It didn't hit anything major so yes, you are lucky thus far. I'll try and mend you up. Don't… eat me."

"Eat you?" Justus blinked at her rapidly. "Is that some sort of pun or joke? If so, I'm not sure that I follow. I sure as hell don't plan on eating some lady who throws fireballs like it's the ordinary thing to do."

Belnades tilted her head at him then reached her right hand into a hip bag she wore. "I'm not supernatural, if that's what you mean."

The young Belmont shook his furry head. "Then what the hell did you just do to that guy? It wasn't a lighter and hairspray, that's for sure."

"You're right," she said in return. "It wasn't science related… it is magic related." She licked her lips and added, "I work for the Church. I know it's odd to hear that a magic wielder is affiliated with the Church but…" Yoko trailed off and offered a small smile. "All right, let's see what I can do for your injury." She reached into her hip pouch and withdrew a small brown bottle. "This is going to feel very cold but it's just the way Ethyl Chloride works, okay? You won't feel much beyond the cold; it only lasts about half a minute or so. Let me know when it hurts again and I'll reapply it."

She eased in on the small metallic nozzle at the top of the canister and glanced up. She saw his muzzle contort into a look of immediate discomfort and, for some reason, she felt more comfortable around him. Most animals would yelp and back away but for him to grimace made him seem that much more human. She took a needle and thread, gently pushing the metal tip through the flesh then worked diligently to mend the point of entry. She paused to reapply the Ethyl Chloride then finished her work, sewing the wound shut.

She sat back and turned her head away from the injury to take in a deep breath of fresh air so as not to get high from the Ethyl Chloride. "Now I have to work on the exit point; turn around and put your ha-..er, paws on the wall."

Justus did as he was told but took his tail into his right palm, holding it out of the way. He winced again at the sensation of the frosty bite that pinched his lower back. "Won't that stuff cause frostbite?"

"No," she replied, while working to stitch up his flesh. She kept her right hand up, angling her wrist down, to hold the fur aside while feeding the needle with her left hand. "This is harder to do with the fur getting in my way so just hold still. This stuff has a low boiling point so the reason you feel this chill is because it's evaporating right on your skin. It feels cold but it's actually room temperature so there's no worry of frostbite." She paused to shake her right hand to get the flow of blood back into her arm then sprayed his wound. After a few seconds, he could feel the odd sensation of having numb flesh tugged on; it caused him to flinch but, much to his relief, she finished quickly.

"One more thing, just to be safe." She placed the bottle back into her pouch, leaned in and used her teeth to break the thread then placed her fingers against the wound with a gentle touch. "Hold still, this will only take a moment." She grew quiet again and, seconds later, Justus gasped at the strange feeling of intense warmth in his abdomen. His left ear flickered listlessly to which she replied with another sharp scolding about how he should keep still.

Once finished, she cleared her throat expectantly and stepped back. "Is he really your uncle?"

"Who, Julius?" Young Justus turned back to her and a weak smile tugged at the corner of his muzzle. "Yeah, he's my great Uncle. Thanks for your time. I feel better and all but I thought magic was just a fake fascination of man that became popularized by the Entertainment Industry, like books and plays and movies and such."

Yoko shook her head which caused her soft locks of sunshine blonde to bounce on either side of her face. The sandy bangs framed her cheeks, enhancing her smile. "My abilities cost personal reparations and penance. They demand rigorous atonement to ensure that I stay tied to the Church. Many people who have these abilities use their magic for self gain or even vengeance. It's a corrupting power to have."

Bell ran his paws through his headfur with a melancholy sigh. "I don't quite know how I could use my 'gift' for good. I'm equipped for vengeance and wrath, even if it's taking down freaks." Justus lowered his gaze to the floor. "I suppose this is the first time I've thought about it and it's catching up to me. I've taken lives, even if some of them weren't able to die by natural means or …whatever. The only thing I can think to do right now is to find Molly and protect her. I couldn't even do that, though."

"Where is she?" Yoko asked.

The werewolf's features dimmed further. Dark amber eyes glanced up at her from beneath furrowed brows. "I think the Countess has her. If not, then one of her henchmen do so we have to figure out where Molly is and try to get her back."

"Look at you," she snapped. Belnades narrowed her eyes and tightened her jaw. "Don't have a pity party just because something bad happened! You need to shrug this off and go after her! We'll just have to head to the throne room and search for answers! I got lost and couldn't find my way back to Hammer but do you see me pouting?"

Justus canted his head like an owl and gawked at her sudden mood change. "That was my intrinsic intention. I climbed out of the Clock Tower, fought a two-headed, fire-spewing dragon, I tangled with a vampire… and need I remind you the whole time I was bleeding like a stuck pig because Molly shot me on accident. I'm just disoriented and weary-of-mind from lack of blood."

Yoko gaped at him as if to ask, 'How dare you?' but realization set in… "You poor thing," she said with a tender expression. "Up until today, you never even believed in this stuff, did you? You transform into something you don't understand and you're being asked to protect a girl who shot you and help a situation you had no control over, let alone even a part in, up until today. I'm sorry I got upset; I'm just on edge, too. I suppose sometimes self pity is less destructive than bottling up your emotions."

"You patched me up," said Justus in an endearing tone. The gruffness of his voice faded, leaving only the melodic baritone voice – smooth like fine whiskey aged well and poured from oak barrels. He took her hand into his velvet-padded palm and offered her a polite smile. "I appreciate that. No one could ever say you don't use your abilities for good. Listen, I think we should go separate directions… If she's not in the throne room, we have an entire castle to search. If you were looking for your friend, you should continue to do so. If you find my Uncle, tell him that Molly has the 'Dracula Diamond' and that it cost the entire castle to fall into civil war from the sound of things. Some of the monsters are trying to find it for that Countess woman. The rest of them – the majority of them – are trying to find it so that they can use it on some guy they think is Dracula's Son. They think it will turn him into what his father was by putting Dracula's essence of 'hatred and evil' into the Vampire who touches it. They feel that only someone related to Dracula is worthy of becoming the next Lord of Darkness or whatever. If this guy is here, we need to warn him."

Yoko's eyes widened. She brought her dainty left hand to her mouth, gasping through her fingers. "I… if… if you can find Molly, keep her safe or get her out of this castle. I'll go warn the others. Please, take care of yourself."

"Call me Justus," he said. "If you see my Uncle, tell him I'm headed for the Throne Room to try and figure things out."

"WHERE is the stone, girl?" Camilla narrowed her gaze and tightened her fingers around Molly Fields' throat. The girl struggled in her grip, her eyes dropped to the floor, hands on the vampire's wrist.

"I hid it in the outside realm, because I was afraid the contact at the University wouldn't pay because of its value. I wouldn't actually be the first person they've pulled a gun on."

"I don't believe you," said the Countess. "Understand me clearly, girl. Mine blood doth boil in reply to its proximity. Thy life is forfeit, mortal; I shall cleft thee in twain with earthworms to hollow out thy noble brow; doest thy wish to rot beneath the earth in a grave as shallow as…"

"SHUT UP!" Molly shouted overtop of the Countess. "Shut the hell up, you stupid psycho freak!" She put her knee against Camilla's gut and pushed.

The vampire's eyes widened. She arched her body and hurled Molly to the floor. The girl rolled across her belongings that lay strewn across the gray stone tiles. She snatched her gun from the floor and pointed it at the Countess. Camilla broke into a fit of giggles, hands on her hips. "Go ahead, mortal."

Molly canted her head a bit and shrugged her shoulders. "You asked for it, bitch." She pulled the trigger; the gun bucked in her hand and the bullet ripped from the muzzle, tearing through Camilla's chest. She staggered back, clutching a bloody hole in her shirt above her heart.

"You have better aim than I thought," said the Countess, biting back her exasperated tone. "But a hole through my heart isn't going to kill me. A stake merely immobilizes a vampire but… shot through the heart…"

"Is a lyric in a song," Molly said, coming to her feet. She aimed the gun at Camilla's face. "Now shut up, you crazy bi-polar hag. First you act like we're best friends, then I piss you off and you start ranting in some archaic merry-old-England crap and now you're quoting rock bands from sixty years ago. You're a wack job. Okay, so I can't kill you. But if I blow a hole in your neck and keep shooting until there's nothing left… decapitation works, right?"

"A gunshot won't take off my head," Camilla snorted.

Molly smirked and said, "What if my next round is a hollow-tip? It will expand when it hits your neck and take your throat out from beneath your head."

"You're lying – I can smell it in your blood." Camilla extended her fangs and exclaimed, "It's time, little Molly. You're a virgin, aren't you?" She offered the girl a wicked wink, approaching slowly. "I'm going to enjoy every drop. I'll scour this castle until I find the stone but until I do, I'll bathe in your blood. Your grandfather is Radu Florescu, isn't he?" She grinned then added, "You're a mortal ancestor of Lord Dracula. It will be an honor to bathe in your blood."

"You're crazy," Molly said, backing away. She kept her gun trained on the Countess' face. "And you're creepy. I thought you freaks like to drink it, not take a bath in it."

"I absorb it through my skin," said the Countess with a grin. "Don't know your history, dear girl? Never heard of Elizabeth Bathory?" She canted her head to the side then stretched slightly, quickening her next two steps as though she were dancing towards her prey. "You can call me Vampira. My darling lover will collect your blood into goblets and pour it over my skin while I bask in a porcelain bath tub, dear."

"Kiss my ass," said Molly, squeezing the trigger again. The next round struck the vampire's left cheek, marring her face. The Countess turned away from Molly to face a mirror - one of the few vampire clans able to see their own appearence in reflective surfaces. Her eyes widened at the mark on her face; she placed her fingers directly beneath the gash left from the bullet.

"You scarred me…" She turned away from the mirror. Her eyes held an eerie glowing hue of sun-swept crimson. "You'll pay dearly, little virgin." She stormed across the room and put her hand out, covering the barrel of the revolver. Molly squeezed off her third round of eight and it ripped through Camilla's palm, grazed her bicep and continued out to the stone wall at the other end of the room. She brought her other hand to Molly's neck again and lifted the girl into the air, pulling the gun from her hand.

Bathory flung the weapon to the floor and screamed, "YOU will die slowly, fool! We will string you up and bleed you into my tub using golden hooks suspended from the rafters! Thou shalt suffer for thine indignation," she continued, once again reverting to her archaic form of speech.

Molly spit in the vampire's face, kicking her legs in an attempt to touch the floor with her feet. "Get off of me you freak," she choked out over the tight grip at her throat.

"We'll cage you like the little animal you are," said Camilla, panting back her rage. Were she still human, she would have hyperventilated by now. "Thine impudence has sealed thy fate." She pivoted on her heel and hurled Molly across the room into the far wall. The girl's hip met the wall first, followed by her legs and her upper body. She dropped to the floor; her head landed on top of her hands. She lay there for a moment drawing short shallow breaths. Camilla tossed the handgun to the ground. It clattered across the stone slabs and came to a rest.

"Dear girl, your willpower impresses me," said the Countess in a haughty voice. "But you will suffer for your insults. When Laura finds out that you have hurt my feelings, she will tear your body asunder. She's quite enamored with me and is rather protective. But she's also very pure and gentle – docile and coy at most times. But she'll make it hurt when she places you onto each golden hook. No local anesthetic, my little darling."

"We'll see," said Molly from her place on the floor. "I'll tell her you tried to get in my pants and we'll see just how pure your little friend can be. I've met some vicious lesbians in my days."

"Shut your mouth, child girl." Camilla snatched Molly up by the collar of her shirt then hissed in the mortal's face, fangs bared. "Let's go and see your new home… feel free to get cozy. If you decide you wish to tell me where the stone is, I'll give you the option of a game. I'll let you go free and give you your gun… and send my favorite girls out to hunt you down. Then the possibility for escape will be in your hands. If you can manage to pull it off… you'll be free to leave the castle grounds. If not, you'll still die but we'll take your offering of information under consideration and allow you to be numbed before hooking you above my bathing tub. Have I broken your spirit yet, little one?"

Molly simply glared at the Countess. "You talk too much, whore."

Vampira gawked at the insult. She slammed Molly up against a stone wall and held her still. Large, gnarled fingers reached out from the stones and closed around Molly's body. It slowly drew her into the wall until the girl disappeared from view. Vampira sighed in frustration then muttered, "You'll pay for marking my flawless skin, Child of Seth. The Florescu blood may only be susceptible to the wrath of Dracula's ilk but you, little girl, will bleed just like any other when Laura puts those golden hooks through your warm flesh."

A French Percheron stood at the center of the fantastic horse stable. Its mane, corded off into a line of hair tufts, sat upon the stallion's majestic yet rugged head. The dapple gray equine turned its head slowly to face the bald human wearing a military flack vest. Hammer approached the horse slowly with his hands up in an almost defensive posture. "Just take it easy, fellow. I'm not going to hurt ya'." He approached the horse then leaned over to see what gender it was. "You're not a mare are ya…?" He blinked then stood back up and said, "Oh, no, definitely not a mare." For some reason, he thought he remembered hearing or maybe reading that female horses were more docile and had a calmer demeanor - he wasn't sure if that was true or not.

He reached his hand behind his head and scratched the nape of his neck, chuckling somewhat nervously. "You don't mind sharing this space with me do ya' buddy? I'm just going to set up my store and maybe make a few bucks. That's fine by you, right pal?"

The horse's left ear flickered and he flipped his tail up as if swatting away flies. Hammer tilted his head, furrowing a single brow. "Okay, well, it's you and me, buddy. I'm just going to go outside and bring in my stuff." He turned back to the door and walked outside. His van sat in the courtyard garden with a stalled engine. The main gate, barely large enough for the van to fit through, swung free on its hinges.

Hammer looked up to see if Soma would be standing in it but the courtyard remained empty and silent. He ran his fingers back over the dark skin of his forehead and sighed. "Dammit, man. You always show up for these shindigs… where're you at now?" He glanced back to the van and opened the back doors. He paused, took out his cellphone and dialed Yoko's number but it went straight to her voice mail. "Damn. She must not get any reception." He glanced back down at his phone's LCD and noted that he only had one bar of signal. "Damn," he repeated softly.

He lifted two crates from the back of his van and eased them off the edge onto his right knee. He put his foot onto the bumper and shifted his weight to better get a handle on the large object. He stumbled a bit then made his way into the stable and set the large crate on the ground. Hammer looked back up at the Percheron then turned back to the door. A fox sat in the doorway with its head held high. Not just one... but five tails curled around its feet causing him to double take.

He re-approached the door but the fox stood there in silence. He blinked twice, looking at all five tails then furrowed his brows. "What? Aren't you afraid of me?" He stepped over the fox and walked back out to his van for more gear. The fox stood up and trotted after him. It meandered gracefully around gear and potted plants that filled the courtyard, heading over to the automobile. It did a little circle, almost as if it were chasing its tails, then sat down by his feet.

Hammer leaned his next crate on the bumper against his knee then peered over at the little animal. "Are you following me? I don't have any food, buddy. I'm usually not all that great with animals, pal." He lifted the crate and carried it back into the stable. To his amusement, the five-tailed fox followed, padding through the courtyard and back into the horse stable.

Hammer glanced back over his shoulder then eased the crate down on top of the first. "Okay, if you're going to follow me around, you need a name. Since you've got, like, five freakin' tails, I'll call you Chernobyl."

He turned back to the crates and lifted the lid from the top box. He tossed it on the stable floor, covered with scattered hay. A soft, feminine voice floated to his ears coming from somewhere behind. "You can call me Sinopa Crevan." Hammer turned to face the humanoid anthropomorphic vixen. She wore a low cut red evening gown that stopped at her creamy knees which melted into sparkling red heels. His eyes lifted again, raking over her form to drink in the sumptuous curves of her feminine figure. The graceful slope of her hips eased into her washboard stomach which continued up to a generous bust. The swell of her twin globes receded into a slender neckline and a porcelain visage. Her fiery red locks flowed free down over her shoulders and cascaded further down her back.

"…Whoa." His eyes lowered once more then, finally, zeroed in on the five bushy tails that came from the base of her spine. Hammer stammered for a moment then asked, "You…? You're the fox?"

"Sinopa Crevan," she repeated. "A Russian nuclear power plant blowing up in the late nineteen hundreds wouldn't cause me to have five fox tails, darling sir." She then offered a smile; her twin rose-painted petals parted to reveal elegant rows of pearl-like teeth. She was achingly beautiful… then his eyes landed on the two orange triangles that sat nearly hidden in her fantastic garnet hair. "I'm well traveled. I've lived in Japan, Ireland, and even in the mid-western United States." She offered him another dazzling smile then said, "What's a dashing gent, like yourself, doing in the courtyard of such a place?"

"I'm came to ensure the safety of," Hammer blinked as if suddenly breaking some sort of spell. "My girlfriend, Yoko." He blinked again, looking down at the small five-tailed animal on the ground. The little fox walked back to the doors of the stable, passing through and into the garden. He hurried to the stable door and peered through it. The little five-tail kitsune made her way up the stairs to an entrance that led into the castle. She glanced behind herself, making eye contact with Hammer then fluffed her lush tails. The little animal stepped through the door, leading into the castle and disappeared.

Hammer blinked rapidly, canting his head slightly. "I mentioned… My girlfriend, Yoko… then she turns back into a little fox and walks off… how odd is that? Did I offend her maybe?" To his words, the Percheron neighed loudly, startling him from his train of thought. "…Jesus!" He whipped his head to the right and glared at the horse who lifted his head, lowered it, then repeated the motion again. Hammer rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand then muttered, "Who asked you?"

Author's Note for Chapter 8

A/N: Okay, so now we finally see the 'Kitsune' vixen that Molly mentioned in the last chapter. She's coming back for her diamond. We also see that There are now TWO evil factions after this diamond… The Countess and those who are still loyal to the bloodline of Dracula Tepes, wanting to use this diamond on Alucard. Then you've got Julius, James and Molly, and – of course – you've got the main hero: Justus Bell.

I think the cast is full, now. We've got Yoko and Hammer for supporting roles and… should I have anyone else show up? Do we have enough characters? Or do you people want to see one more face? I'm just curious. Who would it be, if you DID want someone else? Soma perhaps?

I'm not so sure, but if you guys ask nice, I'll make it happen. Right now I've got the story so that it could go either way… with or without him.

But the main hero will STILL be Justus Bell of the Belmont clan and Cornell line.

By the way, 'Sinopa' is BLACKFOOT INDIAN for "fox" and 'Crevan' is IRISH for "fox". :)

She's not going to be a HUGE or a majorly important character but she will help add some cool history to the Dracula Diamond. For anyone who knows anything about the kitsune, their power comes from a sparkling "star ball" or, as it's called in Japanese, the Hoshi-no-Tama. Until she gets it back, her powers are limited. …if she gets it back. The kitsune, while not the highest being up on the path to enlightenment (more like… juuuust beneath the humans – mortality puts a little fire under your butt when you know you'll die one day… immortal spirit foxes get a little lazy cause anything that they don't accomplish in THIS life, they can do in the next one), they're pretty high up there. She wants that diamond back and she's willing to seduce people with a spell to get it. However, Hammer didn't really fall all that hard because he's in LOVE. True love is the only thing her spell cannot break. BUT her powers MIGHT seriously test the "true love" of Countess Camilla, aka, Vampira. If this vixen's spell charm works on the Countess, Laura's 'invincibility spell' won't protect the countess anymore… …at least in theory!

So now that you know what kind of drama is possible for our heroes and villains, I hope you'll want to read more!

If so, LET ME KNOW! I have this habit of personally replying to every reviewer and personally thanking them for reading but for those of you who responded with an anonymous feedback review, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you right here: I APPRECIATE IT! THANK YOU FOR READING THUS FAR! You guys rock!

I know this is my least popular story. It only has ONE alert compared to some of my other stories that have upwards of 30. I only have like 40 hits per chapter on this story (four hundred on the first chapter because people that click the link go there before they go straight to the chapter they left off at. So that, of course, doesn't count) compared to having between two hundred and six hundred hits PER chapter of some of my StarFox and Sly Cooper stories. So, yeah, I realize that this story is NOT on people's agenda, let alone their favorite thing to read... but I really enjoy writing it. So for the couple of people out there who LIKE this story, I just wanted to reiterate how much I appreciate you guys taking the time out of your day to read this! Thanks again!

Take care!

-Kit