Clara held her hands over mouth to try and soften the sound of her breath. She hid underneath the kitchen cabinet as the adults argued around her. She had tried sneaking in to find some food for her friend but panicked when she heard the sound of footsteps and ran inside.
"Investments? Investments don't matter at all! We needed to leave years ago and we need to leave now!" said one of the voices.
"I can't just up and go! Have you any clue how hard I've worked to keep this family together! Maybe if you hadn't been sitting on your butt everyday you'd have noticed!"
"Are you insane? Did you see what happened in Georgia? You're going to get us killed!"
"I'm going to get us killed?"
There was the clang of something falling and the cupboard door suddenly flew open. Clara stared back at the angry eyes of a man garbed in white.
"Whoa, there's someone in here!" he said.
"Yes sure. And did you write gullible on the ceiling as well? I've had it with you trash" The footsteps grew fainter as the man suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her out into the open. Her arm seared with pain as the fragile muscles refused to move.
"You see! I'm not nuts there's a girl here!" the man yelled. He jerked her up into the air like she were a doll.
"Put me down please!" Clara screamed.
"EEkk" came the voice from the other room. "Get her out get her out get her out!"
Clara's bones ached as she was tossed into the alleyway outside. She struggled to catch her breath again. Her chest heaved, but there was nothing inside her stomach to throw up.
She slowly picked herself up and walked out of the city, towards the stream. There was a hiding place amidst the tall grass she'd been using as shelter and was beginning to call it home.
"I'm sorry buddy, I'll try again tomorrow" she spoke to the puppy she had been hiding inside. It'd taken her a great deal of effort to hide him from the others. He was very quiet today and didn't get up from his blanket when she walked in as he usually did.
"Ouch" she yelped, and smacked her neck as though intuitively swatting an insect. Her hand came back with the faint tinge of red. Her bite marks were bleeding again.
"Alright, I've got to go wash up. So stay quiet until I come back you hear? I don't want the others to try and eat you again" she said. It was becoming difficult to stand but the riverside was only a dozen or so feet away.
The muddy bank was much softer to her skin that the hard cement of the inner city, and the soft beating of the creek was soothing to her wounds and the aching pain from her bleeding neck. She had tried to stop the bleeding weeks ago, but when all else failed it was better to just let it be and keep it clean.
The cool water felt so nice.
"Childen?" Olga asked. She quickened her pace to keep up with Alucard as he wedged through the tall grass.
"Yes" Alucard said. "Virgins are of the purest souls for harvest. Children are of the highest likelihood to be so, and their inexperience makes them easy prey"
"So the towns disappearing overnight, they aren't being toppled by his armies?" Olga said.
"No, forces have been at work in these cities for many months now" Alucard said. "But no one has been around to notice, nor care"
"Attack the vulnerable and business continues as usual without anyone batting an eye." Olga said.
"And the idealists fighting against him would never suspect humanity to do nothing as their neighbors cry for help" Alucard said. He paused for a moment before stepping out from the field. Olga was grateful to escape its confinement and walk in the open again, but she immediately pulled back in disgust as a putrid smell smacked across her like a wall.
"Humanity was never known for its compassion. Dracula lives by the darkness in our hearts and the cruelty of our souls" Alucard said. He didn't seem bothered by the stench, and for a moment Olga envied the vampiric blood that allowed him to remain so stoic.
The riverside was coated in the muddied tracks of reptile and humanoid footprints. In front of them was the wilted corpse of a child, her head half buried in the water. As Olga looked further she saw dozens of other such corpses scattered along the bank. Many of their legs and limbs ripped apart at odd angles like something had attempted to fillet them like fish.
"Why would they do something like this?" Olga said.
"This is but a side effect. The corpses left behind of those who had their virginity stolen from them, and couldn't transform" Alucard said. "We can expect many dozen times this have already turned within the city by now."
"Then there must be hundreds, if not thousands of them" Olga said, worrisome. It meant this wasn't a unique scenario, and that such horrors were likely spread throughout much of the continent. She shivered when she pictured what circumstances the children must have gone though, even without the presence of the dark lord.
"Indeed" Alucard said. "But I have considered that Dracula is unlikely to understand the amenities of modern infrastructure." He turned around and walked back into the tall grass. Despite the itching and the uneven ground, Olga was grateful to escape the toxic air as she followed him. She spoke a prayer for the victims as she walked.
The encampment was growing too large. It wasn't that Julius thought he had too many soldiers, they needed all the help they could get. But he was fearful that having too many people in one place made them more likely to draw attention and more vulnerable to being flanked. So he had the primary forces split into six groups about a mile apart from one another, and he divided Clovis's squad evenly among them.
Clovis wasn't happy about that. Not only were his people divided, but it meant having to run between the six camps as part of his daily routine. Radio helped, but it wasn't a perfect system. That was okay though. Apart from Julius, Jonathon, Carrie, Olga, and Alucard, Clovis's squad were the only trained soldiers with detailed knowledge of Dracula's forces.
"I'm concerned we're moving too fast" Julius said, speaking to Jonathon in his quarters.
"We could push back our first assault by another two weeks" Jonathon said. "The longer we wait the more likely others are to join the fight as well"
"And the more likely panic will rise among the population, which fuels his dark power" Julius said. "Dracula feeds on fear" He tapped his fingers impatiently along the side of his chair.
"Charlotte would have known what to do were she still here" Jonathon said. "She was always better at this sort of thing. Belmont's aren't meant to work in groups"
"I need to speak to Carrie. She'd know about magic like that" Julius said.
"Carrie? I'm surprised you haven't asked her already. She's been planning this longer than either of us have put together." Jonathon said.
"It's indeed worrying me that she's taking so long to get here. She's so stubborn I doubt she'll ever agree to carry a radio or a phone" Julius said.
"What are you going on about? If you want to talk to her just do it in person" Jonathon said.
"Yeah that'd be great" Julius said. "I appreciate the sarcasm there"
"What do you mean sarcasm? Carrie arrived here two days ago" Jonathon said, puzzled.
"She WHAT!" Julius bellowed, leaping from his chair. "Well where the hell is she!?"
"She set up a tent on the north side of Vortex camp" Jonathon said. "Small thing too"
Julius left Jonathon behind without saying another word. He feared if he opened his mouth nothing good would come of it. The thought was fleeting.
"How could she do this?" Julius said, as he walked through the forest with heavy steps. He'd known her to play stupid games like this before, but now of all times? When he's struggling to catch an army up to speed and in desperate need of trained professionals to teach them? All this time he could have had two days' worth of help. Two days he's lost. Has she no idea that people are dying in that time? Or does she just not care?
It was quickly apparent to him which tent was hers. It was some distance away from the rest of the camp in a small circle of birch trees. It certainly was small, and as he found he couldn't fully stand when he tore open the cloth and stepped inside.
His built up frustration extinguished the second he saw her.
"I don't recall hearing a knock, nor my saying you could come in" Carrie said. She was kneeling in front of a small cauldron and an open book. "That's pretty rude"
"Don't, even get me started on rude Carrie." Julius said. "We've got a lot of work to do"
"I've got a lot of work to do too you know" Carrie said. Julius noticed a glimmer as she stuffed something inside her pouch and blow out the fire beneath her cauldron.
"His forces are already on the move. And I have over 300 soldiers who aren't yet prepared to fight" Julius said.
"I'm not interested in teaching your lackeys. They're a distraction, nothing more" Carrie said.
"We can't do this without them!" Julius said.
"I never said we could" Carrie said.
"Oh right, you speak in literal terms" Julius said. "Alright, then as the heir to the Belmont throne and commander of this army I'm ordering you to come with me"
"You can't tell me what to do" Carrie said. She smiled, "But if it will ease your mind I suppose I could use a break." She stepped up from her seat, her head barely clear of the roof as she does so.
They walk outside into the cold air. Many of the troops are finishing their evening meals or preparing for bed, but Julius stops by a campfire to call everyone to attention.
"This is Steve, he's the lieutenant of this squadron. Steve, Carrie Fernandez" Julius said.
The soldier in green fatigues dipped his head and responded "It's an honor miss".
"Steve's squad has been studying copies of the rune texts retrieved from Ecclesia, they'll be specializing in magus support so keep an eye out for them. And here is John, Karl, Trevor, David, and William" Julius said, walking in front of each of them.
"That's nice" Carrie said.
"And over here" Julius said, moving to the other side of the fire where a tall man with a grey beard was washing dishes. "This is Agil, he's our arms specialist. We're grateful to have him"
"I suppose" Carrie said.
"And here" Julius said. He started walking towards another encampment when Carrie grabbed his arm.
"Stop Julius, you're just hurting yourself" Carrie said. "I'm sure they'll do fine"
"It's not them I'm concerned about" Julius said. "We need to work together, and you've been here two days and haven't met anyone yet. You haven't seen the drills, you don't know the commands, or…"
"Julius I've been here six days, and that doesn't matter. If it did I'd have done it already" Carrie said. She let go of his arm and pointed towards a group of people walking across the eastern field. "Those over there, do you know what their names are?"
"Aye" Julius said. "Sarah, Daniel, Jonas, Blake and the short one's Kyle"
"Now you know what their names really are?" Carrie said. "Dead, dead, dead, dead, and dead."
Julius glared back at her. "You don't know that" he said.
"I don't need to. That's not the point" Carrie said, and walked back to her tent alone, leaving a restless and exhausted Julius behind.
"Ick, do you have a thing for foul places Alucard? I bet you get this from your father" Olga said, trying to hold her nose as they walk through the city's sewer system.
"The water main won't smell the same. But we needed a shortcut to get us there" Alucard said. He wasn't particularly enjoying himself either.
"Alright, but you definitely owe me one" Olga said. She'd probably be unable to smell anything else for days. She wondered if Dracula's castle would smell anything like this. It hadn't much of a stench when she and Alucard visited the place before, but it was scarcely habituated at the time and had only recently been resurrected. "Yeah, I bet vampires have trashed the place by now"
"Hush, we are almost there" Alucard said. He grasped a slimy looking valve and turned it counter-clockwise. The wheel screeched as the rust was blown apart and the hinges swung open; inside was a cleaner looking corridor with an even longer looking trail of pipes. Alucard flicked on an electric flashlight to illuminate the the path.
"Say Alucard" Olga said. "Why do you think Dracula would target a city like Berlin? It's hundreds of miles away from his castle, and there are plenty of city epicenters closer than this."
"He tried waging war against all of Europe once, and it ended poorly for him" Alucard said. "The girl aside, I think he realizes that the more upfront his attacks are the more enemies he makes."
"Then he must have vampires across most of the continent by now" Olga said.
"Most likely, but our presence here could try to amend some of that" Alucard said. "I hope"
"So you think you've got it all figured out huh?" Olga said.
"I think it'd be disingenuous to say so, but I also think it'd be wrong not to try" Alucard said. He paused as they came across a large pipe crossing between the path and walls. "This is it" he said.
"It's true that I was recently ordained by the church, but I've lived most of my life as a magus" Olga said.
"You doubt your own abilities?" Alucard said.
"Doubt is a strong word" Olga said, leaning down next to the structure. "But this is a new experience for me" She opened her bag and lit a clump of sage beneath the pipe and began to pray silently. As she did so, a soft glow began to emanate from her palms and she slammed her hands upon the walls of the structure.
Of the body, and the blood. Amen
…and then silence.
"Did it work?" Alucard said.
"I'm sure it did, but we won't know right away. It'll take time for the holy water to move through the system" Olga said.
"Then we'll go for now and return if we need to" Alucard said. He reached up and slid down a ladder from the ceiling. As he and Olga climbed up, a roar of dismay became increasingly audible from the world above. The full extent of that chaos became apparent with the rush of heat they felt upon lifting the sewer cap.
Dozens of the surrounding buildings were on fire. Siren's blazed. Children screamed. And soaring above were hundreds of ghastly figures flapping through the dark on velvety wings.
"They're retreating" Olga said.
"To the only place there is to retreat to" Alucard said. "Now is the time to reunite with the others"
It started with a soft boom in the distance, like the distant sound of thunder. The waxing moon grew faint and the sky grew black without the twinkling of stars. The beating of wings once soft grew into a roar until the sky was filled with the deafening demonic cries of death, guided by the will of the one true Lord of Darkness.
The vampires were returning home.
"What should we do!" came an anonymous cry within the camp. The soldiers had been stirred from their bunks and stood ready at attention amidst the monumental threat. They knew that the creatures were stronger, and faster than they were. They knew it would take coordination, skill, and a little luck to take one of the creatures down. But the scale of the threat. The vastness of the dark army, could never be communicated so. The creatures blocked out the heavens, and consumed the sky as far as the eye could see.
"Hmph, I'm not impressed" Carrie said, stepping into the crowd amongst the other soldiers now clustered along the forest edge. None of them were brave enough to wander out into the open field lest they be seen and swept away by any of the thousands of monsters soaring above.
Julius and Jonathon were the last to emerge from their tents. They had known what was transpiring the moment the first trembles could be heard. Whatever time they thought they had left to plan had finally run out.
"I want everyone to meet me out in the field. Now!" Julius commanded. He grabbed five men and ordered them to relay his order to the other camps.
The troops quickly marched into the field and got into formation as Carrie wandered back to her tent by herself. She ripped open the canvass without caution, knowing she'd never need it again, and uncovered the chest she'd kept hidden inside.
The locks clicked open as she released the compression spell and watched the corners grow three times in length. Swinging it open she unhooked her twin Hikari rings, the very same tools she had used in her fight against the Count over one hundred years ago. Underneath them and layers of protective robes she drew the Necronomicon; the book of the dead, and the blueprint to Dracula's soul.
But she set those aside for now. First she'd need to change.
She shoved aside the books and papers she had accumulated in her quarters and laid out the product of her work over the last six days. A short radiant blue robe, sewn and extended from the dress she had worn during her legacy of darkness. Within and between the fabrics she had sewn the crystalline fragments of soul gems she had retrieved from the diadem and Hakuba Shrine. She quickly garbed the dress and snapped over it a tight leather brace to hold her gear and the materials together.
With her Hikari rings secured over her gauntlets and the Necronomicon in hand, she took a deep breath and stepped outside.
"THIS" Julius bellowed towards the crowd. "THIS is the product of nightmares. The bumps that scare our children in the night. The shadows that made us jump in the light of day. They make a mockery of our lives and slither among our peers as though they're mere toys ready to bend to their will with the push of a button. They laugh at us from the sky as though we are a joke! Is that what you are? Is that what you've become?!"
"NO" chanted the crowd.
"They have wings so they can fly away like cowards! I haven't the need for such things do you?" Julius yelled.
"NO" chanted the crowd.
"Of course we don't! Because we are beyond fear. We are what DEMONS FEAR! We are the products of DEMONS NIGHTMARES, we are the knights that make DEMONS CRY. They are afraid and they should be." Julius yelled. "And friends. I am not afraid. Because I remember the millions who came before me DREAMING about this day. Wishing they could be here like you and I. And it is a great honor to know that I was among those who won the lottery of a lifetime in being able to stand before you all."
Julius paced back and forth from the front aisle. He noticed Carrie approaching from the corner of his eye, but decided it best to ignore her for now. She wasn't what the troops needed this time.
"And for the rest of our lives we will go on to tell our ancestors about the day we brought DEATH TO DRACULA!" Julius yelled.
"DEATH TO DRACULA!" chanted the crowd. "DEATH TO DRACULA!"
"Death to Dracula!" yelled Carrie. And she threw the object in her hands up towards the sky with a beam of magical light. The creatures soaring above swirled around to grab it.
Suddenly, the sky burns with an explosion of blue flame. The withered corpses of fallen vampires rain upon the crowd as well as the crinkled black ashes of paper and human skin.
And thus begins the Demon Castle War.