Chapter IV: Tower Of Death
Nathan led the way to the clock tower on the far east side of the castle. He was certain that was the direction Death had been heading when he left Jonathan and Charlotte. Nothing was said as they made their way into the tower. They were about to begin their assent when Serenity stopped.
"What's wrong?" Hugh asked concerned.
"I thought I just saw Jonathan and Charlotte," she replied.
As if to confirm this they each heard Jonathan yell out in surprise.
"Oh no," Richter exclaimed running over to a light blue door that concealed the room beyond.
"I've grown tired of waiting," a woman's voice called from inside the room.
The others joined Richter at the door as Jonathan yelled, "Show yourself, vampire!"
"Another vampire?" Nathan questioned in a whisper before the woman's voice sounded again.
"Watch your tongue, mortal!" she yelled in fury, "I held back with my father present, but here, you're as good as dead."
"I find it strange you'd come here alone," Charlotte stated carefully, "Well, it simplifies things."
"I alone will take care of you," the woman sneered, "I'll tear you apart, limb by limb, then wring all the blood from your bodies!"
As the battle inside began Serenity, Nathan, and Hugh could hear Jonathan speaking quietly to each other.
"Damn vampire!" Jonathan said lowly, "Coming here alone!"
"Getting too cocky can be fatal," Charlotte replied in a whisper.
With that the battle began. Richter turned back to the others concerned.
"Now we not only have to deal with Brauner and Death but Brauner's daughter too?" Hugh said exhausted.
"This is getting out of hand fast," Serenity said carefully, "Do you think those two will be alright on their own against her? We have no idea what kind of strength she has."
Simon gave her a quick nod as the battle raged on behind the door, "They've done alright thus far. If anything we could always break down the door, but I believe they'll be just fine."
Several minutes passed before the room beyond the door grew silent and the woman's voice stammered in surprise, "What happened to me?!"
"You're finished!" Jonathan shouted.
Before anything more could be said a loud cracking of what sounded like breaking glass washed over everyone's senses.
"My," the woman's voice sounded, "my head…"
"Are you all right, sister?" a new female voice pleaded.
Clenching his fist Nathan growled, "Damn. That makes three."
"I…," the first voice stammered, "I'm fine. Loretta…"
The hunters shared a look when the second voice, that of Loretta, sounded again, "You were warned not to leave the painting."
"You may scold me later," the first stated, "These two are a threat to father. We must take care of them now!"
"No," Loretta answered firmly, "For now, we return." There was a brief pause before she continued, "Hear me, both of you. If you continue to oppose father, we will show you no mercy. Oppose us, and we will kill you!"
Several moments of silence followed before they heard Jonathan speak, "What's this?"
"It's like a locket," Charlotte answered, "There's a photo inside."
"This is Wind!" Jonathan shouted in surprise.
"And those two vampire girls!" Charlotte exclaimed in equal surprise.
A slight pause followed by Jonathan asking, "What does it mean?"
"I have no idea," Charlotte replied, "We should go ask him about it."
"Yeah," Jonathan said, "good idea."
More silence followed. The hunters were about to move away from the door when it opened suddenly. For the first time that evening Serenity and the others came face to face with Jonathan and Charlotte.
"Wha…" Jonathan started as he locked eyes with Serenity. Before she could say a word Jonathan produced a sword from his side shouting, "This castle is overrun with vampires!"
As he brought the sword over his head to attack Nathan kicked him in the abdomen with so much force that the air was forced from his lungs. He crashed back into the room he had previously been in with Charlotte with a harsh thud.
Charlotte was about to attack with a spell, but Serenity held her hands up in front of her yelling, "Charlotte, wait!"
At the mention of her name she lowered her spell book and demanded, "Who are you?"
"Please," Hugh said stepping in front of Simon as Richter turned away hastily, "let us explain. We're not here to fight you."
"Yeah right," Jonathan said and charged at Nathan.
"Jonathan!" Charlotte called out in vain.
As Jonathan closed the distance between himself and Nathan, Serenity stepped in front of him and took the strike he had been preparing for him with her own sword. Fire spilled from the blade in a brilliant flash that warmed the air around them within seconds. As their eyes locked again Serenity could feel anger bubbling from within. A sudden hatred for this boy before her took hold of her senses. For the first time since becoming a vampire she thought she would enjoy nothing more than draining him of every drop of blood he could muster.
"That sword," Charlotte said in amazement, "that couldn't possibly be..."
"Hey," Jonathan said struggling as Serenity began pushing him back, "could you stop gawking and get over here to help me?"
"Serenity," Nathan said gently, "calm down. He's not going to hurt me," here he paused to look at Jonathan, "are you?"
Jonathan was about to reply with a snarky remark when Charlotte jumped in, "No. He's not going to do anything," she paused to give him a stern look before continuing, "We'll hear you out. Just…don't try anything funny."
Jonathan and Serenity remained together for a breathless moment before Jonathan allowed himself to be pushed back. He stood upright and slowly sheathed his sword. Serenity glared at him for a moment before putting her own sword away. As she took a step back she felt an ache in her mouth.
"I know how hard this will be for you to hear," Nathan began, "especially since we're dealing with other vampires."
"We?" Jonathan spat, "Other vampires?"
"Quite," Charlotte snapped, "Let him speak."
Scoffing Jonathan folded his arms as Nathan continued, "We're a small group of hunters from St. Dabius Church."
"Hunters?" Jonathan interrupted again, "I've never heard of vampires calling themselves hunters. How do we know you're not working for Brauner?"
Hugh came forward pushing Nathan behind him, "If you would shut that cocky mouth of yours and let us explain…"
Before Hugh could continue Jonathan barked back, "Excuse me mister high and mighty vampire. I've had my fair share of…"
"That's enough," Simon said coming forward.
Jonathan was about to snap at him as well but Charlotte was the first to speak, "I don't believe it. That's impossible."
She was in awe and her mouth dropped open as Richter too came forward, "We don't have time for this. Either you listen to what we have to say or we'll be on our way."
"What's wrong with you?" Jonathan said to Charlotte letting his guard drop slightly.
Spinning to face him fully Charlotte exclaimed, "Don't you know who they are?! The one in the red is Simon Belmont! The one in blue is Richter Belmont!"
"Belmont?" Jonathan questioned taking another look at them.
"How can that be?" Charlotte said to herself as she began paging through a book at a furious pace, "Both Simon and Richter should be long dead."
Jonathan folded his arms and frowned, "Well, they're not vampires that's for sure. And they can't be ghosts like Wind. Can they?"
"Be quite already," Serenity snapped, "we don't have time to explain everything to you." Jonathan was about to begin arguing anew when she cut him off, "All you need to know is that we are a small group of vampire hunters from St. Dabius Church whose sole purpose is figuring out a way to banish Dracula forever. If you don't want to work together that's your decision, but stay out of our way."
With that Serenity spun on her heels and began walking away. She could never remember being so incredibly angry with anyway in all her life.
Thinking fast Nathan looked at Charlotte and Jonathan who was currently shocked into a merciful silence, "Listen, Serenity is a bit on edge at the moment. I'm sure you can understand. My name is Nathan Graves," he motioned to Hugh, "that is Hugh Baldwin," and then to Simon and Richter, "and they are truly Simon and Richter Belmont. What my sister said is the honest truth. Believe us or not we have work to do here." He paused to look after Serenity who was still walking away from them and added hurriedly, "I know you've had an encounter with Death. That alone should tell you Dracula isn't so far behind him even if Brauner is the lord of this castle at the moment. Be careful, both of you."
Giving them both a nod he ran after his sister followed closely by Hugh. Simon and Richter lingered for a moment before following after them themselves without another word.
"Well that was…" Jonathan started slowly, "unexpected."
