Castlevania: Lisa's Last Words

Chapter 13
Bottom of the well

At the base of the well, concealed from view, Dracula conjured a lit torch, maintaining the charade of mortality. He espied a narrow passageway and proceeded, his olfactory senses overwhelmed by the pungent stench of urine and excrement. The air was filled with anguished moans, and he beheld humans shackled to the walls, some recent captives, others held for an extended duration. The barmaid was among them, still unaware of his presence.

Dracula scrutinized the captives, searching for the vampire. With no visible exit, the vampire had to be among them, feigning helplessness. He examined each captive with precision, his sharp eyes scanning for any indication of vampiric deception. As soon as he stepped into their sight, the captives all desperately cried for his help. "SILENCE!" he bellowed, his voice resonating through the passageway. The captives quieted, and Dracula continued, "I know the vampire is among you."

With his senses dulled, he couldn't pinpoint the vampire. He required a new approach. "You," he pointed to a captive, "reveal your neck." The man fearfully exposed a puncture wound, rough but not fatal. "It is not you," Dracula declared, moving on to the next captive. For several minutes, he requested each captive to display their neck, ruling out several possibilities. Switching tactics, Dracula persisted in his search, determined to uncover the vampire's disguise.

As Dracula examined the captives, he noticed an anomaly. They were well-nourished and healthy, a rarity for a vampire's pantry. The vampire had gone beyond mere sustenance, suggesting a desire to maintain their health for some unknown reason. This peculiarity piqued Dracula's interest, and he continued his investigation with heightened curiosity.

Dracula liberated a man and commanded him to release the woman next to him. "Run! Go the rope, and send for help." The two did not hesitate, but a woman's primal shriek caused them to cower in fear.

"Mommy... Daddy... don't leave me!" The voice transformed into a childish, desperate plea.

Dracula bellowed, "Run, NOW!" just before the vampire grasped him from behind. Fangs sank into his throat, but the vampire recoiled in surprise.

Dracula beheld a disheveled woman clad in a tattered black cloak, her face and hair in disarray. "Your blood is foul," she spat, speaking with the refinement of a noblewoman.

"Of course it is. I came prepared," Dracula retorted, swinging his ax to liberate another captive. "Flee!" The man hastened away.

The vampire's voice transitioned from refined to childlike once more. "Stop taking my family away!"

Dracula glanced at the others. "Family?" The barmaid shrieked, "We are not her family! We don't know what it's talking about!"

The vampire rushed to the barmaid, caressing her cheek with tender affection. "Big sister... no games." Her touch was gentle, yet her eyes were distant, unhinged. "I'll find mommy, daddy, and big brother... we'll all have dinner and talk, just like we used to. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

The barmaid protested, "I'm not your big sister! I don't have a sister!"

"I said…" The vampire's voice raged, slicing a fingernail across the barmaid's face. "No GAMES!"

Dracula observed the vampire's madness and seized the opportunity to liberate another captive. "Your family desires more than to remain with you forever."

"You're an irritating one, aren't you?" She scowled as Dracula continued cutting down one captive's shackles after another.

"Who am I addressing, madame?" Dracula stalled, his ax cutting through shackles with ease.

"Mina," she replied, twitching violently with each captive freed.

"Mathias. We're at an impasse," he said, but Mina's response was a menacing screech as she approached.

"Are we?" she asked, her nails scraping against the rocks. "You're taking my family away from me."

"Is that why you left corpses in the village?" Dracula asked, his eyes locked on Mina's unhinged gaze.

"Oh, them? Imposters. They suffered for their deception," she said with a humorless smile.

"Such madness I'm familiar with," Dracula admitted, his mind racing with the possibility that he too might have succumbed to such insanity in his search for Lisa's reincarnation had he not found Beth as quickly as he had. A relentless search for centuries could break anyone.

"Madness? Not so, intruder. After 300 years, my family and I will be together again. I love them, and they love me," Mina said, her tone childlike once more.

Dracula's mind raced with the implications: 300 years? She's no fledgling. This may prove to be a more formidable challenge than he had anticipated. Vampires grew stronger with age, and with his most potent abilities faltering, the gap between them wouldn't be significant if Mina spoke the truth.

As he liberated the last captive, Mina retreated down the passageway, her voice echoing back: "You took my family away from me... I will take your family away from you."

Dracula's heart raced with a sense of foreboding as he realized who Mina was referencing: Beth. With a renewed sense of urgency, he freed the remaining captives, his ax now ruined, and sprinted down the passageway and up the dried well, driven by a pressing need to protect his charge.