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You scissors your fingers across Rick's outstretched hand just to emphasize your win. Rick looks pained, and not just from losing at Rock, Paper, Scissors: He really thinks his passageway is the right one to take. He glances at Ben again, and again, Ben shrugs. He's the type of guy who learned a long time ago just to go with the flow, that winning battles against those closest to you always gives you an empty kind of victory.
There's a lot at stake in this moment: your ability to get out of the cave, not to mention the strength of your friendships with these guys. What happens next in part depends on what's happened in the past, how you've been to each other up till this moment. Remember when Rick asked you to help him work on his car exhaust? What did you tell him?
> You said no at the time, but you're going to lie because you think it might give you a better outcome.
"You know what?" you say. "I'm sure mine's the right one, and just to prove it to you, we're not going to take it."
"Wait. Did you just say we're not going to take it?" Ben asks.
"That's right. Not. As in ain't. Gonna. Take it."
"Sweet!" yells Rick. "That means, I win! Let's go, boys." He picks up his gear and heads down the passageway. |
You and Ben wait for Rick to pull up in his rusted-out Cavalier. They'll probably make you drive as usual, seeing as how they're all jealous of your sea-green Chevy Nova. Black vinyl seats, a beautiful, flawless paint job that you applied yourself, a car with curves like Kelly Siegel, you always say; she's a girl who goes to your high school.
Rick pulls up, foul black stuff coming out of his tail pipe. "You guys want to help me with this exhaust problem this weekend?" he asks.
> No way. Rick's had enough of your free labor.
Why spend the weekend flat on your back under Rick's hunk of junk when you could be at home, sitting on that new lounge chair you just got for your room, finishing your quest to rescue the princess? You're so close; you can feel it. Just another hour or so, and victory is yours. |
You and your buddy Ben gather your cheap spelunking gear from the corner of his basement where you keep it and hoist it up the narrow steps to his living room.
His mom is sitting there the same as when you'd come in, still in her bathrobe, a green terry cloth robe Ben said his dad gave her, that's how old it is. You head through the room without saying anything since she never responds when you do anyway, not so much as a "hi there" even though you've been her son's best friend since the two of you dominated the kindergarten playground together. It gives you the creeps to see Ben try to talk to her. He's never tried to do what the rest of us would do if our mothers were walking, breathing vegetables like her. We'd have lost it long ago, taken her by the shoulders, slapped her, told her to fucking snap out of it. But not Ben. He lingers behind you, and you know he is bending down to kiss her on the cheek.
What do you do next?
> You this family stuff isn't your business. Pause and wait for Ben.
"Bye Mom," you hear him say as the screen door closes behind you. He might get a nod from her but that's it, a nod without looking up, her eyes spaceylike from her pills, watching TV with the sound all the way down, as usual.
You wait on the porch under the oversized black POW/MIA flag, which rolls in crazy arcs from the October wind. One of these days you'll get around to telling Ben he should take the flag down. It's a dark omen and makes the whole house look like somebody just died when in reality, Ben's father went MIA more than twenty years ago. |
Eyes fluttering open, you find yourself there in the Nightmare Realm again. You're sprawled out on a soft, eerily warm ground. A dull, strange pulse that trembles through the ground. The ground's texture is unnerving as your fingertips run across it, closer to flesh than earth. You squint, making out thin veins spread out through the ground, pumping a black liquid through the flesh that stands in stark contrast to the brownish-red of the floor. You briefly look at yourself for any injury, but you don't see anything wrong, at least visibly. You're wearing a pair of simply cloth pajamas that hang off your pale, frail frame and some small, featureless blue slippers.
Standing, you look around at the nightmare realm surrounding you. The sky is black and lifeless, not a single shining light to break the dull veil of oblivion that hangs over your head. You're in the middle of a forest of jet black trees that spike out from the ground like pillars of obsidian, their trunks all charred and blackened by what you presume was fire. From the tree's branches hang red, glistening organs and chunks of flesh, blood dripping down from them. A length of rotting intestine, a split open stomach whose food has spilled out to the ground, a long strip of unidentifiable flesh, they all just hang their like some horrifying butcher's display.
In contrast to the dark floor there's several chunks of bleached white bone about the size of a child's head in the ground, sticking out like everyday rocks. You grab the nearest one cautiously, turning it over in your hand to reveal the bottom of it is covered with beetle-like creatures, which make a strangely human-like panting. Thin, long pink tongues extend from their mouths towards you, before you frantically shake them off the chunk of bone. Nervously, you toss the chunk of bone back to the ground.
You look around for anything useful, something to help you get out of this insane hellscape. Next to one of the trees, leaning against the gnarled black roots is a red, plastic Zippo lighter, seeming out of place in the whole world of nightmares. There's a lake of black, unreflective liquid that you stare at, its waters thick and oil-like. Sitting next to it, far enough away from you that you're not too scared, is a figure.
The figure looks like a badly deformed child, although its face is closer to that of a hairless rat, a long snout that extends past its face. You pause, noticing its eyes are a pair of black buttons, stitched straight into its sockets with red thread. Its limbs are thin and frail, and although it seems to be naked. Its skin is pale and leathery, hanging off it in patches to reveal the black flesh underneath. It holds in its hand a fishing rod, sitting there casually as if nothing was wrong. You wonder if it'll act as a friend or foe. Sitting next to it is a black oil lantern, from which the only light in sight shines out, brightening the area.
> You follow the pulse of the ground
Dropping to your knees, you press your thumb against one of the veins going through the ground, feeling the warm pulse of blood go through. You follow the vein, the pulse growing louder and louder, stronger and stronger with every beat.
Continuing to follow it, you soon reach a thick mass of flesh, coils of muscle filled with the black, oozing blood. The thing spasms every few seconds, and you wince as you realize you're listening to the beating of a heart.
The heart lies there, spasming and beating as you wonder what to do.
> You attempt to kill the heart
You take a deep breath, looking around before seeing a chunk of bone. You lift it up, shaking off the bugs that cling underneath, before ramming it into the heart. It bounces back, but you feel there's some leeway, so you heave it back into the air before bringing it down. The heart bursts open as you drive the chunk into it, spraying you with the black bile-like blood as it covers your arms up to your elbow as you plunge your hands inside. It spasms one final time, spraying blood out, before you toss the chunk aside.
Listening to the silent night air, you hear the faint beating of other hearts, keeping the nightmare realm alive. There must be hundreds of them. There's no way you're killing this hellhole.
> Back
Eyes fluttering open, you find yourself there in the Nightmare Realm again. You're sprawled out on a soft, eerily warm ground. A dull, strange pulse that trembles through the ground. The ground's texture is unnerving as your fingertips run across it, closer to flesh than earth. You squint, making out thin veins spread out through the ground, pumping a black liquid through the flesh that stands in stark contrast to the brownish-red of the floor. You briefly look at yourself for any injury, but you don't see anything wrong, at least visibly. You're wearing a pair of simply cloth pajamas that hang off your pale, frail frame and some small, featureless blue slippers.
Standing, you look around at the nightmare realm surrounding you. The sky is black and lifeless, not a single shining light to break the dull veil of oblivion that hangs over your head. You're in the middle of a forest of jet black trees that spike out from the ground like pillars of obsidian, their trunks all charred and blackened by what you presume was fire. From the tree's branches hang red, glistening organs and chunks of flesh, blood dripping down from them. A length of rotting intestine, a split open stomach whose food has spilled out to the ground, a long strip of unidentifiable flesh, they all just hang their like some horrifying butcher's display.
In contrast to the dark floor there's several chunks of bleached white bone about the size of a child's head in the ground, sticking out like everyday rocks. You grab the nearest one cautiously, turning it over in your hand to reveal the bottom of it is covered with beetle-like creatures, which make a strangely human-like panting. Thin, long pink tongues extend from their mouths towards you, before you frantically shake them off the chunk of bone. Nervously, you toss the chunk of bone back to the ground.
You look around for anything useful, something to help you get out of this insane hellscape. Next to one of the trees, leaning against the gnarled black roots is a red, plastic Zippo lighter, seeming out of place in the whole world of nightmares. There's a lake of black, unreflective liquid that you stare at, its waters thick and oil-like. Sitting next to it, far enough away from you that you're not too scared, is a figure.
The figure looks like a badly deformed child, although its face is closer to that of a hairless rat, a long snout that extends past its face. You pause, noticing its eyes are a pair of black buttons, stitched straight into its sockets with red thread. Its limbs are thin and frail, and although it seems to be naked. Its skin is pale and leathery, hanging off it in patches to reveal the black flesh underneath. It holds in its hand a fishing rod, sitting there casually as if nothing was wrong. You wonder if it'll act as a friend or foe. Sitting next to it is a black oil lantern, from which the only light in sight shines out, brightening the area.
> You inspect the tree trunks
You head over to the black tree trunks, running a hand over the ash-covered trunk. Some of the ash rubs off, and you roll it between your fingertips. You notice that there's several deep gouge marks in the tree, no doubt from some horrifying beast.
A drop of blood lands on your shoulder from the organs hanging above you, and you step back away from the tree. |
Eyes fluttering open, you find yourself there in the Nightmare Realm again. You're sprawled out on a soft, eerily warm ground. A dull, strange pulse that trembles through the ground. The ground's texture is unnerving as your fingertips run across it, closer to flesh than earth. You squint, making out thin veins spread out through the ground, pumping a black liquid through the flesh that stands in stark contrast to the brownish-red of the floor. You briefly look at yourself for any injury, but you don't see anything wrong, at least visibly. You're wearing a pair of simply cloth pajamas that hang off your pale, frail frame and some small, featureless blue slippers.
Standing, you look around at the nightmare realm surrounding you. The sky is black and lifeless, not a single shining light to break the dull veil of oblivion that hangs over your head. You're in the middle of a forest of jet black trees that spike out from the ground like pillars of obsidian, their trunks all charred and blackened by what you presume was fire. From the tree's branches hang red, glistening organs and chunks of flesh, blood dripping down from them. A length of rotting intestine, a split open stomach whose food has spilled out to the ground, a long strip of unidentifiable flesh, they all just hang their like some horrifying butcher's display.
In contrast to the dark floor there's several chunks of bleached white bone about the size of a child's head in the ground, sticking out like everyday rocks. You grab the nearest one cautiously, turning it over in your hand to reveal the bottom of it is covered with beetle-like creatures, which make a strangely human-like panting. Thin, long pink tongues extend from their mouths towards you, before you frantically shake them off the chunk of bone. Nervously, you toss the chunk of bone back to the ground.
You look around for anything useful, something to help you get out of this insane hellscape. Next to one of the trees, leaning against the gnarled black roots is a red, plastic Zippo lighter, seeming out of place in the whole world of nightmares. There's a lake of black, unreflective liquid that you stare at, its waters thick and oil-like. Sitting next to it, far enough away from you that you're not too scared, is a figure.
The figure looks like a badly deformed child, although its face is closer to that of a hairless rat, a long snout that extends past its face. You pause, noticing its eyes are a pair of black buttons, stitched straight into its sockets with red thread. Its limbs are thin and frail, and although it seems to be naked. Its skin is pale and leathery, hanging off it in patches to reveal the black flesh underneath. It holds in its hand a fishing rod, sitting there casually as if nothing was wrong. You wonder if it'll act as a friend or foe. Sitting next to it is a black oil lantern, from which the only light in sight shines out, brightening the area.
> You fetch the lighter
You move over towards the gnarled, tangled roots of the tree, blood from the organs that hang above dripping down to you. You pause, seeing wrinkled fingers wrapping around your other hand. You're torn through the air with a scream, smacking into the earth as you're quickly dragged down a burrow hidden in the roots of the tree. You tumble to your ground, collapsing in front of a horrifying creature.
The creature looks to be a strange hybrid between a spider and an old man. It's body is spider-like, covered in a pale, translucent ooze. Its head is that of a smiling old man, although the same ooze drips from the corners of its mouth. Its eyes are black, lifeless orbs. It's eight long, spindly legs each end with a human hand covered with a wrinkled, grey skin.
"Good evening, my child," it says, with the voice of a kindly grandfather.
It's long, spindly arms reach around, it's wrinkled fingers grabbing your limbs and lifting you into the air.
"A shame I won't be able to take you to the tea party soon, but I'm just so very hungry. I'm going to savor your young, soft flesh," it says, as you scream into the silent darkness.
Hours later, when the last breath finally expires from your broken form, its long arm reaches out from its den, placing the bright, red plastic lighter in front of the den, waiting for the next fool to come. They always did. |
Eyes fluttering open, you find yourself there in the Nightmare Realm again. You're sprawled out on a soft, eerily warm ground. A dull, strange pulse that trembles through the ground. The ground's texture is unnerving as your fingertips run across it, closer to flesh than earth. You squint, making out thin veins spread out through the ground, pumping a black liquid through the flesh that stands in stark contrast to the brownish-red of the floor. You briefly look at yourself for any injury, but you don't see anything wrong, at least visibly. You're wearing a pair of simply cloth pajamas that hang off your pale, frail frame and some small, featureless blue slippers.
Standing, you look around at the nightmare realm surrounding you. The sky is black and lifeless, not a single shining light to break the dull veil of oblivion that hangs over your head. You're in the middle of a forest of jet black trees that spike out from the ground like pillars of obsidian, their trunks all charred and blackened by what you presume was fire. From the tree's branches hang red, glistening organs and chunks of flesh, blood dripping down from them. A length of rotting intestine, a split open stomach whose food has spilled out to the ground, a long strip of unidentifiable flesh, they all just hang their like some horrifying butcher's display.
In contrast to the dark floor there's several chunks of bleached white bone about the size of a child's head in the ground, sticking out like everyday rocks. You grab the nearest one cautiously, turning it over in your hand to reveal the bottom of it is covered with beetle-like creatures, which make a strangely human-like panting. Thin, long pink tongues extend from their mouths towards you, before you frantically shake them off the chunk of bone. Nervously, you toss the chunk of bone back to the ground.
You look around for anything useful, something to help you get out of this insane hellscape. Next to one of the trees, leaning against the gnarled black roots is a red, plastic Zippo lighter, seeming out of place in the whole world of nightmares. There's a lake of black, unreflective liquid that you stare at, its waters thick and oil-like. Sitting next to it, far enough away from you that you're not too scared, is a figure.
The figure looks like a badly deformed child, although its face is closer to that of a hairless rat, a long snout that extends past its face. You pause, noticing its eyes are a pair of black buttons, stitched straight into its sockets with red thread. Its limbs are thin and frail, and although it seems to be naked. Its skin is pale and leathery, hanging off it in patches to reveal the black flesh underneath. It holds in its hand a fishing rod, sitting there casually as if nothing was wrong. You wonder if it'll act as a friend or foe. Sitting next to it is a black oil lantern, from which the only light in sight shines out, brightening the area.
> You head off into the trees
Heading off into the woods in a desperate attempt to find a way out of this place, you quickly hurry off out of the light of the lantern. You're soon drowned in darkness, without the light of any light to guide you. After a few minutes, as you're feeling your way forward to avoid hitting a trunk, you hear the faint sound of someone weeping.
A huge, towering creature of black fur with muscles that ripple underneath, standing like a gorilla with two massive, clawed hands appears out of the darkness, right in front of you. It's face is a white, china mask of a crying woman, with tears of red flowing down its cheek. It continues to weep as it moves towards you, a hand wrapping around you. It lifts you up, moving you right in front of its crying face.
Suddenly, it flings you into a tree, shattering your ribs. You hit the ground with a scream, as it continues weeping, although you can't see where it is. You lie there in pain, listening to the sound of the crying growing fainter as the monster moves away.
Suddenly, you hear the sound of laughter, growing closer and closer. You try to move, but you're effectively crippled by pain, unable to move. You close your eyes and like your assailant, begin to weep, hoping whatever creature finds you first does its job quickly. |
Eyes fluttering open, you find yourself there in the Nightmare Realm again. You're sprawled out on a soft, eerily warm ground. A dull, strange pulse that trembles through the ground. The ground's texture is unnerving as your fingertips run across it, closer to flesh than earth. You squint, making out thin veins spread out through the ground, pumping a black liquid through the flesh that stands in stark contrast to the brownish-red of the floor. You briefly look at yourself for any injury, but you don't see anything wrong, at least visibly. You're wearing a pair of simply cloth pajamas that hang off your pale, frail frame and some small, featureless blue slippers.
Standing, you look around at the nightmare realm surrounding you. The sky is black and lifeless, not a single shining light to break the dull veil of oblivion that hangs over your head. You're in the middle of a forest of jet black trees that spike out from the ground like pillars of obsidian, their trunks all charred and blackened by what you presume was fire. From the tree's branches hang red, glistening organs and chunks of flesh, blood dripping down from them. A length of rotting intestine, a split open stomach whose food has spilled out to the ground, a long strip of unidentifiable flesh, they all just hang their like some horrifying butcher's display.
In contrast to the dark floor there's several chunks of bleached white bone about the size of a child's head in the ground, sticking out like everyday rocks. You grab the nearest one cautiously, turning it over in your hand to reveal the bottom of it is covered with beetle-like creatures, which make a strangely human-like panting. Thin, long pink tongues extend from their mouths towards you, before you frantically shake them off the chunk of bone. Nervously, you toss the chunk of bone back to the ground.
You look around for anything useful, something to help you get out of this insane hellscape. Next to one of the trees, leaning against the gnarled black roots is a red, plastic Zippo lighter, seeming out of place in the whole world of nightmares. There's a lake of black, unreflective liquid that you stare at, its waters thick and oil-like. Sitting next to it, far enough away from you that you're not too scared, is a figure.
The figure looks like a badly deformed child, although its face is closer to that of a hairless rat, a long snout that extends past its face. You pause, noticing its eyes are a pair of black buttons, stitched straight into its sockets with red thread. Its limbs are thin and frail, and although it seems to be naked. Its skin is pale and leathery, hanging off it in patches to reveal the black flesh underneath. It holds in its hand a fishing rod, sitting there casually as if nothing was wrong. You wonder if it'll act as a friend or foe. Sitting next to it is a black oil lantern, from which the only light in sight shines out, brightening the area.
> You pull organs down from the trees
You move towards the branches, attempting to pull the organs down. When that fails, you wrap an arm around the tree trunk, lifting yourself up somewhat and shaking a branch. Several bloody organs plop down into the dirt.
Suddenly, the soil begins to morph, as it cracks open to reveal small, human-lie mouths. The creepily human-like teeth bite and tear at the meat as they swallows the meat, devouring the organs.
> You attack the mouths
You quickly look around for a bone chunk, grabbing it and shaking the bugs off it. Quickly, you smash the chunk of bone into a mouth, knocking bloody and broken teeth out. The mouths gnash soundlessly as you smash the chunk of bone into them repeatedly, smashing out countless teeth. The mouths shut closed, morphing back into the ground.
Cautiously, you collect a handful of broken, bloody teeth, but the mouths don't make a reappearance. |
You move towards the branches, attempting to pull the organs down. When that fails, you wrap an arm around the tree trunk, lifting yourself up somewhat and shaking a branch. Several bloody organs plop down into the dirt.
Suddenly, the soil begins to morph, as it cracks open to reveal small, human-lie mouths. The creepily human-like teeth bite and tear at the meat as they swallows the meat, devouring the organs.
> You quickly flee
You're unwilling entirely to let those mouths get you or get close to you. You quickly backpedal, heading to the relative safety of next to the lake. |
Eyes fluttering open, you find yourself there in the Nightmare Realm again. You're sprawled out on a soft, eerily warm ground. A dull, strange pulse that trembles through the ground. The ground's texture is unnerving as your fingertips run across it, closer to flesh than earth. You squint, making out thin veins spread out through the ground, pumping a black liquid through the flesh that stands in stark contrast to the brownish-red of the floor. You briefly look at yourself for any injury, but you don't see anything wrong, at least visibly. You're wearing a pair of simply cloth pajamas that hang off your pale, frail frame and some small, featureless blue slippers.
Standing, you look around at the nightmare realm surrounding you. The sky is black and lifeless, not a single shining light to break the dull veil of oblivion that hangs over your head. You're in the middle of a forest of jet black trees that spike out from the ground like pillars of obsidian, their trunks all charred and blackened by what you presume was fire. From the tree's branches hang red, glistening organs and chunks of flesh, blood dripping down from them. A length of rotting intestine, a split open stomach whose food has spilled out to the ground, a long strip of unidentifiable flesh, they all just hang their like some horrifying butcher's display.
In contrast to the dark floor there's several chunks of bleached white bone about the size of a child's head in the ground, sticking out like everyday rocks. You grab the nearest one cautiously, turning it over in your hand to reveal the bottom of it is covered with beetle-like creatures, which make a strangely human-like panting. Thin, long pink tongues extend from their mouths towards you, before you frantically shake them off the chunk of bone. Nervously, you toss the chunk of bone back to the ground.
You look around for anything useful, something to help you get out of this insane hellscape. Next to one of the trees, leaning against the gnarled black roots is a red, plastic Zippo lighter, seeming out of place in the whole world of nightmares. There's a lake of black, unreflective liquid that you stare at, its waters thick and oil-like. Sitting next to it, far enough away from you that you're not too scared, is a figure.
The figure looks like a badly deformed child, although its face is closer to that of a hairless rat, a long snout that extends past its face. You pause, noticing its eyes are a pair of black buttons, stitched straight into its sockets with red thread. Its limbs are thin and frail, and although it seems to be naked. Its skin is pale and leathery, hanging off it in patches to reveal the black flesh underneath. It holds in its hand a fishing rod, sitting there casually as if nothing was wrong. You wonder if it'll act as a friend or foe. Sitting next to it is a black oil lantern, from which the only light in sight shines out, brightening the area.
> You approach the figure
You walk slowly towards the strange figure. It eagerly turns to stare at you as you approach, moving slowly and cautiously. When you're standing less than a meter away, it begins to approach, it's frail arms reaching up to your face, two pale, disgusting fingers entering your mouth and tapping against your teeth. Quickly, it jabs its finger forward, knocking a loose tooth free from your gums with a few drops of blood.
"Mine," it whispers in a soft, rasping voice.
You pull back frantically as it releases its grip, looking towards you with indifference again as it slowly picks up the loose tooth, raising it to its mouth and swallowing it whole. You step back, ready for it to strike, but it returns to its spot by its lantern, grabbing its fishing pole. You wiggle your tongue around in the new gap in your teeth, staring ahead nervously.
> You move away from the figure
You move nervously away from the figure, who seems indifferent to your slow but steady backpedalling. |
You walk slowly towards the strange figure. It eagerly turns to stare at you as you approach, moving slowly and cautiously. When you're standing less than a meter away, it begins to approach, it's frail arms reaching up to your face, two pale, disgusting fingers entering your mouth and tapping against your teeth. Quickly, it jabs its finger forward, knocking a loose tooth free from your gums with a few drops of blood.
"Mine," it whispers in a soft, rasping voice.
You pull back frantically as it releases its grip, looking towards you with indifference again as it slowly picks up the loose tooth, raising it to its mouth and swallowing it whole. You step back, ready for it to strike, but it returns to its spot by its lantern, grabbing its fishing pole. You wiggle your tongue around in the new gap in your teeth, staring ahead nervously.
> You offer it a tooth
Not knowing what else to do, you step forward, pointing to one of your teeth.
"A tooth. You get one tooth."
The figure nods happily, motioning for you to kneel down. You do, and suddenly its disgusting fingers force their way into your mouth. They're surprisingly cold, tasting of a mixture of soot and rotting flesh. Its fingers squeeze a tooth tightly, before tearing it free of your mouth in a single motion. You go to move away, but the creature doesn't seem satisfied with its single tooth now that its so close or doesn't understand your offer, grabbing another tooth.
At that point, you quickly panic, and begin to move desperately as you try to escape it as it tries to hold you in place to remove your teeth, shaking you violently in an attempt to get you to stop moving. You keep moving your head rapidly, trying to avoid it getting a grip on another tooth.
It lets out a rasping scream in frustration. Finally, holding your head tightly, it twists it around and forces your head under the black, murky water. The water oozes into your throat, flooding into your lungs as you try to scream, but instead the liquid just pours into your throat. As your body seems to realize its hopeless to fight, the last bit of strength drained from you.
Your last thought is a morbid one, but you think that it'll be a lot easier to pull out your teeth once you're dead. |
You walk slowly towards the strange figure. It eagerly turns to stare at you as you approach, moving slowly and cautiously. When you're standing less than a meter away, it begins to approach, it's frail arms reaching up to your face, two pale, disgusting fingers entering your mouth and tapping against your teeth. Quickly, it jabs its finger forward, knocking a loose tooth free from your gums with a few drops of blood.
"Mine," it whispers in a soft, rasping voice.
You pull back frantically as it releases its grip, looking towards you with indifference again as it slowly picks up the loose tooth, raising it to its mouth and swallowing it whole. You step back, ready for it to strike, but it returns to its spot by its lantern, grabbing its fishing pole. You wiggle your tongue around in the new gap in your teeth, staring ahead nervously.
> You try to take the lantern
You move towards the creature's lantern, but it quickly grabs your hand. Its cold, semi-moist fingers wrap around your wrist as it gently but firmly pushes you back. |
Dropping to your knees, you press your thumb against one of the veins going through the ground, feeling the warm pulse of blood go through. You follow the vein, the pulse growing louder and louder, stronger and stronger with every beat.
Continuing to follow it, you soon reach a thick mass of flesh, coils of muscle filled with the black, oozing blood. The thing spasms every few seconds, and you wince as you realize you're listening to the beating of a heart.
The heart lies there, spasming and beating as you wonder what to do.
> You leave it
There's no way you're messing with whatever's there. You're just not willing to do it. You step back, moving away from the heart. |
The night is cold, dark and starless. The only light other than the candle Mama clutches in her hand comes from the moon, whose once bright, white, inviting and warm light is now deep red, like it's been splattered with blood. You're curled up with your two sisters, Ivana and Lilia, with Mama sitting over you, her candle in one hand and a wooden crucifix in the other. Papa is nailing boards to keep the door shut, hastily trying to give you some extra protection.
It's the Night of the Blood Moon. You've never been through one, the last happening less than a year before your birth, but now, after another twelve years, it had arrived. Your eldest brother, Dornan, told stories about it, stories that chilled you to the bone, that kept you from sleep, that gave birth to the horrors of your nightmares. If even a fraction of what Dornan said is true, the screams should begin soon.
"Mama?" Lilia asks.
"Hush, darling," Mama replies, as Papa finishes boarding up the door and grabs his shotgun from it's place on the wall. He takes his spot next to you, his gun pointed at the door, and you wait.
The screams start soon. Howls of pain and terror from other houses of the town. Ivana is old enough to know to stay quiet, but Lilia soon starts to cry. Mama desperately tries to hush her six year old daughter, but to no avail.
"Sssh! Sssh, darling! It's alright, you just must stay quiet!" Papa says.
Suddenly, a tall, dark shadow passes by the window. Papa immediately grabs his shotgun, frantically raising it to his shoulder. The shadow disappears, and Papa breaths a sigh of relief.
"Scared of something?" a deep, guttural voice says from behind you.
Papa turns, firing his shotgun as the monster speeds forward. It grabs Papa's throat with unnatural speed, smiling as it holds him in the air, strangling him.
The monster looks hideous. It's dreadfully pale, it's face twisted with hate, and looks to be hairless. It's eyes are completely black, like the endless darkness of its soul, and it's mouth is filled with mangled teeth with two large fangs, curved and bloodstained, with even more blood pouring down its face. The creature snarls, before smiling as it turns to look at you and your siblings.
"Ah... so young... so fresh..." the vampire says, licking it's lipless mouth with a forked tongue. "Peasant, your daughters are mine. Don't struggle."
The vampire tosses Papa to the ground, turning towards your siblings.
"No! No! You will not take my daughters!" Father says, grabbing for his gun.
The monster strikes, smashing it's boot into Papa's head.
"How dare you?!" the monster screams. "I gave you your land, I gave you your house, I give you your life!"
The monster begins walking toward Papa, who desperately crawls back to the wall.
"I keep the beasts away from the village! I let you roam the night all but one night every twelve years! I don't ask for your wife, to allow you to sire more. I don't ask for your son, to leave you a legacy. I only ask for your daughters! How dare you attempt to deny me that?"
As the vampire walks towards Papa, his fangs bared, you see a chance to get Papa's shotgun. Still, you don't want to anger the vampire further. Perhaps the best option is to hope for the beast's mercy.
> You grab for the gun
You scuttle forward for the gun, grabbing it. You aim it at the vampire, grabbing the trigger and pulling it tightly.
The gun explodes, sending you falling back with the recoil and smacking into the wall with a painful thud. The vampire roars as buckshot slams into his back. He grabs your father by the head, twisting with inhuman speed as your hear a painful snap. Then, he turns, staring at you. He snarls, walking forward quickly. You reach for the gun again, but he steps on your hand as you yelp in pain.
"You dare shoot me? I have lived millennia, you think you'll be the one to end my life?" the hunter snarls, before laughing, a horrible, terrifying noise. "You have balls, little one."
You stare at the monster in front of you, trying to stare him, but you see nothing but hate and unquenching thirst behind his eyes.
"Yes... I see strength in you. Potential. I have an offer for you, as the newfound man of the house. Join me. Let me take you on as my... apprentice. As my servant. As my slave. As whatever I need you to be. In exchange for your servitude, I offer you not only your life, but the life of your mother and sisters."
You stare at the monster, whose eyes narrow as he waits for you answer.
> You agree
"OK," you say, gulping.
The vampire smiles, perhaps in an attempt to calm you, but the way his smile curves upwards seems unnatural. It's like the smile of a wolf who has found a young, bleating lamb all by itself.
"Perfect," the vampire says, dropping you to the ground.
The monster walks out of the hut, barking out a single order.
"Follow," he commands.
You walk outside to the glow of the red moon, seeing a dozen bodies, pale from blood draining, lying on the street. A single carriage lies there, with a hunch-backed man sitting there, wearing a low-down bowler hat, a balaclava and a large coat that cover his appearance.
"Haygarth! We're finished here. I've fed," the vampire growls.
The hunch-back nods eagerly, grabbing the reigns of the horses.
"Yes, sir, ready to go, sir!" Haygarth says eagerly. "And the boy?"
"He is mine," the vampire says, as he steps into the carriage.
"Yes sir, yes sir! Up front, boy! Quickly!" Haygarth says.
You quickly walk up to the carriage, climbing into the shotgun seat of the carriage. Haygarth seems badly deformed, clearly attempting to cover his appearance with his large coat, low hat and balaclava, but he still looks monstrous. Haygarth quickly stirs the horses into a trot, as you leave the town that's always been your home.
"You're to serve Count Grey?" the hunchback asks.
"Yes," you say, barely coming to terms with the fact.
"Hmm... we'll see how long you last," Haygarth says. "Yes, we'll see..."
> Three Years Later...
You sit on the ground, scrubbing the cold stone floor of the Grey Castle, named as much for its cold, lifeless demeanor as much as its owner. Haygarth stands over you, watching as he makes sure you do a proper job cleaning the blood stains that cover the ground, a remainder of the last girl foolish enough to be out at night.
So far, your job has been simple. You have little contact with Count Grey, as you work in the day and sleep at night, whilst he sleeps in the day, coming out at night to hunt, feed, plan and much more. Mostly, Haygarth forces you to work at any job he sees fit. He seems to think you're little different from a pack horse, working you as hard as them. If anything, he's feeding the pack horses better. You see your role in the castle as a servant on your more optimistic days, and as a slave on the worse ones.
"Good, good, put your back into it! Yes, that's it!" Haygarth says, as he hurries around the room, collecting pieces of clothes left over from the poor girl being brutally murdered.
"Yes, Haygarth," you reply, putting your pressure on the brush as you splash some more water to get rid of a particularly disgusting stain of a mixture of blood and urine.
Haygarth is a hard ruler, forcing you to work day and night. He's not sadistic or cruel, he just doesn't seem to understand that you're not an animal who needs a break. Hell, perhaps his only redeemable feature is the fact that he works himself even harder. As he rushes past, trying to do various chores, you can hear him angrily mutter to himself to go faster.
You finish off the stain, quickly crawling over to the next. You sigh as you realize just how much you need to clean. Your knees hurt from crawling around all day, your hands are covered in blisters, and you've done nothing but work all day. You had two ive minute breaks to cram food into your mouth, and one more to shit, and that was it. Who the fuck has only two people to keep an entire castle from falling into disrepair?
"Hurry up, boy! Use some of those strong muscles! I want to be able to see my reflection in it!"
Will he ever leave you be? The bastard can't just let you fucking work, he has to constantly remind you that you're not doing good enough?
> You insult Haygarth
"Really? You want to see your reflection in the floor? Maybe I should leave it dirty so you wouldn't have to look at your malformed, pathetic excuse for a face," you say, as a year of anger is released in a single jab.
Haygarth stops suddenly, looking at you. He frowns, looking at the ground behind you, where ironically you've polished the stones enough for him to vaguely look at himself.
"You... you know, you sound just like my mother, or Count Grey. Mean. Cruel. Perhaps it's good you've found yourself serving a man such as the Count. He could be your soul mate, if he had a soul."
Haygarth hobbles out of the room, leaving you alone. You continue keeping working, but fuck, the floor is pretty clean. You sit down, leaning against the wall as you sigh as your aching muscles get relief. You take a deep breath, as you watch the the sun fall in the distance. After about half an hour, the moon has finally appeared, and Haygarth appears.
"Come. We need to wake Count Grey," he says, not looking at you.
> You follow Haygarth
You follow Haygarth along the hallways with haste. You hurry down the stairs, quickly heading to the lowest floor, at the center of the castle, into a dark room, empty except for a single, candle-adored coffin leaning against the stone wall, and a large, black sword hanging above the coffin.
The coffin in intricate, a large, black wooden coffin with an intricate, thorny pattern, and a single silver, demonic face with a roaring mouth with a pair of fangs on the front.
The sword, on the other hand, is somehow even darker, its surface seeming to suck the very light from the room. Even staring at the thin edge makes you feel like you've been stabbed. You can practically taste the hatred and malice that emanates from it.
"Do you feel it?" Haygarth says. "That is the master of the home."
You feel the hairs stand up on your skin. The air tastes stale and rotten, and there's a general feeling of dread emanating from it. In a place like this, you feel even if you called on the good Lord to save you, he would be unable to find your soul in such an abyss of all warm or love, let alone rescue you from it.
"What now?" you ask.
Haygarth grabs your hand, pulling it forward until your hand touches the metal.
"It... stings," you say, as it feels like your hand is both being put against a hot stove and a freezing block of ice.
"You'll get used to it," Haygarth says, drawing an iron blade from his side.
Haygarth presses the blade against your arm, smiling as he slices open your arm, a long, deep cut appearing with a stream of blood.
"Ah!" you yelp as your arm is covered red. "Stop!"
"It's necessary," Haygarth replies. "We need to draw blood."
"Did you need to cut so deep?" you complain.
"I wanted to," Haygarth replies, shoving your arm in the silver mouth of the demon, cut first. Blood begins to pour down the creature's mouth, as the coffin's door clicks open. Haygarth grabs you by the collar, pulling you back. Count Grey steps forward. He looks the same as he has every night since the night he took you, except now his lips look parched and cracked, his eyes immediately darting down to your arm.
"Thirst," he moans, staring at your wound.
Haygarth hits you in the back with a snarl.
"Come on, boy, feed your master!"
You hold your arm forward, as Count Grey grabs it, his mouth darting down to your bleeding wound with an insane speed. You close your eyes and wait for the pain of his bite, but instead feel his cold lips on your wound, instantly beginning to suck the blood out of your arm. You take a deep breath as you go pale, Haygarth putting your arm around his shoulder to keep you from fainting. After about a minute, Count Grey stops, raising his head as he smiles.
"Good. I was thirsty. The bitch from the other night was dry, and half her blood ended up on the floors. Good thing I managed to stop myself from draining you completely," Count Grey says.
He looks up at the sword that hangs above the coffin, staring at it for a second.
"Do you see that sword? While I like to keep up to date with my weapon technology, such as with rifles. grenades and the new and innovative Maxim Gun, in cases of the super-natural, the old stuff is the best. I've had that sword since I was a child. Forged it myself under command of my master. So many ancient, arcane inscriptions, horrid rituals and infinitely worse had to be done to make it the thing it is today. It's name is the Psychí Líptis. It is a killing machine. You will become the same."
Count Grey s walking past you, and up the stairs.
You stand there, waiting, looking at Haygarth for what to do.
"Follow!" Count Grey's voice booms.
You quickly hurry up the stairs after him.
> You an Hour Later...
You sit in the shotgun seat of the coach, as Haygarth continues spurring the horses forward. You're entering the village of Nitchidorf, with Count Grey resting in the back. The carriage's wheels roll into the village, stopping as you enter the village limits.
"Go open the doors for the Count," Haygarth says.
You nod, quickly hopping off the carriage. You run to the back of the carriage, opening it as the tall, gaunt Vampire steps out, tilting his head to stare down at you.
"Follow," he commands.
He begins walking along the street, staring at each of the houses.
"We must find you a little... playmate," Count Grey says, looking at the houses.
He sniffs the air, staring at the houses. His eyes flicker to you, filling you with dread as he licks his lips, still stained with bits of your crimson ichor, looking hungry.
"Ye-yes, master," you say, nervously.
The vampire stares at you for a second, before looking away. He seems impatient.
"Yes... I can smell two prominent ones. Tell me, Samuel, what do you think? There's a young one who smells freshly bathed and lemongrass perfume, or one that smells of fresh dough and... terror sweat. It appears the latter one can see us. Which is it, Samuel?"
> The first girl
"Uh... the... the fi..." you stutter, tripping over your words as the vampire growls.
"Have I found myself with another fool, a boy with the mind of a mule?" the vampire says, his long, gleaning white fangs, the corners of his mouth still red with your blood. "I've had a year out of you. Perhaps it's best to finish you off now."
Count Grey slowly walks forward, snarling as his fangs poke out, looking like huge spears.
> You attack
You charge forward, but you're a child, and he's an immortal, ancient vampire. He grabs your neck, holding your head high to expose your neck. His mouth immediately shoots forward, biting into your neck as he begins to drain you of your life force. You gasp as your blood is drained, before he drops your dead body to the ground. |
"Uh... the... the fi..." you stutter, tripping over your words as the vampire growls.
"Have I found myself with another fool, a boy with the mind of a mule?" the vampire says, his long, gleaning white fangs, the corners of his mouth still red with your blood. "I've had a year out of you. Perhaps it's best to finish you off now."
Count Grey slowly walks forward, snarling as his fangs poke out, looking like huge spears.
> You stand your ground
You stand your ground, as the vampire grabs you by the throat, lifting you into the air. His grip is tight, strangling you as he snarls, looking you at you with his cold, dark eyes.
"I'm going to feel nothing as you die," he says.
Your brain begins to scream from lack of oxygen, as his eyes stare into yours. Your vision gets blurry, as your head begins to pulse with a desire to simply close your eyes and pass out. Suddenly, he releases you from his grip, as he drops you to the ground.
"Perhaps… perhaps you're ready to truly serve. Your life is mine, Samuel. If I decide to break your neck, you'll lay your head down on the table and have your neck broken, understood?"
"Ye... yes, sir. Whatever you desire," you manage to spit out.
"Good. The rich one, was it?" the vampire says, smiling. "Follow me."
You quickly begin following, walking along the stone road. You stop at one of the larger brick houses, with a fancy looking brass knocker. Count Grey briefly knocked on the wooden door, waiting. There was a loud noise inside, as the owner scrambled to get ready. The door opened on a chain, with an elderly bespectacled man peering out.
"May I... oh, my..." the man said, stepping back.
Count Grey grabbed him by the throat, tearing the door open as the chain snapped. Count Grey raised the man into the air, tossing him aside.
"Follow," Count Grey shouted, as the old man struggled to stand, grabbing a letter opener.
"Stay back!" he said. "You stay away from..."
Count Grey let out a snarl, as he bared his teeth, his eyes filling his hunger. The old man meekly dropped the letter opener, stepping back. Count Grey walked forward into the house, sniffing the air. With a quick kick, he smashed the door open. You stood behind him, watching as a young girl barely into her teens lies, wearing a night gown. From the wet path on both the gown and the sheets she's curdled up in, it appears she's peed herself.
"Ah... so fresh... so young... so delicious," Count Grey says.
The girl screams for her grandfather, but Count Grey simply grabs her by the hair, in a quick jerk ripping her from the bed. Count Grey walked along the hallway, dragging her towards the coach. You follow, passing the disgraced looking grandfather.
"Grandpapa! Grandpapa!" the girl screamed, as her father just looked down, ashamed.
Count Grey dragged her into the coach, throwing her into the back, before locking it. He motioned for you to follow.
"It's a beautiful night. The moon's full in the sky. I need to... negotiate with a few of the beasts of the night. I shan't be long. When to the West the honorless dogs create endless machines of war and to the East our enemies have endless' souls to give, we could always use more allies, yes?"
You nod slowly, as the Vampire slides his coat off his gaunt frame, holding it out. You stare at it, before realizing he wants you to take it and grabbing it.
"Take the girl back to the castle. Detain her. Then, await my return."
"Yes, sir," you respond, as your master turns away, strolling off into the night.
> You head back to the castle
You walk towards the shotgun seat, climbing up to sit next to Haygarth.
"The girl is alive and in my coach, yet the master is not. What happened?" he asks.
"Count Grey is hunting. You need to take me and the girl home."
"What's to become of the girl? Is she a blood bag, or a new apprentice?" Haygarth asks, raising an eye. "Neither would be particularly surprising."
"I don't know," you admit.
"So be it," Haygarth replies.
You put your head against the back of the coach, and close your eyes as you head towards the castle.
> You an Hour Later...
The coach enters the castle gate, as you climb off the coach. Haygarth lowers the portcullis, as you go to the back to open the coach. The girl sits there, staring at you in terror.
"Get out," you command.
The girl nods, crawling ahead as she gets out of the coach. You grab her by the wrist, leading her along to the coach. She doesn't talk, seemingly in shock. She doesn't say a word, instead staring at you in terror. You wonder if you should try to converse, to calm her, or keep unemotional and professional about this issue.
> You talk to the rich girl
"So, do you have a name?" you say.
"Yelena," she says, struggling to even talk.
"My name's Samuel."
You walk on for another few seconds of silence, as she looks at you, her face pale.
"Am I going to die?" she asks.
"You..." you begin to say, before she stares at you, trying to see if you're lying. "I don't know. I'm sorry."
She nods.
You show her down the stairs, before leading her into a prison cell. You lock the cell door, staring at her from behind the bars. She stares blankly ahead, leaning against the wall and sliding down to lean against it, her nightgown now covered in mud and dirt.
You leave her there, now secured, and end up heading to bed for a few hours sleep before Count Grey arrives back.
> You sleep...
You awake to the prick of fangs against your neck. You don't move, taking in a deep breath.
"You looked so... so appetizing. Let's go. We need to finish the last stage of your path towards becoming a true apprentice."
You nod, standing. You make your way down to the prison cell, where the girl still waits. She looks up, terrified.
"What... what is to be done with her?" you gulp.
"She is food. Learn that fact," your master says.
The vampire draws a long dagger from his side, handing it to you.
"If you're going to be my Ghoul, you need to prove you're capable of preparing my food. Kill her,"
You hold the knife, staring at it as the girl begins to cry. You notice from the wet patch growing on her nightgown, she's pissed herself once more.
"Kill her. She's weak, you're strong. Slice open her throat, so I can feed," Count Grey commanded.
The girl breaks into sobs as Count Grey opens the cell door, swinging it ajar and motioning for you to enter. You nod, walking forward with the knife held tightly in your hand.
> You kill her
You step forward, into the cell. You close your eyes, moving forward as you grab the girls' head. You hold the knife to her throat as she struggles desperately, her fingernails scratching at your face. You stab her through the throat, directly through the main vein. She collapses, shuddering as blood spurts out and begins to run down her neck, staining her hair crimson. You feel like bursting into tears, but you know to show weakness would be to end up like her… if you were lucky.
"Good," Count Grey says, tossing a rag forward. "Hold it against her neck to stem the bleeding, and then pick her up and follow me."
You grab the girl, holding the rag tightly against the wound to stem the bleeding. You lift her over your shoulder, standing up. You follow Count Grey along the hall. Soon, you find yourself in front of a large, wooden door. Haygarth has forbidden you from entering, which only mean that you had one less room to clean. Count Grey pulls a short, silver key from his pocket. He opens the door, revealing a massive storage room. The room is filled with cabinets and shelving units. They're all filled with crystal bottles, filled with a scarlet red ichor.
"This castle was built to withstand a siege. It's storerooms could keep a force here going for years with wheat, potatoes, salted meats and more, as well as small gardens. Unfortunately, I require a more… delicate solution to avoid starving."
You look at the endless bottles of blood, wondering how many lives were given to fill them.
"It's quite hard to successfully bottle blood. Let alone hard hard it is to get it from the victim without a needle and a few hours. You'll need to get quite good at that."
"You want me to kill people and bottle their blood?" you ask.
"Yes. Not just anyone. Virgins, particularly. Once they've lost that, their blood's impure, and will spoil quickly enough outside the body. After that, you'll need to keep it around for a few days, make sure it doesn't spoil."
"I thought you said virgin blood doesn't spoil."
"It doesn't, but in this day and age, it's so hard to tell. I always struggle to pick out my targets. I want them to be young enough to be a virgin, but still old enough to… well, perhaps from the morality my tribe taught me oh so many years ago, I don't want to kill babies, or children that young. I'm perfectly willing to, mind you, but I don't find it necessary when there are so many other potential blood bags. Even then, you can never be sure. You always have some human filth so enamored with mortal concepts like sex that they end up defiling children. You'd be surprised by how young I've found my victims to be, yet still spoiled. Oh, they say power corrupts, but it just lets people be who they are naturally. Perhaps some day, we'll see who you are at heart."
"Does… does it have to be children?" you ask. "What about someone like… the Catholic priests in the village?"
"Ha! I'd be able to find more virgins among the girls at the whore house then at the church!" Count Grey says, laughing. His laughter is… unnatrual. Even though you understand the context to the joke, you still somehow feel as if he's laughing maniacally since he's got you at his mercy, which you suppose he does.
You weakly smile, before the weight of the dead girl over your shoulders becomes too much and you lower her onto the cold stone floor, keeping the now red, sticky rag pressed against her wound.
"Ah, yes. We're wasting time," he says.
Count Grey grabs a crystal bottle, handing to you.
"Move the rag, and replace it with bottle. Fill it," he says.
You take the bottle and remove the rag, quickly pressing the bottle against the bleeding wound, as blood continues to flow into it. You take effort not to look at the girl's face, watching as the bottle is slowly filled.
"The heart is a tremendous organ, isn't it?" Count Grey says, licking his lips. "So… fresh. So… delicious."
The vampire snarls, taking a deep breath. For a second, his face contorts into a combination of that of a starving man willing to break any moral code to feed his hunger, that of a hate-filled demon knowing nothing other than the negative emotions that plague the depths of man's soul, as well as that of a beast, knowing only hunger. You step back, almost knocking over a rack of bottles, before Count Grey pauses.
"Don't worry, little one. It's just that staring at the blood makes me so, so thirsty. I'd imagine you'll be able to fill up a lot more bottles than I, seeing as you won't be tempted to down the bottle you're filling at any given moment."
Count Grey takes the bottle, pouring a small amount into an ornate wooden bowl, before capping the bottle with a crystal stopper.
"No, we test. You get this little box," he said, grabbing an oak box from the cabinet, and opening it to reveal various things.
Count Grey draws out a long tooth, seemingly from a vampire. It looks to be a curved, deadly sharp fang.
"This belonged to Elise the Skin-Taker. You need to drop the fang in the bowl, and leave it there for three days. If the tooth is no different, put the tooth back in the box and put the bottle with the others. If the tooth has turned black, dump out the blood and wash out the bottle. Then, use a blade to scrape of the rotten outside, and put the rest, the tooth that's not rotten, back in the box. Be careful. A tooth can only last two or three of these, and I only have so many. Getting more takes another trip to the wilder regions and find a maddened, bestial vampire without reason or logic, a bandit who has found himself with the gifts of the blood moon or some aspiring Vampire who wishes to be a count."
Count Grey puts the bottle on the stone table, next to the bowl.
"You've prepared your first bottle, little one. You'll prepare many more. You've proven yourself tonight. Now, your job changes. Follow me," he says.
Count Grey walks along the hallways, stopping at a small, wooden door that again has remained locked during your stay here. He opens it with the same key, before handing it to you.
"Here. This is your new room," he says, opening the door.
In stark contrast with your last room, a simple tiny bed in a barren room, this one is surprisingly less furnished. A desk and chair stands there, a mirror, a wardrobe and a large bed. A gun rack sits by the single window, with two rifles and a shotgun in it.
"Thank you, thank you master!" you say.
"Open the wardrobe," Count Grey commands.
You walk forward, opening the wardrobe. Inside is a pair of black leather boots, black trousers, a black shirt, a dark red leather long coat and belt and a dark red tri-corner hat.
"Put it on," Count Grey commands.
You quickly get undressed, as Count Grey stares, bored, at the wall. You get dressed into the outfit, turning to look back at your master.
"Yes... it fits well. Kneel, dog," the vampire says.
You drop to your knee, bowing your head low. You look up at Count Grey, who raises his arm to his mouth. He bites it, releasing a flow of blood that runs down his hands. He holds it out, staring at you expectantly.
"Drink," he commands.
You look at the burgundy liquid running down the vampire's arm, in stark contrast with the white, ghastly skin. You put your mouth to the wound, and begin to suck.
The liquid is like a poison. Your skin begins to tingle, as you feel drowsy. You try to pull your head away, but the vampire holds it in place.
"Drink!" he commands aggressively.
You keep drinking the cold liquid down, as your stomach begins to churn. You feel like you're about to collapse into a coma, as the blood seems to drain your life source. Finally, Count Grey lets you pull your head back.
"Rise, ghoul," he commands.
You stand, trying not to puke. You look at Count Grey, who raises an eyebrow.
"Are you going to vomit, child?" he asks.
You feel the puke rise up in your throat, but hold it down, shaking your head.
"Well done," he says. "Now, you're a ghoul. No longer will you work like a slave with Haygarth. You will hunt for me when I am busy. You will scout and pick out potential prey. You will guard the castle. You will be a true minion."
You nod, eagerly.
"I... am yours, master," you say.
> Three Years Later...
You sit in the shotgun seat of a carriage with Haygarth at the reins. It's been a long journey. You have to venture to meet with King Ferdinand I in order to arrange taxation laws and other things you haven't been educated well enough to understand. You're finally entering the territory under Count Grey's control, staring out at the village you're entering as the sun falls in the distance.
"Stop here," you say. "I want to grab a bite to eat."
"We must be home soon!" Haygarth says. "Count Grey's in the back, he might wake up soon. Sun's almost gone."
You're hungry, thirsty and you've been traveling for the past three days. There's no way in hell you're going back to the castle for Haygarth to cook up his famous soup, which you're certain he's literally shitting in.
> You attempt to convince Haygarth to stop
"Haygarth, be fair here. Do you really want to go back to the castle to have to cook for us? We could quickly get some grub, some drinks, and then head back to the castle. Right?"
"Don't like leaving carriage. There's always pointing, laughing, staring," Haygarth says, pulling his balaclava up to the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I'll pull in. You go eat. I'll wait here, eat something when I get home," he says.
The carriage pulls in alongside a tavern, as you look to Haygarth, who looks fairly pathetic as he attempts to cover his mishapen form.
> You enter the tavern
You walk inside the tavern by yourself, feeling the weight of your Leu-filled wallet in your side pocket. You walk along, and immediately garner the attention of everyone in the bar. Your garb makes it immediately clear to anyone but the most ignorant or simply stupid of the peasants that you're a servant of Count Grey. The tavern quickly clears out, heading to their various homes, leaving only a few idiots too old and stubborn or young and cocky to realize staying near you is death.
You toss a crumpled note on the counter, looking up at the bar tender expectantly. Soon, you find yourself drinking a pint, a plate of chicken, boiled potatoes and cabbage in front of you. You smile, eating it up eagerly, downing the pint in a few gulps. You belch loudly, smiling as you find yourself now filled with food, warm and content.
"Where's the bathroom?" you ask, feeling the need to piss rising as your full bladder demands you act.
"Bathroom's broken. Go outside," the bar-tender replies.
You raise an eyebrow, tapping on your hat.
"Do you know who I am? Who I work for?" you ask.
"I do. If he shows up here, I'm as happy to show him the broken toilet as I am you."
You sigh, standing and walking outside into the alley. You unzip your trousers and pull out your dick, pissing onto the side of the old building.
Suddenly, the cold blade of a knife is pressed against your throat.
"Don't move," a deep voice whispers. "Hands in the air."
"Do you expect me to let go of my dick and piss on myself?" you ask, more annoyed than scared.
"Finish up," the voice says.
You finish pissing, popping your genitalia back in your trousers, buttoning it up, and slowly turn to face your attack. Two teens, barely fifteen by the looks of it, both with short blond hair, one skinny, on large and muscular, stare at you. The skinny one holds a pistol, while the big one holds the knife pressed against your throat.
"What's this about, gents? Revenge?" you ask, knowing just how many family's want your blood for taking their daughter's.
"What? We don't know you," the big one says.
"The wallet. Now," the skinny one says.
You pause, frowning.
"Are you seriously fucking telling me you've decided to mug me?" you ask, surprised.
"Why the fuck wouldn't we?" the big one asks, pushing you against the wall as the skinny one draws his own knife with his left hand, strolling forward to press the barrel against your temple.
"Wallet. Now," he says.
"Fucking idiots. You don't recognize the outfit, eh? I'm a fucking Ghoul, Count Grey's personal assistant."
The big one looks at the skinny one nervously.
"Maybe we should let him go," the big one asks.
"He's bluffing," the skinny one says, licking his lips. "Ghouls... ghouls are rotten, aren't they?"
"The sun's down, boys. Count Grey's due to wake..."
"Shut it! Wallet, now!" the skinny one commands.
> You buy time
"Do you know how dangerous the count is? He'll drink you dry, his fangs'll prick..."
"Shut it!" the skinny one says.
"Let's just go," the big one says.
"First, the wallet!" the skinny one says.
"I think I can hear Count Grey. He's co..." you say, before you're interrupted by the skinny one pulling the trigger, covering the wall with your brain matter. |
You walk inside the tavern by yourself, feeling the weight of your Leu-filled wallet in your side pocket. You walk along, and immediately garner the attention of everyone in the bar. Your garb makes it immediately clear to anyone but the most ignorant or simply stupid of the peasants that you're a servant of Count Grey. The tavern quickly clears out, heading to their various homes, leaving only a few idiots too old and stubborn or young and cocky to realize staying near you is death.
You toss a crumpled note on the counter, looking up at the bar tender expectantly. Soon, you find yourself drinking a pint, a plate of chicken, boiled potatoes and cabbage in front of you. You smile, eating it up eagerly, downing the pint in a few gulps. You belch loudly, smiling as you find yourself now filled with food, warm and content.
"Where's the bathroom?" you ask, feeling the need to piss rising as your full bladder demands you act.
"Bathroom's broken. Go outside," the bar-tender replies.
You raise an eyebrow, tapping on your hat.
"Do you know who I am? Who I work for?" you ask.
"I do. If he shows up here, I'm as happy to show him the broken toilet as I am you."
You sigh, standing and walking outside into the alley. You unzip your trousers and pull out your dick, pissing onto the side of the old building.
Suddenly, the cold blade of a knife is pressed against your throat.
"Don't move," a deep voice whispers. "Hands in the air."
"Do you expect me to let go of my dick and piss on myself?" you ask, more annoyed than scared.
"Finish up," the voice says.
You finish pissing, popping your genitalia back in your trousers, buttoning it up, and slowly turn to face your attack. Two teens, barely fifteen by the looks of it, both with short blond hair, one skinny, on large and muscular, stare at you. The skinny one holds a pistol, while the big one holds the knife pressed against your throat.
"What's this about, gents? Revenge?" you ask, knowing just how many family's want your blood for taking their daughter's.
"What? We don't know you," the big one says.
"The wallet. Now," the skinny one says.
You pause, frowning.
"Are you seriously fucking telling me you've decided to mug me?" you ask, surprised.
"Why the fuck wouldn't we?" the big one asks, pushing you against the wall as the skinny one draws his own knife with his left hand, strolling forward to press the barrel against your temple.
"Wallet. Now," he says.
"Fucking idiots. You don't recognize the outfit, eh? I'm a fucking Ghoul, Count Grey's personal assistant."
The big one looks at the skinny one nervously.
"Maybe we should let him go," the big one asks.
"He's bluffing," the skinny one says, licking his lips. "Ghouls... ghouls are rotten, aren't they?"
"The sun's down, boys. Count Grey's due to wake..."
"Shut it! Wallet, now!" the skinny one commands.
> You attempt to negotiate
"Look, you take my wallet, Count Grey's going to feel disrespected. Best case scenario, he sends me out with a rifle to track you down and..."
"Shut it!" the skinny one says.
"Let's just go," the big one says.
"First, the wallet!" the skinny one says.
"Worst case, Count Grey comes after you personally. He'll..." you say, before you're interrupted by the skinny one pulling the trigger, covering the wall with your brain matter. |
You walk inside the tavern by yourself, feeling the weight of your Leu-filled wallet in your side pocket. You walk along, and immediately garner the attention of everyone in the bar. Your garb makes it immediately clear to anyone but the most ignorant or simply stupid of the peasants that you're a servant of Count Grey. The tavern quickly clears out, heading to their various homes, leaving only a few idiots too old and stubborn or young and cocky to realize staying near you is death.
You toss a crumpled note on the counter, looking up at the bar tender expectantly. Soon, you find yourself drinking a pint, a plate of chicken, boiled potatoes and cabbage in front of you. You smile, eating it up eagerly, downing the pint in a few gulps. You belch loudly, smiling as you find yourself now filled with food, warm and content.
"Where's the bathroom?" you ask, feeling the need to piss rising as your full bladder demands you act.
"Bathroom's broken. Go outside," the bar-tender replies.
You raise an eyebrow, tapping on your hat.
"Do you know who I am? Who I work for?" you ask.
"I do. If he shows up here, I'm as happy to show him the broken toilet as I am you."
You sigh, standing and walking outside into the alley. You unzip your trousers and pull out your dick, pissing onto the side of the old building.
Suddenly, the cold blade of a knife is pressed against your throat.
"Don't move," a deep voice whispers. "Hands in the air."
"Do you expect me to let go of my dick and piss on myself?" you ask, more annoyed than scared.
"Finish up," the voice says.
You finish pissing, popping your genitalia back in your trousers, buttoning it up, and slowly turn to face your attack. Two teens, barely fifteen by the looks of it, both with short blond hair, one skinny, on large and muscular, stare at you. The skinny one holds a pistol, while the big one holds the knife pressed against your throat.
"What's this about, gents? Revenge?" you ask, knowing just how many family's want your blood for taking their daughter's.
"What? We don't know you," the big one says.
"The wallet. Now," the skinny one says.
You pause, frowning.
"Are you seriously fucking telling me you've decided to mug me?" you ask, surprised.
"Why the fuck wouldn't we?" the big one asks, pushing you against the wall as the skinny one draws his own knife with his left hand, strolling forward to press the barrel against your temple.
"Wallet. Now," he says.
"Fucking idiots. You don't recognize the outfit, eh? I'm a fucking Ghoul, Count Grey's personal assistant."
The big one looks at the skinny one nervously.
"Maybe we should let him go," the big one asks.
"He's bluffing," the skinny one says, licking his lips. "Ghouls... ghouls are rotten, aren't they?"
"The sun's down, boys. Count Grey's due to wake..."
"Shut it! Wallet, now!" the skinny one commands.
> You give them the wallet
You hand over your wallet, giving them the finger as you do.
"Thanks," the skinny one smiles, grabbing it from your hand as he smacks you in the head with the gun, knocking you to the floor.
"What are you doing?" the big one asks. "We don't need to kill him! We got the wallet!"
You look up to see the barrel of the gun pointing directly at your head.
"You heard what he said. He's with the count. If we kill him now, the count won't come after us!" the skinny one knows. "He's seen our faces."
"He doesn't know our names," the big one says.
"I'm Lucas. That's Mikhail," the skinny one said.
"What the fuck!?" the big one, Mikhail replies.
"We have to kill him. Now even you'd agree to that," Lucas says.
"Always kill your prey. You don't want to let them come back and bite you in the throat," a voice says.
Count Grey steps from the shadows, his teeth curved in a grin, his fangs prominent. He grabs Lucas' gun arm, twisting it until Lucas drops the gun. Mikhail charges with a knife, but with a quick, well-planted punch to the chest sends him to the floor, badly winded. You stand up, grabbing the gun as well as drawing your own, pointing one at each of the thieves.
"What, are you some fucking cowboy with your guns? Shoot, come on!" Lucas says, even though his bottom lip is quivering.
"Tell me, Samuel. How did they manage to jump you?" Count Grey asks, tracing a finger down Lucas' nose.
"I was pissing," you admit.
"Hmmm... tell me, where is your family?" Count Grey asks, turning his attention to the teens.
"Dead," Lucas answers.
"Well then, you've shown balls, willingness to kill and the ability to ambush. Perhaps... Samuel, you were the one mugged. What happened? Were you behaving stupidly and ambushed by some lackluster fools, or are these two deserving of becoming ghouls?"
> You suggest the teens become ghouls
"They have potential," you admit.
"Young men, I'll give you a choice. I could kill you now, drain your blood and return to my castle for the night."
"What's the other option?" Mikhail asks.
"Join me. Let me take you on as my... apprentice. As my servant. As my slave. As whatever I need you to be. In exchange for your servitude, I offer your life."
"Jesus, do you have that memorized?" you mutter, under your breath.
"I'm in," Lucas says immediately, as Mikhail pauses, before nodding in agreement.
"Perfect," the vampire smiles. "The coach is full. You'll walk behind it. No breaks. No time to pack. Immediately. If you're too pathetic for that, you might as well die of exhaustion."
With that, Count Grey walks off, and you eagerly follow.
> Three Years Later...
You watch as the Twins hold the two girls in front of you, knives in their hands. Count Grey stands to your side, watching intently.
"Do it," Count Grey commands.
Mikhail takes a deep breath, stabbing the girl in the throat. He closes his eye as the girl twitches, blood spurting out as he slices through her throat.
"Help..." the girl gurgles, blood filling her throat, before he head drops to the side.
Lucas looks at his master, before down at the girl. He presses the knife to the girl's wrist, slicing it open. As the girl screams, before he wraps his left arm around her throat and beginning to strangle her to prevent her from screaming.
"What are you doing?" Count Grey asks, more curious than angry.
"If she's left alive, the heart keeps pumping. More blood will spurt out for you to consume," Lucas says, as the girl sobs desperately.
"Interesting," Count Grey says. "Grab your blood bags and follow me. Samuel, no need to see this. You've filled countless bottles."
"Yes, sir," you reply.
You walk away, walking to the bedroom, lying down in the bed. You rest your head against the pillow, and drift off to sleep.
You awaken about an hour later, with Count Grey staring at you from the doorway.
"Yes?" you ask nervously.
"There's going to be some changes in this castle, understood? Now that we have three ghouls. You and the others will extend our power. First, it's important you should know. I'm not the only vampire."
"I know," you reply, confused. "We've fought rival Vampires, hunted those that went feral with bloodlust, taken out vampiric bandits..."
"I mean," Count Grey says, annoyed by the interruption. "That I'm not the only vampire on our side. You're family with the three vassal vampires that run the various subsections of the region, yes?"
"Yes," you reply. "The Draven Family House, the Alexa Family House and the Mihrab Family House."
"Not exactly. These are not the names of families. They're the names of individuals. I have three vampires under by control, acting as my lieutenants. Their names are Draven, Mihrab and Alexa."
"Are they threats?"
"No. You just need to know of them. If needs be, you'll kill one someday. Maybe all three. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," you reply.
"Good. Train and drill with the Twins more. You'll need to become a better fighter. Now, sleep."
With that, Count Grey closes the door, leaving you in the dark room.
Just knowing Count Grey has constant access to you prevents you from sleeping.
> Three Years Later...
The coach drives down the road as the sun begins to fall from its high perch in the sky.You breath in the cold air, as Haygarth drives the horse forward. You take a cigarette from your pocket, lighting it with a match. You breath in the smoke, closing your eyes as you feel it fill your lungs, before exhaling.
"Pass it over," Mikhail says, reaching a gloved hand forward to grab at the cigarette from inside the coach.
"Haygarth? How far?" you ask.
"We're here," Haygarth mutters. "Yes, yes, we're here."
The coach pulls up to the side of an old brick tavern, the Raven's Quill.
"Is he late?" you ask. "What time is he supposed to be here?"
"Five-ish," Mikhail says, opening his pocket watch. "It's five now."
"He's late," you say.
"He said five-ish. That could be another hour, knowing Lucas," Mikhail says.
You nod, and turn to look at your companion.
Mikhail is an even uglier creature. The man is 6'4, hunched up in the back seat. His muscles bulge, easily filling the extra large jacket. His nose has clearly been broken a dozen times over, his face looking similar. He looks like a shaven ogre, and although quiet, he's been quite a sweet man despite his line of work.
"He's here," Haygarth says.
Mikhail goes through his jacket pocket, as Lucas opens the side door of the coach. He looks angelic, like a grown-up Cherub, with blond hair, rosy cheeks and a flashing smile. A woman is at his side, a little younger than you.
"Brother, thank you for the lift!" Lucas says. "This is Dasha. I really think she's a special one. Hop in, darling."
Dasha smiles nervously, getting into the car. She extends a hand to Mikhail, smiling.
"Hi, I'm Dasha. pleasure to meet…" Dasha says.
Mikhail grabs Dasha's head, quickly covering her mouth with his massive hand. He pours the bottle in his hand out onto a rag, soaking it, before pressing it tightly against her face. She lets out a muffled scream before slowly beginning to stop struggling. Soon, Dasha goes still. Mikhail props her up, and Lucas climbs into the carriage.
"She was a real bitch. Always saying she should stay with her friends, or tell them where she's going, or offering to pay for a hired coach home. If someone like that gets someone like me, they should just keep their fucking mouth shut," Lucas complains.
"Clearly she shouldn't have," you point out.
"Whatever," Lucas says, grabbing the cigarette and fumbling through his coat pocket for some matches.
"How long will that last?" you ask in reference to the chloroform.
"Six hours, give or take," Mikhail says.
"How long to the castle?" Lucas asks, lighting the cigarette.
"Three," Mikhail says.
"Four, yes, yes, definitely four," Haygarth says. "The roads are icy."
"Fantastic, let's get the fuck out of here," Lucas says.
> Four Hours Later...
The coach drives inside the huge gates of the huge castle, as the sky turns gold and twilight fills the world with a beautiful feeling of serenity. The coach pulls into the stables, where Haygarth immediately gets to work with the horses. Mikhail opens the coach door, putting Dasha over his shoulder and walking towards the keep. You follow him, as does Lucas, walking alongside him as Dasha stirs with a groan, but doesn't break her slumber.
You walk into the keep, and quickly down to the dungeons. The large dungeon is covered with an earth floor, and four occupied cells. Four women, all of similar age and appearance to Dasha, all whose names you've forgotten, are there. Their mouths are gagged, though they scream desperately as they see you enter. Mikhail mutters a curse under his breath as he tries not to make eye contact with the women, but Lucas smiles and cheerfully waves at women. Mikhail carries Dasha to an empty cell, opening it and laying her gently on the cot inside. He locks the cell behind him, and looks at you both.
"The sun is down. Should we wake him?" Mikhail asks.
"Leave him. It's late. We'll wake him in an hour," Lucas says.
You nod, turning and walking away from the twins. You head up the stone staircase towards the kitchen. Despite the fact that this building is around a thousand years old, it's surprisingly well furnished. Count Grey has kept the house furnished with modern technology, one of the bonuses of controlling a tiny pocket of land and resources. As long as King Carol I got his taxes, he left Count Grey do as he pleased.
You open a cabinet, taking out a somewhat stale sugar cookie and biting into it. You make yourself a sandwich from cold meat, nuts and dates, and quietly consume it, while watching as the world blackens. Just as you see the first red haze on the horizon of the rising blood moon, you quickly turn and head quickly down to the Count's chambers. You hurry down the stairs, quickly heading to the lowest floor, at the center of the castle. Mikhail is already waiting in the dark room, empty except for a single, candle-adored coffin leaning against the stone wall.
The coffin in intricate, a large, black wooden coffin with an intricate, thorny pattern, and a single silver, demonic face with a roaring mouth with a pair of fangs on the front. You can feel the dark feeling emanating from it. It makes you feel cold just looking at it, and you shudder at the thought of what lies inside. Nonetheless, it is your duty to awaken your master.
Lucas hurries into the room,, dropping his cigarette and crushing it under his heel. He looks at both of you.
"Oh good, we're all here. Let's do it, shall we?" Lucas says.
"Which one of us wakes him tonight?" you say.
Lucas smiles, holding up his bandaged wrist.
"I did yesterday."
Mikhail shows you the two-day old cut on his upper arm You draw your dagger, pressing it against your forearm and gently slicing it open. You take in a deep breath as you feel the sharp pain. Blood pours down your arm, and your press the open cut into the roaring mouth of the silver ideal, smearing it with blood. You count to three, before leaning in.
"Glorious Master, the night has come and the world is yours," you whisper.
You step back as the coffin door is pushed open. Inside stands the Count. Dried blood cakes the corners of his mouth, as he lets out a growl, flashing his long, curved fangs, that look sharper than a needle. His black, soulless eyes peer into yours, as you take a deep breath. You outstretch your arm, and he walks forward, grabbing you by the wrist. He brings your arm to his mouth, and begins to suck. He sucks the blood that pumps from your cut as you wince, before releasing you. Mikhail hands you a roll of bandage, which you quickly begin wrapping them around your wound. Count Grey walks away from you, strolling towards the lounge. He walks up the stone stairs, before heading to the glass window. He stares out at the darkness, and the rising red moon.
"Good... good..." he says. "Prepare altar. The Viceroys will be here soon."
You nod eagerly, and quickly head down to the dungeons, followed by the others. The gagged woman are in the cells, curled up and terrified. Dasha is still unconscious, which gives you pause.
"The new girl, Dasha, look at her," you say.
"What of her?" Lucas asks.
"She's still not awake. Maybe you used too much chloroform, Mikhail," you say.
"No, I used the normal amount. Maybe she had a medical condition," Mikhail says.
"Who the fuck cares?" Lucas asks.
"What if she's dead? We'll be one victim short? Do you want to be the sacrifice?" you say.
Lucas pauses, opening the cell and walking towards her. He drops to his knee, putting a hand against her chest.
"She's breathing. Just unconscious. The idiot must've used too much chloroform. She's alive, she'll do, alright?"
Mikhail shrugs, slinging the girl over his shoulder. Lucas opens the two other cells, grabbing the women inside and pulling them along by their hair. The girls are shackled, so they're incapable of struggling much, but any resistance leads quickly to a punch to the side of the head.
"Samuel, get the last two!" Lucas shouts.
You grab the cell keys, walking over. One of the girl stares at you with rage, the other sits in the back corner in terror. You open the scared girl's cell first, grabbing her by her chain. You drag her out of the cell, before opening the second cell and grabbing the more resistant girl.
"Don't fight me on this. You're not going to win this, and I don't want to hurt you," you say.
You pull on the second girl's chain, but she plants her feet down and stares at you.
> You hit the girl
You swing your fist, smashing into the side of the girl's head, as she crumples to her knees. She lets out a pained moan through her gag, and as blood trickles down the side of her face, her eyes fill with fear. You pull on her chain again and she follows. You quickly lead the two along the hallway, before up the stairs, into the "church". You hear Count Grey's dark, cold, emotionless voice from the main hall.
"Welcome, Viceroys. Did you decide to come together, or simply met on the road here?"
"Coincidence, my lord," another far deeper voice booms, one more filled with malice and hatred than Count Grey's.
"Good, good. Haygarth!" Count Grey shouts.
"Yes, yes master?" Haygarth's voice comes back from the stables.
"Come, fetch the Viceroy's coats!"
"Yes, yes sir!" Haygarth says, quickly hurrying to them.
You turn your attention back to the task at hand. In front of you in a large, open stone room. Groves cover the stone floor, making the shape of a large pentagram. Lucas' two prisoners are kneeling at two of the points of the pentagram chained to a loop in the stone to prevent them from moving, while Dasha lies at the third, her unconscious state meaning she doesn't need to be chained up.
"Come on," you say, raising your fist to threaten the second girl. You force her to kneel on the ground and chain her to the loop in the ground. You drag the first girl to the other, doing the same.
Mikhail and Lucas stand off to the side, watching them. Mikhail looks down, looking vaguely embarrassed at his part in this. Lucas, however, seems ecstatic. He walks forward, grinning as he draws his dagger.
"Oh boy, look at that!" he says, dropping to his knees in front of a girl. "Look at that. You see the pentagram? You see those deep, thick groves? I'm going to fill them with your blood. You like that? You ready?"
The girl frantically begins to struggle, as Lucas smiles. Lucas slices the girl's throat open, as blood pours out, flooding into the grove and running along. The girl gurgles as blood pours through her throat, and Lucas lets the head fall to the ground over the grove, letting the blood pour out into it.
"Mikhail, come on, we need this ready for the Viceroys and Count Grey!" he says.
"I am not a butcher," Mikhail says softly, as Lucas' eyes narrow.
"Don't fucking take the high road. You drugged every whore here, knowing it was all so we'd slit there throats here. You're as much a murderer as I am."
Mikhail looks to the ground, opening his mouth as if to say something, but closing it just as quickly.
"That's what I thought. Samuel, grab your knife, let's get to work."
> You join in
You sigh, drawing your knife as Lucas smiles.
"If you're going to lead to someone's death, at least have the fucking balls to be the one who uses the knife," he says.
Lucas walks over to the next girl, as you walk up to one. She tries to struggle, but you grab her by the hair, holding her vulnerable throat out and slicing it open with a long cut, before slowly lowering her head to above the grove. Lucas grabs the next girl by the hair, holding her forward and quickly slashing her throat as the blood pours out. You walk to the next one, quickly driving the sword through her neck, slicing open her fleshy throat and letting her bleed into the groove.
"Watch them die, Mikhail. You choose for this to happen. Whether you want to actually hold the knife or watch, you're a fucking monster. We all are. At least, we're willing to fulfill our role."
"Lucas! Mikhail! Samuel! Come down here!" Count Grey asks. "Quickly!"
"We need to go," Mikhail says, quickly turning and heading towards the door.
You quickly hurry towards the main hall, walking down the spiraling stairs. Count Grey stands there, alongside his three Viceroys, and Haygarth rushing to put away coats.
Viceroy Draven is a tall,well-muscled man. He has long, curly black hair, and instead of the black attire of the other three, he instead dons steel plated armor which covers him from the neck down. A sword hangs by his side. From what you know, he's almost five hundred years old, once being and most likely still remaining a formidable warrior. He looks at you, his eyes narrowing as he stares at you. He lets out a low, guttural growling at the sight of you. Even after years of work around Count Grey, the man manages to make you feel like little more than a blood bag.
The second, Viceroy Mihrab, is even older, almost as old as Count Grey. His skin seems unusually tight, a light brown in complex, his face sunken, his eyes lacking any emotion whatsoever. He wears dark attire, his eyes glancing in your direction away for a second, before peering away with disinterest. He doesn't appear to be armed, but with the long, sharp fingernails on his hand that at that length qualify as swords as well as long fangs, he doesn't need them.
The final Viceroy, Alexa, is the only woman of te group. She wears a black hooded cloak, her pale, scarred face underneath, with unnaturally long fangs even for one of her kind to halfway down towards her chin. She leans against the wall, looking at you without a single noise. She stares at you like a starved wolf. Something tells you that of all those present, she's the biggest threat.
"Yes, master?" Mikhail says, standing up straight.
"Werewolves spotted on Hangman's Trail," he says. "They're amassing. Perhaps for a strike."
You pause, and can hear the distant howls of what lies between monsters and men.
"We'll push them back, sir," Mikhail nods.
Mikhail turns away, and quickly begins heading to the armory. You follow, and you all quickly descend the stairs to the armory. You walk inside, grabbing a padded leather duster and slinging it over. You grab a rifle, as well as several magazines of silver bullets, popping them in a satchel that you put over your head.
Now suitably armed, you grab a lantern, walking out towards the main hall. The Vampires have left, no doubt to partake in some drinks, discuss future plans, before beginning the ritual and, imbued with a power that grows as the blood moan rises, slaughtering dozens of helpless villagers.
You walk out the hall doors, pushing the door open and entering the dark night. You walk along the earth, passing the gate, which for some reason has been left open, one of the Viceroy's carriages sitting under the raised portcullis.
"Should we move it so we can drop the portcullis?" you ask.
"And piss off Count Grey and whoever owns this carriage? No fucking chance," Lucas says.
As you leave and wander off into the trees. Soon, the only sound is the crunching of leaves under foot and your breathing.
"Control your breathing. Deep breaths. Watch your foot placement as well as the path in front of you. Avoid twigs and try leaves. We're trying to hunt, best be quiet about it," Lucas says. "The man's most definitely untrustworthy and cruel, but he knows how to hunt.
You take his advise, holding the lantern out to illuminate the path ahead. You see a shape move to your right, and stop, immediately twisting to aim.
"Contract, left side!" you whisper.
"Just a deer, stay focused!" Lucas whispers. "This is a fucking hunting trail, of course there's deer around!"
You keep moving, you gun raised in your one hand, propped in the crook of your shoulder to allow you to aim.
The beam of your light comes across a deer lying on the ground. It's belly has been ripped to shreds, entrails covering the earth around it and soaking it with bodily fluids. It's head, connected to its body by a few strands of sinew and muscle, lies in the grass at the edge of the path, two lifeless eyes staring towards the stars.
"It's fresh, look out!" Lucas growls, as you immediately turn. You see a form rush through the undergrowth, aiming at it, but it's gone before your finger can even tighten on the trigger.
A growling comes from the trees to your left, and you swing your rifle over to aim at the beast. They're faster than usual. They're not supposed to be this fast. It must be that fucking moon!
A howl comes from your right, and you drop your lantern to aim, catching a glance of blood-matted fur and a flash of white teeth. The beasts don't seem to bee going for the attack, rather endlessly circling, toying with you. None of you have even had the chance to fire a shot.
Suddenly you see one of them, basked in the red glow of the moon, dead in the center of the path. This one stands directly there, hunched over and staring at you, clearly not scared in the slightest. It's abnormally large, not even wearing the tattered remains of clothes, covered in patches of fur. it's head is malformed, it's jaws filled with teeth that barely fit in its mouth, crushed into somewhat of a snout. It's hungry eyes stare at you, as it lets out a low growl.
> You fire
You pull the trigger, as the silver bullet flies through the air. Through the grace of God, or whoever else, the bullet slams into the werewolf's head, smashing into his skull and sending bits of bone, chunks of grey matter and clumps of flesh and fur in various directions. The wolf's massive body stumbles forward, before collapsing to the ground with a thud. You hear a howl, which is immediately answered by dozens of other howls. There must be all the beasts here, stalking you through the forest, all of their power amplified by the power of the blood moon tenfold. Lucas and Mikhail also seem to notice it, immediately letting out a shout.
"Run!" Mikhail shouts.
You fling your lantern off to the side, setting a pile of dry leaves alight. A fire lights, as the fire quickly engulfs the leaves and grass, dry from lack of rainfall. The fire flares up, distracting the wolves for a split second. You sprint forward, desperately running through the undergrowth and bushes. You jump over a tree root, grabbing Mikhail and pulling him forward as he stumbles. You hear the roars of the werewolves close behind you.
You see one sprinting to your side on all fours, it's claws and hind-legs sending it hurtling forward, galloping to your side. It stares at you, howling skyward, as you keep running. You raise the gun, firing off to the side as the werewolf leaps out of the way of the bullet.
You hear wet, heavy panting, less than a foot behind you. The castle is close. barely a few hundred feet away. If you get to it, you might be able to get inside and bar the door, or drop the portcullis and keep the werewolves away. Still, you can see the golden hum of torches at the edge of your peripheral, showing the village closest to the house.
> You sprint to the castle
You keep sprinting forward, as Mikhail yells in pain off to your side a few seconds later. You hear him smack into the ground, and his terrified screams fill the air. You keep running, before you feel your back breaking as the werewolf's claw smashed into your hack, the knife-like claws cutting through your leather duster and slashing through your flesh. You roll to the ground with a scream, as the werewolf leaps onto you, it's weight crushing you. It's wet saliva dripping onto your face, it howls at the moon in an act of triumph, before it lunges forward, biting deep into your throat. |
You pull the trigger, as the silver bullet flies through the air. Through the grace of God, or whoever else, the bullet slams into the werewolf's head, smashing into his skull and sending bits of bone, chunks of grey matter and clumps of flesh and fur in various directions. The wolf's massive body stumbles forward, before collapsing to the ground with a thud. You hear a howl, which is immediately answered by dozens of other howls. There must be all the beasts here, stalking you through the forest, all of their power amplified by the power of the blood moon tenfold. Lucas and Mikhail also seem to notice it, immediately letting out a shout.
"Run!" Mikhail shouts.
You fling your lantern off to the side, setting a pile of dry leaves alight. A fire lights, as the fire quickly engulfs the leaves and grass, dry from lack of rainfall. The fire flares up, distracting the wolves for a split second. You sprint forward, desperately running through the undergrowth and bushes. You jump over a tree root, grabbing Mikhail and pulling him forward as he stumbles. You hear the roars of the werewolves close behind you.
You see one sprinting to your side on all fours, it's claws and hind-legs sending it hurtling forward, galloping to your side. It stares at you, howling skyward, as you keep running. You raise the gun, firing off to the side as the werewolf leaps out of the way of the bullet.
You hear wet, heavy panting, less than a foot behind you. The castle is close. barely a few hundred feet away. If you get to it, you might be able to get inside and bar the door, or drop the portcullis and keep the werewolves away. Still, you can see the golden hum of torches at the edge of your peripheral, showing the village closest to the house.
> You take the detour through the village
"Come on, you shout," running towards the village.
Your hands push tree branches out of the way as you leave the path, almost tripping as your legs catch in the undergrowth, but manage to keep going. You stumble into the village, grabbing the corner of the house to steady yourself, as the werewolves charge into the village. Thankfully, a few peasants have been caught with their doors barely barricaded. The werewolves smash through hastily nailed planks and into the huts inside to devour a feast of flesh, bone, brains and organs. You hear horrified screams as the beasts get distracted and begin to tear apart the poor souls who have been left inside.
"Ah!" Mikhail screams, as one of the more focused hunters knocks him to the ground with its claw.
"Shit, Mikhail! Samuel, cover me!" Lucas says, skidding to a halt to help his brother.
> You help the twins
You grab the bolt of your rifle, pulling it back as you twist around and firing. The gun flies back in your hand as the recoil almost knocks you back as the werewolf takes the shot to its center mass, being knocked off Mikhail and letting out a high-pitched whimper as it quickly retreats back to the safety of the shadowy trees. Lucas grabs Mikhail. pulling him up to his feet as he joins you in running. As the werewolves are distracted with their prey, you continue sprinting towards the tower.
Unfortunately, you see one of the werewolves stand in the center of the village. It's larger than the others, its fur white and its eyes red. It stares at you for a second, before it lets out a powerful, booming howl. The other werewolves emerge from the buildings, blood matting their fur and dripping from their claws. The Alpha Male drops to all fours and begins sprinting away towards you, followed by the others.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Lucas says, as you see the castle.
You sprint, the only noise being your heavy panting and the thudding of boots and clawed feet on the earth. You reach the castle, sprinting through the gates and past the carriages parked there. You see the portcullis' control wheel to your left, and the heavy wooden door to the keep to your right.
> You close the portcullis
You grab the wheel, freeing it of its latch and stepping back as the wheel frantically spins around. the portcullis smashing into the carriage in the middle of the gate. Although the carriage's roof is smashed, it prevents the portcullis from closing completely. The werewolves arrives, bursting under the gate and into the grounds. You frantically head to the door, before a massive bundle of flesh and fur smashes into you, shattering your bones. You painfully smash into the ground, looking up to see a massive, white werewolf sitting atop your broken body. It stares down at you, it's blood red eyes filled with an animalistic hunger, devoid of any sentience beyond that of the wolf it's body has morphed to imitate.
You close your eyes. Thankfully, this beast doesn't like to play with its food, and finishes you quickly. |
You grab the bolt of your rifle, pulling it back as you twist around and firing. The gun flies back in your hand as the recoil almost knocks you back as the werewolf takes the shot to its center mass, being knocked off Mikhail and letting out a high-pitched whimper as it quickly retreats back to the safety of the shadowy trees. Lucas grabs Mikhail. pulling him up to his feet as he joins you in running. As the werewolves are distracted with their prey, you continue sprinting towards the tower.
Unfortunately, you see one of the werewolves stand in the center of the village. It's larger than the others, its fur white and its eyes red. It stares at you for a second, before it lets out a powerful, booming howl. The other werewolves emerge from the buildings, blood matting their fur and dripping from their claws. The Alpha Male drops to all fours and begins sprinting away towards you, followed by the others.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Lucas says, as you see the castle.
You sprint, the only noise being your heavy panting and the thudding of boots and clawed feet on the earth. You reach the castle, sprinting through the gates and past the carriages parked there. You see the portcullis' control wheel to your left, and the heavy wooden door to the keep to your right.
> You get inside the castle
You burst towards the wooden door, unlatching it and opening it so Lucas and Mikhail can topple in. You quickly close the door behind them, seeing the eyes of one of the beasts as as it desperately stares at you with the rage of a hungry and stuck lion. You lock the door as it's weight smashes into the hard wood with enough force to splinter it.
"There's not supposed to be that many! There's not that fucking many!" Lucas says.
"There must be every cursed wretch under the moon's gaze," you mutter.
Mikhail spits blood onto his chest.
"Christ..." he groans, as Lucas chuckles.
"Oh dear brother, Count Grey would tear your throat out if he heard you mutter that fucker's name here," Lucas smiles. "Samuel, help me. We need to get Mikhail to the medical bay."
"Can't you handle him? I need to go warn Count Grey and the viceroys," you say.
"Yes, sure," Lucas says, grabbing Mikhail and putting his arm over his shoulder.
He walks towards medical bay, as you quickly hurry up the stairs to the sacrificial chambers. You walk upstairs quickly, heading through the lounge. You reach the door to the sacrificial chambers, before pausing. You can hear whispered voices inside, almost drowned out by the roars of the werewolves outside. How has Count Grey not noticed the attack? Why is he still in the sacrificial chambers? You tilt your head forward, and you think you can make out the words if you try hard enough.
> You eavesdrop
You press your head against the wooden door, as you hear voices on the other side.
"You're nothing more than rotten curs fixed with mange!" Count Grey snarls.
"Why aren't we killing yet?" Draven asks. "We could run out pitiful master through and be done with it!"
"There will be thousands of Blood moons, millions of hunting nights, but there will only ever be one Count Grey. I want to... savor his death," Mihrab says.
"I'll skin you alive!" Count Grey howls.
"What about his servants?" Alexa asks.
"The crippled hunchback is no threat, Draven can hunt him down. The others will have been wiped out by the wulven," Mihrab commands.
"What ab...? Understood," Alexa says, seemingly confused.
"And the wulven?" Draven asks. "They're beasts with neither honor nor reason, nothing but instinct driving them forward. They can't be trusted."
"They are the most trustworthy beings in existence," Mihrab says. "I can trust that they're too stupid to think to attack us, their bellies driving them forward to feast on the villagers instead of making a move for power. I can predict they think themselves too important, even as pawns, to know we plan to hunt them down when they're mortals the next moonless night. Hell, normal mortals are infinitely less manipulative. The mixture of fear, loyalty, honor, greed and ambition that drives them makes them hard to predict, let alone manipulate successfully."
"You're going to die. You're going to suffer. I'll tear out your throat and fuck your bleeding neck stump, just like I should've when you were a pathetic mortal! I'll..." Count Grey threatens.
Count Grey's voice stops abruptly as you hear the slicing of flesh followed by a desperate wet gurgling. The gurgling lasts about a minute, which the vampires stay silent for. Finally, it stops.
"Goodbye, dear master," Mihrab says.
"Good. We're finished here. I'm going to find that miserable humpback and take his head. Perhaps I might gift his body to the peasants under my control. The children should enjoy looking at his misshapen body, poking and prodding at it."
You back step as you hear Draven begin moving, but he heads to the second door of the sacrificial chambers. Mihrab's steps follow him.
"I'll follow. I need to make sure the albino knows his place."
"The sound of footsteps fades as the pair leave. You breath out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, you find a dagger poking into your throat.
"Look what we have here," Viceroy Alexa says, as she appears from the shadows. She doesn't exactly step out of the shadows, instead the shadows manifest, forming into material as the vampire appears in front of you.
You take a deep breath, staring at her. She pushes the dagger against your neck, drawing blood that gently trickles down your neck. Her forked tongue darts forward and licks the blood as it runs down your neck, before she opens her mouth wide, her fangs pricking out. She gently scrapes her teeth along your neck, her breath as cold as a corpse, causing the hairs to stand on your neck.
"Look at you," she says in a half-purr, half-growl. "You outsmarted the wolves, or maybe just got lucky. Unexpected, but not surprising. How did you manage to eavesdrop?"
"I... I..." you stammer, reaching slowly for your gun.
Unsurprisingly, Draven was too focused on killing to notice you, but Mihrab should've noticed you. You're nothing special. I could hear your footsteps up the stairs, you leaning slightly on the door, your heavy breathing. I don't know how you didn't get noticed, let alone the girl."
Your hand wraps around the gun, as you slowly raise it to point at the monster's head.
"Maybe Mihrab is too old, too proud, too over-confident to expect much from humans, not thinking to even check for you as you weren't a risk. Perhaps he needs to be taken off his so new throne. I'll admit, I like you. You have... balls. Listening in on three powerful vampires, pledging yourself to old Count Grey, even trying to grab your gun when my fangs are less than an inch away from your throat..."
You grab your gun, raising it as your hand goes from the trigger. With the flat of her hand, Alexa slams it into your chest, knocking you against the wall as she grabs the gun from her hands.
"You're weak. Slow. Stupid. One of the qualms of being human, I suppose," Alexa says, examining your rifle. "Uh, how I miss being able to eat some warm bread, drink myself stupid on cheap beer and feel the warmth of the sun on my face. Thankfully, I'm still able to enjoy some other... base pleasures. I'm so close to slicing your vein open and feasting on your delicious blood..."
"Fuck you. Why don't you just kill me?" you spit.
"Kill you? Why would I do that? You'll either fail and be killed, in which case why would I expend energy to kill you, or you'll succeed, and kill Draven and Mihrab, both of who will underestimate how dangerous you'll be, in which case they needed to die. If you do happen to kill them, please, come find me. I'm sure I'd like to talk to you at that point."
Alexa steps back, smiling at you. She tosses the gun to the ground, where it clatters across the stone floor. She swirls around, walking away from you. She bursts forward, quickly speeding off. You let out a sigh of relief, grabbing your gun and picking it up.
Fucking hell. You have three vampires and a pack of werewolves to deal with. Could things get...? Actually, you'll refrain from tempting fate.
> You search the Sacrificial Chambers
You walk into the sacrificial chambers. You walk over to Count Grey, who has a deep wound going through his chest and lies on the ground. You step over the blood-filled grooves of the floor, walking over to him. You drop to a knee, checking his pulse, before mentally hitting yourself for being so stupid. He's undead. You pull back his eyelids, revealing dull, lifeless black eyes. You quickly pat him down, finding only a curved ebony dagger and some Leu on him, which you take. You gently pat his cold head as a matter of respect, or perhaps more likely to comfort yourself. The terrifying menace who has controlled the region for over a thousand years is dead. He was your master, your mentor and your liege.
"Good fucking riddance. He was a cold, sociopathic cunt," you say aloud, a part of you still terrified to say it, somehow expecting him to wake up and tear out your throat.
You stand, looking around. There's the doorway to the lower floors, where you,,,
A girl charges out from your blind side, holding up a dagger.
> You shoot your gun
You quickly raise your gun, firing it. The gun bucks in your hands as the bullet tears through the air forward, blowing out the girl's heart. She collapses onto the ground, her head smacking into the cold stone and falling into the groove.
You stare at her face, recognizing Dasha, the sacrificial victim you kidnapped from earlier. Huh, she had survived. Must've gotten free of the chains. Did you even chain her up, or did you just leave her unconscious? Huh, doesn't matter. She's dead now.
> You keep searching the room
You keep looking through the room, finding several vials of blood sitting on a table off to the side. You open one of the table's drawers, before suddenly the door bursts open. Standing there, clad in armor with long, wild flowing black hair and a face contorted by rage and anger.
"Yes! I thought I heard a gunshot! I was hoping for the cripple, but a ghoul will do!" he snarls, approaching.
The vampire charges forward with remarkable speed. You raise your gun quickly, firing. The bullet thuds into Draven's chest, but it fails to even slightly slow him down. He swings the sword, slicing through your muscle and sinew and separating your head from your body. His lips immediately wrap around your gaping neck hole as he drains you of your blood, your head falling to the ground. |
You quickly raise your gun, firing it. The gun bucks in your hands as the bullet tears through the air forward, blowing out the girl's heart. She collapses onto the ground, her head smacking into the cold stone and falling into the groove.
You stare at her face, recognizing Dasha, the sacrificial victim you kidnapped from earlier. Huh, she had survived. Must've gotten free of the chains. Did you even chain her up, or did you just leave her unconscious? Huh, doesn't matter. She's dead now.
> You head to the lower floors
You walk towards the door to the lower floors, unclicking the latch. Before you can pull it open, something slams into it, sending you flying across the ground and onto your ass with a painful thud. Standing there, clad in armor with long, wild flowing black hair and a face contorted by rage and anger.
"Yes! I thought I heard a gunshot! I was hoping for the cripple, but a ghoul will do!" he snarls, approaching.
The vampire charges forward with remarkable speed. You raise your gun quickly, firing. The bullet thuds into Draven's chest, but it fails to even slightly slow him down. He swings the sword as he leaps upon you, slicing through your muscle and sinew and separating your head from your body. His lips immediately wrap around your gaping neck hole as he drains you of your blood, your head rolling to the ground. |
You walk into the sacrificial chambers. You walk over to Count Grey, who has a deep wound going through his chest and lies on the ground. You step over the blood-filled grooves of the floor, walking over to him. You drop to a knee, checking his pulse, before mentally hitting yourself for being so stupid. He's undead. You pull back his eyelids, revealing dull, lifeless black eyes. You quickly pat him down, finding only a curved ebony dagger and some Leu on him, which you take. You gently pat his cold head as a matter of respect, or perhaps more likely to comfort yourself. The terrifying menace who has controlled the region for over a thousand years is dead. He was your master, your mentor and your liege.
"Good fucking riddance. He was a cold, sociopathic cunt," you say aloud, a part of you still terrified to say it, somehow expecting him to wake up and tear out your throat.
You stand, looking around. There's the doorway to the lower floors, where you,,,
A girl charges out from your blind side, holding up a dagger.
> You strike her with the butt of your gun
You swing the butt of your gun, cracking into the side of her face and knocking her to the ground with a grunt. The knife goes clattering, and you dart forward, grabbing the knife and raising your rifle to point at her.
"Who the fuck are you?"
The girl stares at you with anger, blood running down her face from the newly opened cut on her forehead. You recognize her as Dasha, the sacrificial victim from earlier. Huh, apparently she survived. Interesting.
"Hands in the air!" you say, pointing the gun at her head.
She slowly raises her hands, spitting blood and a tooth on the ground. Apparently, you swung harder than you thought.
"Fuck you!" she says.
"You need to listen to me," you say.
The girl swings at your head, but you catch her fist. She spits in your face, which you wince at.
> You headbutt her
You swing your head forward, your forehead smashing into the bridge of her nose and knocking her head back as she yells in pain.
"Listen!" you say loudly, losing your patience. "Did you see those fucking vampires!?"
The girl stares at you, still defiant, but quiet.
"If we want to get out of this, we need to work together. I don't care how much you hate me for doing what I did to you, but we need to."
"You work for the vampires," she says.
"I work for that one," you say, nodding towards Count Grey. "The others killed him, and now they want to kill me... and you. We're on the same side here, understood?"
The girl pauses, before slowly nodding.
"If I let you up, you won't try anything?" you ask.
"Give me my knife," she replies.
"I can't trust you," you say.
"I can't trust you either," she says.
You sigh, before handing the knife back. She grabs it from your, staring at her reflection in the blade for a brief moment, looking as if contemplating attacks, before looking at you.
"What's the plan?" she asks.
"I don't know. We need to... Haygarth," you say. "We need to find him. He should be in the stables. He knows this place better than anyone. He'll have keys, know secret tunnels, know everything."
"Let's go, then," Dasha says.
> You head to the stables
You walk along the hallways towards the stable, your gun clenched tightly in your hands. You consider pushing Dasha ahead of you so anything that attacks has to cut through her first, but that's not the right thing to do. It's better to keep her behind you, in case a creature attacks from behind, and you can fight off whoever attacks from the front with your rifle. You walk past the rows of unlit torches that cover the walls, wishing they were lit. You aim your gun ahead, sweeping the barrel to check the corners for any hidden beasts that could be hidden away there.
"We need to hurry up, h.." Dasha says.
Suddenly, one of the windows several meters above you shatters as the upper half of a body smashes through it. It hits the wall with a wet thud, collapsing to the ground. Dasha screams as you desperately back pedal to avoid it.
"Fuck me!" you say. "The villagers must be having a bad night."
"Oh god," Dasha says.
You hear a terrified scream outside. It sounds female, and young. Very young.
"Help! Help! Mama!" a voice screams from outside.
"We need to help her!" Dasha says, a look of panic flooding through her.
"Do you want to fight the Wulven?" you ask. "I'm not."
You try to appear tough as Dasha stares you down, before looking away. You hear a high-pitched scream, before the crunching of bone and flesh.
"It's done. Let's go," you say.
"The village is down the road! Why the fuck would they bring the villagers here to kill them?" Dasha says.
"Break our morale, or act as bait, maybe. They're intelligent, for abominable beasts. Now, let's move on."
You continue walking forward, reaching a wooden door. You press up against it, waiting. "Here it it."
"This is the door to the stables," you whisper. "You ready?"
"Ready. I'll follow your lead."
> You head in
You take a deep breath, bashing open the door with your shoulder, raising your rifle. Draven stands there, a sword in his hands and a grin on his face as he stands over a heavily injured Haygarth, who has been stripped naked and is covered in bruising and cuts.
"Don't you know how, freak? I said do it!" Draven shouts.
He swings his blade and smacks Haygarth in the side of the head with the flat of his blade, knocking Haygarth to the floor.
"Dance!" Draven laughs, before his eyes flicker to you. "Look who it is! One of Grey's ghouls and... I've no fucking idea who you are, but you look like a bleeder!"
Haygarth lets out a terrified yell as you aim your rifle, as Draven lets out a roar, sprinting towards you with insane speed, even faster than you've seen Count Grey sprint.
> You shoot Draven
You fire your rifle, the bullet slamming into Draven, although even with all the stopping power that causes the gun to buck violently in your hands, but Draven doesn't even slow down. You grab the rifle to pull back and release the shell, before Draven's upon you. He thrusts his sword forward, running it through your chest. Your heart is destroyed as you yell in pain, before his head darts forward and his fangs sink into your neck. |
You take a deep breath, bashing open the door with your shoulder, raising your rifle. Draven stands there, a sword in his hands and a grin on his face as he stands over a heavily injured Haygarth, who has been stripped naked and is covered in bruising and cuts.
"Don't you know how, freak? I said do it!" Draven shouts.
He swings his blade and smacks Haygarth in the side of the head with the flat of his blade, knocking Haygarth to the floor.
"Dance!" Draven laughs, before his eyes flicker to you. "Look who it is! One of Grey's ghouls and... I've no fucking idea who you are, but you look like a bleeder!"
Haygarth lets out a terrified yell as you aim your rifle, as Draven lets out a roar, sprinting towards you with insane speed, even faster than you've seen Count Grey sprint.
> You roll out of the way
You dive out of the way, as Draven flies just past you, swinging his sword. His sword slices into the back of your neck, not enough to seriously wound but enough to hurt like a bitch. He slams into the door behind you, grunting as he spins around. He wipes the blood from his broken nose as he stares at the two of you, before letting out a horrible laugh.
"Got too excited there, didn't I? Ha!" he smiles, twirling the sword around in his hands.
You look around desperately, for something, ANYTHING in the room to help you out. Dasha is just as in the cross-hairs as you are, and seems terrified. Haygarth is hiding behind a counter, unfocused and not thinking. Most of the horses are dead, having had their heads cleaved clean off. Still, there's three or four in the farther stables. There's two large, oil-filled lamps illuminating the hallways that could be used. Fire has a history of being effective with monsters. Finally, there's the old full lead solution. If you just duck, weave and fill the air with as much lead, or in this case silver, as possible to take out the vampire bastard, although silver bullets are more of a werewolf-killer.
> You get to the horses
You sprint towards the horses, your rifle held tightly in your hands as you run towards them. Draven charges ahead with a howl, kicking your leg away as you collapse onto the ground, laughing.
"Look at you try to run! Where are you trying to run to, little one?" he asks, before his eyes flicker to Dasha who goes for the door.
Draven runs ahead with an animalistic howl, slamming her into the door. He presses the sword to her throat, before throwing into the air and catching it once more.
"Ohh... this is everything! Savor the hunt!" he says. "Go! Try escape again! Or are you in a fighting mood?"
> You try for the horses again
You sprint towards the horses once more, as Draven pauses, raising an eyebrow as he strolls after you. You reach the horses, as Draven walks towards you. You unclasp the gate as the horses stand there.
"What... what was your plan?" he asks, looking genuinely confused. "Were you hoping to have the horses stampede me? Were you planning on riding one to safety?"
Draven twirls his sword, running it through you. You grunt in pain, blood dripping out your mouth as you collapse to your knees.
"I've had my fun. Goodnight, ghoul," he says.
You collapse forward onto your stomach, running the sword even further into you. |
You sprint towards the horses, your rifle held tightly in your hands as you run towards them. Draven charges ahead with a howl, kicking your leg away as you collapse onto the ground, laughing.
"Look at you try to run! Where are you trying to run to, little one?" he asks, before his eyes flicker to Dasha who goes for the door.
Draven runs ahead with an animalistic howl, slamming her into the door. He presses the sword to her throat, before throwing into the air and catching it once more.
"Ohh... this is everything! Savor the hunt!" he says. "Go! Try escape again! Or are you in a fighting mood?"
> You try for the lamp
You run towards the lamp, as Draven smiles.
"Running for the door now, are we?" he asks, mistaking your attempt to grab the lamp as an attempt to flee.
Draven yells and charges forward. He swings his sword as you run for the lamp, and the next thing you know, you feel the cold bite of steel on your neck. Your head flies through the air, and your body collapses to the straw-covered floor. |
You sprint towards the horses, your rifle held tightly in your hands as you run towards them. Draven charges ahead with a howl, kicking your leg away as you collapse onto the ground, laughing.
"Look at you try to run! Where are you trying to run to, little one?" he asks, before his eyes flicker to Dasha who goes for the door.
Draven runs ahead with an animalistic howl, slamming her into the door. He presses the sword to her throat, before throwing into the air and catching it once more.
"Ohh... this is everything! Savor the hunt!" he says. "Go! Try escape again! Or are you in a fighting mood?"
> You fire!
You raise your gun and fire. Draven takes a shot to the shoulder, before side-stepping your next. He doesn't even attempt to charge, just grins. You keep firing, as he dodges the bullets with unnatural ease, even the lucky shots not even throwing him, and they only manage to graze or hit his central mass, which fails to even knock him back. You aim your rifle at Draven's head, as he gently taps his finger against it.
"Come on, boy!" he says, laughing. "Take the shot! I'm enjoying this! I won't even move this time!"
You peer down the sights, taking a deep breath, and you pull the trigger.
It's empty.
"Can't even c...?" Draven laughs, before grunting.
Draven steps forward, before collapsing onto his stomach. A knife is imbedded in the back of his heart, directly where his heart it. He groans, spluttering blood, before lying still. Dasha stands behind him, a fierce look on her face.
"They die easier than they did in my childhood nightmares," she says. "What now?"
> You talk to Haygarth
"Haygarth, what happened?"
"He came for my head! Yelled at me and made me dance and work for him, the little cunt!" Haygarth says.
"We need to get out of here. There…"
"Is… is Count Grey truly dead?"
"Yes," you reply.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Haygarth says. "And the rest of what the vampire knight said was true? Vampires and werewolves have taken the castle?"
"The area's fucked, werewolves had surrounded the castle, the there's still two other incredibly hostile vampires here."
"Where is Masters Lucas and Mikhail?"
"They're in the medical bay. We don't need to think about them. We need to think about escape. They're fine."
"Haygarth, is it? Dasha asks. "
"Yes," Haygarth says, frowning. "You're one of the sacrifices."
"I have a name. It's Dasha."
"So be it," Haygarth says.
"Are there any secret passages that could get us out of here?" Dasha asks.
"No, we wouldn't have anything like that. The main gate's the only way out, unless you're willing to dive off the wall and pray your legs are all that ends up broken. Count Grey has become too paranoid, always thinking a Vampire Hunter would find there way in."
"So what can we do?" you ask.
"The coach," Haygarth says. "We need to get out of here. We board it up heavily, and just make a run for it."
"It's suicide!" you say.
"Is it the only option?" Dasha asks.
"Yes," Haygarth says.
"There's werewolves out there! They'll easily wipe us out," you say.
"We need to leave soon, before the werewolves find a way inside or the other two vampires find us. Are you willing to come?" Haygarth asks.
> You agree
"Fine. I'm in."
"You must go find Mikhail and Lucas in the medical bay."
"Do you expect him to traverse this castle, no doubt being found out by the vampires, whilst we're forced to wait here?" Dasha asks. "We need to go."
> You leave without them
"We need to go, now. They're probably already dead," you say.
"Yes, sir," Haygarth says. "We must prepare the coach."
Over the next few minutes, you board up whatever scrap wood you can over the carriage windows. Soon, you have what amounts to a massive, armored wooden box.
"You can fire out the slits, to protect the horses. Hopefully, they'll be fast enough to escape the beasts' claws."
Dasha climbs into the coach as Haygarth positions the reigns through the coach itself, so that he can control the horses without exposing himself.
"Make as much noise as possible, to draw the werewolf's attention to us instead of the horses," Haygarth says, as he climbs in the coach. "Now, open the stable doors."
You take a deep breath, unlatching the stable doors. You give them a hefty push open, as Haygarth yells at the horses to go. You run forward, grabbing onto the back of the coach and pulling yourself inside as Haygarth grabs the door and slams it shut behind you. You raise your rifle, pressing it to a firing shot and looking outside. The wolves are outside, as they prowl about the walls and the courtyard like a bad rabble, fighting over the bodies, both dead and living, of peasants, as well as searching for a way in. The big, albino one notices you, and lets out a loud, powerful howl, and the wolves charge.
> You target the albino
You aim your rifle, firing at the albino. The bullets slam into the albino as it roars in pain, before the nearing werewolves slam into your coach. Their massive, muscled frames slam through the wooden coach, knocking you against the other coach. A claw comes through the wall, grabbing you and tossing you against the ground, shattering your bones. You let out a pained scream, before the wolves are upon you, eagerly tearing you apart. |
"We need to go, now. They're probably already dead," you say.
"Yes, sir," Haygarth says. "We must prepare the coach."
Over the next few minutes, you board up whatever scrap wood you can over the carriage windows. Soon, you have what amounts to a massive, armored wooden box.
"You can fire out the slits, to protect the horses. Hopefully, they'll be fast enough to escape the beasts' claws."
Dasha climbs into the coach as Haygarth positions the reigns through the coach itself, so that he can control the horses without exposing himself.
"Make as much noise as possible, to draw the werewolf's attention to us instead of the horses," Haygarth says, as he climbs in the coach. "Now, open the stable doors."
You take a deep breath, unlatching the stable doors. You give them a hefty push open, as Haygarth yells at the horses to go. You run forward, grabbing onto the back of the coach and pulling yourself inside as Haygarth grabs the door and slams it shut behind you. You raise your rifle, pressing it to a firing shot and looking outside. The wolves are outside, as they prowl about the walls and the courtyard like a bad rabble, fighting over the bodies, both dead and living, of peasants, as well as searching for a way in. The big, albino one notices you, and lets out a loud, powerful howl, and the wolves charge.
> You target the nearing werewolves
You target the nearing werewolves, firing bullet after bullet. The silver bullets slam into the beasts as they howl, many collapsing and falling away. You keep them away from the coach, but not the horses. As you just make it past the castle gates and smashing past the viceroy's coach, the werewolves tear the horses apart as they neigh and whiny in terror as they're devoured by the eager wolves. You coach quickly slows down, slamming into a tree and stopping suddenly.
"Shit!" Dasha yells.
Shit. You need to act.
> You get out and run towards the nearest village
"Run!" you yell, kicking open the carriage door and leaping outside into the forest.
You sprint forward, as the werewolves reach the carriage. You hear Haygarth, simply too slow to flee, scream in pain. You keep running, before you feel your back breaking as the werewolf's claw smashed into your hack, the knife-like claws cutting through your leather duster and slashing through your flesh. You roll to the ground with a scream, as the werewolf leaps onto you, it's weight crushing you. It's wet saliva dripping onto your face, it howls at the moon in an act of triumph, before it lunges forward, biting deep into your throat. |
You target the nearing werewolves, firing bullet after bullet. The silver bullets slam into the beasts as they howl, many collapsing and falling away. You keep them away from the coach, but not the horses. As you just make it past the castle gates and smashing past the viceroy's coach, the werewolves tear the horses apart as they neigh and whiny in terror as they're devoured by the eager wolves. You coach quickly slows down, slamming into a tree and stopping suddenly.
"Shit!" Dasha yells.
Shit. You need to act.
> You defend the coach
You aim your rifle, firing repeatedly. You fire at the werewolves from the slit, bullets slamming into the fur-covered beasts. A claw slams into the coach, breaking through the side, its claws slashing at the air as you back step to avoid it. A claw tears a massive panel of wood off the side of the coach and you shove the barrel through the firing slit, firing at the creature's black, beady eyes. A claw smashes through the coach, grabbing you as it tears you from the coach, gripping you tightly. You're held in the air staring into the black eyes of the Alpha Werewolf, as it growls. The gun flies from your hands as you desperately reach for it, before the claw tightens, crushing your limbs. The werewolf's huge, tooth-filled jaws fly forward, its teeth grabbing into your throat and tearing it out, before it flings your bleeding body into a tree, killing you instantly. |
"Fine. I'm in."
"You must go find Mikhail and Lucas in the medical bay."
"Do you expect him to traverse this castle, no doubt being found out by the vampires, whilst we're forced to wait here?" Dasha asks. "We need to go."
> You go find the Twins
"I'll find Lucas. You two stay here and prepare the coach, understood?" you say.
"Yes, sir," Haygarth says, as Dasha nods.
You turn, opening the doorway to the stables and entering the hallway. You take a breath, holding your rifle, and walking slowly along the hallways. You step slowly forward, looking along the dark, shadowy corridor. You feel a breath of cold air on your deck, quickly spinning to aim your rifle, only to find yourself staring at a shadow-filled corner. You turn, walking ahead again. You keep walking forward, as the figures in the paintings along the wall stare down at you, their eyes seemingly following you. You see a figure, writhed in a black cloak and shadows, leaning in an alcove. You quickly raise your gun and fire, but your bullet only slams into the stone alcove. You swear, grabbing the bolt and pulling it back. Suddenly, a gloved hand grabs you by the shoulder as a pair of sharp fangs prick into your neck, gently pressing into your neck. You pause, as their hand moves forward and grabs your rifle, which you allow them to take. The fangs pull away, breathing freezing cold air on the back of your neck.
"Still here, huh?" Alexa asks. "I thought you were trying to escape, or at least kill Mihrab. From where you're going, it doesn't seem likely."
"I'm getting my friends and getting out of here."
"Optimistic," she says. "If you're not going to kill Mihrab for me, I might as well kill you," she says.
You flinch and yelp as her lips close around your lips, before she laughs.
"Ha! I like you, ghoul. You're going to die tonight, that's for sure, but I won't be the one killing you. Mihrab's busy, you can speed up a bit."
She releases you, dropping the gun on the ground. You grab it quickly, stepping forward and spinning around to aim, only to be faced with shadows once more.
"Fuck," you say.
You turn, rushing along the halls. You open the door, pulling it open and walking inside the next room, the lounge. You quickly pass through, heading into the medical bay. He door is locked, so you quickly knock on it. You hear the door click unlocked as the door swings open, and someone grabs your arm, throwing you inside and onto the floor. You roll over as you stare at the barrel of a gun, looking up as Lucas aims his rifle at you.
"Shit, what happened you?" Lucas asks, grabbing you by the hand and pulling you to your feet.
"Count Grey is dead. The Viceroys betrayed him," you say.
"Yeah, I suspected as much," Lucas admits. "We need to get the hell out of here. We have to find Haygarth."
"He's in the stables with the girl. We're preparing the coach to escape.
"The girl?" Lucas asks, frowning in confusion.
"One of the girls we were going to sacrifice," you say.
"Why didn't you kill her?" Lucas asks.
"We need all the help we can get," you reply.
"Fine," Lucas says. "Help me shift Mikhail."
You look behind him, where Mikhail lies, heavily bandaged, in the medical bay's bed. He's unconscious, but moves his head slightly and groans upon hearing his name. You walk over, slinging your rifle over your back and grabbing Mikhail's left arm. You pull him up, as Lucas grabs his other arm, supporting him as he stands.
"What is going on?" Mikhail mumbles.
"We're getting out of here."
"Let me stand, I can walk," Mikhail says, gently pushing at you.
> You let him walk
You let go of your grips on Lucas, as he immediately collapses face first on the ground.
"Idiot," Lucas sighs, as you both lean over, grabbing him again.
You continue walking, heading into the lounge, as Lucas pauses.
"Put him down for a second," he says.
He walks over to the lounge's bar, and begins grabbing several bottles, several boxes of matches, an oil lamp and more. He works for about a minute, before ending with with four bottles of oil and alcohol on the table topped with rags
"What the fuck are those?" you ask.
"Bombs. Light the rag, toss it, burn the monster," Lucas says. "Take two."
You grab two, sliding into your leather duster's pockets, before grabbing a box of matches.
"Alright, let's continue."
You keep half-dragging, half-walking Mikhail towards the stables, before you finally arrive. You kick open the doors, as you all stumble inside, closing and locking the door behind you.
"You're here. Good," Haygarth says. "We're ready to go."
> You help Mikhail into the coach
You help Mikhail clamber up into the coach, before turning to Haygarth.
"You can fire out the slits, to protect the horses. Hopefully, they'll be fast enough to escape the beasts' claws."
Dasha climbs into the coach as Haygarth positions the reigns through the coach itself, so that he can control the horses without exposing himself.
"Make as much noise as possible, to draw the werewolf's attention to us instead of the horses," Haygarth says, as he climbs in the coach, followed by Lucas. "Now, open the stable doors."
You take a deep breath, unlatching the stable doors. You give them a hefty push open, as Haygarth yells at the horses to go. You run forward, grabbing onto the back of the coach and pulling yourself inside as Lucas grabs the door and slams it shut behind you. You raise your rifle, pressing it to a firing shot and looking outside. The wolves are outside, as they prowl about the walls and the courtyard like a bad rabble, fighting over the bodies, both dead and living, of peasants, as well as searching for a way in. The big, albino one notices you, and lets out a loud, powerful howl, and the wolves charge. |
"I'll find Lucas. You two stay here and prepare the coach, understood?" you say.
"Yes, sir," Haygarth says, as Dasha nods.
You turn, opening the doorway to the stables and entering the hallway. You take a breath, holding your rifle, and walking slowly along the hallways. You step slowly forward, looking along the dark, shadowy corridor. You feel a breath of cold air on your deck, quickly spinning to aim your rifle, only to find yourself staring at a shadow-filled corner. You turn, walking ahead again. You keep walking forward, as the figures in the paintings along the wall stare down at you, their eyes seemingly following you. You see a figure, writhed in a black cloak and shadows, leaning in an alcove. You quickly raise your gun and fire, but your bullet only slams into the stone alcove. You swear, grabbing the bolt and pulling it back. Suddenly, a gloved hand grabs you by the shoulder as a pair of sharp fangs prick into your neck, gently pressing into your neck. You pause, as their hand moves forward and grabs your rifle, which you allow them to take. The fangs pull away, breathing freezing cold air on the back of your neck.
"Still here, huh?" Alexa asks. "I thought you were trying to escape, or at least kill Mihrab. From where you're going, it doesn't seem likely."
"I'm getting my friends and getting out of here."
"Optimistic," she says. "If you're not going to kill Mihrab for me, I might as well kill you," she says.
You flinch and yelp as her lips close around your lips, before she laughs.
"Ha! I like you, ghoul. You're going to die tonight, that's for sure, but I won't be the one killing you. Mihrab's busy, you can speed up a bit."
She releases you, dropping the gun on the ground. You grab it quickly, stepping forward and spinning around to aim, only to be faced with shadows once more.
"Fuck," you say.
You turn, rushing along the halls. You open the door, pulling it open and walking inside the next room, the lounge. You quickly pass through, heading into the medical bay. He door is locked, so you quickly knock on it. You hear the door click unlocked as the door swings open, and someone grabs your arm, throwing you inside and onto the floor. You roll over as you stare at the barrel of a gun, looking up as Lucas aims his rifle at you.
"Shit, what happened you?" Lucas asks, grabbing you by the hand and pulling you to your feet.
"Count Grey is dead. The Viceroys betrayed him," you say.
"Yeah, I suspected as much," Lucas admits. "We need to get the hell out of here. We have to find Haygarth."
"He's in the stables with the girl. We're preparing the coach to escape.
"The girl?" Lucas asks, frowning in confusion.
"One of the girls we were going to sacrifice," you say.
"Why didn't you kill her?" Lucas asks.
"We need all the help we can get," you reply.
"Fine," Lucas says. "Help me shift Mikhail."
You look behind him, where Mikhail lies, heavily bandaged, in the medical bay's bed. He's unconscious, but moves his head slightly and groans upon hearing his name. You walk over, slinging your rifle over your back and grabbing Mikhail's left arm. You pull him up, as Lucas grabs his other arm, supporting him as he stands.
"What is going on?" Mikhail mumbles.
"We're getting out of here."
"Let me stand, I can walk," Mikhail says, gently pushing at you.
> You continue carrying him
"No, brother, you can't walk," Lucas smiles, continuing walking.
You continue walking, heading into the lounge, as Lucas pauses.
"Put him down for a second," he says.
He walks over to the lounge's bar, and begins grabbing several bottles, several boxes of matches, an oil lamp and more. He works for about a minute, before ending with with four bottles of oil and alcohol on the table topped with rags
"What the fuck are those?" you ask.
"Bombs. Light the rag, toss it, burn the monster," Lucas says. "Take two."
You grab two, sliding into your leather duster's pockets, before grabbing a box of matches.
"Alright, let's continue."
You keep half-dragging, half-walking Mikhail towards the stables, before you finally arrive. You kick open the doors, as you all stumble inside, closing and locking the door behind you.
"You're here. Good," Haygarth says. "We're ready to go." |
"Haygarth, what happened?"
"He came for my head! Yelled at me and made me dance and work for him, the little cunt!" Haygarth says.
"We need to get out of here. There…"
"Is… is Count Grey truly dead?"
"Yes," you reply.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Haygarth says. "And the rest of what the vampire knight said was true? Vampires and werewolves have taken the castle?"
"The area's fucked, werewolves had surrounded the castle, the there's still two other incredibly hostile vampires here."
"Where is Masters Lucas and Mikhail?"
"They're in the medical bay. We don't need to think about them. We need to think about escape. They're fine."
"Haygarth, is it? Dasha asks. "
"Yes," Haygarth says, frowning. "You're one of the sacrifices."
"I have a name. It's Dasha."
"So be it," Haygarth says.
"Are there any secret passages that could get us out of here?" Dasha asks.
"No, we wouldn't have anything like that. The main gate's the only way out, unless you're willing to dive off the wall and pray your legs are all that ends up broken. Count Grey has become too paranoid, always thinking a Vampire Hunter would find there way in."
"So what can we do?" you ask.
"The coach," Haygarth says. "We need to get out of here. We board it up heavily, and just make a run for it."
"It's suicide!" you say.
"Is it the only option?" Dasha asks.
"Yes," Haygarth says.
"There's werewolves out there! They'll easily wipe us out," you say.
"We need to leave soon, before the werewolves find a way inside or the other two vampires find us. Are you willing to come?" Haygarth asks.
> You refuse
"I'm not going!" you say.
"So be it," Haygarth says. "If you're not leaving the castle, we need your help."
"What?" you ask.
"You need to ring the castle's alarm bell at the North-East tower. If you can ring that, you can distract the werewolves and draw them towards the North-Eastern area, so we have a chance."
"Fuck, fine. I'll get it done," you say.
"Thank you, thank you!" Haygarth says. "I must find the Twins, if they're still alive. I'll be sure to be back before you can make the journey to the bell."
"Fan-fucking-tastic," you say. "Best of luck, Haygarth. I hope we meet on the other side."
"Same to you, Samuel."
You turn, walking away from the room. You enter the hallways again, and move quickly. You can hear the roars of the beasts outside, and you wince as you hear the scraping of sharp claws on the stones outside. You take a deep breath of air, trying not to let terror cloud your judgment. Suddenly, you pause. You see the massive, wretched body of a werewolf slowly move forward through the hallway, heading perpendicular to you. Tufts of black fur cover its body, as its deformed snout looks like a pale imitation of a true wolf's, this one looking like a poor soul has had her face bashed in to create the appearance of one. It creeps along the hallways, sniffing the air.
You step back slowly, taking a sharp breath. You shouldn't be surprised that they've got in. The doors are thick, reinforced with steel and silver alike, but the werewolves were bound to get in some time. Not if the portcullis had been closed, but once they entered the courtyard, they were bound to get in.
The beast shakes its head violently as if spasming, before sniffing the air once more. It lets out a growl, and you know it's caught your scent. There's a rotten chifferobe to your side that you could foreseeably hide in. There's also the silver-loaded gun in your hands, if you want to take it more bluntly, as well as the silver dagger you have hidden in your boot. for a quiet tactic.
> You hide
You grab the chifferobe, opening it and stepping inside. You close the door, quieting your breathing as you wait. You hear the loud, clawed footsteps of the beast towards you, as you wait patiently for it to pass by. This is a beast, lacking all the stealth of the true wolf, or even its stronger Wulven kin. Still, it has the nose of one, which soon becomes apparent as its wet sniffling leans to it pausing outside your room. You wait slowly, holding your breath, for the wolf to pass. It doesn't seem to know you're there... yet.
> You strike
You smash open the door, smacking the wooden door and hitting the werewolf in the head. You grab the werewolf. You stab the werewolf in the throat as you knock its snouth upwards, impaling its jaw. Blood spurts out, running down its jaw as the werewolf lets out a pitiful whimper, before collapsing on the ground.
Well, you dispatched it. Quietly, as well. Not bad. Time to continue, though.
> You continue to the North-East corner
You continue moving along the hallways, but thankfully wherever the werewolf's entry point is, it's not close enough to you to have an issue. You don't know where Alexa or Mihrab are, but they're not here, so that's enough. Soon, you find yourself climbing the tight, spiraling staircase towards the bell tower. You push open the wooden door once you reach the top, and find yourself faced with a massive, cast iron bell. You look out at the courtyard from the lookout of the bell tower at the dozens of fur-covered beasts scattered around the area. Shit, there's more than you thought.
You take a deep breath, leaning your head against the bell, taking a deep breath. The walk was fairly long, and the werewolf took some of your time. If Haygarth's still alive, he's back at the coach. You grab the bell pull, before pulling it down as hard as you can. The bell clangs loudly as you put your hand over your ears. The werewolves began to panic and howl, instantly growing frantic and charging towards the doors of the castle. You wait a moment, staring out at the courtyard, before you see the coach burst free from the castle and smashing towards the gates. The Coach smashes the Viceroy's coach out of the way, as it flies on past the trees towards the nearby village. Well, they've escaped. Lucky bastards.
You turn, and begin walking down the stairs, before seeing the tanned skin and black cloak of Viceroy Mihrab.
"You're still alive, are you?" he asks. "I had thought one of the stupider werewolves had gotten inside and smacked its head into the bell by accident. It's an interesting choice to ring it for whatever reason you have."
Mihrab walks slowly towards you, as you back up, slipping on the staircase. You quickly crawl your way up the stairs and get to the bell once more, looking down as he approaches you slowly with cool indifference.
"You've taken me away from my work. At least you'll provide a refreshing meal."
You hold your rifle out, aiming. You look over the edge of the bell tower. You could jump, bouncing off one of the tiled roofs and into the courtyard. The werewolves are inside, so you might be able to escape. Your other, as shitty option, is fighting.
> You jump
You sigh, looking out at the tiled roof. A long drop to that and then into the courtyard, then you can leg it out of there. If the first fall doesn't break your bones. Or the werewolves here you and tear you apart. You climb over the bell tower wall, and jump. There's a brief second of the air rushing as your fall, adrenaline rushing into you. Then, you hit the tiled roof. Pain surges through your as you yell in pain.
Unfortunately, you don't smack into it and roll off into the courtyard. Instead, you just go straight through the tiled roof. You smash through, into the room beneath you. The world goes dark and hazy, as you lie there atop the broken tiles in desperate pain. You groan, taking a deep breath. You need to get moving. Otherwise, the werewolves will find you, if not Mihrab.
You grab the side of the table, slowly pulling yourself up. You put weight on your legs, and grunt in pain. It hurts like a bitch, but they're not broken. You're able to walk. You stand, taking a deep breath, and stumble forward. You're not going to be able fight Mihrab like this, and you highly doubt your chances of being able to leg it back to the nearest village. You need to think.
You could head to the castle armory. There's a large amount of explosives there, as well as other fun and interesting weapons that could be turned to wiping out the werewolves and killing Mihrab as well.
You could head to Count Grey's personal chambers. Knowing how paranoid and prepared he was, you have no doubt that the place is insanely secured and prepared for a situation like this. It's too late for him to use it, but you still might.
There's also the chance of negotiation. You could talk to Mihrab, and attempt to convince him to spare you. Through offering up Count Grey's secrets and perhaps even offering your services in the future, he can be convinced to spare you, and even have you join him.
If you're feeling courageous, you could attempt to negotiate with the werewolves. Whilst they're beasts, they still do have human souls and consciousnesses. They can probably negotiate. If you find the Alpha, you can most likely negotiate with it.
> You head to the armory
You grab your gun from the broken tiles, and stumble forward. You hear a howl resonate down the halls. You sigh as you realize they're getting louder. You luck at a nearby door along the hallway, before looking at the gun in your hands.
> You fight
You raise your gun and take a deep breath, before you see the werewolf coming towards you. Unlike the one you killed earlier, this one is tall, stronger and muscular, covered with brown, blood-stained fur. It snarls as it spots you, bounding towards you. You fire your gun as the werewolf roars in pain, your silver bullet slicing through the werewolf's hind leg. It slides along the hall before stumbling forward and smashing into you. Its claws and fangs tear through you, sending spurts of blood and tearing through your flesh. |
You grab your gun from the broken tiles, and stumble forward. You hear a howl resonate down the halls. You sigh as you realize they're getting louder. You luck at a nearby door along the hallway, before looking at the gun in your hands.
> You hide
You grab at the nearest door and open it, finding yourself in a bathroom. You shut the door and press up against it, waiting. You hear the snarls pass the door, and begin counting. When you reach twenty, you listen again, before opening the door and continuing along. It only takes a few minutes before you arrive at the oak doors of armory. You open the doors, moving quickly inside. There's a row of rifles leaning against the walls, a crate of pistols, a large machine gun atop a crate of ammunitions and an entire box of dynamite. It seems like you're fairly set to do some serious ki...
You hear a howl, and turn to look out the door at the approaching Alpha that charges towards you. It's white fur is dripping with flesh blood, and you can see pieces of flesh stuck in its teeth.
> You run
You turn and run, hearing it desperately chase after you. The footsteps get closer and closer, before you feel your back breaking as the werewolf's claw smashed into your hack, the knife-like claws cutting through your leather duster and slashing through your flesh. You roll to the ground with a scream, as the werewolf leaps onto you, it's weight crushing you. It's wet saliva dripping onto your face, it roars at you, before it lunges forward, biting deep into your throat. |
You grab at the nearest door and open it, finding yourself in a bathroom. You shut the door and press up against it, waiting. You hear the snarls pass the door, and begin counting. When you reach twenty, you listen again, before opening the door and continuing along. It only takes a few minutes before you arrive at the oak doors of armory. You open the doors, moving quickly inside. There's a row of rifles leaning against the walls, a crate of pistols, a large machine gun atop a crate of ammunitions and an entire box of dynamite. It seems like you're fairly set to do some serious ki...
You hear a howl, and turn to look out the door at the approaching Alpha that charges towards you. It's white fur is dripping with flesh blood, and you can see pieces of flesh stuck in its teeth.
> You lock the armory door
You slam the door shut, locking it quickly. You look around, as the claw smashes into the door, and you know it won't last much longer.
There's a shotgun you can load with silver buckshot, that you've used on hunting some of the more dangerous werewolves before.
There's a box full of dynamite that you could set off, which would almost certainly kill you as well as the Alpha, but fuck it, you wouldn't mind taking someone down with you.
Finally, there's the machine gun. Although there's no silver bullets, you could set it up so you could pump so much lead into that beast that you'd definitely kill it.
> You grab the shotgun
You grab the shotgun, going for the box of silver shotgun shells. You quickly load one as the door begins to break as the wood splinters, before a claw smashes through the door. The albino werewolf charges inside, and you raise your gun, firing.
The shotgun booms back, peppering the albino with buckshot. It howls as its skin begins to burn with silver, but it doesn't go down. You reach for another shell before the albino slams into you, its claws instantly shredding your torso as its jaws close around your head. |
You slam the door shut, locking it quickly. You look around, as the claw smashes into the door, and you know it won't last much longer.
There's a shotgun you can load with silver buckshot, that you've used on hunting some of the more dangerous werewolves before.
There's a box full of dynamite that you could set off, which would almost certainly kill you as well as the Alpha, but fuck it, you wouldn't mind taking someone down with you.
Finally, there's the machine gun. Although there's no silver bullets, you could set it up so you could pump so much lead into that beast that you'd definitely kill it.
> You set off the dynamite
Fuck, you don't have a chance. You're going to die here anyway. Might as well take that fucking albino out. You spot a box of matches on the shelf, grabbing it and pulling out a box of matches, which you quickly strike.
The door begins to break as the wood splinters, before a claw smashes through the door. The albino werewolf charges inside, as you pull open the crate of dynamite, lighting it. The werewolf slams into you before the dynamite explodes with a powerful flash, before everything disappears with a loud boom, killing everyone in the room. |
You slam the door shut, locking it quickly. You look around, as the claw smashes into the door, and you know it won't last much longer.
There's a shotgun you can load with silver buckshot, that you've used on hunting some of the more dangerous werewolves before.
There's a box full of dynamite that you could set off, which would almost certainly kill you as well as the Alpha, but fuck it, you wouldn't mind taking someone down with you.
Finally, there's the machine gun. Although there's no silver bullets, you could set it up so you could pump so much lead into that beast that you'd definitely kill it.
> You set up the machine gun
You grab the machine gun, instantly loading in a box of ammo. You quickly hurry as you begin loading the ammunition into the gun and putting down the stand. The door begins to break as the wood splinters, before a claw smashes through. The albino werewolf charges inside, as you pull down on the trigger as bullets begin to slam into the werewolf, without even slowing down, let alone stopping it. You yell, before the albino slams into you, its claws instantly shredding your torso as its jaws close around your head. |
You sigh, looking out at the tiled roof. A long drop to that and then into the courtyard, then you can leg it out of there. If the first fall doesn't break your bones. Or the werewolves here you and tear you apart. You climb over the bell tower wall, and jump. There's a brief second of the air rushing as your fall, adrenaline rushing into you. Then, you hit the tiled roof. Pain surges through your as you yell in pain.
Unfortunately, you don't smack into it and roll off into the courtyard. Instead, you just go straight through the tiled roof. You smash through, into the room beneath you. The world goes dark and hazy, as you lie there atop the broken tiles in desperate pain. You groan, taking a deep breath. You need to get moving. Otherwise, the werewolves will find you, if not Mihrab.
You grab the side of the table, slowly pulling yourself up. You put weight on your legs, and grunt in pain. It hurts like a bitch, but they're not broken. You're able to walk. You stand, taking a deep breath, and stumble forward. You're not going to be able fight Mihrab like this, and you highly doubt your chances of being able to leg it back to the nearest village. You need to think.
You could head to the castle armory. There's a large amount of explosives there, as well as other fun and interesting weapons that could be turned to wiping out the werewolves and killing Mihrab as well.
You could head to Count Grey's personal chambers. Knowing how paranoid and prepared he was, you have no doubt that the place is insanely secured and prepared for a situation like this. It's too late for him to use it, but you still might.
There's also the chance of negotiation. You could talk to Mihrab, and attempt to convince him to spare you. Through offering up Count Grey's secrets and perhaps even offering your services in the future, he can be convinced to spare you, and even have you join him.
If you're feeling courageous, you could attempt to negotiate with the werewolves. Whilst they're beasts, they still do have human souls and consciousnesses. They can probably negotiate. If you find the Alpha, you can most likely negotiate with it.
> You negotiate with Viceroy Mihrab
You grab your gun from the broken tiles, and stumble forward towards the bell tower once more. You head along in a hurry, hoping not to draw the attention of the werewolves. The bell-tower is close, seeing as you just fell from it, and you soon find yourself stumbling along the hallway as Mihrab descends from the bell tower. He pauses, staring at you.
"You... leapt from a bell tower... and came back?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"I... yes," you reply.
"Alright, you've truly gained my attention," he says, slowly extending his hand and grabbing you by the throat, his long, sharp nails prodding into your neck.
"I want to make a deal. I have an abundance of information, and am happy to serve you as faithfully as I served Count Grey."
"Did you? Did you really serve him faithfully? It seems you're happy to betray his secrets right now.
"My loyalty ended upon Count Grey's death," you stammer.
Mihrab smiles, as his fingers slice open your throat. You gasp, blood filling your throat and running down your chest.
"I'll have to decline," he says, as you collapse to the ground. |
You sigh, looking out at the tiled roof. A long drop to that and then into the courtyard, then you can leg it out of there. If the first fall doesn't break your bones. Or the werewolves here you and tear you apart. You climb over the bell tower wall, and jump. There's a brief second of the air rushing as your fall, adrenaline rushing into you. Then, you hit the tiled roof. Pain surges through your as you yell in pain.
Unfortunately, you don't smack into it and roll off into the courtyard. Instead, you just go straight through the tiled roof. You smash through, into the room beneath you. The world goes dark and hazy, as you lie there atop the broken tiles in desperate pain. You groan, taking a deep breath. You need to get moving. Otherwise, the werewolves will find you, if not Mihrab.
You grab the side of the table, slowly pulling yourself up. You put weight on your legs, and grunt in pain. It hurts like a bitch, but they're not broken. You're able to walk. You stand, taking a deep breath, and stumble forward. You're not going to be able fight Mihrab like this, and you highly doubt your chances of being able to leg it back to the nearest village. You need to think.
You could head to the castle armory. There's a large amount of explosives there, as well as other fun and interesting weapons that could be turned to wiping out the werewolves and killing Mihrab as well.
You could head to Count Grey's personal chambers. Knowing how paranoid and prepared he was, you have no doubt that the place is insanely secured and prepared for a situation like this. It's too late for him to use it, but you still might.
There's also the chance of negotiation. You could talk to Mihrab, and attempt to convince him to spare you. Through offering up Count Grey's secrets and perhaps even offering your services in the future, he can be convinced to spare you, and even have you join him.
If you're feeling courageous, you could attempt to negotiate with the werewolves. Whilst they're beasts, they still do have human souls and consciousnesses. They can probably negotiate. If you find the Alpha, you can most likely negotiate with it.
> You negotiate with the Alpha
You grab your gun from the broken tiles, and stumble forward towards the courtyard. You move along the building, before finding a wooden door to the courtyard, pushing it open. You stumble into the courtyard, walking to the middle before dropping to your knees.
"Wolves! Bring me your Alpha! I wish to talk!" you cry.
About a dozen werewolves quickly appear, beginning to circle you. They don't strike, perhaps confused by what you're doing. Soon, the Alpha appears. It walks forward, staring at you as it growls, saliva hitting you in the face.
"I want to join you," you say. "Mihrab is going to betray you. I overheard him say as much. The vampires will always seek to have dominion over... over the noble wolf."
The Alpha bears its teeth, but doesn't strike. It looks you dead in the eyes, as you stare back.
"Let me join you. I promise you won't regret it."
The wolf snarls, before pouncing forward.
> You fire your rifle
You raise your rifle and fire, the bullet slamming into the Alpha, but failing to slow it. Its jaws close around your throat, tearing it open as you scream in terror and pain. |
You grab your gun from the broken tiles, and stumble forward towards the courtyard. You move along the building, before finding a wooden door to the courtyard, pushing it open. You stumble into the courtyard, walking to the middle before dropping to your knees.
"Wolves! Bring me your Alpha! I wish to talk!" you cry.
About a dozen werewolves quickly appear, beginning to circle you. They don't strike, perhaps confused by what you're doing. Soon, the Alpha appears. It walks forward, staring at you as it growls, saliva hitting you in the face.
"I want to join you," you say. "Mihrab is going to betray you. I overheard him say as much. The vampires will always seek to have dominion over... over the noble wolf."
The Alpha bears its teeth, but doesn't strike. It looks you dead in the eyes, as you stare back.
"Let me join you. I promise you won't regret it."
The wolf snarls, before pouncing forward.
> You use your knife
You raise your knife, slashing open the hide of the Alpha, but failing to slow it. Its jaws close around your throat, tearing it open as you scream in terror and pain. |
You grab your gun from the broken tiles, and stumble forward towards the courtyard. You move along the building, before finding a wooden door to the courtyard, pushing it open. You stumble into the courtyard, walking to the middle before dropping to your knees.
"Wolves! Bring me your Alpha! I wish to talk!" you cry.
About a dozen werewolves quickly appear, beginning to circle you. They don't strike, perhaps confused by what you're doing. Soon, the Alpha appears. It walks forward, staring at you as it growls, saliva hitting you in the face.
"I want to join you," you say. "Mihrab is going to betray you. I overheard him say as much. The vampires will always seek to have dominion over... over the noble wolf."
The Alpha bears its teeth, but doesn't strike. It looks you dead in the eyes, as you stare back.
"Let me join you. I promise you won't regret it."
The wolf snarls, before pouncing forward.
> You scream
You scream as the Alpha's jaws fly forward, biting deep into your arm. You yell in pain as the werewolf bites into your arm, as a flood of emotions enters you. Hate. Anger. Passion. Adrenaline Hunger. You yell, no, you roar as you feel your body morph.Your body begins to twist and break. Your bones snap as your limbs stretch wider and your head and body grows. Your face is torn apart as his teeth grow and sharpen past their usual point. Hair sprouts from your body, soon, you find yourself lying on the ground, feeling the animal inside you finally unleashed. You look at the moon ecstatically, letting out a howl, which is soon joined by your new family. The Alpha looks at you and growls, and you bow your head in submission, an act that just feels natural. The Alpha blinks slowly at you, and you understand that its time to hunt, and finish Mihrab off.
You turn, sniffing the air. It's like you just know where to go. You sprint forward, running along the walls and smashing through oak doors. You find Mihrab, covered in blood from what you presume was a fight with a werewolf, hurrying towards the sacrificial chambers. He stops in terror as he stares at you, his eyes widening.
"So, you joined with the dogs, did you? Pathetic," he snarls.
You burst forward as he does the same. His claws painfully scrape along your snout and release a wave of blood and adrenaline as you smash your claw into him, knocking him against the wall. You bite down on his throat with a roar, tearing it clean out as you smash your claws into him. You turn, seeing a werewolf staring, half ready to charge and half ready to run. You burst forward, tearing its head off and tossing it down the hall, before bursting forward again. You... "feel" a presence in the shadows, twisting around and pouncing, pinning Alexa against a wall.
"You're either much, much more intelligent than I thought, or much less so," she says.
You feel pain run through your chest as she jabs a silver dagger into your chest. You howl, tearing it out as pain runs through you.
"Sorry, wolfy," she says, falling back against the walls, letting the shadows absorb her.
You snarl, before turning to be faced with the Alpha. You stare at it, as it sniffs the air and slowly approaches you. It's eyes are filled with a deep desire, a desperate hunger. You sniff the air, suddenly becoming aware of many new sensations. The Alpha seems to be... in full bloom. A sniff quickly fills your nostrils with the scent of a beast in heat. It seems the creature is more of an Alpha female.
The creature steps towards you, her intentions clear. The human part of you looks at disgust at the beast, wanting to spit and turn away. For better or worse, that's not the part in charge of you. The animal inside you only smells the odor of a horny bitch in heat. You step forward, your animalistic side taking over as you leap on her.
Needless to say, you get little sleep under the gaze of the crimson moon.
> You continue
You awake lying on the cold stone, completely naked and with a severe headache. For a second, you feel cold, confused and scared, like a child hiding as Papa stands by the door with his rifle, waiting for Count Grey to arrive. You reach an arm out, finding a warm body and pulling yourself tightly against it, as memories begin to flood into your mind.
As you realize where you are your eyes dart open. You look around frantically, seeing the white-haired girl lying next to you, blood and... other fluids covering her, and you as well. She yawns, looking up at you. She slowly gets to her feet, groaning.
"Well?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing," you reply, as she smiles.
"You did well last night," she says.
"Two dead vampires? Yeah, not bad," you say.
"I was talking about the fucking," the Alpha replies.
You look around, spotting other naked men and women lying on the ground, all in the process of waking up.
"There's clothes stashed away nearby. You need a place to stay?" the Alpha asks.
"Yeah," you say.
"Done. Daustin owns a mechanics shop, and had hired Godfrey as an assistant. Seeing as Godrey was cut apart by the vampires, you can take his place."
"Perfect," you reply.
"Don't worry. You're part of the pack now. We look out for each other."
The Alpha leans in, pushing you against the wall and kissing you. You push her away, as she raises an eyebrow.
"What? Was it only the beast within that wanted to fuck me?" she asks.
You grab her, kissing her back, before she pulls away.
"We should go. We need to be home before we're found. If the villagers spot a bunch of naked people returning from where they just saw werewolves kill a bunch of their friends, they'll put two and two together."
She turns, barking out an order for her pack to follow her as she leads them outside of the castle. You follow, walking after them.
Now, you're part of a pack. Now, the beast within in you has been released, and you're only barely to keep it contained with the moon gone.
You can't wait for the moon to call it out again. |
You continue moving along the hallways, but thankfully wherever the werewolf's entry point is, it's not close enough to you to have an issue. You don't know where Alexa or Mihrab are, but they're not here, so that's enough. Soon, you find yourself climbing the tight, spiraling staircase towards the bell tower. You push open the wooden door once you reach the top, and find yourself faced with a massive, cast iron bell. You look out at the courtyard from the lookout of the bell tower at the dozens of fur-covered beasts scattered around the area. Shit, there's more than you thought.
You take a deep breath, leaning your head against the bell, taking a deep breath. The walk was fairly long, and the werewolf took some of your time. If Haygarth's still alive, he's back at the coach. You grab the bell pull, before pulling it down as hard as you can. The bell clangs loudly as you put your hand over your ears. The werewolves began to panic and howl, instantly growing frantic and charging towards the doors of the castle. You wait a moment, staring out at the courtyard, before you see the coach burst free from the castle and smashing towards the gates. The Coach smashes the Viceroy's coach out of the way, as it flies on past the trees towards the nearby village. Well, they've escaped. Lucky bastards.
You turn, and begin walking down the stairs, before seeing the tanned skin and black cloak of Viceroy Mihrab.
"You're still alive, are you?" he asks. "I had thought one of the stupider werewolves had gotten inside and smacked its head into the bell by accident. It's an interesting choice to ring it for whatever reason you have."
Mihrab walks slowly towards you, as you back up, slipping on the staircase. You quickly crawl your way up the stairs and get to the bell once more, looking down as he approaches you slowly with cool indifference.
"You've taken me away from my work. At least you'll provide a refreshing meal."
You hold your rifle out, aiming. You look over the edge of the bell tower. You could jump, bouncing off one of the tiled roofs and into the courtyard. The werewolves are inside, so you might be able to escape. Your other, as shitty option, is fighting.
> You fight
You raise your rifle, firing. The bullet thuds into Mihrab as he bears his teeth in a grin.
"Pathetic," he says.
Mihrab bursts towards you, grabbing you by the throat, his claws cutting into your skin.
"Your life is meaningless. Has your service to Count Grey blurred your mind and given you a strong head? You have nothing to offer."
> You headbutt him
You smack your head into Mihrab's face, knocking him backwards into the wall. The gun's not working. You need to find something else. You quickly hurry down the stairs as Mihrab swears in some long dead language. You run quickly, finding yourself in the lower floors of the castle. There's a straight shot up another stairs to the courtyard, where you could lure Mihrab outside. Hopefully, the werewolves would frenzy and take him out, while you could slip back inside the castle. You could also head deeper into the castle, towards Count Grey's coffin and the inner areas.
> You head out to the courtyard
You turn and sprint forward towards the courtyard as you hear Mihrab quickly following as he snarls. You push open the oak doors to the courtyard, running out. You hear a half dozen howls as the werewolves outside spot you, but you know Mihrab is most likely still pursuing. You can't tell, you only hear the pounding of his own heart. You keep running, before you feel your back breaking as the werewolf's claw smashed into your hack, the knife-like claws cutting through your leather duster and slashing through your flesh. You roll to the ground with a scream, as the werewolf leaps onto you, it's weight crushing you. It's wet saliva dripping onto your face, it howls at the moon in an act of triumph, before it lunges forward, biting deep into your throat. |
You smack your head into Mihrab's face, knocking him backwards into the wall. The gun's not working. You need to find something else. You quickly hurry down the stairs as Mihrab swears in some long dead language. You run quickly, finding yourself in the lower floors of the castle. There's a straight shot up another stairs to the courtyard, where you could lure Mihrab outside. Hopefully, the werewolves would frenzy and take him out, while you could slip back inside the castle. You could also head deeper into the castle, towards Count Grey's coffin and the inner areas.
> You head inwards
You turn, running further into the castle. You hear Mihrab snarl behind you as he charges after you. Suddenly, he slams into your with unnatural speed, sending you toppling forward as his claw cuts open your back. You groan, quickly stumbling forward as you push open the door and slam it shut behind you, locking the door. Mihrab immediately punches through, his clawed hand reaching for the key. You look around desperately, and find yourself in the room with Count Grey's coffin. You look around, spotting an oak door at the side that you remember leads towards the armory. There, you could get enough firepower to do something.
You could also go for the sword hanging proudly above Count Grey's coffin. It's supposed to be a great and powerful. You could try get it, and maybe best him in melee. If you're very, very luck.
> You head for the armory
You turn, barreling towards the armory. You hear the door unlocked behind you, hearing Mihrab approaching. You run desperately forward, but Mihrab is faster, stronger and angry as hell. As you run desperately, you feel Mihrab grab you. He flings you against the wall as you yell in pain, before darting forward and stabbing you through the neck with his claws. You let out a yelp of pain as blood fills your throat and runs down your chest, before Mihrab grabs your head and quickly twists it, breaking your neck. |
You turn, running further into the castle. You hear Mihrab snarl behind you as he charges after you. Suddenly, he slams into your with unnatural speed, sending you toppling forward as his claw cuts open your back. You groan, quickly stumbling forward as you push open the door and slam it shut behind you, locking the door. Mihrab immediately punches through, his clawed hand reaching for the key. You look around desperately, and find yourself in the room with Count Grey's coffin. You look around, spotting an oak door at the side that you remember leads towards the armory. There, you could get enough firepower to do something.
You could also go for the sword hanging proudly above Count Grey's coffin. It's supposed to be a great and powerful. You could try get it, and maybe best him in melee. If you're very, very luck.
> You go for the sword
You grab the top of the coffin, feeling ill as dark energy still emanates. You pull yourself atop it, grabbing the sword hanging there. You pull yourself onto the coffin, reaching up and grabbing the sword grip. The grip despite being made of leather, is icy cold to touch. You hop down from coffin as Mihrab breaks through the door, staring at you with malice.
"Are you going to stab me? With your little sword that you never learned to use? You've been an annoyance. Now, this is over."
Mihrab charges towards you with a snarl, charging towards you with the swipe of his claw, his eyes filled with unfocused rage.
> You dodge
You roll to avoid the strike, and Mihrab rushes past, filled with rage. He stops, swiveling around and taking a deep breath as he stares at you. He takes another breath, before walking forward, slow and methodical.
> You dodge
He strikes like a viper as you sidestep, but he slips to the side. He slashes his hand, cutting open the side of your face before grabbing you. He jabs his claws into your eye as you scream in pain, before he catches your head, twisting it quickly and snapping your neck. |
You roll to avoid the strike, and Mihrab rushes past, filled with rage. He stops, swiveling around and taking a deep breath as he stares at you. He takes another breath, before walking forward, slow and methodical.
> You strike
He strikes like a viper as you slash your blade, but he slips to the side. He slashes his hand, cutting open the side of your face before grabbing you. He jabs his claws into your eye as you scream in pain, before he catches your head, twisting it quickly and snapping your neck. |
You grab the top of the coffin, feeling ill as dark energy still emanates. You pull yourself atop it, grabbing the sword hanging there. You pull yourself onto the coffin, reaching up and grabbing the sword grip. The grip despite being made of leather, is icy cold to touch. You hop down from coffin as Mihrab breaks through the door, staring at you with malice.
"Are you going to stab me? With your little sword that you never learned to use? You've been an annoyance. Now, this is over."
Mihrab charges towards you with a snarl, charging towards you with the swipe of his claw, his eyes filled with unfocused rage.
> You strike
You swing your blade frantically, as Mihrab charges directly for you. You run the sword through his chest as he roars. His dark, soulless eyes go dull, as you pull the sword out of his chest, where it's just ran through his heart.
"That..." Mihrab whispers, looking at the blade with horror and disgust, before he collapses to the ground. You step forward, running the sword through Mihrab's chest. He grunts as his body begins to turn to dust as the very essence of his life is absorbed into your blade. You release the blade, hearing it clang to the ground, before you step back. You watch as the ancient, powerful vampire's corpse disappears from view.
You've killed Draven. You've killed Mihrab. Now, all you need to do is deal with Alexa, and the Viceroy problem will be solved.
> You find Alexa
You turn, walking towards the door. Last you remember, Alexa was inhabiting...
"Hmm..." Alexa says, as you spin around to see her form from the shadows.
Alexa walks forward, kneeling down to stare at the pile of ash. She gently picks some up with her finger, before blowing the dust away.
"Good riddance," she smiles, showing her long fangs.
Alexa stands, walking towards. You dive for the sword, grabbing it with your hand and holding it up, snarling.
"Stay back," you snarl.
Alexa moves forward, stopping in front of you just out of the reach of your sword.
"You've proven yourself to me. You've shown that you truly deserve this gift I offer."
"Gift?" you ask.
"I offer you a chance to join me. We are immortal, we are powerful and we are predators. If you are willing, you can join me as a vampire, and we can take the places that Mihrab and Grey once occupied."
"You want me to join you as a vampire? Why?" you ask.
"Together, we can rule. I... miss the joys of mortal life. I miss having friends, having allies, having lovers. With you at my side, as equals, we can live forever, survive anything, and be the perfect allies."
Alexa steps forward, smiling at you.
"So?" she smiles.
> You agree
"Fine," you say. "I agree."
"Good," Alexa says, striding forward. "The moon's falling, and the son will rise soon, scaring away the werewolves. Get undressed."
You raise an eyebrow, but pull off your jacket, before pulling off your shirt. You pull off your boots and trousers, before looking up at Alexa. She pulls off her cloak, pulling off her shirt and pants as well, leaving her standing there naked, as she smiles at you. Her body, completely pale and white as snow, and as cold at it, has a definite beauty to it. She walks forward, wrapping her hands around you and kissing you, her forked tongue flickering in your mouth. You kiss back, as her freezing hands begin to roam around your body. She slowly pushes you into the coffin, which surprisingly is large enough to fit both of you. Soon, in the enclosed area, you find your thrusting as you push Alexa up against the steel coffin wall. Suddenly, Alexa bites into your neck as you groan in pain, and begins sucking on your blood, draining it from you. You struggle, but she grabs your head, pressing it against her neck.
"Bite," she commands.
You bite down on the vampire's neck, releasing a wave of dark crimson liquid that fills your mouth.
"Drink," she whispers, as you hear her slurp your blood.
You follow her orders, and begin drinking down on her black liquid. You feel, as the two of you become one and the spirit of the predator enters you with each once of blood you gulp down.
The pair of you continue in the coffin, as you begin to transform. Mortality becomes a distant concept, life an old memory and a terrible thirst takes over you.
The burden of the vampire is now yours, but so are all the benefits.
> You pass out
You stand on the wall of the castle, staring up at the gorgeous moon, Alexa's arm wrapped around you. She smiles at you, as you grin back, gently kissing her on the forehead. You sniff the air, smelling the blood of a nearby wounded dear, Alexa's perfume, the flowers along the river banks, so many senses. Alexa kisses you on the neck, before scraping her fangs across your neck.
"I hunger, Sam," she smiles. "The thirst is back. Shall we go?"
"Perfect," you smile.
You hurry down the staircase and past the gate and out into the woods. You both sprint through the trees, laughing as you head out for the hunt.
Yes. The hunt under the moonlight. The excitement. The joy. The passion. This is true life. |
You turn, walking towards the door. Last you remember, Alexa was inhabiting...
"Hmm..." Alexa says, as you spin around to see her form from the shadows.
Alexa walks forward, kneeling down to stare at the pile of ash. She gently picks some up with her finger, before blowing the dust away.
"Good riddance," she smiles, showing her long fangs.
Alexa stands, walking towards. You dive for the sword, grabbing it with your hand and holding it up, snarling.
"Stay back," you snarl.
Alexa moves forward, stopping in front of you just out of the reach of your sword.
"You've proven yourself to me. You've shown that you truly deserve this gift I offer."
"Gift?" you ask.
"I offer you a chance to join me. We are immortal, we are powerful and we are predators. If you are willing, you can join me as a vampire, and we can take the places that Mihrab and Grey once occupied."
"You want me to join you as a vampire? Why?" you ask.
"Together, we can rule. I... miss the joys of mortal life. I miss having friends, having allies, having lovers. With you at my side, as equals, we can live forever, survive anything, and be the perfect allies."
Alexa steps forward, smiling at you.
"So?" she smiles.
> You decline
"No," you say.
"No?" Alexa asks, frowning. "Shame. i thought you had potential."
Alexa puts her hand in her cloak to draw something, and you raise your sword with a snarl. She smiles, slowly opening her cloak to reveal a small flask, which she uncaps and puts to her lips, drinking.
"I was really hoping to taste your blood... and for you to taste mine. Sadly, I shan't."
Alexa leans against the shadowy corner of the wall, staring at you as the shadows begin to absorb her essence.
"Good luck, ghoul. Hopefully, we'll both stay out of each others way in the future, shall we?"
With that, Alexa disappears from the room and from your life. You fall to your knees, tossing the sword aside as you breath out a sigh of relief. You take a deep breath, before grabbing your rifle from the ground and standing. You hear a howl from outside, leaning up against the wall and creeping along before you stare out the window. You see in the distance the sun beginning to rise. The werewolves begin howl, fleeing off towards the woods, not wanting to be caught around him when the transformation ends. You wait, watching as even the Alpha flees desperately away. You wait until the sun's light actually begins to shine on the courtyard, before walking out into the courtyard. You look up at the sun, feeling its warmth on your face, before you realize how absolutely exhausted you are. You collapse on the ground, staring up at the sky and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face.
> You continue
Royalty
You stand on the castle wall, staring out at the trees. A half a dozen guards patrol the walls, watching out for any potential werewolves. The purges you've organized of the forests have been effective, but you're still alive. Due to the loss of any significant supernatural power, you've need to replenish your power by recruitment. You've recruited Lucas, Mikhail and Haygarth, all of whom managed to survive the night through their coach escape, although Dasha thoroughly and aggressively refused to come anywhere near the castle. You recruited a few more men from the villages, and quickly regained the control that was lost with the death of Count Grey. Through hard-work and a treaty with King Ferdinand, you've managed to become the new Count of the region. The peasants continue to pay tax to you, although you've negated the need for any of them to die to feed you. You've created a nice little situation for yourself here.
Count Samuel. You never thought you'd see the day. Yes, it's a new dawn. The world is changing. The myths and legends of the past are being dispelled. Now, you're the future. |
You turn, walking towards the door. Last you remember, Alexa was inhabiting...
"Hmm..." Alexa says, as you spin around to see her form from the shadows.
Alexa walks forward, kneeling down to stare at the pile of ash. She gently picks some up with her finger, before blowing the dust away.
"Good riddance," she smiles, showing her long fangs.
Alexa stands, walking towards. You dive for the sword, grabbing it with your hand and holding it up, snarling.
"Stay back," you snarl.
Alexa moves forward, stopping in front of you just out of the reach of your sword.
"You've proven yourself to me. You've shown that you truly deserve this gift I offer."
"Gift?" you ask.
"I offer you a chance to join me. We are immortal, we are powerful and we are predators. If you are willing, you can join me as a vampire, and we can take the places that Mihrab and Grey once occupied."
"You want me to join you as a vampire? Why?" you ask.
"Together, we can rule. I... miss the joys of mortal life. I miss having friends, having allies, having lovers. With you at my side, as equals, we can live forever, survive anything, and be the perfect allies."
Alexa steps forward, smiling at you.
"So?" she smiles.
> You kill Alexa
You step forward, as she smiles, assuming you've taken up her offer. Then, you swing your blade, beheading her in one quick move. Her head topples to the ground, and you smile. Three vampires in one night. Terrific.
You fall to your knees, tossing the sword aside as you breath out a sigh of relief. You take a deep breath, before grabbing your rifle from the ground and standing. You hear a howl from outside, leaning up against the wall and creeping along before you stare out the window. You see in the distance the sun beginning to rise. The werewolves begin howl, fleeing off towards the woods, not wanting to be caught around him when the transformation ends. You wait, watching as even the Alpha flees desperately away. You wait until the sun's light actually begins to shine on the courtyard, before walking out into the courtyard. You look up at the sun, feeling its warmth on your face, before you realize how absolutely exhausted you are. You collapse on the ground, staring up at the sky and feeling the warmth of the sun on your face. |
You raise your rifle, firing. The bullet thuds into Mihrab as he bears his teeth in a grin.
"Pathetic," he says.
Mihrab bursts towards you, grabbing you by the throat, his claws cutting into your skin.
"Your life is meaningless. Has your service to Count Grey blurred your mind and given you a strong head? You have nothing to offer."
> You go for your knife
You lean down slightly, keeping eye contact with a snarling Mihrab, before grabbing your dagger. You stab it into Mihrab's stomach as he yelps in pain. You shove him back and immediately begin barreling down the staircase. The gun's not working. You need to find something else. You quickly hurry down the stairs as Mihrab swears in some long dead language. You run quickly, finding yourself in the lower floors of the castle. There's a straight shot up another stairs to the courtyard, where you could lure Mihrab outside. Hopefully, the werewolves would frenzy and take him out, while you could slip back inside the castle. You could also head deeper into the castle, towards Count Grey's coffin and the inner areas. |
You raise your rifle, firing. The bullet thuds into Mihrab as he bears his teeth in a grin.
"Pathetic," he says.
Mihrab bursts towards you, grabbing you by the throat, his claws cutting into your skin.
"Your life is meaningless. Has your service to Count Grey blurred your mind and given you a strong head? You have nothing to offer."
> You go for your rifle
You grab for your rifle and go down, grabbing it by the barrel and tossing it into the air. You grab for the trigger, before Mihrab slices his claws across your throat and pressing his mouth against it. You gasp as blood spurts into the monster's mouth, dropping the gun and letting out a pained grunt as you're drained of your life source. |
You grab the chifferobe, opening it and stepping inside. You close the door, quieting your breathing as you wait. You hear the loud, clawed footsteps of the beast towards you, as you wait patiently for it to pass by. This is a beast, lacking all the stealth of the true wolf, or even its stronger Wulven kin. Still, it has the nose of one, which soon becomes apparent as its wet sniffling leans to it pausing outside your room. You wait slowly, holding your breath, for the wolf to pass. It doesn't seem to know you're there... yet.
> You wait for it to pass
You wait patiently as the werewolf snarls outside. Suddenly, it's massive claws bash through the chifferobe, smacking into your and shattering your bones as the claw runs through your chest. You groan, spluttering blood out onto your chest, before entering oblivion. |
"I'm not going!" you say.
"So be it," Haygarth says. "If you're not leaving the castle, we need your help."
"What?" you ask.
"You need to ring the castle's alarm bell at the North-East tower. If you can ring that, you can distract the werewolves and draw them towards the North-Eastern area, so we have a chance."
"Fuck, fine. I'll get it done," you say.
"Thank you, thank you!" Haygarth says. "I must find the Twins, if they're still alive. I'll be sure to be back before you can make the journey to the bell."
"Fan-fucking-tastic," you say. "Best of luck, Haygarth. I hope we meet on the other side."
"Same to you, Samuel."
You turn, walking away from the room. You enter the hallways again, and move quickly. You can hear the roars of the beasts outside, and you wince as you hear the scraping of sharp claws on the stones outside. You take a deep breath of air, trying not to let terror cloud your judgment. Suddenly, you pause. You see the massive, wretched body of a werewolf slowly move forward through the hallway, heading perpendicular to you. Tufts of black fur cover its body, as its deformed snout looks like a pale imitation of a true wolf's, this one looking like a poor soul has had her face bashed in to create the appearance of one. It creeps along the hallways, sniffing the air.
You step back slowly, taking a sharp breath. You shouldn't be surprised that they've got in. The doors are thick, reinforced with steel and silver alike, but the werewolves were bound to get in some time. Not if the portcullis had been closed, but once they entered the courtyard, they were bound to get in.
The beast shakes its head violently as if spasming, before sniffing the air once more. It lets out a growl, and you know it's caught your scent. There's a rotten chifferobe to your side that you could foreseeably hide in. There's also the silver-loaded gun in your hands, if you want to take it more bluntly, as well as the silver dagger you have hidden in your boot. for a quiet tactic.
> You shoot
You pull the trigger, as the gun bucks in your hands. The bullet flies through the air, hitting the werewolf in the neck and knocking it to the ground with a burst of crimson blood, which sprays over its fur and sends it collapsing to the ground. An easy kill, but a loud one. You need to move, and you need to move fast. |
"I'm not going!" you say.
"So be it," Haygarth says. "If you're not leaving the castle, we need your help."
"What?" you ask.
"You need to ring the castle's alarm bell at the North-East tower. If you can ring that, you can distract the werewolves and draw them towards the North-Eastern area, so we have a chance."
"Fuck, fine. I'll get it done," you say.
"Thank you, thank you!" Haygarth says. "I must find the Twins, if they're still alive. I'll be sure to be back before you can make the journey to the bell."
"Fan-fucking-tastic," you say. "Best of luck, Haygarth. I hope we meet on the other side."
"Same to you, Samuel."
You turn, walking away from the room. You enter the hallways again, and move quickly. You can hear the roars of the beasts outside, and you wince as you hear the scraping of sharp claws on the stones outside. You take a deep breath of air, trying not to let terror cloud your judgment. Suddenly, you pause. You see the massive, wretched body of a werewolf slowly move forward through the hallway, heading perpendicular to you. Tufts of black fur cover its body, as its deformed snout looks like a pale imitation of a true wolf's, this one looking like a poor soul has had her face bashed in to create the appearance of one. It creeps along the hallways, sniffing the air.
You step back slowly, taking a sharp breath. You shouldn't be surprised that they've got in. The doors are thick, reinforced with steel and silver alike, but the werewolves were bound to get in some time. Not if the portcullis had been closed, but once they entered the courtyard, they were bound to get in.
The beast shakes its head violently as if spasming, before sniffing the air once more. It lets out a growl, and you know it's caught your scent. There's a rotten chifferobe to your side that you could foreseeably hide in. There's also the silver-loaded gun in your hands, if you want to take it more bluntly, as well as the silver dagger you have hidden in your boot. for a quiet tactic.
> You use your knife
You creep forward, dropping low as you draw your knife. Your boots leather creeks, making the slightest noise, and the wolf turns and bursts towards you. It charges towards you, barreling down the hall. It pounces before and you jab your knife, stabbing into flesh and fur. It's weight smashes you into the wall, snapping your body like a twig. You scream in pain as it swings its claw, beheading you in one foul swing. |
You dive out of the way, as Draven flies just past you, swinging his sword. His sword slices into the back of your neck, not enough to seriously wound but enough to hurt like a bitch. He slams into the door behind you, grunting as he spins around. He wipes the blood from his broken nose as he stares at the two of you, before letting out a horrible laugh.
"Got too excited there, didn't I? Ha!" he smiles, twirling the sword around in his hands.
You look around desperately, for something, ANYTHING in the room to help you out. Dasha is just as in the cross-hairs as you are, and seems terrified. Haygarth is hiding behind a counter, unfocused and not thinking. Most of the horses are dead, having had their heads cleaved clean off. Still, there's three or four in the farther stables. There's two large, oil-filled lamps illuminating the hallways that could be used. Fire has a history of being effective with monsters. Finally, there's the old full lead solution. If you just duck, weave and fill the air with as much lead, or in this case silver, as possible to take out the vampire bastard, although silver bullets are more of a werewolf-killer.
> You get to the lamp
You sprint towards the lamp, your rifle held tightly in your hands as you run towards it. Draven charges ahead with a howl, kicking your leg away as you collapse onto the ground, laughing.
"Look at you try to run! Where are you trying to run to, little one?" he asks, before his eyes flicker to Dasha who goes for the door.
Draven runs ahead with an animalistic howl, slamming her into the door. He presses the sword to her throat, before throwing into the air and catching it once more.
"Ohh... this is everything! Savor the hunt!" he says. "Go! Try escape again! Or are you in a fighting mood?"
> You try for the horses
You sprint towards the horses, your rifle held tightly in your hands as you run towards them. Draven charges ahead with a howl, kicking your leg away as you collapse onto the ground, laughing.
"Pathetic!"
Dasha attempts to stand, before Draven smiles, flinging his sword. The sword embeds itself in Dasha's hand, pinning it to the door, as he laughs.
"I forgot to mention, I'm not a bad through," he says, before looking down at you. "It's a shame she tried to move and I had to throw my sword, little Ghoul. Now, I have to deal with you with fangs... and trust me, it'll be more painful."
The lamp flies through the air, smashing into Draven's head. Oil sprays across him as it's quickly set alight, as is his dry, cold corpse. Draven screams in object terror as he's engulfed in fire. He screams, desperately flailing in an attempt to put out the flames. Draven collapses to his knees as his scream finally stops, before collapsing onto his face. He slowly burns as his body turns to ash, as you crawl away from the body, standing. Haygarth stands behind Draven, staring at the fire.
"Didn't know what, what to do," Haygarth says, panting. "Saw you go for the lamp. Decided to finish the job."
"Well done," you say.
You walk over to Dasha, who whimpers as she paws at the sword embedded in her arm. You grab it, gripping it tightly as you pull it from the wall. You tear a piece of cloth from your robes, tying it tightly around the wound.
"I'm fine," she says. |
You sprint towards the lamp, your rifle held tightly in your hands as you run towards it. Draven charges ahead with a howl, kicking your leg away as you collapse onto the ground, laughing.
"Look at you try to run! Where are you trying to run to, little one?" he asks, before his eyes flicker to Dasha who goes for the door.
Draven runs ahead with an animalistic howl, slamming her into the door. He presses the sword to her throat, before throwing into the air and catching it once more.
"Ohh... this is everything! Savor the hunt!" he says. "Go! Try escape again! Or are you in a fighting mood?"
> You try for the lamp again
You run towards the lamp, as Draven realizes what you're doing, and charges forward. He grabs the lamp, opening it with the flick of his wrist and blowing out the candle.
"Nice attempt," he says. "Now run."
You turn and run, as Draven follows. He swings his sword as you run , and the next thing you know, you feel the cold bite of steel on your neck. Your head flies through the air, and your body collapses to the straw-covered floor. |
You dive out of the way, as Draven flies just past you, swinging his sword. His sword slices into the back of your neck, not enough to seriously wound but enough to hurt like a bitch. He slams into the door behind you, grunting as he spins around. He wipes the blood from his broken nose as he stares at the two of you, before letting out a horrible laugh.
"Got too excited there, didn't I? Ha!" he smiles, twirling the sword around in his hands.
You look around desperately, for something, ANYTHING in the room to help you out. Dasha is just as in the cross-hairs as you are, and seems terrified. Haygarth is hiding behind a counter, unfocused and not thinking. Most of the horses are dead, having had their heads cleaved clean off. Still, there's three or four in the farther stables. There's two large, oil-filled lamps illuminating the hallways that could be used. Fire has a history of being effective with monsters. Finally, there's the old full lead solution. If you just duck, weave and fill the air with as much lead, or in this case silver, as possible to take out the vampire bastard, although silver bullets are more of a werewolf-killer.
> You fire!
You raise your gun and fire. Draven takes a shot to the shoulder, before side-stepping your next. He doesn't even attempt to charge, just grins. You keep firing, as he dodges the bullets with unnatural ease, even the lucky shots not even throwing him, and they only manage to graze or hit his central mass, which fails to even knock him back. You aim your rifle at Draven's head, as he gently taps his finger against it.
"Come on, boy!" he says, laughing. "Take the shot! I'm enjoying this! I won't even move this time!"
You peer down the sights, taking a deep breath, and you pull the trigger.
It's empty.
"Can't even count, huh?" Draven laughs, before bursting forward.
You attempt to dodge, but he's faster and more prepared for your roll to the side. He swings his sword, cutting through flesh and bone as your upper body is separated from its organic stand. You barely have time for one scream before it's all over. |
You walk along the hallways towards the stable, your gun clenched tightly in your hands. You consider pushing Dasha ahead of you so anything that attacks has to cut through her first, but that's not the right thing to do. It's better to keep her behind you, in case a creature attacks from behind, and you can fight off whoever attacks from the front with your rifle. You walk past the rows of unlit torches that cover the walls, wishing they were lit. You aim your gun ahead, sweeping the barrel to check the corners for any hidden beasts that could be hidden away there.
"We need to hurry up, h.." Dasha says.
Suddenly, one of the windows several meters above you shatters as the upper half of a body smashes through it. It hits the wall with a wet thud, collapsing to the ground. Dasha screams as you desperately back pedal to avoid it.
"Fuck me!" you say. "The villagers must be having a bad night."
"Oh god," Dasha says.
You hear a terrified scream outside. It sounds female, and young. Very young.
"Help! Help! Mama!" a voice screams from outside.
"We need to help her!" Dasha says, a look of panic flooding through her.
"Do you want to fight the Wulven?" you ask. "I'm not."
You try to appear tough as Dasha stares you down, before looking away. You hear a high-pitched scream, before the crunching of bone and flesh.
"It's done. Let's go," you say.
"The village is down the road! Why the fuck would they bring the villagers here to kill them?" Dasha says.
"Break our morale, or act as bait, maybe. They're intelligent, for abominable beasts. Now, let's move on."
You continue walking forward, reaching a wooden door. You press up against it, waiting. "Here it it."
"This is the door to the stables," you whisper. "You ready?"
"Ready. I'll follow your lead."
> You force Dasha to go in first
"You go in first. He'll be able to smell my blood sooner than yours. I'm a ghoul."
"Bullshit!" Dasha hisses. "Give me the gun, then I'll go."
> You give Dasha the gun
You take a deep breath, bashing open the door with your shoulder, raising your rifle. Draven stands there, a sword in his hands and a grin on his face as he stands over a heavily injured Haygarth, who has been stripped naked and is covered in bruising and cuts.
"Don't you know how, freak? I said do it!" Draven shouts.
He swings his blade and smacks Haygarth in the side of the head with the flat of his blade, knocking Haygarth to the floor.
"Dance!" Draven laughs, before his eyes flicker to you. "Look who it is! One of Grey's ghouls and... I've no fucking idea who you are, but you look like a bleeder!"
Haygarth yells as Dasha raises her rifle. Draven roars as he charges forward, and Dasha both attempts to backpedal and aim. She trips on the stairs, firing off the gun. Unfortunately, she misses Draven. Even worse, the bullet ends up flying straight through your head. |
"You go in first. He'll be able to smell my blood sooner than yours. I'm a ghoul."
"Bullshit!" Dasha hisses. "Give me the gun, then I'll go."
> You convince Dasha to go in with just the knife
"No!" you say, shaking your head.
"Then go through!" Dasha commands.
"You go in with the knife, I go behind you with the rang..."
Something slams into the door, sending you flying across the ground and onto your ass with a painful thud. Standing there, clad in armor with long, wild flowing black hair and a face contorted by rage and anger.
"Yes! I was distracted by the freak, but even I can hear you two bickering! Gotta get my ears checked, haha!" he snarls before laughing menacingly as he steps forward.
The vampire charges forward with remarkable speed. You raise your gun quickly, firing. The bullet thuds into Draven's chest, but it fails to even slightly slow him down. He swings the sword as he leaps upon you, slicing through your muscle and sinew and separating your head from your body. His lips immediately wrap around your gaping neck hole as he drains you of your blood, your head rolling to the ground. |
You swing the butt of your gun, cracking into the side of her face and knocking her to the ground with a grunt. The knife goes clattering, and you dart forward, grabbing the knife and raising your rifle to point at her.
"Who the fuck are you?"
The girl stares at you with anger, blood running down her face from the newly opened cut on her forehead. You recognize her as Dasha, the sacrificial victim from earlier. Huh, apparently she survived. Interesting.
"Hands in the air!" you say, pointing the gun at her head.
She slowly raises her hands, spitting blood and a tooth on the ground. Apparently, you swung harder than you thought.
"Fuck you!" she says.
"You need to listen to me," you say.
The girl swings at your head, but you catch her fist. She spits in your face, which you wince at.
> You try talk to her
"Look, please, listen to me," you say.
"Fuck off!" she shouts.
"I don't need you to trust me, just listen! For..."
"I said, fuck off!" she shouts again.
"Listen!" you say loudly, losing your patience. "Did you see those fucking vampires?!"
The girl stares at you, still defiant, but quiet.
"If we want to get out of this, we need to work together. I don't care how much you hate me for doing what I did to you, but we need to."
"You work for the vampires," she says.
"I work for that one," you say, nodding towards Count Grey. "The others killed him, and now they want to kill me... and you. We're on the same side here, understood?"
The girl pauses, before slowly nodding.
"If I let you up, you won't try anything?" you ask.
"Give me my knife," she replies.
"I can't trust you," you say.
"I can't trust you either," she says.
You sigh, before handing the knife back. She grabs it from your, staring at her reflection in the blade for a brief moment, looking as if contemplating attacks, before looking at you.
"What's the plan?" she asks.
"I don't know. We need to... Haygarth," you say. "We need to find him. He should be in the stables. He knows this place better than anyone. He'll have keys, know secret tunnels, know everything."
"Let's go, then," Dasha says. |
You walk into the sacrificial chambers. You walk over to Count Grey, who has a deep wound going through his chest and lies on the ground. You step over the blood-filled grooves of the floor, walking over to him. You drop to a knee, checking his pulse, before mentally hitting yourself for being so stupid. He's undead. You pull back his eyelids, revealing dull, lifeless black eyes. You quickly pat him down, finding only a curved ebony dagger and some Leu on him, which you take. You gently pat his cold head as a matter of respect, or perhaps more likely to comfort yourself. The terrifying menace who has controlled the region for over a thousand years is dead. He was your master, your mentor and your liege.
"Good fucking riddance. He was a cold, sociopathic cunt," you say aloud, a part of you still terrified to say it, somehow expecting him to wake up and tear out your throat.
You stand, looking around. There's the doorway to the lower floors, where you,,,
A girl charges out from your blind side, holding up a dagger.
> You attempt to negotiate
"Wait! Look," you say, holding up your hands in defense.
The girl slashes her knife, cutting open the palms of your hands as blood spurts out and you yelp in pain. The girl slams into you, jabbing her knife directly into your throat. Blood spurts out in even more gallons, as you choke on your own blood as the girl repeatedly stabs you in a mixture of anger and terror. |
You burst towards the wooden door, unlatching it and opening it so Lucas and Mikhail can topple in. You quickly close the door behind them, seeing the eyes of one of the beasts as as it desperately stares at you with the rage of a hungry and stuck lion. You lock the door as it's weight smashes into the hard wood with enough force to splinter it.
"There's not supposed to be that many! There's not that fucking many!" Lucas says.
"There must be every cursed wretch under the moon's gaze," you mutter.
Mikhail spits blood onto his chest.
"Christ..." he groans, as Lucas chuckles.
"Oh dear brother, Count Grey would tear your throat out if he heard you mutter that fucker's name here," Lucas smiles. "Samuel, help me. We need to get Mikhail to the medical bay."
"Can't you handle him? I need to go warn Count Grey and the viceroys," you say.
"Yes, sure," Lucas says, grabbing Mikhail and putting his arm over his shoulder.
He walks towards medical bay, as you quickly hurry up the stairs to the sacrificial chambers. You walk upstairs quickly, heading through the lounge. You reach the door to the sacrificial chambers, before pausing. You can hear whispered voices inside, almost drowned out by the roars of the werewolves outside. How has Count Grey not noticed the attack? Why is he still in the sacrificial chambers? You tilt your head forward, and you think you can make out the words if you try hard enough.
> You enter the room
You walk into the room, and are immediately faced with a shocking scene. Count Grey kneels on the ground in the center of the pentagram, his face covered with blood. Viceroy Draven stands over him, his sword pointed at the older vampire's chest he smiles, looking at his prey. Viceroy Alexa stands to the side, leaning against the wall as she drinks from a crystal bottle filled with the scarlet blood of one of Count Grey's many victims. Viceroy Mihrab stands over his former master, his sharp fingernails pressed against Count Grey's neck, an ornately carved wooden stake in his hands.
In an instant, all four vampire's look at you, surprised.
"He escaped the wolves. Impressive," Viceroy Alexa says.
Viceroy Mihrab's eyes narrow, as he plunges the stake into Count Grey's hearts.
"Get him," he commands.
> You run
You turn, sprinting away as the vampires give chase. You have a clear shot through the main hall and out into the courtyard, where you can lock the heavy wooden doors and keep him locked inside. You could head through the lounge and into the armory to find something capable of killing these beasts. Finally, you could head down the small, spiraling staircase and lose them in the lower floors.
> You head into the courtyard
You sprint forward, past the coat rack and into the entry hall. You grab the wooden door, quickly lifting the metal bar up with a heart-filled with adrenaline, and swinging the door open, shutting it behind you.
A massive bundle of flesh and fur smashes into you, shattering your bones. You painfully smash into the ground, looking up to see a massive, white werewolf sitting atop your broken body. It stares down at you, it's blood red eyes filled with an animalistic hunger, devoid of any sentience beyond that of the wolf it's body has morphed to imitate.
You close your eyes. Thankfully, this beast doesn't like to play with its food, and finishes you quickly. |
You turn, sprinting away as the vampires give chase. You have a clear shot through the main hall and out into the courtyard, where you can lock the heavy wooden doors and keep him locked inside. You could head through the lounge and into the armory to find something capable of killing these beasts. Finally, you could head down the small, spiraling staircase and lose them in the lower floors.
> You head into the armory
You sprint forward, turning towards the armory. You run desperately, but the vampires are faster. You feel your legs knocked away, hurtling to the ground. You smack painfully into the stone floor, yelping as Alexa plunges a dagger into your chest. You yell as it pierces your lungs, coughing blood onto your face. Alexa smiles, licking the blood off your lips, before biting down on your neck and draining the very life source from you. |
You turn, sprinting away as the vampires give chase. You have a clear shot through the main hall and out into the courtyard, where you can lock the heavy wooden doors and keep him locked inside. You could head through the lounge and into the armory to find something capable of killing these beasts. Finally, you could head down the small, spiraling staircase and lose them in the lower floors.
> You head downstairs
You turn, heading down to the staircase. Unfortunately, hurtling down a tight, steep staircase at breakneck speeds leads to you quickly slipping, tumbling face first down. You bounce off the steps, feeling your bones break, before your head lands awkwardly and your neck snaps like a twig. |
You walk into the room, and are immediately faced with a shocking scene. Count Grey kneels on the ground in the center of the pentagram, his face covered with blood. Viceroy Draven stands over him, his sword pointed at the older vampire's chest he smiles, looking at his prey. Viceroy Alexa stands to the side, leaning against the wall as she drinks from a crystal bottle filled with the scarlet blood of one of Count Grey's many victims. Viceroy Mihrab stands over his former master, his sharp fingernails pressed against Count Grey's neck, an ornately carved wooden stake in his hands.
In an instant, all four vampire's look at you, surprised.
"He escaped the wolves. Impressive," Viceroy Alexa says.
Viceroy Mihrab's eyes narrow, as he plunges the stake into Count Grey's hearts.
"Get him," he commands.
> You attack
You raise your rifle, firing at Viceroy Mihrab. He easily sidesteps with inhuman speed, as Viceroy Alexa and Viceroy Draven charge you. Draven is faster, swinging his sword. You manage to duck under it, feeling it hack at your scalp, before he kicks your legs away. Your smack into the hard, cold stone floor, as Alexa grabs your neck, quickly snapping it. |
You walk into the room, and are immediately faced with a shocking scene. Count Grey kneels on the ground in the center of the pentagram, his face covered with blood. Viceroy Draven stands over him, his sword pointed at the older vampire's chest he smiles, looking at his prey. Viceroy Alexa stands to the side, leaning against the wall as she drinks from a crystal bottle filled with the scarlet blood of one of Count Grey's many victims. Viceroy Mihrab stands over his former master, his sharp fingernails pressed against Count Grey's neck, an ornately carved wooden stake in his hands.
In an instant, all four vampire's look at you, surprised.
"He escaped the wolves. Impressive," Viceroy Alexa says.
Viceroy Mihrab's eyes narrow, as he plunges the stake into Count Grey's hearts.
"Get him," he commands.
> You surrender
You raise your hands, dropping to your knees as you put your hands behind your head.
"Please, have mercy," you beg.
Viceroy Alexa sprints up to you with a blur, stopping behind you as she pulls out a curved dagger.
"How... boring. How did you even survive here?" she asks.
With that, she slashes your throat open. You clutch at your bleeding throat, collapsing forward. |
"Come on, you shout," running towards the village.
Your hands push tree branches out of the way as you leave the path, almost tripping as your legs catch in the undergrowth, but manage to keep going. You stumble into the village, grabbing the corner of the house to steady yourself, as the werewolves charge into the village. Thankfully, a few peasants have been caught with their doors barely barricaded. The werewolves smash through hastily nailed planks and into the huts inside to devour a feast of flesh, bone, brains and organs. You hear horrified screams as the beasts get distracted and begin to tear apart the poor souls who have been left inside.
"Ah!" Mikhail screams, as one of the more focused hunters knocks him to the ground with its claw.
"Shit, Mikhail! Samuel, cover me!" Lucas says, skidding to a halt to help his brother.
> You leave them
You keep running, as Lucas swears loudly, cursing your name. You keep running, twisting your head back as you see the werewolf biting into Mikhail's throat. Lucas aims his gun, but clearly seeing the blood streaming from his throat, turns and follows you. As the werewolves are distracted with their prey, you continue sprinting towards the tower.
Unfortunately, you see one of the werewolves stand in the center of the village. It's larger than the others, its fur white and its eyes red. It stares at you for a second, before it lets out a powerful, booming howl. The other werewolves emerge from the buildings, blood matting their fur and dripping from their claws. The Alpha Male drops to all fours and begins sprinting away towards you, followed by the others.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Lucas says as he nears you, as you see the castle.
You sprint, the only noise being your heavy panting and the thudding of boots and clawed feet on the earth. You reach the castle, sprinting through the gates and past the carriages parked there. You see the portcullis' control wheel to your left, and the heavy wooden door to the keep to your right. |
You sigh, drawing your knife as Lucas smiles.
"If you're going to lead to someone's death, at least have the fucking balls to be the one who uses the knife," he says.
Lucas walks over to the next girl, as you walk up to one. She tries to struggle, but you grab her by the hair, holding her vulnerable throat out and slicing it open with a long cut, before slowly lowering her head to above the grove. Lucas grabs the next girl by the hair, holding her forward and quickly slashing her throat as the blood pours out. You walk to the next one, quickly driving the sword through her neck, slicing open her fleshy throat and letting her bleed into the groove.
"Watch them die, Mikhail. You choose for this to happen. Whether you want to actually hold the knife or watch, you're a fucking monster. We all are. At least, we're willing to fulfill our role."
"Lucas! Mikhail! Samuel! Come down here!" Count Grey asks. "Quickly!"
"We need to go," Mikhail says, quickly turning and heading towards the door.
You quickly hurry towards the main hall, walking down the spiraling stairs. Count Grey stands there, alongside his three Viceroys, and Haygarth rushing to put away coats.
Viceroy Draven is a tall,well-muscled man. He has long, curly black hair, and instead of the black attire of the other three, he instead dons steel plated armor which covers him from the neck down. A sword hangs by his side. From what you know, he's almost five hundred years old, once being and most likely still remaining a formidable warrior. He looks at you, his eyes narrowing as he stares at you. He lets out a low, guttural growling at the sight of you. Even after years of work around Count Grey, the man manages to make you feel like little more than a blood bag.
The second, Viceroy Mihrab, is even older, almost as old as Count Grey. His skin seems unusually tight, a light brown in complex, his face sunken, his eyes lacking any emotion whatsoever. He wears dark attire, his eyes glancing in your direction away for a second, before peering away with disinterest. He doesn't appear to be armed, but with the long, sharp fingernails on his hand that at that length qualify as swords as well as long fangs, he doesn't need them.
The final Viceroy, Alexa, is the only woman of te group. She wears a black hooded cloak, her pale, scarred face underneath, with unnaturally long fangs even for one of her kind to halfway down towards her chin. She leans against the wall, looking at you without a single noise. She stares at you like a starved wolf. Something tells you that of all those present, she's the biggest threat.
"Yes, master?" Mikhail says, standing up straight.
"Werewolves spotted on Hangman's Trail," he says. "They're amassing. Perhaps for a strike."
You pause, and can hear the distant howls of what lies between monsters and men.
"We'll push them back, sir," Mikhail nods.
Mikhail turns away, and quickly begins heading to the armory. You follow, and you all quickly descend the stairs to the armory. You walk inside, grabbing a padded leather duster and slinging it over. You grab a rifle, as well as several magazines of silver bullets, popping them in a satchel that you put over your head.
Now suitably armed, you grab a lantern, walking out towards the main hall. The Vampires have left, no doubt to partake in some drinks, discuss future plans, before beginning the ritual and, imbued with a power that grows as the blood moan rises, slaughtering dozens of helpless villagers.
You walk out the hall doors, pushing the door open and entering the dark night. You walk along the earth, passing the gate, which for some reason has been left open, one of the Viceroy's carriages sitting under the raised portcullis.
"Should we move it so we can drop the portcullis?" you ask.
"And piss off Count Grey and whoever owns this carriage? No fucking chance," Lucas says.
As you leave and wander off into the trees. Soon, the only sound is the crunching of leaves under foot and your breathing.
"Control your breathing. Deep breaths. Watch your foot placement as well as the path in front of you. Avoid twigs and try leaves. We're trying to hunt, best be quiet about it," Lucas says. "The man's most definitely untrustworthy and cruel, but he knows how to hunt.
You take his advise, holding the lantern out to illuminate the path ahead. You see a shape move to your right, and stop, immediately twisting to aim.
"Contract, left side!" you whisper.
"Just a deer, stay focused!" Lucas whispers. "This is a fucking hunting trail, of course there's deer around!"
You keep moving, you gun raised in your one hand, propped in the crook of your shoulder to allow you to aim.
The beam of your light comes across a deer lying on the ground. It's belly has been ripped to shreds, entrails covering the earth around it and soaking it with bodily fluids. It's head, connected to its body by a few strands of sinew and muscle, lies in the grass at the edge of the path, two lifeless eyes staring towards the stars.
"It's fresh, look out!" Lucas growls, as you immediately turn. You see a form rush through the undergrowth, aiming at it, but it's gone before your finger can even tighten on the trigger.
A growling comes from the trees to your left, and you swing your rifle over to aim at the beast. They're faster than usual. They're not supposed to be this fast. It must be that fucking moon!
A howl comes from your right, and you drop your lantern to aim, catching a glance of blood-matted fur and a flash of white teeth. The beasts don't seem to bee going for the attack, rather endlessly circling, toying with you. None of you have even had the chance to fire a shot.
Suddenly you see one of them, basked in the red glow of the moon, dead in the center of the path. This one stands directly there, hunched over and staring at you, clearly not scared in the slightest. It's abnormally large, not even wearing the tattered remains of clothes, covered in patches of fur. it's head is malformed, it's jaws filled with teeth that barely fit in its mouth, crushed into somewhat of a snout. It's hungry eyes stare at you, as it lets out a low growl.
> You wait
You wait, keeping the monster in your sights, but knowing there's as many off to the side, waiting to strike and wipe you out to the last man. The creature growls, clearly impatient. Suddenly, it arches it's head back, looking up at the crimson moon, and letting our a powerful, ear-splitting howl.
Suddenly, the monsters are upon you. A wall of fur, muscles, teeth and claws strikes, a wave of death. You twist, firing your gun, grabbing the bolt and pulling it back, but before you have the chance, a clawed hand grabs you, willing you throw the air and into a tree. You yell as your back breaks against the tree. Before you can even scream, your throat is tore open by a mouthful of sharp canines. |
You swing your fist, smashing into the side of the girl's head, as she crumples to her knees. She lets out a pained moan through her gag, and as blood trickles down the side of her face, her eyes fill with fear. You pull on her chain again and she follows. You quickly lead the two along the hallway, before up the stairs, into the "church". You hear Count Grey's dark, cold, emotionless voice from the main hall.
"Welcome, Viceroys. Did you decide to come together, or simply met on the road here?"
"Coincidence, my lord," another far deeper voice booms, one more filled with malice and hatred than Count Grey's.
"Good, good. Haygarth!" Count Grey shouts.
"Yes, yes master?" Haygarth's voice comes back from the stables.
"Come, fetch the Viceroy's coats!"
"Yes, yes sir!" Haygarth says, quickly hurrying to them.
You turn your attention back to the task at hand. In front of you in a large, open stone room. Groves cover the stone floor, making the shape of a large pentagram. Lucas' two prisoners are kneeling at two of the points of the pentagram chained to a loop in the stone to prevent them from moving, while Dasha lies at the third, her unconscious state meaning she doesn't need to be chained up.
"Come on," you say, raising your fist to threaten the second girl. You force her to kneel on the ground and chain her to the loop in the ground. You drag the first girl to the other, doing the same.
Mikhail and Lucas stand off to the side, watching them. Mikhail looks down, looking vaguely embarrassed at his part in this. Lucas, however, seems ecstatic. He walks forward, grinning as he draws his dagger.
"Oh boy, look at that!" he says, dropping to his knees in front of a girl. "Look at that. You see the pentagram? You see those deep, thick groves? I'm going to fill them with your blood. You like that? You ready?"
The girl frantically begins to struggle, as Lucas smiles. Lucas slices the girl's throat open, as blood pours out, flooding into the grove and running along. The girl gurgles as blood pours through her throat, and Lucas lets the head fall to the ground over the grove, letting the blood pour out into it.
"Mikhail, come on, we need this ready for the Viceroys and Count Grey!" he says.
"I am not a butcher," Mikhail says softly, as Lucas' eyes narrow.
"Don't fucking take the high road. You drugged every whore here, knowing it was all so we'd slit there throats here. You're as much a murderer as I am."
Mikhail looks to the ground, opening his mouth as if to say something, but closing it just as quickly.
"That's what I thought. Samuel, grab your knife, let's get to work."
> You let Lucas kill them all
You stare at Lucas wordlessly, who frowns. Lucas works to the next girl angrily, kicking her in the back of head to force her above the grove. He grabs her by the hair, holding her forward and quickly slashing her throat as the blood pours out. He walks to the next one, who at this point is frantically trying to escape. Lucas stabs her through the throat multiple times, as blood spurts to the ground.
"Watch them die, cowards. You choose for this to happen. Whether you want to actually hold the knife or watch, you're fucking monsters. We all are. At least, I'm proud of myself."
Lucas walks over the second last girl, putting the knife to her throat. The girl struggles desperately, but the chains stop her from resisting
"Lucas! Mikhail! Samuel! Come down here!" Count Grey asks. "Quickly!"
"We need to go," Mikhail says, quickly turning and heading towards the door.
Lucas shrugs, slicing open the girl's throat and letting her head fall and knock against the cold stone. He quickly hurries towards Count Grey, and you follow. You quickly hurry towards the main hall, walking down the spiraling stairs. Count Grey stands there, alongside his three Viceroys, and Haygarth rushing to put away coats.
Viceroy Draven is a tall, large man covered with heavy muscles. He has long, curly black hair, and instead of the black attire of the other three, wears steel plated armor covering him from the neck down, with a sword hanging by his side. From what you know, he's almost five hundred years, once being and most likely still remaining a formidable warrior. He looks at you, his eyes narrowing as he stares at you. He lets out a low, guttural growling at the sight of you, and even after years of work around Count Grey, the man manages to make you feel like little more than a blood bag.
The second, Viceroy Mihrab, is even older, almost as old as Count Grey. His skin seems unusually tight, a light brown in complex, his face sunken, his eyes lacking any emotion whatsoever. He wears dark attire, his eyes glancing in your direction away for a second, before peering away with disinterest. He doesn't appear to be armed, but with the long, sharp fingernails on his hand that at that length qualify as swords as well as long fangs, he doesn't need them.
The final Viceroy, Alexa, is the only woman of the group. She wears a black hooded cloak, her pale, scarred face underneath, with unnaturally long fangs even for one of her kind to halfway down towards her chin. She leans against the wall, looking at you without a single noise. She stares at you like a starved wolf. Something tells you that of all those there, she's the biggest threat.
"Yes, master?" Mikhail says, standing up straight.
"Werewolves spotted on Hangman's Trail," he says. "They're amassing. Perhaps for a strike."
You pause, and can hear the distant howls of what lies between monsters and men.
"We'll push them back, sir," Mikhail nods.
Mikhail turns away, and quickly begins heading to the armory. You follow, and you all quickly descend the stairs to the armory. You walk inside, grabbing a padded leather duster and slinging it over. You grab a rifle, as well as several magazines of silver bullets, popping them in a satchel that you put over your head.
Now suitably armed, you grab a lantern, walking out towards the main hall. The Vampires have left, no doubt to partake in some drinks, discuss future plans, before beginning the ritual and, imbued with a power that grows as the blood moan rises, slaughtering dozens of helpless villagers.
You walk out the hall doors, pushing the door open and entering the dark night. You walk along the earth, passing the gate, which for some reason has been left open, one of the Viceroy's carriages sitting under the raised portcullis.
"Should we move it so we can drop the portcullis?" you ask.
"And piss off Count Grey and whoever owns this carriage? No fucking chance," Lucas says.
As you leave and wander off into the trees. Soon, the only sound is the crunching of leaves under foot and your breathing.
"Control your breathing. Deep breaths. Watch your foot placement as well as the path in front of you. Avoid twigs and try leaves. We're trying to hunt, best be quiet about it," Lucas says. "The man's most definitely untrustworthy and cruel, but he knows how to hunt.
You take his advise, holding the lantern out to illuminate the path ahead. You see a shape move to your right, and stop, immediately twisting to aim.
"Contract, left side!" you whisper.
"Just a deer, stay focused!" Lucas whispers. "This is a fucking hunting trail, of course there's deer around!"
You keep moving, you gun raised in your one hand, propped in the crook of your shoulder to allow you to aim.
The beam of your light comes across a deer lying on the ground. It's belly has been ripped to shreds, entrails covering the earth around it and soaking it with bodily fluids. It's head, connected to its body by a few strands of sinew and muscle, lies in the grass at the edge of the path, two lifeless eyes staring towards the stars.
"It's fresh, look out!" Lucas growls, as you immediately turn. You see a form rush through the undergrowth, aiming at it, but it's gone before your finger can even tighten on the trigger.
A growling comes from the trees to your left, and you swing your rifle over to aim at the beast. They're faster than usual. They're not supposed to be this fast. It must be that fucking moon!
A howl comes from your right, and you drop your lantern to aim, catching a glance of blood-matted fur and a flash of white teeth. The beasts don't seem to bee going for the attack, rather endlessly circling, toying with you. None of you have even had the chance to fire a shot.
Suddenly you see one of them, basked in the red glow of the moon, dead in the center of the path. This one stands directly there, hunched over and staring at you, clearly not scared in the slightest. It's abnormally large, not even wearing the tattered remains of clothes, covered in patches of fur. it's head is malformed, it's jaws filled with teeth that barely fit in its mouth, crushed into somewhat of a snout. It's hungry eyes stare at you, as it lets out a low growl. It's trying to bait you into striking. Still, maybe this is the best chance you're getting. |
The coach drives inside the huge gates of the huge castle, as the sky turns gold and twilight fills the world with a beautiful feeling of serenity. The coach pulls into the stables, where Haygarth immediately gets to work with the horses. Mikhail opens the coach door, putting Dasha over his shoulder and walking towards the keep. You follow him, as does Lucas, walking alongside him as Dasha stirs with a groan, but doesn't break her slumber.
You walk into the keep, and quickly down to the dungeons. The large dungeon is covered with an earth floor, and four occupied cells. Four women, all of similar age and appearance to Dasha, all whose names you've forgotten, are there. Their mouths are gagged, though they scream desperately as they see you enter. Mikhail mutters a curse under his breath as he tries not to make eye contact with the women, but Lucas smiles and cheerfully waves at women. Mikhail carries Dasha to an empty cell, opening it and laying her gently on the cot inside. He locks the cell behind him, and looks at you both.
"The sun is down. Should we wake him?" Mikhail asks.
"Leave him. It's late. We'll wake him in an hour," Lucas says.
You nod, turning and walking away from the twins. You head up the stone staircase towards the kitchen. Despite the fact that this building is around a thousand years old, it's surprisingly well furnished. Count Grey has kept the house furnished with modern technology, one of the bonuses of controlling a tiny pocket of land and resources. As long as King Carol I got his taxes, he left Count Grey do as he pleased.
You open a cabinet, taking out a somewhat stale sugar cookie and biting into it. You make yourself a sandwich from cold meat, nuts and dates, and quietly consume it, while watching as the world blackens. Just as you see the first red haze on the horizon of the rising blood moon, you quickly turn and head quickly down to the Count's chambers. You hurry down the stairs, quickly heading to the lowest floor, at the center of the castle. Mikhail is already waiting in the dark room, empty except for a single, candle-adored coffin leaning against the stone wall.
The coffin in intricate, a large, black wooden coffin with an intricate, thorny pattern, and a single silver, demonic face with a roaring mouth with a pair of fangs on the front. You can feel the dark feeling emanating from it. It makes you feel cold just looking at it, and you shudder at the thought of what lies inside. Nonetheless, it is your duty to awaken your master.
Lucas hurries into the room,, dropping his cigarette and crushing it under his heel. He looks at both of you.
"Oh good, we're all here. Let's do it, shall we?" Lucas says.
"Which one of us wakes him tonight?" you say.
Lucas smiles, holding up his bandaged wrist.
"I did yesterday."
Mikhail shows you the two-day old cut on his upper arm You draw your dagger, pressing it against your forearm and gently slicing it open. You take in a deep breath as you feel the sharp pain. Blood pours down your arm, and your press the open cut into the roaring mouth of the silver ideal, smearing it with blood. You count to three, before leaning in.
"Glorious Master, the night has come and the world is yours," you whisper.
You step back as the coffin door is pushed open. Inside stands the Count. Dried blood cakes the corners of his mouth, as he lets out a growl, flashing his long, curved fangs, that look sharper than a needle. His black, soulless eyes peer into yours, as you take a deep breath. You outstretch your arm, and he walks forward, grabbing you by the wrist. He brings your arm to his mouth, and begins to suck. He sucks the blood that pumps from your cut as you wince, before releasing you. Mikhail hands you a roll of bandage, which you quickly begin wrapping them around your wound. Count Grey walks away from you, strolling towards the lounge. He walks up the stone stairs, before heading to the glass window. He stares out at the darkness, and the rising red moon.
"Good... good..." he says. "Prepare altar. The Viceroys will be here soon."
You nod eagerly, and quickly head down to the dungeons, followed by the others. The gagged woman are in the cells, curled up and terrified. Dasha is still unconscious, which gives you pause.
"The new girl, Dasha, look at her," you say.
"What of her?" Lucas asks.
"She's still not awake. Maybe you used too much chloroform, Mikhail," you say.
"No, I used the normal amount. Maybe she had a medical condition," Mikhail says.
"Who the fuck cares?" Lucas asks.
"What if she's dead? We'll be one victim short? Do you want to be the sacrifice?" you say.
Lucas pauses, opening the cell and walking towards her. He drops to his knee, putting a hand against her chest.
"She's breathing. Just unconscious. The idiot must've used too much chloroform. She's alive, she'll do, alright?"
Mikhail shrugs, slinging the girl over his shoulder. Lucas opens the two other cells, grabbing the women inside and pulling them along by their hair. The girls are shackled, so they're incapable of struggling much, but any resistance leads quickly to a punch to the side of the head.
"Samuel, get the last two!" Lucas shouts.
You grab the cell keys, walking over. One of the girl stares at you with rage, the other sits in the back corner in terror. You open the scared girl's cell first, grabbing her by her chain. You drag her out of the cell, before opening the second cell and grabbing the more resistant girl.
"Don't fight me on this. You're not going to win this, and I don't want to hurt you," you say.
You pull on the second girl's chain, but she plants her feet down and stares at you.
> You drag her to the chambers
You grit your teeth, pulling tightly on the chain and dragging her forward. She tries to resist, but you're simply stronger, and she's forced to follow. You slowly lead the two along the hallway, up the stairs, and into the "church". You hear Count Grey's dark, cold, emotionless voice from the main hall.
"Welcome, Viceroys. Did you decide to come together, or simply met on the road here?"
"Coincidence, my lord," another far deeper voice booms, one more filled with malice and hatred than Count Grey's.
"Good, good. Haygarth!" Count Grey shouts.
"Yes, yes master?" Haygarth's voice comes back from the stables.
"Come, fetch the Viceroy's coats!"
"Yes, yes sir!" Haygarth says, quickly hurrying to them.
You turn your attention back to the task at hand. In front of you in a large, open stone room. Groves cover the stone floor, making the shape of a large pentagram. Lucas' two prisoners are kneeling at two of the points of the pentagram chained to a loop in the stone to prevent them from moving, while Dasha lies at the third, her unconscious state meaning she doesn't need to be chained up.
"Come on," you say, dragging the second girl to one of the pentagram's points. You force her to kneel on the ground and chain her to the loop in the ground. You drag the first girl to the other, doing the same.
Mikhail and Lucas stand off to the side, watching them. Mikhail looks down, looking vaguely embarrassed at his part in this. Lucas, however, seems ecstatic. He walks forward, grinning as he draws his dagger.
"Oh boy, look at that!" he says, dropping to his knees in front of a girl. "Look at that. You see the pentagram? You see those deep, thick groves? I'm going to fill them with your blood. You like that? You ready?"
The girl frantically begins to struggle, as Lucas smiles. Lucas slices the girl's throat open, as blood pours out, flooding into the grove and running along. The girl gurgles as blood pours through her throat, and Lucas lets the head fall to the ground over the grove, letting the blood pour out into it.
"Mikhail, come on, we need this ready for the Viceroys and Count Grey!" he says.
"I am not a butcher," Mikhail says softly, as Lucas' eyes narrow.
"Don't fucking take the high road. You drugged every whore here, knowing it was all so we'd slit there throats here. You're as much a murderer as I am."
Mikhail looks to the ground, opening his mouth as if to say something, but closing it just as quickly.
"That's what I thought. Samuel, grab your knife, let's get to work." |
You hand over your wallet, giving them the finger as you do.
"Thanks," the skinny one smiles, grabbing it from your hand as he smacks you in the head with the gun, knocking you to the floor.
"What are you doing?" the big one asks. "We don't need to kill him! We got the wallet!"
You look up to see the barrel of the gun pointing directly at your head.
"You heard what he said. He's with the count. If we kill him now, the count won't come after us!" the skinny one knows. "He's seen our faces."
"He doesn't know our names," the big one says.
"I'm Lucas. That's Mikhail," the skinny one said.
"What the fuck!?" the big one, Mikhail replies.
"We have to kill him. Now even you'd agree to that," Lucas says.
"Always kill your prey. You don't want to let them come back and bite you in the throat," a voice says.
Count Grey steps from the shadows, his teeth curved in a grin, his fangs prominent. He grabs Lucas' gun arm, twisting it until Lucas drops the gun. Mikhail charges with a knife, but with a quick, well-planted punch to the chest sends him to the floor, badly winded. You stand up, grabbing the gun as well as drawing your own, pointing one at each of the thieves.
"What, are you some fucking cowboy with your guns? Shoot, come on!" Lucas says, even though his bottom lip is quivering.
"Tell me, Samuel. How did they manage to jump you?" Count Grey asks, tracing a finger down Lucas' nose.
"I was pissing," you admit.
"Hmmm... tell me, where is your family?" Count Grey asks, turning his attention to the teens.
"Dead," Lucas answers.
"Well then, you've shown balls, willingness to kill and the ability to ambush. Perhaps... Samuel, you were the one mugged. What happened? Were you behaving stupidly and ambushed by some lackluster fools, or are these two deserving of becoming ghouls?"
> You suggest you were unprepared and the teens are undeserving of becoming ghouls
"No. I was just unprepared," you say. "These thieves are nothing special."
"So be..." Count Grey says, before Mikhail grabs your leg, flipping you onto your back.
Count Grey steps back as he watches you struggle on the ground with Mikhail. Your guns bounce across the stones and land a few feet away, barely in arms reach. Lucas immediately goes for the guns, as Mikhail puts his hands around your throats and begins to strangle.
> You go for the gun
You reach for the gun, as both you and Lucas immediately grab it. You try to rip the gun from his hands, but Mikhail's massive, strong hands choke the life out of you. His hands crush your throat with it's powerful squeezing, and the life is wringed out of you as you desperately try to get one last breath. The world goes dark, as you let out a final croak. |
"No. I was just unprepared," you say. "These thieves are nothing special."
"So be..." Count Grey says, before Mikhail grabs your leg, flipping you onto your back.
Count Grey steps back as he watches you struggle on the ground with Mikhail. Your guns bounce across the stones and land a few feet away, barely in arms reach. Lucas immediately goes for the guns, as Mikhail puts his hands around your throats and begins to strangle.
> You focus on Mikhail
Your fingers immediately grab Mikhail's face, your thumbs going into his eyes as you begin to push your thumbs down to blind him. Mikhail releases his grip to grab your wrists and pull him away, before Lucas fires the gun. The bullet blows out the back of your head, staining the ground red. |
You walk inside the tavern by yourself, feeling the weight of your Leu-filled wallet in your side pocket. You walk along, and immediately garner the attention of everyone in the bar. Your garb makes it immediately clear to anyone but the most ignorant or simply stupid of the peasants that you're a servant of Count Grey. The tavern quickly clears out, heading to their various homes, leaving only a few idiots too old and stubborn or young and cocky to realize staying near you is death.
You toss a crumpled note on the counter, looking up at the bar tender expectantly. Soon, you find yourself drinking a pint, a plate of chicken, boiled potatoes and cabbage in front of you. You smile, eating it up eagerly, downing the pint in a few gulps. You belch loudly, smiling as you find yourself now filled with food, warm and content.
"Where's the bathroom?" you ask, feeling the need to piss rising as your full bladder demands you act.
"Bathroom's broken. Go outside," the bar-tender replies.
You raise an eyebrow, tapping on your hat.
"Do you know who I am? Who I work for?" you ask.
"I do. If he shows up here, I'm as happy to show him the broken toilet as I am you."
You sigh, standing and walking outside into the alley. You unzip your trousers and pull out your dick, pissing onto the side of the old building.
Suddenly, the cold blade of a knife is pressed against your throat.
"Don't move," a deep voice whispers. "Hands in the air."
"Do you expect me to let go of my dick and piss on myself?" you ask, more annoyed than scared.
"Finish up," the voice says.
You finish pissing, popping your genitalia back in your trousers, buttoning it up, and slowly turn to face your attack. Two teens, barely fifteen by the looks of it, both with short blond hair, one skinny, on large and muscular, stare at you. The skinny one holds a pistol, while the big one holds the knife pressed against your throat.
"What's this about, gents? Revenge?" you ask, knowing just how many family's want your blood for taking their daughter's.
"What? We don't know you," the big one says.
"The wallet. Now," the skinny one says.
You pause, frowning.
"Are you seriously fucking telling me you've decided to mug me?" you ask, surprised.
"Why the fuck wouldn't we?" the big one asks, pushing you against the wall as the skinny one draws his own knife with his left hand, strolling forward to press the barrel against your temple.
"Wallet. Now," he says.
"Fucking idiots. You don't recognize the outfit, eh? I'm a fucking Ghoul, Count Grey's personal assistant."
The big one looks at the skinny one nervously.
"Maybe we should let him go," the big one asks.
"He's bluffing," the skinny one says, licking his lips. "Ghouls... ghouls are rotten, aren't they?"
"The sun's down, boys. Count Grey's due to wake..."
"Shut it! Wallet, now!" the skinny one commands.
> You attack
You grab the pistol, forcing it skyward as the skinny one pulls the trigger, the bullet ricocheting off the wall. The big one thrusts his knife forward, stabbing into your throat repeatedly, slicing open your throat and sending a wave of blood to run down your chest. You let out a pained gurgle, before collapsing to the ground. |
"Haygarth, be fair here. Do you really want to go back to the castle to have to cook for us? We could quickly get some grub, some drinks, and then head back to the castle. Right?"
"Don't like leaving carriage. There's always pointing, laughing, staring," Haygarth says, pulling his balaclava up to the bridge of his nose. "Fine. I'll pull in. You go eat. I'll wait here, eat something when I get home," he says.
The carriage pulls in alongside a tavern, as you look to Haygarth, who looks fairly pathetic as he attempts to cover his mishapen form.
> You attempt to convince Haygarth to come in
"Haygarth, it's cold, it's been a long day, you must be starving and desperate for a drink. Come on, Haygarth, let's go inside."
"Fine," Haygarth says, nodding as he climbs off his spot. "Five minutes."
> You enter the tavern
You walk inside the tavern by yourself, feeling the weight of your Leu-filled wallet in your side pocket,. You walk alongside a nervous Haygarth, and immediately garner the attention of everyone in the bar. Your garb makes it immediately clear to anyone but the most ignorant or simply stupid of the peasants that you're a servant of Count Grey. The tavern quickly clears out, heading to their various homes, leaving only a few idiots too old and stubborn or young and cocky to realize staying near you is death.
You toss a crumpled note on the counter, looking up at the bar tender expectantly.
"Everyone's staring," Haygarth says, nervously.
"Everyone either left, is drunk as fuck or is trying to appear tough while stopping from pissing themselves," you reply.
Soon, you find yourself drinking a pint, a plate of chicken, boiled potatoes and cabbage in front of you, as Haygarth does likewise. You smile, eating it up eagerly, downing the pint in a few gulps. You belch loudly, as Haygarth mutters a complaint. You grin, finding yourself now filled with food, warm and content.
"Where's the bathroom?" you ask, feeling the need to piss rising as your full bladder demands you act.
"Bathroom's broken. Go outside," the bar-tender replies.
You raise an eyebrow, tapping on your hat.
"Do you know who I am? Who I work for?" you ask.
"I do. If he shows up here, I'm as happy to show him the broken toilet as I am you."
"Fuck you," you say, before turning to Haygarth. "Back in a sec, I need to piss."
"Have haste! The master awaits!" Haygarth replies.
You stand, turning and walking outside into the alley. You unzip your trousers and pull out your dick, pissing onto the side of the old building.
Suddenly, the cold blade of a knife is pressed against your throat.
"Don't move," a deep voice whispers. "Hands in the air."
"Do you expect me to let go of my dick and piss on myself?" you ask, more annoyed than scared.
"Finish up," the voice says.
You finish pissing, popping your genitalia back in your trousers, buttoning it up, and slowly turn to face your attack. Two teens, barely fifteen by the looks of it, both with short blond hair, one skinny, on large and muscular, stare at you. The skinny one holds a pistol, while the big one holds the knife pressed against your throat.
"What's this about, gents? Revenge?" you ask, knowing just how many family's want your blood for taking their daughter's.
"What? We don't know you," the big one says.
"The wallet. Now," the skinny one says.
You pause, frowning.
"Are you seriously fucking telling me you've decided to mug me?" you ask, surprised.
"Why the fuck wouldn't we?" the big one asks, pushing you against the wall as the skinny one draws his own knife with his left hand, strolling forward to press the barrel against your temple.
"Wallet. Now," he says.
"Fucking idiots. You don't recognize the outfit, eh? I'm a fucking Ghoul, Count Grey's personal assistant."
The big one looks at the skinny one nervously.
"Maybe we should let him go," the big one asks.
"He's bluffing," the skinny one says, licking his lips. "Ghouls... ghouls are rotten, aren't they?"
"The sun's down, boys. Count Grey's due to wake..."
"Shut it! Wallet, now!" the skinny one commands |
You sit in the shotgun seat of a carriage with Haygarth at the reins. It's been a long journey. You have to venture to meet with King Ferdinand I in order to arrange taxation laws and other things you haven't been educated well enough to understand. You're finally entering the territory under Count Grey's control, staring out at the village you're entering as the sun falls in the distance.
"Stop here," you say. "I want to grab a bite to eat."
"We must be home soon!" Haygarth says. "Count Grey's in the back, he might wake up soon. Sun's almost gone."
You're hungry, thirsty and you've been traveling for the past three days. There's no way in hell you're going back to the castle for Haygarth to cook up his famous soup, which you're certain he's literally shitting in.
> You force Haygath to stop
"Haygarth," you snarl, drawing a pistol from your side. "If you really want me to pistol-whip you into submission, I'm willing to do so."
Haygarth sighs, before nodding.
"Fine, fine, but be quick about it!"
The carriage pulls in alongside a tavern, as you look to Haygarth, who looks fairly pathetic as he attempts to cover his mishapen form. |
You awake to the prick of fangs against your neck. You don't move, taking in a deep breath.
"You looked so... so appetizing. Let's go. We need to finish the last stage of your path towards becoming a true apprentice."
You nod, standing. You make your way down to the prison cell, where the girl still waits. She looks up, terrified.
"What... what is to be done with her?" you gulp.
"She is food. Learn that fact," your master says.
The vampire draws a long dagger from his side, handing it to you.
"If you're going to be my Ghoul, you need to prove you're capable of preparing my food. Kill her,"
You hold the knife, staring at it as the girl begins to cry. You notice from the wet patch growing on her nightgown, she's pissed herself once more.
"Kill her. She's weak, you're strong. Slice open her throat, so I can feed," Count Grey commanded.
The girl breaks into sobs as Count Grey opens the cell door, swinging it ajar and motioning for you to enter. You nod, walking forward with the knife held tightly in your hand.
> You refuse
"I can't do it," you say, dropping the knife and let it collapse on the ground.
"Do you really want to make that choice?" Count Grey asks, baring his fangs. They remind you of long, curved thin ivory daggers, ready to strike at any given moment
"Yes," you say.
"So be it," he says. "You've shown courage by refusing an order. Perhaps you're braver than expected. Fine, follow me. Lock the cell door behind you."
You breath out a sigh of relief, closing the door and locking it with a twist of the key. You follow Count Grey along the hall. Soon, you find yourself in front of a large, wooden door. Haygarth has forbidden you from entering, which only mean that you had one less room to clean. Count Grey pulls a short, silver key from his pocket. He opens the door, revealing a massive storage room. The room is filled with cabinets and shelving units. They're all filled with crystal bottles, filled with a scarlet red ichor.
"This castle was built to withstand a siege. It's storerooms could keep a force here going for years with wheat, potatoes, salted meats and more, as well as small gardens. Unfortunately, I require a more… delicate solution to avoid starving."
You look at the endless bottles of blood, wondering how many lives were given to fill them.
"It's quite hard to successfully bottle blood. Let alone hard hard it is to get it from the victim without a needle and a few hours."
"You want me to kill people and bottle their blood?" you gulp. "Are you willing to do that?"
> Yes
"You think so? You're a virgin, aren't you?"
"Yes," you say, raising an eyebrow.
"Then I think you're right. You will fill a few bottles," Count Grey says.
Count Grey bursts forward, grabbing you by the neck and twisting it. His fangs fly forward, stabbing through your neck. You gasp as your blood fills his mouth. The last sensation you feel is your bleeding neck wound being pressed against the rim of an empty glass bottle. |
"I can't do it," you say, dropping the knife and let it collapse on the ground.
"Do you really want to make that choice?" Count Grey asks, baring his fangs. They remind you of long, curved thin ivory daggers, ready to strike at any given moment
"Yes," you say.
"So be it," he says. "You've shown courage by refusing an order. Perhaps you're braver than expected. Fine, follow me. Lock the cell door behind you."
You breath out a sigh of relief, closing the door and locking it with a twist of the key. You follow Count Grey along the hall. Soon, you find yourself in front of a large, wooden door. Haygarth has forbidden you from entering, which only mean that you had one less room to clean. Count Grey pulls a short, silver key from his pocket. He opens the door, revealing a massive storage room. The room is filled with cabinets and shelving units. They're all filled with crystal bottles, filled with a scarlet red ichor.
"This castle was built to withstand a siege. It's storerooms could keep a force here going for years with wheat, potatoes, salted meats and more, as well as small gardens. Unfortunately, I require a more… delicate solution to avoid starving."
You look at the endless bottles of blood, wondering how many lives were given to fill them.
"It's quite hard to successfully bottle blood. Let alone hard hard it is to get it from the victim without a needle and a few hours."
"You want me to kill people and bottle their blood?" you gulp. "Are you willing to do that?"
> No
"I thought not. You're a virgin, aren't you?"
"Yes," you say, raising an eyebrow.
"Then I think you will fill a few bottles," Count Grey says.
Count Grey bursts forward, grabbing you by the neck and twisting it. His fangs fly forward, stabbing through your neck. You gasp as your blood fills his mouth. The last sensation you feel is your bleeding neck wound being pressed against the rim of an empty glass bottle. |
The coach enters the castle gate, as you climb off the coach. Haygarth lowers the portcullis, as you go to the back to open the coach. The girl sits there, staring at you in terror.
"Get out," you command.
The girl nods, crawling ahead as she gets out of the coach. You grab her by the wrist, leading her along to the coach. She doesn't talk, seemingly in shock. She doesn't say a word, instead staring at you in terror. You wonder if you should try to converse, to calm her, or keep unemotional and professional about this issue.
> You do your job without talking
You keep walking, as the girl stays compliant. She does actually smell quite strongly of perfume. You lead her quickly to the castle's dungeons. You drag her down the stairs, before leading her into a prison cell. You lock the cell door, staring at her from behind the bars. She stares blankly ahead, leaning against the wall and sliding down to lean against it, her nightgown now covered in mud and dirt.
You leave her there, now secured, and end up heading to bed for a few hours sleep before Count Grey arrives back. |
"Uh... the... the fi..." you stutter, tripping over your words as the vampire growls.
"Have I found myself with another fool, a boy with the mind of a mule?" the vampire says, his long, gleaning white fangs, the corners of his mouth still red with your blood. "I've had a year out of you. Perhaps it's best to finish you off now."
Count Grey slowly walks forward, snarling as his fangs poke out, looking like huge spears.
> You run
You turn quickly, sprinting away as the vampire bursts forward, knocking your leg away and sending you tumbling forward. You smash into the ground as the vampire strikes, landing atop your fragile body.. He grabs your neck, holding your head high to expose your neck. His mouth immediately shoots forward, biting into your neck as he begins to drain you of your life force. You gasp as your blood is drained, before he stands, leaving your dead body on the ground. |
You sit in the shotgun seat of the coach, as Haygarth continues spurring the horses forward. You're entering the village of Nitchidorf, with Count Grey resting in the back. The carriage's wheels roll into the village, stopping as you enter the village limits.
"Go open the doors for the Count," Haygarth says.
You nod, quickly hopping off the carriage. You run to the back of the carriage, opening it as the tall, gaunt Vampire steps out, tilting his head to stare down at you.
"Follow," he commands.
He begins walking along the street, staring at each of the houses.
"We must find you a little... playmate," Count Grey says, looking at the houses.
He sniffs the air, staring at the houses. His eyes flicker to you, filling you with dread as he licks his lips, still stained with bits of your crimson ichor, looking hungry.
"Ye-yes, master," you say, nervously.
The vampire stares at you for a second, before looking away. He seems impatient.
"Yes... I can smell two prominent ones. Tell me, Samuel, what do you think? There's a young one who smells freshly bathed and lemongrass perfume, or one that smells of fresh dough and... terror sweat. It appears the latter one can see us. Which is it, Samuel?"
> The second girl
"Uh... the... the se..." you stutter, tripping over your words as the vampire growls.
"Have I found myself with another fool, a boy with the mind of a mule?" the vampire says, his long, gleaning white fangs, the corners of his mouth still red with your blood. "I've had a year out of you. Perhaps it's best to finish you off now."
Count Grey slowly walks forward, snarling as his fangs poke out, looking like huge spears. |
You sit on the ground, scrubbing the cold stone floor of the Grey Castle, named as much for its cold, lifeless demeanor as much as its owner. Haygarth stands over you, watching as he makes sure you do a proper job cleaning the blood stains that cover the ground, a remainder of the last girl foolish enough to be out at night.
So far, your job has been simple. You have little contact with Count Grey, as you work in the day and sleep at night, whilst he sleeps in the day, coming out at night to hunt, feed, plan and much more. Mostly, Haygarth forces you to work at any job he sees fit. He seems to think you're little different from a pack horse, working you as hard as them. If anything, he's feeding the pack horses better. You see your role in the castle as a servant on your more optimistic days, and as a slave on the worse ones.
"Good, good, put your back into it! Yes, that's it!" Haygarth says, as he hurries around the room, collecting pieces of clothes left over from the poor girl being brutally murdered.
"Yes, Haygarth," you reply, putting your pressure on the brush as you splash some more water to get rid of a particularly disgusting stain of a mixture of blood and urine.
Haygarth is a hard ruler, forcing you to work day and night. He's not sadistic or cruel, he just doesn't seem to understand that you're not an animal who needs a break. Hell, perhaps his only redeemable feature is the fact that he works himself even harder. As he rushes past, trying to do various chores, you can hear him angrily mutter to himself to go faster.
You finish off the stain, quickly crawling over to the next. You sigh as you realize just how much you need to clean. Your knees hurt from crawling around all day, your hands are covered in blisters, and you've done nothing but work all day. You had two ive minute breaks to cram food into your mouth, and one more to shit, and that was it. Who the fuck has only two people to keep an entire castle from falling into disrepair?
"Hurry up, boy! Use some of those strong muscles! I want to be able to see my reflection in it!"
Will he ever leave you be? The bastard can't just let you fucking work, he has to constantly remind you that you're not doing good enough?
> You keep working
"Yes, sir," you mutter.
You continue working, as does Haygarth. It takes about half an hour before the entire place is clean. You look out the window, seeing the large moon rising in the distance.
"Yes, yes! Tonight, tonight is the night, little one!" Haygarth says. "The year of the mule is ready. Now, let's go! We must wake Count Grey!"
> You follow Haygarth
You follow Haygarth along the hallways with haste. You hurry down the stairs, quickly heading to the lowest floor, at the center of the castle, into a dark room, empty except for a single, candle-adored coffin leaning against the stone wall, and a large, black sword hanging above the coffin.
The coffin in intricate, a large, black wooden coffin with an intricate, thorny pattern, and a single silver, demonic face with a roaring mouth with a pair of fangs on the front.
The sword, on the other hand, is somehow even darker, its surface seeming to suck the very light from the room. Even staring at the thin edge makes you feel like you've been stabbed. You can practically taste the hatred and malice that emanates from it.
"Do you feel it?" Haygarth says. "That is the master of the home. Don't be scared. It grows on you."
You feel the hairs stand up on your skin. The air tastes stale and rotten, and there's a general feeling of dread emanating from it. In a place like this, you feel even if you called on the good Lord to save you, he would be unable to find your soul in such an abyss of all warm or love, let alone rescue you from it.
"What now?" you ask.
"The Count needs blood to awaken. Be still. I'll make it as easy as possible. Just don't resist."
Haygarth gently grabs your hand, pulling it forward until your hand touches the metal.
"It... stings," you say, as it feels like your hand is both being put against a hot stove and a freezing block of ice.
"It's OK. You'll get used to it," Haygarth says, drawing an iron blade from his side.
Haygarth presses the blade against your arm, quickly slicing a small cut in your arm.
"Ah!" you yelp.
Haygarth slowly presses your wound into the mouth as the silver demon. Blood begins to pour down the creature's mouth, as the coffin's door clicks open. Haygarth grabs you by the shoulder, pulling you back. Count Grey steps forward. He looks the same as he has every night since the night he took you, except now his lips look parched and cracked, his eyes immediately darting down to your arm.
"Thirst," he moans, staring at your wound.
Haygarth gently nudges you forward.
"The master needs to feed, Samuel. Offer up your arm."
You hold your arm forward, as Count Grey grabs it, his mouth darting down to your bleeding wound with an insane speed. You close your eyes and wait for the pain of his bite, but instead feel his cold lips on your wound, instantly beginning to suck the blood out of your arm. You take a deep breath as you go pale, Haygarth putting your arm around his shoulder to keep you from fainting. After about a minute, Count Grey stops, raising his head as he smiles.
"Good. I was thirsty. The bitch from the other night was dry, and half her blood ended up on the floors. Good thing I managed to stop myself from draining you completely," Count Grey says.
He looks up at the sword that hangs above the coffin, staring at it for a second.
"Do you see that sword? While I like to keep up to date with my weapon technology, such as with rifles. grenades and the new and innovative Maxim Gun, in cases of the super-natural, the old stuff is the best. I've had that sword since I was a child. Forged it myself under command of my master. So many ancient, arcane inscriptions, horrid rituals and infinitely worse had to be done to make it the thing it is today. It's name is the Psychí Líptis. It is a killing machine. You will become the same."
Count Grey s walking past you, and up the stairs.
You stand there, waiting, looking at Haygarth for what to do.
"Follow!" Count Grey's voice booms.
You quickly hurry up the stairs after him. |
You scuttle forward for the gun, grabbing it. You aim it at the vampire, grabbing the trigger and pulling it tightly.
The gun explodes, sending you falling back with the recoil and smacking into the wall with a painful thud. The vampire roars as buckshot slams into his back. He grabs your father by the head, twisting with inhuman speed as your hear a painful snap. Then, he turns, staring at you. He snarls, walking forward quickly. You reach for the gun again, but he steps on your hand as you yelp in pain.
"You dare shoot me? I have lived millennia, you think you'll be the one to end my life?" the hunter snarls, before laughing, a horrible, terrifying noise. "You have balls, little one."
You stare at the monster in front of you, trying to stare him, but you see nothing but hate and unquenching thirst behind his eyes.
"Yes... I see strength in you. Potential. I have an offer for you, as the newfound man of the house. Join me. Let me take you on as my... apprentice. As my servant. As my slave. As whatever I need you to be. In exchange for your servitude, I offer you not only your life, but the life of your mother and sisters."
You stare at the monster, whose eyes narrow as he waits for you answer.
> You refuse
"No," you say.
"No?" the vampire asks. "You have more balls than I thought. You're courageous. Too courageous. Can't have you getting brave and trying to get revenge for your peasant father some day."
With that, the vampire grabs your head, quickly twisting it with unnatural speed, nearly tearing your head off before you can even blink in reaction. |
The night is cold, dark and starless. The only light other than the candle Mama clutches in her hand comes from the moon, whose once bright, white, inviting and warm light is now deep red, like it's been splattered with blood. You're curled up with your two sisters, Ivana and Lilia, with Mama sitting over you, her candle in one hand and a wooden crucifix in the other. Papa is nailing boards to keep the door shut, hastily trying to give you some extra protection.
It's the Night of the Blood Moon. You've never been through one, the last happening less than a year before your birth, but now, after another twelve years, it had arrived. Your eldest brother, Dornan, told stories about it, stories that chilled you to the bone, that kept you from sleep, that gave birth to the horrors of your nightmares. If even a fraction of what Dornan said is true, the screams should begin soon.
"Mama?" Lilia asks.
"Hush, darling," Mama replies, as Papa finishes boarding up the door and grabs his shotgun from it's place on the wall. He takes his spot next to you, his gun pointed at the door, and you wait.
The screams start soon. Howls of pain and terror from other houses of the town. Ivana is old enough to know to stay quiet, but Lilia soon starts to cry. Mama desperately tries to hush her six year old daughter, but to no avail.
"Sssh! Sssh, darling! It's alright, you just must stay quiet!" Papa says.
Suddenly, a tall, dark shadow passes by the window. Papa immediately grabs his shotgun, frantically raising it to his shoulder. The shadow disappears, and Papa breaths a sigh of relief.
"Scared of something?" a deep, guttural voice says from behind you.
Papa turns, firing his shotgun as the monster speeds forward. It grabs Papa's throat with unnatural speed, smiling as it holds him in the air, strangling him.
The monster looks hideous. It's dreadfully pale, it's face twisted with hate, and looks to be hairless. It's eyes are completely black, like the endless darkness of its soul, and it's mouth is filled with mangled teeth with two large fangs, curved and bloodstained, with even more blood pouring down its face. The creature snarls, before smiling as it turns to look at you and your siblings.
"Ah... so young... so fresh..." the vampire says, licking it's lipless mouth with a forked tongue. "Peasant, your daughters are mine. Don't struggle."
The vampire tosses Papa to the ground, turning towards your siblings.
"No! No! You will not take my daughters!" Father says, grabbing for his gun.
The monster strikes, smashing it's boot into Papa's head.
"How dare you?!" the monster screams. "I gave you your land, I gave you your house, I give you your life!"
The monster begins walking toward Papa, who desperately crawls back to the wall.
"I keep the beasts away from the village! I let you roam the night all but one night every twelve years! I don't ask for your wife, to allow you to sire more. I don't ask for your son, to leave you a legacy. I only ask for your daughters! How dare you attempt to deny me that?"
As the vampire walks towards Papa, his fangs bared, you see a chance to get Papa's shotgun. Still, you don't want to anger the vampire further. Perhaps the best option is to hope for the beast's mercy.
> You beg
"Please, please don't hurt my papa! We don't want any trouble! Please, show us mercy, and we'll remain forever loyal! We never miss food shipments...!"
The Vampire snarls.
"You are a sheep," he snarls. "Look at you. Look at all of you. Weak. Mindless. Sheep. You only exist to feed me. Your lifespan is measured in decades. I've lived over a millenia! I am the hunter, you are prey!"
The vampire grabs Papa's head, twisting it with amazing speed. You hear his neck crack, as the vampire drops his limp body. Tears stream down your face, as he walks towards you. He grabs you by the scruff of your neck.
"You are a sheep," he snarls.
He flings you to the ground where you bounce off the wooden floor, skidding into the wall with a painful thud. Mama tries to strike him, but he catches her hand, yanking her into his grasp and biting down on her neck. She gasps as he tears open her throat, pressing his bloody mouth on the bleeding wound. He feeds for about a minute, as you lie there, too terrified to move. Then, he strides forward, catching your sisters by the hand and lifting them into the air. He flings them over his shoulder like a young lamb, and looks at you.
"Bleet," he snarls, before walking out of the door, leaving you alone.
> The Next Morning...
You only peer out of your blood-spattered house when the sun rises, driving the vampires back like a shepherd driving off a wolf pack.
The village is destroyed, and the vampire's promise is broken. Corpses lie strewn in the streets, in various states of dismemberment. One cadaver in particular stands out to you; the baker's son, who you used to play Knights and Goblins with, has been messily hanged with his own entrails. His face is bloated and blue, and you disgustedly realize that his eyes have been messily removed.
You open the door to your house. As it swings out, it pushes the bisected corpse of a village toddler out of the way. You promptly vomit all over the corpse.
The sound of a carriage rolling into town attracts your attention. Two riders sit astride, dressed as wealthy mourners attending a funeral might. The man nods curtly.
"You're probably quite angry, then."
> You life continues.
A sob racks the woman's body as the grim-faced bishop slips the noose over her neck.
"Please," The peasant woman begs as he pulls it taught and prepares to kick her off the platform. "I haven't done a thing, m'lord!"
"For the crimes of murder, incest, communing with Satan and cannibalism, I sentence you to death." The holy man's voice wavers at death. Sympathy? Guilt? His face is unreadable, as always. A swift kick sends her off the platform.
The young woman slumps like a marionette with its strings cut as the rope goes taught. A sign around her neck reads WITCH!
You push through the crowd of peasant onlookers. Some jeer, some gasp in horror, but most shake their head and disperse, driven indoors by the chill and rain that comes with the mountain climate. Your hand touches the sword at your belt, feeling its reassuring weight.
"Father Harrison." you murmur, nodding your head to the older man.
"The sellsword returns," He looks at you disapprovingly. "What brings you back? No more corpses left to butcher for coin?"
You bite back a swell of irritation. "Corpses that dine on human flesh. An important distinction."
He laughs. It's a cold, humorless sound. "Of course. Best to charge for their disposal, no?"
"Dangerous or not, I've still got to -"
He silences you with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'll hear no more of it. Tell me what brings you back to Eden."
"I was looking to get my sword consecrated," You say evenly. "I was told that the Holy Roman Church provided such services."
"We are obligated to, yes." He scowls. "See Friar Jameson. Stay no longer than is necessary."
> The Blood of the Christ
The basilica is empty, save for Friar Jameson, who frets over a golden bowl of what appears to be human blood. Along the carefully-crafted stone walls lie stained glass windows, displaying the adventures of various saints and angels from Catholic mythology. On the far wall is an oversized statue of Christ crushing the life out of a vampire with his two oversized fists.
Friar Jameson looks up as the massive oak door swings shut behind you. He strides forward intently, grimly furrowing his eyebrows at you. He stops five feet away, glaring at you; you can feel his eyes pierce your very soul.
"Hello, Jameson."
He bursts into a grin and embraces you. You can feel your back crack under the big man's bear-like embrace. "Good to see you, you mercenary bastard!"
You awkwardly pat his back. "Y-you as well, Jameson."
"What brings you back to Eden?" He asks cheerfully, pulling back. You notice a fresh new scar running the length of his chin.
"Lodgings for the night, and a Consecration. Been tracking a pack across the damn continent. Pretty sure they passed by here not too long ago." You explain, rubbing your shoulder. You hope he doesn't hug you again.
His cheerful demeanor slips away, somewhat. "A Consecration, huh? Might be trickier than you expect. Blood's been angry recently."
"How does blood get angry?" You wonder aloud.
"Your guess is as good as mine, mate," He frowns deeply. "But shit's been going very, very wrong with the Ministrations."
You're filled with a sudden impatience. You can feel your quarry slipping away. You hand him the leather scabbard, blade inside. "Do your best, anyhow."
You leave the church, then, leaving Jameson clutching the blade with an ever-increasing look of alarm on his face.
> You find yourself some lodgings for the night.
You find yourself some lodgings at The Serpent, a run-down, overpriced inn on the edge of town. The beer has more in common with water than booze, and prostitutes and alcoholics glower at you from the edge of the common area.
You rent yourself a room from the heavyset, nigh-incomprehensible Scottish bartender. He waves you to the back, where you find your meager lodgings.
You lay your head against the stuffed straw pillow and doze off instantaneously.
> You morning in Eden.
The sun rises over the township of Eden, beating back whatever bloodthirsty creatures of the night lurk in its darkened streets. A cry is taken up in the town square, and it's carried to your ears on the backs of frightened townspeople.
An old woman has been found dead in the night. Her one remaining arm is splayed out to the side, and the other lies ten feet away, on the other side of the street; it's been sucked dry of blood.
From your vantage point in a nearby alley, you can see the church move in on the corpse almost immediately. Two glowering, armored figures dragging the corpse, along with the arm, back towards the basilica.
One of the Paladins glares at you as you as the corpse is transported to the religious fortress on the hill. He appears to give you a silent challenge to come follow him.
You suspect vampirism is at play, but there's no way to be certain until you can manually inspect the corpse for bite-wounds; otherwise, it could be werewolves, or even a plain serial killer. Of course, your sword is still in the basilica being consecrated.
> You follow the Paladins.
You follow the two agents of the Church as they drag the desecrated corpse back to their armored fortress. You maintain fifteen feet of distance, and use the crowds and narrow, winding streets to avoid their suspicious gaze.
You become acutely aware of the two massive spears that they each carry; a four-foot hickory rod with a steel blade mounted on one end. You have no doubt that it could crack your head, or remove it wholesale, if swung by one of the two muscled brutes.
They ascend the winding path to the basilica, leaving a steady trail of visceral fluid as the corpse scrapes along the ancient cobblestones.
> You surprise!
The unencumbered brute suddenly turns around, at a moment where you're exposed. You try to scramble backwards, but trip over your own feet. The last thing you see is the armored figure standing over you, prepared to club you over the head.
> You sweet Sleep
Finding the armored grasp of the Paladin quite comfortable, you slip once more into the land of unconsciousness. You go limp once more, leaving yourself a heavy burden for the alleged holy man to drag along.
You awaken chained to a moist stone wall. A pounding headache graces your senses.
"Oh, shit." you say to no one in particular.
"Ephesians, four twenty-nine," A monotone voice chides you from the darkness. "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."
Even in a dungeon, with a head injury, chained to a wall, you can't escape the proselytization of Father Harrison.
> You retrieving your sword.
The restraints effortlessly fall off. You rub your wrists, slotting your thumbs into the grooves dug in by the chains. Harrison's words about retrieving your sword linger with you; you find it curious that the elderly priest directed you to arm yourself. "Turn the other cheek" appears to have been replaced by "don't die".
You leave the dungeon (why does the basilica have a dungeon?) and wince as sunlight assaults your senses once more. Your head injury flares up immediately, sending you sprawling to the carpeted floor. Curiously, your pain is ignored by the sparse population of friars and monks stewing about.
You stand at the back end of the room you entered two days before. Before you lies the rom where mass would typically be held. On the leftmost side of the wall closest to you is a doorway leading to the upper floors of the building.
A longing strikes you, the sort and intensity of which you hadn't felt in years; a desire for something spiritual, something greater than yourself. You feel a newfound awareness for your place in the universe. Either that, or you got hit really fucking hard.
> You take a moment for prayer.
You sit on the closest pew, and stare at the massive statue of Jesus Christ that dominates the preacher's stage. You bow your head a moment in contemplative prayer. It feels awkward, clumsy and out-of-place, and your throbbing head prevents you from any real introspection.
After a few minutes, you get up to retrieve your sword. Intuition tells you it's upstairs.
> You upstairs
The upstairs isn't as large as you expected, but to call it "small" would be a disservice. After walking up the fifty stone-tile steps, you find yourself in a carpeted hallway, stretching out for a couple of hundred feet in front of you.
Either side is lined with small wooden doors, where the monks and permanent inhabitants of the church sleep. Behind you is the entrance to a library; given as this is a church, there's likely not much in the way of interesting reading, unless you like Latin bibles and apologetics.
Logically, you know there must be an armory somewhere, but it's not up here. You head back downstairs.
> You head downstairs.
You head back down through the central room and back downstairs. The stairs are little more than a darkened stone tunnel, lit intermittently with flickering torches. Through process of elimination, you realize that the armory must be somewhere on the subterranean level.
You walk down the stairs, with the trepidation of one who has lived their entire life in a world filled with vampires. Thankfully, nothing lurks in the shadows, and you reach the armory fairly easily.
It's roughly a ten-foot by ten-foot stone chamber, with walls lined with rifles and the like. You find your sword fairly easily, as it's been placed separate from the weapon's owned by the church, on an opposite table. You slam it into your scabbard and buckle it around your hip.
You go back upstairs.
> You pounding at the Door
You hear a pounding at the thick, oaken door. The three friars milling about the central room look up in alarm. You quickly approach the door, and you're ushered back by one of the stone-faced monks.
"It's in all of our best interest if that door stays sealed." he explains in mute tones, not meeting your eye, "A… large flock moved in on the town shortly after we sealed the church. Father Harrison saw fit to leave you untroubled with these matters."
"Fuck." you mutter, as you slowly begin to realize why you dislike the church.
"If you want to speak to him, he should be in the War Room." the grim man explains quickly.
"Why the fuck would there be a War Room in a basilica?" you ask, growing more irritated by the moment.
"Perhaps," he runs a hand over his bald scalp, sweating profusely, "It would be best if you allowed Father Harrison to explain this matter to you personally."
"Perhaps," you muse bitterly, "Where is the War Room?"
"Come." he instructs curtly, as he walks back across the large room. You're beginning to suspect that it may be a very long time indeed before another mass is held in it.
> The War Room
You recognize a half-dozen high-ranking priests and town officials inside the strangely-titled War Room. They're cloistered in a semicircle alongside a parchment map with arcane sigils scratched into it. You see what appear to be troop markers, which is strange in and of itself; why does the Roman Catholic church have an army at its disposal? What army is denoted by an upside-down cross? These questions burn into your mind as Father Harrison nods to you.
"I suppose you've started to understand that our purposes here aren't exactly… ecclesiastical." Harrison says acridly. He looks strange, armored in medieval chain with a double-barreled shotgun strapped to his back. Gone are the clipped, judgmental tones of an aging priest, having been replaced with the pragmatic, competent voice of a general ordering his troops.
"No," you murmur, amazed, "Not much of a Christian operation you're running here."
He scowls. Warrior or not, the expression still fits him perfectly. "Deus Vult, my friend. Whether you like it or not, there are occasions when God demands his flock pick up the shepherd's rod in his stead. Whether it's warlike Mohammedans and blaspheming Jews, or bloodthirsty vampires… he cares little."
You recognize the quotation from one of the old historical texts Sir Gregory crammed down your throat. Pope Urban the Second, shortly before the first "Crusade. You're planning a crusade."
"Yes," he says with a grim smile, "We're planning a crusade."
> You specialist Knowledge
"But… why?" you ask, equal parts fascinated and horrified.
"Why not?" he responds simply, "We've been fodder for too long. You yourself were almost a digestif, when you were a lad."
Now it's your turn to scowl. You're beginning to suspect that Harrison might be a fucking nob. "Not how I'd describe a massacre of innocents, but that's one way to describe it."
"Semantics," he mutters, waving your concerns aside with a sharp gesture of the wrist, "Now, your… unique skills as a corpse-hunting sellsword put you in a uniquely valuable position."
"But what would you have done if I hadn't come here?" you ask.
"It was assured that you would come here. A job posting near Eden didn't spring up organically." he smiles, a touch of sinisterness brushing his lips.
"But why would I —"
"You will be rewarded most handsomely, let me make that clear.
The situation becomes clear. He's offering you a job.
> You join the Crusade
You're not sure if you believe in God or not, but you believe in gold and revenge, and the Church has given you ample opportunity to sample both. Within a couple of months, your knowledge of the scourge placed you in control of a small garrison in Eastern Europe. To your relief, you were far from the heavy fighting.
You expected a Crusade, but WWIII may be a better descriptor. Within a few days of the Pope's declaration, mass hysteria gripped the general populace. Although good, faithful Catholics were more than willing to take up arms, Europe's resident protestant and Jews were unwilling to fight, at first; this quickly changed when entire hamlets and villages began to disappear into the night.
Governments proved to be ineffectual for more than the usual reasons; most parliaments and senates had long since been infiltrated. A few dead heads of state and parliamentary massacres later, most of the governing bodies were left headless.
As you saw, the Church fought with little regard for the common man. Those who were unable to fight found themselves out in the cold, and those who found themselves out in the cold oftentimes found something colder still waiting in their homes.
Some might say you've found a grander purpose. Others might say you're still a mercenary, whoring out your dignity for gold. Perhaps, both are true. However, with the war raging, you have no time for such esoteric matters.
> You mixed Squad Tactics
Seven feet tall, if it's a foot. Blood drips off its curled tusks, which protrude from its mouth like massive, arching fingers pointed upwards. How does a vampire become a monstrosity like this? Gabriel tells you that it's a result of pacts with Satan. Raziel, the village apothecary, informs you that the vampires have "read the writing inside", and have unlocked the secrets to transform at will. You're not sure about either explanation.
Either way, the beast is an immediate threat to the supply chain crossroads you've been tasked with defending. Gabriel trains his rifle on it; his hand shake violently as he takes aim. You can see him struggle to hold on to his gun, white-knuckled and terrified. The two other men at your position are all in similar states of apprehension.
The ground vibrates slightly as the colossal horror shambles onwards, marching down the forested road for reasons unknown. In the feeble light of the streetlamps, you can see the blasphemous tokens hanging about its neck, made out of bits of human bone and sinew.
Your hand touches your own weapon, a plain-looking revolver hanging in a simple leather pouch at your waste.
You could annihilate the beast right now, and bring an end to its life; or, you could follow it back to its lair, and see if you can't drive out the swarm.
> You bring it down!
"Fire!" You whisper fiercely to Gabriel. He complies immediately, violently jerking on the trigger. His shot goes wild, and strikes the foliage behind the creature. A flock of crows takes flight into the trees, blotting out the moon in their frantic numbers.
The other two men dive for their weapons, and launch a hasty volley as the creature bellows out a challenge. One bullet strikes its shoulder, rewarding the firer with a burst of thick, tar-like ichor. The other strikes a tree branch, scoring its deep bark with an ugly new wound.
By the time you reach for your weapon, the jig is up. The creature barrels into your team of saboteurs, sending you barreling into the underbrush, and sending your pistol flying into the bushes some four feet away. You sympathetically wince as the vampire plants a foot on one Gabriel's chest, and crushes his ribcage in one motion.
You shimmy through the scratching thorns, frantically searching for your only hope of salvation. Struck by the back of a monstrous fist, a man begins an ill-fated flight into the night sky.
Your grasp closes around the revolver as the third man is run through with a clenched fist through the stomach. Hot blood coats your face as he twitches and feebly claws at the oversized creature's massive bicep. You scream in agony as a foot crushes your right hand, shattering the bones within.
You look up, and see the beast standing above you. The ghost of a smirk touches it's oversized features as it grabs your other arm and plants its foot on your chest. An enormous force is applied to your shoulder. As the agony grows, you become aware of your muscles and tendons snapping like rope, until your arm is pulled free of your body. Darkness takes you then. |
Seven feet tall, if it's a foot. Blood drips off its curled tusks, which protrude from its mouth like massive, arching fingers pointed upwards. How does a vampire become a monstrosity like this? Gabriel tells you that it's a result of pacts with Satan. Raziel, the village apothecary, informs you that the vampires have "read the writing inside", and have unlocked the secrets to transform at will. You're not sure about either explanation.
Either way, the beast is an immediate threat to the supply chain crossroads you've been tasked with defending. Gabriel trains his rifle on it; his hand shake violently as he takes aim. You can see him struggle to hold on to his gun, white-knuckled and terrified. The two other men at your position are all in similar states of apprehension.
The ground vibrates slightly as the colossal horror shambles onwards, marching down the forested road for reasons unknown. In the feeble light of the streetlamps, you can see the blasphemous tokens hanging about its neck, made out of bits of human bone and sinew.
Your hand touches your own weapon, a plain-looking revolver hanging in a simple leather pouch at your waste.
You could annihilate the beast right now, and bring an end to its life; or, you could follow it back to its lair, and see if you can't drive out the swarm.
> You follow it.
You decide then to trail the beast, hopefully finding its lair in the process. Silently, you motion for the two other saboteurs to stay back, taking just Gabriel with you. Out of all the village conscripts, you find him to be the least incompetent. That, and he quickly learned the valuable skill of shutting up. Terror crosses the boyish face under a blonde mop of hair, but he nods.
You creep down the secluded lane, carefully avoiding twigs and treacherous birds. Crows, in particular, appear to be friends of the vampires; you've seen many a man fall to startled birds. Well, that and horrific injuries to the jugular.
You stalk the beast for a good quarter mile, before it stops, seemingly at random, somewhere along the forested road leading into town. It steps into the bushes across the road from you, and looks down. And then, it vanishes completely.
You move to follow it, and then you abruptly faint. The strings of consciousness are severed, leaving you as a marionette plummeting towards the stage.
> A gateway.
You awaken in a cold sweat, bundled in rags, and restrained to a bed. You find yourself in a small shack, scarcely illuminated by a few candles. It appears to be held up by naught but twigs and thatch, bound with bundles of rope. Piles of books line the corner. If you focus, you can see an unfamiliar language that makes your eyes water.
An old man with a face like a mannequin flits about the shack. What he's doing is unknown to you, as are his intentions. You gasp in horror as the candlelight surges; for a moment, you can see a pair of skeletal wings, extended into the shadowed corners of the makeshift building.
He turns, and you wince as you feel his bright eyes bore through your defenses, laying bare your very soul. "The prodigal son awakens!" he tuts.
"Prodigal son?" you ask as you regain your faculties.
"I certainly hope so." he responds with a warm chuckle.
"Why?"
"Disorder is bad for research." he responds matter-of-factly, as if he were stating that the sky is blue.
"Research… what do you research?"
His body goes rigid. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Everything." he smiles guiltily.
You decide to change tack. "Why did you bring me here?"
"I didn't bring you anywhere," he says defensively, "Gabriel brought you here."
"Why did he do that?" you ask. His double-talk is quickly growing tiresome.
"You fainted," Raziel assumes his matter-of-fact tone once more. "And I nursed you back to health?"
"How did you nurse me back to health?"
"I tied you down to prevent you from biting your fingers off."
"Why would I bite my fingers off?"
"You had a fit of madness."
You let out an even sigh through your teeth. "Why did I have a fit of madness?"
"It would appear that you looked into Hell." despite the sudden and abrupt lurch to the unusual, his clipped, explanatory demeanor remains unchanged.
"I looked into Hell?" you ask, incredulously, "How did I do that?"
"You stalked a vampire, no?" Raziel takes the tone of a disappointed teacher, or perhaps a parent.
"Yes." you sound suspiciously like a misbehaving child.
"Well," he explains, "It's only rational that you looked into Hell."
"Why in the hell would it be normal for me to look into Hell?" your temper flares, before you restrain it once more. He doesn't seem to notice.
"Vampires are dead, no?"
"Yes, vampires are dead."
"Dead people go to Hell, no?"
"I'm not so sure." you're unsure of how he'll take to your agnosticism.
"They do, trust me," the ghost of a smile touches his lips, "As an undead species, vampires can traverse Hell if they're so inclined."
"Oh, of course." he doesn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm.
"Do you know how undeath works, Samuel?" gooseflesh ripples up your arm as he glares at you. You realize for the first time that he's blind.
"No." you nervously respond. The temperature in the room must have dropped thirty degrees.
"God is a novelist," he whispers.
"A-a novelist?" you stammer back. Who is this man?"
"His works are written in blood." A single tear leaks out of the old man's broken eye. He ages forty years in front of you, and suddenly seems very small and fragile indeed.
You begin to shiver uncontrollably. "W-what do you mean?"
"The Church can only repeat his works. I read too many of them, that's why he took my eyes."
"Who took your eyes?" A surge of dread seeps through you, from your chest down to your gut, and into your toes. You feel heavy under the weight of your terror.
"They're are writing their own works." he wheezes in pain, as if he's under duress.
"What does that -"
"We have little time," the strength seems to fade from him, "you must become a copyist to find their strength."
"How do -" Your question is interrupted by his lifeless corpse hitting the ground.
You wake up on the forest floor, gasping for air.
> You awakening.
The morning rays of dawn cannot penetrate the deep, unsettling, soul-penetrating cold that set in on you over night. You crane your neck, listening to the individual pops as your spine aligns itself. You look over, and see the corpse of Gabriel in the bush next to you. He's frozen in place, an awful terror burned into his face for all of eternity. You pick up his rifle, and begin to walk back to town.
Raziel's words linger in your mind as you approach the hastily-erected fence around town.
"Mornin'," the watchmen mumbles though his late-in-shift exhaustion.
You rub your eyes. "Where's Raziel?"
The watchmen looks at you, puzzled. "Who in the Hell is Raziel?"
"Nobody," you respond, sharing in the man's exhaustion, "did any of the men make it back?"
He shakes his head. "Nossir, thought they was with you!"
"Fuck," you mutter, "That's a damn shame."
"Sounds like you had quite the night, sir," he remarks, "Sure Father 'oud love to here about it."
"I need sleep." You mutter absentmindedly, already brushing past the man on the way to your quarters.
"Don't we all, sir?" He laughs, bitterly.
> You head back to the church.
You meander through the makeshift wall, and slowly begin your walk back to the church-turned-stronghold that quickly became the seat of power for the local religious militia. You marvel at how dirty the town had gotten; what was once a small European township with cobblestone streets and small, mom-and-pop businesses on every corner was now filthy, and comparable to a refugee camp. Old fire-barrels and trash litter the ground. The people you pass glare at you; perhaps one too many brush with looters is all it takes to gain a permanent mistrust of your fellow man.
Your stroll ends at the church. A sign once read "FIRST PARISH CHURCH", but it's long since been replaced with a small sign that says "BASE OF OPERATIONS " in small black lettering.
The door to the small, unassuming little building has been ripped off, you you move the rubbery tarp aside as you enter. As with most churches converted to military strongholds, the pews have long since been scrapped for their requisite parts and nailed to the windows.
The church smells of woodsmoke and unwashed bodies, consequences of the smoldering flame and lack of running water in the town. Fifty or so men are packed into it, milling about in various states of undress.
In the far right corner, there's an entrance to back room; this is where you need to be.
> You reporting in.
You enter the small office in the corner of the church, after shouldering your way through the dense crowd of sweaty, compacted men pressing in on each other.
It's original purpose was probably for the pastor to have a place to prepare his notes and sermon, but it's been co-opted by the local militia, and is now used as a place for the local alderman to gather his thoughts and meet with advisors.
The alderman is a small, grey-haired old veteran, worn out by the horrors of a lifetime of campaigns. You once heard that he cut a man's head off with a trenching shovel.
"Was your mission successful?" he croaks.
"We were able to counter a vampire raid from the usual spot," you begin, "but we made another, more alarming discovery."
"Don't keep me in suspense, boy." he croaks bitterly. The old man laughs, then; it's a cold sound, lacking in mirth and warmth.
"I collapsed, shortly after I witnessed a large vampire disappear into the underbrush." you explain, as you begin to doubt your own experience.
"You collapsed? What's the matter, boy? The cold finally get to you? Would you like a cup of tea?" his sarcasm is grating, as always. You'd punch him, but hanging from a pole isn't in your wheelhouse.
"And after I collapsed, I had some sort of vision, or dream, or something." your head begins to ache.
"Well, boy. Do tell of this vision-dream-something you speak of."
You explain your vision in excruciating detail. His mask of snark and sarcasm drops quickly, and he leans forward in keen interest. His hands rest on his knees, and you can't help but notice that they're faintly shaking.
"Well, boy, it sounds like your vision-dream-something knows a thing or to, eh?" He grins unexpectedly.
"Sounds like it." you say warily. You were expecting a religious tantrum, not a… whatever this is.
"So he was instructing you to become a copyist," the man lets out a heavy sigh, "One can assume that he wasn't intending for you to live the life of a medieval friar."
"One can assume." you echo.
"So if a vampire can read "God's Language", then it sounds to me as if he's telling you to become a copyist of it; that is, he wants you to become a vampire."
"Shit." you mutter.
"Shit indeed, " he responds quietly, rubbing his beard, "Well, I suppose the decision has to be yours, then. Far be it beyond me to judge matters of the soul."
"But you're the alderman, aren't you going to tell the men?" you ask worriedly. You know the local superstitions; the second you're suspected of communing with the devil, you're one of "them".
"Tell them what?" he says meaningfully.
> You mulling it over.
You spend a fevered night at the church, tossing and turning. You're chased through your dreams by a winged specter, gurgling at you in a language unknown to you. You run through a shadowed forest like a deer, artfully bounding over roots and tree-branches in the night. However, it isn't enough, and the cruel ghost is never more than a few feet behind you.
You awake with a start, shortly before dawn. Not a soul has stirred. You go outside, taking in the once-beautiful landscape of the small Eastern European town that has become your home.
And then, quite abruptly, a vampire leaps onto your back, sinking its fangs into your shoulder. You react immediately, grabbing two fistfuls of its dry hair and throwing it into the ground. You plant a boot on its neck before it can react, and quickly snatch your revolver from its resting place. One bullet to the brain and its struggles cease.
Onlookers rush towards you. You're infected. You know that it's only a matter of time before you're strung up and left as an example. Even if their intentions are sympathetic, your path is clear; running.
You fire another bullet into the air, startling the would-be first responders rushing towards you. With a cry of "back the fuck off!", you run off into the woods, towards where you spotted the gigantic vampire.
> You gateway
You run full-pelt into the woods, exhausting your supply of stamina and then some. Your lungs beg for air, and your face goes flush as you prop yourself up against a nearby tree. You appear to have escaped your would-be pursuers, but the concept of a militiaman running about as an undead beast will likely bring them back in force.
You can see the gateway that you saw a vampire walk through earlier. Perhaps, "see" is the wrong word; you can sense it. Like something in the corner of your vision, you know that it must exist, and where, even if you aren't laying eyes on it directly.
Out of options and desperate, you approach the hole in the ground. It's cold and has no precise dimensions, appearing to you as a circle of indeterminate radius, shifting and slithering along the ground. It feels strangely inviting; like a blanketed bed in the morning.
You could slip through, but there's no guarantee of what you'll see on the other side. Or, you could stay right here.
> You enter the gateway.
You step through. It feels as if you've just leaped into a pool; one moment you are on Earth, in the realm of the living, and the next, you are in the next life. Immediately, you feel uncomfortably warm. Sticky, uncomfortable sweat clings to your clothing as you materialize in a small dirt tunnel.
Your arms and legs are uncomfortably close. There's no room to stretch out, or even crawl backwards; you're forced to slowly move forward. Vampirism begins to set hold on you; you feel weakened and feverish, as you begin to die.
You can see an exit. It's even narrower, and roughly fifteen feet away. Beyond it is complete and utter darkness. You force your failing muscles to propel you towards it. With a final, titanic effort, you force yourself out through the hole.
You feel yourself falling down a gigantic hole, down to the interminable depths. Suddenly, you enter through another gateway, and rematerialize on a corn field. If you had to guess, you'd say you're in Kansas at eight o'clock in the evening.
You see the Devil standing before you. He's tall and cultured looking, clad in a tuxedo and clutching a timepiece to his breast. He smiles at you.
"My friend," he begins in a vaguely English accent, "We've so much to talk about!" |
You run full-pelt into the woods, exhausting your supply of stamina and then some. Your lungs beg for air, and your face goes flush as you prop yourself up against a nearby tree. You appear to have escaped your would-be pursuers, but the concept of a militiaman running about as an undead beast will likely bring them back in force.
You can see the gateway that you saw a vampire walk through earlier. Perhaps, "see" is the wrong word; you can sense it. Like something in the corner of your vision, you know that it must exist, and where, even if you aren't laying eyes on it directly.
Out of options and desperate, you approach the hole in the ground. It's cold and has no precise dimensions, appearing to you as a circle of indeterminate radius, shifting and slithering along the ground. It feels strangely inviting; like a blanketed bed in the morning.
You could slip through, but there's no guarantee of what you'll see on the other side. Or, you could stay right here.
> You don't
You decide to reject the vampirism thrust upon you. If it means dying as a man, so be it. You turn your back to the gateway, and walk back towards the town. Already you can feel yourself growing feverish and weak, as the disease takes hold. Soon, the son will burn you to a crisp; and that's just fine with you.
You put your head to the ground and close your eyes. You've earned yourself some rest. |
The night is cold, dark and starless. The only light other than the candle Mama clutches in her hand comes from the moon, whose once bright, white, inviting and warm light is now deep red, like it's been splattered with blood. You're curled up with your two sisters, Ivana and Lilia, with Mama sitting over you, her candle in one hand and a wooden crucifix in the other. Papa is nailing boards to keep the door shut, hastily trying to give you some extra protection.
It's the Night of the Blood Moon. You've never been through one, the last happening less than a year before your birth, but now, after another twelve years, it had arrived. Your eldest brother, Dornan, told stories about it, stories that chilled you to the bone, that kept you from sleep, that gave birth to the horrors of your nightmares. If even a fraction of what Dornan said is true, the screams should begin soon.
"Mama?" Lilia asks.
"Hush, darling," Mama replies, as Papa finishes boarding up the door and grabs his shotgun from it's place on the wall. He takes his spot next to you, his gun pointed at the door, and you wait.
The screams start soon. Howls of pain and terror from other houses of the town. Ivana is old enough to know to stay quiet, but Lilia soon starts to cry. Mama desperately tries to hush her six year old daughter, but to no avail.
"Sssh! Sssh, darling! It's alright, you just must stay quiet!" Papa says.
Suddenly, a tall, dark shadow passes by the window. Papa immediately grabs his shotgun, frantically raising it to his shoulder. The shadow disappears, and Papa breaths a sigh of relief.
"Scared of something?" a deep, guttural voice says from behind you.
Papa turns, firing his shotgun as the monster speeds forward. It grabs Papa's throat with unnatural speed, smiling as it holds him in the air, strangling him.
The monster looks hideous. It's dreadfully pale, it's face twisted with hate, and looks to be hairless. It's eyes are completely black, like the endless darkness of its soul, and it's mouth is filled with mangled teeth with two large fangs, curved and bloodstained, with even more blood pouring down its face. The creature snarls, before smiling as it turns to look at you and your siblings.
"Ah... so young... so fresh..." the vampire says, licking it's lipless mouth with a forked tongue. "Peasant, your daughters are mine. Don't struggle."
The vampire tosses Papa to the ground, turning towards your siblings.
"No! No! You will not take my daughters!" Father says, grabbing for his gun.
The monster strikes, smashing it's boot into Papa's head.
"How dare you?!" the monster screams. "I gave you your land, I gave you your house, I give you your life!"
The monster begins walking toward Papa, who desperately crawls back to the wall.
"I keep the beasts away from the village! I let you roam the night all but one night every twelve years! I don't ask for your wife, to allow you to sire more. I don't ask for your son, to leave you a legacy. I only ask for your daughters! How dare you attempt to deny me that?"
As the vampire walks towards Papa, his fangs bared, you see a chance to get Papa's shotgun. Still, you don't want to anger the vampire further. Perhaps the best option is to hope for the beast's mercy.
> You do nothing
The vampire grabs Papa's head, twisting it with amazing speed. You hear his neck crack, as the vampire drops his limp body. Tears stream down your face, as he walks towards you. He grabs you by the scruff of your neck.
"You are a sheep," he snarls. "Look at you. Look at all of you. Weak. Mindless. Sheep. You only exist to feed me. Your lifespan is measured in decades. I've lived over a millenia! I am the hunter, you are prey!"
He turns, walking towards Mama. Mama tries to strike him, but he catches her hand, yanking her into his grasp and biting down on her neck. She gasps as he tears open her throat, pressing his bloody mouth on the bleeding wound. He feeds for about a minute, as you lie there, too terrified to move. Then, he strides forward, catching your sisters by the hand and lifting them into the air. He flings them over his shoulder like a young lamb, and looks at you.
"Bleet," he snarls, before walking out of the door, leaving you alone. |
Dad's told you three things about Dawnwood: It's a small town with less than a thousand people, it's a friendly, closed-knit community and it's in the Deep South, between the middle of nowhere and some godforsaken shithole you've never been to. You sit in the back of Dad's Ford, staring out the window at shitty fields and forests.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" your dad says, cheerfully looking out the window.
"Dad, I don't have bars on my phone. I genuinely didn't know there were places outside of Alaska in this country where that was possible."
"Well, maybe it'll encourage you to spend more time actually talking to people, or read. Hunter loves reading."
You look at your nine year old brother sitting next to your, his eyes glued to the screen of a Kindle.
"He's not reading; he's playing games. I told you he shouldn't have gotten a Kindle."
"Shut up, Hazel!" he says.
You quickly thump him in the arm.
"Hey! Hazel hit me!" Hunter whines.
"Hazel! What have I told you about hitting your brother?"
"Do it when you're not looking?" you ask sarcastically.
"For God's sake, Hazel, you're sixteen, act your age! I'm sick of your acting like a spoilt brat because of the move!"
"You're dragging me from my home to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, of course I'm pissed!"
Dad angrily slams his hands on the wheel, losing his cool once again.
"Stop swearing! I had to move here, I wasn't given a choice! The firm..."
"There's plenty of other law firms! It's New York, there's not such a lack of crime you can't find work!"
"That's another reason! New York was dangerous and full of crime. The only thing people die of where we're going is old age or eating too much fries!"
"Fine, pick your job over us again!"
Dad sighs as you pull out your headphones and put them in. You stare out the window as you pass through endless fields.
> One Hour Later...
An hour later, you pull into Dawnbrook, and find you were far too optimistic. The town is a shitty series of low buildings. Hunter looks up from his Kindle briefly, before shrugging and looking back down. You pull up to one of the many, generic looking houses pulling into the driveway.You can already see faces peeking out from windows at the new arrivals. Dad opens the car door and lugs two suitcases up to the door and fishes through his pocket for his keys and opens the door.
"Here we are! Home!" he says cheerfully, obviously trying to raise his children's spirits.
You follow Dad inside, dropping your backpack on the floor.
"I'll begin unpacking, you guys can get settled in or go meet the neighbors or explore," Dad says.
> You go to your room
You pick up your backpack again and walk up to your new room. It has a large wardrobe, a large double bed, a desk and chair and two dressers. You sit on the bed, taking out your laptop, and go on Facebook. Thankfully, the WiFi's already set up, so you can go on. You go down your Timeline, seeing all your friends having fun. Fiona had a party, Dan's now dating Leone and a bunch of other shit's going on that you wish you could take part in. You sigh, and continue flicking through pictures and posts. After an hour or two, Dad calls you down again. You close your laptop and go downstairs, finding Dad waiting there in the kitchen.
"Hey, sweetie. The house is pretty barren, so we're going to go out to eat and I'll pick up groceries in the morning. I saw a pizza place in town. Do you want to go?"
> You say "Sure."
"Oh, good! Come on, let's go!"
You follow Dad to the car, and climb in the passenger seat. You don't even need to turn your head to know your brother's in the backseat, hearing the opening tune of Angry Birds: Stalin's Show Trials or whatever the fuck version they have now. You lie back in your seat and stare out the window as you go through the town. Eventually, you arrive at some shitty, greasy pizza joint, and get out of the car. You walk inside, and find yourself in a Chucky Cheese knock-off. You walk up to the counter and find yourself faced with a girl your age with long brown hair and a massive zit that looks like a red dot sight in the middle of her forehead.
"Hello, welcome to Pizza Corner, can I take your order?" she asks.
"Yeah, can we have a large Pepperoni Pizza and three Cokes?"
"Sure thing. Small, Medium or Large?"
"Medium."
The girl begins pouring the drinks as another, far prettier blond girl appears from the kitchen, holding a large piece of dough. She glances briefly at you, before grabbing a cloth with her spare hand and disappearing back again.
"So, are you new here?" the cashier asks.
"Yeah, I just moved in."
"I'm Lucy."
"I'm Hazel."
"Oh, really? Well, it's a good town. You can't find much work except in a dull pizza joint, but there ain't much here to even spend the money on. Some old clothes stores and a cinema, and that's about it."
"Do you work here full time?"
"Jesus no. If I got to the point where I was working here full time I'd dip my head in the deep fat… well, I wouldn't be happy. Im still in school."
"What grade?"
"10th."
"Oh, I'm starting there tomorrow. I guess I'll see you there."
""Sure. If you want, I can always get you a job here. Becca, the blond girl, has literally done shit all since we started. She's only working so her daddy an think she's learning real-life experience and still feel justified buying whatever she…"
"I can hear you!" a voice calls out from the kitchen.
"I know, Becca, I'm getting a point across!"
Dad appears standing next to you, grinning.
"Look who's already making friends!" he smiles.
You roll your eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Let's just sit down," you say, pulling Dad towards a booth to sit in.
> Two Days Later...
The school is a shitty building filled with no good kids who are learning about geography and Shakespeare despite the fact that they'll almost certainly end up in the shitty jobs that are needed to keep this town running. You walk through the doors, a backpack slung over your shoulder.
"OK, it's not so bad," you mutter, walking past a row of lockers down the hall. "I just have to find my classes and…"
"Hey, Hazel!" a voice cries.
You turn to find the familiar, zit stricken face of the pizza cashier, Lucy.
"Hey," you reply.
"So, it's your first day, huh? Do you know what classes you're in?"
You search your pockets and pull out a crumpled class schedule, handing it to her.
"OK, we have the same Spanish, English, Math, History… you do Chemistry? Gay! That's the hardest class!"
"Well other than that we seem to share a suspicious amount of classes."
"Yeah, I talked to the principal and begged him to put you in my classes… it's a tiny school, what do you think would happen? Of course we share most classes. Oh look, Carter's here."
You turn to see a tall kid with neat, combed hair and an awkward grin bounding over. His clothes are all too small and his teeth are messed up and chipped, which becomes more obvious as his grin widens.
"P-p-pleased to meet y-you. I'm Carter," the boy stutters awkwardly.
"This is Carter. He's one of my best friends here."
"It's a t-tiny town. You di-didn't exactly h-have a lot to choose from."
"Yeah, I guess not. If you want, we can both show you around. Between the two of us, we should share pretty much every class."
"Except Chem… Chemistry," Carter points out.
"Yeah, you're pretty much fucked for that, but that's your problem. Now we have double Math and English, and Miss Loaves is genuinely the easiest Math teacher to have to deal with. She's the only one who lets you get books from your locker when you forget them rather than giving a write-out or detention or just yelling for ten minutes. Come on, we'll show you around."
> Two Hours Later...
The first few classes are easy. You've always been good at Math and Miss Loaves is quite eager to have a student who actually works hard. Of the class, it's mostly kids messing and doodling with the exception of you, the blond girl, Becca, who worked with Lucy in the pizza joint and a tiny kid sitting at the back of the class who looks as young as Hunter. English is similar, with you being among the few who can spell "Immediately". In the short space of three classes, you cement your position as a nerd in the class. When the bell rings for first lunch, you find Lucy smirking at you.
"You could've given us a heads up you were a nerd," she says.
"I'm not a nerd!" you protest.
"You were doing half the sums in your head!"
"I...!"
"Calm it, new girl. Shit, I didn't think you'd make such a big deal about it. Come on, I'll introduce you to the gang."
You follow Lucy to the cafeteria, where she sits down at a table. You recognize a few faces of those sitting there. Carter sits there, eagerly tearing into a sandwich. The nerdy, small kid is also there, as well as the blond girl, Becca, from the pizza place. The only others are a large, bulky kid who you don't recognize but seems unusually close to Becca.
"Alright, everyone, this is Hazel, she's new here. You know Carter."
"I'm Becca," Becca says, looking up at you.
"Hey, I'm Anthony," the small kid says.
"He's Ant," Becca buts in.
"Anthony, you prick!" Ant says again, but you resolve that Ant is a way better name for the tiny kid.
"I'm Kyle," the big kid says.
You sit down, and Kyle immediately continues telling a story he was apparently telling.
"So there I was, just walking into this shitty pet store that I genuinely think half the animals in were either dead or had a few hours to live, because I wanted to buy Becca a goldfish for our anniversary."
"It's not anniversary. Anniversary is yearly, not five monthly," Ant points out.
"Whatever, stop being a dick and interrupting the story. So I was trying to get a goldfish, when the manager or owner or whatever just stares blankly at me. After about a minute, he says "Buy something or get out", and I ask him what his problem is, and he says, no word of a lie, "All you Negroes is stealin' my cat food". I'm not even offended by that. I'm curious as to how much cat food has he had stolen by black kids to make that a stereotype in his head."
"Nah, s-sounds like b-b-bullshit. I bet you w-weren't r-r-really buying Bec... Becca an anniversary gift. You w-were going to... to steal c-cat food," Carter points out.
"Fuck you, Carter. Where was I?"
"You just finished," Becca says.
"Well, shit, I'm outta things to say. Where's Mason? He usually has something to say."
"There he is," Lucy says.
You turn your head slightly to see what could be the hottest boy you've ever seen. He stands tall with muscles that ripple under his t-shirt. He has short, straight black hair that looks really cute... shit, he's here. Say something! For God's sake, don't screw this up! USE THE RIGHT GREETING!
> You say "Hello."
"Hey," he smiles, extending a hand to shake. "I'm Mason."
He speaks with a sexy, thick Southern drawl that immediately... Shit, he's staring at you.
"I'm Hazel," you smile, shaking his hand.
"Where were you, Mason?" Lucy asks.
"I was talking to Drake about tonight."
"Who's Drake?" you ask.
"Lucy's older b-brother," Carter answers.
"Did you tell him I was going to be there?"
"Of course not. Can't you just trust me? Everything'll be fine. Hey, I forgot to say, I'm going to need you all to chip. Drake's got a heavy mark up."
"What's tonight?" you ask.
"We're all going out drinking in the woods," Lucy explains. "You can come, if you want. You don't even need to drink or anything, it's just a bit of fun."
"I don't know if my dad will let me,"
"Well, sneak out," Ant says.
"Well, I can try," you say.
"Cool, I'll save you some cans just in case," Mason smiles.
The bell rings, and Kyle and Ant swear in unison.
"What class is now?" Mason asks.
"Spanish," Carter replies.
You grab your bag and follow your new friends to Spanish class.
> Six Hours Later...
The rest of the school day is easy. You learn about the history of the town in History Class, the history teacher eagerly abandoning the notion of McCarthyism to explain what appears to be her favorite topic. Apparently, the town was once home to a large tribe of Native Americans, who were promptly wiped out by Colonists. The town rose to prominence due to its large number of cattle farms, before falling into obscurity as the modern age dawned. Eventually, it became the shithole it is today. After school, you take the bus home and say goodbye to your friends. Dad's still at work, so you collapse in front of the TV for a barrage of nearly identical Crime Shows. One features a team of guys who just kind of stereotype criminals, one features some guys who look at glowing stains, one features a guy who knows when you're lying and one features a modern day Sherlock Holmes.
Just as the team find a new bit of information about how the clown's car is full of some... particularly dirty stains, you hear the familiar whine.
"HAZEL! Can I watch TV!?!"
"No! I'm watching. Go play your games."
"But It's out battery!" he whines.
> You let the whining, snivelling brat watch TV
"Fine!" you sigh, as your brother gleefully snatches the remote and switches to the latest cartoon that's far too old for him.
You jump up from the couch, and grab your laptop, binge-watching Youtube until you hear Dad come through the door.
"Hello! I'm home!" he calls.
"Hey Dad!" you yell from the kitchen.
He walks in, smiling.
"You're not fighting. That's pretty impressive," he smiles, referring to you and your brother. "I'll put on dinner. We have chicken curry."
He begins to turn on the stove and start cooking.
"How was school, honey?"
> You say "Shitty."
"Well, honey, I'm sure it will get better. No, I swear it will. Don't worry, it just takes some time to get used to things."
You shrug and turn on your phone. After about an hour, Dad begins serving dinner.
> You sit down for dinner
You sit down.
"So Hunter, how was school?"
"Good," Hunter mumbles.
"Hey, Dad..." you ask.
"Yes?"
Now's the perfect time to ask him whether you can go or not... or you can just sneak out later.
> You say "Can I go out with some friends to the woods?"
"Into the woods? Hazel, it's late, you're not going to the woods," Dad says.
"OK," you say dejectedly, already planning how to sneak out.
You quickly eat most of your dinner before faking a stomach ache and disappearing into your room.
> You several Hours Later...
An hour before you're supposed to be meeting your newfound friends, you go out to Dad.
"Dad, I don't feel great," you moan. "I'm going to bed."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I need rest. I'm just going to sleep. Don't wake me any earlier than you need to."
"Sure, sweetie."
You disappear to your room, and immediately fill your bed will pillows even though it's a bit generic, and open your window. There's a small ledge you sit on, before you go to drop down. You hit the soil with a soft thud, and quickly break into a jog away from the house before Dad chooses to look out a window. You quickly rush away from the house and pull out your phone and call Lucy for directions.
> You ten Minutes Later...
After a long walk, getting lost on several occasions and using McDonalds as the landmark to navigate from, you end up trompsing through the woods, you feet softly landing on the soil that's neither dry earth or wet mud, but a combination of both. After ten minutes walking, you come across the site your friends were talking off. A fire built from moss dry leaves and branches struggles to stay alight as two rusted pick-ups sit on either side. You see the group immediately. Mason, Lucy and Carter sit on the roof of one of the trucks, passing a large bottle of what looks like vodka between them. Kyle and Becca sit on the other sharing a strange mixture of various liquids that's ended up a pale brownish color. Ant sits by the fire, letting out cursewords so dirty they'd make a sailor blush as he pours a can of lighter fluid among the flames in a desperate attempt to give the fire some self-sufficiency by setting alight one of the larger branches.
"Oh, you're h-h-here," Carter says.
"Oh, Hazel! I'm glad you could come! Shit, I half expectected you to get lost, give up and end up getting a McFlurry and going come," Lucy admits.
As the sun begins to hit the horizon, illuminating the entire forest golden and orange, you sit at the edge of one of the pick up's.
"You bring anything to drink?" Ant asks, turning a pile of leaves over to give the fire some air.
You shake your head, and Ant sighs.
"Figures. I've been telling half these guys to bring their own drinks since I knew 'em, but the only ones who do is me."
Mason holds up his hands in offene.
"And Mason,"
"I always bring drinks!" Lucy says.
"Your brother does, and he takes more than a pound of flesh in payment. Somebody ring him, anyway."
Just as Ant finishes talking, you hear a rustle among the leaves. Mason immediately puts his drink under his coat before a tall boy with messy hair that looks to be in his early twenties appears.
"Hey!" he says sternly. "Underage drinking is illegal, unhealthy and can act as a gateway drug to the very dangerous Marijuana!"
"We don't have time for your bullshit, Drake," Ant complains.
"Why do have to spoil everything, short-round?" I was trying to scare the new girl," the boy says, tossing a small grocery bag of cans of alcohol in front of Ant.
"Fantastic!" Mason sasys, immediately grabbing the bag as Ant gives Drake a wad of crumpled bills.
"I'm Drake, by the way," he says to you. "Lucy's brother."
"Hazel. You buy your sister alcohol?" you ask in surprise.
"Shit, I was drinking when I was twelve and a quarter. I reckon she's old enough to make her own decisions. Fuck, in some countries she'd be makin' babies and runnin' a household by now."
"Thanks, Drake," Lucy says, breaking the tab of a can of off-brand supermarket beer.
"No problem. Right, I gotta go, me and Ed are going out to do a few jobs. I'll see you all around. Good meetin' you, Hazel."
Drake turns and walks off through the forest as the kids around you begin tearing through the bag.
"This all tastes like someone drank shitty liquor and pissed into a can," Ant complains.
"Oh, b-b-because you brought o-only the f-f-finest of wines and c-cham-champagnes, Ant," Carter says.
Mason pops the tab of another can, and looks at you expectantly.
"Hey, Hazel," he asks. "Do you want some?"
> You say "No thanks."
"Are you sure?" Lucy asks. "A bit of drink never hurt anyone."
"Plus, you'll be really bland and we'lll be annoying to each other if you're sober," Ant adds. "Oh, and… peer pressure. We're peers who are pressuring you, because that's a thing that really happens."
> You say "OK."
"Cool," Mason grins, passing you the bottle of alcohol.
You take a long drink, downing much of the bottle. Ant is right, it does taste like piss. Still, you manage to gulp down half the can, before passing it on.
"Shit. The new girl can drink," Ant smiles.
You continue sitting around the campfire, which is really a lot closer to a glorified candle sitting in a pile of leaves. Mason grabs the bottle of vodka and sits down next to you and your heart flutters. A large part of you knows that this is just infatuation and a childhood crush, mixed in with a fair bit of hormonal lust, but still… he's really, really cute. The others seem bored, with Kyle downing what seems like more than his weight in booze.
"Well, this is boring," Lucy complains, tossing a bottle in the middle. "Let's play spin the bottle."
"No way!" Ant complains. "I'm the odd guy out. Kyle and Becca go together, you and Carter and then Mason and the new girl."
You blush at that comment as Carter nods in agreement.
"I agree. I d-don't w-want to play spin the bo-bottle," Carter says.
Briefly glancing at the indifferent Mason, you feel a twinge of annoyance of all possibilities of spin the bottle disappears as Ant suggests a new game.
"Truth or Dare!" Ant suggests, to the groans of Kyle and Becca.
"Remember what happened last time?" Becca points out.
"That's not fair! That wasn't my fault! You should've protected your dad's stuff. How was I do know that that painting was worth a fortune?"
"You shouldn't have been drawing over paintings in the first place, Ant!"
"It wasn't skin off your dad's nose! That rich bastard can handle a loss! Jesus, we all know his ancestors made his money off the backs of Kyle's ancestors!"
"Fuck you, Ant!" Kyle shouts, slurring from his drink.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen, calm down," Mason says. "There ain't no issues! We're all friends here! I say a game of truth and dare would calm us all down."
"Fine," Becca says.
Mason downs the rest of his drink, and tosses the glass bottle in the middle. He drops to his knees and spins it, landing on Carter, who lies in the back of the pick-up.
"Truth or dare, Carter?"
"If I p-pick dare, will you… will you make me st-stand up?" Carter says lazily.
"Maybe," Mason says slyly.
"Truth, t-then."
Mason grins, glancing at him and Lucy.
"Have you ever kissed Lucy?" he asks.
"Nope. Sorry to disa-disa-disappoint."
"Damn. I was certain," Mason sighs, pulling out his wallet and tossing Kyle a crumpled bill. "You just cost me twenty bucks, Carter."
Ant leans over, spinning the bottle. It slows to a stop, pointing off into the woods.
"Is that closer to Becca or Hazel?" he asks.
"Becca," Carter says.
"Oh, fantastic. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Dammit, Becca. Fine, I'll make this awkward. How far has Kyle got with you?"
"Shut up, Ant!" Becca hisses.
"Hey, you gotta answer!" Lucy says.
"Oh come on! That's private!"
"We're all friends here," Mason says.
"Fine! We've… you know. Done it."
"Respect, Kyle," Ant smiles, holding back a giggle.
Becca goes red, grabbing the bottle and twirling it. Through pure luck or skill, it points directly at Ant.
"Shit," Ant sighs.
"Truth or dare. I have a lot of embarrassing questions to ask."
"Dare," Ant grimaces.
"Well, you have a lot more balls than I though. You'll suffer from it. I dare you to go into Herr Eichel's basement."
"No!" Ant replies.
"Come on, Becca! Herr Eichel's tear out his throat if he caught him!" Lucy complains.
"Who's Herr EIchel?" you ask.
"Oh, I'll tell her. I've been practicing this story for my little brother," Mason says, before clearing his throat. "During World War II, a young soldier rose through the ranks of the SS. He had a habit of hunting Jews and personally escorting them to the Camps. He would hunt men, women, children, and torture them all for information. He showed no mercy. Eventually, when the Russians invaded, he escaped by pretending to be a civilian, fleeing from Berlin to France to Britain to the US. He hid right here in Dawnwood, hunting down any Jews he could find. His name is Herr Eichel."
"That's the biggest load of shit!" Lucy complains. "Everyone knows that any Jew in Dawnwood would be scared off by Carter Sr. and his white power bullshit."
"He doesn't w-w-want white pow-power!" Carter says. "He wants white p-pride. There's… a difference."
"No there isn't, Carter, now stop ruining the story. Where was I?" Mason asks.
"You just finished," you point out.
"Oh. Well, now Herr Eichel's going to kill Ant."
"Becca, I'm sorry! Please change the dare!"
"Fine. You have to go into the Dead Man's Barn and go up to the attic."
"That's even worse!" Ant complains.
"Nah, that ain't bad," Mason says. "Nazis are real and will kill you. Ghosts aren't."
You raise an eyebrow, and Mason smiles.
"OK, story time. Once, there was a Sheriff back in the Western times who used his power to wipe out any competition of the big ranchers of the town. One of the small time ranchers, Daniel Edwards, stood up and told the Sheriff he wouldn't sell his farm to his competition despite threats. The Sheriff led a posse to bring him down, and Edwards tried to fight back. He killed two dozen men and took near a hundred bullets before he went down. They tortured him for a few days, even cutting his face wide open to give him... what'd ya call it, a Glasgow Grin. Eventually, you just hung him to finish him off. Rumor is he still haunts the barn where they strung him up. It's a historical building so it can't be torn down, so the owner just leaves it vacant."
"I'm not going!"
"Don't pussy out, Ant."
"Will one of you go with me?" Ant pleads.
"Spin the bottle, and whoever it lands on has to go with you," Lucy suggests. "I hope it's Becca. That'd be ironic."
"Sure," Carter says. "Let's do that."
Ant thanks Lucy and spins the bottle. It wobbles and slows to a halt, pointing directly at you.
"Well, I guess Hazel's going to Dead Man's Barn," Mason says.
"No, she can go to Herr Eichel's if she wants. Eichel's just an old, slow dude. The Dead Man's a supernatural murderer," Lucy says.
"Let Hazel pick," Kyle says, trying to stand before stumbling and leaning back on the truck.
"Yeah. Go ahead Hazel. Ghost or Nazi."
> You go with Ant to Dead Man's Barn
"Dead Man's Barn."
"If you think so," Lucy says as Mason nods encouragingly.
Ant nods nervously.
"Good choice," Mason says.
You nod. The group begins to stand, and starts walking towards Dead Man's Barn.
"I'll... I'll stay here!" Kyle slurs, collapsing into the back of the pick-up truck.
Lucy shrugs, and continues leading the group out of the forest. The group drops the various empty cans among the shrubs as you emerge in yet a bland, empty field with an old, clearly abandoned and boarded up barn in the center. It's a particularly large barn, but other than that it's just an old, boring barn.. The sun's fallen, so Lucy brings out her phone and turns on the flashlight. She leads you to the barn, and Mason grabs the edge of a piece of plywood and pulls it back.
"This is stupid guys," Ant says.
"What, scared of a ghost?" Mason chuckles.
"No! I'm just scared of tripping and getting tetanus from a rusty nail!"
"Pussy," Mason says, rolling his eyes.
Mason pulls the plywood back further, creating a large enough gap for you to step through.
"Thank you," you say as you step through.
"Of course, Ma'am," Mason smiles.
As you step through, you enter complete darkness penetrated by a single beam of pale moonlight coming from the gap. Ant steps in afterwards, looking around nervously.
"OK, we've went inside, dare's over," Ant says.
Mason sighs, pushing the plywood back in place. You hear his muffled voice a few seconds later.
"Go upstairs and open the boards at the window. Then we'll let you out, Ant," Lucy says.
"You're a bitch!" Ant says, thumping on the plywood, before turning to you.
"Let's explore," he says nervously.
You pull out your phone, turning on the flashlight. The inside of the barn is immediately illuminated. Several horse stalls made of rotten wood takes up most of the barn, with the floor covered in dried, rotten hay.
"It smells like shit in here," Ant complains.
"Hush," you reply.
You spot a partially rotted out stairs leading to the upper floor. You walk over to it. You put your foot on the first stair and put some weight on it to make sure it'll hold. You slowly make your way up the stairwell, reaching the upper-floor. There's a dead silence inside, even the wind dying as complete silence consumes you. You scan the room with your flashlight. You wince as you notice a blood-stained noose hanging from the ceiling.
"Jesus. Is that what I think it is?"
"No, Hazel, it's a fucking... I can't even think of a mocking example. Of course it's a...!"
There's a creaking of the floorboards behind you, and you quickly turn to find... nothing.
"Hazel, please. If you're trying to freak me out, just... don't."
"I'm not doing..."
You feel something knock into your back and you fall forward with a yelp. Your phone flies from your hands. It falls forward down the stairs, thudding before it lands on it's back, obscuring the flashlight and plunging you into total darkness.
"What the fuck, Ant?"
"I swear to god, that wasn't me!" Ant says. "Let's get out of here, fuck the window."
You hear haggard, wet breathing in at the stairwell, and you freeze.
"What...?"
"Shut up!" you hiss.
The breathing continues, before turning to a wet, squelching chuckle. Ant whimpers, as you begin to back away from the stairwell.
"It ain't your night tonight, kids," a deep voice says, each word interspersed with the wet squelching you've heard before. "What the fuck makes two dumbass, chicken shit kids come into a place you don't belong?"
"What the fuck...?" Ant says, half whimpering and half shrieking.
"Sssh... save your breath. I ain't even given you a reason to start hollering... yet."
> You charge the figure
You charge forward, and the figure grabs you. It's arms grab your wrist and pin you to the wall. You hear the soft thudding of Ant's fists on the creatures back, but the figure doesn't even seem to notice.
"Oh, you're going to regret that, darlin'." The figure laughs.
You feel the cold metal of a blade press against your cheek. He laughs as he begins to carve your face apart, and all you can do is scream. |
"Dead Man's Barn."
"If you think so," Lucy says as Mason nods encouragingly.
Ant nods nervously.
"Good choice," Mason says.
You nod. The group begins to stand, and starts walking towards Dead Man's Barn.
"I'll... I'll stay here!" Kyle slurs, collapsing into the back of the pick-up truck.
Lucy shrugs, and continues leading the group out of the forest. The group drops the various empty cans among the shrubs as you emerge in yet a bland, empty field with an old, clearly abandoned and boarded up barn in the center. It's a particularly large barn, but other than that it's just an old, boring barn.. The sun's fallen, so Lucy brings out her phone and turns on the flashlight. She leads you to the barn, and Mason grabs the edge of a piece of plywood and pulls it back.
"This is stupid guys," Ant says.
"What, scared of a ghost?" Mason chuckles.
"No! I'm just scared of tripping and getting tetanus from a rusty nail!"
"Pussy," Mason says, rolling his eyes.
Mason pulls the plywood back further, creating a large enough gap for you to step through.
"Thank you," you say as you step through.
"Of course, Ma'am," Mason smiles.
As you step through, you enter complete darkness penetrated by a single beam of pale moonlight coming from the gap. Ant steps in afterwards, looking around nervously.
"OK, we've went inside, dare's over," Ant says.
Mason sighs, pushing the plywood back in place. You hear his muffled voice a few seconds later.
"Go upstairs and open the boards at the window. Then we'll let you out, Ant," Lucy says.
"You're a bitch!" Ant says, thumping on the plywood, before turning to you.
"Let's explore," he says nervously.
You pull out your phone, turning on the flashlight. The inside of the barn is immediately illuminated. Several horse stalls made of rotten wood takes up most of the barn, with the floor covered in dried, rotten hay.
"It smells like shit in here," Ant complains.
"Hush," you reply.
You spot a partially rotted out stairs leading to the upper floor. You walk over to it. You put your foot on the first stair and put some weight on it to make sure it'll hold. You slowly make your way up the stairwell, reaching the upper-floor. There's a dead silence inside, even the wind dying as complete silence consumes you. You scan the room with your flashlight. You wince as you notice a blood-stained noose hanging from the ceiling.
"Jesus. Is that what I think it is?"
"No, Hazel, it's a fucking... I can't even think of a mocking example. Of course it's a...!"
There's a creaking of the floorboards behind you, and you quickly turn to find... nothing.
"Hazel, please. If you're trying to freak me out, just... don't."
"I'm not doing..."
You feel something knock into your back and you fall forward with a yelp. Your phone flies from your hands. It falls forward down the stairs, thudding before it lands on it's back, obscuring the flashlight and plunging you into total darkness.
"What the fuck, Ant?"
"I swear to god, that wasn't me!" Ant says. "Let's get out of here, fuck the window."
You hear haggard, wet breathing in at the stairwell, and you freeze.
"What...?"
"Shut up!" you hiss.
The breathing continues, before turning to a wet, squelching chuckle. Ant whimpers, as you begin to back away from the stairwell.
"It ain't your night tonight, kids," a deep voice says, each word interspersed with the wet squelching you've heard before. "What the fuck makes two dumbass, chicken shit kids come into a place you don't belong?"
"What the fuck...?" Ant says, half whimpering and half shrieking.
"Sssh... save your breath. I ain't even given you a reason to start hollering... yet."
> You run
You turn and start running the other way. In the darkness, you see nothing, and your foot hits a rotten plank that gives way. You scream as you wall, flying through the air before you hit the hard ground with a thud. You scream as you feel your arm break. Ant screams, before falling silence, as you struggle to pull yourself to your feet. You hear frantic yelling outside the barn as your friends realize something's happened, but not before the figure appears above you again.
"Ah, shit kid. You ain't even one of the old bloods. Some immigrant or Northerner or some shit. Well, can't have you telling the city to have this place torn down, though looking at the condition you're in, this'll be a mercy."
You start to beg as he slashes the cold steel along your throat as it mingles with a fresh stream of hot blood. |
"Dead Man's Barn."
"If you think so," Lucy says as Mason nods encouragingly.
Ant nods nervously.
"Good choice," Mason says.
You nod. The group begins to stand, and starts walking towards Dead Man's Barn.
"I'll... I'll stay here!" Kyle slurs, collapsing into the back of the pick-up truck.
Lucy shrugs, and continues leading the group out of the forest. The group drops the various empty cans among the shrubs as you emerge in yet a bland, empty field with an old, clearly abandoned and boarded up barn in the center. It's a particularly large barn, but other than that it's just an old, boring barn.. The sun's fallen, so Lucy brings out her phone and turns on the flashlight. She leads you to the barn, and Mason grabs the edge of a piece of plywood and pulls it back.
"This is stupid guys," Ant says.
"What, scared of a ghost?" Mason chuckles.
"No! I'm just scared of tripping and getting tetanus from a rusty nail!"
"Pussy," Mason says, rolling his eyes.
Mason pulls the plywood back further, creating a large enough gap for you to step through.
"Thank you," you say as you step through.
"Of course, Ma'am," Mason smiles.
As you step through, you enter complete darkness penetrated by a single beam of pale moonlight coming from the gap. Ant steps in afterwards, looking around nervously.
"OK, we've went inside, dare's over," Ant says.
Mason sighs, pushing the plywood back in place. You hear his muffled voice a few seconds later.
"Go upstairs and open the boards at the window. Then we'll let you out, Ant," Lucy says.
"You're a bitch!" Ant says, thumping on the plywood, before turning to you.
"Let's explore," he says nervously.
You pull out your phone, turning on the flashlight. The inside of the barn is immediately illuminated. Several horse stalls made of rotten wood takes up most of the barn, with the floor covered in dried, rotten hay.
"It smells like shit in here," Ant complains.
"Hush," you reply.
You spot a partially rotted out stairs leading to the upper floor. You walk over to it. You put your foot on the first stair and put some weight on it to make sure it'll hold. You slowly make your way up the stairwell, reaching the upper-floor. There's a dead silence inside, even the wind dying as complete silence consumes you. You scan the room with your flashlight. You wince as you notice a blood-stained noose hanging from the ceiling.
"Jesus. Is that what I think it is?"
"No, Hazel, it's a fucking... I can't even think of a mocking example. Of course it's a...!"
There's a creaking of the floorboards behind you, and you quickly turn to find... nothing.
"Hazel, please. If you're trying to freak me out, just... don't."
"I'm not doing..."
You feel something knock into your back and you fall forward with a yelp. Your phone flies from your hands. It falls forward down the stairs, thudding before it lands on it's back, obscuring the flashlight and plunging you into total darkness.
"What the fuck, Ant?"
"I swear to god, that wasn't me!" Ant says. "Let's get out of here, fuck the window."
You hear haggard, wet breathing in at the stairwell, and you freeze.
"What...?"
"Shut up!" you hiss.
The breathing continues, before turning to a wet, squelching chuckle. Ant whimpers, as you begin to back away from the stairwell.
"It ain't your night tonight, kids," a deep voice says, each word interspersed with the wet squelching you've heard before. "What the fuck makes two dumbass, chicken shit kids come into a place you don't belong?"
"What the fuck...?" Ant says, half whimpering and half shrieking.
"Sssh... save your breath. I ain't even given you a reason to start hollering... yet."
> You attempt to converse with the figure
"Please... I don't want to die."
"I didn't either, kid. It ain't so bad. Tell your grandparents I said "Fuck you.", ok?"
"Please!" you say, breaking into a sob.
"HEY! Mason shouts from outside. "Are you OK in there?"
You feel cold metal touch your throat.
"Tell him you're fine, darlin'."
> You tell Mason you're fine
"I'm fine! There was a rat!" you shout.
"OK!" Mason replies.
Ant continues whimpering, as a gloved hand runs through your hair.
"Good girl... I don't recognize you in the dark. Let's see who you are... don't scream, by the way."
Your hear the flick of a lighter before a flame splutters to life in front of you, illuminating all three of you. Then, you get the first sight of the Dead Man. His skin is grey and dead, his eyes cold, lifeless and pure black. His mouth has been carved open, the cuts carving upwards into a smile. Blood stains his rotting skin and his shirt. He wears a classic cowboy hat and leather duster, and his neck is covered in the deep bruises caused by a noose. Ant tries to scream, but can't find the air to do so. You freeze, immobilized in terror, as the Dead Man grin.
"Well look who we have here. A Ceder and a wanderer."
You stare at him as he caresses the side of Ant's face."
"What's your name, boy?"
"Anthony Ceder."
"I remember you. I remember your people. I remember seeing your great-great-grand mama. A little Jewish girl who ran the store and didn't have shit. You're one of the few families that didn't string me up in this town. I ain't got no feud with you."
He turns to you, and presses the knife to your lips.
"Darlin', you should smile more. It'd make you a hell of a lot prettier."
He traces the path of a smile along your face with the cold blade.
"Don't hurt me."
"Ah, I'd never hurt a woman 'less I had a reason. I don't recognize you. You're a wanderer, ain't ya? You ain't from Dawnwoods originally,"
"I'm from New York."
"Hell, might cut you up for that if I weren't as nice a guy as I am."
"Are you sure you're OK?" Becca shouts, and the Dead Man presses the knife to your throat.
"What's her name?" he hisses.
"Becca," you whimper.
"I fuckin' know that voice! I fuckin' know that voice! I fuckin'... Becca Montgomery. The great-great however fuckin' many greats grand daughter of Horton J. Montgomery. That bitch..."
The Dead Man is clearly quite distracted by his vengeful rant. If there's a time to do anything, it's now.
> You wait patiently
"...that goddamn bitch, I'll... Call her."
"What?" you ask.
"I said call her, you yankee bitch! Tell that Mongomery whore to come in!"
> You tell Becca to come into the barn
"Becca! Can you come in here, please? We need a hand. Ant got his leg stuck!"
"Sure, we'll come in!" Mason shouts.
Fuck, you didn't mean for them all to come.
"Good job, darlin'. Sorry 'bout this, but I can't let any of you kids get out. God, I'm bagging a Montgomery tonight!"
You scream as his blade slices open your throat, cold steel mixing with warm blood. |
"...that goddamn bitch, I'll... Call her."
"What?" you ask.
"I said call her, you yankee bitch! Tell that Mongomery whore to come in!"
> You refuse
"Fuck you! Becca, don't...!"
The cold metal of a blade slices open your throat as before you can get out another word as cold steel mingles with hot blood.
"Dumb bitch." |
"I'm fine! There was a rat!" you shout.
"OK!" Mason replies.
Ant continues whimpering, as a gloved hand runs through your hair.
"Good girl... I don't recognize you in the dark. Let's see who you are... don't scream, by the way."
Your hear the flick of a lighter before a flame splutters to life in front of you, illuminating all three of you. Then, you get the first sight of the Dead Man. His skin is grey and dead, his eyes cold, lifeless and pure black. His mouth has been carved open, the cuts carving upwards into a smile. Blood stains his rotting skin and his shirt. He wears a classic cowboy hat and leather duster, and his neck is covered in the deep bruises caused by a noose. Ant tries to scream, but can't find the air to do so. You freeze, immobilized in terror, as the Dead Man grin.
"Well look who we have here. A Ceder and a wanderer."
You stare at him as he caresses the side of Ant's face."
"What's your name, boy?"
"Anthony Ceder."
"I remember you. I remember your people. I remember seeing your great-great-grand mama. A little Jewish girl who ran the store and didn't have shit. You're one of the few families that didn't string me up in this town. I ain't got no feud with you."
He turns to you, and presses the knife to your lips.
"Darlin', you should smile more. It'd make you a hell of a lot prettier."
He traces the path of a smile along your face with the cold blade.
"Don't hurt me."
"Ah, I'd never hurt a woman 'less I had a reason. I don't recognize you. You're a wanderer, ain't ya? You ain't from Dawnwoods originally,"
"I'm from New York."
"Hell, might cut you up for that if I weren't as nice a guy as I am."
"Are you sure you're OK?" Becca shouts, and the Dead Man presses the knife to your throat.
"What's her name?" he hisses.
"Becca," you whimper.
"I fuckin' know that voice! I fuckin' know that voice! I fuckin'... Becca Montgomery. The great-great however fuckin' many greats grand daughter of Horton J. Montgomery. That bitch..."
The Dead Man is clearly quite distracted by his vengeful rant. If there's a time to do anything, it's now.
> You elbow him and run
You slam your elbow into his face and he drops you with a grunt.
"Fuckin' bitch!" he grunts.
You grab Ant's arm and yank him down the stairs, you turn, yelling at Mason to move the plywood as you sprint towards it. The Dead Man appears in front of you.
"Hiya, darlin'," he chuckles, blood spurting out of his throat.
He begins walking towards you, as Ant lets out a whimper. The Dead Man grins, his skin tearing open as blood trickles down his chin.
"I'm going to..." he says, before pausing.
There's a crunch as a large piece of plywood is pulled away by Mason. A beam of moonlight comes in, hitting the boot of the Dead Man. There's a sizzle as he boot begins to fade, and the Dead Man snarls. In the blink of an eye, he's gone. You don't know where he's gone, but you're not waiting around to find out.
"Come on!" you shout, grabbing Ant running towards the gap in the boards.
You scamper through, collapsing on the cool grass outside.
"What the fuck happened?" Mason asks.
"The Dead Man was there! He was there, and he was so mad, and he..."
"Ant, calm the fuck down!" Lucy shouts, grabbing Ant and shaking him.
"You're d-d-drunk as fuck, Ant. You d-don't know w-what you saw," Carter says.
"I did! Ask Hazel!!"
The group turns to you, and you nod.
"There was a ghost in there. It had it's throat slit and...!" you say in a nervous panic.
"Alright, calm down," Mason says, pulling you in and squeezing you in a hug.
You feel your heart flutter as you take deep breaths, your head nestled in your chest.
"G-get a room," Carter says.
You blush as Mason lets go of you.
"In fairness, you've drunk a fair bit as well. You're more pissed than I am. Maybe you were just seeing things in the shadows that weren't there," Mason suggests.
You shrug whilst shaking your head.
"I don't know."
"Come on, let's head back to Kyle," Becca says.
You walk back through the field and back into the woods, heading towards the trucks.
"S-s-so, this w-was a bad id-idea," Carter says. "We just p-panicked Ant and H-Ha-Hazel."
"We risked our lives to annoy what could have been a harmless old man," Ant says.
You arrive at the camp, and Mason swears loudly.
"FUCK! Where the hell is Kyle?" he asks.
The camp is empty, with no one in sight.
"R-r-remember last time we lost Kyle when he was drunk?"
"Oh dear God, he ended up pissing in my garden. He wasn't pissing into the garden. He was standing in the garden, pissing on my house," Becca says.
"That was funny," Ant says, still shaken up from his experience.
"We need to find him. Is anyone not sober enough to find this place again?" Mason says.
There's silence.
"Good. We'll split up and try find him. Ant, you head towards the Rotten Trees, Lucy, go towards our old tree house, Becca, towards the old drinking point, Carter, back towards town. Hazel, you're new here. There's a stream just over there," Mason says, pointing. "Just walk along there, and keep your phone on. If you can't find him, follow the stream back here."
You nod. Time to find Kyle.
> You walk along the stream
You walk alongside the stream, your shoes squelching in the wet mud. You walk along to the drier earth, but they're already ruined.
"Fuck," you sigh, walking along. "Kyle! Kyle! Are you there?!?"
You hear what sounds like twigs breaking behind you, and quickly twirl around. Must've been your imagination. You continue walking along the stream.
"Kyle! Kyle! I don't care how drunk you are, do something! I'm getting sick of looking for you!"
You hear the rustle as leaves as the wind picks up, and what was earlier a hot, humid night is now turning bitterly cold, as the light that the moon was provided dims considerably. For the first time, you realize that you're walking in the middle of a place you've never been, late at night, with no one around. You consider turning around and heading back, but you know if Kyle's passed out somewhere, you need to find him.
"Hello!" you call.
Your voice carries out across the trees. Then, the silence resumes. There's a silence so deadly quiet it's painful. There's no birds, no small mammals scurrying among the trees or undergrowth, not even a cricket. You take deep breaths in an attempt to calm yourself down, before you here a low growl. You turn around, flicking your head around desperately to find the source of the noise, desperately wanting to run but not knowing which direction to do so.
"Kyle? Is that you?" you whimper.
The growl stops, and the silence resumes. You stand perfectly still, not wanting to disturb whatever's out there. Then, it lets out a roar. The roar's incredibly loud and you scream in pain as the sound like shattering glass as concrete scrapes against each other. You feel pure, unadulterated terror, which is amplified when you spot the beast.
The Beast stands on four legs, the shape of a bear but the size of a large truck, covered in thick fur that's so dark it consumes what little moonlight makes it through the trees. It's eyes are pure red, the all-consuming crimson of fresh blood that peer through your eyes and bore into your soul. As it roars, it revels a mouth filled with hundreds of teeth the size of daggers, pure white and sharp enough to drill through solid steel. It stands, blocking the route back towards your friends. You need to do something, now.
> You run
You turn, and run as fast as your legs will carry you. Trees are torn up and sent flying away behind you as the beast gives chase. Thankfully, its size means that navigating past the trees is impossible, so it needs to tear them up and throw them away to follow you. You have enough of a lead to know you have two options: You could head towards town, getting help from the many armed residents of Dawnwood who have enough combined firepower to invade a small nation, which would easily be enough to scare away or kill the beast. Hell, the need for that is unlikely, as since there's been a lack of reports about this creature, it probably wouldn't venture out and follow you if you escape the confines of the trees. On the other hand, if you head towards the caves, you might be able to find a place to hide and escape this terrible beast.
> You run towards the town
You run towards the town, letting out a desperate scream for help. It charges towards you, the gap between the pair of you lowering. It sprints towards you faster than a truck, and finally manages to catch you, batting you with its paw with incredible strength. Your bones break and crack as you're sent spiraling through the air. You land in a heap by the soft earth and let out a shriek as your limbs twist at incredible angles that they're definitely not meant to go. The creature walks slowly towards you, and you try to crawl away but find yourself unable to move. You see the flash of the beast's teeth and a spurt of crimson before it finishes off its prey. |
You turn, and run as fast as your legs will carry you. Trees are torn up and sent flying away behind you as the beast gives chase. Thankfully, its size means that navigating past the trees is impossible, so it needs to tear them up and throw them away to follow you. You have enough of a lead to know you have two options: You could head towards town, getting help from the many armed residents of Dawnwood who have enough combined firepower to invade a small nation, which would easily be enough to scare away or kill the beast. Hell, the need for that is unlikely, as since there's been a lack of reports about this creature, it probably wouldn't venture out and follow you if you escape the confines of the trees. On the other hand, if you head towards the caves, you might be able to find a place to hide and escape this terrible beast.
> You head toward the caves
You change direction, bursting towards the few caves that these woods have. You can here the beast right behind you, feeling its hot breath on the back of your neck, blowing your hair out of the way. You spot two caves you think... well, hope you can reach before it catches you. One is a small crack in stone that you think you can dive through that's definitely far too small for the beast to follow you that leads into a tunnel further in. The other is an opening to a large cavern that's also too small for the beast to follow you and that widens considerably further down.
> You go through the small tunnel
You dart through the small crack, heading quickly down the tunnel. As you're emerged in complete darkness you stop walking, your deep breaths echoing off the cave walls creating an eery sound. You pull out your phone and turn on the flashlight, illuminating the area. Then, you let out a petrified scream. The walls are covered with vivid symbols of red, sharp and alien characters you don't recognize. But that's not what makes you scream. Three bound figures lie on the ground, their bodies now a scene of horrific cruelty. They're naked, but their skin has been torn off to let you see the wet muscles that glisten underneath. You let out a sob as they begin to writhe. They're not dead, you realize in terror. The figures writhe, and you begin sobbing as you back away in terror. You run with a scream to the opening of the tunnel. You don't dare venturing out in case you're sighted by the beast, so you sit by the opening, sobbing. You begin to smell a strange smell coming from further down the tunnel, this one different from the rotting flesh. Soon, your wretched, sobbing and broken body finds sleep.
> You awaken
"We found her!" a voice cries, awakening you from her slumber.
You open your eyes, spotting a young man you vaguely recognize as the town mechanic.
"It's ok," he says. "You're going to be alright."
The images of the writhing corpses fill your mind as more of the town's residence arrive.
"Jesus, what the fuck happened her?" someone asks.
"God, is she OK?"
"Does she need a doctor?"
"Hazel! Where's my baby girl!?!"
You hear Dad's voice and spot him among the growing crowd.
"Dad!" you cry, as he leans in and hug him.
"Oh Hazel, thank God I've found you. What the hell were you thinking, sneaking out like that? It's OK, I found you. You're safe. What happened?"
You sob, and attempt to recount your story to Dad, to his confusion.
"Your friends said that you had been looking for Kyle. They found him, but then they couldn't find you. You… you smell of drink. What were you thinking, Hazel? You must've got drunk and seen a bear. I'll tell the sheriff and have a hunting party sent out to kill it."
"It wasn't a bear, Dad! And there were bodies! They're in the cave!"
"Sweetie, you were drunk!"
The Sheriff appears, emerging from the crowd. He stops by Dad, squeezing his shoulder.
"I'm glad you found your gal, Malcolm. We'll talk later," he says, before pausing. "She smells of drink. I've always believed in the father disciplining the kid, so I'll leave that to you, Malcolm."
"Come on, sweetie!" Dad says. "I'm getting you home."
"No wait, check the cave! There's bodies in there!"
Dad sighs, and the Sheriff heads in. He appears a minute later, shrugging.
"There ain't nothing in there. There's a few rabbit carcasses that look to be infected, but that's it," he says.
"What…?" you ask in confusion. "I need to go down there and check...!"
"Calm down, darling. Those animal corpses could give you an infection. You might've seen them wrong in the dark. I'll have someone clear them out later. Come on, everyone, head on home."
The Sheriff stands by the entrance to the tunnel, motioning for people to leave as the search and rescue party heads out towards the town as Dad thanks them.
"Come on, Hazel, let's get home," Dad says.
You follow Dad out as he leads you back home.
> You go home
The ride home is long and quiet. Dad can clearly tell you don't want to talk, so he leaves you alone. Eventually, you pull into the driveway.
"I've told your teacher you won't be coming in today. Go upstairs and have a shower, you can have the day to relax. I'm staying home to look after you today."
You nod, and walk inside. You pull off your mud-covered shoes, and walk upstairs, leaving a trail of muddy water behind you. You walk into the bathroom, and slowly get undressed. You unbutton and pull off your jeans, then step out of your underwater. You pull off your jumper, than your shirt. As you go to unclasp your bra, you freeze as you notice yourself in the mirror. One of the strange, alien symbols you saw covering the cave walls above the disgusting, shuddering, skinless bodies, is carved into your stomach, just below your belly button. You shriek, and you hear Dad call up to you.
"Hazel? Are you OK?"
> You say "I'm fine!"
"OK, honey."
You stare at the symbol in horror, before taking a deep breath. You open your bathroom cabinet, and pull out some bandages, applying it to the wound. The wound's shallow and small, nothing really to worry about medically, although it terrifies you. Whoever did that to the corpses had access to you while you slept. You shudder at the sight. You decide to shower to feel some bit cleaner.
> You shower
You walk into the shower, and set the temperature as hot as you can without scalding yourself. You step under the water, feeling your hair grow in weight as the water soaks it through. The water warms you and helps clean the layer of dirt and mud from your body. To your absolute embarrassment, you notice the water pooling yellowish beneath you before it goes down the drain and you realize in the terror of last night you must have wet yourself at some point. You blush, both from embarrassment and the scalding water, and finish cleaning yourself. You turn off the shower and grab a towel, tossing your dirty clothes into the wash basket. You dry yourself off and get dressed, before collapsing on your bed. You grab your laptop and turn it on, finding comfort in the endless terrible comedies that Netflix provides. Dad brings you breakfast, then lunch, leaving you in a cocoon of blankets in front of the latest episode of Some random crime show about a police division that doesn't do nearly as much in real life, finding comfort about the stereotypical characters and massively contrived murder methods used to kill people. Eventually, you hear a knock on the door.
"Hazel!" Dad shouts. "Your friends are here."
You wiggle out of bed and jump up, walking down the stairs. Standing there are Mason, Carter, Lucy, Ant, Becca and Kyle.
"Hey, Hazel. You feeling alright?" Lucy asks.
"Yeah," you reply.
"I'm so sorry, I just got drunk and wandered off to find a place to go to the bathroom. I didn't think anything would happen to you because of it!" Kyle says apologetically.
"It's fine," you say.
"Well, we were only stopping by to see if you're OK, and if you wanted to go down to town and get a bite to eat."
Dad stares at you.
"Do you remember what happened last time you went out? Only last night, remember?"
"We'll have her back before sundown. We're only going into town, and I'll take good care of her," Mason says.
"I'm sure you will," Dad says skeptically, looking Mason over. "Hazel, keep your phone on and be back by eight. Not half eight, not quarter past eight, not a single minute past eight. Got it?"
"Yes, Dad."
You walk out the door with your friends out towards town.
> One Hour Later...
An hour later, you sit in the pizza place Lucy and Becca work in, with two other unfortunate teenagers working behind the counter, a large pepperoni pizza in the middle of the group.
"So... you were attacked by a monster... who then led you into a trio of undead dead people?" Ant asks. "No offense, but that sounds like complete and utter bullshit."
You stare at Ant incredulously.
"Do you not recall less than an hour before that what happened? You nearly pissed yourself!"
Ant looks down, ashen faced.
"There were no ghosts. You're just fucking with us," Lucy complains.
"Fine, I believe you."
"I believe her," Kyle says.
"You d-don't have a c-c-choice, Kyle. You n-nearly got her kill-killed," Carter says.
Kyle shrugs.
"Fine, say we believe you," Becca says. "What are we going to do about it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there's a monster in Dawnwoods.. That's a problem, also the monster's too big to go in the cave you were in or else it would've caught you, so that means the body skinning thing is separate, so we got a monster and at least one Satanist."
"How do you know it was Satanism?" Ant asks.
"Well, it wasn't Christians, hence, it must've been Satanists," Becca says.
"Why c-couldn't it b-b-be any other r-r-religions?"
"Carter, this is the whitest, most Christian town that has ever existed. There was one Sikh family, and they had a cross burned on their lawn and were forced out of town after 9/11. There's no other religions here."
"OK, fine."
"So, what are we going to do about...?"
You groan as a sharp pain hits your stomach. It intensifies, and you let out a yelp.
"Are you OK, Hazel?" Mason asks.
"Yeah, I'm..." you groan, and Lucy helps you to your feet.
"I think I'm going to be sick," you groan.
"Come on, I'll take you," Lucy says, dragging you into the bathroom.
You're pulled past the urinals and into one of the stalls, and drop to your knees, letting out a torrent of puke. You groan in pain as you begin to puke, filling the bowl.
"Thank Christ I'm not on shift now. I'd hate to have to clean up this again," Lucy says.
You puke again, before the pain starts to recede.
"Don't worry, Hazel, we'll get you home soon," Lucy says.
"Hey, Lucy?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you drag me into the guy's bathroom?"
"Oh, oops. Sorry, Hazel. I clean both toilets, so I'm used to entering them both, and this one was closer..."
You sigh, and stand, ready to go home.
> You go home
You friends drag you home, where your father waits.
"Hazel! Are you OK? Carter called and told me you were throwing up."
"I'm fine," you groan, as Dad helps you inside.
"Go upstairs, sweetheart. I'll get you a flat Seven-Up to help settle your stomach and a hot water bottle. Thanks for helping get her home, guys," Dad says.
"No bother," Mason replies. "See you later, Hazel."
Dad helps you up to bed, and you collapse onto your mattress. You fall asleep before Dad even gets into the ktichen.
> Six Hours Later...
When you wake up six hours later, you panic. You're lying in a rusted, iron cage, surrounded by pitch darkness. You stand slowly, finding yourself in the middle of the woods. You look around desperately for a way out, but it seems you're stuck in here. The wind blows through the trees, rustling leaves and giving you a cold chill as you realize you're in your underwear. You look around, spotting a large RV next to the cage. Two figures step out and begin walking towards you. They both wear ski masks, hoodies and baggy black pants, with one carrying a doctor's bag. A third appears, pushing a gurney towards you. You scream for help and back away to the back of the cage. One of them steps forward and unlocks the cage door, and they enter the cage.
"Hands behind your head, don't move," one of the figures said.
> You attack
You charge forward, swinging at the first man. You hit him with some force in the jaw, and he grabs your arm. He slaps you hard across the face, knocking you to the ground. The men grab you, and force you into the gurney. They strap your hands up my your head and your feet together, leaving you stretched out on the gurney. A ball gag is stuffed in your mouth and strapped tightly. You wince one off them puts surgical gloves on, before drawing a thermometer that's pushed into your ear. He checks it, before placing a cold hand on your stomach. He pushes gently, before squeezing.
"I'm right. Get the injections ready."
You shake and try to scream as one of the men takes out a needle that's almost comically large and sharp. He jabs it into your stomach and you scream into your gag and presses down, releasing the liquid into your stomach. You begin to tear up as he repeats the process with several more needles, and by the end your eyes are obscured with tears. He smiles at you through the ski mask, before another man arrives with a large burlap sack. He opens it, pulling out a small mammal like a rat or a ferret, and a large knife. You watch in horror as he slices the mammal's throat open, letting blood flow out onto your stomach. He tosses the carcass aside, and begins to use his fingers to draw various patterns along your belly as you wince and shake. He sighs, and slaps you hard across the face.
"Stop shaking," he says, before turning to one of the other men. "Tomorrow night."
He finishes drawing his patterns, before taking out a small black notebook. He begins to read from it in an insane language you don't understand, like the spluttering of a madman. The pain in your stomach intensifies greatly as you let out a petrified scream as you feel yourself being torn apart. Finally, he stops, as does the pain.
"Ah, good. Get the chloroform and untie her. Then, bring the kids back from their walk."
They free you from your straps, and you notice the door's still open.
> You run for the gate
You leap up and run for the gate. Clearly the men weren't prepared for your newfound strength, so you charge out of the cage and begin sprinting towards the trees. As you hear the men loudly swearing behind you, you break through the trees. You run through the darkness as you avoid trees, before knocking into something. You fall to the ground, painfully scraping your knee on a tree root. You look up, and scream in terror as you see them. A half dozen figures slowly surround you, giving you a view of them. The... creatures are all children, but they're so deformed, so mutated, they barely qualify. One is missing both it's arms, replaced with long, thin, slimy tentacles that reach forward to touch you. A second is missing most of its face, a gaping hole in its place filled with tiny, wiggling tentacles from the walls, back, roof and floor of the mouth. A third looks like a cute, perfectly normal girl of around four years old, except her mouth hangs open and her eyes are completely black. Another, one of the worst, looks like a cross between a schoolgirl, a fetus and an octopus, and stands wiggling above you as it reaches out towards you. You scream, and crawl backwards, terrified. They advance slowly, tentacles extending to rub you, slick goo wiping across your face and hair. You sob as you try to stand, before being yanked up by a man in a mask. He takes out a large rag and a glass bottle. He soaks the rag, before holding it to your mouth. You try not to breath, but after about a minute you take a gasp for breath, inhaling the fumes.
> You lose Consciousness
You awaken in your bed, terrified and curled up in your blankets. You briefly wonder if you dreamed everything, but know that that's impossible. Your knee hurts where you scraped it, your window is still open, and you know your mind couldn't conjure up everything you saw last night.
"Honey? Are you OK?" Dad calls.
You pause, wondering if you should tell him, before realizing he'd never believe you.
"Yeah, I'm fine," you reply, wondering what you should do.
It's Saturday, so you could visit your friends and explain the situation. If you're more optimistic, you could go through the normal, legal means, although you're almost certain that will be complete and utter bullshit.
> You visit your friends
You shower, noticing the same mark still under your belly button, and head off to meet your friends after a quick breakfast with Dad who remarks how "You look like you haven't slept". He gives you something to help settle your stomach, and you head out, texting your friends. They're already at Ant's house, so you head over there, carefully following their directions. Eventually, you find yourself at a house that's not even worth describing as it's identical to every other house in this shitty town. You knock on the door, which is opened by a short, balding man in a cheap suit.
"Hello?" he asks, peering at you.
"Hi. I'm Hazel, I'm a friend of Ant's."
"Hmmm... Of course you are. I'll admit, it was my mistake calling him Anthony. I wish I had went with something nicer. It was his mother, god rest her, who wanted to give him a nice name like Connor, but I wanted Anthony. Ah, I'm rambling. He's in the games room, last left."
You nod and thank him, heading down towards the last left and going inside, finding a pool table, several beanbags with your friends spread out among them, and an Xbox.
"Hey Hazel. F-f-feeling better?" Carter asks.
"Yeah, I... I need to talk to you about that."
Ant looks up at you, raising an eyebrow.
"Have you... put on weight?" he asks, staring at your belly through your t-shirt.
"Hey Ant: Stop being such a prick. You don't ask a girl that," Lucy says.
"What do you need to talk about?" Mason asks, looking away from the console to look at you, which Ant quickly takes advantage of and both screen peaks and starts heading towards his location for an easy kill.
You explain your situation to the group, and they stare in either disbelief or horror.
"There's no such thing as monsters," Lucy says as you end your tale.
"Hang on," Mason says. "There's a rusted out cage from the old freak show in the woods. How else would she know about it?"
"Maybe she saw it when she was lost."
"I didn't," you say.
"Fine. We have to do something about this, then," Becca suggests.
"She's right," Kyle says.
"Y-You're only agreeing because you f-f-feel bad about getting her l-lost," Carter points out.
"Shut it, Carter!" Kyle hisses.
"Have you called the police?" Ant asks.
"I told the Sheriff, he didn't believe a word I said when he found me."
Mason nods.
"Sheriff's an idiot. We have to check out the spot," he says.
You shake your head nervously.
"I'm not going back there. There's that beast and those Satanists..."
"If you want, I could get my brother to drive us out there in his pick-up," Lucy suggests.
"Will Drake really take us out to the woods?" Becca asks in surprise.
"He owes me. I covered him when he was caught doing business with some kids at school."
"Doing business?" you ask.
"Drug dealing," Lucy explains, eerily matter of factly.
"Oh."
"I'll give him a ring," she says, disappearing off into a side room.
You sigh, nervous at the thought of heading back to the cage, but you know it needs to be done. You wait for Lucy to return, which she does after a few minutes.
"Good news and bad news!" he says cheerfully.
"Go on." Carter says.
"My brother will drive us into the woods and help us look around... but not until eight."
"It'll be dark by then!" you say hysterically.
"It's OK, you'll be safe with all of us! I'll have Drake bring the biggest, most powerful flashlights he can, and a gun or two," Lucy says, smiling.
"I don't... I mean, I can''t..."
Mason grabs you and smiles.
"It's OK, Hazel. I'll keep you safe."
You have to admit, you do feel safer in his arms. Damn his charm.
"Fine, we'll do it," you say.
"Great. I'd feel bad if you were killed by evil cultists because we didn't do anything."
He smiles cheekily, and you begin to regret this decision.
> You nine Hours Later...
Nine hours later, you're ready to go. You've somehow convinced Dad to let you go out, not daring to tell him your actual destination and instead claiming you're staying at Lucy's house. You meet up at the Lucy's house with the group, and walk into the living room, where they're all sitting around.
"Are we ready?" you ask.
"Damn straight!" Ant smiles, holding up a large backpack. "Spare food, water bottles, lighters, matches, rope, fireworks, some knives and flashlights. What'd you guys bring?"
Carter holds up half a chocolate bar he's been chewing on.
"Half a M-Mars bar," he says, before taking another bite. "A q-quart-quarter of a Mars b-bar."
"I brought a penknife and a lighter," you shrug, and Ant looks around disappointedly.
"No one brought anything?" he pouts. "You guys suck."
You hear a horn outside, and look outside. A large RV drives up the driveway, stopping outside. Lucy skips out the door, before running up to him, and you follow her outside.
"Hey, Hazel," Drake says.
"Drake's friend, Ed, has the pick-up, so we're driving to the woods, meeting him and switching vehicle," Lucy tells you.
"OK," you say, walking into the RV. You raise an eyebrow as you notice that the RV's windows are covered with shutters and bin bags, and the actual interior looks like a scene from Breaking Bad, covered with beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners and other Chemistry gear.
"Well, you're blatant," you say.
"Hey, it's effective."
"I mean, yeah, but Breaking Bad made this a trope. Don't police search RV's for this."
"Breaking Bad helped my sales enough that I'm bribing the deputy. You'll be surprised how much extra meth heads are willing to pay for a product when you add some blue dye."
You shrug, and take a seat in the RV, as your friends pack in.
"Be careful back there. Knock one thing over and this place could blow."
"Really?" you ask.
Drake grins and shrugs, and begins driving.
"Maybe. I mean, there's a distillery back there as well as the lab. I'd imagine one speed bump and boom!"
"That's unnerving," Ant says.
"I guess. So, why the hell am I dragging all your friends into the middle of the woods to the old freakshow cage?"
"I told you already," Lucy reveals.
"That nightmare bull isn't convincing me. What's the real reason?"
"That is the real reason."
Drake turns around to stare at you in annoyance.
"What...?"
"Eyes on the road, Drake," Kyle says.
"Fine," Drake says, turning around. "Still, I want an explanation why I'm driving into the woods because the new girl had a nightmare."
"It wasn't a nightmare!" you say.
"Sure," Drake says.
You all sit in awkward silence until you reach the outskirts of the woods. Drake pulls over, and you stand and head out the door. Although you couldn't tell because of the shutters and blacked out windows of the RV, you can now see that night has fallen. An empty red pick-up truck with four seats sits next to the woods. Drake strides forward, pulling out his phone.
"Ah, shit," Drake says. "Of course Ed left the truck here and went off on his quad rather than just take back the RV like he was supposed to."
He locks the RV and hides the keys in the wheel well.
"I'll text my friend and get him to pick up the RV. Come on, get inside. Let's go drive to a dumbass cage in the woods."
Drake, Lucy, Carter and Ant go in the seats while you, Mason, Becca and Kyle sit in the back of the pick-up. You sit, half-lying on Mason who wraps one arm around you. The emotional part of your brain momentarily forgets all fears in favor of a childish infatuation and hormonal lust towards Mason that causes you to blush and your heart to flutter, the rational part of your brain reminds you to stay vigilant in case the cultists or that beast do show up. You and the rest of your friends pull out flashlights and fire the beams off into the darkness, illuminating trees and undergrowth.
"We're nearly there," Drake shouts. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get here because a path's been made."
Your ears perk up at that.
"What do you mean?" you ask, as Drake rolls down his window fully.
"What'd you say?"
"I said what do you mean? You said there's a path."
"Yeah. It's like a big RV drove over the undergrowth and knocked a dirt path along."
"What, you think Ed's been driving out here to work in the RV?" Lucy asks.
"Nah, Ed's terrified of the woods. Said something about a monster or something."
You feel a flash of fear as you remember the RV from last night. You stare outwards, illuminating every shadow, both hoping to and terrified of seeing something hiding in the dark.
"Here it is! The old freak show's cage!" Drake says dramatically.
As Drake pulls the pick-up into the clearing in the woods, you see the massive, rusted cage, although there's no RV. You shiver in fear, and Drake steps out of the truck.
"Let's investigate and get home," Drake says, firing his flashlight beam towards the cage.
The flashlight beam illuminates the cage and its insides. The old rusted gurney sits there, now encrusted with dried blood.
"Well, that's new," Drake mentions.
You step back nervously.
"Hazel said there was a gurney in her dre... when she was abducted," Ant points out.
"Fuck, this is some creepy shit. I'm calling the sheriff," Drake says.
Drake takes out his phone, and makes a call.
"Hello, Sheriff Buckly? I just found a gurney in the middle of the cage in the woods covered in dried blood. I think some weird... oh, really? OK, you know where the cage from the... oh, great.. Cool, see you in a few minutes, or an hour, or whatever."
"What was that?"
"The sheriff said he'll come here straight away."
"Good," you sigh in relief.
You really can't imagine having to deal with this without the help of the law. Now, it's out of your hands. You wait patiently for Sheriff Buckly to arrive. Eventually, you spot a flashlight heading towards you.
"There he is," Drake says.
You shine your light ahead, illuminating the figure of Sheriff Buckly. He swears, and holds his hands to block his eyes.
"Turn that off!" he says, and you do.
"Fuck, how'd you even get the truck out here? I can barely walk through the undergrowth," he says. "Where this bloody gurney?"
You point at the cage, and Sheriff Buckly walks over and looks at it.
"Jesus... who else saw this? I'm going to need to gather all the witnesses and find out what was going on," he says.
"We're the only people who've seen this, although Hazel got a bit of a closer encounter."
"So you didn't tell you pa about this?" Sheriff Buckly asks.
You shake your head, and Sheriff Buckly nods.
"Good," Sheriff Buckly says.
Sheriff Buckly draws his revolver, and quickly aims at Drake's head and fires. Drake's head snaps back as it explodes partially, sending chunks of gray brain matter, pale skull and pieces of red flesh at you. You scream as Lucy runs over to Drake as his body collapses backwards. Mason runs for the truck, before the Sheriff barks an order.
"Stop! Move another muscle and I'll blow the brain out of everyone of you!"
Mason stops, raising his hands. Sheriff Buckly points his gun at all of you, forcing you to raise your hands into the air.
"Everyone, calm down. Nobody needs to get hurt," Sheriff Buckly says.
"Fuck you!" Lucy screams. "You killed him! You killed him you piece of..."
Sheriff Buckly steps forward and cracks her across the head wit his revolver.
"Shut up! Carter, Mason, Ant, Kyle, get in the fucking cage!" he shouts.
Mason, Ant, Kyle and Carter slowly walk into the cage.
"Now, back the fuck up to the end of the cage!"
The boys comply, and the Sheriff draws a set of keys from his pocket, locking the cage door. He turns to you, Lucy and Becca.
"Just don't move. They'll be here in a minute."
You stand in silence, the cold wind blowing, the silence only broken by the occasional soft sob by Lucy as she stands over Drake. After about half an hour of waiting, you see the RV pull up along the path. It stops, and four masked men step out.
"Anyone escape?" one asks.
"No," Sheriff Buckly responds. "Fuck, I didn't even know they were coming out here. You said whatever the fuck you injected the girl with would make her forget everything."
"I said it probably would. Her phone's bugged. How didn't you find out?"
"She didn't make any calls saying she was going to do it!"
"Well, at least no one escaped," the masked man says, pulling off his mask.
The group remove their masks. You vaguely recognize them, one being the mechanic who found you, one being the town doctor, Doctor Kessel, another being a German teacher from school and the final one being the bartender of the local bar.
"What are you going to do with...?" Becca asks, before Sheriff Buckley lets out a bark.
"Hey! Shut the fuck..."
"No, Jake, let the girl ask her question," Doctor Kessel says.
"What are you going to do with us? Who are you? Why did you send a monster to hunt me?"
"What are we going to do with you? Nothing, ideally. We only need to borrow you. Who are we? Well, surely you must recognize us. Louis, Sheriff Buckly, Mrs Jordan, Alison and me, Doctor Kessel. "As for the monster, I assume you're referring to the Black Beast. That's not an issue, I assure you. Although I'm not sure of its origins, if you look at town records, it actually kills most of the bears in the area, which reduces the amount of attacks so much it's saving lives. If I was in your situation, I'd be much more worried about us."
"What do you want? Are you going to sacrifice us to Satan?" Becca asks again.
Doctor Kessel lets out a chuckle.
"No, Rebecca, we're not. We're not satanists. Real satanists don't even believe in Satan. We're... researchers. We're humanitarians. We're explorers. When we were little kids, we used to be the best of friends. We played in these very woods. When we were little, we found... a book in one of the caves. We took it and read it, and we found out the most amazing things. Do you know how insignificant not only we are, but this planet, this solar system, this galaxy and this universe is? There are so many amazing things we learned about these beings that we can't even comprehend, but compared to what's out there, we learned so little. So we kept reading. The book included some instructions to summon them, to summon these beings that are stronger than any gods we've ever imagined, more alien that any alien we've created in fiction, more incredible than anything you could experience here. If we create a Key-Bearer, we can create a portal to these beings."
"That's insane! How do you know they won't wipe us out, or enslave us all, or worse!" you cry.
"I don't," Doctor Kessel admits.
"It could destroy everything!"
"You just need to calm down and listen!" he hisses. "Imagine you're stuck in a room. There is a small tap for water, a toilet and a small machine that creates a nutritious yet tasteless paste. You have everything you need to survive and continue your blank, boring existence. Now, one day, a door appears in the room. It's unlocked. Do you go through?"
"What the fuck does...?"
"We are trying to open that door. Just as the person in the room doesn't know what's on the other side, anything is better than the bland, boring existence of the room. We're trying to open the world up to experiences unknown to man, good or bad, because it has to be better than this meaningless existence."
"What are yuo even talking about? What the fuck's a Key-Bearer?" Mason shouts, as Sheriff Buckly aims his gun at his head once again.
"Shut up," Sheriff Buckly grunts.
"Ah yes, the Key-Bearer. That part's the worst for you guys. A Key-Bearer is a creature birthed of the beings' power of a human womb. We've had several attempts at this, but every time we failed. Instead of creating a Key-Bearer, we created half-human, half-monster children who aged rapidly. Finally, we settled the problem. The mother of the Key-Bearer had to be a virgin, post-puberty, below 21 and to have AB Negative Blood. You'd imagine my luck when I found one such target walking around the cave where I was sacrificing some former mothers to keep the beings' interested in our world. I simply pumped out some gas I had on hand to help knock her out, and voila! I got to work."
You stare at him in horror, putting a hand on your stomach. There's a series of gasps and shouts from the group, before Sheriff Buckly fires his gun in the air.
"SHUT IT!" he roars.
"I'm sorry, Hazel. It'll be over in a few hours."
"A few hours? It's only been two days, how...?" you ask in horror.
"The Key-Bearer grows incredibly quickly. It should be able to be birthed within a day at most."
You feel something wiggle in your stomach, in your womb, and a pain shoots through you.
"Listen, Hazel, it'll be OK," Doctor Kessel says. "In a few hours, you'll be fine, and we'll be in a whole new world."
> You agree to birth the Key-Bearer
"Fine," you say. "I'll do it."
"Fantastic!" Doctor Kessel says eagerly. "I promise, you're helping save humanity."
Doctor Kessel takes your hand, and leads you towards the RV, where a second, newer gurney awaits. You climb up in it and are strapped down. Doctor Kessel stabs a needle into your neck, hushing you.
"Don't worry, I'm going to help you sleep for the next few hours. When you wake up, it'll be all over..."
You begin to feel sleepy, before closing your mouth. Your heavy eyelids close, as the needle presses into your veins, sending you into a deep sleep.
> You awaken
Mother of the Apocalypse
You awaken, lying in a small bed. Sheriff Buckly stands above you, looking eerily joy-filled.
"You're awake! Good, we can begin!" he says.
You stand, looking down. Your legs are covered in dried blood and other liquids, and your body immediately runs out of strength. You're helped along, out of the RV. Your friends are gone, but you only look for a second before you see the preparations for the portal. A large circle of stones lies, each stained with a drop of blood. Standing around the circle are the six cultists; Louis, Doctor Kessel,Mrs Jordan and Alison. Standing around them are a half dozen monster-children that make you want to vomit, the failed attempts at rearing a Key Bearer. They're so deformed, so mutated, they barely qualify as children. One is missing both it's arms, replaced with long, thin, slimy tentacles like pasta. A second is missing most of its face, a gaping hole in its place filled with tiny, wiggling tentacles from the walls, back, roof and floor of the mouth. A third looks like a cute, perfectly normal girl of around four years old, except her mouth hangs open and her eyes are completely black. Another, one of the worst, looks like a cross between a schoolgirl, a fetus and an octopus, and stands wiggling. Still, that's nothing compared to what sits in the middle of the circle. Sitting in the middle, wiggling, is your child. The Key-Bearer is nothing but a seething mass of tentacles that whip around, seemingly drawing lines of purple lightning around itself in the symbol that was carved into you.
"Ah, you're here!" Doctor Kessel says eagerly.
"Where are my friends?" you ask.
"It doesn't matter now! Now, we begin! We will witness the glory of Crexiciliatanian's creation!"
The Key-Bearer speeds up, painting the symbol across the very fabric of reality. The ground begins to crumble away, turning in pure blackness. Suddenly, there's a flash, and the portal opens.
Then, it begins. |
Nine hours later, you're ready to go. You've somehow convinced Dad to let you go out, not daring to tell him your actual destination and instead claiming you're staying at Lucy's house. You meet up at the Lucy's house with the group, and walk into the living room, where they're all sitting around.
"Are we ready?" you ask.
"Damn straight!" Ant smiles, holding up a large backpack. "Spare food, water bottles, lighters, matches, rope, fireworks, some knives and flashlights. What'd you guys bring?"
Carter holds up half a chocolate bar he's been chewing on.
"Half a M-Mars bar," he says, before taking another bite. "A q-quart-quarter of a Mars b-bar."
"I brought a penknife and a lighter," you shrug, and Ant looks around disappointedly.
"No one brought anything?" he pouts. "You guys suck."
You hear a horn outside, and look outside. A large RV drives up the driveway, stopping outside. Lucy skips out the door, before running up to him, and you follow her outside.
"Hey, Hazel," Drake says.
"Drake's friend, Ed, has the pick-up, so we're driving to the woods, meeting him and switching vehicle," Lucy tells you.
"OK," you say, walking into the RV. You raise an eyebrow as you notice that the RV's windows are covered with shutters and bin bags, and the actual interior looks like a scene from Breaking Bad, covered with beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners and other Chemistry gear.
"Well, you're blatant," you say.
"Hey, it's effective."
"I mean, yeah, but Breaking Bad made this a trope. Don't police search RV's for this."
"Breaking Bad helped my sales enough that I'm bribing the deputy. You'll be surprised how much extra meth heads are willing to pay for a product when you add some blue dye."
You shrug, and take a seat in the RV, as your friends pack in.
"Be careful back there. Knock one thing over and this place could blow."
"Really?" you ask.
Drake grins and shrugs, and begins driving.
"Maybe. I mean, there's a distillery back there as well as the lab. I'd imagine one speed bump and boom!"
"That's unnerving," Ant says.
"I guess. So, why the hell am I dragging all your friends into the middle of the woods to the old freakshow cage?"
"I told you already," Lucy reveals.
"That nightmare bull isn't convincing me. What's the real reason?"
"That is the real reason."
Drake turns around to stare at you in annoyance.
"What...?"
"Eyes on the road, Drake," Kyle says.
"Fine," Drake says, turning around. "Still, I want an explanation why I'm driving into the woods because the new girl had a nightmare."
"It wasn't a nightmare!" you say.
"Sure," Drake says.
You all sit in awkward silence until you reach the outskirts of the woods. Drake pulls over, and you stand and head out the door. Although you couldn't tell because of the shutters and blacked out windows of the RV, you can now see that night has fallen. An empty red pick-up truck with four seats sits next to the woods. Drake strides forward, pulling out his phone.
"Ah, shit," Drake says. "Of course Ed left the truck here and went off on his quad rather than just take back the RV like he was supposed to."
He locks the RV and hides the keys in the wheel well.
"I'll text my friend and get him to pick up the RV. Come on, get inside. Let's go drive to a dumbass cage in the woods."
Drake, Lucy, Carter and Ant go in the seats while you, Mason, Becca and Kyle sit in the back of the pick-up. You sit, half-lying on Mason who wraps one arm around you. The emotional part of your brain momentarily forgets all fears in favor of a childish infatuation and hormonal lust towards Mason that causes you to blush and your heart to flutter, the rational part of your brain reminds you to stay vigilant in case the cultists or that beast do show up. You and the rest of your friends pull out flashlights and fire the beams off into the darkness, illuminating trees and undergrowth.
"We're nearly there," Drake shouts. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get here because a path's been made."
Your ears perk up at that.
"What do you mean?" you ask, as Drake rolls down his window fully.
"What'd you say?"
"I said what do you mean? You said there's a path."
"Yeah. It's like a big RV drove over the undergrowth and knocked a dirt path along."
"What, you think Ed's been driving out here to work in the RV?" Lucy asks.
"Nah, Ed's terrified of the woods. Said something about a monster or something."
You feel a flash of fear as you remember the RV from last night. You stare outwards, illuminating every shadow, both hoping to and terrified of seeing something hiding in the dark.
"Here it is! The old freak show's cage!" Drake says dramatically.
As Drake pulls the pick-up into the clearing in the woods, you see the massive, rusted cage, although there's no RV. You shiver in fear, and Drake steps out of the truck.
"Let's investigate and get home," Drake says, firing his flashlight beam towards the cage.
The flashlight beam illuminates the cage and its insides. The old rusted gurney sits there, now encrusted with dried blood.
"Well, that's new," Drake mentions.
You step back nervously.
"Hazel said there was a gurney in her dre... when she was abducted," Ant points out.
"Fuck, this is some creepy shit. I'm calling the sheriff," Drake says.
Drake takes out his phone, and makes a call.
"Hello, Sheriff Buckly? I just found a gurney in the middle of the cage in the woods covered in dried blood. I think some weird... oh, really? OK, you know where the cage from the... oh, great.. Cool, see you in a few minutes, or an hour, or whatever."
"What was that?"
"The sheriff said he'll come here straight away."
"Good," you sigh in relief.
You really can't imagine having to deal with this without the help of the law. Now, it's out of your hands. You wait patiently for Sheriff Buckly to arrive. Eventually, you spot a flashlight heading towards you.
"There he is," Drake says.
You shine your light ahead, illuminating the figure of Sheriff Buckly. He swears, and holds his hands to block his eyes.
"Turn that off!" he says, and you do.
"Fuck, how'd you even get the truck out here? I can barely walk through the undergrowth," he says. "Where this bloody gurney?"
You point at the cage, and Sheriff Buckly walks over and looks at it.
"Jesus... who else saw this? I'm going to need to gather all the witnesses and find out what was going on," he says.
"We're the only people who've seen this, although Hazel got a bit of a closer encounter."
"So you didn't tell you pa about this?" Sheriff Buckly asks.
You shake your head, and Sheriff Buckly nods.
"Good," Sheriff Buckly says.
Sheriff Buckly draws his revolver, and quickly aims at Drake's head and fires. Drake's head snaps back as it explodes partially, sending chunks of gray brain matter, pale skull and pieces of red flesh at you. You scream as Lucy runs over to Drake as his body collapses backwards. Mason runs for the truck, before the Sheriff barks an order.
"Stop! Move another muscle and I'll blow the brain out of everyone of you!"
Mason stops, raising his hands. Sheriff Buckly points his gun at all of you, forcing you to raise your hands into the air.
"Everyone, calm down. Nobody needs to get hurt," Sheriff Buckly says.
"Fuck you!" Lucy screams. "You killed him! You killed him you piece of..."
Sheriff Buckly steps forward and cracks her across the head wit his revolver.
"Shut up! Carter, Mason, Ant, Kyle, get in the fucking cage!" he shouts.
Mason, Ant, Kyle and Carter slowly walk into the cage.
"Now, back the fuck up to the end of the cage!"
The boys comply, and the Sheriff draws a set of keys from his pocket, locking the cage door. He turns to you, Lucy and Becca.
"Just don't move. They'll be here in a minute."
You stand in silence, the cold wind blowing, the silence only broken by the occasional soft sob by Lucy as she stands over Drake. After about half an hour of waiting, you see the RV pull up along the path. It stops, and four masked men step out.
"Anyone escape?" one asks.
"No," Sheriff Buckly responds. "Fuck, I didn't even know they were coming out here. You said whatever the fuck you injected the girl with would make her forget everything."
"I said it probably would. Her phone's bugged. How didn't you find out?"
"She didn't make any calls saying she was going to do it!"
"Well, at least no one escaped," the masked man says, pulling off his mask.
The group remove their masks. You vaguely recognize them, one being the mechanic who found you, one being the town doctor, Doctor Kessel, another being a German teacher from school and the final one being the bartender of the local bar.
"What are you going to do with...?" Becca asks, before Sheriff Buckley lets out a bark.
"Hey! Shut the fuck..."
"No, Jake, let the girl ask her question," Doctor Kessel says.
"What are you going to do with us? Who are you? Why did you send a monster to hunt me?"
"What are we going to do with you? Nothing, ideally. We only need to borrow you. Who are we? Well, surely you must recognize us. Louis, Sheriff Buckly, Mrs Jordan, Alison and me, Doctor Kessel. "As for the monster, I assume you're referring to the Black Beast. That's not an issue, I assure you. Although I'm not sure of its origins, if you look at town records, it actually kills most of the bears in the area, which reduces the amount of attacks so much it's saving lives. If I was in your situation, I'd be much more worried about us."
"What do you want? Are you going to sacrifice us to Satan?" Becca asks again.
Doctor Kessel lets out a chuckle.
"No, Rebecca, we're not. We're not satanists. Real satanists don't even believe in Satan. We're... researchers. We're humanitarians. We're explorers. When we were little kids, we used to be the best of friends. We played in these very woods. When we were little, we found... a book in one of the caves. We took it and read it, and we found out the most amazing things. Do you know how insignificant not only we are, but this planet, this solar system, this galaxy and this universe is? There are so many amazing things we learned about these beings that we can't even comprehend, but compared to what's out there, we learned so little. So we kept reading. The book included some instructions to summon them, to summon these beings that are stronger than any gods we've ever imagined, more alien that any alien we've created in fiction, more incredible than anything you could experience here. If we create a Key-Bearer, we can create a portal to these beings."
"That's insane! How do you know they won't wipe us out, or enslave us all, or worse!" you cry.
"I don't," Doctor Kessel admits.
"It could destroy everything!"
"You just need to calm down and listen!" he hisses. "Imagine you're stuck in a room. There is a small tap for water, a toilet and a small machine that creates a nutritious yet tasteless paste. You have everything you need to survive and continue your blank, boring existence. Now, one day, a door appears in the room. It's unlocked. Do you go through?"
"What the fuck does...?"
"We are trying to open that door. Just as the person in the room doesn't know what's on the other side, anything is better than the bland, boring existence of the room. We're trying to open the world up to experiences unknown to man, good or bad, because it has to be better than this meaningless existence."
"What are yuo even talking about? What the fuck's a Key-Bearer?" Mason shouts, as Sheriff Buckly aims his gun at his head once again.
"Shut up," Sheriff Buckly grunts.
"Ah yes, the Key-Bearer. That part's the worst for you guys. A Key-Bearer is a creature birthed of the beings' power of a human womb. We've had several attempts at this, but every time we failed. Instead of creating a Key-Bearer, we created half-human, half-monster children who aged rapidly. Finally, we settled the problem. The mother of the Key-Bearer had to be a virgin, post-puberty, below 21 and to have AB Negative Blood. You'd imagine my luck when I found one such target walking around the cave where I was sacrificing some former mothers to keep the beings' interested in our world. I simply pumped out some gas I had on hand to help knock her out, and voila! I got to work."
You stare at him in horror, putting a hand on your stomach. There's a series of gasps and shouts from the group, before Sheriff Buckly fires his gun in the air.
"SHUT IT!" he roars.
"I'm sorry, Hazel. It'll be over in a few hours."
"A few hours? It's only been two days, how...?" you ask in horror.
"The Key-Bearer grows incredibly quickly. It should be able to be birthed within a day at most."
You feel something wiggle in your stomach, in your womb, and a pain shoots through you.
"Listen, Hazel, it'll be OK," Doctor Kessel says. "In a few hours, you'll be fine, and we'll be in a whole new world."
> You get the Key-Bearer out of you
You desperately search your pockets, finding it after a few seconds, pulling your switchblade out. You pull up our jumper and t-shirt slightly, revealing your stomach. You can see it is slightly extended, and if you take a deep breath and stay still, you can very vaguely feel something moving around in there, which begins to increase as you feel a sharp pain hit.
"Drop the knife. I'll put a bullet between your eyes before you get near any of us," Sheriff Buckly says.
You raise the knife, and plunge it into your stomach, towards the center mass of the movement.
"NO! For fuck's sake, stop her!" Doctor Kessel screams.
Sheriff Buckly charges towards you, knocking you in the side of the head with his gun. Your head snaps backwards, and you quickly lose consciousness.
> You awaken
You awaken strapped to a gurney, covered in blood, wearing a hospital gown. You're in the RV, and the lights are turned off. You can't see anything, but you can here a someone whimpering.
"Hello?" you ask.
The whimpering stops, and you begin to hear a deep, guttural panting.
"Hello?" you ask again.
As your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, you make out two figures in the darkness. One sits in the corner, the other stands above them, rubbing them with a long coil of rope that moves like a snake.
"Mason? Becca? Kyle? Carter?" you ask, staring towards the figures.
The standing one turns, and you see the sitting one quickly flick on a light switch, brightening the RV. In the light, you notice that the sitting figure is Becca, whose eyes are red with tears and seems terrified. Your eyes scan, and see the second figure, slowly approaching you. The figure is one of the monster-children. It has long brown hair, but her face is nothing but a mucus-encrusted, lipless mouth and two nostrils. It wears a tattered, blood-stained blue dress, with a long, red tentacle coming from it's stomach and wrapping around its body. The tip of the tentacle slowly moves towards you, and you spot a yellow eye poking out from the end of the tentacle slowly edging towards you, staring into your eyes. You scream, and struggle against your bonds, before the tentacles begins to wrap around your leg, leaving a long lane of sticky pus that oozes out of the tentacle. You scream as it continues to edge towards you, heading towards your face. The tentacle snakes up your chest, before intertwining around your neck, before stopping inches from your face.
"Hello..." the monster-child rasps.
You stare at the eye, seeing a mixture of pain and child-like curiosity in the eyes. Then, you hear a yell. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Becca charge forward with a long, thin knife, stabbing the monster-child through the neck. The creature howls, gargling blood, before Becca draws her knife and begins slashing at it's face and neck, before finally running the knife through it's skull. It collapses, and the tentacle in front of you falls on your face, wiggling like a dying fish. You whimper, and Becca comes over to you and begins cutting you free of both your restraints and the tentacle that intertwines around you. You eagerly get up, pulling the bits of tentacle off you as you struggle not to vomit.
"What happened?" you ask, shivering.
You feel a dull pain in your stomach, pulling it up slightly slightly to reveal you're thankfully still in your underwear, although you see your stomach is heavily bandaged.
"They cut you open and pulled... something out of you. It was alive, and wiggling, and..." Becca says, before shivering in terror. "We need to get our friends and get out of here."
You hear a thumping from the bathroom door, and quickly go to listen.
"Hello?"
"Hazel? Get me out of here!" Lucy screams from inside.
You unlock the door, finding Lucy.
"Thank God. They locked us in here and put the guys in the cage. We need to get out of here and stop them."
You nod, and head to the kitchen, finding a large butcher knife. The door to the RV opens, and Lucy and Becca quickly hide behind the counter with you.
"Iris? Are you finished playing with your new friends? I hope you didn't hurt them. We're going to need them if this newborn isn't the Key-Bearer. I haven't even got to see the k... Iris?"
Louis the Mechanic walks in, looking around.
"Hello?"
He takes a few steps forward, walking into the kitchen towards you.
> You attack
You wait until he's closer, take a deep breath, feel the adrenaline coursing through your veins, and charge. You turn around the counter and in a single bound reach him. His eyes widen in panic before you stab your blade, slicing through skin and flesh, straight through the neck. You pull your blade out and stab again, and again, until his neck is nothing but a hunk of meat that falls to the floor, blood spilling into a puddle on the floor. You stand over him as he dies, watching as the life goes out of his eyes. As a result of an adrenaline rush and primal instincts taking over, you try not to focus on the pathetic, dying man in front of you, and head to the door. You open it to a crack, peering out. Mason, Kyle, Carter and Ant sit in the rusted cage, with Sheriff Buckly watching over them. Mrs Jordan and Alison are placing blood-stained stones in a circle. Doctor Kesel stands with something cradled in his arms, although it's too dark for you to see.
> You escape to formulate a plan
You slowly open the door, and begin creeping out of the camp. You slowly tiptoe away, staying low and staying wrapped in the shadows. As you edge away from camp, you freeze as you hear a shout.
"Shit, they're escaping!" Sheriff Buckly roars.
You break into a sprint, heading away from the camp. You manage to make it to the trees, but you hear gunfire behind you. You turn your head slightly, seeing a spurt off blood go from the back of Lucy's leg as she collapses forward, skidding along the earth to a halt. Becca makes it to the trees next to you and stops.
"Shit, do we go back?" she asks in a terrified panic.
You look back. In the darkness, you might be able to get to Lucy and help her disappear into the trees. If you both reach the tree line, it'll be almost impossible for Sheriff Buckly to track you.
> You try rescue her
"We have to," you say, determined.
Becca nods and you turn and burst into a sprint towards Lucy. You see Sheriff Buckly heading towards you, aiming his gun. You grab Lucy, yanking her up.
"Come on!" you shout.
As you begin to help pull Lucy towards the trees, Sheriff Buckly takes his shoot. You feel a bullet thud through your chest, and you collapse forward. You cough up blood, before closing your eyes for the last time. |
You slowly open the door, and begin creeping out of the camp. You slowly tiptoe away, staying low and staying wrapped in the shadows. As you edge away from camp, you freeze as you hear a shout.
"Shit, they're escaping!" Sheriff Buckly roars.
You break into a sprint, heading away from the camp. You manage to make it to the trees, but you hear gunfire behind you. You turn your head slightly, seeing a spurt off blood go from the back of Lucy's leg as she collapses forward, skidding along the earth to a halt. Becca makes it to the trees next to you and stops.
"Shit, do we go back?" she asks in a terrified panic.
You look back. In the darkness, you might be able to get to Lucy and help her disappear into the trees. If you both reach the tree line, it'll be almost impossible for Sheriff Buckly to track you.
> You head off into the trees
"We have to go!" you say, and Becca nods.
You break off into a sprint heading into the shadows and darkness, escaping into the trees. You run for several minutes, before you stop, bending over and panting.
"Jesus, what do we do now?"
> You think
OK, you need to act fast, before the cultists do whatever they're planning.you could call the police. Although Sheriff Buckly is one of the only cops in town, if you called the State Troopers, there's a good chance they'd be able to arrive and clear this place out.
You could also sneak back to the trucks and steal some of the weapons that Drake brought, and force a confrontation and end this.
Then again, you know where the location of Drake's keys are for the RV. You know the RV's highly explosive, and with that you could easily disrupt the ritual and do a lot more.
Then, there are the more... dangerous solutions. You could use the Dead Man. That terrifying spirit no doubt has some rage toward the town locals such as the cultists. Perhaps he could be bartered with.
> You call the State Troopers
"So what do we do?" Becca asks.
"Call the State Troopers."
"Are you sure that'll work?"
"I don't know," you admit. "Just... it's worth a try."
You ring the number, and immediately get an automated voice in your ear. You wait as they go through the numbers, before you hear a shout.
"HANDS UP!" a voice screams.
You turn, and see Sheriff Buckly walking out from the trees.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Alison suggested I track your phones, but I told her it'd be insane for you to use it after I told you I had the equipment to track it. Jesus Christ. Come on, girls. I'm taking you back to camp. I'm going to hurt you, hurt you so, so bad for what you did to Louis."
> You attack
You take a deep breath as adrenaline surges through you, and charge forward with the knife. As soon as you near Sheriff Buckly, he quickly backpedals and aims, before blowing your brains out. |
"So what do we do?" Becca asks.
"Call the State Troopers."
"Are you sure that'll work?"
"I don't know," you admit. "Just... it's worth a try."
You ring the number, and immediately get an automated voice in your ear. You wait as they go through the numbers, before you hear a shout.
"HANDS UP!" a voice screams.
You turn, and see Sheriff Buckly walking out from the trees.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Alison suggested I track your phones, but I told her it'd be insane for you to use it after I told you I had the equipment to track it. Jesus Christ. Come on, girls. I'm taking you back to camp. I'm going to hurt you, hurt you so, so bad for what you did to Louis."
> You surrender
Apocalypse
You raise your hands and drop your knife. Sheriff Buckly binds your hands with rope and ties a rag around your eyes as a blindfold, before marching you both off back towards camp. You walk for several minutes, before you're dragged within earshot of your friends, who let out disappointed groans and swears at your capture. Then, your blindfold is torn off. A large circle of stones lies, each stained with a drop of blood. Standing around the circle are the five remaining cultists. Standing around them are a half dozen monster-children that make you want to vomit, the failed attempts at rearing a Key Bearer. They're so deformed, so mutated, they barely qualify as children. One is missing both it's arms, replaced with long, thin, slimy tentacles like pasta. A second is missing most of its face, a gaping hole in its place filled with tiny, wiggling tentacles from the walls, back, roof and floor of the mouth. A third looks like a cute, perfectly normal girl of around four years old, except her mouth hangs open and her eyes are completely black. Another, one of the worst, looks like a cross between a schoolgirl, a fetus and an octopus, and stands wiggling. Still, that's nothing compared to what sits in the middle of the circle. Sitting in the middle, wiggling, is your child. The Key-Bearer is the size of a cat, and is nothing but a seething mass of tentacles that whip around, seemingly drawing lines of purple lightning around itself in the symbol that was carved into you.
"Ah, you're here!" Doctor Kessel says eagerly. "I wanted you to see this!"
"You're insane!"
"I don't care! Now, we begin!"
The Key-Bearer speeds up, painting the symbol across the very fabric of reality. The ground begins to crumble away, turning in pure blackness. Suddenly, there's a flash, and the portal opens.
Then, it begins. |
OK, you need to act fast, before the cultists do whatever they're planning.you could call the police. Although Sheriff Buckly is one of the only cops in town, if you called the State Troopers, there's a good chance they'd be able to arrive and clear this place out.
You could also sneak back to the trucks and steal some of the weapons that Drake brought, and force a confrontation and end this.
Then again, you know where the location of Drake's keys are for the RV. You know the RV's highly explosive, and with that you could easily disrupt the ritual and do a lot more.
Then, there are the more... dangerous solutions. You could use the Dead Man. That terrifying spirit no doubt has some rage toward the town locals such as the cultists. Perhaps he could be bartered with.
> You steal weapons from Drake's truck and confront the cultists
"We need to get the weapons in Drake's truck. We get them and use the advantage of surprise to fend off the rest of the group."
Becca nods with determination, and you swivel around in the darkness, heading back towards the truck. As you head towards the camp, you can hear the sound of Sheriff Buckly berating Lucy.
"You fucking bitch! Louis was a good friend of mine!"
You sneak forward, staying low and moving as quickly as you can, avoiding stepping on anything that would make noise and disturb the cultists. Eventually, you reach the pick-up truck, Drake''s lifeless body lying alongside it. You lean in through the window, grabbing one of the large revolvers Drake brought. You pull it out, pulling the hammer back and flicking the safety off. Thankfully, many years of FPS games have given you some help in this. You take a deep breath, and stand, aiming your weapon at Sheriff Buckly. He turns, and grins.
"Hiya. Why don't you just drop the weapon, darlin'?"
"Fuck you."
Yuo fire your revolver, but the hollow click eats into your soul as you realize it's empty. Lucy fires her gun, and realizes it's the same thing.
"Taking the ammo from the guns was one of the first things I did. I'm the only one who gets to have a gun."
He grins, raising his gun, and fires, the bullet embedding itself in your skull. |
OK, you need to act fast, before the cultists do whatever they're planning.you could call the police. Although Sheriff Buckly is one of the only cops in town, if you called the State Troopers, there's a good chance they'd be able to arrive and clear this place out.
You could also sneak back to the trucks and steal some of the weapons that Drake brought, and force a confrontation and end this.
Then again, you know where the location of Drake's keys are for the RV. You know the RV's highly explosive, and with that you could easily disrupt the ritual and do a lot more.
Then, there are the more... dangerous solutions. You could use the Dead Man. That terrifying spirit no doubt has some rage toward the town locals such as the cultists. Perhaps he could be bartered with.
> You steal Drake's RV Meth Lab
"What are you thinking?"
"Drake's RV."
"What about it?"
"We get the keys, and drive it straight into the cultists's camp and hop out."
"What? Like ram them."
"No, we make it explode. I'm pretty good at Chemistry and I watch a lot of crime shows. I should know what to mix to make it go up in a fireball."
Becca stares at you nervously, before nodding.
"Yeah, OK. Let's do that."
"Do you remember which way the truck is?"
Becca nods, and you begin following her through the dead night. The silence is only broken by the trudging of your feet and the occassional hoot from an owl. Eventually, you near the edge of the woods. Sure enough, the massive RV sits by the trees at the edge of the forest.
"Do you know how to drive?" you ask.
"I guess. I've never drove an RV, nad I sure as hell haven't driven one through the woods, avoiding trees and… whatever."
"You're going to have to," you say.
Becca retrieves the keys from their hiding spots, and you enter the RV. Becca goes to start it up, while you head to the back and start looking at the various pieces of equipment and chemicals at your disposal. You find a few choice substances from the distilerry Drake had set up, including plenty of flammible alcohol. As you struggle to remember your many science classes, you work with the chemicals for several minutes, before you've made the RV into a jury-rigged bomb.
"Hey, Hazel, is it ready?"
"Yes."
"Should we have waited until we were a little closer and not going through bumpy terrain before we made this into a bomb?"
You shrug, and Becca begins driving. Although she finds it considerably harder to navigate the trees unlike the others who did so with ease, she manages to keep you on track and alive. After a while, you begin to near the camp.
"So, what do we do?" Becca asks.
"We ram them," you say. "You get out now. I'll ram it."
"You don't know how to drive!"
"I have a straight line to the camp. Just press down on the accerator, I suppose. Which one's the accelrator?"
Becca shows you, and you nod.
"OK, get out."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll just speed it up and dive out. Easy," you reply.
You take a deep breath, before Becca gets out of the RV. She stands to the side, staring nervously ahead. You take another deep breath, hoping the oxygen will calm you, and hit the accelerator. The vehicle quickly begins to speed up, as the RV bumps you around in your seat. You enter the clearing, and get your site. You see slithering, monsterous and malformed children in the RV as the rest of the cultists lay stones in a massive circle. Doctor Kessel cradles a bundle in his arms, and looks up at you in shock.
"What the hell…?"
"Stop her!" Alison yells, as Sheriff Buckly fumbles for his gun in a panic.
You point your RV at theirs', and quickly drop a large piece of equipment on the accelerator. As the wheels begin to spin and start speeding toward RV. You jump out of your seat and rush to the door. You dive out of it, hitting the dirt, as you watch one RV speeding towards the other. Doctor Kessel screams in a panic, and the Meth Lab rams into the RV. They impact with incredible force, knocking them both onto their sides as they flip through the air. After a few seconds, they slow down, and land in a mangled heap. You hear horrible growls, shrieks and hisses from inside the metal as the seemingly unharmed monsters inside begin to pull themselves out by hands, claws or tentacles. The wreckage begins to leak, a large puddle of alcohol, fuel and various other chemicals forming. Doctor Kessel looks at it and laughs.
"I thought would've exploded..." Doctor Kessel says.
He begins walking towards you, and you see what he's holding: a wiggling mass of tentacles, flying around the air and stroking his face. The long, thin tentacles, covered with a thin veneer of slime, begin stretching out, stroking your face and you scream.
"Ssssh..." Doctor Kessel whispers. "This is your child. Isn't he beautiful?"
You stare at the center mass of the tentacles, and see a light blue, incredibly human eye in the center. An eye just like yours. You let out a terrified cry, as you hear a shout from Sheriff Buckly.
"STUPID BITCH!" he screams.
You look up, and see Becca has snuck up and is trying to open the rusted cage. Doctor Kessel looks up, and you have a moment to act.
> You kill the Key-Bearer with your switchblade
You grab your switchblade and stab it into the center mass of the Key-Bearer. Doctor Kessel notices and lets out a petrified scream, grabbing at your throat. The Key-Bearer's tentacles intertwine around your hand as a green-yellowish pus comes out and begins sticking to your hand. You feel a sharp prick, and then another, and then another, as bone teeth begin to grow slowly out of the tentacles, digging deeply into you. You scream as a black liquid begins to steep out of the teeth and out of your wound as your veins begin to turn black. You scream as your arm goes number, before the numbness begins to spread throughout your body. You let out a mangled cry before it reaches your chest, and finally the darkness consumes you as it stops your heart. |
"What are you thinking?"
"Drake's RV."
"What about it?"
"We get the keys, and drive it straight into the cultists's camp and hop out."
"What? Like ram them."
"No, we make it explode. I'm pretty good at Chemistry and I watch a lot of crime shows. I should know what to mix to make it go up in a fireball."
Becca stares at you nervously, before nodding.
"Yeah, OK. Let's do that."
"Do you remember which way the truck is?"
Becca nods, and you begin following her through the dead night. The silence is only broken by the trudging of your feet and the occassional hoot from an owl. Eventually, you near the edge of the woods. Sure enough, the massive RV sits by the trees at the edge of the forest.
"Do you know how to drive?" you ask.
"I guess. I've never drove an RV, nad I sure as hell haven't driven one through the woods, avoiding trees and… whatever."
"You're going to have to," you say.
Becca retrieves the keys from their hiding spots, and you enter the RV. Becca goes to start it up, while you head to the back and start looking at the various pieces of equipment and chemicals at your disposal. You find a few choice substances from the distilerry Drake had set up, including plenty of flammible alcohol. As you struggle to remember your many science classes, you work with the chemicals for several minutes, before you've made the RV into a jury-rigged bomb.
"Hey, Hazel, is it ready?"
"Yes."
"Should we have waited until we were a little closer and not going through bumpy terrain before we made this into a bomb?"
You shrug, and Becca begins driving. Although she finds it considerably harder to navigate the trees unlike the others who did so with ease, she manages to keep you on track and alive. After a while, you begin to near the camp.
"So, what do we do?" Becca asks.
"We ram them," you say. "You get out now. I'll ram it."
"You don't know how to drive!"
"I have a straight line to the camp. Just press down on the accerator, I suppose. Which one's the accelrator?"
Becca shows you, and you nod.
"OK, get out."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll just speed it up and dive out. Easy," you reply.
You take a deep breath, before Becca gets out of the RV. She stands to the side, staring nervously ahead. You take another deep breath, hoping the oxygen will calm you, and hit the accelerator. The vehicle quickly begins to speed up, as the RV bumps you around in your seat. You enter the clearing, and get your site. You see slithering, monsterous and malformed children in the RV as the rest of the cultists lay stones in a massive circle. Doctor Kessel cradles a bundle in his arms, and looks up at you in shock.
"What the hell…?"
"Stop her!" Alison yells, as Sheriff Buckly fumbles for his gun in a panic.
You point your RV at theirs', and quickly drop a large piece of equipment on the accelerator. As the wheels begin to spin and start speeding toward RV. You jump out of your seat and rush to the door. You dive out of it, hitting the dirt, as you watch one RV speeding towards the other. Doctor Kessel screams in a panic, and the Meth Lab rams into the RV. They impact with incredible force, knocking them both onto their sides as they flip through the air. After a few seconds, they slow down, and land in a mangled heap. You hear horrible growls, shrieks and hisses from inside the metal as the seemingly unharmed monsters inside begin to pull themselves out by hands, claws or tentacles. The wreckage begins to leak, a large puddle of alcohol, fuel and various other chemicals forming. Doctor Kessel looks at it and laughs.
"I thought would've exploded..." Doctor Kessel says.
He begins walking towards you, and you see what he's holding: a wiggling mass of tentacles, flying around the air and stroking his face. The long, thin tentacles, covered with a thin veneer of slime, begin stretching out, stroking your face and you scream.
"Ssssh..." Doctor Kessel whispers. "This is your child. Isn't he beautiful?"
You stare at the center mass of the tentacles, and see a light blue, incredibly human eye in the center. An eye just like yours. You let out a terrified cry, as you hear a shout from Sheriff Buckly.
"STUPID BITCH!" he screams.
You look up, and see Becca has snuck up and is trying to open the rusted cage. Doctor Kessel looks up, and you have a moment to act.
> You crawl away from them
You crawl desperately backwards, away from Doctor Kessel. You hands touch the puddle of fuel, and you have an idea. You fumble through your pants, pulling out your lighter. Doctor Kessel charges forward, pressing his foot on your chest with a swift stomp.
"Stop fighting, girl!" he growls.
> You light the puddle
You flick your lighter on, and ignite the puddle. Flames burst out as the liquid sets alight. The flames lap at your side, but Doctor Kessel desperately backs away in a panic, allowing you to roll away from the fire. The flames race along, igniting the puddle, before it reaches the RV. As flames reach the insides where the lab and make-shift explosive are hit. Then, it explodes. A wave of heat and shrapnel tear through the air as a thunderous boom goes off. Your ears ring as a fireball explodes into the night with tremendous force. Chunks of metal go off in all directions, and you collapse on the ground. After a few seconds you manage to look up and survey the carnage. Miraculously, you're safe, and all your friends in the cage as well as Becca and Sheriff Buckly seem mostly unharmed. You can hear the sizzling of the monsters' corpses in the burning skeleton of the two intertwined RVs. Alison and Mrs Jordan were closest to the RV and consumed in the wall of fire and barrage of shrapnel, their burned and torn apart bodies now lying on the earth. Doctor Kessel lies, badly burned with the scorched remains of the Key-Bearer lying on top of him.
"NO! NO!" Sheriff Buckly screams, staring at the wreckage in abject horror.
Becca raises her knife and stabs Sheriff Buckly in the neck with a scream and he yelps in pain. She pulls it out, and Sheriff Buckly collapses to the floor.
"You... you've taken everything... from me," Doctor Kessel pants.
You look at him, burns going across his face and across his smoldering chest. The Key-Bearer moves slightly, but you quickly finish it off with a few stomps, wincing at every squelch.
"No...!" Doctor Kessel pants. "You've... doomed man... to nothingness."
You stare down at him as his breathing slows, before the rise and fall of his chest ceases. You walk over to Becca, who's pulling a pair of keys out of Sheriff Buckly's pocket. She unlocks the rusted cage, and your friends spill out. Carter and Mason help Lucy hobble out, followed by Kyle who eagerly hugs Becca, and finally Ant.
"Holy shit. You just blew up an evil cult. I'm impressed," Ant says.
"Holy shit, I don't... what the fuck just happened?" Kyle asks.
"I don't know. We should probably leave," Mason says. "Thanks, Hazel, thanks, Becca, you saved our asses here.
"We n-need t-to get out of here and g-g-get Lucy help f-for her le-leg," Carter says.
You nod, and begin to walk away from the burnt out ashes of the camp, just as the sky begins to rise.
> One Year Later...
After the Bang
You're surprised how quickly and eagerly the media pick up on this. A tale of a bunch of kids discovering what a cult and driving a meth lab into it and blowing it up entirely. Of course, the story gets botched considerably. The cult is said to be Satanist, the monster-children are claimed to be simply malformed or mutilated, and any and all super-natural presence is rationalized. Still, it does turn Dawnwood into a media hotspot for some time and turns you into somewhat of a celebrity some time. Still, it doesn't take long for the media to move on. With celebrity pregnancies, terrorist attacks in the Middle East and an endless amount of mass shootings, things move on. You continue living in Dawnwood, staying with your friends. There's a special type of unbreakable bound that arises when a group of people face death together, and because of that you stay as a tight-knit group of friends. Time passes, you settle down in the town and for the first time you're glad you moved to the town. Sure, you still have many unanswered questions about what happened and still wake up with phantom pains in your stomach and nightmares of that night, but for the most part you're able to move past it. You're looking forward to your future in Dawnwood. |
OK, you need to act fast, before the cultists do whatever they're planning.you could call the police. Although Sheriff Buckly is one of the only cops in town, if you called the State Troopers, there's a good chance they'd be able to arrive and clear this place out.
You could also sneak back to the trucks and steal some of the weapons that Drake brought, and force a confrontation and end this.
Then again, you know where the location of Drake's keys are for the RV. You know the RV's highly explosive, and with that you could easily disrupt the ritual and do a lot more.
Then, there are the more... dangerous solutions. You could use the Dead Man. That terrifying spirit no doubt has some rage toward the town locals such as the cultists. Perhaps he could be bartered with.
> You attempt to barter with the Dead Man
"So what's our plan?"
"The Dead Man."
"What? The ghost?"
"Yeah. We could use him."
"Ghosts aren't real, Hazel. Maybe you should sit down."
"I saw him."
"Ghosts aren't..."
"Becca, our friends have been kidnapped by demon-summoning cultists, and you don't belief in ghosts at the moment?"
"I... I guess."
"Yeah. Let's go pay him a visit."
You turn and lead Becca off towards the Dead Man's Barn. After about five minutes of jogging, you reach the empty field that's brightened in the moonlight, with the large, old abandoned barn standing there.
"Come on!" you say.
You reach the barn, and begin prying plywood out of the way. You pause, remembering the Dead Man's hatred of Becca, pause.
"I'll go inside alone," you say.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," you say.
Becca shrugs, pulling the plywood out of the way and clambering inside. You are immediately engulfed in darkness. The soft rustle of the grass ceases as the entire barn is filled with a silence. Then, a whistle breaks out. The Dead Man begins whistling a slow, soft tune, the only thing that breaks the silence. Each note is mixed with the wet squelching you heard the last time. You see him leaning on a large wooden beam, his long, cut open grin staring back at you. The whistling stops as shadows seem to enrapture him. He disappears from his position leaning on the beam, and you feel hot breath on the back of your neck.
"I didn't think you'd come around here, darlin'. I was certain you'd be smarter," you hear him whisper from directly behind you.
A gloved hand begins to stroke your hair as you feel a metal blade press against your throat.
"No bother. I won't mind cutting you up a little."
"Wait! I want to make a deal with you!"
The blade stops and twists so that the flat of the blade is rubbing your neck.
"Alright... you bought yourself a minute. Explain."
"I want to help you get revenge."
"No you don't.You want something that coincides with me getting my revenge. What?"
"I need Mrs Jordan, Alison, Sheriff Buckly and Doctor Kessel."
"Alison. What's her last name."
"Parker."
"Oh yeah, Parker... Damn right I want my revenge. But it seems you're far more desperate than I am."
"I..."
"I want something. The Montgomery girl."
"What?"
"I want you to bring me her."
"I don't have her. She left..."
The Dead Man smiles as his grin is elongated once again because of the cuts as a wave of blood spills down his cheeks. He leans forward, running a hand against your cheek and down your neck.
"Bring me the girl... and I will help you kill every last person you want dead."
> You agree
You take a deep breath, and nod.
"OK. Fine," you say.
It's for the best. It's the only way to safe your friends. If you don't sacrifice one, you all die.
"Call her, then."
"Becca!" you shout.
"Yes?"
"Come in here!"
"I though you said..."
"Just do it!"
You see the Dead Man disappear, and seconds later, Becca climbs through the hole in the wall.
"What do you need?"
"I'm so, so sorry," you whimper.
"What...?"
The Dead Man is formed from the shadows directly behind Becca, leaning against the wall. He raises an old-fashioned revolver, and points it at the back of her head.
"Tell your ancestors I sent you," he says.
The Dead Man fires his gun and the revolver explodes with a thunderous roar, as does Becca's face. The front of her face explodes, sending blood, bits of flesh and grey matter onto the floor. You scream in horror as your friend collapses on the floor as all the life flows from her eyes and her face takes a dull expression.
"Ah... you can't imagine how good that felt."
You choke back a cry, as tears stream down your face.
"You have to kill everyone I mentioned."
"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?"
"What? You said you could! You promised."
"I promised I would try. You bring those people into this barn, I'll kill 'em all and leave you alive."
"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" you shout, echoing the Dead Man's complaint.
The Dead Man grins, and fades into the background and is absorbed by shadows once again. You sigh, and walk out. You climb out of the barn, your mind racing. Then, you have an idea. The one thing any of them care about is the Key-Bearer. If you can get that,or it, or whatever the fuck the creature is, you can lure them into the barn. You begin walking back towards the camp.
> Five Minutes Later...
You stare at the camp, watching the cultists work.They all pile stones in a large circle. You hear horrified moans from inside the RV, and you can vaguely see the horrified shapes of the failed attempts to birth a Key-Bearer inside the RV, the monstrous, contorting shapes howling desperately. Still, you see what you're looking for. Doctor Kessel holds a large bundle of contorting tentacles You look around the earthen floor of the woods, finding a large tree branch with suitable weight and length. You pick it up, and begin creeping towards Doctor Kessel. You silently creep forward, aas he watches the circle being formed, oblivious to anything else. You take a deep breath, and raise the tree branch. You swing it with as much strength as you can muster, and it smacks into the back of his head. It slams into his head and he collapses forward, the Key-Bearer flying onto the floor. You spot your friends in the cage, Sheriff Buckly watching over you, but know you don't have time to rescue them. You grab the Key-Bearer and get your first real look at it. A seething mass of tentacles, with at the base a small, spherical body. You shiver in terror as you notice the creature has a single, bright blue eye, the same color as yours. You grab it, wrapping in the blanket Doctor Kessel has been coddling it, and turn.
"Fuck! Get her!" Doctor Kessel screams.
Sheriff Buckly turns and raises his gun, but Doctor Kessel screams at him to stop.
"No, no! For god's sake, don't fire! You could hit the key-bearer and ruin everything!" Doctor Kessel screams later.
You break into a run, as you see Alison open the RV.
"Children! Go, go track down your brother and the girl!"
You see demented figures emerge from the RV. There's a pair of small legs that waddle forward, although everything above the waist is a seething mass of tentacles. There's an armless child who's eyes are just two empty caverns that are blacker the pure darkness. There's a small girl, each limb replaced with a long coil of muscles that it uses to crawl along the ground. They all see you, eyes filled with pain and angst, and begin to follow you. You turn and begin running as fast as you can towards the Dead Man's barn. You run as fast as your feet will carry you for several minutes, hearing the howls of the monsters behind you grow louder as the cultists follow just behind you.
"Stop running! We won't hurt you!" Doctor Kessel screams.
You feel the Key-Bearer writhe under the blanket in your arms and you wince, but don't dare stop runnign. Eventually, you break free from the trees, into the field under the moonlight. You spot the hole in the boarded up barn, and begin desperately running towards it. After a minute of running as fast as you can, you dive through it, into the darkness of the barn. Seconds later, you hear a slithering, shivering sound as those monsters enter. You stay perfectly quiet, and begin crawling under a small gap in the fence, into a horse stall.
"Hazel... you better come out now..." Sheriff Buckly whispers. "It's better we find you then one of the kids..."
You try not to breath and stay perfectly silent as you hear figures wandering around the room.
"Oh, there you ar... what's this?"
"Ah, look who it is. A Buckly... I always did know your family was a generation of snakes and government cocksuckers..."
"How... what the fuck are yo...?"
"I'm the Grim fuckin' Reaper."
"No! Wait! Please, don't!"
"Tell ol' grandaddy Buckly you died beggin' me!"
There's a gunshot, and Sheriff Buckly falls silent.
"Well, look at this... the Kessel family's newest generation are all pig-fuck ugly monsters. See ya, kids."
There's a series of gun shots as you hear the knife whistle through the air.
"Jesus fuck! What's...?"
"A Parker. Your gran' daddy had the dumbest horse grin I'd ever seen."
There's the noise of a knife, slicing through the air and the squelching sound of blood.
"Oops, there goes a Jordan and a O'Riley. Huh, your grand daddies on your mom and dad's sides were fiddling, only makes sense their kids would have kids."
There's a series of gunshots and squelches from knife stabs, before you hear a single, solitary voice.
"Hazel? Whatever you've done, stop this... please..." Doctor Kessel whimpers.
You hear a gunshot, and the thud of a body hitting the floor. Then, silence. Suddenly, the Dead Man stands, staring at you.
"Alright, darling. You never said there'd be a dozen monsters in tow."
"I didn't think they'd release them."
"Alright. Well, I reckon we're about even."
You nod, before the bundle wiggles in your arms again. The Dead Man raises his gun and shoots the wiggling bundle twice. You scream as blood flies up, before throwing the dying monster off you.
"There. Now we're sure as fuck even."
The Dead Man is absorbed by the darkness once more, and you're left alone in the darkness. You stand, walking out into the carnage. Corpses lie everywhere, shriveled tentacles and bleeding bodies around the room. You find Sheriff Buckly, lying on the floor in a growing puddle of blood. You search his pockets, pulling out the keys to the rusted cage. You leave the barn, and begin walking off to rescue your friends, just as the sky begins to rise.
> One Year Later...
Death and Vengeance
You're surprised how quickly and eagerly the media pick up on this. A tale of a bunch of kids discovering what a cult. Of course, the story gets botched considerably. The cult is said to be Satanist, the monster-children are claimed to be simply malformed or mutilated, any and all super-natural presence is rationalized, and its claimed that you and Becca made a stand against the cultists, leading to Becca's death in the fire fight. You don't disagree with them, because you know you'd come off as crazy. The Dead Man is happy to stay hidden every time they investigate the barn, knowing the difference between picking off a few trespassers and ambushing a police investigation, and not wanting his barn covered in police tape for any longer than needs be. Still, it does turn Dawnwood into a media hotspot for some time and turns you into somewhat of a celebrity some time. Still, it doesn't take long for the media to move on. With celebrity pregnancies, terrorist attacks in the Middle East and an endless amount of mass shootings, things move on. You continue living in Dawnwood, staying with your friends. You still have serious guilt over what happened to Becca, and any and all attempts to rationalize it lead to you just wallowing in self-depreciation and depression. Time passes, you settle down in the town and for the first time you're glad you moved to the town. Sure, you still have many unanswered questions about what happened and still wake up with phantom pains in your stomach and nightmares of that night, and nightmares of Becca's corpse slumped over in front of you, but you're able to move past it somewhat. You're looking forward to your future in Dawnwood. |
"So what's our plan?"
"The Dead Man."
"What? The ghost?"
"Yeah. We could use him."
"Ghosts aren't real, Hazel. Maybe you should sit down."
"I saw him."
"Ghosts aren't..."
"Becca, our friends have been kidnapped by demon-summoning cultists, and you don't belief in ghosts at the moment?"
"I... I guess."
"Yeah. Let's go pay him a visit."
You turn and lead Becca off towards the Dead Man's Barn. After about five minutes of jogging, you reach the empty field that's brightened in the moonlight, with the large, old abandoned barn standing there.
"Come on!" you say.
You reach the barn, and begin prying plywood out of the way. You pause, remembering the Dead Man's hatred of Becca, pause.
"I'll go inside alone," you say.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," you say.
Becca shrugs, pulling the plywood out of the way and clambering inside. You are immediately engulfed in darkness. The soft rustle of the grass ceases as the entire barn is filled with a silence. Then, a whistle breaks out. The Dead Man begins whistling a slow, soft tune, the only thing that breaks the silence. Each note is mixed with the wet squelching you heard the last time. You see him leaning on a large wooden beam, his long, cut open grin staring back at you. The whistling stops as shadows seem to enrapture him. He disappears from his position leaning on the beam, and you feel hot breath on the back of your neck.
"I didn't think you'd come around here, darlin'. I was certain you'd be smarter," you hear him whisper from directly behind you.
A gloved hand begins to stroke your hair as you feel a metal blade press against your throat.
"No bother. I won't mind cutting you up a little."
"Wait! I want to make a deal with you!"
The blade stops and twists so that the flat of the blade is rubbing your neck.
"Alright... you bought yourself a minute. Explain."
"I want to help you get revenge."
"No you don't.You want something that coincides with me getting my revenge. What?"
"I need Mrs Jordan, Alison, Sheriff Buckly and Doctor Kessel."
"Alison. What's her last name."
"Parker."
"Oh yeah, Parker... Damn right I want my revenge. But it seems you're far more desperate than I am."
"I..."
"I want something. The Montgomery girl."
"What?"
"I want you to bring me her."
"I don't have her. She left..."
The Dead Man smiles as his grin is elongated once again because of the cuts as a wave of blood spills down his cheeks. He leans forward, running a hand against your cheek and down your neck.
"Bring me the girl... and I will help you kill every last person you want dead."
> You lie and escape while claiming to be luring Becca in
"OK. I'll go get her."
"Oh, I can't let you leave until you Becca's here."
"She's not going to come wander into the darkness just because I'm calling. I need to go out there personally."
"...Hmm... Alright. Go get her."
You nod, and head out of the barn slowly. Each step you expect to feel the steel blade slicing through you, but you keep walking, trying to appear calm and collected. You reach the ray of moonlight, and climb out of the barn, finding Becca.
"What happened?"
"We... we need to go. Come on."
You grab Becca's arm and quickly pull her quickly away from barn, heading back into the field.
"What happened there?"
"It doesn't matter. Just make sure to never go inside that barn."
"What do we do now? How will we rescue our friends?"
"I had a few more ideas." |
You wait until he's closer, take a deep breath, feel the adrenaline coursing through your veins, and charge. You turn around the counter and in a single bound reach him. His eyes widen in panic before you stab your blade, slicing through skin and flesh, straight through the neck. You pull your blade out and stab again, and again, until his neck is nothing but a hunk of meat that falls to the floor, blood spilling into a puddle on the floor. You stand over him as he dies, watching as the life goes out of his eyes. As a result of an adrenaline rush and primal instincts taking over, you try not to focus on the pathetic, dying man in front of you, and head to the door. You open it to a crack, peering out. Mason, Kyle, Carter and Ant sit in the rusted cage, with Sheriff Buckly watching over them. Mrs Jordan and Alison are placing blood-stained stones in a circle. Doctor Kesel stands with something cradled in his arms, although it's too dark for you to see.
> You pick them off one by one
"We need to attack," you whisper. "What?" Lucy asks in surprise. "They have a gun!" "It's dark, we can sneak up on the sheriff and take him out with our knives, and get the gun. Then, we stop this and free our friends." Lucy nods, and you edge out of the door, heading towards Sheriff Buckly. You stay low, immersed in the darkness. You slowly edge forward, before you're less than a dozen feet away from him. Then, Sheriff Buckly turns, noticing you. "Ah, shit..." he sighs, raising his gun.
> You charge him
You charge forward, slashing your knife. Sheriff Buckly backs up with a yelp, firing randomly. Although he's firing without thinking or aiming, the amount of lead he puts in the air makes it sure that one finds it's way through your skull, killing you instantly. |
"We need to attack," you whisper. "What?" Lucy asks in surprise. "They have a gun!" "It's dark, we can sneak up on the sheriff and take him out with our knives, and get the gun. Then, we stop this and free our friends." Lucy nods, and you edge out of the door, heading towards Sheriff Buckly. You stay low, immersed in the darkness. You slowly edge forward, before you're less than a dozen feet away from him. Then, Sheriff Buckly turns, noticing you. "Ah, shit..." he sighs, raising his gun.
> You run
"They're escaping!" Sheriff Buckly roars at his allies.
You break into a sprint, heading away from the camp. You manage to make it to the trees, but you hear gunfire behind you. You turn your head slightly, seeing a spurt off blood go from the back of Lucy's leg as she collapses forward, skidding along the earth to a halt. Becca makes it to the trees next to you and stops.
"Shit, do we go back?" she asks in a terrified panic.
You look back. In the darkness, you might be able to get to Lucy and help her disappear into the trees. If you both reach the tree line, it'll be almost impossible for Sheriff Buckly to track you. |
You awaken strapped to a gurney, covered in blood, wearing a hospital gown. You're in the RV, and the lights are turned off. You can't see anything, but you can here a someone whimpering.
"Hello?" you ask.
The whimpering stops, and you begin to hear a deep, guttural panting.
"Hello?" you ask again.
As your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, you make out two figures in the darkness. One sits in the corner, the other stands above them, rubbing them with a long coil of rope that moves like a snake.
"Mason? Becca? Kyle? Carter?" you ask, staring towards the figures.
The standing one turns, and you see the sitting one quickly flick on a light switch, brightening the RV. In the light, you notice that the sitting figure is Becca, whose eyes are red with tears and seems terrified. Your eyes scan, and see the second figure, slowly approaching you. The figure is one of the monster-children. It has long brown hair, but her face is nothing but a mucus-encrusted, lipless mouth and two nostrils. It wears a tattered, blood-stained blue dress, with a long, red tentacle coming from it's stomach and wrapping around its body. The tip of the tentacle slowly moves towards you, and you spot a yellow eye poking out from the end of the tentacle slowly edging towards you, staring into your eyes. You scream, and struggle against your bonds, before the tentacles begins to wrap around your leg, leaving a long lane of sticky pus that oozes out of the tentacle. You scream as it continues to edge towards you, heading towards your face. The tentacle snakes up your chest, before intertwining around your neck, before stopping inches from your face.
"Hello..." the monster-child rasps.
You stare at the eye, seeing a mixture of pain and child-like curiosity in the eyes. Then, you hear a yell. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Becca charge forward with a long, thin knife, stabbing the monster-child through the neck. The creature howls, gargling blood, before Becca draws her knife and begins slashing at it's face and neck, before finally running the knife through it's skull. It collapses, and the tentacle in front of you falls on your face, wiggling like a dying fish. You whimper, and Becca comes over to you and begins cutting you free of both your restraints and the tentacle that intertwines around you. You eagerly get up, pulling the bits of tentacle off you as you struggle not to vomit.
"What happened?" you ask, shivering.
You feel a dull pain in your stomach, pulling it up slightly slightly to reveal you're thankfully still in your underwear, although you see your stomach is heavily bandaged.
"They cut you open and pulled... something out of you. It was alive, and wiggling, and..." Becca says, before shivering in terror. "We need to get our friends and get out of here."
You hear a thumping from the bathroom door, and quickly go to listen.
"Hello?"
"Hazel? Get me out of here!" Lucy screams from inside.
You unlock the door, finding Lucy.
"Thank God. They locked us in here and put the guys in the cage. We need to get out of here and stop them."
You nod, and head to the kitchen, finding a large butcher knife. The door to the RV opens, and Lucy and Becca quickly hide behind the counter with you.
"Iris? Are you finished playing with your new friends? I hope you didn't hurt them. We're going to need them if this newborn isn't the Key-Bearer. I haven't even got to see the k... Iris?"
Louis the Mechanic walks in, looking around.
"Hello?"
He takes a few steps forward, walking into the kitchen towards you.
> You stay hidden
You stay hidden, and Louis walks over. He leans over the counter, his head just over you. Then, he spots the edge of Lucy's foot.
"Shit!" he shouts, turning and running out of the RV.
"Hey! The girls got loose! Where's the gun?"
Within seconds, Sheriff Buckly is standing by the doorway, aiming his gun.
"Come out or I'll blow your brains out!" he roars.
> You surrender
You raise your hands in surrender, and step forward. Sheriff Buckly grins.
"Come on, there you go, drop the knife."
You drop the knife, and step forward. He swings his gun, smacking into the side of your head and sending you spiraling into unconsciousness.
> You awaken
Apocalypse
You lie in the rusted gurney, at the edge of a large circle. Your friends are gone, but you only look for a second before you see the preparations for the portal. A large circle of stones lies, each stained with a drop of blood. Standing around the circle are the cultists. Standing around them are a half dozen monster-children that make you want to vomit, the failed attempts at rearing a Key Bearer. They're so deformed, so mutated, they barely qualify as children. One is missing both it's arms, replaced with long, thin, slimy tentacles like pasta. A second is missing most of its face, a gaping hole in its place filled with tiny, wiggling tentacles from the walls, back, roof and floor of the mouth. A third looks like a cute, perfectly normal girl of around four years old, except her mouth hangs open and her eyes are completely black. Another, one of the worst, looks like a cross between a schoolgirl, a fetus and an octopus, and stands wiggling. Still, that's nothing compared to what sits in the middle of the circle. Sitting in the middle, wiggling, is your child. The Key-Bearer is the size of a cat, and is nothing but a seething mass of tentacles that whip around, seemingly drawing lines of purple lightning around itself in the symbol that was carved into you.
"Ah, you're here!" Doctor Kessel says eagerly.
"Where are my friends?" you scream, terrified of the creatures that surround you.
"It doesn't matter now! Now, we begin! We will witness the glories of Crexiciliatanian's creation!"
The Key-Bearer speeds up, painting the symbol across the very fabric of reality. The ground begins to crumble away, turning in pure blackness. Suddenly, there's a flash, and the portal opens.
Then, it begins. |
Nine hours later, you're ready to go. You've somehow convinced Dad to let you go out, not daring to tell him your actual destination and instead claiming you're staying at Lucy's house. You meet up at the Lucy's house with the group, and walk into the living room, where they're all sitting around.
"Are we ready?" you ask.
"Damn straight!" Ant smiles, holding up a large backpack. "Spare food, water bottles, lighters, matches, rope, fireworks, some knives and flashlights. What'd you guys bring?"
Carter holds up half a chocolate bar he's been chewing on.
"Half a M-Mars bar," he says, before taking another bite. "A q-quart-quarter of a Mars b-bar."
"I brought a penknife and a lighter," you shrug, and Ant looks around disappointedly.
"No one brought anything?" he pouts. "You guys suck."
You hear a horn outside, and look outside. A large RV drives up the driveway, stopping outside. Lucy skips out the door, before running up to him, and you follow her outside.
"Hey, Hazel," Drake says.
"Drake's friend, Ed, has the pick-up, so we're driving to the woods, meeting him and switching vehicle," Lucy tells you.
"OK," you say, walking into the RV. You raise an eyebrow as you notice that the RV's windows are covered with shutters and bin bags, and the actual interior looks like a scene from Breaking Bad, covered with beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners and other Chemistry gear.
"Well, you're blatant," you say.
"Hey, it's effective."
"I mean, yeah, but Breaking Bad made this a trope. Don't police search RV's for this."
"Breaking Bad helped my sales enough that I'm bribing the deputy. You'll be surprised how much extra meth heads are willing to pay for a product when you add some blue dye."
You shrug, and take a seat in the RV, as your friends pack in.
"Be careful back there. Knock one thing over and this place could blow."
"Really?" you ask.
Drake grins and shrugs, and begins driving.
"Maybe. I mean, there's a distillery back there as well as the lab. I'd imagine one speed bump and boom!"
"That's unnerving," Ant says.
"I guess. So, why the hell am I dragging all your friends into the middle of the woods to the old freakshow cage?"
"I told you already," Lucy reveals.
"That nightmare bull isn't convincing me. What's the real reason?"
"That is the real reason."
Drake turns around to stare at you in annoyance.
"What...?"
"Eyes on the road, Drake," Kyle says.
"Fine," Drake says, turning around. "Still, I want an explanation why I'm driving into the woods because the new girl had a nightmare."
"It wasn't a nightmare!" you say.
"Sure," Drake says.
You all sit in awkward silence until you reach the outskirts of the woods. Drake pulls over, and you stand and head out the door. Although you couldn't tell because of the shutters and blacked out windows of the RV, you can now see that night has fallen. An empty red pick-up truck with four seats sits next to the woods. Drake strides forward, pulling out his phone.
"Ah, shit," Drake says. "Of course Ed left the truck here and went off on his quad rather than just take back the RV like he was supposed to."
He locks the RV and hides the keys in the wheel well.
"I'll text my friend and get him to pick up the RV. Come on, get inside. Let's go drive to a dumbass cage in the woods."
Drake, Lucy, Carter and Ant go in the seats while you, Mason, Becca and Kyle sit in the back of the pick-up. You sit, half-lying on Mason who wraps one arm around you. The emotional part of your brain momentarily forgets all fears in favor of a childish infatuation and hormonal lust towards Mason that causes you to blush and your heart to flutter, the rational part of your brain reminds you to stay vigilant in case the cultists or that beast do show up. You and the rest of your friends pull out flashlights and fire the beams off into the darkness, illuminating trees and undergrowth.
"We're nearly there," Drake shouts. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get here because a path's been made."
Your ears perk up at that.
"What do you mean?" you ask, as Drake rolls down his window fully.
"What'd you say?"
"I said what do you mean? You said there's a path."
"Yeah. It's like a big RV drove over the undergrowth and knocked a dirt path along."
"What, you think Ed's been driving out here to work in the RV?" Lucy asks.
"Nah, Ed's terrified of the woods. Said something about a monster or something."
You feel a flash of fear as you remember the RV from last night. You stare outwards, illuminating every shadow, both hoping to and terrified of seeing something hiding in the dark.
"Here it is! The old freak show's cage!" Drake says dramatically.
As Drake pulls the pick-up into the clearing in the woods, you see the massive, rusted cage, although there's no RV. You shiver in fear, and Drake steps out of the truck.
"Let's investigate and get home," Drake says, firing his flashlight beam towards the cage.
The flashlight beam illuminates the cage and its insides. The old rusted gurney sits there, now encrusted with dried blood.
"Well, that's new," Drake mentions.
You step back nervously.
"Hazel said there was a gurney in her dre... when she was abducted," Ant points out.
"Fuck, this is some creepy shit. I'm calling the sheriff," Drake says.
Drake takes out his phone, and makes a call.
"Hello, Sheriff Buckly? I just found a gurney in the middle of the cage in the woods covered in dried blood. I think some weird... oh, really? OK, you know where the cage from the... oh, great.. Cool, see you in a few minutes, or an hour, or whatever."
"What was that?"
"The sheriff said he'll come here straight away."
"Good," you sigh in relief.
You really can't imagine having to deal with this without the help of the law. Now, it's out of your hands. You wait patiently for Sheriff Buckly to arrive. Eventually, you spot a flashlight heading towards you.
"There he is," Drake says.
You shine your light ahead, illuminating the figure of Sheriff Buckly. He swears, and holds his hands to block his eyes.
"Turn that off!" he says, and you do.
"Fuck, how'd you even get the truck out here? I can barely walk through the undergrowth," he says. "Where this bloody gurney?"
You point at the cage, and Sheriff Buckly walks over and looks at it.
"Jesus... who else saw this? I'm going to need to gather all the witnesses and find out what was going on," he says.
"We're the only people who've seen this, although Hazel got a bit of a closer encounter."
"So you didn't tell you pa about this?" Sheriff Buckly asks.
You shake your head, and Sheriff Buckly nods.
"Good," Sheriff Buckly says.
Sheriff Buckly draws his revolver, and quickly aims at Drake's head and fires. Drake's head snaps back as it explodes partially, sending chunks of gray brain matter, pale skull and pieces of red flesh at you. You scream as Lucy runs over to Drake as his body collapses backwards. Mason runs for the truck, before the Sheriff barks an order.
"Stop! Move another muscle and I'll blow the brain out of everyone of you!"
Mason stops, raising his hands. Sheriff Buckly points his gun at all of you, forcing you to raise your hands into the air.
"Everyone, calm down. Nobody needs to get hurt," Sheriff Buckly says.
"Fuck you!" Lucy screams. "You killed him! You killed him you piece of..."
Sheriff Buckly steps forward and cracks her across the head wit his revolver.
"Shut up! Carter, Mason, Ant, Kyle, get in the fucking cage!" he shouts.
Mason, Ant, Kyle and Carter slowly walk into the cage.
"Now, back the fuck up to the end of the cage!"
The boys comply, and the Sheriff draws a set of keys from his pocket, locking the cage door. He turns to you, Lucy and Becca.
"Just don't move. They'll be here in a minute."
You stand in silence, the cold wind blowing, the silence only broken by the occasional soft sob by Lucy as she stands over Drake. After about half an hour of waiting, you see the RV pull up along the path. It stops, and four masked men step out.
"Anyone escape?" one asks.
"No," Sheriff Buckly responds. "Fuck, I didn't even know they were coming out here. You said whatever the fuck you injected the girl with would make her forget everything."
"I said it probably would. Her phone's bugged. How didn't you find out?"
"She didn't make any calls saying she was going to do it!"
"Well, at least no one escaped," the masked man says, pulling off his mask.
The group remove their masks. You vaguely recognize them, one being the mechanic who found you, one being the town doctor, Doctor Kessel, another being a German teacher from school and the final one being the bartender of the local bar.
"What are you going to do with...?" Becca asks, before Sheriff Buckley lets out a bark.
"Hey! Shut the fuck..."
"No, Jake, let the girl ask her question," Doctor Kessel says.
"What are you going to do with us? Who are you? Why did you send a monster to hunt me?"
"What are we going to do with you? Nothing, ideally. We only need to borrow you. Who are we? Well, surely you must recognize us. Louis, Sheriff Buckly, Mrs Jordan, Alison and me, Doctor Kessel. "As for the monster, I assume you're referring to the Black Beast. That's not an issue, I assure you. Although I'm not sure of its origins, if you look at town records, it actually kills most of the bears in the area, which reduces the amount of attacks so much it's saving lives. If I was in your situation, I'd be much more worried about us."
"What do you want? Are you going to sacrifice us to Satan?" Becca asks again.
Doctor Kessel lets out a chuckle.
"No, Rebecca, we're not. We're not satanists. Real satanists don't even believe in Satan. We're... researchers. We're humanitarians. We're explorers. When we were little kids, we used to be the best of friends. We played in these very woods. When we were little, we found... a book in one of the caves. We took it and read it, and we found out the most amazing things. Do you know how insignificant not only we are, but this planet, this solar system, this galaxy and this universe is? There are so many amazing things we learned about these beings that we can't even comprehend, but compared to what's out there, we learned so little. So we kept reading. The book included some instructions to summon them, to summon these beings that are stronger than any gods we've ever imagined, more alien that any alien we've created in fiction, more incredible than anything you could experience here. If we create a Key-Bearer, we can create a portal to these beings."
"That's insane! How do you know they won't wipe us out, or enslave us all, or worse!" you cry.
"I don't," Doctor Kessel admits.
"It could destroy everything!"
"You just need to calm down and listen!" he hisses. "Imagine you're stuck in a room. There is a small tap for water, a toilet and a small machine that creates a nutritious yet tasteless paste. You have everything you need to survive and continue your blank, boring existence. Now, one day, a door appears in the room. It's unlocked. Do you go through?"
"What the fuck does...?"
"We are trying to open that door. Just as the person in the room doesn't know what's on the other side, anything is better than the bland, boring existence of the room. We're trying to open the world up to experiences unknown to man, good or bad, because it has to be better than this meaningless existence."
"What are yuo even talking about? What the fuck's a Key-Bearer?" Mason shouts, as Sheriff Buckly aims his gun at his head once again.
"Shut up," Sheriff Buckly grunts.
"Ah yes, the Key-Bearer. That part's the worst for you guys. A Key-Bearer is a creature birthed of the beings' power of a human womb. We've had several attempts at this, but every time we failed. Instead of creating a Key-Bearer, we created half-human, half-monster children who aged rapidly. Finally, we settled the problem. The mother of the Key-Bearer had to be a virgin, post-puberty, below 21 and to have AB Negative Blood. You'd imagine my luck when I found one such target walking around the cave where I was sacrificing some former mothers to keep the beings' interested in our world. I simply pumped out some gas I had on hand to help knock her out, and voila! I got to work."
You stare at him in horror, putting a hand on your stomach. There's a series of gasps and shouts from the group, before Sheriff Buckly fires his gun in the air.
"SHUT IT!" he roars.
"I'm sorry, Hazel. It'll be over in a few hours."
"A few hours? It's only been two days, how...?" you ask in horror.
"The Key-Bearer grows incredibly quickly. It should be able to be birthed within a day at most."
You feel something wiggle in your stomach, in your womb, and a pain shoots through you.
"Listen, Hazel, it'll be OK," Doctor Kessel says. "In a few hours, you'll be fine, and we'll be in a whole new world."
> You run
You try to run, but Doctor Kessel is faster, sprinting forward and grabbing you. You scream, as a needle enters your neck.
"Don't worry, I'm going to help you sleep for the next few hours. When you wake up, it'll be all over..."
You scream as you begin to feel sleepy, before closing your mouth. Your heavy eyelids close, as the needle presses into your veins, sending you into a deep sleep. Knowing what they're planning to do, you hope you overdose on this rather than waking up... |
Nine hours later, you're ready to go. You've somehow convinced Dad to let you go out, not daring to tell him your actual destination and instead claiming you're staying at Lucy's house. You meet up at the Lucy's house with the group, and walk into the living room, where they're all sitting around.
"Are we ready?" you ask.
"Damn straight!" Ant smiles, holding up a large backpack. "Spare food, water bottles, lighters, matches, rope, fireworks, some knives and flashlights. What'd you guys bring?"
Carter holds up half a chocolate bar he's been chewing on.
"Half a M-Mars bar," he says, before taking another bite. "A q-quart-quarter of a Mars b-bar."
"I brought a penknife and a lighter," you shrug, and Ant looks around disappointedly.
"No one brought anything?" he pouts. "You guys suck."
You hear a horn outside, and look outside. A large RV drives up the driveway, stopping outside. Lucy skips out the door, before running up to him, and you follow her outside.
"Hey, Hazel," Drake says.
"Drake's friend, Ed, has the pick-up, so we're driving to the woods, meeting him and switching vehicle," Lucy tells you.
"OK," you say, walking into the RV. You raise an eyebrow as you notice that the RV's windows are covered with shutters and bin bags, and the actual interior looks like a scene from Breaking Bad, covered with beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners and other Chemistry gear.
"Well, you're blatant," you say.
"Hey, it's effective."
"I mean, yeah, but Breaking Bad made this a trope. Don't police search RV's for this."
"Breaking Bad helped my sales enough that I'm bribing the deputy. You'll be surprised how much extra meth heads are willing to pay for a product when you add some blue dye."
You shrug, and take a seat in the RV, as your friends pack in.
"Be careful back there. Knock one thing over and this place could blow."
"Really?" you ask.
Drake grins and shrugs, and begins driving.
"Maybe. I mean, there's a distillery back there as well as the lab. I'd imagine one speed bump and boom!"
"That's unnerving," Ant says.
"I guess. So, why the hell am I dragging all your friends into the middle of the woods to the old freakshow cage?"
"I told you already," Lucy reveals.
"That nightmare bull isn't convincing me. What's the real reason?"
"That is the real reason."
Drake turns around to stare at you in annoyance.
"What...?"
"Eyes on the road, Drake," Kyle says.
"Fine," Drake says, turning around. "Still, I want an explanation why I'm driving into the woods because the new girl had a nightmare."
"It wasn't a nightmare!" you say.
"Sure," Drake says.
You all sit in awkward silence until you reach the outskirts of the woods. Drake pulls over, and you stand and head out the door. Although you couldn't tell because of the shutters and blacked out windows of the RV, you can now see that night has fallen. An empty red pick-up truck with four seats sits next to the woods. Drake strides forward, pulling out his phone.
"Ah, shit," Drake says. "Of course Ed left the truck here and went off on his quad rather than just take back the RV like he was supposed to."
He locks the RV and hides the keys in the wheel well.
"I'll text my friend and get him to pick up the RV. Come on, get inside. Let's go drive to a dumbass cage in the woods."
Drake, Lucy, Carter and Ant go in the seats while you, Mason, Becca and Kyle sit in the back of the pick-up. You sit, half-lying on Mason who wraps one arm around you. The emotional part of your brain momentarily forgets all fears in favor of a childish infatuation and hormonal lust towards Mason that causes you to blush and your heart to flutter, the rational part of your brain reminds you to stay vigilant in case the cultists or that beast do show up. You and the rest of your friends pull out flashlights and fire the beams off into the darkness, illuminating trees and undergrowth.
"We're nearly there," Drake shouts. "It's a hell of a lot easier to get here because a path's been made."
Your ears perk up at that.
"What do you mean?" you ask, as Drake rolls down his window fully.
"What'd you say?"
"I said what do you mean? You said there's a path."
"Yeah. It's like a big RV drove over the undergrowth and knocked a dirt path along."
"What, you think Ed's been driving out here to work in the RV?" Lucy asks.
"Nah, Ed's terrified of the woods. Said something about a monster or something."
You feel a flash of fear as you remember the RV from last night. You stare outwards, illuminating every shadow, both hoping to and terrified of seeing something hiding in the dark.
"Here it is! The old freak show's cage!" Drake says dramatically.
As Drake pulls the pick-up into the clearing in the woods, you see the massive, rusted cage, although there's no RV. You shiver in fear, and Drake steps out of the truck.
"Let's investigate and get home," Drake says, firing his flashlight beam towards the cage.
The flashlight beam illuminates the cage and its insides. The old rusted gurney sits there, now encrusted with dried blood.
"Well, that's new," Drake mentions.
You step back nervously.
"Hazel said there was a gurney in her dre... when she was abducted," Ant points out.
"Fuck, this is some creepy shit. I'm calling the sheriff," Drake says.
Drake takes out his phone, and makes a call.
"Hello, Sheriff Buckly? I just found a gurney in the middle of the cage in the woods covered in dried blood. I think some weird... oh, really? OK, you know where the cage from the... oh, great.. Cool, see you in a few minutes, or an hour, or whatever."
"What was that?"
"The sheriff said he'll come here straight away."
"Good," you sigh in relief.
You really can't imagine having to deal with this without the help of the law. Now, it's out of your hands. You wait patiently for Sheriff Buckly to arrive. Eventually, you spot a flashlight heading towards you.
"There he is," Drake says.
You shine your light ahead, illuminating the figure of Sheriff Buckly. He swears, and holds his hands to block his eyes.
"Turn that off!" he says, and you do.
"Fuck, how'd you even get the truck out here? I can barely walk through the undergrowth," he says. "Where this bloody gurney?"
You point at the cage, and Sheriff Buckly walks over and looks at it.
"Jesus... who else saw this? I'm going to need to gather all the witnesses and find out what was going on," he says.
"We're the only people who've seen this, although Hazel got a bit of a closer encounter."
"So you didn't tell you pa about this?" Sheriff Buckly asks.
You shake your head, and Sheriff Buckly nods.
"Good," Sheriff Buckly says.
Sheriff Buckly draws his revolver, and quickly aims at Drake's head and fires. Drake's head snaps back as it explodes partially, sending chunks of gray brain matter, pale skull and pieces of red flesh at you. You scream as Lucy runs over to Drake as his body collapses backwards. Mason runs for the truck, before the Sheriff barks an order.
"Stop! Move another muscle and I'll blow the brain out of everyone of you!"
Mason stops, raising his hands. Sheriff Buckly points his gun at all of you, forcing you to raise your hands into the air.
"Everyone, calm down. Nobody needs to get hurt," Sheriff Buckly says.
"Fuck you!" Lucy screams. "You killed him! You killed him you piece of..."
Sheriff Buckly steps forward and cracks her across the head wit his revolver.
"Shut up! Carter, Mason, Ant, Kyle, get in the fucking cage!" he shouts.
Mason, Ant, Kyle and Carter slowly walk into the cage.
"Now, back the fuck up to the end of the cage!"
The boys comply, and the Sheriff draws a set of keys from his pocket, locking the cage door. He turns to you, Lucy and Becca.
"Just don't move. They'll be here in a minute."
You stand in silence, the cold wind blowing, the silence only broken by the occasional soft sob by Lucy as she stands over Drake. After about half an hour of waiting, you see the RV pull up along the path. It stops, and four masked men step out.
"Anyone escape?" one asks.
"No," Sheriff Buckly responds. "Fuck, I didn't even know they were coming out here. You said whatever the fuck you injected the girl with would make her forget everything."
"I said it probably would. Her phone's bugged. How didn't you find out?"
"She didn't make any calls saying she was going to do it!"
"Well, at least no one escaped," the masked man says, pulling off his mask.
The group remove their masks. You vaguely recognize them, one being the mechanic who found you, one being the town doctor, Doctor Kessel, another being a German teacher from school and the final one being the bartender of the local bar.
"What are you going to do with...?" Becca asks, before Sheriff Buckley lets out a bark.
"Hey! Shut the fuck..."
"No, Jake, let the girl ask her question," Doctor Kessel says.
"What are you going to do with us? Who are you? Why did you send a monster to hunt me?"
"What are we going to do with you? Nothing, ideally. We only need to borrow you. Who are we? Well, surely you must recognize us. Louis, Sheriff Buckly, Mrs Jordan, Alison and me, Doctor Kessel. "As for the monster, I assume you're referring to the Black Beast. That's not an issue, I assure you. Although I'm not sure of its origins, if you look at town records, it actually kills most of the bears in the area, which reduces the amount of attacks so much it's saving lives. If I was in your situation, I'd be much more worried about us."
"What do you want? Are you going to sacrifice us to Satan?" Becca asks again.
Doctor Kessel lets out a chuckle.
"No, Rebecca, we're not. We're not satanists. Real satanists don't even believe in Satan. We're... researchers. We're humanitarians. We're explorers. When we were little kids, we used to be the best of friends. We played in these very woods. When we were little, we found... a book in one of the caves. We took it and read it, and we found out the most amazing things. Do you know how insignificant not only we are, but this planet, this solar system, this galaxy and this universe is? There are so many amazing things we learned about these beings that we can't even comprehend, but compared to what's out there, we learned so little. So we kept reading. The book included some instructions to summon them, to summon these beings that are stronger than any gods we've ever imagined, more alien that any alien we've created in fiction, more incredible than anything you could experience here. If we create a Key-Bearer, we can create a portal to these beings."
"That's insane! How do you know they won't wipe us out, or enslave us all, or worse!" you cry.
"I don't," Doctor Kessel admits.
"It could destroy everything!"
"You just need to calm down and listen!" he hisses. "Imagine you're stuck in a room. There is a small tap for water, a toilet and a small machine that creates a nutritious yet tasteless paste. You have everything you need to survive and continue your blank, boring existence. Now, one day, a door appears in the room. It's unlocked. Do you go through?"
"What the fuck does...?"
"We are trying to open that door. Just as the person in the room doesn't know what's on the other side, anything is better than the bland, boring existence of the room. We're trying to open the world up to experiences unknown to man, good or bad, because it has to be better than this meaningless existence."
"What are yuo even talking about? What the fuck's a Key-Bearer?" Mason shouts, as Sheriff Buckly aims his gun at his head once again.
"Shut up," Sheriff Buckly grunts.
"Ah yes, the Key-Bearer. That part's the worst for you guys. A Key-Bearer is a creature birthed of the beings' power of a human womb. We've had several attempts at this, but every time we failed. Instead of creating a Key-Bearer, we created half-human, half-monster children who aged rapidly. Finally, we settled the problem. The mother of the Key-Bearer had to be a virgin, post-puberty, below 21 and to have AB Negative Blood. You'd imagine my luck when I found one such target walking around the cave where I was sacrificing some former mothers to keep the beings' interested in our world. I simply pumped out some gas I had on hand to help knock her out, and voila! I got to work."
You stare at him in horror, putting a hand on your stomach. There's a series of gasps and shouts from the group, before Sheriff Buckly fires his gun in the air.
"SHUT IT!" he roars.
"I'm sorry, Hazel. It'll be over in a few hours."
"A few hours? It's only been two days, how...?" you ask in horror.
"The Key-Bearer grows incredibly quickly. It should be able to be birthed within a day at most."
You feel something wiggle in your stomach, in your womb, and a pain shoots through you.
"Listen, Hazel, it'll be OK," Doctor Kessel says. "In a few hours, you'll be fine, and we'll be in a whole new world."
> You break down
You drop to your knees and begin sobbing, as Doctor Kessel walks over, grabbing you. You scream, as a needle enters your neck.
"Don't worry, I'm going to help you sleep for the next few hours. When you wake up, it'll be all over..."
You scream as you begin to feel sleepy, before closing your mouth. Your heavy eyelids close, as the needle presses into your veins, sending you into a deep sleep. Knowing what they're planning to do, you hope you overdose on this rather than waking up... |
You awaken in your bed, terrified and curled up in your blankets. You briefly wonder if you dreamed everything, but know that that's impossible. Your knee hurts where you scraped it, your window is still open, and you know your mind couldn't conjure up everything you saw last night.
"Honey? Are you OK?" Dad calls.
You pause, wondering if you should tell him, before realizing he'd never believe you.
"Yeah, I'm fine," you reply, wondering what you should do.
It's Saturday, so you could visit your friends and explain the situation. If you're more optimistic, you could go through the normal, legal means, although you're almost certain that will be complete and utter bullshit.
> You go through legal means
You take out your phone and make a call to the police department. You immediately reach the Sheriff, who answers. You quickly explain your situation, only to have him chide you.
"Now, Hazel, I get you're still scared after the last night, but you can't be calling the sheriff's office over a little nightmare!"
With that, he hangs up. What a cunt.
> You try again
You make another call, and get the police voicemail. You go through the normal bullshit, asking you what you want to report, and you notice there's not exactly a number to press for your complaint, and the "Other" button will lead you back to the Sheriff. The automated voice does tell you there's a police website where you can make an official report. |
Subsets and Splits