❛ 𝘿𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙐𝙇𝙔𝙍. ╾ 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢
“ 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 ”, said the count, with such masterful ease that his good nature almost seemed genuine, and would have stuck were it not for the ivory barbs that clung to his lip. he was smiling at the hunter, mirthless and bitter, promising an end so grisly and slow that it might as well have been considered one of the few artforms that MURDER could provide. “ you cannot escape it, gabriel. though you have tried. begged even, i should say, to have the weight of your sins scrubbed from your memory, so that even my face could not shepherd those images forward to see the light of day. ”
a baptism in unholy blood had left vladislav an absolute husk of his former self. gone were the qualities that once portrayed a cunning and loyal friend, cast aside in favor of filling that skeletal shell with anger, lust and hate.
“ but where is it you wish that I should begin? ” the count’s question was followed by his narrow descent, two steps at a time, while cadaverous hands flexed and lifted to illustrate his verbal design, narrowly avoiding the dangerous bite of the bannister’s brazier.
somewhere below, the castle’s foundation began to quake and shudder, and the most terrible wail began to echo off the walls. the sound was unlike any other, and were any feint of heart to hear it, they would surely pass into an early grave. the count knew the creature’s sob intimately, and knew of its gargantuan size, and of her terrifying fury. stranger still, the vampire ignored it, instead dipping his proud, dark head and coming that much closer to the one who had ended his life for the second time in four hundred years. but the count’s unspoken dare was as loud as the storm howling at the threshold. “ do you wish to hear of your conquest on istabul? or perhaps the battles fought against the empire as they blazed into the west? nay, i get ahead of myself. we must begin far earlier. when you and i were much more aqcuainted. when our sinners’ blood mixed upon our hands, and bound our souls together. ”
lazarus indeed! the fanged vampire leared and leaned down to grasp one of van helsing’s leather-garbed shoulders between his claws. with a giant’s strength, he squeezed the flesh beneath until his monstrous talons could carve into the skin and drug him close enough to breath into his ear. “ we two sinners, who have seen such glorious kingdoms rise and fall into inevtiable demise. DO YOU REMEMBER NOW? ”
the victor chose his spoils, and what he desired most was the knowledge the other bore: yet, he had mistaken, for he was not the victor. in this wide world, neither of the two would ever emerge beyond the bidding of their masters, what threads of fate dominated their very existence. two soldiers, locked in combat, attempting to writhe forth from their command as the beast took them both, only to find themselves still bound by ultimate rule.
stone floors began to howl, some otherworldly, beastly bellowing: it did not shake the fallen one, yet his senses sparked alight, an unasked question answered only by the other’s undisturbed stride. where men may shake, the monster did not flinch. the spurning at the door had become a bitter welcome.
as the hunter’s eyes fell upon that skeletal hand, he knew his folly now, knew it in the stinging of flesh being pierced by needly touch. here the count extended himself toward him, those greedy claws locking him to his spot, bait lying upon his tongue as he spoke. and those sharp teeth, those poisonous fangs, remained dripping across the maw, daring one to accept: here he stood with his throat against the hot breath of the monster, waiting for those jaws to finally snap. to bite. and yet to show this collection would be to only sweeten the trap, to drive that challenge, to cause this monstrous thing to thrash. gaze rises once more, investigating that pale cheek, ere it ascends past his towering shoulder.
❛ — nothing. ❜ seething past teeth as they braced that circle of talons upon him. with nails within his flesh, any moment and the beast could rend limb from him, and there was no doubt in the hunter’s mind that it would be his great delight to do so. trapped within the clasping of his shoulder, the wolf stirs. he surveys his cage, pacing at the bars. yet he does not bare his teeth. not yet.
❛ i remember nothing. i do not think i could forget a face like yours. ❜ a death like yours. and yet, when first he saw that living portrait, a face that had played lead in his dreams, reflected all this long-buried remorse: it had shaken him. ❛ but i cannot deny that you know me. i know you. neither man nor beast would be proud to call you their once friend, i am certain, but there must be a reason why — ❜ regret seizes his tongue, yet the gospel silences him. a beat passes ere he speaks once more.
❛ why we share the same punishment. ❜
gloved fingers flex and play until from one hand the clinging fabric, to share the sight beneath. bronze ring set against callused flesh, holding it before him so that he may bear witness. the insignia, the beating wings of a great beast frozen mid-flight. fingers wrap about the other’s wrist, the cool metal against even cooler flesh, as his grasp flexes, grips with an unspoken promise. the wolf shed its disguise. no longer did it play and pretend amongst the herd, but broke forth from its flesh; jaw setting to even the vampire’s icy stare.
❛ — your sins are known. i ask of mine. ❜