Sitting on the bus ignoring the scenery outside his window, the young man with curly brown hair drooping onto his face, was excitedly writing in a small leather bound book. The soft brown leather of the journal rested in his lap as his pen feverishly glided across the page. He looked up after signing "William" at the end of one of his entries and his brilliant blue eyes landed on the sign that the bus would soon pass: "Welcome to THE SMALL TOWN ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE TOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, USA".
Long name for a town the thought flitted through his mind, but was quickly shrugged off by the young man as he buried his head back in his journal. He re-read the entry he had just finished writing. It was a boring one, detailing what he ate today, and descriptions of what little he had seen today. The most interesting thing was this long named town, which the bus was now entering. As they closed in, William began to see the particulars of the town.
It was a fairly normal place, small and suburban. Houses on the corners of rolling streets, and random pedestrians walking by in their daily routine. As William turned to add more to his entry on the town, the bus promptly stopped and the bus driver beckoned to him. Unsure of what to do, William nervously walked up to the front and faced the driver.
"Your ticket takes you to here, get off," he said.
"What?" his soft, polished British accent echoed through the nearly empty bus.
"Get off!" The driver's gruff voice bellowed at him.
"Now look here! I..." The driver got up and towered over the young man.
"You will get your things and get off my bus!" He spoke slowly as if lecturing a small child. William hung his head and walked back to his seat. Picking up his bag, he sat right back down and looked defiantly at the driver.
Hurtling through the air he landed with a thud on the ground beside the bus. The doors to the bus closed just as he opened his mouth to speak. He slumped his shoulders and picked up his bag, looked around the strange little town that surrounded him. Behind him, the bus snorted and bustled away leaving a puff of dust to swarm and settle on William.
Coughing in disgust, and wiping dust off his clothes, he took off into the streets looking for a place to stay. He scoured the buildings as he walked past them down the street. A pharmacy was still open into the evening, and so was the grocery store next to it. Other buildings, such as the electronics store seemed closed. All the while, he had yet to find a lodging. He knew it would be a bother without money, but he knew he had to start somewhere.
Absentmindedly, he continued to walk and passed through some kids playing soccer in the street. The ball unceremoniously flew through the air and knocked him in the head while he was busy reading the hours on the post office door, and with a startle he was fell over onto the sidewalk.
"Bugger!" He picked himself up and dusted off his suit. He felt that his legs and butt had gotten wet in the fall as he cleaned himself up.
"Bloody hell." he muttered as he continued his walk down the street, glaring at the children who were now giggling at him. He walked for over an hour through the streets looking for some sort of inn.
The sun was quickly setting in the horizon, painting the small town in shades of gray, giving it an eerie feel. He walked, shoulders slumped and feet dragging as the bag on his shoulder weighing him down. He shuddered at the quickly cooling air and sighed as he continued his search. As he walked, he remained oblivious to the soft feminine footsteps echoing down the street behind him.
He then heard a giggle from behind him, and promptly turned around to see who was there.
"I say," he began. They were still a little ways down the street as they were advancing toward him. He did notice that they were three women, and they seemed to be chatting to themselves and had not noticed him yet. "Would you ladies mind telling me where I could find a place to stay for..."
His mouth fell in a gape as his company in full view. The three of them, the women that is, were absolutely hideous. Their faces populated by huge boils, their noses hooking this way and that, their skin in different shades of abnormal-these women were atrociously ugly. However, William alarmingly felt some sort of attraction as they began their shrill but soft laughter.
"If you need a place to stay," One of them began, grinning and giving full view of her five remaining yellowed teeth, "my sisters and I would be glad to provide you with a place for tonight."
The one on her left giggled unflatteringly. "Yes, we were just looking for some new company," She agreed. 2
"Hello ladies!" A bright, chipper voice spoke up behind him, as William felt an arm across his shoulders. "Are we harassing this kind-hearted young man?" The three 'beauties' shook their heads in grief and loss as William turned to look at his newly instated hero.
"I didn't think so! So, lad, where are you off to?" The man was tall, several inches taller than William, with jet black hair, that was gelled up in spikes. His eyes were green, but in the fading light shone a most eerie yellow. A bright smile was plastered on his features.
"Looking for a place to s..s..stay, sir." William stuttered as the man picked lint off his stylish black shirt and pants.
"Well then, it's settled, you'll stay with me." The stranger whipped his floor-length leather duster behind him and beckoned William to follow down the street. What strange attire for a summer night William thought as they entered a cemetery and he felt over a dozen pairs of eyes studying, almost burning holes into his back.
"Um," William began, clearing his throat, "Why are we in a cemetery?"
"Just a short cut to my house," the stranger said, his focus unwavering on the path ahead of him.
He briskly walked forward with William tagging along behind him as the light slowly faded to twilight. Now, William was sure he could feel many observers; he looked everywhere but he could not see anything that was watching him. He was also finding it hard to keep up with the stranger's pace, who was now moving quite fast.
"Can you slow down?" he asked. "I'm sorry," the stranger said, stopping and turning to face William. "Silly me, I didn't realize. We still have time until night comes, so there's no rush. No need to worry about 'Them' yet."
William blinked for a moment. "Pardon?"
"Are you ready?" the stranger said, ignoring William's question as he cut across the cemetery again.
His head rushing, William sped after him, now really uncertain of the feeling he had. He continued to look every which way as he covered the ground, and accidentally caught something on his foot in a moment of carelessness and fell over.
He looked behind him at the object that had caused his fall and saw a tombstone, a small gray, tombstone. He got up slowly brushing himself off and looked up to see the stranger looking on at him in amusement.
"Clumsy aren't we?" He chuckled. Did this man always use 'we' like that? It really was off putting. William, however was in no place to argue, as this man was providing him shelter for the night. Instead of protesting he simply shrugged.
"Wait, before we move on! Who were those women back there?" William started quickly shooting the question as he looked behind him. "And who are you? And who are "they"?" As he spoke the last word his hands did a quotation motion, and a sarcastic demanding look crept upon his startlingly sharp features.
"My my, where are my manners. Well...those women are town heartthrobs, the Weston Sisters. I am your host, and will tell you more when the time comes. And "they"," he repeated Williams gesture "are here!" The town heartthrobs? have to ask about that later! William looked up and saw as several gaunt, pale faces appeared in the shadows. One in particular caught his eye. A glamorous, raven-haired beauty with soft features, full read lips and a fair complexion. She wore clothes dating well-before this century and her black eyes pierced him to the core. She hissed at his host and then turned and smiled at William. He stepped closer to the stranger who's smile was still plastered to his face.
"Marvelous isn't she? Too bad she's..." He was cut off by a great gust of wind that seemed to cause the stranger to pause.
The gale rushed through the cemetery, and the gaunt faces turned and seemed drawn to something else, as if transfixed by something. William looked around bewildered at the randomness of it all, and turned back to the stranger who seemed to by amused by something. He appeared almost in a daze.
"How interesting that he should come," he mused. "A pity, really, just when you were going to be introduced. Well, let's get going now."
With that he beckoned William to follow him as the gaunt faces continued to scatter about to whatever destination they had. William wondered what he could have meant. The pale beauty was leaving too, and William wondered just what the stranger was a bout to say, but now he was focused on getting to the man's house before anything else happened.
They left the cemetery, and as they entered into the now empty streets, William could see a mansion in front of him where the stranger was now going. He stood in awe of it for a moment before the stranger spoke to him.
"I know what you're thinking," he said, "but I am not compensating for anything. Come along now."
William looked over at his companion and blinked several times trying to process what had happened. When the stranger began walking again, he followed, doing a fair job of keeping up.
"Who was she? In the cemetery?" William chanced a glance behind him and saw an empty dark street and nothing more.
"Oh, she's just Maria! You'll meet her yet." The stranger rubbed his chin. He stopped suddenly and William crashed into his back. William tipped back slowly until the other man turned on his heels and caught him. "Now now, no need to inspect the pavement again." He smiled widely.
"Um, I'm alright." William straightened himself out and looked up at the brilliant smile before him.
"On second thought. Let's not go back to my mansion just yet. I think you should see this." The stranger just stood on the sidewalk and stared toward one end of the empty street. William thought he'd gone stark raving mad. He looked around and saw nothing.
"What..." "Shh!" The stranger cut off his question before he could get two word out. He stared at the man's yellow eyes, shouldn't they be green?
The revving of the engine made William turn abruptly. A bright red, blip appeared on the horizon. As it sped toward them William noticed that it was a convertible Jaguar. Now there's someone who's compensating!
"I know." spoke the stranger "Could he have picked a car more long and penis shaped?" William's jaw dropped. He could have sworn he hadn't said that out loud.
"You didn't!" came the curt response as the stranger grabbed William's arm and pulled him back toward the mansion.
Meanwhile in the red Jaguar, a frustrated pale man with slicked back hair, golden shimmering eyes, and a stylish black suit drove rather quickly down the street. He didn't notice the two men walking toward the mansion on the hill as he drove toward another on the other end of town. The three passengers in the car sat in the back seat and giggled, in beautiful sing-songy voices. The three women were blond, brunette, and red-headed respectively and of unearthly beauty and little clothing.
"Stupid little red tramp!" The brunette spoke up.
"She did seduce him after all." The red-head chimed with a laugh.
"He just couldn't resist her unearthly beauty." The blond piped in with a soft laugh of her own.
"Quiet you three," the pale man snapped, frustrated by the nonsense.
Harsh as he was, he had just spent the last two weeks traveling with them, and he was worn a little thin. They were his whores, but he was finding them trying at this moment. As they passed through the town, he found himself warming up to the idea of staying here. This seems like a good place to stop and have a little fun...and snack.
He slammed on the brakes, lurching the three behind him forward as the jaguar skid across the road, screaching all the way until it came to a abrupt halt. Some warm steam emanated from the tires, now stationary on the road. The man walked got out of the car, and surveyed his surroundings as night finally fell.
"Master!" the red-headed beauty exclaimed, half giggling in excitment as she pulled away from her two other peers.
The man addressed as Master did not respond, he only took the time to take in a deep breath with his eyes closed as smelled the night air. It was an odd air for a such a remote small town. He could feel the human population, but if the town were a salad, he could detect several different exotic ingredients in the aroma; it was as if spices were added as well.
He breathed out a sigh, and grinned as his interest turned a new leaf as he anticipated his hunt.
"Well then," he said, as the three beauties crept out of the car, "where should we start?"
He could a glimpse of some people talking a walk in the distance. They looked young, and he distinctly heard feminine voices as they talked. He licked his lips, and slunk to his knees as he prepared to move.
Suddenly, he was overtaken by a mob of unseen attackers.
It took him a moment to understand what exactly was going on. After that moment passed. He realized these were just men, normal, mortal men. Puny men. He stood up and all of the men that had attacked him ended up on the ground around him, making a circle of splayed out men. He stood running his hands over his clothes as he looked around himself.
The men were all unconscious or close to it, as they had hit the ground hard. The whores were all ready tending to the ones that were awakening, successfully distracting them. Ahh, that's what I need them for. Good job girls.
"Good job girls." he half murmured as he walked towards his original target, the ladies that stood in the shadows. He walked up behind one as and his hands touched her waist as his essence screamed thrall. She wiggled under his touch seductively as the other two girls disappeared mysteriously.
He leaned in whispering in her ear how much he would love to take her.
"You are such a beau....arhhhh" He interrupted himself stumbling backward as she turned. Her face a hideous witch's brew of ugliness. From the back she looked like a normal teen girl with a nice body, but her face was covered with warts and blemishes and a crooked, oh so crooked nose.
"I'm such a what?" She demanded as her hands flew to her hips and she began tapping her foot.
"Nothing." His voice deflated as her eyes seared into him. "I was just going to say, you are such a, a, a...beaut...beaut...beaut...oh hell." He tried to lie, and pronounce beauty, but ended up stuttering through the end of each try. "I can't lie. You're ugly as sin." He threw his hands up in the air exasperated.
"Damn it," He muttered, "I can't even lie to save my own skin" With this he whistled and turned into a bat flying into the night. All three whores looked up and abandoned the men now enthralled with their breasts. They ran to the car with perfect grace despite their stiletto heals. They jumped in with the brunette driving and drove into the night, while the witch stood tapping her foot and her sisters joined her laughing uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, William stood in the atrium of his host's mansion, waiting nervously as he gazed around the large hall. There were ornate statues, and elaborate paintings. Above him hung an exquisite chandelier, sparkling and decorative, that seemed to rotate slowly as time passed. Along the floor of the hall and atop a shiny marble finish lay a gaudy, colorfully patterned carpet. It was almost surreal, the environment, that is.
The stranger had yet to reappear after cryptically leaving him near the entrance once they had gotten inside. He said that he would return soon, but without warning he left and now William was at a loss with what to do. His nervousness grew as the lights seemingly became more sinister as the glow cast shadows from the statues that intertwined with the glare of the paintings.
Gradually, William started walking as he was curiously drawn in by the mysterious hall. He could not see where it went, but he continued to see statues, some grotesque and others noble, and many different paintings as he strolled down the hall. The glow of the life cast a red glare on the dark hall. There were suit of armors, which in the reflection of the red glare had apparent red irises in their eye-holes. Clenching, William continued along while trying to avoid looking at too many objects.
Suddenly, he heard something chilling. It was feint at first, bud it gradually grew stronger so that William was positive that there was something. Looking around, he could not see anything, but he was certain that this sinister sound was present. He could not pinpoint the location, as the call of it seemed to come from all angles. Continuing to grow stronger, the sound grew distinctively similar to a howl, like a shallow wind through gutter cracks, except with a shrill from something...alive.
William closed his eyes as he continued forward, but then he was suddenly shocked as a soft hand brushed his arm. His eyes shot open and he looked around his eyes landing on a pale, dark haired beauty. His raked his mind as he tried to place the familiarity of her face. Her beauty, her essence, she simply gave off sexuality. After a few moments of staring she spoke.
"Are you lost?" Her voice soft and powerful at the same time. It sent a shiver up and down his spine. His entire body melted into the spot where her fingertips were still on his arm. Her eyes met his and he remembered. Maria! His eyes lit up as he thought of seeing her at the cemetery.
"I am." The words finally slipped past his lips in an almost squeak. Her smile warmed and chilled him at the same time. It seemed to relax him on some level, and yet made some part of him extremely uneasy.
"It's okay. I'll show you where you need to go." The sparkle in her eyes once again sent shivers up and down his spine as she took his hand in hers and led him down the hallway. He could have sworn it was pitch black, but she seemed to see every curve, every twist and turn.
"So what was that screaming, wailing sound? I thought it was the wind, but I wasn't sure, so I was wondering if maybe you..." She stopped suddenly looking him in the eyes, making him stop his ramble.
"It was just the dungeon..." she spoke while searching his face for understanding, "I mean just the wind in the cracks of the house." she amended quickly when no such understanding was found.
She grabbed his hand and began to pull him down the darkened hall once again.
"Wait a minute!" William protested, not sure of what he was afraid of more: the darkened hall, or the seductive beauty. "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere good," Maria said, giggling as she dragged him down the hall.
Somehow, William had the feeling that this 'somewhere good' wasn't going to be pleasant. What he had seen so far did not portend anything short of weird. He could still hear the erie wail echoe through the hall, and he shuddered at the thought of what it could be. However, his concentration prevented him from hearing a clicking sound.
Looking around, he noticed that they had stopped in a furnished, more pleasant area that was not quite as dark. In fact, the area had a nice glow to it. It was then that he noticed that Maria was no longer keeping him in her vise-grip, and he dared to move away from her as she seemed to slink away. He heard a 'clink' sound of metal scraping against metal, and a pull on his right hand.
William looked towards his hand, and saw he was handcuffed to the wall.
"What the...?" He began.
"Is it ready?" he heard a gruff voice, different from Maria's, say. Suddenly, William noticed that the wailing from before had stopped.
Two shadowy figures stepped out into plain view. The first was a woman, with clothing much like Maria's. She was red-headed however, and not nearly as pretty. She had an elegance that rivaled Maria's however. In her small, well-manicured hand she held a chain. The chain hung slack and led to a man a bit taller than William. He wore a loose button-up shirt and a pair of a pair of jeans. His curly, brown hair lay atop his head in a ruffled mess. William tried to make out his face but couldn't since the man's head was slumped.
"Oh Danny boy!" Maria cooed as she sauntered up to him slowly, sensually. William watched as she placed her hand softly on his chin and raised his face to hers. His eyes flickered open and met hers. The bright blue that shone from them startled even William. His own eyes were deemed a bright and vibrant blue, but this man's put his to shame. In the dim light of the room the bright blue orbs caught William's own and he could see that this man was not as powerless as he appeared.
A strong arm lurched forward and snapped the chain that hung from his neck, his eyes sparkling with something indescribable. He snapped both arms out grabbing each woman by the neck, choking them. Both struggled but neither was able to escape. Nor did either seem to need breath. He tossed them effortlessly onto a velvety couch nearby, where they both landed with a screech and a tangle of limbs.
"I'm tired of the chains, bitches." The man turned to William and walked over. He quickly snapped the handcuffs that had held him prisoner.
"Have fun with them, they won't try anything anymore." He turned and walked out of the room closing the door behind him, leaving a very confused William alone with two now quickly stripping women.
William stood in the now slightly messy room, his handcuffs broken and now lying in pieces in front of him. However, his shock was soon overcome by the women and their rapidly increasing nakedness. Torn between running away and a sudden fixation on the two beauties nearing their bare beginnings. He was engrossed in them, and as they stood up in their glory, his jaw dropped in awe.
"I..I.." He stammered.
They seemed to glide over towards him, elegantly eliminating the distance between them and William. The soft glow of the light seemed to concentrate around them, as if they absorbed it into their aura and everything else blurred into the background. Everything becoming hazy, William felt himself beginning to drift into a daze-like state.
And then, time apparently stopped. The two women appeared frozen in mid-advance. William looked at them, taking a few moments to get a couple of quick good looks, before leaning forward and poking Maria in the forehead. He quickly shuffled back, only to see no reaction from her wavering body.
"Hmm, not quite yet," an ethereal voice said from behind him.
William turned around, and saw before him (glancing down first), a new person. She was elegant in her presence before him, her dirty blond hair falling down past her shoulders. Her eyes seem to pierce his, as she stared at him with a slightly inquisitive look. She was dressed in an outfit William couldn't describe, and before he could figure it out, she poked him in the side.
"You need to go somewhere else for now, be careful now."
With that the room disappeared from around him. He shut his eyes as a blinding white light surrounded him entirely and his head hurt. His eyes shut tighter he felt the floor disappear below him.
He floated for a moment before feeling himself crash onto something hard. As he landed his eyes flew open and he looked up to see two men standing above him, and a polished wooden floor beneath him. One of the men he recognized as Danny Boy, and the other was the stranger that had brought him to the house.
"Are you gay man? What are you doing here?" The stranger stared at him in awe.
"I am not gay! And I don't know. Something brought me here. She poked me." William spoke slowly as he began to get up. He removed his tweed jacket and threw it on the floor. The two other men shared a look and then turned to William.
"I'm going to go and figure this out. Dan, you stay with this one." With this the dark stranger walked out, never taking his eyes off William.
"So, your name is Dan?" William spoke softly, awkwardly and unsurely. Dan looked at him with a piercing, annoyed gaze.
"Yeah." He answered curtly, sitting down on blue velvety couch at the other end of the room. He nodded his head toward a chair at his side and motioned for William to sit. William made his way across the room and slumped into the chair. Two sets of cool blue eyes met and studies each other.
Meanwhile, the owner of the race car was having a frustrating time. Having changed back to his human form, he was contemplating the town. It was definitely an odd place; normal men and women walked the street occasionally, but his experience with those hags from earlier made him shudder every time he thought about them. Moreover, random men mobbed him when the usually cower before his presence. What the hell is wrong with this town?
As he stood under the miserable willow he had found, he saw two young girls walk by him again. He smiled and started to stalk before he remembered his past mistake. Unsure of what to do, he thought for a bit as they walked along. To hell with it, I'm not playing games anymore! he resolutely thought, regaining his postured. He then quickly rushed in front to face them head on.
"Hello," he said, smiling as he was relieved that they appeared normal. He gazed into their eyes, preparing to captivate them as his anticipation grew. "My dears, whatever are you doing out tonight, alone?"
The one on the right of him stared back blankly. She was a brunette, tall and hazel-eyed; in fact, she was a real beauty. Her friend on his left was pretty too, with dark hair and green eyes. In the end, the one on the right gave him a sweet smile, while the other looked away while he leaned forward.
Then they sucker punched him. Both girls then dropped into a fight stance and pulled out wooden stakes from their sleeves. What in the freaking world is going on? was all he could think. These girls were fifteen or sixteen years old, and here they were attacking him. This wasn't right.
"I'm Kelsy the Vampire Slayer!"
"I'm Tori the Vampire Slayer!" The girls yelled in unison, and charged him, stakes aimed at his heart.
What in the hell? How do they know how to kill me? He pushed them away, and they fell to the ground with an "oof". Unlike the men that had attacked him previously, these girls were back on their feet within moments. No normal girl should have been able to stand back up at all. He guessed they had been used to doing this. But how? How did these normal teenage girls gain the experience? How did pretty teens turn out to be ugly women? How did all this strange shit keep happening?
While he pondered another dark, mysterious stranger had his own trouble to deal with.
The stranger paced through the corridors of the mansion, visibly unnerved. His normally calm face was gone, betrayed to a new emotion he felt as he furrowed his look and grit his teeth. He ducked through a wall as it seemed to open at his mere presence and revealed a hidden passage.
In contrast to his well furnished abode, the passage was wet, dank, and stony. There was little light, and the winding passage would be difficult to navigate as such but the stranger was unwavering and quickly darted through. He reached a door and coolly opened it and jumped in expectedly.
"So you're here," he said, closing the door.
He had entered a humble study furnished with lots of books and and hearty fireplace, now lit with a comfortable warmth. However, standing impressively in front of the fire was William's visitor who saved him from Maria. She smirked at the stranger, and raised an eyebrow as she stared back at him.
"I would ask you to not interfere," the stranger began, "but you obviously are interested in something here. Therefore, I am warning you."
"Whatever..." she answered with annoying nonchalance. "I want something, and I'll get it, so I'll try not to interfere with you."
The stranger smiled for the first time. "I won't hesitate," he said, before she vanished with another smirk. "I'll know should you do anything; times have changed."
With that, he left the room.
As he entered the room where he had left William and Dan, both men sprung up from the comfortable couches where they had been rather uncomfortably perched. They stood glaring at him as he walked towards them.
"Can I go?" Dan glared at the strange man, and waited until the wave of the hand of hand came. At this he gracefully strode to the door and into the hall, leaving the others to talk. He walked through the maze of tunnels until he found a large ornate door and burst through it.
The cold night air hit his skin and cooled him to the core. It felt good to be out. He concentrated for a moment bringing his other face to the surface. The wind howled as his face and body transformed.
When the wolf took off into the night, the wind died down and he raced toward some unseen target. When he reached it, he morphed back and stood in front of the man he had been looking for.
"Drac? Long time no see, what brings you to this hell whole?" Dan stood in his now human form behind the well dressed vampire about to fight two young girls. Dracula turned to look at the man who had just appeared and his eyes lit up. Both girls also turned, and the brunette let out a giggle. Their demeanor changed from fighting to flirtatious as their eyes raked up and down Dan's body.
"Hey I'm pretty go..." As the words escaped Drac's lips a punch landed squarely in his face. Dan grinned as he drew back his arm.
Drac sputtered and staggered back in surprise, grasping his face and generally trying to steady his balance. The area seemed to spin for a bit as he recovered, and as he righted himself to prepare to confront Dan he retracted his hand and blinked to clear his vision.
However, his attention was blighted by the smug laughter coming from the two "slayers," who now had completely lost interest in what they had been doing earlier and now were intent on garnering all the amusement at seeing Drac get manhandled. Abashed, confused, and generally annoyed, Drac looked from the girls to Dan and back a couple times before putting his hands up in the air in frustration.
"Tonight, is not a good night," he said. He then turned to Dan, who had remained unchanged from his position before. "Before I decide to forgo the rest of the night, how about we continue this elsewhere?"
With a bit of a nod two wolves ran into the night toward the cemetery. Neck in neck competing for who would get there first.
Standing tall Dan turned back into human form and stared down Dracula. His arms lay across his chest and he rocked on his heels. His eyes were a cold blue and stared into pure gold ones. Dracula stared up at Dan with resentment, mimicking his pose, and refusing to rub his chin, though it burned.
"So what now?" Dracula finally spoke up attempting to diffuse the situation. Dan stepped forward wrapping his arm around his smaller counterpart and rubbing his knuckles roughly in his hair.
"Now I get you back for ditching me with 'Igor' when you split town. Man, you don't even know how long it took to get rid of him." He released his grip on Drac's neck and they began walking toward the house on the hill together.
"Sorry," a sheepish grin one would never expect from the slick, well known Dracula graced his lips. "The Dracu-whores just really wanted to split town. You know I how I am for them." Dan burst out laughing as the sentiment and a grin eerily similar to Drac's own spread on his face.
Both men ignored the annoyed screech emanating from the mansion as they walked toward it. Further along one of the wings, William was slinking away while he trudged through the hall of paintings. The screech had echoed through the hallway, sending all of his hairs erect as it seemed probably that the source was close.
Earlier, he and the stranger had parted ways as the man had left to look for something. He had encouraged him to explore the mansion some more. That's how he ended up lost again, now in a wing where a myriad of portraits decorated the walls. Though, as soon as he turned a corner he found himself facing the little woman from before.
"You shouldn't go this way," she said, her hands held behind her back as she rocked slightly from side to side. She had a sly grin on her face as she said that. "But I won't let you go that way either." She indicated the path behind William, which was the other turn of the corner.
"What?" William asked. "That doesn't make any sense."
A little perturbed, and wanting to do exactly opposite to what she said, William turned and headed down the path she indicated. As he marched forward, he looked over his should to look at her face but she was no longer where she was.
"Uh-uh!" called a sweet, teasing voice. The lady was now impeding his choice of path again.
"I'm sorry, you broke my rules."
With that, she waved and pointed at him, causing him to blink out of sight. He felt a now semi-familiar feeling of weightlessness followed by a heavy thud. He landed in the same room he had landed in before with Dan and the mysterious stranger looking at him. Now there was a new man in the room as well. One that William did not recognize.
"Back again?" Dan smirked at him. "I didn't think she'd leave you be, she never does. Doesn't give up damnit." His smirk turned into an almost reminiscent smile as he was lost in though for a moment. Both of the strangers shot him a questioning look and all he did was wave them off.
"No she hasn't left me alone. God that woman...!" He spoke while getting up and removing his jacket, but was cut off by a glare from all three men. "Alright I'm done now!" He looked away uncomfortably under their gaze and dusted himself off.
"So what is she doing here?" The new stranger finally spoke.
"I don't know Drac, she told me nothing." The stranger then looked over at Dan. "But I'll bet it has something to do with you."
Dan just looked at him defiantly and smirked again. "I can't help what that woman does." His smirk widened again and turned almost into a smile. A highly endearing smile, William noted. In fact all of these men tend to be highly attractive. As he stood contemplating this fact, and watching the men carry out their conversation, the all-too familiar bright light and soft giggle occupied the room. All four men turned to the source.
"Talking about other people isn't very nice, you know?"
Standing innocently with a not-so-innocent smile was the topic of the men's coversation. She shot a look at Dan, who quickly tried to look away in an attempt to appear like he had not been looking at her. Drac snickered while the stranger in black continued to sternly face the woman.
"To what do we owe for your presence?" the stranger asked.
"Tsk, Tsk..." she said, "I'm keeping my promise, I just came to observe for a bit. Do you mind, Dan?"
"Hey, I was talking to you..." the stranger sputtered, annoyed at having been ignored.
"No, it's cool," Dan said, his voice rising a pitch as he slightly turned to meet her gaze, albeit still trying to feign disinterest.
In the midst of it all, William felt like he was the only one who had no idea what was going on. There was a lot of tension between everyone else, though it could be the woman seeing as how they all knew her. Curiously, while Drac and Dan were trying to avoid her gaze, the stranger had no hint of intimidation. He didn't know what to do.
"So...what's going on?" William suddenly blurted.
The sound of an engine could be heard through the window as a shiny, red, penis-shaped car pulled up to the mansion. The Dracu-whores elegantly stepped out and looked up at the dark, mysterious house they were standing beside. As they began to walk several men stepped out of the shadows to greet them. Hair billowing in the summer breeze the women turned on the charm.
"Hey there stranger?" The blonde spoke in a sugary tone.
"How's it going boys?" A slightly stronger, lilty tone from the redhead.
"Looking for some fun?" The brunette's self-assured tone rose in the night.
The men simply stared at them with blank looks, showing no interest in the scantily clad women. The three exchanged a confused look and turned on their own thrall, but to no avail. The men continued to block their path and show no interest.
Suddenly the men's faces changed from nonchalant to bright and te Dracu-whores perked up. The men held out their arms as the whores exchanged a confused look. Three women stepped from around them and into the men's embrace. The same women that Drac had come upon earlier. Ugly women. These men are choosing them over us?
"What the hell?" The blonde exclaimed in protest to the current situation. "Screw this I'm out!" She crouched then jumped up and landed on the sill of one of the windows 5 stories up. The other whores followed, and within seconds they were running through a hallway to an unknown destination.
As they passed the door, they heard Dracula's voice. They kept running, but inside the room a meeting continued.
"Going on?" The stranger asked. He seemed more amused then defensive with his reaction. More composed now, the stranger walked toward William and placed his hand on his shoulder. "William, there is nothing such that you should be concerned about. Here, I'll show you to a room for the night."
With that, he spirited William through the door, taking the time to give one last glance at the three remaining people before leaving. From inside the room, they could here the stranger chat away with William as his voice grew faint; slowly the room grew quiet as nobody spoke until they could not hear him anymore.
"So, what are you doing here, Kat?" Dan asked.
"No reason, I'm just here," Kat responded, still assuming the innocent-but-not look.
"Whatever," Dan said, looking away and pretending to be interested in a painting on the wall.
Drac's eyes were closed in a frown as he rubbed his forehead. This truly had not been the best of days, despite the odd and interesting reunion. He wondered about the odds of everyone being in the same town at the same time. Then there was this stranger, who Dan and Kat seemed to know yet he did not, and the meekish boy from out of town. The meekish boy was insignificant, however the other...
"So, that man..." he began. "The one who is the master of this manor; who is he? What's his name?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth that Dan had his right hand clasped over Drac's mouth, placing his left index finger against his lips to indicate silence.
"That is one question that you do not ask in this town," Dan said, nearly whispering. "Not because he wouldn't want anyone to know, but because everyone cannot say."
Kat remained the same while Dan released Drac and moved away. The moment had brought on an odd silence, during which Kat took her leave without the men noticing. Elsewhere...
The whores ran down the hall until the blonde stopped in front of a door and the others ran into her with an oof. They righted themselves and walked in. On a velvety couch lay two women of clear vampiric lineage. William may have recognized these as the women who had kept Dan chained.
"Finally!" Maria spoke up. "We've been waiting for you to show up for hours."
"Yeah, he ran off eh?" The words, filled with sarcasm escaped the redhead whore's lips.
In response to the shocked looks the blonde rolled her eyes. "The brothers are catching up. And how do you get laid in this town?"
The elegantly dressed vampiresses chortled in response and looked at the whores. "You stick to the supernatural men, because all the mortal ones, all those tasty morsels..." her eyes glazed over for a second before she shook herself out of it. "They're all under that creepy spell. Man they're ugly." The whore's faces drooped with a pained look in their eyes.
Meanwhile Dracula and Dan noticed the absence of a member of their party and Dan moved away from Drac to look through the door, checking the hall outside before retreating back inside and closing the door. The room now seemed significantly larger without the other members present, emptier and less crowded than before.
"Looking for her?" Drac asked, attempting to raise his eyebrow, with which he could not do properly.
Dan frowned but shook his head. "You've come into a pretty interesting town, Drac." He looked up to Drac with an intense gaze, one of anticipation and adventure. "Some things that are going around, they make that incident with 'Igor' seem like a walk in the park."
"Yeah, about that..." Drac began, backing away slowly in anticipation of yet another sucker punch from Dan.
Dan shook his head again. "You deserved the first punch, I wont hit you again for that. Besides, I wouldn't have run into everyone here had that not happened. However, we didn't exactly meet here, you've missed some things while you were driving around in that hot rod with those whores."
Drac gave a pained look at the thought, and Dan cracked a soft smile as his face took on a more serious tone. "Anyways, neither of us can probably leave just yet, so unless you want to have a go at 'Him' we might as well have some fun here. However, we first need to go where Kat won't find us for at least ten minutes, should she choose to search. Knowing her, she may be preoccupied with something else, so let's go."
Meanwhile...
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