Chapter 21: Wallachia Part 2?

Minutes would pass ... all was quiet through the hallways.

Helsing was alone, knowing quite well that all the odds were stacked against him. His glasses continued to hide his eyes, but he sometimes appeared to mark upon the area’s architecture. His gloved fingers would scrape against the wooden planks on the walls.

It was a serene time as it all began to sink in. He passed a set of stairs that led downward. Where it went, he didn’t know, but it wasn’t the path he needed to take. He made another turn, seeing a small room before witnessing another set of stairs that led directly upward. He proceeded upward, taking each step slowly.

Despite being victorious from the prior fight, Helsing knew another one was coming. He had to make peace with himself and catch his breath. Behind him was the looming presence. He knew that Dracula was watching his progress, what he had done, and the fact that he was getting closer to facing him.

Yet, there were no other guards to impede his progress. The serenity of walking up the stairs of some rebuilt castle from history’s past marked the trepidation that it could easily become a battle zone at any time.

Upon reaching the next floor, Helsing stopped and noted the hallways. The wooden planks squeaked as the man’s boot pressed down upon it. This area was more compacted, more true to the original designs of Poenari Castle. The hallways were tighter, built to handle the sheer weight of the castle that bore down atop it with the more primitive building technology that existed hundreds of years ago. Much of this area was a museum dedicated to the curious tourists who wandered its halls to learn more about the man that they called Vlad, the Impaler.

“It was regrettable that I killed your son,” Helsing said to the burning eyes that loomed behind him.

“He would have had half the world when we succeeded,” Dracula replied with no remorse. The void spoke and filled the halls as the doctor slowly walked. “In the end, you proved to be the better fighter than he. What a waste Minhea was, but what do I expect from a son that followed his father’s shadow?”

“I would have expected more regret of losing family.”

“It is the price of being a leader, Helsing. Rulership and death always follow in step. The strong must rule over the weak...”

Helsing passed by the door that led to Vlad’s room. He paused it and looked at the bed. It had been used recently. He slowly traversed through the halls, continuing his conversation.

“Such power that you have,” Helsing said. “Yet, you barely used it during your third reign.”

“The same could be said for Minhea and Maria. Lilith never told you that they received their powers until much later, all on separate occasions, not after they considered the great price that followed it.”

“I don’t know your daughter’s reign, but both you and your son ruled for over a year before you conveniently ‘perished.’ Was that the price?”

“It was the deal made. Not even your mother knew of this. During my time in the prisons, one learns to succumb to their own torture or fight back against their tormentors. Years and years would pass. I showed those that adhered to the wishes of the Turks that only pain and death would follow them.”

“And the Devil came to you...”

“He did not come to me the way that you would think. A promise of immortality and vengeance against the invaders of my homeland. I thought it was a well-crafted lie, a way to break me in front of my tormentors. Yet, the promise was just ... a year of rule, immortality, all of it, for his obedience. I finally agreed, and then it happened ... one by one, the pieces fell into place. I was freed, given the chance to fight one last time for Wallachia and my people.”

“Your methods were quite ... intense,” Helsing remarked.

“What does one do when a robber enters your home? Do you let them pilfer? What does one do when they violate your wife? Do you let them rape her? You do what is necessary to fight back. It is the nature of all of us to do what you have to do. I sent a message to every law-breaker, every invader of Wallachia, of Romania. If I did nothing, the Turks would have added Wallachia to their collection of trinkets. So I made my own rows of trinkets, with their bodies in magnificent display. I only wished that your mother understood that.”

Helsing saw a door in front of him. It marked the end of the hallway. He took a deep breath and paused, seeing that it was closed.

“I wish I knew why you chose to let it all go,” Helsing said. “Your history proves that you were a hero to your people.”

“Perhaps you will find that answer soon...”

The burning eyes slowly vanished behind Helsing. The doctor put his gun away, reached forward, and the door inched open by itself. The man peaked and finally entered it.

It was a throne room. It wasn’t large to any extent, but it would have been one of the more grand places of the castle, the place where Vlad III would rule and lay down his judgments. It was spacious enough to have a throne chair, sets of plated armor where his guards would reside, a carpet for the wayward person to kneel down and present their cases, and so forth. It was a delegation room and so on. Sets of pillars also filled it to keep the place from caving in.

It was also empty of any individuals. As the doctor walked past the throne, he saw no one. His hearing was tuned to the door on the other corner of the room.

“I hear you,” Helsing said. “You’re going to ambush me when I reach the door.”

There was a sigh in the room. A dagger scrapped the pillar as a woman emerged behind it. Just as Helsing predicted, a female vampire was hiding, ready to attack Helsing at a moment’s notice.

It was Carmilla. She stepped out and leaned onto the pillar. She was tossing one of her daggers up in the air and catching it by the handle repeatedly. She was dressed similarly as she did so long ago. The only difference was that she had silver-lined knee guards. Her hair was different, long and flowing from her shoulders instead of it being curly.

“And here I was, getting bored waiting for you to show up,” Carmilla remarked. A hint of joy could be seen on her face.

“I was surprised that you didn’t fight me downstairs,” he replied. “You would have had a better chance to kill me.”

Carmilla shrugged. “I was just as surprised you managed to kill two of Dracula’s family members in one fight. Maybe you’ve gotten better. Then again, you’re right. I was eager to face off against you, but ... Dracula genuinely thought you weren’t going to make it down there.” She sighed and looked away. “How much I put faith in him ... but I know you won’t beat him. He’s better than all of us combined.”

“You waited all this time ... to do this. It was your plan to wake them up, release them onto this world. Why?”

Carmilla was using the pointed end of her dagger to pick her nails. “Nah ... I’m not telling you that. Yes, it was me that woke them up. Yes, I made some experiments in Africa. But...” She shook her head. “I still remember that fight we had 150 years ago. You took her from me ... and then fucked her till the day she died. You turned her against me.”

“After the fact that you were killing others for their blood.”

She shrugged. “How else was I supposed to wake them up? Sing and dance the night away?” She pointed her dagger at him. “The one thing I can’t figure out, though, is why you’re here.”

“Perhaps I just wanted to see Poenari Castle,” Helsing answered calmly.

Carmilla gave a scornful look. “You had a reason to show up. You knew where we were at.” She looked around. “The question is, where’s your Coalition allies?” She surmised before looking back at him. “It’s a very good reason...” She pushed away from the pillar and held her daggers down. “Because in the end, you weren’t sure, and now, you can’t escape, either.”

“I will ask this once. Step aside and let me pass. Otherwise,” Helsing lifted his sword up, pointing it at her.

“I’m not stepping aside. Besides ... I had you in that fight so long ago. You might have beaten Dracula’s children downstairs, but in the end, you won’t win against me. No help this time, no nothing. Knives always beats against swords.”

She lifted her daggers up and clanked them together. Her wings opened up as she gave a sadistic look at him. “I’ll finally kill you. I already know the Coalition can’t stop this. The outbreak, all of it. It’s the greatest plan of all time, and all I had to do was wait. And with Minhea dead, Dracula will let me rule half the world. You’ve almost done me a favor. I would’ve let you pass on that one reason alone. But...” She waved her dagger at him. “I know Dracula wouldn’t be too pleased if I did that.”

“Shame,” Helsing said. “You’ve had this entire time to take over Earth. You were the one responsible for this and could’ve had the world to yourself.”

They both stepped and looked at each other, facing away from the door. Helsing was already anticipating what moves he was going to make.

“I’m no fool, either. The Coalition is crafty and powerful when it wants to be. Eventually, one of you would show up to put me down. No ... I need strong friends of my own. And sometimes, those friends will just be more powerful than you. But I’m tired of this. I’m going to kill you. I will finally get my revenge for everything you did to me hundreds of years ago. Enough of...”

CRACK! Suddenly, a chain snapped in the air and wrapped around Carmilla’s dagger. It took her by complete surprise, grappling it, yanking it away, and tossing it to the ground. Even Helsing’s brow lifted.

“What!?” Carmilla reacted. Her eyes went wide.

The two were so focused on one another that they didn’t even notice another individual had entered the room. The chain was pulled back to the arm from where it was thrown. Helsing gave a hint of relief at whom he saw.

“Lilith...,” Carmilla said. Her reaction was unique, a mix of relief, surprise, and anger all mixed into one. Even she was nearly speechless for a few seconds.

“Carmilla,” Lilith replied in earnest. “Son, you go ahead. I’ll take care of this. I’m sure that even she wouldn’t mind it.”

Carmilla was quiet for a little while. Helsing seemed to think about it for a few seconds as well. He looked at the door and at Carmilla. Both of the women were focused on one another. Then he looked at his mother before he walked away. The fight was meant for them, not him.

He approached the door and never looked back. Then, he opened it and stepped through. The moment that he did, the door slammed shut, and a set of metal bars locked behind him.

The two women looked at one another. For some time, Carmilla’s brazen personality had become hollow and void. Even Lilith had a solemn look at her.

“It’s been a long time,” Lilith said peacefully.

“You ... you have the audacity to tell me that,” Carmilla remarked.

“I know...”

Carmilla waved her dagger around in the air. She turned around and showed absolute frustration. “I had ... all these things that I planned on saying to you the moment that I saw you again ... and now here you are.” She breathed hard to the point that she practically hissed. “And I have nothing ... nothing.” She almost threw her dagger to the floor.

“I know, Carmilla.”

“You abandoned me...” she pointed her other dagger to herself. “You were my friend, and you abandoned ME!”

“You know why ... you know why I did.”

Carmilla almost had a tear run down her face. She walked to the side, practically pacing herself. “No ... you greedy bitch. You just ... left me behind!”

Lilith’s lip curled a little bit as she looked away some. “I was tired of it, Carmilla. I just wanted ... peace.”

“You knew that wasn’t going to ever happen. The humans always gut themselves. They betray each other. And all we had was each other!” Carmilla showed nothing but anger and frustration at Lilith. “We ... were more than just friends. You were my partner!”

“That wasn’t true ... that’s what you wanted. You wanted so much more. You fell into Dracula’s wishes ... his ideals. You didn’t hesitate and ... it sickened me.”

“It sickened you? I saw you slay soldiers, gorge on their blood, and you tell me that it sickened you?”

Lilith frowned and sniffed a little bit. “Yes ... it just ... took a while.”

“You never told me that you fell weak from it...” Carmilla chuckled a little bit. “And you were the one that started it all.”

“Led to it. Yes, Carmilla, it’s my fault for causing this, but ... I had to move on.”

“Move on? Just ... toss me aside like I’m a piece of meat?”

“You know what happened to me ... my past,” Lilith pointed to herself, then away from them. “You know him ... what he’s capable of doing when unleashed, and in the end, you were planning things behind my back.”

“I...” Carmilla looked away briefly. “ ... He knew you were growing weak. I stated my opposition to it...”

“And you still went along with it? Who was tossing aside whom? I might not have known it, Carmilla, but deep down, I sensed that you were plotting behind my back.”

“But I wasn’t the one that left!” Carmilla grew angry. “I may have hid things from you, but I was never going to leave you. You grew soft, Lilith. You fell in love with a human...” She showed disgust on her face. “And made ‘him?’”

“We’re all human!” Lilith screamed at her. “I was human. You were human. Dracula was human.”

“But not to the humans. We’re different. We’re more powerful, stronger, and they’re afraid of it.”

“My husband didn’t see it that way.”

“So there are a few innocent humans willing to lay with us. It was no different hundreds of years ago. It doesn’t excuse the fact that the majority of them are afraid of us, hate us! Do you see the books about us? They call us monsters.”

“And whose fault is that?” Lilith said. “Mine ... yours ... Dracula ... we all bear it.”

Carmilla shook her head. “No ... we will shape their destiny because they don’t know any better. I watched as the humans sprang from millions to billions. They’re running out of resources. They still gut themselves ... betray each other. They would have us dissected. And don’t even get me started with that stupid idea you call the Coalition.”

“I wouldn’t kill them ... just as I wouldn’t kill my husband. You ... you never cared for Laura. You only saw her as more meat.”

“No ... in the end, your piece of shit son took her from me. I had the right to fight him ... maybe wound him some ... but teach him a lesson that...”

“Shut up!” Lilith screeched at her. “Never in my lifetime did I ever imagine that I would fall pregnant. But it was a miracle for me. And you tried to take that from me.”

Carmilla walked over to her dagger. She reached down and picked it up. She gripped the handles so they were pointing away from her body.

“You have changed...,” Carmilla remarked.

“And so have you,” Lilith said. “You only grew worse.”

“You want to fight me?” Carmilla asked Lilith.

“It’s something that I should have done since you and my son fought hundreds of years ago. My only regret was that it wasn’t me defending him, as you knew who he was and still tried to kill him.”

Carmilla paused a little bit. A small chuckle developed on her face. Then she kinked it to the side and looked at her. The insidious smile formed on her face.

“In the end,” she told Lilith. “You’ll be alone just as much as I have.”

Lilith lifted her revolver and fired. A gunshot rang out as Carmilla leaped away. At the same time, Lilith swung her chain whip, narrowly hitting the female vampire. A crack hit the air as the whip swung back onto her arm.

Immediately, Carmilla ducked down and leaped toward Lilith. She swung with her daggers and grazed Lilith’s leg. At the same time, Lilith did a 180 and swung her chain into her face. Unfortunately, she miscalculated and missed. Carmilla practically rolled away and toward one of the pillars. Lilith started to swing her chain whip into a circle.

“Phew!” Carmilla taunted her. “I have forgotten how dangerous you were with those whips of yours. I admit, it served far more than just serving us dinner!”

Lilith swung her whip in an attempt to circulate around the pillar, but it got caught. Carmilla used the opportunity to rush her. Lilith took quick aim from the hip and fired her revolver. The shot missed, but it did discourage her opponent from making a slashing attack on her. She quickly rolled herself toward the pillar to recover her whip more quickly. However, Carmilla was fast, if not quicker than Lilith. She was narrowly upon her as she returned fire with her revolver. She grazed her, this time hitting her on the side of the hip. The bullet left a mark on Carmilla, where she used her wings to push herself away. She quickly dived back behind the pillar for cover.

“44 magnum?” Carmilla said. “Guns and vampires ... what will they think of next.”

“I’ve learned to adapt,” Lilith said. She considered reloading but knew Carmilla wouldn’t give her the chance. “Have you?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. Something your son taught me when I fought him. He, he.”

Lilith pulled away from the pillar and started twirling her whip. Carmilla stepped away from cover and had her daggers ready.

“Come on,” Carmilla mocked her. “Shoot me. You have three shots left. Going to keep missing now? You’ll run out in no time.”

Lilith swung her whip in an overheard arc in hopes of sweeping her. Carmilla dodged to the right, seeing Lilith take another hipshot with her revolver. Again, she missed. Carmilla leaped forward, ready to make an attempt to plunge her dagger into Lilith’s hip. Lilith leaned down and yanked the chain whip to encircle herself, hoping to wrap around Carmilla. She managed to do it successfully, causing the chain to envelope herself and Carmilla simultaneously. They became entwined. Lilith lifted her revolver near her ear, pointing the barrel straight at her friend’s face.

Unfortunately, there was something that Lilith didn’t catch onto. Carmilla held the butt of her dagger and pointed at Lilith’s shoulder. Carmilla then pressed a button on the side of her hilt. A gunshot echoed.

Bang! ... Lilith felt a bullet lodged into her left shoulder. She recoiled in pain as she loosened her whip and leaped away, narrowly dropping her revolver at the same time. She managed to pull away as Carmilla hid behind another pillar.

“I told you,” Carmilla said, giggling. “I’ve learned my lessons after fighting your son.”

“Argh...,” Lilith grunted. She could see Carmilla spin her daggers in the air from behind the pillar. She toughened up. Lilith knew Carmilla could be defeated and held off from her pain.

“What’s wrong?” Carmilla asked her. “Can’t kill me? Or are you afraid to?”

“I don’t want to...,” Lilith told her. “You were my friend.”

There was a pause. “It’s too late for that, Lilith ... maybe if things didn’t happen with Dracula, then things would have turned out differently. Nope ... you have to have the pleasure of watching me die. If it weren’t you, then your son would have done it, just as he tried with me. If he makes it ... if he survives this, somehow, then I will hunt him down. And I will kill him.”

Lilith charged at the pillar. She wasn’t going to launch her whip. She kept twirling it close to her wrist. Carmilla left behind her cover and faced off against Lilith. She grimaced and started to make multiple stabbing strikes against Lilith. The spinning whip would deflect and shield the blows each time she did. Occasionally, the hint of sparks could be seen from the sheer impact of the metal blades.

Carmilla would see the revolver barrel and move her head out of the way before the trigger was pulled. One gunshot echoed in the room. Another would go off. She was just too fast to get an accurate hit on her. Finally, Carmilla stuck Lilith’s left hand, jarring the revolver from her hand and onto the floor.

Lilith knew that she had to finish this. Whatever her friend was, she wasn’t that person anymore. Hundreds of years had shaped her to what she is now. Her sinister smile said it all.

Lilith made a desperate kick into Carmilla, risking her leg being cut by the flurry of blades. It worked. It only staggered her back some, but Lilith gave some more slack to her whip, twirling it in a wider arc. She began to swing it to and fro, back and forth from one side to another.

Carmilla was backing up. She could see the determination in Lilith’s face. Even her attacks were slowing down. Raw adrenaline was driving Lilith’s frame. Despite the bullet wound, she had to push forward.

There was one opening. Everything happened in split seconds. Lilith saw that Carmilla was going to make a lounge with her right dagger. She could deflect it, like she was doing, or let it come forward. She went and let it happen, grasping her other dagger. The chain wrapped around it and was yanked free. However, the cost was that Lilith’s left hip took a blade impact from the other dagger. It penetrated her side, but only by so much.

“No!” Carmilla yelled. She pulled her last dagger away and jumped back. She could see that she was down to one weapon. She held it outward as Lilith backed away from her. The hint of blood was dripping down her side. For a moment, there was a pause in the fight as Carmilla looked at her dagger. A hint of regret could be seen on her face.

“Your blood...” Carmilla remarked. “And not in this way...”

“Give up, Carmilla,” Lilith said. “Please ... I don’t want to do this.”

In the sake of the sinister look on Carmilla’s face, there was peace. She shook her head and only showed a disgruntled anger at Lilith.

“If you only knew my hell...,” Carmilla replied. Lilith could see there was no turning back in this fight. She would have to do it.

It was a foolish fight that even Lilith knew was pointless. Carmilla couldn’t win this fight. She lounged forward, trying to stab Lilith. Lilith, in turn, swung and deflected the blade once, twice, three times. The attacks were slow and sluggish at half the speed. Metal slammed against metal. Finally, Lilith wrapped her chain around the last dagger and ripped it away from Carmilla’s hand. She swung around and then wrapped the chain whip around Carmilla’s neck.

The two fell down to the ground together. Lilith was behind Carmilla. She could feel her former friend’s wings poke against her chest and face. She had a firm grip, holding Carmilla in a chokehold. She did her best to fight back, trying to reach for the chain and Lilith’s face.

“Stop! Stop!” Lilith said, grunting. She tried to keep it loose so that Carmilla could speak.

“Heh...” a hint of joy could be seen in Carmilla’s face. “It’s what I ... always wanted you ... to do to me with these chains.”

“Give up, Carmilla ... please.”

“Heh ... you can’t be weak ... my friend. This new world won’t...”

Lilith tightened her grip. Carmilla’s voice was cut off. She was gasping for air. Lilith felt the hint of anger rose within her. The gray skin turned darker in color as the life was being squeezed from Carmilla. She maintained it for a good few seconds as the vampire was weakening more and more.

A part of Lilith’s mind was screaming for her to stop. But she knew that this had to be the outcome. Carmilla would never stop. If she let her go, she would resume her realm of insanity. It was time to finish it.

Lilith used all her strength as the chains garroted Carmilla. Eventually, her breath stopped. A single tug and jolt to the right, and Lilith heard the sound of snapping bones. Carmilla’s neck was broken. Her body fell limp, lifeless, as a hint of slow relief fell upon Carmilla’s eyes.

There was a pause as Lilith easied the slack and pull upon Carmilla’s neck. A hint of sadness could be seen on her face as the winged woman knew what had happened.

“No...,” Lilith whispered. “No ... no ... no...”

She looked at her friend’s lifeless body. Carmilla’s eyes were still. Her body was limp. A certain innocence could be seen and felt from within Lilith as she caressed Carmilla’s face.

“I’m so sorry,” Lilith said as she saw a tear of blood fall on Carmilla’s face. “My dear friend ... for all of it...”

Another droplet of blood landed on Carmilla’s neck. Lilith leaned forward and kissed Carmilla’s forehead. It was here that she broke down and started to cry. The only sound that could be heard was a woman’s whimpers as she embraced her former friend’s lifeless body...

Gunfire echoed through the halls as Helsing opened fire on an ogre that ran in front of him. A second shot hit him in the head before the creature fell over to the floor dead.

It was the final hallway. Helsing only had his gun out in the straightforward run to the last set of stairs leading to the surface. Another ogre, a female with a rifle, practically leaped down from the stairs to try to get a shot at Helsing. The doctor fired his magnum, hitting her on the arm. The ogress returned fire, causing one round to skim the floor before putting a hole in Helsing’s clothing. Helsing fired again, hitting her in the head. She slumped back and crumpled to the floor.

“Kill him! Kill him!” the ogres upstairs were screaming.

As Helsing passed by one of the closed doors, it opened. Without looking, Helsing pointed his gun and fired two shots, killing the ogre that was going to ambush him.

“I know you’re watching me,” Helsing said to the glowing eyes behind him. “Are you going to keep sending your minions at me?”

A pair of ogres tried to climb down the stairs. Helsing lifted his gun to aim but could see that his slide was locked back. He ejected the magazine, reached into his coat, and pulled out a clear red vial. He tapped the container and tossed it at the stairs before jumping for cover behind the open door.

BOOM! An explosion riddled the stairs. Helsing pulled out a used magazine and slammed it into the magazine well of his magnum. He could hear the sounds of ogres screaming. He poked out of cover and saw the two of them, where he picked them off one by one.

The doctor ejected the magazine to examine how many remaining rounds he had. Only two bullets were left before he put the magazine back into his gun.

“You’re not making this easy for me,” Helsing calmly said to the void that was following him.

“The Turks outnumbered my forces in far greater numbers than my armies faced,” Dracula said.

“Let me go, and I’ll stop killing them.”

“Why do you wish to leave my castle? You worked so hard to reach the top. And here I thought you wished to face me. You are much like your mother ... fleeing from her destiny.” Helsing could see the burning eyes looking at him from the door.

“Destiny ... you know it too, don’t you?”

“I had enough time to look at some of the literature. I almost wouldn’t have believed it myself, but every action only leads us closer. Perhaps I have been guilty of trying to avoid it as well.”

Helsing stepped out of cover and pulled out his sword. The only way out was the stairs past the rising stack of dead ogres. However, he knew the moment he stepped out, he would be in a death funnel. He could hear the commotion upstairs. He lowered his gun and sword and turned to look at the burning eyes.

“So, what is that you want?” Helsing asked the burning eyes.

“Do you wish to fight me?” Dracula asked.

There was another pause as they both looked at each other. Helsing knew that he wouldn’t likely escape. But, at the same time, he knew that Dracula was right. It was a road with no turns. Fate was guiding him here. Finally, he relented.

“Yes, I do,” Helsing said.

“Then continue forth...,” Dracula said. The eyes closed, and the void disappeared.

Helsing turned around. What did he exactly mean by that? The doctor’s mind was trying to make sense as he approached the stairs. However, he could hear the commotion had stopped. He stepped past the dead bodies and walked up the stairs.

The doctor felt no fear, none at all. Upon reaching ground level, the man was greeted by dozens of ogres. Animated skeletons and a few placid zombies, shambling, walking rotting corpses, looked upon him. They all remained as they were, never moving but ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

It was quiet. The doctor stood outside looking upon the remodeled castle. Above him was the night sky. A series of floodlights were directed everywhere. Another set of stairs led up to the castle wall pathway.

Helsing remarked upon how all the opposition was silent. The ogres’ eyes had rolled to the back of their heads, giving a pasty white color. The skeletons and zombies gave deathless stares at him.

“I control them all...,” Dracula’s voice echoed in the interior walls. “Peons ... as you would word them. Worthless creatures only good for one thing...”

Helsing went to the stairs. There was a sense of him being called forth, like he knew exactly where he needed to go. Each step was like he was heading up to a beckoning lighthouse. The ogres that stood in his way stepped aside, saying nothing.

“Yes ... come to me,” Dracula said. “We cannot escape it, you and I. We both know it to be true...”