The mantle of the inescapable night fell over the village.
There were no moon or stars to offer comfort.
Only a compact mass of black clouds choked the sky, resembling a heavy curtain closing over the world before the final act of a tragedy.
In the living room, the fireplace fire crackled its last breaths, casting long, distorted shadows that danced on the walls.
The air was so charged it was hard to breathe.
It wasn't just fear that was breathed there, it was the culmination of centuries of hatred, fanaticism, and a blood debt that had waited four hundred years to be collected.
In the midst of that suffocating atmosphere, the sound of a loud yawn broke the solemnity.
Lief stretched lazily, as if he were about to go to sleep.
"...Are you ready?"
Silence was the only response.
"Then, let's go."
Without hesitating for an instant, he took the initiative and walked toward the ancient frame.
He raised a hand and touched the dark surface of the mirror, but his fingers passed through the blackness as if it were the surface of a pond.
First the hand, then the arm and the shoulder, until finally his entire figure was swallowed by the darkness.
Anna took a deep breath, sought Velkan's hand, and squeezed it tightly. The two exchanged one last look, and crossed together.
Van Helsing adjusted his hat and followed them. Carl, murmuring a quick prayer while crossing himself, and Adam, entered after them, disappearing one by one into the wolf's mouth.
...
The change was as violent as a punch to the face.
The instant they crossed the mirror, the room's cozy warmth disappeared, replaced by an atrocious cold and a cutting wind that welcomed them.
They appeared on a vast platform of black obsidian, barely visible under a thick layer of snow and ice.
In the distance, crowning the top of a cliff, a castle stood.
A dark stone structure, magnificent and lugubrious, sleeping under the eternal night.
It was Dracula's true lair, a kingdom isolated from time and the world of the living.
"Phew... refreshing."
Lief rubbed his hands and exhaled, creating a dense cloud of white vapor that the wind dispersed instantly.
"Don't get distracted, we don't have much time."
Van Helsing's voice had to fight against the roar of the wind to be heard, "That castle is a labyrinth, if we go all together, we will be an easy and slow target. We must split up to cover all objectives simultaneously."
The group closed into a circle, waiting for orders.
"I'll go for Dracula," Lief said before anyone could assign him anything else.
Van Helsing nodded, without objections. It was the only logical option; strategically, only Lief possessed the brute power necessary to face that monster in a face-to-face duel and survive.
"Anna and I will take care of his wife."
Velkan gripped the hilt of his sword so hard the leather creaked. His eyes shone with a dangerous thirst for blood and duty.
This was a family matter and he had to finish it himself.
"Good," Van Helsing accepted, turning toward the two remaining members, "Carl and... Adam. Listen well, because your mission is the most crucial... and probably the most dangerous."
He unfolded the map, which fluttered violently in the wind, and pointed to a low point on the structure.
"You must go to the dungeons, at the base of the cliff. That is where he keeps his experiments and beasts. The werewolf is locked in that sector. Adam, your strength is indispensable to contain that thing if it breaks free, meanwhile, Carl…"
"We search for the antidote," the friar interrupted. Although he was shivering from cold and fear, his voice sounded firm, "According to the texts, Dracula created a cure to control the lycanthrope curse and use them as slaves. There must be a laboratory attached to the cells. If we get that, we will have a chance."
"..."
Van Helsing processed the new information quickly.
The werewolf was the only weapon capable of killing the vampire, but it was also a ticking time bomb.
"Understood. Change of plans. I will look for the wolf. You two... get that cure at all costs and come support me immediately."
The plan was drawn and the die was cast.
Lief would go straight for Dracula's throat.
Anna and Velkan for Dracula's bride.
Carl and Adam would search for the cure and Van Helsing, would dance with the Werewolf.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
Lief widened his arrogant smile.
"See you in hell. Try not to arrive before me."
Swish
Before finishing, his figure became a blur.
A blur that shot out toward the main door, crossing the snow with the force of a projectile.
"Now!"
Velkan and Anna ran, melding instantly with the shadows of the castle's eastern flank.
"May God... may God protect us," murmured Carl, crossing himself, "Come on, Adam. This way."
In a matter of seconds, the vast platform was left empty.
Only Van Helsing remained.
".."
Adjusting the collar of his trench coat, he checked his weapon's load one last time. He looked in the direction where they had disappeared and then toward the darkness where the storm howled.
With an impassive face, he took a step forward and also disappeared into the snowstorm.
...
Dracula's Castle. Main Door.
The path ended in front of a barrier that seemed impassable.
They were two gigantic doors more than ten meters high, seeming forged in absolute iron.
The surface was decorated with gargoyles intertwined with human faces that howled in eternal agony.
And a large padlock kept the entrance sealed with a purpose: that nothing entered and, above all, that nothing left.
"..."
Lief stopped in front of the doors and looked up, scanning the immensity with indifference.
Then he planted his support foot firmly and launched a front kick directly at the center of the junction.
BOOM
The doors deformed inward violently and the huge padlock that had resisted for centuries, exploded into a thousand pieces.
With a final thunder that raised a cloud of dust, the doors collapsed onto the stone floor of the vestibule.
Lief walked over the remains without flinching.
The interior of the castle welcomed him with a terrifying silence.
The hall was terrifyingly vast. Rows of stone columns rose toward the darkness of a dome so high that not even the torchlight managed to illuminate its ceiling.
And on the floor a red carpet, luxurious and thick, stretched down the center of the room like a river of blood, guiding the eye directly toward the foot of the stairs at the back.
There, on a raised platform, a throne waited empty.
Tap
Tap
Tap
His footsteps echoed solitarily, breaking the stillness of the place.
He climbed the steps calmly, without rushing, and stopped in front of the seat.
He observed the empty throne and sighed, shaking his head.
"What is the meaning of this?" making a grimace of disappointment, he spoke to the void. "A guest arrives and the host isn't here to receive him? What a terrible lack of manners."
He made a motion to turn around to leave, but then, an elegant voice, which did not come from a fixed point, resonated from all directions at once.
"On the contrary. I have been waiting for you."
"Lief."
________
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