Chapter 2
A motorcar led to a train, and that train led to a ship, and now that ship lay docked at harbor in London. Sonia stepped off the vessel, a porter tugging her large, black trunk behind her. Grant, sadly, had to stay back at the manor to look after young Richter. While that would prove an annoyance, she was more than capable of navigating London on her own.
It wasn't long before she entered her hotel, black trunk still following behind. The decor was certainly inviting, a lodging worthy of a Trevor, but her mind was set on other things; this was far from a luxury holiday. As the bellhop moved her trunk up to her room, Sonia approached the front desk.
"Pardon, my name is Sonia Trevor. Have there been any messages left for me?"
The well groomed clerk at the desk smiled and nodded. "Allow me to check, Madam." After a moment of perusing, the man returned to the desk with a telegram in hand. "Here we are. It's simply addressed from a 'P.'"
"Please read it," she said, peeling her long gloves off and sliding them into her bag.
"Let me see. 'Carriage sent. STOP. 11. STOP. Arrive prepared. STOP.' Not sure what to make of that."
"It's not for you to understand, now is it. Please dispose of that message. And no disturbances."
"Of course," the clerk nodded.
Sonia quickly retired to her room, leaving a tip with the bellboy before locking the door and staring at her large steamer trunk. She sat on her bed, hands folded and pressed against her lips. In her mind she was screaming. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to do this. At the same time, to hold the secrets of RJ Thompson, this was going to be the only way.
She unlatched the large lock on the trunk and flipped it open. She stared at the contents for a moment, her mind still back at her own manor. She should've tried harder. Maybe her library had something she could've used to gather the werewolves. No, she thought as she reached in, taking hold of a large, wooden stake. I know every book in that library. Every book in hunter's underground. There's only one person who can tell me what I need to know.
Setting aside the stake, she pulled out a set of dark clothing, followed by several knives, bottles of various liquids, and a small box with a golden cross emblazoned on the top. Lastly, she reached in to pull out a long chain attached to a whip handle. She weighed it in her hands, letting the spiked tip dangle and swing. She was never supposed to come back here again. In America she was free, she was in control. Here? Things only happened if he deemed it so.
Several hours later she stepped out of the hotel, her gown replaced by a long, black cloak that hid her in the darkness of the night. A horse drawn carriage arrived, right on time. A languid, pale driver with clothes several decades out of fashion stared down at her, the door to the carriage opening on it's own. The half moon glinted off the steel daggers peeking out from under her cloak as she stepped on.
"I see Pasha hasn't seen fit to purchase a motorcar," she remarked. The driver seemingly ignored her, giving the reins a whip and setting the carriage off into the night. "And you are still ever the conversationalist."
The trip concluded in silence, the hour passing with Sonia left only to check and recheck the equipment held under her cloak. When the carriage finally came to a stop, they were in front of a large manor, ancient in its decor and easily dwarfing the Trevor manor back in the States. A chill went up Sonia's spine as she stepped out, the carriage moving away the moment her feet touched the ground. She was alone now.
She pulled back her hood and looked up the steps to the imposing structure. The manor was several stories tall and spanned a majority of the grounds. Clenching her fists, she ascended the stairway, passing statues of vile looking gargoyles, tortured men and women, and monsters of every description. The giant doors stood before her, but she didn't bother to even touch them. They opened before her on their own as they had many times before.
Stepping into the grand entrance hall, she looked upon the familiar sight of the ivory pillars, spanning three stories. Tall windows with velvet curtains lined the hallway, with suits of armor resting between each. An imposing staircase spilled down from the upper levels like a waterfall of blood, a rich crimson carpet lining it. She took only a few steps in when the doors shut behind her with a loud thud that echoed through the halls. The candles about her flickered and several died out, darkening the room substantially.
"Welcome, hunter," boomed a deep voice with the faintest trace of a Russian accent. "May your God have mercy on you."
"Pasha!" she cried out, casting aside her cloak. "Don't do this! Let's just -"
CLANG!
The hunter dodged backward as a large ax slammed into the floor in front of her, guided by hands of an empty suit of armor. She roared in frustration and peeled a long chain from her waist, spiraling it in front of her. As it swung again, she let out the chain, sending it wrapping around the handle of the ax. With a leap, she was in the air, both feet colliding with the armor's chest and sending it backward, the hunter flipping back to tug hard at the chain, liberating the armor's weapon from its grasp.
She looked around, seeing that the rest of the armors were now approaching, some with axes, some with swords. Steeling herself, she rushed in to the nearest one, dodging it's blade and wrapping her chain around it's legs. With a swift pull, the armor was on the ground and Sonia was rushing past, making for the stairway. But every step through the manor seemed to only pull the stairway further and further away. She screamed in frustration as they retreated, turning to dive out of the way of another ax.
She was surrounded now on all sides, but she acted without hesitation. In an instant she vaulted herself, hands first, onto the shoulders of the nearest false knight, somersaulting over it toward the walls of the manor. A display of throwing hatchets, blades crossed, rested atop the manor's family shield and crest. Without delay, the hunter leapt into the air, grabbing and prying them from their display. In one fluid motion, she cast the hatchets out, each one sinking into the chest of a suit of armor, dropping them.
She quickly surveyed her surroundings. If the stairs wouldn't cooperate, she needed another way up. Spotting several chandeliers that cast down the little light still in the grand hall, Sonia rushed forward. She slid between two armors, dodging their attacks and leaping up onto the shoulders of a third. Casting out her chain, she leapt into the air, snagging the nearest chandelier. Her lithe form swung through the air, reaching apex near the center of the room. Turning, she returned back to the armors, smashing into them with both feet and sending three of them tumbling over.
She smirked as the armor crashed and fell lifeless, but several more were still approaching. Building back up her momentum, she swung from the chandelier, faster and faster until she was peaking over the edge of the third floor balcony. Catching the railing with her foot, she pulled herself up and released her chain with a twist. Twirling the chain one more time, she spun it around her chest and waist, locking it in place.
She rushed into the adjoining room, a long hall with a grand piano at the center, shelves of books all around. In a flash the lights were extinguished, but Sonia was unfazed. Reaching to her belt, she unclasped a glass bottle with a glowing red liquid. She cast it at the shelves where she knew the books must be and it exploded in a blaze of fire and light. Flames erupted from the book shelves, spreading around the room and illuminating it. The light was restored none too soon as a swarm of grotesque heads, kept aloft via bat wings, swooped down at her. Each head screamed and contorted, the hair on it writhing like a nest of snakes. Sonia rolled and dodged, avoiding their attacks. She raced toward the bookshelf, twisting in air to send a volley of throwing knives behind her. Three hit their mark, dropping the creatures with earsplitting screeches, but the remaining three closed in on her.
The hunter leapt against the flaming bookshelf, pushing off as fire licked her heels, vaulting up and over the incoming creatures. As she landed, she loosed her chain once more, spinning it through the air. The creatures swooped around, barely missing the bookshelf, but they did not miss her chain. In an instant the spiked end of her chain was launched through the air, lodging itself into the leftmost creature's face, crashing it into the flaming shelves. The other two continued forward past their fallen comrade, but a quick jerk from Sonia freed the barbed end and sent it hurling into the back of the closest creature, her further pulling crashing it into the remaining head.
The pair of demon winged heads floundered on the floor for only a moment before Sonia's boot came down on them, crushing each one and splattering her in their blood. Panting, the hunter turned to the exit of the hallway. "What further hell do you have for me, Pasha?" she cried out. There was only the sound of the burning books to answer her. Gritting her teeth, she pressed forward.
The hallways of the manor seemed to stretch and rearrange at will. She would look down one corridor only to find the one she had come from had disappeared. Stairs appeared at random, leading to nowhere. The very floor beneath her fell away at the slightest touch. Doors ignited into blazes before she could pass through them. Still, the hunter pressed forward.
Her breath fogged in the air as she approached a large, wooden door. She stared at it for several moments before approaching, producing her chain and kicking the barbed end at it. It struck the door with a satisfying thud; this, at least, was no illusion. This also meant this was where Pasha wanted her to go. With a roar she kicked open the door, revealing a large ballroom. Candles and torches lit the room, with various colored glass panes transforming it into a kaleidoscope of light and shadow. In the center of the hall, with the light dancing about him, stood a tall man with fiery red hair and a regal, blue coat with gold trim, lined with fur. He smiled at the hunter as she approached. "It has been a while since we shared a dance, Sonia. Shall we?"
"Pasha, I'm not here to-"
SMASH! The colored panes of glass crashed down as demonic, winged creatures, each the size of a large man fell from the rafters, landing around the hunter. They roared at her with twisted faces and broken horns jutting from their skulls. The hunter screamed in frustration as they lunged at her, weaving and dodging their blows. Loosing blades from her belt once more, she stabbed two of the creatures, but left herself open to the attacks of the rest. Her blood spilled across the ballroom as their strikes sent the hunter tumbling. Reaching to her belt once more, she produced a vial of holy water, hurling it at the creatures. It crashed against them, its contents burning the demons. They writhed and shrieked in agony as she quickly righted herself, stabbing her dagger into their hearts and heads, ending them. She turned in time to see the red haired man, Pasha, appear before her. With a sweep of his arm she sailed across the room.
Instantly the man was behind her as she struggled to her feet, seizing her by her long braid. With a sweeping motion, she buried her dagger in his heart and kicked off from his chest, pulling herself loose. The man stumbled only a step or two, smiling. His grin revealed two long, pointed fangs. "Give in Sonia. I will make this painless."
"Is this really necessary?" she spat.
"Only so long as you resist me," he replied.
With a wave of his hand, the floor around her cracked and broke, skeletons clawing their way up from the open chasms. Sonia skirted backward, turning to rush for the door, but flames encircled the entire perimeter of the ballroom. She turned in time to dodge the first creature's attack, but the next ripped its bony hand across her raised arm, spilling her blood once more. Biting and scratching at her, they swarmed the hunter, but she managed to throw their light frames back with a few well placed kicks. As the creatures closed back in, she seized a nearby standing candelabrum, spinning it like a staff and using the heavy base to crush the skull of one of her advancing adversaries. Spinning the makeshift weapon around, she stabbed the prongs into the next skeleton's rib cage, twisting and locking it in. Lifting the creature, she used it's body like a flail, slamming it into its cohorts.
She moved to finish the last standing creature when a disembodied arm seized her leg, causing her to stumble. She kicked it off in time for the advancing skeleton to push past her weapon and tackle her to the ground. It pummeled its fists into her chest and face repeatedly, the hunter shielding herself as best she could. Screaming, she caught the monster's arms and pulled her feet up, pressing against its chest. With a sick pop the arms pulled free and the skeleton reeled back across the floor. She kipped up to her feet, using one dismembered arm to knock the skeleton's skull loose, then turned to hurl the other at the vampire Pasha.
He laughed as the arm evaporated before him. Folding his arms he rose into the air, his smile still piercing the darkness. Sonia screamed as she rushed toward him, but a wall of flames erupted before her. She turned back, but more flames spread behind her, trapping her in place. The vampire roared with laughter as the ground beneath her glowed bright red. Feeling the heat well beneath her, she plucked another bottle of holy water from her belt and smashed it into the ground. The glowing subsided, but she could see the water begin to boil away. She cursed herself for having left her cloak in the grand hall as she looked for her exit. The chandelier? Too high for her chain. The curtains? Too far away. She felt over her belt for more holy water, but she was out. Looking about she saw through the flames the writhing form of one of the skeletons, the candelabrum still buried in it's chest. Unraveling her chain, she shot it out, snaring the candelabrum and pulling it back to her. As the last bit of holy water beneath her boiled away, she jammed the makeshift pole into the floor and vaulted over the edge of the flames. Fire burst from the floor as she flew into the air, engulfing her for only a moment before she rolled clear. She screamed as she rolled and patted the flames out on her clothing, but her hair was too much to stop. With a flash of her dagger her long, beautiful braid fell to the ground, burning.
"Such a pity. Your hair was so beautiful," the vampire quipped.
"End this Pasha!"
"Your surrender is all that will end this."
Sonia roared, pulling loose her chain once more, twirling it through the air as she raced toward the creature. Pasha merely held his hand forward and the cracked chunks of the floor rose and flew at her. She slid under one, dodged to the side of the next, and leapt into the air, vaulting off the last and sending her barbed chain sailing through the creature before it disappeared, merely another illusion.
"You still haven't learned have you?" his voice echoed through the ballroom.
In a flash he was in front of her. Then gone. Then to her right. Vanished. Behind her. Disappeared. Over and over the vampire flashed in and out of her sight, dancing around her. She let loose her chain, striking at each glimpse of Pasha, looping the chain back to swing through the next, but it never met it's mark. After several tries and the long, odious laugh of the vampire taunting her, she pulled free her last vial of the red liquid, casting it straight into the air. The sound of glass shattering confirmed her suspicions and she looked up to see the red haired vampire engulfed in flames.
He flailed and cursed, crashing into a large balcony that hung over the far end of the ballroom, trying to rid himself of the flames. Sonia knew she would not have this opportunity again and raced toward him, climbing a nearby curtain to gain the elevation she needed. As Pasha tumbled into the balcony seating, she cast out her chain once more, lashing it around the guard rail that surrounded it. With a swing and a tug, she pulled herself up to the vampire's level. He rid himself of the distracting flames just as she stood up.
The pair stared at one another in silence for several seconds, Sonia panting and Pasha snarling. With a growl the vampire lunged at her, but she avoided the attack flipping over him as she opened a loop in her chain. She pulled it tight around his throat, but Pasha turned quickly. His powerful claws slashed at her, but she spun to the left, looping another section of chain around his neck. He pulled at the chain, but she took the opportunity to plant both feet into his chest and tighten the loop around his neck. He batted at her, but she spun to the right, once more looping another section around his neck.
"This... won't... stop me..." he growled.
"I'm not finished."
Gripping both ends of the chain tightly, she leapt over the edge of the balcony, pulling Pasha against the guardrail. Hands at his throat, and back curved over the edge, the vampire held his ground. Dangling from the chain, Sonia simply exhaled and released the barbed end of her chain. Though it took only a second or two, it felt like forever, as if Sonia were floating down from a cloud. The floor rushed to meet her as her chain dug into Pasha's neck, spinning and slicing through the flesh, topped off by the spiked barb at the end.
Sonia hit the floor and rolled to disperse her momentum, but it was still a hard landing. She gripped her right leg as she collapsed to the floor, her eyes drifting over to the severed head of the vampire. She collapsed back, wincing in pain as her injuries began to catch up with her. Had she actually done it? She groaned as she shifted herself, trying to get a closer look at the head. Had she actually managed to kill Pasha? The part of her that had traveled so far for answers was frustrated and sad, but there was another part, a significant part, that was suddenly relieved. She was free.
She smiled. Her smile turned to laughter, laughter that echoed through the ballroom, laughter that only ceased when a drop hit the hunter's forehead. Sonia froze, eyes opening slowly. She didn't need to touch the drop to know what it was, for as she stared up, the entire ceiling had become a rippling pool of blood. Her legs trembled as she followed the blood back to the wall and down to the balcony. Pasha's body twisted and convulsed as streams of blood stretched out from it, reaching out to coat the walls. Sonia fought up to her feet and scrambled to the door, but the wall of blood crashed down in front of her. She turned to run, but the flood came from all directions. In seconds she was swept up in a river of crimson, struggling just to breathe. It surrounded her, gripped her, smothered her. She lashed out, but her attacks were futile. There was nothing left but surrender. She took one last breath before the room was completely filled and she began to sink to the bottom. Before darkness took her, a lone, deep voice echoed in her mind.
"You have done well, my pupil."
It wasn't long before she entered her hotel, black trunk still following behind. The decor was certainly inviting, a lodging worthy of a Trevor, but her mind was set on other things; this was far from a luxury holiday. As the bellhop moved her trunk up to her room, Sonia approached the front desk.
"Pardon, my name is Sonia Trevor. Have there been any messages left for me?"
The well groomed clerk at the desk smiled and nodded. "Allow me to check, Madam." After a moment of perusing, the man returned to the desk with a telegram in hand. "Here we are. It's simply addressed from a 'P.'"
"Please read it," she said, peeling her long gloves off and sliding them into her bag.
"Let me see. 'Carriage sent. STOP. 11. STOP. Arrive prepared. STOP.' Not sure what to make of that."
"It's not for you to understand, now is it. Please dispose of that message. And no disturbances."
"Of course," the clerk nodded.
Sonia quickly retired to her room, leaving a tip with the bellboy before locking the door and staring at her large steamer trunk. She sat on her bed, hands folded and pressed against her lips. In her mind she was screaming. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to do this. At the same time, to hold the secrets of RJ Thompson, this was going to be the only way.
She unlatched the large lock on the trunk and flipped it open. She stared at the contents for a moment, her mind still back at her own manor. She should've tried harder. Maybe her library had something she could've used to gather the werewolves. No, she thought as she reached in, taking hold of a large, wooden stake. I know every book in that library. Every book in hunter's underground. There's only one person who can tell me what I need to know.
Setting aside the stake, she pulled out a set of dark clothing, followed by several knives, bottles of various liquids, and a small box with a golden cross emblazoned on the top. Lastly, she reached in to pull out a long chain attached to a whip handle. She weighed it in her hands, letting the spiked tip dangle and swing. She was never supposed to come back here again. In America she was free, she was in control. Here? Things only happened if he deemed it so.
Several hours later she stepped out of the hotel, her gown replaced by a long, black cloak that hid her in the darkness of the night. A horse drawn carriage arrived, right on time. A languid, pale driver with clothes several decades out of fashion stared down at her, the door to the carriage opening on it's own. The half moon glinted off the steel daggers peeking out from under her cloak as she stepped on.
"I see Pasha hasn't seen fit to purchase a motorcar," she remarked. The driver seemingly ignored her, giving the reins a whip and setting the carriage off into the night. "And you are still ever the conversationalist."
The trip concluded in silence, the hour passing with Sonia left only to check and recheck the equipment held under her cloak. When the carriage finally came to a stop, they were in front of a large manor, ancient in its decor and easily dwarfing the Trevor manor back in the States. A chill went up Sonia's spine as she stepped out, the carriage moving away the moment her feet touched the ground. She was alone now.
She pulled back her hood and looked up the steps to the imposing structure. The manor was several stories tall and spanned a majority of the grounds. Clenching her fists, she ascended the stairway, passing statues of vile looking gargoyles, tortured men and women, and monsters of every description. The giant doors stood before her, but she didn't bother to even touch them. They opened before her on their own as they had many times before.
Stepping into the grand entrance hall, she looked upon the familiar sight of the ivory pillars, spanning three stories. Tall windows with velvet curtains lined the hallway, with suits of armor resting between each. An imposing staircase spilled down from the upper levels like a waterfall of blood, a rich crimson carpet lining it. She took only a few steps in when the doors shut behind her with a loud thud that echoed through the halls. The candles about her flickered and several died out, darkening the room substantially.
"Welcome, hunter," boomed a deep voice with the faintest trace of a Russian accent. "May your God have mercy on you."
"Pasha!" she cried out, casting aside her cloak. "Don't do this! Let's just -"
CLANG!
The hunter dodged backward as a large ax slammed into the floor in front of her, guided by hands of an empty suit of armor. She roared in frustration and peeled a long chain from her waist, spiraling it in front of her. As it swung again, she let out the chain, sending it wrapping around the handle of the ax. With a leap, she was in the air, both feet colliding with the armor's chest and sending it backward, the hunter flipping back to tug hard at the chain, liberating the armor's weapon from its grasp.
She looked around, seeing that the rest of the armors were now approaching, some with axes, some with swords. Steeling herself, she rushed in to the nearest one, dodging it's blade and wrapping her chain around it's legs. With a swift pull, the armor was on the ground and Sonia was rushing past, making for the stairway. But every step through the manor seemed to only pull the stairway further and further away. She screamed in frustration as they retreated, turning to dive out of the way of another ax.
She was surrounded now on all sides, but she acted without hesitation. In an instant she vaulted herself, hands first, onto the shoulders of the nearest false knight, somersaulting over it toward the walls of the manor. A display of throwing hatchets, blades crossed, rested atop the manor's family shield and crest. Without delay, the hunter leapt into the air, grabbing and prying them from their display. In one fluid motion, she cast the hatchets out, each one sinking into the chest of a suit of armor, dropping them.
She quickly surveyed her surroundings. If the stairs wouldn't cooperate, she needed another way up. Spotting several chandeliers that cast down the little light still in the grand hall, Sonia rushed forward. She slid between two armors, dodging their attacks and leaping up onto the shoulders of a third. Casting out her chain, she leapt into the air, snagging the nearest chandelier. Her lithe form swung through the air, reaching apex near the center of the room. Turning, she returned back to the armors, smashing into them with both feet and sending three of them tumbling over.
She smirked as the armor crashed and fell lifeless, but several more were still approaching. Building back up her momentum, she swung from the chandelier, faster and faster until she was peaking over the edge of the third floor balcony. Catching the railing with her foot, she pulled herself up and released her chain with a twist. Twirling the chain one more time, she spun it around her chest and waist, locking it in place.
She rushed into the adjoining room, a long hall with a grand piano at the center, shelves of books all around. In a flash the lights were extinguished, but Sonia was unfazed. Reaching to her belt, she unclasped a glass bottle with a glowing red liquid. She cast it at the shelves where she knew the books must be and it exploded in a blaze of fire and light. Flames erupted from the book shelves, spreading around the room and illuminating it. The light was restored none too soon as a swarm of grotesque heads, kept aloft via bat wings, swooped down at her. Each head screamed and contorted, the hair on it writhing like a nest of snakes. Sonia rolled and dodged, avoiding their attacks. She raced toward the bookshelf, twisting in air to send a volley of throwing knives behind her. Three hit their mark, dropping the creatures with earsplitting screeches, but the remaining three closed in on her.
The hunter leapt against the flaming bookshelf, pushing off as fire licked her heels, vaulting up and over the incoming creatures. As she landed, she loosed her chain once more, spinning it through the air. The creatures swooped around, barely missing the bookshelf, but they did not miss her chain. In an instant the spiked end of her chain was launched through the air, lodging itself into the leftmost creature's face, crashing it into the flaming shelves. The other two continued forward past their fallen comrade, but a quick jerk from Sonia freed the barbed end and sent it hurling into the back of the closest creature, her further pulling crashing it into the remaining head.
The pair of demon winged heads floundered on the floor for only a moment before Sonia's boot came down on them, crushing each one and splattering her in their blood. Panting, the hunter turned to the exit of the hallway. "What further hell do you have for me, Pasha?" she cried out. There was only the sound of the burning books to answer her. Gritting her teeth, she pressed forward.
The hallways of the manor seemed to stretch and rearrange at will. She would look down one corridor only to find the one she had come from had disappeared. Stairs appeared at random, leading to nowhere. The very floor beneath her fell away at the slightest touch. Doors ignited into blazes before she could pass through them. Still, the hunter pressed forward.
Her breath fogged in the air as she approached a large, wooden door. She stared at it for several moments before approaching, producing her chain and kicking the barbed end at it. It struck the door with a satisfying thud; this, at least, was no illusion. This also meant this was where Pasha wanted her to go. With a roar she kicked open the door, revealing a large ballroom. Candles and torches lit the room, with various colored glass panes transforming it into a kaleidoscope of light and shadow. In the center of the hall, with the light dancing about him, stood a tall man with fiery red hair and a regal, blue coat with gold trim, lined with fur. He smiled at the hunter as she approached. "It has been a while since we shared a dance, Sonia. Shall we?"
"Pasha, I'm not here to-"
SMASH! The colored panes of glass crashed down as demonic, winged creatures, each the size of a large man fell from the rafters, landing around the hunter. They roared at her with twisted faces and broken horns jutting from their skulls. The hunter screamed in frustration as they lunged at her, weaving and dodging their blows. Loosing blades from her belt once more, she stabbed two of the creatures, but left herself open to the attacks of the rest. Her blood spilled across the ballroom as their strikes sent the hunter tumbling. Reaching to her belt once more, she produced a vial of holy water, hurling it at the creatures. It crashed against them, its contents burning the demons. They writhed and shrieked in agony as she quickly righted herself, stabbing her dagger into their hearts and heads, ending them. She turned in time to see the red haired man, Pasha, appear before her. With a sweep of his arm she sailed across the room.
Instantly the man was behind her as she struggled to her feet, seizing her by her long braid. With a sweeping motion, she buried her dagger in his heart and kicked off from his chest, pulling herself loose. The man stumbled only a step or two, smiling. His grin revealed two long, pointed fangs. "Give in Sonia. I will make this painless."
"Is this really necessary?" she spat.
"Only so long as you resist me," he replied.
With a wave of his hand, the floor around her cracked and broke, skeletons clawing their way up from the open chasms. Sonia skirted backward, turning to rush for the door, but flames encircled the entire perimeter of the ballroom. She turned in time to dodge the first creature's attack, but the next ripped its bony hand across her raised arm, spilling her blood once more. Biting and scratching at her, they swarmed the hunter, but she managed to throw their light frames back with a few well placed kicks. As the creatures closed back in, she seized a nearby standing candelabrum, spinning it like a staff and using the heavy base to crush the skull of one of her advancing adversaries. Spinning the makeshift weapon around, she stabbed the prongs into the next skeleton's rib cage, twisting and locking it in. Lifting the creature, she used it's body like a flail, slamming it into its cohorts.
She moved to finish the last standing creature when a disembodied arm seized her leg, causing her to stumble. She kicked it off in time for the advancing skeleton to push past her weapon and tackle her to the ground. It pummeled its fists into her chest and face repeatedly, the hunter shielding herself as best she could. Screaming, she caught the monster's arms and pulled her feet up, pressing against its chest. With a sick pop the arms pulled free and the skeleton reeled back across the floor. She kipped up to her feet, using one dismembered arm to knock the skeleton's skull loose, then turned to hurl the other at the vampire Pasha.
He laughed as the arm evaporated before him. Folding his arms he rose into the air, his smile still piercing the darkness. Sonia screamed as she rushed toward him, but a wall of flames erupted before her. She turned back, but more flames spread behind her, trapping her in place. The vampire roared with laughter as the ground beneath her glowed bright red. Feeling the heat well beneath her, she plucked another bottle of holy water from her belt and smashed it into the ground. The glowing subsided, but she could see the water begin to boil away. She cursed herself for having left her cloak in the grand hall as she looked for her exit. The chandelier? Too high for her chain. The curtains? Too far away. She felt over her belt for more holy water, but she was out. Looking about she saw through the flames the writhing form of one of the skeletons, the candelabrum still buried in it's chest. Unraveling her chain, she shot it out, snaring the candelabrum and pulling it back to her. As the last bit of holy water beneath her boiled away, she jammed the makeshift pole into the floor and vaulted over the edge of the flames. Fire burst from the floor as she flew into the air, engulfing her for only a moment before she rolled clear. She screamed as she rolled and patted the flames out on her clothing, but her hair was too much to stop. With a flash of her dagger her long, beautiful braid fell to the ground, burning.
"Such a pity. Your hair was so beautiful," the vampire quipped.
"End this Pasha!"
"Your surrender is all that will end this."
Sonia roared, pulling loose her chain once more, twirling it through the air as she raced toward the creature. Pasha merely held his hand forward and the cracked chunks of the floor rose and flew at her. She slid under one, dodged to the side of the next, and leapt into the air, vaulting off the last and sending her barbed chain sailing through the creature before it disappeared, merely another illusion.
"You still haven't learned have you?" his voice echoed through the ballroom.
In a flash he was in front of her. Then gone. Then to her right. Vanished. Behind her. Disappeared. Over and over the vampire flashed in and out of her sight, dancing around her. She let loose her chain, striking at each glimpse of Pasha, looping the chain back to swing through the next, but it never met it's mark. After several tries and the long, odious laugh of the vampire taunting her, she pulled free her last vial of the red liquid, casting it straight into the air. The sound of glass shattering confirmed her suspicions and she looked up to see the red haired vampire engulfed in flames.
He flailed and cursed, crashing into a large balcony that hung over the far end of the ballroom, trying to rid himself of the flames. Sonia knew she would not have this opportunity again and raced toward him, climbing a nearby curtain to gain the elevation she needed. As Pasha tumbled into the balcony seating, she cast out her chain once more, lashing it around the guard rail that surrounded it. With a swing and a tug, she pulled herself up to the vampire's level. He rid himself of the distracting flames just as she stood up.
The pair stared at one another in silence for several seconds, Sonia panting and Pasha snarling. With a growl the vampire lunged at her, but she avoided the attack flipping over him as she opened a loop in her chain. She pulled it tight around his throat, but Pasha turned quickly. His powerful claws slashed at her, but she spun to the left, looping another section of chain around his neck. He pulled at the chain, but she took the opportunity to plant both feet into his chest and tighten the loop around his neck. He batted at her, but she spun to the right, once more looping another section around his neck.
"This... won't... stop me..." he growled.
"I'm not finished."
Gripping both ends of the chain tightly, she leapt over the edge of the balcony, pulling Pasha against the guardrail. Hands at his throat, and back curved over the edge, the vampire held his ground. Dangling from the chain, Sonia simply exhaled and released the barbed end of her chain. Though it took only a second or two, it felt like forever, as if Sonia were floating down from a cloud. The floor rushed to meet her as her chain dug into Pasha's neck, spinning and slicing through the flesh, topped off by the spiked barb at the end.
Sonia hit the floor and rolled to disperse her momentum, but it was still a hard landing. She gripped her right leg as she collapsed to the floor, her eyes drifting over to the severed head of the vampire. She collapsed back, wincing in pain as her injuries began to catch up with her. Had she actually done it? She groaned as she shifted herself, trying to get a closer look at the head. Had she actually managed to kill Pasha? The part of her that had traveled so far for answers was frustrated and sad, but there was another part, a significant part, that was suddenly relieved. She was free.
She smiled. Her smile turned to laughter, laughter that echoed through the ballroom, laughter that only ceased when a drop hit the hunter's forehead. Sonia froze, eyes opening slowly. She didn't need to touch the drop to know what it was, for as she stared up, the entire ceiling had become a rippling pool of blood. Her legs trembled as she followed the blood back to the wall and down to the balcony. Pasha's body twisted and convulsed as streams of blood stretched out from it, reaching out to coat the walls. Sonia fought up to her feet and scrambled to the door, but the wall of blood crashed down in front of her. She turned to run, but the flood came from all directions. In seconds she was swept up in a river of crimson, struggling just to breathe. It surrounded her, gripped her, smothered her. She lashed out, but her attacks were futile. There was nothing left but surrender. She took one last breath before the room was completely filled and she began to sink to the bottom. Before darkness took her, a lone, deep voice echoed in her mind.
"You have done well, my pupil."
Chapter 3
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