Post by Amanda Kimmel on May 16, 2012 17:39:06 GMT -5
Yaucula
By: Abramda Stokimmel
His arrival hadn’t been as well perceived as he had hoped.[/size]
Jonathon Penner was merely traveling to the Count’s castle in order to advise on some legal issues, but when he arrived he realized the Count had a much different agenda than expected. He had been shackled and tossed into a cellar, held captive there for several days. The Count remembered to bring him a meal daily, and discussed various things with Penner – one notable topic was the Americas.
For years, the Count had desired to depart his abode deep in the Kalahari and make his way to sunny, populous America. Yaucula had heard of the thousands of people littering the streets at every corner, and he salivated at the thought of the teeming cities fresh with prey. That was his true reason for inviting Jonathon Penner to Deception Valley – he wanted as much information as possible on his future residency before departure. Afterwards, he could easily dispose of him.
One night, long past dark had risen and stars had taken their places in the sky, the Count had forgotten to return for Penner’s dinner plate. His immediate thought was to smash the plate and slit his own throat, ending his torturous stay at Castle Yaucula; however, after sitting on it for a little longer, he figured the plate could break the shackles and set him free. The man fingered his hat thoughtfully for a while, before deciding it was well worth a shot. Grasping the China in both hands, he brought it upon his leg with as much force as the middle- aged man could muster, shattering the chains. Leaping up, Penner instantly fled down the halls of the castle, finding his way to the dining room. The windows there were low enough to land on the ground and not do much damage, so he punched through the glass and climbed into the window sill. Glancing around quickly, he noticed the shadows seemed to creep closer to him.
There was no way in hell he was staying there any longer.
Penner soared downward six, seven feet before landing with a thud, but there was no time to waste. Holding onto his hat for dear life, the man dashed through the courtyard and out the front gates, flying down the path towards whatever civilization there was in the Kalahari.
He could almost make out the faint, far-off lights of a village when three shadows began to encircle him, cackling all the while. The shadows slowly rose from the earth, before fully appearing as three grotesque monsters, all with heads full of hair and the shapes of women. Penner gasped and jumped back, taking in the hideous faces of the three creatures before him.
The first stepped forward, hunched over and pinching the air with her disfigured fingers. Her blonde hair stood up in thick spikes. ”Good evening, kind sssir.” Her voice was retched and strained. ”You may refer to me assss ‘Courtney,’ or your worssst nightmare!”
With a shove, the second creature took the scene. ”Back off, bitch. Thisss one’ssss mine.” Her voice caused Penner to cringe, reminding him of the scraping of a chalkboard. ”My name isss Jen, and I’m the queen of thisss trio.” The other one, with bushy ginger curls, simply nodded. She seemed to enjoy taking the background.
Swiping at the three, the man fled from them, but in little time the first two were on top of him, digging their claws into his body. He screamed out in pain, hoping someone – anyone – would hear him. The Sisters dragged his body back to the castle and tossed him for the Count to find, his earsplitting screams still piercing the air.
ooo
She had heard his cries. Brenda van Helsing awoke in the wee hours of the day, her heart racing, hair standing up in tiny pricks on the back of her neck. In a matter of minutes she was clothed and out the door, running towards the sound of the distressed.[/size]
Maybe she was lucky to live at the far edge of the village, but it was a curse as well. This wasn’t the first time she had heard painful yells coming from the castle of Count Yaucula, and she was always the only one to investigate. Of course, Brenda had never found any signs of people before, but several cases had wound up resulting in missing villagers, so she knew she wasn’t crazy. Of course the girl had heard countless tales of the Sisters appearing out of shadows or myths about crashed ships with vampires on board, but Brenda had never found evidence of such occurrences.
This time was different, though; she wasn’t alone. Halfway down the path, she heard footsteps behind her, and she stopped for a brief second in utter shock. No one else had ever tagged along with her, so why now would someone follow? Brenda kept walking, then, picking up her pace. She wasn’t about to let some bandit rob her out here.
A hand grabbed her shoulder, and she whipped around and slapped the man across the face. ”Shit, Brenda, watch where you aim that thing!” Anthony Seward said, holding his face in pain. Brenda blinked a few times before apologizing, and the two kept on towards the castle.
It was weird, of course, that Anthony had heard the screams too, but as long as someone else was there for protection Brenda was alright.
Eventually the two arrived at the castle, and as they came upon the front door lightning cracked through the pitch black sky. A sense of gloom fell over the two, and they glanced at each other before continuing forward. Brenda knocked twice, and immediately the door was drawn open, Count Yaucula waiting right there for the two.
"Ahh, welcome my dears! You both look simply ravishing. I would so love to.. have my way with the both of you! Muahahahhaha! I mean, welcome!" The Count stepped aside, and motioned for the two to enter his castle, and so they did as he wished. "What brings you two here this fine lovely day?"
Brenda looked outside at the stormy sky and wondered how the hell he considered it lovely, but she digressed. "We're here for ... Uhm, well, we're here.."
But she didn't have to stutter much longer, because behind the Count a man with a funny hat ran up with what appeared to be a railroad spike. With a scream, Brenda van Helsing dove to the ground, followed closely by Seward. Tilting her head upward, she saw the Count quickly parry the stab attempt and punch the man across the room, his hat falling beside Brenda's face. The girl picked it up, and slid back to watch from a safer distance.
Yaucula rose up higher into the air, and suddenly all the candlelight went out. The lightning outside cracked harder and quicker and with every flash of electricity the outline of the Count seemed to grow. Suddenly the candles all burned again, and the Count was nowhere to be seen.
Brenda stepped up, walking over to the man who was still slumped against the wall. "Are you alright?"
"Sure am." He nodded and took his hat back from the girl before standing beside her. "The name's Penner. I'm here on business, and well.. it doesn't look like it's just business anymore."
As soon as that was said, cackles were heard and shadows poured out from underneath the carpet. Two beings formed before the three humans, two very familiar creatures to Penner.
"Shit! Run!" He yelled, but it was too late - the one known as Courtney had reached out and grabbed Brenda's foot, pulling her in.
"Oh, hi there, my baby. Do you think you can trussssst him? Becausssse you can't! You can't trusssssst him! Trusssssst me!" Van Helsing struggled in the monster's grasp, but to no avail. She was trapped.
Jen, on the other side of the room, tormented Anthony, wanting to dispose of himand his frequent wins at the local olympics. Her arms shot out, ripped at his skin, and tore deep into his face. Tentacles began to squirm out of her legs, and the suction cups squeezed at Anthony's body, tightening around him.
Penner was the only one without a monster upon him. He looked around for the third Sister, but she appeared to have left the scene. He grabbed a candle from the wall and ran up to Courtney, pressing it into her face. She screeched in agony, releasing her grip on Brenda. The brunette hopped to the ground and thanked her savior.
"Compared to you, yes! I do trust Penner! Thanks for the unneeded warning, though, much appreciated!" she called out, running away from the monster.
Penner darted up to Jen and pressed the candle into her face, but she simply laughed at him as her tongue flew from her mouth and pulled the candle inside, swallowing it whole.
"Well, shit."
Anthony motioned for the two to run on, and he pointed up to the sky as well. Brenda looked up out the window, and noticed that the sun was beginning to come through the window. Perfect, she thought, pulling Penner as she ran deeper into the castle.
All they had to do was find Count Yaucula, get him into the sunlight, and watch as he crumbled away. It didn't seem like anyone else was going to help them with that, so they had to go at it alone.
They found him hanging upside down under a stairwell, his eyes shut tight. Assuming he was asleep, the two pulled his toes from the rail, and began to carry him towards the nearest window.
Ten feet away, though, his eyes shot open, he bared his fangs, and he turned and bit Penner deep in the neck. The hat-donning man crumpled to the ground and Brenda watched as the life drained from his face. If he was dead, van Helsing was completely alone in this castle to fight. There was no way Anthony was surviving the Sisters, and Count Yaucula would kill her after probably having his way with her body. Normally when she went to help lost souls, she didn't wind up dead.
But, shit happens.
The sun was still rising, though, so she still had a chance to take care of the vampire. She quickly flung him into the window, and his frail asian body smashed through the glass and he fell into the light outside. His body began to evaporate and ash and dust flew into the sky as he moaned in defeat.
Something tapped Brenda's shoulder, and she turned around and screamed in horror.
"Missed me, dear?" The Count asked, in the flesh and blood.
At that, she realized was ultimately doomed. Somehow the Count had managed to nullify her and Penner's attempt at defeating him, and now she was alone. Forever.
Her arrival hadn’t been as well perceived as she had hoped.
Later on she will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sake.
