Hollows Eve

Chapter 16

.: HOLLOWS EVE CHAPTER 16 :.

We once again return to the dark desolate wasteland that is Limbo, the 2nd circle of hell, as the sky was still lit up in an ominous blood red glow. Our hollow heroes now had a new friend in tow joining the adventure, his name is Tomomi Takuro and he's Kaila's best friend.

In the midst of gaining entry into the "Black Castle" Our heroes are met with a challenge from the princess herself, who sends out Dracula to do her bidding in an attempt to bring Kaila to her majesty. And as the red dust continuously gathers around them, the ten commandments army, with Tomomi Takuro now in tow approach the steps of the great black castle and formulate a plan to get inside.

Jack was the first one to approach the castle, as he examined it up and down. "Alright….this is how it's gonna go down." Jack turned to face the others, as he looked up everyone's faces. Most of them were ready to combat the demon princess and her vampire henchman, but for one little reaper girl….uncertainty was her worst enemy.

"This castle is pretty damn huge, there's a ton o' floors and no tellin' where the bloody princess might be. So we've gotta cova' more ground. Wolf, Stein. You two split off to find the missing hollows." Jack turned his head to them and told them.

"You're putting me with the mutt again? I guess he'll have to do." Stein said, tauntingly folding his arms and smirking at Wolfie. Wolfie simply responded with a low, hostile growl.

"Midnight, you n' you' li'le boyfriend there go find Dracula." Jack said with his arms folded.

"I already told you, he's not my boyfriend! He's my best friend! Is that so hard?!" Kaila shouted while pouting.

"Whateva'. Just go find the vampiric bloke for me wouldja?" Jack asked. I guess that's his way of asking nicely?

"*sigh* ….fine." Kaila reluctantly agreed, folding her arms and looking away from Jack.

"It'll be a piece of cake!" Tomomi confidently said while wrapping his arm around his friend, causing her to blush. Jack's eye ridge rose in suspicion upon seeing this, but he shook it off and then looked at Amuki.

"Oi, Amuki. We're goin' after the princess Love. I hope you're ready?" Jack said. He knew she wanted to get her hands on Blood Rose immediately.

Amuki gave Jack an intense look on her face and nodded. "Right…..Let's go! I've been waiting for this my entire life." She said as she began to follow Jack, but Jack stopped her right in the middle of her tracks.

"Hold on there love….You can't just jump right in. Think about it first, rememba' what I said? Your anger is often your worst enemy in a battle. Keep that fury on a lower level and you might make it outta' this alive." Jack said to her, being brutally honest for her sake.

This caused Amuki to look down, but Jack patted her head softly in response. "Look, I'm just trying to make sure you don't get massacred. I'd blow my top if I saw ya' get your bloody neck chopped off. So don't go pullin' a crazy lizard. Y'hear me?" He said to her, looking straight down at her. Contrary to popular belief, Jack does indeed care about Amuki. To what extent is somewhat uncertain, but he does indeed care about her.

Amuki looked right up into Jack's eyes. "Ok…I'll follow your lead then." She said, as Jack removed his hand and shoved off. Amuki turned to everyone else in order to warn them of the dangers of the Black Castle. "Be careful in there everyone, the back castle is tainted with pure evil. It could completely warp your mind even worse than that of the castle of Nightmares….you two should especially be careful." Looking at Tomomi & Kaila of course.

"Why us?" Tomomi asked.

"Because…You're going after Dracula. His power is comparable to that of Jacky himself….he will strike at the most opportune time. So whatever you do, keep your wits about you and stay alert. I hope to see you guys on the other side….." Amuki then went in after Jack and disappeared into the castle doorways, with the doors closing right behind them.

"We'll be shoving off this way to the right, there's another entryway towards the left of the castle as well. So remember to keep your wits about you. And….don't go insane. HEHEHEHEHehheheh….." Steinman uttered a rather chaotic and disturbing laugh as if he was saying that they wouldn't survive.

"Don't worry about us! We'll be fine in this crazy playground of malevolence. Just watch! Let's go Kaila!" Tomomi grabbed Kaila's hand and went inside with her following behind him. "WHOA! Ok wait up my god!" Kaila said as the two rushed to find an entryway into the giant castle.

"Heh….crazy kids. You think they'll survive Wolfie?" Steinman asked with his pockets in his labcoat.

"I don't see why not?...after all….one is the grim reaper. The other took down a cyclops demon…" Wolfie uttered with a low growl.

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The red dust that gathered around the entire castle began to settle as Tomomi & Kaila ran around the left side of the castle in order to find a gateway into the giant structure. They constantly looked around, trying desperately to find a place where they could enter, but it seemed like there was truly no place around.

"*sigh* ….it seems like there's no way in. I'm not seeing any doors at all! Stein either lied, or didn't really know what he was talking about! …..for once." Kaila said with a beat of sweat dropping down her forehead.

"Well when life hands you lemons, why don't we just make lemonade?" Tomomi said, trying to make light of their situation.

"Tomomi it feels like we're stuck outside with the door completely sealed in! I tried finding several pathways under the castle, over a bridge in the castle, everywhere! But there's no way in!" They were slowly but surely walking and talking their way into the depths of the castle as they crossed a bridge that was built over what seemed to be a black pond of water.

"Hey, what's that? Is that water… black? s**t, even the water is black here! When they said "Black Castle" they f*****g meant it!" Tomomi reached down and tried to poke his finger into the water.

"*Gasp* NO TOMOMI DON'T!" Kaila grabbed his arm in the nick of time and stopped him from dipping his finger into something potentially harmful or even acidic. Afterwards she scolded him with a sharp *SMACK* to the face!

"Are you out of your mind?! That could've hurt you!" Kaila said with an angry anime face.

"Oh come on! It's just water! What's the worst that could happen!" Tomomi's shoe had gotten near the water and as a result, he felt a slight acidic burn on his right leg. "AGH! DAMMIT!" He then hopped back and forth holding his slightly burned foot up.

Kaila had a look of annoyance on her face as she turned away from him and said "Toldja…"

"OWWWWCH! GOD THAT BURNS! HOT FEET! HOT FEEEEET!"

_

Later on the two of them continued their journey now with Tomomi's slightly burned foot. He had a 2nd degree burn on his right foot that hurt every time he tried to walk, regardless he pressed on. "Ow….." He said wincing in pain with every step.

"I told you not to touch the water! Remember what Jack said, this place is crawling with evil. We've got to be careful- EEEGH!" Kaila heard a haunting sound as bats began spring through the castle, they separated and simply flew into the night time sky, but didn't come back down.

Kaila had wrapped her arms around Tomomi completely scared, then looked at him as he held her in his arms. "Well and here I thought you were just paranoid." Tomomi said with a sly smirk on his face.

"Nyyyagh!" She backed away from him embarrassingly. "Let's just find a way upstairs! Before I die of a heart attack…." Kaila said while crying anime tears.

"Hey hey hey, calm yourself. Remember we gotta keep our heads if we wanna make it out of here alive. Besides, always remember, I'm right here beside you." Tomomi said, offering comforting words to his best friend.

"*phew* ….alright….I'll calm down if you just promise me not to do anything so reckless that it might kill you?" She said while looking straight at him.

"Deal. Now let's put it into high gear!" Tomomi ran forward with Kaila soon following straight after. The two of them raced through the pathway into one of the nearby towers and managed to walk through the doors leading into it, they had finally found a way in!

But where did the bats come from however? It would seem rather strange that a random pallet of bats would just swoop in and swarm the place without warning. That's where the swarming flock of bats reformed completely atop a perch located high above the tower that Tomomi & Kaila entered…..Dracula was stalking them, watching them intently with a devious smile on his face. "Oh let the race begin little rats…" He said as he continued to stalk them by jumping from the tower and splitting into another medley of bats in order to follow them.

Once Kaila & Tomomi got inside the tower, they looked upwards and were met with a gigantic spiraling staircase. "Awwww You've GOT to be kidding me?!" Tomomi said out loud. "We have to climb all of those STAIRS?! Ohhh man…." Kaila added on. "Well…I guess we have no choice. Besides it's not like It could get any worse from here on out." Kaila said as the camera began to pan into the next floor upstairs leading to the 2nd floor of the castle. "Yeah…I guess you're right. Here I'll give you a piggy-back ride up there!" He said to her as he put her on his back.

"Y'know you don't have too." She said while holding onto his shoulders. "Oh come on, you used to love these all the time as kids! Now let's go!" Tomomi said as he shoved off and began climbing the stairs.

***********************

Meanwhile, on the 2nd floor of the castle, Amuki & Jack were just getting started on their search for the bloody demon princess. They took the middle path into the foyer of the castle, which had tons of gothic architecture and haunting pictures of Dracula inside of it. "My god…you think there's enough pictures of himself?" Amuki said while looking at the pictures slightly freaked out.

"Hmph… the pompous fucker." Jack said as he continued to walk along the diamond floor tiles that led into the castle. Jack stopped when they came across a large medley of doors leading downstairs to a cellar floor right above the bottom of the main tower. Both of them pushed the doors open and continued walking down the creepy staircase. The staircase was awash with cobwebs in the corners and dripping blood from the chains that hung from the ceiling.

"Ewww…she just had to make it even more creepy than usual. At least we clean up in OUR castle." Amuki said complaining about the state that the castle is in.

"Oi! Love…don't get cold feet on me now. We've got a long way to go." Jack said, as he continued walking down the entry way to the cellar floor. Jack opened up the doors that led to a circular hallway, splitting a part into a maze-like stone hall way lit up with hellfire torches.

"Mmmhhm…Hellfire. At least we know we're goin' the right way. She's practically leadin' us right to 'er. The bloody bitch." Jack said as he peeked out from the doors and continued walking on, with Amuki following suit after looking both ways to check for danger. In a place like this, she couldn't afford to let her guard down for a second.

As the two of them continued walking, Jack stopped Amuki for a second by waving his hand in front of her. "Wait…..sniff." HE said.

"Huh?" Amuki said, confused.

"I said sniff sheila, SNIFF!" Jack said raising his voice a bit.

"Oh, oh right! *Sniff Sniff* EWWW!" Amuki covered her nose. "What is that horrible smell?!"

"That's the smell o' hollow blood….and this time it's real. It's not illusion." Jack's eyes panned left and right to look around for any signs of the deadly vampire king to see if he was clowning him. "I don't exactly see ol' bats anywhere. So it's definitely real." Jack looked over to the stone wall and used his fingers to wipe away the dirt, revealing traces of black blood stained into the walls.

"Black blood…..? Why would there be black blood down here?"

"I dunno love. But somethin' tells me ol' wolfie & that psychopath Steinman are headed the wrong way…" Jack said, gripping his fist.

"Have we been going down the wrong path the entire time?" Amuki asked.

"On the contrary….we're much closer than you think love….Heheheeheheheh." Jack chuckled. "C'mon! Let's continue on." He said as he continued walking forward.

**********************************

Actually, let's check up on Steinman and our favorite furry friend Wolfie shall we? "How much farther?!" Steinman said, as Wolfie continued to sniff around for hollow blood. "I know I smelled a significant amount of hollow blood nearby! My nose never lies to me! It's not much farther!" That's Wolfie sniffing about trying to find out exactly where the captured hollows all are.

They are located in the top level of the castle nearing the main tower in the middle. So they're much higher than Kaila, Tomomi ,Amuki & Jack. It goes like this.

*A giant picture of the castle walls split into three sections is pulled down to show where everyone is* At the bottom level making their way to the top is Kaila & Tomomi, at the top making their way to the bottom is our favorite mad scientist and his furry friend, and in the middle going a little downwards is our cheery little witchling and her pseudo-pumpkin headed lover. Emphasis on "Pseudo" considering we're not 100% sure of that yet.

*Picture comes back up and we transfer back to the scene at hand* "Well your nose might be wrong this time! We haven't gotten anywhere!" Steinman said, somewhat annoyed by Wolfie's nose not leading them anywhere.

Wolf growled at Stein in order to intimidate him and then bared his claws, he looked like he wanted to rip him to pieces. "GET OFF MY BACK!" He then slashed at the mad doctor, hoping to land just a warning shot on him.

"AGH! What's with you, you crazy mutt?!" Steinman said.

"I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR GAMES! ….Stop treating me like I'm just some kind of thing to boss and bounce around! I am not your little experiment pet for you to mistreat and yell at! I AM A WEREWOLF!" Wolfie howled into the moon in order to show his superiority over Steinman.

However, the sounds of chains rustling alerted both of them ….as a presence soon walked in to make itself known to both of them…. "The hell….are those chains rustling?" Steinman said as he got up from being knocked down by Wolfie.

"WHO'S THERE?!" Wolfie roared out at the person hiding in the shadows with chains dragging on the tiled ground floor. The person had shown himself, or at least half of himself, as a wicked smile struck the being's face, causing Steinman and Wolfie to tense up and take a step back.

"Who the hell are you?! And what's going on here?!" Steinman rang out.

"Wouldn't you like to know…..? HEHEHEHEHEHEH…" The person in the shadows had a light, playful kind of voice. Almost child-like with intense innoncence.

"A child…? Here?" Wolfie questioned.

"Show yourself! Don't hide! Are you afraid little boy? You should be… because once you come out of there I'm definitely going to skewer your body parts for study and testing!" Steinman said in an attempt to intimidate the little foe.

"Oh…..I have no reason to be scared green skin….." The little foe said from beyond the shadows.

Steinman raised an eyebrow wondering what the hell he meant. Could he see his green skin from those shadows? "What the hell does that mean…..?"

From inside of the dark, pitch black shadows you could see virtually nothing, as cackling laughing from the little monster filled the hallways and broke the deafening silence that plagued both Wolfie & Steinman. Creating an un-easy feeling in both of them. They put their dukes up just in case something was about to go down…..And just like that…

Chains burst through the darkness!

"Oh s**t Wolfie look out!" Steinman evaded the chains coming straight for him & wolfie, as did Wolfie himself by jumping out of the way. However, the chains rebounded and grabbed wolfie by the leg, pulling him into the darkness.

"RRRRAAAAGGH! GET OFF ME!" Wolfie clawed at his chains multiple times until finally, the chains broke apart. He then grabbed them and pulled the little demon monster out form the shadows, revealing that the little imp demon from before named Ronove had found them.

"EHAHAHAHAHA!" Ronove was quick as can be, as he pounced on Wolfie's head and zig-zagged his way through the air in order to attack him again by darting straight at him.

"Hold on Wolfie I got him!" Steinman's arm lit up with blue spirit energy covering the red markings on his arm, as he prepared to hook punch the little demon, but he missed as the demon was much too quick for him.

Ronove got the drop on Steinman and continued to zig-zag all over the place before he finally landed a shot on Stein's face. "AGH!" Steinman slid backwards, gripping his cheek and glaring angrily at the little demon. Ronove hopped back and forth on both legs with his hands up over his shoulders. "Ahhhh so you are a hollow green skin? That excites me! Let us play! I promise….I won't hurt you! EHAHAHAHAHAH!" It's red, malevolent eyes shined with a bright belligerence while maintaining its friendly child-like innocence.

"You little bastard…..No one beats on my test subject except ME!" Steinman charged up a shot of energy in his hand and brought his fist forward, completely blowing away the side wall as well as Ronove through it. This lead to a storage room full of little crates.

Ronove laid down and played dead, as Steinman leaped into the air in order to pummel him by bringing his fist down on him in order to destroy him with one punch. But it was a fake-out on Ronove's part! As Ronove smiled a devious little smile and dodged Steinman's attack at the last second with his blinding speed.

Once Steinman brought his fist down, his reishi exploded in the form of a massive geyser that nearly caused the floor to implode. Ronove was high in the sky, as Steinman looked up to see more chains coming towards him thrown by Ronove.

Steinman ran in order to avoid the chains, but two of them ended up piercing through his shoulders, as another wrapped around his waist and brought him all the way up into the sky, only for Ronove to knock him straight back down with a mighty kick. Not only was this little demon fast, he was also super strong.

"AGGGHH! Damnit!" Steinman said, straining and writhing with intense pain.

"LET US PLAY! HAHAHAHAHAH!" Ronove said as he clapped once and created a giant amount of blood spears in the air that came strictly from his back. He shot all of them from his back and sent them flying straight down at Steinman.

"Oh no you don't….you little PUNK! BBBBLLAAAAAGGHH!" Steinman breathed in and blasted a ginormous lazer filled with his spirit energy at Ronove causing the blood spears to dissolve into nothing.

Ronove maneuvered around the laser and came at Steinman with an aerial assault, clashing fists with him despite having much tinier fists than that of Steinman himself. After their clash created one final shockwave, the two of them split apart and Ronove landed on a box.

"Hahahaha! You ARE fun green skin! My name is Ronove! I enjoy playing with you! Do you enjoy playing with me?" Ronove said, as the little imp demon hopped around back and forth.

"What the hell are you?! Do you work for Blood Rose?!" Steinman asked, getting into a fighting position.

"On the contrary dear green skin! I work for the king! I am a…DEATH BEAST! MWWAAHAHHAHAHAHA!" He then mercilessly charged at Steinman with incredible speed, his takeoff nearly destroyed the box AND the wall he was on.

Steinman could hardly avoid the likes of Ronove's attack as he grew closer and closer…and within a split second….

*CLANG*

Steinman was momentarily saved in the nick of time! Wolfie had arrived and used his claws to defend the mad doctor from Ronove's attack!

"OOOOOOOHHHHHH…. So you have come too, haven't you furry butt?!" He said with a sadistic smile. Earning a strong glare and a very low growl from Wolfie.

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Meanwhile, back with Kaila and Tomomi, their trek up the stairs was about to come to an end, as Tomomi plopped down onto the top of the LONG staircase, completely exhausted.

"UGGGGHH…." Tomomi felt like his soul was leaving him due to being so incredibly tired.

"I told you, you didn't have to give me a piggy back ride." Kaila said folding her arms. She offered him a hand up.

"Nah…it's okay." Tomomi said with a dazed tone of voice and his eyes spiraling. "I can handle anything….I'm supposed to protect YOU remember… w " Tomomi said, so dazed and tired that he nearly saw stars.

"*sigh* I swear sometimes you try too hard." Tomomi took Kaila's hand up and got on his feet despite being so tired. "Alright….let's try and find our way to Dracula's throne room. I think I sense some sort of demonic spiritual pressure nearby…it's pretty strong too. That's got to be him." Tomomi said.

"Wait, you can sense spiritual pressures?! What can you NOT do in the spiritual world?!" Kaila said to Tomomi regarding his spiritual powers.

"Uhhhhh…I can't talk to dead people?" Tomomi said wiping behind his head.

"When we get out of here, you are so explaining how you're able to pull all this stuff off. But since you ca sense his energy when I can't….you lead the way." Kaila said, motioning him to lead her down the path.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?! Are you saying to don't trust me to lead you?! Have I ever steered you wrong?" Tomomi asked folding his arms.

"With directions…Yes, like a bunch of times. With anything else, not really." Kaila shrugged and said.

"HEY! I am so good with directions! I…I can get us outta here! In fact I think…NAY! I KNOW that Dracula is THIS way! I can sense him! Follow me!" Tomomi headed down the right hallway, with Kaila following close behind.

Though there were about three different hallways for them to take, and Tomomi somehow ended up leading Kaila into the middle one.

"Uhhhh…Ok! It's the left one!" Tomomi said as he confidently marched down the next one….only to end up on the right side again. "RRRGGH! We're going around in circles!" Kaila angrily roared at him with comical annoyance. She even had a vein mark protruding from her forehead to communicate anger.

"Ok ok! THIS time I know it's THIS ONE!" Tomomi marched down the middle hallway and took a left turn only to take another one and….end up on the left side again.

"Uhhhhhh…Ok I don't know HOW we got here…..?" Tomomi said.

"RRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH! YOU i***t! WE'VE BEEN GOING IN CIRCLES THIS WHOLE TIME! You see what I mean?! You stink with directions!" Kaila said in a comical fit of rage.

"HEY! It's not my fault this place is built like a goddamn maze!" Tomomi returned the same comical kind of anger.

"Well maybe if you didn't go in circles so much WE WOULD BE THERE BY NOW!" Kaila roared back at him.

"I DO NOT STINK WITH DIRECTIONS! I CAN GET US THERE!"

"YOU CAN'T EVEN GET US TO THE TERIYAKI SHOP IN IKEBUKURO!"

"CAN SO!"

"CANNOT!"

"CAN SO!"

"CANNOT! IF IT WASN'T FOR ME YOU'D STILL BE LOOKING FOR STAIRS!"

"IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU I WOULDN'T HAVE THESE BACK PAINS COMING UP HERE!"

"WELL THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DON'T FOLLOW MY ADVICE!"

"WELL YOUR ADVICE SUCKS!"

"YOUR DIRECTIONAL SKILLS SUCK!"

"YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB!"

"YOU'RE A WANNABE SWORDSMAN INSIDE OF A HORROR ANIME WITH DRAGONS INSIDE OF HIS BLADES! YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB!"

"WELL YOUR ANIME SUCKS!"

"YOU SUCK!"

The two of them went on and on like that for a bit…Did I mention that Dracula was still following them? He was perched high atop a ledge right over them, silently watching them as they argue. "*sigh* A lover's quarrel is something of beauty isn't it? Let me help the poor children out so we can get this party started."

Dracula then snapped his fingers and lit a path of torches to his "Throne Room".

This caused Kaila & Tomomi to stop arguing and look over to their left to notice the lit pathway. "Alright! Now we're talking my language! Let's go!" Tomomi began to run down the hallway lit with torches in a flash.

"Hey wait! Tomomi! …." Kaila watched him go down the same hallway and sighed. "*sigh* …Goddammit. He never listens to reason… Tomomi wait for me!" Kaila began to follow him down the lit up pathway, as a swarm of bats began to follow them as well…..

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Back with Jack & Amuki, they managed to purge the deep, dark depths of the middle level of the black castle, coming to a large door that seemingly was sealed off by rosen vines. "Alright love…..this is it. You ready?" Jack said as he looked back at the witchling.

"I was born ready…." Amuki said with slight shadows over her eyes, communicating a very apparent anticipation for what's to come once they go beyond those doors. "Alrighty then…." Jack turned back to the door and used Shokanju to make his dual pumpkin swords appear.

"Sword stream…" Jack said with a muffled tone of voice, as he was behind the door. He blew it open completely, along with all of the rosen vines that came with it. The door was blasted into pieces by Jack's sword stream attack, as smoke radiated from the doors and then cleared….what they saw next was not only disturbing….but maddening.

"Oh my god….." Amuki was shocked beyond belief….There were 7 different pods side by side, and one large pod in the middle of the room. The entire room is covered by an enormous amount of black rose vines, and the entirety of the room is awash with black blood and hollowed out body parts. It was a rather gory scene all together. However there were no guts lying around, mostly just a gallon of black blood and some decaying limbs.

Amuki held her hands to her mouth in shock at the utter horror she witnessed as she walked through. "What the hell happened here?! What is all of this?!" Amuki said as her and Jack began to walk through the room.

Jack kneeled down to examine a hollow corpse that had been experimented on. He closed his eyes and put two fingers up…. "May the creator have mercy on your soul…." Jack said, trying to give the fallen hollow a proper rest up.

"JACKY! Come look at all of this!" Jack ran up to Amuki and looked upon several different hollow pods with his mouth open. There in the pods themselves lied the corpses of several dead hollows, they were decaying away even slower than they would if they were killed in the afterlife. If you die in the afterlife, you will cease to exist…..period.

"Is that…..?" Amuki asked Jack with her voice whimpering a bit. "Yeah….the decaying bodies of several dead hollows….seems they're not decayin' away." Jack said, as the pods pointed to several different types of hollows in the pods.

"It's beautiful isn't it? ….." That was the voice of Princess Blood Rose, who surprised the two of them by sitting on her throne with her fist on her cheek.

Amuki grimaced in complete and total anger and disgust upon seeing her. "YOU…." She gripped her fist as the three of them all had a stand-off, with Jack narrowing his eyes at the demon princess.

"Well….nice to finally see you again….Amuki. Hhmhmhmhm." She chuckled and took off her robe, with Amuki glaring on with as much intense anger as she could give her…

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Meanwhile, back with Kaila and Tomomi, the two of them were crusading through the lit-up path in an attempt to reach Dracula's throne room. They came across a blood red pair of doors laced with leather and golden buttons. "This must be it….." Kaila said as they came to the front of the large doors.

"These doors look like the opening to some kind of chapel or something. Why are they coated in red leather?" Tomomi asked.

"Probably to satisfy Dracula's humongous ego." Kaila said, eliciting a chuckle from both of them.

"Ok….I can do this. Let's go in." Kaila started to walk forward, but then stopped in her tracks once Tomomi grabbed her hand.

"Hey….just remember, we're going in together. I got your back ok?" Tomomi smiled slightly at her, causing her to blush profusely. "Thank you…..Let's do this!" Kaila bravely said, as the two of them walked inside of Dracula's throne room.

Inside of it was rather dark and closed off by the throne blocking what seemed like the only source of light in the room. There were pillars holding the room up as well as chandeliers everywhere, but they were not lit up. There was also a great mural painted on the wall up above, that was where the light was coming from, as well as one of the same murals we saw outside in the beginning. The cathedral-style throne room also had a lineup of church seats far to the left & right corners as well as a long red & black rug lining up the hall leading all the way to the vampire king's throne.

" Whoa….say what you want about old fangs, he sure knows how to clean up." Tomomi said as they approached him.

"I don't get it though….where is he? He should be here" Kaila said, as she looked around.

"He's probably baiting us into a trap!" Kaila & Tomomi immediately draw their weapons and get ready for whatever Dracula has up his sleeve. "Be on your guard!"

"Got it!" Kaila put her guard on and was ready, all remained still and quiet for awhile….with the eerie sounds of bats swarming in the sky cascading over the windows.

"AAAGHAAAH!" Kaila jumped completely startled by the bats.

"Don't worry Midnight! Keep your cool, he's just trying to psyche you out!" Tomomi said as Kaila regained her composure.

"R-right….I-I'm…I'm perfectly fine….." Kaila said as she looked over at the throne in front of her. But suddenly….she saw something that caught her eye….It caught her eye so much it nearly made the room extend in front of her, and her eyes started to dilate. "*Gasp* no way…..That can't be…"

Tomomi looked at Kaila strangely, wondering what she could be talking about. "What? What is it Kaila?" Tomomi said to her.

Kaila slowly pointed to Dracula's throne in the distance…. "It….It's him…." Kaila said out of her mouth.

"What?! Dracula?! He's here?!" Tomomi looked at the throne, but didn't see a thing. "But Kaila…..I don't see anything-"

"No…not him…..M…My…..My father!" Kaila saw an image of a midnight blue haired man in nothing but a black cloak sitting on Dracula's throne. His eyes were shadowed by his hair….

"Your father? Kaila snap out of it there's nothing there!" Tomomi said trying to get her to wake up.

"Daddy…Is that really you?!" Kaila said, shedding a few tears upon seeing her father again.

Her "Father" spoke with a somewhat distorted voice….. "Yes my dear midnight bliss….." He extended his hand towards her and invited her to come to him.

"Why don't you come over here and properly greet your father?" He said, with Kaila responding immediately by running at her father. "Yes! Father! It's you!" Her eyes had noticeably changed as well from her normal yellow color, to a bright red without a change in her pupils.

"What?! Kaila! GET BACK HERE ARE YOU MAD?! IT'S A TRAP!" Tomomi came running right at her, but Kaila ran full speed into her father's arms.

"Ohhh daddy! It's you….I never expected to meet you here…..I can't believe it….It's been 9 years since I could see you again…." Kaila started to cry tears of joy upon seeing her father, she looked up at him red eyes and all…. And her father looked down at her.

"Yes my dearest daughter…..it's been awhile since I've seen you as well. I never expected this to happen either…..But you know what they say?...Anything can happen….." He said.

"KAILA STOP-" Tomomi called out to her, but noticed something, she was on her knees, and still no one was there. She wouldn't move either. "What the?..."

"Now my lovely child….why don't we get more acquainted after such a long separation? …I long to see my blood again…Hmhmhmhmh…hmhmhmahahahah…." Kaila's pupils were officially gone, as she ended up completely being hypnotized into submission. The image of her supposed father Kazuyama faded…and Dracula had made his move.

He lifted her up by her chin and stood her on her feet, as Kaila was at the mercy of the great vampire king….his power had begun to circulate…. As Tomomi saw a slither of his power leak out.

"s**t! …..KAILA! WAKE UP! HE'S GOT YOU UNDER HIS CONTROL!" Tomomi ran towards her but Dracula's power burst immensely and formed a scarlet forcefield around them, covering it with Demon seals so Tomomi would not be able to get inside.

Tomomi was blown backwards as the power circulated and caused massive gusts of wind to blow, it was a lot of power to hold up the forcefield, more than Dracula could personally handle…. But it was definitely possible to keep up long enough for Dracula to accomplish his goal. Tomomi landed on his back and watched as the scarlet forcefield enveloped Kaila…. "NO!" He said as he grimaced in horror at not being able to protect her from the forcefield.

Kaila was surrounded by Dracula's scarlet forcefield, seemingly staring into the bloody space around her…she then looked forward as she only saw one image of her father, completely covered in black blood.

"Don't be afraid my dear…I am your father aren't I…..?" The stasis that Dracula had Kaila under had faded, as she blinked and her eyes went back to normal, she realized that she was trapped in the scarlet void and looked out towards him. "What?! Tomomi?! TOMOMI! What's going on?! Where are you?!" She looked forward and saw a demented, bone-skinned version of her father coming towards her, causing her to step back.

"S…Stay away from me….." She said…..

"Ohhh but my dear….it's me…your father…don't you recognize me? I only want to embrace you….." Kaila grimaced in absolute terror over the image that was in front of her….this was only the beginning of the dread she would feel….. as the image standing right in front of her reminded her of the nightmares she would have to deal with all throughout her childhood….

"Do you remember me? …I was in your dreams… I was there for you even when I was dead…..and even then I still tormented you…."

Kaila began to get flashbacks to the same nightmares where she would wake up naked in a forest, and end up being cut down by her supposed "Father" in his grim reaper form. "NO…..GET AWAY FROM ME…" She said with a hint of insanity….gripping her head as she couldn't handle the massive panic-attack she was having.

"I was always there….and I'll continue to be there…in your dreams….and in your nightmares…"

Kaila's eyes dilated completely, as her nervous breakdown began….she was officially paranoid. She couldn't handle it anymore, all of the fear she felt, all of the years of post-traumatic stress had come down on her seemingly in an instant. She had never felt so scared in her entire life.

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!" She swung her scythe at full force and slashed the image in half, causing black blood to get on her. The true image of her real father was shown afterwards right in front of her….he was seen as a half n' half mess of black blood on the ground, as the blood spilled onto the floor and made its way towards her, covering her high heels.

Kaila whimpered in complete fear as her father weakly said…. "K….Kaila…..chan…w…w…where….were you?" He continued to speak like that in a weak, but bone-chilling tone as Kaila's whimpers turned into blood-curling screams of absolute terror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH! MAKE IT STOP!"

"HOLD ON KAILA I'M COMING! JUST HOLD ON!" Tomomi screamed as he ran towards the scarlet forcefield and withdrew his sword.

While Tomomi was running, Bats came swarming in front the windows, bombarding Tomomi as he covered himself. The bats formed a legion in the air as an image projected itself in the sky.

"It's you…..YOU SON OF A b***h! LET HER GOOOOOOOO!" Tomomi charged at the shield wielding his sword with both of his hands holding it tighter than he's ever held it before.

"Sorry but I can't do that…I'm afraid she's trapped in my scarlet night mare….Hahahahahaha…HMMAHAHAHAHAHAHA….."

Kaila's screams of terror echo as Dracula continued laughing malevolently at Kaila's nervous breakdown continued. Tomomi pressed on, intending to use all of his might to break the shield and free her. "KAILAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

.: TO BE CONTINUED :.