Deceiver of Fools: Chapter 3

“Wake me,
Revolve in my wounds; lay down your enemy,
On the altar of refined deception.
Hate me,
I’m all over you; reset the harmony,
Like a fire in the night.”

-Kamelot

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The feeling was strange, to say the least. Gabriel thought that he was being pulled softly by some unknown force, speeding closer and closer to a bright light. There was wind in this passage, yet there seemed to be no known force for causing this sensation to be felt or even occur. He could see each of the girl’s hair blowing in the wind, as streaks of black, purple and even white zipped past them all; each strand swirling around; forming the outline of a tunnel around them. But, as soon as the whole trip occurred, it suddenly stopped as they each landed out of the portal unto cold, snow-covered land.

“Where are we?” Anna asks, rubbing the snow off of her pants. Heather look around, sighing—her breath clouding up and rising in front of her. “I’m not sure, but we should be at least close to where Dracula’s castle is set up.” Silvia looks around, her eyes narrowing to adjust to the sudden brightness. “I think I can see something in the distance,” She says, pointing in the direction of a far-off black mass. “I can see it too!” Athina says excitedly. “Maybe we can finally save Zatura!”

“We only have one problem though, how are we supposed to get there without being noticed by either Dracula or his three brides?” Carl asks, everyone soon realizing the predicament that they had to face. “Well, we could always use our magic.” Susan says, Anna nodding her head ‘no’. “Dracula is far more powerful than his brides…I am sorry to say, but I doubt that you could take him on.” Heather rolled her eyes at this statement. “I’m sure that we could handle some ancient bat.” She spat, Gabriel giving her a warning glance. “I still don’t see how you can act so nonchalant about this whole situation…your friend could have easily been killed.” Heather narrowed her eyes at Van Helsing. “I know that Zatura can take care of herself…just because she’s a girl doesn’t mean she can’t handle a few prissy brides and their ancient old-hag of a husband.”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Silvia snapped, getting in-between the two, glaring at Heather more than Gabriel. “We need to learn to work together and stop our constant squabbling if we want to save Zatura!” Susan nodded her head in agreement. “Silvia is right. Heather, you need to stop starting these fights! If Dracula is really as powerful as these two say he is, we should take their word for it.” Heather sneered at Susan. “I’m glad that at least you three have sense.” Anna says, Heather folding her arms to her chest angrily. “I don’t see how he can be this powerful. He’s only an old man…” She mumbles, Athina rolling her eyes. “So now that we’ve got that settled, let’s think of a plan—“ Gabriel begins, but is interrupted by Heather once again. “Or we could just walk over there. It’s not like he’s keeping watch of the place twenty-four-seven.” Gabriel sighed, ignoring her remark. “Fine then, I’ll just go there myself.” She snaps, creating a black board of magic and hoping unto it—flying off into the direction of the castle.

“Heather!” Silvia snarled, groaning in frustration. “Stop, Heather, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into!” Athina shouts, Heather ignoring both their calls. “We have to go after her.” Susan snaps, Carl swiftly nodding ‘no’. “There’s no way I’m going after her. We don’t even know her, and if she wants to be stupid and risk her life, than that’s her decision!” Silvia glared angrily at Carl. “Heather might not be the most pleasant person to be around, but she’s still a human being! And though she might not even be our closest friend, I still consider her to be one and if you think you can just abandoned her to the unmerciful wrath of this Dracula, than you are a horrible person!” An in a flash she had transformed. “Silvia is right, either you three stay here like cowards or come with us to save Zatura and Heather!” Athina snaps, transforming as well. “Yeah, come on girls—let’s go save our friends!” Susan agrees, transforming as well.

The three monster hunters were stunned. “You three are so brave…” Anna whispers, suddenly having great appreciation towards the groups of young girls. Silvia gives the three brief glances before fluttering her wings and taking off after Heather; Susan and Athina following her closely behind. “We can’t just let them go by themselves, they could easily be killed!” Anna snaps, Van Helsing flinching. “We can’t just risk our own lives—or yours! Van Helsing and I were sent here to protect you Anna, and you just want us to waltz into Dracula’s castle without any sort of rational plan? You could be kidnapped or worse, killed!” Van Helsing nodded, agreeing with Carl. Anna narrowed her eyes at the two men. “How can you both be so selfish? Those girls could die trying to protect their friends yet you two are far too cowardly to even do anything about it!” She unsheathed her sword, turning around—preparing to make her way after the girls. “Anna no! I can’t let you go by yourself!” Van Helsing snaps, grabbing hold of her arm. Anna glares at him and shakes him off. “I am going to safe them and if you do not wish to come, than that it your problem!” And with that, she took off in the direction of the castle.

Carl swallowed, watching his friend closely to see his reaction. Gabriel merely stood there, stunned that Anna would do something so incredibly foolish and risky for people that she barely even knew. He couldn’t just let her go after them on her own, no matter how dangerous it was. “Come on Carl,” He finally said, Carl giving him a quizzical look. “Go? Go where?” Van Helsing took out his crossbow and swung it over his arm. “To Dracula’s castle of course.”

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“The power sorceress; at your fingertips;
God made flesh perfect alibi…”

-Kamelot

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Oh god…it’s so cold and my head…oh hell my head…eugh, I really need to wake up…I—wait, why can’t I move? Oh shit, did someone drug me? Am I in paralysis? Wait, no I remember…fighting, and then those damn vampires…oh shit…wake up. Zatura groggily opened one eye and then another, her vision blurred and pupils dilating as she tried to re-focus her vision. She craned her neck, hearing her muscles pop as they adjusted to the sudden movement. She groaned in pain, her vision finally clearing, allowing her to see her surroundings.

She was in a dingy stone room with one lone window, it having no shutters what-so-ever, allowing the cold wind and weather to enter the already horribly insulated room. The whole room was completely barren save for spider webs and snow that covered the room, and an old wooden door which was the only means of getting it or out. Zatura tried moving her arms but she couldn’t. “What the…?” She looked at her arms and saw that they were shackled. She tried pulling them, but they were not as weak as she thought. “Okay, force won’t work, let’s try some magic…” She began focusing her magic to her wrists, trying to create enough to heat to snap them off.

Bam! She snapped her head up to see that the door was now open, an eerie feeling settling over her. She swallowed, her eyes narrowing to see what could have possibly entered the small room. “Well, well, I see that our little guest has awoken.” Zatura glared at the darkness. “Who’s there? Show yourself, coward.” There was chuckling coming from all around her and her muscles poised for a fight; becoming tense and strong. “‘Coward’? I am no such thing my dear.” The voice cooed, before the figure of a man appeared. “Who are you?” Zatura spat, the man raising an eyebrow. “You do not remember?” Zatura furrowed her brows. Who could this bastard be? She thought, the man laughing once more. “What’s so damn funny?” The man walked over and placed his finger under her chin; forcing her to look at him. “You my dear, I cannot believe how ignorant you are over everything that had occurred between us.” His eyes flashed a bright blue and features darkened for a split second. Zatura quickly yanked her face away.

Now she remembered; he was the damned creature that kidnapped her. “What do you want with me?” She snarled, Dracula smiling. “Nothing really…I was just planning on using you.” Zatura glared daggers at this man. “'Nothing?' Using me doesn’t seem like you’re doing nothing.” Dracula chuckled at her response. “Clever little thing, aren’t you? Well, I saw—and my bride, Aleera—that you were with that monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing. I need him. He and I, you see, need to have a talk…but that little Transylvanian princess that he’s keeping under watch is someone who I must capture and kill.” Zatura raised her eyebrow. “You mean Anna?  What could you want with a wimpy little thing like her?” Dracula sighed; placing his hands behind his back and walking towards the window.  “You see her family was given a prophecy; that in order for her and the rest of her family whom has died down the ages to enter Heaven, they must kill me. Since they have not yet been successful, I must find her and kill her before she or the insolent Van Helsing can have a chance at ridding me off of this world.”

“Well then why the hell do you need me?” Dracula turned his attention back to Zatura. “I can use you as bait. It’s obvious that Van Helsing will go after you and try to save you…bringing Anna to me.” Zatura scoffed. “If you want her so badly, then why don’t you just go and get her yourself? After all of the crap they’ve told me about your vast strength and abilities, they shouldn’t stand a chance against you.” Dracula smirked. “Yes, well…I cannot seem too desperate. I know that I will eventually have both of them in the palm of my hand so I needn’t act rationally.” Zatura nodded. “At least you’re not going to act sloppy…that’s what most killers end up doing and it eventually ends up being their demise.” Dracula raised an eyebrow, intrigued by her comment. “So I’m above average intelligence, am I?” Zatura smirked, nodding ‘yes’. “I can say that you are…you don’t act rash and it seems like you’ve been planning this for quite some time now. You’re calculated, and I can tell you’re a sociopath…” Dracula smiled—this little witch was turning out to be quite interesting. “A sociopath, you say? Hmm…perhaps…but, I must say no. I do have feelings of compassion towards my brides which doesn’t make me completely detached from having empathy towards another.” Zatura nodded. “Well, I can relate. I can act coldly towards most people but have feelings for others…” She batted her eyelashes innocently at him, Dracula smiling in return.

Zatura grinned, her plan falling into place. She would flatter him, show interest in him, go-along with his plan and then abandon the poor sod. “You know, what if I went along with this little plan of yours? Would you let me go and allow me to assist you?” Dracula looked down at her, as if thinking the idea over. “How do I know that you won’t betray me?” Zatura craned her neck to meet her eyes to his…well, the best she could in the position she was in. “I don’t break my promises. Loyalty is something that is very important to me and once I promise to do something, I will stick to it—to the very end.” Dracula smirked. Could he really trust this witch? She was indeed intriguing and very smart, but she also had a hint of deviousness inside her cunning little mind. She could either be his greatest ally, or his downfall. Yet, he could never know the result without giving her a chance. He knelt down and grabbed the chains, breaking them in one swift movement of his hand.

Zatura rubbed her wrists, gently taking hold of Dracula’s hand and lifting herself up. “Thank you, Count.” She said softly, Dracula smiling. “The pleasure was all mine—“ He scrunched up his face, trying to deduce her name. “Zatura, my name is Zatura.” Dracula nodded. “What a lovely name.” Zatura chuckled, trying hard to hide her distaste. “Come, let me lead you out of this disgusting prison—“ There was suddenly a gust of black dust as Aleera appeared, her eyes opaque and fangs elongated; obviously angry. “Master, we have spotted Anna and Van Helsing!” Dracula grinned. “This is excellent my dear, why do you sound so angry?” In a pop Marishka had appeared. “They are not alone. There is a group of girls headed this way—and they are flying!” Dracula raised an eyebrow and turned to Zatura. “Could you know anything about these ‘flying girls’?” Zatura furrowed her brow before nodding. “Yes, it must be the others…” Marishka glared at Zatura. “Others, what do you mean others?” Zatura rolled her eyes at the woman’s stupidity. “I wasn’t the only one sent here. There are other people like me and it’s now obvious that they’re coming this way to rescue me.” Dracula turned to his two brides. “Fetch Van Helsing and Anna, anyone else you can kill…don’t forget to inform Verona of this, either.” The two women nodded, before vanishing in a black fog.

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Anna made her swift way after the girls as they continued racing off after Heather.
“Susan!” She called out, the fairy of plants whirling around and speeding towards the princess. “Anna, what are you doing here? I thought you were with Gabriel and Carl?” Anna nodded her head. “No, I had to come after you girls. Dracula is very dangerous and I could not allow you to go by yourselves.” Susan raised an eyebrow. “I thank you for this, but what about Gabriel and Carl? Did you just abandon them?” Anna rubbed her arm. “Well, no…I told them that I was leaving and if they did not wish to come they could stay—“

“But I couldn’t just let you have all the fun, Anna.” A voice chuckled, the two women whirling around to see Van Helsing and Carl making their way towards them. Van Helsing, Carl? You’ve decided to come?” Anna asks, rather surprised. “Of course, I couldn’t leave you all alone…let alone have all the fun killing those vampires.” There was a sudden flutter of wings and they all turned to see Athina, Silvia and even Heather fluttering there. “Heather?” Susan gasps, astonished. “Yeah, yeah…close your mouth tree-hugger, you look like a fish.” Susan glared at her, but still gave her a playful smile. “Why did you come back?” Carl asks, Heather shrugging. “I don’t know…though I don’t really care for you all, I couldn’t just waltz into Dracula’s castle on my own. The guy can’t die, and that’s bad enough by itself. I need other people to help…and be the chums to do all the work.” She snickered, the girls rolling their eyes.

“So, Gabriel, do you have a plan for us to get into the castle?” Silvia asks, a sudden shriek interrupting her. Athina jumps, squeaking and hiding behind Silvia. “What was that?!” She gasps; a sudden flutter of wings and snapping of branches signaling that they were all being watched…