Vampires

Dracula a tall, thin, pale, white-haired man with a long moustache and hooked nose with long, sharp fingernails to match his pointed ears and long, sharp, white teeth. Now recovered sat upon his throne clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of color about him anywhere, looking down at the council he left in charge.

Sneering at the frightened sheep before him, he taps his fingernails thinking about what to do.

One of the braver members tried to speak,- "Sire, if I ma..." Only to get cut off by Draculal's deadly glare as he started to choke, coughing up shadowy smoke before falling down clutching his neck.

Let off moments later when Dracula turned his gaze to the others, he weakly crawled back to his spot among the others, rubbing his neck.

Dracula- "It seems that while I slept you have driven our kind back into the very bowels from which we emerged, tell me how you managed to fail at your task so miserably, I not only awake to find us hunted, HUNTED!... (He shouted leaning forward, shaking them to their very core, before relaxing back again and continuing)... They even came up with a law to protect us, showing us pity... (He then broke out in laughter.)... Showing us pity hahaha, can you believe it, BECAUSE I CAN'T!" He yelled angrily.

He looked down with an ever-increasing scowl as he tried to stop himself from slaughtering the whole lot of them. With their numbers being so low and weak, he would need them to continue their duties, there was no time to train anyone new.

Seeing most of them shake in fear which would usually please him, could only disgust him now.

Dracula snarled- "WELL IS NO ONE GOING TO ANSWER!"

"We were outnumbered and outgunned, great wizards rose up in unity to face us together, we stood no chance."

His fully blood-red eyes shot to the one who spoke, his black pupils narrowing,- "No chance? We who rule the night, couldn't mount a defense? We who can turn scores of enemies into our allies, somehow stood no chance?"

"We can't fight the entire world, my lord." The man said with head lowered.

Dracula could only sneer as he looked at them all with contempt,- "Let's move on, it's clear there need to be some changes made, but I didn't wake up for this, you all should be aware of why I've woken, so let's forget the past and look to the future, this is your chance to prove to me you deserve to keep your pitiful lives and positions, I want each of you to start training me an army that will be prepared for the trials ahead, and a scouting force needs to immediately be dispatched in search of our target, I can see we lost come council members, from 10 down to 6, I hope you all survived because you are capable and not just filthy cowards, go see it done NOW!"

The six quickly got up and made for the exits, feeling relief they were able to leave with their lives.

Dracula thinking of something called out,- "Simeon, stay."

Simeon froze as he looked on at the others who he couldn't help but hate as he watched them pick up their pace just in case their lord called for another.

Slowly turning around, the slick combed back dark-haired middle-aged looking man made his way back taking a knee,- "My lord."

Dracula- "If I recall correctly, you're the one who's brothers with Arvid the Mutt, he was always one of my favorites, tell me is he still around?"

Simeon flinched hearing his brother's name,- "He is my lord."

Dracula grinned,- "Good, tell him I would most appreciate it if he would take up the search."

Simeon got up, bowing one last time,- "As you will, I'll see he gets word."

Exiting, Simeon made his way out of the black castle which was situated deep underground in a wide cavern connected to many different, smaller cave systems which they use to navigate in and out of, avoiding wizards and the like.

Stepping out he looked out at the victorian style city below, this was the vampire's last refugee, the last place they could live in peace thanks to Dracula's protection, having built and secured this place so very long ago. This is where the last members of the council retreated and hid in order to survive the crusades against their kind.

They took great pains to make sure this place stayed hidden, killing all who knew about it before retreating with their most trusted people. Leaving only those who knew nothing so has not to tip off the wizards that there were still many more of them left alive.

The vampires here haven't been back to the surface in ages, only letting small parties of trusted individuals out to hunt and bring back food for the rest.

Taking with him 4 guards he headed to his estranged younger brother's house, a dwelling on the outskirts near a cave system that led directly out to the surface. He was a powerful werewolf that served Dracula faithfully and was gifted his blood allowing him to live far longer than he ever should have.

Their relationship was difficult, to say the least, with the younger brother now looking older as the years wore on, he grew to hate his older brothers luck in becoming a vampire while he was stuck as a guard dog for their kind to be ordered about. Luckily, Dracula grew to like the man and elevated his status to that of a regular vampire, but that didn't stop them from ostracizing him, though never to his face since having grown a powerful reputation for being aggressively cruel to those who crossed him.

The group put their hands up, guarding their eyes against the flickering light of the campfire as they approached his Viking style longhouse.

Simeon shook his head seeing the brashness of his brother has yet to subside, light of any kind was forbidden in the city limits, only Arvid would ever get away with something so brazen.

A deep voice echoed out threateningly,- "If you dare put out that fire, I'll string you up and feast on your flesh."

The guard who was about to do just that froze with his foot mid-swing.

Frowning Simeon looked over shaking his head as he waved his guard to put his foot away before addressing his brother,- "Hello Avrid, it's Simeon, can we talk."

"I know, I could smell your stench from miles away,"

The guards tensed at the disrespect but maintained their composure knowing that they were brothers.

"Well, come around and say what you need."

Simeon sighed as he led them around the side where they saw an open portion of the house they could walk in, an open work area where they found Avrid. A big, long dirty blonde-haired man with a full beard looking very much like a Viking warrior, working on cleaning his recent kills.

"Still living freely I see, did you really have to bring back everything and start a fire down here?" Simeon asked.

Avrid stopped what he was doing as he scratched his beard with his bloody hands, looking over at his guests,- "And I see you're still stuck up as ever, say what you need and leave, you don't have to be here," he said getting up to look for another set of tools.

One of the younger guards was having more difficulty containing himself than the rest at seeing a no-good dirty mutt talk to them like that, just about shouting,- "Watch your mouth! You should be thanking Lord Simeon that you're even allowed to breathe, others would have put you out of your misery years ago after learning they were related to a dog, you should be thanking him for his kindness," he said foolishly thinking he would receive praise from his lord.

Everyone stiffened, including Simeon as he stared at his brother knowing nothing good was going to come next.

Avrid turned with a wicked grin that showed off his canines as he approached,- "Is that right?"

The guard not backing down, taking his companions silence as consent continued,- "Of course, how else were you able to live so long if not for your brother."

Simeon was gobsmacked at the stupidity of the man, how the hell did he make it to this position without knowing anything. He would have very strong words with the man who placed him here when all this was over.

Avrid glanced at his brother with a smirk,- "And you brother, do you agree with this?" He asked staring down at Simeon who was half a foot shorter standing at 6 foot flat.

Seeing Simeon not say anything, his attention shifted back to the young guardsman- "In that case don't mind if I do," he said moving towards the man, reaching for his collar.

The guardsman shouted,- "What do you think you're doing! Get your filthy hands off me this instant or I'll make yo..."

He was interrupted by a head butt as Avrid shattered his nose and front teeth before flipping over in the air and slamming him back down on the ground where he began to pummel him into a bloody pulp.

The other guards put their hands on their weapons intending to stop it only to see Simeon put his hands up, shaking his head.

They could only let their hands drop to their sides as they watched on with gritted teeth, listening to the wails of their comrade as Avrid relentlessly beat him. The healing factor making the agonizing session take far longer as the man's defending hands finally fell limply to the side.

A few bloody minutes later and Avrid stood back up using the back of his hand to try and wipe the blood off his face, but only ended up smearing more,- "Well that was fun, do come again brother," Avrid said turning around.

Simeon signaled for his guards to drag the man out so he could talk to his brother alone.

Finding a bucket of water, Avrid began to clean himself of the blood,- "You're still here?"

Simeon waited until they were alone before talking,- "I haven't told you why I came yet..."

"Then get on with it, I'm already growing tired of your face."

Simeon ignoring his slights proceeded to tell him,- "I don't know if you heard, but our Lord has awoken and he has personally asked for your assistance."

Avrid froze his actions before standing straight to gaze at his brother,- "Is it true, is Lord Dracula awake?"

Simeon- "Yes and wishes you to join the search for our adversary."

Avrid laughed,- "HaHaHaHa, He's back, FINALLY, I can't wait for the slaughter to begin!"

"Did you hear what I said?" Simeon asked making sure.

Avrid chuckled,- "Oh I heard alright, tell me brother do you think he'll forgive you?"

Simeon furrowed his brows but otherwise ignored him as he turned to leave,- "I've said what's needed, I'll be going now, hopefully, next time we meet will be under better circumstances."

Avrid not missing anything laughed him out,- "Haha, didn't tell him did you, I can't wait to see what he does to you when he finds out."

Simeon on the other hand didn't fear Lord Dracula ever finding out, because he already got rid of all loose ends, only his brother still knew and while he didn't trust him, he knew Avrid would never tell on him.