SONS OF DRACULA 2
Samuel enters the castle and the doors shut heavy behind him like they have a mind of their own; it is dark and quiet as he walks around.
Debris is all over the floor with sand and a few papers. There is a fireplace and an armor with a sheathed blade beside it.
He sees a staircase in the center which branches out to two sides.
"Upstairs," he hears Alucard's voice echo through the room.
He walks toward the staircase and the first step on the creaking wood becomes a step closer to his brother and his half-brother, "I can hear the faintness of your heart," Alucard's voice echoes as Samuel supports himself on the bannister.
"Much lighter than Gabriel's when I killed him," Alucard says and Samuel drags his feet across the stairs.
He stops and sits on the staircase for a brief moment, breathing heavily as his faint heart spirals into a chaotic rhythm. He takes deep breathes and focuses his mind on Rachael's words, "You are not alone,".
"I am not alone," he mumbles, "I am with you," Gabriel's voice echoes in his ears.
He stands up and continues till he reaches the end of the staircase. It leads to a hallway that splits the castle in two directions; dim lights from lanterns on the wall show the way on the right side while the left is covered in darkness.
There is a statue covered in armor in the middle of the hallway and a big picture of Dracula's face hanging on the wall behind it. The dust and webs around it hide some of its colors but Samuel can still make out his face.
He walks toward the lit corridor which houses four doors before the corridor curves to the left and disappears.
One of the doors is opened, he walks in; it looks like a library as it houses numerous books on tall shelves but the air is filled of dust and death.
Samuel turns to his left to see the source of a beating heart, Alucard, sitting on a chair and Gabriel's corpse lying on a table in front of him.
Samuel's eyes glow and his teeth turn sharp, his ears become pointy and his face squeezes into a frown; "How dare you? How dare you?" he shouts as Alucard sits calmly with his green eyes staring back at the angry sphinx.
He wears his armor and his jaw rests on his arms together.
He kicks the table over and Gabriel's body falls on the ground with a bit of dust falling on his face from the table. Samuel roars and charges at him but Alucard catches Samuel with a firm hold across his chest and slams him against the table, breaking it while Samuel groans in pain.
He walks to one corner of the room and carries his sword from the dark where it laid and stabs it into the ground, "You can't beat me Samuel," Alucard says as he adjusts his vambrace.
He puts a foot on Gabriel's motionless face and tilts his head, "You will join your brother soon and then I will come for your soul," he says and glances at Samuel who struggles to stand up, "And I will make your death permanent," Alucard says.
"Fuck you," Samuel grunts and charges toward Alucard. They both move fast as they throw blows at each other, Alucard gets in a few powerful blows that push Samuel against the wall before Alucard spins around and buries a kick in his gut.
The kick sends Samuel through the walls with debris and blood to fill his mouth, "You are weak, maybe even weaker than he was," Alucard says.
"Disappointing," he says as he walks through the hole of the wall but meets no one on the floor.
Alucard looks around and kicks a few debris away only to be greeted with a blow to his face from the side, he staggers and Samuel smacks his head against the wall.
He returns the favor and smacks Samuel's head against the wall before receiving a few jabs to his belly, he catches Samuel's hand and jerks him by the neck.
Alucard roars in his face and his eyes turn to a blue glow, a flash of blue light appears and consumes them and releases them into the midair, diving towards a wall.
Alucard grabs Samuel smacks him through one of the walls of the castle and throws him away.
"You took my only family from me," Alucard says as he walks toward Samuel who coughs and spits.
"The feeling is mutual," Samuel spits and crawls to his feet.
Alucard delivers a flying knee to his chest and pins him against the wall, "You should be happy, I am about to reunite you with your brother," Alucard says, his eyes peering deep into Samuel's soul and seeing the weakness that corrodes him.
"Your link is killing you already. Just lay still and die," he says.
Samuel grunts, he forces Alucard's hand away and head-butts him and delivers a strong uppercut to Alucard's jaw, sending him flying and dropping him on his back.
"Samuel," Gabriel's voice echoes in his ears and he looks straight into the dark floors. He runs past Alucard and begins to navigate his way through the castle.
"I am coming Gabriel," he says but resistance soon finds him in the form of a hard fist to the side of his face, "No you aren't" Alucard says.
They exchange blows and kicks, both displaying their prowess in martial arts but the difference is shown in the weight of their blows. Alucard's lifting Samuel off his feet several times while Samuel's barely pushes him back. They fight fast and hard, but Alucard is the one to get the first drop of blood on his fist.
Samuel breathes heavily as Alucard uses his body to redecorate the castle walls.
Samuel coughs and crawls as his face drips blood, he growls as he finds all the spirit he has inside to fight on but his enemy walks strong with little harm.
"You keep thinking this is a contest. I want you to know my pain before I kill you," Alucard says.
SPIRIT REALM.
Gabriel groans and rolls on the floor of Dracula's castle and spits blood. He feels every blow and every pain that surges through Samuel's body. They have both reached a stage of oneness where their souls have become intertwined in the torturous reality of the coming death.
Gabriel can do so little from this side of the realm, all he can do is scream and watch as they both die in Alucard's hands.
"Sammy, you can do it" he says as he crawls. His skin begin to go pale and the castle begin to vanish from his sight. The dark walls and the dim lights of lanterns gradually turn to a white space and his breath becomes visible with the cold that comes.
Reapers.
They finally come for him, their chains dangling over his ears and their cold presence freezes his lips. The world turns into a white space and their fiery eyes watch him in his anguish; they wait, stalking him as they wait for his painful passing.
"Take me," he pleads, "If I die he will regain his strength. Please take me," Gabriel says but the three reapers floating above him stay silent as they watch him twist and turn in his blood.
He sees the world of the living through Samuel's eyes; he sees the hurt that Alucard puts him through. Breaking his bones and watching him heal just to do it all over again.
He watches Samuel gasp for breath and listens to the sad song of his fading heartbeat, "No, don't die" he whimpers.
The feels of his finger tips lose to the cold and the beat of his own heart wails like a banshee, the smell of death becomes soothing and pleasing like lavender while gory wetness and a salty taste lay at the tip of his tongue.
"Samuel," he mumbles.