In front of me was a small hut, in the middle of a forest far in the wilderness. The door was old with paint peeling off in every corner. There were no windows, but many holes and cracks seemed to let light inside. No sound came from inside, not in the quarter hour since I reached it.
I doubted what my mother wrote for a second. There was no way anyone that could help me would live in such a place. No one that would live in such a place could deal with those beasts, those demons. They certainly were demons, there was no other explanation, they were unearthly and anything holy seemed to hurt or at least stop them in their tracks.
I should have ran towards the east that night, towards the church, there I might have found a safe place to rest. But what if, what if the church was taken down before anyone could reach it. No, impossible, a church is the house of God, if those things are warded off by a mere prayer to one old icon or a handful of salt, then dozens of icons and holy objects would likely kill them in a blink of an eye, if God's presence wouldn't be enough already.
It's too late now, it's well past noon and I am maybe a day's walk to the nearest church, the demons would catch me in no time. I might make it if I run, but, can I run? I am tired already, I haven't slept for half a day, I can even say that I haven't slept for a full day and then some. I took what could be called a nap for about 3 hours maybe, but that's not enough. I also haven't eaten since dinner. Oh what I would give for a stew right now. I finally understand why mother always said that they are the best meal you could wish for, I wish for one right now after all.
Yes, mother was right, she always is. Why am I doubting her right now? I don't have the time to waste, if mother says that there is someone that can help me, then there is someone that can help me. With that thought I took a step forward, then another and another, until I reached the old door. I lifted a hand and slowly and carefully knocked on it, I didn't want it to fall on me after all.
A loud bang came from inside, like a gunshot, then another like something heavy falling. For a few moments there was nothing, no sound, no movement, no door opening. I lifted my hand once more, but before I could knock again, a tall man with long arms and pale skin opened the door. In his right hand was a revolver with a few dark red spots on it that were still flowing down the barrel.
Before I could say anything, the man started to speak with cold voice like non that I've heard before,
"What have you come here for?"
"I, I was told, told that someone that could help me was, was here?" I think it had been a few years since I stuttered last time, it must have been that time when sir George saved me. Now I was alone, I needed to face this imposing figure by myself, but I still lacked the courage after all.
"I don't know what or who told you, but they were wrong. I don't have the time or reason to help anyone today or any other day. Now leave!" His voice wasn't angry or anything really. It seemed like I was talking to a man far far away, a man long gone.
Before he could turn around and close the door, I quickly took out the letter and raised it towards him. "I was told, told to give this letter to the person that, that was living here. A man named, named Adam?"
The man looked at me for a few moments, slowly putting his finger on the trigger of his gun, then he looked at the letter in my hands and sighed before grabbing it and moving away from the door. I tooked that action as an invitation to enter, so I did.
Inside was a single room with no windows, a bed in a corner, a large wooden box and a chair in another and a wood stove opposite of the door. Surprisingly, not much light, if any, entered from the walls, even though they seemed to be more like a strainer than anything. I guess he must have patched them from inside.
The man took a sit on the chair, putting his revolver down and opening the letter. For a few moments I stood in silence in the middle of this unknown hut, looking at an unknown person. After a while he sighed and put down the now opened letter, leaning on the back of the chair without saying anything.
After a few moments he leaned forward, looking straight at me. "Do you know in what circumstances you are in?", it finally seemed like he was here and not somewhere far away.
I finally thought that I could somewhat trust him, so I said with no doubt or worry in my voice. "Some creatures, demons, are chasing me."
"So you don't."
"I, I don't?"
"You don't. What you are chased by aren't just some demons, but demon familiars of a strong evil."
"But why?"
"Your mother made a name for herself back in the day, some devil, evil cult or whatnot likely heard about her and decided to make a name for themselves too, or someone had a bone to pick with her. I am leaning more towards the second option.
"Why?"
"She is dead!"
I didn't want to believe that, I didn't want to believe that mother was gone, she told me not to worry after all, she should be fine, she must be fine. A part of me knew, but those news still hit me harder than I could have ever thought.
"She is dead, that's why it doesn't make sense that they would be after you too. You are a nobody and you can't be used to get an easy kill against her when she is already dead. That's why they must be after revenge of some sort. Now who it is is out of my range at the moment."
"You, you must be wrong! There is no way mother died!" I blurted it out with all my chest, but a trembling voice like that of a scared kitten.
"Boy, what is you name?" he asked with a warmer
"Cristo… Cristofor."
"So the son." he said that in a whisper so quiet that I barely made it "Your mother, Eva, is a strong woman. If she survived she would have been here by now, hell, you wouldn't even be here, you would be with her trying to find shelter at a church or some other place. She is not here, but you are, that means only one thing and I know that you know it too."
I couldn't say anything. Reality finally hit me in the face and I wasn't ready for it. My knees were almost giving up on me, my eyes were starting to water and I felt like my nose was flowing. I was nothing more than a snoot nosed baby. I thought that I was becoming an adult, but no. I was just about ready to give up, to run, no, walk in the middle of nowhere and wait for a beast of the forest or of hell to come and get me too. Maybe that way I could see mother, Ana, sir George and everyone else again.
I must have looked horrible, since Adam seemed to have pity in his eyes, the kind of pity that you would give to a lost pup or a baby deer.
"Your mother sent you here for a reason. She wouldn't want to see you any time soon, now would she? You must live for her Cristofor, you must live."
"But how? Those things, they are, they are to strong and scary and I've lost everything."
"You've lost some and you've won some. You might have lost your previous life and everyone that you knew before, but now you are here, in front of me and I am forced to help you, so I would do that. You can rebuild everything if you wish so or you can take revenge on whoever wronged you."
"But… but why?"
"Let's just say that I owe Eva a lot and this is the only way that I can repay her now. That's what she told me in the letter after all. Now man up, tears would only waste your time."
A small ray of hope came back to me. I might live, but, at what cost. No, I need to, I must keep my chin up. Adam is right, I can rebuild everything, I just need to have the will to do so. I will survive.
"Now what will you do?"
"I will, I will rebuild my village. I will survive."
"Too far. What will you do right now? Those beasts will be here in about 3 hours and they will rip you to shreds in 4. Will you fight or continue running for the rest of your life?"
Right, I went too far. I can't rebuild anything if I won't see tomorrow's sun. But what should I do, what can I do? Could we fight those things, does Adam have the fire power to do that? No, he is human too, he might have an imposing figure but even the strongest of man couldn't fight more than one of those things at a time. I could run, but I don't think my legs can push any farther and to where could I run? A town would only get everyone there killed. A church or monastery would be a good place, if those beasts truly fear God, but what if they don't. Everything is too far to begin with. Have I truly went back to square 1, is there really nothing that I could do.
Adam must have seen my worry build up once more, because he started out of nowhere. "We will hold the fort here tonight. Tomorrow we will go to an old… acquaintance, and get help from him. With some luck we might even find a hint to who or what is after you. Do you agree?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now, have you ate anything yet? You look worse than a walking corpse and I've seen many of those in my life."
"No I haven't. Wait, there are walking corpses too?"
"Yes. Many kinds at that and for many reasons. There are the draugr in the north, jiangshi in the far east, revenant all throughout europe, I've even heard of some kind of zombie in the far west that appears when a living human eats human meat, wendi something and many more like them. Most creatures in most myths exist in some form or another, keep that in mind for you might meet them in the future. Now let me start the stove and put up a stew to make. I hope you don't have problems if ther is garlic in it."
I am certain now, the man in front of me holds more than enough knowledge to be considered a great help. I understand why mother sent me here, he might be able to keep me alive and get me out of this situation in some way or another. Now all that I need to do is live past this night and everything will be fine, I am sure of that.
…
The night came in quickly. I took a quick nap at sir Adam's suggestion, or at least I tried. My heart was still beating with fear even after hope came back to me. Everything was dark outside, the moon was missing today, but it also didn't help that the forest was so dense, it was pretty dark even in the middle of the day when the sun was hitting right from above. The night was cold, so cold that a fire was needed to be comfortable, summer ended about a month ago after all, letting autumn take the charge. But it was colder than I could have expected. Was the fear making me colder or was some other force at play. Who knows, demons are real after all, why wouldn't magic be too.
Sir Adam encircled the hut with 3 thin lines of salt, with about one palm distance between them. Was salt really a good barrier against the demons? Would it really protect us from those beasts? I guess my worry was showing on my face once more, because sir Adam quickly put my thoughts at an end.
"The salt won't keep us safe, it would only slow them down for me to kill them."
"How is salt doing that?"
"Beats me. I only know that everything plays by a set of rules, like you enter Heaven if you do no evil and believe in that old bastard. Those things work by a set of rules too, salt weakens them, holy symbols stop them and they can't be fully killed, only sent back to whatever circle they came from."
Sir Adam seemed to despise religion. I didn't ask why, he seemed pretty angry just bringing up God, calling him an old bastard. But I guess that he still kept some belief in the power of God, after all he still used a symbol of the holy trinity as a barrier. He must have a more professional relation with religion, one where he would fight side by side with it but still hate it nonetheless.
Shrieks were heard from far away, sleeping birds being awoken and flying as fast as their wings would allow them. I wouldn't blame them, if I could fly I would do the same. But I must face them now, I had no other option.
The sound was coming closer and closer, their march quickly making the ground shake, or maybe my legs were just giving up on me, I was scared after all, almost as scared as just a day before.
One lone beast made itself seen. It must have been the fastest of them, resembling some kind of big cat with hooves like that of a horse. They surely were weird creatures now that I look back on it. I wonder what circle they came from, maybe lust for their hybrid looks or wrath for their anger towards all humans, although I guess all demons are angry towards humans, seeing joy in our suffering.
The beast ran at full speed towards the barrier, its head starting to move back as soon as it entered its range. It didn't stop, but it looked like it went from running through air to running through water or some other more viscose fluid. It still could have reached use if it had enough time, but a bang, heard from my left side, quickly put an end to the demon's attempts.
Silence fell around the hut, or so I think, my ears were ringing from that loud blast and I still couldn't hear properly. How did soldiers and hunters deal with it, that must have passed through my mind at least a couple of times.
Sir Adam was standing still, his revolver back to his side. But he wasn't looking at his new trophy, he was looking in the forest with a serious expression. If when I met him first he was half dead, now he was more alive than a newborn.
"Boy, inside, now!" he ordered quickly as soon as my ears were back to a working form.
I stood still for a moment, turning my head towards where he was looking. There must have been two dozen pairs of glowing eyes, two dozen demons in the dark. Maybe fewer beasts, maybe some had more than two eyes, some pairs did seem awfully close to each other for them to be from different creatures after all.
I didn't ask any questions and went inside slowly, keeping my eyes at those beasts just in case. Sir Adam moved towards the door and closed it while still outside, leaving me with only the fire to keep me company. I wondered how he was seeing outside at this hour and in that night. The only reason I could make out the first beast was because the fire let some light outside, but now he had no source of light left and facing who knows how many enemies from deep down. Just imagining myself in that situation made my hair raise up.
I heard several gunshots in quick succession, then a pause and then several more, then another pause and then several more, stopping for at least half an hour before starting the cycle with another 4 repetitions spread throughout half an hour. He must have shot around 41 shots since I entered the hut, not that I've counted them. 41 shots, that could mean that he missed some, the beasts were more durable than anticipated or more came while I was gone. None of those sounded good no matter how I thought about it.
After a while the door opened, sir Adam entering with an angry face, almost like that that sir George used to make when Henry tried his advances on Ana. It was a familiar look on an unfamiliar face, but I knew not to put more wood on the fire. He took a seat on the chair and reached for an opened bottle of what looked like wine, taking a deep chug out of it.
"Those things. I know who is their master. I am surprised you've even escaped them the first time."
"Who is it?"
"A vampire, second oldest at that. One that goes by the name of Alucard as unoriginal as it might be. You are in a deeper grave than the Germans right now."
"What will we do?"
"Kill him obviously. But it will take more fire power than I ever thought. Maybe even… no, that would go too far."
"What is to far?"
Sir Adam stayed silent for a couple of moments, taking another chug out of the bottle.
"We will meet my… acquaintance and get his help, I know for sure that he will jump at this occasion, then we will go to the biggest church we could find, orthodox or catholic, doesn't really matter at the moment, and make them give us shelter while sending a letter to the Vatican. The only thing that could help us is reinforcements from their private army of holy knights or whatever name they use now."
"That sounds hard."
"It is, it will take us at least a couple of months before everything would be ready and even though you are the perfect bait, it wouldn't be surprising if those corrupt idiots left us alone. But all we have now is hope." he said before taking another chug. "You should go to sleep. We will leave as soon as the sun rises."
"What about those demons?"
"They've fled and they won't come back tonight, they've lost too many of their forces after all. I will keep watch while you rest."
With that I sat back on the old bed and slowly went to sleep.