Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

The Staff

The old farming couple's cottage was small and surrounded by a meager cornfield. I couldn't see much of the field in the dark, but it was enough to provide food for the two of them. The inside of the cottage was small but warm. In the separate bedroom the woman dressed me. "At least these won't go to waste. She would've been happy to see them worn by an unfortunate." I wanted to ask who she was talking about but I saw she was near tears.

The woman gasped, taking several steps away and staring at my back. "What's wrong?" I asked her nervously. "You've got scars on your back." She trembled, touching right between my shoulders. I flinched, a vision of fire and stars flashed before my eyes. "

 I do." My voice wavered touching the points on my back. The skin felt thick and tender. "I wonder how I got them."

"I'm wondering the same." The woman remarked lighthearted. Once I was in an old worn dress, I sat with the old couple by the fireside. "I wish I could tell you about myself, but I know as much as you do." I drank a cup of water. "Could you  tell me where I am?" They were friendly to answer, saying I was in a place called Wallachia, a country in eastern Europe. It was a place populated by humans but plagued by vampires and night creatures.

"The the whole world's plagued by hellbeasts." The man grumbled. "And it's gotten worse since Dracula's death."

"Dracula!?" I sat up straight. "Ah you're memory's coming back." He remarked.

 "I guess." I mumbled. "The name sounds familiar is all. Who was Dracula?" The couple glanced at each other surprised. "Dracula was once the Vampire Lord of Wallachia....." They recounted the brutal story of the Vampire's tragedy, leaving me speechless.

"And now he's dead." I noted.

"Deader than a doornail." He nodded. "Slain by his own son I heard. No good that's done us. With him gone the other Vampire lords are scrambling for the power he left behind, and not just them. I hear troubling news of a Forgemaster amassing an army of the damned, and the Styrian Vampire Queen is plotting the conquest of humanity with a Forgemaster of her own. Between them these feral night creatures are burning down cities and decimating towns. The world's become a dangerous place."

"It's always been dangerous." His wife added. " But more so now." She gave me an intrigued look. "Your memory's gone, but you're not a lost soul. I see the look in your eyes, there's purpose within you."

"Yes. I think you're right." I said. "I don't remember who I am or where I came from, but I know what I have to do and where I must go. When I woke up I had a memory of a huge magical castle. Dracula's castle, I can't say why but I have to find it."

They stared at me with intense fear in their eyes. "Why in God's great name do you want to go that forsaken place!?" The man gasped.

"I don't know." I shook my head. "I just know it's where I'm supposed to be, maybe there's something waiting for me there."

"The only thing waiting for you at Castle Dracula is death." The man warned. "Dracula might be gone, but his son rules the castle now. Alucard they call him, and he's just as cruel as his father. He staked people and demons at his front gate, and some claim he stalks the countryside at night as a swarm of bats, sucking the blood and life out of sleeping villagers." He jabbed a finger at me. "Stay well away from that place, whatever purpose it may hold it's not worth your life."

"He's right." His wife agreed. "You're better off forgetting that evil place. Perhaps you can start a new life here. We'd be willing to take you in." 

"You guys are very kind but I wouldn't want to burden you." I said touched by human kindness. "You're no burden, it'd be nice to have a set of young hands to help out, and good company." The man said.

I smiled. "I guess I could stay for a while and get my bearings."

 ....

My first night in a bed was itchy and full of dreams. The image of the castle kept playing in my mind, along with a blinding light and a figure silhouetted against the castle walls.  I grumbled rubbing my eyes when I woke up later that morning.  The next day I decided to take a walk to collect my thoughts. "Be careful girl!" The husband warned. "There's been demon sightings in the area. Don't go far!" 

"I won't!" I called back. I headed toward the field where I first awakened, the dry grass crunching beneath my sandaled feet. My thoughts swirling in my brain, trying to grasp a fading memory. Nothing but that stupid evil vampire castle. "Why do I remember this freaking vampire riddled castle and nothing else!?" I rubbed my head. "What importance did it have? Am I from there? Am I a freaking vampire!?" The sun on my skin made me laugh. "No don't be an idiot! I can't be a vampire 'cause I'm not burning alive right now!"

The field was easy to spot, the grasses charred and ash puffed beneath my footsteps. "It looks like a meteor hit." I wondered to myself. "And where I sat, doubled over naked and pained the impact point." I walked to the very spot where I was found, burnt grey to the very earth. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder."  I scratched my head. "And I swear that staff wasn't here before." Laying in the exact spot where I woke up was a simple wooden staff. I picked it up, a sense of familiarity crept through my fingers.  This day just keeps getting stranger with every turn.

I heard a bloodcurdling scream. "Shit!"  I ran toward the direction of the cottage,  following the smoke rising from the trees. I held back a cry, seeing the cottage now in in burned ruins. The kind farmer and his sweet natured wife lay strewn  bloodied across the dirt,  torn apart and gorged on by hideous jackal like demons with black scaled skin and burning red eyes.

One of the beasts turns its head up and snarls, baring rows of teeth and prowling closer to me with its companion. I stepped back, holding the wooden staff in front of me in defense. It leapt forward. A blinding light from my staff vaporized them instantly and knocked the wind out of my feet. I crashed into the ground, blacking out. 

 I grumbled when I came too, rubbing my throbbing forehead. It was eerily quiet, not even a trickle of the wind. I stood up, looking stunned at the destroyed cottage and its former inhabitants mauled and bloodied at my feet.  After some moments I took a shovel and buried them in their field, a single stake as their marker."Thank you for your kindness." I said deadened. "I'm sorry I couldn't return it." Once that morbid deed was done, I rummaged food, water, and supplies from the wreckage of their home, stuffing them in a pack around my shoulder and my newfound staff in my right hand. "You're definitely worth keeping." I muttered , leaving the death and desolation behind. 

"I see a road down." I murmured. "All roads lead somewhere, maybe I'll find a town and get directions."  I'm on my own. I sighed, taking in the view and trying to make sense of it all. With nowhere to go but forward I traveled down the hill and onto a worn dirt road with a magic staff  in hand and a bag of supplies on my back. Nothing else I can do now but hit the road and ramble on.