Chapter 3
Azelbub
Thunder claps filled the entire forest that was supposed to be the sacred place of the dark king, azelbub or the devil, the name people were familiar with.A black hole opened and men jumped out of it, naked once again, but this time infuriated.
The last person jumped out and they bowed down to him. His brows were furrowed and his face mirrored disgust. Bushy eyebrows sat gracefully above big hazel eyes. His lips were as red as blood and hair as black as ebony.
He stomped to the middle and tightened his dental bone.
"Whose fault was it?!" He roared and they trembled, raising their heads to view their master. "Answer me!"
"We-we have no-no idea, sir." A man who appeared to be in his early thirties stammered.
"Now our ritual has been spoilt and my butt is out there!" He bellowed. "The world shouldn't be aware of this."
"Calm down, sir. What's the fuss all about when-"
"Silence!" Azelbub's fingers turned to talons and he pointed it towards who had spoken.
The man who could pass for a giant didn't get to finish his sentence because azelbub stroke him with a lightening bolt. He fell on the ground and the earth shook.
"Is there anyone that wants to tell me to calm down again?" He asked, blowing off invisible dust from his fingers and they all shook their heads in dismay. "Good."
He held his hand behind him and rocked back and forth on his heels. "Where's the wolf man and what we've been preserving in him?"
"I'm afraid he died." A man with white beards spoke, almost too bold.
"What?" Azelbub's anger boiled in his veins. "And the substance?"
He went closer to the man and squinted his eyes at him, anger flaring out of his nose.
"I'm afraid it merged with-"
"Damn you!" Azelbub's hand changed into a sword with which he used to stab the man in the gut. Blood gushed down the man's mouth and Azelbub smiled in satisfaction.The sword transformed back into his hand and he licked the blood off his fingers. "Who's next?"
There was no answer.
The demon placed his thumb and index finger into his mouth and whistled. Two beasts–manticores with the head of a human, body of a lion and tail of a scorpion sped out of an even darker part of the forest and immediately, one of the beast bit the head of the man wolf, while the other bit the legs and they tore him into half. They ate him effortlessly, breaking every bone hungrily.
"Yes!" The devil laughed with his hands in the air. "She needs to be found!"
"That means one of us would have to go down to the mortal world and we can't." A short man stated and the devil snapped his head to his direction. The man jerked, afraid of what would become of him if Azelbub's wrath came upon him.
"True." He stroked his chin and gave it a long thought before a devilish grin crawled up his face. "But I hate facts, so we'd have to make that a lie."
"How?" One of them asked.
The devil took in the features of the man that spoke and he wrinkled his face.
"Didn't I tell you not to show up here naked?" His eye brows furrowed. "Naked you disgusts me."
He snapped his fingers and the man was covered in a black attire.
"What's the plan, master?" They chorused, their curiosity bubbling.
"Dracula, I summon you to the sacred place and meeting of Azelbub!" The devil raised his hands to the sky and lightening illuminated the place, making the toothy grin he had on visible before it became dark again.
The wind blew harshly and the sky which had a pale crescent moon that mirrored a talon was now covered by a dark angry cloud. Suddenly, a man dropped out of the sky with his head bowed and after five seconds, he stood up with a vicious grin.
"Hello..." He drawled then shoved his hands into the pocket of his black leather garment. "–best friend."
The members looked back and forth at the devil and Dracula in anticipation of what was going to happen next.
"Spare me the fake pleasantries."
"Oh, really?" His grey eyes glittered with mischief. "But you summoned me and we're still best friends aren't we?"
"After what you did?" The devil's nose flared with anger as he clenched his fists. "Hell, no."
"But you punished me, isn't that enough to prove my newly found loyalty?." Dracula asked, puckering his forehead. "I'm a changed person, Azel."
The devil stared longly at his supposed best friend. "You would have been turned into ashes, but you're still useful and I need your help."
"The devil... Needs my help?" Dracula laughed. "And why should I help you?"
"Because if you don't, we'll have no illam, no ritual, no forgiveness from me, no lifting of the curse and you'd miss the opportunity of gaining the powers I am planning to bestow on you."
"I can't go down to the world, you know-"
"I'll give you powers that'll sustain you. You'd feed on human blood to stay alive, you'd be fast, strong and you'd never die!" The devil exclaimed.
Dracula poked a finger in his ear and winced. "What was the shouting for and you already made me a demon, I'm alive forever."
"Have I been speaking some foreign language? I said the ritual wasn't successful and we have to find someone... She has what we need and she also has my nudes." The devil stated with a straight face.
"What are the downsides of this power and what are the weaknesses?"
"Sun." Answered the devil before poking at his wrist with a finger and letting his blood drip into a cup. "I already cursed you not to be able to walk under the sun because of your betrayal... You'd live with it and so would your followers."
Dracula stepped forward and gulped down the concoction that was made by the devil and he clutched his stomach, his eyes rolled skyward.
"Yes!" The devil cackled. "It's working."
Dracula fell on the ground and shivered before letting out a loud shout that shook the earth. A new demon was born!
"All hail Azelbub!" They chanted, bowing down to the master.
"Jonathan!" The devil exclaimed and a young man answered. "Step into the middle."
The man did as he was told and before any one could say jack, Dracula launched at him and sent them to the ground. Dracula's fangs elongated and his skin became white. Instantly, he dug his head into Jonathan's neck and bit him.
A deafening shout flew out of Jonathan's mouth and the birds flew out of their trees. The manticores roared and a windy storm began.
Dracula sucked the blood out of Jonathan and when he was done, he got to his feet and blood was dripping down his fangs. He wiped his mouth with the back of his palm and gazed upon the devil.
"What am I now?" Dracula asked, voice as scary as the dead of the night.
Manticores devoured Jonathan. Their sharp edged teeth chewed on his limbs, and bones.
"A vampire." The devil grinned wickedly.
Maris"Do you think I should do it?" The ginger head boy asked, twirling a basketball on his finger with his eyes glued to Maris who he had a long time crush on."What?" Maris cocked up both her brows with confusion written all over her face. She hadn't been listening to what he was saying. "Yeah. I mean, sure."She nodded her head without knowing what he had asked and picked up her coffee to sip from it, but hesitated just in case it was hot. Slowly, she kissed the coffee cup and pushed her head back. The liquid was warm and it covered her taste buds like a blanket."Okay, thank you very much." His blue eyes sparkled with a small smile playing at the corners of his lips and she returned it.She had been pondering on who the blue eyed god was. Why did he stare at her with a gaze that never faltered? She could no longer think straight as all her thoughts were consumed by him.Her stomach rumbled and she p
Dracula "Yes..." Dracula drawled, staring lustfully at a caramel skinned lady with curly brown hair. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, rubbing his fingers together with a wicked grin etched to his face. He leaned on a tree and rested the back of his head on it with his eyes shut as he anticipated the taste of her blood. Suddenly, he peeked from behind the tree, watching as she trashed some dirt in the waste bin of the diner she worked in. Her thighs were thick and alluring, but he held himself. The mysterious woman walked back into the building and out, with a coat covering her body. Just as she walked away from the building and into the road, Dracula glanced from left to right before shoving his hands into his black coat. "Hi." He crept up on the girl and she jolted then spun to take in his features. "How are you, beautiful?" She looked at him with disgust oozing out of her skin as she had thought he was one of those useless men that wanted nothing more than to get in betw
"Put me down!" Maris exclaimed when she was free from the mini paralysis she was having with her hands still secured around the unknown person's neck. His smell was pretty familiar. He didn't stop, he kept running and taking routes Maris wasn't familiar with. She could hardly keep her eyes open because the breeze filled her eyes and made them teary. With a thumping heart, she yelled again, "Put me down!" Suddenly, he stopped and released her legs, sending her to the ground on her buttocks. She winced, shutting her eyes tight. "What the hell?" She tried to catch her breath with her back flat on the grass. "Who are you?" There was no reply, but the sound of him breathing heavily made it's way to her ears and she raised her head up to look at the mysterious person. "You!" Her eyebrows kissed each other in anger when she recognized him to be the boy who hugged her at her
Maris began to shiver internally when he had told her Dracula was after her for the devil's nudes and a certain entity that had gotten into her the night she took the picture."What am I going to do?" Her lips trembled and she held onto his arm."I'm going to protect you. It's a bit surprising you're still alive." He stated and she threw stare daggers at him. "My name is Logan by the way."He stretched out his hand for a handshake, but Maris only gave him a long skeptical look."Logan?" She squinted her eyes when she heard whispers in her head. "Can you hear that?"She looked around and Logan followed her gaze. "Hear what?""Those weird whispers." She poked her fingers into her ears and wiggled them."You're strange." He narrowed an eye at her and she stopped what she was doing to glare at him."Says the person that has been stalking me." Maris hissed and walked to the other side of the cave.She held out her palms to th
"…He tried to speak, but his voice broke intoan echoing howl. His ravening soul infected his jaws;his murderous longings were turned on the cattle; he still was possessedby bloodlust. His garments were changed to a shaggy coat and his armsinto legs. He was now transformed into a wolf." A dog boy who looked extremely familiar read to Maris from Ovid's book of metamorphosis. The first story about lycanthropy.He raised his hands up in the air and drew a sigil as fast as he could before summoning someone who was fit to be a god. Again, they were naked. Maris laid plainly on the drawing and floated in the air with puffs of smoke rushing into her nostrils.Instantly, Maris gasped, snapping her eyes open with a pounding heart that threatened to burst out of her chest."Where am I?" She asked, feeling as if something had used straw to suck out the energy in her."My arms." He vo
"What's a lemen?" Maris asked the nice female who radiated so much joy from just the way she looked at Maris.Maris interlocked her fingers behind her and tried to divert the topic of her staring at a guy's butt. She couldn't believe they were inside her head."Like a consort, yin yang or soulmate." She stepped forward to place a hand on Maris' chest.Maris' gaze followed her hand and her heart paced. How was she sure these people wouldn't turn into wolves to bite her head off?"You may be dismissed." She ordered the people who had encircled them and Immediately, they returned to what they were doing before Maris came.Weird."I'm not weird, I'm saying the fact," The girl said, respecting what was called personal space. "My name is Sanna by the way. Nice to meet you-""Maris." Maris answered with a wandering gaze, solemnly wondering where Logan was."Missing him already?" Sanna wiggled her eye brows and Maris put on a frustrated
Dracula"No!" The woman screamed in horror, trying to protect her son from the vicious men. "Don't take him, take me."Dracula snapped his head to her direction and threw the chunk of meat he was feasting on with a sly smile, playing at the corners of his lips."You want to strike a deal?" He asked, cocking up his brows with a gaze that never faltered."Yes, I'll give anything for you to keep my son." She pleaded, a familiar shake in her voice as she darted her eyes from Dracula to the dogman who held her son hostage."Are you sure you can give me what I want?" He drawled, using his tongue to flick out the piece of human flesh stuck in between his teeth."I'll do anything, just spare my son." She pleaded.Dracula slowly took a step forward with a glint of malevolence in his obsidian eyes, causing the woman who appeared to be in her late thirties to flinch. He eyed her from head to toe and slowly went up f
"I don't understand what you're talking about, mother." Logan took a step back from his mother who was being up close and personal."Why is the smell of human all over you?" She asked, puckering her forehead as she scrutinized him from head to toe."Can you stop this?" Logan raised his hands in the air in mock surrender, slightly getting offended at his mother's over protectiveness."Don't tell me you've been with a-" she stopped in her tracks and widened her eyes when her wolf whispered something to her. "Don't tell me you brought a freaking human here?""I might have done a-""Oh, no!" She exclaimed and her kakapo flinched, flapping it's wings in the air.It was a flightless bird that had the looks of a parrot, but it was an owl. She rushed to her window and pulled her thick, black curtains out of the way so she could take a gander at her surroundings and that was when she spotted her.