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Chapter Two: Encounters

The brown-haired girl watched her savior warily, every muscle tense as a coiled spring. She clenched her dagger with both hands, like a sword. "Who the hell are you," She snapped, her voice strong and clear, "and what the hell are these zombie things??"
The man chuckled eerily without replying, and turned his face to the full moon that was partially hidden behind a thin veil of clouds. It looked like the moon usually looks in horror movies. After a few moments he spoke in a deep voice.
"Such a beautiful night, isn't it...?"
The girl stared at him expressionlessly. Okay, so not only was this man extremely creepy, but also possibly insane? The forest was overrun with freakin' zombies, and he was just standing there commenting on the weather, like he was taking a pleasant walk in the park?? Was this guy for real? "Answer me," the girl demanded, pointing her dagger at him with one hand.
The man faced her again, seemingly oblivious to the sharp bronze weapon she now pointed at him, and his grin stretched wider. She noted with incomprehension that his canines were overly long and needle-sharp. "It's particularly beautiful," he went on, completely ignoring her questions, "when you're a bloodsucker."
Dead silence.
The girl stared at him, reflexively taking a step back, her eyes narrowing. V-... Vampire?! First zombies, and now a vampire?! Am I the one going insane here?
The strange grinning vampire took a step in her general direction.
"Back off," She snarled, taking another step back and holding her dagger tightly. "One more step and this thing's going right through your skull, cretin!"
He kept coming, still with that intolerably smug smile on his face, his eyes obscured by the orange glasses. He seemed to be completely oblivious to everything she was saying.
Well, actions do speak louder than words, she thought grimly, taking aim. Ignore this, leech!
CRUNCH.
The girl's small bronze dagger was now embedded in the man's head, right between his eyes. His shiny glasses, split into two seperate halves by the blow, slid off and fell to either side, shattering on the ground, but his eyes were still in shadow. That grin was still present; Frozen there, she assumed, now that he was dead. Crimson blood trickled down the blade and dripped from the hilt, staining the gray-green grass bright red.
The girl took a deep breath. She noted that, if the position of his feet was anything to go by, he had been about to walk right past her. Well, it pays to be careful when your life is on the line, she thought gravely, and waited for the body to fall so she could pull her dagger out. She needed that weapon if she was going to live long around here-
The man's arm moved.
The grin still on his face, eyes still in shadow, he reached up in silence and grasped the hilt of her dagger. He then proceeded to yank it out, and more blood flowed down his face before trickling slowly to a stop. He looked up, finally looking right at her, and his eyes were a startling scarlet, gleaming orange where the moonlight hit them. "Low-quality bronze," He stated in that eerie, deep voice, turning the bloody dagger in his hand. "A crude weapon with very little balance and a dull edge..." He laughed, and the girl, who was staring at him with wide eyes, frozen in place, gave a violent shudder. "Honestly, I'd be surprised if you managed to kill a weakling human with this piece of scrap metal," he went on, with that ever-present predator's smile.
The girl just stared, her face pale, her green eyes wide. Without another word, she turned and sprinted back into the forest, her feet flying over the ground, driven by blind panic.
The vampire laughed again, gazing after her with humor in his eyes. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked the empty air where the girl had been standing, his grin widening again. "You dropped your weapon..."


She sprinted through the forest again, panting from exertion and fear, now weaponless. This time she didn't plan on stopping; She would run all night if she had to, if she could just get the hell out of this place. The woods now seemed darker, the shadows more menacing, and she kept imagining sounds coming from the trees all around her. If this went on much longer, she'd go insane. If I'm not already, she thought, leaping over a fallen tree. Sane people don't usually come across hordes of zombies and invincible vampires... God, what is all this!? What's going on here!?
She'd been running for ten more minutes when she noticed that the darkness of the midnight forest was beginning to lighten up ahead; She could see moonlight filtering through the trees. Another clearing...? Or the way out?
She broke through the treeline, and a grin immediately stretched across her face. She was out! The forest lay behind her, and ahead of her rolled a vast region of grassy hills that stretched to the distant horizon. Yes! Hasta la vista, you insane haunted forest, you! Thank G-
"Ah, Gwendolen Freewing. You're late."
The girl stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, she turned to face the forest again. On a large rock that stood just outside the treeline, a rock that Gwen could have sworn had been unoccupied a second ago, sat a smug-looking man with deep purple eyes and odd blue-green hair that shone sea-green in the light of the full moon. That didn't bode too well; The last person Gwen had seen with a strange eye color had turned out to be a vampire. And yes, now that she looked, she could see the stranger's sharp fangs as he smiled.
"Do you realize how long you've kept me waiting here?" He went on, toying with the jewel-tipped cane he held in both white-gloved hands. "I was getting quite impatient. It's terribly rude to make someone wait like-"
"What do you want?" Gwen asked wearily. She despised people who could brag for hours on end. "And how do you know my name?"
He laughed and stood up. The man wore a dark blue-green pinstriped suit, blue dress pants, and a black top hat. In Gwen's opinion, he looked absolutely ridiculous. Circus ringmasters came to mind. "You're a wanted slave, my dear," he snickered, and began to stroll in her direction. "There are posters up everywhere, you know. 'Gwendolen Freewing, escaped slave from Warbridge, aged fifteen. Generous reward offered for her capture and return.' "
Slowly, subtly, Gwendolen Freewing was inching backwards. Damn! She thought, furious with herself. My weapon is still with that other vampire! I ran through a freakin' haunted forest full of vampires and zombies without a weapon?? Idiot!
The vampire went on quoting the posters, oblivious to her slow retreat. " 'Answers to Gwendolen Freewing, Gwen, and wench.' " His smile turned into an ugly sneer. "Quite the nickname you've picked up."
How typical of them, Gwen thought grimly. "You honestly think they're going to give you a reward for turning me in?" she inquired coldly. "It'll probably be something along the lines of letting you live."
The vampire chuckled and strolled closer. "Ah, but I don't plan on turning you in, my dear," he informed her condescendingly. "I've no need for any more money... I am, however, quite thirsty." At this point an extremely unsettling smile spread across his face, and Gwendolen felt her blood turn to ice in her veins. "You've made for quite an amusing chase victim," He went on, his violet eyes shining smugly. "My ghouls, however persistent they may be, are sadly a bit lacking in mental capacity." He tapped the side of his head sorowfully. "And they were taking quite a long time to catch one miserable little slave... I was beginning to get impatient. But then, what luck! You stumbled upon my little waiting area!" He clapped his hands together, smiling widely. "That worked out rather nicely, no?"
Gwen had heard enough out of this freak; she whirled around, watching the man over her shoulder as she did so, and sprinted for-
THUD.
What the-!? Her head snapped around to see what she'd run into, but she was too late- Two moldering hands gripped her wrists, and she found herself staring into the lifeless eye sockets of a zombie creature- a ghoul, as the vampire had called them. Unknown to her, about twenty five of the things had crept out of the woods and made a semi-circle behind her, cutting her off from the wide open plains. Gwen's eyes widened in horror, and the vampire tut-tutted from behind her.
"Such a rude little girl you are!" He exclaimed in disapproval, sauntering up to her and stopping six feet away. "Haven't your parents ever taught you that it's impolite to walk away from people who are trying to have a simple conversation with you?"
Gwen ignored him completely and acted against the ghoul instead. Quick as a wild animal, and just as fiercely, she whipped up one knee to strike the ghoul a glancing blow between the legs.
Silence.
The ghoul looked down, then looked back at her and stretched its rotted mouth in a zombie-like groan. It seemed to be completely unaffected. Gwen began to struggle wildly, teetering on the edge of panic, while the vampire took a single step closer.
"Silly human," he crooned, tapping the back of her head with the jeweled tip of his cane. "My ghouls are long dead; they feel no pain." His smile widened. He drew close, his mouth right next to her ear, and whispered menacingly "And soon you shall be among them, nothing more than a mindless, walking cor-"
BANG. A single gunshot echoed through the field. Directly to her left, Gwen saw a ghoul drop to its knees and then face-first onto the ground, its head a gorey mess of blood and brains. Seconds later, it disintigrated into ash that drifted away on the wind like a sand dune.
Slowly, the vampire turned away from the girl, and faced the forest, lips pursed in annoyance. "Who dares disturb me in my fun?" He demanded haughtily. "Show yourself! Who are you?"
A deep, eerie voice drifted to them from the darkness of the woods, seeming to blend into the night. "My name is Alucard, you self-important little maggot... But then, what's the use in knowing who I am if you're going to be dying shortly...?"
Gwendolen shivered violently and craned her neck to look back at the woods. She knew that voice. Sure enough, out from the shadows of the trees stepped the very same man who had saved her earlier. The one who had pulled her dagger out of his own forehead, completely unharmed. The vampire, Alucard. He wore the very same grin he'd had earlier on. In one hand he held an extremely long silver handgun.
The other vampire glared at him, his violet eyes glowing. His lip curled in distaste. "Self-important maggot...?" He echoed, as if in disbelief. "And who, my foolish, suicidal friend, do you think you are? Insulting a gentleman without any provocation! I say-!"
"You are a sorry excuse for a vampire. As a matter of fact, you don't deserve that title," Alucard cut him off, walking slowly towards them, and his grin widened as he came to a stop about twenty feet away. "That's more than enough provocation for me."
"Well, I hate to burst your bubble," the blue-haired man snarled, "but I am certainly more deserving of being called a vampire than you. As a matter of fact, I do believe that I'll prove it." He snapped his fingers, and ten more ghouls limped out of the trees behind Alucard. "Kill him, minions," the vampire commanded frigidly, and pointed at Alucard.
The zombies surged forward, but Alucard only chuckled. "Pathetic," he commented bluntly, and pointed his gun to his left, not bothering to look where he was aiming. His grin stretched wide, and his pupils shrank frighteningly. When he spoke next, he sounded as if he was enjoying himself immensely.
"Let's just see which one of us is more deserving of the title Nosferatu, shall we?"