A Real Nightmare

Deadly Battle

Katerina and Adali were at a disadvantage, Viktor is a rare royal who has very rare powers, almost like a Witch, you could say; which is why his eyes were colored the way they are and why he can paralyze and dream walk. Even though they were Vampires, Viktor could transform the room into whatever he desired - and he chose to make it impossible to see in the dark, even with Vampire senses.

Adali knew his Brother had lost control yet, but he knew it was only a matter of minutes before he lost full control. Adali tried peering into the vast of black, but still, his Vampiric senses could not decipher where anyone was, it was nothing but a black void – even his sense of smell, his hearing were all impaired. Adali ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to come up with a plan, anything would do as long as it distracted Viktor long enough for Katerina to take the cure. He knew how difficult this was going to be, especially since Viktor controlled the elements in the dungeon, his dungeon.

A scream resonated loudly off the stone walls; he was unsure of who the fear-filled scream belonged to and what had occurred to elicit the scream, Adali questioned them.

"What's wrong?" He yelled unsure of what course to pursue.

"I'm not sure." Serenity spoke next, fear tainting her tone.

"Head count, now!" Adali commanded with authority.

Serenity and Lilly spoke their names while Katerina and Celia did not. Adali started to pace side to side, two were unaccounted for and it caused a roil of gnawing anxiety to claw in the pit of his stomach. He felt helpless, vulnerable, powerless. Viktor had the upper-hand right now and Adali knew it -- he also knew Viktor loved to play games no matter how twisted they were and somebody always died. Now, his life was on the line along with the others in the room -- if Viktor wanted to play, then Adali would make sure to be ten steps ahead, and no matter what, either himself or his Brother would not be walking away tonight.

Another scream rang throughout the room, and this time, Adali pinpointed the location it came from and flitted to that person. He made his way through the black shroud until he reached a figure locked into what felt like a casket that stood upright. All he could feel was a hard metal case and instinctively, he knew what it was - The Virgin of Nuremberg (The Maiden).The Iron Maiden, otherwise known as the Virgin of Nuremberg, was a device used from the XVI century to torture criminals.

It stands 7 feet tall and is able to accommodate a man. The victim was tied inside the Maiden and one of the two doors was shut, penetrating the victim's flesh with the strategically-placed spikes that didn't penetrate any vital organs. When completely closed, the screams from the victim could not be heard outside, nor could the victim see any light or hear anything. This increased the psychological pain. Additionally, the spikes blocked the wounds so it took many hours - or even days for death to occur.

If the door was opened, the victim would stand in the exact same position so if the torturer chose to close the door again, the spikes would penetrate the exact same wounds. Sometimes the door was intermittently closed to maximize the victim's pain without delivering death. Adali had witnessed a few deaths caused by this device and he was certain Viktor was opening the casket-like door and slamming it again, which just caused more pain to the body.

Adali tried to pry the door open but it wasn't budging not even an inch. What could be jamming the door shut like that? He tried again and failed. Adali was feeling frustrated and angry, but before he could try again, a different scream broke out and this one sounded very different, like the woman it belonged to had just choked on her own blood. Adali flitted to her, praying it wasn't Katerina.

The lights flickered once, long enough for Adali to see who he was standing over and it wasn't Katerina. Lilly laid sprawled out on her back on the cold and damp dungeon floor, her eyes dull and glossed over, her skin pale. She was dead, her throat was bitten and she was obviously drained of her blood which was the cause of her ashen flesh. Seconds later, he felt heat coming off of Lilly's body, and when he strained into the darkness in front of him, he could see lava colored vines that covered Lilly's body like a tattoo, her body was disintegrating, evaporating into nothing but a lava-colored mist.