Hallow King

Doctor Death

Hallow paced the outside of the human king's room, aggressively chewing on candy corns and other assorted treats he had ordered to be brought to him.

Keeping watch over the hallway  was his executioner, making sure that nobody entered the king's quarters until Doctor Death was done with his somewhat long ordeal.

The thin, devilish looking vampire had dropped by hours ago- a box filled with different tools firm in his grip. When he had received word that Hallow was in desperate need of his help, he dropped everything and made sure to buy a one way ticket up to the human world. Luckily for him, the sun wouldn't be a problem and he could place all his attention on his new victim.

"This is taking much longer than I expected! If he comes out of this unsuccessful, I will execute every living mortal in this land myself. Do you hear me?"

Hallow was pointing an accusing finger at Vicky, who was standing beside a very displeased looking Catarina. She glanced up at her mother for a moment before the angry frown that greeted her back caused her to turn away in shame.

"What will my poor, dead brother do when he discovers you ruined all our plans?" Hallow continued digging into his bowl of candy, furiously munching on the sweets though they melted quite quickly in his mouth. "If he owned a head, he would lose it! Oh, no, no, no!"

Before Hallow could go on a rampage again, a pair of large doors behind them all swung open.

Cat, Vicky, Hallow, and even his executioner all turned simultaneously, focused entirely on a bloodied, pale man standing at the doorway. He wiped his red fingers with the end of his white coat, walking clamly towards a silent Hallow. No one spoke until the doctor revealed how his operation had gone.

"Dear friend. I am pleased to announce that my experiment was succesful."

Hallow let out a long sigh of relief, nearly collapsing on top of poor Vicky. He steadied himself, eager to rush in and see what Doctor Death had done.

Without waiting for another word, he scurried inside the lit room and prepared himself to see a living, breathing king. Instead, he was astonished to find the opposite of that.

Instead of a moving, fresh man, a discolored, limp one lay on the bed. Attached to his joints were long, thin metal strings that seemed to dissapear past the ceiling of his canopy bed.

Hallow was seconds away from throwing the furniture up in the air, but a voice from his doctor cut him off.

"I know what you're thinking. All this time for this? Dont fret, I have a plan." He strolled over to his experiment's bed, pulling up on one of the strings attached to his wrist. The dead king's hang moved upward as well, but Hallow wasn't impressed.

"I was so certain you could bring life into the old man. How do you expect us to pull this off!? He's a revolting puppet!"

From outside, the three individuals knew that their King was unhappy with what he had seen. This only made Vicky want to hide behind her still angry mother.

"Dim the lights and stand at the foot of the bed. I will show you what I have done." Doctor Death jumped up into the canopy, hidden from view as Hallow instantly made the candles around him fade slightly.

He crossed his arms over his chest, grumbling with annoyance as he waited to see what the vampire had wanted to show him.

"Hello there, Hallow." The king was suddenly alive now, his arms moving naturally as well as his limp head and tightly shut mouth. "The good doctor has removed all my organs and replaced my bones to make my movements less heavy. You should tell my daughter that I cant leave this bed,  for I'm still sick. Invite her in, however. I shall give you both my blessing."

Hallow was finally impressed, and he found himself at a lose of words to describe how pleased he was.

He rose up his hands and began to clap with a deep, booming laugh. "Excellent work, doctor! My, even his voice sounds identical? This plan can't possibly fail!" He exited the room, nearly running into his companions as they took many steps back.

"Well? Do you think we can trick the girl and anyone who comes to see him?" Catarina asked curiously, resting her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Those impudent imbeciles won't suspect a thing. But we must keep the candles low, or they will notice his strings." He motioned for his executioner to come closer and pointed to the outside of the door, "You will stand guard here and not let any fleshy in, except for Leiah of course. Now as for you," he was now focused on Catarina and Vicky, "Make sure that little one is on a tight leash. I would hate to have to punish her myself."

"You won't have to, Hallow. If anything else happens, she'll be thrown in the dungeon with the other princess. Isn't that right, V?" Cat finished with a determined nod. Vicky only snorted in dissaproval, as she was much too wild to agree to those terms. With a saddened sigh, she realized she had no choice.

"Fine," the young girl pouted, staring up at her uncle, "But I think I brought you one step closer to accomplishing the plan."

"What do you expect me to do? Pat your empty head and fill it with sweets?" Hallow wouldnt forgive the girl for a while, and everyone present knew it. He strolled past both mother and daughter, on his way to greet his nervous princess and give her the good news.

He was sure that she wouldn't deny him any further now, after all, her father would give her the okay to marry him. Hallow was sure that from there on out, everything would fit into place and he would soon complete the task he had been sent out to do. Nothing or no one could stop him now.