The Vampire Skull 2.1 The City of Dawn

10 years later

Ellie widened her eyes as she glanced up at a gothic manor, worn down by time, the rusty metal gate falling off the fence, the windows shut with rotten planks. The grass looked overgrown and wild, the estate overtaken by the wild. She and Skully had dreamt of going to Dawn for so many years. Ellie had only ever been to Dawn once, she didn’t remember much of it, she had just been a small child, even though it was so near to their small town, Everwood. Ellie had always begged her dad to go see Dawn after she found Skully, but he always said no, he did not like the city, he said the neon lights were too bright, hiding the true side of Dawn, the darkness that lingered there.

“Oh, I know this place… I have been here before… Fudge, if only I could remember.” Skully exclaimed with a gloomy undertone from under Ellie’s arm.

Ellie looked at the manor with an ecstatic look on her face. This is what they came to Dawn for.

“Let’s go inside. It looks really creepy and abandoned. I smell adventure here!” She shouted almost too loudly as she lifted Skully high up in the air, she had been waiting for this.

“But what if it ends in tragedy, what if I don’t remember anything? What if I actually remember something?” Skully groaned, he looked at the manor, what was this feeling of dread?

“Fudge it!” He exclaimed suddenly. “Let’s go.”

Ellie walked over the broken gate, and noticed how it had a big V in the middle. She struggled through the tall grass until she reached the stairs to the front door. Skully still felt this dread deep inside, a horrid feeling.

“Be careful Ellie, I’ve got this weird feeling.” He muttered to her.

She gave him a pat on the head.

“It’s ok, let’s just see what’s here, it looks abandoned anyway.”

Ellie carefully stepped up the stairs, some steps were broken in a few places. She reached the door, opening it slightly, before she peeked inside; she could see a hallway, with a dark red, faded carpet covering the whole floor.

“Wow! I wonder what we will find here.” Ellie marvelled as she entered the house, curious to see if any of Skully’s past would be hiding here. Ellie tried to flick the light switch, no luck there, so she pulled out a flashlight from her backpack. Her fingers fumbled for a second to turn it on, she almost fell back when the light flooded out.

”Always prepared for adventure.” She whispered to herself, she felt excited, such an old house, what could they find?

She pointed the flashlight to the hallway, her eyes shifting from side to side, the house appeared dim, the walls full of dust and cobwebs, old faded paintings, a portrait or two.

“Oh look, we found cobwebs.” Skully stated.

Ellie took no notice of Skully’s remark and kept walking, creaks were coming from the floors as she walked, suddenly there was a cracking sound right where she stepped, she jumped back as some part of the floor just broke and fell straight down. Ellie’s heart was beating a bit faster.

“Phew.” She trembled.

“That was a close one, I guess I should walk a bit more carefully.” She held Skully a bit closer.

“You almost dropped me down there…” Skully said with horror in his voice.

“Anyway, I feel like we should go upstairs maybe?” He urged Ellie. She carefully walked across the floor until they reached the stairs, they looked like they were in better condition than most things in this house.

“Let’s go up then, this house is so cool. Tell me if you remember anything.” Ellie remarked as she started walking up the stairs, they swirled up to the next floor. She looked around, another hallway, similar to the downstairs one, this one had a few very faded looking portraits on the walls, covered in dust.

“Excuse me” she heard a frail voice say.

“Who said that? That was not you right Skully?” She glanced around the hallway.

Skully replied. “Nope, not me…” As he caught sight of a shadow drawing closer from the back.

A tall frail man appeared, Ellie turned around and almost fell back. The man had dark long hair, his eyes appeared dark and gloomy, his clothes were tattered and frayed.

Ellie wondered if he was a squatter, she looked down at Skully, having no idea what to do, she was not used to city life.

“I said that.” The man announced and focused his eyes on Ellie.

“Pardon me Miss. But you are trespassing. This is private property, this manor belongs to my master.” He coldly explained. Both she and Skully were staring at this man, he seemed a bit curious. Ellie held on tight to Skully, her heart started beating faster, she felt like she couldn’t breathe for a moment.

“Who is this clown?” Skully asked before he continued. “He somehow seems familiar though…” Ellie felt remorseful for just barging into the manor now, her heart was racing, why didn’t she notice?

“I am so sorry, we thought the house was abandoned. I didn’t know.” She muttered softly, Ellie felt quite intimidated by his presence.

He peered at her.

“I am sick of you kids thinking it’s funny to enter this house without even knocking the door.” He sneered while coming closer to her.

“Maybe I should teach you a lesson, Miss.”

Ellie tried to step back, but he reached his hand out and grabbed her neck before she could. His long, thin fingers felt cold and hard, like stone around her neck.

“Please, I’m sorry. I wasn’t…” Ellie could feel his fingers tightening around her neck, lifting her up against the wall. This was not the adventure she had in mind, she could barely breathe, she couldn’t even reach him with her kicks, she tried pushing the hand off, but he was like a statue, locked in place.

“Ellie!” Shouted Skully, she held on firmly to him with both her hands now, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The man opened his mouth wider.

“I am hungry, and you have deeply infuriated me.” He hissed as he bared his fangs.

Ellie could see the needle sharp fangs, clear as day. A heart started racing faster and faster, she couldn’t catch her breath, how did she end up here, so fast?

She had just moved to Dawn last week.