“What the fuck is Normal doing here?!” Greg shouted reaching for his gun.
“Please lower your weapons Sir Wesker, this woman is merely here on behalf of her organization. They seek the same thing as you.” A maid spoke up.
Greg lowered his gun and glanced at his partner, she too was unnerved by their enemy’s appearance here.
“I normally do not conduct business with the Normal but their request for an audience coincided with yours and I could not help but be suspicious. It seems you both seek protection from the other. I was originally going to give out a shell-stone but I will not lend two.” Lady Roseblood announced.
“Your Ladyship, my master has bid me to give you anything it is you would desire for the stone.” Demeter said with a bow.
“You can’t give them a shell-stone, they mean to wipe you out with the other supernatural races!” Anna implored.
The vampire Lady turned her gaze to the werewolf.
“I am aware of this woman’s allegiances and their goals, however the vampire realm is not officially at war with the Normal. While it is true they hunt my kind they only do so to unaffiliated individuals, ones who claim no loyalties to my fellow Old Bloods or lesser lords and ladies. As such I will show them the same courtesy as I show you.” The red haired woman said.
“S.P.E.A.R isn’t going to make any grandiose offers or try to bid against the Normal. Name your price.” Anna said.
“Interesting. Perhaps a test is in order, one of you must prove your worth and deserving of the stone.” Lady Roseblood announced.
“Fine.” Anna replied.
“I have no objections my lady.” The busty blonde replied as well.
“The trials will begin at dusk. Until then rooms have been prepared for each of you and you may gather in the drawing room as well, dinner will be served soon as well.” The vampire explained.
Maids then showed the groups to their rooms and informed them when dinner would be ready. Anna and Greg met up in Greg’s room to discuss things further.
“What the fuck? The Normal want a shell-stone too? Why would that vampire allow them to have one in the first place?” Greg asked.
“You heard her, the Normal might hate vampires as much as other creatures but they don’t attack the big families. Even so, she must have some strange reason to “test” both us and the Normal.” Anna said looking into the room’s fireplace.
That night the groups gathered in the snowy courtyard and the agents and Normal bothe stepped forward to which Lady Roseblood stopped them with the raise of her hand.
“I’m afraid the Goddess will have to remain here, these trials are to test mortals. It wouldn’t be very entertaining for you to go through them Demeter. However your soldiers are welcome to go in your stead.” The vampire announced.
Demeter gave a slight bow and motioned for the two soldiers accompanying her to step forward instead. If the blonde was irritated at this revelation she didn’t show it.
“Remove your helmets, those who pass into the Red Castle’s catacombs must do so unveiled.” Roseblood instructed,
The two soldiers did so and Anna and Greg could see that one was a man and the other a woman. The woman had dark skin and steel grey eyes, her black hair was slicked into a very tight bun. The man was tan with green eyes and had a shaved head with a tattoo on the left side of his face. Each was wearing white Normal combat uniforms with black and tan gear.
One of the castle’s maids now stepped forward to explain the rules,
“Now that everyone is prepared you four will enter the depths of my elegance’s castle where you will find a shell-stone, the pair that retrieves it will be granted safe passage out of the catacombs. You may use any tools or skills at your disposal, you may harm the other group. Be weary, only one man has been able to escape the tunnels.” She explained.
Four other maids stood at each corner of the frozen fountain in the center of the courtyard and each cut their hands and let the vampire blood enter the frozen water, the fountain glowed and the maids retreated. The tiled floors of the courtyard began to move in a circular pattern that they were laid out in initially, eventually the floor gave way to a semicircle of stairs with torches only lighting the double dozen steps. The two pairs readied their weapons and descended the stone stairs into the darkness below.
Almost immediately Greg and Anna were separated from the Normal soldiers via a stone wall collapsing, separating the group.
“That’s great, I was hoping to get rid of those goons before we went deeper.” The blonde man said.
“That’s cold.” Anna remarked with a whistle.
“You were thinking the same thing, I rather not have to keep an eye out for Normal goons while surviving this place.” Greg defended.
Both took out their flashlights and scanned their surroundings carefully, unsure what to expect. The air was cold and ice appeared even in the catacombs.
“Right. Why do you think Lady Roseblood would want to play these games instead of just giving the shell-stone to one of us?” The werewolf asked as she examined one of the indents in the walls where bodies were buried.
“Who knows, from what McMillan’s reports tell us is that vampires love to play games with mortals, be it fancy dinner parties or death mazes.” He replied.
The agents continued through the body lined tunnels and came to an opening with long spikes coming from the ceiling, several had already fallen down and pierced the ground beneath them. They kept their gaze at the ceiling, hoping no other spear like spike decided to impale them. When they crossed a skeleton that had been impaled by one of the ceiling spikes Greg almost suffered the same fate but his partner’s heightened senses alerted her to the danger. Anna grabbed Greg and rushed them forward and fired two warning shots at the ceiling, causing many spikes to fall but also revealing several ghouls stalking through the spear like spikes. When Greg saw this be rushed to keep up with the black haired woman and they both heard horrible screeches as they sprinted dodging falling spikes.
Thankfully they passed through another opening and a heavy metal cage closed the entrance behind them, keeping the feral creatures from reaching them.
“What the fuck was that shit?!” The blonde man said through hoarse breaths.
“Ghouls, but not the normal kind, they’re called Bloodless Ghouls: they’re created when a vampire completely drains a human’s blood but also turns them into a vampire, the result is a practically mindless creature with an insatiable hunger for blood and flesh. At least that’s what the files say, no vampire had created more than a few Bloodless Ghouls before.” Anna explained.
“Great, those things are probably everywhere down here. Let’s keep moving and figure out what we have to face now.” The man replied.
The two agents examined their surroundings and readied their guns for what lied ahead for them.