Shadow of the Past, part two

October, 1947
Poenari Castle, Romania


General Strigoli's men led the Soviet Superwoman deep down into the very bowels of the ruined castle. The air was dank and foul. It smelled of freshly turned soil, offal and the sickly sweet smell of bodies left to burst and rot. The eyes of rats shone through the darkness in places where the few sputtering torches meager light were refused purchase. Their number must have swelled to legion down here. The macabre procession made it's way down to what had been and still was the dungeons. The undead soldiers shuffled along almost mindlessly, their necks oscillating like a snakes and mouths occasionally falling open also to slowly close again. Some of them made a low hissing sound as they went along. None of these weaker vampires seemed able to blink as they stared forward with their bright, yellow eyes, focusing only on the task Strigoli had given them. Upon reaching their destination on the far wall, they moved the docile woman into position and began to secure her there with length upon length of heavy, rusting chains.

Olga Yezhov was completely in a trance. Her eyes appeared glazed over and she also barely took the time to blink. She stumbled along with the undead Legionnaires as they had made their way through what was left of Poenari Castle. Her feet seemed heavy and she only barely lifted them up to move, her gait appearing almost mechanical. She didn't care where she was going and was completely oblivious to where she was. Her orders from Moscow were gone, as why how she even got to this strange place. All she cared about was doing exactly what General Strigoli commanded. When they (and Olga didn't even seem to care who or what the rest of his soldiers were) arrived at their destination, she willingly let the men chain her to the cold, stone wall and then all two but of them filed out of the chamber heading back the way they had came. The muscular Russian heroine simply stood in the same spot, her head hanging down against her chest. Time lost all meaning.

"Wake up child. It is time for you to join us."

Strigoli's voice was like velvet dipped in honey to her ears. When she opened her eyes, he was standing several feet away from her and smiling at her. His needle-like fangs dipped down to almost touch his swollen-looking bottom lip and his face had an almost excited and feral look about it. Blood was clotting in the corners of his mouth and his eyes held a malevolent look to them as they danced over the chained Russian soldier. The two Legionnaires he had left behind were there with him. One of them was holding the golden chalice he had had with him earlier and the other soldier was helping to unbutton and remove the General's coat. With the olive garment removed, Strigoli was a powerfully muscled and exceptionally hairy man. With his curved talon he dug deeply into the pale flesh of his own chest as the other soldier held the chalice underneath to catch the crimson blood that swelled forth from it. He turned to speak to the chained Russian again as the blood continued to ooze out into the vessel.

"Once you have drank my blood which I have spilled for you, you will become one of my flock. You will live only to serve me, but you will live forever. You will stay young and powerful for all of eternity at my feet. You will do everything I command when I command. I am the reincarnation of the most powerful ruler in all of history. It is only fitting that I now have the most powerful weapon of all history as my servant."

Olga Yezhov began to hear a faint buzzing sound as she watched this man, barely comprehending what he was telling her. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The buzzing increased and she shook her head slightly to make it go away. She tried to move her arms up to cover her ears but they seemed so heavy. The chain links clinked together as her arms lifted several inches and dropped back down. The General frowned slightly at that and the way she was slowly rolling her head back and forth. He stepped back away from the chalice, a few precious drops of his vitae splashing to the floor, and grabbed the cup with his left hand. The two Legionnaires looked at their master in confusion as he crossed swiftly over to the dark haired woman. The buzzing intensified until Olga could begin to make out words. Muffled, words being screamed at her as if through a dense fog of cotton. It was her own voice she recognized shouting at her to wake up! The voice was pleading and desperate sounding as if this was the last chance she would have to save it from being buried away forever. Her thrashing intensified. Strigoli grabbed hold of her throat, slamming her head against the wall and holding it in place with his supernatural strength. He raised the chalice up with his other hand and placed the edge of it against her plush lip. The voice in Olga's head screamed one final time. It was a terrible bellow of fear and anger that seemed to shut out all other sounds and sensations. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and the world went white.

Olga Yezhov, the Soviet Superwoman opened her cobalt blue eyes. As they quickly focused she realized she was staring back into the gold-green eyes of General Strigoli, a surprised and shocked expression on his face. She felt the object against her mouth. Her brow furrowed into an expression of pure rage and her eyes turned solid red.

The blast of laser vision caught the General full in the face and sent him flying backwards, spinning him like a top. The chalice full of his blood flew in the opposite direction of his body, dropping to the floor and spattering the stones with it's vile contents. The vampire lord hit the ground hard as well, smoke rising up from his injured and ruined face. He let out a terrible hiss, like a cat whose tail had been stomped on hard and turned to face his assailant. His face was no longer even human looking in appearance. It was completely bestial with cruel glowing eyes and a mouth full of wicked, feral fangs. The two Legionnaires rushed the Soviet juggernaut at their master's inhuman command only to have their bodies burst like overripe bags of cold, black blood as her laser vision swept across them, popping them like balloons. Their broken, smoking corpses dropped to the ground like bags of grain, stinking of decay and corruption.

Strigoli rushed her, launching himself off the floor at her like a cat with his gnarled, claw-like hands stretched outwards. Olga snapped the chains covering her left arm like they were made of paper, throwing a cascade of links in all directions. As what was once the General rushed her at incredible speeds she blasted him full on with another burst of laser vision. This time the blast punched two holes in the beast and he dropped again, howling in an animalistic wail of agony. Olga burst the chains covering her right arm and freed herself from the wall. Waves of heat emanated from her red glowing eyes as she walked towards the injured General. Strigoli looked up at her and snarled, his eyes frantically looking around like a caged beast for some way to escape. The Soviet wasted no time giving him the option and fired on him again. Strigoli's body unexpectedly erupted into flame as the laser vision seemed to outline him in a flash of crimson light. A high guttural howl rose from the flaming vampire.

The unholy creature flailed about engulfed in flames, bounding around the chamber in a mad attempt to extinguish the fire that was consuming him. Thick black smoke began to pour from his body as his hissing screams were choked off and he collapsed to the ground, crackling and popping. Olga took a step towards her fallen opponent only to raise a gloved hand to her mouth in horror. The General's still smoldering body split open with a wet, sucking sound and all manner of vermin began to spill forth from the corpse. A host of swollen maggots, scuttling beetles, broad-winged black crows, serpents and lizards began to pour forth from the denuded skeleton. Olga moved quickly and began to kick them back into the flames, firing her lasers at them as they scampered away. As quickly as their twitching bodies were stomped or pushed back into the flames, more beasts ushered forth dodging frantically between her feet. It was a fruitless endeavor and after a time she stopped and watched as they escaped either up the stairs or into dark hiding places where safety lay.
Olga took her leave of Poenari Castle as quickly as possible, taking to the starless night sky. Below her the undead Legionnaires of the vampire lay scattered and lifeless once again around the keep, as dead as the cold bodies of the Red Army impaled around them. Broken puppets with no master, the dark power that had keep them animated having been diminished and fled. Fled but not defeated. The hairs on the back of neck stood on end. She hoped that those in Moscow would believe her story.

She hoped to never have to return to this accursed, haunted place.


The End...?

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First a gigantic thanks to for having this piece of art commissioned as a gift by the spectacular
I had been saving this image for just the right story and I hope I did not disappoint my friends!

Soviet Superwoman and the story are both my creations and property.

General Marius Strigoli is a creation of and his use here is authorized and much appreciated.