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kpopchangedme · 5 years ago

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Nocturna: Part I

The fragile peace between undead and lycanth is imperilled your arrival to the Inferorum Castrum. Between the changing power dynamics of the wolf pack and the insatiable urges of the vampire king, you aren’t exactly sure where your loyalty lies.

Protagonists: Im Jaebeom | You | Bang Chan

Word Count: 2.3k

Prompt: “I thought you were dead” requested by Anon

Nocturna Masterlist | HALLOWEEN

The beast is nearing, you can hear its growls over your frenetic pants. You accelerate, not noticing the low branches scratching your face as you run deeper than ever into the ancient forest. Climbing a tree could be a great escape plan if the monster wasn’t already so close. Your lungs are afire, threatening to give in any moment. Your heartbeat is deafening, the sound resonating within you as if to scream you’re still alive. It’s the only thing pushing you to keep running, survive.

You don’t want to die. You want to live, reach your village. You promised your grandmother you would be back safe and sound. Behind you, there’s an animalistic low howl. The others were right, you should never have set foot in the Forbidden Forest. Now you are doomed. “HELP,” you scream, not slowing your erratic race down, “SOMEONE HELP ME!”

But there is no one to hear, no other human soul within these woods, you’re all alone. The beast has gained ground again. Its large paws quicker than your feet on the dead leaves, and between the tree roots. You look over your shoulder, meeting its glowy eyes. It’s a question of mere seconds before it jumps on you. Understanding this, you blindly fork to the left, unable to see in the thick darkness. It is the middle of the day, but the sun rays don’t shine through the high branches of the old trees. The forest is black and foreign, no wonder villagers never walk through these woods, or rather... Never come out again. It wasn’t a problem for you before today, but you had never wandered this deep, never would’ve hunted this far from the outskirts. It’s all because of that monster...

You don’t see it coming when the wolf snaps your shoulder and you fall to the ground screaming went it releases you. The momentum of your race causes you to tumble and roll on yourself for a few meters in a small glade. You hit roots and rocks as you go before you’re finally immobilized. The beast has stopped too. It now stands many steps back, observing as you desperately attempt to crawl away. The wolf’ canines are exposed, glimmering and its muzzle trembles on a silent ferocious growl.

The scariest smile.

Its hind is raised, legs bent and ready to jump to end you. That is no normal wolf. Its silvery coat of fur and bear size are anything but that of those you’ve faced through your years of hunting. Aching all over, you stop trying to crawl. You can’t escape. Instead, you muster your courage and reach for the bow to your side. You aren’t going to be eaten alive, not without a fight. As you load a wood arrow from your broken quiver, the demon wolf snaps its jaw on thin air, challenging. There’s a strange intelligent spark in its eyes. Your vision is blurry, tinted by the blood running down your face. As if the attack wasn’t enough, the fall severely injured you. Even if you miraculously manage to kill the beast, you’re going to bleed out here.

“Well,” a male voice suddenly rises from the surrounding blackness, startling you, “this is just rude.”

The wolf diverts his yellow glare to your right at the interruption. You are not relieved at all though, all hair rises on your body. There’s nobody to be found where the voice came from, no one visible to the naked eye. That is bad. The Forbidden Forest is infamous for sheltering the worst creatures known to humankind. Your screams must have attracted one. The silver beast prances in hesitation, searching for the newcomer too. Using the diversion, you aim your arrow at its neck, holding your breath for a clear shot.

“Is it silver?” The strange voice echoes again, this time closer to your left. You turn, alarmed, sending droplets of blood flying. Again, there’s nothing there. Whatever this supernatural being is; it’s agile, maybe the wolf is the least of your worries now. There’s a chuckle, “Go for the head.�� Your grip tightens on your hunting bow. You pull at the bowstring, trying to ignore the ache in your wounded shoulder. The silver wolf growls, louder this time, before barking madly. “Shoot.” The voice presses you once more from somewhere above, and the wolf’s jaw snaps on nothing like a protest. “The head!” Finally, you see him: the strange man that voice belongs to. He’s lazily leaning against a tree nearby, laughing. He’s built but lean, and as pale as death. Not a man, you realize; a bloodsucker.

You don’t even have to ponder a second more to take your shot.

You let go of the string and the arrow whistles, cutting through the air in direction of its target. Unfortunately, it is stopped by a steel grip, millimetres away from marble skin. You have never missed a single shot, but there is a first for everything.

“I meant for the dog’s.” The alabaster man speaks airily, the remnant of his amusement completely gone.

You’ve heard of creatures of the night, through legends told by your people to keep children away from the forest. Bloodsucking eternal undead that masquerade as humans to lure their prey. Pale as parchment, beautiful as gods and strong as a hundred men. Your instinct is to flee when the vampire's eyes narrow dangerously into two sanguine slits, but your injuries prevent you from standing at all. You fall back to your knees in pain, broken. Your whole back and face are ablaze, cut open by the beast and the fall.

“That wasn’t very nice...” The undead breaks your arrow in his hand with no apparent effort, and your eyes widen. “Help me,” he mimics with a higher pitch, pushing himself off the tree, “someone help me!” He walks to the middle of the trees, and the giant wolf steps back in the forest, barking madly. You sure are going to miss that beast if it flees so easily in front of this new one.

“You aren’t supposed to be out,” you hush, clutching to your bow for reassurance, “the sun is still high!”

“Exactly.” With feline grace, the vampire crouches in front of you. He’s even more stunning from up close, eyes stretching in straight lines with a pointy chin. “Some of us are trying to rest, tidbit.” The creature is only this pretty because he’s an amazing predator, a trap perfected to distract and fascinate humans, like a colourful poisonous frog. At the comparison, your stomach turns. “You got a lot of nerves, I like that.” He admits, so close, that when you raise your head, the only thing you see is his crimson irides. “Head kills the wolf. For me… Straight at the heart. It always amazes me, how forgetful and feeble mortals are.”

“I a-apologise,” your voice falters, “I was just trying to escape, s-sir!” There’s something about the creature that inspires reverence, perhaps it’s his obvious power. He seemed angry, but at your fearful respect, he softens.

“Hear that, tail-wagger? You are the reason I was disturbed... And now grumpy!” The vampire glares somewhere above your head, sounding far away. “Couldn’t you have finished this, clean and quiet? Do you have any idea what time it is!”

“Noon,” you turn your head at the new voice, mouth falling open as another man emerges from the deep woods. He’s stark naked, tanned skin and sculpted muscles exposed in all their glory. Although, that’s not why you are staring. You know him very well, would recognize that silvery mass of messy curls anywhere.

Chan.

He is your closest friend. You met at the market, both trying to sell game when you were about fifteen. Chan isn’t from your village but he is a nomad hunter and visits often. He even knows your grandma. You went on a few trips together throughout the years. He’s a skilled hunter, second best to you in the area. He must have been in the forest and heard your screams. He came to your rescue.

"R-Run..." You want to yell at him to run away, insists he leaves you behind and saves himself, but you only manage to whisper. "Go..." He doesn't seem to hear.

“The sun is up. Which means I am well within my rights, Jeonha...” Chan spits the last word whilst baring his teeth in a feral threat. You have never seen him like that.

This can’t be.

Does he know the vampire, isn’t he here to save you? As though sensing your confusion, the young hunter turns to assess you. Except there’s something else instead of his familiar brown irides. A terrifying yellow glow, one that you’ve seen before. Impossible.

“You…” In shock, you try to wrap your head around what he is, terrified.

“Go away,” the wolf says to the vampire, tone cavernous, “she’s mine.” You notice Chan’s mouth is soaked with blood, your blood, you blanch even more.

“The human seems to disagree,” the undead reaches for your face, and you recoil by reflex but he follows, “and I hate being disturbed in the middle of the day. I deserve a treat.” His icy fingers brush some blood on your battered cheek, and he takes them to his mouth. Instantly, his almond eyes roll back. “Oh,” he mutters in awe. It takes him seconds to speak again, but it feels like an eternity. “Sweet...” Without warning, his hand wraps around your arm to yank you upwards, making you yelp in pain. Your entire body is cut and bleeding, you really are going to die.

The dark animal in Chan's body appears in front of you two before you can fight back, “She's mine! ” He points out angrily like you’re some sort of toy he’s being denied. “You can’t just take her! He won’t stand for it, I wo-”

“Too bad! I haven’t fed in a while...” You tug at your arm in despair, but the vampire doesn’t budge. “And aren’t you forgetting something, mutt?”

“Jeonha...” He grunts, mouth closed, looking like he’s about to rip the other’s throat open.

The vampire simply waves his hand in the air. “Shoo puppy, shoo!”

Chan narrows his eyes meanly but remains unimpressed. His lips curl, uncovering menacing canines as sound birth at the bottom of his gut. They are going to fight.

“Help...” You try to scream but only manage to whimper, last strength abandoning you. The two supernatural creatures turn to you like one. “Save me... Please, save me...” There’s no one else to hear, but you still have to try one last time. You’re about to pass out from your injuries. Your vision is blurring.

With amazing timing, a long powerful howl echoes from somewhere deep inside the forest. Instantly, Chan steps back as if summoned. His eyes go from the woods to you in haste. “I’ll get you back soon.” He promises with a nod as though you aren’t dying on the ground. You want to believe he isn't the one who bit off your shoulder. That this thing wasn't him. You want to belive he cares for you.

The pale vampire chuckles, finding this entertaining. “I won’t let that happen, dog. And if you ever dare disturb me again... I won’t be as forgiving.”

“C-Ch…” You attempt, hoping to appeal to the man-wolf’s humanity. He seems like a far better end than the cold-one.

It almost works. “Sorry,” Chan whispers with fatality. With that, the beast in a human body growls one last time, turning to walk back into the forest. He doesn't even look back. When the vampire’s attention fully returns, he pulls you closer, making your stomach sink to your feet. The only thing holding you upwards now is his arm wrapped around your waist.

“What are we gonna do, dear? I thought you were dead meat...” You wiggle with desperation in his grip, like a worm fighting the hook. He sighs, “How unappetizing...” That alone succeeds in making you freeze. His lips stretch into a devilish smile. “Don’t worry, I like my humans way warmer.”

You are not stupid, you know what he is and what he sustains from, but vampires never killed people from your village. You’ve been the guardians of their sanctuary woods for centuries.

“I am from Ianua,” you mutter weakly, eyes fluttering shut. His impossibly large grin widens, uncovering his fangs. “You can’t k-kill me...”

“I could but I didn’t tidbit.” His scarlet irides are now half-moon shapes. “You went ahead and picked a fight with a mad dog.” You try to free yourself from his grip once more, but you’re too weak by now. Your knees give up. The vampire catches you easily, holding you up in an embrace. “I don’t think you have much time left… So weak...” He whispers, pressing his face into your hair. “Do you really want me to save you?”

“P-Please…” You breathe out, “Please, save me...”

“As you wish, tidbit.” His fingers delicately brush hair away from your face. “But only because you begged. Sleep.”

Everything goes black.

Nocturna Masterlist | HALLOWEEN

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blapis-blazuli · 5 years ago

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It’s a bit late for me to do this, but since the Monster AU @animatedc9000 and I created turns two years old today, I thought I’d give some quick thoughts on some of the things we’ve seen that are either part of it or we watched because of it in... some sort of order.

(Please don’t comment with something like “well actually” or “to be fair” or “but that’s (technically) not really a monster”, I’m having none of that. Also not all of these were included for the sake of monsters, as one in particular should be obvious for that. It’s a long story and I’m not sure if I have the attention span to fully explain.)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920): Pretty interesting, honestly? Can’t think of many versions that include a dream/hallucination of a spider

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923): Not bad, but I found it kinda odd that for being the title character it doesn’t really have as much focus on Quasimodo as I expected?

The Phantom of the Opera (1925): I get why people like it as much as they do (read: enjoy it the normal amount and not glorify it like John Flynn), but I thought it dragged on for a little too long?

Dracula (1931): Not bad. Not my favorite, but not bad.

Frankenstein (1931): Lovely! I think there were a few pacing issues towards the beginning and I’m still kinda baffled by the ending they went with, but overall I like it a lot.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931): Amazing. The effects were really impressive and Fredric March deserved all the praise he got for his acting here.

The Mummy (1932): Honestly probably my least favorite of the ones that are considered to be the definitive Universal Monsters, but I do think Karloff’s acting was pretty good.

The Invisible Man (1933): By far my favorite. I could go on about this one for a while, but I won’t because I have lots of others to get to.

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935): I liked this even more than the original, honestly?

Dracula’s Daughter (1936): Poor Marya...

Son of Frankenstein (1939): Not as good as Bride of Frankenstein but I still like it enough.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939): I wanna see more of this Sherlock and Holmes? (Yes, I know they’re not monsters, but they’re here for other reasons; it’s a long story)

The Invisible Man Returns (1940): This is a really underrated sequel?

The Invisible Woman (1940): It’s... eh. Kitty Carroll deserves a better movie.

Man Made Monster (1941): Not bad for a film that’s about an hour long, but what the fuck was with that romance subplot? What the fuck?

The Wolf Man (1941): Good, but it’s hilarious that it expects me to believe that Claude Rains was Lon Chaney Jr’s dad, lol

Ghost of Frankenstein (1942): I don’t think this one’s as bad as some people have said?

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943): It’s good, but poor Larry...

Son of Dracula (1943): Kinda the weaker one of the Dracula child movies, but it’s alright. That ending is still really dumb though.

The Phantom of the Opera (1943): Poor Erique... Also I think this suffered from some poorly-chosen studio-mandated editing choices.

House of Frankenstein (1944): Did not integrate Dracula into the three-monster film very well. More importantly though, let Larry be happy, damnit.

House of Dracula (1945): Did not do Dracula or Frankenstein’s Monster enough justice, but at least Larry finally got to be happy.

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945/1973/1976): Three different versions, and all of them have a lot of similarities. Namely that Basil deserved way better and I want to beat Wotton to death with a baseball bat.

The Spider Woman Strikes Back (1946): The first two acts are pretty decent, but the ending is honestly terrible. Zenobia deserves a better movie. One that makes her a proper lesbian icon.

House of Horrors (1946): It’s not bad, but it’s sadly pretty ableist.

She-Wolf of London (1946): Spoilers: there’s no werewolves. That said, I actually enjoyed this more than I expected? The women aren’t written too badly and it kinda does a twist on the love triangle thing that I wasn’t expecting?

The Son of Dr. Jekyll (1951): Not a bad concept, just poorly executed.

It Came from Outer Space (1953): This one’s really neat actually?

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1953): It’s alright, but I could’ve done with Gill-Man offing off more of the male cast. They suck.

Cult of the Cobra (1955): This has a lot in common with The Mummy, but I actually like this one more? There’s a seed of an idea here with Lisa, but it just doesn’t seem like it was fully realized.

The Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957): This fucking sucked. It had no clue what the fuck it was doing.

The Fly (1958): The first time I saw it I thought it was pretty hokey, but after watching other monster movies from around this time and revisiting it, it’s better than I remember? Return of the Fly is still garbage though.

The Leech Woman (1960): Okay, this is cheating a bit since Cait and I “watched” it via MST3K, but I don’t think I would’ve been able to stand it by itself because... no. There’s an idea here, deep down there somewhere, but... no.

Phantom of the Paradise (1974): The first third was pretty... eh for me, but I was definitely more into it by the end. I also love how the villain is the guy who wrote Rainbow Connection and was The Penguin in BTAS.

[DATA REMOVED] ([DATA REMOVED]): ...No, just no. [DATA REMOVED], I’m sorry.

For those not in our AU but we watched anyway just because

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919/20): I can’ definitely see how this ended up influencing the styles of other films, it’s interesting.

Nosferatu (1922): I think this is the only one we’ve seen that’s actually given me the creeps? I dunno why, but it was an interesting watch.

The Man Who Laughs (1928): Spoilers: this is the rare film that gives the deformed person a happy ending, and he absolutely deserves it.

Son of Dracula (1974): I’ll be honest, I was only looking forward to this for the Keith Moon cameo.

Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula (1979): I... liked the ideas that were introduced here more than those in Son of Dracula. I don’t think I’d recommend it though.

The Mummy (1997): Not perfect, but still a lot of fun.

The Umm (2017): This is the opposite of fun. Don’t even watch it to try and get a laugh out of it, it’s not worth it.

Anyway, happy two years to our AU!

#long post #Monster AU

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