Everything was so peaceful now, Vlad could hardly believe he was just at a world conference. The sun was nice to feel on his skin after hours of cold rain and the grass underneath him was like a warm blanket threatening to cover him up and bury him in the peace he was feeling. Vlad could even smell the flowers as he laid on the grass with the sun smiling at-

Panic flooded through Vlad's body as he pushed himself upright and opened his eyes as he looked at his unfamiliar surroundings. He could hardly breathe as he looked at the oddly beautiful forest he found himself in as he instinctively cradled his arms to his chest. All Vlad could feel was panic as he looked around frantically, hoping, praying- that he could find some semblance of familiarity.

'Where the hell am I?!' is all that Vlad could think as he forced his hands down from his chest to grab at the grass beneath him. He pulled at the grass in an effort to ground himself in this situation but all he could do was rip the grass out of the dirt uselessly.

All Vlad could remember was that he was at a world meeting, laughing at how everyone was arguing and then- nothing. He had absolutely no memories after that and Vlad was horrified. He hasn't been this scared in years and that alone is a horrifying thought as memories of that time flooded into his brain. Vlad quickly shook his head in a useless attempt to get the memories out of his head as they just made him more and more scared-

Crack.

His body was frozen as he turned his head to the direction of the noise only for his eyes to meet the blood red eyes of some type of demon. Vlad held eye contact with the strange red eyes for longer than anyone should have as he slowly forced his body to start working again. The red eyes watched him as he slowly lifted himself off the ground even while his limbs protested as if they hadn't been used in hours.

Vlad let out a small groan in response to the ache he felt in his legs and noticed how the red eyed thing moved closer to him. He didn't know why, but this creature -whatever it was- brought a sense of familiarity to Vlad as he stared at the bright red eyes that no normal animal could ever have.

As much as he knew that this was a bad decision Vlad couldn't help himself as he walked slowly towards the creature. The closer he got the more he could see the shape of this creature and Vlad was immediately reminded of one of his favourite animals. His panic and worry slowly started to leave him as he reached a hand out to the weird creature, hoping to touch it.

In a sudden blur of black Vlad was pinned to the ground by some type of demon bear that was most likely the same animal Vlad was just trying to pet. He let out a loud yelp as the bones in his back threatened to break from the force that was used to knock him down. He was yet again staring straight into those soulless red eyes and Vlad was frozen in shock for what seemed like hours.

Yet it was only seconds later that the demon bear snapped at Vlad's face with sharp teeth inches away from his nose. His eyes widened as his body moved on auto-pilot automatically punching the beast right in it's weird white skull-like face. The beast flinched at the punch and due to it's shock it released its grip on Vlad's shoulders which allowed Vlad the ability to roll over quickly right before he flipped backwards onto his feet, kicking the beast in the progress.

The creature roared in anger which seemed to summon more of the creatures as red eyes began to surround Vlad. Panic rose through his body like a tidal wave as he looked at the many, many red eyes staring right at him. He quickly swallowed down a lump in his throat before getting into position and then he ran- he ran through the beasts and ran through the tough foliage that he often had to jump over.

He could feel his lungs burn from lack of air and his legs stung from the fact they were being used for such a tough task after not even twitching for however long Vlad was sleeping there. All he could hear was the roars and thunderous footsteps of the beasts chasing him and that was all Vlad needed to hear in order to just keep running. The branches from the trees he ran by kept scratching him wherever they could reach but Vlad could care less at this point even when he felt blood trickle down to his chin from a particular cut on his face.

Vlad didn't know where exactly he was running to, but he kept on going, hoping and praying that maybe these weird creatures would lose interest in him and go off to find easier prey. But they followed him, Vlad was very nearly ready to collapse from exhaustion and yet the beasts sounded just as energetic as they were when they started chasing him.

'Damn- I need a weapon.' Is all Vlad could think as he continued twisting and turning through the forest in the small hope that he could lose this pack of demon bears. It was almost like a gift from god when he spotted a rather large tree that he should be able to climb up. Now all Vlad had to hope for was that these demonic bears can't climb trees as well as the real ones. He braced himself as he spun on his heels in order to turn to the direction of the tree and could feel the air move from a swipe that was most likely meant for him.

The tree was further than he anticipated it to be and by the time he reached it he was sweating and breathing heavily, but he still wouldn't give up. He launched himself towards the tree and started to push himself further when he felt intense pain coming from his right leg. Vlad dared not look down to see what was happening with his leg and instead he just pulled himself further up the tree even while he felt the drag of teeth on his skin.

As soon as he heard the other beasts run up to the tree Vlad quickly kicked the demon bear in the head causing it to release his now useless right leg which Vlad scowled at. Now that he was free he quickly pushed himself higher up the tree until the bears couldn't reach him, now all he'd have to do is climb up to a sturdy branch and wait. Once he was safely sitting up in the tree Vlad could now properly assess what the hell just happened. Firstly, when he woke up he was meant to be in a ratty hotel room, not the middle of nowhere. Secondly, those demon bears were definitely not a recognized species and Vlad was starting to think that they aren't even animals in the first place.

He flinched once he remembered about his leg which had gone numb, which was expected as Vlad could even see bone through the mess of flesh the demon bear left behind. Blood had soaked through his pants and his hands were practically stained red with how much blood was on them. He looked past his hands to see the demon bears were still clawing at the tree angrily and roaring at him as if that would get him to come down. He quickly looked around the tree to try and find a tough stick he could throw at them and was quite disappointed to see the only tough stick near him was about as big as his hand.

Vlad cringed at the hopeless feeling that spread across him right before he closed his eyes and threw the stick, only to feel that it was still in his hand. He cautiously opened his eyes to see a red whip in his hands and the small stick was at the end of the whip with the whip curled around it slightly. Vlad's eyes widened at the sight, but he quickly had to regain composure as the demon bears lunged for the whip and tried to pull it down in order to get Vlad.

The whip flung back from the demon bears and towards Vlad who didn't realize he was moving the whip until just then which is right when he let out a short shriek. He stared at the whip in wonder and shock as he noticed it was the exact same colour as the blood that poured from his leg and watched as it reflected the light coming in from the leaves of the tree almost like liquid.

'Holy shit, I made a whip from my own blood.' was indeed the first thought to cross Vlad's mind as he stared at the beautiful red whip. He was snapped away from his thoughts as the tree started to shake- undoubtedly due to the demon bears that were still clawing at the tree trying their best to jump up and kill Vlad. He took one more look to the whip before he felt his resolve solidify and his hand tighten around the whip.

He got ready to smack away the demon bears with the whip and right as his arm swung down he saw a smiling face. Vlad grew pale from the memory as his sudden fear didn't allow him to hear the roar of pain one of the demon bears made. He quickly shook his head as if he were shaking the memory out of his head as he muttered, "What is happening?"

So Vlad closed his eyes and he swung. Every hit caused the demons to scream, but the hits also caused a smiling face to appear in Vlad's head, but even through that he didn't stop swinging. His arm started to ache but he didn't stop until he couldn't hear the roars of the demons anymore. Slowly, he opened his eyes and he couldn't see a single black demon bear in sight. His body immediately relaxed causing him to drop the whip and while Vlad expected a slight thud from the whip hitting the ground he definitely didn't expect to hear the sound of some liquid spilling down.

In front of his very eyes Vlad saw his own blood splattered across the grass near the tree right where Vlad thought he dropped his whip. His luck really seemed to vanish as he fell off the branch he was sitting on and landed right on his -still healing- leg. He could've sworn he was screaming, but in reality he has his teeth grinding together from the pain and only let a couple grunts out. Everything hurt as he pushed himself off the ground so he could sit up against the tree and look over his, definitely infected, leg.

He grimaced as he saw the dirt and grime mixed in with the blood his leg just kept spewing out like a fountain. Vlad shivered in pain as he flexed his shoulders in order to get his jacket off and quickly tied his jacket around the mangled leg.

So Vlad sat in the grass, the grass that was tainted red by his own blood and was still damp from it, holding onto his leg tightly as he grumbled in frustration about the fact he was healing much slower than usual. As he sat in the middle of nowhere, covered in his own blood, all he could think about was the fact that he definitely wasn't in Paris anymore.