Vampyre Hunter F - purgatorium umbra

                                                                                           

Since Halloween is coming up soon,    I hope you all have a spooktactular good time!  


Sword, bottle of Holy water, or Holy oil, stake with a black pouch bag (If you can make them out- they are on his belt) Whip, and rosary.He should really wear a helmet and full armor -so that the nasties can't easily sink the fangs into you, but, you wouldn't see his face and who it is. But he is wearing some plate armor, a folding bevor and a Brigandine top.
Well, I've seen him drawn as a vampire, werewolf,  a zombie, and even just brought back from the dead.... so now I present Claude Frollo- Vampire Hunter!!  

character's (c) Disney 



 "'Emen-Hétan! 'Tis the cry of the vampires when they arrive at the witches' sabbath. Per ipsum, et cum ipso, et in ipso! 'Tis the command which chains the devil in hell.'" - spoken by Dom Claude Frollo - Notre Dame de Paris /The Hunchback of Notre Dame , by Victor Hugo

                                                                                                                                   
 Tattered streamers of clouds, pale and ghost-like skittered across the northern sky. A few early stars gleamed in the rents between the clouds, and on the western horizon, a lurid red glow marked the place where the sun had set, leaving the city of Paris to retreat into darkness.  By the toll of the bells, the streets soon emptied as people hurried to return to their homes or to whatever shelter they could find. There had always been a curfew in place, but now the need was more  urgent than ever, as each night, it wasn't just the dark people feared. A war was being waged, nightly battles were fought, blood would be spilt...not all of it would be human.

  Twilight deepened, and the first of the night's screams split the peopled silence. Along the walls of the city, lights moved in the darkness as a procession of guards each carrying flaming torches and spears marched onward; a medieval army whose gleaming armoured visages were fitfully illuminated by the flaring, dancing torchlight made them appear like a host from hell. 
  Amongst them, was a solitary man dressed in dark regal attire, complete with a black cape that clasped his back and shoulders like raven wings. Claude Frollo  stepped forward, the torchlight illuminating his silvery hair, and a pale complexion befitting a man that had spent most of his life shunning the sunlight, and came out only at nightfall. It was little wonder, the citizens of Paris had begun to suspect and make rumour if the Minister of Justice himself shared traits of the very creatures he hunted. 
 Despite his face's aged appearance, his eyes were keen and penetrating. The reddish glow of the torchlight reflected there and increased the illusion of a strange heat within. But whether the flame that illuminated them came from this world  or beyond, or both, one could not be sure. The judge paused next to a patch of bloodstained ground, made all the more vivid by the layer of freshly fallen snow. He eyes remained alert, but his mind took a moment of contemplation.




The pestilence of these vermin grows more every day, for their blood hunger has claimed countless souls. An end must be put to their proliferation.  It disgusts me that after a fashion, I'm also slowly transforming into the same creature of the night, as it has become increasingly long since I have lived in the daylight. But the tide of this plaque is relentless... I cannot rest... these creatures can only be dealt with in their element, at night, for come the sunrise they sink into the earth, and are nothing more than shadows without substance.
 
It has not always been this way,  at least I don't think it has.  I ponder sometimes whether or not if I had only dreamt it,  for the memories fade fast. But one thing was vivid... the sensation of falling...and those eyes...those terrible eyes, ablaze with Hellish fire... and the visage of my face reflected there. 
  I know not how much time passed, for the images ones sees in his mind does not flow with the time of the waking world. But a glimpse into eternal damnation felt like I had lived another lifetime, and woke in another. I know not whether I have slipped into a deeper circle of Hell, or whether something of Hell came back with me. 


It is will of our Lord Almighty that we are to vigilant, and not to fall to temptation and sin.  But I have failed! Hell now infests the world as it stained my flesh. It is my penance; I wanted to purge the world of evil, and I got exactly what I wanted, Now revealed, ARE monsters, next to which, human ugliness  pales in comparison, even the one I once took upon myself to raise one as my own.  If there are self made Purgatory's, then we all must live in them, as I must live in the shadow of mine. 

 The Lord in His infinite mercy has given me a sign,  for I am neither yet dammed or saved.  I confess I do not yet fully comprehend it, only I must labor to be free of my sins, a test perhaps, I only pray that by purging the plague of these evil demons from the world I will be able to atone enough... for the life I took...perhaps, for the many.
 

I've always considered myself a holy man, but to some, I am a murderer, and to others, a monster... an interesting perspective...

For what will monsters fear? .... ME! 

A gust of wind moaned dirge-like , carrying upon it a fowl, yet familiar odour. The Minister's hands gripped the anointed whip, and with a silent gesture, he ordered to his men, for the torch bearers to come forth and form a wall of fire and light. He knew of his foe's strengths and weakness'. These creatures had the ability shroud themselves in a cloak of darkness, but firelight could reveal them, as could Holy water silver and oil that on contact, burned and dissolved away the shroud, and were devastated by fire's touch. His eyes instantly scanned the area with quick efficiency, senses heightened, searching for any clue that betrayed the presence of his quarry, for an anomalous shadow darker than the rest...

"Come out, come out wherever you are...."    




[I  thought I'd add a grainy look to the picture to make it more dark and atmospheric. Created using Corel Paintshop pro and wacom tablet. Channelling with no shame a bit of Castlevania,  and Vampire Hunter D all rolled into one here... hope you like.  ]


_{'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' © Disney/Victor Hugo
Artwork © cyberraven}