Adding onto that, there were countless areas for which to find a quiet corner to read and relax, as well as different doorways you assumed went to different parts of said library, no doubt they could be offices or other places to read.

In much simpler words: It was amazing.

"This place even puts my family's library to shame…" you couldn't help but mutter in awe, still twisting your body around to see everything your eyes could catch. Just what knowledge and ancient secrets did these halls keep?

The maid who had guided you here let out a small chuckle, nearly making you jump.

"Master's collection is quite vast. He has been collecting every book he could get his hands on for longer than I have been alive."

She turned to you, and gestured around the large room you were in.

"Master has given you permission to read as you see fit. Anything you aren't allowed to see will be behind a locked door, so I recommend not trying to pick any locks."

She then blinked, before giving you a knowing smile when you couldn't meet her eyes.

In your defense, you wouldn't pick any locks!

…Not out the gate, at any rate. You had some standards, and weren't going to risk angering Dracula over a locked door, no matter how tempting.

Even if you were suddenly very, very curious as to what the 'King of the Night' felt he had to lock up in a library.

The maid then cleared her throat, and your attention was back on her.

"However, if you happen to find a key to a locked door, then it's fair game. Let him know and he'll have a word with the Master Librarian."

You weren't entirely sure what to make of that, but suddenly you felt like you were just issued a challenge for later. That is, if you ever were allowed back in here after today.

Opening your mouth, you didn't even have a chance to respond before she was talking again.

"Also, my master wished to warn you, some books are cursed. If they attack you, you have full permission to destroy them. He wanted me to assure you they aren't fully aware, being cursed objects, and constantly change where they are shelved on their own. My lord did not order them to attack you."

A sputter left your lips.

"I- wait, some cursed books just hang out and attack people?"

The corner of the maid's lips twitched, but you had a feeling it wasn't an amused smile she was hiding.

"Yes. Believe me when I say most of us… dislike them," she spoke, her eyes sharp with untold stories involving said books, "but they always end up back here no matter how often they are destroyed or moved. Only the Master Librarian and Lord Dracula can get them to listen, and they can't be everywhere at once."

Huh. You wondered if it had anything to do with the castle, since it sounded like they were bound here. Wasn't the castle a living being itself, technically?

You decided not to think too hard about it, you didn't need another anxiety episode.

"Finally, feel free to explore as you see fit, though Master wishes you to find a book and get comfortable to help in your recovery. Any monster in here is ordered to leave you be. If you have any questions, or need assistance finding or reaching a book, the Master Librarian should be available down that way."

She then pointed down a very long, winding hall, with more bookcases reaching the ceiling as walls.

Ominous.

You had a feeling finding this 'Master Librarian' might be more trouble than it's worth, if Dracula wanted you to sit down and relax…

"Is there anything else I can assist you with?" She then asked, and you looked at the woman, curious.

"Um… I think I'm good, thank you. Though… do you have a name?" You asked, suddenly curious.

Your question seemed to take her off guard, her eyes widening slightly. However, she quickly straightened herself, and dusted off invisible specks off her apron. The action was almost as if she were flustered, and it was kind of cute.

You knew in your family's journals these maids were often referred to as 'Persephone'. Why they were called that, you had no idea.

Perhaps it was just a name made on the fly that stuck? Or perhaps your ancestors called them that since they always appeared when Dracula revived, like the goddess from the myths returning to the underworld every autumn and winter?

She was silent for a moment, before she spoke, her voice ringing against the shelves of the library.

"You may… call me Edith."

"Edith…" you spoke, testing her name on your tongue. It sounded familiar. Was it foreign?

Regardless, she seemed to almost brighten as you said it, before closing her eyes.

"Yes. Edith." She spoke once more, before clearing her throat, and looking at you again. She then gave you a low bow.

"If you no longer require anything, I shall be on my way."

You could barely even open your mouth before she was stepping out of the massive room, her heels softly padding against the carpet as she walked out the way you both came in.

"…That was odd. Did I do something wrong? I hope not…" you mumbled. At least she didn't seem too upset. You think.

She at least was nice to you, but you imagine that was the bare minimum, especially given what she saw happen with that vampire in the hallway.

Swallowing those anxious thoughts, you turned back to the overbearing lobby of the library. Dracula's Library.

Suddenly, your options seemed near limitless.

Just what hidden knowledge awaited you? What secrets remained concealed behind an average looking cover? What curses and forbidden words lay in wait for you to find?

Your fingers twitched at your side. Suddenly, it became a bit more clear to you why some people made ridiculous deals with devils for a fraction of such knowledge, when such a world was open in front of you.

No wonder people sought Dracula out back in the old days…

Perhaps it was because you barely had any opportunities to look through your own family library, or perhaps it was your own thirst for knowledge you had to set aside outside of monster hunting that was rearing its head, but you felt like you were close to salivating.

Edith said anything you could essentially get your hands on was free game, right?

You looked around the massive area, as if you were a kid about to reach into a cookie jar. This almost felt too good to be true. A part of you expected to hear someone yell at you for even being in such a grand place.

Would Dracula pop out of the shadows and slap you on the head for daring to open his books? Or grab you by the neck, and drag you back to your room?

You shook your head. No, he wouldn't do that… Not with how he's treated you so far.

Still, you found yourself biting your lip as you looked at the shelves in clear curiosity.

You did have permission…

Looking from side to side, you quickly scuttled up to a shelf next to the massive fireplace that seemed to be the centerpiece of the room. Hands hovered over different, random spines of books, and your eyes gleamed as you took in each book.

Some had titles, others were blank. Some looked as if they were printed this century, others looked old and leather bound. You couldn't make heads or tails of how these were sorted, but you imagined with as many books as this library had, it'd be hard to figure out without talking to the librarian. Or Dracula himself.

After a bit of debate, your eyes landed on a book with a blank spine, that seemed rather small, but well worn. Licking your lips, you gently reached forward, plucking the book from its shelf.

It was light in your hands, and you gently opened the cover, leaning back slightly out of fear the book may lash out. When nothing happened, you blinked, before looking at the first page.

At first, you couldn't quite figure out what you were looking at. It wasn't in english, though you recognized Latin, something you had to pick up as a hunter. However, as you flipped through a few pages, you felt your face scrunch up, before you were quickly flipping back to the front.

"Holy- are these glyphs?"

Suddenly, this little worn book may have been the jackpot, and it was just the first book you had actually picked up.

You were no stranger to glyphs and their connections to magic. Your family had taken an interest in it after the fall of Ecclesia, one of the last groups at the time that had worked to stop any potential resurrections from Dracula while your family had stepped away from the whip for the time being.

While the Order was surrounded in mystery, all you knew is both Dracula rose once at the time, and was quickly slain by someone from said Order. It's one reason you took such an interest in glyphs. If someone could use them to kill Dracula, even without your whip, you potentially could too in the worst case scenario.

Granted, you didn't have any use for that at the moment, and hopefully never would. However, being a terrified child, knowing you were being raised as a weapon against 'The Ultimate Evil', you had tried to learn everything you could to give you an advantage.

Through studying what little you could get your hands on at the time, you were at least able to build a base understanding of it, along with old runes and magic. That, and after your mom died, you had to get creative since you had little opportunities to study such things under your step family's watchful eyes.

That led you to developing glyphs to protect your home, your room, your small cabin, among other stuff. Glyphs could be used in near limitless ways, but you found it easiest to build them as a foundation for shields.

Flipping through the pages, you greedily took in every word and diagram you could mentally translate.

"Of all times not to have a pen or paper…"

Lowering the book, your pocket suddenly felt heavy, with your phone idly inside it.

"Would it be alright to…" you began, one hand hovering above said pocket. It would be so easy to take a few pictures and study them later, something you occasionally had to do whenever you had brief opportunities to look through your family's things before Jason was on your ass about it.

Eyes drifting to the side, you sighed, and your arm went limp against your side. No, you wouldn't do it, not without asking first.

Dracula was being kind enough to let you even step foot in this place, alone no less. You wouldn't push that kindness and test that boundary.

Damn you and your morals.

With another sigh, you flipped to a new page, looking over more information.

"Just when was this written? The Order of Ecclesia vanished in the 1800's, not long after the Family went into hiding… But…"

You couldn't help but feel like these glyphs were a bit older. The book being primarily in Latin was a dead giveaway, yet something still felt off in the back of your mind.

Of course, glyph magic existed before the Order. However, you had a vague idea that the Order of Ecclesia took to studying them specifically in order to handle monsters and Dracula.

Did Dracula just happen to have this book after it was researched and written? Or did he have a special interest in it after seemingly losing to someone in the Order who specialized in glyphs and the power they held?

That had to have been at least around the 1800's, hadn't it? Just how old was this thing? Latin died out as a first language before then, right?

"Then again… I have no idea how old Mr. 'I am the Night' is…" you mumbled, flicking through another page. Perhaps it was written in Latin to help build on the glyphs potential power? After all, the older a language, the more powerful whatever you were using it for, was.

The same was true for any old language, Latin just happened to be the easiest and most accessible in very specific European circles, given it partially being the root to so many different languages across Western Europe. That being said, it was far from the only one, and hardly the most powerful.

Flicking through another page, your eyes squinted as you tried to understand a sentence. Okay, maybe your Latin was very rusty. Whatever. You had time, right?

"Something, something, ah, is it electricity based? Wait no, fire based-" you muttered, and found yourself idly turning around, and walking towards the massive couch. You sat down, and you paused when you felt your body finally relax.

Familiar aches and pains crawled up and made themselves known, and you sighed in irritation. Even your bones seemed to ache as your brain suddenly felt full of fluff.

…Ah, you had been wound up this entire time, hadn't you? Oops.

Now you could feel your body screaming at you for pushing yourself so much. Your stomach idly turned, and your head, while not pounding, began to thud. You clicked your tongue in annoyance.

"Figures."

You've worked in worse conditions. At least you can sit and enjoy yourself for a while, maybe even feel better by sitting down to decompress.

However, you did pause when you felt movement under your shirt against your back. It moved upwards towards your neck, and you felt a tiny tongue lick your cheek.

"Oh, hey! Hi little guy." you spoke, reaching over to your shoulder to pat the top of the tiny bat's head with your finger.

The bat let out a tiny squeak, before crawling up your hair and laying flat on your head.

"I had nearly forgotten you were there…"

For some reason, the bat had taken a liking to you, despite the rough introduction you both had. Even when you had set the little guy down on your bed, he always found a way back onto you some how, either in your hood, your shirt, or your shoulders and head.

A part of you was nervous by the lil guy, scared you'd hurt him again. Your body was filled to the brim with old, family magic and holy power. All it would take is you not paying attention in a fight to accidentally kill him.

That, or accidentally sitting on him, or accidentally smacking him off your head.

The bat didn't seem to care about your fears, always back on your shoulder or head, or bundled up somewhere on your person.

Another other part of you… kinda liked the company.

Was this what it was like to have a pet, or a familiar? As a hunter, you couldn't really afford to get a pet, with how often your family had to leave home, let alone the country. And a familiar? It was risky, unless you got one you could revive.

That, and you didn't trust your step father or step brothers around a familiar, let alone an innocent animal for a pet. No need to introduce an animal to the likes of them.

Still… you couldn't help but feel comfort from the tiny bat on your head, which seemed to idly watch as you read through the pages.

Was the bat aware? It seemed to have some level of intelligence, higher than the average bat. Perhaps because it was one of Dracula's?

You'd never know until you asked, but that would have to be for later, the book in your hand taking most of your attention. Your eyes flickered up to the bat just barely visible to you, before settling on a new page to glimpse through.

"Says something about a fire base, but I think this drawing has something to do with ice? Wait-"

You flipped back a page, and then forward again, before lightly smacking your forehead.

"Is it electricity using ice as a conduit? Was I right? Wait, how would this work-" you asked yourself, narrowing your eyes at the book as you struggled to understand a few words.

You'd have to investigate later. Seemed like you had Latin lessons in your future…

Clicking your tongue again with a hum, you continued reading, getting lost in the pages. Even if you struggled to understand a good chunk of what you were reading, it wasn't all lost on you. You could make out what most glyphs might be trying to achieve, given certain words and the way certain glyphs were drawn.

It was easy to lose the time, engrossed in the book. Perhaps you could strike a deal with Dracula to let you take this home? Or at the very least, maybe take some notes to study for later…

"This one looks like an earth base… yet I can't figure out what that's supposed to do? Strength enhancing when using earth magic, maybe?" You mumbled, holding the book up close to try and make out what you were reading.

Here, the page was smeared slightly, and the runes were drawn so small. You could only bite your lip as you mumbled out what runes there were, before suddenly a presence was behind you.

"It's actually a defense glyph, by the looks of it."

The library was suddenly filled with the sound that was totally not you letting out a loud squeal.

Jumping up off the couch, you suddenly had the book in your hand, turning around and ready to throw-

…Only to pause, eyes wide as Dracula simply stood behind the couch. He looked quite amused and pleased with himself.

"Hm? Did I catch you off guard, Little Belmont?" he asked, his lips curled upwards in a small smirk as he looked down towards you from behind the couch. You felt yourself slump, but gave him a look.

"Don't worry about it," you said with a sniff, "Just be lucky my first instinct was to jump away instead of attack." You said with a huff, pointedly looking away.

The bat on your head gave a squeak, and you felt your lip twitch. Even if you had no idea what it said, you couldn't help but feel you were just sold out. Your eyes narrowed as you looked at the bat peeking at you from leaning over your head.

"Traitor."

You couldn't help but jump a bit when you heard Dracula let out a bark of a laugh.

"Apologies…" he spoke, his fangs peeking out as he smiled, "Are you certain you don't speak bat? That was almost a perfect response."

Letting out a huff, you couldn't help but feel yourself smile back, reaching up to pet the lil guy on your head. Said little guy let out what you assumed to be a pleased chirp.

"I'm certain, though I imagine if I could, I would have heard plenty of obscenities from other bat familiars in other covens by now. Even if I tend to leave them alone, they get grumpy when disturbed. Especially at wild life sanctuaries where they accidentally get taken after getting lost."

Walking back towards the couch, you almost didn't notice the tilt in Dracula's head.

"'Wild life sanctuaries?'" He repeated, interested. You were almost surprised, but figured that was probably something somewhat new to him. Even if they had places in the past to protect animals, other than farms, you doubted they were as well known or as thorough as modern ones were. Right?

Or he simply hadn't cared until now if they did exist hundreds of years ago.

That, and modern wild life preservation funding was a lot easier to do than doing everything out of pocket, you imagined.

"Places to protect wild life, especially endangered species, such as bats. Though it doesn't have to be an endangered species to end up in a sanctuary. Often times people will report an injured animal they see, and the sanctuaries will take them in to try and nurse them back to health for release. Or if the injuries are too drastic, but not enough to put down, they keep them in captivity."

You turned back towards Dracula, gesturing a bit to try and explain. For his credit, Dracula seemed actually rather interested, and it filled you with a bit of confidence and excitement to keep explaining.

Perhaps you should put his interest in the back of your mind for places to take him one day. You could only imagine the reactions of wild bats in those sanctuaries when Dracula makes an appearance…

"They often are huge areas for the animals to roam around it, mimicking the wild areas they are used to, unless it's special circumstances, like having to nurse an injury, or an infant animal. Those tend to be more enclosed for protection, though the keepers and volunteers try to make sure even the injured animals get plenty of outside time to keep them happy."

A grimace fell onto your face, and you rubbed the back of your head.

"Well, any sanctuary worth their salt does, anyway. Most of them though have passionate people working at them, often with visitors. And it isn't very often one exists just to be run down and treat the animals poorly. Zoos on the other hand… are a much bigger mixed bag on quality, though that could be an entirely different conversation."

Shrugging, you then leaned back against the couch, just enough to keep Dracula in sight from the corner of your eye. You weren't going to let yourself be so caught off guard again. Something that, admittedly, hurt your pride a little bit.

After all, you don't normally let yourself get so lost in a book, or anything for that matter, anymore. You couldn't usually afford to, not even at home. Lowering your guard so carelessly in Dracula's Castle could easily end up as a lethal mistake, should you not grow more careful.

"Any-who… sorry, I was lost in thought. You said this was a defense glyph?"

Dracula's face didn't change too much, and you tried not to huff. No doubt he noticed your poor attempt at changing the subject so he'd forget he had managed to startle you.

Flipping the book open, you managed to find the page you were on before, and held it up to the vampire where he could see it. Dracula leaned closer, his large form now next to your head as he glanced over the page's contents.

Gently, a clawed finger came up, and tapped a section of the glyph.

"You see this rune here?" He asked you, his crimson eyes, flickering to you. You had to squint, but you nodded.

"Yeah? What about it? That's… a medieval rune, right?"

Dracula almost seemed to light up when you recognized it, and nodded. He then leaned further over the couch, and reached out over your shoulder a bit more, much more close to you now. You tried to ignore how close his face was to your own as he began to speak.

"Yes, somewhat. This, I believe, was the Elder Futhark. A written runic language that ended up evolving into the Younger Futhark, which then was competing with Latin, at the time. That is why it is not unheard of to see some runes with Latin on older glyphs. They occasionally go hand in hand. However-"

His claw tapped the page again, and pointed to another rune.

"This, I believe, is Algiz, or Elk. A rune meaning protection, or defense. Judging by the array of the glyphs magic…"

You watched in fascination as his claw slowly moved across the picture on the page, moving to the center of the glyph as he worked out a calculation in his head.

While you liked experimenting with glyphs, you only knew so much about the real theory of them. To see him easily seem to figure out how a glyph worked at a glance… you could only lick your lips.

Was it weird to find this side of him kind of… attractive?

A thought that nearly had you mentally jumping and smacking yourself. No need for thoughts like that right now with Dracula right next to your face.

"I'm assuming it is a glyph to make it difficult for someone to be thrown around. To be able to take hits that would leave a normal man incapacitated. The Earth base helps strengthen the body to be able to stand it's ground. Pairs rather nicely with the runes, here."

Your eyes flickered from the glyph on the page, to Dracula's face, and you were nearly startled how his eyes seemed to be looking at you.

That… and how you suddenly could see them much more clearly with the fire from the nearby fireplace dancing in the reflection of his piercing gaze. The shadows dancing across his face only doing wonders to show off just how divine he looked. You swallowed, before looking back at the book.

"So… Not a shield glyph… But I do like the idea of a glyph to be able to take hits. Not that I need it so much nowadays, but it never hurts to know such a power in a pinch…" you mumbled, already thinking of practical uses, such as a mission where you can't see your enemy, who could come from any angle. On the off chance you weren't fast enough, you'd have a glyph to be able to take a potentially lethal hit, and shrug it off like it was nothing…

Or… if you needed it at home in a pinch, that could work, too.

Dracula watched you think, eyes never quite leaving your face. Then, you turned to face him.

"May I… take a photo of this glyph? So I may use it?"

Your eyes widened slightly as he looked at you rather curious.

"I-I mean, I'll understand if you say no, it's okay. I- uh- I just-"

Dracula tilted his head slightly, he seemed puzzled… or surprised?

"A photo? You have a camera on you?"

You blinked, before it hit you. Dracula probably was aware of cameras, but probably not modern ones, let alone phone ones. Quickly, you reached into your pocket to fish out your phone.

"Y-Yeah. This is my cellphone. A modern phone that lets you do all sorts of things, including take photos and videos, and store them in the device."

You held up your phone to him, before pulling it back to unlock it. You winced when you noticed a few messages, but chose to ignore them.

The last thing you needed right now was to think of home.

Dracula watched as you then tapped your phone a few times, and turned it towards yourself. A 'click!' came from your phone, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise when you turned the device back towards him.

On the screen was a photo of you, with the little bat still on your head.

"See? It can do a lot more than that, too. Like instantly send messages to someone across the globe in seconds, or play music. Among a lot of other things."

For a moment, a clawed hand reached out, as if to take it, before pausing. After a moment of hesitation, you held it out closer to him.

"Here, you can look, if you want. Just watch the claws, it's a pain in the ass to get the screen replaced. Believe me, I have to more often then I would like from monsters hitting my sides where my pockets are."

Ever so gently, Dracula took the phone from your hands. His eyes flickered across the screen.

"Fascinating. It registers touch?"

You couldn't help but gently smile at how he tapped the screen a few times, ending up in your photos.

"Yes. I think it uses a subtle electric charge to determine if something is touching it, and where that touch is based on the change of electric flow. Or something like that."

Dracula pulled the phone closer, clearly intrigued.

"You know, I bought you a phone for yourself, if you want it."

Head snapping up in a flash, Dracula looked at you in surprised.

"You bought one for me?"

Nodding, you reached up, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Well, yeah," you began, feeling your neck heat up a bit as you avoided looking him in the eye, "I told you I'd be willing to show you some stuff humanity has developed in recent years. Plus, it might be easier for you to have a phone so I don't have to raise a carrier pigeon. Doubt the postal service would be willing to deliver a letter to the giant, ominous floating castle in the middle of the woods."

That, and the last thing you needed was the public or the government knowing of Dracula's return. If they didn't already.

You doubted it, given you likely would have heard something by now from the local government, or the local churches. As the whip's current master, you would be sought out first, so you may as well enjoy your peace for now.

No doubt that wouldn't last forever, though.

Dracula let out something like a snort at the mental imagery as he looked over your phone.

"Postal service… believe me, mail carriers in the past have been… difficult to handle. Even centuries ago, they weren't fond of delivering to and from a vampire." He mumbled. You couldn't help but imagine a comically scared mail man having to cross what could have been hordes of the living dead, or a lawn of corpses just to deliver a post card.

He looked through your phone for a few minutes, and you idly told him of a few apps. It wasn't like you had a lot on it to hide, and anything too personal was behind folders in your phone.

Well, most your personal stuff, anyway.

His face was one of pure curiosity, though he paused, before his brows furrowed.

"…Seth? Is that the message thing you mentioned-"

In a flash, you reached forward, ripping your phone from his hands.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry. He's my… step brother. I…"

You couldn't hold back the sour look on your face.

"Sorry. But yes. That was probably a text message from him." You mumbled, cursing your step brother for ruining the moment. Just as you had been pointedly avoiding them…

Dracula pursed his lips, understanding it must have been a touchy subject. You hoped he'd forgive you for snatching your phone like that, though.

Sighing, you rubbed your eyes. You were growing flustered. The last thing you wanted was for him knowing more than he should. You already blabbed enough when he was a statue, even if you kept things very vague. He didn't need to know anymore than that.

"I… again, I apologize-"

"Enough."

Freezing, your eyes snapped open. He gave you a pointed look, though it was a soft one.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I assume that was a private message, and it was none of my business."

With that, he stood up at his full height, and it hit you how long he must have been leaning over your shoulder. Did his back not hurt? Could his back even hurt from standing at an odd position like that for a long time?

He walked around until he was directly in front of you, and held out a hand, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"Come. You must be hungry."

You blinked, a bit stunned. His eyes then landed on the book, which lay nearly forgotten at your side.

"Don't worry about taking a photo."

Looking back, your eyes flickered to the book. Your heart sank. Of course, you should have known he'd be protective of his books-

"You may take that with you, since you find it so fascinating. I may have to take a look at some older books about glyphs, seeing as that rekindled my interest as well."

You brightened up considerably at his words.

"Wa- really? You mean I can take this?" You asked, grabbing the book. Dracula gave you a curt nod.

"You may. I have a feeling you will have more use for it than myself. Although…" he began, a toothy grin appearing on his face.

"In exchange, I would like you to show me something in return. That phone you mentioned, for example. Though that can be shown at a later date, seeing as you are still recovering."

You furrowed your brow, giving him a confused look.

"…Are you sure? I mean, I already was planning on doing that anyway, showing you like, the phone and stuff…"

Dracula blinked, and then shook his head slightly, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'impossible Belmonts…'

He then gave you a critical look. One that had you feeling sheepish.

"Alright then. I want to see you either recreate that glyph from the book, or show me one of your own."

Your eyes widened in surprise, and Dracula simply tilted his head.

"I've seen your spells, rune arrays, and glyphs from your little cabin. Or at least, I caught a glimpse of them. You have a natural talent, regardless of your full understanding of them. I want to see what else you can do, and how you weave them together."

Dracula's words rang in your ear, and you struggled not to grow surprised, ignoring the fact Dracula knew where your cabin was. Right.

While you were very aware the Belmont Clan was able to go toe to toe with Dracula in power and battle, you knew there would always be things he knew better than you and your clan as a whole. Even those magically gifted in your family, such as yourself, only knew so much, and dabbled more in protective and holy magic.

The fact Dracula wanted to see what you knew had your head swimming slightly.

It was one thing to show him things you know he didn't have direct access to, but your own skills in magic and glyphs?

Suddenly, you felt a bit shy.

"I… Okay. I can do that." you spoke, unable to meet his eyes.

Then you worked up some courage, and looked up at him with a fake glare.

"Just don't expect any family secret magic, got it?"

You didn't really expect him to want to know your family magics. In fact, you figured he could probably care less about the majority of it, given a lot of the older spells and what not were holy in origin. What would his plan even be? Learn your defenses and raid your house? Please.

Dracula simply rolled his eyes, almost playfully, before snapping his fingers, which drew your attention back at his hand. It still was out in front of you.

"Of course, of course. Now come. I hunger, so you must be as well, no?"

He ignored your bewildered look, simply gesturing for you to take his hand once again. Not wanting to be rude, you grabbed it with your free hand, and grabbed the book with your other tightly as he helped you up from the couch.

Steadying yourself, you expected to follow close behind him wherever he chose to lead you. However, you looked at him almost puzzled as he held out an arm towards you to grab onto.

"Shall we, Little Belmont? Dinner awaits."

Swallowing thickly, you looked at his massive form, and how he was gently offering his arm. How could someone so… bloodthirsty… be such a gentleman?

Carefully, you reached forward, linking your arm with his own.

'Soft…' you thought, his clothes gentle against your skin. Idly, you felt your bat friend scramble down your head, and into your coat's hood, and Dracula gave you a nod before beginning to walk you towards the door.

You felt like you were in a dream.

And perhaps… if it was a dream, you didn't exactly wish to wake up.

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Nowadays, the Twenty-First Century posed little danger to humanity – only requiring the occasional cleanse of a starving vampire or a demon that managed to crawl its way to the surface. Though, of course, there were nights where he’d destroy an entire nest of vampires lying in wait or slaughter a horde of night creatures that threatened suburban areas and wake small children from their sleep. 

He supposed he should be grateful for such…relative peace. For he would not need to shoulder the burdens of another Belmont nor would he need to attach himself to one. 

On occasion, there were casualties. Men, women, sometimes children, and if he was having a particularly bad night, entire families…Innocents he had failed to save. He would always avenge their deaths in his world, sending the monsters that murdered and ate the souls of the living straight to hell. Yet for those who were unaware of such creatures and their adversaries, (for it would seem that the knowledge of vampires and monsters was lost from the collective human memory) they would never get the closure they sought. At least, not from him. 

Tonight he found himself in a pub – one with a small old motel attached, accompanied with cracked paint peeling off the walls and flickering neon signs. His slender fingers curled around the stem of his wineglass as he lifted it to his lips, taking a long, languid sip. The chatter of the patrons buzzed behind him, indistinct but comforting. He watched the crimson liquid swirl, once, twice and-

“Another pint over ‘ere bartender!” 

It was a thought that constantly was in and out of your mind. While it was a thought that occurred to you growing up every now and again, these past few weeks really had you thinking hard, and more than you'd like.

You were silent, a first, lost in thought as you walked side by side with your host.

Was Dracula planning to escort you back to your room to eat? Must be, and is making sure you don't run into trouble.

Again.

Fine by you, it wasn't like you were looking for trouble to begin with. How were you supposed to know your little bat friend was warning you about another vampire perusing the halls? A vampire supposedly trying to either hurt you or get you into trouble?

And…

Okay.

You tried not to flex your fingers as you felt Dracula's arm through his sleeve. His arms were huge, and it felt like pure muscle.

A part of you was jealous. Vampires tended to mimic their body's shape when they turned, but it wasn't impossible for them to work out themselves and change their body. It was just… harder, given the new strength. Hard to push one's self. Harder to limit one's self, too.

Given he had been a statue for who knows how long, you had to guess he must have been in great shape as a human…

The urge to lick your lips was strong, and you stomped down the desire to try feeling up his bicep. Just what other strong muscles did he have?

Did he have toned abs? What about his thighs?

Strange feelings awkwardly stirred in your chest, and you mentally whacked yourself with a hammer. Just what kind of a Belmont were you, wanting to do such a thing? Wanting to feel up your family's enemy?

…Just what kind of a Belmont were you, for letting this happen in the first place? For playing 'friends' with him?

Mentally, you shook yourself. You didn't need to go into your hourly mental debate over how your ancestors most likely were rolling in their graves. You already had a month of doing that as it were alone in your room at home, and it was a lot, thank you very much.

No need to drown yourself in those feelings while you were already sinking.

That was for when you were left alone staring at the ceiling while in bed, after all. You could sink into your anxiety later in private.

Glancing over, you caught a glimpse of Dracula as he looked forward while leading you through the long, winding hallways.

You were going to have to do something about these other feelings. How were you going to go forward with these thoughts about finding Dracula attractive?

There, you said it. Mentally.

It wasn't like… it was a surprise. Or a bad thing. Right? Vampires were notoriously attractive, it was a part of their whole shtick. In fact, it was one of the first rules you learn as a hunter, not to be deceived or seduced by one. It was a one-way ticket to claws in your heart, or fangs in your neck.

That, and it wasn't like you had to do anything about such attraction. Best keep it to yourself.

Besides, you know your own family members in the past had… attraction to certain vampires, and other monsters. Some of the weird, 'anonymous' family books in your library said as such. There was a whole shelf dedicated just to Alucard for crying out loud.

But never once about Dracula.

You bit the inside of your cheek.

Perhaps it was because your ancestors never saw this side of him, either. Just the blood thirsty Lord of the Night that had to be killed at all costs. Same Lord that called for the end of humanity.

There no doubt was no time to dwell on such possible attraction. Let alone in any journals where he was Enemy Number 1, where descendants would be reading such things after you have passed…

'Don't fall in love with him, now…' you could only jokingly think to yourself, though your heart skipped a beat at the very thought.

Nothing more than a crush that you have been battling. It was normal to feel that way to people that showed you kindness, right? Right?

…Somehow, that felt like you were just telling yourself that just to feel better about the whole thing.

And it felt rather pathetic, if a little bit of kindness from your family's enemy was enough to make your heart skip a beat. Just what did that say about your life in general?

You didn't get to dwell on your thoughts too long, before suddenly you were brought into a large, beautiful dining hall. One that was clearly meant for important guests and special occasions, with a rather long table to match.

Candles idly floated near the table, while a few grand chandeliers were above. The windows covered the walls, with grand curtains adorned on said windows, pulled back to show the light rain drizzling outside.

The table itself was vast, with a beautiful red clothe covering it, with a trim of gold. Candles were placed intermediately among several seats in the middle of the table.

Your jaw tightened.

Did he intend for you both to eat here?

At the table stood several figures, all which you did not recognize.

Except the vampire asshole from earlier, Damon, who seemed… fine, yet worse for wear?

He was slumped over, and his eyes looked sunken in, as if he hadn't slept in a few days. Was he… shaking? He looked as if he had the flu, which was… undoubtedly a rare sight for a vampire.

At least Dracula didn't kill him, you guess? A part of you was relieved you didn't cause the guy's death, even if he was an asshole.

Regardless, your blood ran cold when a thought entered your mind at the sight of the man.

Were you surrounded by vampires?

Wouldn't be the first time, but fuck, it was going to be a pain in the ass and several vampirism cure spell casting-

Before you could freeze up, or drop the book to grip your whip, Dracula simply tugged you along towards the end of the table, where a large, ornate chair sat at the end. Must be his.

After all, isn't it the King who sits at the end of the table? Oh, this was a horrible time not to know royal etiquette stuff, you were going to look like a fool-

You felt hot, and you could hear your heartbeat roaring loud in your ears. You were surrounded and you were going to look like an idiot and-

A gentle tug from Dracula suddenly brought you out of your head, though your heart continued to hammer against your ribs as you wished your other hand was free so you could palm your whip. He led you towards a chair right next to the large one, and let go of your arm.

Astonished, you could only stare wide eyed as Dracula then pulled the chair out for you, gesturing for you to sit.

"Here you are."

Numbly, you nearly stumbled to react just to sit. At least Dracula didn't seem to notice, waiting patiently for you, before pushing your chair in for you as you sat.

You could only swallow dryly as he then walked past you towards the massive chair next to you, though you nearly jumped in your skin as he seemed to affectionately rubbed your shoulder as he walked past. Was he subtly trying to reassure you? Or make you explode?

He then sat down at his chair, and entwined his fingers on the table in front of him. The guests followed suit, sitting after he did.

It was awkwardly quiet, and you felt like you were about to break out into a sweat. Why did he bring you here? Why?

What purpose does this serve?!

Was it to humiliate you? A punishment for your confrontation?

You swallowed thickly, urgently shoving the book in one of your coat's massive pockets before your hand lingered readily on your whip. It's presence was instantly a comfort, and the roaring in your ears dulled to a low, but noticeable buzz.

It didn't escape your notice, however, how a few people in the room eyed you warily at the action. How could they even see your whip, you weren't sure, but you could care less so long as you had your whip within your grasp.

But it didn't help the near panic attack lingering in your chest as you still wondered just what the fuck was happening.

Dracula then lifted a hand, snapping his fingers. The candles all over the room briefly burned bright and red, before mellowing out once again. Instantly, servants flooded the room from the shadows.

Several maids and skeletons dressed as butlers surrounded the table, putting plates of food and fancy glasses in front of each person at the table. Several different guests got their glasses filled with red liquid, though yours was filled with water, and another glass filled with similar looking stuff Dracula had you drink before.

Internally, you cringed, but at least he was giving you a chance to take medicine with a meal again. Hopefully it'll have an easier time staying down since you were feeling a little better…

The last thing you needed was making yourself look worse by getting sick in front of a crowd of what you assumed to be vampires.

After all, weakness got you killed in this line of work. If just one vampire was willing to seek you out, what would the others do if they saw you kneel over and lose the contents of your stomach?

That thought still rung in your head as the table was set. These had to be vampires, right? Or beings that weren't human, or at the very least, probably shunned from human society, like witches and what not.

Was this his Court?

Surely not, right? You expected it to be bigger, with more powerful vampires at his side, let alone closer to him-

Your eyes widened as a thought struck you, and just as it did, Dracula began to speak.

"Good evening. I hope you all are well. It has been a while since we have dined like this-" He began, a slow, deep drawl in his voice as the food was finishing being prepped onto the table.

Ears ringing, you could barely focus. These people had to be important, even if they weren't officially in his Court, just like how Damon was here.

Your eyes flickered to Dracula, or rather, his seat. Than to your own.

In a court, the closest seat to the right of the King meant…

You paused.

While Dracula no longer had a 'Queen'…

You were sat directly next to him.

In an instant, it was as if everything became muffled. It was clear why he was doing this.

The person who sits directly to the King's right is considered the most honored guest. Right? Maybe?

Dracula wasn't doing this to embarrass you or intimidate you, you think. No, this was a very loud and clear message.

You were his most honored guest. If anyone had any bright ideas, like that one vampire, Dracula would take it as a personal insult and respond as such.

Eyes glancing around the table, you also took notice how no one else was seated near the two of you. To many, this would no doubt be an insult, right? Or was Dracula just like that?

Either way, you couldn't help but feel… light, in your chest.

Dracula thought you were important. Important to him.

You could feel your ears burning as that realization echoed in your head over and over again, to the point you completely had missed whatever Dracula had been saying this whole time.

Oops.

Your eyes flickered over to him as he raised a glass, before taking a sip. The others seemed to follow his lead, and you anxiously reached forward to take a sip of your water, as not to be left out. With that, the clinking of dishes and small talk began to fill the large room.

Setting the glass aside, you still felt hot. Not to mention you still had one problem.

You had no idea proper olde royal table etiquette.

Sure, you had read about it before, and even attended a few weddings that loosely used royal table etiquette for the wedding parties. However, an actual 'royal' dinner?

What spoon did you start with? Didn't you start with a soup? Which fork direction meant what?

You were so screwed. You were going to wring Dracula's neck later for putting you in such a position-

"Cat got your tongue, Little Belmont?"

Gripping your whip tightly, you narrowed your eyes as you looked to your side. Dracula was giving you an amused look, ruby eyes twinkling in the candlelight as he leaned towards you idly. Seems he finished whatever speech he had spoken.

"No, I am simply trying to decide when I should strangle you later for putting me in a position such as this." You whispered back. Though there was some bite to your words, it was clear you were more annoyed, than truly angry.

Dracula, however, was slightly taken aback, yet amusement never left his face.

"Oh? And here I thought you would appreciate being next to my side?" he asked, an almost toothy grin on his face as he swirled a glass of wine(?) in one of his hands.

Your face felt hotter, and you desperately wanted to hide it in your coat. Instead, you gave him a sharp smile.

"No, that isn't the issue. My problem is you put me here when I have no idea the proper etiquette for dining like this! Are you trying to make me look both important and like a fool? Do I look like a jester to you, huh?"

Dracula's eyebrows raised higher and higher with each word out of your mouth. And to his credit, he seemed genuinely surprised as your harsh whispered words hit him.

"Hm? Do the Belmont clan no longer teach their ilk olde table manners?"

It was more of a tease than a jab, you could tell, but your face now grew hot with embarrassment rather than being flustered from your seat next to him.

"Table mann -- Dracula, no one regularly teaches royal table rules anymore." You began with a hiss, "They haven't for at least, like, a century? If not two?? Possibly more or less depending on where you live. Only select groups of people still study such things. It is not taught unless its like, a wedding. Even then, weddings are only loosely based on it anymore. If you want royal table manners, it certainly isn't frequently done where I grew up."

Dracula, at the very least, seemed genuinely surprised. Realization was dawning on his face as you told him this. All the while, you felt your irritation grow. What were you, a clown for vampires to mentally mock?

"Doing this to me in front of, what, your Court? Why I outta-"

Suddenly, a large, clawed hand was pressed on your thigh underneath the table, and you snapped your jaw shut. Your eyes widened, and you looked at Dracula bewildered from the corner of your eye. You swallowed thickly.

He leaned close to you, whispering in your ear. You felt a shudder run through your spine as his breath brushed against your skin as he began to speak. His voice was low, just barely a murmur.

"My apologies. I was under the assumption you knew such things."

Your mouth was dry again.

Dracula's fingers gripped your thigh gently, similar to how he had gripped your shoulder earlier. You felt like there was a knot in your throat.

His fingers were long.

Your hand gripped your whip tighter, and you reached for your water, taking a swig, trying not to let your thoughts run wild.

"Don't worry about the formalities, I'll handle any disrespect handed your way. I sat you by my side for a reason." He murmured against your ear, so close you could feel his hair brush against your shoulder.

Dracula's fingers squeezed your thigh again. While it was probably meant to be reassuring, all it did was make you very warm, and make you nearly choke on your water.

As you tried not to drown from your drink, Dracula let out a hum.

"This isn't my Court either, Little Belmont. However, it is several people of minor importance who are visiting or returning. With one being so bold to as to seek you out, I thought it was simply time to make a statement." He muttered, his voice low.

Clearing your throat, you narrowed your eyes. At least that confirmed your theory, but you still felt a bit sour.

"A little warning would have at least been nice. What if they decided to jump me? While I would be fine, It'd be nice to be prepared, you know. Do you know how annoying it is to fight several vampires at once?"

Dracula let out a scoff, as if amused by the very thought as he sat back a bit.

"I'd like to see them try. They wouldn't even get within a foot of you if I had anything to say about it."

That was not helping how warm you felt. You just hoped Dracula couldn't tell as such with his hand still on your leg…

Bastard was driving you mad, and he was hardly even doing anything.

You sniffed, reaching forward with your free hand to grab some silverware. (Surely, it wasn't actual silver, was it?)

Meanwhile, Dracula continued to whisper next to your ear as you hungrily eyed a juicy piece of meat that had been put on your plate. How did he know you liked such delicacies?

"If they feel disrespected, they can deal with me. If what you say is true, they'll understand and still get my message. Relax."

You narrowed your eyes at the table in thought as Dracula pulled himself away, swirling a glass of something red in his hand. You really hoped it was wine.

Taking a deep breath, you dug into your food, your brain working over time not to short circuit. It was overwhelming on almost all fronts; mental, physical, and emotional.

At least the food was, dare you say, heavenly.

It was almost enough to distract you from the fact you were dining with a group of vampires. At Dracula's side.

Okay, yeah, that was still going to take a lot of getting used to.

As thoughts swam in your head, you nearly missed Dracula watching you from his seat. It wasn't scathing, or judging, at least from what you could see out of the corner of your eye. Just simply… Observing you.

You tried to ignore it as you took a few more bites, and ignore how your ears still felt hot.

It was a lot, though, and eventually you sat your silverware down, gripping your whip in your lap for brief comfort. The idle chatter and clanking of dishware was small, but so overstimulating, given the circumstances.

Maybe you should strangle Dracula anyway? As a treat?

Your eyes flickered back to said vampire, and his lips twitched upwards for a moment as he watched you. His own gaze drifted to in front of you, and when you followed where his look was, your eyes narrowed as you eyed the familiar drink.

Right. Medicine.

Looking back at him, he simply rested an elbow on the arm of his seat, leaning his cheek against his fist with his free hand. You swore there was amusement behind his eyes as his eyebrows raised slightly, as if silently telling you, 'Well? Go on.'

Your eyes narrowed further at him, and he simply took a sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving your own.

After a moment of holding his gaze, you finally relented with a sigh.

Fine.

You were still ill. Even if you were, admittedly, feeling a bit better than earlier or yesterday, you knew you weren't fully recovered. Especially with how hot and overwhelmed you were getting just sitting at a table.

While healing faster than the average human came naturally to you, you also weren't blind to the fact you simply had a higher pain and sort of sickness tolerance. While you may feel better, your body still had recovering to do.

Reaching out, you grabbed the orangy-pink drink, and proceeded to down it in one swig. Your face scrunched up immediately at the odd taste, and you turned away to silently cough to clear your throat.

Dracula chuckled next to you, and you pursed your lips into a pout.

"Told you not to drink it all in one go last time, did I not? Be careful that it doesn't make you nauseous."

You waved his concerns off as you cleared your throat once more. You'd probably be fine.

Vaguely, you remembered the urge to upchuck the last time you took whatever this medicine was. At least this time, you didn't feel like you were going to lose your meal. The nausea left as fast as it came.

"Would be a waste of good meat…" you mumbled, eyes back on the plate.

Dracula made a noise that resembled a snort, and you eyed him from your spot at his side.

"Belmonts… what is it with you lot and your love for meat?"

You opened your mouth to retort.

"Hey, it- wait what do you mean Belmonts, as in plural-"

Dracula simply gave you a toothy grin, one that had your ears burning again. Bastard. He was having fun with this, whatever this was.

Then again…

If it weren't for the fact you felt like you were surrounded, you'd probably be enjoying this banter a lot more. You especially liked seeing that grin on his face… It was more playful than you had imagined the Lord of the Night could look when you were younger, fearing the day you may have to face him.

Instead of a cruel, wicked gleam in his eye, he simply looked amused. Dare you say, he even seemed joyful that you were engaging with him.

You liked it, that look on his face.

Perhaps you wouldn't strangle him too badly, after this.

With a huff, you looked away, and stuffed your face with more food. May as well enjoy it since this was arguably some of the best food you've had in months. If only your heart would slow down.

At this point, you weren't sure if it was the anxiety, or the fluttering feelings in your gut that had your heart hammering in your chest.

Idly, you twirled your fork in between your fingers as you watched the others at the table as you ate. The conversation seemed almost lively among them, but you could tell there was an awkward air among the vampires. Especially as they would not so subtly glance over at you and Dracula.

Your nerves were still a bit shot, but…

Okay, you'd admit it felt kinda nice to be put at Dracula's side and seeing their reactions. Was that a bad thing?

Even though you were a hunter, you knew a thing or two about body language, even with the paranormal. You sort of had to, with this job.

Some couldn't stop staring at you both, mostly at you.

Awe was on some faces, and barely hidden disgust was on others.

Fury definitely was in the eyes of a few down the table, though you doubted any would dare act out. Not when Dracula was watching them all out of the corner of his eye.

Was it because you were a hunter with Dracula? A Belmont, for starters? Or simply that you were in the closest seat next to the King?

…And once again, a Belmont in said seat, no less.

"You're preening."

You sputtered, head swinging over to Dracula, who was leaning close once again. That same, smug grin on his face.

"I am not preening."

Dracula gave you a look, clearly not believing you for one moment, idly taking a sip of his drink. His eyes then slowly moved to the small crowd around the table.

"So…" He began, his voice low. A murmur.

Your eyes followed his, twirling your fork, before sticking it into another piece of meat.

"So…?" you trailed off after he sat in silence, stuffing your mouth with food.

"Tell me, what do you think of the other 'guests' as you sit here?" he then asked, his claws thrumming on the side of his chair. He was still so close you could practically feel him next to you-

Swallowing a mouthful of food, your gaze focused on the group.

"Red head over there-" you began, looking over to the left at a pretty vampire with dark, crimson locks cascading down her shoulders. Dracula's gaze snapped to her, and you continued, "-she's disgusted by me being here. The corner of her nose keeps crinkling every other time she looks over here at me, like she smelled something foul."

You then subtly tilted your head to the right, not directly looking in that direction.

"That guy in the fancy vest, with the wild, short black hair and purple eyes…"

Said vampire was in an avid conversation with another vampire next to him, and you felt him occasionally look over. Dracula hummed, and you held back a shudder.

"What about him?"

Taking a quick sip of your drink, you leaned towards your host as you spoke into your cup.

"He thinks this is hilarious," you began, your mouth twitching upwards. "The guy with the greying hair and monocle next to him is infuriated, you can tell by how he keeps clenching his fists when he thinks no one is looking, and the harsh whispers. First guy with the vest has been enjoying watching that other guy rant to him. His lip keeps twitching upwards whenever the angry guy gets heated."

You then pointed your fork at a guy unashamably staring at you with wide eyes.

"That guy over there, with the short blonde hair and blue fancy necklace? He hasn't looked away from me this whole time, as if I were some kind of celebrity. Honestly, it's a little concerning. What a little weirdo."

Dracula blinked, and sure enough, the vampire you pointed to was still just… staring at you. You didn't notice the way Dracula's lips briefly curled up into a small sneer as you continued.

"Over all, I'm not sure what to think. But I can at least say for certain you've managed to throw everyone here for a loop. This was the last thing anyone expected today, judging by their reactions, I'm sure."

Your eyes fell back on Dracula, and he looked at you from the corner of his eye. A toothy grin formed on his lips.

"Excellent eye, as expected from a Belmont."

There was that amused look on his face again, with a new appreciative gleam in his eye.

"I imagine the gossip will be quite the story when word gets out. There was already whispers about you, but seeing you in person is bound to ruffle many a feather." he mused, a hand rubbing his chin in thought. A part of you couldn't help but feel he was looking forward to that.

Living for eternity must get rather boring, you think. No doubt many immortals thrive off of drama for entertainment. Or at least they did, until more modern methods of keeping one's self entertained dropped the last two centuries.

You scrunched your nose up slightly. Sounds rather toxic, only having petty drama and hierarchies to determine if you'll have a boring day or not.

Although…

Slowly, a pit formed in your stomach as you watched the others eat and talk.

Word was getting out. Word was getting out a Belmont was siding with Dracula.

Horror crept up your throat like acid, and you forced yourself to swallow it.

What would happen if your family- no, your whole clan caught wind of that? Even if you weren't particularly close to your extended family, let alone the other clans loosely tied to your own, word getting out could be disastrous.

While… you didn't think it would be easy to pick you out of just vague rumors of a Belmont with Dracula, it still made your blood run cold that you could be suspect.

How would you even handle that if anyone found out? Would they shun you? Not new, per se. However…

Your hand gripped your whip.

The clan may deem you no longer worthy of the whip, thinking you were 'seduced' by evil, or some shit. Wouldn't be the first time this happened in the family, though the last time it happened, it was enough to force the clan themselves to give the whip up to the Morris clan…

That was a burden you didn't wish to pass. The Morris clan already had to deal too much with your family's sins, they didn't need to once again.

Your thumb ran over the grooves on the whip's handle, and you kept your face blank.

No, if anything, you were scared of your whip being taken from you in general.

It was the last thing you had from your mother that your step family couldn't touch, not without actual consequences from the extended family.

They could take your home, your relics, your weapons, your mothers clothes and jewelry… but not this whip. Only a successor could take it and properly use it without consequence, someone of Belmont Blood.

If you were deemed 'inappropriate', then what was stopping your family from taking it from you? Hell, you know some of your family members would love for a chance to be the 'true' successor of the family. It was an honor if you weren't born for it, but a burden if you were, your mom had joked once. You believed it ran a bit deeper than that.

The various sounds in the room began to fade into a buzz as you began to sweat. Your mouth felt dry, and stomach suddenly felt sour as your thoughts began spinning wildly in your brain. All the while, you grew hot. The room seemed darker, as if it were closing in on you.

You were nothing without the whip. It was your everything. Your last connection to her. The only reason you had a purpose. The only thing that kept you alive. It-

"Are you feeling alright?"

Dracula's soft words managed to bring your whirring thoughts to a halt.

The buzzing was gone, replaced by idle chatter, and the sound of rolling thunder outside the castle. You could finally breathe.

"W-What?"

Your voice startled as you subtly turned to him, and you mentally kicked yourself at the stutter.

Dracula was looking at you with what you had come to learn must be concern. He had put his glass down at some point and you flinched when he reached out with one of his hands.

He paused, giving you a moment, before reaching out again when you didn't push him away.

Carefully, he made you look at him, and you tried to ignore how the talking in the room grew a tad quieter at the display.

"You suddenly stopped responding, and your pulse was growing quick. You're also rather warm… another fever?" He murmured, looking over your face as you tried not to squirm in his grip. Feeling flustered, you yanked your head from his grip, though you tried to ignore the guilty pang in your heart for doing so.

"'m fine. Just… exhausted and on edge. That's all."

Thankfully, Dracula didn't seem perturbed by your actions, simply tilting his head as he looked at you, lips pursed. You had a feeling in your chest he probably didn't believe you, but hey, at least he didn't seem to be prodding you, either.

He was silent for a moment, and you pointedly avoided his gaze. How annoying it was for you, having a moment right next to him in front of all the people at the table.

Sure, most probably didn't notice, but still. You felt like such a failure for slipping so badly in front of a group that could have noticed, and taken you out in your haze.

You sighed as you stabbed the remains of your meal with your fork. What a mess you were…

Maybe you'd still stab Dracula. How dare this one man make the entirety of your life exponentially more complicated.

—o0o—

Dracula was a lot of things.

A man of vengeance. A man of pride. Some may even say one of arrogance.

Hard not to be when you were one with power such as himself.

But he wasn't an unobservant fool.

Today had been a handful, he'd admit. He was caught juggling several annoying matters while trying to delicately handle you.

You were far from the issue, but it was hard to deny issues liked to follow you, wherever you were. Seems being a Belmont attracted nothing but trouble, even if you didn't intend to go find it.

It's why he decided to arrange a formal 'dinner' of sorts. It had been a while since he hosted one, after all. What better way to keep an eye on you, and let the others who were either visiting or staying know exactly where you stood?

And… in part, he was bored. It was a perfect opportunity to gather some info on who he had to watch, and to stir the pot, so to speak.

Petty squabbles either amused him or annoyed him, depending on the day. This, however, was something a bit bigger than a 'squabble'.

It was actually somewhat fun, if he dare admit it, guiding you to the seat right next to his own at the table. The disbelief in the group's eyes as he passed them, and even helped you into your seat.

A part of him hoped you'd enjoy the privilege, being sat at his right hand side to watch the show.

And… he also hoped you'd appreciate the gesture he was attempting to make.

He may be a vindictive, cruel man, yes. But he was trying to at least keep this delicate friendship afloat, if he could even call it that.

Of course, it couldn't be as simple as that.

It didn't even occur to him that perhaps, during all his centuries of constant wake and sleep, with little time being awake and active, that times and traditions have changed.

You seemed ruffled, irritated, even.

He wasn't expecting you to jest about strangling him for attempting to 'humiliate' you.

It wasn't a real threat, that much was easy to tell. However, it did take him off guard for a moment. You explained how no, you did not know old table manners for royalty, and assumed he was doing this as a means of humiliating you.

Admittedly, Dracula should have considered this. Alas, he has a lot of catching up to do with more modern times. Even if this situation was mildly funny-

At the very least, you didn't seem mad. Though a thought did enter his mind. Did you think this was a punishment for earlier? Is that why you didn't put that much of a fuss, regardless, trying to stay in his good graces?

He tried not to frown at the thought. That was the opposite of what he was trying to convey.

You were his Little Belmont, and anyone who dared try anything would meet a painful, bloody end-

Dracula had sipped his glass at the thought, pushing it aside.

"Don't worry about the formalities, I'll handle any disrespect handed your way. I sat you by my side for a reason," he had said, and you seemed to get the message.

That… and you seemed so easy to fluster. He learned that little fact quickly this evening. Perhaps he should try teasing you more in private?

For a moment, memories of an old friend briefly appeared in his mind as he watched your ears grow pink. You really were a lot alike. He wondered how you both would have gotten along, if at all?

Dracula was deep in thought, and his gaze idled over to his 'guests' across the table as he idly chatted and watched you. It still brought some amusement to him. From the sheer outrage, to the gobsmacked. At least they knew to keep their mouths shut, at least to you and him.

Word got around fast with Damon's 'treatment', and how you were the one to ask the vampire not be killed for going after you. It certainly made waves, and made them uneasy.

You were a Belmont, but a Belmont who didn't operate by the regular hunting rules. Something new. Something not quite predictable.

And to many, new meant dangerous. Getting friendly with you could be a death sentence to them, but attacking you basically would lead to death as well. Either you or Dracula himself would assure it.

Dracula couldn't help but wonder what you were thinking, besides the obvious. Curious, he asked just what you thought of your 'company', and you didn't disappoint as you pointed to a few people in the group.

He had to admit, you were observant, even if you clearly were a bit overwhelmed. No doubt you learned to keep your wits about you under pressure. Not just for a hunt, but for survival.

Though he didn't exactly like you being eyed like a piece of candy. Perhaps he should have considered he wouldn't be the only one obsessed fascinated with you.

Hm. He'd have to handle that in the future.

Regardless, he was proud of you. Even when ill and clearly on edge, you were willing to indulge him and offer some insight into what little bit you had noticed. If you weren't a Belmont, he would have loved to have had you as an advisor.

He could already imagine the chaos he could have caused with you by his side. His and a Belmont's might combined? Truly, his enemies would stand no chance. He'd rule the world for all eternity with no one to stand in his way.

Alas…

He'd have to settle to simply ruling over the Night once more. Not that he truly cared for global domination, given he originally intended to wipe out humanity. However, if he wished to keep your good will, that was off the table. Shame.

At least he could enjoy the chaos you were bound to bring just by simply existing in his castle. So long as no one tries anything idiotic, of course.

Dracula opened his mouth, intending to make a light jab on the subject, though paused before his eyes even landed on you. His ears twitched, and he gripped his glass tight.

Your heart was pounding, and you smelled of fear.

Eyes sharp, he looked over at you, expecting you to be looking at whatever had you frightened, and ready to deal with it.

Except…

You weren't looking at anything at all. Your eyes were glazed over as your breathing became quick and shallow.

To anyone who didn't know you, you just looked rather annoyed. But dare he say, after seeing you at your lowest, Dracula liked to think he knew you better than plenty of others.

And you were not well.

He watched you, your eyes glazed, yet darting around as if still watching what was in front of you. Even when out of it, your instincts were paying attention.

Your arm twitched, and he watched as your grip on your whip tightened. You licked your lips, and he heard you swallow as you began to break out in a sweat.

Gently, he leaned in close, and spoke your name. You didn't answer him. He called out again, setting his glass down, and finally, you seemed to almost hear him.

"Are you alright?"

It was a foolish question. Of course you weren't okay. Perhaps he really shouldn't have had this dinner if you were going to blank out on him.

Granted, he thought you were well enough physically to handle it. And in a way, you were, however…

It was clear you were still struggling.

His words at least seemed to snap you out of it, at least briefly.

"W-What?" You asked, the fog in your eyes disappearing, and recognition showing in your eyes. However, you were still sluggish as you turned to look at him.

Dracula felt something akin to worry burn in his chest, and he reached out towards you almost instinctively. However, he paused when you flinched away from him.

A part of him wanted to growl.

Not at you, never at you, but at the implications.

The more he saw, the less he liked.

He especially hated how you seemed to regret it. How it was also pure instinct to flinch away from sudden touch like that. At least you weren't intentionally flinching from him, he'd count that as a win.

Briefly, he paused, ignoring how quiet the room got. The casual conversation burst into whispers, and Dracula resisted an eye roll. Oh, the drama.

Fools.

Regardless, he put their reactions in the back of his mind as he reached forward again, putting his hand on your forehead. You looked at him, cutely confused, if not a bit peeved.

A part of him wanted to curse. You were warm, warmer than a human normally would be. How was it you managed to stubbornly stay so ill?

Of course, he knew it wasn't your fault. If you were in a rough situation, he wasn't surprised your body was playing keep up when you were in a environment you could relax.

Even if that environment was his castle. The thought nearly filled him with pride, if it weren't for the fact you were still ill, and surrounded by vampires and other creatures of the night.

He gently gripped your chin, forcing you to look at him as he looked over you. The medicine at least was helping, but maybe he'd have to do some studying if you were still feverish…

That didn't explain the fear, though.

Why?

"You suddenly stopped responding, and your pulse was growing quick. You're also rather warm… another fever?" He murmured out loud, mostly to himself. He'd have to look into different medicine's for you, perhaps. Maybe some to take home with you if he can figure out what specifically is ailing you.

Would you let him run different tests if this illness continued to stick with you? That may be asking too much.

Before he could even consider asking such a question, you ripped your face out of his grip.

"'m fine. Just… exhausted and on edge. That's all."

That was a bold faced lie, and he knew it.

But he also knew this wasn't the place to discuss such matters. He couldn't blame you for such a stunt, not really.

If anything, he thought it was almost cute. What would have offended any other king simply endeared you to him a little bit more. He liked how you still, even now, had a spine. The Belmont fire in you still stood strong, even in weaker moments, it seemed.

Your words repeated in his head as he looked over you.

While your words certainly weren't wrong, Dracula had his doubts there wasn't more to them. A lot more, if he had to wager a guess.

Even now, you seemed out of it. While you were certainly a lot more aware than you were a moment before, there was an air about you that seemed both heavy and downtrodden.

Dracula held back a sigh. Perhaps he should keep a journal this point with all the things and concerns he had regarding you and your well being. Even that blasted Belmont in the blue coat hadn't been this out of it after he regained control from one of Dracula's minions.

So, he leaned back, and with a snap of his fingers, the entire room went dead silent.

A low rumble of thunder followed, as well as a few flashes of lightning. The curtains swayed in the breeze that swept throughout the room, as well as the candles dimming for a moment. All eyes were on him.

"Dinner is now adjourned. You may stand and leave, or stay if you so wish."

Despite so few words, many eyes exchanged glances, before everyone began to either gather their things, or sat put. Dracula would have laughed at how they all awkwardly fumbled, unsure which would be the best option.

All while that pest Damon quickly stood up, and rushed out of the room. Dracula held back a grin at the sight. Serves the little rat right to be afraid.

You looked at him, either in confusion or awe, he wasn't sure. Either way, you looked almost affronted when he stood up from his seat, banishing his glass in the process.

"Hey-"

With another snap of his fingers, your chair glowed, and you let out a squawk as it was pulled out from under you, and his magic had you stand.

"Let us retire to your room. You need rest."

"Hey, wait, I'm not a child, you can't just-"

He strode past you, and you let out a baffled noise as your feet moved on their own.

Truly, it wasn't like you couldn't break out of his magic. He was simply doing it to get you moving. If anyone could break such a simple spell, it would be you.

Still, that didn't stop him from giving you a cheeky look as he turned to look at you from behind him.

"What, would you rather I carried you?"

You gave him a look almost daring him to try. No doubt you'd throw a fuss, given there were still plenty of eyes on the two of you.

Granted, you didn't seem to care the last few times he did, but he knew you'd at least like to keep your pride and reputation in tact in front of his subordinates and 'guests'.

A shame. He rather liked carrying you.

Something about carrying you, someone so powerful and yet so vulnerable… Dracula didn't realize he'd like it so much. Both how much power he had, yet didn't use, and how you were in the same boat. How you had every opportunity to hurt him, kill him, yet you refrained.

It was… a delicious feeling, he'd admit. A mutual trust of sorts, if he could call it that. Knowing any moment you could easily kill him, and he you…

His tongue ran over his fangs as he walked out of the room, you right at his heels. He dropped the magic at this point, and you easily caught up to his stride, walking at his side.

You didn't look too agitated, he'd count that as a blessing. Though you did seem distracted.

Before he could even ask what you were thinking, you spoke.

"So, like, is that gonna be a regular occurrence? Am I to eat with you at every fancy dinner while I am here?"

Dracula let out an amused huff.

"Only if you wish. While I am no stranger to fine dining at the table at every meal, it gets rather repetitive and boring when you have to do it every day. This was simply to both quell some pesky questions, and set as a… warning."

You eyes him silently as you walked at his side. Clearly you had something on your mind, yet chose not to speak.

Even though you had no words, the trek was still pleasant. Perhaps he should take to walking through his castle more often if you tag along at his side.

…Yes, he was definitely lonelier than he remembered.

Regardless, he hardly cared all that much, simply enjoying your presence with each step that echoed in the large halls.

Still, he couldn't help but keep glancing back at you amidst the silence. It was clear something was still bothering you from earlier.

Had something happened? Did he mistake just how ill you felt?

The thoughts could only grow as you both trekked onward, gnawing at him insistently. It bothered him, seeing you so out of it again. Even if you were healing, it wasn't as much progress as he'd like. Especially with that nasty bruise on your face still faintly there.

Just how much of you was injured and sick that he couldn't see?

He could still catch glimpses of that Belmont fire you possessed. Dracula could only wonder what a spitfire you were when you weren't so… this.

Different faces of different Belmonts flashed through his mind, from cold anger, to burning rage. Which would you be, if you were at the top of your game in a battle?

Dracula's claws idly extended from his fingers at the thought. As much as he didn't want to fight you to the death, he couldn't lie. He'd love to see you not hold back at the top of your game.

Eyes drifting back towards you, he watched as you walked. The whip still in your hand as you were at his side, your face scrunched up slightly in thought, and there was a sway in your step.

Holding back a hum, Dracula came up with an idea.

Would you attack him for it? Possibly, but he hoped you'd forgive him.

With a fast turn of his heel, he was suddenly at your side. You let out a yelp, and jumped backwards, easily dodging his initial grab.

However, he was faster, and he easily grabbed one of your wrists.

A loud squawk left your lifts as he swung you up, before carefully cradling you in his arms.

"Hey- you asshole! I told you I'm not a child- what-" you squirmed, though Dracula only laughed at your heated words. If anything, it was rather cute.

"Don't think I didn't notice the sway in your step, Little Belmont. You're still healing, and exhausted. You've been zoning out. Would you rather risk pushing your healing back, when I can simply carry you now that no one is here to see?"

You blinked up at him, almost dumbfounded. Clearly, you still weren't used to being manhandled. At least, not so casually.

Granted, anytime you were picked up, it was no doubt you getting tossed around by a beast of some sort.

Your mouth opened, before closing. You were silent for a moment as you stared at him almost owlishly.

"I… I can still walk myself."

Dracula could only give you a grin.

"And I can easily carry you." he spoke in return.

You looked at him for a moment, as if searching for any type of trick, only to eventually let out a huff.

"Just don't ever do that again, unless you want me to kill you without thinking twice."

While it may have come off as harsh, it was a brutal reality, he imagined. Startling a hunter was a sure-fire way to end up dead, due to their sharp, defensive instincts. He was lucky you didn't even raise your whip or another weapon at him for suddenly startling you earlier. At most, you simply tried to jump away.

Still, Dracula couldn't help but give you a toothy grin.

"Of course, Belmont."

Something akin to a pout was on your lips.

"I'm serious."

If anything, even if you were pouting, it was a clear warning to be more careful. A part of him wondered how many accidents happened in your family with other family or friends accidentally causing a hunter a fright?

"Oh, I'm sure, Little Belmont."

You narrowed your eyes.

"I'll obliterate you into a fine dust."

Dracula held back a laugh.

Yet, you still had not hurt him just a moment before. Your ability to think quickly and hold yourself back was to be admired, even against the Lord of the Night.

"Of course. If anyone in the castle could accomplish such a thing, it would be you. As if anyone else could come close." he spoke, though it was mostly in jest. Even if you could kill him, he wouldn't make it easy.

You looked up at him, eyes squinting, looking for sarcasm. It looked as if you wanted to say something, but choose against it at the last moment. A pity.

If it were anyone else, he wouldn't have taken such words lightly. However, Dracula decided he liked your slight change in attitude. You weren't serious in your words, but it made him want to believe you were getting comfortable with him if you were willing to make such claims with no bite.

Dracula took a moment to get a good look at you.

You now were pointedly not looking at him. However, your face was dusted pink, though you didn't seem to care, as you were pressing the side of your face against his chest.

Still, Dracula avoided clicking his tongue. Something was still bothering you. He'd have to figure it out without pushing you.

However, that could wait for now, as much as Dracula loathed to put that aside. You needed rest.

Dracula was willing to bet every jewel in his rings that you tended to push yourself past your limits often without realizing it, and he wouldn't let that happen, not if he had a say while you were here.

With that thought in mind, Dracula began to idly think as he carried you down the hallway, wondering just what he had signed himself up for.

--0o0--

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On one hand, his week had definitely improved seeing you in person. As much as he refused to admit it (out loud at least), seeing you brought excitement to his life. Even if it was under… less than fortunate circumstances.

But you were here. You were in his castle, arguably far safer than wherever you were taking residence. He could keep a close eye on you and your recovery, while slowly approaching you from time to time to talk.

He was careful. Dracula knew you were still skittish, even if you were starting to trust him. However, he had been in lighter spirits. He was making progress in slowly cracking you open, seeing what was behind your walls.

It was kind of exciting, if he were to be honest with himself. Sure, he loved the excitement of battle, even if having to battle after being awoken was always tiresome. However, this was new territory for him.

Dracula had the chance to learn more about you, how your life is lived, how the Belmont clan has fared these past few years.

And- Okay, sure, he didn't care for 95% of the clan. However, he couldn't deny he was at the very least, curious.

He didn't expect you to spill any special arcane secrets or what not, but at the very least, he was interested to see how the clan has evolved in the past thousand or so years.

To be quite honest with himself, he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this giddy, at least since he declared humanity his enemy.

It was hard for anything to catch his interest nowadays. When you were alive as long as he had been, it was easy to become bored.

What would you share with him? You mentioned some modern technology of some sort, and if he were being honest with himself, he was eager to tinker with whatever you handed him.

If it had been any other human, he wouldn't have been as interested. However, a Belmont of all humans would know things that would most likely hold his interest.

He just… hated seeing you injured like this. He was patient, he could wait for all the things he could discuss with you, but…

It would be hard to do that if you were constantly being injured.

Of course, he half expected it, if he were being honest with himself. You weren't telling him everything that had to do with your life away from the castle, but he could gleam enough from what you have told him.

Something wasn't right. Even though it was expected a hunter would receive injuries from time to time, he just couldn't figure out what was causing you to get these frequent injuries. Though he had suspicions.

Dracula sighed, rubbing his head as he walked through his castle towards the throne room.

Oh yes, he was excited you were here, but he hated it had to be while you were hurt.

Although…

He wouldn't lie, he liked being able to take care of you.

Dracula of course didn't want you hurt at all, and he knew you were capable of handling yourself.

Most likely.

Even if you didn't take your health as seriously as he'd like, anyway.

He'd have to figure something out. You'd run yourself into an early grave at this rate, and then there would be no more fun to be had.

A snort almost left him at the thought. You were more to him than a simple game, he'd admit to himself.

Rubbing his temple, Dracula let out a sigh. Here he was, stuck being able to think of nothing but you once again. Had he really gone insane while stuck as a statue for all those years, entranced by a Belmont? And fretting on how to keep said reckless Belmont alive?

Though he thought back to how… adorable you were with one of his bats. You had a nasty habit of finding yourself into odd situations, he had a feeling. But this…

…Was dare he say, cute.

A part of him was absolutely delighted that one of his bats took to you so well, even of the initial circumstances weren't so great.

Even then, the fact you were so concerned over the well being of one of his bats warmed his cold, dead heart in a way he wasn't quite sure how to articulate.

You didn't have to do that. In fact, most of your ilk wouldn't have even spared a glance at killing one of his familiars and animals in his castle.

Yet, you still wanted to help.

Still, he had wished you had waited before nearly making yourself sick.

Eyes narrowing, he caught a glimpse of the weather outside of this hall of the castle. Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled across the valley from the view he had. It did little to clear his head.

Seems that would have to be a habit he would have to help you rectify, if possible. Belmonts and their self sacrificing nature, which of course now becomes an inconvenience.

But… he heard what the young one said after you had healed him, how it was clearly an accident. Dracula didn't think any of his bats had been so happy around another person, other than-

Dracula shook his head, ignore the dull ache in his chest. Not that, not now.

Heaving a sigh from his chest, Dracula pondered on his next move.

While thinking of you with one of his bats had admittedly helped improve his mood, there where still pricks of irritation bubbling under his skin.

Such as the vampire he was hosting while in talks with a different coven.

Admittedly, while many creatures of the night feared him and followed him without question, vampires were prideful creatures. It was becoming increasingly obvious after his 'talk' today, that the other covens were looking down on him.

Dracula, while annoyed, couldn't entirely blame them. He doubted any of those fools knew the power of a Belmont, personally. Over and over again. For centuries.

Yes, he was still a tad bit bitter.

While he didn't doubt his own power, the Belmont clan was quite literally a work of God, or whatever being up there that found humor in his constant downfall at this point. If a vampire doubted his prowess, he had a feeling it was a coven that hadn't encountered your clan.

Or at the very least, like mentioned before, not personally.

Even if they had, however, Dracula had his doubts they would show it. In many's eyes, it seemed they all saw themselves stronger than him in numbers. Many were only showing interest for pure curiosity, rather than clambering at his feet when he first declared humanity nothing more than sheep for slaughter.

At the very least, some vampires seemed interested and respectful, but that number was nothing like it used to be.

Flexing his fingers into claws, Dracula grabbed his left wrist in irritation as he adjusted the cuff on his sleeve, his claws slowly receding.

He'd show them, should they choose to cross him or disobey.

Even if he didn't plan on ruling every coven across the globe, he wouldn't let them make a mockery of him.

For a moment, the hallway darkened, and a flash of lightning lit up the hall, followed by a clap of thunder.

Then, after a tense moment, he sighed. The hall lit up again, and the tension in the air lessened.

Politics. Bah. What a nuisance.

Continuing down the hall, Dracula thought back to the pathetic little welp a coven up north sent to talk to with him.

A younger vampire, Damon, one with no sense of authority, yet all full of entitlement. Did the lad really think Dracula wouldn't smite him off this planet for his attitude, all because he was a messenger for a more 'powerful' clan?

He shook his head, a snarl nearly on his lips.

Perhaps he should kill the cretin and be done with it. He could care less of the coven took offense when their little messenger boy had the audacity to insult him in his own home.

"This place is rather… old fashioned, wouldn't you say? Still living in your glory days? I suppose it still is eye catching."

Dracula felt his eye twitch, and the feeling of an oncoming headache beginning to worsen. Rings of the backhanded compliments were still on top of his mind.

Yes, he was half tempted to smite the little freak. Perhaps he'd do so for his own amusement to reinstate some fear.

But that left another issue. While he was perfectly used to using fear to rule, he had to keep in mind he wasn't relying on being followed as eagerly if he intended to drop destroying all- or at least most- of humanity.

After centuries of being destroyed, and dropping that main goal? For a Belmont no less, he couldn't wait to hear the gossip when that tidbit got out-

Perhaps he didn't need to deal with all of the covens? While trying to destroy humanity, it was a necessary annoyance. But now? He'd only have to deal with them like he initially was, only if they sought him out first.

Although… it ticked at his pride like an ice pick to just let some of them go after what he had heard some allegedly say while he was imprisoned in stone, if some of his current minions were telling the truth. Many came from different corners of the earth, and heard plenty of tales.

With how the day was going, he was becoming more inclined to scorch the annoying pests, and leave the others be.

Then, there was you. The Little Belmont who could not leave his thoughts.

There was no doubt different vampire clans would find out about you. Surely, many would think he lost his mind. Again.

Dracula also suspected many would either cut all communication, or would show a… unique interest just to get close to you. Either to meet you, or try to have a taste, he couldn't say. Either of the two options were high possibilities, and he had a gnawing suspicion he'd get contacted from clans across the globe because of you.

It also… put you in danger.

Now Dracula was no fool. He had seen the fire in your eyes a few times, and knew you would be able to take care of yourself just fine.

But… he hated the idea of putting you further at risk. You already were a hot topic at his castle alone, and already had one attempt by a few foolish witches to kill you.

So for powerful vampires around the world to suddenly contact him, perhaps even aligning themselves just to have a chance to hold your decapitated head in their hands?

The very thought made even his own skin crawl with distaste.

Not only would that be a mess to deal with, pissing off the wrong clan would mean he'd have to deal with attacks from different paranormal groups. Hell, he suspected his castle would be attacked within the next few months once word finally spread about you properly.

He'd like to see them try and get far.

Absentmindedly, Dracula ran his tongue over his fangs, face twitching ever so slightly as a snarl threatened to break across his face.

"What a pain." he mumbled, flicking his cloak back behind him with a bit more force than necessary as he walked.

It didn't matter now if he found it annoying or not. The pieces were placed on the board, and now he had to play them.

Now, how to move forward…?

He was so caught up in his brooding, he nearly missed the sounds of footsteps approaching. Dracula didn't need to look behind him to know it was one of the maids he personally selected to attend to you, even if they barely were to show themselves.

"Master."

Turning back, Dracula steeled his gaze as he looked at the maid, who was giving him a curtsy. Dracula gave her a nod, letting her stand at ease.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice low. Internally, he wondered if something was wrong, though he liked to hope the maid would let him know it was urgent first thing instead of taking her time.

Especially when he specifically picker her to watch over your well being. He'd hate to have to kill her for potentially trying to harm you through inaction. There weren't many maids he trusted with your well-being in the first place…

"The Belmont is restless, and refuses to give me their filthy clothes for cleaning. Shall I go ahead and give them fresh sets of clothes like last time?"

Dracula held back a sigh. He supposed he couldn't blame you for not wanting to give up your clothes, you had no idea the inner workings of his castle, and if your clothes would return in tact.

"Yes, give them a fresh set of clothes and leave their used ones behind. They'll open up eventually, I am sure," he began, though eyed the maid as she gave him a bow.

"Now, what was that about them being restless?"

Being that you were a Belmont, he wasn't entirely surprised. No doubt your family was often restless as hunters when you had nothing to do.

Almost like sheep dogs, ha.

The maid sighed.

"They don't leave their room, but I have caught them out of bed a few times pacing when you said they should be resting. I caught them doing pushups this time with a bat on their head."

Dracula reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Sheep dogs indeed.

While he doubted you were doing this on purpose to worry him, a part of him wondered if you truly cared about your health as much as he did.

Perhaps this was a stress response? No doubt Belmonts had to always be on their feet. So if you were stressed, you probably were exercising as an outlet.

He wouldn't be surprised if you didn't feel comfortable leaving your room. While things were… stable between you both, you probably didn't regard the rest of the castle with the same ease.

Dracula was also internally glad you hadn't decided to poke your nose around, even though he had told you upfront you were always welcome to seek him out or leave if need be.

If there were vampire delegates on the way, and one here in the castle, he didn't want you… coming across them by accident. He trusted you not to start anything, at least not on purpose. However, he knew it would be a mess if you had to defend yourself before he had things settled.

And given you were still recovering… he couldn't entirely blame other vampires for trying to take out a weakened enemy.

At least, before they knew he would kill them for laying a hand on you, should they be the aggressor.

…Maybe even if you were the aggressor, he'd let it slide. He'd have an excuse to get rid of some pests if they were bold enough to bother you.

"Let them be, I'll talk to them. It seems I should perhaps show them the library or give them something to do so they don't worsen their condition."

The maid opened her mouth to speak, though was cut off at the sound of a yell.

"Master! MASTER!"

Both himself and the maid straightened as they turned back down the hall. From the darkness, a skeleton came sprinting, only to trip as he approached the duo.

Comedically, the skeleton's head came launching forward, pathetically rolling to a stop at Dracula's feet. The maid scrunched her face up in disgust, while Dracula held back another sigh.

"Master! Oh thank the gods!" The head spoke, and Dracula wondered if it was too early for a glass of wine. He had a feeling whatever he was about to hear would only make his growing headache worse.

"Yes, yes. What is it, Yorick?" Dracula asked, watching with little interest as the skeleton's body crawled helplessly on the floor.

"Master, the Belmont! The Belmont!"

The change was almost immediate as a crack of lightning hit outside the castle. The maid winced, flinching back from him as he felt his fangs bare and claws form.

"What of them, Yorick? Out with it."

His heart raced as he tried to hold himself from reacting too harshly. It could be anything. Another bat incident, you could have slipped and fell, or simply wanted some dinner.

Or… something worse. He hoped it was at least one of the former. Even if you had a small injury from a fall, he could heal you.

"The Belmont! The vampire found them in the halls!"

Dracula froze.

The maid next to him quickly took several steps backwards, a look of sheer terror on her face as the air around them all grew heavy, and the torches on the walls briefly erupted in hot blue flames. All the while, Yorick let out a yelp as Dracula stepped past him, kicking his skull back past the skeleton without a care.

"Then let us go see them before blood is shed."

His steps echoed loud in the hallway as he made his way quickly towards your room. As luck would have it, he could sense you hadn't gotten far from it.

Still, his heart raced, and his senses were going haywire.

What had happened? Why had you left your room?

And blast it all, why was that little worm of a convoy in your guest tower?

Dracula bared his fangs in a sneer, the shadows reaching out towards him as he walked. It was as if reality was warping around him, encouraging him to go faster.

The castle blurred around him as the shadows licked at his heels. He could barely make out the sounds of footsteps behind him, trying desperately to keep up as reality began to warp.

It was only a few moments, but it felt like hours by the time he reached the hall which your room was kept.

The shadows seemed to recede as he stepped forward, his footsteps echoing loudly in the hall, before coming to a stop as he caught sight of you.

There you were, pinning his vampire 'guest' to the wall, holding part of your whip to the man's throat. Even from here, he could see it lightly sizzling the other man's flesh.

It didn't take long for you to notice him, and the way your eyes widened and you flinched away from the vampire would have been comical if not given the circumstances.

"Dracula! I-he- it's not-" you began, looking between himself and the other vampire with a look of pure panic. You tugged your whip nervously, before running a hand through your hair.

"Ah fuck… I… Oh no…"

The vampire, Damon, stepped away from the wall where you previously had him pinned, and dusted off his clothes. The look of fear on his eyes from before was completely replaced with a look of smug arrogance.

"My, seems word was right about there being a cute little hunter haunting your castle. A Belmont, no less. Didn't expect it to bite so quickly." He drawled, a cruel grin on his face as he looked between himself and his Little Belmont. You turned and gave him a nasty look.

Dracula stepped forward, and even you took a step back. Internally, Dracula felt his heart sink at the look of dread and fear on your face. He hated seeing you look at him like that.

However, he couldn't stop the cold rage attempting to brew inside of him.

"What. Happened."

His words were short, and clipped, and you winced. Just as you opened your mouth to speak, the other man stepped forward, pushing past you with little regard for you or himself.

"'Twas awful, milord. How reckless can you be, allowing one of their kind to wander around?" He spoke, head gesturing to you. For all intents and purposes, you looked rightly offended.

"Hey-" you tried to cut him off, but Damon continued.

"This thing-" he started, gesturing to you, ignoring the squawk you let out, "-was wandering about, and attacked me the moment they saw me. Here I thought your castle was a place for vampires and creatures with nowhere else to go, with protections should they be here for another coven, or swear their loyalty to you?"

He then turned, clawed hand pointing at you almost viciously.

"My neck is now most likely scarred. If you hadn't appeared when you did, milord, I-"

"Jesus, you really like listening to yourself talk. Do you always kiss ass like this, or is Dracula a special case?" You snarked back. Seems even Damon managed to piss you off more than Dracula frightened you. Dracula had to hold back a snort at how ticked off you looked, and how gobsmacked the other man appeared.

"You dare-"

"You think kissing ass is going to get you out of this? Huh?"

"For the record, you were the one trying to kill me, wretched little hunter-"

"Because you were looking for me, attacking me and threatening me, asshole. You think I'm just gonna sit there and take it?"

At this point, the maid and skeleton caught up, and all three of them could only watch as you and Damon spat back and forth insults, cutting the other off.

"Wow. They really are squabbling like children, aren't they?" She whispered, leaning towards Dracula slightly, while keeping her cautious gaze on the Belmont and vampire. Yorick stumbled forward, his head in his shaky hands.

"Oh! Good, the Belmont is okay. I-" he began, only to stumble forward at the rumble of thunder, dropping his skull to the floor below with a 'thunk!' and a yelp as he stumbled after it.

Dracula gave the maid a thoughtful look.

"I'd liken them more to spitting cats." he mumbled, his nerves not near as shot now that he saw you were alive and okay. Despite being so ill, it was as if you were completely fine. If he hadn't seen you near death's door multiple times with his own eyes, he'd wonder if you were faking earlier.

He was sure if he should be pleased that you could act so… fine when he knew you were still healing.

Despite how well you looked, Dracula couldn't quell the pricks of irritation that were prodding under his skin. This was the absolute last thing he wanted happening today.

Stepping forward, you and Damon stopped talking, both of you stuttering as he hovered over you both. Even if he couldn't see himself, he could feel his power etching forward out of him slightly, and lightning flashed through the windows, followed by a crack of thunder.

"I would like to hear both sides, one at a time. Though, I am curious why you were wandering around these halls."

Damon almost seemed to puff up.

"Yeah, it was dangerous for us citizens of the night for a Belmont to be-"

Dracula sneered, and cut him off.

"I was talking to you, Damon. You were strictly told to stay in the guest tower on the other side of the castle. Curious, how you ended up sniffing around this one without permission."

The man looked like a deer caught in a torchlight, his dark blond hair puffing up slightly as Dracula bared his fangs. Regardless how old or powerful Damon was, it was clear he still saw Dracula as the stronger one in the room, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Meanwhile, you were as still as stone, eyes flickering awkwardly between Dracula and the other vampire.

"Um… if it matters… I was following the bat?"

Dracula turned his attention to you, and for your credit, you didn't flinch back this time. Almost as if called, the bat from earlier almost cutely crawled from your back, up onto your shoulder, and then onto your head.

"'Following the bat'?" Dracula asked, trying to at least keep his voice low and soft with you. He promised he would hear you out before making any rash decisions, and he'd hold himself to that.

That, and he was already annoyed with Damon, who wasn't on his good side.

Slowly, he stepped over to you, and hovered over you curiously.

"And pray tell, why?"

Damon sputtered behind him, saying something along the lines not to believe a filthy vampire hunter, though let out a choked noise when Dracula summoned a hot flame in his hand. Dracula didn't even have to look at the other man to know he flinched backwards at the silent threat.

Nervously, your eyes flickered to the flames in Dracula's outstretched hand behind him, before looking back at him.

"I was in my room, unable to rest-"

Dracula held back a snort, remembering the maid's words.

"-And suddenly this little guy," you gestured to the bat lounging on your head, "started squeaking oddly, and flying around the door."

Said bat gave him a big eyed look, one that screamed it was innocent. Dracula narrowed his eyes, knowing how bats could be troublemakers.

The bat gave a small squeak.

"I was confused, and wondered if the little guy wanted out. So I went to open the door, before he suddenly crawled out under it. I figured I'd leave him, before he crawled back under and squeaked at me again, and crawled back out. He did it a few times, so… I assumed he was trying to show me something?" You said, almost unsure of yourself, giving him a unsure smile with a shrug.

Damon scoffed.

"Figures a Belmont can't even follow basic directions, such as 'stay'."

You gave the vampire a look, eyes almost… flaring with what seemed like… electricity?

Dracula could suddenly feel the raw power radiating off you as you grew irritated, and he fought back the urge to let out a sudden purr, pleased at your display of power. Oh, how he'd love to see more of it, but now wasn't the time.

Though he'd definitely would be thinking about it later.

"Enough. Let them finish." Dracula murmured, and Damon let out a 'hmph'. You gave him a grateful look, gripping your whip tightly.

"Well, I opened the door, and the bat flew around my head a few times, squeaking in a direction down the hall. I figured since he was your bat… it was important. So I started following it, worried something was wrong."

Your eyes narrowed, and you pointed with the hand that held your whip at the other vampire.

"I then found him sniffing around. He was looking through one of the guest rooms, and I assume it wasn't his."

Damon sneered at you.

"And what do you know? A hunter that can't even take care of themselves? Even now, something must be wrong with your brain, since-"

The bat on your head let out a few squeaks, and Damon let out a strangled sound.

"Traitor. Why are you defending someone that kills your kind as a job?!" Damon sneered at the bat on your head, though let out a startled yelp when Dracula's long, boney fingers gripped the top of his head, and turned the younger man to face him. Seems the flames from a moment ago weren't getting the point across.

"Because the Belmont is my guest, and the bat is one of my familiars watching over them." Dracula spoke, his voice low and quiet, yet a growl lingered in his throat that only the creatures in the hall could hear.

The claws tightened around him, and Damon let out a yelp. Blood dripped down the vampire's head as Dracula's claws dug in ever so slightly.

A small injury, for a vampire. One that would heal over night.

However, it was enough force to get the point across. It wouldn't be hard for someone such as himself to clench his fist and end the pathetic welp's life.

Damon's red eyes looked at him fearfully as his body began to tremor, and he was clearly holding himself back from grasping Dracula's hand and trying to pull the other off of him.

"Now. Why were you here? You never got around to that, did you?"

Damon truly looked afraid, his eyes flickering across everyone in the hall.

"I-I…"

Dracula raised a brow, unimpressed.

"Surely, you weren't looking for the Belmont, were you? No, only a fool would do that, right?" Dracula mused out loud, though it was clear he was mocking the other man, who winced as Dracula tightened his grip ever so slightly.

"M-Milord… I-" the vampire whimpered out, letting out a gasp of pain as Dracula gripped him tighter. There was a cracking sound, and blood began to drip freely from the man's head. Damon couldn't help himself, and instinctively reached up to try to push him back.

Dracula could care less at this point. It was becoming clear that the weak worm in his grip was most likely looking for a fight, regardless if you instigated or after find him in the halls. The very thought of the vampire hurting you and seeking you out only made pure rage bubble up in his chest.

It would be easy, to kill him. But did he deserve it?

"Dracula, wait."

Your voice brought Dracula out of his head and blood-lust, and his grip lessened immediately. The other vampire went slack immediately in relief from the pain, though Dracula didn't remove his hand.

You looked unsure now, the power in the air receding just slightly as you gripped your whip. You looked at the other man with a look of… pity? Confusion?

Dracula tilted his head. Did you not want him dead?

"You… You don't have to kill him for my sake." you spoke softly. Where had your irritation gone?

Biting your lip, you didn't meet his eyes.

"I… I don't want to mess anything up. Please don't kill him if it will cause you trouble!"

Eyes flickering between you and the other vampire, Dracula couldn't help but look at you, curious.

"And were you not about to kill him with your whip at his throat moments before?"

His tone wasn't scalding, in fact, it was rather teasing. Despite that, you winced.

"Okay, I wasn't going to kill him. I was simply… uh…" you began, and brought your whip closer to your chest. You still found it hard to look him in the eye.

"Okay, so I was sorta inflicting bodily harm because he wouldn't shut up and was being an asshole, and he threatened to tell his coven about me and ruin things for you if I didn't back off. That was before I pinned him to the wall."

Blinking for a moment, Dracula simply stared at you, long enough for you to start squirming slightly while Damon lay limp in his grip.

"You… attacked him for threatening… me?" He asked, making sure he had this right, his voice growing softer with slight surprise. You blushed.

"Um… well to be fair he threatened me a little bit too, swiped at me as a goading joke, and insulted me a lot, but that was the final straw, yeah. I'm sorry. I- I promise I didn't intend to kill him. Mostly wanted to burn his vocal cords to shut him up for a little bit."

A moment passed as Dracula processed what you had said and done, before he heard a squeak. The bat on your head let out a few more squeaks, explaining things a bit further, and Dracula's eyes narrowed to the man in his grip.

He should kill him, it would be so easy. However, he looked back to you. You watched him carefully as he held Damon's head.

After a few moments, Dracula let out a long sigh.

"Say your thanks, Damon. You live on this day, thanks to a Belmont."

He crudely turned the vampire by the skull to face you, and much to Dracula's amusement, you gave him an exasperated look.

The man wiggled in his grip, before presumably giving you a glare. However, when Dracula temporarily tightened his grip, the vampire let out a welp.

"Tha-Thank you, Belmont." He spat out, though it ended more in a whimper. At that, Dracula simply dropped him to the floor, where Damon crumbled like a sheet of paper.

He then snapped his fingers, gesturing for the maid behind him, who had silently been watching. She stepped up next to him wordlessly, awaiting orders.

"Take our Belmont to the Library, and make sure they are safe and comfortable. I'll be behind you shortly."

With that, she gave a bow to him, then a bow to you, before walking past you. You gave him a questioning look, and he gestured for you to follow her.

"I'll see to you shortly. I won't kill him, if that is what you are worried about."

You looked unsure, glancing at the crumpled up man on the floor, before wordlessly following your new guide down the hall. Dracula tried not to look too pleased with himself that you were showing more trust in him.

After your form disappeared down the hall, Dracula eyed the man on the ground, before speaking out.

"Yorick?"

There was the sound of a skull bouncing down the hall as the skeleton scrambled to his side.

"Yes, Master?"

Dracula leaning down, gripping Damon by the hair, surprising the younger vampire. Damon let out a startled yelp, grabbing at Dracula's hand.

"Go tell the maids to gather some healing remedies for our guest here, would you?"

Yorick gave him a salute.

"Right away, Master!"

He barely paid attention as the skeleton stumbled off, turning the vampire to face him.

"After all, I promised the Belmont I wouldn't kill you. I said nothing about punishing you.."

Damon's red eyes widened, and Dracula brought the other man's face close to his own.

"Now, what was that about telling your coven about the Belmont to, as you said, 'ruin things for me'?"

---o0o---

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First: Here

Last: Here

Your morning, or whatever time it was, had already been disorienting, so this happening on top of it? Horrible start to the day.

While your sleep itself had been surprisingly sound, you found you had some sort of strange dreams. 

You don’t remember much, just some flashes of light, and someone talking. However, it wasn't peaceful. You woke up to your chest aching, and your blood pumping. 

Fists gripping the silky soft sheets, you had tried to steady your nerves. Your eyes darted across the room, the occasional flicker of lightning illuminating the area. 

Blearily, you were able to slowly realize that you were safe, for the most part. Still in Dracula’s castle. 

Your mouth was dry, and your throat felt prickly. 

That’s right, you were still sick, weren’t you?

Even if you were safe, your heart still pounded in your chest in odd intervals, and you swallowed thickly. A bit out of it, you sat up, and you subconsciously reached for your whip. Its familiar weight helped settle your nerves, just slightly. However, you still couldn’t really settle.

This happens sometimes. Dreams haunted you as much as the monsters in your day to day life. Add that while still feeling rather unwell, and it was a recipe for a day in the fog mentally. 

You decided to get up for some fresh air. Despite this being Dracula’s castle, even you couldn’t deny the beauty of it, and how fresh the air was in the wildlife surrounding it.

Carefully, you stumbled out of bed, your balance off a bit as you struggled to keep your steps steady as you approached familiar glass.

It was an older window, and you sighed as you tried to fiddle with the latch keeping the damn thing closed. It took a moment, but you finally were able to release the latch, and push open the window-

Only to jump when a swarm of bats flew by at the exact moment you did so, and one hit the glass from the window you just opened head on with a 'thwack'. 

“Oh shit-”

You were quick, your heart hammering in your chest for a whole different reason as you quickly reached for the little guy before he fell. Thankfully your reflexes were as sharp as ever, and you gently grabbed the bat before it could fall down below. 

Your face fell in slight despair as you held the small creature in your hand. It let out a pitiful squeak, and tried to fly out of your hands. Unfortunately, it seems the poor thing injured one of its wings, and nearly fumbled to the ground. Thankfully, you managed to catch it, and rushed to the bed.

Despite your head pounding, you were able to reach your bed without tripping over your own feet, even as the bat kept scrambling to get away from you.

“Oh no…” you mumbled to yourself, the words repeating in your head as you gently sat the small animal on your pillow.

The poor thing let out another pained noise, and you felt your heart break into a million pieces. 

“Shh, it’s okay! Oh god, I hope it’s okay….” you mumbled, more to soothe yourself as you delicately tried looking over the small animal.

Looking at you with big wet eyes, you tried not to let your heart break further as you tried to figure out what to do.

“I’m so sorry… Oh… Fuck, I think the wing is broken…” You mumbled, trying not to agitate the bat’s injury. You had really fucked up this time, it seems.

The bat clearly didn’t want you touching it, and you didn’t blame the poor fella. You essentially rendered it immobile, even if it had been a complete and total accident. 

You didn’t have any healing potions on you. Everything was in your cabin, including regular medical supplies. What would you do?

Letting out another pained noise, the bat struggled slightly as you hovered around it, clearly wanting to get away. 

Tears pricked at your eyes.

Bats, while typically associated with vampires, weren’t all evil in and of themselves. You were quite fond of them, even if you were wary of every one you came across. It wasn’t fair to the animal itself that they had such a bad reputation. 

It was like snakes, or goats, or black cats in your eyes. The animals didn’t have great reputations due to religion, superstition, or mythology, but were still innocent all the same. 

You’d even go as far as to say animals that naturally took residence in a vampire’s territory were innocent as well, for the most part. 

Was it really a bad thing if they attacked you, if they were defending their home?

Not to mention, it wasn’t always bats. Whenever vampires took different forms, animals of those forms tended to be drawn to the den if they were in the vicinity. 

You had seen vampire dens with wolves, bats, and even snakes. Hell, you’d even seen them with bears, rats, and frogs.

Though your least favorite was the spider ones, for obvious reasons. You’d find spiders in places they had no business being days after the hunt. 

Bats however, were like second nature for vampires. They went hand in hand, and from what you gathered, typically were the easiest and most convenient to transform into. 

So it was natural for bats to be wherever a vampire was, especially since many could end up as familiars. 

Which, of course, made you feel even worse. 

Thoughts swarmed your mind as you gently tried to calm the poor bat. However, an idea came to your mind, a whisper in your head.

You could use your healing magic…

While you were great at magic, healing magic, however…

It wasn’t difficult to cast, per say. In fact, technically, you should be able to do it with ease.

The problem was that, while healing magic was strong, and it could heal nearly any wound…

…Something didn’t come from nothing.

Typically, healing magic took magic power and energy. 

As a Belmont, that wasn’t normally an issue. It was no secret your bloodline had excessive magic, arguably more than the generation before each Belmont. 

In all sense of the word, you were a magic powerhouse, regardless if you used it often or not.

At least… that was the idea.

It was hard for you to have energy, given how little you ate, and how often you were sick. Not to mention how little sleep you got, and how you were recovering from injuries all the time…

Sure, you could use magic in a pinch… but if you had no energy to give… 

Magic had to take something else. 

Still, the poor pained squeaks tugged at your heart strings, and your vision grew blurry. 

With a careful tenderness, you picked up the struggling bat, and focused.

“Shh… I’ll fix you, I promise.” You mumbled, and you felt a familiar tug in your gut as your hands began glowing. 

The bat struggled in your grip for a few more moments, before relaxing. All while you felt that tug in your gut grow warm, before you felt it.

The drain.

You barely had any energy, even if you woke up a bit more rested than normal. It was taking all you had. 

First was the exhaustion.

Then was the searing pain.

You expected it, of course. Pain was normal for you, as was having to use healing spells while running on fumes. 

Still, you couldn’t help but feel your eye twitch, and then several muscles in your body tighten against your will. 

Gritting your teeth, you held firm, ignoring how your stomach felt like it was tearing itself up inside. 

Then, finally, after a few moments, the pain went from searing hot, to a dull throb.

Your hands stopped glowing, and you did everything in your power to avoid crumbling into a ball.

“T-There. All better.” you spoke, tears now falling freely. Despite this, you felt better. Lighter than before.

You gently adjusted the bat in your hands, which was now looking at you almost curiously, rather than in fear like it had moments before. Moving it to one hand, you gently pet its head with a finger from your other hand.

The bat moved under you, though it didn't move itself from your pets. It looked as if it were lightly testing its wing. 

It let out a small squeak, one that sounded free of pain, and you smiled.

“Quite impressive. Healing magic is an advanced art, even for me.”

Head snapping up, your heart thudded in your chest as you noticed Dracula standing at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed as he looked down at you and the bat.

"Granted, I never needed healing magic, given what I am." he continued, his eyes looking at you both curiously.

It took a moment for it to register that Dracula was in your room. When did he even get here?

Mouth falling open, you felt the tears still falling down your cheeks.

“I… It was an a-accident- I-”

Dracula’s face almost seemed to soften as he looked at you. He took a few steps forward, and carefully reached for your hands.

The bat instantly flew to his own outstretched hands, landing on his open palm and giving a few licks.

"It's alright. You healed whatever injury had befell them."

He then gently stretched out the wing you assumed to be injured, the bat not seemingly not caring.

"See? You did well to heal them, though…"

Dracula gave you a pointed look.

"I question your decision to do so when you are so ill. "

You felt yourself wilt slightly at his look.

"I… It was hurt so badly. I felt terrible I had hurt the poor thing. I… I had some energy-"

Dracula sighed, the action making you clam up and stop speaking.

"I suppose I can't blame you, however, don't be afraid to ask for help and explain something to me first. I will be willing to hear you out."

His face softened once again, and his lips twitched upwards when the bat suddenly flew from his hands, back over to you.

Your face lit up in surprise as the bat landed on your shirt, cutely crawling upwards to your shoulder. The lil guy licked your shoulder, before letting out a squeak, and flying up to the top of your head.

Dracula watched you for a moment, and you couldn't help but squirm under his gaze. You couldn't tell what he was feeling as he watched his bat suddenly stick to your head. All the while, you could feel your eyes drying from the sheer surprise and confusion at the action of the small creature.

"I think he likes you."

A laugh nearly left your lips from shock, though you forced the action back so you didn't disturb the little guy on your head, who was now playing with your hair.

"H-Huh? But… I- I accidentally…"

Dracula now looked at you curiously, and walked over to the bed. Sitting next to you, he reached into a pocket in his cloak, pulling out a handkerchief.

"He speaks for himself. If he was afraid, he wouldn't be anywhere near you now that he can move on his own. Now-"

With a weirdly gentle look, he gently wiped away the remainder of your tears with the clothe. You tried not to look at him in disbelief. Dracula being gentle, while you had seen it a handful of times now, was still something you had to get used to.

A part of you wondered if anyone had seen him this gentle in centuries. A smaller part of you wondered if he had ever seen your ancestors shed tears during their encounters with him, and if he mocked them instead.

That voice though, the one that used to warn you to be wary about him, was quieter than it used to be.

"Can you tell me what happened? I'd at least like an explanation, if you would." Dracula's voice spoke, snapping you out of your thoughts as he finished wiping your tears. You tried not to feel pathetic about it. Or weird, with how your stomach was turning in knots.

No doubt your ancestors in the afterlife were just as gobsmacked as you at the very thought of this side of Dracula. You hoped they weren't too disappointed by your small mental breakdown over a bat.

Rubbing your eyes, you tried not to wince at how swollen they felt. No doubt you looked a bit… pathetic. At least Dracula was being nice and not commenting about it.

So much for not looking like a cry baby, though. You aren't even a huge crier, but… it was hard not to be upset, thinking you may have just doomed the world over accidentally harming an innocent animal. Not to mention your emotions were all over the place with how your life was going in general…

Biting your lip, you looked back at Dracula, before looking over at the window.

"I-I woke up, from a nightmare. I think. My heart was pounding, and my nerves they- they were shot. I…"

Dracula followed your gaze as you lifted your hand to point at the window, the wind howling lightly from outside while the window itself clacked slightly from the breeze.

"I was still sluggish from sleep. I think I slept harder than I meant to… So I thought some fresh air would-would ground me."

You didn't notice how Dracula's eyes flickered to you at that comment, and how he looked away at the wall before looking back at the window.

"-The latch was stuck. I didn't- I-…" the words attempted to leave your mouth, and you sighed.

"I managed to unlatch it, and shoved it open. I swear, I didn't know a group of bats was flying by… But…"

The bat on your head let out a chirp like noise, and you could feel it nibbling a strand of hair. Your heart slowed a bit.

"Well… I hit the little guy." You spoke, carefully reaching up and rubbing the head of the bat on your head.

"Thankfully, I was able to grab him before he fell, and well, you saw the rest, I assume."

Truth be told, you weren't sure just what Dracula saw, but you figured it was enough. No need for him to know just how much you freaked out before deciding to heal the lil guy with your magic.

You decided not to ask.

It was quiet for a moment, a type of quiet you were slowly growing accustomed to in this castle. Despite neither of you talking, the wind and occasional roll of thunder was becoming a comfort, rather than a silence that brought you anxiety.

Finally, Dracula spoke.

"I see no permanent harm done. I am not upset." he spoke, he voice deep. You couldn't help but look at him in slight surprise, even if it wasn't a huge shock.

However, you practically froze when Dracula reached over and grabbed your chin, making you face him. Your eyes were wide, and your heart raced as his gaze met yours-

Until he turned your head from side to side, and let out a 'hm' sound.

"I just ask you to wait to do something that would cause a setback for your recovery, if possible. Even if you are feeling better, you have essentially robbed your body of energy it could use to heal yourself."

You swallowed.

"But-" you tried to intervene, it wasn't just about you, after all.

Suddenly Dracula tugged your chin forward again, making you look at him. There was a stern gleam in his eye, one that had you force yourself to keep from squirming as he held you still with such a small grip. You weren't sure you liked the way your body heated up at the action.

"No excuses. While I… admire your desire to help others, even one of my own, this could have made you seriously unwell. I imagine it's only because you are a Belmont that you didn't pass out or begin emptying the contents of your stomach. Or even worse, choking up blood."

You opened your mouth to speak, but he continued before you could.

"Do not forget, you are a guest in my home. I refuse to leave a guest with subpar care, and to let them bring harm to themselves."

Mouth going dry, you found it hard to speak. Hard to think. All you could hear was your heartbeat as his ruby eyes stared almost right into your soul.

"Of course, I understand your situation is… unique. But I suggest you keep that in mind next time you feel… pressured to act." He then mumbled, his grip on you loosening slightly.

It was silent for a moment, before you spoke up.

"…What if I need to speak to you immediately? Something urgent, before making such a decision?" You asked. No doubt a situation could arise where you wouldn't have time to wait for him to show up when checking on you. How could you reliably count on him to help?

"Then call for me. My castle will understand you need me, and will tell me as such, if it is important."

You weren't entirely sure how that worked, and the idea of calling out randomly for Dracula seemed a little silly… But you wondered if it was better than cracking open the bedroom door and asking a Haunted Armor if it could get Dracula for you, like a little kid asking a teacher for assistance.

That being said, it made sense. Dracula was always written to be connected to his castle, no doubt in a symbiotic way. The castle always 'died' with its master, after all.

Though you didn't really like to think too much about it being alive, and sleeping in it.

Still, Dracula's words warmed you. The idea you sort of had Dracula at your beck and call was… you didn't even know how to describe it. An honor? A privilege?

It… made you feel a bit special. Even if it was only 'for important things', you had a feeling he would come to you, regardless.

"…Thank you." you finally mumbled out, face growing hot the more you thought about it. You hoped your face wasn't red.

Dracula held your face for a moment, before he let go of your chin, only to cup your face. His long, boney fingers were cool against your flesh, which no doubt was already warmer than you'd like it to be.

"I'll get you more medicine and some breakfast to eat. You'll need more rest to make up for what you have lost."

You didn't even have time to open your mouth and tell him it was fine, because he was already standing up and heading towards the door to your room. You could only watch him in a daze.

Feeling the bat on your head fidget, you were snapped back to attention.

"W-Wait!"

He paused, instantly turning back to face you.

"I- Uh-" you began, a little unsure how to vocalize your question. Finally, you pointed to the little guy on your head.

"Um…" you began, unsure how to phrase what you should do with the little guy.

It was for only a moment, but you saw Dracula's face soften again, a smile tugging on the corner of his lips as his eyes flickered to the bat on your head.

"Why, how about you let it keep you company? Seems like he likes you."

The bat let out a squeak at his words, and your face flushed. One of Dracula's bats wanted to stay with you? After you accidentally hurt the poor guy?

Before you could even make an argument or ask about it, the bat let out a squeak once more-

-And flopped right onto your face.

"Ack-!"

You heard chuckling, assuming it must have been Dracula, following the sound of a door opening and closing.

Carefully, you reached up and grabbed the bat. It squirmed in your hands, before turning around and looking at you with an adorable look on its face.

"Squeak!"

You felt your heart melt, and gave the little guy a gentle smile. Your body slowly relaxed, and you felt your heartbeat finally slow.

Things might finally turn out okay.

---o0o---

Yet, he didn’t hurt you, or push you away.

In fact, he had his arms open when you fell, a clear invitation, even if no words had been spoken when you sluggishly ran towards him.

He had lowered himself to catch you, and you could feel his arms wrapping around you to hold you close.

Close against his chest.

Maybe you were sicker than you thought, and your brain was making a giant hallucination, but you weren’t entirely sure you wanted to consider the implications of your brain creating a scenario in which Dracula held you to bring you comfort while ill.

However… you found you didn’t mind the idea, especially as his scent flooded your senses, grounding you as you struggled to keep from getting sick in his arms.

“You are unwell?” You suddenly heard Dracula say, his voice as deep and familiar as you remember it, despite the last time you heard him being weeks ago.

His question though came out more of a statement. You wondered if it was either that obvious, or if Death blabbed.

Or stars forbid, he could smell the illness in your body.

You tried not to think too hard, and attempted to stabilize yourself in his grip just enough to stand. However, all you managed to accomplish was loosely gripping one of his sleeves, and a part of his cloak.

All while your face was still pressed against his chest, your head spinning as you tried to come up with a response that wasn’t just random babbling.

“I…”

Despite being able to snark a bit at Death not too long ago, you found your words escaping you before you could speak.

How pathetic of you. You have defeated legions of demons and monsters with a flick of your wrist, but you can’t even respond to Dracula? Can’t even pull yourself up and not cling to him?

…Yet… you found yourself not wanting to let go, either. Was it really the illness, or were you doing this to yourself?

Dracula shifted slightly, and you felt a hand carefully place itself on your back. The action caused you to unintentionally tense, not used to contact when you couldn’t see it. However, you didn’t rip yourself away.

It did shock you out of your stupor just enough to pull back, all so you could meet Dracula’s eyes.

His face was… worried, you think. Despite being a man with such a dark and scary past and reputation, especially with your own family, it seems it wasn’t too hard to read his face. At least in this moment.

Or maybe you were just lucky, and he was lowering his guard around you. Maybe.

His eyes looked over your smaller form, and he brought a hand up to your forehead. You held back another flinch, before relaxing into his hand. The coolness of his skin felt nice against your own inflamed flesh.

“You are warm… A fever. And injured…” You heard him murmur, and you felt your face scrunch up.

“I’m fine-”

“You are not.”

His words cut off your own, and you opened your mouth to argue, though your words were choked when he cupped your face.

“Let me take you home. You are too sick to be alone right now.”

…Did you really look that bad?

To be fair, you felt awful. You at least hoped you were able to hide it better… But, would you really be able to hide anything like this from a man nearly 1000 years old to begin with?

You wanted to tell him no, to leave you alone. You could handle this yourself. The last thing you needed was owing Dracula a debt. Not to mention how you already felt like you owed him one after he took care of you after you accidentally released him.

Would this, or that last time count as a life debt? You hoped not.

That being said-

How were you supposed to say no when Dracula, one of the only people to seemingly care about you, was holding you so tenderly and asking to take care of you?

Was it so wrong that you wanted to say yes?

Your brain felt like mush, it was hard to concentrate. Your nausea was already hard enough to push back while Dracula held you, but Dracula himself was causing you to have a small mental crisis with the fog already in your head.

Despite your inner conflict, Dracula didn’t rush you. He simply held you while you tried to think.

Eventually, you seemed to make a decision. Sort of.

“But, my stuff. I- I brought some stuff-”

Dracula held back a sigh. He couldn’t pass by your small cabin’s barriers. Not without actually injuring himself. He’d give you plenty of credit, you knew how to use your magic, it seemed.

“We can come back for it when you aren’t burning up.”

You scowled, though it looked more like a confused, frustrated look instead.

“But…”

Before you could try and argue again, you let out a yelp as Dracula quite literally gently swept you off your feet.

He held you in one of his arms, adjusting you slightly to be more comfortable.

“I can’t pass these barriers, and you are in no position to be walking. Just when you walked over to meet me, you could barely keep yourself standing as you moved across that path. We shall return when you no longer have a fever.”

You still wished to protest, but it seemed Dracula was having none of it. With a flick of his cloak, your vision blurred, and it felt like a rock dropped in your stomach, and static was in your ears.

Just as quickly, you felt as if you were dropped from a great height, and your vision cleared. One of your hands gripped Dracula’s chest, and the other went up to your mouth as you tried to hold back your nausea.

You were in a room similar to the one you had stayed in last time, though you were unsure if it was the same or not. It was hard to focus.

Dracula seemed to sweep across the room, muttering apologies as he gently laid you down on the soft, expensive looking bed.

Briefly, he let out a hiss, and you nearly recoiled out of reflex at the noise. Dracula held up an arm, showing your whip had caught on his hand. The flesh sizzled, red and raw looking as your whip slid off it and onto the bed next to you. You winced, about to apologize-

“Apologies. I didn’t mean to frighten you, Belmont.”

Despite your whip literally attempting to destroy his flesh, he was apologizing to you.

You scrambled slightly to remove the whip, setting it down on the other side of the bed. Your face felt hot for a different reason than your fever, and you felt guilt creep up your throat.

“No- I’m sorry, I-”

He held up his non-burned hand, and you paused.

“Don’t worry about it. You are ill and I know you had no intention to use it. Relax.”

His voice was low, and surprisingly gentle as he attempted to reassure you. You hesitantly listened, laying back against the bed.

Your head was spinning, and your heartbeat was in your ears while you felt like your stomach was doing summersaults.

But you forced yourself to breathe, eyes never quite leaving Dracula as he looked over you. This was beginning to feel like a dream.

“Do you know what has caused this?” He murmured, and you lightly shook your head as he reached over to feel your forehead again. You briefly noticed his hand was already mostly healed.

You tried to relax against said cool hand, the cool skin once again welcome against your own feverish forehead. Closing your eyes for a moment, you attempted to enjoy the small relief his cool hand gave. Though out of instinct, you couldn’t keep your eyes shut for long.

“I… I think it’s food poisoning…” you eventually find the strength to mumble.

Dracula’s eyes narrowed in thought, though his face softened when he noticed you watching him closely. Was he worried about appearing too menacing around you?

“Food poisoning? Do you know what you ate?”

It took a moment for you to think, and you felt like mentally shaking yourself by the neck for taking up so much time trying to remember such a simple answer.

“A… A sandwich? Made from some leftovers?” you spoke, trying to remember everything you put on said sandwich.

Dracula took his free hand, and with a snap of his fingers, summoned a thermometer. You blinked, slightly surprised at the display of casual magic.

Sure, you could also use magic, but it wasn’t like you had the option to see it much outside of battle or layering protection spells. You didn’t get to see it used so casually that often.

And, okay. You were a little jealous he could just summon stuff like that with the flick of a wrist. You could summon giant storms made from holy water, sure, but it’d be nice to be able to summon a bottle of wine every once in a while.

“Do you remember what you put on it?” He asked, lowering the thermometer to your mouth. Your eyes flickered to it, and back to his face.

“Uhh…”

You attempted to list out the little bit of ingredients you remember slapping on the meal, while Dracula seemed to listen.

“Say ah…” He then spoke after you finished listing what you recalled.

You blinked, looking at the thermometer in his hand, and you felt your lip twitch upward for a moment. Dracula, if he noticed, chose not to react as he waited for you to open your mouth.

That was such a human expression to use, it took you off guard for a moment.

Also it was a little funny.

Though, as you opened your mouth, letting him put the small stick under your tongue, you figured it perhaps wasn’t as out of place as it could be.

He was a father, at least at one point, right?

As odd as it was to think about, you imagined he probably had to do this once or twice with his own son.

Another part of you wondered how much of that self he had locked away centuries ago, and that small expression had simply slipped out.

You fumbled with the thermometer when Dracula suddenly took an interest in your face. It was hard to fight back a wince, especially when you felt his thumb gently caress your cheek as he looked over the nasty looking bruise.

“Is this the only injury you have?” he asked, his voice surprisingly lower, quieter. Your face scrunched up slightly at his sudden tone and question. Did you really have to answer that?

“It jut a bwuse-” you mumbled out, mentally cursing the stick in your mouth. However, Dracula cut you off.

“That is not what I asked. I asked if you had any other injuries?”

His eyes narrowed onto you, and suddenly you felt a bit smaller than you already were. Was he about to pull out his dad voice on you?

Your eyes flickered nervously from his mouth to his eyes. When had his face gotten so close to your own?

You were silent for a moment, debating how you should answer. A part of you got the sinking suspicion he’d know if you lied.

“Um…”

Dracula, for his credit, waited patiently. You scrunched your face for a moment, and took the stick out of your mouth, ignoring the look Dracula gave you.

“Just a few bumps and bruises. This is the worst, I think. I promise.”

With that, you plopped the thermometer back under your tongue, nervously waiting for Dracula's reaction.

Thankfully, all he did was sigh, before letting out a hum. You wondered if he did that often when he was in deep thought.

Gently, he moved your head to the side to get a better look at your face, his cool thumb gently rubbing over your cheek.

You tried not to think too hard on that, he was probably just looking at the bruised flesh, right?

Of course, you dreaded the next words out of his mouth, expecting him to ask how you got it-

“And pray tell, how have you not healed it yet? Have you not been able to properly stock up on supplies? Do you not know any healing magic?”

The question took the wind out of your sails.

However, your eyes narrowed.

It was an innocent set of questions, ones that may even come off as a bit condescending if you weren’t paying attention, but you couldn’t help but find it odd he asked those first.

Before you could answer, you squeezed your eyes shut in a groan, your stomach fighting your very existence, it seemed.

As you struggled to hold back the stinging pain, you thought about his questions.

Was it really that surprising you had an injury? You were a hunter, after all. Dracula probably was under the assumption you got the bruise on your face in a battle.

Dracula meanwhile took the thermometer out of your mouth, (finally!), and looked at it as you finally forced yourself to speak.

“Haven’t… had an opportunity to do much shopping this past month. I have been busy.” you mumbled.

You didn’t offer any other explanation, and Dracula watched you in silence for a moment. Your eyes met his, daring him to try and push further.

The last thing you needed was Dracula knowing just how pathetic your home life was. More so than he probably already figured out, at least. You didn’t need the vampire who was supposed to be your family’s enemy knowing all those personal details.

Dracula kept your gaze for a moment, clearly debating on challenging you, before letting out a reserved sigh.

Seems he figured this was not a battle worth fighting. He reached up, his now free hand covering the top of his face, almost exasperated.

Still, he didn’t comment, moving his hand to look at the thermometer again, before shaking it out.

“Regardless, you have a fever. One that is dangerously close to being too high for a human to handle.”

You blinked.

“As in, I need to get some medicine in your system immediately. If it gets much higher, the average human brain begins to cook itself.”

Your mouth dropped, forming an ‘o’ shape.

“...Ah.”

He gave you a brisk nod, and quickly turned away with a flick of his cloak, his large frame easily making it to the door in a few steps.

Confusion bubbled in your chest as he turned away, only for your eyebrows to rise as he opened the door, and snapped his fingers. He closed the door partially behind him, but you heard him start talking to someone.

Or something.

That’s right. He was also a king. Something you should probably do your best to remember.

After a few moments of what seemed like an irritable discussion, (at least on Dracula’s end), he was closing the door, and walking back towards you.

In his arm was a potion bottle, a large one.

“Here, I wish for you to drink this.” he spoke, his voice soft again, the irritation you managed to pick up from whatever he was talking to was long gone.

Just as you opened your mouth to protest, he held out a hand. Your mouth snapped shut, and he began to speak.

“Yes, I am aware, it won’t ‘cure’ you. However, it will heal any damage done, and will give your immune system a break trying to heal the battered parts of your body. It will be able to focus on fighting your ‘food poisoning.’”

It was hard to argue with that thinking.

Eyes glancing at the large bottle he was offering you, you slowly sat up to take it. You couldn’t help but think he looked pleased when you did.

Perhaps you shouldn’t drink a potion from him, but that familiar voice spoke up in the back of your mind before you could dwell on it.

After all, if he wanted you dead, he would have killed you by now.

Still a harrowing thought, you think as you decide to down the potion as fast as possible.

Your face scrunched up at the taste, but you finished it in seconds. Dracula sighed, an odd look on his face as he watched you drink the potion in earnest.

“Perhaps it… would have been wise of me to warn you not to drink it all at once if your stomach is giving you issues. Let me know if you feel nauseous.”

His words hit you, and you gave him a pained, sheepish smile as your stomach churned. However, you managed to hold back the nausea as you laid back down on the soft bed.

At the very least, you could feel the lingering migraine in your head lessen a bit, and your body seemed to relax. Perhaps you had been a little more battered than you thought…

With the look he gave you, you wondered if you genuinely were worrying him.

Granted, logically, he had to be to some degree. Right?

Still, it was hard to wrap your head around, even now. Especially with how anxious you have been about meeting him again.

…And it made your heart skip a beat again. Once more, you were being taken care of by the King of the Night.

Your eyes met with his as he took the glass bottle from you, and he paused. Both of you stood like that for a moment, the only noise being the wind and occasional thunder outside the castle.

Another beat passed, and you found yourself opening your mouth to speak, though you were unsure what you were going to say.

However, before any words could come out, there was a knock at the door.

Dracula stood up abruptly, as if taken by surprise.

“Ah- pardon me. One moment.” he spoke, and you could almost rub your eyes in disbelief at his odd reaction.

Maybe it was your imagination, but… what was that? Was he actually flustered?

Not to mention the tension… Yes, you must be imagining things.

Wringing your hands anxiously, it helped distract you from the nerves and the churning in your gut. Even if you didn’t feel as bad as before, you worried one wrong move would have you hurling the potion on the nice, shiny wood floors.

At least your vision wasn’t spinning anymore… just the thought of it nearly made your stomach sour with nausea. Ugh.

Dracula meanwhile answered the door, though you weren’t able to hear much this time. Not that it mattered, since nearly as quickly as the conversation with some unseen figure started, it was over.

Turning back to you, your eyes widened as you saw Dracula carrying a large tray, like a server in a restaurant.

You had a feeling such a sight was a rare treat that only a handful got to see, given all the servants he had. He must be serious about attending to you personally.

That, and given that someone literally tried to kill you with a potion last time you were here, you weren’t completely surprised on that front.

Gently, he sat the tray down on the end table near you, and you caught a glimpse of what was on it.

Much to your surprise, it was some sort of soup, as well as a… drink? Some sort of pink drink that had some sort of orange sparkly bits swirling in it. On the other side was a simple glass of water with it.

You blinked, though before you could ask about it, Dracula was already gently reaching towards you. However, he hesitated.

“May I help you adjust?”

Your mouth opened and closed for a moment, before you were meekly nodding. You tried not to let your thoughts wander as he reached forward to help you sit up.

One of his large hands slid down your back to help steady you, while he held out his other one for you to grip to try and lean forward.

You could feel your brain short circuiting. There was doubt in your mind that you would ever grow used to the size of his hands, or feeling them anywhere on your body-

Mentally, you kicked yourself.

Here Dracula is, genuinely trying to help you out, and you could feel those less than pure thoughts lingering around the corner of your mind. As if hiding in the shadows of your thoughts, eager to make themselves known at the most inconvenient time.

Not to mention, you don’t think you have the stomach to even consider where those thoughts could go.

Not what you needed right now, especially since your stomach was already sour as is. You didn’t need butterflies fluttering around in it to make everything worse.

Before you could mentally grab your brain and shake it to dispel those thoughts, Dracula was already putting the tray in your lap.

“You need to eat, even if your stomach is upset. You will only grow dehydrated if you go too long without food or drink.”

You hated how he was right, but the thought of eating only made your head hurt and stomach turn.

Seems you must have made a face, because Dracula lightly shook his head.

“The soup is mostly broth, so it should be easy on your stomach, and easy on you as well if it… comes back up.”

He then pointed to the odd glass of orange-ish pink liquid.

“A medicine of my own creation, it should help soothe your stomach, as well as help your fever. I suggest you drink that as soon as possible to get your fever down.”

Taking a deep breath, you looked at the tray, before reluctantly grabbing a spoon to eat.

“Fine. But if I puke it’s not my fault.”

Though, the corner of your lip quirked upward, despite the pounding in your temple as you looked at him from the corner of your eye.

“A shame, you don't get fried Belmont brain tonight, it seems.”

Much to your surprise, Dracula let out a snort, before putting a hand to his face and looking away while clearing his throat.

“If you are making jokes, Belmont, you have the strength to eat.”

Despite that, you could see the faintest smile on his face as he refused to meet your gaze.

You felt your heart flutter in your chest, and looked back at your meal. You’d be riding that high for a week, but it didn’t help the fact you still had to eat.

With a grimace, you dug in. Sooner you get this over with, the sooner your vision would stop occasionally swimming, and your stomach would stop threatening to empty itself on the soft bed sheets.

And if you were being honest, you did not want to make a mess, thank you very much. That was the last thing you needed on top of being taken care of.

It took some effort, but thankfully Dracula didn’t give you a lot to eat. However, it was the ‘medicine’ you had been watching out of the corner of your eye that had you nervous.

You somewhat trusted Dracula at this point. No doubt it really was some sort of actual medicine.

But… you weren’t entirely sure about trying something so… unknown to you.

Still, with every spoonful, you were more and more convinced to at least try it. Especially as you felt your stomach lurch a few times.

That, and you were growing hot sitting up for so long. Were you sweating?

And you were so… tired.

Now that you were comfortable, perhaps it was really hitting you how sick you were all over again?

Sure, the potion helped, but it sure as shit didn’t cure anything.

You looked back towards Dracula, who was now sitting in a chair next to you. Was he making sure you actually ate? When had he pulled up a chair?

If you were missing something as simple as Dracula sitting next to the bed, you really must not be well. Yikes.

Your eyes flickered between him, and the meal that you were forcing yourself to continue eating.

As funny as the thought was of him making sure you ate like you were an 8 year old throwing a fuss, you had a feeling he was more concerned than he was showing.

Once again, the medicine Dracula made innocently sat on the edge of your vision, and you held back a sigh.

It was already getting hard to finish your meal, may as well take it now.

And hey, if he kills you, he kills you.

Reaching for it, you gave it a sniff, though were oddly surprised that it had no scent.

Odd.

With a shrug, you downed it, letting out a cough as it hit your throat.

Dracula sat up straighter, and reached forward, taking the cup from you and setting it down somewhere nearby. When he reached towards you, you waved a hand with another cough.

“Chalky. And weirdly spicy.” you spoke, your face scrunched up as your stomach did somersaults.

Dracula paused, before you heard what you thought was a chuckle.

“First time I’ve heard it called spicy.”

His voice seemed a bit distant, and suddenly you were hit with a wave of exhaustion. How long has it been since you woke up today?

“Easy.”

You blearily blinked your eyes, looking over at Dracula, who was now at your side. You could feel one of his hands at your back, and the other holding the tray steady in your lap.

“You should rest.”

“But-”

You immediately wanted to argue. After all, you had so much to say, to talk about. At the very least, you could apologize for being sick again when you were supposed to meet with him.

However…

Exhaustion settled in your gut, next to the pangs of nausea, and the migraine that was slowly lessening in your head.

Would it really hurt to have a nap?

It seems like you didn’t have much of a choice, because before you knew it, Dracula was laying you back down, while taking the tray from your lap.

“Rest, Little Belmont. Rest.”

His voice seemed so far gone, and the pillows were so soft…

“...M’kay…”

You’d fight him about it later when you woke up.

With that, you closed your eyes, and fell back asleep.

…

A beat passed.

And another.

Then, Dracula let out a sigh of relief.

It had been a gamble, getting you to drink the medicine, but it had been worth it. Seems you trusted him more than he thought.

Something that greatly pleased him, might he add.

Though, he felt a pang of guilt.

He hadn’t been lying, per say, when he said that pinkish drink had been medicine. It truly was something he had made for medicinal purposes.

…However, he purposely left out the bit where it would knock you out into a deep sleep for a few hours.

Dracula truly disliked using such an underhanded tactic, especially when you proved to him just now, in multiple ways, that you trusted him.

That was valuable to him, in many ways. A Belmont’s trust? The things he could do with it…

And not just any Belmont, but you. The one Belmont in particular he actually finds himself liking.

Still, Dracula couldn’t help but frown as you entered a blissful sleep. He had taken such a delicate thing, and used it.

In this case though, it had to be done. You needed rest immediately.

He had managed to hide just how worried he was after taking your temperature. Even if you were a Belmont, your fever was dangerously high.

You could slay monsters of godly degrees, fight armies of the undead, go toe to toe with someone like him, he was sure.

But you were human. So delicately human.

Death had understated just how bad things were. He was sure if he had stayed at the castle, you would have ended up taking permanent damage in some sort of way.

You may be one of the most powerful humans in existence, but no doubt a fever such as this, untreated, would kill you.

Or at the very least, injure you in some way. Even he had heard of Belmonts losing their edge over such human illnesses and untreated injuries.

Say even if you had a potion on you, and some medicine, he doubted it would do as much as his own. If anything, you probably would be worse in that small cabin of yours.

His lips formed a tight line as he had the tray disappear in a puff of smoke.

It was a calculated risk, going to you, but it was one that proved rewarding.

He knew if you had been well, you very much could have been angry, or upset. You very well could have attacked him. A part of him wouldn’t even have blamed you.

But he wasn’t willing to risk this. Risk your life.

Dracula wasn’t sure what the future held, especially since he somewhat swore to hold back destroying humanity. For now.

He was too interested in you. For once, you were something so different than the usual tango he had with your clan.

Dracula would not lose you, not now. You were his.

He just hoped you could forgive him for taking advantage of your trust like that. It was for your own good.

Which, of its own, was another worrying dilemma.

How had you gotten this ill? How had it gotten this bad in the first place?

He mostly had stuck to his castle this past month, going over everything with his servants, and getting into contact with a few clans. Dracula was mostly unsure how much or how little human medicine had progressed, but surely, as a Belmont, you would have access to the best medicine?

And yet…

Looking over your sleeping self, he found he couldn’t look away.

Your body was relaxed in a way he imagined was a rarity. No doubt a hunter never relaxed that often, even when sleeping. Especially if you didn’t have a great life, wherever you currently lived.

What exactly was happening to you? He a sneaking suspicion it was more than just food poisoning, but he had no proof.

Just the fact his medicine seemed to be working.

Taking a step towards the bed, Dracula observed you for a while more, watching as your chest slowly rose and fell.

He could hear your heart beating, a slow, peaceful and steady beat. So human.

Slowly, he found himself reaching out towards you, his clawed hands hesitating as they reached for your face.

Dracula could kill you right now, if he desired. End the Belmont Lineage, and seal your blasted whip away for good in the Chaotic Realm.

It would be so easy too. You let your guard down around him. Trusted him. He could kill you dead in the blink of an eye, and you’d be none the wiser until it was too late, and he’d already be devouring your soul.

This feud would be over with, for good.

Yet…

He couldn’t do it. It was nothing more than a passing thought in the back of his mind, if even that.

In fact, the very thought of doing that, at this very moment… upset him.

You were too special, too unique. Dracula was drawn to you in a way he couldn’t accurately describe. At least, not with a singular word or thought.

Curiosity. Amusement. Worry. Yearning. Possession.

All because you wanted something different than your predecessors.

Carefully, Dracula’s hand reached forward again, before he was gently touching your face.

Your skin was still unsettlingly warm, even for human standards, but he could already tell a difference. The fever was already lessening.

Gently, his hand went from touching your forehead, to cupping your face.

No doubt you were a force of nature. He only caught a glimpse of the hunter part of you when you once approached his castle when he was still cursed. How that day, you declared you would rather talk.

But he saw it, that look in your eyes. Despite the fear and anxiety in them, he could see that same look of a warrior.

So how had a warrior who could meet him in power end up so sick? So injured?

As he was lost in thought, he pulled his hand back just enough to tenderly brush a bit of hair out from the front of your face.

Ha. No doubt Leon was rolling in his grave, laughing at him. Or yelling threats. Even your other ancestors must be cursing his very existence with increased fervor from the pearly gates of heaven, or wherever they ended up.

One of those things, surely.

How far the King of the Night has fallen, desperately caring for a Belmont.

No doubt his past self would be enraged. He could easily see his past selves thinking it was a sick joke of some sort.

Him, growing so fond of a Belmont. Nearly letting go of his goal just for his supposed enemy. How poetic.

But… he was so tired. So so tired. How many times had he played this game, and lost? Even with Chaos’ enticing magic at his side.

Dracula always heeded the call when revived, his mind whirling with newfound bloodlust and a desire for vengeance. How many times was that his own feelings from losing Lisa, and how many times was it fate playing with his mind?

Though at this point, he was growing weary of being a plaything rather than a player in this game of fate.

He’d never stop hating humanity for what it has taken from him.

But as he looked over you, threads of hair between his fingers, that hate wasn’t as strong as it used to be. Humanity did have a few gems in the mess of beasts it produced.

Perhaps, he could tolerate them once again. For you. For something new.

For himself.

Of course, his tolerance will only go so far. Just don’t expect him to be nice. Or engage with any of them unless he has to. The majority were still nothing but cluttering insects for all he cared.

Insects that occasionally bore someone who was extraordinary.

Dracula stood still there for a moment as he watched over you, lost in thought, before finally speaking.

“If you are going to stand there in the shadows, I expect a report.”

His voice was quiet, to be sure not to wake you. Though he doubted it would have been easy, knowing how heavy his medicine could make a human sleep.

The room grew a familiar chill, and Dracula could see Death emerge from the shadows behind him from the reflection of a mirror.

“Forgive me, my Lord, but some of the clans have responded. One has even sent an envoy to speak with you, and I imagine others will do the same soon. Your revival and presence lasting as long as it has is beginning to make waves.”

Dracula narrowed his eyes.

If he were being honest with himself, he hated vampire and night creature politics as much as he loved power. Alas, he set himself up for this after trying to rule the world so many times.

A tired sigh escaped his lips.

He dug himself in this hole, and now he had to be the one to deal with it.

Still, a frown formed on his face as he looked over you. He had to keep you safe.

Not too hard of a problem on paper. His castle was huge, and this was simply one guestwing, and one of the best guestrooms. He could section this part of the castle off.

However, he knew bad luck followed Belmonts everywhere. He would have to prepare for potential fallout.

“Have them escorted to the main hall, and have a room prepared in the other guesthouse of the castle, should they be inclined to stay overnight.” he ordered.

Death bowed, before its eyes lingered on you.

“...They are recovering. Will they be staying long?”

Dracula wanted to ignore the question, but decided to answer regardless.

“For a few days, I imagine. Behave yourself, and tell the others that are aware of our guest to behave as well, lest they want a personal visit from me.”

Death looked at him, and then you for a moment, before dipping its head in a bow.

“As you wish, my Lord.”

Dracula wasn’t sure he trusted Death not to take things into his own hands, but he at least hoped the deity would hold back from acting on his own should no problems arise.

His eyes then flickered back to you, who was still sleeping soundly on the bed, hair still between his fingers.

He’d take care of you for now, at least to see how far this shaky truce could go.

Gently, Dracula let go of your hair, before reaching for you completely.

He was careful, lifting you up with one arm, while pulling the covers of the bed back with his other hand.

You never woke up once, not even as he laid you back down, and placed the covers back over you.

Dracula tried to ignore the voices in the back of his head, asking how long it had been since he had deliberately taken care of another being to this degree.

Just a few months ago, he would have tried ripping your head off, rather than tuck you in bed with such gentle care.

It was simply to keep you from getting worse, a part of him reasoned. After all, It was already a bit chilly in this part of the castle, and the last thing you needed was to be left out in the cold when fighting a fever.

Still, as he stood back up, he couldn’t help but sigh, placing a hand over his eyes. This was prime potential for a disaster.

Yet, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards slightly when he moved his hand down to look at you one last time before leaving.

He’d admit it quietly to himself, at least.

“I like you.”

---o0o---

First: Here

Last: Here

After a couple of decades, you learn to grow used to it. Days bleed into weeks, weeks bleed into months, months bleed into years…

Before you know it, you are seeing a decade pass by in the blink of an eye.

It was one of the things he wished he had anticipated more when he made the decision to become immortal. Perhaps those first grueling decades wouldn’t have crawled by at a snail's pace as he dealt with his simmering feelings of pain, grief, shame, and betrayal.

However, within a century, Dracula learned how to distract himself.

He always had been a man of discovery and science. If he had all the time in the world, he could put it to good use.

One of the first things he threw himself into was medical practice.

With his precious Elizabetha gone from an illness, what better way to honor her memory, than to make sure nothing could ever happen to anyone else he may cross paths with, should he ever find a friend in his endeavors?

Or if not, he’d at least have the knowledge on hand should anyone come looking for a deal.

People would make deals for just about anything, if they desired it enough. Medicinal knowledge was something that a surprising amount of people sought out.

Usually it was for personal reasons. A family member was sick, a person was ill and not recovering, some wished to live longer…

Back when he had first turned, and for a few centuries after, if you caught something as simple as a cold or the flu, it could be a death sentence.

So it ended up being a huge benefit on his end for researching it. When you have knowledge people need or want, they’ll agree to almost any term or condition.

Even the ones who called it heresy would bend a knee if it meant they could ‘outwit’ Death itself.

It was also how he met his dear Lisa, who looked to him for knowledge. Simply wanting to help others.

Those memories were bitter sweet, but he didn’t regret his decisions learning such things, or teaching her. He would hold those memories dear to himself.

Besides that, he threw himself into many other things, such as technological marvels. Just what was the universe capable of, with a little push and pull?

Regardless, his thoughts were straying. Dracula was used to having to bide his time, and having time to waste.

So why was waiting for one human for a month such a difficult task?

For the first time in a few centuries, waiting a simple month felt like he was waiting years.

Perhaps it was that things were different this time around?

That…

…And Dracula missed you.

Not that he’d admit that outloud with any of his underlings nearby, of course.

He hadn’t been ‘awake’ long in the grand scheme of things. But given his track record of how long he has before he is found and destroyed, it felt longer.

Add that with how much he was pining for his Little Belmont who had to leave?

It was hard not to outwardly sulk.

You were interesting. You were new. You were different.

Did he really want to give up his desire to destroy humanity? Not… entirely, but he was willing to see what you had to offer. Willing to work with you and see where this budding friendship could go.

But you were gone. And he had to wait.

That… and he was worried.

Him. King of the Night. He was someone people told their children about to keep them from sneaking out of bed at night.

Yet, how could he not be, given the state you were in when you freed him?

You were tight lipped about whatever your home situation was, but he was a smart man. He may detest many humans, but his castle welcomed those shunned and hurt by humanity as a whole. On a rare occasion, that included humans too.

The tolerable kind.

He recognized the signs of someone who was clearly in a bad situation.

Those wounds of yours were concerning. Dare he say, nearly fatal. Yet you still had made the effort to get to his castle. You felt safer here before he was even awake, rather than wherever your little cabin was.

For once, he thanked fate for gifting you to him that day.

Even if it had been a result of a curse he himself had done, he was incredibly lucky it was you that set him free.

“Hmm…”

His heart thrummed the more he thought of you, something he was doing often. Humans do have a saying, distance makes the heart grow fonder, and whatnot.

Add that with his worry for you… he hadn’t stopped thinking of you all month.

Were you okay? Were you being treated well at home?

You’d be here soon, he knew that. Even Death was kind enough to let him know you’d arrive sometime this week.

Eyes narrowing, Dracula looked towards the shadows in his throne room as he thought of his lieutenant.

He still wasn’t quite happy to learn Death had paid you a visit without being asked. Dracula knew Death wouldn’t be afraid to take things into his own hands if he felt it would benefit his master.

However, Dracula was even more upset at what Death had told him.

‘They were as aware as any hunter… but I couldn’t help but think they looked akin to that of a mouse, rather than a cat with how they acted. That… and while their injuries were mostly healed, they did not look well.’

Dracula had listened, his rage and worry bubbling beneath his skin.

‘Their soul is strong, but their life force is weak. Not close to my realm, but one might find it concerning how a Belmont is so… ill. That… and a rather concerning bruise lay across their face. As a hunter, I wonder why they had not healed it. Surely they would have the resources?’

He had, admittedly, not taken that information too well.

Dracula’s eyes drifted to the side, where a large, burned part of his throne room lay. He hadn’t gotten around to letting the castle fix itself yet.

In his defense, he hadn’t exactly anticipated having such a literal explosive reaction, especially over a Belmont.

That same rage and worry still lingered in his veins. It was a familiar rage. One he remembers all too well when he had lost others close to him due to humans.

Dracula yearned to act, but he could not. Any active move he made potentially would push you away.

However, this was a very fine line. You were a Belmont, and he of all people knew that your lot didn’t go down without a fight. At what point however, did you no longer have a means to protect yourself? Especially by those potentially in your own home?

At what point would he have to cross that line in order to keep you alive? Would he really risk what little peace you both had to ensure you were okay?

Was it even worth it?

A growl left his throat as he debated his options.

It was one thing to act out over Lisa and Elisabetha. He had been too late with each one, and he would forever regret it.

But dare he act out to try and figure out what was going on with you?

What if he was horribly horribly wrong? It was a small chance he was misreading the signs, but it wasn’t zero.

At least out of all of this, Death was able to… give him your location. For presumably both your home and your little cabin.

Dracula felt very on the fence about learning such information. For once, it felt like a breach of privacy. Something you should have told him yourself.

Yet another part of him felt relief knowing you were close by. Even if your family home was farther away, it was nothing for a being such as himself. If he had to check on you, he could. He had the means to.

But should he?

Dracula pinched the bridge of his nose.

Why was it that he suddenly found himself so uncertain with his decisions when it came to you?

In part, he knew the answer, deep deep down.

He liked you.

He was worried about you.

He wanted to keep you here despite what little interactions you both have had-

Dracula’s thoughts halted when he felt the arms of his throne splinter under his claws, and the base of the seat cracking.

No need to get ahead of himself.

Patience. He needed patience.

He just hoped being patient wouldn’t cost you your life.

Though his lips formed a fine line when he felt a familiar presence lingering beside his throne.

“You better have some good news.” He mumbled, eyes looking over to the side.

Death simply tilted its head, and Dracula couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

He didn’t like that look.

—

Waking up from sleeping was always a 50/50 for you.

Sometimes, you slept fine. No nightmares, and if you were lucky, you felt fully rested.

Other times… not so much.

In fact, you’d argue that you more often than not woke up feeling awful while sleeping in your family home.

It wasn’t a surprise to you. Given how your living condition was, you expected it most of the time. Even just your anxieties alone of your step father barging into your room to yell at you, or push you around was enough to make you feel sick most days. Even on the quiet ones.

The threat alone of being bothered was enough to make you feel awful.

That isn’t even the surface of it, really. You hated thinking about it too much, since it just made the waves rolling in your gut worse.

Still, you could only groan in pain and annoyance as your stomach churned, leaving you to roll over awkwardly in bed.

“Ugh…”

You felt like shit.

This… wasn’t an uncommon occurrence either. On rare occasions, if you went to a hotel, or your little cabin… Sometimes you’d wake up in pain.

You mainly chalked it up to your body finally resting. Or something like that.

But you still thought it was complete bullshit.

With another pained groan, you rolled over again, purposely falling out of the bed. A grunt left your mouth as you landed on the cool, wooden floor of your room.

Face scrunching up, you awkwardly put a hand to your head, but cursed. You had no means of telling if you had a fever or not from your hand alone.

But you did feel uncomfortably warm. That wasn’t good.

Letting out a brief sigh of determination, you shakily sat up on your knees, before letting out a gagged noise.

“Too fast, too fast…” you mumbled, falling forward slightly, one arm keeping you up against the bed frame while the other gripped your stomach.

Okay. You were a bit more sick than anticipated.

Growling a bit, you grit your teeth, and attempted to stand up. You had to use the bed to keep yourself steady, but at least you could shuffle to the bathroom now. Hopefully.

Biting your lip in pain, you pushed forward. The bathroom wasn’t far, but you still struggled with how the room around you seemed to spin as you walked while still being half asleep.

Your head pounded, and your stomach lurched just as you made it in the small room.

Falling to the floor, you let out another groan as you crawled to the toilet with a scowl.

Why were you so sick? Did you catch something while out yesterday? If anything, the only people you interacted with had been the sales woman, and-

Your blood nearly went cold.

Surely, Death didn’t make you sick, did it?

A moment passed, and then another as you bit your lip.

No, you don’t think they did.

Death seemed only intent on keeping an eye on you and warning you not to fuck around, less you find out. They didn’t seem upset when you had been at the store.

If Death hadn’t done this to you, what did?

Briefly, you went over what you did yesterday, before letting out a noise of annoyance. Had it been those old leftovers you had eaten in passing?

“Please tell me this isn’t food poisoning…” you groaned out, before feeling your stomach lurch.

Okay. Yeah, food poisoning. Why the hell not. Sure.

After unwillingly emptying the contents of your stomach, you slumped further against the toilet. At least you remembered to clean it last time you were here…

“My, you look worse for wear.”

Despite the pain in your gut, you were up in seconds, whip in your hand-

Only to groan as the room spun, but you were able to make out who had broken into your cabin.

Death. Speak of the devil.

You stumbled, and clumsily reached out to the wall next to you to steady yourself just enough to lower yourself back to the floor.

It was a gamble, you hated being this vulnerable around Death. It was one thing when you just felt meh in public.

However, feeling like shit while you were critically sick? All Death had to do was snap its fingers, and you had no chance of dodging whatever was thrown your way.

Yet the deity just looked at you curiously, that same flame burning in those dark eye sockets.

Still, you felt irritation and panic bubbling beneath your skin.

“Are you stupid?!”

The question came out more as a rasp than a yell, but Death was taken aback either way. Seems it didn’t like your audacity.

“For the record, Belmont-”

You pointed at the deity, cutting him off.

“This house is covered in spells, wards, and artifacts! If you move a single foot in any direction, you’ll be incinerated!”

Death paused- now realizing you weren’t just being difficult because you were seemingly sick.

Slowly, he looked around, and realized you were right. Death could feel the power surrounding your little safe house, it was nearly as intense as the power of his Master’s castle.

If Death had been in a mortal form, no doubt he would suddenly be sweating. Even they could admit the magic and power of a Belmont was… terrifying.

Not to mention you seemed like the paranoid type. Death didn’t doubt you most likely put extra protections on this place.

“Yeah, is it hitting you now?! Good lord, how on earth did you manage to find the one spot in the house that-”

You paused, an odd look crossing your face, before you scrambled over to the toilet to hurl.

Your breathing stuttered, before you looked over your shoulder once you stabilized yourself.

“No offense, genuinely, but I suggest you leave. I have no idea what will go off if you move even an inch.”

Death took in your form.

“You are unwell.”

No shit, Sherlock-

You wanted to retort, call the deity an idiot, but you held your tongue. Bickering with Death when you felt like shit wasn’t a good idea, even if they couldn’t really move without serious consequence.

“Yeah. I’ll try and be better in a week.”

A moment passed, and you looked behind your shoulder to ask Death to leave-

…Only to see no one there.

Seems the ancient being took your advice.

Your body relaxed, just a bit. Puking in front of the all powerful deity of Death wasn’t exactly what you’d call a fun time. Maybe when you feel better, you’ll have it in you to be embarrassed.

However, it seems you’d have to update your cabin’s security. Who knew a single square foot in your bathroom was an open door for the paranormal? At least you hadn’t been caught with your pants down when finding out this information.

Granted, Death might be a special case here. No doubt the deity was just as powerful as Dracula, so your lower level protections were probably useless.

Still, you had plenty of stronger protections, ones that would light Death on fire or explode if they had moved just a little in any other direction.

And by god you would have hated having to deal with that, thank you very much. The last thing you needed was an angry grim reaper on fire in your bathroom while you were puking your guts out.

Sighing, you grimaced before peeling yourself away from the bowl, just long enough to open the cabinet nearby under the sink. In it was your personal bag you kept medicine in, this being far from the first time you’ve had to camp out in the bathroom after a rough month.

You shakily took a few things, and greedily grabbed a bottle of water you kept in it for this very purpose. Thankfully you were prepared for being sick, even if it had been a while since you had food poisoning.

At least you seemed to get the worst of it out, at least for now. Not like you had a lot in your gut to begin with. The leftovers for the sandwich you had eaten yesterday hadn’t exactly been much.

Still… You felt awful. Weren’t you supposed to feel a lot better after getting rid of the worst of it? You were still clammy, and definitely had to have a fever. No doubt it would take a few days to be right as rain again.

A feeling stirred in the back of your head. Perhaps you really were running yourself to the ground at this rate if you were this sick.

“What rotten timing, too…” you mumbled, succumbing to the floor as the medicine settled in your stomach. At least you’d probably be fine enough to walk back to bed here in a minute.

How on earth were you going to make it to Dracula if you were too sick to even walk to his castle? Sure, it wasn’t far, but you were in no shape to do so.

At least when you were injured, you could ignore some of the wounds to make it. But if you were puking half the walk? Too dizzy to even stand for more than five minutes? You’d probably fall in the lake and drown or something.

A bitter laugh left your lips. Maybe that’d be best.

Frowning, you clutched your whip, which had been sitting idly on the floor since Death had left.

No. As easy as it would be to let something like that happen, your mother wouldn’t want it. If anything, you’d stay alive out of spite just to outlive Jason and the others.

That is, if a monster or Dracula himself didn’t kill you first.

Well, if it did, then Dracula would be Jason’s problem, and you doubted Dracula would be as kind and considerate to him and your step brothers as he had been with you.

Despite how awful you felt, that strange warmth prodded at your chest again. You groaned.

Even now, your heart raced slightly. Dracula for sure wouldn’t give your step family the time of day, right? You were special. At least for now.

Another reason to stay kicking, you guess. As odd as this whole arrangement was, you wanted to see this agreement through.

And maybe… remain friends with Dracula. Someone who actually seemed to care about you. For now.

“How am I supposed to do that though, stuck on the bathroom floor!?” you grumbled to yourself, tensing as a wave of nausea passed through you, though thankfully didn’t make you retch.

A sigh left your lips. Your life could never be easy, could it?

Just as you were about to accept your fate of laying on the floor for at least an hour, you felt a powerful, prickling sensation at your neck. You shot up in alarm.

Your defenses.

The many shields, wards, and spells were going off in warning as something prodded at them, yet didn’t outright attack or destroy them.

Gripping your head at the influx of both pain, dizziness, and the prickling feeling. You stumbled to your feet with your whip in hand.

“What in the everloving hell…”

Perhaps you had been thinking too soon. Was a monster here to try and kill you? Or Death fucked up and accidentally got caught in one of your traps?

As amusing as the latter thought was, you felt more adrenaline pump through your body, even if you struggled to stand without looking like you would fall over at a small gust of wind.

Death may make you wary, but at least he seemed content to leave you be if Dracula desired it.

Other monsters however… If they wanted you dead outside of Dracula’s castle, you’d have to deal with them personally.

If anything, at least the barriers of your house would give you a fighting chance given the state you were in. Wouldn’t be the first time you had to fight in a hold out-like scenario… but you hated having to do it in your own cabin.

Especially when you had no idea what else would know about this place if just one monster knew about it.

Or two, counting Death.

Oh, how you really hope Death didn’t snitch to some monster in a vain attempt to slyly get rid of you. That was not a headache you wanted to deal with right now…

With some struggle, you pushed yourself through your small cabin quickly, trying to ignore how the room spun around you with each step. You could still feel whatever it was picking and prodding at your cabin’s magic walls, making the dizzy feeling in your head even worse.

As you reached the front door, you gripped your whip tightly in your hand, and the scowl hardened on your face. Whatever monster was trying to breach your security was as good as dead.

With a deep breath, you gathered your nerves and shoved the door open, ready to fight whatever was at your home-

…

…Only to pause, nearly stiff as stone.

In front of your house, there wasn't just any monster.

No.

It was Dracula.

Said King of the Night was curiously poking at your shields and wards over the house, almost… gleefully admiring the magic you had strung together over the years.

However, he paused, straightening when he heard your door slam open.

Both of you were frozen, neither moved a muscle. It was as if the shock in your system had temporarily paused how awful you felt.

It was near dead silent. The only noise being the wind rustling the bushes and trees of the forest surrounding your cabin, and the occasional rumble of thunder from the dark clouds that had seemingly overtaken the sky.

A million questions flew through your head at once. How did he find this place? Did Death tell him? Why was he here? Was he going to kill you? Destroy your little sanctuary?

…Was he here just to see you?

Despite the never ending flow of questions… You found it hard to care about most of them.

Because if you were being honest with yourself, you were just happy to see him at all.

Those piercing red eyes stared at you from across the small yard, the wind occasionally blowing his hair and cloak. It was hard not to take everything about him in.

That warm feeling in your chest was suddenly back, stronger than ever, and your heart pounded hard against your rib cage.

Dracula was here. And that made you… happy.

You should have been upset. Angry. Paranoid. You should have demanded to know how he found your little cabin, and how he got past the initial wards, glyphs, and seals.

But you weren’t. You found you could care less about that at the moment.

Especially as his eyes never left you, and his head tilting to the side, almost curious. It was a movement that nearly broke you from your stupor, and you hesitantly took a wobbly step forward, almost unsure of yourself.

Dracula noticed your hesitation, and for a second, your heart thudded in your chest in a burst of anxiety. Would he attack you? Turn you away? Mock you, seeing as you are clearly ill and weak? Even now, you were beginning to struggle to stay on your feet... Another beat passed.

Instead of any sharp remarks, like you anticipated, Dracula surprised you-

…By simply holding out a hand in your direction.

It was a simple gesture, but it was one with weight.

He clearly couldn’t pass your barriers, not without attempting to destroy them or altering them. Instead, he was silently inviting you to him. Outside of your cabin. Outside of your magic seals and glyphs. Outside of your walls of safety.

You should have turned away, told him to come back in a few days at best- maybe yelled ‘get lost!’-

But you couldn’t. Your eyes never left him, flickering between his face and his outstretched hand.

His face meanwhile, had gone from simply curious, to dare you say… soft. Almost worried, yet…

No words were spoken, nor did they need to be.

Because you were already walking.

It was slow at first, your feet moving on their own accord. Each step was a bit wobbly, but you picked up speed.

Quickly, you were stumbling your way over, the only thought on your mind was reaching him. It was as if nothing else mattered in that moment.

As you reached where your strongest barriers kept him out, you slowed, nearly to a stop. Your breathing was labored, and your sight was swimming.

Only a few feet stood between you both, and just as you reached your barriers end-

You collapsed.

A curse left your lips. However, instead of crumbling to the ground like you were expecting, you instead were caught in a set of arms. It took a moment to gather your bearings, before it dawned on you what had happened.

Two strong arms held you steady, and you could almost feel your brain short circuiting as you processed what was happening.

You had fallen right past your barriers, and right into Dracula’s arms.

----

First: Here

Last: Here

That… and as you were growing older, you looked a lot more like your mother.

Not just in looks, but…

You hated how your eyes looked so sunken in. How there was an unnatural paleness to you. Like you were ill.

It certainly made you feel sick. You hated being reminded how your mother looked that last year before she passed.

Of course, it didn’t help that you had a massive bruise on your left cheek. Or how you haven’t had a good night’s sleep in… what, weeks? More so than normal anyway.

That, and you genuinely haven’t felt well since you came back home around 3 weeks ago.

“Ugh….” You groaned out, leaning closer to the mirror as your head throbbed.

At least you weren’t beaten bloody and bruised like you had been before… everything.

It had nearly been a month since you returned. As much as you would have liked to believe things would have gotten better after coming back home, that was nothing more than a pipe dream.

“Just who do you think you are, huh? Who the hell lets you stay here? Do you think it’s funny to pull that kinda shit? Huh?”

Jason hadn’t been happy at your return. Though you had a feeling he was more mad about you staying away and still being alive.

“Fucking look at me when I’m talking to you, you dense fuck. I let you stay here out of the goodness of my heart, and you not only attack us, but pull a disappearing act?”

Eyes narrowing at yourself in the mirror, your reflection scowled with you as you remembered parts of Jason’s explosive reaction to you coming home that day.

Your step brothers and step father had been doing something involving recon for a mission of some sort. So they said, anyway. Not that they gave you much of an explanation anytime they left anywhere, unless it was somewhere fun.

Then they were more than happy to brag about going somewhere, and you weren’t invited.

Regardless, you didn’t hear much about where they were, but you got to hear all about how bad of a person you were for leaving like that. For having the gall to defend yourself.

The reflection of you in the mirror scowled even further, before wincing when you felt a twinge of pain from the bruise on your face.

Annoyance flickered on your features.

After you came home and were discovered by your family, the ‘scolding’ had certainly been one of the worst, but you would argue that wasn’t the worst part of coming back.

”I’ll have you know I could kick you out at any time. You are nothing but a freak. A parasite. At least your mother was worth something compared to you. All you do is sit around and do nothing, wasting our time and resources!”

Jason and your brothers had never been physically violent before. At least, not outside ‘training’, anyway.

Sure, there was the occasional shove, and a shoulder check here and there. Maybe a loose foot finding its way in front of your own…

Jason was practically in your face as he yelled, your back pressed against the wall as he practically cornered you.

“All you do is sit on your ass and run off to god knows where after throwing a fit. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t toss your shit into the streets right now!?”

Just as you opened your mouth to speak, he interrupted you.

“Shut up!”

Your eyes widened as a fist came at you-

…Only for your body to tense with one of your hands in front of your face as his fist landed a few inches from your head, now in a huge hole in the wall next to where you stood. No doubt you would be fixing that later.

Jason’s face was right next to yours, his eyes dark with a hatred that had your body tense, and your hair stand on end.

“Get out of my sight.”

Ever since that first night back, Jason had gotten scarily close to genuinely hurting you. He, and his oldest son, Mark, had grown increasingly aggressive.

It frightened you. Never had they seemed so irritated.

That was saying a lot, if you were being honest with yourself.

Sure, you feared what they could do to you, to your home. It was a small fear, one you kept a tight lock on. You hadn’t really felt scared of them. Not before they tried to lethally injure you.

Now you felt like a cornered animal half the time, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It felt like it was only a matter of time before things escalated. If something happened to you… You didn’t like to think what would happen afterwards.

The look in their eyes… You couldn’t help but compare it to a monster who was out for blood. A pure hate that made you feel ill just looking at them.

And with their aggression growing… it was looking more and more likely you faced something terrible happening with each passing day.

Not even a week had passed after Jason’s episode before you were shoved down the stairs. You thankfully had caught yourself, but instead of an empty hall at the top of the stairs like you expected, Mark stood watching.

His eyes were just as cold as his father’s. That same, piercing hate deep in his eyes.

“No one wants you here.” Was all he said, before he turned around and left, leaving you awkwardly hanging onto one of the rails.

Since then, Jason and Mark had made a point to let their displeasure known. You were either tossed around, or forced to do extra dirty work around the house. Jason made a point to tell you that he expected ‘more’ from you from now on.

Ignoring the fact you already did most of the house work anyway. Fucker.

Now they both made messes on purpose. Well, more ‘on purpose’ than before.

Kitchen? A wreck almost every night.

Living room? You were now picking up their disgusting clothes and messes.

Entry way? You were cleaning mud that was tracked in every other day. It wasn’t even muddy out front, so you knew they were doing this on purpose elsewhere to piss you off.

At least Seth kept his distance. He wasn’t pleasant, but he at least seemed to dislike outright trying to hurt you more than a shoulder check. If anything, he just told you to clean something or go shopping at inconvenient times.

Maybe toss something on the floor for you to clean up, but even he seemed to find that more bothersome than it was worth.

It still wasn’t great, but it only added to your ever growing stress.

“Things could be worse… I guess.” You mumbled, exhaustion clear on your features as your frown fell back to your neutral look.

You could have Dracula trying to kill you, along with everything else. No doubt that would have possibly either broke you, or had made everything worse. Your face scrunched up at the thought.

Though you winced once again, the bruise near your eye throbbing at the movement.

Jason and the others may not have outright been hitting you with their fists since you got back, but…

Letting out a gasp of surprise at the sudden sharp pain, you felt your body slam into the wall next to you as your body swung back in surprise.

“Oh sorry, did that hurt?” Mark mocked, throwing the bag he had ‘accidentally’ hit you with over his shoulder.

Motherfucker had waited around a corner just to swing a bag of junk at your head. You were lucky it didn’t directly hit your eyes, but…

You could feel your anger bubbling in your chest, and you sighed. At least you still had your sight, even if you worried the cheekbone had been damaged.

Whatever.

Turning the faucet on, you splashed some water on your face, waking you up a little bit as you trekked back to your room

Truth be told, it wasn’t just your step family causing you issues.

You had been spending what free time and energy you had on working on your deal with Dracula.

Something that still was weird to think about.

Entering your room and closing the door behind you with a soft ‘click’, you went over to your desk and sat down. Reaching down to the floor, you pulled out a specific notebook you had hidden under a bunch of random clothes and junk, and opened it.

Inside the notebook was what would be a bunch of gibberish, but was simply a cypher.

You didn’t dare write anything about Dracula somewhere where your step family could find it and read it. A phone was hackable, and just leaving a notebook around without precautions was begging for fate to mess with you and make things worse.

Flipping through the pages, you found your simple ‘To-Do List’.

It was messy, but when you came back home a near wreck, it was as good a place as any to start.

There were several different things written down, such as buying him a modern cell phone. Or building him a computer. Or even showing him some modern libraries.

You hoped he would at least be impressed by the internet, and the many archives it included. Though you were a bit nervous about the internet as well, not really wanting him to see how depraved humanity could be, where it was right out in the open.

Then again… the internet had a front row view on the good things humanity has done too. That, and it’s not like Dracula was unaware of how awful people could be, human or otherwise.

Perhaps you would only show him the internet archive or something. And how to pirate movies and books.

Movies and television were a whole different ball game as well on what to show him. You wondered if he’d like The Addams Family, or The Godfather. Or Psych, or Columbo or something.

Shaking your head, you wrote down a few suggestions to show him later. After you managed to figure out if you could even get internet working at his castle, of course.

You’d have to make a few calls to some people who knew how to keep their mouths shut, no doubt.

Even then, he may not even want it. That was something you had to consider.

“Though, perhaps…” you mumbled out loud as a thought entered your mind.

Perhaps you could just show him all that stuff at your cabin? Test the waters?

A part of you nearly snarled at the idea of anyone finding your humble sanctuary, let alone being allowed in it that wasn’t your late mother.

But you had way more at stake here. You had a deal to hold your end up on. Surely, your little abode was worth the entirety of humanity?

…You would consider it.

Then there was the fact you would probably have to get a phone or internet plan for Dracula.

Good god you had a lot on your plate.

That isn’t even mentioning the calls you had been attempting to make for blood banks for supernatural entities. With how busy they tended to be though, you ended up on hold nearly every attempt you made. No doubt you would have to send some emails and make an in person visit.

Great.

Staring at the list for another few moments, you sighed, putting the book down and putting your head in your hands.

“Fuck, how am I going to do this?”

The hope of the world was quite literally on your shoulders, all depending on your actions going forward. Yet, you had little to nothing to go forward with.

Not like you could just order a phone or computer parts. Even if it was illegal, your mail and packages ended up getting opened more often than not before you had a chance to even see them.

Jason would always smugly remark it was for ‘the family’s safety’, in case someone was trying to ‘get rid of the family.’

That was a load of shit, of course.

You knew it, Jason knew it, Mark and Seth knew it.

But there was nothing you could do. Even if you had a legal case of them fucking with your mail, if you made a fuss, you simply would get kicked out and lose your family home.

At least they stopped messing with your packages half of the time when you bought adult toys to embarrass them out of spite.

That was the first time they ever left you alone for a month. Definitely some of the most peaceful weeks of your life.

Anyway-

Rubbing your face, you gave your cheeks a small slap to wake yourself up, and sat back up in your chair.

Picking the book back up, you looked over it all once again, before adjusting some of your notes.

You would have to go buy a lot of this stuff in person yourself, and hide it in your car. Buying a new phone and computer parts would only make your step family incredibly suspicious.

Or annoying.

In fact, if you did manage to spin a perfect lie to get them off your back, you wouldn’t be surprised if your parts either went ‘missing’, or ended up ‘accidentally’ damaged.

Or someone in the family suspiciously gets a new PC while the parts you bought are missing.

Even though you had money in your own bank account, it wasn’t like you were rich. You had expected a lot of your family’s money to go to you before… well…

Not that it mattered.

You still had a means of making money from odd jobs and the hunts you were allowed to do before your step family called dibs, or when they didn’t want to do the icky jobs.

It just… wasn’t as much as you would like. But hey, you didn’t have the luxury of lamenting your expenses now. Lives were potentially at stake if you didn’t do this.

“So much for buying some new clothes… guess I’ll have to patch up some of my torn ones with some older clothe if I can…”

Oh well.

Another thing that was an issue was time.

You had more or less been on lockdown since coming back. Sure, you had a job or two for some minor stuff, but then you were stuck right back here.

With Jason and Mark, and Seth to a degree, being a lot more aggressive… You’ve hardly had a chance to even leave the house for something as small as grocery shopping without Jason getting on your ass about it.

He must have been serious when he got angry at you for disappearing. You still didn’t understand why, given how they talk about wanting you gone so much. Maybe they just hated the fact you would eventually come back.

Bah.

Scratching your head, you let out another sigh.

You were running out of time.

Dracula may have been patient so far, at least you hoped. However, that didn’t mean he would wait forever, especially when you mentioned a month as the time it may take to return.

Around a week remained, and the clock was ticking. Time was not on your side.

Neither was anything else, but if anything, you knew how to adapt under pressure.

“Okay… Everyone is out today. I can at least get a phone. Maybe even a few parts for a computer…”

There were a few places in town for parts. You had at least done research on places where you could buy these things earlier this month in a manic episode.

After that, you had to figure out a time to leave again for a few days. No doubt you’d get shit for it, but hey, at least you weren’t actively bleeding this time.

“I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.” You mumbled to yourself, running a hand over your eyes with a groan. Even if you felt like you were a bag full of anxiety, you could at least try to hype yourself up.

With a deep breath, you closed the journal, and hid it once more.

Steeling your resolve, you stood up and grabbed your car keys, before heading out your bedroom door.

Leaving your home wasn’t hard, but it still sent some anxiety spiking through your heart as you locked the door behind you. Nor was driving down to town any less harrowing.

However, driving up to the giant building of a tech store at least put you at ease. As much as you hated crowds, it was somewhat relieving here.

If you by some rare chance saw your family or someone you knew, you’d at least have a crowd. You were less likely to be treated poorly in front of people who your family tried so dearly to put a mask on for.

Of course, you still were on edge. It was hard not to be in general outside of your cabin or family home. Your whip felt heavy under your jacket as you parked and walked through the building, both a reassurance, and a weight that had your hands twitching.

Crowds may be good in some ways, but for monsters, both man and supernatural, it was an opportunity.

You just hope no one would seek such an opportunity today.

Pushing through the turbulent emotions stirring inside you, you quickly made your way to the center of the store.

It wasn’t hard to buy a phone, though you did have a few things to consider.

Size, model, and brand.

The decision wasn’t difficult in the long run, but the image of Dracula with glasses and a teeny phone in his massive hands made a smile form on your face.

With the new phone in a bag to take home for later, you continued shopping. At least getting a phone was the easy part. You could buy a temporary cheap plan and number for it in store at checkout.

Somehow Dracula’s castle had cell service, if you remembered correctly. If the phone plan didn’t work out, you could at least show him some things, right?

It was enough to tide you over until you could make some calls about giving Dracula of all people an actual decent phone plan without all the strings of an identity in modern society. That was something that actually wouldn’t be too difficult. You hoped.

Regardless, it was computer parts that had you dreading being here.

There were different parts and different brands to consider, and in the end, Dracula might not even care about it.

You at least hoped he would like the parts to look at if he was uninterested in having a computer. At the end of the day, you could just use your laptop to show him things if need be.

At the very least, you knew Dracula liked to make things, if your family’s old journals were anything to go by. You liked to think he’d like to tinker with the parts for his own gain.

“What a headache… Could be wasting time and money for nothing…”

Maybe you should only grab a few things? And then if he isn’t interested, you could just give the parts to him to study?

You shook your head to yourself as you entered an aisle with a few of the parts you needed behind a wall of glass, and eyed your options.

Perhaps you should start with a cpu? Or perhaps some memory? Or rather-

“You sure like to take your time, Belmont.”

In an instant, the temperature of the building dropped severely, and you felt your hair stand on end.

Faster than a human could blink, you had your whip in your hand, and faced your adversary-

Only to freeze when you saw Death hovering next to you, uncomfortably close.

You blinked, and hesitantly lowered your whip.

“Um… hi?”

The skeletal cloaked figure tilted its head, its boney fingers thrumming on the handle of its scythe. All the while, your head was swimming as you tried not to panic.

Dracula may have been your family’s primary enemy, but Death, the entity, was never far behind.

“Hmm… You are certainly different from most of your kin before you.”

You decided to take that as a compliment.

Forcing your anxiety back down your throat, you managed to speak once more.

“Um… No offense, but why are you here? Is everything alright?” You asked hesitantly, yet tried to remain polite. Hold back any fear and aggression. You could do this.

Death was severely hated in your family, if a few journals were anything to go by. It wouldn’t hurt to remain courteous. At least you hoped.

You no longer were in Dracula’s castle, after all. Who’s to say Death might try and find a loophole and kill you here outside your family home and his master’s abode? Be done with this stupid peace treaty of sorts you had convinced the Lord of Darkness to try out?

Even then, you imagine he could probably get away with it, being Dracula’s second in command. In Death’s eyes, in the end, would it really be so bad if the Belmont dies? Get you out of the way?

It was Death after all. Even if the entity was punished, what was Dracula gonna do? Kill him?

You tried not to let those thoughts fester as the cold, blue fires in Death’s eye sockets bore into you.

It took a lot not to shudder in fear.

Death though, seemed not to notice, or care if you felt intimidated or not.

“I am here to see if you intend to return to my master, or if you are simply hiding away like a dog with its tail between its legs.”

That last bit alone caused you to scowl, and you had to stomp down the irritation that threatened to bubble in your gut.

“First of all, rude. Second of all, yes, I do intend to return. That's why I am out today, actually.”

You gestured with a nod of your head to the locked display that was in front of you, and Death’s ghostly eyes followed.

“I figured as a gift of good will, I could get some modern stuff for him here. I know you probably have a distaste for humans, but I can promise you and Dracula himself that the technological advancements made by them in today’s modern age may come across as intriguing.”

Wincing a bit at how that sounded, you rubbed your neck and ignored the twinge of pain.

“Not to sound vain about it, of course. Humanity has really flourished the past century or so with all sorts of advancements. Not just technology. I figured your Master would be interested, at least in a few areas to see if humanity’s advancements have reached his own.”

Death let out what you assumed was a hum, and just as you were about to turn and ask what the deity thought, a voice nearly had you jumping out of your boots.

“Hi there, can I help you?”

Spinning around, you nearly relaxed when you saw it was someone who worked here, though you quickly stammered.

“O-Oh, I uh-”

You spun around, panic running through your veins. You did not need regular people freaking out over Death itself being in a tech store-

Only to find no one there. Death was gone.

The room seemed to warm up again, almost to the point it was uncomfortably hot. Had Death’s presence really sapped that much heat from you and everything around you?

Swallowing your nerves, you spun back around to speak to the person who asked if you needed help. It wasn’t hard to put a mask back in place on your face, though you swore your heart never stopped hammering in your chest as you pointed out a few items you were considering.

That, and you tried to ignore how the employee eyed you, almost concerned.

Right. Bruise on your face. Skittish reactions. Great.

At least they seemed happy to unlock the glass display for you, asking you something about if you were building a computer. You could only mumble a response with a shaky smile, throwing out some explanation or another.

In truth, you could barely think as they brought the few items you had pointed to towards a register. How could you act at ease, knowing Death could quite literally be around any corner, watching you?

Could you even go home? It’s not like it would be hard to find your place of residence in this day and age, but you wondered if Death knew how to do so by regular means.

Which made the idea of going home and being followed… nerve wracking.

Sure, your place was warded to hell and back with ancient spells and hunting artifacts so no evil could step foot on your property, but…

That didn’t mean you were safe the moment you took a step outside, and you didn’t exactly like the idea of being shot at by a gun or a bow or something while taking out the trash, thank you very much.

Even then… were you comfortable with Dracula even knowing your home address in general?

You were in a fog of your own thoughts as you paid for the equipment you bought, only briefly being brought out of it when you noticed the price after everything was scanned.

No doubt you’d be feeling the loss of money in your bank account later. Ouch.

Thankfully, it was also easy to get a quick plan for the phone you bought as well, along with a phone number. Nothing fancy or long lasting, of course. No need to if Dracula was uninterested, or if was genuinely interested to the point of needing a decent one.

As the nice employee set it up, a part of you hoped this would help you and Dracula have a means of communication.

After all, you doubted the post office would deliver a letter to a giant castle in the middle of fuck all nowhere.

When they handed you the phone and receipt, you gave the employee a tired smile, before gathering your things and walking out the door.

The whole way to your car, you were looking back behind you, still wary of being watched. You hated this.

It was one thing to be followed by some asshole or a monster with a bone to pick, but Death itself?

Hopefully you wouldn’t be laughed at if you puked from how nervous you were.

After setting your stuff in your car and climbing in behind the wheel, you sat there for a moment as your engine roared to life.

It seems despite your warning that you’d need a month, it seems at three weeks you didn’t have any time left to spare if Death was making in person inquiries.

Gripping the steering wheel, you glanced up at the rearview mirror, and your neck cracked from how fast you turned to look back at it after looking away.

In it was Death, floating ominously, near empty eye sockets looking at you from behind your vehicle.

You turned around quickly, and no one was there.

Eyes narrowing, you looked back, and nothing was in your back seat. Nothing behind your car. Nothing in the area besides you.

“Oh, very funny. Didn’t you ever learn not to scare a hunter? Especially one who can actually cause harm? Not everyone’s fight or flight is flight you know.” You snarked out under your breath.

A part of you wondered if Death found this hilarious or not, scaring you. Did the being not have a care about scaring someone who could actually kill them?

Then again… if you were ‘alive’ for thousands of years, you wondered if you too would stop giving a shit and started doing dumb stuff like that for fun.

That, or Death was purposely trying to push your buttons so he could have an excuse to tattle to Dracula you ‘attacked first’. You hoped that wasn’t the case.

Shaking your head, you looked around your car one last time, hoping you weren’t going crazy, before focusing on heading home.

You’d give Death some credit, at least.

Scaring you like that helped jump start something in your brain where you no longer felt frozen in place. Even if Death damn near gave you a heart attack in the process.

The drive home was uneventful, but you felt as if your heart rate never truly rested after your mini adventure out shopping.

How could it? How on earth do you handle such circumstances? It was like trying to swallow claws as your anxiety tried climbing its way up your throat.

“You know, I can’t help but feel my life would be a lot simpler if I was born in a different family…” you mumbled, face scrunching up.

Maybe you’d be bumbling around in college by now, meeting some guy or girl who caught your fancy. Worrying about exams and dates, not whether or not offending one man could kill you and the entirety of the human race.

Whatever. No point mourning something you never had, right?

Your thoughts were a messy buzz as you pulled up onto your property, though it probably could be seen as humorous how quickly those thoughts came to a stop.

Slumping into your seat, you felt a new kind of anxiety and irritation bubble up in your chest.

“Oh, you are fucking kidding me.” You groaned out, spotting familiar vehicles in the driveway up to your house.

Why were they back so soon? Why?

At this point, your luck was a sick joke, you think. That, or just your life in general.

It looked as if everyone was back home, earlier than they should be, you might add.

Internally, you debated your options.

One, you could go in and get yelled at for disappearing without ‘a good reason’, eventually having to give some excuse as to why you were gone.

Or two…

Your pulse picked up as you thought about it. You weren’t exactly planning on leaving for Dracula’s castle today… But…

Strumming your fingers against your steering wheel, you bit your lip as you weighed the pros and cons.

On one hand, going today might get Death off your back. Though you hoped that at least seeing you shopping might have helped.

On the other hand…

You’d have to meet Dracula again, for the first time after being so injured… And no doubt you’d later have to deal with Jason and the others getting pissed at you again.

Then again… that was just normal at this point, just extra aggression. Maybe you should get out for a bit?

After all… You hated to admit how you were growing concerned with how more… open they were getting with their ‘grievances’. How long would it be before you were one wrong fall down the stairs, or turning a corner too quick?

Your face throbbed at the memory. The bruise on your face was just from a bag of junk. How long until it was a convenient bag of bricks being tossed instead?

Plus… You needed a break, you just worried about the repercussions. But…

You were tired. So so so tired.

There was an exhaustion that was deep in your bones.

Your head constantly ached, even more so after the bruise. You were always exhausted like you were on hunts often, no doubt from your lack of sleep.

And you constantly felt off while here, which you chalked up to always being on edge.

No doubt having to watch your back like prey in your own home for weeks on end was taking its toll with how you were constantly bouncing between feeling exhaustion and feeling sick.

You may be a Belmont, but the human body could only take so much stress before it began shutting down. Even you had your limits.

“Am I actually considering this…?” you mumbled, your brain in a fog as you tried to come to a decision.

It wasn’t like you didn’t have anything at the cabin, either… You had a few clothes there, and some non-perishable food….

With a groan, you put your head in your hands, and ran them down your face. You winced as your face ached at the action.

It was then like a switch was flipped, feeling the bruise again. You didn’t feel like dealing with this shit, and possibly having another incident while already injured.

At least… Dracula wouldn’t attack you. Hopefully. You could heal. Maybe.

Not that you expected him to take care of you while you were there. You could do that yourself.

…It just would be nice to be in a place where you could.

Hah… How many times was it going to be a shock for you each time Dracula, your family’s enemy, was the safer option?

With a sigh, you cracked your neck, and steeled yourself.

Looks like it was time to pay Dracula another visit.

—

The drive wasn’t as long as you expected.

Perhaps it was the good music that happened to be playing, or maybe it was your nerves. Who’s to say.

Pulling into the small dirt road leading up to your small cabin though had you rightfully nervous.

Was it safe? Did any monsters wander from Dracula’s castle and ransack your home?

Eyes naturally narrowing in suspicion as your vehicle came to a stop, you couldn’t help but start to think about it.

Technically speaking… You never said Dracula or his minions couldn’t destroy shit. Just to leave humans alone, for the most part. At least, what your working ‘treaty’ was. Perhaps you should discuss and iron out the details while you were here…

Should you have made a contract? Did supernatural beings such as Dracula even have to honor those?

Not like you could hire a lawyer to draft a contract for Dracula anyways… Not enough ones in the supernatural communities, let alone one that would involve themselves with Dracula without fearing for their lives.

No doubt there would be a few conflicts of interest, and you couldn’t just hire a human one anyway…

Blinking, you shook your head, before doing a quick glance over your property.

“C’mon… Don’t get distracted now.” You mumbled, climbing out of your car.

You did a quick look over the immediate property around the cabin, checking to see if anything had changed.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Even the inside of your small sanctuary had remained seemingly untouched.

Was it a miracle, or had Dracula purposely mentioned not to have this place harmed?

Or maybe he didn’t say anything at all? Did he even know this place existed, besides what you had mentioned? Did he keep his mouth shut to avoid anyone going looking to begin with?

After all, you had mentioned having property nearby, right? You couldn’t exactly remember…

Question after question filtered through your mind, and you groaned. You’d get nowhere if you just sat here and made guesses.

The only way to get answers and move forward, would be to actually visit the vampire.

So why did you want to put it off now?

Your nerves were like electricity in your gut, and you could only wring your hands together as you stood stuck in the small living room. It was almost like you were paralyzed, unable to do anything besides take a few steps here or there while your brain went haywire.

It wasn’t like you could go back. Jason would give you too much shit for it, and Mark and Seth would follow his lead.

Jason was a ticking time bomb at this point, you feared. You could defend yourself and all, but at what point was it too much?

With a groan, you ran a hand through your hair.

“God… I feel like a deer in headlights…”

Taking a breath, you tried to calm yourself down. Why was this so hard? Just go to the castle, and talk with him, and offer some of the stuff you had. At least you could offer the phone and bring the computer stuff later…

After a few more moments of heavy debate inside your mind, you came to a decision, before swiftly turning around and heading to the bedroom.

You’d… visit Dracula tomorrow.

Was it an excuse to wait? Yes.

However, you figured you’d be in a much better mindset after getting some rest after being away from your family home. You just hoped Dracula wouldn’t mind waiting one more day, even if you technically hadn’t even hit the deadline you set yet…

You could rest, eat, shower, and mentally prepare yourself the next day. Maybe you would look less pathetic for Dracula at least, compared to last time, and how you currently felt.

Although, you’d admit, you were a bit uneasy sleeping so close to the castle.

It was silly, really. You literally had slept inside said castle. By all means, you were in the snake pit while critically injured. Yet…

You felt safer there than here. Something you never thought you would ever think about your little sanctuary.

Here, you didn’t have Dracula’s direct protection.

Just how easy would it be for something to attack you if a monster sensed you? All it took was one disgruntled monster to figure out you were here…

By all means, it could even be spun that it wasn’t even one of Dracula’s minions, since it would be outside his castle. It was a grey area if the monsters outside the castle walls were under his direct control, you felt.

It wasn’t even your own safety you were mostly worried about.

Was it selfish or odd to be more worried about the cabin and the land? It was one of the last things you had of your mom untainted…

Well, if anything else, you’d destroy anything that tried to destroy this place.

That was your thought as you climbed in bed that night, trying to ease your nerves for tomorrow.

…Which is why when several flashes of lightning and thunder happened one right after the other, you nearly fell out of your bed.

Rain began to pelt your window hard, and the wind picked up a bit. You could even hear the trees shake outside from the weather as some branches brushed against your cabin’s roof.

“Was that from…?”

Dracula’s castle wasn’t far, not at all. A small walk away around a lake. It sounded as if everything was coming from the direction of his castle.

After a moment of listening to some more rolling thunder, you decided to close your curtains, and try to relax to the sound of the storm. If what you suspected was true, and Dracula was annoyed or upset… you didn’t exactly want to intrude and possibly worsen his mood.