Chapter Text
The morning came more quickly than Alucard would have liked.
Despite the aches and pains that shot through his whole body as he roused himself awake, he had managed to sleep through the night, though he wasn’t sure he could consider the sleep he’d gotten “good.” Sypha had shifted in the night, now laying across the floor, but to Alucard’s surprise, Trevor had slept quite heavily. Even as Alucard began to stir, Trevor didn’t even come close to waking up, his chest still heaving with sleep. As soon as she heard his movement, Sypha rolled awake, rubbing her eyes as the morning sunlight gleaned in. With a big yawn she sat up, stretching mightily, seemingly each and every joint in her body cracking or creaking, careful not to overstretch her injured shoulder.
“Good morning,” Alucard whispered to her.
“G’ mornin’,” she yawned back.
So she’s not a morning person, he noted to himself as he slipped from behind Trevor, carefully laying him down on the soft pile he’d called a bed for the night. He laid the back of his hand against Trevor’s forehead. It was still warm, but it hadn’t gotten any worse as far as he could tell, and that was all he’d really hoped for.
Desperate to stretch out his legs, he grabbed his shirt and hopped out the back, the warm morning glow feeling delightful on his bare shoulders as he rubbed his sore knees. Until this point, he wasn’t even sure he was capable of experiencing pins and needles, but his toes and ass were aflame with the static feeling, which he miserably tried to rub away to no avail.
Sypha let her legs swing out the back until she was sitting on the edge of the wagon watching Alucard work the night time stiffness out of his body. He spun around when he heard her stir, shyly doing his best to cover himself without making it too obvious. He quickly threw it over his head, stuffing his arms in as fast as he could, though he was fairly certain Sypha was too tired to notice.
“How is your shoulder feeling?” he asked, making his way toward her as he tucked his shirt into his pants.
“Not too bad. As long as I don’t move it around too much, it’s fine.”
He carefully peeled the bandage away, peeking underneath.
“It looks good. We should change the dressing before we head out and it should be fine.”
“I don’t think we have time. We should get back to the castle as quickly as possible,” Sypha said.
She made a move to stand up, but with a hand placed carefully on her good shoulder, Alucard gently urged her back down.
“You two are such boneheads,” he chuckled as he gathered his materials from his pouch, tossing aside her old dressing. “You won’t be satisfied until one of you dies for the other, will you?”
Sypha wrinkled her nose as he started dabbing at her shoulder with a clean cloth. “I don’t think it’s that extreme.”
“Right. Just as long as your shoulder gets infected and your arm falls off, that’ll be good, then, won’t it?”
She scoffed. “I think you’re exaggerating. I just want to make sure Trevor is ok.”
“And I want to make sure you’re ok,” he said sternly, suddenly turning much more serious. “Trevor is asleep and his temperature hasn’t changed all night. He’s not in danger right now, but if you start skimping out on caring for yourself then you might be.”
Sypha thought to reply, but she bit her lip instead, unable to find anything to say.
Alucard spoke for her. “You think that if you suffer a bit then you’ll make up for letting Trevor get this sick, right? You think it’s your fault and that this is your punishment.”
She turned her head from him, her jaw clenched tightly. He dropped his cloth back onto his pouch, pulling some clean dressings from it, beginning to tightly wrap it over the wound.
“Suffering won’t ease your guilt.” He finished up, tearing off the rest of the dressing before stuffing the rest in his bag. “And you shouldn’t feel guilty anyway.”
A slurry, belabored moan came from the wagon. “Can you two stop... talking so fffucking loud..?”
Alucard and Sypha bolted up, immediately turning.
“Trevor!?” they gasped simultaneously, crawling into the wagon.
Inside, Trevor’s chest heaved as he labored to breathe, covered in a sickly glistening layer of sweat. He tried to sit up, but couldn’t find the strength in his back, and could rely on no support from his arms, defeatedly letting himself fall back onto the pillow. The wagon top spun in front of him, and he couldn’t get his bearings, feeling incredibly dizzy, his stomach churning. He groaned, his eyes squeezing shut as he weakly raised his arm to let his fingers comb the damp hair from his forehead.
Sypha crowded up next to him, holding his hand as she hunkered over him while Alucard stayed back a bit.
“How do you feel Trevor?” Sypha asked eagerly.
“About as good as he looks,” he said weakly, looking right at Alucard.
Instantly, Alucard’s heart swarmed with butterflies, the warm familiarity of Trevor’s insults bringing him a nearly overwhelming amount of joy. He smiled and was surprised to see a shaky smile spread across Trevor’s face as his eyes drifted closed again.
Quickly, Sypha snatched up the cup and darted out the back of the wagon.
Alucard sat back, getting comfortable on his knees. He watched Trevor carefully, his body wracked with Tremors, eyes periodically squeezing shut a bit harder. Alucard felt terrible for him.
“You’re an asshole, you know,” he said softly.
“Yes, well… fuck you…” His response was labored and it was apparent how little energy he had to speak with. But he said it with a smile nonetheless.
Sypha leapt back into the wagon, nearly spilling water all over all three of them. She knelt down next to him and gently lifted his head, nudging at his lips with the cup.
“Come on, open up,” she prodded. “You need to drink.”
Trevor used the little remainder of his strength to turn his head from her.
“Nnn… I’ll be sick…” he mumbled as she followed his mouth with the water.
“Don’t be an idiot, Trevor,” Alucard mused. “Drink it. You’re sweating like a pig and you need fluids in your body.”
“I’ll just throw it up,” Trevor groaned.
“Then you’ll throw it up. And then you’ll drink more,” Alucard said.
Trevor cracked open his eyes, just enough to peer at Alucard and Sypha’s faces, both of their expressions appearing quite serious.
“You guys are pushy…” he grumbled, leaning into the cup, allowing Sypha to tip it up a bit.
He took miniscule sips, fighting to swallow, though he sputtered periodically. But Sypha was persistent, unrelenting until the cup was empty. It took much longer than it should have, but soon enough she was satisfied and gently laid his head back down. He struggled to catch his breath, and though he tried to keep them open, his eyes fluttered closed.
Sypha carefully wiped a bit of spilt water from Trevor’s chin, though he didn’t seem to notice. She picked up his wrist, feeling around with her first two fingers before finally finding the right spot. She sat quietly for a few moments feeling the frantic thrumming of his pulse, his skin still incredibly warm to the touch.
“His heart beat is fast,” she said to Alucard. “Very fast.”
“I suppose time really is of the essence, then,” he replied, lifting his shirt from the wagon floor and throwing it on. “We’ll be off. We can make it by nightfall if we hurry.”
He made his way quickly around to the front, hitching his horse to an extra lead attached to the harnesses. He fixed up the rig and tugged a few times, checking its security. When he was satisfied, he hopped into the driver’s bench, grabbing the reins and snapped them a few times. Frustrated, he snapped a few more times. Dragging their feet at first, they were slow to start, but quickly got the message after a few more aggressive flicks.
The whole wagon jolted as it moved, and Sypha nearly spilled water all over both Trevor and herself as she clumsily soaked the rag again, refreezing it as she’d done the night before. She laid it across Trevor’s head, watching him recoil under the cold, though he kept quiet. She could tell by how heavily he began to breathe that he was already asleep again, only moments later. For good measure, she grabbed another nearby rag and did the same, placing it on his chest. She could see goosebumps creep up across his skin, hoping that by doubling the cold, his temperature would decrease even faster. He shivered weakly, and no matter how much she wanted to throw a blanket over him, she restrained herself. There was no guarantee that at such a high temperature, he’d be able to simply sweat it out as she was often told to do. They couldn’t risk letting him get any hotter.
For now, she figured it best to let him rest. She gave his glistening forehead a quick kiss and hopped in the front of the wagon beside Alucard, who was urging the horses on quicker. Sypha was surprised just how much speed they gained with the additional horse, her hopes rising for a short journey.
“Do you think we’ll really make it by nightfall?” she asked.
Alucard didn’t hesitate. “We’ll be ok.”
She watched the horses, their shining coats glossy over their strong muscles, her mind wandering. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if they weren’t ok, but she let the thoughts roll away as the wheels of the wagon bounced over the hard trail beneath them. She was surprised to very suddenly feel a gentle hand plop atop her head.
Alucard wasn’t looking at her; his eyes were fixed on the trail ahead, but as if he could sense her distress, he gave her a gentle little pat.
“Relax for a bit,” he said. “There’s nothing you can do for the moment, and if you keep worrying, you’re just going to make yourself sick.”
She let out a sigh and slid back in the seat as Alucard took the reins in both hands again. He could feel her scooting a bit closer to him, little by little, as if trying to evade notice. When she got close enough, she nonchalantly leaned her head against his shoulder. With no prompting, he moved his shoulder away and hooked his arm around her instead, letting her lean into his chest, her forehead resting against his jaw. His cool skin felt like sweet relief under what was quickly becoming a swelteringly hot sun. She let herself settle into him a little bit deeper, her eyes falling closed, and before she could recognize it, she let out a contented sigh.
“Comfortable?” he asked.
“Mmmm,” she replied, half asleep already. “Tired…”
“You should sleep,” he said, giving her shoulder a small squeeze, careful to keep his hand well away from her injury. “You could use it.”
“Mm mmm,” she mumbled, shaking her head a bit as she rubbed at her eyes. “...don’t want to.”
“Sypha…”
She couldn’t help but become even more tempted by sleep, lulled there by his smooth, velvety voice.
“Mmm… No… Don’t wanna…” She trailed off, lulling a bit.
Alucard could feel her relax into him. He could tell she wasn’t quite asleep, but was damn near close. He let his thumb mindlessly rub up and down her shoulder, allowing himself to slide down in the bench a bit, propping his foot up on the front barriuer. He nestled his head into her hair just a bit, only enough to get comfortable.
Sypha draped her arm over him, her fingers lazily toying at the hem of his shirt, resting atop his thigh. It was comforting, and Alucard was relieved to have her there. She wasn’t afraid to be near him, and more importantly, he wasn’t afraid to have her near him. He felt safe here.
He almost lost himself to sleep when he heard Sypha mumble something under her breath, half heavy with sleep, half a deliberate whisper.
“What?”
But by the time he noticed that her hand had begun wandering upward against the scars along his stomach, his brain had already realized what she’d asked.
“What did this to you?”
He was endlessly thankful that she couldn’t see his face, because he was sure he grimaced deeply.
“It’s nothing,” he said, his voice as steady as he could make it.
She knew that wasn’t true. He knew that she knew that it wasn’t true. Neither of them said anything for a while. He contented himself with the silence, listening to the rhythmic step of the horse’s hooves against the hard dirt, snapping the reins, urging them onward even faster. He didn’t need her to say anything, and quite uncharacteristically, she didn’t. She simply readjusted herself, letting herself wrap around him just a little bit tighter, hugging him a little bit closer as they flew down the road.
******
Sypha came to very quickly, utterly disoriented as she struggled to gain her bearings. It took her a moment to realize that Alucard had already leapt out of the driver’s seat, and when she pushed herself to sit up, she could hear a strained coughing through her daze. She turned when she felt the weight on the back of the wagon shift, finally spotting Alucard cradling Trevor’s face as he labored to cough, the sweaty sheen on his skin more pronounced than before. Sypha could hear Alucard whispering to him, but it wasn’t until she crawled dazedly into the back with them that she could hear the urgency in his voice.
“You need to breathe, Trevor.” He tried to remain calm, but with nothing at his disposal to help, he couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.
He didn’t know if Trevor couldn’t hear him or couldn’t listen to him, but he continued to sputter and hack, trying as hard as he could to turn his head away, though his efforts were mostly in vain as Alucard continued to steady his shivering body. Alucard could nearly feel a bead of sweat breaking on his own forehead as he watched poor Trevor’s eyebrows pulled together in discomfort, gasping for breath.
You need to focus. Losing yourself will help no one.
He inhaled deeply, letting out a more calm and controlled breath, coming back to himself. He centered himself and took a moment to think, assessing the situation to the best of his ability.
He was struck suddenly with a realization that both mitigated his fears and exponentially increased his urgency.
“I need ice, Sypha. Lots of it.” His voice was cool and calm. Sypha was surprised as Alucard scooped Trevor up as he groaned, weakly clutching his torso. “I need you to fill up the cup there with small pieces.”
“Where are you taking him?”
“He’s going to be sick,” Alucard said, stepping off the back of the wagon, cradling Trevor carefully. “And I’m not cleaning that mess off the floor.”
True to Alucard’s prediction, as soon as he laid Trevor down on the ground, with a sudden rise in energy, Trevor rolled himself nearly onto his stomach, propping himself up flimsily and retched into the grass. Alucard knelt down and quickly took hold of Trevor’s shoulder, doing his best to support him as he began to vomit. Careful to stay out of his trajectory, Alucard delicately held back the wayward pieces of hair that seemed insistent on falling into Trevor’s face.
He looked so weak, and Alucard could feel Trevor’s arm shaking as he barely managed to hold himself up, blades of grass tickling his lips and nose as he wavered, gasping for air between heaves. Alucard gently ran his palm up and down along Trevor’s back, feeling goosebumps prickled up along his skin, though he was incredibly hot to the touch. A knot formed in Alucard’s stomach. He hated to see Trevor this way, as brash and obnoxious as he could be ordinarily. He wished there was anything he could do to ease his pain, but he was powerless to do anything besides sit and watch, and that absolutely gutted him.
As Sypha watched the two of them, she realized that it was much later than she’d thought. She could see the sun already beginning to settle below the treeline, the last light fading from the sky. It was becoming cool again, which was a good sign, and Sypha hoped that that may bode well for Trevor’s worsening condition. Finally, it was time for the world to stop working against them.
As Trevor panted in the grass, finally seeming finished, Alucard gently reached under his shoulder to lift him, only to have Trevor weakly grasp his arm in a feeble attempt to push him away. Hesitantly, Alucard let go.
“Don’t you… fucking pick me up again…” Trevor whispered.
He managed to roll himself onto his stomach, pulling his knees underneath him as he forced himself up into a near crouch before wobbling severely. Alucard was hesitant to let him continue, but at this point, he assumed that being active if even for a moment could wake him up just a bit more. Apparently, though, he’d overestimated Trevor, who he managed to catch as he collapsed.
“Are you done, you idiot?” Alucard jabbed benignly.
He expected a comeback, or even a scoff, but when he heard Trevor’s shuddering, resigned sigh as he made no effort to pick himself up again, he instantly regretted his words. He felt Trevor’s hand reach up and grip his arm, grasping at his shirt with a quivering fist. Alucard sat frozen, eyes wide, his mouth agape, unsure of what to do as he watched Trevor lie still in his arms. There was no fight left in him, and it broke Alucard’s heart. He was silent for a moment, letting his hand rest gently on Trevor’s back, his thumb rubbing comforting little circles between his shoulder blades. He half expected Trevor to stiffen up and try to move away. Hell, he would have felt better if he had, but that wouldn’t be the case. Trevor lay still, his hand still weakly clasping Alucard’s sleeve.
“I’m sorry…” Alucard whispered.
“Just take me back. Please…” Trevor mumbled, his voice languid with defeat.
There was no point in arguing. Alucard wasn’t sure if Trevor had passed out again or if he was still awake, but he was absolutely silent as Alucard scooped him up in his arms again. The silence felt heavy on Alucard’s shoulders, and though he had no trouble carrying Trevor, he could feel his own arms trembling now. The only thing that snapped him out of it was Sypha’s sharp, alerted cry.
“Alucard!”
He could see her eyes wide, her finger outstretched to indicate the tree line ahead of him. He turned quickly, a pair of glowing crimson eyes emerging from the deep shadows of the forest. Alucard was unsure how he hadn’t heard the noise before, but it was now more than apparent—a low, rumbling growl, punctuated by sharp, beastly exhales. The dull gnashing of teeth made the hair on the back of Alucard’s neck stand on end as he hurried back to the wagon.
Sypha did her best to help him settle Trevor back into his spot, though she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, watching the shadows along the roadside shift, more and more glowing eyes threatening them as they materialized from the trees. The deep thundering roars of the rapidly congregating creatures grew louder in every direction—a cacophony that reverberated disaster through the secluded area.
“We’re surrounded,” Alucard said gravely. He was afraid that his tone betrayed him as he did his best not to sound entirely forlorn.
There were quite a number more of the creatures appearing with each passing moment—more even than the previous night. And what’s more, the sun had barely disappeared behind the trees, and though it was mostly dark, the glow of twilight still hung low in the sky. It was as if they couldn’t wait any longer, though Alucard was unsure if they’d simply chosen a bad spot to stop or if it was something more sinister and unavoidable. Perhaps, he contemplated, they had been followed. Regardless, they needed to move, and quickly. The chances of making an escape were slim, though. He could see the horses chomping at the bit, already fighting to bolt in different directions. He knew they wouldn’t be able to work together, and he and Sypha needed to focus on rehydrating Trevor, which would be damn near impossible at the speed they’d need to escape the night creatures anyway.
Alucard had to decide quickly, but he was sure there was only one real option.
“I need you to stay in the wagon with him,” he directed Sypha, pulling his sheathed sword from his small pile of discarded belongings on the wagon floor, securing it around his waist. “Keep yourselves safe and get him to eat that ice.”
“What are you doing?”
“There’s no way the horses will get us out of here. They’re already spooked. I have to dispose of these things first.”
“Alucard, you can’t get rid of all of them on your own… Let me help you.”
Alucard had already climbed out of the wagon, whipping his arm through the air to guide his sword as it flew unaided from from its sheath, its blade pointed and thirsting for night creature blood.
“Protect yourselves. I needed to stretch out my legs a bit anyway,” he said, his fangs exposed by an overly cocky and entirely perjured grin.
Sypha seemed hesitant to believe him, but time was short and she didn’t see fit to question his confidence at the moment. Alucard considered himself lucky as she immediately turned back to tend to Trevor, giving him privacy to allow his hand to tremble as he marched forward, approaching the ravenous creatures, their eyes fixated on him and the wagon. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, calmly as he could.
You bastards better thank me for this later.
He almost made himself chuckle at the thought, easing maybe an iota of tension that gripped his whole body, though it certainly didn’t do much. His long night of poor sleep and the exhaustion and physical pain of days on end of travel were finally catching up to him when it mattered the most, and while he knew he could stand and fight, he was less sure about winning. He could feel his thighs burning with chafe and his hips stiff from the saddle, wincing with every step, though he endeavored to ignore it. He had other things to focus on at the moment, and he knew that honing his attention was what would keep him alive. For now.
He counted six directly in front of him, however he could hear the breathing and rustling of others to either side, and even more, he could only assume, behind him. His sword angled itself toward a creature in front of him, ugly with horns and more protruding fangs than Alucard cared to count. He could see it salivating, no doubt at the thought of his death. There was an instant where he hesitated, wondering if he was making a mistake—if there wasn’t still time to get those stupid horses into gear. He only let the thought linger for a second before he gripped his sword’s hilt as it hovered in mid-air front of him and dashed forward, almost imperceptibly, bringing it down directly on top of the creature’s head before it could react.
There was a palpable change in the air, and it was in that fraction of an instant that all hell broke loose.
Creatures from every angle sprung forward, some that Alucard hadn’t even seen nor accounted for yet, as he wrenched his sword from the split head of the night creature, its dense skull clinging to the blade. With one solid kick to the chest, Alucard managed to free the weapon, darting to the side just quickly enough to avoid a lunge from a creature to his left, who tumbled into the dead night creature as it fell. With one broad stroke of his sword, he managed to slash deeply across the tumbling beast’s back, cutting through bone and broad muscles beneath its hideous fur, though he didn’t have an opportunity to secure a killing blow as he was batted aside by a sweeping claw, especially large even for a night creature. The wind was knocked out of him completely for a moment, and as he fought to regain his bearings, he was bombarded with a heavy weight atop his chest, feeling four searing, sharp pains in his side at the base of it.
He looked up to see the creature with the large claws, all his weight pressing into Alucard’s chest with his massive claws digging into his skin. As the creature reared up to finish him off, Alucard quickly searched for his sword. He couldn’t see it, and fearing that he didn’t have enough time to find it, he focused on defense instead, hiding his face behind his arms. He was stronger than most, sure, but he anticipated a great deal of pain, his heart racing.
He was surprised when the creature didn’t strike. He looked up to see a shard of ice peeking out of the creature’s chest, its gurgling death cry roaring from its throat as it collapsed, thankfully careening to the left, narrowly avoiding crushing Alucard completely. He rolled over, quickly locating his sword and springing to his feet as he snatched it up only a few feet away. He turned quickly to see Sypha conjure up a few more knife-like ice shards, floating defensively in front of the wagon opening, occasionally flying forward to strike a creature that came too close. She had that smirk as she locked eyes with Alucard— that cocky, adventurous smirk he’d only seen in a few moments of overconfidence, though this time, he was fairly sure she deserved it as she downed a few more creatures. For just a moment, he saw the old spark of life in her, one that he’d hoped desperately to see with no luck since they’d reunited.
Alucard couldn’t watch for long, as another barrage of beasts descended upon him. He danced around them, hacking and slashing away, but he could feel himself growing more and more exhausted. His steps were faltering and he was occasionally grazed with a tooth or claw, though no creatures seemed to be able to seriously wound him. When he had finally made his way through that group, felling the last one with his sword, he stumbled, letting himself remain on his hands and knees for a few moments as he tried to regain his breath, though he didn’t get much time before another wave threw themselves at him. Claws were falling left and right, all targeted directly at Alucard’s head, leaving him no choice but to keep up, tucking and rolling and countering each one to the best of his ability. It seemed as though there was no end in sight, no matter how many beasts he skewered or sliced or cleaved.
Every time he anticipated taking a large hit, though, there was an ice shard conveniently ready to stop whatever beast was prepared to finish him off. He wasn’t quite sure how Sypha was balancing both fighting off the beasts that shook the carriage mercilessly and keeping Alucard from dying, but he was praying she’d keep it up. Alucard could hear Trevor beginning to groan from the wagon again, and all he could do was hope that that didn’t draw in any more night creatures to the carriage than there already were. Just as Alucard turned to look, he spotted two creatures going after the poor, skittish horses who were doing their best to rock free from their harnesses. Just in time, Alucard sent his sword flying through the air, skewering the creatures’ heads together like a kebab, dropping them dead at the horses’ feet, though that didn’t appear to make the horses feel any safer than before.
Before he knew what was happening, he was on the ground, his head throbbing, staring at a small puddle of his own blood. He raised his head, wiping a considerable trickle of blood from his nose and mouth, his neck stiff and aching, to see the beast that had struck him in the back of the head hard enough to knock his sense from him for a moment. Its four glowing eyes seemed to blaze in the night, although Alucard couldn’t be sure if the aura around them was due entirely to its own supernatural power or rather, at least in part, to his head injury. He managed to roll onto his back, but found that he could do little more than stare at the night creature as it salivated over him, its head cocked with malicious, tormenting excitement.
He was completely winded, and his adrenaline store was running low. He was seeing double and there was almost no reserve energy for him to call on. When he looked to his side, he could see Sypha just on the other end of the wagon in a standoff with a creature of her own. Though his vision was starting to go, he still writhed on the ground, using the last bit of his strength to search around him for his sword. He spotted it lying just under the horse next to him, just out of his reach. He stretched for all he could, but as the creature lurched toward him, he found that he couldn’t muster the strength to reach any further. He couldn’t even get up the strength to hide his face from the inevitable blow, resolving to simply close his eyes as the beast raised its claws to him.
“Hey LOOK, you ugly shit!”
The sound of glass shattering and the great roar of the beast pierced the air in a simultaneous, cacophonous eruption.
Alucard opened his eyes at the noise, seeing the creature that was once looming over him now with its head thrown back, gripping its skull as it cried out. Alucard could see shards of glass and a familiar lid lying in ruin on the ground— the remnants of Sypha’s magical salve. Alucard’s eyes quickly darted to the rear of the wagon to see Trevor’s wavering form clinging to the side of the wagon, his eyes locked onto the creature as it turned to face its assailant.
“You know, the tastier meal is over here,” he said, with as cool a smirk as he could muster. “More muscle.”
Angered now, the beast flashed its teeth to Trevor, splaying its claws wide in a boastful act of aggression before it pounced.
Though he’d been ready to give up, Alucard’s instincts overrode his body’s signaling lack of energy. He lurched for his sword, taking the opportunity Trevor gave him, and with the last of his will, plunged the sword into the creature’s back.
Alucard watched it fall, but before it even hit the ground, everything went from swirling around him to complete darkness.
*****
Alucard couldn’t remember the last time his face had ached so much, but as he slowly came around, all he could think of was how impossibly painful it was to scrunch his nose. Bit by bit, the world came back to him, the wagon shaking rhythmically and his ears ringing as a dull, throbbing pain ravaged his head.
Haltingly, he propped himself up on his elbow, opening his eyes. He froze with a hiss, clutching his side, his hand coming away bloody. He looked around, taking in his surroundings one piece at a time as the memories slowly started resurface and things started to make more sense. The carriage was moving quickly—he could see that now, trees whipping past the sky as they flew down the road, finally understanding the shaking of the wagon. Trevor lay next to him, completely unconscious, his breaths still shallow and labored with fever. A fresh-looking frozen cloth lay across his chest, with another across his forehead. Alucard’s sense of urgency kicked in and he rolled to his knees, wincing at the sharp pain in his head as he moved, then wincing again at the pain in his face from wincing. He looked ahead, spotting Sypha’s small orange head in the front seat.
He hesitated, knowing that if he just laid back down he could get just a little more sleep that he desperately needed. He quickly decided against it, knowing that Sypha probably needed him now more than ever. As gingerly as he could, he urged his stiff body off the floor and crawled over the bench back, sliding in next to Sypha.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”
“Dare I ask what happened?” Alucard mused, half rhetorically.
“Well, you kicked some ass and then I kicked some ass and then, very surprisingly, Trevor kicked a little bit of ass,” she said with a pleasant little shrug.
“So… he’s feeling better, then?”
“Just the opposite. It turns out that when you’re deathly ill, the only thing that can make you even more deathly ill is getting up to fight monsters.” Her tone was so sarcastically sing-songy, confusingly contrary to the words she was saying. “He’s the worst he’s been yet.”
Alucard slumped a bit in the seat, feeling foolish for having gotten his hopes up.
“Great. How far are we?”
“Not far at all. The castle is just beyond the edge of this forest. I saw it over the treetops before the road turned into the woods. It was…” She thought for a moment, imagining the sharp, jutting spires and peaks of the looming, black castle. “Still scary.”
“The old man sure knew about the effects of architecture, that’s for sure,” Alucard mused, poking cautiously at his eyebrow, above which there was a small, irritated cut, feeling quite similar to the one he felt on the bridge of his nose. He pulled out his shirt from his stomach, examining the four tears along his side, the white fabric stained quite heavily with blood. He lifted the fabric out of curiosity, studying the gnarly gashes along his obliques. They weren’t terribly deep, but they gave him a considerable amount of pain.
Sypha noticed his prodding at his wounds.
“Sorry, we had to make a quick exit, so I didn’t have time to clean you up,” she said.
“It’s alright, it isn’t so bad,” he said, although that wasn’t quite true. Though his head still radiated pain primarily from his forehead, the intensity had begun to go down, leaving only a lingering sting on his nose and over his eyebrow. His side burned with much more heat and gave him much trouble than anything else, flaring up with every deep breath. His whole body was stiff and sore, and with every bump of the wagon, he felt a surge of pain jolt through him, each one exacerbated by the speed they traveled at.
“Let me drive the rest of the way,” Alucard said, holding out his hand. “You should take a break.”
“It’s my turn now, you drove through the whole day.”
“I want to,” he pleaded, his tone short and tired. He clutched weakly at his side. “It will distract me a bit.”
Without a word, she handed over the reigns.
The lantern hanging from the front rhythmically clanked hard against the wood support, casting flickering shadows over the uneven ground in front of them. It was obvious to Alucard that it was well into the night by now and the trees blocked any light that the moon may have offered, blanketing the road in thick black darkness, save for whatever sporadic luminance the lantern provided. He was a bit surprised that the horses were surging blindly ahead so quickly, but by the way Sypha had been aggressively flicking the reigns before, it seemed to him that they didn’t have much of a choice.
It wasn’t far now. Alucard could feel it. The trees grew more and more familiar and more noticeable landmarks began cropping up around them. He could practically sense the castle, despite the dark. As they grew closer to what appeared to be the edge of the treeline, Alucard could make out the twinkling lights of a few bright stars as the overhead foliage began to become more and more sparse. The ground began to light up around them as the moonlight poured down, finally illuminating the way. Alucard watched the branches overhead become fewer and more far between until they broke the treeline, and with hesitant relief, he spied the looming black facade of the castle, its ornate decorations barely visible in the dark. He studied it for only a moment before turning to Sypha to gauge her reaction, surprised instead to see her wide-eyed and staring straight ahead. He didn’t need to follow her gaze—he was immediately struck by remembrance.
“Please, Sypha,” he begged, quickly reaching over to pull her into him. She let him, and he brought her head into his chest, covering her eyes as he hugged her tightly. “Don’t look at them.”
She was silent as they drew closer. It turned Alucard’s stomach to see them now, and it sickened him even more to imagine what Sypha must think. He thanked God that Trevor wasn’t awake to see them. He averted his eyes, stopping the carriage at the front steps, unable to keep a sufficient distance from either one of them. He knew that time was of the essence, but he couldn’t move. He watched Sypha’s little orange head, his hand still firmly over her eyes, unsure if he’d be able to remove it. He was paralyzed.
“Who are they?” she asked softly.
“They’re…” The words caught in his throat, choking him. “I… would rather not talk about it.”
The seconds of Sypha’s silence felt like ages, and he was sure that she could hear his heart beating wildly in his chest, but he couldn’t let go of her, no matter how he tried.
“Are they human?” There was apprehension in her voice.
He hesitated. “Yes,” he said, keeping his tone as even as possible.
Sypha kept silent for a moment.
“Did they hurt you?” she finally asked.
Alucard swallowed hard, his breath shaky.
“Yes.”
Another few ages seemed to pass as he awaited her reply.
“Ok,” she said.
Ok.
“Is it?” Alucard asked, unconvinced.
Sypha extracted herself from him, turning sideways on the bench to face him. He caught her eyes flickering down to his chest, where there was no doubt that his scar was exposed above the hem of his disheveled white top. He fought his initial instinct to cover it up, but he let it remain visible instead, a testament to his pain.
“I know who you are,” Sypha said. “I know that there is nothing in you that would do that needlessly. You’re not…”
“Like my father?” he finished for her, his voice low and sad.
“You’re not a monster,” she corrected. “Although if we let Trevor die in the back while we sort through our feelings, we might both be.”
The corner of Alucard’s mouth turned reluctantly up into a smile as he climbed down from the bench.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, a bit sarcastic, though unwilling to completely part with his melancholy. It did feel nice, though—having Sypha’s reassurance. It was foreign to him, but comfortable. He very much hoped the feeling wouldn’t ever go away.
Sypha followed him to the rear of the wagon, watching him climb in and kneel beside Trevor.
Trevor was quiet, small drops of water falling down his sides from the melting frozen rag atop his chest. Alucard removed it as well as the damp rag from his forehead, his hair dewy beneath it. He mindlessly stroked Trevor’s hair as he studied his face. He didn’t stir, though Alucard could’ve sworn that for a moment, his tightly knit brows relaxed and eased the lines in his forehead.
Alucard let his hand wander down to gently caress his thumb over Trevor’s temple. His face was still flushed, his cheeks red and hot to the touch. The time since his fever had progressed to this point was concerning, and Alucard knew that they were at the critical point in all of this—Trevor needed to get better quick or there wasn’t going to be any getting better at all.
As he’d done before, Alucard scooped Trevor up into his arms with ease, stepping carefully out of the wagon and heading toward the front steps of the castle. He carefully averted his eyes to the ground, keeping his gaze as far as possible from his unfortunate friends posted beside the steps.
Sypha didn’t follow suit after gathering her things and tossing them into Alucard’s bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She couldn’t help it. A deep, menacing shudder ran down her spine at the gore. She couldn’t look away from the frankly draconian horrors planted firmly on either side of the door. She knew it wasn’t in him. She told herself that over and over again, but as she studied pikes erupting from esophagi, their bodies coated in a thick, dark crust of blood, she couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit of doubt. But she thought of the scars enwrapping Alucard’s body. Surely, she thought, they must have done that. But why?
She shook off the line of questioning and finally pulled her eyes from them as she and Alucard approached the door, still sitting heavily ajar, seeming as though Alucard had left in too much a hurry to close it. She watched him as he stepped inside, his eyelids hanging low, his lips pursed tightly together. She could see the flex of his tightly clenching jaw as they stroke through the twists and turns of the castle.
“Are you feeling alright, Alucard?” she finally asked.
“I’m fine,” he lied. “Just a bit sore. Bit of a headache.”
“You hit your head pretty hard, didn’t you? I saw that creature… how it hit you into the ground…”
“I’m more resilient than a normal person.”
“And that blow was enough to knock even you out,” she said, rather bluntly. “That’s now I know how hard it was.”
He seemed to visibly wince at the memory. “Don’t worry about me, Sypha. I’ll be fine.”
They walked on in silence until finally turning into a large, warmly lit room lined with various bookshelves, cupboards, cabinets, tables, and really any odd or end that one would find atop or inside them all in a lab. Sypha paused, turning all the way around as she took it in. It was elegant and sophisticated, the likes of which she’d never seen before, though she expected no less from the wife of Dracula.
“This… is amazing,” she marvelled aloud.
“Everything my mother could ever want or need, my father gave her,” Alucard said, gently laying Trevor down atop one of the large, ornate sofas that sat against the back wall. “Turns out she didn’t ever want much besides this.”
She watched as Alucard began to scour shelves before quickly pulling a book with a well-worn spine, its edges clearly frayed. He glided over to a table as he thumbed through the first few pages. He set the book down and rested his elbows on the table as he scoured the table of contents, drawing his finger along the listings on the page.
Sypha watched as he flipped through the pages, though her attention was consistently drawn back to the room, the brightly decorated room standing apart to her from the rest of the castle. It’s bright, golden trims and ornamentations were so much more majestic than anything she’d seen in there. Naturally, the castle was full of wonder, but it was all shrouded in doom and darkness while this room was full of light and life. An interesting and perfect representation of the dichotomy between the doctor and the vampire, she noted.
By the time she had turned back to Alucard, he was rummaging through various drawers, pulling an assortment of dried herbs and colorful flasks of liquid, none of which Sypha recognized.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she inquired.
“Not particularly,” he said without looking away from his materials he was spreading across the table. “It’s fairly straightforward and doesn’t require much work. I should just be a few minutes. I suppose I was wrong about being able to diagnose him, but I think I know what will work. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
“Alright,” she said, feeling a bit dejected, wandering back to Trevor’s side, where she knelt.
She took his warm, clammy hand in hers, ignoring the sticky sheen. It didn’t bother her. There wasn’t much that did, although seeing Trevor like this was certainly on the list of things that did, right alongside having to sit idly by while Alucard worked and she could do nothing. She watched Trevor’s chest fluttering with shallow, hurried breaths. She could only hope that Alucard’s remedy could work magic.
“Sypha.”
“Hmm?” She turned to see Alucard tossing her a rag and bottle that he’d pulled from a drawer, both of which she caught.
“It’s a dry soap. Just put some on the rag and rub it in. Maybe… Well, hopefully he’ll be a bit more comfortable if he’s clean.”
They both returned to their respective work. Sypha uncorked the bottle and was immediately struck by a pleasantly sweet, floral smell. She was suddenly a little glad that he was unconscious, knowing that he would have complained if he could smell it.
She made quick work of it, cleaning him as gently and thoroughly as she could, carefully lifting his arms and head to rub the soap over his armpits and hairline. By the time she was done, he looked (and smelled) so much better. She could hardly believe that such a thing existed, though if anyone could have made it, of course it was Alucard’s apparently genius mother.
True to his word, it took Alucard only a few minutes to combine the ingredients and get the result he needed. He approached the couch with a small glass containing a liquid so wretched and green and pungent that Sypha had to slide back a few feet in order to take another breath.
“Horrid, isn’t it?” he asked, a bemused smile on his face.
Alucard replaced Sypha next to Trevor, gently caressing his shoulder, jostling him just a little.
“Trevor,” he whispered softly. “Trevor.”
When Trevor didn’t wake up, Sypha had an idea, whispering it devilishly into Alucard’s ear with her lips turned up into a smirk. Alucard scoffed when he hear, returning her evil grin as he held the concoction up to Trevor’s nose.
The two waited in silent anticipation until Trevor nearly leapt up in a surprising display of primal adrenaline, coughing and retching as he regained himself a bit. He slowly opened his eyes to look around, confusedly taking in his surroundings. He let his head drop back to the couch, staring at the gilded trim near the ceiling, confused out of his mind.
“Where... are we?” he asked weakly.
“We’re in the castle,” Alucard said, his voice gentle and level.
“Fffuck…” Trevor slurred lazily. “I’ve died and gone to hell.”
“Hilarious, Belmont.” Alucard raised the glass to Trevor’s lips. “You need to drink this.”
Trevor turned his head away, raising his hand to cover his nose and mouth.
“You want me to die that badly?” he mumbled.
“If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have brought you here and offered it to you. As surprising as it is, even to myself, I actually…” His voice became softer. “I actually want you to live.”
Trevor watched his face; seeing Alucard’s eyebrows knit together ever so slightly with worry felt so strange to him. He was having trouble processing many thoughts, but the only one that he could think of was—
“Are you worried about me?” he said a bit smugly, though much more sincerely than he’d expected.
“If I say yes will you drink this?”
Trevor sighed. “Only if you say it.”
“I’m… I was worried about you.” He was telling the truth more than Trever could ever know.
Trevor grabbed the glass as forcefully and as bitterly as he could muster, and with the strongest grimace on his face, he swallowed the foul, chunky contents of the glass in one go. Alucard took the glass as soon as he was done. Trevor took a few heaving breaths as he tried his best to control his breathing.
“Please don’t throw up. We don’t want to make you drink it again,” Sypha said.
“I’m fine, hurgh,” he choked out, stifling a retch. He exhaled hard. “Not feeling… phew… so hot…” His speech was beginning to become lazy and slurry.
Sypha looked to Alucard.
“One or two of the ingredients are sedatives. So that’s probably that.”
“Oh, goodie…” Trevor mumbled sarcastically, closing his eyes.
Sypha raised an eyebrow.
“The body heals better when it’s asleep, and he’ll be sleeping for a while.”
“Mmm. You’re right.” She seemed distracted. Alucard could see the dark circles under her eyes.
Alucard slid his arms around Trevor, who only murmured in protest as Alucard picked him up from the couch. Before he even knew it, Trevor was asleep again, no doubt thanks to the heavy sedative effects of his concoction.
Sypha followed behind as Alucard carried Trevor deeper into the heart of the castle, making their way through labyrinthine halls. Sypha tried her best to create a mental map of the place as they went, but she quickly realized why it had been designed this way, constantly finding she’d lost track of their location.
Finally and miraculously, they turned off into a relatively large room, appearing even larger owing in part to the sparse furniture about the room. There wasn’t much to claim the space, though thankfully for them, the bed against the furthest wall was rather large.
Sypha scurried around the bed, hurriedly tugging down the overly neat sheets, throwing decorative pillows to the floor until only the necessary one remained. Alucard knelt along the edge of the bed, careful to support Trevor’s head as he lay his ailing body down in the middle. He was surprised by how heavily unconscious Trevor was, half having expected him to move around or roll over or anything really. He almost found himself worried that the concoction would be too strong. He had no choice but to brush his fear aside, though by the look on Sypha’s face, he could tell she was harboring similar fears. He tried not to take it personally, chalking it up instead to the frazzled, overtired paranoia of a novice adventurer.
“Why don’t we find you a bed, Sypha?” he asked, standing with a wince as a fresh pain radiated in his side. “I just need to retrieve some ice for him, so there isn’t anything for you to do right now. And you should sleep properly for a while.”
His discomfort hardly went without notice. “I don’t need a bed at the moment, but surely this place has a wine cellar?” A smile crept up on her face, laden with mischief.
“Honestly, you sound like him,” Alucard mused.
Sypha dug around in the wreckage of pillows littering the floor at her feet, tearing a pillow from its case before finding another and doing the same, discarding both pillows as she laid the cases out on the bed. With one flick of her fingers, ice crystals manifested in piles of small, clattering pieces in the center of each. She quickly wrapped them up and placed the makeshift ice packs first on Trevor’s chest, then on his forehead with surprisingly little reaction from Trevor.
“If I was like him,” she retorted, “I’d have just left him to go drink downstairs from the beginning. Now let’s go,” she said, throwing Alucard’s bag over his shoulder and taking his hand as she led him out of the room as if she had any idea where she was going.
He quickly took the lead, though he didn’t pull his hand from Sypha’s and she, to his surprise, didn’t pull her hand from his. He found himself unconsciously squeezing her hand a bit harder than he’d intended, so much so that she gently touched his forearm with her free hand, whispering his name as a gentle reminder to ease up.
“Sorry,” he said, loosening his grip. “I’m stronger than I think sometimes.”
To his surprise, she made no attempt to extricate her hand and they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.
The wine cellar was cold and musty, and though most of the bottles had long since been smashed or emptied, leaving ceiling high racks mostly free of anything but dust. The remnants were still strewn about the floor, though a few bottles still sat on the racks, untouched and waiting for Sypha’s eyes to find them and light up.
Sure enough, a bottle caught her attention and, as carefully as she could across broken glass, she practically leapt for it, studying the bottle, pretending to examine it as though she knew even the first thing about wine. Alucard watched her, knowing it was all a facade.
“Well?” he asked. “What’s the verdict?”
“I’ve decided that it’s perfect,” she said.
“Mmm? On what grounds?” He crossed his arms sceptically.
“On the grounds that I said so.” She stepped over the field of glass to rejoin him, already scoping out the rest of the room. “Were all these racks ever full?”
“Always were,” Alucard said, studying them.
He could remember the days he’d begged his mother and father to let him have even just a sip when he was far too young to even be interested in such things, always sure that it would be the most luscious and exquisite thing to be tasted, sure that his parents were hogging it for themselves because of this. He fondly remembered the day his mother had gone away on her own to pick up materials, leaving his father unsupervised long enough to give in to Alucard’s childish demands, assuming that if he could finally know the taste, he’d never ask again. He was absolutely correct, and to this day, though Alucard liked it now, he could still remember how hard his face scrunched up as he recoiled from the flavor, thrusting the glass back into his father’s hands as he laughed heartily at him.
He felt a certain melancholy creep up on him as his eyes were drawn to the crystalline carnage, longing for those old, more simple days. Though there was no use dwelling on it, it sat in the back of his mind, taking up more space than he’d like.
Sypha could see it. As she struggled to open the bottle with the tools she found laying around, she became distracted by his wandering gaze, as though she could feel the nostalgia radiating off of him. She tapped his arm with the neck of the bottle, hoping to snap him out of it.
He took it from her, eyeing the damage she’d already done to the cork.
“There’s a proper corkscrew in the kitchen. Let’s go get it before you break the last usable bottle in this place.”
They made their way up more stairs, their journey to the kitchen very short compared to the trek that led them to the wine cellar, much to Sypha’s relief. Sypha sat at the surprisingly quaint table as Alucard fished in a drawer for his corkscrew. Sypha looked around, again absorbing the room, surprised at how much it stood out from the rest of the house. It was quite homey, seeming more like something found in a cottage in the country rather than in a menacing black castle. When Alucard had finally wrestled the rest of the cork from the bottle and brought it to the table with two glasses, he noticed Sypha’s eyes wandering curiously around the room.
“My father never had a need for a kitchen, the reasons for which I’m sure are obvious to you.” He poured a glass for each of them, sliding Sypha’s across the table to her as he sat down. “This room was only added after my mother was in the picture. If it feels out of place, it is. I’ve always liked it in here, though.”
“The domestic Lord Dracula, a doting husband.” She took a sip. “And father, I’m sure.”
“Indeed,” Alucard said, sipping from his own glass. “How is the wine? Perfect as you’d thought?”
“It tastes just like wine,” she said.
“You’re not wrong.”
Sypha looked to the counter, where several bottles of clear liquor sat nearly empty. She picked one up and turned it over in her hand.
“Does this have more than 70 percent alcohol?” she asked.
“It does.”
“Good,” she said, standing from her seat.
She pulled Alucard’s bag over her head and plopped it down on the table before Alucard even realized she’d had it the whole time. Sypha pulled a clean rag from his supplies, retrieving with it some of his medical things as well— gauze dressings and a bit of adhesive.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Alucard, but I need you to take off your shirt,” she said as she poured some of the contents of the bottle over the rag.
“Sypha, you don’t have to do that. I can take care of it myself later,” he protested.
“I keep telling you, I know I don’t have to. I want to help you.” She stood defiantly in front of him as he sighed and pushed his chair from the table, angling it toward her.
He gently peeled his shirt from the four still-tender wounds along his side and pulled it over his head. He was a bit surprised to see how bad they were when he actually got a look at them. Sypha winced sympathetically and took a hefty sip of her wine before kneeling down beside him, gently lifting his arm and resting his elbow atop the back of the chair, giving her full access to his injury. He hissed as she began lightly dabbing at them with the cloth, her eyebrows drawn together as though she could feel it too.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to do this earlier,” she said, applying a bit of pressure to the rag. “We were so short on time and I didn’t get to—“
“I know, Sypha. It’s alright. Ah—“ He recoiled reflexively as a new spark of pain shot through his side. “I’d have done the same if the roles were reversed.”
“Of course. I just wanted you to know I felt bad. I wish I could have helped more.”
“You’ve done more than your fair share of helping, don’t worry.”
He watched intently as she cleaned his side for a bit, the pain beginning to dull as he became accustomed to it. He could tell that Sypha was deep in thought as she set down the rag and began to place gauze over the newly cleaned wounds, but he hesitated to ask. She hesitated to say, though keeping it in didn’t quite seem to line up with her loud mouth’s plans.
“I don’t want you to think that we left you here because we didn’t want to be around you,” she blurted, surprised even at herself.
“Sypha, you’ve only had two sips of wine, how can you be so candid already?” He punctuated his question with a chuckle, trying his best to play it off as a joke, but he couldn’t hide the way his heart wrenched.
“We really thought you wanted to be alone for a while,” she said, ignoring his attempt to diffuse the situation.
It was true that she’d only drunk but a few sips of wine, but it seemed the journey’s exhaustion had done a number on her filter, rendering her helpless but to spew all of the things she’d been thinking and feeling, but hadn’t had the courage to address directly. She slid back into her seat, holding Alucard’s eyes as she dragged her chair so it faced his directly.
“But every day, when I pictured you here alone, I—we—regretted that decision more and more,” she continued.
“I wasn’t alone.” He cringed as he heard himself sounding so accusatory toward her, in the midst of an apology, no less.
“I know. I don’t entirely know what that means for you, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry we weren’t here. It wasn’t fair.”
Alucard stood abruptly, turning to go. “I don’t need pity, Sypha. And we don’t need to talk about this.”
The words felt like poison on his tongue. His eyes fell to the floor and he gritted his teeth. He could feel anger welling within himself. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but his heart had begun racing, his mind lashing out at him, screaming for him to unleash everything on his unsuspecting and well-intentioned friend. It wasn’t her that he was angry at. He knew that. Those he was angry at had already paid their price. But something in his gut just couldn’t let it go. Beyond the despair and melancholy, there was blanketed rage, and only now did he have anyone to take it out on besides himself. He presumed that was a bit of his father’s genetics rearing their head, but it didn’t matter. It was beyond him now.
“I don’t pity you, Alucard.”
What surprised him the most was that Sypha had hardly reacted to his sudden movement and how steady her voice remained. He could see her studying his scars more brazenly than she had before. He curled in on himself a bit, feeling suddenly self-conscious. He did his best to hide it, turning his back to her as he pulled his shirt back over his head, concealing himself again.
“It’s alright, really. It is what it is,” he said pointedly.
“It’s not. We never stop thinking about you, Alucard.”
“Don’t say stupid things like that,” he growled.
His lip twitched, almost snarling, as furious tears threatened his eyes. He knew Sypha could see it, but at this point there was nothing he could do to hide from her.
“Even Trevor told me how much he missed you every day.”
“Trevor missed me?” Alucard scoffed sarcastically, nearly laughing. “That’s a first.”
“In his own little Trevor way,” Sypha replied with a smile. “If he wasn’t such a boar he’d tell you himself, but I’m telling you for him. I know what he means.”
“Interesting.” He wasn’t really sure what else to say. It was hard to stay angry through her unwillingness to engage his anger, even though he desperately wanted to. Or at least, he’d thought that he did.
“It’s ok if you don’t believe me. And it’s also ok if you don’t forgive us. But we want to try to make it up to you by being here now, if you’ll have us.”
God, it sounded so cheesy and pitiful to him. He’d only ever heard such tacky dialogue in the theater on the rare occasion he’d been permitted to go. But somehow, this felt different. The acting had always felt overly faked and disingenuous to him, but right now he could sense just how different it was from that. It felt real.
“Are you inviting yourselves to live in my castle?” he smirked, his eyebrow raised.
“Of course not. Here, out there, wherever. It doesn’t matter. I know we were all tired and things were a bit crazy before, but I meant it when I said the three of us, together forever.”
“Tch.” A single tear fell from his eye, though he kept his composure surprisingly well. “You forget, Sypha. As a vampire, forever is a long time for me.”
“Well…” she struggled, grappling with the concept. “For as long as we can, then.”
“For as long as we can…” he repeated.
Alucard ruminated on the phrase, losing all will to fight. “For as long as we can” was a hopeless concept, indefinite yet finite, and the inevitable end gave him chills. He knew even at his young age that he’d been cursed with long life, destined to follow his father’s footsteps in outliving everyone he loved or cared about. It was a fate he’d seldom had reason to dwell on, but now, approaching it face to face, Alucard felt small. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the anxiety that was stirred in him, nor was he sure that he was even capable of grappling with it.
“For as long as we can,” though, was also optimistic. It meant to the full extent of their hope, all of the days that they could, they’d be together. There wasn’t anything stopping the dread of being alone when his loved ones were gone, but he knew that the memories that they would make together until that fated day could carry him for more lifetimes than he could hope to survive on only one lifetime of misery.
“I think I can live with that,” he answered finally.
Sypha reached out to hold his face in her hands, gently caressing his cheek bones beneath her thumbs. It was then that he realized for the first time that Sypha was crying, tears stealthily slipping down her cheeks before dropping between them.
“Good,” she said.
Alucard suddenly felt ashamed for his near outburst.
“I’m sorry for being so… so brusque. I just…” Alucard sighed. “When you were gone, it was…just...”
Sypha watched him search for words, but she didn’t let him suffer for long.
“You don’t have to tell me, Alucard. It’s ok.”
“I want to, but…”
“Well you have as long as you need. I’m not going anywhere,” she said, squeezing his hands before dragging her chair back to its original spot where her wineglass had sat untouched for too long. “Except just over here to finish this bottle of wine. And then maybe another one after that.”
Alucard smiled, a welcomed change. He raised his glass.
“I’ll drink to that.”
*****
After hours of increasingly drunk discussion, Alucard was content to say that things were good. They had sat and caroused and laughed, and true to Sypha’s prediction, finished not one, but two more bottles of wine after their first. Though Alucard’s tolerance for alcohol was always unnaturally high owing to his dhampir blood, he was sure that Sypha was only able to handle this much alcohol as well as she was because of the influence of Trevor’s debauchery, a thought which made him chuckle.
When finally they stood, ready to check on Trevor one last time before turning in for some well-deserved sleep, Sypha was a bit wobbly. They had to make quite a distant journey out one of the smaller, more secretive rear entrances to the castle to a well nearby, which Alucard was fortunate enough to have discovered abandoned and still fully functional. They retrieved a few buckets of water, though the ones Sypha carried were considerably smaller than Alucard’s. She held her own for quite a while on their long way back to the bedroom, though she did eventually rely on Alucard’s steadying arm to help her along the rest of the way as he carried two heavy buckets in one hand. He laughed as Sypha tripped over her own foot, trying to stay as quiet as possible as they grew closer to the room. They finally reached the doorway and crept in, careful not to make any excessive noise. Or at least, they were until Sypha tripped once again, letting out a loud yelp as she collided with the ground.
They both looked to the bed as Trevor began to stir, their hearts sinking. Alucard hurried to his side followed quickly by Sypha as Trevor weakly opened his eyes, trying hard to get his vision to focus on them.
“Alucard..?”
“Right here, Trevor,” he answered
“Nd… Sypha?”
“Of course.” She sat down next to him, feeling his forehead with the back of her hand.
“How do you feel, Trevor?” she asked.
“Like I’m ready to run a race… obviously…” His voice was strained, but his sarcasm cut through anyway.
Alucard rested the back of his hand on Trevor’s forehead.
“Well, unfortunately, it seems like he’s not going to die after all,” Alucard joked, though internally he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Oh no, too bad,” Sypha joined in, plopping down on the bed next to him.
“You both are so lucky that…” Trevor thought for a moment. “Fuck it… I’m too tired.”
Sypha let herself fall over, kicking her shoes to the floor and curling up beside Trevor. “Ditto that. It’s nap time,” she said with a yawn as she pushed her feet under the blankets, shimmying her way down.
Reciprocating their exhaustion, Alucard began to head for the door.
“Well, you two, I’ll be down the hall to the left if you need me—“
“Wait, Alucard!” Sypha interrupted.
“Hmm?” He paused in his tracks.
“You could stay here. The bed is big enough for all of us.”
Alucard was frozen a moment, waiting for Trevor’s resurgence of energy to appear, allowing him to verbalize his protest to his heart’s content. To Alucard’s surprise, no such outburst came.
“Well, Trevor, this is the quietest I’ve heard you in a long while,” he said snarkily, though he was secretly hoping hard that Trevor, too, wanted him to stay. He’d slept too many nights in this castle alone for his liking.
“I couldn’t care less,” Trevor grumbled.
“Is that so?” Alucard prodded. “Sypha said that you missed me. Is that true?”
“Just get in the fucking bed if that’s what you want…” Trevor said, his eyes lazily shutting.
Trevor was quietly grumbling, though he hardly had the energy even to do that. Despite his obvious suffering, Sypha needled him in the side with her knuckle, prompting Trevor to hiss, curse, and recoil as far as he could, which was, needless to say, not very far.
“Tell him how much you missed him,” Sypha demanded.
“I never said…ugh I said he was a pain in my ass,” Trevor groaned.
“They mean the same thing,” Sypha said.
“Alucard…” Trevor said, exasperated. “If it will make her shut up, then I will say that I did not entirely love the lack of your presence.”
Trevor peeked an eye open to see that neither Alucard nor Sypha had moved and were, apparently, incredibly unsatisfied by his answer. Perhaps it was the fever still ravaging his brain, but he did feel a pang of veracity in his mind, and the urge to be genuine for just a minute overcame him, although he did only allow himself this moment preceded by a large, performative sigh, true to fashion.
“I suppose you could say that I did miss you a bit. And I guess… I also would like to say thank you for… you know… saving us. And for taking care of us.” He groaned loudly again. “Especially me.”
He threw his arm down on the free side of the bed with his palm in the air, inviting Alucard in.
“I would like it if you would stay,” he finished.
Alucard was surprised by Trevor’s honesty, though he could tell it was begrudgingly given. Yet still, he couldn’t help but be moved by it. He knew through his feverish haze, Trevor couldn’t see the small smile perking the corners of his mouth, which he quickly hid, attempting desperately to keep his air of indifference. He had always hesitated to place the sanctity of his emotional well-being in the hands of others, and despite all of the perfectly valid reasons for his continued caution, he didn’t think twice with Trevor and Sypha.
To do so seemed to him to be perfectly natural.
He sat down next to Trevor, who did not move his arm, and slipped off his boots. Lazily, so as not to seem too eager, he turned over toward them and laid on his side, propped up on his elbow. He looked hesitantly at Trevor’s arm, wondering if he’d move it. Or did he not intend to move it? The anxiety of misreading the situation gripped Alucard’s heart firmly, tightening his chest. For a moment, he thought to simply move it himself, assuming that Trevor just didn’t have the energy left to do it on his own. Barring that, he quickly realized that he had two options: lay down and snuggle up to Trevor, who would then push him away and admonish him for misreading the situation and getting so friendly, or adopt a quick penchant for the dramatic and snuggle up to Trevor under the guise of annoying him, still only to be pushed away and admonished, but while saving a bit of face.
As he was not one for theatrics, he chose the former, dreading the impending misunderstanding and chastising,
Much to his surprise, as he curled into Trevor, though he felt quite forward, Trevor didn’t pull away, nor did he yell or groan in disgust. Rather, he wrapped his arm around Alucard, resting his calloused hand atop Alucard’s shoulder, inviting him closer—an invitation which he did not ignore. As he made himself comfortable, nearly flush with Trevor’s side, he felt Trevor shiver.
“You’re like ice,” Trevor mumbled before Alucard could worry about his fever worsening into chills.
“Sorry,” Alucard said, a bit disappointed as he tried to pull away.
He was stopped by the strongest grip that Trevor could muster.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “It feels nice.”
Relief washed over him as he finally allowed himself full access to them, resting his hand delicately on Trevor’s chest. As surreal as it was, it seemed perfectly natural when Sypha placed her hand over his, interlacing her fingers with his. Alucard could feel Sypha’s toes tickling his calf where she’d thrown her leg over Trevor’s, though he didn’t seem to mind much.
Alucard wanted to say something, but he was lost for words. Nothing he could say would make sense of what he felt, though surely he could ruin it much more easily. Though the more he dwelled on it, the more he knew what he wanted to say. He quickly became certain of it.
He nestled his head into Trevor’s shoulder, giving Sypha’s fingers a small, loving squeeze.
“I love you both,” he said. “And I’m glad you’re back.”
“We love you, too,” Sypha answered, giving his hand a little returning squeeze. “Right, Trevor?”
“Mhmm,” he grunted.
With her free hand, Sypha jabbed him in the ribs again with her knuckle.
“ACK! Fine… I love you, too,” he declared, trying to sound as annoyed as he could, though Alucard believed that he meant it, even if it had to be needled out of him. His belief was only confirmed when Trevor turned his head, nuzzling his face into Alucard’s soft hair.
Alucard was certain he was imagining it, but he thought for a moment that he felt Trevor softly kiss the top of his head, as though he didn’t want Alucard to feel it. As if it were just for him.
Alucard knew he felt cold to them, but inside he felt warmer than he had in months. He wanted to stay like this forever, just the three of them, entwined in each other. They fit together so well, as if they were made for one another. As the three of them drifted effortlessly off to sleep, Alucard felt perfectly at ease, savoring each rise and fall of Trevor’s chest, each small, sleepy snore from Sypha. Even when Trevor’s body relaxed and his arm fell away, Alucard was completely secure.
That night, and for many more afterward, Alucard would sleep well, held tightly in the arms of two loves.
His family. His forever.