Chapter Text
After the rude, cluster-fucked awakening that was Lindenfeld, Trevor found himself steering the carriage in the direction of Dracula - sorry, Alucard’s castle without consciously comprehending what he was really doing.
Perhaps the action was borne out of the need for something a little more solid in this shaky foundation of a situation- or perhaps it was something far more grievous. Perhaps it was an entire, rapid dissolution from the adventurous lifestyle that the pair of them had been living until recently...
Either way, Sypha doesn’t comment on it until they’re only an hour or so away.
Even then it is only in passing… As if this much was expected... inevitable, in a way. It leaves a bitter taste in Trevor's mouth.
“It’s strange… Going back.” She admits softly, her expression is taut and entirely unhappy. The battle (if one could even call it that,) in town had left her far too quiet for Trevor’s liking.
It was a gruesome reminder that she wasn’t as used to the darker sides of the hunting lifestyle quite like Trevor was. No one had prepared her for what happened when everything went wrong despite them doing everything right…
Trevor desperately wanted for her to never have to get used to that feeling. The hollowness. The helplessness. It was a bastard to ignore.
“It feels as if we’ve been gone for years but barely left at the same time.”
Trevor hummed at the sentiment, the sound of the gravel crunching on the ground lulling his mind ever so slightly. “I know what you mean.”
There’s something within the statement that makes him feel exhausted. It has his bones shuddering with exertion and his heart low and heavy in his chest. He was so tired. They both were. It was the kind of tired that couldn’t be solved by sleep. It was the kind of tired that had you motionless for days on end, eyes fixed to a point on the ever-cracking ceiling. Strength-sapping and emotionally draining- it never seemed to let up no matter how long Trevor had dealt with it.
Perhaps that was why they headed for Alucard’s castle now. For a break. A much-needed one at that. One they hadn’t deigned to take after slaying Dracula all those months ago... One that sounded better and better to Trevor every time he saw the grievous look in Sypha’s eyes- so akin to his own before he’d learned to keep it better hidden.
A 'holiday'...Yeah... Maybe that’s what they needed.
It’s a unanimous and bewilderingly silent agreement between the pair of them. For the first time since they’d met- they would stop moving. They would go back and visit Alucard. They would see what he was up to...
They would determine what their next move was… If there ever would be one again...
“My, do you think ‘Lord Vampire Prick, the Second’ missed us?” Trevor asks Sypha in passing, nudging her elbow lightly with his arm.
“I don’t think so. I’m sure he’s all too happy not having you drinking away at his wine supply right now,” Sypha admitted with a smile. “He probably missed me, though. ”
Trevor grunts noncommittally in reply. Probably.
The sky is yellowing when they see the beginnings of the castle spire deep within the forest. They’d most likely make it by nightfall at this rate. It was good news, most assuredly- yet the thought of approaching the castle in the dark sent an embarrassing chill up Trevor’s spine.
Sypha, on the other hand, visibly perked up at the sight, sitting with her shoulders straight as she peaked up over the branches for a glimpse at the building. “Nostalgic.” Is all she says, her skin painted an orange hue by the dying light of sunshine. It’s the first time that she’s looked like herself since they left Lindenfeld.
That, at the very least, was a good sign.
“You’re insane,” Trevor says simply.
Sypha just smiles at him.
The word no longer had the same meaning. Not to them. Not anymore.
The first indicator that something is amiss comes a bit too late to the pair of highly trained monster slayers. It isn’t anything too obvious to a normal person- but it has both Sypha and Trevor exchanging mutual looks of concern.
The forest was dead silent.
It was like everything within the depths of the shrubs had grown too afraid to announce their presence. Their carriage wheels shuddered terribly over the under-developed ‘road’ (or lack thereof,) and still, nothing came to inspect. No rustling, no chirping, no nothing. It was as if the end of the world had happened while they weren’t looking and nothing existed aside from them.
It wasn’t the most comforting of thoughts. Not with all the weird demon-y bullshit going on.
Trevor picks up the pace, keeping a tight hold on the handle of his whip the entire time.
The next indicator is something a bit more obvious.
“What in the sweet fuck-” Trevor squints his eyes against the dark to make sure he’s seeing things correctly. He wasn’t old enough to be losing his vision quite yet, was he?
Shit, how old was he again?
When had he stopped counting?
The pair disembark the carriage with great haste, rushing over to the castle that they’d invaded not three months ago. The nervous feeling is still there- but for an entirely different reason.
“My God…” Sypha says, a hand clasping over her nose to block the smell. Her chest heaves ever so slightly with the tell-tale sign of sickness. Trevor couldn’t blame her.
It was a stench that he was all too familiar with.
Rotting, human flesh.
...Fuck.
It’s a matching pair. A young man and woman in nightclothes, each on their own blunt stake buried in the ground. The blood around their mouths had long since dried and turned an ugly brown. The decaying process had most likely been sped up due to the growing swelter of summer- but they seemed to have been here for no more than a week or so. They’re from the east- that much Trevor can discern- but there is precious little else he’s able to glean from their appearances alone.
The wind changes and blows the smell of death right into Trevor’s face. He suppresses a gag.
“Something has happened with Alucard,” Sypha deduces, her hand still clasped over her nose.
Trevor chances another look at the scantily-clad corpses fluttering about in the wind like a pair of scarecrows on Alucard’s doorstep.
“...Dare I say you may be onto something, Sypha.”