VI. He instantly sprung from his resting place and ran to her room at lighting speed. He told her not to tear the stitches! Within a few seconds he was outside of her door once again, thanks to his supernatural speed. Quietly, he got to her bedside. She was asleep. Peacefully, calmly drifting to the world beyond this one. She was so… No. This was not what you bargained for, he thought to himself, instead focusing on his objective; treating her wound. Had he not smelled her sensitive flesh breaking, her sweet blood escaping it, she could have suffered heavy hemorrhage in her sleep… or she could have managed to infect the fresh cut somehow! Either way, she’d be stranded with him for even longer and that was not part of the agreement he had made with himself. In fact, she was already overstaying her welcome. He could have just let her bleed out in the forest and she’d be gone in the morning, but he couldn’t. He just had to be the good samaritan. Both parts of him conflicting; human and monster but only one could win.
He was determined to get this over with quickly, the situation making him uneasy. He really was going to meddle with her unconscious body. Without her permission… But he had done it once already and the smell of fresh blood was driving him insane. He pulled her covers slowly so as to not wake her. Shit. She was naked. He had neglected that her borrowed clothes were folded neatly in the bottom of the bed. His first instinct was to look away but what good would that be? It wasn’t like she could see him. He could cover her up again, as if nothing ever happened and take care of her in the morning when she would be decent… But letting such a deep wound open for that long… He needn't remind himself what would happen to her. Or… to him..
He had decided to bite the bullet, it wasn’t like she had to know… Τhe lavender tea she drank before bed was probably enough to keep her asleep, should he be able to keep his movements steady. Worst case scenario he could hypnotize her… Such a vile ability he had in his possession… He focused on her injury, the gase binding it starting to darken around the broken stitches. Shit, plural. He'd have to undo the whole thing. Her sleep must have been a rather disturbed one, contrary to her now lucid state. It's the nightmares, he said to himself. He knew it. Getting terrorized by horrible images in his sleep, reliving gut wrenching experiences while desperately trying to escape them. In fact, those very nightmares kept him awake that very moment. He had retired sleeping, his vampire side allowing him to go without a consistent resting schedule for days on end. He was tired,though, exhausted even but giving in to the darkness, or what comes after it… That night. In his old bedroom…
He had to go get supplies… Within a few seconds he was back at her side again, all the necessary tools and mixtures gathered from his mother's storage. He began cutting the now soaked in blood bandage with a sharp, clean blade, carefully as not to touch the woman with its cold edges. The amount of blood spilling out of the laceration sent chills down his spine, its sweet smell flooding his nostrils… No… he mustn't… With the same blade he cut the old stitches, removing them with surgical precision. Quickly, he cleaned the dried blood with alcohol, paying extra attention when coming close to the opening. He had to numb it out, so any stinging and pain wouldn't wake her to find that the fearful dhampir had been tampering with her naked and unconscious body. He mixed the content of small bottles containing different herbs and medicine the same way he always had, following a recipe left in his mother's notes, into a thick paste. He applied the ointment on the wound, waiting for its numbing effects to work. In the meantime, his eyes traveled up and down the body laid under him. Warm, glowing skin, round, plumb breasts moving up and down in the rhythm of her breathing, rosey lips spread slightly open, humming softly. He caught himself biting his lower lip so hard that he drew blood, small bites developing under his sharp fangs. He promised he wouldn't…
He wiped the concentrated cream with a damp cloth and disinfected the open wound with alcohol. She was lucky she didn't break a bone. How had she not noticed a great wound such as this one? Adrenaline… He, then, threaded a sterilized needle and began stitching along the cut with expert movements. He had never done this on himself, his healing abilities deeming it an unnecessary way to earn a scar, but he had practiced on wounded animals in case he ever had to patch up… Whatever. They don't matter. I don't even know if I'm going to see them again… Let alone travel and fight alongside them…
His hand instantly retracted when he felt her body move, the old bed cracking under it. That wasn't enough to wake her, though, giving him permission to continue a few seconds later. He wrapped her calve in a flesh gase, realizing that the bedsheet under it was marked dark red… and that so were his hands. He'd deal with the former in the morning. For the time being he covered her, leaving her in her previous condition to temporarily shift away in a place better than this one.
When he got back to his room he thought of only one thing while licking his fingers clean…
****
Your dreams had been peculiar that night. First, came the fire. You were trapped under the remains of your ravaged home, desperately yelling for help. People running away from you, screaming for help, screaming for their loved ones, screaming for God's help,not one stopping to even look at you. One of them… There she was! It was your mother running right past and away from you, not even acknowledging your presence.
'Please, mother. Don't leave me here!', you begged. She stopped! She was coming closer to you! She was going to save you! But she just stood still, hovering over you while the fire spread closer; while the screams of the others were getting louder.
'You reap what you sow, (Y/N). You offend God, living under the devil's roof! You even warmed up to him, thinking he's some kind of guardian angel. Don't you see what he's done to us?! He brought his hellish residence upon us! And you fall asleep thinking of him! The spawn of evil!'
'Mom, please, I beg of you! My leg! It hurts so much! I'm gonna die in here! Please, just help me lift this log.', you cried in agony. Your leg ached, crushed under the weight of what once stabilized the ceiling and no one would help you. Not even your own mother, who was now laughing at your pathetic attempts to free yourself.
'Always a cry baby… Never able to face your problems head on. Instead, you ran or cried or begged for mercy'. The fire was dangerously close now, just a few feet away, surrounding you from every angle. You had to get away now or you'd burn along with the rest of the village. To the ground. While those horrendous creatures' screams are the last thing you hear.
'I don't want to die. I'm sorry. For everything! I shouldn't have run away… Please, get me out…', you started hyperventilating, ashes and that smell of burned flesh mixing into your lungs, making you nauseous.
'Don't ask for forgiveness. Embrace your fate…'. The sight before you was horrific. Your mother's long dress had caught on fire, the red flames traveling up, igniting under the fat of her arms, covering her face, her flesh melting off her bones, running down her body. She didn't scream nor did she panic. She smiled, lifting her hands to the sky. What did any of that mean? She fell to her knees, in front of you, eyeballs white, lifeless. You screamed harder than ever before. So hard that it burned your lungs. And it was so hot. It was consuming you and…
Your heart was about to burst, sweat running down your whole body. It was nighttime. You stood alone on the edge of what seemed to be a rooftop. Under you lay a wide forest, tall trees covering the entire horizon. So high. At least 450 feet above ground. You took a step back, feeling dizzy. What had just happened? Your mother was alive and then she died again in front of your very eyes. "Living under the devil's roof"? What was she talking about? "Devil?" Could she mean… No. There was no way she could be talking about him. You could have believed it at first but now your doubts were starting to fade away. He gave you a bedroom, spare clothes and even tended to your injury. He conversed with you and shared aspects of his dreadful past. Besides, behind his tired eyes hid no malice. It was misery. His gaze troubled by what was only known to him and yet, so benevolent. He served you tea… What was the purpose of any of it? Just as you were getting rid of any hesitation against your host, you got tormented by… ghosts.
'What was it this time?', a male voice coming from behind you sent chills to your backbone, making you turn around instinctively. 'I can't remember the first night terror I had in this place, but I'm sensing a theme of "stake through the heart" lately. I've lived it in so many different ways that I'm practically prepared for when that time finally comes…'. His golden curls glowing under the cold moonlight.
'I… How did you know?', you asked unnerved.
'Not the first time I've seen this look on somebody's eyes, mine the most of all'. He was so calm now, the bags under his eyes gone, his brows having shifted from the perpetual frown to a gentle frame. For the first time you could truly distinguish his beauty. His pale complexion and long locks of hair falling behind his shoulders… His ochre eyes looking at yours with what you felt was…. passion.
'Fire… Burned alive… It was all so real… and…. My mother was there as well…',you confessed. How could you feel comfortable sharing something as personal as a dream with someone that 24 hours ago was but a stranger, hiding away in his castle, isolated from everyone but nature?
'That makes sense. You're still haunted by your family's death.'
'No… I didn't see my whole family. Just my mother. And she acted weird, talking about how I resided with the devil and that I deserve to burn... ' He frowned slightly upon hearing your last statement, interpreting it's meaning.
'You are still not certain of my intentions…'
'No', you answered immediately, 'I admit, when I learned your name all the bonfire stories about vampires I'd ever heard made me dread the thought of it… The thought of you… But not anymore. I cannot bring myself to imagine you bringing me harm. I don't know exactly why… but it's true.' He nodded, a soft smile appearing on his thin lips, satisfied with your answer.
'That's true. I would never hurt you'. His eyes narrowed at that last word. He approached the edge of the rooftop; he approached you. Now standing a mere inch away from you, looking down into your wide eyes, petrifying you with… desire. 'You said you were afraid of my name, yet I have never heard you say it.', he whispered close to your ear, his warm breath hitting your neck,'Prove to me… Prove to me that you are no longer frightened by my presence. That you're not scared of my touch.' He traveled his finger tip along your jawline, pushing your head gently to the side, exposing your whole collar bone to him. 'Say my name, (Y/N) ', as his lips dug in the sensitive skin of your neck.
'Ah- Alucard!'