Everything went back to normal after that, I was issued a new weapon to replace the one I lost and for my actions and the success of my mission Major Blanchet gave me a promotion to Lance-Corporal. Captain Lance was able to get me moved to night shift as I requested, and true to his word he kept a close eye on me by also joining night shift. He had me switched to his platoon so that he would be my superior. We stayed out of each other’s way as much as possible, as long as I followed the orders I was issued by my Sargent, he seemed happy. Although I think having me around still worried him, but he seemed to trust that I wouldn’t eat any of the men.

The enemy had been attacking sporadically, short bursts to test our defenses. I was patrolling one night, not getting ready to hunt just watching for enemies, when I heard a few officers talking about news from all over the world. It was the first time in a while we had gotten any news at all, and most of it was bad. Zeppelins were dropping bombs on England’s coast, a submarine blockade had been declared by Germany against British shores, Britain had responded to a call of air from Russia against Turkish attacks, Russia suffered heavy losses after the battle of Masurian Lakes, and Germany had released hundreds of tons of poison gas against allied French and Canadian troops.

“Can you believe this, it’s only July and the world’s already on fire?” One of the men said.

“It’s been on fire, we are only just now hearing about it,” the other man replied.

“You two realize we are in the middle of a war-zone in a foreign country and have been for nearly a year right? We already knew the world was on fire because we have been in the middle of the flames.” A man, who was not a part of the conversation and simply interjected, said.

The other two stayed quiet for a moment, “…good point.”

I walked over to them, “where did you hear about this from?”

“I heard I from Captain Lance, and he said he read it from a stack of newspapers that got shipped to us.”

“Thanks,” I said and went back to my patrol. After my shift finished, I went to find these newspapers. I was just as interested to read what was happening as everyone else was. If Captain Lance had them, then they would probably be in the officer’s tent, or the communications tent. I checked the officer’s tent first. Captain Lance was there drinking coffee and reading a letter. Things weren’t as tense between us as they were at first, but that didn’t make them comfortable. “Captain Lance,” his eyes lifted from his letter, and I noticed he gripped his mug slightly tighter.

“Yes?”

“I was told that a shipment of newspapers arrived, are the men allowed to read them?”

He relaxed a bit and loosened his grip, “oh, yes, but they were taken to the mess to be put on display. We figured that was the best way for everyone to get a chance to read them without having everyone coming and going from the tent all day.”

“Thank you,” I said and left. The “mess” was at the back of the trenches. Really it was just a shack that cooked everyone food and handed it out on steel trays. I walked there and next to the shack was a wooden fence that was not there the last time I was here. It was about shoulder height and over twenty feet long. But the biggest eye catcher was that every inch of it was covered in newspapers. They had been nailed down at the top and sides so that people could flip them over and read the backs. A crowd of five or six people was gathered around the fence, some reading the same page, others were reading alone.

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I’m not one for sentimentality, but there was something I wanted to know: how my home was doing. I was born in a small Russian village that I later learned became a small Polish town called Osowiec. I had heard that Russia was having a hard time against the Germans, and I wanted to know more about it. “Anybody see anything about Russia’s front?” I asked.

“Over here Alucard,” one of the men said and jerked a thumb at a page next to him.

“Thanks.” The article was about how the Germans had been trying to take several key positions over the last few months. The Eastern front was apparently nothing like it was here in the West, there were no fights ending in stalemate, no truces, and nothing even close to civilized combat. We had heard that the Germans were employing chlorine gas attacks in mass, but no one here had ever experienced it. It was commonly employed on the Eastern front, as well as other unsavory tactics. Then I read it:

German forces are still attempting to take multiple forts across Russian provinces. Retreats have been ordered from many areas, but some still remain. Most surprisingly is Fort Osowiec in Russian Poland. This fort has held its ground longer than anyone has expected it to, German troops try almost daily to take the fort but to no avail.

My home was under siege. It was surprisingly distressing to read; everyone I knew from there has long since died over a thousand years ago. Yet, those words bounced around in my mind, I couldn’t seem to let them go. Days passed, and I grew more anxious the more I thought of it. Perhaps it was some long dormant territorial instinct passed on from the beast that transformed me, the Bestia Krwi, or maybe it was some flicker of my former human life crying out. Either way, no matter how I tried, I simply could not put it out of my mind. I needed to act, lest I lose my sanity thinking about it. I decided to talk with the only person I could about it… Captain Lance.

I went to his private quarters and knocked on his door, which was a privilege the officers had that the rest of the men did not. Most of us made do with old blankets to keep our privacy, and to keep the bugs out. “Enter,” his voice called from inside. I opened the door and walked in. His quarters were bare, except for a single bed and trunk at the foot of it, as well as a desk laden with paperwork. It was a small and dimly lit room, but being so empty, it did not feel claustrophobic.

He turned and seemed rather shocked at seeing me, “Alucard? Did you need something?”

“I need to talk to you about something.” I said seriously and closed the door behind me.

“What’s wrong?” He asked and spun his chair around to face me.

“I think I need to leave for a while.”

His eyes widened, “What happened?”

“Nothing, I just have business I need to attend to.” He relaxed, perhaps he thought that his worst fear had been realized and I had eaten one of his men.

“What kind of business?”

“My home, where I was born, is under siege from German forces. I feel I must go and do something.”

He scoffed, “what do you plan on doing against an entire siege?”

“I don’t know, but I feel I must at least try to help them.” I felt like a sentimental fool; I knew I could do nothing against an entire army, yet every cell in my body screamed for action. The captain looked at the pile of paperwork on his desk and sighed.

“A soldier cannot simply leave his post… however, you are not a normal soldier.”

“I imagine if I were you would never even consider such a request, but let’s be honest… I scare you.”

“More accurately, what you might do to my men scares me.” We looked intensely at one another, as if daring the other in some way. “I will approve it on one condition.”

“Condition?”

“When you leave… don’t come back. I will tell everyone who asks that you grew ill and were rendered unable to fight and were shipped home. So, when you leave, stay gone.”

I thought for a moment, “…agreed.”