| Alucard |

The vampire lay in his bed, gripping the black covers as his claws tore the fabric. He frowned in confliction as pain surged through his head like he'd been impaled. His body ached, and his eyes stung in the afternoon sunlight shining through the gaps between the curtains.

The glum room was filled with light, but it didn't brighten the dark furniture, the oak floorboards, or the black, ebony-panelled walls. The only colour came from Alucard's shimmering, blood-red hair, and his pale-as-ice skin.

As the sunlight clawed at his face, Alucard scowled and tried to concentrate, but his vision was blurred and unfocused; everything swirled around as though he was intoxicated. He was the opposite, in fact, and as he felt himself sinking deeper into the strange trance, his hunger grew.

He thought resting would help him recover from last night's events, but it seemed to have only worsened it. He knew what he needed and wanted, and he was going to stop at nothing to get it. So, he sat up, but overwhelming dizziness gripped him so tightly that he felt like he might fall back down. But he couldn't allow himself to become hungrier.

The vampire stumbled to his feet, pulled on the first shirt his hands could find, and then dragged himself out of his room into the dimly lit hallway. But for a moment, he felt utterly confused.... Where was he? He looked around, setting his eyes on the black, ebony-panelled walls; the oak floor beneath him and antique-like furniture spreading down the hall didn't seem familiar, but it didn't really matter where he was, did it?

Alucard held his hand against the wall, keeping himself on his feet as he made his way forward, passing the closed doors. When he reached the stairs, he hastily made his way down into the foyer. But once he got there, the front door opened.

Elvin stepped into the foyer and took his hat off. When he hung it on the coat rack, he sharply turned his head and watched as Alucard struggled to make his way to him.

"Uh...are you all right?" the bard asked, stepping aside as Alucard made his way towards the table by the door. He watched the vampire grab his blazer and search the pockets.

Alucard anxiously pulled his flask from his blazer pocket and desperately pulled off the cap, but once he lifted it to his mouth, dread consumed him. It was empty.

"Aleksei?" Elvin asked worriedly as Alucard placed the empty flask on the table and stumbled into the lounge. The bard followed, and as Alucard slumped down onto the couch, Elvin sat in the armchair.

Alucard's head swirled. All he could think about was blood and how it would relieve the pain and disorientation. But the thought of having to get up made him feel worse.

"Hey?" Elvin asked. "Did something happen? W-was it another one of those strong werewolves?"

The vampire snarled irritably and lowered his hand. "Why are you here?"

"I...always come in the mornings—unless we have somewhere to be. Are you okay? You...you look sick."

It took Alucard a moment to wake from the confusion that latched onto him. The world started falling into place, and when he realized that he was in his lounge, he sighed and looked over at the perplexed bard. "Nothing happened."

"You look...well...if you weren't a vampire, I'd say you look like you got the flu."

The vampire rolled his eyes, but he felt far too exhausted to say anything else. He turned his head and stared into the fireplace, trying to fight his hunger...but all he could hear was the sound of Elvin's blood making its way through his veins. The human's heartbeat enticed him greater and greater as each second passed, every beat echoing through his head. If he didn't send Elvin away now, he wasn't sure what might happen in the next few minutes.

He frowned and snapped out of it. Then, he looked at the armchair, but the bard was no longer sitting there. Had he become so lost in his thoughts of thirst that he hadn't noticed him leaving? No...he was still here; he could smell human blood, but it was a whole lot more potent than before—

"Here," Elvin said, holding out a drinking glass, appearing from behind the couch.

Looking up at him, Alucard frowned strangely. In his right hand, the bard was holding a glass of blood. But where had it come from? He didn't care. He took the glass and sipped from it, and relief instantly outweighed his hunger and exhaustion. This blood—wherever it had come from—wasn't old. It clearly hadn't been stored somewhere; it was fresh. Where had fresh blood come from?

Elvin sat back down in the armchair and rested his arms on his knees as he stared at Alucard. "What happened?" he asked again. "I haven't seen you like this in like...two years. You're starving."

Holding the empty glass, Alucard glanced at him. "What?"

"You looked like you were starving," he repeated. "Now I know you lose ethos or strength or whatever when you bleed or get hurt or stuff...so, what happened? Did you get into a fight? Did you get hurt? Was it werewolves? Were you bit?!"

The vampire rolled his eyes and glared into the empty fireplace. "No," he grumbled. "The portal feeds off my energy when I go through it, and I had to take several others with me too; it near enough drained me."

The bard frowned. "Why couldn't they just walk through on their own?"

Alucard sighed irritably. "Because Letholdus would have detected them. The point of this mission is to sneak these vampires into Alvenguard. The last thing I want to do is give ourselves away."

"True. Well...can I get the details?" he asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his notebook, but he grunted painfully as he did.

When Alucard looked at him, he noticed a bloody rag wrapped around Elvin's hand. That was where the blood had come from.

"You met that demon again last night, right? What was it like?" he questioned, his concerned tone changing to excitement.

Alucard wanted to rest more. But he didn't have the luxury of being able to lounge around all day doing nothing. He had to wake up and get on with yet another day. First, though, he'd sate Elvin's curiosity. Tobias wouldn't be at the river for hours, so he had time.

He sighed quietly. "It was irritating."

Scribbling into his notebook, Elvin nodded. "What happened? Did you make friends?"

"No," he mumbled. "Demons and vampires will never be friends. I did speak to one of his subordinates, though. His name was Ben. He appears to know what he is doing, so perhaps I won't have to keep my eye on these new vampires all day every day."

"What did you all talk about? How many vampires did you bring with you?"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Hmm...three," he answered, holding up three of his claw-tipped fingers as he shuffled around in his seat, trying to relax a little now that the pain of his headache was fading. "I won't tell you what they look like. You can come with me to the castle soon. I actually don't remember what the other two looked like, they were kind of...quiet."

"What about you and the demon?" Elvin asked eagerly, tapping his notebook with his pencil as he gawped at Alucard with his brown eyes.

Alucard snarled quietly at the thought of Zalith—the thought of his arrogance. But he'd not let it keep him in a sour mood all day. He didn't even matter. He was just some guy he'd be working with once a month for a year. He sighed and slouched back a little. "We spoke about the humans and the city a bit, the treaty—that's all, really. Then we went home. I have to meet him again next month."

Elvin smirked. "See, you're talking—you could be becoming friends."

He scowled. "No."

"Come on, what harm could it do? It could be good for you, you know—to hang out with someone. All you do is work, Aleksei."

Alucard snarled in disapproval, silencing the bard. He didn't need nor want friends. What was the point?

Elvin sighed and rested his arms on his notebook. "Whatever. There anything else I should note down?"

"Drac isn't eating," the vampire said. "He is being fussy."

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm," Elvin murmured, noting it down.

"I think I pissed Rodney off," Alucard then muttered, a little amusement in his voice. "I left him on his own on the island last night."

The bard glanced up from his notebook. "Rude," he mumbled, writing Alucard's information down.

Alucard then sighed as he sat up straight. He placed the glass Elvin had given him on the table beside the couch and glanced at him. "Multumesc."

Shrugging, Elvin tucked his notebook and pencil away. "Don't mention it." He smiled, finishing his writing. "I'd rather this than let you go kill someone," he said, holding up his rag-wrapped hand.

The vampire stood up. "You shouldn't be trying to stop me," he grumbled, straightening his shirt. "It's what I do."

"Yeah, well, I'll just keep stopping you wherever I can," he argued, also standing up. "The less killing you do, the more likely people are to trust you and vampires altogether, you know?" He frowned as he followed Alucard to the front door. "I know you need blood, but can't you just, like...not kill someone when you feed off them?" he asked, scurrying after the vampire, who left the house after attaching his rapier to his side, carrying his blazer and fur-collared cape over his arm.

"No," Alucard answered as he felt the flicker of pain as his eyes faded from hell-fiery red to icy blue when the sunlight hit his face.

Elvin gazed at him as they walked through the manor gardens, but he then stuttered and stumbled as the vampire threw his cape at him. The bard caught it in his arms and held onto it while he watched Alucard put his blazer on. Then, Alucard took his cape back and pulled that on, too.

"Why?" Elvin asked, following Alucard to the left of the manor's garden, where a black stable stood.

Alucard stopped walking and turned to face Elvin. "You have been following me around for seven years and you still haven't worked out why vampires kill people?"

He shook his head. "I mean...I could have done my research, but I'd rather learn from the creator of vampires himself," he said confidently.

Setting his eyes on Sergiu—the cedar-brown-haired groundskeeper—as he made his way over in his black tailcoat, the vampire sighed. "We cannot stop once we start," he mumbled. "The taste of blood just...takes control of us."

Elvin took out his notebook and started writing down Alucard's explanation. "So, it's like...a drug?"

"No." Alucard frowned strangely. "Well...for some, maybe. When we feed off living humans, we do experience a kind of euphoria. But it's more of an instinct to kill our victims rather than let them go," he explained slowly—he wasn't exactly sure how to describe it.

"Interesting. So you can't just bite someone and drink a little and then let them live?"

"We can learn to—I have learnt to—but I choose not to let them live."

Elvin pouted. "You can't just murder people, Aleksei."

"Can't I?" Then, as Sergiu stopped in front of him, he laughed slightly, amused by Elvin's distraught face. "Don't worry, Elvin. I don't kill people who don't deserve it; you know that."

Still pouting, Elvin tucked his notepad away and crossed his arms. "I don't know who you kill—you always tell me it was 'some guy'. Anyway, I still don't approve. Killing people is an awful thing."

"Is killing a murderer an awful thing? If so, you should go to the courts and tell them hanging people should be outlawed," he grumbled, setting his eyes on Sergiu. Before Elvin could argue, the vampire glared at the groundskeeper. "Are they ready?"

Sergiu nodded as he kept his olive eyes fixed on the vampire. "As always, sir," he replied.

"Get them."

The groundskeeper nodded and hurried into the stable.

Alucard then looked at Elvin. "I told you before, and I will tell you again: you were the one who chose to follow me around; if you don't agree with my methods, you can always walk away and go back to DeiganLupus. I'm not keeping you here."

Elvin frowned in dread. "I don't wanna go, it's not that...I just...worry about you. What if you accidentally kill someone one day? Like someone you don't mean to kill?" he stammered.

"That will never happen. I am careful, I can control myself, and I am never without blood. This morning was just...I was unprepared," he admitted. "I didn't know the portal would do that to me."

Elvin shrugged. "You ran out; it's fine."

"I'll get the gate, sir," Sergiu then said, handing Alucard the reins of a black stallion and Elvin the reins of a dark brown mare.

As the groundskeeper walked off, Elvin sighed and looked back at Alucard. "Anyway, what are we doing today?" he asked, changing the subject.

Mounting his horse, Alucard shrugged. "I have to go and check on the vampires who came last night, and then I'm going to meet Tobias. I sent him to find out what he could about the wolf that attacked you in Wrodiff."

Climbing on his own horse, Elvin said, "Do you think he'll find anything?"

"I hope so. If the werewolves are planning something, I'd rather know now than later. I won't risk the treaty, especially not now with these new vampires moving over here."

"Yeah, the treaty...but what about you? You need to be careful. I saw that wolf escape from you last night."

He sighed quietly. "I'll be fine. I've dealt with werewolves all my life."

Elvin frowned worriedly. "It's not just the werewolves, though. All you do is work, Aleksei. Don't you have anything else to do? You know, you could always come and hang out with me. If you won't make new friends, at least spend time outside of work with me."

"I have hobbies," Alucard insisted, disregarding his suggestions.

"Really? I haven't seen you doing anything—"

"Private ones," he grumbled.

"Oh...okay." Elvin frowned—Alucard knew he wasn't going to give up yet. "Well, if you ever get bored, you can always come over. I live by—"

"I don't want to know where you live," the vampire interjected irritably. He then tapped his horse's side, making it move forward.

Following, Elvin frowned. "What? Why?"

"Because I don't," he mumbled, glaring ahead as he left the manor.

"Why don't you want to know where I live? I know where you live—I even have a key to your house!" the bard exclaimed.

Alucard rolled his eyes. He didn't want to sit there and explain anything to him.

Elvin sighed and looked over at him. "You're weird. I've been travelling with you for seven years and I still don't get you."

"It's for the best."

"I'm your friend, you know. Friends know things about each other. Like...I've not seen you do anything that could be classed a hobby—unless making growling sounds at people you don't want to talk to is a hobby."

"I'm not going to tell you," Alucard snarled.

"Why?"

Alucard ignored him.

"Do you...write? Draw? Sing?"

"Do you really imagine me singing with this accent?"

"Yes." Elvin smiled, amused. "You could be a famous opera singer for all I know—you never tell me anything."

The vampire rolled his eyes.

"Do you...hmm...what about archery? I know a guy that does archery for fun."

"I do not do archery."

"Dance? Do you dance?"

Alucard glared at him. "I would much prefer silence during this trip."

He wouldn't let up. "What about cards? Do you play cards?"

The vampire deadpanned.

"I could teach you!" he said, clapping his hands.

"No."

Elvin pouted. "What about fishing? Do you know how to fish?"

"I know how to use the line to shut someone up," he hissed.

"Of course, you do," Elvin mumbled, shaking his head. He then sighed and pulled out his notebook and pencil. "Fine. I'll just write then, shall I?" he sneered. Alucard didn't answer, so he looked down at the blank page he had flicked to and began to write.

Now that he had the silence to think, Alucard glanced at the forest. A cold chill ran down his spine; it felt like there were eyes on him. But when he focused his sensory ethos, he couldn't detect anything in the woods. Was he imagining it?

He sighed and set his eyes on the castle. Although he didn't show it in front of Elvin, he was worried about the possibility that there were more werewolves planning on attacking townspeople. If a single human was killed, he knew the council would dismiss the treaty. He wanted to go out there and search the entire forest himself, but he just didn't have the time or energy. He needed to focus on the new vampires; if he fucked a single thing up, Damien would come down on him like a tonne of bricks—sharp, jagged bricks. All he could do was wait and see if Tobias was able to find something.

And he sorely hoped that he would.