Closure

by AlpakaAlex

Summary:

Dracula is alive. After everything Dracula is alive, apparently living a quiet life in England.

While Adrian, Trevor, and Sypha do not know how to feel about it, they decide to travel to England, hoping that Dracula might help them.

Notes:

Alright. Here we go. After The lesser Evil has ended, I decided to upload this story.

It should be noted, I wrote this a while ago. Yes, this is completely finished on my harddrive. Originally I wanted to upload another story before this one (Sonata of the Dawn), but I am blocked on that other story, so I decided that I will upload this one instead.

This takes place eight years post-canon. By now Trevor, Sypha, and Adrian habe two children: Marie, the daughter that Sypha is pregnant with by the last episode of the show, and Simon, who is the son of Adrian and Sypha. Marie is at this point obviously seven years old, while Simon is about two years old.

This technically would play just a few weeks after the end of Sonata of the Dawn, which would have been based on the Nocturne of Recollection audio-drama, but set within the timeline of the Castlevania TV-show. But what would have happened in that story should be fairly clear if you read this, as the characters will have flashbacks to that story. ;)

So, yes. This is a story about forgiveness. Not only forgiving others, but also forgiving oneself.

I hope you guys like this story!

Chapter 1: Aftershocks

The wagon was rattling along on the uneven street. Even though barely any light from the outside found its way in Trevor knew the sun was setting. He still had no fucking clue, what exactly was going on with him, but somehow, he could simply tell the sun was nearing the horizon.

He was not a fucking vampire. At least not yet. Would he become one? He could not tell. He had no bloody clue.

What worried him more, than his own fate was the expression on Adrian's face. He was holding a rather active Simon who was complaining quite a lot about this circumstance. The hyperactive kid would clearly have preferred to crawl around on the wagon bed. He had only fallen off twice during their one-week travel to Baia Mare.

Adrian, meanwhile, looked rather gloomy. Even though his dhampir-features hid it well, Trevor knew he had not slept much during the last two weeks or so. It had all been too much. Trevor knew that. Between all the shit happening with Magnus, the fact Adrian had bitten him and the new realization that his parents were very much alive… The poor guy really could not catch a break.

Trevor would have preferred if Greta had come along with them, but of course she was right. She tended to be right on many fronts, but especially this one. Someone needed to be there at the castle. For the village, yes, but especially for their collection of orphans. In fact, Trevor felt shitty for leaving them behind. But it was not as if he could let his partners go on this journey alone. Not to mention, well…

“We should soon be there,” Trevor said. He pushed his foot against his partners, sending him a soft smile.

Adrian just sighed looking to the front of the wagon.

Marie was currently occupying the hog together with Sypha. As their daughter still felt sick riding the wagon, she was better off in the front.

“Don't look all gloom and doom.” Trevor could feel his own smile faint looking at his husband. “I mean…” He sighed. Yeah, even now he was not really good at this type of stuff. What could he say that he – and Sypha – had not said before?

He knew Adrian was blaming himself for what happened. For when he had bitten Trevor and made him, well, whatever he was now. He was not a full vampire, did not have fangs, nor a lust for blood. Yet the sun gave him a headache and easily burned his skin. Given the lack of information on dhampirs in general, they had not found anything about this. There had – to their knowledge – never been a dhampir, who had tried to turn somebody. So, everything they had to go on was guesswork.

Trevor did not mind though and most certainly did not blame Adrian. It had been Magnus controlling him. Magnus had tried to control Trevor and Sypha as well. He simply had been a demon arsehole. So, sure, not being able to go out in the sun sucked, but considering they all got out of it alive… Who cared?

“I am sorry,” Adrian whispered without even looking at him.

Trevor groaned. “And you've said so at least two hundred times. I am telling you, mate, it's alright. It wasn't you.”

Even now Adrian was evading his gaze. He had barely even properly looked at him, since they had killed Magnus. Stupid dhampir bastard. Could he not finally stop blaming himself for everything? “We don't know what will happen to you,” he now breathed.

“Who cares? I am fine. Look at me, Adrian, I am fine.”

Just for a short moment the golden eyes flickered in his direction, before fixating on the child in Adrian's arms again.

Simon was trying to free himself from the embrace. “Papi. Cawling. Papi. Let go!”

With a sigh, Trevor changed position. He crawled over to Adrian's side of the wagon, taking the child from him. The child, which quickly tried to use it to get lose.

“Really, what will we do with you?” Trevor sighed upon putting Simon down. Quickly – quicker than one would expect a kid to go – he crawled to the front, pushing the curtain aside to look out.

Sypha gave him a look. “What are you doing there, Simon?”

“Wanna look!” the kid announced and tried to climb onto the hog.

“You can't look,” Marie explained, pushing him back. “You just gonna fall down again.”

“Wanna look!” Simon just repeated, not giving up that easily.

Trevor smiled. It was good to have such a lively family. He had almost forgotten how it was with siblings. Always squabbling. Always finding their own way.

He put one arm around Adrian, pulling him close even though he could sense him tensing up. “Adrian,” he whispered. “It's alright. It really is. I am alright. Just… stop blaming yourself, will you, old bastard?”

“But it has been my fault. It's my fault if you can never go out again, if you…”

“It's been Magnus’ fault. No one else’s.”

Still Adrian stayed tense. He could not just enjoy the hug, enjoy being close just like he used to do. His head was lowered. Even now he would not look at him.

“Adrian, please,” Trevor begged. “I am not holding it against you. And honestly, you not fucking looking at me is worse than that stupid sun allergy.”

A sigh lifted Adrian's shoulders and let them fall again. He looked at Trevor with those sad eyes. “But I…”

“Just stop it. Please. This is probably just for a while and… I will be fine. Even if it stays, I will be fine. Just trust me on this, will you?”

Once again Adrian evaded his gaze. Stupid fucking idiot.

The truth was: After almost eight years spent together, Trevor really knew how to read this idiot easily. And maybe he knew quite well what was actually bothering him. It had been something that had been bothering the stupid bastard for a while now.

Magnus had used their own fears and desires against them. And for Adrian it had been the fact, that he knew very well that he was immortal while the two of them – Trevor and Sypha – were not. They were already clearly older than his for eternal twenty form. They would grow even older and one day die, leaving him behind once again. Of course the bastard was fearing this. Trevor would probably do the same if he was in his shoes. And there was a part of Trevor that was worried about what it would mean for Adrian on the long run.

But it was just one of the many things Adrian would not talk about. Of course he wouldn't. The stupid idiot would rather just keep it all bottled inside. He was still afraid and yet he blamed himself.

A part of Trevor actually wished it had worked. If he had been made a vampire… well, at least the fear would vanish, wouldn't it?

As it was now there was only so much, he could do, but hold that idiot bastard close and hope he would at some time relax. He really would've liked to talk to him about it. But he couldn't. Instead, he sighed. “So, we'll be in Britain by tomorrow,” he said.

“I guess we will be,” Adrian muttered.

“So, what do we do if your father tries to kill us?”

Another sigh. “I don't know.”

Okay, this had been the wrong topic. It was another bloody fear of his, wasn't it? Having to kill his father all over again.

“I am sure it will be fine,” Trevor said. “I mean, he looked rather docile.”

“Yeah. Maybe. Hopefully.”

It was complicated. All of it was. Trevor did not know what he would do if his family somehow turned up alive again. He really didn't. But he would not have to fear them at least. He would not have to fear having to kill them. “I am sure it will be fine,” he just repeated. “And if it's not, Sypha and me will take care of it. You won't have to worry about it.”

“Yeah. I know.” Yet one more sigh. Then the dhampir closed his eyes and finally gave into the hug, leaning his head against Trevor's shoulder. “I am sorry,” he whispered once more.

“And I told you: Everything is fine.”

Chapter 2: Among the Living

Summary:

The Belmont family arrives on the British Isles and indeed finds Lisa Tepes - back among the living.

When they arrived on the British Isles the sky was dark and cloudy. Adrian had heard about it. These islands had a reputation for bad weather. It might be a good thing though, he thought – and apparently Sypha did the same.

She opened the curtain to the back of the wagon. “Best cloudy weather,” she announced only earning a grunt from Trevor.

Marie crawled to the front of the wagon. “Are we there yet?”

“We almost are,” Adrian said. For a moment he looked at Trevor, before focusing on what lay ahead. He was still not able to forgive himself for what he had done to Trevor. It was all his fault. Maybe his father would be able to help…

His father. He would see his father again. If it really was his father. The mirror had said so, right? The mirror would know. And yet, it seemed so unreal. His father was alive. Again. Brought back… how? At least he did not seem back for revenge. What Adrian had seen… It seemed so peaceful. Entirely peaceful.

And his mother was there, too.

How was he even supposed to face them again? He had killed his father eight years ago. He had had to. But still…

Sypha put her hand on his wrist. She smiled. “It’s gonna be fine. I am sure.”

He only sighed. It would be, right?

There, in the distance, there was a cottage. It was not quite part of the little town, just as they had seen in the mirror. It had to be where they were living. Adrian could make out a figure in the garden – a figure with blond hair. Even in the distance he knew it had to be his mother.

His mother. Alive.

A part of him wanted to jump from the hog and run towards her. Another part wanted to run into the other direction. What if it wasn’t them? What if it was some sort of impostor? What if…

His breath was shaky. This was too much. It was so unreal. And yet the two horses steadily pulled them towards the cottage. It would be fine, wouldn’t it?

“It will be fine,” Sypha assured him, as if she was able to read his thoughts.

“I need to pee,” Marie announced.

Now Trevor came to the front as well. “We’ll be there soon. You can hold it until then.”

“Fine.” The girl grunted, just as her father would do.

Said father leaned now out of the wagon to view ahead. “Are you okay, Adrian?”

“I… I am not sure.”

“And I am telling you, it’s going to be fine,” Sypha once more assured.

They had almost reached the cottage. By now Adrian could see his mother quite clearly. She was working the garden and now looked up as she heard the wagon approach. The next moment, she froze, staring at him.

He stopped the wagon. Taking a deep breath, he jumped from the hog and walked the last bit. At the wall surrounding the garden he stopped, while she came towards him.

There was disbelief in her eyes. “Adrian?” she whispered.

Her voice was just as he remembered. Soft and warm. Her eyes were so familiar as well. Somewhere between green and grey. Her hair had a couple of grey streaks by now, just as her face had now some wrinkles around eyes and mouth. But in his mind, there was no doubt. This was his mother. His mother – somehow back from the dead.

“Mother.” He wanted to run towards her, pull her close, but at the same time he felt unable to move. His mind was still unable to believe it. She was back. She was alive. His mother.

Now she hurried towards the wall to see him up close. She was still smaller than him. He had almost forgotten about that. Unsure of what to do, he climbed over the wall, just for her to take both his hands. There were tears in her eyes. “Adrian… How…” She stared at him for just one more moment.

Was this not the question, he was supposed to ask? How? How was she here? How was she alive?

It did not matter in the moment though. She pulled him close, hugged him, just as she had hugged him so many times before. After one moment of hesitation, he returned the embrace unable to fight the tears down himself. “Mother…” he breathed, while he held her firmly. He could smell her now as well. She smelled a bit different than before, but still familiar. Of herbs, of fire, of chemicals. This really was his mother. She lived.

The tears would not stop. There were tears he had held back for a long time, whenever he had told himself he was fine. There were also tears of joy, of relief. This was his mother. She was alive. And for the moment he did not care why and how, he was just thankful to whatever twist of fate allowed him to hold her like that.

“I am sorry,” he whispered. “I am sorry, I could not save you. I am sorry, I did not come with you. I am sorry…”

“Ssh,” she hushed and broke away from him, so that she could look at him. “It’s not your fault and you know it. None of it is.” She wiped away his tears. “It’s not your fault.” She pulled him close once more.

This all felt so unreal. His mother. How long had she been alive again? She looked older than when he had last seen her. Did this mean she had been here the entire time? So many questions and yet it did not seem to matter. All that mattered that she was here, that she was alive, that she was holding him just as she had held him the day, she had left for Lupu.

When they broke apart the next time, she sighed looking at him. “How did you find us?”

“I… We heard father was alive and…” Adrian shook his head. “We have a distance mirror. When we asked it to show father, it showed this place and… How?”

She smiled. “It’s a long story,” she replied. “And frankly, we still don’t know quite what happened…”

He stared at her. There were all those questions, that fought to be asked. “Why are you here? Why didn’t you come to the castle?”

Cupping his face with her hands, it was now her, who shook her head. “Because you deserved closure. You deserved to build a life of your own.” She sighed, before looking past him at the wagon. “Who are those people accompanying you?” Her smile told him, that she already had a good idea.

With a wave he beckoned the others over. “They are my family.”

While Sypha was smiling, Trevor looked mostly nervous and out of place. His gaze was directed at the cottage, as if he was expecting Dracula to burst out of it any moment to attack them. But he would not, would he?

Marie was walking on her own, staring at her grandmother with big blue eyes. Meanwhile Sypha was still carrying Simon, who was never the less also staring at the unfamiliar woman.

Quite frankly, Adrian was not sure what his mother would say to their strange family constellation. But this was too important to lie about. “These are Sypha and Trevor,” he said. “My wife and my husband.”

Sypha was beaming. “It is so nice to actually do get a chance to meet you. I’ve already heard so many stories about you.”

His mother seemed surprised for just a moment, before a soft smile appeared back on her face. “It is nice to meet you. Both of you.” Then she turned towards Marie, then Simon. “And you. Who might you be?”

“I am Marie,” the little girl announced. “Are you my grandma?”

Lisa looked at Adrian, who just nodded, at which she smiled. “I guess I am.”

“I thought you were dead!”

A nervous chuckle. “I was for a while.”

“So, you are a zombie?”

Now Adrian’s mother bowed down, to be closer to the girl’s eye level. “No, I am very much alive.” Then she looked at Simon, who right now was trying to fit his fist into his mouth. “And who might you be?”

Simon just stared at her from his golden eyes.

“This is Simon,” Sypha explained. “He is a bit over a year now, though he is growing fast.”

With a knowing look, Lisa nodded. “Oh, I know that feeling.” She seemed to understand now. Once more she was blinking tears away, wiping the corner of her eye.

Maybe there was something between the two women, as Sypha smiled. “Do you want to hold him?”

Lisa looked at her surprised. “Can I?”

“Of course,” Sypha replied. “He can already talk. He is just, well…”

The boy took his first out of his mouth again, gripping onto his grandmother’s dress, when she took him. She did not seem to mind, while she held him. “Hello, Simon.”

He stared at her. “Who you?”

“I… I am your grandmother,” she replied, pushing some of his blond locks aside.

Simon just took this information in frowning a bit.

“Why do you live here?” Marie, who by now had climbed over the garden wall, asked. “Why don’t you live where we live?”

Lisa sighed. “It’s a long story.” She looked at Adrian. “Your father should be up, if you want to see him as well.”

Looking at the cottage, Adrian froze. His father. Dracula. Yes, he knew he was alive as well. It still seemed so unreal. He could see his father’s face when he died as if it had been yesterday. It was him, it was Adrian, who had killed him. He had killed his own father – because he had not had another choice. But he had killed him.

His mother pursed her lips. “He is much better than he was,” she said softly. “He is sane.”

Adrian did not know, what to say. Automatically his hand moved towards his chest, where his father’s old wedding band was still hanging around his neck. There was a part of him, who wanted nothing more than to see his father. But he couldn’t. He just could not. He could not look at his father. Not like this. He…

To his surprise, it was Trevor, who put his hand onto his shoulder. “You know, you don’t have to, right?”

Adrian was still staring at the house, before he turned towards his mother. “I can’t,” he breathed. “Not yet. I… Maybe in a few days. Maybe…”

She smiled. “I understand. I do.”

He nodded, unsure what he was supposed to say. He wanted to see his father, but he just could not bring himself to do it.

Lisa sighed. “There is a way station, that rents out rooms a bit more than a mile from here. You could stay there for now. Though know our house is open to you.”

“I know,” Adrian whispered. There were too many emotions fighting within his chest. He felt confused. So confused. Taking a deep breath, he turned towards Trevor, even though it felt wrong to lean on him out of all people in this moment. But he did – and when Trevor put his arm around him, it felt good.

The short silence was broken by Marie, who proclaimed: “I still need to pee.”

Notes:

Poor Adrian. He is in a really bad state at this point in the story. But yeah, he gets to see his mother - and his mother gets to realize that she is indeed a grandmother by now.

Chapter 3: Open Questions

Summary:

On their way to the way station, Lisa gets asked some questions.

The hog was crowded on their way to the inn. While Adrian was holding the reins Lisa sat to his left, while Sypha sat to his right. As Marie still wanted to be in front, she was sitting on Sypha's lap eyeing her grandmother still with some suspicion.

The woman was clearly the one portrayed on so many pictures throughout the castle. She had aged, that much was true, but she was still clearly the woman. A part of Sypha had been unsure if all of this was right, if it was not some sort of magical doppelganger but so far, she did not find any indication.

“But I really do have to wonder,” she said, “how did you come back?”

“Sypha,” Adrian hissed.

“It's alright,” his mother said. “As I said, we don't really know. All we know is that we woke up on a field in Wallachia completely naked.” Lisa laughed. “And… well, that's really all we know.”

“When was that?” Sypha prompted. This entire thing was just too interesting to let go. After all she had never met someone who had gotten back from the lands of the dead.

“Almost eight years ago.”

So it had been not long after they had killed Dracula to begin with. So, one of the many trials to bring Dracula back from the dead had been successful. Had it been St. Germain? It had to be, right? Considering that the guy should've noticed if Dracula was not in hell when he tried to summon him.

Adrian sighed. There was this strange look in his eyes. Yes. Sypha understood. He was still not quite sure why his parents had not come to visit him. But Sypha thought she understood quite well. She still remembered vividly in what state they had found Adrian upon returning to the castle. While Greta had been a big help he had still been messed up. It had taken him quite some time to recover. Lisa returning to the castle might have been fine. Him having to deal with his father again? Yeah, that would've ended badly.

“So, how is it like to be dead?” Marie suddenly prompted.

“Marie!” Sypha chided her, even though she had been quietly wondering herself. Again: She had never met someone who had been dead before. Well, not outside the undead vampires that was.

Again Lisa was laughing. She seemed to be a cheerful woman. “It's… rather unremarkable,” she replied looking over to the child, who was now frowning.

“Does dying hurt?” Marie instantly followed up her question.

This one made the older woman pause. Her gaze grew distant, before she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “I guess that depends on the way you die.”

Sypha could already see the next question coming. There was the fact that Marie had so far never been told about the details. She had obviously asked questions about the two people found on so many paintings in the castle. And they had told her that Adrian's mother had died, as had his father. The details they had never discussed with the children. So, it was not a big surprise that Marie's next question was: “How did you die?”

“Marie, you should not ask about those things,” Adrian said, looking at their daughter.

“But…”

“It's not a nice thing to ask.”

Lisa let out a very quiet sigh. “I doubt there is any etiquette about how to deal with those coming back from the dead,” she said. She looked at her son with a soft expression in her eyes. “Don't chide her too much. This all has to be a lot for her too.”

Marie nodded to herself, having her arms crossed in a gesture that was very much her father's. At least she did not insist on her question.

“You have never told her?” Lisa now asked quietly.

Adrian shook his head. “She is just six years old.”

“Almost seven!” Marie announced.

“I see.” Lisa paused for just a moment, before looking over at Marie again. “I was killed,” she said, “by some bad people.”

Marie took this in for a moment. “Did someone then kill the bad people?”

It seemed such a logical next question and yet Sypha could feel herself and Adrian both grow tense. It was, however, Trevor who chimed in from the back. “Yes. All the bad people are dead.”

They were, of course. The arch bishop had been killed in the original attack on Targoviste. The other clerics in the city had been taken care off by the survivors. And the bishop directly responsible for Lisa's death had died in Gresit one year after. They were all dead. Every single one of them. For better or worse.

“That's good,” the little girl decided.

Sypha could barely suppress a sigh of her own. Marie right now was in an age where she asked a lot of questions. But she was still so young. Too young to be told everything that had happened those almost eight years ago. It had been so long. The girl knew that there had been a lot of monsters killing a lot of people. That much they could not hide from her. After all those youngsters, who had been kids themselves when the castle had been attacked, were quite ready to tell their younger peers. She did not, however, know about Dracula and his vow to kill all of humanity, nor did she know about Death and how her father had almost died fighting the entity. They had decided to tell her, when she was ten.

Sypha could already make out the inn. It was really barely more than a waystation with a large stable promising some food and drink for hungry travelers. Not much of a surprise. Whitby was barely more than a village, smaller even than the town of Belmont back at home.

“This is it?” Trevor asked looking out of the back of the wagon.

“It is,” Lisa replied. “How long have you even traveled here?”

“Seven days,” Adrian replied, before adding: “We used a transmission mirror.”

“Ah. I see.” A tiny chuckle escaped her. “All that magic still seems weird to me, can you believe it?”

“But you have lived in a magical castle for twenty years,” Sypha said, but knew she was wrong in the next moment. Yeah, there was the fact that Adrian had been alone on the castle for quite some time.

Lisa shook her head. “I left after fourteen, only returning a few months a year. I really wanted to be a doctor.”

“Are you a doctor?” Marie asked now.

“I am,” Lisa replied. “We both are.”

Adrian stopped the wagon and for a moment Lisa stretched. Then she turned towards them once again. “How is your English?”

“My English is fine,” Sypha offered. At least in theory. While she had travelled a lot before Gresit she had never once made it up to the isles. She could read the language fine though, could write it as well. So, speaking to an inn keeper should be no problem.

Lisa smiled at her. “Then accompany me inside,” she said. “Martin, the inn keeper, is a nice man. He has two daughters as well. One should be about the same age as Marie.”

“Do they know how to fight as well?” Marie asked.

“Well, you'll have to ask that for yourself,” Lisa said.

Marie thought about it for just one moment. Ignoring the fact that she did so far know no English, she climbed down from Sypha's lap and then down from the hog. “I will,” she announced and took off towards the way station.

Notes:

Okay, I am honest with you guys: I had so much fun in this story writing little Marie and her general attitude. After all, she is ALMOST SEVEN!!!!

Chapter 4: Sleepless

Summary:

It is their first night in England, and Trevor cannot sleep.

Notes:

I did not get around to posting last night, because I was in the hospital ^^" Short chapter, though.

The rain was softly pattering against the window. It was already the middle of the night and Trevor was fucking tired and yet he could not quite sleep. Somehow, he had ended up in the literal middle. As the inn had only one room with a big enough bed and no crib, they were sharing the bed with the children as well. Marie slept between Trevor and Adrian, Simon between him and Sypha.

The British summers were not very warm, so it was not really a problem. And yet… he could not sleep. He could not quite settle down. Also, he desperately wanted to lie in another position, but if he turned now, he might wake up either of his family members, so it was not an option.

He sighed and opened his eyes. It was fairly dark due to the rain clouds covering the moon. He could barely make out anything. He did, however, see the glint of Adrian's eyes. He was awake as well.

No big wonder. He had slept so little since everything with Magnus happened.

Seeing his eyes glister in the dark, Trevor wished nothing more than to pull him close into an embrace. Maybe he should've been the one in the middle. God knew, he needed it. Even though Lisa had not stayed too long with them in the afternoon – probably sensing it would be too much after all those years – Adrian had not talked much to them.

There had to be so much going on in that pretty head of his. Meeting his mother again.

At least it seemed she was the right one. It seemed she was alright. And… well, from what she had said Dracula was not particularly genocidal currently. Which was good. Though Trevor was still not psyched about the idea that the maniac was alive again.

God. This really was a lot. Especially after everything with Magnus had just happened. Maybe they should've waited before coming here. Maybe they should have allowed everything to calm down. But then again, Adrian probably would not have been able to rest knowing his parents might be under the living again. And, Trevor knew that too well, he was also almost sure Dracula might be able to heal him, heal Trevor, from whatever had happened there.

Trevor carefully rolled onto his side, to at least put one hand onto Adrian's cheek. This stupid bastard.

What if Dracula would be able to heal Trevor? What then? Would they have finally an honest talk about it, about the future, about Adrian's fear? They would not, would they?

There was a bitter irony in all of this. That after everything that had happened, Trevor just wanted a happy, quiet life with his family – including that bastard. After everything that had happened, he wanted Dracula's bastard son to be happy and to stop fucking blaming himself for everything.

Trevor knew one thing: He, Trevor Belmont, would never stop hating Dracula, who had killed so many of his ancestors. But he knew another thing as well: Adrian needed to talk with his father, now that he had the chance. He needed another memory than that of his father dying before his eyes. Even if he would never feel he was ready to do it.

Chapter 5: Old Times

Summary:

Lisa comes to visit the Belmont family in the way station.

Notes:

This time around we got a chapter, that is actually a bit longer. :D

The sun was out, which meant that they were having breakfast without Trevor. They would later have to bring him some bread and cheese, which had been served by the inn. Trevor would've loved the fact that the inn already served ale – though it was an ale quite different from the one they drank at home.

Marie was hungrily eating her bread, after first having complained about the lack of jelly, while Simon was chewing slowly on a bit of cheese.

Adrian looked outside. There were some trees lining the road, though it was not quite a forest. His rational mind quickly reminded him that there were only a few remaining big forests this far south on the British Isles, but in the end it was just him distracting himself.

“Adrian,” Sypha said softly taking his hand. She looked at him with some worry in her eyes. “You should eat as well.”

He sighed. “I know.” He really did. It just felt so wrong. Everything. Trevor being – well, whatever it was he had turned him into. But also this. Being here. Having dragged his family along. The kids. Marie had seemed to enjoy speaking with his mother, but…

His mother. She was alive. She was really alive. It all seemed so unreal. It just seemed like something that could not be. And of course it could not. It should not be possible and yet…

“Adrian,” Sypha reminded him.

He sighed. “I know.” He put some of the cheese onto the bread and ate slowly. His thoughts were still racing and all those feelings in his chest were still a mess. He felt still so guilty, about what had happened to Trevor. Felt guilty, too, about his father. About everything. And there was still the disbelief. After eight years. It had been almost eight years since he had killed his father. More than nine, since his mother had died.

And now…

Marie's face lit up. “Look!” She pointed. “It's iaca!” Leaving the last bit of her bread on the plate, she ran over, making Adrian turn around as well. There she was. His mother, now bowing down to the child, that had so quickly taken to her. Holding Marie's hand, she walked over to them.

“How has been your first night in England?”

“Mostly alright,” Sypha said. “I am surprised to see you here this early.”

“I was already in the village,” Lisa replied. “A kid has cut himself while playing. I gave him a few stitches and thought I could come over.”

“Sure.”

Adrian could not stop himself staring. It just still felt so unreal. His mother.

He had not been there, when she had died. Had not heard of her being taken prisoner. She had been imprisoned almost two months before she had been burned alive. If he had only known, he could have saved her. But he only learned about it, when his father appeared back at the castle in a literal storm of fire.

Now his mother put her hand onto his shoulder. “You look, like you could use some fresh air, my son.”

It was an obvious excuse to talk with him on her own. They had not gotten around to do so the last evening. But Adrian faintly nodded. “Yes. Maybe.”

Sypha's gaze was almost urging him to go. Yes. He needed that. He knew he did.

“I need fresh air, too!” Marie announced, oblivious to the unsaid words.

Questioningly Lisa looked at him, but he only nodded. “It's fine.” With one deep breath he got up and followed his mother outside.

It was a beautiful day. Sunny, but not too warm or murky as it often was in Wallachia around this time of the year. The air was crisp. Birds were happily chirping in the trees. And yet, all that Adrian could think of was that Trevor could not go outside because of it.

“It's been quite a while,” his mother said, when they reached the side of the small road.

“Yes.” He looked at her. It was so hard to believe.

Marie let go of Lisa's hand, running over to pick up a large stick and twirl it around. She had left her wooden sword up in their room after all.

“She is quite an active one,” Lisa observed.

“She is.” It was good to see that Marie did not mind her new surroundings. And it was a relief that she did not stick around to ask further questions about death.

His mother took his hand into hers and pressed it softly. “It's alright, Adrian. You can ask.”

She knew him too well. It seemed that everybody did. And yet, he could no longer hold back the question, he had already asked the day before. “Why? Why did you not come earlier? Why did you not contact me? If you have been here since…” He shook his head.

A sad smile showed on his mother's face. “Because you deserved to move on. I… I only know parts of what happened after I died. But I know what your father did and that you stopped him.” She paused, pressing his hand once more. “You know that it was the right thing to do.”

He looked at her in silence. Yes, he knew it had been the only way. He knew it had been right. But even after eight years, even with his father revived again it still felt so wrong.

“We knew you could not just face him again,” his mother continued. “It would just have…” She shook her head. “It would not have been good. And we… we were hoping that you would just move on. Make a life of your own.” She looked over to Marie, who had found a bug on the bark of a tree and picked it off. “And you have.”

Marie came running towards them, showing the bug. It was a horned beetle. “Look! I caught it.”

“Well, it did not put up much of a fight, did it?” Adrian teased.

“I would have caught it either way!”

“It is a big one, right?” Lisa bowed down to look at the beetle.

“Yeah. Pretty big. I am good at catching things, you know? I once caught a mouse with my hands!”

“You did?”

“Yeah. And a bird, too. One time. Though that was a bigger one.”

“Well, then you'll make for a great hunter one day.”

“I will be,” Marie proclaimed. “Just like my papa! I will go and hunt monsters!”

Lisa shot her son a glance, but he just shrugged. Currently Marie was quite adamant about being the next big Belmont monster hunter. And maybe she would be. Who knew? They had decided that it would be her decision. She did not need to be pressured into some legacy, but if she wanted to be a hunter, they would not stop her.

“Can you catch another one?” Lisa now asked.

“I will!” The girl was running off again.

With a smile on her face Lisa turned to Adrian. “I mean, look at you. A family. I… This is honestly more than I would have even dared to hope for you!”

“There is a town, too,” he said. “Where the castle sits. We have a town… It started as a village some years ago, after…” He shook his head. “A lot has happened.”

“Yes. I can tell.” She walked for a bit, clearly enjoying the sun on her face. “Why don't you tell me a bit about it? About your family. How did this happen? I need to know.”

Of course she did. She was his mother after all. It seemed only natural for her to want to know this. To learn about his life after everything. And the worst part was, that it was a good life. Somehow it had turned out good.

He sighed. “It's… I don't know where to start.”

“Start with your partners, how do you know them?”

An inadvertent chuckle escaped him. “I…” It was hard to talk about. But, well, it was their story, wasn't it? “After you died… When father returned to the castle, I tried to stop him and he… He almost killed me. I knew I could not take him and… well. There had been this story in Gresit. A legend about a sleeping soldier under the city coming to the aid of Wallachia when in need. It said that a scholar and a hunter would meet him and save the country. So… I figured that maybe if I stayed there, there might be a scholar and a hunter and…” It seemed all so long ago. “Well, they were the ones, who turned up. A speaker magician and the last son of the Belmont line.”

“He is a Belmont?”

Had they not even mentioned that before? “Yes. Trevor is a Belmont.” He looked out for Marie, who was in the grass apparently looking for more bugs. “The kids are, too. We… We decided to name them Belmont.” It somehow had seemed appropriate.

Lisa was quiet for a while. “So, the two of them helped you to stop your father,” she finally noted.

“Yes. They… They helped me.” Once again he had to banish the image of his dying father from his thoughts. He was alive, somehow. He was alive again. This would not be the last memory he would have of his father.

“What happened after that?”

“They left. They left to be heroes. And… You know, I originally had planned to put the castle somewhere safe and then return to Gresit and sleep until I was needed again.”

“Why didn't you?”

He almost laughed again, but what came out instead was a rather sad sound. “Sypha broke the castle. That's… It could not be moved again. And I wanted to make sure nobody went and used the knowledge for anything bad, so I stayed…” He shook his head. His mother did not need to know about him going half mad or what happened with Taka and Sumi. “Then, after about three month, a crazy woman from the next village over called me for help. There were night creatures and vampires attacking her village. I saved them. They came to the castle for safety. The castle was attacked. Then Sypha and Trevor jumped through a transmission mirror and saved my ass.” This one at least got him to manage an honest smile. “And after that… Well, Sypha was pregnant with Marie. They stayed. And… somehow we became a family.” They were his family.

“I see.” Lisa looked at him with a smile. “It is good. This is good. I am so happy.”

He did not quite know what to say to that. Looking at his mother he sighed. “Thank you.”

“And what about that town you told me about?”

“The people from that village who went to the castle for safety… After the battle they decided to stay and build a new village there. It had been roughly 50 people back then. But, well, more people came. We started teaching them. There is so much knowledge in the libraries and the Belmont hold and… Yeah. We started teaching them. Then more people came. And even more. By now it is about 400 of them living there.”

It took his mother a moment to take this in. “You're teaching them?” she finally repeated his words.

He nodded. “Yes. We are teaching them how to use electricity. About medicine. About magic. About fighting, too.”

Lisa was quiet, but the smile on her face was warm. “You know that this is what I hoped for your father to do one day, right?”

He managed a smile himself. “Yes. I know. And you are right. It can make the lives of so many people better. It's…” There really was so much to tell. It seemed his parents knew only little about what had happened during those last few years, even if they had to have learned about Rome at least. “I just hope the world can be a bit better, you know? Just a bit better for Marie, for Simon, for the other kids. You know… There are even some vampires that are helping.”

This seemed to surprise his mother. “There are?”

“Yes. It was Sypha's idea, really. But… Father is not the only one that had spent centuries collecting knowledge. And… Vampires do not need to kill to feed, do they? It does not have to be ‘either humans kill them or they kill the humans’.”

“I know.” His mother chuckled. “I know. I have told your father so many times.” She shook her head still with a smile on her face. “You know a part of me feared you'd end up like your father. Alone in that big castle. But you have not and… Really, this is so much more than I hoped for you.”

It was then, that Marie came running towards them once again. “I got one!”

Chapter 6: A Fair Warning Would've Been Nice

Summary:

Sypha joins Trevor and Simon in the inn.

The curtains of their inn-room were drawn to protect Trevor from the sunlight. He was lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. By the looks of it he had not slept a lot during the last night, but he was not sleeping now either. When Sypha entered little Simon on her arm, Trevor sat up. “Where are the others?”

“Lisa came by,” she explained and sat down at the end of the bed to give him the plate she had been carrying. “She and Adrian went out. Marie wanted to come with.”

A faint smile showed on Trevor's face. “That's good. I think.” He sighed. “Adrian needs this, doesn't he?”

“I think he does,” Sypha agreed. She put Simon on her lap, where he was sitting his fingers in his mouth while watching his father deep in thought.

Trevor took the bread and bit into it. He chewed for a moment. “This has to be a lot. Still.”

“It is,” Sypha agreed. She had been thinking about this the whole while. It was an all-together not common thing to be able to go out with some dead relatives. But if anyone might need it, it was Adrian, who still had not forgiven himself for the death of his father or even the death of his mother, something he never had a chance to do anything about. While some normal people might try – and fail – to summon the souls of their recently deceased relatives, here they were visiting the parents that they knew had been dead. “I think Marie likes Lisa.”

“Well, it's the first grandparent she gets around to meet, isn't it?”

This much was true. Even Sypha's parents had died before they had gotten to know their granddaughter. And Marie's greatgrandfather had died two years ago as well. Though he had been old.

“Do you think he will go and meet old Drac?” Trevor asked upon finishing his slice of bread.

“Sooner or later,” Sypha muttered. And if she had to drag Adrian to his father's door. Of course, she got that he was hesitant about all of that, but it was his father and, well, if anyone could grant him absolution for the patricide it was his father, wasn't it? It was funny. Sypha's only interaction with Vlad Dracula Tepes had been to kill him. But Adrian had told many stories about his father over the years – and so had the vampires they had worked with. And for better or worse, Sypha was most certain that the killing would have been what the man normally would have wanted. While Dracula the vampire king had once been a sadistic man, he had been reasonable, using violence in a measured way. The genocidal maniac they had killed had been a different man. A man already killed by grief.

“It's fucked up, you know?” Trevor said.

Surprised she looked at him. Having been lost in her thought she had almost forgotten about him. “What is?”

“Dracula being back to the land of the living. My family spent a bloody half-millennium trying to kill him. We succeeded. Now, not a decade later, poof, he is back.” He shook his head.

Sypha paused. “Why was that, though. Why did your family try to kill Dracula?”

“Because he was the bloody king of vampires! And that's what we Belmonts do, well, did. Kill vampires.”

“But why Dracula in particular? I mean, he has not been worse than any other vampire, right? From what we know now he has been about average and actually somewhat kept other vampires in line to not go out on senseless killing sprees…” She pursed her lips. “… too often.” As much as she believed that vampires were not inherently bad, she also knew that yes, quite a few vampires had grown so detached from their humanity over the years that they did at times do senseless killings for fun.

Trevor shrugged. “I don't know. Really. Because he was the king of vampires, I guess.” He shook his head. When Simon stretched out his one arm towards him – the other hand still being positioned in the child's mouth – he took him. “Maybe they'd have told me. You know, if they had not all died when I was twelve.”

He was probably right about that. Trevor had never gotten the whole Belmont-family-introduction. At times she almost forgot how bad his childhood had been. He always had managed somehow. His wounds were not as raw as Adrian's, but they were still there.

Getting out of her sandals, she slipped onto the bed, to cuddle up to Trevor. “You will now have to content with Dracula being your father-in-law.”

Letting himself fall back into the pillows Trevor let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess I have to. Honestly, somebody should've told me before I married the fucking bastard.”

“Would it have changed anything?"”

“No, it would not have. Still, some fair warning about the mortal enemy of your family still being alive would've been bloody nice.”

She smiled and put her forehead against Trevor's. Maybe she should be a bit more worried about this. About Trevor sooner or later meeting Dracula. Something told her it would not go over smoothly. But as long as they did not end up trying to kill each other, it should be fine.

“Papa,” Simon suddenly prompted taking the fingers out of his mouth again.

“Yes?” Trevor squinted at the kid.

“Hungry.”

Sypha sighed. Simon really was a handful compared to Marie. “You just ate.”

The kid shook his head. “Hungry,” he repeated.

Trevor looked at the curtain. The sunlight outside was still very well visible. Looking at Sypha, he sighed. “I am sorry.”

“It's not your fault,” she replied and kissed him, before pushing herself up. “Just… keep him here. I'll get some more bread.”

“Yeah. No problem,” Trevor replied and looked at the kid. “Before he starts biting me.”

“He won't.” Though it was not a question that at some point Simon would grow fangs.

“For now.”

Chapter 7: His Guilt

Summary:

Adrian still feels guilty for what he did to Trevor.

It was hard to believe, but Whitby was in fact smaller than their own little town. Not more than 30 houses. There was a big abbey, that seemed old and awe-inspiring. Aside from that it was old houses, all a bit apart. It was not a big surprise that his mother had known every single person by name. It still seemed so weird. His mother. Even more than a day after meeting her again his brain was still working on believing.

Sypha put her hand into his. “I thought you wanted to show me the town,” she teased.

Truthfully, she had pushed for him doing so, after she had heard his mother had done the same for him. As the sun was still out, they could not have taken Trevor along and maybe she had wanted to be with him for a while as well. Marie was back in the inn sleeping. After having play outside until the early afternoon she was tired. Simon meanwhile did not want to go to sleep. Instead, Adrian was carrying him, while the boy scanned everything through golden eyes.

“I don't think there is much to show,” Adrian said.

“Your mother must have told you something about the town, didn't she?”

Of course, she had. Though more than that she had listened to him telling her about all the things in his life she had missed. She really was happy for him, but he had seen the sadness in her eyes as well. The sadness about not having been there before. “She told me that the nuns are on surprisingly good terms with her and… my father.” The thought about his father still made him swallow. He wanted to see him. He really wanted to. And yet his stomach clenched up by the mere thought of it. “She also told me she is taking care of the people here medically. And that they… she and my father, they came here about seven years ago. It had been my father's idea. Because of the weather.”

“I see,” Sypha said. She looked at him for a moment and he could already feel the question coming – but then she refrained herself. “But what about the town, what can you tell me?”

“Sypha, I have been here as long as you have.”

“But your mother has shown you, hasn't she?”

“Well, there is not much to show, is there?” He was not quite sure what she wanted. No, that was a lie. He knew quite well. She wanted to distract him from his thoughts. The same thoughts that had kept him up for almost two weeks now. The thought about his father and the guilt about Trevor. They both knew too well it was bothering him. And he knew they did not want him to be bothered. They wanted him happy. But how could he be after everything?

“Tell me, what she told you,” Sypha continued to urge.

He sighed and shrugged. “The abbey is very old. More than 700 years, she says. The town has formed around it. There are only nuns living at the abbey right now. The people here are simple people. Mostly. There are two manors at the northern end of town. Some lords and ladies, my mother said. Mostly people like to travel here, though. Because the beach is beautiful.” He looked over at the river that cut through the small town and lead down towards the beach. Trevor would like that. After all Trevor liked to swim and had told them, he had only gotten around to swimming in the ocean a couple of times.

If only Trevor could get out into the sunlight.

Sypha pressed his hands. “Please, don't blame yourself,” she whispered. She stopped in her stride to pull him close – as close as Simon in between them would allow.

“You know I cannot just stop,” he whispered. “Not after everything…”

“But you need to,” she replied and tiptoed to kiss his cheek. “Look. There will be a solution for this. And Trevor does not hold it against you, so please… Adrian.” By now he knew that worried expression in her blue eyes too well. A part of it hated that he made her worry so much.

One more thing to feel guilty about.

“What if Trevor can't go out into the sun ever again?” he whispered. “How could I take that from him?”

“Adrian…” She pushed a strand of his hair aside. “You know it was not you. It was Magnus. He controlled you. Exactly to hurt you in this way. If you blame yourself for it, he wins.”

She had tried this line of arguing so many times during the last two weeks. But what was there to say? He knew that in a way she was right. He knew he had been controlled by Magnus that he had not made this choice. But he also knew that Magnus had only been able to control him because deep in his heart he wished for the two of them to be immortal, to stay with him. Deep in his heart he feared nothing more than to lose those two people who had become his entire world. If nothing else, this thought alone was enough to feel guilty about. He did not need to curse them with immortality.

“Adrian,” she repeated.

He sighed. “I know you are right. But… It's still my fault. And Magnus is dead. Who else is there to blame?”

“The fact he is dead does not change that he was the one who made you do it and you know that, Adrian.”

Yes. He knew that. In his mind he knew. But his heart just could not agree. “I am sorry.”

“When will you be able to forgive yourself?” she asked.

He shook his head. “When Trevor gets better.”

For a moment she closed her eyes, before turning to look around. Some of the town’s folk were shooting them interested looks. “Well, we should get Trevor to your father then.”

That he knew as well. “Yeah. Just… Maybe tomorrow.” And tomorrow he would find another excuse.

Chapter 8: The Bloody British Cuisine

Summary:

Trevor and his daughter bond about their distaste for the English cuisine.

Compared to the beer brewed at home this ale tasted fucking lackluster. Sure, Trevor knew they had not put any hops in there and some time ago he would not have minded. But alas, Trevor Belmont had grown accustomed to better things – and beer was definitely better than this weird tasting ale.

Food at home was better, too. And be it just because Adrian was a good cook. Here they had some cut meat. Some cut meat that had barely any spices on it.

Yeah, Trevor was already pretty sure he did not like the British kitchen.

His daughter agreed. “This tastes weird,” she announced while chewing on the lukewarm meat.

“It is just not seasoned a lot,” Sypha explained. “Spices are expensive, you know?”

“I don't think I fucking like it.” The girl pushed her plate away from herself.

“Marie,” Adrian now said. “This is not nice. The people here have cooked for us.”

“Well, we fucking paid for it,” Trevor grumbled.

Marie looked at him for a moment before crossing her arms. “Right!”

There was an exchange of glances between Adrian and Sypha, before the later sighed. “Look. We don't have spices here. You'll have to do or you'll have to starve. Do you want to starve?”

“I want papi to cook for me!” She was pouting now.

Trevor laughed, patting the girl's back. “I agree. I too want him to cook.”

“Well, and then I am supposed to summon spices from the ether?”

“I don't know.” Trevor shrugged. “You'll figure something out. You are a great cook.”

Sypha pursed her lips before looking over at Simon, who was sitting on the bench by their table and silently chewing on a strip of meat. “What about you? Do you like the food?”

“It okay,” the boy muttered while continuing to chew. Whatever one fed the kid, currently he would chew it forever and always look as if deep in thought while doing so. He was a bit of a weird one, their little Simon. Sure, around the age of two Marie also had liked to put stuff into her mouth – Sypha said that was normal for kids that age – but Simon was on a whole other level.

Sypha got up. “I will get some more bread for Marie.” She shot their daughter a stern look. “I hope bread is alright for the young lady.”

“Bread is fine,” the girl pouted.

While Sypha went to the front of the inn, Trevor sniffed his ale. “You know, I agree with you, Marie.”

“Don't encourage her, Trevor,” Adrian groaned.

“But she is right! The food tastes of nothing! And so does the ale.”

“You liked ale once.”

“Yeah. I did. Because beggars can't be choosers. But I am not a beggar anymore, am I?”

“Oh, so Sir Trevor Belmont has become too much of a nobleman for some simple ale?” At least this got a bloody smile from their dhampir companion. That was hard enough work these days.

“Yeah, apparently I have been.” Trevor straightened out his back and imitated the speech of those fucking nobles. "I would like some proper beer, if you'd please. One brewed no longer than 50 days and no shorter than 35, with hobs from the Nuremberg sort."

This even earned him a snort, both from Marie and Adrian. Only Simon seemed unimpressed.

“What ale?” he asked.

“Ale is a lesser beer,” Trevor explained. “One with less taste.”

“I am sure there will be proper beer to be found around here as well,” Adrian said still smiling. “We'll just have to ask around. They have an abbey after all.”

Trevor gave a melodramatic sigh. “I will need to. I might die of thirst otherwise.”

Marie was still laughing. “You can still drink water!”

“Simple water cannot quench my noble thirst!”

“Well, I guess you'll have to die then!” his daughter announced.

Another dramatic sigh. “Alas.” He closed his eyes and let himself sack against the bench, making her giggle even more. Squinting showed him that it got a grin out of his dear bastard. So, it was worth something.

“He's dead,” Marie giggled and poked him into the side. “Dead!”

Sypha returned to the table. “Who is dead?”

“Trevor died of thirst because he can't drink the stupid ale,” Adrian explained.

Sypha, of course, was not impressed. “He'll have to make due with water then.”

Trevor grunted. “You are no fun,” he accused.

Pushing a plate with bread and cheese towards Marie she shot him a stern look. “What would the fun answer be then?”

“Something like: ‘Oh no, my dear husband, I cannot believe this!’” He made his voice higher than normal, earning him even more giggles from his daughter.

Sypha sighed and shook her head, before ruffling his hair and kissing him on the forehead. “Oh no, my poor husband has grown dainty. Whatever will I do?” She went around the table to sit down next to Adrian and Simon.

Marie pulled the plate towards her, taking a bite out of the bit of cheese. “Thanks, mama.”

“You are welcome,” Sypha said before returning to her own meal.

Trevor looked at the girl at his side. She really was taking after him so far. A good next generation of Belmont, he guessed. Though they would see how long that would last.

He forced himself to eat some of the barely seasoned meat. It could be worse, he told himself. He had heard the English also liked to cook instead of roasting their meats. Unseasoned cooked meat… The thought alone sent a shiver down his spine. In that case he would definitely join Marie in the bread-and-cheese-club.

“So,” Sypha said after a while. “What will we do tomorrow?”

“I guess that depends on the weather,” Adrian said. “My mother said the beach here is nice. So if it is cloudy…” He shot Trevor a look.

“Sounds good.” Trevor took another gulp of the ale. There was the one thing they all knew at least Adrian was supposed to do. Sure, Trevor was still not psyched about the entire idea of bloody Dracula being alive again, but, well. “Maybe you should go to your parent's house in the evening.”

There was the distance in Adrian's gaze at this. He focused on his own pint. "Yeah… I probably should.”

Sypha shot Trevor a gaze, which clearly asked why he had to bring it up. But they both knew why. Their husband wanted to do it. He wanted to see his father. He just could not bring himself to.

“Will we get to see bunic then?” Marie asked.

Trevor looked to her and could barely suppress a sigh. Bunic, eh? Grandfather Dracula. His daughter would call bloody Dracula bunic! The youngest Belmont… Oh, this was so messed up. But maybe it was in a strange and weird way a natural conclusion to a centuries-old family feud – after killing the guy had apparently not worked.

“You'll get to see him soon enough,” Adrian promised. “I… I have to talk to him first though.”

“Why?”

There were some more gazes exchanged upon that. “Because,” Adrian finally said, “the last time I saw your grandfather we had a really bad argument. And because of that I have to talk to him first.”

It was now Marie, who mimicked Trevor's dramatic sigh. “Fine. I guess nothing can be done about it then.”

Notes:

I just know that Trevor is always gonna be the fun dad for the kids. He is gonna be the fun dad who jokes a lot with the kids. Like, Sypha is the stern mum, Adrian is kinda aloof, and Trevor is the fun one. Of course Sypha can be fun, too. But how would she say it? Someone needs to be responsible!

Chapter 9: White Beaches

Summary:

Trevor gets swimming, and Lisa extends an invitation.

Notes:

I am finally back out of hospital. Hence I get to upload more stuff again. I am still going to be sick for a while, but... We'll see. But hopefully things will be figured out soon enough.

The next day was cloudy, but dry. Thank God. It allowed them to go out together instead of at least Trevor being forced to be holed up in the inn. Sypha had to wonder how it had to be if he was actually a vampire and would never be able to go out during the sun. Would their day rhythm change, so they would get up later and stay up until the night?

At least she had to agree with Lisa: The beach was nice. Not that Sypha had given much thought to beaches before all of this started. After all she had not learned to swim until Trevor had been insistent to teach her. She did not trust the open ocean however. While Trevor was out in the waves, she, Adrian and the kids where sitting in the soft, white sand watching him.

“I wanna go swimming too,” Marie said.

She had already learned how to. In general the girl was good with all things physical. She had walked fairly early and had quickly started climbing afterwards.

“Wait for your papa,” Adrian said. “I want him to watch you.”

Marie gave her usual exaggerated sigh. “Fine.” She watched her father between the waves.

The sea was not particularly wild, but it was definitely more turbulent than their little lake at home. While Marie had learned swimming before, she was still a child.

Simon meanwhile crawled through the sand. He was an active one as well, unable to stay still for too long.

“Will we go to see iaca later on?” Marie asked after a while.

Sypha looked over to Adrian, who could not help a sigh. She put her hand over his, while the wind from the ocean brushed his hair aside. “We'll go tomorrow,” she said.

“But…” Marie started.

“We will go tomorrow,” Sypha just repeated, knowing very well that it still put some pressure on her husband.

There was this distance in his gaze, while he watched Trevor. He was not really seeing him, was he? No, he was still thinking. Idiot.

Sypha moved closer to him and put her head against his shoulder. She would not talk about it in front of the children – Simon had now started to dig in the sand – but maybe Adrian needed another push. Sypha was fairly certain that him going to see his father was a good thing. It needed to be a good thing. But he was still so hesitant. She could say many things about it, but anything she could say would only make him feel more guilty. So, she stayed silent.

Marie, who did not know about what had happened back then, did not have this sort of consideration. “What is bunic like?”

Surprised Adrian turned towards her. She was still just sitting there, her arms around her legs, looking at her father with curiosity. “What?”

“Bunic,” she repeated. “What is he like?”

Sypha was unsure whether she should say something. But what was there to say? She had not known Dracula. She did not know anything. Chiding their daughter for asking this question seemed wrong as well. Marie did not know about anything that had happened. She did not know any better.

Still, Sypha pressed Adrian's hand to show him at least a little support.

It took him a few moments, but then he inhaled deeply. “He was a good father, your bunic. You see, when I was a child I lived with him and iaca in the castle. He… He would teach me all sorts of things.”

“What kind of things?”

“He taught me how to build, how to use electricity, how to read and how to do magic.” Adrian paused. “He also taught me how to fight.”

“Like you teach me?”

“Yes. Like we teach you,” Adrian replied.

Marie thought for just one moment. “But bunic is a vampire, isn't he?”

“Yes. He is. A pretty old vampire at that.”

“How old is he?”

“I…” Adrian stopped. “About 500 years,” he said. Though they never had known for sure.

“That's pretty old,” Marie agreed. Another pause, while she took this information in. “How did he and iaca meet?”

Adrian looked at Sypha, who could not help a little smile. Marie was in that age now where she was all questions. Once she had started asking questions, she might not stop for a while. Sypha did well remember, she had been like that as well. So maybe in this regard the kid came after her. Still, she knew the answer for this one, so she took it from Adrian. “You see, when your iaca was still young, she wanted to become a doctor. And a lot of doctors are not good with what they do, because a lot of people have forgotten how to do medicine. That's why she came to your bunic. Because he knows a lot of things and she had heard about that. She asked him to teach her.”

“And he did?”

“Yes. He did,” Adrian said. There was a tiny smile on his lips, when he probably remembered the stories, his parents once had told him. “She would not that easily be sent away.”

“That's why she is a doctor now.”

“Yes,” Sypha replied. “That's why she is a doctor now.”

Marie nodded to herself. Then another question crossed her mind. “The books at home are bunic's, right?”

“Yes. A lot of those have been collected by your bunic,” Adrian said.

“So he really has to know a lot!”

“He does.”

This seemed to interest Marie, making Sypha chuckle.

“Your father will be slain with questions,” she whispered to Adrian, who just sighed again.

“I guess he will be.”

Before there could be any more questions, Trevor came out of the waves and over to them, making Marie's attention shift towards him.

“Papa!” She got up to run towards him. “I wanna go swimming as well!”

Trevor looked at her, then the others, before picking his daughter up. “Leave me a moment to relax, will you, you little tyke.”

“I've waited the entire time,” she protested.

“Then you can wait a few minutes more.”

Adrian sighed, looking over to them, then at Simon. He closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself. “I will go tonight,” he whispered. “I… I will go see my father tonight.”

Once more Sypha pressed his hand. “Okay,” she simply replied, as there was nothing more to say.

Chapter 10: Absolutions

Summary:

Adrian finally goes to talk with his father.

Adrian was a coward. He had been standing in front of his parents' house for several minutes now and could not get himself to knock. He would not be surprised if his father already knew he was here. After all they shared their vampiric senses.

He was a coward. Adrian was a coward. He had come here to meet his parents again. To talk to them. To just… But he could not. He could not get to bring himself to knock. It was his father in there. The father he killed. The father, that was by some circumstance back among the living.

Adrian had thought he had managed to forgive himself. But he had not. Even now he was thinking on ways he might have been able to stop his father back then – ways, that would not have involved killing him. He knew the truth. He knew it had been the right thing to do. He knew it had been the only thing to do. And yet…

He stared at the door. He should knock. He should. He should… What was he even supposed to do, supposed to say? “I am sorry, I killed you, father”? That sounded awfully hollow. The truth was, that there was nothing to say. There was nothing that could change the fact of what he had done.

But his father might have wiped off all of humanity from this earth if they had not stopped him. He would have killed all the humans, with the vampires dying of hunger soon after. It had to be prevented.

And yet… It was his father. The same father, who had taken care of him, when he had been sick as a child. The same father who had taught him so many things. The same father who had read him stories when he himself had been too young to read.

How could he… How?

He knocked and wanted to run away just one moment later. He did not, instead standing there as if rooted to the ground. There were voices inside. Steps. It was his mother who opened the door a smile on her face.

“Adrian,” she said. “You've decided to come.”

“Yes.” His voice was hoarse, his lips awfully dry. He wanted to… He wanted to do many other things. But instead, he allowed his mother to take his hands, to look at him.

“Your father is inside.”

“I know.” And he followed her in.

The cottage was best described as homy. There was a kitchen right by the door, with different sorts of dried herbs hanging from the ceiling. A collection of pots and pans hung from the wall. On the oven there was a single pot smelling of vegetable soup.

Lisa guided him through the room over to the next one. A sitting room which housed only a small collection of books compared to the castle. It was still soft. Even though it was summer a small fire was burning in the heath. His father was sitting on a chair looking up, when they entered.

He did look so different from the man Adrian remembered. Still the same face, the same hair, the same red eyes. But the clothes he wore were, well… normal. The father Adrian remembered had always been dressed in fine fabrics and the fashion of nobility. Now he was wearing clean clothes but nothing more than a simple, long tunic, and trousers with a belt around the hip. He was staring at him and Adrian could not help but do the same in return.

For some reason it was this fact, the fact that this man appeared so different, that convinced him he was real. If it had been some sort of demonic trickery, would they not have tried to mirror the man seen on so many portraits in the castle?

His father got up. “Adrian,” he whispered.

Before Adrian could stop himself, he took a step backwards. The memories were too many, too vivid. He remembered how his father's face and body had withered away after Adrian had staked him. He also remembered how his father had almost killed him, had tried to kill him once more a year later.

Now he was wishing Sypha and Trevor were with him. He knew, he had to do this alone. He knew it. But even so…

“Father.” His voice was barely more than a breath. It was as if he was choking on the memories.

He did not want to remember his father like that. His father was so much more than that last year. And yet he could not push aside that memory. He could not break out of it.

His father took a step towards him, but when he once more retreated, he stopped. There was sadness in his eyes. And guilt. “I am sorry,” he said. “I am sorry, Adrian.”

The words barely reached Adrian. Sorry? He was sorry? “Sorry for what?” a voice in Adrian's mind asked. “It was you, who killed him.” He was. He had killed him. He had killed his father.

And yet his father was here, standing in front of him.

His mother pressed Adrian's hand. “Adrian,” she whispered. “Adrian?” When he did not react, she pulled him close, pulled him into an embrace. “It's alright.” She stroked his back. “It's alright, son.”

His father only watched from the distance.

What did all of this even mean? His father being alive again… Why? How? Even with the knowledge it might have well been the misguided forging by St. Germain it still seemed so unreal. Was it good that Dracula was among the living again? Was it bad? He had done so much bad. Especially in those few months before Trevor had made it to Gresit. Thousands had died. Maybe tens of thousands. Maybe even more. It had been a genocide. The famine which had followed after a summer of destruction had been even worse. It was his father's fault that those people had died. It was his father's fault that those people had suffered. More people would've died, would've suffered if Adrian had not stopped him. He did know all of that and yet…

He looked at his father from the corner of his eyes.

The part of him which knew it had been his only choice wondered, if his father deserved this. A quiet life. After everything he had done. Did he not deserve eternal punishment in hell? The other part of him, however, the part that remembered his father quite differently, was thankful for this – and still so, so guilty.

He did not want to cry. He did not. And yet he could not hold back his tears.

“It's alright,” his mother soothed. “It's alright. Let's go into the kitchen.”

Adrian did not protest. He allowed her to drag him to the next room, where the pot on the stove was still happily bubbling along.

His mother held on to his hand for a moment, caressing it with her thumbs. Then she softly, but sternly guided him towards a stool. “Sit.”

He did, being unable to do anything else. He wanted to say something. Hell, he wanted to speak to his father. But right now, he felt unable to do a single thing. He just sat there and stared at the herbs hanging from the ceiling.

Now his mother went over to the stove, taking the lid of the pot and smelling it. “Do you want some soup? It should be ready by now.”

He looked at her. Even now there were still tears running down his cheeks. It took him some effort to lift his hand to wipe them away. “Yes.” His voice was shaky. “Yes. Maybe some soup would be good.”

This got his mother to smile. She took a wooden bowl from a cabinet and filled it with soup, before bringing it over to him. She got out some bread to give it to him as well. “It might be a bit different, from what we made back at home.”

“I know.” He did. After all this was not home. This was not a castle with barrels full of spices in the basement. And yet… It was soup his mother had cooked. Something he had not had in such a long time. He dipped the bread into the soup and ate.

It was seasoned – just seasoned differently. With herbs instead of spices. It was also saltier than the food they had had at the inn.

His mother filled herself another bowl and then sat down onto another stool to eat. She was watching him with some worry. Everybody was worrying about him, weren't they? Even his mother. Maybe his father, too.

“How is it?” she asked after a while.

Surprised he looked at her. “Good.”

This got her to smile. Softly. Warmly. Just like the smile he remembered from her.

He finished his meal in silence. It did make him feel better. There was a warmth to the soup he might have needed. It still did not stop him from tensing up at the thought that his father was still just one room away.

“Do you feel better?” his mother asked.

“A bit.” He looked over to the door. He really was a coward, wasn't he?

“You know, you don't have to force yourself,” Lisa said. “There will be another day. Maybe you can bring your husband or your wife with you and maybe…”

Adrian shook his head. “No,” he breathed. “I… I have to do this.” He could not just chicken out of it. If he did, he would just postpone it further and further. And Marie… She really wanted to meet him, didn't she? Her grandfather. Her bunic.

“Are you sure?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No. He was not sure. He was not sure at all. But he knew he had to do this. “Yes.”

“Okay.” She put her own bowl onto the table, before taking his as well. She paused for just a moment to look at him. There was still worry in her eyes.

He wanted to wait. He wanted to postpone. But he forced himself to stand up. Taking another deep breath, he took a step towards the door. He just had to do it – and be it just for Marie. He could hear his mother following, when he opened the door.

His father was standing by the window looking outside. He turned now. “Adrian.”

Adrian swallowed, fighting against the choking feeling in his throat. “Father.” What was he supposed to do next? What was he supposed to say? “I am sorry.” He shook his head. “I am so sorry. I…”

Once more his father took a step towards him and this time Adrian did not retreat. “You did the right thing,” he said. “You did the right thing stopping me.” Another step. He was careful to not come too close. “I am sorry for forcing your hand.”

Adrian stared at him. That was such an easy way out. His father saying, he had forced him. He had not. Adrian had come to the decision all on his own. He was still certain of his words back then: It was what his mother would have wanted. Not him killing his father, but stopping him. She never would have wanted a genocide in her name.

“I am sorry for everything I burdened you with. If I had not been a coward, I would have done it myself.” His father shook his head. “Adrian. I am sorry for everything. And I know I do not deserve forgiveness.”

Forgiveness. What a strange concept. He really did not deserve it. He was right in that way. Thousands killed. Thousands more starved. From Walachia to central Europe. Adrian had had to stop him for those people – and for his mother as well. And yet it still felt personal. Because it was his father. Because they were family.

“I…” He did not know what to say, what to respond. “I should not…”

After a moment of hesitation his father took two more steps towards him, now standing in front of him. He was careful, when he put his hand onto Adrian's shoulder. “You did nothing wrong. You had to stop me. And I would not have stopped otherwise.”

Could he believe that?

The feeling of his father's hand on his shoulder was weird. Familiar and yet… It was a feeling, he realized, he had missed. He had said it to the others and it had never been a lie. He had missed his father. He had missed his father dearly. Both his parents. He had never wanted to do that – to kill his own father. But there had not been another way. He only wished there had been.

He had come here to see his parents. Hell, they had all come here on fairly short notice to see them. Because knowing they were alive, he had been unable to think of anything else. He had needed to see them. He had needed to talk to them.

He had missed them so much.

Dizziness took hold of him. He did not know what he was doing, but he leaned forward, leaned against his father in a way he had not done in many years even before all of this had happened.

His father said nothing, just put one arm around him.

Notes:

This is one of my favorite chapters of this entire story. Because there is just eight - or rather nine years - of trauma coming to some end within this. Because Adrian does have just so many still confused emotions about it. He knows that back then there were not many possibilities of stopping his father. Realistically, at the point that they killed him, could they have talked sense into him? I would argue: Sure. Because at the point some sense had just returned to him. But given it was the one moment he was letting his guard down, could they realistically take that chance? Here I would argue: No. Because if our trio had gotten killed in that night, a lot more hurt would have come of it all. So yes. It was inevitable to kill him at the point. But it does not change the fact that it was Adrian's father.

Chapter 11: Familiar Regrets

Summary:

Lisa talks with her husband and her son.

The two men had talked. Not much. But they had talked. It was a start. Hopefully Adrian and his family would stay for a while, so there could be more talking. They both needed it even more than Lisa would've thought. It was not surprising to see Adrian like this. Not if she kept in mind what had happened after her death. Vlad had tried to kill their son. Their son had ended up killing him. Even knowing all of that, it had been hard to see the expression on the boy's face.

Boy. He was not a boy anymore, was he? He was man. Almost 30 now. He had grown up. He was a father on his own, making her a grandmother. Something she would have never had expected. Why was that? Why did she not expect it?

But she knew. For most of his life they had kept Adrian away from other people, both humans and vampires. Both sides viewed dhampirs with suspicion, so him being around them had never been safe. And thus, the boy had spent most of his life alone in a giant castle. Without friends his own age. The few times he had accompanied her to Lupu he had always been on guard towards other people.

Maybe they had done wrong by him this way. But it was the only way they could've thought of to protect him.

Now Adrian had gone into the garden. He had said he needed the air, but Lisa knew he needed a moment to think. She could see him through kitchen window. She was watching him.

She sighed. A part of her wanted to go out there, talk to him. While she was sure of at least one thing – it had been right not to return to the castle, when they had come back to life – she still wanted to make up for the years lost. There were most certainly many things that had happened. Things she wanted to know.

And maybe he needed that, too. Someone to hug him. It would have probably been better if he had brought one of his partners with him. There were two of them after all.

She hesitated. Daring a look into the sitting room she found her husband crouched in his chair. This had been a lot for him as well. She smiled, went over to him and put one hand onto his broad shoulders. “He will be fine,” she promised. She most certainly did hope so.

“Has he left?” Vlad asked.

“No. He is still outside,” she replied. “He just needs a moment.”

Her husband nodded. Slowly he reached out for her hand and pressed it against his forehead. He wanted to feel her close. There was still so much regret in him – regret that would not vanish, that should not go away. What he had done was unspeakable. Maybe Lisa was crazy to forgive him this easily. But if she was not crazy, she would have never had gone up to that cursed castle to learn medicine. She bowed down to kiss him.

“He has come here, because he wanted to see us,” she said softly. “He found out that we lived two weeks ago and his first thought was to come here.”

Once again Vlad nodded. His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. “He did not deserve all of this hurt.”

“He did not,” she agreed. “But we cannot change the past.”

“I know.” Finally, he let go of her and even without him saying another word she understood. She went towards the door, through the kitchen and then outside, where her son was still sitting on the low wall of their garden. He had turned his head towards the cliff overlooking the sea. His dhampir eyes could probably see so much more in the dark then her mere human ones, that were slowly starting to get worse.

Being careful with her dress she sat down beside him. Putting one hand over his, she looked at him. “How are you feeling?”

He did not reply instantly. At least his breath was even now. “I don't know,” he finally replied. “Strange.”

She did not say anything even though there were a million words she wanted to say. But not a single one of them would help right now.

“I… I thought I finally had moved on, but I… I was wrong. All of that…” He shook his head. “I killed him, mother. I killed him.”

“I know. But you had no other choice.” She lifted her hand to brush a strand of his long hair behind his pointy ear. “You did what I would've wanted you to do.” This was not the complete truth, but it was the truth he needed now. She would not have wanted for them to fight to the death – but she would never have wanted an atrocity in her name either. “You saved a lot of people.”

He nodded slowly. “I know.”

He had been so young, when she had died. Not even 20. The sad truth was it would not have happened if it had not been for her idealism. She had been alone in Lupu because she wanted to be a doctor. Vlad had been out traveling because she had told him so. Adrian had been alone back in the castle, because she had wanted to protect him. There were so many little things that just could have been different. If either of them would have been there with her, none of this would have happened. If she had stayed at the castle, it would not have happened either. She had gone back to her village to save people, to heal them, but in the end more people had died because of that than she could have ever saved.

They all had their guilt, their regrets. But the past could not be changed. It had happened this way. She had died, had been killed. Her husband had gone mad with grief. Thousands died. It was history now.

“None of this was your fault, Adrian,” she said. “Not a single thing. You should not blame yourself.”

A sad smile twisted his face. “That's what they always say as well.” He shook his head. “I wish, I could believe it.”

“You have to,” she replied. “Please, Adrian, son, nobody blames you for it. Not even your father. It was the right thing to do. You saved so many. You saved your father, too. He would've just gone more and more mad.” Now she sighed. “Please. I… We don't want this to hang over you for the rest of your life.” And it would be a long, long life.

“I know.” He directed his gaze out onto the ocean once more. “I… I try to forgive myself, but it is not easy. Not with this, not with… the other things.”

She had picked up on so much. Other things had happened. Bad things, too. She was not quite sure what it was exactly. So far, they had mostly talked about his family, the kids. Those two seemed to be quite the handful. And while it was obvious that the girl was from the other man, the Belmont, she saw Adrian as a father as well, not even questioning it. So, neither would Lisa. “What else has happened?” she asked carefully.

Another sigh. “I…” He looked at his hand with hers above it, taking her hand now. “I bit Trevor,” he whispered. “I tried to turn him.”

“But he is not…”

He shook his head. “No. He… Basically just cannot go out into the sun. That's it.” There was a deep regret in his voice.

“Why did you bite him?”

“There…” He stopped, staring at the ground. “Someone had come to the castle. He said he could repair it, make it move again. It was… a ruse. He did… bad things.” By the sound of it really bad. “And he tried to turn me against them.”

Suddenly things became clearer. All of this was not only from what had happened eight years ago, but from those things happening recently. Whoever that person had been, he had hurt her son – and maybe his family as well. While maybe physically healed, the emotional wounds were still fresh, making everything raw and bringing all the collected guilt to the front of his mind.

Maybe they should have stopped something like this… But there had not been a way, had there?

She pressed his hand. “How does that man – your husband – feel?”

A sole chuckle without much humor. “He is just Trevor. He tells me not to worry. He tells me everything is fine. He does not hold it against me, because… That's just the kind of guy he is.”

She freed her hand from his, just to put her arm around his shoulders. “Adrian…” She pulled him close. “Maybe you should stop blaming yourself for things that nobody else blames you for.”

It took him a moment, but then he gave into her hug. “If only it was that easy.”

Chapter 12: His Weakness

Summary:

Trevor sits in front of the waystation, waiting for his husband.

Trevor had decided he would not even try to sleep until Adrian returned. He was too worried. Sure, fucking Dracula had seemed all docile and Lisa had said it was fine, but… Well, it was fucking Dracula after all! The monster in Trevor's bedtime stories for fuck's sake! No, he could not relax until he knew Adrian was alright.

It was after midnight now. Even the tavern down in the way station had emptied out. Sypha was up in their room with the kids as at least those two needed the sleep. And Trevor was down here, sitting on the ground in front of the building and waiting for his husband to return.

He looked up at the sky which was still very much cloudy. Only from time to time the cloud cover broke apart enough to allow some moonlight to shine to the ground.

Already Trevor was half of a mind to walk to that stupid cottage to look for Adrian. He had been gone for over four hours now. Maybe something did happen. Maybe… I mean, could they know for certain that those two were not impostors being out for blood? They could fucking not!

But Trevor stopped himself. There was still a rational part in his mind. He knew Adrian had been hesitant to go. He knew it would take Adrian some time. Heck, maybe that stupid bastard of his was still standing in front of the door unable to bring himself to knock. Yeah, that would be fitting. He always had a hard time to talk about things that bothered him. And right now, there were so many things bothering him.

Trevor closed his eyes and inhaled the crisp night air. It smelled of grass, of the ocean and of just a bit of rain.

When he opened his eyes again after a minute or two, he saw a shadow in the distance. A figure. It had to be Adrian.

Quickly he was up on his feet walking towards him. After a while he was sure it was his husband. His shoulders hand low and his gate was unsteady. Had something happened? Now Trevor was really getting worried running towards the fucking bastard. “Adrian.”

The other man looked at him, then took the last two steps towards him and almost fell into him. His arms found their way around Trevor's shoulders, holding onto him for dear life.

“God, Adrian. Are you alright? Did the fucker do something to you?”

Adrian just shook his head and continued to cling onto Trevor, who was not quite sure he understood.

Still, he returned the embrace holding the other man because he knew that he needed that. It was a good thing he had waited outside. If he had lied down, Adrian would have been hesitant to show anything, not wanting to be a bother. Because he was a fucking stupid idiot.

He was not crying at least. He just seemed exhausted. Very exhausted. He breathed in Trevor's smell, his fingers digging into the tunic. Finally, after a long while, he whispered: “It's really him.”

Trevor buried his hand into the other man's hair. “Are you sure?”

A nod against his shoulder.

Trevor would believe it for now. Dracula, back from the dead. Brought back – apparently – by St. Germain, even though the three of them had fought so hard to prevent it. Just that there was not another bloody genocide. Just… quiet. A quiet life.

Admittedly the idea that those two were impostors never had made a lot of sense. If they were impostors, there had been no reason for them to live on a cottage in fucking England. No, if they were impostors they had come to the castle and tried to get something out of it.

Dracula. Fucking Dracula was alive.

He was not sure what it meant for Adrian. Because of all the guilt he was still carrying with him. The nightmares had gotten better over the years. They happened every other month, but less intense and less frequent than they had been back when they had decided to stay at the castle. Adrian had also stopped to drown his sorrows in wine. If Magnus had not happened this might actually have been a somewhat joyful occasion. But, well, without Magnus they would have never learned about any of this?

Now there was not much for Trevor to do, but to hold his lover, while a shiver went through his body. Adrian really was exhausted by all of this. The fact that he had barely slept during those last two weeks probably did not help. Adrian needed sleep.

“What do you say, we go up to the room and you get some rest for the night?” Trevor hence suggested.

A week nod was Adrian's only reply. He managed to stand on his own two legs and looked at Trevor, who just pressed a short kiss onto his cheek. “Can you walk or do I need to carry you, princess?”

The smile on Adrian's face was not genuine. “I can walk,” he whispered.

Trevor put one arm around him – just to make sure the guy did not keel over on him – before turning towards the waystation.

Chapter 13: Life after Life

Summary:

Vlad takes a moment to himself to ponder, how his life after death has changed him.

The wind from the ocean was nice. At times Vlad had to wonder while he had never put the castle close to the ocean for a long while. Because of the people, probably. He had hated to be around people for so long that he had done his very best to evade them.

He needed this. Some time alone in the moonlight. Feeling the wind on his skin. Seeing the moon break through the clouds from time to time.

It had been surprising that Adrian had come here. The explanation was obvious. Yes, he had never tried to mask them with magic, so a distance mirror would easily show them once asked. He just had not thought it would be asked.

Eight years ago, Vlad had died. Eight years ago, he had found himself in the thereafter and had felt relief. Because it was over. Because he had been able to be with Lisa again. His mind was clear by now. He had wanted to die before Lisa had come to the castle. She had given him reason to live. Without her that reason had vanished. He had just been too much of a coward to admit it to himself.

The thought that he might have killed Adrian in his senseless rage still kept him up some days. He had been close to it. But a last moment of clearness had stopped him. He had not started to think about what he had done to the boy until he found himself dead. No child should be forced to kill their parents. If he had not been such a coward, he would have done it himself.

There had been fear in Adrian's eyes, when he saw him. It was this fear that had shocked him the most. He had expected anger or hate, not the fear and despair he had seen instead. It was what he had done to him.

Yes. Vlad Dracula Tepes knew that in the eyes of most people it was the slightest of his crimes. He had killed so many people, thousands. But even knowing that, even knowing how senseless his violence had been, he could not bring himself to feel a great amount of regret. He did not feel pity for humanity. They were always killing each other. This century alone there had been so many wars in Europe, so much senseless killing. And for what? For the right to draw a fictional line on a map and claim that everything within was the property of one king or the other.

No. Vlad Dracula Tepes did not feel bad for massacring thousands of humans. But he did feel regret for what he had done to his son. The boy had not deserved this. He was half-human after all and had never been taught to see humanity in the way his father did. Maybe he was the better person for it.

They had not talked much, with Adrian only speaking in broken sentences. But Vlad had learned so much that they had a small town and were teaching the people there. They were doing what Lisa had always dreamed of doing.

They… He had learned, too, that his son had a family of his own. Two children. A girl and a small boy. No, Vlad had never expected to be a grandfather to anyone. The fact that his son had both a husband and a wife came less of a shock. Having lived with vampire-kind for so long the stupid human restrictions on family unions had always struck him as arbitrary. Only the fact that the husband was a Belmont, that had taken him by surprise.

The Belmonts… It was a strange thought. Ever since Leon had decided to stop him, to follow him through all of Europe there had been a feud between him and the Belmont family. A stupid little feud arisen out of the pride of two stupid men. And now his son had married a Belmont, had named his own children Belmont.

Fate, if it existed, might as well play a game with him.

He had overheard what Adrian and Lisa had been talking about in the garden, too. It explained some things. Bad things had happened before the boy had come here. Really bad things by the sound of it.

Adrian had never drunken any blood. Lisa had made sure of that. There were too many stories about dhampirs easily going mad with bloodlust if they did. Even with all his knowledge Vlad could not say if those tales were routed in reality or legend. But apparently his son had drunken from the Belmont, had tried to turn him. Even with Lisa he had not said much about the why and the how. Just that it had all to do with a strange person arriving at the castle. He wanted to know more, but it seemed to open a wound that was still fresh. And his son had no obligation to trust him, to talk to him about it.

No. If anything Vlad could be glad that the first thing the boy did, upon hearing they were alive, was to come here. There was a part of Adrian's heart that felt still kinship with him and Lisa and maybe, that was all he could ask for. Vlad knew he did not deserve the boy's forgiveness. But maybe having an open door was something he could do for him. And helping him with whatever had happened.

Dhampirs normally could not turn humans. There were some tales, some legends of it happening but never once had Vlad been able to confirm even a single one of them. No, it was probably impossible. Whatever was happening to that man, that Belmont, might just be a strange side effect of magic interfering.

Vlad was not exactly happy about the idea of taking care of a Belmont, but, well, apparently a Belmont was now his son-in-law. He would deal with it. That much he owed his son.

Notes:

Oh, I can already tell you. I will have so much time with the Trevor & Vlad relationship.

Chapter 14: Barter

Summary:

While trying to get some acceptable food for her kids, Sypha meets Lisa.

It was kinda fun getting to speak English. Sypha had learned the language but had never gotten around to using it. Now she was standing at a farmer's stables bargaining with the guy for some cheese and some preserved fruit.

“Seven copper,” the man demanded. “Seven copper is my last offer.”

“Five.” A rarely known fact about speakers: They learned early how to bargain. After all they did not have any fields to cultivate fruit or grain on. They only had a few animals accompanying the caravans and whatever they found on the road. They often had had to bargain in winter – and Sypha prided herself to be good with it.

“Seven,” the man insisted. “That's the best offer you'll get.”

“And you are most certainly the only one who can sell us cheese around here?” She knew he was not. This was barely a town, more like a village. Most people here had animals and whoever had cows or sheep or goats had cheese. It was not hard to come by.

The man grunted looking over to her husbands and Marie, then at Simon, who was on her arms currently biting into the end of a simple cloth. “Fine. Six. Six copper.”

Ha. And the man originally wanted a whole silver from her. “Deal,” she said stretching out her free hand. They shook on it.

They did not even get little from it. A whole pot of preserved fruit from earlier in the summer. That would do nicely for the kids, as Marie was still complaining about the local cuisine. Yes, they had all been very much pampered by Adrian's cooking. At least Simon did not complain.

She waved Trevor over. Thankfully it was yet another cloudy and somewhat rainy day. A light patter constantly falling down from the sky. But this allowed him to be out with them, which seemed good.

Adrian stayed close to him. He had been very quiet the entire day, but Sypha could tell the meeting with his father had taken quite a bit out of him. Even Marie had seemingly noticed it, which had to mean something, as she had not asked any more questions about her grandparents today.

“Wow, this is quite a bit,” Trevor noted taking the clay pot with fruit.

“Well, the kids need to eat something,” Sypha said. She took the wedge of cheese herself. Maybe they should go out into the meadows and little forests surrounding the town during the next few days and collect some fresh fruit. It would help. After all they would at least stay for – what? – two more weeks, maybe.

It was while they were carrying their purchases back to the wagon, that Sypha noticed a now familiar figure coming along the road. She waved. “Lisa!”

The older woman noticed her, smiled and hurried over to them. “You are in town,” she noted.

Sypha sighed. “Marie does not take to the local cuisine, I am afraid.” She shot Trevor a look. “Neither does he.”

“Hey. I am just saying…”

“Pah, you are saying you got spoiled quite a bit, Trevor Belmont. When I met you, you were perfectly fine to eat from a half-rotten cadaver!”

Lisa chuckled. “I see. Well, I guess the English cooking can be somewhat bland.” She shot Trevor a smile. “You could come over to eat with us this evening. We don't have any spices, but at least some herbs.”

For just a moment, Sypha looked over to Adrian. He was exhausted by the meeting yesterday, but admittedly Sypha's curiosity also begged her to say yes. She wanted to meet this non-genocidal Dracula, she had heard so much about and never met. Also, there was the hope of supper without Marie complaining. “Sure.”

Trevor did not seem convinced by this, but did not say anything.

Now Marie had made the connected. “Does that mean I get to meet bunic then?” she asked.

Lisa crouched down to be on eyelevel with the child. There was a soft smile on her face. “Yes. I think you might.”

“Great! I always wondered, what he is like, you know? We have all those pictures at home and I thought I would never meet him. With him being dead and all.”

There was an awkward pause to this, but then Lisa tucked some hairs that had escaped Marie's ponytail behind the girl's ears. “You will meet him. Don't worry.”

Before this topic could be further deepened, Sypha cleared her throat. “What are you doing in town, Lisa?”

The woman stood up again. “Ah, there is this older woman in town who has bad joints. I was bringing her some medicine.”

“Did you make the medicine yourself?” Sypha asked.

“Yes, of course,” Lisa replied. There was sardonic smile on her face. “At least I can be pretty sure nobody will try to burn me at the stake again.”

“You mean with your husband and all?” Without even consciously noticing, Sypha had started to walk with the woman, who was heading towards one of the old buildings.

“Yes. He… Well, he won't leave my side again, I am afraid.” She laughed, though there was a sadness in it, too.

Sypha could really not tell if this family had been blessed or cursed. There had been so much pain between them – but in the end Lisa and Dracula were back from the dead. This was more than Sypha or Trevor could say for their respective parents.

It was not as bad for Sypha. Her mother had died in child-birth so she had never gotten to know her. Her father had died when she had been just four years old. Her grandfather had always been her family and it had always been enough. For Trevor, though, it had been worse. Especially as he had lost his siblings as well. Everyone from a fairly large family.

“Simon does not talk much, does he?” Lisa asked looking at the child.

“Not much, no, not so far at least,” Sypha replied. “He tends to be too busy putting everything he can grab into his mouth.”

“But he is not toothing anymore, is he?”

“Nope. He is just…” Sypha looked at the child. “Happy to explore with his mouth, I guess.”

“I see.” Lisa smiled. “Well, the fangs won't grow in before the age of four or five.”

“Yeah, Adrian told us,” Sypha replied. “I hope he will stop biting on everything by then.”

“I think he will, won't you?” The older woman tucked the boy's cheek, earning her a surprisingly appalled gaze.

“Wat?” Simon quacked.

“You will stop biting on everything, won't you?”

Putting the cloth back in his mouth the boy stared at her blankly. “Dunno.”

Sypha chuckled. “They are both… something.”

“Yes, I can see that.” The expression on Lisa's face was soft. She looked over at the two men. “They are, too, aren't they?”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

“I think I do. I know at least one of them fairly well.”

“Oh, the Adrian you know is the one from before he met Trevor. The two of them can bring out both the very worst and the very best in each other.” And mostly the foulest language, if she just allowed them to bicker long enough. Looking back at them, she sighed. There had barely been any bickering since the thing with Magnus had happened. Maybe that was part of the problem. And she knew very well that Trevor had tried.

By now they had almost reached the house they had been heading towards, when Lisa stopped. “So, we will see the five of you in the evening?”

Sypha smiled. “You will. I think… I think it will be good for everyone.”

Notes:

And yes, next week we will get the "family reunion" chapter in which finally Trevor fucking Belmont will have to step in front of Dracula and have... a nice supper with him. xD

Chapter 15: An Awkward Family Supper

Summary:

In this night Trevor shall do, what no Belmont has done before (to his knowledge): He shall have supper with Dracula.

Notes:

And there we go. The chapter where Trevor and Dracula finally meet.

So, this was it.

Trevor could not help a sardonic smile while walking up to the door. He felt Adrian tense by his side and took his hand, well knowing Sypha had already taken the other one.

But, well, this really was it. He, Trevor Belmont, no longer the last of the Belmonts, would step before Dracula, fucking Dracula, and have… a nice family dinner. Yeah, somehow climbing through a shit chute in Gresit had brought him to having a family dinner with Dracula.

God was shitting with him or something.

While Trevor was carrying Simon, Sypha was the one knocking. The evening was cloudy and while the sun had not set – Trevor was very aware of it – it was already getting dark.

Not long and Lisa opened the door. She looked the same as Trevor had seen her in those last three days. Older than the woman on the portraits, but warm, friendly, motherly. He had decided that in some weird way he liked her, even though he had not yet exchanged many words with her. Even though she had to be a bloody crazy-woman, considering that she had decided to marry Dracula and – for heaven's sake – somehow procreated with him. Though Trevor was thankful for the fact she did.

“Come in,” the woman now said.

“I am hungry!” As always Marie announced her feelings out loud and without much context.

“Supper is almost ready,” Lisa promised. “You can go to the sitting room to wait.”

The sitting room, where they would probably meet Dracula. Yeah, Trevor was still not sure this was a good idea. For fuck's sake. He was a Belmont! His entire destiny had been to kill the guy and now the guy was unable to stay dead.

But no matter how much he complained about in his head, he kept quiet about it. Adrian had enough to worry about without him starting a fight with Dracula. So, he would put up a brave front. For Adrian – and for the kids, who were too young to understand any of this.

Marie was mostly curious, that much was clear. She followed her grandmother through the rather big kitchen and to the already open door in the back of it.

Trevor allowed himself to stop short for a moment to look at Adrian, who himself took a deep breath. Even now Trevor did not quite know what he and his father had talked about the night before, just that it had been hard. No kidding. All things considered it should not come as a surprise.

Sypha was the one to first go after Marie and after another deep breath Adrian followed suite, leaving only Trevor – and Simon – behind. Simon, who was mostly fascinated by the collection of herbs hanging underneath the ceiling of the kitchen.

“Here goes nothing,” Trevor mumbled to himself, before stepping through the door.

“Are you my bunic?” That was Marie, who really seemed to be enamored by the idea of having grandparents – after having grown up without them.

It was not unusual in their little town for kids to grow up without grandparents – and those who had grandparents often lacked parents. The entire attack on humankind had lingering effects till now – not to mention their little orphanage. And technically speaking the man sitting in the chair right there was to blame for much of it.

An inadvertent short laugh escaped Trevor. This was just wrong! It was wrong. This was not, well, it was not the Dracula he knew – not that he knew the guy at all. But he had grown up with the stories of brave Belmonts, who had tried to vanquish the guy and had died for the cause. Also, he had spent the last seven and a half years living in a castle, which had more than one portrait of the guy. And while, yes, this man had the same face and hair like the man on those portraits, he looked… almost normal.

Yeah. This was awkward. This was totally awkward. For them at least. Not for Marie, who was now standing in front of the ridiculously tall vampire.

“And who might you be?” Dracula asked.

“I am Marie,” she said. “So, are you my bunic?”

There was a look of confusion on Dracula's face, when he shot a short glance to Adrian. Then there was something Trevor had not expected. A smile. A rather soft smile, when the vampire picked up the girl. “I guess I am.”

“So, you were really dead?” she started with the same line of questioning she had already subjected her grandmother to.

“I was – for a short while.” It was clear that the fucking guy did not quite know how to handle this child. He seemed almost awkward about it.

“I am sorry,” Sypha intervened. “She has just been looking forward to meeting you.”

There was some recognition in Dracula's expression. He remembered them from when they killed him. Yeah, great stuff. Yet, he did smile and finally got up, easily lifting Marie up with him. “So, you are Sypha and Trevor.” His voice was deep. That sounded right.

“Yes.” Sypha smiled, though even her smile was a bit awkward. Meeting someone, when your only interaction so far had been killing them, was fucking awkward as hell. “I am Sypha, this is Trevor and that's Simon.”

The boy was still fixated on the kitchen and the hanging herbs, paying his grandfather no mind. He was stretching out one hand – and Trevor knew very well that as soon as he would put the boy down, he would crawl off exploring the cottage.

To be fair, the one and only time they had met Dracula, he had also tried to kill them. Sypha still had the scars to show for it. “It's good to meet you,” Dracula finally managed.

“I will go and finish dinner,” Lisa said. “You…” She stopped short and did not seem to know what to say. “You be nice.”

Dracula smiled, looking at her, before offering his hand to Sypha. She took it. More than anything she was eager to make this work. Then it was Trevor's turn. It still felt fucking wrong. There was this part of Trevor that was very certain the right action would be to get out his whip and, well, do something. But his whip was not even on him. Sypha would not have allowed it.

“Please, sit,” the vampire now offered, gesturing at the sofa. His eyes were fixed on his son right now. There was worry, too. The guy worried about Adrian, just as they did.

It just felt so wrong.

They took a seat. Sypha at the right side, Adrian in the middle, Trevor to his left.

“Let Simon down,” Sypha whispered.

Trevor was not sure if it was a good idea. He did however, seeing the little boy take off quickly. He headed to the kitchen to absolutely nobody's surprise.

Meanwhile an awkward silence fell between the adults. Thankfully Marie was bloody oblivious to it - not that she helped.

“So, how did you die?”

A questioning look towards the three of them, while they shook their heads almost synchronously. Dracula thought for just one moment. Then he replied: “I killed myself.”

This answer did surprise Marie. “Why would you do that?”

“Because your iaca had died and I wanted to be with her.”

“Hmm.” Marie frowned. “I see.” She did not take long to come up with another question. “So what do you do here?”

“What do you mean, little one?”

“Here. In this country.”

“We live here.”

“Yeah, but what do you do living here?”

Trevor still could not properly relax. He had to admit, that there was no obvious danger. As strange as it seemed, he was pretty sure this guy was neither going to hurt them nor the children. It still seemed just… off. Most of all to see those emotions on Dracula's face.

He had an expressive face, the guy. Another thing Trevor would not have guessed, giving he was bearing the same mightier-than-thou expression on all of his portraits. The worst fucking thing was this slight warmth in his smile, that almost seemed human.

While Trevor had come to peace with the fact that, yes, not all vampires were necessarily bad, this was Dracula! Bloody Dracula! Who had killed so many of his ancestors! And there he was with the youngest of the Belmont-bloodline on his lap trying his best to answer her questions.

Sypha was more relaxed than him. She actually smiled by now and turned towards Adrian. “He really is not that bad, is he?”

Even now there was sadness in Adrian's expression. “I told you. He was a good father.” He stopped for a moment. “Is, I guess.”

There was a short gaze towards them. It was clear that the bloody guy wanted to actually talk to them as well, only that Marie would not have it right now.

God. How did it come to this? Trevor got up. “I will look for Simon. I am worried he might gnaw on your parents’ furniture.” He tried to pass it off as a joke but did not really succeed with it.

He went to the kitchen to where Simon had taken off before and was relieved to find the kid sitting in a corner of the room, one sprig of dried herbs in his hand. “What do you have there?” Trevor asked.

The boy picked another leaf from the sprig and put it into his mouth. Looking at his father with a grave expression he answered: “Mint.”

“I gave him some, because he whined,” Lisa explained from the stove.

The smell in the air told Trevor, that whatever she was making involved quite a bit of cheese – something that Trevor considered a good thing. Even the English could not mess up cheese, could they?

“It's fine,” he said, sitting down on one of the stools.

Lisa turned around to him. “You are the Belmont, right?”

“Yeah, that's me,” he said. “The Belmont…” The Belmont having fucking supper with Dracula, that was.

“We have not talked much so far,” Lisa said while tasting whatever she was making and then putting in some more salt.

“No, we haven't.”

She turned around to him. “I wanted to thank you, you know?”

“For what?”

“For taking care of Adrian. You, and Sypha as well.”

Trevor found himself smiling. He got up, just to bow a little bit. “It is my pleasure.” He had to admit that he was surprised with neither of Adrian's parents commenting on their family constellation. Then again: This was the woman who had married fucking Dracula. “You know,” Trevor said, “he takes care of us, too. He is cooking for us and has taught me how to cook. He has shown me how to build furniture and how to use electricity. And he has helped Sypha teach me how to read.” Even though he still sucked at it.

“That's good to hear.” Her smile was warm and sincere. “I am glad he has you,” she muttered. “A part of me was always afraid he had spent those last eight years alone in that castle.”

There was the tiny sting of guilt reminding Trevor that he and Sypha had indeed left the bastard behind, after they had killed Dracula. “He is not good at being alone.” He sighed. “You should not have left him alone.” For her sake as well as his.

“I know,” she whispered. Then she turned and tasted what she was making once again, before stirring the pot once more. “You know,” she started again, “you can stay here. Instead of the inn, I mean. I… It might be egoistical, but I would love to have Adrian and the children around.”

Yeah, Trevor had feared something like this – and was already pretty certain that Sypha was planning to stay either way. “I guess…” he sighed. “I guess that's up to Adrian.”

Notes:

And yes, from here on we will go. Allowing those characters to develop an actual relationship to one another. Which is going to be a lot of fun. :D

Chapter 16: The Important Decision

Summary:

After supper Adrian has to make a decision.

Notes:

I will admit this is a bridge chapter that will lead to the other stuff. But we go again into Lisa's PoV.

The little girl did not complain about the cooking, so it could not have been too bad.

Lisa actually got it. Well, sort of. When she had moved into the castle she had quickly gotten used to the collection of herbs and spices her husband had amassed over the years. But after having been dead for more than a year she had not minded the blander food here in the North. After all there was no food in the thereafter, whatever that place had been. No hunger either. Well, it was not that they really had had physical bodies there, right?

The supper was filled with strained conversations and all things considered she should not be surprised. A lot had happened within their family. And the other two had only gotten to know her husband, when he had been driven mad. The woman, Sypha, tried her best though to be friendly and open-minded. Lisa had to say she liked her. She seemed to be very kind.

The little boy had not yet mastered how to use a spoon by himself. While Trevor had fed him, it had not stopped the kid from gripping into the bowl and just put fistfuls of noodles into his mouth – and onto his shirt. It had almost made her laugh. She had stopped herself from telling stories of how Adrian had once eaten exactly the same way.

“So,” Sypha said once they had finished their meal, “what do we do now?”

It was clear that all three of them knew what she was talking about and some anxious glances were exchanged between the two young men. Those three clearly knew each other well, as whole conversations happened without a single word being exchanged.

In the end it was Adrian, who sighed. “I guess we will stay,” he said.

Trevor grunted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Fine.” He was almost as tense as Adrian, but given he was a Belmont it might not be a surprise. Lisa knew of the long history that family had had with her husband.

Sypha seemed to be happy with this decision. “Great.” She got up. “I will get our things then.”

“You sure about that?” Trevor asked.

“Yes. Pretty sure.” She went over to him and pressed a kiss on his forehead. “You can take care of Simon in the meanwhile.”

“Just fucking great,” the man muttered in overacted exaggeration.

There was this short moment, when Adrian looked at his father, before he decided to keep himself busy as well. “I will take care of the dishes.”

Trevor plucked up Simon – who had long left his stool behind to further go and explore the kitchen, leaving cheesy handprints on his way – and turned to her, before forcing himself to face her husband. “Err… Is there a washing room or something? Or a pump?”

And even though her husband was just as tense as the young man, he got up. “I will show you.”

This only left Lisa at the table. Lisa and the young girl, who had managed to eat without much daub.

“So,” Lisa turned to the girl, “what would you wanna do?”

Marie thought about this for a moment and frowned. “Can you read me a story?”

“I…” She thought about it. Of course she wanted to say yes, but she was not quite sure, whether they even had a book she could read from. Then she remembered something however. When they had gotten here, there had been a book of English fairytales Vlad had gotten her to help her learn the language. She only had to remember where it was. “I think I might.” She smiled at the girl. “Do you want to come looking for a book?”

Instantly the girl jumped of her stool. “Sure. I am good at finding stuff, you know?”

“You are?”

“Yes. I once found this bit of gold in the lake we always swim in!”

“That's quite the treasure.”

“Yeah. But papa says, it was not actual gold but fool's gold. It was still pretty though.”

“Yes, I believe that.” Lisa could not help but smile when the girl just put her little hand into Lisa's and followed her along.

It was not that Lisa had always wanted to have grandchildren – she had made her peace with not having those a very long time ago. But it was so wonderful to see how this little girl accepted them without much hesitation. The girl – even though she was a Belmont – had no qualms about her grandfather either.

She seemed to know nothing about what had happened between her parents and Vlad and it might be for the better. From what Lisa had gathered the child did not have any other grandparents. Of course she knew of the Belmonts having been killed and from what she could surmise Sypha did not really know her own parents either.

“At home papi reads often for me,” the girl explained, when Lisa had brought her to the little room she used as a laboratory and library.

“What about your other parents?”

“Papa is no good at reading,” Marie said, “and mama can't do the funny voices.”

“I see.”

“But papa is showing me how to fight. And mama goes on walks with me. Mama knows a lot about the forest, you see.”

“She is a speaker, isn't she, your mama?”

“Yeah, but she has stopped travelling much when she had me.” Marie shrugged. “I hate travelling, you know that?”

“Oh, and it was quite a long travel here, wasn't it?”

“Seven days in the wagon!” The girl paused. “And without my bed. Do you have a bed for me?”

“Yes, we do have a bed for you.” They had two beds in which they had housed travelers from time to time. Lisa assumed it would get a bit tight with the three adults in one of those beds. The two kids should fit without much of a problem though. Maybe she and Vlad should offer them the master bedroom. That might be a good idea. She was not sure.

“Are all those books in English?” Marie asked upon finding the wall of bookshelves. She looked at the book spines with big eyes, pulling a single one out from the shelf.

“Some are in Latin, too.”

“I know a bit of Latin!”

“You do?”

“Yeah. Mama taught me. A bit of Greek, too.”

Lisa crouched down to the child. “I see you are already very well educated.”

“I guess so. Mama says it is important to know things, that we cannot forget.”

Another smile crossed Lisa's face. Just like the vampires, who prided themselves in not forgetting things. “I guess it is,” she said, before turning her focus to the bookshelf. Most of the writing in there was on natural sciences and medicine, but some of the books held records of history as well.

It took her a while until she found, what she was looking for. On the lowest shelf were those books she had used to learn the language. One of them being titled “The Mabinogion”. This should be it.

She pulled it out of the shelf. “I can read this to you, if you want to.”

The girl's eyes lit up. “Yes!”

Chapter 17: Philosophical Pondering

Summary:

As Sypha wants to go back to the waystation, Dracula offers to accompany her.

Sypha considered it a good thing that they were staying here - at the cottage with Adrian's family. He needed it for sure and it seemed at least Marie was quite delighted about it as well. Yeah, this was a good thing. It was, really. Even though she would have to keep an eye on Trevor, as she was still not quite sure whether or not he would try to kill Dracula.

Admittedly, she, herself, was not quite sure what to make out of the guy. On one hand she had fought him, had participated in killing him and had seen all the suffering he had been responsible of. On the other hand, well… He was Adrian's father after all. And she was actually quite certain that this man loved her husband.

“May I accompany you?” the voice made her jump.

She had barely started on her way back to the waystation to get their stuff from there – and pay. Now there he was, Dracula, standing behind her.

Quickly she managed a smile. “No need, no need,” she said. “I will just get our things and…” She stopped herself and just barely stifled a sigh. She was not really sure what motivated the man to accompany her. Maybe he was unsure how to deal with all the people in the cottage right now. Maybe he wanted to be nice – ha! Or maybe he wanted to talk to her. “Sure,” she hence said. “Thank you.”

With that she continued on her way. It was not really far, was it? A bit more than a mile from the cottage. Easily walkable within half an hour. Though it would get annoying, as they needed the wagon to transport everything. And as Dracula and Lisa did not have stables, she would have to bring the horses back to the waystation once they were done.

Dracula was quiet, walking next to her. She was all-too aware of those eyes being almost pinned on her, though.

Maybe she should try polite conversation. It seemed only right. For better or worse, this man was now her father-on-law. He was the bunic of her children, so… “I am sorry for just raiding your home,” she said.

A slight smile. “No need,” he replied. “You are…” He stopped for a short moment. “You are family now.”

She almost felt like laughing about this. “Yeah. I guess so.” She shot him a short glance.

To be perfectly honest, she was not quite sure how she thought about this man. Of course she knew about him being a good and even gentle father to Adrian, a good husband to Lisa as well. But there was just no way around the fact that he had needlessly killed so, so many people.

Maybe he could guess her thoughts. “I am sorry,” he said – and she well understood.

She sighed. “That does not bring anybody back, does it?”

“It does not,” he agreed.

So they continued their way in silence, as Sypha snuck glances at the man.

Once thing was for certain. He looked very different from the man in the portraits. Just the normal clothing instead of fancy shirts with vests and those big old coats he apparently had once worn. It seemed strange. It seemed so strange.

“Do you still work with science?” she asked after a while.

“I do,” he said. “Though admittedly there is less I can do here, compared to the castle.”

“Yes, I can see that. The collection in the castle really is quite impressive.”

“You read it?” There was surprise in his voice.

“Some of it. Yes. Actually quite a bit. Some of the books from the Belmont Hold as well.”

“The Belmont Hold?”

She could not help but chuckle, even though it seemed not quite the appropriate reaction. “See, when I captured the castle, I put it on top of the Belmont Hold. Because that is where we found the way how and… Well…”

“You were the one, who captured the castle?” He looked at her in surprise.

“Of course.” She was not sure on whether or not she should feel insulted by his expression. “I am an amazing mage, just so you know.”

To her surprise it was now him, who chuckled. “I see. I have to admit I am impressed that you managed to pin the castle down.”

This was quickly turning into one of the strangest talks she had ever had. After all they were basically discussion the circumstances that had once led to his death. “As I said. I am amazing.” Then she sighed. “Though I have not been able to fix the castle again.”

“It does not move anymore, does it?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Because the stupid mechanism had to fight the spell.” She was still very adamant that it was not her fault. “And I have never quite found out how it worked originally.”

“The magic the castle was built on used both Babylonian magic and fae magic.”

She raised an eyebrow. This was not the answer she had expected. “You built it yourself?”

“Only parts of it,” he replied. “As I said, parts of it are fae.”

“So, you worked together with fae?”

“Yes. We… had some mutual agreements for a time,” he replied.

“I wonder what fae magic is like…” Sure, she had dealt with the fae before – but only ever as an adversary.

“They guard it quite closely,” Dracula said. “To get something like the mechanism out of it… Well, they need to have quite a lot of open favors with you for that.”

“Fae deal in favors, right?”

“Yes,” he said.

So many other questions came up in Sypha’s mind. She had almost forgotten where they were even going as it dawned on her that this man held so many answers to questions she had pondered about during those last few years. Though some parts started to make sense. The spell she had used to capture the castle, it had been partly in Adamaic – the language that had once been spoken in Ancient Babylon. Even after studying so many books about it, there were still things she did not understand.

“What is it?” Dracula asked.

She smiled – her smile being genuine for once. “I have the feeling you could still teach me quite a bit about magic.”

“I probably can.”

She looked at him expectantly, making him smile as well.

“I might do so, if you have any concrete questions.”

This got her to grin. “Oh, I am sure I will be able to think of a few.”

He even chuckled at this.

It was so strange. This was so strange. Because she knew what he had done, she knew what he represented and still she could not help but find him… Quite likable. This was crazy.

“Can I ask another question, too?”

“Maybe,” he replied.

She took a deep breath. It was the question she had already chided Marie for and yet, she could not help but wonder. “What is it like? Dying? Hell?”

At this he was quiet for a few moments, before he drew in a deep breath. “I don't know what dying is like for others… But it felt like a relief to me.” He did not look directly at her, instead focusing his gaze onto a bird that was sitting in a tree by the road. “That moment I died… It felt like the first clear moment I had had since Lisa's death. I just felt… relief.”

At this Sypha swallowed. She had not thought about it in this way. Of course now. Who would think so? But… He had allowed Adrian to stake him in the end, right? Because one thing was for certain: He would've killed them otherwise. They had not stood the least bit of a chance against him.

“As for hell,” he now said and paused another moment. “I… I don't think that place we ended up in was hell.”

“What?”

He shook his head. “Let me rephrase this. I don't think hell exists.”

She frowned at that and shook her own head. That did not make the least amount of sense to her. Of course, hell was real. They had fought those hell demons, hadn't they? And the entire idea of forge masters was built around hell existing as a place!

But then something else wormed its way into her mind. She had talked to Hector and Isaac about it – they had not mentioned to them that their former master was alive though. Should they? But those of their night creatures that were able to talk… For many of them their sins were not real sins, where they? And Lisa had been in hell, too. And by God, Sypha could not think of a single reason that woman should end up there.

“The place we were in…” Dracula paused. “It was not a place of endless suffering. It was just a place of… Nothing, really. There was not much there. No suffering, but no joy either. Well, no that's wrong. I…” He stopped, but Sypha was pretty sure she understood.

He had felt joy, when he had been reunited with Lisa, hadn't he?

“What about demons?” she asked.

“Yeah. Those… exist,” he replied. “They certainly draw their power from that place.”

“We fought demons six years ago,” she said. “There was a mage summoning them from hell.”

“Is that so?”

She laughed. “It's a long story, really.” She paused for a moment. “Your former servants… Isaac and Hector. We worked with them.”

Surprise showed on Dracula's face once again. She was not sure about what part. That they were working with them or that those two were still alive? “Do they know, that I…”

“No,” she said. “We have not told them.”

He nodded. “Keep it that way. It's… better for them.”

And maybe he was not that work about it.

“So, hell…” she prompted once more and again something like a smile showed on his face.

“That place… I think it is just some sort of thereafter,” he said. “I think everyone will end up there after dying. And I think at some point they will move on from there as well.”

Sypha thought about this for a while. “I see.”

“Hell is not a concept that has existed for too long,” he continued. “For most of human history people did not believe in separate afterlives. So… Why should it exist that way?”

She nodded slowly, now thinking about it. Of course she kinda knew that. She knew that a lot of civilizations had not a concept like hell. She had read so much mythology, had collected so many stories. So, yeah. It made sense. In a way. It just seemed so present… The concept.

So, it did not really matter what they did. They would end up in the same place, right?

Then her brain caught up with something else he had said. “Move on?”

“Yes,” he replied. “The place… If all of human souls would be there, it would be more… crowded, I assume. It was not. My guess is that those who had died move on after a while. I don't know where to.”

She almost felt like laughing again. This was a lot to think about. And it felt strange. To talk with him about it. With Dracula of all people. Whom they had killed. Together. Yes. It was definitely strange. But maybe he was actually right about it. What a strange idea. Sypha had always thought of herself as destined for hell, but maybe… Well, maybe there was no such thing after all.

In the distance she could already make out the waystation. They had almost made it there it seemed.

In the end she smiled. “Thank you for telling me this. I… I think I'll have a lot to think about now.”

“You are welcome,” he replied and paused once more. “Really, I should be thankful to you… and the Belmont as well. You… You have taken care of Adrian and that's more than I could ever repay you for.”

“Quite frankly, he has taken care of us as well.” She looked at the tall man. “He cooks for us, he helps in the village and he is really good with the kids – both our own and the kids we teach. He helps me with my research and he acts as a doctor for everyone.” Now it was her, who paused. “Really. You can be proud of him. He is good and kind. I love him dearly. Both Trevor and I do.”

The smile that now showed on his face was rather sad. He stopped in his stride, sighed. Funnily enough his expressions were quite similar to Adrian’s – and as such it was so easy for her to read that guilt in there.

Honestly. Sypha was not sure how to react to it. She turned around and went over to him – and even though she felt kinda silly doing so, she put her hand onto his arm. “He is still hurting, you know? Having to kill you… It was a lot on him. But he can heal. It’s just going to take time.”

Once again something like a chuckle escaped the man. “Am I that easy to read to you?”

She shrugged. “You are just a lot like your son. That’s it. Now… come on. I want to get this done before midnight.”

Notes:

Fun Fact: This chapter did not exist when I originally wrote down this story. But I realized at some point I barely had any scenes of Dracula and Sypha interacting, so I felt like I should add something like that. :)

Chapter 18: A Father's Promise

Summary:

While Lisa makes Adrian a tea, Dracula gives his son a promise.

Adrian found Marie with his mother up in the master bedroom. The girl was already asleep, while his mother had picked up a book of her own to read. He stopped in the door, watching them. It seemed so peaceful and so… right. A girl and her grandmother. If only he was not so anxious about all of this.

In another world this could maybe have been a normal thing for the girl. But that was not true, was it? If things had not happened the way they had happened, he would have never met Trevor or Sypha. Heck, there was a good chance those two would have never met each other, so Marie would never have been born.

Now his mother noticed him. Putting her book aside she smiled. “She is precious,” she whispered quietly to not wake the little girl up.

“I know,” he replied. “But she can also be a handful.”

The smile on his mother's face widened. “Yeah, I can see that. She is going to be a big monster hunter one day, right?”

He shook his head, now smiling himself. “We will see about that.” She was just a child after all. Children had all sorts of ideas about what they might or might not become. He went over to the bed to pick her up. It was close to midnight and she should get to bed. Carefully not to wake her, he lifted her off the mattrass.

To his surprise his mother got up as well. “I'll make you some tea,” she said.

“What?”

“Your husband. He has mentioned that you sleep badly. I will make you some tea.”

“You don't need to,” he protested weakly.

“But I want to.” His mother smiled and went over to the door. “You know where to put her?”

He nodded. Trevor had showed him before. There were two guest bedrooms up here. They had declared one to be for the children, the other for themselves. Trevor and Sypha had already washed up, once Sypha had returned. Much to his surprise his father had accompanied her.

Everybody was doing this for him. Even Trevor. He had suspected his dear Belmont to at least quip a bit about Dracula being a genocidal maniac, but while Trevor had clearly had to swallow a comment or two, he had done so. He had even agreed to stay here. In Dracula's house.

He sighed and found himself to be smiling. He still felt bad talking to his father, but… Maybe they could get there. His father really did not hold against him what had happened. So, maybe… Just maybe…

He opened the door to the second guest bedroom and carefully put Marie down next to her brother. He wanted to stand up and go, when the girl gripped his shirt and squinted at him out of tired eyes. “Papi?” she whispered.

“It's fine. Go to sleep.”

She rubbed her left eye. “Will we stay here for a while?”

Somehow, she really had taken quickly to his parents. He smiled and caressed her cheek. “We will stay,” he promised. “For a bit.”

The girl nodded and then rolled onto her side.

Slowly and quietly not to wake Simon, Adrian left the room and closed the wooden door behind himself. He sighed. Even from up here he could smell the tea. An herbal mixture with some valerian and lavender, if he was not mistaken. Yes. Maybe it would help him sleep. It might.

He went down the wooden stairs and back to the kitchen. His mother was standing by the stove heating the water, while his father was sitting at the table.

For a moment he found himself staring at them. It was still unreal. Them being here and being simply alive. But maybe it was a good thing. Maybe it was. And maybe it was good for their little family to be here after everything that had happened with Magnus. Right now, he found, he did not want to be at the castle. He had to calm down first and find a way to deal with it.

His father gesticulated for him to sit with him and after a brief moment of hesitation he did.

There had once been a time when they had been like this in the little castle kitchen back at home. Sitting together, talking, eating or, yes, having a tea. Often late at night, as both his parents had taken to be up until three in the morning, with his mother - and later him - rising around noon. It had been just like this.

His father watched him for a while. “Your wife, she said you were hoping I could look after the man – your husband.”

“Yes,” Adrian whispered. His father was the only one he knew to be able to help.

“Would you tell me, what exactly has happened?”

Adrian was quiet. He did not even know where to start. Being honest with his father – trusting him – felt even harder after all those things in the past. But in the end, he reminded himself that he wanted this to work. More than that: He wanted Trevor to get better. So, he drew in a deep breath. “About four weeks ago Trevor and I left for Targoviste, because they had had problems with a magical creature stealing their children. We got rid of it, even though it took some efforts. I was hurt, but Trevor got me save home. Sypha and Greta had stayed behind for Simon, because he had not been well.” He sighed. “While we were gone a traveler had arrived at the castle. A man, who introduced himself as Magnus. He said he knew how the castle worked and that he could fix it. He… He talked a lot to me, cared for my wounds. Somehow he knew exactly what to say and what I was feeling. Sypha grew suspicious. Then we found her unconscious. Trevor got suspicious, too. But I… I was too enthralled with this guy. And then…” He shook his head. He did not want to speak of the rape, of what had happened then. “He took over. And I… I don't really know what exactly happened. But I bit him. I bit Trevor and I tried to turn him. I gave him my blood. It did not work and Trevor and Greta managed to take me out, before I could do more harm.” He paused. “We killed Magnus. He… He was some sort of demon.”

His father was still watching him carefully, while his mother now put a mug filled with strong smelling tea in front of him, before taking the stool next to him.

“Did he control you?” his father asked.

“Magnus?” Adrian shrugged. “Somewhat. Yes. I… I was not in control myself.” Though that did not change a single thing, did it?

“Do you know what kind of demon he was?”

“Sypha suspects he had been an incubus,” he whispered. He took a sip of the hot tea. It tasted as intensive as it smelled.

His father seemed to understand. He nodded. “I am not quite sure, what happened to your husband,” he said. “But I will see what I can do for him tomorrow. Alright?”

Adrian nodded. “Thank you.” He was tired, which was not a big surprise after all those sleepless nights. And yet he was almost sure, he would not be able to sleep well this night. He had not been for so long. Technically speaking he did not need to sleep – at least not as much as a human. Yet, the lack of sleep made him feel stretched out and just… worse.

In silence he emptied the mug of tea his mother had made for him, before getting up.

“Sleep well,” his mother said and for just a moment took his hand.

He smiled. “You, too.” With another deep breath he left. He went to the small washing room, changed out of his clothing, before carefully tiptoeing up the stairs careful to not wake the kids.

To his surprise he found both Trevor and Sypha still awake. A candle was burning on the nightstand and clearly they had talked for a while.

“How is Marie?” Trevor asked.

“Fine, she is asleep.”

Sypha nodded. “Good.”

Looking at the narrow bed, Adrian sighed. “I will sleep on the floor.”

“You will do no such thing.” Trevor took his hand and softly pulled him onto the bed. “We'll fit somehow.”

“I…”

“Adrian,” Sypha said. “Don't even think about it. You'll sleep in bed somehow. If we fit onto the wagon with the kids and the supplies, we'll fit here.”

As much as he protested: He felt thankful, when he laid down besides Trevor, who had ended up in the middle of them. The idiot pulled both of them close, having them rest on either of his shoulders, even though they all knew, he would regret it later.

Adrian closed his eyes pulling in those well familiar smells of the two of them, taking in their warmth. Sypha's hand found his, pressed it. And even though they had to cuddle up pretty tight, they somehow fit. At least for this night.

Notes:

Okay, two more chapters of family wholesomeness - then there will be a twist. Just not the way you think. Or maybe just the way you think. I don't know. I cannot read your mind! lol

But oh, I am waiting to get to chapter 21. Because it will change the entire story so much <3

Chapter 19: As a Family

Summary:

While his two partners sleep, Trevor comes to a decision.

Much to Trevor's surprise Adrian fell asleep rather quickly that evening. It might have been whatever his mother had given him. Or maybe the exhaustion just finally had taken over. But Trevor could feel the man in his arm relax, could feel his breath getting slower, shallower.

Even though it did not take long for both of Trevor's arms to fall asleep he was not regretting it this night. He liked having the two of them close, feeling their warmth. Even after eight years it gave him a security he had not known for a long time before.

It was hard to fall asleep like this, but that was okay.

This had been a fucking weird day. Having supper with Dracula. Staying at Dracula's bloody house! But maybe it was what was needed. Especially for Adrian. Because, just maybe, it was also the precise fact that they were here, that allowed him to finally sleep.

Much to his surprise Trevor was not even worried. Just this morning, when he could already sense Sypha was planning for this, he had thought he would never get to close an eye in this house. But he had been wrong about it. There would be no attack on them. While Trevor most certainly would never forgive the fucking guy for what he had done – either to Belmont family or to the people of Walachia – he did really seem to care about Adrian. And, much to Trevor surprise, also open to the kids.

So, they should be fine. For now.

He closed his eyes, trying to ignore that Sypha's hair was tickling him.

Trevor had come to a decision and he knew, both of them would hate it. He also knew it would make Adrian feel even more guilty. But it was a trade-off Trevor was willing to make. Because more than anything he had seen the fear in Adrian's eyes when he had bitten him. And Trevor had understood. He understood it too well.

It was a strange outcome, a weird outcome, considering all of what happened, considering his family legacy. But it was the decision he had made. It would be for the best on the long run.

If he were to talk with either of them about it, they would protest. For different reasons – and still very much the same. They would protest because he was Trevor Belmont and this was not the right fate for him. At least that was, what they would think.

But he had made the decision and he would stick with it. He wanted to stay with this stupid half-vampire bastard. Even if it meant to give up a part of himself.

He closed his eyes. Truth was: He was afraid. But he would be able to deal with it. He had dealt with worse. He had fought fucking Death for heaven's sake!

With as little movement as he could muster, he changed his position just a bit. Yeah, maybe spooning would've been a better idea for him. But he would get through it. For this night he would somehow get through it – now that Adrian was finally sleeping.

Notes:

I almost feel bad leaving you with such a short chapter. But, yeah... that is just all for this one.

Chapter 20: Morning Routine

Summary:

Sypha takes care of the children to let her two husbands sleep.

Sypha was awoken by Simon crying, followed by Marie: “Mama! Papa!” She sighed. The sun was already up and not too low on the sky from the narrow streak of sunlight on the ground.

“What?” Trevor grunted half asleep.

“I am going to take care of it,” she said. “You can sleep.” She knew he had taken a while to fall asleep – as she had awoken after a couple of hours to find him awake. And Adrian, well, Adrian had probably had his first night of proper sleep in weeks. So, she most certainly would not send him.

Climbing over the two of them, as she had been the one lying by the wall, she stretched. With three people in a bed only made for one person might have not been the best idea. But it still seemed better than one of them sleeping on the ground.

“Mama! Papa!” That was still Marie. Now there were tiny footsteps on the small corridor outside.

Sypha opened the door. “I am up. I am up. What's happening?”

“Simon has pissed himself,” Marie said accusingly.

“That's why he has diapers,” Sypha muttered and went over to the other guest bedroom, finding a crying Simon. She was somewhat surprised it had only happened now, as Simon had no real control over his bodily functions so far. She picked the boy up. “It's alright. It's alright.” She pulled him close and rocked him a bit in her arms. “We'll take care of that now.”

Still in her nightgown she went down the stairs and to the washing room, which had a door to the back porch in it. There was a pump out there as well, even though it kinda surprised Sypha that there was no running water in this house. It was another thing she had almost gotten used to.

Drawing a bucket of water, she took a fresh diaper of those she had brought in last night. One of them would have to clean the used one later.

The steps behind her revealed, that Marie had been following her downstairs. While Sypha loosened up Simon's diaper, the girl came up to her and gripped her nightgown. “I am hungry.”

Another thing to deal with. “I will take care of that, too. Just let me change Simon first.”

The boy had calmed down by now, looking at her through still kinda sleepy eyes. “Mama. Hunger.”

“You, too, eh?” Sypha smiled. She wondered how late it was. Not noon, she could say that for sure. She finished cleaning Simon off and exchanging his diaper, before washing her own hands with some soap and turning around. She had to think for a moment. They were only guests in this house. Could she simply go into the kitchen and make something for the kids? After all, she guessed, Dracula and Lisa would not be up for a while.

She sighed. They were family. So it should not be much of a problem. There was nothing much to it. Making some porridge. She could put some of the fruit they had bought yesterday into it.

Yes, she would do that. Taking Simon up, she went over to the kitchen, looking around. There was a pantry next to the entrance of the house and in it she found both oats and honey. Taking one of the pots outside, she filled it half with water and put it onto the stove.

At least they had a proper stove instead of cooking over an open fire. Because frankly, Sypha had almost forgotten how to do that.

“Please have an eye on Simon for me,” she told Marie, when she put the boy into the sitting room. He would crawl around like he always did – there was just nothing to do about it.

An exaggerated sigh. “Fine.”

“I thought you were hungry.”

“I am.”

“Then I'll need both my arms to cook.”

The girl groaned. “I already said it's fucking fine.”

Shaking her head to herself, Sypha returned to the kitchen and lit a fire in the stove – not a big problem for a mage like her. Filling a bowl with oats, she brought it to the kitchen and waited for the water to boil. Then she put the oats and some honey in. Humming a little she stirred the mixture, waiting for it to thicken.

“You are up early.” The voice made her jump.

Turning around she found it was Lisa, standing in the doorway, already dressed in her green linen dress.

“I am,” Sypha said. “The kids…”

“I've heard the screaming.” Lisa said.

“I hope it's not a problem I am using your kitchen.”

The older woman shook her head and came over. “It's fine. You're family now.” She smiled. “Where are your two husbands?”

“Still in bed,” Sypha replied. “Adrian had not slept for days and Trevor had taken a while to fall asleep yesterday. So I thought I will take care of the kids.”

“I see.” Lisa paused. “Do you want some eggs for breakfast?”

“Eggs?”

“You must've heard the chicken.”

Indeed, Sypha had. There were at least a couple of chicken in the back of the building. She had seen them when she had used the pump. “Sure. Eggs sound nice.”

Lisa nodded. “Can I take the kids?”

“Sure. Just be careful or Simon tries to eat the chicken as is.” Sypha chuckled. So far Simon had at least tried to take a bite out of a very surprised cat back at home. Obviously, he had drawn the short straw in that fight – though given he was even now healing supernaturally fast, Sypha was not quite sure if he had learned his lesson.

She could hear them talking the next room over. “We have chicken, too, at home. Well, aunt Greta has.”

“Greta,” Simon repeated seriously.

“Do you want to tell me about your aunt Greta?” Lisa asked. Of course, Marie wanted to tell her about aunt Greta. The girl had been really eager to talk to both her grandparents so far. Sypha was thankful that both of them were apparently also eager to listen.

She kept stirring the porridge, making sure it did not burn on the ground. Once again, she started humming. Even though she still felt tired – and was all too aware she should get properly dressed – she was in good spirits. It had been a good decision to come here. For Adrian and the kids. And yes, admittedly for her as well. She liked Lisa. She was an intelligent woman, the kind Sypha did appreciate. And after their long talk on the walk over to the waystation, Sypha had to admit that she also, in a strange way, could appreciate Dracula.

He was wise and he had the same appreciation for old knowledge as her. It had not taken them long to get into a conversation about lost magics she had studied ever since she and Trevor had moved into the castle. He had answered her some other questions as well. Questions about hell. Questions about dying. This alone would give Sypha to think for a while. Because, according to Dracula, there was no hell. Just a thereafter. Which seemed such a strange concept after most of the magic Sypha had ever learned had somehow dealt with the concept of hell.

But Dracula was right. If there was not a heaven, that place could not be hell. There had also been to many cultures that did not know a concept of hell for it to be real. So, yes, the man made sense to her.

She knew very well that Trevor was still quite careful about Dracula. He had every right to be. But it seemed to be their consensus that they would not try to kill him again.

The porridge had thickened. She took it off the heat and went to the back room, where they had put their new purchases, as well as the supplies they had taken with them originally.

She sighed. In the end there was still the question on how they would return to Wallachia. Because while they were able to use the transmission mirror in Baia Mare on their way here, they had no idea who even had another mirror close to them – and even less of an idea if they would be allowed to use it. Worst case scenario: They were looking forward to a five-week journey back home.

There were steps next door, when Lisa and the kids were returning. Even now Marie was happily chatting along, telling a tale of all the many, many animals they had back in the town. Especially the goat she had lovingly named “Ms. Baa”.

“The porridge is ready,” Sypha said, when the three of them entered the kitchen.

“Great. I am starving!” Marie sat down onto one of the stools.

“You'll have to wait for a little bit longer,” Lisa said. “Then I can make you some scrambled eggs with bacon.”

Notes:

Aaaaaaaaah!

Okay, next chapter is going to be the big one. The twist. The twist. Ah, I cannot wait for y'all to read it.

Chapter 21: A Belmont's Decision

Summary:

After some experiments, Vlad finds out that Adrian has in fact failed to turn the Belmont into a vampire. However, he has not quite expected the Belmont's reaction.

Notes:

Ahahaha! Here it is. The chapter with the big twist for this story. Yes, the twist very much is kinda spoiled in the tags of the story. But it is here. The chapter is here. Ehehehe.

It was pretty much like Vlad had thought it would be. There was some hint of magic in the boy's blood, but he was not vampiric. Mixed with the active silver nitrate the blood turned a reddish purple, not blue. It would have been strange any other way. Adrian was not a vampire – nor could he ever be a vampire. He was a dhampir and just as Vlad had heard, he was unable to turn somebody.

He could not say with certainty what made the boy sensitive to sunlight, but it might well be a reaction to the dhampir blood still in his system. Given it had been two weeks since Adrian had bitten him, Vlad suspected it would take another two to four weeks for the effect to wear of.

Hopefully that would put everyone's mind at ease.

Outside the sun was setting. The windows of the cottage were covered to keep it the sunlight outside, allowing him to move through the house. He was mostly alone with the Belmont right now. There was the young child, Simon, sleeping in the bed upstairs. He had been up early so it was not a big surprise. Lisa, Adrian and his wife had taken the young girl for a walk.

That child was funny to him. While she clearly knew about the Belmonts being monster hunters, she had not heard anything about the family feud. Nor did she seem to have a particularly bad opinion on vampires – most of the times. She was still very much enthralled in playing “vampire hunter” with her wooden sword.

Vlad found the Belmont upstairs with Simon. He was just watching the child sleep.

Even accepting that little family of theirs it seemed so strange to Vlad that there was no question which child had which father and yet both fathers seemed to feel equally responsible for the children.

Now the Belmont looked in his direction. He drew in a deep breath before getting up and leaving the room to not wake the child with their talk. The door closed behind him he looked Vlad right in the eyes. “So. Am I a vampire now?”

“You are not,” he said. “I think your body is only reacting adversely to the dhampir blood.” It was not unusual for humans to have such a reaction to vampire blood. While it would give them added strength and agility, it made them sensitive to sunlight at times.

The Belmont evaded his gaze. He was looking down the stairs. If Vlad was reading him right, he did not seem to be happy about his assessment.

“You will probably be fine in a few weeks’ time,” Vlad added.

“I guessed as much,” the Belmont finally said. His jaw was tense. He was clearly thinking about something. “So, Adrian as a dhampir cannot turn anyone?”

“No. Not as far as I know.”

The Belmont nodded at this. Then he did something Vlad had not seen coming. He looked right at him once again, his expression determined. “You can though, right? You can turn me.”

The vampire needed a moment to parse those words. Lisa was right. Humans would again and again find ways to surprise him. Was this man asking him, what he was thinking he was asking? Then this was not a talk to be had on a corridor.

Shaking his head, Vlad went down the creaking stairs. This was a Belmont he was talking to. The boy could not be serious!

“Hey!” the Belmont now protested and followed him downstairs. “Do I get an answer?”

Vlad was half of a mind to try and scare him. But the boy would not easily be scared, right? Back then – those eight years ago – he had faced him and would have died together with his friends, who were now his partners, and he had shown no fear.

By the door of the sitting room, he turned around. “Yes. I could turn you.”

The Belmont nodded. “Good.” He could not be serious! Was this boy really asking him to be turned?

Vlad opened the door and sat down on his chair. He waited for the Belmont to catch his drift and sit down on the sofa. “You, a Belmont, want to be turned into a vampire?” He could not quite hide the sarcasm in his voice.

Trevor Belmont just looked at him. “Yes.” He had clearly thought about this judged by the calm manner, in which he was speaking. He had given it quite a bit of thought, but Vlad could not help but wonder:

“Why?”

The Belmont drew in a deep breath. “Because of your son. He is immortal. Sypha and I are not. We will at some point die and leave him. He is not good at being alone. If you turn me, he won't need to be.”

“So you, a Belmont, are offering up your humanity in exchange?”

“Yes. Pretty much.” The Belmont shrugged. “I have thought about this for the last two weeks and…”

“I can tell,” Vlad interrupted him. He stared at the boy, still working on believing what he was hearing. A Belmont wanting to be turned a vampire. More than that: A Belmont wanting to be turned a vampire so he could stay with his – with Vlad Dracula Tepes' – son.

There was this tiny, almost sadistic urge in him, that just wanted to do it. He was a Belmont after all. It would have some sort of poetic rhyme if he turned the boy. But this man, this Belmont… Adrian really did care about him. And Vlad was pretty sure about one thing: “He would not want it.”

“I know,” the Belmont replied. “But he will make his peace with it.” He was still looking right at him, not wavering a moment. “It is what I want.”

“Is it though?”

“It is.”

Vlad was tempted to question it. Was it really what the boy wanted or what he thought Adrian might want? But he knew very well those things had not to be apart from each other. There generally tended four reasons for people to become vampires: They were turned against their will, they were turned to escape an early death, they were turned to be with an immortal lover or they were turned on a siege for revenge. Vlad himself had been of the later kind – but he knew very well that the second and third kind tended to be the most stable, the least likely to succumb to bloodlust during their first few years.

Adrian would not want it for the Belmont though, would he? He was already feeling bad for this temporary condition of his – if he was turned, he would feel even worse. He might also blame his father for it.

“You know, there are other vampires,” the Belmont now said. “I will find somebody to turn me sooner or later.”

Vlad could not help it. A small chuckle escaped him. “So, you are serious?”

“I am.” The way he spoke made it clear he was. He was not giving long explanations, was not begging, was not even very emotional about it. He was calm and collected. Though Vlad could smell just a hint of fear on him.

As a Belmont he knew, what turning meant. Of course, he did. He might know very well that it was painful – and in some cases was not successful. Vlad himself had not turned a human in more than 200 years, having sired only four other vampires.

“You have not talked with them about it, have you? Your wife and Adrian.”

“No.” The Belmont shook his head. “They would argue about it. They would say that I should not do it. It would be a long-winded discussion.” For a moment he closed his eyes. “I know them. I know them very well. I can tell you pretty much exactly what they will say. But this is my decision. Not theirs. I want this. I want to be a vampire.” There was still this unwavering determination in the boy's eyes.

Vlad was unsure what to do. The boy made a good case for himself, there was no arguing with it. Vlad knew his own son to be afraid. Vlad knew, because he himself still feared the day on which Lisa would die again – hopefully a natural and peaceful death this time. Lisa did not want to be a vampire and he would not force her to be. Still, he would give anything not to live with this fear.

Adrian had said the man, that had made him do this, had been an incubus. Incubi lived of emotions and were adapt in manipulating them. If Adrian had acted under the control of an incubi, this was a real fear of his, was it not? Losing the man, this Belmont. Probably losing the woman, too.

Vlad still knew very little of what exactly had happened there, but he could tell it was still gnawing on the three of them. At least the kids apparently knew nothing about it, however they had kept them away from it.

He felt like laughing. A Belmont wanting to be a vampire. Not to get better at vampire hunting, but to be with a dhampir, with the son of Dracula.

“Fine,” he finally said. “I will do it.”

The boy breathed in freer.

So, how where they going to do it? It might be sensible to do it now, while the others were still out. Otherwise, that argument the boy was afraid out would be unpreventable. The house was not big enough to do this in secret. “Go upstairs,” he finally instructed.

“Why?”

“Because I need to almost empty you,” Vlad replied. “So it would be wise for you to lie down before.”

The Belmont paused for a moment, then he nodded. “That sounds reasonable.” He was not even cussing, which according to the woman he did a lot.

Vlad did not know what to make out of Trevor Belmont. There had to be something about the boy no doubt, otherwise his son would not have fallen for him. He seemed to be almost honest to a fault and from the little he had heard also quite impulsive – normally at least.

The boy got up. His muscles were all tense, when he walked up the stairs. Yes, he was afraid, there was no doubt about it.

And yet, Vlad followed him not completely sure why. It might just be, that he would lose his son for good over this. But if this Belmont was certain he wanted to stay with Adrian it might be worth it. Considering they had been together for almost eight years, which was long from a human perspective, it was not just a short-lived fancy.

Now the Belmont opened the door to the second guest bedroom. He sat down on the bed, looking at Vlad with some expectation.

“I have one question, though,” Vlad said. “No, two.”

A simple shrug. “Ask.”

“If you want this, why did you fight back my son, when he tried to turn you?” Vlad did not know this for certain but from the things he had been told he was pretty certain of it.

“Because I had not thought about it till then. Your son tends to hide his feelings away.”

This was as good of an answer as any. And maybe the boy was not wrong about it. So Vlad would give it to him. “How do you know I am not just draining you and leaving you to die?”

“Because you would not do that to Adrian.”

“I tried to kill Adrian in front of your eyes.”

“Yes, and you feel about as shitty about that as he feels about this entire thing.” The Belmont shrugged. “You are not so different from your son, you know? Apart from him not being a fucking genocidal maniac that is.”

A smirk found its way onto Vlad's lips. Those few sentences had been spoken impulsively. For just a moment Vlad watched the boy. To be frank, there was not much of Leon in him, apart from that good-hearted loyalty. Pausing for just one more moment Vlad finally went over to him. “You know this will hurt.”

“Oh please, I almost died more times than I can count. How bad will it be?”

Vlad hesitated once again. But the boy was certain, so maybe, yes, maybe this was for the best. Vlad took the Belmont by his hair and tilted his head to the side. Then he bit him. He went directly for the carotid as it would take too long to empty him through the veins. The blood spouted into his mouth and a single pained groan escaped the boy. It was too late to stop now.

Notes:

So, yeah. Here we are. Trevor Belmont made the decision to become a vampire (or rather: a fucking blood sucker) to stay with his husband. And yes, the next few chapters very much will deal with the fallout of this.

Chapter 22: Slow Realization

Summary:

As Adrian returns to his parents' cottage, he notices something is very wrong.

Notes:

And the drama of "turning Trevor into a vampire" continues.

The moment they reached the cottage, Adrian knew something was not alright. He could hear Trevor's voice and it sounded very much as if he was in pain. He frowned, listened and heard it again. Not much more than Trevor's usual grunts but pained. Something was happening.

Before he even had a chance to think his body already reacted. He pushed open the door and took just one moment to orient himself. The voice was coming from upstairs. With one easy jump he was up the stairs, where the room to their guest-bedroom was opened.

He stopped, when he saw what was going on. There was his father – drinking from Trevor.

The anger boiled up inside of him within a split-second. "What are you doing?" he shouted. He did not think straight. He did not even have a weapon on him - nor was this room big enough to fight. He just wanted to get his father away from Trevor. But before he got get a grip on his father, his father caught him. Holding him back with one hand he turned his head for just a moment.

“If you stop me now, he will die.”

Adrian stared. He did not understand. Why was his father doing this? Trevor was already pale. Adrian could smell he had lost a lot of blood. Why? But why? Was it because Trevor was Belmont?

Somehow Trevor was still conscious. He squinted, groaned. “It's fine,” he breathed. “It's fine, Adrian. I want this.”

Now Sypha was up the stairs as well. She stopped at the door and had summoned a sword of ice within a blink of an eye.

“Sypha,” Trevor whispered. “It's fine.”

“What are you saying?” she shouted. “Nothing about this is fine!” If Adrian had not been between her and his father, she would already have attacked. But as it was the small size of the room was in her way as well.

“What is going on?” This was the voice of Adrian's mother downstairs.

Trevor's breath became shallower, while he was losing more and more blood. His body was trembling. He was dying. But why? Why would he want to die? Except…

The realization hit Adrian like lightning. No, that could not be. It could not be, what he was thinking it was. Trevor? A vampire? The thought seemed abstruse, but it was enough to stop him from trying to fight – not that he really stood a chance.

His father seemed to notice it. He let go of him to focus on Trevor.

“What are you doing?” Sypha urged.

Adrian did not reply. He just stared at Trevor, who had his eyes closed again. He could hear Trevor's heartbeat, which by now was hasty and uneven as his heart was fighting against the loss of blood. He was dying – and there was nothing Adrian could do against it. Even if he managed to pry his father away from Trevor, Trevor would die. It was too late to intervene.

“Adrian.” Sypha was beside him now.

But Adrian shook his head. “We can't do anything,” he whispered.

Now his father let go of Trevor. He bit his own wrist without much hesitation, offering it to Trevor. And Trevor – barely alive or conscious – took it. It was almost an instinctual reaction. He took the wrist and sucked on it in deep gulps.

“What is happening?” Sypha asked, her voice now uncertain. Just like Adrian she was simply staring at what was happening in front of them.

Did Trevor really want this? Was this some sort of trick by Adrian's father? This could not be happening. Trevor could not turn into a vampire. Not Trevor out of all people. Not Trevor fucking Belmont!

“What is happening?” Sypha repeated even though by now she had to understand as well.

What was this idiot thinking? Why? Why would he do this?

But of course, this question was dishonest. Adrian knew exactly why Trevor was doing it. He was doing it because of him. Because the stupid idiot knew exactly how much he feared to be alone and apparently had figured that he was the one to keep him company.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Trevor let go of Dracula's wrist. His breath was pained and sharp now. One moment a deep breath left him – a breath that sounded exactly like those last breaths Adrian had heard humans take on a battle field. Then Trevor's body suddenly started to convulse. Another groan escaped him, while he pulled his legs close. His eyes opened. They were bloodshot. He panted in pain.

“Trevor,” Adrian whispered.

His father stepped back. “Be with him,” he quietly said. “He needs that now.”

A part of Adrian wanted to argue. A part of him wanted to fight, wanted to punish his father for what he had done. But when a stifled scream escaped Trevor, he decided that this was more important now.

The scream Marie how apparently heard as well, as she yelled from downstairs: “Papa?”

Sypha was almost turning, almost ready to go, but Dracula put a hand onto her shoulder. “We'll take care of them. Be with him.”

Turning around to her, Adrian could see the fight on Sypha's face, but then she came to the same decision as him. She was on the edge of the bed one moment later. “Trevor,” she whispered. “Why are you such a horrible idiot, Trevor Belmont?”

“Yeah, well…” Trevor groaned. “I don't know.” He rolled to the side holding his torso. There was still a bit of blood on his lips. He was panting. “Fuck.”

Adrian was still standing by the bed. He was staring at him – at his husband, for heaven's sake! He wanted to do something, anything – and he knew very well he could not. Once started the process could not be stopped. Trevor would die and if everything went according to plan, he would rise again after a few hours, maybe a few days. There was no way to know.

“I am sorry,” Trevor hissed. “I… Fuck.” He stifled another scream. “I had to do this. I… I had to.”

Once again Adrian found that a part of him just wanted to run away. But he could not, could he? With one deep breath he forced himself to sit down by the side of the bed and push his hand into Trevor's. “It…” He shook his head. “I am sorry.”

Notes:

So, what do you think. Will Trevor make for a good vampire?

Chapter 23: A Painful Transformation

Summary:

Trevor finds out the hard way, that Dracula was not kidding, when he said that being turned into a vampire would hurt.

Trevor had known that being turned would fucking hurt. He just had not guessed how much. It was like his entire body was on fire, like every nerve in his body was zapped by electricity – and it just would not stop. He tried not to scream, knowing very well that the kids were in the house as well. They should not be traumatized by this. But God darn it. It was hard, because it just hurt so fucking much.

He was only barely aware of Adrian's hand in his – and was quite frankly afraid he was breaking it. His body was convulsing and it would not stop. He felt sick, he felt dizzy, he felt all in all bloody awful.

Maybe this had been a bad idea. Had it though? He found himself groaning again.

Sypha was talking. Was chiding him. Was calling him an idiot over and over again. But she could not change it. She could not stop it. Neither of them could.

God. Darn it. How long was the pain going to last? Hours? Please, God, let it not be hours. He could not bear this for hours. But he had to. Because he could not stop it either. It was done now. It was done…

He could feel his dinner liberating itself, but could do nothing about that either.

Slowly, but surely Sypha's anger was yielding to her worry. “Trevor… God darn it, Trevor.” She put her hand onto his leg, while he was trying to control himself enough to at least not kick her. He was fairly certain Adrian's hand was broken – and he felt sorry about it, even if the stupid bastard could heal it in a few minutes.

His vision was blurry. He could barely make out either of them. No wonder. He knew his eyes were changing, too. His entire body was changing. He would die – and then, will God or maybe the devil, rise again.

“Why would you do that?” Adrian's voice came from so far away. “Why?”

Trevor tried to find his voice. His throat was burning up as well. “Because… I fucking wanted it,” he managed. God, he should not speak during this. Speaking was hard. It made everything only harder.

The pain. The stupid pain would not stop. Instinctively he rolled onto his other side, as if he could evade the pain like this somehow. He couldn't. Of fucking course. God, he really was a stupid idiot, wasn't he? Doing this to himself. Doing this to him-fucking-self.

Another scream he could not quite stifle. He reached out for Adrian's hand again. Adrian's because at least that bastard could heal. He rolled onto his back, but of course the pain did not let go. His vision went entirely dark – if thanks to the pain or as part of the change he could not tell.

“Trevor. Trevor.” He could hear them from far away. Somehow, he could feel their touch through the pain though it was only faintly. There was one hand in his hair, another one on his knee. And Adrian's hand inside his own.

He was afraid. He was actually afraid. He had known this would hurt, but right now there were only two thoughts: What if the pain did not stop? What if he died? He could not die on them. He could not die on the kids either. He had to get through this somehow. God darn it. Fuck. He was Trevor fucking Belmont and he would get through this!

Because he did not want to leave his family behind for fuck's sake!

His heart was the worst part. It felt as if it was squashed into pieces. It was fighting against this. It was fighting against the stupid bloody vampire magic that told it to stop beating. Stupid heart. Maybe this would stop if it only gave in. But it did not listen to his desperate thought and he could do nothing but scream.

Notes:

Ah, torturing characters by turning them into vampires. Fun stuff.

Chapter 24: Needed Distractions

Summary:

While Trevor is changing into a vampire (hopefully), Vlad and Lisa have to deal with two screaming children.

Lisa was not quite sure she understood. She had looked at her husband for answers, but right now the children were their priority. Marie had started crying upon hearing her father scream and it had not taken Simon long to wake up and do the same. Now both were crying out loud.

Vlad had brought Simon with him downstairs, but the child was inconsolable. "Papa," he cried. "Papa."

Lisa had Marie on her lap and was patting the child's back. “It's gonna be alright,” she said even though she was not quite sure what “alright” might entail. She had no idea what was happening, just that it had to do with Trevor and that he was in pain – in a lot of pain judged by the muffled screams they could hear even down here.

“What is happening to papa?” Marie managed between her sobs. “What is happening?”

Vlad watched her for quite a few seconds, before answering. “He is turning into a vampire.”

So that was happening. Vlad had turned Trevor. But why? She looked at him questioningly, but he hinted at shaking his head. It was nothing to discuss in front of the children. She knew he had to have his reasons, as she also knew he rarely ever had turned anyone. But it did not make any sense.

“Why?” Marie sobbed. “Why is he turning into a-“ Another sob cut her sentence short.

“Because that is what he wants to be,” Vlad replied.

The girl glared at him. “Liar!”

Exhaustion showed on Vlad's face.

Lisa knew only little about vampire physiology. But she knew he had to give up quite a bit of his own blood to turn somebody. Normally – from what she knew – the vampire would start the process and then lie down for at least a day. But that was not an option right now, was it?

She sighed. “I don't think he is lying.” Her mind was racing as she was trying to piece together what was happening.

“He has to!”

She stroked the girl’s brown hair. Brown just like her father’s. “He is not.”

“But papa is a vampire hunter!”

He was. A Belmont of the house of Belmont. This was what made the entire thing so strange. Belmont's were monster hunters, but especially they hunted vampires. Even more especially they had been hunting Dracula for generations. And now there was a Belmont that had wanted to be a vampire, that had asked Dracula to make him one? She looked at her husband, who sighed.

He spoke in English, so that the children would not understand him. “He wants to be with Adrian. That's why he asked me.”

“But you should have waited for the other two…”

Her husband shook his head. “He did not want that. He did not want to discuss it.”

“But why did you do it?”

“Because of Adrian,” he replied. “Because I do not want him to be alone.”

She could understand that. That man, that Belmont… So, he had decided to do, what she could not. To do it for her son. He really was… what?

“What are you saying?” the girl in her arms sobbed.

She could not understand, could she? She was still so very young and her view on vampires was still in conflict with itself.

Lisa inhaled deeply while trying on what to think. “We were talking about what we are going to make for supper,” she said with a forced smile on her lips. If nothing else she could at least distract those two children.

“We cannot have supper…” The girl shook her head in disbelief. “I wanna be with papa!”

Simon echoed this thought. “Papa.”

“You can be with your father once his transformation is complete,” Vlad said, patting the boy's back. “Then you can look after him.”

“But… but…”

Lisa looked at the girl. “What is happening now is happening.” It was a harsh reality, maybe too harsh for a young child like Marie to understand. But she did not know what else to tell her. “Your father is in a lot of pain, but it will get better.” She hoped so at least, after all: What did she know about those things? “What you can do for now is eat and go to sleep and when you wake up, your papa will be alright, I promise.”

In an ineffective effort to wipe away some snot Marie rubbed her nose. “But what if… What if he's not.”

“He will be,” Vlad told her. He clearly forced a smile on his face. “This is a normal part of becoming a vampire.”

Even more sobs shook the girl's body, while she tried to contain herself. Even now she was not understanding. “But why would papa want to be a vampire?”

It was then that Lisa found a good answer. “Because that way he can make sure he can protect you forever.” She rubbed some tears away from the girl's cheek and got herself to smile. “You and Simon both.”

Marie snuffled, but thought on this still sobbing. Then she nodded slowly. “I see.” She slid from Lisa's lap and without another word walked over to the next room to sit onto Vlad's chair, pulling her legs up to herself.

Simon of course was still crying, but there was not much they could do about it. After a moment, Lisa got up. “Supper,” she muttered to herself. For a moment she thought on this. “I think I should make them some Blinski.”

Notes:

Just a chapter of Lisa and Vlad grandparenting. The story is going to feature some really fun scenes with Marie and Vlad in the future, because grandpa Vlad is so fun to write.

Chapter 25: Death

Summary:

Sypha wakes up next to a dead Trevor.

When Sypha awoke Adrian was gone and Trevor was dead. He seemed dead at least. There was no pulse, no breath. He was completely lifeless and there was nothing Sypha could do about it.

The last night had been a full-on nightmare. The screaming had gone on for at least two hours after which he had become weaker. Dracula had instructed them to feed him and so they had done – well, mostly Adrian. They had given him blood. He had trembled. And then the trembling had become less and then… Sypha was not quite sure. Everything seemed like a blur.

The bitemark on Trevor's neck had healed, but that had not to mean anything. They could only wait to see whether or not he was turned. Turned or dead. The books had said it might take hours but up to three days for him to wake up.

Stupid Trevor. Stupid, stupid Trevor. Why would he do this? Why would he do any of this?

Of course, she knew. He had done it for Adrian. He had done it because otherwise the two of them would die and Adrian would not. But how could Trevor think this was the right thing to do? He had to know this was not was Adrian wanted - he did not want them to give up their humanity. Of course she did not want Adrian to be alone either, but this…

She took Trevor's hand, which was cool. Of course it was. He was dead.

Blinking away some tears, Sypha got up. She felt exhausted. How long had she even slept? In the end both she and Adrian had been on the floor. She could've used a hug, but of course Adrian had felt too bad about himself to even notice.

They had been through this several times. Him not feeling deserving of them. If left to his own devices Trevor could go down that train of thought as well. This was probably why he had done such a thing. Such a stupid, stupid thing.

Sypha's eyes were swollen. She had cried. She had not been able to help it. Trevor had died in front of them and there was no guarantee for him to wake up, was there?

She felt angry with Adrian for leaving. He was an idiot, too. Probably somewhere out there moping, because he could not stand to just talk to someone about his feelings. And she? Well, she had to be here, wait for Trevor to rise and take care of the children – because somebody had to!

When she went down the stairs, she was still trembling. She felt weak, as if her legs would give out under her any moment. But she had to keep standing. She had to. Because somebody had to.

Washing herself with some icy cold water she did not really feel better. Maybe it was not a big surprise that she did not notice the smell of porridge before entering the kitchen. There was a pot on the stove and before Sypha knew, what was going on, Marie was hugging her leg. “Mama.”

The girl buried her face against Sypha's robes.

Sypha crouched down and took the girl into her arms. She might need that as much as the child. Of course the children had heard the screams last night. Oh, those poor, poor children. Trevor should've thought of them as well. But he had not known it would be that bad, right?

Did it matter, though? What would the children do with a father, who could only go out during the night?

And that was not even speaking of their town. Trevor would be unable to give classes during the day. He would be unable to help with the harvest. Had he even thought of that? Why had he not talked to them?

But she knew the answer to that one, too, didn't she? Because they would've tried to talk him out of it.

“Sypha.” That was Lisa, who came over to her. “You're up.”

Sypha nodded weakly and looked up. “Adrian has left?”

“Probably.” Lisa shook her head. “I have not seen him leave, but if he is not with you…”

Drawing a shaking breath Sypha tried to sort her thoughts. “Thank you for taking care of the children.”

Lisa just smiled and put one hand onto Sypha's shoulder.

“What is with papa?” Marie now asked. She was crying again and looked, like she had cried a lot.

Sypha pressed away her own doubts. “He will wake up in the evening.” She forced a smile onto her face. “Don't worry.” Gladly she would've tried to be strong for her kids, but right now she barely could.

Stupid Trevor. Stupid Adrian. Stupid men.

“You've cried,” Marie now noted.

For just a moment Sypha hesitated, then she nodded. “I have.”

“Why?”

“Because your papa had been in a lot of pain last night and I was really worried about it.” And angry. So, so angry. But that was nothing the children had to worry about. If Trevor lived – well, “lived” – they would have to sort it out between one another.

Sypha tried her best to think positively. So often she had now made the point that vampires were not all bad. They could live without doing too much harm, they could actually teach people. And while Trevor might not be able to fight during the day, he would make a better fighter as a vampire, wouldn't he? But would he even be alright? He was Trevor. Trevor Belmont. Trevor Belmont being a vampire? Drinking blood? That just seemed so wrong.

“You should eat a little bit,” Lisa now said. “It will make you feel better.”

With a long sigh Sypha stood up. “Where is Simon?”

“He is still sleeping. He has not slept for most of the night.”

Syoha nodded. “Okay.” Right now, she had to believe Trevor would be alright, would wake up soon enough. She just had to. And when he did, well, they could deal with everything else.

Notes:

I wanted to put in this chapter to show that when you are a parent... Even if you have a lot on your own plate, you still will have to parent your children. So, Sypha has to do the parenting here, because her men are useless.

Chapter 26: The Coward and the Idiot

Summary:

Adrian has gone out to be alone, when suddenly someone else is joining him...

Adrian was a coward. He knew that. He knew he should be back at the cottage, should be with Trevor, with Sypha, with the kids. Instead, he was out here, sitting at a cliff about two miles away from the village and staring out at the sea.

It was all his fault after all. If he had not given in, if he had not Magnus take control, none of this would’ve happened. He just could not believe it. What now? It was too late. Trevor had been turned. There was nothing he could do about it.

Maybe he should’ve gone here alone. Maybe…

It did not really matter, did it? He could go over all the “what ifs”, but none of it would change the outcome. Trevor – Trevor Belmont of all people – was a vampire now. And he was a vampire because of Adrian.

At least if he was to live. But Adrian had to believe Trevor would live. If not…

Why couldn’t that idiot talk to him first? Why had he not talked to Sypha? They could’ve told him different. They could’ve…

But Trevor had not talked to them. It was over. It was done. There was no way to change it now.

How long had Adrian even been out here? With the thick cloud cover it was hard to tell. He really was a coward. He should face Sypha. Because it was his fault that Trevor was different now, that Trevor was a vampire. He also should be with the kids, should not leave it to Sypha and his own parents to take care of them. He should… And yet he could not get himself to go back there, to go face any of them.

He really was a coward.

It was all his fault.

The bell of the abbey was ringing. It was already nine, it seemed. He really should get back. He was hungry, too. But going back would mean…

“There you are, you old bastard.” Trevor’s voice made him almost jump. For once he had not heard his partner approaching.

He looked up at him. “Trevor…”

“I already figured you were somewhere out here moping,” Trevor replied with a grin, that just showed a little too much fang.

“I…” Adrian could not bear looking at him. It was his fault after all. “I am fine.”

With a sigh Trevor sat down next to him. “You are always fine.”

Adrian said nothing to it.

“Really, one should think that after almost eight years you should’ve learned to talk about these sorta things.”

“It’s…” Adrian stared at the sea below, at the waves breaking against the cliffs. “I am sorry,” he whispered. “It’s my fault. I…”

Trevor groaned in annoyance. “Adrian.” He took Adrian’s hand. “Look at me, would you, you old bastard?”

It took some effort. Adrian hat to force himself to look at Trevor. It was still Trevor. Still the same ruff dark hair, still the same stubble and still the same honest blue eyes. But different, too. Just a bit paler then normal and not yet accustomed to hiding his fangs.

“I already told you,” Trevor said, “this was my decision. I made this decision. It’s not your fault, it’s what I decided to do.”

“But you would not have made this decision without me,” Adrian replied. “We both know that.” He shook his head, before Trevor could reply. “You’re a Belmont, Trevor. A Belmont. A Belmont, who is a vampire?” Once more he shook his head. “You hate vampires.”

Trevor shrugged. “I got used to them. And, I mean, I have to content with fucking Dracula being my bloody father-in-law. So, well…”

“I…”

Now it was Trevor, who shook his head. “Adrian. Really. It’s okay. I am fine.”

“And will you be fine in a month, a year, ten years? Will you be fine never going out into the sun again and having to drink blood?”

“Admittedly the drinking blood part will take some getting used to.” Once more Trevor shrugged. “But it’ll be fine.”

Adrian doubted it. He just could not see Trevor – Trevor fucking Belmont – drinking blood and, well, holing himself up in the castle. He would end up miserable, and it would be Adrian’s fault.

Maybe Trevor could tell, what he was thinking. He had always had a surprising easy time reading him after all. Trevor sighed. “Adrian, look, I… I love you. And…” Trevor paused. “Fuck, this is hard.” He put one hand on Adrian’s cheek. “I don’t want you to be afraid. And I don’t want you to be alone. And if a bit of blood drinking can make it so, well, I guess I will drink some blood. It’s fine, really. It will need some getting used to, but it’ll be fine.”

What had this guy to be such an idiot? Why did he have to look at Adrian with those honest blue eyes? Why did he have to do something this stupid just for him? Adrian could not believe it. He really could not.

There were tears burning in his eyes and he could no longer hold them back. Because it was all wrong. This had not been supposed to end like this. What had been supposed to happen, was for both of them to die after living a fulfilled life. And Adrian would remain, guarding to castle, guarding their village, taking care of the kids – and maybe some future grandkids. Something like that. He had always hated this idea, had feared the day those two would die, but he had accepted it. And now…?

Trevor pulled him close, holding him, when he started to sob.

“You are a stupid idiot, Trevor Belmont,” Adrian whispered.

Trevor chuckled. “I know. You keep telling me this.” He stroked through Adrian’s long hair. “And I am fine with being an idiot for you.”

Adrian really did not know what to reply to this. He did not know, what to say to this stupid, impossible man.

“I mean, come on,” Trevor tried after a while, patting Adrian’s back. “I am 32 now. Not long and I would’ve started to have to deal with back pain and whatever old people have to deal with. This is not so bad, really.”

Even through his tears Adrian could not help but chuckle just a little. Yes, Trevor was an idiot. He was the kind of idiot who would do something like this. It just seemed so wrong. It seemed especially wrong, that Trevor – no, that anyone would do something like this for him. Because no matter what Trevor said: He had made this decision for him, for Adrian. Just to be with him.

Breaking away from the embrace just a bit, he put his forehead against Trevor’s. “I don’t want you to be miserable.”

“And I won’t be,” Trevor said. “Just trust in me, won’t you, my dear bastard?”

“Because I want you to be happy,” Adrian whispered.

“And I can be. Even as a fucking bloodsucker.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am. Look. I’ll be with you. And with the kids. I’ll be able to see what kind of trouble Simon ends up in. And, you know, how our little town develops. And if there is any other mage, demon or vampire making trouble, we can take care of that.”

“You won’t be able to use your whip though.”

That one caught Trevor off guard. He thought about it for a moment. “I… I guess I won’t be, yeah.” He smiled, once more showing off his fangs. “I guess I’ll really need to look more into sword, eh?”

“I guess you do, yes.” Adrian sighed. A part of him wanted to punch this idiot. Another part wanted to kiss him. He did the later, finding it strange and unfamiliar to feel the other man’s fangs pressing against his lips. When they broke apart, Adrian looked at Trevor. “I love you.”

“I know.” The Belmont smiled.

Adrian shook his head. What was he to do with this impossible man? He caressed his cheek, feeling the by now familiar stubble. No matter what Trevor said, Adrian was still pretty sure, he would make for a lousy vampire. Especially considering one thing: “You are thirsty, aren’t you?” He was a freshly turned vampire after all. While Adrian had never been around one, he knew that young vampires had a bigger need for blood than they would have two years or three after being turned. Heck, it seemed half a miracle, that Trevor was not ravenous with bloodlust.

“I am,” Trevor admitted.

Adrian sighed. “You can drink from me for now. And then…” He sighed. “I guess my father will have to teach you a thing or two.” It was nothing he himself would be able to teach.

For a moment he almost waited for Trevor to protest, but then the Belmont just nodded. “Yeah, probably.” He seemed somewhat unsure. During the last night, he had been forced to feed, but this would be the first time for him to bite someone.

When Adrian brushed his own hair aside, Trevor hesitated. Kissing Adrian’s neck, he paused. It seemed he wanted to say something, to object, but then he buried his teeth in Adrian’s flesh.

It hurt more than with the other vampires Adrian had fed. There was no elegance in Trevor’s bite, not any of the adeptness vampires would develop after a couple of years. Adrian could feel blood running down his neck. He said nothing. This would be something Trevor needed to learn – just as a child had to learn to eat for themselves.

Yet, Adrian could almost feel Trevor’s hunger. He sucked the blood in strong gulps, with Adrian being unsure whether his partner would be able to stop himself. He did, though. His lips still bloody he broke away panting. Brushing the blood of his face – or at least trying to – he took a deep breath. “Yeah, this will need some getting used to.” He sighed. “But it’s gonna be fine.”

Adrian still wanted to refute this, to disagree. But he stopped himself. It would not help them, would it? Instead, he got up, offering Trevor his hand to help him up. “We should talk to Sypha,” he whispered. “She… I don’t think she is quite fine with this decision yet, either.”

Trevor paused, but then nodded. “Yeah, you might be right about that.”

Notes:

Ah, and there we go. Vampire Trevor. 🎉🎉🎉

Yeah, the next chunk of chapters will deal with Trevor dealing with being a vampire and everything. But yeah, we are getting somewhere here.

Chapter 27: A Much Needed Apology

Summary:

Adrian and Trevor return to the cottage.

This would need some getting used to. The world looked quite different to a vampire Trevor was quickly finding out. He saw colors differently. He had always known that vampiric vision was different from those of humans, but it still seemed strange. Just as it seemed so unusual to hear every mouse rustling in the fields, hear the nuns from the abbey sing even though they were over a mile away, hear a vague whisper of the humans in town. Was this how it had always been for Adrian? Had he always been able to hear all of that? It was fucking annoying.

There was also the thirst. He had known it would be bad. He had known those things. The thirst of young vampires was always bad – which was why the worst things happened, if they were left on their own. It was constantly gnawing on his mind. It was better now that he had drunken from Adrian, but it was still there.

He knew he would have to drink more later, that he might have to drink from a human, too. He still hated the thought, but, well… He would not kill. If he did not allow it to get too bad, he could control himself. He would not kill.

But it would be worth it. It would be worth it after all.

“I need a nice fucking cape,” he muttered, when they had almost reached the cottage.

This one caught Adrian by surprise. “What?”

“Well, vampires have capes, right? I want a nice fucking cape.” He sighed. “I had a nice cape once, you know?” After this he paused. “Well, kinda nice… Okay, not that nice.” It had barely been more than a rag in the end.

At least his words had the desired effect: Adrian chuckled. The guy still looked miserable and Trevor guessed he should not be surprised. His dear dhampir had always had the tendency to blame himself for everything.

Approaching the cottage, Trevor could already hear both the kids playing, as well as the voices of Sypha and Lisa. The women were still talking. Which brought up a strange question: “How do you go about it?”

“About what?”

“Not… Listening in on people?”

Adrian thought about it for a moment. “I guess, you get used to blocking it out.”

That was bloody unhelpful. “Great…” Trevor took a deep breath, even though he was not entirely sure whether he still needed to breath. What he had learned was kinda contradictive on that issue. Breathing felt right though. “We… I should talk to Sypha.” He had only briefly exchanged words with her, when he had gotten up. For once, because he had been worried about Adrian, but also, because she had clearly been angry with him – and while he did not fear monsters, he most certainly did fear the fury of his wife.

Adrian nodded. “You should.”

If one asked Trevor, Adrian should, too. And be it just so that he stopped blaming himself. But, yeah. It seemed only right for Trevor to go first. He had just dropped this entire thing on both of them. Maybe they should’ve talked it out before. Yeah. No. They would have talked him out of it. And maybe they would’ve been right.

“Oh, well…” With sigh he stepped around the corner of the house. The kids were playing in the garden. Marie with her wooden sword, while Simon was suspiciously digging in between the bean stocks.

The two women were sitting on the bench by the side of the garden. They looked up now, just before the kids noticed them.

Marie walked over. “Do we have to kill you now?” she asked seriously.

“What?” Trevor crouched down.

“You are a vampire now,” Marie said, “do we have to kill you now?”

Adrian picked her up. “Have we not established that we won’t kill randomly kill vampires?”

“I am just saying,” the girl protested. “He bit you, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, and it is fine.” While Adrian carried the girl over to his mother, Sypha got up. Well, it seemed she agreed that they needed to talk. Great.

Trevor was still no good at this stuff. But, well, he guessed they had to talk sooner or later. And sooner was definitely better than later.

Having one eye on Simon, Sypha stood in front of Trevor. She was quiet just for a moment, before it burst out of her: “You are a horrible idiot, you know that, Trevor Belmont?”

“I know that.” What was he even going to say? “But I…” He sighed. “If I had talked with either of you, you would have tried to talk me out of it.”

“Of course, we would have!” Sypha protested. “You are a fucking Belmont!”

So, she was angry. Of course, she was angry. He had known she would be, but admittedly he was not quite sure what the main point of anger was. “I am fine with this,” he said. “I really am.”

“So, I am supposed to be fine with it as well? With you… I mean, with you not aging, not going out into the sun again, not…” She shook her head. “With you drinking blood?”

“To be fair, it was you, who had made an entire point out of blood drinking not being that bad, as long as no-one was killed in the process,” Trevor said, but then sighed. He knew very well, that was not the point. “Sypha, I love you.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“And while you might call me an idiot for all of this, I have thought about it quite a bit.”

“I know.”

“And… I mean… I might be a Belmont, but this is my life, right? I should get to decide what to do about it. And, well… I made this decision.”

Now she sighed. “I know.”

“I…”

Suddenly she looked right at him. “And what about me, Trevor? What about me? Am I now just supposed to live in that big castle with my two immortal husbands, who will stay the same while I grow old and frail?”

“Well, I…” He stopped himself before he could say something stupid. Carefully he took her hands into his. “I don’t know, Sypha. I really don’t.” Unsure how to say, what he was thinking, he paused for a long moment. “Look, I… I don’t want to see you die. I don’t. But… It’s your decision, just as this was mine.”

While he had feared something like this, he had to gulp, when tears filled her eyes. So, he made his second partner cry, too. Great job. But then she leaned against him, allowing him to put his arms around her. “I know,” she whispered. “I just…” She inhaled shakily. “I don’t know if I could do that. If I would want that.” She shook her head. “At least not now.”

Even though she could not see it, he nodded. He had not lied. He really did not want to lose her, not even to old age. But it was her decision. By now he had heard enough stories, that he knew how bad things could get, when someone was forced to become a vampire. He would never want that for her.

“I am sorry, I just sprang this onto you,” he said. “But… Well, as I said.”

Even now her breath was still shaky. He could hear it so clearly, could even hear the even rhythm of her heart. She was still crying.

“I am sorry,” he repeated.

“I know.” She drew in another deep breath. “And I will get used to it, I promise. It’s just…” She broke away enough to look at him. “You are an idiot. Such a horrible idiot.”

Following an intuition, he kissed her forehead. “I know. But I am your horrible idiot, don’t forget about it.”

“I know. And I do love you, I just…” In this moment she turned around. “Oh no, Simon! Don’t!”

Looking over at their son Trevor found the kid had found a worm in the ground, which he was just in the process of putting into his mouth. Trevor could not help but chuckle.

Notes:

"Wait a moment," you might be thinking right now, "did Adrian try and weasle his way out of apologizing to Sypha right here?"

To which I gotta say: Yeah, yeah he did. But don't worry. Sypha will get her apology eventually.

Chapter 28: Negotiations

Summary:

Vampire fledgling need a lot more blood than a grown vampire - and now that he has a fledgling to take care of, Dracula needs to secure a steady supply of blood for him.

It was interesting to Vlad to see how everything played out. A lot of hurt feelings, a lot of fear, but by the time they ate supper the three young ones seemed to have found some sort of agreement with each other.

That the Belmont was up already was a surprise. Vlad had suspected him to be out – dead – for at least a day. This might show later on, though. It might be his strength had not been quite as developed as it could be. But, well… He would have to see about that now.

Even though the boy was a Belmont, he was Vlad's responsibility now. Mostly that if the boy messed up it could easily reveal he – Vlad – was still alive. He did not want that. He did not want to deal with any other vampires anymore. He just wanted this. A quiet life with Lisa. Nothing more. Thus, the boy had to be taught at least the basic necessities. He had also to be kept under watch as there was still the chance he would develop bloodlust.

Right now, however, he was sitting at the supper table pouting because he had been forbidden to eat. Vlad knew the boy would not be able to hold any supper so they might as well not waste the food. Eating normal food would take a few weeks to come back. Right now, his body was still changing – and he would learn how to deal with it.

The little girl, Marie, was still throwing her father wary gazes and the little boy did not want to leave his arms.

This was a rather unusual constellation – with the Belmont staying with his family after being turned. If vampires had had mortal families, those would often be left behind and be it just because vampires normally lived among themselves.

“You'll have to feed,” Vlad said, after those members of the family still fully alive had eaten.

The boy evaded his gaze, but nodded. “I know.” He was still not a big fan of the idea.

To be completely honest, Vlad was surprised he was not ravenous with hunger. In most cases vampires would at least for a few days be more animal than human, being kept under stern control by their sires. It seemed the Belmont was one of the few exceptions. But what had he expected from a Belmont? If anything, that family was stubborn.

With a nod he indicated for the boy to follow him and the boy got up. He exchanged a grave gaze with his wife, while handing her the little kid, who was instantly starting to whine. Then he drew in a deep breath. “Until later, I guess.”

Vlad had noted that the Belmont had already drunken from Adrian. There had been blood on Adrian's shirt, when they had returned to the cottage.

“So, how do we do this?” the Belmont asked, once they were outside. “Do I have to hunt or…”

“You won't have to hunt as long as you're here,” Vlad replied. “I don't hunt either.” He shook his head. “Hunting would lead to torches and pitchforks, at least if you don't have a magic castle to teleport you away.”

“So, how do vampires normally deal with it?”

“Well, most vampires have a town or so under their control and feed of the population. Or they keep on the move so that they will be gone before the humans notice something is off.”

“And we are not doing either of those things, right?”

“No.” The boy was either dense or really wanted him to spill it out. “Your wife, she said you had vampires in your little town before.”

“Yeah. Several.”

“So, how did you feed them?”

“For the most part Adrian fed them.” The Belmont shrugged. “As long as he eats and drinks enough he can easily regenerate the blood.”

This answer did take Vlad by surprise. Mostly, because he had never thought of that. He had known Adrian had the regenerative abilities of a full-blooded vampire. But as vampires could not drink from other vampires, he had just assumed they would not be able to drink from dhampirs either. “I see.”

“Sometimes,” the Belmont added though, “we had to fine voluntary blood-donors though.”

Vlad nodded at that. So, the boy was not entirely stupid.

“So, you do have blood-donors?”

“Yes.”

“I see.” The Belmont fell silent again. His eyes were sharp, while he looked out into the almost complete darkness of the night.

Vlad did not really remember how it had been for him. He rationally knew that his senses had changed back then, but he did not remember what it felt like to be a human. Those days were too long gone. He still remembered, however, that he had not cared about not killing humans back then, because his transformation had been too fueled by anger and hatred to care about those things any longer.

The fact that he had killed his own sire not long after had probably not helped him. He had spent the first twenty years of his undead life in a pretty ravenous state, before getting control over himself and his new-found powers.

“So, where are we heading?” the Belmont asked after a while.

“To the abbey,” Vlad replied. “I have made a deal with the nuns there.”

“With the nuns?”

Vlad could not help a sigh of annoyance. “Yes. The nuns. Lisa and I teach them. In return they let me feed once a month.” He looked at the boy. “I will have to negotiate with them to keep you fed.”

“So, how much do I need to feed for now?”

“It depends. The hunger will not calm down for at least two months. About a pint a day for the first two months. It will mellow out afterwards. Right now, your body needs the energy to complete the change.”

The Belmont took this information in. “I will go mad otherwise, won’t I?”

That was the base knowledge Vlad expected from a Belmont. He nodded. “Yes. Worst case, you will just die.”

The boy nodded. He continued to follow him, though it was clear he was anxious. He did not protest though, was at least reasonable enough for it. Vlad had seen that, too. People, who for one reason or the other chose to be vampires only to realize they would have to drink blood after the fact, trying to get out of it. But there was no getting out of it. Blood-drinking was something unpreventable. A fully transformed vampire could live of pig-blood for a month or two, but even pig-blood could not sustain them for any longer.

The abbey was in sight. There were still some candles burning in the window, so they would not have to wake anybody up.

Well, except for the person being their blood-sacrifice for the day.

No, Vlad was not quite sure if they would be able to sustain this without having to rely on the people from town, which would be inconvenient. But there were only 38 nuns and even a healthy human could only supply about one pint worth of blood a month – and even that was not sustainable for very long. Yes, he knew that Adrian would most certainly give his husband blood and apparently, they already had some experience with that, but he was not quite sure how this would work out.

He entered the abbey garden, making sure the boy was still following him. When he reached the abbey gates, he knocked.

It took just a moment for steps to sound from the corridor inside. Some words were muttered about who might be it at this time, before a nun opened the door. It was a young woman, Vlad knew her. She had taken the name of Therese.

“Sir Tepes,” she greeted him in English. A curious gaze shot over to the Belmont boy. “You need to feed again? It has only been two weeks.”

“I am afraid, it is more complicated than that,” Vlad replied. “Can we come inside?”

Once more the girl shot a gaze over to the Belmont. “Sure,” she then said and stepped aside.

He nodded to the boy. “Come.” Then he stepped into the abbey himself, before addressing the nun in English again. “I will need to speak to the abbess.”

“Of course, I will get her,” Therese said. “You can wait in the dining hall, if you want to.”

He turned to the Belmont. “Follow me.”

“What did you say to her?” the boy inquired.

“I will have to speak with the abbess. We might need to change the terms of our agreement to feed you.” He was not yet sure what he might offer the nuns in return. He had to be careful, with what knowledge he offered – just to prevent another “witchcraft” affair. There was a reason they had neither electricity, nor running water in the cottage.

“I see.” It almost seemed as if the boy felt bad about it. For Vlad or for the nuns? Probably the later. Vlad did not expect the boy to feel anything but disdain for him.

He led the Belmont to the dining hall where a lone woman was still eating. From the looks of it, she was pregnant. Maybe a wife escaping her abusive husband or a woman having a child out of wedlock. Those often ended up at the covenants. She did not acknowledge either of them when they entered.

It was clear the boy was getting nervous – and maybe it was the hunger as well. The inescapable hunger…

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. His eyes, which had retained their blue color through the change, were fixed on the higher table at the end of the hall.

Then there were more steps in the corridor. It was not yet midnight so the abbess had probably been up. She was a woman in her mid-40s with a stern face and a long nose. While she might seem hawkish, she was a very reasonable woman, who held little superstition despite her position. “Sir Tepes,” she greeted him, too. “What can I do for you. It is not your time to feed again.”

“It is not,” he replied. “But it is his time to feed.” He nodded towards the boy.

“Who is he?” The abbess, who had taken on the name Cecilia, eyed the Belmont with a wary expression. “Is he of your kind?”

“He is,” Vlad replied. “And he is young. As such he needs to feed more regularly than I do.”

“We cannot provide that,” the woman simply said.

“I am sure you can. Because if not he needs to feed somewhere else.” Appealing to the selfless morals of the nuns seemed the easiest way to go about this. He might even have succeeded with a different woman. Not so with Cecilia.

“You know the consequences for you would be harsh.”

“If he does not feed, he will succumb to the hunger.”

“Then he needs to go somewhere else.”

By her God, this woman was stern. He needed to device another strategy. Bargaining. Bargaining it was. “What do I need to offer you to allow him to feed?”

“Depends,” she said. “How much does he need?”

That was a good question. He turned to the Belmont – and hated he had not taken his own son with him. But that might have raised even more questions. “You, Belmont. You said Adrian had fed other vampires in Walachia.”

“Yes.”

While Vlad knew his son would not mind – might even prefer this solution – he hated to put him in as part of the calculation. “How much can he provide?”

“Depends,” the Belmont replied and thought about it. “About two liters a week?” That was about three pints.

“About three times as much as I need,” Vlad answered the abbess in English.

She shot the boy a judgmental look. “That is a lot.” She put her arms into her sides and tried to stare him down – something that had not much of an effect. “What can you offer?”

That was the question, was it not? What should he offer? So far, he had mostly offered the nuns knowledge about medicine and chemistry. Basic knowledge that they could easily offer up as gained by themselves. The nuns were doing some research in the abbey after all. But what could he offer that might not be labeled witchcraft by the next monk visiting?

The boy watched them – clearly with no understanding what they were talking about. He grunted. “What is it?”

Vlad was poised to ignore him. After all there was nothing much the boy could offer to this conversation. The girl would have probably been of more help in that regard. On the other hand he was a Belmont. “I generally trade knowledge with them, as I said. You needing more blood drives up the price.”

Apparently, the boy did get the problem immediately. What was of more of a surprise to Vlad, he had a suggestion: “Do you know Adamaic?”

Notes:

Is there any location more associated with the Dracula story than the ruins of Whitby abbey? Probably not. But in the 15th century the abbey was not in ruins, of course. There were still nuns living there and praying. So I thought to myself: Wouldn't it be ironic, if Dracula ended up making a deal with those nuns to make sure he could drink blood? After all, it would be easier for him to negotiate with people who were better educated. And in Whitby the nuns would probably be the best educated people around. So... Nun blood. xD

Chapter 29: Two Useless Husbamds

Summary:

Adrian and Sypha wait for Trevor to return.

Adrian returned to the sitting room after having put Marie to bed. She had wanted to stay up until her papa returned, but in the end the exhaustion had taken over. The same was true for Simon, though the boy started to whine as soon as Sypha tried to put him anywhere.

This was still a lot. It had been too much, frankly. Sypha still felt exhausted herself, but she would wait until Trevor was back.

Now that he was up and, well, undead she felt at least some level of relieve. She had not expected him to rise that quickly, but now that he had she was wondering how she would've dealt with him lying there like that for several days. It was better this way, though she was still adamant that he was a stupid idiot.

She wanted to lie down. She wanted to lie down so badly.

Adrian was watching her. There was a little distance between them – and she could tell very much he was still feeling bad about everything. Admittedly, though, she could not help but blame him a little.

“Should I take him?” he asked referring to Simon.

Sypha shook her head. Right now, it actually felt good to hold the little body of their son. It gave her something to hold on to. She inhaled. “You know, I am angry with you.”

“I know.”

“What were you thinking just slipping away in the morning, leaving me with the kids?”

It was clear that he had not thought she was angry about that. He evaded her gaze, stared into the flames of the fireplace. “I… I am sorry. I was not thinking straight.”

“You were moping,” she said plainly.

“What?”

“You were moping. You were self-pitying yourself.”

He was still not looking at her. His smile was sad. “You are not wrong.”

“Of course, I am not. I am the observant one.”

“You are.”

He was an idiot as well. Could he not at least manage an honest smile? By God, had it not been enough that Trevor had spoken to him? Stupid Trevor, who had gone looking for him right after waking up. God knew, what could've happened!

She tried it a bit softer. “Adrian, how often do we need to get over this: Talk to us about your feelings. Because I most certainly needed someone to talk to this morning.”

To this he did not reply. He just sighed.

“Adrian.” She put one hand onto his. “You cannot always go out moping when something bothers you. Especially not now.” It was this horrible habit of his he had from the beginning. At home there was a least a chance he would go to Greta to mope, who would quickly straighten him out. But there was no Greta here in England.

“I know,” he muttered. Taking a deep breath he turned to her. “I truly am. I should've thought of you and the kids. I am sorry. I…”

Already intuiting what would come next, she shook her head. “Don't go on. Look, I don't blame you for Trevor's stupid decision. That one is entirely on Trevor and I know, you would've talked him out of it, if he had asked you.”

“I would have,” he muttered. “But that does not mean that it's something I didn't want.”

This made her sigh. “I know.” Of course she did. And she did understand it, because imagining herself in his situation she might feel the same. The simple thought of having to lose everyone dear sooner or later, knowing very well she would live through it, was horrible to her. Even if Simon would probably be immortal as well – at least that was their best guess so far, as he showed other dhampir characteristics – they could not necessarily expect the boy to stay.

Maybe, this decision of Trevor's had not been all bad. She still hated the thought though. Trevor Belmont –- a vampire!

She closed her eyes and pressed his hand. “I don't hold it against you. Because it had not been your decision and I… I will get used to Trevor being a vampire. I will. I… I just wish, he would've talked to us about it.”

Adrian nodded slowly.

With a sigh she let herself fall to the side, using his lap as a pillow. She rolled onto her back, putting her feet up on the end of the sofa. Making sure Simon would not fall down he put one hand onto Adrian's cheek. “Just do me a favor and stop moping, will you?”

“I will try.” He managed a somewhat more sincere smile, before putting one hand onto Simon's back. He leaned back, closed his eyes. They were both tired. All of this had been exhausting.

Steps in the kitchen, then Lisa entered the room. She watched them for a moment. “You know, you could go to bed.”

“No,” they muttered almost synchronously. “We'll wait for Trevor.”

The woman smiled at that. “He should not be too long, I expect.” She went to sit down in the chair that so far always had been occupied by her husband. “You can have our bed,” she then said.

In surprise Sypha opened her eyes. “What?”

“You can take the master bedroom,” Lisa replied. “The guest bed is just not big enough to fit three people.”

“What about you?”

“It is big enough to fit two.”

Barely. Sypha did not say it out loud, though.

“Also, Vlad does not sleep much. He does not need to, you know?”

By the grunt Adrian made, this was not news to him. Well, obviously it was not. He had been around Dracula for quite a while, hadn't he?

Syphy just nodded. “Thank you.” She was truly thankful. Because, yes, the guest bed had been too small for the three of them. Another thought came her and her tired mind was too slow to stop it escaping. “Trevor won't have to sleep either, will he?”

“I don't know,” Adrian muttered. “I… most vampires sleep.”

That was true as well. The vampire visitors they had had at the castle so far all had slept for most of the day. Maybe it was a thing like with the human food. Something that was not really necessary, but in one way or another enjoyable enough for them to prefer it.

“Vlad is a bit peculiar,” Lisa said with a chuckle. “Just don't think too much about it.”

Even Sypha could not help but chuckle a bit at this as well. It seemed so strange that yes, those two – Lisa and Dracula – were indeed deeply in love with each other. That someone like Dracula had fallen in love with a human woman. But then again: Who were they to judge it? Their family was far from normal.

Closing her eyes again, Sypha could feel herself dozing off again. Adrian's other hand found its way into her hair, stroking it just a little. It did feel good. Even after everything she could not really stay mad at either of them. Mostly she felt strange – unsure about what would happen now.

She did not know, how long she was dozing like that, but at some point a set of lips on her forehead did wake her.

It was Trevor. He was back. Smiling at her softly.

God, why was it so hard to stay mad at him?

“You did not need to wait for me, you know?” he whispered.

“We know,” they replied. But in the end, it had only felt right.

Notes:

And there we go. Adrian could not evade Sypha for very long. She would get him sooner or later. And yes, he is very much moping, because he is an idiot, right?

But yes, this basically concludes the mini-sub-arc of this story of "Trevor getting turned into a vampire". As you will see, this story will have multiple little sub-arcs like this. No high stakes, no big tension. But just little arcs of the characters dealing with the past and their feelings about it.

Chapter 30: The Problem with Ordained Weapons

Summary:

Trevor finds out, that indeed the Vampire Killer whip will not allow him to touch it any longer.

The sun was setting, though it was already pretty fucking dark thanks to the clouds. People had not been kidding: The weather up here was hell. Trevor did not complain, though. This way he was at least able to leave the house. He already kinda missed the castle, as it was large and there were at least things to do during the day.

He could, obviously, do the vampire thing and start sleeping during the day. But the kids were up at the time and it seemed to be a kinda asshole behavior to just leave the kids to the other two.

Well, right now at least Marie was still suspicious of his condition. He was well aware the girl was watching him, while he uncurled the whip.

What was he even doing? He knew already how this was going to go – otherwise he would not have covered the handle with a cloth. Still, he had to fucking know. There was still a chance – however tiny – that as a Belmont he could still somehow use the whip.

Taking a deep breath, he put away the cloth, just to quickly realize that the whip had no preference for Belmont-born vampires. Just gripping the handle burned like hell. He swung it a couple of times, letting it snap through the air. Then he had to let go. “Ouch.” He looked at his hand, which was now covered in blisters. “Fuck.”

So, ordained weapons really seemed to be out of the question for him now. Just great.

He looked at his hand, waiting for it to heal. This entire vampire-thing had to be good for something, right? However, his stupid healing powers were not kicking in just yet. Bloody Dracula had already told him it would take some time for his body to develop all the powers, but shit. This hurt. He was wagging his hand through the air in the hope it would help somewhat, all too aware of Marie sitting on the garden wall and watching him.

“What are you doing?” she asked with an accusing tone.

“I…” He stopped himself, wondering whether he should tell the truth. He decided for it. “I just had to know whether I could still use the whip.”

“You can't,” she observed.

Looking at his reddened and blistered hand, he grunted. “Yeah, I can't.”

“Why, though?”

“Because this whip was created to kill vampires and fucking demons with it. And…” He shrugged.

The girl pushed herself off the narrow wall and came over to him, to pick the whip up. “Will Simon be able to use it?”

“Given your papi can hold it just fine: Yeah, probably.”

While Marie was still eager to learn fighting, she obviously yet lacked the skill of an adult. When she used her wooden sword, her blows were still weak and not perfectly coordinated. Now that she rolled up the whip again, this showed as well. Apart from the weapon being way too big for her, her movement was still not dexterous enough to properly wind up the long leather tongue. “Can I use it?”

Trevor smiled. “When you are big enough, you will be able to use it.”

“When will I be big enough?”

“Give it maybe five more years and we can get you a training whip.” After all whips just needed a sort of dexterity that she was not yet capable of.

She did not like this answer though. “That's fucking forever!”

It was for her, wasn't it? That was almost the entire length of her life so far.

He lifted her up as well as he could with his hand still hurting, being careful he would not touch the whip she was still holding with his bare skin. “The time will go over. Until then you can learn how to use the sword properly. Maybe a bit of magic, too.” Sypha was eager to teach the kids. It would most certainly turn them into fearsome monster hunters one day. Trained in combat and magic.

The girl groaned. “But I wanna learn this now!”

“Patience,” he reminded her. “Patience is a hunter's first virtue.”

She grunted in an almost perfect, albeit more high-pitched imitation of him. “It's a stupid virtue, then.”

“No. It is an important one,” he replied. “If you are not patient, if you run into a fight without thinking, you are easily killed. And we don't fucking want that, do we?”

At this she rolled her eyes. “No. I don't want to get killed.”

“See.” He smiled at her.

In the end, she would be lucky. Hopefully at least. She would get the luxury to learn while surrounded by family. When he had taken the whip out of his dead uncle's hand, he had barely ever trained with it before. What he had learned since, he had to learn on his own. He would not want this for her, for any of the kids. He just wanted them to grow up with family and have a good life, a save life – as save as they could muster.

Suddenly the girl put her arms around his neck – ignoring that the handle of the whip was now burning the back of his head. He did not say anything though, holding her.

“Hey,” he whispered, patting her back. “Everything is alright.”

She sniffled. “Why are you a vampire now, papa?”

He sighed. He had dropped that on the kids as well, hadn't he? “Because… Because that way I can better protect you, you know? Vampires are after all stronger than humans. And a vampire is going to be much better at fighting than a human.”

“But you can't use your weapon anymore.”

“Yeah. But I can use other weapons. Like a sword.”

“You suck with swords.”

“I do not.”

“You do.”

“No. It's just that I am not as good with swords as I am with the whip.” And that Adrian was a fucking monster with his bloody magic sword.

Now the girl pushed herself away far enough to look at him. She was frowning, much in the same way Sypha tended to frown. “You do suck with them.”

He chuckled at the accusation in her voice. “Well, then I'll need to train with them some more. Don't worry, your papi is going to be a bloody great teacher.”

She did not seem convinced. “You'll need to train a lot.” A pause. “Maybe, you should get a magic sword, too.”

“Maybe I should,” he agreed. Then he winced. “And, honey, please just let go of that whip, will you?”

It seemed she only realized now, that the whip was burning him. “I am sorry,” she said, letting it fall down.

“It's fine,” he whispered. It would be fine in the end.

Notes:

We never get told in the show how exactly the Vampire Killer whip works. But it seems that it magic reacts upon contact with vampires. I considered what would be the thing to win over: The fact that Trevor is of the Belmont bloodline what it was created for, or that Trevor now is a vampire, which the magic attacks. I ended up deciding that he is a vampire will weigh stronger. Especially because he is now of Dracula's bloodline as well.

(To be perfectly honest: I have not yet decided why the hell Simon is able to use the Vampire Killer. He is gonna be the one to inherit it, but... Technically he should not able to in this timeline given he might be called Belmont but is of the Tepes bloodline.)

By the way, check out the Noctober Challenge. I am posting some Castlevania One Shots this month! :) And yes, I have them all rewritten, because that challenge was actually really fun to do.

Chapter 31: Father, Son, and Fledgling

Summary:

Adrian accompanies Trevor to the abbey to watch him feed.

“I told you, you would not be able to use the whip,” Adrian muttered, looking at Trevor's bandaged hand.

Trevor just shrugged. “It was worth a try.”

“You really are impossible, you know that?”

Trevor smirked. “You keep telling me.”

Adrian still did not quite understand how Trevor could be so relaxed about everything. Maybe it was all a veneer just to make a show of him being fine. But so far, he seemed extraordinarily relaxed.

Even now, one day later, Adrian was still not sure what to think about all of this. He felt guilty about it. About Trevor, about trying to hide the day before. And yet, a small part of him was glad, was actually happy about this. He felt guilty for this part, too.

He was walking besides Trevor right now, while the rain was pouring down from the sky. They were on their way to the abbey, where – apparently – his father had fed during the last few years. Adrian was still wondering what made his father come here of all places. Surely a bigger city was an easier feeding ground, if he was not trying to just rule by intimidation again.

But maybe it was just what had happened to Adrian's mother that had made him reconsider.

Still. An abbey seemed like the least likely place to find willing people to feed on. An abbey!

He watched Trevor, whose hair was wetly clinging to his scalp. Maybe he really did need a cape – and be it just for the English weather. Carefully Adrian put his hand into Trevor's healthy one and the other man took it.

“I am telling you,” he whispered, “I am fine.”

“I know.”

The abbey rose out of the darkness like a beast from the sea. The architecture was gothic, with pointy arches rising to the roof. Only few of the windows were lit at this time, the golden light if candles shining through them. The yellowish glass was not quite see-through, giving the whole place a mythic atmosphere.

His father stepped up to the main door and knocked. Maybe this was something that surprised Adrian as well: His father was apparently taking it quite seriously to be a proper sire. Adrian did not quite know why, but he had not expected this.

A nun opened, an older woman, the wrinkles carving a story of both happiness and despair into her face. She saw them, saw Trevor. Worry showed on her face. “Who is that other man?” she asked his father in English.

“He is my son.”

“Does he need to feed as well?” There was appall in her voice.

“No. He does not.”

The nun eyed Adrian suspiciously, before stepping aside to allow them to enter the abbey.

Candles were burning in the entrance hall, lighting in with a gloomy light. Quite enough for their eyes, but rather dark for a human. Inside the abbey prayers were muttered, while somewhere two young women were talking, giggling. Adrian tried his best to not listen in.

He had never been to a house of worship and this felt surprisingly alive despite the late hour.

His father and Trevor did apparently know, where they were going, so Adrian followed. He was not even quite sure, why he had decided to accompany them. It had somehow felt right. Maybe he just wanted to make sure that Trevor was indeed “fine” as he said, even though he could do nothing, if that was not the case.

There was no cure for vampirism. Not that he knew off.

The room the others led him to was a dining hall. There were several large tables in three rows, providing enough space for maybe fourth people. The nun, who had opened the door, lit a single candle in a crevice in the wall. “I will get somebody,” she promised before leaving – not without shooting them a somewhat judgmental look.

Trevor was smirking, still showing too much fang. “You need a cape, too, my friend.”

Adrian was well aware of that. While he was wearing his coat, this had not protected his long hair from getting wet. His shirt was soaked from the collar to his chest. “Yeah. Maybe I do.”

The transformation had not changed Trevor much. He mostly looked still like Trevor – just with fangs and pointy ears. There was however a faint glistening in his eyes that was no longer quite human.

“What are you thinking about?” Trevor asked, but Adrian just shook his head.

There were steps in the corridor outside. Two pairs of them. Accompanied by the whisper of two women.

“So, this is a young vampire?” one of them asked.

“That's what they said,” the other replied.

“Are young vampires more dangerous than older ones?”

“Why would I know that?”

“I don't know.”

The other woman sighed. They both sounded somewhat anxious and Adrian could still not quite fathom, how this agreement had come to be.

Now the women had reached the dining hall. One of them was the older woman, who had already opened the door. The other was young and sun-freckled. A single strand of red hair had liberated itself from her headscarf. She eyed their visitors with curiosity and caution.

“The dark haired one,” the older woman hissed.

“Who is the other one?”

“Sir Tepes says it is his son.”

The young nun shot Adrian a long gaze. “Vampires can have children?”

“Why do you ask me?”

Now the young woman gave herself a push and walked up to Trevor. Maybe knowing that he did not understand a single word of English, she just pulled up her sleeve. With a somewhat stubborn expression in her face, she offered him her wrist.

It showed that Trevor felt somewhat bad about it. Nevertheless, he took the wrist. “Thank you,” he muttered in Romanesce and hesitated just a short moment before biting.

The woman flinched just a bit, but let it happen.

Adrian watched Trevor drinking. He wished he could solely provide for him but at least for now it was not possible. Later, once the hunger had subsided, they should be able to deal with it this way, but right now? It would not be sustainable, not even for him.

The strangest thing about this entire display was to see that Trevor did enjoy it. It was only natural for a vampire, Adrian assumed, but it still seemed so strange. It was Trevor, after all.

He would yet have to learn proper “manners”, though, as once again he could not stop the blood from running down his chin, with some drops landing on the ground.

After a while, he let go of the woman's hand. “Thank you,” he muttered once again, before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

The woman seemed to understand the meaning of his words. “You are welcome,” she muttered, pushing the sleeve over her wrist again. Her gaze was still suspicious.

There was a moment of silence, before Adrian's father took over. “Thank you for your kindness,” he said. “We will return tomorrow.”

“Do as you must,” the older nun muttered, while crossing her arms.

Trevor shot Adrian a smile. “See. It's fine.”

Looking at him, Adrian sighed. He was still not sure about it. “I see.”

Notes:

This is mostly just a fun little chapter to deal with how the turning works. I have decided that in this universe the vampires all need a while to develop their powers. Including the regeneration. This is an issue for Trevor right now, because yes, his burned hand heals fairly slowly. But he will survive it.

This story will later feature some fun scenes with Trevor trying to trigger himself into having vampire powers. With... mixed results.

Chapter 32: How to Raise a Dhampir

Summary:

Trevor and Lisa talk about raising dhampiric toddlers.

Marie was watching her brother with suspicion, while he was pushing something into his mouth. “What do you have there, Simon?”

The toddler just grinned at her, starting to chew.

“Simon. What do you have there?”

Simon was still chewing – which would probably take quite a while considering he preferred to chew everything carefully.

“Papa!” followed the protest. “Simon ate something strange again!”

“He will be fine,” Trevor replied. So far, the kid had always been fine. Either he had just eaten and digested it or had vomited it out just a short time later. Even though he still shot Lisa a gaze, who was plucking some peas of a stock. “There is nothing poisonous here, is there?”

She smiled and shook her head. “No. Nothing. He should be fine.” She looked over at the child who was still chewing.

Marie looked at her little brother and shook her head. “You are fucking disgusting, you know that?”

Finally, he swallowed and grinned at her, with still some greens between his teeth. “Am not!”

The girl shuddered. “Won't you just grow up?”

“Oh, she will regret that one,” Trevor muttered.

Lisa put the pods of peas into her basket and looked at him. “Will she?”

“Sure. Adrian said he was fully grown at twelve. Judging by that he will outgrow her by the time she hits her teens.” Trevor looked over at the two children. “She will most certainly hate that.” And they might as well. They would have two kids who were technically teens on their hands at the same time. That would probably make up for something – at least judging by Trevor's experience with the youngsters in their little town.

He was well aware that right now it was kinda hard for the two kids to play together. Five years age difference was a lot in their age. His own siblings once had been much closer in age to him. Well, not all of them. His oldest brother was about five years older than him as well.

He sighed. It seemed like a cruel trick of fate that he had been the only one to survive.

“You are still dealing fairly well with them,” Lisa said, now sitting down on the garden wall next to him.

“You think so?” By now Marie had turned her back to her brother, to climb up onto the wall and balance on it – something not entirely easy given the uneven structure of the wall.

“Yes. I think so. The two of them are doing well.” Lisa seemed to be smiling to herself. “And Marie talks really well, doesn't she?”

“Oh God, she won't shut up,” Trevor groaned, but did so with a grin. If one asked him, Marie was quite taking after her mother in this regard. She was already well adapt in lecturing everyone around her with the smatterings of knowledge he had picked up on.

Lisa chuckled.

“Simon is more of the silent brooding type,” he continued. “We'll see how long that lasts.”

“Adrian was a rather silent child as well,” Lisa replied. “He would ask questions, but not as much as Marie. He learned reading early and often would just sit in his room with a stack of books.”

Somehow Trevor could imagine that fairly well. He had seen the portraits of young Adrian, because there were a couple of those as well. He had been a pretty cute child, judging by those. “Did he also crawl everywhere?”

“No, he was pretty content being caried around for quite a while. After that, well, he went everywhere with purpose. And he liked looking at stuff. There has been this one time, when he pulled an entire flask with boiling liquid to the ground in the laboratory. God, I was so worried.”

“But he was probably fine.”

“Yes. Dhampiric regeneration was a life-saver.”

“Did he learn from it?”

“He did. He learned that chemical instruments are better watched than touched.”

“Then he learned quicker than Simon.” Trevor chuckled. Simon would make whatever mistake he made at least twice, as if to confirm his results.

Speaking of Simon: The boy crawled over to them. Reaching the wall, he pulled himself up. While he could not yet walk, he could stand for a bit. “Papa,” he demanded, stretching out one arm.

Trevor understood and picked him up. As soon as the kid was on his lap, Simon did notice the pea pods and pointed at them.

Another chuckle, but Lisa gave him one. Simon looked at it. “Pea,” he noted, before immediately putting one end of the pod into his mouth to chew on it.

“You really are a hungry one, aren't you?” Lisa ruffled the boy’s blond hair, earning her nothing but a long gaze through golden eyes.

The vampiric hearing was still something, Trevor had to get used to. He could hear it all so well. The rustling of a mouse burying itself into the soft ground of the garden, bloody Dracula rumbling about in the house doing God-knows-what, the not-too-distant crushing of the waves against the beach and the flapping of bird wings. It was fucking annoying.

He did, however, also hear the sound of two all-too familiar pairs of feet on the pathway up to the cottage. He turned to see both his husband and wife coming up the way. They had been in town trading for some honey, even more cheese and a bit of lard, to keep Marie fed.

While they had somewhat solved the problem of Trevor having been spoiled rotten by eight years of Adrian's cooking – he just could not eat normal food for now, could not even drink the bloody ale and he hated it – Marie was still not a fan of the lack of spices. And even in the small town they were unable to acquire anything but salt.

Marie now noticed them as well. “Papi! Mama!” She jumped of the wall to run towards them. Half on the way she stumbled and fell to the ground, but quickly recovered and made it the rest of the way for Adrian to pick her up. The girl with them, the two of them made their way up to the cottage.

Simon noticed them to. “Mama!” he announced, his mouth still full of chewed up pea.

The two of them came over. “What do you have there?” Sypha inquired upon seeing the boy chew.

He offered her the left-over half of the pea pod. “Pea!”

“I see.” She seemed relieved.

“And I am telling you, he is going to be fine either way,” Trevor said.

“We don't need to court it, Trevor,” she muttered.

Lisa looked at their clearly filled up basket. “Did you get everything.”

“Yes. We'll keep the little one fed for just a bit longer.” Adrian smiled at their daughter, who rolled her eyes with some drama.

“I am just saying,” she muttered, “the food here is fucking bland.”

Notes:

I wanted to have Trevor interact with Lisa a bit. And yes, Trevor is very much courting death the entire time, because this takes place during the day - but a cloudy day - and he is simply sitting outside with her. He is an idiot, I can say that much for certain. :P

If any of you have read my stuff about adult Simon, you know that he will very much look like his biological father Adrian. He almost looks like a clone, but character-wise he is simply the exact oppsite of him. And I love playing around with that quite a lot. (If anyone is interested, I uploaded a humorous little story about adult Simon and his younger sister Anna earlier this week.) Now, I do wonder how much of that is nurture - and how much is nature...

Chapter 33: Brooding Vampires

Summary:

Sypha finds her newly vampiric husband by the cliffs in the moonlight - brooding like a proper vampire.

It was only day three of Trevor being a vampire and already Sypha noticed how their schedule adjusted. They just stayed up a little bit longer, awaking in the morning a bit later. They really had to make a plan how to deal with it, when they returned to Belmont. After all they could not expect the entire town to adjust and all three of them had responsibilities.

It was just after midnight and Adrian was bringing the kids to bed. Much to the dismay of Marie, who wanted to wait until her father returned.

Sypha was waiting for Trevor, too. It did not make much sense for them to go to bed before he returned either way. The night air was fresh and less mucky then in the Wallachian summer nights. It was even a bit chilly.

By now she got why Dracula had moved out here of all places. With a good chunk of the days being cloudy, he could go out – something that might not be possible in other regions. The same was true for Trevor, though Sypha had to admit she was worried whenever he was outside. Just one moment of the cloud cover breaking would be dangerous now, not that he seemed to mind.

A tall figure lurked in the darkness. Dracula no doubt. Sypha pushed herself away from the cottage and summoned a flame to be able to see in the dark. “Where is Trevor?” she asked once she realized that her husband was not with Dracula.

“He wanted to walk a bit,” the vampire replied.

She sighed. He did not blame him. While he had gone out during the last two days, he had barely ever gone far. He was still aware enough of the risk that he chose to stay near the cottage. “In which direction did he go?”

“Towards the cliffs, I think.”

She nodded her thanks. Having the flame hover in the air by her side she took the same direction. She wanted to talk to him. To just him. While the children were a blessing, they also tended to interfere in them having some alone time.

While she was shivering a bit in the chilly night, she kept her pace steady, trying to look for him. Maybe he needed some time alone as well, but… Well, they needed their time just as much.

It took her a while, but she did find him. Sitting on the remains of an old tree, that had apparently been blown over by a storm. He was looking out onto the ocean, the breeze ruffling his hair.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He looked at her without much surprise. He would now be considerably harder to sneak up on. “Brooding.”

“Brooding, eh?” She sat down by his side, directing her gaze towards the ocean. The clouds had broken up a bit, allowing the crescent moon to illuminate the waves. She extinguished her flame to take in the pale light of the moon and stars.

“I thought being a vampire and all I did need to learn how to brood.”

“Oh, please, Trevor Belmont. When I got to know you, you were already pretty good at brooding.”

“I guess I unlearnt it ever since.” But even though he might be brooding, he put an arm around her, pulling her close.

This was familiar. Just leaning against him, his arm around her. Feeling the wind. Yes, this was very much familiar. She closed her eyes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked after a while.

“Mostly tired,” she whispered.

He was silent for a moment. “I mean…”

“I know what you mean.” Opening her eyes again she looked at him. He was still her Trevor. Same rough look, same stubble, same scars. Just with fangs now. “As I said, I will get used to it.” She put her hand onto his cheek, looking into his eyes. “I am not quite there yet, though.”

“That's fine,” he muttered. “We have time.”

“Especially you have time now.”

He laughed. “Yes. I guess I do now.”

She watched him more. He was showing off his fangs too much, because he was smiling. It was kinda funny, thinking about it. When she had met him in Gresit, he had been so moody, frowning most of the time. And now? He was laughing a lot, joking. Even after everything that had happened with Magnus he was still in rather good spirits. Maybe in better spirits than the rest of them.

Apparently, her thoughts showed on her face. “What is it?” he asked.

She shook her head. “It's nothing, it's just…” She turned away, once more leaning against him so that she did not have to look at him. Even after now almost three weeks she was still not quite sure how to feel about the entire Magnus affair. Something told her, she should feel worse. She had been raped. She had been kept prisoner in that dream of hers. That dream of, well… What she wanted? It seemed so far off. Did she really want it? Traveling again? It felt wrong to say so. After all she very much enjoyed her life as it was now. Living at the castle. Teaching. Going on a little adventure from time to time. She had her family, had Greta, too, and the people – children and adults alike – whom she taught in town. That was really all she needed. Having speakers over in the winters, learning their new stories and transcribing them.

Was there really a part of her that wanted to just live on the road again? Or had it been a strange figment of Magnus’.

“What is it?” Trevor asked again, once more putting his arm around her.

“Nothing, really.”

A chuckle escaped him. “You are the one who will never except a ‘nothing’, when it is offered to you. Tell me, Sypha.”

“Fine.” She looked at the reflection of the moon in the ocean. “I was thinking about Magnus.”

“I see.” He pulled her even closer. “I am so sorry that I…”

“It's fine.” And she was not even quite sure why it was this way. Maybe because Magnus was already dead. “I was more thinking… When he captured me, have I told you in what vision?”

“You were with the speakers again,” he replied.

“Yeah. And…” She paused not quite knowing how to phrase it. “It's said incubi can see you deepest desired, but… That feels wrong. I don't desire to be on the road again. I am fine with occasional adventures, you know?”

“Are you really?”

“I am. Really. I… I would not want to leave everything behind that we have at home, you know?” She giggled, when a thought hit her. “Especially not hot running water.”

He sensed that she did not want to go on the serious streak. “Yeah. I know. I mean, I have not had a proper hot bath in almost two weeks!” He sighed. “And I can't even go bathe in the sea!”

“You can't?”

He grunted. “I tried. Saltwater. It burns.”

At this she laughed out loud. She had not thought about this, but it made sense. While vampires were not as susceptible to salt as night creatures or demons, it did hurt them. So it made only sense that the ocean would hurt them, too. “Of course you've tried.”

“Well, I am very sorry for trying to wash myself!”

“Be honest. You just wanted to swim.”

A small chuckle. “Yeah. Fine. I just wanted to swim.”

Notes:

This is a chapter I thought was actually quite charming. Mostly because it just shows how well the two know each other by now. Sure, Sypha is still a bit pissed at Trevor for it all, but it is not as if she is gonna break up with him. She just does not quite know where to go from here.

Chapter 34: The One Who Loves A Monster

Summary:

It is late in the night, when Vlad finally joins his wife in bed.

Lisa was reading. A book on old Welsh lore. She had found it the last time she had visited York. It was the one thing she had to admit she missed about the castle: The sheer endless number of books they had had there. And from what she had heard by now the collection had basically doubled in size given that the vast collection by the Belmont family had been added to it. She really would like to see that one day. Maybe they would get around to visiting that town of Belmont one day.

The door was opened with a creak when her husband came in. “You're still up,” he said.

“You know I am,” she replied, putting the book aside. She had been waiting for him to return. “I was waiting for you.” She skuttled towards the wall to allow him to come to bed as well.

Admittedly the bed was even narrow for the two of them. After all the guest bedrooms were made for one person each. But they fit somehow – and it was better than the three young people being forced to somehow cuddle up this closely.

Without much of a comment Vlad sat down at the side of the bed.

“How is Trevor doing so far?” she asked.

“Surprisingly well, all things considered.”

“All things?”

“He is just a fledgling. Most have less self-control than he has.”

“Maybe he is just especially motivated,” she said.

Vlad looked at her with a smile. “Or stubborn. Belmonts are stubborn.”

“That might be true as well.” She patted the bed by her side to gesture for him to lie down.

He did so, extinguishing the candle as he did. He put both arms around her as he had done so many times before and she could feel him breath as he buried his nose in her hair. For just a moment she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.

Right now, she felt still fairly confused with what was happening in her son's own little family. She had only known them for a couple of days, not quite a week. While she did like both of his partners and those two kids, there was obviously a lot she did not yet know or understand. And yet, a part of her was thankful for what the young man had done for her son.

Everything was hard to judge so far. After all she had not seen her son for so long – almost a third of his life. Longer if she considered the time she had spent in Lupu. She regretted it now having gone to Lupu alone. But it was a distant past she could not change.

While she had made her peace with never seeing him again, she was thankful he – and his family – had found out and decided to come.

They had a weird little family, had they not? Her husband a vampire, their son a born immortal and their one grandchild probably the same. Now the son-in-law was a vampire, too. She really had to wonder what that young man had said to her husband to convince him of turning him. There was no question however it had been about Adrian.

She sighed softly as this reminded her of her own guilt. “I am sorry,” she breathed.

Of course he understood. They had spent now almost 30 years together. He knew her so well. “You know that I don't blame you.”

“I know…” She breathed in his so very familiar smell. “But what will you do when I am gone?” A part of her was afraid he would get worse again. By now she knew the story how he had once become a vampire after losing his first wife to a very natural, albeit tragic death.

“I don't know yet,” he replied. “Maybe I'll just follow you.”

She did not reply to this. Maybe it was the only natural conclusion of the entire tragedy that had started with her first death. In that case they would be together again in that other place which was not quite the hell she had imagined.

“I don't want to be in a world without you,” he whispered.

“I know.” She pressed her forehead against his chest. “I know that.” After everything it was quite hard to ignore.

Oh, sometimes she had to think she was crazy to just stay with him after what happened and not even doing it out of fear or a sense of duty, but because she still loved him. Then again, he had already been a murderer of many when she had walked up to that dark castle 29 years ago.

“Do you think, they'll be alright?” she asked after a while.

“I don't know,” he replied. “But I think so. It seems they are already fine.” He sighed. “As long as they keep their little fledgeling fed for now.”

She nodded. Yes. That would be the challenge. And she knew quite well it meant they would have to stay for now as they could simply not travel with a young vampire, who was unwilling to hunt. Trevor would be unwilling do hunt, right? At least humans, that was.

And even though she felt a bit bad about it, she was thankful. For the moment it was just too nice to have this family here and catch up on the many things she had missed during the last nine years.

“I love you,” she whispered following a sudden urge.

He caressed her hair. She could hear the smile from his voice, when he replied. “I love you, too.”

Notes:

If you have read my other stuff, you do of course know that in The End Dracula is indeed following Lisa in death when she dies for the second time.

Chapter 35: Don't Think Like A Human

Summary:

While Dracula has told Trevor to take it easier until his transformation is completed, Trevor cannot just wait to test out his new powers.

 

“For fuck's sake!” Once again Trevor landed on the ground without quite knowing what had happened. He grunted, got up again and faced Adrian.

“You cannot hold back,” his husband challenged him.

“I am not holding back.”

“You are!”

Trevor groaned and tried it once again. They were fighting without weapons, just with their fists and Trevor had assumed that him being a vampire and all would make up for something. After all vampires were faster and stronger than humans, so it should somewhat level the playing field. But somehow…

He went in to strike again, but no matter how hard he tried he seemed to be mostly unable to hit Adrian. The dhampir moved from side to side like a bloody shadow. Then he grasped the collar of Trevor's tunic and pushed him to the ground once more.

“Hell!” Trevor was panting already. Why was he even panting? He was an undead immortal for Christ's sake! This should make up for something.

Sypha watched them. “Vlad said the speed and strength will come over time.”

Trevor grunted. “It's Vlad now?”

They had had this conversation of course. Considering the name “Dracula” would forever been linked to the bloody genocide the dude had decided to no longer go by the name. Did not stop Trevor from calling him freaking Dracula.

Of course, Sypha was right. That old maniac had noted it to be a bad idea for him to try out this new body. Something, something, he had to first finish the transformation, something, something, give it one month time. But Trevor did not plan on idly waiting an entire fucking month!

Even when he had been human – so until six days ago – he had normally trained with Adrian at least every three days. And now that he could no longer use his stupid whip, he most certainly needed some training in close combat.

Sure, there was little chance of them being attacked here and yet… Not training felt wrong. Also, he really wanted to test out his new powers. If there were any.

Once more he went in for the attack. This time he aimed his first punch at Adrian's solar plexus, the second at his shoulder, but once again the dhampir was quicker than Trevor, turning to the side before blocking the second punch with his arm, pressing Trevor's arm aside.

Trevor, of course, had learned to fight without weapons and he considered himself rather good with it. So he dropped down, before Adrian could grip him again, instead trying to kick Adrian's feet from under him. But with one simple jump backwards Adrian evaded.

“Trevor, you got to stop thinking like a human,” Adrian said.

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

Within a split-second Adrian was in front of him, his hand at Trevor's chest, easily pushing him to the ground. He hovered over him. “That means: stop attacking like a human.”

“Yeah. Great. Thanks for clearing that up.” He saw Adrian grinning above him. “Geez, one could think you are actually enjoying this.”

“Maybe a bit,” Adrian replied, but helped him up either way.

Trevor brushed the grass from his tunic and sighed. He looked over at Sypha. “A little help?”

“Oh, you two are perfectly fine without me,” she said. “And I keep telling you, maybe you just got to wait a bit.”

“Oh, he is already stronger and quicker than a human,” Adrian said. “His thick head just needs to realize it.”

Well, how was he supposed to realize it then? Easy for his dear bastard to say “stop thinking like a human”! He had not spent thirty-two years being a human beforehand! How was Trevor to unlearn three decades of human thinking? He panted. Maybe that, too, was his body not yet quite realizing he was a bloody vampire now.

“Let me try something.” Adrian eyed him. “You defend. I attack. Just… don't think too much. Just let your body act for you.”

“Says you,” Trevor grunted. After all it was Adrian with this perfected, elegant fighting style. The guy could not just tell him he never thought about what he was doing!

Still, Trevor went along with it. He inhaled, trying to get a hold of his breathing. Vaguely he remembered having sword training as a kid. There, too, his aunt had said something about “emptying one's mind”. Maybe this was one of those things? Another deep breath and he tried it, tried pushing his frustration aside, as well as his still stinging guilt of just dropping this on them. He could do this, God darn it! He was Trevor Belmont! He had fought Death, he could win a stupid fight against his bloody husband!

Then he nodded.

One moment later, Adrian had vanished. Only that he had not. Trevor could actually hear him. The rustling of his shirt. His rapid steps in the gras. He turned to the side to evade the attack. The next attack came and Trevor could almost feel it. Fun thing: he had felt something like this before. Sometimes in some really hard battles he had gotten into the flow. This was like that, only that his body was reacting even faster. Stepping back he evaded another attack. Then he lifted his arm to deflect the next punch.

“Good,” he heard Adrian's voice before the stupid dhampir was gone again. He was above him!

Trevor turned, sidestepped. Allowing his body to act on its own, he caught Adrian by the shoulder, used his movements against him and threw him to the ground.

Adrian laughed. “See. You can do it.”

“Apparently I can.” Yes, he had been in this state before. It helped. But it was even more effective now. His body could react quickly, if he just did not think too much about it. He moved his arm, trying to just somehow feel this new strength, but to no avail.

“Are you content now?” Sypha asked.

She had not been a big fan of doing this from the beginning. Even though it was already dark and they were a good mile out from the town. Well, Trevor guessed one of them had to worry about things.

He went over to her, putting both arms onto her shoulder. “Maybe for now,” he said, softly kissing her.

She returned the kiss, before looking at him. “You are sometimes horrible, you know that?”

“And rude,” Adrian said with a smile. “Don't forget rude.”

At this she grinned, though there was still sadness in her eyes. “Yeah. That, too.”

Now Adrian came over to them, putting one arm around each of them. “So, we are done for now?”

Trevor sighed. “I guess we are.”

With a smile Adrian pecked his cheek. “I cannot believe I am saying this, my dear Belmont. But you really are thinking too much.”

Chuckling Trevor kissed him, too. “Well, see, after eight years I can still surprise you.”

Notes:

I love Trevor so much. Of the main trio he is my favorite character. Sure, he cannot hold a candle to Hector and Isaac in that regard, but yeah... This is partly why. Because let's face it. This is something he would do. "I have become what I was taught to hate! ... ... ... Okay, do I get cool powers to go along with that maybe?"

I know that right now the chapters are kinda in between the "mini arcs" of this story. But it is gonna get to the next arc soon. xD

Chapter 36: Father and Son

Summary:

Vlad tries to reconnect with his son, who very much is still reluctant around him.

Adrian was still reserved around Vlad and he could not blame him for it. It seemed enough for now, that the five were right now staying at their house. He could not ask for more. No, it was actually already more than he could've asked for.

The boy was walking in between the fields in front of him, still evading his gaze. He was out here with him however, taking a walk with him.

There was so much that needed to be said, but no right way to say it. Despite his age and influence Vlad had never considered himself much of an orator. He just watched the boy, whose long blond hair was reflecting the pale light of the waxing moon.

“So,” Vlad finally started to talk, “the castle really does not move any longer?”

“No.” Adrian shot him a short look before continuing along the way. The corn on one side had already been harvested, but the field next to it was still long and golden. “Sypha broke it, when she captured it.”

Of course Vlad remembered ever so weakly that the room, that had once moved the castle had been hot and melting, when he had fought his son. “There are ways to repair it.”

Adrian shrugged. “Maybe.” Another short look over his shoulder.

Vlad had not built that castle himself. He had stolen it from his own sire. The mechanism, though, had been of his own making, though it had enlisted the help of creatures that had not been of this world. He was still sure, he should be able to recreate it, as he had spent three centuries learning its intrinsicies.

“How did you even find the spell to catch the castle?” he asked. While the girl had told him in detail how she had constructed it, she had left that part out.

“The Belmont Hold. The Belmonts had tried so long to find a way to catch the castle. Sypha just finished the spell.” Adrian shrugged. “She is that good, you know?”

“Oh, I can tell she is a clever one.”

“Yes, she is.” Adrian stopped to look up to the moon. There was a tenseness in his pose, that betrayed his anxiety.

It was strange to watch the three of them from the outside. They seemed so familiar with each other, at times almost reading each other’s minds. Of course, Vlad knew the same sense of familiarity, as it was the same he and Lisa shared. It was, however, something he did not have with his son as he realized. He did not really know him at all. It might well be, that the boy had just changed so much by being surrounded by people, but what worried Vlad was the thought that he might have never known him at all.

After all he had been surprised when the boy had attacked him after Lisa's death.

“So, you went to Gresit.” He knew this was a strained way to keep the conversion alive. “Why Gresit out of all places?”

“For one, you already had a hideout there. But also, there was the legend of the sleeping soldier. So I reasoned, that if you attacked Walachia sooner or later someone capable would turn up looking for help.” He shrugged. “A scholar and a hunter, the legend had said. And then those two woke me up.” A slight smile played around his lips. He seemed to understand, what his father was getting at. “Because we had no idea how to track your castle, we went to the Belmont Hold. We spent several days roaming around in there, before we found the spell. But we figured, well, three of us would never stop your forces. But we could stop you.” Now the boy forced himself to look at Vlad. There was still sadness in his eyes.

Vlad would not ask for forgiveness again because he knew he did not deserve it. Instead, he continued on the way. “And then several people tried to bring me back.”

“That's what they say, yes."”

Of course, the girl had offered that much information already. Several people had tried. “And the one, who managed?”

“It was some stray magician calling himself Comte de St. Germain.”

“Ah.” Vlad had heard about him. The man had been around for quite a while, touring the courts of Europe. A conman, from what he had heard. But apparently there had been some magic knowledge to the man after all.

“There had been a conspiracy to bring you back. With apparently Death itself behind it.” Adrian shrugged.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. That, too, was something the Belmont had mentioned but Vlad had been unable to make sense of. He knew some people believed in a personified Death – a believe that had become exceedingly popular during the plagues, but he had considered it a superstition. “Death tried to bring me back?”

“Yes.” A sigh. “We thought we stopped the ritual, but I guess we did not. Because St. Germain was the one who wanted to call you and mother back. If he had been successful, that would explain both of you returning to the living.”

That did make sense. Sadly, Vlad could see that some desperate vampiric souls might try to revive him, but it had been an open question why Lisa had been back with him as well. “And your Belmont, he beat Death?” The thought itself was amusing.

“He did. And almost died doing so. Being all heroic and self-sacrificial.” Adrian smiled. “But he came back. Almost dead, but not quite. Trevor is good at almost dying.”

“I see.”

The voice of his boy was softer, when he spoke about his partners. There was a smile on his lips, while he did so. He was really in love with those people. Well, obviously he was, but it still seemed so foreign. Vlad did not even know why. Maybe because after everything Vlad saw himself far removed from humanity and because Adrian was his son he had considered him the same. But there he was with two very human people – even after being transformed the Belmont was still painfully human – and had grown so very close to them.

There was a bitter irony that he met them through trying to defeat Vlad – well, managing to do so in the end.

“Can I ask you something?” Adrian asked after a while.

“Of course. Anything.”

“Why did you come here out of all places?”

Vlad smirked. “When we decided not to search for the castle, we thought that it would be best to go further away. England is known for the bad weather and a good cloud cover. And, well, I once read that Whitby was supposed to have beautiful beach.”

This got even the boy to chuckle. “I see. Simple as that?”

Vlad nodded. “Yes. Simple as that.”

Notes:

Vlad is so bad with this. He really is not good when it comes to people. Even his own family. Everyone else is very much better at this.

I... honestly do not know what else to say. Other than: Toss a comment to your writer... Please? I know I am kinda spoiled with this fic, because I got quite a few comments so far. But I would love to read your thoughts on this.

Chapter 37: Girls' Talk

Summary:

Being up early, Sypha finally gets a chance to talk to Greta through the mirror.

It was late morning and for once Sypha had some time for herself. There had been some crying half an hour before – once more a full diaper – and she had used it as an excuse to get out of bed, just to have some alone time. Well, alone time was relative, as for once she was watching the children, but also she had brought the distance mirror with herself.

Admittedly it was not the best time of day to reach Greta. The sun rose earlier in Walachia than it did here, meaning it would already be afternoon in Belmont. So it might well be that Greta was out in the fields. It was harvest season after all.

Still, it was worth a shot, because frankly Sypha needed to talk with Greta about everything that had happened during those last few days. And, obviously, there was also the fact they might be staying here for a while.

The mirror was a simple one and Sypha was so far thankful that nobody had managed to break it. Once she opened the box the shards hovered up into the air, waiting for her command. “Call Greta,” she demanded and much to her delight indeed her friend's face showed up in the mirror.

Greta looked beat. Like she had not slept in at least two days. Still, her face lit up when she saw Sypha. “Hey, girl,” she said with a smile.

Sypha could not help a relieved smile. Wow, Greta looked worse than she felt. “What happened to you?”

“The twins have the runs for two days straight now. And belly aches. They ate something in the forest, which they were not supposed to eat.”

That explained at least some things. Greta's twins were three years old and did not really have a father. According to Greta they had been fathered by one of the merchants traveling through the town, but it was not that said merchant was the only possibility.

“You don't look also hella tired,” Greta now observed.

“I just got up early…” Sypha had half an eye on the kids. Marie was once again playing with her wooden sword, while Simon was munching on some berries.

“So, I gather fucking Dracula did not kill either of you.”

“He did, in fact, not.” There was so much that Sypha wanted to tell her, but she was not even quite sure where to start. “It's a lot. A lot has happened.”

Greta raised an eyebrow. “How long are you there now?”

“Eight days.” Last they had talked they had still been in Baia Mare.

If Greta was anything she was just as observant as Sypha. Looking around – probably to the twins – she sighed. “Come. Tell me Sypha. What is going on?”

There was no good way to say it. “Trevor is a vampire now.”

This one was enough to even shock Greta. “Come again?”

“Yeah. Our dear Trevor Belmont decided he wanted to be immortal and asked Dracula out of all people to turn him into a vampire.” She could not hide her frustration from her voice. As she had promised: She was getting used to it, but that did not change the fact she was still angry with Trevor for making that decision all on his own without talking to her or Adrian.

“Okay.” Greta needed a moment to take all of that in. “So… I mean. When?”

“Six days ago.”

A rare occurrence happened: Greta was speechless.

“I know,” Sypha muttered, making her own interpretation of the silence. “He… We just came home and there was Dracula draining Trevor. With Trevor reassuring us it was his decision. And, well, now he is a vampire.” What else was there to say?

“So, we do need willing blood donors when you come back.”

“Yes, probably.” Sypha sighed. “Really, that idiot could've talked to us before he did that!”

Greta nodded, because stopping in her motion. “You would have disagreed with him, though.”

“Of course we would have!”

“Then that's why he did not do it.” Greta once more turned around, probably to have a look at one of the twins or both. “I mean, it's shitty and all. But I get why he did not talk it over.”

“Oh. I get that as well.” She leaned back against the wall of the house. “I just wish he had not done it. I mean, what am I supposed to do now. Tell me?”

Immediately Greta understood what Sypha was asking. “Well, you could let yourself be turned as well, I guess.”

“I know…” Of course, Sypha knew this. It was the obvious answer. She had just never really considered it to be a viable option. She could not even say exactly why. She liked collecting knowledge and that seemed to be the common pastime of vampires. Also, an eternity to collect stories did seem like a speaker thing to aim for. But at the same time the thought of not seeing the sun, of drinking blood. It did frighten her.

And, obviously, the entire process seemed to be more gruesome than anything she had imagined. Trevor did not mention it, but she knew he had been in a lot of pain.

“I guess it is your decision. I mean, you have time, don't you?”

“I do,” Sypha muttered. She was not quite 30 years old. There was still time for her to make that decision. Quite a bit of time.

“Are you going to be alright. With Trevor, I mean?”

“Yeah. I will deal with it.”

Greta smiled at her. “So, tell me about Dracula and his wife.”

Sypha laughed. “Oh God, where should I start? He seems… almost normal. If you just looked at him you would not be able to tell he committed genocide. And Lisa… She is sweet. Very warm. Very caring. I think it's good for Adrian to be here. For the kids, too.”

Speaking of the devil, it was just now that Marie noticed, what she was doing. “Mama!” came the accusation. “Are you talking to aunt Greta?” Of course she knew there were not many people to talk to.

She sighed. “Someone demands your attention,” she warned before the girl had reached her – once again almost falling over her own feet in her hurry. Quickly the girl pushed herself into Sypha's lap and grinned at the mirror. “Aunt Greta!”

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you doing?”

“Good,” the girl replied, “though the food here is really not good. They do not have spices, you know?”

“They don't?” Greta acted surprised.

“No, they don't. And, I mean, papi still can make good food and I guess iaca's food is alright, but still…” Marie looked scandalized.

“I see. You really gotta do something about that.”

“I cannot buy spices though.”

“Well, your parents can, can't they?”

“They say there is nobody selling spices around here.” Now Marie was pouting.

“You know, when I was your age, we could not afford spices. You know that, right?”

For a moment Marie was silent. She sniffled. “I know.” She sighed.

At this Greta smiled. “So, how are your iaca and bunic?”

“Oh, I really, really like them! Iaca does have chicken, you know? I've even gotten to name one of them. And bunic… He is a bit weird, but he knows a lot of stories. By the way, do you know that papa cannot use his whip any longer? But he says I cannot have it until I get older.”

Greta laughed. “Well, you are still pretty young.”

“I am almost seven!” Marie protested.

Now the other kid had noticed their talk as well. No wonder, as Marie was talking quite loudly. Simon came crawling towards them, his mouth still reddened from the berries. “Auntie.” So even he knew who they were talking to.

Marie gave a melodramatic sigh. “There comes Simon.” She was clearly glum about her conversation being interrupted, when Sypha took up Simon as well, so that there was one child on each of her legs.

“Hello, Simon,” Greta said.

The boy tried to grip one of the mirror shards. “Auntie,” he just noted.

He was still too young to understand the concept of the mirror or that the person in it was not really in the same physical space as them. He did not even understand normal mirrors yet, so that was not much of a surprise.

Marie scoffed at her brother. “Well, I mean, who is going to use the whip until I am old enough? It is a family earlloom, you know?” She mispronounced the word “heirloom”.

“I know that. But the world will be fine for a few years without it.”

“But what if another bad vampire attacks?”

“Then I am going to wack them over the head,” Greta said with a grin. Once more she turned around. “And I do need to look after Freng now.”

“But I have barely talked to you!”

Greta managed a smile, though it was clear that now her own child was on her mind. “We can talk another time, okay? Feng and Illias are sick.”

“Oh.” Marie sighed. “I understand.”

“I know you do,” Greta smiled. “I am sorry. I will have more time for you on another day. I promise.” She turned again. “Just ask your mother, will you?”

“I will.”

Sypha herself could barely suppress a sigh. “We'll talk soon.”

“I know we will.” With that Greta closed the box of her mirror.

Notes:

This chapter was so fun to write, but also felt so wrong. I was sitting here like: "It feels so, so wrong to think about time zones in the middle ages." Because, duh, the middle ages had no time zones. But that does not change the fact that the sun rises about two hours earlier in Wallachia than it would do in England. And given that in the middle ages everyone structured their days around the sun, Greta would be up much earlier. And Sypha, being the clever woman she is, obviously would know that. :P

Chapter 38: Lessons for the Future

Summary:

Adrian accompanies his mother into the village.

“Tell me more about that little town of yours,” Lisa prompted, while they were watching Marie play with some of Whitby's children her age. Adrian had accompanied his mother to one of her medical visits – and Marie had desperately wanted to come along. Now she had found other children and even though they did not share any language, it did not seem to stop them from playing catch.

“What is there to tell?” he muttered, leaning against the wooden fence of an enclosure holding several cows.

“I bet a lot.” His mother looked at him.

Admittedly she was right. Adrian sighed. He just was not sure what they had already told her. Between Marie, him and the other two there had been a lot of talking. “We have an orphanage,” he finally said. It would sound strange if he told her those orphans lived in the castle right now, wouldn’t it? “With twenty-four kids.”

His mother was waiting for him to elaborate.

“Back when… Back when Greta and her people decided to stay, there were already a few orphans. But at that point other families just took them in. A lot of folks died when father…” He stopped himself. “Well, and when they got attacked afterwards, too. Just a lot of dead parents.”

Lisa watched the children running around, laughing. There was some mud on Marie's red linen dress, as she had once again managed to fall over. While she was walking quite well, she stumbled, when she started to run. She was only a kid after all.

“And, well… Then Trevor started to drag along more orphans.” He laughed at this. It still seemed such a strange outcome.

His mother looked at him. “Trevor?”

“Yes.” He paused for just a moment. “After his family died, he grew up on the streets. And… Life has not been kind to him.” By now he had a pretty good idea of the things Trevor had gone through as a teenager. “So, when we helped rebuild Targoviste four years ago, he found this pair of orphaned siblings and, well, just dragged them along. And then there suddenly were more.” He shrugged. “Now we have an orphanage.”

“He is kind, your husband.”

“He is. He is a good-hearted fool, even though he does not look like it.” He watched how Marie finally managed to tag one of the other kids, running away giggling. There were four other kids about the same age as she was. Maybe just a bit older, except for one boy. “I have told you that he tried to kill me, when we first met, didn't I?”

Not sure whether or not to laugh his mother looked at him. “What?”

“Yes. Well. He thought I was father. So he attacked me. And I being ever so prideful fought him. We might have actually hurt each other if it had not been for Sypha.”

“So, she broke you up?”

“No, she threatened to kill me, too.” He laughed. It was a strange meeting in hindsight. “But then I realized I might have been waiting for them, so… We just went off the Belmont Hold.” A sigh escaped him. After all, it had all been to kill his father and it still seemed so very, very wrong.

His mother was probably guessing what he was thinking, as she took his hand. “Those two are good for you.”

“I know.” There was no point in arguing it. He knew he was better now than he had been before he had known them. In so many regards.

“Will the people in your town be okay with Trevor being… well, like that?”

“They will be,” Adrian replied. “It might be a bit of adjustment needed, but they will be fine with it. We had vampires being guests at the castle, so this is not necessarily new for the people.” When noticing his mother’s gaze, he smiled. “It was Sypha's idea. She… had been very insistent about vampires not being necessarily bad.” Though he had obviously agreed with her. He had known his father before his mother had died and while not being the most sociable person, the father of his youth had not been a bad person.

His mother watched him and there was something strange in her smile. “You are changing things, aren't you?”

“We try…” He sighed. “You know, Sypha… Well, I agree with her. If we just tried to kill all the vampires, it would be a genocide as well. So, we do need another solution.” He shook his head. There was still the faint memory of all those vampire- and dhampir-skulls in the Belmont Hold when they had gotten there eight years ago. He had buried them, because it had only felt right. Maybe those people the skulls had belonged to had been bad. Maybe they had killed many. There was no way to tell. And still, they did not deserve to be displayed as trophies. But Trevor had never argued with that, when he and Sypha had returned. When Trevor himself had managed that minor miracle of coming back from the dead.

“You know,” he muttered, remembering this, “Trevor… He did not learn many things. In the beginning he always thought of himself as lesser than Sypha and me. He… He and I really needed each other and we did not quite know it. Back then we would just constantly butt heads.”

“You are still arguing a lot,” his mother noted.

“No, we are not arguing. It's banter. Nothing more. When he says ‘bastard’ he means ‘darling’.”

This got his mother to laugh.

“It's the same with Sypha calling him ‘idiot’. We would not have it any other way.”

His mother nodded with some understanding. “I can see that. I really would never have guessed to see you like that.” Her gaze drifted over to the playing children. “I think your father and I did a grave mistake keeping you alone in the castle. We thought we were doing so to protect you, but…” She shook her head. “I don't know. The people…” Once more she shook her head and finally Adrian caught her meaning.

Of course, he knew his parents had kept him at the castle to protect him. Dhampirs had always been seen with suspicion. They had been worried that someone might kill him. While the vampires that had visited during his childhood had never dared to touch him out of fear of his father, humans did not always act rationally when in fear. It might just be because they saw their own sacrifice as a necessary one. His father would've killed anyone that might have touched him – just as he had tried to kill humankind for murdering his mother – but it would not have brought him back. “Sometimes the people can be good,” he said. “No. People are good, most people are.” He remembered the things Isaac had said. “They are just living in a world they don't quite understand yet. It is the fear that makes them act badly. If we teach them, if we take away their fears, they can be good.” And their little town showed it.

His mother nodded silently. Her gaze had drifted over to him again. “I always hoped your father could share his knowledge. It is good you are now doing it in his stead.”

He smiled. “I know.” And he did know that they were doing good. They were trying their best – and it was a start at least.

Notes:

This chapter goes heavily into what I consider to be the maintheme of the main Castlevania series (less so in Nocturne): The value of knowledge.

I mean, I don't think it is that much of a secret. Ellis sure loves to have his characters monologue about the themes he wants to write about. lol There are several monologues in the show about knowledge and how people, if they only knew more, would be less hateful. But it is a theme that at least to me way always very touching. Because it is something I at the very least want to believe. That people could be better if they just learned how the world actually works. *sighs*

Chapter 39: Supper Duty

Summary:

Due to being unable to eat himself right now, Trevor has been given the duty to feed Simon during mealtime. It is not going well.

“Nope!” In the last second Trevor caught his son's hand on the way into the soup bowl. The boy was still of the firm opinion that even soup should be eaten with one's hands.

“But soup!” The boy looked at him accusingly.

“All in due time.” As Trevor was currently not eating himself – and still hating every minute of that diet – he was now in charge of feeding Simon during the meals, which was a rather complex task all on its own. “Just open your mouth.”

The boy was already completely eating normally. He could already chew well, so they did not even need to mash up the food for him. He just enjoyed being the one to put the food in his mouth himself. And as he had yet to understand the actual function of a spoon the tool of choice were his hands.

“Just open your mouth,” Trevor instructed. He was holding the boy on his lap and at least the boy did open his mouth. One spoon filled with a noodle and a piece of carrot later, he was chewing again. Some soup flowed out of the boy's mouth, forcing Trevor to quickly wipe it off.

He was well aware of the amused smiles he earned with that. For some reason everyone but Marie could find endless entertainment in watching him feed the boy.

God, Trevor missed eating. It had been a week now, since he had been turned and normal food was still not on the menu for him. It was not that he felt normal hunger any longer, just that he missed the taste – and texture – of normal food. And he missed beer. God, he missed beer!

He was not quite sure how he felt about blood. It most certainly tasted sweeter to him as a vampire than it had tasted as a human. While normally blood had always had brought this bitter taste with it – iron, Adrian had explained – it was now weirdly sweet. Not sickly sweet, but most certainly sweet.

The worst part was, that it did indeed feel fucking rewarding to drink blood. The act itself was enjoyable, as if it was scratching this itch Trevor had never known existed. That seemed wrong and yet…

As a Belmont Trevor had obviously learned quite a bit of vampires as a species, but he started to understand the fault Sypha had seen in their research: The house of Belmont had always seen vampires as monsters to be slain. Not, well, as fucking people. Hence their research had never involved actually speaking to a vampire – at least not without some sort of torture involved. And this had made their research horribly one-sided.

“Simon,” he groaned when he had to catch the boy’s hand once more.

Holding the hand in his, he took another spoon and delivered it into the boy’s mouth. At least Simon was a good and not at all picky eater. Some of the kids in Belmont had certain foods they just would not touch. Mostly of the green variety. Simon knew no such qualms. If he could chew it, he would eat it. If he couldn't, he would at least try.

Again, the boy was chewing – longer and more intensive as the soft vegetables would normally require. Again, some soup escaped him.

Adrian and Sypha had been the ones cooking today. Mostly because Marie was most likely to eat what Adrian had cooked. She would eat Lisa's or – oh God, it was so weird – fucking Dracula's cooking, sure, but there was a chance pouting was going to be involved.

But, yes, so far Dracula had cooked for them once. It was the weirdest and most unsettling sight Trevor had ever seen. There were just things that did not mash with his inner perception of fucking Dracula. One of them was him standing in the kitchen whipping up some family supper.

One more spoon for Simon.

This might as well be the weirdest family in all of Europe, maybe the world. For the simple fact that they were now related through marriage to bloody Dracula of all people.

Trevor still had troubles bring those two versions of Dracula into a whole. Because eight years ago the vampire they had fought had been every bit the monster from Belmont legend. This man however seemed almost painfully normal. He still had an air of superiority when he interacted with humans, but that made him no different from a noble. And he was surprisingly good to Marie, even though it was quite clear that Marie was on a physical level Trevor's daughter. Still, there had been no comment from either Dracula or Lisa.

Yes. Yes. By now Trevor knew that technically vampirekind was more open minded when it came to versions of the family that did not match the typical kind, but, well, he was still surprised. There had not even been much of a comment about him being a Belmont – at least not in regard to their relationship.

He had to catch Simon's hand once more, this time at a point where the boy was already trying to pull the bowl off the table. How could the boy be so slow with his chewing and still so impatient, when it came to the next spoon?

Trevor had to wonder where the boy had this even from. Because it was most certainly a trait neither of his parents shared. And it was not that the boy was lacking for food. At times he just did not understand this kid.

He noticed the soft smile of Lisa. She seemed to especially enjoy the display of little Simon trying to eat. But, well, Trevor guessed it would be funny, if he was not the one responsible for the boy not pulling the entire bowl of the table. It was not even about the boy's dress. Because that had to be exchanged each day either way. Especially since he had started crawling.

Shit, the soup still smelled well. It might not have spices, but at least some fresh herbs. Adrian had cooked it with some basil in it. God, Trevor just wanted to eat normal food again. And for some weird reason this really was the one point in which he cursed his vampiric existence. Because, quite frankly, it was fine. He might regret not going outside during the sun hours – and he hated not being able to use his whip, though the wound had by now healed – but, really, it was alright.

Notes:

Yes, I am enjoying writing the kids too much. And just this idea of Simon being just very much a toddler is just so funny. Because poor Trevor is completely overwhelmed with this kid. But of course he is going to try his best about it.

Chapter 40: Between Mothers

Summary:

Lisa and Sypha have a talk.

“Iaca! Iaca!” the little girl was shouting. It was clear she had found something.

Lisa walked towards her to find another bush of wild berries. “You really are good at finding things.”

Marie grinned. “I know!”

Sypha was following behind. She was unusually quiet since they had left the cottage. Even though Lisa only knew her for not quite two weeks, she did know the woman liked to talk, tell stories, anecdotes and share her vast knowledge. Not surprising, she guessed, as Sypha was a speaker. Today, however, she was quiet.

While Lisa harvested the berries, she looked over to Sypha, who was staring off into the distance. She had asked to come along when Lisa had said she would collect some berries and Lisa assumed there was something the young woman wanted to speak about. She was, however, not quite sure, what it was.

“Try one of these,” she said handing her one of the wild raspberries.

A not quite sincere smile showed on the woman's face. “Thank you.” She put the berry in her mouth and paused for a moment. “They are a bit sourer than those at home.”

“Yes, I know. It is just the difference in sunlight,” Lisa said, even though she guessed the woman could tell so much herself. Standing up, she looked at Sypha. “Something is bothering you.”

Sypha looked at Marie. Of course the girl had wanted to come along as well. Somehow Marie seemed to never tire. She was always full of energy, running around and wanting to be a part of everything. It was cute, though she had a habit of not noticing when adults wanted to have a conversation among themselves.

Lisa smiled at the girl. “Can you find more berries?”

“Of course I can!”

“I'll tell you something,” Lisa said. “I'll give you the basket and you go collecting some of those berries.”

At this suggestion the girl looked immensely proud. When she took the basket, that was much too big for her, she held it high and marched ahead on the small forest path.

Once the girl was out of hearing range, Lisa turned to Sypha. “Something is bothering you,” she noted once again.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes. It is quite obvious, my girl.” Lisa smiled at her. “Is it because of your husband?” She was thinking as much. The young woman had been bothered by it from the beginning and Lisa could not blame her for it. Trevor had clearly not talked about it with any of them before.

By now Lisa was of the understanding that the young Belmont had carried quite some guilt with himself. Something that might had influenced his decision, though he would not admit to it. Of course, she was moved by the fact he had done it for her son and yet she was wondering if it really had been the best decision.

Sypha licked her lips and hesitated. “Not quite.” Her eyes were still gazing into the distance. “I think I have made my peace with it.” She tucked a single strand of her own wavy red hair behind her ear. “We can't change it, right?”

“I am afraid not, no,” Lisa replied. “So, then what is it, that is bothering you?”

Clearly thinking on how she would best phrase it, Sypha was quiet for a while. In the end she apparently decided to not care about any empathic formulation and just asked straight out: “Why are you not a vampire? Why did you not let Vlad turn you?”

Lisa understood where the question was coming from. The young woman was wondering if she herself wanted to be a vampire – stay with her husbands this way. Lisa sighed.

“I never wanted it,” she said. “I did not want to be immortal. I did not want to give up going out into the sun.” She paused. “That was, what has bothered me most. I wanted to be there for other people – and I could not do that while holing myself up in a castle all day, right?”

Sypha thought about it. “But you could do so much good, living forever. You could learn, you could help people.”

“I know,” Lisa replied. “But I have thought about it – of course, I have thought about it – and I just… I just could not imagine myself being happy this way.” She shook her head. “I know Vlad fears the day I will die and I love him and a part of me blames myself for it, but I just cannot do it. I know I would not be happy that way and I also know he does not want me to be unhappy.”

The smirk on the other woman’s face was more sad than humorous. She shook her head. “You really love him…”

“I do.” Lisa looked into the forest. “Even after everything…”

There was another awkward silence between them, before Lisa turned to Sypha again. “Are you thinking about becoming a vampire?”

“I am,” Sypha admitted. “I mean, right now it is not feasible. We could not feed another young vampire. And…” She pursed her lips for a moment. “I would want another child first.”

“Vampires can have children.”

“I know. But they are even more rare than dhampir-children, aren’t they?”

“As far as I know, yes,” Lisa agreed. She could understand the train of thought. Especially as those three did not seem to be especially worried about their dhampir children being hunted down for one reason or another.

It was just a simple fact: Now that Trevor was a vampire another child between the three of them would be a dhampir one way or the other. Poor Marie. Ending up with two siblings, who would quickly outgrow her.

“So, what is it, you’re asking?” Lisa finally asked.

A sigh. “I don’t really know myself,” Sypha muttered. “I mean… On one hand… If I was immortal I would have so much time to learn, so much time to teach as well. I could collect so many stories and could do a lot of good. I could also be with them, of course. But I also could not travel during the day any longer. And I would have to drink blood.” She shook her head. “I am still not sure, how Trevor just does it.”

“Instincts, I assume.”

Sypha hesitated. “Yes, I guess so.”

Lisa took her hand in between her own and looked at her. “In the end it is your decision. You should only do it, if you think you can live with it.”

“I know. I know that.” A humorless chuckle. “I just cannot help but think about it now. I mean… I now have two immortal husbands and I… I want to be with them, stay with them. I just… God, I just can’t stop thinking about it now.”

Lisa watched her, watched all those emotions glide over her face. Sypha felt bad about being indecisive about the question, a feeling Lisa knew very well. “You still have time,” she told her. “You are still young. You have time.”

Taking a deep breath, Sypha nodded. “I know. I feel just so…”

“Inadequate?”

“Yes. That.” Sypha sighed. She closed her eyes to collect herself. “Thank you. Sorry for rambling, I just…”

“I get it. I can understand it very well.”

The smile that now showed on the woman’s face was more sincere than her smile before. Then she turned her focus down the forest path. “Now where is Marie? She cannot have walked off too far.”

Chapter 41: Tenderness

Summary:

Trevor is slowly getting the hang of his vampire body - and he would love to explore other aspects of it as well.

Notes:

The one smut chapter in this story!

Slowly, but surely Trevor was getting the hang of this. He managed to sidestep when Adrian attacked, managed to evade Sypha's attack and got in a punch against Adrian himself, though that one ended him with the dhampir snatching his wrist. Trevor tried his best to just allow his body to do its thing. His instincts had been sharpened by the transformation. While he might still not have full vampiric strength or agility, he was getting better in both regards.

Instead of actually attacking, Sypha had done him the favor to summon snowballs. Those could still hurt but would at least not end him with a hole in his body.

While he built up momentum to kick Adrian, another snow ball hit the back of his head. If it had been an actual attack, he would be dead, but thankfully it was not. He got the kick in and actually got Adrian to stumble backwards.

As always though his bloody dhampir husband recovered quickly, feinted an attack from the front, before disappearing. Trevor knew the guy would attack from above, but just then another barrage of snowballs forced him for just a moment to give Sypha his attention. He jumped to the side to evade her – but apparently Adrian had anticipated this, as just a moment later his hand gripped Trevor by the shoulder, forcing him to the ground.

Adrian was showing his fangs with a grin. “You're dead again.”

Trevor laughed. “I am not dying that quickly,” he said, stretching himself to kiss his husband. “And being immortal and all I would gather I am doubly hard to kill.”

“I would prefer if you did not test that one out in a real fight.” Sypha came over to help him up, but he grinned. Taking her hand, he pulled her down, until she stumbled and fell against him.

To be fucking honest, Trevor had kinda missed being alone with them. Sure, they had the master bedroom for themselves most nights – but he was well aware that both bloody Dracula and their son had good hearing. Out here – a good mile away from the cottage – it was better.

“What is this going to be?” Sypha asked, when he pulled her close.

“I don't know yet,” he whispered, kissing her cheek. “Just some…” He sighed.

Something that was also quite new was the intensity of smells. He knew both their smells, but now that he was a vampire they were so much more noticeable. Sypha, who always smelled a bit of fire, and Adrian, who smelled of herbs and spices.

At least Adrian understood, letting himself fall to the ground next to them and leaning over Trevor to kiss him once more.

Putting one arm around him as well, Trevor could not help but smile. “I fucking love you. Both of you.”

There was the tiniest of smiles from Sypha, who now pushed herself up enough to look at him. “I know. I love you, too. Even though you really are a rude idiot.”

“But you knew that much from the beginning.”

“I did.” She kissed him, her lips being so soft against his.

He opened his mouth just a bit to allow the kiss to become hungrier, more desperate. Because, quite frankly, Trevor was horny. He had been horny for days – and just had not found a moment for something like this. Now he pulled her in, already feeling his body react.

When their lips parted, Adrian was there to kiss him as well. Their tongues met and Trevor could taste at least a hint of the ale he had had for supper.

“You are impossible, Trevor Belmont,” Adrian whispered, his fingers on Trevor's cheek. His thumb traced the line of the scar on the left side of Trevor's face.

“No.” Trevor grinned at him. “I am fucking horny.”

This got a chuckle out of both of them.

It seemed that slowly they were good again, which relieved him. He had feared this would drive a wedge between them for longer, but in the end, well, they both seemed to have made their peace with it.

His own fingers slowly caressed the naked skin on the back of Sypha's neck, while he was kissing Adrian again. Yes, he had to admit, he was also fucking curious how it would feel. Having sex as a vampire. Would it be different from, well, normal human sex? He knew vampires could have sex, after all Adrian had been born. But… would it still be the same?

“You really are impossible,” Adrian muttered, before sitting upright to strip off his shirt.

Even after eight years – well, seven – Trevor had still to marvel at his beauty. His skin so smooth, his muscles well defined. He was all too eager to caress his skin, explore his body in the way he knew Adrian liked it.

Sypha smiled with a knowing expression. While she kissed Trevor’s neck, her fingers found their way underneath his tunic, pushing it upward. It felt good to sense her warm fingers on his skin.

The funny part was, that he could smell that she was not quite as horny yet. Maybe not a surprise after everything. But he knew her, he knew her body and she knew the ways she liked to be touched. He sat up, stripping of his own shirt. Then he gently pushed her onto the grass, so she was underneath him. He opened the collar of her robe, kissing her neck, her collarbone, until just the slightest of excited gasps came over her lips. Kneeling between her legs, he softly pushed up her skirt a bit, making sure to feel the skin on her legs, while he did so.

He loved this woman, had loved her for now eight years. He really was a fucking lucky bastard himself.

Adrian was behind him now, his thing fingers gliding over Trevor’s sides and down to his ass. From his hesitation he had those seven years ago nothing was left anymore. He kissed Trevor's neck, while Trevor was pushing the collar of Sypha's robe further down to expose her breasts.

He looked at her. “This is okay, right?”

She nodded. “It is,” she stretched to kiss him onto the lips. “It's just a bit… unfamiliar now.”

He could see that. After all he was lacking a heartbeat now, his body also being a bit less warm than it had once used to be. He found her breasts, kissing them, feeling her soft skin. Then he turned around to kiss Adrian one more time. He did not want to leave him out after all.

Adrian's fingers opened Trevor's trousers and when they found his cock, he could no longer hold back a moan himself.

Much to his surprise this still felt normal.

He wondered how to best go about this out here, while his one hand found its way underneath Sypha's dress. Oh, he knew her too well by now, knew exactly the way she liked to be touched. He loved her. Deeply.

Sitting back just a little, he kissed the inner side of her right thigh, letting his lips wander further and further upwards. This earned him another moan, made her squirm a bit underneath him. He started to lick her just a little, teasing her, feeling her excitement grow, while she sighed softly.

“Allow me,” Adrian whispered, pushing him gently aside.

Trevor understood it. He allowed Adrian to tease her as well, using the moment to stand up and strip of his trousers. For just a moment he allowed himself to just watch them – the two people he loved to dearly, before kneeling down to kiss Sypha's lips once more.

He could now smell both their excitement. It was a good smell, he decided. More intensive through his now more sensitive senses.

God, he wanted to fuck them both right now, wanted to fuck them so badly. His lips were dry in anticipation. Somehow his lips found their way to Adrian's, while his hands fumbled with the fly of Adrian's trousers to open them as well. Softly Trevor kissed Adrian's cheek, his earlobe, his neck, while caressing his chest. Even now his husband enjoyed nothing more than those soft touches.

Then Sypha sat up to pull both of them down to her level again, kissing first one, then the other. A devilish smile found its way onto her lips, when she directed her attention towards Adrian, kissing his cheek as well, his nose. Then she whispered: “I want you.”

Trevor could not help a chuckle. “You are teasing me.”

She grinned. “You deserve that.” She kissed Adrian once more, while pushing his trousers further downwards. The dhampir looked over at Trevor, a smirk on his face as well. Then he settled down to glide into their wife, them both moaning softly.

Trevor laid down in the grass next to them. His body was almost shaking with anticipation, while he could almost physically feel their thrusts. He kissed Sypha once more, feeling her own hunger. There was some instinctual urge inside him, he noted, when kissing her neck. God, he wanted to bite her. He really wanted to do that. But he did not. He would never bite her, if she did not ask for it.

Still, it felt was if he could almost taste the ecstasy on her skin.

He wanted her. He wanted both of them so much.

There were more kisses shared with both of them, while their panting grew more desperate. His hand found his own cock. He started to stroke himself, moaning himself. However, some part of them had apparently agreed, that they wanted to punish him just a bit, as Adrian gripped his hand and grinned at him. “Not yet.”

“You two are evil,” Trevor whispered.

Sypha stretched ever so slightly to kiss him. “As I said.” A moan escaped her. “You deserve it.”

He could not argue with that, he guessed and so he watched in desperation, how Adrian trust into her again and again, how both of them moan, the feverish look of excitement on both their faces. Trevor could feel them climax, could smell it. The smell of cum, of musk. For just a moment Adrian relaxed, slowly catching his breath. He exchanged a long gaze with Sypha, before turning towards Trevor. “Now, what do we do with you?”

Trevor pulled him into a long kiss. “Just fuck me, will you?”

There was a strange glimmer in Adrian's eyes, while he looked at him, before his fingers wandered in between Trevor's legs. He caressed him, slowly, softly, as if to drive him insane. Trevor did not say anything. He just wanted to feel them.

Then Sypha was behind him, hugging him, kissing his neck. Her fingers caressed his chest, following the traces of his scars.

Trevor sighed. Just a moment later Adrian's lips were on his cock, enticing a louder groan. “God…”

Another kiss against his shoulder. He could feel them both so close, so warm. He had missed this in the last few weeks. It really had been a while, making this feel even more right.

The feeling took him over. It was even more desperate than usual. He turned his head, found Sypha's lips. She smelled so nice. So strangely nice.

Adrian's mouth felt great, too. Hot and warm, his tongue tense against Trevor's dick. Those three weeks without sex and all the anticipation of the night did not allow Trevor to hold out for long. Quickly he could feel the pressure building, taking over. “God,” he moaned once more, burying his fingers in Adrian's hair. He felt almost like melting against Sypha, while his instincts just took over. Another groan, then yet another one, before he could no longer hold it. Almost trembling he climaxed. For just a moment there was no more sensible thought in his mind, apart from one. He loved those two. He really loved them.

Then he was between them in a soft hug, feeling both their bodies against his. He enjoyed it, enjoyed their smells, their warmth.

“You are a horrible idiot, Trevor Belmont,” Sypha whispered and he just laughed.

“I know.”

Notes:

I wanted to make a point out of the fact that despite everything the three would not have sex for a while after the transformation. Because even if Trevor had somewhat good reasons for it, it was a big break of trust towards both his partners. And breaking trust is just not helping a relationship like that, you know? But yeah, slowly there is some forgiveness, because let's face it, they cannot change it in the end.

Chapter 42: Her Blood

Summary:

Trevor still has not drunken any blood, while still needing a lot of blood. Sypha offers a solution.

They laid on that meadow for quite a while. It was still pretty chilly, though it was bearable, after Sypha had laid down between the two men. With a sigh she noted that she would miss Trevor's warmth. He was not exactly cold, but not as hot as he used to be.

Still, it was fine. He was still Trevor. Still his own self. He was still sincere and self-less and would hold her in the same way he had held her before. She loved this horrible man, loved both of them of course. And she did not want to be without them. They were family and somehow even more by now. She just could not imagine a life in which she would have returned to her caravan.

She closed her eyes, enjoyed their nude bodies against her own. Maybe they had needed this. Some sex. Some intimacy. After all they had not been with each other like this since before the two men had left for Targoviste. For the first time since Trevor had made this decision, she felt somewhat relaxed. She was still not sure how she would decide in the end, but she was sure they would stay together. The three of them and the kids.

Burying her face against Trevor's chest, she inhaled his smell. It seemed almost funny to her that he still smelled of sweat. Somehow she had not expected vampires to sweat.

She kissed him once more, before turning around to kiss Adrian. A part of her knew they should maybe make their way back to the cottage. Even though their day rhythm had already changed they should not get back too late. And admittedly she wanted to lie down in a warm bed.

“What is it?” Trevor muttered, apparently half asleep.

“I think we should return.”

He sighed. “Maybe we should.” He took her by the chin to kiss her once again, before sitting up. He looked at the starry sky. “It's already past midnight…”

“Does being a vampire come with an inner clock?”

“Sorta,” he replied. “I… Just kinda know where the sun is, I think.”

It made somewhat sense. “I see.”

Adrian watched them, a slight smile on his face. He was still lying down, his hand grasping for Sypha's.

She smiled at him. “Hey,” she whispered, bowing down to kiss him. “Can we please get back, I am cold.”

“Says the speaker, who once preferred the wagon over anything else,” Trevor teased her.

“Well, that was not in England.” She hugged herself, before standing up.

Adrian sat up as well. “Fine.” They would get to cuddle in bed either way. As they did almost every night. For now, Trevor also stayed with them through the night, slept at their side, even though he did not need to. Something Sypha was thankful for.

She collected her robe, putting it on, before straightening her skirt. She held out a hand for Adrian. He might not need it to stand up, but it still felt right to do it.

It did not take long for them to be fully dressed again, even though Sypha missed the feeling of their skins against hers. Maybe they should just sleep nude in the bed. Who was there to judge them?

Trevor put his hand into hers, before also reaching out for Adrian. He smiled at them and seemed clearly more relaxed than before. Yes, maybe they all had needed this.

Holding his hand firmly she took the first step. Her eyes had by now gotten accustomed to the dark, allowing even her human eyes to see rather well. She looked at Trevor. She had to admit, that when he was turned, she had also been afraid to lose him. Yes, it had always been her who had made arguments about the fact that even vampires were not inherently evil. And yet, she had been afraid that he would change. That the vampirism would somehow change the kind of person he was. But so far… He was still just Trevor.

They made their way back only quite slowly. While they should get back to the cottage, there was not real hurry. They had put the children to bed before they had left to train. And even though it seemed almost strange to let Dracula watch their kids… Vlad and Lisa had an eye on them. There was not much that could happen.

The cottage was already visible in the distance, when Adrian stopped. “You have not fed yet,” he noted.

Trevor paused, pursing his lips. “I guess I haven't, no.”

“How is your hunger?”

A shrug. “Let's put it like that. Before we fucked, I was more horny than hungry. Now…” Another shrug.

Adrian shook his head in disbelief. “You really are impossible.” He pushed back his own hair, when Sypha made a decision.

“You can drink from me tonight,” she whispered.

This made both men turn to her in surprise. She sighed. It still felt somewhat wrong to have a vampire feed on her. She had done it before, when it had been desperately necessary, but… “It's fine,” she said. “As long as you don't take too much.”

“I wouldn't,” Trevor replied.

There was a questioning expression on Adrian's face, asking her, if she was sure.

But somehow she was. Yes. She was sure. Because, if she was honest, she wanted to share this with him. Somehow. “It's alright,” she said, pressing his hand. “Really.”

His gaze drifted to her neck and he swallowed. He did not protest, however, just leaned forward. There was no question, that he would feed from her neck. It only seemed right. She closed her eyes, feeling his lips against her skin. Adrian pushed his hand into hers, just in the moment, before Trevor buried his fangs in her skin.

It hurt only a moment, then she could barely feel the teeth at all. She could feel him suck though, gulping down her blood. It made her feel just a little dizzy and inadvertently she pressed Adrian's hand.

It did not take long. Just after a few seconds Trevor let go of her, brushing a few drops of her blood of his lips. He looked her in the eyes before kissing her and pulling her close. “Thank you,” he whispered.

She put her one free hand onto his shoulders. “It's okay,” she said. “You are welcome.” And it was okay. They would be fine.

Notes:

This was another thing I had planned very clearly from the very beginning of the story. I wanted to make Sypha's moment of accepting Trevor's decision to offer him blood. While she herself still... is not quite sure where to go. (Though if you have read my other stories for the timeline, she eventually also ends up a vampire.)

Chapter 43: Domesticated Vampires

Summary:

Sypha accompanies the men to the abby, when Trevor needs to feed.

 

It was funny how quickly one could get used to even the strangest things. After only eleven days it just seemed normal that Trevor would get to the abbey four times a week to feed. By now Adrian's father would not even accompany him anymore. It was a weird arrangement, but they got used to it.

Somehow both of them had decided to accompany Trevor today. It was a nice night and after it had been sunny for two days Trevor had not gotten out much. There was an ever so slight hint of herbs in the air, once they moved closer to the abbey. Not much of a wonder considering the place had a large herbal garden. His mother had told him, she had gotten some of the seeds from the abbey.

Sypha could not help but eye at the architecture of the place. “I never have been inside an abbey,” she whispered. “Though we once spent a winter in the stables of an abbey, when I was six.” She paused. “They would not let us inside however.”

“Why would they house you, but not let you inside?” Trevor asked.

“How am I supposed to know that?” She shrugged. “Once again, I was six.”

He smiled at that, before turning to knock on the heavy wooden entrance door.

Adrian noticed the quick gaze Sypha shot him. She was still unsure about this, given she had never accompanied Trevor before. He just put one arm around her. It really was not that bad, given the nuns were giving the blood willingly. It was not much of an act of violence, all things considered.

The door was opened. It was the young freckled nun, who had fed Trevor the first time Adrian had accompanied him. The nun shot the two of them a long look and frowned. “Who is she?” she directed the question to Adrian given she knew he would understand her.

“My wife,” he replied.

“My name is Sypha Belnades,” Sypha introduced herself, earning only another frown.

Yes, Adrian did not want to know what the nuns must be thinking about them. He had heard them wondering, why he was accompanying Trevor. Considering they were religious it was an open question if they had guessed their relations so far. Yet, they did not prevent them from entering.

Sypha sniffed the air. Even for her the faint smell of incense had to be noticeable.

By now Trevor knew the way to the dining hall by himself, so Adrian and Sypha just followed him. There was another nun coming their way on the corridor eyeing them warily. She did however say nothing.

“Such a welcoming air,” Sypha noted wryly.

“Well, can you hold it against them?” Trevor muttered. “I mean…” He did not finish the sentence, but they did know what he meant. After all, he had never been a fan of vampires being allowed to feed on Adrian, who had offered his blood willingly.

“But they get something in return, right?” Sypha replied.

“Does not mean they have to trust us.” Adrian shrugged. By now they had reached the dining hall, where he sat down on one of the benches. There was nothing much to do.

Sypha crossed her arms. She leaned against the wall behind Trevor, though there was something in her expression. In truth she did understand the nuns. Because after all it was not quite "normal", was it? For a vampire to just come and feed.

There was nothing to be done about it, of course. Trevor needed to feed and they could not provide enough. So he had to come here. And even so, it would barely be enough for this first time.

Voices in the corridor. “A wife?”

“Yes. The son of Vlad Tepes has a wife. Apparently.”

“By now I don't even know, what is going on.” One nun sighed dramatically. “What even is that family?”

“I don't think we want to know.”

Well, as it was to be expected. But as long as they kept Trevor fed, it would be fine.

They would have to expect some talk, once they returned to Belmont, too. Adrian was sure there would not be a lot of repulsion against this little change, but Trevor now being a vampire would be strange for quite a few people. Though it was not quite clear, when they would return.

Now two of the nuns walked in. One of them being fairly young, Adrian estimated her to be younger than twenty summers. She eyed Trevor, before pulling up here sleeve. She was frowning though, while he took it.

“Thank you.” By now he knew the words in English. There was less hesitation in his bite than there had been just a week ago.

Sypha was watching him carefully as well.

It was all just a bit weird, a bit strange, but still something someone could get used to.

Once again it did not take Trevor long to feed. He took a deep breath, once he was finished. “Thank you,” he repeated, earning a confused gaze.

“You are welcome,” the nun muttered.

The other nun looked at him, then at the other two. “Why are you accompanying him?” she voiced her question.

“Because he is family,” Sypha replied. Her gaze drifted to Trevor. “It… only seems right.”

By the looks of it, it took the nun just two moments to understand. She looked from one to the other and shook her head.

This got Sypha to frown. “We don't judge you for living in a coven.”

Another shake of the head. “I am not judging you,” the nun said.

“You are not?” the younger one asked.

The young woman seemed somewhat embarrassed. “I am not. I am just… surprised.” She once more eyed first Sypha then Trevor then Adrian. “That… has to be a handful.”

Sypha scoffed. “Oh, they are.” She shot Trevor a look. “But they can be domesticated.”

Notes:

This is another moment where I want to make it clear again: There is a chance that you might have been told that the medieval times were super conservative and stuff. Here is the thing: Actually they were not. There is some evidence that the middle ages were a lot more accepting for unconventional families and queer stuff than the Rennaissance and later times. Especially the Victorian age obviously. So yes, some people might talk about the polycule here - but actually most people will just shrug.

Chapter 44: Lessons from the Master

Summary:

Vlad watches his son and his fledgling train their fighting skills - and he just cannot help himself to get involved.

The Belmont was incorrigible. Vlad had already told him it would take time for his body to finish the transformation. He had told him that he needed to give the body time to get used to its vampiric powers. Yet, the boy was intent on training, on testing himself out.

Vlad guessed he could not quite hold it against him. The three of them were fighters and actually seemed to like the training. He had gone after them, watching them from the shadows.

He himself had not given much on training with others. Not for a long, long time. There had been a time, when he had been a proud warrior – but that time was over. It had been over even long before Lisa had showed up on his doorsteps.

He was well aware that he was more powerful than most either way. He was more powerful than the three of them. Had sanity not caught up with him, he would have killed them those eight years ego. He would have first killed Adrian and then easily gotten rid of the other two. They were – well, had been – only human.

They were better now than they had been back then. Adrian was more varied in his attack style, the girl quicker in her casts, and the Belmont… Well, his fighting style was still rough and unfinished. It was clear he had picked up one thing or another from Adrian, but it was still the style of a drunkard in a barfight. He was however quicker now, more intuitive. If properly trained he might actually make for a good vampire.

Vlad was somewhat curious to see the boy fight with a sword. He had overheard the daughter teasing him for not being very good with it. Maybe her view was skewed by comparing him to Adrian. Maybe it was just that he had relied on his whips too much.

There was a sweet irony in the Belmont not being able to use them any longer.

His son noticed him, looking at him, being distracted just long enough, for the Belmont to land a punch – maybe a bit too well.

Adrian, however, did not mind, apparently. He rubbed his cheek for just a moment, before getting up again. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to catch a look on how well the fledgling is coming along.” He looked at the Belmont.

The young vampire was still panting, his body not being used to the fact that it could use oxygen quite differently now. “I am doing just fine.”

Vlad smirked. “I am seeing that.”

The boy grimaced. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“He means that you are still not that good,” Adrian teased him.

“I am doing great.”

“You are still no match for Adrian's speed,” the speaker girl just agreed. “You really could do better.”

Having watched them Vlad was actually surprised that by now the Belmont was able to block most of Adrian's attacks or at least evade. It was more than he would have guessed. He did not know the boy well, of course, but judging from what he had seen before he had always been very offensive – and rather poor on the defense. So, seeing him block and evade and use his heightened instincts was probably progress. Though there had been eight years of him training with Adrian, so who knew how much of his blocking was a result from him knowing his partner inside and out.

“How long have you been watching?” Adrian inquired.

“For long enough.” There was a certain curiosity tucking on Vlad's nerves. A curiosity he had not felt in a while. “Attack me,” he challenged.

“Me?” The Belmont pointed at himself in surprise.

“It does not really matter,” Vlad replied. “All three of you.” He had not fought in over three years – the one incident three years ago involving a lone werewolf on the prowl. It had not really been much of a fight, to be honest.

The Belmont grinned. He was cocky. “My pleasure.” When he attacked it showed that he was already faster than a normal human would be – though far from the speed of a good vampire fighter. Of course attacking him with bare fists would not do much damage either way – the boy was still unable to change his body enough to transform his hands into claws.

Vlad had no problem catching his fist in the air, using his momentum to get the boy to stumble. Though the Belmont's barfight attitude showed, as he just turned around, kicking for Vlad's knee.

Yes, Vlad had to admit this was unfair. Given the fact he barely felt anything. The boy yet lacked the strength to do actual damage against him with bare fists – or kicks for that matter. Instead, he hissed. While not showing it, it was clear the boy's foot hurt.

“Fuck.”

However, the Belmont was not to be persuaded to give up that easily, going in for more punches.

Vlad noticed his son move. Then Adrian was above him, using his abilities to attack from above. He was as quick, as Vlad remembered, feinting a punch, before turning around in the air to land a kick against his chest. It was enough to at least make him sway just a bit.

It was not a fair fight. It never had been. But there was a reason why no vampire had dared to question Vlad – at least not to his face, even when he had gone insane. Well, aside from Carmilla, who was probably dead now as well.

The Belmont and Adrian were however a well-trained team. One would feint, get blocked but leave an opening for the other.

Vlad did not go into the counter attack. He did not need to wear them out. Most that he did was to catch them and catapult them to the ground. Nothing that would do much actual damage.

The girl, however… The girl was just watching. She noticed his gaze and something changed in her expression. There was just an ever so slight smirk on her face. She lifted both her hands, using the signs she had mastered to control the magic.

She summoned arrows of ice, waiting just a moment for the two men to leave her an opening. Their teamwork was clearly their strength. They did not need to communicated, seemed to be all too aware of what each of the others was doing.

Vlad used his own magic – he had not used it in a while – to make two of the arrows melt in the air, before catching the third. Again, he would not counter attack. The two men did use this brief distraction though for another coordinated attack. While Adrian hit him against the chest, the Belmont went for his legs. Vlad had not quite seen this coming. He stumbled just a single step forward.

This got the Belmont to grin.

“Enough,” Vlad said. He had seen enough.

While not without a pout, the Belmont took a step back. Vlad guessed there was a part of the boy that had enjoyed this chance to at least try and beat him up.

“You,” Vlad looked at the Belmont. “You lack finesse. If you put more dexterity into your attacks, you could be more effective.” He turned to his son. “And you still move too much.” He had been over that so often, when he had trained the boy back in the day. Adrian made three movements, when only one was necessary. He normally would get away with it thanks to his speed that was even greater than that of many vampires, but it was still not as effective, as it could be. “And you…” He looked at the girl. “You rely too heavily on your magic.”

“I am a magician,” she scoffed.

“I am, too,” he replied. “But I can hold myself in a physical fight, as well. You should learn that.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” the Belmont asked, putting one arm into his side.

“It means, I am going to train you.” The boy was his responsibility either way – and maybe it should be worth something, just in case he needed to be killed again.

Notes:

This is another chapter I really like. As some might now: I really like martial arts - so writing some critique of the fighting styles had been fun. xD

Chapter 45: The Good Gawain

Summary:

Trevor needs to feed once more, but wants to put his children to bed before.

It was time for Trevor to feed, which also meant it was time for the children to go to bed. Their entire rhythm had really shifted with the kids now going to bed half-past eleven, while the three of them often stayed up until two in the morning.

It was his turn to get the children to bed and no matter if he complained about it: He actually liked it. He liked getting this one last hug in the evening, the little “good night, papa”. It was cozy.

When he looked for the children in the sitting room, he found them with bloody Dracula. Both of them were on the vampire's lap, while the vampire was holding a book. Marie was pointing. “That word is ‘knight’, right?”

“Yes, that is knight.”

She looked at the word for a moment and then pointed at the next one. “Sword.”

She had put it in her mind that she was now to learn English, while she was already here. Trevor got the feeling this was actually motivated by her wanting to read the story books that existed in the house. While she could already read Latin mostly well, the Latin books were mostly medical and historical texts.

Simon complained. “Read,” he demanded. So apparently the bloody vampire lord had been reading to the children. Of fucking course. It just seemed… so unlikely.

However, Dracula did indeed continue. “The good Gawain was placed there beside Guinevere and Agravain of the Hard Hand sat on the other side, both of them the king's sister's sons and full sure knights.” It seemed to be some sort of English fairy tale and just as Trevor had seen Lisa do before Dracula translated it for the children while reading.

Even now, two weeks after coming here, it did not sit right with Trevor to see the guy like this. Kind, caring. This was Dracula out of all people! Dracula! He was supposed to be a fighter, a monster.

Trevor had done his best to not hate the guy. Because Adrian had begged him to not hate his father. Of course, Trevor understood this. He did. For Adrian those two parents of his had been his whole world for much of his life. And to him Dracula had been a good father, he had made that one clear again and again. And yet… Listening to the man read to Trevor's own two kids, actually giving his voice some theatrics – just like Adrian used to do, when he read to Marie – was just so… wrong.

He could see why Adrian had been struggling to see the man, they had killed as the same man, who had raised him. By now even Trevor was struggling with it, even though he knew that it was the same man, who had also killed at least six of his ancestors. It was just… strange. As if two completely different realities were colliding.

He guessed there had to be a reason for Lisa – who all in all seemed kind and reasonable – to have fallen in love with this guy. But how could the same fucking guy be able to do so many, many horrible things?

Trevor pushed himself away from the door only now being noticed or at least minded by the children. “Come on, you two,” he said. “It's bed time.”

“But bunic did not finish the story yet,” Marie complained, her gaze wandering back to the illustrated book.

“He can finish the story tomorrow,” Trevor said. “It's late already.” And he really did need to feed. He could already feel the hunger gnawing on his mind again.

Simon looked at him seriously. “Story,” he too protested.

“Tomorrow.” Trevor picked the boy up, which earned him a long whine.

“Story!”

“It is late, Simon,” Trevor said. “Almost midnight.” He knew he could not quite reason with the boy yet – and he could see well that the boy was already tired. But it would not stop him from whining.

“You’re mean,” Marie complained. “It's just…” She looked at the book.

Dracula smiled. “It is a long story. We would not finish today either way.”

She sighed and slipped of his lap. “Fine.” Once again, she was pouting, a skill she had well perfected by now. Crossing her little arms in front of her chest, she took a few steps towards the door. Then she did turn around, though. “Good night, bunic. Thank you for reading.”

The warm smile on the vampire's face was, what Trevor found most disturbing. “Good night.”

Trevor just eyed the man. It really just did not make any sense to him. Yes, sure, he had trusted the guy enough to turn him, but… Well, mostly he had trusted him enough to not be willing to hurt Adrian again. Because if they had one thing in common, it was that they held Adrian dear.

“Come on,” Trevor said and allowed Marie to walk up front. The stairs were still pretty steep for her, as she climbed to the upper floor. She liked to do it by herself, though. After all, she was “almost seven” as she had taken on saying.

Trevor helped the kids into their night gowns. Simon was already yawning, before he was even put in bed. Just as Trevor had expected. Once he placed the boy into the bed, the kid was already squinting to keep his eyes open.

“Bunic and iaca are both really good at storytelling,” Marie noted, once he helped her slip into her nightgown.

“They are, hmm?” Trevor looked at her. He himself was of course fucking miserable, when it came to reading to the kids. But he could tell funny stories about monster hunting that Marie tended to enjoy. And yes, she enjoyed it especially, when he was cussing a lot. And be it just, because her being amused annoyed Sypha just a little bit.

“You don't like bunic, do you, papa?” she suddenly asked.

“What?”

“You don't really like him,” she repeated.

He sighed. How was he even going to explain it to her? He wanted her to have this. To have at least one pair of grandparents, who looked after her and did all those things grandparents were supposed to do. Sooner or later, she would learn, she would make the connection of what had happened and what her bunic had done. But did she have to learn it now?

“You see,” he tried to explain, “a long time ago, before you were born, your bunic and I did have… a disagreement. Like, a really fucking bad one, you know? So, I am still pretty pissed with the guy.”

Like she did so often, she absorbed the information, looking at him through bright blue eyes. “What did you disagree about?”

Of course she had to ask those further questions. Think of something, idiot, he told himself, but did take a moment too long to answer.

She sighed. “You don't need to say,” he muttered. “It's fine if you don't want to.”

He smiled and brushed some of her hair aside. “We'll tell you some day,” he said. “Promise.” He kissed her forehead. “For now… I don't have to like the guy, for you to like him, okay?”

For a moment she was quiet. “Okay,” she then whispered.

He stood up. “And now sleep, you two knuckleheads. I don't want to hear any screaming tonight.”

Simon had already fallen asleep.

“Good night, papa,” Marie whispered.

“Good night, sweetheart.” With that he extinguished the candle.

Notes:

I still adore writing the kids so much here. And yes, a bit of English books. This was before the time where we had specific kids books. I mean, it is likely that there were not a whole lot of fictional tales in book form either way. But I thought some Athurian stories are possible to be found as manuscripts.

Chapter 46: Travel Plans

Summary:

Lisa asks Adrian and his partners to travel to York and make some purchases, before the winter comes.

There was this fact nobody had yet said out loud: Adrian and his family would have to stay for a while. Right now, the young vampire could not go long without feeding and he could not feed on Adrian alone. While the three had insisted it would not be a problem at their home, it most certainly was a problem on their journey. Of course, Lisa knew Trevor could hunt, but something told her, he did not want to do that. The act of feeding on an unwilling victim was nothing he would easily engage with.

Yes, Lisa had to admit that she liked this fact. She liked having that family around, to have her son und the kids as well. And seeing Adrian with those people, whom he loved and who returned this love so easily helped her remind herself that they had made the right decision not to return to the castle.

It was, unfortunately, also true, though, that their cottage was not a big house. It was not the castle which had featured enough room to house hundreds. And with Trevor being dependent on daily feeding for a few months the five of them would be unable to travel before winter.

About this she felt bad. There were friends in their town down in Wallachia. Especially this Greta character, she had heard so much about.

While Lisa could not change the fact that a long travel would be out of the question for now, she knew the area around well enough to know the shorter distances to travel and what could be gained.

“You see, I've been thinking,” she said while Adrian and his wife were doing the dishes after supper, “you might be able to buy some spices in York.”

It was no surprise to see, that Sypha made the immediate connection. Her face brightened. “That's about a day's journey from here, isn't it?”

“Yes,” Lisa said. “It might not be a large city, but it is bigger than Whitby. And there are markets on every other Wednesday. So, you could buy some spices and make maybe some purchases for me as well.”

Adrian looked at her. “Of course. What do you need?”

“Some fabrics for winter,” she replied. “Also, I was made aware of somebody really wanting a cape.”

This got a giggle out of Sypha. “Trevor is just melodramatic.”

“He might be. But let him have it,” Adrian said.

“I am not saying I won't let him.” She grinned.

“Anything else?” Adrian asked.

“Well, you could have a look on whether or not there is any rice to buy.” It was rather hard to acquire rice this far up in the north as the plant did not take well to the cold temperatures. “And we do need some more candles.”

The two of them exchanged gazes.

“Sure, we can do that,” Sypha said. “Can we… can we leave the children and Trevor with you?”

“I actually thought you could take your husband along. He should be good for two days, should he not?” From what she understood Adrian could give enough to feed him for the while. And it seemed a simple fact that those three did need some more time on their own. At their home they would have people in their village to leave the children with while they went out – not that it would be as easily possible now, she gathered – and it only seemed right for them to have that.

After all, it must not be easy to deal with everything. And it had been a lot that had happened during those last two and a half weeks. No, those three needed some time on their own.

Sypha looked doubtful. “I am not sure…”

But Adrian put a hand onto her shoulder. “It should be fine,” he agreed with Lisa. “It would be only for two nights. We can travel in a way that we return by evening of the third day.”

The young woman pursed her lips. She was the one of their little family, who thought about all the possible consequences. She was the one to worry. It seemed to have served them well, but Lisa also realized that at times one needed a bit more careless – more like the Belmont.

“It should be fine,” Adrian reassured her once more. “I can feed him for two days.”

“But he might also have problems if the sun comes out,” Sypha said. “It's not like before. It's not going to be a light sunburn.”

“The plane is thick enough to keep the sun out. You know that.” He hugged her. “I think he might need that, too.” He kissed her temple, earning him a slight sigh.

“I am worried about him.”

“Me, too. But you know, what he is like.”

“Oh, I know that.”

Lisa could not help but smile at this display of affection. The three of them did know each other well, did care for each other. There was worry, but trust as well. Even with some anger over Trevor's decision – and his lack of communication about it – they still did care about the man.

Finally, Sypha gave in. “You will be fine with the kids for three days?”

“Of course,” Lisa said. “We have somehow managed to raise the man behind you as well, didn't we?”

Sypha broke away from her husband to look at him, her eyebrows raised. Then she sighed once more. “Yes, I guess I cannot argue with that.” She paused. “Wednesday… That would mean we have to leave the day after tomorrow.”

Notes:

Yeah, the next "mini" arc of this story is a short travel to York. :)

Chapter 47: All English Summer

Summary:

Trevor, Sypha and Adrian take the wagon to travel to York. While Sypha is excited to be in a wagon again, she is worried about the kids.

Notes:

Uhm, yeah... I forgot about updating this fic in a hot minute because... Lots of stuff is happening IRL right now. I am sorry. It is... a lot.

A light drizzle fell from the sky while their wagon was moving southward. A part of Sypha was glad to be on the road again – while another part was anxious leaving the children behind, be it just for three days.

It was clear that Adrian noticed as he shot her a look. “They will be just fine.”

She sighed. “I know. It's just…” The truth was, it just still felt different than it did with Greta. She was fairly certain that nothing would happen to the children, but it still felt strange to leave them behind here for several days.

“As long as they don't end up evil,” Trevor grunted from the back of the wagon. He was leaning against the plane, his arms crossed. Sypha knew he was glad to get out – but he was probably more worried about those kids than she was.

“I did not turn out evil, my dear Belmont,” Adrian noted.

An amused scoff, before Trevor moved closer to the front. “You know, at times I am not entirely sure.”

Adrian was the one holding the reins for now. He looked over his shoulder. “What is that supposed to mean.”

“It means you can be sadistic at times.”

“But you have to admit you like it.”

Sypha laughed. “Could you two stop flirting for five minutes?”

Trevor put his arms around her from behind. “It's not like you can't be sadistic either.”

“Only when you deserve it.”

“Whatever did I do to deserve it?”

Her smile faded a bit, while she put her hand above his. “You know exactly, what I am talking about.”

In the end she was fairly sure that Lisa was right. While Adrian's mother had never said it out loud, it was clear this had been the intent of sending them on this errant. They needed some time on their own. More than those one to two hours of training each night – training, that by was helped by Vlad now every other day. While Sypha knew it might not be the worst idea all things considered, they did need some time with the three of them alone. Without the kids. Without Vlad or Lisa.

She missed being home. She missed having Greta around as well. But mostly she just missed this. Some bickering, some banter, some flirting. Just the three of them with nothing to worry about. Well, nothing but the kids being left behind.

It should not be too much of a worry. After all Lisa was right. They had raised Adrian just fine. And they had left Marie with Greta fairly early on, long before Greta had children on her own. That worked out fine – even though Sypha was fairly certain it had only added to the girl's tendency to cuss.

“I say, we'll just sleep in the wagon,” she noted, before the silence could get too awkward. “We don't need to waste money on an inn.”

“Fine by me,” Trevor grunted.

Adrian just shrugged at it. “Yes. That should be fine. We also might not have much of a choice. We might not make it to York this evening.”

“True,” she admitted. They had taken off fairly late, due to their changed day rhythm. It might well be that they would not reach the town before late morning on the next day. “It will be fun sleeping in the wagon again.”

“You still have a fucking strange understanding of fun, my dear.”

“I am just saying…”

“You enjoy this,” Adrian said. “We know.”

Yes, obviously. Even Sypha had gotten used to sleeping in actual beds over the last few years. And yes, even though she would not say it out loud, she might even prefer it. And yet, she did miss the fresh night air, the voices of the wild, the rustling of leaves.

She leaned against Adrian for a bit, looking out at the road ahead. It was nice to see the English countryside. It was a bit less wild than Wallachia. There were more fields, more walls by the side of the road. Lisa had warned them they might also have to pay a toll to soldiers on the road. But it was definitely nice to see the landscape.

“So,” Trevor started after a while, “you're sure the kids will be fine?”

“They will be fine,” Adrian assured. “Trust me on that one.”

A mellow grunt. “No. Actually… I mean something else.”

Now Adrian turned around to him. “What do you mean?”

“It's Marie. She keeps asking questions. She is observant. And she knows something has happened between us and your father.”

Sypha heard the worry from his voice and suddenly understood. She turned around on the hog to look at him. “You can be quite concerning at times, Trevor.” She pecked him on the cheek. She understood, what he meant and did agree. The kids deserved this. To have grandparents. She wanted it for them – and she wanted it for Adrian. While Simon would probably not care one way or another, Marie was old enough to understand that killing was actually bad. And she would have to deal with those feelings soon enough.

“I think father will manage without telling her,” Adrian said. “Though I won't put it beside her to ask him, too.”

“It's just all fucked up,” Trevor muttered.

With this Sypha could not disagree. She looked to the two horses pulling the wagon. Yes, it was all rather messed up. What a merry family they were. Just that, in a way, they really were. Lisa and Vlad seemed to care about the kids and they most certainly cared about Adrian. When they had come here, she had been worried about two things: Adrian's parents being some sort of impostors and, well, another fight breaking lose. And be it just because Trevor could not hold himself back. But neither of it happened. It seemed fine.

“We make it work,” she said. “And… I mean, the children are happy like this.” Marie was even picking up some English phrases.

“I miss home, though,” Trevor muttered.

Neither of the other two commented on it. Because, after all, that they could agree on. They did miss their town, their pupils and Greta.

Chapter 48: The Bite

Summary:

During their journey to York, Trevor, Sypha and Adrian are taking a break. One thing leads to another...

Notes:

Technically there is some sex happening in this chapter, though it is not really smutty. As the scene is fairly vague.

Trevor was drinking in deep, hungry gulps. It was still a strange feeling and be it just to allow him to feed from Adrian's neck. Adrian had his hands on the other man's back, while he waited for him to finish feeding. By now Trevor slowly managed to drink without spilling too much blood.

He let go of him, brushing his still somewhat bloody lips against Adrian's. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome,” Adrian whispered, tasting his own blood on his lips.

Just for another moment they looked at each other, before Trevor laid down beside him. “I miss beer,” he muttered.

Sypha laughed. “Oh, my poor Belmont. You brought this onto yourself.”

“Somebody should've told me I would not be fucking able to drink beer for months!”

Now Adrian laid down as well, having somehow ended up in between the other two once more. He looked at Trevor. “Would it have changed anything?”

“Yes,” Trevor said. “I would have gotten nice and drunk before!”

Adrian chuckled. God, this man really was an idiot. A very loveable idiot. He kissed him, not saying anything.

By now he was mostly certain, that Trevor really was fine. He seemed to be okay with the blood-drinking, something Adrian had not expected. Well, maybe he and Sypha had been a bad influence on Trevor.

Sypha scuttled up closer to him, bedding her head onto his chest. They were used to this. Traveling together, spending the night in the wagon. It was too rainy out for them to sleep under the sky, not to mention it might be dangerous for Trevor.

But even Adrian had to admit that it was somewhat relaxing to just be here, together, with the rain splattering against the plane of the wagon.

He closed his eyes. The wagon was less than comfortable, of course. Lying on the wooden wagon bed was definitely worse than lying in a bed. But the quiet, the nature, the two bodies by his side. All of this was somewhat making up for it.

“I think we should get a book or two in York,” Sypha said.

Trevor grunted tiredly. “What for?”

“For Marie. She wants to learn the language, so maybe we find something easier to read.”

Of course there were not many books made for children. But some existed. Even though for nobility. It was strange to think that so many children grew up without books. “We will find something,” Adrian muttered.

Trevor said nothing. There was still the fact that even after eight years he was not especially good at reading. Adrian knew that. He squinted, look at the man and playfully caressed his beard, earning him a smile. Once more Trevor leaned above him to kiss him once more.

“You know,” he whispered. “I could think of some things to do, now that we are all alone out here.”

“You are impossible,” Sypha muttered, now opening her eyes as well.

Trevor kissed her as well. “I am just saying. For once there is no chance a kid walks in on us.”

“True.” She stretched and pressed herself up. “You really think only of the one thing.”

“You know that's not fucking true.”

“Yes, I do know that.” It was now her, who caressed his cheek. She took a soft breath, before kissing him. Then she bent down to kiss Adrian. “What do you say?”

“Sure.” Admittedly, he had missed being with the other two like this. Their skin against his. He had not even noticed how much he had missed it until their little intermezzo out on the meadows last week. But they had all needed that. Closeness. Warmth. Just the familiar touch of the others.

It was just another way in which Trevor had not changed. His softness, his neediness for them.

Being with him like this, Adrian so often was reminded how wrong he had been about the man, when they first met. He had taken him for rude – just like Sypha had – and fairly dumb. But he was neither of those things. He had just had a rough life until that point. But it was better now.

More than anything Trevor was self-less, always had been. Maybe too much so. It had been this selflessness that had made him make this decision, wasn't it?

Sypha comparatively had been more honest about who she was. Idealistic. Intelligent. Stubborn. Well, the later thing could maybe be said about all three of them. They were stubborn, weren't they? Otherwise, they might not have survived until now.

And while his mind was wandering, while his body was nothing but wax between them, he remembered something he had once read. “Trevor,” he breathed. “Bite me.”

“What?” Trevor's voice was hoarse. Adrian understood. Thinking was hard like this. But he did remember it.

“Just do it,” he moaned. “Bite me.” His own moan became more needy, while Trevor's teeth buried themselves in his neck. So, what he had read was true. This… made it more intensive. In a strange, strange way – and it did seem Trevor felt much the same, as he could hear him – feel him – groaning against his skin.

For just one moment they really did feel like one.

When they later lay by one another, their bodies still covered in sweat, it was Sypha who asked: “What was all that about?”

Adrian smiled, even though she could not see it, lying in front of him. “It's just something I read once,” he muttered. “That… That the vampire bite can have an aphrodisiac effect, on, well, both the vampire and the bitten.” It had said also something about the blood of an aroused victim being tastier. Not that he would know from experience.

“You have read all the dirty books, haven't you?” Trevor teased, his arm firmly around both of them.

“Well, I was curious about those things.” It was just that he had never gotten to try any of them out. Even when he had left the castle, he had been way too shy to try his luck with something like that.

“I guess I can understand that.” Trevor kissed his neck, where the bite wound had long healed already.

Sypha scoffed. “Of course, you do.”

“What's that supposed to fucking mean?”

“It means that you can be really horny,” Adrian muttered.

Trevor chuckled, pulling both of them even closer. “I can't disagree with that.”

Notes:

For those, who have been wondering: Yes, the chapter after the next one will have Vlad babysitting lol

Chapter 49: Simple Solutions

Summary:

Trevor is shopping in York, when he realizes he has overlooked a simple solution.

For once Trevor had to agree: He was a fucking idiot. But he also had to say: Everyone else was not a bit better. Neither of them had thought of the obvious solution to one of his two problems (the other being the fact that he would not be able to drink beer for several more weeks).

There was a nice pair of leather gloves he had found in one of the tailor shops he had gone to to buy fabrics. This should do, shouldn't it? The Vampire Killer did not hurt him through cloth, so using gloves would solve his problem and he would not have to learn to get better with bloody swords.

They had split up in the town. He had gone to buy the yarn and fabrics Lisa had asked for, Adrian was on the market to buy spices and food supplies and Sypha had gone off to find a shop selling books.

Thankfully it was another rainy day with no hint that the sun would come out, allowing him to go about his business. Yes, he could see why fucking Dracula had chosen this bit of land up in the north to live in. He had to wonder if it was not already a hotbed of vampires. At least he did not know about such a thing – well apart from Varney. Though after everything he had to wonder, if Varney had ever been real or had always just been a masquerade for Death.

Somebody said something. Correction: Somebody said something to him. Yes, that was the only problem he had. While Sypha had now spent several days pressing some English phrases into his thick skull, he was not quite proficient in that language. Well, obviously not. He was not Sypha after all, who apparently knew all the languages.

“I… I am sorry,” he stammered in his broken English. “I don't speak English.” He wanted to smile and stopped himself in the last second, remembering the warnings to not show his fangs off too much.

The tailor, a rather small man with a balding head looked at him questioningly, speaking something again.

“No English,” Trevor tried again and sighed.

He was still looking for a proper firm fabric that could be used for a cape like the one he had once had. Only that the one back in the day had already been pretty beaten up, before he had almost died. It had not gotten better afterwards.

But he did know how to communicate with simple signs. He showed the leather gloves and got out his coins. This did light up the tailor's eyes. He nodded quickly, now understanding much better what Trevor wanted.

Trevor was hoping he would find, what he was looking for here. There were several leather utensils and other stuff that would be worn out when hunting. So he might get lucky about the fabric here. There were rolled up fabrics in a shelf in the back - and now that he had seen coin the tailor was doing a much better job in understanding.

He gesticulated for Trevor to come to the back.

Now, Trevor did know fairly little about fabrics – apart from the fact that anything more than simple linen tended to quickly get expensive. But he knew, what a good coat or cape would feel like. So he felt the materials surprised that a town like this had even this much choice. He wanted a black cape, of course. A nice black cape, like the one he had once had. Preferably one with a clamp this time, so that he would not just have to tie it closed.

After feeling some of the fabrics, he found, what he was looking for. He pointed once more and the fabric roll was taken out of the shelf.

With some more gesturing Trevor managed to communicate how much he wanted. He added some extra, so that Lisa would be able to make a smaller coat for Marie, as she had offered. He knew his daughter would be excited about it. She needed a new coat either way, given the last one barely covered her legs by now.

He had gotten some softer fabric from another tailor before. That one would make for some new dresses for Simon, as two of his current ones were already thin by the knees.

By the time Trevor got around to paying, he was annoyed that he did not speak the language well enough to bargain. The tailor wanted two whole silver for all of it. But begrudgingly Trevor paid.

Of course, technically speaking money was no problem any longer, but given he had not had much of it for so long in his life, it never felt good to spent more than a few copper.

Once stepping outside, Trevor just directed a short gaze up on the sky. He could literally feel the sun standing up there, over the clouds. It was a strange feeling that filled him with unease, because he knew that if the cloud cover was to break open, he was done for. He would die, burst into flames. Then that would be it. He would be dead. And no, he most certainly did not want that.

Right now there was, however, still a light drizzle falling down from the sky. No need to worry, he told himself. The English weather was shitty enough for him to survive.

Having gotten everything, he had been tasked on getting, he made his way back towards the stables, where they had left both horses and the wagon. Better save, than sorry, he told himself. If he got there, he would just wait for the others, if they were not already back.

He oriented himself. At least he had a good sense of direction, allowing him quickly to find a way back. Only that the way led him over the market once more, making him instantly regret it. One stall was selling cured meats and God darn, those smelled quite nicely. But of course, that was no option right now. He was on a strict diet after all, if one wanted to call it that.

He was looking forward to the day, he would be able to eat normally again. If they had spices by then, he would ask Adrian to make some grilled meat – and he already knew Adrian would tease him to “just make it himself”. The thought made him smile.

No. While he hated the lack of normal food, he did not think he regretted his decision yet. It had been for the right reason, even though not everybody might agree. He was no longer the last of the Belmonts after all, he could do with his life whatever he fucking wanted. And he had decided to stay with those two and to not leave this fucking bastard of his behind again. One time had been enough. And, after all, it would pay off at some point, right? More than it already had, because even if the bastard would probably not even admit it to himself, there was just this small, light sense of relief, when Adrian looked at him.

Once more he looked up to the sky. Well, he just had to make sure, he would not burn in the sun for now. That, well, that seemed to be important.

Notes:

It is a funny thing I realized: gloves should fix that issue xD

Chapter 50: First Steps

Summary:

Vlad gets to spend some quality time with his grandchildren.

Notes:

So, the grandpa Vlad chapter xD

One thing had to be certain: Those two kids had too much energy. On one hand there was Marie, who could really talk for over an hour without pause. On the other hand, there was the little boy, Simon, who would so far only crawl, but could do that in surprising speeds.

Thankfully the boy was not yet big enough to open doors. Vlad could already see him falling down some flights of stairs in the castle. Though, given by the stories he had been told, the boy would just get up afterwards and go on. He had fairly good regenerative powers already, and he was only one and a half years old.

With the rain splattering against the window, the girl was sitting in front of the fire place. She held the book they had given her in her hands, studying the pages with concentration. The boy was whining, meanwhile, as he clearly felt caged in the sitting room.

He crawled from one door to the other one, staring at it as if he could open it with his thought. Thankfully there were no telekinetic abilities known in dhampir children – as far as Vlad was aware.

Now the boy started to whine. He was not crying, just complaining. Rolling onto his behind, he pointed at the door knob. “Bunic, door!”

“Yes, the door is closed,” Vlad told the boy. “Your iaca is working in the kitchen.” Right now, he wondered if it had been the wiser decision for him to take over cooking duty.

Simon's gaze was offended. “Door!” he demanded.

“We are going to let your iaca work in the kitchen,” Vlad told him.

The boy pouted, before pointing at the window. “Out!”

“It is raining outside, Simon,” Marie said in a lofty voice. Then she turned toward Vlad. “What does ‘shadow’ mean?” She said the word in English.

“Shadow,” Vlad explained. He had to wonder how much the girl was even understanding from what she was reading. She had started with this a few days ago. She could not have mastered the language far enough to understand, what she read - given she was only a child and also only human.

Simon would not give in. “Out!” he whined.

With a long sigh, Vlad got out of his chair and picked the boy up, to carry him over to the window. “It is raining outside, you see?” And it was raining fairly badly by now, with a steady stream of water pouring down the outside of the window.

“But wanna out,” the boy muttered.

“You will only get yourself dirty, Simon,” Marie said. “That's why you can't go out.”

This got the boy to actually cross his tiny arms, as he pouted.

“Don't worry about him.” Marie looked up from the book. “He just always wants to wander around. Our parents once had to look for him all over town, because he got away while Greta was watching us. He was in the pig pen in the end, munching on the pig food.” Her peeved expression told how disgusting she considered this to be.

Admittedly, Vlad had to agree. That sounded pretty disgusting. Looking at the boy, he had to wonder, where he had gotten that part from. If he was going by all the teasing, he had heard over the last two and a half weeks it had to be from the Belmont, even though that one was clearly not blood-related to this dhampir child.

He caught himself looking at the little boy. One other thing, he had to admit: It was strange how different children seemed to be. Yes, technically he remembered having had a child in that human life of his, which had been almost five centuries ago. But he did not remember much of the child, aside from their death. It had been another life after all.

“Bunic, what does ‘armor’ mean?”

He translated it for the girl, who nodded and returned her attention back to the book.

“How much of it do you even understand?” he asked, returning to his chair and looking over the shoulder of the girl.

She shrugged. “Some parts. I get this is about knights and magic swords.”

That was not completely off. A lot of English folklore featured knights in one version or another. They also featured religious imagery quite frequently, which seemed as far-fetched to him – no, much further – than magic swords that chose a country’s king.

“Has papi's sword also be enchanted by a wizard?” she suddenly asked.

He smirked. “No. That one has been enchanted by an old friend of mine.” Whom he later had also killed, but that was not to be discussed with a child. “I could enchant weapons, too, you know?” Even though he had never given much on magic weapons. He knew magic. He did not even need weapons, as he had his claws and fangs. That was enough.

The girl did not really seem impressed by this. “Aunt Greta has learned how to enchant weapons as well, you know?”

“Has she now?”

Simon, not pleased with neither getting out, nor getting attention, started to whine again, now trying to slip down to the ground.

Vlad put him down, leading for the kid to try once more for the door leading to the hallway and the staircase up. Miffed at the door once again not bowing to his will, he fixated on the door knob, reaching out a chubby little hand, which obviously could not reach.

“Aunt Greta has made herself a magic hammer,” Marie explained. “One that returns to her hand if asked. Just like papi's sword. She has also enchanted Soara's bow and has made a magic knife for Paştea. And she does want to make more. She is a blacksmith, you see. Well, actually she knows like a lot of things. She has been a thief once, did you know that?”

Obviously, he had not known that, considering nobody had mentioned it before. “No, I did not.”

It was clear that the girl did have some admiration for that “aunt” of hers, considering it was one of her favorite topics.

“She had been. But then she decided she wanted to do proper things in life and settled down. And then she became the village head woman. And now she is our major. She does know a lot of things, you know? Oh, and we have other thieves living in the town as well.”

Simon was not giving up that easily. Looking around, he crawled back to the sofa, to pull himself up onto his legs as Vlad had seen him do before. With a concentrated gaze, the boy tried to take a step - only to fall over once more. It did not hamper his enthusiasm, however. He crawled back to the sofa and tried once more.

“Well, mama says they are not thieves but highway man. But I think they are thieves. Well, they are not any more, I mean. They now have proper jobs. My papa did some thieving, too, when he was younger.”

Simon managed almost three steps this time, now also drawing the attention of his sister.

“What are you doing, Simon?” she asked.

Now with a determined look on his face, the boy pointed. “Door.”

He pulled himself up once more. Looking first at his feet, then at the door, he balanced himself, before taking another step than another and somehow stumbling his way to the door – only to then realize, that he could still not reach the door knob.

“Would you look at that,” Vlad muttered to himself, while Marie only crossed his arms.

“That's further than he managed so far.”

Vlad chuckled. “It's fine, Simon.” He went over and opened the door. The boy would find a way to escape somehow either way, he had the feeling. So he might as well see, where he was going to go.

Chapter 51: Future Plans

Summary:

On their way back to Whitby, Trevor, Sypha and Adrian think about the future.

“Call me crazy,” Trevor muttered, “but I really miss sleeping in a bed.”

“Says the one comfortable with sleeping under trees, once,” Adrian teased.

“You've spoiled me rotten.”

They were in the wagon. It was night again. Once more they were naked, cuddled up to each other under a relatively thin blanket. Even with all things considered, Sypha did not really get used to Trevor not being the oven he used to be. When he had still been – well – alive, he had radiated heat so much, it had often been uncomfortable to lie next to him in summer. Now he was warm, but not that hot any longer.

Apparently, he felt her shiver. “You want in the middle again?” he asked.

She nodded weakly. Here she was with her immortal husbands, who did not feel the cold like she did. With ease she slid onto him, before hesitating. She pushed herself up a bit to look at him as well as the dark allowed. She could summon a flame, but she would rather not do it. Still, she could see his eyes glistening in the dark.

“What is it?” He caressed her cheek.

She sighed, before gliding into the crevasse between him and Adrian. “I just miss your heat right now.”

“I am sorry,” he muttered.

While Adrian had the body temperature of a normal, living human, he was still not as hot, as Trevor had used to be. Still, he put his arms around her to pull her close, breathing a kiss into her hair.

She sighed. “It's fine. It is, really. I mean, you are still you.” She harrumphed. “Which means you are still an idiot.”

This one got a chuckle out of Adrian.

“Keep teasing me,” Trevor muttered, leaning towards her.

“And?”

He kissed her neck. “We will see.”

They had tried out, what Adrian had suggested the night before. Trevor had bitten her during sex. He had not taken much, not enough for his hunger, just a little. The feeling had been intensive. She assumed those stories about people lusting for vampires came from this. So there was some truth to some of the legends.

She turned her head to the side and pulled him close for a kiss. “But it's… it really is fine. I am fine with it. Even though I still wish, you would have spoken to us before.”

“I know,” he admitted. “But what good would it have done? You would have tried to talk me out of it and would've been pissed, if I had gone through it either way.”

There was no arguing with that. She just wished they could've talked about it beforehand, could maybe have found a compromise. Though what was the compromise going to be? Wait a few more years? That would not do either of them any good. He really had had his mind made up about this decision it seemed. Leaving only her to ponder what she was going to do.

“I…” Adrian started, but she interrupted him immediately.

“Don't even try to say you're sorry. It's his fault, not yours.”

Adrian sighed at this.

“Stop feeling responsible for every fucking thing,” Trevor groaned. “Look. You're right. I have done this because of you. But not only for you. There are the kids, too. And… other things. And, well, I mean just look at all of this. What if your father goes mad again? Someone might need to stop him again. Am I supposed to hobble onto the battlefield with 60 years of age and try my best?”

“I don't think my father is going to…” Adrian stopped.

“But there are other things, too. Like, I mean, just look at that mess in Hungary. Stuff like that could happen again and…” Trevor grunted.

“We get it,” Sypha whispered. “And… You know, maybe you are not entirely wrong about it.” Even though she was not really sure, if they were supposed to just… take care of anything that was ever going to happen again. There would be others, too, right? This was not all their responsibility.

“See,” he gloated. “I am not entirely wrong.” He chuckled at that.

Sypha could feel more than see how Adrian reached over her to caress Trevor's cheek.

With a sigh, she turned onto her side. “You know… I have been thinking about it. Maybe… in a few years…” She shook her head. “I don't know yet. Just, maybe.”

“You don't have to, if it is nothing you would want,” Adrian breathed.

“I am still trying to figure out if I want it.” She licked her lips. “I want to stay with you. Both of you idiots. I would also like to keep collecting stories and knowledge. I think that is an admirable goal. I mean. I could see that. I am not quite sure whether I could see never going out again and the blood-drinking…”

“That part is surprisingly not that bad,” Trevor replied. “It's okay.” For just a moment he paused. “In a way I might actually like it.”

“That is a surprising turn of events,” Adrian muttered.

This was met with a grunt. “I mean drinking from you. It feels… good.”

“Am I supposed to feel honored?”

“Maybe…”

Sypha felt a tiny smirk sneak its way onto her lips. Who knew? Maybe he was right and it was not all that bad. They would be more holed up back in Walachia, given the fact they had more sunny days there than they had in England. But, yes, maybe it was not all that bad.

“I don't get the thing about virgin blood, though,” Trevor noted.

She turned to him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I know that vampires have this big thing about virgin blood, you know? But unless all the nuns have some dirty laundry to air, I don't really get the difference.”

For once, it was Sypha who groaned. “Of course, there is no difference. I mean, do you expect sex to change the cells within the blood? Sex is not that magical.”

Adrian chuckled at her outrage.

“It tastes different during sex, though.”

“Probably because of hormones,” Adrian muttered. “That might change the taste.”

“Fuck do I know.” Trevor laughed.

Sypha shook her head to herself, before putting an arm to his side to pull him even closer than he already was. “You are a rude idiot.”

“Yes, yes, very well established by now.”

She grinned. Why was it, that this stupid man always got her to laugh? He really was something. In the end she closed her eyes. “As I said,” she muttered, “I am thinking about it. But…” She sighed. “Before we do anything about that, I want another child.”

“Another one?” Trevor asked.

“Yes. One other child,” she replied. “That's… It would just feel right.”

He kissed her forehead. “Let's just make sure it's not gonna be twins. Otherwise, we might be outnumbered.”

Notes:

The irony here is of coruse, that no, it is not twins. The last child - Anna - is going to be another singleton. BUT... Trevor manages to knock up Greta, too, with Sasca who ends up being just two months younger than Anna.

Chapter 52: The Way Back

Summary:

The Sypha, Adrian and Trevor face the fact that they will have to stay in England for the winter.

They had had a sunny day on their journey back from York – forcing Trevor to stay in the back of the wagon. By the time Whitby came into view, the sun had started setting, covering the bright sand stone of the abbey in a reddish hue. It was a good view, peaceful somehow.

Much to his surprise Adrian had to admit he was looking forward to returning to that little cottage, to see his parents again. Sypha had been right about coming here. Of course he had wanted to come, when he realized his parents were among the living but if it had not been for her he would never have admitted to it, he would not have taken the others along. He had been so afraid of seeing his father again after everything that had happened. But now it was fine. It was fine.

The man in that cottage was the same man he remembered raising him, not the mad man they killed eight years ago. All that pain, that hurt, that violence seemed to be barely more than a nightmare now. It had been a nightmare – a nightmare that had cost all too many lives.

Maybe it was not right to forgive his father after everything he had done. Had he, Adrian, even the right to forgive him? He was but one person among the many harmed by his father. And yet… He wanted to forgive him, to just regain this little homey feeling of having this man look out for him.

Yes, maybe there was also the fact that his father did not hold anything he had done against him. His father saw nothing to forgive in Adrian's action, in Adrian's decision to kill him. It was all so strange but, yes, it was what he had needed too badly.

He wondered if there could have been a universe in which all this could have happened without all the hurt. In which he could have met Sypha and Trevor without all the pain involved. In which they could have just lived in that castle with his parents. Without anyone dying.

There could not have been, could there? One did not go without the other. Maybe it had all been meant to be.

He had gone down there, had gone to Gresit because of the prophecy. Not because he had really believed in it, but because he had just held on to this tiny sliver of hope that indeed a hunter and scholar might end up looking for him, might help him with his task. He had not believed in anything else. And yet, here they were. Maybe Sypha was right and that prophecy was in fact a tale that had somehow made its way back from the future.

Sypha was sitting by his side, looking at him questioningly. “What are you thinking about?”

He smiled, surprised how genuine it felt. “I am looking forward to seeing them again. Marie and Simon and my parents.”

This got her to smile as well. “Yes, me, too.” She took his arm and leaned against him. “I also look forward to eating something warm this evening.”

A grunt came out of the wagon behind them. “Lucky you,” Trevor noted full of sarcasm.

“You will be able to eat again soon enough,” she replied.

There was some grumbling in the wagon behind, though Trevor clearly knew she was right. After all, he had brought this onto himself.

“I hope the kids have not done too much damage,” Adrian muttered. He was relatively sure they had not, but he could not guarantee for Simon not dig up all the roots in his mother's vegetable garden.

“Oh, they will be good,” Sypha said. She chuckled. “Admittedly it has been nice to have someone else take care of them.”

“You mean someone other than Greta,” Trevor commented.

“You know exactly, what I mean!”

A laugh.

She smiled, while the wagon moved on ahead and Adrian could not help but do the same. Even though he had to agree that those three days had been nice – he had also missed those little buggers. It was really strange how one grew accustomed to those things. The kids had become as much a part of his life, as Trevor and Sypha had. He thought of what Sypha had said the night before. Another child. Yes, he would like that. Another child would be nice, even though it apparently would not turn out to be a dhampir either way.

They did not know much about Simon's abilities or, well, what exactly he was. But it seemed so far that he was a dhampir just like him. So, who knew?

But if Trevor was to have another child with Sypha now, that child would also be a dhampir. One way or another, they would have two most probably immortal children on their hands. And he could already hear Marie complaining about it.

“We need to make a decision soon,” Sypha muttered.

“About what?” Trevor asked.

“How long we are going to stay,” she replied. “You cannot travel for long like this, can you? So, I guess we'll have to stay until you have to feed less frequently.” She shrugged.

Looking at her Adrian could tell she had already made her peace with that.

Another grunt. “I guess so.”

“And,” Sypha continued, “if we stay for two more months, we will likely have to stay for the entire winter. Because I will not take the kids on a long wagon journey during winter.” She had told them often enough that even the speakers had often settled down in a village for the snowy winter months.

Adrian looked ahead and sighed. He could not argue with her logic, though he worried they might get on his parents' nerves, if they stayed the entire winter. There was also the fact that their little town back home might need them.

“I can stay on my own,” Trevor offered.

Adrian turned around. “No.”

“I am just saying,” Trevor muttered. “I can stay. You don't need to hole yourselves up just because of me.”

Sypha shook her head, even though Trevor would be unable to see that. “We are family,” she replied. “If you have to stay, we'll stay as well.”

“I am also afraid I cannot just leave you with my father,” Adrian added dryly. “You would probably find a way to kill each other.”

This got Trevor to laugh. “Well, I cannot guarantee for anything.”

“So,” Sypha said, “I think we might need to talk about staying or what our other options are.”

Adrian nodded slowly. “Yes, we might need to do that.”

Chapter 53: Ocean Waves

Summary:

Back in Whitby, Sypha uses the day to go out to the beach on her own.

While the sun was out on this day, the sea was rough. Sypha did not dare to swim, even though she enjoyed the waves washing around her feet. She enjoyed the smell of the sea as well. Salty. Wild. Yes, she actually liked this.

She had needed some time alone. They had returned from York two days ago and family life had easily caught up with them again. It seemed that somehow during their brief time away Simon had now finally decided he wanted to walk. While his steps were still fairly unsure and shaky, he would pull himself up again and again to stumble along. He would also fall down a lot and cry.

Marie was now really getting serious about learning English. She had already picked up a few words. The girl really came after Sypha in this regard. Learning languages quickly and with ease. Right now, Adrian and Lisa had taken her along to the village so she could play with some other children, while Lisa was doing her home calls.

Family life was always busy and she knew it would only become busier, once a third child would be born. She was not even quite sure on whether she was happy or not that Simon and that possible other child would grow up that much quicker.

When she had left the castle together with Trevor those eight years ago, she had not planned on getting pregnant – but she had known it was a possibility. Even though he had been (and still was at times) a rude idiot, she had quickly fallen for him. Even though she knew too well how big of a mistake leaving had been. They could've prevented so much hurt on Adrian's side if they had stayed for just a little bit longer.

An especially big wave made her almost stumble. She stopped in her walk and turned to look out onto the sea.

As her robes needed washing, he had borrowed one of Lisa's dresses. A simple linen dress. Though she really had to say that she would never get used to the feel of linen. The speaker robes were made of cotton having a much nicer feel on the skin.

Her gaze drifted to the horizon. There were some sea gulls in the air hungrily spying out for some fish coming close to the surface of the ocean.

It really was a nice place Vlad and Lisa had settled in.

Sypha missed home. She missed the town of Belmont. But she was not willing to leave Trevor behind till the end of winter, because she knew she would miss him more. And yet… It was the time for harvest. In a few weeks’ time there would be the harvest festival. People would dance and eat well. She would have loved to be there, but given that they did not know where to find a transmission mirror on the isles, there was a possibility they would have to travel at least to Vienna to get back home. She had looked at the maps. Even to get to a harbor from which they could cross the channel they would travel for at least ten days. Then another day to cross the channel. Then about twenty more to reach Vienna.

From what Vlad had said Trevor would need daily feeding at least for the first three months – so at least eight more weeks. So, returning home before then was out of the question. Then winter would come and travel would get even more dangerous.

No, they would have to wait until spring as long as they did not have a way to open a portal of any sort.

Continuing her way along the white beach, she had to admit that a part of her was still a bit thankful about it. After everything that had happened with Magnus it was surprisingly good to get away from the castle, to just forget for a while what had happened there.

It had all been so wrong and in the end, she had been the first one to fall for Magnus. If she had just sent him away in the beginning, this would not have happened.

She smiled sadly. Ah, there she was going. She always reminded Adrian to not ponder the “what ifs” too much, as it would send him onto a downwards spiral. Now she was the one doing the same. No, she should rather be thankful that she had realized the danger soon enough for her to get the kids to Greta, so they did not have to see any of that. She shuddered by the mere thought of what Magnus might have done to them.

In the end she was also thankful for Trevor's stubbornness. If it had not been for him, they might have well lost that fight – and Adrian with it.

She stopped once more to look out, while one of the gulls dove into the waves only to come up with a fish in its beak a moment later.

To go here had been the right decision for Adrian at least. He was healing. There had been this little piece of him that had still be unable to forgive himself about what had happened with his parents. This part of him was healing now – and it was good to see. And yes, she had well noticed that a part of him that was honest with himself was thankful for what Trevor had done. Maybe it was for the better. It probably was. And maybe, just maybe, Trevor needed that, too.

Trevor always tended to overplay his own hurt with jokes and teasing, but he had been hurt as well.

She shook her head. She missed home. She missed Greta, too, missed her pupils and the big library. But yes, she would miss Trevor more if they left him for half a year. Staying here was better. Especially after what had happened at the castle at last. And the little town would be just fine without them.

Notes:

Oh boy, we are moving towards the end of this story, too. I am honestly still wondering what to write after it. I have several Castlevania longfics planned out technically speaking. The one I would like to write most right now is probably the backstory for Striga and Morana. Because they deserve so much more love and there is little in terms of longfics with them online. Hmm...

Chapter 54: Cooking Questions

Summary:

Lisa enjoys her son taking over cooking duty.

“I could get used to this,” Lisa muttered, while watching the two young men work.

“Used to what?” Adrian asked. He was standing by the stove, frying the meat they had gotten earlier that day.

“You, cooking.”

“Father cooks, doesn't he?”

She smiled. “But he doesn't cook as good as you.”

“I fucking know, right?” Trevor agreed with her. He was cutting up vegetables in accordance Adrian's instructions.

Marie, who was apparently pondering the book her parents had bought her, looked up for just a moment. “Papi’s cooking is the best.”

Those three had gotten quite a collection of spices from the market, allowing finally for the girl to eat without much complaints. Adrian had said something about making filled noodles and had been busy preparing the meal for a while. Lisa had learned by now, that he enjoyed cooking, that he was the one cooking for his family back home in Walachia. Even in the time since the five of them had been here, he had taken quite a lot of house work off her hand.

He just shrugged at all of this praise. “If you say so.”

“No false modesty,” Trevor said. “You know your cooking is good.”

Most of the time when Adrian was cooking either of the other two were helping him with smaller tasks like cutting meat or vegetables or washing of used kitchenware. There was not much discussion about it. It was simply how it seemed to be done.

“Okay, fine,” Adrian replied. “I know.” There was a shy smile on his face.

“I can see how you got everyone spoiled,” Lisa said.

“Especially my dear Belmont.” Adrian got the meat out of the pan and put it onto a cutting board. Then he went over to kiss his partner on the temple. “When I met him, he was perfectly fine eating half spoiled meat without complaining. And now look at him.”

“I was not that bad.”

“You considered beer as your primary source of nutrition.”

Marie cringed with disgust. “Beer.”

“Oh, my dear, you will learn to fucking love it one day.”

“It is bitter,” she complained.

“That's what makes it so perfect.” Trevor let out a dramatic sigh. “God, I miss beer.”

Adrian shook his head. “Just make sure you don't get too drunk, once you can drink again.”

“Can vampires even get drunk?”

“I don't know,” Adrian said. “I can, as you very well know.”

Marie was still grimacing. Pouting she looked down to her book again muttering something to herself. She had been reading in the book for several days now. Only very slowly and not without asking again and again what certain words meant, but she was getting the hang of it. She really seemed to be quite intelligent.

Taking the finely diced vegetables from Trevor, Adrian put those into the pan as well, together with some spices. He gave Trevor the meat instead for him to cut it into smaller pieces as well.

The boy, Simon, was still outside with his mother. As it had been a relatively dry day and the boy was only hardly contained, it seemed like a good idea to let him out.

“Have you thought about it?” Lisa said, while watching the men cook. “About what you are going to do now?”

It had been this one open question that was still in the room. The question of what they were going to do with Trevor's need to feed daily, while their journey home would probably be long and arduous.

Trevor shot a short look to Marie, who obviously noticed.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked.

Trevor pondered the question for a moment. “We were thinking about staying for the winter,” he carefully said.

She frowned at that. “But aunt Greta does need us back home, doesn't she?”

“She is going to be fine for a few months without us,” Adrian said.

“See,” Trevor said, “I need to feed every day for a while now. And I cannot do that, if we travel home.”

“Why not?”

“Because I do not want to hunt people. I want to only drink from willing participants.”

The girl looked at him. “But at home people will be willing, right?”

“Yes, but not on our way there. We will have to travel at least for a month.”

It was really interesting to see how Trevor's entire demeanor could change, when he was talking to the kids. Lisa had noticed that quite a bit. While he could still talk to them with quite a lot of cussing and cursing, when he was seriously speaking with them, he would be much softer.

“Can we not go through a mirror?”

“We don't know where another mirror is,” he said, “nor if we could use it. If we were to travel, we would travel to Vienna and use the mirror in the castle there. But that is one month of travel. And right now I cannot travel for a month.”

“But then why stay the entire winter?” she asked.

Adrian turned around to her. “Because by the time papa will feed less regularly, it will be winter. And we don't want to travel during winter.”

“Why though?”

“Because traveling in winter is dangerous,” he replied. “And you won't like it much.”

“But aunt Greta…”

“Aunt Greta will be fine with it,” Trevor promised.

Suddenly there were tears in the girl’s eyes. She looked at them – from one to the other – before closing her book, standing up and going without another word.

Adrian sighed, returning his attention to the stove. “That could've gone better.”

“You know how she is,” Trevor said, continuing his own work with the meat. “She will be fine. If we went, she would be crying for her iaca and bunic soon enough.”

“You think so?” Lisa asked. She had noticed the girl had taken a liking to both of them, something that touched her deeply, but she could not quite say of deep that liking went.

“Yeah,” Trevor replied and shook his head. “Bunic…” He scoffed. “The youngest Belmonts calling Dracula bunic.”

Adrian turned around to look at his mother. “Will you be fine, with us staying, I mean?”

She got up and went over to him. “You should know we will be.” She took his hand. “Stay as long as you want to. You are welcome here.”

The smile on his lips was warm, when he nodded. “Thank you.”

Notes:

Oops, kinda forgot uploading again, because... time constraints. Sorry.

Chapter 55: Vampiric Powers

Summary:

Trevor tries to get the hang of his new powers.

Trevor had found one way to get some access to his new vampiric abilities: Running. Because he did not need to think about running. It was a skill his body had long mastered on its own. Thus, it was fairly easy to just, well, run really fast. He knew fucking well he was not as fast as Adrian, but even bloody Dracula had admitted that Adrian was faster than most vampires. So Trevor had to make his peace with the fact that he would probably never match his husband in speed.

Still, being fast was surprisingly fun. It just gave him a certain rush to see the landscape flash by him, while he took a run along the cliff side. He started to get why Adrian did it, when he was in a bad mood. This would probably cheer him up as well.

Learning to deal with his new abilities was frustrating. He thought that as a Belmont he knew what there was to know about being a vampire. But he had been so fucking wrong about it. There was just so much he had not known. He had not known he would be unable to eat and drink for a while. He had not known how hyperaware he would become about the position of the sun. He had not known how long it would take to unlearn thinking like a human. And he had also not known how bloody hot it was to drink during sex.

By now he was fairly happy with his decision though. He knew quite well that so many of his ancestors would be rotating in their graves if they knew about it, but he, Trevor Belmont, actually liked being a vampire. Sure, there were downsides to it, but all in all, yes, it was fun. And given the gloves he could even use his whip again – though he had to be more careful with it than he had been before.

And, hey, those ancestors of him would not have stopped rotating from the moment he started dating Dracula's fucking bastard son – so, really, Trevor had started to think that he might actually not really care about them.

Just one thing bugged him: Yes, this boyish part of him had kinda hoped for one cool power or another. But so far… nothing. Sypha had already muttered her few words about him being able to just learn magic from her, but his one and only try with actual magic so far had been rather painful. So, he would prefer to not try that.

He stopped in his run and looked up. It had been another bloody sunny day, which he started to despise. Because, yes, he liked to go out during the day. Back in their castle at home it would probably not be that bad. He would have enough things he could do inside without going into the sun. But in the small cottage it kinda sucked being holed up – especially considering his one company was bloody Dracula himself.

There was a faint smell of falling leaves in the air. The first few trees had some auburn leaves. It was mid-September after all. Autumn was coming and it was coming quickly. This meant that, yes, it was almost exactly eight years ago that they had fought Dracula.

The moon in the sky was waxing once more. It was almost a full half. Even though some clouds were hanging in the sky Trevor could see the stars from out here. And, yes, he also had to admit that the stars looked more beautiful to a vampire, being able to see what bloody Dracula had described as a wider spectrum of light.

He inhaled the night air. Judging by his new found sense of time it should be around one in the morning. Maybe he should return. Yes, he probably should return. It had just been such a beautiful night – and running as a vampire was just a bit too much fun.

Still. Half-way on his way home he stopped at the cliffs he stopped.

There had been one thing he was wondering. It was maybe a stupid thought, but maybe it was not. Lisa had said that Adrian had once discovered his ability to hover when he had only been four years old and fell down a tree. So, maybe… Maybe Trevor could jumpstart his own ability to fly in a similar vein? What could go wrong?

He should have the ability to fly, at least from all things he knew. A vampire’s abilities were usually determined by the abilities of his sire. And, well, bloody Dracula could fly. So, theoretically speaking, Trevor should be able to do the same, shouldn't he?

He decided to risk it. After all: What was an undead life without any risk? And the sand down there should be soft, right?

He stood by the side of the cliff. It should be about fifteen yards deep. Even if it did not work, he should be able to survive. Heck, he had survived greater falls as a human already. So, fuck it!

After taking a deep breath he jumped – and wondered in the next moment what he was even doing. Unsurprisingly he fell and maybe he was just thinking too much about it, but no sudden flight powers wanted to flare up. Instead, he just raced towards the ground, only managing in the last moment to bring his feet underneath him. He rolled off on the group, before lying flat in the sand.

“Ouch.” He had not broken anything, he was sure of that much, but his left foot still hurt.

Yeah, maybe grumpy fucking Dracula and his bastard son were right and Trevor thought too much about what he should and should not be able to do. It was just hard to not do that.

He sighed and cursed his mind for the thinking he was doing.

Then he heard a voice from quite a bit away. “Trevor?”

That was Adrian no doubt. Trevor's vampire senses at least were working fine – probably, because he was not actively thinking about them.

“Yeah,” he grunted. He knew, he should be getting up, but somehow, he did not.

It did not take long for Adrian to appear on the top of the cliff looking down at him. “What are you doing there?” He did not even speak loudly. They could both hear each other quite well even without.

“Nothing,” Trevor muttered.

Even on the distance he could make out the raised eyebrow. “Have you jumped down there?”

“No.”

Adrian chuckled. He jumped as well, catching his fall maybe two yards over the ground and gently floating down to land right next to Trevor. “You were trying to fly,” he noted.

“Maybe.”

Offering him his hand, Adrian stood next to him. “All of that will come in due time, my dear Belmont.”

It was Trevor's turn to chuckle. He took Adrian's hand just to pull his husband down into the sand next to him. “I just thought it would be nice, you know?”

“Flying?”

“Yeah. Look, whenever we fight you and Sypha have a way to fucking get around. I don't. It would be quite nice to not wait for the bloody flying beasties to have to come down, you know?”

Adrian allowed to be pulled to the ground and lay down next to Trevor. “Well, I guess it would be practical.” While supporting himself with one arm he took the other hand to follow the scar in Trevor's face. “But it will come. In due time.”

Turning his head to the side, Trevor looked at him. “Waiting fucking sucks.”

Adrian smirked. “My dear Belmont, you are remarkably impatient for a vampire. You have a lot of time now, you know?”

This was admittedly quite true. He did have a lot of time now, didn't he? If he was not killed by someone else (or his own stupidity) he could technically live forever. That was a fucking long time. That woman in Styria… she had already lived more than a thousand years! He could not even imagine a time that long. But he would be with Adrian, wouldn't he? And maybe with Sypha as well. So, really, it was not that bad, was it?

He pushed himself up onto one arm to be able to kiss his husband. “I just want one cool ability, though”

Adrian returned his kiss. “As I said: Patience.”

“Fine,” Trevor muttered. “I will try to be patient. For a few months.”

“That’s a start.” Adrian sat up. “And I think we should return back to the cottage.”

Trevor took his hand. “Or… we could stay for a while.”

Turning around and seeing the suggestive look on Trevor's face, Adrian laughed, but let himself fall back onto Trevor's arms. “You are impossible.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 6 of The Change