Darkness spread out before the being, consuming his senses, his thoughts, and then encroached on his heart. The delicate organ shuddered and twisted his mind into a conundrum of emotion, and eventually his mind shattered. The shards splayed across the darkness, creating a sky out of the abyss. The stars were moving, colliding, forming a blinding portal into a world of light, and a shadow crossed the light into darkness.
The face formed slowly….
Abraham whipped around as he noticed the creature's eyes open. They moved blindly for a while, but he watched them lose their glazed appearance as the ignorant veil of darkness fell away. He waited, a grin of anticipation possessing his lips, twisted with cruelty. "Count…or rather, Slave…how does it feel to have fallen from the height of dominance to the lowest level of servitude?" His grin grew as he spoke, reveling in the outrage that would erupt from the vampire's lips and contort his delicate features into those of the recognizable monster that he was.
Abraham frowned in the lack of emotion in the eyes that stared back at him from the dungeon floor. They were keen, intelligent as usual, but lacked the scheming shadow behind them that usually made them burn with a daunting luster. These eyes….there was something wrong…. Abraham stepped forward and hesitantly crouched by the vampire who had not even bothered to test the restraints that held his arms behind his back and forced him to rest on his side. "Say something…I'm ordering you to. I defeated you, bound your existence to the Hellsing name….I posses you, you should be able to feel it."
The vampire could feel a pressure restraining his will, but he didn't consider the implications of what the man was saying…he wanted to know something much simpler.
"Who are you?"
Abraham froze, a sudden chilling thought enveloped his mind. Had the ceremony failed? Was a defect all that was left from his hard work? He collected himself. "I am Abraham van Hellsing. Your master until dust either claims your bones or the last of my line's life fades from existence." The vampire was frustratingly quiet and docile even. "Vampire! What game are you playing at?" Abraham yelled, disappointment accumulating and he rose to his feet to tower over the constricted being.
"Vampire? Is that what I am? And you…you are my Master?" The vampire's face was still blank and his eyes continued to watch the man that stood before him.
A roar ripped from Abraham, startling the vampire, and he tore the surprised creature from the floor by the length of his hair. "You!" his blazing blue eyes bore into the red, unflinching ones of the vampire. Abraham held the glare and the vampire left it unbroken, not attempting to turn his eyes from the man's.
"Master…if that is what I am to call you…how is it I have come to be a vampire, a servant, and one who has fallen from power as you have mentioned?" his eyes looked earnestly into the other pair, something making him want to look into the mind and soul illuminating them with his passion and life. He believed that he wasn't human…he didn't feel like he was. He felt corrupt, sinful…he felt like he was torn and worn with time, but he could not remember any of it…only drifting feelings that rose and fell periodically. "And, my Master, I would like to know more about you. Are you human?" The strength he saw in the man made him unsure of whether he was a vampire or not. He guessed he wasn't, voicing it aloud.
The large, innocent eyes and words from the vampire disgusted Hellsing and he threw the body into the stones with spite. "You…you really do not remember…" he slowly regained control of himself.
"No."
The eyes of the vampire still wrenched he man's gut, made him practically livid and revolted at the vampire and himself. He gazed coldly down at the unshaken being. "I don't trust your word."
He left the vampire in complete darkness.
*~:***:~*
Abraham opened the door of the dungeon. Only a few hours had managed to pass before his curiosity and persistent remnants of hope of the vampire regaining his memory and expressing his horror at the misfortune he has fallen prey to made him return to the dungeon. Two red orbs glinted in the light that was drawn into them when the door had opened. The vampire was silent.
"Slave…" he addressed the vampire, but did nothing more, waiting for the response to answer his hope's legitimacy.
The vampire didn't say anything and Abraham began to say something, but stopped as a voice reached him.
"Master."
The slave observed the anger that flashed like a single bolt of lightning through his eyes and body, making him jerk.
"Why are you so angry when I call you that? Am I not your slave and are you not my master?"
"No, those are true…"
"Then why?"
Abraham grimaced at the innocence that didn't belong in the vampire. "Never mind…" he looked the vampire over, blood still stained his torn garments.
The vampire saw the image reflected from his master's eyes. "I was wondering about that as well."
His eyes narrowed, still suspicious of the vampire. He growled in utmost disgust and left the creature to the mercy of isolated darkness.
"Master?" the vampire whispered and heard his voice as it was swallowed by the cold stones that contained his world. "Why do you hate me so?" he pondered in silence and felt the darkness slowly suck his life-force away.
*~:***:~*
Abraham couldn't bring himself to think of his failure and he condemned the vampire to the dungeon, without visiting him for weeks. He could almost forget about his slave at times, now. But with the visit of his former student, John Seward, the vampire remained at the front of his mind.
"How did this…magic of yours go?" John disapproved of the use of the word magic, as a scientist he hated the word, but with the existence of vampires…..magic was not something of mere fantasy.
Abraham groaned, startling the younger man. "I guess it served its purpose…but it cut out all of the fun."
"Fun?" the sadistic side in Abraham had been made clear on sparse occasions, otherwise he was quite a forgiving and likable man.
"There is a connection, and I can restrict and control the vampire….but," he sighed. "He's forgotten everything."
"Like amnesia?"
"Yes…a severe case." Hellsing groaned again and buried his head in his arm. "He didn't even know he was a vampire."
"What?" John cried out and stood up. He sat down immediately, a little perturbed with his lack of self control. "He must be lying."
"That's what I thought, and I've left him in the cell since he woke up…a few weeks ago. I couldn't tell if he was lying before, the bond….makes me inclined to think he wasn't."
"Weeks? Won't he die?"
"He's not dead…I can feel that he's still there." he sat up and then rested his head in his hands, his elbows on the table. He paused, looking at the arrangement of fruit in front of him. "Its maddening….I can feel his emotions spread over my own at times….I can feel two heart beats in my chest sometimes even…" he turned to his young and confused friend."Would you like to see for yourself?"
*~:***:~*
John was hesitant about walking into the darkness, so Abraham handed him the candle in his hand not holding the keys that were still lodged in the lock.
The vampire's features had become gaunt, but his eyes weren't touched by the hunger that ravaged the rest of his body, though they had something that was not as strong in Abraham's memory.
"Nothing to say, Slave?" John flinched at the term and cautiously walked closer to the vampire as Hellsing continued to do so.
The vampire left Abrham's words to hang in the air, unanswered.
"I asked you a question, slave." More force was added to his voice this time and he glared coldly at the vampire.
"Anything and everything I seem to say appears to aggravate you…I would rather spare myself that and rot in this darkness."
Both of the men were alarmed by the tinge of hostility and the strength of the would be weak voice with the state the vampire was in.
"Watch how you talk to me, Slave." Abraham spat, and the vampire's eyes narrowed. "You didn't address me as Master either."
"Why do you want me to call you that? That's what made your anger rise the most. You even tried to hurt me." John looked at Abraham whose face was undecipherable. "I can tell you hate me…so why do you wish to make me your slave, Master?"
Abraham could sense John's incredulousness, and he acknowledged the dramatic change and the unthinkable act of the No Life King calling anyone Master was hard to imagine.
"Who is your friend, Master?" the vampire noticed that his master wasn't being angered by his words at the moment, and risked asking the question to quench his curiosity.
Abraham recognized the interest in the vampire's expression. He would be curious…he had no memory of seeing anyone other than himself before.
"John Seward." John jumped when his name was mentioned. "I have a few other friends that you should already be acquainted with." Abraham's eyes analyzed the vampire.
"Alright." The slave didn't look away from his master. "I'll tell you if any of them sound familiar…so you don't have to glare at me, Master."
Abraham frowned but continued to list off a few names. "Arthur Holmwood…Lucy Westernra…Renfield…Jonathon Harker" he watched the vampire's face closely. "…Mina Murray."
"Why did you put emphasis on the last name?"
Abraham sighed. Nothing. No response from any of the names. His ignorant though sharp slave annoyed him, but also created a new possibility…
"Never mind, it's nothing all that important…" he bent over the vampire and started to unhook and unwrap the array of straps and buckles that made up the restraints on his slaves arms.
"What are you doing, Abraham?" John's worried tone didn't slow Abraham down as he released the vampire.
The vampire's eyes were wide with surprise.
"Why are you…?" the red eyes searched the blue ones that weren't looking at him for once.
"If I leave you down here for much longer you'll die." He stated frankly. "Even you should realize that."
*~:***:~*
"Even if you want to feed me…why did you bring me up here?" the vampire paced around the table that still held the empty tea cups and plates left over from Abraham and John. "The dungeon would have sufficed, Master."
"Would you rather be in there than up here?" Abraham growled.
"No. Up here is good." The vampire said quickly and then his eyes began to look at the arranged fruit center piece.
"I'll arrange someone to kill or bring some form animal here." Abraham opened the door and stuck his head out to say something to someone.
John eyed the vampire until he turned and looked back at John. John glared in response and then took his revenge on a pear, plucking it from the center piece.
Abraham could feel the dark aura of loathing emitting from John who tore into the pear. He glanced at the confused vampire.
"Even you hate me…is it because I'm a vampire?" the master glared at his slave to not pursue the subject.
"The animal will arrive in an hour…." Abraham began.
"Do I have to drink blood?" the vampire cut in, and then noticed his mistake and sat down in a chair, looking at the placemat to try and disperse the awkward atmosphere.
"Don't interrupt me." Abraham paused, thinking of the absurd question. "Of course a vampire drinks blood."
Abraham continued to blather on about specific rules, such as not eating the servants or killing people in any other way. He would feed on animal blood or human blood if the chance or need arose. Other details were addressed, and eventually the vampire's attention traveled to the fruit again.
He noticed his master had stopped talking to him and was now focused on John.
Some noise slowly made its way into the two men's conversation and they glanced in the direction of the vampire.
"What the hell are you doing?" Abraham demanded, more surprised than angry.
The vampire had been munching on an apple as the men had spoken, and now the apple had a dozen or more puncture marks.
"Am I not allowed to? He ate a pear." He indicated John who was sitting and gaping at the vampire with a slight smile coming across his face.
The vampire looked at the apple and then at his master. "I don't think you'll really want me to put this back, Master. It'll ruin the display."
"You shouldn't even feel inclined to eat that!" Abraham stood up and the vampire flinched and drew into the chair as the man advanced in his direction.
"I'm sorry. Here." He handed the fruit out to Abraham who stopped, staring at the mutilated fruit.
John let out a laugh as Abraham scowled and sat down.
"Don't complain if it makes you sick."
The vampire took this as an initiative to continue with the apple. The crunching sounds of the fangs piercing the crisp fruit filled the room. Abraham felt the slight wave of pleasure that the content vampire felt from the sugar entering his system, and he scoffed.
"It's like I've adopted a child," He put his head in his arms, crossed on the table, and groaned in frustration. "… a stupid child at that."
John on the other hand watched the vampire with interest. The vampire noticed and looked at the human while he bit into the apple, occasionally liking the juices that oozed out.
"I'm not going to give you any." The apple vampire bit into his apple for emphasis.
John hit the table and buried his face in his arm to muffle his hysterical laughter. Abraham groaned again.
Neither noticed the vampire had gotten up until they heard the door open.
"Hey!" Abraham sat up and began to get out of his seat while John looked up.
"He was knocking for a while…." The vampire held the door open and the two men could see a surprised servant observe his master's strange behavior.
"The er…animal will be here shortly."
"Yes. Good, now go." Abraham waved his servant away, and the vampire watched him leave.
"Close the door, Slave."
The vampire closed the door and sat down, and began to worry his mushy apple. "Don't I have a name?"
The sudden question caught Abraham off guard. "Uh…yeah…" he shook his head, rubbing his temples to ward away the oncoming migraine. "You did…I renamed you though."
"When? What is it?"
"I haven't told you it yet…Alucard. I picked the name Alucard."
The vampire frowned. "That's not even a real name…is it?"
The man returned the frown. "It is now that I've come up with it."
The vampire returned a familiar scoff that made Hellsing raise his eyebrows.
*~:***:~*
"What the hell is this?" Alucard stared dumbly at the goat. "I am not eating that."
"Yes you are." Abraham looked the animal over. "We'll just drain the blood."
Alucard grimaced as they brought over a basin and a large, curved knife. "This is disgusting I will…" the vampire went rigid as the blood spilled, his eyes dilating, frightening the servants dealing with the poor goat.
"You are my slave…you are not to hurt anyone unless I say you can." Abraham told the vampire for a second time, reminded of his deadliness as his vampiric nature showed itself. The vampire nodded but couldn't remove his eyes from the blood and he edged closer to the basin, ready to take it up and drink right out of the bulky container.
"Stop." Abraham commanded, nervous at the vampire's behavior. A pressure constricted his heart and Alucard yelped and fell to the ground gasping.
Abraham and John looked down at the vampire who clutched at his chest, a sheen of blood sweat breaking out on his face.
Abraham grinned madly. John's face remained blank.
"Don't do that." Alucard was still clutching his chest.
"You don't order me, Slave." Abraham's voice was cold and Alucard looked up and his eyes widened a little.
"Sorry…Master."
The first glass of blood was pure ecstasy and his drank with his eyes closed, not caring that he was restricted to sitting on the ground or that the sun stung his eyes and made him uncomfortable. He drank another and another, Abraham watching with an odd smile, while John had to turn away.
Abraham could see the strength returning to the vampire as he lost the gaunt shadows from his features. But he was disturbed from the pleasure he felt traveling to him from the bond he had with the vampire.
Alucard took his fourth glass and the basin was removed. Abraham looked at Alucard's distressed face and laughed darkly, explaining that it would be saved for later, though it wouldn't taste as good then. The vampire silently sipped his last glass of blood, trying to be thankful for what he had gotten.
*~:***:~*
The vampire reached and took a pear, biting it. He froze, and Abraham wondered if he was finally going to get sick from eating the fruit. The vampire seemed to be deep in thought. This time he bit a chunk of the fruit off and tried to swallow it. He couldn't and choked.
"You're supposed to chew." Abraham watched as the vampire did as he had advised and then swallowed.
Alucard smiled slightly, but then his face became green. "This fruit…I don't like this one…." he leaned forward. "I think I'm going to throw up."
While Alucard was busy, a knock came from the front door and a servant called on Abraham to see if he wanted to welcome the guests. From the second floor, Abraham watched two figures walk into the entrance hall. It was Jonathon and Mina. Abraham greeted them warmly, pausing afterwards to bite his lip in thought.
"What is it, Abraham?" Jonathon watched his friend's behavior with uneasiness.
"It's perfectly safe right now, but I have no doubt that it will be extremely uncomfortable for Mina and yourself here at the moment." Abraham half muttered to himself.
"What do you mean?" Mina spoke up, wary of the circumstances for their visit. "Did everything not go well for the imprisonment or curse you spoke of before? Where is….the Count, Abraham?"
"He's….well…." Abraham snapped his fingers impatiently as he thought of a way to begin effectively. "The curse that was meant to allow me to completely control him…it was a success."
"Good." Jonathon spoke up.
"Yes. But there was a side effect…on him not myself, fortunately." Abraham hesitated. "He's forgotten, I can easily say, everything about himself and about us. He's more like a child than anything else right now."
Mina could only gasp.
"What? So…" Jonathan shook his head, unable to picture Dracula in such a state. "…what have you done with him? He's in the dungeon, right?"
"That's the part I meant when I said it wouldn't be comfortable for you here." Abraham looked up at the second floor, seeing a shadow come towards the railing.
John peered over the wooden rail, clearly surprised to see the couple, but also anxious at their presence.
"John? You're here?" Jonathon smiled, reassured to see his friend. He frowned as he noticed how distracted John was.
"Where is he?" Mina said, her voice a little unsteady, gazing at the second level.
"He's up there with John." Abraham muttered.
Another head appeared over the rail. Both of the guests gasped and Mina began to tremble even though Jonathon stood before her protectively.
He was different, even they could tell. Mina was afraid more of his memory than of the man who stood above her and looked down at her now. "He's different." Mina muttered, fear fading into wonder.
Abraham saw no recognition in Alucard's eyes, only awareness. He had recovered from being sick already, Abraham noted. The man wanted to find out how the vampire had managed to get the toxins out, without losing his vitality as his eyes were bright and wide like a child's again, but that would have to wait.
Alucard started down the stairs, but John grabbed the back of his shirt and tried to convince him not to. Alucard looked from John to his master. Abraham sighed.
"Can he come down here, or would you rather keep some distance…?"
"It..It's fine Abraham." Mina said slowly, without taking her eyes off of the vampire.
The vampire heard them and started down the stairs after Mina's approval.
"This is Jonathon and Mina…I mentioned them before so their names should be familiar." Abraham was aware that the vampire was only a foot or two away from his guests as Alucard stood next to him, a little behind him though. Alucard's eyes ran over the guests, noting the woman's hesitation and the man's hostility.
"So you know me too?" the vampire's question unnerved the man and he glared at Alucard.
"Unfortunately, you're hard to forget." He growled.
Alucard's eyes brows rose and his eyes widened. He smiled slightly. "So what have I done? All of you have had the same reactions towards greeting me, for what I can remember as being the first time…"
"Quiet. This is an unnecessary discussion." Abraham ordered, feeling hesitant about the thought of the vampire learning about his identity and perhaps regaining his memories…it may put his friends in danger.
"Sorry, Master." Alucard inclined his head slightly.
The other two were amazed. Abraham had really succeeded…he controlled the Count as his slave, just as he had promised them. They continued to watch Alucard as they walked into the sitting room.
"So…you two are going to be married soon?" Abraham began.
"Yes," Mina chirped in. "In a month or so." She glanced in Alucard's direction. Abraham noticed.
"This is Alucard." He gestured towards the vampire who sat in a chair near him.
"Alucard? You named him?" Jonathon said in surprise. "An anagram?"
"Anagram?" Alucard muttered to himself, startling the others and Abraham turned his attention to him swiftly.
"The reverse of my previous name…"
"That can be discussed later." Abraham cut in, he gave a sharp look to Jonathon.
Jonathon looked disgusted at his friend. "If you believe he's this unstable, how the hell can you let him into your house. You know we all apposed of this anyway, you should have…."
"That's quite enough Jonathon." John cut in before Abraham. "You should respect his choice since he was the one in the position of making it, not you or any of us."
Jonathon looked at John sharply, and then sighed seeing his friends imploring face. "Fine….There are other matters to discuss. There was talk of having the wedding here, but we've decided against it now, we'll be holding it in a church."
Abraham noted the edge in his friend's voice.
"If I'm the cause of your behavior," Alucard addressed Jonathon who started. "I can leave the room." Alucard got up and no one stopped him.
"Is that safe?" Jonathon said in alarm after he snapped out of his daze.
"Yes, I know where he is and I can tell what he's doing….It should be fine…" Abraham mumbled the last bit.
"Why say it like that?" Jonathon sat up straighter and Mina looked concerned.
"No." Abraham waved his hand to calm them down. "The only one I afraid he might hurt is himself."
"Why are you concerned about something like that?" disbelief made Jonathon's voice louder than usual.
"He's… unused to being a vampire…I guess I could explain it like that." An unbelieving look from his guests prompted him to continue. "He does things he shouldn't do to himself, like trying to eat human foods."
John chuckled in the background, remembering the humorous experience.
"It's like letting a child run around in a chemistry lab….he's going to end up poisoning himself." Abraham ran his hand through his hair and he looked tired. "Again."
"He already did?" Mina said in surprise, amused by the information. It somehow calmed her nerves.
"He ate an apple…in a way, but then he tried to actually eat and swallow a pear and it made him sick."
John laughed into his hand. "We should make him do it again." He continued to chuckle.
Jonathon seemed to approve of poisoning the Count, but not of John's humor.
"He was hungry then…he shouldn't be as hungry now." Abraham said casually.
"Hungry? How are you controlling that situation?" Jonathon's face was a little pale.
"Animal blood…..he doesn't remember human blood, so as long as he isn't exposed to it…it should be fine."
*~:***:~*
"Where do I sleep?" Alucard paced the length of his master's bedroom. He had been spared sleeping in the dungeon.
"On the floor, anywhere you deem comfortable…."
Alucard hoped on his bed.
"…other than my bed."
Alucard frowned and got off. He wandered around the room as his master left to bathe and then came back in nightclothes. Abraham found Alucard asleep in his reading chair. He circled the vampire once, drinking in the odd sight, before he settled in his own bed.
He fell asleep slowly, but once he did he only slept for an hour before Alucard woke him up by staring at him, their faces only inches apart.
"What?" Abraham growled, drowsy.
Alucard was silent, but Abraham was shocked awake when Alucard rested his head on his stomach and clutched his nightshirt. He moved to push the vampire away, but stopped as he felt a wave of pain from the bond and Alucard whimpered and shivered.
"What is it?" he sat up as much as he could without moving the vampire. Alucard didn't answer, but buried his head deeper into his master's shirt.
"Did you eat something weird again?"
Alucard whispered something unintelligible.
"I can't help you if I can't hear you." He was annoyed by the whole thing. A vampire shouldn't act the way he does….Abraham thought.
"I'm….so cold." Alucard continued to shiver as Abraham froze. "My body…hurts…I don't know why." The whispers were broken with pauses.
Abraham moved the vampire off of him, hearing a weak protest, and lit a gas lamp, returning to the bed.
The vampire's hair was white. That was the first thing he noticed. When he touched Alucard's skin, his hand recoiled from the cold, his nerves continuing to scream after the contact was broken. His research on vampires was minimum and he didn't know if they were naturally this cold but he was sure that they were usually immune to extremes in temperature. His hand had been dyed red.
"Damn….your body's rejecting the animal blood." He cursed silently to himself. He would have to provide a source of human blood for Alucard now…
"There weren't any problems…earlier." Alucard managed, confused.
"It's night now, when your body is most active….the blood probably hadn't spread to the same organs during the day or it had not been digested thoroughly…" Abraham mumbled in thought. "I don't think there's anything to do other than to sit it out."
Alucard groaned. "Oh joy." He grinned sheepishly. "Does that mean…I can sleep…on your bed, Master?"
"What?" Abraham said dumbly….sleep affecting his thought process.
"Sick people…privileges." Alucard chuckled and then whimpered.
Abraham groaned into his hands and then glared at the vampire with irritation and humor. "Fine."
He made to get up but stopped, feeling another wave of pain from the vampire. He laid down and surprised the vampire by moving him back to the position he had chose himself after he woke his master.
"Sick people are annoying." Abraham closed his eyes and ruffled Alucard's hair, noticing how the vampire instantly stopped shivering. Abraham looked to his stomach and saw the vampire close to falling asleep. He stopped petting him and the vampire's eyes opened a bit, but closed when the hand returned. The vampire nuzzled against him and gripped his shirt, tightening the grip when a new flash of pain hit him.
He was going to have to look up the spell he used to create the bond….or do more research on vampires.
Time passed and eventually Abraham fell asleep again.
When he woke up in the morning his body instinctively pushed the vampire away from his throat where it had rested its head and was sleeping. Hitting the floor with a thud, the vampire remained on the ground, disoriented.
"I guess you're feeling better?"
"I was." Alucard rubbed his head, it had made contact with the wooden floor.
"What were you doing?" Abraham was aggravated at having been surprised by the vampire and at having slept in the same bed with him.
"Sleeping." The vampire yawned, white fangs in full view for a moment.
Abraham decided to ignore his slave and he got up, rummaging through his book shelf. They contained books he was hoping to read and books that he had recently read. He soon found one on vampires' eating habits. Glancing through it he threw it to the floor in frustration as it only told him information he had already known. A small pile of books accumulated. Eventually Abraham ran out of books to throw and he glared at Alucard as if it was his fault that he couldn't consume the animal blood.
"Put these away." Abraham ordered Alucard and he moved to his closet door and closed himself inside.
Alucard began to put the books away. He had difficulty figuring out what order they should be in and decided categorize them by topic. He was becoming lightheaded by the time his master came out of the closet fully dressed.
Abraham noticed his discomfort, but ignored it and left the room to inquire about his own breakfast and then to roam his personal library. Alucard eventually wandered into the library and plopped into one of the sitting chairs and closed his eyes. Abraham looked up and then continued his searching. By noon, Abraham had to get back to his normal work and he left Alucard asleep in the library.
Abraham could still feel that he was asleep in the same chair three hours later, so he decided it would be okay to leave him there and to go visit John. He returned from his friend's house with two vials of his blood and then two of his own that he had decided to draw outside the presence of the starving vampire.
Abraham found Alucard dully sucking on an apple in his kitchen, unnerving his servants with his watchful eyes.
At least he didn't eat any of them, Abraham felt guilty about leaving his servants in such a dangerous position. First he made Alucard spit out the apple and berated him for putting such a thing in his mouth after the experience he had from the previous night. Then Abraham led him upstairs to his room again and set out the vials. He handed one to the vampire who looked at it without interest.
"Drink it…this won't make you sick."
Alucard unscrewed the cap, and as the sent wafted into his face a hideous grin warped his face, making Abraham start. The vampire downed the blood and liked the insides of the vile with his sharp tongue. It was altogether a disagreeable experience for the human.
Alucard waited for another but it never came.
Abraham put the rest in a drawer. "You don't need any more for now."
"But I'd like some…." Alucard's eyes were bright.
"No." Abraham growled, alert. His anxiety rose as the vampire's features became more appropriate to his nature. "No!"
Alucard fell to the floor, clutching his chest again. His fingers found the leg of a nightstand and he gripped it. The wood seemingly exploded and the stand lent in his direction. The gas lamp tipped and broke against his head. Blood painted his face and melded into his wide eyes.
"I'm sorry Master." His features had appeared to have their more childlike qualities once more. Abraham walked away from him with extant disgust and apprehension. Alucard got up and grabbed his sleeve. "Master, I'm…"
Abraham swiped his hand away. "Don't touch me, Slave." He left Alucard in the middle of the room, growling as his slave's hurt feelings traveled to him. "Clean that up by the time I get back." He called over his shoulder before disappearing down the stairs.
Alucard's depression worsened as he spent the rest of the day alone in the corner of the room, hugging his knees and staring at the broken leg of the nightstand he had attempted to prop up with a large volume. He drifted in and out of sleep.
*~:***:~*
When he came up into the room, the sun was still setting but he was beyond exhaustion after his disrupted sleep last night and he kicked off his shoes before drawing the covers over himself. He glanced towards the bookcase and saw Alucard, sleeping with his head resting against the bookshelf in the corner of the room. He turned his back, coldly, to the vampire and fell asleep.
Hours later Alucard woke up, completely alert. In the darkness he saw his master's rising and falling breaths. He watched for a few minutes, becoming bored he got up and wandered about the room. He silently open the closet door and walked in, after the rest of the room had been rummaged through. He gasped as light reflected off of the shiny instruments on one side of the walk in closet. The other only contained a row of clothes on hangers.
He wanted to touch them…they were dazzling to his eyes and he reached out. The silver burned his skin and Alucard jumped back and pressed himself against the clothes, startled at the effect the metal had on his skin. He looked at his blackened hand that began to heal and the burnt skin detached itself from his fingers.
"Master…?" he whispered in horror. "What is this?"
*~:***:~*