-1"Well, are you giving up yet?"
"Nae, yeh'll have tae do better than tha'." Anderson spat out a mouthful of blood as he clambered back to his feet. "Ah dinnae go down willingly." He twisted his head and Alucard heard the individual vertebrae in the priest's neck crack. Rolling his shoulders, Anderson raised his fists in challenge. "You are unarmed, Judas Priest. Really, I would rather not kill you, the fight is much more fun than the victory with you."
"Shut up an' hit meh." Anderson swung a heavy fist and missed Alucard entirely.
"Oh please, you're pathetic. Come back when you've seen a doctor." Rolling his crimson eyes behind the broken lenses of his sunglasses, Alucard turned to leave.
"Ah'm pathetic? Is tha' whit yeh jus' said?" The paladin choked on his own blood laughing. Alucard faced him with a blank expectant expression. "Ah'm pathetic." The priest repeated to himself before catching Alucard's eyes. "If ah'm pathetic whit on God's green earth are you? Ah know ah dinnae keep mah victims alive fer company. Ah dinnae toy with 'em because ah have nae freen's." The vampire's lip curled back into a snarl.
"Bold talk for a dead man." Alucard's usual humor had been erased.
"But ah'm nae dead am ah, monster? Yeh keep letting' meh live tae fend off yer loneliness."
"Well you know what Judas, friends are hard to come by when you are in my position. So I compensate for best friends with worst enemies. So shut your mouth nemesis unless you want your heart torn from your body. I'm sure you would find plenty of friends in Hell."
"Maybe, but at least ah'll nae have tae wait that long for them." A cruel grin mauled Anderson's features. Alucard was silent. His fists trembled at his side. Narrowed eyes glared at the bleeding broken man in front of him.
Suddenly the malice drained from Anderson. "Alucard are - are you-"
"Am I what Judas Priest!?" The bark made Anderson flinch. "Am I upset? Am I angry? Am I capable of emotion?" Suddenly Anderson was regretting taunting Alucard. "The answer to all of the above is yes, human. I have always been slave, servant, master, mentor, puppet, opponent; especially opponent. Never, never have I been called friend." Without warning Alucard had grabbed Anderson from behind. "You don't understand. You have always been surrounded by those like you, those who care for, understand and comfort you. Did you know my father sold me into slavery when I was still just a child." Anderson's head was yanked back by his hair. "Imagine one of your precious orphans subjected to the worst forms of abuse you can conceive. Does it not make your heart swell with pity?" The priest could feel frozen breath on his neck. "I have never known love in any way. So you can shut the fuck up about how pathetic I am." Something sharp grazed Anderson's neck and he stiffened in Alucard's grip. "Please-"
"Please what? Don't kill you? But you do not fear death. Don't make you like me? Yes. That scares you. What if I did? What if I stole from you everything that mattered?" Anderson suppressed the urge to whimper or whine. He felt something hard hit his knees. "Know, Judas Priest, that I can ruin you when I wish and be glad that I am pathetic." The something hard was the ground. Solid, cold concrete. Anderson blinked back tears that he refused to cry and watched the ancient demon disappear.