Chapter 3

As Valkenhayn appeared back to the castle he sighed gently, knowing that sooner or later Jubei was going to figure out that he had lied… and when that happened he was in deep trouble. Walking towards the garden, he sighed as he saw Ragna sitting gently in Rachel's chair, talking with Gii and Nago. Walking up to them gently he cleared his throat.

Ragna, who had been talking with Gii sitting on the table turned gently. "Yes?"

"It's getting early… unless you want to get 3rd degree burns I suggest you start walking up to the mansion."

Ragna frowned. "What do you mean?"

Nago decided to help explaining. "You're a vampire now… your skin and sunlight don't mix to well."

"Rachel never seemed to have any trouble with it" Ragna reasoned.

He couldn't count how many times he had seen the vampire out in the sun, exposing both her face and her arms to the sun.

"Of course not, but that's because the princess uses about 2 hours every day putting on sunscreen and various magical sun repellents so that she can go outside without getting burned."

Ragna blinked. "Right… so this way?"

Valkenhayn nodded gently, leading Ragna up the path towards the mansion.

"So let me get this straight, the rabbit uses 2 hours every day coating herself with sunscreen and magical barriers to not get burned?"

"That's right."

Ragna looked up seeing the moon slightly setting down.

"So… I have always wondered, what is this place?"

"The Alucard castle… it has been in the princess family for millennia's."

"But why is it always night here?"

"It's not."

Ragna looked up as Valkenhayn joined in the conversation.

"This is a pocket dimension. While you mostly see the Alucard castle there is a small town flowing behind it stretching for about 6 miles to the north and east. The citizens in this town are what human's calls children of the night. Vampires, werewolves… ghosts etc."

Ragna paled gently, Valkenhayn smiling gently.

"This dimension is exactly 12 hours in front of the human world. So when its midnight here, it's the middle of the afternoon there."

"Huh… that makes sense I guess." Ragna continued to walk as Valkenhayn gently opened the door to the inside of the mansion, Ragna walked inside, saying a small thanks as he stepped in front of Valkenhayn.

Looking around Ragna was impressed. While from the outside the place looked grim and horrible, the inside of the mansion was incredible.

Deep red carpets ran along the floor, and rich velvet curtains hung in front of the windows. As Ragna walked down the corridor Gii and Nago suddenly stopped in front of a door leading outside to a small enclosed garden.

"Anything matter you guys?"

"Huh? Oh sorry, the princess always stops by every day before going to bed."

Ragna frowned gently at Gii who had spoken up gently looking through the glass door, seeing two tombstones in the middle of the garden.

"Who are the graves for?"

"Her parents." The grave tone in Valkenhayn's voice told Ragna that he didn't want to talk about it further.

Nago sighed. "Well technically the graves are empty, when a vampire dies they turn to ash and is scattered with the wind… Personally I think the princess needed these to remember them."

Ragna nodded. While he and the rabbit never really saw eye to eye, he could appreciate the thought of needing to say good night (or in her case good day) to her family members before going to sleep.

He gently bowed in respect to the graves before continuing the walk, until he came across a huge door that could only lead to Rachel's bedroom.

Opening the door gently Ragna wasn't sure what to expect.

The room was dark, with gothic candelabra's around the room to be the only source of light in the room. At the left side of the room was a door leading to what could only be Rachel's private bathroom.

On the right side was a huge closet, and hanging inside it where a bunch of Rachel's traditional dresses, placed inside plastics bags as to not get dusty. However none of these things registered in Ragna's mind. All he noticed was the black coffin at the center in the back of the room.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me."

Ragna turned to Valkenhayn. "Anything else I should know about this lifestyle?"

"Garlic makes you faint… and while you can see your reflection no one else can."

Ragna sighed, determined to not show how freaked out he was of the idea of sleeping in a coffin to a man he knew loathed him with a burning passion.

"Right… and how do you suppose I should fit in this thing? I don't know if you've noticed but I'm a lot taller than the rabbit."

"Not a problem… sir."

Valkenhayn disappeared into the darkness and reappeared with a coffin big enough to fit Ragna.

"This better… sir?"

"Yeah… peachy."

"All right then… the bathroom is over there… I will finish here and then I'll be on my way… unless you need any more help?"

"No… I'm good."

Ragna started to walk towards the bathroom before he turned towards Valkenhayn. "By the way… have the rabbit ever told you to call me something nice or pleasant?"

Valkenhayn frowned gently at the question. "No… she hasn't."

"Then you should understand that I won't let you call her something nice now that we have changed places?"

Valkenhayn sighed. "Of course sir."

"Glad to know that we understand each other. Good night Valkenhayn… I'll see you in the morning… or night, whatever."

Closing the door to the bathroom Valkenhayn sighed and rubbed his temples.

"One, two, three…"

Nago and Gii shared a worried look before they turned to Valkenhayn.

"You ok there Valkenhayn?"

"No… no I'm not."

Valkenhayn laid down the adult coffin before sighing. "I will go to bed… you two keep an eye out on him, let me know if something happens."

"Of course. Have a nice sleep Valkenhayn."

BBBBBBBBBBBB

Rachel grunted gently where she lay… this feeling… what was it? It was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Opening her eyes gently she smiled… the sun… now that she was human she could actually feel it's warm rays on her face without getting burned to a crisp… it felt nice.

Taking a deep breath she noticed Jubei curled up on her stomach. She smiled gently before scratching him gently on the bridge of his small nose, the cat grunting gently before opening his eye.

"Morning" Rachel said gently, leaning back again to enjoy the sunlight on her face, relishing in the pleasant feeling.

Jubei yawned and stretched before sitting up on his hind legs.

"You wake a cat up from his sleep only to go back to sleep yourself? That's not very nice."

"Jubei, I am feeling the warmth of the sun for the first time in my life… pardon if nothing else matters for me at the moment."

Jubei smiled gently before rubbing his eye finally waking up.

"You can sunbathe later my dear… morning practice first."

"What? No breakfast?"

"Training you takes priority" Jubei said jumping down on the ground.

"Now get up."

Rachel stretched gently but sat up shaking Ragna's… her coat, before putting it on, gently grasping the hilt of the long sword.

A new day was dawning, and adventure was sure to be upon both vampire and human.