Persecution

Disclaimer: Castlevania belongs to Konami, not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create. Although I would like to own Alucard . . . then he'd be mine.

Rating: PG-13

Chapter: 4 of 4

Setting: Post SOTN.

Italics = thoughts and flashbacks

Chapter Four

The first time Alucard had been convinced to remove his cloak and jacket had been an amusing affair. Annette had insisted he remove the cloak in the house, that there was no need for him to keep it on, it was rude. He had removed it quickly at the accusation of rudeness, which Maria found amusing. With his cloak hanging in the hallways his coat was fully revealed and Annette's eyes had lit up, she had proceeded to stare rapturously at him. It took Maria a moment to realize it was the coat and not the man she was staring at. Annette, like many, had a fondness for pretty things, embroidery was a favorite of hers and Alucard's coat had more embroidery than Maria had ever seen on a man's garment before. Alucard had been noticeably uncomfortable under her gaze and Maria had told him to remove the coat and let her see it. He had done so, causing Annette to almost snatch it off him and left him in his shirt alone.

Seeing him without the cloak and coat had changed him in Maria's eyes, he looked much smaller without it, thin and young. He looked vulnerable sitting in the living room, dwarfed by Richter who was sitting next to him. After a short time, he recovered some of his poise and the look of youth and vulnerability faded a little. But Maria didn't forget it.

He looked that way again now, heading out to the village with them dressed in some of Richter's clothes. Richter was a lot broader than Alucard, so the shirt and coat he had borrowed swamped him across the shoulders. But Alucard was taller by at least an inch or two, so the trousers swung at his ankles. He had pulled his hair back and had somehow managed to fit it up into a hat, leaving only a few wisps free.

"You probably don't need the hat," Maria said as they climbed into the cart and Richter took the reins.

"It's raining," Annette reminded her from under her own hooded cloak. Alucard snorted quietly.

"My differences to you might be subtle but for a village that lives in the shadow of monsters they are recognizable, I do not want people looking at me too closely. The hat helps," Alucard said.

"You're worrying too much," Maria said.

"No, I'm not," Alucard spoke softly.

"Unless you start yelling about eating people no one is going to notice anything," Annette said. "So try and control your impulses and you'll be fine."

"I appreciate that you are trying to make light of this in an attempt to ease my concern," Alucard said. "But I do have some experience with this, people are more observant than you are giving them credit for."

"Balan, the tavern keeper in the village, didn't notice his wife was pregnant until she was nearly ready to birth the child," Annette said. "Least to say he was surprised and confused as she had not lain with him for some time." Maria snorted.

"Be that as it may it only takes one person to whisper, one to point and the whole village will be in arms. Things like this happen insidiously, and very quickly."

"You're being silly," Maria said.

"I've seen it happen," Alucard said. "I've had to run from more than one village."

"What?" Annette said.

"Some of the creatures in the Castle can make themselves look human," Alucard said looking down, not meeting the eyes of the women. "When I was young I was afraid of groups of people, I had a very bad experience in my youth and it left a mark. Dalca tried to break me of this fear by taking me to a village, we were there for perhaps an hour before we were discovered, we had to run. I made it back to the Castle Dalca did not." No one said anything for a few long moments. "I am not being foolish when I say that what we are doing carries a very real danger."

"People watch strangers sometimes," Maria said quietly. "Perhaps they saw you and …"

"Dalca," Alucard said.

"You and Dalca and wondered who you were, they might have just been afraid of strangers." Maria reached out to take his hand. "But we are known in this village, we are not strangers, it will be safe."

"My mother wasn't a stranger in her village either," Alucard said. No one could answer that, they knew the story of Dracula's wife who had burned. There wasn't anything they could say. They rode in an uncomfortable silence for a time until Richter broke it.

"Annette, please tell me you brought the list?"

"Yes, Richter, despite asking you to pick it up, I spotted it in the kitchen on the way out," Annette smiled.

"Phew," Richter glanced back at Alucard. "That would have been a wasted trip, we might have had to just go to the tavern and do the shopping another day."

"Richter stop being an ass," Maria leaned forward to push her brother in law. "I don't know why you hate shopping so much."

"It's unbelievably boring," Richter said.

"Only because you refuse to contribute and leave all the decisions to me!" Annette snapped.

"What do we need?" Alucard said.

"What don't we need," Annette said, Richter groaned. "I told you to bring the cart for a reason, Richter." Richter and Annette dissolved into good-natured bickering and Maria moved to sit next to Alucard. She took his hand again.

"They fight a lot," Alucard said softly.

"It's not real," Maria said. "It's more like a game."

"I noticed," Alucard snorted.

"You know if you're really afraid we can go for a walk away from the village, Richter and Annette can probably manage. I won't force you to do this," she tightened her grip on him when he tried to pull his hand free.

"I'm not afraid," he said firmly. Maria raised an eyebrow. "I'm not. Children are afraid, I am simply aware of how dangerous this is, not just for me but for all of you."

"It's ok to be afraid," Maria said. "I'll protect you."

"You will never understand how dangerous this is until it's too late," Alucard muttered. The cart passed an old couple heading towards the village.

"That was close," Maria said. "They looked really vicious!" Alucard blinked slowly at her, Maria fought to keep a straight face and failed when he smiled.

"You're an idiot," he said as the cart pulled into the village and Richter steered it towards the tavern. He slowed the horse and spoke to a young man about feeding and watering. Maria jumped down from the cart.

"I am not an idiot," she grinned. "I am courageous and wonderous."

"You can be more than one thing," Alucard said following her. He looked out at the village square, it was clearly a market day or something similar for the small square was packed with people rushing about as if the day was not long enough to get everything done. Maria joined them quickly and dragged Alucard along with her.

"We'll meet you in a little while," Maria called back to Annette.

"Make sure you do!" Annette called back. "Don't you dare leave me to get everything again."

Maria headed straight to a seller standing behind a table full of clothing. Alucard stayed close behind her, she glanced over the wears for a moment before noticing he was standing very close to her. She didn't say anything, but smiled to herself, pleased that being close to her made him feel a little safer at least. She let out a small purr of contentment and started picking out items. Alucard frowned at her when he took his eyes away from the crowd and noticed that everything she picked up was for a male.

"My Lady?" he said and Maria laughed.

"Well at the moment you have one outfit of your own, you can't live in Richter's old clothes you look ridiculous." She made another contented sound when she spotted another merchant selling fabric and paid for the items she had picked up and all but ran to the other seller. She riffled through the fabric and made small sounds that made Alucard smile.

"What are you doing?" he asked after a few moments of indulging in the pleasant sounds.

"Oh, how stupid of me," Maria rolled her eyes at herself. "What color do you like?"

"What?" Alucard was well and truly confused.

"Well the winter is almost here and Annette was talking about making a coat for Richter, as he ruined his old one so I thought, I mean if you'd rather I didn't then I would understand, I've never done one before." Maria felt herself blush as she babbled.

"Forgive me, but you've lost me," Alucard said glancing back at the crowd to check if he was getting any undue attention.

"A coat, I was offering to make you one," Maria mumbled, the words pulling Alucard's attention back to her.

"Oh," he said, Maria glanced up at his face.

"You'd rather I didn't?" she said quietly, trying to ignore the disappointment curling in her stomach.

"What? No," Alucard said. "Forgive me, I wasn't refusing, I was surprised. That would be very kind of you."

"You don't have to say yes just to be nice," Maria said. "I mean I would understand if you didn't, I mean it probably won't work, I've never been much of a seamstress, but I could..."

"I think the only person who had ever made me anything before was my mother. I'm touched that you want to go to the effort of making something for me," Alucard said.

"Good answer," the fabric seller said. Maria smiled.

"I like green," Alucard said. Maria was silent for a few moments before smiling widely and turning back to the merchant and asking for her range of greens.

The remaining afternoon passed quickly. Maria purchased an excessive amount of green fabric, in case of mistakes before Annette arrived to drag them around the market. Alucard and Richter quietly submitted to the laborious task of assisting Annette and Maria with purchasing supplies for the colder months. Both men weighted down with the purchases followed the two women back to the cart.

"Beer," Richter said from behind the pile of supplies he was carrying.

"I suppose I did promise," Annette smiled. "and I do rather fancy one myself."

"Shopping is thirsty work," Maria nodded. Alucard stayed quiet, a feeling of dread building in him as they entered the tavern, he nodded silently when Richter tried to force foul smelling beer onto him and quietly watched the other patrons.

"Something feels off," Maria said after Richter went to the bar for his fourth pint.

"You are perceptive," Alucard said. "Yes, this was a bad idea."

"Are you being foolish again," Annette said frowning at Alucard.

"There is a man at the bar, no don't look," he said. "I've spotted him a few times today, he's been watching us since we came in. The people around him have started watching us as well."

"It's not a crime to look," Annette said. "Surely you must be used to people looking at you?"

"Annette," Maria said reaching for her sister when she lunged forwards and snatched the hat Alucard had stubbornly refused to take off. She grinned triumphantly and Alucard looked mortified as his hair fell loose over his shoulders. Maria had never thought about it before, but it was an unusual shade of blonde, paler than anything she had seen on a human, it extenuated his complexion and made his eyes stand out bright gold. For the first time, Maria understood why he had hidden it.

"He's got to know what he looks like," Annette smiled. "I imagine women look at him and when women look and smile, other men will not always be happy." She looked at Alucard. "I bet you're used to men glaring at you."

"Oh my god Annette, please stop," Maria felt herself burning with embarrassment. "This is why I don't let you drink."

"Maria?" Richter frowned at his sister in law as he returned.

"Your wife's drunk," Maria said.

"I am not drunk," Annette said. "I'm just being honest, not everyone who glares at you is thinking 'monster' most are probably thinking 'shit my wife's going to leave me,'" Richter roared with laughter turning several heads in the tavern.

"Stop buying her drinks," Maria said when he stopped. "Ever again." She turned to Alucard, "the men you spotted are known cowards, the type that will glare and talk big but when it comes to action they will never make the first move."

"They don't have to," Alucard said. "They just have to talk, someone else will make a move for them." The tension in the small tavern was increasing, Maria could feel it crackle across her skin. She could feel the eyes on them and she wondered for a long moment how she had ever looked at Alucard and not seen how alien he looked. Tall, pale and beautiful, he was a man made of marble, how had she not seen that before. Even ill-fitting clothing couldn't hide that he was something other. His worry about coming to the village didn't feel so foolish now, not with the eyes on them and the tension growing. Maria took his hand and held on tightly.

"We should go," she said, Alucard nodded.

"It might already be too late, but yes we should."

"Who's your friend, Belmont?" a voice snapped Maria's attention away from Alucard. She glared at the man who had spoken, it was Abel, the local butcher. His voice was hard, not something the big man was usually known for.

"My name is Adrian," Alucard said before Richter could answer. "Just visiting." Abel frowned harder.

"You sure about that?" he said. Maria noticed several others standing behind him. Alucard said nothing and kept his head down, hiding behind his hair.

"Abel!" Richter grinned, Maria watched as her brother in law started acting far drunker than she knew him to be, slapping the butcher on the back and laughing loudly. "My friend, how are you, haven't seen you in an age, hows the wife?"

"Afraid," Abel said not taking his eyes off Alucard. "Your friend here seems to be making everyone nervous."

"He's alright," Richter slurred. "Bit on the shy side, but once you get to know him he's harmless."

"Don't look harmless," a voice called from behind Abel. "Looks strange."

"Strange isn't safe here," Abel said. "Not with the monsters in the woods. Strange is dangerous."

Maria didn't see who threw the bottle, she saw Alucard's hand inches away from her face holding onto a large brown bottle that would have hit her. He had moved fast enough that his motion left a momentary blur behind him, she had seen him move that fast before, in the castle. No human could move at that speed. Everyone was silent for a long moment.

"Thought as much," Abel said, and with that said the tavern erupted.

Maria felt frozen and watched as the crowd lunged forward, Richter stood up tall, he always seemed taller when he was angered. She watched as Alucard rose to his feet but turned away from the men now bellowing for his blood and looked at her.

"This was a bad idea," his voice was quiet and difficult to hear over the sudden sound. "I am sorry." He turned and fled, leaping clear over the crowd and landing in the doorway. She watched as he paused for a moment and snarled at the men, all teeth, and bright eyes. She wondered what he was doing, she'd never seen him do that. She felt Annette take her hand.

"Fools," he snarled at the men who had frozen when he had leaped. "I almost had him, just a little while longer and I would have slain the Belmont." Maria felt her stomach tense as she realized what he was doing. He should be running but he was giving a speech, a speech about how he had come to the Belmont's in the guise of friendship with the intent of killing the family in revenge for tearing down the castle, but the quick wit and sharp eyes of the village had saved the illustrious family. It made Maria feel sick, he was protecting them, acting the monster to stop the village turning on Richter and his family.

"You underestimated us," Abel said. "and you'll die for your mistake." The tavern patrons moved forward, farm tools and weapons were pulled from walls as they did so. But Alucard was already gone. Maria sat with Richter and Annette is the suddenly empty tavern.

"I am so sorry," Annette said as they stood and headed to the door.

"It wasn't your fault love," Richter put his arm around his wife.

"I was being stupid," Annette was sobbing as they got into the cart. "What if they catch him, it'll be my fault."

"He's fast," Richter said softly. "and he can fly, they won't catch him."

"Maria, I'm so sorry," Annette continued.

"Richter's right Annette," Maria said softly. "It wasn't your fault, he said this would happen, we all should have listened."

"He might go back to the small holding," Richter said. "he'll lead the mob away and double back, you wait and see, he'll be there waiting for us."

"I can apologize to him directly," Annette sniffed.

"He'll tell you it wasn't your fault as well," Maria said, swallowing the lump in her throat. Alucard wouldn't go back to the small holding, she'd seen his face when he'd apologized to her, he was running for good. He wouldn't be back, he had always said he felt safe in the forest that would be where he had gone. So, when the cart pulled up to the house Maria was not surprised to see that the house was empty. Instead, she bolted inside and grabbed a warmer coat and a few weapons before racing past Richter and the still weeping Annette to the forest.

She found him where she had before, only this time he looked dejected, not confused and she couldn't help going to him and wrapping arms around his shoulders whispering apology after apology into his hair. It was her fault, she had pulled him from this place, this place that was cold and wet but also safer for him than anywhere else. She had wanted him to come with her, to want to come with her but all she had done was risk the lives of everyone she loved.

"I cannot go back," he said after a few moments of her whispers, she couldn't help the tears that fell.

"I'm so sorry, I never meant for that to happen," she said. He reached forward and ran his fingers across her cheek.

"But I knew it would, it was just a matter of time," Alucard sighed, Maria shook her head. "You should go back to them," Alucard said so quietly she almost didn't hear. Maria said nothing simply shook her head, pressing her face into his hair.

"I'm staying here," she said after a few minutes of silence during which his hand had come to rest on one of her arms.

"You can't, it's too dangerous." Maria gave him a firm look despite her tears. "I don't mean from the creatures out here, I know you can fight. I mean from the elements, from the lack of food, the toxic plants and a whole host of other dangers too numerous to name."

"I can take care of myself," Maria said. "You can't stop me."

"I could," Alucard said, his voice low. Maria choked a little on his words but clung tighter, "I could stop you so very easily." Maria flinched feeling his grip on her arm grow tighter and push her backward, away from him. She did not go easily and for a few moments, she thought he might actually break her arm to make her let go of him. His eyes had changed, they burned bright gold as they had in the tavern, and his lip curled in an animalistic snarl. He was trying to frighten her. Maria slapped him.

"Stop that," she snapped. "You don't frighten me you fool." She was a little surprised when he laughed.

"You really are an idiot," he pulled her close to him again.

"We'll have to move," Maria said softly, he said nothing. "You're right, I can't live in a forest. We'll go somewhere else, Richter will help us. We can build a home away from people, somewhere safe."

"You're being foolish," Alucard said but he didn't let go of her.

"There's always work for bounty hunters," Maria said. "You can hunt the beasts, Richter can claim the bounties for you."

"You've given this some thought?" Alucard looked at her. Maria nodded.

"We can travel if you like, we don't have to stay in one place. Or we can, we could have a little garden, I can grow all sorts, I'm better at it than Richter."

"I can give you a family," his voice cracked when he spoke.

"I don't care," she said.

"You don't care now, but you might later," he said.

"Shut up," she said firmly pulling back from him so she could meet his eyes. "I know my own mind, I know what I want."

"You want to give up the chance for a normal life, the chance for a family, children," he said.

"Annette is planning a large family," Maria smiled. "If I want children I can steal one of hers." He laughed at her again.

"You've really given this a lot of thought," he said pulling her close again and resting his chin on her head.

"I have everything planned out," she said. "You cannot win this argument."

"I don't think I have won an argument with you yet," he said. "I'm beginning to suspect I never will."

"Good," Maria said. "It is good that you have learned this early on, saves time later. Oh, and don't mention the lots of children to Richter yet, I don't think he has realized how many Annette is planning."

"I wouldn't want to frighten him," Alucard smiled.

40 years later

"And he never won an argument ever," Maria finished her story.

"I thought he won the one about the mermen skin," Annette said. "You thought it smelled too bad to put it on your roof yet here you are with a non-leaking roof."

"I let him have that one," Maria said. "I had to let him win one argument in 30 years."

"When I get married my husband won't win any arguments either," Annette's eldest granddaughter sighed. "Because I will be the winner." The three other granddaughters behind her all nodded.

"I'm never getting married," Annette's only grandson snapped.

"You say that now," Richter said. "But you wait, talk to your father he'll say the same thing."

"But grandfather," the boy began but was interrupted when a large amount of smoke suddenly billowed from the kitchen.

"Better go check on him," Annette laughed.

"What's happened now?" Maria sighed. She got up, back creaking and elbows hurting and walked steadily to the kitchen. Once in the doorway, she could hear a steady flow of cursing in an ancient tongue and she smiled.

"You can stop smiling," he called to her.

"You made the fire too big again didn't you?" Maria called back entering the kitchen, small children following.

"No," the voice in the smoke muttered, Maria laughed. He could be so petulant at times, and it was almost cute.

"Oh well, we still have the cold meat in the icebox," she said. "We can have that instead." There were more mumblings from the smoke before a figure emerged. Maria, Annette, and Richter had all aged in the last 30 years. Their skin was wrinkled, their hair was silver and their joints were swollen and sore. Alucard, however, had not changed at all, and he was still terrible at cooking.

End

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