To keep you from needing to scroll back up for translations, almost all of the Romanian is written in italics. The only bit that isn't translated in-chapter is right here: "Am fost prins." – "We've been caught"

Again, I do not know Romanian and do not fret to produce flawless translations.

Also, I've received multiple PMs asking which Alucard I'm writing. I am writing the OVA and manga Alucard, not the TV series Alucard. The little I saw of the TV series didn't appeal to me, and so I didn't watch it long enough to realize there was a difference in his character. My apologies for not clarifying this sooner.

Lastly, please review with critiques and/or praise. I know that you want me to update soon, but I'd like your review to let me know what you think I'm doing wrong or what I'm doing right.

Enjoy, my beloved readers. You keep me going.

Chapter 10

Catherine woke up to the feeling of something soft pressing against her back. She jerked away from the pressure and sat up quickly, ripping the covers back in preparation to launch herself away from Alucard.

Only it wasn't Alucard.

Catherine blinked at the person in bed beside her, who was now sitting up too. It was a girl, with striking dark eyes and delicate features. Her hair cascaded down her back, blue hues glinting in the black strands. She couldn't have been any older than Catherine, and perhaps she was a bit younger, as her skin was so flawless and smooth. She wore a long white nightgown, and with surprise Catherine realized that she was wearing one too.

It was a dream.

Catherine's eyes trailed away from the girl and found further evidence of this: this room was not her own at Hellsing manor, but another just as lavish. Candles sat on the furniture around the bed, creating a small sphere of light that didn't touch the rest of the room. It all felt eerily similar to the dream she'd had about Alucard, and she looked about suspiciously for the vampire. He was nowhere to be found, however, and she relaxed. Soft, cool fingers touched her cheek, and she felt the girl cup her face to turn her back around.

It was just a dream.

The girl was smiling at her, plump lips bowed sweetly. With a delicate motion, she tucked a loose lock of hair behind Catherine's ear. As innocent as the gesture seemed, though, the way the girl's eyes glittered hinted at something else. Catherine wasn't surprised; as a virgin, she had no experience with sex and often wondered what it would be like to be with not only a man, but another woman. This was no doubt a manifestation of those thoughts. Why not indulge them?

Catherine let the girl pull her face forward, and their lips touched lightly. The girl was wearing a perfume of sorts, one that gave off a dark, delightful scent, heavy with spices and musk; a drop more of the stuff, and it could have been overbearing.

They kissed in a cautious way, Catherine feeling the girl's cool hands on her face, her neck, her shoulders, and then lower. She pulled away in surprise when one of the little hands settled on her breast, and the girl looked briefly embarrassed before giving an apologetic smile. Catherine found herself smiling back at the girl, and after a moment they began giggling like children doing something naughty.

They kissed again, giggling between movements of lips, before falling back onto the bed, the girl on top of Catherine. The latter grinned upward as the girl sat up and began untying the satin bow that held her neckline closed. After a quick tug on the bow the nightgown fell open, revealing creamy white shoulders and the most perfect breasts Catherine had ever seen. The girl bit her lip through a smile and reached for Catherine's nightgown.

A blush heated Catherine's cheeks as the girl untied the bow and pulled her upright, allowing the nightgown to fall away. Catherine caught the neckline before it uncovered her chest, but the girl pouted and pulled on her hands until her breasts were bared. The cool air and the girl's stare were too much, however, and Catherine immediately covered herself up again with her hands, shaking her head.

The girl looked at her for a moment before smiling and standing up on the bed. She shimmied her hips, and the nightgown slipped down to pool at her feet. Catherine blushed harder at the sight and promptly burst into another fit of giggles. The girl followed suit, holding her slender arms out and turning a stark naked circle before reaching down to Catherine. Catherine took her hand, grinning and blushing like a beet, and stood up; her nightgown fell away completely too, and both girls giggled like mad.

They grinned and laughed at each other's nakedness, at the feeling of doing something they shouldn't be, before the embarrassment and exhilaration faded to be replaced with something else. The teasing prods and squeezes at one another's bodies lost their playfulness, and within seconds their lips were touching again. They sank back to the mattress, pressing their bodies together.

Catherine groaned as the girl broke their kiss and began sucking at the soft skin of her throat. The girl's lips, like her hands, were cool compared to Catherine's almost feverish skin, and the sensation of her sucking and kissing her way down her chest and belly was almost enough to bring Catherine up off the mattress. The girl flicked her tongue along Catherine's belly button, then, without wasting anytime, promptly slid down between her thighs.

Catherine did arch off the bed then. She gasped and clutched at the bedsheets, her hips bucking gently with the wonderful and treacherous motions of the girl's mouth and tongue. The girl whimpered and moaned against her skin, alternately using her tongue and fingers to make Catherine's hips roll against her. For what seemed like an eternity, the girl coaxed her to the border of pleasure, then let her fall back, then coaxed her again.

"Don't stop," Catherine whispered, her fingers tangling in the girl's hair as she tried to pull away from her for the third time. The girl finally smiled in an obliging way and lowered her mouth to her again. A soft moan escaped Catherine's lips as she felt the heat in her belly begin to flicker, and she closed her eyes in preparation for the rapture that was threatening to grip her.

And then the girl pulled away to crawl up on top of her.

"Am fost prins," she giggled, and Catherine frowned at the foreign words. She looked into the girl's face and, for the first time, noticed that there was a fine dusting of dirt on her skin and hair. As Catherine's expression turned to one of realization, the girl smiled to display her teeth:

Little daggers, perfectly white and sharp.

A burst of terror-born adrenaline hit her very suddenly, and Catherine shoved the girl backward hard; the girl gave a little cry and tumbled onto the floor, landing with a solid bump. Whirling around to leap off of the bed, Catherine let out a wordless shriek; a woman, blonde-haired and porcelain-skinned, was sitting on the bed beside her. Before she could push her off of the bed too, the woman flashed a sharp smile and snatched hold of one of her arms. Catherine cried out again when the woman's fingers squeezed tight; her touch was burningly cold, and her nails were sharp. Unable to free her arm from the vampire's grip, Catherine formed a fist with her free hand and swung it with all her might at the woman's beautiful face.

The punch never connected, though. Catherine stared over her shoulder to see another woman with dark hair and rosebud lips holding her arm back, still cocked for the punch. The dark-haired woman smiled at her, then said something to the blonde in the thick, lilting language. Both women laughed, their teeth showing jaggedly. Catherine screamed in helpless rage and fear as they pulled her back to the center of the bed.

The women held her down as the girl crawled back up onto the bed and sat on her legs. Catherine thrashed hard beneath her, but the girl was just as strong as the women; she held Catherine down easily as she leaned forward and tried to press a sweet kiss to her lips. Catherine twisted her face away, though, and the girl made a disappointed sound.

Catherine sucked in a deep breath and let out the loudest scream she could manage. A fearful look crossed the girl's face, and she slapped her hands over Catherine's mouth. The dark-haired woman began to speak quickly in the foreign tongue, her voice fraught with worry.

"The master will have heard," she said. "He will be furious!"

"He's going to punish us," the girl whimpered, looking on the edge of tears. Catherine winced as she inadvertently pressed her cold fingers harder against her mouth.

The blonde vampire clicked her tongue at the two others, her lovely face full of disdain. "Fools," she scolded, "be quiet now. I will take care of it."

While the blonde spoke, Catherine bucked and fought against the cold hands that held her. She couldn't understand the language that the vampires were speaking, but she read their faces well; someone had heard her screaming, or might have. Clinging to the hope that the former was true, Catherine kicked and writhed. The blonde woman was still talking to the others when Catherine managed to get her mouth around the girl's fingers. She bit down hard, feeling her teeth pass through flesh to hit bone. The girl screamed and withdrew her bloody hand to her chest. The blonde woman looked down at Catherine, her blue eyes snapping with cold fury, and promptly slapped her across the face.

Catherine's vision exploded with stars as the woman's palm, feeling more like a fist, connected with her temple. The dark-haired woman and the girl cried out angrily, and Catherine felt them release her. She blinked dazedly, fighting to regain vision as she felt the bed dip and shift beneath her with the movements of the vampire women. Her face throbbed, and she reached up to hold it. What were the women doing? They were behind her, and she couldn't see them. Clutching her already-swelling face, Catherine stared off into the dark room beyond the bed. Things were coming back into focus now, and she thought she saw something move near the door.

Her vision sharpened slowly, and her eyes could now track the thing that was certainly moving toward the bed. It was a deep shadow at first, but as it approached it began to take the form of a tall, broad-shouldered man. Catherine smiled in desperate relief at the figure stepping closer. This was the man that the women had worried about, the one that had heard her screams and had come to save her. She reached out to him as he stopped at the foot of the bed, just out of the circle of candlelight. The man took her hand gently in his, and then he leaned forward, pressing his lips to her fingers.

Catherine's breath hitched in her throat as Alucard looked down at her, his white face sharp and frighteningly handsome in the flickering candlelight. His eyes burned so hotly that Catherine swore she could feel the heat on her naked flesh as his gaze swept over her. She turned away in fear when he reached toward her face, expecting violence after seeing the look in his eyes; however, his cool hand only moved to stroke her injured face gently, right over the spot that throbbed and ached. Catherine watched the vampire fearfully as he turned his gaze up to the women behind her, his expression suddenly savage.

"Who?" he demanded, the sound more a growl than speech.

The girl and the dark-haired woman looked to the blonde, who came forward on her knees beside Catherine and began speaking rapidly. Alucard's face remained thunderous all the while the blonde beseeched him. He didn't move or speak until the woman, seeing him unconvinced, sat forward and put her hands on his chest in a pleading way. Then, faster than Catherine's eyes could follow, Alucard raised a hand and slapped the blonde so hard that she fell to the floor. The dark-haired woman and the girl clung to one another and trembled as Alucard reached down and grabbed the blonde by her hair.

"Do you desire my wrath so much," he hissed, "that you would deliberately disobey me?"

The women and Catherine cringed as the harsh voice went on. On the floor beside Alucard, her hair still twisted in his cruel fingers, the blonde wept softly. Blood flowed from her nose to run down her face and neck. She did not dare to grab onto her master's hand, but instead clutched pitifully at the stained neckline of her silk gown as he berated her viciously.

Eventually Alucard seemed to notice the blonde's crying, and he stopped speaking to look down at her. The woman made a fearful little sound as he lifted her up by her hair to stand on her feet. Alucard did not release her right away, but turned her around to look up at him.

"Why must you provoke me?" he said, his hand sliding out of the golden tresses to cup the woman's tear- and bloodstained face.

"Forgive me, my lord," the blonde whimpered.

Alucard's cold expression softened, and he ran a thumb across the blonde's bloody lips. The woman looked up at him innocently, her eyes still rimmed red with tears, and then parted her lips over his thumb. Alucard's hard-set mouth quirked slightly into a smile as she began to suck her own blood off of him. After a moment, he pulled free of her mouth and dabbed more of her blood onto his fingers; he held them out to the dark-haired woman and the girl.

Catherine would have long ago thrown herself away from all of this, but like in her previous dream she was unable to move. Heart pounding, she lay paralyzed as the other two vampire women crawled around her to suck at Alucard's bloody fingers. Their whimpers and moans reached her ears, and she felt nauseated.

Alucard said something to the women, and they giggled. Catherine turned her face away in disgust as the dark-haired woman and the girl began to kiss and lick at the blonde's bloodstained skin. She just wanted the nightmare to be over. Cold fingers brushed her thigh, and she gasped.

Alucard was leaning over her. His eyes no longer burned with anger, but with lust. Forgetting herself in her fear, Catherine met his gaze. She remembered instantly the hypnosis she had experienced in the other dream, however, and she quickly tore her eyes away. Cruel fingers grabbed hold of her face, though, and she was forced to look back up at the vampire.

They stared at one another. Catherine waited for the mesmerizing gleam to come into Alucard's eyes, but the only change in his expression was the slow smile that spread over his face. An awful realization came over her: he wasn't going to hypnotize her this time.

Catherine's heart beat wildly against her ribs as the vampire reached down to take hold of her wrist. He lifted it gently to his mouth and ran his cold tongue along the skin, right over the pulsing veins. Then, before Catherine could flinch, he sunk his teeth into the flesh.

As with the other bites there was an initial horrific pain, but this time there was no heat afterward, no pleasurable numbness. Catherine screamed in agony as the vampire's lips moved against the mess of torn flesh, sucking and lapping at the blood that poured out. Alucard smiled into the wound as she screamed, the lower half of his face and neck stained with her blood. It was not enough, though, and a moment later he wormed his tongue down into the flesh to encourage the blood out faster.

Catherine's vision blurred and brightened as she began to faint. Her own screams became muffled and dulled in her ears until she was no longer screaming, but gaping silently at the ceiling. Never in her life had she experienced such pain, and for several minutes she was unconscious. When she came back to, Alucard was no longer feeding from her wrist. He was staring down at her, his eyes casting a soft crimson glow in the sockets. Despite the searing pain in her arm, Catherine had enough awareness to note that the women were gone, and that all but one of the candles had been extinguished, leaving them in almost complete darkness.

Despair gripping her in its breathless hold, she realized that something awful was about to happen. Why else would he have sent the women away? Why would he have left one candle for her to see by? She instinctively tried to move, and discovered that she could. But she was weak, so weak…

"No," Catherine moaned pitifully as Alucard leaned down over her. His lips glistened with her blood, and Catherine cried out in repulsion when he pressed them against her cheek. She lifted her good arm and tried to push him away, but immediately regretted the decision; the vampire easily snagged hold of her arm and bit into the wrist like a man eating an apple. Catherine wailed.

Alucard fed from her until she began to swoon, but he stopped before she could fall completely unconscious again. Struggling to focus on the blurred world around her, Catherine felt the vampire take hold of her face and crush his mouth to hers. Nausea overwhelmed her at the feeling of the hot, sticky blood being forced into her mouth with each movement of his lips and tongue. Mercifully, Alucard withdrew from her after only a moment of this, and Catherine gagged and spit the blood out. She was only offered a second of relief, however, before Alucard began to tear off his clothing with obvious purpose.

"No, no, no, no," Catherine cried. She tried to crawl away, but she had lost too much blood and could hardly move. Cold hands gripped her hips painfully, and she yelped as she was dragged back beneath the vampire. She fought him as hard as she could, but her attempts were pathetic. Alucard laughed, a harsh, mirthless sound, and lowered himself over her. Dread choked her as the felt him force her thighs apart, and she began to plead.

"Please stop, please, please-"

Alucard looked down at her as she implored and cried, and a jagged smile split his face. He hiked one of her legs up, drawing a shriek out of her but not stopping her pleading, and pressed a harsh kiss to the side of her neck. When he spoke next, he spoke in clear but accented English.

"Yes, my Bride," he said. "Beg me." And with a harsh buck of his hips, he forced himself deep inside her.

Catherine jolted awake. She sat up abruptly on her elbow for several seconds, blinking wide-eyed at the dark expanse of her room, before finally relaxing back onto the bed. Minutes passed, and the nightmare she'd just experienced melted away to nothing, leaving her without a memory of it. She lay very still for a long time, in the limbo between dreams and wakefulness, before her flushed and sweaty skin became too uncomfortable beneath the clinging silk sheets. With a languid motion, she pulled the covers off of herself, intending to go straight back to sleep. A cascade of hollow thudding immediately woke her fully, however, and she looked down to see a dozen empty VHS boxes lying on the floor.

Who got all of those out? She stared at the boxes, her consciousness slowly returning and piecing the memories of the previous night together.

… Alucard.

Catherine turned around slowly over to look behind her, and her flushed skin became chilled; Alucard was lying beside her on his back, eyes closed. He looked very much asleep, with his gloved hands folded neatly at his waist and his head tilted back into the pillow. Catherine began to move out from under the covers, out of the bed and away from the vampire, but something about his appearance stopped her. She moved carefully to face him and get a better look. Surprise registered on her face when she realized what it was.

He looked tired.

Catherine stared at the vampire, utterly fascinated. It wasn't that his expression was interesting, but that it was so very… normal; his face, though still eerily smooth and sharp, lost much of its harshness when relaxed with sleep. Catherine studied the dustings of shadow beneath his eyes, the high contours of his cheekbones, the sharp line of his jaw. Aristocratic, Catherine thought. That was the word to describe his features. The word "handsome" also came to mind, but Catherine's subconscious pushed it away. She studied every bit of his face closely, marveling at the flawlessness of his skin. When her gaze came to rest on his lips, however, she frowned; there, at the corner of his mouth, was a tiny red splotch. She immediately reached up to her neck, checking for bite-marks. It was glaringly obvious where he had bitten her, however, when she realized that there was a bandage on her left wrist.

A bandage made out of the lower half of her pajama top.

Catherine stared open-mouthed at the enormous rip out of her shirt. How had she not felt that? She shook her head, shocked. She was a little angry, too, but part of her did recognize that the vampire had doctored her up after feeding from her. She wasn't sure that she could completely appreciate the sentiment, though.

She looked back at Alucard, lying deathly still beside her; not even his chest rose and fell with breath. Why hadn't he gone back to his coffin? It was just dawn beyond the heavy drapes that concealed the windows. Wasn't he worried about the sun burning him up? Or did he simply trust her enough to not fling the drapes open and incinerate him in his sleep?

She stared at him for a long time. Had he been breathing, dressed more modernly, and not positioned like a corpse at a visitation, he might have passed for a man. No… Catherine tilted her head, studying his face again. His features were too refined, too perfect. He was morbidly handsome, attractive to people in the way a pitcher plant is attractive to a fly. Catherine found herself wondering how many people had been drawn in by his charm, his flawless skin, his resonating voice. Her mind conjured up the voice, deep and rumbling, and goose bumps rose on her skin. The words from Bram Stoker's novel suddenly came unbidden from memory, and for the first time she was able to pair the voice and the words together: "I am Dracula, and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my house…"

For the second time since she'd met him, Catherine marveled at his very existence. He was Alucard now, but he had been Dracula once, and before that Vlad Tepes III, Prince of Wallachia. Catherine's mind followed the logic of it, but the surreal sense that surrounded the concept never quite went away for her. Vlad Dracula, the Impaler Lord, vampire of legend, was asleep in her bed.

"Vlad," Catherine breathed unconsciously. How strange to think of him as a man. She tried to imagine his skin with color, with natural imperfections, his hair less lustrous, his teeth blunt. What color had his eyes been before they turned red?

"Your thoughts are loud," Alucard murmured, and Catherine sat back away from him. The vampire opened his eyes slowly before rolling his gaze over to her. "It's only dawn. Why are you awake?"

Catherine stopped moving backward when she realized she had reached the mattress's edge. "I don't know. Why aren't you in your coffin?"

Alucard raised his eyebrows at her. "I wanted to sleep with you."

Catherine blinked at him, unsure of what to say. A beam of early light began to peek through the part in the heavy drapes across the room.

"Go and close them."

Catherine looked over at the drapes Alucard was squinting at. Without really thinking, she found herself sliding off of the bed and padding over to the window to pull the drapes shut. "Does it hurt you?" Catherine asked as she pulled the heavy fabric together. "The sunlight?"

"No, but it makes it difficult to sleep."

Catherine went back over to the bed, but didn't climb onto it. Alucard's eyes were closed again, and she watched the vampire carefully. "Why do you need to sleep if you're dead?" she said at length.

Alucard didn't open his eyes. "The dead need more sleep than the living," he murmured.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"You ask too many of them."

"Only two." Catherine sat carefully on the edge of the bed, still watching him. Several moments passed before Alucard looked over at her, his gaze hooded.

"What are you doing?" he said. Surprisingly, there was no irritation in his voice. Even his eyes, which could betray his anger or pleasure by their color, reflected a docile shade of wine.

"You bit me again," Catherine said. "And tore my shirt."

Alucard blinked slowly, the sleepy expression on his face eerily human. "You belong to me. Why should I not drink from you?"

Catherine frowned, debating inwardly and weighing her words. At length she said, "I guess you're going to do it whether I like it or not. I'd just rather you didn't do it while I was asleep. It's… creepy."

"You think that being awake gives you some sort of control," the vampire said, reading her unspoken thoughts. Catherine looked at him, expecting to see a mocking smile on his lips, but his expression was thoughtful, almost serious.

"Yes," she told him.

Alucard looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. "Very well, my Bride."

Catherine watched his expression relax to slackness again, and wondered if the daytime had some sort of effect on the vampire. He seemed different, less... She couldn't place the word. Catherine climbed under the covers and, though she wasn't willing to move away from the edge and be closer to the vampire, she found that she trusted him enough to face away from him to fall asleep.

Alucard was deep in a dreamless sleep when he heard his Bride calling to him, her voice a faint echo. He fought the heavy exhaustion that the day brought with it, clinging to the voice, and tried to open his eyes. It was like trying to swim upward from the bottom of a lake with a weight chained to his legs, and he knew it must have been almost noon. Still, he struggled against the curse until he could open his eyes and force them to see again.

His hand went instinctively into his coat as he sat up, but the room was empty and silent. The only sounds his slowly sharpening ears could collect were the soft breathing of his Bride next to him, and the clinking of dishes as Walter cooked a late lunch downstairs. Alucard took his hand off of the Casull and looked down at Catherine. She was asleep, and he wondered how long it had taken him to wake. He leaned down to her.

"Catherine," he said. "You called to me."

The girl stirred, her eyes flickering open slightly. "Hmm?"

"What did you need?" Alucard asked.

Catherine yawned and turned her face into the pillow. "I said," she murmured, "I like the name Vlad better than Alucard."

The vampire stared at her. It had been a long time since he had heard that name, and memories came flooding back to him in an instant. He felt his face twist through multiple emotions as the images and thoughts flashed into and out of his mind, none of them staying coherent enough for him to dwell on for long. Minutes ticked by, the centuries beginning to blur as he tried to remember further and further back. What color had his eyes been?

Alucard reached up absently and brushed the girl's hair away from her face. "You may call me Vlad if you wish," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, and he was so distracted by the rush of memories that he didn't hear the earnestness in his own voice.

Neither did Catherine, who had already fallen back asleep and was dreaming happily of swimming in a lake under the noon sun.

My response to Lady Ravanna's review that I think everyone should see:

I agree entirely with your name-evolution dichotomy, and have always thought the same thing myself. That concept is really what I based this fic on, the concept that the vampire who is now Alucard is slipping back into the habits of Dracula at the expense of his relationship with the Hellsing organization. It might not be such a bad thing for him to slip further back to be in touch with his Vlad self, but I agree that it's far too late for him to ever fully access that part of himself again. Vlad died on the chopping block 500 years ago, and he's not coming back.

I had Alucard cling to the idea of Catherine calling him Vlad because he obviously longs for his humanity again, despite the fact that he's clearly lost touch with it. It isn't that he wants to be Vlad again, but that he wants to be human. He knows this is impossible, that only death will be his release, but death is pretty much impossible too, thanks to Hellsing, and so I think that he would hold tight to what he has left: defying God with his immortality.

Besides, the Hellsing family has worked so hard to make Dracula into Alucard (both physically and mentally) that I think that it would irk Integra to no end to hear Catherine refer to him as Vlad and further work to unravel the whole metamorphosis. Integra's having a hard enough time convincing herself that it's okay for her to be supplying her vampire with a Bride like in olden times, and "Vlad" might just be last straw.

I'm so glad we have the same thoughts on this. I wanted Catherine to call him Vlad to break away from the mold that the other OC/Alucard fics have been poured into. Alucard might not be able to access his Vlad self anymore, but Catherine doesn't know that, and it'll probably make her feel better to remember him as having been human. Humans are more comfortable relating to other humans, even if they might be evil incarnate.