Alfred was shocked at what he saw as he sprinted down the hallways that he'd come to be familiar with by now. Any furniture that had once lined the walls were now scattered across the floor as shards and mangled pieces of what they once were. But those weren't the only things scattered across the floor.
There were countless bodies everywhere. Some he recognized as vampires he had seen roaming the halls and others he could only assume were the hunters that were a part of the group that had led the attack.
He was completely horrified with all the things he saw. Never in his life had he seen so much blood. It was pooling around the lifeless bodies making it look like a blood bath in there.
Sure, he had seen plenty of movies depicting a serial killer walking around and killing numerous amounts of people with plenty of fake blood to go around. But never before had he seen real-life dead bodies and so much actual blood.
He felt like he was going to vomit. He forced the guy that looked like Feliciano to stop so that he could do just that.
He threw himself to the floor on his hands and knees as he felt the familiar taste of puke rise from his stomach, to his throat, and then onto the floor. He continued to throw up until he was practically dry-heaving.
Alfred felt a few hard claps on his back from the boy as if he was trying to make sure nothing else would come up before being dragged onto his feet. "Come on. We have no time for this." the Italian snapped before rushing the American down the hall once again.
As they wheeled around yet another corner, they were stopped abruptly by a vampire running down the hallway.
The Feliciano look-alike stabbed the vampire in the heart at an angle like Alfred had been told and watched as the body slumped to the floor in a heap of lifeless flesh. He knew that at the moment, the vampires were the enemies. But actually watching them die in front of his eyes made him feel horrible, like this was all completely wrong.
He was given no time to think much on it though as his wrist was given a rough jerk from the boy. "Get your ass moving!" the teen snapped as he broke out into another sprint but not once letting Alfred go.
After a few minutes of racing down hallways and passing more dead bodies, they arrived in front of a scene straight out of some vampire horror movie.
A brown-haired girl was standing there in an offensive stance and aiming a gun right at Antonio. The vampire himself was in a defensive stance, slowly pacing in different directions so that if she tried to shoot, he would have a better chance at dodging.
But Antonio stopped abruptly as he spotted Alfred and the boy beside him. "L-lovi? Is that you?" the Spanish vampire asked with a frown. The American couldn't help but be astonished at the look the Spaniard was displaying now. He looked like he was being racked with wave after wave of emotional pain.
But then Antonio's words registered in his head. Lovi? As in Lovino? The more he thought about it the more it made sense. He looked like Feliciano and Antonio had even called him by the nickname Lovino might have once had.
Alfred was snapped out of his thoughts as the sound of a gun being fired resounded throughout the air with a piercing ring. Alfred turned in just in time to see the bullet pierce through Antonio's stomach and out the other end.
Alfred flinched but breathed a sigh of relief seeing that Antonio seemed rather uneffected by it. Normally he would ask why the hell Antonio wasn't doubled over in pain but he had to remember that vampires were virtually indestructible except for being stabbed in the heart. Antonio had mostly definitely not been stabbed in the heart.
The shot did distract him though. The woman pulled out a dagger from her side and was about to approach the vampire but was stopped by Lovino.
"Stop. I want to be the one to finish him off." the Italian snapped.
The girl stopped and looked back at Lovino and Alfred. She nodded in understanding and resheathed her dagger. In turn, Lovino pulled out his own dagger and slowly walked towards Antonio whose eyes looked like that of a deer caught in someone's headlights.
The girl dragged him away so that they could get him out of there as soon as possible. She didn't drag him fast enough though as he heard the unmistakable sound of a knife going through a body and the pain-filled grunt that came along with it.
Within seconds, Lovino was walking beside them again. The scowl that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face looked like it had darkened ever so slightly.
"You killed him." It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement.
Lovino nodded nonetheless. "Yeah." he said with no emotion evident on his face whatsoever.
Alfred choked back any tears he felt coming on as he imagined Antonio's body laying on the floor with his blood pooling around his tanned body and his eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. He might view the vampires as his enemies at the moment, but he felt absolutely horrible at the thought of one of them he knew being dead.
Antonio seemed so innocent and benign. He wanted to scream at Lovino and demand why he had killed him. But the steely glare set on Lovino's face suggested that the boy would sooner kill Alfred than talk about it.
So Alfred did the opposite of what he usually did. He stayed completely and utterly silent as they walked at a brisk pace down the hallway.
Before long, they were descending the stairs that would lead to the foyer on the bottom floor that held the doorway leading outside. They stopped, though, on the last step as they found four vampires standing in front of their only escape route.
But they weren't just four random vampires. Alfred knew them all. There was Ludwig just standing there with his arms crossed and being as intimidating as ever. Of course, Feliciano was nearby and looking straight at Lovino with a horrified expression apparent on his face. Then there was Gilbert looking pissed off as hell. But his expression softened considerably as he looked at the brunette.
The last person Alfred couldn't seem to take his eyes off of was Arthur. He might have been one of the smallest people there next to Feliciano, but his stance made him so incredibly intimidating. He actually made Ludwig look like a chihuahua in comparison.
Alfred could tell he was absolutely furious too. He had seen Arthur be mad back when Alfred had tried to escape, but that image of Arthur paled in comparison to the figure standing before Alfred now.
"Let him go." Arthur's voice was cold and crisp. Alfred looked from Lovino to Arthur and then back again.
If Lovino gave him the choice, would he go to Arthur? Sure he liked the guy at times, but he had to remember that he and his brother had been kidnapped and both had been threatened by them. He didn't want Arthur, or any other vampire for that matter, to die. But he knew he couldn't stay here. He wanted to help the hunters and staying there wouldn't allow him to do so.
No matter what, he would stick with them. Even if they gave him a chance to go back to the vampires, he wouldn't go back. Or at least, not yet.
To Alfred's relief, Lovino shook his head. "Over my dead body." Lovino spat.
A sinister smirk appeared on Arthur's face. "That can be arranged." The furious vampire slowly started making his way towards them all the while displaying an almost predatory look. But Arthur wasn't even able to take two steps before Alfred was pulled under one of Lovino's arms with a dagger pressed tightly to his throat.
Arthur stopped for a split second before continuing on. But his smirk had disappeared now. Lovino pressed even tightier issuing a thin line of red to appear on Alfred's perfect skin. This made Arthur stop completely and stare at Lovino with silent mirth.
"Let us go through peacefully and the boy won't be harmed any further." Lovino said while eyeing Arthur with contempt and unease.
The Brit looked from Alfred's afraid, blue eyes to Lovino's angry, hazel ones. After a few seconds of silent deliberation, Arthur nodded but didn't step out of the way. "I'll let you take him. But in return, I want you to hand over Elizaveta."
Lovino's face contorted in confusion as he weighed his options carefully. He didn't want to give up one of his own people. He needed Alfred, but he didn't want to leave one of his long time friends in the midst of their enemies.
"Eliza?" Lovino murmured as if asking for her permission.
The woman looked at the older Italian twin before looking over at Gilbert who stood on the other side of the room. Uncertain green met hopeful red as the two eyed each other.
The only time she had ever really gotten close to him was in the last skirmish they had with the vampires. The two ended up in a fight and the vampire had been able to overpower her. The bite that came afterwards had been more than awkward.
It had felt good, but she had been disgusted at the same time. Shortly afterwards, he had pulled away. Normally, the vampire should have just drained her dry. But he had at let her live and it was obvious then that she was his partner.
She had managed to escape that time, but it looked like now she wouldn't be so lucky.
Well, at least they won't kill her. "I don't care if he bites me, but if he tries turning me then I'll cut his balls off." Elizaveta snapped.
Gilbert grimaced but said nothing on the matter. Knowing himself, he'd say something that would only make the situation worse and that was the last thing he wanted at the moment.
"Do you accept those terms?" Arthur asked the albino vampire without his eyes ever leaving Alfred's form.
Gilbert nodded his head. "Yes."
Arthur let a sarcastic smile grace his lips before saying,"Well then, take good care of Alfred for me."
Lovino could tell the vampire hated saying those words and so he couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction at the moment. He was losing a good friend, but he had dealt a heavy blow to the vampire.
Though he couldn't help but lose a little of that satisfaction as he watched Elizaveta walk down the rest of the steps and past Arthur. The woman sent the blonde vampire a glare before walking over and standing by Gilbert's side
Once Arthur was sure she was safely by Gilbert, he moved so that Lovino and Alfred could come down.
Lovino did just that but didn't take his knife away from the taller teen's throat. Alfred winced as the blade dug in a little deeper into his skin but refrained from saying a word about it. Lovino seemed tense and he was afraid that if he did speak, Lovino would slice his throat open.
So instead he remained silent until they were safely out the door and backing away from the doorway.
A car was waiting outside on the driveway, ready to give them their quick escape. Lovino pulled out his gun before throwing Alfred into the vehicle and keeping the weapon pointed on the American teen. Lovino then got in himself and turned the car on.
Just as he was putting the vehicle into drive, Arthur walked out of the castle and stared at the two intensely. "I will find him." Arthur said through slightly gritted teeth.
Lovino shot him a smirk. "We'll see." As the last word left his mouth, he stomped on the gas and the vampires were forced to watch as the car peeled away.
Revised A/N: I know I've said this for the past ten chapters, but I'l say it again: Please tell me if you see anything wrong.
