Chapter 11

Adrian and Eva spent the rest of the afternoon going over the index from the hold. Eva had tried to tell him that he didn't have to stay and help, but in the end, she was glad he had. There were several languages in the book she didn't even recognize. She was shocked to find that some of them dated back thousands of years. One of them was even in Aramaic. It was unbelievable that Adrian at least recognized most of them. The ones that neither of them understood were marked for later research.

It was late when they once again got ready to turn in. Eva stopped him as they turned to the wing that held the family's rooms since that was where they had slept the night before. Her face held a slight blush as she tried not to stumble over her words. "After having seen the guest rooms, I have a feeling the room last night was the master bedroom. Is there another place I can take that's nearby? I don't want to take your bed from you."

Adrian looked at her face for a moment. He agreed that the sleeping arrangements from the previous night were not ideal, but after what he had concluded earlier, he did not want her sleeping in the guest wing. It was too far away. That left his old room. Which, for some reason, bothered him even more than her sleeping in the bed with him. He finally shook his head. "Tomorrow, I can bring another bed into the master suite. I think it would be best if we slept in the same room, for the time being, at least."

Eva's head shot up, and she gave him an incredulous look. She wanted to argue, but since she had been the one to suggest it the night before, she didn't have much ground to argue from. His eyes told her his reasoning had little to do with impropriety. She finally clenched her jaw and nodded. "I suppose one more night isn't a big deal."

She paused before they walked much further. "Is there at least a bath in this place? I haven't had much chance to clean up, and I need to wash my hair, desperately."

He glanced over at her. "It is late tonight. Can you wait until morning, as I will have to bring the water up from the closest source?"

Eva grimaced. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"

He shocked her when his eyes briefly flashed with something slightly feral before he gave her a reassuring smile. "Do not worry that your smell is troublesome. I promise it is not unpleasant at all."

Eva felt her cheeks heat as she quickly turned away. "Well then, I suppose morning it is."


Despite taking precautions before they went to sleep to prevent it, Adrian was confounded to once again wake up to the same sense of thirst and comfort as he had the day before. He wasn't sure if he was aggravated or something else entirely. He could admit there was a part of him that was glad for the distraction, and more than a little interested in finding out if she tasted as heavenly as she smelled. However, he pushed those thoughts aside violently. They were not to be entertained. He was glad that she did not awaken this time as he got up and took the opportunity in the quiet hours of the morning and the fresh air outside to clear his head.

By the time she finally woke and came to find him, he already had a tub filled with steaming water and breakfast prepared. She gave him a grateful smile as he showed her everything she would need. "Please take your time. I will be in the hold cleaning. I brought up a few books for you to read and will join you later."

She frowned at him. "Wait, I thought we would work down there together?"

He stepped back and shrugged. "We will, once I clean up the remains. I know that is less pleasant for you than for me."

She was practically glaring by that point. "That wasn't the deal. I don't want to be a freeloader. I can help too."

He sighed at the tone of her voice. "I am well aware that you are capable. That is not the issue. It is simply more efficient this way." He then turned to walk out. "I will be back shortly."

He hadn't made it far before she was on his heels. "Wait! Just wait. Let's figure out another way. Can't you do something else here while I bathe? Or why didn't you wake me up earlier so I could help with all this?"

Adrian sighed as he realized she was complaining because she felt he was doing this to punish her for sleeping in when that was not the case at all. He suddenly teleported down the hall and was back again with a large piece of rubble that almost completely blocked the path. He could just barely see her around it as he spoke. "This is the most efficient use of both our time. Besides, you could become sick if you are exposed to that miasma for an extended amount of time. I will be back in less than two hours. You should finish breakfast, enjoy your bath, and study. When I return, we can start on the lights."

There was complete silence for several seconds before she started screaming. "You high-handed prick! This is not an acceptable way to handle an argument! You don't get to make decisions for me!"

Adrian had to fight back a growl at her obstinance. He somehow managed to keep his voice calm when he spoke. "I am not trying to be high-handed, but arguing about it will get us nowhere. I truly have your best interest in mind, so please consider that while I am gone." With those parting words, he walked away and ignored the rest of her insults.


True to his word, it was less than two hours when Adrian returned from cleaning up the demonic mess in the Belmont Trove. He paused at the makeshift barrier he had placed to listen for Eva's presence. He felt a little guilty at the sound of silence. After he had time to think about his actions, he realized he should have handled things differently. She was an intelligent woman, not a simple child. Nor was she Belmont.

He walked into the kitchen to see it had been cleaned, and Eva was sitting at the table with several of the books lying open in front of her. As soon as she saw him, she stood with a frown, and they both started talking at once. "I'm so-" "I sh-"

They both cut off and looked away awkwardly for a moment before Adrian tried again. "I wanted to apologize. I should have taken the time to explain things better instead of rushing off and treating you like a misbehaving child."

Eva flushed slightly and shook her head. "No, I was acting like a child. When I had a chance to think about what you said, it made sense. I was just guilty because you have done so much for me, and I feel like I keep getting further in debt. I'm sorry I called you a prick, and an asshole, and a pretty-boy blood-sucker, and-"

Adrian held up a hand to cut her off. As they caught each other's eyes, they both started laughing. It was several moments before they stopped enough for him to motion to the books. "Have you found anything?"

Eva grimaced. "Not yet, but I only started a short while ago."

He nodded in understanding. "We can come back to them later. Unless you would rather stay?"

She practically jumped forward. "Nope. Do you have any ideas for a harness?"

Adrian chuckled at her enthusiasm as he led her back down the hall. "A few. I brought some rope up from below so that we can rig a temporary way for you to get down on your own. I also have some ideas for a lift. I may work on that first. It would make getting the supplies down much easier for both of us."

"I can't say I'm much of a carpenter, but I'll do what I can to help."

"Well, I'm sure there is something you can help with." By that point, they had gotten to the gaping hole that had once been the cover for the Belmont Trove and began discussing the best way to build a lift and possibly some sort of protection to keep rain from getting down into the hole. Even with the door at the bottom, if it was more than a slight drizzle, it could accumulate and get through before it evaporated. That was enough to keep them both busy most of the day.


Over the next few days, the two occupants of the castle decided to change up their planned schedule a bit. They focused primarily on getting the trove accessible and wired first. They both agreed there was a lot that needed to be repaired between both buildings, and it could take a long time. With that being the case, they would still spend their morning on repairs, but the first order of business would be to get things lit up. After that, they could change it back to only in the mornings and focused on study and training in the afternoons.

That didn't mean they didn't read at all. Spring was coming, but the days were still short, and the evenings were better spent indoors and reading. Which was precisely what they did. Not that it did them much good.

If their days were productive, Alucard was finding that his nights were becoming more and more frustrating. He had brought in a separate bed, but he found that more often than not, somehow they ended up in the same bed anyway. He could not tell which of them moved either, as it was not always the same bed they ended up in. For all he could tell, it was both of them. It was likely a mix of her nightmares, his own night terrors, and the unending call that he had to fight during his waking hours. Sleeping near her was not one of his better ideas, but he also could not send her away, knowing how dangerous it could be. Even in the castle.

Eva was just as frustrated by the night swaps as well. The first time it had happened, she found herself back in his big bed. She almost got mad at him when she saw his arms around her. At least until she realized where she was. She doubted he would have gone and fetched her from across the room. He woke when she tried to move. Thankfully, he didn't say anything, which would have embarrassed her further. After that incident, they both just ignored it when it happened and tried to pretend it didn't happen at all.

At least they didn't have to think about it while they were busy. Which was often enough during the day. Once they had the lift completed, they started in the wiring. Eva had never done anything quite like it before, but she understood the concept well enough. Adrian had rigged a rope harness that she could use to access the entire length of one wall from floor to ceiling with pullies. It was ingenious. Once he showed her how to rig the wires, he left her to it while he worked on the other side of the room.

It was at the end of the first week that the first real mishap occurred, though it hardly qualified for the name. For some reason, one of the brackets was being particularly stubborn to get off for her to replace the innards. The tool in her hand ended up slipping, and she overreached to try and grab it, which in turn caused her to overbalance.

A string of curses left her mouth as she suddenly found herself upside down and staring at the concerned face of the floating vampire in front of her. "Are you alright? What happened."

Eva blinked at his inverted face a few times as her heartbeat slowed. As soon as the realization sank in that his harness had worked, and she was fine, she tried to shrug and cross her arms. Though the effect was not what it should have been if she had been upright. Her grin was still full of confidence. "Oh, not much. I just thought I'd hang out for a moment."

Adrian blinked at her once before he groaned and covered his face. She could tell he was trying not to laugh. "What? Do you not appreciate it when people are punny?"

He could no longer hold back his laughter by that point. He helped her to right herself before he floated down to grab the tool she had dropped. He desperately tried to keep a straight face as he handed it back. "Next time, let it fall and ask me for assistance."

She grinned at him. "Why? That was actually kind of fun once I got over the fear that I was going to splatter my brain on the floor." He opened his mouth to say something, and instead shook his head with a chuckle before he moved back to what he had been doing.


They nearly had the whole building wired when something finally occurred to Eva, and she wanted to kick herself for not thinking of it before. She was too excited to wait until they were done for the day and instead called out to Adrian while she let herself down to the nearest level.

He was already waiting for her and frowning when she reached him. "Is everything alright?"

She was too excited to be bothered by his worry and brushed it aside. "It might be great! You told me when I first asked that you could potentially gauge the amperage and voltage in the wires. Does that mean you can limit the output as well?"

His frown turned slightly confused. "Of course. If the output were erratic, then the bulbs would be damaged constantly."

Eva shook her head. "Sorry, what I meant was, if I gave you a specification for a specific alternating current voltage output, could you make it?"

He blinked a few times at her growing excitement. It was evident there was a reason for her question. "Perhaps. If I knew what it was for."

Eva grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the exit. "For my phone. I haven't thought about it since the day I got here. I turned it off and removed the battery in case I needed it for emergencies, so it should still have a charge, but I haven't thought about it since then."

He gently took her hand and tugged her to a stop. His face showed his confusion. "What is a phone?"

She sighed and pulled on his hand once more. "Only the next best thing to toilet paper, though I suppose you would need toilets for that first." When he only looked more confused, she grinned. "I suppose we should tackle one thing at a time. Come on. You'll see, but I'll try to explain while we walk."

He gave in with a sigh and followed her up. "It is a communication device that uses satellites in low orbit around the earth along with antenna towers scattered all over to boost and send the signal from one device to another. It allows nearly instantaneous communication to virtually anywhere on the earth."

His eyes were wide when he jerked her to a halt again. "What!? Can you explain that again?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I wish I knew more about it than that, but I don't. All I know is that it uses some sort of frequency that is sent up and then back down again. It converts the signal from digital to analog and then back again to make both visual and audio."

Adrian looked like his head was about to explode as he took all that in. He finally shook it off. "Not all of that is familiar."

Eva nodded. "I apologize. I imagine not, since the landline phone won't be invented for another three hundred years or so. Cellular phones are much newer. Still, there isn't much more I can tell you about it, and that isn't why I want it anyway. In my time, our phones are much more than communication devices."

He took a deep breath before he asked his next question. "Do I even want to know?"

She laughed at the look he was giving her and grabbed his arm. "Come on, I'll show you."

She practically ran the rest of the way up to the room where her bag was stashed. She then rummaged around in it and pulled out a tiny slip of metal and glass and an even smaller piece of metal. Adrian watched intently as she worked the pieces apart and fit the smaller one inside the larger one before she put them together and pressed a raised portion he had not seen initially.

He took a step back in shock as a bright light and sound came from the small device. His surprise did not keep him back long. They were standing shoulder to shoulder as she held it up with a smile. "This is why I want to be able to use it. It has all my music, plus it has my pictures."

A furrow had formed between his brows. He wasn't sure what to think of the fact that this tiny thing carried music, but he had another question first. "Pictures? What are those?"

Eva sighed. There was so much to explain in just this one device. Still, this one should be easy. "They are the digital version of paintings."

He blinked at her a few times before he turned to watch her fingers glide over the surface of the device quickly. The images flashed past nearly too quick for even his eyes to see clearly. She finally stopped with a wistful smile and held it up again. "This is my mother and me. I think this was about three or four years ago, back when I was still a senior. I had just won a track meet. She was so proud of me."

Adrian took the device from her and stared at the square image. He could instantly see the resemblance. Eva had her mother's figure and hair, though the older woman had a darker skin tone and brown eyes instead of the bright blue of her daughter. They looked happy. He didn't need any further explanation about why she wanted this device to keep working. If it used electricity to power these images, then he would do what he could to help her.

He was shocked from his thoughts when she plucked it from his hands with a grin. "Why don't we make some memories while we can."

He gave her a confused look as she swiped across the device a few more times before she sidled up next to him. He looked down at her grinning form before she pointed to the device in her hand. "Look into the screen and smile."

He just gave her a confused look for a moment before he did as she asked. Although he couldn't tell why. After a few seconds, she sighed and looked up again. "Why are you so insanely tall?"

He chuckled at her mock glower. "Perhaps you are just short."

His quip earned a real glower, but she brushed it aside. "Alright, if this is going to work, then either you are going to have to lean down to my level, or you're going to have to pick me up."

Adrian wasn't sure what possessed him to do it, but he gave her a smirk as his arm snaked around her waist and he lifted her until their faces were even. His smirk widened as her cheeks reddened. "Is this sufficient?"

She finally smirked back and nodded. "Yep." She then paid him back in spades when she held the device up in front of them and kissed his cheek before he was nearly blinded by a bright light.

He dropped her as soon as the flash passed, but she was still laughing as she stood and rubbed her bottom. She then pulled the phone back up and showed him her newest picture. His face looked just as shocked in the image as he felt it had been. The reminder of her soft lips on his skin was there forever etched into this picture he could come back to see any time he wanted. That was one more reason for him to want to make sure it continued to function.

She was still chuckling as she looked up at him. "That hurt, but it was worth it." Despite his actions, he found that he agreed with her.

A/N: There is one more chapter in this interlude before season three, and I know I have been asked multiple times about the spark between these two. This chapter showed the beginnings of it, the next one will be the forest fire, just giving you a fair warning. It will contain citrus galore, though not until the last part. If you give me feedback that it is necessary I can add a marker of some kind when it starts. I hope you are all looking forward to it as much as me ;) Also, to my guest reviewer Guest1995- yes, see above for spark lol, yes, we will get to see more about Eva's heritage, but I can't say more, because, spoilers. As for Sumi and Taka, that will be coming soon enough too. I hope it is interesting. Keep in mind this story will be going beyond season three. Also, I have started another Castlevania fic that is Alucard/OC. It starts just before Lisa is killed, so no burning(she lives)! I have the first chapter finished and can post it if anyone is interested. Let me know. Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy!