Chapter 14

There was an awkward silence between them as Adrian assisted Eva in getting a meal ready for their guests. As for the two newcomers, they watched everything with interest. When they finally sat down, Eva insisted they eat something before they spoke. It was the manners her mother ingrained in her, even in this strange place.

Still, it was not long before the younger duo pushed their plates aside and focused on Adrian. Sumi was the one to speak for them. "Alucard, thank you for your hospitality, but this is not why we have come. We have come to ask you to teach us. We are alone in this world, and we do not have enough knowledge or power to free our people. You know things, and you have a knowledge famously contained in Dracula's castle. Will you teach us how to fight for the freedom of others?"

Eva suddenly felt like shit at hearing the girl's words. She shared a look with Adrian that said he knew exactly what she was thinking. They both knew what it was like to face the world alone, even when they had others next to them. Even with each other, it was just the two of them in a world that would likely not be as forgiving for either of them outside their safe haven.

Adrian gave her a nearly imperceptible nod before he stood. "Follow me." Sumi and Taka both scrambled to their feet to do as he said, while Eva followed close after. She would clean up the mess later. For now, she wanted to see what was going to happen.

When they got outside and nearly to the entrance to the Belmont hold, Adrian stopped and looked at them. "Do you know where you are?"

Taka scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "Not really."

Adrian looked back at them with a hard gaze. "I was aided in defeating my father by a Speaker, and by the last of the Belmonts. Under our feet is the Belmont Hold. It is the repository of hundreds of years of their combined knowledge. And behind us is my castle containing all my father's knowledge." He then paused and pointed to his own head. "Up here is all of mine. Do you really want to learn how to defeat vampires and free your people?"

Sumi stepped forward with a look of resolve. "More than anything."

Adrian nodded at her. "It will be hard. You will have to unlearn much of what you know about the world and become more than you ever imagined. I'm not going to start this if you're going to stop when it gets difficult."

Taka stepped forward to join Sumi. "We are committed. We will take on all the knowledge that you can give."

Adrian then looked over to where Eva had been standing quietly and watching. He gave her a soft smile before he turned back to the other two. "Well then, I think, to pass on the secrets of the world, of the true science. Hmm. I think my mother would approve."

Eva ignored the other two as she walked over and slipped her hand into his. She smiled up at him and nodded when he glanced down at her. Neither of them noticed the odd looks they received from their guests, though their faces were cleared when Adrian turned back to them. "Come on then. We begin. It was a training session you interrupted when you arrived, after all."

Eva's eyes widened, and her face turned several shades of red when he winked at her, where the others couldn't see. She needed to change the subject. "Well, sort of. He is trying to teach me to defend myself, but I'm still quite new at it. The two of you are probably much more experienced already."

Adrian and Eva both missed another confused look the newcomers shared, but nothing else was said as they headed out to the clearing that was designated as the training area. Eva was shocked to find herself a little miffed that she would have to share it now, but these two needed the help more than she did. They had other people depending on them. She was just trying to keep her own skin intact.

When they all gathered around, Taka turned to address Eva. "Did you come to find Alucard as well? Do you have a reason to fight vampires?"

Eva took in a deep breath and shared a look with Adrian. Surely it would be a bad idea to share the whole truth, but it couldn't hurt to share some of it, right? He answered for her. "She did not come here voluntarily at all. She was brought here through magical means that we have yet to figure out how to reverse. In the meantime, she is studying with me while she is here, and we look for a way to return her."

She gave him an approving look. That summed it up in a nutshell without hiding anything. She'd have to thank him later. They both gave her shocked looks again, but she shrugged them off. "It hasn't been bad, so don't worry about me. Now, I'm sure Adrian will want to see your current skill sets so we can asses what you already know, and what needs to be taught."

It was Adrian's turn to give her an approving look. She never failed to surprise him. Though, he did lean down to whisper in her ear. "We?"

She turned her head to glare up at him. "It was just a slip of the tongue. You don't expect me to get out there between you all, do you? I'd have my ass handed to me in less than ten seconds."

His lips quirked up slightly at her turn of phrase, but he didn't say what was on his mind. Instead, he turned to the others. "Eva is correct. I need to see what you know. Please demonstrate your skills."

They both quickly jumped to do as he asked. It was nearly a half-hour later that he called a halt to it. It turned out that Taka was excellent with the bow and arrow, while Sumi used a short sword. Between the two of them, they already made a deadly team. Though, with how easily Alucard had disarmed them, they knew it was not enough.

Eva felt a little insignificant as she watched them all. Especially when Adrian went out with them. It was interesting to watch them try to get close to him with the sword and fail. At least she was able to learn some things just by watching. She was taking what he was telling them and applying it to how she usually fought against him in her head. She could already see where there were several things she could try to implement to make improvements. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all.

She was pulled from her thoughts when he finally had the duo take a break, and he turned to her. "Your turn."

She raised a brow at him and had a smart remark on the tip of her tongue. However, she swallowed it and sighed before she went to retrieve her practice sword. He gave her an unreadable look as she stood in front of him. His voice was pitched low when he spoke. "You know, in time, this will come easily to you as well. You learn quickly."

She smiled at his attempt to make her feel better. At the fact that he understood, even if she was being unreasonable. It wasn't like she didn't excel in other areas of expertise. It was just that this was one thing she needed to know, and she was struggling. She wasn't used to struggling.

Still, she couldn't afford to lose focus. Despite their hijinks earlier, she really did need to learn, so she wasn't always dependent on others saving her. She ignored the two that were watching them and tried not to think about how pitiful she must look to them as Adrian had her walk through the stances they had been going over.

After that, he had her come at him. She tried to compile everything she had been going over, plus all that she had just watched. She ended up shocking them both when he tried to strike her, and she managed to duck and roll past him. She struck out at his legs before she was even on her feet and almost landed a hit.

He was practically grinning at her when she got back to her feet. "Well, someone's been paying attention."

Eva smirked back. "It helped that I got to watch. I think this might work out great."

Adrian was pleased to see her smile. None of this was what he expected when he agreed to stay in the castle, but perhaps things all worked out for the best. He only allowed the session to go on for a short while longer before he called a halt. "Why don't we go see where the two of you will be staying. Then we can get dinner. Tomorrow will be a long day, so it would be best if we turn in early."

Sumi and Taka both gave him grins as Eva took his hand in her free one. That was still something he was getting used to, but he wasn't going to object. Not even if it seemed to bother the two newcomers. They would get used to it in time as well.


The next morning, Adrian had them all up with the dawn. It didn't matter that he and Eva had been up late the night before. Only part of it had been making up for being interrupted. The rest was talking about their new guests, and what needed to be covered. They both agreed that it would take some getting used to, but it could be worth it.

As they walked out into the grey morning, Sumi did not look phased. However, Taka looked like he could barely hold his eyes open. When Eva asked about it, Sumi chuckled. "Taka does not like mornings."

Taka yawned widely as though to emphasize the point before he grinned at her. "And this is some extra morning. Or is it still last night?"

Adrian chuckled at their antics but otherwise didn't reply as he showed them the lift and how it worked. Once they were all down, he let them enter the room before he turned and switched the lights on. Both Sumi and Taka rushed forward with gasps of awe. Sumi looked back over her shoulder. "Magic lights."

Adrian shook his head with a chuckle. "No, lightning. It is old knowledge that has been adapted."

Neither of them looked convinced, but they let it drop as they followed Alucard and Eva down into the hold. There were many things to see, and the number of books was staggering. What was even more amazing to them was the fact that Alucard could read most of them. Eva was almost as impressive with her grasp of so many of the rest. They had not expected the woman to be even nearly on par with their chosen teacher after seeing how green she was the day before.

They were not given much of a chance to learn the material that morning, as it took most of their time just to go over the sections they could read on their own, and the ones they would need help with from one of the others.

Eva found it fascinating that Adrian wanted to teach them magic. That was something he hadn't brought up with her yet. Then again, they already had full days with what they had been doing. Maybe she could use the opportunity to see what magic was about herself while they were at it.


After that first day, a new pattern emerged in their lives. Sumi and Taka would sometimes go into the hold by themselves in the morning, while Adrian and Eva still searched for clues about her own mysteries. Other days, they would all go together, and the three of them would try to learn what magic they could from Alucard.

Eva was a little upset that her magic was going even worse than her swordplay. Which had actually started to improve. However, she had a sneaky suspicion that part of the problem was she was still grappling with the concept that she could do magic at all. She somehow doubted it would be easy to make things happen when you fundamentally doubted the capability was real for a 21st-century woman.

At least the afternoons went well. There were even some days that Adrian invited Eva to join them all together. It became a free-for-all that was more fun and games than actual training. However, currently, she was sitting on the sidelines and watching as he tried to force Sumi and Taka to attack with just short swords.

After being knocked down once again, Sumi stood with a huff. "You aren't letting me get close enough to strike."

Alucard chuckled at her. "You don't want to get in close. Vampires' best weapons are their fangs and claws. They don't need swords. You need to learn to take them out at a distance."

Taka tried to lunge at him but failed when he sidestepped. "Yeah, but you won't let me use my bow."

Adrian shook his head. "That's because it may not always be an option. You need to learn other skills, so you are never at a disadvantage."

The two younger people exchanged a look behind Adrian's back that had Eva sitting up straighter. They were planning something. Her jaw nearly hit the ground when Sumi then proceeded to whack Adrian across the ass with the flat of her blade.

It was such an unexpected thing that he jerked forward in shock and looked over his shoulder. Taka took advantage of his temporary distraction and went to knock his feet out from under him while Sumi tackled him from behind.

The three of them fell into a pile on the ground. Adrian stared at them both in shock for a moment before he started chuckling. "Congratulations, you have both just been eaten by a hungry vampire."

Sumi scoffed. "No, we have just captured and enslaved a vampire." She then hopped onto Alucard's back. "Now slave, we are hungry, go cook us dinner."

Adrian was still chuckling as he stood and lifted Sumi on his back with him. Eva watched the whole thing with disbelief. She wasn't sure what to think of the way Sumi and Taka both kept trying to get closer to Adrian. This was the first overt thing they had done, but she could readily admit it pissed her off. Not that she had any right or reason to be jealous. Still, it wasn't like she could help it when the girl's legs wrapped around his waist as they headed toward where she was standing.

Eva tried her best to arrange her face into a blank mask, but she must not have fully succeeded. As soon as Adrian saw her standing there, he paused and let Sumi down. He still smiled at them both as he motioned back toward the castle. "Alright, brats. Let's go. It is my turn to cook, after all."

That night was the first night since they had started sharing a bed willingly that Eva and Adrian did not sleep well. They could both tell something was bothering each other, but neither of them knew quite how to bring it up. They also both had an idea of what the issue was, which was part of the problem. It didn't stop them from sharing the intimacy they had become accustomed to, but for the first time ever, it was not as satisfying as they had both come to expect.


Over the next few days, things calmed, and the issue seemed to fade. Eva still thought she caught looks coming from the two guests occasionally, but nothing that she could speak to them about. She tried to let it go and focus on trying to keep the peace. There was no need to cause upset when there was no way to escape it.

The only other thing that bothered her was the fact that Taka had been walking around the castle at night. Adrian had accepted the boy's excuse of not being able to sleep, but Eva could tell that even he was not able to believe that was all it was about. Especially as the two of them asked about the rest of the castle all the time.

It frustrated Eva to no end when they both tried to explain that the castle was broken, and parts of it were still dangerous. Not to mention, she had a feeling there were some of Dracula's more powerful items locked up for a good reason. There was no need for them to see the whole thing. Especially not yet. The teenagers would verbally accept their reasoning, but Eva could tell there was still doubt in their minds. She just hoped they would come to see the truth in time and learn what they could while they could.

That morning Sumi and Taka had gone to the hold by themselves. Eva had been in the study with Adrian but had found something that she wanted to cross-reference to one of the books she remembered seeing down there. She excused herself and headed to go find what she needed.

On her way down, she caught sight of Sumi and Taka headed back to the castle. Typically, she would have called out and waved, but they were both frowning. Something in their looks had her making the split-second decision to hide from sight while they walked by. She was glad she did when she heard what they were saying.

"He's been alone here, with just his pet for company. It's no wonder he wants to reach out to others. Do you think that is why he hides parts of the castle from us? To keep us here longer?"

Taka nodded. "I think so. He seems to get along with her, but how close can they really be. I didn't think he would drink blood like that, but she can't be too close to him if he would use her like that."

Sumi sighed. "Plus, he killed his own father. He is probably miserable behind the mask he shows us."

Taka nodded again as they both looked up at the castle. Finally, Sumi spoke up. "We should do something for him. Give him some sort of reward for all he has done."

"I agree, but we need to be careful. He might not want to accept it if it offends his pet. He seems fond of her."

Sumi made a frustrated noise as she shrugged. "We will figure out something."

By that point, the two of them had passed beyond Eva's hearing. She stood there for a long time and tried to get her rage under control. They still only saw her as Adrian's pet? Did they really believe it wasn't consensual, that she would allow him to feed on her if she didn't care? That he would do something so deplorable with no thought of the consequences?

Plus, that talk of rewards had her hackles raised. If they didn't want her to know about it, then it was either really bad or something that would royally piss her off. Either way, she was not going to stand by and let this happen without saying anything. She forgot all about the book she had been on her way to find, and instead headed back to look for her lover.

A/N: I am sure you can tell there is already trouble in paradise. Things might finish up in the next chapter. (I know, two chapters for the whole season? lol) But, it made sense this way. For those of you that aren't fond of the guests, hold out. I'm sure you can tell something is coming. Don't lose hope lol Also, I wanted to give a shout out to my guest reviewers that I can't respond to directly, thank you all! Every review makes me grin. Also, for the questions one of you had about Alucard. I would say as a vampire, and son of Dracula, that yes, his blood surely has healing properties, however, the rest is up for debate. That wasn't what I had in mind when I wrote the last chapter, it was more of just getting her to relax and then a massive release of endorphins. That stuff does wonders :) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy! Cheers, and stay safe out there!