Chapter 34: A Call for Help

'This is ridiculous!" Reudi complained as Alucard came around from the side of the castle where he'd been relieving himself. 'Adrian, you have central heating in there. Why do you not have a toilet?'

'I suppose we should put one in,' Alucard remarked.

'You think?' Reudi scoffed. 'And make it a flushable one.'

'There is no sewerage system for it to be emptied out into.'

'Fuck you,' Reudi muttered.

They both turned their heads as they suddenly heard the sound of hooves.

'That's weird,' Reudi said. 'I can hear someone coming, but I can't get a sense of their emotions.'

'But I can smell blood,' Alucard said. 'So the rider may be unconscious or dead.'

A black horse emerged from the woods, a rider slumped across his back.

The two dhampirs looked at each other. 'Dead,' they said in unison.

Both of them marched over to the horse. Reudi focused on calming the animal while Alucard went around to look at the body. The stallion seemed rather calm for an animal that was carrying a corpse on his back. Reudi smiled and patted the horse's forelock a moment, brushing away flies, before looking at Alucard.

'Did he just wander in or were they headed here?'

Alucard viewed the wound and then uncurled the man's fist from around the reins. 'We're about to find out.' He drew a slip of paper from the man's hand. 'They were headed here.' He handed him the note.

Reudi took the note and read it:

To the Alucard of the Castle,

We, the people of Danesti, beg your aid. Night Creatures, vampires, and terrible demons assault us and we know not why. Our defences weaken and our numbers dwindle. Please, sir, save our souls.

As soon as Reudi looked up, Alucard complained. 'For God's sake! Why am I the Alucard now?'

Reudi nodded his head. 'Well, there's a dead body. So we might want to give them the benefit of the doubt this time.'

Alucard took the note back and looked at the map on the back. 'That's a good 20 miles away.' He looked up at the dead body on the horse. Then he pulled the corpse down.

The horse nickered.

'You can shut up,' Alucard said.

'Plan?' Reudi asked, patting the horse again.

'This man still kept on riding until he died from the pain or the blood loss,' Alucard said. 'Or both. The least we can do is give him a proper burial.'

Reudi nodded. 'You get us shovels. I'll see to the horse.'

Alucard went up and got the shovels in question. When he returned outside, he found that Reudi had removed the horse's saddle and whole kit. He'd also gotten his own horse out. He was tending to both of them. So it was clear that his intentions were to accompany Alucard to Danesti for whatever this was.

Alucard sat down to sew the body into a shroud.

'Have you seen Danesti?' Alucard asked.

'Nah,' Reudi said. 'It's pretty far out of the way. I imagine it's full of farmers and tradesmen.'

'So no reason for it to be attacked.'

'I shouldn't think so.'

The two of them finished their respective jobs and went up onto a hill to bury the body. Alucard and Reudi dug a hole into the dirt. Both of them knew they didn't have the time to make a tombstone for him. They'd deal with that when they returned. By then, they ought to know his name. Then they grabbed one end of the body each and laid him down into the hole they'd dug. They covered the body up again in complete silence. It was dusk by the time they'd finished their task.

'The Alucard?' Alucard asked again as they returned to the horses and set about getting them ready to leave.

His friend glanced over at him.

'They might mistake it for a title,' Reudi said. 'More understandable coming from a group of villagers than it is coming from people raised in the court of a vampire general.'

Alucard scoffed. 'Would they be aware of the Belmont homestead being nearby?'

'Probably,' Reudi said. 'If the Purge hadn't happened, they probably would have sent this note to them instead. But, as far as most people are aware, all the Belmonts were killed in the Purge. People who do meet Trevor,' he paused as he thought of various drunks in bars he'd encountered with Trevor, or otherwise heard of, 'who do have a brain cell, are often surprised to see a living Belmont.'

Alucard chucked. 'I imagine some are even sceptical that he is who he says he is.'

'From what I hear, you were,' Reudi remarked.

'Oh, I wasn't really,' Alucard said. 'I just put on that I was because I needed to test him.'

Reudi scoffed. 'Come off it. You knew flashing your fangs at a Belmont would set him off. You'd been raised on stories about his family. You saw the family crest and you recognised it. You knew he was a Belmont from the moment you saw it. You only flashed your fangs to confirm it.'

Alucard shrugged.

The two of them walked back down to where the horses were waiting and ready to go.

Reudi mounted his horse. 'The point is that most people don't realise that there is still a Belmont rattling around the place.'

Alucard mounted the horse that'd carried the messenger. 'Even if they did, it's not like Trevor stays in one place. They wouldn't know where to send the note.'

'True that,' Reudi said. 'Though, recently, I think he and Sypha spent a month in Lindenfeld.'

'For what reason?' Alucard asked.

'Some mad monks and a Night Creature were trying to pull your father out of Hell,' Reudi said. 'I didn't get the full story.'

'Oh, for God's sake!' Alucard rolled his eyes. 'My father was suicidal. If anyone actually pulled him out of hell, they'd be the first person he'd turn around and murder.'

'You know it and I know it,' Reudi said. 'But shall we get a move on? The next attack on Danesti will be after dark and the sun's almost down.'

'Quite.'

The two dhampirs soon had the horses galloping out of the area.