Blanket Her Gently
By: Aries Draco
The village was in flames and everyone in it had been brutally massacred. The stench of blood permeated the night air, mingling with the smells of burning wood and human fat. The glow of the fire and the accompanying smoke had been visible for miles. Had he arrived too late, then?
Just yesterday he received news of a vampire terrorising this particular village with a $50 million bounty on his head. The job entailed the elimination of the said vampire as well as protecting a child who was said to be in the most danger. $50 million was pretty good money and since he was in the area, he had decided to check it out.
So he found this village engulfed in flames.
"What a waste of $50 million and a whole day of our time," grumbled Left Hand. "Oh well, party's over. Let's go."
Wait.
"Huh? What's that?"
There, in the shadows of the trees. D dismounted and made his way carefully over, sword drawn. Whoever caused this much destruction deserved to be destroyed. Perhaps that was the vampire hiding there, admiring his or her handiwork. The smell of burning human flesh irritated his nose, causing feelings of disgust to well up within him. If that creature huddled in the roots of that tree were the vampire that did this, he would kill with no regrets.
It was a man sitting there, with long raven hair partly in a ponytail, partly draped messily over his face, obscuring it in shadow. He seemed to be cradling something and was rocking back and forth, singing. No, that was not a man. That was a vampire. And he was singing a lullaby.
D put his sword to the vampire's throat, forcing him to look up. Could this be the culprit, this Noble dressed in normal, peasant clothes? Dirt and blood were streaked across his white face, a smear here and a smudge there. The vampire had stopped singing and was staring up at, no, through D. Those red eyes were seeing nothing, pupils dilated, expression blank. As if he was in a trance.
"C'mon, D. Kill him already! He ain't gonna fight back."
D put some pressure on his sword, the tip breaking skin yet the vampire continued staring at nothing, as if not caring about his imminent death. "Did you do this?" he asked finally, quietly, gesturing to the burning village.
There was a long silence and he almost thought that the vampire was past hearing. Then, he nodded slowly, being mindful of the sword's point. And he spoke.
"They were afraid of me, they wanted to kill me. I told them I was prepared to die for their peace of mind. I told them, I would not fight them if it were their will so long as they let you live, baby. You're half their kind, aren't you, baby?"
D nearly just decapitated the vampire there and then. Then, he realised that the Noble was speaking rapidly to the thing he held in his arms. In the flickering firelight, D could make out the long, golden hair and a girl's dress. But the vampire was shielding her with his own body. He did not stop speaking but his voice became more desperate.
"I thought they would be pacified. You have never hurt them; you would never harm them. Neither have I; neither will I. But I know them, they will not rest till I am dead. They're too afraid.
"But they didn't want to listen to me. My poor baby. You were innocent, you don't deserve this. I should have brought you away. Darling, baby, sweety. If the sun were not in the sky, I would not have let them hurt you. I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry…"
He dropped his head forward and D had to remind him of the existence of the sword. So instead, the vampire leant back, allowing the hunter to get a good look at the child in his arms. One white hand was holding her while the other was absently stroking back her golden hair, matted with blood and bits of grey matter. Half her head had been blown off and it looked like someone had tried to decapitate her but left the job half done. The vampire was cradling her so gently, cooing softly to her now.
Then he looked up at D and the hunter saw the insanity in those glazed red eyes. "Hush, she's asleep," he whispered fervently. "But we must talk. There is a vampire haunting this area. You're a hunter, aren't you? I'm the vampire." He giggled, a frightening sound. "They won't rest until I'm dead, but I'm not afraid of that. It's just that Emerald is still so young. I will only die if I know you will take good care of her. You will, won't you?" His voice became pleading, eyes going wide.
"This guy is a frikin lunatic," commented Left Hand. "Just kill him already."
Something stayed his hand. Perhaps it was precisely that this vampire was totally insane. Driven mad by the death of that little girl? Somehow, he knew that that dead child was the vampire's daughter. Dhampyre blood. If so, was this revenge? The desecration of the entire village?
"Just say yes, please! Won't you take care of Emerald for me?" whispered the vampire. He seemed to have forgotten the sword again, rubbing against it. Blood was streaming down his throat as the wound healed and reopened, over and over again with every rock he did.
"The girl is dead, you loon!" yelled Left Hand. "Open your damn eyes."
But they were open and they were the eyes of someone already dead. Dead to the world, not just physically. "Won't you… Emerald is afraid of the fire," he mumbled, holding the corpse closer to him protectively. "The mid-wife nearly threw her in when Rubia gave birth to her. Because Rubia died and Emerald was drinking her blood, unknowing."
Looking down at the body of the girl, the dhampyre child, D could tell that she had died in pain and fear, the one remaining eye wide open rather than closed in the peaceful sleep of death.
"She's all I have left, so won't you… won't you take care of her, dhampyre?" begged the vampire. He was crying now, tears of blood. Or perhaps crying again. For a moment, there was a spark in those dead eyes, those sad red eyes. "Blanket her gently with the warm black earth. Will you do that for me? If you wish to receive your bounty, you can take everything from the ruins of my house. But will you do that much for me? Blanket her gently with the warm black earth?"
"What do you plan to do, then?" asked D. Why not do it yourself?
The vampire stood, still cradling the corpse as if it were living. He smiled faintly. "I will go welcome the sun, hunter," he told D. "But Emerald is afraid of fire so you must promise me: blanket her gently with the warm black earth."
The sun? Yes, it was sunrise. D took the child, the dhampyre corpse, into his arms despite the protests of Left Hand. Gently, so gently, the vampire pressed a kiss to the child's forehead, or what remained of it.
And he turned, holding himself tall and sure, an echo of the Noble he once was. As the sun rose in the east, he spread his arms to embrace its deathly rays. Confidently, he strode in the direction of the rising sun.
D could hear the sound of liquid sizzling as the deadly rays of the sun boiled the blood in the vampire's body. He knew that those sad red eyes would soon explode from the build-up of pressure thanks to the vaporising vitreous humour. He saw the smile spread over that vampire's face and wondered what was it he saw. The vampire, the vampire. He had not even asked that poor guy's name. But that was of no consequence now. The body burst into flames as the sun pulled itself free from the horizon.
He stepped back into the shadows and began digging.
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Notes: This is my first time writing for this fandom so if you think that I have made the characters out of character, please forgive me.
Disclaimer: "Vampire Hunter D" does not belong to me in any way, not even his left hand.
Claimer: The poor sod who died does belong to me. *eyeballs the pile of dust* So does Rubia and Emerald and this plot. But you can take them if you wish. *presents two sets of bones and one pile of dust plus one night's worth of fantasy*
Started: 15 December 2003
Completed: 15 December 2003