disclaimer: i don't own castlevania. rabid.
a/n: where has the funny gone? good question...into hibernation until called upon. that is the answer. why? because in the last chapter, it was essential to set the mood. hence, no funniness. i do not set this up like a manga XD
(Raspberry Jam)
A young man stared listlessly into his dimly lit refrigerator, the upper half of his body nearly fallen into the cold cavity. Before the humming of the appliance lulled him to sleep, he took some food and looked in the drawers for a spreading knife. He sat at the kitchen table, autonomously spreading raspberry jam over a slice of bread. The bright raspberry color hurt his eyes even though they were less than half-open. Times like these made him regret working in the company corporation. Not adhering to sporadic changes in work hours led to family grudges, which were worse than anything a regular boss could do to him.
His father hadn't even explained why. He called the previous night at 11. "Lolida, you're going to have to come in a little earlier tomorrow." Lolida. His parents only called him by his full first name when something was very grievous...
He showered and felt a little more awake.
The skyscraper where the company's headquarter was located would probably impose him if it wasn't for the fact that he had worked there since the end of his education. He was used to the bright, piercing lights and the filtered air. No matter which room he went, the place always seemed sterile. A typical large medicinal company...it made him wonder how the family business used to be run. As far as he knew, even way back centuries ago, his family had made "medicine"-superstitious potions, mostly. How would the shop of his great-great-great-great-grandmother compare to the bleak, bleached office of his father? He imagined a small brick building with tapestries on the walls and a cross above shelves of colorful bottles. His family had been strictly Catholic as long as he could remember...
"Hello, Li." his father's secretary smiled warmly at him. She was pretty, but the nicer she was, the more annoyed he seemed to become. "Why are you here so early? Your father did not tell me you had an appointment."
"Well, I don't know. He only told me late last night to come."
"Uh...let me check to see if I got this wrong..." she turned to her computer and opened the scheduler. As it loaded, she asked, "So how are you?"
"Tired. You?"
"Oh, the same."
"...You always seem to have so much energy..."
"Yes, well..." she looked up with a slanting glance and smirked. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Sure..." he couldn't care any less. She opened a drawer and took out a small box.
"Caffeine pills save my life every day." she giggled gleefully. Lolida raised one eyebrow. "Ah, here we are." she turned back to the computer. "I remembered correctly. There is no record...but he has nothing appointed right now." She pressed the intercom button on her phone. "Mr. Belmont, your son is here to see you."
"Send him in."
"See you later, Li."
Lolida nodded and opened the door to his father's office.
She felt exhausted once she reached the castle. No...not necessarily exhausted...like something was pushing down on her eyelids, like her body was turning numb or disappearing...like she was fading into a melting pot of darkness. "Adrian, am I dying?" her vision became fuzzy, blurry. She thought she was stumbling, that her legs would give beneath her.
"Only for a little while."
Her eyes shut. Her limbs were wasted. She fell...into nothingness.
Arikado caught her when she fell. Her body was limp as a corpse. He carried her into a bedroom and set her down on the bed. Her hands, in dream-like motion, folded neatly on her chest. The act was peculiar, instinctive. He sat next to her for a while, staring at her expressionless face and stony limbs. He never really observed vampires in the Sleep. He didn't know if they dreamed. He certainly dreamed. He only knew enough to not be too near to them, for they were equipped with strange reflexes that made them unknowingly lash out at anything that came near to disturb their rest.
Eventually, he left to find his father.
Dracula was sitting in a study, chrysanthemum tea cooling in an innocent flower-print porcelain cup in front of him. After so long, he didn't even need to Sleep much like other vampires. With him around, the castle was constantly sitting in a dark sky, so the Sun could not chase him into the catacombs.
He heard the doors creak open behind him. "Good morning, son!"
"...You do not drink tea." Arikado closed the door behind him and stood in front of Dracula.
"I like watching it." Dracula smiled cruelly-the only type he could pull off. "I know you watch things too, do you not? You can see the heat dissipate from the liquid. You can see this tea swirling ever-so-slightly in the cup even when nothing seems to disturb it. It is not just tea. You watch many things. In fact, you were watching Lena a few minutes ago..." Arikado's face did not change. "She is your sister now, you realize that."
"You are not busily plotting your next world-takeover, why?"
"Oh, I am merely sitting, idly waiting for the next Belmont to come for me...you probably want to save them the trouble and do it yourself, but then what will happen to your little friend?"
An alarmed expression flashed onto Arikado's face.
"I am the stem, Adrian. She is bound to me."
"If you die, she dies?"
Dracula stared into the teacup and grinned.
"You are bluffing!"
"I mean what I say...you should know that; after all, Lena is my fledgling now, just as I promised. And I think I will take your advice and plot my evils. Off with you now...oh, be a dear son and take this tea with you. It is becoming uninteresting." Dracula tapped his long, white fingers on the armrests of his chair. Arikado groaned disgustedly and left, the teacup in his hand. After all, it was from his mother's favorite china set.
The office was metallic. Bright fluorescent lights spilled into his eyes. His father sat behind the bland, metal desk, a deep frown accentuating the lines on his face. Above him, on the back wall, hung a large gilt cross.
"What did I do now, father?"
"What makes you think you've done anything?"
"Then what haven't I done?"
"Come, sit." Mr. Belmont gestured at a chair in front of his desk. Lolida warily took a seat, slightly worried that if he leaned back, he would find himself the recipient of an extensive lecture on posture. "Li, I am afraid...that I've raised you wrong."
"What?" this couldn't be his calculating father who would never admit wrongs.
"I withheld the family duty from you...I thought he wouldn't ever be back."
"...What family duty? I'm working here, aren't I?" Lolida noticed that his father's expression was no longer one of stern coldness but one of distraught anxiety.
"No, not medicine. You think we were always just pharmacists, potion-makers? Dealers in mortal health..."
"Mortal health? What other health is there? I don't know what you're rambling about. Are you feeling alright?" Lolida reached for the phone. "Do you want to go the hospital?"
"No! Listen!" his father pushed his hand away from the phone. "Lolida, I think it may be too late...but you have to know. There is unearthly power in our blood. Our ancestors were vampire hunters."
Lolida's eyebrows flew high above his eyes. Then he laughed. "Father, you've been working too hard!"
"No, Lolida. It's true." Li's father took the cross from the wall and walked to the center of the room. The cross began to glow in his hand. "Come, hold the cross."
"As long as you won't do anything stupid after..." Li took the other end of the cross and white light erupted from the cross. He raised his arm to block his eyes, but the light penetrated through everything. Beneath him, the floor felt as if it was falling under. "Father, what did we do!"
(End of Chapter)
Once again, I finally update after...forever. great...a few days ago I downloaded a pv for a song by the TRAX. rose is my hero!
Treeboy is pretty...you'd know what i'm talking about if you've watched this chinese tv series i just finished watching. so bwaha
Hey, do me a favor and review...