Wazaga says: "No comment, other then I love this chapter."

Chapter 11: "How Beauty met the Beast."

Rebecca had been woken up by the sound of a loud thud. She sat up in alarm wandering what the sound was. There it was again, followed by something that sounded like an animal screech.

Her heart pounded as she grabbed her robe and walked out of the room wile slipping it on. She was the only one up of the family. She could hear her father snoring in one of the rooms. They must not have heard the noise, she thought. She was startled when it happened again.

What on earth was that? She wandered as she peeked through the open door that led to the corridor. She walked down the long hall until she reached the main entrance hall. All was quiet with the exception of the constant rain. She inspected the hall to find nothing out of place as far as she could tell.

When she turned to walk back to her room, she jumped from the icing shock that ran up her spine. Her bare feet had stepped into a puddle of cold water. She stared at the puddle as if demanding it to explain how it got there. Then her attention was brought to another puddle not far from that, hen the next and the next.

There was a trail of water leading up the stairs. How odd, she thought. She looked up the stairs wishing there was more light for her to be able to see the landing. It was so dark up there.

Did she dare go up? Part of her wanted to, the other part wanted to go back to her room where she was sure to be safe.

She touched the railing as she set her foot on the first step. Still looking upwards, she climbed the stairs slowly, one step at a time. Just before she reached the landing she heard a heart pounding noise that sounded like a wail. Right then and there she would have bolted back down the steps and ran all the way to her room. Yet something held her in place.

She swallowed and continued her slow journey. Following the puddles of water, she made her way through the halls until she reached a door. Her shaking hand reached for the handle and paused as she noticed the liquid that oozed from under the rim. It was slightly pink, the shade suggested water mixed with a portion of blood.

Her throat felt parched as she gripped the handle and pulled the door open. By the look of the stairs, she figured she had opened a door that lead to the top of one of the towers. With her hand against the wall for suppose in case she slipped on one of the wet steps, she began to climb the spiraling path to the top.

Alucard was in pain beyond words. He cursed between clenched teeth as one of the familiars pulled at the shaft in his back. The pain it caused made him growl with displeasure and he pulled back from the familiar.

"It's no use, master. The head must be hooked into one of your ribs. We can't pull it out." said Firefly.

"I know that, damn it!" he snapped "why the hell do you think it hurts so damn much?"

Firefly looked hurt by his harsh words, but didn't say anything. Glum had a sour expression on his beaky face as he crossed his arms: "well, no need to get sore at us for it. We're only tryin' to help."

Alucard didn't respond to the imp. He examined the damage on his back in a mirror. It didn't look pretty, that was for sure. He reached over his shoulder trying to get at the broken arrow, but no matter what he tried or how far he stretched he couldn't get a hold on it. It was like a bad itch you couldn't reach to scratch.

"lemme have a go at it. Maybe I'll have better luck then the Moth." offered Glum.

"Like hell you will." his master spat "go fetch Nicholas from the library."

"Excuse me? You want that old fool to pull it out? He'll take half your lung with it!" said Glum matter-of-factly.

"I need human strength to be able to pull it out. You two don't have that even if you both tried. Just go fetch the old man." he said combing his hand through his disheveled hair "please."

"Fine, But I think I could've been able to do it." said Glum as he walked to the open window "come on Moth."

Both familiars flew out the window, into the rain, and out of site. Alucard merely lowered himself to the edge of his bed lest he fall from dizziness.

Rebecca gasped as her hand touched something wet on the wall. She pulled her hand away to find it stained red with blood. She grimaced at the site and continued to climb. God, does this tower even have an end? She received her answer almost immediately when she finally came to the landing.

That must be the door to the tower room, she thought as she stared at it. Whoever was leaving this trail of water and blood must be inside.

She placed her ear against the door and listened. Moments passed and nothing was heard. She held the doorknob and twisted it ever so slowly as possible. She peeked through the crack she had opened and saw a bedchamber, but no one in it. She opened the door a little more still looking for anybody who could be in the room.

She entered the chamber quietly closing the door behind her. She walked farther into the room looking for any sign of life. When she turned around a screen her hands clamped over her mouth to silence her yelp.

Alucard was kneeling beside a bed with his face cradled in his arm. He was topless and his silver white hair looked wild and tangled hanging over the bedside. His back was caked with dried blood, and something that looked like a stick was jammed in his ribcage.

"My God, what happened to you?" she cried before she could stop herself.

Alucard's back stiffened at the sound of her voice. He lifted his head slowly from his arm and turned to her.

The first thing he noticed was the fact that she was in her nightgown with a robe and her feet were bare.

The first thing she noticed was the threatening anger in his dark eyes.

She suddenly wished she hadn't come, that she had stayed in bed. She wanted to run out of that room as fast as she could. But something told her that running wouldn't do her any good, no matter how fast she ran.

Alucard stood and faced her with a solemn expression. He looked her in the eyes and saw the fear they held. His mind raced as he contemplated what to do with the situation.

Rebecca wished she could faint so she didn't have to look into those angry eyes. She felt naked under his gaze and her skin prickled with gooseflesh. Her breathing felt labored and her knees felt weak. She was certain that if she dared move she would collapse to the floor.

Alucard finally lowered his gaze and spoke "how did you find your way here?"

"I … I heard a th-thud. And saw the wa-water in the hall." She stuttered as she stared at her hands "I … I didn't mean in intrude." She looked up with a pleading expression "please forgive me sire. I know I shouldn't have come. But I couldn't help myself for some reason and … and"

His hand came up demanding her silence. He lifted his gaze to her once more only this time his eyes were soft. He beckoned her to come forward "help me pull the shaft out."

He turned his back to her and leaned against the bed with his hands. She creped close to him and took hold of the shaft

"You'll have to twist it in order to unhook the head from the bone. Once you feel it slip, pull it out." he instructed.

She nodded and took a deep breath as she tightened her grip on the shaft. Alucard let out a hiss of pain when she twisted the arrow. He felt the sharp edge of the head as it scraped against his rib and slipped through "yank it!" he barked, and she did. He let out a yell as his flesh tore away with the head. Fresh blood spilled down his back as he collapsed on his bed in agony. He clawed at the covers waiting for the pain to subside. He breathed through clenched teeth from the shock in his back, his eyes burning with tears that begged to spill from the pain.

But it was out. The retched thing was out. And for that he was grateful.

He was about to get up when a hand pressed between his shoulder blades, keeping him down.

"Let me clean the wound first." He heard Rebecca say. He hadn't realized that while he was coping with his wound, she had rushed to the bathroom and collected several towels along with a washbasin filled with hot water.

"You don't have to…"

"Please?"

"…" he didn't know how to respond for the longest moment "if you insist."

Alucard rested his chin on his hands as he felt the moist towels clean away the muck from him. He noted how careful she was around his wounds. And for the moment, he had no idea why he was allowing her to tend to him as if he were a child. The situation was confusing to him, and yet, he thought it felt like a forgotten memory, to be tended to in such a way.

Rebecca rinsed the towel once more and rubbed it gently down his spine. His skin seemed so flawless if it were not for his resent injuries. She had never seen such skin before. It looked as if it were made of marble, yet felt as soft as velvet. But what captivated her mostly was the color. It looked so white and inhuman, yet she couldn't help see the many shades of color that hid within. Before she knew what she was doing, she had left the towel in the basin and was tracing his back with the tips of her fingers.

"What are you doing?" she heard him ask.

"Nothing, sire. I was just wandering how you ended up with half an arrow in your back."

"And you always wander with your hands caressing like that?"

She jerked her hand away "forgive me, Sire. I"

"There's nothing to forgive. Please continue?" he asked.

She hesitated for a moment before she placed both hands on his back and began to massage him. She felt the tension begin to relax in his muscled and heard him sigh.

"Does this please you, sire?" she asked.

"Much." He said without hesitation.

"Do you not have servants who do this to you?"

"No." he confessed "I haven't that many servants under my wing. None with such a delicate touch anyway."

"Couldn't you hire more servants if you wished?"

"I have no desire to."

"Why?"

"Because I despise the idea of giving commands that would make them hate me. I am hated enough as is it is." He said turning his head to rest his cheek on his hands.

"Hated, sire? Why would anyone hate you?"

"It matters not, Lady Rebecca. And please desist from referring to me as 'sire'. I have to right to such a title, and have no wish to claim one."

She paused her rubbing "you sound as if you are angry with me for trying to show respect."

He chuckled "you would give respect to a beast?"

"Even a wild boar deserves some form of respect." She countered "you needn't sound as if I were insulting you."

"Nay, dear lady, if anything, I am over flattered."

"Oh, now you are mocking me, aren't you?"

"Never." he laughed.

His laughter sounded so honest that she couldn't help but laugh with him.

"sir" he let out a fake cough to correct her "ahem, Alucard?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you live alone in such a huge place?"

"Because the rent is cheap."

"Be serious." She commanded.

"I like the view?" he offered.

"Alucard, I'm asking you a true question. Why do you live alone? Don't you like to have company?"

"Company doesn't like me." He replied as he rolled to his side and propped his elbow on the bed to support his chin.

"I find that hard to believe." She said crossing her arms. The movement made her hair bounce slightly, and he took notice.

"pity." He whispered.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing."

She glared at him demandingly "what did you say?"

"I said 'pretty'. I was noticing how fine your hair was." He half lied.

"My hair is a mess. I'm practically indecent." She said while tightening her robe around her, as she remembered that she was still in her nightgown.

"Didn't say I minded."

"Oh, now you are being a beast." She countered "remove your eyes from me at once!"

"Remove yourself from my bed and I just might." He said while making a sudden demanding advance on her.

She slapped him then gasped with her hand over her mouth as she realized what she had just done.

His hand felt the place that had just been struck, his expression surprised "jeez, Woman. Remind me not to jest with you in future."

"It wasn't funny." She countered "you have a very sick sense of humor if you thought that was funny."

"It wasn't." he said to appease her "I shouldn't have acted like that. Forgive me." He said turning away from her and staring out the window. Still raining outside, he thought.

"I'm sorry I struck you. You just startled me."

"It's understandable." He said still rubbing the sting from his face "mind you, you have a very strong arm. Considering how weak it looks."

"Weak?"

"Mm hmm, it looks about as delicate as a twig. I'd have wagered you couldn't use it to lift a pebble without hurting yourself." He was attacked by a willow "hey!"

"You take that back!" she demanded holding another pillow at the ready.

"Not on your life, Woman." He was hit again and he threw the first one back at her.

"Ow! How dare you attack me, you beast!" she said laughing and beating him with a rather long pillow like a club.

"You are acting very un-lady-like, you know that?" he said laughing while trying to grab it away from her.

They were both suddenly wrestling with the pillows on the bed like children, all the while laughing at one another's ridicules insults as they threw them at each other.

"So you think my arms are weak and delicate, do you?" she said pouncing on him and trying to pin him to the bed.

"Oh, they are very weak" he said holding her hands away from him. "and most definitely delicate. Ah!" she had pulled away from his grasp and tickled his sides. He fell on his back and she pinned his shoulders down with her arms "cheater!" he laughed.

"weakling." She said smiling in triumph.

"Am not." He protested.

"Are so. Any man, who is as ticklish as you, is a weakling." She countered.

He smiled at her devilishly and then grabbed her shoulders and rolled her to the side with him ending up on top, pinning her in his place "am not." he whispered.

"Are so." She insisted.

"Am not." He whispered slowly.

"Are s" her words were interrupted by Alucard's warm mouth. When he finally pulled away from the kiss, her senses were confused "so." She completed.

He blinked with just as much confusion as her. Then moved away from her and stood up from the bed while clearing his throat uncomfortably.

If a fly were to drop dead and land on the pavement, you would have been able to here the thud through the long awkward silence they held.

Just as Alucard turned around to apologize, a loud crash made them both jump.

"BLAST IT ALL! Someone has got to put up a 'Wet Floor' sign if they are going to mop these accursed stairs."

Nicolas the librarian burst into the chamber with his robes bunched up in his arms, his chicken legs exposed as he stumbled into the room. There were a million bandages hanging out of a number of pockets and streaming behind him. Needles, threads, thermometers, sponges and cotton balls were stuffed in his chest pockets at an overflowing state. And a pair of huge thick glasses was set on his nose making his small eyes look monstrously huge.

"Alright, let's see the wound." He said rolling up his sleeves.

Both Alucard and Rebecca looked at one another before bursting with hysteria.

"What?" said the old man in confusion.