Chapter 18: In Control

Naumburg, Germany 1945

Aldrich appeared silently on the stairs and immediately drew his sword. The sound stopped D in his tracks.

"It's over now," Aldrich remarked neutrally, gazing idly at the flame of one of torches affixed to the stone wall. Slowly D turned around. He was about a dozen steps below his uncle. "The Wacht Am Rhein has failed. Germany's lost the war."

D didn't say anything. His uncle took one step towards him.

"It is as I expected," Aldrich said calmly. "Evil cannot prevail. Draw."

"What?" D asked, startled. His sword hadn't left his side for four years now, but he still felt caught off guard. Aldrich's eyes gleamed like cold red glass. He smiled wickedly at D, showing his fangs. D put his hand to the hilt of his sword uncertainly.

"Kill me," Aldrich commanded.

D stared at him, dumbfounded. "I thought you wanted to do that all by yourself," D pointed out awkwardly.

"Good is rising in the world like a wave, gathering strength in order to wash away the evil bred by this cursed country, and I want to be washed away with it," Aldrich said, his tone as even as always. "As you know, I haven't fed in over fifty years. Most vampires can die whenever they please by stepping out in the daylight. But I am the second most powerful vampire in the world, and killing myself is not so easy. In fact, it might be impossible." He smiled. "But at least I will be decent practice for you, as your first kill." He looked at D approvingly. "You'll do a lot of good for the world. Now it's time to start. You are ready."

D sensed deadly seriousness in the vampire's voice, and wordlessly he unsheathed his sword. The keen note of resonating metal hung high and piercing in the air between them, fading out in echoes up and down the stairs.

A blast of air extinguished all the torches on the walls, plunging the staircase into complete darkness, and Aldrich attacked. D parried the first few strikes, constantly stepping backwards down the stairs.

"I have one more story to tell you," Aldrich said, easily dodging D's sword, and pressing his attack. "It's about my daughter Isadora."

D didn't like being forced down the stairs so he leapt into the air, over his uncle, and landed on the stairs above him, ducking and spinning around just in time to avoid being slashed across the back. Now it was D who had the advantage, and he brought his blade screaming down. Aldrich turned and held his sword over his shoulder, horizontal to the ground, catching the attack. "She was my only half-breed child who I didn't kill," he continued. The crossed blades quivered but neither slipped an inch. Aldrich readjusted his grip and then let go with his left hand, simultaneously reforming his entire left arm into a six-foot wing.

The enormous raven's wing swept D off his feet, hurling him into the wall. Grunting, D pushed off from the stones and crossed swords with the vampire in the same instant, sparks leaping from the steel. "By the time I found out she existed, she had already married a human and created my one and only human grandchild."

"What?" D looked up, and his sword faltered.

"Pay attention," Aldrich reprimanded, automatically nicking D's chin with the tip of his blade. Angrily D wiped his hand over his chin. It was a tiny scratch, but it was the first time he'd been distracted enough to allow his uncle to cut him in nearly a year. "And watch your emotions," Aldrich added patiently, noticing the aggression that now fueled D's actions. "Anyway, you heard me correctly. The grandchild was human. Completely normal. But Isadora, of course, had the usual susceptibilities."

D's sword arced over his head and Aldrich spun gracefully to meet it, jumping up so that he and D were on the same stair. With their weapons crossed at an impasse above their heads, Aldrich leaned in so his face was quite close to D's.

"I was going to kill her," he said, locking eyes with the dhampir. "But before I had the chance, Isadora fainted from sunlight in the middle of the town. In his hurry to revive her, the husband accidentally gave away her secret."

Simultaneously, they both bent their elbows, lowering the X of their blades between them, and stepping in so they were even closer.

"They staked her to the door of the church," Aldrich continued.

Gritting his teeth, D changed his stance and forced Aldrich's blade down, but his movements were too predictable- suddenly Aldrich had stabbed him through the wrist, and pulled his sword sharply sideways, cutting all the way through D's right hand between the second and third fingers. D cried out as his sword was wrenched from his hands and went clattering down the stairs.

Aldrich sheathed his sword with one smooth motion as D clutched his bleeding hand, concentrating furiously on healing it. "As for the baby," Aldrich said calmly, "they staked him up on top of his mother. Drove the same stake through both of their hearts."

"That's awful. Just what am I to learn from that?" D asked darkly, annoyed that he had been beaten so easily.

"You don't understand their terror. Even if you spend your life helping them, humans will try to kill you if they know what you are," Aldrich reminded him evenly.

"I know," D muttered, his frustration obvious. Aldrich studied him calmly. The dhampir was amazingly insightful, and Aldrich had personally supervised most of his education concerning the horrors of vampirism. D had seen plenty of those horrors with his own eyes. He had been thoroughly taught, and Aldrich had full confidence in his nephew's reasoning and motivation. D believed that vampires were to be exterminated because they were evil. But Aldrich realized that logic was inadequate, sometimes even inapplicable, when dealing with vampires… and suddenly he knew what D was lacking.

"You have knowledge but not understanding." There was a twinge of regret in the old vampire's voice. He snapped his fingers to rekindle the torches. Orange lights sprang to life up and down the stairs. "You still do not fully comprehend the abyss that lies between the two species, and your own tenuous position therein. You have been to the brink of one world, but did not fall in. Now I see I must show you the brink of the other world. Learn from this- learn why the humans fear us. Experience their terror."

"What do you mean?" D asked, a vague sense of dread creeping in around him. Was Aldrich going to try to frighten him? He'd been introduced to all manner of demons during the past few years, and he didn't want to imagine what sort of nightmarish creature the vampire would conjure up in this situation.

Aldrich pulled his sword from his belt and held it out in front of him. "You'll be needing this," he said conversationally, and mutely D accepted the proffered weapon. "You've been a good student. Now- heed my final instruction: Kill me."

D hesitated, and in that instant of hesitation his perpetually calm, rationalizing teacher became a savage blur, driving him backwards into the wall. D felt the air forced from his lungs at the unexpected impact. He didn't have time or room to draw the sword. A cold, iron-like hand smashed into his face, turning his head to the side and pinning it to the wall. For a split second he struggled, and then came the horrifying realization that the vampire was ten times stronger than him after all. He was trapped. He heard a swift ripping sound and realized that his coat and shirt had been torn open at the collar.

Suddenly his instincts told him what was about to happen, and genuine terror rose in his heart. No- he wouldn't-- D thought desperately.

Cold teeth sank into his neck. D shut his eyes, grimacing, unable to move, unable to categorize his emotions. Hatred, outrage, horror… he felt his blood flowing out of him; sensed the inevitable transfer of his life force to the evil creature. His own heartbeat was deafening. After only a few seconds he felt himself weakening and his fear dissipated, revealing with perfect clarity his only chance for survival.

It wasn't a conscious decision on his part, but the dark magic came to him once more, and D welcomed it. The tumultuous power welled up around him, and willingly he borrowed from it.

Aldrich shuddered as jagged black lightning sizzled angrily around him. Drunkenly, he tore himself away from D and staggered backwards, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "What?" he hissed, his eyes flashing furiously.

D brought his hand up to the bleeding wounds in his neck and held it there, the currents of magical energy coiling around him in a dark sphere. Suddenly he knew that the magic had always been there for his taking, just beyond his consciousness. He could reach below the surface at will to direct its power, but not without a price. It took all of his strength, both physical and mental, to hold the torrent in check. This time, it would not rage beyond his control. Gritting his teeth, he forced the dark energy away from himself, projecting it out like an explosion.

Aldrich fell to his knees, rocked by the blast. He hunched his shoulders as a fierce wind tore at him, and then just as soon as it had appeared, the storm of magic vanished.

Gasping for breath, his hand gripping his throat with blood still dripping between his fingers, D slumped against the wall. Aldrich stared at him like a cat whose mouse had suddenly turned into a wolf. The torches crackled quietly, their light fluttering on the stones. For a moment vampire and dhampir regarded one another in silence. Then Aldrich threw his head back and laughed.

The sound grew distant and then cut out entirely as D slid to the floor, unconscious.

Drifting in darkness, D felt his strength returning. He opened his eyes to see several planks of petrified wood only about a foot above his face. Confused, D glanced to either side and saw more planks of petrified wood boxing him in on every side. Stifling his panic, he pressed his palms to low roof, and pushed upwards with all his might. The lid of the coffin came up easily, and he heaved it aside and scrambled out, his heart pounding. He covered his heart with hand, relieved. If he still had a heartbeat, he hadn't been turned into a vampire. He sensed that he was being watched and spun around.

Aldrich was sitting patiently in a chair on the other side of the room. The sight of those cold red eyes made D's skin prickle. He still couldn't believe the old vampire had actually bitten him. The memory of it was sickening.

"I take it you don't like coffins," Aldrich remarked neutrally.

"I've never been in one before," D admitted, unnerved.

"Well, it worked. You were only in there for half an hour. I figured that would be the best way to revive you." Aldrich smirked. "You seem surprised."

"I thought you were going to kill me."

Aldrich shook his head. "You needed to experience that kind of fear. You'd gotten too comfortable around me. I had to wake you up somehow." He smiled. "And it worked. That's quite an impressive birthright you've got. There's not a vampire anywhere whose power can match that."

"I can think of one," D muttered.

Aldrich shook his head. "Not even he can shirk destiny forever."

"I don't like the word 'destiny'," D said.

"That's exactly why you're the perfect hunter," Aldrich said excitedly. "What a cruel fate. No one but you can handle the task, don't you see? You will be the most miserable of creatures, tortured and alone for eternity, walking the narrow margin between night and day. You'll suffer every step of the way. But I daresay you'll complete your mission."

"Mission," D repeated coldly.

"To kill the all the vampires, of course," Aldrich said, rising to his feet. "Starting with me." His sword was propped against the back of his chair, and he tossed it to D. D caught it, and was reminded of his first encounter with Aldrich.

"Aldrich. If you killed yourself… it would be a good thing," D said softly.

"That's why I don't think I'll be able to manage it after all," the vampire replied wearily.

"But… it's what you want to do, isn't it?" D asked.

Aldrich's dark wine-colored eyes glinted uncertainly. "Can a creature like me truly want to do good?" It was a sincere question.

"I'll help you find out," D replied softly, resolutely walking towards the vampire. He raised the sword and brought the tip of the blade to rest just above the vampire's heart. Aldrich's expression was completely calm, and somewhat amused. "Go ahead," D told him quietly. "End your life, if it's what you want."

"Thank you," Aldrich said simply, and smoothly stepped forward onto the blade of his own sword. He automatically grabbed the blade with both hands as it speared his heart. His ashen face remained calm, and slowly he closed his eyes. He leaned forward. "I am… sorry," he murmured, and D thought he saw a tear slip down the vampire's pale cheek- but then the entire body disintegrated, bursting into a cloud of ash and black feathers.

Even before all the feathers had time to float down to the floor, a tremor like an earthquake shook the room. Then D remembered with a start that once the vampire was dead, the vampire's enchanted castle would crumble. If he was still inside it when it collapsed, D would have to dig through nearly 200 feet of earth to get up to the surface. He wasn't exactly fond of the idea. Taking Aldrich's sword with him, he bolted for the stairs.

Author's Note: Well! You know I loved Aldrich (and hopefully you didn't mind him either) but it is time for the story to move on. There is only one more important new character that D has to meet, and after that, we'll have some angst, and then of course THE fight scene. There are only a few chapters left, and I am not sure when I will have time to post them. Thanks for reading so far, and please review!