A Demon's Kiss

Buddykilla

Chapter 1: Years Long Gone

Alucard laid Selena in a lavish room. She had fallen unconscious from her ordeal, tears still falling. He set a pillow under her graceful neck; the moonlight illuminating her skin, now slick and shimmering with her sweat. Alucard licked his lips hungrily, but decided against killing her at the moment. He wanted to enjoy the unexpected company for a while, perhaps he could persuade her to die. She stirred slightly and her breathing became rough and her eyes began twitching. She's dreaming. Alucard thought. I wonder what your dreams look like. Alucard placed a gentle hand over her eyes, closing his own, and allowed himself to seep into her mind.

Within seconds he saw Selena playing with a small group of wolf pups in a clearing. An innocent, peaceful smile on her face as she rolled and wrestled. An older woman came to join her; Alucard assumed it was her mother since the resemblance was undeniable. Selena saw a pup run off and raced after it. Alucard saw everything in the clearest detail. Selena was gone for only a minute before racing back to the older woman screaming to run. Selena's mother ran with her daughter pushed in front of her. She made it only a few paces before an arrow sunk its way into her stomach. Selena screamed in an unhuman way as she was torn between escape and saving her mother. Three more arrows concluded her decision, she ran. She ran into a campsite where hundreds of men, women, children, and even infants were scattered dead all around her. Flames were covering the ones that had fallen near the campfires.

Selena's screams were at a deafening volume as she shot up into Alucard's arms. She was thrashing, clawing, and fighting desperately. As if trying to kill the horrors she had faced.

"Selena. Selena! SELENA!" Alucard yelled as he tried to hold her steady, grabbing her attention immediately. Selena stared at him for a moment, like she couldn't remember who he was. Finally, she let her shoulders fall as she sighed raggedly. Alucard leaned her against his chest. He noticed her height, just a head shorter than him. Selena was shaking and crying in suppressed sobs. Alucard felt a strange sense of pain. Like it hurt to see her suffer and not be able to correct what happened to her. Helpless, I'm helpless. Just like Father was when Mother was suffering. Alucard realized. He held her close.

"Sh. It's okay. It's alright it's over. No one will hurt you anymore."

"Why me?" Selena asked. Alucard looked at her. She wasn't questioning her situation, she was questioning him.

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you prove your love to me? Why me?"

"Because I know your pain Selena. You're suffering at the moment." Selena stared at him for a moment. Alucard continued.

"My father and I watched my mother suffer. She died from grief and my father went mad. I know what suffering is and I'm sorry that you now are cursed with it."

Alucard settled back to sleep, promising to be back before she woke up, he strolled up stairs to his library. He needed answers on "her people" and what customs he could apply to add to the act. I need her to trust me. When she trusts me, she'll be all mine. Alucard browsed a few books, unsuccessfully, before he realized he needed a bite. He stretched himself as he headed back downstairs to check on Selena. He found her in the hall staring intently at the portrait of his parents. He stopped a few steps away. Her gaze was soft and peaceful.

"We're the same, aren't we?" Selena whispered.

"In a sense, I suppose we are the same." Alucard replied. He walked behind her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her clothes were still filthy and torn. She needs a bath and a fresh dress.

"Would you like a hot bath?" Selene nodded, her gaze not once leaving the painting. Alucard called out to nothing. Two servant girls arrived. Alucard sent one of his "maids" to run a bath and another to fetch Selena a new, clean dress. He led Selena towards the grand bathroom where his maid had everything prepared. Selena gasped at the room. It was truly grand; the floors were a sparkling marble, the tub itself resembled a pit in the floor, almost like a lake. She smiled faintly at the possible reminder of how a bath feels. Alucard excused himself instructing her to call a maid when she was finished.

Selena settled into the tub feeling as if she had been watched when she undressed earlier. It was an unnerving. She couldn't help like there was something else to all this. Alucard offered sanctuary in exchange for time to prove his love and she agreed. Although his deal was strange she wouldn't complain, she didn't have a home to go back to anymore. She slipped underwater for a moment, relishing the heat.

Alucard had watched her strip out of her clothes, he was content to have confirmed the use of her ankle. His gaze wandered her body but stopped abruptly when he saw the scars and bruises on her back. A slave's mark! She's a gypsy slave! She isn't aware how truly similar we are. She was enslaved just like I was. Alucard hung his head as doubts of killing her began to flood his mind. He needed to think so he left her to her own business, suddenly losing interest in her torment.