Chapter Eleven: Tears

The maelstrom that was Carmilla's spirit had come upon D with all the force and fury of its' natural counterpart. Fierce winds blew strongly against him; forcing him to keep his eyes averted, so he wouldn't be blinded by them. He was about halfway to the center when what felt like electricity struck him full force, wrenching a scream of pain from between his lips.

"It's a good thing I had left Belladonna with the Markus woman..." D thought, before more 'lightning' forced him to return his focus to the here and now.

"Dunpeal Hunter...Your mother was a human, but your father was a vampire! You are betraying his ancient blood and are contributing to his people's demise! You have sided with humans against us, and have hunted your own ancestors! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!" Carmilla roared, as she increased her assault on the mixed-breed Hunter before her; smirking when she saw a reddish tinge appear in D's eyes, and heard his agonized groans.

"Your human self is your weaker self! Humans are nothing more than livestock, and we have every right to prey on them, as they prey on beasts. This is the rule of nature!" Carmilla continued.

"No...Your time is coming to an end...as it must...The vampire race must die! That is the rule of nature." D snarled back, stubbornly; his thoughts not only on his own humanity, but also on those of his son, and Belladonna as well.

"Ah, such strong words, for a dunpeal. But you seem to have forgotten just one thing...Our spirits are eternal." Carmilla purred, as she sat back and enjoyed the sight of the suffering dunpeal.

"No...Carmilla...Nothing lasts forever..." D argued, struggling to speak through the intense pain that was tearing through him.

"I see...I should have known better than to try and reason with the likes of you. I guess I will just have to use force!" Carmilla said, as she upped the 'voltage', and as D's agonized cries became louder.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Dirk paused and looked over his shoulder, feeling a little more uncertainty as he entered the lowest part of the castle.

"Catacombs. Just lovely." Marv muttered, as Dirk silently made his way through. Just ahead of him, the two ghosts led the way. They stopped when a reddish glow came within sight, and Dirk had to steady himself when he saw what was making it. There, in the coffin just ahead, the horrible sight of an reviving vampire came to him; as well as the gross amount of blood flowing into it.

"Carmilla is trying to revive herself with the young woman's blood. By the looks of things, we may already be too late." the male ghost stated, when he spotted the lifeless girl lying at the bottom of the stone dais the coffin was situated on. Doris and Dirk both looked at him, and gave him stubborn looks.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. I'm not going to let Charlotte die." Dirk growled, as he, before either of them could stop him, rushed into the fray to try and get to Charlotte before she was bled dry.

"Such an impetuous youth...I used to be just as bold, in my younger days." the man sighed, as Doris watched her son grab Charlotte and make his way to a safer place to see what he could do for her.

"I guess he got that from me...I don't remember D being as reckless." Doris admitted, getting a rather wry smile from the other ghost for that comment.

"You would be surprised, Lady Doris. D was quite the hellion, when he was Dirk's age." the man ruefully said.

"For you to say that, must mean you'd had to get him out of trouble quite a few times more than you would have liked, huh?" Doris asked, getting a smirk from the other ghost.

"Indeed." the male ghost responded, as they took off after Dirk; both of them equally as determined to protect the impetuous young Hunter from Carmilla's vengeful spirit.

"Thought so." Doris murmured, quietly, as her worry turned from her son, to the man that had sired him. Where in the world was D?

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

At that very moment, in the midst of Carmilla's spiritual torture, a change was overcoming D. All too quickly, D felt his vampire blood surge to life; overriding his human blood completely. It didn't help matters any when Carmilla added one last comment that made his mixed blood boil.

"I knew about your son the moment he entered this castle, dunpeal. He is truly of the Dracula line; his presence alone is proof enough. I will kill him as well; in fact, I will even show you his death." Carmilla purred, as an image appeared before D of the quarter-vampire running with the dying Charlotte in his arms. Then, suddenly, before Dirk could react, something emerged from the shadows and thrust an old sword through Dirk's chest; forcing the younger Hunter to drop the girl, and fall.

"NO!" D's mind cried, as crushing grief, and the madness brought on by it, emerged in his now crimson-hued eyes. With a howl of rage, D charged towards the ghostly countess, his sword bared and ready to slice her in half. Carmilla's eyes widened, when she saw the dunpeal get to his feet, repulsing her power easily as he rose.

"This can't be happening! Where is this power coming from?.!" Carmilla wondered, as her spirit was cut down the middle by D's sword, and, in that cavern beneath the castle, her physical form was rent asunder by a blow from a revived Meier Link's wing. As the last remnants of Carmilla's spirit hovered there before him, she could only ask one thing, before being erased from existence for good.

"Are you truly the son of the Vampire King? Who are you, dunpeal?" Carmilla's voice questioned, before fading away along with the rest of her.

"A father...who must now grieve for his son...That is who I am, now." D whispered, as he slowly regained control of his vampire half, and as his human half shed a few tears for the enthusiastic and brave young Hunter that had insisted on going with him despite his inexperience.

"Dirk...Please forgive me."

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Belladonna and Leila watched in horror as Meier Link slowly landed in the ballroom of the castle, the pale, bleeding form of Charlotte Elbourne cradled lovingly in his arms.

"We're...We're too late..." Belladonna thought, as she and the last of the Markus Clan watched the heartbreaking scene in front of them.

"Charlotte...come back. Please come back. I need you." Meier pleaded, in a voice that told both women that he was on the verge of tears. For a moment, Charlotte didn't respond; then with much effort, she lifted a delicate hand, and touched his face.

"Mmm...Darling, is that you?" Charlotte asked, softly, her eyes barely able to focus on him as he held her.

"Yes. It's me, Meier." Meier replied, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that his beloved was dying.

"I...I'm so happy, Meier...because, at long last...we're together." Charlotte sighed.

"Yes...at long last..." Meier agreed, his heart breaking as he listened to the woman struggle to breathe, and looked up when he saw Belladonna approaching; with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You made me happy, Meier. You let me dream...of our beautiful trip to the stars..." Charlotte murmured, not even noticing when Belladonna checked her pulse, or when the other girl gave the vampire a hopeless look.

"It's not a dream. We're going to those stars, Charlotte, my dear one! You and I will get away from here...Get away from all of this! We will fly together to the city of the night where we were meant to be free...and there you can rest." Meier promised, as he felt her gentle heart begin to go still.

"Yes...freedom! At last..." Charlotte whispered, as her eyes fluttered shut for the last time, and as the vampire that held her began to weep.

"She's gone..." Belladonna choked, her own compassionate heart not even noticing that Meier was a vampire as she tried to console him.

"And so is Dirk..." D's voice said, from the other side of the ballroom. Belladonna and Meier both looked up, and saw the horrible sight of D carrying the lifeless body of the quarter-vampire in his arms; blood dripping from the hole in Dirk's back and chest from the sword wound that had killed him.

"No...Not the kid too...This is too cruel." Leila thought, as she hesitantly went up to D.

"Miss Markus, do you think you can do me a favor?" D asked.

"Sure. Ask away." Leila replied, still too shocked and horrified to refuse.

"Take my son back to Ransylva for me for burial. Have him interred beside his mother." D said, the sorrow in his voice very easily heard by all of those around him.

"Why can't you do it? What are you going to do in the meantime?" Leila in turn asked, as D laid the dead youth on the floor, and unsheathed his sword.

"I can't just walk away...not now." D murmured, as he readied himself for one last fight against Meier.

"Nor can I." Meier stated, as he also placed Charlotte's corpse on the floor, then flew at D; starting the final battle himself.

"What a horrible, sad waste..." Leila said, bitterly, as she picked up and carried Dirk's body over to where Belladonna stood, and placed it next to Charlotte's.

"You've got that right." Belladonna sobbed, as they watched the two men fight; knowing that this altercation could only end in death...either for the Hunter, or the hunted.

Author's Note!

Evil, ne? But wait! There's more to come!

Gemini14