Castlevania: Of Darkness and Light

A Peculiar Ailment

I feared Alucard would be furious with me when I returned. He sure seemed like it. The vampire  came rushing to me demanding where I was, and when I explained what happened, a hellish ferocity burned in his gilded  eyes.  He commanded me to get inside the wine cellar, the deepest and thickest part of the castle, and remain there until he returned.

"You kidding there's two of them!" I protested. "I can fight, I'll stand my ground and we can take them together." Alucard  turned around and glared deep into my soul, looking the vampire he was.  I stumbled back, more terrified of him than the two interlopers.

I gulped and ran to the cellars. I must've spent a couple hours in that dank, dust ridden place. Luckily I had my staff and light spell to keep me from total darkness. "It's a damn good thing I don't have asthma." I muttered, wandering the cellars lined with barrels upon barrel of wine collecting dust.  "Some of these   date back five hundred years, I wondered how good five hundred year old wine tastes?" I was in no rush to find out, remembering Trevor and the heckling patrons at the inn. I still liked the scent of the old, dust covered barrels, they smelled like deep earth.

Just as I was starting to worry, the cellar hatch opened and Alucard stepped in. "I haven't caught trace of them." His voice low with anger. "We're safe for now, but I'll keep watch for the next couple of days."

I backed away, holding my staff in defense when Alucard's livid eyes bore into me.  The moment he saw my nervousness the glare melted away.  "You were very brave . You did the right thing, standing your ground and not showing fear despite very being afraid. A lesser person would've ran and gotten themselves killed."

"You told me not to run." I responded quietly.

"That I did, and you remembered despite your instincts clamoring otherwise." Alucard closed his eyes. "I'm proud of you."

My hackles lowered. "Thanks."  Tension rippled in him. "It's dangerous outside these castle walls. You cannot go wandering off without telling me where you're going do you understand?"

I winced at the sharpness of his voice. "I do, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Alucard sighed. "Good. From now on, don't go outside the castle alone, we're safer when we are together."

"Understood."

I remained quiet and aloof for the remainder of that day, keeping to the comforting halls of the library.

Alucard found me in the library. "I'm sorry if I sounded harsh before, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay." I put down the scroll I was reading. "You should be angry at me, it was a stupid move going out into the woods alone when there are vampires and night creatures amuck."

"I was never angry at you." Alucard replied. "Ever since you arrived....I have someone worth protecting."

I felt the heat rise in my chest. "Well." I abruptly sat up. "It's a good thing I'm learning to protect myself." I turned and walked away from him to shield the blush on my face. Alucard took my hand .

The heat pulsing in my gut rose like a bonfire. "I did not mean to make you think you were beneath me, you're not. You're not my pet nor my prisoner, you're my equal. It's just I..... I.....care  about you. Deeply. I don't want you hurt, honestly if something happened to you I could never forgive myself."