Stitched Up Hearts (Alucard X Fem! reader)

The Pretty Girl Stabbed Me

Adrian's POV (six years prior)

She was reading again. In her spot by the fire, curled in on the chaise lounge. The sunlight shone through the room, allowing me to see that the once permanent bags under her eyes had begun to fade. I was glad to see them gone, it made her seem all the more like she was haunting the place. I didn't like the thought of her being too uncomfortable to sleep here in the castle, the thought it might make her feel unsafe somehow.

"Adrian." She greeted me by name, not looking up from her book. I loved hearing her say my name, the way it toppled from her lips, made it sound like a completely new word altogether. I was surprised she'd heard me come in, my footfalls were almost as silent as my fathers.

"Y/N." I greeted her back, strolling into the library. It seemed so fitting to see her in here, like it was her natural state of being. She looked so pretty, with the light of the fire playing along her skin, brightening her eyes and hair.

"Seems you always know where to find me." she puts her book down, seemingly finishing the page she was on. "Even in a castle as large as this, everywhere I step there you are." Truthfully, I spent a majority of my time wandering around the castle, hoping by chance I would bump into her, and give myself an excuse to spend the rest of the day with her. She avoided me rather easily, always slipping away to her favorite spots. She had an eye for the best hiding places in the castle, discovering spots it had taken me years to find in only a few short months.

"You don't make it very hard, you realize. The kitchen, the library or your room are the only places you ever really go." I lie, sitting down on the remaining space her legs didn't use on the chair. Her clothes fit her much better than they had when she first came here, and they were cleaner than what she had on then too.

"I suppose I'll have to find myself a better hiding spot then." she sighed dramatically, handing me the book she was holding, pushing it against my chest. "Be a dear and put this away for me."

I roll my eyes at her. Despite what she may or may not think, she's changed in the months since she came here, even beyond all the physical ways. She was still careful as always, guarded and unwilling to open up. But she was no longer the cowering ghost in the corners and shadows of rooms, drifting through the castle like a memory. She no longer seemed so lifeless, so dead. Now, she took up space, though as little as possible. "I always wondered, how did you learn to read so well?"

"The young girls that were kept at the church were all taught how, orders of the Bishop. We were taught to read and write so we could study the bible, and help copy it down. I began stealing books from the library when I got bored and now," she gestured to the small mountain of books stacked at her feet. "This."

"Ever taken up interest in astrology?"

"Those books weren't really collected by the church, as it would imply the universe is quite old."

"Is it not?"

"Well, that entirely depends on who you ask doesn't it? You're mother would say it is, I think. Your father would too I imagine, and they likely taught you the same, no?" she took her eyes away from watching the fire to focus on me. Whenever her gaze fell on me I felt like the most special person in the room, as if I was the only person that mattered to her, because she'd chosen to look at me. Perhaps it was only a sign of my hubris.

"Correct." I smiled at the fact she was able to assume it accurately. She was more astute and observant than she gave herself credit for.

"The clergy doesn't believe it's very old at all. God created it, so of course we have no real way of knowing how or when the world actually came into existence, but they sincerely believe for whatever reason that it cannot possibly be as old as it is. Faith over fact makes fools of many men."