Castlevania Nocturne: A Guardian's Tale (Part 1)

A Vampire's Promise

Emma barely felt the cold earth beneath her feet as she fled as fast as she could. Horror seized her mind and the trees blurred past her. She couldn't get the vision out of her head. Her loving guardian she knew since babyhood hunched over a human corpse with blood-soaked fangs.

Her heart broke. She wanted to curl up and cry at the revelation of her best friend.

She stumbled in an oncoming fog, unable to see through it despite her sharp night vision.

"Emma I'm sorry." A voice spoke from the fog, which condensed and materialized into Vance.

Emma sped the other way running for dear life.  The moon was covered by clouds, darkening her vision and she was too panicked to realize she  ran to a cliff's edge. 

Emma felt her feet slip but as she plummeted a black shadow flew over her and grabbed her . Her world blurred before she felt her feet on the ground again. Vance locked his arms around her, arching his great bat wings.

Emma kicked and bit him, sinking her sharp vampire-like fangs into his hand. Vance drew back and hissed, but felt no anger towards the girl. Even as she  lengthened her claws and dug into him. "Emmaline stop that!"

"No!!!"

"Emmaline I'm not going to hurt you! Enough!!"

" You're lying!!" She hissed  breaking down into tears.  "Please don't eat me!"

"I'm not going to eat you! ! Emmaline!!!" He softened his tone and grip, looking gently into her eyes. "Emmaline. I'm not going to hurt you. I swear on my soul I would never hurt you."

"But you...."Emma quivered. The image flashed in her head of him crouching over the human corpse, fangs dripping with blood.

"I know......" Vance admitted balefully. "I have too.Emma.." He tenderly held her hands in his claws. "I'm not a monster, but  I am a vampire. I need blood to survive. That is something I cannot control."

Emma shuddered, wanting to run away from him forever.

"But I can control what I eat, and what I hunt." Vance explained as softly as he could. "I do  not eat innocent people, no women or children, no good men like those in your village.  I hunt criminals and brigands, people who hurt others. When I cannot find those kinds of people I hunt animals, like the wolves in the woods, or the eagle nesting in the watchtower.  That's why I leave the village sometimes for days, I must find food.I will never, I mean NEVER, hurt you. Not even I was starving and near death, and you were the only living thing in the world."

Emma's hackles lowered. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes, my dear." Vance swore . "I promise with all my heart,I will never hurt you."  He furled his cape around her. "Let's go home, little bird. The night is cold and your parents must be worried sick."

"My parents must be furious at me." Emma shivered. "I defied my father and ran away to find you. I didn't know you were hunting. I feared something happened to you."

"Brave little angel." Vance thrummed. "Emma I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"Whenever I go away, I need you to trust that I will return. Can you do that?"

"Yes. I can." Emma took his hand, covered by his cape as it began to snow.  "Vance?"

"Yes, little one?"

"You can eat Frederic." 

Vance laughed. "I doubt his Belmont father would appreciate it."

"Well I would." Emma pouted. "He's so annoying. He keeps picking on me and calling me  angel-face all the time. Now he's teasing me about Cyrus and calling him my boyfriend."

"I'm sure your cousin doesn't mean ill will."

"He's a donkeyface! I want to punch him in his stupid head!"

"Child."  Vance suppressed the chuckle in his throat. "If I can control my hunger for human blood , you can control your ire at your cousin's taunts."

Vance perked at the oncoming light.  Emma's parents, aunt, and uncle found them. 

" Mother...Father..." Emma gulped nervously. She was expecting her parents' wrath, not their tearful relief of finding their daughter unharmed.

 If she thought she dodged a bullet, she didn't . Once home, Emma got an earful and was grounded for a month. She was forbidden from playing with the village children and restricted to her room and kitchen. Vance told her she needed to accept the responsibility for her actions. 

At least she didn't have to be annoyed by her cousin for a month.