Twisted Thorns

Chapter Thirteen: Lost

Alucard awoke with a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. As he rose from his coffin in the dark bowels of the dungeon, he sniffed the air. Something was very off.
"Elizabeth?" he looked in her room. No sign of her.
"My Queen?" he paced the hallways, faster this time.
"Elizabeth?!" he became frantic, knocking Seras' door, hoping his love would answer the door alongside her friend. Instead he was greeted by a sleepy Seras.
"Master?"
"Where is Elizabeth?" he demanded, pushing past Seras, but only seeing a still sleeping Pip.
"She isn't in her room? Have you tried the training grounds? Or the gardens?"
"The gardens! I'll be back!" he left quickly and almost soundlessly. Seras roused Pip, feeling the dark tension in the air.

When they arrived in the garden, they found Alucard, slumped over on his knees. For the first time since meeting him, he looked small. Against the stark white snow that covered land as far as the eyes could see, he was a dash of red against an otherwise fresh canvas. Seras could smell blood. "Oh.. no." she whispered, thinking the worst had happened. "Master?" she shouted, rushing to his side. As she reached him, she saw nothing but splatters of blood against the snow and a burgundy scarf in Alucards gloved hands.
"Is that... Lizzie's?" Seras whispered. Alucard's face crumpled as he held it to his face.
"They've taken her, Seras." His voice did not crack, instead it was clear and strong.
"Marissa?"
"This was a man. I don't know the smell."
"Well what are you waiting for? Go after her!" Seras looked at Alucard in confusion. He still didn't get up.
"If I go after her, Marissa will just have her killed slowly, and make her suffer again. I can't do that to her, I've done it too many times." Alucard balled up his fists. "I can't do it anymore, Seras. I can't watch her grow up from the sidelines again. I can't watch her die over and over anymore. Maybe this was the way I am to be repaid for all my sins? All the many millions of lives I've consumed without a second thought... I do not know. But I can't keep bringing my sweet Lizzie into this." he shed a tear quietly, still inhaling the scent that came from the scarf.
"That is pathetic." Pip said. Seras looked at him, and Pip's red eyes were burning. "If you love someone, you fight for them. And if it doesn't work, you fight harder. I dragged my broken body through a burning pile of rubble to be with Mignonette." Alucard looked up into Pip's face, who now held Seras close. "Now get up. You've found Liz many times. You will find her now. Before Marissa hurts her. Get up, be the man we know you are inside." Alucard stood, facing Pip. For a fleeting second, Seras thought Alucard would strike her lover. But instead, he took the other man by the shoulders, and held him steady. "Thank you, Pip. For reminding me who I am. I'll bring her home."
"We- we can come with you."
"Not this time Seras. I'll bring Lizzie home alone." he wiped the crimson tears from his face, and removed his glove. His long, pale fingers touched the blood that soiled the perfect whiteness. Then, he turned and sniffed the air sharply. "It's been four hours." With that, Alucard shifts into his shadow form.
Please Master, return to us. Seras projected her thoughts to him.
We both will, Seras. I swear it.

Lizzie awoke, cold and alone. As she opened her eyes, there was barely any light to see her surroundings. Three walls were made of stone, wet with moisture. In front of her, there were bars that she could see a small hallway through.
"Hello?" She called, shooting up from the hay pile she had woken up on. Her voice echoed off the walls. She heard rodents squeaking nearby, and scuffling. She also heard chains rattling from the next cell over.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" A small voice came from one side of the wall. A little boy.
"Hello? What's going on? Why am I her? Who are you?" Lizzie held herself against the adjacent wall. She heard sniffling.
"I don't know. I was playing at the park and then we hit something in the road on the way home, Dad checked what it was and... well I'm here. I can't find my Mum and Dad." He started to cry.
"Shhh it's okay. What's your name?"
"Theo."
"Theo. My name is Lizzie. I'll find a way to get us out of here okay? It'll be alright."
"Will you help me find my Mum and Dad?"
"I'll get my friend to find them. He's very, very good at finding people." Alucard. She thought. What are you doing now? Have you realised I'm gone? Are you coming to look for me? Lizzie worried. She didn't know where she was or how long she was out for, she could be anywhere.

*sniff sniff* Alucard, in the form of Baskerville, took across the sprawling grounds on the outskirts of London at a breakneck speed. He sniffed the air. The trail of his sweet Elizabeth was becoming more noticeable. But her scent lingered with the putrid stretch of those who kidnapped her. It was as if someone had tried to disguise the stink of open drain with a bouquet of roses. Keeping his head close to the ground, he felt the wind ripple through his pitch black coat, his red eyes watering from the wind. His hulking size allowed him to cross fields quickly. Lizzie. My Elizabeth.

"You have the girl? Fantastic, Sebastian. Good work. Remember, if Alucard finds you before I do, cut the bitches throat and leave quickly, I'll need you in the future. Goodbye." She locked the phone she held in her hand. She wore little, a black silken nightie that hugged her curves and figure. She lounged on her chair as she fed from her blood slave's wrist. A young Vietnamese girl she had named Cinnamon, she had felt her slowly become weaker, her veins starting to collapse from constant over work and piercing. She'd need a new one soon, before Cinnamon expired. She'd have all the time in the world once her new plan was complete. She smiled to herself, wistfully thinking of the feel of her Count's body against her own. Not long now Marissa thought, the grin broadening.