Castlevania: The Fairy

Chapter Three

Perhaps he was being too mean, Alucard thought. The rain came to him in a muffled sound from outside, almost nonexistent inside the castle but the thunder was unmistakable and his senses could not deny that there was a storm, one that would not be dispersing after a while. Might take hours, in fact.

He could see that she left something on the floor. Alucard went and picked it up. It was perhaps the wettest fur cloak ever. When he bunched it up into a ball, it felt heavy and dripped multiple rain water onto the floor, creating a puddle. Well, she did look pretty drenched to him before he had closed the door on her face.

Alucard was not even sleeping when he felt the castle doors open. He could have mistaken it for the rumble of the thunder but when he heard that "hello," he knew he wasn't entirely going crazy and someone did open the door.

"Might as well give our visitor a proper welcome," Alucard spoke before getting up. In his mind, he was already expecting to see a girl. The voice was feminine and the foot falls were very light and not even because they were trying to sneak in—they did announce themselves upon entering.

Still, she was uninvited.

Alucard put on a shirt to cover his shirtless body and brought his sword along just to give her a proper scare. He wasn't entirely barbaric and would not kill in cold blood and would avoid fighting if he could, so he'll simply drive her away. He seems to be good at that. Perhaps that was why that large buffoon Belmont and Sypha left him. He was too insufferable—too much of a monster.

By the time Alucard saw her, he was on the top of the stairs and she was down there, clutching at her arms tightly against her heart. Her eyes were fidgety, her head turning from side to side as if it would help her see in the darkness, taking very little steps. Alucard was a little frustrated. She looked like dessert served on a silver platter for him. A wet dessert, but dessert nonetheless. The primal instinct inside him reached for her and he thought about appearing from the shadows behind her and pulling her onto his fangs, but he shook his head.

Put on a show, Alucard told himself, and then drive her away.

"Well, now, I feel bad," Alucard was still clutching the cloak and he could already imagine the young woman shivering outside. He could still feel her faint heartbeat outside, telling him that she hadn't left yet.

"It seems pointless now to try and invite her in," the sword on his other hand felt heavier when he remembered how he made sure it glinted at her when he was approaching her earlier. Well, he did have to scare her. He could have just told her he was a vampire, that might have done the trick, but he really wasn't in the mood to growl at her either just to prove his lineage.

Almost as if on cue, he could feel his mother looking at him with disappointed eyes. If she was here, he would have received a healthy slap on the back of his head. He would rub against the pain and ask his mother why, and Lisa Fahrenheit Tepes would point at the door and tell him to go get her unless he wants another from her.

"Fine, just this once. If she turns out to be another hunter, I'll smear her blood all over the entrance for good riddance," Alucard opened the door.

She was slumped face forward on the floor. Her body sprawled like someone had discarded her away. Well, that wasn't him. He wasn't disposing of her, he simply scared her off. She seemed dead lying down like that and Alucard would not be surprised, everyone he knew by now has either died or left him.

"Great, I have scared her off to death."

The dhampir placed his sword back in its sheath and bent down on one knee to touch her forehead. The moment his skin touched hers, he felt a heat almost comparable to that of fire. She wasn't just warm, she was burning. Alucard could also see that she was visibly shivering, which didn't seem right considering that she felt like hot coals against the back of his hand.

"You seem to have a fever," Alucard never experienced one, a perk of being half vampire and half human. He was immune to most sickness that was fatal to mortal men. He grew up suffering from wounds and the occasional scratches from playing too rough around the castle but that was all. He never experienced the illness his mother helped in reliving her patients from.

The fur cloak fell into a heap beside him as he dropped it and went to carry the girl into both arms. She made a sound as if in pain and Alucard had to look at her face to confirm if she was. Strands of black hair were stuck on her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed and mouth slightly open as she exhaled hot air and inhaled the dew-ridden atmosphere. Her face was red too, a nice colour if only it wasn't because of the fever. Alucard carried her inside, the door closing behind him.

"Now, where do I put you? A moment ago I was debating whether I should kill you or not, now I'm thinking perhaps it's better if you stay in my late father's study. There's a hearth there, it should serve you well against your illness," Alucard felt a little stupid trying to talk to her, it was obvious she wouldn't answer. But her face contorted further and Alucard wasn't sure whether she was agreeing or she's closer to death.

"Don't die on me now, woman. I would have you informed that my hospitality does not come for free and I would not want your dead body as payment for my kindness. Or do I?"

Alucard made a detour and went for his room instead, the one he slept in currently. He was well aware that it did not come with a fire place but he didn't think it was wise to put her on the floor with not even a bed to support her. It might make her situation worse.

He put her on top of the bed and stood over her sleeping figure for a while, wondering what to do next. He knew the basics at the very least, fruit of reading the books her mother had busied herself with when she was still alive. The human body is predisposed to burn as a way to fight off the illness and all he had to do was help. She was still in her wet clothes, and if she stayed in those not only would it make her fever worse, it would also seep into the fabric of the bed and make it colder for her.

He had to strip her.

"This wasn't what I had in mind when I brought my sword with me."