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D was silent as he pulled away from her slightly. He looked into her eyes and his
face spoke volumes. She looked at him her own eyes full of emotion including fear of
being rejected.
“I...I love you too,”D said quietly as he leaned forward to kiss her again.
She returned the kiss with a newfound passion, and they held each other closely on
the ground. As the cuddled one thing led to another and a short while later they curled up
to sleep wrapped only in D’s cloak.
D laid there quietly as she slept, watching over her. As she slept though images
haunted her dreams. The images of her past and what happened her nights til now
surfaced and she mumbled quietly in her sleep.
“No...get away...stop it.. no..”
As she mumbled her hands went out as if to push some dream assailant away, a
few tears falling from her eyes. D caught her hands, trying to calm her as he felt her body
tensing. She continued mumbling as the nightmare continued.
“No... I don’t... I won’t... love you... get away from me..”
D knew she wasn’t talking to him so he gently took a firmer grasp of her hands
and in the dream she struggled a bit more. D shook her slightly, realizing what was
goingon and he tried to wake her. With a final cry of ‘No!’ her eyes shot open and she
froze for a moment, trying to figure out where she was. As she realized she was on the
ground naked, curled up in D’s cloak with him she relaxed. D looked at her and she
returned the gaze, her eyes still wet from the few tears.
“You had a nightmare,”he said, his voice more cautious than anything.
“I...I know,”she whispered it and then suddenly broke her hands from his grasp,
wrapping them around him tightly. Surprising him she buried her face in his chest and he
gently wrapped his arms around her slowly.
“D... whatever I said,”she explained, her voice slightly muffled,”It wasn’t directed
to you... please understand that... please..”
D simply replied,”I know.”
She nodded slightly and said,”Good.... I'm glad you understand.”
Pulling back a bit she looked at him,”I suppose you want an explanation.”
Her voice was quiet and trailed off. D was silent in response and she looked
down, avoiding his eyes as she continued.
“I owe you an explanation at least. Allright. Well. This isn’t easy for me to talk
about, but I have to at some point. Better now than later.”
“As I told you earlier, my mother and I were taken into servitude by the count who
killed my father. He was a sick vampire. Very sick, mentally I mean,”she explained as she
removed her arms from him and wrapped them around herself tightly. She wanted only to
protect herself from the memory and his possible rejection once he knew the truth.
“Once,”she started,”Shortly after we were taken to his castle I heard my mother
sobbing in our room. When I asked her what was wrong, she wouldn’t tell me and I just
guessed that he’d done something to her. Something ungentlemanly. I was right as it
turned out.”
D was silent so she continued,”When I went after him, the first time I tried to kill
him.. he....”
She closed her eyes and whispered, her voice thick with emotion,”He did the same
to me... On more than one occasion.”
A few tears ran down her cheek as she shivered again, sitting up and drawing her
knees to her chest. She looked straight forward to the ground as D put an arm around
her.
“We are all haunted by the demons of our past,”he said quietly and she looked at
him, her face reflecting all the pain she grew up with as well as her love for him. D
hugged her gently, kissing her forehead as she returned the hug, cuddling against him.
After sitting for a few more minutes they both laid back down again, cuddling in
each others arms as they fell asleep for a while. D was the first to wake, at twilight, with
her curled in his arms sleeping, peacefuly for the first time in a long time, her face serene,
she smiled as she slept. D quietly unwrapped her from him, shaking her softly to rouse
her.
“The sun falls,”he said as she slowly opened her eyes and stretched, yawning,”We
should depart.”
She looked up at him as she said,”You’re right...”
D kissed her as he stood to get dressed, Kat following his example.
She returned the kiss and grabbed her clothes, throwing them on quickly as she
waited for D to finish clasping his cloak. As D finished dressing quickly he looked around
to retrieve their weapons and horses. As Kat strapped the no-dachi to her back again she
walked over to her horse which stood by his to their left near some trees. D followed her
over and with a glance to her they mounted their horses.
“Shall we go?” she asked and D nodded, snapping the reigns and heading to the
castle at a quick pace. Kat followed suit and caught up with him, her horse easily
outrunning his and she arrived at the bridge to the castle first. She waited for him and as
he rode up he stopped quietly at the bridge. Looking at him she dismounted, grabbing a
small bag from the saddlebags.
“We have to be careful crossing the bridge,”she explained as she knelt down and
gathered a bag full of loose dirt.
Standing she continued,”Most of it’s an illusion. One wrong step and it’s crunch
or splat on the rocks below.”
She took the reigns of her horse in her hand, wrapping them around her upper arm
as she said to him,”You can stay on your horse. Just follow me and be careful.”
“Horses will be no use inside the castle,”D stated quietly,”We should leave them
here.”
“No,”she said, shaking her head,”They’re safter over there. Look to your left.”
She pointed to where three horse skulls, picked clean to the bone by wolves and
forest monsters sat atop piles of other bones. The monsters rarely cross the bridge and
odds are they'll fall before making it over.”
“Of course you’re welcome to leave your horse here if you really want to risk
it,”she said her voice trailing off.
D was silent and simply led his horse across the chasm following her carefully. As
Kat went across the bridge she threw a little bit of the dirt ahead of her, carefully picking
her steps. After making it across slowly she put the bag of dirt away and tethered the
horse in the old barn remnants like before. She motioned for D to do the same as she
walked to the wall, feeling for the small doorway that was hidden in it. The entire castle
had an ancient look to it though it was hardly in disrepair. D tethered his horse next to her
own and followed close behind her, drawing his sword. Finding the door she pushed it
open gently she peeked in, her own sword drawn at this point.
She whispered to him,”Once we’re through here we’ll be on the first floor. To the
left is a staircase leading upstairs and there are a couple rooms to the right. Beneath the
stairs is another room, a storage closet of sorts.”
As they exited the tunnel with no problems a small hall came into view. The
staircase was indeed tot he left and to the right were two doors not counting the door to
the storage closet beneath the stairs. D glanced carefully up and down the staircase as Kat
went over to the door and opened it. She held her sword defensively as she peered inside
but found nothing there except a map and a small pile of clothing. D looked at the two
things curiously as Kat spoke up.
“My clothes,”she whispered as she handed him the map to which D nodded and
accepted.
She looked at him as she said,”No offense but it'll be easier for me to fight in
clothes that really fit me so...”
Her voice trailed off and D stepped out of the room, keeping a watch for any
guards but none were found. A few moments later she emerged D’s clothes folded and
her own outfit of skin tight black pants, knee high boots with heels, a short tight black
tank top and a black cape lined in purple clasped to her outfit’s shoulders by purple stones
and pushed back off her shoulders. On her arms were two black armlets adorned with a
purple jewel on each, her hair pulled back now with an ornate silver tie of metal and a
silver belt around her waist that hung at an angle. D looked her over then at the clothes
in her hand.
“Leave them,”he said simply.
She nodded and sat them back in the room, emerging again with the no-dachi the
spirits gave her strapped to her back.
“Now I just need my own sword back,”she said quietly.
“Where is it?” D asked.
“I don’t know,”she replied,”It could be anywhere in here.”
“Perhaps we should just concentrate on the Count for the time being,”D
suggested.
“Yeah,”she said with a nod and motioned to the stairs,”I ran into him upstairs as I
was working my way up last time. It seems odd I know but his coffin might be up there. I
know when I was here last I checked the basments and it wasn’t down there then.”
D nodded and said,”Perhaps we will catch him still asleep.”
“Perhaps,”she stated,”But I doubt it...”
D was silent and she began moving to the stairs, unsheathing her sword again to
have it ready. As they reached the bottom stair there was a mocking laughter from behind
them and as they turned they faced the now open door to the sitting room. Inside they
could see a dark shape sitting, waiting, and laughing.