Chapter Text
Trevor and Sypha pack up their wagon quickly. After finding the horrific secrets hidden in Lindenfeld, the duo were stricken with fear and discomfort to say the very least. The creepy monks with their satanic beastie hidden under the monastery, the priest with his apple tree of 'little pleasures' and the dozen pairs of tiny shoes hidden away in the back closet, and the fiery soul harvest had been a little too much for them, especially Sypha.
When they hit the road that night, she finds herself restless in the passenger seat.
"Sypha, you're making me nervous with all your wiggling," Trevor complains, tired, dark bags under tired blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, Trevor, but I cannot get the image of those tiny little shoes out of my mind!" Sypha leans her head on Trevor's shoulder and links an arm under his, just to feel some sense of security.
"You need to let it go. It was fucked up, but welcome to my life. We adventured for your life for a while, now welcome to mine," he says darkly.
Sypha lifts her head and glares at the hunter, "You know, you still are not very good at this encouraging talk."
"Well, maybe if our circumstances were a little more encouraging, I would be nicer. Look, we've been traveling a while now, we should stop and rest for the night. Get something to eat. I'm starving," the Belmont says dully, pulling over in a nice clearing where the moon shone brightly into it, illuminating the area.
"Very well. You make a good case," Sypha replies as the wagon stops. She hops down onto the grassy forest floor and heads to the back to get the sleeping bags and set up in the wagon for a night of rest while Trevor tries the horses up and feeds them food and drink.
After a long while, Sypha says, "Do you think we should go check on Alucard?"
Trevor pauses for a moment, then looks up at her and begins walking to the back to get some food and set up a fire for warmth and to cook on. "I dunno, why? It's only been a couple months. I'm sure he's fine."
"I know, I just.. I worry about him, and with that attack on Lindenfeld, I wonder if he's okay, you know? What if something got out and got to him," the Speaker says worriedly, hopping down from the wagon.
"He's a big boy vampire now, Sypha. You're working yourself up over nothing. Come on, start this fire would you? I'm freezing my ass off," Trevor says, gesturing the tiny fire pit he made with some dry twigs and rocks.
Sypha sighs and sits on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest, then casts a small fire bolt into the pit and creates a tiny flame in the center. "Something doesn't feel right though, Trevor. There's a force telling me we need to go back. I fear he may be in danger."
Grunting as he sits, Trevor pulls out a blade and begins roasting a vegetable over the fire. "Danger? What danger could the bastard have gotten himself into? He has a castle in the middle of fucking nowhere next to my old house in a dense forest by a mountain. He's safe, Sypha, you're just-"
"What, crazy?" Sypha snaps.
"What? No, no no, just paranoid. After today, I imagine you would be. Come here it's cold and you don't have sleeves," Trevor says, opening his cloak to let her scoot in close. The Speaker's tense demeanor crumbles a little and she sits close to Trevor's side, leaning her head against his shoulder and linking her arm with his again. "Look, if your heart is set on it, I guess we can make our way back to Alucard."
"Thank you, Trevor. I.. I miss him, too, you know," she says, staring into the heart of the flames, thinking of their friend they had left behind.
A twinge of guilt fills her heart at the thought of leaving him alone just days after killing his father. She wonders if the vampire had been taking care of himself, or just holed himself off from the world and was succumbing to the insanity of loneliness. He is an angry teenager in an adult body, afterall. She misses his smile, his intellect, and even though it was annoying, the quippy bickering between Trevor and Alucard. There was a nice charm Alucard brought to the group, and even though this time away had been good for her and Trevor, there was an emptiness she felt sometimes. Like there was something missing. Someone.
A long moment of stillness falls upon the duo, only the sound of crackling kindling and tree branches clicking in the woods around them spoke. Trevor sits deep in thought, trying to think of how to respond, if he even will at all, and he sets his roasted vegetable aside, not hungry enough to eat anymore.
Does he miss the vampire? No, not really. The man was arrogant, posh, and always trying to one up him. He was elegant and fluid, and a good person to poke fun at and get a funny answer back from. Sure, he could poke fun at Sypha, but with Alucard, there was always some insult or sassy comeback. The more Trevor thinks about him, the more he realizes, yes. He does miss the vampiric bastard. He decides to keep that to himself in the din of night, though, and it would have fallen on sleeping ears anyway, had he confessed his agreement.
Sypha breathes slowly, rhythmically, eyes closed, her arm still linked with his, hand in hand with her hunter.
Trevor sighs darkly, keeping an eye on the flames for a little while before a restless, nightmare filled night plagues him and his lover.
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That same day, back at the castle, Alucard walks back from the forest carrying a basket of fresh fish and berries, as well as long branches and sticks he found that he could use if any more visitors came around.
As he walks, his clothes rub uncomfortably against the burns he received the night before, a horrid reminder of the betrayal he had endured.
'They were.. my friends. I never lied! I never lied to them and yet they take advantage of me anyway. Maybe that's all the people I care about do. Lie to you. Take advantage of you. Take… everything from you and then try to kill you… They abandon you.'
These thoughts spiral through the vampire's head and tears roll down his cheeks remembering how nice it felt to be cared for, adored and caressed and held and… and loved. Or what he thought was love. And then the change. Their warm brown eyes turned cold. Their tender, gentle, caring touches turned deceitful, hateful and malicious, and the pain, not of the silver stands that bound him, but the pain of being taken advantage of and betrayed.
Alucard doesn't look at the bodies hanging lifelessly in the breeze as he storms into his castle and slams the doors behind him, tossing the branches by the doors for later. He practically flies down the stairs to the kitchen, his steps fueled with anger and hatred.
Once he arrives in the sun kissed kitchen, Alucard tosses the basket on the table and begins unpacking it with shaking, unsteady fingers. His vision blurs with tears, and he can barely see the things he unpacks for his lunch, and that's when he realizes he doesn't feel like eating. The vampire trembles as he puts everything back and into the icebox to save for later.
Glancing up, his eye catches the little straw dolls of the stinky bastard man and the intelligent Speaker mage he had called friends at one point, his rage now coupled with anguish and sorrow. Alucard feels his fingernails growing and he snarls, reaching out and grabbing the small trinkets he had crafted, his nails digging into the straw and tearing them. He brings the little things to his forehead and falls to his knees, weeping into the fabrics of his only company.
After what seems like hours, Alucard pulls the dolls away from his face and looks at them, his nails having receded once more and he sees the holes gaping in the sides.
"Oh dear," he breathes, running his fingers over the damaged areas, "I-"
He stops himself. He stands from his position and shakes his head, replacing the dolls on the cabinet. Alucard shakes his head again and rubs his eyes as tears sting them once more, then the man walks out of the kitchen and heads up to his room to clean up.
When he arrives, he snarls at the stench of their blood, and takes the sheets numbly from his bed, piling them in a heap to clean later. The burns across his body begin aching once more.
Alucard ignores it, an emotionless, exhausted expression now lays across his face as he makes quick work of the room, then takes the sheets to his father's old study. He bundles them up, another tear slipping down his nose and he places them in the hearth, lighting them on fire, then the man returns to his old room where a hole filled, bloody mattress, tattered cloths and a broken window glare back at him. He picks up his blade, a darkness now simmering behind golden eyes, and then turns and leaves the room, closing it behind him so he never has to look back at it again.
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The only monsters that show themselves to Sypha and Trevor that night are the monsters in their nightmares. Images of children's shoes, burning souls, monsters from hell itself, friends dying and even distorted and disturbing images of their beloved Alucard plague their dreams through the night and Sypha even wakes up with a shout at one point.
"No don't!"
Trevor jolts awake, smoldering ashes in the firepit and the last light of moonlight disappearing as the sun begins its ascension into the day. "Y'alright?" Trevor mumbles, still half asleep, his words slurring.
"Y-Yes. Bad.. bad dream. Go back to sleep," she says somberly, laying back against him.
"Mm would, but I'm awake now. We.. uh.." he rubs his eyes and face and stretches a little, then runs a comforting hand down Sypha's arm.
"Early start? We may get there sooner," Sypha suggests, her breathing now back to a normal pace, her heart still racing.
Standing up slowly, stretching and yawning one more time, the scruffy man says, "Yep, sure whatever. I'm gonna go take a piss first."
Sypha stands as well, "Knock yourself out."
"I will."
As he leaves, Sypha rubs her arms anxiously but begins packing up their things: Trevor's blade, and the warm stones around the fire pit. She gets the horses warmed up a little and ready to go, and by that time, Trevor has returned.
"Ready to go?" He gets up into the driver's seat and Sypha joins him, nodding.
"Back to Alucard."
"Back to Alucard, indeed."
Belnades and Belmont begin their journey back to their friend, anxious about what state he may be in when they return, but nonetheless, they head on, leaving Lindenfeld in their wagon tracks so they may never look back on that again.