Chapter 32: "Sent her to heaven"
~~~ [START]
___ [Time Skip]
"A mate?" A younger version of Vlad was taken aback by what Alucard had spoken.
"Yeah." Alucard lay flat on the ground as he spoke, his eyes now moving to the floating stars. "But it does not affect me…" he hesitated, "at least, I thought so."
And the child who was seated before truly didn't seem to care. His expression was almost unreadable, and the lower parts of his eyes had darkened — a testament of his lack of sleep. But he responded to what Alucard had said. Was it to numb the pain of what he had lost, or to kill the loneliness of silence that seeped through the night? He didn't know.
"What does that mean?" he asked again, eyes looking straight at the Darkened forest trees that experienced night.
"Long story," Alucard admitted. "Met a crazy bloodsucker who was obsessed with me. Ran away from her only for her to become a stalker… the running didn't work. I got too tired of doing it."
"What did you do?" Vlad asked.
"Cut her head off," Alucard instantly answered, and even if Vlad didn't see Alucard's expression, his voice revealed enough: regret.
"You killed her?" Vlad shot back, his voice still maintaining its obviousness.
"Well," Alucard turned his eyes to the body of the long-dead, headless Ghoul that was lying not far from where they sat, "she was already dead. I just… sent her to heaven." And he sighed while rubbing the back of his long-haired head. "I'm just saying, kid," he said, "don't involve yourself with those kinds of creatures." He raised his upper half and sat properly. "Imagine if Hell cursed you with a mate and she turned out to be ugly." He laughed when saying that. "But don't worry," he continued, in an effort to stop his laughs, "shit like that barely ever happens. I just had a lot of… karma."
He turned his eyes to Vlad, which proved to be a mistake.
Because right before him, while he was busy explaining his love life, the child was crying.
Did he fail to see that Vlad was simply too young to understand what he was speaking about?
Did he really have no sympathy for the child who sat before him?
Alucard was simply too old for wisdom. He had outgrown it.
So the only comforter he could offer was a hug.
He drew closer to Vlad's sitting body and embraced his short figure.
For once in his long lifetime of living, Alucard finally accepted the feeling he had always deemed unpleasant.
____{time skip end}
So, Vlad knew what was happening. He just fully couldn't accept it.
He knew the conditions for a bond; it was never something that was instant.
So, he only accepted it because of the fact that it had no way of escape. Even Alucard had to kill his bond, to prevent its influence.
Did it affect him? No, but deep inside he truly felt as though the two of them had some type of connection. He just hoped it was not being influenced by some strand of fate, at least for him.
"Vlad!" Mike snapped his fingers, instantly bringing Vlad to focus. "What's happening?" he laughed as he saw him. Then, turning his eyes, he pointed a finger at Bella, who was also zoned out. He snapped his thumbs at her, but unlike Vlad, she didn't react. "You saw that, right? This is not normal." And at the table, all the others who sat around them only laughed, which was the only thing strong enough to snap Bella out of it. And she giggled in embarrassment when she noticed how everyone was laughing at her predicament.
Then her eyes turned to Vlad, her expression thoughtful. And as his eyes drifted past her, she stood up from her seat, moved to his seated figure, and pulled him away.
Everyone was stunned by the spectacle, but their glares quickly stopped, as the bell rang for the next period.
The hallways filled up really quickly, and as for Vlad, who was gently dragged away, the spectacle felt rather amiss — as though he were the one who led its front.
"I'm gonna be late for class," Vlad said.
Bella stopped and turned her figure.
"Why did you lie?" she questioned, leaning in closer on his face. "I saw you talking to Roselle." And Vlad only widened his eyes at her word, as his mouth faintly whistled as though he didn't know what she was talking about. "First Alice, now Roselle, and then you greet them at lunch."
"I only greeted one of them," he tried to shoot in.
"It's the same thing." She shook her head in disbelief. "Tell me the truth." She folded her arms in response. "Do you know why Edward is not coming to school?"
"..."
Vlad immediately laughed uncontrollably at her sentence.
"Edward?" Vlad was taken aback. "Edward?" he asked again, his expression changing as realization moved in. "What?!" His eyes widened. "You mean you like Edward?"
"..."
He broke the silence with his laugh, and she raised a brow, clearly confused by his reaction.
"I don't know where he is," Vlad assured. "And for your information, your liking for Edward is too obvious." He giggled, then walked away.
She could only sigh, shaking her head and moving in the opposite direction.
She was late for class, so she quickened her pace.
Not knowing that the soulless had overheard them speak.
The dead.
Ghouls.
Walking corpses.
~~~ [END]