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Blood Is Chapter 6
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Do I really have to mention that I don't own Castlevania? If I did, we would have gotten to see Julius curbstomp Dracula, the storyline would have been neatened up a bit, and Dracula and Alucard would have just HUGGED already after the reveal in Lords of Shadow 2.
Summary: Lords of Shadow Continuity: AU to Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2: Trevor wasn't the only one that had the truth of his parentage kept from him by the Brotherhood.
6.
The cold water poured down through the hole in the roof and splashed onto the top of his head, and Gabriel shivered from the chill as he used it to rinse the dried blood out of hair. It also had the helpful side effect of waking him up. Since he had escaped the blood lake, he had wandered constantly through the area, never stopping, not even for a moment. No matter where he went, the castle's blood oozed after him, calling for him to drink.
How much longer could he go on? He hadn't had anything in several days, and he didn't dare lie down to sleep either, for he knew the castle would use that to seize hold of him. He shivered again, a violent shudder that wracked his entire body. He was so tired...
You are dying, my lord.
Gabriel smiled faintly at that. He knew that. He could barely stand now, and walking was more of a slow shuffle while he fought to keep himself upright. His shivering was so violent that it had nearly made him fall on multiple occasions, and he seemed to be sleepwalking most of the time. His body cried out for blood, for rest, and he was denying it both. He was going to end it, one way or another.
You can't leave me!
The sound of oozing blood prompted him to move again, and now that the water running from his hair was clear, he carefully pushed himself to his feet, using the wall to pull himself up. He picked up the tapestry that he had ripped down from the wall and wrapped himself in it, and then he wobbled out of the room on legs that struggled to support him. How much longer could he go until they collapsed under him? Would he just lie wherever he had fallen until he died?
No, the castle wouldn't allow that. It would use his weakness to force him to do as it wanted. He would have to find a place for when that happened, someplace high where the blood would have a hard time reaching him. He stumbled and had to use the wall to catch himself. Of course he would have to find a way to reach a high place first, and he had no idea how he was going to do that when he could barely walk.
He would just have to keep going, he thought as he walked into another room, and like all the others, he paid no attention to the room's layout other than to make sure there was a solid floor under his feet. He dragged his aching body across the floor towards the door on the other side, and...
I have had enough of your defiance.
He paused where he was, in the center of the room and looked around in confusion for a moment before the sound of burbling blood made him look down at his feet. His feet were surrounded by a rapidly expanding pool of blood, and before he could command his shaking legs to move, ropes, appearing as though they were formed from blood itself, erupted from the floor and looped themselves around his ankles.
"What?" He dropped the tapestry and threw his arms out for balance as the ropes pulled his legs apart. He wavered back and forth for a moment, and more ropes erupted from the floor, this time grabbing his wrists. They pulled him backwards, and he landed in the puddle with a loud splash as he clawed at them, trying to pry them off of him. More of them came, with one winding tightly around his waist, two more wrapping themselves around his thighs, one that grabbed his head, and finally two more that hooked onto his arms. They tightened and pulled him down against the floor as he tried to escape them, but they held him so tight that all he could do was squirm a little.
"Let me go!"
You will drink.
"I don't want to drink! Let go!" He thrashed in the ropes' grip, and more of them appeared and wound around him, including one that tightened around his neck. Finally another one appeared in his sight, but it did not grab a hold of him. Instead it only hovered above his face, which allowed him to see that it wasn't a rope at all, but merely blood formed into a solid form while still somehow keeping a liquid state. He could see the ripples running through it, and drops dripped from the tip to land on his face.
"I don't want this! Please let me go!"
You cannot leave here.
"No!" he wailed. "Stop! Don't do this!"
The blood rope over his face began to inch down towards him, and he clamped his mouth shut. He wasn't going to drink! In response, he felt the rope around his neck tightening, and his cries were strangled off as it began to choke him. He didn't need to breathe, so why...?
It tightened still further, and he felt muscles, sinew, and bones began to creak and pop under the pressure. He tried to throw himself to the side, but the other ropes only tightened their holds until he was held frozen to the floor, unable to move an inch. He strained his neck as he tried to move his head, but he had no room to move, and the rope around his neck continued to tighten. He set his jaw and whined in pain as more tears ran down his face.
Finally, his neck could take no more, and with a soft crunch! his throat caved in. He opened his mouth to cry out and saw the rope above him diving towards him.
I will have you.
Gabriel closed his eyes; he knew what was going to happen, just as he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid it.
He saw the bright flash of light through his eyelids, heard the voice screech in pain, and then he felt the ropes loosening.
"Run, Gabriel!"
He didn't move. What? What was happening? Where had he heard that voice before?
Another bright flash, another screech, and the ropes loosened even further.
"Get up, Gabriel! Run!"
This time, he understood the words, and he scrambled away from the ropes that had held him. He opened his eyes to see the blood retreating, but there was no sign of his rescuer. No matter, he stumbled away from the scene, not bothering to grab the tapestry to cover himself.
Now look at what you've done.
He staggered through the door into the next room, and he felt his spirit soar at a sight he hadn't seen in months.
Sunlight.
It was shining through tiny tears in a heavy curtain, and he smiled crazily and dragged himself towards it. Finally, he could end this.
No, my prince!
His laugh came out as a strangled cough as he shuffled forward, and he grabbed the curtain with one trembling arm, took a breath, and pulled.
The heavy fabric, weak from age and neglect, came apart easily, and Gabriel received a brief view of light so bright that he couldn't see beyond it, before his body filled with the worst agony he had ever felt. His howl of pain cracked the window glass, but he ignored that as every nerve ending in his body fired off messages of heat, burning heat. Smoke billowed off of him as his howls turned into screams, and then he burst into flames.
The cracking fire covered his front side from head to toe. His hair went up quickly, his skin burned and melted and dripped to the floor. He screamed as his body began to wither under the intense heat, and his instincts screamed for him to get away, to hide in a dark place, but he ignored them. This was going to end today.
Please, my prince!
His vision vanished as his eyes melted and ran down what was left of his face, and his screaming was brought to a halt when the inside of his mouth and throat also caught fire. The flames raced down his neck and destroyed his voice, but he still screamed silently as the heat consumed him.
His legs moved then with no command from him, and he stumbled back away from the light, even as he cursed at himself for doing so. His burned body seemed to have a will of it's own, and he collapsed to the floor. If he could have, he would have screeched in protest as his burns came in contact with the hard stone, but the sound came out as quiet gurgles. The flames quickly went out once he was out of the sunlight, and he began to slowly drag himself away. His thirst burned stronger than ever, feeling only just below the burning of the fire that had consumed him only seconds before.
He heard blood bubbling up nearby, and though he couldn't smell it with his nose destroyed, he was able to follow the sound and drag himself across the floor towards it. He didn't want to drink. He wanted to die. He wanted to stop hurting. He lowered his ruined face to the pool and let it splash onto him, and instantly, he felt his face starting to heal. He submerged his face and drank deeply, and he felt a burning, much softer and more pleasant than the burning of the thirst of the fire, running through his mouth and down his throat. It hit his stomach and spread outward through his veins to the rest of his body. He drank and drank and drank, and he felt his burns healing, banishing the agony he was in. His eyesight winked back into existence as his eyes regenerated, and he closed newly formed eyelids over them as he kept drinking.
The last of his pain melted away, and with his thirst finally sated, he raised his head from the pool. Blood dripped from his hair, and he looked at his reflection to see no sign that he had been injured.
He couldn't help it; he laughed.
He laughed like he hadn't in years, laughed as it echoed off the walls, ceiling, and floor, laughed as the sound filled the rooms and halls of the castle. He laughed louder, the sound growing in pitch and volume as he realized that not even death was an option for him. He looked down at his reflection again, and he saw the tears on his face just as his eyesight blurred, and a sob slipped out. Hope withered and died, and despair rose to take it's place.
Cries echoed through the spaces that laughter had just filled, the blood pool dried up, and he laid his head down on the floor and sobbed out his misery.
You belong to me now.
He didn't say anything, instead he only nodded in agreement, and he heard the whisper of cloth sliding across the floor towards him. He didn't raise his head to look; he just cried as he felt the soft touch of fabric brushing across his legs and wrapping around him. It was different from the ropes that had bound him earlier. The touch of the fabric seemed to be that of concern, like a parent soothing a distraught child, and he made no attempt to get away from it as it wound around him.
Rest, my prince.
We will take care of you.
We will protect you.
No one will hurt you here.
Swaddled in the soft fabric, Gabriel closed his eyes and cried himself to sleep.
******
Edeline abruptly sat up in bed and looked around the room. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, and the first rays of light were banishing the shadows in the room. There was no one in the room aside from her and Wolfram, but she swore that she had heard that.
"Edeline?" Wolfram asked quietly as he sat up in bed. "What is the matter?"
She didn't answer for a moment. She looked out the window at the tiny village they were in. Wygol Village stood in the shadow of Benhard Castle, and it was still recovering for several hundred years of being fed upon by the vampiric Lord of Shadow and her ilk. She and Wolfram were in what passed for the village inn, a tiny room in the upper floor of a house, but it sufficed. Through the grimy window, she could see the buildings on the other side of the square, and just beyond that, she could see the shadow of the massive castle as it loomed over the tiny hamlet.
They had wanted to go to the castle as soon as they arrived the previous night, but the villagers had warned them that any that were in the castle after dark never came back out, so they had to wait until daybreak. They had also told them of how the castle had gone silent for many days after Carmilla's defeat at Gabriel Belmont's hands, but over the winter, they had heard a new voice. Yells, screams, cries, and most recently, hysterical laughter, were all carried on the wind down to the village.
"Edeline?"
"We have to go, Wolfram." she said quietly, and then she threw the covers back and got up. "We have to go now. Gabriel needs us."
He reached to stop her, but she shook him off. "Be sensible, Edeline. We cannot just run up there. We know nothing about the castle; we need a map of some kind and perhaps a guide. We also can't go running through there without eating something first. Who knows how long we will be in there?"
She threw her dress on and slipped her soft leather shoes onto her feet. "Then you can find a map and a guide. I am going to get my son!" She heard him stand up, and then he grabbed her by the arms and turned her to face him. "Let go of me, Wolfram!" she snapped as she tried to throw him off.
"What has gotten into you, woman?" he demanded as he gave her a little shake. "Calm yourself!"
She looked up at her husband and shook her head as her chin trembled. "It's just that he's up there, and he's all alone, and he's so frightened. The villagers have been hearing him cry out, and I... I heard him too. Our baby needs us, Wolfram, and he needs us now."
Wolfram's grip on her arms loosened as his the stern look on his face softened into one of love and concern, and she leaned into him as he put his arms around her.
"You heard him?" he asked quietly.
"It woke me up. He's so scared up there, all alone in that horrible place."
She heard him sigh. "Alright, let me get dressed, and then we'll go."
She raised her head and gave him a watery smile, and he let go of her to go dress himself.
A few minutes later, they went downstairs where they waved off offers of breakfast for their host, stating that they urgently needed to get to the castle.
"May God go with you!" the woman called out as they walked out of the house onto the snow covered road.
High up in the mountains, winter had not yet relaxed its grip, and Edeline was grateful for her heavy fur cloak as she pulled it tighter around herself. Wolfram went off in search of their carriage and driver, while she waited for them in front of the house. As she waited, she felt a tug on her cloak and looked down to see a small boy standing next to her. He was not dressed for the weather at all, but he wasn't shivering or showing that he noticed the cold at all as he reached up to her with a small leather pouch in his hand.
"Take it," he said with a smile that made her want to hug him, "they will keep you safe."
She smiled at him, took the pouch from him, and patted him on his soft brown curls. "Are you sure, child?"
He smiled again, and it was reflected in his blue eyes, which seemed to banish the cold around her. "I am sure. You will need His protection where you are going, and it will make it easier for you to find him."
The sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels on snow made her looked up to see their carriage rolling up to her, and she looked down at the little boy to thank him, but he had run off and was nowhere in sight. The carriage rolled up to her and stopped, and Wolfram opened the door from inside and helped her climb in. She settled onto the bench beside him as they rolled out of town. The road that led into the village was on the left fork of the main road. The right fork led up to the castle, and soon they were on their way.
Edeline watched silently through the carriage window as the massive structure came ever closer, and she felt her heart sink. It was far larger than she had expected, larger than any castle she had seen before. How were they to find Gabriel in that place? She felt Wolfram squeeze her hand, and she looked at him and managed a wan smile.
"We will find him." he said firmly. "We're not leaving here without him."
The carriage came to a sudden stop, and Edeline was unprepared for the jolt. Only Wolfram's arm kept her from being thrown off the bench. The door opened, and their driver appeared.
"My apologies, my lord, but the horses refuse to go any closer. There's something evil about that place that they don't like it."
"That is fine." Wolfram said as he stood up. "We will walk from here." He climbed down from the carriage, and held out his hand to her to help her do the same.
Edeline stepped down to the frozen road and looked up at their destination. From up close, the structure looked even more foreboding, and her sudden shiver had nothing to do with the cold.
"Return to the village." she heard Wolfram tell the driver. "We will return on foot."
"But my lord!"
"Do as you're told, and wait for us to return!"
"But why would you want to go in that place alone?"
"We have our reasons, now go. We will return as soon as we can."
Edeline kept her eyes on the castle before them as Wolfram spoke to the driver, and after a moment, she heard the cracking of the reins as the carriage returned to the village below. Wolfram took her by the arm, and without a word, they began their trek towards the castle. It was a magnificent building, she thought as they approached it, and during its heyday, it had to be a wonder to behold. Even now, as parts of it began to crumble, it was still an amazing sight. She shivered again as she looked upon it. It's beauty was just a mask for the horrors that had taken place within, and now their son was in there, alone.
After a half hour of walking, they reached the castle gates, and Edeline sighed in relief. Despite their heavy clothing and cloaks, the wind cut across them like a knife, and she was cold and stiff. She could barely feel her feet and her hands. The gates were open, and as they walked through them, she felt sudden warmth from her hands and looked down.
She was still holding the leather pouch in her hand, and it was rapidly growing warm in her fingers. She stopped for a second, ignoring the wind and Wolfram's confusion, and opened it up. She saw what was inside and gasped.
"Edeline?"
Wordlessly, she reached into the pouch and pulled out a small crucifix on a chain. The craftsmanship was exquisite; she could see the individual folds on the wrap around Christ's waist, but that was not what surprised her so.
It was solid silver and polished to a mirror shine. Where had that boy come by such a thing? She looked up at Wolfram to see him staring at the crucifix with his mouth hanging open, and she glanced down into the pouch to see two more. She felt faint at the thought of a child possessing such wealth, and then handing it over to a stranger without a word. Where had he come by them?
Wolfram stepped up to her, and he took the crucifix she held in her hand, lifted her hair, and fastened the chain around her next. Immediately, she felt the cold around her lessen, and she looked up to find that the castle seemed much less threatening than it had before. She pulled a second crucifix from the bag and handed it to her husband, and he quickly put it on. She then closed the pouch and held it tight in her hand. She did not want to lose the third one.
Wolfram held his arm out to her. "Shall we my dear? Our son is waiting."
She took it. "Yes, we shall."
They walked up to the massive front doors, and to her surprise, they opened easily at Wolfram's push. They stepped through them and into a large entrance hall, lined with gigantic statues on the right wall, and three large windows on the left. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and candle stands were scattered everywhere, but none of them were lit. The only light was the sunlight coming through the windows.
Edeline shivered again and pulled his cloak around her, despite the fact that they were out of the wind.
"Wolfram..." she said quietly.
"I know," he said softly, "I feel it too. We're not welcome here."
There was no one in the hall save for them, but she could feel a gaze on her, a gaze that was in no way friendly. Her skin broke out on goosebumps as they stood there, and she found herself backing up towards the doors. Wolfram shut them to shut out the wind, and the sound of them closing made her think of the sealing of a tomb. They were inside the castle, along with their son, and whatever else called the place home.
It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
At the end of the room was an open portcullis, and it led into a second room that was larger than the first. Their footsteps were muffled by the worn carpet under their feet, but they still echoed in the large space. As they walked, Edeline glimpsed what appeared to be either a meeting room or a chapel through a doorway along the right wall. The room was in the same state of disrepair and neglect as the entrance hall, but it also appeared as though a battle had taken place within, if the broken remains of the furniture were anything to go by.
At the end of the second room was a set up steps and two statues, of what, she couldn't hope to guess. Between them was a second portcullis, and an ornate pair of tall, red, ornate double doors. All were open, so they were able to walk through into a square room that appeared to have some kind of game board set into the floor, with the game pieces being large, life sized statues on pedestals. In the center of the board was a staircase leading down, but they ignored that. Something told her that Gabriel was not down there. There were two exits from the room, one in the right corner, and one in the left. The right one was blocked by a cave in, so it was the one on the left they walked through.
That doorway led to a long corridor, and it branched off to the left just before it ended on a balcony that overlooked a large room. Edeline clamped her hand over her mouth, but even that wasn't enough to completely stop her scream. The floor of the large room, which was littered with broken chairs and tables, which also splattered with blood and covered with the scattered remains of human bodies. Bones were thrown about carelessly, and scraps of bloodied cloth could be seen here and there.
She didn't protest when Wolfram pulled her back and into the corridor that branched off to the left that they had spotted just before coming in there. She didn't want to see any more of that room at all. She found herself shaking a little as they walked away.
The branching corridor was long, and ended in a large circular room that was missing part of its exterior wall and floor. The door at the end, framed by a carving of a demon's head, was open, and she tried not to look at it as they passed through.
You can't have him.
Edeline latched onto Wolfram's arm. "Did you hear that?" she whispered.
He nodded. "I did. I think we may have met the castle's inhabitant, at least one of them. Let's keep moving."
She nodded shakily, but her eyes continuously scanned the area for the source of the voice, but she saw nothing. Nothing but rot, decay, and shadows.
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