eiahmon | Blood Is Chapter 11

Title: Blood Is
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.
A/N: I know I'm terrible, making you wait so long for such a short chapter, but this thing did not want to move. Hopefully the next one will come to me faster.

11.

There were more voices.

Gabriel shivered as so many new voices fell upon his ears. Some were quiet, some were loud, some spoke gently to him, while others yelled and cursed at him. He shivered again; at least those two nice voices were still there, and when he heard them, the other voices stopped.

"Papa!" came a small voice from nearby, followed by the feel of something patting his face. "Papa!"

He scooted away from the voice and the thing touching him. Papa? Why would a voice call him that? He whined as the thing touching him moved closer. "Papa!" What was this? What was happening?

"Go away." he mumbled as he scooted as far away as he could before he was stopped by something behind him. The touches to his face didn't stop, and the growl slipped out before he could think. Immediately, the touches stopped, and one of the nice voices came then.

"It's all right, Gabriel. Trevor isn't here to hurt you."

He hid his face in the soft thing under his head. He didn't understand. Who or what was Trevor?

"We'll try some other time." came the other nice voice, followed by a hand on his shoulder. "Go back to sleep, Gabriel. You're at home. You're safe."

Home? He didn't have a home anymore.

******

Edeline tried not to let her disappointment show as Wolfram pulled Trevor away from Gabriel. "I think it's too soon." he said softly. "We'll try some other time, when Gabriel is awake." He looked over her shoulder at the curtain covered windows, and she saw small slivers of red sunlight fall across his face. "It is nearly dinner time, and I have to announce Trevor. Are you going to stay here with Gabriel?"

She nodded. "I know he has protection, but I don't feel at ease leaving him alone without us just yet."

"I understand. I'll have a meal sent up for you when it's time for his feeding."

"What are we going to do with Trevor? You know he's in just as much danger as Gabriel is."

Wolfram frowned as he went to stand up. "I'll keep him with me for now." he said as he rose from the chair. "He can sleep with us tonight, and we'll move him into the nursery with Anna tomorrow."

She nodded, and he walked out of the room without another word, carrying Trevor with him. Once the door had closed behind him, she moved over to the chair he had vacated, dragged it closer to Gabriel's bed, and sat down. He had curled up into a ball under the quilt, with his back pressed against the wall and his face buried in his pillow. She carefully reached out, and placed her hands on his back and left shoulder respectively and waited a minute to see if it would upset him.

"It's just me, Gabriel." she whispered. "Let's get you away from that wall." He whimpered quietly but made no other protest as she gently tugged him over. "There," she said once she had him lying in the middle of the mattress again. "I'm sure that feels much more comfortable." She raked his hair out of his face, and he peeked his eyes open at her. "Good evening." she said with a small smile. "How do you feel?"

He blinked at her, and then with a soft sigh, he pushed himself to sit up on the bed and looked at her.

She reached out to touch his cheek, but he turned his head away. "Gabriel?" He mumbled something that she couldn't catch, so she leaned in closer to hear. "What is it?" He turned away again. "Tell Mama what's wrong, Gabriel." He covered his ears with his hands and shook his head. "Do you hear something?"

He shook his head again and whined. "Go away." he whispered. "Voices..."

She couldn't hear anything, but then... she didn't know how good a vampire's hearing was. She moved from the chair to sit on the bed beside him. "The voices here belong to family, Gabriel, your family. No one here wants to hurt you." Except for maybe your uncle and cousin, she added silently, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She and Wolfram would protect him from any of their plots.

He dropped his hands from his ears, wrapped his arms around himself, and shivered as he squeezed his eyes shut. She reached out to touch him again, and this time he let her. She gently ran her fingers down his cheek and smiled when he leaned into the touch.

"That's right, Gabriel. Mama's not going to hurt you."

He grabbed her hand in both of his and held it against his face. "Warm." he said quietly.

"Are you cold? Let me fix that." She gently tugged her hand out of his, and then she grabbed his quilt and draped it over his shoulders. "Is that better?"

He snuggled down into it and smiled faintly. "Warm."

She smiled again. "Yes, you're warm now." She reached out to him again, and he leaned into her before she could even touch him. She laughed quietly and allowed him to lean against her with his head lying on her chest. She didn't think it could be all that comfortable, since he was a head taller than her, but he didn't seem to mind as she put one arm around his blanket covered shoulders and ran the fingers of her other hand through his hair.

He made a quiet "Mmmmmm..." of contentment, and she smiled to hear it.

I'm holding my son! The thought ran through her mind as her heart swelled with joy. I'm really holding him! He's here in my arms!

There was a knock at the door, and Gabriel jumped slightly. "It's all right, Gabriel. That's likely our supper."

The knock came again. "My lady?"

"Just a moment!" She carefully coaxed Gabriel into sitting up, and then she got up to answer the door.

A servant was on the older side, carrying a supper tray for her, as well as Gabriel's evening drink. She took the tray and the blood into the room as the guard shut the door behind her, and she turned around and nearly dropped it when she found Gabriel standing right in front of her.

"Oh Gabriel, don't sneak up on me like that!" she scolded him as she stepped around him to walk over to the table. "Now come over here; it's time for supper." He quietly walked over, and she realized then that his feet weren't making any sound against the wooden floor. She shivered slightly. "Sit down." He looked at her and blinked in apparent confusion.

She sat the tray down and turned to face him. Being careful to to act in any way threatening, she took him by the arm, led him over to the chair, and gently pushed him down into it. His killing of the highwaymen had made it clear that, regardless of his mental state, he was still a dangerous predator and not one to be angered. He smiled vaguely at her and sat, and she released the breath that she only then realized that she had been holding.

His killing of the highwaymen had also made them believe that they hadn't been feeding him enough. He had drained two of them completely, so they decided to feed him twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, to be on the safe side. Thankfully the slaughtering of livestock to feed their large household was done on a daily basis, so blood was easy to come by.

As always she had to hold the tankard for him as he drank, and once he was done, she set it aside and used a handkerchief to wipe a drop off of the corner of his mouth. "Do you want to go back to bed now?" she asked, and he looked at her and blinked again. "Apparently not."

Leaving him in the opposite chair, she sat down in the other and tucked in to her own meal, but she kept one eye on Gabriel as she ate. He did not move, nor did he make any sound. Instead he only watched her through unfocused eyes as she ate. They would have to have a couch or something similar put in the room, she thought, because it would be nice to sit beside him on something other than the bed.

She pushed her empty plate away and glanced up at the tiny gap visible between the heavy curtain and the window. The sun was completely down, and the household would soon be settling down for the night. She stood up and walked over to Gabriel.

"Time to go back to bed, Gabriel." she told him as she laid her hands on his shoulders. "Stand up." He slowly rose to his feet, and she guided him over to the bed and sat him down. It took a bit of work to get him lying down again, but soon he was tucked under the quilt, with his head on the pillow and his eyes closed. She brushed his hair out of his face and kissed him on the cheek. He mumbled something as he settled down, and she sat with him until she was certain that he was asleep, and then she forced herself to get up and leave the room. She stepped out into the corridor and quietly closed the door, and the two guards nodded respectfully at her. She gave them a faint smile, sighed, and then walked the short distance to the bedroom that she shared with Wolfram.

She found her husband seated in one of the comfortable armchairs by the large crackling fireplace, reading a missive of some kind. Trevor was asleep in the middle of their bed, and the room was dark aside from the light coming from the fire.

"Interesting reading?" she asked quietly as she walked towards him and sat down in the chair opposite him.

He looked up at her. "Oh, this? John's been doing some listening around for me, in case any rumors start swirling about that we need to know about." He looked back down at the missive. "As we expected, talk of what happened when I took Trevor from the Brotherhood is going around, and the fact that Volpe did not in any way deny my accusation of him stealing our son has not gone unnoticed."

"So.. people believe us then? They don't think we just stole Gabriel's son to attract attention onto ourselves?"

"So it would seem, but I suppose we'll see as more time passes. Opinion could always turn against us."

"No rumors of Gabriel's presence yet?"

"None, so far people are keeping quiet about him."

"How long do you think it will last?"

"I don't know. Hopefully long enough for him to come back to himself at least." He looked up at her when she sighed. "Edeline?"

"I just..." She shook her head slightly. "I wonder if that will ever happen. We may never get him back, Wolfram. He may stay like this, and we aren't getting any younger. Who will take care of him once we are gone? What about Trevor? You know what Adelar and Cordrin will do to them."

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "I know. I share your fears, but there is nothing we can do but hope that God won't abandon His chosen now."

"I hope that will be enough."

Wolfram nodded silently, and then he stood up and threw the missive into the fire. "Let's go to bed. We can worry about tomorrow when it gets here."

She nodded faintly and stood up from the chair. They readied for bed in comfortable silence, and Trevor didn't stir when they laid down on other side of him. Like she had with his father, Edeline brushed his hair out of his face and kissed him on the cheek. He sleepily rubbed at the spot and then snuggled in close.

"Goodnight, Edeline." Wolfram said as he settled down on Trevor's other side.

"Goodnight,"

******

A scream ripped through the air, and Edeline jumped upright in bed, wide eyed and shivering at the sound. Next to her Trevor began to cry as Wolfram sat up. They looked at each other, and Edeline reached over to Trevor to comfort him when another scream sounded from the room next to theirs.

"Gabriel!" She threw the covers back, leapt out of bed and ran for the door. She could hear her husband right behind her as she ran out into the hallway and down the short distance to Gabriel's room. One of his guards was still standing outside the door, and a dozen panicked thoughts ran through her mind at the absence of the other. Had someone attacked Gabriel? Was he hurt? Was someone else in the room with him? Was he ill? Had the second guard attacked him? Had he...?

She ran through the open door and found the second guard inside, checking the windows for any sign of an intruder. Gabriel was on his bed, pressed against the wall with his eyes squeezed shut, screaming.

"Gabriel!" she ran to him and held her arms out to gather him up, but when she touched him, one of his hands shot out, and she felt one of his claws tear a deep gash in the base of her neck. She stumbled back from him and pressed her hand over the wound. Blood trickled out from under her fingers.

"My lady!" the guard said in alarm.

She held out her other hand to stop him. "I'm fine. I just startled him. Go make sure no one else comes in here.

"Are you sure, my lady?"

"Yes," came Wolfram's voice from behind her. "Close the door behind you."

She heard the guard's footsteps moving towards the door as Wolfram walked up to stand behind her. "This is deep, Edeline. It'll need stitches."

The door closed behind the guard, and she waved Wolfram's concern off. "I'm fine. Let's get Gabriel calmed down first."

His hands squeezed her shoulders for a brief moment, and then they let go. "Alright. Let me approach him first, since you're bleeding. He might try to bite you if he smells blood."

She didn't want to stay back. Her baby was screaming, and he needed his mother, but.. Wolfram had a point, so she nodded reluctantly and stepped back. She watched as Wolfram approached the bed and reached out to Gabriel, who had curled up on a ball, as though he was trying to hide from something.

Wolfram sat down beside him, reached out, and gently placed on hand on his arm. "Gabriel?" He gave him a gentle shake. "Gabriel, wake up." Gabriel shuddered and hid his face. "Gabriel?" Wolfram sat down beside him, and Gabriel didn't protest as he was slowly tugged out of his protective ball to lie with his head on his father's lap.

"Open your eyes, Gabriel. No one is here to hurt you."

Gabriel made a whine that turned into a loud sob, and his body shook with it as tears poured freely from his eyes, which were squeezed shut. Edeline couldn't watch anymore. She crossed the distance to the bed in a few quick steps and knelt down beside her crying son.

"Edeline!" Wolfram hissed, but she ignored him. Gabriel needed them both, the risk be damned. She reached out with her clean hand and ran her fingers down Gabriel's cheek.

"Gabriel." She called his name just loud enough to be heard over his cries. "We're here, Gabriel. You're at home with us; the castle is long gone." He opened his eyes, but they did not focus on her. Instead they focused on a point behind her, and he went silent for a brief moment before he screamed again.

The door opened. "My lord, my lady, is everything all right?"

"Everything's fine." Edeline said without taking her eyes off of Gabriel. "Leave us."

"Should we call for the doctor?"

"Not now. Now close the door and leave us be!"

"Papa? Gam-ma? Gampapa?"

"Take Trevor back to our room immediately." Wolfram ordered, but Edeline turned her head to see the child easily dodge the hands that tried to catch him and toddle up to them.

He reached out and placed his hand on Gabriel's cheek. "Papa!"

Gabriel's eyes swung over, and he turned his head slightly to look at his son. He blinked in confusion as his cries began to trail off.

"Papa sad?" Trevor said, and then he leaned over and kissed his father tear damp face. "No more sad, Papa."

Gabriel went quiet, and he looked at Trevor, still blinking in confusion. He slowly raised one hand and lightly touched the tips of his claws to the child's face.

"Papa?" he said in apparent bewilderment. "Why?"

Edeline looked at her husband, and his eyes met hers for a moment before they looked down at their son and grandson again. Something important was happening.

Family: 10 -- Family: 12
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Blood Is Chapter 11

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