The Lonely Child Chapter 1

[eiahmon]

Title: The Lonely Child
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Castlevania and its characters and situations are the sole property of Konami. I am making no money or profit off of this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Prequel to A Moment of Stupidity, which is required reading, otherwise this will make no sense at all. Walter Bernhard, a child on the run, meets Silvanus Asenti, a man who had just lost his family. This is the story of that meeting.
Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for AMoS Parts 1, 2, & 3!

The Lonely Child

Walter didn’t know how long he had been running. It seemed like forever. During the nights he ran, hoping to stay ahead of those that had once considered him family. During the days he sought refuge from the sun in abandoned cellars, deserted crypts, anywhere the sun couldn’t go. He laid down to sleep every morning, shivering with terror, knowing that his pursuers could go out in sunlight, allowing them to catch him while he slept. Every night he woke, and the thirst burned a little stronger in his veins, his body feeling just a little weaker from starvation. He didn’t dare hunt; he didn’t want them to have an obvious trail to follow. He was so thirsty; his last blood had been his mother’s, just before she had pressed the bag with her alchemy books and the Ebony Stone into his hands and let him go. That had been nearly three weeks ago.

He angrily dashed away the tears that were falling from his red eyes. Vampires don’t cry, he told himself sternly. He couldn’t feel his mother anymore. The parent/ child bond they had once had was gone, snapped like a thread, and he knew that she was dead. He couldn’t feel the sire/ child bond that he had with Adelar either, and he knew that his beloved child and lover was dead as well, executed for a crime that he had not committed.

He couldn’t stop the sob that broke free from him. Where had everything gone so wrong? Just three weeks ago, he had sat in his favorite chair in his parents’ house, Adelar nestled against him, his parents sitting together on a couch nearby, laughing and joking like a family should. Now his father was dead, his mother was dead, Adelar was dead, and he was running for his life. Walter wanted to throw himself to the ground and sob and wail like a child, let the world know of his distress, his pain, his grief. But he couldn’t; he had to keep running. He had to get away.

He didn’t know where he was going, but he didn’t care. He knew that he may very well ending up running for as long as he lived; they would never stop pursuing him. He had done the unforgivable, and they wouldn’t stop until he was punished for it.

He stumbled and fell down into the snow. It soaked his thin pants and shirt and made him break out in shivers. He went limp for a moment as more tears slipped down his face. How easy it would be to just lie down and die! But no, he promised his mother that he would try to start a life elsewhere. He would not renege on that promise. Wiping the tears away, he got to his feet and gathered up the books that had fallen out of the bag. Stuffing them back into the canvas sack, he saw a glint of black on the white snow and picked it up.

It was the Ebony Stone. His tears started anew as he thought of all the trouble this seemingly harmless black stone had caused. His mother had been turned against her will because of this stone, his father had been driven into a homicidal rage because of this stone, he had killed his father to protect his mother because of this stone. He wanted to curse, to scream in rage, and throw the stone far away from him, but he couldn’t make his arm respond to the command. His mother’s family had created the stone, and she had protected it faithfully for the past three hundred years, allowing no vampire to have it. She had given it to him, explained its unique abilities and told him that it would protect him and any future children that he might have and keep them safe. He could not bring himself to throw it away. Holding the cool stone against his forehead, he cried for all that he had lost. He cried until exhaustion and thirst won over him, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

*****

Silvanus Asentii sat quietly in the silence of his family’s living room, curled up in a ball of misery in his chair. He stared at the fire, seeing nothing, his mind lost in the images of his family that were flashing through his mind. They were gone, all of them. Why? He wanted to scream the question out to the heavens and demand an answer. Everyone: his wives, his children, his grandchildren! All of them! Gone! Dead! He laughed a bitter, hysterical laugh that tapered off into a sob. Oh why had he left that day? Why hadn’t he stayed home with his family? Why hadn’t he been there to protect them? He had failed as a father and a husband. Now the castle, once full of voices and laughter, and even the cries of the smaller children when their older siblings became too rough in their play, was silent as a tomb. Which it was, he thought bitterly. The remains of his wives, children, and grandchildren had been burned, and their ashes interred in urns that he buried beneath the castle. Even in death, he wanted them close to him.

At least the monster responsible for their death was contained, he thought as he laid his head down on the armrest of his chair. He had wanted to slaughter the monster, make it feel the pain he was feeling, but he had acknowledged that he was in no shape to do so. He wasn’t even sure if he had the strength. One of his wives was as nearly as old as he was, and she had been unable to protect herself and the others, so it was doubtful that he could have killed it. It had exhausted him just to herd it to the lowermost levels of the castle and seal it there with his magic. He had considered sealing it up permanently, but he knew that if he did so, he would be unable to exact vengeance on it in the future. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and slipped into a deep sleep, hoping that he wouldn’t dream about his family this time.

It was the tingle in the back of his mind, alerting him that someone had crossed into his territory, that woke him later. He sat up groggily, half heartedly extending his senses to learn who the intruder was. He sat up in his chair when he sensed that the intruder was a young child, probably less than a century old. Certainly much too young to be out alone without his or her parents or sire. He could feel the little one’s distress and wondered what was wrong. He rose from his chair, intending to go to the child and see about getting him returned safely home, when he sensed the child falling unconscious. Alarmed, he morphed into a large silver bat and flew out of the nearest open window.

He spotted the child easily, lying face down in the snow about two miles from his castle. He carefully touched down, morphing back into his natural form and knelt down next to the little one, grateful for his heavy clothing that protected him from the cold and wet. The child on the other hand...

Silvanus rolled him over onto his back and looked him over. He was wearing just light pants and shirt, completely unfit for the weather, and no shoes, stockings, gloves, or hat of any kind. His feet were blistered and bleeding, making Silvanus wonder how long he had been out and on his feet. Blistering was practically unheard of in vampires. He had suffered them once or twice in his younger years, during his wanderings around the world, but they were rare in a race in which any injury healed almost immediately.

Deciding to take the little one back to the castle to better look over him and get him cared for, Silvanus lifted him up into his arms, noting how he curled his body around the bag in his hands and nestled against Silvanus’ own body, as if seeking comfort. He couldn’t risk long distance translocation with the child in his arms, so he willed himself up into the air to fly back.

He make it back to the castle in only a few seconds and carried the little one to his own bedchamber. Laying him down on the bed, he started the fireplace with a nod of his head and set about making the child comfortable. He stripped off the wet, dirty clothes, and washed his feet, hands, and face. He really needed an actual bath, but until he knew more about the child’s sire or family, he couldn’t take the risk that someone might take offence.

Silvanus gasped when he saw the obvious signs of a beating that the boy had taken. The wounds were partially healed, showing that he had at least gotten some blood since they were inflicted, but it was obvious that he had starved since then. He became very angry when he realized this. Other than the occasional spanking for misbehavior, Silvanus never struck his children, and he never denied them blood when they needed it. Who would do this to their own child? Whoever it was, this child would not be returning to them. He would turn him to himself if he had to, but this little one would never suffer this again!

The child stirred in his sleep, whimpering in distress. As Silvanus watched, tears began leaking from under his eyelids.

“Hush, child.” he said soothingly as he ran his fingers through the tangled red curls. The boy leaned into his touch, as if seeking reassurance. He recognized the hair as belonging to one of the more powerful vampire families, but he couldn’t recall which one right away. Instead he lifted the little one up into his arms once more, bit into his tongue and gave him a blood kiss. Even in sleep, the child pulled hard, forcing Silvanus to contain a wince. How long had this little one been forced to go without? The boy drained him before he was satisfied, and Silvanus was pleased to see the blisters on his feet and the other wounds closing. Lying him back on the bed, he gently tucked him under the covers.

“Rest now, little one.” he said softly “You’re safe with me.” He ran his fingers through the thick red hair again, and let his fingers trail down to the little one’s hand. To his surprise, the boy’s fingers curled weakly around his hand for a moment before relaxing.

Silvanus slipped soundlessly out of the room, leaving the little one to his rest.

******

Walter slowly came back to awareness. He wearily gathered himself to rise from wherever he had lain down to sleep and continue running. He would have to be careful; he had been starved to the point that his senses were no longer working properly, so he had no way of knowing if his pursuers were nearby. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember falling asleep. He opened his eyes to take a quick look around...

... and nearly fainted again when he saw his surroundings.

Instead of the roof of some dark, dingy crypt or rotting floorboards, he saw the rich material of a bed canopy, similar to the one in his bed chamber in his parents’ house. He warily sat up, unmindful of his nakedness beneath the blankets, and looked around. He was in the fanciest room he had ever seen, and he wondered how he had gotten here. He felt some sense of relief since he knew that no one in the Bernhard family possessed such finery, which meant that he hadn’t been caught.

At least not yet.

Whoever could just be hanging onto him until his family could come for him. News traveled fast in the vampire world, so it was very likely that word of what he had done had spread far beyond his family’s lands. The rich room may have been the only place his captor could put him, or he could want him relaxed and off guard. Or - the idea made him sick - he had been taken as a toy. It was common for vampires to imprison younger, weaker ones and use them for pleasure. Several members of the Bernhard family had such little harems. It could be possible that the vampire that caught him had negotiated with his family to keep him. Unlikely, but possible.

Walter shuddered.

He warily climbed out of the bed, and it was then that he noticed his nakedness. He felt a blush rise to his cheeks - only Adelar had seen him naked since he had grown into adulthood. His nakedness seemed to also confirm his fear that he was now a sex toy. He felt fear settle into his belly, and he determined that, no matter what they threatened him with, he would not submit. He would not! At least they hadn’t touched him yet. He wasn’t sore in any of the expected places.

As a matter of fact, he wasn’t sore anywhere. Looking down at himself, he saw that all of his injuries were gone, healed as if they had never been there. Even his feet didn’t ever hurt anymore! He wasn’t thirsting anymore either. How...?

The sense of someone approaching the door made him tense and break from his thoughts. He backed into a corner, looking for any possible escape route, when the door quietly swung open and a male vampire with long silver hair and silver eyes stepped into the room.

“I see that you’re awake, little one.” he said calmly as he shut the door behind him “You’ve done slept the night and the day clear through.”

Little one. The term of endearment used by vampires for their children. How many times had Walter heard his parents call him that? How many times had he called Adelar that? A small sob broke free of him before he could stop it. He would never be called that again. He would never call Adelar that again.

The silver haired vampire stepped closer, causing Walter to back further into the corner. “Oh, child, what has happened to you to make you so afraid?”

“Stay away!” Walter choked, “Don’t come any closer!” So frightened by the power he could feel coming from the vampire in front of him, he never noticed that the two of them were using the same language, though Walter knew he had traveled several thousand miles from his family’s lands.

The vampire took a placating step back. “Relax child, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I won’t let you use me!” Walter cried “I won’t go back to them!” His legs began to shake, and he realized that he was still weak from his two weeks of starving. He leaned back against the wall behind him to take some of his weight off of his legs; he would not show this vampire how weak and tired he was.

“What are you talking about, child? Go back to who?”

“I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean for it to happen.” Tears began falling from his eyes again as another sob broke free. His legs slid out from under him, but before he could fall to the floor, the vampire was there, catching him and gathering him up into his arms. Walter fought, but the vampire’s grip was much too strong. When the strong arms began to gently rock him back and forth and a voice began murmuring a soothing lullaby in his ear, Walter couldn’t hold himself together any longer. He burst into tears and sobbed into the vampire’s hair.

“Tell me what happened, little one. Why are you so sad and scared?”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen!” Walter wailed “It was an accident! It was an accident. He was hurting Mother, and she was screaming. I only wanted him to stop! I didn’t mean for it to end that way! I tried to stop him, but he just hit me and knocked me away. Mother tried to go to me, but he hit her too, screaming at her. I just wanted to stop him, but I used too much force....” Walter gave into the sobs for awhile, not caring that he was showing such weakness in front of such an old and powerful vampire. If he was going to die, he might as well die with some of the weight off of his chest. The vampire rocked him and let him cry for a bit longer. Then he asked:

“What happened, child?”

“I killed my father!” Walter screamed. He laid his head against the vampire’s chest and sobbed out his misery, not caring that he was condemned to death by his own family, not caring that the very vampire that was comforting him could have all manner of perverted plans for him in mind. He just cried.

******

Silvanus couldn’t believe what he had just heard. This child had been forced to kill his own father to protect his mother? No wonder the poor thing was so broken! That also explained why he was out on his own. He was obviously running from the rest of his family, who had, by the vampire laws, condemned him to death for his actions. The boy’s story confirmed a suspicion that Silvanus had about his identity. Word had filtered through the vampire community that Emery Bernhard, a member of the powerful Bernhard family, and his wife, Leala, had been murdered, and that their half century old son, Walter, was missing. Nowhere had the reports said that Walter had been the one to actually kill his father, though. The Bernhards had apparently released enough details to get Walter found and returned to them.

So he could be executed.

Silvanus had to suppress an angry growl, not wanting to frighten the child in his arms anymore than he already was. Walter was apparently expecting Silvanus to either turn him over to his family, or keep him for himself, for pleasure. Well neither one of those things was going to happen.

Rising to his feet, he carefully stepped back over to the bed and laid Walter down on it, pulling the covers back over him.

“You’re not going back there, little one.” he said softly. Little one. How he missed calling his children that. Walter raised red, puffy eyes to him and looked at him in confusion.

“You were protecting your mother, child.” Silvanus elaborated “There is nothing wrong with that.”

“They killed my child.” Walter whimpered “They made me watch as they burned him in the sun. He was screaming for me to help him, but they held me back and wouldn’t let me go to him!”

Silvanus sat down on the edge of the bed and smoothed back the tangled hair. The reports had not said anything about Walter having a child. Whether fathered, birthed, or turned, the loss of a child was devastating to any vampire, because of the close bond between parent, sire, and child. To lose his father and his child in such a short span of time... It made Silvanus feel sick. He thought for a moment; didn’t the reports say that Emery’s wife was also dead?
 

“What of your mother then, little one?”

“She helped me escape. They beat me and locked me in chains in a small room. They beat me every night, and they wouldn’t feed me. They were going to kill me. Mother was given one last visit with me. She gave me her books and a stone and let me go. They killed her for it.” Walter’s eyes suddenly widened, and he sat straight up in bed.

“My bag! Where is it?” Silvanus gently pushed him back down.

“Rest easy, child. It is right here.” He summoned the canvas sack from where he had placed it on a chair nearby. Walter grabbed it and hugged it to his chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Which considering it had been given to him by his mother, just before she had died, it probably was. Walter hugged it for a moment before opening it and beginning to rummage through it. Silvanus had a good idea of what he was looking for; he had been surprised that, despite his weakness, Walter had held onto that strange black stone with a death grip, refusing to release it even in sleep. Silvanus had had to pry it from his fingers.

Walter let out an audible sigh of relief when his hand came out of bag with the stone in it. He kissed it before placing it safely back in the sack with the books. He pulled the drawstring shut and growled at Silvanus when he moved to take it from him.

“Are you thirsty, child?” Silvanus asked softly. Walter looked at him warily. Silvanus could sense that he was indeed thirsty, but was wary of asking for what he needed.

“It’s alright to ask for what you need, little one.” Walter seemed to think of this for a moment, before nodding hesitantly. Figuring that he would not welcome the vulnerability of a blood kiss, Silvanus bit into his wrist and offered it to him. Still keeping wary eyes on him, Walter pressed his open mouth to the wound, taking the offered blood.

“Drink as much as you want, little one.”

Walter drank greedily, proof that he had been badly starved for quite some time. To a vampire Silvanus’s age, two or three weeks without blood was not a problem. But to one as young as Walter, that was nearly long enough to cause death. Silvanus imagined that the only reason he was still alive was due to the power that the Bernhard family possessed. Silvanus felt another surge of anger at the suffering this child had been forced to endure, simply because he had wanted to protect his mother.

Walter didn’t drink as much as he had the first time, falling into a deep sleep before he could get that far. Silvanus licked the bites on his wrist to heal them, then he tucked the blankets around Walter, making sure that the canvas sack was in easy reach so the he wouldn’t panic if he woke and he couldn’t find it.

He stood up from the edge of the bed and looked down at the sleeping child. He knew that he should follow the vampire laws and turn Walter over to his family, but he couldn’t bear the thought of him being executed for doing what he thought was right. He looked at the sleeping face, partially hidden behind a curtain of tangled red hair, and saw the tears that were still tracking down his face. This child had suffered enough. He knew, logically, that he was letting his feelings and grief for his own children get in the way, but he would not let this little one go back to those who wished to harm him.

Decided, Silvanus quietly left the room to go hunt. Until he was strong enough to protect himself, in a century or so, Walter would stay with him. He would be breaking most of the vampire laws in giving the child shelter, but he didn’t care. Silvanus was older than the vampire laws, and, as far as he was concerned, Walter had done nothing wrong.

While he was out, Silvanus would go see his human tailors and see about getting Walter properly clothed. The clothes he had arrived in simply would not do, not at all. Then there was the bath that he needed, and some hot food would probably make him feel better as well. And he would have to be taught the local language so he would fit in better. It wouldn’t do for the Bernhard family to find him, so he had to blend in.

His thoughts on what needed to be done, Silvanus left his castle, heading for his hunting grounds.

Chapter 1 --

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