I was walking toward the castle.
Honestly, I wondered if anything had changed since I was last here. Probably. But I doubted it would affect me much — I lived too far away from the rest of humanity for their changes to matter.
I mean, sure, there were a few people I cared about.
Sei.
Aiko.
Kai… and Effie, I guess.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have minded living with them. Maybe even enjoyed it.
But "normal" wasn't exactly a word that applied to me anymore.
I was a vampire — and not the cool, storybook kind. My flaw was like twenty flaws stitched together and left to rot.
Still, it wasn't that bad in the long run.
A flaw is a flaw — a curse that comes with every aspect. No flaw is good, but some are better than others. Kai's, for example — he could tell when someone was lying. That's practically a superpower.
As I walked through the outer streets, I saw movement up ahead. A group. Humans, by the look of it — organized, armored, moving with purpose.
Interesting.
I stopped and crouched behind a cracked wall, peering through the mist.
In that group, I recognized a few familiar faces. Anderson — now sporting an eyepatch, with both arms wrapped in casts. Harus, Gunlaug's right hand, was there too. And Gemma — the leader of the Pathfinders and Hunters. Around fifty other Sleepers followed behind them, weapons gleaming faintly under the pale light.
I whistled lowly. "You seeing this, Beast?"
My hound tilted his massive head, eyes glowing faintly crimson.
"I wonder which unlucky bastard invoked their wrath."
Beast just wagged his tail — all that fresh, warm blood in the air was enough to make him happy. I patted his head, suppressing a smirk, and continued toward the castle.
By the time I arrived, the sun had already dipped below the horizon. The castle loomed above me like a carcass of black stone and silver vines.
Climbing was a pain with one arm, but then I remembered I didn't have to play by human rules anymore.
"Let's make this easier," I muttered.
I focused on my blood arm, turning the tips of my fingers into sharp, hardened claws. They bit into the stone like hooks. Each pull sent little bursts of crimson dripping down, but I climbed faster — faster than any human could have.
By the time I reached Sei's window, my lungs weren't even burning.
And as luck would have it, she was inside.
I tapped lightly on the glass.
She turned — her black hair swaying as she froze, then her eyes widened.
"Hello there, beautiful. Mind letting little old me inside?"
"Alucard?" Her voice was half disbelief, half relief. "What are you doing here? Come in, quickly!"
I slipped inside, landing softly on the carpet. "Decided to come visit… the room. Maybe you later," I muttered under my breath.
She raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing."
Her gaze dropped to my left side. "What happened to your arm? Did you lose it in your fight with Alexander?"
Just hearing that bastard's name made me sigh. "Yeah. But as you can see—" I lifted the blood arm, twisting my fingers. They melted into one, then split into three, then returned to normal. "I made a new one."
Sei stepped closer, inspecting it like a scientist studying an artifact. "You made it so… detailed," she said quietly. "Wouldn't it be easier to just manipulate the blood mentally, without all the fake veins and muscles?"
"Yeah, probably," I admitted. "But this way feels more natural. Like I'm rebuilding what I lost, not just replacing it. Eventually, I'll figure out your method — the more advanced one."
She smiled faintly. "You're stubborn. I'll give you that."
I leaned against the wall. "So, what's with the urgency? Or did you just miss me that much?"
Sei sat down on her bed, sighing like she'd been holding it in for hours. "Well… I won't say I didn't miss you. But that's not the point. Gunlaug sent a hunting party after you."
"Straight to the point, huh?" I said, trying to sound casual — though my stomach twisted a little. It made sense now. The armed group I saw earlier — that had to be them. "Fifty people just for me? I'm flattered."
She coughed lightly, clearly trying to change the subject. Her eyes darted to the floor, then back to me. "Do you… have any blood on you, Alucard?"
Ah. Right.
Before, she'd mentioned draining her handmaidens a little each day. Then I became her supplier — willingly or not.
"No, but a deal's a deal." I unfastened the armor around my neck, revealing the pale skin beneath. "I know you hate it when I use buckets, so… here you go. Drain me dry."
Her eyes darkened with hunger, though she tried to hide it. "You're ridiculous," she muttered, but she was already standing up.
I sat on the edge of her bed, tilting my head to the side. She stepped close — too close — and for a moment, I could feel her breath against my neck. Then her fangs sank in.
The pain came first — sharp and electric — followed by a strange warmth spreading through me. I looked down at her, at the way her lips trembled, the faint sigh that escaped her. Her expression… it was almost pleasurable.
"Don't look at me, damn it," she muttered between gulps.
I couldn't help but laugh quietly. "You're the one biting me, Sei."
She ignored that, drinking a bit longer before finally pulling away — though not before planting a soft kiss on my neck.
The spot burned — not painfully, but with a lingering warmth.
Was that her kiss… or my blood still pulsing there?
She sat back down, sighing like someone who'd just had their first meal in days. "Gods, I forgot how delicious your blood is, Alucard. I'm addicted."
"Yeah, yeah. I get that a lot," I said, rubbing the spot she kissed.
After that, we talked. About everything and nothing. Her handmaidens. My fight with Anderson. The state of the city. The old world. For a few hours, it almost felt normal.
She told me about her family — her adoptive family, the Songs. I knew she was part of them, but I didn't expect her to be the eldest daughter.
"Okay," I said finally, smirking. "I know it's rude to ask a lady her age, but seriously — how old are you?"
She gave me a flat look. "Old enough."
"That's not an answer."
She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Fine. I'm twenty-four."
"Damn." I blinked. "I'm seventeen."
Silence.
Thick, awkward silence.
We just looked at each other for a few seconds before I decided that jumping out the window would be less uncomfortable.
"Uhhh… byeeeeeee!"
"Wait, Alucard—" she started, but I was already halfway out the window, falling into the night.
"Gods damn it," she muttered, running to the window and watching the spot where I'd vanished. "He's going to get caught by the hunting party, isn't he?"
And not too far from there, the fifty Sleepers were already on their way back to the castle.