Dragon Within A Village
It was a dreaded night in a village outside of London. A dark, demonic red dragon was attacking the town in the dead of night. Its breath was so hot that it started to melt the building with its breath. It rampages through the village streets until it hears footsteps coming toward it. The creature turned to where the footsteps came from but saw nothing. It started to feel the pain coming from its neck, but this was the last thing this dragon felt as its head fell off its long neck with blood spurting out.
The dark vampire Jonathan Dracula slayed this beast wearing the new equipment Ludwig had given him. He wore a long black coat, which the grandmasters of the Frye Order wore. He also wore a back vest with a black design, a white jabot shirt underneath, black trousers, and brown knee-high boots. He used his new saber, created with the most demanding steel the Frye Organization could gather.
Jonathan sheathes his blade and thinks, Take care of that beast. Hopefully, these people can rebuild their homes.
He looked around as he headed back to the base they had made for the night of the mission. As he walked, he spoke into an earpiece to Jay, “Jay, I have slain the creature in the village. I am returning now.”
“Understood, Sir Jonathan. We await your return,” Jay replied.
“Alright.”
Jonathan starts to feel that this village resembles the one in which his mother died. For some strange reason, he is not bothered by this, though. This was a sign that he was starting to get past his mother’s death. But he looked out a window, and when he passed, he looked at the reflection of his eyes, the thing that would never change.
These eyes were a sign he had sinned as a vampire, which would never go away. He was starting to feel that he was to blame for their death, as he should have been. He was the one who fed into his rage and wraith. He thought some killed his mother, and some had nothing to do with his mother’s death. He would turn and leave this village and head back to the others.
Jonathan would appear at a clearing in the woods, where he saw the Trojan Horse. He would see the others in their demon-hunting attire sitting around a table they brought, drinking tea Jay had prepared. He walks over to them.
Alucard looks and sees him approaching them, “Ah, Jonathan. You came back.”
“I guess we were barely needed,” Liam said, looking bored as he didn’t fight the beast they were sent to hunt.
Ludwig was drinking tea. “Good work, my friend. You easily defeated that nasty lizard.”
“It was no big deal. It was only luck that I could kill that beast,” Jonathan replied.
He would sit at the table next to them, look down, and think deeply about something. Ludwig would see this as he felt that Jonathan was going through something and had been like this since they returned from Atlantia.
“Well, let’s head back home since our job is finished here,” Liam yawned, tired of waiting for something to happen.
They start packing up the things they had on their table and head back to the manor for the night.
The very next day, Jonathan was in the newly remodeled Frye Library. He removed his jacket and read a book on a new sofa. Ludwig walked in wearing his casual clothes and headed to a table in his library with a sign that said, “Return.” Victoria put this here so the people who finished reading the book could return, and she would take care of them. He placed it on the table and sighed. He turns to see Jonathan reading a book.
“Well, I did not know you were a bookworm like your sister,” He commented on Jonathan.
He took notice of Ludwig approaching him, “Jester, come to read as well?”
“Yes, but I also came to return a book. Your sister would hunt me down if I did not return this book.”
“Victoria would not think twice, either. She could be scarier than any other demon we have faced. She will probably kill you if you mess with her favorite book. I learned the hard way when we were kids.”
“Damn, you had it worse. I, too, faced her wraith a bit, and it was the last time I would mess with her about a book.”
“She is a tough one. She handled our mother’s death better than Alucard and I.”
“Yeah, she nearly killed me when she found all these books scattered throughout the manor.”
“Mother used to buy her many books when we were kids. She was not like normal girls who got dolls or dresses. She always loved her books.”
Jonathan seemed more comfortable talking to Ludwig, but he wondered if he could relay his problems.
“What seems to be the problem, Jonathan? You have been acting strange since we returned from the sea.”
“I have stopped having nightmares about reliving my mother’s death.”
“That is good, Jonathan. It’s a good sign you are moving on from her death.”
“Yes, but I will truly never be free,” Jonathan says, looking at his eyes reflected in the window. He will never be free of the sins he has committed as long as his eyes are still black.
“I see. Well, Jonathan, that would have to be the next step in your path to seek redemption for what you feel you have done. In my opinion, I feel it was more self-defense every time I heard what happened to you in that village.”
“There were innocent people, too, Jester. Those are the ones I feel I need to atone for.”
“I see. Then I guess I am no help for that, my friend. But remember, you must live on for Alucard and Victoria’s sake.”
“Thank you for listening, Jester.”
Ludwig felt he needed to share something since he had opened up to him, “I am afraid of the dark.”
“Excuse me?” Jonathan looked surprised by the fact that Ludwig had shared it with him.
“I am afraid of the dark. I hate being unable to see, and it freaks me out.”
He watches as Jonathan starts laughing at him, “I’m sorry, Jester. I just never thought you were afraid of anything like that.”
“I think I picked up when my mother died when I was younger, being stuck in that dark closet.”
Jonathan closes his book and gets up from the chair he was sitting in, “I guess if I want to kill you easily. I just got to throw you into a dark room.”
“Ah, maybe telling you my secret was a bad idea.”
“But it’s a sign that you trust me as well, especially as it could be a big weakness of yours,” Jonathan would yawn. “I think it’s time I retire until dusk when our hunt begins again.”
Jonathan then left the library and returned to his room to rest until night. Ludwig turned and saw that Jay was nearby, cleaning, as he had heard everything there.
“You heard that?” He asked.
“Yes, my lord. I am just surprised he forgot I was here cleaning,” Jay replied.
“You think I said the right thing to him?”
“Of course, I thought you did well, sir. Telling him your biggest fear was a good way to show him trust in you.”
“Thank you, Jay.”
Ludwig looked at an old painting of himself, his sister, and his parents, and thought, I hope it helps him, mother
and father.
