[ It's hard to say how long there is nothing bit silence in response. But eventually the first sound comes. It isn't Trevor or Sypha. It isn't Carmilla.
It's a snuffle, followed by a few quiet oinks. The sound of their feet on the wooden floorboards. It's hard to say what they're responding to, until a moment later there is finally a voice. Not Trevor's or Sypha's, but a voice. Soft and tired and a little too calm, but with an edge of certainty to it that not even this place has dulled. ]
Here. This is the slaughterhouse.
[ A thump, then another, and then splintering wood and the door swinging open and slamming against the wall behind it. And then a chorus of pleased-sounding oinking. And then, finally- ]
-Everyone, behind me. She's in here somewhere. Sypha, once we find her be ready to break a hole in the ceiling to get her into the light. And- I'll be honest, I didn't plan for the pigs. The pigs are a surprise.
[Alucard doesn't know whose voice that is, talking to pigs. He doesn't care, he just tries to move himself towards it. Groans. Strains. Tries to at least put a hand out above Carmilla and all the bodies around him, but it fails.
The world is fuzzy. Alucard can feel how dry his throat is and--
[ He had a plan. A proper, well thought out plan. The whip is near enough useless in tight quarters like this, and so then he had a new plan. And then there were pigs, and so he had to work around those, and-
Fuck plans, he's going in.
There are heavier footfalls accompanied by the sound of a crutch hitting the ground, followed by lighter ones. Quiet 'oofs' from the both of them as they push past the hanging bodies. A quiet, horrified 'oh-' from Sypha after one of those, followed by the sound of a body being pushed away and those quiet footsteps moving quicker. And then the load of bodies is becoming lighter, until the last of the corpses between the two of them and Carmilla's body is gone. ]
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck-
[ Before he knows she's dead, Trevor is pushing Sypha back. Trying to get her clear of Carmilla. Sypha is having none of it. There's a whoosh of air, followed by a long spike of frozen blood that rises from the ground with enough force to puncture Carmilla's body and lift her away from Alucard. ]
-dead. Thank god. Thank god. And- shit. Shit, Adrian-
[ There are hands on Alucard now. Warm ones, lifting him carefully from the corpse pile. A smaller, warmer one brushing hair away from his face. ]
[They're here. Alucard's sigh of relief is loud, and he hopes it'll help the other two find him. Words aren't difficult yet, but Alucard wants to reserve them for when they're needed most. Lying in a pile of corpses isn't one of them.
He can hear them approach. The sense of relief grows, even if there's no way to warn them both of the horrors that lay ahead. There's no way to avoid them anyway, not with Carmilla taking him into the darkest, deepest part of the slaughterhouse.
And they're here.
Alucard's a picture of misery under the corpse pile, his hair splayed out, blood all over himself, and the exhaustion painted on his face. When hands start to pull him out, lift him up, there's no tension. But oh, he still holds that dagger like his life depends on it.]
[ He kicks bodies away unsteadily, clearing a place on the ground to lay Alucard down. He’ll need the crutch again before long, but for now adrenaline is enough. Sypha’s always-too-warm hands stroke through Alucard’s hair as Trevor puts rough stitches into the cut to keep it closed long enough to work on. It’s nothing, compared to the meat hook and Carmilla’s nails, but Sypha tries to comfort him through it anyway. ]
Ready as it’s going to be. Just get it closed.
[ They switch places at that. Sypha attending to the wound and Trevor crouching by Alucard’s face. He doesn’t stroke Alucard’s hair the way that Sypha did, but he tugs at his shirt the way they’ve learned communicates affection. He’s largely unhurt, at least compared to Alucard, but visibly shaking. The front of his tunic is splashed with that looks to be the contents of someone’s stomach. ]
We’re here. [ He says, as Sypha begins and the smell of burning flesh starts to fill the horrible room. ]
[Alucard doesn't fuss. He's still, but he does't tense. Not when Sypha touches him, and not when Trevor goes to work. There's too much happening for him to seize upon one thing and be terrified.
Who's to say if that's for good or ill. For now, it simply is.
The tug at his shirt gets a soft sigh, and Alucard reaches one hand over to place atop Trevor's. He's in pain. Touch is...he can manage it. He can manage that right now.
Hate to inform you, but there’s not going to be an awful lot of her to crumble. Maybe the bones. They might leave the bones.
[ Once Sypha gives the okay to move him again, he props Alucard up against his chest so that he can see better. The oinking has continued while they’ve been working, and a white-haired man stands unsteadily over Carmilla’s body, looking on impassively as a group of four of five pigs - two of them still with the hooks buried inside them - tugs meat from bone. A headless one butts its neck stump against her, like it’s trying its best. ]
They can get rid of the worst of this, right? So there’s not too much blood in the river. Don’t want to turn anyone downstream.
[ The man turns and nods, then returns his attention to the pigs. He strokes the back of the headless one to comfort it when it finally realises that eating is difficult. ]
[Alucard's eyes go over to where the oinking is and.
Well okay. He's seen a lot of fucked up shit before, but a headless pig trying to eat an elder vampire actually tops the list. It's cruel, even for someone as awful as Carmilla, and Alucard's face loses what little color it has.]
The pigs'll turn.
[He's not sure. It seems possible though, and he nearly wretches with the thought. Everything is too much right now.]
[ But he looks to the white haired man, who nods. Very well, the sun it is. Still supporting Alucard with his bad arm, he uses his good one to spin the head of the morning star until it gains momentum and then releases it, allowing it to puncture the ceiling above Carmilla. A beam of light floods through the gap, and when it touches Carmilla her flesh bubbles angrily. Only for a moment. Then, she’s dust. The pigs oink in objection, but the forgemaster speaks to them softly until they calm. ]
[Alucard doesn't argue the point, but he doesn't like it. There's the quiet desperation to just have this all be concluded, and then--
--there's light. There's the glorious morning rays, and he can still see some of the purple of the night sky. Alucard's eyes focus only on Carmilla, and then the dust.
A long sigh follows. Alucard seeks one of their hands, Trevor's or Sypha's, he doesn't care.]
Thank you.
[His eyes blink rapidly. Tears threaten, and Alucard doesn't want them. Not now.]
[ It’s Sypha’s, and it squeezes delicately. Despite knowing better, Trevor finds his arms wrapping around Alucard. They almost lost him. He saw how close they came to losing him. ]
We’re here. She’s gone, and we’re here. We’ll get you back home.
[He doesn't flinch. He doesn't fuss or shy away from the contact, but Alucard's eyes flutter closed. A sigh leaves him, and it is so heavy one could be forgiven for thinking of it as a near last breath.]
Home. That'd...yes. The castle's still here, that's a short journey.
[But it also knows where to go next. Somewhere remote and quiet and away from everything.]
No shit it hurts- [ And he’s swiftly interrupted by Sypha’s elbow in his ribs. She looks over the injury again one-handed, not letting go of Alucard’s hand, while Trevor speaks with the white haired man. The man strikes two coins against each other and everything in the slaughterhouse twitches. ]
...yeah. He’ll be just fine here. Let’s get you somewhere less- fragrant. You smell worse than your damn cloak.
[He still wears the cloak, sometimes, when absolutely everything is too overwhelming and he needs additional armor from the world. He'll go outside in it and then run around in the woods, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a wolf, and return looking a little bit better. The stench of it is no more, thanks to constant cleaning, the fact it mostly is a blanket these days, and the fact Alucard cares.
He manages to squeeze Sypha's hand back once.]
Take the dagger before the pigs eat it. Then we can go home.
[He needs it. He needs the thing that killed her, in case someone tries to hurt him again.]
[ It doesn't matter that it's been unstinky for oer a year now. Doesn't matter that when they first found Trevor he smelled worse than the cloak ever has. He's still never going to let the stinky cloak comments drop.
Sypha takes the dagger as well as Trevor's crutch, and Trevor lifts Alucard. It's going to be slow going with him unable to use the crutch, but he should be able to make it to the castle. Hector will stay here to ensure that nobody gets turned, with everything in this slaughterhouse to protect him. Once they're out of the building, Sypha lays one hand on Alucard's shoulder before they go further. ]
[Those are the last words he says before unconsciousness claims him. Alucard expected his long life would be cut short eventually, either by Carmilla or vampire hunters or some other thing that finally let him have the release he wanted. That would at least make him safe.
But he's safe here too. Safe in arms that can carry his weight, safe in arms that fight off what he can't. Carmilla is gone. She's taken so many with her, but not him.
Alucard's head lolls against Trevor's chest, hair everywhere, sometimes brushing against skin, other times against fabric.]
[ When he wakes, it's in the operating room where Trevor was kept not so long ago. The light of sunset streams through the window. Sypha's in a chair by that window, practically aglow in the sunlight as she sleeps. Trevor isn't immediately visible, but the sound of his crutch scraping against the floor and his low, not-entirely-in-tune humming make it clear he's somewhere nearby.
Alucard's hair is slightly damp, and the bandages around his leg and chest are new and clean. The air is full of the telltale smells of clean water and of that slightly perfumed soap that Sypha likes so much - it made more sense to bathe him while he was still unconscious and couldn't panic about the amount of constant contact that needed. There are blankets over him, but over them is the cloak. ]
[Alucard groans when he comes to. Having the light on his face feels wonderful, but the rest of him feels so very, very weighed down. There's a dull, throbbing pain in his leg and something at his chest, but that's about all.
An attempt to move a hand fails, and when that does, Alucard understands they must be giving him some of the painkiller in the castle. The dose is...probably high. But it also says so much that his body accepts it in the first place.
He manages to move his fingers so they can brush over the fur trim of his cloak.]
[ The humming stops, followed by a scrambling of the crutch against stone and then Trevor is there, rushing over to lean over the bed. He smiles, and it's exhausted but it's so, so warm. ]
Of course you fucking wake up now. I just managed to convince her to sleep.
[ He chuckles, and it feels like putting down a weight that he's been carrying the whole time Alucard's been asleep. He lets himself sink into the chair by the bed and reaches to pinch the fabric of Alucard's nightshirt between finger and thumb. ]
You probably need to, but- [ He breathes in and holds it for a few seconds, then lets it out as a sigh. ]
It really does. Like trying to wade through a swamp, but with your brain.
[ He looks surprised by the request, but he reaches out to take both of Alucard's hands in his own, laging the fingers of his good hand with Alucard's and just stroking over his knuckles with the thumb of his bad one. ]
But there's nothing needs thinking about. You can be as stupid as you like for as long as you like, and it won't fuck anything up. You're safe.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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It's a snuffle, followed by a few quiet oinks. The sound of their feet on the wooden floorboards. It's hard to say what they're responding to, until a moment later there is finally a voice. Not Trevor's or Sypha's, but a voice. Soft and tired and a little too calm, but with an edge of certainty to it that not even this place has dulled. ]
Here. This is the slaughterhouse.
[ A thump, then another, and then splintering wood and the door swinging open and slamming against the wall behind it. And then a chorus of pleased-sounding oinking. And then, finally- ]
-Everyone, behind me. She's in here somewhere. Sypha, once we find her be ready to break a hole in the ceiling to get her into the light. And- I'll be honest, I didn't plan for the pigs. The pigs are a surprise.
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The world is fuzzy. Alucard can feel how dry his throat is and--
--Trevor.]
Belmont!
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[ He had a plan. A proper, well thought out plan. The whip is near enough useless in tight quarters like this, and so then he had a new plan. And then there were pigs, and so he had to work around those, and-
Fuck plans, he's going in.
There are heavier footfalls accompanied by the sound of a crutch hitting the ground, followed by lighter ones. Quiet 'oofs' from the both of them as they push past the hanging bodies. A quiet, horrified 'oh-' from Sypha after one of those, followed by the sound of a body being pushed away and those quiet footsteps moving quicker. And then the load of bodies is becoming lighter, until the last of the corpses between the two of them and Carmilla's body is gone. ]
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck-
[ Before he knows she's dead, Trevor is pushing Sypha back. Trying to get her clear of Carmilla. Sypha is having none of it. There's a whoosh of air, followed by a long spike of frozen blood that rises from the ground with enough force to puncture Carmilla's body and lift her away from Alucard. ]
-dead. Thank god. Thank god. And- shit. Shit, Adrian-
[ There are hands on Alucard now. Warm ones, lifting him carefully from the corpse pile. A smaller, warmer one brushing hair away from his face. ]
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He can hear them approach. The sense of relief grows, even if there's no way to warn them both of the horrors that lay ahead. There's no way to avoid them anyway, not with Carmilla taking him into the darkest, deepest part of the slaughterhouse.
And they're here.
Alucard's a picture of misery under the corpse pile, his hair splayed out, blood all over himself, and the exhaustion painted on his face. When hands start to pull him out, lift him up, there's no tension. But oh, he still holds that dagger like his life depends on it.]
Careful, she....she got in deep.
[Actually--]
It's smarter to cauterize it, I think.
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[ He kicks bodies away unsteadily, clearing a place on the ground to lay Alucard down. He’ll need the crutch again before long, but for now adrenaline is enough. Sypha’s always-too-warm hands stroke through Alucard’s hair as Trevor puts rough stitches into the cut to keep it closed long enough to work on. It’s nothing, compared to the meat hook and Carmilla’s nails, but Sypha tries to comfort him through it anyway. ]
Ready as it’s going to be. Just get it closed.
[ They switch places at that. Sypha attending to the wound and Trevor crouching by Alucard’s face. He doesn’t stroke Alucard’s hair the way that Sypha did, but he tugs at his shirt the way they’ve learned communicates affection. He’s largely unhurt, at least compared to Alucard, but visibly shaking. The front of his tunic is splashed with that looks to be the contents of someone’s stomach. ]
We’re here. [ He says, as Sypha begins and the smell of burning flesh starts to fill the horrible room. ]
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Who's to say if that's for good or ill. For now, it simply is.
The tug at his shirt gets a soft sigh, and Alucard reaches one hand over to place atop Trevor's. He's in pain. Touch is...he can manage it. He can manage that right now.
He's smelled burning flesh before. Alucard doesn't care.]
Belmont. [He breathes out.] I want to see her crumble in the sun. Need to.
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[ Once Sypha gives the okay to move him again, he props Alucard up against his chest so that he can see better. The oinking has continued while they’ve been working, and a white-haired man stands unsteadily over Carmilla’s body, looking on impassively as a group of four of five pigs - two of them still with the hooks buried inside them - tugs meat from bone. A headless one butts its neck stump against her, like it’s trying its best. ]
They can get rid of the worst of this, right? So there’s not too much blood in the river. Don’t want to turn anyone downstream.
[ The man turns and nods, then returns his attention to the pigs. He strokes the back of the headless one to comfort it when it finally realises that eating is difficult. ]
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[Alucard's eyes go over to where the oinking is and.
Well okay. He's seen a lot of fucked up shit before, but a headless pig trying to eat an elder vampire actually tops the list. It's cruel, even for someone as awful as Carmilla, and Alucard's face loses what little color it has.]
The pigs'll turn.
[He's not sure. It seems possible though, and he nearly wretches with the thought. Everything is too much right now.]
Please just...just give her the sun.
[End this. End this chapter.]
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[ But he looks to the white haired man, who nods. Very well, the sun it is. Still supporting Alucard with his bad arm, he uses his good one to spin the head of the morning star until it gains momentum and then releases it, allowing it to puncture the ceiling above Carmilla. A beam of light floods through the gap, and when it touches Carmilla her flesh bubbles angrily. Only for a moment. Then, she’s dust. The pigs oink in objection, but the forgemaster speaks to them softly until they calm. ]
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[Alucard doesn't argue the point, but he doesn't like it. There's the quiet desperation to just have this all be concluded, and then--
--there's light. There's the glorious morning rays, and he can still see some of the purple of the night sky. Alucard's eyes focus only on Carmilla, and then the dust.
A long sigh follows. Alucard seeks one of their hands, Trevor's or Sypha's, he doesn't care.]
Thank you.
[His eyes blink rapidly. Tears threaten, and Alucard doesn't want them. Not now.]
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We’re here. She’s gone, and we’re here. We’ll get you back home.
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Home. That'd...yes. The castle's still here, that's a short journey.
[But it also knows where to go next. Somewhere remote and quiet and away from everything.]
The leg hurts more than I'd like.
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No shit it hurts- [ And he’s swiftly interrupted by Sypha’s elbow in his ribs. She looks over the injury again one-handed, not letting go of Alucard’s hand, while Trevor speaks with the white haired man. The man strikes two coins against each other and everything in the slaughterhouse twitches. ]
...yeah. He’ll be just fine here. Let’s get you somewhere less- fragrant. You smell worse than your damn cloak.
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[He still wears the cloak, sometimes, when absolutely everything is too overwhelming and he needs additional armor from the world. He'll go outside in it and then run around in the woods, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a wolf, and return looking a little bit better. The stench of it is no more, thanks to constant cleaning, the fact it mostly is a blanket these days, and the fact Alucard cares.
He manages to squeeze Sypha's hand back once.]
Take the dagger before the pigs eat it. Then we can go home.
[He needs it. He needs the thing that killed her, in case someone tries to hurt him again.]
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Sypha takes the dagger as well as Trevor's crutch, and Trevor lifts Alucard. It's going to be slow going with him unable to use the crutch, but he should be able to make it to the castle. Hector will stay here to ensure that nobody gets turned, with everything in this slaughterhouse to protect him. Once they're out of the building, Sypha lays one hand on Alucard's shoulder before they go further. ]
You're safe with us. Always, from now on.
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[Those are the last words he says before unconsciousness claims him. Alucard expected his long life would be cut short eventually, either by Carmilla or vampire hunters or some other thing that finally let him have the release he wanted. That would at least make him safe.
But he's safe here too. Safe in arms that can carry his weight, safe in arms that fight off what he can't. Carmilla is gone. She's taken so many with her, but not him.
Alucard's head lolls against Trevor's chest, hair everywhere, sometimes brushing against skin, other times against fabric.]
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Alucard's hair is slightly damp, and the bandages around his leg and chest are new and clean. The air is full of the telltale smells of clean water and of that slightly perfumed soap that Sypha likes so much - it made more sense to bathe him while he was still unconscious and couldn't panic about the amount of constant contact that needed. There are blankets over him, but over them is the cloak. ]
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An attempt to move a hand fails, and when that does, Alucard understands they must be giving him some of the painkiller in the castle. The dose is...probably high. But it also says so much that his body accepts it in the first place.
He manages to move his fingers so they can brush over the fur trim of his cloak.]
'Llo?
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Of course you fucking wake up now. I just managed to convince her to sleep.
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[It takes Alucard's face a moment to catch up with what's being said. He gets it. Sypha probably needed the sleep. So did Trevor.
He tries to tuck himself in more, if that's possible. Pull the fluff of the cloak up.]
I can sleep more.
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You probably need to, but- [ He breathes in and holds it for a few seconds, then lets it out as a sigh. ]
-shit, I'm glad to see you awake and talking.
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You're right. Medicine makes you fuzzy.
[it's like everything is muted. On a time delay too.]
Take my hands.
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[ He looks surprised by the request, but he reaches out to take both of Alucard's hands in his own, laging the fingers of his good hand with Alucard's and just stroking over his knuckles with the thumb of his bad one. ]
But there's nothing needs thinking about. You can be as stupid as you like for as long as you like, and it won't fuck anything up. You're safe.
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[Well. He isn't stinky now, but Alucard knows that it could change. Sitting in bed and doing nothing has that effect on a person.
Alucard's hands try to curl around Trevor's. They make...a good attempt, but applying pressure doesn't quite seem to be happening.]
Mmmm. Can I have my bed?
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[ He tries to parse that for a moment, because Alucard's already in bed. After a moment's thought- ]
You want to go to your own room? Or to everyone's room?
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