I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I stepped past the threshold into Dracula's castle- maybe I'd anticipated seeing the same sort of carnage there'd been outside, where bodies littered the walls and floors? Or, perhaps opulent splendor where gold glittered, and gemstones twinkled like a million stars. What I saw was something else altogether.

Our footsteps were a cacophony of steady thumps that filled the expansive foyer with its high vaulted ceilings, hanging candelabras, and damaged white marble floors. The floor, as it were, was relatively untouched save for the enormous cracks that splintered the almost mirror-like finish. Splitting the room almost evenly was a deep crimson runner with intricate golden inlaid designs that stretched the length of the room. The once beautiful carpeting lead up a pair of connected spiraling staircases- which traversed deeper into the castle. However, the carpet was tattered and torn- either with age or perhaps the same damage that had been dealt to the floor.

I wondered absently as we walked, what stories could the walls of Dracula's castle tell me. Perhaps stories of a man turned monster, lost to the crushing grief after losing someone he loved.

"Forgive the state of the castle," the stranger finally spoke over his shoulder, "it has been through much." His voice shook me from my reverie and caused me to fixate my eyes on his silken shoulder-length golden locks. I lost myself to an errant thought, my fingers itching, as I stared- I wanted to run my fingers through the soft waves, if only for a moment. I shook my head to dislodge the idea, wondering where it had spawned.

"No, no," I chirped quickly, "I doubt you were expecting guests," I mused with a sigh, hoping my voice had come out even as I forced my gaze to fall to my feet.

We walked for a time, and where I had initially thought we would take refuge in a library or sitting area, my new acquaintance stopped us in a modest kitchen. This mysterious host of mine was certainly full of surprises.

The kitchen was much smaller than I had anticipated, but it felt homey. On the far wall sat an ivory basin which sat inside, what I could only describe as cabinets. I marveled for a moment, reminding myself that there was more to see.

Directly in the center of the room sat a simple table with five chairs- four on either side and one at the head facing the doorway we'd come through. To the right, illuminating much of room and bathing it in soft light, sat a tall ornate window. It seemed strange to me that a vampire would allow so much natural light into his inner sanctum, but what did I know of vampires?

On the opposite wall sat a stove and oven.

I continued to marvel, stopping to stand at the door as the stranger walked further into the kitchen, seeming content to go about his tasks without so much as a sidelong glance at me.

We remained silent for a time as he banged around the kitchen, collecting various things like a knife, cutting board, and dishes.

The stagnant silence had begun to make my skin itch- he had invited me inside to continue our conversation from earlier, and yet we both remained as silent as the grave.

Finally, sick of waiting, I opened my mouth, "So, do you live alone?"

He didn't immediately answer me and instead began slicing into a fruit I'd only ever seen once, perhaps twice. I remember it had tasted bitter despite its startling resemblance to an apple.

"Why?" His voice was cold, accusing, "So you can stake me and run without fear of retaliation." He paused to flick his amber eyes towards me as if he was expecting the answer to be written on my face. Before he turned back to his cutting, he finished, "You wouldn't be the first to try."

His words stung like an icy knife piercing straight through my heart. I was wounded, and while I shouldn't have cared, I wondered why he hated us, humans, so profoundly.

"No, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind," I crooned painfully, "I just expected someone else to reside here. It's a large castle, and it's lonely without company."

Another palpable silence expanded between us before I found the courage to ask what I had been curious to know since the first moment we'd spoken. "Why must you immediately assume I want you dead? Is it merely because I am human?"

The stranger stopped and turned, his arms once more folding over his chest as he stared me down from across the room, the same cold indifference radiating off of him like a blistering winter wind.

"That is precisely the reason," he glowered, "your kind kills anything it does not understand."

I could not argue this fact- humans had done many questionable things throughout our history, but hadn't vampires? I wanted to remind him of this fact, but I simply let my initial reply melt bitterly across my tongue.

"I'm human, but not all of my kind are like this."

The stranger turned away from me again, "We shall see."

Time passed in silence again as the stranger cooked. I found myself curious about why he was preparing a meal, as the only rumors I had ever heard about the Children of the Night had been that they consumed only blood. Why then was it that this man, clearly a vampire, cooked? I reasoned it surely was not for my benefit- he had made it abundantly clear he detested all of humankind, not just me. In truth, it bothered me to see him slaving away, preparing a meal that he could not eat, and that I had no right to. If he was doing this out of the remaining goodness of his heart, he needed to stop; I could prepare my own food.

"I thought your kind could not eat- human food, I mean. That you only drank blood?" The question had ripped free from my lips as quickly as it had sparked in my mind. Inwardly I winced, immediately wishing I could take every word that hung in the air between us back but knew full well I couldn't. Then a thought struck me, and my blood felt like it turned into ice water, "Is that why you invited me in? To eat me?"

A disgusted chuckle erupted from the man's lips even as he continued his ministrations until he turned and leveled the knife he'd been using to slice potatoes, at me. "Vampires do," he began, "but my mother was human, thus my ability to survive on either source."

He dropped the knife to his side and snickered dryly before he finished, "Besides, if I had a desire to drink blood, you'd be spared my fangs. You smell like-" his voice trailed off, and his golden eyes flicked away from me to a pair of dolls I hadn't noticed before.

They looked, somehow familiar, but I knew I'd never seen their faces- who were these people? "-Nevermind."

I found my cheeks suddenly growing feverish as he implied I stunk. Of course, I did, I thought, I'd been out in the wilderness for the past week! How was I to have taken a bath? Instead of demanding to know what I should have done to smell better, I simply grumbled embarrassedly beneath my breath.

The tangible silence that I'd almost become accustomed to after our brief snippets of conversation settled around us again. I had initially thought that the times where we did exchange barbs were better than when we didn't, but I found the silence comforting now. I detested the way he lumped all humans together- after all, hadn't his mother been human? Wasn't he implying that she was no better?

"You said you came here to collect your friend. Why?" The man's deep voice almost startled me, but the fiery hatred I had felt for Katherine muted my shock.

"We weren't friends," I snapped, wanting to say more but deciding to keep some of the details to myself.

"Then why come at all? It seems idiotic to have come all this way for someone you clearly despise."

I had hoped to avoid this conversation, but seeing as he'd not eaten me or stuck a stake up my arse, I felt obligated to answer.

"I did it for my siblings."

I'd not thought about the twins since I'd left home- I missed their dirty, smiling faces, and Timothy was always just at the edge of my mind. I longed to see them again, and my heart gave a pained ache as the thought filled my head.

"The girl outside, surely she can't be your mother. Why would your siblings benefit from her wellbeing?"

I supposed my answer had seemed odd, especially since I'd not explained.

"Because my father had offered to locate her," I huffed, feeling the weight of the stranger's gaze as I tore my eyes away from him and fixated them instead on his boots, glaring imaginary holes into the tops. "He knows about the night creatures, how to fight, and kill them due to the aide of Trevor Belmont." I paused to suck in a shuddering breath, "I knew that-" I stammered, my chest aching, "that he would die if he came here. I thought that he could care for my siblings far better than I could. So, I came in his stead."

I was thankful when the stranger didn't inquire further about my family- I had my secrets too. Whether he had picked up on the hidden notes in my voice or he saw the storm in my eyes, I don't know, but I was grateful.

Instead, the man hummed once and looked off towards the window to my right before he spoke, "Trevor Belmont? Last of the House of Belmont?"

It should not have surprised me that a vampire knew who the Belmonts were, after all, the infamous excommunicated family had made it their life's work to kill monsters.

"I don't know of many others with the same surname," I quipped, now folding my arms over my chest, "Why?" There was something the stranger was not telling me, and I would find out even if it meant being thrown out in the cold.

"It isn't important." His answer made my face screw up in annoyance- he could drill into me for answers, but the moment I returned the favor, he got to clam up? No, absolutely out of the question!

With a huff, I marched to stand beside him and glare him down, to which he turned and challenged me.

"If it wasn't important, you would not have broached the subject. Why do you want to know?"

The man sighed heavily, perhaps sensing that it was his turn to divulge the details of his life like he had expected me to. "I was merely recalling a happier time long ago. A time when I was aided by a magician and a vampire hunter." He had stopped, standing straight so he could tower over me in an attempt to intimidate me, "Does that sate your curiosity?"

I'd been taken aback by his omission of truth- he'd been helped by a vampire hunter? I was floored! Why in the world would a person, sworn to hunt his kind, aide him in any facet? A bubble of laughter formed in my chest and made it hard to breathe. Before I could swallow it down, I began to laugh freely, catching the stranger off-guard.

My acquaintance regarded me with one of those quirked brows as he watched me laugh for a moment, likely wondering what I had found so amusing. Good, I thought, let him wonder.

"I fail to see how this is amusing," he finally quipped with a grumble, making me quiet myself with a sigh.

I shook my head and chuckled one last time before I replied, "Forgive me, I did not mean to laugh. I merely thought of the old edict that opposites attract."

For the first time I think that evening, I watched the hint of a genuine smile crack the otherwise cold man's pale lips. It was brief, but it immediately illuminated the room with warmth, "I suppose in this situation, it does."