miraclewhip | for cryptsleeper and adamic

for cryptsleeper and adamic

[ It hadn't been long before the attacks had become nightly occurrences. There were close calls, a few too many of them, especially once they rejoined Sypha's caravan and were travelling with the very young and the elderly and those who simply could not fight. Before long, one thing became clear.

This was not coincidence, and something knew how to find them.

And so drastic measures had to be taken. The speakers had wards for this, magics that they had used since the start of their oral history, apparently to keep the eyes of god turned away from them. Whatever was being used to track their movements, it wouldn't be able to find them any more. Herbs were burned, spells were cast, and the attacks stopped. They traveled with the speakers for some time, until their path led them close to Belmont lands, and then they returned.

They returned to closed doors.

That in itself wasn't overly surprising. Keeping one's front doors open at all times was hardly the wisest of ideas. But they didn't open, no matter how Trevor shoved at them. No matter how much Sypha knocked nicely, like a normal person.

(there were tiny dents in the wood, dents that nobody would notice if they didn't know what to look for, where a knife handle had struck it years ago) ]

Let us in, you brooding vampire fuck.

[ And he takes his own knife, slamming the handle of it against the door. It worked once, right? ]

I swear to god, if you've decided to pull that 'grave' shit I'm going to get in here and wake you up with the fucking vampire killer.

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[The mirrors had been working. And then they hadn't.

The last discussion had over the viewing mirror had been tense. Nightly attacks. Too many people to keep an eye on. A million other little factofs that made being stuck in the castle so very, very infuriating. The worry was something Alucard tried to temper with a simple fact: Sypha and Trevor were more than capable of this work. Trust them.

And the part of him that was, is, and always will be a Ţepeş, one who has seen what inaction can cause, worried. He went away from that last conversation reassuring himself that all was fine and then there was silence.

Not just silence, but no images in the mirror at all. Just his own reflection, expression shifting between fear and anger that something might have gone wrong, and then fear at the anger because it's a horrifyingly familiar path. One day was nothing. They were busy. The magic of the mirrors were misbehaving.

Two days was worth being upset over. They forgot. The mirror got left in a bag.

Three days was worth panicking. Alucard knew where they had last been, their contacts, all the other details they had shared. He'd find them, ignore any chastizement about leaving the castle to fend for itself, and if they went home mad at him they went home together.

It's why the two are faced with closed doors now, the castle looming in contrast to the greenery around them all. It's June, with all the promises of the warm summer months and long, long days. Bad for vampires. Good for everyone else.

Alucard's voice doesn't come from the castle or from the communicators. It comes from behind Trevor and Sypha. He's just broken from one of those overpowered vampire runs, and there's no playing it off casually. There's relief on his face, like there were questions about their safe return.]

You're here.

[Two simple words and all the relief that there could ever be in them.]

[As wonderful as the mirrors were--as wonderful as it was both to be not alone and to ensure that Alucard was not alone--they were not without flaws.]

[At first, it'd just seemed to be the usual flaws of mirrors (tarnishing, brittle, the concern of an accident resulting in seven years bad luck [which honestly had a risk of being fatal for Trevor])... but then came the attacks. Every night, without fail, soon. And then--only a few more Strange Coincidences were needed for her to guess that their wonderful mirrors were part of how whatever-it-was behind these attacks tracked them.]

[So she'd temporarily disabled them. Just to test her theory.]

[And very soon, it stopped. So, problem being solved--why should Sypha re-enable them? She'd talk it over with Alucard on their next visit. Maybe he'd have some insight on how to improve that.]

We are. [Sypha sounded very slightly nonplussed--she was used to Alucard being overdramatic, but usually not quote like this.] Where else would we be?

[ He has questions. Or- one question, really. And that question is what the fuck happened? Because it's unusual for Alucard to leave the hold empty and unprotected. It's happened once or twice, to his knowledge, when something horrible got too close and too ambitious, or when people approached with torches and pitchforks and needed to be led astray for their own protection. Never for long. ]

Shit. [ And his hand automatically goes to the whip. Alucard's being away from the castle, even if he managed to return in the blink of an eye, and his concern - that means they have trouble, doesn't it? ] Is there something out on the road? We didn't see anything.

[In about 630 some odd years, Alucard will know the exact right response to all of this, and it is you didn't respond to any of the texts I sent you for over three days and I panicked. But that future is far, far off, and so the only recourse available to him now is to feel the creeping sensation of total and utter embarrassment about said freak out. The tense posture in him dissapates, but now he's just standing where he was, knowing full well that this? This is a never live it down moment, coupled with at least one you overdramatic fuck.

Which is probably the chiding he deserves. As it stands, the only thing he can do is offer up the catalyst for all this ugh, being over dramatic. Because that's what this is, and he isn't exactly proud.]

The mirrors had ceased to work and given our last conversation, I was concerned. [He's trying to play all of this off too easily.] That's all.

[Yes, that's all. All running around for two days on end to try and retrace steps, only to be beaten home by just a few minutes when he could act like he didn't go through all these motions.]

[Initially, Sypha is surprised.] It stopped working? How? I--

[...and then she realizes. Alucard back at the castle wouldn't have a way to distinguish between their mirrors being disabled because of her own will, or disabled because something had destroyed them. Oops.]

... Ah. Ah, yes, that, that... [She is now blushing and looking at anything other than Alucard.] That was me. Sorry.

[ Oh. Oh. That. He is quiet, for just a moment, and then snorts with laughter and elbows Sypha lightly in the ribs. If Alucard wants to play this off as something silly, he's on board. At least for now. ]

You went and made the mother hen all worried.

[ Because this is entirely Sypha's fault. Not his. Nope. ]

[Trevor's ribbing gives Alucard just enough time to recover his total loss of dignity (to be clear, that's been gone for a while, he's just the only one who hasn't noticed it), and walk over to the front door.]

Regardless of where my concerns do or don't lie, I'm not sure what you thought stabbing the castle would achieve. Please don't do it again, even though I'm sure your family crypt just let out a round of applause.

[With no effort at all, he plucks the damned thing out of the door, offering it back to Trevor. It doesn't escape Alucard's notice that the stab is close to a few other markings (his mother showed them to Alucard once), and that gets a soft smile across his face for just a moment.

His free hand rests on the door of the castle itself, and so begins the overdramatic whirring and grinding of gears that means welcome home. Alucard's attention, however, is on Sypha, concern now coloring his voice.]

Why did you disable them?

Not intentionally! ...And not as much as you do. [Sypha, unused to being the troublemaker in this dynamic, attempts to reassert dominance via a very pointy elbow in Trevor's ribs. En guarde, Wallachia Man.]

And that was because those attacking monsters were tracking us by the mirror's magic! Or I think they were. Do you know why? [No offense, she just thought the son of Dracula could help out on that front. You know.]

[ Is this an ELBOW FIGHT? Yes, it is an elbow fight. And- maybe Sypha does have a point. He's usually the cause for concern out of the two of them. ]

Only way you ever mentioned to open the door. Figured it was worth a try. [ And the whipping threats were just because Trevor likes making threats. ]

The castle knows if I am home and you're on the doorstep, then it can open. If I'm not here, it won't move. It's a newer security feature.

[Because there's a different pattern to security now. The doors open enough for them to pass through comfortably without opening all the way (it takes too long, damn Dracula's overdramatics) and Alucard steps over the threshold first.]

What kind of creatures were you dealing with? At the time neither of you had enough information to go on. My first instinct is that it was sniffed out through some natural ability, but...

[He trails off, because they've already slammed into talking shop. There's a moment where he shakes his head, chiding himself.]

Welcome home.

It's good to--

[she cuts herself off because she needs the wind for one last, vicious jab into Trevor's ribs before skipping ahead, next to Alucard and out of retaliatory range.]

It's good to be home.

[Sypha too would like to enjoy the feeling--unlike either of her two companions, the certainty of a home was a new feeling, and she had decided she liked it (at least for short periods at a time).]

Ow-! That's not fair, you're all bones.

[ He might be rude and smelly and hairy, but at least his elbows are blunt. GOSH. He follows, hanging back a little in the way that he does when they return home, watching fondly as Sypha runs up to Alucard. ]

She missed you, you know. Sulked for a day straight after the first day that we couldn't talk to you.

[ That was supposed to be confidential information. But his ribs were supposed to remain unbruised, so nobody's getting what they want. ]

[Sypha's ducked around him first. Sure, it's because now he's a buffer, damn them both, but that means Alucard's arm finds it's way around her shoulder first. Draws her close enough to kiss the top of her head, because that's how it should always be when they walk through those doors.]

You know, Sypha, you yell at us about how we behave and then...

[And then you two stand around stabbing each other with elbows. Alucard laughs, warmth rolling off of him, then turns to Trevor to silently question why he's loitering behind them.]

I can believe that much. I can also believe that neither of you two have actually answered my question of what it was you were dealing with.

Hey--! [Sypha blushes and pouts at her feet. Low blow, Trevor. Low blow.]

[But head-kisses are always good, so she leans against Alucard, into his hug. For a vampire (well, half), he can really be very warm and soft, when he wants to be. It's odd, and sometimes she thinks it could bear investigation. Right now, though, that isn't terriblyimportant.]

It was night creatures, mostly. [But there's a lot loaded into that one word, "mostly."] And--some ...things. Strange little serpents...

[ He just shrugs at Alucard. It's nice to watch Sypha return home - there's always an element of wonder to it, even now. It's good to see the way the weight lifts from Alucard's shoulders, the way the sharp angles of his frame seem to soften with their presence.

Fine, fine. He moves a little quicker to catch up and take his place at Alucard's other side, wrapping an arm around his waist. ]

Nothing that should have been able to use the mirrors. [ No vampires remains unsaid, because it isn't quite true. None that attacked them, but- ] Which means they're taking orders from someone. So that's your bad news for the day.

[The moment that Trevor's arm is around his waist, there is a kiss on his cheek. Trevor's too tall to kiss on the top of the head like Sypha, so this is what Alucard always does instead. They're home. They're home, he's greeted them properly now, and they've all already fallen into step as they walk through the main entry hall. Behind the three, the castle doors close, and the sunlight shines in through every window.

They smell like the road, of course. All woods and musk, and the faintest hint of the June flowers that now wave in the soft breezes as one approaches the castle. All the panic is gone (they'll talk about it, of course.) There's just warmth and contentment for the most important moments of returning.]

If it isn't a new dead thing to add to the collection or one of you with a horrible injury, it's something new and concerning. [He fake sighs, because even for that news, there is real joy.]

Snakes are new. Not something the night creatures deal in. Maybe there's an ally with human intelligence.

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