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Description
Part 2
"What?!" Mina Harper screeched at Vlad. "You promised Thomas WHAT?!" She was touched that he had admitted his love for her, had cried in happiness at first, but was now furious that he had promised to turn her. Sure, she wanted him to turn her, but not like this. She wanted it to mean something.
"Now, now Mina keep your head." Vlad sighed. He was trying to calm her down. The Count flinched as an eighteen year old Mina hurled a throw pillow at his head. Thomas chuckled. He had been staring lovingly at Mina for the last ten minutes. She had changed so much, and the sound of her rushing blood now sang to him. He had acted the same way she was now when his fiancé told him that she had killed him.
"I'd like to keep my pulse!" The girl whined. She pouted angrily. How unfair- she had no say in when she was going to die anymore. Not that she had in the first place, but she wanted Vlad to bend to her will, not Thomas's.
"I feel like I should take a bit of responsibility for this." Thomas got off the couch. He couldn't stand to watch such a beautiful girl get so mad at his father. He had been shocked at how lovely she had become. The vampire licked his lips absently. He gave Mina a sympathetic smile.
"I'll have to take something and stop you right there." Vlad stood up as well and looked at Mina. "I never told you, Mina, but I've been breaking some serious rules since ve met. That's vhy you had to dress as a verevolf. Eventually you vould have to die, in one vay or another."
Thomas giggled, interrupting again. "Vat rules?" He laughed harder. "All the 'rules' are one monster's opinion against another. Vhile I don't really support the idea of any vampire befriending a human there is nothing that really says you can't do it." Sure, they made makeshift governments and courts but it varied so widely from place to place that nothing was set in stone. The monsters were much less organized than they thought of themselves as.
"True." The other vampire was aware of this fact as well. Vlad looked around, wishing there was some way to stop the imminent. Thomas caught the desperation in his look and felt a crack of sympathy. He suddenly wished that he had ignored what his father had said. He had just sped up what was coming.
Shaking his head, wishing that he could shut up, Thomas looked back at them with a short pained smile. Still, the vampire refused to revoke his promise. "Here, I vill stay and help vith everything." He thought for a moment. "I am giving you all three days to ready yourselves." He frowned a little, thinking about how this meant Mina, the little girl he had despised only so long ago and had grown into this beautiful, fragile creature he felt some need to preserve, would become his stepmother. 'Oh vell. Live and let die', he guessed.
Mina looked down at her hands sadly and nodded. Despite her expression her eyes shown with excitement at finally joining her loved one in the afterlife. Thomas stared into those lovely, deer-like mouse brown eyes and shook his head. He felt like she was poisoning him with a simple look. It was painful and irritating. His stomach felt like it had been set on fire.
Vlad looked at his son and lover and frowned a little. He saw sparks flying between the three of them and, very frankly, didn't like it. Mina was his. He looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. Gently he took Mina's hand and pulled her towards the door. "Come, Mina, let's get you to bed. I'll help you to pack tomorrow night." He led her out the door.
Igor shuffled in with another glass of blood for his master's son. "Another drink, master Thomas?" He offered. The vampire's face was blank, and he looked a tad sickly. The man didn't move. "Are you thirsty?"
Thomas snapped out of his stupor and stood up, heading for the bedchambers. "Yes, I'm terribly thirsty." He took the glass without another word and sniffed it as he walked. However, because his stomach was still churning and he didn't feel well, he laid it down on the counter as he walked down the hall.
That day neither Thomas nor Vlad could get to sleep. Thomas couldn't help but think of how he had bought Mina a ticket to the same fate as him and his father. Vlad felt the same about killing her, but also about the immediate live-wire chemistry between his son and Mina. What if Thomas fell for Mina with more strength than he had? What if, more importantly, she left him for his child?
But there was also the fact that the other Count had killed Lucy. That immediately set Thomas away from Mina. The barrier of murder was a hard one to break. That he found as a reassurance and, eventually around eleven or twelve in the morning, he fell asleep.
Thomas wasn't quite so lucky. He hadn't fallen in love since Delilah, and had forgotten what it felt like. Was this sudden feeling he had for Mina love? Why did it burn his insides so? What, more importantly, set her apart from all the other great dames he had slain in the last seven hundred years? Maybe, just maybe, it was because she was really loved… eternally loved… and he would lose everything if he took her. When the vampire did finally fall asleep, it wasn't escape. Only a doorway into his worst memory, his constant nightmare; his last night as a human being.
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It was a calm, quiet night. The night before their wedding. Thomas had gently wrestled the woman he loved onto their couch, kissing her face and neck lovingly. But he did nothing else. While the woman, Delilah, was his and his alone, his morals were not to touch her until she was legally married to him. It was a straining promise though and the neckline of her night gown was just…so low… like she teased him. He smiled before noticing a slow, apologetic frown creasing her brow. "Vat is it, love?" He asked quickly.
Lovely young Delilah that hadn't changed a bit since they met two years ago, and had poor circulation and a paleness that only her tender, harlequin type husband could love, who had odd ears and strange, dead eyes, and pointed teeth and never ate anything that he saw, sighed. Thomas's loving fiancé sat up, looking her husband-to-be in the eyes. "Thomas, I have been keeping a secret from you." She admitted gently. The vampire, who had been born this way but found her love in humans for more than their blood, for this man, was about to take him into her world… to live forever and always with her. She rubbed her thumbs together in her lap, folded like a lady's over her sleeping gown, in worry. "Do you remember those creatures, the blood drinkers, the priest talked about last week in town? After Nathaniel Birch was killed?"
Thomas Hide, who had never been more in love and would never be, looked a little surprised. "Yes, I remember. Nathaniel's death vas vone of many over the last year. Vat does that have to do with your secret?" A tiny bit of nervousness had crept into his voice. The sermon had been a powerful one taken into the town square on midday of the Sabbath. It was believed that these creatures were causing the deaths, apparently. Now anything that had to do with the immortal 'vampires' made the villagers shuffle away in anticipation. According to preacher Hawthorne even a good man who said his prayers could been turned into one of the monsters and forced to walk as a corpse for as long as time would allow.
"Vell…" Delilah sighed nervously. "I am vone of the vampires, the valking dead. I vas born like this and have been alive at twenty five years of age for vone hundred and seventy two years."
Her husband's eyes widened. Sometimes the children pretended at being monsters, but no adult claimed to be one. Ever. What was going on here? Was she- the woman he loved, who was so tender and sweet and unlike a monster- really a child of the night? He unconsciously moved away from her, nervous. "Delilah…is that true?"
"Yes," She nodded quietly. He finally saw it- her lack of appetite, her pointed ears and pale skin, her sharp fangs. His fiancé really was a monster! A vampire! "But please, Thomas, understand that I do truly love you… I vant us to be together forever, in the afterlife. So I have to do this vith great regret and apology…" She trailed off before taking him up, forcing him down and tilting his chin up. The man flailed but was no match for her strength.
"Delilah… you don't know vat you're doing… please release me." He begged before feeling a pair of sharp objects break through the skin of his neck. He groaned in pain slightly, gritting his teeth and gasping, as she began to drink. The vampire tried to be gentle and pressed her tongue up against his wounds, taking as much blood as she had to. Her lips were soft and cold against her love's skin. She felt him growing weak after a few moments and drew away quickly, using her fangs to slit her wrist. While Thomas continued to breathe heavily his fiancé pressed her bleeding wrist against his mouth and dripped some of the blood down his throat.
The blood was down before Thomas could even protest. His eyes snapped wide open after a moments and he clutched his chest, screaming in pain. The venom hit his system hard but when Delilah tried to comfort her love her scrambled back. Suddenly his heart quit beating and the man clawed at his leather vest before swaying drunkenly, ignorant of the pain for a second. He looked over at his wife accusingly. "Delilah… what have you done?" He asked sadly before collapsing in pain and blacking out.
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Thomas snapped up from the nightmare in a cold sweat, as usual. He shook with a few dry, wracking sobs before clutching his shoulders and forcing himself to calm down again. Almost every night he woke up like that… but now it was worse than usual. Maybe it was his fear of forcing someone else to go through the same torture… but Mina loved his father and was willing to go through it for Vlad. Maybe that was it- he was still saddened by his unfortunate fate and reaction to finding out what he had become. She had it so good compared to most of their kind.
Vlad never heard his son's cries. He never would, until it was far too late to comfort Thomas. The vampire was forever haunted by his human life… and that's why he hated it so. He wished it would move on and torture some other soul for the rest of his immortal life. But it would never happen. Thomas's father was still in his own dream, a much more pleasant one… for now.
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Vlad was still alive in this dream. He was still blushing and warm and close to his family. Thomas was holding his hand as they walked through drifts of snow into the forest. The tiny child stumbled around and laughed, trying to stay upright in the high mounds of ice. His silky blonde hair waved in the wind and his father picked him up, putting the one year old on his shoulders for a ride. The young man heard a soft, sweet laugh and he looked over at Sarah.
But it wasn't Sarah wearing her warm but poorly made fur coat, something Vlad had tried at for their anniversary, but Mina. She held his hand now and Thomas giggled, wrapped his arms around his father's forehead and making a mess of his hair. Despite his surprised Vlad smiled, long and happy. This felt so… perfect. He didn't care to wonder if it was a dream or not even though the impossibilities were great.
They were out to cut some reeds from around a frozen pond in the forest to make baskets from. He checked his pocket watch- midnight. The man couldn't help but wonder how it could be so light out in the middle of the night, or if his watch had stalled. But there wasn't time to care because they had come into the little crescent shaped clearing. The Count set Thomas down and let go of Mina's hand, letting her go to cut the reeds as he got into a snowball fight with his son, allowing himself to be hit with even the poorest shots to please the little boy.
He looked over at his wife again and realized something he hadn't before. There was a small bulge in her stomach. Another young life seemed to have found seed and begun growing there. "Oh, Mina!" He ran over and hugged her from behind. The young woman squealed and laughed in surprise as he picked her up and spun her around. So their sweet love had produced something to love even more than each other! He rubbed her belly, wondering if it was a boy or girl. Mina planted a short kiss on his lips before looking back at her other son.
The couple's eyes widened in horror as Thomas ran out onto the surface of the icy pond. He was after a large pile of crunchy snow, perfect to make a snow fort from. He didn't realize that he was running on thin ice and screeched in surprise when a piece the size of his boot fell out from under him. He fell forward and hit his forehead on the ice before bursting into tears.
Vlad was at a loss to help his son. If he ran out onto the pond's surface they would both surely go into the freezing water. The man had to let Thomas get out on his own. The small child soon stopped sobbing and didn't seem to realize that there were streams of blood running down his forehead. He tried to worm his way out of the ice and was doing fairly well… until the one-year-old managed to plant his other foot on the surface for better purchase… and it broke as well.
The young man never realized, watching in horror as his nightmare unfolded, that Thomas's struggle on the ice was a sick representation of the rest of his life. His entire life. Vlad opened his mouth to cry out before the ice broke fully but didn't find his voice, only tiny squeak. Mina was the one who found the ability to scream in horror and despair when Thomas's tiny, flailing hands disappeared under the water. Vlad collapsed onto the snowy woodland floor, beating his fists against the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. "I… I should have at least TRIED to help!" He screamed at himself before laying his head down and whimpering, broken beyond repair. Mina had suddenly calmed after her scream and sat down beside him on her knees. She stroked her husband's back softly.
"Honey… It's not your fault." It wasn't… and Vlad realized this. But he was still brokenhearted. She continued comforting him. "And we have… other things to worry about." She touched her stomach gently. He sat up solemnly and touched her belly too. Yes… other things to worry about. Maybe more important than the sudden loss of his son…. Only moments ago…
And as soon as he forgot his first son's disappearance a long, blue, clawed hand surfaced in the frozen pond. It clawed at the air before sinking it's fingertips into the ice and dragging itself up. The Thomas he knew now rose out of the water, dripping but not appearing wet at all. His eyes were closed and when he opened them they were glowing red with thirst. The young vampire was breathing heavily. He looked through his glasses and Vlad. "Other… Things to vorry about? You never even tried to help? Vouldn't risk anything to try and look after me as best you could even vhen you- or I- vas lost?" The man demanded as he walked across the pond, unwavering despite how thin and slippery it was.
His father stood up and scrambled back. Mina tried to as well but was grabbed, pulled into a straining headlock. Vlad managed to get to his feet and, shakily, tried to calm his son down. "Now… you know I couldn't risk leaving our mother and killing myself-"
"She's not my mother!" The vampire roared. "Vat, did you forget Sarah? Mommy dearest? Eh? Replaced her didn't you?!" He ran a claw angrily over Mina's belly, slitting the warm cloth of her dress. "And now you're replacing me. Like garbage."
This also hinted something that had haunted Vlad with guilt since he had to leave his family. He had never even made an effort to check on them, tell them he was okay… no matter how sad her was to have lost them he had never tried to do anything about it. He had never tried to save Thomas. Had never gave any sympathy. He had only wallowed in his own problems until it was too late, and moved on without blinking afterwards. And it seemed as if he had replaced them. "No- Thomas no!" He shrieked in an effort to save himself and Mina. His nightmare closed before the worst happened.
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Both vampires hid their shudder-worthy nightmares from each other. Vlad looked over at Thomas in slight apologetic contempt. Thomas, not understanding, turned away and found himself looking into a mirror. He sighed sadly and laid his fingers delicately on the silvery glass before heading upstairs to get his nightly drink and hunt. Maybe afterward he would spend time helping his father and Mina ready for the inevitable.
Vlad watched this and recognized after-turning depression immediately. Every vampire that caught a case of it acted this way. But… he had rarely seen a case so long after the person had become a monster. He suddenly wanted to wrap his son in a hug and apologize for everything. Everything from the day he died to now; it all deserved an apology. But Thomas had run upstairs by now and left. He sighed sadly and went to Mina's house to wake her.

Description
Part 2
"What?!" Mina Harper screeched at Vlad. "You promised Thomas WHAT?!" She was touched that he had admitted his love for her, had cried in happiness at first, but was now furious that he had promised to turn her. Sure, she wanted him to turn her, but not like this. She wanted it to mean something.
"Now, now Mina keep your head." Vlad sighed. He was trying to calm her down. The Count flinched as an eighteen year old Mina hurled a throw pillow at his head. Thomas chuckled. He had been staring lovingly at Mina for the last ten minutes. She had changed so much, and the sound of her rushing blood now sang to him. He had acted the same way she was now when his fiancé told him that she had killed him.
"I'd like to keep my pulse!" The girl whined. She pouted angrily. How unfair- she had no say in when she was going to die anymore. Not that she had in the first place, but she wanted Vlad to bend to her will, not Thomas's.
"I feel like I should take a bit of responsibility for this." Thomas got off the couch. He couldn't stand to watch such a beautiful girl get so mad at his father. He had been shocked at how lovely she had become. The vampire licked his lips absently. He gave Mina a sympathetic smile.
"I'll have to take something and stop you right there." Vlad stood up as well and looked at Mina. "I never told you, Mina, but I've been breaking some serious rules since ve met. That's vhy you had to dress as a verevolf. Eventually you vould have to die, in one vay or another."
Thomas giggled, interrupting again. "Vat rules?" He laughed harder. "All the 'rules' are one monster's opinion against another. Vhile I don't really support the idea of any vampire befriending a human there is nothing that really says you can't do it." Sure, they made makeshift governments and courts but it varied so widely from place to place that nothing was set in stone. The monsters were much less organized than they thought of themselves as.
"True." The other vampire was aware of this fact as well. Vlad looked around, wishing there was some way to stop the imminent. Thomas caught the desperation in his look and felt a crack of sympathy. He suddenly wished that he had ignored what his father had said. He had just sped up what was coming.
Shaking his head, wishing that he could shut up, Thomas looked back at them with a short pained smile. Still, the vampire refused to revoke his promise. "Here, I vill stay and help vith everything." He thought for a moment. "I am giving you all three days to ready yourselves." He frowned a little, thinking about how this meant Mina, the little girl he had despised only so long ago and had grown into this beautiful, fragile creature he felt some need to preserve, would become his stepmother. 'Oh vell. Live and let die', he guessed.
Mina looked down at her hands sadly and nodded. Despite her expression her eyes shown with excitement at finally joining her loved one in the afterlife. Thomas stared into those lovely, deer-like mouse brown eyes and shook his head. He felt like she was poisoning him with a simple look. It was painful and irritating. His stomach felt like it had been set on fire.
Vlad looked at his son and lover and frowned a little. He saw sparks flying between the three of them and, very frankly, didn't like it. Mina was his. He looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly midnight. Gently he took Mina's hand and pulled her towards the door. "Come, Mina, let's get you to bed. I'll help you to pack tomorrow night." He led her out the door.
Igor shuffled in with another glass of blood for his master's son. "Another drink, master Thomas?" He offered. The vampire's face was blank, and he looked a tad sickly. The man didn't move. "Are you thirsty?"
Thomas snapped out of his stupor and stood up, heading for the bedchambers. "Yes, I'm terribly thirsty." He took the glass without another word and sniffed it as he walked. However, because his stomach was still churning and he didn't feel well, he laid it down on the counter as he walked down the hall.
That day neither Thomas nor Vlad could get to sleep. Thomas couldn't help but think of how he had bought Mina a ticket to the same fate as him and his father. Vlad felt the same about killing her, but also about the immediate live-wire chemistry between his son and Mina. What if Thomas fell for Mina with more strength than he had? What if, more importantly, she left him for his child?
But there was also the fact that the other Count had killed Lucy. That immediately set Thomas away from Mina. The barrier of murder was a hard one to break. That he found as a reassurance and, eventually around eleven or twelve in the morning, he fell asleep.
Thomas wasn't quite so lucky. He hadn't fallen in love since Delilah, and had forgotten what it felt like. Was this sudden feeling he had for Mina love? Why did it burn his insides so? What, more importantly, set her apart from all the other great dames he had slain in the last seven hundred years? Maybe, just maybe, it was because she was really loved… eternally loved… and he would lose everything if he took her. When the vampire did finally fall asleep, it wasn't escape. Only a doorway into his worst memory, his constant nightmare; his last night as a human being.
**********************
It was a calm, quiet night. The night before their wedding. Thomas had gently wrestled the woman he loved onto their couch, kissing her face and neck lovingly. But he did nothing else. While the woman, Delilah, was his and his alone, his morals were not to touch her until she was legally married to him. It was a straining promise though and the neckline of her night gown was just…so low… like she teased him. He smiled before noticing a slow, apologetic frown creasing her brow. "Vat is it, love?" He asked quickly.
Lovely young Delilah that hadn't changed a bit since they met two years ago, and had poor circulation and a paleness that only her tender, harlequin type husband could love, who had odd ears and strange, dead eyes, and pointed teeth and never ate anything that he saw, sighed. Thomas's loving fiancé sat up, looking her husband-to-be in the eyes. "Thomas, I have been keeping a secret from you." She admitted gently. The vampire, who had been born this way but found her love in humans for more than their blood, for this man, was about to take him into her world… to live forever and always with her. She rubbed her thumbs together in her lap, folded like a lady's over her sleeping gown, in worry. "Do you remember those creatures, the blood drinkers, the priest talked about last week in town? After Nathaniel Birch was killed?"
Thomas Hide, who had never been more in love and would never be, looked a little surprised. "Yes, I remember. Nathaniel's death vas vone of many over the last year. Vat does that have to do with your secret?" A tiny bit of nervousness had crept into his voice. The sermon had been a powerful one taken into the town square on midday of the Sabbath. It was believed that these creatures were causing the deaths, apparently. Now anything that had to do with the immortal 'vampires' made the villagers shuffle away in anticipation. According to preacher Hawthorne even a good man who said his prayers could been turned into one of the monsters and forced to walk as a corpse for as long as time would allow.
"Vell…" Delilah sighed nervously. "I am vone of the vampires, the valking dead. I vas born like this and have been alive at twenty five years of age for vone hundred and seventy two years."
Her husband's eyes widened. Sometimes the children pretended at being monsters, but no adult claimed to be one. Ever. What was going on here? Was she- the woman he loved, who was so tender and sweet and unlike a monster- really a child of the night? He unconsciously moved away from her, nervous. "Delilah…is that true?"
"Yes," She nodded quietly. He finally saw it- her lack of appetite, her pointed ears and pale skin, her sharp fangs. His fiancé really was a monster! A vampire! "But please, Thomas, understand that I do truly love you… I vant us to be together forever, in the afterlife. So I have to do this vith great regret and apology…" She trailed off before taking him up, forcing him down and tilting his chin up. The man flailed but was no match for her strength.
"Delilah… you don't know vat you're doing… please release me." He begged before feeling a pair of sharp objects break through the skin of his neck. He groaned in pain slightly, gritting his teeth and gasping, as she began to drink. The vampire tried to be gentle and pressed her tongue up against his wounds, taking as much blood as she had to. Her lips were soft and cold against her love's skin. She felt him growing weak after a few moments and drew away quickly, using her fangs to slit her wrist. While Thomas continued to breathe heavily his fiancé pressed her bleeding wrist against his mouth and dripped some of the blood down his throat.
The blood was down before Thomas could even protest. His eyes snapped wide open after a moments and he clutched his chest, screaming in pain. The venom hit his system hard but when Delilah tried to comfort her love her scrambled back. Suddenly his heart quit beating and the man clawed at his leather vest before swaying drunkenly, ignorant of the pain for a second. He looked over at his wife accusingly. "Delilah… what have you done?" He asked sadly before collapsing in pain and blacking out.
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Thomas snapped up from the nightmare in a cold sweat, as usual. He shook with a few dry, wracking sobs before clutching his shoulders and forcing himself to calm down again. Almost every night he woke up like that… but now it was worse than usual. Maybe it was his fear of forcing someone else to go through the same torture… but Mina loved his father and was willing to go through it for Vlad. Maybe that was it- he was still saddened by his unfortunate fate and reaction to finding out what he had become. She had it so good compared to most of their kind.
Vlad never heard his son's cries. He never would, until it was far too late to comfort Thomas. The vampire was forever haunted by his human life… and that's why he hated it so. He wished it would move on and torture some other soul for the rest of his immortal life. But it would never happen. Thomas's father was still in his own dream, a much more pleasant one… for now.
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Vlad was still alive in this dream. He was still blushing and warm and close to his family. Thomas was holding his hand as they walked through drifts of snow into the forest. The tiny child stumbled around and laughed, trying to stay upright in the high mounds of ice. His silky blonde hair waved in the wind and his father picked him up, putting the one year old on his shoulders for a ride. The young man heard a soft, sweet laugh and he looked over at Sarah.
But it wasn't Sarah wearing her warm but poorly made fur coat, something Vlad had tried at for their anniversary, but Mina. She held his hand now and Thomas giggled, wrapped his arms around his father's forehead and making a mess of his hair. Despite his surprised Vlad smiled, long and happy. This felt so… perfect. He didn't care to wonder if it was a dream or not even though the impossibilities were great.
They were out to cut some reeds from around a frozen pond in the forest to make baskets from. He checked his pocket watch- midnight. The man couldn't help but wonder how it could be so light out in the middle of the night, or if his watch had stalled. But there wasn't time to care because they had come into the little crescent shaped clearing. The Count set Thomas down and let go of Mina's hand, letting her go to cut the reeds as he got into a snowball fight with his son, allowing himself to be hit with even the poorest shots to please the little boy.
He looked over at his wife again and realized something he hadn't before. There was a small bulge in her stomach. Another young life seemed to have found seed and begun growing there. "Oh, Mina!" He ran over and hugged her from behind. The young woman squealed and laughed in surprise as he picked her up and spun her around. So their sweet love had produced something to love even more than each other! He rubbed her belly, wondering if it was a boy or girl. Mina planted a short kiss on his lips before looking back at her other son.
The couple's eyes widened in horror as Thomas ran out onto the surface of the icy pond. He was after a large pile of crunchy snow, perfect to make a snow fort from. He didn't realize that he was running on thin ice and screeched in surprise when a piece the size of his boot fell out from under him. He fell forward and hit his forehead on the ice before bursting into tears.
Vlad was at a loss to help his son. If he ran out onto the pond's surface they would both surely go into the freezing water. The man had to let Thomas get out on his own. The small child soon stopped sobbing and didn't seem to realize that there were streams of blood running down his forehead. He tried to worm his way out of the ice and was doing fairly well… until the one-year-old managed to plant his other foot on the surface for better purchase… and it broke as well.
The young man never realized, watching in horror as his nightmare unfolded, that Thomas's struggle on the ice was a sick representation of the rest of his life. His entire life. Vlad opened his mouth to cry out before the ice broke fully but didn't find his voice, only tiny squeak. Mina was the one who found the ability to scream in horror and despair when Thomas's tiny, flailing hands disappeared under the water. Vlad collapsed onto the snowy woodland floor, beating his fists against the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. "I… I should have at least TRIED to help!" He screamed at himself before laying his head down and whimpering, broken beyond repair. Mina had suddenly calmed after her scream and sat down beside him on her knees. She stroked her husband's back softly.
"Honey… It's not your fault." It wasn't… and Vlad realized this. But he was still brokenhearted. She continued comforting him. "And we have… other things to worry about." She touched her stomach gently. He sat up solemnly and touched her belly too. Yes… other things to worry about. Maybe more important than the sudden loss of his son…. Only moments ago…
And as soon as he forgot his first son's disappearance a long, blue, clawed hand surfaced in the frozen pond. It clawed at the air before sinking it's fingertips into the ice and dragging itself up. The Thomas he knew now rose out of the water, dripping but not appearing wet at all. His eyes were closed and when he opened them they were glowing red with thirst. The young vampire was breathing heavily. He looked through his glasses and Vlad. "Other… Things to vorry about? You never even tried to help? Vouldn't risk anything to try and look after me as best you could even vhen you- or I- vas lost?" The man demanded as he walked across the pond, unwavering despite how thin and slippery it was.
His father stood up and scrambled back. Mina tried to as well but was grabbed, pulled into a straining headlock. Vlad managed to get to his feet and, shakily, tried to calm his son down. "Now… you know I couldn't risk leaving our mother and killing myself-"
"She's not my mother!" The vampire roared. "Vat, did you forget Sarah? Mommy dearest? Eh? Replaced her didn't you?!" He ran a claw angrily over Mina's belly, slitting the warm cloth of her dress. "And now you're replacing me. Like garbage."
This also hinted something that had haunted Vlad with guilt since he had to leave his family. He had never even made an effort to check on them, tell them he was okay… no matter how sad her was to have lost them he had never tried to do anything about it. He had never tried to save Thomas. Had never gave any sympathy. He had only wallowed in his own problems until it was too late, and moved on without blinking afterwards. And it seemed as if he had replaced them. "No- Thomas no!" He shrieked in an effort to save himself and Mina. His nightmare closed before the worst happened.
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Both vampires hid their shudder-worthy nightmares from each other. Vlad looked over at Thomas in slight apologetic contempt. Thomas, not understanding, turned away and found himself looking into a mirror. He sighed sadly and laid his fingers delicately on the silvery glass before heading upstairs to get his nightly drink and hunt. Maybe afterward he would spend time helping his father and Mina ready for the inevitable.
Vlad watched this and recognized after-turning depression immediately. Every vampire that caught a case of it acted this way. But… he had rarely seen a case so long after the person had become a monster. He suddenly wanted to wrap his son in a hug and apologize for everything. Everything from the day he died to now; it all deserved an apology. But Thomas had run upstairs by now and left. He sighed sadly and went to Mina's house to wake her.