Dracula 17: Bloodstain on the Snow

The morning that followed was frozen. It was really freezing outside and even if the sky was almost clear, the cold was announcing an upcoming snowfall and soon… However for now on only the sharp cold reminded that… Kisara opened her eyes slowly, waking up from her sleep. She looked around and found out that she was in the same room. The events of the previous night came back to her memory… And also she had spent her night awake…curled up in a ball under the bed sheets shaking in fear like a little child that had just heard about the monster that lived under her bed… She was jolting up with every single noise…with every single whistle of the wind up at the enormous tower’s ceilings… She was afraid of every single tapping on her window…every single move…every single shadow… She thought that by any moment Seto Kaiba would appear in the shadows and sink his sharp fangs in her flesh… She managed to have some sleep a little before dawn… Now she looked around to make sure that she was alone. She threw the sheets off her and then she got up. She went to the big window and drew the curtains. The bright sunlight that got in the room, made her feel safe at last… There was no way Seto Kaiba to touch her in such a bright sunlight… Right…? Outside the window the view was really spectacular. She could see the mountains…and the snow-powdered forest… She looked around again. In the sunlight the room appeared less scary… No. Not scary at all… It was beautiful…and surprisingly clean… She smelled something quite nice and when she looked to the other side of the room, close to the dressing table, she saw a disc that was full with…her breakfast! When had he…how had he…? It had a beautiful porcelain pot that contained steamy hot tea that smelled slightly like jasmine… The disc also had a plate with fried eggs and some bacon bread and cheese. The smell of food made her stomach growl. She now realized how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten anything for almost two days…however something inside her head was warning her not to eat that! What if it had poison inside it? She then walked to the wardrobe to find something to wear. When she opened it she saw that it was full with clothes that would fit to a lady or a queen! They were all a bit old-fashioned, fitted for the 15th century or so but they were still beautiful. However Kisara found them all excessive and heavily decorated or at least unfitting for her and her origin… Her eye then fell to…her old dress that was at the bottom of the wardrobe, folded and clean. At least Seto Kaiba had the courtesy and the mind to leave her, her old clothes just in case she needed them… She sighed a little and removed her nightgown and started to get dressed. After she was finished, she folded her nightgown on the bed and then went to the dressing table and took a brush that she found there to brush her hair in front of the mirror. There were several other cosmetics or small perfume bottles but she didn’t touch any of that… She finished brushing her hair and then… she looked at the food’s direction… It was so inviting…like calling for her… Her stomach was empty and almost hurt… Her fear for poison was getting all the more insignificant till she couldn’t resist and she ran there… She ate her eggs and bacon with the bread and drank plenty of the jasmine-smelling tea… It was delicious indeed… She couldn’t find the slightest taste of…poison or anything unpleasant like that…. She remained there for a little and when she finally saw that there was nothing to worry about she decided, and it was a really tough decision, to leave her room and see around the castle…
“The day is really bright today…he is sleeping… Right…? Right?”
Finally she decided that the best solution she had was to see from herself… She did the sign of cross praying that he wouldn’t be standing from the other side of the door, waiting for his next meal and she…grabbed the door-handle… It moved easily and the door opened. It was unlocked… She looked at the enormous hallway that was decorated with a red carpet, paintings on the walls and wonderfully painted ceiling… She didn’t see anyone… Her heart was still bounding like crazy cause the hallway was half-dark and he could be anywhere! However no one was there… Finally she took a deep breath and…walked out at the hallway…

She walked through the long hallway. She would have admired the decorations, since it was the first time she actually saw such a wonderful thing but still fear was clouding her senses and she couldn’t enjoy her “tour”. Every single shadow would make her gasp and turn around! Even the sound of her own steps was making her feel nervous! She even opened a couple of doors and saw that Seto Kaiba had told the truth… The doors were unlocked and she could open them easily… They leaded to other bedrooms… Kisara was walking full with dear as she was feeling the eyes of the portraits or the statue-beasts and gargoyles all around her…following her… She was feeling like a trapped little mouse in the labyrinth! She walked a little further and then she took a turn and…she felt strange warmth coming from…somewhere close to her…
“What could that be…?” she thought
She followed the warmth and she found herself in front of a door… It was a simple door made of hard and rough wood. It definitely wasn’t like the rest of the door she had seen so far… She gulped again and did the sign of cross…and opened the door… The door slowly shrieked a little as it opened the heavy door…and she found herself…in a kitchen… The wood-ovens were big…bigger than those in Mai’s house…much bigger! It soon could take about six people to work in there. The fire was already on there! She remained there looking at the scene… No one was there. Then why the ovens were…? She looked around the kitchen. Everything was in place…dried spices were hanging from the ceiling such as dried, red peppers and onions (no garlic!) or others like that while the spoons were hanging from hooks close to the ovens, that sure could bake dozens of bread all at once…everything was in place and silent…like no one had stepped in there for a long time…but then again the fire was on… She felt an unpleasant shiver down her spine and she decided that the kitchen’s warmth wasn’t so pleasant and welcoming to her anymore… Strangely she found a cape with a hood hanging from a hanger close to the door that was leading outside. She quickly walked to it, took the cape, put it on and opened the door walking outside…

The cold air hit her face but she welcomed it. Outside in the safety of daylight she was finally feeling more protected than before… She walked and observed the gardens… They were so beautiful…marble stairs were leading to the multiple layers of the gardens’… She walked to the highest one and looked over the marble balcony to see the mountains…and the forest…hundreds of meters below… For a moment she felt tempted to jump… She could end everything if she gave an end to her life…however…no matter how much she thought about it…she couldn’t bring herself to do it…
“You’re so scared…you can’t even kill yourself…you can’t even free yourself…” she thought…
She walked a little more feeling the snow crumble under her feet. The strong smell of roses reached her nostrils. Roses? While it was almost in winter? She followed the smell and she saw the rosebushes… And they were full with roses in full bloom…roses magnificent…and deep red…like blood… Inside the whiteness of the snow…and the gray stones of the castle…those blood-crimson flowers were like velvet drops of blood…as if winter was bleeding… Roses in the freezing cold…that was rare… She walked closer and closer to that wonder of nature… She touched one of the rose petals…she felt the velvet of nature in those delicate petals…but under those wonderful flowers of passion…there were hiding thorns… She sighed.
“If only I really was a fairy!” she thought, “I would leave forever in these roses or in this free and clean air…and no one would ever threat my life again…I wouldn’t be afraid anymore…”
Tears started to warm and blur her eyes… So she didn’t notice the thorn that was there and…
“Ouch!” she exclaimed and pulled her hand away immediately…
A small drop of blood fell on the white snow… Some snowflakes started to fall softly to the ground from the frozen skies again… She looked at the red stain on the fresh, white snow and the tears fell freely in her eyes…
“That’s right…” she thought, “We are humans…powerless humans against him…and here is the proof to that…”
A bloodstain on the snow…

At night the wind was howling and the snowstorm was really strong outside. Even if you had the eyesight of a wolf it would be too difficult to see a few meters before you! Even inside her big house, Mai could hear the wind and the windows were shrieking slightly. She felt her skin crawl for a brief second… She walked silently in the hallways of her big house. Joey was studying in her library trying to translate that book… He had also made a painkiller for Tea. It appeared that he knew some botanology, which was coming quite handy! Anyway she decided to check on Yami first… She walked down her stone-mansion. She didn’t need a candle. She knew by heart every single stone… She reached the door and opened it slowly. Immediately the strong smell of alcohol hit her. She didn’t need to enter to realize that he was dead-drunk but she entered anyway… As she walked in her feet fount at some empty bottles on the floor…
“God…what a mess…” she mumbled irritated.
She looked over the bed and saw Yami lieing on it on his back…or better…collapsed carelessly on it on his back… His one arm was hanging from the bed and an empty bottle was still close to his fingers…probably he had chugged it down before collapsing from drunkenness…
“Humph!” she whispered, “He will be unconscious all night with all that alcohol…” she commented and exited the room closing the door behind her…
She walked down the hallway that was leading to Tea’s room. She softly opened the door.
“Alright Tea…time to change your neck bandage…”
But when she looked…the room was empty! No one was there!
“Tea…?” she looked around now really getting worried!
She ran out of the room and something told her that something really bad had happened! She ran to the place where her weapons were…the countless swords and knives and whatever kind of weapon was displayed there! She looked around and saw that many things were missing…a sword…a silver stake…a knife…a wooden stake…a pistol…a pistol with silver bullets… she didn’t need to search more! Even a bottle for Holy Water was missing! She then felt the snow coming in from…an open window! She ran to it and looked outside…she would barely see some footsteps on the snow before them being erased by the snowstorm.
“Oh no!” she mumbled, “Oh, God no…!”

The horse ran through the snowstorm with Tea on its back! Tea was wearing her red cape and tight, black leather pants with her warmest shirt and black, leather bolero over it and with black leather gloves in her hands with fitting boots that were lined with red fur to keep her warm… Her horse was loaded with the weapons she had taken from Mai’s house while she had only the wooden stake at her belt… She was riding fast like the wind that was blowing straight on her pallid face n the back of her Transylvanian horse…her cape waving as she was riding… Her face was freezing from the cold but she didn’t stop as she was in the forest…heading to only one place…Seto Kaiba’s castle…
When she entered the forest she was looking around all the time! Suddenly the horse had become nervous and she had to try really hard to re-gain control of it, especially since she was still weak from blood loss Seto Kaiba caused her! But then she turned her head and the very least color she had left on her face left her as she saw what had scared her horse…wolves! Dozens of them! Their yellow eyes were glowing like gems in the darkness and a hollow growling was coming out of their throats! They were gazing at her hungrily…revealing their fangs! Finally her frozen in fear mind decided to make another move and she kicked the horse with her heel and the horse, panicked like her, started to storm away! But the wolves were right after them! And they were getting closer! Tea leaded her horse in the forest where the trees were more! The horse jumped over a fallen tree, broke some small branches and jumped over another fallen tree but the wolves were still after them…growling hungrily! One of them came right near her horse…and jumped at them! The horse neighed in panic and Tea barely made it move its head so the wolf’s jaws hit only thin air! She made an attempt and made her horse go to the side and indeed succeed to hit that wolf with her horse’s side against a tree… However what came out of it? Dozens of others were still after them! Then the horse stepped over…frozen water! And both fount themselves into the frozen water! The horse’s instincts to survive made it move with all the strength his strong legs had and got out of water with a lot of effort. One or two wolves though were drowned behind… However the horse didn’t go away cause some meters away from the river it stopped when other wolves were blocking its way! A wolf attacked! The horse neighed loudly and jolted up to his back legs…throwing its rider off its back!
“Ahh!” Tea yelled as she fell form her horse on the frozen snow…
The horse in total panic ran away with some wolves after it taking with it though, Tea’s precious weapons, leaving her with a pathetic wooden stake and a small knife in her boot! What on earth could she do with those two against ten hungry wolves who had her cornered against the tree?! Right! Nothing! She stood up grabbing her stake. She hit a wolf with it. The wolf whimpered once as it accepted the strong hit on its head. Tea hit another one. She then turned around and desperately tried to grab the lowest branch of the tree…maybe she could climb and save herself! Alas! It was too high for her! The wolves growled again and started approaching… Tea raised her stake again to strike them but one of them grabbed it with his teeth! Tea desperately tried to pull it back…and the stake broke! She gasped in terror and a wolf jumped grabbing her red cape with its teeth throwing her to the ground! Another one started approaching her. Tea screamed!
And then…a gunshot echoed in the air and the wolves turned around to see a male silhouette standing on the top of a hill. It was Yami! However he…he was half naked, wearing only his leather pants and his torso was still wrapped in bandages to cover his wound! That was all he was wearing! Leather pants and bandages for that bitter cold?! And he had no other weapons but the pistol he had just fired in the air with…and a knife attached to his boot?! Yami jumped and got between Tea and the wolves standing in front of her protectively (since the wolf had let go of her surprised by his gunshot). The wolves started approaching again…Yami jumped forward and a wolf jumped on him throwing him to the ground! The pistol fell from his hand leaving him armless…and with no time draw his knife out of his boot-seethe! Yami threw the wolf off him…he jumped in the air and grabbed the broken stake from the ground, which thankfully had most of its length! He slued it once and hit a wolf! He stabbed the neck of another one! Some wolves attacked again sinking their teeth and nails into Yami’s flesh! His stomach wound had re-opened allowing blood flowing all around along with the new wounds of teeth and nails painting the snow all around! Tea had cupped her mouth with her palm to stop her screaming from seeing that image! Seeing Yami rolling on the snow with the wolves attacking him…and he was confronting them…almost barehanded! Yami screaming in pain…wolves growling…
Wolves were attacking to him as if attacking to a wild horse or a stag! And Yami was throwing them off him trying to unsheathe his knife! Suddenly and only for a brief second his eyes became demonic again and Yami grabbed the wolf from the neck throwing it to the ground, he unsheathed his knife and stabbed the animal in the neck. The wolves started to run away whimpering pathetically…and Yami’s eyes were back to normal…but now he was standing there…painted in his own crimson blood, his body patched with bites, nail wounds and mostly his torn bandage that now was revealing that his wound in his stomach not only had reopened but also it was worse than before! Yami was breathing in and out like a wounded animal…his breath coming out in white clouds…and then he let out a sound between a groan and a growl, the bloody knife fell from his hand and he collapsed on the snow exhausted from cold, fatigue and blood loss… A bloodstain was spreading all around him on the snow… Tea remained there in absolute shock before running to him…she was afraid even to touch him just in case he would break! Finally she took her cape out to cover his large body the better she could and the next thing she knew was that she was supporting him by having his arm wrapped around her shoulders…walking back home…behind them a red trail was visible for a couple of seconds before disappearing from the snowstorm…
Bloodstains on the snow…

Mai poured some warm water in a small bowl. Tea took it in her weak hands and placed a rag in it… She then looked over at Yami who was lieing on an armchair near the fireplace, growling like a wounded animal and drinking brandy straight from the bottle as if it was water! She slowly approached him… Most of his wounds, the serious ones, were attended…now there were only a couple of deep, but less serious than the others, scratches. She kneeled next to him.
“Here now…don’t drink any more…” she whispered to him touching his arm that was holding the bottle.
Yami lowered his arm rather surprised and winced in pain.
“Just…hold still…” she told him cause she was actually…chasing his arm with the rug!
Then she managed to touch the rug to his wound and Yami screamed in the sudden pain!
“That hurts!” he yelled at her
“Well if you hold still it wouldn’t hurt so much!” she told him
“Well if you hadn’t had the bright idea to run away, this wouldn’t have happened!” Yami snapped back
“You have no idea why I ran away!” Tea yelled now
“Ha!” Yami mocked loudly, “I don’t need to know a reason cause it is clear that someone must be completely crazy to run out there in THIS condition!”  he pointed at her from top to bottom
“Ha!” she mocked him angrily, “And you believe that your condition was better?!”
“Guys, guys please don’t argu-…” Joey, that was making the medicine for Yami’s wounds some meters away, wanted to interfere but…
“SHUT UP!” both Yami and Tea bellowed to him at the same time before turning to each other again!
“Tell me Yami! Do you honestly believe that running out there in the cold, with almost no clothes and with just a pistol and that pathetic knife you hide under your pillow and a huge wound in the stomach area, to face wolves is better?!”
“Alright next time I won’t leave my bed in the middle of the night to run and save your damn life!” Yami bellowed more loudly than ever!
Tea closed her mouth immediately and her shoulders started to shake from sobs while Yami remained there panting heavily… Tea look down and her eyes were watery…
“I am sorry…” she whispered, “…I am sorry…”
Yami said nothing…none of them spoke till Tea broke the silence.
“I was going to Seto Kaiba’s castle…” she admitted in a whisper, “I was planning to kill him…”
“Saying what now?!” Yami exclaimed
“You don’t understand…” she whispered through her sobs, “Seto Kaiba told me…he told me that one of my ancestors was leading the operation…when the mob got in his castle…and murdered him…”
“What nonsense-…” Yami begun
“No Yami! Not nonsense! It was he! Velkan Gardner! My ancestor’s name…technically…it was I…my family who created him!”
Now Yami could see what was going on! She wasn’t crazy after all… She was blaming herself so much that she wanted to give an end on her own! She wanted to stop him on her own!
“You couldn’t take down a bunch of wolves and you wanted to kill a vampire…?” he joked trying to make her smile…
However she lowered her eyes and more tears came from her eyes…falling on her hands that were so tightly holding each other that her knuckles had turned white… Yami sighed to the ceiling and then looked at her.
“Tea…listen to me…no matter what you think…you must never…ever…ever do such thing again!”
“But…”
“No “buts” Tea! What that monster did is none of your responsibility or Kisara’s! Also what your ancestors might have done has nothing to do with you!”
“But…”
“Tea!”
Tea raised her eyes to look deeply in his crimson eyes…the flames were dancing inside those two living pools of blood… Tea always admired those eyes of his…but right now they were reminding her how much he got hurt because of her! She looked at the wounds all over his body…and…at the wound at his stomach that had re-opened…and everything had happened because she was stupid enough to…to run and think that she would actually kill Seto Kaiba!
“I am sorry…” she mumbled, “It’s all my fault you’ve hurt…”
Yami smiled a small smile.
“You can say that again…” he said playfully.
And when she looked away again he caressed her hair softly.
“But it wasn’t your fault I left without any other protection…but when I heard about your running away…I just grabbed the first thing I found and…ran after you…”
Tea smiled a small smile and looked in his eyes again… And Yami looked into her eyes again…into her crystal-blue ones.
“Promise me…” he whispered again
“Yami…” she looked at him in awe.
“Just promise me…you will never do that again…”
His eyes were hypnotizing…
“Okay…” she whispered
She found herself leaning up…Yami leaned down…and their lips touched in a kiss… Tea’s hand was caressing his cheek softly… Yami’s hand was also caressing her hair… They looked at each other and Tea whipped her tears away and sniffed a little. She raised his arm carefully…
“Now hold still. This might sting a little”
She touched the rug at his wound and Yami growled a little, in pain. Tea’s soft hand started cleaning his wound
“By the way…” she said, “Thank you…for saving my life…”
Yami looked at her… He was still new at the feeling of…accepting thanking…
“You’re welcome…” he said in a low voice…
And Tea kept cleaning his wound…next to the fireplace…Joey and Mai looking at them…