9

	I sat outside on the edge of town that night, trying to pick a piece of 
meat I had attempted to cook tonight out of my teeth. One thing I need to 
tell myself never to do again: Try to cook. For one thing, it tasted 
horrible, and it was too overdone.

	Sonia ran over to me as soon as I had lightly closed my eyes to rest them, 
"Adrian! Good news! Grandpa said you could stay!"

	"Hmm?" I asked, lifting my head, "Oh, great! You sure I won't be a burden 
to you?"

	Sonia shook her head, "I take care of the farm all by myself, I can handle 
another mouth to feed. Come on," she said, taking my hand and playfully 
trying to pull me to her home. I laughed and walked along with her.

	"I have to admit. Grandpa was a little upset when I mentioned you. He 
started yelling about how I shouldn't have talked to a man without knowing 
him, how I could have gotten killed, but I eventually calmed him down," she 
said.

	"Bet he'll be happy to see me," I nodded. Sonia laughed.

	I stood, "Well, shall we go?"

	Sonia nodded, and led me to her home.

	"Be quiet... my brothers are asleep," Sonia said, opening the door and 
letting me in. I nodded, and stepped in.

	The place was well kept. The furniture was neat, and in surprisingly good 
condition. I looked up towards the wall, seeing paintings of Sonia's 
brothers, her grandfather, and a picture of her when she was younger.

	"Where's the picture of your parents?" I asked.

	Sonia blinked, "Huh? Oh. I took them down. I hated my parents. They beat me 
constantly, and ordered me to take care of everything. When that demon 
killed them, I was glad. I was smiling through the entire funeral."

	"Must really have hated them if it was that way..." I said. Sonia nodded.

	She led me to a room, "This is the guest room. It's not really a suite, but 
it's the best I can offer."

	I looked around, and then turned to Sonia, "It's great. Don't worry, I live 
in a tomb. I don't worry about how nice it looks, it's how good I can stay 
in it."

	Sonia couldn't help but giggle, "Alright. If you hear a high-pitched sound 
in the morning, it's the sound of Jake screaming when I'm chasing him out of 
my bedroom."

	"I don't wake too easily, anyway," I said. Sonia smiled.

	"Well... good night, Adrian," she said, starting to walk out of the room.

	"Please," I said quickly, "...call me Alucard."

	She smiled, "Alright. That your nickname or something?"

	I shrugged, "My Mother called me by it all the time."

	"I like it," Sonia said, "Good night, Alucard..."

	I watched her leave, until she silently closed the door. I heard her 
walking to her room, opening the door and closing it when she entered. I 
laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. I wasn't really tired 
since I was used to sleeping in the day, although the bed was far more 
comfortable than my coffin.

	Strange, how Sonia wasn't scared when I told her that I was the Dhampire... 
it was more as if she was happy to see me. She freely invited me into her 
home, laughed at my poor jokes, and enjoyed talking to me.

	"God, she's beautiful," I murmured to myself. It wasn't all her beauty I 
was interested in. She was intelligent, funny, and she was brave. Her voice 
was like a Siren's song... it would lure anyone to her, her skin smoother 
than any silk ever made.

	I had to force myself from not embracing her at that moment. That was what 
I wanted, to just halt her speech for a split second and just hold her, 
breathing in her scent and caressing her arms and neck.

	"Dammit, stop this," I ordered myself, running my fingers through my hair 
out of stress. I closed my eyes, telling myself to stop thinking about 
Sonia, and eventually fell asleep.

*

	The next morning, what Sonia had warned me about happened; I was awakened 
by a VERY high-pitched scream running past my door, followed by Sonia's 
footsteps running.

	Eventually, the screaming subsided, and my door creaked open. Sonia poked 
her head in, grimacing when she saw me awake, "Sorry..."

	"It's okay," I said, "I didn't know Jake actually screamed that loud."

	"Sis, who ya talkin to!!!!" I heard a voice scream. Sonia growled and said, 
"'Scuse me a sec," and closed the door, and I heard the two quarreling. I 
couldn't help but chuckle, and got out of bed.

	I hadn't bothered to remove my clothes the night before, and my cape was a 
little wrinkled, so I took it off and neatly folded it, placing it on the 
foot of my bed. I then walked outside, seeing Jake running.

	"SONIA, I'M GONNA TELL GRANDPA YOU BROUGHT A GUY INTO THE HOU--" he 
screeched to a halt, seeing me, then ran away from me, screaming, "OH MY 
GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

	He darted behind Sonia, gripping her dress, yabbering, "He's huge, he's 
gonna eat me!! What is that thing!!!!"

	Sonia growled and reached behind herself, grabbing Jake, and jerking him 
away from her, "Adrian, this is Jake," she said, not revealing my nickname 
to Jake

	"Adrian?!" Jake grumbled, "That's a weeeeeeeeeiiiiiiirrrrrrrrdddddd name."

	I heard a door open, followed by, "Sonia? What's going on?"

	Recognizing the voice, I quickly ran and stood behind Sonia, "Hide me," I 
joked. Sonia rolled her eyes.

	"It's nothing, Grandpa. Just Jake," she said.

	"I heard the word 'Adrian.' Who's here?"

	It was then when Jonathan came into view, and I swallowed hard. He had aged 
since I last saw him, and was now using a cane for support. The scratches I 
gave him ten years ago scarred his arms, and he was probably using a cane 
from when I stabbed the stake into his leg.

	Jonathan looked up, narrowing his eyes at me, "Oh... it's you," he said 
hatefully.

	"Grandfather, please," Sonia begged, "he means no harm."

	"He better not damn well mean any. You promised me he wouldn't harm you, 
and Jake's running around screaming about him?"

	"He's twenty feet tall, Grandpa!!!!" Jakob exclaimed, but shut up when 
Sonia clapped a hand over his mouth.

	I quickly moved out of the way as Jonathan passed me. He looked up and 
stared at my face, "You look more like your Mother nowadays..." he then 
frowned, "May that damned whore of a witch stay dead."

	I looked away after he said that, and Sonia grimaced. When he left, 
(followed by Jake) Sonia sighed and looked up at me, "I'm so sorry about 
that--"

	"It's alright, Sonia," I said slowly, "I've been insulted more than once."

	Sonia sighed quietly, and nodded, "I'd better wake up Gabriel... then I'm 
making breakfast. How do you like your eggs, or... do you even eat them?"

	"I'm fine... probably just kill a rat or something sometime today," I said. 
Sonia made a face, but laughed.

	"Alright... as long as you don't come back with human blood on your lips."

	"I'll try not to," I said, smirking. Sonia laughed again, and walked off to 
get Gabriel.

	She came back holding a sleepy toddler in her arms, and he looked up when 
he saw me, "Rapunzel..... why is tha Boogie-Man in our howse?"

	"Gabriel, this is Adrian, a friend of mine. Be nice to him and I'll try and 
buy some chocolate tonight for us at the market okay?" Sonia said, pinching 
his nose. Gabriel giggled and hugged Sonia.

	"This is Gabriel, Adrian... he's the less annoying of my two brothers, but 
don't get him upset... because he can be your worst nightmare," Sonia said.

	"Hewwo, Boogie Man," Gabriel said. Sonia poked him in the ribs. I chuckled.

	"Should I put up with him calling me the Boogie Man?" I asked, quirking an 
eyebrow.

	Sonia laughed, "Don't worry. He always has nicknames for people. He calls 
Jake Banshee Boy, calls Grandpa Grumpy Golem, and he calls me Rapunzel 
because of my hair..."

	"I see..."

	Sonia put Gabriel down, and he started to run towards the dining room, but 
stopped and looked up at me, sucking his thumb, "Are you Rapunzel's 
boyfwiend, Boogie Man?"

	"Gabriel!" Sonia scolded.

	I knelt next to him and whispered in his ear, "I wish."

	The little boy's eyes widened, and he giggled, running off. Sonia walked up 
to me, "What did you tell him?"

	"I told him that I was an old bully that pushed you around and I'd never 
think of becoming your boyfriend," I lied. Sonia smiled, and shook her head 
in disgust.

	She walked past me and towards the kitchen to make breakfast. Jake was 
sitting at the table shouting, "FOOD FOOD!!!"

	Gabriel frowned and looked up at Jake, "Shut up, Banshee Boy!!!"

	When Sonia gave them breakfast, she looked over towards me, "You sure you 
don't want breakfast?"

	"I'm sure," I said politely. Jake looked over towards me.

	"You're probably a vegitarian, aren't you?" He asked.

	"Actually, Jake, I'm quite the opposite," I replied plainly. Jake blinked, 
"What does opposite mean?"

	"You're too young to know," Sonia said. Jake grumbled.

	"Why does Jake remind me of a younger version of myself?" I asked Sonia as 
she walked over to me.

	She fairly glanced at me, "Hold your tongue, Kid Dracula..."

	My eyes widened, "How did you kno--"

	"Grandpa keeps news pamphlets... when I was old enough to read, I read a 
pamphlet with an article on someone called Kid Dracula destroying a 
Garamoth. I was less than a day old when that happened, but everyone who is 
old enough would know you if they knew you were Dracula's son."

	"I see," I murmured, "So, when do you want to start training?"

	"As soon as things around here calm down... also known as when Jakob calms 
his internal tornado down."

	I laughed, "He's hyperactive?"

	"Try Super Hyperactive," Sonia grumbled.