Traveling around the world to find my next story is what I love the most of my path in life. My family always thinks that I am rushing into danger as I go into the unknown. I love taking old myths from around the world and adding modern twists to them.

This time, I am traveling to Transylvania, towards the Carpathian Mountains. People say that the stories of vampires began in those very mountains.

“Mr. Harker, we cannot go any farther tonight.” The coachman told me as we reached the village.

“Thank you,” I told them as I got out and gave them a tip.

In my experience of traveling, it is always good to be nice to people but never show off how much money you have. The town looked bleak and sad as parents were taking their kids into their houses

“Mr. Harker, you best head to the inn before the sun sets. Otherwise the shadows will drag you into hell itself.” The coachman said as he took his horses to the nearby stables.

I nodded my head and noticed the light on the ground. The way the sun shone across the ground made it look like it was covered in blood due to the red glow. I looked up at the forest and noticed yellow glowing eyes staring at me. Above a group of them, there was a single pair of red eyes that felt like they were staring into my soul. I could not look away as the glow grew brighter. I forced myself to blink and the first thing I noticed was that it was fully nighttime. The second was the tall pale man standing in front of me.

He had long, flowing, curly black hair that was pulled back by a circlet of braids, His eyes were blood red, and he refused to blink as he looked at me. I could not breathe as he gave me a smile that was slowly growing.

“I take it that you are William Harker? The famous English author?” He had a deep voice with a thick accent as he spoke.

“You heard of me?” I blurted out before blushing, “I mean, yes I am.”

“Come to my castle, the inn will do nothing for your inspiration.” He told me as he reached out his hand towards me. “Old castles always have hidden stories within their walls.” He leaned close to whisper in my ear. “Perfect for someone as curious as you.”

I felt something pulling my arm, like a string, before I reached out and shook his arm.

“Thank you for the offer. Castles hold just as much history as myths do.” I tucked a brown curl out of my face before continuing. “You already know my name, but I do not know yours.”

“Alucard Tepes at your service.”

My eyes widen when I realized that I was standing in front of the lord in the area. The main reason why I am here is because people say that the Tepes family has been cursed to be vampires.

Before I had a chance to change my mind, he took me to a carriage and helped me inside. I did not see the coach driver but it moved automatically after Alucard got seated. He was a very interesting man, because I could not tell how old he was. His face said around the twenties, his outfit said thirties, while his mannerism sounded like he was in his forties.

I turned towards the window to watch the passing scenery. As we continued on, I watched as the colors faded from the forest. The air grew sharper and cold, as we got closer to the base of the mountains.

“In your travels, have you ever seen snow?” His sudden question made me jump. “There is no need to be scared; there is nothing here that will harm you.” I almost did not hear the last part. “Without my permission.”

“No, I try to stay away from cold countries during their winter times.”

“I would have assumed that English blood would be used to the constant cold weather.” He had a playful smile on his face. “Or does the constant rainfall get tiring after a while?”

“I have been looking for my home away from home. I do not wish to get homesick from feeling the cold.”

He kept the smile on his face, and it made his teeth look sharper, I almost thought he had fangs for a moment. I jumped again when I heard the wolves howling.

“Wolves are perfect guard dogs; they refuse to stop until their prey is captured or dead.” A shiver went up my spine at the meaning behind his words.

His blood red eyes glowed with emotion as he looked fondly out the window.

“You care for all the animal lives out there.” It was a statement that slightly sounded like a question.

He gave me a look of surprise and horror at the same time.

“Of course! I am the lord here. I cannot ignore one type of subject just because the other wears clothing. All living creatures on this earth wears clothing.”

A sad memory flashed in my head as I remembered watching two girls get stoned to death just because they were lovers. My family was one of the ones that threw stones and they grew angry when I refused. They told me that anyone that sleeps with the same gender are soulless demons and must be removed from this earth.

“Humans think that souls are both priceless and worthless at the same time.” He spoke as if humans are different from him. “God fearing people want everyone to be exactly the same. If one person were different, then God would punish them for failing. There are very few humans that I like and I wonder if you will be on that short list.” Before I could ask about that list, the coach stopped. “Ah, we are here.”

The door opened and he stepped out first. As I went to follow him, the coach shook and I fell into firm and smooth arms. I looked up with a red face and a heavy blush.

"I am so sorry!" I told him repeatedly as I pushed myself away. "I might have ruined your clothes. Oh how I hate that I am clumsy. Did I step on your nice shoes? Now I am rambling over the smallest things. You must think I am stupid and dumb." He put his hands on my cheeks and my rambling stopped. "Your hands are soft."

His face soften as it looked like he tried not to laugh.

"You are an enigma, dear Mr. Harker." Something about how he said my name made me blush harder.

"Lord Tepes, please call me William, Mr. Harker is my father."

"You don't seem to care about your father all that much." It wasn't a question but I nodded my head in agreement. "Since we are no longer formal, you can call me Alucard."

One hand stayed on my cheek as the other shook my hand again. The empty cheek felt cold without his touch. Something about him was calling me to do things, I have never done, in my twenty two years of life. A chance wind blew by and it sent a shiver down my spine. Then I realized that we were standing outside in the freezing cold.

"I do not wish to sound rude, but it is freezing cold. Could you show me the inside of your beautiful castle?"

He moved his hands away from me and I felt like something was getting pulled out of me. He looked around as if he could not feel the temperature.

"I suppose that it is cold here. I have lived here for so long, I must have gotten used to it." He grabbed my hand and started to lightly tug me towards the entrance to his castle. "Your manners are so strange. It is not rude when explaining that you are cold."

The inside of his castle was beautiful. The walls and furniture had enough color to make it neither too bright or too dark. I felt like I was going to break my neck from all the turning around that I did. It felt like that if I blinked, it would all disappear and just be a dream.

"You can stay here as long as you need to, then you can give the same loving look to my library."

I slowly turned towards him with the same wide eye look on my face. If the foyer of the castle was this grand, then the library would be mythical.

"That sounds beautiful! I wonder if it would similar to the library of Alexandria since the foyer matches the stories of Camelot."

"You have such a powerful and beautiful imagination. I have seen it in your writing style but it better in person. But, I will show you some more later."

"I cannot wait to see of the beauty in this castle."

He motioned for me to follow him up the stairs. I noticed that the entire castle was completely clean even though there was no servants around. He walked down a quiet corridor all the way at the end and pointed to the door on the right side.

"This is going to be your room. If you need space to write your stories," he pointed to the door on the left side, "this is my spare office. I hope that it has everything you need in there."

"Thank you for all of this. I will remember to mention you when I finished my next story." I told him as I opened my new bedroom's door.

"I hope that you mention my name more often by then." He said as I closed the door.

I slid to the floor and tried to scrub the blush off my face. I have never found myself openly showing attraction to the same sex before. Even as I traveled the world, I avoided relationship for fear of getting killed. I took a deep breath before getting up from the floor.

I set out the important objects that I needed for tomorrow and changed clothes. I was surprised at all of the events of today. The lord was nice and handsome, and he offered me a room just to help me with my writing.

I got surprised when I felt heat coming from the sheets. There was no servants around but they knew what room to heat up. This castle's own stories would be perfect for the setting for my next story.

The next few days, there has been some strange happenings in this castle. The wolves' howls became a nightly lullaby to me. I still did not meet any of the servants. But I saw one, every once in a while, pass a corner but I could never catch one.

Then a interesting event happened to me. Every few nights, I would use the only mirror in the castle to shave.

"You look good with a little bit of facial hair." Alucard said as he snuck up on me.

I jolted up and I felt the razor cut into my chin.

"Damn!" I cursed as I reached for the towel.

I froze when I felt something wet licking the cut. I did not see anything in the mirror even though I could feel someone's breath on me. However, when I looked down, I saw Alucard licking the cut. He looked up, with bright red eyes, and gave me a gleaming smile. One full with sharp, bloody fangs. I tried to pull away, in fear, but he grabbed my wrists and pulled me closer to him. He touched the uncut cheek and tilted my head to look him in the eyes.

"Now you must have realized the rumors are true."

"You are a vampire?" He nodded his head, "Are you going to kill and eat me?"

"There is more than one way to eat someone without killing them," He whispered in my ear and I felt his leg rise up between mine, "I can smell the virgin on you." He started licking the cut again, "I wonder how tasty you can get after I taint you."

I felt him move his head lower before I felt the fangs penetrate my neck. I was preparing for pain, however, what I got was so much better than pain. Starting from the bite, a soft heat spread across my body and waking up parts of me that have never been used before. One of my hands reached behind to clear the mess behind me. He did not stop as he lifted me up onto the counter. Then he removed his fangs and looked at me.

"Why did you stop?"

"If I continued, you would have fainted from blood loss," he was looking at the cut and I could feel it stitching itself back together, "besides, from the look on your face, you are enjoying this."

"Alucard!" I groaned out as he moved closer between my legs.

My whole body was burning with need and heat. I have never expected such pleasure coming from someone that was considered a soulless monster.

"Say that you will be all mine. I will consider only if you say those words."

I looked him in the eyes and there was so much emotion in them. Love, lust, happiness, sadness, loneliness, and need.

"I will be all yours if you will be all mine as well."

"I swear on my immortal blood that I will only yours for as long as you live."

He had me wrap my legs around his waist and he carried me to the bed. I have never had anyone see me naked before so this was a whole new experience to me. I could see why there are so many couples in the world, this is an amazing feeling. After a full night of staying together, I woke up in his arms, and he was humming an odd tune.

"What music is that?"

"An old lullaby from back when this country had a different name."

I curled up into his chest and it was soft and peaceful even without the heartbeat. As the months flew by, I did not want to leave but I had to head home for my sister's wedding. So I wished Alucard good bye and sailed back to England.

I hate coming home to England with the rain and hatred. Oh, how I wished to be in Alucard's caring arms right now. His body may be as cold as an London winter, but he was a warm comfort that I always need. I stepped off the boat and put on the fake smile that I wore for most of my life.

"Brother dear! You have arrived!" My sister, Julie, shouted in an undignified way.

I was always trained to be the perfect english gentleman while she was able to do whatever she wanted. Just because she accepted how cruel the world looks at people. I saw two men standing next to her as I walked over to them. I remember one because we met when he was first courting her. The other from the letters she sent about her teacher.

Her fiance, Lukas, a genius in the supernatural studies. The other, Gabriel Van Helsing, a doctor and teacher of supernatural studies. That man has left more victims than the plagues. I don't trust him even though Julie is a devoted follower and student.

As I got to them, I noticed Helsing studying me. It was a good idea I wore a scarf to hide the bite marks on my neck. I don't have to worry about some of the other spots unless I go to a bathhouse.

"Thank you for escorting my sister here," I said as I shook their hands, "I knew that she would be safe from natural and supernatural threats with both of you."

"I do not mind," Helsing had a thick accent as he spoke, "your sister is an amazing student. I only wish that England would allow a woman like her to grow more."

I dropped my bag as Lukas pulled me into a hug.

"My dear sir, you are lighter than your sister!"

I fixed my outfit as soon as the brute let go of me. Lukas always liked to pick me up the few times we met. They went with us to the carriage, the whole time, talking about their newest findings.

"Dear William, how was it in Romania? Did you find any evidence of vampires?" Helsing asked and I started to internally panic.

"I may write supernatural and fantasy stories but I know when to separate reality from fiction."

"Forgive my brother, he will not stay an non believer long with you."

The first week back was interesting. During the day, Helsing would invite me for tea and stories about Romania. I lied about my time in the mountains to hide Alucard. Julie would write down notes about mountain life and food. At night, Lukas would drag me to the pubs to go drinking and manly bond. I did not really drink with him but I help carry him home many times.

The week made me miss Alucard, I forgot how interacting with other humans bore me. I guess I am starting to sound like Alucard now. Then came the painful surprise at the week's end.