Chapter 3 - Chapter Two: Discoveries

Chapter Two: DiscoveriesD groaned as consciousness slowly returned to him. At first, disorientation reigned in his pain-fogged mind; where was he? He could feel what felt like a soft feather mattress under him, and equally soft blankets were drawn up to his chest."When was the last time I’d slept in a bed? I can’t even recall……." D mused, as he experimentally flexed his hands, then tried to lever himself onto his elbows."Take it slow, D. don’t push yourself." Left said, surprising D with the note of concern that was in his voice."How long have I been out?" D asked, softly, startled by how weak he sounded, as he allowed himself to relax back again; the pain in his side warning him to not move for the time being."Almost a full week. That poison was potent……almost too much for even somebody like you. It’s a good thing that kid was there to bail ya out." Left murmured, smirking slightly when he felt his host’s chagrin, and then arching an ‘eyebrow’ when confusion took its’ place."Kid?" D asked, not even bothering to mask his confusion on the matter."You don’t remember? The kid who rescued the victim of your quarry?" Left asked, in turn. It took D a few moments for his strangely fragmented memory to coalesce; and when it did, he had to keep himself from bolting upright."That boy had been part-vampire himself!" D’s mind shouted, as he glanced around the room warily, looking for his sword and weapons. To his relief, he spotted them on the far side of the room; the sword carefully leaned against the wall, and his weapon belts, cloak, and hat were on the chair beside it. As fate would have it, almost as soon as he’d located them, the person in question quietly entered the room, with the girl at his side."Glad to see that you’re awake, sir. I was afraid you wouldn’t make it." the youth said, looking as relieved as he must have felt."How long have I been here?" D asked, coolly; grey eyes scrutinizing their faces carefully."I would’ve thought Lefty’d told you once you woke up. Don’t tell me he was asleep on the job!" the youth said, in exasperation."I was not! I told him!" Left argued, defensively, his shouting getting a flinch from D in the process."You made yourself known to them?" D growled, with a deadpan expression now beginning to take up residence on his face."Yeah……but it’s only because both of these kids have vampire blood in ‘em." Left explained. The deafening silence that followed would have made a dropping pin sound like a hand grenade going off. "How much…..?" D finally asked, his voice so soft that both of the young people in front of him had a difficult time hearing him."I beg your pardon?" the girl asked, finally breaking her silence in his presence."How much vampire blood do you each have in you?" D again asked, his voice only a little bit louder than before."I am one-quarter vampire, sir." The youth replied, quietly; with a hint of shame in his voice."One-eighth, sir. My mother was one-quarter vampire as well." The girl said, also with shame in her voice. D only sighed and placed his right hand to his face."Of all the cruel jokes fate has played on me……..this has to be one of the worst. If you don’t mind telling me, what are your names?" D asked, as he brushed his hair away from his face, and looked at them again."Dirk Lang is my name, sir." The youth replied, confidently."Belladonna Collins, of the ill-fated Collins Clan; at your service." The girl chirped, jokingly, trying to lighten the mood in the room. D allowed himself a slight smile in response to the girl’s attempt at humor. He’d heard of the Collins Clan during his long years of travelling alone, and it did indeed seem as though the family was cursed."Pretty lighthearted for a descendent of that poor sod, eh, D?" Left asked, telepathically this time. D nodded slightly, then turned his attention to ‘Dirk’. "You’d said your last name was ‘Lang’……Are you in any way related to the Langs of Ransylva?" D asked. This got a genuinely surprised look from Dirk as an answer."Yes! In fact, I was born on the Lang Farm. My mother was Doris Lang." Dirk replied. If it had even been possible, D got even paler than he had been before."She wasn’t attacked by another vampire, was she?" D asked, with anger coloring his words, ever-so-slightly. Dirk shook his head."Ever since a vampire hunter named D wiped out the Lee Clan, vampires have steered clear of the area……I guess you could say that they’re afraid of him, and his reputation." Dirk said, trying his best to reassure D and put his worst fears to rest. To his relief, D relaxed somewhat, but some of the tension remained."If that is the case, how is it that you have vampire blood in you at all?" D questioned."The vampire hunter is my father." Dirk replied. Once again, silence fell over the trio; but this time it was stunned silence."Your……father…..?" D whispered, almost too shocked to speak. Dirk nodded."Before I left the farm, my uncle told me my father’s name, and gave me the pendant he had given him while in the depths of Count Lee’s castle. It is really all I have to go on." Dirk stated, as he showed D the aforementioned pendant."Son of a gun! It is the pendant you’d left with that kid! How in the world could you have hidden something like that from me?!" Left asked, his question barely even being heard by the stunned brain of his host."Sir?" Dirk asked, when he saw D pale again; afraid for the other man’s health, first and foremost."I’m sorry, Dirk. I truly am. Not only did I burden Doris, but I have also cursed you with the same wretched existence I have had to endure for so long. Please, forgive me." D murmured, sadly, as he lowered his gaze from the youth in shame."You’re D? You’re my father?" Dirk asked, his tone now one of shock and disbelief. D only nodded.    …………………………   For several long moments, Dirk stood where he was in stunned silence. This dunpeal he and Belladonna had worked so hard to save was, in fact, his father!"I can’t believe it…..I simply can’t believe it! This is him! This is my father! And he’d been right in front of me the entire time!" Dirk’s mind yelped, as he stared, wide-eyed, at the dunpeal in front of him. Then he shook off his disbelief, moved forward, and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder; smiling calmly when the other looked up."I always used to wonder why my mother called me her ‘gift’ when I was younger. Now I know….. I also know now why there was always sadness in her eyes when she thought I wasn’t looking. She missed you terribly, and even called out for you on her deathbed…..I wish you could have been there while I was growing up, yet I understand your reasons for moving on. Mixed blood such as ours doesn’t permit us to remain in one place for too long; we don’t age, and, when angered, there’s no guarantee that those around us will be safe." Dirk said, quietly, surprising D with his clarity of mind."But there is something you don’t know about the vampire blood we both share,….son….Something that makes it so potent and deadly…." D whispered, averting his gaze again out of shame."What is it?" Dirk asked, as he sat down in the chair beside the bed, and gazed intently at his father’s face."Dirk, you are the grandson of Dracula himself." Left said, before D could say anything. Dirk sat back in shock and surprise."Dracula……? Y’mean to tell me that he’d actually existed? And that I am actually related to him by blood?" Dirk asked, as D nodded and gave him a grave look."This also means that, even though you are one-quarter vampire, you have the strength of a normal dunpeal thanks to that cursed blood." D murmured, with self-loathing in his voice as he said that."Whoa……" Dirk muttered. No wonder he’d transformed when D had been struck down by the vampire!"I’m a freak!" Dirk thought, then shook his head and looked boldly at his father."Be that as it may, Dad, I’m glad you are my father, and not that rotten Count Magnus Lee." Dirk said, once again getting a stunned look from D."Why?" D asked."Because you have a sense of honor he didn’t. That’s why." Dirk stated, matter-of-factly."Certainly can’t deny that, kid. And it has gotten your father into some pretty sticky situations in the past. Like the time when…..mmmph!!" Left started, then was cut off by D shoving the possessed hand under the pillow behind his head; revealing a rather irritated expression while he was at it. Dirk smirked, while Belladonna giggled at the muffled cursing that was now coming from underneath D’s head."Kind of reminds me of what I have to go through when I’m on the road with Marv." Dirk murmured, still with a wry smirk on his face as he said that."’Marv’?" D asked, sounding a little curious (and, not to mention, grateful) about the change in subject."My sword. His full name is ‘Marvin’, but I call him ‘Marv’ for short. I think he was named after some robot in an old sci-fi series, but I can’t be too sure." Dirk replied, with a shrug. This got an arched eyebrow from D, and then a small smirk."I think I know which series the name came from, and I am inclined to think that fate has a rather perverse sense of humor." D muttered, still smirking when Left finally shut up."I think I’m inclined to agree with you, Dad, on more than one count." Dirk murmured, his expression deadpanning when the sword they’d been talking about started singing something about a ‘nowhere man’.

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