THE END OF BEGININGS

“Sealed?!”

Alucard cringed as she put a pair of old books onto the nearest shelf. “Must you be so loud?” she asked casually, reaching for a cloth to drape over the shelf. “If you must be here, at least help out.”

She handed him a small stack of old records. Walter stared at them blankly, then set them down on top of her coffin. “No.”

“Then get out of the way.”

“Not that,” he insisted, stepping into her path. She rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe this. Why was I not told about this? Don’t I get a say?”

At seventeen, he had at least a foot on her. Alucard looked up at him and smiled thinly. “No. Frankly, my dear, you don’t. It was a decision by the master of the house.”

“Why would Arthur decide this?”

She shrugged and phased right through him. Picking up the stack of records, she looked around, and in the end settled on leaving them on the shelf with the books. “Because I am no longer useful. Peace has come and there’s no need for a pet vampire to roam about like this.”

“Don’t you care?”

“Care about what?”

She picked up a half-empty bottle of wine. He grabbed it out of her hand and set it down again. “Your freedom. How can you just concede to being locked up like this? For years, decades?”

“When you have eternity, a few years aren’t so bad.”

“But what about…” he sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and turned away. “I don’t know. I can’t accept this. I can’t just…”

“You won’t defy the master’s orders,” she said to him. Picking up the bottle of wine, she took a long swig and offered it to him. “My last drink for a very long time, won’t you join me?”

He didn’t take the bottle. “You mean you won’t defy the master’s orders.”

“Don’t act as if you’re going to be rebellious all of a sudden, little butler.”

“Watch me.” He spun around and headed out of the dungeon.

“Where are you going?” she called after him.

“To see Arthur. I don’t care what he says. I can’t let his happen.”

In a second she was in front of him, so suddenly that he nearly fell over her. She put a hand on his chest and shoved him backwards. He stumbled and fell on his rear.

“No, Walter.”

He sat on the floor. A sense of desperation and hopelessness suddenly washed over him. He buried his face on his hands. “Why?” he asked. “Why won’t you fight this?”

She knelt down in front of him and took his hand. “Do you want to know the real reason? The reason I agreed to this?”

He nodded.

“It’s for you, Walter.”

He looked up in surprise. She touched his face, brushing hair out of his bright eyes. “Arthur feels that I am a distraction to you, just when you need to grow and learn. And I agree.”

“But…”

“I’m not good for you,” she continued. “Look at you, you’re already in deeper than you can handle. This is your time. You’re about to become a man. Don’t let something like me ruin it for you.”

She started to stand. He seized her hand and pulled her down forcefully.

“I love you.”

She chuckled. “Don’t say such silly things.”

“I do.”

“I believe you.” Her red eyes gazed at him in all seriousness. “I believe that you think you love me. That’s all the more reason for me to be away from you. What do you think that kind of love can get you besides disappointment and misery? Better for you to get such things out of your head and focus on what’s important.”

He let her go. She stood up. “What if I said I don’t care?” he asked. “What if I don’t care about the misery and disappointment?”

“Then you’ll look back in twenty years and realize what a pitiful young fool you were. You’re still a kid, susceptible to moments of passion.” She winked. “You’ll see. You won’t even miss me.”

He got to his feet. “You know that’s not true.”

She nodded. “I know, but at least if I keep that in mind, I can try not to miss you either.”

He smiled. She returned it. He took her hand and they returned to her room, where she poured the last of the wine into two glasses.

“To last days.”

“No,” he said. “To reunions.”