Midnight had come. The summer night was humid with sickly, damp air that was
as pleasant as soggy bread. The symbiot sat on the sill of the bedroom window
idly staring out into the gardens, his eyes fixated on the forest below. It's
tale twitched with the anxiety and curiosity that still bothered him after D had
left him hanging for so long. He asked one question: if not the barbaroi, what
were they then? D had stopped speaking so suddenly. Not that he hadn't done it
before, but this time it seemed strange and unlike the dhampil. The symbiot had
asked him several times to answer, but nothing came. D seemed distant and
chillingly unraveled until he got into bed and fell straight to sleep. It made
the ghost wonder.
"Uh... uhhhh....."
"D?" The symbiot said turning to the hybrid. "Are you
awake?"
D was laying on his side facing away from where the goblin stood. It watched the
dhampil stir and shutter, then fall silent again.
A small door opened and a little anthropomorphic cat with bird wings stepped out
of the object lift with a plate in her hands. "Lunch." She said,
looking over at the symbiot, then at D. "Shall we wake him?"
"Nah." The symbiot said, bored. "Just set it on the table."
"It will get cold." She stated as she walked over to the side table by
the bed and sat the plate down.
"He wont care."
She turned and began to leave.
"Ohhhhh...... uhhhh..." D shivered in his sleep again.
"....Is he alright?" She asked.
"Yeah... he's fine." The ghost said and watched her leave, then turned
to look out the window again.
"Uhhh... ahhh....."
"Cut it out. You're getting annoying."
"Uh.... Aagghhh!"
It turned and flew over to D. "Wake up!" It said shaking the dhampil's
shoulder. "Wake up!! Wake--GYAHHH!!!"
D's arm shot up and hit the symbiot in the nose. The ghost flew across the room
and hit a decorative gong in the corner of the room, causing a loud PANG to echo
throughout the room and halls. D, however, had still not awakened. The symbiot
got up and growled in frustration.
Suddenly, Dracula burst through the door, with a nurse behind him, and scurried
to D's side. He placed a cold cloth in D's burning forehead and attempted to
console the ill hunter. "Be still, my child!" The vampire said
grabbing the arm that was being flung around. "You are safe!"
"Ahh...! Ronan...!!"
The symbiot and his king looked at each other. That was a name they hadn't heard
in several millennia. Dracula turned back to D. He placed a hand on his sons
shoulder and squeezed gently. "D..."
"Haaaaghhh!!"
Suddenly D sat straight up in bed, throwing his hands over his face and digging
his long fingernails into his delicate scalp. He was panting with shaky breaths
and a cold sweat trickled down his brow. The dhampil stayed that way for a
moment then dropped his hand into his lap.
"...D?" His father said reaching a hand up again.
D rose his eyes and his face flushed red with embarrassment as he noticed his
fathers presence. He turned his head away, letting his long brunette locks hide
his pale face.
Dracula struggled to see the hunters eyes through his thick hair with no
success. "...You were having a nightmare." The ancient vampire said.
"About Ronan?"
The dhampil rose his hands again and placed them on his cheeks.
"D?"
"Go..." The hybrid said.
Dracula touched D's shoulder, but the dhampil pulled away.
"Leave me!"
The vampire blinked, then slowly got up and left the room with the nurse
following him.
The symbiot floated up to the hunter. "...Are you alright?"
D lowered his hands and glanced up at the ghost, a look of striking realization
in his eyes.
"It's from stress." The nurse told Dracula as they stood outside of
D's bedroom door. "He's under a lot, I think."
The vampire king opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as the
door behind him swing open and an arm reached out to violently push him aside.
He caught his balance just in time to watch D scamper down the hall, a robe
thrown around him that he hadn't even bothered to tie.
"D! Wait! Stop!!" The symbiot said as it darted off after the dhampil.
"It's too dangerous!"