Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ D is for Dracula ❯ History and Redemption ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

D was old. Very old. Although his age wasn't apparent in his physical features, he was profoundly plagued with an aching mental weariness. His several millennia in existence were gradually weighing him down. Left Hand had asked him several times over the years how long he was planning on keeping this up.

"As long as I have to," was always the reserved, quiet reply.

A half-vampire, half-human dunpeal such as D had many advantages. He maintained an ageless state, the ability to regenerate wounded tissue, and incredible strength. Unfortunately, the bad came with the good. His life was more or less condemned with the fact that those he cared about would sooner or later be gone. That being the case, he made it a point to never develop an attachment to anyone. Ever.

That was another topic Left Hand brought up much too frequently. The parasite's constant questioning of D's non-existent love life was exasperating. Those were usually the times that D ensured the horse's rein was tightly wound around his left palm. There was no sense in discussing an irrelevant matter.

The blood passion typical of a vampire was what concerned him most. Being that he was not a full-blooded vampire, the passion-the lust-could be suppressed. He could resist his impulses to drink the blood of others, yes…but he hated himself. He despised himself for even feeling the mere intrigue of it. The slightest desire. Each time he felt it, he was reminded of the worst part that made him what he was.

"But it's not the worst part of you," Lefty constantly reassured him. "Without it, you'd just be another ordinary ol' human. You'd have died ages ago. You wouldn't have the same place in life you do now-you save people, D."

D.

His abbreviated namesake. The irony that was D's life sickened him. The infamous Prince Vlad Dracula had been his father, and Lefty supposed the sense of purpose that D had found was his way of redeeming his father's carnal, bloodthirsty sins…making right all the wrong. It was known that Dracula had killed somewhere between forty and a hundred thousand people during his reign of Walachia in the 1400s. D apparently felt he had a very long way to go in order to make that up.

He took full responsibility for his father's insufferable actions. He did not make demands of those who hired him for his services. Perhaps deep down he felt that he had no real right to do so. No price was ever set. He only took what was offered. If large bounties were presented, he accepted. If the payment was nothing more than a place to stay and warm meals, he would not insist for more. He merely stayed his silent ways, accomplished his duties, and left. It was a very basic, very uncomplicated plan.

D simply knew what the point of his existence was. And he fulfilled it. Quite well.