The Mannor

Henry and Marcus left the forest around an hour later. Henry had blood all over his coat, but Marcus had it worse. His whole face and hair were smeared with dried red liquid.

It all happened because Henry took care of the remaining vampires in a very specific way. One was beaten to death with a club, the other was shot in the head after she grabbed exhausted Marcus, thus making the boy's face dirty.

The boy wasn't happy with what Henry did. It wasn't that he felt wrong about his fellow kin getting killed, no. That female vampire was holding her head next to his when that bastard shot her! He didn't even hesitate!

After that short episode, they moved on foot for three days before they reached the place where Henry made a deal with the owner of the boat that will take them to the islands.

The journey, as it turned out, was too much for Marcus. Too much happened in a short time. The chase, fight with vampires, almost getting shot in the head... the loss of his parents... The moment he found a cozy corner on the boat, his eyelids closed shut and refused to open for the next two days.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a place completely different he saw last time. The shabby cabinet on the boat was replaced by a fine room with a great bed. The room was big enough to put a small flat in shame.

"Where am I?" Marcus groggily left the bed and walked to the window. What met his eyes was the scenery that he did not expect. During their journey, he got to know that they are going to stay in Henry's family house. Marcus thought that judging by Henry's...well, being, the house won't be exceptional.

Thus was his surprise when on the other side of the window his gaze fell on the huge garden with a lot of trees and bushes, all carefully shaped, a sign that they were taken care of regularly. Every few meters were square-shaped flower beds with a colorful mix of different flowers. What he presumed to be the center of the garden, held a big fountain with beautifully sculpted animals and humans.

"Wow..." Surprised Marcus said unconsciously. He couldn't help but compared it to his garden in Transylvania. And he hated to admit it, but this garden was far prettier in his opinion. There weren't that gloomy sculptures, boring flowers in one colour everywhere and dead-like trees without any leaves.

Taking a step back from the window, he looked around the room. It was elegantly decorated with wooden panels on the walls. The style resembled Victorian, with a touch of modernity.

His head suddenly snapped at the only door in the room. Marcus could hear a quiet yelp and the door slammed loudly. Light footsteps were getting farther and farther away. They were too light to belong to an adult.

"Who was that?" Marcus tilted his head curiously. Only then did he realise something. He was missing a shirt! "Wha- Did that old fart stripped me...?" The young boy shuddered at the thought.

Looking around his bed, he found a neatly put and folded set of clothes in his size, placed on a stool in front of the person-sized mirror. Marcus walked closer to it and stared at his reflection.

Starting from the top, his hair. They were silver-white with some black parts, mostly on the left side. They were long enough to reach his eyes and were quite messy, he must wriggle during his sleep.

His ears were slightly pointed, a typical trait of a young vampire. Marcus's eyes though were considered a rarity even among his kin. Crimson red with a slit pupil, a characteristic trait of his family as his father once said.

Though it was too early to say, a third person could say he was rather good-looking, not handsome as he was too young but rather cute. He was only 9 in the end.

Using his fingers, he gently pulled up his upper lip, then lower and sighed helplessly. He was checking his canines to see if they started developing into fangs. Usually, they should fully change at the age of 5 but it looked like Marcus was a late bloomer. Very late.

Finally, he glanced at his own body. His skin was pale giving a beautiful contrast to his sharp, red eyes. He didn't have any muscles, no six-pack, no V cut. Moreover, he was rather skinny as he could almost see every rib. He made an ugly expression when his gaze fell on his right collar bone. There was an ugly scar that began on the collarbone and run across his chest to the solar plexus.

With a scowl, his hand raised to touch it. Marcus's fingers started shaking slightly and bracing himself to feel the pain, he quickly touched it. But the pain never came. The whole scar was feeling numb.

After a few minutes of changing clothes and taking care of his overall appearance, Marcus with a deep breath walked outside of the bedroom. Standing in the long corridor with huge windows, the boy calmly looked to his left and his right.

"Where should I go? Where even am I? Is this London?" He murmured under his nose and with a frown started marching towards the place he heard footsteps were going to a few minutes ago.

Curiously looking around, he stopped a few times in front of the occasional portraits hung on the walls. They either showed a single individual or a family of at most four.

Marcus wanted to try his luck with the doors he was passing by but looked like they were locked. What made him feel uneasy was that he couldn't sense any living being yet. Sense means smell or hear.

Fortunately, Marcus soon found stairs leading both up and down. Walking to the wooden rails, he leaned over and stared down. It looked like he was on the second floor. Looking up, he concluded there had to be two other floors.

"This mansion is huge..."

Step by step, Marcus walked down the stairs. His ears twitched as he could hear faint heartbeats. One was beating slowly and steady, he was familiar with this rhythm. It belonged to Henry.

The other was faster but didn't have depth meaning it belonged to a child.

As he walked closer Marcus could smell the scent of the food coming from the room. Guessing that Henry and whoever else was there must be eating, an uncontrollable roar came from his stomach. Not embarrassed by it he started feeling a little weak after realising he didn't eat something fulfilling in quite some time.

Without a hesitation, Marcus pushed big doors with surprising ease, coming that the door was thick as his arm and twice his height tall.

Taking a step inside the room, he scanned the space around him. At the middle was really long table carved from dark wood. There at it were sitting three people. One that he knew, the old bastard that he traveled with for days. Beside him were two children. Closer to Henry a boy with dark brown hair was sitting with his mouth open and a fork in the air. His brown eyes had a trace of surprise that quickly turned to dissatisfaction. The boy put down the fork and started glaring at Marcus.

On the boys left was a girl with somehow similar features to the boy, though she was prettier and her features were more feminine. She had brown hair tied in ponytail reaching down to her lower back. She was sitting with her down and hands on her knees. Marcus faintly recognized the rushed heartbeat and connected it to the person that peeked at him when he was changing. Even now he could feel her brown eyes sneaking peeks now and then.

"What took you so long? Was hoping for breakfast in bed? Move you leeching ass to the table and eat, we have to talk afterwards." Henry says to him with typical dry tone. Seeing young vampire nodded but keep staring at the two children, the old man continued. "These are my grandchildren, Adam and Vanessa. They are twins." He said narrowing his eyes at Marcus, as if sending a warning to not harm them.

Taking a seat on the high dark-brown chair, Marcus looked at the two Van Hellsings before he started eating. "My name is Marcus Tepes, it's nice to meet you and I'm thankful for the hospitality." He lowered his head and spoke in courtly manner suitable for a young noble.

"You should be thanking me." Grunted Henry but Marcus ignored the salty old man. He kinda got used to his character.

The first one to react was Vanessa. Her head suddenly shot up with a shy smile but sparkly eyes. The girls excitement was obvious from the surface as well by the increased heartbeat felt by Marcus. "Hello! My-!"

But before she could fully speak a hand blocked her mouth. The boy named Adam glared at Marcus then at his sister. "Do not speak to him, Van! He is not a guest but an intruder! Grandfather, why are we keeping a vampire in our home??? And a Tepes at that?!" His small arms banged angrily on the table.

Marcus wasn't surprised by the sudden outburst, but it still kind of hurt him to be met with such a resentment from a boy probably his age. He wasn't used to such a treatment.

"Watch you're manners at the table! I'm not raising a savage!" Contrary to the Adam's expectations, Henry scorned him and refused to elaborate.

Biting his lower lip Adam shot one last hateful glare at Marcus and refused to look at him during the entire meal. Vanessa as if she was scared just kept starting at her plate, occasionally lifting her head like she wanted to start conversation but was unable to because of the look her brother was sending her.

'Great... What did you expected? We are basically mortal enemies...' Marcus scolded himself in his mind and reminded himself of his current situation.