The pale and rather haunting glow of the morning sun, partially hidden by the grayish clouds crossing slowly among the horizon, only helped to accent the dreary and almost ghoulish appearance of the valley as Richter closed the book he'd been reading, completing his studies for the day in doing so. He'd often come to this place to have time to himself; it was nothing more than a single tree perched atop a silent hill, overlooking the village below as if it were protecting it from some yet unannounced evil. As of late, the young Belmont had been spending more and more of his days here, doing nothing more than reflecting on the change in both his brother's appearance and character. During the previous night, Richter had seen Alester fight more ferociously than ever before, yet what was his reasoning behind this sudden violence? It is true that it takes much anger to harness the skill needed to down the foul creatures of the night, but why this much? Richter knew his brother took too much pride in killing the beasts. This act was not supposed to be something one could take joy from, but yet, he could see the lustful look in Alester's eyes each time he cracked his whip, the sound of a dying demon only fueling his constant desire for more of the cursed bloodshed.
Standing from his place underneath the aging tree, Richter gently tucked the book he'd been reading underneath his left arm, allowing his free hand to instinctively fall to his side, tracing his fingertips lightly about the whip that rested upon his belt. Although daylight was upon him, there were still those few creatures that had learned to shield themselves from the holy light of day, making them even more difficult to send them back to whence they came. Richter simply shook off the thoughts of an early-morning confrontation, however, as his mind was still pondering over the odd turn of events that had been brought to his attention during the course of the past week. Making his way slowly along the long-worn and little-known trail he had become so used to, he tried to make sense of the change in events that had caused his brother's life to come to ruin.
"You! It was your fault! The demon wouldn't have come, had you not have
been so eager to kill it!"
"You're just like they are! You're thirsty for the same thing... blood!"
The tainted odor of freshly spilled blood was still lingering in the air as the insults continued to haunt him, his thoughts becoming poisoned and his heart growing dark as he turned his gaze toward the night sky...
Had it really been six years since the incident at Viemer? Richter had told
himself time and time again that it must have been that night, the very night
he first witnessed the horrible work of the demons firsthand, that his brother
had succumbed to the darkness. The life of a Belmont bore certain duties that
had been passed down among the generations for centuries, duties that gave no
mercy to the poor soul who was unfortunate enough to have the obligation of
seeing them through. Surely, this was the cause of Alester's madness; being
a Vampire Hunter had become too much for him to bear, thus he was fighting as
hard as he possibly could to relieve himself of the pain and anguish that came
along with the title. Yes, that had to be his reasoning.
While keeping himself to his thoughts, Richter had not managed to take notice of the fact that he was not alone during this morning walk; there was someone very unexpected traveling along the footpath in the opposite direction, looking a bit too pleasant to blend in with the gloomy surroundings of the Transylvanian countryside.
"Richter! Richter Belmont!"
A familiar and quite cheerful voice echoed along the path as Richter continued his journey back toward his home, causing him to stop quickly in mid-stride along the trail.
"How many times have I told her this is no place for conversation?" The Vampire Hunter could do nothing more than shake his head in annoyance as he glanced further down the beaten path, his gaze quickly focusing in on the joyful youth skipping across the ground below, her innocent and lighthearted appearance bringing a tender smile to Richter's lips.
"Oh, I found you! Your father asked me to come and fetch you, seeing as how it's nearly time for your morning lessons!" The girl's tender attitude made her seem very awkward, contrasting against the surroundings as much as day differs from night. "You should really hurry home, you know. Your father wouldn't stand for a sudden slacking in your education!" A slight giggle faded among the silence of the morning air as the youth came to a stop directly in front of Richter, her head moving just a bit to the side as she placed the tip of her index finger lightly against his nose.
"Well, Alaina, what are you going to tell Father when he finds out that I've already completed two days-worth of my studies in one morning's time?" Richter's lips curled into an even softer smile, his eyes crossing almost playfully as he tried to turn his gaze down toward the girl's finger without giving too much effort.
"I'm sure he'll be more than pleased, because Alester must be doing the same; his bed was neatly made and his room clean when your father checked in this morning, so he sent me to make sure you were following in your brother's footsteps." Finally, without much hesitation, Alaina removed her finger from Richter's face, quickly turning about and starting back down the path from the direction she had just come from, a slight skip still present in her movement.
Follow in his brother's footsteps? Richter swore that he would never allow himself to do anything of the sort six years ago, and he intended to keep that promise. Yet, why was his brother not in bed at this time of the morning? He never was one for getting up before daybreak.
If only Richter knew that today would not be the usual day he'd come to know.
Straying away from Richter's hopeful wishes, fate had already taken the first
step; on this day, evil will rise, and darkness will fall.