The night has befallen them as they comfortably and quietly eat their prepared dinner together, chewing on delicious foods such as pork chops, steak, baked potatoes, fried chicken, etc. The dinner table was littered with food that Cain had cooked, making the mood in the atmosphere quite pleasant. In fact, the aroma of food filled the air as the delicious smells drifted to everyone's noses except Alucard.
For being a vampire, she can't eat, as mentioned many times before, but instead, Adam had to resort to giving her his wrist for her to feed on earlier, before the old man finished preparing their dinner. Although it was excruciatingly painful like always, the girl seemed to have been satisfied with the blood he gave her.
Regardless, he can't think of anything else but the food they are eating and, most importantly, his beloved daughter, who, to his surprise and joy, is still alive out there, not dead but rather missing. Perhaps somewhere around the spacious wasteland at this very cabin they are in, an unknown distance away from her father.
And it's bothering him after learning about it; he wants to get the answer out of Garnet right now, but he supposes being patient is a virtue. So he kept silent about it for now. However, there was still one question that remained unanswered in his mind: "Why didn't you tell me about it?" He asked calmly and yet coldly.
Garnet flinched for a moment at his tone. Across from him is the small pixie, sitting on the table with bacon wrapped around her hands, having been nibbling on it for a while. Her expression showed how nervous she is right now, glancing between him and his companions before finally answering, "It's better if my mistress explains it to you," she said quietly, trying to avoid his sharp gaze.
He sighs tiredly, almost understanding the reason behind them. It's an obvious guess, but that kid wanted him to be safe and unharmed from the dangers that presented themselves if Adam headed straight into rescuing his missing daughter from whatever threat that may befall him if he were to do so.
The two did try to prevent him from finding out, for whatever reason they have in mind, but he sees there is more to it than simply preventing him from going there alone. Even if he is required to, he'll go by himself without anyone's help; his stubbornness has always been like that, and it's been this way for many years.
And they know very well that it doesn't matter how much they try to convince him otherwise; he'll go by himself to find his daughter and protect her, even if it means dying in the process, despite how much he wants to live.
Placing his hand over his chest and gripping it tightly, he had never imagined being a protective father towards his only daughter and only child—his pride and joy—to be lost forever without a trace after losing her. It's painful; the mere thought of it was so agonizing that he would have never wished for it to happen to her, just to lose her one day and never see her again.
In spite of never imaging himself ever raising a child of his own or having the interest in doing so, the desire to simply protect the only family member he has outweighs anything else that can be put into consideration, to see her as someone he'll need to look after for the rest of his life and as the most important thing in his life. In the end, it's the best way to show love for one another and not abandon or neglect her when she needs him.
Unlike his abusive father, who treated him like trash, beat him whenever he did something wrong or worse, threw insults at him, and tortured him for the fun of it, Adam wanted to become a better man than him—one who doesn't treat their own child like trash but someone they treasure dearly and take care of as if they were their own blood.
After realizing now, through his years on this earth, that he is proud to see himself doing better than the man, she has the best father any child can wish for.
Single tear fell down his left cheek, soaking the sleeve of his shirt. If there's anything that can make him cry, it's anything revolving around his daughter.
Anything positive about her is enough to break him down and make him shed tears in sadness as well as joy, making him want to smile or frown in disappointment and grief. Just imagining himself with her in a room, fully happy and healed as she plays a musical instrument, he wants to imagine such a scene but dreams that it would never come true.
She's broken, gone; as much as he wants to find a cure for her, some part of him has already accepted the inevitable fate of her mental state, but there's still some glimmer of hope inside of him that maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to bring her back. But if she does, how will she react to the world around her after waking up from a long dream?
"Are you crying?" Concerned and surprised, Garnet announced from where she is sitting that she has rarely ever seen him show his weakness as much as she did the first time he met her. She was taken aback by this unexpected behavior, causing the rest to turn their attention at him, sharing similar reactions towards Adam.
Bringing down his arm as he stood from his seat, he said, "nothing," shaking his head with a low tone under his breath, refusing to look at any of them. "It's nothing," he repeated once again, moving away from the group as he casually walked towards the front door of this cabin, intending to step outside to have some fresh air and time alone with his thoughts.
As he exited and gently closed the door behind him, Adam drew in a breath of the cold air, raising his head slightly with closed eyes before bringing his head down in front of him and exhaling heavily. A white puff of released air was visible in his view after he opened his eyes again to see the beautiful winter scene of this spacious world, seeing snowflakes dancing around in the air.
The beautiful sight of the white sky, seeing how nature itself is more pure than what it appears to be on the snowy surface, and Adam found himself at peace in this moment of serenity, not having a care in the world with nothing else to worry about except for his own sanity, or whatever sanity he had left.
"Shit," he said under his breath, "I need to smoke." It had been a while since he hadn't enjoyed one when this whole fiasco came around him. As he reached inside his coat pocket, Adam noticed the young mistress herself lying on the snowy ground, seemingly in a trance of the illuminating moon from above.
She lay on her back like a frozen statue, barely even moving at this point if she were a corpse, which made Adam feel curious and worried towards her, forgetting his smoke break as he approached her, not caring about the freezing cold penetrating his skin due to this merciless winter, forever remaining in this broken world.
When he finally got close, he asked, "What are you doing out here?" He asked, bending down while trying to understand why she was staring at the moon with an expressionless face, "Alucard, remember what I said before? Follow your heart and make the right call in your decision." His words got her attention, and the vampire turned her head towards him, staring into his dark brown eyes.
"You're determined to save and protect her at the cost of your safety; why?" She questioned, not having any answer as Adam had to give her, unsure if there was one at all. However, "I just," he hesitated, still continuing his sentence, "she is the only family I have left, you know?" He said this as he lay down beside her, looking at the beautiful moon above.
"What's on your mind?" The human asked her, wondering what went through her mind to be at this place alone at this late hour, "Let me guess," a smile crept up on his face, "you think you're going to lose me because I'm going to do something stupid?" His laughter was soft but deep as Alucard rolled her eyes at him.
A sigh escaped from her lips before she replied to him with a slight smile, "it's not about that." She paused for a moment as her thoughts came into play. "Adam," she said softly, while he turned his head to face her. "Yea?" he said back, wondering what she wanted to say to him but knowing her well enough to let her finish first.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out as a vapor cloud, she continued on, "Were we different, weren't we?" A serious tone came off her voice: "You, human, me, vampire?" The mistress turned her head to see him once again and asked, "Does it matter what we are?" The question was followed by an answer from Adam.
"No," shaking his head, "it doesn't matter; what however matters is how I value everyone that surrounds me and the life we all lead." His words got her to think as he continued on, "so you being a vampire doesn't stop me from seeing you as a comrade and friend." Adam's smile widened with the happiness that showed up on his face.
"Can I tell you something else?" The girl asked once again while she felt more comfortable around him. "Go ahead," Adam replied while closing his eyes to rest for a bit, waiting for her response. "Do you love me?" Her strange question made him flush his eyes, confused by the statement of her question.
"Like another daughter of mine? Yeah, I do," Adam nodded, giving out a soft smile. "Why, is there something you want to say about it?" The answer only disappointed her, causing the disgruntled Alucard to have a noticeable expression of dismay from realizing how he felt towards her, knowing now he has no romantic interest in her.
She felt ashamed and depressed at the same time, for the young human only saw her as a child and nothing more than that: "Is there someone you love romantically?" The mistress asked, hoping to find some explanation as to why he felt that way for her. "If so," she said, closing her eyes to avoid any tears coming out, "then tell me." Her words were almost a whisper to him.
Silence came upon them before Adam replied back to her with softness in his voice, "There is someone." She was taken aback by this information and quickly looked to face him once again, asking, "Who?" Eagerly to hear the answer to her question, but then her question was followed by a short and grim answer.
"Shes dead."
That shut her up rather quickly. Part of her felt relief in getting the chance to probably make him understand the feelings she has, but the young mistress wants to indulge in this topic further: "dead? How did she—" Alcuard didn't finish her sentence, realizing how wrong it was to pry further into such a delicate matter.
"It hurts to talk about it," a slow chain of water fell down from his face with Adam's torso straightening up if he was ready to stand with his own two feet, "the memories of her and my former friends..." Placing a hand over his face, the expressions of their decapitated heads still vivid in his mind, he said, "God, I'm pathetic," chuckling miserably from having a moment of weakness, "it's been so long since then."
"Long time?" Now sitting beside him, she wondered what kind of hell this man went through. "Do you want to explain it thoroughly?" Reaching to touch his arm gently with a compassionate look in her eyes, she gave him an honest smile, trying to cheer him up while helping the very person she was once supposed to hate and kill.
"Not yet," he couldn't, not like this when he's in a mess and the increased anxiety of the terrible chances that his daughter might be hurt out there without her father makes him want to hold on to the tiniest chance of his sanity, "Forget it," his eyes stared into hers, feeling himself sinking down from his own misery, "let's talk about something else."
"What do you want to talk about?" The girl inquired curiously, waiting for her friend to reply back to her question, ready to answer his question in return. But all he did was stand up and silently rub his face for a moment, wiping the nervous sweat appearing on his pained expression from the growing stress building up on him.
"About where my daughter is."
