Souls Interlink: Her Past I
Alucard blinked and his pink eyes witnessed the white snow first-hand.
With a few bricks barely visible on the floor through the layers and layers of thick snow, making him understand where he stood.
Looking around, he saw in a snowy field, a glimpse of a city that was more urban than modern resting under the onslaught of what seemed to be a small snowstorm.
He could recognise it faintly, having been here several times in his life, killing vampires, ghouls and corrupt preachers most of the time, and nazis, tons of nazis.
It was Scotland, Aberdeen City.
He looked around, a foggy area, the chilling cold seeped through his skin, making him gape at the foreign feeling, he was not supposed to feel cold ever again.
The entrance of the city shone with old yellow lamps, it could be perceived as the night but it might as well be the day with the thick clouds covering every wisp of the shiny Sun.
No one could be seen around, probably because of the heavy weather throbbing in this region.
*BROOM!*
He turned around at the sudden noise coming from behind.
An old truck passed by quickly, making its way through the snowfield and It stopped right in front of him.
"This is where the end of our path Catherine, I did everything that I could. I can't take you farther than this!" A man shouted harshly and opened the door of the truck where a stunningly beautiful blonde teenager could be seen carrying a little sleeping girl with auburn hair, her expression showcased clear fear and unwillingness.
Bags under her eyes indicated a lack of sleep and lots of shed tears.
A very thin robe covered her body, in contrast with the little girl, that was covered to the utmost with her face barely visible.
"You can't do this Ludwig, we have nothing! We will die if you leave us here!" She tried to reason with the man that intended to leave her and her little girl here with nothing but a few pounds and some clothes.
"Get out! I'm telling you! I can't do anything else! They're already coming after us! If I help you further, it will cost us our lives! Get out!" The man pushed the woman away from the truck, making her and her child, fall on the chilling snow.
"We have to go now Ludwig, they might be coming, leave them and let's go, we already did what we could!" From inside the truck, many people shouted at the man, presumably the leader of the group!
"No! Please!" The blonde woman shouted in despair, the chilling cold starting to seep through.
"I'm sorry Catherine. Good luck." The man said at last and got back in the truck
*BROOM!*
The truck accelerated, getting farther and farther away from them and the city, taking away Catherine's hope with the dying rear lights.
Alucard's phantom looked at everything indifferently, he had witnessed scenes like this many times. He knew how this would end.
His heart held no compassion, such was the life of humans.
The woman held her sleeping daughter, noticing that she was starting to get cold, and without even thinking it twice, much to Alucard's bewilderment, she took out the only robe protecting her and enveloped her daughter with it.
Walking towards the city as fast as she could.
She covered her face with whatever she had and managed to rent a hotel for the night. Sadly, a lot of her capital went away that night.
Putting her cold daughter in front of the room's chimney, she sat beside her and caressed her beautiful auburn hair.
"Everything will be alright dear, we will manage, I promise." She said with a smile, but the waterfall of tears exposed her current situation.
**
**
Alucard had managed to live and recreate the life of this woman in about a millisecond.
Her life, a drop of water in the ocean compared to his. Not only was he more than two thousand years old, but after the first thousand years, his omnipresence kicked in making him store memories of everything that happened within a hundred kilometres of him, for a thousand years...
Catherine was only able to witness certain emotional scenes, his most important moments, including what she witnessed previously, but that was the limit of his human brain.
Alucard continued playing with memories, the ones that held the most feelings, be they positive or negative.
"Please, I'll do anything, I really need this job!" Catherine screamed towards an old woman.
"Sorry Dear, but we have our hands full." The woman answered with a weary smile and got back in her comfortable shop, leaving Catherine behind.
**
**
"Let me work here please, I have a daughter and we need money for food!" She asked once again in a different place, not losing hope, she had a daughter to feed!
"Sorry Ma'am but I can't let you work in my store, however. There might be a different job you would be able to do~" the man said perversely, the teenager in front of her was a beauty, she was a little too slim and it could be seen she has had better days, he couldn't see her face, but she surely was a blonde beauty. Many of his 'customers' would pay well for her.
Catherine grit her teeth, she had been asked this question many times in a week, and she always refused and ran away, but this time... She considered it.
No, NO! If I do this, how will I be able to show myself in front of my daughter? How will I face my husband in heaven?
With great determination, she ran off, unwilling to walk that pact.
**
**
"Mother, you're back." Her daughter stood up from a rock inside a small cave the moment she saw her mom coming back.
She was a beautiful girl, her skin was smooth and clearly not rugged or deteriorated. She had made sure of that...
Alucard glanced at the scene and a reaction showcased on his face for the first time.
It wasn't the feeling of pity. It was admiration.
He couldn't understand, why wouldn't she choose the easy path? Why not just sell herself, she and her daughter would have a better life. But she didn't, she sacrificed herself and gave her daughter everything...
This was the woman's, Catherine Rothchild's deepest memory. The one that rooted her conduct and behaviour, the one that rooted her destiny.
The blonde, now not so beautiful but still having the regal appearance of a noble despite her ragged clothes, walked into the cave at a somewhat forced pace.
"Yes dear, I'm back~ Did you miss mommy?~" she flashed her daughter the best smile and got inside the small cave with some wood, a deteriorated and old axe and a small bag.
Wounds could be seen in her hands from trying to cut the wood with that old axe.
Inside the cave, the bonfire she prepared before was starting to run out, but as smart as her daughter was, she prevented it.
The girl was covered in layers and layers of robes, different colours, tattered. It could be whatever as long as it protected her from the devilish cold!
"No, I didn't... Mom, come here, you're pale, I'll make the fire." Her daughter, Jane, answered nonchalantly and technically snatched everything from her.
She deflated at her daughter's abrupt refusal, but that was just the way she was, very nonchalant, yet sweet deep inside, she believed her daughter was a genius, so young yet so smart!
"Look, I brought you some food!" Catherine's shaking body presented her daughter with the bag.
The little girl placed the wood on the bonfire, it took it a while to catch the heat due to the moistness covering it, but thank god, it caught fire after a few seconds.
She took the bread from her mother's hand with a smile, it was still hot!
"Where did you get it, mother? It's still hot~" it had been a few days since they ate a freshly baked bread.
"I bought it~" she answered with a smile.
Lies.
Her daughter broke the bread in half, it wasn't big but she had to share, then presented it to her mother.
"Don't worry dear, I ate mine already, I was hungry so I ate it before you~" she put her hands together in an apologising way and smiled, prompting her daughter to huff at the fact her mother didn't wait for her to eat.
Lies.
Alucard watched everything, and grit his sharp teeth to the point they might break if this wasn't a dream. A very forgotten feeling washed over his accursed immortal heart.
Mother and daughter rested on the bonfire, when Catherine saw her daughter was asleep on her lap, she moved her ragged dress aside to uncover her ankle, a deep bloody wound was visible.
She had fallen on the floor while running madly after stealing the bread.
Today she stole for the first time in her life...
Alucard could feel her fear and uncertainty. What was she going to do? Her daughter couldn't remain in this forest forever.
She needed education, she needed a house.
Would she really need to sell her body?
It was the only option, the other option would be revealing her identity to somebody and asking for help. But it was risky. There was a price on their heads.
She was the daughter of a noble house in wales and married a noble from the Rothschild family.
This happy marriage brought about the light of her life, Jane.
Everything was perfect, until her husband, the future King of England, got assassinated.
She and her daughter were hunted by the rival Dynasty, as well as her own family that colluded with them, any wisp of that man's blood had to be erased, and her daughter was naturally included.
She managed to contact a familiar member from her husband's side. And he brought them from Wales all the way to Scotland before dropping them here with a few pounds...
She managed to last the food and the money as much as possible, performed some work here and there, clean a house, wash a bathroom, but it was never enough.
She ate thrice a week, making sure her daughter ate every day, at least once, hopefully twice.
She took rubbish clothes and towels, cleaned them the best she could on rivers despite the chilling cold, and dried them inside the houses' chimneys she cleaned, she was allowed at least that, the feeling of the heat permeating from the chimneys being her only pleasure.
She didn't want to sell her body, that would be the last option, the last despaired choice!
Therefore, the only allowed option was to expose herself.
But it would be herself. It wouldn't be her daughter... God, what was she to do? Would her daughter have a future if she herself perished so early? But there wasn't any other option left.