Chapter 10
Determination

 
"Oh dear..." Dina sat in the hall clutching the black velvet between her fingers. "What if... what if when he wakes up he doesn't remember anything?" She said worriedly, remembering incidents of other people she knew. The consequences from a close encounter with death, due to heat syndrome, could be devastating. "What if he doesn't even remember who I am?" She said again. "What if he can't talk or move? What if he... dies?" She grasped the velvet tighter and looked over at the symbiote, who was idly floating around the hall. He didn't respond though, just stared off with his arms across his chest.

The door suddenly swung open and Dracula stepped out, a look of baffle and exhaustion on his face.

Dina looked up at him. "Is he okay?"

The vampire didn't answer either. In fact, he looked a little confused. Dracula turned away from her and began to walk down the hall.

"Father." Dina said standing up. "Is he alright?"

Dracula turned to look at her. "Uh... oh... yes..." He shook his head, as if to shake off a bad feeling. "Sorry, he's fine."

She gave him a questioning look. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course." The vampire turned back around and placed a hand over his chest. "Ohh... my..." He said under his breath.

Dina turned and entered D's room. The dhampire was laying in the bed on his back staring blankly at the ceiling. "D?" She said sitting down in the chair.

The dhampire's eyes shifted to look at her and, after a moment, he opened his mouth to speak. "....That's.... my hat...." He said gesturing to the object in her hands.

She gave him a little simper. "Yeah... sorry." Then put the hat down on his bed. "I was really worried about you, you know."

D took a deep breath, then turned his head away from her. "Go away..."

The dhampiress blinked then leaned closer to him. "Are you okay?" She bent over him a little bit to see part of his face, then her attitude changed. "What were you thinking running out into a rain storm like that? Were you trying to get yourself killed?!"

The dhampire turned to his sister and glared at her for a moment before saying anything. "...Do you know why they call it... the silence... Dina?"

"The what?" Dina asked, her expression changing.

"The silence before the storm may be frightening, but the silence after the storm is unspeakably horrifying..."

"D... what are you talking about?"

"Because before, everyone is quiet with fear and dread, but after...." He turned his head away from her again. "...corpses can't speak..."

She blinked, trying to make sense of what he was saying, then shook her head. "I don't know what you mean."

"And then the stars weep...."

"...Are you feeling okay?" She said and reached over to brush soft, brunette curls out of his eyes.

He grabbed her wrist and turned back and, for the first time since he returned, looked her directly in the eyes. It was a frightful gaze, that of a man who had gone mad, and it startled her. She tried to pull away from him, but he squeezed harder.

"D... Stop it. You're hurting my wrist."

The hybrid didn't ease up.

"D! Ow! Stop it! Please!"

The dhampire suddenly jumped out of bed and left, running down the hall and leaving Dina, Dracula and the symbiote behind.

"Oh, no. Not again!" The ghost said as it joined Dina in chasing after the troubled dhampire.

The vampire king just watched as the trio raced down the hall and shook his head. "Ohh... my... my...."

D went a fair ways down the vast hall before suddenly slamming himself into a locked door, breaking it off of its hinges, then stumbled inside the following room. He made it to the dresser before he collapsed.

Dina ran in after him, stopped to examine the room they were in briefly, then approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. "D??"

The symbiote came in behind her and looked around. The room hadn't been entered for many, many years. All of the furniture was covered in white sheets and every surface was cloaked in a dusty film. The reason was simple enough. This was D's old room.

"D, please. You're starting to scare me..." Dina said as she kneeled next to her younger brother.

The hybrid was taking slow, shaky breaths as he propped himself up with his arms. Then with one trembling hand, he let his fingers slide down the glass of a framed picture lying face up on the floor.

Dina's eyes moved to look down at the picture. "I... umm...."

D finally looked up at her. "Dina, I have to go to the temple..."

She looked back at him. "But... the temple is miles away, and its dangerous outsi—"

"Please..." He said pleadingly. "There is something I must see."

"No! I am not going to let you get yourself in trouble again!"

"Help me..."

"What?"

"Jesus Christ, Dina. For once in your pathetic life, help me!" He said angrily as he began to try to stand up.

Dina grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet, not knowing what to say. She looked down to see the picture D grasped in his trembling hands. "D... I....."

"Take me to the temple." The dhampire ordered.

"But... umm..."

"Please."

The dhampiress looked up at him. D was weak and trembling, she could tell he was in a lot of pain. But in his eyes lied the fierce determination and a will of steel that Dina had always admired. She looked down at her feet, then back up at him and nodded. "Okay..."