Chapter Text
The spot he was investigating wasn't really a castle. It was more of a... large, decrepit old manor reminiscent of something you'd see in an early-2000's Gamecube game. The area around it looked completely lifeless, both intentionally and from simple neglect. Trees chopped down or uprooted, stripped of their leaves despite their peers being in full summer bloom. The ground was scarred and scorched, the pathway breaking and the grass dead.
Typical horror movie stuff.
Julius supposed he'd get this place over with rather quickly. The information on the vampire said to be living here was few-and-far-between, but the Belmont had done his research and could conclude that what he was up against was probably a melodramatic, French-Spanish former-servant from the 1800's who turned on his masters after being turned himself. After that, Julius could deduce he took their wealth as his own and decided to flex his dramatic, theatre-bound soul to his heart's content.
That would certainly explain the atmosphere.
So far, just about every cliche had come to pass.
A shadow in the window, wind picking-up, Julius feeling completely isolated as he made his way towards the waiting maw of the house, him knocking on the door and receiving no answer only for the door to open slowly a second later, creaking as it did so.
It took more than this sort of thing to get to the hunter. Out of everything, he was most bothered by the dust. He'd sneezed twice already, and the second one had some kick to it that had him feeling like his soul was forcefully trying to escape his body.
Something about the atmosphere must've been just right, though, because the Belmont startled when he heard the loud sound of a phone ringing.
He was more caught off-guard that this place had any electricity at all than he was scared, but he opted not to answer the phone anyway. It wouldn't be anything important, he had half a mind just to pick it up to confirm his suspicions that the person calling would only be breathing heavily into the receiver.
"If you come out now and get this over with, I'll let you monologue at me for--" He checked his phone before tucking it back into his pocket, "Five minutes." Julius spoke loudly, but his voice didn't quite reach a yell. The acoustics here were just fine on their own and he didn't think his voice needed much help carrying itself.
He waited, pausing in his sleuthing as if the vampire he was hunting would show himself so easily.
Once he didn't, he continued-on.
Julius' main goal was to slay the monster and go, but he could sight-see while he was deciding where to look first. The whole first floor of the building was rather uneventful and nearly disappointing, but the attitude changed just moments within Julius stepping on the second floor.
The structural integrity of this place had looked sound-enough... which Julius was now realising was a terrible judgement to make. A floorboard that was just too loose sent him tumbling downwards, only for the weight of his body to break the boards he landed on as well. Soon, he was barrelling-through the rotting wooden floor back to the first, and the only thing that kept him from a broken neck or a bad bruise was a piece of rope he hadn't seen before tied around his ankles and one knee.
Even a guy like Julius couldn't deny that his heart was pounding, after that. He'd cut his arm-up on a piece of board and now a rope was tight around his legs, keeping him suspended upside-down, head just two feet from the ground below.
Boy did he ever feel like an amateur.
An amateur with a bad back, he should add. Not only had the impact made him sore all over (especially in the legs, hips and spine area,) but even just hanging in-place made the minor pain worsen. This wasn't a situation he was new to, however. When he was young, his father had him do sit-ups while hanging from tree branches near the end of every training session.
With only some struggling, he managed to pull his body up by pure determination (and some well-trained abs, hidden under a bit of pudge) and soon brandished a knife from the inside of his coat to start sawing at his binds. He made sure to keep one hand tightly on the part of the rope he wasn't cutting off so that he wouldn't tumble-down with the grace of a sea monkey, but he was hardly half-way through cutting the rope when something interrupted him. A hand laid gently on his shoulder that made his eyes go wide and had a gasp escaping from his mouth.
His body unfurled again, but Julius was more prepared for it, this time. He attempted to kick-out (futilely) and slash with the knife at whatever had been so close as to touch him, but once his eyes focused on what he was looking at, he saw the thing had dashed back just fast-enough to avoid injury. And that 'thing' was a vampire. An ashy, smug-looking fool with a hideously mismatched outfit and bright, golden eyes that must've been one of the few sources of light in the manor.
The creature was sizing Julius up with a hardly-contained smirk, and Julius returned the scrutiny with much less mirth. If he wanted to, he could phase through the rope... but that could leave him landing on his back or falling even further through the floor. He could snap the thing, too, if he pushed hard-enough with his legs, but he really didn't like the idea of falling.
Besides, struggling now would just be a hit to his pride, and he couldn't have that. It would show he was helpless... and he was far from it. The arrogant, Belmont part of Julius' brain was telling him that he could take-on this guy with an arm-- and two legs-- tied behind his back.
"Are you always such a rude guest?" Came a sly voice from the vampire, mouth partially hidden behind an old hand, decked-out with rings and bracelets. Julius' eyes rolled from the cadence alone. It took him another second to realise what had been said to him, his mind was still stuck on the discomfort of hanging upside-down from a rope by only your legs.
"You always such a rude host? What's your name, vampire?" Even in such a position, he had a no-bullshit tone that put him at the head of the conversation. His expression, the sharpness of his eyes, the rigidity in his shoulders... everything was pointing to Julius Belmont being a proud, accomplished vampire hunter. The only problem was that his pretty hair and coat was hanging to the ground, and he had to blow the scarf out of his face twice before it finally rest against his cheek rather than in his line of sight.
Having this be his first impression with the vampire he was hunting down was a blow to his ego, but he could move past that. He would look much cooler when the two of them were actually fighting, and Julius was back in his comfort zone.
However, the vampire's response didn't help much. He laughed. A shrill, awkward-sounding thing, it was. He swiped his clawed hand in Julius' direction like an old cougar being flirted-with before bringing his arms to his sides and bowing dramatically. "Alfonse Godeau, sire. Now give me your name or you'll end-up a hypocrite."
"Julius Belmont."
.........
The silence that fell afterwards was strangely-awkward. Julius was used to monsters being shocked by who he was or having no reaction at all, but this Alfonse guy looked lost, like the name was familiar but he was combing his brain to figure out why.
The hunter watched-on silently, waiting for it to dawn on his prey. Once he saw the shimmer in his eyes, he pursed his lips and looked awkwardly to the side. "There you go. That took a second, did it?" He couldn't really fault him, though, considering he forgot his own name for nearly four decades.
"I thought you all died-out."
"Yeah, well... we'll see." Julius was getting impatient, sighing deeply and stretching his legs as much as he could to make sure the blood was still flowing to them. "Will you attack me now, or turn this into a game? Either way, you'll be dead by sunrise."
A scoff came from Alfonse, and he covered his mouth with his hand again, stepping forward. Smartly just out of reach of Julius' blade. "You're very sure of yourself, Belmont. I'm not sure what you've done to get so confident, but it's a good look on you." Julius could see the yellow eyes dart up and down his body. It was almost comical how typical this man was.
"Is it a requirement that all vampires are like that?"
"Like what, Mr. Belmont?"
"Flirty?"
Then came another laugh. Good-humoured and almost human. The burden of time hadn't set in for this one, yet. "I suppose so. I may just be biding time until you pass-out from the blood rushing to your head, turning you into a lovely fruit for me to sink my teeth into. Your face is already pink, sir. Either my charm has gotten to you or you're already feeling the drawbacks of your humanity."
Maybe it was best that the vampire underestimated his opponent. Julius' ego be damned, he was already feeling drained by the very presence of this other man "Maybe." Was all he said in response, hoping the chit-chat would conclude quickly.
He didn't have to hope for long, seeing Alfonse shift unsurely, before stepping back again. He got the hint that Julius wanted the conversation to be over, and whether it was from incompetence or lingering human decency, it looked like he was going to give him just that. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon, Belmont. Be careful of the second floor..." His eyes narrow, looking up at the broken floorboards, "It's always been a little unsafe."
As soon as he was gone, Julius cut himself free and clambered back up the rope before laying on a relatively-safe spot of the floor, deciding he'd take a short break.