That exposed flesh was difficult for Alucard to cope with, not because he was offended by the male form (far from it, in fact) but because he knew what raced under that delicate, thin layer of skin. The precious liquor of life, a red jewel, liquid and viscous, warm and throbbing which each thump of the heart. For the millisecond that he caught a glimpse of Ashley's body time seemed to slow down to a standstill: he saw the embroidery of veins and arteries as a stunning patchwork illuminated in the artificial hotel lighting. The diabolical thirst that followed him relentlessly reared its ugly head and that rancid desire welled up in him.

He couldn't stand it and he moved with preternatural speed to close the door after Ashley the moment he entered the bathroom, standing on the other side of it, his back flush to it. He breathed deeply through his nose, pupils wildly dilating as his fingers suffocated the door handle.

The dhampire began to second guess himself. Had his motives been entirely pure, or had he subconsciously lured this innocent, mad creature away from his home to do him harm. He cursed his morality and his inhumanity. Torn between a vampire and a human neither life complimented the other and he was left living a cruel joke, accepted by neither race and damned by them both.

A minute passed as his senses slowly began to return he realised how strange his reaction must have seemed to Ashley. Swallowing dryly he spoke, trying to repair any damage he may have caused by that outburst. "Forgive me, Ashley..." and he lied "I do not feel well."