The room was dark when he woke up, and he realized it was still nighttime. He couldn't remember the dream but it haunted him nonetheless, just like his dreams had done ever since he had gone through the cursed castle.

Simon stood and went to open the window, then stared into the night. He knew something was wrong and had been ever since he had fought with Dracula and defeated him. He felt weak and sick sometimes, but there was nothing he could have done. It might have just been the weight of his destiny; no, the destiny of the Belmont clan; or maybe a curse like the one that had befallen the continent two hundred years ago.

The nightmares were the worst. He couldn't sleep peacefully at night and usually just gave up and tried to rest during the day. Most of the time the dreams were of darkness; sometimes they were violent nightmares about Dracula's followers or monsters killing him. He guessed they were normal, actually. Some of his ancestors had written in their diaries about having nightmares for the rest of their lives after battling the creatures of darkness. Those kinds of dreams didn't bother him that much, although they kept him from resting peacefully.

What did bother him was one certain dream, though. The others he could shrug off as nightmares, but there was one dream that felt very real. He couldn't always remember the details, but he could remember his touch. He could never shake it out of his mind afterward; the vampire's cold fingers on his skin, caressing him sadistically. Dracula always won in that dream, and he would find himself as the vampire's slave for all eternity.

Enslaved by the lord of the night... It could have passed as just another nightmare if remembering that touch hadn't made him shiver. Simon closed his eyes and tried to push the thought away, but every time it got a hold of him he couldn't forget about it. He wondered why the dream couldn't just be about being turned into a creature of the night, but this was far worse. The sheer idea of being taken by the dark lord made him feel sick.

While the other dreams of dying and darkness were mostly similar, this one was never exactly the same. The place changed; the way Dracula touched him changed as well, and while the vampire was very violent at times, there were also dreams where the act itself was slow and most pleasing. The changes made Simon detest the dreams even more, as he could never know how things were going to happen.

He lay back down and tried to ignore how his body suddenly hurt all over, reminding him of the injuries he had suffered back when fighting against Dracula. He found himself shaking although he wasn't cold, and he pulled the blanket around him, then said a quiet prayer before closing his eyes. His only wish was for his rest to be peaceful.

Cold fingers brushed over his naked skin, and he shivered again, feeling helpless and uncomfortable. The night never offered him peace, and he mumbled a silent plea for the darkness to leave him, but his request went unheard. Instead, he felt how the darkness engulfed him, leaving him completely cut off from the world and from everything he knew.

Someone laughed softly; Simon opened his eyes and swore silently. He recognized the voice all too well by now, and he knew to whom it belonged.

"Dracula..." He muttered and turned his head in an attempt to see the vampire. His eyes caught a tall form in the darkness for a moment before disappearing. He tried to get up but as he moved he found himself stuck, bound by something. He moved his hand a little and suddenly realized there were chains holding his hands away from his body. He swore aloud and looked down, only to find his legs chained in similar manner.

"What... What is this?" He called to his captor in a demanding tone. "What are you doing? Dracula!"

Simon heard the laugh again, then the figure he had seen before appeared next to him. "Don't you see yet?" The vampire asked with a malicious whisper. "Don't you see, Simon Belmont... That you gave yourself to me?"

"What?" Simon asked, unbelieving. He had heard the vampire say things before, but this was getting ridiculous. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You cannot deny it," Dracula replied, his voice haunting and almost too soft. "You can feel it in your body... The pain, the ache when I'm not here." He sat next to Simon, and the vampire hunter tried to move away, disgusted. His restraints didn't allow much movement though, and he was forced to lie there, completely helpless.

The vampire ran his fingers over Simon's chest with a wicked smile on his face. The hunter wasn't, however, planning on submitting that easily. He struggled against the bindings, but all he got was another soft laugh from his captor. The shackles cut into his skin slightly, making him bleed, while the chains did not give in at all.

"You won't get away with this, Dracula," Simon hissed at the vampire, glaring at him. "I swear, I'll hunt you down and kill you."

Dracula simply smiled at him again. "Hunt me down, you say," he said as he raised his hand to the redhead's face and caught him by the jaw. "Don't I have you here already? Then, you have no need to find me. You will stay with me here forever, Simon, and I will have you for myself. Don't you remember...? Our destinies, mine and the Belmont clan's, are forever bound together."

The vampire hunter tried to turn his face away without success. "I killed you," he said quietly. "I freed this land of your dark power once again, like my family is destined to do. So why are you here? How?"

"I told you already," the dark lord replied with a grin on his face. He placed his other hand on Simon's chest and drew his nails over the redhead's skin, wounding him slightly. The vampire hunter gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out. "You are bound to me, body and soul. You long for my touch and cannot sleep at night because it causes you great pain."

"Liar!" Simon snapped at the vampire, although there was too much truth in Dracula's words. He refused to believe it though, and he was not about to play the vampire's game. A part of him kept questioning those words, telling him that it might have been the truth, but he decided he would rather die than believe it.

Dracula leaned down and looked into his eyes with a smirk on his face. "I do not lie, Simon Belmont. Since you refuse to believe me, I'll show you..."

Simon continued glaring at the vampire. He wished he could have turned to look away but Dracula was still holding him and he couldn't move. He was about to answer something, to tell the vampire to go away, or at least tell him he was delusional, but he didn't get as far as actually saying anything. He opened his mouth to voice his protests, but Dracula suddenly covered his lips with his own and kissed him forcefully.

"Mm!" The vampire hunter strained on the bed, then attempted to struggle in vain as the chains firmly held him down. He bit the vampire's lip, but that only seemed to amuse the dark lord. Dracula deepened the kiss, and Simon found himself having trouble breathing.

Dracula's hand advanced lower on the redhead's body, his nails digging into Simon's skin occasionally, causing the hunter to writhe under the touch. Simon gasped for breath when the vampire finally broke the kiss and then had to grit his teeth to keep himself from crying out from the pain as Dracula suddenly moved his fingers to the redhead's thigh and cut him deeply.

"Hmm, you're bleeding," Dracula commented with a perverse tone. He let go of the hunter's face, then shifted his position a little, leaning down to lick the blood off of the wound.

"You...!" Simon glared death at his captor then turned his face away and closed his eyes. The small wounds on his body hurt more than they should have, and he had to concentrate on silencing himself. He felt the vampire's tongue on his thigh, and the touch on the wound caused sharp pain, at the same time sickening and... pleasurable? He blinked, then shook his head. Certainly, he couldn't have been enjoying it.

The vampire raised his head and looked at him, chuckling. "What is it, Simon? You still refuse to believe it? I think your body disagrees."

"Get the hell away from me, you sick bastard," Simon muttered angrily. He was suddenly feeling hot and uncomfortable. He tried to struggle again, just to show that he wasn't agreeing to this, but he only managed to make his wrist and ankles hurt more.

Dracula snickered at his attempts. "Perhaps you want more proof, then. I can arrange that. You do feel it, don't you? How your body burns under my hands, and how much you need something, something that you cannot comprehend. I'll show you what it is..."

He smiled and placed his hand on the vampire hunter's crotch, causing Simon to freeze under the touch. The vampire wrapped his fingers around the redhead's erection, and the hunter mumbled curses, his mind panicked and in chaos. His body was responding to the dark lord's touch, and he was enjoying it, longing for more.

"This can't be..." Simon mumbled, mortified. He looked at Dracula, then shook his head. "You can't be here... This can't be happening. Leave me alone, you fiend..."

The vampire laughed softly. "I said I would prove it to you since you refused to believe me. Are you satisfied now?" He fondled the vampire hunter gently, smiling at him. "Stop living in denial. You have given yourself to me already, Simon."

The redhead didn't answer and turned his face away, wishing he wasn't there and this was not happening. He wanted to just close his eyes, but something kept him captivated with what the vampire was doing to him. Dracula leaned closer and kissed the vampire hunter's chest, his hands working on caressing Simon. The redhead writhed under the touch as the vampire's fingernails caused him pain, but he could not escape, and worse, his body really did betray him, wanting it.

"Stop," he ordered, although his captor was obviously not paying any attention to what he said. Dracula stopped to lick on the hunter's side, where Simon remembered one particularly bothersome old wound from the battle was. The touch felt hot and made him shiver, and he turned to look away again, disgusted.

Dracula smiled at his captive, obviously pleased as he continued his caresses. "Feel it now?" He asked, grinning slightly. "These wounds... The bond your body has to mine. I'm with you, always, and you can't escape from me." His fingers worked on the redhead's hard sex, and he chuckled as Simon squirmed under the touch, pressing himself against the vampire's hand.

"Stop it!" Simon snapped, glaring at the vampire again. "You're dead! You can't be here, and you can't do this to me! This is a dream..."

"Is it?" Dracula asked, laughing. "Would you feel like this if this was a dream?" He grinned and pressed his nails against the base of the vampire hunter's erection, drawing blood and causing Simon to scream from the pain. The vampire just laughed more, then moved in to lick the blood off.

Simon gritted his teeth, struggling weakly against his bindings. The vampire's tongue on his sex felt strange, though; it made him shiver uncontrollably. While the sheer idea of Dracula touching him like that disgusted him, it made his skin burn, and he tensed under the touch, feeling uncomfortable from needing more, his body desperate for an escape from it all.

The caresses stopped for a moment then and Simon sighed, silently hoping the vampire was either done or would just take whatever he wanted now and then leave him alone. His body disagreed, but he was doing everything in his power to ignore it.

"Hmm," the vampire pondered. "I suppose I can't take you without at least some preparations... Although, you make no difference between pleasure and pain. The bond is so deep that you don't care as long as it's me..."

Simon blinked, trying to figure out what the vampire was talking about. He raised his head and looked at Dracula, then frowned as he felt something between his legs. "What the hell are you...?" he started, the suddenly strained on the bed and cried out from surprise and pain as the vampire pressed a finger between his buttocks and into him.

"Preparing, as I said," Dracula replied with a chuckle. "It's just oil, I don't see why it should bother you... Or are you perhaps hurting?"

"Nght... Get away from me...!" The redhead hissed at his captor, gritting his teeth and trying to squirm away from the uncomfortable touch. That's what his mind told him anyway; although the vampire's sharp fingernails caused him distress, the feeling of needing more remained. The old wounds around his body that had scarred a long time ago burned him now, and his shook his head again. "No! Stop this, Dracula!"

Dracula laughed. "You still deny it when you know you cannot live without getting what you need. Your denial is deeper than I thought..." He placed his free hand on the vampire hunter's erection and stroked slowly while moving his finger inside of the man. "I will break that denial, and prove you that what I have said is true."

Simon mumbled a couple of curses and another demand for the vampire to stop, but at the same time he could, to his horror, feel his body betraying him as he unconsciously pressed against his captor's hands. He caught himself a moment later and froze, realizing that moving against the touch only made his condition worse. He pulled his bindings, knowing by now he wasn't getting away, but the slight pain in his wrist helped him concentrate on something else than what his body was longing for.

The vampire stopped and looked at his captive then, sighing softly. "You are persistent, Simon Belmont. Even at the edge of release you will fight back? Fine then... I shall remind you of what you really crave for, what the bond we share means..."

"I don't have any bond to you, demon," Simon yelled at the vampire, struggling again. He then gave up, losing his strength. The vampire's touch lingered on his body, and he turned to look away, humiliated. "Leave me alone already..."

Dracula returned to fondling the vampire hunter for a moment longer, smiling. "No, Simon," he whispered, his voice almost gentle but filled with dark intentions. "I will never leave you. Never."

Simon felt the vampire remove his hand from his body and sighed silently, from both relief and disappointment. His wish for being left alone wasn't fulfilled, however, as Dracula leaned over him, and he felt the dark lord's robes on his bare skin. He looked at the vampire, somehow knowing all too well what was about to happen but still unable to prepare himself for it.

Whatever he did to prepare himself wasn't enough. He cried out and tensed on the bed as the vampire entered him and pressed into him cruelly, laughing. Dracula smiled at him then kissed his victim tenderly, as a mocking gesture of gentleness.

"Do you now understand, Simon?" The vampire asked with a soft whisper. "This bond... How it ties our fates together?" He laughed then and said something else, but Simon couldn't hear anymore. He lay still, held by the dark lord, and wished for death; anything to end his torment.

His body then betrayed him again, and he pressed himself against the vampire, a weak moan escaping from his lips. He still needed the release, the feeling growing stronger every moment he felt Dracula's body against his.

The vampire lord's robes rustled quietly as he began to press himself into Simon, every move perfectly controlled. The vampire hunter wanted to scream, but he didn't want to give that to his captor. Instead, he gave up to what his body needed and concentrated on staying silent. His arms and legs hurt, making his discomfort worse, but he finally gave up fighting altogether. He realized by now there was no way out, other than letting the vampire do whatever he wanted.

Dracula chuckled. "So you do understand," he said, leaning in for another tender kiss. "You will always be carrying those wounds... Your soul is bound to mine, and you have no choice. You still lie to yourself, in your mind. Give yourself..."

"I will..." Simon murmured, his body burning so hot that he thought he was about to die. "...I will... never... Dracula...!"

The agony reached its end then as his body had suffered enough. He cried out helplessly as he came, writhing under the vampire, who watched him, frowning deeply.

"You will, Simon Belmont... You will..."

The dark lord's voice echoed in Simon's ears when he realized he was awake, and not bound to his bed. His body was covered in cold sweat, and he felt rather uncomfortable. He mumbled a few curses then rolled out of the bed and dropped to the floor, forcing himself to crawl to the corner of his room to grab a bucket from there before throwing up. His stomach burned, but he forced himself up after a few seconds and went to find water to clean himself.

He slumped on the bed then and stared at the ceiling, cursing the dream that had felt so real. He managed to calm himself after a while, then just lay there, thinking how bad his nightmares were getting.

Simon closed his eyes, wishing again for a moment of peace. A hint of a smile touched his face then; whatever Dracula kept saying in the dreams, he had never given up. The vampire could have his body, but never his mind.

He then curled up under the sheets and said a silent prayer to higher forces to give him strength, for he didn't want to know what would happen if he ever failed.

Author's notes:

What? It's pointless pr0n. Just because there really isn't anything with Simon, and the Chronicles designs are hot. Yes so it really doesn't work too well, but whatever. It's a dream anyway. Oh right and I can blame this on MarsDragon again, so it's all good!

- Lady Harken (December, 2005)