The characters in this fanfiction are all property of their original creators and owners. I did not profit from this story in any way.
Pulse
© Ime Aubrey
My name is Anzu Mazaki and I was born into a world that you may not understand.
I was born into the world of the vampire.
You probably think I am crazy. After all, vampires don't exist. They are merely fictional creatures spawned by the human imagination as a means to scare and entertain; Myths and legends and nothing more.
The thing about legends and myths is that there is always some truth to them.
I learned that lesson the hard way.
Domino City in Japan is a city that never sleeps.
A bustling metropolis by day turned paradise by nightfall - and with two of the World's dominant corporations – The Kaiba Corporation and the Asian branch of Industrial Illusions calling it home – Domino City is the perfect location for an up and start businessman to get his feet wet.
My father was one of those businessmen. When Kaiba Corp began hiring fresh faces, he packed up our things and moved me and my mother from Kyoto to Domino City in anticipation of getting a job.
He eventually did as a legal consultant.
Legal Consultant; it did not seem like that big of a deal, but apparently in Kaiba Corp it was. If you worked for Seto Kaiba, you worked with the crème of the crop and were treated as such. While my father climbed the corporate latter and wove through high society circles on the corporation's behalf, my mother and I had nothing for want it seemed.
Yes, life was good.
But nothing lasts forever.
I first noticed things were a bit off was when my father was transferred to the night shift. When he came home that first morning after, his fingers were wrapped in a sterile medical dressing. My mother and I were worried. Father quickly assured us that he had not been severely injured and removed the bandage, showing us the minor infliction.
Beneath the sterile white roll of cotton, on his left ring finger, was a funny little mark. It was a symbol of some kind. My father said it was the mandatory identification that was given to all the employees and that it was some kind of hieratic text.
My mother and I were shocked and surprised. My father had a tattoo.
"What does it mean?" Mother wanted to know.
"I'm not sure exactly…"
"It means Kaiba," I whispered.
I could read the marking my father's hand as if it were written in plan Japanese or English.
My father continued working hard and eventually become one of the top legal advisors in the Corporation. We were on top of the world then, it seemed. I had everything a budding teenager desired, but most of all, I had my parents, and they had me. I could have stayed content forever.
Nothing lasts forever.
My happiness was not to be.
The night the vampires came was a night I shall never forget.
I can still hear the sound of their feet on the floor.
I can still hear the snap of my father's neck, my mother's terrorized scream as a pair of sharp canines pierce her skin and drain her life force.
I can still see their shadowed forms roaming the hallway as I peer out from my hiding spot inside the coat closet.
I remember because the night the vampires killed my parents was also the night I started to live.
"It's alright. You can come out now." A soft, deep voice whispered.
I blinked through the tears and found myself looking into a pair of Prussian blue eyes. A firm, yet gentle hand tugged me from my safe haven.
"No!" I screamed.
"Hush. It's all right. You're safe now."
Red and blue lights flashed around me, as my savor lifted me into his arms and took me to the nearby ambulance where my external wounds were treated.
As the EMT cleansed my abrasions, I felt my savior's eyes upon me.
"What's your name?" he asked. He bent down on one knee so that he was eye-level with me.
I was too lost in my grief to reply.
"Okay then. My name is Jirou Matushita." He paused for a moment. "Such a pretty girl," he crooned. His fingers gently raised my chin upward for a better look. I felt his body stiffen in surprise. "I was wrong. Not pretty, but beautiful." He wiped away a stray tear with his thumb. "Tell me, how is it you came by such surprising eyes, little one?"
I was silent, knowing the answer would only cause my heart to ache more. Yet, something in his eyes coaxed me. I couldn't explain it, but there was something about Jirou Matushita that called to me. I felt as if I had known him my whole life and could tell him anything.
The words stammered out of my mouth. "My mother gave them to me."
"That was very kind of her," he soothed. "Water is good. It's constantly changing and adapting. It also guards against fire."
A stretcher with one of my parents' bodies passed us. Tears welled up in my eyes. "What's going to happen to me?"
"Well, first we are going to get you to a hospital as soon as Sally here finishes her assessment. After that…" he trailed off, uncertain. Not that I blamed him. Here I was suddenly all alone; a thirteen-year-old girl with no idea where to go or what to do.
I would have burst into tears again, had I not felt Jirou's calloused hands incase my own.
"We'll figure it out as we go." He gave my hands a comforting squeeze.
"…Anzu…"
"Huh?"
"My name is Anzu…"
Yes. Jirou was a vampire. He explained to me that Domino City was just one of many cities that were under vampire jurisdiction. He even showed me his fangs and drank blood in front of me.
He didn't need to prove anything.
Any delusions I had about vampires being fictional were thrown out the window the night I saw my mother's flesh pierced by a man's canines.
Jirou had been sent in by The Kaiba Corporation to investigate my parents' murder. He told me that my parents had accidentally become involved in the cross hair of a war between vampires and President Kaiba was one of the ancient vampires known as the pure bloods.
Someone had decided to deal a blow to vampire powerhouse Seto Kaiba by getting rid of his top advisors and their families.
And that someone made a fatal mistake by not noticing the young girl hidden inside the closet, who watched as her parents were slaughtered.
I made a vow then. I would find and rid the world of the vampires who shattered my family. When I finally came of age, I confronted Jirou and told him that I wanted in.
Little did I know at the time, that I had always been inside the vampire circle of affairs and in some eyes, I had never left it.
To be continued…