Cold October wind blew through the streets as a lone woman in her late twenties to early thirties stepped out of a fancy restaurant, and out onto the busy streets of a twilight radiant garden outside. Her date had cancelled at the last minute, and she ended up eating alone. Because of this, she was in a horrible mood and wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep it off.
"Life is never easy."
"My, it's cold out here tonight." She said quietly, and pulled her coat around her. The late autumn wind pierced right through her thin red dress and chilled her to the bone. Pulling her phone out of her purse, she was about to dial the number for a taxi when without warning, the battery sputtered and died.
"Just my luck..." she whispered with a slight grimace, and then turned to walk down the street. Her building was only a few blocks anyway.
"Some people just have rotten luck all their lives."
Turning a corner, she was plunged into darkness alone. The massive skyscraper to her left had half the road covered in inky shadows, while the other side only had a few working streetlights and numerous dark alleyway's. 'For such a rich city, you'd think they'd be able to afford to fix the damn streetlights!' she thought angrily. This was exactly the kind of place where people could get attacked!
A shiver ran up her spine, and she got the sudden, intense feeling of being watched.
"Take this woman for an example."
Spinning around, she thought she saw a black flash of... something, before it disappeared from view. Tugging nervously on her coat, she mildly shook it off and kept walking. The inky shadows from those streetlights- It was probably just her imagination playing tricks on her.
However, that nagging sensation of being watched didn't leave her. If anything, it got even stronger as she continued walking. 'Pull yourself together Penelo!' she thought to herself. 'There's nothing there!'
"Her boyfriend ditched her, her cell chose the opportune moment to malfunction..."
She jumped in fear when clawed fingers touched her shoulder. Turning sharply, her eyes were instantly met with snow white fangs mere inches from her neck.
"...And she just got the biggest surprise of her life."
She screamed, and then started running for her life. Cold laughter erupted from behind her, mocking her, as if to say it was futile to run. Yet she ran anyway, strait toward another more brightly lit street.
"I can't let you do that."
"Now that I think about it, my situation is kind of similar."
Skidding to a halt, she watched in horror as a boy no older than fifteen seemed to rise up from the shadows below. He wore tattered black clothing that was literally ripped to shreds- pieces of them were falling lightly to the ground around him. His arms, legs, and bare feet were scraped and dirty which suggested that he had not had a shower recently. His clawed hands were so caked with blood that they almost looked black in the dim light. Still frozen in fear, her eyes shot to his face. Black tipped chocolate brown spikes framed his deathly pale face, making it stand out. His cold blue eyes shone with both regret and madness. Sharp fangs poked out of his lips, and the woman instantly knew that she was facing her stalker.
"Take her situation, reverse it and you get the gist of what happened. Minus the crazed monster of course."
Turning once more, she started to run again. In her blind fear, she ran straight for one of the alleyways. It was a dead end, and she cursed at her own stupidity.
Bloodstained hands reached out from the shadows and harshly pinned her to the wall, and her face was pressed against the cold brick. One of the hands covered her eyes, and the other tightly gripped the back of her neck. The woman whimpered. She could feel his hot breath on her shoulder as it sent shivers down her spine.
"Ah, im getting ahead of myself. I bet you're wondering just who I am huh?"
"Why?" her voice shook with pure terror. "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"
The boy said nothing for a few moments, then: "Because I have to." His voice was low and cold, almost a growl.
"I guess I've kept you waiting long enough."
The woman stiffened. All the pieces lined up- the appearance, lurking in the shadows, everything. Now she knew what was coming. And she didn't like it. "Can't we make a deal or something? I have money..."
"No." The boy said bluntly as he leaned in close to her neck, and moved the hand on the back of her neck to her left shoulder and gripped it tightly.
"My name is Sora. Master of the keyblade and saviour of countless worlds. But most of all-
After a slight hesitation, the boy muttered: "I know I really don't deserve to be saying this but... sorry." And then he sunk his fangs deep into her neck and drank.
"I am a vampire."
Once the boy had finished draining the woman, he used his saliva to seal the wound and let her lifeless body fall to the ground. The police would be searching for her at dawn, but by then he would be long gone. Using his superior strength, he scaled the side of the building, and climbed to the top. From there, he leaped across the other buildings to the edge of the city, heading towards his den for the day.
'It wasn't always like this though. I was a normal teenager once- at least, as normal as you could get when you had to fight creatures of darkness with a magical weapon. I was human, and that's more than I can say for myself now. Now, I'm a creature of the night, endlessly stalking the city streets, looking for victims. It's their blood that I'm after- every vampire needs to feed at least once a week or they sicken quickly and perish, and once you start to drink, you can't stop until you've drained the person dry.
'I don't like having to kill the people I drink from, I really don't. Every time I go to drink from someone, I always think about the fact that it could have been me down there; running from a horrible monster, begging for your life to be spared, and then being killed mercilessly with no remorse. If there had been any way to reverse the plaque that had been placed on me I would have taken it in a second, even if I had to sell my soul to the devil. I would give anything to just have a normal life once more.
'All this talk of being normal has brought up the past, to the place where it all began. My path to becoming a child of the night started about two months ago, back when I was still traveling the worlds with Donald and Goofy. Read forward if you dare, though I warn you now-if you're looking for a happy ending you've come to the wrong place.'
-Acidic Liquid-
"Come on Donald! Let me drive!"
"For the third time Sowa, no! The last time I let you touch the controls; we crash landed into a jungle!"
"But-
The duck crossed his feathered arms and turned to face me. "No buts Sowa. Just be patient, we're almost there anyway." With that, he turned back around and continued to steer us towards the next world.
Heavily sitting back in my seat, I grunted angrily. I was more than a little impatient to do something other than sit there and smile; because that's exactly what I had been doing for the past several hours. The trip out from Port Royal had taken longer than expected because of heartless attacking us on the way. At the very least I got to operate the ships weapons, but before I knew it the fight was over. Luckily the ship hadn't suffered any real damage, but at this rate my brain was going to if I didn't find a way to entertain myself.
Casually getting up, I carefully walked past a sleeping Goofy, and down into the hallway. I didn't really know where I was going, but even simple walking was better than doing nothing. My feet eventually led me to the kitchen, where I grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter and ate it there. Biting into it, I savoured the sweetness and licked the juice off my lips. Ever since I was a child, I had always had a thing for fruit- soft, juicy, sweet- almost nothing compared to it. Among them, apples were my all time favourites. Maybe it was the unique flavour that drew me in, or maybe it was the colour- red that is- that did it. The opposite of my eyes, Red was always my favourite colour.
Swallowing another huge mouthful, I nibbled at the core then threw it in the compost. I smiled contently. At least that apple would hold me off until we had a chance to eat again. Now that my stomach was full, I was beginning to feel tired. Maybe a quick nap wouldn't be so-
'Bridge to Sowa. We'll reach the next world in less than ten minutes.' I cringed when Donald's annoying voice blared over the P.A system.On the bright side- there was only ten minutes in between now and freedom.
The flip side of that was there was still ten minutes to kill. And I was very impatient.
I don't know why but I started pacing, my footsteps echoing dully off the kitchen walls. Something had me on edge today- I couldn't sit still, concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes, and I had snapped at Donald more than a few times. I was usually bright- a happy go lucky guy, so this was totally out of the norm.
Figuring I could piss off Donald for some form of entertainment, I slowly made my way back into the cockpit. Goofy was still sleeping, his hat covering most of his dog-like face. Donald was sitting comfortably in the front seat, and staring at the monitor in front of him with an annoyed look.
"How much longer now?" I asked, and ran a gloved hand through my chocolate brown spikes.
Donald sighed. "Two minutes, not counting re-entry. Get Goofy up will you Sowa?"
"Right." I said, and turned back to the bi-pedal dog. Walking over to him, I gently shook his shoulder. "Goofy. Hey, Goofy wake up. We're almost there."
His eyes blinked open and he sat up. "O-okay. What world are we going to now Sora?"
I shook my head- I didn't know either. Turning around, I called back to Donald. "Where are we going anyway?"
"Aww, phooey," I heard him mutter crossly. "We're going to Halloween town."
Donald had never liked Halloween town. He had whined and complained the first time we were there about his new appearance- I would have too if part of my body was missing! Goofy, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind at all. He adapted to it easily- but it was hard to forget the small pumpkin on his nose and how comical it was.
When it came to Halloween town, I was an entirely different matter altogether. I personally liked my appearance- the dark clothing and creepy atmosphere of the world itself was a breath of fresh air when compared to other worlds with bright flashy environments, and overly happy citizens. It was enough to give you a headache after months of traveling.
"Thirty seconds to re-entry," Donald's voice jolted me out of my thoughts and he turned to snap at me. "Sowa, I suggest you sit down unless you want to get plastered onto the front windshield!"
'No thanks.' I thought, and sat down without a word. Buckling my seatbelt, I grabbed the handle for support.
During re-entry (or in this case just entry), the ship would experience some turbulence while passing through the world barrier. Normally it was mild, but there was the odd time here and there where it would be somewhat strong. I was never one for flying- there were no planes or ships for that matter on destiny islands so before I had met Donald and goofy, I had never flown before. The first time I had been in the gummi ship, my stomach had definitely not agreed with it, and unfortunately I had eaten one of Aeriths big meals beforehand. For several weeks after I had to have some form of bucket near me until I finally got used to flying. I never got used to the turbulence however. My hand tightened on the seat. If there was a heartless attack, I was going to be ready.
"Ten seconds. Everyone hold on!" Donald quacked and held on to the controls tightly.
I closed my eyes and tried to hold down the apple I just ate as she ship started to shake. Passing through the world barrier was tricky- too much force and you could end up crash landing onto the world below. Too little, and the ship would be deflected back out to space. After about a minute of this though, the shaking died down then stopped altogether, signalling we had successfully passed through the barrier.
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, my grip loosened from the seat and I sat back. The wave of nausea had passed and now I was feeling better.
Switching on the auto pilot, Donald turned back to us. "Everyone okay back there?"
Goofy and I nodded as we undid our seatbelts. The ship was already in position for us to be transported down to the world, and I was still impatient to get off.
"Alright. Are you to ready to go?" Donald spoke again.
It took everything I had not to shout at him. "Yes."
The duck nodded and pressed a button on the control panel, and all three of us got into position. White light surrounded me then as I felt my body become weightless and I was transported down to the world below.
-Acidic Liquid-
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes again was that the air was much cooler and crisper than in the ship. I shivered slightly, but shook it off. My black clothes for this world were slightly thicker then my other clothes, but it was still cold. Halloween town was always like this, and I was just going to have to get used to it again. Looking up, I saw the hazy grey clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see. The crescent moon was silhouetted behind the clouds- beams of faint moonlight were streaming through.
Glancing around, I saw that the path that we had landed on led to the town- small pumpkin shaped lights were strung up on either side of the path. To my right was a gate that led to another area, and I could see a strangely curled hill beyond. Behind me, the path stretched out and I could see pine trees in the distance- that was probably the hinterlands. To my left was another gate, and through it I could see numerous tombstones stretching out for a good quarter mile- a graveyard. I shifted my feet slightly and coughed. Something about that graveyard seemed suspicious to me somehow. I didn't know what it was that had caught my attention; if anything fishy had gone on in there, wouldn't I have noticed it the first time we visited this world?
Suddenly the wind picked up, blowing towards the graveyard and I could hear a low wail from somewhere within. It seemed to call to me, beckon me forward, close enough so it could get its cruel claws into my heart and...
"Sowa?" Donald questioned from a few feet ahead, with Goofy at his side. "Are you coming?"
Alright, that confirmed it- now I was positive there was something going on with that place.
I hesitated for a moment, and stole a glance back at the graveyard. Donald and goofy apparently had not noticed the sudden wind, because they were looking at me with truly confused expressions. I was curious to see just what was drawing me in there. Turning back to the two, I said shortly, "Uh, you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up."
Donald and Goofy gave each other questioning looks before nodding and heading into town without me. Once they were out of sight, I looked around for any other people (or creatures!) then walked over to the gate. Luckily it didn't have a lock on it, and as I pushed it open it made a loud screeching noise. I expected this though, and I walked forward without the slightest hint of fear.
Carefully tip-toeing my way In between the tombs, I followed the wind so to speak. I let it draw me forward towards the back of the graveyard, where some of the larger tombstones were. Eventually, after picking my way around countless graves I came up to a large, flat grey tomb with a tall stone tablet attached to the back. When I was standing directly in front of it, the wind abruptly stopped and the wail faded away. Somehow I just knew that this is where the feeling had wanted me to go.
Leaning forward, I tried to make out the words on the stone tablet behind the tomb. They were faded with age and barely legible, and I put my hands on the tomb for support.
"I speak these words before... body of Vani... to uphold the code of the... and to live a long life, serving... protecting my own." I spoke out loud, and continued to try to read the rest of it. The next lines were in slightly better condition, and I was able to make them out much easier. "I swear loyalty to the gods and promise to serve, by my blood, as a... vampire?"
Without warning, my hands were engulfed in pain and it felt like they were being stabbed by thousands of tiny needles. Yelping in both shock and agony, I struggled to pull my hands away but it was as if they were glued to the tablet. I fought and twisted, screeching all the while but I couldn't break free. Cold laughter erupted from within my head suddenly and I winced at it. After a few moments, it started to speak.
'I accept your offer human. Now, let us exchange blood so that I might make you a child of the night.'
At that, dark red blood that wasn't my own pooled around my trapped fingers, and was quickly sucked up by them. I could feel that blood begin to travel through my veins and up my arms- it felt like icy knives slicing its way through me to my core. It seemed to freeze me in place and I stood still as it traveled towards my heart.
By now I was truly panicking. What would happen if that blood reached my heart? Would it kill me? I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out except for a pitiful whimper and my eyes widened in fear.
Something horribly cold and cruel was squeezing me from the inside, and I could feel the pressure on my franticly beating heart. I was so scared, my heart beat faster and faster until I felt the terrible icy hand crush my heart and my vision went black.
Before I totally lost consciousness however, I heard one final line from the strange voice:
'My work is done. Go now child, and wreak havoc upon the world of the living!'