A vampire is either born or created. Vampires born into the curse are quite common. However, the creation of a vampire only occurs once in a lifetime. It's usually a gift only given to the vampire's bride…until tonight.
Seto Kaiba was out for a midnight stroll when his heightened hearing picked up on a small cry a few blocks down. He also heard a much louder group of guys whooping and carousing. Normally, he would have ignored these sounds, but something tonight felt like it was calling to him. Something gave him the overwhelming urge to investigate the source of the weak whimpers. As he came closer to the place he heard the cry, the smell of blood overwhelmed his senses.
The particular scent was vaguely familiar, but much stronger than he was used to. He couldn't pinpoint the owner, but he knew it would be someone familiar. Whatever happened, there was going to be blood, and from the scent of it, a lot of it.
He rounded the corner and found a group of guys surrounding something. He whistled to them and they all turned to his direction finally giving him a good view of what they were surrounding. It was a girl. He recognized her as his rival, Yugi Mouto's cheerleader, Tea Gardener.
He scoffed and was about to leave when a flash back came to him…
He was standing on the roof of a building at Duelist Kingdom. He was willing to risk everything to save his little brother from Maximillian Pegasus. His life points was low and he was counting on Yugi to forfeit knowing that if he zapped the last of his life points, he would be blown off the roof. He was counting on Yugi's conscience to get the best of him. The blast was about to hit him when Tea ran in front of him to deflect the attack. Yugi called off the attack however, before it could harm her. He won the duel but he lost his self-respect. How could he let her risk her life, when he was immortal?
She had also helped him and his little brother several times after that. As much as he wanted to stay out of it, he couldn't. He approached the group and said, "Let her go."
"Why should we?" asked one of the thugs surrounding her.
Kaiba let out an annoyed sigh and pulled a revolver from his pocket, "Would this be convincing enough?" he asked irritably.
Many of the guys backed away instantly, but the one he had just been talking to, tapped his chin as if he were thinking. "Nah," he said as he pulled out a gun of his own and shot Kaiba in the chest. A painful stinging sensation coursed through his body, but he didn't back down. He let go of the wound and stood up just as tall as he had been prior to the shot.
The man with the pistol was astonished as Kaiba asked, "You want to try that again?" The man still in shock shot another 3 times, but this time Kaiba was ready and caught the bullets. With inhuman speed, he ran up behind the man with the pistol and pressed his gun to the guy's temple. He then whispered, "This is the part where you run away." As if on cue, he began to run with the rest of his friends as fast as their legs could carry them.
Kaiba wasn't worried about them saying anything. They were so drunk, they probably wouldn't remember anything from tonight; and, if they did remember, who would believe them.
Kaiba then walked over to Tea and placed his lips to her forehead. He could feel her life energy was quickly fading. There was no hope of reviving her. A desolate feeling crossed his heart and he knew, he couldn't let it end like this. They weren't friends nor did he particularly care for her, but he knew she was a good person. She didn't know this, but he always watched her walking to the orphanage he grew up in. She volunteered there after school and on weekends. Something about her just made him want to be sure she made it there safe.
Without further ado, he knelt over her body and gently sunk his teeth into a wound on her neck. 'So much for my vampire bride,' he thought with slight amusement. He never wanted to be married anyway so it was not much of a sacrifice in his eyes.
Her blood was sweet. It was almost intoxicating to him. He knew he had to stop before he lost control. He opened his mouth and wiped the blood from his mouth. He then took off his trench coat and wrapped it around her to keep her warm.
Rain started to pour down, so he was able to run home undetected by another human soul.
When he made it home, he gently placed her on the couch and wrapped her in a blanket. Mokuba, upon hearing the front door shut, ran down the stairs and saw his older brother tending to Tea. He gasped at the sight of her and asked, "Seto, What happened to Tea? Is she going to be alright?"
Kaiba was focused on checking her condition, so he didn't look back at his brother as he said, "She was attacked by a group of guys in the alley by the bakery. As far as her being 'alright,' that depends on your definition of 'alright.'"
"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked worriedly.
"I turned her," Kaiba replied simply, "She now has the Vampire's curse."
Mokuba gasped gleefully and embraced his brother from behind. Kaiba turned around confused and Mokuba continued, "That's great big brother, I always knew you would find your bride."
Kaiba scoffed, "She is not my bride. I just couldn't let someone as pure as she is, die such a horrible death."
Mokuba wondered if Kaiba was talking to him or if he was trying to convince himself about why he chose to save Tea. Mokuba always sensed his older brother had a soft spot for Tea. This only proved it further.
Mokuba was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Tea begin to tremble. Kaiba nervously said, "Get me a cup out of the fridge."
Mokuba quickly ran to the kitchen and pulled out a container from their last hunt. He placed a straw in the cup and brought it to Seto.
It wasn't 2 seconds later when Tea's eyes opened, they had turned purple. Without thinking about her manners, she grabbed the cup from Mokuba and began to drink. The straw was useless to her, considering how thirsty she felt. When she finished the cup, she looked up at the Kaiba brothers and asked, "What is that? That is the best thing I have ever tasted."
Kaiba looked at her perplexed, 'How could she not know?' "Blood," He replied simply.
She started to laugh, thinking it was a joke until she looked down into the glass. Instantly she dropped it and backed away from him. "What have I done?" She asked, "What happened?"
She turned her head and caught a look at herself in the mirror, but there was no reflection. She would have panicked further, but she felt as if lightning just struck her body. She keeled over and would have hit the floor had Kaiba not been there to catch her fall. She started to convulse.
"What is happening?" Mokuba asked.
Kaiba gritted his teeth and replied, "I don't know."
An old man known as James, Kaiba's butler, entered the room. He was the closest thing to a father Seto and Mokuba had since they were adopted by Gozaburo. He was also the only one alive who knew about the Kaiba brothers's curse, because he too was cursed. He explained, "Mr. Kaiba, in order for her to become one with the Vampire who changed her, she must feel the pain he has suffered. Your memories are going to be relived by her."
Kaiba's face paled. There was so much that happened in his life he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy. But, he practically gift wrapped it and gave it to her. He had also hoped to keep that part of his life a secret. He was always afraid someone would find out about his past and use it against him. He glared at her with a look of revulsion, but quickly changed when he saw the amount pain that was coursing through her tiny body.
Suddenly, she grasped her chest and the convulsions stopped. He knew she felt the bullet he took and the transformation was complete. When she woke she would be confused, scared, and upset, but she would be alive. That was all he could hope for. He was still apprehensive about her knowing his past, but part of him knew he could trust her.
He carried her up to his bedroom and laid her across the bed. He crossed the room to where his desk was and sat down to work on his laptop. However, his hands refused to move. He was lost deep in thought, 'What had possessed him to save her? How would she react once she was awake? When will she wake?' She may have had a sped up version of his past, but reliving it would take quite some time. Knowing he was getting nowhere with his work or his answers, he changed into his pajamas and slept in his computer chair. After all, it wouldn't be his first time falling asleep at his desk.
He woke up the next day and she was still unconscious so he got dressed and went to school. Her absence was definitely noticed. Tea for as long as he knew her, always had perfect attendance. There was only one time he could remember that she was absent from school and he overheard she was out with the flu the next day. Tea was extremely straight laced and her absence sent up several red flags to her friends, Yugi, Joey, and Tristan.
When Kaiba got home from school with Mokuba, they immediately went up the stairs to check on her. She was still unconscious, but her color was starting to come back. Her phone in her pocket was going off like crazy. Mokuba silenced the phone, knowing his brother's short fuse, and read through the text messages. "Big brother, Don't you think we should let them know she is alright. Everyone is so worried," he asked.
The older Kaiba shook his head, "Her friends will see her soon enough, but we should probably contact her parents and let her know she is….okay."
Mokuba scanned through the contacts and replied, "Seto, I don't see any. None of her contacts say Mom, Dad, or even Home."
Kaiba grabbed the phone and looked at it skeptically, but Mokuba was right. "Humph…I will look into it," he said as he handed the phone back to Mokuba.