Prologue
The sour air curled around my nose and the smell was so…rotten, I couldn't help but grimace and refrain from holding my breath. It clung to everything, the floorboards, the walls, the tattered curtains…it was all throughout the house…and it screamed "ancient".
The house I'd inherited just last month wasn't in the best of shapes, paint peeled from the bricks outside, the wall paper, stained beyond recognition, was ripped, and bits of it littered the squeaky ground. I took another sour breath and placed a foot on to the first carpeted step, a loud groan met my ears and the small hairs stood on the back of my neck.
"He-hello?" as soon as the words slipped pass my lips I questioned it, where did I find the urge to call that out anyway? There was no one here but me. I shook my head at my foolishness and took the next step, but in the back of my mind something wouldn't quit tugging at my awareness, the dull burning sensation placed right between my shoulder blades caused by someone watching me.
Chapter One
You know that weird spot, between being conscious and being unconscious? Where you're trying to grasp the slippery tail of the dream you were having before you stumbled into that odd spot? That's what I love about waking up, nothing matters, it's like a life before all the bad shit settles in and you realize you need to get your ass out of bed.
"Good morning beautiful"
The voice was unfamiliar but I wasn't quite awake enough to realize that its presence was wrong. When I finally slipped back into reality I noticed soft fingers caressing my neck and collar and while my body leaned into the soft touch my mind snapped back into control and I slammed by back into the headboard away from the strange touch, and my eyes came to rest upon perhaps the most beautiful being I'd ever seen in my 18 years of living. Brown-blond hair cascaded in thick waves to whisper just past his shoulders, framing an oval face with a pale complexion. His lips curled up in a sexy smirk and his eyes…gods those eyes.
"Who are you? Where am I? What are you doing here?" the questions flowed from my mouth in a rush and the stranger pressed a long cool finger to my lips hushing me.
He laughed, not necessarily an unpleasant sound, but rather unnerving and extremely seductive. The mere sound of it combined with the coolness of his finger against my warm lips caused a slight shiver to run through my spine.
"My name is Kamijo, you're in the same house you were the night before, and I simply moved you from the stiff couch to my bed."
"Your bed? But…but, this house is mine, well, it was my grandmothers. How could you—you're trespassing!" I scowled "I can call the police on you!" I squared my shoulders and puffed my chest out trying to look threatening to the male standing before the bed I sat on.
Again the stranger laughed that seductive laugh of his and leaned towards me with a scary looking gleam in his ivory eyes "no my dear boy, I believe it is you…whom is trespassing" he got so close I could feel his cool breath across my face. It was so cold it raised the hairs on the back of my neck.
"Wha—how am I trespassing? I own this house, so there." I knew I sounded like a child fighting against an older sibling, but if you finally got a house you could call your own after constantly being juggled between households where no one cared even the slightest bit about you or the fact that you lived or died…wouldn't you act the same?
The stranger, Kamijo, leaned back in mock fear "Oh, I'm so scared"
Again I scowled, I was often teased like this, well, I was pretty girly for a boy. I had a petite frame and I wasn't very tall either, my face was oval, and I was pale. I suppose some would call me 'pretty' but I didn't see it.
"What's your name boy?" Kamijo asked suddenly
"Teru" I said cautiously, as if tasting my own name on my tongue.
"I like you Teru, you can stay here…for now, until I decide otherwise, but for now, consider yourself 'safe'."
I stared at him curiously for a moment before my stomach broke the silence with a loud noise of complaint, now it was his turn to stare at me curiously, before he broke into laughter, "I forgot how funny you humans could be." he chuckled looking at me with those ivory eyes of his "Tell me, what does that mean you need again?"
I looked at him dumbstruck, who, or what, did this guy think he was?
I must've stared at him in silence for longer than I thought because the next thing I knew he was waving a pale pianist hand before my face "hello?"
I jumped back into reality and snapped "um, food?"
He raised a disapproving eyebrow at my tone but said nothing more as he motioned for me to follow him.
I did so staring at the back of his neck the whole way anticipating what he might do, it was obvious this guy was not right in that pretty little head of his. Just what exactly did he mean by 'you humans'? The entire situation confused the ever loving shit out of me, just what exactly had I gotten myself into? What did this ordeal mean?
I was so occupied with my thoughts I didn't notice he'd stopped and my nose connected with the space between his shoulder blades quite painfully snapping me back into reality.
He looked back at me with an eyebrow raised in question, I saw his mouth open to ask what I had been thinking of but I silenced him by shaking my head quickly and looking on to the kitchen before me.
It was quite beautiful to say the very least, done in dark and light browns, with an ivory tile floor that, although worn from countless people walking upon it, reflected the furniture above it causing the room to seem twice as big. A large island was placed in the middle of the room with a couple abandoned bar stools near it, a single glass vase sat on that island with a bright red rose looking just as alive as ever filling the room with a fragrance unlike anything I've smelled in my life. It was so sweet, calming, nice…it reminded me of a time I used to know, a kind time, before my family disowned me because of what happened. My vision blurred and I drew a shaky breath, trying to blink back the hot tears that wanted to pour out across my pale cheeks. One slipped and I moved my hand up to swipe at it but Kamijo stopped me.
"What is that for?" he asked, looking slightly confused.
"I-it's nothing…just…just bad memories is all." I managed bitterly.
He looked at me again with those beautiful ivory orbs of his full of questions I planned on never answering. "Memories of…?"
"Nothing!" I snapped looking up at him angrily; I yanked my hand from his grasp and furiously wiped away the one stupid tear "Just drop it okay?" I pushed past him and stepped into the sweet smelling kitchen looking for any edible substance, when I came up blank I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Don't you eat?"
Kamijo shook his head "I can, but I have no need for it, my body doesn't require 'food'"
I'd had about enough of this guy and his weird 'I'm not human' deal "What on earth do you think you are exactly?" I all but screamed.
He chuckled that annoyingly sexy laugh of his and moved towards me with inhuman speed and before I could blink he had me trapped against the island with a hand on either side of my waist making sure I stayed there. I shuddered at the gleam in his eyes, he looked like he would kill me right then and there if I moved a millimeter away from him or did so much as raise a finger to struggle.
"What is it you humans call us? Vampires?" he smirked and I was close enough to see the sleek canine that extended past the normal length for any human tooth.
I gasped in realization and fear when he tilted my head to the side making my neck easier to access for him, a shiver went through my spine as his cool breath blew across my skin.
"Wha-what are you—"
"Your neck is so slim and delicate looking," he whispered planting a small kiss on the place where my neck met my shoulder "and your skin is so beautiful and pale…I wonder…"
Goosebumps erupted across my skin as his tongue flicked out and drew a cold line from the base of my neck to my jawline, I sighed at the strangely erotic gesture and a shiver ran through my spine once more.
He brushed his lips back down the same path and I tensed as I felt the tips of his canines brush across my skin.
"Don't scream" he whispered, and strangely enough just hearing the sound of his voice calmed me, and I didn't…the pain was unbearable at first, but it eventually numbed the longer he sucked my blood. It eventually turned into an almost sweet experience, like a first kiss, or a lovers' embrace. All too soon the moment was over and he pulled out swiping his tongue across the small punctures and laying another sweet kiss upon my flesh.
When he raised his head to meet my eyes again he seemed four times more beautiful to me, I wasn't sure what it was but something in me made him seem even more beautiful now than he was when I first met him. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn't notice he was leaning down towards my lips until our lips brushed ever so slightly.
I gasped and stilled for a moment before accepting thee touch and leaning in connecting our lips more formally, at first it was just a simple kiss, but nevertheless it made one point clear…I was Kamijo's, he'd claimed me when his fangs punctured my smooth flesh and my warm blood flowed through his body. His tongue ran across my bottom lip begging entrance I eagerly gave to him, he won the battle of dominance easily and gently sucked on my tongue before breaking away to give me air.
My stomach growled loudly once more interrupting our moment and causing him to snigger, he kissed me sweetly once more before leaning forward to whisper against the shell of my ear.
"You're mine…don't forget that."
I nodded sharply and smiled up at my new partner, "Now, where's a market around this place?"