'Tis my first time writing an FF with vampires. I never thought I would jump on this bandwagon. But an idea is an idea—and an FF is an FF. Enjoy ;)
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters and references I make in this story.
Near Unimari City Blood Bank. April 4, 20XX. 19:20.
"What the f***?!" thought Nanoha Takamachi as she was ambushed by a blonde haired girl of approximately the same height. Nanoha was pinned against the wall in an alleyway near the clinic where she had just donated blood.
It was dusk. The fading sunlight illuminated the assailant's gold locks. Nanoha was able to see her assailant's face briefly before her assailant sunk her teeth into her neck. Nanoha found the assailant's burgundy eyes and fair complexion to be quite alluring. However, fear overrode all of Nanoha's thoughts as the assailant's fangs protracted and sunk into Nanoha's neck.
After that, all Nanoha registered was a mind-numbingly piercing pain.
A few hours later, Nanoha awoke in bed at her new apartment. Realizing that she did not change into her pajamas before sleeping, she immediately felt her neck for an injury. She found none. "What a dream. It felt so real. I must be so exhausted from moving and donating my blood that I must have went on auto pilot after going to the clinic and blacked out."
Tired after a long day, Nanoha went back to sleep.
April 4, 20XX. 01:20.
The full moon's glow seemed to be abnormally intense. Fate Testarossa felt a sense of exhilaration and trepidation. This was her first hunt in the city with Alicia Testarossa, her twin sister. Despite being in her teens and older than Fate by a few minutes, Alicia grasped hunting skills with the ease and flair of vampires born centuries before.
"Fate! Pay attention, ne. Hunting here is super easy. They practically throw themselves at you," whispered Alicia. Fate heard the excitement in Alicia's voice. The twins strolled alongside each other on deserted Unimari City streets. Their golden tresses shone brightly against the moonlight and contrasted with their black leather jackets.
Gang members were known to roam the area during the nighttime.
Live human blood was necessary in their stage of growth as vampires. Fate was not keen about feeding on humans. She found the struggle, screaming, and terrified expressions to be too much trouble and would much rather subsist on prepared animal blood. Fate would rather snap their neck in two and then feed on them. However, in order to live among humans, vampires could not kill humans. For Alicia, subduing and wiping the memories of her human prey (vampire magic) was another step in the protocol.
"Hey ladies. Looking for some fun tonight? My buddy and I can help you out," said a gang member wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a lascivious smirk as he walked towards the twins with his friend. His mind began entertaining lewd fantasies involving himself and the twins as he plotted how he could take them home.
"It's showtime~" said Alicia as she took Fate's hand and gave it a slight squeeze. That was the signal to turn around and face their prey.
"Look Fate. This is how it is done," said Alicia as she grabbed the gang member by the collar of his shirt and rammed him against a wall in one swift motion. The impact stunned him.
Alicia leaned closer to her prey and flashed a smile as her fangs protracted. "My my. How very bold of you to offer yourself and your friend. I hope your blood is not as bad as your pickup line," said Alicia with a hint of amusement.
Before her prey could scream, she sunk her fangs through his shirt at an area between his neck and shoulder. He became limp as Alicia drank his blood.
Fate made a quick mental note of Alicia's actions. Then she turned to the other gang member, who already started running away.
In a blink of the eye, Fate caught up with the other gang member. She grabbed him by the arm and slammed her knee into his torso. Since her prey was stunned and unable to react, Fate pushed him against the wall. The impact left her prey unconscious. As Fate was about to sink her fangs into her prey, she recognized him: he worked at grocery store in a shopping district she frequented. He would often help old women carry their groceries to their cars.
"Mou, Fate. I am done with the other guy. I wiped his memory, and left him on a fairly safe sidewalk. He'll wake up in an hour. What's taking you so long?" said Alicia as she walked towards Fate.
"Did you recognize him?" Fate asked hesitantly.
"Oops. I forgot to tell you to avoid looking at their face just in case if you may recognize them. It does make things a little harder if it bothers you. It doesn't bother me though. We can just wipe their memories."
"I…I don't want to do this." Fate then made a swift motion to perform the spell to wipe her prey's memory.
"Faaate~ That's such a waste. You are going to be so tired and hungry tomorrow. You know that animal blood is no longer enough for either of us."
Ignoring Alicia's remark, Fate left her prey and began walking away.
"But Mama warned us that when we are hungry we may lose control. I don't want you to accidently kill anyone. Vampire hunters might come after you again. They let you go last time because you were young, but I don't know what they will do this time," said Alicia as she caught up and walked alongside Fate.
"I will be fine," said Fate as she walked faster in an attempt to avoid her twin's nagging.
"Mou, Fate. You are so stubborn." Alicia took her twin's hand in hers as they proceeded to walk home. "You know you can have some of my blood tomorrow. I just don't want to lose you."
Fate mentally vowed to avoid her twin tomorrow.
April 3, 20XX. 09:30.
"Noooo our adorable little science experiment is moving out," teased Miyuki Takamachi as Nanoha Takamachi walked into the Takamachi family mansion. Nanoha was in the middle of packing and moving her things into a moving truck.
Miyuki's joke was not far from the truth. Over a decade ago, Takamachi Medical Incorporated needed an on-call child blood donor for testing purposes, so Nanoha was adopted because of her hemochromatosis. Having hemochromatosis meant that her body produced too much iron. If the excess iron was allowed to accumulate over time, Nanoha's blood would be oversaturated with iron, which can lead to diseases in every organ in her body. To stay well, Nanoha needed to donate her blood regularly. Sometimes Nanoha needed to donate her blood a few times a week. Her blood donation frequency depended on her diet, which was controlled by Takamachi Medical Incorporated.
After the high-priority project ended a year ago, Nanoha learned to manipulate her diet so that she could reduce the frequency of her trips to the blood bank. Her value to Takamachi Medical Incorporated seemed to have decreased as well.
"Mou, Miyuki. I just want to live closer to my new high school, so that I do not have to take the family limo every morning. Besides, everyone is busy and I don't want to be a bother. I will learn to live on my own sooner or later like you and Kyoya. Shiro-san thought it was a good idea too."
"We should be proud of our younger sister." said Kyoya Takamachi as he joined Mizuki and Nanoha. "Our little science experiment is growing up. Mom and dad must be so proud."
"Mou, Kyoya. Not you too."
Miyuki and Kyoya were over a decade older than Nanoha. At times, Nanoha felt that Miyuki and Kyoya were more her adoptive parents than Shiro-san and Momoko-san. Momoko Takamachi was the CEO and star biochemist of Takamachi Medical Incorporated. Shiro Takamachi was the lead biochemist working on a number of high profile projects and husband of Momoko Takamachi.
Since her adoption into the Takamachi family at age 8, Nanoha only met with them for blood extraction matters and family trips. Nanoha never got into the habit of referring to Momoko-san or Shiro-san as mom or dad, respectively. Momoka-san and Shiro-san did not attempt to reinforce that as well. Nevertheless, Nanoha became close with her adoptive sister and brother.
"At least let Kyoya and me help you with moving and preparing your new home. Don't forget to stop by the blood bank later tonight to donate your blood. You should do that before your week gets busier since the school year starts tomorrow."
"Okay. Thanks for your help~ I left a bunch of large boxes for the both of you. I figured you would not let your precious little science experiment carry those on her own." Nanoha playfully stuck her tongue out at her adoptive siblings, who jokingly rolled their eyes at her in response.
"Yes, oh gifted one. Representatives of the Takamachi Medical Incorporated will be at your beck and call today," said Kyoya with a teasing wink.
Even though she knew that Kyoya was kidding, Nanoha felt a pang of sadness. "I was just of a source of blood, ne."
Now, dear readers, let me know what you all thought of this one -by leaving a review. Predictions and guesses about references I might have made in this FF are welcome too ;)