CN

Les Nuages de la Perdition

Part I: Senescence Suspended

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I have NO idea what inspired me to write this, and especially for this fandom. You see I write for other categories as well, but for some really, really gory reason, I chose to write this story for this one.

And I have absolutely no clue as to what tortured muse came to me and whispered to me to make this fic. The idea came to me about four days ago, and I tried pushing the thought from my mind every time I thought about it. I know I mess with the characters' of "Hamtaro" personalities a lot, but this was far too dark and OOC for my liking. I refused, originally. I couldn't; I wouldn't.

But yet, here I am for God knows what reason typing this. It's like my twisted little CN brain won't give me peace until I publish this ridiculous story. My only hope is that you guys will forgive me for what I do to these characters.

WARNING: This isn't a light-hearted fic. It's probably one of my darkest to date, if not the darkest. It's why I upped the rating for this one. Please don't hate me after you read this.

And just so you know, this was in no way inspired by "Twilight", "True Blood", "The Vampire Diaries" or any other vampire media out there. This is just a twisted plot that came into my mind one cloudy day less than a week ago, and the end product is this.

To add one final note, this story is complete, as in I've finished writing and editing it in its entirety. It has three parts, and you are about to read the first one. I'll upload the second part in a few days, and the third part a few days after that.

I'm so sorry.

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Though love repine, and reason chafe,
There came a voice without reply,—
'Tis man's perdition to be safe, When for the truth, he ought to die…'

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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It smelled like the most fragile part of the library, where the oldest and most valuable books were kept on display. Even with her face covered, there was no denying this scent. Yes…Indeed, the lingering sensation of ancient dust was omnipresent, causing a dry sensation in her mouth and a few small coughs to leave her deprived throat. The tangible humidity, of wherever she was, also left a heavy, metallic taste on her tongue. She was left with no option but to bite her tongue, refusing to let her mouth's muscle taste anymore and all the while forbidding her from opening her mouth and letting the arid dust in.

Perhaps the reason she was so concerned with her taste and smell was because her vision, her hearing, her touch had been taken from her.

She was on her knees, kneecaps pressed against some soft sort of carpet, and her hands were tied behind her back. She was not only blindfolded, but a fabric bag of some sort had also been placed over her head.

How long had she been here? Just yesterday—it was yesterday, right?—she had been perfectly fine, living her life with her friends, her family, her…

Breathe, she told herself. How had this happened? Think, think carefully…!

She had been walking to her car, yes, that's right! She was walking out of building where she worked to her car. And then, out of nowhere, her world went black.

So I've been kidnapped in broad daylight? She thought, lost in melancholy, with her head hanging lower as a new wave of depression took over.

She had just woken up but a few minutes earlier, quickly realizing the visual, audio and tactile restraints that had been put on her, and that escape was made nearly impossible. Not only were her hands tied behind her back, they also seemed to be connected to something else. She couldn't move away at all, and she bitterly admitted she wouldn't get very far as long as her hands remained tied behind her back, unable to remove the covering on her head.

She desperately wished they had gagged her mouth, so she didn't hear herself sob.

Then, it happened. Almost immediately after the first whimper left her mouth, she felt someone's hands on her head, their cold digits slowly removing the bag from her head.

For a few seconds, Bijou relished the feeling of "fresh" air on her pale face, and her Ham-Human ears wiggled, desperately moving to zero in on a sound. Then, even knowing she couldn't see anything and still knew nothing about her whereabouts, an ear-piercing cry filled the room:

"HELP ME!! PLEASE—CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?! HELP ME!!!" Out of habit, her voice was in Japanese. She gasped for breath, all-too-ready to start her shrill cries again when she felt a hand play with the blindfold's tie at the back of her head.

As the strip of fabric fell down and rested at the base of her neck, Bijou came face-to-face with a pair of lime-green eyes, with a stare so blank and devoid of empathy that Bijou was reminded of a rotting log, for whatever reason.

"Oh my," the girl with strawberry-blond hair said as she stared at Bijou's face, "Just to inform you, screaming will not do you any good, though it is quite troublesome," she explained. Bijou's mouth was on the verge of lashing out, when the girl—with inhuman speed—had the fabric now wrapped around Bijou's mouth.

Wait…they were speaking in French…Not Japanese…

This girl, Bijou realized, was part of her captors and was no one to lean on for any sort of assistance. Her eyes lowered indignantly as the girl stood up, once again looking emptily at the bound girl at her feet.

"She's mad…in fact, she's furious!" a new voice cried out, ecstatic at Bijou's emotion. Bijou quickly shifted her head to see him, her emerald eyes widening and her mouth falling open under the fabric.

The woman Bijou had just been staring at…her twin, her identical was leaning against the wall. Or at least he had been leaning there, until he made his little outburst and started walking over to Bijou, his hands clapping slowly as he laughed to himself.

It was then that Bijou finally realized the outfits the two of them were wearing. The man was dressed like he had walked out of an 1800s castle, as had the girl, wearing a lacy, dark green ball gown with a corset top. And from what Bijou could tell as she kept her infuriated eyes on the approaching male, she realized the décor of this room was from the Old World as well.

"You're incredible," he said as he kneeled down on one knee to Bijou's level. He placed one of his hands, freezing cold and causing Bijou to gasp out loud, against her chin and forced her to look straight into his lime eyes.

"Isn't she absolutely everything I described, Sandy?" he asked as he tilted his head to the side. It was almost like he was amused by the girl's suffering.

"She may be to you, Stanley. To me she is little more than another human," the girl replied, her eyes closed as she leaned against the wall her twin had just occupied.

Bijou's glare intensified. If only her look could kill, he'd long been six-feet under.

But the man—Stanley—just kept staring amusedly at her. Was this psycho kidnapper truly enjoying her pain?!

"Your fury…well, I haven't felt something that passionate in years, decades, even!" he looked back to his sister, wanting to show her his excitement. Sandy, however, merely shrugged. She folded her hands over her chest and looked to the side.

Decades? But he didn't look any older than Bijou, who was still in her early twenty's.

"You, you," he whispered, getting closer to the girl, until his mouth was barely hovering over hers, "You feel such amazing things. Such happiness, and fear, and despair, even when you're unconscious, did you know that? It's beautiful and absolutely captivating!"

And just as Bijou feared that the lunatic would kiss her, he pulled himself back, much to her relief, though he moved his hands to the side of her neck. Bijou straightened her posture as she shivered at his iceberg-touch. A sense of angered curiosity splashed into her. What was with his obsession with feelings, anyway, and why was he so cold?!

Stanley laughed to himself yet again. "You're curious about my excitement, I can tell," he said as if reading her mind. "I can do that, you see. I sense emotions, though no human's emotions have ever called out to me like yours have. Nor has any heartbeat ever resounded in my head so dramatically as when I first saw you and felt your pulse from yards away," he explained, his fingers flitting over her jugular.

Bijou's breathing became controlled as she resisted crying at his freezing body. She would not let him see her be weak, that much she had decided.

She bit her lip as he absent-mindedly continued to stroke her neck. Alright, so this mental-ward fugitive apparently believed he could sense emotions and heart beats. Good for him. But (Bijou winced as his entire hand moved down her neck and to the neckline of her shirt), why was his skin so pale and his body temperature colder than a block of dry ice?

"Such rich, pure, innocent blood," Stanley said as he eyes her clavicle lecherously. Instinctively, he brought her neck as far as he could, given the restraints on her hands, to his mouth, his tongue barely gliding over the skin of her neck before he immediately pulled away.

And had she not seen it happen with her own two eyes, she would've believed it were a trick of light or her hunger-deprived brain. But there, as he brought their eyes together and she watched his smile widen, she saw them come out. Sharp, pointed, radiantly white daggers pierce out of his gum and forming the perfect knife.

Oh…God…

Visually, Bijou saw the girl say something, but her heart was now racing with adrenaline, demanding a release from this place, for she would surely be killed. Its beating dwarfed any other sound in the room, save for her own whimpers as she realized what she was dealing with was the supernatural.

"Now, you must promise you will not scream again. No one that can save you will come, and it will only tire your throat," she heard the girl slither in her ear. When did she get behind her?

All Bijou could do was nod. The truth was, she couldn't scream even if she tried. Her throat was choking with a mixture of tears and vomit, and against these monsters, she knew there'd be no winning.

"She's currently too afraid to move, Sandy. And I can feel her hopelessness surrounding her thoughts as well," Stanley continued, leaning one of his hands as his eyes continued to take in her every feature.

"…W..why me?" Bijou asked as her mouth restraint fell to the floor, her voice constrained and miserable and coarse, speaking in a childish tone in French. She couldn't even look up at his face anymore as she just hung her head lower and lower. At this question, Stan beamed.

"Ahh, French sounds so beautiful coming from you! It's a wonder I found you all the way in Asia. Imagine that, Sandy," Stanley cried excitedly.

"I think she'd prefer if you answered her question, Stan," Sandy reminded as she rested her cheek against Bijou's white locks, relishing in the human's sweet, decadent aroma of blood.

Stan glared at his sister, almost as if reminding her that this girl was his. Sandy merely yawned at her brother's jealousy, letting go of Bijou but slicing, with her hand, the ropes binding Bijou's hands together and to the table behind her.

Bijou immediately pulled her sore hands to her chest, still refusing to look at either of the two vampires (as she was sure that could be the only thing they were) as she massaged her gnawed wrists.

"I've sensed so many humans and their emotions in my many years," Bijou refused to look, even though his voice was sad, "but no emotions have ever struck out to me like yours have. It's the most refreshing, intoxicating sensation I can remember having, just by trying to enter your mind!"

Suddenly, his hands were once again on Bijou's chin as he forced her to look up, lime meeting emerald and exhilaration meeting total dejection.

"But currently, you are a cloud, and your views of me are such. It is my job to remove those views, and together we shall see something far more beautiful…"

"Good night, my dear Bijou." Bijou glared as the monster said her name. How did he know it—by searching her belongings? "Sandy, see to it that she has food when she wakes. She's still human and cannot be sustained on blood alone."

With that said, Stan stood up, as did his sister, both heading towards the door on the far side of the room.

"I suggest you get some sleep tomorrow, as you will be needing it. Til tomorrow night, Cherie!" he called over his shoulder.

With a sound click, the door locked behind the two, leaving Bijou to grab a fistful of her hair as she buried her face down, deep into the fibers of the rug beneath her.

She hadn't ever cried so much in her life as she did in that one night, lying in the growing sunrise and letting the red rays fall over her, drowning her in a pool of beautiful blood.

That was the first time she prayed for her death.

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Her face was no longer pale. It was red and lifeless with how much rubbing she did to get the burn of her tears to stop. They felt so hot compared to the bone-chilling sheet that his every touch had left on her skin that she had no choice but to scrub them away.

By some miracle, she had found her way to the bed in the room, and she sat there, back pressed against the ornate headboard, as she stared out at nothing.

The room itself was quite nice. It was made of massive, gray granite blocks, leading her to believe she was in some sort of castle. There were stained-glass windows behind her bed and to her left, with a dark, four-poster bed surrounding her. The bed was draped with salmon-pink bedding as well as drapes that formed the canopy of the same color, the same shade of pink the rugs and the tapestries hanging on the walls were. Along the room there was various furniture—an armoire, a vanity, a globe, and two night tables—that were the same color of stained wood as her bed. From what she could tell, there was an adjacent bathroom to her right.

For an hour, Bijou thought she must've dreamt her life in the twenty-first century. She was positive that her mp3 player, her car, her computer at work, that was all an incredibly elaborate figment of her imagination, for why on earth would such creatures live so oddly in the modern world?

But then she remembered all too quickly that they could not control time. They could create a universe where these two were some twisted rulers, living in a time that no longer existed, but these monsters could not themselves touch the essence of time.

With red, puffy eyes, the girl looked out the window and saw a cloudy sky. She was bright enough to figure that they were in same part of France, or at least far, far away from Japan. She was trying to figure out which part, though, going by the large evergreens that scraped at the window and the many green fields she saw. Had she the energy, she would've gone to the window and investigated further.

A clicking sound caused Bijou to look up, astonished as the door opened and two young maids, dressed in relatively modern black and white maid outfits, entered the room. One had a tray with juice and fruit on it, and the other carried a garment in her hands.

"Good morning, Miss Haruna," the one holding the food said as she placed the tray into Bijou's lap.

"Master Stanley asked for you to change into this dress before he visits you tonight," the other maid chimed in, laying out a beautiful silk, sky-blue gown.

Bijou turned her head to the side.

"Not my name," she said in a dry voice, choosing instead to look at the gray she could see through the stained glass.

The two maids exchanged a quick glance, nodding that from what their master told them, her name was indeed Bijou Haruna.

"…err, forgive me, mademoiselle, but isn't your name Bijou Haruna?" the maid with the food asked nervously. They were to be the girl's ladies-in-waiting, and so Stan had given them very specific orders to tend to her every need, and the most basic of those orders was to learn her name.

"It's Madame Haruna. I'm married," she spat, turning an icy glare to the two maids.

The two maids instantly realized the severity of her words. They didn't necessarily feel any more sympathy for her than they did for themselves. Should Stanley ever find out, or worse, should they have to tell him, or possibly the worst option of them all, should they choose to not tell him and he find out…well, either way, it was a horrible predicament for these two.

"Does Master Stanley know?" the maid with the dress asked, hoping that he did and that they wouldn't have to spill the beans.

Bijou's jaw locked, "I have no idea."

Both maids visibly gulped. The two of them had no idea how to proceed from here, as they were also under strict orders to tell Stan of anything the girl attempted to do or told them that could possibly hurt her or him in anyway.

"I-if that's all, Miss Ha-haaa-Bijou, we'll be on our way," one of them piped up. Bijou couldn't tell which one as she idly picked up a diced piece of cantaloupe that was on her plate.

"Are you human?"

The maids turned around in sync to see the girl whose eyes were normally much wider and full of life stare at them with eyes almost as hollow as Mistress Sandy.

"Yes," said the maid who brought in the food. "We are both human." She had a soft smile on her face, as if she were almost proud of this fact.

"Then why would you ever choose to work for…them?" her voice became rough again as she thought about her two captors. She tossed aside the small piece of fruit. She had no appetite, anyway.

Wincing at Bijou's refusal to eat, the other maid decided to explain, "Our families have been servants to Master Stanley and his sister for generations. They provide us with a good place to live, wonderful food, and basically the best of everything, while asking for very little from us in return."

"They're very kind people," added the other young girl.

"But they're not people," Bijou choked out again. "You're just condoning kidnapping the longer I stay here!"

At this, the maids' eyes softened. She didn't know their masters like they did. Given time, she would accept them wholeheartedly.

"Please eat your breakfast. Lunch will be served soon, and you shall have dinner with Master Stanley," said one of the maids.

"Also be dressed before your lunch arrives." The maid eyed the beautiful gown lying on Bijou's bed.

As they left and locked the door behind them, she tossed away the tray of food left in her lap, causing clangs on the hard floor as the dishes and glassware broke. Bijou pressed her head further into the pillow and let out yet another choked cry.

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Her lunch met the same fate as her breakfast. If she could open the windows, she would've thrown the food to the birds.

She didn't know why she was starving herself, perhaps she was hoping the lack of nutrition would eventually kill her. However, the thought of him kept her wishing to be alive and well, if only to return to him very, very soon. With this in mind, she had taken a few sips of the beverage that was served with her lunch before she threw the rest of the food onto the floor.

For whatever reason, she had actually decided to change her clothes into the gown given to her after taking a bath in the adjacent bathroom. It was most likely because her other clothes were starting to smell a little dingy after wearing them for two days straight, not to mention they were dirty and a little ripped, most likely a result of her abduction.

So she stood by the stained-glass window, staring out at the sky that was turning more and more light blue as the minutes passed. It would eventually turn black as the night settled in.

Did he sleep during the day, she wondered as she realized it was well past sunset. He said he would see her tonight, and at this, another sinking feeling set into her. And apparently they would dine together, something that made Bijou's appetite sink farther and farther away.

"My, my, this is troublesome," a voice said from behind Bijou, his breath playing with the skin on her neck. Bijou immediately spun around, pressing herself against the window as she peered back at Stan's green eyes. When did he get into the room?!

"You haven't touched your food at all, have you?" the man said amusedly as he stared at the broken glassware on the floor. His hands remained tucked behind his back as he turned his eyes back to her.

"Now, that won't do at all."

Bijou's eyes remained stern as she placed her arm across her chest, her hand resting over her heart in an attempt to calm its thrashing beating.

"You look lovely, however," he admitted as his gaze went over the well-fitting dress that clung to her upper body like a glove.

"Shall we?" he offered, extending her his elbow. Instead of taking his arm, however, Bijou pressed her heels further against the wall, actually wanting the window to break and for her to fall to her death. That seemed so much more appealing than going anywhere with him.

"Ahh, disgust," Stan laughed as he scratched the bridge of his nose idly. "You have yet to feel a positive emotion in my presence."

"Is that a surprise?" Bijou snapped defensively, immediately putting a hand over her mouth. She was hoping to stay quiet and refuse to give into any of his provocation, yet she had completely failed at that task in less than two minutes!

Stan's grin grew wider. "So you do speak. And here I thought I'd have to coax your tongue out of your mouth," he whispered, his hands reaching up and touching the corners of her chin. Bijou jerked her head back as far as she could, noticing that he had gloves on tonight so his touch wasn't so harsh, though still shiver-inducing.

"Now come," he said, this time an order as he held out his elbow yet again. When Bijou continued looking at him with hatred, Stan's grin turned into a tight-lipped smile.

"I was planning on taking you to the dining room, but we can stay here if you prefer to do something more…intimate," as he finished, his eyes pointed to the direction of the bed.

Bijou let out a cough, her gag complex activated.

"And there's that disgust again," he laughed. "But the choice is up to you, Cherie," he reminded, this time holding out his gloved hand to her.

"I will never get into bed with you, Monster," she hissed, one hand holding her neck and the other hand slapping down into his outstretched one, deciding to dine with him rather than the alternative he suggested.

Stan's smile continued to grow wider as his fingers wrapped around hers, more and more chills going down Bijou's entire body.

"Is that so? Your emotions tell me you're quite determined, which is a nice change from the disgust, but that only makes the challenge more fun for me," he explained as they started moving out of the room and, thankfully, away from the bed.

The disgust just returned for Bijou, but this time it was dwarfed by fury.

"Fury," Stan said to himself as the door to Bijou's chambers closed behind them. He didn't look back at her once as he led her down the stone halls.

Bijou had been skeptical about his claims to be able to read emotions since all her emotions were visibly present on her face, but slowly she started to believe that maybe he could read her emotions. It wasn't an incredibly useful gift, she thought to herself. She could not imagine herself feeling any sort of positive feelings for him ever, something he'd be reminded of every timed he tapped into her mind.

"What do you plan on doing with me?" she asked, trying to pry her hand away from his icy death grip. Unfortunately, he was inhumanly strong and all efforts to get away proved to be useless.

"Curiosity." Must he repeat her every emotion to her whenever he spoke? "Well your blood has the most tantalizing scent I've ever felt," he explained as he peered over his shoulder to look at her.

"Then drink my blood and kill me," it surprised Bijou how easily and almost demandingly she said this.

Stan stopped and turned around, releasing her hand which she pulled back to herself.

"Your blood is far too unique to be wasted on a meal." Bijou didn't know whether to feel relieved or fearful that she wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

"Your beauty, your voice…everything about you points to my ideal mate," he finished, tucking his hands behind him.

In that instant, Bijou's world seemed to grow to only her and Stanley, surrounded by a circular wall of stone.

"M-m-mate?" Bijou put a hand over her mouth and stepped back, much to the monster's thrill.

Stan did nothing but stare at the girl, his stoic expression never changing.

"So you want me to become…like you…?!" Bijou stepped back further, a sweat breaking out on her face, and Stan wondered if she would try to run away, not that she would make it more than a few feet before he'd stop her.

"I don't plan on turning you until you fully decide to commit yourself to me, but I must warn you: I'm not a patient man," he said as he took a step closer to her.

"Never!" Bijou cried. "I refuse to let any part of me have anything in common with you!" the white-haired girl stepped back further.

"That fear and determination you currently harbor will eventually fade. Sooner or later, you will yield to me," Stan said calmly as he stepped closer and closer to her.

"No, I won't," Bijou replied almost maddeningly as she shook her left hand in his face. "See this ring?" she pointed to her ring finger and the gold band, encrusted with diamonds, that adorned that finger.

Stan neither looked surprised nor taken aback as she shook her hand at him.

"This, this thing right here symbolizes my husband! You might have brought me here to live with you, Monster, but my husband is still very much alive and with him in my heart I will never, ever be yours!" she spat.

Here, Stan's eyes lowered. All the identification he had found of hers in the purse didn't indicate that she was married. Of course she was a beautiful young woman in her prime. It made sense that she was happily married. However, the fact that she was someone else's did not rest easily with him, for she was his and his alone.

"What a pity, then," Stan said as he grabbed her left arm, startling Bijou and causing her to hold her breath. He used his free arm to slide the ring off her finger, despite Bijou's cries of protest.

"Stop! What're you doing!"

"…that you shall never see your precious husband again." With tears in her eyes, Bijou watched the monster use his strength to pluck the diamond off the gold like a grape off its vine. He crumpled the gold band like a piece of paper, and then threw it so far behind Bijou that the girl got whiplash turning to see the band land somewhere in the darkness of the corridor.

She turned around to face Stan again when she felt a vibration in the ground.

Bijou whimpered as she saw what used to be her ring's diamond crushed under Stan's boot, the pressure of his stomp leaving cracks in the stone floor.

The girl put both her hands over her mouth to restrain her cries as she moved backwards, shaking her head.

"It…it doesn't matter!" she said as free tears fell from her eyes. "I told you, he lives in my heart, so until the day you rip that out of me, I'll still never be yours!"

"Human memories fade very quickly, something you'll realize when I turn you. When I do turn you, you'll soon forget you were even married. That's a promise. Now, shall we go to dinner in peace, or shall I turn you right now? Really, both are suitable outcomes for me," he said nonchalantly.

He outstretched his hand to her once again, knowing very well which option the girl would choose.

"I'll never forget, no matter what you do to me," she hissed, hesitantly putting her hand into his.

"Of course you won't," Stan said patronizingly.

The second her hand was in his, they flashed away.

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The dining room was nothing but more stone walls and giant ceilings, draped with more fancy tapestries that belonged in a museum rather than present-day.

There was also a table nearly thirty-feet long with only two seats at it, one on either end of the rectangular piece of wood.

Stan and Bijou appeared in the dining area with a jolt, and Bijou, barely having eaten in the past two days, nearly collapsed forward with the sudden rush of blood to her head. Stan caught her before she fell on her face, only needing one hand on her stomach to support her.

Without any effort, Stan moved one of the chairs back, setting his precious prisoner into it and positioning her to sit straight up, despite her nauseous appearance.

"Moving at that speed wouldn't have been so bad if you ate your meals like you were supposed to," Stan reminded, watching the girl sink slightly. He leaned forward and gave a rough kiss into her hair before he pushed her chair in, forcing her chest to be compressed against the table.

"Don't do that to me…ever…again," Bijou finished groggily as she looked across the table a few seconds later, as Stan was already seated. She put a hand to her temples to reduce their throbbing.

"Eventually you'll be used to it. And once you yourself become a vampire, you'll master it all on your own," a comment that made Bijou look to her side in disgust.

"Surely there were millions of other girls for your liking," Bijou said in a voice that she could barely hear herself. Stan, however, picked up her words perfectly despite the distance between them.

"Perhaps, but in all my decades, you're the only girl that's ever had such as astounding appeal to me," he mentioned greedily, enjoying the disoriented blush on her face.

"So tell me, Cherie, how long had you been with your husband?" he asked as he leaned forward.

"Three wonderful, amazing," she turned her head to look at him, "passionate years."

If this was her attempt at infuriating him, it was working. However, he refused to let her see that as he leaned back in his chair.

As Bijou continued staring him down, the maid arrived and put a barely-cooked steak in front of her. Its plate was soaked with its own blood. Bijou grimaced.

"You're still mad about the ring?" Stan asked, causing another furious glare from Bijou as she looked up from her plate. Of course she was mad, and it's not like she had any plans of showing Monster any sort of forgiveness. The incident had only happened a few minutes earlier!

"The ring was a symbol, but the symbol isn't necessary when you have what it represents wherever you go," she retorted.

"Ahh, but a girl named Bijou should have a far more splendid jewel to call her own than the one your unfortunate husband gave you," he said, smiling dryly. Unable to look at his smug face any longer, Bijou returned her attention to the plate.

"I'm not eating this. It's barely done and there's blood everywhere."

Before she could blink, Stan was sitting on the table, right beside her plate. Bijou stiffened as he, fangs out, picked up a soup spoon and with one, swift swipe, managed to pick up all of the blood "sauce" on the plate and place it into his mouth, his throat relishing the feeling of the warm substance going down and filling his body with a refreshing strength.

"Better?" he asked as he dragged the spoon out of his mouth.

Bijou glared, though they both knew she was currently mortified.

"I still…I still refuse to eat that steak. I can't drink blood like you can," Bijou reminded as her eyes lowered.

"We can remedy that problem right now," Stan said as his mouth immediately moved to her neck. Bijou shook ever-so-slightly, petrified as his mane of strawberry-blond hair tickled her face.

But Stan pulled away just as his fangs scraped her neck, much to Bijou's relief.

To her surprise, Stan picked up the steak with his gloved hands, not caring about the blood soaking out from it and staining their flawless white fabric.

Instantly, he dug his fangs into it, biting deep and hard as his eyes wandered to Bijou's. Her eyes watched in astonishment at how easily he sucked the meat dry, reducing it to nothing more than a slab of nutritionless muscle.

He threw that bloodless steak down onto the plate and looked at her expectantly.

"You bit it, you eat it," she said childishly, turning her head to the other side once again.

Bijou gasped as his hands were under her chin again, painfully squeezing her cheeks and forcing her to look at him.

Once his eyes caught hers, he looked down to the steak, always smiling. He used his right hand to hold her face in place while crossing his left arm underneath and cutting a piece of steak for his beloved.

"I warned you to not test my patience, didn't I?" he said as he held up a fork with a small piece of steak on it with his left hand. He brought the fork to this mouth, but when Bijou forced her lips shut, Stan applied a little more pressure to her jaws.

"Ahh!" Bijou cried, afraid that if the grip on her face got any tighter, her jaw would become unhinged. Her lips parted and let him put the steak into her mouth, drawing a meatless fork out a few seconds later.

"Now chew," Stan ordered. When Bijou refused and let the meat stay in her mouth, Stan smiled so widely that his fangs were the only things Bijou could see.

Did they get longer?

"I've had my fill of your shenanigans. If you don't eat, I will turn you this very instant," he threatened.

With tears of physical pain in her eyes, Bijou reluctantly chewed the meat. Pleased, Stan put another piece of meat to her mouth, which Bijou was forced to chew and swallow, as well as the next one, and the next one, and the one after that, and all the bites that followed.

A good half-hour later, there was no food left on her plate and Bijou hurriedly swallowed the last piece of meat.

"Now if I hear that you're skipping your meals again, I will personally come to you without warning and force you to eat, or, of course…" he stroked her carotid artery, "you know the alternative."

"I hate you," Bijou spat. Never had she ever spoken those words with such malice and detestation before.

And what's worse, that bastard did nothing but smile.

-

-

Moments later, Bijou was returned to her bedroom as Stan opened the door for her.

Bijou walked in, expecting to hear the door close. However, what she felt were his hands on her shoulders.

Bijou spun around defensively, but before she could register what was going on, she felt two ice cold lips upon hers, crushing her. Bijou immediately pulled back, feeling a sharp stinging on her bottom lip.

As she touched her lip, she realized Monster had bitten her. Indeed, he stood just inches away, relishing the taste of her blood on one of his fangs.

"It's incredible," he laughed to himself, his tongue continuously scraping over his fang. "Absolutely wonderful!"

As his eyes settled on her frightened form, he could feel his desire for her rising.

"You look stunning in the moonlight," he told her, indicating the soft blue light that fell into the otherwise pitch-black room.

Bijou shook in fear as he turned around, much to her surprise, giving a slight bow to his princess, before he made his way out of the room.

Bijou grabbed one of the pillars of the bed for support, clutching it with all the strength she had left as she cried, almost doubled-over in agony.

She dreamed of killing herself that night.

-

-

In the morning, a new maid delivered Bijou's breakfast.

"Please be sure to finish it all," she said, smiling brightly at the dismal Bijou.

"Where're the maids that came yesterday?" Bijou asked, ripping off a small piece of toast and forcing it to go down her throat.

"Master Stanley does not approve of those who do not inform him of everything he needs to know," the maid said simply.

For a moment, Bijou was left doe-eyed and confused until…

"I'm married." "Does Master Stanley know?" "I have no idea."

Bijou suddenly dropped the toast just as the maid walked out of the room.

-

-

In her opinion, her plan was flawless. The window was old, probably the original glass put up whenever this castle was built. It should be able to break easily enough.

And there was even a paper weight on her desk! Breaking the window would be easier than stealing candy from a baby!

So as she picked up the sphere-shaped weight and prepared to lunge it at the colorful glass, she almost smiled bitterly at how excited she was at the thought of doing this.

Bijou wanted to escape and return to Japan. She wanted to reunite with her husband and her friends and her parents and have her life again. But she was afraid that even if she made a run for it, she wouldn't get far at all before she'd be dragged back to this prison, even if it was very sunny outside. If taking her life was the only way out, she'd more than happily do it.

And so without any real hesitation, Bijou tossed the weight into the window, her stomach doing butterflies at the sound of the shards flying and falling all around the broken window.

There was no doubt that someone from the outside saw the window break, or at least heard it, just as she was sure a maid would be rushing in here any moment. Therefore, she had to work fast.

She picked up the shard—oddly enough, a red one—that looked most like a dagger and sighed. She stared for less than two seconds at the bright sun that seemed to be calling her to end this existence and run into its pearly gates.

Bijou held out her wrist quickly. She closed her eyes and brought the shard down as quickly as possible, waiting for the pain to come as she dragged the glass across her wrist.

But the pain never came. Instead, as Bijou opened her eyes, she felt an icy grip around her wrists and met with two lime green missiles.

At that very second, Bijou wished more than anything she would die. Anything was better than the punishment he was sure to give her.

"H-H-How…?!" Bijou choked.

His eyes had large, dark circles beneath them, almost red. And the parts of his arms that were exposed to the sunlight started itching, and soon enough they'd turn red with a rash, eventually eating away at his skin. She of course did not know this.

"Your emotions," Stan snapped, obviously not a morning person as he dragged her away from the window. "I could sense your excitement through my sleep."

Bijou shook anxiously, still trapped with both of his hands grasping her wrists. So he was that attuned to her emotions?! His power wasn't as useless as she thought, after all.

"I knew nothing could make you this excited, so I had to see for myself." He had never sounded so angry with her, nor had his voice ever been so low and snake-like.

"What…what're you gonna do?" she swallowed thickly. For once, he didn't smile or look amused.

His bloodshot eyes narrowed. His grip tightening on her, they once again disappeared out of the room.

-

-

They flashed into a room about seven times the size of Bijou's, one covered with black curtains and tapestries that blocked all possible light in the room, leaving just one or two of the sun's rays to enter. As Bijou wearily looked at the bed in this room, she noted that a good ten of her could fit side-to-side on such a giant mattress, covered with black silk bedding.

"Your room?" Bijou squeaked, scared as to what they'd do here.

Without answering her question, the man dragged her to his bed and threw her face first into the pillows. Bijou felt his hand wrap around the back of her neck, forcing her face to become more and more deeply buried into the fabric.

"You try anything like that again, and I will come behind you and make you just like me, so that any attempt at taking your life will be completely useless. Am I clear?" He was rough and livid, and his touch and voice represented that all too well.

Bijou nodded into the pillow.

"Say it," he jeered, pressing her face in harder.

"You're clear," she said with a mouthful of black silk.

"Say it with my name," he ordered. The pressure on her neck was becoming too much. The lack of oxygen was already getting to her brain.

"You're clear, Master Stanley," she sobbed, hating the way his name sounded.

"Without the title," he pressed, both figuratively and literally.

The last thing Bijou wanted was to be casual and informal with her captor. She realized she'd rather die than give in to him anymore.

"Are you refusing?" he asked after seeing her hesitation, the tips of his fangs on her neck.

Bijou quivered beneath him. Of course, he wouldn't let her die. The only other alternative was to become a monster.

"You're clear, Stanley!" she cried, and immediately, the pressure left her neck. She instantly sat up, gasping for breath as she ran her hands over her abused neck.

Her breath still shallow, she looked over and saw Stan sit down on the other side of the bed, submerging himself beneath the covers.

"Stay," he ordered as his back turned to her, far too tired to deal with her. "And don't think about leaving. There are guards surrounding every possible exit to this room."

Bijou put her back to him as well, her eyes still red from all the crying she had done in the past two days. She didn't get under the covers, though. She pressed her face against the very pillow that could've taken her life, noticing his fresh scent as her eyes closed, also too tired to keep up much longer.

-

-

He didn't breathe, Bijou realized as she observed him, keeping her distance but watching the lack of his chest rising up and down cautiously.

She had examined her neck a few moments earlier in the spacious bathroom he had attached to his bedroom. Indeed, she could see dark black bruises surrounding the back circumference of her neck. She briefly wondered how he could apply such pressure and not snap her neck in half.

Perhaps she should give in, Bijou thought dismally to herself. There was only so much physical and mental abuse she could take before he'd win. He seemed to get whatever he wanted, and the latest object of his affections was her.

She also wondered what sort of sin she committed to have ended up here.

But most of all, Bijou thought about him. He had to miss her. He had to have been searching for her! There was no way either of them could live without each other for this long and not start to panic. And she had been taken so abruptly, too…he had to wonder about that! If he were to ever drop out of her life so suddenly, she'd go insane with worry.

She missed his touch. Two tears raced down both of Bijou's cheeks as she remembered him, less than five days ago, holding her and whispering sweet nothings into her. He was warm and gentle, while Monster was frigid and vicious.

Stan might have been handsome, but there was nothing attractive about him, in Bijou's opinion.

She tried to save her strength, though, for whatever punishment he had in store for her. That would surely come at night once he awoke.

So she once again turned away from him and buried her face into the pillow, wishing more than anything that he could feel her hatred for him but her love for him. She prayed the thought would haunt his soulless monster dreams.

-

-

Bijou woke up on her own, getting up slowly as she propped herself up on her palms. The black curtains to the room had been drawn back, revealing the blue night sky and the full moon.

It was then that Bijou realized she was now under the covers, and that Stan was nowhere to be found.

"You looked cold."

Bijou turned around and noticed Stan standing at the foot of the bed with his back to her. He was fastening up the handcuffs to his jacket.

"Are we going somewhere? To have dinner?" Bijou asked apprehensively as she jumped off of the bed. She was on thin ice as it was. The last thing she could afford was making him mad again.

All Stan did was give her an icy glare as she approached him, freezing Bijou in her tracks.

"I'm going to the library. You're going to stay here for the next three days and nights," he explained.

Bijou nodded dumbly as his words hit her. The next three days. That gave him 72 hours to do with her what he pleased.

"What do I do?" Bijou asked, almost afraid to hear his answer.

With that question, Monster's amused expression returned.

"We'll think of something." He said just as the door swung shut behind him.

-

-

When he returned from the library some hours later, Bijou was determined to be awake. There was no way she would fall asleep and let him have his way with her.

He came back just as the black of the night was meant to fade away and the pinks and reds and oranges of the morning would start to bloom.

"If you're tired, you should get some sleep," he said nonchalantly as he drew the curtains together.

"What were you doing in the library for so long?" Bijou asked. He had to have been there for a good ten hours, although there were no clocks in this room so she could never be sure.

"Is that any of your business?" he asked harshly as he threw off his jacket. He undid the first few buttons of his dress shirt and collapsed onto the bed.

Bijou looked down. She was simply curious about what he could do for so long reading books, however he was right when he said that it wasn't her business. That would make her come off as an insecure lover.

She did nothing too extravagant herself. She merely memorized every detail of his bedroom, for that's all she could do, unless she wanted to bathe in his luxurious bathroom, but there was no way that would happen (she was always afraid that he would walk in at any moment).

"Why do we wear these clothes?" she finally asked. Stan groaned.

"Because I hate 'modern' fashion. It's tasteless," he explained as he turned around.

Bijou's jaw practically fell off. As if Stan was the epitome of taste!

Bijou decided to end her questions for the night. He seemed like he didn't want anything else to do with her, and that was by far a blessing.

She didn't want to rest under the sheets, but given the cold night outside and the freezing atmosphere that surrounded him, she gave in for the night and buried herself into the black silk.

-

-

Bijou was awake just a few hours later, watching her captor sleep out of the corner of her eye. Though he claimed to be sleeping, the few times Bijou's thoughts seemed to wander off to her dying, she noticed him turning to her, though his eyes were closed. It happened far too many times to be a coincidence.

Therefore she had nothing to do but wait for her punishment to be handed to her. She was half-expecting him to force himself upon her while she slept, but oddly enough that never happened.

The same maid who brought her breakfast yesterday came in with a tray of food today, and a younger maid followed with another gown in her hands, very similar to the one Bijou already had on but made of some sort of silvery-white fabric.

"Be sure to eat all of it," the maid with the food reminded. The younger maid smiled at Bijou as she laid the gown out for the girl.

Bijou had nothing to say to the maids, so they quickly bowed and left the room. Bijou's eyes narrowed at the tray in front of her.

"Eat it," Bijou nearly jumped out of her seat as she heard his voice. He wasn't looking at her, but instead his face was buried in his palms as he rested his arms against his knees. Even though the massive width of the bed separated them, Bijou could see the dark circles, almost like bruises, under his eyes.

Bijou sighed and went back to her food. She took a sip of the juice; she needed something to force the food down.

-

-

The gown reminded Bijou of the moon.

She refused to change in front of him so she was stuck in his bathroom, which had been stocked with some female toiletries to keep her refreshed. She sat at the small vanity and applied some powder to her face, not for cosmetic reasons—those were the least of her concerns—but mostly so she'd have a sense of hygiene.

She looked down at the way the gown swung around her legs, like a fog almost. She wondered what sort of fabric this was. It felt incredible.

Bijou knew he'd come in here if she took too long, so she finally decided to get up and go back into the bedroom.

When she opened the door she found him setting at his desk, despite it being midday. She also noticed that her lunch had been delivered and rested right beside him on the desktop.

"Tonight," he said, his eyes soaking in the sight of her in the gown as much as they could, "We'll take a walk around the palace."

Bijou looked down and nodded.

"Good girl, now come here," he ordered. The French girl did as she was told, and when he gestured for her to sit at his feet, she collapsed onto her knees in a puff of silver silk.

He picked up a fork and put something onto it…pasta? He held the fork up to her mouth.

Hopelessly, the girl opened her mouth, wondering why Monster was once again making sure she ate, despite his own fatigue.

"I want your energy to be high," he answered, sensing her angered inquisitiveness. "For tonight."

Bijou's throat felt tight, but she took the food down once again, anyway.

-

-

Tonight she was given a silver cape that fell over her shoulders. It was chilly tonight, as the autumn weather was slowly turning into winter, and she was thankful for it.

Stan had rested after making sure very crumb of her lunch had been devoured, so he was practically skipping down the path that went around the perimeter of the castle. Bijou, sullenly, followed in his shadows.

She felt ridiculous, wearing such a getup and following a man wearing a coat and trousers elaborate enough for a ballet dancer. They belonged more in a movie than they did here.

"The gardens are beautiful in the daylight, but I suppose at night they have an ethereal beauty to them as well," he mused, leading Bijou into a courtyard.

Every stone seemed to be coated in a sensual dusting of gray, save for a fountain whose water bubbled with brilliant blue water. Perhaps a few days ago Bijou would've found the sight to be lovely, but instead she looked down at the hollow face in the water.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked quietly.

"I thought you'd like some fresh air," he explained, noting to himself that her depression was at an all-time high, or low depending on how one thought of it, tonight.

Bijou shook her head. "No, I mean why didn't you just kill me when you first saw me? Why bring me here and do this to me if you really think I'm your mate?"

Bijou wasn't expecting an answer out of him. In fact, she wasn't even sure she had voiced the last part of her question as her voice was so subdued. Idly, she reached her hand out to touch the water.

"I know you're smarter than that. I'm not going to kill you if you're my mate," he said, observing her as she leaned further over the water. She seemed to be watching one of the fish that resided in it.

"It's because you're my mate that I'm doing this for you," he said, his chilly skin touching her neck.

Bijou hadn't been expecting him to come up right behind her. Startled, she jumped forward unwittingly, only to land face-first into the fountain.

Stan watched as this scene unfolded. His reflexes were fast enough that he could have caught her, with ease, should he choose to. Yet for some reason, he let her fall, perhaps because it was proof of what he could do to her.

However, he realized that maybe there were other reasons to let her have fallen in as he watched he, angry and shivering, rise from the water.

Her cloak was behind her, sticking to the back of her gown like glue. Meanwhile, the rest of her wet gown clung to her body, leaving little to the imagination when it came to her torso area. It didn't hurt that even in the dim light he could see red staining her face like some beautifully-painted doll and the white layers of her hair practically dance at the nape of her neck, dripping wet.

Bijou blinked, refusing the hand Stan had outstretched to her as she somehow managed to pull the ridiculous weight of the gown out of the fountain. She stepped out of it and realized she was unable to shake this wet feeling off of her until she changed her dress.

"I'm going inside; I need to get out of these clothes," she mumbled as she brushed past the vampire's shoulder.

Instantly, Stan was in front of her, looking down at her with lust coating every pigment of his lime green eyes.

"Oh, I couldn't agree more," he explained. He didn't give her a chance to argue as he kissed her, pressing her wet body against his. Bijou resisted, doing as much as she possibly could to get rid of the hold he had on her waist and neck. His touch made her more cold and nervous than she was already.

She whimpered, trying to tell him that she actually had to breathe and could not let this continue. If he understood that fear of hers, he didn't show it as he forced them both to fall on their knees, him still kissing her wildly. Bijou wondered if she stopped squirming would he not realize it when she died? Perhaps that was her escape from here.

Finally, the kiss ended, just when Bijou was sure her lungs could take no more. Out of habit she took a giant breath, still freezing.

Stan barely gave her time to recover as he pushed her down onto the stone of the courtyard. A coppery feeling filled her mouth, and Bijou realized she was feeling fear.

He had snapped the chain of the cape off her neck, throwing it somewhere amongst the flowers. His hands went beneath her, undoing the ties of her corset.

"NO!" Bijou cried, arching her back as she tried to push him off of her. However, that did nothing but tighten her neck in an even more seductive manner and thrust her chest into his face.

"Hmm, you're right. This would probably be faster if I just ripped this thing off of you," Stan said aloud as he eyes the girl he was currently straddling. He really loved the dress on her, but if there was something he loved more, it was the thought of his mate finally becoming his.

"Stop," Bijou gasped, squirming as much as she possibly could, but as she saw him rip off her left sleeve, she knew there was nothing left to do. She pulled her head back and started to cry, the tears being the only part of her body that was warm.

Stan ripped off her other sleeve, and then, just as he gripped the fabric of the top part of her dress into his hands—

"Stanley."

It was as if a thousand weights had been lifted off of Bijou's shoulders the instant she felt Stan release her dress. She saw Stan's jaw lock, but within a second, Stan was off of her as he faced his sister.

Sandy looked at the boy pitifully.

"Honestly, Stanley, you've been raised properly enough to know to halt all your advances when a woman says 'no'," the girl replied tiredly, crossing her hands across her chest. "Not to mention that she's not like us, Stanley. She'll die from the cold," Sandy reminded, eyes darting to the girl who had just sat up, looking down at the ground and hugging her arms as she shivered.

"And I'm well aware that you were raised with enough class to not interrupt such events," Stan countered.

Sandy ignored his comment and instead appeared before Bijou, kneeling as she offered the shaken girl her hands.

"Come with me, Bijou. I'll take you to your room and get you out of those clothes," Sandy offered, feeling for the first time in over a century, the feeling of sympathy.

"She's to remain in my room, under my care," Stan reminded as he watched Bijou reluctantly grab onto Sandy's hand.

"I'm aware of the punishment you've in mind for her," Sandy said as she helped the girl to her feet. "But her health must be taken into account above all else. She's your mate, Stanley, but you treat her like a disposable toy," She explained with a shake of her head.

With a slight turn of the head, Bijou saw Stan's retreating figure eyeing her hatefully as she walked further and further out of the courtyard.

-

-

"I envy you," Sandy told the girl as she leaned against the bathroom door. "And I can't even remember the last time I felt this feeling."

Bijou was in the middle of pulling on her new dress—a nightgown, thankfully, since sleeping in those gowns tended to be very uncomfortable—as she heard Sandy's words from outside the bathroom.

"Why are you and your brother so caught up about emotions? Can you sense them, too?" Bijou asked quietly.

"No, I don't have the same gift as Stanley. A vampire," Sandy started, "can only feel two emotions with ease: lust and hatred. It is incredibly rare for us to feel anything within that spectrum."

Bijou's eyes lowered in realization as she kicked her other gown to the side of the bathroom, pulling the nightgown as down as it would go (surprisingly, this silky white number was the only piece of "modern" clothing she'd been given; the spaghetti-strapped number barely hit the middle of her thighs!). She went to a brush located atop the bathroom's vanity and slowly started stroking her hair.

"But you are my brother's mate, and so you inspire a whole variety of feelings within him," Sandy said, once again in her monotone.

"I'm not his mate," Bijou replied quickly. "No matter what he thinks, I have someone in Japan—"

"A vampire only has one mate, and I truly believe you are his," Sandy cut in. "The emotions he feels whenever he's around you is proof of that. He would never go to such lengths for you if he didn't feel something different for you."

Sandy moved as she heard Bijou move towards the door. The girl watched as Bijou opened the door and sigh.

"If I'm his mate, then do I have to become a vampire?" Bijou asked quietly. Sandy sat down on Bijou's bed, her knees tucked under her as she closed her eyes.

"Not at this very moment, but yes, eventually," Sandy nodded, yawning.

"And what will happen if I don't?" Bijou snapped. That obviously wasn't the answer she'd been looking for.

"Then you will turn old and die," the vampire reminded. Honestly, why were humans so thick sometimes?

"So what's the big deal if I remain a human if I'm completely happy at the prospect of dying?" Bijou asked as she placed her hands on her silk-covered hips.

"My brother," Sandy started as her eyes trailed back to Bijou, "will go mad at your death, if you are his mate of course."

Bijou looked down. That would certainly explain his refusal to let her kill herself.

"Now come, Bijou," Sandy sighed as she stepped off Bijou's bed. Bijou looked up, confused.

"Where are we going?" she asked nervously. Sandy shook her head at the girl's stupidity.

"I made sure you were out of those wet clothes to keep you alive. Now it is time for you to return to Stan's bedroom," she finished, turning her bored eyes to Bijou.

"No…I-I can't go back there!" Bijou stepped back, panicked. "He'll just, he'll just continue what he was doing before!" she cried.

Sandy shook her head. "He won't. He just lost control and all sense of judgment for a few minutes, but he won't force you to yield to him. If he does, I'll know and put a stop to it."

"No, please," Bijou pleaded. "I can't be alone with him…!"

"You need to have a little more faith in me," Sandy explained, walking to the door of the bedroom.

"I can be your greatest ally here," she informed, looking over her shoulder to make sure Bijou would follow.

-

-

"Is it true that human memories fade when you become a vampire?" Bijou asked as she obediently followed Sandy down the hallway, a draft hitting her relatively-exposed body while the negligee brushed against her thighs. She didn't even have shoes on, and her bare feet against the ground just made her shiver all the more.

Though she didn't know it, Sandy smiled sadly. "Indeed. I don't even remember my human life."

"Nothing at all?" Bijou asked, astonished, and frankly, worried.

"I remember ribbons," Sandy admitted. "I think I used to play with ribbons when I was younger."

"Is that all?" Bijou pressed.

"…books," Sandy admitted at length. Before Bijou could inquire what that was about, they reached the door of Stan's bedroom.

Sandy didn't have to knock before Stan opened the door, completely ignoring his sister as his eyes widened happily at the sight of Bijou.

"Please, come in," he said with a bow. Bijou only stiffened at his request until Sandy put her hand on Bijou's back, causing the girl to cringe, as she whispered in the girl's ears.

"Please trust me, Bijou. I will not let him hurt you," she said, nuzzling Bijou's neck in a manner far too affectionate for Bijou's liking. Stan watched the scene unfold with narrowed eyes.

As Bijou tentatively walked into the room, Stan immediately shut the door. Bijou turned around as fast as she could and was relieved to see that he didn't move from the door…yet.

Bijou could hear the roar of a fireplace, and from the corner of her eyes she could see its orange flames.

"I started it to make sure you stayed warm," he told her. "I can't have anything happening to you, after all."

"I'm very tired," Bijou explained as she started backing away, her eyes never leaving Stan. "I'm going to sleep now."

Stan of course had every desire to protest. Had his sister never intervened, the night would have gone very differently. However, the one person on the earth he could not disobey was his sister, and therefore he clenched his jaw as tightly as he could.

Why did Sandy choose such a nightgown to put her in?!

Never taking her eyes off of him, Bijou crawled under the covers of the bed, relishing the warmth of the sheets around her. Finally, she turned her head to the side and buried her white head into the pillows.

She knew he'd be beside her less than a few seconds later, his body crawling under the sheets and his arm going over the silk fabric of the comforter to wrap itself around the form of her body.

"Wouldn't you rather go to the library or drink some blood or something?" Bijou asked. The effect of the fireplace seemed to be cancelled out by his close proximity to her.

"No, I'm quite settled right here beside you," he whispered into her hair.

More tears fell, but she conquered her sobs and instead dreamt of coffins and gardens.

-

-

"Do you believe in the afterlife?" Bijou asked the next morning, dressed in a navy blue gown today. She picked at the breakfast that was served to her that morning, having no choice but to chew and swallow for Stan would come and force her to eat again lest he heard her swallow.

Despite having all the curtains drawn and thus having no light in the room, Stan had his arm over his eyes as he lay on his back.

"Cheh. Of course not. This is the only life we've been given," he reminded her. Bijou sighed and tapped her fork idly against the desk she was sitting at.

"Eat," he ordered quickly. Bijou once again turned her eyes to her food.

"But if you were to die," Bijou started just after swallowing another bite of her food. Stan almost laughed at the excitement he felt coming from her as she said those words.

"But I will not die," he pointed out, turning on his side. Bijou's disappointment flooded his brain.

"Well, the sun can kill you, can't it?" Bijou remembered. The excitement peaked again.

"Luckily this part of France only has but a few sunny days in the year," he explained groggily. "And I'd have to stay in it for a good few hours for it to take its full effect." Then came the downward surge.

"And if you don't get enough blood to drink…?" the French girl asked. Once again, there was a flicker of hope.

"I'd have to not drink any sort of blood for well over a year before my body would give out," Stan muttered. This time, Bijou's depression seemed to take over and she sighed. Stan couldn't sense anymore changes in her emotions and figured she had run out of ways to theorize his death.

Until, all of a sudden, curiosity picked at Stan's brain. The vampire groaned.

"But…just imagine that you did die," Bijou started as she took a sip of her juice. "Just pretend," she added before he reminded her that he was immortal.

"Fine. What do you want to ask? I already told you I don't believe in the afterlife," he reminded as he sat up. Why couldn't this girl let him sleep?

"So what will happen to your soul after you die?" Bijou asked quietly. "It has to go somewhere…"

She only looked down for a split-second, but she instantly felt his icy aura surround her. She looked up and saw narrowed green eyes, so tired yet so intimidating at the same time, peering down at her.

"I am a soulless creature. Sandy is a soulless creature, and you, Cherie, will be a soulless creature in the very near future," he hissed as his forced her face to look up at him. "We have nothing to pass on to neither heaven nor hell if our bodies were to wither."

He let go of her and she was pushed back against the chair. He turned around, headed back to the bed. With a clenched jaw, Bijou said to his back:

"I think I'll still believe in an afterlife, even if you manage to turn me into one of you," she said softly. "The difference between right and wrong…I don't think I'll be able to let go of that so easily."

Stan barely looked at the girl before he responded, sitting on the bed with his hands covering his bruised eyes.

"When you gain the power of eternity to attain any knowledge this world has to offer, morality becomes an almost childish concept to you," he explained.

Bijou was about to reply, but she forced herself to be quiet. She didn't want to anger him anymore than necessary, as he had warned her that her next stunt would cause her her mortality.

A few moments later, she was sure Stan was asleep. He wasn't tossing and turning like before, nor was he ordering her to finish her meal (admittedly there were only a couple of bites left, but still).

Bijou sighed and got out of the chair. With quiet movements, she went to one of the windows that spanned the height of the wall and moved one of the black curtains slightly to the side.

All she could see in the sky were rain clouds, and not even of different shades of gray. It was one, giant sheet of dirty white that spanned the heavens, almost like a barrier that told her to stay away.

Perhaps Monster was right, and there was no point in believing in a higher power. Maybe there was no heaven or hell beyond this earth.

And maybe, Bijou thought as she glanced back at Stan's sleeping figure, there was such thing as hell on earth.

-

-

Bijou was never good at keeping track of time when she didn't have a clock, but she knew by this point it had to be past midnight. From what she had seen, by this point in the night he'd have been awake for hours, and yet he hadn't stirred this evening.

Sometime after lunch, Bijou had crawled into the bed and had fallen asleep. Then, as the sky finally started to take on a more ashy experience, the maid had brought in dinner for her. Stan hadn't moved then, nor had she seen anything as small as a muscle twitch from him since he had fallen asleep after their conversation.

As she ate her dinner, she realized that the circles beneath Stan's eyes weren't moving. Normally they'd disappear as he got more and more rest, but tonight they seemed to linger on his pale skin.

And still, hours after her dinner tray had been carried away, he hadn't woken up once. Bijou couldn't help but feel a small feeling of excitement as she realized this was her second night here. Tomorrow, hopefully, she would be returned to her bedroom!

Though that beautifully warm feeling was pushed away as she pressed her cheek harder against her pillow. So what if her punishment technically ended tomorrow? She was still his prisoner, and until the day came where she would leave this castle for good, there was no reason in hoping.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and Bijou's eyes widened. She pursed her lips together and pretended to not make a sound.

Two people, it sounded like men from their heavy footsteps and the grunts they made, came into the room. They dropped something on the ground, something heavy, and left as quickly as they had come.

The second the door shut, Bijou wanted to bolt up and see exactly what they had dropped off. However, Stan got up before she could. He must have known she was awake, for he could no doubt sense her curiosity. However, Bijou chose to keep quiet. If this matter didn't concern her, then she would be a fool to get herself involved.

"Hmm," she heard the sound leave Stan's mouth. From the sound of his footsteps, Bijou imagined him to be walking in a circle. The seconds seemed to drag on, but Bijou's curiosity was peaking. What was he doing?!

"If you must know, then you can watch," Stan said, not looking up from what was on the floor.

Bijou wanted to stay down. Her mind was practically screaming at her to remain still. She wasn't necessary in whatever he was doing, and for that she should be thankful.

And Bijou was going to stay down, until she heard a whimper that definitely did not come from Stan.

The girl shot up and scrambled to the end of the bed; her worst fear would be him taking the life of another human right in front of her, perhaps like a foreshadowing of what she was to become someday.

Thankfully, what Bijou saw wasn't a human on the floor. However, her heart still ached for the tranquilized doe whose body could still be seen heaving out its painful breaths.

Stan was on his knees. The curtain on the far side of the room had been drawn, leaving the light from the light blue night sky to fall on Monster and his prey like some sort of twisted spotlight. Stan picked up the animal by its neck, and Bijou could still see the shine of its eyeball as it shifted its eyes nervously, not knowing what was going on.

"Wait!" Bijou practically jumped off the end of the bed, her white nightgown flailing behind her as she ran to Stan.

"Please," she pleaded as she sat on her knees before the animal. Stan looked up, slightly annoyed at the delay she was causing him in his meal.

With a trembling hand, she grabbed Stan's hand and looked at him as sincerely as she could.

"Kill it first," she begged. The animal looked miserable as it was. The last thing she wanted was to see its soul slowly be sucked out of it as its sustenance simultaneously was stolen.

Despite how cold she was, she pressed both of her hands around his, bringing one of his hands against her chin.

Stan looked confused, wondering why the girl cared so much about the pain of an animal. Nevertheless, he smiled at her initiation of contact with him.

"Alright, Cherie, if that's what you wish," he said, putting on a pitiful smile. Wordlessly and effortlessly, he took his other hand and snapped the deer's neck, like he was closing a book.

Bijou immediately released Stan, her eyes watching in disbelief as the deer's eyes instantly closed. Not more than two seconds later, Stan's fangs had come out and were sucking the blood out of the deer's aortic artery.

She covered her mouth, feeling her dinner coming up. With a disgusted sound and tears in her eyes, she dashed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Stan, all the while, smirked, digging his fangs in deeper.

-

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"Stan asked me to spend the day with you," Sandy announced, coming into the bedroom the next morning.

Bijou turned around, surprised. She was finishing her breakfast, sitting at the desk where she had been since last night. After she had emerged from the bathroom, she refused to sleep on the bed and got changed into her navy gown instead.

The breakfast tray was in Bijou's lap, as Monster had placed the remaining carcass of the deer on the desk after seeing Bijou sit there. Bijou refused to look at it.

"Now?" Bijou asked. To say that she was perplexed would be a sore understatement. It was still early morning, and despite whatever sort of makeup Sandy had decided to put on her face, dark black circles were still evident under the girl's eyes.

Bijou turned to her side and saw Stan sitting up. He nodded his head briefly at Bijou's curious stare. Bijou bitterly noted the lack of circles under his eyes, most likely a result of the dinner he had last night.

She quickly turned away from him. Bijou set the tray on the floor and got out of the chair, following Sandy out of the room.

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"Stan seemed to enjoy his meal. The idiot doesn't eat as often as he should," Sandy explained over her shoulder as she led Bijou down a corridor that had all its windows covered with dark curtains. It was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of you, but Sandy seemed to be doing just fine.

Bijou remained quiet. The deer's lifeless eyes still caused her to cringe.

"You may be against it right now, but soon craving blood will be as natural to you as breathing," Sandy voiced. "Once you feel the beating of something's blood against its skin, you go crazy with bloodlust."

Here, Sandy stopped. Her back was still to Bijou, but Bijou could just imagine the crazed look the girl was getting in her eyes. Her voice was getting higher and higher pitched.

"It's irresistible, especially when you can smell the sweetness of the blood from kilometers away! Humans especially…their blood was made to satisfy our tastes…and when you find your mate…"

Sandy turned around slowly, her eyes soaking in every feature of the girl's face.

"I have no idea," Sandy drawled, "how my brother manages to keep from biting you every night. You may not be my mate," suddenly, her hands were against Bijou's jugular vein, "but even I can tell that your blood is possibly the sweetest I've ever come across."

Bijou looked down and to the side, doing her best to not make a sound as the girl's icy hands ran across the skin of her neck.

"I guess he must be serious when he says that this is a courtship process," she smiled, tilting her head to the side. Bijou's stomach turned again. If this was courtship, she feared what these monsters thought of as 'cruelty'.

"I believe he's doing his best to inculcate his presence into your mind," Sandy continued, touching her nose to Bijou's. "He cannot rush with turning you into a vampire, despite his threats," she added.

At this, Bijou's eyes snapped back to the girl's. Sandy was almost getting high off the girl's fear and curiosity. She could see now why Stan was so drawn to this human. Even though her ability to sense emotions was juvenile compared to Stan's, even she could feel the pits of Bijou's stomach flurry with excitement!

"Ahh, yes! How to explain…Well, the moment he brought you here, Stan couldn't turn you into a vampire. A human's mind needs to be almost trained—although that's probably not the best word—to enter the vampire lifestyle. Nine out of ten times the human will die during the vampirification."

Bijou's eyes widened. So there was a chance, a very high chance, that she would never be turned into a monster?! The thought was amazing enough to cause Bijou's heart to beat faster.

"Ohh," Sandy laughed sadly, holding the girl's head between both of her hands, "I wish you were a man, but even that isn't entirely necessary," Sandy said as she pressed her forehead to the girl's.

Bijou pulled her head back, though Sandy's hands were now on Bijou's wrists.

"Where are we going?" Bijou asked quietly.

Sandy sighed at the girl's refusal of her advances. Bijou was starting to wonder how vampires could sigh without any breath, anyway…

"Stanley has some business to take care of, and he'd prefer it if you weren't with him," the strawberry-blonde beauty explained. She let go of Bijou and turned around. With slow movements, the vampire started moving forward.

Bijou continued to follow behind the girl. Whatever business Stan had that was not meant for Bijou's eyes, Bijou did not care for. But he was doing it now, in the morning? However, that didn't answer Bijou's original question as to where they were going.

"I was thinking the library," Sandy mused. "Yes, perhaps you could spend the day reading books."

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Thankfully, by the time Bijou had returned from the library that afternoon, the deer carcass had been removed from the desk. Stan was nowhere in sight either, so Bijou sighed with relief as she took a seat and started reading the book.

She had no idea why Sandy would've possibly suggested a book that taught her to subdue her emotions, or even why a book on forcing away emotions was ever written, but she was thankful and she eagerly took in the words on the pages.

If she could learn to control her excitement to the degree that neither Stan nor Sandy could sense it, she could very easily escape from this castle. She'd had to concoct an elaborate plan, and it'd have to be during the day, but given enough time, this could actually happen. Whatever happened in the end, however, she could not let Stan attempt at turning her. Although she was comforted with the fact that she would most likely die before becoming a vampire herself, she didn't want to die. She wanted to return to her family and friends no matter what.

"Cherie, your excitement is almost tangible." Bijou stiffened as Stan's hands massaged her shoulders.

Bijou fought back her repulsion and continued to scan the lines on the page.

"Reading about emotions? Honestly, humans have no idea what they're talking about when they talk about their own feelings," Stan frowned, taking but a glance at the words Bijou was reading. His hands folded under her chest.

"Why don't you put that book away? I can teach you more about emotions in a few hours than wasting the entire day on such garbage," he whispered to her.

Bijou squirmed and was surprised when he let go of her. "When you turn me into a vampire, I'll lose the ability to feel all those emotions you cherish me for," Bijou reminded. "And won't that make you sad?" Bijou asked calmly as she continued reading.

Before she knew it, the book was thrown somewhere to the side and Bijou and Stan's faces were a centimeter apart.

"It's not so much about the emotions I sense in you as much as it is the emotions you cause in me. That won't change whether you're a vampire or a human," He reminded.

"But when you try to turn me, there's a ninety-percent chance that I'll die, isn't there?"

Her words were almost like a warning to Stan. Though Sandy hadn't outright said it, her explanation made it obvious that an unsatisfied Bijou would cause a greater chance that she'd die instead of turn.

Stan smirked as he pulled away. "I don't fail at anything I do. When I turn you, you'll awake a vampire."

Bijou glared, soaking her mind with her hatred for this man. He just kept smiling and smiling.

The door opened. Stan moved away from Bijou in time to see a maid walk over with Bijou's lunch in her hands.

Bijou turned away from the vampire and looked at the meal served to her. It looked like some sort of soup with a side salad.

"Drink your soup," Stan ordered as he stood behind her. Bijou pulled the chair closer to the desk and picked up a spoon, getting some of the broth and a brown chunk that Bijou thought was a potato into the utensil. As Bijou swallowed the contents of the spoon and chewed, she realized something.

"What type of meat is this?" she asked, chewing the chunk she thought was a potato. It was so tender…perhaps veal? Stan's hands were on her shoulders as he whispered into her ear.

"What do you think, Che-rie?"

Bijou's eyes widened. She almost choked as she swallowed the piece of meat.

"I can't eat this!" she cried as she started standing, only to be forced down into her seat so hard that her entire back erupted in pain.

"Oh no, Dearest, you're going to drink everything in that bowl and love every bit of it." He put a spoon with an especially chunky piece of deer meat up to her face.

"Mmm—NO! I'd rather die or be turned than eat something you killed!" Bijou smacked the spoon away. She shut her eyes tightly, expecting a physical punishment for her disobedience.

For a few seconds, she thought she had won this battle. He could not let her die, nor could he risk turning her at this point (she would most likely die, anyway). She foolishly thought that he would leave her be and not force her to eat.

However, those thoughts evaporated as he pulled her hair back, forcing her head to look up at the ceiling.

"What a shame," Stan thought aloud, pressing her jaw muscles so hard that her mouth was forced open. "The cooks spent so much time on it just for you, too…"

With that said, he took the bowl of soup and tilted it, forcing the liquid down her mouth. Bijou's eyes pooled with tears as he pressed just the right muscles on her neck to cause her to chew and swallow. Much of the broth spilled down her clavicle and onto her dress, but Stan didn't care.

A moment later, when all the liquid in the bowl had disappeared, Stan threw the bowl onto the tray, releasing Bijou's hair.

"Go back to your room; there is no need for you to return until I come for you," he explained, walking into his bathroom. "Clean yourself up. Your punishment is over."

Bijou cried as she sloppily wiped all remnants of the soup off her mouth with her hands. Not wanting him to see her so fragile, she ran out of the room, running down the corridor to her chambers, hoping that every vengeful thought she had of him pierced his soulless body.

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Bijou didn't clean herself up. She ran into her room, not noticing the new stained-glass window, as she slammed her door shut. She ripped off her clothes, not wanting anything that was tainted by that soup on her. She pulled on a nightgown that had been laid on her bed. She climbed into the bed, sobbing, not bothering to conceal her screams.

When the maid came with the dinner later that night, Bijou waited for her to leave before she threw all the food down the toilet and flushed it away. She did the same with the breakfast that came the next morning, not feeling an ounce of excitement as she did so. All she could feel was hatred and despair.

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She didn't feel any better later that day. The lunch that had some had also been flushed down the toilet, and amazingly enough, the maids suspected nothing. If they did, Monster would've come in here and would have forced her to eat, perhaps making and serving her more of that meat.

Bijou tilted her head back as she lay in the tub. She used to be so full of life just a week ago. She was so happy and woke up every day with a smile on her face in his arms. Her life was perfect.

Maybe that was the sin that had caused her to end up here, a lack of appreciation for the life she led before.

She cried some more as she ran her fingers through her still-dry hair. The maids had laid out a new dress for her on the bed, a green gown if she remembered correctly. And Stan hadn't come to her room last night or bothered her once today. Perhaps he really was going to leave her alone.

And yet, that thought didn't cause any sort of positive emotion in Bijou. Somewhere during the experience of forcing the soup down her mouth, Bijou snapped. She no longer needed a book to tell her how to push away her emotions. That had, by some miracle, happened on its own. She spent sometime this morning wondering if she had somehow become a vampire, quickly dismissing that thought due to its lunacy.

That's when a thought hit her. If she could no longer feel excitement herself, she wondered…

Yes…maybe it would work.

She started to sink her head into the water, letting her white hair first float on its surface, then gently started to lower it, deeper and deeper. Soon her nose was a good few inches from the surface, and everything outside the water appeared blurry to her.

If she believed there was any other alternative, she would have taken it. But up until this point, she knew this was inevitable.

Bijou felt her lungs constrict. Her apathy remained, however, and this could only be a good thing. She decided to count to 100 in head, positive that she'd be dead before she reached the centennial number.

Just as she reached 57, she felt her body start to tingle for air. Her eyes closed as a satisfied smile made its way to her face, and the inside of her heart could feel the faintest speck of happiness.

When she got to 93, she saw her world go black.

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Bijou turned happily as she slept, feeling more refreshed and amazing than she had in days. She smiled to herself, relishing the feeling as she hugged the sheets to herself.

Heaven seemed like a wonderful place. So soothing, so relaxing…and so…she tried to think of another word as her emerald eyes fluttered open, seeing the pink sheets around her.

Pink Sheets

Her eyes shot open as she scrambled up. She was in her room! She was alive…

She was saved!!! Noooo!!!

Her hair was still wet on her neck, and she looked down to see her wearing nothing but the sheet of her bed, which she held tightly to her chest.

"I do not know what it takes…"

For a few seconds, all Bijou could hear was her heart's beating as she stupidly stared ahead, not wanting to turn around and meet the source of those words.

"…to get you to obey me!"

Cringing, the girl finally turned her head. Stan's hands gripped the wood at the end of her bed. His head was lowered, his sleeves messily rolling down his forearms, as if they had been bunched up to his elbows but decided to rebel. His hands were wet. Had he pulled her out…?

As he finally raised his head and made eye-to-eye contact with the girl, he did nothing but send a seething glare at her.

Bijou gulped. There was nothing she could do at this point. She had disobeyed him far too many times than she knew he'd forgive.

"I have a present for you," he explained as he released the footboard. Oddly enough, he walked in the opposite direction of the bed.

"You want it, don't you?" he asked with his back to her.

"…y-yes!" she said timidly, nodding her head as forcefully as she could. His present could be any number of things, and none of them would end well for the girl in any manner. Unfortunately, she knew she no longer had the option to refuse.

At her agreement, Stan left the room, not turning back once to see the girl.

She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until she released it, her breathing a little shallow as she fell on her back. With trembling hands, she turned to her side and buried her face into her shaking digits.

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--hugs Stan-- Oh my beautiful Stanley! What have I done?!!

I really do not know why I wrote this.

I understand if many of you are thinking, "What the hell is wrong with her?!" and again, I'm truly very, very sorry.

It only gets worse from here, trust me. I've written this entire story, and this chapter is more or less a prelude to how dark this story will be. If you think Stan was bad this chapter, just wait until Part II, and then --shudders--

I guess the only valid reason I can give for writing this is that I wanted to try something new? But I completely understand if I get flamed to no end for this! I will happily take this story down if anyone feels it's too gory! I understand, really!

But with that, I'd appreciate some criticism, please? So if you'd please, please review? It means a lot!

-CN

(Once again, so very, very, very sorry.)