Porphyric Hemophilia

Chapter 1

The snow lightly crunched as the seventeen year old Naru Narusegawa angrily stomped along. Despite having a coat and being lucky that the sudden cold streak in this region of Japan was not all that bad, Naru still shivered as she walked along. Her pacing was hurried and frantic, and a chance glimpse into her eyes would easily tell anybody to back off. Of course she was angry – given the circumstances, who would not be?

Her fellow ronin and manager of the Hinata Apartments had run out…again. Their last set of prep exams came back and Keitaro had apparently failed…again. Somehow taking it a bit too seriously, he had decided to simply run away…yet again!

Keitaro, you idiot! Naru screamed mentally, her angry state of mind getting worse as time passed.

Naru tried to conserve as much heat as possible by wrapping her arms around herself. Upon discovering that Keitaro had run away, the entire apartment had frantically donned whatever coats or jackets they could find and ran out, desperate to find him. Again, the weather was not all that bad, but it was still quite chilly.

She mentally grumbled and swore as she walked on. How stupid was Keitaro? Why would he do something like this? Sure, it was a prep exam and that seemed to be foreshadowing another imminent failure for him, but would it justify him running away? Also for the sake of argument, would it justify forcing her to walk through the cold and the snow to drag him back to the Hinata Apartments?

Naru then stopped. Come to think about it, did she even need to be out here? If Keitaro wanted to run away, why not let him? Why does everybody have to be out looking for him if he wants to run away like this? Why is she looking for him?

In particular, why has Naru walked farther away from the apartments in an attempt to find where Keitaro had run off to?

Resuming walking pace, Naru stopped thinking of her real reasons. One way or the other, Keitaro was coming back to apartments, either alive or frozen solid, or sent home in the air via her near patented Naru punch.

While Naru did not have a firm grasp on where Keitaro was at, she had a good idea. There was only one place he would go to, in a desperate attempt to run away from his life. It was the same place he would hope to reconcile with the potential actions of him running away from everything – his dreams, his goals, and in particular, his promise.

After passing by a familiar street, Naru took a turn and continued along. If she kept up the pace, it would be another half hour to get to Tokyo University.

Naru shivered again. On a night like this, the train only went so far. What was with this sudden cold snap, all this cold weather out of nowhere? The snow may be quite lovely as it fell from the sky and softly collected on the ground, but it was impeding her progress. It was not just the weather alone, however. There was something else Naru seemed to feel about the snow. Something about the snow looked different.

Naru stopped for a moment to rest. She panted heavily, her breath forming great puffs of mist as she exhaled. Looking around only made her realize how alien this snow looked. It differed from the snow the region would get in, say, Christmas or around midwinter. The snow at that time was always puffier and the flakes were larger and drifted more softly. But this snow…

It was thinner, and it simply felt cold. Above, scattered bits of snow fell from a dark, starless night sky. The snow even felt and looked darker than its December counterpart. Of course, logic would say it was because this snow was falling at a time when Christmas lights and decorations were not set up, but regardless of that, there was something very noticeable with the snow.

Naru had taken this same path to get to Tokyo University before, and she was quite familiar with it. But with this new snow, walking along through this familiar path suddenly made it feel foreign and unfriendly. It was as though she was walking into a whole new place and time.

Curiously, Naru thought she heard something. She took a quick glance behind.

There was nothing.

The most she could see were her own footsteps in the snow. But Naru could have sworn she had heard something. Looking around, Naru found nothing that matched whatever she thought she heard. Deciding it must have been the result of an over active imagination, Naru pressed on, her boots making a steady crunch, crunch as she walked along, determined to get to Tokyo University and find Keitaro.

Despite calling off the strange sounds she had heard as only her imagination, Naru could not shake the feeling of dread that still remained. Was she being followed? Was somebody behind her? Naru looked behind again, but found nothing.

I'm only imagining things Naru told herself mentally. I'm a bit scared, a bit on edge, even. Stupid weather, stupid tests, stupid lack of sleep, stupid Keitaro!

Looking behind her once again, Naru still could not shake the feeling. It felt like somebody was following her. Deep down, in a place Naru refused to acknowledge, she wanted to find Keitaro. She needed somebody – even him – with her at this time. She would at least feel a bit safer if he was at least next to her.

Am I going paranoid? There's nobody following me, I'm sure of it Naru reminded herself.

Naru started to feel uneasy. The crunch, crunch beat her boots made as she walked began to quicken as she did. Something was not right. Naru could not pin down what was wrong, exactly, but something was wrong. She stopped mid stride, her right foot just about to press into the snow.

To Naru's horror, she heard the sound of another boot stepping into the snow.

Naru spun around. Her heart was pounding inside her chest, beating faster than a machinegun. She balled her fist, ready for an encounter.

There was nobody there.

Naru looked on, suddenly feeling unsafe. She had heard it – somebody else walking behind her. Somebody was following her! And yet, there was nobody there. How could that be? Was she just imagining it? Naru tried to find a reason, she tried to reason with herself, she tried to calm herself down – within moments Naru was rendered speechless as she finally discovered the truth.

She spotted her long trail of footprints in the snow, extending down the sidewalk and beyond. Everything looked normal, especially her more recent tracks. There was nothing wrong, and certainly nothing that should have made Naru fear for her life.

It was until she realized there was a second set of footprints paralleling hers.

Naru was at a loss for words. A different type of shiver travelled through her body. It was not the cold and chilly wind, but rather - fear. She slowly backed up, trying to convince herself to start running. She needed to get away, now, and as quickly as possible.

Naru's back then contacted against something. Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.

"Beautiful night for a walk, don't you think, young lady?" a chilling, accented male voice spoke.

Turning around, Naru threw a punch at the stranger. In her mind, Naru was screaming. The moment her fist contacted against the stranger, Naru finally got a good look at him. The stranger was a tall figure, standing more than a head taller than her. He was dressed in a black trench coat, and his salt-and-pepper hair extended down to the bottom of his chin. The stranger's eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. The most curious feature of the stranger, however, was his skin. It was sickly pale in colour, a shade or two off from that of an albino.

Naru only realized then that her punch has almost no effect on the stranger. He remained standing, and appeared only half amused.

"Hmm, such strength, young lady" the stranger commented with a smirk as he pulled his sunglasses down a bit.

Naru could not believe what she was seeing. This stranger was not affected at all by her punch. Looking up at his face, Naru suddenly felt scared. The stranger's eyes…they were red. The stranger was not human, Naru was sure of it. Backing up a bit out of fear, Naru then looked towards the stranger's mouth, and gasped. The stranger's teeth…the stranger had fangs!

Without thinking, Naru turned around and ran. It was all she could do – run. She needed to get away, now. Breaking off the sidewalk, Naru ran across the street, trying to put as much distance between the stranger and her.

Was the stranger following her? Was she being pursued? Naru chanced a look behind her and saw nothing. Nevertheless, she only continued to run, looking back behind her every other second. She had to get away. She had to get to safety. She had to…

Naru bumped into something. She fell hard towards the ground. What happened? What was that? A flurry of questions shot through Naru's mind. Naru got back to her feet and was about to start running again.

"You are certainly most lively, young lady."

Naru recoiled back from the shock. It was the stranger – again! He stood before Naru, still smirking as before. How was this possible? He was over there only moments ago, and was now in front of Naru? Just who…what is he?

"Leave me alone!" Naru managed to gasp as she backed away, looking back at the stranger's red eyes and fangs. Looking back at them only reminded Naru of her questions. "Who are you? W-What do you want from me?"

The stranger said nothing and only continued to smile at Naru. There was something about his eyes and the way he smiled at Naru. It was something that only frightened Naru even more.

"It's a beautiful night tonight, isn't it, young lady?" he said, slowly walking forward.

Naru tried to run. She needed to get away. The only problem was, she could not. Her limbs suddenly felt stiff and immobile. Naru could not move. Worse, she could not take her gaze off from the stranger's red irises. The stranger continued towards Naru, with Naru reduced to prey in a cage.

"S-stop…don't…hurt…me…" Naru could only manage. She had almost no control over her body. At best, she was reduced to merely pleading.

The stranger came towards her and undid Naru's coat. In the depths of Naru's mind, she suddenly realized in horror what was going to happen to her, what this stranger wanted from her. The stranger brushed aside some of Naru's hair and leaned in close. Naru could feel the stranger sniffing around. The stranger started with the base of her neck, but slowly moved up, smelling Naru's hair. All the while, Naru quietly pondered her circumstances. Deep down, she knew what he could have been wanted from her, and she prayed she was wrong.

The most Naru could do was simply cry. With what little control over her own body she still had, the most Naru could do was weep.

"No…p-p-please…d-don't hurt…me…" she pleaded yet again, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Your scent…you smell lovely, young lady. Your perfume…and your blood."

What? What was this stranger talking about? What did he mean by her blood? At that point, a single collective wave of fear and dread passed through Naru. Who was this man? Who was this stranger with his unnatural eyes and fangs? What was such a terrifying person going to do with her?

The stranger stopped sniffing Naru. He moved his mouth up to her ear and softly whispered into it.

"Are you afraid, young lady?"

There was something about the stranger's breath. As he spoke, Naru could have sworn she was feeling nothing. It was as though the stranger had no breath from his lips or air in his lungs.

"Don't…hurt me…"

"Are you afraid, young lady?" the stranger asked again.

"…y-yes…"

The stranger then chuckled, as though amused by Naru's response.

"I was only looking for a quick meal at this time of night, but I have found something much…sweeter. Do not worry, young lady, for I shall give you a gift. You shall never feel fear once again…"

The stranger lowered himself from Naru's ear. What did he mean by that? What was the stranger going to do to her?

Suddenly, Naru felt a pair of pricks on her neck. As the stranger's head leaned in further, pain suddenly shot through Naru's body. The pricks…where they the stranger's fangs?! Naru could feel her blood slowly bleed from her neck. Worse, Naru could feel the stranger's tongue lapping at her neck. His lips pressed around the wound. The sounds he was making…was he…drinking? Was the stranger drinking her blood?

Naru's body was still unresponsive. She tried to scream. She tried to resist. But to no avail, the stranger remained latched to her, sucking the blood from her neck. Inside Naru's mind, she was screaming. She was screaming in pain, in fear, in desperation – she cried out again and again, praying for somebody to help her.

Naru's mental cries would only continue for so long. Her eyesight slowly went blurry, and the fight to stay awake was being slowly lost for her. How much blood was she losing? Slowly, Naru lapsed into unconsciousness, now unable to feel the stranger continue his feast. Just before she had finally blacked out, a single name quietly left her lips.

"…Kei…taro…"

- - -

Note: Well, I've decided to roll a weirder, new idea.

This one was heavily, heavily inspired by playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion the past few weeks. Funny story, y'see, my character contracted the vampirism disease, and I didn't know about it until the night my character actually turned into a vampire. From there, I loaded an old saved game and tried desperately to find a way to cure the disease at its early stage. I was actually travelling city to city from Mage's Guilds to the next trying to find a Cure Disease Scroll or potion. I suppose I could imagine my character flipping out and spazzing at anybody not helping her.

After a few hours of fruitless attempts, I quit the game and took a shower. Apparently, my bathroom seems to be the best place for me to develop ideas, and from there, I developed this.

There isn't much to say from here, actually. I'll see how far this goes. It shouldn't affect progress on any of my other fics. In regards to that, I've fallen into a pit anyways, seeing how Chemistry is the new poison for me after Physics...