Disclaimer: I do not own this game.
Warning: AU (canon divergence), vampire abuse and torture, language, violence, gen
A/N: I seriously have no grasp of this game's history timeline. I'm just going to wing it. Also, this'll be a dark reincarnation outtake. To those looking for sex, sex, sex, and degrading—I'm sorry to disappoint you (not really) but I'm afraid you won't get any action. This story will break down into different segments and events that will all merge into one by the end of the chapter.
I.
Anna wasn't aware of her memories until she was five years old.
It had happened on a windy afternoon, alone in her backyard. Her father and uncle wouldn't be back from their hunting trip until early in the evening and she was tasked to pin the laundry while her mother took care of the cleaning inside. She had lost balance on the foot stool and fell head first.
First there was a dull pain in her head, and then snap; chaos. Pure chaos. People weren't supposed to remember their past life. This was because your previous memories would mercilessly flood in your current, infantile mind. It would hurt—and not the sort of fleeting, sharp pain. No. It was slow, like thick boiling oil setting fire in every inch of your skull until you're left dazed and disoriented on the ground.
She was five year old Anna but at the same time she wasn't. She was someone else who had died young and alone in a hospital bed with no one to hold her hand that night. She had been injured from a bomb inside the bus she had been taking. She remembered her likes, her dislikes, and even her weekly schedule.
And suddenly, the world looked much clearer. Anna looked over the rolling hills and the strewn white blankets on her tiny frame. A thin trail of blood on her forehead had been completely forgotten.
A second life, Anna thought in bafflement. She had a second life! She had another chance to do things she had never done before, and to avoid things regretted on her first!
When time her mother (new mother) came to check on her, she was immediately taken to the bathroom to wash the dirt off her nails and body. Apparently, Anna had been writhing around in pain during her memory flood, thus explaining the presence of soil on her pale blue dress.
She didn't care. She had another life and she was going to make the most out of it!
II.
She was seven when she finally knew what her father's work entailed. He was a vampire hunter, much like Yui Komori's surrogate father (although at this time, Anna had no clue as to where she was born into).
A vampire had attacked one of the women in the village and he had been called to kill it. It was a silver knife dipped in blessed water that had seared into the thing's alabaster skin. It hissed and cussed until its dying breath. It was also the first time Anna watched someone die.
And it was her father that killed it; that sliced off its beautiful head and stabbed its unbeating heart—the same father who had tucked her in bed at night. Anna didn't know what to feel as she watched her uncle lighting fire to the vampire's unmoving body. She unconsciously clutched onto her mother's arm.
"Your father is doing the right thing," her mother explained reassuringly.
Was it?
Anna didn't know. It was a primal instinct of vampires to feed on blood. It wasn't their fault they had to live with the need to survive. Much like humans, they were only doing what they can to live.
She didn't dare say anything as she let her father bring her to basement to lecture her on the life of hunting vampires. Polished guns and sharpened knives were displayed in racks for use. There was a metal table with leather straps for 'interrogation', as well as buckets of water blessed from the local church.
Old life or new, the only time Anna had seen or read torture and killing were from stories she had watched or read. She never thought she'd be part of it. Seeing her own basement filled with such medieval weapons, Anna choked down the nausea building up her stomach and drowned out her father's voice.
"Anna," her father murmured as he kneeled down before his queasy daughter. She unconsciously flinched under his touch, causing a pained look in his eyes. "Sweet, the world isn't fair. Vampires are the predators among men and I've only been doing what I can to protect people from harm, just like what he'd been doing to young Claudia back there. I would never kill anybody for no reason…"
Tucking a stray lock of Anna's red hair, he continued. "I know I'm being unfair myself but someone must come after me when I'm gone. And even if there was someone to take my place, I still want to rest easy knowing that you know how to protect yourself." He pressed a worn switchblade on his seven year old's small hands.
It felt cold and dull on Anna's palm.
She couldn't do anything but nod. With a heavy heart, she started training under her father and uncle. Her practice cuts on animals were jagged and her knife throws were horrendous at first but with practice, she did what she could. Thoughts of a bright future far from violence had been thrown out of the window.
For the second time of her life, she couldn't believe what she was witnessing. First was reincarnation, and now the existence of vampires. Never had it occurred to her that she would be living in fantasy. The lack of computers and such had gotten her to wonder if she had been born into the past.
She figured she wasn't in medieval times since her house had a radio. It was either in the twentieth century or her family wasn't very rich—it could be both. Still… vampires? What the hell? Without thought, she touched her neck in dread. Getting your blood tested or donated already hurt a lot—what more if someone sucked it out of you?
She pondered what sort of bonus these vampires have compared to humans. Many vampires portrayed in the media would have enhanced senses and sometimes a good-looking face. The vampire that her father… killed… had been quite handsome judging from its… detached, snarling head.
"Anna," her uncle, Lucas drawled out, "Pay attention."
Anna looked up from her smudged shotgun to show that she was all ears. Her uncle was the more terrifying one out of the hunting duo. He was in charge of the interrogation and torture. Although the duo did work for a larger group (there were many groups scattered all over the world, like in Japan and Austria)—they prefer hunting in two since they knew each other the most as brothers.
"Many of the vampires we meet are normal ones that have been bitten by others," He said, spreading out photos. Some were black and white, while others were colored. "But there are some you'll encounter that have abilities that would make the hunting more difficult."
Lucas slammed four photos on the wooden desk. She jumped a little in surprise. "Here, these are the ones we actually had luck with killing them permanently." Anna marvelled at the aristocratic features of the vampires on the pictures. She knew they were 'filthy bloodfuckers' as her uncle loved to put it but they were very good-looking.
"They're bastard children of pure-bred vampires," Her uncle all but sneered, eyes gleaming under his brown glasses. "Agnes Bäcker, can go through distances in a short amount of time. Roland Widell, superior in senses and strength. Weiss Kahr, psychic ability to throw people at great distance depending on the man's mood without so much as lifting a finger, and Lisbeth White with an ability to bring souls from the dead."
The last vampire set her uncle into pensive thought. It was probably the worst ability to fight out of the entire bunch. Before she could ask how they had defeated the vampires, a stray photograph caught her eye. It was a blurred photograph but the person was fairly visible enough to distinguish the hair and dark cloak.
"Who's this?" Anna asked, unearthing the picture underneath the pile of identified vampire photos. Out of all the portraits, it was the only one that was blurred and faded from age.
Uncle Lucas took one look at the photo and frowned in barely hidden contempt.
"Karlheinz."
Something about that name caused an itch deep inside Anna's mind. She kept her mouth shut to signal her uncle to elaborate further. "Illusive, that one." He plucked the photo out of her grasp, "Said to be the king of vampires."
Hearing her father's call from the backyard, Anna glanced up in time to see her uncle stand up from his seat. "Your father's calling me." He muttered wearily, "I'll be back in a few minutes. Do digest everything what I've said while you wait." With that, he donned his black coat and exited the kitchen.
"Yes, uncle…" Anna nodded absentmindedly, never tearing her gaze away from photo of the white haired vampire.
III.
"Again," came a curt demand from her father.
Cocking the shotgun once more, Anna shot the target twice in the inner rings. The bullets were normal for now. If it was a real battle, silver bullets should be used. It wouldn't guarantee the death of a pure-bred vampire but a shot in the joints could slow one down unless it had regenerative healing.
Something about this seemed fairly hopeless after hearing how many men had been drained from their stages of trial and error over the pure-bred vampires that had superior abilities. There weren't much of them but there had been a flock few over the past few years. Almost as if vampires are breeding in order to achieve a goal, Anna rationalized.
"Stop."
Wiping off the sweat away from her eyebrows, Anna was suddenly aware of her drenched jacket. She shrugged it off and put down her gun just in time to hear her father's critical review over her performance.
"That was shit aiming. You're not focusing enough today," He said bluntly as he crossed his arms. His thinning lips were enough for Anna to see his distress and edging concern. "Take a break for now. We'll resume at two." With a tired smile and a stern pat on her back, he trudged down the hill to sweep off the empty shells.
Three years since she knew the existence of vampires, Anna had been drilled to learn how to 'defend' herself. Although her father had reassured she wouldn't necessarily have to kill until she was at the right age, there was nothing left for her to do but to live the life of hunting vampires.
She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't scared shitless. Over the past few months, she was dragged by her uncle to watch and learn on how to kill, how to interrogate—it was definitely desensitization, her adult mind explained. How else could she kill unless she witnessed it herself?
Patching her father and uncle up whenever they got grazed, burnt, or bit had been the worst. Her mother was the one that had showed her to do first aid. Sometimes when she wrapped the gauze around their waists, her mind would detach itself from what she was doing. Perhaps some part of Anna continued to question the absurdity of it all.
Never in her two lives did Anna think she'd be killing vampires.
She was mediocre at most compared to the skills of her father and uncle. If she was thrown into battle in front of a vampire, she'd only last a minute at most. Granted, she was only ten years old but- Anna couldn't stop thinking about their powers. How does that even work? How come they get power-ups?! She took her readied hunting pack on her way out of her home.
As she jumped over her house's fence, she trotted down the road to go into town. I don't think I want to be incinerated or blown away by telekinesis! What if they teleport and drain me in five seconds flat?! On and on, her thoughts kept anxiously rousing. It was always the same cowardly fears that kept her up at night.
Anna rounded a corner onto a secluded street, passing by quaint antique shops and bakery stores. The main street always bustling at this time of day and she didn't want to meet any of the villagers' children for now so she took the shortcut. That's one of the cons of being the daughter of the resident hunters. She was home schooled and taught how to load guns instead of socializing with kids 'her age'.
"What a disgusting little boy." A rich-looking man jeered at a little boy in sadistic delight, "Out of my way, filth."
The young hunter watched in detached amusement as a child was pushed out of the aristocrat's way. A sympathetic widow had stopped by to assist him up but the little boy angrily jerked away from her helping hand and hissed profanity at her.
"Ungrateful child," an old woman whispered behind her,
"Choosing his pride over aid," another whispered back, "How juvenile."
Even in Anna's past life, she was not a saint. The most she had done was throw in a couple of donations to victims of calamity but most of the time she'd turn a blind eye because she never knew what to do. With a slight guilt in her heart, Anna would pass by the homeless without throwing any coins in their cup. She'd duck her head and scamper away.
There were other orphans who ran around the village like him, pleading for fruits and getting mocked by rich folk. If it was any other day, Anna would have ignored the scene like always. But today she was a bit more observant to her surroundings. Her eyes caught sight of his sluggish movements, scrapes, and a bleeding torso on his tattered black coat.
Anna watched him run to a deserted corner, gritting his teeth with undisguised anguish and anger. The young hunter found her feet following the footsteps of the small boy and found him bitterly wiping his tears. The sound of his stomach grumbling seemed to have echoed in the narrow alleyway.
Deliberately dragging her feet on the cobblestone street, Anna approached the boy casually. Normally a child would be squeamish over seeing blood and scrapes but it was nothing compared to seeing your own uncle methodically slicing a knife onto a writhing vampire's chest. Sometimes, just sometimes—she was more scared of humans than vampires.
"I don't want to be pitied or mocked, you bitch!" He scathingly sneered, clutching onto his bleeding side. For someone who lived in the streets, his words were quite eloquent compared to other children. His words would have hurt if it weren't for his childish voice. Vampires were a lot more frightening when it came to trash-talking, especially when they tried to use fear to manipulate her into untying the leather straps on their wrist.
So he really is a prideful boy, Anna thought to herself. What ever happened to him that made him this way? She would have to handle her words carefully if she was going to provide some assistance to his wounds. She had a first aid kit in her hunting pack. "You're hurt," she stated bluntly.
This seemed to irked him even more. He put a scowl on his face and nearly shouted back, "And I don't need help!"
"If you don't want help, then it's fine." Anna agreed, "I could teach you how to bind your own wounds so you don't have to require any help from people."
The boy narrowed his eyes warily, darting a glance at the bulky pack behind her back. There was a pause before he spoke up again with ire still boiling in his tone, "You're only a child. How can you know something like that?"
As if you could talk, she countered in her mind. He looked younger than her, probably by a four to five years. His garments barely covered his bruising neck as if it was too big for him. The boy might have scavenged or stolen them from somewhere else. "I learned it, of course. I've treated people before."
If bite wounds and gashes from vampires were good examples, then yes, she was certain she was experienced.
The boy seemed to be in deep thought for a while as if he was weighing the pros and cons in his little head. It wouldn't be surprising if he was. He seemed fairly intelligent for a boy his age. After a few moments of silence, he grudgingly agreed to their impromptu teaching class.
This wasn't what Anna had planned on doing over the duration of her free time but she couldn't complain. She was glad that some of her knowledge helped people instead of killing them.
For an entire hour, Anna gave the boy a little crash course on dealing with first aid starting from sterilizing wounds to binding someone who was bleeding profusely. The boy was used as a dummy despite his angry protests but was immediately countered when she explained that he needed to know how tight the bindings were if he had to wrap himself, or feel the sting of the disinfectant. It was a sneaky way to get the boy to sit still and let her treat his wounds.
"Got all that?" Anna raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I did," the boy scowled although it was a lot more pacified now.
"Take this book. It's only theory but if you take it with practice, it'll guide you in the long run." She muttered, handing a grey-covered first aid book. It was a standard copy that went with every first aid kit and Anna knew her father and uncle had copies as well so she couldn't care less if she gave it to him.
Surprise was etched on the little boy's face followed by silent outrage. Anna really didn't understand how giving a book could get him angry or any other thought of helping a hand. It was the weirdest thing she'd ever witnessed and she was the daughter of a vampire hunter.
"I'm not fucking charity," He emphasized in quiet fury.
"I never said you are," She countered. The little boy looked pretty silly, especially to a girl with an adult mind. "I thought you didn't need help? Reading theoretical material would help you understand treating wounds easier. I'm giving this to you because you catch on pretty quick. What's your name, anyway?"
A tinge of pink dusted over his cheeks before he snatched the book away from her hands, grumbling. "It's Ruki."
Something tingled in the back of Anna's mind but she pushed it away.
"Well Ruki, I'm Anna." she answered back, "It's lunch and I haven't eaten yet. Let's eat."
"I don't want your help," Ruki's tummy grumbled in disagreement. He was sounding like a broken record.
Anna shook her head in barely disguised exasperation, "Ruki, this is an old trick. Soup is the best thing to eat when people are sick or have an empty stomach. It warms up your belly and gets you full. That's why people feed soup to bedridden people. There's a place that gives free soup to the village around here somewhere…"
"Isn't that charity?" He asked with a surprising incredulousness in his childish voice.
Anna was beginning to think that his pride was a hopeless case. It was irritating but she was beginning to learn why patience was a virtue. It calmed the boy down and when Ruki was calm, he was a lot easier to deal with. There's probably more to his story than it appears, she noted in her mind.
"How about accompanying me to eat soup in exchange for the lessons and the book? That way we're on equal terms and nobody owes anybody." She suggested. It sounds far more logical to Ruki than charity so he eventually agreed.
Ruki was oddly subdued when they arrived at the soup kitchen. There were a bunch of other people, middle-class and poor people alike drinking to their hearts content. They took a seat by the end of the counter and were given a bowl each. The fact that the soup-lady didn't give a second glance at them seemed to have sealed the deal for Ruki.
He took the soup spoon and started to dig in. Anna watched him at the corner of her eye, vaguely noting his proper table manners. His clothes indicated he was living alone in the streets but his manners were a great contrast.
For a quiet moment, Anna wondered if she should recruit him into hunting vampires. His intelligence would be quite fruitful if he were to be trained properly. At that thought, her mind reeled in disgust. Was she really thinking of asking a child to take up vampire-hunting? Had she fallen so low to even suggest to him to take up her lifestyle?
It was repulsive. Unfair. Selfish.
She turned to her own bowl of soup and quickly ate her lunch.
"Hey Ruki," Anna muttered, watching the young boy devour a second bowl of soup. He seemed to have taken a liking of it. "If you want, I could lend you a bunch of other books." He glared at her direction, throwing back her earlier statement in owing people. His words were less scathing but he seemed frankly offended by her offer.
Weird kid.
A smile tugged on her lips, pointing her spoon at his direction. "Nicely put."
This merited a small smirk on Ruki's lips. Anna would have missed it if she hadn't been paying close attention. It was gone the moment it came into view. The rest of lunch went by in silence. At one point, Ruki had inquired about her hunting pack. She gave a subtle answer about what she was training to do.
The clock was nearing two by the time Anna got up from her seat. She bade him a goodbye and a good luck. "If we ever see each other again, I want to hear your story." She said. Ruki went bitterly silent and for a while, Anna wondered if it was a good idea to have put that in.
Surprisingly, the little boy snorted and muttered, "If we ever see each other." Anna was smart enough to see his underlying meaning. Ruki might be leaving her town for good. Anna gave him a parting nod and asked him to have a safe journey. He glared at her but now, the resentment seemed to have vanished and it seemed more teasing than serious. Anna briefly gave herself a mental pat in the back. She didn't help him with his pride issues—no one can in a span of two hours. But she got him not to hate her and she supposed that was good enough.
When Anna arrived home, the windows were closed shut. She peeked in to see her father and uncle discussing over the dining table. Her mother was probably out shopping in the shopping district for this week's food coverage. Anna crept past the windows and overhead her father's hushed tones.
"It's Karlheinz," He pressed, looking more anxious each passing second.
Anna felt her body tense up in familiar fear.
Her uncle gritted his teeth and said something that was too low for her to hear. The most she could hear was that there was apparently a vampire movement happening as well as the falling of their close branch. A fellow hunter in Japan had agreed to an acquaintanceship with Karlheinz which threw all the hunters off the loop.
Things were not looking good.
IV.
Red.
Red all over the walls,
-on her fingers and face.
Red; like the colour of her hair, her disgustingly (blood) drenched hair.
This only happens in stories, a soft voice whispered in her mind. People just can't wake up and see a massacre happen right before their eyes. No, not her. This couldn't be real. That was not mother's carcass sprawled all over the white linen sheets. That was not her father insanely slashing jeering vampires who had broken into their homes. That was not her uncle dragging a steel pipe and beating a pale body down, only to be set on fire by a laughing wench.
There was no twelve year old girl watching under her bed after being ordered by her father to stay put until it was all over. There was no burning village. There was no screaming. This only happens in stories. She couldn't possibly be the girl with a tragic past because this was not her life. This was not what she asked for.
She watched everything.
She watched a white-haired man (Karlheinz) standing by the doorway, clothes pristine an untainted. He was watching her too, she knew. His eyes never left her. A splash of discord in a sea of red, red—her new hated color.
Even when everything was over, he stood patiently by the door.
The smell of blood and flesh reeked all over her home.
Her home, in her mind was a small, broken cry but she couldn't find it in herself to do the same outwardly. She didn't pay mind to the blood that was soaked all over her dress. She crawled towards him and stood. His eyes held no pity or remorse. "If you wish to slay me, I will be waiting." He said almost mockingly, before turning away from her door. He was gone in a blink of an eye.
For the first time since she had held her father's dull knife, she found herself desiring to kill.
I decided to write this story in short intervals. Anna meets people along the way instead of sticking in one place, that way she could meet all the vampires of the story. First up is the Mukami and then the Sakamaki.