A/N So yeah, I needed to write a Halloween fic. I just had to. I'll probably write a Death Note one too, MelloxMatt most likely…but that's not the point. So uh…warnings. This is SasukeKakashi (yes in that order…) so shonen-ai I guess…but I don't write yaoi, so don't expect lemons and stuff…but this is definitely rated M for a reason. Bad language, most likely, some dark-ish stuff—and if I owned Sasuke and Kakashi, I wouldn't be writing this. I'd be uh…busy :D
Sorry if the beginnings a little boring. It'll get more interesting…I hope…
Let me know what you think!
In the shadows we lie in wait
Our curse of immortality
Is heightened tenfold by our natural hate
And love of cruel brutality.
You say we're bloodthirsty, you say we're cruel
You don't say we're sadistic, but you imply it
You say our veins run with poisoned lust
Well – we don't deny it.
Kakashi slammed the stupid book shut. "Vampires and Other Mythical Creatures", the title read. What a load of crap…sure he was bored, but being bored was better than reading some gibberish poem supposedly describing vampires.
He sighed. There was usually so much to do during the Halloween season, what with random genin vandalizing everything and out-of-town ninjas trying to take advantage of the ensuing chaos. This year, though, everyone was a bit more refined, due to Sasuke's absence and the overlying threat of the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. It wasn't exactly a depressing atmosphere, since everyone had the chance to get used to it by now, but overall it was just…tamer in Konoha than it usually was.
So Kakashi was bored out of his goddamn mind.
He had been sitting in the library, trying to amuse himself with random books, but this was the last straw. It was only a few days til Halloween, so all the books on the prominent positions of the shelves were filled with ghosts, witches, zombies, vampires, werewolves, and all the spooky regulars. Like anyone actually believed in that.
Kakashi glanced up at the clock on the wall and let out a sigh. It was 6:45; he had about 15 minutes before he had to go to Tsunade for their weekly meeting. The meetings didn't take very long, since there wasn't much to do and there were rarely assignments anymore that chuunin couldn't take care of. But the meetings were at least something to do.
He sighed and opened the same book to a random page, just to kill time.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE A VAMPYRE, the page read. This particular page seemed to be an excerpt from an old manuscript or something. It was written in old-fashioned spidery script in what seemed to be red ink, on paper more yellowed than the rest of the book. Kakashi took a long breath practically oozing with boredom and began to read.
The origination of the term "vampyre" comes from Latin. It may be translated as "flies from fire". However, a true vampire will not flee from fire. It is known that the vampire can oftentimes have an unearthly control over flames, in fact.
Conversely, vampires do not favor the sun. Though it will not kill them upon contact, it drains most of their power. Therefore, vampires are strongest at night, or in dark places.
Not all vampires have pale skin and dark hair. But due to their aversion to light, these characteristics are not uncommon.
Most vampires will keep their mouths closed most of the time, speaking without parting their lips as much as they can, in order to hide their fangs until the moment has come to draw blood.
A vampire who has been deprived of fresh blood for a long amount of time will often be seen licking its lips. This is to keep the mouth moist until it can be fully satiated with more blood.
Vampires are created when a vampire drinks the blood of another, but leaves them still alive. Due to their lust for blood, vampire creation is usually rare. Vampire murder victims, therefore, are those who have been drained off all of their blood, giving them a pale appearance themselves.
VAMPYRES ARE EXCEEDINGLY DANGEROUS WHEN THEY HAVE NOT FED RECENTLY. They need to drink blood to exist, as they do not make blood themselves, and will resort to most measures, including seduction, to achieve that goal. If the vampire is older and wiser, they will not kill their prey before feeding from it. They prefer blood coming from a still-beating heart. This is why they enjoy "playing" with their victims before the bite – it gets the heart pumping faster, causing more savory blood. However, a young vampire may lose control and torture its victim to death before drinking its blood.
TO PROTECT ONESELF FROM A VAMPYRE: Once a human is trapped, there is rarely a way out, unless the vampire is very inexperienced. Outwitting the vampire is usually recommended, as there is no known way to reverse the vampire transformation. If this is not possible in the situation…pray. Pray to the Good Lord that your soul will be saved and you will be murdered quickly by a merciful vampire instead of being put through the torture that you most likely will be forced to endure.
RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING! RING!
For once, Kakashi jumped with surprise. The clock on the wall sounded 7 'o clock. Shit, he was late.
Eh. What else is new.
He was halfway up the stairs to Tsunade's office before he realized his entire face was bathed in a cold sweat. Those last few sentences had gotten to him more than he had expected.
" 'Playing' with their victims," Kakashi quoted out loud. His body gave an uncontrollable shudder. He didn't even want to know what that meant.
"Kakashi." Tsunade's stern voice broke through his swirling consciousness. "We have a serious issue. Could you please focus?" Sometime within the past few moments he had opened the door and stepped inside without noticing.
"Wh-what?" He composed himself and took a seat. "Yes…of course, Tsunade-sama."
"At least you're on time," she sighed. He glanced at the clock. What the hell…it was 7:10…
"I'm sorry? I thought I was late," Kakashi said. She raised an eyebrow.
"Ten minutes late? For you, Kakashi, that's on time."
He rubbed the back of his head with one hand and chuckled nervously though his mask.
"Anyways!" She slammed a file onto her desk. "Today, we have a mission for you."
He raised an eyebrow. This was the first mission in almost a month.
"What is it?" he asked. He cringed away the next moment, staring at the pictures she had lain in front of him. Each picture displayed a different fairly young woman. Each of them was lying, clearly dead, with violent scratch marks marring their pale bodies. Their faces were chalky masks of absolute agony mixed with unbridled terror. Their clothes were ripped almost completely to shreds.
"Murder," she replied unnecessarily. "And we don't know how they're dying, or who's doing it. All we know is that the first murder was six days ago, the second was the day before yesterday, and the last one was reported to be around 4am this morning." Her face was a mask of solemnity. "Medic nin have reported the causes of death to be extreme blood loss and trauma." At this, Kakashi yanked his eyes from the gory photographs and tilted his head in confusion.
"But…there's no blood in the pictures," he murmured.
"Exactly," Tsunade replied. "The murders are getting more and more frequent,, and with Halloween only a few days away…well, we worry it'll be a bloodbath." She looked him straight in his uncovered eye. "We must solve the murders before then. Do you understand? We're counting on you, Kakashi."
He nodded and took the file.
"I understand."
Kakashi walked back to his apartment, flipping through the pictures again. He tried to think of any bloodline trait that could somehow dissolve a person's blood right out of them, but he couldn't recall one. A silvery gust of wind tousled his hair, making him glance up at the moon. It was almost a full moon, now, just beginning to define itself against the darkening sky as the sun sank.
Vampire murder victims, therefore, are those who have been drained off all of their blood, giving them a pale appearance themselves.
He stopped dead in his tracks, chilled to the bone. The passage of the book echoed in his head.
Drained of all their blood…the photographs of the deathly white women…"reported the cause of death to be extreme loss of blood"…
But it couldn't be, it just couldn't be. Vampires were fiction, fairy tales, nothing more. He should be ashamed of himself to even consider the idea of them to be possible.
A light breeze laughed in his ear. Shivers fluttered down his spine. He shook his head rapidly and started to walk faster.
This wasn't a fable, and it wasn't some made-up creature. It was a cold-blooded murderer. And he had to get these stupid stories out of his head and solve the murder before anyone else got hurt.
"Because vampires aren't real, right?" Kakashi asked himself out loud, in a voice that wanted to sound certain.
The only response was the shifting of the shadows and another icy breeze.
To be continued ASAP.