The Vamp and the Reaper, an anime x-overs fanfic

As we crouched quietly on the rain-slicked rooftop, I expertly scanned the filthy London streets below us. The beginning of a new century had done nothing for this lack-luster city: creaky carriages pulled by milky-eyed geldings still bumped slowly along the jagged cobblestone, weary-eyed people still milled sluggishly about purposelessly, and disgusting old geezers still laid about the gutters of the streets, their drunken eyes sagging with age. The city disgusted me, disgusted us both. Neither of us came into existence here. We only happened to stumble upon this sleepy old capital by chance, staying only for the easy prey.

I focused in on the available targets, seeking the quickest catch. I noticed a couple walking nonchalantly through the empty square. Too open, I thought, we would surely be spotted. A flash of black directly below caught my eye. It was a small black cat, distracted by a rotting fishbone sitting in the grimy gutter. Easy, but too small. Then I spotted the perfect victim: a soggy old drunk settled in a pile of damp garbage at the end of the alley below. He looked nearly unconscious, but his eyes would flutter from time to time and his grip would tighten on the empty liquor bottle that was slowly slipping out of his hands every time he fell asleep. He was murmuring something incomprehensible and pitching groggily from side to side even as he lay there.

I locked eyes with Ambrosia and she nodded, understanding the location and situation of our prey immediately. That was something I could do: connect our mental wavelengths. It was very difficult and my wavelength was only compatible with a rare few, but luckily me, she was one of the few. We were a funny pair: a now fully-fledged Vampire and a rogue Shinigami or 'grim reaper', but somehow we had formed an alliance and even a friendship in a twisted sort of way.

It all started in a little town in the English countryside. It was not too long after the collapse of the Shinigami Dispatch Association (the SDA collapsed after our Leader and many other highly skilled Shinigami were killed off in the Demon Wars) and I had just discovered a source of fantastic energy. By reaping a soul, instead of just recording it and sending it off to its proper place, I could manipulate it into such a form that I could consume it for energy, much as a human consumes food for energy. This could keep me alive and well after being cutoff from the SDA energy resources after its downfall. The only problem was I couldn't work alone. As a paranoid extra precaution in the beginning of the Demon Wars, a curse was laid upon our reaper scythes so that if the killer looked upon the memories of the one they killed, they themselves would be destroyed. The only way I could gain my energy involved looking at the memories so there was no way I could do the killing. I would need a partner, and one willing to slaughter humans.

While wandering the dark streets on a certain cool fall night, I heard screaming coming from a nearby alley and the scent of fresh blood filled my sensitive nose. I quietly slipped over to building next to said alley and slowly peered around the corner.

Standing at the end of the passageway was a dark haired girl, about 18, with new blood stained bright red across her simple cream-colored frock as well as her mouth, her hands, and most of her forearms. A look of pure terror was frozen on her face as she stared fearfully at a motionless, bloody form on the dirty ground. It was another girl about the same age as the first and she wore a white frock similar to her as well. Her white-blonde hair had been stained with her own blood and her light blue eyes were lifeless and staring out into space. A large gaping hole in the side of her pale porcelain neck, which appeared to have been bleeding profusely not too long ago, seemed to currently be void of the warm, crimson liquid. With some simple deduction, it was clear that the fearful girl staring in horror at the corpse had caused her companion's downfall as well as had drunk the lifeblood from her tender white neck.

I looked on with amusement. I had heard rumors of vampires, but had seriously doubted their existence until this moment. I chuckled slightly at the whole situation but accidentally caught the attention of the raven-haired girl. She stared at me through clear golden eyes, eyes that were most likely the source of the unique and ancient sounding name she gave herself. Within seconds, her honey-colored eyes glowed a similar red to the remains of the girl she had attacked and the look of fear on her face changed to a look of fury, hunger, and lust for blood. She lunged violently at me, but without even flinching, I sent her flying against the alley wall with a simple backhand.

This seemed to knock her out of her rage and she looked up at me through her normal amber eyes. "So you're a vampire I see," I began as I slowly approached the young girl. "I- no! I- I just-" I chuckled and smirked at her terror-struck face. "You can tell me, I won't tell on you. You've actually done me a favor," I said as I walked over to the limp, red body. I kneeled down and examined the wide gash in the deceased girl's throat. "Who was she to you," I asked looking up at the other girl.

Sitting against the wall with her knees folded up against her chest and her arms around them, she simply stared quietly at the ground. She took a shaky breath and replied, "M-my sister." I grinned sinisterly at the brutality of it all. "Okay then, I can take it from here. By the way, you probably shouldn't watch this. If you do you'll die." My death scythe, a dangerously sharp katana with a black and red diamond patterned grip, materialized into my hands. With one pull back, I stabbed my scythe into the dead girl's chest, causing her sister to squeak in surprise and squeeze her eyes closed. The carcass's remaining blood spurted out and coated the alley in the sticky red liquid. Immediately film reels burst from the body, each of the dead girl's memories playing back in full.

In the past, Shinigami would review these memories to see if the person was influential enough to history to save from death's clutches, but this wasn't important anymore. I focused in on the memories, but for a different purpose. As I concentrated harder, the film reels began to collect and meld together and create a large ball of film. It began glowing and soon a bright light flashed and in its place floated a hazy blue mist. I pulled out a small flask and opening it, the fog was sucked inside. I shook the flask once and then flipped it back open and upended it into my mouth. I swallowed the delicious blue liquid and licked the last remaining drops from the flask.

"You can open your eyes now," I told the girl as I squatted down next to her. She looked at me wide-eyed. "What- what are you? What did you do to her?" I grinned again and replied simply, "I'm a Shinigami, or Grim Reaper, whichever you prefer. I merely drank your dear sissy's soul. Now that that's done, what to do with the body? Ah! I know!" I snapped my fingers and the corpse burst into flames. It quickly burnt out and turned to ash as the young sister looked on in horror.

"Oh calm down! I only cremated her, dear. My name is Anastasia Beaumont, and you are?" "Uh, Clover. Clover Gaveston. My sister's name was Rosemary." "It's a pleasure, dear," I said as I smiled at her, "are you a new vampire?" She gave me a sad look and sighed. "Yes, I was bitten by something a week ago and since then I've had this thirst for human blood. She was the first one I killed. I can't believe- how could I kill my own sister!" The girl began to cry and the tiniest bit of empathy pained my non-existent heart. Being an undead creature, I rarely feel emotion, but somehow I cared about this girl. I understood how it felt to actually cause the death of someone you love.

When I was younger, before the Demon Wars, I actually fell in love with a Demon, and he loved me back. Demons and Reapers have had a mutual dislike for each other since the beginning, but we didn't care. It was love; old feuds didn't matter to us. The only bad part was that he was the son of the head demon himself, and when the head demon was mysteriously killed, the other demons suspected me and the other reapers of doing it. That, sadly, was what began the Demon War. My love tried to protect me from them but ended up being killed by them himself. Heartbroken and feeling guilty, I ran away from home and the wars and began wandering the human world in search of something to do. When the wars ended and all traces of the SDA had scattered, I began experimenting. It was around that time that I realized how to turn the souls into liquid energy.

"She- she was the only one I had." I put my arm around the girl. "There, there, sweetheart. It's not your fault. You can't control your bloodlust or powers yet. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. By the way, how did this happen?" Looking up at with bloodshot eyes she explained what had happened. "Well, my sister and I were coming home from our daily lessons, when she heard a noise over in this alley. She ran over before I could stop her and found a small black kitten sitting on that crate over there," she said and pointed at the crate the kitten was found on. "Well, she picked it up and I told her 'Put it down! It could have a disease!' but she assured me it was perfectly fine. Right then, it scratched her in the throat, jumped out of her arms, and ran away." Clover began tearing up again. "If that cat hadn't… and the blood… I couldn't help myself! I just…" She buried her face in her hands again. I rubbed her back again and offered her the handkerchief from the breast pocket of my vest.

"I- I can't go back to the orphanage again. I killed my own sister! I don't know where to go!" I looked at the weeping girl and sighed. My compassionate side had one me over. "Alright then, you can stay with me. I'm renting a place in the neighboring town." Clover gave me an inquisitive look. "But how? You're a reaper? In fact, how can I see you right now?" I gave the girl a half-grin and replied, "Well, I'm normally invisible to humans, but since you're not human anymore you can see me." The girl looked down hearing that painful fact. "I can also make myself visible and can blend into society. I told them I was the child of the previous owner and needed a place to stay. I said I could get a job in town and pay them throughout the week. The drunken old man who runs the place didn't give a rip that I was a girl and agreed. Although, thinking about it now, he might have thought I was a boy because of my clothes."

"I've been meaning to ask about that," Clover began. "Why are you dressed that way?" I chuckled and sat against the wall next to her. "Well, Shinigami men and women work as equals. This is simply my old work uniform. I don't like travelling with other baggage, too much weight, so I only wear these clothes. Sure, it looks a little unusual for a lady, but no one seems to really mind." I looked down at my black boots, gray slacks, white dress shirt, and my gray and black vest. I had my long brown hair pulled back with a black ribbon in a high ponytail and I had my familiar black glasses over my bright blue eyes. "I guess I've grown quite used to looking like this," I said smiling. "You know, my physical appearance is actual a bit strange for a Reaper. Most have dark hair and dark eyes. Well, except for 'mummy' of course." Clover again shot me a puzzled look. "Mummy?"

I smiled again at the thought of my old 'family'. "Well, I don't actually remember my real parents, because I died and became a Reaper at a very young age. When I entered the Shinigami world, a flamboyant red Reaper by the name of Grell Sutcliff basically adopted me as his daughter. I remember when we first met, he said to me 'You're so young. You still need a mummy! And of course we girls have to stick together, no?' From that point on, Grell was my 'mummy' and another Reaper, William T. Spears, Grell's lover as well as one of the most serious Shinigami I'd ever met, was elected by my dear 'mummy' to be my 'daddy'." I chuckled and stood up, looking down at Clover. "And thus my wonderful family was created. Mummy Grell actually had red hair and yellow-green eyes. Daddy Will however had dark hair and gold eyes like the others. Mummy and I were… unique."

I offered my hand out to Clover and she took it to stand up. "Come on then. Let's go before anyone notices you're gone. Would you like to take your sister's ashes?" Her face grew solemn. "No," she replied, shocking me with her change in tone, "I want to forget everything that's happened tonight." I sighed and nodded. "Alright then, let's go!" I grabbed Clover's arm and leaped up onto the roof of a nearby building, taking her by surprise. She squeaked but I quickly quieted her. "Shush dear, we'll be seen. Would you rather ride on my back?" Clover paused, but then nodded. I kneeled down and she climbed onto my back, clinging to me tightly. "Not so tight, I might be undead, but I still need to breathe! I promise I won't drop you!" She mumbled an apology and loosened her grip around my neck. I built up a little tension and launched myself to the next rooftop.

We continued rooftop hopping until we reached the road that led to the town I was staying in. I leaped to the ground and helped Clover off my back. "We can walk from here, it's only a mile or two." She nodded and we headed off in silence. Looking at her I noticed she still had blood smeared everywhere. "Oh my, I forgot about the blood issue. We'll have to get you cleaned up before we get to town. I think there's a farm right up ahead and we can use their pump, okay?" Again, I was answered with a solemn nod. I gathered she was thinking things over so I respected her privacy and walked a little ahead.

Not too long after, we reached a small farmhouse with a barn 20 meters away from it. I told Clover to stay quiet and hide behind a bale of hay while I went 'invisible' and scoped out the place. I found a water spigot on the north facing side of the barn. Perfect, I thought to myself and motioned for Clover to run quickly over. I found a rag in the barn and I gave it to her to wet under the spigot and wipe the blood off her arms and face.

We soon set off again towards the town. "We're going to need to get you a new dress as well. Can't have you running around in a ripped up, blood-stained one." I smiled at her, but she just looked down. I had completely forgotten about the human guilt complex. "Sorry to remind you dear. Oh look! The town!" I pointed ahead a few lights in the distance, which were most likely the streetlights of the town I had mentioned. "Just to our luck there's a little dress shop right on the edge of town. I can run ask for a coat before you go in so as to hide your dress."

When we reached the border of town it was already morning and the dress shop had already opened for another day of business. I reached for the door but was stopped when Clover suddenly said, "Wait!" I turned to look at the girl. "Yes, dear?" "I don't want a dress. I want boys clothes like you." I chuckled and began to turn back to the door. "Why that's absurd, Clover. I-""NO!" I jumped at how forceful the once meek girl now sounded. I spun around to look at her face and found a foreign expression on her face: one of deadly seriousness. "I'm not Clover. Not anymore. Clover was weak. She made mistakes. I want to leave all that behind. My name is… my name is Ambrosia." I smiled at this girl's newfound courage and nodded. "Alright then, Ambrosia. They sell clothes like mine nearby. I'm going to get you a coat here though so lay low and don't let anyone see the front of your dress." She nodded solemnly and went around the side of the building to the alley.

About a minute later, I returned with a long light brown coat. "Here you go, dear. Now lets get you some clothes." Ambrosia slipped on the coat and buttoned it up. It was then I realized that the sun that was slowly rising in the east hadn't affected her at all. I turned to face her, confused. "I thought vampires burned in the sunlight." She looked at me and shook her head. "It might be because I was originally human, but the sun has no effect on me." I was actually little grateful for that. "Alright, good. Come on, let's go to the shop."

It only took a minute to find the little clothes shop hidden behind a general store. We stepped inside to see racks of clothes lining the walls of a small room. An elderly woman sat behind a counter with a cash register. We began rummaging among the clothes in the young men's section. We found a nice white dress shirt, tan vest, and brown slacks that looked as though they would fit her. She went into a dressing room in the back to try them on grabbing a pair of tan boots on the way while I wandered about the small shop. Near the counter was a display of ribbons. I pulled a red ribbon and a black ribbon from the display and walked back to the dressing room. "Here," I said handing the black ribbon through the curtain, " You can use this like a bow tie. I think it would look good." She took the ribbon and seconds later pulled back the curtain to reveal her outfit. It looked good on her, and the black ribbon tied loosely in a bow pulled the look together even better. "Gorgeous! Oh, and this is for your hair." She quietly took the red ribbon from my outstretched hand and tied back her dark hair in a ponytail.

"I want to get rid of the dress, "she said flatly. Seeing what she meant by this I shrugged and took the dress from the dressing room and folded it neatly. "Well we can't just throw away a dress with blood on it. Someone will be suspicious. We can burn it tonight when we leave. But first let's pay for your clothes." I pulled a small black wallet from my inner vest pocket and grabbed a wad of cash from inside it, handing it to the elderly woman at the counter. She stared at it as though she were a starved person looking at a feast. "I think this should cover it, no?" The woman nodded without lifting her eyes from the money. I smirked and walked out the door beckoning for Ambrosia to follow.

We stepped back into the English sun. "Well, time for you to get some sleep. We'll go to my apartment, but we leave at midnight tonight." Ambrosia looked puzzled. "Why do we have to leave?" I sighed but smiled once again. "We can't stay this close to your old town dear. You're probably the number one suspect since you're missing." She looked down to the side and said softly, "Okay."

I led her to a slightly run down building not to far down the street. It was only one story tall and had 10 forward facing windows on the second floor. Someone opened window directly above us and began to dump out a chamber pot. I pulled Ambrosia out of the way just in time. "Casse-toi!" I shouted and proceeded to give the middle finger to the now empty window. "Ugh, c'est des conneries! You'd think these people would have gotten toilets by now! Huh, guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Ambrosia simply stared at me. "You speak French?" I nodded, "Yes, I was born and raised in France until I died. Mummy Grell taught me English. I used to hang around Paris on my days off as an official reaper because they felt familiar." I motioned her inside the building and we climbed carefully up the slowly rotting stairs and walked down the smelly, damp, wood hall to the right. I turned to the third door on the left. I slid a gold key out from my boot and pushed it into the lock, turning the latch.

We stepped into the musty little room and closed the door behind us. It only contained a small bed, a chamber pot, a dresser, and a wall mirror. Ambrosia's eyes began to water and she coughed out the room's dust that had begun coating her lungs. "Disgusting, isn't it? It's really all they've got in this town. The bed's fine though, so go ahead and sleep. I'll wake you up at 11:30." She sat down on the bed but then looked quickly up at me. "But where will you sleep?" I chuckled and looked down at her. "Ma Cherie, merci beaucoup for the concern, but Reaper's don't need sleep. Reaping used to give us energy, but ever since the SDA collapsed that stopped. Now my manipulation of the souls to drink is my only energy source."

Satisfied with this answer, she laid down on the bed and closed her eyes, pulling the thin brown blanket over herself. I decided it best to leave her alone while she sleeps so I quietly left the room. I slipped quickly back down the hall and stairs and exited the entire building. I disliked being indoors so much. It was too cramped. I crossed the street to the local bakery to get some food for Ambrosia. Even as a vampire, she, unlike me, still needed to eat. What a burden, I thought, having to eat and sleep for energy, what a waste of time! I entered the bakery to be greeted by a young boy across the counter who cried cheerily, "'Ello!" I grinned widely. Humans are so adorable. "Bonjour, mon petit, could I please have a loaf of bread? Wrapped up please." The young preteen smiled a gap-toothed grin and replied, "Of course, Miss. That'll be one shilling." Although it seemed a bit steep of price, I understood our current economic situation so I handed over the necessary payment and he ran to the back of the bakery. He quickly returned and handed me the warm cloth-wrapped bundle. The bread smelled delicious and fresh. Even though I didn't need to eat, it tempted me.

I thanked the boy and left the shop only to pause in the middle of the street. Someone was watching me. I heard a click and jumped out of the way just in time as a large red shear pierced the ground where I had been standing seconds ago. The shear retracted again and following it with my eyes, my guess was proved correct.

"Bonjour, Daddy," I yelled at the figure on the rooftop of the bakery waving and grinning cheerily. William T. Spears adjusted is glasses with the tip of his scythe and leaped down 10 feet away from me. "Hello Anastasia. I'd prefer it if you did not call me Daddy." I smiled a more innocent smile, batted my eyelashes, and cocked my head to the side. "But Daddy, Mummy Grell told me to." "Exactly," he huffed, "You needn't continue to humor Mr. Sutcliff."

I chuckled and put hand on my hip. "Where is Mummy anyway? Doesn't she always follow you around?" Will sighed and rolled his eyes, "HE is unaware that I am here. I actually haven't seen Grell for a few years." Hearing that made my heart sink. "Do you think he's ok? I really miss Mummy." "Sutcliff's disappearance does not concern me." I was getting angry now. Will had always been very serious, but I knew how much he really cared about Grell. "But you love him! How can you say that he doesn't concern you?" "Miss Beaumont, I am not here to discuss the past with you. I am here about your consummation of souls. You do know this is against our rules."

"What rules?" I snorted, "Ever since the SDA collapsed it's been every Reaper for himself. No one cares what I do, so why should you?" The Shinigami didn't respond so I continued. "Besides how could you know about me? Come to check on your little girl, Daddy," I sneered, but still Will showed no emotion. "Actually, last I saw Grell, he asked me to keep an eye on you from time to time." I hid a smile. Mummy was worried about me, and Daddy did what Mummy asked and watched over their little girl. "Good to know you care," I said, finally giving in to the smile. I caught a hint of a smile on Will's face, too. "I'm just doing as instructed," he replied, but I knew he was just saying that. He still loved Mummy and I.

"You can still get energy from sleep and mortal food, you know." I rolled my eyes. "Why would I want to do that? It takes too much time, money, and all that other stupid mortal stuff. I want to get energy from doing what I enjoy most." I smiled at him and he returned with a cold stare. "Anastasia, the killing of innocent humans and consummation of their souls is immoral. This has been a principle of all Shinigami since our beginnings." "Calm down, Daddy. Besides, I don't kill them, I can't, you know that. Ever since the War…" Will quickly looked away and I realized I had brought back some painful memories. During the Demon Wars, a group of demons kidnapped Will and Grell. They tortured Grell constantly and forced Will to watch. That was his form of torture. For weeks he stared at his lover: bleeding, crying, screaming for help. A near eternal hell. Luckily, a demon they knew, Sebastian Michaelis, felt some sympathy for them and rescued them from his malicious companions.

"I- I'm sorry I brought that up I-" "No, It's fine, that was the past," he replied but he kept his head down. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders in a warm embrace. "The worst part," he said quietly, "Is that I couldn't save us. I couldn't save him." I felt warm tear drops on my shoulder and my heart sunk. They had broken my unbreakable Daddy. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry they put you both through that, but Mummy ended up ok. Grell still loves you, no matter what." Will slowly shook his head, his eyes closed. "I just wish I had been the one they tortured. I wish they had just left him alone." I pulled back and took his cheeks in my hand, staring into his golden eyes. I noticed they were much duller than Ambrosia's. "No, that would have been worse. Grell would never forgive himself and would end up much worse than you right now. Mummy's probably grateful she was the only one tortured. Grell loves you, Daddy, and so do I." I hugged him again, my head against his chest. This time he returned the hug. We stood like that for a while, until Will finally pulled back. "Thank you, Stasia," he said and I smiled hearing the old nickname. "I'll let you continue this soul consummation, but just know there will be consequences." I smiled and nodded. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Daddy loves you, too, Stasia," he said with a light smile and walked away, jumped on a roof and disappeared.