If I owned this…well, I honestly don't know how this would be. I doubt 4Kids could have vampire stories…well; I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or 4Kids, but this is my plot, I guess. The story was just too interesting to pass up. Oh, I mention Dracula, but I don't own him either...scary thought...

Kazuki Takahashi own Yu-Gi-Oh. Basic gist of the waffle I've written up there.

Rated: PG---Rated for violence and mention of blood and such like.

A friend of mine was talking to me about vampires, so...thank you to the friend. If you're reading this. Reviews would be great, anyone reading this! This is my first story I'm posting!

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Wings of Velvet

Prologue

Great. It was a kid.

Again.

Why was it always the kids? Why couldn't it be someone who was eighty that had lived a long, full life with no regrets and had twenty grandkids and were on their last legs?

Then again, what kind of eighty-year-old person would be walking around at night?

What kind of anyone would be walking around at night?

Yep. Only kids.

But still. Honestly, didn't parents tell the kids not to go walking around at night? There were nutcases and killers on the loose at night!

Not to mention them. Beings born of darkness, with no minds, thoughts, scruples, or emotions. They thought only of pain...and despair...and blood...

Sure. That was the human opinion on their kind, at any rate.

But then, what did humans know anyway?

She kept thinking these random thoughts, whatever popped into her head. All the while, her eyes darted over the kid. Something close to pity nearly softened her hard eyes.

Really, this was like something out of a bad horror show. The victim fleeing, monsters chasing, tackling the figure until it fell, cornered in an alley.

Yep. Bad horror show.

He sure was short. Really, dang short. Even keeping in mind she was eight feet tall in this form...sometimes she forgot humans couldn't change their form.

And the guy next to her kept snickering. He found something about the whole situation funny.

Really, don't leave a girl in the dark, let her in on the sick, twisted joke...

The boy's eyes just widened, face almost as pale as the moon. His eyes were so big; they almost took up half his face. He looked like someone out of the bizarre child manga and anime.

The snickering was getting irritating. She felt her fist tighten.

His hair was wild enough to make a barber blush with shame, scruffy and multicolored. Wonder if that's natural? Kinda wacky...

And the snickering, the snickering, the dang SNICKERING-

"OW!"

She snapped her gaze to the moron beside her. He was rubbing his nose with a wounded air, but he continued to glance hungrily at the boy even as he said-in a doleful, innocent tone no less-"What on Earth did you strike me for?"

"For being stupid, why else would I ever hit you?" she asked incredulously, as though it were the simplest thing to comprehend. The boy kept looking between the two, possibly too petrified to comprehend the conversation. Somewhere in the terrified eyes was a hint of incredulous confusion, as though he sincerely doubted any of this could be real. He couldn't really be witnessing two monsterous, demonic creatures arguing in the middle of the alley, could he?

Her companion glanced at him, black tongue sliding around the enormous fangs jutting from his black gums, dripping some green saliva. A faint, delighted smirk twitched at the creature's thin, leathery lips. The boy whimpered.

Oh, no. Oh, HECK no, not the crying. The kid wasn't going to cry. Come on kid, she thought in dismay at the terror etched across his features, show some backbone! You're old enough to act like a man, aren't you? Even if you are faced with two very dark, hideous…bloodthirsty…um…

Huh. Well, he was reacting better than she would. If she had been faced with two monsters twice her height, all black flesh and leathery wings, she'd faint dead away. Or die on the spot. Or something.

Her companion - well, alright, so she hated his guts, but nonetheless, Yami had been busy that night, and his company was the only one she actually ever enjoyed - was drooling. A lot. The boy, on the other hand, shrank against the dirty, grimy brick wall.

Judging from the messy, kind of baggy blue uniform and white shirt-by now ripped from the short chase he'd led them on-he attended the high school a few blocks away. And judging from the heavy backpack, he carried home a lot of books. She hadn't even seen anyone else carrying a book bag. Judging by that, he was a nerd. And judging from that, he was picked on for it.

And judging from the way he was staring up at her, he was scared to death.

Yes, she had a tendency to over think things a bit. Still, the look on his face made her feel like the grimy bit of gum someone swears at while scrubbing it off their shoe.

"Well? Are you going to bite him or not?" he hissed, the boy gasping in fright. "Because if you're not hungry, I am."

She glared at him. Placing her hands on her hips-careful not to scratch herself with her black claws-she said flatly, "Do you feel any compunction about this at all?" Her voice was quiet, so low the boy could not hear her.

The idiot shrugged. "Not really. We've all got to eat, don't we?"

She shook her head. "There's such thing as a blood bank, you know. Animals probably aren't half bad, either."

He snorted. His eyes glowed a sickening yellow, rolling in their bloody sockets. "Where's the fun in that? There's no chase, no hunt…" he smirked, licking his lips, "no challenge." He stared at the kid, ravenous. He looked so demented, so eager for the screams...she bit her lip, struggling not to retch.

Baring her own fangs, she then snarled, "Well, I'm getting this one, then, if you want so much challenge." She'd considered spitting on the fool, but decided against it. Not that she was afraid of him. She just didn't care enough.

He gave an immature groan, almost pouting. A grotesque monster pouting…ugh. "Look, I know you found him, but really…"

"You go find your own prey. You're not touching him. Shoo." Waving one hand impatiently, she shoved him, amid his grumbles and muttered insults. "Go on. Shoo."

Spreading the leathery wings, he took off, scaly tail whipping after him. A scent of death and decay emanated from the flapping wings, but within an instant, he was gone, a speck against the moon.

She turned reluctantly to the boy. He trembled, and huddled tighter against the wall. For the first time, he made a sound. "P-Please…I-I-"

He sounded so very small and horrified. Dangit, vampires aren't supposed to be sentimental, dangit, dangit, dangit…

"P-Please…just-just let me go. I-I don't know anything. Please, I-I just want to go home!" he begged.

Oh, for the love of…

"Huh," she grunted. The boy moaned when she unfurled her wings and stepped toward him. She wrapped her black, almost demonic arms, around him and pulled him from the wall. She was so tall and hulking in this form, his feet hung a foot from the ground, supported painfully by his arms held in a vise-grip.

Trembling, he stared at her. "Wh-What are you going to do?"

She growled menacingly, a warning, eyes focused on the wall beyond, weighing the options. He gulped, breath shaky.

He sounded like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He shut his eyes, waiting.

Funny enough, it didn't make him seem weak. It just...didn't. He just seemed to give up to the inevitable, expecting, waiting. Somehow, she felt nauseous at that. The realization of death...it made her feel sick that he seemed so accepting.

Heaven only knows when she'd actually fed last. He couldn't fight back. Her strength in such a form was greater than his. It was a vampire's way of life, wasn't it?

He expected her to bite him, didn't he? She could always convert him into a vampire, if nothing else. Right?

Who the heck was she questioning? Herself?

His eyelashes flickered. "I-I won't ever see Grandpa again…will I?"

Well, not in this world…

But then again…

His eyelashes looked very wet…

Oh…heck.

Snorting with contempt, she roughly picked up the backpack left on the ground. "Come on. I'll take you home."

His eyes flew open. "Wh-Wha-?"

"Do you want your veins to be sucked dry?" A frantic shake of the head. "Then don't question me. I just decided to be nice for a change."

He just stared at her. "Th-Thank you."

She snorted again, but this time with some weary amusement. "I almost bite your neck and you thank me?"

He didn't respond.

"So where do you live?" she asked, slit pupils glancing from side to side.

"Um…the Kame Game shop…I can walk there…"

"No. Not tonight. It's a frenzy night; we're everywhere. Trust me, it's better it I take you."

For some odd reason, his face became a flushed, pink color. "Uh…I…"

"Does this embarrassment I'm sensing have something to do with the fact that I am a female?" she interrupted him. She'd always sounded like a tomboy, if a bit irritated tonight. She never talked to anyone kindly anymore.

Well...to one person, maybe.

He blushed a little harder. "Kid, among vampires, the Queen is the most important one. Dracula is a myth. Females are more aggressive and powerful than males most of the time. Believe you me, I could overpower a full-grown man. There's no shame in me helping you."

"Oh."

"Right, then," she said, rather pleased, "I'll take you home."

His eyes widened again. "Wait, you don't mean-!"

Spreading her wings apart, she flew into the air, the boy clinging to her. He let out a choked, shocked cry. Strangely, this amused her as well. "What's wrong? Never seen the night from above?" Wings tightly folded against her form, she soared high into the air, above the three story buildings around her.

He clutched at her arms and didn't answer, eyes squeezed shut. "It's not that bad, you know. Taking a look at the night from the darkness…" she said softly, watching the buildings soar by below her. The cold, brisk air filled her lungs and a sense of freedom soared into her, enabling her to ignore the trembling boy clinging to her with a death-grip. Looking up at the moon, she couldn't help but think of Khonsu...whether they called him Yami for 'Darkness' or Khonsu for 'Night,' he was as displeased either way.

"It's amazing…"

She blinked. The boy was apparently trying to get over his terror of the height - curiosity overcoming his fear - and gazed out at the wonder and splendor of the world below. He was clinging to her tightly, but he was obviously fascinated. "Yes. It is," she murmured.

He looked up at her. "You see all of this…all the time?" She nodded.

He didn't seem afraid of her any more. How very strange.

And yet so oddly, pleasingly nice…

I hope I'm not going soft...who's ever heard of a 'nice' vampire?

"I need to get you home before someone misses you. By the by, what were you doing out so late?"

He shuffled around in her grip. "I don't know. My Grandpa wasn't home and I went looking for him…I didn't even put down my backpack..."

"Oh." They flew on in silence. "You mean the old man? I think he was going to get groceries. He left a note on the front door, I think."

The boy blushed again. "Oh. I guess I didn't see it."

"Another vampire probably took it to lure you out. The moron I was with, more than likely." She didn't expect anything else from such a second-rate hunter. Underhanded little...

They flew lower, almost close enough to graze the roof tops. "There!" he exclaimed, pointing. She squinted, finally seeing the building. The roof was green, and the house was small. Angling her wings, the vampire caught the air, pulling up and landing on the roof.

The boy fiddled with something on the skylight and with a light creak, the window swung open.

He slipped inside, but she stayed put. "Um…do you want to come in?" he asked cautiously.

"We can only tread in another's home if they invite us."

He blinked. "Oh…then please, come in."

Looking at him with a guarded expression, her blue, dilated eyes focused intently on him. "Be very, very careful. Once you invite me in, I can come and go as I please in your home."

He looked up at her, trusting and honest. "Will you come in?"

Without another word, she dropped inside, wings folded. "But then how can you bite someone in their own home? If they have to invite you in?" he asked. Danger miles away, he seemed bright and curious.

"We can hypnotize them. Movies - is that what you call them? - don't get that wrong."

The boy looked at her. "Have you hypnotized me?"

"No. Although I have no idea how you can trust me so easily." They were both silent for a moment.

"I owe you my life. I think that's enough reason to trust someone, don't you?"

For some reason, she didn't answer the question. "Maybe I'll drop by and say hello sometime." She glanced around the room, noting multiple puzzles and games stacked against the wall. A small, neat bed and a desk were the only other furniture.

"I'd like that." She stared at him, eyes switching from the walls.

"You want a crazy, ancient bloodsucker under your roof?"

He blinked again. "Well…you wouldn't hurt me…would you?"

She seemed to contemplate that a moment. "No. No, I don't think I would." With that, she leaped out of the skylight, making him jump backwards. Balancing neatly on the window's edges, she then called in, "If you want to keep other vampires from hypnotizing you, I'd suggest getting an interest in garlic. Or putting up a few crosses. Holy water works well too, you know. Just take them down when - or if - I visit." He nodded.

She spread her wings, and was ready to leap into the air when he stopped her.

"Will you come back?"

She paused and furrowed her brows. Looming against the moonlight, her form appeared like that of a devil, scaly tail and slight in body. Elegantly, she tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. Maybe." She again turned her catlike face to the moon.

"One more thing! What should I call you?"

She glanced down. "Tell me your name first."

"Mutou. Mutou Yuugi."

"'Yuugi'…game?" He nodded at her.

"Very well then. Yuugi."

She paused, and then called, "Telling a mortal your name is no easy feat; but it's Anzu. Mazaki Anzu. Don't go spreading the word about it, hear?"

He nodded again, vigorously. "Okay. Thank you…Anzu."

"Whatever." She dove into the night, wings folding and opening, gliding on the currents of the air.

Sometimes Fate is strange like that...the smallest things will make all the difference...

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(Well, this is the beginning. Any comments, ideas on where the story can go? I've got the story planned, but some suggestions would be nice…If anyone doesn't know, Khons(u) is supposedly the Egyptian God of the Moon.)