I sat beside Yui on one of the fancy, blue-cushioned sofas of what appeared to be the living room. The red-haired guy from earlier, Ayato, was seated in a separate chair beside us. He was still staring at Yui, I could see it out of the corner of my eye. This guy was such a freak. I'd have to be sure that Yui stayed far away from him at all times.
"Now," Reiji began as he stood before us. "For the sake of formality, let's begin. Why don't you start by telling us about yourselves and how you came to enter this house?"
"As I said before," I started. "I'm Clary Komori. My sister Yui and I were sent here by our father but he didn't tell us why. If you're looking for a more literal answer to that question; well, the front door was unlocked."
Suddenly, there was random laughter.
"Well, what do we have here?" A new voice mused. I looked up to see another red-haired man in a hat standing on the platform of the next floor that the stairs behind me led to. He gazed down at Yui and I as he casually leaned against the railing that overlooked the living room. But I noticed that he studied me in particular with his sly green eyes. "Could it be that two cute little human girls have decided to pay us a visit?"
Just as I began to study him in return, he was gone in the blink of an eye. Next thing I know, someone's licking my neck. I shrieked and pulled away, clutching my throat protectively as I turned to see that he was sitting right next to me.
"My, you smell so sweet and your skin tastes delicious," he cooed.
"What the hell?!" I demanded. How did he even get down here?
"Please, let me have a lick too," said another voice from the other side of me. A purple-haired boy clutching a creepy teddy bear appeared out of nowhere next. I yelped and flinched away from him, scooting backwards just as his tongue grazed my ear. But that was a mistake, as the first one caught me in his arms. He held me tightly against his chest. He was as cold as ice.
"Oh, don't be so frightened, Sugar Tits. I'll protect you from Kanato." I could hear the smirk in his tone.
"Let me go!" I shrieked as I broke free from his hold, causing him to simply laugh.
"Mmm, this one smells just as sweet," the purple-haired boy announced with excitement as he licked Yui's neck. She gasped. I quickly took her by the arm and pulled her closer to me.
"My, what did we do to deserve such a blessing?" the one with the hat chuckled. "Two cute mortals with such delicious scents. It must be a dream."
"Stop that, you two," Reiji ordered. "It's highly inappropriate to behave so impolitely towards young women you've only just met."
"But why?" the one with the hat purred. "It's only natural to want to taste something that looks and smells so yummy. Kanato agrees with me."
"Yes, I do," the boy with the bear nodded. I had no idea if they were talking about Yui or me or both of us. I didn't want to know.
"Hey, knock it off you guys," Ayato said. "Have you forgotten that Yours Truly is the one who saw the Pancake first? Consequently, Yours Truly is going to be her first everything."
"Lame," another voice seethed. "I'm so sick of you calling yourself 'Yours Truly.'"
Irritated, Ayato stood up. "What the hell?! Damn it, Subaru! I know that's you. Come out and show yourself!"
"I'm right here," another boy, this one with white hair and red eyes, was suddenly standing to Reiji's right, leaning against the wall. How many of them were there? And where did they keep coming from? "I thought I detected the smell of human in here. Guess I was right. Who are these mortals who dare awaken me from my precious sleep?"
"H-how did you enter this room so quietly?" Yui gaped at him with her wide pink eyes. Thank goodness we seemed to be on the same page here.
"You will answer my question first!" He shouted, slamming his fist into the wall behind him so hard, a small crater was left behind. Pieces of the wall's material crumbled to the floor. I quietly gasped to myself. The monster strength he must possess…how did he not break his hand just now? And what was wrong with these people?!
"Hm. Do any of you know what's going on here?" Reiji asked again, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose. "I must find out why these young women have come here to live with us."
"Yeah, on second thought," I said as I quickly got to my feet, hauling Yui with me. "I think there might have been some sort of mistake. We seem to be in the wrong place. We'll be on our way now. I'm very sorry to have bothered you all."
I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Just as we were about to pass Reiji and exit the living room, he stopped us.
"Wait just a minute," he said. I froze. "I am attempting to get to the bottom of this situation here. Don't you think it would be rather discourteous to leave right now?"
"No, not really," I answered, and I couldn't care less if I was being rude. "Because I already figured it out; obviously, my father made a mistake. My sister and I will be leaving. Now."
I turned towards the exit and was about to start off again, but then another new voice started to speak –
"I wonder if they're the young women that he mentioned the other day."
I turned around to see who it was. Towards the back of the room, a man with golden hair laid on his back across a couch.
"Shu. Do you know something about these girls and the reason they're here?" Ayato asked.
"Maybe." He spoke with his eyes closed, like he couldn't care less about anything in the world.
"Don't give us this 'maybe' crap. We'd all appreciate an explanation."
"It was that guy. He contacted me a couple days ago. He told me we'd have some guests arriving from the church, and that we should treat them with respect," the one called Shu explained. But it didn't even make sense to me. Who was he talking about? Was it my father? He mentioned a church, and Father was a priest.
"What? Are you telling me that these girls are the prospective brides?" Ayato gasped.
"Oh. Is that all this is?" someone else sighed heavily.
"Let's be honest," the one with the hat said. "They're more like sacrifices than brides, really."
"Oh, yeah," Shu said, opening his eyes to reveal strikingly blue irises. "He explicitly said that we're not supposed to kill them."
"Oh really. If that's the case then we're going to have a very long relationship with these women," Hat Boy said.
Reiji turned to look at me. "It appears there is no misunderstanding after all. So allow us to introduce ourselves." He nodded to the handsome blonde-haired man in the back. "That is the eldest son, Shu. My name is Reiji and I'm the second son. Next to the triplets; Ayato-"
"I won't let you get away from me next time, Pancake," he smirked at Yui.
"Kanato-" Reiji continued.
"I can't wait to taste you again," he grinned at both Yui and I.
"And Laito."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sugar Tits," he winked at me. I made a face at his offensive name-calling.
"The last son is Subaru," Reiji finished.
"What a waste of time," Subaru scoffed.
"This can't be right," I protested.
"There has to be a mistake," Yui added her agreement.
"No one said anything about a bride," I shook my head in confusion.
"A-and besides," Yui gazed at each one of them fearfully. "The six of you…you're all kind of… weird."
"I second that," I nodded.
"I think…my sister and I need to contact our father," Yui stated.
Suddenly, Ayato pulled Yui's pink phone out and flipped it open. I stared in shock.
"That's my cell phone!" Yui gasped. "You give that back to me, now!"
"Do you really think that I should?" He smirked.
"Give it back!" Yui shouted, rushing towards him to snatch it away. But he held it just out of her reach, teasing and laughing. But then Subaru took it from him.
"What are you doing?" Yui demanded.
"This is what I'm doing," Subaru then crushed her phone like it was nothing but an empty can of soda, breaking it completely. I bit back a gasp. If he crushed her phone, then he'd destroy mine too. I couldn't let them touch it.
"How could you?" Yui gasped.
"Get lost," he turned away from her.
"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do," I snapped, surprising myself. Where did that come from? But apparently I wasn't finished, because I turned to Reiji – who seemed to be the most sensible one here. "Is there a landline we can use? I don't have a phone." I lied. I swallowed hard. That was the first lie I ever told in my life. And it just poured right out of my mouth like nothing. What had gotten into me? I hoped to God that none of them could see the guilt in my eyes.
"Yeah, right. What kind of little girl doesn't have a cell phone?" Laito said. "Hand it over, Sugar Tits."
Having enough of his arrogance, I snapped. "First of all, I'm eighteen, I'm not a 'little girl.' Secondly, my name is Clary, not 'Sugar Tits.' And lastly, I don't have a phone."
"So if I frisk you, I won't find one?" He flashed me a wicked smirk and got up.
"How about I empty my pockets for you and you keep your distance?" I bluffed, hoping to God he wouldn't call me out, because my phone was actually tucked into the waistband of my jeans since I had ran out of pocket room for it.
"Aw, but where's the fun in that?" He cooed as he approached me. Suddenly, he was behind me. I stood petrified as he toyed with my wavy locks of brunette hair. He inhaled deeply into my neck. "You smell so delicious I can hardly stand it."
"Get away from me!" I shouted as I regained control of my nerves and jerked away from him. But he laughed and grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. I tried to wrench my hand free but his grip was iron. So I did the first thing that came to mind, the only I could do; I bit him. Right in the wrist. His hard and icy flesh crunched between my teeth.
He yelled and pulled away, clutching his wound. I stared at him, shocked to the core at what I had just done…and frightened about what he would do about it. There was an eerie silence that settled in the room as he gaped at me, then down at his injury. There were some deep markings on his skin, but it wasn't punctured.
"Y-you bit me," Laito breathed in disbelief. Then he busted out in laughter. "You bit me!"
While his hysterical laughter increased, so did my fear. Yui moved to stand behind me.
"Laito," Reiji said in a hard tone. The laughter ceased immediately. "Did she draw blood?"
"Almost, but not quite. Still, that was quite the rush, Sugar Tits," he grinned. "I've never been the victim of a bite before. I've always been the one to do the biting. I'll have to make you pay for that later. When I bite you, I'll leave you a mark you'll never forget."
"You shouldn't take this so lightly," Reiji scolded. "You know what could happen if a mortal ingests a vampire's blood. Never let this happen again."
"Hey, she was the one who bit him. Maybe we ought to just sew her pretty mouth shut so we can drink her blood in peace," Ayato huffed.
My heart seemed to freeze with fear. Did I hear right? Did they just say vampire? Were they actually talking about drinking my blood and sewing my mouth right in front of me like they were discussing nothing more than the weather? I couldn't believe this.
"V-vampires?" Yui gasped. "You're all…vampires?" she quickly pulled her rosary out. "Take that, you monsters!"
It was silent yet again as everyone stared at us. I heard Shu chuckle in the back.
"Honestly," Reiji sighed heavily as he sat down. "You can't really believe there is any truth to that old fairy tale written by a mortal – the one that claims vampires are vulnerable to garlic, holy crosses and sunshine? It just goes to show how foolish and arrogant mortals can be. And it infuriates me," he growled.
I had had enough of it. I grabbed Yui's hand and turned for the door, booking it out of that horrible room. I made sure to push her ahead of me as we ran through the dark and sinister hallways of the mansion. My heart was pounding with each step.
After making three lefts and a right, which was going back the way we came, we were almost to the front doors. Yui tried to stop at a table on which an antiquated phone was placed, but I grabbed her arm as I caught up to her and pulled her along. There was no time for it.
Together, we ran for those grand doors. We ran for our freedom. I used my shoulder to barrel into it, only to find that it was locked. In my desperate attempt to escape, I slammed my body into the door again. It hardly shuddered. I gripped the handles and pushed and pulled on them, but they hardly budged.
God, please don't let this happen.
A hand suddenly slammed on the door beside my head. I jumped and turned around to see Laito and Ayato standing there. Laito was the one holding the door closed as he loomed over me.
"Did you honestly think you could escape?" Ayato smirked.
"Especially when I didn't get my revenge on you yet," Laito added, his eyes glowing green in the darkness like Ayato's did earlier. Laito took my chin in his hand and tilted my face up to his. My breaths came in choppy gasps and my heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest.
"I believe the time has come where you scream. I want to hear you scream. Please humor me by screaming at the top of your lungs," Ayato grinned as he leaned in.
And I did scream. A terrified shout ripped from my throat as I shoved Laito off me. I quickly grabbed Yui's hand and pushed past the vampires, running back into the mansion. This time we flew right up the stairs. At the top of the platform, Kanato stood there and grinned at the both of us. He said something but I couldn't hear him over the sound of my heavy breathing. But apparently Yui had, because she shrieked and her grip slipped from my hand as we both ran different ways, I went left and she went right.
I flashed her a horrified look over my shoulder as we ran our own ways. Though we were separated, there was no other choice but to push on. Yui was on her own now, and so was I. But I knew I had to find a way to get back to her as quickly as possible.
I swiftly sprinted down the halls and used my high speed to launch myself at the walls and kick off them when rounding corners so that I never had to slow my pace. I was grateful for my gift with running. If only my old track team could see me fly now.
Just as I was approaching a hallway up ahead that forked to the left and right, I heard faint traces of laughter from behind me. I immediately froze in my tracks.
"Claaaryyy," a voice in the darkness sang. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Chills ran down my back. I couldn't see where – or who – the voice was coming from. And I didn't stick around to find out.
I was already running again, dipping into the right hall. I glanced over my shoulder and caught a flash of purple hair.
Oh no. Not him.
I immediately took the very next turn out of that hallway, only to hear more laughter.
"You can't run from me, Sugar Tits!" He was close behind me.
With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I pushed myself to run harder than I ever have. My muscles strained as I quickly rounded another corner and then another and booked it up a flight of stairs two at a time, until the laughter and the taunting fell silent. Just to be safe, I turned one more corner before pressing my back up against the wall and resting there for a moment to catch my breath. I clamped a hand over my mouth to muffle my heavy panting.
It took a few moments before I was able to recover and relax slightly. I held my breath and closed my eyes, straining to listen for anyone coming this way.
It was utterly dead silent. As quiet as a graveyard. All I could hear was the sound of the blood rushing in my ears and my heart thumping strongly.
Even though I heard nothing that would indicate someone coming, my sixth sense still kicked in; the one where I could just feel it in the air that I wasn't alone. The feeling that caused my skin to break out in goosebumps and the hair on the back of my neck to rise because even though I couldn't hear or see them, I still knew they were there.
"Boo," a voice whispered into my ear. I screamed and ripped myself away from the wall. Amused laughter followed after me as I took off down the corridors again.
"I'll always find you, Sugar Tits!"
After turning this way and that and thoroughly finding myself lost but alone inside the mansion, I came upon a door with broken chains on the floor. I decided it was better than nothing and pushed my way inside, quickly closing the door behind me.
I took a moment to catch my breath as I panted like a dog, resting my hands on my knees. But before I could even glance around the room I had found myself in, I heard someone quickly coming this way from outside. I knew it was Yui right away from the sound of her breathy gasps for air. I quickly opened the door to usher her inside.
"Clary," she gasped as she ran in. I shut the door behind her.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine," she nodded, catching her breath. Relief ran through me. She glanced around. "Where are we?"
"I have no idea. Safe, hopefully." The room was dark and cold. Some of the furniture was covered in white sheets, like something you'd find in a haunted house. Against one wall, there was a vanity with multiple pieces of antique jewelry and perfume bottles spread out. Yui went to peer out the large window in which the moon shined light through. I examined the bookcases on the wall behind her. Just before I could reach for a volume, Yui suddenly gasped loudly and backed away from the window while clutching her chest.
"It hurts!" She cried as she slammed into the shelves and knocked a few books down.
"Yui!" I caught her before she could run into anything else. She went limp in my arms. I carefully set her on the ground and kneeled beside her, gripping her shoulders. Was she having a heart attack? I wouldn't doubt it. It was like we had stepped into a horror movie the moment we arrived here; never ending jump-scares. "Yui, what's wrong?!"
She whimpered in pain as she held her chest tightly. But she looked up, past me and out towards the window with wide, fearful eyes.
"Yui," I breathed. "Did you see something? Talk to me!"
She took a deep breath and relaxed a little. "I'm okay…I just thought…I thought I saw someone out there."
I got up and glanced out the window. Outside, all I could see was an empty balcony that the window-door led out to. The gardens before the balcony were all clear, too.
I shook my head and looked back at Yui. "There's nothing out there." I studied her carefully as she continued to hold her chest tightly. She truly did look like she saw a ghost or something. Maybe she had just hallucinated it. I wouldn't be surprised. Couldn't fear and exhaustion make you see things?
I sat down beside her. "Even if there was…why would that make your chest hurt?" I asked.
"I don't know," she shook her head, her wavy locks of platinum hair swayed with her. She glanced at the books that surrounded us, the ones that fell when she bumped into the case. Her eyes locked on something in particular. I followed her gaze to a picture on the floor that had been knocked out of a black book.
"Wait," I breathed, grabbing the photo and the book it came from. I held it up so Yui could see it too. In the photo, there was a man in a priest's uniform who looked like a younger version of Father. He held two sleeping infant girls in his arms; one with blonde hair like Yui's and the other with brown hair like mine. "What is this?"
"Could this be…us?" Yui gasped. I took a closer look at the picture.
"Yui," I whispered. "That's your rosary, isn't it?" I pointed to the pink and silver cross that the blonde-haired baby clutched in her small fist.
"Oh my God," her eyes widened. "This is us."
"Does that mean that this is Father's diary?" I asked, holding up the book.
"But…how?" Yui asked. "Why is it here?"
"I don't know," I shook my head. But I was thirsty for knowledge. I glanced at the page in the diary that the picture had been tucked into and began to read. "'Clary and Yui bring me great joy. The fact that they are not related to each other, nor are they my natural children is longer important to me. I am only grateful for these tremendous blessings every day of my life.'" That was the end of the passage.
I looked back up at Yui. The expression on her face matched what I was feeling inside – some sort of mix of bewilderment, confusion and heartbreak.
"S-so what does that mean?" she asked. "Is it true that we're not actually Father's daughters?!"
"And…we're not actually sisters," I breathed. It was like a punch to the gut; a slap to the face; a knife twisting in my heart. Were we really not biologically related? It almost seemed unreal. Ever since I could remember, I had always wondered what Mother looked like. Did she have pink eyes like Yui's or green eyes like mine? Did she have Yui's platinum blonde hair or my dark brown? I always assumed that whatever color Mother's hair was – whether it was brown or blonde – it was still wavy, because that seemed to be the only thing Yui and I shared in terms of physical features – wavy hair. Well, of course there was also the pale skin, thin frame and short stature that we had in common. But I was still a bit taller and heavier and slightly more developed than her. I always thought it was just because I was older, so of course I looked older too, right?
But why? Why did Father never tell us? Sure, I could've handled knowing I was actually adopted. But to find out this way…
I reached for my phone and dialed Father's number, intending to get to the bottom of this at once.
"Well, well, look what we have here," a voice chuckled. I jumped and dropped the diary, looking up just in time to see Laito snatch my phone away. "It appears you lied to us about not having a phone." He smirked as he smashed it between his two hands, not even bothering to see who I was calling first. I glared at him as he did so, but I couldn't do anything about it. "You're a good liar, Sugar Tits. You had me fooled for a second."
"Of all our rooms, you had to pick this one to enter," Reiji sighed. That was when I realized that all six vampires were in the room, it wasn't just Laito. "We took great care to seal off this room so you shouldn't have been able to get in here. I must be sure to install a new lock on the door immediately."
"That's for sure," Laito agreed. "Why don't you tell us how you managed to get in here, Sugar Tits?"
"The lock was already broken when I got here," I said honestly.
"Remember that you are my prey, so please don't move," Kanato grinned at Yui.
"I'm not anyone's prey," she protested.
"I've heard enough of your damn excuses!" Subaru growled, hitting the wall so hard, a few more books toppled off the shelves and rained down onto Yui and I. I gasped and shielded my head, but was luckily not hit by any sort of falling literature.
"Jeez. Give it a rest, Subaru," Laito sighed.
"You shut up!" He shouted.
"That's the look," Ayato smirked as he held Yui's chin in his hand. "You know how to get my juices flowing, don't you?"
Fearing for Yui, I pushed him away. "Don't touch her!"
Laito laughed. "Ayato, let's feed on Sugar Tits first. She seems to be the most rebellious and we need to straighten that out right away. Besides, I still need to get my revenge," he smirked.
"I would like a taste too, please," Kanato begged.
"There's one thing you must fully comprehend from this day forward," Reiji said. "You will never be able to escape, so make no attempt to do so."
"Don't be such a wuss and get straight to the point, will you? Just tell them that if they try to escape, they're dead," Subaru said.
Ayato, Kanato and Laito each had a firm grip on me. Laito and Ayato were both sniffing and licking my neck. Kanato had my wrist. I struggled to pull away but their grips were firm.
"Stop it!" I shouted, on the verge of tears. My heart pounded painfully against my ribs, hammered in my ears. I thought I could hear Yui begging for them to stop too. The edges of my vision grew dark as my panic skyrocketed. "Let me go! Stop!"
Glass shattered loudly on the floor all of a sudden, causing the three vampires to pull away from me and look over at Shu, who sat on the arm of a chair with his back to me. But he glanced at me over his shoulder with his blazing blue eyes.
"My bad," he said in a lazy tone. "Seems like I knocked something over." He turned away, sighing. I blinked at him. Did…he do that on purpose?
The three vampires let go of me, apparently the mood had been killed. Relief flushed through my body, so strong it made me feel weak. My heart started to slow after thumping at nearly impossible speeds. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with immense fatigue, feeling completely drained of energy.
I wouldn't say I fell asleep. It was more like I passed out.
