Chapter 3: Feeding Wounds
"I don't believe it…..it's a Tenshi vampire." Yugi stiffened. How….? The others in the room looked at him.
"A what?" Yami asked. Seto snorted.
"A Tenshi vampire. They're said to be extinct. You're probably looking at the last one on the entire face of the earth." Yami turned to him. He could see confusion and interest written in his gaze. Yugi just hoped that none of that was for money.
"But what are they? I've never heard of a Tenshi vampire in my life." Seto just sighed.
"Of course you haven't. They've been dead for over three hundred years." Yami looked at me with mistrust.
"I thought you said you were ninety eight."
"I am. As a vampire I'm ninety eight. But as a human I'm four hundred and forty four." Yami looked at him in confusion. "I was forcefully blood bonded to a vampire for three hundred and forty four years. In the end he decided that he would turn me because I was too stubborn for him." The others were listening now.
"If he got fed up with you couldn't he have just sent you out?" Yugi shook his head.
"One you're blood bonded to a vampire you're blood bonded for life. If he had left me as a human, hunters would catch me and use my blood link to find him. The only way to get rid of it was to turn me." Yugi shivered. "When he found out I was a Tenshi he never let me out of his sight. He fed off me daily to make sure I couldn't escape and to make himself stronger. I only escaped because he was gone for more than a day to avoid hunters." Yugi shivered again, he was feeling cold, and his fangs were starting to ache. 'Oh no.' He thought.
"Stronger? How could your blood make him stronger?" Seto coughed.
"This is where Tenshi knowledge comes in. Tenshi vampires are probably the weakest of all the vampire races. There are four in all. Almost every myth you hear about vampires applies to a Tenshi. They have no reflections, silver can harm them if it's in their system, crosses repel them, holy water burns them, they are sensitive to sunlight, and garlic repels them, if only because of the smell. Tenshi vampires are extremely rare because of one very important fact. They retain their innocence." Eveyone gasped. Only the truly pure of heart could keep something as precious as innocence into a cursed life. "This is where Tenshi's got their name. Tenshi means angel in Japanese. Tenshi vampires are very reluctant to kill and will avoid it if possible. But because they are so weak they have to feed every day. If this Tenshi is feeding once a month I'm surprised it doesn't kill two or more. This means it has some other source of blood that it uses to sate itself until it's ready to hunt again. But I'm getting off track. Tenshi's were greatly discriminated in their race and treated no better than a human in their presence. One vampire even went as far as to claim a Tenshi as a pet like he would for a human. The Tenshi didn't like this and struggled against him. One night the vampire lost control and drained the Tenshi dry. At first he was sorry and treated Tenshi with respect, but all that changed when he was tracked by a hunter. He was on his way to his home when one of them ran him through the heart with a stake. But he didn't die. The vampire recovered from shock first and killed the hunter. It turned out that the Tenshi's blood had increased his physical, and mental abilities by several times, as well as make him immune to all attempts to kill him. Of course, when the other vampires figured this out they went on a killing spree. Everyone was trying to get their hands on a Tenshi vampire to increase their strength and become invincible. Soon there weren't any more left. The vampire lord ordered that no more Tenshi's were to be made. Too many of his subjects had great strength and could overpower him. They've never come back since." Yami looked at the young vampire in pity and awe. Hatred flared for the vampires. They were willing to kill innocents just for their own lust for power, and this small one was caught in the middle of it. No wonder he wore a belt collar to protect his neck. He needed it just as much as humans did, perhaps more.
All of a sudden Yugi curled in on his stomach and groaned. Yami came forward with concern. Seto grabbed him before he could touch the boy. Yami looked up at him.
"What?"
"Remember what I said about Tenshi's having to feed every day? This one hasn't had a meal yet." Now he understood. If he touched Yugi he could send him into bloodlust and trigger a killing spree. So instead he knelt down to his eye level.
"Yugi? Can you hear me?" The vampire whimpered and managed to look at him. "Are you hungry?" He got a nod. "Do you need something now?" Another nod. "Do you need to kill?" Yugi shook his head. "Knock unconscious?" Nod. Yami braced himself for the next question. "If…..if I….if I gave you my blood…..would you promise to take only as much as you need?" Yugi looked at him in shock. Slowly he gave a nod. Yami nodded back and began to untie him.
"Yami wait! You haven't thought this through!" Bakura and Marik tried to stop him, but Seto held out an arm.
"Let him do it. If we took the time to go out and find a willing victim he would already be in bloodlust and killing everything in sight. Yami's going with the only choice we have. Don't worry. Yugi said that he only needed enough to knock him out. He'll be fine, if a bit weak." Yugi rubbed his wrists where the wire had cut into his arms. Yami came forward and offered his neck, tilting his head to the side to make it more accessible. Yugi looked back and forth between his neck and Yami himself, trying to make sure it was okay. Yami nodded his consent. Yugi carefully leaned in. His feet were still tied so he had to be careful. He whispered into Yami's ear.
"This won't hurt. I promise." Feeling reassured Yami gave him a small smile of gratitude before closing his eyes and waiting. There was a small twinge as Yugi's fangs sank into his neck. He felt the small form begin to suckle at the wound, drinking up the blood that welled from the injury. Frail hands gripped his shoulders as he fed, pressing against the skin like a cat does when it kneads its paws. He was right. It didn't hurt. It almost felt good. Yugi was sucking gently, trying to make sure not to cause him pain. The feeling of being drained was oddly soothing, the rhythm of pressure from Yugi sucking seeming to lull him, keep him relaxed. Soon he began to feel weak. He slumped a little against Yugi as his strength left him. He began to get frightened. What if Yugi needed more than what he said? What if he lost himself and sucked him dry? As if tasting the fear in his blood he felt the vampire clutch one of his hands in his own. This reassured him. For some reason he couldn't help but trust Yugi, knowing that no matter what, he would never break a promise. Black started to come to the edges of his vision, fighting to cover it up. He heard a small voice in his head. /Don't worry, I'm almost done./ After a few more mouthfuls Yugi pulled away. Instantly his friends came to help him up.
"Yam's! You okay?" Joey was here. He smiled and gave a thumbs up before the black consumed his vision and he fell unconscious.
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Seto came over and tied the vampire's hands in front of him. He felt it might be a little more comfortable this way.
"Sorry kid. But it's for more than our safety." Yugi nodded. He knew exactly what this man meant.
"Yami? Yami! Come on wake up pal!" Joey rounded on the vampire. "What did you do to him?!" Yugi suddenly realized that taking Yami's blood may not have been the best course of action. He whimpered and shrank away from Joey.
"H-He offered his blood t-to h-help me. H-He's fine. J-Just unconscious." Joey looked at him suspiciously. Seto stood up.
"It's true. Yami was even the one to offer first." This reassured Joey. Tristan however, was a different story.
"That's no excuse! What if he's already dead?" Yugi's eyes widened in fear.
"N-No! H-He'll wake up t-tomorrow! H-He's fine! Please don't hurt me!" The vampire curled in on himself and wept. Now everyone was looking at Tristan.
"What?" He snapped.
"Not dat dat worry wasn' on our minds too, but did ya have ta bring it up? Da poor guys scared stiff." Joey knelt down beside him and rubbed his back. The little vampire hiccupped and wept into his shirt, clinging to the material like a small child. Joey looked down at his shirt in surprise. Everyone else left and let Joey deal with the frightened vampire. Everyone seated themselves in different places in the living room. Bakura and Marik took turns playing duel monsters and playing pranks on the other in the house. Tristan sulked in a corner watching T.V. and Kaiba typed on his laptop. Every once and a while one of them would go check on Yami. Seto was able to establish that Yami was indeed in perfect health, just unconscious from the blood loss. Joey came out much a few hours before dawn with a look of awe on his face.
"Blood." He said. The others looked at him. For some reason Joey had taken off his shirt and was holding it in his hands.
"What?" Tristan asked.
"Blood. The vampire…..cries tears of blood." He showed them his shirt. It was stained crimson where Yugi had cried on his shoulder. Seto sighed.
"Great. He's going to be hungry now." He walked up.
"Why would he be hungry? He just ate." Joey said as he followed him, curious.
"Because mutt, he just cried half of his dinner onto your shirt. The blood had to come from somewhere." Joey realized he was right. And the vampire had been looking rather pale when he had calmed down. "For your information his name is Yugi." Joey looked up at Seto. What did he mean? He had explained to him about Tenshi vampires and the position this one was in, but what was this info now? Seto saw his bewildered expression and snorted. "It's the vampires name you dolt." Anger and humiliation flooded through his system. Of course! It was the vampire's name! They went back in to the room Yami had set up for him. Yugi was rubbing his eyes and licking the back of his hand, trying to get back the blood he had lost. When he saw the two he whimpered. Pricks of red welled at the corners of his eyes. Seto knelt beside him. "It's okay kid. We're not going to hurt you." He rolled up his sleeve and offered him his wrist. "Here, I know you lost blood from crying, but don't take too much." Yugi shook his head. Seto sighed. "Don't worry. No one will yell at you." After a moment he nodded and took the wrist in his tied hands. He bit into the vein in his arm and began sucking up the blood. Seto flinched for a moment. Those fangs were sharp, even if they were small. He only took enough to make him feel dizzy. He soon recovered and was able to walk with only a slight sway. Yugi gave him a smile of gratitude and held out his hands. Seto handed his wrist back, not knowing what he wanted to do. Yugi licked the bite marks with his tongue, coating them with saliva. Seto and Joey watched in fascination as the wound healed as if it had never been there. Seto examined his wrist. There wasn't even the hint of a scar. He looked at Yugi. "How…?"
"It's a Tenshi's special power. I can heal anybody I want by simply licking the wound, though it doesn't work on people who are already dead or have fatal wounds." He grinned. "You can't know everything about vampires." Seto couldn't stop a smile from gracing his lips.
"Take care of yourself kid. And watch out for Tristan. He's rather prejudice against everything that isn't human. He doesn't even trust Yami, and he's the leader." Yugi looked a little frightened but nodded his head. Kaiba loosened his bonds to make sure that he was comfortable, then left. Yugi snuggled on the bed as best he could. These people were nice. They hadn't killed him yet and they were even feeding him. With their own blood no less. Yugi couldn't remember feeling this full since…..well he tried not to think about it. He yawned. This had been a long night. It was time to go to bed. His internal clock said that the sun would rise in a few hours. With a contented sigh he sunk into the sheets and lost himself in the heavy sleep that all vampires enter when the sun rises.
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Everyone woke that morning to a scream. Yami was woken from his blood loss induced slumber and tried to rush to the noise. He was stopped when the weakness caused by blood loss made him crash to the floor. He groaned. Joey came in and helped him stand. Yami held his head. What had screamed? It was very high and was piercing his head. Then he realized. Yugi! Somehow he managed to stagger out of Joey's arms and stumble to the room he had placed the little vampire in. What he saw made him gasp. Somehow the curtain that had kept the light out of the room had fallen down and the sun was now burning the vampire. He writhed on the bed as the light continued to hurt him. Yami raced over and began fumbling with the pole that held the curtains up. He couldn't get it all the way up. He was still too weak from Yugi feeding last night. Seto came in and raised the blackout curtains all the way. Yugi's screams faded to whimpers as the light was blocked. Yami went over to Yugi to make sure he was okay. The small vampire hissed at him, absolutely terrified of them now. Yami sighed and kept his distance.
"Yugi, are you all right?" He got no response. "You don't have to answer, but I know the light hurt you. Could you tell us where you're burned? We want to help." The vampire still didn't trust them. "If you don't trust the others at least trust me. I was unconscious the whole time. And I would never do that to someone, no matter who or what they were." He came forward. Yugi whimpered but stayed still. It seemed that Yami had gotten through to him, somewhat. He set a gentle hand on top of his own. "Now, where does it hurt little one?" Slowly, Yugi touched his legs. "Your legs?" He nodded. "Okay. Seto? Get some burn cream. I know there's some in the medicine cabinet. Joey? I don't know how severe this burn is. We might have to give him something to speed the healing process." Joey nodded.
"Sure. But you're not givin again today. Ya just woke up from the last bite." Yami looked reluctant, but agreed. Seto came back with a tube of burn cream. Yami pulled up Yugi's pant leg to reveal a bright red burn with white blisters. Some had even popped and were now oozing sores. Yami felt guilty when he saw them. Yugi would need some blood to help these along. He squeezed some of the burn cream into his hand.
"This will hurt Yugi. But it will help the burn heal okay?" Yugi whined and nodded his head. Yami carefully applied the cream to his leg. Yugi whimpered and tried to back away from the touch. Yami put a steadying hand on his shoulder. "I know Yugi, but this will help, I promise." Yugi's whimpers faded as the cream began to cool and numb the wounds. Yami put some gauze on the sores to keep them from rubbing and getting worse. Then he looked at Yugi. "Better?" The vampire cooed and gave Yami a smile. Yami decided to check his wing. Yugi held the appendage still while Yami ran a hand over the bones. They were coming along nicely. He reset the wing and wrapped it back up. After that was taken care of Yami looked back at him. "Are you hungry Yugi?" He nodded. Yami sighed and looked at them. Marik came forward, but Yugi hissed at him and snuggled closer to Yami. Confused Marik backed up. Bakura came forward this time. Yugi seemed to calm down when he felt the slight vampiric aura. Bakura offered his neck. Again, Yugi fed. Since he had something yesterday his hunger was not vicious and he only needed enough to make Bakura unable to stand. Yami was surprised by how much it took to feed the little one. But he supposed it was better than him killing everyone.
"I don' like this man. What if we all turn into vampires?" Yugi let out a snort. Yami was surprised. He hadn't thought Yugi was capable of contempt.
"I can't turn anybody." Seto came forward, curious.
"Why not?"
"I don't have any venom." Everyone was left speechless.
"How can you not have venom? Every vampire has it!" Yugi shrugged.
"Apparently I don't. All I can do is blood bond unless another vampire drained the human and I gave them my blood."
"Umm…what do you mean by venom?" Joey asked. Yugi raised his eyebrow at him.
"Every vampire has fangs right?" Joey nodded.
"Right."
"Well, most vampires have a gland in their fangs that produces a special venom. It stimulates the heart and relaxes the muscles, causing the victim to be incapable of moving while helping the vampire gets all the blood from the body. But when the vampire's blood is added it changes the effects. The venom sharpens the mind, heightens the senses, and helps make the muscles stronger and more compact. The blood provides immortality and fast regeneration, though blood speeds it up even more. Combined the two allow the vampire to grow wings and do magic. But for some reason I don't have this gland. I'm unable to make the venom that our kind produces, so I have to rely on draining quickly to cause as little pain as possible." Bakura stepped up to him, still a little unstable from Yugi feeding off of him.
"But it didn't hurt when you took my blood. So how can it be painful?" Yugi shrugged.
"I don't know. When the vampire who held me captive had me as a Tenshi he would give me a person once a day. Sometimes the person would give it to me willingly, sometimes I had to restrain them. The ones who gave willingly told me that it never hurt, but the unwilling ones would shout out their pain." He shuddered, as if remembering their screams. "I don't like to think about it much. When I left his home I didn't eat for several weeks. I knew that if I fed regularly he would be able to follow the trail of victims. When I settled here I made sure to only hunt once a month, finding ways to get blood from the hospital's blood bank." Seto smirked in triumph when he heard how the vampire sustained himself.
"Clever. You could get blood without raising suspicion and only have to kill once a month, which further reduced your chances of being caught." Yugi nodded.
"I usually go to the blood bank in different disguises and get a certain number of pouches, but sometimes I have to steal them. That doesn't happen often though." Yami leaned forward with interest.
"Out of curiosity, how many do you take?" Yugi did a quick calculation.
"At least ten. One pouch will only sustain me for a day, and even then I'm a little hungry. But I try to make each pouch last as long as I can. One will last about three days." Yami frowned.
"You're starving yourself." Yugi shrugged, indifferent.
"It's not like I'd die. Even if I did no one would care. But yes, I haven't had a full stomach since I left the vampires house." Yugi sighed. "You actually caught me because I only had two pouches left. I wanted to save them in case of an emergency." Seto looked thoughtful.
"You know you've given me an idea." He said. The others looked at him.
"What?"
"Well, if Yugi can live off of the blood pouches then I can get as many as I want from blood banks around the world. You'd never have to kill again." Yugi looked excited.
"Really?! You could do that?" He was squirming in his bonds with excitement. Seto smiled slightly as he watched his excitement.
"Yes, I could really do that. But on one condition." Yugi calmed.
"What is it?"
"I want you to help us catch vampires." Yugi's face fell as he thought about it. If he joined them he would never have to live off a human again. But on the other hand…..if the vampires found out he helped humans capture their kind he was dead. Who was he kidding? He was already dead! Whether he ran into them or not! Yugi nodded.
"Okay. I'll do it."
So Yugi is now a vampire who's a vampire hunter. Don't worry. This isn't the end.
