The Blood Nexus
Chapter 3: Encounter
^V^
The next day, I got nothing but stares. Jealous stares, worried stares, and even some flirty stares. Honestly, the stares were scarier than the upcoming encounter with my assigned vampire, the Dark Ace.
I decided to keep my ears open for his name used in his fans' conversations today, and I asked my friends to listen in whenever they could, too. We met at lunchtime to discuss what we heard.
"Get this, guys." Finn whispered. "I heard that he's royalty from a distant terra. A prince!"
"I heard that he can be a violent killer, but only to those who deserve it. Otherwise, he's a kind and gentle guy." Piper said.
"I heard that because of his pureblooded-ness, he has great self-control." Junko said, his mouth full from eating his sandwich.
"What did you hear, Aerrow?" Piper asked me, while I was still absorbing all these rumors into my brain. "Anything good?"
"Uh, well…" I sighed, shaking my head. "All I heard was fan-girl nonsense. Nothing important."
"Well…" Finn took a bite of his sandwich. "It sounds like he's just some stuck-up, pretty-boy prince from far away."
"You can relate." Piper smirked at him.
"Hmph! I wish I was that rich!" Finn retorted, bits of bread flying out of his mouth. Piper scrunched her face in disgust.
"Look, everyone, none of that matters." I said calmly. "If what Junko says is true, then that's all that counts for my sake. I'll just go, give blood, and leave."
"Yeah, well, good luck, buddy." Junko said, patting me on the shoulder.
Yeah, luck. Hopefully, I wouldn't need so much of that.
^V^
That night, I stood at the Moon Dorm's entrance. The door was very tall and had stained-glass windows. It was like the entrance to an old cathedral. I knocked on the door, wanting to be polite and not barge in. Soon after the door creaked open, and a tall, skinny vampire stood there in the doorway.
"Hi, I'm, uh… here for the Dark Ace." I told him.
"Yes. Follow me." He said. He had a strange voice, like he didn't talk very much, and he was dressed formal for no particular reason. He must've been like a servant for the other vampires, or something.
He let me step through the door and into the hall. The place was incredible, nearly built for a king. Although it was kind of creepy for my tastes; ancient architecture and gargoyle statues surrounded the area. There were some other vampires around, probably hanging out before their classes started.
When the door shut, they all turned to look at me. They looked at me in shock and disgust, and then turned around to their friends and whispered to each other, but I couldn't hear them. What was their problem with me?
"This way." The servant vampire said, starting for the big staircase. I followed quickly behind him as we climbed the stairs and went through several, dark hallways.
"Um, so…" I mumbled, trying to start a conversation with this guy. "Is the Dark Ace… nice?" All the servant did was turn his head to give me an unemotional look. I got the hint and didn't say anything else, until we arrived at the end of the hall. "This is his room?" I asked, eyeing the door.
"Yes." The vampire answered. "You may enter." He turned and started walking down the hall.
"Thank you!" I called to him. I shrugged off his weird behavior, and then turned to the door. He said I could go right in, so I took the knob and turned it carefully. Just go, give blood, leave. I repeated in my head. I pushed the door open carefully and stuck my head in. "Hello? President Dark Ace?" I called, not really knowing how formal I should be with this guy.
"Please, come in." I heard a deep voice tell me. I obeyed, slowly walking inside and closing the door. The dorm was incredible. There was a velvet carpet under my sneakers, and sleek, red wallpaper around the walls. The furniture was old-fashioned, like Victorian-style. There was no bed in the room, so I assumed his dorm was more like an apartment, or rather for him, a penthouse. I didn't see the Dark Ace anywhere in the room, either.
"I'm Aerrow, your… um… feeder, sir." I said, looking around for him.
"Yes, I've been expecting you, Aerrow." I saw him stand up from a chair that was facing the windows. He turned his head and looked me dead in the eyes. For the first time that night, I felt weak and nervous. "I am the Dark Ace." He bowed his head, and I bowed back, showing my respect. He was taller than I thought, and much more handsome up close. He was wearing his red and green night class uniform. I felt a little underdressed, only wearing my crappy street clothes and sneakers. As I was gawking at him, I didn't realize he was moving closer to me. I also didn't realize that I was backed up against the door like a scared rabbit. "Is something wrong?" The Dark Ace asked. My eyes shot back up to meet his.
"Uh, n-no! Not at all, Mr. President!" I said a little too loudly.
"Good." The dark-haired man said. "And please, you don't have to call me that. The Dark Ace will do." Before I knew it, he stood over me proudly, drowning me in his presence. I felt the blood rush to my head.
"Um, Dark Ace…" I mumbled, finding it difficult to speak. "Do… Do I know you… because, you seem familiar, and…" I stopped, feeling his finger close my jaw and lift my head up.
"Hm…" He said, studying my face carefully. I averted my eyes from him, feeling my blush get deeper. "I'm afraid I haven't seen you before, Aerrow."
"Oh… okay." I responded. I didn't know whether I should be disappointed or not. But, I decided to put this away. After all, he would know if he saw me before, so I guessed me must just look like someone I've known.
After I was done thinking, I noticed that he had his hand moved from my chin to the back of my neck. He moved his face to my neck, sniffing. "Mmm… your blood smells good." He used his free hand and took mine, gently holding it. "Are you afraid?" He whispered.
"No… no, I'm not." I answered, trying to group every bit of confidence I had. He brought his head up to face me.
"Alright, then." Was all he said. He turned my hand over so the palm was facing up, and brought it up to our nearly touching faces. He used his sharp nail to lightly prick my finger. I hissed at the sudden pain, watching a tiny drop of blood ooze out of the cut. The Dark Ace used his tongue to carefully lick the blood away, keeping his eyes fixed on mine. I couldn't help but let out a little squeak; I didn't know if I was scared or… dare I say it… aroused. Maybe both. Maybe more of the scared part.
Dark Ace grinned, letting go of my hand and taking my shoulder. He gently pushed my head to the side, threading his fingers through my hair and leaning his head closer to my exposed neck. I knew what was coming.
"Ah!" I yelped, tensing up completely. My hands clawed at the door behind me, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I could feel the blood in my body rushing at a hundred miles per minute…
All before he even opened his mouth to bite me. His lips were barely touching my skin, and I was already feeling the pain before it even happened. I felt him freeze up to, and then I heard him sigh, and he pulled away from me slowly, taking a few steps back.
"What is it?" I asked, relaxing a bit and opening my eyes. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, not at all." He said politely. "I don't like my feeders to be scared." He went to stand by the chair he was sitting in. "That's why I don't hunt, after all."
"…I'm sorry." I said, pushing myself off the wall. "I… I just never did this before, and…"
"It's alright. I can wait." He said to me, smiling.
"Are you sure?" I asked. I knew that vampires here took blood tablets instead of feeding off of humans everyday, but their effect doesn't last forever, maybe only a few weeks.
"I'm sure." The Dark Ace sat in the chair again. "You may come back tomorrow evening."
"Alright." I said simply. "So… I can leave now?"
"Yes, you may."
"Alright." I said again, trying to find the door handle behind me. "I'm sorry again!" He did not say anything in return. I found the handle and carefully slipped out of the room, my breathing still ragged.
What has that vampire done to me?
^V^
