Again Disclaimer: I don't own Black Blood Brothers okay =D
Author's Notes: Hello everybody! I'm back. Sorry about the delay of the chapter I know I promised it three months ago but there are things that came up, I'm so sorry… Anyway I hope you enjoy the story.
Chapter 3: Confusions Revelations
'Can you tell me who am I to you?' is the question I really wanted to ask him, that sinister man who know something about me, about the real me and as for the me right now his lies seems to be my truth and my truth are mere lies of my past. I've been drowned in my thoughts and without knowing, I'm already in the middle of the party with Jiro at my side. Many vampires looked at us with disgust or perhaps angst against us, Jiro the well-known silver blade who killed his kind at Hong Kong during the Hong Kong Shock, is here and with a human girl having fun in a place filled with vampires. I notice in this big well-lighted elegant room that all of the heads of the covens are here, gathered in this one place. I also notice the girl with white hair on purple gown in one corner with another man which looked like a butler, I want to go there to be friend her but as soon as I took a step towards her, I felt constant glaring from the people in the party. It irritates me so I dropped the idea and instead I headed towards the buffet table, there I see many types of foods from American down to European dishes and not to mention a mountain of sweets at the end corner of the table. I want to eat but I remember I'm on a diet so I just get myself a biscuit which is placed beside the sweets around the corner of the table and eat it. I look around and see a bouquet of rose in the veranda across the room and when I stare at it, I vividly saw the guy from my dream. He smile at me and put his hand out, at first I hesitate to come but in the end my curiosity win over me so I run across the room without averting my eyes on him, I stick out my hand on him but he suddenly faded when I arrive and only found a bouquet of roses lying on the floor. I pick it up and look outside, I constantly looked around the place and found him standing at a branch of the tree across the room smiling at me then suddenly vanished into thin air. As soon as he vanishes, Jiro arrived.
"What happened, Mimiko? You suddenly run towards the veranda."
"I felt intoxicated so I go out here to catch a breath."
"Want to go home?"
"No. Hey Jiro, why are we here?" I asked suddenly.
"It is because today, the Dark Princess of the North arrived from her long journey."
"Is it the girl with white hair over there near the buffet table?"
"Yes. I think you haven't paid your respect to her."
"Ah. Yes, Actually I tried but it seems that all eyes are on me so I dropped the idea."
"Oh, well. I'll go with you. No. I MUST go with you or else she'll be mad at me if I didn't accompany my partner to her." He emphasizes the word must, at first it bothers me but in the end I ignore it, it isn't my business after all. He smiled at me then he bend over and asked my hand. I hold his hand and together we went towards the Dark Princess of the North. When we arrived, Jiro immediately said his greetings to the girl. I was startled at the formality that Jiro showed towards the girl then I felt Jiro's glare at me while he's still bowing, and remember that I must say my greetings. When I told her my greetings, she immediately bowed before us, meaning she recognized our greetings and leave. I find it rude not to even respond with words but at least she bowed down too, I am irritated so I want to ask Jiro if he can accompany me somewhere around for me to loosen up but when I looked at him, I can feel his uneasiness. I want to ignore him but the more I want to the more it irritates me so I withdraw my hand from his which shocked him a bit after that there's an awkward silence between us, I become annoyed at the silence so I excused myself.
I rush through the crowd not minding who I walked past into but something catch my attention before I reach the door, it is the voodoo doll in my dreams, the one who stopped me entering the big house. I stare at it intently and it returned my gaze with some unusual depth on it that it consumes all of me. I want to look away but I can't, there's something in its gaze that pulls me towards it, the next thing I know I'm walking towards it. When I'm about to reach the place where the doll stands it suddenly run towards the door and left the room. I followed it down in the hallway, down to the cellar of the mansion.
The cellar of Zelman's mansion is creepy, dark and cold. The lights are out and there are no windows, the rays of the moon can't penetrate the room. I want to repress the feeling of fear but little by little it creeps unto me. I want to return to the party but it seems that the door was being locked from the outside and I can hear distant laughter. I banged on the door but no one seemed to hear me or maybe they're playing deaf. I lose hope and decided to venture inside the creepy cellar. I tried to picture out what the cellar looked like based on the things I feel under my feet and by the touch of my hands. I pictured out that the walls are tall and they're damp, the floor are made of stones and it is unleveled. I walked deeper in the room with the walls as my guide. After a while, I felt I run into something and when I scrutinize it, it is a lantern but there's no way I can lit a lantern so I leave it behind but when I think it over again, I can use it as a weapon when someone suddenly assault me. I walk and walked until the texture of the wall changed from rough and damp stones, it became smooth and dry, from unleveled floor to flat smooth ground. I am amazed at the change that I have discovered; I looked around and found a window, a spring of hope bloomed in my heart when I found the door through the light that creeps through the window. When I opened the door, instead of people and the hallway leading to the party, there are evergreen forest around me and an old mansion, like in my dream, and then the next thing I saw is that man.
He is sitting outside the mansion, sipping a cup of tea and reading a book together with the doll I'm looking for. The doll is sitting on the opposite side of the table resting at the lap of a little girl with short brown hair and a long black gown which touches the floor, the girl's holding a bouquet of narcissus flower which suddenly withers whenever she looked away from it. I also notice the surroundings, it's different from the first time I went there and to wherever I look, there's grass and flowers. I watch from afar but the girl is sharp, she noticed my existence. She averts her eyes from the flowers looking around as if she's looking for something. When her face turned in my direction, I was petrified at the sight of the girl; she's faceless after that she looked back at the bouquet. I realize that the flowers that withered a while ago were brought back to life after she gazes on it. After a while, the girl stood up and went inside the mansion. The man wondered why the girl he's with suddenly went back inside so he search the direction to where the girl's gaze lingered for quite sometime. I noticed the man looked at me so I decided to come back at the place where I came from but he suddenly shouted at me that makes me stumble over a stone revealing myself to him who's now standing in front of me.
"It's you again." He said in a flat voice.
"Yeah! It's me again." I replied.
"Why are you here? Why is it every time I'm having a good time you always shows up?" he asked me.
"Look who's talking but you know what, every time I'm in trouble you always show up. Seriously, EVERY TIME."
"And you know what Miss Good-for-nothing brat, YOU'RE the one who always shows up in my place and who'd suddenly start prattling on the things she wants to say."
"Hey! Enough of this idiotic conversation, I seriously need your help. Can you tell me who called me here?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're not the one who called me into sleep?"
"I just want to clarify some things, first, yes I am not the one who'd call you in my sanctuary and lastly, if you think this is a dream think twice." He said to me as he went back inside the mansion. I look at him retreating from the garden of the beautiful mansion but when he's gone, the ever green forests and the other things started to look creepy which gives me Goosebumps. After a while, he opened the door and irritatingly, he pulled me inside the mansion. The mansion looked so grandiose and exquisite antique mansion unlike when I went there for the first time, everything looked so creepy and in havoc.
We walk inside the mansion and for the first time I notice a big portrait of a girl. The portrait was at the center of the wide old teak staircase that has old carpet on it. If I'm not mistaken the girl is in her 7 or perhaps 8 years of age, and has very beautiful big brown eyes and long shiny brown hair. When I stare at the portrait carefully, her eyes bear pain on them, a pain that draws you on to it. Little by little I was drawn on to her eyes and the next thing I know, I'm dreaming or so I thought.
I am in a castle-like room together with the girl in the portrait and another woman in her teenage years that looked exactly like the little girl. I thought they're sisters but the girl suddenly called the woman her mother so I was bit taken a back.
"I still don't want to sleep, brother's still playing outside." The girl said to her mother.
"Little as you are, you still can't play those games with your brother. It'll hurt you."
"But…"
"Do you want some story then?" The woman said immediately interrupting the sentence of the girl. Instead of getting angry she smiled and said yes. After hearing the consent of the girl the woman start the story.
"Long ago there lived a wishful bat in an abandoned castle dungeon inside a thick forest. Before, a princess lived there but ten years after her birth, she died. Because of the death of their daughter, the king and the queen decided to move into another place, to where that place is, no one knows. A year had passed and the castle slowly become ruins which attracts many creatures of the night, there's the wolf, the bat, the snakes, and other animals who took refuge in the ruined castle. The wishful bat stayed at the castle's dungeon while the wolves stayed near the hall together with the snakes. They all lived there for quite sometime but one day a prince from a far away land came and proclaimed that he now owns the castle. The animals were disturbed because of the arrival of the prince so they all abandoned the place except for the wolves and the bat. The bat and the wolves stayed to where they are. First, the prince found the wolves, they looked hungry and angry for his disturbance, they tried to attack the prince but to their surprise the prince just smiled. The wolves don't move from where they are standing, observing the prince's gestures and the prince's speech, he ordered his men to bring a lot of meat and gave it to the wolves. He ordered his men to tame them and they'll be of great use to him when guarding the castle. The prince explored more of the castle he grew tired of walking around so he decided to rest near a big door. As he lay there, he heard noises inside, curious about the noise, he went in and found a staircase leading towards the castle's dungeon. When he reached it, he found the lonely bat hanging upside down in the ceiling with its gleaming eyes; he looked at the bat and the bat looked back at him, at first he thought the bat would fly away from him but to his surprised the bat didn't do anything instead it fly towards his fingers and rested there."
"Mother, that was too long for a short story."
"My dear child, it wasn't an ordinary story, it is the story of our bloodline and even the vampires itself."
"How come mother knows so much about our history?"
"It's because mother was there, and that, never mind." Woman said as she looked down at the floor. She looked too depressed it's as if she beholds something of great sadness that no one would ever erase from her memory.
"Mother tell me more" the girl said
"The prince became friends with the bat and the bat fell in love for the prince for the first time. The prince treated the bat as if it exists as a human; there was a time when they kissed each other during full moon. Days have passed and the prince grew older and older he reached the age wherein boys of their age got married and have their own family. The prince was aware of the truth that he must go and look for a maiden to love but it seems that someone already stole his heart and it is, unlikely to say, the bat that he took care for the passed years. His advisors asked him to look for a princess that would stay beside him, love him and bore him his next successor. He doesn't know what to do and so he said this at the bat, as soon as the bat learned the truth, it flew away leaving the prince in his dilemma. The prince was set in great turmoil, he doesn't know why it flew away from him, he doesn't even know whether the bat understood what he have said to it. He thought the bat doesn't need him anymore and the love that he felt for it was just a mere illusion. He swore that night that he'll leave the castle and look for a maiden to love."
"Mother, why did the bat fly away? Doesn't it love the prince back?"
"She loves the prince and she understood what have the prince said and that she knew she mustn't hinder her prince for finding his bride so she flew away. She flew and flew away from her beloved, from her home. She looked for a place where she can be alone and die little by little."
"Doesn't she want to be loved by the prince?"
"She wanted to be loved by that man but she's different from him, they were both different from the beginning an animal and a human, the prince would be put into a great disgrace if he'll marry a bat."
"But… the bat must be very lonely."
"Indeed she is. She was in her great despair that she wanted to die. She doesn't look for food for days and she doesn't move even though it's night. Even though the forest overflowed with milk and honey, she doesn't drink nor eat. The nymphs of the forest began to worry at the little one so they went to an ugly witch, a witch so cruel yet powerful. The nymphs deliver the bat to the ugly witch and ask the witch to fulfill the bat's wishes. At first, the ugly heartless witch denied the wishes of the nymphs but the tables were being turned when they gambled for their beauty. The bat wished to be a human and that she wanted to be with her prince. The witch turned the bat into a human but there's a catch, the bat must deliver a bottle of human blood every month to her or a chest filled with gold and silver in order for her to retain her human figure which will happen for a year. She agreed at the witch's deal and with that she left the cave of the witch. She traveled day and night towards the castle of her beloved. Days have passed and at last she reached the castle of her beloved and her home, she happily went inside it only to found out that there's a banquet, today, the prince that she loved was being taken away by some other woman. The music that enticed everyone's hearing was like an awful sound for the bat, she put her hands on her ears as she run away from the bountiful banquet. She ran towards the castle's dungeon, her old room, and there she cried her heart out. She heard footsteps towards her and found the prince looking at her. Her long awaited prince."
"Will they have a happy ending?"
"No. My child, the things that happen after their meeting was indeed dreadful that should not be told to a child like you."
"But mother, I want to know."
"Well then, since you insist then I'll tell you. Without knowing the real identity of the girl, he kissed and embraced her. He asked her to marry him and the girl immediately answered her yes. Right after their marriage on that day, she discovered that the prince that she have married wasn't the prince she knew instead it was his son. She was distressed of the truth but her husband treasured and cherished every moment with her just like what the prince she knew would do. Perhaps, she was a little late arriving at her home but right now, she's happy with her new prince that she forgot about her deal with the witch. A month have passed and she didn't do what the witch told her to so the witch visited her in her home, she was frightened that the witch will do something horrible to her husband so she faced the witch alone. The witch looked at her and asked for the compensation for her turning her into a human, she gave her a bottle of blood and with that the witch disappear. Every time the witch would dropped by, she'll give her a bottle of blood or a chest filled with gold and silver but there came a time she forgot to get a blood from a human or to save a chest filled with gold and silver, so she gave the witch a bottle filled with goat blood, learning the truth, the witch went to the chamber of the king and killed it. She gouged the heart of the king while she turned the girl into a blood thirsty human. Because of what happen to her beloved, she killed the witch, draining every drop of her blood making her crumble little by little into ashes, but before she died she cursed the blood of the girl, she spoke in ancient language while making the ritual so the girl didn't know what the witch have said, after that she breathed her last. She rushed to her beloved and kissed him, she let her drink her blood, thinking this process could prolong his life even though a little but it turned out it looked like a poison killing him. With her fate like that, she concealed herself in their chamber, thinking ways to kill herself but it turned out that she'll live in an eternity. And with that, she banished herself from the castle and went in this place. Here, she found a new love and turned him into the likes of her."
"Mother, you don't mention the name of the girl."
"It's because she have no name."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Is she still alive?"
"Apparently, she died because she wished to die. And the murderer was no other than a vampire hunter. Somehow, humans learned about our existence and discover our weaknesses and ways how to end our endless life."
"Is she happy?"
"Indeed."
"I can go to sleep now mother, thank you for the story."
"Yes. Well then, I'll be going now, good night"
"Good night."
And with that the woman left the chamber of the little girl. The girl sat at her bed and cried her heart out, 'what a poor creature to be ruptured by the likes of witches and humans when in fact all she has done wrong is to love or perhaps loving is a sin.'
I don't know why I heard the girl's voice or why I feel her sadness but there's one thing that makes me uncertain, why am I there? After I pondered in the room of the sleeping girl, I remembered about Alice Eve as the first vampire and the one who discovered the chaotic bloodline so was that Alice Eve? But she doesn't look like her. So who's that woman and why is she on that story? Things that aren't related to me seem to cloud my mind and lead me to greater confusion. Who am I? What am I? What are my relations to those people? Questions arise, answers could be in front of me but I don't know how to sort them out.
After a while, I heard voices around me, the voice of the guy I'm with a while ago and another voice that's talking to him. I want to wake up but my eyes were shut and my body felt so heavy. I rest for a while then when I feel I have gathered enough energy; I open my eyes and stand up. I looked around and found a doll beside me.
"Kuroro… " a sound suddenly echoed in the air which surprised me.
"… kuroro…" another sound. I looked around; only to find myself with a doll and a bed in the room. Who could it be?
"Kuroro…" another sound.
"Kuroro…" another sound but it has another tone, a creepier tone then suddenly a witchy-like laugh echoed in the air which run shivers across my whole body.
"Hello? Is anybody here?" I asked.
"…Kuroro…" the tone seems so close then I felt a presence behind me. I slowly look behind me and revealed to me a doll with its head triggering to be detached from its body.
"Boo…" said the doll causing me to scream on the top of my lungs. The next thing I know, the guy I'm with suddenly appears in the room panting.
"Noisy brat what's with you?" he asked me.
"S-s-sc-sca-rryy…" I said stuttering while pointing at the direction of the doll.
"Kuro-chi why did you scare her?" he asked the doll.
"Yu… e… he… re…." the doll said creepily.
"She's no Yue. She's the noisy brat from before."
"Ii..ee… Yu… e…."
"She's dead okay. Now go to her room and stay there."
As soon as the doll heard the command, it vanished into the thin air. I am terrified and when it's gone I fell on my feet and sat on the cold ground. My heart's still thumping like idiot and my eyes became blurry, tears run down my face and mumble the name of Jiro. The guy who's been standing in front of me patted my head and sat across me. He looked at me while giggling, I glared at him though but he still doesn't stop. After that, he brushed away my tears with his left hand then he kissed my right eye and with that I felt relieved and relaxed, intoxicated by his kiss.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because… I'm Mimiko Katsuragi. A compromiser."
"And so what?"
"You should respect me."
"You're in no territory of the company that protects you. This place is farther than what you think, this is the unthinkable place, if you ever think of this place you'll be lost in its beauty. If you manage to get in here, you'll be dead, it's easy to enter but escaping this place is impossible."
"I got here two times in one day."
"Knowing my name will be the end."
"Who are you?" I insist.
"You're persistent, Aye? I'm used to be called Haru-kun by my little sister. That is enough for you. I don't want to be with you for long time okay." He said to me. He stood up and offered me a hand.
"Thank you." I said to Haru-kun.
For a while, we walked inside the mansion then Haru stopped in front of a particular teak door where in the word Yue were carved on it. I know he remembered something on the name Yue and I know deep inside his heart, he's hurt. I want to help but there's nothing I can do. I looked down and wonder. Why am I here for the second time? Who called me in here? Here with Haru… HARU! It must be him. I asked him many times but he doesn't answers. I asked him about the party and he told me he was there and it's him whom I saw. He told me he's there because Kuro-chi went there and Yue was there. When I asked him about Yue he didn't replied. Idiotic Haru.
"I want to go back to Jiro." When he heard the name Jiro, his face contorted in anger, the walls suddenly cracked and the floor shakes. Haru's angry at Jiro I can understand that, vampires hate him perhaps Jiro killed someone close to him, Yue perhaps.
"Hey Haru, I want to go back now. I'm tired with this unending dream." Haru looked at me with his contorted face and pushed me on a wall. His eyes are burning with anger, his hands are shaking non-stop due to anger.
"I… want… your… blood… filthy human." He told me and without thinking, he bit my neck and sucks out my blood. I can feel something sinister inside me, something weird. My mind seemed to open a little and revealed a little of a memory of him or me I don't know.
"…he's a monster. He turns one of our friends into a crazy vampire! Run!" said a little vampire boy.
"… don't play with him or else you'll die…" said an old woman to a little kid
"… don't come near me... you… you monster…" said another little kid.
Then there's oblivion.
"What was that?" I asked.
"You saw it?" His pained voice makes me want to cry.
"I'm sorry" that's all I can say. I don't know why but I felt the need to tell him I'm sorry and again he pats my head and pulled me close to him. He's warm and at the same time he felt so cold.
"Thank you" he said in a whisper and with his words of gratitude, my surrounding suddenly changed, from that place into oblivion. After a while, I felt something soft and when I opened my eyes, I'm lying in the bed inside a room, perhaps one of the rooms in Zelman's Mansion. I can hear distant sounds of music and also distant laughter of the people. I ponder for a moment and after that I went back to the ball.
When I arrived at the hall where the ball is, the ball was already finished and Zelman's already speaking for the closing remarks. The thing that amuses me most is that it ended exactly twelve midnight. Beyond my fancy of the time, I tried to look for Jiro but it seems he's not in the hall. When Zelman's talk is over, I ask him where Jiro is and he told me that he's in front of the mansion's cellar. I know where it is so I went there only to find it empty, then I felt another entity standing behind me and when I face it, I see Jiro smiling at me. I can feel Jiro's worry and anger so I told him that I'm alright. When we arrive at our home, Kotaro run towards his room and banged on his door, Jiro on the other hand, sat down at the sofa and stare blankly in the air. I felt thirsty so I went to the refrigerator to make some drinks. After I made two lemonades, I called onto Jiro to have some drink with me. He went towards the table and sat beside me. He looked at me in my eyes and on an impulse; he used his eye raid on me. He pulled me towards him, his hot breath on my neck felt so enthralling that I didn't notice that he took a bite from me. Suddenly my body felt something weird, something sensual. Something that mustn't be done by a compromiser but Jiro's hungry so I let it pass, instead of worrying I enjoyed the feeling he gives to me, the feeling that is being needed.
The effects of resonance are amazing. It let me see through Jiro, I'm happy but at the same time sad because I know he can't love me back, I know that he only belong to Alice Eve and to her alone. After Jiro's full, he looked at me with anger.
"Why Jiro? You can ask politely, can you?"
"Why don't you struggle?" he said.
"Answer me first."
"I only want to erase the scent of another man on you." he said while his face becomes rubicund. Hearing his reason, I can feel my face burn and my heart thumping wildly.
"Now it's your turn to answer"
"It's the prize I must pay for keeping you here and keeping you beside me. It's the only thing that binds you to me so that I won't lose you." Those words are meant to be said to him but I decided to keep it only to me.
"Why? Why don't you struggle? Why is that you seemed so far when you're right beside me?"
"Look who's talking. Jiro you're the one who looked aloof. During the party, you didn't even take a look straight at me. You always look away from me."
"You're the one who's talking. You suddenly disappear during the party and you only showed up, messed up in front of Zelman's Cellar door sleeping. Next time don't disappear like that."
"…I disappeared?" I said in a whisper… so all those things, the portrait, that place and even Haru-kun is real?
"Yes and it makes me worry so much."
After our conversation, we head back to our rooms to rest. It was indeed a long day for me. I can't even think that it happened in just a day. I guess I need a goodnight rest and also I guess I need to take a break from my work, shall I file a leave? Hmm… that sounds good, I'll tag Jiro and Kotaro along then. And with that I fell asleep. I hope I won't have any dreams tonight.
Another Author's Notes:
~Oh the story about the vampires, the one in italicize that's long with the woman and the girl, it was all made up by me… I'm not sure how vampires originate so I made up some story which was confused with Alice Eve as the first vampire but in this story, she wasn't okay. So how was the story? Aside from it being long…
