~ 1 week ago ~

A still silence lingered in the forest.

Dark clouds draped overhead.

A bleach blonde figure dashed by in a blur, causing three trees to be detatched from their roots.

Her head high in the air, she took in the sweet scent of fresh human blood. She smiled in delight.

She ran with a hypnotic gaze in her eyes, only to be suddenly snapped out of her trance by a boy, who appeared to be the age of 14, with short black hair, fairly tan skin, and no shirt on. He screamed as she nearly ran him over, stopping abruptly in her path.

Dust cleared from the air, and she growled through her teeth. "What were you thinking? Standing in my way like that… I could have killed you!"

He stared at this mysterious girl with confused eyes.

This girl had an appearance much similar to Pucca's, except she had two blonde buns atop her head, and she was clothed in midnight blue.

"Pucca?" he said, confuzzled, "What did you do to your hair? And your clothes… this isn't like you at all!"
"Pucca? I do not know this name of which you speak."
"Huh? But you…"
"Well, now that we're here, I might as well introduce myself…" She placed her hand over her chest and said, "My name is Vanessa Edwards. But you can call me Nessie."
"Well, hi there, Nessie," he said with a sly grin. "You know, it's not often I come across a girl like you. Whadda ya say, sweetie?"
She grimaced. "Don't you already have a girlfriend?"
"Well, you know I, um… yes." He backed away, turning three shades of red. "Hey, wait a minute… how did you know that?"
"Oh, well, guess I read your mind."

"Yeah. Hey, where were you running off to in such a hurry anyway?"
"That's none of your business, thank you very much. Speaking of which, I should probably get going before it gets away. Well, nice meeting you—uh…"

"Abyo."
"…Well, nice meeting you, Abyo." And with that, she dashed from the scene. Abyo watched, his mouth agape, as her figure so quickly became a blur, and muttered to himself, "What is she talking about?"

Nessie continued to speed to the far edges of the forest, finally reaching the end, greeted by a bright light shining through the trees. She covered her eyes in irritation.

Dammit… she thought, I thought it was supposed to storm all day. Well, I better find cover…

She rushed through the sunlit fields as fast as she possibly could, her energy being drained, and her skin being charred over by the second.

…And fast.

The scent of fresh blood tickled her nose again, much stronger this time, seeming to be getting more present the farther she went in that fixed direction. What ever it was, she knew she had to catch it fast, before she became a dry, lifeless husk.

She continued to pull herself forward in that direction, until she had finally reached the source of this scent:
A lair.

She ran up to the doors, her throat burning, and she peered through the window, holding her breath in discomfort—and disbelief.

There was a boy lying on the ground in a large pool of crimson blood, a sword drawn straight through his heart, his eyes squeezed shut in silent agony.

She continued to stare, eyes wide, ignoring the pain in her airways, a warm feeling beginning to rush over her ice cold being.

He's beautiful…

Her hands trembling, she reached for the door, and quickly yanked her hand away.

No… I can't. I can't hurt him.

I'll never be able to live with myself if I let him die.

But if I go in there, who knows what kind of toll that will take on my psychological being?

Well… I guess that's a risk I'll just have to take.

She held her breath.

I will not let him die.

She clasped her hand over her nose and her mouth, reached for the doorknob once more, and made her way in.

Inside, there was a large crowd of ninjas surrounding him; some crying, some running in circles and freaking out, and some checking his pulse over and over, shaking their heads in disappointment. She had to push a few of them out of the way to get to this boy.

She grabbed a hold of him and yanked the sword right out of his chest, blood splattering up onto her face. She winced as the drops trickled down her face, slowly fighting the urge to go crazy.

She held her ear to the boy's chest, and she heard absolutely nothing. She began to panic, when suddenly, she began to recall her last lecture with her grandmother, where she had learned how to inject blood into a human being. It was a skill that required great patience, and a whole great deal of self-control, and back when she was first learning about it, she had rolled her eyes, groaning, saying, "Grandmother… why do we need to know this? When will we ever need to use it in the real world?" Though now, she couldn't have been any more grateful for this helpful tactic.

Nessie could feel her entire body trembling. She hadn't fed on anybody in over three days, and even one single drop of blood upon her tongue could cause her to go totally mad. But she sucked in her breath, ignoring this delightful aroma in the air, and she readied herself to do what she knew she had to do to save this boy.

She opened her mouth slightly, baring her fangs, and she sucked in the blood that was surrounding him, and she sunk her fangs into each place on his body, re-injecting his blood into his veins, slowly and carefully, burst by burst, until he had finally began to retain some of his color.

She took in one last mouthful of blood and bit into the area right where his heart was, and his eyes suddenly shot wide open as she did so. He looked up at her, trembling, unable to speak, still in great pain and complete shock.

She looked into his dark amber eyes for the very first time, a warm grin upon her face, and she said, "I don't know who you are. In fact, I've never seen you in my life. But don't worry, everything will be okay. I promise." She hesitated for a moment. "…Though, I should probably get you to a hospital."

She swooped him up into her arms, dashed out the door, and rushed to the nearest hospital in under two seconds flat. By the time that she had arrived, the boy was already unconscious again. She slammed the doors open and began crying out for a medic. Everyone in the waiting room gasped in horror as his bloodied body draped limply over her arms.

A nurse finally rushed into the room, nearly fainting from all the blood, and they got him into their care as fast as they could.

Hours later, he finally began to awaken.

He looked up at her face, his blurred vision slowly coming back into focus. He was still speechless.

She, too, had little to say. All she could do was stare into his beautiful eyes, slowly falling into a trance again. Finally, she whispered, "…You're safe now."

"I… what just happened? Who are you?"
"My name is Nessie. I saved your life."
"…Thank you. I appreciate it greatly."
She giggled, her face staying the same pale shade of white, though she knew she was bright red on the inside. "So… your name is?"
He stared at her for many moments, slowly taking it all in, before finally replying, "Tobe."

They both looked at each other, a smile appearing on each of their faces, pulling each other into a trance, a trance neither of them would, could—or even wanted to escape from.