Hello! I'm baaack.

You may notice that the date at the start of this one does not quite match up with the date that was on the last one by a couple of weeks. There's a reason for that. The dates have been edited to reflect a section in the future.

Aside from that, I don't have much else to say. College starts up soon for me and Kat, but we've worked quite a ways ahead on this so that shouldn't hinder us too much. As always, we have several other projects in the works. The sequel for OFFF will join those projects in the next couple weeks. Don't worry about that, if you were.

Enjoy!

-Laci

October 29, 2011

It was the third day, and Vanitas was starting to get bored.

Although Ventus was doing everything he asked, it felt a bit empty. It was a sign that Ventus had outlived his time. He did not have the same eagerness to please that many of Vanitas' other victims had. He was merely doing what Vanitas wanted because Vanitas had done him the service of eliminating his free will.

Ventus did not seem to appreciate this gift as much as he should have.

As he got more and more frustrated, Vanitas pushed the boy harder and harder. He quit healing anything but the most serious wounds. He kept his blood in Ventus' system, because it seemed to be one of the few things Vanitas could use as leverage over the blonde. Vanitas enjoyed the needy look on Ventus' face when he was ordered to stop drinking.

The more times Vanitas gave Ventus insufficient amounts of blood, the more the boy was willing to try harder to make Vanitas happy in order to get more. Ventus' entire body was changing, using the blood to cure his pain and exhaustion.

The fact that Ventus could only sleep when Vanitas commanded him to made the boy crave the blood even more. It was a way to stop the heaviness in his limbs.

Vanitas was not going to give him enough to heal all of his wounds until the boy proved he was willing to do whatever it took to please Vanitas.

As the days wore on, though, Vanitas was starting to believe that Ventus was not that dedicated. He did not seem to grasp the idea of willingly going the extra mile to make Vanitas happy, of telling Vanitas what he wanted to hear without being prompted. It was starting to grate on Vanitas, and he decided that enough was enough. His toy was old and worn out.

He had no use for it anymore.

"Ventus," Vanitas called. "Come here."

Slowly, as if moving was a burden, Ven walked to him.

"What should I do with you?"

"What do you mean?"

Vanitas sighed. "What is your purpose?"

"To make you happy," Ventus intoned, his voice flat.

"What should I do if you are not fulfilling that purpose?"

"I-I don't know."

"I'm afraid you just aren't trying hard enough," Vanitas said, gently lifting Ventus' chin so he could look the boy in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Vanitas ignored the apology. "What would you say if I told you I was going to kill you?"

"Would that make you happy?"

"It would."

"Then do it."

Vanitas smiled. "What would you say if I told you to kill yourself?"

"That I would probably mess up, because I can't do anything right."

Making a small tutting noise, Vanitas said, "Not even if I told you how to do it properly?"

"I could, then."

"Do you want to? Be honest."

"I want what you want."

Vanitas pondered it for a moment. "Although it would be fun to watch you kill yourself, I think that I would like one final chance to push your body past its breaking point. Doesn't that sound better?"

Ven nodded.

"Would you like to stay with me, even once you're dead?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm going to give you one final present."

"What is it?"

Vanitas cut his wrist. "Drink as much as you want."

Ventus looked at Vanitas. "You mean it?"

"I mean it."

Ven smiled sweetly and gripped the wrist, pulling it to his mouth.

Vanitas watched Ven's injuries vanish, and he smiled as the bags disappeared from under Ventus' eyes.

"How did you like your present?"

Ven finally pulled away. "It was great."

"Are you tired anymore?"

"No."

"Is there anything else you want before you die?" Vanitas asked.

"No."

"Then Ventus, relax. Everything will be over soon. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Yes."

"You are incredibly relaxed," Vanitas said, his voice low. "Absolutely nothing can hurt you."

Ven nodded, smiling a little.

"Tell me how you feel. Just keep talking." Vanitas snapped Ventus' thigh bone.

Flinching at the sound a little, knowing that it SHOULD hurt, Ven said, "I feel relaxed."

"You cannot hear the sound of your bones snapping," Vanitas said, noticing Ven's expression. He broke one of Ventus' arms. "All you can hear is the sound of my voice. It's incredibly soothing."

Ven nodded. "Soothing," he mumbled.

"You're happy." The crack of breaking ribs. "Soon, you're going to fall asleep, and you're going to have nice, peaceful dreams, because I am here with you. You do not feel any pain."

Ven nodded again, his breathing a little sporadic as his lungs protested the new positioning of his ribs.

"Sleep," Vanitas said, kissing Ventus' forehead. "When you wake up, you'll be like me."

Eyes slipping closed, Ven fell asleep.

Vanitas cracked Ventus' spine at his neck. Ventus was dead.

Within an hour or two, he would wake up a vampire.

Vanitas called Isa. "We have a newbie that will need to be fed. Have Aqua ready to meet him."

"You actually changed this one?"

"I want to see what he does with it."

"Okay. I'll tell Aqua," Isa said.

Vanitas smiled. "Good. I'll meet you soon."

"Okay."

Vanitas hung up the phone and turned to Ventus.

"See you soon," he said before leaving the house.

Riku's cell phone went off. Seeing that it was Roxas on the caller ID, he picked up.

"Hey, what's up?"

"We added the app a few days ago, and we've been keeping watch."

"And you just waited until now to tell me?" Riku asked.

"Well, you can't exactly do anything about it while he's there, can you? You'd be putting him at risk." Roxas paused for a second. "Well, him and you. But, more importantly, him."

Riku shrugged off Roxas' comment. "Give me Axel."

"Why?"

"You're in a mood. He's easier to deal with."

"I find that offen-"

Riku cut Roxas off. "Roxas, you're fantastic, but I need to talk to Axel right now. We're wasting time."

"Fine," Roxas whined. "Here's Axel."

"Okay," Riku said. "Axe, what's going on?"

"The app is saying that the phone's been at this one house for three days, and before he left Ven said he'd be gone for a few days. I assume we have the right house."

"Where is the house?"

"Um..." Axel was quiet for a moment, before giving Riku the address. "He's still there apparently, though."

"So we're waiting it out," Riku said.

"Yeah, basically. A few is usually three or four, so we should be good sometime in the next 36-48 hours."

"Do you want me to go over there, or would you prefer to just call me when he moves?"

"You can come over, if you want," Axel said. "It might be easier."

Riku started to get ready to head out. "Okay. I'll be over soon."

"Alright. See you then."

"See you." Riku hung up. "Leon!"

"What?"

"We have an address on Vanitas."

"Oh really?"

"Yup," Riku said. "Apparently, they were able to sneak an app on his newest victim's phone to track it. It's been in the same place for three days, after Vanitas hauled the kid away."

"That sounds like vague stalking, but I'll take it." Leon sighed. "This guy has caused too many problems."

"You mean you've dug up other things he's done?" Leon had been doing a lot of the research lately, since he had always been better at it. He had more patience than Riku.

Leon nodded. "Yeah, I managed to uncover a very, very well hidden track record. He has to be at least 200."

"I figured as much. He was too old for the public records on Destiny Islands. They started saving those in 1800."

"Where did you even get Destiny Islands from?"

Riku looked at him. "We've been over this before."

"Have we?"

"Yeah. I gave you the list of places to investigate, and you asked me where I got it from then. It took lots of friendly conversations with Sora."

Leon nodded. "Right. I was distracted by your list at the time."

"So, track record." Riku had been waiting for Leon to tell him what he had learned for a while. Leon told him he wasn't saying anything until his work was completely done.

Instead of speaking, Leon fished a piece of paper from a stack. "This is a list of the ones I've connected to him."

Riku scanned through the list. "How can you be sure it's him and not just vampires associated with him?"

"I never said it WAS just him. Just that they are connected. But, if he's that old, he probably has a good bit of them that listen to him, so it's essentially still him."

"So I've basically been chasing after the head of the vampire mafia," Riku said, sounding slightly amused.

"That a fun way to put it!"

Riku grinned. "I accidentally hit on a goldmine. If we can kill this bloodsucker, that'll make cleanup here a whole lot easier."

"Exactly," Leon agreed. "We just have to get him. The second he knows we're on to him, things will probably get really dangerous."

"At least we have Sora on our side?" Riku said. "I have not officially confirmed that he's a vamp, but I'm nearly positive. If he's Vanitas' brother, chances are he has quite a bit of power."

"Can you prove that he's on our side and will stay if it comes down to killing his relative?"

"Er... no," Riku admitted. "He doesn't want me dead, though, and he is constantly bitching about how obnoxious his brother is. They don't get along."

Leon considered it. "That's slightly better, at the very least."

"That means that if we want Vanitas dead, chances are, I'm going to have to do it."

"Why you and not me?"

"Because if I succeed, I have one of them who doesn't want me dead." Riku shrugged.

"Unless he turns to hate you for killing his brother. They might fight, but that doesn't mean they don't care about each other, or, at least, that Sora doesn't care about him," Leon said. "It'd be better for me to do it so that we don't lose the only chance we have at not completely pissing them all off and putting targets on our back."

"Sora knows you, too."

"Yeah, but I don't get the vibe that he particularly likes me."

Riku rolled his eyes at that one. "There aren't many people Sora doesn't like."

"But he doesn't like me like he likes you, I think."

Riku ignored Leon's comment. "I'm going over to Axel and Roxas' apartment," Riku said. "I'm going to grab my stuff and camp out until Ven leaves. I was planning on going in then, but if you really think it's better strategically to let you handle it, I'll call you instead. Someone will need to keep Axe and Rox from doing anything tremendously stupid, anyway."

Leon nodded. "Call me when things are clear."

"Will do." Riku finished packing his backpack with the essentials.

"Be safe."

"You, too," Riku said seriously. "If you can't handle him alone, get out. We can always track him down again, but you're too valuable to lose."

"So good to know you care about my worth as opposed to my person."

"Your person is a nagging mother," Riku teased. "Your worth is a badass motherfucking vampire hunter."

Leon laughed. "Someone has to be the mother."

"Oh really?"

"Just go watch the knuckleheads."

"Does that make me a mother as well?" Riku asked, grinning.

"Depends. Would you prefer being labeled as a lesbian?"

Riku raised an eyebrow at him. "Since when are we a couple? I never agreed to that one."

"I never said we were."

"Well then why would me being a mother make me a lesbian?"

"Because mothers are female," Leon said, like that explained everything.

"And girls are weird. Why would I want to date one?" Riku made a face.

"So that would make you straight."

"That's messed up."

"Just go."

"Yeah, yeah," Riku said, grinning. "Take care of yourself, Mommy Dearest."

"Once this is taken care of, I'm getting you for that one."

"I'll call you later," Riku promised. He put his backpack on.

"You'd better."

"Bye."

"Adios."

Riku waved and headed out.

[TBC]

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