Sorry this took so long. I've been busy and unwilling to rush this. Thank you to those of you who favorited and reviewed this story! I'm writing this for you. This chapter may be a little confusing, but it will clear up in the next one (probably the last). So enjoy! And yes, if you catch my adult joke in here—it was intended. Disclaimer: I don't own Pucca or any of its rights.
He heard a strange and familiar giggling as if through foggy water. Garu tried to drown it out and keep sleeping. But as it continued, he recalled the events of that day and jolted up breathlessly.
The girl stood over him, smiling as always. From her position, Garu realized that he was sitting in a coffin. Gasping and sputtering, he scrambled out of the death bed faster than a cat out of water.
But in his haste to get out of the coffin, he forgot about the aggressive female beside him. In an instant she was in front of him. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were less than an inch away from his.
The reflexes he had built up from years of training and meditation kicked in, and he threw a pillow from the coffin at her face. Before the overzealous girl could respond, Garu was out the door of her room.
"Pftt!" Pucca spit as her tongue grazed the pillow. Cotton fibers clung to its tip, and after a moment of spitting without luck, she scraped what remained off her tongue with her fingers.
She considered the scene that had just played out before her. Of course, things didn't go exactly as she had imagined after bringing the handsome sleeping boy to her room. But Pucca couldn't complain.
This was the first time she had ever taken any interest in a boy. She had dreamed about having a boyfriend before, so the concept of boys wasn't anything new. But prince charming had always eluded her until now, and it didn't help that she only left the manor every Friday the 13th.
But this beautiful boy was it. Fate had led her to him, this strong ninja that was the spitting image of the boyfriend she had always dreamed of… minus the blonde hair and chiseled chest. Though, she recalled with a giggle, his chest isn't too far off.
And with that image she almost burst through the ceiling with energy. Pucca was always a stubborn girl, and now she had a chance to prove it with the irresistible boy playing hard-to-get.
With a giddy smile she skipped out the door of her bedroom, and sprinted down the hall in search of him.
. . .
The storm clouds had cleared, and the full moon shone down brightly on Ching and Abyo as they made their way through the forest.
Ching glanced around nervously for what must have been the hundredth time, when she heard underbrush crunch as if under a steady footstep. "Ohh." She groaned anxiously, and grabbed Abyo's hand.
His face turned red for the second time that night, and he avoided looking at her. But his hand remained firmly in hers as they drew closer to the manor.
. . .
Garu was running faster than he ever had before. But the girl's giggles sounded closer with every step he took. He realized he couldn't outrun her.
There were many doors along the corridor he was passing through, and without thinking he ducked left into the closest one.
Inside, an old vampire with white, slicked-back hair and a very jolly tummy glared at the ninja. A towel was wrapped around his waist as he hopped out of the shower.
"Oh-ho-ho!" He shouted in anger and surprise. "What are you—" Garu quickly flashed his wooden stake. The vampire's eyes popped as he whistled and hurried out another door of the small bathroom saying, "Oh, my… would you look at the time?"
Garu silently waited for the girl to trail past after that. But as he stood, he realized something wasn't quite right…
The stake! It had been moved to a new pocket…
He looked down at his outfit in horror. Someone had dressed him in a vampiric outfit, complete with a cape and slicked-back hair. Even his pants were different. It took him only a moment to guess who that someone had been.
. . .
A very loud and guttural yelp sounded from one of the rooms behind her. Pucca screeched to a halt in her run, and turned around to find the source. She was certain it was him.
She threw open the door where she heard the sound to see a small bathroom, but he was nowhere in sight. Inside there was a shower, sink, and door to the adjoining room.
Pucca paused for a moment, but threw the other door open wide when she heard a hushed mumbling behind it.
There stood Santa with a dropped towel, his face red as his hands covered the lower half of his body. "Excuse me," he blushed, shuffling away from yet another intrusion.
Pucca popped her tongue out at the image and shuddered with a barely audible "yuck." Shaking her head to clear it, she looked around to find her human. He was nowhere in sight.
But the second door in Santa's room, the one leading out to the corridor, was open wide. She giggled and sprinted out to find the pretty boy.
. . .
For every second he ran, Garu glanced back to see if the girl was behind him. That had been a very close call in the old vampire's room, he thought. Too close.
But then again, what would have happened if she caught him? He wondered idly as he ran.
He knew that she would kiss him… but what he didn't know was how he felt about it.
Garu was a very independent, young ninja, and he loathed being forced to do things he didn't want to do. And so in that sense, he hated how aggressive this girl was in trying to force herself on him. Especially when he wasn't even interested in girls!
On the other hand, he couldn't deny that she was impressive. The girl was incredibly fast and strong, more so than he thought possible in any reality. And there was simply something about her. Maybe it was the interesting buns she pulled her hair into, or the silence they both seemed to share. But he realized that while he was terrified of this vampire girl… he found her strangely fascinating.
What does that mean? He started to wonder. Then he heard her giggle and snapped back into the present.
She was less than twenty feet behind him and gaining fast. A set of spiral stairs were close though, and quickly he slid down the railing. Once he hit the floor he continued running to a wide set of double doors that he hoped would lead him out.
Instead he barreled into a full dining room.
Inside, around a grand table, sat well over thirty people, and they all glared up at Garu with hungry eyes.
He was terrified, but still managed to take a deep breath to steady himself. He reached for his stake. This is it, he thought, bracing for the fight that would surely end him.
"HIII-YAA!" Shouted a familiar voice from the red double doors across the room. The giant red masses fell onto the floor with a loud bang, and there stood Ching and Abyo.
When they saw the crowd of vampires before them, the now shirtless Abyo chuckled nervously. "Uh… wrong house?"
The hungry diners shared a short glance before they converged.