Sorry for the wait guys, but without further adieu, here's an extra long chapter to make up for it! Hope you guys like it! Love ya!
-x-...My Bloody Rose...-x
-x-...Chapter 7...-x-
-x-...Whispers in the Dark...-x-
April 27, 9:00 a.m. - Mansion.
Sasuke and Sakura were alone again. Her bones feel like frozen icicles but nonetheless she forces herself to talk, "At the hotel, Itachi said there was another reason why I couldn't leave." His words from that night ring crystal clear in her head: you want her... "Tell me why."
Sasuke doesn't say anything, places the dishes he cleaned on a drying rack then dries his hands. His eyes shoot to the doorway of the kitchen almost like he'd seen a ghost walk by.
"..."
"H-Hey! Where are you going?!" He starts walking out of the room and Sakura stands up quickly, nearly knocking her chair over. Her vision blurs and the room spins but still she goes after him. "You moody, duck-haired, prick!" But the instigation- although leaving him a little surprised- doesn't bother him; he had sensed someone coming and knew it wasn't Itachi.
He rounds the corner into the hallway and Sakura follows, barely managing to stay on her feet. "Is it so hard to ans-" As she makes the turn into the corridor her voice leaves her. Sasuke, having came to a complete stop, stares at a man wearing a sly smirk on his lips. Although they both stand casually face-to-face with hands in their pockets she feels a blood-thirsty aura pick up between their glares. The man- tall and skinny with wavy black hair and eyes glossed crimson- peeks around Sasuke's body to find Sakura.
He gives a mocking laugh as he holds Sakura's gaze with his own, "Ah, so there she is."
Sasuke remains silent, obvious signs of annoyance and anger raise a red flag in Sakura's gut, but she keeps close to Sasuke's back, unsure of this new acquaintance.
"She's quite the eye candy, actually. What's your name honey?" He licks his lips as he eyes Sakura up and down, fangs protrude slightly from his mouth. Vampire?! She panics.
"Ryuu, knock it off." Sasuke says with venom dripping off his tongue. Sakura- like she could hide herself somehow- moves even closer to Sasuke, the air seems to weigh in her chest.
Ryuu laughs and looks at Sasuke with a cocky grin, "She's a tempting one Sa-su-ke. You better make sure she never finds herself alone with me." He says mockingly and walks around Sasuke to Sakura's side.
"Sasuke's little love servant..." Ryuu whispers in her ear and manages to twirl a lock of Sakura's hair against her cheek. ...Sasuke's...-what?! Sakura feels her face flush unsure if embarrassment is the cause or anger. But before she can react for herself Sasuke's hand slaps down on Ryuu's wrist and pulls Sakura away from him.
"Leave." Sasuke threatens Ryuu. The two of them stay tense for a while, neither one of them wanting to back down. The sudden rush of adrenaline and emotion doesn't mix well with Sakura's poisoned body; black circles dot her vision and she loses her balance. Sasuke glances back at her slightly and straightens his posture, but as fast as he looks back at her he returns his glare to Ryuu, a certain look with a promise of death.
Ryuu sighs and harshly pulls back his hand- as if to make a point- then leans back, casually folding his arms behind his head, "... We'll see." With a bored look he turns his back and leaves to enter the kitchen. "I'll see you later, pinky." He calls out to Sakura with a smirk. She only narrows her eyes at him.
Once Ryuu was gone from view, Sasuke turns and picks up Sakura's hand, "Come on," he says softly but despite his change of tone, she can still hear a degree of strain in his voice. Her face grows warm as he leads her down the hall, away from the kitchen, away from Ryuu.
"Where are we going? And what did he mean by-"
"Don't worry. I'll take you to your house. And he's an idiot, doesn't know the difference between his dick or a banana." She does her best to ignore his unexpected choice of words, but at the mention of going back home she doesn't resist Sasuke as he guides her along. His hand is surprisingly warm she notes, and although his grip is firm, it's somehow gentle against hers.
Was he going to leave once he took her home? She wonders. Did she even want him to leave? No. Not with knowing the secrets of this world now. Life wouldn't be the same, not after Sasuke and Itachi, and especially not after the henchmen. She might as well live the rest of her life in paranoia, in fear that she could be eaten alive coming home late from work... or even during a night out with her friends, or what if it ate them instead, or what if-
"Sakura?" Sasuke asks, glancing sideways at her. They had entered the large room from before again, where the fountain and the roses stood in all their glory in the middle.
"Oh- hmm?"
"You look feverish."
"Oh. Yeah, probably."
"Probably?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow.
"What?"
"You're not making any sense."
"Oh, I'm not aren't I?" She laughs nervously.
Sasuke comes to a stop, "You still have one dose left of Itachi's antidote to take, but it's too soon for it now." He says and touches the back of his hand to Sakura's forehead. She steps away heart pounding and cheeks burning, clearly embarrassed by his sudden action; Sasuke takes no notice. Why am I acting like this damnit, she thinks.
"You're definitely running a fever." He says coolly.
"You know, you really should warn me before you do things so... so-" She stops talking abruptly and her eyes widen. Right behind Sasuke appears the shadow from her dream again, suddenly her muscles feel like heavy bricks. Its arm stretches towards her face, right over Sasuke's shoulder.
"So... what?" He asks.
The shadow starts to solidify then, its hand settles around her neck, what is this?! She panics. Something of a face starts to form right beside Sasuke's then; she makes out a pair of white eyes that bulge out, white eyes that lack pupils, and a smile without teeth.
"Sakura?"
Its solidified hand wraps around her throat. She can't see the fingers but she feels them reaching around all the way to the back of her neck. Its bones painfully close down on her tendons, cutting off her air way and the circulation of her blood. I...I can't breathe... Sasuke- You don't see it?!
"Sakura," Sasuke says and cups her face with one of his hands, "What's wrong?" And just like that the strange shadow vanishes and air floods her lungs. She gasps and her body pulsates in a violent fit of coughing. "Sakura?!" Sasuke asks again, his hand drops to her elbow. No, Sasuke couldn't see it. I must be losing my mind; shock maybe? Or-
"Hallucinations, is it a symptom of the antidote? Or the poison?" She manages to squeeze out in between coughs.
"Hallucinations? I've never had any from henchmen poisoning, but I'm not too familiar with the antidote, I'll have to ask Itachi. You had one just now?"
"Mm. I think I had one earlier too, of the same thing. I felt like I was being strangled."
"..."
"I feel okay now." She lies afraid he will think sharing the vampire world with her was too much for her to handle. So she decides to keep the details of her dream and strange encounter to herself.
Sasuke looks back in the direction they'd came, his expression blank, "Wait here for a moment, I'll see where Itachi went."
"What if Ryuu comes back?"
"He won't." He answers.
She tosses a worried look at him but decides to take his word, "Okay." When he leaves she finds a seat in a small antique lounge chair by one of the large windows of the room. Outside she can see something of a garden. She sighs and rests her head back, one thousand questions and thoughts create a chaotic mob in her mind. If it's a fever and I'm still sick then that would explain a lot. She concludes and closes her eyes, trying to will it all away.
And these roses... Yet another set of questions rising above all the others. She peeks open one of her eyes to catch a glimpse of the roses standing by the fountain, the sound of water rushing down its levels echoes slightly. The strange flowers are far enough that she cannot make out their details, but their subtle glows stand out so beautiful to Sakura. She closes her eye again, in time maybe Sasuke would have a change of mind. Or she hoped at least.
'Sasuke's little love servant'. Ryuu's voice manages to surface above the rest of the chaos in her head. I'll show that Ryuu guy, servant. The only thing I'm gonna serve him is a fist to the face.
But even so..
Sasuke... just who are you? And what am I to you?
-x-
No one spoke during the car ride. Sasuke brought a duffel bag with him, in it the glassed rose, along with a bottle of sunscreen.
April 27, 12:20 p.m. - City streets.
Clouds roll, a thunderous sight painted in hues of gray. Over the small city their presence casts a gloom over the people moving about in the streets. Umbrellas black as coal repel what they can against a down pour that only worsens. Horns of cars and sirens sound in the distance.
Sakura makes a run for her apartment with Sasuke following close behind, puddles splash at their feet, his duffel bag hangs low to his side. The cold rain flushes down their scalps and feels like sand paper against their skin. Both of them pay caution to by-passers and hang their heads low to shield from the rain. April showers this year seemed much more aggressive than usual.
"We're almost there, just up this way." She calls to him. She was feeling better now; before they left the mansion Sasuke returned with her doses of fever medicine and antidote. Itachi had said he never had the chance to see how the antidote could affect a human, but that he didn't doubt hallucinations were possible. He left it at that, and she made a mental note to ask him about what he'd use to make it. Afterwards, Sasuke brought her back to the theater lot where she'd left her car. Her purse was in the passenger seat just where she'd left it, cell phone dead. She gathered that the drive from the mansion to her town was about two hours although for most of it she'd dozed off, her body still weak. The mansion was well out of the outskirts of the city limits too, more so it was pretty much completely isolated from any other buildings or public areas. Odd. She'd thought.
They parked on 27th street, a block away from her home on 28th. Her block was small-scale but bloomed with trees and flowers planted in squares along the sidewalks. But today, the usual colorful riches of the decorative floral dulled in the wake of shadowed skies.
"Here," She closes in on one of the brick buildings and quickly jogs up several steps to open its front door. She throws herself inside, glad to be out of the storm, and waits for Sasuke to follow suit. But when he doesn't she turns around to find he is gone.
"Sasuke?" She pokes her head out of the doorway and peers around, "Um, Sasuke?" But there was no sign of him.
Well, what the actual fuck Sasuke, where'd you go? Was this your plan all along? The thought of finally being free of vampire business washes through her, but the relief only lasts for a split second. No, that- UGH none of this makes any sense, seriously. Her emerald eyes examine the street one more time but when he still doesn't show she shuts the door. She hesitates at the lock, Just in case... I'll leave this open for you Sasuke. Besides, henchmen don't come out during the day, right?
She wipes her shoes on the doormat before heading upstairs to her apartment. It's quiet. Her clothes stick to her skin.
She opens her apartment door and finds it exactly the way she left it, small, cozy, and messy. Yes, as a doctor she attained some wealth over the years, however, she liked to keep her possessions at a minimum and the clothes on the floor of her bedroom at a maximum.
She shivers from the cold, being wet only makes her tremble more. In all her efforts to escape Sasuke, she is surprised when she finds herself, even in the slightest bit, wanting him to come back. She still had so many questions. Call it a doctor's curiosity- but just what is a vampire anyway? How did their bodies work? Did they really live forever?
Lost in her thoughts, her body moves on its own. She kicks off her shoes and moves swiftly, picking up a few misplaced items like study books and whatnot off the ground to put them in their respective areas. She heads to her bedroom. Raindrops ping against her window as she switches the knob of the lamp on her nightstand. Although it was midday the weather guides an eight o'clock darkness into her home.
She pulls her phone from her purse, sets it on a charger, then grabs a sweater and a pair of leggings from her dresser. The shower awaits her.
-x-
Outside Sasuke had continued past her apartment building and rounded the corner of the block. There he stopped and peers from behind a parked van.
His sharp eyes scan the buildings across the street.; even if it was for a split-second he thought he'd seen a tail slipping around the far corner just before he was about to follow Sakura into her home. A large, black, almost lizard-like tail. So he'd come to investigate, there was no time to explain; if it was what his gut told him then he didn't want to lose sight of the beast. But what was a henchman doing out midday?
For a moment he passes off the whole situation as his paranoid imagination, but then a movement above catches his attention. There. It crawls like a spider across the brick wall of another home. It was quick, its long neck twitches rapidly like that of bird and twists in irregular directions. The parasitical bastard had some nerve to be out at this time, no doubt looking for its next prey. His heart momentarily seizes when the henchman pauses just under one of the building's windows.
With the rainy weather, most windows would be closed. Did it plan on taking someone in plain sight? He glances around, while he could see the creature, everyone else couldn't. If it planned to break in he wouldn't be able to follow without raising a shit load of suspicion. But why aren't you burning up? He looks up at the clouds, Those can't save you, what's going on... He thinks.
Sasuke returns his gaze to the henchman only to find its black eyes set dead on his own. Its neck cranes up to look at him from its place on the wall, then cocks its head. The sight of it- if he wasn't used to seeing their numerous different forms and levels of disgusting- would've sent him running down the street.
The henchman abruptly twitches and scurries around the building and out of sight. Sasuke narrows his eyes and follows, he draws in a deep breath and focuses on pushing energy out to his limbs. Gradually, he feels power prickling underneath the skin of his arms, his legs and beneath his feet. He swiftly crosses the street, glancing around to make sure eyes aren't observing him, he was thankful at that moment for the down pour; streets were nearly empty. Even so, he tugs at the hood of his jacket to pull it down further over his eyes.
There is a fence that blocks his way from going completely around the building, but with ease he jumps on the side of the building and uses it as footing to propel himself over the fence. Now in the backyard his head snaps up in time to catch a glimpse of the henchman's tail disappearing into a window. But the window looks to have been boarded up, and there was a gaping hole where it seemed to have been broken into a long time ago. He doesn't suspect it to be the henchmen's doing otherwise he would've heard it.
Sasuke concludes the home is vacant and takes a chance; if someone saw him then so be it. Gathering even more energy into his legs he runs towards the back wall and leaps up. His feet stick to the brick nicely and he continues to push himself upward. This was another of his talents along with being fast; his body was inclined with electricity and he was able to mold it in such a way that allowed him to magnetize himself to metals. In this case, he aimed for the metals within the structure of the building.
He climbs up to the second floor, crouches, and cautiously peers into the small hole. An intense darkness, silence, and a mold-like smell is all that greets him. Without his heightened vampiric senses he wouldn't have been able to make out the broken glass on the floor, the cracks on the walls, or the broken pieces of wall moldings that were scattered about. It's a rather large room he observes, and to the right is a doorway with broken hinges as the only other way out, the door that should've been attached lay broken in a pile of scraps in the corner beside it.
Without wasting more time, Sasuke draws strength into his arm then yanks off the boards preventing his entrance. While the henchman was able to squeeze through the hole, he didn't feel up to the challenge himself, so he tosses the wood planks in the yard behind them until he's able to fit through. This henchman wasn't nearly as large as the one Itachi killed in the woods, he notes, but then again, he'd once seen one with the ability to break its own bones to take on a new shape, there was no standard when it came to them.
Sasuke peers inside and hesitates, the henchman is no where in sigh. An unsettling doubt that he wouldn't be able to handle the creature by himself consumes him then. But with the henchman so close to where Sakura lived and its particular ability to tolerate UV rays, this wasn't something he could've turned a blind eye to, help or no help.
Standing up, he grabs onto the top part of the window sill- he ignores the broken glass on the inside that slices through his fingers- and brings his legs through. He lands quietly but more glass shards crack under his weight.
A water droplet falls into a puddle on the floor to his left, the effects of water damage no doubt. He thought the word for this home was vacant before, but now abandoned seemed more appropriate.
He moves through the doorway and peeks around; a hallway leads on to the left, one other door is shut closed and at the end is another boarded window, this one completely closed off. He slowly takes a step forward and peers over the railing in front of him, a stair case running down the wall leads to the floor below. On high alert he backs away from the railing and goes for the closed off room first, it was better if he knew what was behind him before going downstairs. But on the wall where the stairs are he sees a shadow flicker across.
He spins around and revisits the first room again, but there's nothing except the puddle in the far left corner in the room.
A bony black arm slowly reaches down from the ceiling just above Sasuke's head.
…?! His brows pull down in confusion as the scent of blood gradually singles out from the other smells of rain, mold, and dust. His throat burns from the realization; blood? Where... His gaze fixates on the puddle again and that's when he notices in the dim light he had overlooked its dark color.
Long, slender fingers uncurl one at a time from the stretching arm above him, revealing one by one long, sharp, nails.
There was never a roof leak, that was a puddle of blood.
Sasuke's attention locks to the ceiling in an instant once he put two and two together, but it was too late. He barely has enough time to react to the hand that slashes at his face graving a gash into his forehead, he stumbles backward out of the room.
Sasuke curses under his breath, his back meets with the railing behind him and he immediately gathers a charge into his arm. A bright blue light emerges like lightning out of his hand and the electricity rubs together rapidly and creates loud chirping noises. Still inside the room, the henchman drops from the ceiling to the floor and hisses at him, its rows of teeth are unsightly, all in which are stained wth blood from whatever it had been eating.
"Tsch," Sasuke's eyes, crimson and bellowing with distaste, tracks the henchman's movements flawlessly as it lunges for him again. He ducks to the side and under its attacking arm and plunges his fist into its chest. An explosion surges from his hand and all the way up through his shoulder; a burst of energy that sends him crashing through the railing and into the wall behind him, "Ngh!" The wall cracks from the impact of his body, and the wooden planks from the railing break around him in a jumbled mess. The henchmen flies backwards too, letting out a high-pitched screech. Sasuke slides down the wall and onto the steps of the stairway, wincing from the pain, the arm he'd use to strike dangles at his side. He doesn't hesitate and clamps down his working hand on his dislocated shoulder and shoves it upward, his teeth grind against each other as it pops back in place.
A back surge? He curses himself again for not being able to completely control his abilities. And yet again when he sees the shadow of the henchman's form rise against the clouds of dust and debris.
"Sssssaaass," The monster hissed, Sasuke stands immediately and readies himself for the henchmen's next attack. "Sssssaaaaassssuukkkeeeee..." It hisses even louder.
...?! Sasuke'smouth nearly hangs open.
The henchman pounces again.
"Augh!" Sasuke yells out in pain, the henchman slashes at his stomach and chest repeatedly, each time ripping more of his flesh and clothes away. It screeches in frustration when Sasuke manages to bring his right forearm just under its neck to keep its chomping jaws at bay- the strain feels like fire in his muscles.
"Ngh- you fuck-" With all his strength Sasuke brings around his other hand in an electrified hook and smashes it against the side of the henchman's head. The hit blows it screaming into the wall behind him and down several steps. With control returning to his body Sasuke jumps to the top of the stairs and charges his right arm this time. The henchman scrambles to get up despite the blood gushing out of its head but Sasuke makes sure it doesn't have the chance. He stomps on the broken wooden planks on the floor to fling them up then mid air he unleashes a swift roundhouse kick. It lands perfectly and launches the plank into the henchman's shoulder, sharp end in. Right after he kicks another plank in the same way and earns a loud shriek as this time it plunges into its chest. The henchman is knocked even further back but still manages to keep upright.
"Raiton!" It lifts its head in time to see Sasuke charging at it, a bright charge of electricity running its current in his right hand this time. It hisses and gets ready to slash before Sasuke is able to land the blow. Just two steps away Sasuke easily anticipates its intended counter and changes his footing at the last moment. He twists his right foot counter clockwise and jumps backwards onto the wall above the henchman. His body twists in the air, his left foot finds the wall, and he slams his charged hand cleanly into its back. Sasuke's feet, as they return to the steps, are greeted by the henchman's blood splattering everywhere, on his clothes, across the wall, but his fierce glare does not flinch, the light from his electricity flickers across his face.
Sasuke pulls out his hand from its body, with it comes flying out the piece of wood that had pierced its chest from before. The henchman gives one final cry then slumps lifelessly beneath him.
He stands up slowly, eyes wild and red. Although his wounds are already healing they are still too severe, but he doesn't worry, he knows he can not die from this, as much as he would've liked. A revolting stench fills his nose then. Now, almost at the bottom of the stair case Sasuke has a clear view of the first floor. Like upstairs, windows are boarded, there is no light, just decay.
He is in a kitchen, he can tell from the fridge, missing stove and separate counter which is barren with a cracked marble-top. On the floor next to it, Sasuke notices something slumped against it.
And something in him snaps.
Loud banging sounds come from another room and right after the sound of breaking wood and a slam.
"Clear. This way."
"Kakashi, careful, we can't let this one escape again."
"Sh, wait- There's one more-"
Two men enter the building and hastily cover each room of the first floor, raising their anti-vampire guns as they round one doorway after the other.
Kakashi is the first to enter the home's kitchen; a flashlight clipped to his shoulder guides his way, his gun is ready and pointed. He wears a similar trench coat to the man who follows right after him, he too alert and armed. The two of them are taken back by the scene and exchange a sideways look but nonetheless keep their composure. Sasuke is already gone.
"Looks like things have already been taken care of, Naruto." Kakashi says and sighs coolly. His flashlight shines on the henchman reverting to its human form and further into a pile of bubbling ooze. He returns his gun to his leg holster and rounds the stand alone counter, "... it's that thing's lunch over here too." He continues as he eyes the dead body on the floor. He kneels beside the deceased man, the sight makes him uneasy but he continues and searches for a phone and identification.
Naruto stays silent, his hair shades his eyes. Although he dreaded this part- in finding the victim, cleaning up the evidence, then having to lie to their families and friends that they remain missing- all that came to mind was his friend. Too close Sasuke... too close.
Naruto didn't see his ex-partner, but his gut was all he needed to be sure he was responsible.
-x-
The hot water felt nice on her skin, a moment of relaxation after what felt like a month's worth of tension. She could only imagine how things were at work, having to face her friends there and explain her sudden disappearance. She didn't worry too much over her parents, because well...
Out of the shower Sakura stares at herself in the mirror, her cheeks are flush from the steam, strands of her wet hair stick to her cheeks and neck. Her palms are planted face down on either side of the sink in front of her. But she doesn't understand why they are trembling, or the sudden ache in her stomach. She questions if Itachi's medication is bothering her.
Her body suddenly feels sticky from the warmth of the room so she quickly throws a towel over herself and heads into her bedroom. The cold air feels nice at first but quickly becomes too cold for her liking. Cold sweats had always been something she despised.
When her legs threaten to give out she sits on her bed hand holds one of the insides of her wrist to her forehead. But the room grows dark and she falls backwards, her head lands on a pillow, and the sound of rain slowly fades away.
-x-
When she awakes there is someone in her room. Her eyes flutter open to find Sasuke standing in the doorway, completely covered in blood. Her chest seizes and she jumps out of bed, rushing towards him.
"Sasuke?! What happened to you?!" She throws on the light switch and finds most of his abdomen is... absent.
"Oh my god.." She looks up at him with moist eyes, "Sasuke? How can you even stand- you-" She grabs his hand, "Come," his hand was ice, he should've been dead. She guides him into her living room and sits him down on her couch. Across from it she sets up the fireplace and lights the wood with a few matches.
"Okay, let me get those off." She says, takes a hold of his hand and pulls him forward to remove his jacket and whatever was left of his shirt.
It is his expression that worries her the most. It is blank. She pushes back the panic she feels from his eyes glowing red, but she is more afraid that he would take his last breath than of that. His gaze is fixated on the floor, his usual parted bangs fall across his eyes and nose, and he suddenly seems more sad than anything. But not one muscle on his body gives the slightest twitch, the corners of his mouth do not curve up or down in any way.
Across her sofa she sets up the fireplace and lights the wood with a few matches. Returning to Sasuke she removes his jeans and socks then drapes a blanket over his shoulders.
"Sasuke... if you can, tell me how to heal you. I can help you as much as I can normally, but if there's something more..." The warmth from the fire across her bare back brings a merciless blush across her cheeks. From over Sasuke's head and across the living room she can see her bed in the room over, and on it was her bath towel.
"Kya!" But thankfully his gaze shifted only to the fire behind her. "Ahah, I-I'll be right back," She nearly sprints to her room and throws on what she had set aside earlier: an over-sized cream colored sweater that fell to her thighs, good enough, she decides and ditches her pants, pressed for time. While pulling it over her head she goes into her bathroom and opens the cabinet underneath her sink. She knocks over almost every bottle just to grab the trauma kit.
Sakura returns to Sasuke with the kit and a wet towelette. Carefully she kneels in front of him and focuses on cleaning his stomach. On his chest were numerous claw gashes in lines of three, simple stitches would do good with those she observes, his abdomen was the real problem. She knows its beyond repair with her power, but she does what she can anyway.
"I'm sorry if I'm hurting you, I'll be as gentle as I can." She makes no comment of it as she wipes away the blood, but she notices despite how much of it covered him, he himself is hardly bleeding. Once she's done she goes for the the stitches in the kit next to her and readies the cuts on his chest with ointment.
Sasuke's hand grabs her wrist and what she'd been holding fell onto the rug on the floor. She gasps and her other hand comes up to her chest in defense.
"Sasuke?!" He leans forward and with his other hand he slowly laces his fingers with the hair behind her neck. His gaze is intense and stares right through her own. For a moment she glances at his lips, they are slightly parted and she can see the tips of his fangs. Her eyes widen, "What are you doing?" But still, he gives no answer, instead his thumb draws circles on the high of her cheek and his face moves closer to hers. Heart pounding, she pushes against his shoulder but his body was as firm as a rock. He lets go of her wrist then and slips it around the low of her back, he pulls her into him, then with his thumb he pushes her jaw up, exposing her neck. It happens too fast for her to react, his breath against her skin, his lips, his teeth. They sink into the curve of her throat like knives.
"Ah-" The pain hurts, and she winces, she struggles to keep her breathing normal. He hugs her closer, and brings his other arm around her back as well, his hand pulls her hair to keep her neck stretched.
She was delicate in his arms like this. Soft and lively. Her blood like sweet wine entering his mouth, more... more... The hint of vanilla floating from her hair was just as enticing and suddenly this small woman in his embrace was the essence of his whole life. Instincts completely claim him, he is nothing more than a vampire, a monster, and she...she was his, and his only.
She feels the heat of his tongue against her skin and the sound of a low growl. She shivers against him and he bites down again, earning another whimper from the woman. The more he drank the faster his wounds closed up.
He yanks the sleeve of her sweater and exposes more of her skin. There, the subtle mound of flesh bulges still half concealed by fabric. He moves from her neck to her chest, and bites down again.
"Sasuke!" Her cheeks bloom pink, he was so close to her... her- His fingernails graze her back through her top and she balls her hands into fists against his collar bones. She found if she stayed still it'd hurt less, but the way he was carrying himself she felt an unusual heat course through her body. But still... "Sasuke, you're taking too much -ah!" He pushes her onto the floor and onto her back, his hands clamp down on her wrists to the rug. Her blush intensifies and he lowers himself closer to her body, his knees on either side of her hips.
A tear creeps up to the corner of her eye as a sense of panic takes hold of her, was he going to take that from her too? But there is no escape from Sasuke's hold. She finds herself becoming weaker by the second. She shuts her eyes but tears still pool down the sides of her temples.
Sasuke pulls back then, all his wounds are completely healed and he is able to see Sakura beneath him for the first time. Drops of blood leak down her throat and beneath her collar bone. Her hair, almost dry from the fireplace, spills over the floor; her sweater just barely conceals her breast.
His hold loosens immediately and he pulls himself off her. Sakura's eyes fly open to find Sasuke sitting with his back against her sofa, he faces the floor but his hair hides his eyes.
Sakura sits up pulling her sweater back down over her bottom, relief washes over her. Her eyes widen in surprise as she finds his torso free of the injuries he had.
"So... that's how you heal..." She says quietly, and slips back her top over her exposed shoulder. He looks up at her suddenly, and there were a million feelings across his face. His eyebrows are pulled up, the corners of his lips drew back slightly, and his eyes glisten from the light of the fire. Sakura blinks, caught off guard by the loneliest expression she'd ever seen anyone make.
The strings of her heart seem to pull in her chest as she wonders how such a man like Sasuke could feel this way. Lightning illuminated them both in shades of black and white.
Sakura crawls over to him then, "Sakura?" He says, his voice is weak, and Sakura felt it like a punch to her stomach.
No, there was a time she'd seen that face before, just one other face, but over and over it made the same expression. She knew that pain all too well, how could she have not realized it before.
She wraps her arms around his neck and whispers, "It's okay, I'm here for you." Sasuke trembles at her words that grasp at him in the darkness, why? Sakura...
He chokes back the lump in his throat, but it doesn't stop the wetness that pours down his cheeks. Before he's aware of it his arms are around her too, and he breaks, for the first time in a long time.
OMG the pain in my shoulders. Uughhhh, writing makes me so tense T-T
Okay! So I wanted to talk about a few things...
This one took a little longer to post (I'm soweee) because after all I had wrote the file had to go and get corrupted like I opened it up and every single word I had typed were replaced by #'s. (Anyone know anything about that? I used openoffice.) It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. UGH. When I went back to rewrite it I started questioning the scenes I picked for this, and I wanted to do something better and more interesting. I mauled over a bunch of scenarios in my head and tried out different ones until I finally settled on what I wanted. -huff huff-
Also, I was planning on making it shorter, but in the end I decided I'd rather get in a good juicy chapter since this update took so long plus, I felt the last chapter was kinda boring ;( but certain things had to be done for sake of plot. I don't like writing random smut o.O haha. Another thing about last chapter, a huge reason why I'm writing this story is because I'm desperately trying to improve my writing. I had a hard time in my college course trying to find my style and my professor emphasized that I wrote too passively and the more simpler and straight to the point the better. I've always had a hard time with this, like my brain just automatically goes into ultra- proper fancy mode and I don't really understand why I do that myself.
So that's why with this chapter I tried to change it up a bit. If you guys liked it better this time around pleaseee please please give me your feedback, I'm not the type that gets butt-hurt when it comes to criticism, I use it to improve and I'd appreciate it sooooooo soo muchhh! I put a lot of hard work into this... just sayin' ;D
And! I feel like the overall tone and mood of what I wanted this fanfic to have is kind of off track. I had more in mind for it to be kind of spooky, dark, and sexy... but I really think I took a wrong turn somewhere ahh . Or maybe it's just me, I dunno. Hopefully with this chapter though I got the mood down... Hmm, tell me what you guys think :O
On another note, I bet some of you are finding some elements of Vampire Knight in here (as I had a someone tell me once :) yes still love you oh wonderful reviewer you). Yes, I had watched the anime years ago when I was younger and it probably did have some kind of influence when I started this thing, but I swear that was not my intention at all haha. Actually, over time I honestly forgot all about the show o.O. I re-watched it again a several weeks ago just because I wanted to know my boundaries and OH MY GOD. I didn't realize how seriously similar certain aspects are like holy crapola batman. My intentions from the start was for an original plot line but with I guess now we can call them Vampire Knight inspirations. XD Maybe it's a good thing? I dunno.
Anyway- oh! For the sake of this story I'll be creating some original characters, just because I don't like characters that are severely OOC. I was debating whether or not to do this though because I felt like a Naruto fanfic is a Naruto fanfic because Naruto characters are in it. But in the end, I decided well to go this way.
I'm going to try to improve on keeping Sasuke and Itachi in their characters though. But then I get thinking well, their characters are certain ways because of what's happened to them in the past right? Sasuke and Itachi were always haunted in Naruto because of the whole Uchiha clan massacre. But this story isn't like that? Oh my goodness I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. Point is, if you guys feel like a character has done something weird or OOC that doesn't make sense, feel free and absolutely don't hesitate to point it out! Even if ya gotta say like, "BEATRICE, WAT THE F $& THIS IS ALL WRONG NONONONO," that's completely fine with me too xD I'll go back and fix the shit out of it helllll yeahh.
Moving sucks. But I love my new home. But moving really sucks. I've got no friends T-T. But I continue college in the fall so hopefully that'll change ^-^ It's good to stay positive guys! Shannarou!
Also, I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I post updates on my profile from time to time about what I'm up to concerning story updates. Idk. Just sayin'.
Please gimme some feedback and review, review, review! :) Love ya guys! And thanks!
~Until next time! :)
