Angel of Silence
Chapter 9 – Bloody Books
Disclaimer: I don't Sailor Moon, Vampire Knight or Sailor Moon
"Demons huh" amethyst eyes glinted with determination
"Yeah. What are we going to do Firefly?"
"I guess that I'm going to a ball."
A couple of weeks later Hotaru blinked her tired eyes rapidly in an attempt to block out the harsh golden rays of the sun glaring at her. How the thin sheet of skin did nothing to block out the irritating beams and she turned over with a loud groan. Sensing movement she opened one exhausted eye to stare at the sight of Yori bent over a bag filled with toiletries.
"What are you doing?" she mumbled as she hugged her pillow and buried herself in the cocoon of warmth that was her comforter.
"I'm packing," Yori replied.
"What? Why?" Hotaru asked confused in her tired state as she blearily tried to keep her eyes from closing.
"I told you last night I'm going to go back home for the weekend. Grandpa hasn't been feeling well" the brunette explained as she stuffed a jacket into her backpack that looked to be almost bursting.
Rubbing her eyes Hotaru decided that she wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep and she sat up still hugging the pillow to her chest in a childish pose.
"Do you need any help?" she giggled as Yori groaned and struggled with the bag.
"No I'm almost there" the human girl finally managed to shove the jacket in and zip the bag shut.
"Are you sure you have enough stuff there Yori-chan?" the purple haired girl deadpanned.
"I'm sorry if I like to be prepared" Yori rolled her eyes.
"Yori-chan there's being prepared to go home for the weekend and then there's being prepared for the apocalypse" Hotaru nodded at the bag.
"Oh hush you and go back to sleep" Yori stood back up and managed to pick up the bag with just a bit of difficulty.
"I'll see you on Monday Taru" Hotaru who had returned to wrapping herself in a quilt cocoon groaned in acknowledgement of her friend's farewell and Yori left.
The door swung close with a muffled thud thanks to the blanket that Hotaru had pulled over her head once more. After a minute of sitting in the comforting darkness, the heat from her breathe proved to be too much and she lifted the cover off of her face, enjoying the rush of cool air that met her face. She glared at the ceiling trying to force herself to go back to sleep and scowled in annoyance when her brain refused to relax. Getting up she reached into her suitcase and dragged some clothes out. She buttoned up a long white sleeved top and tied a black corset around her waist with two black belts with gold buckles. A matching black lace skirt complete the outfit. She laced up her favourite combat boots and put her hair up in a messy bun, she blew a few strands out of her face in annoyance and gold studs in her ears. Hopping off of her bed she slipped on a brown leather messenger bag and double checked that her phone was charged before exiting the room.
Hotaru wandered down familiar hallways, her body moving on autopilot as her mind focused on trying to feel the auras around her. She could sense the light blue aura of her best friend flickering softly as she the swan girl slept, a muted yellow one in the same room which she assumed to be Nadashiko. A spring green aura which she suspected to be Yori's was exiting the school grounds. A light grey aura was pacing in the headmaster's office and two darker grey ones stationary next to the lighter one. The vampire hunters were having a meeting. Her head began to pound as she stretched her senses further prodding for any signs of youma activity. Immediately a beacon of dark red and black auras pounded against her senses from the night class dormitory and she withdrew in annoyance. Her left hand rose up to absentmindedly rub her temples and her concentration broke as she tripped and landed on the floor. Coughing weakly she leant against the wall as she climbed back to her feet before continuing to walk one step at a time.
It didn't take long for her to exit the school grounds and begin to walk around town. Stopping at a small café she bought a small iced chocolate which she sipped as she kept to the more shaded areas. Hotaru found the ongoing bustle of people moving around her was soothing as she popped another blood tablet into her mouth and drank more of the sweet chocolate liquid which mixed with the bitter tang of blood and closed her eyes to mask their red hue. The people seemed happy she noted as she watched a little boy holding his mum's hand with one hand a bright red balloon in the other.
You would never know the truth of the demons in the world if you didn't look closely Hotaru thought as she saw a girl a year or two older than her arguing with what looked to be her boyfriend.
The girl's black hair was tied back in a high ponytail with brown eyes peeking out behind messy bangs, and she wore a black hoodie saying 'my puns are cat-astrophic' with a white kitten peeking out behind the words and white jeans. Her hands were waving in erratic motions as she argued with the slightly taller boy in dark jeans and a red shirt. The boy had just grabbed the other girl's by her left wrist when he was hit by an empty cup. It landed on the pavement and rolled away.
"My apologies I was aiming for the trash- no wait never mind I hit my target" Hotaru observed with a smile as she picked up the cup.
"What the fuck is wrong with you stay out of this?" the boy fumed.
"Don't you know it's a heroine's job to save cute damsels in distress from villains?" the dark purple haired girl chided her smirk only growing.
"So that's what this is about you're a fucking gay aren't you that's why you won't go out with me" he sneered.
"Ugh that's not it Kaito I don't want to go out with you because you're a fucking dick ok?" the girl burst out as she pushed him away from her.
"I don't know why I wasted my time on a fucking dyke" he blew up as he stormed off.
"Sorry about that but thanks" the girl apologised.
"That's ok it was my pleasure putting an idiot like him in his place" Hotaru smiled.
The girl glanced down at her watch and cursed.
"Shit."
Hotaru watched the girl quickly turn and run off but not before giving Hotaru one final wave in thanks. Sighing Hotaru then chucked the empty cup that she was still holding in the bin and continued to stroll slowly down the street.
Bzzz
Bzzz
BZZZZZZZZZ
Glancing down she realised it was her phone that she had left on vibrate so that it wouldn't go off during class. Her thumb pressed down on the home button and she swiftly unlocked her phone to read the 5 text messages from Raven or Duckling which was the contact that Hotaru used for her friend as she used a stupid nickname for all of her contacts and two missed calls.
Duckling: Hotaru want to help me choreograph a new dance after breakfast?
Duckling: Did you go get breakfast without me you're not in your room?
Duckling: Firefly where are you?
Duckling: I swear to Selene that if you have left the school grounds and your phones on silent I will tell Haruka-sama that you want her to help you with training for an entire month and laugh as you come home every night in pain
Duckling: She'll steal your phone, tie it to the back of her motorcycle and make you chase after it to 'help you get faster'
Bzzzzzz
As Hotaru skimmed through the texts her phone buzzed again as Raven called her again. Swiping her thumb across the screen she raised it her ear.
"Hotaru where are you" Raven growled.
"What's got your feathers ruffled Ven" the purple haired girl said amused at her friend's overreaction to her departure of the school grounds.
"Don't Ven me Hotaru Rhea Saturnia" the swan girl warned "where are you?"
"Sorry Ven but you don't have to worry about me I'm fine. I'm just walking around town. I thought that maybe if I was further away from the night class it might be easier for me to sense any youma activity. I keep on getting bad migraines every time I try to do it on the school grounds."
"Did you find anything?"
"Not yet."
"Look I'm sorry I was just worried I couldn't find you and you weren't answering your phone. I promised Serenity-sama that I'd keep you safe."
"Raven don't worry about me. I can take care of myself, I'm not a helpless damsel in distress."
"I just don't want you to get hurt anymore. Have you even been sleeping? For the past two weeks it seems like you've been surviving on caffeine and willpower. It's the hospital incident all over again " Raven asked exasperatedly.
"I have been sleeping and I don't regret the hospital incident at all."
"Three hours a night doesn't count and you were in a coma for a week!"
"It's still sleep and the rest of the night is spent very productively catching up on TV shows."
"Look just make sure to call me if something comes up?"
"Of course Ven" Hotaru reassured her friend before hanging up.
Turning the corner she found a small cosy looking little bookstore. The Black Cat Bookstore was written in white cursive on the black fur of a grinning cat. Deciding that it would be nice to get out of the sunlight before she burnt to a crisp she opened the door. A bell chimed as she entered the cool bookstore. It was silent except for the sound of what appeared to be the owner moving books at the back. The many brown wooden shelves were straining, stuffed with books of all shapes, sizes and colours. Stacks of encyclopaedias, piles of novels and mounds of volumes were scattered all over the small store.
Her dainty hand traced over several titles and she leafed through a few novels that managed to catch her eye. It was nice to be surrounded by the warm atmosphere of the book store, the only sounds still came from the shuffling of the unseen owner. Glimpses of frizzy wild white hair and the glint of spectacles were the only signs of life that she could see as she drifted through the aisles of pages and ink. She snorted as she saw a charcoal black cover with metallic crimson writing 'Dracula' standing out proudly amongst the classics section and shook her head at a black novel with two hands holding a bright shiny red apple in the popular fiction section.
She trailed her hand over the spines of novels searching for one that caught her eye a couple of weeks ago. There it was, right at the top of the bookshelf taunting her lack of height. Hotaru glared at it and looked around the room for anyone else before backing up and jumped. Leaping up her finger brushed the spine of the novel before she landed on the floor once more. Growling she tried again. And again. And again. Until eventually she heard a muffled snort from behind her and she twirled around to glare up at a familiar tall silver haired boy.
"Having fun?"
"Shut up you jerk" she mumbled before turning back to the shelf and straining on tip toes managed to get the tip of her index finger to brush bottom of the book.
"You sure you don't need help?"
"Yes."
All of a sudden Hotaru felt a warm chest against her back and a larger hand reached up to grab the book that she was trying to get. He tapped her head with the book before handing it to her and then reached up to grab another book next to it.
"Hey I told you I could do it myself" she fumed.
"Yes but I needed to get a book myself I didn't feel like waiting for an hour just to get it" he deadpanned before picking up a smaller book with a dark blue cover.
"You know you'd be cuter if you just smiled more you big jerk" she winked and shook her head with a small laugh which was so familiar that he froze.
"You should smile more Zero!"
"Excuse me Z are you still with me? Earth to Zero" a dainty hand was waving in front of his face as he blinked and returned his gaze to the worried expression on Hotaru's face.
"Are you okay Zero you just zoned out all of a sudden?" she asked concernedly.
"Yeah I'm fine" he said distractedly pointedly looking away from her "I just have a lot I need to do."
With that he distractedly shoved the book he was holding back on the bookshelf and hurried off refusing to look back at the girl behind him that reminded him so much of the girl that he loved.
Hotaru watched him go worriedly, Zero wasn't acting like himself. Looking down at the book that he had gotten for her however she smiled softly. 'The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deavers' was stamped in big bright yellow letters on a skin coloured background with a creepy centipede tattoo in the background, the latest in the Lincoln Rhyme series.
"Thank you Z" she said softly once he was out of earshot.
She grabbed the novel that he had been about to buy and walked towards the counter. There she was met with the sight of a frail old man, the owner of the wild white hair and silver spectacles that she had spied amongst the plethora of books that embodied the store.
"Thank you" he wheezed as he placed the books in a small brown paper bag and handed it to her along with the change.
She gave him a polite smile which he returned with a toothy grin and strolled out of the store. Stepping into the bright sunlight after having spent around half an hour in the dim light of the store hurt her eyes and she tried to shield her face from the sun with her free hand that wasn't holding on to the books. Looking at the time it was almost 12 o'clock she decided that it was time to go back to the school seeing as she hadn't found anything during her outing.
As Hotaru strolled down the street she decided to take a shortcut back to the school. Turning down a dark alleyway that she remembered ended just a street away from the academy she was thankful for the dark shade. She paused in her stride at the sound of a sudden gasp. Turning around she saw a young woman clutching the brick wall for support. Her limp greasy hair fell down her back, bangs covering her eyes. She wore a torn brown coat and was barefoot. Long sharp nails were caked with dirt and a suspicious red substance. Her teeth were bared in a deranged grin showing off pearly white fangs as the girl let loose a deranged laugh.
"I've found you, hehehehe my mistress will be so happy."
"You're mistress?" Hotaru cocked her head to the side "I don't suppose that you could make this easier on yourself and just tell me who that is."
"Hehehe now where would be the fun in that little Kuran princess?" the young woman sang out as she stumbled over the uneven stones, the scent of blood from the cuts on her feet causing Hotaru's own bloodthirsty nature to reveal itself.
The Saturnian princess watched the Level E vampire, her red eyes glowed at the stench of blood and she sighed.
"I guess that it's going to be the hard way."
With that Hotaru let the tight control over her powers loosen, her senses heightened in this state of power. She could sense the black starseed of the demonic creature before her and she commanded it to her obey her will.
"I'm sorry just be quiet. This will be over swiftly" she commanded using her authority as a pureblood.
A yellow flower blossomed on the young vampire's forehead causing her mouth to silently scream in pain. She thrashed, her limbs flailing in utter agony as her very soul was ripped from her writhing body.
Hotaru beckoned the soul to come to her, as it floated towards her the body stilled. It landed in the palm of her hand and concentrating on it she could see the entire thread of the young girl's life, an entire life story flashed before her eyes in an instant.
"Ayame Nakamura huh? I hope that you find some peace in the afterlife" with that she closed her hand over the starseed crushing it which caused the body before her to turn to dust.
Opening her hand there were no remnants of the life that she had taken as the wind scattered the dust far away. Hotaru then turned and continued on towards the academy as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn't just murdered a young woman in cold blood. Her serene expression held no hint of the sins that she could feel crawling on her back.
Then she felt it.
The disgusting dark energy of a youma, its very presence brought forth feelings of terror and agony. She could feel it right in the middle of the town and as she turned towards it the screams began causing her to break out into a run as she followed the terrified sounds. Overhead a crow with scarlet eyes flew away.
"So it's true," a honeyed voice purred, eyes the same blood red as the crow's watched Hotaru running "the Kuran Princess has returned."
The young woman took a sip of a crimson liquid from a wine glass and tucked a fallen strand of wavy blonde hair behind her ear.
"The game has just gotten a lot more interesting."
Sorry guys I know this isn't my best work I just wanted to show that I'm still working on this story. I hope you guys will all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.
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