Chapter Ten

Before Seph went to sleep, she noticed on the calender that the next night would be a full moon. She wondered if it would affect vampires but dismissed the thought. She curled up in bed and fell asleep.

A pain in her neck woke Seph up. She opened her eyes slowly and was taken aback when she realized someone was on top of her. Suddenly she realized that one of the brothers was drinking her blood. The person on top of her broke away and whispered in her ear. "You are mere prey, you can not escape. Be still and behave and this will be over soon." Seph's eyes widened when she heard Shu's voice.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" He had sounded a bit different and it scared her.

"This is my reward for getting Laito out." That's when Seph realized that her pajamas were in tatters on the floor and she had bite marks on her legs and torso.

"Laito did this?!" She was horrified and embarrassed. How come she woke up to this but not when Laito was apparently in her room.

"Oi, don't let your mind wander so carelassly." Shu sat up, backing away from her neck. Seph blushed tremendously as she realized he was straddling her. "It's the full moon tonight which means our power, and hunger, increases. Your lucky that I haven't done much more to you besides drinking a bit of your blood." Shu's eyes glowed dangerously in the dark room.

"Is it alright if I get some new clothes to wear?" Seph asked. Shu moved off of her but remained on the bed. She got up and almost fell. Shu's hand reached out quickly and grabbed her wrist pulling her back to the bed. "I'll get you some clothes, you're helpless in that state." Shu went over to her closet and pulled a few items out. He dropped them in her lap and grabbed the black shirt first.

"Hold out your arms."

"I can dress myself!" Seph was beyond mortified now.

"Maybe," Shu mused, "But you'll have difficulty especially since you're weak. " She sighed but listened. Eventually she was dressed in the shirt along with some plaid pajama pants.

"It hides all the bite marks but mine." Shu stated when she gave a questioning look at the choice of attire.

"Of course." She huffed. Sometimes she wondered how he perceived her.

"So why are you holding back?" She was honestly curious as to the reason for his actions. "Shouldn't you be, like, tearing me about both figuratively and metaphorically. " Shu looked amused.

"Do you want me to?" Seph blushed at his question.

"Just answer me."

"Because you seem to have high expectations of me and are the only person I have ever encountered who, despite what happens to them and how they're treated by others, still does things for others and seems to care."

"Well...Thank you, I guess." Seph was flustered. "And they're not that high of expectations. They're standard." She flopped down on her bed.

"You fought off Laito for me so, what do you want to do for the duration of the full moon?" She looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes, waiting for his response.

"How about a story?" Shu murmered and laid down next to her.

"What kind of story?" She looked at him curious.

"My story. " Shu whispered simply.

And so he began to tell her about his youth. His mother, Beatrix, had expected great things out of him and wanted him to be his father's successor. She would rarely let him have any free time and he rarely got to do what he wanted.

One day, he had met a human boy named Edgar (**I think that was the boy's name, if not, sorry and please tell me**) This boy wasn't afraid of Shu and they became playmates. When Shu went to play with him one day, he found out that Reiji had set fire to the village. Edgar had perished along with many others. This event has been one of the many causes of the animosity between the two brothers.

"I never wanted to be around another human again and closed myself off to others." Shu finished. Seph sniffled. Without realizing it, she had started crying.

"You really are pathetic, crying over something like that." Shu grabbed some tissues from her bedside table and started using one to wipe her face. She took them and began to wipe away her tears and her nose.

"It's just that it was sad. You never got to try to be yourself and when you finally were able too, it was taken away from you. It's also sad that someone had to lose their life so soon and over something so trivial." Seph took a breath. "Can I tell you my story now?" She twisted the tissues in her hands.

"Might as well. Though I feel like I will have heard it before." She smiled sadly and began to tell Shu her story.

"Unlike Yui, I remember my real parents. I was given away at seven. When I was about three, I learned that my parents weren't the best. I noticed little things here and there. They both stole and did many horrible things. I also learned later that they had been in a cult." She laughed darkly. "Imagine how it felt as a eight year old to learn that your parents were in a cult, and a horrible one. They murdered people. Those people included my own older brother who was ten when it happened. He thought that it was okay though, but he was still scared. I remember crying every night for a whole year until it felt as though I had no more tears left to shed." Seph gulped. "One day, I ran away. I wanted no more of what was my life. I ran under the fence and ran, never looking back. Father found me in the woods behind his church and introduced me to Yui. She was so sweet and he was kind. They taught what a real family was like. I found a new thing to fight for and a reason to live. I swore to protect Yui and make sure nothing bad happened to her. I didn't want her to end up like my brother. That may sound lame, but it's the truth. When we came to live here, I felt helpless; I couldn't protect her anymore. How can you protect someone when you can't even protect yourself." She finished and they sat in silence for a bit.

"I don't think that's lame." Shu whispered. "We both know what it feels like to not be able to protest someone. We both had a big portion of our childhood taken away. The difference is that you found someone else, a new cause, while I'm still looking." Seph hugged Shu without meaning to.

"I'll teach you. I know you have a heart in you somewhere, it just needs a little mending. I'll help you find someone just like Father helped me." She broke away.

"You do remember that he's the one who abandoned you and Yui here to hopelessly fend for yourselves." Shu leaned back against a bed post.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he didn't teach me a few things before he did so." Seph closed her eyes. "So do you feel like you've heard my story before?"

"Seems not. You seem to keep surprising me and continue to amuse me." Shu said looking at her.

"Guess that means you'll be keeping me alive for a bit longer."

"Hmph, don't get full of yourself Seph." She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Did you just say my name?!" Seph shook him but he didn't budge.

"You really are annoying." Shu muttered and he ignored any further attempts made by Seph to get an answer out of him.

So this one might've been a bit feelsy *wipes eyes* but I wanted to share Seph's story. I also wanted to do a chapter with the full moon but I didn't want to have an over the top moment. So this is what happened. I still hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

P.s. Sorry for a lot of Seph and Shu, I'll be doing other characters soon and, as I've said, if there's something you want to see, say so in the comments below (I.e review)