Chapter 9
Arabella walked down the dimly lit streets of Manhattan. She wore a men style three-piece suit that had not been washed in weeks. The only people out this time of night were drunkards, whores, and vampires. She had not fed in 2 days and was coming increasingly weak. She preferred to feed on attractive women, but she could no longer afford to be so picky. She had picked her victim and followed behind him quietly. He was a young man who spent most of the night gambling. He did not appear to be a lush, but his obsession with Craps had cost him a lot of money.
The man turned down an alleyway and Arabella made her move. Once out of the view of street lamps she lunged forward and pinned the man against wall. The man began to scream as she bit into his throat. The man continued to scream as she fed and Arabella became concerned someone would hear his screams. Arabella pulled away from the man's neck and adjust the man so she could rip out his trachea with her fangs. Blood sprayed against the alley wall and the man fell silent. Arabella finished feeding off of him before allowing his body to collapse.
"You're very messy eater." A man said from behind Arabella.
Arabella spun around and faced the man with blood dripping from her mouth. "Who are you?"
"My name is Sebastian." He said as he pulled a cloth from his breast pocket and handed it to Arabella. "You have very sloppy hunting and feeding techniques. At this rate you'll be staked in 3 months"
Arabella hesitantly took the cloth and wiped her mouth clean of the blood. "Being staked would not be such a bad fate. Better than sleeping in a sewer and feeding off all the drunkards and whores in the city."
"Where is your maker?" Sebastian asked gently.
Arabella looked away from Sebastian, "I don't know. She left me a few weeks after making me."
Sebastian felt bad for this woman. Becoming a vampire was not easy. While you may have the instincts to hunt and feed it did not mean you had the skills to survive. It was customary that most makers guide their progeny for at least 5 years, although most makers kept them for ten years. Without guidance from a maker most new vampires did not live past a year. "How long have you been vampire?"
"Six months." she replied as she started to walk past him.
Sebastian nodded. "Why don't you stay the day at my place. The sun will be up soon and it's just around the block."
Arabella thought about Sebastian's offer and while she didn't want to sleep in a sewer again she wasn't sure she trusted him. "Let me see the place first."
"That seems fair." Sebastian said as he led Arabella away from the alley.
Sebastian walked down the street with his shoes and cane echoing through the night. Arabella walked five steps behind Sebastian with her eyes fixed on the ground. Sebastian's house was a beautiful 3-story brownstone on the corner of a short street. He walked up to the house, opened the door, and allowed Arabella to walk in first.
"This is your home?" she said in amazement as Sebastian turned on the lights. Everything was decorated in Victorian style furniture and appeared to be very expensive. She had never lived in such a nice place.
"Do you like it?" Sebastian asked.
Arabella nodded. "You own this place?"
"Yes I do. My sire gave this house to me when we parted ways" Sebastian said as he walked into the living room and sat on the couch.
Arabella scowled when she heard of Sebastian's good fortune. Her maker had convinced her that being a vampire would solve all her problems in life. As a human she was trapped in poverty working 12 o 16 hour days 6 days a week in a sweat shop. Then one fateful night she was approached by a vampire providing her freedom from poverty. It turned out to be all a lie. The vampire that turned her became bored with her after two weeks and left her to fend for herself.
Sebastian watched Arabella's pensive silence and soothingly invited her to stay over. "Please make yourself comfortable. The sleeping quarters are on the third floor. The window shutters have been nailed shut, therefore no sunlight can penetrate through. You are welcome o stay as long as you wish."
"Than you." Arabella said softly. "If you don't mind I will be retiring to bed."
"Good night."
Arabella walk upstairs to her bedroom for the evening. That night was her last night sleeping in a sewer.
Usagi opened her eyes and found herself nude in a large king size bed. The room seemed to glow as the light from the lamps were reflected from the white sheets. Looking over to her left she saw a nude Sebastian sleeping next to her. Usagi sat up using the sheet to cover her nude body. Her movement roused Sebastian from his sleep and he turned to face Usagi.
"Good morning." Sebastian said with a smile as he moved closer to Usagi. "Did you sleep well?"
Usagi nodded and leaned backwards towards the headboard. "Did we um..sleep together last night?"
Sebastian propped himself up on both his hands so he was face to face with Usagi. "What you don't remember?" He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist bringing her closer to him. "Let me remind you." Sebastian kissed Usagi causing her to relax into his embrace. Once relaxed Sebastian spun Usagi around so she laid on her back. He moved himself on top of Usagi and began to kiss her neck. Usagi sighed with excitement as he kissed her neck and then she felt his fangs brush her skin.
"Go ahead." She said with anticipation.
Sebastian took his cue and sank his fangs into Uasgi neck.
Usagi woke up with a startle and grabbed her neck. She inspected her neck with her fingers and found no bite marks. Looking down she saw that she wasn't nude, but wore a large black t-shirt. She turned to her left and found the bed empty. To her right was Sebastian sleeping in a chair next to the bed. Usagi did her best to quietly move from the bed and walk towards the door.
"How do you feel?" Sebastian asked as Usagi made it to the door.
Usagi turned around and placed her hand on her left side. " It's like I was never hurt last night."
"Vampire blood can grant immortality and can heal, but there are side effects." Sebastian warned.
"What kind of side effects?"
"The most common are: increase in alertness, visual acuity, sensitivity to sound, and physical strength. Euphoria, hallucinations, and hypersexuality are also common." Sebastian said as he walked over to his dresser.
Usagi thought about her dream and suddenly it made sense when she heard one of the side effects of vampire blood was hypersexuality.
Sebastian smiled knowingly at Usagi silence as he picked up neatly folded clothes on his dresser. "The bathroom is down the hall. I placed a towel on the counter for you. Mabel left some of her clothes for you to wear. I'm afraid your black dress is ruined."
Sebastian walked over to Usagi and handed her the clothes.
"Thank you." Usagi said as she took the clothes and walked to the bathroom.
Usagi returned from the bathroom refreshed and dressed in jeans and a tank top. She found Sebastian sitting on his bed reading a book. "Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's kind of late for you."
Sebastian smiled and stood up." I'll sleep once I know you're ok and on your way home."
"I'm fine." Usagi with a weak smile.
Sebastian moved closer and embraced Usagi. "Are you sure your up for all this undercover work? It's dangerous and I don't want you to think you have to this for me."
Usagi looked into Sebastian eyes, "I want to be here with you. I'm enjoying learning about your world. Plus, my life wasn't so quite. I'm surprisingly resilient."
"You're amazing you know that." Sebastian said before kissing Usagi.
Usagi kissed him back and felt her whole body become alive. It was as if she felt every slight movement Sebastian made. She moved her hand across Sebastian's abdomen feeling his toned muscles through his shirt. Usagi's desire began to build within her and it reach a critical pressure point.
Sebastian felt Usagi becoming more frantic in her kissing as her inhibitions began to give way. Sebastian pulled out of the kiss and pressed his forward into Usagi's. "Be careful little rabbit. Vampire blood is a strong aphrodisiac and you may not be able to stop what you start."
"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing." Usagi said as she slowed down her breathing.
"Please don't tease me." Sebastian begged.
Usagi playfully pulled away. "Go to sleep my dark knight. I'll see you later tonight."
Sebastian groaned in frustration and watched Usagi walk out of his room.
Usagi took a cab home and did her best to distract herself. She cleaned the entire house in record time all while dancing to her favorite music. Usagi was so amped up she felt like she had done 5 shots of espresso and eaten 10 cupcakes. By the time she finished cleaning the house she felt she was about to jump out of her own skin. Being unable to take it anymore she changed into some workout clothes and went for run.
Usagi ran to a nearby park in less than 15 minutes. The park was almost 3 miles away and Usagi was hardly an athlete. She was probably the least conditioned Senshi of her group. Yet, she had run 3 miles without breaking a sweat.
Stopping in front of a tree Usagi's attention was drawn to the trees branches. She could swear the tree's branches were shrinking and growing in a rhythmic wave. Usagi walked over to the tree and placed her hand on the trunk. Rubbing the trunk of the tree she felt ever ridge and crack. A branch of the tree hung ten feet above her and she suddenly had the urge to dangle from the branch. Usagi crouched down and then sprung up easily reaching the branch above her.
"Whoa." A boy and girl said together as they watched Usagi from a tree adjacent to her.
Usagi let go of the branch and fell to the ground. "I've been working out a lot. I've made a lot of progress."
"Bullshit." The teenage girl said. "You're totally on V."
Usagi looked at the girl confused. "V?"
"Don't look so innocent." The boy said. "You're on vampire blood and from the looks of it a lot of it."
"You guys have done V?" She asked as she sat down across from the pair.
The boy nodded. "Among other things. V is by far the craziest thing I have tried. It makes you strong, fast, super productive, and all of your sense are heightened,"
"And it makes you horny as hell." The girl said simply.
Usagi laughed nervously at the girl statement. "My name is Usagi."
"I'm Nobu and this is my girlfriend Yuki."
Yuki dug through her large green crochet tote. "You know, no one should roll on V alone." Usagi could see partially into the bag and inside there were multiple bags filled with various items. One bag had various colored pills in it, the seconded one was filled with pot, and the last one appeared to have mushrooms. Yuki squealed as she found what she was looking for inside her bag. She produced a small vile that was filled with blood and presented it to Usagi and Nobu. "I knew I had some V in this bag."
"Score!" Nobu yelled throwing his hands up in the air. 'We should take the V and then take our new friend to Crisis."
"That's an excellent idea." Yuki said as she used the eyedropper top to squirt a small amount of V into her mouth.
Usagi watched as Nobu took a hit of V. "What's Crisis?"
"It's this club that is located in an old underground ruin." Yuki said. "The club is frequented by people who drop V and dance the day or night away."
"Last time we were there we did so much V we hallucinated that vampire gods were talking to us." Nobu said standing up and helping Yuki up.
Usagi stood up and followed Nobu and Yuki, "What did the vampire gods say?"
"They told is how to make a killer tasting meatloaf." Nobu said.
Yuki nodded in agreement. "It's true. We cooked the meatloaf by the vampire gods recipe and it was amazing."
Usagi laughed and followed her new acquaintances down the windy roads of Tokyo. Their journey ended when they stopped in front of a Pachinko parlor. "I thought we are going to a club?"
Nobu shook his head at Usagi's naiveté. "To get into the club we need to get a special token. To get the token we must win a certain amount of the Pachinko balls. We will exchange these balls for parlor tokens and then we will go to an outside vendor. At this vendor they sell the tokens we need to get into Crisis."
"That's quite a process to get into a club." Usagi said looking a little lost.
"The club is very picky of clientele they want to attract." Yuki explained. "To be in the vampire world is like being in organized crime. Vampires live in the shadows and are the under belly of a society. The club owners want to make sure that the people who patron the clubs are use to that kind of lifestyle."
"Don't worry Usagi. I'm an excellent Pachinko player." Nobu said with a smile. "I will get what we need in no time."
Usagi, Nobu, and Yuki walked into the Pachinko parlor and Nobu sat down at one of the machines. Nobu was not inflating his Pachinko skills because with in 30 minutes he had won enough balls to get them into Crisis. Collecting all the Pachinko balls in a bag Nobu walked to counter to trade in the balls for prizes.
"I would like to exchange these for tokens and one cigarette." Nobu said as he placed the bag on the counter.
The parlor employee took the bag and handed Nobu one cigarette and various tokens.
Nobu took the tokens and placed the cigarette behind his right ear. "Thank you." Nobu motioned for Yuki and Usagi to follow and they exited the parlor.
"Can we go to any vendor?" Usagi asked.
Yuki shook her head no. "No. There is only one vendor that sells tokens to Crisis. It's about a block down."
The group walked up to a small booth located at the end of the block. Inside the booth was a man in his forties smoking a cigarette and reading a paper. "Can I help you?" The man said without looking up from the paper he was reading.
"Yes. I would like to exchange these tokens for Crisis tokens." Nobu place the handful of tokens on the counter.
The man took the tokens and placed them into his cash register. He then opened one of the glass display cases inside the booth and produced three red tokens. The tokens were in the shape of blood drops and had the Kanji character for death inscribed on one side.
Nobu took the tokens and hand one to Yuki and Usagi. Nobu then led the group to their final destination. In a dead end alley was a set of stairs that led down into a basement of one of the buildings. At the end of the stairs was a locked door with a buzzer next to the door. Nobu pushed the buzzer and waited.
"Who's there? "A voice said over the intercom.
"We've come to party." Nobu said as he held his token up to the intercom's camera.
A buzzing noise was heard and Nobu pushed the door open. Inside was a white room and what appeared to be a ticket window at the back of the room. A woman sat behind the window and waited for the group to walk to the window.
"I need your tokens please." She said. Nobu handed her the tokens and the woman hit a button to her right. "Go inside. "
Usagi, Yuki, and Nobu open the door and they were again met with another staircase. They followed the stairs down until they walked in an open room. The group was standing on a scaffolding walkway that hugged the walls of the room. Below them was a dance floor, a bar, and various couches and chair for seating. The lighting was constantly changing from one color to the next and was in beat with the techno music that played in the background.
"This is Crisis." Yuki said with excitement. "Come on Usagi let's go dance." Yuki took Usagi hand and led Usagi down the scaffolding stairs and to the dance floor.
On the dance floor Usagi's body instinctively danced to the beat of the music. Usagi was an ok dancer, but today her body seemed to be in control and she was now dancing with unexpected talent.
Yuki smiled at Usagi as she watched her danced. "It's the vampire blood. It has a tendency to just take over your body. Just enjoy the ride Usagi-chan."
And Usagi did just that as she stopped fighting it and just let go.
Two women sat at a table on the other side of the club. They watched Usagi dance with Yuki and Nobu.
"I think she would be a good candidate." The first women whispered to the second.
"I agree. She's very green when it comes to this world." Second woman said. "I bet this is the first time she has used V."
"Probably. Which means we can get her before she becomes a V addict. Plus, I swear I have seen her before."
"Ok. Go talk to her a bring her over here."
The first women stood up and walked over to the dance floor. Walking up to Usagi she tapped her on the shoulder. "Hello, may speak to you in private for a moment?"
Usagi turned around and had to hold back a gasp. In front of her was Keiko. "Sure. I'll be right back guys." Usagi said to Yuki and Nobu.
Usagi followed Keiko to the table where another woman sat. "This is my friend Sidney. We would like to talk to you about a very important subject."
Usagi sat down across from Keiko and Sidney. "Ok. What?"
"I notice that you are on V. Is this your first time using it." Sidney asked.
Usagi fidgeted a bit before answering. "Yes. I was hurt in a fight and I heard that V could heal your wounds. So I bought some and took it. And it healed all my wounds."
"A fight huh?" Sidney said. "Was this fight with a vampire?"
Usagi could tell Sidney was fishing for certain information, but she wasn't sure what her motives were behind these questions. Keiko had screamed at Usagi at the masquerade party that she hated vampires. If Keiko was with Sidney it was likely Sidney was not a fan of vampires. "Yes. A vampire attacked me and attempted to feed off me. I fought the vampire off but I was injured pretty badly."
"Hm. Well, I have a proposition for you." Sidney began. "I'm the leader of this group that hunts vampires. We are selective in our process and I would like you to come to our hangout to see what we do. If you like what you see you can start the initiation process."
Usagi was becoming increasingly wary of the rabbit whole she had fallen down into. The deeper she delved into the vampire world the more characters she found. There were various subcultures to the vampire world. Nobu and Yuki were fun and interesting, but apart of the V subculture. Now she was introduced into yet another subculture, the vampire hunters. "I would like to learn more about this group. When can I come to your hangout?"
"How about tomorrow. That way the V will be out of your system and you can make a decision with no substance influencing that decision." Sidney handed Usagi a Crisis token." Here' s a token so you can meet us back here tomorrow."
Usagi took the token from Sidney. "Thank you."
Keiko had been looking at Usagi with vague recognition the entire time she had been talking to Sidney. "I feel like I have met you before."
"I don't believe we've met." Usagi lied.
"You'll have to forgive Keiko. A few days ago she went to a party to confront vampire and that vampire glamorized her." Sidney placed her hand on Keiko's back and rubbed gently. "I found her at home with no memories of the night before and a built in belief that she wasn't going to visit vampire establishments. We are slowly trying to retrieve the memories of that night."
"I wish you luck with your memory retrieval." Usagi said. "But if you will excuse me I must be leaving. I will see you tomorrow."
"Goodbye." Sidney and Keiko said together.
Usagi looked at her watched as she walked back to Yuki and Nobu. It was getting closer to sundown. "Hey guys. I'm going to head home. It was nice meeting you."
"It was nice meeting you too Usagi-chan." Yuki said giving Usagi a hug.
Nobu handed Usagi a small baggy with a pill inside and the hugged Usagi. "This will help you sleep tonight. V can give you insomnia. We should hangout again sometime."
Usagi waved goodbye and walked up the stairs and outside. As she walked home she wonder if Keiko would ever retrieve her memories of the night of the masquerade party. Usagi was certain that this group of vampire hunters knew more about the girls killed by the unknown vampire. If she could infiltrate their group there was chance she could gain some valuable information. She would discuss the new developments with Sebastian tonight and get his input on the situation.
At home Usagi looked through her closet for something to wear for her evening with Sebastian. As the night drew closer Usagi anticipation enhanced. She was filled with desire to know Sebastian and tonight would be the night. Usagi picked up a bag in the back of her closet and pulled out a short black lace lingerie dress. She had bought the dress over a month ago and never got the chance to use it.
She changed into the dress, fixed her hair, and applied perfume to her neck and wrist. A taupe colored trench coat that reached to just above the knees was used to cover up. Usagi finished her look of with a pair of black heels.
Usagi called a cab and arrived at Sebastian's house just as the sun had set. She knocked on the front door and waited.
The front door open to reveal Mabel: "Good evening Usagi."
"Good evening Mabel." Usagi greeted.
"Sebastian is upstairs in his room." Mabel said stepping aside to allow Usagi inside.
"Thank you." Usagi walked up the stairs and knocked on Sebastian's door. She heard Sebastian say come in so she slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Once inside she made sure to close the door behind her and lock the door.
Sebastian looked up from a book he was reading on his bed to see Usagi. "I was just about to call you so I could pick you up."
Usagi said nothing and instead opened her trench coat and let it slowly fall to the ground.
Sebastian stood up from the bed and looked in awe of the beautiful woman that stood before him. He walked over to Usagi and gently placed his hands on her hips. "Are you sure this is what you want? This is not because you're still feeling the side effects my blood?"
Usagi slowly began to unbutton Sebastian shirt as she looked into his eyes. "I you're your blood coursing through my body." She said as she finished unbuttoning his shirt. "And while it may have lowered my inhibitions it is not the source of my desire to be with you." Usagi placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed his shirt from his shoulders.
Sebastian's shirt fell to the ground exposing his rock hard chest and abs. Usagi kissed his chest and traced his serratus muscles with her fingers causing Sebastian to moan. He could no longer contain himself. He kissed Usagi deeply and passionately while scooping her up in his arms. He carried her over to the bed and gently placed her on the bed.
Thank you everyone for the reviews and please keep them coming. Reviews help push me to my story down on paper.
Sam- While Usagi's power is strong I have chosen to follow Vampire mythology rather than Sailor Moon mythology when it comes to killing a vampire. In Sailor Moon mythology she is always killing/defeating the yoma with one attack (Except for the main villain) . I feel that's just too easy for my stories purposes. In general vampire mythology the only way to kill a vampire is to stake them, decapitate them, or expose them to the sun. I hope that makes sense