A/N: This... is shorter than the last one for some reason. Huh. I thought it was longer in Word... ah well. Just going to remind all my faithful, wonderful readers that this is a darkfic. Proceed with caution. I was in a very violent mood today.

Warnings: Gore w/tons of blood; mild lemon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or anything affiliated with it.

PROJECT OOZARU

Case File 012 - Lunar Effect

Night was beginning to encroach upon the fading light in my apartment, bathing Raditz's gruesome smile in sunset hues. Aching exhaustion spread through my limbs courtesy of the horrific bite on my neck but I did not stagger under the weight of Goku's palms. They couldn't threaten my sister. Mia was the closest thing I had to family and I wouldn't let anything happen to her. I clenched my jaw and glared up at Raditz, wishing desperately that I had the strength to punch him.

"Stay away from her," I said. "I'll kill you if you don't."

"Look at the little lion cub baring her fangs. Do what we ask and you sweet sister can carry on living her life the same way she intended." Raditz leaned on his knees and the smile vanished from his face. His black eyes were even colder than Goku's. "Resist and watch her die slowly."

Goku's hands slipped onto my biceps. "Raditz, the moon is gonna be full tonight. Aren't you going to hunt for a while? Mia offered you a place to stay as well."

The huge man straightened up and nodded. "I'll do that. Keep me posted on your human's progress, Kakarot. I want to return and rescue the others before it's too late. And try to hold yourself back so we aren't stuck in this town for another month. I know how you are with women."

Raditz left, leaving me alone in my apartment with Goku yet again. I shrugged him off and took a few wobbly steps toward the hall before nearly collapsing, but he managed to catch me in time. He easily scooped me up and carried me back to my bedroom where I pitifully crawled beneath the sheets. My neck was back to absolutely killing me. I'd need at least another week to recover.

The end of my bed shifted from Goku's weight. He had some serious abandonment issues. Every room I went to he followed me like a lost puppy and Oliver followed him in the same manner. I could be going to the bathroom and he'd be lurking in the closet, examining my coats curiously while the cat purred by his feet. I just wanted one night of peace and quiet to wallow in self-pity. I'd be more than happy to go back to teaching Goku how to be normal in the morning.

It became eerily silent, ushering in the sounds of crickets outside. I tossed and turned miserably to find a position that didn't aggravate my neck wound but nothing seemed to help. Goku didn't budge. He was still as a stone and weighed nearly as much. All I wanted was some damn sleep!

Moonlight poured through the window. I desperately pulled my pillow over my head and struggled to go into a dreaming state. One sheep, two sheep, three sheep… Warm milk sounded more appealing than counting. It helped when I couldn't fall asleep in the foster home after Mia had drifted off. Grimacing, I forced myself to sit up in bed and rubbed my head. I could sense Goku still hadn't moved.

"Christ, can you move?!" I demanded. "I'm trying to rest so we can go get your friends but you're sitting here like a freak as usual. Go play with the cat or stare into space on the couch. You're interrupting my… my…"

I'd raised my eyes to see Goku staring directly at me, unflinching. His irises had turned blood red and the color seeped into the whites of his eyes like a creeping poison. My breath caught in my throat. Sharp pain lanced down my neck, striking through to my pounding heart. His hands were resting on his thighs and his nails were steadily sharpening into talons with a sickening crackle that became the only sound in the room. I could taste my heartbeat on my tongue.

Goku's eyes began to widen as the red spread further. My eyes flickered to his ears, which had lengthened and grown to a jagged tip that stuck out from his wild black hair. It was hard to tell in the darkness but I thought his face was protruding further and his teeth were beginning to erupt from his mouth, erratically fitting together like an alligator's. I couldn't even dream of running away.

The bite on my neck began to boil viciously. I yelped and slumped forward, forgetting I was sitting across from a violent murder from outer space that looked like he wanted to cut a few throats. It was a new kind of agony; blistering pain that seared my nerves all the way down my spine to my tailbone. I gnashed my teeth together, rolling over on my stomach to shriek into the bed in hopes it would deter Goku. Blind spots popped up in my vision and tears poured from my eyes.

Through the torrents of pain, I vaguely registered Goku standing up. A cool breeze blew in the window and the curtains swayed around him as he stared out into the night, both glowing red eyes focused on the moon. He cast a glance at me over his shoulder and hopped up on the windowsill. It was getting hard to breathe. Dear god, the pain. If it didn't stop I was going to stab myself.

Goku leapt out the window without even a word of explanation. I stared in blank shock for several seconds then screamed angrily, slamming my fist on the bed and crying as red hot pain ricocheted up and down my spinal cord. The one time I could have used some goddamn answers and he went flying out the window. Typical fucking man.

Sweat was pouring from my skin again, drenching my fresh sheets in another bodily fluid. The room spun as I sat up, almost immediately losing my balance and toppling to the floor in a moaning, shuddering mess. I wiped the tears from my eyes and dragged myself across the carpet towards the door. If I could make it to the bathroom I'd be able to lie in the tub and wash off some of the sweat. It could help the horrible stabbing in my back, too.

In the bathroom, I gripped the edge of the sink to haul myself up off the linoleum. I leaned heavily on the countertop and stared at my pallid reflection in the mirror for a few moments of lucidity. The image shifted and morphed but I could see my irises were turning the same haunting shade of red as Goku's. I pulled down on my eyelids, bursting into tears again at the sight of my transformation.

Someone was pounding on the front door and shouting my name. Terrified, I blindly twisted the lock to the bathroom and sank to the floor again to brace my back against it. My neighbors could hear me screaming in agony. Of course someone would come to check on me. I hid my face in my trembling hands as my raging fever intensified to a seriously dangerous level.

"Open up, Harper! Are you okay? We can hear you through the entire building!"

Delirious, I crawled on hands and knees to the bathtub, sweaty fingers slipping on the metal knobs. I dunked my head under the nozzle the minute water began pouring out and it offered mild relief from the unbearable heat beneath my skin. I didn't bother taking off my clothes and awkwardly slid off the edge of the tub to collapse in the swelling pool of cool water, sighing happily as it swirled around my body. It was so hot. I was getting so tired. I just wanted to sleep for the rest of my life…

I wasn't sure how long I passed out for. My fingers and toes were pruny and rough so I assumed it had to have been a few hours. The bathroom door broke down and three people entered, calling my name in loud voices that didn't quite reach my ears. I mumbled incoherently as they hoisted me from the tub and something surprised one, who immediately dropped me back in the water. A woman screamed.

There was something sprouting from the base of my spine. It was twitching.

"I can't let any of you leave now."

It was him. My heart leapt at the sound of Goku's husky voice and I weakly opened my eyes just to feel a warm wetness splatter across my face. There were no shrieks of pain, no protests or begging. All three of their bodies dropped to the floor with a nauseating squelch and I carelessly smeared the blood across my face. The water was up to my breasts. It spilled over the edge of the tub and turned the blood a light pink color that slowly seeped between the tiles.

I could see him sucking blood off his fingers. They shrank back to normal but his eyes still looked slightly bloodshot. Goku laughed when I tried to climb out of the tub and lifted me out by the armpits. It was cold—how had I not noticed? I shuddered as he sat me down in the ocean of blood and water to peel off my wet clothes, talking to himself about covering up the deaths of three people. He was kneeling in front of me covered head to toe in gore.

Before I could question what he had been doing, I was suddenly lying flat on my back. There was blood in my hair. It'd take forever to get it out. Goku was hovering over me, red eyes burning with another kind of hunger I hadn't seen in him before. We stared at one another. I was still half-conscious.

"You son of a bitch," I whispered.

Hot, bloody lips found mine in a swift moment of passion. Goku wasted no time deepening the kiss and his hand slammed so hard into the tile next to my head that I heard it shatter. He gripped the back of my head to force my mouth against his but I was far from resisting. My fingers were all over his arms, greedy and curious to feel the tense muscles I watched from afar. I barely knew him but I couldn't remember ever wanting a man so badly.

He pulled on my hair to expose my neck, focusing all his attention on the sensitive bite mark. My eyes rolled back in my head and I twisted his thick black hair in my fingers. Dear god, since when did that start feeling so amazing? I writhed too much for Goku's liking and he snarled into the crook of my neck, pinning my wrists above my head with one of his hands. My blood was boiling with excitement. I found myself growling back.

The strange appendage at the base of my spine and curled around my waist. I didn't care as long as it stayed out of my way. Goku's mouth was on mine again, bringing back the metallic flavor of blood. We were lying in a pool of it. There were dead people scarcely three feet away from us.

We rolled over. I pinned Goku by his palms, growling like an angry cat, and he snapped his teeth at me. His hands wandered down my body to settle on hips so he could push me against his arousal. My spine arched and my fingers trailed back up his arms to slide up his shirt and feel the solid muscle of his abdomen tensing and tightening with each grinding movement.

One of the Saiyan's hands wound around my back to gently stroke the protrusion from my spine. I bit my lower lip so hard that more blood drew into my mouth. There was so much blood. We were practically bathing in it by now. Where did it end? Where did it even begin?

Why did I feel so… happy?

I don't know. Maybe it had to do with the perfectly toned Greek god lying underneath me, watching me with half-lidded red eyes like I was the only thing that mattered. My nails dug into Goku's stomach to draw even more blood from his flesh. I had tunnel vision. All I could see or care about was drenched in the blood of innocent people.

His hand withdrew from the thing growing out of me and I instinctively tried to grab it back, wrapping the protrusion around his thick wrist. Goku blinked and laughed, holding up his hand in front of my face. I moved to swat his arm away before I noticed there was a familiar look to the thing…

"Huh," Goku panted, grinning up at me, "guess the tail matches the hair sometimes."

There was a dark blonde tail curled tightly around his wrist. It was splattered with blood.

Reality hit me so hard that I physically fell backwards off Goku, slipping in the gore covering the linoleum. I scrambled away and stared in wide-eyed terror at the twitching tail until I bumped into something stiff. When I turned, I met the glassy gaze of a corpse. His mouth was twisted in an eternal scream; every emotion was still etched into his skin.

My exhausted mind failed me. I fainted.