Chapter Twelve

"You honestly think that Edward is an erlking(1)?" Toshiko asked skeptically as she followed Moka. "I'm sorry, but I don't really see 'malevolent elf'as his type..."

"You can't judge a monster on his or her outer appearance," Moka said sagely. "After all, we don't know what kind of monster most of our classmates are. I don't even know what you are! You could be something terrifying, or you could be a succubus like Kurumu! See, we can't just decide on things based on appearance!"

"Well, I can tell you right away that I am not a succubus," Toshiko replied. "Well, if you're sure that Edward dragged Tsukune into the woods to eat him, then we had better hurry."

Unfortunately for Moka, Edward and Tsukune were not in the woods around the school. They were still holed up in the library, studying cold ones. "OK, according to this, cold ones can turn humans into one of them by injecting their poison. Strange, if a Nosferatu-type vampire injects their poison, a human turns into a ghoul," Tsukune read.

"Yes! That's how I became a vampire!" Edward replied. "I was dying and my father saved my life by turning me into a vampire."

"Uh, how... noble?" Yukari replied.

"That sucks," Kurumu said. "What a choice... dying or becoming a vampire. Even though you're strong, would you rather have stayed as a human?"

"Well," Edward mused. "I'm glad I was alive to meet the love of my life, but I wish I could be human as well and give her the life a human is supposed to have." Kurumu rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Romantic."

"Will you two stop bickering?" Mizore snapped. "I think we have enough evidence to tell Moka the truth and have her believe us. Although I don't know how well she'll take it... she still thinks you're a pervert, Edward!"

"Welcome to my life," Edward sighed. "Why is it that wherever I go I have a run-in with other monsters?"

"They're not here!" Moka exclaimed. "I checked around the whole area, and they're not here! Oh! You don't think... you don't think..." she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence. Toshiko rolled her eyes.

"No, I don't think Edward already ate Tsukune," she said. "One thing I do know is that erlkings don't like clothes on their food, so there would at least be some scraps of uniform." Moka narrowed her eyes.

"I hate this guy more and more," she said. "In case Tsukune is still alive... do you think I should check his dormitory again?"

"Go right ahead," came the reply.

To be perfectly honest, neither Moka and Toshiko nor Tsukune's group expected to run into each other. Tsukune was about to open the door to the dormitory building when Moka collided with him, not paying attention to where she was going. "Sorry... I'm in a hu- wait! Tsukune! You're alive!" she exclaimed.

"Uh... yeah, I'm alive..." Tsukune was confused.

"Edward didn't eat you, then! That's good!" Moka almost passed out with relief. Edward, however, was not so relieved.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't eat people!" he yelled.

"Um, Moka?" Kurumu tried to intervene. "Edward has been telling us the truth this entire time. He is a vampire, just not the same kind that you are."

"What are you talking about?" Moka replied. "How can there be a different kind of vampire? We're all alike! We're vampires! We drink blood! We don't like sunlight! And we avoid garlic! There's not much that can be different about a vampire!"

"Well, I don't like garlic much," Edward agred. "And I stay out of the sunlight and I drink blood."

"Moka, have you ever heard of the Cold Ones?" Mizore asked.

"Cold Ones?" Moka asked, interested despite herself. "No, I haven't."

"That figures," Mizore said. "Anyway, Moka, do you know where your family originated from? What country?"

"I don't know the exact country," Moka replied. "But my great-great grandparents came from somewhere in Eastern Europe."

"Of course! Now it's all starting to make sense!" Yukari said excitedly. "Moka's type wouldn't have had any contact with Edward's type! That's why they didn't know about each other!"

"Cold Ones are a type of vampire, just like you," Mizore explained. "Except they are not like you. They do drink blood, and they are vampires. They do have the ability to turn others into ones like them. They also do not go much further east than Western Europe. They also have established a presence in North America. Edward is one of them."

"We're slightly different from you," Edward added. "We don't go in sunlight because we sparkle."

"...sparkle?"

"Yes, sparkle. Like glitter, or diamonds."

"This is ridiculous," Moka said. "He might have you all fooled, but you can't fool me! No self-respecting vampire would sparkle!" In response to this, Mizore shoved a book under her nose.

"Read this," she commanded. Moka did so, scanning the pages. When she was finished, she shut the book with a snap.

"I'm willing to believe it this time," she finally said. "However, the minute you do something suspicious I'm right back to not believing that you're a vampire, Edward. There's something off here, and I intend to find out what it is."

To Be Continued

Author's Comments

Once again, I find myself apologizing for the long wait between updates. But this time, I actually have a decent reason. Originally the plan was to end the story in two more chapters after this one. However, I had another idea that would make the story quite a bit longer. I've decided that I am going to continue the story past Moka learning more about Edward. I don't want to give too much away, but... let's just say that someone else shows up, and things get even crazier. I spent a lot of time thinking about whether to continue with my original plan, or to continue. I have decided to continue, hopefully this will be the right choice.

(1)-an erlking is a German elf-like creature that lures people into the woods then eats them.

-Kaboom