9 July 1897.
For the second time that accursed night, Captain Aiko Aihara's home burst into flames. Or, rather, "Madame" Aiko Dubois, but she'd always be a captain to Yu. Even if she was supposedly retired, she was one of the few superiors who had won his respect. After all, even under the command of the Hiragi, there were only a few people who were both kind enough to treat him as a guest and unhesitatingly blow the heads off of undead monsters on sight.
Even if she was concerned with his sexuality, her concerns were for his sake and didn't originate from the bigotry they grew up with.
Yu looked around, seeing flames lick the walls of the house on all sides and flood the building with smoke. He and Mika had just finished putting out the first fire, those arseholes!
It was clear they couldn't put this fire out as easily as before. And, if they stayed here to try, they'd likely end up finding out whether vampires liked their food extra crispy.
"Mika, we have to go!" shouted Yu, trying his best to ignore the sweltering heat around him as he looked for his friend.
A second later, Mika raced out from the bedroom holding their bags of firearms and ammunition, bringing a wide grin to Yu's face. Yu took the bags in one hand, slinging his rifle over one shoulder and grasping Mika's wrist with the other.
He bolted from the burning house and coughed, gagging on the smoke as he stopped behind Aiko.
It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness, but he realized the sun had already set. Aiko was standing there, irresolutely pointing her revolver at her mesmerized neighbors but neither firing nor moving. Yu blinked and looked around, noticing the crowd of people surrounding them on all sides. He let go of Mika, coughing into his fist.
"Do you know these people?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
"They are my… neighbors. They are the ones who started the fire just now," answered Aiko slowly, hesitatingly.
"They don't sound like very good neighbors," retorted Yu, aiming his rifle. The metal burnt his fingers, making him hiss as he dropped it.
"Why are you attacking us?!" shouted Aiko to the crowd. After throwing the firebombs, they hadn't moved since. They stood still, their eerily flat expressions betraying neither anger nor excitement nor even the slightest interest in their neighbor's house burning down or having a gun pointed at them. It was almost as if they were sleepwalking while sharing a malevolent dream. "I never had any quarrels with you!"
The people didn't answer.
"The vampires are supposed to have the ability to control people," said Yu carefully, feeling unease welling up in his heart. Although he'd heard about it from Mika, this was his first time actually seeing it, and it was even more appalling than he'd imagined. The people acted as if they were the living dead or puppet soldiers. Would they continue standing there, standing and doing nothing, continuing this pointless staring contest, until they received a new order?
Would they kill themselves if they were ordered to do so?
What about killing their own families?
That bastard Ferid Bathory had already said he could control Mika at any time. If that happened, then would Mika, with his wise blue eyes and sparkling smile, become as grimly silent and expressionless as these folks? Would he kill Yu with such a flat expression and not even having the ability to cry?
The thought made Yu nauseous, and he fought back the urge to slaughter every one of those puppet people on the spot.
Suddenly, as if by a puppet master's cue, the people lurched forward all at once. Some of them had guns while others held knives or even such kitchen implements as pans and rolling pins.
"They are attacking," stated Aiko closing her worried eyes for a brief moment. When she reopened her eyes, they revealed the unyielding cold gleam of someone with the resolve to fight to the death. "Kill without restraint," she instructed the boys, no longer hesitating.
"Understood," stated Yu, grabbing his hot rifle and resigning himself to some burns as his skin slowly began sizzling with the contact. "Mika, stay behind me."
It was only at this time Yu noticed Mika hadn't spoken or coughed for several seconds. It was hard to hear clearly with the crackling of the burning house and the rumble of the mob charging at them.
"Mika?" asked Yu, suddenly feeling terrified.
He looked behind him, no longer aware of the burns forming on his fingers. Bullet shots rang out as Aiko killed one human after another. If Yu were paying attention, then he would have been delighted by her skillful aim and accuracy with one shot per kill.
Instead, he anxiously looked back and forth across the lawn, people, and house, desperately looking for Mika.
"Mika?! Mika!" he cried out urgently, fear overwhelming his thoughts. After shouting that name several times, another coughing fit overtook him.
A bullet ripped through Yu's left arm while he was distracted, making him scream.
"Yu, pay attention!" demanded Aiko, rapidly reloading her revolver. "Fight or die! If you die, you can't help him at all!"
A familiar, skin-crawling laugh cackled from the sky.
Yu looked up, eyes piercing the darkness as he saw a slender, effeminate figure standing high in a tree far out of Yu's reach. His long, silver hair twisted in the breeze. Mika struggled hopelessly in his arms, his mouth covered by the fiend as he kicked, squirmed, and bit. The devil only leered down at Yu, utterly nonplussed by Mika's vain efforts.
Ferid Bathory! thought Yu, too angry to scream out his name.
"Nice try," cooed the bastard, "but you'll never make it to England at this rate."
"Give Mika back, you godda—" began Yu before he was suddenly pushed down into the dirt as a bullet shot through the air where his head had been but moments before.
"PAY ATTENTION!" yelled Aiko. "This is not the time to get distracted! If we die here, then we can't save him! We have to survive first!"
Yu looked up to see the demonic count flying like a phantom, flitting about the treetops with exaggerated carelessness, as he soared beyond the enthralled mob with Mika in his cold iron grip.
Yu grimaced, enraged as he grasped his rifle again. Determined, he shot into the crowd. They were much closer than they were before, and Yu soon began using the rifle as a blunt weapon since he no longer had the time or opportunity to load it. He slammed the rifle's heavy stock into man's face, flattening his nose like a pancake before swinging it around and slamming it against a woman's jaw.
Meanwhile, Aiko picked up the knife dropped by the female vampire from earlier and maneuvered it with great precision into one person's carotid artery and then into another's abdominal aorta. Each strike was fatal, leaving no chance for recovery.
They fought valiantly against the night as wave after wave charged at them. When Yu saw a man aim a rifle at him and he didn't have time to dodge, he deftly twisted his torso, sacrificing his left arm again and landing him a bullet wound in his shoulder. He cried out but returned his focus to the fight before him, slapping a woman's head away with the butt of his rifle before Aiko sent a bullet through her brain.
Or perhaps it would be better to call this a massacre.
Although the people surged forth with the intention to kill and no fear of death, they included children and elders, not trained combatants or soldiers. Although a couple of them had guns, their overall aim wasn't too good. Perhaps their last vestiges of self-control prevented them from killing the pair fighting for their lives. Despite being at the forefront of the battle, Aiko, the neighbor they once loved and treated with kindness, had yet to be shot even once.
Of course, that could be because of her immense skill and battle experience as she craftily used the closest victims as shields against the assault of the ones with firearms.
Even so, Yu wanted to hope.
Over an hour later, the house had burned down, its sad ruin now completed for all to see. The fire spread to the grass and bushes nearby, licking their heels. Corpse after corpse of Aiko's formerly friendly neighbors lied in a sea around them. Fortunately, there had only been about twenty or so of them in this area, and they weren't in a heavily-populated district.
Yu and Aiko stood weakly as they panted, covered in a gross mixture of sweat, blood, and ash.
"When… that guy… took Mika," panted Aiko. "That must have been… the signal… for everyone to attack… He likes Mika, right?"
"Damnit!" cursed Yu, throwing a bloody cooking knife into the ground. The dead body of a pair of children lied at his feet. They couldn't have been older than ten. Grabbing whatever cooking utensils they could, the pair had lifelessly joined the fight along with their parents and lost their lives. No matter how they were injured, the mob never stopped trying to kill the mercenaries.
Even when Yu shot their legs, they crawled forth.
Even when he maimed their hands or stabbed their arms, they kept walking forward, even going so far as to attack with teeth. These teeth were mere human teeth.
No matter what, they didn't stop until they died like possessed cattle racing toward the slaughterhouse.
"If he likes Mika, then Mika is probably better off than we are," said Aiko, attempting to reassure Yu. Even so, her expression was dark and clouded, full of hatred and disgust. "We can't stay here."
The pair limped away as the smell of burnt meat spread wafted throughout the air.
With the sort of smoldering cruelty reserved only for Mika's more memorable attempts at rebellion, such as this one, Ferid callously tossed Mika to the sea wet sand of a beach.
Once they had gotten a distance from Yu, Mika had stopped struggling. After all, Mika knew how futile his efforts were. Normally, he didn't even bother fighting against Ferid and let Ferid do as he pleased.
"Look at that waxing moon peeking through the clouds!" jeered Ferid, gazing up over the Dover Straight. "Isn't it great for a romantic rendezvous on the beach? A midnight walk with your lover?"
"Shut up," stated Mika venomously as he wobbled to his feet, glaring at Ferid with limitless hatred.
"Oho! If only looks could kill," stated Ferid with a coy grin as he pulled Mika forward by his jaw, "then maybe you could have taken me down by now."
Mika slapped his hand away.
"Hahaha!" laughed Ferid, the moonlight making his fangs glitter ominously. "You know you can't defeat me. The only reason you fought back so hard this time was because you wanted to use your body as a shield to protect little Yu and that woman. I wonder… You're not sleeping with both of them, are you?"
Although Ferid had told Mika many things about vampires, and Mika had figured out many other details on his own, he knew for a fact that Mika didn't know the most crucial facts about them. First and foremost, the reason Ferid always said, time and time again that he could find Mika whenever he wanted, no matter how far he fled, was because the two of them had already exchanged blood. With this bond, all Ferid had to do to see what Mika saw was to close his eyes and focus on his bonded one. If Yu had separated from Mika, then Ferid wouldn't know much about him and would have a much harder time tracking him down. He would have to act like Horn Skuld and transform into a bloodhound to follow the scent or some other much more time-consuming tactic.
To survive, all Yu had to do was separate from Mika. That was all.
No matter who helped Mika, Mika himself would betray them without even realizing it. Whatever Mika saw, Ferid could see. Whatever Mika heard, Ferid could hear. Even though Ferid spoiled him, Mika lived to serve him as his slave, no matter how Mika willed it to be otherwise.
Ferid leaned forward, embracing Mika in a hug. Although Mika didn't waste his energy fighting back, he defiantly turned his head away.
Ferid smiled.
Then, he bit Mika's ear, piercing the tissue until it bled and making gasp with pain and instinctively try to pull away.
Ferid released the ear and then licked it clean, making Mika faintly tremble.
"As usual, you taste so good, Mika," praised Ferid honestly.
One of the things Ferid hadn't liked while observing things through Mika's eyes was just how affectionate and touchy-feely Yu was toward him. Whenever the pair disembarked or entered a train, Yu would always "help" Mika up by holding his arm and then subtly place his hand on Mika's waist. Whenever they sat down, Yu would always sit close to Mika and then "accidentally" brush his hand along Mika's thigh. Whenever they were in a crowded location, Yu would always use the excuse of being afraid to get separated to hold Mika's hand.
As far as Ferid could tell, the two were not officially dating and had not even done so much as kissed. If they had, they were probably too concerned that Ferid would catch wind of it and literally torture Yu to death in front of Mika…
Well, they weren't wrong.
Even so, except when it came to kissing, Mika hadn't warded off any of Yu's advances.
Ferid was a little peeved. Did Mika dare to have someone taking up more room in his heart than Ferid himself? Of course, Ferid could always command Mika to fall in love with him and feel no desire toward anyone but himself, but where was the fun in that?
"Oh, Mika," cooed Ferid, "there is so much you don't know."
Mika ignored him.
Ferid grinned, holding Mika in his embrace.
"Did you know, Mika… Vampires aren't born but made? Although many rumors exist, the first vampire was supposedly a fallen angel or an evil spirit or some other creature. Even I don't know. Every other vampire, aside from that very first one, was originally a human. In order to increase their numbers, all the vampires must do is share their blood… They drink the blood of the human they wish to convert and have that human drink their blood in exchange."
Mika finally reacted, pushing Ferid away.
"You sick—" began the lad, disgust, hatred, and fear filling his voice.
Ferid shivered with delight. He didn't let Mika finish his sentence and, instead, kicked his legs out from under him. He lunged forward, wrapping his long fingers around Mika's neck and slamming Mika's head against the sand as he straddled him.
"Mika, no matter how much you struggle and fight against it, you've already ingested my blood. Ever since you first began staying at my mansion, I exchanged blood with you and instructed you to forget it. Every single time. The way you would lick my fingers without fighting against me like usual was so cute… There is no longer any need for you to forget. I command you to remember ever single time in which I fed you my blood."
Ferid watched merrily as Mika's gaze became distant. Mika's precious, pale lips began to quiver. After several long moments, Mika began to tremble, and tears spilled from his eyes.
"You… You…" Mika sniffed and mumbled incoherently from the shocking, intrusive memories.
"You and I have exchanged blood many times before. Whenever you die, you will naturally turn into a vampire at that time. Of course, you can't tell anyone about this. By the way, you are still forbidden from killing yourself. You may also not do anything that would prevent you from turning successfully, including but not limited to having your corpse lie under sunlight or asking to be decapitated after death. Understood?"
Ferid smiled at Mika's horrified and tearful expression.
Finally, instead of thinking of Yu, his precious Mikaela had returned to thinking only of Ferid once again.
"You already know that you can't fight against me. No matter what happens, whether you die in France or survive long enough to reach England, you belong only to me. No matter what, you will come back to me."
Ferid leaned closer, and Mika helplessly tried to push his face away. Ferid only laughed and pushed Mika's arms away before sinking his fangs into Mika's neck. Instead of taking the care to bite Mika more gently like he usually did, he intentionally clamped down harder, making his fangs dig deeply into the meat of Mika's neck with enough strength to bruise the muscle as if to rip Mika's very throat out.
Blood filled with despair was, indeed, the greatest liquor.
Mika's whimpering made Ferid enjoy him ever so much more.
Even though it only took several minutes for Ferid to drain Mika close to death and then force long, sickening gulps of black vampire blood down his throat, Mika had felt like it had taken hours. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, and his throat was hoarse from yelling and being affected by the smoke earlier.
Mika was at the weakest he had ever felt, not just physically but emotionally as well. The last time he had been consumed by such desolation was when his family of orphans had been slaughtered in front of him. Physically, he was exhausted and could barely retain his consciousness. How much of the exhaustion was from struggling so intensely and how much was from being drained so severely, Mika couldn't say.
He was out of breath, sore, and very, very thirsty.
A revolting metallic taste was in his mouth, and it made him want to vomit. Unfortunately, Ferid had ordered him to keep it down, so he was doomed.
Panting from fatigue, Mika let himself fall into a deep sleep. At least, this way, he could get a blissful escape from Ferid for at least a short while.
Ferid smiled smugly at his prey.
Mika belonged to him and not to anyone else.
