Embarrassment 37: Bitter Sweet

"How could you let her go in the state she was in?" Carrera yelled, hoisting Boogie up by his collar.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Boogie teased, half-laughing. "What was I supposed to do? Get up and stand in her way?"

"Where did she go?" Carrera hissed, tightening her grip around his neck.

"How am I supposed to know?" Boogie lied. "Now do you mind putting me down, Old Lady? You are messing up my nice shirt."

It was useless. Carrera's threats meant nothing to Anju's doll. She was just wasting her time. Angrily, she let go of Boogie and let him fall onto the floor. She didn't bother to put him in his chair.

"Honestly," she said, stomping out of the room, slamming the door behind her, "I don't even know why she keeps these dolls. They are completely pointless."

It was going on almost nine at night and Anju still hadn't returned home. Karin was the first to realize that her sister wasn't in the room, but strangely didn't say a word. It was mostly because she knew exactly where her sister had gone. But Henry and Carrera found out that Anju had run off again, they didn't take it so well. But it wasn't seconds after Carrera had left the room that Anju's window opened slowly, and Boogie saw her small figure crawl inside.

"About time you show up, Girly," Boogie said from the floor. He expected Anju to say something to him. Even her usual, Good Evening. But she didn't. Instead, she crossed the floor to the coffin, opened up the lid, and crawled inside, closing it quickly. Boogie wasn't happy. "Anju, you're not going to just leave me on the floor are you? The rats will get me if I stay here. Hey, Anju!"

What Boogie had failed to notice was that when Anju got into her coffin her eyes were bloodshot. She had spent the last few hours crying. The last thing she wanted to do was see anybody in the family in her state. She couldn't let them see her so vulnerable.

As she lay in her coffin silently, the tears slowly started to come back. On her mind was nothing more than the conversation that she had with Akihiko just a few hours back. It hadn't ended the way she wanted to, and she started to wonder if she did the right thing. But now there was no turning back.

The moment she had finish telling him why she was dating humans, she watched for a reaction. For a few of the longest seconds, Akihiko just sat there silently, taking everything in. Anju was already slightly amazed that he believed her without question. But the silence was killing her. She wanted him to respond. But when he did, she didn't like it.

"It sounds like you are very special to them," he said, giving a slight smile. "But what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" she wondered.

"I mean, you should probably be with one of them," he replied, sounding like he didn't want to say it himself. "Anju, I'm happy that I got to know you. You are probably the coolest girl I have ever gotten to meet. But you belong with other vampires like you."

Anju just glared at him. "I don't want anything to do with the other vampires."

"But I don't think it's a good reason to go out with people like me. All don't you think you're going to make them mad. There are people out there who need you, Anju. Gosh, I wish I could be as important as you are. But I'm nobody and I'll always be nobody."

"Those vampires don't know anything about love," Anju hissed, getting that feeling like she had said this before. "All they want is for me to bear their child."

"I don't think that's true," he continued. "I just think that you haven't given them a chance yet."

"How do you know that?" she wondered, darkly.

Akihiko just smiled brightly. "Because I know you. If any of those vampires are even half the person you are, I'm sure they aren't all that bad."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. We never would have done well together anyways. I'm just happy to have known you as a friend."

Anju could feel the tears coming to her eyes, but she didn't want him to see her cry. She couldn't…. Not again. But he could already tell what was happening. So before she could shed one tear, he gave her a hug. She didn't know what to do at first, so she let instincts take over and she hugged him back, no longer to hold back the tears. She had never let any human ever see her emotions, but right now, she could care less. She felt like a child again, wishing that it didn't have to end this way. It was a very silent cry, but a cry none the less.

"I'll never forget you," she muttered, resting her head on his shoulder.

But what Anju did next was something that hurt her more than ever. As she rested her head on his shoulder, she slowly reached her hand up to the back of his head. What he didn't know was that her hand was glowing brightly. Without warning, she erased his memory of everything. She erased his memory of her, and the other vampire and everything that had happened over the past few days. The entire time, she couldn't hold back the tears. She had never felt so much pain in erasing another's memory.

Just as Akihiko went limp in her arms, she drove her long fangs into his neck, and tasted the sweet taste of his blood. The truth was, Anju knew he was lying. He was leaving her for her safety, not for his own good. She wanted to take the pain away from him. She would drain him of his loneliness as well as make him forget ever meeting her. She may not be happy with it, but when he wakes up, he will be as bright as day. He won't feel lonely for a long time and will not have a single care in the world. At least that, Anju could give him. So why was it so painful?

Anju stayed by his side until the sun went down and disappeared before her ever woke up. She cried almost the entire time, until her eyes went blood red. Now, she was all alone again, lying in her coffin just looking into his memories. The memories that she had taken from him. For him, she would give the vampires another chance. Maybe he was right after all.

"I'm sorry… Akihiko," Anju said softly.

So here is an extremely short chapter that ends the Anju story arc. I'm sorry if you were hoping that she got with a human but this just seemed more touching. Tell me what you think and see you with the next chapter.