Lemon Warning
Yuri Warning
The trip back to the house was spent in relative silence, and in that silence, Mari considered her situation. She wasn't sure if she had an actual ally in Asuka or if the girl was just waiting for an opportunity to finish her. She said she was okay with the situation, but her eyes had told a slightly different story. Unfortunately, this close to morning Mari had little choice in the matter. She learned very quickly after she was turned that sunlight was something that needed to be avoided at all costs.
They entered the apartment building once more, taking a moment to insure they weren't followed or observed. The stairs sounded their arrival as they made their way though the dark and dirty halls towards the one room in the build that was still inhabited.
Shinji unlocked the door allowing Asuka to enter first, before turning to her.
"Its going to be a little tight with both of you here," Shinji admitted. "But for now at least, you can call this home."
Since her transformation, Mari hadn't had anything close to an actual home, moving form abandoned building to abandoned building. And though this was just another one of those, it was set up to be more of a permanent safehouse. Asuka looked back, noting the mix of expressions on Mari's face and part of her did in that moment feel for the girl. Just how lost she felt was now all too clear.
Mari stepped forward into the apartment. Though she had done this a few times before, today it was so much different. Today it wasn't a place to go for information, it was safety; safety from the oppressive sun, the cultists she was hunting and in turn was being hunted by, from a world that would rather her kind be dead, and perhaps safety from her own fears… at least for a little while.
"I.. I'm home," she whispered.
"Welcome home," Asuka replied.
IV: Monsters
"This will be your room," Shinji began as he opened a door Mari hadn't seen opened before. "You'll have to clean it up a bit, I never use it."
"It's more than generous," Mari assured him. "No windows in the apartment I've noticed."
"We're in the central part of the building," Shinji explained. "The low-cost apartments weren't given window access, which in your case is a boon."
"You don't share my sun allergy?"
"I'm actually not a vampire," Shinji noted. "Not entirely. The sun has gotten a little bothersome, but I guess I'm not close enough to the real Dracula yet to be fully susceptible." Shinji pointed to the kitchen. "I keep a stock of cleaning supplies under the sink. Feel free to use what you need. I've got plenty as I'm a bit of a clean freak."
"Thank you for helping me."
Shinji nodded. "It's the least I could do." With that he walked back to his room.
"I'll help you clean up," Asuka stated as she walked to the kitchen to get the supplies.
Mari was a little nervous at that. She was hoping to avoid prolonged contact with the redhead after what happened earlier, but it seemed she was forcing the issue with her "help". Mari just hoped this didn't end badly.
They worked together, clearing the dust, wiping everything down and making the private bathroom sparkle. It took the better part of an hour, a time spent in near complete silence which was all the more nerve-wracking to Mari. Yet, Asuka never made so much as a single aggressive action towards her, nor even give any real indication she was upset.
"Thank you," Mari whispered somewhat nervously.
"Don't be afraid of me," Asuka returned. "If I were going to kill you, I'd make sure you knew it was coming so you can arm yourself."
"Not sure if that is any real consolation."
Asuka sighed audibly. "I admit, I'm not 100 percent okay with this situation… but that has more to do with pieces of the old me coming to the surface every now and again."
Mari raised an eyebrow. "Old you?"
Asuka chuckled sadly. "Might as well have a seat, this is going to be quite the ride." Mari obediently sat down on her bed.
Asuka dragged a chair form Mari's desk and sat across from her. "I awakened a few months ago," she began. "When I did, I had no recollection of who I was, what I was doing, or how I even got there."
"Amnesia," Mari noted.
"I found out later it was caused by me being put though a ritual to bind the power of Dominus to me in preparation for the resurrection of Count Dracula. As I tried to come to terms with what happened, people came to try to capture me, I found a new surrogate mother who I later found out was the leader of the cultist that were trying to use me, was put though a painful ritual which caused my amnesia again by the very same person, and nearly died."
Mari blinked. "And I thought I had problems," she noted.
Asuka smirked at that. "I lost Dominus when I used it to kill Selina, the girl who used me. When I did, Shinji awakened to his reality and used Selina's soul to pay for the use of Dominus. See, it can't be used by anyone other than Dracula himself without it eating your soul as payment."
"Is Shinji really Dracula?" Mari asked.
"Yes," Asuka explained, "but also no… at least not yet. He's considered a 'Candidate'. There are more people out there like him, who carry fragments of the Dark Lord's power within them. Cults like the Sons of Shaft and The Circle of the Moon, amongst others, are trying to gather them and instigate Dracula's resurrection in their own ways, or otherwise prepare for his return. Shinji carries a portion of his power thanks to Dominus awakening that power within him. But he wasn't joking in the alley when he said what he did there represents the merest fraction of the power of Dracula."
Mari thought about that. "A few weeks ago, I knew for sure that Vampires were a myth."
"Got your world turned upside down, eh?"
"It was more than that," she trailed, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her arms on them.
"You… you didn't ask to be turned," Asuka noted.
"NERV sent me undercover to find out what the cults were up to and uncover any information that would lead to whereabouts of you two. I infiltrated the circle, even got close to one of its members… then Carmilla took a direct interest in me."
Asuka looked shocked at this admission.
"I underwent some ritual myself in the main hall of the cult's lair, one that drained my blood and amounted to torture, yet as my body was being damaged, I could only feel… bliss…" Mari held back tears that threatened come. "I had no control over what my mind was doing… was it what they made me drink, was I too absorbed in the role… I couldn't tell you. I don't know myself anymore. I should have tried to escape, should have backed out of this when I realized the scope of it… I didn't. I didn't want to let Sub-Commander Katsuragi down…. But maybe it was because they showed me actual love."
"Love?!" Asuka nearly shouted at the realization of it. "They tortured you and turned you into a monster!" Mari flinched at the word 'monster', and Asuka realized she said entirely the wrong thing. "Mari… I-"
"My mother died," Mari interjected. "I know you're at least somewhat empathetic to that… but she died when I was 10, only a month before I was accepted as a pilot. My father was never around, a member of the SAS, so I barely even knew him. A month before mom died, he was KIA. Mom lost her will to live and hung herself with an extension cord in our garage."
Mari noted Asuka flinch at the realization of how her mom died, but it was about to get worse.
"I pleaded with her not to do it," Mari whispered.
She was there when it happened… mein gott…
"I yelled at her that if she loved me she wouldn't go…" Mari was now softly crying tears of blood. "She didn't even hesitate… just kicked out the stool below her and let herself fall. Her neck didn't break, she suffocated. I tried to save her, tried to lift her up… I was too small, too weak. Nobody heard me screaming…"
Asuka sat next to the girl and wrapped her arms around her. Mari was bawling at this point as she fully dredged up the memory, remembering watching helplessly as her mother twitched and her face turned blue as her struggles became weaker and weaker… until finally, she was blessedly still.
The redhead couldn't say a thing, the full horror of what she witnessed familiar yet even worse than she could have guessed. She rubbed Mari's back trying to calm her and slowly, her cries began to quiet.
Mari never asked for the life she has now, just as Asuka never asked for the power she wields. Ever the warrior, Asuka was able to accept what she had, and even embraced it, but she was still human, she still had a pulse, she could still pretend to be normal. Mari was turned into what she is against her will, lulled in by the promises of love and companionship, an offer far too tempting for one who had both of her parents die within a month of each other, the second so traumatic that it was amazing the girl had any sanity left in her.
Asuka looked up to see Shinji standing in the doorway with a knowing look on his face. Mari had passed out in her sorrow at this point.
"I'll stay with her," Asuka whispered, trying not to wake the poor girl up. She was now using a handkerchief to wipe the bloody tears away.
Shinji just nodded slightly, and closed the door quietly.
Almost two hours later, Mari woke up, still in Asuka's arms. She no longer felt fear being this close to the girl, part of her soul had been laid bare, and Asuka showed nothing but sympathy for her.
"Feeling any better?" Asuka asked.
Mari nodded and started to sit up. Asuka let go immediately. "There is still more to tell," Mari noted.
"You don't have too if you don't want to."
"No… I have to," Mari countered. "Otherwise, I may never be able to come to terms with it myself."
"It's crazy how similar our situations are," Asuka noted. "We both became something else, albeit you have it worse in a lot of ways."
"It's so much worse than that," Mari admitted. "I have a hard time living with myself after everything that happened."
"Stockholm Syndrome is a thing," Asuka noted. "You shouldn't…"
"What?" Mari interjected, "Blame myself? How could I not? It'd be easy to say I was a victim of circumstance… but in the end, the truth was, by my own design or not, I betrayed everyone I knew and everything I stood for…."
Exhausted, Mari slid out from the sheets of her bed. She was back in the room the cultists gave her in their hideout. The wounds and bitemarks from the previous night were gone, and though she noted her skin was cold, but she didn't feel cold. Although a little sore, she stood up and walked across the soft carpet noting she was still completely naked. She'd spent so much time this way lately that it didn't even bother her anymore.
Coming to the full body mirror, she stood in front of it and saw exactly what she expected to see… nothing at all. She was able to see the details of the decorated walls behind her, even touching the mirror yielded no change… her reflection was gone. She looked down at herself, noting no blemishes on her body. She hadn't had a chance to shave in the last two days yet not a single errant hair could be found on her body, she was still smooth everywhere as if she had just shaved. Seeing the way the pale lights in the room played off of everything, she took note of her distinct lack of a shadow.
All this came together to confirm what she already knew from last night… Carmilla turned her. She placed both her hands on the mirror and her head against it, looking down. Her heart should be going a mile a minute at the terror of this revelation, but they weren't… because she didn't need her heart to pump blood around her body anymore. She was cold to the touch because she no longer metabolized anything, and she didn't feel cold because her body didn't need to be of a normal temperature anymore.
She was one of them now, in every sense of the word.
"So now what?" she whispered. She was a monster; her superiors would never take her back. Would she betray them and stay with Carmilla? The idea was a sweet one; living with her mistress, becoming one of the chosen to bring forth the new race of super-vampires that would one day rule the world, become one of the mistresses of the Dark Lord himself…
No… she was fighting to stop this, not become a part of it. Even if her life may be over, and her remaining existence measured in mere days, she had to complete her mission. She would never allow the world to be shrouded in darkness…
Pushing off from the mirror, she went to her possessions piled neatly on an ornate dresser and pulled out her phone. She knew she couldn't just call, so instead she sent a detailed text message of where the cult hideout is, how many members were there, and the fact that Carmilla herself was still on the grounds.
She hesitated before hitting "send". Did she really want this? Wouldn't it be better to just be happy with her mistress for however long she could? Could she really betray her mistress's love? Mari pressed send, then ripped the battery out of her phone as soon as it was done. She fought off tears as she realized what she had done, but for the good of the world, it had to be this way.
"God forgive me," Mari whispered. "I've fallen so far now…"
Nearly two days later, she lay with Miranda in the girl's room. Legs intertwined, their fluids still drying between them, and Mari holding the girl almost desperately.
"Are you alright?" Miranda asked, feeling something was off with her companion.
Mari only chuckled. "Sorry, I'm acting like I'm so love-starved. Between Carmilla, yourself, and the other girls I've been with as of late, I should have more than enough love to go around."
Miranda chuckled in response. "I guess you've had a hard life up until now."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Mari admitted. Miranda in response nuzzled up and gently bit Mari in the neck, earning a squeak of pleasure from the girl.
"You can drink from me if you want," Miranda offered. "I like being drained."
Mari purred at that admission then rolled slightly to be more on top of Miranda. Within hesitation, she rubbed her thigh against the girl's mound eliciting moans of pleasure from the girl once more, and the nearly dried fluids from earlier where now joined with new ones. Tracing her tongue around the girl's artery, Mari dragged more pleasurable sounds from the girl as anticipation was getting her even wetter. Then as the girl's hands slid to Mari's chest to squeeze her breasts pleasurably, Mari bit down into Miranda's neck eliciting a mixed cry of pain and pleasure from the girl and even more pressure on her chest.
Miranda's hand slid back away from the chest to Mari's back as well as the back of her head. She ground herself against Mari's thigh she felt her lifeblood drained by the now rather skilled vampress, pleasure coursing through her veins like water cascading over a waterfall with every suckle from Mari's skilled mouth. Her body rocked several times in quick succession from mini-orgasms before one massive one took her in the end causing her for the first time since they first came together to scream loudly.
Mari ran her tongue across the wound, closing them as the girl twitched beneath her, her nerves still firing as she came down. No more fluid left her either by neck or by her vagina, and it still took nearly eight seconds for her to collapse and start breathing again. Her body pleasantly tingling and sweating from the exertion. It was a short session but so much more powerful than anything she had felt previously.
Mari pulled the comforter up over them both as Miranda began to shiver from a combination of exertion, high body temperature, and blood loss. She curled under Mari, keeping their legs entwined as she allowed fatigue to overtake her. Mari shifted to holding her from the side, but Miranda wanted to be spooned, and used her remaining strength to turn away and press herself into Mari, with the larger girl's free arm trailing over her stomach and up to her chest.
"Better?" Mari asked in a soft voice.
"How did I taste?" Miranda whispered in her half-conscious state.
Mari smiled softly. "Like a piece of heaven."
"I'm glad… I love you so much, Mari."
Mari's heart sank… none of the members, save for Carmilla herself ever told her they loved her… but this girl, who brought her into this dark world did… The weight of her betrayal began to pull at her now, worse than when she sent the message two days ago.
"I love you to," Mari whispered, kissing the smaller girl on the neck, who then contently passed out.
And part of Mari realized she really did love Miranda…
How can I live with myself?
Mari was summoned to Carmilla's manor later that day, forcing her to leave a sleeping Miranda behind. Dressed only in a thin sheer dress, Mari walked confidently to the Manor area. She could feel the eyes of the other cultists on her, their jealousy at her position within the cult as she was now Carmilla's favorite. But she also knew none would take action against her. A little envy was healthy after all…
Upon entering the manor, she came face to face to the biggest man she'd ever seen. He has to be almost 2 meters tall (over six and a half feet) and built like a roman statue. Though Mari was lately more into girls now, she couldn't resist wondering if everything on this man was supersized, and if he knew how to use it. A light blush came over her face as she smiled at him, and it seemed the man knew exactly what she was thinking as he smiled back a sexy smile of his own.
The man wasn't Japanese but rather Eastern European like Carmilla herself. He was bald, though Mari wasn't sure if he shaved his head or not. His body was chiseled to perfection, and a rich olive color to his skin made him even more statuesque. She found herself strangely drawn to him, like something about him was calling out to her blood. Carmilla who was standing near him seemed amused by the exchange.
"Pet," she purred. "I'd like you to meet Taleth. He's new here but not a member of the cult."
"He's from another?" Mari asked.
"Yes, pet. Taleth came to use from The Sons of Shaft. Have you heard the rumors?"
"No, mistress," Mari responded. "I've been… preoccupied."
"With Miranda, I bet," Carmilla responded with amusement earning a blush and demure smile from Mari. "She is quite entranced with you!"
A pause. "Unfortunately, the rumors should they be true are dire. NERV has been cracking down lately, striking at smaller cult hideouts in the area. Taleth is here to help protect us should the unthinkable happen."
"I guess I'm even more happy to see you then," Mari seductively noted.
"No harm will come to the cult while I'm here," Taleth responded in a strong voice. "Sadly, I can't take part in the ceremonies and activities as I must remain vigilant. Should this blow over though…"
Mari blushed at the implications of that.
Night closed in on the complex, and Mari slid back into her role with little fuss. She knew from the level of nervousness she could see that the end for the cult was near. The halls, once full of joy and bliss were now filled with worry. Few could get into their activities and Mari could feel the lack of energy.
Is this cult really that evil?
The question was rhetorical, of course it was. The cult was trying to create a new ruling class, they wanted to resurrect the root of all evil, and Carmilla was a vampire.
So am I… now.
Just how much she sacrificed for what she thought was right continued to plague her thoughts. Though her heart would not beat, she felt it sink at the thought of what she had become. She didn't even know if her superiors would take her back, as she was a monster. Though the thought occurred to her that even a monster could have its uses.
A loud noise broke her from her thoughts and she knew the time had come. The front door of the cult's hideout was blown off its frame by breaching charges, and men in tactical uniforms entered with mp40's at the ready. Cultists began to flee towards the manor area, and the men opened fire. Mari was aghast at what she saw; they didn't even give a warning, they just started shooting indiscriminately! These people were humans! They weren't monsters, just misguided! And in that moment she questioned, if for a second, who the real monsters were.
She turned and ran back towards the back rooms, opening the door to Miranda's chambers. Inside, Miranda was against the corner as she heard the attack happening, shaking in terror at what was happening.
"Run!" Mari yelled at her. "Get to the manor! Go!"
Though she was still feaked out, Miranda found the strength of will to grab her clothes and run for the manor.
"Don't die on me," Miranda managed as she ran past her. Mari watched her go, hoping she could escape what had come for them, a doom by her own hand.
As Miranda passed though the last doors to the manor's entry hall, Taleth passed by her heading towards the battle instead of away from it. His face was stoic, unflinching as he strode, and Mari felt dread at his passing.
What is he?
The main room was now mostly cleared of cultists, dozens lay dead in pools of their own blood, the piles of humanity would have been too much for most, but the men simply spread out and moved towards the next set of halls. It was then that Taleth entered the room without armor or weapon of any kind.
"Down on the ground!" one of the men yelled! "Don't make us kill you!"
"Ucigaşii," he simply spoke aloud in Romanian. "Now I end you all."
The men opened fire and Taleth simply walked forward, bullets perforated his body, some passing straight though him, but be barely showed any signs of even being affected by their momentum. The wounds leaked but they didn't leak blood… they leaked ash.
He's a vampire too?
A dark aura covered him for a moment, then suddenly he rushed at impossible speed towards the first man, punching him in the chest so hard that the tactical armor buckled, and so did his ribcage, and center mass, and the back of his armor as a bloody fist became visible to the gore splattered allies behind the man.
He's a monster!
The others continued firing, but in a gruesome display of power he used both hands to tear the body of the man he killed in half before grabbing the next man by the head and crushing his helmet until blood and brain matter leaked from it. His stoic expression never changing as he continued to press forward, brutally slaying everyone in his way with his bare hands.
Realizing they were against a much more deadly foe, a couple of the men tried to switch to incendiary rounds, but Taleth noticed this instantly. Utilizing the power of Vampiric Speed, he rushed though his opponents to get to the ones that were trying to change their ammo, quickly dispatching them with vicious strikes that shattered bone and tore flesh with little resistance.
Mari was so entranced watching the monster work she didn't even sense her mistress approaching from behind…
Pain suddenly tore though Mari as her back was pierced though with a pointed object. It radiated out as she watched the point of a wooden stake rip out of her chest, covered in blood and ash as it went.
"My pet," came the sad voice of Carmilla, in her left ear. "I know it was you…"
Even through the pain of impalement, Mari felt true guilt and realized she was now being repaid for her crimes.
"You hurt me more than any man in my entire existence has… I loved you." She could almost hear Carmilla's tears in her voice. With a final push forward, Mari felt something in her chest break, spreading liquid pain though her which was quickly followed by numbness.
Carmilla froze as Mari's bloody fingers caressed the left side of her face. Unable to talk, it was the only way Mari could even remotely apologize for her transgressions. The vampire queen simply let the stake go, and let Mari fall to the marble floor.
Mari never even felt herself hit the ground.
Perfect darkness surrounded her, there was nothing… Mari expected hell to be so much more than this, then suddenly it felt as if she had gotten her wish...
Her body erupted in pain once again, feeling like she had being impaled with a thousand tiny spikes. The heart in her chest burned like nothing she had ever felt even after being staked, and her stomach imploded upon itself in a hunger that was unbearable. Her body felt like it was spasming, thrashing, then it felt as if it had grasped something… Sweet relief suddenly filled her mouth and her throat… Disoriented, she had no idea of where she even was within her three dimensional space, all sense of proprioception gone... Pain struck her again and again in different places now… shrieks tore from her, she thrashed, felt flesh breaking in her hands, more liquid in her mouth, the pain in her stomach lessening with every quenching swallow. All at once the pain ended, she felt the ground beneath her… and she was finally still.
Her eyes opened. She was still almost naked in her sheer nightgown, though it was stained with ash and blood. It took her a few precious moments to realize the blood wasn't hers. Fear tugged her heart as she looked around seeing men in NERV tactical gear, the same men who attacked the cult, only they were dead around her. One man had his neck torn opened near her, others had various injuries including claw wounds and more bites. She looked down at her chest, seeing no sign that a stake was ever in her, but nearby she saw the stake; it was near the hand of the first dead man she saw, and stained with her blood.
Terror overtook her as she realized what happened. She stared at her hands; her nails now almost claw -like and stained with blood. She had been impaled by Carmilla, but her mistress didn't finish the job. Perhaps in the last moments, even a Vampress of her age found she couldn't go through with it. Whatever the reason, she was left behind, paralyzed with an oak stake in her chest. One of the men must have pulled it out, releasing her from her paralysis… but… she was fully drained of blood from the impalement, she went into some kind of blood frenzy upon awakening with no control over herself.
What lay around her now was the results of that blood frenzy. She murdered an entire tactical team of her own people to satiate her unholy thirst. Now, she knew her life was forfeit, and she couldn't stop the tears of blood from falling. She had betrayed everyone in the end; Carmilla, Misato, and even herself… and…
"Miranda…" the name came unbidden… she was completely in love with the girl. Her face now a frozen image in her mind. She knew she could never be forgiven for betraying her, and Miranda likely blamed herself for what happened to the cult as she was the one who sponsored Mari in the first place… brought doom to the cult.
Forcing herself to stand, she could hear the sounds of distant men moving in, voices saying they heard a struggle.
I should let myself be killed.
But she knew that wasn't an option. As soon as she was close to death, she would go into another frenzy, more people would die, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She quickly grabbed one of the dead men's wrists and found his watch. Seeing she only had around 90 minutes of night remaining, she did the only thing she could do…
The men spread out in the main room where so much death had taken place. At full vampiric speed, Mari rushed past them, moving far to quickly for them to stop her. Three were knocked aside as she ran, and the moment she was outside and exposed to the reinforcements, she instinctively shifted her form.
The men were too shocked by the sudden transformation to fire upon the bat that took wing and escaped their weapon's range….
Shinji emerged from his bedroom and heard soft sobbing coming from Mari's room. He walked to the door looking in and saw Asuka was holding the girl, letting her cry on her. Shinji's heart ached for her, though he didn't hear the conversation, it was obvious what happened was horrific to say the least.
"Everyone…" Mari cried. "I betrayed them all… I succumbed to bloodlust and rage and killed a dozen people just to sustain my own wretched existence. And I betrayed my own heart in the name of duty."
Asuka gently rubbed the girl's back and she continued to sob in her misery.
"Carmilla is evil," Asuka asserted. "Don't feel bad about betraying her."
"Why do I feel so guilty?" Mari countered.
"Because she is a gottverdamnt vampire queen, Mari. She had you under her control from the start, from the moment you first saw her. You think you felt real love? She was using you! Creatures like her can see into your soul, find your weakness, and exploit it to their own ends. She made you feel what you needed to feel. No matter how sincere she seemed to be, she is still a monster."
"Maybe…" Mari whispered, sniffling but no longer crying. "But so am I."
"You're not a monster, Mari," Shinji asserted.
"Aren't I?" she countered. "I'm a creature of the night now, forged in a pit of sin through an even darker ritual who's purpose was… God, I don't even know why they tortured me like that before I was turned… I…" She sighed, collecting her thoughts. "I am the adopted daughter of the Queen of Blood, the truest definition of a Tragic Princess… how can I be anything but a monster?"
Even though I know
I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold
Like old Job
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say "What is lost can never be saved"
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
"They try to tell me I'm not a monster, but how could I not be? I've killed over a dozen people, betrayed everyone who ever meant anything to me, and became a demon of blood… Shouldn't I be deserving of nothing but death?"
Next Chapter: Amor Vincit Omnia