He stood at the open window of his office, gazing out over the front lawn of Scepter 4, his eyes taking in the way that the barely visible moon cast a weak light over the cobblestones and greenery. The somewhat eerie glow made the verdant life that was so alive during the day look ominous, as if the demons and monsters that lurked in every child's worst nightmares were hiding among them, the cobblestones that lined the walkways bringing to mind the tombstones in a dark cemetery.
His morbid thoughts didn't surprise him, for they had been going in that direction more often since the time he realized that shadows and damnation were to be his lot even before he rose as the new Blue King.
His responsibility as a King was both a gladly accepted challenge, as well as a battle for him, for he knew that one wrong move could spell the end – not only for him, but for those around him; the beast within him would either be unleashed, or his Sword of Damocles could fall, or worse, both could take place, and would be the cause for the loss of many lives.
And he could not let any of those things happen.
He knew that the darkness within him was also gazing at the scene outside his window through his eyes, he could feel it. There were moments that he felt like a passenger in his own body, but most of the time, he could just feel it there, the way one would know that their shadow was still present even in the pitch black confines of darkness.
Had the beast within shown itself to the young girl I encountered this afternoon? he wondered, feeling a wave of dread wash over him. Had she sensed, or seen it?
He prayed that she hadn't.
Despite meeting her for less than five minutes, the Blue King found himself smiling at the memory. She had been a mere stranger, and yet…
She fascinated him….
Her smile had been warm, albeit with a tinge of the sadness that had reflected in her eyes.
Eyes that were like polished jewels of the deepest violet …
Eyes that had seemed to look right into his soul….
He wondered at her exact age, for she had seemed so young despite being dressed in the uniform of a senior high school student, but most of all, he wondered…
Would he ever see her again?
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind then he felt the familiar sensation of the beast rousing itself within him, the veil between its existence and himself being lifted.
No…
But it was too late, the beast began to take over. Munakata struggled to breathe as he tried to fight the change, but it was useless; all he could do was clutch at his throat and gasp for air as he fell to his knees, his other hand gripping the window sill. His body was burning up, the flames incinerating him from the inside as it spread all over his body…
He saw his glasses falling before he was pushed back into the shadows, and darkness awoke…
It was like so many times before, when he felt like he had been submerged in a sea of endless depths: floating around, feeling everything, seeing everything, but unable to move. He could hear the sound of tearing cloth before the twin faces of night emerged from his back, the pain of his flesh tearing upon their appearance fading into oblivion.
Once again, he watched from behind the glass, even as he felt the unmistakable hunger that threatened his self control scorching his throat, sending his heightened senses into overdrive.
He tilted his head back, his senses reaching out…
A dark figure ascended into the sky, midnight wings spread proudly against the moonlight, a shadow that blended with the infinity of the night, weaving through the stars. Sharp eyes that burned with a cold fire scanned the scenery below, taking in the dancing lights of the city, until the decision was made to search on foot.
He moved down a quiet street, his wings folding into his back…
The entire school was abuzz when she arrived, and her class wasn't any different.
As she sat down, she heard the same thing being repeated among her classmates:
" Hey, did you hear the news? "
" It was all mangled up! "
" … Drained of blood! "
She'd heard the same thing being discussed on the street, and had caught snatches of the conversations, but she was too focused on getting to school to stop and listen to the rest.
But now that she was seated, she was able to piece the news together.
A man's severely mangled body had been discovered in one of the dumpsters by some college students who had partied hard at a sorority leader's house before deciding to head back to their dorms so late that they had crossed to the wee hours of the morning. The man was so badly mutilated that whatever was left of his flesh and bone was little more than a pathetic attempt to hold his body together, and identify him as a human.
The police had been on the scene since 1:30 A.M, blocking off several of the main exits to preserve the evidence, and forcing many to take a detour in order to go about their daily lives.
She knew that part since she'd been forced to take three detours this morning so that she wouldn't be late for school.
As she listened to her classmates' chatter while engaging in no discussions, her ears caught something that made her heart race….
" Scepter 4 is also going to get involved as well…! "
The Blue King's majestically handsome face appeared in her mind's eye, and she felt her face turn warm as she bent down to pick up her eraser.
It's silly, she knew. I might never even get to see the Blue King again, and he might have even forgotten me, but still…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the image of feral eyes burning like purple fire, as if something else was looking at her…
She clenched her hands until she felt her nails digging into her flesh, a feeling of foreboding and grief replacing the warmth in her chest that had burned so brightly just a moment ago when she'd thought of the Blue King.
Was I dreaming? she wondered as she remembered those eyes that had been the Blue King's, but at the same time belonging to someone else…
Something else…
He already knew what the body looked like even before the sheet was pulled back to reveal what was left of the man's face.
There was hardly anything left, only a few bits of torn flesh over the remaining meat and bone protruding from almost impossible angles where his face should have been; Munakata doubted that the rest of the man's body fared any better.
The stench of cold and death was toned down only slightly by the smell of formaldehyde, but not completely, considering the contents of the morgue.
The report stated that the victim had been dead 3-4 days prior to being discovered, and that he had been killed elsewhere before being dumped in the location he had been found.
There was no blood left, only a dry husk of what used to be a living, breathing human being, so his identity would have to be established through different channels.
Munakata's brow furrowed as he caught the scent of another wafting up from the corpse amidst the stench in the morgue. The scent was invisible to others – Kings, clansmen, and Strains alike – unless they had a sharp sense of smell, or they were like him…
So, he thought. They are beginning to emerge…
Initially, he'd thought that he was the only one with that curse, however, his hand had been forced when he had recently crossed paths with three individuals who had revealed themselves to be mindless beasts that existed only to feed on the blood of the living. Although he had already dispatched of the said creatures, he didn't know how many more of them there were, how they had been turned, or when and where they would strike next; a gut feeling, however, told him that the numbers were growing by the hour – possibly by the minute - and this was only the beginning….
She sighed as she gathered up her things, preparing to go home. The day hadn't exactly dragged along, but it hadn't flown by, either; it had felt sort of stuck in between, going too slow, but also passing by in a blur.
If that made any sense.
She had just finished encoding and filing the necessary documents that her homeroom teacher had asked her to, and she had made sure to double check all the details before saving them on the hard drive.
So engrossed had she been in the administrative work given to her that she hadn't noticed the passing of time until she had finished, and looked up to find that the shadows of the oncoming night were creeping in to claim the earth, albeit a bit slow since it was still summer.
And yet….
She exited the teacher's faculty room, locking the door to behind her while trying not to shudder at the sight of the shadow filled hallway that greeted her when she turned around; in the daytime, while packed with people, it looked harmless and innocent, but when the shadows were spreading as they were now, they looked ominous and foreboding….
A chill ran down her spine as her eyes took in the last remnants of daylight fading away before she made her way to the stairs.
Which is scarier? she wondered as she descended the stairs, her footsteps sounding absurdly loud in the empty building. The darkness itself because we never know what it can hide? Or what's hidden in the darkness?
For her, the answer was BOTH.
She was about to insert her earphones in when something made her stop midway down the stairs; she wasn't sure what it was, so she listened.
Tap.
There it was, the sound of a shoe's heel tapping on tiles, followed by something being dragged behind it.
Tap.
The shuffling again.
She swallowed, her heart beginning to race as she realized that the sounds were coming from the upstairs corridor, nearing the teachers' office that she had just left barely five minutes ago…
The sound of a doorknob rattling almost made her jump. It was gentle at first, but when whoever was trying to open the door discovered that it wouldn't open, the rattling became more forceful and violent, causing a shiver to run down her spine.
What the…?
She almost had a heart attack when the rattling abruptly stopped, and all that remained was a silence so ominous and heavy that she was suddenly afraid to move, let alone breathe.
What is going on…?
No sooner had the question crossed her mind then she heard what sounded like something sniffing the air before the sounds started again, although this time, they seemed more hurried, and aggressive.
It's getting closer…
Perhaps it was the sounds of aggression by some unknown being mixed with the dark and silence that filled her with the feeling of foreboding, or some ancient instinct that told her that she was in danger if she didn't leave that made the chill from earlier explode into full blown terror. She wanted to turn and run, but her feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, her eyes fixed on the upstairs corridor, and the distorted shadow that was inching closer with every second.
Tap…
Slide….
Tap…
Slide….
Tap…
Slide….
She swallowed, and realized that she was trembling, goosebumps having spread over her arms. Taking in a deep breath, she turned towards the bottom of the stairs, feeling like her body was turning into stone…
Move… she commanded herself. Move!
As if on cue, her mobility returned just as a final glance upstairs showed her that the creeping shadow was about to reach the doorway leading to the stairwell. The sound of her heels as she fled from the unseen danger heading her way rang in her ears, and she knew that she shouldn't look back even as she heard the tapping and scraping noise from earlier speed up.
She didn't know if she was a fast runner, but she knew that she had to keep going. Doors and lockers all went by in a blur as she fled down the corridor, her ears picking up the familiar sounds from the stairs as her pursuer rushed after her.
Don't look…
The sounds were getting closer, and she knew that she shouldn't stop, or look back, because doing so would be the death of her.
Keep running…
Keep running…
She didn't know if she could make it to the exit, and escape whoever – or whatever – was coming after her, but she had to try, and if she couldn't, she would use the last resort she had…
The tapping and sliding sound had closed the distance rapidly, and now that it was much nearer, she realized as she almost lost her breath that it wasn't as she had initially thought…
Click…
Scratch…
The latter sound was like nails being dragged against the floor behind her, and she felt like she was being dared to look behind her, as if she was being chased and taunted, like a predator would its prey when it knows that the latter is trapped.
And she DID NOT want to look behind her…
She would not be trapped….
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind that she felt a familiar sensation flow through her, like trickling water, and the wind began to swirl around her, keeping pace with her as she ran.
Here goes…
She vanished in a flurry of light purple, light pink, and white flower petals before the eyes of the being chasing her, and not a moment too soon, for there was a gust of wind behind her as if something had attempted to grab her, but missed.
The demonic roar at her escape shook her to the bone….
Scepter 4 raced to the island academy of Ashinaka, many of the clansmen still rattled from their earlier encounter with a group of creatures that had come straight from the pages of an apocalyptic horror novel.
Ever since the body in the dumpster had been discovered the day before yesterday, the police had been on high alert, and the Blue Clan was no different; the streets were continuously being patrolled on a 24 hour shift, and no nook or cranny was left unchecked. Police officers and Blue Clansmen patrolled in pairs, no one was to go alone.
Things were already tense, however, the worst was yet to come.
News of people being chased and ripped apart and drained of blood by vampire-zombie like creatures as night started to creep in began to blare through the radios left and right, from dark alleys in the seediest parts of the city, to the safety of civilian homes.
When Scepter 4 had been dispatched, they found themselves and their combat skills pushed to their limits as they came within a hair of getting their throats ripped out, saved only by their shields formed from their auras, and the sharpness of their blades. Coming face to face with the blank eyed, bloodthirsty predators that were obviously once human was like being thrown into a living nightmare, however, the Blue Clansmen didn't fail to notice the torn areas on various angles of their throats: some were on one or both sides, others were in front, painting numerous macabre semi-sculptures and graffitis.
What made the situation worse was that several of those mindless creatures had been Strains, some registered, others considered dangerous.
The police weren't much help, any more than they were a match for the undead creatures they found themselves battling.
By the time the carnage was over, the body count – consisting of victims and their attackers – had reached countless proportions, and blue uniforms had been stained red with blood almost all the way to the skin.
Scepter 4 had also received reports that HOMRA, the Red Clan being led by Mikoto Suoh had also encountered the said creatures on their territory, and had obliterated them without a second thought, and were now engaged in battle with the said creatures that just kept on coming.
For once, the Blue King was grateful for the Red King's hot tempered stubbornness since it meant that he could hold his own.
The city was in a state of total chaos, however, new reports had revealed that a new batch of the said creatures had appeared in the area near Ashinaka High School, and some were suspected to have crossed the bridge leading to the island that held not only the said academy, but also the dormitories where many of the students and staff were residing.
The news prompted the already exhausted Blue Clansmen to head towards the said academy, led by the Blue King who had also engaged in the earlier battle.
It is far from over, he thought to himself. This is only the beginning.
Suddenly, the face of the young girl he had met a few weeks back appeared in his mind's eye, and he felt his heart ache, although he couldn't understand why.
He also felt the dark beast within him stir and rise to gaze at the outside world through his eyes as he allowed his mind to focus on her.
Is she safe? he wondered. Has she been able to escape the chaos that has engulfed the city? He felt a frisson of fear go through him at the possibility of the said girl being one of the victims who had become a casualty during the earlier skirmish, and prayed that he was wrong.
He could feel the beast's feral eyes on him, glowing with anticipation, waiting for the moment when he would give into his anger and desire to rip anyone who had laid a hand on the girl limb from limb.
Munakata felt his anger rising at the beast's challenge, however, he did not rise to the bait that would ultimately be his downfall.
Ever since he'd met the girl, he'd only lost control once, and found himself becoming accustomed to staying focused whenever the beast tried to take over.
The Blue King's eyes suddenly became feral, the purple encompassing everything as his pupils narrowed, emitting a dark glow, although it wasn't seen by his accompanying clansmen since they were preoccupied with discussing the evening's events to notice.
None of the clansmen were surprised that Munakata had been able to deal very easily with the monsters from earlier due to his position as the Blue King, however, they did not know that there was another reason he was able to emerge unscathed.
And learning that secret was already a danger in itself…