CHAPTER THREE: MESMERIC

❝Appealing; drawing attention.❞


"DADDY!" CALLED OUT a small voice. "Daddy! Are you home?" called out the voice once again. A little girl with pink hair and emerald eyes walked into the pleasant house she lived in with her father.

"Moka, come outside in the garden. I need to talk to you." called a fatherly, deep voice. Becoming quite curious, she walked to where her father was, a beautiful garden full of different kinds of flowers.

"You wanted to see me, Daddy?" asked Moka, her little green eyes looking at him in confusion. "Am I in trouble?"

The father gave a low chuckle. "No. You're not in trouble, sweetie. I just need to talk to you about something very important." He patted his knee, gesturing for his daughter to sit. She carefully sat on his knee, not wanting to fall. "I'm going to ask you a very important question and I want you to be honest with me, alright?" he said, looking at his little girl with eyes that held solemnity and kindness simultaneously. "About last night...why were you crying?" he questioned.

Moka shifted in discomfort in her father's lap. "W-Wha...What do you mean, daddy?"

A firm hand fell gently on her shoulder, squeezing them comfortingly. "On my way back from the bathroom, I passed your bedroom and heard you crying," he answered, his eyes softening as she looked away, ashamed. His heart hurt at the thought of his precious daughter being so upset and he was willing to do just about ANYTHING to make her smile again. The silence was her only choice of answer to his question at the moment. "Hey, hey...look at me," he whispered, gently taking her chin to make her look at him. Looking into her glassy eyes, they held nothing more than sadness, but neither shed a tear. "You know you can tell me anything, right? You don't have to hide anything from me."

Moka slowly parted her lips to speak. "Why am I so different?" she murmured low enough for only herself to hear.

"Hmm?" he hummed questioningly, tilting his head to the side.

"Why am I so different?" she asked, the volume of her voice becoming a little louder and bolder.

A low chuckle rose from her father's throat, surprising her. "Because you have a unique hair color, that's why." he joked with a smile, trying to cheer his precious child up.

"No! That's not it." Moka protested heatedly, her face turning red in frustration. "Everybody...everybody at school says I don't deserve a daddy because I'm a freaky monster. Is what everyone says true, daddy?"

The male adult ground his teeth together in irritation. However, anger grew stronger than irritation hearing from his baby girl explain she was getting picked on because of her race as a vampire. To increase his anger even further was that it wasn't the first time it had happened. Almost every day, he would come home after a long day of work or training to hear the sounds of her silent cries of sorrow. He distinctly remembers how she would immediately wipe away the tears and replace her frown with a bright smile. Unfortunately for Moka, nothing could get past her father. It didn't matter how many tears she would erase away. He could see right through her every time. Her puffy red eyes and face, along with her sniffles and the faint bruises on her body, would serve as the evidence he needed.

Damned kids.

Being blissfully ignorant yet aware of how the world's society operates, he always knew adults could be the cruelest creatures alive. But not children. Children, in general, were painted and perceived as friendly and innocent, inherently naïve to the brutal and heinous acts of the world created by humanity. But seeing how Moka would come home with her face covered in bruises and dried, fresh tears immediately gave him the reality check he never knew he needed.

Children can be just as ruthless as adults. They have the herd instincts of prejudice against any outsider and they are merciless in its indulgence. But the only difference is that children aren't naturally born hateful. The sad part, however, is that they can learn it from their parents and humankind in many ways. The parents determine how kids behave towards others in the future because they depend on them like role models.

Never mind the kids; he blamed the parents responsible for his daughter being teased every day. They were the problem.

With a shake of his head, he brushed a strand of her pink hair behind her ear. "Forget what those kids say," he assured with a soft expression.

"But look at me!" she objected, her hands gesturing to her appearance.

"I am, Moka. I am." he acknowledged as his eyes focused on the young girl. "And do you know what I see? Hmm...I see two beautiful eyes like mine, but bigger. And a cute button nose somewhere...ah! Here!" he teased. A giggle left her mouth when he tapped her on the nose. "And let's see...what else?"

"Two hands!" she beamed excitedly, lifting her little hands to show her father.

"That's right." he chuckled, putting his hand palm to palm with hers. Moka's bright smile faded as she saw the large difference between his hands and hers. Pulling away her hands, she looked off to the side in sadness. A frown soon replaced her father's smile when he noticed the sad expression on her face and released a sigh. His large hand moved towards her chin and gently tilted up so that she was facing him. Smiling down at her, he parted his lips to speak. "Moka, close your eyes." When she did so, he took his hand to move her head closer to his chest and placed her little hand gently into it. "Forget what you see. What do you hear?"

Moka listened to the heart that softly beat against her ear behind the fleshy wall for a minute before her head away and looked up at him quizzically. "Your heart?"

He nodded in response and lifted her hand to place it against her chest. "Now, what do you feel?"

She nearly flinched with surprise when she felt the soft thumping against her palm. Her mouth stretched into an enormous smile. "My heart."

"Mhmm." he nodded with a smile of his own. "See? You and I aren't so different after all. We're exactly the same and don't ever try to change yourself for anyone."


Moka stayed behind the young man named Fang Fang and allowed him to lead her through the extensive and long halls of the castle. While following behind, she scanned her surroundings and realized there were more people like her than she thought. Well...not exactly people, more like monsters. Monsters just like she was. What shocked her even more was that there were even monster children playing around in a large courtyard. Some remained in their actual forms, while others chose to stay in their human forms.

She barely missed a couple of female monsters around her age, staring at her with either curiosity or oddity as she passed them in the hall. The vampire girl paid no mind and kept walking. Listening to them gossip about her made her receive deja vu in the worst way. She was in another place different from where she came from, but there was nothing new. As the only vampire that lived in a world amongst humanity, Moka knew her skin had to be extra thick. Sadly enough, it was already prepared to be thick from the time she started being subjected to endless bullying and domestic violence at the hands of mere mortals. From the very beginning, Moka never got to live a normal life like any carefree child. The species of humanity savagely stripped her of that privilege. She could recall all those times she was picked on and spit on just for existing. No matter how different someone is, no child should have to be built to endure that kind of life.

"Just to make conversation, Miss. I don't believe I've ever caught your name the first time." the man ahead spoke, breaking through her thoughts as they walked down the main hall. "Tell me, what is it?" Moka's eyes followed to see the man glance back at her as he waited for her to answer.

Becoming anxious to answer, she blinked a couple of times before parting her lips to reply. "M-Moka. My name is Moka." she stammered, nervously looking off to the side.

An amused chuckle made her head snap forward with surprise. He was laughing. But she was confused as to why. Was it because he thought she was shy or...? "Moka, huh? Odd name." Moka gave him an incredulous and annoyed expression at him calling her name odd. Reactions like this guy are why she sometimes disliked her name to the core. Not only because people would either make fun of her name or find it weird, but because of how people would perceive the meaning of her name; chocolate-flavored coffee. Moka greatly cursed the person that gave her the name during childbirth.

"Hmph, well, if my name is so odd to you, how about you tell me your name?" huffed Moka, biting the inside of her cheek.

An amused smile spread further across his handsome face. "Very well then, Moka," he said, emphasizing her name slightly, which annoyed her a little further. "It's Fang Fang."

"Fang Fang?" repeated Moka, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't making fun of his name in any way, but since she was in a world where she saw people wearing nothing more than kimonos with little technology, his name sounded more foreign than Japanese. But with the young man, whom she now knew as "Fang Fang" that longer seemed to be the case. "I don't wanna sound like I'm being rude, but isn't the first part of your name only meant for girls?"

"Of course," he answered, his smile remaining. "My name is primarily used for women, but I can assure you that it has a much deeper meaning."

Moka wasn't oblivious that names generally weren't the same as words. "What does your name mean, if you don't mind me asking?"

"From what my grandfather explained to me as a child, its meaning is either fragrance as in pleasant smell or canine tooth. But to me personally, I prefer "canine tooth" for the sole meaning of my name."

"Hmm?" the vampire hummed questioningly, tilting her head to the side. "How come?"

Fang Fang chose not to give an answer and kept leading her to their destination. He then came to a stop near two big sliding doors. "We're here," he announced, placing his hand on one of the doors.

On the other side of the doors, Moka heard loud cheers and laughter through the thin paper, which made her tilt her head in confusion. The plucking of a shamisen and the loud drum banging accompanied their laughter. It sounded like a big party she wasn't invited to taking place from inside and she felt awkward just being there, considering that she wasn't informed of any invitation. Tilting her sideways in confusion, she gave the young man a skeptical look.

Before she could question him any further, he had already slid the paper doors aside to reveal what made Moka stare in utter shock...but in awe. Behind the doors revealed another large courtyard full of monsters having a celebration and enormous feast without a single care. She carefully scanned the scenario before her. Some were in their monster forms out of comfort, while percent remained in their human forms. Others were enjoyably drinking what smelt like sake and hollered in pure laughter. On the other hand, some just happily chatted with one another or ate the large feast before them.

Her eyes were captured by the old man, now known as Touhou, uncontrollably stuffing his face with food, earning a scolding from a few complaining guests for hogging all the food for himself and being mindful of saving some for the remaining. Devouring down the food completely, the older adult spotted her and flashed a huge grin. "Wonderful, you've finally arrived just in time for our feast, my dear girl," he said, causing the surrounding company to shift all their attention onto her. The music that played became dead silent, along with the chatter. Moka watched their faces go from curiosity to shock at the sight of her. Becoming reasonably uncomfortable, she shyly hid her hands behind her back, fidgeting anxiously.

'I get that I'm a stranger and all, but do they have to stare at me like that?' Moka pondered out of concern.

"Everyone, I'd like to be graced with the pleasure of introducing our newest member to our family," Touhou announced happily, gesturing in the direction where she and Fang Fang stood. "Let's warmly welcome Moka. Isn't she just quite a gem?" A blush found its way to her face at the sudden compliment by the old man. Moka had received compliments and praise for her natural beauty in her world, but it wouldn't be sincere. It would likely be more out of intense jealousy, hatred from human girls, and blatant lust from human boys.

As expected, they gave Touhou silence in response and kept staring at Moka, inadvertently putting her on edge about being there. She felt like she was invading their beloved home rather than being warmly welcomed. Not that she could blame them at all. She was an outsider from an entirely different world and if she were to tell them how she got here, there was no doubt in her mind that they wouldn't believe her. Touhou frowned at everyone's lack of words. "Come now. I understand she's a very lovely girl, but let's not be rude to this fine young lady by gawking at her. Where are your manners?" he admonished everyone, excluding her and Fang Fang. "What did we discuss yesterday?"

As if to answer his question, they all released a loud cheer, startling Moka. 'These people sure are weird...' she opinioed to herself with a sweat-drop. Everything around her was strange and pretty much out of the ordinary if she was being honest. Moka felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, minus the little dog tagging along by her side and being from Kansas.

A hand attached itself to her, breaking her train of thought. "Do not be coy, girl. Come join on us. I'd like you to meet everyone." he grinned, dragging her into the courtyard.

'I just woke up!' Moka practically screamed in her head. Soon, she found herself being introduced to every single person present to Touhou's family members.

"I'd like to proudly introduce my great-grandson and current head of the Huang family, Fei-Hong." the elderly man said, bringing her to a burly-looking man. The man named Fei-Hong only stared down at her as if he were examing her. If looks had the ability to kill, Moka wouldn't be standing here alive. She felt a little intimidated by his huge physical appearance. Given all the scars that almost covered his face, he certainly looked the part of a deadly mob boss. "Now, don't let his appearance frighten you." Touhou chuckled. "He may look terrifying, but over time, you'll come upon realizing that he's a big softie underneath."

"O-oh...uh, ok." she replied sheepishly.

"And this here is his lovely wife, Ten-Ten." he gestured over to a beautiful pale woman with a fan held to her face. From Moka's perspective, the woman looked to be only in her twenties, to be a wife and a mother. Her raven hair was tied in two buns with flowery bobbles and two tassel earrings dangled from her ears. Her eyes were fierce and black, enough to make anyone fold under her gaze. She wore what seemed like a gorgeous ancient Chinese cheongsam patterned with red and gold patterns.

'Wow, she's so pretty.' Moka thought, a small blush framing her face.

"And I've assumed you've already met my great-great-grandson, Fang Fang." Touhou presumed, motioning over to where the younger male was. "He's quite a charming one. He didn't give you any trouble, I hope?"

Fang Fang shot the elderly man a glare in response. "We should be asking the same thing about you." On their way to the courtyard, he had meant to warn her how his great-grandfather was underneath all that hospitality. However, he would choose to stay back and allow it to play out for the young girl to see for herself.

"You have yet to meet my eldest great-great granddaughter, but right now she's on an important errand with her group of jiangshis."

Moka perked up at the familiar word with interest. "Jiangshi?" she repeated questioningly, blinking a couple of times. "You mean like a zombie? The undead, right?"

Touhou nodded, signalling that she was indeed correct. "Why, of course." he confirmed. "Judging by your knowledge of them, you seem to be familiar with them as much as us."

"Mmhm. Not at all." Moka disagreed, shaking her head. "From where I'm from, I've only learned about them through movies and tv shows." It was true as much as it bothered her to admit it. People, particularly humans in her world, didn't believe in monsters. Teachers never cared enough to do their research on the existence of creatures to teach their students and the only way Moka could learn about other monsters like herself was through televised media and horror fictional books.

"Mov...ies?" repeated Touhou with curiosity and confusion.

"TV shows?" added Fang Fang, becoming confused about the unfamiliar words. "What's that? Is it some kind of book?"

Moka blinked in confusion before releasing a small giggle. "No. It's...um...how should I put this?" she asked herself, trying to find an easier way to explain the meaning of the words to these people. She had nearly forgotten that she wasn't talking to people from her world. "Well, it's a television production that features a specific person...or a work, or a topic."

"What is this strange "television" that you speak of?" an intrigued Fei-Hong queried, raising an eyebrow.

Moka then shifted her attention to the burly man to address him. To demonstrate as an example, she formed a square shape using only her fingers. "It's an enormous square box that transmits moving images along with sound. Also, you can turn it to whatever you wanna watch on it by using this little object that has buttons on it." she explained with a huge smile.

"Hmm..." hummed Ten Ten, examining Moka wearily yet with curiosity. "Moka, was it? You come from a rather...interesting place."

"Um...yeah. I guess." she said, scratching the side of her head.

Ten-Ten gave her a polite smile and a nod. "Welcome, Miss Moka. Please make yourselves at home."

"Oh...th-thank you very much," she responded with a nervous chuckle. Moka then remembered something she had brought along with her. "M-My bag! Where is it?" she frantically queried, searching for the familiar pink object.

The Huang family members exchange perplexed glances for a second before turning their focus back onto her. "Your bag?" Touhou asked.

"Yes," she affirmed. "It's pink, a little fuzzy, and it's about this long." described Moka, holding her palms a little further apart to make out the appearance of the bag. "Do you by any chance have it?" She hoped it wasn't left behind back in the forest where she fell unconscious because she had brought along essential items she needed and couldn't go without them.

Silence fell among the family for a second until suddenly Fang Fang perked up in realization. "Oh! I know what you mean," he exclaimed, nearly surprising her along with the family. "It's almost like a giant furry caterpillar with a lot of stuff in it, right?"

Moka immediately lit up like one giant Christmas tree from happiness and relief. "Yeah, that's right!" she beamed, a radiant smile gracing her face. She was glad that her saviour thought about bringing her bag along rather than leaving it behind. "Do you have it?"

Fang Fang nodded with a polite smile. "Definitely. Follow me." With that said, he walked back into the castle with Moka eagerly following behind. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the rest of the Huang family tagging along but chose not to worry about it.

After a few minutes of silently traveling through the spaced halls, Fang Fang came to a standstill near another set of oversized sliding doors. "When we go in, please be careful..." he advised, earning a bewildered look from Moka. "This room is precious to not just our great-great-grandfather, but to all of us as well," he stated solemnly, his hand resting on the door. "If anything in here were to end up ruined or worse, it'll bring nothing but anguish to all of us."

Before she had a chance to question him about it, her eyes nearly popped out of the sockets of her head as he slid open both of the doors. Moka's mouth fell open at the beautiful display of Japanese and ancient Chinese artifacts nicely placed in order in the room. "Whoa..." was all that left her lips. She looked towards Fang Fang for permission to enter, and when he gave her nod, she wasted no time stepping inside. She slowly examined a few items that sat around. These were definitely antique without a doubt. She noticed the layer of dust on many of the peculiar objects. She strolled down the single-aisle, careful not to trip or kick over some large objects on the floor, shoved close to the base of the shelving.

She kept her hands at her sides at all times, trying to be careful not to get too close. It was like she had taken a field trip to an expensive museum, so if it was anything that museum-goers hated the most, it was touching anything valuable just out of curiosity. Moka didn't disagree with them on that one bit. Even if artifacts sometimes don't have a case or are hung in the open, they were still part of the exhibition and should not be tampered with. It would be disrespectful.

"Is this what you're looking for?" sounded Fang Fang's voice, making her head snap in his direction. He seemed to be holding something large, furry, and pink by the handles with one hand. "This thing sure feels heavy. Just what do you have in here? Rocks?" he jested with humor in his voice.

"I guess you can say that." Moka could only give a small laugh. 'Well, at least they were decent enough not to look through it without asking me. She took the bag from his hands and immediately rummaged around inside of it, checking for any damage to any item she had ever packed. A sense of relief fell over her when she didn't find any of her belongings scratched or broken. Especially the ones that she treasured the most.

Moka was so busy inspecting her belongings that she barely noticed all the members of the Huang family members standing idly behind her, studying her possessions. Curiosity would've ended their lives right on the spot if they were cats. Not that she could blame them, given that she had told them about other things that resided in her world, so they were probably interested in learning about all the items packed in her bag.

"If I'm not mistaken," voiced Ten-Ten, bringing Moka out of her thoughts. "you're a shinso vampire, correct?"

The vampiress gazed back at the woman wide-eyed with shock. "H-How did you know?"

Fei-Hong chuckled in amusement. "That rosary on your chest was what gave it away, silly girl."

Moka then protectively clutched her rosary that hung from her neck. How did they exactly know about all of this? There's no way they could've...no, that's impossible. She or anyone else shouldn't be able to remove it, right? "What do you mean?"

"Moka, has your rosary ever been removed by any means?" Touhou queried, eying Moka with a serious expression as she shook her head. "You mean not one single person has tried to take it off?"

"Um...well, they have tried, but it was no good for them, since it wouldn't come off." Moka hummed, shaking her head once more. "Not at all. I can't even take it off myself."

"Hmm, I see then." Touhou responded with an understanding stare. "Is where you came from-spefically your world perhaps familiar with the history Black Arts?"

"Black Arts? Are you talking about magic?"

"Yes. Has it ever been taught to you or the people in your world?" he asked once more.

"No, not at all. Since humans didn't believe in monsters, the topic of magic was never brought up to be talked about."

Touhou face contorted in slight dissappointment and anger at the lack of interest in the studies of Black Arts over in the vampiress' world. Hell, he even dislike the lack of respect humans had for monsters in the wretched world. Just the mere thought of his kind being ridiculed and spat on by mankind was enough to make his blood boil.

He remained silent and he watched Moka talk with the members of the family, but mostly with his great-great grandson about her peculiar possessions she had brought along. As he continued to observe her, he felt a warm smile of content came to his face. Her luscious pink locks along with her beautiful emerald orbs reminded him of someone he use to know a long time ago. Someone who was very close and dear to him.

'Welcome home, old friend of mine. I hope you returning changes everything for the better when you left.' he pondered to himself with a fond smile.

MONSTER ENCYCLOPEDIA

Jiang Shi- The dead ones who were buried but could not rest in peace and are resurrected from their graves. Most of the time, they won't remember their previous lives and are extremely violent. They possess the superhuman strength like bears, but as they are corpses, their bodies are stiff, and cannot perform flexible maneuvers. In Japan, they're commonly known as "Kyonshii"

TO BE CONTINUED