Chapter 3

Hikari woke up in the darkness. She opened her eyes,  and she instantly knew that it was night, but for some reason she could see everything very clearly. What happened to me, thought Hikari, where am I? She couldn't remember anything, she couldn't even remember her own name. She sat up and was shocked to feel a piercing pain all throughout her body, it was agonizing. Looking around the girl noticed that she was outside in a meadow, in some distance she noticed a house. It all looked so familiar, as if she was here before, so why couldn't she remember this place. She tried to call out, but nothing came out of her open mouth, only then did she notice in terror that she was not breathing. She tried to take in a breath, the air hurt going in, as if it wasn't supposed to. Forcing herself to take a few painful breaths of air she decided that she didn't need to call out, and why did she want to call out in the first place, was there someone there that has to hear her?

She jumped a little as a cold hand touched her arm. Turning around she saw a man. A name came to her head.

"Celio" she spoke, the name played in her mind and she smiled at the man. For some reason she was not afraid of him, something told her that she had to listen to him although she didn't know why. She smiled again walking up to him.

"Was I waiting for you, or were you waiting for me?" she asked. Her voice was different, it sounded more eery and pleasant, but less natural, less human.

"I was waiting for you for a very long time, Hitomi." Said Celio calling Hikari by a different name.

The girl looked a bit confused "Is that my name? It doesn't sound familiar at all…"

"It is now. You don't remember what happened to you yet, but you will soon. Follow me Hitomi, I will show you something." He took her hand and instantly they were on the outskirts of a village. A little girl was walking down the road all alone. At the sight of the child something snapped inside Hitomi, a hunger that wasn't there before was born. In a serge of animal instinct Hitomi jumped forward with surprising effort and grabbed the girl. Pulling her head back with a violent twist she snapped her neck, but not before the girl let out a terrified scream. Sinking her elongated teeth into the child's neck Hitomi drank the fresh warm blood. She was a newborn vampire and she was very hungry. She drained the girl to the very last drop and then dropped her lifeless body at her feet. Realization sank into her too late.

"What have I done…" Hitomi started to back away in fear but was stopped as she bumped into someone behind her. Turning around she saw it was Celio.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…I don't know why I did that…" she whispered but with surprise noticed that Celio was smiling.

"You did what you had to. You are a predator, killing is your nature, don't fight it and you will be happy, deny it and you will find yourself in a world of misery." His voice was soft and melodic. He wrapped his arms around Hitomi and pulled her close to himself embracing her.

"It's ok to kill? I don't have to be guilty?" asked the girl leaning on him and resting her head on his chest. "but I thought that it was wrong…"

"How did it feel to take her young life into your own? Did you like it?" asked Celio, from what she will say next will depend a lot, her entire future existence will depend on the few words that will be an answer to his question.

"It felt….satisfying. It felt like it was the best thing in life, so sweet and rich, I could feel her life become mine. I didn't even think it was wrong until I was finished…Is that bad?" asked Hitomi tilting her head up and looking into his icy eyes.

"No, it's not bad…you're a vampire Hitomi, you're a newborn vampire and you will survive…you will do what you have to, to live…I am proud of you. You made your first kill." Letting go of Hitomi he walked up to the little body on the ground and looked it over, he noticed a small pendant on her neck, a wolf's tooth on a string. Reaching for it he ripped it of from her neck and walked back to Hitomi. Taking her hand gently in his they disappeared and reappeared in his castle. Hitomi felt tired, the sudden burst of energy she felt when she fed seemed to pass and she wanted rest badly. Somehow knowing that Celio took her to a large bedroom and lay her down on a bed.

"Sleep, you need rest." He said as he firmly shut the blinds and fastened a hook over them to keep them shut. Then he pulled together a pair of thick curtains completely covering the already small window. Hitomi watched him, but she didn't ask questions, she was too tired for that. Closing her eyes she drifted of into sleep, a deep and restless sleep of a newborn vampire, a sleep full of memories of her past life, the life that she will never have again. She slept, and she dreamt, and she remembered. When she finally woke up it was night again, and she felt an incredible hunger overtake her. She wanted blood and she wanted it now. Somehow Celio appeared right beside her and taking her hand transported her to another village. There she fed again satisfying the unstoppable hunger with human lives. She couldn't stop drinking from her victim until she killed her, and then she didn't feel guilty. The memories that came back to her were still in a big chaos. Celio took her back to the castle and she rested again. A few nights in a row were spent like this, Hitomi slept, then she fed, then she remembered and then she slept again. Finally on the third night she was fully well, she recovered all the lost memories and was able to make sense of them, the morals of life didn't bother her, all that was really firmly in her mind was that she was a vampire and that she will do what she has to, to survive. Celio's words sat firmly in her mind. She didn't hate her maker like many vampires do when changed against their will, she didn't hate being a vampire either…her new life, her power, her strength…she took it as a blessing, not a curse. She lived with her maker for over a hundred years, learning, training and serving him as she could. She met others like herself, vampires, some changed by Celio, some by others, but all had a common thing, they all lived with and served her master. Over the years she stayed with him she has learnt to be cold and calculating. She has learnt to kill mercilessly and to feel emotion for no one. The only person that she loved was Celio, but she has learnt not to show her love for him. She remained calm and obedient at all times. She has also seen others who failed to learn wasted. There was a law among the vampires, if you display emotion you are weak, if you display emotion towards someone outside the clan, you are a traitor. Hitomi was not weak, she knew the law and never broke it…at least not until she was sent on that dreadful assignment to retrieve another magical toy for her master. She has failed and now she had to face the consequences…