To be honest, I've been pissed off. I said to myself I was going to take a break but now I have decided that I won't. I need to write otherwise I'd go nuts. Yes indeed. So enjoy the chapter, if you can. And don't forget to review, if anyone can be arsed.
Chapter 4
Trish shivered with excitement as she threw clothes and weapons and ammo into her bag. As an afterthought she shoved what little food they had left in Dante's bag. Dante came into the bedroom and sighed deeply.
'I've got a bad feeling about this.'
'We're fighting to save the world! Of course you'd get a bad feeling! After all we might die and be eaten alive by God knows what!' Dante narrowed his eyes at her.
'I don't like Reiko.'
'What's not to like about him? He seems trustworthy enough. He's strong, he looks quick on his feet.' Trish smiled dreamily. 'And he's also handsome too…' Dante glared at her. Trish saw the angered look on his face and grinned. 'What? Something you don't like hearing, Dantekins?'
'Will you please stop calling me that?' Trish smiled silently as she continued to pack. At last, she zipped up her bag and dumped Dante's at his feet.
'You might as well sleep for the rest of the day…like how you usually do.' Dante ignored the remark and went downstairs, where Reiko waited calmly. Ice blue eyes met hazel eyes as Dante passed the vampire. The black clad man smiled and shook his head.
'Your pride might cost you life one of these days, Dante,' he said, his voice mild and warm as always. Dante listened to what he had to say and frowned. Was that meant to be some kind of threat? It hadn't sounded like one. However, Reiko was a vampire; you couldn't trust his kind. Reiko sighed and moved far away from the window as the sun began to rise. He hissed in pain. Dante took enough pity on him to draw the blinds.
'You should rest,' he said coldly, tossing him a blanket. Reiko caught it easily and nodded once, his eyes lowered as though in sadness.
'…thanks.' Dante gave him a careful look before he went upstairs. Reiko watched him go up and then sighed as he sat down on the couch, closing his eyes as he tried to get some rest. The couch was hard but lumpy at the same time. Someone had torn several chunks out of it, it felt like. He tossed and turned, his head aching. He sat up and then reached for his black long coat, rolling it into a bundle and resting it underneath his head. He sighed again and stared up at the blank white ceiling that seemed to be slowly decaying with age.
He hadn't expected Dante to be friendly towards him, but at the same time he hadn't expected Dante to be so cold towards him. He had been told by someone that Dante Sparda was not a man to be messed with. However, if the cause was great, Dante would drop his icy façade and warm up a little. It didn't look as though Dante even liked him, or trusted him.
So what if he was a vampire…he hadn't asked to be one. It wasn't as though he was like them. He still had his humanity; he still didn't accept himself for what he was. Reiko sighed heavily again his eyes slowly drooping closed. He wasn't even tired. He hadn't slept for such a long time yet somehow in the place where he was least welcome, he felt safe.
That night, Reiko fell asleep for the first time in months. And dreamt.
He was running. The streets glistened with the rain that was thumping down upon the concrete. He slipped and skidded painfully across the pathway but leapt to his feet again and started tearing through the street. Behind him, he could hear the person who had been stalking him. His energy seemed tireless, and he was getting closer and closer. Reiko put on another desperate burst of speed, ignoring the blood that was coming from his leg. The man that was behind him seemed to stride towards him. Reiko struggled and kicked, crying out with terror. His scream was suddenly cut short. Then there was silence as blood dripped onto the ground.
'You're never going to be like one of them. You're one of us. You can fight against what you really are but sooner or later, you'll come to realize that there is nothing you can do. You're different to them. It's time to accept yourself.'
'No! I refuse to be this way! I'm not like you! I'll never be like you! Never!'
They were all shooed outside. It was recess. He hated this part of the day more than anything else. It wasn't that he didn't want to be with the others. In fact, he craved it more than anything else. He was always pushed away. He couldn't fit in. He believed, they didn't. He had hope, but they didn't even that. He was a dreamer, and the pushed their dreams away from them.One girl looked at him as he sat by himself and smiled.
'Hey…you wanna play tag?' He grinned and stood up, only too eager to have a chance at being accepted. Another boy ran up and pulled the girl away from him.
'No way! He can't play! He's still a baby!' The boy looked at him scornfully. 'He's not one of us yet. He still thinks they'll come back.'
'Mother…Father…what happened? Where are they?'
'They're gone. They're on a very long trip.'
'But they would've taken me!'
'Reiko…'
'I want my mother!'
'She can't hear you now! She's far away!'
'No!'
'Reiko please!' Hysterical sobbing bounced off the walls. White walls. White tiles. 'Reiko…shh…it's going to be alright. You'll see them again someday. They'll come back to you. I promise.' The night. Day. A little boy staring out of the window, watching out for a black car with two people, a man and a woman in it. A little girl calling his name.
'Reiko…it's time for dinner!'
'I'm not hungry. They'll come soon.' A sigh and a stomp of a foot.
'You're so stupid! They're dead and they're never coming back!' Tears…hot tears rolling down skin. The boy curled up miserably in the corner as the girl jeered and ran off. A woman soon came and crouched down in front of him, so then their faces were level.
'Reiko…Reiko?'
'Reiko? Hey Reiko!' He opened his eyes slowly, and blinked. He was on the ground, the blanket twisted around his waist. Trish was standing over him, looking concerned. On the wooden floor beside him, was fresh blood. He put one hand to his face and then looked at it. Blood. He had been crying blood. He slowly sat up, and Trish moved back a pace, still looking worried for him.
'Are you all right?' Reiko felt the need to roll his eyes at the question but held himself in check. 'You were crying out in your sleep. Do you want to talk about it?' Reiko looked at her wearily. Trish had sat down upon the couch and continued to watch him steadily. Reiko soon came to the realization that though it had sounded like a question, it wasn't. Trish expected an answer, and by the looks of things, she wanted it now. 'Why were you crying in your sleep?'
'Even though I'm a vampire, I don't accept it. I'm more human than most of the others. I don't like the idea of killing humans and sucking up their blood in order to survive,' he said, trying to make his voice gruff. Trish nodded slowly.
'It must have hurt when Dante brushed you off like that.' Reiko hesitated, and then nodded. 'He can be a bit like that,' said Trish truthfully. 'He only sees what he wants to see. Take me for example. I was sent out to lead him to Mundus. And I succeeded.' Reiko said nothing but slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. 'At the end though, I kind of…well…saved him. I guess I got tired of constantly being treated as a slave. I mean, Dante gave me some kind of respect, and he showed that he trusted me, even though he really shouldn't have. I didn't have that before when I worked for Mundus. Dante gave me something I had never had before, and I felt I had to repay him. He should have killed me, but he didn't. He shouldn't have forgiven me but he did. I think the only reason why is because I have his mother's face.'
'Your point?'
'My point is that even though I'm a demon and capable of being evil and destructive if I so chose, Dante still trusts me. Just give him time.' Reiko sighed and then turned away.
'I wish I were like him,' he said softly. Trish looked amused.
'Meathead? You want to be like him?!'
'At least he has someone,' said Reiko. His eyes had grown distant. 'I mean…I have friends but they're too far gone…too vampirical to understand.'
'To understand what?' Reiko shook his head.
'They can't hold onto their true roots and it's like they've forgotten what it's like to be human. They've forgotten all that, and they only know this lifestyle now.' Reiko paused and sighed heavily again. 'Whenever I try to remind them, or talk about the past, they simply laugh. I guess I can't blame them…' Reiko fell silent. Trish waited for him to go on but then understood that he wasn't going to say anything else. She looked around awkwardly, the silence deafening her.
'Why do you say that?'
'Say what?'
'That you can't blame them for laughing.' Reiko said nothing but then closed his eyes momentarily.
'I'm not normal.' Trish snorted.
'Of course you're not. You're a vampire!'
'I'm not normal even for a vampire. I'm not your usual "kill-people-and-drink-their-blood" vampire. Just because I am a vampire now it doesn't mean I always was one. Just because I am one it doesn't mean I have to forget the values I deemed as important when I was a human.'
'If it's any consolation, I'm not normal either. I'm a demon after all.'
'But there's someone out there who understands you.'
'Who?'
'Dante.' Trish paused and then nodded. Reiko was right. She didn't really know what he was going through. Reiko looked at her steadily, as though trying to drive his point home with his eyes. Trish looked away again, feeling somewhat unnerved, even though she sensed that Reiko wouldn't do anything to hurt her. 'Even as a child, I've always been an outcast.'
'What makes you say that?' Reiko shook his head.
'Don't bother yourself about it. I was just thinking to myself.' This had the effect of making Trish want to know more. If she was honest with herself, this Reiko had a sort of charm about him. She was fascinated. She had seen vampires before, but this one seemed so different. This was so different to all the vampires she had killed. This was her first time working alongside one. She couldn't understand why Dante was being so cold towards him. It wasn't as if he'd done anything.
Oh wait…yes he had. He'd saved his life. But then again, so had she. Why had Dante been so mad at Reiko and hadn't been mad at her when she had done the same a year earlier? It obviously wasn't a matter of pride at stake here. Dante was a regular chauvinistic pig when he wanted to be. If it had been a matter of pride, then Dante would have remained cold and unresponsive towards her. Dante was still so much of a mystery to her.
Reiko had turned towards the window. He gingerly raised the blind and pulled away quickly as the sunlight fell on his hand. He backed away from the window and frowned.
'Darkness will fall soon and then we must start.'
'Where are we going to go?'
'To a guild that I know of.'
'A guild?' Reiko nodded and then sat down on the couch beside Trish. She found herself smiling; the vampire was sitting close to her and it gave her a weird thrill. He seemed to be unconcerned by the close proximity. 'Reiko?'
'Hmm?'
'Why are we going to this guild? What's there?'
'We'll need some supplies from there. To heal. Your items are not very powerful. These ones are a lot quicker. I just hope you've left enough room in your bags.'
'So where are we travelling to?'
'We're not travelling. I suppose I failed to tell Dante that. My apologies. He didn't really give me a chance to say anything though. It's safer to stay in one place and let Mostro come to us, instead of trying to hunt him down. Others before you have tried to kill him in that way and they've failed. It's time to try a new method.' Trish nodded and looked doubtful.
'I don't think Dante will like this idea. He's not one to sit about and wait.'
'In that case, Dante can just kiss my ass.' Reiko didn't even look in her direction as he got up. Trish looked outside and lifted the blind slightly. It was now dark.
'I guess I should go and wake him up.'
'Guess you should. We leave immediately.'
'Dante's not going to agree with that either.'
'Why not?'
'Bed hair.' Trish went upstairs to the sound of Reiko laughing. She smiled, it felt good to hear him laugh for once.
Two minutes later, Trish clomped down the stairs and got a pitcher of ice cold water and went back up. Reiko blinked as he heard a furious yell rent the air and the shattering of glass. After another five minutes, Dante pounded down the stairs and glared at Reiko.
'Come on then. Let's go.' Reiko rolled his eyes as Dante wrenched the door open and thundered outside. It looked like it was going to be another rough day…