The Sacred Night, Chapter Five
The forest is blurry, and so is the figure of Misao leaning over me. She is talking, but her voice is blurry, too. I can just hear a mush of sound when she moves her lips, no words. She says something that sounds like a request, and I shake my head no. She becomes argumentative and insists several times, but always I refuse. She sighs and sits back, resigned. She reaches into the folds of her clothes somewhere and pulls out a kunai. I see what she is going to do. I try to stop her, but my voice only comes out as a croak. She opens the skin on her wrist with her kunai and holds it over my mouth, letting the blood drip in. With her young, strong heart driving it out, the sweet, red substance fills my mouth quickly and I swallow. I lean up a bit to put my mouth to the wound, drinking and drinking until she pulls away, and I see only blackness again.
I opened my eyes and the forest was not blurry, but Misao was there. She was leaning against a tree nearby, munching on a rice cake. I tasted blood in my mouth, but it definitely wasn't mine. I'd thought I'd dreamed that I'd fed on her, but it seemed as if I was mistaken. I turned toward her without getting up and tried to tell if she looked any older. I still had a lingering hope that it wasn't true. If she still looked the same, I could tell myself it was a dream.
"Misao-dono, look at me please," I mumbled. She turned toward me and came sufficiently close for me to examine her face. I didn't see any wrinkles, and her hair didn't have the feared gray streak in it, but she looked more like a young woman than a girl now. I sighed and looked away.
"What's wrong, Himura-san?" She asked, probably afraid I was hurt.
"I... fed on you, didn't I? I thought it was a dream, but I woke up and it's true,"
"Hai," she answered softly. "Don't feel guilty. I started it, not you. I slit my wrist and-"
"I remember. I went along with it, so I'm guilty. As soon as I can stand up, I'll leave. I'm a danger to you, clearly,"
"Well, I suppose that leaves me no choice but to make sure you can't stand up for quite some time,"
"What?"
"I'll just have to find a way to keep you here," she shrugged, "because you most certainly are not dying on my watch,"
"Your watch?"
"Hai. You're my charge now," she nodded emphatically.
"But... I'm fifteen years older than you are," I protested. "I can't be your charge,"
"Suicidal people are mentally unstable. You are in no shape to be making decisions. You are going to live if it kills you," she commanded.
"Mentally unstable? Everyone who commits seppuku is unstable?"
"Hai,"
"Iye, Misao-dono, you can't say that. It is an honored samurai custom, that it is," I reasoned.
"We don't have samurai anymore, or is eleven years not long enough for the news that there is a new government to reach you?"
She had me there. I was not actually samurai anymore, because there were no samurai anymore. Samurai were also human. "Hai, Misao-dono, I knew,"
"See there? You're not getting out of this. I refuse to allow you to commit suicide because of something that is not even your fault," I opened my mouth to say that the fact that I'd killed people was, in fact, my fault, but she continued. "Before you say it is your fault that you've killed people, that's not what I meant. That part is your fault, but you've clearly repented of that. I mean it's not your fault you're a vampire, and you can live without hurting others. There has to be a way,"
"There isn't, Misao-dono, believe me, I've tried and failed,"
"Oh really? You're not trying so hard now," she was really twisting the knife that time. I really wasn't.
"Why do you care so much about me? It's not as if we've known each other for a long time, and-"
"That doesn't matter! If I'd known you five minutes I wouldn't let you do this! I don't care how honorable it might have been considered before. This is not the bakufu era and there are no samurai. If you want to die, you'll have to come up with a better excuse than that," she declared, crossing her arms and turning from me again. That was a bad sign.
Excuse? I thought. I thought it was a very good reason. "I don't want to argue about it, Misao-dono. Can we please stop talking about this?" I attempted to change the subject.
"If you swear you won't kill yourself,"
I sighed. "Is there no way to convince you that my death is a good thing?"
"Is there no way to convince you that it isn't?"
I just rolled over and tried to go to sleep, ignoring that question. I supposed she made a point, but I couldn't allow myself to go on hurting others, and if I died before I found nourishment that didn't do that, so be it. It would be easier that way. I fell asleep assuring myself of that resolutely.
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good heavens, i didn't realize the chapter was so short. Sorry, but i like it anyway.
TYDYE girl: that's me, changing the world, one reader at a time.
Crazy Girl Person: thank you, and i will update soon (unless i'm grounded...) glad you're in suspense!
PraiseDivineMercy: more editing? What exactly was wrong? and about the powers- he is too starved to use many of them, but you'll see them later, if not in a fight scene. Yes, the whole island is his territory. There are not THAT many vamps, so they get big territories, especially strong ones like ken. He could recover his humanity, maybe, but i wasn't planning on it. Best wishes to you, too!
Marry-Me-Kenshin: cute name. glad you like it, and yes, he is unfortunate. It will get better, sometimes worse, but the ending will be good.
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: thanks! Gomen for shortness, but future chapters are of varied lengths. Nine is really long, i just wrote it today.