The Sacred Night, Chapter Eight
Most of the humans went to sleep, though I doubt Misao had adjusted her sleep schedule so quickly. I assumed I would be alone awhile in my room before Misao came for me to feed, which I would do, since it was obvious by this point that resistance was futile. I still wondered if I should leave, but the thought of it just got more and more difficult to weather. Leaving seemed less like a release into a long-awaited death and more like an unpleasant duty.
Misao came in soon and knelt on the floor. "Are you going to cooperate or do I have to persuade you again?" She asked as if she were disciplining a wayward child.
"I'll cooperate," I admitted and scooted close to her. I had not yet bitten her, in spite of having fed on her twice, so she was understandably somewhat nervous. I bit into her skin and out of habit, began the mind control which vampires routinely used on their victims. It was mainly aimed to make the experience a pleasant one for the human and was the reason many vampires had willing donors for long periods of time. This type of thing was often used even if the vampire intended to kill the victim, because it was so automatic after awhile a vampire might not even realize he or she was doing it.
It was surprisingly easy to convince humans that they were not, in fact, feeling any pain, when having sizable quantities of one's blood sucked out through tiny puncture wounds was indeed very painful. The effect was similar to that of a highly hallucinogenic drug, though contrary to popular belief, vampire saliva does not have hallucinogenic properties. The mind control, however, can be powerful enough for the human not to have any idea that he or she is even being fed on if the vampire is adept at it. Of course, unless the mind control was continued for a long time after the feeding or the human died, he or she would notice the effects of blood loss quickly and possibly figure out what had happened.
I had not bothered to become good at the mind control for quite some time after becoming a vampire, because I did kill all of my victims at first and didn't find it important for them to enjoy their deaths. I made a point of it, however, after I became involved with the woman who later became my wife, because it was very important to me that if I was to hurt her, at least she should not feel any pain I could prevent.
This meant that Misao, at the moment, believed wholeheartedly that she was meditating in a Zen garden somewhere near the ocean, and not having her life force drained by an undead creature. I judged this would be a good illusion for her, being trained in martial arts and having done a lot of meditating in her life. She was perfectly serene and not resisting me at all, though she wouldn't do that even if she was aware of what was happening.
I knew perfectly well how much I could safely take, and the limit was approaching. I stopped coaxing it out and just licked up the remainder of the blood that came on its own. I backed away and took stock of her appearance. She was pale, as she rightly should be, and had the tiny wounds she'd bled through, but was overall looking unhurt. I could see the accelerated aging in her face, but it wasn't all that bad yet since she was so young anyway. She'd looked about sixteen, her actual age, when I met her, and now looked about nineteen. It wasn't that big a difference.
"Are you all right?" I asked, just to make sure I wasn't missing something.
"Hai... I had a dream I was in a Zen garden meditating... it was awful... did you do that?"
"It was awful?"
"I guess that means you did it. I hate meditating. I have to," she shuddered, "sit still,"
"Gomen nasai. I thought it would be pleasant for you since you're trained in martial arts and have probably meditated often as a result,"
"I have, but I still hate it. Hannya always said it was nice, too, but I never understood it,"
"Is Hannya your teacher?"
"He was. He's off on that mission with Aoshi right now, so he hasn't been for awhile,"
"I see. You were really searching for more than just one man you love, then,"
"Hai. Five men, actually," she sighed.
"Close friends?"
"More than that. They are as much my family as Gramps is,"
"I see. Aoshi is the leader, Hannya is your teacher, what of the other three?"
"Well, they all taught me different things, not just Hannya. He was of the same rank as the other three- just members of the group, not leaders like Aoshi-sama,"
"You must be very good after having five teachers,"
"Of course, it's me!"
"Of course," I laughed, "It's good that you're devoted enough to search for them, but you should not have disobeyed their orders, Misao-dono," I chastised.
"If you hadn't seen your sensei in three months for some unknown reason, wouldn't you search for him?"
"I haven't seen my shishou in fifteen years," I said more to myself than Misao.
"Well, I meant before you finished your training, Himura-san,"
"I actually... haven't,"
"Did he send you away?"
"Iye, I left,"
"Fifteen years ago... he doesn't know you're a vampire, does he?"
"I couldn't tell him,"
"And that's why you left, isn't it?"
"Hai,"
"You should tell him,"
"Why? After all this time, and all the things I've done, I can't expect him to allow me to continue my training..."
"He might not, but you should at least repair your relationship. He probably thinks you hate him or something. You don't, do you?"
"No! My shishou... is a complicated man. I owe him the life I had before this happened, and he really is a good man, but..." I became dark, "he has a vindictive side,"
"I see," she grinned mischievously. "Afraid to face his wrath?"
"I am not afraid, Misao-dono, I only know what that man is like,"
"It doesn't matter what he's like. You care about what he thinks of you, and he probably thinks something really horrible,"
"That's very likely and that's exactly why I can't go back to him. I've been shamed,"
"You most certainly have not. There is no reason you should be shamed by something you couldn't prevent,"
"We have been through this before, Misao-dono,"
"Hai, and you have yet to get it. If a girl is raped, has she done anything wrong?"
"Misao-dono, this is nothing like-"
"Answer the question!"
"No, of course she has not done anything wrong, she is the victim of a crime,"
"And so are you," she pointed at me to make her point.
"It's not the same. I embraced what I was and willingly killed hundreds of humans to sustain it. I am a murderer,"
"The way you always avoid saying you're alive, I would think you think of yourself as a murder victim,"
"That, actually, is true, but what I did after that is what is inexcusable. I have done evil; I am evil,"
"Not anymore! I had to practically force-feed you even a little of my blood!"
"It hasn't always been that way. If I'd met you twelve years ago, you would probably be dead right now,"
"This is not twelve years ago! You are not like that anymore! You've changed,"
"That is not enough,"
"What would your teacher say to that?"
I was speechless. I had often wondered what my shishou would think if he knew what I'd done and what I was, but never what his opinion on my view of it would have been. I tried to imagine it, but only saw him condemning me and walking away, which I could not face.
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Houndingwolf: I have a correction of something I told you before. I said Kaoru would be along in 1-3 chapters, but i was thinking 1-3 chapters from where i'm writing, not where i'm posting. She'll be in chapter 12 or 13.
TYDYE girl: a eunuch? I thought a eunuch was a priest or something that was... let's say... not fully functional sexually. I'm very confused about how you could get that out of my story...
Laurika: glad you thought that was funny... i did as well. i though it was perfect for him to try to tell the truth and misao to have to cut him off... it was the perfect funny misunderstanding. Glad you liked the part about tomoe... i love her. Misao is fun to write about. I thought it was a little awkward to have her care so much that early, but she didn't let kamatari kill himself when she'd only known him a couple hours or something. Glad you liked the fight scene... i hate violence, but it was inevitable. There might be future battles.
Chibi Yuushi: actually, i love that misconception as well, but i've rather neglected it in future chapters... i may have to revise them and out it in. that twin of yours is funny... your bio, compliments of him and a few others, is as well now. I don't know if you've checked it recently, but it says he figured out your password and messed with it lol. There will be a "system" of some kind for vampires' blood supply when i get to the modern era, but now they're too sparse to work together on it.
Maeve Riannon: she will not be giving her life, really. I've thought of bringing Aoshi in as well. he would make an excellent vampire. I like the salamander thing as well, but i like shape shifting in general. Sorry to say i've neglected the lover thing in future chapters, but i'm thinking i need to revise them to out it in. Hiko will be instrumental in finding the solution, though he himself doesn't provide it in this story. He'll introduce kenshin to someone... interesting, let's say.
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: yes, that was quite popular. I need to put it in more!
Unique-starfish: glad you liked it. I do try to update frequently, like 3 times a week. If you're worried about writer's block, just write a few chapters ahead, and you can post even if you don't write.