"And Then My World Was Dark"
The pain in the back of my head just wouldn't recede. My entire world was still black. Of course, though. My eyes were shut. They felt too heavy to open.
There was a smell I couldn't quite identify, especially with my head throbbing so much. I suppressed a groan. Soon I'd realized what the smell was; burning wax. It
must be coming from a candle, I thought wearily. It wasn't bright enough in the room for lights to be on, but even with my eyes closed, I could still see the flicker of flames.
I was lying on my side. The cold floor was beneath me and… there was also something cold surrounding my wrists. I tested it in my dreariness. The movement
brought a small clanking of metal on metal to my ears. My eyes opened and looked… or tried to look at my hands. They were shackled behind my back.
"Uso…" I said quietly and slowly sat up. I thought my head would burst, tiny sparks danced in my vision for a while.
I'd come to realization after glancing around the room, that there was another presence with me. I blinked a few times at the dark figure sitting in the corner. No
candles surrounded him… or her, so I couldn't really tell what they looked like. Other than the other being in the room, it was very desolate. The room itself was eerie with
the glow and flicker of candle light. Its walls were covered in graffiti, most of the words would have given an old person a fit, or a stroke.
I looked back at the dark figure; my vision had cleared a lot. I was able to see a little more about them. But still, I couldn't figure out the gender. Suddenly I noticed
what I had overlooked about this person. Something strange, something I'd only just recently seen; that black aura!
I stood up so fast that I nearly blacked out and almost lost my balance. Luckily the wall was near, so I leaned against it. Looking back at the figure I could have
sworn it had been smiling. It was an almost… sinister smile…?
"A-ano… Who are you? Where am I?" was the only pathetic response I made.
The figure didn't even bother to stand or walk up to me. It just sat there, immobile… but that smile was still on its face. As far I could tell, it was wearing all black,
but it was eloquent in a way.
I'd kept my eyes on this figure, waiting for them to say anything. I waited patiently for the response. Suddenly they spoke. The voice was melodious, yet was very
sophisticated, and seemed so unearthly. I just stared at him. Him, I'd finally figured out the gender.
"Did you hear what I'd said?" the voice chimed in. I hadn't even realized I didn't pay attention. The voice was just so… beautiful?
I blinked myself from my stupor. "Iie…" I said quietly. The man laughed. He must have realized what I'd been thinking.
"My name is Midou Ban. I had previously stated that you are still in Tokyo. Needless to say, I won't tell you where." The man continued calmly, in his silky voice "Mind tell me your name?"
Ban had already stood up before I'd realized it. He walked through the candle light towards me. I noticed that he not only wore black, but also deep shining purple
filigree on his cuffs, which made intricate patterns. The filigree covered the part of the jacket where it buttons up all the way to the neckline. It looked expensive and not very
modern. He had medium length dark brown hair; it covered his eyes, which were a piercing blue. He looked about the same height as me, at least that's how it looked from
where I was standing. But one of the last features I'd noticed was that he was pale. And I mean pale.
"Still in Tokyo?" I echoed. "I guess I could have figured that much… But why am I here? ... And my name is Ginji..." I glanced around the soiled room. Then, I
remembered something; where was Ake? Maybe he knew where I was and was making plans to help me?
"Ahh… You ask such a complicatedly simple question. What was it that you saw by that alleyway that you also see here?" He asked looking at me... pitifully?
Was that pity I saw?
My head still throbbed and I wouldn't doubt that there was blood from where I got hit. "Ano… I saw… nothing." My vocal cords didn't feel like associating with my
mind at the time.
"Don't lie" Ban said, a little irritated. "You only wanted to believe you saw nothing, when in fact what you saw is standing right in front of you."
I could tell that he was the type to be easily annoyed… He wouldn't like Ake much, I laughed mentally, then made my mind serious again. "Then what do you want
if you already know what I've seen? Why do you care that I saw… you? Who, iie, what are you?!" I felt like screaming, but my voice only raised little by little, just not
enough to scream. I was angry, and scared.
Ban didn't flinch at my tone. He just looked at me, amused. "Oh, well. I'll tell you what I want in a moment. In the meantime, let me just tell you something."
I blinked. "All right. But… uhm… first, could you take these handcuffs off? They're really cold and heavy…" I moved my hands to specify the metal.
He shook his head. "No. I cannot do that. As you see, you are my captive right now." My mouth unconsciously opened at what Ban had said, but he'd taken no
note of it and continued as if I had never said anything, "You see something that very few people can see." He raised his arms to indicate the blackness that encompassed
him. "This black aura is something that we vampires cannot hide from people like you.
I mouthed the words 'vampire' after he'd said it. Vampire? He's… got to be joking… right?
"Yes, Vam-pi-re." He said in a smooth and clear tone. "This isn't a joke, so don't treat it so lightly. You are a threat to my kind and whenever we recognize
someone like you, we have to abduct them. We don't care what they thought at first, because you and people like you are a risk to us." Ban finished off his last sentence
bitingly.
"And here is what I want from you." He had moved closer to me. Now, he was only a forearms space apart. I looked up at him. I had to, my previous judgment was
off. He was at least a foot taller than me.
"Since you now know something that people shouldn't know anything about, publicly speaking, you have one of two choices to make." His hand touched my cheek
and lingered there. It surprised me a great deal. I didn't think that this guy was the 'touchy-feely' type.
"You could be my… pet…" Ban said slowly, and almost quietly. I arched an eyebrow. That didn't sound very great. Being the 'pet' of a vampire. For God's sake; a
vampire? There was a second choice though… But I didn't have much hope on it being any better than the first. With people like this, wouldn't they save the worst for last?
"Or, I will kill you here and now and let this little charade come to an end quickly. " My jaw was set rigid in his hand. I had been right; they did save the worst for
last. I didn't like the sound of being killed right on the spot, either.
Ban let his hand drop back down to his side. "I'll just let you think on this." He turned to leave.
"I don't need time." I said without having even thought. Idiot! You do need time! You do! I mentally kicked myself.
"Oh?" He turned back towards me. "Are you really that eager to lose your free mind or be killed?" He put his hand on my shoulder. Again, with the freely touching
thing. "Just think it over, alright?" I suppressed a shudder as he slightly tightened his grip. It seemed this was something he really didn't want to do.
Before I opened my mouth to respond, he had already turned his back and was gone from the room. Just like that. Gone. I must be going senile.
I dropped to the floor of the room and gazed at nothing in particular, just the crack in the wall under some graffiti that read: Hevn-san is easy.
I took the conversation from earlier and rewound it in my head, then made it play again. So, I either have to become his… pet or… die. What great choices. I
obviously didn't want to die. But it's not like I was going to bow down to someone. Not even a vampire. I scowled.
Mwahaha.. I've finally introduced Ban-chan... took a while.. : /
Uso - "No way" Think sometimes it's used as "That's a lie" or something.. but I've most often heard it as "no way"
Ano - "Uhm"
Iie - "No"
And once again, do forgive me, all I know of Japanese is self taught from subtitles.. laughs --;v
adlfghakdgfj omfg. OMFG XD 11.23.04 --yeah.