-Chapter 3-
"Alright, I'll ask. Where the hell are we Ryu?" Tsuzuki asked.
"Actually we're pretty close to hell, but not quite." Ryu replied.
Currently Tsuzuki, Hisoka, and Ryu were walking through a bunch of old abandoned warehouses, on a rather bad side of town. The buildings are falling apart and the place reeked of garbage. Not a very pleasant place.
"Ryu, remind us why we're here." Hisoka said.
"I already told you… There's someone here who may be willing to help us. I didn't want to come here alone for obvious reasons." Ryu replied, gesturing to their surroundings.
"Then why didn't you bring any of your co-workers?" Tsuzuki asked.
"They can't know about this place…" was Ryu's vague reply.
That wasn't the answer Tsuzuki or Hisoka was looking for.
"Why not?" Hisoka asked.
"You'll see soon enough." Ryu replied, walking further ahead.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka looked at each other. Something wasn't right about this place and now they weren't sure what to do. It didn't take a genius to know that Ryu was hiding something big. The question is what to do now…
"I understand your apprehension about this but I need you to trust me. Believe it or not but I do know what I'm doing." Ryu said.
"I would like to but I'd also like to know who we will be meeting." Hisoka said.
Ryu stopped walking and turned around. " I must ask you to promise that you will not say anything about this place or the person you are going to meet. If you swear it, then I will tell you." Ryu said.
Tsuzuki thought about it for a moment before replying "I swear."
Hisoka was still unsure but decided to go with Tsuzuki on this one. "I swear as well."
Ryu let out a breath that he had apparently been holding. "Thank you." he said.
"So who are we going to meet?" Hisoka asked.
"His name is Damien. I've known him for a long time. We should keep moving." Ryu said as he began to walk.
Hisoka and Tsuzuki followed Ryu into one of the warehouses. Upon entering they noticed a woman sitting upon one of the crates. Her head was down so they could see her that well at first.
"Who are you? What is your business here?" the woman asked looking up at them with black eyes.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka were a little unnerved about the situation, but Ryu approached her and said "My name is Ryu. I assume your master is expecting me."
"Oh! You're Ryu-san. Yes, my master is expecting you. But who is with you?" she asked standing up.
The woman was dressed in white, with long, curly blonde hair. She was around Hisoka's height. To anyone else she would seem fairly normal except that her skin is a little too white and her eyes are black.
"They're associates of mine. They won't cause any trouble." Ryu replied for Tsuzuki and Hisoka.
"Very well follow me." she said before walking over to a crate. She touched something on the crate and it moved to the side, revealing a set of stairs. She began to descend down the stairs, but stopped when she realized that they were not following her. "Please follow me" she said before continuing down.
Needless to say this was all a little too strange for Tsuzuki and Hisoka.
"Just who the hell is this Damian?" Hisoka finally asked.
Ryu was about to descend the stairs when he stopped at Hisoka's question. "Tell me, do you believe in vampires?"
'What kind of question is that!' Hisoka thought before answering "After all the thing that I've seen, I'm honestly not sure."
Ryu smiled "What if I told you they were real?"
"That can't be. We would have been given a report on it. The last vampire case was before I even became a guardian. There's just no way." Tsuzuki said.
"They're very real. They've just gotten better at hiding their trails." Ryu said.
"Wait. Let me get this straight. Are you saying Damian is a vampire?" Hisoka asked.
"Yes, and one of the most powerful ones around." Ryu replied.
Tsuzuki and Hisoka were shocked. It didn't seem right, didn't seem possible. Vampires… They were something fictional, right? At least now they are. Right?
By the time Tsuzuki and Hisoka had recovered from their initial shock Ryu was gone.
"Asato, I'm not sure about this." Hisoka said, looking down the dark staircase.
"We don't have much of a choice. We have no idea where we are. Also there's a barrier around this place, so teleporting is out of the question. Besides, we're here to get information so that we can find Kuri, and that's what we're going to do." Tsuzuki said with conviction.
With that said, they headed down the staircase to try and catch up with Ryu and the woman.
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A door…
That was where Tsuzuki, Ryu and Hisoka were currently, were standing outside a door. The door was rather old and definitely handcrafted. It was made of a dark oak and had rather intricate carvings on it. These carvings depicted a battle. There were soldiers riding on horse back fighting an enemy that seemed to be appearing out of the ground. Which battle it was… They had no idea.
"Are you ready to go in?" The woman asked.
Ryu turned to look at Tsuzuki and Hisoka, who seemed to be mesmerized by the door. He turned back to the woman and said "I suppose so."
Tsuzuki and Hisoka were at a loss for words as the door opened. Before them was what seemed to be a large living room. The place was huge. The walls were lined with tall bookcases that housed thousands of books. The floor was covered with expensive looking oriental rugs, while dark leather furniture was shattered about haphazardly. The was even a fireplace to the left. The odd thing was that there were multiple doors around the edges of the room. Overall it was quite a sight.
"Please have a seat. I will tell my master that you have arrived." the woman said, as she left though one of the doors.
Tsuzuki was still staring in awe at this place, while Hisoka seemed to be puzzled.
"What is it?" Ryu asked Hisoka.
"Are you serious that this guy is a vampire?"
"Yes, and when you meet him you'll see for yourself. Speak of the devil…." Ryu trailed off.
A man emerged from the same door that the woman had left though. He was wearing nothing except for a pair of black, tight jeans. He had a well-toned chest. His skin was honey colored, which seemed to completely contrast the woman's white skin. His hair was black and bit on the short side, and yet seemed to be messy and neat at the same time. His face resembled a statue, on that was sculpted by whatever gods they may be. But what truly stood out was his piercing blue eyes, which seemed to penetrate into your very soul. His movements were catlike as he approached the group.
He stopped before then, looking at Ryu. "Ryu… It's been a while.. How have you been?"
"I've been better." Ryu replied.
"Oh. I see you've brought guests to my home. Hello my name is Damian." he said to Tsuzuki and Hisoka.
Hisoka now knew what Ryu meant y he would know when he met him. Damian's entire being was dark, not necessarily evil in his emotions or intent, just his being. There was this strange energy that seemed to ooze out of him. And there was power, a power that truly confused Hisoka. Damian may appear to be human but he wasn't and Hisoka knew that now. There was no doubt in Hisoka's mind- Damian is a vampire.
"My name is Asato Tsuzuki and this is my partner Hisoka Kurosaki." Tsuzuki said.
"Ahhh. You are the two that Ryu and Kuri went to help. Speaking of her, where is your darling partner Ryu?" Damian said.
"She's missing and that's why we're here." Ryu said.
"Ryu are you sure she's not just off having one of her times…" Damian said.
"She's been gone for a week." Ryu replied.
There was a silence. Something about Damian changed, he seemed to become darker.
"I'll be back. There's something I must see to." Damien said as he left the room.
"Okay… You lost me." Tsuzuki said once Damian was gone.
"Why don't we have a seat, while we wait for him to come back." Hisoka suggested.
So they all sat in silence, gazing around at the room, until Hisoka spoke up.
"How exactly do you know him? I realize that I'm still new to this but vampires definitely go against what we do. So how is it that he's still here and you haven't said anything to anyone."
Ryu looked thoughtful, as if he was debating something. Finally he spoke. "About twenty-seven years ago there was a case I was still fairly new to the job, while my partner had been around for thirty years or so. Anyway, we were sent to take out a demon, a very powerful one…" Ryu trailed off.
"What happened?" Hisoka asked.
"Oh… right. The demon was way too powerful, but we found that out a little too late. My partner was killed, he sacrificed himself to try and kill the demon. He failed. I fought for as long as I could before I too was one the brink of second death. For some reason that bastard left me for dead. That's when I met Damian. He saved me that day."
"But how did he save you? I don't understand." Hisoka said.
"Damian saved my life in exchange for hiding him from the ministry. That was the time when all the guardians were still looking for vampires. The hoped to destroy them all, but of course some got away."
"I still don't see how he saved you."
"Well…" Ryu started.
The door on the left was flung open as Damian reentered to room.
"Sorry about that, there was something that needed my tending. Am I interrupting something?" Damian asked.
"Not really." Hisoka replied, a little pissed that he didn't get a straight answer out of Ryu.
"Good. In that case I suppose I'll have Natsumi show you to your three rooms."
"Wait, what's this about rooms?" Tsuzuki asked.
"Since I need some time to find out any information on Kuri's location, it only seems logical for you all to stay here." Damian said.
It seemed logical enough, but there had to be more to it than that. Damian didn't trust Tsuzuki and Hisoka just yet, and he wasn't about to let either of them leave. "So is that alright?" Damian said cheerfully.
"That's fine, except that two rooms would be better." Ryu said.
Damian looked confused for a moment before understanding. "Oh! Not a problem. Natsumi!" Damian yelled.
The woman from before appeared. "Yes master."
"Will you show our guests to their rooms." Damian said.
"Of course. Please follow me." Natsumi replied as she started towards one of the doors.
"And Ryu I'll need to speak with you shortly." Damian said, as if it was an after thought.
"Alright." Ryu replied and Tsuzuki, Hisoka and himself left; leaving Damian alone.
'An empath, a summoner, and Ryu. This is going to be interesting. I wonder if those two know about Ryu and Kuri. I suppose I'll find out soon enough. I better get back to work. I'm starved though. I suppose a small snack wouldn't hurt, after all I'll be talking with all of them shortly.' Damian thought. 'This is going to be interesting…'
-End Chapter 3-
This chapter didn't really get anywhere, but now you got to meet Damian. He's of my own creation- I have a thing for vampires. There are a lot of questions left unanswered and I hope that I can cover them all. The next chapter should help clear things up too.Also there will be some TsuHis in the next chapter, so don't give up on that. Their role in all of this will become clearer in the future. Please review! And thanks for reading!