Secrets Held Within
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Chapter 9
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"Dammit, Krad, you scared me!" Dark said, clutching his chest as he tried to catch his breath.
The blonde, sure enough, stood lingering in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. His eyes were cold, his face pained.
"Why…are you still here?" he asked, his voice as disturbed as his current appearance.
"Because I wasn't going to leave you all alone while you were unconscious," the purple haired man said, picking up the dropped bread and giving it a skeptical glance.
"You shouldn't have…you're only drawing yourself into this whole mess. You need to leave before something happens." Krad said, looking at Dark with half-lidded, pleading eyes.
Dark's brows furrowed, and he shook his head slowly, "No…I'm not going to leave until I get some answers…"
Krad's shoulders slumped, and he groaned quietly. "You don't need to know that. All you have to know is that if you stay here with me, then you're going to get caught in something you don't want to be in."
"…Krad, what are you talking about?"
The blonde didn't respond immediately, but eventually murmured, "If I tell you…will you promise to leave right after that?"
Dark nodded, "Maybe. Probably. I won't stay gone, though."
"I'll tell you, then…but…you have to promise that you'll spend some time away from this place before you come back…not that you'll want to, but…"
"All right…I'm really confused right now. Why wouldn't I want to come back?"
"I'm going to tell you right now," Krad said as he walked into the kitchen. Looking at the food for a moment he asked, "You went out? I didn't hear you leave…"
Dark shrugged, "Yeah. You didn't have any food. What do you eat, anyway?"
"Not much," Krad said as he gently tugged on a golden cross earring Dark hadn't noticed before.
"Are you very religious?" Dark said, looking at the cross earring and the ornament that hung at the end of the blonde's hair.
"No."
"Why the crosses, then?"
"Because I don't wear them to portray their religious meaning…I wear them because they mean something to me."
Dark nodded slowly. "Can I ask what?"
Krad nodded. "I'll tell you that, too. After all…it's part of the whole story."
Waiting in silence, Dark took a bite of the bread he held in his hand again, and took a seat.
Krad began a moment later.
"Did you know that this mansion was built over a century ago?"
He did not wait for an answer; Dark didn't know, anyway. "A family lived here—a husband, wife. Their son. They employed servants, so there were plenty of people living here…including myself. I was the only male in that house…excluding my father, of course…but then he died when I was about eleven."
'A hundred years ago? How is that…possible?' Dark frowned as the blonde continued speaking, and leaned forward a bit in his chair.
"So…I was the only male in the house and I was surrounded by dozens of women for a good portion of my life. But…I'm digressing... Over the years my mother became lonely, and had contributed to the village as…something like an innkeeper. She would welcome travelers into her home…have them stay free of charge."
Shaking his head, Krad sank down into a seat.
"There…was one afternoon…it was nearly dusk, and a strange man came to our home, requesting a place to stay for the night. She said yes of course. I suppose you could say that he was quite charming, though something felt wrong about him. Behind his words of praise, his jokes, the offers to help in the kitchen. I told her, my mother, but she wouldn't listen. She had been so grieved with the loss of my father that over the years her judgment had been impaired, I think, and she wouldn't listen to me."
There was a silence lingering about the room before Krad carefully repeated the events of that night to the other man.
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The blonde, only eighteen years old at the time, sent a brief glance at the man sitting at the other edge of the table.
He was thin, yet masculine at the same time, with short, white-cropped hair and exotic facial features. He wore the ensemble of one with vast wealth, and was constantly flirting with the maids and the woman of the house.
And…it really bothered Krad. It wasn't that there was another man in the house…but that everything he did seemed so fake. That and the fact that he kept looking the blonde with an unnatural gaze, and Krad found himself feeling rather uncomfortable every time the other male would sink his eyes on him..
Poking at his food, he shifted lightly, feeling the strange sense he felt when that the man, Dougan, was looking over him again. He shifted in his seat, and then, defiantly raised his gaze to meet his.
And all Dougan did was smile before turning to the woman next to him and continuing a conversation.
Krad poked at his food more, before standing slightly. "Please excuse me…"
"Krad…stay at the table until your guests are ready," his mother said, scolding him.
The blonde nodded, and sank sullenly back into his chair.
A good number of moments passed, and Krad attempted to ignore the sly words the stranger produced as he flirted with the women around him.
Eventually, the pale haired woman Krad called his mother rose from her seat and walked over to Dougan, leaning down slightly as she asked, "Are you through with your meal?"
He smiled wickedly, and said with a menacing tone, "Why, no, I do not believe I am."
It took only a moment for him to rise from his seat, and quickly grab the thin woman, pressing her against him as he drew a knife from his pocket and rapidly sliced it across her neck.
Servants screamed, and Krad rose from his seat as the man licked his tongue across the blade, watching the woman fall dead to the floor.
His face contorted with rage and anguish, Krad took a step towards the stranger—towards the woman no longer breathing.
Someone grabbed his arm, and tore him backwards. Whispering into his ear, a feminine voice said, "No, Master Hikari. No."
Dougan stalked the room, grabbing at anyone that passed him and drawing his blade across their neck. He would occasionally draw one of the women to him, and lap up the blood she shed from her neck before dropping her onto the floor to waste away.
The woman holding Krad pushed him behind her, backing up as Dougan stared straight into her eyes. She stopped moving only when she felt her hands press against a wall. She had a chance to run, though she didn't…instead she used her body as a sort of shield to divide Dougan from Krad.
Of course, her actions did not go unnoticed. Dougan looked around at the corpses. No one moved; The maid and Krad would be the only ones left still in the house.
He smirked, and took a step towards her.
Cocking her head to the side, she looked at Krad and whispered, "Run."
He shook his head, and said in return to her, " I won't. I won't leave you here alone!"
"Pl-" her words were cut short when a hand roughly grabbed her throat and lifted her into the air. She gasped for breath, and with all that she had said, "P-Please do not put the boy in his grave!"
Dougan paused, and released his grip slightly as he allowed her to draw in a breath. "You wish…for me not to take this boy's life?"
"Please, I beg of you!" She cried desperately.
A sly smile spread across the male's features again, and he said, "Very well—I will not kill him. I will…show him what it's like to feel the power of everlasting life."
Fully releasing the woman, Dougan turned to Krad, who stood appalled as the white haired man grabbed his throat instead, and gave him a violent shove, so that Krad's back was uncomfortably forced against the wall.
Burying his head into the crook of Krad's neck, the man opened his mouth to reveal long, white teeth. He lurched forward, curving his mouth over the soft flesh of the blonde's neck, and sank his horrid teeth into the tender skin.
Krad gasped, his veins burning as Dougan violently sucked on his neck. Clearly the blonde could feel himself weakening, and the sound of his heart pumped in his ears. The maid screamed from behind Dougan.
A moment passed, and Dougan drew away from the blonde and released him from his grip, watching as he sank to the floor. So much of his own strength had been sapped in the assault that his legs no longer would support his weight.
Krad's eyes closed halfway, he could barely keep himself awake. Dougan drew out his knife again, and turned to the maid. With a violent grip, he raked at her arm and grabbed her. She fought to pull away, but found herself unable to release her wrist. With a jagged motion, Dougan drew a long slice down the woman's arm and lifted it to his lips. He again seemed to savor the taste of her blood for a moment, releasing a sigh of pleasure. He had only just taken a sip of her blood before he threw her to the floor. The brown haired maid cried out in pain as her head collided with the wall.
By this time, Dougan had made another incision, only on his own arm this time. He leaned over the weary blonde, and allowed his arm to hover over Krad's mouth. He gestured for him to drink.
He did not. Instead, he let the drops of blood fall down his face. He made no effort to swallow the crimson liquid.
"Come now," Dougan said, "I must keep my word; you cannot die!"
Krad's gaze slid slowly to the meet the man's and he found himself shuddering.
"Please…don't…" he said, forcing words out of his suddenly dry mouth.
"So sorry, I've already agreed to too many requests tonight," Dougan said. He forced his bleeding wrist over the younger male's neck, simultaneously reaching down and strangling him.
Krad began to cough, unable to breath. A long moment passed with only the maids muffled cries to break the silence. Dougan finally released his grip on the boy's neck, and as the weary male gasped for breath, he found himself unable to reject the fresh blood from sliding down his throat.
His coughs worsened, and he made such an effort to spit out the liquid, though already had he consumed much of it.
Dougan chuckled and reached for the maid and, having wrapped his thick hand around her tender throat. Holding her at the nape, he slid his knife right through her neck, leaving a deep, bleeding gash.
Before her eyes fluttered shut, she managed to scream with a broken voice, "Sorry!"
Dougan smiled still, and drew his lips to meet the still warm flesh of the woman. Filling his mouth with the thick liquid that once coursed through her living veins, he leaned down to Krad and pressed his lips to the blonde's and forced the liquid into his mouth.
Krad resisted for as long as he could, but being unable to breath he eventually succumbed to the other and swallowed. The burning liquid falling down his throat, he closed his eyes and winced. His whole body was radiating with pain—from his aching bones to his burning veins to his icy flesh. A pale sheen of sweat covered his form, and he choked back a scream.
Dougan stood up, donning a wretched grin as he wiped a stream of blood from his lips across the back of his hand. Watching the boy, he said, "Well, do enjoy yourself. Thanks for the meal. It was satisfying enough."
With his words said, he turned and made his way out of the room, carefully stepping over each of the fresh corpses. Without so much as a glance, the male left.
Krad opened his eyes long enough to see the wretched murderer close the door behind him before he gasped and grit his teeth, falling into an uneasy sleep, tormented by pain and fatigue.
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Dark listened in horror as the blonde concluded his tale, his mouth slightly agape.
"So…wait...you…what?" he sputtered after a moment, his eyes narrowed in utter disbelief.
Krad averted his gaze and said quietly, "I am…what you might call a monster…more precisely, a parasite that yearns to feast on human blood. A vampire."
"A…va…But that can't be," Dark said, his voice hinting his exasperation, "It's just—they're just myths! Stories parents made up to keep their kids from misbehaving!"
Krad's shoulders slumped, and he shook his head, as if trying to deny it himself. "Then why am I here?"
Dark was silent for a long moment. A smile dawned on his features then, and he said, "You're lying. You have to be. You're just playing a joke on me!"
Krad lowered his head, at a loss for words. "No. I'm not."
"But if you were a vampire…wouldn't you need blood?" A look of deep contemplation crossed Dark's features. "If that were so…Krad, does that mean…?"
Krad's eyes flashed, and he looked up at Dark, quickly shaking his head, "No, no! I don't…I've never taken a human's blood! Not since…her."
"But you said you were a vampire…wouldn't you have to, to still be around?"
"Not if I found a substitute…" Krad said, standing up and pulling a book off a bookshelf behind him. "I created…long ago, what you might call a replica of human blood. It sustained me as well as prevented me from turning into even more of a monster when the moon was in certain alignments. Here," the blonde said as he held the book out for Dark, "If you wanted to see the formula…"
Dark took the book willingly, and flipped through the pages, his brows furrowed in concentration.
Everything…was so confusing. Was Krad…was Krad really what he said? Was he really a vampire? Was that even possible?
'Yes…' Dark thought. 'It has to be…too many things work with that thought…too many things that are so confusing. And Krad…I trust him—why would he make up something like this. I trust him…right?'
"And…" Dark said shakily, now, looking up at Krad. "It works?"
"Up until a night or two ago…"
Dark paled. "What does that mean?"
"It means…that over all these years…I've finally become immune to it."
The blonde stalked to the window, resting his elbows on the cold windowsill as he stared out at the sky; at the deep purple horizon dotted and marred with smears of haunting black clouds. Something caught his eye, the light of a now rising moon.
"Dark," he said quickly, "You really have to go. Now,"
"But Krad—" the violet haired male began to protest before Krad interrupted him.
"You promised you would leave, now get out!" Krad said, turning to Dark. The sentence spoken, he immediately snapped his mouth closed and shut his eyes tightly. He wrapped his arms around himself and he sank to the floor.
Beneath closed eyelids, his eyes shifted in color from exotic gold to frightening red. His pupils narrowed to slits.
Dark, seeing his friend sink to the ground, threw the book to the floor and ran over to him. He dropped to the floor and wrapped his arms around the blonde's shoulders. He thrust Krad's back against himself so that he was deeply in his embrace.
"Krad! Krad, What's wrong?" Dark asked as he desperately brushed Krad's bangs out of his face.
The blonde said nothing as he stayed, unable to move, in the other's grip, merely emitting strangled gasps of pain.
Realization hit Dark, and he looked in horror down at the pained blonde.
"Krad…Krad, you need blood…"
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Ah, yes, it did take a little longer than a day to update, I apologize, but at least it was soon, right? I was rather tied up over the weekend and didn't have as much spare time as I would have liked. Oh, please do forgive me, and thank you for reading up to this point in the story. I know it has been dull in some parts…well, actually most parts, but now that you've made it past that, I promise it will get better from here.