LE TUEUR TRISTE
By withered-soup
One: A Walk
"It was a fine day and it was the best time to calm my nerves, I said to myself as I walked along the dusty road leading to the town of Konoha. I was already seventeen then but I haven't been around Konoha that much. I lived my life at the outskirts of the urban area and I wasn't much into the luxuries of life. Actually, all I ever wore then were a long sleeved shirt and a pair of faded pants." Sasuke was in a lighter mood now. "But the only important thing I possessed was a silver locket that I had when I was brought to the orphanage." His eyes were looking beyond the farthest benches of the park. "As I walked silently, I thought of what happened the night before and I tried to recall anything particular that happened to me. I could remember nothing peculiar.
"Also, the man who burned the orphanage passed my mind. I couldn't understand why and how he could do such a thing!" He paused. "God, I could still feel the lingering hatred for him until now—though I do understand him now, however irrational his action was."
Sasuke raised his brows for a second before sighing. "Anyway, as I was saying, I was walking rather unaware of the distance I had covered when I heard a coach move along the same road. I stopped at my tracks and observed the black coach shine under the sun. The door handles shimmered with gold while the black stallions showed grace as they galloped. But the greater surprise was when the coach slowed down and stopped before me.
"The door opened and a man of long brownish black hair looked intently at me with cream eyes. A small smile graced his lips before asking my name.
" '…Sasuke.' I slightly bowed, not being used to meeting rich people or nobles.
" 'Hyuuga Neji.' The nobleman smiled. 'Would you honor me by accompanying me along the way?'
" 'Hyuuga-san—' I protested but he only looked at me with those cool eyes and repeated his statement.
Sasuke laughed before saying, "what encounter!"
Gaara's round eyes watched how Sasuke shook his head as if it was one good joke.
"Imagine my innocent shame when I climbed up the coach, wondering why the nobleman suddenly asked for my company. I had forgotten everything that very moment I sat and soiled his velvet seat. I could still remember the ludicrous uneasiness I felt when his coachman closed the door and then the coach rolled off once more." Sasuke added, "It was even such an idiotic decision to ride with a complete stranger!"
"Was it frightening?" Gaara asked, like a child would.
"It was, yes. I had never been with a noble before, especially in their magnificent coaches. But his eyes were enticing and so was his calm voice that soothed the very core of my soul." Sasuke mused with a mirthful smile.
"So…why did he want you then?"
"We'll get to that. When he sensed my obvious anxiety, he pulled out a wine bottle and a glass. I watched him, mesmerized by the way the crimson liquid touched the inside of the wine glass. Though, it was no sooner when I ignored Neji and the way he poured drinks. A sweet scent filled the air, capturing me by surprise. It was the sweetest scent and I felt the oddest feeling of hunger and thirst combined into one desire.
"Neji seemed to have noticed the fact that I was already hypnotized by the aroma for he stopped pouring the liquid and outstretched his arm to hand me the wine glass. 'Yours, my friend.' He said meekly as if speaking to a child.
"I took the glass with both hands, savoring the intense smell of the drink. I gave Neji a glance, assuring myself that he approved of me drinking from his cup, and when I saw him nod, I tilted the glass against my lips."
"What did it taste like?" Gaara drew closer to Sasuke when he saw the beautiful expression that formed on his face. Sasuke's eyes were closed and his lips were in a gentle smile. "What did it taste like?" the listener repeated impatiently.
"Heaven, of course." Sasuke finally replied as he looked at the child beside him. "Pure heaven."
"Describe heaven."
"Let me see…" Sasuke mumbled. "It's hard to explain but one thing about tasting heaven is that the taste gives such intense joy and peace to the taster."
"…" Gaara drew back, still confused.
Sasuke sat silently, trying to perfectly recall the taste of the drink. "It warmed me inside and if I were not modest, I would have asked for another drink—no—the entire bottle! It was my curiosity that pushed me to ask Neji what it was and it was also that curiosity that shattered me.
" 'Blood.' He plainly replied with his chin supported by the back of his hand.
"I didn't know what to do or what to think of at that moment. I didn't even realize that I had dropped the glass to the floor of the coach. I looked fixatedly at Neji's expression but his collected atmosphere didn't change. He just sat there looking at me with unreadable eyes.
"I yelled that he was mad and that the drink couldn't be blood. I laughed weakly and asked him to stop kidding around a poor orphan like me and then silenced up when he didn't speak nor change his expression. I implored him to stop the coach but he remained unmoved. It was just when I grabbed the door handle when his hand suddenly gripped my wrist and with marvelous power, he pulled me back to my seat. There, I was paralyzed with fear.
" 'Don't tell me that I even have to say it aloud.' Neji spoke with little sarcasm, though, it calmed me a bit. 'I think you already know who you are.'
" 'What has your drink turned me into?!' I demanded with a shout.
" 'My drink didn't turn you into anything.'
" 'What do you want from me?!'
" 'I captured your scent from afar and I saw you walking there so I simply took you in.' Neji spoke as if unaffected by my panic. 'It's actually quite rare to find someone like us in Konoha.'
" 'Us?!'
" 'Sasuke, Sasuke,' he shook his head.
" 'A vampire?'
"I stared at Neji for a long time—a really, really long time. I was perfectly convinced that he was mad and that I was in grave danger if I didn't jump off the coach. But of course I couldn't. Or maybe I could but I was just afraid to try to escape again.
"It was, indeed, fear that kept me seated there across the cool vampire who just observed me with clever eyes. I just stared at him and if not at him, at the bottle of what he said was blood lying beside him. When he caught me eyeing the bottle, he took it in his hands and tortured me with the scent by opening the bottle. Something within me churned painfully and I had to embrace myself to keep my body from lunging forward to get another drink of the crimson fluid.
" 'Denial is the greatest pain, Sasuke.' Neji replaced the cork before speaking. 'Let me help you face it.' His words were in time with the moment the coach was covered by the shadow of the great doorway of Konoha. Neji's face was grim in that short-timed darkness. It also emphasized two prominent fangs that I never noticed before when he spoke. I knew then, he was telling me the truth of vampires' existence."
Sasuke's eyes appeared glassy and icy that time when he looked at Gaara. The boy seemed to have noticed just now how different Sasuke's features were actually. His skin wasn't simply white but smooth and utterly flawless. He had a certain shine that covered his hair and it made his strands flow like silk under the sun. His eyes were ever coal black but they had a knowing stare and he could sense a calm, cool and collected countenance.
"We reached Neji's mansion which was located near the end of the small town. The mansion was surrounded by sculptures of angels in different positions. One was fighting the devil, another was weeping on a stone while another was just standing, glorifying heaven. There were a lot more angels there but I had no chance to see them when the coach turned for the entrance doors.
"I actually planned to run the moment the coachman opened the door but the Hyuuga eyes that commanded me to go down peacefully controlled me. I came down the steps of the coach, my eyes wild with confusion, and then I was led inside the mansion by a firm, cold hand.
" 'Prepare the drink.' Neji told a young female servant when we passed her on our way to the parlor. She bowed and looked at me with eyes that bore a masked distaste before hurrying to another room where I unmistakably heard a voice of a woman pleading not to be taken to something or somewhere.
"Anyway, I was taken to the parlor and was asked—commanded subtly, rather—to sit while Neji sat once more across me. We sat there for a few tacit minutes and the silence calmed me well. I observed the quaint appearance of the room with its large paintings and wallpapered sides. The white sofa seats were matched with pillows with embroidered designs. The antique coffee table, surrounded by the sofa seats, was supported not by legs but a woman that was carved from dark wood. Expensive china could be seen displayed in shelves and on round side tables.
"Neji crossed his legs and his movement caught my wandering attention. 'I suppose you were not aware of being bitten.' He said. 'Am I right?'
"I said that I was not a vampire though it sounded rather hesitant and irritating rather than convincing. He only smiled and stood up. The thought of being hurt by Hyuuga and yet the thought of knowing what was behind his sudden movement made me inch back against the soft seat. He stopped, standing before me, and then slowly he lowered himself and raised my wrist. I watched in a fanciful terror as he folded the cuff of the sleeve back and looked for something I didn't know what.
"After not finding whatever it was, he moved to collar and tugged it wider to get a glimpse of my neck. The tips of his fingers played softly on my delicate skin, arousing nerve endings that sent shocks throughout my body. I
felt hot and embarrassed and altogether oddly attracted to the touches and even the strands of his hair that was left untied and were flowing against his shoulders.
" 'Here,' he almost whispered as he drew back and pulled me up. He guided me to a mirror and turned me to my side. He pointed at my neck and told me to look closely. I did and I found two small, pinkish punctures.
" 'You were bitten, perhaps by a child.' He said as he left me gaping at the mirror, touching and pressing on the punctures. 'Young ones are known for the little pain of their bites.' He continued walking towards the coffee table where there were two glasses of wine. 'Do you remember any instance?' He paused. 'Do you remember a particular child?'
"What he said opened my memories back to the burning orphanage when I was standing with a boy and a baby. I suddenly remembered the image of the child whose face was shadowed by the blazing flames behind him. I recalled the feeling I had when I saw him…"
Gaara opened his mouth to ask something but Sasuke spoke once more.
"I already believed in Neji despite myself." He smiled. "I actually believed something was different in me when I took that walk. He was right, it was just denial." Sasuke raised his face to the clouds. "Neji also knew that I have already believed him because he had kept his silence the moment he saw me draw back from the mirror and fall back to a seat.
" 'Desire for blood is not yet prominent in your system for you have just been changed.' Hyuuga explained while pacing the room. 'But it will grow stronger and soon you will have to hunt for yourself.' Neji stopped when he heard a knock on the door. I looked up from my sullen state and saw the same female servant and now, with her, was a woman who was in definite fear. That woman looked pleadingly at me with lovely green eyes but of course, I couldn't help her.
" 'Excuse us.' He told me. 'Tenten,' he motioned the female servant with his eyes, 'lead our visitor to his room.'
" 'Yes, sir.' Tenten bowed and guided me out of the parlor."
"I looked back for the last time to take a glimpse of the nobleman. I saw him approach the shivering woman just when the door closed behind me."
"He bit her, then." Gaara suggested.
"That was also my closest guess." Sasuke said with a knowing air.
"So what really happened?" the child asked impatiently.
"I wouldn't know until after many years." Sasuke smiled and sighed to himself.
The listener showed childish disappointment before asking the vampire what happened next.
"I stayed there until night but during the whole day, I didn't see Neji other than the time he last spoke to me in the parlor. I stayed pacing in the room, praying and asking what I have done to cause myself such suffering. Two wine bottles filled with blood together with a wine glass were delivered to my room, however, I tried hard not to smell nor look at the sinful drink.
"I wanted to go home." Sasuke said with a little air of nostalgia. "I was young and ignorant even though I was already seventeen. I needed support from Sister Anji and perhaps, bid them a proper good bye. I decided then, that night, to leave Neji temporarily and go back to the people I left wondering where I went.
"Upon exiting my room, I spotted the familiar servant named Tenten. She appeared to be busy stuffing clothes into a large bag. She was at a dark corner of the corridor, eyeing the surroundings warily as she continued her work.
"Excuse me, I said and it was a surprise when she drew back in fear when she saw me before her. She didn't even notice me come. It took seconds for her to recover her composure and ask me what I wanted.
" 'Is Hyuuga-san around? I would like to—'
" 'Hush!' She glared at me and then looked at the doors around us.
" 'I'm—'
" 'Ask another servant about the demon.' Tenten slung the bag over her shoulder. 'I need to go somewhere.' She walked briskly and cautiously past me. I knew, from the look of her eyes, that she was escaping from the mansion—from Neji, I supposed. But the dominant thought in me was maybe I could just leave with her and return soon after. I wasn't familiar with the roads of the town because it was only once in a blue moon that I visit Konoha. I wasn't much into exploration then and I didn't give much notice to the world.
"I followed Tenten out of the mansion and tried to keep up with her pace. I asked her where she was to go."
" 'To my hometown at Otto.' Tenten explained hastily. 'And stop following me!' she hissed and walked farther.
"I caught up with her and asked if she knew the way out of the main streets of Konoha but Tenten appeared to have not heard me. So what I did was…" Sasuke laughed to himself and then shook his head. "I just followed her."
"Well," Gaara interlaced his small, cute fingers. "You didn't know anyone else right?"
"You think it was the right decision?" Sasuke lifted his brow. "I couldn't actually judge my action. But whatever it was, I am thankful now that I just tagged along." He paused and then looked at his pocket. He thought of smoking but in the presence of the child, he changed his mind.
"As I walked behind her, I found myself nearing a train station that was cramped up with a lot of people I could guess were immigrants from different countries. I failed to ask her where she was going when I was mesmerized by the large train moving slowly, picking up speed on the tracks. There were hundreds waving at the people at the platform before their very image was gone with the black smoke of the train. I also saw the division in there. The lower class people were crowded in seemingly old and dirty trains while the elites rode in convenient and comfortable new trains.
"Tenten seemed to have forgotten me when she squeezed herself through the gaps in the crowd to give the porter of the lower class train her ticket. I knew that I couldn't follow her any longer so I turned around and decided to find my way back. Unfortunately, something happened." Sasuke touched his chest and continued. "Since all of the people crowding at that part of the station were poor, someone took an interest in my locket."
"Stolen?" Gaara mused.
"Yes, by a boy of about twelve." The vampire shrugged. "The locket was the only remembrance of my origin so I was desperate to get it back. It was in time with the whistle of the porter when the people started rushing into the doorway. The boy ran inside, with me in pursuit of course, and I wrestled with him inside. I didn't mean it but when I pulled the locket, I pushed him away, unintentionally, out the train. And before I could do another thing, the door closed before me.
"I yelled for the door to open, irritating the people who were pushing their way through the train corridor. Someone even cussed and shouted at me. Many complained and told me to silence up and leave them in peace. I was in terrible panic that I began crying with the locket against my forehead. I sunk against the door and wept as the train picked up its pace towards I didn't know where.
"I thought of Sister Anji and the children I left behind. I thought of Neji and the way he eased me. I thought of the locket and I begun asking if my being lost was worth the retrieval of the locket. I felt like dying." Sasuke smiled weakly. "But my depression was soon lessened when a familiar voice coerced me to look up.
" 'You rascal!' It was Tenten with one hand akimbo and the other holding her bag. 'How did you get in here? Why are you here?' I pleaded for her to help me go back to Konoha but she shook her head, called me a silly child and said that the train wouldn't stop until its destination at Otto.
" 'Then take me with you!' I cried and pulled on her blouse. She looked at me with sorry brown eyes before pulling me by the arm to stand up and follow her.
"Nothing much happened. I just kept my silence amidst strangers. I was still a child at everything. Tenten was the only one who took some minutes every now and then to talk to me about home and Otto. She said she had been away from home for ten years. She hoped to escape the vampire Neji sooner but the money she needed kept her from doing so.
"I was secretly happy that she never asked if I was a vampire or checked if I was different. And because of that, everything went fine, until the monster in me woke up the next night." Sasuke said gravely. "We were seated at the farthest end of the train, at the darkest corner." He uncrossed his legs and looked away. "I killed her."
Gaara asked Sasuke to repeat was he said for he was looking at another person at that moment but the vampire told him other words instead.
"I felt a strange desire in me—hunger and thirst it was—and I couldn't sleep because of that. I recalled what Neji said about the desire for blood growing as time passes by and I was afraid that it was happening to me. I wanted to ask Tenten about it but she was speaking to herself about her hatred about vampires and the number of women Neji had killed for their luscious blood. I presumed those were the reasons she left the Hyuuga nobleman's mansion.
"I observed her with weakening eyes and it surprised me to find that she was beautiful when stared at. Her lips often curved to a smile whenever she looked away at the small window—remembering perhaps the joys of her homeland. I gazed at her flesh, which was dampened by the heat of the train interior. And I understood then, that my desire for her blood grew because of her beauty.
"It might have been my animal instinct to wait for her to grow drowsy before I attempted to approach her. I crawled towards her, ensured by the darkness that no one else would see me. I wanted to control myself but I couldn't. I was a vampire." Sasuke smiled. "I am a vampire.
"I touched her shoulder and it slightly awoke her. She asked me rather snobbishly what I wanted but I only touched her lips with my finger. She stayed quiet and watched me touch her abdomen. It was such a lust I never felt
before and while I touched her I spoke to her gently of staying silent and comfortable. I was surprised she didn't move much. She only stared with dreary eyes. I didn't know what made her like that…" He paused. "…well, I didn't know then.
"She said something inaudible before I grasped her breast with my hand. I kissed her ear softly and tainted her neck with my sinful tongue. I fondled with her as my face drew near her neck. I could hear her pant when I released her breast and then held her by both shoulders. It was pure instinct that told me inwardly to bite her flesh…and I did."
Sasuke stood up, silently wondering why he told the child the explicit part of the story. He had utterly forgotten that he was speaking to a child of about five. He finally took out his cigarette and puffed smoke. Behind him, Gaara just gazed at the tall vampire with wonder.
"The taste was…I could never really explain. It satisfied me, my soul, my being." Sasuke continued with smoke coming out his lips. "It was warm and very tantalizing. It encouraged obsession that I gripped harder on her shoulders, my body pressed against her chest. I didn't know if she was pained for her mouth just stayed agape with no sound coming out. And after I had satisfied myself and regained my sanity as human, I drew back and found her dead.
"It is a sad reality. To stay human, I knew, that moment, that I had to drink blood. Another's life was equal to my sanity." Sasuke had his back turned to Gaara when he said that heavy line. "It was also that moment, as she hung lightly against my arm, that I was propelled to a greater desire to change the demon that I was."
"You're in a train, wouldn't anyone find out soon enough?" Gaara thought aloud.
"Yes, it was morning when they saw Tenten's cold body at the same corner. I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep so when I awoke, they were already in panic. The conductor then decided to stop at the nearest station to get the body investigated and off the train." Sasuke puffed another lungful of smoke. "As I watched the body being checked the moment we arrived at the station, I recalled the way Tenten smiled whenever she seemed to remember the joys of going back home." He massaged his temple with his free hand. "She never did get home, though." He smiled sadly and turned away from the listener once more. "They took Tenten's body off the train and I don't remember now why I snuck off the train as well. Maybe I didn't want to go to Otto because of the shame of having killed someone belonging there. Anyway, I stayed at the station and watched the train roll off to Otto before asking anyone there at the platform where I was.
" 'Suna,' a man in a dusty robe told me, 'this is what people call the Sand Village.' I asked next when the next train to Konoha would be departing and he said with a little grin that it was scheduled to run after two days. 'You might as well enjoy this town first, kid.' He added with a wink.
"I had no choice, I was stuck at Suna. But I told myself, I just needed to wait and sneak into the train again. So I turned around and walked into the sandy town with no friend but the constant wind that blew from the south." Sasuke finished his cigarette by stepping on it.
A/E/N:
Hmmm…my fiction is still bland but I swore to myself not to focus much on romance. I want to graduate from just writing lovey-dovey fiction so I am now writing something serious and a bit more mature. Hmmm… oh well. :3