Chapter 5: Kalel

Why am I here? Why am I trapped inside this little apartment with my target enemy? I have to get out. I need my partner.

Soubi knows who I am, truly. His roommate, Kio, has absolutely no clue whatsoever! That pervert picked me up off the street and brought me to his place, and for what reason? But, I shouldn't use too much energy simmering over Kio's intentions. I can't use up to much energy before Bloodless arrives to take me back.

I had been waiting for Bloodless when Kio kidnapped me. He's always late for our rendezvous' no matter what time of day it is. Yet, I can't stand being without him for very long. I want to see him again. I want to leave before Soubi hurts me.

Bloodless, my partner, is a very beautiful person. The fair traits of vampires have been in his family for many years, and he has hardly a speck of human blood in his family tree. Bloodless has long hair, just as I do, but his is black, pure onyx black that shimmers when the light hits it. His eyes always give me strength in battle with their calming nature, and his hands hold mine when I'm in pain. Like all vampires, of course, he has a set of fangs, yet they don't hang obscenely from his mouth. His are elegant, small, beautiful.

At first, I was afraid of him because of his fangs and his striking lavender eyes. One touch of his hand ended that. We graduated under his name, using a transformation spell to hide our ears and my true name, Luminescence. Ritsu-sensei didn't see through our hoax. Not even Nagisa-sensei, who creates Zero pairs by her own hand. We fooled the greats, and we were only children. Ha! Those fools had opposite ideals! Of course they wouldn't see through our trick!

I've said too much about Bloodless. I'm sorry, but I have to protect him, because he always protects me.

Living with Soubi is different from what I expected. Soubi likes to paint pictures, and Kio draws a lot. Sometimes, I see him doodling anime characters in the margins of his college assignments. Soubi, though, always paints. I've never seen him draw the entire time I've lived with those two. I asked him why he always paints and never draws pictures like Kio does.

"I enjoy painting," he told me. "I have more freedom with paint that with a pencil."

"But, you're painting in only one style," I protested. "How's that freedom?" Soubi only smiled as he mixed some more purple paint with his fingers.

"I feel constricted painting freely. I might as well just finger-paint my way through college if I want to paint with no limitations." I still didn't understand what he was talking about. Finger-painting has more freedom, though. Why was he using that as a bad example?

"Give me your hand," he said. What the hell? Soubi grabbed my hand and dipped my fingers into his small pot of paint. "What do you feel?" he asked me. I immediately withdrew my hand, and I stared at the light purple hue.

"It's cold," I murmured. "But, it's warm, like his eyes." Soubi took my paint-covered fingers and placed them in a small paint dish. Already he had dark red paint in the dish.

"Swirl your fingers in the red paint until they're mixed," he said. "Tell me what you get from it."

I didn't understand what Soubi was talking about at the time. After all, he was just having me mix colors. But, I figured out what he meant when I was helping him clean up the studio. I found out the name of the purple paint he had dipped my fingers in. The paint was called 'Luminescence,' and the red pigment was called, 'Bloodless Rose.' The moment I read the red paint's name, my neck began to throb. The spot on my neck where Bloodless fed from my body began the leak blood. I tried to clean the dark mess off my neck and stop its flow, but I had no luck. Bloodless hadn't fed for four days now. My body was reacting to his loss. After flowing for an hour, I finally stopped my blood from dripping allover everything.

I don't understand why Soubi's so kind to me. On the first day I stayed with him and Kio he seemed so hostile. Now, he's so kind, and he smiles more. I don't understand how he can be happy, when he knows that Bloodless and I are only here for one thing and one thing only.