The light of the sun shone onto the land, bathing Azumano into a pale form of magenta. Never before had the pace been so beautiful, yet everyone who did their homework knew of the darker side to this place, that it was also a home to vampires who often preyed upon the weak. Riku had been reading all night, unable to sleep from the thoughts of the kiss. That was the first time she had been kissed properly on the lips like that. Finally placing the book upon her bedside cabinet, she lead down, not quite tired yet feeling really weak from the night before. The feeling of his cool lips upon hers had stuck in her mind and every now and again she would place to fingers up upon the smooth surface of her own, the tips delicately tracing each line and shape.
"It…happened…my feelings have become muddled up though…" She frowned slightly, her still pretty features turning to that of a statue before resuming to its normal state. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she rubbed her eyes, each orb stinging slightly. Today her only goal was to have a nap to make sure that her sleeping pattern was okay before continuing on with everything else that she had to do.
Better get to sleep my love…Her head shot around, feeling extremely nervous. She wanted to know where that voice was coming from. Since she was so groggy from no sleep however, she couldn't really recognise whose voice it was until she heard it again, this time somewhat deeper and cold, just like a vampires. Riku…go to sleep…your going to need it…"Dark?" She asked no one in particular, just the voice coming from her thoughts. It was a lot like when she remembered what happened a few nights ago accept it wasn't painful at all. She didn't care what it was saying to her however, she couldn't sleep at all. Besides, there wasn't much point for her to sleep since the phone seemed to keep ringing non-stop.
"Riku, I am just ringing to see how last night went. Oh and also don't forget to bring all those dirty clothes that you keep in that worn washing basket of yours over." I don't need to bring that over, I can do that myself! She thought as she crawled somewhat out of bed, tripping a little before waking up properly as she nearly collided with the bedside cabinet that the book Interview With The Vampire by the famous author Anne Rice lingered along with many other books such as Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Queen of the Damned also by Anne Rice. It appeared that myth often differed due to the imagination of each storyteller, the vampires themselves moving from elegant creatures of the night who hated preying upon humans to the monsters that they were always known as throughout the ages it seemed.
What these books didn't seem to cover though was partially true facts like the possibility of driving a wooden stake through a vampires heart and cutting off their heads while stuffing the mouth with garlic. It seemed to Riku that everything else had to be set aside. It was time to hit the library whether anyone protested against her or not. The city seemed silent yet she knew that this was only because it was the early hours of the day. People would possibly think that she was just a crazy girl wandering the streets but she didn't care. The life of the very city seemed at peace for now. Leaves brushed past her small, perfectly shaped face. It was autumn out and yet it honestly felt like the bitter chill of winter. Tonight was All Hallows Eve – the night where you scare people to death and basically have fun doing so.
However, unlike all of her friends who were planning out their parties, she had nothing to look forward to now. The only thing that was going to be important to her was what she was currently doing, going to a library to do a bit of research on vampires. If Dark was here, she could try and do a Q/A on him but that would probably never work. Shaking off the idea, she proceeded up the large stone steps towards the library. What seemed to amaze tourists about this place was the fact that it was also an art house, holding pieces of art that told stories about different places in different times. The only picture the seemed to catch her eye was the painting of a lone man with violet hair and violet eyes sitting upon the edge of a balcony that seemed to be decorated in a lavish flow of gold and silver.
Observing the painting closely, she couldn't help but take in the pure clean imagery of the feathered wings that sprouted from the mans back, waiting impatiently to take off. In fact, the picture seemed familiar to her somehow but she couldn't seem to grasp her mind around where she had actually seen it before. Pacing on through into the library, she headed immediately to the historical references section, knowing what books she needed to take a proper look at. Once before she had picked up a book with the title of "Vampyr: Myth or Legend" upon the front of the hardcover. The only reason she had then when picking it up was to try and cheer up Risa who was crying over the time they both had left together.
Now that she had come to think about it, weren't there also marks upon the side of Risa's neck? No, that's not possible, she was with me at the time, and she simply shrugged off the silly thought. She was tired and her eyes seemed to be playing tricks on her.
I told you didn't I?
"What? Dark?"
Yes…Dark…
"But how…?" No answer was given to her. That must have meant that he didn't have that much energy when he was asleep, recharging and hiding from the rays of the sun. In whatever piece of fiction she had read that night, the books seemed to make it clearly obvious that vampires were most definitely weaker when the sun was up than what they were at night
Rummaging through the stocks of the shelf, she managed to pick up each book that she had found on the subject of "Creatures of the night". It appeared that in each book, vampires were the most popular subject to talk about.
Vampires,
These creatures are often believed to be a myth but recent death reports show that maybe the undead are just as real as we often imagine when reading through each piece of fiction upon the most popular creatures to stalk mankind…
There was a lot for her to read over but it seemed that each piece of information was vaguely the same except told in different ways.
Writers just trying to capture the imagination with their pathetic drabble…we can't be killed by a wooden stake, nor could a cross burn us. Riku, don't believe it…
"Look…I can't help it if I want to find out more about what I was dancing with last night!" a low chuckle erupted from the back of her mind. This was beginning to make her feel a little nervous at the vampire's behaviour. She knew that just because he was a charmer and an extremely good kisser didn't hide what he really was.
True that, but what I feel has nothing to do with being a vampire. You know that, don't you? She said nothing to that, shaking her head slightly as if nodding her head to the music she could only hear. Putting each book back into place, she picked up her coat and wrapped it around her shivering frame once more. A particularly frightening thought crept up into her mind. She knew that Dark could kill her if he wanted, whenever he wanted. A low sigh could be heard along with the image of Dark not letting go of what he was actually doing to her. Look, Riku get a grip! Why would I want to kill you? I love you for Christ sake! She froze as she heard those words. He loved her?Running out of the library, she took a particularly note of the sky. It seemed that it was beginning to get darker. Little children ran about the streets wildly with their parents watching over them. It was only then when she realised that she had nothing to give to them as they each said "Trick or Treat" at each and every door on this very street. The only door they didn't touch was the ones that lead up into the library. Looking at her watch closely, she realised that the time was at least 5:00pm. Time itself had gone back one hour, ready for winter to make haste across the city itself, landing everything in a bitter sense of coldness. A yawn in the back of her mind told her that he was waking up. That meant she had to get back to her apartment quickly. She didn't want to get caught by any other vampires that lingered on the streets of Azumano.
Her legs pelted up the street towards her apartment quickly, her arms pumping slightly as they helped her legs along. She hadn't sprinted like this for a long time, yet she wasn't even out of breath when she did actually reach the lobby. Running towards the staircase up to the second floor, she stopped as she reached the door of her apartment. I wonder where Dark lives?
Try right underneath where you are standing! He replied back. A frown spread across her face, making her look slightly prettier than usual. This whole mind connection business was starting to get on her nerves a little bit but she knew she could live with it. After all, it wasn't like the voice was actually a figment of her imagination. If it was, she knew that she would be waking up from a dream right now, strapped down by doctors onto a white bed, all the while struggling to break free.
Fumbling with the keys in her pocket, she managed to pull out a small set with a key ring of her name spelt out in the ancient art of Calligraphy. Risa had one on that day as well, but for some reason, she never really bothered to attach it to the set of keys Riku had cut for her from her own with the help of her grandfather. Placing her coat up onto a coat hanger beside the door, she collapsed onto the sofa inside the front room. Grabbing the remote, she flicked on the TV, trying to find something suitable for her to watch for now but just as per usual, there was nothing that interesting. She had a punch bag in the next room over, the very room that Risa always used to complain about when Riku was punching out her frustration on the punch bag.
If you asked one of her neighbours or even her grandmother, they would say that Riku was just a sweet innocent girl. What they didn't know was that even though Riku was too stunned to act when that loser from a few nights ago attacked her, she could fight her own battles if she wanted too. Picking up the boxing gloves, she took off into the next room a little bit like a bat out of hell. She was extremely eager to use her frustration to tone up her muscles a little bit. Releasing a left hook out onto the punching bag, she cried with each hit yet it wasn't a cry of pain – no, far from it! Occasionally, she would release a right-handed roundhouse kick onto the bag, causing it to swing with such a ferocious pelt of each power-filled kick.
That continued on until a pair of spindly looking hands finally stopped it from swinging itself straight into her chest. Looking up at the person who stopped the bag from swinging, once again dark met violet as she stood up, never taking her eyes off of his beautiful irises. Meeting him in person was extremely different than having a weird conversation inside each other's head. The odd thing was that as soon as they saw each other however, it wasn't long until they were both embracing each other into a soft kiss and a warm hug. "I missed you!" Didn't even cover what they were both feeling now. Letting each other go, a delicate, spindly finger seemed to trace patterns upon the punch bag.
"I never knew you could fight!" He didn't sound as cold as he usually did when he talked to her. A devilish grin spread upon her face, her prettiness remaining the same as always. "I would challenge you but I'm afraid of damaging that beautiful face!"
He was flirting with her now, feeling even more comfortable with her than what he was when they first met and danced with each other. Her grin seemed to grow even more. It appeared that she wasn't used to flirting because a blush slowly formed alongside the grin. That was what seemed to attract him to her really. She was so innocent and yet enticingly beautiful all at the same time. Cupping her chin gently with his fingers, he kiss her gently once more upon the lips.
"So…want to challenge me, eh?" She said as she placed another upon his cool lips. A mischievous grin formed on his lips, revealing a fang as he did so. They were each pulled away from each other as they heard the door go. None of them bothered to get it though, they both knew what it was that was waiting at the door. The room was big enough for them both to spar against each other, yet he knew that he would have to hold back quite a bit. Even though this woman could defend herself well, she wasn't as strong as he was. As soon as he got into a good stance however, he was completely taken by surprise as he watched her fall to the floor, screaming slightly as she held her head in her hands…
"RIKU!!!"