In The Company of A Vampire Chapter 15:
Sunless Sands
A picture from a horrific nightmare hung on a wall that had seen the better of days, its hollow material just as hollow as the soul of a careless demon. A crimson substance danced along the floor, the horror behind the eyes of the person who looked in the mirror. A person out of place, out of his own time. Missing something that was once his. A face flickered across his mind, sunless sands following a body made of golden light. Crimson irises stared back at his own, a reminder of what he had done. Today was the big escape, to run away from this place that was now his prison. People leered and threw stuff at him when he was a child and it felt the same now for the person who stood in front of the mirror, looking back at him like a child's nightmare.
Music blasted from a nearby radio. An alien to his ears, the hypnotic beat adding to the eerie effect of the dimly lit room. The crimson substance covered him from head to toe yet Daisuke didn't know how it got there, nor why he was actually standing in front of the mirror. It was only once he had tried to tell someone else about Dark. No one accepted him for what he had to say. He was locked away only for a time, playing with the minds of the doctors in order to release him from his prison now. The lingering taste of the strangely tasteless pills still lingered in his mouth. This was his own punishment, his own curse and what was also now his reality of living inside an abandoned apartment where both the vampire and Daisuke watched as Krad tore something away from them…this place so full of his haunted memories.
Dark woke up, sweat pouring down from his forehead, the sheets beneath him soaked to the core with sweat. Never before in his age-old life had he had such a dream, especially one that concerned the future of someone that he was starting to grow fond of. It seemed that there was more to the boy than meets the eye yet what it actually was, was difficult to pick up on mainly because of how clumsy the boy was even though he was a hunter. Yet it was useless to make assumptions that would only lead to more suspicion and a possible dead end. Clenching his fists slightly, he didn't flinch at the smell of blood that flowed from the wound he had caused inside his own palm, a deep gash with marks that were caused by the claws that were quickly retracting into the tips of his fingers.
"Oh god…" It was no use thinking about what had just happened to him. Pushing himself out of bed, noticing that Riku was already up, he revolted at the thought of licking his own wound and so decided just to get dressed and pick up a plaster that was big enough to cover the broken skin. Placing a dark silk shirt over his bare torso, he felt his own dead skin shiver at the feel of healing silk before putting on a suitable pair of black trousers that seemed to make him seem almost normal. In fact, his own attire of clothing for the day made him feel like that except for the slits that had been cut into the back of the shirt which reminded him that he wasn't human. Instead of laughing like anyone with any sanity would, a blood red tear fell from his right eye before another joined its predecessor from the left.
Pushing open the door slightly, one small peak outside told him that Daisuke had forgotten to take down the Punching Bag. However the vampire knew that this wasn't his fault. Walking out into the deserted room, he took down the bag himself, stacking it away. The life of the apartment had seemed completely lifeless as if he was literally living with the dead than with the living now as it were. Placing the bag against one of the walls, a scent seemed to reach his nostrils, one that seemed almost unrecognisable to him, yet his senses spun, aching at the tiniest evidence of familiarity. The blood beneath his skin boiled. He had to get out of the apartment, possibly leaving Daisuke to rest on his own. Something had been bothering the vampire for a while now.
The night seemed alive with the taste of human essence yet Riku wasn't hungry. Unlike the time where she had starved herself almost to death, crying at the image she had created for herself. A pair of wings graced the silhouette against the light of the moon, a haunting gargoyle to the people below. Riku couldn't blame the vampire that she called her lover for her change, nor could she blame the vampire whose sanity had completely diminished from his own senses. It seemed that the blame was placed upon the world itself, helping her realize that everything wasn't fun and games. After all, that was what her own families lives were wasn't it? Just pawns to the almighty above, yet no tears graced her face as she remembered the faces of each, all of them now slowly dissolving until they became blurs.
Riku snapped out of her thoughts as she picked up on a presence so much like her own, yet alien, a grin gracing a face she didn't know of. Blue irises met her own, seeming surprised a little by her very presence. Yet she knew who this boy was, didn't need to ask for his name. They had met only through the thoughts of Dark.
"Riku right?" She nodded, holding in what she wanted to say to him. His grin grew wider. "You survived from the attack against Krad then? However…it seems that the vampire has disappeared off the map completely." That was all he seemed to say before they were each interrupted by the slow pitter-patter of footsteps, as they seemed to make their own way towards them.
The vampire had disappeared; leaving Riku to face what was assumed to be the newcomer heading her way right now. A shot of purple seemed to gleam within the dark before the smell of cigarette smoke stung her nostrils slightly from the putrid stench of nicotine that was being seemingly infused into the vampire she recognised as he looked up, his thoughts filled with the boredom of his own existence by the mere fact of living for at least two hundred years without company until now. Maybe that is why he is smoking now? Riku thought, not really caring if the vampire picked up on it or not
"Riku?" It was a question to clarify if she was truly there or not. The smell of iron reached her nostrils replacing the smell of cigarette smoke. The smell of blood…his blood.
"Yes…Dark…" She jumped down from the roof to meet him below, watching as he flicked the cigarette against the wall before actually stepping on it. Riku noticed the stains on his one hand; a terrible thought that she was unable to suppress growing inside her. Without much consent of what he would think, she grabbed his hand quickly, noticing the deep welts within his skin. He protested, she heard him but it wasn't clear. Horror filled her thoughts. A blackness seemed to take over and she drifted into unconsciousness.