Chapter 16
Dark
There was a horrible realisation in what was about to happen. There was a stake in his hand, rather long and elongated in an odd shape that existed for one purpose: to kill! There were something's in this world that were just purely surprising and others…far too horrible to talk about. Then again that was the way that the life of an undead vampire had become. Tonight they were hunting for the vampire that has been stalking them all since he fell in love with Riku. She wasn't a vampire when he fell in love with her, she was purely human, an innocent soul. And now Krad had stolen that from her. The one thing that made her seem innocent. Everything was going to plan but there was a rather disturbing backdrop in the plan, something that he had always known since he met Krad in that fateful night in the alleyway. Where had the fallen angel that saved him gone? Who was this crazy vampire that they were hunting? Master had disappeared…or rather began to become insane over the years of living.
There had been a confession before all this. A confession to Daisuke and Riku, one that they both deserved since it was all he could really give them now.
"The painting isn't a normal painting," he began, trying not to grin at the shocked expressions on their face. "Well, I should say the "paintings" since there are two of them. They are spiritually linked to both Krad and me by magic. The painter himself had specialised in the uses of witchcraft that were often woven into the pictures that he created." He took a sip out of the mug full of blood, the rather stale taste not bothering him one bit. "That night was the first night of the Equinox, the only time when magic was at its strongest. I can seemly remember what happened as if it were just a film showing in my mind. We were sat on the balcony. It was an idea of mine and I don't think Krad quite forgave me for it, especially since vampires were supposed to remain a secret. The boy was just a student or rather an apprentice and he had seen us once when we took off into the sky when moving from one location to the next, finding another place to live." Riku seemed shift almost uncomfortably in her seat as if he was dragging the story along too much. He grinned at this, moving his purple locks out of his eyes as a full curtain of purple came into view. "The thing is, both Krad's and my blood are fused into the picture." That was enough to stir in the two before him. What he left out of the explanation was that the painting also reacted to the sanity of each vampire. The reason why Krad was continuously disappearing and re-appearing was because he was continuously walking along the border between sanity and insanity.
A slight shuffling in the darkness caught his attention. Signalling to Daisuke who was standing not to far behind him, he pointed in a direction where he could hear the shuffling coming from. Daisuke nodded before they both started edging ever so slightly towards the area where the noise was coming from. Then Dark stopped as if he was frozen into place. He didn't know what it was, what was keeping him from ridding the world of the insane vampire.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He heard Daisuke ask. There was something rather shocking that came to his mind: he and Krad were tied together. That was why Krad rose from his sleep when he did. That meant that one day, he could turn insane and harm his loved ones. That wasn't what he had wanted at all.
Daisuke, if anything bad happens, leave me…
DaisukeDaisuke, if anything bad happens, leave me…that message had sent shivers down his spine. What did Dark mean by that? He didn't question since now wasn't really the time for it. Then again, maybe it wouldn't hurt to question but something inside him told him not to. Then he watched as golden feathers began to fall down around Dark and a horrible realisation came to him. It wasn't Riku that Krad wanted, it was Dark.
"LOOK OUT!!!" He shouted before pushing the vampire out of the way, feeling an alien body on top of him. Taking a small moment to recover, he pushed at the vampire on his back before throwing him off.
"Hunter…you side with a hunter Dark? You're pathetic!" At this, Daisuke watched as Dark shot at the other vampire, stake in hand. There was something in the action that spoke almost as if the two were joined together and not just by what they both believed in.
"Daisuke!" The shouts of Dark shook him out of his thoughts which in turn caused him to run over to the two vampires just as Krad was trying to still best Dark. This vampire wasn't going down without a fight and yet it seemed as if his actions also spoke of giving up but on what? Life? Before he knew what was happening however, the vampire took a swipe at him and he was diving backwards, hands upon the ground, flipping him right over.
And then something came to him as he dodged that attack. In order to stop Krad from ever coming back from wherever the hell he actually came from, the other blood link had to die alongside him. Which meant one thing: Dark had to die in order for everything to become right again. He was about to tell the vampire using the connection they both had but a fist had stopped him, the feeling of claws scraping against the delicate flesh that covered his face. Dark had obviously been stunned from being thrown off. He grimaced at the cruel laughter from the other vampire.
"Hunter blood," he said before taking a lick of the blood on his claws. "I've always liked the sweet taste of hunter blood." He said right before another clawed hand seemed to pull at the flesh upon the vampires face.
"Here, have a taste of yours then." Dark said in through the howls of pain, pushing them aside as if they were nothing before taking off into the night, leaving with the message.
Daisuke…look after her…