Chapter 3 : My Kind of Fun
Techno music blared loudly through the concrete walls of the building, indicating that the night party had officially begun. There was a line of people outside the club waiting to get inside and be with the beautiful people, all of them dressed up and ready to be part of the group. I was leaning against the wall in a nearby alleyway, taking in the auras and commotion that was surrounding me. This was a bad part of town, I knew, but it was also a place where my senses could be trained. I always came here for a challenge. It was a self-test to see how far along I had come. Not only because it forced me to focus more on a target should one come along, but the targets that hunted me into this part of town were the ones that were blood-thirsty, unethical, and dangerous.
They were the targets I loved to hunt.
It always amused me how I could await a challenge in the most populated portions of town. You would think that being a creature of the night, one wouldn't need or desire the attention a backyard brawl could bring. Indeed, it was the opposite, almost paradoxical. Once one became part of the night, one learned its tricks and turns. The more crowded an area was, the harder it was to find me. Once the hunter did, they would be craving my blood, and that was when the challenge would begin. Besides, people covered up fights as well as politicians covered up scandals…well, most of the time anyways. I found that if the organization didn't find the body, the homeless would, and they would never report it for fear of being suspected. It was dirty, but weren't all things in the dark?
So now I was taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of the downtown area, reveling in the night's aura. I loved looking at people's auras, sensing the darkness and light in their souls. It made me more of a monster, to be perfectly honest. Those that held light in their souls were amazing to me, while those who held darkness were brutally comical. People's own sins were my amusement. I couldn't help it; I needed to sense auras in order to survive. I learned that lesson rather quickly. In fact, the first time I woke up in my undeath—
No. Glaring my eyes, I stared at the wall in front of me and growled. I was not going to think about that. The past distracted me, and I had eternity ahead of me. What was the past but memories that I would eventually forget? It was harsh, but it was reality.
Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath, listening to the blaring music, the crowd's discussion of how the line was too damn long, and the smells of alcohol and sweat. Opening them back up, I averted my gaze down the alleyway, figuring it would be okay to walk down the sidewalk. No hunter had arrived yet, so hanging around here seemed like a waste of time. Pushing myself off the wall, I turned the corner and started to casually stroll, noticing how the people eyed me fearfully before stepping out of my way.
I was dressed in a trenchcoat this time around, however it was a pitch black trenchcoat with red wings on the back. A red shirt with my usual black pants and boots made me look foolish enough to belong in this part of town, while a pair of sunglasses covered my blood-red eyes. It was a beautiful night to be out; I could feel it in my veins. Taking in another deep breath, I stopped and smiled. A change in auras. Somebody was coming.
Good.
Continuing my stroll, I soon stopped in front of an arcade, taking note of the changes in auras yet again. This person had to be able to sense me, for I felt their presence being much closer. Still not close enough to see, but it was close enough to know they tracked me down. I chuckled and went to leave when I heard a kid shout, "Dammit, that's the last time!" Frowning, I turned and watched as a kid and two of his friends walk out.
"Man, that game absolutely sucked!" the center kid yelled. "Let's go get something to eat. I'm starving!"
"Yeah, the food in there wasn't that great," the second kid complained. I merely watched as they walked away before letting out a sigh. I remember when I went with Mokuba to the arcade. We would spend so much money that we were sure the arcade could survive another month on just the two of us. We rarely went, especially after I took over the company, so when we did it was a big celebration. Those were fun times with Mokuba. His fun now was going to the arcade with his other friends and playing video games. My fun? Ha… My fun was being hunted.
I just stood there, staring at the arcade and all the kids inside. How fucked up was that? That my fun was hunting and being hunted down like the monster I was? I growled for the second time that night and began to move again. It didn't matter how fucked up the situation was; it was what it was, and I was making the best out of it. I couldn't control what had happened. It was out of my league. I had learned to accept the fact that my fun was no longer what humans considered fun. After all, I was no longer part of the human world, at least mentally. Accepting what was the truth was the only thing you could do to make eternity seem a lot more welcoming.
I cleared my thoughts and closed my eyes before taking another turn. And there he was. His aura showed not the usual mixture of powerful light and darkness that the hypocrites who often hunted me had. This man's aura was purely darkness. I smirked, letting a little fang show. This was the type of hunter I enjoyed the most...the ones who had nothing to lose but their own skin.
"I see you have found me," he stated, his deep voice trailing down the alleyway. I took a few steps forward in order to get off the sidewalk before stopping. "I could sense you coming here and decided to wait for you. So, Blood Jewel…" The man took a step forward, and from the lights coming off the nearby store, I could clearly see him. A dark tan, tall, muscular man by the looks of it. Bald wearing sunglasses, a brown trenchcoat with black cargo pants, combat boots, and a tan shirt. A shotgun in each hand. This just made me smile wider.
"Well, you certainly look like more of a challenge than the imbeciles your organization has been sending," I observed. "Did they finally run out of religious fanatics and turn to murderers?"
"Ah, you call me a murderer, but you share the same desires, no?" the hunter countered.
"You and I have nothing in common," I stated. "I am superior to you."
"So we shall see," the hunter said slowly as he placed his shotguns on his shoulders. "But even though you deny it, we both have a love of carnage and war. We are both monsters in our own way. While I don't drink the blood of humans, I still love it when I hear them scream in pain."
"So really I'm doing society a favor by getting rid of you?" I asked, perking my eyebrow. That would be something new.
"Depends on your perspective, really. I guess if you would rather have a blood-thirsty vampire on the loose, then my death would be a good change." I frowned and began to focus my energy into the palm of my hands. "What, tired of talking?" he mocked, tilting his head to the side.
"Not really. I actually like talking to your kind."
"My kind? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You see, I kill because it shapes my senses. It makes me the monster that I am. You, however…" I felt the silver metal begin forming against my hands and smiled. "You are nothing but somebody who thrives off of other's pain. It does nothing for your senses; it only turns you into a monster."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you're a fraud." My guns had completely formed by this point, and I aimed both right at his chest.
"Heheheh… I had heard about your use of black, synthetic blood," the hunter replied. "I didn't know if it was true or not."
"Absolutely," I replied, smirking to hide my surprise. Who knew about my guns? Nobody survived long enough to tell what had happened…
"So how do you want me to kill you? Slice your head off? Stab your heart out and eat it? I would do that you know?"
"What, to make yourself more of a monster?" I chuckled and shook my head. "You're pathetic."
"We'll see!" In an instant, the man lowered his shotguns at me and fired, one shot missing while the other went straight through my arm. I rolled my eyes and fired back at him, both bullets going through his shoulders.
"If you can't hit me just standing here, then you are not the opponent I was hoping for."
"Ha, foolish vampire! You think I was aiming for you?" My eyes widened in surprise, and I quickly turned around to see a shocked man's face staring back at me as he slowly fell to the ground, a large bullet wound in his head. His blood began to ooze across the ground, and I could hear in the distance several people scream. He was attracting attention.
Without even thinking, I jumped up onto the roof of the building to my left and begun to run when I felt another bullet wound, this time in my leg. Biting my lower lip, I turned to see the man stand up, preparing himself after climbing the wall after me. "That's right. Your kind hates the attention of the human world, don't they?"
I could sense the chaos ensuing below us and pushed myself back, jumping across another alleyway and onto the roof of the adjacent building. The man ran forward, shooting his shotguns at me, all of the bullets missing with his pitiful aiming, before jumping the alleyway as well. However, his big build obviously didn't help him in the way of acrobatics, and he barely made the ledge, grabbing the side of the building before pushing himself up. "So much for being a good opponent," I mumbled.
"What did you say?" he shouted, gritting his teeth at me.
"You say that you're a monster," I stated, smirking at him. "You say that we have things in common. Yet we aren't even close."
"What are you preaching about? Of course we're both monsters. We both kill humans for entertainment, don't we?"
I glared menacingly at him. "Though it may be entertaining, I feed off of humans like you in order to survive. My sustenance either comes from my own sources or from those who are too foolish to comprehend the situation. Either way, I don't kill humans. It's killing people in your organization that gives me pleasure, and that's only to ensure that I survive another night. In other words, you get entertainment from hunting, and I receive entertainment by being hunted."
"Yet we're both monsters," the hunter repeated, but I could see the cracks in his confident façade.
"Again, you're wrong." My frown returned to a smirk before I took advantage of the situation, and within a split second I aimed my guns at his knees and shot, hearing him cry out in pain as blood began to soak through his black pants. He fell to the ground of the roof, and I began to slowly walk over to him. "Being a monster implies being above humans, having supernatural abilities, owning a mentality that surpasses all human nature." He began to shiver as I aimed one of my pistols at his forehead, making me chuckle. "You aren't above humanity. You couldn't even jump across the alleyway without having problems. You are below me, and this is proof of your ignorance."
"You're still a monster, one that I'm being paid to kill." He aimed his shotgun at my stomach and fired, making me flinch slightly, yet I showed no pain otherwise.
"Go ahead. Do whatever you think it will take to kill me. I'm sure you're a failure anyway."
"Grrr… Bastard!" Firing his gun two more times, he gasped as a click came next, indicating his empty casing.
"That's right. I am a monster. I am above humans, possessing superiority in mental and physical conditions. And now…now it is time to end your pitiful existence." Willing the energy back into my body, I watched the pistol disintegrate, feeling its force return to my system.
"You…your guns… What are they?" he asked, his eyes wide in horror, his lips quivering like the dog he was.
"Why would I tell you? Your organization's drones are most likely listening in on this conversation now, waiting to pick your dead body up. But now it is time for you to go as the human being you are." Grabbing his shoulder with one hand and his face with the other, I pushed his head aside and quickly bit down into his neck.
His scream in agony was covered by my mouth, and I could feel my blood high immediately come, making me shiver in pleasure. The taste never dulled with blood; it was the same as it was when I first drank it, the sweetness never dying. I could feel his body becoming limp but continued to drink, realizing I hadn't had a good meal in quite some time. The synthetic shit I made really had nothing on the true substance.
It was when his body became extremely heavy that I released my grip on him, letting his now-drained body fall to the floor. Sighing contently, I licked my lips and smiled, letting the blood fill my system. Glancing around, I saw a person begin climbing the roof and smirked. I was correct; the organization was here to pick up their man. But I was on a roll tonight. Why not fuck with them a little? I never hurt the man in charge of picking up the bodies; it was always the same guy, too. He looked like a poor sap, to be honest, and I guess I pitied him enough to not kill him on sight.
But as I went to lean down to pick up the hunter's shotguns, I felt a sudden pain in my side and groaned. Shit…the blood was working its magic. Glancing one last time over at the man, I shrugged and decided leaving the body there would do just fine. Running at a quick pace, I jumped several more buildings before entering a quiet part of Domino. I was now on the outskirts of the downtown area and sighed before slowly sitting down. The blood was healing my wounds from the battle. The wounds themselves didn't hurt, but his bullets must have been powerful, for the process of healing them was taking its toll. Lying down on my back, I closed my eyes and let out a long breath before chuckling. "That was quite fun," I thought aloud, feeling my stomach as the skin began to stitch itself back together. "He wasn't a worthy opponent, but at least he fought back. Not a whole lot, though… The training courses must be horrible wherever this organization is located."
Glancing down at my arm, I rolled my sleeve up and watched as the skin manifested itself back so that not even a hole was left; it looked like a red blotch was now on my arm. I licked the blood away and smiled. His blood had tasted extremely good, but that may be in part because I hadn't drunk from a human in several nights. I truly was a monster…and that man dared to call himself such a thing?!
"What a worthless waste of life," I thought, letting my arm fall back to the floor. "How could he say we had things in common? I do not kill innocents just for the pleasure of torturing them… I merely watch them from afar, noticing the problems and facades each of them carry. They offer me amusement, but I don't kill them. I only kill the ones that are in my way of survival. That's the rule of the night; live to see another one, and destroy all who oppose you. Innocents aren't a threat to me… So why would I bother killing them? Of course, his definition for a monster was a bit off, so I guess he would expect me to do such a thing. He thinks of monsters in the way kids do."
Frowning, I groaned and slowly sat up. "Then again, who knows what kinds of lies are implanted into those drones for the organization? They could be told all sorts of things about me that aren't true just to incite hatred in me out of them. People react when they hear of villains who eat children and kill the innocent. But he wasn't innocent either. He was…"
"Pathetic." I stood up and glanced down at my watch. 2:30 A.M. It was time to head home. My wounds were almost done healing. I should have the energy to go back. But I was covered in blood, and that would attract attention, which was already converging elsewhere by the sounds of things. I knew that man's death would be on the news. I hadn't been seen, however, and that was all that mattered. Still…walking home was probably not the best idea, and a cab driver would never think to take me in. Looking around, I saw the KaibaCorp distance and smiled, figuring it would be a good spot. Walking to the edge of the building, I looked around to see nobody and jumped down, landing on the cement sidewalk, before beginning my short walk to the company.
I grinned. That had actually been a bit of fun.