don't own Kingdom Hearts, but if I did, Sora would totally be all mine...haha. Story is mostly original, but it is inspired by Vampire Knight. I hope that you guys enjoy. Reviews and criticism would be appreciated.
NOTE: The first section of every chapter is usually told from Kairi's POV, whereas the rest is in the third person. "Stained by Sin" is only the working title. Hopefully something better will come to me.
Summery: Sora disappeared from Kairi's life for unknown reasons. Vampires bring them together again, but it also tears them apart. Blood, lust, fear, secrets, friendships, reunions, and promises change their lives.
3. A FALSE FIRST TASTE
f~Akai Tsumi~
Roxas and Sora seem to have a close friendship, even though they seem at odds right now. I wonder how long they've known each other. How Sora knows Roxas and the rest of them. They're vampires whereas he's not.
Even though Roxas and them are vampires, they don't seem any different than me or Riku. I'd say they're practically just like us, except for that acquired thirst for blood. But other than that, they seem like civilized people capable of interaction with the human world.
I can't say the same for the Renegades. They're unfortunate people who have been bitten by Superiors and left to die or be turned into a bloodthirsty creature by vampire poison. They begin as ordinary vampires without any kind of powers, according to my father, but they eventually fall to this level and being a non-stop killing rampage. That is why Riku and I hunt and eliminate them. To keep the human population safe.
And tonight, Sora's joining our team, or so I hope. I'm excited, but also afraid at the same time. I don't want Sora to get hurt.
-----
"Are you sure that he's up to this?" Riku asked the professor as they watched Kairi prep Sora on their nightly missions. "With him being a…you know…"
"So, you've figured it out, huh?" Kaito responded, not startled by Riku's knowledge of Sora's secret. "I think he'll be fine…as long as his body accepts the medication."
"What do you mean?" Riku questioned. Does that mean Sora's body won't…because he's been made into…instead of being born…
"Kairi! Are you okay?"
Riku and Kaito looked over in Kairi's direction at the sound of Sora's shout.
"What happened?" said Kaito in an urgent voice. "Did you get hurt, Kairi?"
"I'm okay, I'm okay," Kairi stated, pulling her finger out from her mouth. "My hand just slipped on the blade of this sword. I'm okay. See?" She held out her finger to show that she was alright.
Sora saw a drop of blood form on her finger and an uncontrollable thirst took over. He heard a pulsing beat run through his head, telling him to satisfy his lust. Struggling to fight it, Sora fell over on his knees, whispering to himself as he shook with fear uncontrollably.
Professor Kaito saw immediately what was happening to Sora and quickly left the room to get something.
"Sora," Kairi automatically asked him, "what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine," he answered through his difficult breathing. "Just stay back…stay back…be safe…"
"Be safe from what?"
"Kairi," Riku said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "listen to him. Do what he says and don't question him."
Kairi silently obeyed and stepped back, restraining herself from rushing to Sora's side. Professor returned with a glass filled with bubbling water, handing it to Sora, who quickly quaffed the drink. As the liquid flowed through his system, his breathing returned to normal and the hunger slowly disappeared. Kaito, when seeing that Sora was okay, stepped back after helping him to his feet.
"He's okay now," Professor announced, turning to face the other two. "He just forgot to take his medication and his body reacted violently, but he should be fine now."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Kairi asked, gingerly touching his shoulder. "Can you come with us tonight?"
"Yeah," Sora answered. "I can."
"We should get going then," Riku stated. "It's already getting late."
"Riku's right," Kaito agreed, handing his daughter a manila envelope, much like the other night's. "Recent reports show that Renegade vampire activity has been increasing daily over the past few days. We need to stop this before it gets out of hand."
"So basically," Riku concurred, "kill off all the Renegades we can find tonight."
"That's a crude way of putting it," Kaito commented, "but that's pretty much it."
"Alright," Riku answered, reaching over and grabbing Way to Dawn. He checked to see that it was loaded and hitched it into the protector.
Kairi pulled her Flowering Strength off the wall. After checking it over quickly, she collapsed it and tucked it away.
"Sora," Kaito addressed, handing him the sword that Kairi was handling earlier, "this is your weapon. If I recall correctly, you do have experience with handling a sword, right?"
"Yeah," he answered, looking over the gilded handle. "Riku and I used to spar all the time when we were little."
"I was usually the one who won," Riku commented.
"I did win a couple of times," Sora remarked.
"Only a few times."
"Don't get such a big head, Riku," Sora argued, much like a little child. "If you were so great, then why didn't you take it?"
"I tried," he replied darkly, "but it rejected me as its owner."
"Rejected?"
"It's a rumor that each anti-vampire weapon chooses its owner," Professor Kaito explained. "We don't quite understand why this phenomena happens, even though we forged these weapons ourselves."
"That is strange," Sora commented.
"Well, that is because the metal that you received is highly selective of its master," Axel elucidated, walking into the room with an air of confidence. "That metal is a creation of our race. It can synchronize with the mind of the wielder and determines their physical ability as well as their mental status."
"So, you're saying, Axel-sama," Sora thought aloud, "that these weapons are alive and have a mind of their own?"
"In a sense," Axel replied, pacing around the dimly lit room. "Anyone could handle the weapon, but only one person would be able to efficiently use the weapon to its fullest potential." He paused, glancing briefly at each of the three teenagers. "That's why Kairi possesses her Flowering Strength, Riku wields his gun Way to Dawn, and now you…The Keyblade is your weapon."
"Mine?" he questioned, baffled at why he would wield The Keyblade, a strange weapon with the teeth of a key forged on one side while the other was a sharp edge.
"This sword, unlike the weapons Kairi, Riku, and the others have, was made by the hands of our kind. It is more selective than the rest, desiring an exceptionally strong body, heart, and will."
"So you're saying that I have a strong body, heart, and will?"
"Not me," Axel answered, "the weapon…The Keyblade."
Sora took a moment to allow everything to sink in. Was there a hidden reason to why he was chosen? Was his life going to change after he accepted his new duty? Was this all leading up to a final battle with him?
"The hilt is the only part of this sword that we can touch that won't do us any harm," Axel pointed out, touching the hilt himself. "I'd be careful with this if I were you." Changing the topic, he turned toward the Professor. "Kaito, I wish to discuss something with you."
"Concerning what?" Kaito asked.
"Roxas requested something of me," Axel answered, "but it's not really my territory to answer. It's something that needs to be answered by you."
"Roxas?" Sora turned at the sound of the Noble-ranking vampire's name. "What did Roxas want?"
"Sora, you should leave with Kairi and Riku while Axel and I confer over this," Kaito answered.
"But…"
"Sora," Axel interrupted, "this doesn't concern you at the moment. Go and fulfill your mission." Axel's eyes glowed a pale red, boring into Sora's.
"Hai," he found himself saying, as if something was manipulating him. He wanted to stay and argue, but an unnatural force was controlling him. Realizing that the force was because of Axel's status as a Superior vampire, he felt chills run through his body from recalling his previous encounter with a Superior.
That was a dark chilling night when he first encountered him, a memory deeply embedded into him.
He then heard an unknown voice command him to leave the room and join Kairi and Riku, who were waiting for him in the adjacent hallway. There was something about the tone of the voice that compelled him to obey. It was soft and calm, but also at the same time, firm and commanding.
This is the same power that he had, Sora concluded as he walked into the hallway. The same power that Xemnas possessed.
The hallway was dimly lit and Riku and Kairi were conversing under a flickering fluorescent light. Riku made Kairi laugh and she brushed her hair behind her left ear, exposing the flesh of the nape of her neck. The same uncontrollable thirst overcame him, the pulse beating throughout his mind, like a drum, pounding faster and faster as his heart began to race. Axel's spell upon him had broken, but when he was consumed by hunger, another different voice commanded him. This voice, though calm in the same manner of the other, showed a darker shade of ominousness.
"Take her," it ordered. "Capture the daughter of Kairo."
He approached Kairi from behind, his eyes the color of blood under the flickering lights. Silently, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him, pressing her back to his chest.
"So-Sora," Kairi stuttered, surprised by his sudden coming on to her. "What are you doing?"
Brushing her hair away from the nape of her neck, Sora lowered his lips to her skin.
Don't! he silently told himself, restraining himself from opening his mouth. I can't! Not to anyone! Not to Kairi!
"Do it!" that voice commanded, the sound pounding through his ears.
He lost control of his body and opened his mouth, licking the skin of her flesh. An ecstatic sensation flooded his system, urging his body to continue. Whether he had lost control to the commanding voice or to this feeling of his own body, he couldn't determine at this point.
"S-Sora," Kairi stammered, her breathing quickening, "what are you doing? Please stop!" She tried to pull his hands away from her waist, but they were unmoving.
Her words were a distant echo to him, ringing in the furthest corners of his humanity. After a final taste of her flesh, he was craving something more.
"I think this has gone on long enough, Sora."
This voice pulled him back into himself. Sora regained his sense of self-control and humanity. He fell to the ground, thankful to Riku for saving him from tainting his hands with sin.
"I-I'm sorry Kairi," he finally spoke after a few moments of silence.
"What was that supposed to be?" Kairi demanded after regaining her composure. "Some kind of joke?"
"Well, ah…no—" Sora stuttered, unsure of how he should answer.
"Actually, yeah it was, but like I said, Sora took it too far," Riku answered, relieving Sora of the burden.
"Is he telling the truth?" she asked, turning to Sora for an answer. "Or is this the joke?"
Sora glanced at Riku, a word of silent thanks passing between them. "Sad to say, but yeah," he replied, grinning broadly, "it was a joke and we got you badly."
Kairi gave both of them a sharp knock on the head, first Riku and then Sora. "That wasn't funny, you guys. You shouldn't toy with a girl's emotions!"
"What do you mean?" Sora questioned.
"When you took me by the waist, I thought you were going to ki—" she stopped herself before she said too much and quickly changed the subject. "We should get going. It's already late and we haven't headed out to the city yet." As a rush of red colored her cheeks, Kairi started walking away before either of the boys could see. "Let's go!"
Riku leaned over to Sora. "You know, she really likes you."
"Yeah," Sora replied, "it's too bad." A flash of red showed in his eyes.
"Really?" Riku responded, surprise in his voice. "I thought that you liked her too."
"It's not the matter of whether I like her or not," Sora answered. "It's not good because…" he remembered the command to kill Kairi that controlled his body.
"Haven't you been taking the pills?" Riku asked as the two followed Kairi outside. "Those should keep the attacks under control and prolong your transformation."
"Well…" Sora hesitated to answer.
"You two better get out here!" Kairi urgently shouted through the open door. "I just heard someone scream for help!"
Riku and Sora hurried to follow Kairi, who was following the cry for help. They turned into a dark alley, a scream being fainly heard at the end of this dark corridor. Cautiously, the trio ran into the darkness. Sora soon took the lead, guiding the other two through the tangible darkness. Once they approached the origin of the cries for help, they were left at a dead end.
"I could've sworn that they would've been here," Sora said to himself. "What do you think abo—" He felt the air around him change, sensing a change in the environment. "Riku? Kairi?" No response. "Who's responsible for this?"
"We've been looking all over this flea-ridden city for you, Sora-san," a voice called out in the darkness. "Xemnas-sama has something of you that he wants."
"Why don't you cowards show yourselves?" he cried out into the night. "Or if you don't want to, you can go ahead and tell Xemnas to come face me himself!"
"Are you sure you want that?" A pale white figure appeared suddenly before Sora's eyes. Her fangs were bared, glistening in the sickly moonlight. A malicious look dressed her face and her eyes glowed crimson. Her night black hair stood wildly atop her head, pointing out in random directions. "My companions captured your two friends. Do you really want us to leave with the two of them?"
"Why involve the two of them? It's me that you want. Let them go!" he pleaded aggressively. "Don't involve them because of me. Let 'em go!"
"Why should I listen to you?" the female vampire responded. Two other vampires revealed themselves from the darkness, along with Riku and Kairi, who were unconscious. A male held Kairi, a female held Riku, with both bounded by their hands and feet. The female vampire that was speaking to Sora slithered over to Kairi. "If I recall, this cute girl is the daughter of Kairo. She's also someone that Xemnas-sama is looking for."
"Get your filthy hands off of her," Sora ordered, his Keyblade appearing in his outstretched hand. He didn't know exactly why or how he knew how to summon it, but it felt natural, like how to breathe or to walk. "Let her go."
"What about this boy? Don't you care about your little friend here?" the pale woman commented, walking over to Riku. "He really does look tasty and it doesn't seem that he's anyone important." She drew her dark lips close to Riku's, but then dropped her head to his neck. "I am hungry."
Sora pointed the sword to her neck, threatening to take her head if she went any further. "Leave them out of this."
Before the next second passed, all three vampires surrounded Sora, fangs bared and ready to plunge. As they rushed him, Sora sunk low toward the ground and made an amazing leap into the night sky just before the three collided with each other. Sora landed on top of them, plunging his blade through two of the three. The third, the pale female who spoke to him earlier, watched in fear as her comrades dissolved into dust at the hand of Sora's anti-vampire weapon.
"You," Sora addressed the remaining one, "I spared you for a reason." His eyes glowed an ominous red and his voice dropped to a low, husky, commanding level. "Go back to Xemnas and tell him to never come around here again. That is unless he wants to finish things off. I'm not running anymore. And you're not to mention Kairi to anyone."
The pale female's eyes flashed crimson from the order and she promptly left to return to the stronghold.
Sora's eyes returned to their normal dark sky blue and he dropped to the ground. The power that he unleashed took massive amounts of energy, leaving him tired to the bone and gasping for breath.
Stirring from her sleep, Kairi sat up in confusion. "What just happened?" She glanced over and saw Riku laying on the ground beside her. "Riku!" she shook him awake. "Riku, wake up!"
"Wha…what do you want Kairi?!" he answered, opening his eyes groggily. He also sat up in a daze, wondering where he was and how he got here. "What just happened, Kairi?" he asked, holding his hand to his head.
"I'm not sure," she answered, standing up and looking about her. "The last thing I remember is someone shouting form this alley for help and you, me, and Sora…Sora! Where's Sora?!"
"Kairi…Riku…" Sora groaned from the ground a few feet away, "thank God…you two are okay."
"Sora!" Kairi rushed over to his side. "Sora, answer me!"
-----
Finding himself in a brightly lit, white room back at the clinic, Sora sat up, a pain pulsing through his head. "What is this?" he asked aloud, holding his head between his knees.
"Are you okay?" Kairi questioned, standing up from her seat at Sora's bedside.
"Kairi, you're okay?" he exclaimed, hugging her tightly to his chest. "I'm glad that you didn't get hurt."
"What are you talking about?" Kairi replied. "How would've we been hurt? There was no one in that alley. We couldn't even find the person that had called for help. Riku's…"
"Where's Riku? Is Riku okay? He's not hurt, is he?" he inquired, holding Kairi at arm's length away.
"Calm down, Sora. Riku's fine," she answered, checking his forehead for a temperature. "Question is, are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," he responded, getting up out of bed. "See? There's nothing wrong with me."
"Thank goodness," she sighed, a sign of deep relief. "It's just that when we found you unconscious on the ground, I thought I…I lost you again…"
"Kairi…don't worry," he embraced her yet again, but this time much more closely and more intimately. "I won't leave you again. I'll stay by your side from this point on."
"Sora…" Kairi said wistfully, closing her eyes, capturing this moment of just the two of them, her heart pounding ferociously against her chest. An urge to tell Sora how she felt swelled up in her throat. "I-I want you to know something."
"What is it?" he asked, keeping his nervous voice steady as he let go of her. He didn't intend to hold her so close to him, so close to his heart that he could feel her heart beating in synch with his.
"Remember a year ago, when I asked you to meet me at the top of the hill?" Kairi paused until Sora answered with a nod. "I wanted to tell you how I felt about you…that I….I…"
"Sora," Roxas knocked at the open door, interrupting Kairi as she was about to confess, "I need to talk to you. Can I have a moment?"
"Sure," he answered, an edge of eagerness in his voice, "but can you wait there a moment? Kairi has something important she wants to tell me."
"For-forget about it," Kairi stated, taking a few steps toward the door. "It's nothing important. I'll tell you later."
"You sure?" Sora asked, a genuine tone ringing in his voice. He could read the slight fear in her eyes, the little quiver to her lip. Resisting the urge to reach out and pull her back into his arms, he reminded himself not to get too close to Kairi, not to get her too involved with him.
"Yeah, it can wait," she answered, taking a step out the room and quickly reappearing. "Sora, my dad told me to give you this for your medication." She walked back over to Sora's side and pulled out a pill. After observing the white round concentration of drugs closely for a brief moment, she placed it in Sora's open palm. "The markings on that remind me of the one on the blood tablet. Isn't that just strange…how much they look alike?"
Sora looked at the pill and then at Kairi, stunned at the connection she had make. "Yeah, isn't that funny? Because if I had to take blood tablets, that would've meant that I need to drink blood."
"And if you need to drink blood," Kairi continued, "then that would mean that you were a vampire…" She paused, thinking about the moment when Sora reacted to the sight of her blood. She shook off that thought, slightly ashamed that she'd even consider such a thought. "…and there's no way that you'd be a vampire."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Kairi," Roxas said inexpressively from the door, "but I would really like a word with Sora."
"Oh, gomen," she replied, starting out of the room. She paused at the door and turned to Sora. "Don't stress your body too much, 'kay?" she told him, a worried tone filling her voice. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."
"Alright Kairi," he answered. "I'll see you and Riku tomorrow morning for school."
"Oyusami."
"Oyusami," he said after her as she left the room. He looked down at the pill in his hand, knowing that it would hold no effect over him, and placed it on the table.
"It seems that your body won't accept them," Roxas noted. "It also seems like she's in love with you."
Shaking the red color that arose in his cheeks, Sora turned away from his companion. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Why are you here?" Roxas questioned again.
"What do you mean?"
"You can't be here unless someone…I…I killed you with my own hands…pierced you through your heart…even though I didn't want to…there was blood all over my hands…we left you without breath…you couldn't have survived all that…there's no way you could…" Roxas was breathing heavily as he tried to explain to Sora his thoughts.
Sora took his friend's head in his hands, drawing Roxas close to him. "Roxas, I told you before. I can only die at the hands of one person."
"Who?" Roxas asked, his breathing back in pace. "Tell me who. I'll take them out now. I can't afford to lose you. You're the only one who understood me completely even though you were different then."
"I can't Roxas," Sora answered. "I'd put everyone in danger if I did that. You, Naminé, Demyx, Riku, Kairi…" He said that last name with a certain tenderness.
"You love her, don't you?" Roxas noticed.
"What makes you say that?" he replied, flustered at having Roxas find out.
"The way you say her name," Roxas pointed out. "There's a different between how you say her name compared to the rest of us. There's a softness that you add to her name. Kinda like the way I am with Nami—" He stopped abruptly, his face red because he said too much.
"Kinda like the way you're like when you're with whom?" Sora elbowed his friend in the side jokingly.
"Shut up!" His cheeks because even pinker than they had previously been. "What are you going to do about Kairi? She obviously doesn't know that you like her… or that you've become—"
"Don't say it Roxas," Sora interrupted. "It's already bad enough that I've been turned into this and that I'm falling fast. But I've tried to kill her…against my will. If she gets too close to me, who knows what he'll tell me to do next?"
"Who?" Roxas asked urgently. "Who's telling you to kill Kairi? Who is he?"
Someone knocked at the wall inside the room, causing Sora and Roxas to turn toward the entrance. Professor Kaito stood at the door, watching both of them as they looked at him.
"Roxas," Kaito quietly spoke, still in the same place, "I need to speak to you. It concerns your earlier request."
"But Kaito-sensei, I—" Roxas answered, not wanting to leave Sora until he received a clear answer about the voice controlling the marionette.
"I need to speak to you now," Professor argued, a stern tone in his voice. "Besides, I believe Sora should be resting at this time."
"But—"
"Roxas," Kaito stated once more. He looked at him with an unhappy look, one that said that if Roxas didn't leave, Kaito would drag him out.
"Hai," he relented, walking slowly toward the door in defeat.
As the two walked out the room, Kaito paused, his keen eyes making a quick observation. "I'd advise you to take that pill…before that hunger becomes uncontrollable," he said, closing the door behind him.
Sora, his eyes adjusted to the bleak darkness, searched the table which he placed the tablet. He picked up the white medication that was to slow his descent, looking at it with disdainful eyes. He walked into the adjacent bathroom, turning on the dim lights, and glanced at his reflection in the mirror.
He hated his reflection…no, he loathed it. It was the same face from over a year ago, but during that year, it grew evil and ugly. His skin, though it showed a youthful glow, was pale, white and cold to his touch. His eyes, though still blue like the promising sky, became red with an unquenchable thirst. His entire being was mocking him as he looked at himself.
Then his eyes rested on the pill in his hands.
How he wanted to smash the mirror into a million miniscule fragments, laying on the tiled floor. To smash his reflection. To smash his current existence.
"I can't take this anymore!" he cried to himself, pounding his fist against the bathroom countertop. "Why must I continue living like this?"
"Don't say things like that!" a voice stated.
Sora looked into the mirror and saw Kairi standing at the doorway, her hands held together over her chest. "Kairi!" he said, turning his head toward the door.
"Don't say hurtful things like that about yourself," Kairi repeated, walking slowly toward him. "I told you before. I can't lose you again. I don't know what I'd do if you left me again. I don't think I can live."
"Ka…Kairi, I'm sorry," he answered, remorse lying heavily in his voice. "I didn't mean it like that. I guess I was just venting."
A moment of awkward silence fell over them. Neither one knew what to say next. Then Kairi noticed the tablet in Sora's hand.
"You still haven't taken that yet?" she questioned, taking it from him.
"I'll take it in a little bit—"
"No," Kairi rebuked, her maternal side flickering in her voice, "you should take it now." She pressed the tablet to his mouth, persuading him to open it. "Here."
Sora pushed her wrist away, afraid of the consequences. "Not now, Kairi. I can't."
"Why?" she questioned. "Are you afraid of a little tablet?"
"No, it's just that I'm supposed to take it at a cer—"
His words were cut short as Kairi placed the white medication into his mouth mid-word. As the powdery substance dissolved, the chemicals within the tablet reacted with his saliva, forming a liquid with similar properties and taste to blood. His body rejected his imitation, no matter how similar its chemical make-up was to the real thing.
But, by tasting this false blood, his heart hungered for the real thing. And the closest source was standing in front of him.
"Sora," Kairi called out, worried, "are you okay?" She grabbed his shoulders, questioning him repeatedly. "Sora, is something wrong?"
"Ka…Kairi…" his voice strained. There was no turning back. He couldn't fight his body's desire. He took hold of her shoulders, pulling her close to him, and plunged his teeth into her neck.
So-Sora… Kairi thought as she felt him pierce her flesh, Sora's a vampire…
What happens next? Find out in the next chapter: True First Day ~ Kyuuketsuki~