Next Door

Chapter 6: Angel's Blood

Bzzt…

Bzzt…

Bzzt…

…

Risa felt the phone that was settled snuggly in her bosom vibrate, causing her to awaken to the surprising sensation. Slowly coming back into reality, Risa's head was pounding and her eyes focused to see that her glasses were still on her face, though they were nearly falling off her ears. She pushed them back to rest squarely on her nose before yawing and looking around to observe her surroundings.

She was back at home. Somehow she made it back to the comfort of her mattress but her clothes from the day before were still on. Remembering her formerly ringing phone, Risa fished it out of her top and pressed a button to light up the screen. It was an alarm clock that was set to wake her up at eight forty-five and she then turned it off. The day was Monday, and with a small groan, Risa finally realized it was a school day and that classes started at ten-thirty. With reluctance, she forced herself out of bed and went to ready herself.

The house was quiet; Miki was already in school and her parents more than likely left for work about five hours ago. But being alone in the house sent a chilling felling up her spine. She was still confused as to how she came back home. Risa then saw a note on the bathroom door as she went to brush her teeth. She picked it up and saw that it was from Miki.

'Hey Sis,

Sesshoumaru came by last night and dropped you off from your date last night. He said you were tired from dancing too much but I think a little more happened (If you know what I mean ;3). Anyways I'm glad you had fun and I'm gonna want details of everything that went on when I get back from school today!

3 Miki

PS. Oh! Sesshoumaru said he brought back your car so you won't be late for classes. Isn't that sweet?

PSS. Oh! And Mom said to make sure we get more boxes unpacked today. Ugh!

Risa crumpled up the note after reading it and threw the paper away in the trash bin. So that answered one question. But her mind was still focused on the events that occurred before she blacked out at the club. That tricky demon put something in her drink, and she could only shudder at the thought of what went on while she was unconscious.

As she brushed through her golden brown locks, Risa noticed that her right wrist was a tad sore. Setting the brush down, she examined it and found a tiny circular band-aid.

"What the hell?" Risa audibly said to herself. "What the heck did he do to me last night?"

…

Sesshoumaru sat in the library of Hartman University looking through medical book after medical book. With a pen and notebook on the ready, the silver-haired man wrote down everything that came off as interesting to him. However, the process would have went even smoother if the crowd of ogling girls weren't sitting so close to him.

"Shall I turn the page for you handsome?" One girl asked in a flirtatious manner.

She received nothing but a glower in response, and the student went to sit up straight and back out of Sesshoumaru's space. The other girls, unfortunately, weren't so quick to catch on to his nonverbal signals for them to leave his presence. Just as Sesshoumaru was about to give up on studying in peace, his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He looked on the screen to see that Kagura had sent him a text. Using this as an excuse for privacy, Sesshoumaru shooed the girls away and let out a sigh of relief, happy that he was alone.

Reading through the message, Sesshoumaru grew a pleasant smirk on his face as he read the good news.

'Kagura: Everything went smoothly last night sir. Customers are interested in what you'll have in stock for them next week. Also, I've prepared everything for this afternoon's experiment. I'll be waiting for you at 6 this evening.

-Wind Bitch-'

Sesshoumaru clicked from his messages page and set his phone down. In a way, this was bittersweet. Sure his 'real' customers were taking some fascination with his new product; however, he only had about a week to come up with it. Everything needed to be perfect.

"I'm telling you Koga, this guy gives me the creeps."

The recognizable sound of Risa's voice rang through the taiyoukai's ears, prompting him to rush from his work station and hide behind a nearby bookcase. He overheard her first statement, and wanted to find out what the young brunette really thought of him.

"Why don't you just go to the police? I would; sounds like he's real bad news." The male called 'Koga' advised.

"I would, but… I don't think I really have a case on my hands. I mean it's not like I woke up feeling terrible, or different. All my belongings were still with me and the band-aid on my wrist… it could easily be explained for a number of reasons… Who knows, maybe I was just tired from excitement."

"Oh see that's a huge mistake you're making. Blaming yourself is never the right thing to do. However I can see what you about taking your case to the police. The way I see it, I think you should just stay away from him. And if he causes you trouble you know who to call."

"The police?" Risa asked.

"No! Me! I'll take care of him for ya!"

As Risa's giggling ended their conversation, Sesshoumaru quietly left his hiding place to exit the library out the back door. This 'Koga' Risa was speaking with, left an irritating impression on the graceful demon. Who did that runt think he was dealing with? Certainly not the great Sesshoumaru that's who!

Now that he knew Risa would reject him the next time the two crossed paths – which the taiyoukai expected - Sesshoumaru had dismissed his plan of asking Risa out on another date, he would need another plan of action. But first, he needed to head back to his office in at Skinz.

He reviewed his research notes, and though he was disappointed that his studying ended early, Sesshoumaru figured that this would be sufficient information for his work this evening.

…

Kagura, followed by an entourage of nicely dressed bouncers, walked into Sesshoumaru's underground club and traveled through the V.I.P. area to the back room where their boss' office was located. One of the bouncers was carrying a small woman who looked to be about the same age as Risa with brown eyes and black locks, a cloth covering her mouth. The demoness Kagura was now dressed in a short silver dress with matching heels and carrying a closed fan. She led her entourage through the bar room into the underground tunnel and stopped in front of a cell-like room. Pointing her closed fan in the direction of the cell, the men instantly bound the woman to the wall. Each wrist was shackled and the woman hung against the stony wall with her feet barely touching the ground below. The room was dim and a lone desk sat in the far corner next to the cell door. Behind the desk were two chairs and Kagura took a seat while she waited for Sesshoumaru. The bouncers, however, stood at attention.

Sesshoumaru arrived on the scene a few minutes before six, and raised his brow at the demoness sitting on his chair, her feet propped up on his desk.

"You're early. How strange. You aren't about to ask me for a raise are you?" The man asked Kagura.

The demoness, unfazed by his remark, sneered before standing up to present him the new arrival. Kagura, followed by Sesshoumaru, went up to the woman hanging against the wall and smiled.

"Here she is Hiro-sama, your subject. I received medical records from the hospital spy and pulled up the little miss here. Healthy, clean, and pure, just like that Risa girl."

"Hn. Quite. Well then, let's begin; we don't have time to waste."

"Yes Hiro-sama."

As Sesshoumaru went to work, somehow he couldn't take his mind off of Risa. He had actually been focusing on what the girl was saying about him in the library. Why was it the fact that she didn't want to be around him bothered the taiyoukai to no end? To others, they would argue that there were others way more appealing than the plain brunette with common green eyes. But to him, the girl was so beautiful…

Why?!

A growl purred at the back of his throat; what was it about that woman that made her so different from the others? What was it that made her so… so… Irresistible? He just had to have her for himself; and to have her as more than just a source for his newest narcotic, Angel's Blood. But there was that one annoying problem; this irritating fact had been taunting his thoughts ever since he laid eyes on the cute girl.

She was human.

He sneered as his thought clung desperately to that small tidbit, but suddenly, something came to the demon's mind as he looked down to examine the vial that he pulled from his pocket. It was filled with what appeared to be blood, and the vial was marked in permanent marker, 'Risa - Angel's Blood.' He then looked to new the dangling woman before him and cocked a brow.

Maybe this could provide a great experimenting opportunity.