Title: Blood of the Snake
By: retroelectric
Warnings: Mature themes, Vampirism, Horror/Supernatural, Yaoi, Alternate Universe
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Get Backers. This is a Get Backers fan fiction, ideas purely fan-made speculations based off the relationship between the Get Backers duo and infused with several elements inspired – and not stolen off the Vampire Chronicles Universe by Anne Rice. It is also important to note that this does not contain ANY of her characters, thus this is strictly NOT a Vampire Chronicles/Get Backers crossover. In this way I do not breach any of Anne Rice's policies regarding fan fiction on her work.
Chapter 8
It was blindingly bright and colourful outside.
That was the first thought which struck both Ginji and Ban as they stepped out of the mansion for the first time in three days. If there ever was such natural and exquisite beauty in this concrete-coated world, Ban thought, then that was what he was looking at it right now. He remembered the flowery descriptions of wilderness and warmth and peace from a scene in a romance novel he had picked up and read out of curiosity, and this breathtaking view reminded him of it. The picturesque way sunlight fell onto the flowers and clipped bushes of the lush garden which he hadn't even known existed made him wonder. He hadn't even realised such beauty existed in a place where such an... enigmatic vampire resided.
His train of thought was interrupted by Ginji's soft voice. "Ban-chan..." Ginji said, in wonder as he stared open-mouthed at the view. "It's so beautiful," he finished.
"It is, isn't it," Ban agreed, surveying the greenery. He was momentarily startled as he felt a warm hand on his arm tugging him forward, and realised Ginji wanted him to move with him.
"Wow, Ban-chan, what's the name of this flower? It looks like a trumpet..." Ginji pointed excitedly towards a large red flower with long petals.
"That's a hibiscus."
Ban followed closely behind Ginji watching his partner fondly as he moved from flower to flower. His brown eyes shone happily as he fingered the soft petals. "They're all so pretty, Ban-chan!"
"I'm glad you like them, Sir," A foreign voice responded.
Both of them turned to the direction where the voice came from. A well-dressed elderly Japanese man smiled at them, with a pair of dirt-covered gloves bunched up in one hand. The man was sturdily built and it suggested years of hard labour, but his oddly upright posture belied it. His handsome face was deeply lined with age, and despite that, the lines of his face and the hard set of his jaw let them both to believe that he had been a very good-looking man once. He moved closer to the pair, and spoke. "I've taken care of this garden for more than forty years, but no one has ever come to look at my work, not even Master Cadmus, in a long time."
"Really? That's terrible! This garden is so beautiful! You've done a good job, Mr..." Ginji replied, gesturing for his name.
"Call me Kato-san." The old man offered. "I assume you both are Master Cadmus's mysterious guests? The servants were terribly excited when they finally got a chance to cook again. Our Master never eats nor drinks. He would usually be gone by day, leaving this mansion in our hands. He told us to treat this place as our own home. Of course, we are paid handsomely to do so, to keep it in good condition. We are eternally grateful. Now, the servants told me of a pair of young men, of whom our dear Master Cadmus seem to be quite taken to. I should guess that you both are the two young men." Ginji blushed, while Ban bristled. Seeing Ban's reaction, Kato continued apologetically. "Although, I shouldn't assume such matters pertaining to dear Master Cadmus's fancies, ah, yes, I shouldn't."
Ban felt like responding with a brisk 'Damn right you shouldn't', but he opted to remain silent. Ginji, meanwhile, decided to introduce themselves to the seemingly kind old man. "I am Amano Ginji, and this is my best friend Midou Ban-chan! We are the Get Backers!" He said brightly, bowing slightly before him.
The old man seemed surprised. "The Get Backers?"
"Yes, we are a retrieval team based in Shinjuku," Ban finally spoke, smiling enigmatically at the old man. "Nice to meet you."
Kato suddenly had a faraway look in his eyes. "You are quite the distance away from home."
"Where are we, then?" Ginji inquired, curious.
Kato's face darkened slightly as though he had a secret to hide. "Let's go inside for a while, shall we? I'm tired from pulling those weeds, and I could use a drink." The old man suggested, gesturing to the mansion. Ban and Ginji nodded, and Ginji shot one last longing glance to the garden. This did not go unnoticed by Ban, and he placed a hand on Ginji's shoulder in a gesture meant to comfort him.
"We'll come out again later, I promise," Ban whispered in his ear. Ginji nodded in response.
Kato paused on the doorstep, causing the two to stop as well. "Please wait for me on the fifth floor, the second door to your right. That would be where I stay." Kato's voice lowered considerably and he spoke in a hushed tone. "We do not want Master Cadmus to overhear us. If we were to talk about this in the living room, we'd be right above Master Cadmus, and he hears all, sees all." Ban nodded curtly, understanding and they climbed the stairs up to the room.
The fifth level of the mansion contained several rooms. Ginji gaped, and paused to count the number of doors. Ban clicked his tongue impatiently at it and shoved Ginji inside Kato's room, effectively starting a bout of Ginji's whining.
"Ban-chan, I just wanted to see how many rooms there are..." Ginji started, turning to face his partner with round, pleading brown eyes.
"Quiet, Ginji. You can always do that later." Ban admonished. "Did you hear the way the reverent way the old gardener spoke about Cadmus? 'Hears all, sees all'." He quoted. "And that if we were in the living room, we'd be right above Cadmus. Does that mean he's underground right now?" Ban paced back and forth along the length of the large room, contemplating the mystery.
Ginji nodded. "Hmm, maybe. It did seem weird the way Kato-san referred to him as Master Cadmus all the while..."
"Good ol' Cadmus has some hidden secrets up his sleeve." Ban mused. "How come we never came across any of the servants before?"
"Maybe they are ghosts, Ban-chan," Ginji said thoughtfully, moving to sit down in the velvet chair.
Ban stared at his partner incredulously, a smile tugging onto his lips. "Ghosts and a vampire under one roof, Ginji? You think of some weird stuff."
"Cadmus is a vampire, Ban-chan! If there are vampires, there would surely be things like ghosts and all that as well, right?" Ginji said defensively. He shuddered as a thought hit him. "Ne, Ban-chan..."
"Yes?"
"What if... Kato-san... is a ghost?"
Ban laughed. "Don't be silly. Do ghosts appear in broad daylight?"
Ginji didn't get an opportunity to bite back a response as the door opened, and the grey-haired gardener came into the room, with a tray and a few caramel-coloured glass bottles of what appeared to look like beer in it. Upon closer inspection, Ban saw that it was. Ban frowned, do old gardeners normally down bottles of cold beer after they'd spent the morning pulling up weed?
"Iriomote," Kato clarified, offering a bottle each to Ban and Ginji and sitting down on his bed.
"Iriomote? You mean to say that this mansion is surrounded by jungles?" Ban asked nonchalantly, hiding the panic rising in his mind at the information and taking the offered bottle, removing the cork with his teeth.
Ginji struggled to pry the cork with his fingers and finally succeeded. Then he mulled over what Ban had said in his mind as he took a sip of the bitter yet oddly satisfying liquid. Then it struck him.
"W-Wait a minute, jungles?!" Ginji exclaimed shrilly.
Kato nodded, confirming the truth.
"Master Cadmus built this place around 50 years ago. I was a young man like you were back then - and was just a curious tourist from mainland Tokyo who had, after certain misdirections, become lost alone in the woods. I remember my desperate fear then of never being found, and eventually dying in the maze-like jungle. I called out, to see if anyone could hear and help me. But there was none. I was getting more and more afraid once night came, and I could not help but to cry. I was so cold, so hungry... and when I looked up, there was a man standing in front of me, offering his hand."
"I thought then he may have been an angel, or a ghost. He was so beautiful, and so enigmatic that I couldn't speak for a while, and I only looked at him with the tears drying on my face. Then he laughed, and it held me in thrall. It was so rich, and I never heard quite a sound like that in my life. He lifted me in one motion, and I do not know much to describe that feeling, but I felt so at ease and the exhaustion of the eventful day finally caught up with me and I fell asleep in his arms."
The Get Backers listened intently to the man's story. "I woke up surprisingly, in a bed. I began to wonder whether everything was just a dream. I went out of the room and down the stairs, and saw the same man as before lying sprawled across a large chair. He grinned and beckoned to me with one finger, and I felt drawn to that figure in the chair. I went to him, and he drew me into an quick embrace, making me sprawl onto him." The beginnings of a blush appeared in Kato's face.
"When he finally spoke, it was to tell me to eat. I stared at him as though his words were foreign." Ginji was startled at the sudden pause, and nodded probingly for Kato to go on.
"As I ate, he offered me a job working for him, just tending to his garden, for a large sum of money. Of course, I had free lodgings and food, so I had to accept. And I had no idea where I was, besides the fact that I was in Iriomote. Life back in Tokyo could never be as good as this. With my decision to stay with him, I had the opportune moment to leave all my bad memories behind, and all my family. So, I accepted."
"He swore me to secrecy not to reveal the location of this place. But as an old man, I'm telling both of you my story because, really, you cannot go away and escape from this place at all. I know, because I've tried. And so have the rest."
"W-What do you mean, Kato-san?" Ginji stammered in a sudden surge of fear.
"Master Cadmus is a sorceror. An alchemist, if I could say that. I have never left the grounds of this mansion for more than 40 years. Every time I would try to, I end up walking in the same circles and return to the same place once more, as though there is a charm preventing intruders from finding this place, and from anyone attempting to leave."
"I don't believe you," Ban suddenly groused, with the tone of someone being challenged with something offensively easy and gulping down the beer that he'd forgotten in his hand. "I can escape any time I please."
"Try to escape, then." The statement was spoken so fiercely, that Ban was taken aback.
Ban regained himself, and smirked. "Are you bitter, old man? The lap of solitude is too much for you?"
"Ban-chan, don't say that!" Ginji exclaimed to his partner, frowning.
The old gardener was silenced for a moment. "It could very well be," he rasped, grudgingly, finishing the first bottle of beer, and moved to open a second one.
"Well, we're going off, then. See you around." Ban spoke, tugging onto Ginji's sleeve and motioning him to stand up as well. Right before they opened the door, the old man who was now reclining onto his bed spoke in a calm voice.
"I know what you're thinking, Midou Ban."
Ban tensed and turned to face the figure on the bed. "And that is...?"
"You, the ever-analytical man, heard and inferred what I had said about Master Cadmus being underground. I know from the look on your face. You are curious, and you want to know more. And you want to solve his mystery. And I suggest... ignore what I said, unless you want to die. No one enters my Master's dungeon and comes out alive."
Damn it, how did this old man know? "Well, maybe we are not ordinary people, old man."
With that, Ban grasped Ginji's hand in a firm hold. He threw the door open and the both of them slipped away outside, into the sun and away from meddling, drinking old gardeners and mysteries abound.