How It Became
: 亡き王女の為のセップテットSeptette for the Dead Princess
As I strolled down the deserted streets, I held Flandre's hand tighter. Autumn was coming in a few days and we still had not found a place to stay. I felt Flandre shiver as we walked forward, but paid no heed to it. The sooner we found a place to stay, the faster she will be able to keep warm.
The night was black, so dark that it looked like a never-ending cave underground. Stars dotted black night sky but the light did little to nothing to brighten up the sky. The moon however, was as round as a silver bauble hanging from a Christmas tree. I stopped for a moment to admire the full moon with Flandre, who gazed at it with eyes that twinkled with curiosity. The radiant snowy glow from the moon made it even more spectacular.
'Big sister, the moon is really pretty!' Flandre exclaimed to me. I chuckled for a moment before telling her that we were going to find a place to stay soon. We had been looking for somewhere to stay for more than two days already and we needed to find a place to stay for the cold season. Lady Luck smiled upon us when I spotted a large mansion a short distance away. I tugged at Flandre's arm for her to pick up her pace.
Suddenly, Flandre spun round to look behind. I raised a quizzical brow, questioning her behaviour. She has been doing that every night since we got kicked out by the old lady who couldn't afford to help us anymore. I really need to know what's up with her.
'Hey, Flandre, are you alright? Nowadays you keep turning around for no reason at night.' I kept my voice soft, not wanting to attract undesirable attention. From the scraps of newspaper we found, there had been an increasing number of missing villagers, so we had to pay extra attention to our belongings. However, turning around every night when there was nothing behind was a different matter.
Flandre had difficulty trying to speak up, since she's a mere five-year old. She tugged at my rugged and stained sleeve, shaking in fear. What's wrong with her? She stuttered a bit initially as she tried to form her sentence, 'I-I no- I-I'm scared…'
I did not know whether to give a blank face or just ask her why straight away.
'Th-there… there's something… following us…' Her voice trailed off as she tried to turn behind and peek at the surroundings behind us. I did not expect that at all. I looked behind us and finally noticed for the first time how creepy the streets looked. The increase in missing people lately did not help one bit. I tried to reassure Flandre that all would be alright and gripped her hand tighter. I did not tell her that I was getting scared too. Fear was the last thing one would want to experience when there was possibly an unknown person following them. This applied to me as well.
'A-are you… sure? I can feel him… He-he-' She never finished that sentence when at that very moment, a large dominating figure struck us from behind, causing us to fall over and let go of each other. I felt myself being pushed against a wall and winced as cold hands squeezed my neck with inhumane strength, causing me to gasp for air. My eyelids cracked open slowly to take a look at the potential kidnapper. My eyes widened in fear and my pulse increased tremendously as my heart threatened to jump out of my rib cage. Fangs, red eyes, wings and strength that no human could compare to, there was no mistake.
I was being intercepted by a vampire.
Flandre kept screaming, pushing herself away from us in tears. The vampire's eyes were locked on mine, as if he was examining my every feature. I raised my right hand, trying to push him away from me but he neither flinched nor budged. Damn it! I need to save Flandre! When he brought his fangs into the skin around my shoulders, I screamed in pain, my hands clenched together and eyes snapped shut. I did not stop screaming while the vampire's fangs were still embedded in my body, sucking my blood dry.
'Big Sister!' Flandre yelled as she shook in fear. I tried to open my eyes to catch a glimpse of Flandre, but as I tried to process what I saw, Flandre did something unimaginable.
'Big Sister… your eyes… your back… go… go away!' She yelled as she raised her hands, trying to shield herself from my gaze. What happened to my eyes? As the vampire finally released his grip on me, I fell onto the cold concrete path like a rag doll, energy drained from me. My head felt heavy and I struggled to look forward. I felt a strange, queasy sensation as my back began to sprout something but my head was in too much pain for me to bother about it anymore. God damn it! That ass better not touch Flandre!
The vampire turned and fixed his piercing red orbs on Flandre's curled-up form. He muttered something quietly to himself about blood as he paced towards her slowly. Flandre's limbs scrambled around, her hands trying to push her back with every step the vampire took while her legs tried to keep as close to her as possible. In the blink of an eye, the vampire lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of Flandre's blonde, unkempt hair and slammed her against the wall next to me. I could hear Flandre's sniffles and sobs increase in volume as the vampire tightened his grip around Flandre's neck.
Without thinking, I instinctively dashed towards the vampire and aimed my right hand for his stomach. He brought his leg out and kicked me into the wall, causing the bricks around my back to crack and fall apart. I felt warm liquid ooze out of my back, soaking my dirty pale pink shirt. My eyelids grew heavier by the second despite my inner protests to keep them open. At this moment, the vampire's fangs sank into Flandre's neck. No… She screamed in pain for a few seconds. Then, she suddenly grew silent.
'How dare you hurt Big Sister?!' Flandre's free arms which were not restrained by him clenched into firm fists as her voice, now menacing and frightening, spoke. The vampire's fangs still remained buried in Flandre's skin but she paid no attention to them. She raised her right hand, palm facing the vampire.
'Kyuu.'
The vampire before her exploded into a large mess of blood and flesh. The fangs were no more, but the vampire still managed to turn her into one of his kind. As deformed wings grew from her back, she stepped towards me, silent from her display of power. My eyes looked into her now scarlet eyes. Within those clear eyes, I could see myself, my vampire wings and my identical red eyes.
'Hey, Big Sister, let's go take that big mansion.' Flandre said innocently, her expression void of any hatred or anger previous displayed. I looked down at my feet for a while before I smirked. Perhaps, since my life is now fucked up, I might as well live it to its fullest. I nodded in agreement and stood up, a new-found strength within me providing my energy as we held one another's bloodied hands and walked towards the mansion. At least I still have Flandre.
'Hey, Flandre, get ready to play. We're also going to have a delicious feast in red.' I snickered as the mansion's ominous presence drew closer and closer to us with every step. With our clothes now dyed a deep scarlet, no one shall leave the mansion alive.