Disclaimer: Not mine.
I already envisioned the ending for this one. Although I'm not sure when I have the time to write everything down or how many chapters there are still.
Thanks for reading and reviewing. It pleases me that this story makes you smile or laugh.
Bite Me
"You know Natsuki, I like you and all but I have to say you're really odd for a Lycan."
Natsuki took off her sunglasses and eyed the human who is currently making a sand castle. "You are the odd one for making that thing."
"This thing is called a sand castle. It's the next best thing I could get to the real thing."
"You fancy having a castle of your own?"
"Who doesn't?" He eyed the Lycan and shrugged. "Of course you don't. You fancy caves and underground rivers."
"Don't forget the forest. I like them the best." She pointed out.
"How could I forget? Of course, the forest."
"There's nothing wrong with what I like. Yours is I what I find most disturbing. If I know you're a vampire in guise of a human."
"That would be the day."
Natsuki sensed a hint of unevenness in his tone and she did not let it pass. "Do not tell me, you fancy being one of them?"
A bewildered look faced Natsuki in an instant. "No, it's not that... It's just that... I..."
"So you do? You're aware that you cannot make sand castles anymore in broad daylight if you turned into one?"
She mulled the possibilities. "Then again, you can have your own castle, but I doubt it would be your very own as their kind nowadays likes to live under the same roof. Talk about being social, those vampires are..."
"No, you got it wrong."
"What did you want then? Don't tell me you fancy having their pale complexion though you are pale already, so I guess nothing would change. Is it the fangs then?"
"No, I want the immortality."
A cynical smile. "Ah, yes that one. It seems everyone fancy that bit. Immortality."
"But you can do so much if you can live forever!" Ben exclaimed, the sand castle now forgotten.
"What worth is this lifetime if you cannot have what you want."
"You speak that it meant nothing because you already have what you want!"
"Do not tell me what I want!" Natsuki snarled.
Ben fidgeted. His nerves wanted to back down but he didn't. "Give me a break. You already have someone to spend your lifetime with. Shizuru, isn't?"
"You don't know what you speak of, mortal."
"When did you become so haughty? I thought you said I could freely say whatever's in my mind for you see me not only your meal ticket but also as a friend?"
"Yes, I did say that but know your boundaries!"
"Now you talk about boundaries when it only boils to one point... Her. Shizuru Fujino."
Natsuki bit her lip, not wanting to admit. "Stop saying her name."
"Do I sully her name by speaking it in public? I apologize. But I won't apologize by wanting what you immortals have."
"It is easy for you to say thoughtless things because you don't know what it feels like."
"I don't but I have lived vicariously thanks to you."
Natsuki laughed. "Ben, you are funny sometimes. The encounters you had with me is not enough to summarize what an immortal experiences. Your very own lifetime won't suffice to even considered as an introductory to mine.
"Then let me experience it on my own."
She stared the mortal in the eye and asked, "You're not pulling my leg? You're serious with this?"
The mortal stared back and replied, "I am, actually."
Natsuki slipped on her sunglasses. "Too bad I can't let you. I'd rather snap your neck myself than having you suffer because of this curse."
"What? Don't be selfish!"
"Ben, weren't you the one who told me that because you don't have a lifetime like we do, you make it to a point that every moment you have with your loved ones special?"
"Yes, so?"
The Lycan scoffed. "So, if you lose your mortality then you'll also lose that privilege, that something which mortals can only grasp."
She sneaked a glance and saw realization dawning in his eyes. "You finally remember now, genius? The difference between us is your sense of life. You live as if it's the last. You care as if it's the last. You love as if it's the last. You make every second worthwhile because you instinctively know that you won't live forever and that's what make it special. Us? We can try to pretend to have the fullest in our actions, but the truth is there, plain as a moon during the night..."
Ben didn't even breathe as he waits for her to finish her thoughts.
"Once bitten, you may live forever but at that moment...you die inside."
She gave the mortal a feeble smile. "And that, my friend, is anything but special."
"My lord, I am not questioning your desires but are you certain you wish to do this?"
"Taka, your worries are cast upon the wrong person. I am not to combust into ashes the minute sunlight touches me."
"I'm aware of that, my lord. But please cannot I do something to change your mind? You have just woken up and strong you may be, under that sunlight you might be weakened and even scarred permanently."
"Your care for me is most astonishing, Taka. And I would have given you a reward if I didn't find it wrongly placed at the moment.
"But, my lord—"
"Enough!"
Silence.
"Your distrust for my actions is most insulting. I know what I am doing. I'm not a child you need to protect. You are aware that I do not battle on my own without an armor. Trust me Taka, I do have a plan."
Shizuru gave her servant a belittling look. "If you just stop for a moment and listen to what I command without complaining then you'd understand that what you fret over is folly at its best.
After hearing the command, Taka realized that he really did worry for nothing.
"Are you still angry with me, Natsuki?"
The Lycan and mortal have not talked for hours, or to be more accurate, the Lycan wouldn't respond.
"Look Natsuki, I was just...You know, being human."
Still no response, not even a glimpse.
"I was merely tempted by the idea. You know how I like to learn, to study, to explore... and I thought maybe that if I have forever then I could do all that. But I guess I'm wrong..."
Finally Natsuki gazed his way but still no response. Ben sensed he needed to do more self-deprecating to gain the Lycan's friendship once again.
"And I admit I'm being stu—"
He struggled with an adjective which he hated to be associated with his name. He looked at Natsuki and find that she's expecting him to say it.
"Stupid! There I've said it! I am stupid! Please don't be angry with me?" He pleaded.
The million-watt smile of the famous Lycan appeared and the mortal felt at ease.
"Say it again." She teased.
"Come on! I can only humiliate myself once."
No response.
"Okay fine! I am stupid. I, Ben Walter, am a very, very, very stupid man."
Another million-watt smile appeared.
"Well, didn't that made you feel better? It's good to let out the truth out in the open sometimes don't you think?"
"Stop it. It's not funny."
"But it is funny. I should have brought a recorded so I could have shared it with your sister."
"No! Not Alicia!"
Natsuki grinned like a child and suddenly an idea popped into Ben's mind. "Speaking of Alicia, do you know that she fancies you?"
"Don't we use the word 'fancy' a lot today?"
"You are deflecting again."
"No, just stating the obvious. So what about Alicia?"
"I said, she fancies you."
"What about it? I give money to your family because of your services so there's no surprise that she'd like me."
"You know it's more than that. She really likes you."
"And what have you been doing to dismiss her infatuation over me?"
"She may have been a wild child before, but she's an adult now. She's now capable of making her own decisions."
"But you are her older brother. You are supposed to stop anything that would lead to her despair."
"Well..."
"What, Ben? What did you thought? Out with it."
"I thought that maybe you'd like her. Maybe feed off her."
"What? Are you out of your mind? Do you want your little sister dead?"
"No!"
"Then why do you suggest such thing? You know I dispose of the mortals I've fed. You know I don't let them live because they'll turn into a Lycan afterwards."
A realization.
"Hold on. You would like her to be one of us? A Lycan? Ben! You really are stupid!"
"It was not my idea. It was hers. She really likes you and she said she wanted to stay with your side whatever it takes...Even having turned into a Lycan, she'd accept just to be with you."
"Ben, are you feeding your sister enough? Why does she have such delusions?"
"You know full well that you cannot teach the heart which one to beat for."
There was stillness in the air and then suddenly a voice broke it.
"Yes, my dear Natsuki...I wonder to whom does your heart go pitter-patter for?"
Ben chuckled as he didn't recognize the woman who made the comment. "That was a nice one, Natsuki." He patted Natsuki's back through his laughter and he also didn't see a deathly glare sent towards his way after he done the act.
"Shizuru."
The name said it all, and Ben stilled like a statue.
"Natsuki, who is this mortal you're with?"
"What are you doing here?"
"I said who is this mortal you're with?"
Not wanting for Shizuru to take the lead, she persisted. "What are you doing here?"
The vampire shrugged her shoulders and stated, "Isn't it obvious? I came here to talk with you."
"I said I didn't want to talk with you. And who are those women tangled with your limbs?"
"Oh them?" She gestured towards the four women embracing her whole body. The fifth one is in the back, holding a large, pink parasol. "They're my sunlight vest. It's awfully sunny in this place. It makes me itchy."
"Shizuru? Your Shizuru?" Ben inquired Natsuki, his eyes like a saucer in disbelief. "I thought vampires cannot be under the sun? Isn't that why we are here?"
That earned him a smack on his head by Natsuki.
"So that's why you are here? To avoid me? You think lightly of me, Natsuki, if you thought that sunlight would prevent me from looking for you."
"Shizuru, we had an agreement. We are not to see each other again."
"Nat—" Ben started.
"Who is this mortal, Natsuki? Do not tell me he is your lover while I was away?"
"And what if he is?"
"Stop! You'll have me and my whole family killed, Natsuki!" The mortal whispered in panic. He faced the seething vampire and exclaimed, "I'm not her lover! I swear! I'm her meal ticket. I give her the—"
"You are dismissed." Shizuru stated coldly.
"Ben, you are not to leave my side."
"Natsuki, we are going to talk and I cannot have him around."
"What? Now you are jealous?" It was not Natsuki's intention to sound so sure, to sound so provocative, but she was baited.
"Yes." Shizuru breathed the word out. "It does not thrill me that a man is by your side."
"So it would be okay if I have a woman by my side?" Now it was Natsuki who baited.
"Don't play words with me."
"Who says about playing? I told you Shizuru, I don't want to see you for—"
"How long?" A sombre tone. "For how long do you wish me to stay away? For how long would you punish me again?"
Natsuki would have reached out to her lover if it weren't for that last statement. "Punish? Do you think I'm punishing you? Geez! Then what do you think you've been doing to me all these years?"
"Is this about me staying in slumber for a century?" Shizuru asked incredulously.
"It is more than that and you know that!"
"What did I do?"
"Shizuru, don't be stupid. You know what I'm talking about."
"Why would I ask you if I know? I won't feign innocence if I know it'd anger you this much, you know that."
"Then you won't ever know for I will not tell you. You are being difficult, please leave."
"Now, you are the one who is being unreasonable."
"Leave. I am enjoying the sunshine."
"Ugh! Natsuki, let's talk about this in the shade. These fools cannot completely shelter me from this despicable light."
"Suit yourself. I'm having what those fools call as sunbathing. I would ask you to put lotion on me but seeing you cannot for obvious reasons then I'd have..." She beckoned for Ben to come closer, which the latter do so with much hesitation.
Shizuru slapped the mortal's shaky hands before it could land on her lover's skin. The mortal tumbled onto the sand castle he was making not too long ago. He casted a worried gaze towards his friend and Shizuru didn't miss it. That made her angrier. She revealed her fangs and pointed nails which scared the poor mortal even further.
"That's enough, Shizuru!" Natsuki screamed.
It halted the vampires intended action, which is to slice the mortal before her into pieces.
The Lycan continued with such indifference that the vampire flinched just hearing it. "You are acting as you are the victim here, but in truth you're not. You come here when we agreed we should not see each other. You bother and dare to harm my friend. You're callous even when you don't try to be."
"We did not agree we should not see each other." Shizuru whispered, sounding defeated.
"What?"
"You. You're the one who decided not to meet. I did not agree with it. You're the one who shuts me out whenever there's bothering you. You're the one who wouldn't tell me what's wrong."
Ben wanted to disappear at once. He stared at the women tangled with the vampire and wished he was hypnotized just like them so he wouldn't remember any of this later.
"Because it's plain as day as to what's wrong."
"You're insufferable."
"Not as much as you are."
Shizuru shouted in frustration. "Fine. I will take my leave for today. But I will be back and don't ever think these ploys of yours—sunbathing? Tsk!—would work on me. I will be back and I shall have you back."
Natsuki liked the idea of Shizuru still wanting her, but she remembered why she's pissed at her.
"Before I go, I have to ask..."
"Yes?" she replied idly.
The famous vampire produced her Iphone and asked, "Natsuki, can I have your number?"
Btw, the changes I speak of was for the latter chapters I've already posted (but removed) for this story. Undecided whether I should tweak it a bit or totally make a different chapter.
Anyhow, I'm knackered. Thanks again for reading.
Like it? Tell me.
Hate it? Bite me.
Either way I'm heading off to zzz land.