Chapter 8 The Vampires of Kent

***

What the hell? What am I doing here?

I stood up from the ground, where I had been lying all the while.

Dirty, I was dirty. The specks of dust were all over me—hair, hands, face, clothes.

Ugh... I brushed some off of my arm.

Only, it wouldn't go off.

I got annoyed, and brushed harder against my arm.

It wouldn't go off.

What the fuck..?

I scratched at my arm. Scratched, harder and harder.

The dust and dirt seemed only to increase their amount.

I screamed, high and shrill.

'How does it feel like to be like dirt?' An old man stood on my right, watching me.

'Help! Help me, please! What the fuck is this?!'

A bone woman appeared on my left. She slapped me. 'Low and stinky commoner! Shut up!'

I was aghast. 'Bitch! Watch what you're doing! I'm the daughter of the CEO of Visioyn Corporate! I'll have you behind chains!'

'You never change, do you, brat?' A humongous eye appeared behind me, and I was terrified.

Screaming, I ran forward.

'Hee-hee. Look, Waro-waro, look at the dirty little girl.' Huge purple eyes.

'Yes, Hime. She's very dirty. Must be very poor.'

'I am not poor! My father owns the Visioyn Corporate! They rule the whole world!'

'That's what she says, Ojou.'

I turned around, and saw them.

Two girls, both of long, black hair. One had piercingly red eyes, the other had reddish-brown ones. They were very pale, and had an ominous aura.

'O, pitiful soul drowned in darkness--' The reddish-brown eyed one began. She wore a black kimono that had red equinox flowers and butterflies on it.

'—Looking down upon others--' The red-eyed one continued. This one wore a black kimono that colourful balloons and balls all over it.

'Minamoto Yue... No, please, I was only kidding. I didn't, it was all a joke. My friends, they made me--'

'—And causing them pain--'

'Please, no!'

The one with red eyes came forward, and everything seemed to slow.

'--Would you like to see what death is like?'

'NOOOOOOOOO!!'

And then it was all black.

***

'Young Mistresses, your father has been waiting for you anxiously. You are… thirteen point three seconds late.'

The slender, beautiful woman in her thirties checked her watch for this certain piece of information. She had wavy, auburn hair that was tied in a ponytail at her back, reaching her waist. She had bright green eyes, and wore a worried expression on her face, although she tried to hide it. She was scolded by the Duke, and she did not want it to happen again.

She eyed us, and we stared back. Due to her upbringing in London, not in Japan like me and Evanjerin, she knew very little Japanese, if at all, none. I would be surprised if she understood a single thing that Evanjerin and I talk about, if there is anything to talk about at all.

Evanjerin shot her an evil look, a look that said back-off-i-can-do-whatever-i-want. I hissed softly, and she turned to me.

'She's been punished. Look at her cheek—it's gone purple.' This I said, quietly and in fast, fluent Japanese.

'Like I care. Hmph.'

I sighed.

'Be considerate for once, Evanjerin.'

'Being considerate renders you vulnerable, Atanashia!'

'So, does that mean all the time that you were there for me—it was all fake?'

'I—You know why. Atanashia.'

Her voice grew softer.

'We're the only ones we can depend on. Do you really think Father will give up his life to save us?'

'And why shouldn't he?' I raised an eyebrow. What the heck is she implying now?

'Because he didn't!' She hissed. 'He didn't, he let her die! He didn't even tell us to hide, he just left us there. And we are alive today because we ran and hid!'

'Well, he left because he had to slay them, didn't he? Mother was dying—there was no way to save her!'

'Now, look who's talking about being considerate!'

I glared at her.

'Ahem,' the maid coughed. Helena, that was her name. 'Your father told me that he summons you two to his chamber.'

'But of course,' Evanjerin said, in perfectly accented English, and as innocently as she could, 'Atanashia?'

Helena seemed momentarily confused. It's because we—Evanjerin and I, we call each other by our Japanese names. Helena isn't used to it.

I'll let you off this time, Evanjerin, I thought.

Hey, I didn't start it, she replied.

'Very well, then, let us go to Father,' I said, ignoring Evanjerin's mental comment. It was an inborn ability of ours, to be able to communicate through our thoughts whenever we wanted to. We avoided using them in school, though, to avoid spilling the beans. We try to be as normal as possible, but Evanjerin does less than I do.

Anyway. Father's chamber wasn't so far, actually, all you had to do was go up to the second floor, turn left, and you'll see a hallway filled with doors. Go to the one at the very end. Which is exactly what Evanjerin and I did.

Laughter erupted from the room, when we were at the door. The hell?, I thought.

More like, what the fuck?, Evanjerin said, or rather, thought.

I raised my hand, clenched into a fist, and rammed the door with my knuckles, as softly as I could.

'Come in, daughters,' A loud voice boomed.

I looked at Evanjerin. Elders first.

Shut up, I'm only ten and a half minutes earlier.

She pushed the door.

What the fucking hell is this?, she thought.

A woman was sitting beside our Father, on the sofa.

'Here they are.' A man of forty years old—I mean, appearing to be forty years old, but is really seven hundred centuries old, sat beside her. He had black, ebony black hair that was slicked back, and ended in an outward curl at the back of his nape. His eyes were an icy cold blue. Genetically, there was nothing that we had from our father, except maybe a bit of his eye color. No one could say we were his daughters.

'This is Evangeline,' and at the mention of her English name, Evanjerin curtsied. I am disgusted, she thought.

'and this is Athanasia,' he continued, as I too, curtsied. What, because you have entirely embraced the Japanese culture, that you loath your English ancestry and name?

Maybe.

Well, I think it's a lovely name.

You are too soft, Atanashia dear.

'Daughters, this is Lady Livanera Esterine, of the vampires of Ester.'

Lady Livanera was a plump, ugly lady. Ugly, because if you compared her to our mother, she was nothing, nothing to my mother's innocent and pure beauty. Mother was pale, with a delicately structured face, and almost-white blond, wavy hair down to her knees. She had kind, green eyes, and was slim, and tall, and had the sweetest smile on Earth. Lady Livanera was nothing like her. Lady Livanera had reddish brown hair that she wore in a tightly knit bun, and wore heavy, heavy makeup that was very unsuitable for her, or for anyone else. She wore a corseted dress, with long sleeves that bulged with fat. I would have cringed at the sight of her, but I dare not in front of my Father.

Ew, why did the zoo leave this elephant behind?

Evanjerin nearly snorted. Okay, so maybe you aren't that soft.

No, not to someone who looks like that. I hope her personality isn't as ugly as her face. It's got unlimited warts all over it.

'Well, I'll say, Philippe, your daughters are beautiful. It's a shame about Emeraude, though.'

…Please, tell me she didn't.

'Well…'

'Your wife was unfaithful, wasn't she? Running off with the gardener. And a bad mother too, look at how messy dear Evangeline's hair is, she wasn't taught how to groom, wasn't she? And Athanasia's uniform isn't neatly tucked. Dear me, Emeraude didn't do too well on her children. And speaking of children, your third daughter, a triplet--she died, right? And this all Emeraude gives you? No sons at all? Shame. '

I'm going to break her face.

You can't do that.

See if I don't, Evangeline. She just insulted Mother!

'Ahem, anyway… Evangeline, Athanasia, Lady Liverna and I have decided to get married.'

I swore I could've choked.

'M-m-married?!'

'I told you they would be ecstatic, Liverna, love.' Father caressed the lady's cheek, at which she blushed.

'Not in front of them, Philippe.'

M-m-married?! WITH THIS TOAD?!

C-calm down, Atanashia. I'm sure there's a way out of this.

But she's like what, nine hundred and fifty! She's ancient! Plus, she's ugly, and fat and and—

CALM DOWN, WILL YOU.

NO I WILL NOT. I'LL BREAK HER FACE, AND I AM SERIOUS.

'Glad to hear these news, Father,' Evangeline said, straightening up. Her voice was cold, icy, icy cold full of contempt. 'When is this celebration to happen?'

ATANASHIA, STOP. OKAY. RELAX.

'Oh, we decided a week from now, nothing too fancy. Just us, and a priest, and a week on the beach,' Lady Liverna giggled, high and girlish.

WHAT THE—

Atanashia… Breathe. One, two, three—

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! THAT WOMAN IS… THE UGLIEST VAMPIRE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN THE WHOLE OF MY LIFE!

Oh shit, at this rate—

I couldn't even speak. I just robotically curtsied, and said coldly, 'I'm very sorry to interrupt, Father, but I have something urgent that I must do.'

I turned my heel on them, and half walked, half ran out of the room. I ran, ran in the dark, feeling my way to my room, the anger propelling me to go faster. When I found it, I opened the door, and went inside, where I collapsed on the floor. I had fainted. Something took me—a darkness I never knew existed. I lost memory of what had happened then.