The Lifeblood Doctrine

Warning: It's a dark fic but I just want to warn you that there are some death & violent scenes here.

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Kubo Tite and the song is by, well I put it there. xD

italics - thoughts; character narration; emphasis; special notes;

Chapter Two:

Night of the Awakening II

-

I needed more than just a cheap thrill ride
See I needed something that ran deep inside
Ignored the warnings, bit the fruit
She might have tasted good
But man she was my kryptonite

She's electric, she's the current running through my veins
She's a siren, hearing voices that I can't explain

- Won't Go Quietly by Example

-

Four men lay unconscious on the granite floor. Whether they were dead or alive was quite unclear but blood gushed out from their injuries. Their blood stained the grounds they walked on a few minutes ago. There was nothing but silence in the storage room, and the ambient sound of the passing wind from the cold dusty walls. The blowing wind whistled as if there was a storm raging outside the mansion. The sound of rainfall that started to pour could be faintly heard. It was a stormy night.

On the floor, more than the bodies of four men, was the book that sprang open due to the chilly wind. As if there was a ghost turning the pages on and on, the wind, an invisible reader, stopped on a certain page.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The Ten Commandments for a Lesser Demon

I. Thou shall only consume blood.

For anything, such as fresh meat consumption is forbidden and shall be considered atrocious.

For what a vampire needs to sustain himself is life, is blood, the essence of life.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

The moment he sunk his fangs on her skin, everything faded. He had forgotten what it felt like to feed and the exquisite taste of blood, fresh, rich and warm. His eyes closed, savoring the taste again after what seemed like a very very long time. He was so hungry, so thirsty that he didn't hear her moan or whimper from pain. In fact, he could care less if she was in pain. She was an offering after all. But her blood was so damn delicious, he couldn't help but drown and want more. In fact, he couldn't quite remember blood being this delectable. Maybe he just couldn't remember the last time he fed.

Feeling the weight of her flaccid body, he quickly opened his eyes and realized how he almost lost it and could've killed the woman had he not stopped. He definitely crossed the line and this woman, if she does not die from him, then she'd probably die of massive blood loss or anemia. He didn't always lose control but so many years of deprivation and imprisonment had drove him mad with the lust. He withdrew his fangs, still panting from the adrenaline rush and pleasure of the taste. His heart was still beating wildly when looked at her face. "Hey!" he said, trying to get a response somehow.

She didn't reply. How could she reply after all that anyway?

The vampire looked around for her pulse, it was faint now and she was colder and paler than before. Atleast she was still alive, the problem was, for how long. He gently placed his left hand to support her back and lifted her knees and carried her. After he drained her and almost killed her, the least he could give was gentle treatment.

And security.

As fast as he could, he went out of the mansion and into the town. It was dark and it was raining. The rain poured down heavily. The streets were empty and people were probably already asleep. So he looked for a fully-lit house and when he found one, he carefully put her down on the floor of the timber porch and in front of the door. She was soaking wet, the blood on her neck was already washed clean by the rain and the silk night gown she wore only made her more enticing. Oh, how he would like another bite. But he had to control himself. Enough is enough.

He took off his coat and wrapped it around her to cover her body. He took one final look before knocking hard on the door many times. When the door opened, he was gone.

But he was not totally gone. From the shadows, from afar, he watched the man with weird red pineapple-like hair panic when he saw her unconscious shivering form. He heard him when he screamed her name. "Rukia..." he repeated to himself. He was indebted to her. No matter how forced it may seem, he was still indebted to the first blood that fed him.

He silently followed as the man with not only weird hair but also weird eyebrows and tattoos, covered her all over with more jacket and carried her to somewhere he did not know. He had to make sure she was safe on others' hands because she won't and will never be safe with him. He had no healing ability - give that to saints, and he most definitely cannot transfuse with her his blood. And with his current just-awakened state, he really was craving for more.

The trail ended when they reached a hospital.

This is where they bring the sick. The vampire knew nothing about sickness, except the sickness they can spread to other people.

Noticing the buildings, other structures and technology, he wondered to himself. How long had he been sleeping? He felt so out of place.

He climbed the tallest and nearest tree he could and even when the rain was still pouring down, he stayed on watch for a few minutes. He still have one last thing he had to do with her.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

II. Thou shall not leave any witness/es.

It is the duty of any member of the race to keep their existence a secret.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Renji Abarai sat on a couch in front of a sleeping Rukia. They were in a ward. The nurses have already changed her clothes and by now, she was already dry. Her neck was wrapped with a bandage but he had not seen the injury. Could she have broken her neck, craned it so much when she stumbled into his front porch? That he would not know. Even the doctors who entered wouldn't relay him any information on her current status. With only a mention of her family name, he could see how they would tremble and flee out of the room without a word. And he doesn't understand why. The Kuchiki family was infamous. They own the largest businesses in the world and their branches scattered from different countries. If these doctors won't treat her now, they will have to face the wrath of Byakuya Kuchiki later.

Speaking of Byakuya Kuchiki, Renji's cellphone suddenly rang. He looked at Rukia to see her sleeping so soundly before deciding to answer and take the noisy cellphone out of the room.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Rukia thought she might've been dreaming, but the ring tone of Shots by LMFAO (ft. Lil John) had invaded her peaceful slumber. Who wouldn't wake up hearing shots, shots, shots over and over and over again?

She groaned as she heard the door close. The shots song screened by the door.

And then, with one flick of light, reality set in.

She quickly sat up, touching her neck with her wounded right arm (also wrapped in a bandage) only to feel the wound covered by a bandage. This was it. This was reality. She was in this room, bedridden for who knows how long, bitten and drained of blood. But how did she get at the hospital? And how did Renji find her? Moreover, how was she rescued? She looked at the window that creaked as it moved with the wind. The storm was still raging. But the mansion was a few kilometers away. So how?

She pushed herself off the bed and stood up, still feeling the weakness of her body. Why did that monster leave her alive? Or did he...?

She took a few steps forward, towards the door, to follow Renji or just find someone who would pinch her and confirm that she's really alive. What if she was just a spirit now?

But before she'd even reach the door, the balcony door, which was made of glass, on the other side of the room opened fully wide. She turned to see the curtains flowed as the air rushed inside. And on the center, the vampire who had bitten her, now stood in all his might and glory. His hair stick together of wetness and his clothes dripped water on the floor. But there was something in him that was less menacing than before. It was his eyes. His eyes were no longer red, and his fangs could no longer be seen on his mouth. His eyes were amber, like his weird hair.

She needed a wake up call, or a proof that she was alive. There, now she had it. Right before her very eyes, the reason she thought she was dead. The cause of all the dread she had experienced tonight.

"Y-you..." she stuttered. The vampire watched her as her shocked stare turned into a glare. "You bastard..."

"I'm not bastard. The name's Ichigo."

"What more do you want, bastard?" she asked with all the courage she could muster. She dare not remember the bastard's name.

Ichigo was intimidated. After all that happened, she stood against him and dared to call him bastard when he just gave her his name. There were no women who dared insult him the way this woman did. And there were no women who fought his charms the way this woman did. All the time, women would come flock at his feet, ask him to take them as slaves and he would just ignore them as if they were non-existent. They were nothing to him, because they were charmed by him.

But now that he needed his charms to work, they weren't working at all.

Rukia looked at him defiantly. She was thinking of a way to defend herself in case he attacks her again. But then, she was still so weak she could barely walk straight without support. But with all the strength left in her, she quickly turned around to open the door. But a pair of cold wet hands grabbed her arms and tossed her on the couch just on the left side of the door.

With the swift motion, she found herself a little too dizzy to fight back when he hovered over her. The droplets of water from his hair and his clothes were too cold on her skin. Ichigo decided he wants to end this quick. Talking will be unnecessary since she will forget everything about him soon anyway. Though he was quite impressed at how fast she was recovering. He really thought she would've died.

"Listen, Rukia," his voice changed a few decibels. But it was not the command that made her listen or look at him, it was because he uttered her name.

"How did you know my name?" She looked at his piercing eyes before deciding to look away.

"Look at me."

Vampires have hypnotic powers, she remembered while still looking away. They can control your mind, make you do things you will later forget. Just one look, one eye contact. With that, she answered, "No!" She covered her eyes with her hands.

"Look at me, dammit!" he was getting impatient. He'd never had trouble like this before.

He pulled both her hands away, only to find her eyes shut tightly.

"Get off! I'm going to scream!" she yelled with her eyes still closed, though the screaming was actually something better done than said in her situation.

Just then, there was a click and the door opened. "Kuchiki-san?" There was a soft voice from behind the door and a girl with long burnt orange hair, gray eyes and wearing a nurse uniform peered into the room. When she saw the bed empty, she slid inside and it took a few minutes before she noticed the two individuals by the couch. "K-K-Kuchiki-san? I... I'm s-sorry for... i-interrupting..." she said, blushing at what she assumed the two had been doing.

When Rukia heard her speak, she quickly opened her eyes. She knew who she was. She was one of her friends and elementary classmate, Inoue Orihime. She had always dreamed of becoming a doctor one day. It was probably her part-time job in the hospital and she happened to be assigned as Rukia's nurse.

"I-Inoue!!! Wait!" Rukia called, more out of help, when Inoue turned back to the door.

"Yeah, wait," said Ichigo as he smirked at Rukia who was still avoiding eye contact.

Is he going to use Inoue?

"Inoue, don't look him in the -" Ichigo interrupted by covering her mouth with his hand.

Inoue quickly realized that what she assumed was so totally false. Kuchiki-san was being forced! "Please let go of Kuchiki-san or I will call the cops!"

"Inoue, is it?" Ichigo asked. He looked at her and their eyes met.

"Yes..." Inoue answered, but her eyes now looked dazed.

"Lock that door for me."

Inoue did as she was told. Rukia watched horrified that her friend had been hypnotized by this monster.

Ichigo smiled knowing his powers were still working. He now turned to the woman underneath him and spoke, "Your turn." She quickly closed her eyes and bit his hand - hard. This caused him to flinch and draw his hand away. "D-Damn it! What if I bled and you drank my blood, idiot?!" His hand only bruised, and it quickly healed too.

"You really won't look at me?" Annoyed with his current predicament, he turned to look at Inoue again. "Inoue, hurry and jump off the balcony."

"Yes, right away."

"WWHHAATTT?" Rukia opened her eyes only to see Inoue almost nearing the balcony door. "Inoue, stop!!!"

"Stop. Don't jump." Ichigo commanded the girl and she stopped, but stood still in a daze.

Ichigo turned Rukia's head to face his. As with an instant reflex, she quickly shut her eyes again. With both hands, he held her head in place, holding both sides of her cheek as she tried to peel them away. This time when she opens her eyes, it'll be over. "Well? You want your friend to jump or you will open your eyes?"

"What are you going to do? What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. I am going to erase your memories of this night. Not much damage dealt isn't it?"

"I am the only witness of the events that happened tonight. Only I know what you are, what you did and I don't want you to get away with it."

"You have no choice here. You know I'm someone you're better off not knowing."

It was true though. She had no choice. She don't want to lose a friend either. This night had been too much, too tiring, too confusing. Maybe it was better that she forgets everything and live her life again like nothing extraordinarily weird came out of their storage room. Heck, she'd even forget the storage room and perhaps forget that she actually just came back from Paris. "Alright. After this, release Inoue and... don't show your face to me again."

Ichigo smirked, "You won't recognize me anyway."

Rukia slowly opened her left eye as if just peeking.

"That won't do. The other one too!" he commanded. She opened her right eye slowly too and then their eyes met and there was this force that seemed to magnetize their gaze at each other, creating a moment of deafening silence.

Ichigo didn't know what it was, but when he looked at her eyes, her dark purple eyes, there was something that held him in place. There was something in the pool of her ocean eyes that drowns him, making him forget everything: his purpose, his being, the world. As if it all had faded, himself included. And then... he couldn't look away. As if he was the one hypnotized, for the first time.

Rukia shuddered at his smoldering stare. "Well?" she asked, shaking him out of his somewhat trance. "You're supposed to say something, right?"

"Yeah. So... You will forget about me and this conversation, and everything that happened in here and the mansion. You've been bitten by a wild animal on your way to call for help to the neighborhood," he said while still staring at her eyes.

But Rukia wasn't dazed. She wasn't forgetting anything. She wasn't hypnotized. She blinked a few times while staring straight at his amber eyes. "A wild animal? That's lame. Have you no specific bloodsucking species to say?" she commented.

"WHAT? Don't tell me it's not working!" he said, while grabbing her head tighter to try hypnotizing her again. "One more time. You will forget about me in five seconds."

After five seconds, Ichigo asked, "What am I?"

Rukia's eyes just narrowed. "A rusty vampire."

"Da-damn it! Why won't it work?! What did you do?!" Or have I... have I really gone rusty? But then... that girl have been following my commands without resistance... He looked at Inoue and she was still standing on the same spot.

Knock, knock...

And then there was a budge on the door as it was forcibly being opened. "Rukia? Rukia, are you there? Who locked this fucking door?! Someone hand me the God damn key!!!" There were yelling and rushing outside, Renji was probably causing a commotion.

"R-REN -" Rukia was going to yell but a hand clamped on her mouth again.

"Shit!" he said, while averting his eyes from the door and back on her. "Don't tell. You know what I can do," he threatened.

Ichigo released her and backed away. He passed Inoue and vanished into the rain when he reached the balcony. Rukia quickly went to Inoue and shook her awake. Inoue blinked her eyes a few times before her knees collapsed from the exhaustion of standing still. "Kuchiki-san? What... what happened? Why am I...?"

"What do you remember, Inoue?"

"I was going to check on you and get your blood pressure and I went inside and I don't remember. I must've dozed off when I went inside or I must be sleepwalking. Silly me!"

She had no clue what happened... "Are you okay?"

"Of course! Why are you asking me, Kuchiki-san? You're the patient here! You're supposed to be resting!" Inoue stood and pushed Rukia to the bed. At the same time, the door finally opened.

"What the hell are you guys doing locking the damn door?!" he yelled at the two women. "Jeez... worried me," he whispered to himself.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

III. Thou shall not kill.

Unless it is in accordance with the other commandments, killing is prohibited.

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

A hand twitched.

One of the thugs who lay on the floor had regained consciousness. He slowly got up, feeling the pain in his body seep. He was wounded, his right leg was bleeding. He checked on his other comrades and they were all alive too. And awake now since he just woke them up. They were wounded but it wasn't a grave injury. They were spared but...

It was a mistake.

They did not give up with their quest. They were willing to sacrifice their own to satisfy their greed for everlasting life... or death. The leader had grabbed the most weakened one of his men, slit his throat and showered the blood on the remaining vampire statue. The blood flowed from its head, dropping to its face and then into its open mouth. The moment blood entered its system, it reacted fast.

Its heart pounded violently that the stones covering its chest cracked. Every beat of its heart reverberated in the room.

Thump.

Thump.

And soon, it was able to move its hands. It roughly broke the stones that enveloped him and lowered its head. When all the stones shattered, the poor man who was betrayed by his comrades was left to rot on the side and a complete copy of the first vampire freed had been revealed. His hair was orange and he wore a black velvet coat on a white undershirt with frills and a plain black trouser. While still in kneeling position, he rested both his hands on the ground. He deeply breathed in, filling his lungs with cold air before exhaling from his mouth. The smell of blood tickled his nose with excitement. From the point of views of the crooks who were standing, they saw his hands scratch on the floor and his mouth curved into a wicked grin. He soon tilted his head upwards to meet them.

They caught a glimpse of his dark red malicious eyes before he became out of sight. In just a few seconds, a neck snapped. And another invader of the mansion had fallen.

Behind the body of that dead person, the vampire snickered. "Ah, he died," he said in a disappointed yet satisfied tone. Disappointed because he was just trying to incline the man's head to give better access to the neck and satisfied because of his physical strength. Anyway, he cannot eat a dead man. He turned to the last two alive. Although he would prefer female victims, he was so starving he couldn't care less what he'd eat and he wouldn't care less if he owes them. Humans were nothing but preys.

"P-please... I beg you... spare me..." said the leader, now shaking in fear. "We have freed you, Lord. Please, reward us with your grace."

"Grace you said?" he instantly appeared in front of him and stabbed his heart with his right hand. "This," he pulled his hand out and watched the man slowly fall to the ground, "... is my grace."

He licked his fingers that was dipped with blood. He looked at the last man who was so afraid he couldn't speak nor move. He quickly appeared behind him and bit him on the neck. The man had screamed and the vampire was frustrated with the noise so he grabbed his neck tightly but not tight enough to break a bone. The vampire continued to drain his life until there was not even an ounce of blood left in his body. He let go of his grip on his neck and the body dropped like a doll.

"I shouldn't have killed the other one so fast, I'm still hungry," he wiped the blood on his mouth with the sleeves of his coat. He examined the room for the last time until he noticed the broken stones on the floor, almost next to his mess. "Damn, my brother got out before me," he walked out of the room, leaving marks on the floor with his shoes that walked over cold blood.

"Time to finish the unfinished business."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Rukia was now resting on the bed again. It had been two hours after Inoue left and she was in deep contemplation, recalling everything that had happened. She remembered the butler. "Renji?"

Renji was sitting on the couch. "I'm still not talking to you."

"Why the hell are you answering then?!" she sat up, looking at him.

"I'm still mad at you for not telling me you're returning and besides, you're supposed to rest, so shut up and rest."

"No! The mansion... people died there!"

"Yeah, there've been reports of screaming, so cops are already investigating."

"And Takamura-san? Where's he?"

"We don't know yet. Rukia, just rest. Doctor Unohana said you've lost a lot of blood and I want to yell at you and ask you what happened but I'm holding back. So rest. Your brother said he'll talk to you tomorrow."

Ah, my brother knows I'm here. I need to ask him about the storage room too. She lie down on the bed again and tried to sleep but the recent events wouldn't let her. What will happen? What will she tell Renji and the cops... or her nii-sama? How can she tell about the vampire without sounding crazy? And what will happen if he knew she told someone? Will he come back and kill her or kill her loved ones? Why did he leave her alive?

With their conversation awhile ago, she felt like he wasn't much of a threat at all. He could've killed her if he wanted but instead he tried to erase her memories and make her live as if nothing happened. Even if it had just been to protect his identity, he could've just killed her and no one else would know. But facts are facts and the fact is... he was a vampire and she had somehow helped in his awakening. Because of her blood, he was freed.

So now she've decided to take responsibility, to put him back from whence he came. There must be something that would petrify him again. The answer could probably be found in the book. She sat up once again and looked at Renji who was guarding her.

"Renji, I need to go back to the mansion. Now."

A/N: Waahh, it's finished! Ugh, took weeks. lol xD

So, you might be wondering about a few things... I'll explain myself here.

Hichi also have orange hair because:

1. They are twins. The only difference is their eyes when they're not on bloodlust mode. Ichi's amber/orange, Hichi's yellow.

2. In the manga, the only people who perceive Hichi as black and white is Ichigo and Zangetsu in their inner world. The other characters see him only when he takes over Ichi's body. And when they transform to IchiThing, the skin may turn white but the hair certainly remains orange.

3. I don't kinda like the black/white and blue tongue representation of Hichi. In Ichi's innerworld, it's okay but in the real world, it's damn weird. lol xD

So, I hope I've defended myself and nobody's mad at me. xD

Again, if you find errors, tell me.

To Reviewers: Thanks for reviewing chap 1 guys! Review again. lol xD