Ferid's mansion was so massive, Mika wondered how a person could live there and not get lost every day.
"I do, occasionally!" Ferid chuckled from behind Mika, standing at the door under the shadow of massive pillars.
Mika's stiff apprehension was momentarily dispelled by wonderment as Ferid offered the boy a tour. When that was over, Ferid announced, with an apologetic smile that seemed much too amused, that it was now too late for tea and Mika would have to stay for dinner.
"But…" Mika started.
"Oh, I'm sure your friends don't expect you back by now! You wouldn't want to get home so late and break their sleep, would you?!"
Mika's eyes lowered, saddened, and Ferid smiled with delight.
"Now follow me upstairs, Mika-kun. The servants can't have you sitting at the dining hall with those ragged clothes and sad scratches all over your cute little face! I'll have someone wash you squeaky clean!"
"But I don't have clean clothes!" Mika innocently announced, fearing that might actually excuse him from having dinner with Ferid.
"Oh, don't worry about that, little lamb: I'll have something nice and warm provided to you!"
Mika thought it was uncomfortable to be bathed by a maid – it felt weird having to remain still like a dumb doll while someone else moved your limbs and scrubbed them with a sponge when you could simply do it yourself… But Lord Ferid insisted on remaining in the large bathroom during the time, and though a beautiful Asian screen surrounded the bathtub in which Mika sat, Lord Ferid could still see his head and shoulders. In this case, Mika did prefer not to move…
At some point, Lord Ferid – who seemed to be distracted reading a magazine over a cushioned chair, with his long legs crossed over each other – gasped, as if he choked. Mika looked his way, stretching his wet head through the screen to see the vampire with his mouth half open, as if needing more air – his long sharp fangs fully exposed.
"My!" Ferid cleared his throat and placed a closed knuckle around his mouth, recomposing "Forgive my rudeness!"
Mika only understood what had happened when, looking back, he saw the foam in the tub grow pink with his blood: a rougher scrub had made the scratches on his arm start bleeding, and the shampoos kept the vessels from clogging.
After all, he was in a vampire's presence – Mika reminded himself, feeling the water in the tub grow suddenly cold.
The dining hall was bigger than Mika had imagined even after understanding of how big proportions the entire mansion was. It looked like a ball room with very tall walls, with narrow openings for windows far up near the convex ceiling, and a huge chandelier made of black metal dropping down dark crystals that had no light to reflect but the limited moon rays filtering through the windows and bathing on the remainings of a turkey –it was Mika's favorite! – pork chops, several bowls containing different preparations of rice, potatoes, stews and, at last, the empty pudding cups and ice cream glasses Mika had just placed down. He brushed his arm across his lips, cleaning the sweet, sticky syrup caught around his mouth.
Hearing Feird laugh from the shadows under which he sat, three or four chairs away from Mika at the long table, Mika blushed:
"My apologies, sir!" He picked the napkin from his lap and wiped his mouth, proceeding to, in secret, wipe his arm.
Mika now wore a light cotton shirt with a big chest opening held together by a blue bow; beige shorts and tight brown socks. The outfit looked expensive, making him feel even more self-conscious.
"By all means, Mika-kun!" Ferid stretched his arms, smiling comically "Make yourself at home! Have some more of the peas: you did like them a lot, didn't you?" he chuckled, contented to see how enjoyed the feast had been.
"Thank you very much, Lord Ferid!" Mika raised his palms, declining.
"What about the Strudel? You only took a slice of it, and your eyes looked the happiest then!" Lord Ferid raised up the mentioned plate, bringing it forward to Mika.
"I am satisfied, Lord Ferid! Thank you!" Mika repeated, uncomfortable with embarrassment.
"Well then! Would you like a refreshment, Mika-kun?"
"I… I don't think I can take anything else!" Mika giggled, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Ferid flashed him a benevolent smile.
Everything had been so delicious, Mika thought he was in heaven! It was easy to ignore how dark the room was, how late the night had fallen outside and how quiet Ferid sat, contented with just watching the boy eat away, constantly sustaining an entertained, meek smile across his pale face. He hadn't eaten like that not even before all that mess started – not even back in the orphanage, with his family.
And thinking of them…
Mika's eyes sank, sad and low. The joy of a full stomach turned into childish depression as he wished each of his brothers and sisters was occupying one of those empty, tall chairs around him. There would be no silence for sure, and that room would look so much more jolly, even if they were in the dark!
The reverie came undone like fog with Ferid leaning forward, closer to Mika:
"Thinking about your friends, Mika-kun? My! Such a heavy sense of justice, upon such a young thing's shoulder!"
Mika didn't raise his eyes to meet Ferid's, however disrespectful that might be: they would be wet, too darkened by sorrow, and that would embarrass him. Plus, he didn't think it was Ferid's problem, therefore not Mika's right to pour it on him… And he was tired of being so pitied!
"Mika-kun…" Ferid called, chuckling happily "You can rest peacefully tonight!"
Mika lifted his eyes at last.
"I'll save all you haven't eaten from the banquet and you can take it home to your family by the morning!"
"Lord Ferid!" Mika's eyes grew wide, and the words escaped his lips without consent: "Y-You are so nice!"
Ferid chuckled, placing his heavy, cold-fingered hand on the child's head.
The mansion was completely empty when Mika crossed it again, following behind Ferid: The lights were off and it seems all the servants had withdrawn themselves. A dark blue hue predominated over the walls, and a chill wind blew freely across the corridors.
Mika watched Ferid's back: He knew the vampire had only ill intentions – he could see it in his red eyes, from the way they shone with both despise and fascination as they traced every little movement Mika produced, as if he was a strange new pet welcomed with affection into the house, but thoroughly acknowledged as an inferior form of life. But still, he couldn't keep from feeling grateful to the noble. He knew the things he did meant nothing to him, costed nothing to his endlessly wealthy pocket… but they meant a lot to Mika, and would mean the world to the children! That is why he agreed to stay the night, that's why he decided not to cross the vampire when he insisted with excited eyes and a sung voice that Mika stayed – that he slept in the comfy guest room he had the maids prepare specially for him.
"Here it is, Mika-kun!" Ferid stopped before a white door with a golden door-knob "This will be your bedroom tonight. The closest bathroom is by the end of the corridor, the maids' room right next to it, and my quarters are up the stairs to the left, in case you need any of us!" He closed his eyes and smiled heartfeltedly.
"Thank you so much, Lord Ferid. I will try not to inconvenience any of you!"
"Why, don't be silly, Mika-kun!" Ferid laughed.
And remained.
"Hmm… Good night then, Lord Ferid!"
Mika pulled the doorknob open and turned to go in. He felt Ferid's cold hand cover his back, pushing him forward and giving him the chills:
"Good night, Mika-kun! But I should probably help you install yourself first, shouldn't I? Isn't that how human children are used to being treated?"
Pushed inside, Mika stopped next to the door while Ferid walked in, sitting on the large, tall bed and tapping the thick covers on it, inviting Mika to get closer:
"You don't have to be so nice, Lord Ferid!" Aprehensively, Mika suggested, climbing onto the bed and sitting at least a meter away from his vampire fellow.
But, as he suspected would happen – as he should have suspected from the beginning, but always fell into his own naivety, like Yu said he did – Ferid wasn't ready to leave yet. The vampire stared at him in the dark with a meek smile. His fangs shone brightly in the night.
"Mika-kun…" he started, and Mika felt that he knew what would come after.
"Y-yes, Lord Ferid?"
"Watching you enjoy the banquet I had specially prepared for you made me somewhat hungry myself, can you believe that?" he smiled, closing his eyes.
"Heh…"
When they opened again, the red in them looked darker, sharper and more piercing as they surveyed Mika.
"I was wondering if Mika-kun could satiate me, too…"
"But… Ferid-Sama… It's illegal for a vampire to…" Mika ran out of words: they were pushed back by apprehension, for though Ferid asked so politely, the unchanging light of his eyes showed he had made his mind already.
"Oh, but don't worry, Mika-kun…" Ferid's gloved hand seized Mika's cheek, and he moved closer to him on the bed. "I wouldn't be so mean as to pierce you with my fangs… You see…"
Mika leaned back as much as he could, but was stopped by the imposing bed's headboard. Ferid leaned in so close to him, his thies, covered by the long, tight leather of his boots, pressed against Mika's shrunk knees.
While still stroking the boy's face, Ferid took Mika's hand in his – he examined the bruises and scratches with hungry eyes:
"You smelled so wonderfully appetizing when I found you, that I had you washed just so you could enjoy your dinner in peace, without having my mouthwatering self playing with these small wounds… But I swear the perfume of your blood will deprive me of sleep, Mika-kun! I must try it!"
"I… I can bring you some!" Mika pulled his hand away and began crawling deeper onto the bed, away from the edge where Ferid sat "A-After those sessions, I can…"
A muffled laugh interrupted Mika's plea:
"But… Mika-kun, that would take too long!" The vampire giggled more, as if Mika's suggestions had been specially childish.
"T-Then… you can take it from me… if you want…"
Ferid's eyes narrowed and his smile widened in an intense way. Having heard what he wanted, he leaned closer to the boy.
"B-but!" threatened by Ferid's wild expression, Mika panicked, falling on his back and trying to squirm away "I mean through the…"
"Through your collar, Mika-kun?" Ferid's thin finger slid under the black belt around Mika's neck, producing a considerable discomfort on his throat. He pulled Mika closer through the device and smiled as the boy moaned lightly. "But that would hurt just the same as my fangs biting into you… And it might give you an infection, if I'm not careful enough! Why should we go through all that trouble?"
"F-Ferid-sama!"
"Don't worry, Mika-kun…" Ferid sighed, considering the battle won and smiling in contentment as he slowly pulled the gloves off his hands, revealing dark purple claws on the tip of his slender fingers.
The tall vampire leaned on top of the small boy over the bed to prevent him from running. He held the boy's face in his palm, wiped away a tear and smiled pitifully at it… meanwhile, his skilled fingers untied the big bow on Mika's chest, loosening his shirt.
"I promise to do nothing but take for myself that which you have already wasted so much of. I won't bite you..."
Mika moaned in manifested fear as Ferid opened his shirt and pulled it down his shoulders, revealing all of Mika's scratches from earlier.
"I'll just… Uh!" Ferid produced a loud moan, opening his mouth and putting his tongue out, then pressing it against Mika's scratched chest.
Mika blushed and squirmed from the embarrassment and from the strange sensation of the vampire's cold, wet tongue so hungrily pressed against his skin.
"Mika-kun…" Ferid moaned in a sung way, smothering his voice against the boy's chest "Mika-kun!" he repeated frantically.
"Ferid-sama…" Mika started, rehearsing asking him to stop.
"This is so good…" Ferid moaned, running his tongue upwards on Mika's wounds.
Mika felt Ferid's body shake and move on top of his. He could tell the act only made Ferid hungrier, and his skin began to anticipate the pain of being inevitably pierced by his torturer's fangs as he grew in frenzy.
Ferid pulled Mika's shirt down, tearing the cloth with ease and throwing it aside. He held Mika by the arms and pulled him up, now moving his cold mouth to the scrapes over his right shoulder, where his tongue moved, licking fiercely. His lips enclosed the wound, sucking with vigor and producing embarrassing slurping noises that made Mika blush and squirm.
Ferid's clench tightened around the boy as if instinctively trying to squeeze more blood through the tiny scratches; and though it hurt, Mika feared the consequences of complaining.
"Bleed more for me, Mika-kuuuuun…." Ferid's voice grew in fury and excitement, getting louder as he pressed down on Mika's wounds. "Bleed, Mika!"
Mika gasped – the vampire's tongue rubbing against this scratches made it sting.
"Bleed Mika, bleed more!" Ferid screamed "Bleed, or I might… ah…"
Mika's heart beat furiously as he felt the vampire's teeth brush against his skin, ready to bite down on him. Lucky for him, Ferid hesitated a second more – second in which, out of nervousness or out of how much the loyal tongue stimulated it, Mika's scratch began to bleed profusely. Ferid pulled back to look at the red stream rolling down the boy's shoulder and smiled as satisfied as if the boy had payed him an homage.
"Itadakimasu!" Ferid sung in a soft, again composed voice as he leaned down, mouthing Mika's shoulder.
After Lord Ferid was done sucking Mika's blood and squeezing his tender skin as to pour out more, he got up on his knees over a weak Mika and licked the blood from his claws, running his tongue between his fingers with a satisfied smile.
"You were a very good boy, Mika-kun! Good for you, too…" Ferid chuckled, stroking the boy's messed hair as he lay on the bed, almost ready to faint "You see, the thing I like the least in this world is having something I really want denied! Enjoy your sleep my little lamb, and pray, come again tomorrow!"
Mika merely turned his eyes to Ferid's sadistic smile. On his turn, Ferid leaned down on the boy, his silver fringe falling over and caressing the small features:
"You will come tomorrow, won't you, Mika-kun?" Ferid's palm fell on the boy's torso, running firmly upwards, touching his finger against the extremely sore wounds, threatening to squeeze more blood out of them.
"Yes… I will!" Mika scowled, pulled back to consciousness by the pain.
"Delightful!" Ferid laughed, jumping to the side and standing up. He ran his hand through his hair and adjusted the ribbon around his neck, then threw a last satisfied glance at Mika's poor estate before leaving the bedroom. "Good night, Mika-kun!"