Throughout my life, I'd been burnt a few times, usually when helping my mother cook. On one occasion I grabbed the wok too close to the pan and tossed our dinner onto the floor. I'd only held the hot metal a moment, but I had burns to show for it for days after. Not to mention we went hungry... but that would be beside the point.

The point was, touching that hot metal for an instant hurt. A lot. Being bitten was like holding the sizzling metal against my skin. If it was shaped like a knife. And you twisted it.

I was kicking and screaming.

"STOP!"

I struggled wildly. Gasping in pain as their fangs tore at my skin. As they gulped deeply. As they savored my suffering...

Please..! It hurts- I-I can't..

I was drowning. Sinking in agony, at the churning and tearing and burning and sucking that dragged my strength out of me. I clung at it with desperate fingers, but... I felt my will slipping... my life dissolving like sugar in my hands, with each hard draw they took of my blood. It burns... the sucking is worse than the fangs...

The fangs that pierced my throat were agony. They pierced so deep... Ayato sucked so roughly. When he pulled his fangs from my neck I gasped. Is it over...?

It wasn't. I screamed when he dug into my shoulder, writhing in the fire of his bite.

I was delirious. "P-please s-st-aah-p..!"

"Ahh... such nice sounds... maybe we could keep her...?"

I gasped.

"Tch... she's a poor vintage, Laito. Not worth the effort."

I whimpered.

"Yeah! Teddy won't be satisfied until we drink all of her blood..! It belongs to us!"

I sobbed.

… how can this happen...?

More bites. Savage and merciless. My legs gave out, but it didn't matter. I was in their hands. I couldn't stop them...

I... I'm going to die... like this...? As food...how fitting... my life... traded for yours, Yuki... haha... I hope at least you're happy... all life is valuable... I should be happy... so why does it hurt so much...?

"So loud... I could hear her screaming from the audience chamber..." A tired voice made the hands on me tighten painfully. My head spun, drowning under waves of agony, but I tried hard to listen...

Six fangs wrenched out of my aching flesh. I wanted to scream, but only a whimper was heard. I panted heavily. I can't... catch my breath... Hungry hands held me tightly, wary of intruders. I don't even... have the strength to stand... let alone fight... but I tried my hardest. My efforts were disregarded.

"... couldn't you allow me a taste before you tried to kill her...?"

I shivered. I'm... so cold... so much blood... My vision was a haze, but I almost recognized golden hair in the torch light. Who... is it...? Someone important... I'm... sure...

"Tch. The good-for-nothing wakes up, just to ruin my fun..." Ayato's gruff voice was so loud... right in my ear.

"Stay away! We're punishing her for being disobedient...!" Kanato's voice was shrill... it made my head pound.

"Hnn... isn't she mine to punish, not yours...?" The tired voice was getting irritated..

"Shuuu-Kuuun, didn't your mother teach you to share...? We were having so much fun.." The effeminate voice belonged to the long haired one at my wrist.

"Tch... you brats..."

Everything hurt so much; it was too difficult to pay attention to their words. I stopped trying.

Ahh... all these voices... I just want to sleep... I just want to sink into the darkness... away from all this craziness...

My vision swam nauseatingly. The word was growing darker, each moment... I closed my eyes.

… far away from monsters and boogymen...

"Oi." Strong hands held my shoulders. Can't they just let me sleep...?

"Oi! If you go to sleep now, you'll die... wake up."

… but it's so cozy and dark...

"... I'm going to set you on fire if you don't wake up."

… that doesn't sound so cozy...

Begrudgingly, I dragged myself from the comforting darkness, into the torch light that illuminated my personal hell. Everything was a soft orange and black blur... my eyes took a moment to adjust, but when they did, hollow relief washed over me.

There was only one man left in my cell, and it was the sleepy blond... Shu... Lord Shu I think...? We were sitting on the cot in my cell... or what was left of my cell. Looking at the bars that were meant to keep me in, made my stomach roil. The metal hadn't stood a chance against three men... some were bent, spread apart like a curtain. Others had been snapped entirely.

Vividly, I realized that Ayato could have owned up to his promise of ripping me apart... I was awake. And somehow still alive.

"Th... they're gone..." I whispered and winced. My throat... it hurt just speaking. I lifted my hand to touch my aching neck and winced again. My wrist... I half flexed my fingers before the pain shot up my arm. I stared at the two red dots on my wrist; they were ringed in an agitated red. My vision swam again, but this time with tears. This... this is so fucked up... this is worse than any torture... Haruka... I'm not sure if your sister can make it...

"Hnn... you're still bleeding..." The blond said, drawing my attention. I'd forgotten about him, but when I saw him looming over me, I couldn't imagine how I could. In the flickering light, he was so close, undeniably gorgeous, and... probably a vampire too. Yet rather than running and screaming, I sat, staring at him with round eyes. I was thankful to him for scaring the others off. But... maybe his intentions weren't as noble as rescuing me.

I'm not sure.. what he wants... He certainly didn't appear kind. His mouth was unsmiling. His blue eyes were like ice; devoid of warmth and piercing as a icicles. They froze me to the bone. But when he touched my shoulder, I thawed.

Grateful or not, I pulled away from him quickly; my shoulder was a tender plane of agony, not a place for probing fingers. I made a pained face and pushed at his hand, trying to communicate without the pain of speaking. Please don't... couldn't you be a kind lord...? I've had enough of this nightmare...

He gave me a cold look and ignored my silent plea. Taking my damaged wrist into his hand, he pulled me close. I gasped in pain and couldn't help struggling, even though each move ached.

"Please...!" I whispered desperately. He ignored me.

Fire raced from my shoulder down to my toes. A scream clawed its way up my throat, only to be shoved back down by his smothering hand. I was free to fight again, but... I've lost so much blood... I can't fight... the darkness is coming again... I.. I don't want to be burned... please..

"... so noisy... don't be so dramatic..." His voice rumbled through my bones. The pain faded to an ache and I tiredly dragged my consciousness from the dark. "I was just licking the wound... you would have bled out."

… b.. blood... Some of mine was on his chin. My eyes swelled with tears.

"... vampires..." I muttered, staring at the wound on my wrist... I thought it had stopped bleeding surprisingly quick.. it must have been their saliva... which explains why he licked the wound. I touched the dampness on my neck.

"Hn... I'd like to say that's a secret... but some of my brothers are... less discrete than others..." He reclined on my cot, closing his eyes. "Regardless... since you have that information, your chances of leaving this place alive are... dead."

I sat silently. Teetering on the edge of surrender... on the edge of giving up... everything was so cold.

"... he sent me here... to be food... didn't he...?" A tear rolled down my cheek. But I didn't care. I was beyond pretending to look brave. I was bruised and battered and there was blood on my torn bedclothes. I'd never felt so low in my life... tears were more than appropriate. Haruka isn't here to see his big sister cry... so it's okay... out of everything that's wrong, crying is okay...

I touched my forehead with my undamaged hand. I was shaking.

"Hmm... it's possible he was aware... that is, if he had contact with other domains..." He kept his eyes closed as he spoke. I gave him a tired glance. He was smirking to himself. "He certainly didn't obtain that info while under my dominion." He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. "You two are the first I've had in... twenty five years."

This man... He's been a lord for more than twenty five years old... yet he doesn't even look a day over twenty... I turned away. They're all monsters... all of them. I almost died... three monsters almost killed me... and another is here... having a conversation.

"So... what now...?" I asked quietly. There was a hollowness in my chest. "... will you try to kill me, too...?"

He took a moment to reply.

"Hmmmm... that is an option... but after going through the trouble of stopping those three..." He sighed and opened an eye. "Listen closely, woman. Don't start thinking you're important to me; I don't care about your life. You're only alive because it is entertaining to me..."

He sat up smoothly. I recoiled from his sudden closeness, but he grabbed my aching wrist. I flinched in pain and he smirked in the dim torch light. "... your views, your morals... they're so stupid... it makes me want to crush them." He squeezed my wrist and I struggled to reign in a hiss of pain. I glared hatefully. He's just as much of a monster as the other three, isn't he..?! No... worse.

"But mark my words..." His smile faded, replaced by a cold glare. "... as soon as you become a nuisance, I'm done with you."

He casually released my wrist and reclined on the cot. I was shaking. Rubbing my wrist and trembling with fury. H... how...? How can someone play with lives like this!? You think you can throw me away whenever I stop pleasing you..?! I'm not a toy! I'm ALIVE.

Heat swelled in my chest and boiled behind my eyes. I was seething. He was laying there so carelessly after threatening me... it was so hard not to strike him. But I reigned in that urge, gathering it and holding it tightly in my heart for later...

"... so what do you want from me...?" I tried to keep my trembling from my voice. But it was impossible. He opened a disinterested eye. "... what qualifies as not being a nuisance to you...? How shall I entertain you!?"

He closed his eyes with a scowl. "Tch... start by keeping your voice down.. If I wanted a loud eyesore I'd spend more time with Reiji... that aside..." He sat up again, quick and glaring. "You're pretty ungrateful, aren't you?" He grabbed my wrist harshly, pulling me onto the cot, I struggled angrily, but I was pinned beneath him regardless. I stared up at him in a mix of shock and hatred. How did he-

"I saved your life just now, didn't I? First, when they tried to suck you to death." He pressed his thumb cruelly into the marks on my neck. Nnn..! "Second, when I sealed your wound." His tongue trailed up my neck before I could react. I froze, wide eyed. "And again every second... when I don't drain you myself..." His lips touched my neck tenderly.

Heat rushed up my neck and into my cheeks. H... he k-kissed me...!? This... this can't happen..! I struggled against his hard hands that pushed my wrists into the hard cot. "S-stop..! Please!" You bastard..!

"Hnn...? Shouldn't you be thanking me...?" He raised himself off me, glaring reproachfully. "You should be offering your self to me as thanks for rescuing you... not pushing me away."

He looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling cunningly. Drawing close, he dropped his voice to a husky whisper. "Oh... or is it you wanted them to drink your blood...? Did you enjoy feeling their fangs inside you...?" I stared at the ceiling in horror at the memory of fire.. my wounds ached. He nuzzled my neck with a chuckle. I stopped breathing. "... does the thought of being enjoyed by three men excite you...?"

… excite me..? Fangs in me. Blood and screaming. Their chuckling in my ear.

"... should I call them back to finish you off...?"

My heart pounded in panic. "... no..."

"... no...?"

"N.. no please... thank you..!" I said in a rush, trying to get the words out, but they wouldn't come fast enough. "Thank you.. for... saving me.. please don't..."

He pulled away, displeased. "And who are you thanking..?"

I wasn't sure what he meant, but I had to answer. "Uh... you..?"

He raised a critical brow. "Then shouldn't you say My Lord...?"

I recoiled at the thought. I wasn't as eager to say those words. Fumbling with my pride, it took a moment to begrudgingly stow it away... for later. "... thank you... my lord..."

He pulled away from me with a sigh, sitting back on his heels. "You really have no manners at all, do you... what a pain..."

He rubbed his neck tiredly and yawned. The tension was dispelled. "Maybe Reiji would be better for this job... I don't even attend lessons, let alone teach them..."

Tch... this guy really is lazy, isn't he...? As fear was replaced with loathing, I began to gingerly creep out from under him. Immediately he fixed me with a glare and I had regrets.

"... I'm being so kind... and yet you still trying to escape...?" His voice was low and dangerous. I swallowed hard, shaking my head.

"N-no... sorry..."

His eyes narrowed further. ".. who are you saying sorry to..?"

"You! I mean... I'm sorry, my Lord...?" I ventured uncertainly. Damn.. this My Lord spiel feels so weird...!

He gave me a tired look before yawning again. "Ahhh.. I really don't have the patience for this sort of thing..."

… is keeping me against my will too much of an effort for you...? I looked away and narrowed my eyes. "... you could always release me. Then you wouldn't have to deal with any of this..."

He scoffed quietly. "Hnn. You're not getting out of this so easily." His cold fingers startled me as they turned my chin. His eyes glittered in the soft light. "Not until your will crumbles beneath my fingers.. not until you lay your pathetic beliefs at my feet... not until you beg me to take your blood... like the worthless human you are."

I glared in disgust as his finger brushed across my lips. "Ahh.. what a nice image... your tearful eyes and trembling lips..." He drew closer. I remembered how to move, but too late. His hand slid behind my neck. "... it makes me thirsty."