Chapter 3

Marinel sat with her back against the hard stone wall, outside in the shade behind the chapel, a building they used for many ceremonies.

A week has passed since her terrible moment, she bit Momomi, something she never wanted to do but her own blood lust got the better of her. A moment in her life she would rather not have repeated again, but knowing her nature it would certainly happen again. It was a struggle but she managed to not bite anyone during the week.

She closed her eyes for a moment, classes were done and everyone was either at their dorms or in after school clubs.

The door a few feet away from her opened up, Marinel glanced over seeing a girl step out dressed in the pearl white uniform of spica, her long black hair flowing behind her.

-"Oh,"- She looked at her, -"I didn't know someone else was here."-

Marinel stood up, -"I will be going then."- knowing how important it was to have some time alone, she didn't want to ruin this girls time to herself.

She grabbed Marinel's hand, -"Hey wait a minute! You're the girl everyone has been talking about!"- Marinel looked at her ,-"Yeah, 'The girl in the black veil',"- she giggled, -"Gotta say, it paints a picture."- She looked at her, -"But you're not as scary as they said you were."-

Marinel chuckled, -"Looks can be deceiving love."-

She extended her hand and -"Nanto Yaya."- She introduced herself with a smile.

-"Reeve Marinel."- she shook her hand.

-"So that's the mysterious girl in the black veil's name is."- Yaya giggled, -"So why do you wear that veil anyway?"-

-"For the sun."-

-"Ah,"- she replied, -"So what brings you here Marinel?"-

-"Just wanted a quiet place to be in."-

-"And you came to the right spot,"- She smiled as she moved her gaze to her surroundings, -"I come here all the time when I want to skip choir practice or classes."- It was a lovely view, that was sure, a grassy landscape with many small white flowers.

-"How come love?"-

-"Cause they're boring,"- She giggled, -"Well honestly its because I'm too lazy to go to them."-

-"But a girl like you looks so capable in handling those classes, amongest other things too."-

-"Eh?"- It took Yaya a while till she realized what she meant, or till at least Marinel said out loud that she must be good in bed, -"N-nani!?"-

-"I told you she was here."- Marinel turned around seeing two girls come from around the corner, a girl with pink hair and another with blonde hair… wait a minute, these were the two girls she was going to bite her first time but couldn't.

-"Ugh… what are you doing here Tsubomi?"- Yaya just had an annoyed look on her face which Marinel took notice, then looked at Tsubomi who kept staring at Yaya.

-"What do you think I'm doing here! To remind you that you have stuff to do and the saintly chorus needs you for practice Yaya-baka!"-

-"Yaya-chan, please you have to come to practice."- the blonde girl said.

Tsubomi however noticed the girl in the Miator uniform, -"Ah, gomenasai, I did not notice you there."-

-"No harm done sweetie,"- She replied.

-"Okuwaka Tsubomi pleased to meet you senpai!"- Tsubomi bowed down.

-"Konohana Hikari."- She too bowed.

-"Reeve Marinel."- she bowed her head

-"Eh?! The girl in the black veil!?"- Tsubomi snapped her gaze to her, noticing that she wasn't wearing her veil like she had heard many other students saying.

Hikari took a few steps closer to look at her, -"Some said you were scary looking under your veil."-

Marinel laughed, -"That so?"- she leaned against the wall again, -"Don't worry, I'm not a monster."- In a sense, she thought.

-"What year are you in Marinel-senpai?"-

-"Fifth year."-

-"Same year as me."- Yaya smiled widely, -"Don't worry Mari, I'll be your friend if you need it."-

Marinel seemed to relax, -"Arigato, I could really use it."-

-"You okay Mari-chan?"- Hikari asked.

-"It's been tough being here."-

-"It is, unless you've been here as long as our Etolie and Miyuki, those two have been in the school since first years and have not gone back home yet, not even for vacations.

-"I'm surprised neither one has made a move on each other."- Marinel thought to herself.

-"It's going to be okay Mari-chan, we'll be right here for you."- It's strange, as old as Marinel was she just could not get used to being alone as she has been for most of her life but it was comforting to know she had new friends… as long as she resisted her blood lust and kept her friends safe from herself.

-"See Etolie-sama, strange is it not."- The two vice presidents lead Shizuma into the woods to show her a disturbing sight.

-"I've never seen so many dead animals…"- She knelt down, -"The poor things."-

-"Do you think an animal is killing them?"- She asked, -"We should tell the sister to call someone to check it out."- the other replied.

Shizuma closely looked at one of the dead squirrels, -"something is not right."- She said, getting the attention of the two girls.

-"What do you mean Etolie-sama?"-

Shizuma stood up straight now, -"All of its blood is drained, a predator would have eaten it…"- she gave it one more look, -"Right there,"- She pointed, -"There's only one cut on its body… something else did this."-

-"How can you know that Etolie-sama?"-

Shizuma turned her gaze, -"Do you see any blood anywhere?"-

One of the girls trembled, -"That's horrifying…"-

-"Yeah, it's sending chills down my spine… do you think someone is here?"-

Shizuma walked back to them, -"Maybe… we should tell the head sister about this."-

The two nodded, -"We'll go tell her right away, what will you be doing Etolie-sama?"-

-"I'm going to take another look around, maybe I might find whoever is doing this."-

-"Please be careful Etolie-sama."- Shizuma nodded and watched them leave back to the dorms to tell the Head Sister.

Shizuma wandered around, her body tense from the mere thought of actually finding whatever was here hurting the animals, fearing that they would go harm the students or worse, herself.

Beyond that area she saw nothing else, no more carcasses or anything, however she began to hear giggling. Shizuma walked towards that direction maybe whoever was there could give her any information on this or maybe seen it.

Shizuma stepped out into the clearing, she found herself behind the chapel and saw Marinel with three other girls talking.

Marinel was the first to notice her, followed by the three girls, -"Shizuma, what brings you here love?"- she asked, "Did you miss me?"

Shizuma wanted to respond to her but felt this was more important, -"I need to ask you all something."- She replied, Marinel was surprised by her serious tone and so were the other girls, so they all nodded, -"I don't know if you all have heard, about all the dead animals in the forest."-

-"Nani?!"- Hikari cried out, -"Whoa…"- Yaya was truly shocked by the news, Tsubomi however was speechless.

Hikari took a few steps to her, -"What happened?!"- She truly cared for the animals of the school and it showed with the stress in her voice.

Marinel however, moved her gaze away…

-"We don't know exactly what happened, but we found an area in the forest littered with dead animals… but that's not the weird part, whatever did this to them was not intending to eat them."-

-"What do you mean?"- Yaya asked, curious and spooked at the same time.

Shizuma crossed her arms, -"Whatever attacked them drained their blood, they had one large cut on their bodies and no blood to be found anywhere."-

-"That's terrible…"-

-"No blood?"- Tsubomi muttered out seeing Shizuma nod.

-"You make it sound as if we have a blood sucking creature running around?"- Yaya said with a dry chuckle trying to lighten the mood but no one laughed, though Marinel snapped her gaze to Yaya.

Shizuma looked at them once more, -"Anyway, I came to ask you all if you've seen anything strange recently?"-

-"No, gomenasai Etolie-sama."- Tsubomi answered, along with Hikari who didn't know anything and neither did Yaya.

Shizuma looked at Marinel, -"How about you Mari? Have you seen anything?"-

Silence.

-"Mari?"- She seemed to snap out of it.

-"No, I haven't sorry."- she replied.

Shizuma nodded, even though she wasn't satisfied with those answers she pressed on, passing by Marinel and placed her hand on her shoulder then left.

-"I can't believe it… something is actually killing those poor animals."- Hikari said sorrowfully.

-"I know, what do you all think it could be?"- Tsubomi followed up.

-"Well we can rule out vampires right?"- Yaya scratched her head with a nervous chuckle.

-"Now's not the time for jokes Yaya-baka."-

-"Maybe we should try and help Etolie-sama find out what's going on."- Was the only thing that came into Hikari's mind.

-"That's a good idea, we should tell Tamao-chan and Nagisa-chan about this, maybe they would want to help."-

Yaya chuckled, -"I think Nagisa will be to terrified to help us."-

-"I suppose your right, but it doesn't hurt to ask."- Tsubomi truly wanted to get to the bottom of it, -"Maybe Chikaru-chan would want to help?"-

-"Oh yes, her mystery club would help a lot!"- Hikari liked that idea, if anyone could help solve a case it would be Chikaru, -"What do you think Mari-chan?"-

-"Yeah, it's a good idea."- she replied, the more and more they talked about this, the more Marinel hated how she couldn't control her hunger, and back in her old home she was supplied with blood bags to keep her urges in check but now, on her own it proved too difficult.

-"Something wrong?"- Yaya asked.

Marinel looked at them, feeling all their eyes on her, -"Just… angry at all this…"- she truly hated herself.

-"I know, it's terrible that something would hurt those animals."- Hikari replied with a look of sadness, -"Come on, let's go see Chikaru."- Yaya followed up.

-"You two do that, we'll go tell Nagisa and Tamao."- Hikari and Tsubomi headed the other way while Marinel followed Yaya as closely as she could.

-"Um Yaya…"-

-"Yes?"- Yaya turned to look at Marinel.

-"Is it okay if we walk through the shade?"-

-"Eh?"- Yaya was about to ask but remembered she had said she hated the sun… wait… she hated the sun, vampires hate the sun, could she be a— no, she shook that idea out of her head, it was just too ridicules that she let out a small chuckle, -"Sure come on."- They ran through the shaded forest as they made their way to Lulim to see Chikaru.

-"EH?! What do you mean a monster!?"- Nagisa's face almost went pale as she nervously chewed on her slice of cake.

-"I didn't say there was a monster running around Nagisa-chan."- Hikari corrected herself but she guessed the mere mention of a blood draining creature was enough to set off her red flags.

-"But there is something harming the animals, and we don't know if its still out there. Our Etolie is out there looking for it."- Tsubomi took a seat across her.

Tamao still had a concerned look in her face, -"Why haven't you all told the Head Sister?"-

-"We saw Miator's vice presidents talking with her as we came to you."- Tsubomi explained, -"We also heard her say she'll be calling a few people… couldn't hear if she said animal control or police."-

-"What did Yaya and Marinel say?"- Tamao asked.

-"They are going to go tell Chikaru-chan, maybe her mystery club could help us find whatever is doing this."-

-"S-s-shouldn't we let the police h-handle this?"- Nagisa asked nervously.

-"We should, but we don't really know what's behind this, if we find it then we can help them a lot better."- Tsubomi replied.

-"So basically we would be in danger?"- Tamao followed up.

-"Well… we would have a whole group looking for it and if we find it then we leave and report it."-

-"I-I-I don't know, sounds t-t-too dangerous."- Nagisa cowered behind Tamao.

-"You don't have to come with us Nagisa-chan."- Tsubomi stood up, -"Well come on Hikari-senpai, lets go see what Chikaru said."- The two stood up and began their hike to Lulim.

-"Wait, I'll go too."- As foolish as this was, Tamao decided to join them.

Once everyone was gone, Nagisa was left alone, nothing but silence in her room and looked around, she swallowed her fear and stood up, -"W-wait for me!"- she ran out to try and catch up to them.

-"So why are you telling me this Etolie."- Momomi crossed her arms, -"Does it look like I care if something happens in that forest?"-

Shizuma gave her a stern glare, -"I know you don't care so what else is new, but if you see something then let me know or any of us."-

Momomi waved her hand to dismiss it, -"which other baka is looking for this thing?"-

Shizuma clenched her fist, -"Everyone might help, I still don't know."-

Momomi looked at her, -"I'll humor you, I'll tag along. Only because it's incredibly boring and I have nothing better to do."-

That was not with Shizuma expected and didn't want her to come along but she was no in mood to argue so the two walked along.

-"This is Chikaru, president of Lulim and of various clubs."- Yaya introduced her.

She shook hands, -"I'm Marinel."- she said with a smile, "I had no idea I'd be meeting such a cute girl."

Chikaru was caught off guard by her words, her cheeks went red, -"Oh um… arigato."-

Marinel looked her over, "Really cute, I can just eat you up sugar." She said but Chikaru had nothing to say, she didn't even know how to respond to that.

Yaya was just as surprised as Chikaru hearing Marinel being so forward with her but she decided to shake it off.

Chikaru cleared her throat, -"The girl in the black veil,"- She changed the conversation, something Marinel noticed and wanted to keep teasing her but decided against it, for now, -"They certainly want to make you look scary."-

-"Yeah, Yaya has told me about it, but trust me I'm veery playful."- Marinel replied with a sultry voice.

Chikaru turned her gaze from her to Yaya to keep herself from getting flustered, -"So what brings you here Yaya-chan?"-

-"Have you heard of the animals that are being found dead?"-

Chikaru gasped, -"That's horrible, I didn't know!"-

-"Well we want to help to try and find whatever is doing this but we need more people to help us and I was wondering if you could help or your mystery club?"-

Chikaru crossed her arms, then lifted a finger to her chin as she thought about it, -"We can't let whatever is doing this stay out there, we'll help you girls,"- She smiled, -"Just let us know when."-

-"Arigato Chikaru,-"Yaya exhaled in relief, -"Well I'll get going and tell the girls that you'll help."- Yaya turned to Marinel, -"Let's go."-

-"Yeah…"- She followed behind her to tell the rest of their friends… knowing full well that the thing they were looking for was right there with them.

Twenty minutes have gone by and before anything the girls had a few things to finish doing before they could go help. So far now they enjoyed the rest of the day before they would go and look for this monster killing the animals and better prepare for it.

So once the girls returned to their schools and to their clubs, Marinel walked around Lulim, checking out the various clubs and finding a few interesting ones such as the music room or the costume club.

She turned the corner and walked down the hall, spotting a peculiar scent coming from one of the rooms. The closer she got, the stronger it smelled and nauseating.

She opened the door, she was immediately hit with the smell of garlic and she instinctively covered her mouth and nose with her arm.

Nagisa turned to look, -"Mari-chan!"- it also caught the attention of Chikaru and Tamao, -"Come on in Mari-chan."- Chikaru followed up.

Truthfully, Marinel did not want to even step one foot in that room because the smell of garlic was too repulsive and was already making her eyes water.

-"You okay Mari-chan?"- Tamao asked, stepping closer to her.

"No," She said, "What are you all doing?"

-"We're making garlic bread!"- Nagisa chimed in, -"So far its been easy."-

-"We have a few done, would you like to try some Mari-chan?"- Chikaru offered.

Marinel took a step back, "Sorry love, I'm actually… uh, allergic to garlic."

-"Really? I'm sorry Mari-chan."- Tamao placed the bread back on the counter.

Marinel opened one of the windows to vent the room and breathe in some fresh air, "Ah, much better."

-"So what brings you here Mari-chan?"-

"hmm, just checking out some of the clubs sugar," She said, "Thought there would be one that would catch my eye, course," She looked at Tamao and Chikaru, "Other things caught my eye." She said under her breath.

"You should totally join this club! We usually make a lot of tasty treats,"- Nagisa said, -"That don't have garlic."- She gave off a soft laugh, rubbing the back of her neck, "And we all have so much fun!"

"Well when you say it like that all cute, how can I refuse sugar." Nagisa looked at her, flattered by her words or maybe she was flustered, Marinel actually couldn't tell.

Just before she could say something, the door opened up.

-"Ah there you are Chikaru-san, I've been looking for you."-

A girl wearing the pearl white uniform of Spica walked in, her blonde hair flowing behind her tied with a red ribbon and her blue eyes were captivating.

-"Shion? Is something wrong?"- Chikaru asked.

-"Well nothing is wrong but I wanted to go over a few documents with you and maybe get your opinion on it."- Shion explained.

Marinel watched the girl talk with Chikaru, "Shion? Pretty." She observed her, she even noticed Shion's cheek go red as she talked with Chikaru, "Ah, I get it." it didn't take much for Marinel to realize why Shion looked nervous around Chikaru.

-"Of course Shion, let me just finish here and I can go with you."- Chikaru replied to the blonde girl.

Shion nodded and looked around, spotting Marinel, -"I've never seen you here before. You're the new girl right?"-

"Aye," She said, "Marinel Reeve." She shook her hand.

-"Tomori Shion."-

"Charmed," She said then let go of her hand, "Whatever you need, please don't hesitate to look for me sugar." She told her.

-"Um… okay."- Marinel then walked over to Shion, wrapped her arm around her which caught her off guard.

-"If you even need relationship advice, I'd also be willing to help you," she said, "Even help you get a certain Lulim president."-

-"What?! How did you kn—!"- Shion shouted in shock but stopped herself, but she got everyone else's attention and she was quick to compose herself.

Marinel only chuckled, "I'm just saying, love."

-"I-I don't have those kinds of feelings for her!"

Marinel looked at Chikaru, confused as to what was going on then back at Shion, "Sure you don't sugar. But as I said, offer is on the table."

Shion crossed her arms and turned away.

"Well I'll see you girls later," Marinel waved as she left the room and returned back to her room to relax.

After stepping out of the forest, Marinel's eyes scanned the area and saw a giant round building surrounded by water. She had never seen this place before and was curious about it, she ventured towards it and threw the large doors open to step inside.

"Well well," Her eyes scanned at the shelves of books, and they were everywhere, how could she not resist checking out a couple of books, hell she could probably read every book in this place and still want more. She walked around towards the shelves, looked at a few and when she turned the corner she saw something that surprised her.

There was two girls there, probably a couple just by the way they held each other and kissed.

She decided to keep moving and turning another corner she saw the exact same thing, another pair of girls kissing. Was this a gathering spot for girls in love where they could spend time together?

"What an interesting use for a library." She giggled, "I like it."

-"I'm glad you do."-

Marinel turned around and saw Momomi pounce on her, locking her lips with hers and running her hands all over Marinel's body.

Momomi then began to kiss Marinel's neck and she let out a small moan, "Damn, you're pretty good at this love." She managed to say, Momomi looked up at her then a smirk formed on her lips with a giggle and resumed her lustful kiss.

She began to open up Marinel's uniform and kissed the skin on her exposed neck, chest.

"How—mmm, did you know I was here, love?" Marinel asked, enjoying every moment of this.

Momomi kissed her lips, smearing her black lipstick on her face, -"It's simple, I saw you walk in and I followed you in here."- she replied.

"I see."

-"You must have known about this place, why else did you walk in here?"-

"I actually didn't know this place was for lovers, and the more I look at it, it's is my kind of place." Marinel grabbed Momomi's shoulders and swapped places, pinning Momomi to the wall, "And I'm rather you glad you came to me, saves me the trouble of looking for you sugar."

-"Oh? interesting."- Momomi giggled, however as she much as she didn't want too, Marinel let her go before her urges would make her hurt Momomi for her blood once again.

Momomi was surprised that she stopped, "Got to go sugar, but we should pick this up later."

Momomi grabbed her arm, -"What's that face? am I not good enough for you?"- Just by hearing those words alone, she could tell that Momomi felt insulted.

Marinel turned to look at her, "That's not it love, I just don't want to hurt you."

-"Hurt me?"- Momomi began to laugh, -"Oh please, as if you can actually hurt me. If you're worried about my relationship with Kaname, don't. There's not much of a relationship going on there."-

"No, that's not it love," Marinel didn't even know how to explain to her and wasn't so sure she wanted too, "I'll see ya around sugar." she winked at her and left, leaving Momomi wanting more and she swore she would get more.

It was almost time to go look for whatever monster was running around the forest and hopefully find it, but they still had a bit more time to kill.

Marinel stood by a window, watching the sun go down, something she's never done in such a long time, though she still had to be careful. Only once did she ever see a proper sunset, outside and she enjoyed it despite the burns she received afterwards but she felt it was worth it. Every sunset since then she's watched it behind windows, pillars, anything that could protect her from the sun but even then she was never satisfied with it. As she looked at the girls walking along the stone path, she envied them, they never had to hide from the sun, run from the sun and how she wished she didn't have too either.

Outside however, she saw Tamao walking alongside Nagisa, they seemed to be having run but Marinel's eyes were glued to Tamao, she was just too cute for her own well being and it was tempting to make a move on her.

She exhaled softly, before her mind ran even more rampant she felt arms wrap around her.

She let out a small gasp and turned her head, "Shizuma?!"

-"Did I scare you?"- she whispered softly into her ear.

"Well, I surely wasn't expecting you right now sugar." she said, she then felt Shizuma's hands slide from her arms to her shoulders and neck, moving them in a massage like motion.

-"You feel tense."- Shizuma said.

"I've had a lot on my mind, love."

-"I know how I can fix that,"- Shizuma then gently grabbed Marinel's face, turned it to face her slightly and pressed her lips on her's, locking in a kiss.

"Well you sure know how to cheer up a girl, sugar." Marinel said with a smile.

Shizuma said nothing and kissed her once more.

-"By the way, will you be coming with us?"

"What?"

-"We'll be looking for whatever is out there?"-

Marinel lowered her gaze, "Sure... are you sure its a good idea?"

Shizuma shook her head, -"No, but we want to know what it is to better deal with it. Besides we'll be large group."

"I suppose."

-"Come on, they should be waiting for us."- Shizuma led the way while Marinel followed, she could only wonder when they will realize that the thing they were looking for was right there with them.