"Reiji, I-," I paused, my hands gripping the chair mid-pull as Reiji stood in the threshold of the bedroom door. "Er, I'm so, uh, I apologize," I stuttered, the uncertainty of whether I had been discovered or not mixing my words. He balanced in one hand a sky blue tea cup sitting atop a fragile looking white dish. In his other hand he carefully held a ceramic teapot upright. Various floral patterns decorated it. Tucked between his arm and side was an aged leather notebook. He had simply pushed the door open, making no noise. If I had thought to close it, I would have at least heard the doorknob turn. Since it was left cracked, how could I be sure he hadn't gotten back sooner and hadn't seen me at the window? "I wondered if you would prefer sitting here, rather than on a bed... for tea, that is." I continued pulling the chair out, committing to the action, as he made his way towards me.
"I see. That is a keen observation to make," he agreed. I made a mental sigh of relief, attempting to keep a calm composure. I took a quick step to the side away from the chair as he came closer and began placing the items he carried on top of the desk. "Yui," Reiji began, now taking a seat. He crossed his arms and settled in. "At the moment, I am a guest in your room. As a host, it is rude to allow unnecessary silence to occur and it is in your hands to begin the conversation."
My body tensed as he conveniently left out the keyword 'uninvited' while claiming to be a guest. My mind then flashed to the events in the hallway before he appeared. Now could be a chance to get some answers concerning the anonymous screaming. "Yes, um, Reiji," I started.
"I can hardly hear your mumbles, Yui," Reiji gestured in front of him. "Come stand here since you cannot project." I gritted my teeth as I moved and stood in front of him, dangerously within arm's reach. "Better. Now begin again."
"I wondered, Reiji," I fidgeted nervously while in his direct gaze. "Is it just yourself and brothers that live here? Nobody else?" Although he had acted like he hadn't heard anything, I knew that I did not imagine the woman's pleas for help. And on top of that, she had said my name.
"At the moment, yes," Reiji answered. "There are occasionally servants and chefs passing through, but they stay in separated living quarters and only have restricted access to the main house. Primarily while we are in classes," he explained. "And then our father, while he does technically live here, is commonly abroad for business matters." Reiji's face remained reserved and expressionless even while mentioning his father. "As has been the case since we took in our newest houseguest."
Judging by the state of it, I could tell that that hallway hadn't been cleaned in years, meaning it must have been a restricted area from the maids, but the voice was so distinctly a woman's. "And your mother?" I wondered aloud.
"Pour the tea, Yui," Reiji ordered after a short silence. I looked to my side at the tea pot and, sitting next to it, the empty teacup. I turned and carefully prepared the tea, which released steam as I poured. The tea was, instead of slightly translucent, a rich, dark red, almost black. "Our mothers are no longer alive," Reiji answered.
"Wah? Ouch!" I yelped as my hand flinched, letting a drop of hot tea sting my fingers. "My- my condolences." I placed the teapot back down and brought my scorched finger to my lips. "May she..." Reiji had said 'mothers,' plural. Were they only half-brothers, then? "May they rest in peace," I corrected.
"What a foolish notion. Resting in peace," Reiji scoffed, reaching to lift the teacup and plate. "When their eyes closed that final time, nothing awaited them but an eternity of absolute nothingness. Precisely the same as anyone else," he lectured and then began lifting the cup to his lips.
"I believe," I began before I could stop myself, "that may be some people's perception of peace." Reiji paused before drinking. He placed the cup back down to its plate untouched. My hand nervously clenched at the sides of my dress, realizing he must have taken my remark as rude. "I apologize if that was uncalled for. I, um, must be letting my exhaustion get to me."
Reiji returned the cup and plate back to their spot on the desk. "Yes, I'm sure you're quite fatigued," Reiji agreed as he reached his arm out and tugged me towards him.
"Huh! Re- Reiji?" My body thumped down across his lap, facing the desk. "I- I'm fine I can s- stand," I insisted. His hand settled around my waist to support me.
"Would you rather we lay on the bed?" Reiji smirked. "That would be quite presumptuous of you, Yui."
"No... Thank you, Reiji," I sighed.
"For today," Reiji breathed into my ear, "I will make an exception." He kissed my blushed cheek before lifting me up, standing, then placing me back down into the chair. Waving at the cup, he continued, "Help yourself."
My eyes widened. "Oh, thank... thank you." I carefully lifted the cup and as I brought it closer to my face, I could smell an overly sweet scent, something I'd never imagine Reiji to enjoy. He casually grabbed the leather notebook from the desk and began flipping through a few pages. As soon as my lips touched the cold porcelain, I could immediately taste the, thickened with sugar, cloyingly sweet liquid. Reiji glanced up as I swallowed, then back down at the notebook and folded a corner of a page. After the initial candied notes faded, I felt a lingering sting in the back of my throat. "Um, Reiji," I mumbled as the burning grew sharper. "Reiji, my..." The very tips of my fingers grew numb. "I can't feel my fingers."
"Ah, odd," Reiji muttered to himself as he compared two pages.
The numbness traveled up my hands. I attempted to place the cup back, but lost my handling of it. It hit against the corner of the desk and fell out of my grasp, shattering and spilling onto the floor. "Hah!" I yelped. "What did I d- drink? I can't... Reiji, do something!"
"Do settle down. It will not kill you." He flipped to a new page in the notebook. "Ah, that would explain the numbness..." I slid out of the chair as I lost strength in my legs and torso and I hit the floor with a thump. "Can you not even manage to sit properly? That will not do at all. While the reaction speed is as expected, it's always best when one's prey can fully experience its suffering." Reiji sighed as he firmly shut the book and returned it to the desk. I laid on my side against the tile, the fragments of porcelain decorating the floor in front of me. I felt as though my blood was turning cold and leaking out below me, and I thought for a second I saw it spill around me, but it was just a puddle of tea. I closed my eyelids, focusing on the numbness that slowly, but surely, spread throughout my limbs. "Do not concede defeat yet, woeful girl. I do have an antidote, of course." My eyes snapped back open to see him holding a petite glass vial full of thick black liquid. My arm reached up in desperation, only for Reiji to take a step back, away from me, his eyes staying locked with my own. "Come, Yui. Crawl to me like the vermin you are," he ordered. My vision of Reiji blurred from tears and I let my arm fall back down, convinced this would truly be my end. After getting so close... I wondered if an eternal void was to be my heaven like his mothers' supposedly was. After getting so close... how could I give up like this? I could feel my heart ignite as I thought of my father. If I could no longer fight for myself, I would just have to fight for him. I lifted myself up onto my hands and knees, using strength I didn't know I still had. I would not let my life, the life that my father had so graciously saved, be wasted in this way. All could not be lost while he still lived and breathed. "Very well done, Yui," Reiji complimented as I forced my body over to him, each shuffle of my knees sending static across my skin, which only grew hotter and hotter from the pain and embarrassment, the closer I got to him. "That's wonderfully satisfying," he smirked. "And now," he uncorked the vial, "beg."
I bent my torso down until my forehead pressed against the tile, in a deep bow. My arms pressed against the tile in front of me. "Er, p- please, Reiji. I, I- um, beg you, please," I stammered, finding it hard to speak as I lost all feeling in my lips and then finally my tongue as well.
"You've put me in quite an uncomfortable position. On one hand, I do pity you as one would take pity on a feral, mangy cat," he sighed and crouched down closer to me. "But on the other hand, you've carelessly broken a treasured item of mine and wasted my delicious tea after I so graciously offered it to you. After all this, you, amazingly, still feel conceited enough to ask for my assistance." He grasped my hair and pulled my head up from the ground. "I do not typically believe in rewarding bad behavior, Yui." I could no longer produce any words, let alone sounds. I could not feel the discomfort from him pulling my body up by my hair. I could not feel as he pried my mouth open and tilted the black liquid past my lips and down my throat.
"Haaah ahg, ack," I turned and pushed away from him instinctively to cough, but immediately lost balance and fell back down onto the tile. My hand slid across a sharp piece of porcelain as I landed and I gasped in both pain and relief, realizing that I could once again feel my body.
"This is the second time now you've coughed so openly in my presence. How impolite." Reiji stood over me. "You've also made a mess of your room." Every movement sent pins and needles through my muscles, but nevertheless I swiped the cup's broken shards in a pile with my bare hands in a dangerous panic, forgetting about the cut now at my wrist, which began leaking blood onto the floor, mixing in with the tea. "Impudent creature," Reiji hissed as he grasped my injured wrist. "You've only made it worse."
"Agh!" I grunted. Reiji brought my hand to his face, which showed no hint of emotion as he studied the cut. "I'm sor- sorry," I gasped, not knowing what else to say. His tongue dragged across my skin, licking up the dripping blood. I pulled it hastily away, inciting a deathly glare from Reiji. "Ah- um," I held my arm tightly to my chest.
"I have polluted my taste with your blood, Yui," Reiji said coldly, as he removed his glasses and placed them down on the desk. "How will you amend this?" he asked. Before I could even begin to protest, he continued, "I will accept no excuses." He crouched down to meet my gaze before lifting his hand to brush over the skin on my neck. "It's vile, how much your body prays for me to devour it."
"Don't..." I whimpered, still holding my arm against my quivering body. I could feel Reiji's fingers wrap around my throat. "W- wait!" I yelped.
"I will carry out no orders given by the likes of you," Reiji growled as he tightened his grasp on my throat and lifted me. "But if you were to make me your God..." my back slammed against the wall next to the desk. "I just may decide to answer your body's prayers."
"Never!" I sobbed, the word coming out in mostly a dry heave as my hands pried at Reiji's fingers that still tightened around my throat.
"I see. Is it that easy to refuse?" Reiji again grabbed my hurt wrist with his free hand. "Who else, other than your God, could ease this agony for you? Who else here will protect you, Yui?" Reiji's lips pressed firmly against the injury before he brought his fangs down deeply into my wrist, tearing through the skin.
"Ahhhhhhg!" I cried out in agony. I punched at his chest with my unpinned hand. Reiji released his choking grip on my throat and moved to steady himself against the wall. He pulled my wrist away from his mouth and before I could take a second breath, bit down once again, ripping new wounds into my skin. I shrieked in pain. "St- stop, please, I beg you!" For just a moment, I wondered if I had actually heard a glimpse of my grim future in the hallway earlier that day.
"Begging is no longer adequate, Yui," Reiji brought his face close to mine. His eyes glistened and he, for the first time since meeting, let out a mocking laugh. "No, that will not be sufficient. Now I must teach you to worship." His mouth met mine in a forceful kiss.
"N- nngh," I mumbled against his lips. "Mmn." My free arm pushed against his chest as his tongue pushed past my lips. "N- no!" I hit my arm against his own, knocking him just barely off kilter, leaving an opening. I took the chance to escape from his clutches and, darting past him, I aimed for the door.
"That will not be tolerated," Reiji said, eerily calmly, as he effortlessly caught me by my hair before slamming me down on top of the desk. I reached for the tea pot and threw it at Reiji as he came close, but he easily evaded. I heard the noise of it clanking against a wall and then emptying out onto the floor. The noise repeated in my mind until it was all I could hear. I could feel any sense of panic drain out of my body alongside my blood as Reiji once again brought my arm up to his mouth. My body laid limp against the wooden desk, allowing Reiji to make new sets of holes along my arm without any resistance. Reiji grunted in between drinking, "How brazen of you to believe that all that prevents you from true freedom is an unbroken window, Yui." I felt my fingers twitch in response, but his words did not fully register in my brain. I could only feel the surface-level pain of my skin tearing, but nothing deeper. Inside, I was as numb as the tea had previously left my body. "If your scheme had been successful, I would have undoubtedly hunted you down and returned you here, to your true home." My eyelids fluttered closed as Reiji dropped my arm. I could feel his fingers brush tears away that had started forming a small puddle where my head met the desk after trailing down my face. He leaned down close to my ear and whispered, "Afterwards, I would have slit your wrists using the broken glass and enjoyed my tea peacefully," he gave a rough lick across my cheek, "while watching your life bleed out from you onto the floor of this very room. Who would you cry out to then? Just the thought of your agonized screams gives me joy." Before I could pass out from blood loss, I could feel him lean back up and could hear him pick up the notebook. "I cannot stomach your unsightly appearance any longer." The door latched closed behind him. I slid my body off of the desk and, avoiding the dangerous mess on the ground, threw myself onto my bed to sleep.
At some point, I awoke. I hazily remembered looking out the window which only presented a sharp sliver of the moon glowering back down to me from the sky. The spilled tea, broken porcelain and tossed tea pot had disappeared, already cleaned as if it had all been a dream. I lifted my wounded arm, the only evidence, to my face. It was stained red either from tea or blood, I could not tell which. I brought my hand closer to my mouth and let my tongue just barely flick the skin. There was no poisoned tea to numb the aching that coursed through my body and heart, only the unforgiving, sour taste of iron.