Hello everyone, here is the next chap in the story

This is posted as fast since the first few are short and just small explaining and things. The next will be up in a day or so too

We'll have more things happening and a few things explained, but not nearly everything as there is a lot that's specific with the kind of vampire Ace is and what exists in this world in the form of supernatural beings

And, thank you everyone for the comments on the first chapter, it means a lot

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Ace ran around with Thatch in the small town they were at, having docked at an island to restock and relax for the night. Ace enjoyed being able to run around, liking to be on land again after being at the sea for almost 3 months now. It felt good. As the two were thinking of heading to a bar, where many of the others were, including Haruta, Rakuyo, Marco, and Pops, Ace stopped as he noticed a specific woman, who was looking at him with a grin, the woman sitting close to the entrance to the bar. Ace gave a swallow as he smelled the rosemary and saw one of the many talismans she had on her, recognizing it.

It was a witch.

And, the way she was smiling at him, the pleased grin and daring him to move, he was sure she knew Ace was a vampire, which was bad. Witches were bad for vampires; they always hated each other, a war having been up for centuries. True, there were some who were friendly with each other, but that was rare. Ace didn't want to go anywhere close to that bar, not while that woman was there, or at all actually. He didn't want to risk it.

Ace looked at Thatch, who was a few steps in front of him. ¨Hey, Thatch.¨ Started Ace, getting his attention. ¨I think I'll head back to the boat actually. I'm tired.¨ It was a bit late, so it was a plausible excuse… Right? Thatch gave a frown. ¨What! No! You can't, Ace! We're going to have so much fun.¨ Ace shook his head, trying to look sleepy and guilty. ¨Sorry, Thatch, but I need to go and check some things too.¨ Ace really wanted to get away from the eyes that was glued on him by the woman, feeling the grin.

Thatch gave a whine. ¨Ace!¨ Ace gave a sheepish smile, feeling a bit bad for leaving. But, he didn't feel safe or okay being so close to a witch. ¨Sorry, Thatch, I will make it up to you later.¨ Thatch gave a sigh. ¨Okay, little bro. I'll see you later. But, you better make it better later tomorrow!¨ Ace gave a smile, glad he was let go. ¨I will.¨

Thatch then left, heading into the bar. As he did, the witch looking at Thatch as he went inside, Ace locked his eyes on her, having a serious look. When the witch looked back at him, Ace made his eyes half red for a second, showing that he was willing to fight if she did anything to Thatch or the family. She gave a smug look back, but didn't move, so Ace left. He would know her if she did anything; he had her scent.

Ace stayed on the ship for most of the evening, feeling better there, feeling even better when Haruta came back fine, not mentioning anything special happening. That meant the witch hadn't caused any troubles.

When night rolled around, many either being asleep or out in the town, Ace snuck of the ship, heading into the woods.

When Ace was in the woods, he looked around, trying to smell what he was after. He thankfully had a perfect sense of smell, which came with being a vampire, also making him able to see in the dark. The downside of that was that his eyes glowed when he used his night vision, but thankfully he was able to choose. He did still see better than a normal human, but he could see perfectly if he decided to.

After a minute, Ace moved, smelling the scent he was after, moving silently. After running for a minute, he saw the deer he had smelled, and moved carefully.

When the deer looked at him, clearly sensing something off, Ace locked eyes with the deer, eyes glowing, the deer not able to move as Ace had it under a trance, a perk of being a vampire, not needing to speak to be able to keep animals in a trance, as long as it was a regular animal.

When Ace was close to the deer, he moved a hand to stroke its head, it looking to be a female, before Ace moved his mouth to its neck, biting down, the deer struggling for a second before going limp. Ace feeling so satisfied to get warm blood from a living being, which he hadn't for almost 4 months.

Yes, it was a deer, but it was better than nothing. It would sooth his thirst slightly, even more as he hadn't had warm blood in long. It was so much better than cold blood, but not as soothing in the length. Ace didn't want to drink from humans if he could avoid it, not wanting to accidentally take too much, even worse knowing he would need to take it from someone he was now in the family with, who doesn't even know he is a vampire, Ace knowing he would lose his family when they found found out. Vampires weren't liked; they were hated and detested. Ace wanted to love it while it lasted, knowing it would come to an end one day. Ace did feel bad for deceiving them, but he loved the family now. He should never have gotten this close to them; he should have left.

When Ace felt the blood flow stop, he let go of the neck, the animal lying dead on the ground. Ace licked his lips, getting the excess blood that got there, before wiping at his mouth and face, to be sure there was no sign of what he did. Ace knew there were predatory animals in the forest; the deer would be eaten by them soon.

As Ace was about to turn and head back, a voice had him turn and snarl. ¨My, the poor deer.¨ The witch was there, looking smug and condescending at him.

¨I was surprised when a vampire was here, much more so when it was a part of a pirate crew. They don't know, do they? You wouldn't have eaten deers if they did.¨ The woman walked up to him, Ace snarling a bit as she walked, eyes red and fangs out. The witch gave a chuckle. ¨No worries, I won't hurt you or them.¨ A hand moved to his cheek. ¨But, what about you? How long will eating animals and cold blood help? When will you snap and kill someone?¨ Ace moved his head from the hand, snarling and giving a warning bite towards it. The witch gave a chuckle again.

¨You're a beast, a monster. And, they will find out. Just pray it won't be by you killing one of them.¨ The witch then left, laughing. Ace standing alone in the clearing, knowing it would happen when they found out. Ace prayed that he wouldn't feed off one of them, maybe killing them. Ace would rather kill himself first. But, he had no control if he snapped.

Ace walked slowly back to the ship, feeling bad. He shouldn't deceive the pirates he called his family, but he wanted to have a place to belong for a bit more, before he was thrown away, or more likely, killed by them. It was as the witch had said, they would figure it out. Ace only hoped they wouldn't hate him, but knew it was a stupid thought. Barely anyone liked vampires. Ace hoped they would kill him rather than throw him away as dirt.

Ace hated witches, but he hated himself more.

-x-

Bay counted her blood bags, frowning as it didn't match up with what she had counted yesterday. Someone was taking her blood bags. There was one missing, and she knew there were exactly 24 last night, counting it three times to be sure. But, now there were only 23 bags. She gave a frown, not liking this. Someone was taking stuff they needed, and that was not okay. Bay gave a frown as she looked at the medicine room, trying to think of what she could do to catch who it was.

After thinking a lot, she decided to place a small trap, making it so that when someone tried to open the blood bag closet, it would alert her. She wanted to try and keep everyone out of it for now, going to catch who it was and talk to whoever it was, and get the reason, before she went to Pops. Nothing did happen for a while, Bay checking it everyday, keeping an ear out for anyone suspicious.

But, 6 days after setting up the trap, another blood bag was missing, the trap not set off.

Bay was confused by this, no idea on how it was possibly to open the closet and not have set off the trap. She had told no one. This was impossible. Bay gave a sigh, before she left her infirmary, heading to Pops' room, to tell him about it. She was angry someone was taking the blood, the only two reasons she could think off was to sabotage them, or to use it for religious reasons. Pops had said he would inform the commanders, as this was a bad thing. They couldn't have people stealing blood bags, maybe even other things too. It was bad.

As she now had told, she went by Haruta and asked her to set up a few Den Dens at her infirmary and medicine room, to catch who ever it was. She was not okay with someone stealing from her. What reasons could they possibly have? No reason was good enough to steal. She would be sure to catch who it was and make sure they never did it again.

-x-

Ace was out and speaking with Haruta about some things, just enjoying a nice and sunny day, when Thatch suddenly was there. ¨Yo! Haruta, how did it go with the Den Dens? Was Bay happy?¨ Haruta gave a nod, and Ace tilted his head. ¨Den Dens? Why does Bay need those?¨ Thatch gave a small laugh. ¨Haven't you heard? We have a sneaker! Someone is stealing something from the infirmary, from the medicine room, and Bay is now going to cat-.¨ Thatch cut off as Marco hit him over the head. ¨Thatch! I told you not to tell anyone, yoi!¨ Thatch gave a whine. ¨But Marco! It's just Ace! Like hey! Ace is a silent guy! Why not have him on guard?!¨

Ace swallowed silently. Bay knew? And she was apparently not pleased by it, installing Den Dens to catch whoever it was, and Ace didn't want to be caught.

Marco gave a sigh at Thatch. ¨We have it covered, yoi. And, no telling others!¨ Thatch gave a nod. ¨Okay, Marco.¨ Marco gave a nod at that, before leaving. Ace tried to act normal as he still spoke to the two commanders, before he headed to his room. Ace couldn't be caught stealing blood, he would be revealed then.

Ace couldn't take any more blood. He needed to come up with another way to get his blood.

But, he had no idea what. The blood packs were now off limits. This could go bad if he didn't find a solution.

-x-

Ace was in front of Marco, hoping, desperately so, that he got what he was waiting for, the mail coming today. Ace was closing in on his edge, seeing as they weren't close to any island and he couldn't take blood bags anymore, seeing as Bay was monitoring them closely. Ace didn't want to get caught. Marco gave a hum, before handing him a box, making Ace do a small jump, clapping his hands as he took it. Marco lifted an eyebrow. ¨What is it, yoi?¨ Ace gave a smile. ¨Something I have been waiting for! It's from a friend!¨ Marco gave a nod, looking glad on Ace's behalf, and Ace ran off, heading to his room.

When Ace got to his room, he opened it and licked his lips, seeing the bloody meat there, Ace so thankful that they didn't check the packages. But, it was hidden to look like regular food, which it would surprise no one what he got. The tongue was hidden inside the food, same with some eyeballs, brain, and a blood pack. Ace felt his body pounding in anticipation, not having any blood in while, the only thing being a seagull he got his hands on three days ago. Ace was just about to dig in, when there was a knock at his door. Ace instantly turned to look at the door, going to give a come in, but froze as he catched a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

His eyes were red, fangs out.

Ace couldn't let anyone see him, Ace couldn't get his eyes to go normal, or fangs to go away, having been so long away from blood, even worse as this was his favorite blood. Coming from the guy he regularly had fed off of for the last 10 years, he had the blood he liked the best and worked best with, it filled him more. Ace gave a swallow, hearing another knock at his door. ¨Ace! Wanna do a prank!¨ Ace wanted to say no, but knew Thatch would never accept it. When he heard the handle on the door moving, Ace quickly lifted the blankets and laid down under them, doing it silently, closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep, hoping it would work.

A second later, the door opened and Thatch was about to yell, but stopped at the first syllable. ¨A-, Oh. Asleep...¨ Ace heard a small whine, before the door closed, making Ace give a breath, glad it worked. When he was sure Thatch was gone, Ace sat up and started to eat his food, savoring it. He missed blood and meat so much, even more so this blood, really missing this blood.

Ace didn't know how long he could keep this going. But, he would try to keep it for as long as he could. He was sure he was able to manage this, he would get used to it.

And that was the chapter, hope you enjoyed

Things are getting explained more and everything right now. The chapters will be short at the beginning, but will get longer with time. But, I think I will try to have them around 5000 words for each chapter later

If you have the time, I greatly appreciate feedback