CHAPTER FOUR: PHAGOMANIA

The hunger inside us must be fed to be controlled.

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[Day 3︳Oct.18︳X784]

MOKA HEARD A RASPY CHUCKLE from within the well-furnished room. "You're a real looker, all right!"

She was seated on the sofa from across the slightly big-bellied greasy man and the silent young woman. Not only was she worried about the woman's safety and her own, but Tsukune's as well. After these men nicely dressed in suits showed up out of nowhere to recapture this particular woman, he had been pistol-whipped unconscious. To make matters worse, they forced Moka to come along with them as they claimed she would bring them a lot of money if she were good friends with the mute woman.

"So...tell me, young lady." he started, his eyes leering at the vampire girl. "How long have you been friends with San?"

"I-I don't know…" she answered honestly, lacing her fingers together on her lap. Moka shifted uncomfortably from where she sat. The way this man's eyes roamed over her body rubbed her the wrong way. She didn't like it. "…I just met her right before you grabbed me. She only asked me to help her."

"Don't lie to me." he slightly growled. "San never goes near anyone she doesn't know. If she asked you for help, you must know her secret. I'm betting you're just like her."

Her eyes widen in response, surprised by the word "secret."

"We know she has some kind of special power and anybody who takes control of that power can get anything he wants. That's why I went through all this trouble to grab her...only problem is; I don't know what this power of hers is." he explained, shifting his attention to the dark blue-haired woman next to him. "And since she doesn't talk, it'd probably be a waste of time to torture her."

Moka sat in silence, examining the woman named San from where she sat. 'Special power? Could this girl be…'

Unknown to Moka, the sickly grin grew wider on his face. He had even more plans for not only the mute woman, but for the vampire as well.

Forceful hands grabbed at her hands, torso, and legs, shattering her thoughts. Processing what was happening, Moka struggled to break free from their grasp. "That's why we reeled you in." she heard the man said as she fought to free herself.

The quiet girl's boss put a hand to her head and forced her attention to the helpless Moka against her will. San silently cried as she watched these vile men take advantage of the unfamiliar girl. "I don't care what happens to you, so... How about it, San? Feel like showing us your power now? If you don't, your friend's not gonna look so fine for long." he threatened, watching the scene before him unfold.

Her eyes shot wide as she felt her legs roughly pull apart. "N-No…no, stop!" she screamed pleadingly. Before she could scream out some more, a hand roughly covered her mouth to silence her.

The boss sadistically licked his lips in pure delight.

"Do it."

A faint moan released from her throat as she stirred awake from the warmth of the sunlight. Just when Moka went to open her eyes, she abruptly shut them tight. Letting out a hiss, she used her arm to shield them from the blinding light.

The sun. That damned sun always had to shine so brightly early in the morning. It was overwhelmingly hot, her head along with her body painfully ached all over, and the brightest orbit of the solar system had to pick the worse day to rid her of her eyesight with its rays nearly. Before these unfortunate events, early mornings never bothered Moka in the slightest. She once found it a blessing to wake up the next day to see the sun and hear the delightful sounds of birds chirping beyond the light blue skies. But now, in Moka's case, times have changed and most certainly not for the better. As a child, she never understood why regular vampires weren't immune to the sunlight, but now she was understanding why.

Little did the vampiress knew, hot and sunny weather was about to be the very least of her problems. After she gave herself some time to adjust to the sunlight, she found herself laying on the hard ground, entirely bare to the world. To add more to her confusion, her skin was covered with red coats of varnish. Also, it was barely even dry.

No.

It wasn't painting. It couldn't be body paint. It had a foul yet delightfully sweet aroma to it. Not to mention, it was a darker shade for it to be what Moka thought it would be. She immediately sat up to examine her body. Every single one of her body parts was red. Much to her shock, it turned out to be what she yearned for, yet what she didn't want.

"B-Blood?" she stammered, looking at her bare hands. They trembled with sheer fear of what they had done when she took a glance at the scenery. A grisly scenery. Not one, not two, but five bodies were lying on the ground in front of her in a pool of crimson liquid. To add more fuel to the fire, half of them were either decapitated or dismembered. Moka scrambled away from the dead bodies, unconsciously backing up against a tree. Both hands flew to her mouth frighteningly as she panicked. It was like a scene straight from a horror film. "Wh-What happened?"

Then unexpectedly, she had flashbacks of being in the same room with all those men before running away from them and then...the sound of a gunshot. Her hand instantly flew to her head from the throbbing pain she received when she woke up. "O-Oh...my head..." she groaned as she looked at the horrible sight.

Although it was revolting, she had a growing urge to do what vampires, like herself, were known to do; hunt. To hunt down the prey, who made the mistake of opening an accidental wound. That's how humans always end up on the receiving end of vampires, and once vampires lock on tight on their targets, there's no escape. It would be too late. Their enticing scent was what would seal their fragile fate for good.

Just the intoxicating smell of the blood gracefully hitting her nostrils made her thirst for the liquid stronger. It was incredibly enticing and irresistible to where she even craved whatever the corpses left behind. Moka couldn't pass up this opportunity. Before being awakening in this world, she had never been near this amount of blood. With Tsukune, she could only have bits of his deliciously sweet fluid.

Unnoticed to Moka, her eyes that were once green turned to a shade of red. Her sharp fangs grew longer and sharper with hunger as she continued staring down at the limp remains of the men. But what didn't go ignored were her hands. She took a glance at them and gasped. "I-It's happening..again..."

Once again, a crimson aura was emitting brightly around both of her hands. Like before, her nails grew into sharp gold claws. Moka didn't see red. She saw blood. There was blood not only on her claws, but on her hands as well.

A piece of her wanted to feast on the remains of those that tried to hurt her. Another part of her argued that this wasn't the path she'd want to take. While getting to taste blood again sounded pleasant, it would also make her into something humans would label her; a monster.

Not wishing to stay where she awoke, Moka quickly grabbed a nearby hooded cape to cover herself with and ran away from the murder scene without a single glance.

The day was silent while she traveled along the grassy path of the forest. The chirping of crickets only filled the air of daylight with their music. A heavy, black cloak masked her body to cover her bare skin. She kept the hood draped on her head, hiding herself off from the world. Moka strolled through the forest, her bare feet making contact with the warm and moist grass. She felt beads of sweat drip down her body from head to toe due to walking under the scorching sun for too long. Moka was not fond of the intense heat, but it couldn't be helped in her case. She had enough self-respect not to walk around nude, especially in the middle of nowhere.

While passing a tree, she caught a glimpse of peculiar animals innocently wandering about in the forest. That's when she realized she was far from home. It wasn't the type of animals she'd see back in the human world. In the monster world, maybe? Yes.

As she walked, she nearly missed a nearby small pond. Moka briefly glanced at her bloodied body and to the clear water. Curious about how much blood covered her, she made her way over to the lake. When she got a good look at herself, she immediately regretted it.

She had difficulty breathing as she stared at her reflection in the pond. Blood not only soiled her body, but her face, mainly her lips. Moka slowly shook her head in disbelief, looking back and forth between her hands and face. It only left her to ask the one question people would ask when something happened...

"D-Did I...do that?"

That was a logically good question. When Moka woke up, her body was covered in blood and surrounded by the corpses of those men. Of course, she couldn't forget the next thing that occurred. Her nails transformed into claws sharp enough to tear anyone apart. "N-No...there's no way. I couldn't have done that to those guys, right?"

It couldn't be true. At least Moka liked to think so. She was useless, right? She was known to herself and others as a fake. Just an "artificial personality" made in her "mother's" image to protect the seal. That was all she was good for.

~Flashback~

"Come on, babe, what's the deal? I showed you my true form, so why don't you show me yours?" the ogre lustily questioned a drooled, covered Moka. "Don't tell me a sexy little thing like you is shy!"

Moka furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up. "For one, it's against school rules!" she firmly replied.

"We're outside of school now, so that rule doesn't mean crap to me!" he retorted as he extended his tongue out towards the vampire. The orge's tongue wrapped itself around her leg and with such amazing force, swung her against a tree, causing the air to disappear from her lungs.

~End Flashback~

"That's right..." she whispered, putting a hand to her head. "How could I forget about that? It was on the day I met Tsukune..." A faint smile crept its way across her lips. Oh, how she missed her beloved Tsukune with the passion. She just hoped he was fine until she found another way back to him. But there was also a time where came to nearly leaving him after gravely injuring him.

~Flashback~

Moments later, the doctor was leading her inside an unknown room. "You're being awfully careless." she heard him say. "You're a marked person. You should surround yourself with defenses...and friends." he explained, switching on the light.

"Th...thank you... But..." This man had been nothing more than kind to her, but his presence made her feel alarmed. However, there was something suspicious about her she couldn't put her finger on. "How do you know about that? I mean I just found out myself..."

The doctor did not answer and merely smiled at her. But it was nowhere near a reassuring one. It was a psychotic one. He placed his hands on a stool, leaning over it strangely. "Yes, yes. Awfully careless... How do I know..."

"D...Doctor...?" she questioned as she watched him lift the stool above his head.

A scream came from her throat when the doctor swung it down on her. Thankfully, she smart enough to move out of the way in time.

The doctor wore a blood-thirsty expression, foam leaking from his mouth. "...You ask?!" he questioned, his back still turned towards her. "Of course I know... because I'm the one who is after you!" he confirmed.

Moka took a step back in fear. "Doctor?! Please...I don't understand..."

She watched him finally turn around to reveal a psychotic expression on his face. He licked his lips sadistically. "I told you to keep your friends around you!"

Before she had any more time to react, a hand roughly found its place around her neck, pinning her against the counter. Moka's eyes filled themselves with fear as the physician held a sharp needle in his hand. "Time for your injection! Hold still! She immediately struggled to break free from his grasp. "This will make you very happy. So happy that you'll do whatever I say. LIKE A GOOD LITTLE PUPPET!" he exclaimed with excitement, attempting to inject her with the needle.

"NO!" she cried out, pushing against him. "D-Don't...please let me go." she begged as she tried to pry his fingers from her neck. "Why do you want to hurt us?! We don't want to fight anyone!"

"After you, it'll be Tsukune's turn." he giggled, nearing the needle towards her neck. "And with your help, I can do it...without leaving a trace. And what could possibly be crueler...?"

Moka knew she had to do something to defend herself. She wasn't going to allow herself to be incompetent any longer. Behind her, she roamed her hand around the surface of the counter for something she could use to defend herself. 'No! I can't let him! Got to do something...' Her fingers touched something with a glassy texture. 'Somehow...I've got to...save Tsukune!' She immediately grabbed the object from behind and brought it to her attacker's face, drawing blood and causing him to pass out cold onto the floor.

Moka stared at his fallen body, panting heavily as tears brimmed her eyes. She barely had any time to think to herself when a woman came into the room.

"Doctor?! Is something the matter? I thought I heard a..."

Hearing the female voice, Moka turned to find a woman, who appeared to be the nurse. "NURSE!" she exclaimed, moving away from the body. "Please! Help me! The doctor attacked me! He was going to inject me with some weird drug!" she explained, mistakenly turning her back to her.

"Oh my...that won't do. Not at all." replied the nurse with a sinister, her hand transforming into an elongated needle.

"W-What?"

It was too late. Moka felt an arm wrap around her neck along with something sharp digging deeply in her skin.

~End Flashback~

Moka cringed at the memory. She shook her head to erase it away and to focus back on the main issue. All her life, superhuman strength was the only known ability she had. Without the rosary removed, there wouldn't be very much for her to do because she'd be rendered useless unless someone released it.

Her fingers lightly traced over her bare neck where the choker once was. Gone. Both the collar and the rosary were no longer there. 'The seal. It's gone.' she thought to herself, rubbing her neck.. 'Does this mean...that the inner side of me is no longer with me? Am I useless now?'

Her eyes snapped open in realization. 'Is that the reason what happened last night and today?' she questioned inwardly, looking at her bare hands.

She could use a quick wash-up, but that would be impossible because she was a full-fledged vampire. For centuries, regular water was very harmful to vampires. If they were to be anywhere closer to it or be touched by just a tiny drop, it could cause them severe damage. Most likely even kill them if fully drenched. The only way they could bathe without getting shocked is to dilute the water with blended herbs and mixtures. While searching for herbs for her bath would be a swell idea, it would be a lot easier said than done.

The forest was a vast area covered with a lot of trees and undergrowth. To add more to her frustration, it could take a day out of her entire life to find some herbs and not mistake them for plants and flowers. Moka didn't feel like doing any of that, but she would have to do her best to look for it if she wanted to wash the blood off. 'Great...' she groaned inwardly.

This could take all day.

The afternoon had quickly come.

As expected, it was not an effortless task searching for herbs. They were scattered out in just about every area of the forest. It was hard telling the difference between plants and herbs.

Moka splashed the cold but warm water on her face to remove the red substance from her skin. Although there was no soap or washcloth, Moka didn't care as long as she could clean herself. After seeing the remains of those men, she felt utterly dirty. Filthy. She wanted to make sure she didn't leave a single trace of blood. Not one speck. Her pink locks clung to her soaked body as her palms roamed her body to wash away the rest of the blood and sweat. A sigh fell past her lips. Her fingers gracefully lathered through the strands of her hair as she enjoyed the wet feeling on her scalp.

Moka didn't know how long it's been since she had a decent bath. Probably a long time since Fairy Tale held her captive. As she moved her hand lower from her abdomen to her pelvis, Moka winced at the stinging sensation she felt between her legs. Out of concern, she reached her hand to the sacred place of her body. When something mushy and sticky touched her fingers, she withdrew her hand from beneath the water. She examined her hand to find bits of blood on her fingers. Needless to say, as much as she refused to admit it, she knew her virginity was long gone.

Tears brimmed her eyes as she stared at the blood that lingered on her fingers. Moka bit her lip to refrain herself from breaking out into tears. After everything that has happened so far, crying was not an option for her anymore. Right now, she had to pull herself together and be strong.

Quickly wiping away the tears, she moved forward to get herself out of the herb-filled pond. Moka shivered from the cool air hitting her wet skin, but chose not to complain since she had nothing but the cloak to use to dry herself off. She sat on the edge and used her hands to wring the water out of her long hair.

Moka draped the cloak over her shoulders, pulling the hood over her head, and continued wandering about in the forest.

There were fits of laughter being heard all around her as she was helpless on the grass, receiving kicks, punches, and hair-pulling.

"Vampire freak!"

"Bloodsucker!"

"Parasite!

"Leech!"

They all taunted.

She watched as the human children surrounded her, laughing and pointing fingers at her while she lay there in humiliation. The only thing she could do was lie there and let them make her suffer for what she was. There was nowhere to escape, nowhere for her to flee from her cage of torture. All of them stood firmly around her, closing so many gaps so that she wouldn't be able to escape her nightmare. She wanted to run home and forget about this whole mess that started, but she knew that those who had hatred towards her wouldn't let her go so easily without a fight.

"Eww! Look at her hair. It's so pink!" shouted a little girl, roughly yanking on her hair.

"No! S-Stop it!" she pleadingly screamed, trying to escape the relentless beatings. It was all too much to bare. Moka wanted it to stop.

"Hey, I've got a better idea. Hurry! Grab her!" commanded a girl.

The rest of the children did as they were ordered and roughly grabbed Moka by her arms, sitting her on her knees. "Hold her still." ordered the leader of the devious children. Moka watched as the evil little girl pulled out a pair of scissors from her bookbag.

"Hey, bloodsucker!" sounded the human girl as she grabbed Moka's chin to force her to look at her. "Since you're having a bad hair day, I'm gonna help you fix it a little." the bully mocked, opening and closing them to intimidate the vampire. "But if you cry and beg for me, I might change my mind about cutting it off."

Unfortunately for them, Moka was anything but threatened.

Bullies were cowards. They only pick and choose to torment those who lacked the courage and strength to fend for themselves, but not the ones capable of standing up for themselves. It was disgusting. It made Moka sick to where she did what anybody who's had enough would do. Spitting in the face of their bullies.

"Eek!" cried the human, shrinking back in disgust at the cold spit hitting her face. Moka smirked with satisfaction as the girl wiped away the saliva and glared hatefully at her. "Why you...!"

Out of rage, she raised the knife above her head and brought it forward towards her victim.

Moka jolted awake as if someone inserted electricity directly down the length of her spine. Sitting up, she took in all her surroundings where she sat. In front of her was a familiar rickety framed window. It appeared to be a dark and inconspicuous room stacked with dingy wood to hold it up.

It was then she realized she was back in the same place she had refuge the night those men found her.

Moka remembered that a few moments ago, she wandered around through the woods for a while but ended up returning to the shack out of exhaustion. Initially, she had planned to go into the city to search for food for her survival but then ultimately decided not to go through with it. Unless she wanted to be questioned by humans out of concern for their safety, going into a populated town wearing nothing but a hooded cloak didn't seem like an intelligent decision. To make it even worse, she would be hunted down, thrown in a dungeon, and possibly even killed on the spot if they found out she wasn't human.

Moka stood to her feet, wrapping herself in the cloak, and stepped outside the wooden hut. Her hand fell on her stomach as she stared at the city that was now quiet.

Her body was aching from hunger.

But she wasn't going to allow herself to perish from starvation. Not anymore...

The night was silent while she walked along the roads of the small town. The sound of crickets only filled the air of night with their music. Everything was dark out. A few lights were lit, just in case, a few people had to go out for a walk. Every store in sight was closed. Everything around her seemed utterly desolate, and that's what made her feel lonely.

As she walked along the roads, she explored different shops and restaurants around the town passing by her sights. Almost all of them were closed. Some of them were still lit, while the others darkened.

While walking, she noticed there were some houses in the city as well. Some lights within the house were off, while some were dimmed with candles. Moka stopped in her tracks to take a moment to examine the houses a bit. None of them seemed to catch her interest. She felt the overwhelming desire for nourishment burn through her body where she stood. All that was going through Moka's mind was on one thing; food.

"Blood."

A startled gasp fell past her lips at the voice suddenly slipping its way into her mind. Moka looked back and saw not a single person lurking behind her.

'No one's here...' she expressed inwardly.

Moka wanted to dismiss it as a hallucination, but that would mean she would be lying to herself, considering the experiences she endured.

Choosing to ignore it, she went up to a random house and silently removed the strong handle from the door with her superhuman strength, thus breaking the lock that seemed to hold it. Moka stood still as the door slowly creaked opened to reveal a nicely furnished room. Allowing the handle to fall from her hand, Moka took a step forward but stopped and froze where she was when the wooden floor creaked from the pressure of her foot. She waited for a second to hear any sudden movements behind the wooden doors.

Nothing.

No one in the house made a move.

Moka sighed in relief and carefully continued inside.

She stopped and stood where she was to scan the room for anything edible to her.

The owner of this house didn't own a refrigerator as she expected. From living in the Human World, everyone owned an appliance to store in drinks and food was familiar to her. This person not having a fridge felt strange to her because their food would be no good and rotten without it. The question is, where would someone store their food without a refrigerator?

'Cabinets.'

Holding that notion tight in her mind, she immediately went over to check the cupboards and just as she thought, found food inside—canned food.

Moka didn't really have the luxury to complain about what it was. While it wasn't what she usually had back in the Monster World, it was still enough to last her until...

"Flesh..."

That voice again.

"Blood...I must have it."

This time, Moka knew she wasn't deranged in the slightest bit this time. It was the same voice she heard in her head last night. "I need blood to live..."

Becoming disturbed by the demonic voice, Moka quickly grabbed and gathered a few canned foods into her arms.

Not wanting to blow her cover from clumsily dropping the can goods, she clenched them tightly into her chest, but not too tightly as she could end up mistakenly crushing them with her superhuman strength. It didn't matter how much she was able to get. Right now, she needed to make her escape before someone spotted her and have her possibly slaughtered on the spot.

PANG!

A can slip and falls to the floor.

"H-Huh? Who goes there?" sounded a male voice.

'Shit!' she inwardly cursed before bolting out of the house, holding onto the canned foods in her arms. Heavy breaths entered in and out of her body as she sprinted at a fast pace. She didn't know nor care where she was running to. All she cared about was not allowing herself to be captured.

TO BE CONTINUED