He wasn't sure how long that he remained motionless in his bed, staring up at his red Chihuly chandelier. He was still flabbergasted as to what had just happened. He had listened to her use the bathroom and then heard her bedroom door shut softly. She had left the robe he had given her lying on the floor. He stared at his open door half expecting her to come back for some strange reason, but she didn't.

His eyes refocused on the floor, and he stared at that pink fabric still holding her jasmine perfume. He bit his lower lip and tried to determine for one second any rational thought. There were none to be had. Enmu didn't know whether he wanted to start laughing, crying, or go back in her room and take her again with or without permission. Mandi had single handily moved her chess piece to checkmate, and Enmu was panicking over what to do next. While her sneaking into his bedroom had been nice, it certainly had not gone as he planned or expected.

"She called me 'beloved', again. I hadn't heard her say that word since the night I first saw her in her machiya. She was dreaming but lucid enough to open her eyes, see me, and say,"Come back to me, my beloved." There is something just below the surface with her that I cannot clearly see or determine, and she is not aware of it either unless she is dreaming. Does that mean something or is it merely coincidence? I feel so strange and not just because she came in here and fucked my brains out. Hell, I don't even know how I can speak to her tomorrow without my face blushing like a-a human!"

Finally, he raised his hands to his eyes in order to attempt to banish the images he kept seeing over and over again of her riding him, the way the moonlight in his room glittered along her silver hair, and how gorgeous her pale skin looked and smelled.

He eyed the forgotten present on the floor again. He didn't figure she would wake any time soon, so he decided to get up and peek in on her to see if she was actually asleep. Would she be back to normal or still under that sort of trance? Yes, getting up and checking on her would serve two purposes. He'd return the kimono robe to her and act as if nothing happened when he saw her again tomorrow, that is if he could manage such an impossible feat. Secondly, he wanted to see if she was still dreaming and what about.

"Is it me? Am I her beloved? Tch! She was probably going on about some old boyfriend she had back in the US. And she had the gall to come in here and use me like me! She played me!"

He was getting angry now. "How many disgusting, pathetic human emotions will you suffer through tonight, Enmu, on account of the whims of a good pair of tits?" No matter. He'd get himself back under control and continue with his experiments. He had a few delights in store for his precious thing. Oh, yes he did!

Taking what remained of the black satin comforter and sheet, he ripped them off the bed and tossed them to the corner of the room almost in a total rage mode. Naked, he stood and marched to his open door. "The bitch never bothered to even close it!" He grabbed the kimono robe roughly off the floor and entered the hallway, glaring down at her door. "Kill her. Just fucking kill her and stop playing into this emotional nonsense! She's filling your head with human bullshit. You're better than that!"

If he had immediately gone to her room right then, he would have. He would have painted the glaringly bright white fabric walls with her pretty blood and truly create a work of art. He'd gouge out her eyes, and roll them down his body before eating them. He'd allow her the luxury to have one lucid glimpse at his beautiful naked body and oni form. He was the one in control here, not her! He was going to take back what she'd stolen from him.

The sight of his garden bathed in the twinkling starlight halted a bit of his anger, at least for the moment. He did, however, walk up to the glass and connected his fist with one of the French doors, shattering it. If she woke up and came out to see what had happened, she'd seal her fate and his too, honestly. Deep down in his heart as he watched his crimson betrayal drip down the glass and his fingers, he knew he truly wouldn't be able to kill her. He brought a finger to his lips and tasted his own blood. It was dirty, unclean, and it tasted like the coal so many steam engine locomotives had used back in the day as fuel. He used to enjoy riding trains back before modern technology forced his kind to truly hide in the shadows.

He leaned his forehead against the glass and felt his anger abate. What was she doing to him, truly? Did he really become jealous over the fact that she may or may not have dated before? It was absurd to assume, especially in today's standards. Perhaps, that was what truly had set him off. He never had had a girlfriend; he never had anyone to call his own. What little memories he had of his human life, he had been a delinquent and a perverted thief. Yes, Enmu was indeed jealous. He closed his eyes and sighed. "But you're forgetting that she was pure, too. She was a virgin until an hour ago. You almost royally fucked up again, Enmu."

If he wallowed in self pity and the centuries of loneliness that he had endured, he might actually remember the ability to cry. When was the last time he cried? He couldn't remember at all. The fact that he couldn't remember hardly anything about his human existence bothered greatly. His humanity had been stolen from him in a way, hadn't it? "Is it even possible for her to even love such a vile person such as myself after the things I've done and the countless human lives I have taken?" A single tear slowly rolled down his left cheek. He didn't smudge it away.

He looked down at the robe fisted tightly in his clean hand thankful that it had been spared any damage or any stains of his blood. He waited another minute, and watched the cuts on his hand heal before his eyes. "I shouldn't exist. I am not human, and I shouldn't love her but I do. I love her in the only way I know how to love, and no one had better stand in my way!" Another soft sigh echoed off the glass walls, and he headed into Mandi's room with cat-like stealth.

She was naked, lying on top of her duvet. He watched her body shiver as if she were cold. The sight of her even in the dark softened his heart. He waved his left hand and turned the moonlight glow on, so he could see her better. He placed her gift back on the bed at least where he believed she had left it for the night, and rounded up her pajamas. Enmu sat on the edge of her bed for a few minutes, gently playing with her hair. It was so soft between his fingertips. He lifted a lock of it up to his nose and inhaled her sweet, feminine scent. Using his left hand, he tapped her forehead lightly to make sure she wouldn't wake up while he dressed her.

He needed to erase as much of this night as he possibly could. He dressed her in exactly what he had seen dropped to the floor: an oversized t-shirt, a pair of white panties, and her pair of flannel shorts. "Some day, I hope to see you sleeping in one of my shirts, even if you need to have the buttons undone. Your breasts spilling out would make it all the more special." He smiled down at her, kissing her forehead.

Standing, he bent down and lifted her up into his arms and tucked her back under the covers, taming a strand of silver hair behind her left ear. "Why do you make me want to hurt you and yet love you at the same time?" He tilted her face towards his own and kissed her gingerly. He pulled back with a soft moan, already growing hard again. He leaned closer, smelling the blood that flowed under the delicate skin of her neck. Gods, how he wanted to! He could see tiny beads of moisture there. He kissed her neck. He could taste the salt from her sweat, the aroma to him almost as intoxicating as her blood.

He couldn't restrain himself any longer. He had to taste her, at least once. He undressed her quickly this time and crouched over her body. Enmu's hands were on her breasts, squeezing them ever so tenderly. Yes, he would have to be extremely gentle with her right now. Avariciously, he sucked her left nipple into a stiff, pink peak and pierced her skin with his teeth. He knew he could bite this delicately and not have a human notice if wished. His bite could either be extremely pleasurable or incredibly painful. As the blood from her nipple began to spill into his mouth, he swallowed and cried out in ecstasy at the taste.

Once again, he was rock hard, the pressure in his cock almost unbearable as it had been before. He rocked his body into hers, and moaned around her nipple. Mandi moaned softly then in her sleep, spreading her legs apart slightly. He lapped at her blood as he ground his hips into hers again. Gingerly, he nudged her legs further apart, and slowly guided himself back into her body. She'd unquestionably be sore tomorrow regardless, but he was still careful with her as he nursed blood from her breast. He rutted his hips against her, her inner walls still amazingly tight and gripping him even while she slept. Like before, he knew he wouldn't last long. His heart felt touched in a way he didn't think was possible. It was as if he was wrapped in a bubble of serenity as he made love to her. He never once felt this kind of perfect completeness until he had met her.

Enmu looked up from her breasts to her sleeping face, and closed his eyes. He kept his moans restrained as best as he could manage, but he couldn't hold back the guttural groan that escaped his throat as he came inside her for the second time that night. The taste of her blood had only added to the intensity of his orgasm. He shuddered against her, his body trembling.

He smiled, still suckling blood from her nipple. She hadn't come either time, and he knew that his Sleeping Beauty would soon become in dire need of a cure that only he could provide if this kind of night play kept on going. How long would she last? She was already hot enough to burn at that point. "Good. Let that sexual desire build and pent up, precious." He'd make damn sure to push her to the brink so she would see stars when the time came. He had many things planned for Mandi, but what he desired most of all was her coming to him while she was awake and fully aware. "That would truly be my dream."

Reluctantly, he withdrew and licked her nipple in such a way to stop the bleeding. Oh, the miracles of oni saliva; it could act as an anticoagulant or coagulant. It was handy if he was keeping fresh food nearby. He dressed her again and pulled the duvet back up to her neck, tucking her back in.

Almost forgetting his second intention of coming here in the first place, he placed his left hand on her forehead in an attempt to read her dream. A nightmare was coming on strong, something that once would have excited him, but no longer. He didn't want to see her beautiful face scrunched up in pain like that.

There was no 'beloved' in this dream, only of someone he didn't recognize dying. He wasn't even sure where in the world the dream had even come from. It surely was one of those totally random dreams humans would sometimes get. About to pull his hand away, he stopped when a second dream took over the first. She was now dreaming about her parents being murdered again. Maybe he could help her out and bring justice to her family. She began to whimper in her sleep.

"I'll make it better, I swear, precious."

He wouldn't need to sleep in order to just witness her dream. These types of nightmares were nothing but memories and pain once stored deep within a human's subconscious from traumatic events rising back to the surface again. It was a self soothing habit humans developed to keep themselves from screaming or going mad. That's where the darkest memories were kept, always. He knew, because he was an expert at bringing these memories back to the surface of a victim before killing them. A pang of guilt hit him which he quickly swallowed away. He leaned over and pressed his forehead to hers, inhaling her jasmine scent again, and closed his eyes.

夢 夢 夢

She was ten, perhaps nine, and playing in her bedroom back in what appears to be Tokyo during the night. Mandi is holding a tamagotchi, a sort of electronic pet. She is smiling, and happy, her silver hair is held back in a cute French braid. Suddenly, her parents burst into her room. In shock, Mandi drops the forgotten toy. Mandi's mother scoops her up and holds her tight in her arms, hugging her as if her life depended on it. Her father appears to be barricading the door with random furniture from Mandi's bedroom. Panic soon overtakes whatever happiness and contentment she was feeling.

"Never forget how much you are loved, Mandi. Not by us, but Jesus, too. Your father and I could not have had a better child."

"Mama, what's happening?" She is weeping now and very terrified.

"Promise me!" Her mother's grip is firm on Mandi's thin arms, and she shakes Mandi gently in order for her to focus back on her mother's voice and not the angry shouts and knocks coming from the opposite side of the bedroom door.

"Yes, mama, I promise! Mama, you're bleeding!" She is crying frantically now.

"Shh, shh, you must stop. Promise me to not make a sound! I love you so much, Mandi!" Her mother starts smearing her own blood all over Mandi, up and down Mandi's cheeks, her arms, and her chest. She was bleeding far too much, and she can see in her child's eyes that she knows it, too. Her mother prays that Mandi doesn't notice the deep wounds on her neck. She is feeling lightheaded, but pure adrenaline is what is keeping her conscious.

"Paul, come here and take her! Get your blood on her as well. Make it so she won't be found!"

Her parents switch places, and now Mandi is wrapped in her dad's arms. The tears do not stop coming now from her tiny blue eyes. They are running rivers down her cheeks, washing the blood her mother smeared on them down her neck and soaking into her t-shirt. Her father looks like he is badly injured, too. Mandi could smell blood filling the air, that horrible copper scent affronting her nose and making it known that her life was about to permanently change. The smell of it is making her sick. Who would want to harm her parents like this? She can feel her father's blood soaking into her shirt and pants. It was too much blood, and he looked far too pale to her.

"I love you, darling. I love you so much! Now, you have to go into your closet. Do not watch what will happen. Cover your ears and eyes, and do not make a sound. Be strong! Promise us! Today is not your day!"

Her father kisses her forehead for the last time. Sobbing, she rubs the tears out of her eyes and obediently goes into her closet, shutting the door. Mandi rocks back and forth in the darkness, which now feels so soothing and safe. She jumps, however, when she hears her bedroom door open. No, not open but being kicked in with such brute force that it sounds like an explosion. She clamps a tiny hand over her mouth, trying not to scream.

"Did you really think that would stop me from entering? Why would you even try? You're hiding your daughter by the looks of it, aren't you?"

"What kind of parent wouldn't hide their child in a situation like this? Besides, we can't hide what we no longer have! We lost her a few days ago, you unbelievable, arrogant asshole! Kill us now, and be done with it. Let us be reunited with her!" Her father is shouting at the man. She can hear him, because her hands have dropped from her ears a bit.

"Yes, you're honestly doing us a great kindness by killing us. I doubt you'll make it swift, but I beg for mercy for this even from the likes of you. Please, let us join our daughter and get this charade over with," her mother pleads. The grief on the parents' faces must be real and true enough, because they both know they are seconds from being stripped away from their only child.

"In time. What was her name?"

"Her name is none of your concern!"

"I'm making it my concern. See, I can't just believe that she died a few days ago. There is a strange scent in the air here, but not of death. Not yet."

"She didn't die here! She died at the hospital from a traffic accident! There was nothing that could be done to save her," speaks the woman with brown hair and blue eyes so very much like Mandi's. "Please, kill us now! I know what you are!"

"If that's true, you won't live to tell a single soul about it," the strange man states, coldly.

Even though she completely covers her ears again in an attempt to block out what she is hearing, Mandi can still make out a wet sort of smacking sound followed closely by a loud thump onto the floor.

"Any moron who would believe that they would be able to escape this situation deserves to die. You're nothing but an animal, a murderer, and you are surrounded by a hell of your own making. There will never be anyone who could possibly love a monster like you, and I doubt that you are even capable of loving. You don't know what love is, and you don't fucking deserve it! It's the only comfort to me knowing that you will always be alone. I hope the sun scorches your black heart to a crisp," her father yells loudly in his angry, booming voice.

Mandi can't understand why her father seems to be encouraging this whole situation. She is so confused and petrified with fear. It's as if her parents are using their lives and blood as bait to distract this man from finding and killing her. She couldn't look away anymore. She had to see her parents one last time. She cracks open the closet and peeks out, one of her hands still obediently covering her mouth.

Her mother is already lying on the floor. The life is gone from her eyes. Mandi watches in stricken horror as the man in a black coat with two-toned colored hair and turquoise eyes rips her father's throat wide open. The strange man was so angry, but he had spoken to her parents in such a soft manner. He truly is frightening! She sees her father slump to the floor, the carpet quickly becoming saturated with more blood than she has ever seen.

True to her promise, she never makes a sound. She doesn't dare move a muscle. She watches the monster kneel down and seemingly drink what little blood remains in her parents' bodies. She didn't believe that the boogeyman existed, but she was wrong and so were her parents. She couldn't look away. She stares at the face that murdered her parents, trying to etch it into her memory.

When he is finished, he stands up, and sniffs the air as if he is trying to determine the location of their 'dead' daughter to see if it was all a ruse. He looks towards the closet, which she has carefully pulled back closed for the time being, and she hears the man sniff the air one last time before leaving her bedroom. Maybe that was the real reason he didn't find her. It wasn't because her parents' blood masked her scent, but because a part of her died when she saw the life being taken from her parents. How could anyone call themself alive anymore after witnessing that?

When she feels it is safe to come out, she gets up and walks to where her parents are lying on the floor. The tears wouldn't come now for some reason. She lies down between them, just like she did when she was little and holds their hands as if at any moment they would wake up from this horrible sort of dream and tuck her into bed for the night. It was a day before someone on the military base came in to check in on her father. Only then when she feels their hands being pulled away from her grasp for the last time does she cry out all the while sitting in a pool of their congealed blood.

夢 夢 夢

Enmu wordless pulled away from her, swallowing bile that wanted to come up badly. His hand was clamped over his red stained lips, and he was shaking like a leaf in a gale. He was the one who had murdered her parents! How would she ever love him now if she found out he was the one responsible for her parents' stolen lives?

夢 夢 夢

Heartache wearing a mask of anger, he pounded on the maid's door. It took a couple minutes, but she answered. He hadn't bothered to dress or even conceal his oni markings. There was no need; she already knew what he was and what it was he offered.

"Clean this fucking shit up right now! Clean the blood, clean the broken glass, and have a new door ordered immediately! And I swear by your God, Sarah, if you so much as try to warn her in any way about what I am, I will kill you. I won't just kill you, but carve you up like scrimshaw. Believe me when I say that you will be insane long before you're dead! Do you understand me?!"

Sarah looked up at him and nodded silently. Enmu stormed away before she could even close her door.

When he was in the safety of his room, he slammed the door closed, locking it. He knew the sound wouldn't wake Mandi. He'd made sure she'd sleep soundlessly after witnessing that nightmare. So, he really was damned, after all. Her father was right. He was nothing but a monster, and who would possibly ever love him after the things he had done? He deserved to be alone. If he had any self respect, he should walk out into the sunlight come morning and die a death he long deserved.

Enmu Tamio cried out in disgust, sliding to the floor in a crumpled heap of defeat and shame. He drew his knees to his chest and wept bitterly.

A/N: While not completely related, chapter title is from Suzanne Vega's "Blood Makes Noise". I'm sure Mandi's blood would be screaming by now if not later. Sorry that this chapter is on the short side, but it would be too long if I had added what is in the next chapter, which I'm already working on. It just made more sense to break it up this way. As always, thank you for your lovely support!