Tainted Rose, Ereth's Passion

I: New Girl

(Characters belong to me and Azathoia.)

My dreams betray me so much lately. There is so much blood everywhere, covering every corner of the room, the scent so intoxicating I have to keep myself still. I do not want to start senseless killing again, so I try to block out the smell. It only results in driving me more insane with hunger. As I am about to leave the room, I look down. There is someone there, and they beg me to stop. That is when I awaken.

It’s always the same. I sigh as I look out of my fifth story window, wondering who it is that keeps begging me to stop. A light knock on my door grabs my attention before I can ponder on it too long, though, and I walk over to it, opening it to see Kimura on the other side. “Yes?”

“Ereth… Let’s have some fun,” she murmurs, pushing me back into my room and shutting my door. She kisses me lightly on the cheek then smiles. “Now they should stay away.”

“You must have something important to discuss then…”

The blonde vixen nods and casually asks, “Did you know that Ikkaku left without notice again?”

I roll my eyes. He is always doing stupid things like this. “Why doesn’t Spyke give us notice then?” I reach for the apartment phone and dial Ikkaku’s number, and end up getting his voice mail. I glare into space as I listen to the irritating digitalized voice ramble. Finally I am able to leave my message. “Ikkaku, you bastard, you need to remember to give notice when you leave. If you want to face punishment, I’ll be more than happy to give it to you…” I hang up the phone and sit on my bed, which spreads across almost the whole room.

“You know…” Kimura says, sitting on my bed also and taking a red pillow, “he does this just to annoy you.”

“I know that… but he’s really getting on my nerves about it now.” I lean back, looking up at the ceiling that I had painted midnight blue years ago. “The others are going to start doing it soon if I keep letting him get away with it.”

“Then use him as a painful example.”

I look at her. “It is somewhat difficult to come up with a believable story that wouldn’t reveal our life here. He is always in the public eye. He uses it to his advantage, I’m sure. We can’t touch him as long as he’s still a celebrity.”

Kimura frowns at me. “No wonder their approval of you is so low…”

“I don’t care about approval… You know they all hate me anyway, simply because of my family.”

“And why am I not hated too? I come from a pureblood family.”

“But not ours…” I look up at the painted midnight sky again. “My father is the vampire lord here. It’s only natural that my brothers and I are seen as enemies because of our ties to him.”

Kimura shifts beside me and I look at her again. “And once we’re married, they’ll hate me too…”

I gently hold her hand. “That’s right…”

“Hehe… you don’t even want to marry me though.” She smiles down at me. “I agree with you. It’s too strange, too foreign for us to marry. I’ll talk to my father about it. Maybe he can get it called off.”

“He doesn’t want the power of joining in with my family? How shocking…” I sit up, running a hand through my hair. Most of our kind would jump at the chance to get into the ruling family. If he isn’t in it for the power, then what is it?

There is another knock on the door, and I reluctantly get up to answer it. “Azry, what are you doing here?”

My older brother Azry watches me calmly. I can never shake the feeling that we should have him tested for psychological issues. He unnerves me to no end. “Do you want to go with me somewhere, dear brother?”

“No, actually. Sorry, but I have a guest right now.”

“Ah, do you?” Azry looks in behind me and grins. “Your fiancée?” I narrow my eyes at him as he continues, “She really isn’t good enough for you, dear brother.” His menacing voice comes out as a whisper.

“Mind your own business, Azry. How about you go and bother Kharl now? I’m sure he’d just love to see you again.”

He gives me a small, temporary glare before bowing to me. It’s so strange having my own family do this. “As you wish, Ereth.” He casually walks away from my door, and I close it after I am certain that he is gone.

***

As Kimura and I make our nightly walk through the apartment building, I notice a crowd gathering at the lobby. “Must be someone new,” I hear Kimura murmur, and I only nod at her and start walking over. The child looks so familiar to my eyes, and once I reach her, I know exactly where I know her from. “Hello, Miss Antwette… Did you have a failed hunt this time around?”

Her eyes lock with mine in fear. “Please don’t kill me!”

As I reach a hand over to gently pat her head, she goes completely still. “I won’t kill you, Scera, as long as your family does not make a scene here.”

“I-I can’t make any promises, sir…” She looks so much like her parents, high-ranked vampire hunters. The gray hair and eyes are always so recognizable amongst those of their line.

“Vast.”

“Yes?” growls the man behind me. Being leader has its advantages, like keeping purebloods like him in line and under my control. I know how much he hates that.

“Fetch Mareira for me, please. She is in charge of keeping track of all new vampires, is she not?”

“Why won’t you just let a pureblood handle her, rather than a filthy half-breed?”

I turn to him, and smack him across the face. “I would never trust a pureblood with such a task. Get Mareira.”

He glares at me but nods, slowly walking out to find her. He is one that I need to keep a tight watch on. When presented with the opportunity, I am quite certain he would not hesitate to attack me. I return my gaze to Scera, and see her trembling. “No need to worry, so much, Miss Antwette. Mareira Karenn is a dear friend of mine. She won’t allow anyone to harm you, I promise.” Her eyes then look at me in disbelief, which is quite understandable. “We’re not as heartless as you were taught to believe… remember that, and you’ll be just fine here.” Scera slowly nods, but her back is now pressed against the wall. “I’ll protect you until she arrives then,” and upon hearing my words, the rest of the crowd starts to walk away, going in their own separate directions. Sometimes being in charge has advantages like that… even though I hate being in charge.

(Check out Azathoia's stories Tainted Rose, Ikkaku's Deception and Tainted Rose, Beaui-Lein's Redemption. Enjoy!)