She looked around my age. Messy black hair, round eyes, a robe two sizes too big. She looked cold.
I didn't even ask her name. Maybe if I did…
I wouldn't have killed her.
***
Fifteen minutes before.
"Jacob," Valerius snapped. "There's people coming. I know you're in shock, but you need to focus."
He was right. Just beyond a rusted door to my right, footsteps were growing closer. Deliberate. Uneven. I didn't even know how I even heard them.
"Who is it?" I asked Valerius, trying to steady myself.
"It's them. Four of them, to be exact. Three males, one female, from the sounds of the steps themselves," he said calmly. "We're going to fight. I'll take the males. You take care of the female."
"What? Why?"
"You need to fight, get ready for Aes—"
"Helloo, helloo, hellooo!!" A female—maybe seventeen—bursted through the door, her voice in a melodic tone. She wore a white robe that was stained with damp spots, clinging to her bare legs without shame.
Three men stood shortly behind her. All tall. Their robes were neater, cleaner—truly deserving of the title of an Apostle.
The girl's gaze snapped onto me, ignoring Valerius's clenched fists and narrowed eyes.
"So…" she muttered to herself, licking her lips slightly. "You're the heir of Lord Aeshma, huh. You're pretty cute!"
My face grew hot. I knew we were in a situation where this kind of emotion wouldn't be accepted, but it was still embarrassing to be called cute randomly.
Before I could let out a word, Valerius spoke, his words seemingly echoing throughout with intense volume. "Apostles of Wrath," he said coldly, "you are hereby convicted of treason, mass-murder, conspiring against the Five Leaders, as well as multiple cases of spreading libel across allied territories."
"No can do, dumbass," she said mockingly before charging at me with an eerily sharp smile.
"Jacob. She's yours," Valerius said, looking at the three men.
With a singular movement, he launched toward the three. Before they could react, Valerius's hand, his nails sharpened like a knife, cleaved through them all, leaving only one standing.
I refocused my attention back to the woman. I put my arms in the shape of an X as she swung down her hand.
I had a chance to counter-attack, but I didn't want to. For some reason, I felt like it would've been a point of no return if I did.
"Fight, fight, fight!" she screamed with a laugh. "I want to feel Aeshma's heir. I want him to give me his wrath! I can take it! I swear!"
I ignored her pleas.
"You're a Vampire, right?" The same time she said this, she grabbed a knife from somewhere in her robes. She slit a piece of her palm, allowing her crimson blood to flow down. "I'll unleash your instincts, don't worry," she said with a smile.
She started running toward me yet again. This time, however, she was faster somehow. Her speed slightly outmatched my own.
She threw out punches, and at the same time I continued to block. Her movements never halted. Instead, it was me who was slowing.
I felt her fist against my ribs. Again. And again.
I let out a gasp for air, and whilst doing so, she put the hand she had slit against my mouth.
The taste was delicious.
Euphoric.
Addicting.
My vision grew clearer, and my hearing grew stronger.
Her heartbeat was loud. Thumping hastily.
I wanted more of her blood.
My fangs ached.
Not in pain, but in a desperate need to be used.
I tried to stop myself. To stop this feeling, but something deep inside my soul begged for more.
I lunged toward her, following only my instincts.
"There we go!" she yelled, her smile no longer sitting in silence. "Come at me. Come, Aeshma's heir!"
I landed on top of her, locking her down onto the ground with my arms and legs. She had a deep blush across her face, but her smile never faltered.
"Do it," she said as she bit her lips enough for them to bleed.
I opened my mouth wide, then bit into her neck. I sucked, and sucked. I wouldn't stop until she was drained.
"Oh my…!" she moaned as she broke free of my grip and wrapped her arms around my back, scratching at my clothes.
I needed to stop, but my body wouldn't listen.
"Keep going! Please!"
"Jacob?!" Valerius said from behind me, but I didn't turn around. I kept drinking.
It was too good. This woman's blood was so good. The thickness. The warmth. It all tasted so amazing.
Her heartbeat was slowing.
Once loud and desperate—now faint. Fading.
Her arms continued to grasp onto me until they went limp.
She opened her mouth.
"I love you," she let out, barely above a whisper.
Her eyes stayed open.
Her breathing halted.
I passed out.
Waking up, I was met face to face with the girl. Her eyes were still open—they were lifeless. The smile she gave before she died was still plastered onto her face, a grim reminder of what I did.
"Are you up, Mr. Lavua?" Valerius said from a distance. I looked over at him. "If I'm going to be honest, I didn't want you to obtain your bloodlust through that."
"Drinking blood, or draining her dry?"
"Both…" he paused for a moment. "What you did was illegal. In all honesty, I should report what you did, and have you imprisoned."
We sat in silence. It was a long and awkward silence that made me reflect on what I had done.
Strangely, I felt no shame in what I did. In actuality, I felt nothing. My senses were numbed anytime I thought about me killing her.
"I guess I'm done for, huh?" I let out a small chuckle. I knew I wasn't the type to make jokes in a situation like this, but for some reason I felt like I needed to.
"I won't report you, Mr. Lavua. As much as it pains me to break the Vampire Law, it will pain me far greater to have you locked up. We've all made mistakes," he paused for a moment. "Some more than others."
Another deep pause came from Valerius. It was clear that he was trying to either soften the weight of the situation, or he was trying to avoid it altogether.
"Let's investigate where they came from," he said, breaking the silence. He pointed toward the door that the four had busted down. It laid half against the wall, its hinges slightly bent.
"That girl was strong…" I let out.
"Oh her?" Valerius hummed. "If I remember correctly, she was an orphaned girl who got kidnapped by the Apostles' under the right of 'Lover'. Hence her name, Lover."
"Lover, huh," I sighed. "Is that why she said she loved me as she clung to me?"
"Probably. The Apostles think you are Aeshma, only reincarnated into the body of a vampire—when in actuality, the word 'heir' only refers to the person who'd bring the King of Wrath back from the dead."
"Interesting."
Going past the door, there was a long staircase leading down. Valerius and I proceeded downward.
His sense of hearing was better than mine, so he led the way.
At the end of the staircase, we reached a room littered with red-scented candles. There were four other rooms against the edges of each side of the walls.
"They lived down here?"
"I suppose so," he chimed.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone else here… Didn't you say this was an important mission?"
"Yes, it is important," he sighed. "Siberia overestimated their strength, I'm guessing. They were only low- to mid-ranked Apostles."
A low grumble came from behind one of the furthest doors to the right. It was quiet, but loud enough for me to hear it.
"I didn't sense them until now," Valerius said, extending his nails outward. "From the sound of it, she's hungry."
"Your ears amaze me," I calmly stated. I made my way down to the door. Valerius followed slightly behind, ready to attack at any moment.
I crept open the door.
There was a girl there, one who looked not too much older than me. She was held stationary by rusted-down chains, with shackles on her ankles.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound hungry," she said in a panicked cry. "It won't happen again! Please don't hit me."
Valerius, who was now in the room, relaxed himself and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you part of the Apostles here, young lady?"
"N-No… I was taken…I…" the girl was at a loss for words, visibly shaking and crying. "My father is the head of the Third Vampire Leader… They said—They said that they wanted compensation…"
"Third, huh?" Valerius smiled slightly. "Don't worry. I'm the head of the First. I'll get you back to your father."
The girl smiled, if not just faintly. I looked into her scarlet eyes. She had a strange familiarity about her.