The sound of our feet stomping hastily on the ground echoed throughout the hallway of the mansion. Ryunosuke ran beside me as we tried to follow Kazu's distant silhouette. Three meters away, the werewolf exited the building and entered the lush forest. The two of us followed behind and left the mansion.
Within the brush of the forest were the faint echoes of heavy grunts. Kazu had become enveloped in the shadows, no longer visible.
Ryunosuke grabbed out his wand and muttered, "toira," igniting the tip as a source of light.
As we ran further into the forest, the noises grew louder. I could hear the sound of a growling animal, but it wasn't an ordinary animal. Kazu had grown twice in size and was now hovering over his opponents, his glowing green eyes filled with a hunger for violence. The grim expression on his partly furry face was something I had never seen before. With the accompanied sound of the seams of his clothing tearing, his razor-sharp claws struck down the group of boys. Four of the boys ducked and weaved the attack while a couple of boys were less fortunate.
Ryunosuke stepped forward with his wand pointed, chanting a spell. "Kkuro za zuini doan zunreisa za muirikusu," the ground around Ryunosuke began to glow green as he continued to chant. Instantly the knees of the spared enemies began to buckle underneath them.
Kazu took this opportunity and grabbed one of the limping boys with his hands. The vampire hissed with his fangs, further angering the werewolf.
"Kazu don't kill him!" I pleaded. I started to run towards him.
In a panic, Ryunosuke aimed his wand at the back of Kazu's head. "Zuriifu!" A blue beam of light hit the back of Kazu's head.
Kazu shrieked as the place on his head began to freeze. He dropped the boy and the vampire started to frantically crawl away. The wizard continued to zap the wolf with spells until he managed to shrink back to his normal self.
“KAZU!” I rushed to Kazu’s aid and caught him in my arms before he collapsed.
Kazu peered up with half-lidded eyes. “Sorry, Akio.”
I brushed through his hair as he blinked several times. “Don’t apologize,” I said as I propped him up. I could still hear the noise of grunting and the crash of falling trees.
Ryunosuke came towards us and let Kazu put his arm around his neck.
“Kazu,” I gazed at the two vampires fighting to the death behind us, “why are they fighting?” I winced seeing Zaros land a punch directly on Nikolas’s ribcage.
“You don't know their history?” Ryunosuke asked in surprise.
“No…” I replied dejectedly.
“You want to know?”
I nodded at Kazu.
Kazu finally regained his bearings, thanking Ryunosuke as he removed his arm. The white ears on his head were tucked back as he muttered, “Zaros is Nikolas’s ex.”
A chill was sent through my skin. I twisted my head and saw Nikolas bear his fangs at his opponent as he held up a decapitated bloody arm. I covered my mouth at the grotesque sight, stopping myself from vomiting. I looked at Nikolas’s torso and noticed he was missing an arm too. Within the blink of an eye, the two continued to fight as their appendages were fully regenerated.
These two were once lovers? Talk about bad blood. I pondered.
Without a warning, a sharp pain pierced through my heart. I placed my hand on my chest as the ache began to spread to my entire body. I had no time to spit out a word before my entire self felt numb and blacking out.
-
In their second year, Nikolas and Zaros shared the same homeroom class. Both were prominent figures in the school because of their academics, physical prowess, and most of all, their attractiveness.
Zaros was lavish and classy, only surrounding himself with vampires, with the exception of classmates who were of his academic or physical caliber. He was what you would consider a typical Victorian vampire. With his intelligence and ability to command any one to his will, he was someone you wouldn’t dare get on their bad side.
Nikolas on the other hand seldom interacted with people out of his class, not because of a hierarchy of superiority, but because he was a man of few words. The latter was just as intimidating as the former, but he was more charismatic. When classmates talked to him, he would treat them with decency. Even when peers were rude, he paid little attention to their antics and went on his own way.
One night after class, Nikolas plodded towards his classroom to grab his belongings. The short half-up half-down ponytail he wore lightly bounced with every step he took. As he inched closer to the doorway, he could hear two students talking within.
“Are you insane? Why would I do that for you? I don’t even know you.”
“All I’m asking is for your spellbook. I know that book is in an ancient language, and I need it to work on my reading skills.”
“How do I know you don’t have an ulterior motive?”
Nikolas peaked his head inside and saw a wizard holding a large book to his chest. A vampire was standing right across from him.
“I can’t even do magic,” the vampire shrugged, “I wouldn’t be able to do those spells in those books.”
The wizard glared through his glasses lens, gripping the book tighter.
Nikolas stepped into the classroom, disrupting the tension between the boys. He gave a nod to the boys who watched him walk to the desk beside them and grab his school bag.
Nikolas put his bag on his shoulder and turned to the vampire. “If you need one, I can lend you mine.” Nikolas glanced at the wizard’s book.
The vampire turned to the wizard and then to Nikolas with a faint smile. “That would be perfect.”
Nikolas glimpsed at the wizard with an acknowledging nod, in which the wizard nodded in gratitude.
The vampire followed Nikolas out of the classroom. He smiled at Nikolas. “I’m Zaros.”
“I’m Nikolas.”
“I know,” Zaros said, “we’re in the same homeroom.”
Nikolas reached into his bag and handed Zaros the book. “You can give it to me whenever you’re done.”
“Wonderful, thank you!” Zaros flipped through the pages, his golden eyes darting from side to side as he read the book.
A few nights later, Nikolas closed the door to his dorm room and headed towards the stairs. Upon landing on the top of the stairs, there was the vampire waiting for him. Nikolas blinked as Zaros lightly smiled, pushing back his purple locks that were tied back with a silk black ribbon in a low ponytail.
Zaros moved away from the wall he was leaning against and lifted up the book. “Thank you again for the book, you can have it back now.”
Nikolas shook his head. “You can keep it actually.”
“Are you sure?” Zaros asked.
Nikolas nodded as Zaros gave him a charming smile. “Who would’ve known the stone-cold vampire was a kindhearted person.” Zaros let out a chuckle while putting a fist to his mouth. Zaros looked up at Nikolas and grinned. “Let’s go to class, shall we?”
Nikolas nodded and walked beside Zaros with his hands in his blazer pockets, feeling strangely nervous for some reason.
-
There was still no sensation of control over my body. It felt as if I was drifting far away in a cold, empty, body of water.
That vision I saw was not my own. I thought to myself.
“That’s because it wasn’t.”
My eyes flew open at the sound of a voice that was not mine. “Your voice sounds familiar…”
“It fucking better be.”
Right in front of my face was that ghost girl who tried to kill me. I screamed once as I recognized her. “You’re the ghost girl!”
She rolled her eyes. “I have a name. It’s Reiko.”
“Where are we?” I looked around my surroundings and concluded we were in a dark place with no bounds.
“This is your conscience.” Her voice was laced with irritation.
My jaw dropped as I continued to study my environment. “WHY ARE YOU IN MY HEAD?”
“Because I need to kick Nikolas’s ass.”
“And that means I need to kick your ass.” I clenched my fist and lifted it to her face.
She caught my fist and glared at me. “Let’s make a deal.”
I glared back. “A deal? Let’s hear it first.”
“You saw that vision of Nikolas and Zaros, right?” I nodded and she continued to speak. “I can let you see more of it and in return, you let me possess your body for three more minutes.”
“I don’t think learning about Nikolas’s past will benefit me,” I said while frowning.
“Well,” Reiko smirked, "your conscience thinks otherwise.”
I let out a shaky breath through my nose and clenched my teeth. “There's no way I'd let you hurt Nikolas.”
The ghost sighed deeply, shaking her head. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.”
I roared and threw a punch at her, but with a snap of her fingers, I was sent to another dark abyss.
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