Vampire Gemini - Amy Blankenship 4 стр.

*****

Yuuhi reappeared within the downtown area of the city minutes before daybreak. He could already feel the sun’s heat on his skin and quickened his pace toward the Grand Hotel in the center of the metropolis. Beneath the massive five star establishments hidden away from the world was his sire’s underground dwelling. It was just as beautiful below ground as what housed the humans above… his sire had arranged it to be so.

Yuuhi stepped through the front doors of the Grand and strode across the lobby. Ignoring the friendly greeting of the human woman behind the desk, Yuuhi stepped through the door that read ‘maintenance’. Making his way down to the basement, he boarded the maintenance elevator that would take him down to the sub-basement level. From there, it was the opening of the hidden passage that would take him to his sire.

Feeling the darkness close in around him like a protective blanket, the platinum-haired child raced through the winding tunnels as though trying to outrun the darkness… or keep up with it.

Yuuhi was one of the privileged few allowed in Tadamichi’s private lair… only the ones Tadamichi had personally sired were permitted. The small boy had been one of Tadamichi’s first and the bond that held him faithful was what led him to warn the master about the girl… and the power she possessed. The bond also allowed him to feel his master’s emotional states, which could prove troublesome at times.

He could sense that Master Tadamichi was angry and knew the cause behind that rage… Hyakuhei. Only the master’s twin brother could provoke this kind of reaction. Jealousy and rejection could be a dangerous thing with one so powerful.

Yuuhi quietly slipped into Tadamichi’s chambers but stayed in the shadows to observe his master. The young boy was patient and knew to wait out the storm of his master’s rage.

Tadamichi glared at his reflection in the Mirror of Souls then looked away with an angry hiss. His brother had broken the link between their minds… banishing him once again. Every opportunity Tadamichi took to speak with his brother was terminated rather abruptly, angering him. He was starting to believe their bond would never return to what it had once been.

Had the centuries away from each other not been long enough of a punishment? Would Hyakuhei forever keep his distance?

Seeing movement within the shadows, Tadamichi angrily waved his hand in its direction… every half-breed within his chamber and within a thousand yards of his solitude spontaneously combusted… leaving behind the scent of sulfur in the air. There would be no witnesses to his brother’s rejection. However, he turned his head in the other direction and laid his eyes on the only one of his children that he would trust with his secret.

Ignoring Yuuhi for a moment, Tadamichi slowly walked across the room and stood in front of a portrait with his hands clasped behind his back. As the screams and flames died down, Tadamichi continued to stare at the painting as if nothing was amiss.

The painting was created long before the medieval wars had taken place… before their civil war. One would assume it was a self-portrait showing two personalities. In truth, it was he and his brother… so hard to tell them apart. How could they be so alike in looks… and be so different? Had his brother never learned the meaning of love… the pain of rejection?

Tadamichi dusted his fingertips across the image of his brother, his brow furrowing slightly before his face contorted in rage. He suddenly lashed out at the painting in a movement so fast it was virtually unseen. The picture held for a moment, then ever so slowly a jagged rip appeared… severing the twins from one another. The cloth of the portrait fell slightly to the side and Tadamichi’s expression suddenly showed sadness.

Placing his palms against the painting, Tadamichi held them together for a moment before letting them drop.

His love for Hyakuhei was fathomless. Tadamichi merely wanted Hyakuhei by his side to share in this wonderful existence. ‘Why do you forsake me and the life we could have?’ he asked silently then felt the chill of having asked that same question to one other than his brother. He drew the memory deep within himself refusing to dwell on her.

Yuuhi stepped out of the shadow behind him, feeling his master’s melancholy. It amazed him that his sire could feel so deeply for his brother when he himself had barely felt a twinge as the girl had killed his brothers only a couple hours before.

“So, you have lost them?” Tadamichi asked, never taking his eyes from the image of his brother.

Yuuhi nodded knowing Tadamichi could see into his thoughts. A flash of marble white appeared in his peripheral vision and he turned his head towards it. His gaze appeared almost thoughtful as he stared at the statues on his left. Slowly turning in a circle, he gazed at each, one by one. They had been here for as long as Yuuhi could remember but he had never asked about them.

“A girl,” Yuuhi whispered, wondering why a demon master would have statues of angels. It was odd… or he had always thought so. The angels were beautiful even to Yuuhi’s eyes and he wondered if creatures like these could have ever existed on this earth.

“I will tell you the story of the statues my child.” Tadamichi slowly glanced away from the painting curiously… “And you will tell me about this girl.” The corner of his lips turned up in the hint of a wicked smile. “Go on and take a closer look,” he coaxed. “Curiosity is an intriguing emotion… is it not?”

Yuuhi slowly walked around the room gazing up into the faces of the men with wings… stopping in front of the one that intrigued him the most. The long hair that reached past the small of his back swung out… as if he was in the middle of battle. The expression that had been on his face was most beautiful… and frightening. What was the angel fighting so hard for? What would have been the prize?

The stone hands held fast to a sword that was in a downward motion and Yuuhi reached out to slide his thumb across it… only to jerk back when a small thin line of blood welled up on his thumb.

Tadamichi was suddenly beside him, lifting the injury to his lips to suckle the blood from the boy’s finger. Knowing Yuuhi was a child of very few words and even less emotions; Tadamichi released his hand and nodded at the statue. “This statue… Kyou, and his destruction sword,” he closed his eyes as he remembered the guardians, “Very powerful adversaries… they all were.”

Yuuhi turned toward his master and waited patiently.

“They thought they could rid the world of darkness… thought they could rid it of me and my brother. They should have known better.” He opened eyes that now had a strange red tint to them. “They were brothers you see.” He stepped closer to the statue of the one who looked the youngest as he added, “Or at least they all thought they were true brothers.”

He reached out and stroked the cheek of the statue, letting his fingers trace the path a tear had left… frozen in time. “My dear Kamui. He knew what the guardians had done was wrong. That is why he looks so sad. It is a shame my brother never really knew him.”

Tadamichi turned to the next sibling. “Kotaro was strong in spirit, yet possessive of what he claimed to be his.” His eyes glazed over as if seeing the past. “He was willing to die if he had to… all for the love of a woman.”

Dismissing the statue with a wave of his hand, he stepped to the next one as his eyes darkened. This one was the most dangerous of the brothers. “Toya… he was a very interesting creature. So full of fire and rage, yet how he could love one woman with such ferocity was beyond me. It led to many battles between him and the other brothers. He was the most possessive of her. I’m surprised they never destroyed one another in their absurdity.”

He turned toward the final statue. The man’s hand was out in front of him as if he was casting a spell. Tadamichi knew the truth of Shinbe’s spell… the void had been in motion as they had cast him through the time portal… sealing it behind him. “Shinbe was wise beyond his years, yet he was foolish enough to alter fate… they all were.” His eyes hardened as he wondered if the priestess was still with them.

“The girl can destroy us.” Yuuhi’s voice held no emotion as he stood in front of the statue that seemed to hold the true meaning of rage. “She reminds me of him, Sire.”

Tadamichi glanced strangely at the guardian the child had indicated, “Toya?”

Yuuhi finally turned his black eyes on Tadamichi as his haunting words echoed, “Toya, this is what is inside her… this is what can kill us.”

Tadamichi’s eyes rose to Toya’s rage and he suddenly felt more alive than he had in a long time. What was life without a reason to live? So… she has returned to this realm. He had missed the wars of old. Angels and demons are one and the same… only one had a better reputation. If the truth were told, they were all killers.

Replacing the stone with the mental picture of what the silver guardian had once been, he lazily smiled knowing the guardian could hear him, they all could. Everything was silent and as still as it always had been. But deep within the souls of the statues… he could feel the power like an earthquake being restrained by thin shackles of time.

“So even in this imprisoned state, you have all found a way to fight.” Tadamichi hummed his curiosity. “Could it be that you feel her? Do you want her?” He lowered his lashes as he felt a wave of power sweep across the room in answer. “Maybe you should have forced her to stay on your side of the time portal… like you did last time.”

He turned away from the statues, leaving them with a haunted warning. “It is too bad you cannot accompany your priestess this time.”

Chapter 2 “City Heat”

Kyoko woke with a start knowing the sun was setting. It was like a biological alarm clock to her and had been since… as far back as she could remember. She pushed herself up knowing it was time to go to work. She just wished she were getting paid for it.

Hearing a siren in the distance drew her attention to the window just in time to catch the last rays of light leaving the city sky. She could hear the faint sound of thumping music from the nightclubs on the strip where she lived. She had picked an apartment right in the heart of the city for a reason.

She could feel the vibration through her bed… The Underground was the name of the club she lived above. Rent was cheap because there was no way someone could live here and expect to get any kind of sleep unless it was during the day. That’s where Kyoko believed in luck.

Where else could she have found a place that had the same hours she did? There were no rude people running up and down the halls… unless you counted Yohji, but he didn’t usually stir up anything unless it was early in the morning when she got home or in the evenings just before she went to work.

Speaking of rent… hers was late. She would have to come up with it soon if she didn’t want to deal with Yohji, the landlord’s brother, who lived right across the hall from her. The last time she had been late with the rent he’d actually offered to work it out in trade with her. He had seemed so disappointed when she’d handed him the rent in full less than an hour later.

She glanced at her cell phone seeing the message symbol blinking and smiled. Clicking the buttons that could connect her with something familiar, she listened to her mom’s voice, not even paying attention to what she was saying. She already knew anyway.

“Hello Kyoko it’s your mother,” Kyoko mimicked the words on the answering machine. “I really wish you would call, we miss you terribly. We’d like to know when you’re coming home again so I can make your favorite dinner. Tama had a great time the other weekend and is already starting to have withdrawals from not seeing you. Are you eating well enough or need any money? Please give me a call, I love you.”

Kyoko shook her head and let the voicemail continue playing the rest of the messages. One was from Yohji reminding her that the rent was due. “Yeah-yeah… sleaze.” She deleted his message. The other was from her younger brother Tama telling her about his latest girlfriend then warned her not to tell grandfather or he’d spread really embarrassing rumors about her and Tasuki. It was an empty threat and they both knew it.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that little bro,” Kyoko said into the phone.

She’d left home to keep them safe. There had been no way around it. Ever since she was little, she had been aware of demons in the world… but that didn’t mean she wanted her little brother to know the monsters from the movies where real and waiting out in the darkness. It was like she was the only one who could see them walking among the innocent… feeding off them.

Demons usually looked like normal people until they had their victim alone. The demons within the city were multiplying at a dangerously fast rate and she was having trouble keeping up and helping to even the odds for the humans. As a matter of fact… she felt like she was losing the war.

Those humans she was trying to protect had given the evil a name through books and movies… vampires. It was just a name though… vampire, demon, to her it was the same thing. She shrugged. With her it was almost like a two-way mirror because although she could detect the vampires… they also knew when she walked into a crowded room. She didn’t think they could detect her power… that wasn’t what seemed to draw them to her… it was more like a dinner bell with her as the main dish.

She’d even gone to the doctor once to see if she had a strange blood type… thinking that was drawing them to her. But the doc had only given her a clean bill of health. What gave her cold chills was that when she was leaving the office, the doctor had stopped her and asked her to donate blood. Twisted… it was just twisted.

For some reason, vampires were always drawn to her and she would have to fight them. Maybe the doctor just hadn’t been looking for the right thing. A sad expression slid across her face knowing that was why she had to remain alone. She’d put her family and friends in danger too many times to live near them. The last time one had followed her home. It was hard enough keeping her secret without having a demon in the front yard.

Her grandfather was the one who had brought her into this life, so it was him that she had asked the one question that plagued her. How did the vampire’s sense when she was near and why did they always seek her out in a place full of hundreds? She remembered he’d tapped his chin while deep in thought, but the way he was looking at her made her feel like he was keeping something from her.