Kaisheku

“I’m cold, Zikyoku,” an oddly familiar voice chimes. The scene is viewed as if a third person is looking on, from somewhere above, perhaps in the rafters of the seedy apartment that the two below reside in with such ease, even though the one watching has experienced this same moment, and those same words. The boy leans against the older man that sits beside him on the couch, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders as if to preserve whatever little heat he contains in his body.

“I know, and I’m sorry, Kaden, but we simply cannot afford a radiator.” The man replies, rubbing a finger against the boy’s lips, a gentle smile contained within his eyes, and visible faintly on his orifice.

“You’re cold, too.” The boy continues with a frown, taking the hand of the man in his own and pressing it to his cheek. “No, wait, that’s not right… you’re just… not cold… or hot.”</b> However, the boy does not ask why the man has no warmth, and the man does not answer. Such a thing is already obvious to the pair. A moment spent in silence dwindles away as Kaden leans in even closer, nuzzling against the man’s neck with his nose. “Mm… but you smell good, though…”

Zikyoku only smiles, the same faint ghost of a smile as before.

Kai awoke with a start, and nearly rolled off of the countertop he was lying on in the process. Since he had been turned to his half-vampirism, it seemed that he moved around quite a lot in his sleep, which resulted in him waking in the oddest places as night fell. “Oh, Jesus. So it’s the fucking counter this time?” He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair and swinging his legs over the side of the thing. “Well, whatever.” His bare feet padded against the smooth linoleum of the small kitchen as he made his way, quite shirtless, to the bathroom. There he gazed at his reflection in the mirror for a brief moment, taking in every detail of his face, before smirking and nodding his contentment. “Yep. Still got it.”

He leaned in to the faucet, turning on the cold water and letting it flow almost soundlessly into the porcelain basin that was the sink, wetting his hands in the liquid and smoothing this over his face. Flinching at the frigidity of the water, a flash of something echoed through his mind.

The air is cold, colder than before, in such a manner that it makes you think you can slice through it with a knife and have ice cubes sitting on the floor a second later. But even colder than this is the rejection that Kaden is facing.

“Just hurry up and turn me into a vampire already!” He pulls down on the collar of his shirt, further exposing his neck and the ripe jugular that throbs there as blood ebbs through it. “C’mon! I want to spend eternity with you, Ziko! Please!”

The vampire’s eyes are cold as rubies set into a snow-white face. “No, Kaden. We have already discussed this in length, and I cannot do it.” Not even the use of his nickname can persuade him, it seems.

“Why the hell not?!” His voice is an upset roar, exploding from his lungs like a torrential flood. “You keep talking about how it’s a curse, to be like you, but nothing can be worse than dying rather than spending eternity with you!” Kaden pounds his fists against the chest of the man that he loves with every fiber of his being. “You say it’ll hurt you the most, to do this to me, but won’t it hurt more to watch me get old and die?!”

“Kaden!” The nightwalker snaps, crimson eyes flashing dangerously as he grabs the boy’s hands, stopping him from hitting his chest again. “You don’t understand. You couldn’t understand. You’re just a boy!” He leans in to Kaden’s ear. “It’s no game, this eternal life,” he hisses. “Think of what will happen at the Apocalypse. Heaven won’t want us; Hell won’t take us. None of the Nosferatu know what will become of us at the End. But, perhaps we will be forced to live in nothingness, our lungs smothered, in agony, but never dying.” He releases the boy. “I don’t want that for you. I don’t want that for anyone…”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Kai cursed as he broke away from the memory. “What the hell is going on?…” Lately, the memories, the visions – they had been plaguing his mind. He could find no escape, not even in sleep or awareness.

His reflection stirred and observed him with half-lidded eyes. “Perhaps your conscience has finally come back from it’s long… long… long vacation.”

“Kaden,” he remarked dryly, all of the life leaving his undead features. “Why don’t you just leave me alone? Take your own bloody vacation.” He turned as if to leave, to break away from his past self’s gaze.

“Wait, Kai.” The figure in the glass frowned. “… Don’t you feel even a little guilt for what you did?”

Kai hesitated. “Well… maybe just a little.”

Kaden’s eyes lit up, and he grinned. “See? Admitting it is the first step –”

“Not!” Kai growled, raising his fist and ramming it into the mirror’s polished surface. It shattered, glass raining down into the sink and the floor. Kai withdrew his hand, shaking it and observing the shards embedded into his knuckles. Kaden and Kai were one and the same. Kai had emerged when Kaden was turned half-vampire. He was the product of heightened vampiric senses - … and rage. Being turned had only shifted his personality drastically, though his old self still clung to what was left of his soul, tormenting him when it had the chance. “Just get out of me, you fucking cunt.” He muttered to himself, pulling glass from his hand. Licking at the blood pooled on his fingers, he made his way to the bedroom, throwing open the wardrobe with his free hand. He needed to dress for success in order to catch his prey. Finally settling on vinyl leather pants (complete with a spiked belt and a chain), as well as a tight, form-fitting gray t-shirt that held the words ‘B.l o0 D A .d D ! C. T 3 D.’ on it in white and his leather jacket,  he wiped his hand of what was left of the blood and pulled on his black biker boots, heading for the door and slamming it shut in his wake, not bothering to lock it (for what fool would dare invade his apartment?).

The night air made him feel young and restless, and he wandered about amiably, happy smirk on his face, hands jammed in his pockets, searching the crowd for a suitable victim. His eyes landed upon the form of an attractive young girl, with brown hair that was streaked with chestnut and blonde, clad in clothes that didn’t make her stand out in any way. The halfling licked his lips. Usually he would feed on males, because of his sexual preference, but today he was in an especially good mood. He felt like treating the girl with the pleasure of being fed on by him before he sucked her dry and she met her early death. Changing direction subtly, he began to follow her, a few feet away so that she would hopefully not notice him following her. She walked on as she had been, though she quickly turned into an alleyway at the first chance. A dark, dank, secluded alleyway, where no one could hear her screaming. ‘This must be my lucky day.’ He thought to himself as he, too, made a beeline for the alley. His fangs lengthened in anticipation of the kill, and he could feel something else… awakening below his belt. ‘Easy, boy,’ he chuckled inwardly. ‘We’re not gonna bone her.’

So preoccupied with this was he that he was completely unprepared as the girl spun around and threw a fistful of garlic powder in his face. “Nosferatu!” She screamed.

“Shit! You bitch!” He snarled as his hands clapped over his eyes due to the pain. ‘Oh fuck, I picked a nutty one…’ He did not back away from the garlic because of his semi-vampirism. His human side should have protected him from that – the key words in that sentence being should have. In fact, it was his human side that caused him to react violently to the simple cooking ingredient. As a human, he had been – and still was – allergic to garlic. A sad thing for Kai, who loved Italian food, but was allergic to one of the key ingredients in it. When he was a human, if it came in contact with his skin, it would become swollen and red, and his heightened vampire senses only worsened this. It wouldn’t kill him… but it would be quite painful. Of course, when he was human, his remedy for that had been…

“You made lasagna for me?” Zikyoku’s voice is incredulous, but affectionate.

“Yes, sir.” Kaden laughs from his position in one of the dining chairs, his fingers red and swollen. “I know it’s your favorite.”

“You didn’t eat any, did you?”</b> The vampire asks.

Kaden sticks out his swollen tongue. “I like Italian, too, you know.”

Zikyoku can’t restrain his laughter. “You… fool! What were you thinking?” He pokes a finger into the lasagna and pulls it back out, licking tomato sauce off of it as he approaches the boy, sitting beside him.

“I was thinking we like Italian.” Kaden leans over backwards into Ziku’s lap. “Now, cure me, doctor.”

Zikyoku laughs again as he takes the boy’s fingers first, penetrating them with his fangs, sucking the garlic out of the blood. The swelling is already lessening. When both hands are tended to, the vampire cradles the boy’s head in his hands, pressing his lips against the child’s, biting down gently on his tongue. Blood oozes into both mouths in a morbid expression of passion.

“Damn!” A loud voice yells, and Kai is confused. That voice isn’t part of his memory… And then, he is jolted back into reality, facing the girl as she curses again.

“Damnit!” she searched her bag for more garlic, and finding none, took out instead a high-power light that would sear the flesh of any – full – vampire. “Die, Nosferatu! Die and return to your master in Hell!”

Kai only squinted against the bright light. “That’s not very considerate, you know. I’m trying to see here.” Being a halfling definitely had its advantages.

The girl faltered, fear slipping into her features. “What…?”

“Oh come on, you didn’t think that little flashlight would actually hurt me, did you?” He stepped towards her and slapped the contraption aside so that it fell to the ground with a clatter.

She backed away, and Kai could her heart thudding in his chest as if trying to escape. “What – what are you - ?!”

“Half and half, baby.” He smirked, grabbing her neck and sinking his fangs in. She shuddered and gave a soft moan as he began to drain her. It was said that feeding was always an orgasmic experience for the victim, and he found that to be true. She gave one final shudder, and then, she was gone, disintegrated, leaving only black ash as proof that she had existed.

Kai let his arms open, his breathing harsh with excitement, blood smeared on his lips, laughing insanely as the ash floated onto the ground next to the light. Leaning down, he traced words into the ash, eyes burning maliciously, adrenaline flowing through him as a result of the killing.
Who’s gone back to whose master now, bitch? the question popped out at him from the ash. Smirking, he jammed his hands into his pockets after wiping his mouth clean of the blood.

“… I love my life.” He remarked, to no one in particular.

(( o__O That took me an hour and a half to write…))