High Stakes

Harumi blinked his eyes open. When he finally fully awakened, he found Anna’s sleeping face staring right back at him. She was sleeping soundly without a care in the world like a cute, defenseless kitten. No matter how many times this has happened, Harumi will never get used to it.

Just as he was thinking up a way to get out of this situation without waking her up, his eyes glanced up towards the ceiling and he was suddenly met with a mysterious force dropping on top of him. It all happened very fast that he wasn’t able to fully comprehend what his eyes saw.

“You uncouth swine!” snarled Sofia, her hands gripped around Harumi’s neck just tightly enough to allow him gasping for air. She had been watching Harumi the entire night and was appalled to see him entice Lady Anna into his room with his charm. Her suspicions of Harumi being a degenerate good-for-nothing who will bring ruin to their familia had been confirmed! “Any last words before I kill you right here and now?” she threatened him.

“You have…wrong…idea…please, air…can’t…breathe…,” replied Harumi in between gasps.

“You charmed Lady Anna, didn’t you? You’re here to destroy our familia, aren’t you?!” she accused him.

“No…not…true…,” struggled Harumi in reply. His face was now turning a bright purple. Even though he may not die from suffocation since he was now a vampire, he still felt the pain; especially since the one inflicting the pain on him was also a vampire of a higher level than him.

“Heh? Whas gon on?” came Anna’s groggy voice as she slowly woke up. She was now sitting upright on the bed and the blanket that was covering her fell down, revealing her naked upper body.

The sight elicited a nosebleed reaction from Harumi, which, combined with the suffocation he was suffering under Sofia, caused him to pass out. Meanwhile, Sofia jumped back in shock and stammered, “L-L-Lady Anna, w-w-what are you d-d-doing?!”

“Waking up,” answered Anna simply.

“B-B-B-But…,” stammered Sofia with a reddened face and a finger pointing shakily at Anna’s naked chest.

“Ah, I don’t like sleeping in clothes,” Anna told her subordinate with a smile.

“Then you should be sleeping in your own room! Why are you in this degenerate’s room to begin with?!”

Anna glanced over at the unconscious Harumi and, in an unexpected gesture, grabbed his arm and brought him close to her. She held onto his arm with both hands and placed it in between her cleavage. “Understand?” she asked Sofia with a smile.

“I-I-I-I-I-I-Impossible!” screamed Sofia, dashing out of the room with her face still red like a tomato.

Anna viewed her subordinate’s action as cute and remained smiling long after Sofia had left. On the other hand…. “Um…Anna?” came Harumi. His body was steaming up from a mixture of embarrassment and guilt. Anna looked over at his bashful face and changed her smile into one of a playful vixen’s. “C-C-Can you let go?” Harumi asked her politely. His eyes were focused on the bed the entire time.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” said Anna teasingly. She slowly and gently brought him closer and closer to her. As she did, Harumi’s arm naturally sank deeper and deeper into her cleavage. He felt his hand rub over her soft and smooth stomach before continuing downwards. The more his hand descended deeper and deeper into the forbidden abyss, the more he felt his body burning up. Meanwhile, Anna wore a very nonchalant and wanton smile as she also slowly moved her face closer and closer to Harumi’s. “Would you like to know more about me?” she whispered into his ear. Harumi reacted with a yelp. His fingers were now just inches away from her sacred place.

Suddenly, the door to their room swung open and Ben walked in. “Lady Anna, this farce has gone on far enough,” reprimanded the butler.

“Gosh, Ben, you’re such a spoilsport,” came Isabelle, the maid, from behind the door. It was obvious that she was enjoying watching the interaction between Anna and Harumi before Ben unfortunately interrupted them.

“Lady Anna, you have someone waiting for you,” Ben told his mistress.

Anna grimaced. The expression stayed on her face the entire time from the moment she pulled herself out of the bed to the moment she changed into her clothes for the day. But when she stood before the waiting room, she wiped off the grimace and wore an ambivalent expression. The professionalism with which she executed the change made Harumi even more in awe of her. The members of the Strix Familia followed behind her into the room.

Sitting in the host’s chair with his leg crossed over the other and his hands spread over the back was a thin-eyed individual with greasy blonde hair and a long face. On the left side of his bottom lip was a row of piercings, while the same was present on his right upper eyelid. A very bold tattoo of a bat wrapped around his exposed neck. He wore a white undershirt under an open leather jacket and a pair of black leather jeans.

On his left side was a tall, bulky man with a squarish face and a buzz cut. His skin was tan like freshly-brewed coffee and he had icy blue eyes that were held in a constant glare. As for his attire, he had on a blood-red dougi with ripped sleeves and matching color sweatpants.

Opposite of the tall, bulky man was a young woman who looked about in her mid-twenties. Her brownish-blonde hair was done up in a bun and she wore a monocle with a very enchanting dragon-shaped frame over her left amber eye; her right eye was a scorching scarlet. Unlike her male comrades, she wore a very tame business-casual attire that consisted of a floral-patterned blouse with khakis and pumps.

“Ah-ah, you’re finally here,” said the thin-eyed individual with a smile. His tone carried no care in the world at all. “It’s not good to keep you’re guests waiting, you know.”

Ben exploded over the display of rudeness his mistress was being exposed to. “How dare you speak of etiquette when your manners are no better than a stray dog’s?!” he demanded furiously. “You dare to sit in the Mistress’ chair as if it was your own! Perhaps I should show you the hospitality granted to scum like you!”

Anna placed a hand in front of Ben, signaling for him to fall back. “You must be the head of the Lutz Familia,” she acknowledged with her usual cool smile.

“Yes, that’s right!” confirmed the guest with a dramatic raise of his hands. “Head of the Lutz Familia, Klause Lutz, at your service.” He slumped forward in a mock-gentlemanly bow. When he retracted his body back, his tongue stuck out and he licked his piercings before letting the pink mass to just loll out as if it was natural.

“Annabelle Strix, head of the Strix Familia,” introduced Anna.

“I know who you are!” barked Klause with a laugh. “You’re one big fish, aren’t you? Say,—” his eyes looked Anna up and down, “—you’re one fine fish yourself.”

Harumi didn’t like the way the Lutz head was staring at Anna and scowled. He clenched his fists.

“I understand that you want to discuss the war declaration between our two familias?” asked Anna.

Klause dramatically stood up and said, “Ah, never mind that! In fact, how about we just put an end to it right here?” He slinked up to Anna and leaned his face until their eyes were level. “I’ll take you instead. How about it? In exchange for not hurting your servants, I’ll take you as my lover?” His gaze landed on Anna’s chest and he grinned lasciviously.

“You—!” angrily shouted Harumi.

“Sorry, but I’m already taken,” Anna told Klause with a frightful glare.

Klause shivered with a perverted smile from the look in her eyes. “Ah, but I don’t mind if you’re already taken. Hell, I don’t even care if you’re already used. I’m just a guy who likes to have fun.”

“How dare you speak that way to my mistress!” shouted Harumi.

“Okay, okay, I get it, you’re off the market, right? Sheesh,” shrugged Klause with a lick of his lips. He then slinked forward and approached Rie and Sofia. His gaze took in every inch of Rie’s curves. “A bodacious babe like you seem like a fun lay,” he told her with a smile, making her cringe uncomfortably. “But I don’t mind the younger-looking one’s either,” he said, turning to Sofia. “They’re the most fun to break and corrupt.”

“Hah?! I dare you to say that again, uncouth bastard!” snapped Sofia.

“Ooh! Feisty! And you’ve got a mouth on you, too! That makes you even more unresistable to break,” he sang. He leaned down to her ear and whispered, “You’re my favorite, now.” Sofia shivered—she had never been more disgusted in her entire life.

“But you know what?” said Klause, turning his attention back to Anna. “I really think that I still prefer the most beautiful and experienced woman here.” As he said that, he stuck out his tongue in a disgusting show of lust. He reached out his hand for Anna. Suddenly, his hand was swatted away by Harumi, who immediately placed himself in between Anna and the philanderer.

“I’d appreciate it if you can refrain from touching others without their permission,” Harumi told Klause with a scowl.

Klause was equally appalled and intrigued by the display of this no-name upstart. His left eye twitched. Never before had he been denied so vehemently like this—much less by a man. It irritated him immensely. “Who do you are, you little asshole?” Klause asked Harumi with frightening eyes.

Harumi flinched, but still stood his ground. Anna took over for her loyal offspring and said, “He is a very important member of my familia.”

“Important, huh?” echoed Klause with an insulting chuckle. With his hands to his hips, he lowered his head and shook it like a boss getting ready to reprimand his employees. “Alright, then, if you want a war, I’ll give it to ya,” he decided with a scowl. “Tonight, once midnight strikes, our war will begin. But don’t worry, we’ll give you the home advantage.” With that, he snapped his fingers and immediately left the mansion with his familia members.

“I can’t stand that piece of shit,” cursed Sophia with a dark scowl. “I call dibs to bust his ass myself tonight.”

“This is a problem, isn’t it?” said Isabelle with a hand caressing her face.

“A problem? But they’re coming to fight on our home turf, right? Shouldn’t that be a huge advantage for us?” pointed out Harumi.

“Advantage? Hah! He was obviously looking down on us!” snapped back Ben.

“He boldly declared that he will fight us in our own home,” said Anna grimly. “The Lutz Familia is one of the stronger familias in the Eastern hemisphere. I don’t know much about them other than that their leader, Klause Lutz, is a favorite of the Draugr Familia’s leader. That, and that Klause’s Curse ability is related to a kind of invincibility.”

“That’s fine and all, but the house will also be a giant mess, wouldn’t it? It’s going to be a pain cleaning it all up,” said Isabelle, finishing up her previous thought.

“That’s what you meant,” sighed Harumi in retort. “Anyway, have any of you seen Takehito? I don’t see him here with us.”

“If you’re looking for Sir Takehito, he is in the forest behind the estate,” said Ben.

Harumi entered the forest to look for Takehito. His nose was full of the scents of trees and woodland animals. It was actually more intense than when he was a human—vampire super senses were something else! But he would quickly regret it as a very repugnant scent attacked his nostrils. It was nauseating and made his head hurt. He automatically knew what the scent was of, and it made him sick to his stomach.

The deeper he went into the forest, the stronger the smell became. He wasn’t even that deep in the forest when he found the carcass of a deer. He turned his head away in disgust when something about the carcass caught his eye—there was no blood at all. The carcass was now just a lump of rotting skin and flesh with no sign of blood, dried or wet, around or within it. Harumi couldn’t even fathom the cause behind this.

He walked deeper in and found more and more carcasses: squirrels, tanuki, deer, birds, rabbits, snakes, and wild boars. And each and every carcass was the same as the deer carcass he came across before: rotting lumps of flesh and skin with no signs of blood at all! ‘What the hell is this?’ wondered Harumi in disgust.

A loud roar from deeper in drew Harumi’s attention and he made a dash towards it. He came to a small clearing in the woods and screeched to an immediate halt. Hiding behind a nearby tree, he intensely observed the scene unfolding before him, trying his best to process it all.

There, in the clearing, was a giant brown bear baring its monstrous fangs. And opposing the bear, with his sword drawn and a calm expression on his face, was Takehito. Harumi was confused at what he was seeing, but there was no doubt now that the one responsible for all of those animal carcasses was Takehito. When he looked at Takehito’s eyes, he was surprised at the bloodlust they exuded; this was the very first time that Harumi felt afraid of the swordsman.

The bear lunged forward. Calmly and smoothly, as if he had done this more than a million times, Takehito swung his sword and sliced the bear in half. The one-hit-kill was a beautiful display that made Harumi stare in awe, but it was what happened next that mattered more to him than the actual kill. The bear’s blood suddenly gushed out of its body like a river and was absorbed by the blade, painting the blade red. The red color eventually faded away, returning the blade back to its original color.

“So cool,” breathed Harumi.

“You can come out now, Sir Abe,” called out Takehito with a smile, sheathing his sword.

Harumi shuffled hesitantly before reluctantly revealing himself to the swordsman. “Man, I was wondering why you weren’t with us this morning,” said Harumi with a chuckle.

“I take it that the meeting did not go well?” asked Takehito.

“Well, it was inevitable. I mean, the guy was a total jerkass,” answered Harumi with a displeased smile at the mention of their enemy.

“So?” asked Takehito.

“Huh?” returned Harumi with a confused tilt of his head.

“My Curse. You saw it, didn’t you?” revealed Takehito with a sad smile.

“Your Curse….”

“My Curse is Blood Blade,” explained Takehito. “I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with the concept of using weapons as if they’re an extension of your own limbs, right?”

Harumi nodded.

“Well, my Curse takes that saying to a whole other level. Basically, my sword is a limb. It’s an inseparable part of my body.” As he explained all of this, Takehito wore a small, sad, and serious smile. “Did you know, Sir Abe, that for a vampire, I don’t need to consume any blood myself?”

“You don’t need to consume blood yourself?” repeated Harumi in subdued shock.

“Because my blade does it for me,” revealed Takehito with a frightening glare. His expression turned sad. “In exchange for the ability to sense a vampire’s weakness and take advantage of it in one strike, my blade possesses a tremendous thirst for blood that must be quenched. If I don’t quench it, it will break and I will die.”

“Seriously?” Harumi muttered with knitted eyebrows.

“I must quench it’s thirst everyday. This is why I use the woods to do it. The animals here are sacrificed everyday to quench its thirst.” When he said those words, his face darkened and his eyes glazed over. “Otherwise…,” he turned to Harumi with a sad smile.

Harumi didn’t need for Takehito to finish that sentence. ‘Otherwise, you’d have to start killing people,’ concluded Harumi.

Takehito walked up to the bear carcass and kneeled down. He clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. “I humbly thank you for your sacrifice to quench my blade.” He bowed down until his head touched the earth. He repeated this motion for a total of three times before he got back up. “Well, my blade is full for today,” said Takehito, returning back to his cheerful self with a big smile. “Let’s go back!”

As he watched Takehito walk back to the mansion, Harumi felt a sadness from him that weighed heavily on his shoulders. It was something that Harumi couldn’t sympathize with—how could he? Harumi couldn’t begin to fathom the dark and sad life that Takehito had been living this entire time. If he were to try and act like he understood it all, he would only be insulting Takehito and his emotions. He clenched his fist and exhaled deeply. Somewhat returned back to his previous state of mind, he chased after Takehito.

It was half an hour before midnight. Tension filled the atmosphere like a blanket of weights. Everyone was on edge in the best possible way; one misstep and it would spell death for them. Each member of the mansion was positioned in the following quarters: Harumi and Sofia in the foyer, Ben in the living room, Isabelle in the kitchen, Toma in the library, Rie on the second floor, Takehito in the backyard, and Annabelle on the third floor.

An hour before, while planning their defensive formation, Harumi was briefed on everything he needed to know about how this would be going down. In a duel between two or more familias, the goal was simple: take out the opposing familia’s head. Once the head was defeated, the familia will be forced to surrender. A familia without a head was like an army without a general. If there was one thing that all vampires adhere to, it would be a deep sense of honor that’s so intertwined with their own blood that it was taboo to reject it. This sense of honor is just another facet of the loyalty they subscribe to their own master. Therefore, for a vampire to continue fighting without their master was blasphemous.

As for the rules for how a duel should be conducted, there exists none. Killing is not against the rules, nor is using underhanded tactics to gain an advantage. There exists no concept of fairness in a duel. The only required etiquette that must be observed was to fight with respect for your opponent. How that respect is conveyed is up to the individual.

Ten minutes left before the duel begins. The task was simple: take out Klause Lutz before they take out Anna. “They’re here,” Sofia whispered upon catching the scent of their enemies. Harumi got into a ready stance to prepare himself for what will be happening next.

The doors to the mansion swung open. “Pardon the intrusion!” called out Klause with a wild look in his eyes. He noticed Harumi and Sofia were the only ones there to greet him. With a displeased look, he grumbled, “I think you underestimate me too much.” His lips shifted into a smile and he pointed forward. “Get’em!” he commanded his followers.

The Lutz Familia members split up and went about searching for their target. Harumi was ready to engage them when Sofia gestured for him to stay put. He obeyed her instructions despite the confused expression on his face.

Now, it was only Klause who remained in the foyer.

“We only have one mission,” Sofia told Harumi. Harumi now understood what she meant.

Klause had expected this to happen and howled in laughter. “Kakakaka! If you think you can take me, then I’ll give you a chance! I’d love to see you try!”

‘This bastard doesn’t shut up, does he?’ scowled Harumi.

Klause, with an evil grin plastered on his face, dashed forward with his arms poised for attack. Harumi, out of instinct, placed himself in front of Sofia. Klause was just inches away when he threw out a swipe at Harumi’s back. Suddenly, he hit against some kind of barrier and was forced back. He assessed the situation and noticed a strange purplish barrier surrounding Harumi. “What the hell?” he cursed. His eyes shifted to the left and he realized the source behind the barrier.

Sofia, standing behind Harumi, had her hands out with the palms facing outward. With a bratty smirk, she taunted, “Is that the best you can do?”

Klause answered back with his trademark laugh. Sofia relaxed and the barrier disappeared. Harumi nodded his head in thanks to her. Sofia said nothing and crossed her arms over her chest with a cold expression on her face.

Harumi turned his focus back to Klause and jumped off his right foot to leap forward. He raised up a fist and, upon reaching Klause, brought it down like a hammer. However, Klause was the one with more experience as a vampire and he simply dodged the attack like it was nothing. He then threw a knee at Harumi, sending the latter flying backwards. Keeping up the momentum, Klause jumped forward and raised up a foot. With a cruel smile, he brought it down on the recoiling Harumi. Once again, Sofia casted a barrier on Harumi, protecting him from the attack.

Klause cursed as his feet struck the barrier. He tried to push harder with his foot but the barrier refused to break. With a scowl and a click of his tongue, he glanced over at Sofia. Their eyes met and then Klause suddenly disappeared. Still keeping the barrier around Harumi up, Sofia scrutinizingly observed her surrounding for any trace of the vampire. Her focus was to her left when she suddenly felt a heavy presence close to her. Her eyes shifted to the right and she saw Klause had suddenly appeared right next to her—the surprise giving her heart a scare.

With the same cruel smile from before, Klause struck Sofia right in the stomach with an uppercut that sent her flying into the air. Sofia landed hard on her back, letting out a painful gasp. Spittles of blood formed near the corner of her lips.

“Sofia!” screamed Harumi.

Klause tilted his head with an amused smile. He dashed forward and grabbed Sofia by the front of her shirt, lifting her up like a limp doll. With his free hand, he struck Sofia’s face with a side punch. “Huh? What is this?” he asked tauntingly. He continued his attack on her beautiful face, increasing in speed and force with each successive punch. As he did, he laughed uncontrollably to himself, letting his voice echo through the foyer.

“Sofia!” screamed Harumi. He picked himself up despite the residual pain he was still feeling in his abdomen. With conviction but no plan, he rushed forward for a tackle. Without even looking, Klause kicked Harumi back, landing a clean hit on the latter’s already hurting stomach. Harumi crashed into the wall and went out like a light.

“Now, now, what do we have here? What is this?” asked Klause, slowing back down with his punches. “You can put up a barrier on your friend, but not yourself? Come on, show me that strong barrier again! Why aren’t you trying to defend yourself?” Klause let out another demonic howl. “So you can protect others but not yourself? How lame is that?” he howled. He then grabbed Sofia by the throat with his free hand, shifting her body over to the other side. With his now free right hand, he caressed her bloodied and bruised face. “Your face is disgusting now,” he said with false pity. “But…,” he continued with a lick of his lips. He used the nail of his right pointer finger to cleanly cut Sofia’s shirt down the middle.

All the while, Sofia could do nothing but shamefully let the enemy have total control over her body. The pain and ache had already spread from her face to her entire body—the ruthless strikes had made her body numb and limp from the top down. Her body was now covered in perspiration while her beautiful face was riddled with bloodied bruises. Oh, how desperately she wanted to fight back!—but her body wouldn’t respond to the signals from her brain. She was lucky that she still at least possessed control of her mental faculties! She couldn’t even speak! With her throat rendered useless, she couldn’t even eek out an utterance of disgust.

The newly dissected shirt now formed two flaps. Klause opened the right one to reveal Sofia’s skin glistened with sweat. He took notice of her pink bra and said mockingly, “How cute. But they’re in the way.” With another swipe of his nail, he sliced the bra in half, letting the exposed cup to fall. Now, Sofia’s exposed breast was bared for all to see.

“D-Die, trash…,” Sofia managed to eek out tiringly.

Klause didn’t mind the treatment at all. With a lascivious grin, he lightly tapped Sofia’s nipple with his nail. The contact between the pointed tip on her own sensitive flesh made her squirm. Enjoying her reaction very much, Klause continued to perform other lewd acts to elicit the same self-gratifying reactions: flicking her nipple, rolling it with the tip of his nail, scratching it.

Harumi, having now regained consciousness, was appalled by what he was seeing. Sofia was suffering immensely at the expense of the enemy. She had tears already welling up in the corner of her eyes! Meanwhile, the enemy was enjoying torturing her with a deranged smile on his disgusting face. ‘This bastard….’ Harumi could feel the anger welling up inside of him like lava.

“God, it feels so good breaking down a feisty bitch,” Klause rejoiced in satisfaction in between fits of deranged laughter.

Those words made the anger welling up inside of Harumi reach their peak. ‘This piece of shit!…’ That’s when his eyes met Sofia’s, who turned her head to him with an expression that set him off right then and there—she was calling for help. A thin and bright red aura surrounded Harumi. The pain all left his body and he got back up on his feet. “Hey, you shitty piece-of-trash street rat,” called Harumi in a low voice.

Klause was annoyed by those choice of words. “What did you call me, you worthless excuse for a vampire?” he crudely snapped back.

“Let go of her,” Harumi demanded calmly.

“Or what?” laughed Klause, turning his head in Harumi’s direction. What he saw next almost made his spirit leave his body—Harumi suddenly appeared before him like a flash of lightning and struck him with a punch that forced him to let go of Sofia and sent him flying into the wall behind him.

Harumi stood in front of Sofia with his back to her. “Are you okay?” he asked her.

“O-Of course not, you swine,” answered back Sofia after recovering from a fit of coughing.

“If you can answer like that, then you’re fine,” said Harumi, relieved.

Sofia didn’t know how or why, but this Harumi wasn’t the same Harumi as before. His voice before when he asked her if she was okay was tough yet caring, almost like a concerned father. On the other hand, his second statement was softer despite still carrying a grounded confidence to them as if he was a big brother coming to the rescue of his little sister. But his relief at her safety was clear in both statements.

But it wasn’t just his voice that changed. Harumi’s entire disposition changed: he appeared more determined with confidence that bordered on self-assured arrogance, he carried himself with a refined discipline that was almost militaristic in nature like a medieval knight, and he exuded both charisma and terror. It instilled confidence in Sofia, but it also made her feel smaller compared to him as if it was only right for him to be in control. It scared her. But more than anything, Sofia knew on an instinctive level that she was glad that he was on her side and not her enemy.

Klause came to and found his clothes stained in blood that had been spilled from his mouth. The amount of blood he saw was unbelievable! “W-W-What the hell did you do?!” he demanded in a screechy high-pitched voice.

“Sofia, let me take care of this bastard,” Harumi told her.

“What? You got to be kidding me! I can hold my own—,” argued Sofia. Harumi flashed her a look that terrified her. “O-Okay,” she finally relented.

“You’re gonna pay for what you did to me, you bastard!” cursed Klause.

“Sorry, but I’m not the one with a debt that must be paid,” replied Harumi.

The blade trembled. Takehito placed a hand on it and smiled. “Our time will arrive,” he told it, calming it down. Just as he said that, three vampires entered the backyard. They spotted him and surrounded him. Takehito welcomed their presence with a warm smile. “Welcome to the Strix Familia Manor,” he greeted them.

“Don’t think that we’re going to fight fair. There are three of us and only one of you,” spoke the middle vampire, who was the only one cloaked—obviously the leader.

“Three against one? Actually, it’s three against two,” corrected Takehito. “But that’s more than fair for us.”

“Huh? Are all the vampires in this familia weirdos?” came the leader with a disgusted scowl.

“That was a little rude, don’t you think? The only weirdo in our familia is Sir Abe!” joked Takehito with a chuckle. His expression then turned a little more serious as he added, “He’s someone that you best avoid.”

“So you’re saying that he’s stronger than you?”

“If you want weird, then Sir Abe beats me in every possible way. But if it’s about strength….” He trailed off with a big smile. Without a word, he unsheathed his sword and quickly sheathed it back. Suddenly, the two vampires on both sides of him fell down and turned to ash. “See?”

The leader recoiled back in disgust and fear. “That’s one nasty Curse,” they bemoaned under their breath.

Takehito pushed forward and unsheathed his sword. The enemy leader jumped back in reflex, but not before drawing their hand and letting the blade touch their flesh. They then disappeared into the woods. Takehito suddenly felt a strange sensation as his blade went silent and he dropped to his knees. ‘Did they stop my blade?’ he wondered skeptically.

“That’s really one nasty Curse,” came the enemy, walking back out of the woods. They tossed away something that they were holding in their hand—a dead bird with its neck covered in two punctures.

Takehito stared at the dead bird with his brows furrowed in a fearful expression. ‘Just what is going on?’ he wondered. He glanced back at the enemy.

“I don’t care if you listen to me or not, but I refuse to continue this fight,” said the vampire. “Your Curse is too much for me.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Takehito.

“I mean exactly what I said,” they replied back.

“Are you withdrawing because you underestimated my power?” asked Takehito with no intention of sounding arrogant at all.

“Sure, sure, we can go with that,” lazily concurred the enemy. “Well, it is true that I underestimated you. That’s a bad habit of mine.”

“If you’re planning on withdrawing, then tell me why you decided to partake in this in the first place,” urged Takehito.

“Why? Because I was ordered to. That’s the simple answer for every vampire, isn’t it?”

“What are your plans?” continued Takehito.

“Plans?… Ah, you mean about the Lutz Familia. I think it was something about ruling the Eastern Pacific? Or maybe it was about taking the head of your familia for ourselves? To be honest, I don’t give a damn about this familia and its plans. Klause is nothing but a big pain-in-the-neck.” As they said this, the enemy shrugged their shoulders to show their indifference to their familia’s situation.

“But, aren’t you a member of the Lutz Familia?” reminded Takehito.

“Only because I was ordered to,” replied the enemy, scratching their head. They then raised their hands up in a big stretch. “Anyway, are we done here?” they suddenly asked.

“Done here?” repeated Takehito.

“I guess we are,” determined the enemy. They turned around and walked off, disappearing into the woods.

Takehito was confused by the entire situation. He didn’t know if he could call it a victory or if he had just suffered a loss. The enemy was successfully warded off…right? But then there was also the situation about having his Curse stopped by the enemy. No matter how many times he replayed the scene in his head, he couldn’t come up with the answer to how it could’ve happened.

The sounds of fighting coming from inside the house brought him back to reality. “I don’t have time to mope around. I need to go help my familia.”

The door opened. A group of five vampires tentatively entered the dark room. “It is quite depressing how people of the modern world have forgotten the concept of manners,” said Anna, standing in front of the large multi-framed window at the end of the room with her back to them. Moonlight poured in from outside, illuminating her like a spotlight. “Do you know what we did to people who lacked manners back then?” she asked them, not expecting an answer. She turned her head to them, her honey-amber eyes glowing red like bright scorching rubies. The enemy vampires quickly felt a chill run down their spines and flinched. “We punished them,” concluded Anna.

The enemy vampires were now at the mercy of Anna’s powers. The room that they were in began to melt and shift like jello. Objects became meaningless blobs of color, scents and sounds and tastes entered and exited and blended together, the sensitivty of their tactile sensory organs were heightened to their peaks—it was all one big psychaedelic fever dream! Nothing made sense! And then, out of nowhere, one by one, they each suffered a bad fate: one was left to burn in a neverending stream of fire; one had their entire body peeled by some invisible blade; one got forced into an unfortunate loop of projectile vomitting; another became hysterical as their flesh melted off their body as if they were bathing in acid; and the last one entered a cycle of repeated decapitations.

However, unknown to them, the entire room did not change at all. Everything that they were experiencing was caused by the power of a Royal. By the time their punishment had ended, all that was left were piles of ash and broken objects. Anna walked over to the piles and glanced over the vessels that held their souls: a matchbox, a switchblade, an empty tin candy box, a powder case, and a string of chains. “An arsonist, a murderer, a conman, a whore, and a career criminal,” she concluded with a scowling shake of her head. “Unacceptable. I can never understand why you let these evil people live, big brother.”