Blood of a Vampire, Flesh of a Human

Her violet eyes locked on his amber. Sakura petals swept into her room as the wind carried it softly. The wavy locks of her hair resembled the sea and the coral hairpins decorated it better. She looked ethereal under the moonlight.

Stellar couldn’t help but to be drawn by her beauty.

“Mitsu, you have a special guest tonight. Make sure to treat him like royalty and not to cause a mess if you ever did it.”

“It”? What does she mean by that? Does it mean…

“Yes, Lady Fujiwara.” Mitsu answered, bowing her head in front of Stellar and the boss.

“I’ll leave you both to it now. If anything occurs, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Please excuse me.” Lady Fujiwara stepped out of the room and closed the chamber door, leaving him with the most famous courtesan in the nation.

He looked at her figure and assessed her body. Her breasts were much fuller than the brothel owner and her kimono was showing off her bare shoulders and cleavage. There was a trail of silk pieces clinging in her arms, one that would cost a fortune to buy. Her obi had a few seashells and pearls decorated on it.

She bowed down to him again. “It is a pleasure to serve you tonight, Young Master. Allow me to serve you in any way.”

“Please, just call me Stellar. I would feel awkward if someone as pretty as you called me that.” He teased her.

“As you wish.” She bowed for the last time before standing properly. “Would you like some sake and have a chat or play a round of Go?”

“A few rounds of Go sounds good.” He suggested. “It’s been a while since I played the game. I might have to refresh my memory.”

“I would go easy on you then.” Mitsu spoke, quickly preparing the board game and the Go pieces and arranging them into each opposing board.

“Would you like to start first?” She asked.

“It would be better if you do start it. A gentleman would let the ladies make the first move in the game.” He answered.

She nodded, placing a piece on an easy spot.

Stellar chuckled, feeling as if she’s actually underestimating him.

“I might have not played it for a long time, but you shouldn’t look down on me like that.” He teased in a butthurt manner, placing his piece next to hers.

“My apologies. Would you like to start over?” She asked.

“No, we might as well let it slide. But your next move should be more promising than this.” He said.

“Of course.” She bowed her head slightly.

She then placed her piece in a trickier spot, and that made his ego set ablaze.

He loved a challenge that made his mind and body difficult. So that he knows that the prize of winning was much more satisfactory than winning so easily.

He placed his piece in a spot that could easily be captured. He had already calculated her moves and was sure she'd be going to take the bait.

But Mitsu didn’t take the bait and placed her piece somewhere else.

He liked that. He liked when she made the game more difficult.

One piece goes forward and some has been taken by the opposing side. The game has been intense and it took a lot of brainwork to figure out which moves they should take. Mitsu was unpredictable and Stellar was calculative. Both sides have their own strengths. He racked his brain to find a spot he could win over while she effortlessly picked a piece that he had missed.

He loved it. It’s been a while since he felt this adrenaline rush pumping in his blood. Coming from a beautiful courtesan was like a blessing from the Heavens for him. She made it effortlessly easy to win the game.

However, he was smart. Each move she made had opportunities for him to figure out where he could snag another piece. She may be unpredictable and smart, but he knew that she was only going easy on him due to him being a foreigner.

But that was her mistake.

He had been playing Go religiously before he left Meijiro and traveled to the West and Northland. He was undefeatable even by the greatest players in the land. He knew that he would win this easily if he played it right.

Well, not until she had the upper hand.

He had been surrounded by her Go pieces and automatically won the game.

“I see. You’re quite good at this. Not many people could defeat me in this game.” He crossed his arms with pride.

“You’re quite skilled as well for a foreigner. You seemed familiar with Go.” She spoke, her voice sultry.

“I played a few rounds before.” He shrugged, slouching back to his chair. “You probably take pride in it, do you?”

“I do. But I’m better at performing for guests.” She spoke, pouring a cup of sake for him. “My guests preferred my singing the most.”

“I can tell. Your lullaby was enough to put men to sleep.” He said.

She laughed at his words, placing the bottle down on the table. “I take that as a compliment.”

He took a sip of the alcohol, taking the floral notes changing into an earthy aftertaste in his tongue. It was a rather abundantly pleasant flavor for him, given that it was an expensive sake. The sake was light and airy, not too bitter for him but still maintaining the alcoholic flavor that he liked.

“How long have you been in this brothel?” He asked.

“Almost twenty years already.” She answered. “I’m almost at the end of my contract. It’s a matter of time until someone purchases me or convince Lady Fujiwara to hand me over.”

“Has any man tried to do that?” His eyes perked up.

“A lot of them tried to bribe her. But she kept increasing the price the more people asked her to give me up. Not even the Emperor could convince her.”

His eyes glanced at her face as she took a sip of her own sake. He observed how long and pretty her lashes were, how her skin reminded him of the purest pearl, her wavy locks were like the seas he sailed— how lavish she looked entirely. She looked like she was from a noble family instead of a courtesan serving him.

But he wondered, why does someone as beautiful as her have the furthest room of all chambers? Was it because she’s the most special courtesan in this brothel?

As he pondered, his vision started to blur and his mind was in a daze when he heard Mitsu’s singing. His body started to feel warm and tingling.

He realized he was drugged.

He staggered, the chair knocked down to the floor when he tried to stand up. He felt a pair of cold hands pressing on his cheeks, the embrace felt comforting for some reason.

“Shh… it’s okay. You’re safe with me. Come, let’s lie down on the bed.” Mitsu whispered, gently tugging on his hand and leading him to the bed.

She laid him down, making sure he was comfortable before looking at him with the most seductive eyes. He was confused and still fighting for his conscience but the drug effect was too strong and her lullaby was mesmerizing enough to make him dissociate.

He felt her lips kissing his lips, then his neck, and then his chest with her hand gliding on his slightly visible abs.

“What are you doing?” He asked, trying to grasp reality. He tried to kick her away but his legs somehow got numbed.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure my beauty is the last thing you see tonight.”

Good night, Stellar.

Without giving him a chance to react, his eyes almost popped out in a matter of seconds as he watched her hand puncturing his chest before ripping out his heart from his bloodied body.

Mitsu’s expression was as if she found gold in a mine, the look of hunger was visible in her eyes. The moon incandescenting her like an artwork tainted by his blood.

“Alas… a raw beating heart! It's been almost a decade going without flesh. I’m starving…!”

She sniffed the blood around her fingers, almost relishing the smell of fresh metallic crimson painting the bedsheet and her fingertips down to her arm.

“I’ve been waiting for years for someone to come visit me. That sly fox had been too greedy with her silver and gold to even let those fools glance my way down the hall. Once I get these stupid binding collars off my neck, I can finally be free and hunt those bastards down.”

She gnawed on his dying heart, blood splattering like crimson paint. But Mitsu detected an unfamiliar richness upon her palate. The blood tasted unlike anything she had previously savored.

His blood was much more savory and delectable, its richness vaguely reminded her of a vampire she once devoured, yet this was far more satisfying and rich in flavor.

Bits by bits she tore his flesh like a hungry animal. Unfitting from her widely known beauty and elegance that everyone knew. She swallowed the final piece of Stellar’s heart, only the metallic crimson painting her hands remained. S he licked it off, not wasting a single drop of his delicious blood.

She turned back toward his cold figure, her hunger hasn’t died down and is only stirring up more as the smell of his blood sticks into her nose.

His cold corpse. His eyes wide open and frigid from shock as blood pooled on the bed. In her mind, his limbs and flesh are ones to enjoy while it is still fresh.

Gliding forward, she crawled over to Stellar’s lifeless body. Lowering her head, she bared her fangs, ready to sink down her sharp fangs directly into his throat.

Yet, before her fangs could pierce his skin, a sudden foreboding washed over her. As if a huge wave of dangerous energy pulsed inside her veins, warning her to not move an inch closer to his body. Mitsu instinctively flinched back and stepped aside from his corpse. A subtle shudder shivered down her spine as she bolted from him.

Filled with dread and negative aura from his lifeless body, she summoned Lady Fujiwara’s servants, her eyes kept on glancing at him while waiting for the servants to quickly hurry up and settle this urgently.

Two female servants finally came to her aid, noticing the fear etched on her face.

“Dispose of the body and make sure to not let anyone see you girls.” Mitsu commanded, pushing her chamber’s entrance slightly ajar— enough for the young girls to pass through and get the job done.

They lifted his body, wrapping him into a shroud and making sure he was properly tied up before bowing down to Mitsu and leaving her chambers. Even after the attendants hauled his body away, Mitsu could not help but to tremble and feel bad energies creeping up on her back. It was as if Stellar’s corpse had its own voice and was directly threatening her to fuck around and find out. And she knew not to risk her life too early.

He had a taste of vampire blood and human blood. The heart was tender like human flesh — but the vampire blood was thick and rich, enough to make her hungry for more. The tanginess and juiciness of ordinary mortal organs, the spice and flavor of the nocturnal hunter of the North.

It felt as though the shadow of death had grazed her soul right before her teeth touched his bare flesh.

Am I... afraid of death?

Just who... was that man?

Relentless questions haunted her consciousness like a maze of thoughts. Each question kept adding up after one another. An endless train of thoughts passing through her mind nonstop. Mitsu was unable to quiet the mounting dread coiling within her chest. He’s a dangerous being, she quietly processed. That level of energy was too heavy for me to ignore.

Her heart couldn’t stop beating faster than it should. Cold sweats beading from her pores. She kept biting her fingernails like it was an attempt to cool down her anxiety. Restless, Mitsu slipped out of her chamber to inspect the disposal site where the servants had taken him. She had a bad feeling that the man was bad news.

Along the corridor, a maid paused to address her. “Lady Mitsu, have you seen Yue and Yuna? They were sent out on your errand earlier, but they have not returned. Would you happen to know their whereabouts?”

Hearing those words, a sudden grim realization struck Mitsu. The mysterious disappearance of the pair of maidservants was undeniably tied to Stellar—the man whose body she sent them to dispose of.

“I had them help with something. I’ll go check on them myself.” She spoke, hurriedly leaving the maid in confusion and lifting the sheets of her kimono to quicken her pacing. The anxiety stirring in Mitsu’s blood only intensified. He wasn’t a human.

He was a foreign beast.