Systolic

Ayaka has been sneaking glances at the clock since the start of the ceremony. Whoever thought of installing this here in the hall must have been a real evil fellow. She can’t help but look at it. Ten past eleven. The mere repetitive twitching of the clock hands is enough to bring a yawn out of her.

“Ayaka, dear. Is the Maehana hag boring you? Here. Have a can of juice.”

Who is this guy? One of her father’s cousins? She glances at the uneven fangs peeking out of his mouth as he speaks. Then at the droplets of water glistening on the can of carbonated orange juice. Except it isn’t really orange juice. 0% juice content and all that. Just a concoction of chemicals.

She takes it, still. A drink is a drink, even when so cold to the touch that it sends shivers from her fingers up along the length of her arm. Then she looks at the supposedly kind woman who has been talking to her nonstop—an aunt from her mother’s side offering sympathy and condolences and all the platitudes offered at every funeral.

That woman, whose name she doesn’t even remember, smiles at her attention. Pale complexion and pointed canines assemble into an expression more threatening than intended. Ayaka returns a weak smile. “Thank you for the kind words, esteemed aunt. But I must be going now. It’s getting late.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry to hear that this Matsuhira creep has scared you.” The aunt covers her mouth, which makes her face more palatable to look at. Less of that spite that Ayaka knows well. After all, everyone in her extended family has it. It doesn’t make things any better that those feelings are directed at each other instead of her.

“Hey, don’t blame it all on me. Hag.” Here comes the clapback.

“The two of you are as blameless as rain and wind. I’m just tired after going through so much. And it is close to sleep hours for me already. Aunt, thank you for your concern. Uncle, thank you for the drink.” Ayaka bows and leaves before they can say anything else. She has to have stayed long enough after the ceremony to be respectful. Also, she lucked out in that none of her relatives would know when a human goes to rest. None of them would understand.

The pity doesn’t stop in her long walk to the exit. Relatives from both sides of the family approach her to offer words of concern laced with slight to the other side. If anything, those half-hearted consolations actually push her mood even further down. It gets harder to maintain that faint smile on her face.

Finally, she reaches the doorway, where Megumi has been standing by in her usual maid costume and at almost half the height of her mistress. Maybe outsiders would even think that they were sisters. At least this thought gives Ayaka a brief chuckle.

Megumi nods, her long black hair swaying from the night breeze blowing through. “Mistress Ayaka, I have the car ready.”

“Thanks.” Ayaka blocks a particularly strong gust that has decided to meet her departure.

“Do you need a coat?”

“If you of all people join this pity parade, I might just kill myself.”

Megumi, maintaining a neutral expression, opens the door for Ayaka. The lady shrugs and slips onto the comfy velvet sofa, into the air-conditioned domain of the vehicle.

The maid then swiftly gets into the driver’s seat. Once she closes the door, Ayaka can hear a wistful sigh.

“My mistress… why would you say that so casually… when you… when you…” Megumi sounds as if she would cry, but Ayaka can only roll her eyes.

“...when you never let me drink your blood!” Megumi pokes her head from her seat and looks back at Ayaka with teary eyes. Her mouth hangs slightly open, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

Not this again…

“Just drive. I just want to feel the embrace of my bed and the loneliness of my room.”

“Ok…” Megumi pouts, truly looking like a child at this moment. What if a police officer sees them now? Not that the name of either family won’t get them off the hook instantly.

The engine growls to a start, the sound that Ayaka imagines humans of the past would hear before getting their lives drained by a vampire. Nowadays, regular humans are drained by vampires financially through a barrage of legal documents.

Soon they will drink gold instead of blood.

“Megumi.”

“What’s the matter, mistress? You sound resolute. Are you finally ready to let me-”

“No, I want to ask you a question. Are vampires destined to hurt others?”

“Mistress. The politically correct term is people who prefer blood.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Then you know what I’ll answer.”

“Think about it. Every vampire I know exploits the common man in a way.”

“Mistress…” She’s pouting again. Ayaka can see it through the rearview mirror. Barely.

The mistress turns to the window to flee from the slight guilt. “What do you think about my parents?”

“Do you think I’m hurting you? I would never! I will only bite your neck with your consent!” The car sways a little. Maybe Ayaka should stop talking. Don’t want to get into a… car accident…

The girl leans her forehead against the window, her gray eyes glazing over the asphalt speeding by. Their conversation halts here, giving way to the draft from the cool vents.

Night lights from the Shimogyo Ward refuse to let Ayaka brood in peace. Everything is so bright that her eyes sting, so she closes them and yearns for a sleep that can clear her mind, as the hypnotism practiced by ancient vampires would.

“I think your parents were both strong.” Megumi’s voice breaks their tacit pact of silence.

“Yeah. And that strength really helped them in the end.” Ayaka replies without any thought needed.

“It didn’t. But in their lives, it did. This strength. Not everyone has it.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one who’s been left behind to rot.”

The car screeches to a halt. Ayaka looks at the front to see that they have stopped at a red light. Megumi speaks nothing, only gripping the steering wheel. In the dim interior, Ayaka can’t quite gauge the tension in the maid’s fingers. But one thing is for sure—the driver in question is no longer pouting.

The fragment of her face in the rearview mirror looks… neutral.

“Sorry, I went a bit too far,” Ayaka mutters.

“Nothing can’t be solved by offering your blood.” The vampire says it with less energy than usual.

Ayaka gives a dry chuckle. “In your dreams. Maybe.” Her gaze drifts to the side window again.

“Megumi,” she continues, “can you bring me to where it happened?”

“I thought you said that you were tired and needed the rest.”

“If I don’t go there now, rest won’t grace me tonight.”

“Right.” It might have been her imagination, but Ayaka swears that Megumi has just sighed.

The maid still gets them to the winding road outside the city. An arrangement of fences blocks off one lane. Megumi parks the car near the start of the barricade.

When the door opens, a wave of fresh air rushes towards the human girl. Her brown hair scatters under the natural currents of the great wildness. She treks forward regardless, undeterred by the warnings of Mother Nature. Each step meets with the crunch of gravel until she reaches the makeshift barricade.

Staring even further ahead into the restricted area, she knows what awaits beyond the broken barriers and in the abyss. After all, she has read about it in the report.

“I’ll get closer. Keep me safe.”

“What an unreasonable mistress you are.” It is a mumble that might have been intended for only herself. But under the calmness of the rural space, there are no whispers too quiet. All will be revealed in this dead of night.

At least, Ayaka hopes so.

She climbs over the plastic barrier and sneaks to the edge, peeking just over it. The moon only does a partial job of brightening up the forest at the bottom of the drop. What is it that she wants to find?

She doesn’t know. But she hopes to find something.

“Would death really have its way with a vampire falling from this height?”

“Ancient vampires? No. Modern ones, with their blood so diluted that their offspring can be mostly human? Absolutely.”

“How do you know?”

“Have I seen a vampire fall to their death? No. But I have a sense of their fragility.” Megumi joins Ayaka’s side. They both stare down the waiting foliage. Searching.

“Mistress, are you going to drink that?” The maid seems to have gotten bored with the chasm and instead turns her attention to the object in Ayaka’s hand.

The orange juice.

It has become as warm as her hand. Gripping the can hardly demands any force from her. Her heart numbs at how fast she adapts. How fast she could accept something as the new normal.

She flicks the tab to crack open the can with a fizz. Not knowing what has come over her, she pours the liquid within. The stream of orange fluid flutters in the wind and disappears into the darkness.

“That’s a waste.”

“It’s mostly chemicals anyway.”

“Then you’re polluting the environment. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you won’t get caught. But we probably shouldn’t stay at the crime scene.” Megumi grabs Ayaka’s shoulder, but the mistress doesn’t budge.

“What if someone killed my parents?” Even the girl is a bit surprised at what she has just said. But the more she thinks about it, the more it just makes sense. There are plenty of people in either family who want the peace to crumble, so they can express their hatred once again.

“What are you talking about? I looked at the remains of the car and the scene. There’s nothing suspicious about their deaths.”

“That’s what the perpetrators want you to think.” The dangerous idea has blossomed into a bright reality. Vampires are capable of anything. Blooddrinkers just won’t care about lives. Just consider how many lives have been exploited by the businesses they run.

The chirps from below turn louder, as if affirming her deductions. She leans further forward. “Let’s go down there.”

Stray wind preys on the fact that she has leaned more of her body out of the safe zone of solid ground. The force isn’t enough to push her off but it wobbles her.

She takes another good look at the drop, wondering what her parents felt when they saw this vast expanse of foliage as their final sight. The height mesmerizes her, distorting her sense of distance. Vertigo sets in and compels her to drift even further forward.

Her body lets the momentum carry her. Advancing.

Freedom.

But a hand pulls her back. The can slips from her grasp and drops into obscurity.

“Oh… we’re definitely littering now.” Megumi drags her mistress further away from the cliff and towards the barrier again.

Ayaka resists and tries to wriggle out of the short girl’s lead. “What are you doing? Let me see! I have to find out who killed my parents!”

The vampire doesn’t even acknowledge what is said. She has no need to, as such is the privilege of raw strength. Despite the size difference, the mistress can’t dictate where they will go next. Come to think of it though, this feeling of being herded to places happens more often than she would have liked. There’s always some place to go, some people to meet.

“Everything can wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon, since you have classes in the morning.”

“College classes are destined to be skipped.” She says that, but it sounds like a hollow argument even to herself. For what reason is she so stubborn? Even she knows that if the police can’t find anything suspicious, there’s no way she can do it in one night. Regardless, the crunch of the soles of her shoes against the earth as Megumi forces her back to the car just grinds on her soul.

She stops fighting her maid in the end. It just feels too futile. Everything feels too futile. The car rolls onward, with no regard for what its wheels would crush. Ayaka spends the whole trip with her head down, part of her waiting for an accident to happen.

She gets home safely. Back to an estate more expansive than parks. The central building stands isolated by a verdant garden, and Ayaka barely bats an eye at any of the familiar scenery. Her gaze keeps to the ground, at the paved brick road that she has taken for granted for many years.

Dinner is quiet, as expected when only one person sits at the table. In the past, there would be more chatting, but now, Ayaka can afford to look over her lecture notes while carving up the well-done steak on her plate. Yet, time and time again, her attention drifts to the chunks of meat skewered by her fork, as she watches intently to make sure that no trace of blood remains from the cooking process.

Unlike the vampires of the family, she isn’t fond of blood.

Her mind is churning out more thoughts than usual, so she has no idea why she bothered to take her notes out, especially when her thoughts inevitably cycle back to the party responsible for her parents’ death. Not one of those bloodthirsty fiends can be viewed as innocent.

“Is the food today to your liking?” Megumi’s question causes Ayaka’s head to jolt up, since the latter has completely forgotten that the former is standing near the dimmer areas of the wall, as expected of a vampire.

“It reeks too much of blood.” Ayaka licks her lips, and the traces of iron become more noticeable in her saliva.

“Sorry for that.” The maid bows.

The mistress pokes the steak with her fork again, finding only oil, but not blood, oozing from the food. “It’s fine.”

Her footsteps echo throughout the halls as she makes her way back to her room after the meal. She passes by the once-occupied rooms with the knowledge that they are now empty, glancing at the family photos hung on the walls. She glances at one with only her parents, kissing before a pine tree. It was captured during their honeymoon, she recalls.

That union happened so long ago, but it still intrigues her. How did they carry the burden of their families’ hatred? Even when Ayaka lies on her bed, contemplating for what feels like hours, she still can’t find an answer.

The breeze steals more heat from her than usual. The night grows darker and the silence emptier. Filling the void are more speculations about the perpetrator.

Gradually, the logic leads her down a path that doesn’t exempt even Megumi. Her maid is capable and closer to the ancient vampires than anyone. Who can say that she isn’t responsible? She was suspiciously adamant about the crash being an accident. She had plenty of opportunities. Never has she disclosed her origin. Her allegiance can be to either family.

Ayaka only realizes how long she has been awake when the first light leaks through the window. The rugged blanket falls off her as she sits up. Some days, Megumi would sit in the dark corner of the bedroom, watching her mistress sleep—but not today, it seems.

Today, she has the privacy that she wants, but this is not enough. Soon, the relatives will judge that the mourning period is over and visit again. The doorbell can very well ring in the next minute.

She pulls out a laptop from her bedside cabinet and searches for train tickets. If she plans on escaping, it has to be a time when the vampires are asleep.

Taking what she needs from her room, she packs light, just one bag’s worth of self-care items. Not even a change of clothes, since she is sure she can buy what she needs in Biei.

Turns out she has overestimated her stealth, or underestimated the foresight of a vampire. She is only in the corridor, not even at the main hall, when a small figure appears from the darkness of the ballroom.

Her red eyes seem to be glowing in the shadow she has taken shelter in, away from the shards of light scattered across the marble surfaces.

“Were you gonna leave without a goodbye? You’re breaking my heart. Mistress.”

Ayaka scratches the strap of her bag. The fierce gaze of the maid looks as if it can see through any of her lies.

“I’m just in a mood for a walk,” she says with as much calmness as she can muster.

“Do kids these days go for a walk with this much stuff?”

“An extended walk. A short trip.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“A self-discovery trip. You know… the type where a person travels accompanied only by loneliness and comes back forever transformed.”

“Is that so?” Even in the shade, Ayaka swears that Megumi’s fangs have gleamed for a moment.

The human girl sighs. “Can you toss away the memory of seeing me here?”

Simple wishes and desires won’t be enough to change reality. She knows this much. The vampire creeps along the shadows, each step sending a clack that wriggles into Ayaka’s ears and transforms into tension racking up in her chest.

Her instincts tell her to run, but her legs can’t overcome an unseen frost. Megumi has gotten close enough to pat her on the shoulder, and she is reminded of how utterly devoid of body temperature the vampire is.

The sunlight showering Ayaka’s body scorches the maid’s skin. Even when the burnt smell almost makes the human girl retch, the blackening hand stays on her shoulder.

“Will you have morning tea with me before you leave?” Megumi’s expression tells nothing when she asks the question, not even the fact that she is close to going up in flames.

“Can you regain some of your sanity? You’ll die if you don’t retreat to the darkness soon.”

The maid blinks slowly, as her hand jumps from room temperature to the edge of a genuine flame. Ayaka’s face warps with the wave of heat flowing inwards. She knows in her heart that if this is allowed to go on, she will burn up with her maid.

“I’ll have tea with you, okay? Just let your rationality take back the wheel and put your hand away.”

Megumi lifts her hand and retreats out of the light’s assault. Her smile has her fangs poking out from between her lips. Yet Ayaka finally finds herself returning a smile.