Chapter 7 ~ Heart of a Vampire

I could feel something gently rubbing against my inner thigh and a wet feeling against my skin. Opening my eyes, it was apparent what, or rather who, was causing it. My sister had embraced me in her sleep, cuddling up to me like a cat or puppy. She had a tight grip on my body and refused to let go. This is often how the two of us would end up when we slept together. I tried to carefully free myself in order not to wake her up but found she only tightened her grip. Suddenly, I could feel her fangs puncture my neck. Like child teething on her mother’s breasts, she started to suck on my blood.

Vampires did not have regular blood as the other races did. When they would bleed, it was the colour of the abyss – black as the midnight sky. It was common for some humans who loathed our kind to call us ‘Black Bloods’ which was meant as a discriminating remark. While we could bleed, it was of no importance to other vampires. A vampire could suck on another vampire’s blood for hours and they would never feel anything. For humans that indulged in drinking our blood was a different matter. If a human ingested a vampire’s blood, that human would either turn into a vampire themselves or die. Basically, a coin toss.

I could feel my sister’s fang digging deeper into my skin. Her grip tightened as she tried to wrap her legs around me. Her foot continued to rub against my inner thigh while her drool was still flooding down my neck. Usually, she was a light sleeper and always on alert; yet, when she was around me her guard was down. She felt safe enough to sleep beside me and while I was proud my sister trusted me, having her drool on me was a bit of a pain.

“Little sister, it’s time to wake up,” I said in a gentle and soft tone.

“Onii… I want sweets… nom~”

She was still in a state of incoherence as she continued to talk in her sleep.

“If you don’t get up sweet sister I’ll throw you out in the sun.”

“Onii… that’s mean.”

I could feel my sister release her grip and relax it into a gentle cuddle before removing her fangs. She licked up the blood on my neck and yawned softly.

“You were talking in your sleep again.”

“Was I? Did I expose some deep hidden brother complex while I was asleep, Onii?”

“I’d certain hope not. You sounded like you were dreaming about sweets or something.”

My sister thought for a moment.

“Pretty sure it was some cream.”

“Anyway, we need to get up.”

Opening the lid of the coffin, I took a moment to stretch as my sister did the same. There was no mistaking the heavy rain that was beating against the shop. I looked over to my sister as she appeared tired being up during the daylight hours.

“Will you be leaving in a bit or do you care to stay another night, imouto?”

“I’d love to stay but I do have work I need to finish. Thank you for the offer though, Onii.”

“Got it. I can get that Moonvale for you then.”

I made my way over to a small wooden box I kept in the corner of my room. I always ensured that it was away from anything else in my room due to the fact it contained various rare and poisonous herbs. Pulling out one of the glass bottles, I handed it to my sister. Normally, I would grind up the herb and mix it into a liquid for a customer but since my sister already knew how to do it, I simply gave her the whole herb without any charge.

“Thanks, Onii. I’ll take care of the body.”

“I need to get dressed.”

“Actually, since my clothes were never able to dry properly, could I borrow yours, Onii?”

I made my way over to my armoire and pulled out a spare of clothes. Without warning, my sister started to strip down to her underwear.

“You could have at least warned me before you started stripping.”

“How is this any different from when we bathed together, Onii?”

“Okay, point taken.”

“It’s not unusual for siblings to take baths together, thus by that logic, it is not unusual for siblings to change in the same room together.”

Keeping my back turned to my sister, I waited for her to change. I could hear the sound of her clothes faintly falling to the floor. A few seconds passed before she finally spoke.

“How do I look, Onii?”

The white top I normally wore fit me perfectly. On my sister it was slightly looser, the skirt managed to fit though it looked a bit longer on her due to her size.

“Adorable.”

After handing a pair of socks and boots, my sister made her way over to the chair by my desk. Holding out her foot, she smiled.

“Onii, put my socks on for me.”

“Really? You’re going with that reference.”

“Please, Onii.”

My sister liked to reference various things she had seen throughout the years. The way she would sit in a chair during chess games was one explain. I never questioned it because I often did the same thing.

“Fine.”

I made my way over to her and grabbed the white pair of socks. Pulling one of them over my sister’s foot, I carefully pulled it up her petite leg until it stopped just at her thigh. After putting her other sock on, she stood to her feet and twirled around on the ball of her foot.

“Now I’m you, Onii.”

“You’re missing the pink ribbon.”

Making my way back to the armoire, I grabbed the pink ribbon I always wore.

“You sure, Onii?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s technically your ribbon to begin with.”

My sister took the ribbon in her hand and tied off her hair on the right side. I made my way back over to the armoire and pulled out my usual outfit.

“I’ll be changing.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t look at your banana and cherries, Onii.”

I could hear my sister making her way over to the corpse that was laying against the opposite wall.

“Onii, can I borrow your dagger?”

Grabbing my belt that held my dagger, I unsheathed it and threw it into the air behind me. The dagger did not hit the floor which told me that she had caught it. Our training together had ensured that two of us were in-sync to the point that we could communicate without words.

“Thanks, Onii.”

Changing into my usual outfit, I turned back to see my sister had dismembered the corpse. This was another part of our job that I preferred Lily not to see. For me and my sister this was normal in our line of work. Death was something we were intimately familiar with. Normal people however would not be able to comprehend this life in the shadows of the abyss. Ironically, we were often unofficially called ‘Death Dealers’ by some. I watched as my sister conjured a bag made of shadow magic. It was a technique used to transport dead corpses. There were extremely few mages that could use the magic to hold the bag’s shape, hide the smell inside and cover the eyes of those without a perception to illusion magic. Casting the magic and keeping it constant during long travels was hard on the body and mental fortitude of the caster. Of course our guild ensured to train its members to handle and manage the unnerving stress of it all. For the most part, we were on-par with S-rank adventurers. In short, we were an elite guild and every day that passed was rather enjoyable. Of course, now things were a bit different since Lily entered into my life.

“Okay, I’m ready to go. I’ll stay for a glass of red wine and then say good-bye to Lily.”

“Sure.”

I made my way up the stairs to see Lily sitting at the counter. Business seemed slow due to the rain. Still, it was nice that the clouds blacked out the sun and I could be with Lily during the daylight hours. After enjoying her glass of wine, my sister hugged both me and Lilly before leaving.

“You know, it’s hard to believe that Myilia is actually a death dealer. She is so sweet and kind,” Lily said as she watched my sister walk down the road, her hood drawn up over her head.

“A lot of people don’t think we exist. It’s actually quite possible for someone to be friends with one and never know it.”

“I’m glad I got to know the both of you. Even if our encounter was a bit unique,” Lily said with a cheerful smile.

Before I could speak, the front door of the shop opened. Standing in the doorway was a girl I recognised. It was the elven girl from before. She was soaked from head to toe. As she made her way toward me and Lily, I sensed no desire to kill me this time around. The elven girl was dressed in a plain set of clothes that were different than what she had worn previously.

“I am so sorry for my actions! Please, forgive me for everything and allow me to work for you.”

The elf lowered herself to the floor, bowing her head into the wood. She looked as if she was genuine and sincere. I was not surprised by the elf girl’s actions. As I looked over to Lily, it appeared that she was not surprised either.

“You don’t plan on trying to kill me again, right?” I asked in a joking tone.

Lily smiled and made her way to the elven girl. She patted her head gently which seemed to confuse the girl.

“The shop could use some extra help,” Lily said.

In truth, the shop did not need the help but from what I could see, the elf was hoping to turn her life around. It seemed that my words had set her on the right path.

“What’s your name?” Lily asked as she helped the elf to her feet.

“Ryina, ma’am…”

Lily giggled at Ryina’s formal speech and nervousness.

“You don’t have to be so formal with me. It’s nice to meet you, Ryina. I’m Lily and this is Nyizel.”

I simply nodded as Ryina bowed. It was clear that she was still feeling guilt over her failed attempt to kill me. There was nothing I could say to make her feel better for what she tried to do, sadly it was something that she needed to live with. Throughout my lifetime, I learned to live with everything I had done. The training also helped to keep me mentally sane before and after a job.

“We would be happy to have you work here, right Nyizel?”

“Sure.”

“You watch the shop and I will go get her an outfit for work.”

Without another word, Lily dragged Ryina up the stairs, leaving me to watch the shop. The rain continued to beat against the roof and battered the windows. With no customers for the foreseeable future, I decided to open up the book I was reading before on Myria Lysa Valaista, the Eccentric Ashen Witch. Flipping through the pages, I came across an artist’s interpretation of Myria. Her drawing appeared eccentric like her moniker implied. Of course it was hard to say what she truly looked like but historians tried to piece together her life with various accounts.

About an hour had passed as I noticed the rain was starting to lighten up. Seeing that there were still no customers, I decided to close up the shop. Missing two days would not destroy the shop’s income anytime soon. So long as business did not completely die, it would all be fine. As I placed the book back on the bookshelf, I could hear Lily and Ryina coming down the stairs. For a moment, I was surprised by the sight of Ryina. She was dressed in a maid outfit that exposed a few assets.

Ryina’s simple change of outfit was like a night and day shift. Lily had tied her long blond hair into a pair of pigtails tied with off with black ribbons. Her skirt was a bit shorter than a standard maid outfit and exposed her thighs in an enticing fashion. With a pair of white thigh-high stockings, her maid outfit was complete.

“You don’t look half bad, kid.”

“I’m actually 112-years-old.”

Elves lived long lives. The lifespan of most elves was roughly over 200 years or so. Vampires could live longer, the longest living vampire was about 699 years of age. She was known as the Queen of Roses and unsurprisingly she ran the Shadow Rose guild. While I had never actually met her, she was not one to be toyed with.

“I see. Well, Miss Ryina, you clean up nice.”

Ryina blushed as she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. It was rather cute to see her flustered by me calling her ‘Miss’.

“Y-You can just call me Ryina… please…”

“You can just call me Lily. Feel free to call Nyizel master,” Lily said in a teasing tone as she grabbed onto my arm.

“Of course. Thank you for hiring me, master.”

“Lily, that was mean.”

Lily giggled and rested her head against my shoulder.

“But isn’t it cute when she says that?”

“You make it sound like she is our child.”

“Master, I’m ready to begin working.”

It was clear I would not hear the end of being called master by her. I guess it was appropriate since she was dressed as a maid. Giving her the grand tour of the main room, I explained her job and what she was expected to do. The basic work was cleaning and handling the inventory, as well as greeting customers. Lily explained the system we used for stocking the shelves and tables along with the methods for tracking purchases. After teaching her what she needed to know, I took her down into the basement to show her how to gather what items were needed to restock the shelves if required.

Ryina appeared enthusiastic and diligent throughout the day. Hopefully, having the extra assistance would help Lily out while I was asleep. The day continued on until the late afternoon hours. I could tell the rain was starting to die down and by tomorrow, the sun would be out – forcing me to remain in my coffin until the sun disappeared below the horizon. As the time came for the shop to close for business, I turned to Ryina.

“Ryina, forgive me asking this but where do you stay?”

“I sleep out in the forest, master.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“You can’t live out in the forest. I’ll pay for you to stay at the inn,” Lily said as she pulled out a small pouch of coins.

Ryina continue to refuse the money that Lily offered her.

“I could just have a guest house built,” I finally chimed in.

“M-Master, I couldn’t possibly—”

“It’s fine. The shop does have plenty of money at the moment so I can build a guest house for you and any other staff, assuming I ever hire anymore.”

Lily smiled and patted Ryina’s head gently.

“See? Now you have nothing to worry about. You can sleep with her in the master bedroom until the guest house is finished.”

Ryina’s face lit up with a shine that said a lot. She was so overjoyed that she wrapped her arms around both Lily and me.

“I’m so excited to work for the both of you!” Ryina said with a cheerful smile.