InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Slayer ❯ Prologue - He Who Lives Immortal ( Chapter 1 )

Slayer

By anna-neko

Prologue - He Who Lives Immortal

In the dead of night he came to my window. I thought at first Inuyasha had gotten impatient again, crossing the centuries to fetch me. I felt no alarm, no sense of intrusion. Sleepily, I had rolled over on my bed and complained quite loudly about the lateness of the hour; about how he could have at least waited for sunrise. And then I heard the laughter-or maybe it was a chuckle-coated in oozing, honeyed amusement. At that instant I knew that it was not Inuyasha who was in my room.

To scream had been my first instinct, never doubting that Inuyasha would hear my cry for help, though half-a-millennia separated us. And then I realized that even if Inuyasha did hear me, he couldn't possibly reach me in time, so I knew I had to fight back some way. It was a satisfactory plan, to scream and lash out. It would give me enough time to get away from this intruder and probably summon help in the process.

So it was a great surprise when my will to kick and scream waned like water passing through a sieve. I felt myself falling back on my bed, feeling as if I just wanted to lie and give in. I had no worries; I had no fear. It was like I was welcoming this stranger and believed that he would do no harm to me.

Of course, my miko powers kicked in. Though the darkness was overwhelming, I could see his shadow, and I could tell that he was holding his hand up in a gesture that suggested he was causing my lethargy. He was… seducing me. I knew he was manipulating my will; knew that I had to fight back, but his powers were formidable, and while my consciousness struggled against wanting him to control me, my body lay limp on my bed, my eyes watching him with a glassy gaze.

"Kagome-sama..." he had said in his soft, dangerous voice.

He knew my name. My mind screamed. It defined fear, but it hadn't the power to make me feel it.

"… you have nothing to fear from me."

I was not keen on believing him.

He turned, as if to search for something. Moments later, I heard him say, "Ah!" and my bedside lamp came on.

The room remained dim, but the light fell upon his features and had I had control of my body then, my eyes would have been bugging out of their sockets.

At first glance, the man was young, with flawless skin and hair like dark liquid silk of midnight blue. He looked tall in his knee length coat of dark gray wool. I could not see inside his coat. It was too dark, but it may as well have been a void, because his eyes brought such unspeakable terror. His eyes were the color of the sea… mostly. What wasn't green was pale-moon white, like rings within rings, its focal point a miniscule dot of blood red surrounded by unrelenting black. I tried to look away, afraid that those very eyes would take my soul, but then he smiled, and I truly thought I was going to die on that night.

He had fangs. They were not nearly as cute as the ones Inuyasha had, yet, they were not as vicious as that of the many youkai I have had the pleasure to purify. No, these k-9s were sleek, long and vampiric; for that was what he was, after all: a vampire.

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I must admit that I didn't have the presence of mind then to come to such a conclusion. Before I met Ulrich, the only monsters I knew were youkai and hanyou. The paleness of Ulrich's skin and the razor-sharp nails that grew from his fingers were about as youkai or hanyou as they could be, so I was not inclined to think about European demons. I didn't know much about them, in the first place.

He sat on the bed beside me, tracing his nail along my jaw line. "I've cast a spell on you so that I could get you to listen. On ordinary human beings, a spell like this would render them mindless, their thoughts as easy to manipulate as their bodies, but you, miko, have powers to counteract that aspect of my spell. You can hear me, and understand me. Perhaps in a few minutes, when your powers become more acquainted with mine, you could actually speak. I will permit it when it happens, but for now, I will use this… silence to state my reasons for being here."

I could barely make out his words through the chaos of my panicked mind. All my instincts were telling me to resist his words. Fight back! said my mind. Don't listen to what he's saying. He's come here to harm you! But it was difficult to sustain this line of thought when all I could do was lie staring at him from the bed.

"My name is Ulrich von Kensington, and I am a vampire."

Obviously, it was around this time that I was introduced to his true nature. I had read about "vampires" in books, mostly the foreign ones in English. I knew that they sucked blood to live, turned their victims into servants or "ghouls", and when they felt like it, they created vampires of their own. Their weaknesses included sunlight, holy water, Catholic crosses, a stake through the heart, garlic, silver bullets… no, that was for werewolves… and they didn't cast reflections on the mirror.

I was able to move my gaze to my dresser and I saw that he did have a reflection. I remembered feeling somewhat pissed that he might actually be lying to me.

"Ah, you could already move your eyes," said Ulrich. "Then I must make haste. As I've said, you have nothing to fear from me. I am a vampire, and I do drink the blood of humans, but I never take what is unwillingly given. I no longer kill to feed, unless I have to feed on animals, which is, quite frankly, unpleasant, especially when their fur gets caught in your throat. I am not a product of the devil, which is why crosses and holy water have no effect on me. I do, in fact, like the way crosses look on my jewelry, but that is a matter greatly out of tangent. I am, however, allergic to garlic, sunlight and yes, I could be killed by a stake through the heart, but so could you and everything else that requires a heart to live. And then there's the matter of beheading… if you remove my head, I would quite naturally die. Therefore…"

He took something from inside his coat and I heard the soft whisper of steel. My eyes widened as the light glinted off the surface of a sword.

Its handle was made of ivory, or maybe bone. I could hardly tell without touching it. The carvings on the sword were elaborate and ghastly, yet strangely elegant. He raised it, and still refusing to believe his claims that he meant me no harm, I thought he was going to slice my head off, since he was talking about beheading and all. So I was greatly surprised when the placed the sword on top of me, hilt nested between my breasts. "Take it by the hilt."

My hand moved of its own volition, raising itself and settling gently on the carved surface of the weapon before my fingers curled to wrap around it.

In great bitterness of spirit; still reeling from having my life flash before my eyes several times that night, I thought he was mocking me. How the hell was I supposed to wield this thing if I couldn't move on my own?

My finger on the hilt twitched and he smiled.

"You see? Your priestess powers are adapting already."

I promised that the moment I could move, I was going to whoop his sorry ass…

He continued, whether it was because he was blissfully unaware of my deadly intentions or whether he didn't care a wit in spite of knowing, I had no idea at the time, but he looked supremely comfortable, sitting on my bed, speaking to me. "I will tell you again, Kagome-sama. You have nothing to fear from me. I have come here, in fact, because I could help you. I have been watching you, Kagome-sama; following you; listening… I have even read your diary."

Rage flared within me. Read my diary!

On hindsight, it was extremely ditzy of me to be concerned about someone reading my diary. What was a diary, anyway, but the random thoughts of a silly young girl who talked about love and destiny and Inuyasha? But at the time, I believed that a diary was something private, soul-bearing, and every single word in it made me vulnerable to mockery and humiliation. If only for reading my diary, I would have sliced his head off.

"And in the process of helping you, you would inadvertently help me."

My eyes narrowed to slits. I was in no mood to make deals. Arrogant bastard! Who the hell does he think he is, anyway? Coming into my room, casting a spell on me, and then expecting me to help him… youkai, hanyou or vampire, he was an ASSHOLE.

I fought within myself, willing myself to push back his spell. I felt that I could not get a firm hold on it, but the inner battle was becoming more tangible. It was only a matter of time before I could overcome his magic completely. Soon, I'd be able to move and talk, and he better watch out.

He smiled. "My spell is weakening, but before you make your move to kill me, Kagome-sama, based on my actions tonight, do I deserve to die?"

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"What do you want from me?"

He remained in place, but he turned away to look out of the window. I still could not move, but it was comforting to be able to speak.

I had another question. "Why are you doing this?"

"I asked first," he said in a subdued tone.

I frowned. He asked first? What was his question? And then I remembered. "…based on my actions tonight, do I deserve to die?"

I understood then the satisfaction of a vulgar oath. I swore, just like Inuyasha did, and I had a scowl to go with it. After I was done cursing, I said, "No, you don't deserve to die… yet."

He nodded. "I am glad you think so. I have the utmost respect for you, Kagome-sama."

"Sure, you respect me so much that you read my diary!" It was a particular sore point of mine, however ridiculous it was compare to the other things happening that night.

Ulrich chuckled. "It was necessary. I did not want to, but I had to. I had to know how I was to bargain with you. I had to find out what I could give you so that you would help me."

"Look, if you wanted my help, you could've just asked."

"No, I couldn't have. I am a strange man with fangs and claws who could only walk at night. Nine hundred ninety-nine out of a thousand you've encountered that have the same features as I do have borne you ill-will. I had to get you to listen to me before you ran away, or tried to kill me, or worse, dismissed me. This was the only way."

"Well, you certainly have my undivided attention."

He smiled wanly. "That was part of the plan."

"I've answered your question, now you have to answer mine. What do you want from me?"

Ulrich looked at me then with his strange, ringed eyes. With the dim lighting, it was as if his features grew sharper, more ferocious, but for some reason, a lot of my fear had ebbed, and even if I could move my hands, I made no motion to take the sword and sever his head with it. "I want you to kill vampires."

I stared at him, my irritation growing. "That's it? You want me to kill vampires? Well, sure. Okay. I'm sure we could kill a few vampires while we're hunting demons, but pardon me for asking this… aren't you a vampire?"

"Yes."

"You want me to kill your own kind?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Your hanyou… did he not seek the death of, and succeed in killing, one Naraku who is hanyou as well?"

"Yes, but-"

"And you, of the living. Your news reports are teeming with murders and homicides and manslaughter and wars."

I said nothing to refute him.

"The concept is the same, even if the species involved are different."

When his words sunk in, I found that I could move. I felt weak, but I was able to gather the strength to push myself up to a sitting position. I curled up against the wall, sword firmly in my grasp. I looked at him warily as he watched me, nothing in his posture suggesting that he would make any sudden movements. Amidst my newfound mobility, I found my next question. "Why?"

"Why is the concept the same?"

"No, why do you want me to kill your own kind?"

I think I heard him expel a breath. Odd. If he was really a vampire, wasn't he supposed to be dead? Or undead? Either way, I didn't see what he needed air for.

"Because I am tired; because all these years, hunting those of my kind that need to be hunted, have wearied me; because some vampires shouldn't even have existed."

I glared at him. "And how do I know you're not one of those that 'shouldn't have existed?'"

"You don't," he admitted softly with a graceful wave of his hand. "But with the power I am willing to give to you, you could kill me if you find out that I am lying."

I knew then that I did not want to have anything to do with him. Demons that offered power were dangerous; they could corrupt and cause suffering when it came time to pay. There was always a reckoning. "I don't want your power, whatever it is. I don't deal with your kind. Get out."

He remained impassive. "And what kind am I, Kagome-sama?"

I wavered only for a second, but I steeled myself against his words. I pointed to my window, raising the sword which was strangely compliant in my grip. It was a bit heavy, but it felt like a perfect fit in my hand. "I said, get out!"

Ulrich rose, walking towards the window. He lifted his gaze to stare at the moon and put his hands into the pockets of his coat. "If you wish, but I will see you again, Kagome-sama. I am not quite through speaking with you. Hopefully, when next I seek your company, I would not have to use my enchantments on you." He looked over his shoulder at her. "I am not evil, Kagome-sama; so many of my kind are not. Yet there are those, indeed, who would be better off expelled from this world. They are evil. They are my enemy. I have dedicated my immortality to ridding this world of them. Do you know why they are so repulsive to me, Kagome-sama?" I said nothing and my silence prompted him to continue. "Because they pray on human lives; because they see you as nothing more than cattle."

Those were his final words as he disappeared, or perhaps he leapt from my window, just that he had moved too fast for me to see.

I let out a breath I did not know I had been holding and I lowered my sword arm.

Forcing myself to recover from my ordeal, I leaned back against the wall, telling myself to relax. My finger caught on a carving on the hilt. It was the face of a naked woman chained by her wrists. It made me wonder if he left the sword on purpose.

So it was entirely aggravating when I realized that his words and voice continued to echo in my head. "I have dedicated my immortality to ridding this world of them… I am not evil… they are my enemy… because they prey on human lives… they are my enemy…"

Kagome swallowed, closing her eyes to steady the beating of her heart. She felt for her neck on an impulse; took comfort that it was whole.

They are your enemy, but Ulrich, I am yet to determine whether you are mine.