Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ It Isn't Real...Is It? ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MellyN 
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.10.2015 | Pages: 10 | Words: 6.8K | Visits: 465 | Status: Work In Progress
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 03.10.2015 | Pages: 10 | Words: 6.8K | Visits: 465 | Status: Work In Progress
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Shattered Illusions
By: Melissa Norvell
Chapter 2: It Isn't Real…Is It?
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"Kill me? Why?" Tsubomi asked with a look of fright and bewilderment. She had no idea why someone like the cross-dressing vampire would even want her. There was noaffiliationwhatsoever between them and to be honest, she didn't know any drag queens. Apprehension graced the female's form as she stood her ground, though her nerves were definitely shaken.
"I can't possibly let you live, especially not if you're with Copernicus," the blonde male seemed very serious about eliminating her and although he was beautiful, there was that masculine tone in his voice.
"I don't even really know him. I mean, I just met him tonight." Tsubomi tried to reason with him, evidently confused with the situation. She had no idea that talking to someone for five minutes would have such a deadly effect. "All we did was drink and talk."
"Even so, I can't let anyone who's even seen Copernicus live," the blonde was dead set on his mission. He spoke in a stone cold voice as he took a couple up steps towards the stripper. The intricate frill and lace of his red and white dress fluttered as he took proper and even dainty steps. His black high heels clicked on the hard ground below his feet.
"Then why don't you kill everyone else in the strip club? They all saw him," Tsubomi reasoned as she tensed up but stood her ground. She quickly found that her thoughts were scolding her for placing death on the only source of income she had.'What am I suggesting? Do I honestlywantto be jobless?'
"He likesyou. Now die!" In a rush that was inhumanly fast, the pretty figure seemed to almost float on the ground in movement and thrust his hand forward as long, red nails extended powerfully and shot towards Tsubomi at incredible speed.
The brown-haired girl managed to barely dodge the attack as she felt a few pieces of the wall hit the back of her head. Turning around quickly, her eyes widened as she saw the fingernails, stuck into the brick of the building she had been in front of.
"You won't escape me, boy," the blonde hissed as Tsubomi violently shoved him aside and took off running. She wanted to look for the first opening that she could see. The girl didn't know who was possibly roaming the streets at such a late hour but at least she would be out in the open where someone could see her.
Even at that moment in time, the fact that she was thought of as male, even by a drag queen slightly irked her. An irritated look crossed her face.'What the hell is going on here? What kind of freaky people does Copernicus know? I'm going to be killed by a drag queen.'Her thoughts berated her as the stripper ran through the streets; the cold night air beat on her body as her blue eyes darted in every direction, searching for an exit.
Tsubomi should have known that people who came into the strip club at such late hours were undoubtedly creepy, no matter how normal they seemed to be but perhaps she had gotten all too used to the situation at hand and this was merely a painful reminder of what could happen to her if she stayed out later than midnight.
Copernicus seemed trustworthy and she wondered why some blood thirsty drag queen wanted to kill her because she spoke to him for a couple of hours. Better yet, where the hell did that guy come from? Tsubomi didn't remember seeing him in the club at all…so how did he know that they were even talking? Unless, he saw Copernicus walk her to the door. Maybe that was it.
She could hear the clacking of heeled shoes close in on her as the drag queen caught up at an incredible speed. What the hell kind of person was he anyway? No normal human could run that fast!
"You can't escape from me." Then, he thrust his hand forward once more but his fingernails didn't extend. The cross-dressing blonde simply moved his fingers in the slightest way and his golden eyes narrowed as a sinister smirk crossed his blood red lips.
"What's happening?" Tsubomi asked herself faintly as her body began to feel like jello and everything around her seemed to blur, as if she was moving in slow motion. The girl's body felt heavy and the air was thick. Even the slightest of movement felt as if it took a lot of energy to even make.
Golden eyes narrowed and the feminine male looked pleased with himself.'My illusions are working. There's no way that he can escape now.'He watched as the female before him struggle to keep her sense of equilibrium as she staggered around like a confused, flightless bird. The very picture brought sadistic joy to his heart. "Having a little trouble?" The blonde asked in amusement.
"What are you doing to me?" Tsubomi asked as she clutched her forehead as fright took over her expression and she stared at him with widened eyes. Her heart raced and a thin layer of sweat glistened on her forehead. The girl felt dizzy, almost as if she could pass out. The very air pressure around her was heavy and it felt as if gravity itself was against her. The weight of her body increased and Tsubomi found it hard to stand without hunching over.
She looked a little freaked out on the outside, but on the inside the girl was only a few steps from delusional paranoia and frenzied, frantic thoughts ran through her head as the flee mechanism in her brain sounded loud in her ears. Try as she might, the stripper couldn't seem to keep her concentration for very long before her train of thought was pulled in a completely different direction.
'What's happening?'Tsubomi's widened eyes darted around every which way, but all she could see was darkness, and this was not the darkness of night, but the darkness that was pitch black. She felt as if she were in eternal darkness, and at any moment in time something could lunge at her and take her life.
The feelings that surfaced in Tsubomi's heart were unlike any she had ever felt before. It was as if she was going to completely lose herself to insanity and let go of any shred of her life as it was now. "I can't see," the stripper said with a trembling breath as she lightly ran her fingertips across her face."My eyes are wide open…But everything is black. This…It wasn't this way a while ago. Even though it's night, I could still see."
"Squirm, freak out, throw yourself into paranoia. I want you to leave yourself wide open. I'll enjoy seeing you suffer." The cross dresser purred to himself in a voice that held a tone similar to an insane delight. There was no doubt this man was insane. He was a wicked, sadistic individual who wanted nothing more than to see Tsubomi flop around like a convulsing, poisoned rat at his feet.
"What? What's happening to me?" Tsubomi wondered aloud, still clenching her head as she struggled to fight with her sanity. The stripper was losing the battle quickly and she could feel herself give away to feelings of instability as her heart raced in her chest.
The smiling man slightly spread his fingers, giving a different, silent command as a white vapor lifted from her body. Tsubomi panted heavily and she felt herself become weaker and half-lidded. It was as if something was draining her energy and she couldn't shake the urge to keel over and fall asleep.'What's happening? I feel so tired all of a sudden…'The puzzled girl thought as her eyes slowly shut, but then slammed open.'No! I have to stay awake.'
"I won't go…to sleep…" Her groggy voice tried to convince her body.
"I love it when they put up a fight against me. The more blocks they put up, the better," her inner struggles to stay awake and fight off the energy that was draining Tsubomi's body through the white vapors only amused the drag queen more.
"There's something wrong with you," Tsubomi knew it was obvious, but she wanted to tell the man herself that he was a sick individual who took pride in another's suffering.
She slowly pulled herself up as she tried to walk around, but only managed to stagger even more. Then the energy was ripped from her body and the searing pain that cleaved through her registered in her senses. Tsubomi threw back her head as she let out an uninhibited, feminine yell of pain. "What are you doing to me?" The stripper asked in a husky, strained voice.
"Don't worry. I'm just borrowing some of your energy. Humans only use a small percentage of their brain anyway. You won't miss a thing." The cross-dresser waved the subject off as if it was harmless, and nothing could be farther from the truth. With a skillful move of his fingers, the amount of energy that was draining from the girl's body increased as Tsubomi yelled in agony again.
"Suffer…" The sadistic man spoke; his voice purred the word affectionately before he was punched in the face with a hard slug. The force of the blow was so hard that he was knocked off of his feet and landed on his rear end with a thud.
The blonde held his face with widened eyes and an offended look as he held the side of his porcelain face and scowled.
"Copernicus!"
"Cop..erni…" Tsubomi muttered weakly before her body gave out and she faintly felt herself free fall as everything truly went black as she crashed to the ground.
"What are you doing, Hizaki?" Copernicus looked upon the blonde with a heavy-set frown of disdain. Though he always managed to come off as regal and cool in temperament, Copernicus was upset that he had left Tsubomi unsupervised when there were others looking for him. It was a foolish mistake on his behalf and if anything happened to the girl, he wasn't so sure that he could forgive his critical mistake.
"How amusing," Hizaki mentioned to himself with his eyes closed and the same underhanded smile he had possessed when he was draining the young stripper's power. "So, hedoesmean something to you? To think that an inferior human would capture the heart of the most aristocratic of breeds, the Inheritor Vampire. I think I've lost a little respect for you."
In Hizaki's eyes, Copernicus had always been the epitome of high society in the vampuric community, and now that his soft spot for that human boy existed, the drag queen saw him as less of a true breed of vampire for taking a liking to anything that was described as a lowly food source.
"I don't care," the Inheritor's words were strong and firm. Tsubomi was innocently caught up in his mishap and she didn't know that he was a vampire. It was his fault that she had been exhausted and if he possibly could, he would not have it go on further. "I won't let you hurt Tsubomi."
"Tsubomi? What kind of name is that for a boy?" Hizaki nearly wanted to laugh at such a thing. Copernicus truly did know some of the strangest people- him included. "What does that human mean to you? In our world, humans are food. You don't play with your food."
The concept of loving a human wasn't only forbidden to vampires, but other creatures as well. It was a rare taboo which only happened among a few scarce individuals. Most vampires would turn a human and have a child, and since the parent was a vampire, the child would be born as a fertile vampire- versus the Inheritors like Copernicus, who were born of pure vampuric blood and deemed sterile by their own kind.
"Tsubomi doesn't even know that I'm a vampire," Copernicus replied. "I haven't told him anything. What he told you was right. He and I just met tonight. We were having a little fun in the bar." The vampire explained his situation and where it stood with the youthful stripper. As much as Hizaki had wished something was there, the evidence was clearly stacked against him.
"So then, why do you care about him?" Hizaki lifted himself up into the air and femininely walked over to the fallen girl, who was passed out on the ground. He stared down at her with emotionless golden eyes that cut through the darkness with all of the vivacity of glowing feline eyes.
He then stuck the toe of his high heel under her body and lightly turned her over. To him, Tsubomi didn't look like anything special, so why was Copernicus so attached to her? Compared to the vampires, the simple beauty of this human was simply something to spit at, but he couldn't deny that much like himself, for a boy, Tsubomi had a feminine appeal.
"Heh, kind of pretty, isn't he?" The blonde's voice was calm as he grabbed his flowing dress and grabbed the faux boy's chin and lifted it up to his eye level as the vampire examined Tsubomi's face. For a male, Tsubomi possessed many feminine qualities; long, dark eyelashes, thin eye brows and a pointed chin. "So unmarked…he's just asking for a master."
The drag queen turned the unconscious girl's head to the side as he looked her arms over for any semblance of bit marks. If there were bite marks present, then that meant that Tsubomi and Copernicus had made a pact, but Hizaki saw no such inflictions.
Bending down close to the unresponsive stripper, he drew back to bite her. If he sank his teeth into the human's flesh, then the girl would belong to him and Copernicus could not stop the pact. With a forced pact, he could easily kill Tsubomi and be done with her as a suspect- whether or not she actually saw Copernicus as a human or a vampire.
As soon as his breath could even touch the girl's skin. A harsh kick was delivered to Hizaki's face, which caused him to skid across the ground on his shoulder a couple of feet and he landed on his side, clutching his facial wound with a wilder, more hate-filled glare then he had given Copernicus before, when they had first encountered each other in the alley way.
"A real vampire would be offered or even ask someone they knew for that kind of thing, not simply take what they want." Copernicus educated as he wrapped his arms protectively around the lifeless girl and stared down the offending vampire. "We have a treaty with the humans and we must stick by it."
"I'm rouge. Your rules do not apply to me. I kill my prey, or toy with them until there's nothing left to give," Hizaki informed the aristocrat of his ways. He had always been rouge and there was no speech, formal or informal, that would cause him to change his ways. "As vampires, we are rightfully higher up on the food chain. Besides, if all goes well, then we won't have to worry about the humans anymore."
The very thought brought a smile to his face, of the day that the humans would one day permanently be seen as simply a source of nourishment and nothing more.
"What do you mean?" The Inheritor seemed a little perplexed by Hizaki's words. There was obviously a plan underway, but what exactly was the blonde planning to do that would cause the humans to be placed so far below them?
Copernicus didn't mind humans. He would befriend any one of them and guard them faithfully. As their master and one in which they had a contract with, it was his duty to be domineering of his friends. They provided him with a sense of companionship as well as food, and he saw their relationship as symbiotic. In his eyes, they were equal because without one, the other would die and they could learn many things from each other.
"I got what I wanted, but if you don't watch your bait, then I might drain him dry of all he's got." The blonde vampire grinned and placed a hand to his face as he jumped back and absorbed into the wall.
"What? Hizaki!" Copernicus shouted after the other, but his words fell upon deaf ears. He had known for a while what Hizaki's goal was, but he didn't know that they were planning to do something to the humans as well.
The darkness of the illusion had faded to light, and left the Inheritor standing there with the stripper in his arms as he looked perplexed for a few moments, and then turned his sights back to the girl in his arms.
He then glanced down the alley as he continued to ponder the possibilities of the subject at hand.'What did he mean 'if all goes well then we won't have to worry about the humans anymore'.'His navy eyes fell upon the girl once more, as a sense of regret overcame him. The brown-haired vampire didn't want the girl involved at all, and now that she had been. His secret of being a vampire would be exposed to her and who knew how the girl would even take the subject.'Tsubomi…I didn't mean to get you into this. I suppose I have to make you aware of what's going on now…I just hope that Hizaki didn't suck all of your mental energy from you…Otherwise…You'll be permanently insane. Psi-Vamps like Hizaki drain your mental energy and the best thing to do now…is recover.'
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Tsubomi rested on a large, round bed that could have easily fit four or five people. Blood red rose petals littered the lavender, satin sheets as the girl stirred from her sleep and sat up in bed as the rose petals fluttered from various parts of her body.
As she adjusted her vision, the smell of roses and that same fine cologne was heavy in the air. Tsubomi lightly shook her head as she felt her heart race at a painful speed. The stripper felt as though she would nearly have a heart attack as she placed her hand to her chest.
Her heart slammed desperately against her sternum as the frenzied, paranoid feelings from when she was around Hizaki resurfaced.
"Where am I?" Tsubomi asked in a jittered voice. She felt herself trembling with pain and a delusional sense of fright as her eyes darted around the dimply lit room.'I don't remember being here.' The girl thought frantically as she clutched her pounding head.'My head hurts…Where the hell am I?'
Running her hand through her brown hair, she felt something tickling her scalp and grasped it. When the paranoid girl pulled back her hand, a single rose petal that was of the most vibrant red was revealed to her. Tsubomi glanced around. All around her were rose petals, hundreds that littered the sheets of the bed.
Tsubomi was even more confused and frantic then she had been before. What was the meaning of this? Why were there rose petals? "What is this?" Her trembling voice questioned as she scooted back a little on the bed.
"Oh, you're awake," the stripper jumped upon hearing the vampire's voice. She was inside of his house? When did this happen? Tsubomi had not remembered anything like this at all. The entire concept of losing her memories put her dread to a whole new level. She was discombobulated, almost as if she were in a simply a ball of quaking nerves.
The girl yelled, at both the ache she felt and the shock factor of the state of affairs. For once in her life, she was no longer the calm, sarcastic person she once was. Tsubomi was reduced to devastated mental state and now everything scared her, even things that once brought her happiness.
Copernicus crawled over towards her in a slow and non-threatening manner, but the girl didn't seem to even recognize him as she shied away from him. The Inheritor grasped the girl's shoulders, harshly enough to stop her, but gently enough show her that she could pull away if she struggled violently. He gazed into her widened eyes and tried to comfort the girl the best he could. "It's alright. Tsubomi, are you alright?" The vampire's voice was gentle.
It was more than apparent that Tsubomi had suffered at least partial insanity from Hizaki's feeding, and her mental state more than concerned him.
Tsubomi took shaky breathes as she tried to calm herself down. She had realized that Copernicus didn't have any horrible or sexual orientated intentions with her, which chided some of her fears. Her eyes darted around as she tried to regain her composure. "What…What was that? Who was that, and what did he do to me? My head…My head hurts…"
"The effects haven't worn off yet," he frowned.
"Effects? Effects of what?"
"Are you in the right state of mind?" The vampire wanted to know if Tsubomi at least comprehended what he said. He wanted to make sure that she was at least at the level before the conversation progressed. Copernicus could tell that she was less turbulent then she had been before, which was a good thing and it showed that the effects would not be permanent at least.
That alone was a reprieve.
"I'm really freaked out but I think I'll be alright. I just want to know a few things," Tsubomi's voice was still shaky and the pains in her head and chest were now tolerable. She was still a little scatterbrained however, and her sentences were often broken up. She struggled to piece phrases together.
"I have no choice but to tell you. That will come later. I want you to rest," the concern showed on his face. It was his fault that the girl was subjected to such mental cruelty and to see her undergo the consequences saddened him.
It was things like this that made it impossible for their races to ever live with acknowledgement beyond myth in peace. The two would always have to live in fear of each other due to individual’s lack of empathy and acceptance.
"At least tell me what's wrong with me? Why do I feel so paranoid and hysterical?" He could at least let her know if she was going to die. Tsubomi was worried about her own state and had never felt anything this strongly in a long time. The feelings overwhelmed her and nearly crushed any semblance of composure that she had.
"Your mental energy has been drained by Hizaki," Copernicus informed. This would surely be the start of an endless sea of questions that the American had not prepared himself for. Everything was happening all too soon- for both of them.
"What is he?" The stripper had never met anyone like him in her entire life and he was unobjectionably the most sadistic person she'd ever encountered.
Copernicus gazed into her eyes, full of horror and insecurity before he lowered his gaze. "He's a Psi-Vamp, a vampire that drains energy in the form of mental waves that come from the brain. Psi-Vamps prey on a person's mental energy - some mean to and some do not. Most will use them until they have nothing left and are reduced to a sniveling pile of organs on the floor. Hizaki is like that. Whenever you're around him, you start to feel tired and if you're not careful, he'll drain you of everything."
"Why me? I mean, I didn't even know him, so why was I his target? Was I just some free meal-" Tsubomi was cut off from her questioning, only to be hit with the real answer.
"He singled you out."
"Because I was with you, right?" The stripper had a feeling that it had something to do with that.
Copernicus was silent.
"What's going on?" Tsubomi was determined to get the answer. She wasn't going to be left in the dark about something this serious. It was definitely no time for Copernicus to be playing Mr. Silent.
"We probably shouldn't be around each other." It was almost as if the Inheritor didn't want to utter that phrase and in truth, his crestfallen gaze had said it all. He really enjoyed Tsubomi's company and found her to be a cute and endearing person, but he would rather see her alive, then have her face death at the piercing nails of Hizaki.
"So, earlier you wanted to hang out at the strip club and see me every night and now that you think someone might find out something you don't want them to know, you try to sink back in the shadows?" To her, it seemed cowardly to forsake their growing friendship just because someone was out to kill him. Even if it was only for a short time, Tsubomi didn't want to lose what they had. She didn't know the rhyme or reason, but she wanted to stay by his side.
The aristocrat was the only person who had been kind to her and he had saved her life. Not many people would go out of their way to save someone as he had done, and she owed him for that.
"That's not it," the vampire's voice was subdued.
"How do you know so much about vampires?" Either he was a hardcore enthusiast that studied the enemy well, or something else was up with him. Tsubomi didn't even know that vampires had actually existed until Hizaki came along.
The girl had always heard the myths, but never once stopped to ponder their existence.
"I must study the enemy. You know what they say, know your enemy better than you know yourself."
"I think it's easier to know someone better then you know yourself," Tsubomi didn't think that statement really made any sense when someone really thought about it. To her, it seemed impossible to know someone better than you could know yourself.
"What makes you say that?" Copernicus was interested in what she had to say.
"If you think about it, people really don't know that much about themselves. It's like what you asked me- if I knew what friendship was." The stripper made the comparison. If people couldn't define what their definition of friendship was and they could not grasp whether to feel lust, love or warm friendly feelings, then how much did they truly know about themselves?
"You said that friendship and love were often confused," Copernicus stated her answer on that topic.
"If that's true, then we don't understand our own feelings. If you can't understand your own feelings, then how can you truly know yourself?" It was a profound question, and when the vampire thought about it, he knew it was correct. "It's easy knowing someone else's feelings but when it comes to your own, I find it hard to really know."
"You're right. We often do things that we don't understand. If you had to be questioned for every movement, could you really give a legitimate answer for everything?" The American questioned, in deep thought on the subject.
"So…What's the real answer then?"
"To what?" Copernicus had hoped that the deviation to a different topic would have swayed her away, but he was wrong. Even under this mental breaking, she still managed to keep track of the conversation at hand.
'Sneaky…'The stripper had a feeling that he might try something like this. "You said that you did research on vampires…but why do they want to kill everyone who is affiliated with you?"
"I am hunted by them."
"Why?"
"We have different ideas on what humans are good for."
Tsubomi felt herself jolt with the implied revelation. All of this time, she'd been in the presence of a vampire and had been completely unaware. Perhaps that was what the foreign beauty about him was. "You're…a vampire?" She could hardly believe it. Copernicus was nothing like that stereotypical vampires from myths and legends. He looked no less human then she did but at the same time, she could not deny that there was something strange about him.
"Yes, I am," Copernicus looked down, ashamed to admit it to her. It wasn't because they were two different creatures, but because this was something that would severely break their trust and he didn't know the girl well enough to know her reaction to the situation.
Would she accept him, or would she run off screaming?
'The one guy who I feel like understands me more than anyone else, is a vampire and a gay one at that. Can it get any worse?'Tsubomi thought to herself ironically. This was just her bad luck. "Copernicus, I don't think any differently of you. I just want you to know that."
Even though it was partially a lie, the girl could see how hard it was for him to admit such a thing. To tell him that she had doubts would have brought his fears to life. Tsubomi was apprehensive but she promised to get herself over it- for both of their sakes.
For some reason, she didn't know why, but she didn't want him to feel bad about what happened.
"You may die if we keep seeing each other," he tried to push her away once more.
"That was proven."
"I'd like to see you alive, Tsubomi. I don't know why, but I feel like we can really connect. You were so casual around me at the club…I just wanted to talk to you all night." The vampire spoke of it as if it was in the past and the fun that they had in that short instance could never be recaptured now that everything had changed and his secrets were out. To Copernicus, it was better when the girl was so blissfully unaware of his dark nature and now…who knew what she thought of him.
In his own way, he too was afraid. Afraid to be judged by humanity, especially those in which he had once protected.
"That's why you wanted to follow me," Tsubomi had to admit that she felt the magnetism between them. The girl wanted it just as much as the vampire, despite the fact that she would hide herself beneath the mask of a young boy.
"Perhaps…"
"What do you mean 'perhaps'?"
"It's one of the reasons." There were actually several, but he would not speak more than he had to.
"What are those other reasons?" Somehow, he knew that question was coming in one form or another. In a way, he dreaded it and in a way, he liked it. Copernicus was a little happy that she took interest in him instead of drawing back in fear or revulsion for his kind.
"If you want to find out, then you'll have to be willing to die in the process. A vampire will never tell all there is to know." He leveled her with a faint smile. Even though things were now instable between them, Copernicus could feel a slight glow of hope that they would at least get back to where they were.
Tsubomi sighed and closed her eyes. "Well, it's not like I have anything else to waste it on." As dismal and pathetic as it was, she didn't really have any friends. So maybe if she took a chance on befriending a vampire, then she would at least have one person to turn to.
Aside from that, the stripper had spoken to him all of this time and they had a friendly relationship, so why should this change their bond? After all, even though it wasn't stated, he was a vampire when she met him.
Tsubomi didn't know what on Earth she could do for him, but a part of her thought that he would protect her until she got used to being around him and performing whatever duty that she was assigned to do.
"Won't your parents be worried that you're here?"
"I live by myself," Tsubomi was twenty four, after all.
"That really won't be safe," Copernicus advised.
"What are you suggesting? Do you want me to stay here?" It sounded like another one of his little schemes. No way was she falling for his 'I shall protect you if you stay here, and live in my house' gig.
"If you're alone, they'll hunt you down. You'll be at a disadvantage." He didn't mean anything sexual by it, although the thought of potential outcomes ran cross his mind more than once. He had initially stated it for her protection alone.
'No way! Icannotlive with this guy! If I do that, then he'll find out that everything I'm hiding is a lie. He'll find out and I'll be lonelyandhomeless.'There were far too many opportunities for him to find out her true gender and mark her as a deceiver. At this stage in their relationship, it was way too soon to even think of something like that. "I can handle myself. I mean, they haven't tried to come after me there yet. Besides, I worked really hard to get that house and I don't want to give it up."
"I know that feeling independent and accomplished is satisfying but you should think about your safety." If she were to be attacked again by Hizaki at her house, then who knew what would happen. Copernicus didn't know where she lived, so finding her would be a chore in itself and even then, she may be dead by the time he arrived.
It was too big of a risk. Since Hizaki was after her, he needed the girl to be in his sights at all times.
"I don'tknowyou," Tsubomi brought up that little hindrance to him. "Plus, I just found out that you're avampire. Do you really think that I'm just going to say yes?"
He needed to give her a break! The stripper wasn't even over the fact that she'd been communicating with a vampire this entire time and now he suddenly wanted her to live with him?
This was happening entirely too fast.
"Is it enough to say that I was hoping for some company?" Copernicus asked. It was an answer that threw her off. Somehow, it was strange for such an easy to talk to person like Copernicus to be lonely, but she guessed that if people who were affiliated with him were killed off by Hizaki, then he would keep himself distant from the masses, not to mention the fact that he didn't seem like he wanted everyone to know that he was a vampire either.
"Then you can come and check up on me," Tsubomi replied. They would have contact then.
"You wish to be seen around me, even though you know who I am?" Copernicus seemed a little surprised. He knew that there were humans who didn't mind, but most of the time, they had known about the existence of vampires their entire lives, or grew up in a family of donors.
They were not usually people like Tsubomi.
"Hey, I think it's really weird. I mean, I'm not really sure of what to even think. Everything happened so fast. I do owe you my life. If it wasn't for you, then I'd be dead. So, I actually shouldn't complain or judge you," the girl reasoned any uncertain feelings out of herself. "Besides, I really don't have any friends, so it would be nice to have one, especially someone like you."
When she thought about it, she smiled a little. How many people could say that they knew a vampire? Tsubomi would never admit it. She knew that it was something meant to be a secret. It was something that would be between them, like a dirty little secret that no one would even suspect. In a way, it made her feel excited to have such a mysterious man around her.
Copernicus was everything that any girl with a gothic fantasy could want- rich, kind, charming, handsome, and something foreign to their senses. Everything around him reeked of a taboo.
It would be her personal taboo. Something that deviated from the norm. It was something that she would have to get used to, but in a roundabout way, something that the girl was sure would be worth it. The danger posed no threat. Besides, she had already accepted to be in his company and that, she would simply have to adjust for.
Tsubomi would think about the details later.
"Oh?" The vampire sounded amused with her answer.
This caused the girl to flush a little. "Don't sound so amused," she huffed in frustration.'I'm surprised that this guy isn't tired of me yet.'
"I'll give you time to adjust." Copernicus smiled gently. He hoped that nothing was planning on happening regarding the other vampires. The vampire wanted Tsubomi to adjust to him and hopefully find residence in his home at one point in time. That girl had too many trust issues.
It would indeed take more than a simple situation to convince her to stay with him.
"Good…Oh, and thank you for earlier. At least I know that you didn't just think I'm a complete waste of space." Tsubomi didn't know why he had accepted her offer to facilitate him. To be honest, the only things she was good at were self-defense, shooting a gun and exotic dancing.
"Actually, I think you're very useful," Copernicus smiled. It was a smile that could not be defined and hid many forbidden and dark feelings. There was indeed a use for that girl in his plans, and now that she had wanted to help him, things would only get more interesting form here.
…To Be Continued
Shattered Illusions
By: Melissa Norvell
Chapter 2: It Isn't Real…Is It?
XxXxXx
"Kill me? Why?" Tsubomi asked with a look of fright and bewilderment. She had no idea why someone like the cross-dressing vampire would even want her. There was noaffiliationwhatsoever between them and to be honest, she didn't know any drag queens. Apprehension graced the female's form as she stood her ground, though her nerves were definitely shaken.
"I can't possibly let you live, especially not if you're with Copernicus," the blonde male seemed very serious about eliminating her and although he was beautiful, there was that masculine tone in his voice.
"I don't even really know him. I mean, I just met him tonight." Tsubomi tried to reason with him, evidently confused with the situation. She had no idea that talking to someone for five minutes would have such a deadly effect. "All we did was drink and talk."
"Even so, I can't let anyone who's even seen Copernicus live," the blonde was dead set on his mission. He spoke in a stone cold voice as he took a couple up steps towards the stripper. The intricate frill and lace of his red and white dress fluttered as he took proper and even dainty steps. His black high heels clicked on the hard ground below his feet.
"Then why don't you kill everyone else in the strip club? They all saw him," Tsubomi reasoned as she tensed up but stood her ground. She quickly found that her thoughts were scolding her for placing death on the only source of income she had.'What am I suggesting? Do I honestlywantto be jobless?'
"He likesyou. Now die!" In a rush that was inhumanly fast, the pretty figure seemed to almost float on the ground in movement and thrust his hand forward as long, red nails extended powerfully and shot towards Tsubomi at incredible speed.
The brown-haired girl managed to barely dodge the attack as she felt a few pieces of the wall hit the back of her head. Turning around quickly, her eyes widened as she saw the fingernails, stuck into the brick of the building she had been in front of.
"You won't escape me, boy," the blonde hissed as Tsubomi violently shoved him aside and took off running. She wanted to look for the first opening that she could see. The girl didn't know who was possibly roaming the streets at such a late hour but at least she would be out in the open where someone could see her.
Even at that moment in time, the fact that she was thought of as male, even by a drag queen slightly irked her. An irritated look crossed her face.'What the hell is going on here? What kind of freaky people does Copernicus know? I'm going to be killed by a drag queen.'Her thoughts berated her as the stripper ran through the streets; the cold night air beat on her body as her blue eyes darted in every direction, searching for an exit.
Tsubomi should have known that people who came into the strip club at such late hours were undoubtedly creepy, no matter how normal they seemed to be but perhaps she had gotten all too used to the situation at hand and this was merely a painful reminder of what could happen to her if she stayed out later than midnight.
Copernicus seemed trustworthy and she wondered why some blood thirsty drag queen wanted to kill her because she spoke to him for a couple of hours. Better yet, where the hell did that guy come from? Tsubomi didn't remember seeing him in the club at all…so how did he know that they were even talking? Unless, he saw Copernicus walk her to the door. Maybe that was it.
She could hear the clacking of heeled shoes close in on her as the drag queen caught up at an incredible speed. What the hell kind of person was he anyway? No normal human could run that fast!
"You can't escape from me." Then, he thrust his hand forward once more but his fingernails didn't extend. The cross-dressing blonde simply moved his fingers in the slightest way and his golden eyes narrowed as a sinister smirk crossed his blood red lips.
"What's happening?" Tsubomi asked herself faintly as her body began to feel like jello and everything around her seemed to blur, as if she was moving in slow motion. The girl's body felt heavy and the air was thick. Even the slightest of movement felt as if it took a lot of energy to even make.
Golden eyes narrowed and the feminine male looked pleased with himself.'My illusions are working. There's no way that he can escape now.'He watched as the female before him struggle to keep her sense of equilibrium as she staggered around like a confused, flightless bird. The very picture brought sadistic joy to his heart. "Having a little trouble?" The blonde asked in amusement.
"What are you doing to me?" Tsubomi asked as she clutched her forehead as fright took over her expression and she stared at him with widened eyes. Her heart raced and a thin layer of sweat glistened on her forehead. The girl felt dizzy, almost as if she could pass out. The very air pressure around her was heavy and it felt as if gravity itself was against her. The weight of her body increased and Tsubomi found it hard to stand without hunching over.
She looked a little freaked out on the outside, but on the inside the girl was only a few steps from delusional paranoia and frenzied, frantic thoughts ran through her head as the flee mechanism in her brain sounded loud in her ears. Try as she might, the stripper couldn't seem to keep her concentration for very long before her train of thought was pulled in a completely different direction.
'What's happening?'Tsubomi's widened eyes darted around every which way, but all she could see was darkness, and this was not the darkness of night, but the darkness that was pitch black. She felt as if she were in eternal darkness, and at any moment in time something could lunge at her and take her life.
The feelings that surfaced in Tsubomi's heart were unlike any she had ever felt before. It was as if she was going to completely lose herself to insanity and let go of any shred of her life as it was now. "I can't see," the stripper said with a trembling breath as she lightly ran her fingertips across her face."My eyes are wide open…But everything is black. This…It wasn't this way a while ago. Even though it's night, I could still see."
"Squirm, freak out, throw yourself into paranoia. I want you to leave yourself wide open. I'll enjoy seeing you suffer." The cross dresser purred to himself in a voice that held a tone similar to an insane delight. There was no doubt this man was insane. He was a wicked, sadistic individual who wanted nothing more than to see Tsubomi flop around like a convulsing, poisoned rat at his feet.
"What? What's happening to me?" Tsubomi wondered aloud, still clenching her head as she struggled to fight with her sanity. The stripper was losing the battle quickly and she could feel herself give away to feelings of instability as her heart raced in her chest.
The smiling man slightly spread his fingers, giving a different, silent command as a white vapor lifted from her body. Tsubomi panted heavily and she felt herself become weaker and half-lidded. It was as if something was draining her energy and she couldn't shake the urge to keel over and fall asleep.'What's happening? I feel so tired all of a sudden…'The puzzled girl thought as her eyes slowly shut, but then slammed open.'No! I have to stay awake.'
"I won't go…to sleep…" Her groggy voice tried to convince her body.
"I love it when they put up a fight against me. The more blocks they put up, the better," her inner struggles to stay awake and fight off the energy that was draining Tsubomi's body through the white vapors only amused the drag queen more.
"There's something wrong with you," Tsubomi knew it was obvious, but she wanted to tell the man herself that he was a sick individual who took pride in another's suffering.
She slowly pulled herself up as she tried to walk around, but only managed to stagger even more. Then the energy was ripped from her body and the searing pain that cleaved through her registered in her senses. Tsubomi threw back her head as she let out an uninhibited, feminine yell of pain. "What are you doing to me?" The stripper asked in a husky, strained voice.
"Don't worry. I'm just borrowing some of your energy. Humans only use a small percentage of their brain anyway. You won't miss a thing." The cross-dresser waved the subject off as if it was harmless, and nothing could be farther from the truth. With a skillful move of his fingers, the amount of energy that was draining from the girl's body increased as Tsubomi yelled in agony again.
"Suffer…" The sadistic man spoke; his voice purred the word affectionately before he was punched in the face with a hard slug. The force of the blow was so hard that he was knocked off of his feet and landed on his rear end with a thud.
The blonde held his face with widened eyes and an offended look as he held the side of his porcelain face and scowled.
"Copernicus!"
"Cop..erni…" Tsubomi muttered weakly before her body gave out and she faintly felt herself free fall as everything truly went black as she crashed to the ground.
"What are you doing, Hizaki?" Copernicus looked upon the blonde with a heavy-set frown of disdain. Though he always managed to come off as regal and cool in temperament, Copernicus was upset that he had left Tsubomi unsupervised when there were others looking for him. It was a foolish mistake on his behalf and if anything happened to the girl, he wasn't so sure that he could forgive his critical mistake.
"How amusing," Hizaki mentioned to himself with his eyes closed and the same underhanded smile he had possessed when he was draining the young stripper's power. "So, hedoesmean something to you? To think that an inferior human would capture the heart of the most aristocratic of breeds, the Inheritor Vampire. I think I've lost a little respect for you."
In Hizaki's eyes, Copernicus had always been the epitome of high society in the vampuric community, and now that his soft spot for that human boy existed, the drag queen saw him as less of a true breed of vampire for taking a liking to anything that was described as a lowly food source.
"I don't care," the Inheritor's words were strong and firm. Tsubomi was innocently caught up in his mishap and she didn't know that he was a vampire. It was his fault that she had been exhausted and if he possibly could, he would not have it go on further. "I won't let you hurt Tsubomi."
"Tsubomi? What kind of name is that for a boy?" Hizaki nearly wanted to laugh at such a thing. Copernicus truly did know some of the strangest people- him included. "What does that human mean to you? In our world, humans are food. You don't play with your food."
The concept of loving a human wasn't only forbidden to vampires, but other creatures as well. It was a rare taboo which only happened among a few scarce individuals. Most vampires would turn a human and have a child, and since the parent was a vampire, the child would be born as a fertile vampire- versus the Inheritors like Copernicus, who were born of pure vampuric blood and deemed sterile by their own kind.
"Tsubomi doesn't even know that I'm a vampire," Copernicus replied. "I haven't told him anything. What he told you was right. He and I just met tonight. We were having a little fun in the bar." The vampire explained his situation and where it stood with the youthful stripper. As much as Hizaki had wished something was there, the evidence was clearly stacked against him.
"So then, why do you care about him?" Hizaki lifted himself up into the air and femininely walked over to the fallen girl, who was passed out on the ground. He stared down at her with emotionless golden eyes that cut through the darkness with all of the vivacity of glowing feline eyes.
He then stuck the toe of his high heel under her body and lightly turned her over. To him, Tsubomi didn't look like anything special, so why was Copernicus so attached to her? Compared to the vampires, the simple beauty of this human was simply something to spit at, but he couldn't deny that much like himself, for a boy, Tsubomi had a feminine appeal.
"Heh, kind of pretty, isn't he?" The blonde's voice was calm as he grabbed his flowing dress and grabbed the faux boy's chin and lifted it up to his eye level as the vampire examined Tsubomi's face. For a male, Tsubomi possessed many feminine qualities; long, dark eyelashes, thin eye brows and a pointed chin. "So unmarked…he's just asking for a master."
The drag queen turned the unconscious girl's head to the side as he looked her arms over for any semblance of bit marks. If there were bite marks present, then that meant that Tsubomi and Copernicus had made a pact, but Hizaki saw no such inflictions.
Bending down close to the unresponsive stripper, he drew back to bite her. If he sank his teeth into the human's flesh, then the girl would belong to him and Copernicus could not stop the pact. With a forced pact, he could easily kill Tsubomi and be done with her as a suspect- whether or not she actually saw Copernicus as a human or a vampire.
As soon as his breath could even touch the girl's skin. A harsh kick was delivered to Hizaki's face, which caused him to skid across the ground on his shoulder a couple of feet and he landed on his side, clutching his facial wound with a wilder, more hate-filled glare then he had given Copernicus before, when they had first encountered each other in the alley way.
"A real vampire would be offered or even ask someone they knew for that kind of thing, not simply take what they want." Copernicus educated as he wrapped his arms protectively around the lifeless girl and stared down the offending vampire. "We have a treaty with the humans and we must stick by it."
"I'm rouge. Your rules do not apply to me. I kill my prey, or toy with them until there's nothing left to give," Hizaki informed the aristocrat of his ways. He had always been rouge and there was no speech, formal or informal, that would cause him to change his ways. "As vampires, we are rightfully higher up on the food chain. Besides, if all goes well, then we won't have to worry about the humans anymore."
The very thought brought a smile to his face, of the day that the humans would one day permanently be seen as simply a source of nourishment and nothing more.
"What do you mean?" The Inheritor seemed a little perplexed by Hizaki's words. There was obviously a plan underway, but what exactly was the blonde planning to do that would cause the humans to be placed so far below them?
Copernicus didn't mind humans. He would befriend any one of them and guard them faithfully. As their master and one in which they had a contract with, it was his duty to be domineering of his friends. They provided him with a sense of companionship as well as food, and he saw their relationship as symbiotic. In his eyes, they were equal because without one, the other would die and they could learn many things from each other.
"I got what I wanted, but if you don't watch your bait, then I might drain him dry of all he's got." The blonde vampire grinned and placed a hand to his face as he jumped back and absorbed into the wall.
"What? Hizaki!" Copernicus shouted after the other, but his words fell upon deaf ears. He had known for a while what Hizaki's goal was, but he didn't know that they were planning to do something to the humans as well.
The darkness of the illusion had faded to light, and left the Inheritor standing there with the stripper in his arms as he looked perplexed for a few moments, and then turned his sights back to the girl in his arms.
He then glanced down the alley as he continued to ponder the possibilities of the subject at hand.'What did he mean 'if all goes well then we won't have to worry about the humans anymore'.'His navy eyes fell upon the girl once more, as a sense of regret overcame him. The brown-haired vampire didn't want the girl involved at all, and now that she had been. His secret of being a vampire would be exposed to her and who knew how the girl would even take the subject.'Tsubomi…I didn't mean to get you into this. I suppose I have to make you aware of what's going on now…I just hope that Hizaki didn't suck all of your mental energy from you…Otherwise…You'll be permanently insane. Psi-Vamps like Hizaki drain your mental energy and the best thing to do now…is recover.'
XxXxXx
Tsubomi rested on a large, round bed that could have easily fit four or five people. Blood red rose petals littered the lavender, satin sheets as the girl stirred from her sleep and sat up in bed as the rose petals fluttered from various parts of her body.
As she adjusted her vision, the smell of roses and that same fine cologne was heavy in the air. Tsubomi lightly shook her head as she felt her heart race at a painful speed. The stripper felt as though she would nearly have a heart attack as she placed her hand to her chest.
Her heart slammed desperately against her sternum as the frenzied, paranoid feelings from when she was around Hizaki resurfaced.
"Where am I?" Tsubomi asked in a jittered voice. She felt herself trembling with pain and a delusional sense of fright as her eyes darted around the dimply lit room.'I don't remember being here.' The girl thought frantically as she clutched her pounding head.'My head hurts…Where the hell am I?'
Running her hand through her brown hair, she felt something tickling her scalp and grasped it. When the paranoid girl pulled back her hand, a single rose petal that was of the most vibrant red was revealed to her. Tsubomi glanced around. All around her were rose petals, hundreds that littered the sheets of the bed.
Tsubomi was even more confused and frantic then she had been before. What was the meaning of this? Why were there rose petals? "What is this?" Her trembling voice questioned as she scooted back a little on the bed.
"Oh, you're awake," the stripper jumped upon hearing the vampire's voice. She was inside of his house? When did this happen? Tsubomi had not remembered anything like this at all. The entire concept of losing her memories put her dread to a whole new level. She was discombobulated, almost as if she were in a simply a ball of quaking nerves.
The girl yelled, at both the ache she felt and the shock factor of the state of affairs. For once in her life, she was no longer the calm, sarcastic person she once was. Tsubomi was reduced to devastated mental state and now everything scared her, even things that once brought her happiness.
Copernicus crawled over towards her in a slow and non-threatening manner, but the girl didn't seem to even recognize him as she shied away from him. The Inheritor grasped the girl's shoulders, harshly enough to stop her, but gently enough show her that she could pull away if she struggled violently. He gazed into her widened eyes and tried to comfort the girl the best he could. "It's alright. Tsubomi, are you alright?" The vampire's voice was gentle.
It was more than apparent that Tsubomi had suffered at least partial insanity from Hizaki's feeding, and her mental state more than concerned him.
Tsubomi took shaky breathes as she tried to calm herself down. She had realized that Copernicus didn't have any horrible or sexual orientated intentions with her, which chided some of her fears. Her eyes darted around as she tried to regain her composure. "What…What was that? Who was that, and what did he do to me? My head…My head hurts…"
"The effects haven't worn off yet," he frowned.
"Effects? Effects of what?"
"Are you in the right state of mind?" The vampire wanted to know if Tsubomi at least comprehended what he said. He wanted to make sure that she was at least at the level before the conversation progressed. Copernicus could tell that she was less turbulent then she had been before, which was a good thing and it showed that the effects would not be permanent at least.
That alone was a reprieve.
"I'm really freaked out but I think I'll be alright. I just want to know a few things," Tsubomi's voice was still shaky and the pains in her head and chest were now tolerable. She was still a little scatterbrained however, and her sentences were often broken up. She struggled to piece phrases together.
"I have no choice but to tell you. That will come later. I want you to rest," the concern showed on his face. It was his fault that the girl was subjected to such mental cruelty and to see her undergo the consequences saddened him.
It was things like this that made it impossible for their races to ever live with acknowledgement beyond myth in peace. The two would always have to live in fear of each other due to individual’s lack of empathy and acceptance.
"At least tell me what's wrong with me? Why do I feel so paranoid and hysterical?" He could at least let her know if she was going to die. Tsubomi was worried about her own state and had never felt anything this strongly in a long time. The feelings overwhelmed her and nearly crushed any semblance of composure that she had.
"Your mental energy has been drained by Hizaki," Copernicus informed. This would surely be the start of an endless sea of questions that the American had not prepared himself for. Everything was happening all too soon- for both of them.
"What is he?" The stripper had never met anyone like him in her entire life and he was unobjectionably the most sadistic person she'd ever encountered.
Copernicus gazed into her eyes, full of horror and insecurity before he lowered his gaze. "He's a Psi-Vamp, a vampire that drains energy in the form of mental waves that come from the brain. Psi-Vamps prey on a person's mental energy - some mean to and some do not. Most will use them until they have nothing left and are reduced to a sniveling pile of organs on the floor. Hizaki is like that. Whenever you're around him, you start to feel tired and if you're not careful, he'll drain you of everything."
"Why me? I mean, I didn't even know him, so why was I his target? Was I just some free meal-" Tsubomi was cut off from her questioning, only to be hit with the real answer.
"He singled you out."
"Because I was with you, right?" The stripper had a feeling that it had something to do with that.
Copernicus was silent.
"What's going on?" Tsubomi was determined to get the answer. She wasn't going to be left in the dark about something this serious. It was definitely no time for Copernicus to be playing Mr. Silent.
"We probably shouldn't be around each other." It was almost as if the Inheritor didn't want to utter that phrase and in truth, his crestfallen gaze had said it all. He really enjoyed Tsubomi's company and found her to be a cute and endearing person, but he would rather see her alive, then have her face death at the piercing nails of Hizaki.
"So, earlier you wanted to hang out at the strip club and see me every night and now that you think someone might find out something you don't want them to know, you try to sink back in the shadows?" To her, it seemed cowardly to forsake their growing friendship just because someone was out to kill him. Even if it was only for a short time, Tsubomi didn't want to lose what they had. She didn't know the rhyme or reason, but she wanted to stay by his side.
The aristocrat was the only person who had been kind to her and he had saved her life. Not many people would go out of their way to save someone as he had done, and she owed him for that.
"That's not it," the vampire's voice was subdued.
"How do you know so much about vampires?" Either he was a hardcore enthusiast that studied the enemy well, or something else was up with him. Tsubomi didn't even know that vampires had actually existed until Hizaki came along.
The girl had always heard the myths, but never once stopped to ponder their existence.
"I must study the enemy. You know what they say, know your enemy better than you know yourself."
"I think it's easier to know someone better then you know yourself," Tsubomi didn't think that statement really made any sense when someone really thought about it. To her, it seemed impossible to know someone better than you could know yourself.
"What makes you say that?" Copernicus was interested in what she had to say.
"If you think about it, people really don't know that much about themselves. It's like what you asked me- if I knew what friendship was." The stripper made the comparison. If people couldn't define what their definition of friendship was and they could not grasp whether to feel lust, love or warm friendly feelings, then how much did they truly know about themselves?
"You said that friendship and love were often confused," Copernicus stated her answer on that topic.
"If that's true, then we don't understand our own feelings. If you can't understand your own feelings, then how can you truly know yourself?" It was a profound question, and when the vampire thought about it, he knew it was correct. "It's easy knowing someone else's feelings but when it comes to your own, I find it hard to really know."
"You're right. We often do things that we don't understand. If you had to be questioned for every movement, could you really give a legitimate answer for everything?" The American questioned, in deep thought on the subject.
"So…What's the real answer then?"
"To what?" Copernicus had hoped that the deviation to a different topic would have swayed her away, but he was wrong. Even under this mental breaking, she still managed to keep track of the conversation at hand.
'Sneaky…'The stripper had a feeling that he might try something like this. "You said that you did research on vampires…but why do they want to kill everyone who is affiliated with you?"
"I am hunted by them."
"Why?"
"We have different ideas on what humans are good for."
Tsubomi felt herself jolt with the implied revelation. All of this time, she'd been in the presence of a vampire and had been completely unaware. Perhaps that was what the foreign beauty about him was. "You're…a vampire?" She could hardly believe it. Copernicus was nothing like that stereotypical vampires from myths and legends. He looked no less human then she did but at the same time, she could not deny that there was something strange about him.
"Yes, I am," Copernicus looked down, ashamed to admit it to her. It wasn't because they were two different creatures, but because this was something that would severely break their trust and he didn't know the girl well enough to know her reaction to the situation.
Would she accept him, or would she run off screaming?
'The one guy who I feel like understands me more than anyone else, is a vampire and a gay one at that. Can it get any worse?'Tsubomi thought to herself ironically. This was just her bad luck. "Copernicus, I don't think any differently of you. I just want you to know that."
Even though it was partially a lie, the girl could see how hard it was for him to admit such a thing. To tell him that she had doubts would have brought his fears to life. Tsubomi was apprehensive but she promised to get herself over it- for both of their sakes.
For some reason, she didn't know why, but she didn't want him to feel bad about what happened.
"You may die if we keep seeing each other," he tried to push her away once more.
"That was proven."
"I'd like to see you alive, Tsubomi. I don't know why, but I feel like we can really connect. You were so casual around me at the club…I just wanted to talk to you all night." The vampire spoke of it as if it was in the past and the fun that they had in that short instance could never be recaptured now that everything had changed and his secrets were out. To Copernicus, it was better when the girl was so blissfully unaware of his dark nature and now…who knew what she thought of him.
In his own way, he too was afraid. Afraid to be judged by humanity, especially those in which he had once protected.
"That's why you wanted to follow me," Tsubomi had to admit that she felt the magnetism between them. The girl wanted it just as much as the vampire, despite the fact that she would hide herself beneath the mask of a young boy.
"Perhaps…"
"What do you mean 'perhaps'?"
"It's one of the reasons." There were actually several, but he would not speak more than he had to.
"What are those other reasons?" Somehow, he knew that question was coming in one form or another. In a way, he dreaded it and in a way, he liked it. Copernicus was a little happy that she took interest in him instead of drawing back in fear or revulsion for his kind.
"If you want to find out, then you'll have to be willing to die in the process. A vampire will never tell all there is to know." He leveled her with a faint smile. Even though things were now instable between them, Copernicus could feel a slight glow of hope that they would at least get back to where they were.
Tsubomi sighed and closed her eyes. "Well, it's not like I have anything else to waste it on." As dismal and pathetic as it was, she didn't really have any friends. So maybe if she took a chance on befriending a vampire, then she would at least have one person to turn to.
Aside from that, the stripper had spoken to him all of this time and they had a friendly relationship, so why should this change their bond? After all, even though it wasn't stated, he was a vampire when she met him.
Tsubomi didn't know what on Earth she could do for him, but a part of her thought that he would protect her until she got used to being around him and performing whatever duty that she was assigned to do.
"Won't your parents be worried that you're here?"
"I live by myself," Tsubomi was twenty four, after all.
"That really won't be safe," Copernicus advised.
"What are you suggesting? Do you want me to stay here?" It sounded like another one of his little schemes. No way was she falling for his 'I shall protect you if you stay here, and live in my house' gig.
"If you're alone, they'll hunt you down. You'll be at a disadvantage." He didn't mean anything sexual by it, although the thought of potential outcomes ran cross his mind more than once. He had initially stated it for her protection alone.
'No way! Icannotlive with this guy! If I do that, then he'll find out that everything I'm hiding is a lie. He'll find out and I'll be lonelyandhomeless.'There were far too many opportunities for him to find out her true gender and mark her as a deceiver. At this stage in their relationship, it was way too soon to even think of something like that. "I can handle myself. I mean, they haven't tried to come after me there yet. Besides, I worked really hard to get that house and I don't want to give it up."
"I know that feeling independent and accomplished is satisfying but you should think about your safety." If she were to be attacked again by Hizaki at her house, then who knew what would happen. Copernicus didn't know where she lived, so finding her would be a chore in itself and even then, she may be dead by the time he arrived.
It was too big of a risk. Since Hizaki was after her, he needed the girl to be in his sights at all times.
"I don'tknowyou," Tsubomi brought up that little hindrance to him. "Plus, I just found out that you're avampire. Do you really think that I'm just going to say yes?"
He needed to give her a break! The stripper wasn't even over the fact that she'd been communicating with a vampire this entire time and now he suddenly wanted her to live with him?
This was happening entirely too fast.
"Is it enough to say that I was hoping for some company?" Copernicus asked. It was an answer that threw her off. Somehow, it was strange for such an easy to talk to person like Copernicus to be lonely, but she guessed that if people who were affiliated with him were killed off by Hizaki, then he would keep himself distant from the masses, not to mention the fact that he didn't seem like he wanted everyone to know that he was a vampire either.
"Then you can come and check up on me," Tsubomi replied. They would have contact then.
"You wish to be seen around me, even though you know who I am?" Copernicus seemed a little surprised. He knew that there were humans who didn't mind, but most of the time, they had known about the existence of vampires their entire lives, or grew up in a family of donors.
They were not usually people like Tsubomi.
"Hey, I think it's really weird. I mean, I'm not really sure of what to even think. Everything happened so fast. I do owe you my life. If it wasn't for you, then I'd be dead. So, I actually shouldn't complain or judge you," the girl reasoned any uncertain feelings out of herself. "Besides, I really don't have any friends, so it would be nice to have one, especially someone like you."
When she thought about it, she smiled a little. How many people could say that they knew a vampire? Tsubomi would never admit it. She knew that it was something meant to be a secret. It was something that would be between them, like a dirty little secret that no one would even suspect. In a way, it made her feel excited to have such a mysterious man around her.
Copernicus was everything that any girl with a gothic fantasy could want- rich, kind, charming, handsome, and something foreign to their senses. Everything around him reeked of a taboo.
It would be her personal taboo. Something that deviated from the norm. It was something that she would have to get used to, but in a roundabout way, something that the girl was sure would be worth it. The danger posed no threat. Besides, she had already accepted to be in his company and that, she would simply have to adjust for.
Tsubomi would think about the details later.
"Oh?" The vampire sounded amused with her answer.
This caused the girl to flush a little. "Don't sound so amused," she huffed in frustration.'I'm surprised that this guy isn't tired of me yet.'
"I'll give you time to adjust." Copernicus smiled gently. He hoped that nothing was planning on happening regarding the other vampires. The vampire wanted Tsubomi to adjust to him and hopefully find residence in his home at one point in time. That girl had too many trust issues.
It would indeed take more than a simple situation to convince her to stay with him.
"Good…Oh, and thank you for earlier. At least I know that you didn't just think I'm a complete waste of space." Tsubomi didn't know why he had accepted her offer to facilitate him. To be honest, the only things she was good at were self-defense, shooting a gun and exotic dancing.
"Actually, I think you're very useful," Copernicus smiled. It was a smile that could not be defined and hid many forbidden and dark feelings. There was indeed a use for that girl in his plans, and now that she had wanted to help him, things would only get more interesting form here.
…To Be Continued