Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Birth by light, death by darkness ❯ My renaissance into the twilight ( Chapter 1 )

Pairings: Anzu/Bakura

Mai/Jou

Shizuka/Otogi

Vampire/medieval Europe fic. First chapter takes place in the past.

Birth by light, death by darkness

Chapter 1: My renaissance into the twilight

"You did great again today, Anzu! I don't know how you put on such wonderful performances show after show!" The young brunette smiled abashedly, her cheeks turning a fulsome pink. Her lithe legs slipped out of the white leotard, slipper-clad feet tapping gracefully onto the concrete floor of the ladies' locker room. Changing into a pair of black, tight flared jeans with a black belt and a simple white tank top, she waved a slender hand dismissively to her fellow dancer friend.

"Aw, I'm not as good as you, Mel. I'm still an amateur, on my way to fulfill my dream. You're the one who pulls off the great moves; mine aren't as fluid and are still sorta' forced." Unlacing her slippers, she put on a pair of black sneakers and topped off her outfit with a loose black hoodie.

"That's just because you lack con-fid-ence in yourself, girlie!" The other girl pulled Anzu into a headlock, good-naturedly giving her friend a rigorous noogie. "The crowd loves ya', you have sorta' a calm serenity 'bout ya', and yet at the same time ya' draw people to you." After finally being released, Anzu smoothed her mussed hair as she glowered at her friend who was bellowing heartily at Anzu's facial expression, the sort of laugh only Mel could manage to do; a feminine holler.

Standing at a good 6'1, Mel was tall and lanky, but had an undeniable feel of authority about her. Short, silken, cinnamon brown strands framed her tapered visage down to her chin, and olive-green eyes with flecks of brown viewed the world around her anxiously underneath bangs that were in a dire need of a trim. A romantic at heart, she hides under her tomboyish facade, never letting those around her (except for close friends like Anzu) see her insecure, more vulnerable inner self.

At 22, one year older than Anzu, she hasn't "blossomed" like other girls had. Her chest isn't what one would call ample, nor does she have a butt that would attract the interest of any testosterone-driven man. Because of low self-esteem when it comes to her body, her virginity was lost to a jock that was looking for someone easy at a young age; in her junior year to be exact.

Maybe that's the reason she was drawn to ballet. Her body is perfect for it. I wish she would just realize she's more beautiful than she gives herself credit for. Anzu thought, while gazing with a sort of melancholy at her friend whose laughter was dying down when she noticed the other brunette's penetrating gaze.

Poor girl. Lovely, isn't she? Why don't we help her realize how radiant she really is, hmm? Have some…fun with the little peach?

Anzu froze in place when she heard, or rather, felt the exotic and sultry presence of a woman, most definitely not her own, settle itself inside her head. Mel noticed Anzu's gaze on her focus somewhere else, her indigo-blue eyes turning to a dull and lifeless grey. She got up and snapped her fingers in front of her friends face, frowning a little when Anzu remained still as a statue.

Yes, Anz, Anzu mentally shivered at the use of Mel's pet name for her spoken by the unknown woman, We'll have lots of fun with the girl. But first, you shall have to become my sweet little apostle, won't you? The woman purred out, then let out a secretive, and sort of depraved giggle before Anzu felt the intruding presence leave from her mind. Mel let out a small sigh when she saw her friend's eyes regain their liveliness but she cocked her head to the side when she saw the puzzled look dance across her face.

What the hell just happened? I swear I've heard that voice before… She furrowed her eyebrows, together forgetting about Mel who was increasingly becoming more and more irritated. "Lost in your own little world again, Anz?" The joking, yet slightly worried voice cut through Anzu's thoughts as she finally realized just where she was.

She smiled sheepishly down, or rather, up, to her friend while gathering the rest of her baggage. "Sorry, I do that a lot, huh?" Seeing Mel's glare which basically said "You can't fool me babe, so save yourself the trouble and spill", Anzu laughed timidly before adding, "Aw man, don't look at me that way Mel, I'm just a little tired from dancing, so don't worry, eh?" She offered a lop-sided smile hoping Mel would let it be for the time being.

Mel leered knowingly before sighing and gathering her things as well, knowing Anzu was lying, but dropping it for now and promising herself to interrogate after they'd both had some rest. The two ballerinas talked and laughed out the door, not noticing the grinning figure slip out of the shadows of the locker room behind them and into the dusk.

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Anzu Mazaki huddled her arms close to her body as she was walking down the street to where she had parked her old blue Volkswagen beetle. It wasn't that it was particularly cold out, in fact, it was rather warm for a fall night, but she just couldn't shake the feeling of something watching her every move and searching, violating, her soul. There was that, and the incessant buzzing of the woman's presence still lingering in the distant recesses of her consciousness, of course.

She had walked Mel to her red Gremlin then set off a few blocks down the street, feeling like a bundle of nerves about being alone. "Mel really needs to get a cuter car" Anzu said loudly to no one, just trying to ease her fears, which unfortunately didn't help at all. As if to set the mood, a thick fog settled itself and permeated low on the ground and covered the street light's glow in a smothering murky blanket of mist. Trying to find something to concentrate on other than the ethereal stillness and ghostly fog, her mind wandered to the woman's words.

But first, you shall have to become my sweet little apostle, won't you? Those words had a promise hidden in them. And what did she mean by "apostle"? Isn't that some kind of disciple or follower? What does she want with me?

Oh, what nonsense am I thinking, it was just my imagination. Gotta' lay off the Stephen King novels, eh old girl? But I swear…she was so familiar…

The girl's chocolate eyebrows furrowed together in her musings as she got in the piece-of-crap car, turning on the ignition, ineffectively squinting trying to make her way home in the unnaturally thick fog.

A dark silhouette swiftly dissolved into the shadows, following the little blue car until it parked itself in the parking lot of a modest-looking apartment. The figure quickly jumped to the side of the building, and melted into the shadows while keeping its trenchant gaze on the girl.

It slowly licked its lips as it watched Anzu get out of the car, shifting her head to the side nervously, trying to dissuade her irrational notion of someone, something watching her. But even when seeing nothing, she felt a dreadful shiver run up and down her spine, the kind you get right before something truly awful is about to happen. The creature grinned, two pearly-white pointed fangs gleaming in the moonlight, dripping with its saliva. The saliva dripped off the incisors, onto its full, deep-red lips. The seductress' heliotrope eyes lit up with glee when Anzu slammed her car door, not minding when the tarpaulin acting as the driver seat's window flew off in the night's angry zephyrs.

Anzu's indigo hued eyes widened in a sort of paranoid alarm when she felt the eyes burning into her being even more intensely. She let out a frightened whimper, sounding much like a kitten does when mewling for her mother. Scanning the area one more time for the thing she was now almost positive was out there, she sprinted up the stairs to door 230, her apartment number, shaking her head when she thought she heard a giggle, the same one that she heard in her head earlier. Groping awkwardly inside her purse for the set of keys, her wide eyes darted around, completely alert and expecting something to jump out and snatch her kicking and screaming body off to its lair, gnashing its sharp teeth, ready to feast on her organs.

Her stalker had picked up that thought link and was about to make her fantasy come true (well, not the eating part), until the fumbling girl finally found the right set of keys, quickly sticking it into the lock, rushing into her apartment and slamming the door shut without looking back. The odd individual slinked along the wall of "Domino Square Apartments", stopping suddenly, underneath a small frosty window perched on the fourth floor.

Pressing her breasts flat on the wall, she slid her willowy hands up slowly over her head, then sinking her sharp talons into the red brick. Jumping lightly, the tips of her leather boots dug into the brick wall. She sinuously climbed up the vertical-straight wall of the apartment lifting herself onto the windowsill of apartment 230 with ease. Pushing back her thick, golden sausage curls from her insipid face, she sat on her boot-clad heels, pressing one of her pale cheeks against the window.

Her warm breath would have fogged it up, had she have had any life dwelling inside her body. Her perfectly plump, blood-red lips curled into a bitter smile, as she was reminded of the life she once had. Like a spider waiting for its prey to stumble upon their web, she stayed absolutely still waiting for the young woman she had been playing with all night.

After slamming her apartment door shut, Anzu pressed her back flat against it, sliding down to the ground. She took a minute to wipe her sweat-covered brow and to calm her racing heart. Closing her eyes tightly shut and shaking her head incredulously, she started laughing slowly. Covering her face with her hands, she brought her head down to her knees, which were tucked into her chest. Her laughs became louder and her shoulders shook with the force of them. Small crystal teardrops leaked from the corners of her eyes and her face turned to a tomato-red. Her muffled sounds had become a muddle of hysterical titters and wailing gasps.

When she had finally calmed down, she raised her flushed face, and wiped the streams of salty wetness formed on her cheeks. She brought her hands up to her temples and started to move in a backwards circular motion, trying to ward off the impending headache she felt coming. "I really am going crazy, aren't I?" Sniffling a little, she sighed and picked herself off the floor, dusting her dirty bottom. "Gotta clean this place up" she mumbled while getting her dancing bag, dragging it on the floor then throwing it inside her bedroom.

Grabbing her sweatshirt by the bottom, she lifted it over her head and threw that somewhere into her bedroom too, most likely on the floor where the rest of her wardrobe was. Slipping her feet out of her sneakers and leaving them in the middle of the hall, she shuffled over to the small but quaint kitchen. Opening one of the wooden mahogany cabinets, she pulled out an almost empty bottle of ibuprofen, just in case that headache decided to make an unwanted visit.

She took out one of the remaining three pills, and then poked her head into the cabinet looking for a glass. She pursed her lips together in a pouting gesture when seeing nothing, and then looked down to her sink to see all her dishes in the right side. Have to do those sometime soon, huh? Shrugging, she popped the pill in her mouth, turning the right handle of her sink waiting for the water to become a cool enough temperature. Holding back her chocolate tresses from her face, she dipped her head down to the running water, letting it swish freely in her mouth. Swallowing it, and the pill, she relished in the cool, wet feel of the water as it revitalized the desiccated desert that was her throat.

Resting her elbows on the marble countertop with her chin in her hands, her eyes swooped over to the telephone. "Maybe I should call Mel…" she pondered out loud, "See if she made it home okay…"

Thinking about it for a minute, she shook her head, deciding that Mel would probably be asleep by now. She sat down to read for a bit, but when her eyes became heavier from the lack of sleep and something she labeled "a minor panic attack", she put Stephen King's "Insomnia" away and trundled on over to her pig-sty of a bedroom. In the past, Anzu had a history of panic attacks. When other's stress gets too high, or if it just decides to sneak up on you for no reason, their deepest fears are thrust upon them, manifested into their everyday lives in what would be called a "panic attack".

Coincidentally, one of Anzu's greatest fears were, and still are, the unholy beings that seduce you into the dark path of life, corrupting your very soul, warping your innocence so much that even your God couldn't hope to save you. An example could be…the undead…a Wampyr. When she was a child, she often had dreams of a beautiful woman who was her friend. Anzu played with her in a beautiful field. Thousands of pastel and vibrant colored flowers dotted the lush spring-green grass and many weeping willow trees resided there, like big yet gentle, guards defending the serenity and splendor of her-their-special field.

A gentle and warm, floral-scented breeze eternally wafted through their field making the flowers dance merrily, and the tree's arms sway in tune to the sweet harmony. Butterflies, other insects, and small animals such as rabbits and squirrels were plentiful and Anzu would play with them while waiting for her guardian angel, as she thought of her.

In her dreams, she wore a long sheer white cotton tunic, and a silky white belt to go with it. She walked the field barefoot and wore a white headband with once again, white daises wove in-between the soft and silky strands of her mane.

* Anzu's Dream (She was 9 years old at this time) *

A young girl with chocolate brown strands being tossed in the cool breeze cautiously made her way to the largest weeping willow in their field, the one planted right in the center, the head guard among the army of weeping willows. Her usually large, buoyant indigo eyes were now narrowed and darted around the field anxiously. The atmosphere was different than the many other times she had visited, the usually comfortably warm breeze now nipped through her thin tunic, eliciting small goose bumps along her porcelain skin.

The trees, which were usually serene surveying their field contentedly, now loomed over her ominously. The animals uncharacteristically hid from her, watching her with their large doe eyes where she couldn't see them. All the colorful insects were currently absent too, yet a few of the less appealing bugs were out; such as slugs, snails, spiders and gnats. The sun was veiled behind smoky-grey clouds and the cosmic sky was a dark amethyst in color. The flora was still there, but the vibrancy they usually held seemed to be drained from them, and they sagged dejectedly towards the now yellow-green grass.

Suppressing a shiver that threatened to rack her body, young Anzu planted herself on the wooden swing her guardian angel made for her so long ago. Swinging back and forth slowly, she listened to the unusual creaking and moaning the ropes made while waiting for her guardian angel. I'm scared. I want to go home. I want to go home. I WANT TO GO HOME! The girl lowered her head and began sniffling, small rainbow-colored tears trickling down her pale cheeks.

Startled when she heard soft, unsteady footsteps coming towards her, she raised her tear streaked face and broke out into a large beaming grin when she saw her guardian angel walking towards her. She frowned, however, when she saw her appearance. Normally, her guardian angel had a beautiful glow around her and a reticent, but sweet smile usually danced upon her lips. Looking at her now, she compared how she looked to the first time she had met her.

~ * Anzu's first dream with her guardian angel * ~

Anzu's eyes shot open suddenly. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, large and curious blue orbs. She was slightly disoriented, but then again, who wouldn't be, waking up in a different place than where you had fallen asleep, and in a different outfit. She slowly got up, her large, slightly oversized spherical orbs almost impossibly widening to an even larger size as she gazed about her new surroundings with child-like wonder. Doing a three-sixty, she broke out into high-pitch giggles, spinning on the back of heels, then falling back onto the soft grass with a small "thud".

Petting a white rabbit that hopped over to her, she laughed gaily when it twitched its wet, pink nose. Intent to explore all this beautiful wonderland had to offer, she began smelling flowers, prancing with animals, studying bugs, even took a quick dip in her birthday suit in a little refreshing stream, catching a trout in her hands that were deceptively quick for their small size.

Bringing it up to her face, she laughed as it struggled, its mouth gaping. Letting it go, she waded out of the stream that went up to her tummy, and slipped the cotton tunic back on. Not in such a rush this time, she went to the large weeping willow in the center, and admired its majestic, elderly beauty.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Anzu gasped and spun around on her heel to be met face to face, or below her chest, really, with a beautiful woman. The woman's face was slender and she had a cute thin nose. Her eyes were a warm honey-brown color and were filled with a motherly kindliness. Her glistening pale pink lips were set in a loving smile and fiery red-brown hair swayed with the wind down to her lower back. She was wearing a flowing tunic that reached to her ankles, showing her bare feet. It was a pastel pink in color and had no sleeves, showing off her delicate peach skin. A white scarf garlanded her neck, but flowed off her back sort of like a cape. Silver bangles adorned her small wrists and ankles.

Her entrancing, warm, gaze never leaving Anzu's, she glided over to the mystified girl. When she walked, it didn't look like her feet touched the ground at all. "Do you like it here, Anzu?" Bending down on her knees, she rested a slender hand on Anzu's shoulder and locked her honey-brown eyes that always looked half-closed, yet were always alert, with Anzu's wide indigo ones. "So, do you?" She asked gently again, her voice filled with saccharine warmth.

The little girl gulped to help her parched throat, and nodded her head. The woman let out a breathy, yet reserved, laugh that was carried away by the breeze sounding like chiming bells. "Can you not speak?" Anzu flushed and curtseyed while squeaking out an apology.

"There's no need to be sorry, I'm sure you must be curious, hmm?" "Y-yes…where am I? I fell asleep in my bed, but woke up here…" "Don't worry, you're still home. You're dreaming, this is your dream world. I created it for you. Is it not to your liking?"

Anzu shook her head vigorously, hair flying wildly about her face and whipping across the lady's. She shielded her face from the onslaught, letting out another one of her tinkling laughs. "No, I love it, it's really pretty! But why are you doing this for me and who are you? Are you a…fairy?"

Anzu's curious eyes peeked out from under her tousled bangs, peering up at the "pretty lady" as she thought of her. Sitting down next to the young girl, she laughed slightly again. "No, not a fairy. Why I'm doing this for you isn't important." Something Anzu couldn't identify flashed through the woman's eyes. "But you can call me your…guardian angel, if you want." Beaming up at her, Anzu threw her arms around her guardian angel's neck laughing when they both toppled onto the grass.

After rolling around in the grass play-wrestling, they both lay on their backs watching the puffy marshmallow-clouds lazily drift in the cerulean-blue sky. Without a word, her guardian angel got up and glided over to the weeping willow tree. Anzu inquiringly followed behind her watching her guardian angel keenly. The woman waved her slight hand towards the tree and Anzu let out a gleeful shriek when she saw the wooden tree swing manifest itself out of thin air. She ran up to it and sat down giving her guardian angel puppy dog eyes in hopes she'd push her. Sighing, the woman glided (as she always does) behind her protégé lightly pushing her and relishing in the delighted laughs Anzu gave. Enjoy this while you can, Anzu. I don't know how much longer I can have this time with you until she comes for me.

~ * Back to the other dream (When she was nine) * ~

Anzu immediately hopped off the swing and ran to her guardian angel's side. She was usually graceful on her feet, yet now, she was teetering and on the verge of falling. Anzu guided her over to the swing, gently helping her to sit. Her tunic was tattered and dirty, which before never happened in this paradise. Her silver bangles were missing and her hair had dirt caked through it. Scratches marked her face, legs, and arms, and she had a cavernous gash on her stomach that was pouring blood out freely. The life in her eyes, though they were still the same beautiful color, was flickering and threatened to disappear for good. Blood trickled out the side of her mouth as she gasped for air.

"What happened to you?" Anzu had begun crying again, now afraid for her guardian angel's life. "Please…Anzu…you must...leave me", she managed to wheeze out between her raspy breaths. "No! What are you talking about! I would never leave you alone!"

"Anzu", she said more forcefully this time, "There is no time to play games. You must do what I say and go!" "I don't understand what you're talking about! Why do I have to leave? Don't you like me anymore?" Anzu sniffled, looking at her guardian angel through watery eyes. "Oh Anzu…"

"Please, please listen to me. She is coming. She will kill you if she has to, just to get to me. Take this and leave." Her guardian angel held out her hand, cupping it into Anzu's. Anzu looked down at her palm which now held a silver pendant with a star symbol. "What…what is this for?" "Use it if the need should ever arise to protect yourself from the most wicked of evil. My time…is short. She's coming after me, you have to go now. This is my battle and I shall fight it to the death. You have to hide somewhere until it's safe."

Slipping the pendant around her neck and nodding solemnly, Anzu got off her feet and was about to run off and hide until she heard the corrupt laughing coming from all around her. "No…Anzu, you must run now!"

She nodded dumbly and scrambled only a few feet away before… "Yes, that's it Anzu, ru-" Anzu glanced over her shoulder to see what had cut her off, eyes growing more wide than they had ever been, instantly filling with her rainbow tears. "Nooooo!!" She ran up to her guardian angel, who had a woman's claw protruding through where her heart had once been.

Her guardian angel's flaccid body slumped to the ground and revealed her murderer. A woman with a mad glint in her eyes was crouched behind the swing. She had large heliotrope eyes, the same color as the angry, dark amethyst sky. Golden curls cascaded around her face, down to her lower back. Her face was ghostly pale and two sharpened fangs protruded from her grinning mouth onto plump, blood-red lips. Her claw was still outstretched, with the guardian angel's heart gripped in them. Keeping her mad gaze on Anzu's petrified one; she slowly brought the heart to her mouth, sinking her fangs into it, tearing the flesh apart, and feasting ravenously.

Anzu's already pale face paled even more as she watched this, this demon devour her guardian's heart right in front of her. The woman finished it quickly, snaking her tongue out, seductively licking her fingers and lips clean of the crimson blood. Standing up, she slowly stalked towards Anzu, laughing in mad delight when Anzu ran backwards, tripping on a root and falling to the ground.

She frantically crawled backwards on her bottom, but then finally finding the sense to scramble to her feet. She turned away, running from the crazed thing that killed her precious angel right in front of her, and who she was sure now wanted to kill her too. The woman hunted her prey slowly, relishing the feel of the chase, the frantic cries coming from the girl, and the distressed thought waves she could feel pouring off her body in waves.

To Anzu, it seemed like she had been running for a lifetime, running, running, yet everything looked exactly the same. She stopped, bending down and resting her hands on her knees, wheezing and gulping in air. She turned around slowly and let out a despairing scream when she saw the golden angel of death not two feet away from her. "Come here Anzu", the beauty cooed out, stretching her claw out, beckoning Anzu towards her with her eyes.

Anzu took an unsure step, shook her head, then started to turn around, but once again stepped towards the demon when her mind felt the strong pull of the demoness. "Yes, dear, come to me." Anzu's hand subconsciously found its way to the silver pendant hanging around her neck while she was making her way towards the vampire, which cleared her mind of its pressing control.

Whimpering, she turned around again, and tried running once more. The vampire let out an enraged shriek, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Damn it, girl! You're trying my patience you stupid little wench!" The vampire hissed out before raising her claw towards the sky, and then thrusting it down towards the ground suddenly. Anzu stopped as she watched the already dismal environment turn bleak and even darker. The flowers which had been drooping before withered to an ugly brown while the trees' leaves disappeared and the branches became dead and frail.

The grass thinned until nothing but the soil was left. Looking around, she saw the bones of the animals she used to play with, rats picking their rotting flesh off their carcasses. Se shrieked as large snakes, spiders, earwigs, and other vile earth crawlers scuttled around her feet. The sky became infested with vultures, as they circled around her head, beady eyes watching, waiting for the moment of her impending death.

"Isn't it beautiful?", the vampire said using her guardian angel's voice, "I created this for you. Is it not to your liking, Anzu?" The vampires' laughter rang throughout the treacherous place, filling Anzu's head. She covered her ears and shut her eyes tight trying to block everything out, the smell of rotting flesh, the vision of her guardian angel's eyes blank as her last breath was taken in, and the sounds of the demon's laughter ringing through her young mind.

Anzu fell to her knees, more and more rainbow-colored tears falling in little crystal drops to the ground. "She's, she's…gone." Anzu began muttering to herself repeatedly, not noticing when the vampire had crept up behind her.

She slowly curled her lethal claws around Anzu's throat, taking a moment to stroke Anzu's delicate skin. Anzu was huddled on her knees, still chaotically muttering pitiful words between her choked sobs. She didn't notice when the vampire brought her parted lips to her neck, fangs an inch away from claiming their goal; Anzu's life-force.

Anzu! Use my gift now! Her guardian angel's voice rang through her head, helping clear some of the madness swimming through without. Now aware of the creature's mouth upon her neck, she quickly ripped her silver pendant off its thin chain and drove it upon the vampire's forehead quicker than the vampire predicted. Her attacker shrunk back shrieking and rubbing the spot where the holy pendant had burned her. "What in the mother of darkness' name did you do to me, bitch?" She hissed out, warily eyeing the jewelry dangling from Anzu's small, clenched fist, rather than the child herself.

Not wasting any time to answer, Anzu took off running once again, a new fire ignited in her indigo eyes from the new hope she had. Keeping the silver weapon poised in her fist and ready for striking, she ran, now exempt from the fears that were swarming around her.

"I, I'm not of afraid of you demon!" "Well you should be."

The vampire bounded off towards her fleeing prey, face twisted into an ugly mask of hunger and rage, and steadfast determination. Unfortunately, Anzu's eyes were kept on her pursuer, so she missed the root jutting out before her. Her right foot got caught in the root, causing her left foot to trip over the other. The woman laughed triumphantly as the silver pendant, Anzu's safeguard, flew out of her hands and rolled a few feet away from her body which lay face first in the muddy soil.

"Oh, Anzu my sweet. Soul daughter of my mortal enemy. Shall I make you mine?" She cooed out as she picked up Anzu gently. Cradling her in her lap, she hummed a strangely soothing lullaby as she pushed back Anzu's chocolate brown tendrils from her creamy neck. Anzu sighed contentedly, lulled in by spell being sung to her.

"Yes. You want to stay with me, don't you?" Anzu's sleepy eyes looked up towards the woman, and furrowed her eyebrows when she saw two different people. Smiling pleasantly down towards her, she saw the face of her deceased guardian angel. But when she concentrated, the distinct shape of the vampire was seen grinning down at her with a hunger glinting in her dark-amethyst eyes. Shaking her head clear, she grabbed the vampire's hand, which was caressing her throat, and bit down hard.

"Ahh! Goddamn you, you little twerp!", she cried out, leaping to her feet, Anzu falling to the ground because of it. Once again, Anzu made the run for her life, reaching out for the silver pendant glinting in the dirty soil. She hurled it at the vampire who was cradling her stinging hand, landing straight on her left cheek, leaving a tell-tale star-shaped burn.

She let out despairing wails, trying to pry the burning pendant off her face. Anzu watched, enraptured, as the flesh on her cheek slowly melted away. With one last scream, she flung it off her burning skin staring at her claw, which was dripping with her pale skin, looking like wax.

Giving a menacing glare to Anzu, she whispered one thing before disappearing. "I promise Anzu. I will come back for you and make you mine." Then Anzu woke up, missing the glow that surrounded the pendant before she left her field.

~ * Back to present-time, Anzu was just getting to her bedroom * ~

Anzu walked into to her pitch-dark bedroom, occasionally tripping over various objects haphazardly strewn about the floor. Not even bothering to change out of her clothes, she plopped head-first onto the bed, almost instantly falling into a deep and troubled slumber.

The figure crouched outside Anzu's fourth story window smirked in delight when she saw her soon-to-be follower plop ungracefully onto the big downy bed. She began working her magic, calling terrible memories that were buried far in Anzu's mind to the surface. Anzu tossed and turned as the vampire called upon the moment her guardian angel's death, being chased by the vampire, the wasteland her beautiful field had been turned into.

She planned to have this go on for most of the night, enjoy Anzu's sweet whimpers, and the rainbow tears that were trickling down her troubled, pale face. That, however, was abruptly put to an end when she heard a sharp knock at the door. She cursed in the old-world tongue when Anzu shot up like a lightning bolt, rushing to the front door when the knocking became more frantic.

Who would dare interrupt my fun? They shall pay with their lives… Mai Kujaku. A vampire, the sworn enemy of Shizuka. The very same woman whose heart she devoured in Anzu's dream world. But that was, in fact not just a dream. It was reality. Shizuka is no longer, and Mai still lives on (or at least exists), ready to make Shizuka's soul daughter her disciple. Though she harbors ill-will for the girl, considering the star-shaped burn never healed, she thinks that Anzu would be of more use alive (or undead) as her follower. She will teach her everything to know about the dark path, the path that shuns God and the heavens themselves. She will become a child of the dark lord, instead of a child of the holy lord.

Mai pressed her cheek against the cool glass, using her preternatural hearing to decipher just who it was that ruined her game. Hearing what was going on, a sly grin played upon her luscious lips as she thought of a new use of Anzu's friend, and a new game to play.

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