• Immortal Bound
    Written By: Zetsura
    Story By: Pheonix Of The Ice
    Drizzel took a deep breath and stared into the bright, flickering flame. His gentle gray eyes scanned the dancing colors, watched as the spark hovered in the air, and then vanished.
    “What’s on your mind?” Came a gentle, female voice from behind.
    “Nothing.” He turned his head slightly to look at the woman. “Rioko.”
    Rioko was tall and slim, with beautiful green eyes, and straight, long brown hair that was tied up, with two streams of hair dangling out at either side of her face.
    She smiled and tilted her head to even her gaze with his. “Nothing, is it?” She sat down beside him on the bench, and rested her hand atop his. “When you got home yesterday, you know that we all smelt her.”
    Drizzel glanced at their hands, and then back into the fire.
    “I know that you didn’t fight her, so… what happened?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Drizzel. You know that this is only going to bring you, not to mention the tribe, some trouble.”
    “Yeah, I know. But… there’s just something about her…”
    “Something? Yeah, she’s a vampire! She’s our sworn enemy!” Rioko gripped Drizzel’s hand and forced her gaze upon him. “She eats humans! She kills them!”
    “No.”
    “What?”
    “I didn’t smell any human blood.”
    “Does that tell you anything?”
    “Yes.” Drizzel could feel his mind racing as images of her continued to flash through his mind.
    Rioko sighed and bowed her head. “Fine. But, I’m going with you when you next see her.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’m your best friend, and I think I deserve to know who it is that’s going to be the end of you.”
    “She won’t be.”
    ~~~~~
    Nanika could feel it; the blood boiling inside of her, the demon fighting its way through. The distant sound of the town’s bell ringing echoed through her ears, pressing against her brain, forcing her onto her knees.
    At first, Loored continued to stare at her, his blue eyes piercing through her, like two knives, trying to bring out the darkness within her. But after a few minutes of her unbearable cries, he kneeled down beside her. She could feel his hands rest on her shoulders, throwing her into a pit of darkness, one unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
    It hardly seemed right. She didn’t belong her… she didn’t deserve this pain. Nanika bit into her lip, flinching as the blood began to stream down her chin. She could feel the bloody red color in her eyes washing away, fading, churning into a yellow, foggy mist. This was the fighting spirit of all vampires. Her heavy breaths bore a rhythm into her head, one that danced around in her chest, and stole the breath from her lungs.
    She fell onto her side, and threw her hands over her ears, trying to block out all of the voices that spun around her.
    “Why are you fighting it?” Loored rolled her onto her back, and pinned her shoulder down. “Look into my eyes!”
    “No! No, no, no, no, NO!” Nanika fought against him, tried to break free. She refused to let the demon inside. It threatened to change her, once again. It whispered words of binding into her still heart.
    Loored had done it… he had allowed the demon vampire to enter into his body, to lock him into eternity.
    Nanika remembered, faintly, the life that she had once lived. How long? One year, maybe two… But one night, that last night, was clear as day.
    …
    Nanika burst through the door, and ran into the empty streets. Her breath was heavy, and her mind racing. She was going to be late for her night shift, and she couldn’t stand to listen to her boss scream at her, yet again.
    The sound of a distant cry for help echoed from a nearby alley way. “What the hell?” She stopped and stared into the darkness that stood between the two buildings.
    Perhaps, this way, she could be late, with a just reason… She sprinted down the path, and around the winding corners, until she reached the end. All that stood, though, was a human shaped shadow that stood near the wall. Two bright blue eyes cut through the darkness, and suddenly, Nanika had fallen to her knees.
    “I just knew you’d come,” laughed the shadow’s calm, deep voice.
    “WH-what?”
    “Do you know how long I’ve waited for you? How long I’ve stalked you in the darkness of the night?”
    “Sh-shutup!” Nanika choked through her gasps.
    He stepped closer, revealing his thin body, and trimmed black hair. “I like you, so I’m going to give you a gift…” He kneeled before her, and opened his mouth slightly, as two fangs poked their ways through.
    Nanika grit her teeth in anger. She was paralyzed… stuck. All the cursing in the world wouldn’t get her out of this... She gasped as the fangs sunk into her neck, and the unbearable pain began to overwhelm her.
    What was happening? Was this a dream? No. The pain was real. It was definitely there, draining the very life from her body. She could see her history, her life, flashing before her eyes, and then vanishing, each memory, fading from her mind.
    Was she struggling? She couldn’t tell. The only that she could sense was… blood.
    …
    She screamed and tried to push Loored away. As long as she kept fighting… as long as she continued to hold onto that sliver of humanity within her…
    Loored released her and watched as she rolled onto her side, and struggled to push herself up off of the dank floor. “You can’t fight it forever,” He said over her choking coughs.
    “I’ll fight it… as long… as I have to!”

    There was one thing that was required for a vampire to receive their abilities; that was to welcome the demon within. A simple ghost, death itself, which lived within every human, and only survived with the blood of a vampire. Only those with the strongest, and purest of hearts, could bear to fight it… but even then… it will, ultimately, win.

    Loored took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “You can’t keep this up. And I’m not just going to stand her and watch you suffer!”
    “Then don’t!”