Chapter Ten: Deadly Game I’m Reluctant to Play:

I went home pale and trembling. Kaoru was a vampire? I tried my hardest to get that image out of my head. It only intensified as it played over and over again in my head. I froze up in my tracks and opened my eyes. Is that how Aki died? But everything about Kaoru screamed hetero. Maybe, it was a power and dominance thing. Or maybe it was a warning to me. Then, I began to realize, the news didn’t exactly say how Aki died. I then decided that I had to see for myself. So, I turned and walked all the way to the morgue. I didn’t even make a single stop during the entire trip. My heart pounding against my chest kept me moving. I held onto my ring under my dress with clinched fists.

I made it down to the morgue and pushed open the doors with great might. I ran all the way to the front. The man on duty looked up and saw me.

“Hirata-sama,” he said. “What can I help you with?” I slammed my hands down hard on the desk.

“Aki’s body!” I forced out. “Where is it? Is it still here?” The night-shift man blinked at me in confusion.

“Yes,” he said. “Why?”

“I need to see it!” I blurted out. “I think I might know how my fiancée was killed!” This caught his attention.

“Okay, right this way,” he said. Then, he got up from the desk and walked down the hall. I followed behind with quickened breath. As much as I didn’t want to be right, the truth was fast approaching. Turning back was not an option anymore. I had no choice but to face it now.

We made it all the way to the back room. The man took out his key and unlocked the door. I felt my heart speed up as we walked through the door. He led me through to the Aki’s cooler. The man in charge unlocked the door and drew out my beloved finacee. Sorrow waved into me like waves at the beach. I kept my grief hidden behind a stoic mask. The man turned back to me.

“What would you like me to do?” he asked. I forced my emotional down into the pit of my stomach.

“Show me his neck,” I said in a trembling voice. The guy turned his neck to me. My eyes slowly widened at the two things I had discovered. My Aki’s neck was broken and he had to puncture teeth marks that broke past the skin. As I began to regret learning that my suspicions were right, a little tiny benefit of the doubt crawled into my head. Kaoru could have broken Aki’s neck before he bit him. That is highly unlikely, but…

“When was his neck broken?” I asked.

“Post-mortem,” the man in charge told me. An icy pit reformed in my stomach. My fears had just come true. Kaoru killed my Aki! I backed away, pale as the winter snow. The doctor gave me an odd look.

“Something wrong, Hirata-sama?” he asked. I quickly shook my head.

I thank you, san!” I said with a quick bow. Then, I walked right out of that icy cold, morgue. I had the truth, but what could I do now? Who the hell was going to believe me when I said that Aki was murdered by a vampire? They would all think that my grief had driven me to insanity. However, I would have to deal with another, much bigger problem soon.

As I began to look for a cab to take me home, I felt someone grab me and snatch me up from behind. I tried to scream out, but I found that my mouth was firmly covered. Kicking to escape was not an option either. The action all happened so fast. And before I knew, I found myself face to face with Kaoru, floating up in mid-air above the city. I looked deep into his eyes with fear and terror. He glared at me with eyes of the Anti-Christ.

“How much do you know?!?” Kaoru growled. “Tell me, how much do you know?!?” I trembled in his grasp.

“You killed my Aki!” I cried. “I saw the puncture wounds on his neck!” This monster got angry at me and slapped me hard in the face. I gritted my teeth to hold back my pain. The last thing I wanted to do was give this bastard the satisfaction of seeing my suffering.

“I know what you are!” I hissed. “You’re a vampire! I saw you killing that woman behind the bar! You killed her! You killed her just like you killed Aki!” He slapped me again in the face and kissed me on the lips hard. I tried to fight him off at first. Kaoru didn’t seem to want to let go of me. I finally gave in and kissed him back. Then, he slowly leaned into my ear and held me with a freezing death grip. I felt and heard myself gasping at the pressure. Kaoru licked at my ear once.

“You breathe a word of what you saw tonight and I will kill everyone else dear to you, got it?” he hissed. I nodded at that quickly. I already saw what he did to my Aki; I didn’t want the same thing to happen to my friends and family. Kaoru gave me a chilling smirk.

“Good,” he told me. Then, we slowly floated back down to the ground. My captor let go of me with a push. I nearly stumbled backwards. Kaoru gave me a twisted, little smile.

“Good night,” he said. Then, the monster turned and disappeared into the night. I stood there staring at the empty space with huge, blank eyes. What kind of demented, twisted, fatal game had I gotten myself into?