The Story

The Characters

II: Half-Devoured

Urara woke much later that day, finding herself in a full-sized bed in a musty bedroom. The setting sun struggled to shine through the heavily-dusted windows lining the far wall. She threw back the covers and discovered her body had been clothed in a raw silk long-sleeved shirt. Slipping her feet into her black hemp sandals, Urara walked down the short steps into the adjoining den. The kitchen was just on the side opposite where she stood. As she looked about, her heart skipped a beat. Kheyman sat before a computer, typing away. His frowning reflection shone dimly on the screen of the computer, scanning over the worded lists rapidly moving up the screen. The lists came to an abrupt end and changed to a blank screen. The green cursor blinked monotonously in the upper left hand corner.

"And here I thought you'd never wake up." His voice, hard and cold, startled her and she stumbled back. Kheyman turned to her. His lavender spectacles rested on his head, revealing his hypnotic ice blue eyes. Urara felt herself growing dizzy as she couldn't help but stare into his eyes. Her eyelids drooped and her legs gave out beneath her. Kheyman suddenly darted forward out of the chair and caught her just as she was about to hit the floor. He flipped the spectacles down over his eyes, realizing what he'd done to her.

A blade slid out and he poked her cheek lightly, drawing blood. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed the nick with it. Suddenly frantic knocking on the front door caught him by surprise. There was no time to take care of Urara before whoever it was came in.

"Hey Kheyman! It's me; Pluto!" The door flew open and a young boy ran in. He froze in surprise when he saw Kheyman with the girl in his arms. He started for the door again. "Sorry. I'll come back another--"

"Pluto, wait. It's all right," Kheyman said as he put Urara on the couch. The boy shut the door and made his way over to him. "I had hypnotized her by accident."

"No problem, Kheyman. I got the disk like you wanted. I saved it since I knew you'd be coming back," Pluto told him. Kheyman took the narrow, microchip-like computer disk and slipped it into the disk drive. Immediately a menu came up and he clicked on one name. A front and side profile appeared along with status. It was a male with long brown hair and green eyes. His name was Sho Nichiren.

"This guy's been dead for about six hundred years now. So far, in this city alone, he's killed about seven people in three nights," Pluto explained.

"He's obviously a fast worker. But we can be even faster," Kheyman muttered, more to himself than Pluto.

"His main targets are prostitutes. But this guy isn't cheap; no way! He likes the expensive, weird types. Mostly the ones that you can get at those wacko nightclubs; particularly the one called the Raspberry Beret."

"You can get whatever you like there."

"Yeah--if you've got the money for it. Really funky place in a really funky part of town."

"Exactly."

"Now, how do we go about catching this guy? How about using that girl on your couch? I think she could really forge a prostitute, no questions asked." Kheyman gave him a funny look, then thought for a moment.

"All right. Sounds like a plan--"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!" Pluto and Kheyman spun round. Urara sat up on the couch with her hands on her hips, glaring at them. "There is no way you are going to use me as your guinea pig, no matter what you're up to!"

"Calm down, girl. You're going to have to let us use you. But it's not like you have to give this guy any. You can't," Kheyman told her. Pluto nodded.

"Yeah, I mean, the guy's dead. He's been dead for over six hundred years," Pluto added. Urara turned white.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I'm saying he's a vampire," Pluto sighed.

"Definitely not!" Urara leapt from the couch and ran for the door, but Kheyman caught her easily by the shoulders and spun her to face him. She was death white and trembling. "No, please, don't make me! Not with a vampire!"

"Be quiet. It will be all right. You have to do this for us," Kheyman snapped. She was trembling beneath his grip, but she glared up at him.

"Promise me you won't let him touch me."

"Fine."

"All right. But just remember; you promised!"

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