"Should we cook it? I heard bunnies taste good"
Wha-
Vivian was sure she could sense the fear in the eyes of the rabbit. Its nose twitched more rapidly.
'I can't waste my resources. I don't know if I'll be able to replace it,' there was a metallic ball that she fiddled with, as she looked over at the bunny that was close to getting roasted alive.
['Don't play with her, she's a child of the demon!'] A childish voice echoed in her head. She had no idea why this scene reminded her of her childhood bullies. For starters, these vampire kids were way more physical and torturous. Secondly, they never really affected her. She'd seen worse things.
The boy chuckled and placed his hand over the girl's. "I'll give you its blood," he smiled.
Vivian marched towards the two children as she held on to her sleeping gas. They both looked at her like a leering predator's eyes under the dark, starry sky.
Trying to look unfazed, she smiled at the two vampires, claiming, "oh mother of Dragons, I thought I lost my child. Come here Raven," Vivian was grateful that the rabbit seemed to understand her. It wiggled from the boy's grasp and jumped down towards her. She held it on her arms as she fixated her gaze on the kids, "thank you for finding my baby."
Vivian was about to roll a ball towards the two vampires when the girl twirled backward, her dress flowing into her momentum, and humphed, "whatever, I lost interest in that bunny," their footsteps faded away in the darkness as they walked further away. Vivian sighed, glad that she didn't have to use anything to save the rabbit.
She patted its soft, shiny black fur as she left the alley. It nudged against her cheeks and licked her chin. She was surprised that it warmed up so easily to her. Bubbles of fondness towards the rabbit grew in her system. "Hehe, you're very pretty," she beamed.
As if it knew what she was talking about, it's nose twitched joyfully as it looked at her. Then, it stood up and rested its chin on her shoulders, rubbing against her shirt and tickling Vivian. She had always wanted a pet, but Helen was unfortunately allergic to about anything with fur. She remembered taking a cat home as a child, only to realize Helen got terrible hives from it when she brought it inside the house. Vivian felt extremely apologetic for not asking. She forgave her saying she didn't know any better.
Helen's kindness truly knew no bounds. She was kind even to the people from the tribe who condemn her. An inner strength Vivian could only wish to achieve.
There were no signs of ownership found around the rabbit. "Are you a stray?" she flipped its soft body around and confirmed her thoughts. She was surprised to find a rabbit with such a gorgeous eye color, but that's Yang Nation for you. "I'll help you get back home, okay?" she sensed familiarity in seeing this intelligent creature. Maybe helping it would ease her anxiety for a bit and her mind would be ready to formulate plans right after.
Vivian carried the creature with her and strolled around the street until they saw what seemed to be the entrance to a looming forest. She didn't need to wear her mossy glasses, thanks to the balls of light all over the place, but the world was still dimmer than she's used to. With a few times of them getting lost, she was finally able to find a place to release the rabbit. She now craved for food.
"Okay okay, go on and find your family. Be careful not to bump into anyone suspicious," Vivian set the rabbit down on the grass. She patted the rabbit on its cheeks and smiled. She already felt melancholy from parting ways with the little adorable creature. "Don't get lost okay!"
Breeze filled up the night. Vivian walked around the Yi State and searched for a clothing store. She needed a lot of clothes to cover herself from freezing, and blend in with the vampires. She didn't want to draw upon unnecessary attention to herself, especially after her panic attack. Smoldering orbs still lurked around her in the darkness, unwilling to allow her to relax even for a burst of a moment. The rabbit really helped her ease her nerves.
Finding specific structures proved to be difficult, yet again, with only the floating orbs to illuminate the way. Every architecture looked the same, regardless if it was a restaurant, a house, or some kind of store. These tall buildings had stone exteriors, complicated asymmetrical shapes, and decorative trims. They all looked like mini castles. Creepy, ominous looking ones. Looking elegant, but gloomy.
Maybe it was the sudden temperature drop that she was not used to, but looking at the structures gave her goosebumps. There were barely any other colors used in the buildings except bloody red and murky violet.
As she wandered around, there were minuscule shuffles that followed wherever she went. The murmurs of the crowd drowned out in her head as she focused on the tiny footsteps behind her.
Vivian looked back and, indeed, the rabbit followed her.
"Don't you have a family to go back to?" she sighed. As if a master of the human and vampire language, it did a binky towards her, before running around her feet and it hopping on her arm, a few inches away from her face. It stared at her with its doe eyes, as if it's pleading to stay with her. Maybe taking care of another creature could help distract her from her thoughts.
Vivian exhaled as she began to figure out the costs of taking care of another creature. "Fine. But you need to behave."
The furball licked the sides of her eyes in happiness. Vivian closed her eyes as she nudged against the rabbit's soft fur. They stood to the side of a building called 'Dress Up'.
When she opened her eyes, everything around her looked clearer, as if she gained her own pair of vampire eyes. Surprised, she stared at the rabbit. "Did you do this?" It flopped down on her arm and she patted its head. Even other creatures in here have abilities? "Thank you."
Vivian's stomach grumbled. Ugh, right. She still needed to eat. The smell of freshly grilled meat from across the street lingered into her nose, causing a salivating ocean inside her mouth. 'Store first, then eat.' She couldn't postpone her change of attire any longer. The deeper she walked into this State, the more apparent she was out of place.
This clothing store looked like a black and white cylindrical tower attached to a tall, rectangular house behind it. She noticed that the stores and restaurants had a greater amount of windows than a normal mansion. Like the other buildings in this state, there were detailed carvings and elegant designs on it. On top of it floated the word 'Avery's' in a little arch. Vivian counted it had three floors- the amount of floors most common in the structures around the area.
She caught a glimpse of the dresses inside the building- all of them looking like what a female human would wear during her coming of age ceremony, or some other grand event. Vivian lamented thinking about the price of the clothing. Regardless, she strode her way inside the store.
The first thing that came to mind was how her eyes received information upon information about all kinds of garments (from the difference in coloring, to undergarments a female wore underneath all the fluffiness like a petti...coat?).
Huh?
Across from Vivian, the section of petticoats, two violet orbs directed at her. An Amethyst vampire with a face veil around her eyes that resembled a net. A huge bloody flower attached to the side of her veil, and Vivian had a premonition that if this woman ever killed her, she would be the type of killer whose eyes remained detached til her prey's last breath. Goosebumps covered Vivian's whole body like a cat sensing a threatening presence. She gulped, unable to take her eyes away.
Amethyst vampires were the most powerful vampires out there. They could form an army of a thousand on a single day just because of their mind-based ability. What followed that was the second-most rare class of vampires: the Ruby vampires.