He opened his eyes to be presented with a white ceiling.
'Am I in a hospital?'
"You are awake."
He looked to his right to see the black-and-red-undercut-haired man. Oh, he is not in the hospital, then.
"What happened?"
"You don't remember?"
Sora asked skeptically. Michael furrowed his eyebrows.
"No? Why are you here?"
Sora would just come down to bring some food to him, but he didn't see any food near him. Therefore, Sora came for a different reason. Is he going to continue doing his research now?
"Nothing to worry about."
"Are you sure?"
"Maybe?"
What's wrong with this man?
"I need to ask you something."
Michael raised an eyebrow.
"Last night, what did you remember?"
"Last night?"
Well, last night was a usual night. It was dark, but he couldn't fall asleep, so he stared at the ceiling while lying down on the bed. Oh yes, he also made the decision to kill himself later, after he had fully healed.
Also, if he wanted to know what had happened to him in this world but then made a resolution to not pry into that anymore. It would be a waste of time and not important for him to know. Maybe he was deemed dead in this world, so why would he care further about this matter anyway?
What if someone who knew him in this world was shocked to see him alive? That would be a disaster, in his opinion.
Oh yes, something happened after that.
"I dream about something."
"Dream?"
He nodded. He heard the hissing sound before he could see a snake's face, and suddenly he saw a human above him. It is scary. Why would he dream about something like that?
"About a snake. I think it was just a nightmare."
"Is that all?"
"Then I dream about a human, presumably the snake."
Could the man be the snake? Who knows? In a fantasy world, everything could happen. No, more like, in a dream, anything could happen. He is dreaming, right?
"Did you mean this human?"
Hm? Sora stepped aside. Michael quickly sat up to see what Sora had been hiding behind him. He widened his eyes when he saw the creature on the floor, tied up, and the mouth covered.
"Who? What?"
The man opened his eyes to look at him with a sharp gaze. The golden-slit eyes reminded him of something else.
"That's him! I remember the eyes now! He appeared out of nowhere. Eh, wait, so it was not a dream?"
"Is that so?"
Sora crouched down beside the tied-up man. The man kept glaring at Sora before Sora picked him up by the collar to sit up.
"He is an intruder. I found him last night with you on the bed."
Michael looked at Sora with a horror expression before he wrapped his arms around his body.
"Did he do something to me?"
"Unfortunately..."
"Oi!"
"Fortunately no. I managed to come here before he did more unimaginable things that both of us don't want to imagine."
"Hmm! Humph!"
The two looked at the intruder, who was glaring sharply at them while uttering some incoherent words, but Sora didn't even make a move to pull away the cloth that was covering his mouth.
"But..."
"There is a but?"
Michael frowned. Is he being taken advantage of in this condition? God forbid!
"He was doing something to you until you fell unconscious. So I need to know what he did after you woke up. Did you remember anything else?"
Michael scrunched his forehead. What else? He remembered being shut down with a hand when he was about to shout for help, and then, and then. He shook his head.
"I don't know."
Sora frowned.
"When I arrived here, I saw this intruder take something from you."
Does he have something on him that needs to be stolen? He didn't carry anything valuable, though. Whoever has an interest in him when he is basically like a mummy with these bandages and this burned skin around his body? But he has an attractive face. That's one point he could make.
"Check your neck."
Michael raised his hand to touch his neck. He could feel the bandages like usual, but wait, there's something wrong with the bandages. There are two tiny holes.
"What the hell is this?"
"He bit you."
He what?! Michael frantically unwrapped the bandages around his neck to check for any bite marks, but what he could feel was only the burned skin, like usual. There is no such thing as a bite mark when he touches his neck or looks at it in the mirror.
"There's nothing here."
"I figure a lot when you're not bleeding anymore. So, that's settled. Now, I want to ask you something."
Sora turned his attention towards the intruder before he pulled away the cloth covering his mouth.
"You are a vampire, right? More specifically, a vampire snake clan that was extinct more than 400 years ago."
Silence.
"Okay, you don't need to give your answer because I already know. What I wanted to know is, why did you choose Michael?"
Sora's eyes twitched slightly at the lack of response. Sora let out a sigh before a sword emerged from out of nowhere in his hand. He pierced the sword into the intruder's shoulder, getting a groan from the man.
"Now choose. Speak or suffer?"
Sora pulled out his sword, and a metallic smell began to fill the room.
"A wise choice is to speak because I know death is not your option when you are the only one left in your clan."
One minute passed with nothing but silence. Sora pierced his sword through his other shoulder.
Hiss!
The intruder glared at Sora, but Sora looked at him with an indifferent expression.
"Torturing is not really my favourite, but sometimes this activity is a stress release."
He turned the sword harshly, getting a shout from the intruder. Michael winched while watching this brutality.
"Bastard."
"That does not answer my question."
Sora continued to stab him at the same spot, making the wound larger and more blood ooze out from there. The blood smell was slowly becoming sickening for Michael, and his hands slowly shook.
Sweat dripped down his face after a while, making him unable to sit still because his body was becoming hotter than usual.
"Sora."
"Hm?"
"It's hot."
Sora frowned. Hot? In here? The cooling magic he cast around here was still activated. He makes sure this room is cool enough for Michael to live in. But then, this boy is sweating and shaking slightly.
"You are shaking."
Sora frowned again before he squinted his eyes at the conclusion he had reached. He pulled away the sword before it vanished from everyone's view.
"You.."
The golden-slit eyes looked at him, and slowly the intruder's lips raised upward.
"You have done a sealing process with him, don't you?"
He didn't look at Sora but at Michael.
"Bingo."
The hazel and golden eyes looked at each other.
'Such a shame we meet again like this after so long, kiddo.'
"Michael, we will begin the research today."
Michael averted his eyes to look at Sora.
"I've found my last material."
A smile stretched across Sora's face, sending chills down both their spines.
It looks like he doesn't need to waste time anymore. Three years were already too much. Just a bit more time, and he will succeed in this long-term task. Finally!
"Anyway, what's your name? I should know the name of something I will use in my experiment."
"Huh?"
"What? Wait, is he your last ingredient? He? Why?"
"I just found out last night, and look now. He came here with his own will to be in my experiment. I'm glad I didn't need to search the whole world for a vampire. It will take years of effort. You should be glad, Michael. You don't need to be a test subject for too long; maybe one or two times."
Sora gave a benign smile at the intruder.
"Oi, oi, I'm not agreeing to this!"
"Sad to say, but you have no choice, sir. I'll let you have his blood if you obey everything I say. Fair enough?"
"Oi, don't make decisions by using my blood! What if I die if he drinks too much?
"He won't. I bet your blood is his lifeline, so he can't let you die."
Sora crouched down in front of the intruder and whispered. Just the two of them could hear what Sora uttered next.
"You just come back to his side. I would like to know what your relationship is with him, and you must know what has happened to him."
Sora smiled when he saw the intruder's eyes widen.
"You have known him before, am I right? Unfortunately, he didn't remember you."
Sora pulled something out of nowhere again—a blue liquid in a small tube—before he forcefully chugged the liquid down the intruder's throat. The intruder coughed after he finished before sending a nasty glare at Sora.
"Let me use you however I want, and I will give back Michael to you."
Sora put the empty tube on the floor. The wounds on his shoulders were slowly closing.
"Let's have a good time together, sir."
Hiss.
Michael watched the staring contest between the two men with a complicated expression.