Luciel was walking around the dark streets. The holes in the road were filled with muddy water, giving the representation of the colony's current state.
He couldn't be in Alex's house anymore. It started to feel suffocating like he was in a prison.
'Blood.'
His stomach has been complaining for days now and he couldn't just ignore this feeling anymore.
Something was telling him to go out. He tried to fight against his predatory instincts, but after each hour, he had this kind of urge, to go out, to hunt and feed.
As he was walking, he kept his head down, with a black hood on his head and a long cape falling down his back, all the way to his knees.
While searching for food, he could hear it. The cries came from all directions, with sounds of grief, pain, sorrow, and occasional laughter here and there, but it didn't sound like someone was telling a joke. It was more like being happy that they got to eat and survive another day.
'This is not what I fought for.' Luciel clenched his fist, there was something that was eating him inside.
He would walk these streets all the time, but it was now, when he turned into this, that he would see the real state of the colony.
Luciel wanted to raise his head, he wanted to see the faces of the people who begged for nothing more than a little bit of food.
He could hear kids begging for leftovers, homeless for a little bit of money or bread. Whatever he would do, he couldn't mute those voices.
Feeling a gentle tug on his cape, he turned around. There was a tiny human right in front of him, holding his hands together.
"Mister… Do you maybe have a little bit of money…" The boy begged with a trembling voice while his gaze spoke for itself.
Luciel's heart shattered after seeing the big eyes with no shine at all. No hope or will to live. There was only darkness.
"I-" Luciel was about to answer, but the boy already started to take a few steps back, moving his hands closer to his chest.
The boy's mouth was open and his head was slightly going left and right. One could even see his knees shaking before he turned around, going for the run.
Luciel extended his hand. At first, he wanted to go for the boy, wanting to help but then stopped himself after figuring out what the boy might have seen - crimson red eyes.
He pressed his lips together tightly and lowered his head again. He could just disguise his eyes and fangs, but it felt uncomfortable and what's the point in doing so if everyone will recognize him the moment he shows his face.
He tugged the hood on his head and looked down again, he wanted to help those people. Just being their savior when it came to killing vampires didn't seem to be enough.
He continued to stroll, but whatever he would do, he couldn't get this one feeling in his body. The thirst for blood.
"Man… I'm starving…" He hugged his stomach, sensing how his humanity was seeping away, bit by bit.
He could feel his mind slowly going darker, reminding him of the time when he first turned.
"No… Keep it together." He gritted his teeth, fighting to stay in control.
He could feel his claws finally reveal themselves once he couldn't swallow his saliva at the speed it had been forming in his mouth.
Whenever he would try to retract his fangs, they would reappear soon after and his eyes were constantly giving off a slightly red glow.
Clasping his face with both hands, he tried to stay awake, but once a young woman walked past him, a pitch-dark void appeared in his memory.
He could feel it, a sweet, mouth-watering smell, making every cell run wild in excitement.
Luciel wanted to do it, he wanted to sink his fangs into her neck and drink every bit of blood, to the last drop.
Without realizing it, he was already following an innocent woman, preparing to make a jump on her, but before he could, there was a familiar voice coming from behind.
"Wow, hold on now, you glutton." Kai pulled Luciel back by his hand, not letting go and holding him in place.
Luciel growled for a moment before earning a punch right in the face, making him go back to reality.
"Kai?" Luciel asked after shaking his head, feeling slightly lost as to what happened. It felt like someone cut a small part of his life.
Taking a better look at Kai, he could see that his eyes were glowing with vibrant red color.
Luciel followed Kai's intense stare and saw that he was looking straight toward the young woman he was going after.
She probably turned around after hearing the commotion going on behind her, but instead of having a reaction like that boy from before, she just stood there, staring right into Kai's eyes like she was in a trance of some sort.
"Follow," Kai ordered, using a monotone voice, "And do not speak of this to anyone."
"Let's go." Kai moved his head slightly to the right, gesturing toward a dark alley so they could get away from prying eyes.
Luciel nodded to Kai, not saying a word since he didn't know how to feel right now, knowing exactly what he was going to do, not being able to imagine sinking his fangs willingly into someone's neck.
As they were walking, he kept glancing behind him. He knew that a vampire's influence ability is a strong one against the people who either lost their will to live or who let their guard down when hanging out with a vampire. That's why it wasn't uncommon to hear that someone has been killed after a one-night stand.
'Vampires really are humanity's greatest predators.' Luciel clicked his tongue, thinking how sickening this really was and how far the vampires evolved, just for one reason - blood.
Armed with supernatural bodies and senses, fang for easy access to blood, they also had perfect looks, meant for deceiving and attracting their prey, they could also hypnotize others to help them stay undiscovered and blend in more easily. Not only that, there was also their pesky invisibility and strange abilities some seemed to possess.
"Bon appétit." Kai moved the young woman towards the wall before backing away a little to give Luciel some space.
"How did you even find me?" Luciel asked, approaching the woman who seemed to be shivering. He wanted to look towards Kai, but his gaze kept going towards the lady.
"My nose." Kai went to tap the tip of it a few times, "And I saw Alex when I approached the house you were staying in. He seemed very distressed and told me what was going on." He explained, but he didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence before Luciel started to drink.
Luciel listened to Kai, but his mind kept wandering somewhere else.
As Kai was speaking, Luciel made eye contact with his victim and lifted her head a little by holding her chin.
He stared into her eyes, trying to feel anything regarding what he was about to do, but he couldn't. He didn't feel any regret, sadness, anger, anything. It was the same as humans would see a chicken on their plate.
The sweet smell she was giving off and a rapid beat of her heart, plus the unexplainable feeling of thirst and hunger, made Luciel finally give in.
Luciel scoffed at the whole irony of the situation. A person who used to kill vampires in cold blood for the sake of fellow humans is now one of them, succumbing to their instincts.
Without further ado, Luciel finally sunk his sharp fangs into the victim's neck and the sensation of the first, warm stream of blood felt exhilarating.
Now four weeks, ever since becoming a victim of vampirism, he had been living on cold blood packs. The last blood he had tasted that came directly from the source was on the battlefield when he drank the blood of his first prey.
He couldn't help himself but savor every moment of feeling a thick liquid going down his throat, all the way toward his stomach, but the best part was the taste. It reminded him of drinking hot coffee on cold, chilly days.
He wanted to drink everything till nothing remained while hoping for this delicious feeling to go on forever, but Kai putting his hand on Luciel's shoulder brought him back to reality.
"Hey, that's enough if you don't want to kill her," Kai said, making Luciel's eyes finally snap open.
At first, he struggled a little, even if he felt kinda full, but eventually, he managed to let go, leaving only two bite marks behind.
"Thank you…" Luciel stared at the woman who passed out, he could hear her weak heartbeat, beating slower and slower.
He tried to make himself feel something for her, but instead, he just clenched his fist.
Even if she would have died, he wouldn't feel anything. The only thing that was stopping him from just killing her on the spot was a small part of the reason he still had from a time when he was still human.
Luciel knew that it was wrong, but doing things just because you can doesn't mean that you should.
"We should bring her to the hospital. Thanks to me, she lost a lot of blood." Luciel whipped his mouth with the back of his hand, his heart didn't skip a beat not even once during this whole scene.
"Hm..." Kai walked towards the woman, kneeling down and putting her long blonde hair behind her shoulder, "But maybe we should just move her closer to the exit of the alley and let the humans handle it."
"Our best bet is the hospital, these people are barely surviving. I doubt that they will have time to take care of a passed-out woman." Luciel said and went to pick up the woman in a princess style before looking up, thinking how was he gonna do this.
Going through the streets with a passed-out woman in his hands will surely bring attention to himself.
Just because people won't help doesn't mean they won't get curious and jumping around the roofs with her in his hands might put her in danger.
Without momentum or use of his arms, there is a chance that he might miss the jump with both of them falling down. He knew that he was going to be fine, but who knows what could happen to her.
"On a second thought… Let's carry her close to the exit of the alley and hope someone will help her or that she recovers on her own." Luciel changed his mind and finally went to do as Kai first suggested.
"So… What's the problem?" Luciel put down the woman near the exit of the alley before jumping up onto the balcony and the roof with Kai following him right behind.
"How did you know?" Kai raised his head and looked at Luciel, tilting his head a little. He didn't even get to tell the matter.
"It's obvious. You guys never went to visit after Melisa massacred Alex's living room. She owes us a favor for not selling her out." He made sure to point out the small detail, he could have easily told Alex who did this but decided not to since there would be nothing to gain, besides, he was partly responsible for that as well. He could have stopped them.
"Well… True…" Kai laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Even now he feels nervous at the mention of Alex. He will never get that night out of his head.
"So? What do you want to say to me?" Luciel wanted to go straight to the point, not wanting to waste any more time, but before Kai could answer, there was a loud scream in the distance, making both vampires turn their heads toward it.
"Let's hurry!" Luciel said, quickly going to rush towards the scene.
"Wai-" Kai wanted to stop him, whatever that scream was, it wasn't their obligation to help and it might just get them into trouble, but before being able to halt him, Luciel was already gone.
"Fine…" Kai sighed and quickly went after Luciel. If he couldn't prevent him from going, then at least he could probably make sure he wouldn't cause any more trouble.