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shiugart · 3 months ago

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Bloody Bites II | Twisted Wonderland

Vampire!Malleus Draconia x Female!Reader | Priest!Rollo Flamme x Female!Reader | VampireHunter!Leona Kingscholar x Female!Reader | Vampire AU | TW: Blood, descriptions of violence, manipulation, abuse, dead dove: do not eat.

ACT I

A C T I I

Leona Kingscholar was used to that look.

Yes, that look. As if being a member of the beastmen clan and his physiological traits weren’t enough to draw attention wherever he went, he also carried the emblem of a monster hunter. And not just any emblem—the emblem that only a handful of hunters had survived long enough to bear.

An S-Class Hunter Emblem.

His body, covered in rigid muscles and rough scars, was the greatest evidence of the countless times death had whispered at his nape. Every step, every movement, was meticulously planned. Long ago, he had stopped seeing himself as a person and simply viewed himself as a weapon. So many battles against demons throughout his short life had sharpened his instincts, allowing him to perceive things even beyond what his well-trained lion ears could detect—to analyze beyond the facade that people showed at first glance.

He had learned that bloodsucking demons and abominations weren’t the only monsters inhabiting this world…

"The creature appeared about a decade ago. I was just an apprentice back then..." Father Rollo stated, averting his gaze from Leona to contemplate the distorted landscape through the stained glass of the cathedral. His face twisted in anger, the memory of his first encounter with that vampire as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. "But I will never forget its grotesque appearance… Kill it. I don’t care how, just do it."

Leona eyed the pouch of gold coins spilling onto the table before him.

"Go into the forest, climb the mountain, and you'll find an old, decrepit cabin. You'll find something there."

Leona took his payment and stood in silence, a man of few words. He was about to leave the church when he decided to trust his instincts and ask:

"How are you so sure?"

A chilling smile spread across Rollo’s lips.

"I just know..."

It was a fact.

Perhaps there was more than one monster in this village…

Now, with the payment in hand and an idea of what the priest’s words might mean, he left the building and decided to analyze his surroundings. The population was small—only a handful of young men, while the rest of the inhabitants were elderly, women, and children. It wasn’t unusual; most young men left their hometowns to seek opportunities in the capital. But there was something strange about the people in this village—their faces... They looked empty, almost lifeless. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but the hairs standing on the back of his neck were a sign that something dangerous was lurking.

There were no signs of an epidemic, and the priest, as far as he could tell, seemed to be managing resources adequately.

But something was definitely off…

He walked to what he recognized as the only butcher shop in town, intending to buy food for what he assumed would be a long journey. The door creaked loudly as he entered.

"I already told you, Carmen, your husband hasn't returned..." a boy spoke with irritation. Leona almost mistook him for a young maiden, if not for his muscular arms and masculine voice. "Ah, a foreigner. Welcome. We're short on supplies—the hunters haven't returned since yesterday, so all we have is dried meat and chicken entrails."

He cast a glance—one that could easily be considered inappropriate—at the lion ears peeking from Leona's wild mane of curly hair, which he had tied back.

"Though I suppose that won’t be a problem for you..."

"Give me the dried meat."

"As you wish."

The butcher wasn’t much of a talker, something Leona appreciated. Well-versed in the art of slaughter, it didn’t take him long to cut several strips of tough, flavorless meat and wrap them in a piece of cloth. As Leona paid, he cast a glance at the collection of sharp knives scattered across the counter. However, he lost interest immediately.

None of them were silver.

"Come back soon," the butcher dismissed him without much enthusiasm. Leona nodded in response. He was about to leave when a small, trembling figure bumped into him. He couldn’t see her face—it was covered by a hood—but he could tell from her petite frame and the faint, whispered "I'm sorry" that it was a young woman.

A butcher shop in a village as small as this naturally carried a strong scent of blood and death, but somehow, the stench seemed to intensify the moment she stepped inside.

"Yuu?! What are you doing here?!"

"A-Adel... I..."

"You're freezing! Come here before you catch a cold." Without giving her a chance to protest, the butcher dragged the young woman into a room behind the counter. Leona shot a final, intense glance at the place where the two had disappeared before leaving.

Adel took her to his living quarters, using tongs to pick up a stone from the fireplace and wrapping it in an old cloth so Yuu could warm herself. As he placed the warm bundle in her hands, he immediately noticed the deplorable state of her clothing and the abundant stains of dried blood on it.

"What the hell happened to you?! Are you hurt?!" He moved to yank off her cloak to check for any injuries.

"No!" she screamed, and the walls of the butcher shop seemed to tremble. Silence.

Adel stepped back, realizing she was shaking and that forcing her wouldn’t get him any answers. She swallowed hard before speaking again.

"P-Promise me... Promise you won't be scared or scream..."

"What kind of nonsense—?"

"Just promise!"

"Fine, fine! I promise!"

Yuu said nothing, taking her time to slowly, very slowly, lower the hood covering her face. At first glance, nothing seemed wrong with her appearance. But for someone as observant as Adel, it wasn’t hard to notice something was off.

Her skin was pale—an unnatural grayish hue, resembling that of a corpse.

She didn’t stop there. With trembling fingers, she untied the ribbon of her cloak, revealing the walking disaster she had become. Her dress wasn’t just torn, muddy, and bloodstained—it looked as if she had sustained a mortal wound. Yet, her abdomen was unscathed.

However, what made Adel’s eyes widen in unpleasant surprise were the two small puncture marks on his friend’s neck.

His face drained of color, but true to his promise, he neither screamed nor made his fear obvious.

"Yuu… you…"

She began to cry, speaking in a broken voice.

"I... I saw a young man bleeding in the snow! I saved him, and… and..."

As if the deep bite marks weren’t enough, her sobs revealed something even more damning—a pair of newly sprouted, sharp fangs.

Terrified—more than Adel—she gripped her hair violently and curled up on the floor.

"I... I..."

"Don’t do that, you'll hurt yourself…" He tried to reach out to comfort her, but she pushed him away instantly.

With a mere shove… he was thrown across the room.

"No! Stay away from me!" she screamed, the scratches her nails had left on her face vanishing before his eyes.

"You don’t understand... I... I can’t control myself..."

The first thing she felt upon waking after that incident was peace. No pain, no cold, no exhaustion… Being dead somehow made her feel alive.

Then, she realized.

The corpses surrounding her. The unbearable burning sensation in her throat, as if she had swallowed a handful of sand.

She almost lost her mind then and there.

And with that, she understood.

She wasn’t alive, but she wasn’t dead either.

Something in her neck pulsed at the thought. It hurt—it was the only area that truly hurt. All her other scars had vanished, but those two small, deep punctures remained fresh, as if they had a life of their own.

"I’m a neophyte..." she murmured, shocked by the knowledge that had simply appeared in her mind. She holds her hands over her mouth, making her voice sound like a strangled croak. "A vampire bit me. If I don’t drink human blood within the next seven days... I’ll turn back into a human."

"And… what happens if you drink before the seven days...?" Adel asks cautiously, starting to understand the situation a little better.

More tears fall from Yuu’s face.

"I’ll become a monster..."

«Crash!»

One of the house’s walls explodes, creating an opening that allows the afternoon sun to pour in. Almost immediately, Yuu screams, covering her face as her skin erupts in a gruesome swell of blisters.

"Y-Yuu!" Adel tries to run to her aid, but Leona jumps through the hole and pushes him away.

"Stay back, butcher," He growls, not looking directly at him. Adel recognizes the sound of a weapon being cocked, and the smell of gunpowder and silver bullets when they’re that close, so he doesn’t hesitate to throw himself at Leona to hinder her actions.

"Run, Yuu! Don’t let him catch you!" he shouts, tossing her the cloak. She wraps herself in the material and flees the butcher shop, the skin of her arms charred by the sun and her eyes weeping over the dark and gruesome turn everything had taken.

"Idiot!" With little effort, Leona throws him off. A blow from his elbow is enough to send him to the ground and break his nose. "Do you have any idea what you just did?! That monster will kill everyone!"

"She’s not a monster!" he gets back up, wiping the blood running down his face with his arm. From his grimy and worn butcher's apron, he pulls out a knife—one Leona had his eye on earlier. "And if you’re going to hurt her... you’ll have to go through me first."

"As you wish..." He growls, more beast than human. But that doesn’t intimidate Adel.

• • •

What would normally take half a day of travel, Yuu managed to do in just a couple of hours thanks to her newfound abilities. She was doomed. She was ignorant, but even an illiterate fool could recognize the emblem of a monster hunter when they saw it.

She didn’t even know what she hoped to gain by coming to the village in the first place. Her skin erupted in painful blisters upon direct contact with the sun, and her mouth watered just from watching the villagers walk a few steps away from her. She knew it was stupid and reckless, but at the very least, she wanted to see her friend one last time…

She stumbled into her cabin, nearly ripping the door off in the process. All her windows had already been covered with rags and wooden planks, making it a safe place. The arrival of spring had brought the first rays of sunlight after a winter of dark clouds and short days. Maybe that was why the vampire had never shown any signs of being one… everything just felt so damn convenient.

Yuu collapsed onto the floor, unsure of what to do. At some point during her escape, her normally tied-up hair had come loose, messy strands falling over her face. At least it could help cover the mark… but the fangs were another story. If only they weren’t there…

An idea took shape in her mind. She crawled toward the fireplace, frantically searching for a stone hard enough for what she planned to do. Miraculously, she found one. It was the size of her fist, jagged in texture, deformed by all the times it had endured the heat of the flames.

Yuu opened her mouth, tracing her fang with her free hand, unintentionally nicking her finger in the process. She couldn’t resist the bestial urge that drove her to bring that tiny drop of her own blood to her lips. She sucked eagerly until the small wound closed. Almost instantly, she felt disgusted—and thus, even more determined.

She screamed, cried, and thrashed, but she didn’t stop until the rock in her fist shattered and her fangs were reduced to something less conspicuous than two long, sharp peaks. She ended up tearing apart the inside of her mouth, but it was a price she was willing to pay to feel even a little more human.

"Stay still, or I'll blow your head off."

Yuu trembles violently but obeys the warning.

“Turn around slowly and put your hands where I can see them,” the hunter spits. She shakes and cries in silence as she follows his orders.

How?

How did he find her? How had he gotten here so fast? How had she not noticed his presence… until he was quite literally behind her?

What had happened to Adel?

“W-What did you do to Adel?!” Almost as soon as that surge of bravery hit her, an explosion grazed the side of her face, rupturing her eardrum. She screamed, clutching her face as she writhed on the ground.

“I didn’t give you permission to speak.” His voice is the coldest, harshest thing she has ever heard. This man is different from anyone she has encountered before. She is sure that if she isn’t careful, he will kill her without even blinking.

“Now—” He grabs her roughly by the neck and slams her against the wall, making her scream. “—you’re going to tell me how many villagers you killed and where your partner is. Otherwise, I’ll cut off your fingers, your toes, your nose, ears, arms, legs… and I’ll let you die in the sun. So talk. Now.”

He loosens his grip just a little—not enough to make it any less lethal, but at least now she can speak. Overwhelmed by terror, more tears stream down Yuu’s face, but Leona doesn’t even flinch.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…! I haven’t killed anyone…!” she squeaks, but her words die on her tongue when Leona’s grip tightens.

“That’s not an answer.” He pulls a knife from his coat, squeezing her throat even more. Yuu is sure she hears something crack, but the sheer terror of losing a limb is stronger.

“W-Wait, please! Don’t kill me!” she shrieks, writhing in his grip, struggling to get her feet back on the ground. But the man holding her ignores her cries, his arms as unyielding as iron.

“I haven’t done anything! Please, listen to me!”

Her throat tears as she screams when she feels the sharp blade press against her skin. It burns—it burns just like fire would. Her desperation escalates.

“I’m a neophyte! H-He turned me! I haven’t killed anyone, so please…!”

She clamps her mouth shut when the knife embeds itself just inches from her face.

“A neophyte…” Leona tastes the word with disdain. “That explains why your eyes aren’t red and why you don’t smell like blood… not someone else’s blood, anyway. He must have turned you when you were dying.”

Yuu stares at him, shaken. He knew. Of course, he knew! And yet he still threatened her and nearly—nearly…

“Where is he?”

“W-What…?”

“Where is the vampire who turned you and killed the hunters?” he demands, his voice low, his face dangerously close to the knife stuck in the wall.

“I-I don’t know, he just bit me and disappeared…!”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

She said nothing—she just cried harder. It was slipping out of her hands; she was desperate. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want this… How had her peaceful life twisted into this nightmare?

Leona let go of her. She whimpered as her legs gave out, making her stumble to the floor. She watched him pace around her not-so-spacious cabin, trembling like a wounded animal, terrified that at any moment he might corner her again and threaten to rip off one of her limbs. She had been so consumed by fear in such a short time that she almost forgot the suffocating thirst burning in her throat. She tried to suppress the wild instinct by covering her mouth and pressing a fist against her neck.

“That butcher… Is he your lover or something?” Leona asked after what felt like an eternity. His sharp gaze settled on the unmade bed where the vampire had been lying just days ago. “He’s not in any danger. I just roughed him up a little so he wouldn’t follow me.”

That seemed to calm her.

“He’s my friend…”

“So, can you explain why a young, single woman lives so far from her village?” he continued, sitting comfortably on the bed, the shotgun that had almost blown her brains out still aimed in her direction.

Yuu bit her lip, reluctant to discuss this with someone like him.

“Father Rollo asked me to… It’s my way of atoning for my sins.”

At her words, Leona’s face twisted into an expression that was almost a laugh.

“So that’s what this is about…”

She didn’t quite understand what he was getting at, but for her own safety, she decided not to ask.

“I assume that before you were left alone, you lived with your mother or something like that. Am I right?”

She nodded, staring at him in stunned silence.

Then, the questions stopped. Leona seemed deep in thought, which unsettled Yuu even more.

“…Are you going to kill me?”

“I want to,” he answered, his face turning as cold and stoic as when he had nearly sliced her face open. “Neophytes are more troublesome than regular vampires. Unpredictable, insatiable… There’s no record of a neophyte surviving more than seven days without killing someone. However, you’re my only lead to finding the veteran who turned you. Most likely, that priest kept you living alone, far from the village, to lure that vampire in. He just didn’t expect you to be turned instead. Maybe, in exchange for a young, virgin girl every so often, that monster spares the rest. Small communities like this tend to survive that way."

“What are you saying?! Father Rollo would never do something like that!”

“You found that vampire, didn’t you?” Leona ignored her outrage and continued with his speculations. “Long before he turned you. Tell me what happened—leave nothing out. Understood?”

She didn’t have many options, so she just told him everything. How she found him one day covered in blood and brought him home. How he stayed immobile for the whole season… and how things ended up the way they had.

“Are you stupid? How didn’t you realize that thing wasn’t human?” Cruel, harsh words spilled from his mouth as he stood up without warning, towering over her like a large, threatening shadow. Deep down, he had to admit he felt a shred of pity for Yuu. She was just a girl—deceived by everyone, her very existence not much more than bait. The kindest thing he could do for her was kill her before she fully turned.

“How was I supposed to know?! H-his eyes weren’t even red!”

Leona stopped, giving Yuu a moment to sob and lament under her breath.

“What did you say…?”

“H-he didn’t look like a vampire… he had horns and… and his eyes were green.”

Horns… green eyes… it couldn’t be.

“Are you sure about what you’re saying? If you’re lying to me, I’ll throw you into the sun, so choose your words very carefully.” He grabbed her arm, forcing her to stand.

“Y-yes, I’m completely sure…!” she nodded wildly.

Leona fell into absolute silence again, staring at her intensely—almost as if he could see right through her.

“I’ve decided… I’m not going to kill you. For now.” he said slowly.

“R-really?” Yuu looked up at him, eyes wide.

“For the next seven days, I’ll be staying here with you. So if you do anything suspicious, you can be sure I won’t hesitate to kill you.” He let go of her briefly, only to rummage through his things and toss a bag in her face.

“But there will be rules. You’re not allowed to leave this place. You won’t get up from that corner. You’ll stay as still as a statue. And you’ll wear this until the seven days are over. I think you know what’ll happen if you don’t follow my instructions…”

She nodded again, checking the contents of the small leather bag. The moment her fingers touched the metal, a painful burning sensation spread through her hand. The silver cuffs clattered loudly to the floor.

Leona's face remained just as expressionless when she looked up at him, nerves on edge.

“Well? Do we have a deal?”

It wasn’t like she had another choice.

“…Yes.”

•

The first night was the hardest—and the blurriest. She only remembers screaming, that insatiable thirst spreading through her entire body as she writhed on the floor.

The hunter wasted no time in restraining her, with the same rough efficiency that defined his profession. He pinned her down and stuffed a wad of fabric into her mouth to silence any attempt at biting.

After that, she passed out.

•

During the day, her condition was manageable. Vampires were inherently vulnerable to sunlight, so the primal instinct awakened by the mark on her neck had little control over Yuu. However, that didn’t stop the hunter from taking precautions—hiding anything she could use to shield herself from the sun and escape.

Neither of them spoke a word, and so the second night fell.

Their routine was no different from the first.

•

Leona knew he wasn’t being fair to her. In reality, it wasn’t her fault she had become a newborn. She was just another victim of the disgusting acts those selfish beasts engaged in.

But what more could he do? He was more accustomed to dealing with monsters than with people. And she... she was somewhere in between.

"At least... would you tell me your name?"

And there she was, after more than twelve hours of sobbing and moaning, managing to ignore the constant pain of the silver on her skin and using the last of her strength to speak to him. The beginning of the third dawn filtered through the largest cracks in the cabin, making it clear that her condition was now under control.

Leona didn’t even glance at her.

"No."

"Fine..."

She nodded with resignation, as if she had never had hope in the first place. By the time Leona decided to look at her, she was no longer looking at him. But even so, he could see her, even in the dim light of that dilapidated house.

He saw the face of someone used to rejection.

For the first time in a long while, something inside Leona twisted.

•

Even for a cold-blooded hunter like him, the routine of having to watch her struggle with herself every day was starting to wear him down. He hadn’t slept at all since this all started; he couldn’t afford that luxury when sharing a roof with an almost vampire.

"Why don’t you just give up?" He asked, more tired than annoyed, while fighting with his inhuman strength to keep her subdued on the cold wooden floor.

"Because... I want to live..."

He hadn’t expected an answer, not in the middle of the frenzy. At least it showed she still had some awareness. Yuu might be weak and whiny, but at least she fought back.

"I don’t want to kill anyone... but I don’t want to die... Maybe I became this, but I know what it means to be afraid, I know how terrifying death is, and how painful it is to die alone... I... I don’t want to cause anyone that suffering!"

And Yuu fainted, leaving Leona with a bitter feeling.

•

"In all the years I’ve been hunting monsters, this is the first time I’ve encountered a neophyte like you..." It was rare for Leona to start the conversation, so Yuu didn’t know how to respond. "Last night... you said you want to live... Why?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"I don’t want to sound like a jerk, though it’s pretty clear I am, but I have the feeling that your life before the bite wasn’t exactly beautiful."

He said, being much more biting than he’d intended. Yuu took a few seconds to respond.

"Yes, you’re right..."

She sighed, adjusting her position so she could look him in the face while speaking. Her gaze was unreadable, and the small smile that appeared on her lips was melancholic.

"But it’s mine, it’s my life. Nothing in this world belongs to me, but my life is mine. If I really get through this, I’ll leave this place. If everything you said is true, I don’t plan on staying here any longer. I’ll travel, see new places, and live the way I think is right. For the first time, I’ll allow myself to dream of something more... You know? Right now, dreaming is the only thing keeping me sane..."

She concluded, and at some point, that smile had turned into a genuine one.

It was fleeting, like many of the most charming things in this world.

Leona was lost in thought, finding himself at a moral crossroads.

"Mr. Hunter..."

He looked at her in response.

"Please, don’t let me hurt anyone."

•

How much time had passed?

How many hours? Or had it already been days?

She opened her eyes, confused. She found herself in the middle of the forest, with the moonlight nervously prickling her skin and her bare feet sinking into the snow.

How...?

The hunter... Where is the hunter?

She... was about to finish the seven days... and...

Why didn’t she feel that agonizing thirst piercing her insides anymore?

"It’s been a while, little human."

Yuu froze. Everything seemed to go silent, from the rustling of the distant branches to the sound of her own breathing. He was behind her, she didn’t even know when he had arrived, only that she could tell by how close his voice was. From her neck, long, cold fingers played with her hair and slid tentatively down to trace her jawline. She noticed the long, dark, pointed silhouette of his nails, the enormous shadow that loomed over her, and how his horns protruded from it.

"Why are you crying...?"

She didn’t even know when the tears had started to fall. She cried harder when he took her with an unfamiliar gentleness and forced her to look into his eyes. There was no trace of humanity in Malleus. His orbs were a deep green that seemed to devour everything around him. There was nothing reflected in them. He looked at her with confusion, not caring at all about how she trembled in his arms and tried to push his hands away.

"You don’t seem very happy to have received my blessing."

"You call this a blessing...? You turned me into a monster!"

"Don’t forget, it was you who begged for salvation. It was you who foolishly brought me into your home and kept me alive. It was you, and no one but you. In the end... Foolishness was your sin, little human."

Malleus said, silencing Yuu’s complaints instantly. A long while passed as they stared at each other, until she couldn’t stand it anymore and turned her face away.

He hummed, dispelling the cold and uncomfortable mist that had taken over the atmosphere just moments before.

"There, there, don’t cry. You’ll get through it. Killing isn’t a big deal once you get used to it."

Yuu felt nauseous.

"So be a good girl and wait for me." He whispered, very sweetly. "I’ll visit you soon."

And then she woke up.

With the hairs on her arms standing up, covered in cold sweat and gasping for breath, the thirst for blood hit her immediately, but it was bearable. Everything was more bearable after that heartbreaking experience.

How could he speak of killing as if the lives of others meant nothing...?

She shivered, and by instinct, she was about to rub the area near where the cuffs had burned her skin. But there was one detail she almost didn’t notice.

There was no more pain, or rather, it was barely perceptible. Her wrists were wrapped in rags, preventing direct contact. She lifted her eyes to the only person who had been with her throughout this painful process.

"Hunter...?"

It was strange. She had barely realized it because of her own suffering, but she was sure he hadn’t slept at all during this time.

He just watched her, silently, with a tense hand on his weapon. But now... She couldn’t even feel his eyes, and his posture was completely different from the last few days.

“I’ll visit you soon.”

Terror clouded her senses.

"Hunter!"

Without thinking, she rushed toward him, trying not to touch him. She abandoned the corner. She broke the rule, but that didn’t mean anything if he was already dead.

For the first time in days, she felt genuinely relieved.

He had just fallen asleep, which was quite surprising. She took a few more steps toward him, without closing the distance too much, just walking close enough to be able to look at him.

And, wow.

Given the circumstances, Yuu had never allowed herself to realize how incredibly handsome her hunter was. With his tall, muscular frame, bronzed skin, masculine face, and chiseled cheekbones, he exuded a male attractiveness she had never witnessed. She had always been forced to keep her distance from him, so she was surprised when she discovered the scar running through one of his eyelids, and thanks to that, she vaguely remembered the color of his eyes.

They were green.

Without thinking, she reached out her hand toward one of the curls escaping from his messy ponytail. She licked her lips, able to hear the steady rhythm of his pulse and the flow of his blood through his warm, living skin. Just thinking about how good it would feel to sink her lips into his neck, right next to where his Adam's apple rose and fell, made her teeth tingle, almost as if they had a life of their own. The sand in her throat grew thicker, and all her thoughts pointed to the fact that her suffering would end the moment she decided to bite him.

He's so close... I just need to lean in a little and...

Leona woke up.

Dazed, because it wasn’t usual for him to fall asleep. By instinct, he groped around until he found his shotgun, and automatically aimed it toward the corner where Yuu should have been. And there she was, curled up just like on the first day.

He stayed in that position for about ten minutes before allowing himself to feel something close to relief.

How the hell did I end up falling asleep...?

He sighed, running his hand over his face to push his bangs back. The exhaustion tormented him like a heavy burden on his limbs, but he couldn’t afford to rest.

Not when there was so little time left.

Due to the nature of his job, and having witnessed firsthand how cruel and bloodthirsty vampires could be, he would never admit it, but...

He hoped that Yuu could somehow become human again.

•

"Get up, the day is almost over."

Yuu blinked, feeling her limbs numb. Leona was watching her from above, her brow furrowed just like the first time. She was still half-asleep, so it was no surprise that she barely understood anything he said. Leona always spoke softly, in a tone that sounded more like a growl than a whisper.

"Is it night...?" She rubbed one of her eyes, feeling dizzy.

"Almost. Are you going to get up?"

"I can't..."

And it wasn't a lie. Like humans, for a vampire, not eating was lethal. She hadn’t eaten in days, so right now she was as weak and vulnerable as an ordinary human.

Leona cursed, pulling her body. But unlike their first encounter, his touch was much gentler.

"Can you stand up?"

"Y-yes... " She hesitated, not sure if the pleasant scent coming from his body was his own or the way her body only saw him as food. In any case, being this close was embarrassing. "Don't you think at this distance, I could lose control and bite you...?"

"I'd break your jaw before you even tried."

"You sound very confident for someone who hasn't slept or eaten much in the past week..." She wasn't sure if it was the optimism that she might become human again any minute, but she felt like joking a little.

He clicked his tongue in response.

"Hey..."

"What now?"

"Thanks for letting me live..." For a brief moment, Leona fell silent. "I know none of what you did was personal, you were just trying to protect Adel and the others, so I..."

"... Save the sappiness for when you’re human again."

They stared into each other's eyes; the eye contact lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to make something stir inside both of them. She smiled, with a shyness befitting of what she was: a human girl.

The creaky wooden walls shook when someone knocked violently on the door.

"Hunter?! I know you're in there, open the door!" Rollo Flamme demanded, not stopping the intense knocking. Yuu's stomach sank, and Leona shoved her onto the bed and covered her with the blankets.

The message was clear:

Don't make a sound.

Leona didn’t take long to open the door. As stoic and silent as ever, he observed the father and the crowd of villagers holding torches that accompanied him.

"Father, what a pleasant surprise."

"Don't mock me!" Rollo shouted, venom spilling from his mouth and eyes. "Do you think we don't know what you've done?!"

Behind him, the crowd of people shouted, just as agitated as the man leading the group. By instinct, she searched for the butcher among the crowd. Not finding him made several things click in her head.

"You let a vampire into the village, more than ten people have died since then! Where were you?! Playing house with the daughter of a prostitute in the middle of the woods?!"

Ten people...? As far as he knew, the group of hunters only consisted of five people.

Something was wrong.

The feeling he had when speaking to the father a week ago hit him harder now. Why had he waited so long to confront him if so many people had died? Why today, when Yuu was about to break the curse...?

"You... You know the vampire, don’t you? "Leona said, softly, very softly, so that in the middle of the shouting and chaos, his voice would only be heard by him and the father. "He told you to do this..."

Rollo’s fury froze, and his body visibly trembled. All that rage vanished; in an instant, he stopped being the authoritative and solemn father and became what he was: a small, insignificant human, nothing more than a puppet of a vampire.

"Kill him! Burn the house and kill them both!" He ordered, backing away from him, nearly stumbling to the ground as he screamed.

Leona had to close the door. Within seconds, the forest stopped being calm; rocks and torches slammed into the walls of the place, breaking everything.

The fire quickly spread, painting the surroundings with unbearable heat and an overwhelming red.

"What?! What's happening?!" Yuu barely managed to sit up, staring in disbelief as everything she loved and knew was reduced to ashes. She hardly cared that some of the rocks breaking through the wall hit her or that the sunlight filtering through the gaps irritated her skin.

Her home... the last memory of her and her mother, the place she hated and loved for years... It was disappearing, fading away.

"Don’t get up!" Leona demanded, pulling Yuu back to reality by wrapping her body in furs and blankets.

The rashes on her grayish skin stopped, but didn’t heal. All the vitality she had as a neophyte had drained because she had abused her regeneration. If things kept going like this, she would die before she could ever become human again.

"Damn it!"

It wasn’t a fight he could win. The vampire had set a trap for them, and any moment now, night would fall, and they would have free rein to kill them all. Leona kicked one of the back walls; the rotten, burned wood gave way to the force of her legs and created a hole large enough for someone to escape through.

He took Yuu’s small, weakened body in her arms and started running through the forest.

"-"That way, they’re escaping!"

From the explosion that accompanied that voice, he knew they were shooting at them.

Leona kept running, relying solely on the burning adrenaline that consumed her body and her beast-man abilities.

Hhe didn’t stop until the voices of their pursuers faded into the distance.

Then, he collapsed. His legs gave way, and they had the misfortune of falling into a small, sloped hill. They both went in different directions, dragged by gravity while rocks and branches wrapped in the thin layer of snow pierced their skin.

"H-hunter...?" Yuu’s voice trembled as she struggled to get up, trying her best to protect her sensitive body from the sun. She looked at him from a distance, lying in the snow, completely still.

"Hunter!"

She crawled toward him, ignoring the burning of her limbs or the pulsing touch of her skin against the still-intact silver cuffs. She got close enough to realize and stay motionless.

He was bleeding.

More than one bullet had hit him.

She bit her tongue, fiercely fighting the urge to lick the hole in his abdomen, and dragged him to where the sun couldn’t hurt her.

"What… Hey?! Hunter, respond!" She fought against herself, against the nature that demanded she stop the nonsense and drink while she still could. Tears began to fall as the sun slowly faded.

"Hey, Hunter! Please, please hold on! Don’t die… please…" She sobbed, clinging to the parts of her body that weren’t covered in that tempting and delicious red color.

She hated herself, she hated herself so much; the person who had risked their life for her was dying… and she couldn’t think of anything but drinking his blood.

At this rate, both of them were going to die.

"Leona…"

"W-what…?"

"My name…" He groaned, with his beautiful eyes barely open, pressing his hand against his open side. "My name is Leona… Leona Kingscholar."

"Leona… Leona, please, you have to hold on…"

"We both know that’s not going to happen." He gasped, looking at his face covered in cuts and eruptions with a grimace. It was the most human expression she had seen him make in all the time she had known him. "I’ve lost a lot of blood… and you’re cracking… Neither of us is getting out of here alive…"

"W-what… what are you saying?"

"Yuu."

He called her. Not “girl,” not “you,” not “monster,” not “thing”… Somehow, him referring to her by her name made her feel more human than she had ever been.

The cold hunter who refused to give his name or use hers dared to form bonds at a point of no return. He saw her. Not as a monster, not as the daughter of a prostitute… he saw her and recognized her for what she truly was.

"That bastard will be here any minute…"

Her lips trembled, she knew who he was talking about, but she couldn’t help but ask.

"W-Who…?"

"Malleus Draconia, the vampire with green eyes…"

He declares, spitting blood in the process. Yuu shakes, pressing her hands firmly against his wound to stop more blood from leaking out. Her eyes tremble when he looks at her.

He’s terribly pale, the moonlight that once made his brown skin shine like copper now showing a cold and almost lifeless tone.

Very quickly, Leona Kingscholar’s life was coming to an end.

This reality made Yuu sob harder.

"I’ve been searching for him for years, that’s why I didn’t kill you when I could… That monster has never turned anyone. I… I’m sorry. I used you."

"Stop talking…! Please… don’t keep going…"

Don’t waste the little life you have left saying nonsense.

"Yuu… bite me."

She raised her tear-streaked face toward him, unsure of what she had just heard.

"Survive. Kill that son of a bitch…"

She looked at him with wide eyes, feeling her own life beginning to fade.

"Do it. Didn’t you say you wanted to live?"

But no… not like this. She didn’t want to be a monster, she didn’t want to be the monster that ended his life.

"What are you waiting for…? If I’m going to die, I’ll do it in the arms of the person I choose."

He laughs, dragging his hand to his neck to expose a portion of his skin.

"I know… you won’t be a monster like all the others…"

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