In The Name of the Moon

Ryuugi

Well-Known Member
#1
In The Name of the Moon

The castle�s walls were white and pristine. The masters of the castle and the Dead Apostles that served them kept quiet, as if silence was a virtue.

His throne was carved from stone, and as thick and heavy as any of the castles walls. He sat comfortable in the silence, his thoughts his only company.

The Masters of this Castle had been born as part of this world, and so were ignored by even the Beast of Alaya.

But he was not like them. Without a doubt, he had too many enemies�his end was near.

After his end, he could not be born again; not even in the bodies of the masters of this castle, who had been made in his image. They each had a place in their souls for his, but he who was perfect could not be reborn in those who were imperfect.

A suitable vessel for him was something did not exist.

Such a thing would probably never come about naturally.

But that which he could not find, he would make with his own hands�

XxXXxX

Her mother�s voice awakened her from her dream.

�Usagi, it�s past 8 o�clock!�

Usagi�s eyes widened as she looked at her alarm clock.

�Oh no! I�m going to be late!�

XxXXxX

�Why does morning always have to come so soon?� Usagi yawned. �I�m still sleepy��

She briefly wondered about the dream she had, but not at its strangeness. To her, it was just another in a string of dreams she�d had for as long as she could remember. She could never make any sense of hem, but that was normal for dreams, right�?

But that one had seemed a bit different than usual�

Usagi was torn from her thoughts as she tripped over something and had to catch herself before she hit the ground.

Glancing back to see what she stepped on; she saw�a black cat.

She briefly wondered if this meant she�d have bad luck.

Realizing her mind was going in strange places again, she shook herself back to the present.

�Sorry, sorry! Did I hurt you?�

Rushing over to the cat�s side, she picked it up. It was small and a bit shabby looking, but then, she had stepped on it. It had a small Band-Aid on it�s forehead.

The cat apparently didn�t approve and immediately tried to scratch her.

As Usagi was just a commoner, she quickly dropped the cat and shielded her face with her arms.

�Ah! Forgive me!�

The cat ignored her completely, instead trying to paw at the Band-Aid furiously.

�Huh?� Usagi blinked. �Do you want me to take it off? Okay, just don�t scratch me.�

The moment Usagi had a grip on the bandage, the cat darted away, tearing it off herself and looking like she was going to make a run for it.

And then she stopped a few feet away, looking back at her with oddly reflective eyes.

They were a strange, golden yellow, and Usagi couldn�t help but be drawn into them. Suddenly, her body felt strange and distant and she began to move closer to the strange cat against her will.

And suddenly, a loud bell rang, snapping her out of her trance.

Closing her eyes and feeling a bit dizzy, Usagi lifted a hand to her head.

And then her eyes snapped open as she realized what that bell meant.

�I�m late!�

Immediately forgetting about the cat, she turned and dashed away, knowing she�d be in trouble.

XxXXxX

Usagi�s best friend, Naru, sighed as she sat down next to her, causing Usagi to glance at her inquisitively.

�Things have been hectic lately,� Naru reflected. �There have been so many strange things happening; I�m kind of worried.�

�Are you talking about the murders?� Umino asked. He was another friend, but honestly, Usagi found him a bit creepy sometimes.

Still�Usagi had to agree with her friends. Lately, there had been a lot of really strange murders. Bodies had been turning up completely drained of blood and the police were already beginning to call the incidents the Vampire Murders.

Naturally, the school rumor mill was full of stories about students being abducted and eaten by vampires and sightings of bats and even a few vampire boyfriends.

It was kind of weird. At first, Usagi had been really scared, back when all those stories had involved friends disappearing and bloody murders, but then people had pointed out that if it ws a vampire, the murders wouldn�t be bloody. This had led to a loud debate about the details of vampires, which had somehow gotten around to them sparkling in sunlight before Usagi had gotten confused and wandered off.

She wasn�t sure what to believe, but somewhere between rotting corpselike monsters abducting children in the night and beautiful, romantic moonlit nights, the original horror had faded.

Still, even someone as absentminded as her could tell how serious the murders were. Her mother wasn�t quite at the point of picking her up and dropping her off, but she was insisting that she walk back with her friends and be back several hours before dark. Usagi had seen enough of the news to accept that without argument or complaint.

Naru shook her head, though, surprising Usagi.

�I�m talking about this new �Sailor V� who�s been thwarting the murders. I�m glad it�s getting safer, but we started with vampires and have moved on to superheroes. I swear this town is just getting weirder and weirder.�

XxXXxX

�Bye, Usagi!� Naru waved goodbye, breaking off from the group to get to her house. Usagi�s house was a quite a bit further away than hers, but the Arcade was just a little bit away. Usagi always stopped there after school and the guy who ran the game center took her back to her house during his break.

Still, Naru felt bad for making Usagi walk to the Arcade by herself, even if it was during the day. But her own mom wanted to make sure she was safe.

Speaking of which�

�Mom, I�m back!� Naru said, taking of her shoes before going into the house.

She frowned after a minute when she didn�t get a reply.

�Mom?�

Getting a bad feeling, Naru went to check her mom�s bedroom. Sometimes, her mom got tired after work and went to bed. Opening the door, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her mom in bed.

Smiling, she almost shut the door, but then she noticed something that made her heart skip a beat.

Her mom looked�wrong. She was paler then she should be�a sickly looking pallor that looked unhealthy. And nothing at all like the way she normally looked.

�Mom�?� Naru said, approaching the bed, reaching out to touch her mother.

She was cold.

Too cold.

Eyes wide in alarm and suspecting the worse, she moved a hand to her mother�s neck and just as quickly drew it away.

It came away wet with blood.

For a moment she stared at her own hand in horrified disbelief.

And then her mother�s eyes opened and she rose from the bed, focused intently on Naru.

Backing up, the girl couldn�t help herself.

She screamed.

XxXXxX
 
D

Deleted member 5249

Guest
#2
I'm a bit mad that you started a new fic. :angry:

But I am also super happy you started a SM story.
 

shiki

Well-Known Member
#4
Oh god.

Vampires. At least they are badass vampires.
 

Ryuugi

Well-Known Member
#6
XxXXxX

Usagi’s eyes snapped open and she immediately sat up, looking around. She didn’t even remember falling asleep, but she must have collapsed the moment she got home. She’d been getting tired more and more lately, to go along with her increasingly weird dreams. However…

“What was…that…?” She wondered, not see anything. She’d thought she’d heard someone scream, but…

“All the news reports lately must be giving me bad dreams,” She mused, lifting a hand to her head before pausing after seeing a slight motion out of the corner of her eye. Standing there, completely still but for the flicking of its tail, sat the cat from earlier.

“I’ve been searching for you for a long time,” It said once she’d given it her attention, sitting leisurely on the windowsill.

Usagi stared at it in complete silence for a minute, baffled by the fact that a cat was talking to her before the obvious explanation occurred to her.

“My dreams just keep getting weirder and weirder,” She said aloud, lying back down and pulling her covers back up to her neck. “Goodnight talking cat.”

She’d closed her eyes and was in the process of wondering if falling asleep within a dream meant she’d have a double dream when she felt a sudden weight on top of her.

“I am not a dream, Usagi.” The cat said when she opened her eyes again. “My name is Luna. We met each other earlier, but with that Band-Aid on, I couldn’t talk or use my locator spells. Those bratty kids put me in a real predicament—but I’m glad it led to us meeting. I was beginning to think I would never find you.”

Usagi looked at the cat, covers still pulled firmly up to her neck as an unconscious attempt at defense. She felt the weight on top of her, telling her the cat was really there. But a talking cat…?

“So you still do not believe me?” The cat mused to itself, tilted its head. After a moment, it nodded and Usagi felt that if it had been able to smile, it would have. “Very well—I’ve got just the thing to make you wake up. I have a gift for you, Usagi.”

Usagi had just enough time to ponder whether not taking gifts from strangers applied to talking, possibly-dream cats before her natural sense of curiosity made her speak.

“You do?” She asked. “What?”

The cat—Luna—lifted a paw and pressed it to her lips. It felt weird; vaguely wet as if she’d been walking through puddles or something recently, but feeling different. Warmer, stickier, somehow…Usagi wasn’t sure what words to use to describe it, but the moment all of this occurred to her, she sat up, making Luna fall to her side, removing the contact. Lifting a hand to her lips, she was just about to ask what Luna was doing when, without thinking about it, her tongue darted out and touched the vague dampness on her lips.

Immediately, her entire body stiffened and she shuddered at the taste. Suddenly, she couldn’t help but remember that she’d eaten her lunch early and hadn’t had anything since. That must have been why she was so hungry.

Taking a deep breath, she shuddered again. There was something in the air…something she’d been smelling all along, but hadn’t been consciously aware of. But what had been a subtle hint in the air before was now as blatant as a pickaxe being shoved up her nose. She was…she needed…

She didn’t know what, but she staggered out of her bed nonetheless, rising to her feet. Everything seemed to blur around her as she moved, only to snap into startling focus the moment she was on her feet—and with that focus, she saw things that she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to before. The windowsill Luna had been sitting on…no, not just that, but across the floor to her bed and even on top of it were wet looking red paw prints, as if Luna had accidentally walked throw a puddle of red paint as was now leaving tracks wherever she went.

Yes. Except paint didn’t smell like that. It didn’t look like that when it dried, either. And she’d certainly never had a sudden craving for paint, no matter what some people might think of her. But now, her stomach seemed to almost hurt, as if this had been something she’d been going without for years, something that had pained her for so long that the pain of its loss was so familiar she didn’t even consciously feel it anymore.

Until now. Now that she’d had a taste, a hunger had awakened within her and she wanted more. A lot more.

“Are you hungry, Usagi?” Luna asked, tone knowing.

“…Yes…” She heard her voice say, as if from far away, the rest of her too distracted by her hunger pains to pay attention. “I’ll just…go downstairs and make myself a snack. Maybe we have some ice cream or cake.”

Her body was shaking even as she said the words, however, and for the first time ever, even her favorite foods held no appeal.

“That’s not what you want, Usagi, and you know it,” Luna replied, jumping down from the bed to come and stand by her feet.

“Yeah,” Usagi said, closing her eyes. “I know, but…I don’t know…what…?”

“Shhh,” Luna calmed her, voice soothing. “It’s okay. It’s been a long time so I know it must be hard to remember. Just follow me, Usagi. I know where we can get you what you need.”

Usagi nodded hesitantly, taking a slow step forward as she prepared to follow. It hurt to think. It was like there were a thousand conversations happening in her head, each in a different voice. Or maybe…they weren’t her thoughts? She could hear her mother downstairs, her brother playing in her room, the roaring of cars, the songs of birds, the flowing of water—all that and a million other sounds were suddenly so loud they made her wonder if her head was going to split apart. Over all that noise, she could barely think and it was all she could do to try and follow Luna.

And then another familiar voice reached her ears.

“Help! Someone help! It’s—my mom—she’s trying to…!” She heard, alongside pounding on a door and the wild, rapid beating of a heart.

‘Is that…Naru?’ She thought, eyes widening at the sound of panic in her friend’s voice.

And suddenly, all the noise, all the hunger, all the need she felt…just fell to the wayside.
 
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