Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been some days since something interesting had happened. Since she kicked Duke out of the castle, not much had been going around, she just kept living in the big beautiful castle that was now her home. And while she liked the castle, it was extremely boring to stay inside of it all day long, so when darkness, fell she truly felt alive. She could run through the woods without a single care for sunlight. The night was her time to breath.

But, in the middle of bright daylight, this was impossible for her at the moment. She needed to stay inside her home waiting ‘till the sun went down to do anything remotely interesting.

The castle was huge, there were no problems in terms of space, but being in the same place all day long gets to the point where it gets boring and even melancholic. What was she supposed to do to get herself entertained? She had already read hundreds of books at the palace, but she got burned out of reading day after day, hour after hour. She could play the piano, and while the sweet melody of the instrument kept her mind busy for a moment, it was also a monotonous activity. She tried to even play chess with herself, but that had been the worst attempt so far. It reminded her how alone she was, she only had Minouse by her said, and while she loved him, a cat was no partner to socialize with; she could not talk to him, she could not play anything with him, she couldn't do anything that would grant her the same reward that human interaction would. The loneliness was driving her crazy. She even resurrected the disgusting ol’ sack of bones and kicked him out of his own castle just to entertain herself.

Suddenly a noise came from the main hall that put Missi out of her train of thoughts. It was a big cracking noise. The only thing in the main hall that could have made that sound was the big wood door of the entrance.

She had visitors.

She went to check the source of the sound immediately.

She got to the main hall in mere instants. In there she could see who had made such a terrible mess of a noise. There was a human standing there, his face expressed a mixed of confusion and fear, his whole body seemed like it was ready to jump at the slightest of sounds. Oh, was she going to make him jump.

When she saw the human, any trace of loneliness that she had have was gone now, she had a prey in her hands now, and her hunger was more important at the moment.

The boy was still under alert of anything that could happen at his surroundings. However, he was not able to see the figure of Missi on the second floor looking at him with wicked desire.

When she saw that he was deep enough down the hallway, she pointed her cane to the door, which cause it to violently close.

She was delighted when she heard him scream out of fear.

Now darkness consumed both of them, but Missi, being a creature of the night, could see perfectly through it.

He was looking everywhere, trying to see what had caused the door to closed.

“Such a cute boy” thought Missy ”Thinking he can see anything in this blackness to find what closed the door.”

Missi grinned.

”Let's show him what caused it.”

With another move of her cane, all the lights in the corridor were litten up.

The boy became blinded for a moment for the sudden brightness and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he saw a pale lady standing in front of him, upside down, with a horrible grin on her face looking straight at his eyes with her crimson red pupils.

He screamed in fear and tried to run away, only to understand why he was seeing her upside down.

She was graving him by the neck of his t-shirt with a horrible looking cane while she was hanging down from the balcony of the second floor with her feet only holding her to it.

He screamed and threw kicks and punches at the air tp try to escape from the beast that was holding him, to no avail.

Suddenly, he fell to the floor with a violent crash but he had no time to check how he was, he needed to escape.

He got up from the ground as fast as he could and run towards the door.

When he reached it, he tried to open it with all his strengths… But he couldn't, it was locked.

He continue to try to open it, but it was impossible, it was definitely closed.

At that moment, his color skin reached the same paleness that the monster had. He was terrified. And he knew, deeply inside of him, that he could not escape.

He stood there in front of the door, with both hands strongly holding the round metal doorknob, for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, he began to let go of it and turn around.

There she stood, with a playful smile, in the middle of the hallway.

He was so done, he was so fucking done.

Missi calmly walked towards him. Getting closer and closer by every step she took.

He looked how she approached and, in the middle of the realization that these were going to be very probably his last moments on Earth, he noticed something he had not seen before.

The young monster face, was it…

Before he could finish his thought, he was harshly thrown to the ground.

When he came to the realization of what had happened, he saw her on top of him.

At this very moment two thoughts crossed his mind.

One was the sad confirmation of his fears, he was not going to tell this one.

And second… It was her.

The young vampire girl opened her mouth, showing off her long and pointy fangs and went to bit his neck.

“Missi!!!”

That stopped her.

She was mere inches from his throat when that made her stop. How could this person know her name? Did she really hear him right? Wasn't it just her imagination?
She slowly closed her mouth and looked at his face.
He had tears running down his face and his expression was torned apart by sadness.

Missi didn't ask anything, she just stayed there looking at him with both, surprise and supreme curiosity.

“Y y y... you are Missi… R right?”

She had heard him right. He had said her name.

“...”

“Em…”

“Yes”

“Eh?!”

“I said, yes” Missi answered calmly “that's my name.”

The boy was stunned by her answer, tears were still crawling down his face but there was another expression on his face. It was surprise.

A weird silence formed between the two, which Missi decided to break.

“How you know it” asked she aggressively.

“What?”

“My name, how you know my name?!”

She had grabbed him by his arms and took him closer to her face so he could see her eyes. They were filled with annoyance, but at the same, curiosity as to how this person could known her name.

“Well… Missi… we have been looking for you”.

“What?! Who was searching for me, who IS searching for me?!

Missi’s mind was filled with questions now, who was this person? Who was looking for her? Did people know about her living in the castle and went to hunt her? Were there more?...

“Your parents Missi, your family has been looking for you”.

That shocked her.

Missi became paralyzed. She no longer had rage or curiosity to know who was chasing her or who this person was. Her arms no longer were strongly graving the boy. Her eyes no longer emitted an annoyance bordering on rage.

Her family. Her parents, they were looking for her… How could she had forgotten that? How could she had forgotten the family she dearly loved and cared about? Was… was the hunting of a new prey worth more than her family?

Missi came back to herself to see herself still sitting on top of the boy and grabbing his arms but with no where near as strong as she was holding him before.

“Oh, god, em… I’m sorry!” Said Missi upon realizing what was happening.

She let go of the boy's arms and got up from his body.

“Here, take my hand”

She extended her hand to let the boy get up.

And while Missi was trying to be as nice as possible after what had just happened, the boy was weirded out.

So much had happened in such a short period of time that this whole situation was really confusing to him.

Nonetheless he accepted the vampire’s hand.

“It's freezing!” The boy thought to himself while he hold Missi’s hand. He had not realized before because of the adrenaline that was going on through his body in that situation.

After getting up the boy shaked his clothes with his hands to clean them from being thrown around the room constantly and when he finished he stared at Missi’s eyes.

Both remained silent for a moment until she broke the silence.

“Look, I’m really really really sorry for what I just did! I hope that you haven't been hurt badly, in fact, let me check if there are any injuries…”

“No, don't worry, it's fine, it's fine. I’m not hurt badly, really, I’m okay, but thank you for caring nonetheless”.

“It's nothing” said Missi with a small blush.

“So... Can you tell me what you know about my parents?” said Missi abruptly. “You said… they have been looking for me?”

“Your parents? Of course! They never stopped looking!”

“Really?!” Said Missi surprised. She didn't even think that people could be looking for her, she… she could not even think that she had been away for so long.

“Oh, yeah, they put posters of you everywhere, they got every single neighbour to look for you, the police was looking for you every day at all time. Your parents organized search parties to find you.”

The more she heard the more shocked she became, in part because of all the efforts her parents made to find her, and also because… she truly, couldn't remember when was the last time she was home, on her real home, she thought it wasn't so far ago. She didn't even thought of herself as lost, just… as spending the time there.

“But, Missi… what happened to you?”

“Em… what... what do you mean?”

“Missi, you don't notice anything different? Look at you! Look at your skin, your clothes, your ears, look at a mirror and see your eyes. I just recognized you because you still resemble how you used to look in some ways”.

“My… looks?...”

If she was lost before, she couldn’t even begin to describe how she was feeling now. And all because she couldn’t remember how she used to look. Did she ever look different then how she looked now? She thought that she had always look this way.

“Missi?”

She was put out of her thoughts by his voice, he had a concerned look on his eyes.

“You don’t remember, right?”

“Em… I… I… no… I don’t.”

“...Let me show you something I have with me”

She was starting to feel a bit stressed. How couldn’t she remember how she used to look like? But, could he be lying? Could all this chattering he was making just a cover up so he could save his life? How could she know? She needed to know

Missi looked at him ready to interrogate him about her thoughts but when she looked at him, he had already answer her questions while at the same time creating many more for her.

He was holding a poster with a girl on it that read “Missing”.

“Do you recognize yourself?”

She froze. She looked at the poster he was holding and couldn’t believe it. It was her.

She regained control of herself and grabbed the poster for closer inspection. She could recognize herself in it. She remembered her sweater, her with shirt, her glasses, her pony tail, her brown hair… her face.

She covered her mouth after the realization.

“Missi I…”

“Wh… What?... How?”

She desperately started looking at her body. Nothing was the same. None of her clothes match. Nothing did. She touched her face and… just with her touch she could feel how her face wasn’t even the same.
She dropped the poster and slowly started backing away. Tears forming on her eyes.

She hitted the wall with her back and slipped her way down to the floor where she made a ball with her legs, hugged them and broke down crying.

The boy looked at her and tried to think of something to calm her down, to comfort her, but nothing came to his mind, he just stood there in silence.

Her cry being the only thing that could be heard in the castle.

Chapter Text

 Her sobbing continued for quite some time. It was the only noise that resonated against the walls of the castle.

The boy stood there, listening to her cry, without saying a word.

Until it was enough.

“Missi…” The boy said in a soft voice.

Missi didn’t stop crying, despite having heard his voice, she just couldn’t contain herself.

“Missi” The boy repeated in a more serious and strong voice.

This time, she answered.

“What?” She replied in a voice broken by sadness.

“Missi, I’m really sorry about whatever happened to you, but please… Don’t cry”

“Why not?!” She took her face off her arms and looked at him in the eyes. Her expression completely consumed in a sea of anger and sadness.

“Why can’t I cry, eh?!” She got up and started to slowly walk towards him.

“I forgot about everyone I knew! I’m no longer who I used to be! Look at me! I am a monster!!!”

She finished her sentence right in front of his face. Both of them less than an inch from touching. Her face burning in anger at the request he had made. A river of tears going down her face that had even watered part of her clothes.

“Why can’t I cry?!”

“Missi… you can, is just that…”

“Is just that what?!”

“Is just that I cannot stand here watching you like this! I want to help you!” he said with determination in his voice.

“But how can you help me, heh?! You don’t know me, you know nothing about me!  You are just a stranger that found me in a castle!”

Despite the anger in her voice, he didn’t back away, he had already spoken up and she wasn’t going to make him shut up; he was going to stand his ground.

“Yes, is true that for you I’m nothing more than a stranger. But for me, you are not a stranger. We have been looking for so much time; we have all been praying for so long, we have poured all our efforts to try to find you and put so much of ourselves in this searching that you are no longer a stranger to anyone!”

He remained silent a little moment before continuing.

“Your disappearance made everyone worried about you, the whole town was doing what they could to help your parents. Everyone wanted to find you. People didn’t sleep in the hopes of seeing you again. For many people you became more than just another person that got lost. Most of us took it personally; like we had lost someone we knew our whole life, like we had lost a close friend of ours, like we… had lost a part of our family”

“And, at least I, never want anyone I care about to be sad or in pain… I don’t want to see you like this Missi because… I care about you Missi… Everyone does”

Missi didn't say a word. She simply stood there. She wasn't angry at him anymore. She understood his message. She understood his feelings. He wanted to make her feel safe, to let her know that there were people out there that cared for her, that she wasn't alone.

That thought had hitted her the most.

Not being alone.

He was right in that regard. She wasn't alone, not anymore.

Without saying a word. Missi hugged the boy. It was a very tight hug. A hug to thank him for his words and to assure herself that it was true. That she wasn't alone anymore.

The sudden embrace took the boy by surprise. He hadn't expected it but he didn't reject it in the slightest, in fact, as the shock of the suddenness of the hug fade away, he liked it. A lot. And the only way to return such a beautiful action was to give it back to her. And so he did with a hug that was as tight as Missi’s hug was.

Missi realized something during this embrace. It was the first time since she became a vampire that she had gotten any contact with another human, she got what she was missing so dearly… And it was so much better than she thought it was going to be. Even if she hadn't thought of someone hugging her as her plan of human interaction. It felt so nice and warm that she didn't want it to end.

Missi was still crying but her tears changed their meaning. They were no longer because she saw herself as a disgusting being but because she was… happy, relief that she wasn't alone anymore. That, even if he didn't know this boy, he was there and that was all that matter. She made a little smile.

Both of them remained like this for a long time, completely still, just hugging in the middle of the enormous hallway.

Slowly, both parted away from the embrace and looked each other in the eyes.

Missi’s eyes were red because of the amount of tears she had cried and the trails of them going down her face were still visible, but she held a smile, a soft sweet smile.

The boy moved his hand toward his pocket and got a tissue from it.

“Here, use this” The boy offered kindly.

“Thank you” Said Missi in a weak but sweet voice.

After Missi had cleared the remains of her tears, both of them stood there, silent, just looking at each other.

“So… what’s your name?” The young vampire asked.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.”

“It’s okay.”

“Well, my name is Michael, Michael Lockhart.”

“Oh… that’s a nice name, I really like it.” Said Missi with some happiness escaping through her voice.

“Thank you, I’m glad you like it.” Said Michael while blushing a little bit at the complement.

After that, a silence formed again between the two, this time, awkwardness could be felt in the air.

“So… Em… Michael…” She said, breaking the silence. “Would you like to…” Missi couldn’t finish her sentence and looked away from him, embarrassment clearly visible on her face

“If I would like what Missi?” Asked Michael curious.

“Nothing, nothing, leave it.”

“Hey, don’t worry, you can tell me anything you want.”

“No really, it’s okay.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure”

“Em… okay, there’s no problem if you don’t want to tell me.”

Again, another awkward silence formed between the two, this one even more awkward then the first one.

“So, well…” Michael said. “Missi, I think that we should take you to the police, tell them we found you.”

“No we can’t!” Said Missi all of a sudden, a sudden sense of frighten appearing inside of her.

“Why not Missi? We…”

“Sorry, but you cannot tell the police that you found me.” Missi abruptly interrupted Michael. “You cannot tell anyone in fact, not your friends, nor your family and neither my family.”

“Why not?! I don’t get it! I finally found you after so much time we spent searching!”

“Because I am no longer human. I am something different. I am a monster… I am a vampire.”

“And what with that? It won’t matter to your family or anyone of us.”

“You think? I’m a blood sucking demon Michael, I’m a creature that comes at night and preys on them, I’m the boogeyman of many horror stories, I’m their fears, I’m… I’m this. I’m a freak. I’m an amusement. People won’t treat me the same as you. No one will. Not even my family will.” Missi said with each passing sentence becoming more and more melancholic then the other.

“Missi…”

“And on top of that, I cannot go out during day time. I would be turn into ashes in mere seconds.”

Before Michael could respond to her statements, Missi added one more thing.

“Listen, Michael, I would love to go with you outside and see my family again, but I can’t, I simply can’t… yes? Please, understand why I cannot do it.”

Michael was frustrated, he had finally found the missing girl but he couldn't tell anyone. He couldn't bring her back to her family. It was something hard to accept but… He understood.

“I… I understand” said Michael. A big sense of frustration clearly present in his voice.

Missi raised her hand and slowly touched and caressed Michael right cheek.

“Michael, I know how hard and frustrating is to accept this, but please, listen to me about this. I’m just as frustrated as you are, I understand you anger, I feel it as well, but I don’t know if something can be done about my condition.”

“Could there be a way?”

“I… I sadly think that not.”

Michael sighed

“I… I…. I guess I get it.”

Missi  didn’t want to break his hopes of she becoming a human again, but she needed to be honest about the situation. She didn’t know if there was a way back.

She slowly moved her hand away from his cheek while another silence fell down between the two, but this time it wasn’t awkward, but… melancholic.

“Michael?”

“Mh?”

“I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“I couldn’t ask you this before because I couldn’t find the courage to ask you, but…”

“But?”

Missi remained silent a moment trying to muster up the courage to say those words that were burning inside of her.

And she finally let them out.

“Would you like to stay here a little bit?”

After saying that sentence, Missi covered her mouth and a deep blush could be seen covering her face.

“You… want me to stay here with you for a little bit?”

Missi couldn’t keep looking forward, she looked to her side and nodded her head as a response to his question.

She was never good at socializing when she was a human, and as a vampire… thinks didn’t get better.

Her head was rushing with thoughts as to what he was going to answer, her anxiety getting the best of her, would he laugh at the proposal? Would he said it was stupid? Would he get mad? Would he…

“Of course I can stay with you.”

That answer left her breathless.

She looked at him in shock and he was in there, standing with a smile.

“If you cannot come back to town, might as well visit your new house.”

Her train of thoughts was so big that she couldn’t utter any word, but she sure as hell understood what she was feeling.

She jumped at him with brutal strength, throwing him to the ground and tightly hugging him.

“THANK YOU!!!!”

“Thank you so so so much!”

Michael was trapped underneath her, being squished by her brutal strength, but she loved that all this show of affection was positive, was from happiness. He thought he hadn’t made a big gesture, but was happy nonetheless that she was happy from what he said.

He returned the hug and tried to hold it for as long as possible, but Missi strength was starting to hurt her.

“Missi… I… It hurts.”

“Oh, sorry!” She let go off him and helped him stand up. “I… tend to be carried out by emotions.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry! Is just that… GOD, girl, you do have some force in those arms of you.”

Missi chuckled.

“Ha ha, thanks.”

“So, well.” Michael said. “As you cannot go back to town, I can stay here with you, for as long as you like, so… can you show me around the castle?”

“Oh, of course, come with me.”

Missi grabbed his hand and both of them started to walk forward one of the doors of the mansion.

Despite Michael still having many questions about what had happened to her while she was missing and how she became… this. He could wait for some time, after all, she was happy and as far as he could see, safe and sound, so... his worries could wait for another time.

Chapter Text

The pair went around the castle, Missi excitedly showing Michael every room they came across, she was like a child, she wanted to show him everything and her excitement was clearly escaping through her body with every movement she made.

She wanted to show him everything, she didn’t want him to lose any single room.

And Michael loved it.

He loved how in her happiness she was so eager to show him the mansion, he loved seeing her with such joy from doing such a basic thing as showing a house to a stranger, but… being alone all this time in that old, big place would surely make anyone happy to see whoever enter there.

They went around the castle for literal hours, she showing him even the most useless rooms, but despite the incessant exploration he wasn’t as tired as he thought he was going to be.

“Maybe her energy is contagious” He thought to himself.

After some more minutes of looking around, their expedition through the castle came to an end when both of them arrived to a beautifully decorated living room, shaped as a half circle, there was a chimney in the middle of the wall with two large windows by it’s side covered by two big and heavy red curtains with a golden yellow termination at the bottom of it. There were two bookshelves besides both windows and two other covered windows to the side of said bookshelves, opposing one another, and many candles lighting the room.

In front of the fireplace there were two armchairs facing each other with red cushions and with fine and perfectly craft decorations covering them and a little table made of wood between the two.

Missi walked toward one of the chairs and sat down, waving at Michael to come and sit as well.

Michael obeyed and walked towards the other armchair, but before he could sit he noticed something.

There was a cat sitting down in the middle of it, looking to be profoundly asleep.

“Emmm…” said Michael while pointing his finger at the cat.

“Oh sorry for that.” Said Missi

“Minouse! Come here sleepy kitty!”

Missi hadn’t call him out too loud, but that  seemed to be enough for the cat to wake up.

Minouse looked at Missi for a moment before turning it’s head to the boy standing next to him.

Despite Minouse only having one functional eye, the look that it gave to Michael it sure as hell left him feeling uneasy. In fact, the fact that it only had one eye made it even worse.

The cat stayed focused on him for some more time, looking into his eyes, Michael was starting to feel nervous, and who would have thought that a cat could make anyone feel nervous!

“Minouse!” Missi shouted. “Leave our guest alone, you are scaring him!”.

With those words said, Minouse jumped off the cushion it was sleeping in and went straight into Missi’s arms, where he curled into a ball, but continue staring at him.

“Again, I’m sorry about that, is just that… Minouse is a very protective animal, you know? He cares a lot for me and he just wants to keep me safe.”

“I… I get it, yeah? Don’t worry.”

Michael finally sat down.

The cushions of the chair were incredibly soft, they were so comfortable, it felt so good to relax a bit after all the walking they had just done.

In there they sat in silence, looking into each other but being more focused in their own thoughts.

Many things were going through their minds, but one that both had in common was the appreciation for the moment of calmness they were just having, not a noise could be heard apart from the chirping of the candles illuminating the room, and it sound only added to the calm feeling of the room.

Michael looked to his side to see the fireplace off, he looked at Missi and before he could say anything, she took her cane and with a gentle move of it a powerful and imposing fire appeared on it.

Michael was surprised but what he had just seen, and looked at Missi in absolute disbelief to which she  answered with a giggle.

“That’s magic, darling” Missi said with a bit of a cocky tone escaping her voice. “Are you impressed?”

“I think that you know the answer”

Missi laughed at his response, finding it really cute and funny.

“Oh darling, the more you stay here, the more weird things you are gonna see” Said Missi playfully “but don’t you worry yet, I’m sure that you will get used to it.”

“Weird things like what?” Asked Michael.

“Oh, you will see darling, you will see.”

A little silence took place after Missi answered his question, but it was broken by another question.

“Would you like something to drink?” Said Missi politely.

“Em… sure.”

“Great! Tell me, would you like a little glass of blood?”

“What?!”

“Hahahahaha, just kidding, don’t worry, you are not going to drink blood… unless you want to.” Finished Missi with a mischievous smile.

Michael looked really nervous until Missi tried to relieve him with a more gentle voice.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m not going to give you blood, don’t worry. Sorry if I made you believe that. I myself am not going to drink blood. I haven’t had a victim in a while and, despite you being human, I’m not going to take your blood out, I promise.”

Michael still wasn’t convinced and she noticed that.

“Look, I am a vampire and I do drink blood, but I AM NOT going to kill you Michael.”

“Why you are not going to kill me then?” Michael asked in a serious albeit scared voice.

“Michael, listen” Said Missi seriously. “If I wanted to swallow your blood, I would have done it when we were in the receiving hall or at any other time, but I didn’t.”

She brought up a good point. Michael needed to admit that, but… what if she was toying with him only for her own pleasure.

“You know why I didn’t kill you Michael?” Said Missi putting him out of his train of thoughts.

“Why?” Asked him with a trembling voice.

“Because you reminded me of who I was Michael.”

That phrase right there got him.

“Michael” Now it was Missi’s voice the one that was trembling. “You… you made me remember who I used to be. You… made me remember so many things that I have forgotten about myself…”

Missi looked down. All this was to hard for her.

Michael was feeling sorry for Missi, but when he was about to said something, she looked back at him, with a serious expression and with a reddish sclera and said:

“Thank you”.

She didn’t mutter any other words, she just laid back on her chair, but never broke line of sight with him, always fixated on his eyes.

Michael was weirded out about what had just happened. He was sure she was going to cry but her eyes had no tears coming down of them, she was thankful for what he had done but her expression was one of a statue.

Suddenly, Minouse got out of her lap and stood besides her chair.

Before Michael could do anything, a powerful force almost pushed him out of the chair making his heart almost stop.

But when he calmed down and notice what had happened, he replaced those feelings of fear with some melancholy.

That brute force that almost throw him out of his place was nothing more than Missi… hugging him.

She was tightly hugging him and pulling him as close as she could to her.

Her face was almost glued to his chest.

“Michael”.

“Mhh?”.

“If you were a vampire I wouldn’t be able to feel your heart. And I must say, it feels… good.”

“It feels so warm and… good, it just feels so good.”

Michael remained silent but nonetheless answered, in the only way he felt it was appropriate.

He hugged her back.

Both of them remained still for some moments, just letting the hug speak for both of them.

After it, both, slowly, let go.

But before Missi returned to her chair, she looked at Michael directly in the eyes.

And smiled.

He responded to the gesture with another smile.

She then parted away from him and went back to her chair, where Minouse, once upon she seated jumped again over her lap.

Missi looked at the little table that had been lifted to the side of the room because of her sudden jump towards Michael. She grabbed her cane and with a swift move the table was put back into place.

“Now, let’s start over again. Would you like something to drink?”

Chapter Text

“Sure” Said Michael with a smile. “I would like some water please.”

“Water?” Asked Missi with confusion. “You sure?”

“Yeah, is there a problem with it?”

“No, is just that… god, I haven’t had water in so long myself, I got unused to drink it.”

With a gentle movement of her cane, two shining golden cups appeared in front of both of them with two bottles, Michael grabbed his cup and looked at it’s decoration, it was simple yet beautiful and entirely made of gold.

“Guess I will never get use to being around you.”

“Well darling, I’m a box full of surprises. I think the same.”

He chuckled and took a sip.

He looked at the bottle on the table and noticed that while the one on his side was of a green transparent crystal and the water inside made it visible from one side of the bottle to the other, Missi’s one was completely dark; he also thought about what she had just said about not drinking water, so, what was she having?

“Em… Missi, what are you drinking?”

“Wine.”

“Oh… okay.”

Michael was lost for words, he didn’t know what to say. Should he reprimand her? She was a minor after she disappeared, and as far she could see, she was the same age since she was last seen, she shouldn’t be drinking. But at the same time… with how many time had passed… would it be correct for her to be having wine? She was a vampire now, time may work differently for them…

“What are you thinking?”

The sound of her voice got him out of his thoughts.

“What’”

“What are you thinking? You seemed really focus just a moment ago.” Said Missi.

“Em, I’m thinking of something a bit complicated.”

“What is it?” She said while grabbing her wine bottle and pouring more of it into her cup.

“Well Missi, you see… Aren’t you still a minor to be drinking?”

Missi froze in place, her cup almost touching her lips.

She putted her cup back on the table and looked at him. Dead serious look on her face.

“You are having a problem with me drinking? Why?” Asked annoyed.

“Missi, first, you said you don’t drink much water, right?”

“Yeah, not at all.”

“So what do you drink every day?”

“Wine.”

“Missi, that’s not healthy.”

“Oh come on!”

“Missi! Even if you were an adult it would be an incredible danger to drink so much alcohol! You being a minor makes it all even worse!”

“Oh gosh! Don’t you get that I’m a vampire now?! It doesn’t have the same effect that it has on you or any other human!”

“Missi, it doesn’t matter, you shouldn’t even be drinking it!”

“Oh fuck off!”

“Missi!”

All of a sudden, the table in front of him was sent flying across the room, harshly crashing on the other side of the room.

“Don’t you hear me?!”

Missi was standing in front of her chair, pure hatred emanating through her shining crimson eyes.

“I said, FUCK OFF!”

In just a blink, he went from sitting on his char to being smashed against a wall.

He was hanging from the floor, being held from his throat by the strong grip of Missi’s hand. It was hard to breath, her strength was astonishing.

He tried to fight back, he tried to escape, but it was futile, she had him firmly held and didn’t seem to want to let go.

Missi was looking at him with pure disdain, all trace from that cute girl she was before had vanished to give place to this. A being simply filled by hatred.

Michael vision was starting to become blurry, he couldn’t believe it, the girl that she had tried to save was about to kill him? It couldn’t be, no, it couldn’t be like this... it couldn’t be this way!

With the last amount of strength he had left he tried his hardest to open Missi’s hand. It seemed so useless, it seemed like he couldn’t make a difference no matter how hard he tried. His consciousness was about to vanish...

And then he could breathe again.

He fell to the floor and started catching as much air as he could.

He couldn’t believe, he had been able to free himself from her!

While he was trying to regain his composure again, he looked at Missi… and he understood he hadn’t accomplish a single damn thing on his own.

Missi was looking at him with a face of pure shock, her eyes were as big as plates, small tears had formed in the corner of her eyes.

“I… I did this to you.” She said with a voice of defeat.

She looked at her hands, they were shaking. She couldn’t believe what she had done, she had almost killed him.

“I did this to you” She repeated, now her voice was filled with disgust and more tears were forming in her eyes. “I almost killed you”.

“Mi… Missi, please.” Michael tried to mutter words, but it was hard for him to talk after being suffocated for such a long time. “It… it wasn’t… don’t be… hard on yourself.”

Missi started to slowly back away. Michael tried to get up with the strength he had regained. But before he could stand up, Missi had already left. Like a scared deer, she had run away in the blink of an eye, leaving him alone.

Or so he thought.

Chapter Text

There was no grass to be seen. Snow covered every place their eyes lay upon. The gentle fall of snowflakes made sure to continue covering the landscape with it’s gelid whiteness. It made a beautiful contrast with the nightly sky. The small things that weren’t covered in it’s white blanket lacked any semblance of color apart from black or a dark grey.

The only thing that stopped this from looking monochromatic were the tiny and dimly lit lights in the distance. From houses whose structures couldn’t be seen but whose light sources gave wonderful little contrast to the rest of the environment.

Missi was appreciating this view from her castle. Her gaze marveled at the beauty that nature was giving her.

If she could, she would try to make a painting out of such a wonder. But as she was never good at it, the only thing she could do to appreciate it, was to sit on her chair and drink from her glass of wine. Admiring this treasure.

But, despite very much enjoying her view, she could not shake the feeling of emptiness she had inside.

In a day of sharing and giving, a day in which people spent time together she had no one.

Minouse was her only company but it wasn’t enough.

She was all alone again. With no one to talk, with no one to be with.

Despite being next to the fire, she felt cold, oh so very cold.

She had never been cold since she became a vampire. But now she was feeling it. It was chilling her to the core, making her shiver.

She was all alone… and no one would be there for her.

“Missi?”

A voice knocked her out of her trance.

When she looked to her side. He was there.

“Are you alright Missi?”

Missi was at a loss of words. She just stayed there and looked at him dumbfounded.

“Em… Missi?”

“You came?” She asked in a fragile voice.

“Of course I came Missi! I wouldn’t leave you all alone!”

“But… why? After I…”

“Missi” He interrupted her “It doesn’t matter what you did, yeah? I forgive you for it” and with a gentle smile he added “don’t be so harsh on yourself.”

Silence fell between the two.

Missi was curled up into a ball, hugging her legs. Her glass of wine had fallen to the floor and stained the carpet.

Slowly, Missi decontract from that position and stood up. She looked at Michael directly in the eyes and began to walk towards him.

Ones she was in front of him she gave him a big hug.

This time it didn’t surprise Michael. By this point he already knew Missi and this kind of reaction from her was something he expected.

Of course he returned the hug.

For both of them it was a very sweet embrace. It was one that warmed both of them, both physically and emotionally.

Once they let go, Missi picked up the cup from the floor and cleaned the stained carpet with her cane.

Both decided to sit down, Missi made two cups of hot chocolate appear in front of them and both began to talk while enjoying their beverage, they talked about many things and for hours. They talked about how her family was doing, what he was doing, movies, games, books. They were like two close friends that had seen after a being away for a long time.

“Hahahahaha! You did that?”

“Yeah, you should have seen the look on their face.”

“Oh gosh Mike, you are amazing.”

“I know.” He replied with a cocky smile

Suddenly, Michael eyes opened wide.

“Oh Missi, I have something for you.”

“What is it?”

“It was a bit hard to find, but it was the least I could do.”

Out of one of the pockets of his jacket, Michael took out a small rectangular package.

“This is for you.”

“Oh Michael, you didn’t have to!”

“Oh believe me, I had to.”

Michael hand it over to Missi, whom took it with great excitement, which made her quickly unwrapped it.

Upon seeing what was inside, she froze.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing, she stared at it intensibly. She blinked and it was still in her hands, it was there.

She glanced at Michael and glanced back at his present.

She contemplated it for a few more minutes before gaining control of herself. She hadn’t notice but tears had fallen from her eyes. So much that some parts of her dress were wet.

Holding her gift in one hand she hugged Michael. Once on his arms she started crying loudly.

He hold her close to him until she was okay again. And even when she stopped crying he didn’t let go off her. Something she wasn’t complaining at all.

When they finally broke apart and look at each other in the eyes, Missi asked:

“Where did you get this?”

To which he answered:

“It wasn’t easy to find as I said, but Santa can get everything for everyone.” He smiled right after answering.

She giggled a bit at his cheesy answer, but she liked it. She liked this part of him. His cheesiness made him somewhat adorable.

Both of them continue talking for some more until it was time for him to go.

With a hug they departure from each other and he went to his home.

Once he left she checked her present again.

She tightly hugged it and smiled at it.

It was simple but she didn’t care. It was nice to see her parents again. Even if it was only through a photo, she felt united with them again.

Chapter Text

Michael tried to find Missi around the castle, but no matter where he looked, she couldn’t be found. He even entered the catacombs to find her, and aside from torture devices and bones piled up on every room, she wasn’t there.

Defeated, he decided to leave the castle for that day, maybe she just needed some time alone.

The next day he searched the place again for her but nothing turn out from his searching.

He continued this routine for five days straight, each time with the same result.

Tired of looking around for someone that wasn’t there, he decided to stop his visits and went back to his home once and for all.

Michael woke up in his room to sunshine hitting him right in the eyes.

Like every morning, he put on his clothes, went downstairs, had something for breakfast while talking to his parents and departed to university.

During this daily ritual, he could not get the young vampire girl out of her head. He needed to tell someone, he knew that, but there were two problems:

One of them was something she said; she would be looked at as a freak, as a monster. She was right, no one would see her like a normal person because… well, she wasn’t anymore. 

And the second problem was that he didn’t even know if she was in the castle anymore. She hadn’t appeared ever since they had that discussion. It was unlikely that she would have left the castle, but he barely knew her, she could have gotten out of the castle never to come back.. or she may have been hidden in the shadows all this time, with him simply not seeing her.

He had to do something, but he didn’t know what.

He shook of these thoughts out of his head as best as he could and moved on with his life.

University was okay, despite it being a beautiful place with a wonderful campus, he was slowly getting bored of his career. He was tired of doing so many subjects he considered useless. He always wanted to be a writer, but enlisting in university to pursue his dream didn’t seem like such a great choice now, and was now once again like in school, awaiting for summer to come and take a break.

When classes ended, he went to the cafeteria to have something to eat. Despite feeling like in school again in some way, he could clearly feel it was not the same, for starters, here he had friends, and also the food was actually good, which was always a plus.

He sat down and ate along his peers.

His group consisted of 6 people:

Jeremy, Silvia, Violet, Edgar, Adam and him.

Jeremy was a bit of a slacker and not great notes, by far, however, not only did he have great charisma and was quite funny, he was one of Michael closest, if not the closest friends he had ever had. Together since high school, nothing ever stoor them apart; yes, they were quite different, but Jeremy was one of those people he could honestly say was good, he just had a good heart hiding behind all that laziness and carefree attitude. He always had a messy hair, though he never let it get too long and was paler than the rest. He was also the tallest of the group at 6’1.

Silvia was kind of special. Despite being very hardworking and achieving great notes on most occasions, she also loved partying. It was a surprise to many people how she managed to keep it all together, especially to Jeremy. To top it all off, she also managed to have a good sleeping schedule and never appeared tired. Everyone in the group agreed that she had made a deal with the devil. She had a radiant blonde her and was the group shortest at 5’3.

Violet was sweet, as simple as that. She was the opposite of Silvia, not only was she extremely shy and a brunette, she also appeared to always need sleep with almost constant eye bags and her grades were decent most of the time, with a few B+ or A- here and there. Despite her shyness, she was also one of the kindest people Michael had ever met. She was always there for basically anyone, she would listen to you and help you… Michael couldn’t thank her enough for always listening when he needed someone to talk to.

She also played games pretty well too.

Edgar wasn’t shy per say, simply reserved. He didn’t talk a lot, but he did engage in conversations and didn’t find it difficult to make friends. He was one of the smartest people Michael had met in the campus. Silvia mostly got great notes, Edgar always did, though he didn’t have nearly the party spirit she had. One thing that Michael always found remarkable about Edgar was that he simply never got mad. Even if bad things happened to him, he took them calmly, he would never said he hated something, simply that it didn’t appeal to him. But it wasn’t that he lacked conviction and therefore didn’t have a strong opinion, he chose the wiser but incredibly simple route of live and let live, something that Michael himself had learned to do thanks him.

Finally there was Adam. He was the first friend Michael made when he enrolled in university. An extremely creative, smart and kind person but with temperament which made it difficult for him to approve some subjects. Cause, you see, if he understood something about the subject they were studying, he would simply take out his phone and start goofing around because he already knew the topic, if he didn’t, he would get angry and even leave the classroom in certain occasions because he didn’t understand it and that made him mad… Yeah, it was a silly way of handling things, but well, it was his choice, and despite that, he did get good grades when he got projects and exams… most of the time, but enough to make him approve most subjects.

“Hey guys, I have a party at my house on Saturday night, do you want to come?” Asked Silvia enthusiastically.

“Silvia, thanks, but I guess you already know my answer.” Answered Violet in low and tired voice.

“Oh Vi, don’t say that! I know you don’t like to party, but there’s always the chance of you changing your mind.” Said Silvia with a smile.

“Again, thanks Silvia, but I think I will pass.” 

“It’s okay darling, don’t worry about it! Any of you guys would like to come?”

“Could be, if I’m not occupied, I think I will go.” Said Jeremy.

“Would like to, but I already got tickets for the theater with my boyfriend, so sorry but I must pass.” Responded Adam.

“Maybe, if Diana is okay with it, I think we will go, we really don’t have many plans for the weekend really.” Replied Edgar.

“Okay, so two no’s, one yes and one maybe.” Said Silvia turning his attention to Michael. “What about you Mike, care to come?”

Mike remained silent, not really listening to what the others were saying, focusing on that young vampire girl. Just when Silvia asked him again did Mike react

“Ehhh… not sure Silvia to be honest, you know I never was a party guy, so… sorry but I must say no”

“No problem Mike! I was expecting that answer but it’s never rude to ask, right?”

Michael smirked.

“Also, Mike, are you okay? You have been too quiet all day long.” Silvia asked.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry Silvia, it’s just that I didn’t sleep well, that’s all.” Answered Mike, not wanting to concern anyone.

Lunch continued as usual, the group simply chat about various random things like movies, games, books and some of the latest news that had been on TV.

After lunch, everyone of them went on their separate ways except for Michael and Jeremy. Both of them lived near to one another, so they usually walked back together. They didn’t cross each other much when going to the university, because of Jeremy tendency to oversleep his alarm clock.

“So, how’s the work on the car going?” Asked Michael.

“Eh, it’s going well so far, but I need some money to buy some new parts I need to change.”

“It broke bad, but you still love it, right?”

“Of course.” Said Jeremy while taking a cigarette to his mouth.

“I guess that even more than Caroline.” Said Michael in a playful tone

Jeremy rolled his eyes “The days I wake up and don’t see her around are the best I have.”

Michael laughed. He loved Jeremy cynical humor.

“Dude, I didn’t tell you this, last night I was playing, and she went and cut off the electricity in my room.”

“Again?!” Michael exclaimed.

“Yeah, luckily I’ve connected myself to another phase of the house electricity. She was really confused when she entered my room and asked how I still had the lights on.”

“She literally asked you that?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you tell her the truth?”

“Yeah, she is not even going to bother to try to disconnect me from the phase I put myself.”

“Dude… she’s truly a btich.”

“Yeah.”

Both friends continued talking until it came the moment for both of them head to their homes.

“Hey man” Called Jeremy before departing from his friend. “Would you like to come and hang out?”

Michael thought for a bit, he wanted to get home and think about Missi more, but… he could also use some time with his friend.

“You know what? Sure, I want to.”

And so they continued together until reaching Jeremy’s house, his car parked outside.

Jeremy entered his home to get some tools to work on it.

Michael looked at his friend’s car. He remembered when he bought it in high school, It was their last year. It needed a lot of work, but here it was, three years later and still rolling, Jeremy had also become a pretty good mechanic.

Jeremy arrived with his toolbox and begun doing some adjustments to the car.

Michael mainly watched, since he didn’t understand much about cars and their workings, though he did lend a hand when Jeremy instructed him to do something specific.

Both boys stood under the hot spring sun talking about various topics, until a special one came up.

“Do you remember Missi? The girl that disappeared some time ago?” Asked Jeremy

Michael froze, he became a bit pale for a moment and his eyes widened, luckily his friend was too focused on his car engine to notice his expression.

Michael regained his composure and answered.

“Yeah, I remember her, why’re you asking?”

“Nothing is just… it came to my mind her disappearance, I don’t know why, it just did all of a sudden and…” Jeremy stood silent for a moment. “Poor girl, I was really hoping she would be found alive. Well… everybody wanted to.”

“Yeah...” Michael answered grimly.

“You believe she’s still out there breathing?”

“I…” Michael hold a moment of silence before continuing.”It’s hard to know... you know how these things are, sometimes, some days pass and then they reappear, or are gone for many years until they are even hear from again.”

“Yeah… Wherever she is… I just hope she’s okay.”

Both stood silent.

Michael would have liked to tell him about who he had found in the nearby castle but… he hadn't even finished analyzing and comprehending the situation himself.

He needed some time to think.

The evening went on smoothly, both of them just having a great time together.

When Jeremy finished, Michael saluted him and went to his home.

By the time Michael arrived at his house, the sun was setting on the horizon.

Despite having a great time with his friends, he wanted to relax. He went to the bathroom, took a shower, put on some comfortable in door clothes and lay on his bed, too tired to move.

He received a message, it was from his mother. His parents would be late because they were going to see a play.

For Michael, this were good news, he had all the house for himself.

It’s not that he hated his parents, it’s just that everyone needs their alone time, and this was his.

Nothing too spectacular happened after that, he made himself something to eat, watched some porn, played some computer games and headed to bed.

It was a bit early, just 10 P.M. but he needed to rest.

He got underneath the blankets and looked for a position to fall asleep.

Once he found one, he could feel how he was slowly being pulled into the realm of dreams, his eyes feeling heavier by every second it passed, and when his eyelids blinked one last time before they could close for his long sleep. He devised a figure appearing right in front of him.

She was with him.

Chapter Text

His heart stopped at the sudden sight of the figure in front of him.

The young vampiress had appeared out of the shadows in the blink of an eye.

Eyes wide open, he jumped off his bed and hit his back against the wall right next to it. Cold sweat running across his body.

The young lady was covered in darkness, only her crimson eyes could be seen.

Michael was breathing heavily, his mind racing and his heart at the border of collapse.

He couldn’t finish processing what was going on when he saw a hand reach out towards him, he closed his eyes, spooked at how quickly everything was occurring with no time to comprehend it in the slightest.

He felt her cold hand touch his cheek… only to gently caress it.

Michael was at a complete loss at this point. He didn’t understand what was going on.

When he opened his eyes, he felt like an idiot.

Now that his vision had adapted to the dark and the vampiress had gotten closer to him he was able to clearly see her face.

Her red eyes that had previously evoked a feeling of terror in the young man, now were only reflective of a deep sadness.

Neither of them said anything, Missi continued to sweetly stroke his cheek and Michael simply sat in silence. 

After some minutes had passed and he had completely calmed down, Michael put his hand on Missi’s to make her stop. She stopped moving it, but it still rested on his cheek.

“Missi.” Said Michael “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Said Missi in a voice completely different from the one Michael had gotten accustomed to, it was weak, one in which a powerful sorrow could be felt, yet it was as gentle and sweet as her caress.

After a moment of silence, Michael responded.

“Missi, I’m so sorry I got so scared of you, I… I don’t know what got into me, I… Just reacted, you know? You appeared out of nowhere, right in front of me, in the middle of the night, and I… I didn’t know how to react. I recognized you, but it was all so abrupt that I-”

“Michael.” Missi interrupted him with a strong yet tender voice. “I know what you are trying to say, yes? I get it, no need to worry. It was my fault for making such an entrance, I knew you were going to get scared but it didn’t matter to me. I needed to see you.”

“See me?” Michael was confused at her response. “But… I went to the castle, many times, why didn’t you appear on any of those occasions?”

“I know.” Missi couldn’t keep looking at him in the eyes. “I saw you all those times, I watched your every movement from the shadows...”

“Than… Why did you never show up?”

Missi sat silent for some minutes. Her hair covering her face.

Finally, she spoke.

“I… I was too embarrassed by what had happened to show myself, I still am indeed, but, seeing as you didn’t come back... I decided to follow you.”

“Wait, so… Did you follow me all day?”

“No, I left my castle not so long ago.”

“So, how did you find out where I live?”

“I could smell you.”

“What?!”

“Yes, you… well, every human emits a smell that vampires can perceive. I have gotten specially used to yours, so it wasn’t hard to find you.”

“Okay… that’s… interesting.” Michael didn’t know how to feel about that.

A silence lingered between the two but was quickly broken by Missi.

“Michael, I missed you.”

“Missi…”

“I missed you so much.”Missi’s voice started cracking. “I know we just met for a day, but… you touched me in a way. I was so lonely... I needed to see another person, I needed to talk to someone else.” Missi was at the brink of tears, directly looking at Michael in the eyes. “Please… don’t leave me.” She said, almost beggingly.

“Missi” Responded him calmly. “I will never leave you.”

That’s all she needed. 

Missi threw herself into Michael. She hugged him tightly and let her tears run down her face.

She broke down, she couldn’t take it anymore, she couldn’t stand the loneliness no longer.

Michael returned the embrace, holding her closely to him.

Both remained like this for a while, but neither of them cared. They not only wanted this, they needed it.

Missi’s cries could be heard echoing across the room, it reminded Michael of when they had first met.

After a while, Missi’s tears slowly stopped and all went silent. She reluctantly moved her head until both of them were facing one another.

Missi’s face was a mess, the trails her tears had left behind were still visible, her eyes were entirely red and her lips swollen by how long she had been crying.

But, she felt better, much better than how she was feeling before, she was feeling good, even… happy a bit.

She smiled at Michael and he smiled back.

“Thank you Michael, I… I really needed that.”

“No problem Missi, it’s okay, I’m here now.”

“Michael…” Said Missi after a little pause, blushing a bit. “I know it’s going to sound weird but… can I listen to your heart?”

“Emmm...” The question had grabbed Michael by surprise, though he quickly regained his composure, it wasn’t the weirdest thing he had heard her say after all. “Sure, no problem.”

“Thank you.” Said Missi excited.

She gently pressed her head against Michael’s chest and listened. It was there, the wonderful beating of his heart. Missi grabbed Michael and pulled him closer to her. She needed to hear it better.

She loved his heart, the sound it made, it was simply… Marvelous.

“Eh… Missi, you okay?” Asked Michael a little concerned. 

“Never become like me.” 

“Eh? What-” He was interrupted mid sentence when she grabbed him by the collar of his pajama and pulled his face towards her.

“Please Michael, continue being human, continue being how you are, I… I could not fathom to think of a world where you are not you.”

“Missi…”

“Please don’t let me hurt you Michael! Don’t let me put my fangs on you, don’t… don’t let me kill you!”

Tears were running freely from her eyes again, so much so that her voice cracked a bit, she took a pause before continuing

“Please, please don’t let me hurt you! You are all I have now… just… please… don’t leave me.”

Missi hugged Michael again, holding him even tighter than she was before.

“I want you with me, but… at the same time I don’t want to make you like me, to contaminate you like he did.”

“Missi” Said Michael in a sweet but firm tone. “I must say… I’m confused. There’s… so much to unpack here, but first, let’s calm down for a moment, yeah?”

He looked at Missi with a kind and soft smile and gently caressed her hair.

“Do you agree?” 

Missi looked up at him for a second, before burying her face on his chest and nodding.

While she was letting go of all her sadness and feeling his warmness, Michael was worried. Her last sentence in particular had worried him a lot, what did she mean with “To contaminate me like he did?” That “he”... He had never thought about it before, but it made a lot of sense. Obviously she wasn’t borned a vampire, while she was missing something or someone had turned her into this.

After some time, Missi let go of Michael, leaving a stain of tears on his chest, and both faced each other.

“Are you okay now Missi?”

She nodded.

“Good. Now, tell me…” He thought for a moment what of the many things she had told him to start from. He figured he would start from the one it had worried him the most. “Who is this person that you said… contaminated you?”

“Eh?” Missi was a bit confused by Michael’s inquiry.

“You said that you didn’t want to “contaminate me like he did.””

Missi froze at his statement, she remembered now what she had said.

“Yes, I… I remember now.”

“So… who was this person?”

Missi took a deep breath, just the mere thought of him made her rage.

“So, this “person” I was referring to, is the one that turned me into this.”

Michael was shocked, but it was the answer he was expecting, after all, which other way would have her transformation even happened?

With caution he asked:

“Did he… bite you?”

“Bite me?! Ha! Like I would get that disgusting worm put his hands on me, let alone those horrendous teeth!”

Now Michael was at a complete loss.

“So... what did he do exactly?”

“Where to start even?!” Said Missi, rolling her eyes. “That bastard tormented me so much since I lay foot on that goddamn castle, he wouldn’t stop chasing me around! He was simply toying with me as he pleased, using me for his twisted desires. The son of a bitch even tried to…”” 

Missi’s rage by this point was getting the best of her, she was even trembling because of her hatred, eyes flashing a dark crimson red.

“Missi…” Said Michael worryingly, a bit of fear escaping through his voice. “Are you okay? You don’t need to go on.”

His voice made her regain control of herself.

“Sorry Michael, I’m sorry. Just… let me think a bit, yeah? I... need to reflect on where to start even.”

She took a moment to ponder on where to begin describing all the crazy events that had transpired, there were simply too many things to tell.

Finally, after organizing all her thoughts, she resumed her story.

“So… one day, I went to the castle where you found me, it was late, real late, I should’ve  been sleeping by that point, but… I wanted some time alone I remember, away from everybody else.” 

Missi made a pause, her recollection of everything prior to her transformation, apart from key moments, were fuzzy.

“I… I don’t know how far away I wander from my home, I just know that I ended up where I did and… you are not gonna believe what happened.”

And so she went in great detail describing everything that had transpired since she lay foot on that cursed place, she described the terror and helplessness she felt, how that tall creep wouldn’t leave her alone, how they played a sick game of cat and mouth throughout the entire night, how, when all hope seemed lost and fighting looked futile, she came out with an idea by the beams of burning sunlight pouring through the curtains edge and how she managed to come triumphant in the end.

To say that Michael was astonished or dumbfounded was a gross understatement.

“So…” Said Michael after his head finished comprehending what Missi had just told him. “I got many questions now, but, the one that’s itching me the most is… did that staff turn you into… this?”

Missi thought for a moment before answering.

“I… think that yes.”

“Okay… I see you don't have it with you.”

“I actually do.”

“Where?”

Missi reached behind her back and from under her dress the cane appeared with it’s iconic bat shaped top.

“Well… that explains why I felt something on your back when I hugged you.”

Missi chuckled.

“Missi, do you ever leave that thing?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I see… think you could?”

Suddenly Missi tensed up at Michael's question.

“Why do you ask?” She asked sharply.

“Missi… for what we know, that cane is the most likely reason why you turned-”

“What if it isn’t?” Interrupted Missi, her grip of the staff tightening.

“Missi, please, don’t get on the defensive. Listen, you know that I want to help you, right?”

Missi didn’t answer, she remained still for a moment before nodding.

“Good, you know that I only want the best for you, right Missi?”

She nodded again.

“So, look, I understand that you may be attached to that walking stick, yeah? But, and please, listen to me carefully, it may not be doing you any good.”

Missi didn’t answer, she only stared at Michael’s eyes, holding her precious belonging close to her.

Michael didn’t know what to do. He knew that if he tried to take it by force, she may attack  him or leave. It was simply not possible for him to obtain it like that. He didn’t know as well if he grabbed it what could happen to him, it could easily turn him as it did with her.

He could only try to make her reason, but she seemed to be making deaf ears to his pleas.

“Look, Missi.” Said Michael feeling defeated. “I’m not going to take it from you, yeah? Don’t worry about that. I don’t want it. Just… I would just like it if you could leave it, you know? I don’t know if you are going to do it or not, most probably not, but…”

He was lost for words, he was so sure that anything he said wouldn’t work that he couldn’t come up with any words to try to win her trust.

“Okay, let’s be sincere.” Said Michael after pondering for a while. “I want you to be human again Missi, I really do, why? Because I care about you, and I know that we don’t know each other much, but it doesn’t take too much trust to want to help someone else. This whole town has been looking for you for so long, your parents spent countless sleepless nights trying to find you, and here you are! You can go back to them! You can return to your normal life. But you don’t want because of that stupid cane!” Michael rage was starting to boil up, after all, it seemed that a lots of good people efforts would go to the trash because of that stupid thing.

Silence formed between the two, Michael stopped looking at her when he finished talking. His eyes were becoming watery.

“Michael?” 

Missi’s voice surprised him, as he didn’t expect her to talk even. He looked at her. She no longer had an expression of hostility, instead, a much more worried one was in its place. Also, she didn’t have her staff tightly clutched between her hands; she still held it, but slightly away from her.

“Michael I… I want to see my parents again, I want to go home, it's just that… I don’t know if I can let go.”

Michael was caught completely off guard by this, he tried to say something but his words fought each other in his mind and wouldn’t decide which would come out.

“I’m… scared you know?” Missi continued. “It’s not only that this… “thing”, this…. vile… repugnant… object has me under it’s control, as you can see, I can fight it… sometimes… but, that’s not what’s most important, what is it’s the fact that that creep is still out there, and I know that if I drop my guard down, he will be back, so-”

“Wait.” Michael interrupted. “Wasn’t he turned to ashes?”

Missi remembered that he hadn’t told him THAT part of the story.

“Oh yeah…” Said Missi nervously while getting slightly flushed. “About that…”

Missi told Michael what had happened some time after her first encounter with this monster… needless to say, he was beyond confused.

“I… truly don’t get you” Said Michael putting a hand on his forehead. “I… I have no words for it.”

“Sorry.”

“Look, Missi, I’m… I’m completely out of my game on this, yeah? I truly don’t know what to say. This whole situation is just… too much.”

“I know… I’m sorry if I burned you out with all my problems, I… never got to think about how serious all this was until, well, you came along… guess that’s how I was able to cope with all this, simply… not thinking about it.” Missi made a pause before finishing his sentence melancholily. “I was stupid.”

Michael wanted to lift her up and remind her that she wasn’t stupid, that it was a simple mistake and he would be there for her; but even he couldn’t handle all of what Missi had thrown at her and, being sincere, he wholehearteadly agreed with her last statement.

He just could not come with any sincere way of sounding nice. He could completely understand her first predicament, but what she did after? Revive the disgusting fuck that had not only tormented her for a whole night and been an indirect reason for her transformation, but also almost raped her? She was being an idiot, as simple as that, no amount of boredom or need for revenge could justify bringing back that thing.

Michael remained silent for a while, organizing his thoughts and checking his emotions, after a while, he finally spoke back.

“Missi, listen, this is much more complicated than I imagined, and it wasn’t easy to start with, but now, with this fellon possibly chasing you around…” Michael took a pause, he couldn't believe what he was about to say. “Maybe… It’s better if you don’t let go of that thing.”

Missi didn’t respond, she didn’t feel happy that Michael had agreed to let her keep her cane, she didn’t want it herself either; but Michael could see why she needed to have it apart from it having her under it’s spell. 

“Missi, I know that you need that walking stick for your safety, but… could you, for just a moment, let go of it? Even for just a minute, wouldn't you like to be human again?”

She remained silent. Michael knew his proposal would not be approved, but he could keep trying he thought, even if he himself realized it was a lost cause.

Suddenly, a soft thump was heard over the bed mattres and Michael looked up at Missi.

There she was, her skin no longer a white pale, her eyes no longer irradiating with red intencity, her hair no longer purple, her ears no longer pointy.

It was her, the real her again.

Michael was left bowled over. He slowly extended his hand toward her and she grabbed it. She was warm once again.

“Missi.” Said Michael on the verge of tears. “Is that you?”

Missi smiled softly.

“It’s me Michael, the real me.”

Michael broke down. He hadn’t cried like this in such a long time. Missi embraced him and held him closely. 

Being a human for just a couple of minutes, was something she could accept.