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Sometime after he first became a vampire, Reo learned that his kind could see things – beings – that mortals could not. In fleeing cities for his own safety, he’d come across all sorts of monsters and demons in the wilderness. And humans went on with their lives, unaware of the darkness that walked among them. Darkness that Reo himself was part of, he supposed.
But for some reason, Reo never realized that for all the malicious spirits he could bear witness to, he could see forces of light too. Something or someone that brought hope instead of fear and despair. Light that Reo never thought he’d reach.
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After everything with Kota and that exorcist neighbor of his, Reo and Franz fled to London. The constantly gray skies made it more comfortable to walk around during the day, and the bustling nightlife of the city made finding food an easy task. More importantly, it put plenty of distance between them and their last known location.
And maybe he could stop thinking about Kota for a little while.
Reo had gotten in the habit of going out in the early evening, just as the sun was setting. Franz still preferred the darkest part of night to hunt, and it was better if they didn’t stick together. Truth be told, the sight of the city-dwelling office workers headed home to their families made Reo's heart ache in a way that he kind of liked. The pain was better than being numb, at least.
The London traffic was awful. Any time there was an accident, Reo knew from blocks away. The scent of smoke, gasoline, and sometimes blood carried on the wind, and if it was unpleasant to humans, it was awful for Reo with his heightened sense of smell. That was his cue to turn around and walk the other direction, far away from the site of the crash.
Until today, that is.
Reo had been walking near a city hospital when he saw a dark-haired man push a young woman out of the path of a speeding car. The driver couldn’t stop in time and hit the man, but the woman was far enough away to be unharmed. Having watched the whole scene unfold, Reo was certain the man’s injuries were fatal, and he would be dead soon, if he wasn’t already. Other pedestrians scrambled for their phones to call for help, but he was sure it would be pointless. He was about to turn and leave when another figure appeared at the scene, walking into the street and kneeling down to check on the victim.
And Reo would swear on his endless life that it was Kota.
Not only was he the spitting image of the man Reo had left behind, the way he kindly reached for the injured man reminded Reo of how gently Kota had picked him up from the street on the first night they met.
Reo couldn’t… shouldn’t go to him. He was helping someone in need, and Reo didn’t need him anymore. Couldn’t need him. As the paramedics arrived and swarmed around the site of the accident, hoping to save the life of the man that was hit, the man who looked like Kota stayed right there at his side, clutching his hand. Why no one had commented on the other’s presence, or gotten him to step aside in order to tend to their patient, Reo could not comprehend, until…
He noticed a soft white glow around “Kota,” and a flurry of white feathers stained with blood lying there in the road.
No one else could see him. He must have been an angel.
And only Reo could see him because he, too, walked the lines of life and death.
This wasn’t Kota, it was an angel with Kota’s face… unless… Something had happened to Kota. Undead as he was, Reo’s heart dropped all the same.
No, he thought. It can’t be him, I can’t have left him just for this to happen. He was supposed to be safer without me.
The faint sound of a heart monitor flatlining broke through Reo’s spiraling, and the angel picked up the man in his arms. Reo felt another pang in his chest. For all the death he’d seen in his life, hell, all the death he’d been responsible for, he’d never seen someone’s soul be taken like this. Never had any reason to believe that there was something after death besides emptiness. And because this angel looked so much like Kota, a hazy memory surfaced. One of being carried by Kota in much the same way after that exorcist had stabbed him.
And this man, no, this angel , looked at the man in his arms with such fondness that Reo almost felt envious. Envy for a man he’d never met, who had died in the street, for the sole reason of his final moments being spent with someone so caring, so tender.
And all of this fear, and longing and heartache culminated in one simple thought: Perhaps it would be worth it to go back to Japan.