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I can’t let any more lives be destroyed.
“I…” Stella took a deep breath, trying desperately to keep her voice from shaking from the fear she was feeling. “I will become your food source.”
She said it. She had no regrets. This was her place in life. She was always meant to be the sacrifice for the happiness of others, and what better way than to prevent the men she has grown close to from having to end the lives of any other young women. Surely she could sustain their needs to stave off starvation. They didn’t seem to eat that much, only a small crystal or two at a time - she had always thought they were candy, but now she knew. Now she knew the truth she couldn’t escape from, they were killing women for survival.
Stella had managed to stun all the men into silence with her declaration. Levi’s heavy footsteps echoed eerily loud in the otherwise silent room as he rapidly crossed it to meet her.
“Stella?! What are you even saying?”
Reflexively, her hands flew up to shield herself. Levi hadn’t ever yelled at her before, and when a man his size– no, he wasn’t a human, she had just learned he and the others in the room were monsters that fed on humans to survive. When a beast comes at you in such a fashion, your body reacts without considering if it would actually hurt you.
Levi’s fingers wrapped around her wrist and he bent his back as if he was shielding her from the two others in the room, placing himself between her and them. She couldn’t see Friedrich or Yoel any longer, though the room was so quiet she was sure they hadn’t moved. Levi’s face was in front of hers. He was so much taller than her, but right now she was looking at him almost eye to eye, and his eyes…
Is that fear? Why do you look so scared, Levi?
Stella had seen Levi with many expressions since they had grown closer, sharing kisses behind closed doors, laughing together in secret, and the sadness that he had held so thoroughly entrenched in his heart had all colored his red eyes. But this was different. He was scared.
“I want to help!” She yelped back at him. In her heart she understood.
If Levi continues finding someone new to eat, he’ll surely destroy his soul. He’ll be nothing but a shell of the person I love. Needing to consume a life in order to survive was slowly killing him.
“We need to try other possibilities before resorting to the worst, right?” Stella felt she was right, and now that she heard herself, she felt the power behind her own conviction. She stood up taller, leveling her gaze at Levi’s.
“You just said that you don’t have to turn them into crystals for it to work. You felt it when you licked the cut I got from the rose bush. And Friedrich confirmed it! He said that any human material would do, so blood, or tears– or even saliva!” She rose to her tiptoes to peer over Levi’s shoulder at Friedrich who was lounging on the sofa.
Friedrich gave an amused smile in return, refusing to offer the support she was looking for. With an internal huff, Stella dropped back down to her heels and looked at Leviruin again. “Let me help in whatever way I can, okay? Please? And if this doesn’t work…”
No one followed that up. Everyone was aware that if this plan didn’t work out that they’d return to kidnapping and killing others. The room fell into a strained silence, Stella could hear her own breathing abnormally loud in her ears. She waited for Levi, his eyes searching hers.
He sighed and straightened, releasing her wrist that he had taken the moment they were in reach of each other. “On your terms only.”
A smile bloomed on Stella’s face, her eyes sparkling in victory. She was almost too bright to look at, too pure, too good, especially for the lot of them in the room with her. They didn’t deserve her kindness, Levi was certain of that. He squinted his eyes and looked away, glancing at Friedrich who was happily reclining on the sofa.
“Interesting,” Friedrich murmured, mouthing in a way that Levi was certain to see. He enjoyed tormenting Leviruin almost as much as he enjoyed toying with women, and he had seen the way the two of them had been pressed against each other near the open windows that looked down into the garden.
“I want my go first.” He announced cheerfully, kicking his crossed legs off the sofa and rising as if readying to jump up. Levi’s expression darkened immediately, the tiny adjustments in his stance showing how protective he was of the woman shining behind him.
“Oh… Right now? Right, of course now. Um… Okay.” Stella didn’t seem to notice Levi’s posturing and started to move towards Friedrich, but before she could take more than two steps Levi put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.
“Yoel is injured. He should be tended to first.” His voice was soft for Stella’s benefit, but his eyes were sharp as they bored into Friedrich.
“Alright. I suppose the little one can have his chance first. But Stella, you’re welcome to come by my room afterwards so I might have a midnight snack.”
Stella visibly flushed, her skin so pale that even a slight blushing would dust her in shades the color of the roses that bloomed around the mansion. Gently, she pushed Levi’s hand from her shoulder, her eyes downcast to be certain to not meet Friedrich’s as she moved around Levi to the bed Yoel was sitting in.
“How do you…?” Stella sat on the side of the bed and tilted her head, not entirely certain how to go about “feeding” the young man. Yoel was bandaged from shoulder to wrist on one arm, and across his torso for the wound he had received on his back when protecting her. Guilt clouded her face as it pained her heart.
Yoel was hurt because of me. If he didn’t get between us, Gilbert would have…
“You don’t have to make that face, I’ll be okay.” Yoel’s soft voice brought Stella back from the nightmare they had just lived through. “We heal faster than humans.”
His delicate hands reached for hers and Stella was reminded once again about how doll-like and pretty he was. His soft fingers brushed against hers, and a sense of comfort came over her. She hadn’t spent much time with Yoel, but for some reason he always put her at ease, just being around him made her feel better somehow.
Slowly, Yoel drew her hand towards his mouth. He was being considerate to Stella by not making any sudden movement, and it seemed to be working to help her relax. The cloud of guilt that had settled in her eyes began to lift as she watched in rapt attention to where he was leading her hand.
He turned her finger so the fleshy pad was facing up and closed the last inch standing between his lips and Stella’s finger. She didn’t draw back, she didn’t gasp, she simply watched, and for a moment Yoel was filled with a feeling he hadn’t experienced before. He pressed his lips together, giving her finger a tiny kiss, then beamed a smile at her. “It’ll only hurt for a moment, okay?”
Stella nodded almost dazedly, but she didn’t look away. She watched him. And Yoel watched her watching him, and a need suddenly clamored at the back of his mind that she was so willingly allowing him to control her and all the terrible things he could do because of that trust. But she also needed to be protected. That trust wasn’t to be broken and abused, he needed to be kind, he needed to be gentle, and he was going to keep her safe, and that trust she had in him safe as well.
Pinching her finger between his teeth, his sharp fang easily sliced through her delicate skin, and her taste coated his tongue instantaneously. She was so sweet. She was almost like candy melting in his mouth. His lips closed around her fingertip and languidly he rolled his tongue across the cut, milking and suckling the precious little blood that he could pull from the small wound.
He had never bitten someone before, nor drank their blood. Since the day he came to be, Levi had been making the crystals for them to sate their hunger, and it was all he ever knew. But this new method? He kind of liked it. He especially liked seeing Stella so focused on him, and looking completely at ease with the situation despite that he was literally ingesting part of her.
Was there ever a creature so innocent, that looked at me so lovingly despite me being a monster?
He didn’t think there ever was, nor that there ever would be.
“That’s enough.” Levi’s voice cut through his thoughts, and both Stella and Yoel looked in his direction. Yoel toyed with Stella’s finger that was still sucked between his lips, pretending to not understand what Levi meant.
Friedrich rose from the sofa and clapped a hand on Levi’s shoulder. “Now, now, Levi, let the boy have his fill. You get to play with Stella whenever you want.”
Yoel gave one final pull from Stella’s finger and popped it out of his mouth, licking at the small cut as the waning flow of blood squeezed out the last few droplets that would freely weep from her finger. “It’s okay, I’m feeling much better already. Thank you, Stella.”
Offering her the brightest, cutest smile he could muster, he kissed the tiny wound and brushed his fingers over her hand before releasing her completely.