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Vampires were disgusting. Predators of humanity. Once upon a time, they were nothing more than slaves, a subordinate species to the aristocrats, but it was because of the blue man that their kind managed to take the crown of the strongest. Though they refused to be overrun by vampires, the King found a way to keep them in their place by creating a unique bloody festival for their enjoyment: The Purge. An event held every first night of winter.
As a child, Honami had no notion of the danger outside. Her parents warned her not to trust strangers, to be careful when outside the home, to stay in the village without going near the forest; normal requests for a child. The first day of winter was the most curious day of her life. The night before, and during the day, her mother forced her to stay awake until nightfall. Inside her dream world, Honami did not hear the suffering outside. It was at the age of eight that she was made aware of the vampire race by her teacher. She, along with her childhood friends, discovered the genocide their village was suffering first hand when they opened the door of the shelter. They heard the voice of a girl attending their school. She was desperately crying out for help and, seeing that the adults were busy among themselves, they decided to let her pass. The vampire attacked as soon as it had the chance. That night, Honami lost her father who fought to the death to protect everyone.
It was normal to hate living in a sense of danger. Vampires could change their voices, adapt to the environment to stalk their prey, some were showing special mutations and were even overcoming their weakness to the sun. Honami, in memory of her father, decided to take care of her mother and brother with every last part of her body. She wanted to stop being that ignorant girl and tried to join the hunter corps together with two of her childhood friends. However, the three of them were immediately rejected. They did not consider that a woman could handle a fight. Despite the rejection, they trained on their own in secret from their parents so they could show what they were made of. Another Purge came and, at the age of 10, Honami had to endure more losses. Shizuku Hinomori, the older sister of one of her best friends, was kidnapped by the vampires while she was saving Tsukasa. While they were trying to find a trace of her, Ichika saw her parents who were brutally mutilated and their home was destroyed. Saki, because her home was attacked to ruins, had to move with her brother away from the village. She lived with Ichika and Shiho for another year until they both decided to travel to train in the country's capital.
Now, she had left home, leaving her mother and brother alone.
At first she was terrified. Living among vampires was a slow death sentence that sent you into agony. You didn't know when they would attack, what they would use you for, or if you would even die. The hunter’s stories about the Blood Nests were quite explicit in their narratives. They served to warn civilians of the real danger posed by these monsters and to give permission to commit suicide if they kidnap you. The church will forgive their sins, the superior said as he bowed his head. But Honami wanted to live. Still, even if the chance was slim, she will escape to return to her mother as soon as she could get rid of the vampires. She was locked in a mansion surrounded by fog. Unable to see beyond the roofed garden from the window, she was startled when a vampire appeared to bang on the glass and tried to enter. Honami was surprised he didn't break the windows with his strength. He just stood there looking at her and disappeared into the forest.
She left the room and took an almost complete look around the other rooms. There were both vampires and humans placed in torture machines. She saw a group of women hanging skinless over buckets holding their blood and children sitting staring at the wall with blindfolds on while adults were crucified at the other end. Opening the last room, she found a man with his legs broken crawling over to a slaughtered woman to take her head. He wept cursing life, vampires and God himself wishing he could just die. He noticed Honami's frightened look, he hid his eyes from the light, but gave her a warning.
"If you want to live, befriend those monsters. Don't let them find you useless or annoying or you'll end up the same way."
After that, the man asked her for the knife that was near the door and, when he reached for it, he killed himself without letting go of the woman's head.
"Vampires are nothing more than wild creatures guided by their own instincts. We are no different from animals or humans I'm afraid." Mafuyu began to fill her cup with a bizarre smile. A mixture of terror and menace filled Honami as their eyes met. "Even the strongest vampire falls to uncontrolled hunger when thirsty. We are strong, filled with multiple abilities, we are made to be a perfect predator. One that will prevail atop the food chain."
Ena had left to chase the vampire into the forest. The vampire in front of her was Mafuyu Asahina, the owner of the mansion and the strongest in the area. The hunters warned of a special class, not because of their mutations, but because of their incomparable strength and intelligence. Monsters capable of annihilating entire cities if they wished, but these rarely came out of hiding to participate in genocide. They were in the dining room. They laid out a tablecloth that covered the entire table where they set the plates next to the cutlery to have a meal. They sat facing each other in silence until the vampire began to smile.
"It's all born of a greedy desire. I have one too far from being a vampire, do you have a desire to live for?"
She nodded his head. Her desire, one that was born when she saw her father fall in combat, was overlaid with wanting to protect his loved ones so she wouldn't have to keep losing them. Human scum existed, but most tragedies happened in part because of vampires. All the changes in humanity were preventative measures to ensure their survival. Children losing their innocence at an early age, victims unable to defend themselves; all ended by a monster that knew no fear of death because it could take back everything that was taken from it. They had all the time that humans longed to have.
"I wish all vampires would disappear." She expressed earnestly making the vampire's smile widen to a more boastful one. "They are the cause of our suffering. I lost my parents, my closest friends. The only thing they deserve is death."
She never thought to blurt out her twisted thoughts. Honami, despite having no reservations about hating with all her might, could finally admit her contempt for the vampire race to one of a special kind. Whether it was her death sentence or not, at least she could leave the world knowing that her family had a way to protect themselves. Before leaving, she made her mother promise to recreate the seal made by Ena in the basement in the next purges. She also asked her to explain the situation to the other hunters and they will try to find a way to use it to their advantage even against the strongest vampire.
"I think so too. We should wipe all vampires off the map so we can achieve a balance between races." She looked at Mafuyu in surprise, she didn't seem to be lying by her expression. "My wish is to be able to reach the Vampire King, my reasons are my own ambitions to gain more power to be that perfect hunter, that's why I will ask for your help. I want you to do two favours for me and I will give mankind a way to slay even the King."
Honami could not respond at the time. She was wary of the deal presented and even thought about the consequences of interacting with a vampire. Mafuyu couldn't be betraying her race, could she? She had said that vampires and humans were not so different, perhaps it was true. However, the hunters had spent centuries trying to find a weapon capable of killing them more effectively than the steel used in wars. Mafuyu would be being rather careless or too confident if she thought Honami wouldn't use such a weapon to assassinate her in the first place. They ended the conversation with the vampire by giving her a week to refuse or accept the deal. Ena interrupted in the dining room after that.
After much thought, she decided to accept. Mafuyu didn't show any particular expression, but Honami sensed that she knew she would accept. First she had to comply with the vampire's requests to get information on saving humanity. She gave her a hint to still have her trust. Mafuyu said the answer lay in the knowledge of what exactly vampires were. Her first request was that Honami would work for her until she died. She was to have more freedom than that of a servant, so she agreed when they came to a mutual agreement. The next was the strangest.
"I want you to return Ena's will." She said with empty eyes lost in some distant place. "There is something about her that I can't understand, something I need in order to achieve my goals. However, as she broke her feelings and began to spend more time alone with her thoughts, that powerful fire inside her faded to ashes. I need you to bring that fire back.”
Ena could be described as a person tired of existing in a routine world. As she followed her to understand the workings of the mansion, she understood that she couldn't stand to be lost in her thoughts for so long or she was beginning to have that pained expression. It felt different from being with the other vampires, she didn't even feel a threat like with Mafuyu, it was just an indifferent normality. Although Ena tried to attack her on the first day, something that made her fearful for the next few days as she slept in her room (she could barely sleep for a few hours without glancing around the room), the rest of the month was uneventful. There were times when Ena behaved strangely and she could not look her in the eye without looking away. But she understood what Mafuyu meant about their similarity when she saw her approach the marble statue in the garden. She took her time cleaning it and could see how she took Mizuki's hand. She felt the pain of betrayal when she saw her image on a gift from Mafuyu to her two wifes, but she got over it when she met Shibao.
The puppy was a key to understanding Ena. At first, the two could not live together in the same room and Mafuyu called her to explain the situation. He did not tell her about Ena's past, but he understood her fear better, even though he was a small dog far from being the killing beast he was created to be. Although the room change didn't work, they were able to find a way for the two to live together with their respective distance and even Ena became better and better at handling the puppy's approaches. Honami began to understand better why she felt trust with the only vampire in the mansion who tried to attack her. They spent so much time together that it became a habit to feel his presence. She was kind, made sure to get her clothes, food, keep her warm in her room, and kept Honami from reentering the cruelty-filled rooms. Though, of course, she didn't know what she had already seen inside. A sense of homely closeness was what made her feel safe. That was why, when Mizuki returned to the mansion, Honami felt sorry to see that pained expression. A far cry from her usual frustration or bored indifference. Vampires also had their own stories full of human emotions. Recreating what her mother used to do to her when she felt sad, she stroked Ena's hair trying to change the pain.
Even though vampires lived just like humans, she couldn't forgive them for their crimes. Maybe the vampires in the mansion didn't try to harm her seriously, but they were only an exception because she had a deal with Mafuyu. Mizuki took her to talk about it. Somehow, she got suspicious when she found out that she was still alive after a week and that was enough to try to find out what was going on between the two of them. For her part, Ena didn't seem to suspect anything. And, since Mizuki's arrival, she wasn't even interested in what was going outside her head. Several times she found her in the room drawing in a notebook. No matter how much Shibao barked to get her attention, Ena kept moving her hand, tracing the lines with loneliness in her eyes. That boredom turned into a nagging pain sometimes exchanged for hope. Honami could not understand her changes or what Mafuyu was looking for in her. There was no latent fire or will and she didn't know how she would spark the ashes she had to rekindle.
But life reminded Honami again that even the most indifferent vampire was still a monster. She had to go into the forest to find a group of hunters. Mafuyu warned her about a group, not a search party, they were looking for the mansion to burn it down and kill everyone inside. She sent Honami to lure them to the mansion because they would be a useful source of information for his next move into human society. It was a rainy day, almost impossible to move forward in the foggy forest, but she was able to meet up with the group who immediately welcomed her when she pretended to have escaped. She felt guilt inside that she was dragging hunters to a slow and painful death. She was betraying her own race.
"Think of it as a small sacrifice for the greater good." She remembered the vampire's words before taking her leave.
All was well in her story until the dogs returned from searching the perimeter and reacted to the scent coming from her. The first rule of a hunter was never to doubt the scent of their companions. They tied her up in a tree while the others decided what to do with the sinner. She was sure that Mafuyu would come to her rescue as promised if she did not return within two minutes, or there was a scent of her nearby, so Honami tried to remain calm in the face of the snarling dogs baring their teeth at her. She knew that Shibao would not turn into an equally dangerous beast by living among vampires. Honami was the only human he knew and he would not go near the rooms where the others were locked up because of Ena's warning. This was only the first assignment of many, but she had failed because of the scent she forgot to cover with perfume. She began to worry as the minutes ticked by and the only sign of help was the arrival of Shibao in front of a group of ten hunters who were equipped to exterminate vampires. He was no match for any of the dogs. She did not want to lose a loved one again, so she begged for mercy for his puppy who, so stubborn that he reminded her of Ena, maintained his threatening stance even though he sensed the danger.
Then, like a thunder, Ena fell, killing the one furthest from the position, and began to kill the others without much effort. She had a tough fight with the last ones, but in the end she defeated the whole group. Seeing her take the blows as if it was nothing, even though her arm was cut off and she was blinded in one eye, she kept moving while maintaining the physical strength of a full body. That dull vampire with a lot of almost unreadable thoughts was still a monster capable of losing all her limbs and still winning in a fight against an army. Honami had been sleeping, coexisting and enjoying next to that creature for the last three months. She closed her eyes in horror as she slammed the leader, the one who tried to set her on fire, to the ground to kill him with a bite to the neck. Watching it devour the bodies, eating the man impaled against the tree while he was still alive, reminded her of what she was up against. Her reasons for finishing them off.
As she approached Ena, who was sitting against a tree with Shibao licking her face, she remembered her conversation in the dining hall with Mafuyu. Hunger drove this vampire to eat the bodies of all the hunters. She was so out of control that she feared for Shibao's life when he approached her, but Ena just watched him with her usual displeased expression and then let him stay on top of her even though she was trying to chase it away. It was a single case, an exception among thousands of her race, but it lit a different flame in Honami. Even if they started a hunt to exterminate them all, it was impossible to wipe out a race completely in a few years. If humanity subdued the vampires, they would strike back and with a punishment worse than the Purge. However, perhaps there is some hope of both living side by side without so much bloodshed. A future longed for without fear of near death.
When she took Ena's hand, seeing that same pained gesture, she felt like reassuring her. She emptied her shallow thoughts repressing the truth behind her words. She could see those ashes that Mafuyu mentioned when she asked her about her wishes. A gaze that traveled back in time to judge herself by her present. She too wished to protect her own even if she could be hurt by one of them. That determination remained until their arrival at the mansion and Honami could enjoy a warm smile.
In the days following the fight, she kept tending to Ena's wounds. She knew the regenerative power of vampires, but she couldn't help worrying and could use the moment to watch her gestures more closely. She noticed that she was touching Shibao more often, which made her happy in a way, plus she was using him as a model for several of her illustrations. Her dull gaze was slowly beginning to take on color and something overwhelmed Honami's chest. Dazzling eyes, full of gentleness, sincerity, mixed between despair and hope. A new expression dedicated only to her. Her indifferent demeanor changed to a more awkward and even gentlemanly one. Honami was amused to see his attempts to help her even with one arm, but she was worried about the new emotions blossoming in her.
*Shibao, see that she doesn't leave the room.” Honami folded her arms, trying to assert herself against the vampire who scowled when the puppy barked in response. "You still have some recovering to do, Ena. Mafuyu said your regeneration process is quite slow compared to other vampires."
"It's only been three days since then. By the end of the week I'll have my arm back to full strength, but I can't say the same for my eye. I feel it will take a few more days."
"Still you need to rest, Yoisaki and Akiyama said they would come to visit you and help me with the housework so you won't worry about that." Honami could have lied, only Kanade offered to do so. Mizuki only laughed at Ena. "I'll be back before nightfall with dinner so get some rest."
Ena growled not wanting to accept defeat, but shut up ducking her head. She wanted to stroke his unkempt hair looking wild since the fight. She still remembered when she touched her. It was as if she had stroked a fluffy, well-brushed dog. Kanade bathed Ena every day and Honami was in charge of dressing his wounds when she was done, so her only way to touch her was when she moved her fringes to place the patch over his eye. Repressing her instincts, she decided to caress Shibao goodbye and was about to walk to the door if it wasn't for Ena stopping her.
"Why don't you have dinner with me instead?" she averted her gaze, biting the tip of her tongue. It might have been Honami's hallucination, but she swore she saw the tips of her ears red. Then she turned her gaze back, taking her by the sleeve of his uniform shirt. "With me and Shibso, I think it will be better for you to stay away from the pair. As soon as they enter your world, they don't stop until they sink their teeth into each other. It'll be awkward, what do you say?"
Shibao nodded as if he understood her words. She remained fixed, appreciating the restless clearing of his one eye. She couldn't refuse with an expression like that. That one unique to Honami who was unaware of its origin.
"Alright, I'll bring enough for both of us and the bottle of blood. See you later."
Before leaving, Honami stroked her hair. As she closed the door, she heard a rather loud thump against the pillow, but felt relief at Ena's usual nagging of her puppy. She didn't know many things about her new life, especially the vampire she had to return her will to. She didn't even know about the seed growing inside her and, if she knew that emotion, she understood the reasons for ignoring them. However, Honami had a family she wanted to return to, friends to reunite with and a life ahead of her. She would not so simply abandon her main goal.
Someday, humans might be able to live without fear, but that day would also bring a new vampire to the top of the hierarchy.