SIDE STORY: Halloween Special

Their limbs were tangled in a breathless whirlwind, until she couldn’t remember which part belonged to her and which part belonged to the man intent on embracing her. His hand explored her shoulders, pushing down her clothes until the tops of her breasts were exposed. Warm lips descended on her collarbone, dedicating themselves to each little curve. He moved his lips over to the side of her neck, licking and soothing a red mark he had already carved into the delicate skin earlier.

“You know, you really shouldn’t provoke a vampire,” the man seductively growled against her skin as her fingers lightly danced across his chest in contentment.

The blonde girl merely smiled as her hand moved down lower and lower until they traced the lines of his abdomen. It was truly a fine view with him leaning over her. His body was pale white, as if he had never been in contact with the sun. His chest was slender, yet it also showed well-toned muscle and defined abs which only served to elevate his beauty with an edge of wild danger. As if he was born from the spirits of the wild themselves.

Wisps of the man’s black hair fell over his forehead as he peered over at her. She loved those silky strands of his hair, as well as his unnatural eyes that had darkened a few shades in lust. All for her.

“I don’t mind if it's you,” she answered back provocatively.

His lips slowly curled up in a smile. And so he captured her lips once more until she was drowning in the flames they created.

A Few Weeks Earlier

Shuichi Saihara yawned as he woke up for the morning… or, rather, what had become his morning. In reality, it was the dead of night, but ever since his change waking up in the morning had become entirely pointless, so he adjusted to only getting up after dark.

One thing he still needed to get used to, though, was waking up inside a coffin. Like usual, he bumped his head on the lid as he tried to wake up, leaving a small sore spot as he **** the heavy lid open and woke up in his Tokyo apartment.

“Ouch…” Shuichi grumbled, clad in his white and blue striped pajamas, as rubbed his head and walked toward his office. “I know it’s good for keeping away sunlight and all, but is it really necessary to sleep in coffins all night long?”

Turning on his computer, Shuichi began what was becoming a normal nightly routine. As his computer turned on, he’d use his unnatural speed to polish his new vampire fangs and take a shower, which did a good job of heating up his unnaturally cool body. Then, he checked the news, keeping an eye out for any reports of ‘suspicious individuals’ before opening up his text messaging app and texting his friends. He would have preferred video chatting himself, but not appearing on video made that rather pointless.

“Hey there, guys,” Shuichi wrote into his group chat. “Good morning! Er, I mean… how’s it going?”

“Hmph… still not used to the ways of the night, are you?” Gundham asked. “Such a shame… despite the fact that you are a creature of darkness, you still cling pathetically to the ways of the light like a confused pup!”

“Hey, it’s not his fault, man; we all had a little bit of trouble when we first started out,” Rantaro interjected. “Remember how you got that scar trying to see if it was okay ‘just to look’ at the sun?”

“Th-that was over three hundred years ago; I hardly find it worth bringing up now,” Gundham replied with a hint of shame.

“The point is, even the best vampires made mistakes when they first got turned. So, cut the new guy a little slack, okay?” said Rantaro.

“Thanks, guys… you have no idea how much it means to me that you’re both here to help me through this,” Shuichi texted back. “I don’t even want to think about what it would have been like if I had to figure this out on my own. Hell, I’m honestly surprised that I survived the first night…”

Shuichi was just trying to walk home that night. It was wet and stormy, and he had left his umbrella at home, but he didn’t live too far away from where he worked. With all the shadows and flashing lightning, combined with the water in his eyes, it was impossible for him to see what was stalking him in the shadows, or what plans it had for him.

But it turned out not to be a beast from the shadows that did Shuichi in that night, however. Instead, it was a modern machine, trying to rush through the streets to get to its destination and not seeing the poor boy until it was far too late to slow down. It collided with Shuichi so fast that he didn’t even realize what was happening until he was launched across the street and straight into the alleyway. The driver considered for a moment if perhaps he had hit something, but he lied to himself that it was just the wind and kept going, leaving Shuichi alone in the alleyway with his lower back and most of his ribs shattered beyond recognition.

“Gaaah! Ack, ach!” Shuichi tried to call for help as he lay on the ground, but his voice failed him, unable to find any air left in his lungs. Shuichi began to lose hope almost immediately as the world began to fade… but then, he noticed someone step out from the shadows. It was a woman with unnaturally pale skin, an elegant black, European-style lolita outfit, and piercing red eyes that seemed to look directly into Shuichi’s soul. He wasn’t quite sure where the woman came from since he thought he was just staring at the shadow of a building, but he was still thankful to see her. Using the last of his strength, he tried to reach out toward her, but even then her eyes showed no sympathy.

“Tch… such a pity… and after I spent so much time scouting you out, you just went ahead and got yourself mortally wounded. Don’t you know how rude it is to die on a lady who’s been waiting for you?” the woman scolded, something in her mouth glinting against the light of the nearby lamppost. “And your lovely crimson essence, spilled and diluted by the rain… completely unfit to dine on, now. I expected so much more from you.”

Shuichi coughed again and reached his hand higher, **** for her to save him somehow. He couldn’t make sense of what she was saying, but that didn’t matter to him at this point.

“Oh? What’s this?” The strange woman cocked an eyebrow. “You did me such a great disservice, dying without my permission, but still you request my help?” She smirked and took out a knife. “Very well then; I cannot extend your life, but I can make what comes after much more interesting.”

She then slit the palm of her hand and created a pool of pitch-black blood, which she promptly sucked into her mouth. She then gripped Shuichi’s chin with her other hand and kissed him passionately, forcing the dark blood into his mouth as her tongue danced with his. Within moments, Shuichi felt his heart beat for the last time. He gasped, expecting this to be the end, but just before he passed out he could have sworn he could feel his wounds start to heal.

“ Au revoir , my dear. I hope you enjoyed your kiss of ****,” the mysterious woman said as she let go of Shuichi’s chin. “May we meet again, in the next life~”

“...and when I woke up, I couldn’t exactly remember the details of that night. Maybe it was the fact that I was close to ****’s door, but my head feels fuzzy everytime I think about it. All I knew was that I had superpowers and a new allergy for sunlight that nearly cost me my face,” Shuichi finished recounting. “I had to have broken a dozen doors that night getting used to my own strength.”

“Well, normally the responsibility for teaching you would fall to the one who originally damned you, but unfortunately your matron abandoned you before she had the chance,” wrote Gundham. “To think that Celestia would be so crass as to do such a thing. Does she have absolutely no sense of honor?”

“Well, she did kind of save my life when she didn’t have to,” Shuichi pointed out, feeling the urge to defend her. “I was bleeding out on the road after being hit by that car. Maybe she thought that saving me from **** meant that she’d already done enough for me?”

“Well, that, or she was just being fickle again,” Rantaro replied. “She has kind of a history of doing things on a whim. Though I’m not sure why she didn’t take you, since you are her type. Anyways, don’t sweat it; we won’t be ghosting you anytime soon.”

“So… how goes your efforts to disappear from the waking world?” asked Gundham. “Have you severed all ties with your former friends and family yet?”

“A-actually, I, uh… kinda told them that I was busy, but I’d hang out with them next week at the Korean barbeque nearby,” Shuichi sheepishly replied.

“Gah! Such rank arrogance!” Gundham practically shouted through his computer screen. ”Don’t you know that the longer you spend time with them, the more you just endanger yourself and them?”

“As much as I hate to agree with him on that one, he does have a point,” said Rantaro. “Plus, it’s not like you'll even be able to remember their names or faces after a couple hundred years. My advice; find a way to fake your ****, and move to another city. I know a girl who can help you do that too.”

“Maybe one day, but… I kinda want to keep seeing them for now,” Shuichi replied.

“Suit yourself,” wrote Rantaro. “How about feeding? Have you been able to successfully hunt anyone on your own yet?”

“I’ve…” Shuichi paused in his typing. “... eaten food.”

This time it was Rantaro’s turn to groan at his computer. “Shuichi, you know that regular food doesn’t do anything for you, anymore. If you don’t get some real, fresh blood in you real soon, you’re going to starve to ****. And trust me, if you thought being hit by a car was bad, it has nothing on starving to **** as a vampire. There’s a reason that ‘blood lust’ is such a problem.”

“I know, I know, it’s just… even if it’s to live, I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Shuichi typed.

“If that is your concern, then merely take a morsel of their blood and nothing more,” Gundham proposed. “Just take what you need, and then use your hypnotism to make them forget. I know I taught you how to use that skill, and you were quite proficient with those test subjects.”

“Or, if it’s the attacking random strangers thing that’s turning you off, you could always just get a thrall,” Rantaro pointed out. “You know, a mortal that you permanently hypnotize and keep around to feed on and serve you.”

“I’ve thought about doing that, of course, but… to be honest, that idea scares me even more than regular hunting,” Shuichi replied. “Doing something like that would just be so obscene!”

“Hey, we’re not saying that you have to get a whole harem of dedicated servants like Celeste has,” Rantaro assured him. “Just someone you can pretend is your girlfriend and who can give you a small snack every day or so. And that shouldn’t be too hard for you. I remember a group of girls being attracted to you the other day from your vampire charm.”

“E-even if you say that, making someone serve me sounds so strange. Plus, anyone knowing at all increases my chances of getting caught” Shuichi replied, though he was more trying to justify it to himself than to his friends. “I think I’ll stick with regular hunting for now.”

“Very well then… it is your decision to make. I myself only took on a thrall after a century of searching for the right one,” said Gundham. “But you are still going to feed soon, correct?”

“Yes, of course,”Shuichi told him hastily. “I’m going to go hunting right now, in fact.”

“Good… because if you fail, I’m afraid I may have **** but to deliver a blood-bag to you myself,” Gundham told him.

Shuichi shuddered at the thought, having just recently learned that vampires mean something completely different when they say the word ‘blood-bag’.

“Don’t worry; I promise I won’t fail tonight,” Shuichi wrote.

“Alright then; let us know how it goes before morning comes, okay?” Rantaro requested. “Good luck out there, Shuichi. Talk to you all later.”

“So long for now.” Shuichi took a deep breath and turned off his computer to finish his routine, showering and putting on his most discrete clothes. Shuichi had of course heard of vampires who dressed ostentatiously - Celeste being a prime example - but he wasn’t comfortable wearing anything like that at the moment. Instead, he donned his favorite black shirt, pants, and matching baseball cap and walked to his apartment window. He lived on the twelfth floor of his building, and the height outside used to scare him half to **** just looking at it.

But now, he didn’t even hesitate as he opened the window up, stood on the edge, and then let himself fall forward into the night.

Kaede Akamatsu was never one who fit in. It wasn’t that there was anything strange about her, per se. She had a friendly, warm personality that made her popular with people and would have been fine with being just another face in the crowd. But ever since she was little, there were things she noticed that she couldn’t ignore no matter how hard she tried. Things that didn’t make sense, and she couldn’t explain, but she knew they were real no matter what others told her. Ghosts appeared in the corner of her eye, Yokai in the woods, and a variety of mythical creatures that soared through the night sky. But while most people would have turned away from these like this, or at least would have been frightened, Kaede was only fascinated by what she saw. Her life was so simple and boring to her, even her talent at playing the piano didn’t interest for long, so the mere hint that there could be a whole other world was more than enough to get her hooked on researching the supernatural.

Unfortunately for her, though, such a hobby didn’t win her many friends, and even the ones she did have didn’t often approach it with the same enthusiasm she did. So, when she went to the library all alone on a Friday night to research the paranormal, it wasn’t out of the ordinary for her at all.

“Greetings, Ms. Tojo; how are you doing tonight?” Kaede, wearing her favorite pink raincoat and matching skirt, greeted as she approached the library’s front desk.

“Just fine, Ms. Akamatsu,” the stoic librarian with sage-colored hair responded. Kirumi was the same age as Kaede. Smart, tall, beautiful, and very capable. Though, no one quite knew how she ended up as a librarian of all things. “I trust you are here for the inter-library loan of old books that we received the other day.”

“You know me so well!” Kaede replied chipperly, deliberately ignoring the subtle judgement in Kirumi’s voice. “Could you tell me where the loan has been placed?”

“It’s on the third floor, in the back, but…” Kirumi trailed off. “You know, you may find more fulfillment in the fiction section of the library. I hear that romance novels featuring creatures such as vampires and werewolves are quite popular these days. Perhaps you could invite your friends to join and read one with you?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m afraid there’s no substitute for the truth,” Kaede replied determinedly. She wasn’t kidding. Kaede has seen her fair share of monsters and creatures throughout her life. And none were what she would categorize as ‘romanceable’ from her experience. “Thanks for letting me know, though! I’ll see you in just a bit, when I check out!”

“That poor girl… that path is only going to lead to the life of an old maid,” Kirumi shook her head in sad sympathy as Kaede walked away. “Though, I suppose there are worse fates.”

Kaede wasted no time as she went directly toward the bookcase holding the newly transferred books. Supposedly, several of these manuscripts were written by people who’d actually seen monsters firsthand, and managed to live to tell the tale. Unlike most hoax works, these actually dated back centuries, were written by people with otherwise impeccable reputations, and they had signatures of legitimacy. If anything was going to lead her to the truth, it was going to be these scriptures.

The place they were put in the library was lonely and dark, however. Kaede suspected that a light or two must have gone out and no one bothered to replace them, but that didn’t deter her. A little darkness didn’t dissuade her curiosity before, and it wouldn’t this time either.

“Alright, let’s see what we got here…” Kaede grabbed the first book and took out her phone to light up the pages in the dark. “Chronicles of Unnatural Phenomena Vol.1 by Edward Cunningham, 1400… according to this, there had been sightings in Finland of impossible lights over lake-”

Kaede was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise above her. She stumbled and glanced upward.

“W-what was that?” she asked herself, hand trembling slightly. “... I’m sure it was just a rat, or a book that fell over.” Kaede shook her head and silently chastised herself. “Augh… it never is just a rat, is it?”

She raised her phone’s flashlight and peered into the darkness, trying to find whatever made the noise. And then, she saw it - a pair of piercing, unnatural, blood red eyes, staring into hers as if looking directly into her soul. Kaede felt the need to scream, but the air was trapped in her lungs. Her feet were like bricks and refused to move an inch as she stood there staring up at them. She wasn’t sure how long they kept staring at each other, but to her it felt like an eternity.

And then, it moved…

And promptly fell off the bookshelf it was standing on top of and began tumbling to the ground.

“Ow! Ouch! Gah!” Whatever it was granted rather painfully as it fell, knocking over books as it went and sending torn pages flying everywhere. Eventually, it managed to reach the ground, and there Kaede finally got a good look at him in the light of her phone.

The first thing that came to Kaede's mind when she laid her eyes on the boy in front of her was that he was one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen. His hair was as dark as the night sky, his face was young yet mature, and his toned body was almost perfectly fit. She could even see his stomach underneath his upturned shirt, and it was so beautiful she would have guessed he did at least a thousand sit-ups per night. His red eyes were gone now as well, and were instead replaced with a pair of soft golden yellow eyes that looked up at her with a mixture of embarrassment and curiosity.

Kaede's heart skipped a beat, her face blushed, and she was breathless in his presence. All the fear that she felt before was non-existent and replaced by helpless infatuation.

“Augh…” The strange young man rubbed the sore back of his head and slowly stood up. “Uh… sorry to sneak up on you like that. Is there, uh… any chance you can just forget what you saw here and pretend this never happened?”

“Oh, um…” Kaede stammered, not sure what to say. “Sure, that’s fine! I know we all make… mistakes from time to time.”

“G-great,” he replied awkwardly. “I guess I’ll be going then.”

Then the man moved to turn around and leave, but Kaede couldn’t stop herself from speaking up.

“H-hey, wait a second!” She held onto his hand, stopping him on his track. “You’ve… a vampire, aren’t you?”

“Gah!” The man froze. “How do you know-, er, I mean… what would make you think something like that?”

“Well, for starters, I’ve been recording you ever since you started falling, and it seems like you’re not appearing on my phone at all,” Kaede pointed out. “Which means that you’re either a specter or a vampire, but specters usually aren’t that clumsy.” Kaede suddenly gasped and placed her hands in front of her mouth. “Oh my god! I can’t believe this! A real life vampire, right in front of me! This is like a dream come true!”

“Wait, why were you recording me? And most importantly, why aren’t you scared?” He asked.

“Well, I don’t mean to brag, but I like to consider myself a bit of an expert on the paranormal, so I like to get whatever proof of them when I can,” Kaede explained, rubbing the back of her head. ‘The closest I ever got to something real was when a demon possessed my little sister for a night. But this… you’re so close that I can actually touch you!”

She reached out and poked the side of the man’s cheek with her finger, feeling his unnaturally cool skin.

“H-hey, quit it!” he complained, now the one who was blushing adorably.

“O-oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to be rude!” Kaede apologized before taking out a small notebook and pen. “I’m just really excited to meet a vampire in person for the first time. Say, since you’re here, do you mind answering a few questions for me? I promise, I won’t give it to any vampire hunters or anything,

“... You really aren’t fazed by me at all?” the man asked. “If you know anything about vampires, you know how dangerous they are, right?”

“Of course! That’s part of what makes them so fascinating!” Kaede’s eyes sparkled with stars as she clicked her pen. “Now, let’s start with the basics; what is your name?”

“S-Shuichi,” he replied after a pause. “Uh… last name is confidential.”

“Right, right, of course,” Kaede said, nodding as she jotted the name down. “And how long have you been a vampire?”

“Only about a month,” Shuichi answered. “I’m still getting used to being a vampire myself, honestly.”

“Oh, so you’re a youngling! Does that mean you have different powers or weaknesses compared to the older generation of vampires?” Kaede asked. “And, come to think of it, what sorts of powers and weaknesses do you have? Are you really allergic to garlic and sunlight, or are those just myths?”

“Well… I know that the older vampires can turn into bats, but I can’t do that myself yet. Other than that, I don’t know if there are any differences,” Shuichi explained. “And I can’t go into sunlight, and pure water doesn’t exactly agree with me, but I don’t think we have any weaknesses besides that… though we can definitely be killed if dismembered enough. As for powers, we can float short distances, walk on walls and ceilings, super strength and speed, hypnosis, and immortality.”

“Hmm… so no wolf transformation abilities… I guess that was just a normal wolf I ran into in the woods,” Kaede said, eagerly writing down each word he said. “You mentioned hypnosis before; were you, by any chance, using that on me when your eyes were red earlier.”

“Y-yeah… it was,” Shuichi shamefully admitted.

“Interesting… and does that mean that you were planning to feed on me?” Kaede asked. The man’s ashamed silence was all the answer that she needed. “Oh my god… that’s… so cool! To think, I was almost an actual vampire victim! Ah, that would have been such an experience!”

“H-hang on… are you messing with me right now?” Shuichi asked, incredulous. “You do realize what that means, right? I’d have to bite your neck and suck out some of your blood! Doing that could kill you!”

“Yeah, but vampires don’t kill every time, do they? Otherwise, there’d be a lot more dead bodies popping up everywhere, right?” Once again, Kaede was answered by silence. “I knew it! So you didn’t want to kill me, you just wanted a little snack!”

“S-something about describing you as a snack feels so… dirty…” Shuichi grimaced, but Kaede didn’t seem to notice.

“Now, how often do vampires need to feed anyway? And do they always go for a new victim each time?” Kaede continued unabated.

“It varies from vampire to vampire, but most like to eat at least once every few days. I’d just use a blood bank myself, but sadly it has to be fresh,” he explained. “And some go after someone new every night, using their hypnosis powers to wipe their memories after, but most have at least one or two thralls that they can feed off of regularly.”

“Thralls?” Kaede looked up at that word in her notebook. “I’ve never heard of anything called a ‘thrall’ before. What’s that?”

“Well… the hypnotic effect that we have on humans can actually last a very long time,” Shuichi explained. “Days, weeks, sometimes even years if the circumstances are right. And humans we ‘hire’ to serve us for longer periods of time, we call them thralls.”

“And… do you have any thralls yourself right now?” Kaede asked, a hint of hope in her voice.

“N-no… people have been gravitating toward me ever since I turned, but I can’t bring myself to do that with any of them,” Shuichi answered. “Stealing someone’s blood is one thing, but their free will? That's far worse in my mind.”

“Hmm… but it wouldn’t be stealing if they gave it to you willingly, would it?” Kaede took a tentative step forward.

“W-wait!” Shuichi’s body seized up. “You’re not actually implying what I think you’re going to do, are you? You can’t just offer up something like that!”

“Why not?” Kaede asked casually, a hand on her hip. “Sure, I just met you, but I’ve been waiting to meet a real life vampire my whole life! Plus, it’d be a great way to pay you back for answering my questions while also proving that you can trust me not to rat you out to anyone. And, if you’re feeding on me regularly, then we’ll get to see each other again! It’s a win-win!”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Kaede saw Shuichi pause to give her a chance to back out, but she was resolute. “O-okay, if you’re sure… though, I’ve never even tried to put someone into a trance that deep before.”

“Don’t worry, I can help!” Kaede took Shuichi’s hands and stepped so close that they could feel each other's breath on their faces. “So, you hypnotize people through their eyes, right? So I just need to look deeply into yours, and you’ll take care of the rest, right?”

“Yes, that is generally how it works.” Shuichi closed his eyes and took a deep, long breath. “Okay… here I go.”

Shuichi opened his eyes again and they were once more blood red. Kaede again felt the same piercing gaze that she had before, but this time she didn’t resist its pull. Instead, she let herself be drawn deeper into it, her consciousness drifting off into the black of his pupils. It was a strangely serene feeling, and it was hard for her to describe consciously - it was almost like she was on her back relaxing in a warm pool, safe in the knowledge that she didn’t have to worry about anything. And then, just like that, Shuichi closed his eyes and she was brought back to reality.

“Okay… I think it worked,” Shichi said, letting out a sigh. “How do you feel?”

“Well, to be honest… not all that different,” Kaede answered honestly. “Am I supposed to feel weak or something?”

“Maybe… like I said, I’m still pretty new to this,” Shuichi answered.

“Well, now that I’m your thrall, do you want to try… feeding now?” Kaede felt herself shudder at that word for some reason.

“No, I... I’ve probably done too much already.” Shuichi turned to leave again, but Kaede stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait, don’t go yet! Jeez, for a master of the night, you sure do need some extra confidence.” Kaede sighed. “Well, if you’re not ready to do my neck, then why don’t you start… smaller?”

Kaede took a pin out of her hair and used it to poke her finger, creating a small drop of blood.

“Here; you have my permission to suck as much as you want,” she told him, holding out the bleeding finger.

Shuichi hesitated but, eventually, he took a step forward. Gently, he placed the finger into his mouth and gently began to lick up the blood, his tongue curiously circling the wound before moving onto exploring her whole finger. Kaede could tell that he enjoyed her taste by the way his tongue moved more frantically, and the way he began to suck like a kitten to get out even more.

“Whoa… this is unexpectedly erotic,” Kaede blushingly thought to herself as Shuichi continued to drink from her, each sip sending an unexpected jolt of arousal toward her loins. “And he’s so talented… I wonder what else he can do with his tongue? Ah! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! Now is not the time for thinking about that.”

Of course, she would occasionally feel his sharp fangs brush up against her skin as well, but for some reason that just made the whole experience even more exciting to her. Eventually, though, Shuichi pulled away, leaving a long trail of saliva connecting her hand to his soft lips in the process.

“Th-thank you… I really needed that,” Shuichi said seductively as he wiped his mouth. “Your blood tastes really sweet. Like hot chocolate in the winter.”

“Th-thanks… I hope that doesn’t mean I’m diabetic or something…” Kaede said awkwardly. “So, uh… I guess this is where we part ways for now, right?”

“Yes… it would be pretty bad if someone were to catch us like this,” Shuichi replied. “But you’ll be back at this library soon, right?”

“Yeah, I’m here just about every night… not always because I want to be, but I am,” Kaede admitted. “I promise, if you look for me here, you’ll find me.”

“Good… I can’t wait to see you again.” Shuichi smiled for a moment before his expression suddenly twisted into panic. “Gah! I just realized! I told you so much about myself, but… I never bothered to ask you for your name, did I?”

“Heheh, don’t worry, that happens a lot,” she assured him. “My name’s Kaede, and I can tell you all about myself tomorrow, okay?”

“Right… tomorrow.” Shuichi gave Kaede one last nod and, with that, disappeared back into the darkness of the library

“Wow, Shuichi is really cute.” Kaede said to herself as she left through the library door. “‘I’m starting to understand why the Vampire Romance genre is so popular now. Maybe I should check one of those books out after all…”

The next few weeks followed a similar pattern for the two newfound acquaintances, with Kaede going to the library every night to study and read books about monsters for a while before Shuichi appeared to spend time with her. For the first few days, the two almost constantly barraged each other with questions, each wanting to know as much about the other as possible, but eventually things began to mellow out between them. Instead of being strangers, they were becoming friends, and the more they became familiar the less tension there was in the air between them. Eventually, Shuichi stopped sneaking around the library altogether, and he began browsing the shelves and reading alongside her, out in the open.

“Huh… it seems you actually got someone to do research with after all,” Kirumi said as Kaede handed her a book to return. Behind Kaede, in the background, she could see Shuichi fending off the advances of a few different college girls. “And he is quite handsome as well. I never believed that I would ever be saying this, but I must congratulate you, Ms. Akamatsu; you managed to get quite the catch.”

“Catch?” Kaede blinked in surprise before her face became bright red. “N-no, no, it’s not like that, really! Shuichi and I are just friends.”

“Are you quite certain about that? I’ve seen the two of you together these past few nights, and I could tell that you two were getting rather close,” Kirumi pointed out. “Are you telling me that you haven’t thought about trying anything yet? He’s not taken, is he?”

“No, but… to actually do something like that?” Kaede glanced back at Shuichi while still surrounded by the college freshman girls and saw the way he smiled when he looked back at her. She then thought about the time she spent with him, and how he was the first person in a long time to make her feel not so… alone anymore. “Actually, you know what? Fuck it! You’re right, Ms. Tojo! I’m going to ask him out tonight, and nothing is going to stop me!”

“Well then, I wish you luck in that endeavor - but please, do keep in mind that this is a public library,” Kirumi advised.

“Right, of course!” Kaede bowed and headed back over to her vampire companion. “Hey, Shuichi; do you have a moment to talk for a minute? In private?”

“Oh, sure things Kaede.” Shuichi answered back. “Excuse me ladies, but I’m afraid that I have to go now.”

“Aww, okay… come back soon!” one of them whined as Kaede led Shuichi into a private study room.

“So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about, Kaede?” he asked as the door shut. “I’m not hungry right now, if that’s what this is about.”

“Actually, I was hoping to ask you another question about thralls, Shuichi.” Kaede swallowed and steeled her nerves. “I was just wondering… do vampires ever do more than just drink their blood?”

“H-huh?” Shuichi blushed and scratched his face. “Well, some have them cook, or clean or do… other sorts of things… but none of that is really necessary, really! You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with!”

“Other things? And what… other things would those be?” Kaede asked curiously as she took a step closer to Shuichi and, for the first time in what felt like years, Shuichi began to sweat.

“Well, you know… s-sexual things.” Shuichi stammered. “That’s a really big step, though… like, one of the biggest, actually. The hypnosis involved with becoming a thrall can be broken, but that kind of thing… well, it can never truly be broken.”

“Tell me more about it, Shuichi,” Kaede sensually whispered.

“I… vampires like me all have their own unique magic, and if we were to do something like that then… it would always be a part of you, no matter how much time passes or how far apart we get.” Shuichi couldn’t help but glance his eyes downward as he said that.

“And… is getting that magic inside me… painful?” Kaede stepped even closer and, for the first time in a while, Shuichi felt like he was the one being preyed on.

“No, it actually feels… really, really good, from what I’ve heard,” he replied. “N-now, look, Kaede, I know where this is going, and you really shouldn’t-”

Kaede silenced Shuichi with the same finger that she first let him drink blood from.

“You know, as much fun as I’ve had with you, Shuichi, I can’t help but feel like the whole time I’ve known you, you’ve been… holding back,” she whispered. “But how about, just this once, you find out what it’s really like to… let loose?”

Shuichi held out from temptation for only a moment before diving in, kissing Kaede passionately on the lips. The young woman was surprised by the action, but she more than welcomed it. Her arms wrapped around his torso and squeezed tightly, forcing his toned chest against his body. Her tongue soon began to experimentally enter his mouth as well, and Shuichi welcomed it lovingly with gentle sucks and licks that seemed to send shivers down the young woman’s spine.

“Shuichi… your lips… they feel so good,” Kaede said breathlessly. “You’re really good at this… have you done this before?”

“...” Shuichi hesitated again, his face conflicted as he was trying to remember something that he couldn’t. Once again, his silence told her everything she needed to know.

“Don’t worry… right now this is just between you and me.” Kaede pulled Shuichi into another kiss, and this time she became even bolder, undoing the front buttons of his shirt and sliding her hands across his chest. She could feel his body soaking up her warmth as the situation grew more heated, as if even then she was giving him life.

The next few minutes were a blur as the two stripped each other of their clothes and let their passions run rampant. They kissed up and down each other’s bodies, leaving lipgloss and marks without any shame, until they were almost completely naked. Shuichi wound up pinning Kaede against one of the walls of the study room, her legs completely off the floor as Shuichi supported the entirety of her weight.

“W-wow… I knew he was strong, but this is… aaah!” Kaede thought to herself. She had no doubt that if her feet were still on the ground, they would have given out from excitement.

“You know, you really shouldn’t provoke a vampire,” Shuichi said breathlessly. Glancing down, Kaede could see a noticeable bulge in his black boxers, creating an almost perfect outline of what he had hidden underneath. Though, even if she couldn’t see it, she could feel it too, as he ground himself softly against her sex through her pink panties.

“I don’t mind if it's you,” she answered back provocatively.

Shuichi smiled and kissed Kaede again, this time letting himself bite her lower lip as he finally gripped her panties and tore them from her lower body. Kaede whimpered with excitement as the air of the library hit her exposed sex, arousal dripping down her legs. She then shivered in anticipation as he reached for his waistband and pulled it down, finally revealing what she’d been imagining for so long.

The light, rosy tip peaked out first, giving Kaede a good look at his glans as he pulled the underwear down. Next came the shaft, which pulsed powerfully with each beat of his undead heart, causing butterflies to run through Kaede’s stomach. It turned out to be even longer than she thought it was, as every time she thought he was about to finish revealing it, even more came into view before the boxers finally came off and revealed the whole thing.

He then moved his hips back and brought the swollen tip to the mouth of her dripping sex, but right when she thought he would push his hips forward… he didn’t.

“Are… are you completely sure you want to do this?” Shuichi asked. “Not just the thrall thing… I… I know that you’re…”

“A virgin?” Kaede giggled. “I knew it; you can tell if girls are virgins or not! Let me guess; they’re tastier, aren’t they?”

“Is this… really the time to be talking about your paranormal theories?” Shuichi asked.

“Ah, sorry! I’m ruining the mood, aren’t I?” Kaede giggled nervously.

“No, you aren’t. You’re lucky that you're cute right now.” With that, Shuichi kissed Kaede again and finally pressed his hips forward, entering her sex and taking her virginity. Kaede screamed with delight and pleasure into his mouth, her body stretching in ways she never expected.

“So…. this is what… sex feels like.” Kaede gasps for air. “It’s different than I expected, but… it’s also much more intense too! Oh fuck! I can feel him all the way inside me… i-is that my g-spot? I-is that a real thing? Shit, I don’t think I can even think straight right now!”

“Are you okay, Kaede?” Shuichi asked, his voice tender as he held his groin softly against hers.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine… don’t worry about it…” Kaede replied, doing her best not to twitch too much since even just having his cock inside her was causing sparks of pleasure to run rampant through her mind. “Please… keep going.”

“Alright… I promise, I’ll be as gentle as-” Shuichi began to say, only for Kaede to interrupt him yet again.

“Hey… what did I say about not holding back?” Kaede whispered playfully. “Don’t worry… I know you’ll stop when I tell you to. So please… let me see what your powers can really do!”

Shuichi nodded, pulled his hips back, and thrust his hips hard into Kaede’s velvet hole. Her walls tightened around him in reflex, but that didn’t even slow his thrust down as he sheathed himself all the way into her core. As their hips met again, Kaede let out a high-pitched squeal of delight as his toned body collided with her clit and made her almost see stars from ecstasy. That thrust was followed by another one, and then another, until his cock was thrusting in and out of her at what felt like a breakneck pace. Kaede, meanwhile, just wrapped her arms around Shuichi’s body and hugged him tightly, enjoying the feeling of their bodies against each other.

“Yes! This is so… amazing!” Kaede screamed, her moans echoing off the walls of the study area as she let her voice cry out shamelessly. “Keep fucking me, Shuichi! You’re doing great!”

“Kaede… thank you so much… for everything!” Shuichi reached up with his powerful hands and groped Kaede’s breasts, smashing the soft flesh of the orgs between his fingers and hardening her nipples with arousal. “Not just for this… but for spending time with me… learning about me… being there for me! I was so lonely without you, Kaede! I-it felt like… I was going insane!”

“I...I feel the same way as well. Before I met you, I was just the… paranormal geek,” she admitted. “But you… you’re special, Shuichi! The fact that you actually spent time with me… it made every single day with you a dream come true! If we could somehow be like this every day… I wouldn’t care if you drank me close to dry every night! I’d be more than happy to do it!”

“K-Kaede!” Shuichi grunted, his dick stiffening even more inside her. “Y-you don’t know what you’re saying!”

“Don’t worry, Shuichi; I do~” Kaede brought her mouth to Shuichi’s sensitive neck and began nibbling on his neck. “You know, you’ve only ever fed from my fingers so far… but today… I want you to go for my neck! Please, Shuichi; claim me, from the inside-out! I’m yours!”

That seemed to set off something inside Shuichi that even he didn’t really seem to know existed, and he began to thrust into her even faster. Kaede felt herself lose control of her tongue as he began to truly ravage her body each powerful thrust sending her further and further up the wall they were fucking against. Higher and higher their pleasure went as their bodies intertwined, their love juices and sweat mixing together and dripping down onto the wall behind them and staining the wallpaper with proof of their passion. Then, as they both finally reached their peaks, Kaede felt his fangs press into her jugular vein.

“Do it,” Kaede begged. “Do it, Shuichi… take it! Take it, take it, take-ah! Gyaaaaaah!”

Kaede’s whole body spasmed as Shuichi finally bit down, setting off the most powerful orgasm she had ever felt in her entire life - and it only got even more powerful as Shuichi came inside of her. His blood may have been cold, but his seed felt as hot as lava as it entered her womb and filled it to the brim. It was such a paradoxical feeling… to have her body stuffed full of life from one end and drained of it from the other. To her, it felt as if this one moment would stretch on forever, and part of her wished that it would… but all good things must come to an end eventually, and Shuichi eventually pulled away after drinking only a small cup of her blood.

“Sh-shuichi… that was… incredible,” Kaede said, barely able to breathe, the wound on her neck already magically healed. “Thank you for that… wait… what’s this?”

Noticing that the warm feeling in her stomach was only growing stronger, Kaede glanced downward and noticed that her lower body was actually glowing. A moment later and the glow disappeared and revealed that she somehow had gained a new tattoo - an intricate combination of pink and purple lines that formed the outline of a heart right over where her uterus was.

“Oh! So… that’s part of the whole ‘magic becoming a part of me’ thing, isn’t it?” Kaede excitedly asked as she stared at the new womb tattoo.

“Y-yeah… I probably should have warned you about that, huh?” Shuichi said nervously.

“No, no, it’s fine! In fact… I actually really like it.” Kaede gently rubbed the tattoo with pride. “Though, I would like to know why our hair is sticking straight up like this…”

“H-huh?” Shuichi looked up and noticed that their hair was seemingly defying gravity, but then they both realized that it wasn’t their hair defying physics; it was them. During their passionate lovemaking, it seemed as though they had literally fucked up the walls of the room, and Kaede was now sitting on Shuichi’s lap on the ceiling, with only Shuichi’s unnatural strength and his hard dick inside her keeping her from plummeting to the ground.

“Ooops… I guess we got carried away, huh?” Shuichi blushed bashfully. “I suppose we should try to get d-”

Shuichi cut himself off as the door to the rum suddenly opened, revealing Kirumi the librarian.

“Hello? Ms. Akamatsu? Are you still here?” She called out curiously as she entered the room. Shuichi and Kaede both held their breath as she walked right underneath them, each terrified that she could look up at any moment. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed to the floor as she found some of their discarded clothes and picked them up.

“Unbelievable… I thought I told her this was a public library, but I guess she didn’t listen. Though, I suppose this is partly my fault for encouraging her.” Kirumi sighed as she began folding the clothes into neat piles. “I just hope that wherever they are, they get back to their clothes soon… and that no one sees them when they get back.”

With the clothes finally cleaned up, Kirumi left the room and closed the door behind her, allowing Kaede and Shuichi to finally let out their breath.

“Whew… that was a close one, Shuichi.” Kaede sighed, her body relaxing. “Now… let’s get down from here, shall we?”

“Yes… let’s,” Shuichi said, smiling.

“Alright… I guess this means we’re officially… together, huh?” Kaede asked as she cleaned herself up and put her clothes back on.

“Y-yeah, I guess you could say that…” Shuichi said, still partway through putting his pants back on. “Though, even if you’re supposed to be with me forever, if you ever wanted to leave…”

Kaede laughed and walked over to Shuichi to kiss him on the lips. “Sorry, bucko, but you’re not going to be getting rid of me anytime soon,” she assured him. “Now, shall we do the same thing tomorrow? Perhaps… at my place instead?”

“Yeah… I’d like that,” he replied.

Just then, Shuichi startled Kaede by hugging her from behind at superhuman speed. Wrapping his arm over her body, not letting her go.

“S-Shuichi!? What’s gotten into you?”

“But, the night is still young, you know… and I couldn’t keep my eyes off your beautiful ass…” Shuichi gently nibbled on from Kaede's neck down to her exposed shoulder, and his hand gently groped her breast. “How about we go for another round? Huh?”

“Aaah!” Kaede blushed profusely at the sight of the adorable eyes Shuichi gave her, causing her womb to warm and twitch at the idea, and she felt herself tempted to within a hair’s length of giving in.

”S-sorry. As much as I really, really like the sound of that idea… we already almost got caught once tonight, and I don’t want to risk it again.

“Aw…” Shuichi pouted in disappointment.

“So, something I’ve been meaning to bring up… I couldn’t help but notice you got even bigger inside of me when Kirumi walked in the room. Was it the excitement of potentially being exposed, or… did you think that she’s cute too?”

“W-what!? Well, she’s… not bad looking…I just can’t help but be….” Shuichi blushingly admitted, unable to bring himself to lie completely to Kaede.

“Huh, I guess Kirumi really was a virgin too, huh?” Kaede thought to herself.

“Well, that’s fine! You said yourself before; vampires have more than one thrall all the time, right?” Kaede pointed out.

“K-Kaede!?” Shuichi almost felt his heart stop for the second time.

“Heh, kidding, kidding!” Kaede lied, laughing. “Now, let’s get going, okay? We can still find a few good books to read together if we move fast.”

Shuichi nodded and took Kaede by the hand before heading back out into the library.

A Few Months Later

Shuichi grunted as his thralls gathered around him as he sat on his chair, each of them in just their underwear and gently caressing different parts of his body, and each with intricate womb tattoos decorating their lower abdomens. Himiko, in her red underwear with black trim, sat directly in front of Shuichi, lazily sucking at his dick as she rubbed herself through her panties. Kirumi, meanwhile, was kissing at his neck, whispering decorations of love into his ear in between asking for ways to serve him.

Miu, a blonde even bustier than Kaede, pressed his left leg between her breasts as she gently kissed his knee. Sayaka was on Shuichi’s other leg, grinding her bare sex against his thigh as her moans rang out melodiously through out the room. Kyoko was much more subtle in her worship, instead lightly sucking one of his fingers as she simply enjoyed the taste of his skin. Ibuki was on Shuichi’s other hand, only she had his fingers shoved deep past her dripping pussy lips and into her squeezing sex. Mahiru watched from the bed nearby, wishing that there was more room for her and wishing even more that she could take a picture of such a beautiful scene without Shuichi disappearing from view.

And of course, Kaede was there as well, her arms wrapped gently around his neck as she hugged him from behind.

“H-how in the world… did things get like this?” Shuichi wondered to himself as his thralls all worshipped his body.

“That’s easy… because you’re an extraordinary person, Shuichi. Why wouldn’t we want to flock to you?” Kaede asked. “Though, if you ask me, I’d say you deserve even more~”

“Gnngh! I think I’m starting to understand what it’s like… to be the one sucked dry…” Shuichi grunted. “Are you sure you girls… don’t want to take a break?”

“Of course not; you are still clearly pent up, and it would not be right to leave you frustrated,” Kirumi pouted.

“Yeah, so no backing down now! Besides, we all know you have at least twenty loads packed in there, at least!” Miu said confidently.

“Twenty?” Himiko repeated. “Nyeh… maybe I shouldn’t have worn my good panties then…”

“Hey, it’s underwear - it’s meant to get ruined!” Ibuki said lustfully. “So just let go and have fun! You only live once, after all! Er, present company excluded, Shuichi.”

“Yes, you could always buy more,” said Kyoko. “But if you do truly wish to save them, I suggest removing them now since I suspect this will be a very passionate session.”

“Oh, it better be… I’ve been waiting all night for this!” Mahiru said lustfully.

“Alright, but we shouldn’t take too long; I promised a date night with Ibuki. She’s going to show me one of her songs that she wrote. As well as a ‘secret’ surprise.” Shuichi said.

“She is? Can I come too?” Sayaka asked curiously. “I’d love to see what she came up with!”

“Hmm… it’s not going to be what you think it is, Sayaka. Tell you what! If you can make Sai cum even harder than I can, I’ll let you tag along!” said Ibuki.

“You’re on!” Sayaka said before kissing Shuichi determinedly.

“Heh, leave a little of him for the rest of us, girls!” Kaede said, giggling before she suddenly heard a knock at Shuichi’s door in the other room. “Oh, hang on girls; I’ll go get that.”

Kaede quickly donned a pink bathrobe and went to open the door, where she was greeted by a woman with the same pale white skin and red eyes that Kaede was all too familiar with.

“H-huh!? Wait a second… that gaze…” Kaede’s body seized for a moment and she took a step back. “Y-you’re a…”

“A vampire? Why, how nice of you to notice,” Celeste answered, unfazed by Kaede’s reaction. “Now, if you’d please call your master to the door, I’d like to speak with him as soon as possible. My fiancé and I have much to discuss~”