Defying Legends and Logic

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me down the dark alleyway. The full moon shone above me, the only light keeping me from hitting the walls as I rushed by, trying to escape the man following at my heels. The rain was pouring now, soaking my clothes and skin. I was cold and wet and my strength could give out at any minute. What else could possibly go wrong?! The answer to my question, a lot. And with my luck, much of the unlucky things that could happen would soon come to pass.

If this man caught me, it would most likely mean the END of my life. Not something that is high on me to do list. I kept running, not daring to look back and risk falling or looking my pursuer in the face. My legs started to ache even more, and I now knew that they couldn’t hold up much longer. If I couldn’t get away from this guy within about a minute, I was done for. No question about it. The ground below me seemed to start spinning and my body started to shiver even more violently than it had before. Could I get away or would I lose to this sinister man?

!~Flashback~!

I think I got a little ahead of myself, seeing as you have not yet been told of how I encountered this man in the first place. I will try to give you the short version of this very long tale.

I am Shiori Yamamoto. I’m seventeen, five foot six, and have shoulder length black hair with red highlights in it. I have blue eyes that I have been told are very captivating, like the calm before a storm. I lived at home with my mom, minding my own business and going about life as usual. My father had recently passed away of some unheard of disease, so the two of us were alone.

The night my story begins, I was working in a local coffee house, enjoying the calm flow of customers. It was raining, so not many people came by. However there was one man sitting in one of the cushioned chairs in the corner, reading a book. He hadn't ordered anything, he had just been lounging around for almost half an hour.

“Can I help you?” I eventually decided to ask.

“Huh? Oh. No, I'm fine,” he replied, looking over his book.

I gasped slightly at the color of his eyes. They were grey, but had an edge to them that bordered black. He smiled a little at my staring and I found myself turning away, slightly blushing.

I returned to my job until, at last it was closing time. The guy was still there, his burnt auburn hair falling down into his eyes although he pushed most of it behind his ears subconsciously.

“Um, excuse me. It's closing time, I have to ask you to leave. We open at nine tomorrow if you'd like to come back,” I informed him.

“Will you be here?” He asked, catching me off guard.

"No. I have the day off,”

“That's a shame...,” He muttered under his breath.

He walked out slowly and I followed, closing and locking the door behind me. The man was still there when I turned around, his eyes red. Fear settled in the pit of my stomach and I almost screamed, but when I opened my eyes again, he was gone.

Cautiously, I made my way back to my mom's apartment, glancing behind me occasionally. I felt like I was being watched. When I heard footsteps behind me, I began to run, full speed. And the footsteps also increased their pace to match mine. I was definitely being followed. Oh crap.

~~End of Flashback~!

My knees finally gave out from under me, and I gave up, defeated. Just kill me now, I thought. I started crying now that the adrenaline had slowed slightly, I realized that I would probably never see my mother again. had nothing left in this world except her, so maybe, just possibly, death would feel like relief.

The man crouched down next to me and lifted me up by the hair, causing me to almost scream in pain.

He got really close to my face, and whispered in my ear, “Congratulations, you're the only human I've ever actually sought after. I guess you are special...,”

I felt him slam his fist into my back and the last bit of air in my lungs was taken from me. This is the end, I thought to myself, ready and willing to die.

Some time later, I awoke feeling sharp pains running through me. When I actually opened my eyes, I didn’t know wether to be fulfilled, or terrified. The guy who had hung around me at work all day and chased me down, was about to bite me. Oh, and he had fangs. The word vampire came to mind. Holy crap, they do exist! What could I do now?! Could I get away from a vampire, or would I make a fool of myself trying to?! Only one way to find out…

I was no longer in the alleyway, but in a hotel room from the looks of it, on a bed, with stalker here leaning over me, fangs showing. I didn’t have time to scan the room more than once if I valued my own safety, so instead, I rolled to the other side of the bed, miscalculating the distance, and falling off the edge. ‘Great job!’ I thought to myself. The funny thing was, I didn’t feel the fall at all…

I opened my eyes and realized I had been caught in my captor’s arms. I would have been grateful, for surely I would have gained a headache from that fall, but I felt more terror than gratitude in my current situation.

“Nice move.” The man said.

“Wh-who are you?” I stammered.

He sighed and answered simply with, “Keitaro.”

“Um, Keitaro…could you maybe, put me down now?” I asked nervously.

“Let me think about it…uh,...no.” Keitaro replied with a smug grin.

I frowned. Keitaro looked as though he were annoyed and bored with me.

“A name for a name, I think that’s a fair enough trade, don’t you? Jeez, didn’t your mother teach you manners?” Keitaro said, grinning even more.

“Shiori…”I said, barely audible. I was slightly irritated with his dark humor and superior attitude. He already annoyed me.

Keitaro chuckled. “I already knew that, just wanted to hear it from you,”

A few seconds later, I was set down, rather roughly, on the bed. I had been given a few minutes to ask Keitaro a few questions, although some of his answers had been less than satisfying. I had managed however to find out that he was 20 years old in human years, living alone, and a….vampire. He refused to tell me anymore or whether Hollywood’s views of vampires were accurate or not. I must admit I was disappointed.

“Keitaro…um, why did you come after me? There's nothing special about me...,” I had been saving this question for last, in case it irritated him, which it succeeded in doing.

He took a minute before he answered, and seemed a bit tense about the subject.

“Because I noticed you awhile back, and although you are a normal person, you seem as though you are more aware of the non-human world than others. You seem to have better senses basically. And also, my kind has had rumors circulating lately about a girl who is vital to our existence and is about your age. So I had to find you first, before anyone else could. That was the only way.”

It made some sense if what he was saying could be true…I had to admit that much. But that didn’t mean that I was okay with that, after all, he had stalked me and kidnapped me without my will being considered and there really was nothing special about me!

I looked away from him and allowed my tears to flow and decided that there was nothing wrong with crying, it was only natural to be upset. Keitaro got right in front of my face and looked at me. He seemed expressionless. He slowly brought up his hand to my face, only to have me slap it away.

“I don’t need sympathy from a monster!” I yelled, instantly regretting it.

This guy could kill me as well if he wanted to and I had no doubt just made him considerably angry. His hand came back up to my face, and I expected him to slap me in return for my actions, but instead he pulled my hair behind my ears and wiped away my tears gently with his thumb. Keitaro smiled at me gently this time, and walked toward the door, to leave me alone with my thoughts.

“Wait. Why now? What was so important that you wanted to take me away now?” I asked as he was in the doorway.

“I’m afraid I can’t answer that, I am truly sorry.” Keitaro said, closing the door after he left, proving that this conversation was more than over.

I laid there on the bed crying silently for what felt like ages. Crying for myself. Crying because I had no escape. Crying because the creatures I had always pushed off as myth did in fact exist, and I was now stuck with one, and terrified.

Later I found myself in my own bed; face still wet from tears and hair sticking to my face. Wait… my bed? How is that possible? I looked around the room and sure enough, it was my room. I quickly rushed out to see if my mom was there and if it had only been a dream, a nightmare.

“Mom?!” I yelled.

My world became fuzzy as I realized that this was only a dream. Nothing had truly changed.

“No…” I said, knees growing weak, I fell and hit the ground, doing something I had recently become very good at, crying.

“So sleeping beauty has decided to join the world of the living, no pun intended.” This was the last voice I wanted to hear, the only one that could send me reeling into panic in a matter of seconds. Worse, based on his voice, he was less than five feet away from my crumpled and terrified form

“Would you let a girl be when she’s obviously upset, you JERK!” I yelled, instantly regretting it. As much as he deserved it, I had it in my best interest to have this one on my side, that is, if I didn’t want to end up a missing person that only one person would ever miss, and would never be found..

“Sorry, but if I did that, they might find you, I mean us.”

“They? Who are they?” I asked, further confused.

“Must you always ask questions? Just listen to me okay? That’s kind of your only choice right now, if you care for your life.”

Great, my life is admittedly at stake here with this crazy vampire. And to top it off, he seems to have an enemy that he fears after him. Couldn’t he leave me alone at least until “they” were off his back, rather than put me in MORE danger?

Keitaro walked over, picked me up, and threw me over his shoulder. Just your average kidnapping scenario. I admit I was disappointed that a vampire kidnapper couldn’t be just a little more creative. After mere seconds of being on his shoulder, I heard words from him I never expected to hear.

“Sorry, but as much as I don’t want to do this, it’ll be safer for both of us if you aren’t conscious during our little trip.”

This guy was sorry that he was hurting me? And he had the potential to be the most dangerous! My thoughts were interrupted as I quickly became very drowsy and felt myself slip into a pleasantly dreamless sleep.

Sometime later my mind became slightly clearer and I opened my eyes drowsily. After about ten seconds of trying to see in the dark, I determined that I was either dead or in an unnaturally dark place. I mean really dark, darker than I had ever seen, or stumbled around in.

I got up to me feet quietly, feeling the walls in my corner. So it was a real room. Thank goodness. But that doesn’t explain why it’s so dark. I took a few cautious steps forward only to run into a very hard surface of some sort. Startled, I screamed out, “KEITARO!”

“Shut up idiot!” A strained whisper, right in front of me.

I felt arms wrap around my waist in an almost gentle way. Oh, I had run into Keitaro. Now I felt dumb. However, my panic remained.

“Could you kinda let go now? I’m not too terribly fond of you. You kidnapped me, remember jerk?” I said with as much venom as I could manage.

The arms slowly released their grip on me and dropped to what must have been Keitaro’s side. My eyes had still not even begun to adjust to this extreme dark, but I was able to see the glow from Keitaro’s eyes. A red glow that in every vampire myth I had ever known could only mean one thing- This is not where I want to be right now!

I backed up quickly yet cautiously into the wall and slid down. I know, weak attempt to hide, but I couldn’t see anything and with my luck would run into something far worse if I went the other way. My breathing speed increased quite a bit despite my efforts to be silent. Afraid I was on the verge of hyperventilation; I tucked my knees up to my chest and put my head between them.

"Geez. You act like some kinda monster is chasing you. Calm down,” Keitaro said as though oblivious.

“You ARE a monster! If I wasn’t scarred I would have to have nerves of steel or something!” I almost screamed at him.

heard him take a step or two closer but couldn’t see him at all. Curse you darkness.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. ‘Cause vampires are suddenly vegetarians!” I said.

“Um, no, at least I’m not. Sorry. But I wouldn’t gain anything from killing you now.”

“Like you need a reason to kill someone!”

“Don’t tempt me, okay! Unless you have no fear…” he said as I felt his hot breath at my neck. I raised my hands to push him away with as much force as I could and was amazed that I actually moved him further away. He chuckled slightly in the darkness.

“Not funny.” I said, annoyed to be laughed at.

“It’s quite funny actually. You say all those words, but you really are terrified aren’t you.” He stated rather than questioned.

I sighed. So he saw right through me. Lovely. Fear is not something that should be known by your enemies. Especially not the bloodthirsty ones.