2 Chapter 3

I woke up in a forest. I quickly sat up, causing my head to pound, so I fell to the ground. I lay there trying to remember what happened and how I got there. I couldn't, so I closed my eyes and waited for the throbbing in my head to stop. As the throbbing slowed, I began to hear a heartbeat. It felt extremely familiar. It was somewhere close by, pounding furiously. My own heart pounded in return.

I sat up, slowly this time, and listened. Somewhere behind me, I could hear muffled, but heavy breathing. There were also leaves rustling softly, responding to being lightly touched. A human's ears wouldn't be able to pick up the sound, but I could. I slowly turned my head towards him. His breathing grew louder and heavier. I stopped, got up and walked in the opposite direction of where he was, into the brush and bushes.

After walking a few feet into the forest, I ducked down and cut to the left. I kicked off my shoes, as they made it harder to be silent. I never hunted with shoes on. I crept slowly around towards him, using my Hunter's instinct. I knew he would just run away if he thought I saw him, so I decided to creep up behind him. I listened for his breathing, and where the rustling was. It had stopped, he must have moved somewhere without leaves. My heartbeat slowed to a steadier pace.

I breathed a sigh of relief, though I wasn't exactly sure what I was relieved about. I circled around until I was a few feet behind him. He laid with his back against a tree, his eyes closed. I stopped and studied his face. A lock of hair covered one of his eyes and nose. His breathing was steady as well. He felt safe. I found myself smiling.

I crept up closer to him, making no sounds, until I was crouched in front of him. I reached out slowly to rest my hand on his cheek. He sighed, and I stopped and snatched me hand back quickly. He opened his eyes and screamed. He tried to scramble backwards, but he was already against a tree. I quickly covered his mouth.

"Hey! Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise", I said, attempting to subdue him. He stopped screaming but continued to hyperventilate. I shushed him until he started breathing slower.

"I'm going to let go of your mouth, now. Don't scream, or move. I'm not going to do anything", I said in what I hoped was a soothing tone. I slowly removed my hand and sat back. He sat silently, his breathing increased. We sat in silence for a few moments. He stared at me with fear and wonder. I figure this was his first time seeing a vampire, since we allowed time to have humans mostly forget us. The only knowledge of us is in stories, but as far as they know, they created us in their heads. The boy hesitantly opened his mouth to speak.

"I – please don't eat me…or kill me. I promise I won't t-taste good". I cocked my head to the side. "I have anemia, there's not much iron in my blood", he explained. I stared at him in confusion

"What does that mean?" I asked him. It was his turn to be confused

"I just told you. I have little iron in my blood. An iron deficiency." I stared at him.

"How are you alive, then? Humans need iron to live", I stated, feeling a bit dumb. He looked at me as if I were an idiot.

"We do, I take iron pills" I sat quietly, imagining a solid iron pill. Human teeth weren't that sharp last time I checked. I opened his mouth and checked his molars. Not sharp enough to bite, maybe he has strong jaws. I checked, pressing down on with my finger, I could have broken it if my finger twitched. So, he wasn't strong enough to bite solid iron. I looked at him, who froze and stared at me with fear and confusion when I abruptly checked his mouth. I realized at that moment that it probably looked and felt weird to just have his teeth examined. I sat back and crossed my legs, and looked at him expectantly.

"What is an iron pill", the words felt weird to me. He hesitated, watching me, trying to understand me. Then he reached into one of the pockets on his cargo pants and pulled out an orange bottle with a white top.

"T-these are iron pills. They, are in here, the top is a bit funny –", I quickly snatched the bottle and tried to take it off. The top turned, but didn't open. I turned faster, to no avail. It must be enchanted, I figured. I didn't know the goddess gave humans magic again. I looked back at the boy, who looked a bit amused.

"Take off the enchantment", I said to him, holding out the bottle. His expression turned mischievous, as he took the bottle away from me. He dramatically pushed the top down, and turned it, his eyes never leaving my face. The top easily came off. He held out the bottle to me with a smirk. I looked back at him with annoyance, reached into the bottle and pulled out a pill. Looked at it. Then looked again. The pill was not iron, it was a tiny red circle. I blinked. I looked back up at him.

"What is this?"

"An iron pill", he responded dryly. He was tired of repeating the same thing. I groaned exasperatedly, and shoved the tiny red pill in his face.

"This, this is not iron. Iron is a metal, and this is not metal! What. Is. THIS?! He took the pill from me and sighed.

"It has iron in it. I don't know how they make it, I just take the pill because I have an iron deficiency". He placed the pill back into its bottle.

"How'd you get it?", I asked trying to understand. He shrugs, placing the bottle back into his pocket, after staring at it for a moment.

"My doctor prescribed it to me", he responded. I continued to stare at him. "Oh! My anemia?I've always had it. As long as I can remember". He sighs. I sigh as well. I may have lived in the human world my entire life, but I hadn't interacted with Dr's or pill bottles or 'anemia'. Could humans actually be deteriorating in quality? I certainly didn't notice. I knew a few of them were rich in sugar and fat, or both but I didn't realize they had these many problems.

A memory flashed for a second, but I hardly saw it before I forgot.A bird screeches above us, pulling me from my thoughts. I stand, suddenly remembering where I was. Or at least remembered that I didn't know where I was. I brush off my skirt and reach my hand out to him.

"My name is Abigail", I say, after realizing I never introduced myself. He stared at my hand, debating for a moment what he should do. He eventually takes my hand, slightly hesitating, and stands.

"M-my name is K-k-kyoya", he stuttered, and I could tell by my heart rate that he was slightly scared. I didn't know why he became scared again, he was fine before. I looked around, and inhaled deeply. It was calming. I looked at him and exhaled. My heart beat slowed down. I inhaled again, still looking at him, and he followed suit. We exhaled together, and my heartbeat steadied. I began to walk, pulling him with me, since we were still holding hands. He looked afraid, but eventually began to walk with me. We walked for a while, taking in the scenic beauty. I felt myself loosening up, and Kyoya seemed to relax as well.

After a while, I notice I was getting hungry and I wanted to hunt. I let go of Kyoya's hand and turned to face him. A hawk flew above us, close to the ground. I followed it with my eyes, hungrily. I turned back to Kyoya when the hawk flew out of view.

"I'm going to hunt. Are you hungry?" Kyoya shook his head, but I knew he was lying.

"Sit", I commanded. He sat. "Stay, here. I'll be back". He seemed to comply. I turned and ran into the forest, going into full predator mode. I opened all of my senses, closing my eyes, and breathing deeply. I didn't run very fast, as I wanted to find animals, and not outpace them. While I could easily charge up to an animal and catch them that way, it takes a lot of fun from the hunt. The hawk we saw earlier was a bit further down, in a tree. I turned slowly, then I saw Kyoya peek out from behind a tree. It seems he followed me, possibly scared of being alone.

I beckoned him to come closer. He ran up to me and looked expectantly, seeming to share my excitement. I put my finger to my lips, signaling to quiet his breathing. I began to look around, deciding what I wanted. I noticed a wild boar about half a mile east of where we were. It was pretty fat and my mouth watered at the sight of the plump animal.

I took off in its direction, not bothering to be stealthy or use any of my hunter's instinct. Kyoya ran after me. It noticed us and ran. With a loud whoop, I ran after it, laughing. I could easily outrun it, but I decided to give chase for Kyoya's sake. I looked back at him. He seemed to be enjoying himself, though he was getting a bit winded. I turned back to the boar, not really paying attention to my surroundings, and tripped over a root. I did a somersault and quickly got back up, never missing a beat and continued chasing the boar. I heard Kyoya laughing behind me.

I laughed as well. The boar was approaching a body of water. I smiled, knowing we were about to get it. The boar stopped at the shore and tried to turn back, but I caught up with it. It looked to the left and I conjured a wall of wind to block its view. It looked to the right and I did the same thing. It squealed in fear and I laughed. I threw up a wall of flames that surrounded the boar. Kyoya came up behind me slowly, his mouth wide with awe and fear. I smirked and released the boar from its fiery prison. The boar had collapsed, breathing heavily. I cocked my head, deciding what the best way to end its misery. I turned my head to Kyoya, who looked back at me with fear and a bit of curiosity. I figured he was waiting to see what I'd do next. I decided to simply stop its heart. It wasn't fun or creative, but it would be the least disturbing for Kyoya.

I stopped the pig's heart, then crushed its skull by closing my hand. It died immediately, no pain. Minus my burning it, of course. Grabbing Kyoya's hand, I walked over to the boar, and placed his hand on it. He tried to snatch his hand back, but I placed my hand over his. He flinched, then settled. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. I pictured the boar in my mind. I became very calm, and I could feel Kyoya relaxing.

I thanked the gods for the sacrifice of the boar. Mother was very religious and made sure I gave proper thanks every time I killed an animal. She didn't care as much for people, apparently. I opened my eyes and looked at Kyoya. He had his eyes closed and his head bowed. I wasn't quite sure why he did, but decided not to ask. He jumped when I removed my hand from his. He looked at me and smiled sheepishly.

"You seemed to be praying, so I decided to as well", he said shyly. I grinned at him.

"So I was", I affirmed and took his hand as I stood. He still looked uneasy, but didn't fight me. I still wasn't sure why I was so interested in this human, or even where I was, but I decided not to worry about it. I hoisted the pig on the shoulder opposite of Kyoya. I looked at him.

"Have you ever teleported?", I asked him. He gave me a questioning look.

"You were the one who bought me here in the first place", he responded. I tried to remember doing that. I didn't really remember anything after hearing his heartbeat at the High Priestess' castle. I gasped. "The High Priestess!", I exclaimed suddenly, causing Kyoya to look even more confused. I quickly created a circle and walked through it, pulling Kyoya behind me. He protested, but I ignored him and closed it. It reopened a few seconds later and I walked out. We were back in the garden. It was empty. Weird. I wondered why I left in the first place. I didn't really understand why I didn't remember anything after seeing Kyoya.

I walked through the garden, still taken aback from the beauty. Kyoya gripped my hand tighter, and I looked at him. He was on high alert. Somehow it hadn't occurred to me that he would be afraid. I wondered why he trusted me, especially since I was the one who attacked him… Suddenly, I remembered again. Everything, my mother, all the people I killed, fighting the Force, attacking Kyoya, protecting him from them and causing a general panic. All of the memories came crashing back at once, and I became overwhelmed. The grief (and slight glee,) of killing my mother, being locked in a white room for hours knowing nothing, the fear, the panic, my seemingly out of control powers; it was too much to handle.

I whimpered and fell to my knees, letting go of Kyoya's hand and dropping the boar I was still holding. I grabbed my head and fell over, and curled up, clutching my knees trying to get rid of all the sudden emotions. Kyoya looked down at me with concern and fear. I looked back for a moment, in an attempt to not sink into my mind, but it became to overbearing. I closed my eyes.

It was a day like any other. Mother woke me up in her usual way; with an attack. It was becoming boring and predictable and I think she knew it. This time when I blocked her attack and jumped out of bed, I noticed it was pitch black. Decidedly not my room, it couldn't get this dark and Mother couldn't use magic, as it was stripped from her and the rest of the Mojo members when someone touches a ball planted by Yasu Guards.

I close my eyes. Mother didn't know that I knew magic, and I wasn't going to tell her that, or what my Hunter's instinct was. She had no magic , and I knew she knew I would get some, but she felt safe. She used psychological manipulation in an attempt to stop me from killing her. She told me I needed her, and that she was keeping me safe from the High Priestess and her guard, and that if they caught me, they would look me too, since they would definitely know I was being trained.

I believed every word and she knew this. What she didn't v know however, was that I resolved to get strong enough that I wouldn't need her and could finally kill her. While I called her mother, I hated this woman. She tortured me from the day I turned 5, trying to turn me to the cause. I'm sure she thought it was guaranteed that I would be for the cause since both my parents were the leaders, but I couldn't care less about controlling humans. I had no human friends and I've had a couple few bad run ins with them, but my power was so far beyond theirs, it would feel like nothing but a constant power Trip, which I had no interest in.

I turned on my recently developed Hunter's Instinct. Mother didn't expect it to happen until I turned 16. That's when everyone got it, but I got mine 3 years early. I could easily see the room and everything in it. I could see through anything within a one mile radius with my Instinct. I didn't need a heat signature or anything, I could see things living or otherwise in great detail. I could see the pattern on a fly's wings a mile away, if I closed my eyes and focused. I found out last night when I went hunting for blood.

I closed my eyes and searched for Mother. She was standing in a corner, watching me, preparing her next attack. In an instant I was at her throat. I picked her up and threw her across the room. She quickly recovered before hitting the ground and jumped up. She grinned ran towards me at lightning speed. I easily tracked her. I dodged her attack, but then she can was behind me. I was hit. I flew across the room, and cut my lip.

As I wiped off the blood, I notice this feeling, deep within me. I'd never felt it before. It was extremely excitement. I jumped up and ran at her. We continued to fight, and I felt myself getting more excited with each blow, and I found I wanted to do more. I grabbed her by her neck again and slammed her through the wall, though that wasn't my intention. It seemed like I also became stronger, probably due to my Hunter's Instinct awakening, though I hadn't feet this strong this morning, and when I threw her before, the impact wasn't this big.

I pulled her back in and throw her across the room again, mostly to gauge my strength. She hits the ground, creating a crater about 3 feet deep in the floor. I stand and watch her struggle to get up. She looks at me and I see the rage in her eyes. She flies at me and we fight again, but we're matching each other blow for blow. I find myself getting frustrated. I begin to fight harder, wanting to inflict more damage, and hoping she'd hit me harder. She doesn't.

She seems to be getting desperate, I can see it in her eyes and I relish in it. I pick her up by her head and slam her into the ground, and I hear her skull crack. The sound causes waves up pleasure to flow through my body. I slam her again and her skull shatters. I don't like that. I want to inflict more pain, and even more than that, I want her to fight me. I growl in frustration and throw her across the room, and wait for her to regenerate so we can resume our fight.

Nothing happens after a minute and I can feel my frustrations growing with each second. In a fit of rage, I fly across the room and attack her lifeless body. I rip it in half and grab her heart. I tear into it and shove it into my mouth. I taste the concentrated blood in it and the delicious fear she felt during her last moments. I swallow, then run out of the building, leaving Mother behind. I

I felt someone shaking me. My eyes shot open and I quickly sit up. I begin to hyperventilate and I stare my hands, which are shaking violently. Chamomile grabs my hands and sends calming magic my way. It takes a few minutes, but I'm finally calm enough to speak.

"I killed her. She-she's dead. I-I killed her", I squeak out, my voice barely a whisper. Chamomile looks at me with concern.

"Who's dead, Abi? Who?" , she asks me. I ignore her, as I barely heard her speak.

"And all those people… so many innocent lives, gone. I-i'm a monster. I deserve death, I", I begin rocking. Chamomile places her hands on either side of my head and sends calming magic. I feel its effects immediately. I start to feel normal again.

I suddenly notice that neither Kyoya, nor the boar I killed were there. I looked around frantically. Only Chamomile is there. I quickly got up and sprinted to the castle. Chamomile shouted after me but I ignored her. Suddenly, I found I couldn't move. I was frozen in place. Chamomile stalked up to my, obviously annoyed. She crossed her arms and glared at me for a few moments.

"There is just…. so much. I don't know where to begin. How did you- Why is- Human….ugh", she plopped down and crossed her legs. She covered her face with her hands. I stood frozen, unusually patient, though I was afraid for Kyoya. She peeked at me from behind her fingers. "You make me worry so much, you know that?", she stated, defeated. The High Priestess glided into view. Chamomile quickly stood, and bowed. The High Priestess ignored her and unfroze me. I was mid stride, so I fell on my face. I decided it was best to stay that way.

"When you left the palace, did you feel any resistance?', the High Priestess asked me, as she bent down to help me up. I stood and shook my head. She nodded slowly, looking lost in thought. Chamomile walked over to me and took my hand. The High Priestess walked briskly away, escorted by a few Guards. Chamomile looked after them with confusion, then looked at me and smiled. "Come, I think it's best we follow her", she said and began walking towards the castle.

Inside, we entered a room on the first floor. It looked like a hospital room. I felt my heartbeat change its rhythm. Kyoya was near. I let go of Chamomile's hand and ran a bit further into the room. It was empty, but there was another room connected to it, and I ran into it and found Kyoya sitting on the hospital bed.

His fists sat on his knees and were clenched so tightly his knuckles turned whiter than he usually was. He almost blending into the blindingly white room. He leaned away from me in fear. I froze in the middle of the room and clasped my hands, not really sure what to do, or even why I cared about the boy.

Chamomile walked in and stopped behind me. The High Priestess walked in, and stopped in front of the bed. Kyoya started to hyperventilate again. She looked at him sternly.

"How did you get here?", she demanded, and I wondered if she was the same kind woman I had spoken to. Part of me wanted to protect him, but there was nothing I could do. He fidgeted on the bed a bit before responding

"I don't know", he mumbled so low, I wondered if a human could actually understand.

"What do you mean you don't know", she snapped. "How did you end up here? What happened before Abigail attacked you?" she questioned impatiently. I gulped at the mention of the attack. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to recall.

"I-I fell asleep in a meadow. I woke up a few hours later and there was a huge castle. I heard you guys talking and I panicked. Then she attacked me", he said looking up at me. I sheepishly bowed my head. The High Priestess wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Further than that. What were you doing that day?", she questioned him further, moving closer to him. His heart pounded as she got closer, and mine beat faster in turn. I still had no idea why it did that.

"I-I woke up, I brushed my teeth, um, I um, I went to school, um then I, uh, I went to that field and uh, I fell asleep", he stammered. The High Priestess narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him. "It was a srange meadow. I had never seen it before.I don't know why I fell asleep, I just wanted to investigate it, since Meadows don't come from no where", he continued. He held his breath, and I found myself doing the same. Suddenly she stood straight and beamed at him.

"Then you were sent here by the Goddess!", she exclaimed. She turned to me, still smiling, then back to him. "I wouldn't be surprised if your fates were intertwined", she continued as she started walking towards the door. "I must pray to find out if this is true". She briskly exited the room, with a few members of the Force following her.

I wanted to talk to Kyoya, but Chamomile guided me out of the room. "We have to prepare for your Formation Ceremony", she explained as she pulled me down the hallway and away from the boy I shared a heartbeat with.