Furor

It was until Lisa left along with the remains of the vampire did I finally lift my face out from Charlotte's chest. And even after looking towards the chair he was sitting on, there's not a trace of blood.

"Sorry you had to see that." Charlotte still seems to be concerned about my reaction from earlier as even when I moved my face away, she still remained by my side.

"It's okay. I need to learn how to deal with this, so-"

"No, you shouldn't need to live in a world like this." Cutting me off, she expresses her worry straight to me. I get it.

"It was me who wanted to watch, and like I said, I want to see the world you do, Charlotte."

"Okay." Once more, she pats me on the head for a few seconds, a smile returning on her face and the warmth soon spreading through my chest. I think I've come to like this a bit too much. "Let's get some sleep though. It's already really late."

"What about the man?"

"Well, it might be too dangerous going forward with it."

"Because of the vampire?"

"Yes. You see, there's an organization, a group of vampires that sees the world differently than the rest of us." As she talked, she sat down on the side of the bed, which I too followed suit, listening to her every word. "They call themselves, Furor."

"Furor?"

"The word itself generally means a strong emotion, usually negative like anger. Basically they're calling themselves angry."

"What are they angry about?" As far as I see the world, it's quite an amazing place. Even now I still remember how the night time city looked like with all the flashing lights. What can people be so angry about?

"Remember how I said rules were put in place when the worlds combined? Specifically about how vampires can't turn others into vampires without consent?"

"Yes? Like when your mother turned you into one?"

"Exactly. My mom's special so she was let off for breaking that law, which actually might be the spark for the group's emergence. You see, Furor despises the ruling class vampires, especially my mother."

"Is that because she got away with breaking the law?"

"Yes. It's just speculation on our part, but it could well be the reason for Furor becoming what it is."

"And that's why that man said he wanted to kill you..." The realization from earlier returns as I feel my fists instinctively ball up, pressing my nails into my palms.

"Yes. But considering the power difference between our two classes, they're forced to increase their numbers. To put it simply, the crime they're most known for is abducting innocent people before forcefully turning them into a vampire, whether they like it or not."

"But can't they just run away? If they're innocent, even after becoming a vampire, can't they just run? Why would innocents follow what Furor does?" That's what doesn't make sense to me after hearing Charlotte's explanation. As far as I know, vampires are powerful. Wouldn't the innocent people just run off after gaining their power? Maybe even fighting back against the person that turned them into one?

"And this is why vampires are a massive threat. I haven't told you this yet, but naturally, vampires work in a hierarchal based environment. If a vampire turns someone into a vampire, that person will feel the pain of the vampire that turned them."

"What? Wait, then wouldn't that make it impossible to go against the vampire that turned you?"

"Exactly. If the vampire doesn't like what you're doing, they can do whatever they want to you. And if they fight back, they'll just be left in more pain." I can just imagine what that would be like... Being abducted, waking up to find yourself a vampire, and if you try to fight, it just backfires... "It's why the law was put in place. To protect people."

"But Furor still does it..."

"Yes. Overtime, they indoctrinate the people they abduct, making them think that people like me are the bad guys. And overtime, they're numbers continue to grow and grow. We did eventually find one of their strongholds, but by the time we did, they had already left. They're quite elusive..."

"And you think that vampire earlier was part of Furor?"

"Mm..." She simply nods her head, not saying anything more.

I understand now why Charlotte was hesitant. If we go running after a man who was being tailed by Furor, then we might just be leading ourselves- no, Charlotte, into a trap.

"I need to get stronger..." I end up muttering those words under my breath. Before, when the man shot me, it could've hit Charlotte, and in fact, she was meant to be the one to get shot. I'm actually glad that it hit me instead. I want to be able to protect Charlotte, but right now, I-

"Hehe, that's enough of that talking. Come on, let's get some sleep. We'll figure out where we go from here tomorrow."

"O-okay..."

I watch as Charlotte quickly takes off her shirt and pants, leaving just her underwear on before she slowly tucks herself into the bed we were laying on as I soon get off before moving to my own bed. But right as I do so, I feel my chest tighten ever so slightly as I involuntarily look back towards Charlotte, her eyes now closed as she faces me.

"..." I was about to say something, but chose to stay quiet before attempting to get undressed myself. I know I struggle with the uniform, but I'm not going to disturb Charlotte.

In the end, I slept in my uniform, watching Charlotte sleep on the other bed. I know she's right there, but it feels a bit different than when we shared a bed... It almost feels like we're distant in a way. I'm not sure how to feel about it as I slowly close my eyes.