{☾}Subaru stopped walking at her words midway through reaching for the door handle and turned his head, his gaze flashing as he looked at her. It was strange; it was almost as if she’d read his thoughts. And yet, what did it mean that she was asking him? Was she simply worried? “Yes,” he said, returning his attention to the door, which he pushed open and led her through. “In fact, you’ll become like me, eventually. To stay by my side, you’re giving up everything–including your humanity.”
“I know I’m giving up my humanity…just…what else am I giving up?” Angel swallowed hard. She wasn’t scared of the answer he would give her – if he gave one at all – but rather curious and nervous. “I’ll still be the same Angel, right? Just…not as warm…” She followed him closely behind.
{☾}
“To the
main event,” he said, not too pleased. “But avoiding others.” He took her hand and
led her back out of the room, then stopped, leaning down so he could grab the
end of her dress and tuck it into her other hand. Didn’t want her to get dirty
water on it. Thankfully they didn’t have to walk in the sewers but for a few
moments; it wasn’t the place at all to be when trying to wear things that
looked nice.
A set of
stairs came up not too far away, spiraling up into what would open into the
castle overhead. The stairs were steep, so he grasped onto her hand tightly in
case she slipped. Humans were annoyingly fragile; he could fall from heights of
several stories and sustain little or no damage, whereas…he didn’t even want to
think about what would happen if she fell down the stairs. As much as he loved
her humanity, drinking in the warmth of her body and sweetness of her blood, he
couldn’t help but wish he could make her like him….
Angel gripped Subaru’s hand as they walked up the steps. Her flats weren’t suitable for these stairs. She felt as if she made one wrong move, she would trip and she and, possibly, Subaru, would topple back down where they came from. Angel didn’t want to think about it, and so she gripped his hand even tighter. It was already such a stressful night for Subaru and she really didn’t want to cause anymore stress than she probably already had. The stairs were really slippery…
“Subaru-kun, I was wondering,” she said to keep her mind off it. “Can vampires change humans into vampires?” By now they had, thankfully, made it to the top of the stairs. “I-Is that a thing that can happen?”
{☾}
Subaru went to her when he heard her ask for help. The instant he saw her in it, he swiftly edged behind her and grabbed the laces, not wanting her to see the blush that colored his cheeks. The dress accentuated her delicate appearance, bringing attention to her thin shoulders and slender arms.
His fingers fumbled in his embarrassment, but when he finished, the laces looked even and he stepped away from her. Unnecessary breath caught in his chest. Looked like she’d see his blush anyway. “T-tch…you look…you look…so pretty….” What even were words? He swiped up her hands in his, stepping forward to brush his mouth against hers. She should have been here with someone a hell of a lot more worthy than him.
“Thank–” she started, but she was cut off by Subaru kissing her. She kissed him back and blushed. When they stopped, she picked up the jacket and took the knife out. There was a little strap inside the breast piece, she’d seen, and she placed the knife in there. “Thank you,” she was finally able to say.
“Um, but…should we get going now? Where do we go? I-I’m nervous…”
{☾}
Subaru wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed
her hair. “Idiot…you’d look beautiful in any of them.” But if she insisted he
choose…
Subaru reached over her shoulder and withdrew the dress that
caught his eye immediately. It was long and white, made of flowery lace that
extended down the shoulders to the arms to the wrists, and the skirt would fall
around her feet when worn. But much of the embroidered flowers that cascaded
from the bodice down to the hips and skirt were threaded with black. “How about this?”
Angel bit her lip before running her hands along the fabric. It looked pretty, maybe too pretty. Especially for someone like her. She knew she was cute and whatever else, but there were only so many things she could pull off. Well, if Subaru wanted to see her in this one, then she would gladly oblige. “Okay…” she mumbled, taking the dress.
She didn’t know how to put the dress on. Most of her dresses were pull-overs or button-ups, and the back of the dress looked oddly confusing to her. Angel shied away from Subaru’s gaze to try and change. She managed to get most of it on, but she needed help with the back.
“Subaru-kun, can I please have some help?” she asked, her voice quiet.
{☾}
He noticed her hesitation, and quickly answered what she had
to be thinking as they crossed the room to the wardrobe. “They’re fine, trust
me. With as tightly as this has been sealed up, they won’t have any dust or
water damage. Might smell a bit stagnant, though.”
Seeing her trouble, he nudged her out of the way and yanked
open the door easily with his vampire’s strength, just barely managing to keep
it from ripping from the hinges. Very tightly sealed. Inside, there were
probably a dozen or so dresses, all of which looked to be just her size. Most
of them he didn’t even recognize. He stepped out of the way. “There.”
Angel was overwhelmed. All the dresses looked gorgeous. She looked through them, but couldn’t pick the one she liked best. She wanted one that was Subaru’s colour – grey – but Christa didn’t seem to have any. Maybe white would’ve had to suffice, but all of her white dresses had a splash of some other colour or two.
“Which one do you think would look best on me, Subaru-kun?” she mumbled shyly. She was honestly afraid that, maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t look good in any of them after all.
{☾}
He nodded, and they continued
to the dungeon. Inside, the long, dark hall was dim, lit only by candles that
dripped burning wax from where they rested on their sconces. From what he knew,
the dungeon wasn’t much in use anymore. It wasn’t like the old man was around much
to actively torment his enemies. It was deathly silent; their footsteps echoed,
the only thing louder than their breaths. Drainage water flowed next to them,
as the dungeon was part of the sewers.
Subaru had awful memories about
this place. Most prominently, as he had recalled only moments before, the
instance when his mother had tried to escape. When Karl had appeared
conveniently, she begged him to cut her throat. But he was merely a child. What
power had he had? What would the purpose have been if he’d done it and both of
them had died?
The door to the dungeon came up
on their left, and Subaru took it. Inside was a set of iron bars–a long-abandoned cell containing boxes and furniture covered
with dust. Inside he saw a familiar portrait of his mother when she was young, but also a
wardrobe. The door to the cell had rusted shut, but a few rough shoves with his
shoulder and it swung open with a loud creak. They could step inside.
Angel looked at the portrait on the wall. This young lady must have been Christa, Subaru’s mother. She was smiling, but she didn’t look happy. What was she thinking? Of course someone in Christa’s position wouldn’t be happy. She was scared to touch the portrait to get rid of the dust that accumulated. She didn’t want it to fall and bust. It looked old, older than even Subaru and his brother’s. She looked around some more, but didn’t walk just yet. The whole room seemed to be a mixture of damp and dusty. She didn’t think such a combination was possible.
Angel then looked at the wardrobe. She wasn’t too excited to put on any of Christa’s old dresses anymore, not after seeing the room. But she knew she had to wear one, for her safety and for Subaru’s mentality. She walked over to it and waited for Subaru to help her open it. It was stuck fast.
{ ☾ }
“Eh? Are you actually scared?” He dragged her closer to him,
threading an arm around her waist with a laugh of amusement at the tremble in
her voice. “Hehe. As if I’d let one of them anywhere near you. You belong to
me; if anyone tries anything, they’re dead, you know.” Subaru stopped abruptly,
his features tugging his face into a contemplative frown. Though…if something
did happen, he’d never forgive himself, and though he was old, most of the
vampires here were older and more powerful, some nigh on his father’s age.
Turning to her, he slipped his hand into his pocket and
brought out his silver knife he always carried on his person, the moonlight shining
off of the reflective blade. Grabbing her hand, he turned it palm up and curled
her fingers around the hilt as not to cut her fingers.
Just as she was about to reply, Subaru gave Angel a silver knife. She looked at it for a moment. “Subaru-kun?” She was, without saying, kind of confused. Angel looked at him closely he looked a bit upset again. Without asking any questions regarding the knife, she held it firmly and nodded. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Then she thought about it. The knife wasn’t for her – well, it was for her, but it was for her to use on a vampire, or vampires, if they tried anything. “Okay.” She reached into the jacket Subaru had given her and put the knife in the inside pocket just for safe keeping until she put it somewhere better. “I’ll stay close to you.”
{ ☾ }
“That man still wears something that looks like it came straight out of medieval Europe. So not really. You’ll look fine.”
For the rest of the walk, Subaru was silent, navigating them down the darkening path. At the point where they passed into the demon world, he squeezed her hand and looked around, surveying the place. Hundreds of supernatural creatures milled about on the castle grounds. Vampire women loitered about at the gazebo, wine glasses filled with blood clutched in their pale, jewel-studded fingers. Others were speaking while walking throughout the garden. Most attendees were inside the castle’s ballroom.
Tugging her along, he veered off the path and cut across the lawn, heading for one of the lesser-known entrances to the castle that he’d known ever since he was a young boy, when his mother had once tried to escape. The entrance to the dungeon. “Nobody’ll notice if we go in this way,” he said.
“Medieval Europe?” Angel giggled, wondering if he was over-exaggerating or if it was really like that. It was quiet for the rest of the walk, until she found herself looking around and seeing more vampires than she thought was necessary. Her stomach flipped as she became nervous and squeezed Subaru’s hand. Once he pulled her away from the crowd, she relaxed slightly. She’d never seen so many vampires at once. It scared her and she wondered if she would actually be able to keep herself from crying.
{ ☾ } “Hmph…that’s fine. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I might not be able to hold myself back.” No, he didn’t think he would. His father might be harmless now, given centuries since the events in the past that constituted Subaru’s hatred for him, but Subaru could never forgive him, not even if he were to drop to his knees and beg. Not like that would ever happen, though. If he so much as got close to Angel….
Subaru lifted her hand, bringing it to his mouth so he could kiss her knuckles. “Yes, they’re pretty. As for the age of them, fashion in the demon world hasn’t changed much in several hundred years. You won’t be out of place among many of the guests.”
“If you can’t help but yell at him, then I guess it can’t be helped,” Angel mumbled. She gripped his hand tighter. “It was dumb of me to request that. I’m sorry.” She listened to him as he spoke about the fashion in the demon world and bit her lip as he kissed her hand. “Really? They haven’t changed? Or at least maybe a little… I think that’s strange, given that the human world is constantly changing fashions. But I like the idea of it being the same for a longer amount of time. You’re never out of place.”
