Night One

Hi, the name is Luna Yagari; I’m 18 and live in a place called Noishe. I’ve been hunting vampires for as long as I can remember. My father was a great vampire hunter well known throughout all of Noishe. He was called the Great Kyonkichi. But, my mom just called him Kyo. He died hunting a Great Vampire named Brackoon while my mom had gave birth to me, but my father didn’t leave this earth without killing Brackoon. After that my mom, Kiara, continued where my father left off, hunting the undead.

When I was 6 my mom first taught me all the basics: crosses, garlic, silver, stakes, etc. She also taught me that I should never look a vampire directly in the eyes for their hypnotic gaze could bring down even the most skilled warriors. When I turned 8 and after much practice, she had let me join her on a hunt. I watched mesmerizing every last detail for when I would really have to face this myself. It was very interesting, I had practiced with my mom using dummies so many times that seeing the real thing was a lot different then I expected it to be. I don’t really know what I was expecting. I thought it would be very simple, but I was wrong.

My mom had first used a very powerful light on the demon. Then she weakened it more by spraying garlic powder on the terrible creature. It begged for mercy, the filthy thing, but my mom was unfazed. She ran at it and plunged a silver stake through its chest where a heart should’ve been. A horrible shrieking cry ran through the darkness of the night, like cat sharpening its claws on a chalkboard. I fell to the ground, hands over my ears. I looked to my mom, who was standing in a triumphant pose over the dying vampire. My gaze shifted to the pathetic creature on the ground. I watched it turn a black color then, it burst into dust. I watched its remains blow away in the dead of the night.

Then, when I was 13 she took me with her again, so I could actually help her. We came across two vampires, both female. We had done the normal stuff, and killed them. But not before one had bitten my mom. I watched horrified as my mom changed into a vampire. She had always told me that if a human is merely bitten by a vampire they transform into a vampire, then they give themselves over to their senses, and would attack the closest thing to them that had blood. On the other hand, if a vampire completely drains the blood out of a human the human would die. My mom charged at me fangs bore to suck the life out of my body. I did what I was taught to do; I shoved a stake through her heart. It was the most terrible thing that had ever happened to me. I watched as my mom turned to dust. I still remember staying there the whole night crying. I would never forgive myself, or the creature that did it to her. From that moment on I swore to hunt vampires and kill all that cross my path for as long as I lived.

Now here I am 18 and hunting the undead. Since vampires only come out at night so do I, I’ve been nocturnal for several years cause it’s a lot easier than hunting at night and having to go to a day job. I only have one friend and her name is Raven Fonstack. We’re both nocturnal. I used to wear normal clothing and was a nice girl but after the death of so many loved ones, it made me a bitter person, I’d snap at people and began to wear nothing but black to keep people away from me cause everyone in this town is afraid of anything different from them, especially a vampire hunter.

“Hey, Luna, wake up already, it’s past sunset for Goths sake.” I was awoken by Raven’s oversized mouth. I turned to my digital clock; the green numbers read 8:16 p.m. July 17. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, I turned and clicked on my red lava lamp. “What in the name of Jack Skellington is wrong with you? Do you have to be so loud?” I turned to my friend, and noticed I was a bit harsh. Her pouting face was beginning to show. “Listen I’m sorry, but don’t wake me I can set an alarm.”
“Alright, but for Goths sake, hurry up.”
“Rae, leave before I blow up again.” I said pointing to the door.
“Fine.” She said closing the door behind her.

You see Raven does know about me being a vampire hunter. But thankfully, she’s smart enough to not follow me when I go gallivanting off. I got up and put on one of my favorite outfits. A cute black tee, black mini-skirt with a red skull and crossbones in the corner, red stockings with black lace around the edges, and my black combat boots. As for jewelry it was as follows: black bat earrings, black spike bracelets, red spike collar, and 3 different skull necklaces. I put on all of my make-up (black, of course). I grabbed my Jack Skellington purse, put in my silver pocketknife, a few cloves of garlic, and a flashlight and stepped out the door.We nabbed tickets to see 30 Days of Nights, my favorite vampire slaying movie.

By the time we reached the theater, it was packed. We climbed dozens of stairs until we finally reached the top and spotted two empty seats. As we pushed past people we got to our destination. Before sitting down I decided to be polite, “Excuse me is this seat taken?” I asked. Then a beautiful Goth God was staring at me. He had neck length black hair with blue tips and beautiful sapphire eyes. He was wearing a Marilyn Manson t-shirt and black trip pants the kind that Raven’s boyfriend, Crow, melts over. He was wearing skelanimals shoes and black spike collar. “No, not at all.” He replied.

“I’m Midnight. May I ask your name?” he said politely

“They call me,” all of a sudden Raven bumped into me, and I landed in Midnights lap. “Mud.”

“Well, miss “Mud” was it. You seem to be a bit straightforward.” He said chuckling.

“Yeah,” I got off of Midnight and sat in my seat.

“…anyway, I’m Luna.” I said.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, but it seems I must go. Perhaps we’ll meet again.” And with that he vanished.

“Whoa, he was a nice piece of…”

“Raven, don’t even think about finishing that sentence. That was so embarrassing.” I squeaked.

“Yeah, alright. The movies about to start anyway.” Raven said, deflated.

After the movie, Rae and I parted. Then I decided to go for a little shopping. One thing that is my absolute favorite about this place is the fact that we have a 24-hour Hot Topic. Plus, they had a help wanted sign up for a week or so because they needed more overnight staff, I have thought about it for a while and I made up my mind that I needed some money instead of letting my friend pay the rent all the time. (I get all my money from friends of my parents who feel sorry for me because of her death.)

When I reached Hot Topic I noticed that the help wanted sign had been taken down. “Looks like somebody beat me to it.” I said sadly. “Well I’m here might as well go shopping.”

I entered into a Gothly Heaven. I went over to look at the new stuff they put on display, and decided I’d try to find something for Raven. Sure enough I found the perfect gift, a friendship bracelet. There were two, they were black spiked and had bones on them, and instead of saying “Best Friends” it said “Best Ghouls”. Thankfully it was within my price range, it was only $6.50.

I walked up to the counter, and the cashier was reading one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life, a Manga called Vampire Knight. I tapped the counter with my finger. I almost ran out of the store when I saw who was behind the counter. It was Midnight!

“Ah, so we meet again.” He said slyly.

“So, you’re not just mysterious, but you’re also a Hot Topic employee. What else do you do?” I asked.

“Well, one day you may find out.” He replied. He took my item and scanned it, so I gave him the money.

“What do you say you meet me here tomorrow night around 11:30? Maybe we can have some fun?”

“Yeah, sounds interesting.”

“Well then, see you tomorrow, Luna.”

Then I left the store, and walked home butterflies sweeling inside of me. There was 2 hours until daybreak.

When I got home, I saw Raven sitting on the couch watching music videos. She didn’t even notice me walk in. I snuck up behind her and threw my arms around her. She shrieked and fell out of the chair. I was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my face.

“That was so not funny.” She cried.

“It was from where I’m standing.” I said, finally catching my breath. “Anyway, here.” I tossed her the bracelet that said “Best”, and I kept the one that said “Ghouls”.

“Wow! This is cool. Thanks Ghoulfriend. Oh, hey would you like to go look around Noishe tomorrow? Just so…”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Suddenly we heard a scream of terror. I ran over and grabbed my silver katana, and ran out the door.

Of course when I got there, the vampires latest victim had already been drained of every last once of blood. The vampire looked up at me, and his face was full of surprise and malice.
“So, the famous Luna has now come into my presence to kill me.” He snarled

I ran to him and plunged my sword into his chest. He grinned malevolently. “You may have killed me, but he will kill you.” And with those last words, he crumpled to dust. I watched as his remains, blew away in the stillness of the night. Who did he mean would kill me? Well, right now I need to call the police to get this poor girl.

The cops showed up around 7:00 a.m. “Thank you Miss Yagari. Have a nice sleep.” Said Officer Giorgio (He’s the one who they always send to get the bodies when I call). When I walked back home, Raven was standing in the doorway. She gave me a bear hug when I came back in.

“God, I hate it when you run off like that.” She said releasing me.

“I’m sorry. Rae, I’m going to bed okay.”

“Alright, see you tonight.”

Night Two

I awoke from my alarm, which I had set for 8:45p.m. I got ready within my 15 minute time period. Tonight I was wearing my traditional make-up, a skirt completely covered in skulls with little red showing through, a black top that advertised Slipknot, black stocking with red broken hearts, and my traditional jewelry, and now my “Ghouls” bracelet. I looked at myself in the mirror, my black hair ending a few inches past my shoulders, and my skin was a honey color, plus my eyes, which are a deep, gold. I have always considered my self-abnormal, including my looks. I grabbed my purse and walked out of my room.

“So, are we going or not?” Rae asked me when I stepped out of my room. I glanced at my watch, it was 9:16, “Sure, but I have to be at Hot Topic by 11:30.”

“Why…?” she asked, unsurely.

“Remember that guy you rammed me into at the movie, Midnight?”

She nodded.

“Well, he works at Hot Topic overnight and he asked me out.” I said proudly.

“NO WAY!” she yelled. “OMG! That is so cool. Not to mention he’s a major hottie.”

“Anyway I don’t want to be late.” I said

“Let’s go.” She said excitedly.

We shopped for a while and found absolutely nothing. Around 11:20 we drove up to Hot Topic. “Call me later ok.” She said as she drove off. I walked through the doors and saw Midnight looking at some trip pants. He was wearing a Jack Skellington shirt and blue trip pants with black detailing and the same jewelry as last night. He glanced over in my direction and a smile formed across his face. I smiled in return. We met each other halfway.

“So, you came.” He said.

“So, I did.” I replied, “What are the plans this evening?” I asked innocently.

“Well, there’s a full moon out tonight so I thought we could take a walk through Tsuki No Tami Park and see what leads to that.” He said with a twinkle in his eye.

“So, tell me a little about yourself?” I said, he looked taken aback

“Well, uh…ladies first I would much rather here about you a little first.”

He’s avoiding the question, but fine. I told him about how my parents died, and me being a vampire hunter, and a little about Raven. “Honestly, I don’t want to keep killing them but I can’t keep letting them attack all these humans. If all vampires could just feed on animal blood rather than humans, I wouldn’t have to kill them, and there wouldn’t be innocent blood shed every night.” I sighed.

“Wow, you really are an amazing person. I’ve heard a lot about you Luna, but none of it was pleasant. They said you were a beast who kills vampires without mercy. They say you deliberately hunt them down and kill them even if they’ve done nothing wrong. You take pleasure in it when you do, and laugh as they die. They are very wrong about you Luna, very wrong.” He pulled me around to face him, and then, without warning, he kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed back. I was falling in love with him more and more.

We were pulled apart by a scream. It sounded like a young man; I ran in the direction of the scream, and Midnight followed. Then, deep into the woods was a clearing and I found the source; a female vampire was holding a young boy of about 14 in her arms. The boy was limp and drained of blood; she looked at me, shocked and then noticed Midnight and smiled.

“Well well well, Midnight. I would have thought you would have finished her off by now, or would you like me to help.” She said, licking the last trace of blood from her lips. I turned to Midnight,

“What is she talking about?” I asked infuriated.

“You see Luna, Midnight here was hired.” She said

“Darkwing, shut up.” Midnight growled

“Why should I, she should at least know why you were hired to kill her.” Darkwing challenged.

“You what!?” I spun on Midnight

“Ignore her Luna.” He said calmly

“Luna, Midnight here was hired to kill you. To hopefully avenge all of the vampires that…” Darkwing was cut off, Midnight ran toward her. I watched perplexed, as his nails grew into claws and pierced her in the chest.

“Oh, I get it.” She coughed, “You’ve grown fond of her, looking into your eyes it’s clear, you love her.” She laughed and began to cough again, “You know it’s forbidden for a vampire to fall in love with a human. Wait till…” and with that she turned to dust. I fell to my knees, and cried.

“I’m sorry Luna. I am a vampire. Lucios, the leader of our vampire cult, hired me to kill you. You have killed many of his followers, and even more your father killed his father. I’ve actually been watching you for a long time now. At first, I hated you, I wanted nothing more then to kill you while I watched you slain so many of my comrades. Then, gradually I had strange feelings, I wanted to help you, and protect you. Then, tonight, you told me about your fathers death and having to kill your own mother, and your life now. Now I realize I have fallen in love with you. Tonight I planned on telling you about all of this; I was going to tell you to leave, so that I could tell Lucios you were dead. So you could get away. I never wanted you to find out like this, and I’m truly sorry.”

I was petrified by all of this. I was still on my knees with tears streaming down my face. So many tears had fallen it made it look as though it was dew upon the grass. Slowly and cautiously, Midnight walked over to me. He got down on his knees in front of me, and then he took my face in his hands. He wiped away my tears with his hands, and pulled me into an embrace. We sat like that for a moment and he pulled me away. He gazed into my eyes, I completely ignored my moms warning, I looked him in the eyes. Looking into his cerulean eyes, I knew he was telling the truth, his eyes showed a mixture of love, compassion, fear, and sadness. I couldn’t help it, I kissed him again.

“Thank you.” He said, “Thank you for not turning me away.” He said kissing me again.

I was supposed to loathe vampires. I was supposed to kill them. I had always hated them and killed them for what they had done to me. They killed my father, and forced me to kill my own mother. I had killed so many and never had I repented it. Never even gave it a second thought. And now, with all of this in mind, knowing that I was to be killed by a vampire myself, knowing that this very vampire had fallen in love with me and was telling the truth: I didn’t care. I didn’t care because…

I had fallen in love with a vampire.

Imprint

Text: Original Cover Art - www.henning.deviantart.com
Publication Date: 08-09-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
This is dedicated to Mrs. Stander. Without the assignment, this wouldn't have happened xD