The Curse

Chapter Nineteen- The HeadMasters Doom

I dash towards his throne, which is on the other side of the room, ready to do it quickly. No speech, no questions...
Just a swift slice with my knife.
"Child, you've come. I've waited long for this day." he says, with that creepy voice. I jog towards him. "So I'm Child  now!?" I hiss. "Yes...oh, you must be so confused." he laughs. I walk quickly towards him. "I'm not confused at all. I know exactly what I need to do!" I shout. "No, I don't think you do, darling." he giggles. I walk towards him. "Just you wait." I growl, pulling out my knife. "I'm waiting," he says impatiently. I realize I've slowed my pace for some reason. Wasn't I running when I came in...?
Why am I walking?
"You should start trembling right about...now!" he laughs. I suddenly start shaking violently. What is happening!? I drop my knife and fall to the floor. I start to cry. What is going on? It's like I can't control my own body. I look down into my puddle of tears. But for some reason my tears are a shade of crimson...
I am crying blood.
"What is h-happening...!" I wail. I curl up and all of my muscles tense. I am in so much pain...
The HeadMaster stands up and walks towards me. I look up and see his tall self looming over me. He kneels down beside me and whispers into my ear. "You. Are. Me." "What are you talking about!?" I scream. "When I bit you I gave you my DNA," he says, patting me on the back. His touch is so gentle, but yet, it makes me wince. "And like everyone knows, I never bite a victim to turn them or else I'll give them my DNA." "Then why did you bite me!?" I cry, frozen in pain. "The question you should be asking is why is my DNA forbidden among others?" he says. "Because...no one can handle my genetics. Even my daughter, Jephudach, was going to die very young." he says. "Eventually, my DNA takes over every cell and my power is too great to handle," he spats. I see his eyes have become glowing red and his grin is sickeningly wide. He is obviously enjoying himself. "Soon, you will practically be me. And no one can handle me." he laughs. "I've planned it all out! La-dee-da-dee-da-da!" he sings. I look back into the puddle and see I'm changing. My eyes flash red and bright gold and my hair goes completely white, no hint of brown. Even my fangs grow sharp and long like his. I even feel myself getting taller as I lay there. All the while, he is laughing. I suddenly find I can read the mind of everyone in the city...
Red energy even emits from me.
I feel tired, so tired...I'm about to give up and join my mother...I'm sorry, Kuroji...
Then, when I think I can't take it anymore and I think I'm going to die, it stops. The pain stops, but all the power inside me is practically overflowing. I shakily stand up and growl as I look at the HeadMaster. Kuroji. Kuroji is what is powering me. I can't leave him here.
I no longer look up at him.
We are the same height.
For once, the HeadMaster looks astonished and his smile vanishes. "You...are more powerful than I thought," he clears his throat, shifting awkwardly.
"Yes, I am." I say. I feel as if I could control the world.
"I have the will of my mother, the love of Kuroji, and the power...of you!" I shout, knocking him over with the red energy. He swiftly stands up, and he too, summons red energy. He starts laughing. "What? What is it?" I yell. Then suddenly, I receive a vision.
His vampire guards are turning several of the EU-NH into vampires and are killing the rest. I gasp.
"Doesn't that just make you jump?" the HeadMaster says enthusiastically, jumping himself. "I will KILL you!" I shriek, jumping on top of him. We are wrestling now.
Then he knocks me into the wall.
"You may have my power, but you don't have my experience!" he giggles.
Then suddenly he's gone. Oh, no...
He jumps out behind me and pins my hands behind my back.
"Here we are again," he mumbles. But this time, I hear sadness in his voice.
"I only wish I could see your daughter," he cries.
This dude is sick and crazy! Then suddenly he bites my neck and injects venom that stings like heck.
I once again scream in agony.
"But it makes me feel better that you probably won't be seeing her either!" he laughs maniacally. He lets go and I fall to the floor. "If I'm going down, you're going with me!" he yells, charging at me, building up a ball of red energy. But just before we collide, I pull out my long knife and he runs into it. I slice. He falls.
I gasp. I kneel beside him. "I'll tell Jephudach you said hello," he laughs. "Oh, and this is just my body. I will always be here, watching you." he hisses, spitting blood in my face. "See ya soon!" He laughs and pierces my wrist with his sharp nails before he unexpectedly disappears into ash. I feel a chill up my spine just thinking about what he said and what it meant. Maybe I should've asked questions...
I grab my wrist and flinch. It stings, but it's nothing compared to the pain of when he bit me. I suddenly realize the power is still inside of me.
Will I always have this...?
"Nobara!" Kuroji screams, running in.
And there's a group of people behind him, limping in as well.
Ah, yes...they got turned. I run over.
"I received a call on the walky-talky thingy, and they said they needed help, a lot of them were getting killed, and...so I came. Please forgive me. Are you hurt...?" Kuroji explains breathlessly.
I can tell he feels bad. He walks around me in a rush, examining me. "You look...different." he mutters. "Yeah, I do. Remind you of a female/Nobara version of you-know-who?" I say, rolling my eyes. He notices I'm squeezing my wrist.
He takes my hand off of my wound and looks shocked. "Nobara! You're hurt!" he yells. "It's not that bad," I grumble. But then I look at it.
It's actually really deep and I'm losing a lot of blood and...
"Whoa! Rosie, you okay?" he says.
"Huh...?" I mumble. I think I fell over and blacked out a second. "It's okay! Vampires regenerate quickly." I say.
I try to stand up, but I stumble and Kuroji catches me. "I'll help ya home." he says.

We're walking to our house now...the one in the Hidden Valley, which I think has become our permanent one.
"King said to get rest and we'll talk about the deaths and turnings tomorrow," he says. I nod. "So...how'd you end up killing him?" he asks. "He ran into my knife when I pulled it out. then I sliced him in half." I say, shivering. I don't like gore.
"Oh, yeek." he says, making a face.
"It had to be done," I sigh, looking away. That's practically the only way to kill a vampire, especially one as powerful as him. Either slicing him in half, or killing him from the inside somehow. Or...cutting off his head...ew.

We get to the house and he lays me down on my bed. I climb into the covers and sigh. He sits at my side, staring at me. I wonder if he'll sit there all night, watching over me.
"You're...paler than usual." he says, matter-of-factly. "Yeah...shouldn't you get some rest?" I say. "I'm resting, just my mouth and eyes are moving." he says. I laugh.
"So, what happens after this? When people find out their leader is dead?" I ask. "They'll need a new leader," he says. "Maybe a vote? But then, the HeadMaster has no descendants."
I say. He stares at me and it gets awkward. "What?" I say, breaking the silence. "Um, Rosie? You have his DNA now. You'd be the only rightful heir." he says. "Wait...you're saying I should be HeadMistress!?" I shriek. "Hey, calm down!" he says, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm just sayin', it's what the people will want. It's tradition." he says. I lay in silence.
"I'd be a terrible leader," I laugh. "Well, we'll see what happens tomorrow." he states.
He suddenly jumps up.
"What? What is it!?" I say, surprised.
"Oh. My. Gosh. Nobara!" he says, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I've been here for, like, 1 or 2 years, I think. But you got here before me. So you've been here, like, 3ish years, right?"
"Yeah? I don't know, sure. So?" I say.
"What month is it?" he asks.
"Um, I don't know...October?" I say. "We've missed, like, THREE of your birthdays! How OLD are you!?" he shrieks.
Wow, Kuroji! Way to freak me out! I think.
"Um, 17 maybe...? I really haven't kept track of how long I served the HeadMaster." I shrug. "Besides, same for you, right? You're 18 now." I say.
We stay up for hours talking and laughing about a big birthday bash we should have. He even goes and brings me blood to drink. I can't help but be happy around him. Eventually, he gets up and turns off the lights. "Nighty," I say, sighing. I expect him to get into his bed, but he pulls the covers off of his bed, lays on top of my bed, and covers himself up with his covers beside me. His head is at my feet. I laugh. "What? Just in case you die or something." he laughs. "Wait, what about Katoro!? We forgot about her! You have to go and unlock her." I say. "Nah, tomorrow." he says. I'm surprised. "Kuroji..." I whisper. "I'm staying with you tonight." he says. A worried look flashes in his eyes. "Night." he says, sitting up to look at me. He playfully winks at me and I roll my eyes. But then I blush. Why am I blushing? Don't girls only do that when...
No...not me and him...
My eyes get watery as I realize.
"Have a good sleep." he finally says, before closing his eyes and laying back down. Then I close mine, roll over, and think.
This changes everything.
I love Kuroji.