A Shadow From The Past

Krul's P.O.V.

The insufferable grey-haired vampire kneeled before me. I knew that he didn't feel an ounce of respect for me or my title. A wave of disgust washed over me just looking at his smug, impish face. Nevertheless, I couldn't drop my angelic façade, so I merely asked,"What is your report? Have you found the Seraph?"

Ferid grimaced but stood cordially."No, Your Majesty. I had thought him recaptured, but he managed to elude us."

I glared at him. Trust Ferid to sugarcoat his failure. "So what you're saying is that he escaped." Ferid grimaced again. He nodded slowly, eyes smoldering.

"Yes," he replied through gritted teeth. "But in a nicer manner."

I glared at him some more.  I was about to lose control of my emotions until an odd little bat rested on my shoulder. I was soothed by its presence. Something about the bat always seemed to pacify me."Is that all you have to report?" I asked in a tone that I thought lacked an admirable amount of contempt.

"No." The smug face was back. "The other surviving Seraph presented himself as well."

"Where is he now?" I inquired; already, I dreaded the response. I clearly couldn't expect Ferid to do a decent job performing his duty. After all, he'd already displayed his unreliability.

"Gone," Ferid muttered. "He escaped with the other Seraph. Mika."

"Escaped," I drawled. "With Mika."

The other man nodded, but instead of looking scared or nervous of the punishment I might inflict on him, he gave a benevolent smile and snaked around me. I stood as still as stone, looking ahead but acutely aware of his fingers brushing my hair onto one one shoulder. He leaned in close,  his breath tickling my ear. "But you don't have to worry about that anymore," he whispered. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled; goosebumps ran down my arms. Everything about this was wrong. Just as I was about to call in the guards, Ferid bit me. It wasn't hard at first, just a gentle nibble of my neck where the carotid vein, but it was enough to strangle my vocal chords. Ferid increased the intensity of his bite and sucked my blood with such pleasure that my eyes crossed and my vision went red, as if boasting the color of what I was losing.

The pain was incredible. It was a fire ravaging through my insides and infiltrating every nook and cranny it could lay its tendrils on. Ferid released my shoulders and sent me tumbling to the floor, but I barely felt it. Nothing computed through the agony that was everywhere, uncensored. I heard my murderer through the pounding of what little blood I had left in my ears. "Ah, what wonderful blood," he purred. "How selfish of you to keep it to yourself like that for so long. How... Krul."

A pun on my name normally would have enraged me, but I didn't even register that insult. I could feel myself slipping away. There wasn't much time for me until I succumbed to death. There was no use fighting or denying; I had lost too much blood to possibly survive. Resigned, I let my eyelids slam down and took a last, rattling breath.

A.N. 

First of all, I have been waiting so long to make that pun. So hallelujah, finally! Second of all, sorry if you all hate me now because of that ending. Anyway, I'd like to thank some people for reading this, among other things.

First: AnimePeanut and fandomsaremyfamily for being my besties. You guys are literally the best people in the world, along with my little brother. >.<

Second: GravityUniverseFan who is a cool person and a constant reader.

Third: PikaGirl260 for the great writing tips/advice.

Thank you to all of the readers who were not mentioned. You all are great!