The Curse

Chapter Fifteen- An Uprising

Kuroji looks confused. But after Katoro wipes some blood from her face and smiles, he gasps as well. "Katoro!? I thought you were dead...!" he shouts, hugging her affectionately. I'm confused. Kuroji knows this girl...!? For some odd reason, I look at the ground and feel my cheeks get warmer. Why is he doing that...? "Enough love, it makes me sick! Finish the job!" the HeadMaster says, waving his hand, not caring about the recognition. "I can't! I know this girl!" Kuroji says with pleading eyes. "It's okay. Do it." Katoro says. I don't know why, but I think, Seriously, Kuroji! Finish. Don't test the HeadMaster's patience. "A-Alright." he says. He slowly bends down and does it quickly. He sucks the blood into his fangs, and then lifts his mouth up and awkwardly extracts it back out into the HeadMaster's bottle that sits at his feet. The girl looks pale, and has some wounds, but I'm sure she's fine. Kuroji stoops back down and pats her back as she wails cries of shock and pain. The HeadMaster suddenly frowns and sits up. "What is this?" he says, pointing to Katoro. "Um...your dinner," I say. "You keep the humans alive when you drain them...?" he asks me, as if I should've known! "They could start telling people that they got drained by vampires and they could start looking for us!" he spats angrily, lifting his fists upwards. I bow my head in respect as I answer calmly, "The people wouldn't believe them even if they said they'd seen vampires..." "But what if all of the people you've drained come together to make some...club? What if they start looking together?" he yells. "I...didn't think of it that way..." I stutter, eyes watering. "You didn't think!" the HeadMaster mumbles. He's almost to his rising point. I kneel down further. To calm him down, I say, "I will find those people--" "And kill them!" the HeadMaster says. "And throw them in a dirty cell. Those old one's by the well we never use?" I finish. "Why? Just kill them, it's quicker and gets the job done!" he says. "But, if there ever is an uprising of sorts, we can hold them hostage. And if worst comes to worse, we can use them...like recycling. We can keep them for blood and kill them when we have no use of them anymore." I reason with him. "Hmm. Very well. Go," he says, waving his hand, and laying back in his throne like he never got worked up in the first place. I let out a sigh of relief as I start to walk to where Kuroji was kneeling a few seconds ago, but I stop and look to the side to see him already walking through the doors being held open by guards, helping the limping Katoro. I roll my eyes and rush in front and ahead of him. I wait for him outside the gates while crossing my arms. Eventually, Katoro comes out with Kuroji. "Are you alright?" he asks her, setting her down. She nods weakly, letting her eyes rest. "Kuroji! What is going on!?" I shout louder than I meant to. Kuroji looks confused, and then looks up. "Nobara...this, is...my sister!" he says excitedly. All of a sudden, I turn paler than usual and blush, embarrassed. "I thought...w-well...that's awesome!" I say, smiling, and stooping down to hug him. "I thought she died when...well..." Kuroji fades out. I nod at him, letting him know it's okay. When he was young, his family died in a house fire. His mother managed to toss him out into the yard just in time. But why didn't he tell me about his sister earlier?                                                                                             He nods back. "Let's take her to the abandoned cells back that way," I say, pointing. "We'll have to take care of her. Which will be hard. We have to get blood for ourselves, for the HeadMaster, and human food for her." I say. Then I notice Kuroji's eyelids are drooping, his cheeks are more rosy than usual, and he's sweating. I place my hand to his head. "You've got a fever again." I state sadly, sighing. "Oh...It's just...I..." Kuroji huffs, trying to act like he's okay, though he's almost too tired to speak. "Shh! You go home! I'll take care of Katoro." I say, nodding reassuringly. Kuroji nods and shakily stands up, and hunched over, stalks away, towards our place in the village. I awkwardly help Katoro limp down the road. "So, you're his...sister?" I mumble, thinking about what a great first-impression I made on her. "...Yes. All I remember is flames and his eyes...his eyes are a bit different now, but they still have the same bright gleam." she says, sighing happily. I turn my head to glance back at Kuroji as he walks to the house. Ah yes, I'll miss the old brown eyes...but now he has red eyes I'll have to get used to. "Vampire girl?" Katoro says, poking me. "Sorry...my name is Nobara." I say. "Yeah, I think you mentioned that before, actually. So, are you his friend or something?" she says. I could hear a slight tone of annoyance within her voice when she mentioned before... "I'm his best friend!" I say a bit louder than I meant to...again..."Well, we've known each other for...well, ever since he was put in the orphanage across the street of my house. We met the week he was transferred there. I was 5 years old, I think." "Cool. No one ever adopted him?" she asks, surprised. "No, everyone thought he was too...different. He was always off by himself in the woods...seeing me." I reply. "So you prevented him from having a proper family!?" she so rudely replies. "Excuse me?" I snap back. "Just askin'," she mutters, calming her tone a bit. "Mom and I were his family. We are always there for each other." I say calmly and confidently, ignoring her little comment. I sigh in relief when, finally, we get there. The cells are right by the blood stand. I heard we stopped using them after the HeadMaster made the law to kill the humans you drain. "In your cell, you lousy human-scum!" I say, so obviously faking, while pushing her into the rusty, outdoor cell that's just secure enough for a few human prisoners. She looks annoyed and shouts back, "What the heck, dude!? I was--" "There are other vampires around here." I whisper quickly. She nods. I sigh, backing away and shutting the cell doors. "So, like, I'm just supposed to sit here all day, while you feed me!?" she mumbles negatively. "Pretty much." I say, rolling my eyes at her. "Hey, look at the sunny side! You're not dead," "Just great..." she replies. "Me and Kuroji can't see you except for when we bring you meals. Or else a vampire guard could spot us and tell the HeadMaster. Then he might storm off at us for being so nice to you." I say, quietly. "This is nice?" she spats. "Compared to what the HeadMaster wanted us to do to you, yes!" I snap, speeding off. Hmph! I'm glad she's in a rotting cell!