Ayakashi Chronicles

Part III - Amber

“Please don’t..” Mei barely managed to get the words out as she looked into his fiery amber coloured eyes staring right back at her.

“And why shouldn’t I? You know I’ve been starved for 18 years.” The demon spoke in a low whisper which send shivers down Mei’s spine. She found herself choking because of his tight grip.

“Please..” she whispered as she felt him take her hand in his and bring it towards his face.
“What else can I do with you? Unfortunately for you, you’re not really my type.” He said in a smug way before licking her injured finger, making her cringe. She tried her best to struggle out of his grip but it was useless. He smirked as he turned her so that her back was facing him. She screamed as he tore apart the top of her kimono, exposing her inner white satin robe. It was forbidden for a young apprentice girl to go have this robe exposed to a man.
“All I need is a little bloo-“ he stopped suddenly, becoming motionless, as if he'd seen something shocking.

“Please just kill me!” She cried, wanting to escape this as soon as possible. She couldn’t believe how stupid and reckless she had behaved.
Meanwhile the demon had seen something he never thought he’d come across. At least not in this lifetime. He carefully eyed Mei’s necklace. He felt like he had seen it before but he couldn’t remember. He only knew that it meant something important. He pulled the chain backwards to expose the pendant hanging in front.

“Why do you have this?” he looked over at Soo Ro angrily, unable to process the situation. He couldn’t kill her anymore. He didn’t want her blood. He further pulled down her kimono exposing the scars and bruises left on her pale skin by Lady Poh’s bamboo stick. He wondered who she was and where she'd got the bruises from, not that he cared. He violently flipped her over and pushed her up against a tree and looked into her eyes.

“How did you get this?” he growled at the necklace. Mei was too shocked to understand and she simply struggled under his grip. She had seen his humanoid face clearly but he had the fangs of a demon. He was dressed in a warrior’s kimono. She wondered what was holding him back from killing her. The necklace? It was from her father. At that moment she suddenly came up with a plan.
“I’ll tell you about the necklace..” she started to say. He looked up at her.  “Only if you let me go.” She continued.

As soon as she said it, she realised how stupid she sounded. She probably disturbed his sleep in that old room behind the palace and now she was trying to negotiate with him?

“Tell you what, if you tell me about the necklace, I’ll let you die painlessly.” He smirked at her, showing off his sharp fangs. Mei eagerly sought for a better plan but it was too late and the demon wasn’t really known for his patience.

“Maybe it’s just easier this way then.” He said before he lunged at her, sticking his fangs into the side of her neck. She screamed in pain as she tried to wiggle out of his grip.

He had just realised how much he'd missed biting into a young woman's flesh but there was something strange about the taste of her blood. It started to taste really pungent and as soon as he drank the first few sips of blood from her, he suddenly felt a terrible burning sensation down his throat. He pulled himself away, falling to the ground and coughing out whatever he could.

Mei’s vision was blurred as she fell to the ground, watching the demon quiver right in front of her. Her mind went blank when he looked at her in pain, holding on to his throat. He really seemed completely human. Moreover, she was only just getting to look at him and he seemed familiar.

She watched as he started to dig at the ground saying incoherent things and retching at the same time.

“What..?” Mei muttered under her breath, struggling to understand him. Slowly, her vision came back to normal and she started recover from feeling faintly.