The Last Higanbana

Chapter 3: Vampire

After clutching onto his mother's body, grieving until he wasn't able to shed tears anymore, Rihito buried his mother under her favourite tree in the garden. He sat next to her grave in silence, with eyes that lost its brilliance. His beautiful, childish facial features remained expressionless. It would be hard to imagine that such a bright child who always laughed no matter what was the same person as this emotionless, unmoving figure that never moved from where he sat.

This continued for days until he suddenly felt a craving. His throat felt parched, his body felt sluggish and whenever he tried to get up, he felt dizzy. Even drinking water didn't calm down this sensation. As every minute passed by, he felt more and more impatient, as the strong feeling of wanting to devour and drink got stronger within his mind. It was his first time experiencing this, so he didn't know what to do.

No, in actual fact -
He didn't want to know.

"When you want to drink blood - "

Rihito suddenly felt overwhelmed by the words left by his mother.

Blood? No.
No, no
No, no, no, no, no!!!

I'm not one of those filthy vampires that made mother suffer!

His eyes, seeming to break the illusion left from his mother, slowly changed. As time passed, his thoughts started to distort and his emotions were getting out of hand. He looked down to see the necklace his mother gave him - those red pearls had a faint smell that made him desire it. He wanted to swallow that tempting blood and savour the taste of it. He felt more feverish and thirsty. It was only because of his willpower that he was even able to hold onto his sanity until the next week.

Rihito had fainted from the constant torture of his thirst and collapsed in his house. A passerby woman, out of her goodwill, had caught a glimpse of a child lying on the floor. After looking around suspiciously and seeing how no one helped him, she pushed down her feeling of danger and rushed into the house. After seeing how pale the child was, she panicked and immediately helped him up onto the bed despite her injuries.

She placed a palm on his forehead, and felt his temperature. It felt like it was burning, so she presumed that he was sick. Indeed, Rihito felt feverish, but that wasn't because he caught a cold, but it was because he was -

Hungry.

Because of her numerous small cut she got recently on her fingers because of her work, although a human couldn't smell the blood, but a vampire could. They had an exceptional sense of smell when it came to blood, let alone one that had been starving.

Even if he had lost consciousness, Rihito felt a wafting scent that attracted him.
Smells nice..........
He thought.

Rihito woke up to see a vague figure of a person through his hazy eyes. Because the room was dark, the woman didn't see the faint glow appearing in his eyes. Almost immediately, he pounced on her like a crazed beast, and stabbed his tiny fangs into her neck, where the tempting smell was the strongest. After gulping down a mouthful, he quickly let go and then -

"Blergh...."

Rihito vomited out all of the blood he had drunk. He was confused. He was craving for blood, yet why did it taste so...... so disgusting? It was so bitter to the point that even medicine tasted better than this utterly unpalatable liquid. His body wholeheartedly rejected the blood that had just entered his stomach.

Seeing the boy in front of her had blood pouring out of his mouth, and feeling the piercing pain on her neck, the woman screamed. Due to her panic, she trembled as she tried to get on her feet.

"M-monster!"

Her terrified voice immediately reached to Rihito's ears, as he regained his senses. By the time he lifted his head, the woman had ran out to the streets as if her life depended on it. Looking back down at his hands drenched in the colour red, he started convulsing. His face became pale, his mind chaotic.

What......did I do?
Why.......did I......

"A-Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh" Rihito cried out in despair. At this moment, as if unwillingly becoming crazy, his eyes gleamed from starry black into a vivid and intense crimson colour, mixed with gold glimmering from the corner of his eyes. His inner turmoil was unleashed from its shackles.

It tastes bad...... but it was fulfilling....

See? You feel a little bit better now
No!! I can't....

It's fine.....
No, I just... I'm not....

It was necessary
But......I'm.......
I'm...... NOT A VAMPIRE!!!!

He was desperately fighting to hold onto his own beliefs. There was a short silence until he heard another statement.

Your mother was one too right?

Rihito flinched.

So.........
Why are you...... denying it?

It was as if a ghost was whispering into his ears, as he fought over the 'truth' of himself.

From the very beginning, he partially knew.... that he was different. Compared to all the other children, he had sharp senses, agility, strength....... especially when he played with the others, everything around him made it feel as if the world was going in slow motion. He was able to quickly catch up to the other children, making him sense like they were too slow.

But the truth was....
He was too fast.

**********

Monster! Her voice echoed in his calamity - driven mind.

Rihito widened his eyes, recalling the woman's words. After a few seconds of silence, a burst of laughter echoed through the room.

"Hahahahaha!" He chuckled sarcastically, as of criticising that woman - but more than that, as if he was blaming himself.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a red pearl from his necklace into his mouth, and felt the dissolving blood that tasted slightly bland yet slightly sweet. His tears poured out once again, as he cherishingly swallowed this warm taste of blood that was completely different compared to the blood he just had.

Mother...... please,
Help.... me......

Finally sating his thirst, his mother's illusion magic returned his eyes back to the common colour of 'black'.
It was like her magic was protecting him, yet it was too bad he didn't feel that way. No, he couldn't feel it, because his mind was occupied by strong thoughts of self deception.

From this day on, he decided to close off his heart, so that he wouldn't be affected by another's harsh words - and he ran away from the cruel reality that faced him.