Vamp!

Vamp! III - Chapter 4 A

Chapter 4 - The Flower Heals the Heart of the Sinner, and...
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In the beginning, the vampire was but a simple flower.
But once she had taken the form of a human girl, some began to feign understanding in spite of knowing nothing about her.
"It looks like a human girl, but that's how it lures you close before it devours you."
"She's just like an anglerfish."
"A glutton of a vampire who can't even hunt for herself."
But anyone who came to know her in person quickly found themselves changing their minds.
She was just as gentle as she appeared, and there was nothing about her resembling the vampire from storybooks and myths.
Though she subsisted on blood and was born under a guillotine, though she nested in the midst of many tools of execution, she was incredibly kind.
More accurately, she was possessed of good character. Or, to put it in negative terms, she was good-natured to the point of stubbornness.
Though she was far more beautiful than most other vampires in spite of her youth, she would never abuse her looks in order to draw closer to humans and drink their blood.
The thought had probably never even crossed her mind.
The more anyone spoke with her, the more they realized that her heart was impossibly pure.
Those who grew closer to Selim were taken aback by her character--so different from what they had expected--that they were embarrassed by their own prejudice and left fearing for her sake.
They feared that perhaps this innocent vampire would one day be betrayed and broken.
Perhaps this pure-hearted girl would then despair at the world and fall from grace.
Perhaps this sincere and gentle soul--such a rare thing in the realm of vampires--would one day become just like themselves. Both those who were blind to their own malice and those who were generally called 'good' found themselves humbled by her character.
Perhaps worrying for her sake like this could be considered nosy. But they could not just leave her be.
It was not love that guided them.
Nor was it pity.
The thought of protecting her simply occurred to them.
Then was she truly such a lofty creature? Was she a saint? The pool of blood would answer thus:
[Not so, I must say. Though I must confess I have never personally witnessed her in such a state, even she sometimes falls to her own greed. Even she is sometimes angered for reasons others would consider unacceptable. From a human perspective (though one must keep in mind that she is a plant-based vampire), she is possessed of a perfectly normal character. But something about her draws others to her. Perhaps this magnetic charm of hers is the vampiric ability with which Selim Vergès was born.]
[I also confess than I am one of those drawn to her--in an entirely platonic sense, of course.]
And yet again, the alraune's charm drew in another to her presence.
The moment the boy who was lost in a struggle with his own identity met her in the cavern, his heart was already hers.
'Beautiful...'
The first sentiment he had ever felt. His oldest memory.
The only words he produced before his psyche was blended with those of others.
The one sentiment he could truly trust finally came back to life, and the boy named Valdred found himself captivated by the alraune in a slightly different way from the others.
It was love at first sight. A truly human emotion.
But it was still beyond the self-conscious watermelon to deny such a thing, for he had yet to even realize the fact.
He was certain that he could never hold romantic feelings for anyone--a being with no clear identity, he felt, had no such right.
<=>
Waldstein Castle, Laboratory.
[I also confess than I am one of those drawn to her--in an entirely platonic sense, of course.]
"Hoh hoh. You also speak for the rest of us, Viscount Waldstein."
<Eek! There's so much competition! I really love Selim too!>
<Hah...>
Watching the recorded footage through one of the monitors, Professor's speakers let out something that sounded like a sigh.
<It's no good. I've combed through all this past information about Doctor, but I can't find a single clue.>
This particular piece of footage was from a conversation Doctor had with the viscount about Selim. At the time, it had been just a few short years since Doctor's arrival at the castle. It was also:
<This is around the time when my memories begin...>
The being that the castle's residents called 'Professor' possessed no memories of her past before she had taken on this form. She knew that her main body was the skeleton inside her coffin. But she knew nothing about the face the skeleton used to wear, and the kind of vampire she was.
But she was happy.
Once it was determined that her skeleton was likely female, she collected a great deal of data in order to become feminine in character. Of course, a large majority of her sources were foreign animated series some of the castle's vampires had imported.
Doctor had helped her all this time as she floundered without her memories. And though her skeleton would not regenerate flesh and blood, he created a coffin through which she could interact with the world around her.
At first, she was curious about her lost past. But as she grew accustomed to life in the caverns, she slowly began to lose interest. In fact, she began to worry that the restoration of her memories would somehow destroy the happy days she spent with Doctor now.
After all, the ordinary days she led here were all she had, as well as the source of all her joy.
But now, it was all falling to pieces.
Each time she recalled Doctor's words, her fears grew worse.
She began to wonder if, perhaps, she was also somehow connected to his problems. Professor desperately rummaged through the lab to find some clues as to Doctor's whereabouts.
'Doctor is going to come back,' she reassured herself, holding onto this one last ray of hope.
<=>
The mountain path.
"To think you'd actually find me here..."
'I...'
"What's wrong? You're not here to just show me your face and leave, right? Though I actually can't see your face right now. Hah hah!"
'What am I so scared of?'
"C'mon, Rudy. Let's play. Just like old times."
'Why am I shaking?!'
Each time Theodosius spoke, Rudy's heart was rattled.
Part of the reason was hatred and anger.
His entire body was fueled by hostility, and his rage was infinitely worse than what it had been earlier that day against Ferret and Mihail.
The hatred had festered within him for a full decade. But this one moment of fear threatened to turn everything to naught.
'Ah... No...'
'Fire stakes from the armor.
'Pin his limbs to the ground.
'Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.
'Make him taste despair. Just like he did to me.
'Make him taste even greater despair.
'Pluck out his innards.
'Massacre his friends as he watches.'
Every part of his body--every part of his mind--every memory stored in his heart--screamed out different orders to him, pumping bloodlust through his veins. This would be revenge.
But the soul of Rudy Wenders--the one who controlled the power held in his body--was, more than anything else, terrified by the sight of his nemesis.
He had stockpiled fury during his time as an Eater. He had made sport of vampires unrelated to his quest for revenge, killed, and consumed them.
He had gained power.
He had been so certain that he was strong enough.
He had been convinced that he now had the power to toy with, murder, and devour the boy standing before him.
His mind tried to remind him again and again. But logic was not enough to sway the instinctive fear that had taken root in his heart.
'I want to run.'
Each time the words echoed in his head, his trembling worsened uncontrollably.
Each time he shook, the urge to turn tail and run threatened to overpower him.
The fear grew worse and worse, eventually taking over his thought processes entirely. If no one said anything to him, he would soon succumb to the terror and flee.
But the one who spoke to him, of course, was the boy he so feared.
"Hey... Are you okay? Are you even going to be able to kill me like that?"
"Th-Theo..."
The weight of the fear would destroy Rudy's mind if he didn't respond. But the vampire was not the one who was holding this fear over him; it was Rudy's own mind that was breaking from inside out.
The act of calling his foe's name--if only in a mumbled gasp--very slightly alleviated his panic.
And that was enough.
Rudy swallowed bitterly and glared daggers at the boy before him.
His own heartbeat echoed through his armor.
The sound snapped the Eater back into reality.
'I'm alive.'
Though fear incarnate was standing before him, Rudy was still alive.
Though his nemesis was doing absolutely nothing, the act of confirming the fact of his survival was of great significance to Rudy.
'I'm alive. I... I'm alive! Mom and Dad... And everyone... They're all dead. But I'm still alive. Yeah. I'm still alive!'
The air around the gigantic suit of armor changed.
'I'm alive... But what for?
'...To make that bastard know despair!'
In the blink of an eye, a white stake was launched from the helm of the armor, where the wearer's eyes should have normally been. It flew straight towards the vampire, who was standing only a short few meters away.
The stake had been aimed directly at the boy's face, but Doctor--Theodosius M. Waldstein--did not even twitch.
Just when it seemed that the stake would be drive through his skull, his face dissipated into fog.
As soon as the white projectile had passed through where his face should have been, Theo reformed his head over his neck as though nothing had happened.
"Ha. Hah hah. That's an amazing toy you have there. But it's not going to work on me."
So casual was the boy's tone and grin that what little courage the armored man had mustered shattered to bits.
"Ah... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!"
In an attempt to hide his fear, Rudy fired off one white stake after another.
He had slaughtered countless vampires and turned them to ash with this weapon. But this tried-and-true method had no effect on his foe. Though Rudy had faced many vampires who were capable of turning to fog, he had killed most of them before they could transform completely.
But the speed of Theo's transformation was unheard of. Though it began only after Rudy had fired the stakes, the stakes had no time to connect before the transformation was complete.
As Rudy began to panic, Theo said casually:
"If you think this is something, just wait 'til you see the jester work her magic."
Rudy also had experience fighting vampires who were completely in fog form. But that was no problem once Theresia tore through the surrounding air with her silver whip.
It was then that the Eater realized that his partner was not by his side.
Although they did not constantly work as a pair, when working as a team, they were among the strongest of the Organization's dogs. It was an insulting moniker, but Rudy forced himself to accept it until the day he could tear out Theo's throat.
But now, Theresia--who was always there to accept that moniker by his side--was absent.
She was probably still on the island, but Rudy knew that by acting alone, he had put himself at a disadvantage. His panic worsened as her absence became more and more pronounced.
The vampire seemed to have read his fear. He tossed out an encouragement at his old friend.
"That can't be all you've got, Rudy. Those stakes aren't everything. You're strong enough to use that armor freely. You have years of experience and power from devouring all those vampires."
Theo snickered.
"Don't worry, Rudy. I know you've become stronger."
He smiled innocently as he spat words of pure poison, taking a step closer to Rudy.
"After all, we're friends, aren't we?"
His rage boiled over.
His bloodlust had almost reached its limits.
But his fear overcame it all.
He could not even take a single step.
He could not take the first step towards attacking the vampire and making him suffer. When his brain ordered his body to move, it froze and refused to budge. When his body attempted to step forward, his fears put everything to a halt.
Rudy was rooted to the spot. It was all he could do to force out a trembling voice. This was both his limit and the greatest bluff he could muster.
"I'm scared... I... I'm scared... Shit... But... But I swear... I... I'll... I'll... K-ki-ki..."
"You'll... What?" Theo repeated, speaking in a threatening tone for the first time. "I can't hear you."
"Ah..."
To let out a scream would be to admit defeat.
There was nothing resembling a child in Theo's voice. Rudy, who was without a doubt much stronger than Theo, found his will breaking.
"You'll... What? Oh! You were trying to say that you were going to kill me. It's okay, Rudy. If saying so makes you stronger, then say it all you like."
"Ah... Uwah..."
Theo's provocation pierced deep into his memories. In mind, Rudy was now the helpless little child who had just lost everything that was dear to him. Standing before him, just like that day, was the never-changing vampire. The darkness reminded Rudy of that night, and the lights from the castle turned to the smell of fire that burned away at his will.
Theo sighed at the sight of his old friend being consumed by the past, and shook his head.
"Still so weak."
"..."
Rudy showed no sign of responding. The armor stood utterly still.
So Theo decided to drive the final nail in the coffin.
"Do you remember what your sister Elsa said that day?"
"...!"
The memories replaying in Rudy's mind came grinding to a halt.
The moment Theo mentioned his sister's name, it was as though time itself had frozen.
All his fear, his hatred, the sounds of the world around him, and even his breathing forgot the passage of time for a single second.
The name 'Elsa' was the trigger. His nightmares came to life once more. The final part of his memory.
His beloved sister. His sister, whom he cared for more than even their parents.
In his memories, she was in the arms of the vampire before him. His fangs had been sunk into her neck. And the last words she ever spoke to Rudy--
Theo stood before him today, looking just as he did in Rudy's nightmares, and repeated:
"So... what you tell me now is going to decide if your sister will live or die. I'll kill her if you say you love her, and I'll kill her if you say you hate her. What are you going to do? Hah! Try and stop me if you can! Come on, try and save your sister! Ahaha! It's all on you now. How does it feel, holding your precious family's life in the palm of your hand? You could even say that you've subjugated her, just like a vampire! Ahahaha! Hahahahahaha!"
The vampire's thread of logic did not entirely make sense, but it was enough to etch his words into the boy's thoughts. It felt as though the sounds entering his ears were rattling his brain from the inside out.
The vampire soon stopped laughing, putting on the most gentle smile yet. He slowly demanded a response.
"Now... tell me your answer."
There was a story unfolding in his dream.
A re-enactment of his past, caused by the memories etched into his mind.
The beginning of his memories as an Eater--an avenger--being played back in reality before his very eyes.
The very moment the boy named Rudy gave up his humanity.
But this was different from his nightmares. Rudy tasted endless despair at the sheer realism of the recreation of his past. Though he had seen this image in his dreams again and again and again and again and again, the moment he heard the name 'Elsa', it dawned on him that dreams really were nothing more than that--dreams.
Reality was not so kind. It stirred Rudy's memories, forcibly bringing back his most painful memory.
In the memory, Rudy was trembling. He shook as he asked Theo:
"...Are you... going to... spare me...?"
It was as though something had ransacked his memories.
He had tried to put it away. He had tried to forget.
But this was all the more reason why he could never forget this moment.
Worse than the fact of his father's death, his mother's death,
Theo's betrayal,
Or having had to beg his nemesis for his life,
Was the agonizing fact that he had abandoned his beloved sister.
Fearing that his answer would lead to his sister's death, Rudy could not respond to Theo's question. Prioritizing his own life was all that he could do.
"Huh. I guess you love yourself more than you love your sister. ...Hey, Elsa. Say something. Say something to your sweet little brother. That self-centered brother who's just abandoned you."
Elsa turned her unfocused gaze to Rudy as though hypnotized.
And she went on to say:
"I... I wish... You never existed..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
His scream echoed through the woods, threatening even to push away the festivities taking place not so far away.
"...!"
Taken aback for a moment by the intensity of Rudy's cry, Theo leapt back without thinking.
But he did not manage to widen the distance between them.
The gigantic suit of armor had charged forward almost simultaneously, closing the gap like a magnet.
"I wish... I WISH YOU NEVER EXISTED!"
"Ugh...!"
Catching sight of a stake being fired from the armor's helm, Theo quickly turned his head into fog to avoid the strike.
But he had not thought far enough.
Just before the stake made contact with Theo's head, Rudy snatched it out of the air with his right hand and drove it into his chest.
"Urgh! Agh... Ack!"
So quick was the feint that Theo was too late to transform his chest into fog. The pain pulsating from the right side of his torso stopped even the transformation of his head.
'...I broke him.'
The moment Theo's nonchalance broke and his face contorted with pain, time around Rudy began to move again like gears that had been snapped together.
Part of the nightmare that terrorized him all these years had been destroyed.
At the same time, his confidence in his skills as an Eater--the mind of a Hunter--finally returned in full force.
'...I made him feel agony!'
"Heh... Heh heh..."
He let out a stilted, trembling laugh, drawing air from the very depths of his lungs.
"Hah... Hah.... Ahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Using the terror he had been feeling up until just moments ago as a proverbial footstool, he laughed like a madman as Theo lay fallen on the mountain path.
"I get it. I get it now, Theo! Theo, Theo, Theo. Theodosius M. Waldstein! I see now. You can only turn parts of your body into fog at once! Ahahahaha! This is why you're acting so high-and-mighty and provoking me! Right? I'm right, aren't I?! And one more thing! You can only turn to fog for seconds at a time. It's all you can do to avoid projectiles and stakes! Am I wrong?"
Theo responded with a resounding silence.
It was essentially an act of acknowledging his weaknesses.
But in spite of the pain evident in his eyes, Theo put on a friendly grin.
"You're absolutely right, Rudy. But don't you think you're being too harsh on an old friend?"
"Shut up."
"I never hurt you personally, you know."
"SHUT UP!"
A gigantic, armored foot stomped down on Theo's shoulder. The same attack was used on Ferret earlier that day for the expressly calculated purpose of making her suffer; but this time, Rudy had lashed out without so much as thinking. The stake lodged in Theo's chest snapped, driving countless splintered pieces into his body.
Even tiny splinters of wooden stakes were powerful weapons against vampires. Theo was overcome by agony, rolling down the slope while squirming like a bisected worm.
"Gah... Hah... Hah... Heh heh... That... really hurts, Rudy..." Doctor gasped, but he quickly put aside his look of pain and once more flashed Rudy a casual smile.
"What are you going to do now, Theo? Turn into a flock of bats and disappear? Transform into a wolf to try and maul me? Try to hypnotize me to do your bidding? Are you going to try and drink my blood? Or... Or... would you beg like a pathetic dog for me to spare your life...? Just like... Just like I did back then?"
Though Rudy was so quiet his voice was almost at a whisper, each and every word he uttered was clearly full of hatred. As though he was desperately holding back the urge to let loose all his bloodlust, killing Theo instantly.
"Ahaha... Don't degrade yourself like that, Rudy. You weren't pathetic."
"There's no use trying to provoke me. All you have to do is scream. I'll tear off your limbs and force you to watch as I make your beloved friends and family die long, painful deaths. And then, I'll spend the next ten... No, hundred years... Making you experience all the agony this world has to offer before finally killing you. I'll make you regret having been born a sturdy creature like a vampire until the moment you die!"
The avenger was merciless in laying out his threats. But Theo looked up at the night sky from the ground and smiled at Rudy.
"Heh... You know what would hurt me most, Rudy? Losing my old friend."
"Then you won't have anything to worry about. You never had any old friends to begin with." Rudy replied, once more trampling down. He put one foot over Theo's gut and slowly put weight into his leg. He wanted to hear the sound of Theo's ribs breaking and see the moment he vomited blood as his organs were crushed.
There was a sickening noise as red foam began spewing from Theo's mouth.
The sight brought Rudy unparalleled joy, but he stomped down on Theo over and over again in an attempt to hide the strange feeling of emptiness in the corner of his heart.
Each time his hated nemesis cried out in pain, Rudy reaffirmed his own strength.
And each time he was reminded of his foe's frailty, annoyance sprouted in his heart.
"Now I know... You're nothing but a pathetic excuse for a vampire...! Shit! The werewolves I faced today look stronger than you! But you... you took away everything from me! A powerless vampire like you! I lost everything to a disgustingly weak vampire like you!"
One kick after another after another after another after another after another after another. Theo's white lab coat was stained with blood, covering his body like a beautiful red cloak. Rudy kicked him again and again and again and drove a stake through him and trampled on him, stake and all.
This was already beyond torture; it was a drawn-out execution. And yet Rudy always made sure to avoid Theo's head and heart--his sense of reason was still intact.
But once Rudy stopped kicking Theo in order to conserve his strength, the mangled vampire began to howl with laughter.
"Ahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!"
With each laugh, Theo's body changed. Rudy could not believe his eyes.
Each time the boy laughed, the wounds on his body faded. Lacerations, bruises, and broken bones disappeared one by one.
It was much too quick a process to be classified as regeneration. The countless splinters wedged in his body were expelled as thought they had crawled out of their own free will. His torn sinews wove themselves back together cell by cell, restoring Theo's movements.
The blood that Theo had lost--now hardened--remained where it was. But the blood that was on the surface of his body was quickly re-absorbed back into him. Theo then went on to turn a part of himself into fog--the part upon which Rudy's foot lay--and took to his feet in one inhuman motion.
He turned half his body into a flock of bats and leapt up as though the bats were lifting up the rest of his body. Theo then easily landed on the ground about ten meters from Rudy.
"Aha... Hahahaha... What an idiot... You're such an idiot, Rudy."
He turned his neck as though testing his regained health, and looked directly at Rudy.
"You know, I spent years studying ways to make vampires immortal--ways for us to overcome our weaknesses. I vivisected countless vampires, and I even used myself as a guinea pig."
Flicking his bloodstained clothes, Theo taunted:
"Rudy, you can't hurt me permanently with attacks that weak. And one thing: How many more stakes do you have left to fire? You couldn't have an infinite supply in there. And if you've already used some of them on someone else... You should be running out right about now."
"..."
Rudy was silent at the sight of Theo's incredible regenerative ability.
But a moment later, an overjoyed voice escaped the suit of armor.
"You shouldn't be worrying over how many stakes I have left. And as for your regeneration speed... I'm actually happy, Theo."
He had overcome his fear of the vampire. All Rudy saw was the image of Theo from moments earlier, his face contorted in pain.
"Now I can kill you over and over again."
There was a clatter and a click from the armor's vambraces.
His gauntlets popped outward at the elbows, revealing a pair of thin hidden blades.
Although they were only the length of pocket knives, the blades were forged in beautiful arcs fit for full-length swords.
"I'd heard that Carnald liked little contraptions like that, but it's almost a joke compared to the stake-shooting mechanism he built into that armor. ...I guess those knives must be part-silver, but this is really too bad, Rudy. Silver won't have any effect on me."
"That doesn't matter to me. I'll be happy enough tearing off your limbs with these knives."
From the promptness of his response, it was likely that Rudy's threat was meant to be taken literally. The flippant grin on Theo's face disappeared, giving way to a different kind of smile.
His childlike attitude was nowhere to be found. His eyes shone, humanity having utterly drained from his expression.
"Then just try it. But we might get interrupted here. Let's find ourselves a better spot."
Theo was not growing nervous by any measure. His suggestion was little more than the act of a cat finally taking a stance to kill the rebellious mouse it had been toying with. The air around him grew tense.
But it was all broken in an instant.
"FOUND HIM!"
Several oblivious cries shook the woods, destroying the tension between the combatants. A voice even more childlike that Theo's was earlier exploded into their presence.
"Heeeey! I found him! I found Doctor!"
"Wow, I've never seen Doctor not wearing white before."
"No... I think... That must be blood..."
Following the freeloaders of Waldstein Castle were a girl dressed like a jester, a boy with green hair, and a bespectacled girl following right next to the green-haired boy.
The instant Doctor caught sight of them, his eyes visibly swelled with fear.
But fortunately--or unfortunately--Rudy was so distracted by the vampires' sudden arrival that he did not notice the change in his nemesis.
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