When I came to, I found myself surrounded by blood and human internal organs. Several decapitated heads and cut off limbs were lying around in the vicinity.
There, in the thicket, I could see 4 dead bodies as well. All of which lacks a head.
I then looked at myself. The clothes that Sun gave me is now only strings stained with crimson blood, with human flesh hanging from those strings. For my body in general, it's like I jumped in a pond filled with blood. Barely any part of my body is not covered in blood.
And this smell of blood still makes me hungry.
I'd like to believe that I didn't do this mess but all the evidence points towards me. I know for sure that when that arrow hit my head I fell unconscious, so there's no way that I could've done this. At least while conscious.
Then when I lost my consciousness, I did this? Lacorte didn't mention anything about this. Is this another ability of vampires? It's scary.
Maybe this must be what Lacorte said about going berserk. But it seems to have been triggered by something other than not drinking blood for a long period of time.
Tearing off the clothes from a nearby devastated body, I wiped the blood off of my body.
If I did this, then shouldn't I be full now? Why do I still feel hungry?
Or more importantly, if I became like this and killed every single person in sight then that means...
When I looked back, I saw the carriage is also a bloody mess. They aren't there?
Then I looked towards where they were when I last saw them. And they were there.
Compared to the bodies of these human males, their body is still intact. That should be good but it wasn't all that.
There's blood flowing down their throats.
No, I don't believe it. I didn't do this.
After all that, I'm still the one who killed them...? Like I'll believe that!
Wait, maybe they're still alive? No, they are alive, I'm sure of it.
I went towards their bodies and checked if their heart is still breathing.
Yes! There's still something beating in there but its pace is abnormal.
Their necks have the fang marks that I make when I bite into something so this is definitely my doing. They're still blood coming out of those two small holes so I covered it up with the cloth.
Judging from how much blood had stained their clothes, I'm confident that they've lost a lot of blood.
From what I saw from those animals, living things need blood to survive and when they lost too much, they die. The 56 rabbits that I've killed can confirm this.
It looks like they didn't lose too much blood to the point that they can't sustain their bodies anymore, but I judge it to still be an amount that should risk losing their lives.
Their bodies are colder than usual as well. I can't use them as a sleeping tool if they're this cold.
I can't let them die. They're the first friendly humans that I know and I'm not sure where or when I would find humans like them. I'm not even sure where I would be able to find any humans at all.
There must be something that I can do. A method to replace their lost blood... And I don't think that trying to put blood inside the two small holes would work.
That is if you just use your hands or something.
Then I got an idea.
If my fangs could suck in blood, maybe they could also pour out blood as well?
I don't think that I could do it but I don't see what I would lose if I tried.
But there's a hurdle to this. When I get closer to them, the scent of their blood is incredibly captivating.
I learned that human blood smells delicious but this is on another level.
So firstly, I wiped it all out. If I tried to taste it, I don't think I could control myself. The very moment that I sink my fangs into their necks, I could already see myself pleasurably drinking their blood.
I'd like to try that but I can't have them dying so I need to refrain. Maybe I'll get a chance in the future.
After wiping off the last bit of blood on their necks, I started off with Night since she lost more blood because of her injuries, and because of me.
As I sank my fangs in, the feeling of her blood touching the tip of my fangs is inviting me to suck her dry until she's a bloodless corpse.
And for a second I lost a grip of myself and actually took in some of it.
It was a step above the taste of those human male blood. It's smoother and sweeter than any blood that I've tasted until now. A part of me just wants to go on but there's also another part that tells me that if I killed her, I would greatly regret it later.
If I just killed her, then when Sun wakes up and she sees Night's pale corpse, she would surely hate me. Then I would have to kill her as well, which would then result in me being alone again.
I don't want that conclusion, definitely not! I want to meet with humans and interact with them.
So before it could get any worse, I stopped my fangs from taking anymore and focused on how to give my blood to her.
I paid my attention towards the flow of the blood in my body and tried to consciously channel it out of my fangs.
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It took a good minute before I got it to work.
I continued to do this until the smell of blood coming out of her is as strong as when I remembered her having.
When I parted my fangs from her neck, the small holes that I made seemed to disappear almost instantaneously. I then opened up the cloth that I wrapped around her neck to see that the two small holes that I made with my fangs when I went berserk.
Why did the one that I made just now healed so quickly but this other pair is still there? Does the fact that I'm not berserk have to do something about this?
I tested out my theory by licking the wound and it seemed to work. It looks like my saliva has healing properties. Since my fangs were coated with my saliva, the moment I removed my fangs, the wound healed immediately. But it seems that that isn't the case when I was berserk. It's either because my fangs weren't coated in saliva when I went berserk or the healing properties of my saliva just don't work at that time.
In any case, my saliva has healing properties right now and that's all that matters. I also tried to lick the wound on her head but it didn't seem to work. I tried it on the smaller cuts on her body and it worked fine. I concluded that my saliva only works on small wounds then.
When that's done, I moved on to Sun. This time, there was no issue. I managed to control myself.
After implanting my blood into them, I found myself really sleepy and very hungry. Since I'm afraid that I might do something when I'm close to them, I satisfied my hunger by feeding on the blood of those corpses lying around.
When I was done, I feel more sleepy than before so I carried the two back to the carriage.
The inside of the carriage looked relatively clean, with only a few drops of blood here and there but the outside wasn't. The door is broken so that's unfortunate but I can't be bothered with it.
I placed their bodies next to each other and I positioned myself between them. They feel warm now so I'm sure they'll be okay.
There and then, I ended the day, relieved to know that my human escorts are still alive.
•••
Afternoon came and I found my two warmers wake up.
Night woke up first and from her sudden action of trying to move away from me in the shortest time span, Sun woke up next.
Her eyes were wide open when she saw me then she immediately checked the side of her neck. She then became even more surprised to find out that the bite mark is gone.
It was my fault to begin with and I don't expect them to forgive me for what I've done.
Of course, I thought about this. Shocked to see the very being that almost killed them suddenly sleeping beside them. They would surely be surprised. Then, they would revert their attitude towards me back to when we met. Afraid and wary.
If ever that happens, I would distance myself from them.
Following my plan before, I would follow them regardless if they're afraid, angry, or suspicious of me.
I'm just genuinely glad that they're alive. Or else I wouldn't have any more human to be with.
Without being able to communicate, just being with a human is enough. I feel like I can learn more things than if I'm just alone.
The two humans talked to one another. I couldn't understand a word they said but judging from their tone, I believe that Night is still wary of me. And oddly, Sun is saying something with a cheerful smile on her face.
After exchanging a few words, Night sighed for some reason and Sun looked at me, wearing her smile.
Confused, I tilted my head and she just giggled at it. She then reached out and rubbed my head. It feels nice but I'm still confused.
Shouldn't she be afraid of me now? I think that's how it goes. Or did Sun simply not get what I just did to her. I couldn't remember it myself when I attacked her but I'm sure she did.
For Night, she has the normal expression that I'm—wait, why is she smiling too? I don't understand...
•••
Twilight came and a bonfire was lit.
But rather than being made of wood, it consisted of human bodies.
The horrid smell of burning corpse spread throughout the area. Nearby animals, disgusted by the smell fled away to find other places to sleep.
Lilia looked on the burning corpses, not minding the smell. One of the corpses belonged to a huge man. His identity was unknown but it was definite that he was hired in order to kill her and Roosevelt.
From him, she heard of his father's fate.
Framed as a criminal for committing slander, he was publicly shamed in the plaza. All his hard work gone in a single sentence. His assets taken as compensation and his house, her house that she grew up in, burned to the ground.
Upon hearing that, she felt as if a thorny stem had wrapped around her heart. It was such a shock that she couldn't even get angry or cry.
But of course, there was always the chance that maybe, he only said that to provoke Roosevelt. But for something like that to happen, it was just all too plausible so she couldn't get it out of her head and she guessed that it's the same in Roosevelt's mind as well.
To cut that frame of mind, she turned her gaze towards the pale child, illuminated by the fire.
The child was sitting near the fire and watching it in awe. For someone like her with a cold body temperature, she's oddly fond of warmth.
Lilia chuckled at the thought. Despite the horrific display that the girl had shown them just a few hours ago, seeing her like this, she couldn't help but think of her as just a curious child.
It was something that they've never seen before, or by the world no less. Just when they thought that the girl had died, her blood seemingly reverted to where it was. No, it was more accurate to say the time has been reversed for the girl.
The blood that was spilled poured into her body once again and her body, that was motionlessly lying on the ground, suddenly stood up in such an uncanny way.
Both her and Roosevelt's mouth was wide open and they didn't dare let out a single sound.
Then, with supernatural speed, even faster than what the girl had displayed before, she zoomed in and took down one assassin at a time. Heads rolled every second but then the girl came to a stop after killing her 5th victim.
Suddenly, she glanced their way and made her way towards them. They didn't run away, or rather, they couldn't as their legs were frozen in fear.
The girl looked at Roosevelt first and she brushed her hand against her neck. Then the girl plunged her teeth down towards Roosevelt's neck. Blood trickled down her neck with every passing second. And from what seemed like an eternity.
When she thought that the girl was satisfied with that, she was gravely wrong as her turn came next.
The initial pain from the bite dissipated as more and more blood had been sucked out of her. A little later, she began to feel tired. Her eyes grew heavy and then before she noticed, the girl was done feeding on her and she saw her walk off towards the rest of the assassins who were trying to run away.
From there, she fell into a deep slumber.
The slumber didn't even feel like she slept at all. Her mind just went black and she suddenly found herself sleeping beside the girl and a panicked Roosevelt inching away from here.
From then on, she felt different. It was strange but she didn't really see the girl as something dangerous. She didn't understand it herself either.
She knew that the normal reaction would be like Roosevelt's. Trying to get as far away as possible from the dangerous thing.
But Roosevelt's reaction didn't seem to be caused because of fear but rather just plain surprise.
Then she remembered the face of the girl from that time just a while ago. Clearly, she was regretting what she's done. And wouldn't it be just pitiful to leave this child alone in the middle of nowhere?
So she suggested that they should still bring the child with them despite that actions that she'd done to them. As always, Roosevelt refused at first, saying that she'll just carry all of the evidence, leave the carriage and be on their way, leaving the child.
Roosevelt sounded quite hesitant when she said that but Lilia convinced her otherwise. Lilia told her that it would weigh in their minds if they just left while leaving the child out here alone, even though they clearly knew that the child would survive on her own. Roosevelt was convinced all too easily.
Lilia knows that Roosevelt is always strict regarding her safety so she found it odd for her to agree to something so easily.
Roosevelt only agreed to bring the girl with them as the girl doesn't seem to have any ill intentions against them. There's also the fact that they helped them in their travels immensely.
But for whatever reason this time, despite seeing how dangerous the girl is, she didn't complain. Lilia found it to be very fortunate.
But it wasn't just Roosevelt that changed but Lilia as well. Whenever she looked at the girl, she only sees her as a child and only just that. Her fears from before had somehow vanished and what replaced them is a strong desire to take care of the said child.
The thought of raising the girl with just her and Roosevelt made her grin from ear to ear, but before that, she has to do something first.
And it was to avenge her father.