“Bran! You’re finally home!”

Judith greets me by the doorway as I throw off my shoes and collapse onto the ground. I’m absolutely exhausted.

Alice wasn’t pleased with my performance. The whole way back she was scolding me for showing off so much and provoking her father – something which you didn’t want to do. Most of it went in one ear and out the other – I’d already made up my mind long ago.

I don’t care about what Alice thinks anymore, I’m going to make my standing clear to my ‘Lord’. When he’s lying at the mercy of my blade, I will show him just as much compassion as he showed his nameless subordinate.

Sniff, sniff.

I look up, puzzled at Judith as she pinches her nose.

“You stink,” she says. “Almost like… poop. But weren’t you with a girl-“

Her face pales.

“N-no way… y-you’re into that?”

My mind is a still a bit slow, so I’m not exactly sure what she’s implying.

“Hmm… well I guess what my brother does is none of my business…” Judith looks back to me. “But who would have thought he’d find someone willing to try that too…”

“Judith, can you let Mum know I’m alright?” I say.

My sister straightens out as if coming out of a dream. “Y-yes, of course! Are you hungry?”

Well, it’s almost dark. It would be safe to assume I am – even if the adrenaline is still holding off my hunger.

“Yeah, just heat some leftovers. That should be fine.”

Judith nods and heads into the kitchen, her face still slightly flushed. I think back to the events of the previous few days. A whole weekend’s gone by, and it’s back to school tomorrow – except I’ll be attending as a vampire now.

I’ve already put on the contact lenses Alice gave me and I’m still getting used to their feel on my eyes. Picking myself off the floor, I stealthily head into my room and hide her other gift, a flask of animal blood under my bed. While I’m at it, I check my phone.

There are several messages from both Mum and Judith, but they stop after Saturday night. That must’ve been around when Alice called them to let them know I was alright. Just as I reach the bottom of the list, my phone vibrates to signal a new message. The sender is someone by the name of ‘Alice.’

I never added her to my contacts… she must have added it herself when I left my jacket with her back during the ‘test’.

It’s a simple message telling me to be careful of any high concentrations of O blooded people – which is unlikely to happen at school. I lock my phone screen and collapse back onto the ground.

I think I’m allowed to skip my patrol and report for today. We’re not expected to go hunting seven days a week anyway.

Judith’s call from the kitchen rouses me and I sluggishly head back into the living room.

“Leftovers from lunch,” she gestures. “Plenty of meat for you!”

I look at her plate full of vegetable sandwiches and my own plate of ham ones. They must have saved these just for me.

“Thanks sis,” I say, before taking a bite.

As soon as my tongue touches the meat, all colour immediately drains from my face.

Vampires don’t eat meat. It tastes like a packet of chips… without the chips.

I’d completely forgotten – and have never been more relieved that Alice bought Vegetarian pizzas instead of my favourite, Meatlovers.

The taste is exactly like she described. It’s literally like chewing on a piece of paper, or plastic. It finally dawns on me that I’ll never again taste the tender juicy meat of a beef steak, or the delicious texture of a chicken drumstick.

I’m going to miss it.

“What’s wrong?” Judith asks from across the table.

“Uh, nothing,” I quickly reply. “Just a little tired.”

“Thinking back to last night?” she asks with a sly smile.

“Wh-what? Get your head out of the gutter!”

I continue to chew on the tasteless sandwiches. I have to finish them – if anything, to fill my stomach. After all, Mum and Judith made these for me. I can’t let them go to waste.

It’s a battle, but in the end I manage thanks to my best friend – water. However, I’m not sure I’d be able to pull it off again.

“Judith?”

“Hm?”

“I think… I might also become a vegetarian.”

I see her eyes widen. “What lead to the sudden change of heart? I remember you laughing at me when I told you I wanted to stop eating meat.”

I poke at the crumbs on my plate and pop them into my mouth. Bread has never tasted better.

“I… I dunno. I’ve just been feeling really sick of it lately.”

“Is your girlfriend a vegetarian?”

“Why yes she – hey, wait a minute! She’s not my girlfriend!!”

 “Whatever you say,” Judith nods happily. “I’m glad you’ve finally opened your eyes, though. That Alice sounds like a really good person – someone I could relate to. So responsible too… more responsible than a certain brother of mine who gets drunk at a party and can’t make it home…”

I sigh - but deep down, I’m smiling. I’ve just realized how much I missed her voice.

***

Dread.

A terrified troll running for his life, bounding across the rooftops as I relentlessly pursue him. The look on his face as he realizes what a mistake it was to visit the city.

Fear.

A man in ragged pants backed against the wall, cornered with nowhere to go. There are still patches of werewolf fur lined across his skin. Panic and confusion flit across his eyes as he tries to remember his rampage.

Desperation.

 A faerie woman on her knees, pleading for me to spare her and her unborn child. An alien child whose instinct will be to gain the full attention of its mother, even if it means the murder of its step-siblings.

Horror.

A young boy letting out a scream as the body of his ‘imaginary friend’ lies dead on the floor.

Resignation.

A vampire girl, bravely fighting on despite knowing the outcome of her doomed battle.

I wake up with my heart hammering in my chest. It’s the first time I’ve seen these faces again – the faces of the countless demons I’ve killed. It hasn’t always been a clear-cut decision for me to make, but in the end ANGEL’s laws are absolute. Whether it’s a troll, a fae child or a possessive spirit, if there’s even the possibility of it being detrimental, it must be eliminated.

A few days ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about killing a demon, but now... now, because of some cruel twist of fate which has placed me on the receiving end of the barrel…

I can’t help but think of the similarities between demons and humans. We may have originated from different dimensions… but sometimes I wonder if their dimension is but a parallel of ours. Just the fact that two entirely different species can breed with one another suggests that they may not in fact be completely unrelated. Could this mean we’ve been committing genocide all this time?

It’s not like me, thinking so deep into this.

I’m changing. It isn’t just my body that’s changed, but my mind as well. My beliefs which I’ve held for so long are slowly being unraveled. The day I first encountered a demon, when I first drew Nightfall, when ANGEL and I first crossed paths – it all seems like a lifetime ago. Maybe I’ve just seen too much.

Maybe I should tell ANGEL I’ve become a demon.

I almost laugh to myself in the darkness. I can just imagine Shizuka if I tell her – first, she’d doubt me and laugh it off. Then, once I prove to her that I’m serious, she’ll subdue me and take me to ANGEL, where I’ll probably get locked up while they decide what to do with me.

No, it’s probably not a good idea to do that. For now, I should just focus on the task at hand – taking care of the feral vampire.

My entire body groans in protest as I haul myself out of bed. If it weren’t for the nightmares and the aftermath of my Soul Link, as brief as it was, it would’ve been the best night’s sleep I could ever hope for. Instead, my body is struggling to repair what muscles it tore the day before. Suddenly pushing a body to several dozen times its normal capacity is just asking for disaster – in fact, the only reason I can still move is probably because I’m no longer entirely human.

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 Before I can make my way to my closet, a sharp knock rattles on my door.

“Bran! It’s time to rise and shine!”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”

I hear an almost inaudible gasp. “You’re up already? That’s rare.”

Taking my response as a cue to open the door, Judith pops her head through. “Mum’s joining us for breakfast. You’d better come down quick, she wants to hear all about last night!”

“You’d better not have given her the wrong idea,” I growl.

Judith gives me a cheerful smile. “Well, you are at that age, after all!”

I roll my eyes and throw my pillow at her. She swiftly closes the door to defend herself, laughing as she leaves me to get dressed. It’s going to be a pain to get out of this one.

***

“Good morning,” Mum greets as I head into the living room. For someone who’s busy with work a lot of time, she doesn’t actually look that weathered at a glance. However, I know her more than anyone and I can see signs of strain in her cool blue eyes.

“Morning,” I reply. “How’s work going?”

We sit around the table, just the three of us, picking away at our food. It’s been a while since I’ve had a properly cooked meal, even if it is just French toast. Judith is by no means bad at making food, but she just lacks that special factor that Mum has.

“Not bad. It’s going to get busy again soon, though.”

“It’s always busy.”

Mum shrugs. “Well, business means more hours, right? It’s not like the bills are going to pay themselves.”

In the end, the main source of income is undoubtedly from Mum. The little cash I make usually serves as pocket money for food or schooling supplies, and mostly gets used up by Judith. Seeing her like this only makes me want to kill that feral vampire even more, for the bounty if anything.

In the midst of our chatter, which is uncomfortably beginning to head in the direction of my love life, I notice that my sister has a huge smile plastered on her face.

“What are you so happy about?” I grumble, after being given a mini lecture on safe sex.

Judith shakes her head. “Nothing. It just feels it’s been ages since we all last sat around this table together.”

A brief silence lapses around the table. We’re all thinking back to that time when we had four members of the family – before the accident.

Mum finally lets out a huge sigh. “Moments like these are going to become few and far between further down the line.”

“What do you mean by that?”

She leans back, chewing on a piece of bacon. She’s the only one with meat on her plate. “Well, soon both you and Judith are going to get busy with exams… and after that, if all goes well, you’ll be going to university. It’ll be harder and harder to find time to spend with the family.”

“Hey, don’t be so pessimistic,” I reply. “There’s still almost a year left. That’s plenty of time.”

“Maybe.”

Mum stares at me as I finish off my toast, down to every last morsel. “You know… it might just be me, but it seems like every time I see you again you change just that little bit more.”

I almost drop my fork.

“I-Is that so…”

I quickly avoid her gaze. Is it possible that she’s noticed…?

“Buuuuut… it’s probably just that girl, isn’t it? After all, it’s not uncommon for men to change after meeting someone.”

“She must be one amazing girl to take him away from his love of meat,” Judith chimes in.

And just like that, we collapse back into fruitless chatter. Still, I’d better be extra careful today and act like my usual self.

***

“Good morning, Bran!”

Ashley greets me with a thousand watt smile as we climb up the stairs towards the second floor. I’d already prepared myself for the worst, but I’ve surprisingly been able to resist the temptation of what I assume to be O blooded people quite easily. As long as they’re not all clustered together, their presence is but a minor itch against the edge of my mind.

“Morning, Ashley.”

“How was your weekend?”

“It was…”

Hmm… what would be a word to describe the ordeal I had to go through?

“…tiring,” I decide to answer. “How about yours?”

“Well, training for the tournament really picked up, so I was stuck in the dojo on both days pretty much.”

“Oh yeah, good luck for that.”

It’s typical small talk, no different to what I discuss with classmates every day. However, I can’t help but notice my increased perception – all of my senses have been enhanced. Even while I’m holding a conversation I can constantly keep track of what people around me are doing, zone in on their conversations, even take note of small details in my surroundings. If this is what I’m like during the day, I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like at night.

“Oh, I’d better get to class before it’s too late,” Ashley suddenly says, glancing at her watch.

“Bye.”

“I’ll be looking forward to our date after the tournament!”

Before I can protest, she runs off. Shaking my head, I quickly head into my own classroom.

Since when did I agree to go on a date with her? Then again, if I don’t I’ll have Leo to deal with.

The noise in the classroom slowly dies down as Mrs. Kuksal, who also doubles as our roll call teacher enters. I quickly sit up to attention.

“Good morning, everyone!” she greets.

A chorus of good mornings are given in return.

“We’ve actually got a new classmate joining us today. Please make her feel welcome and help her out around the school if she needs it!”

The door opens and someone walks in.  Someone with shoulder length blonde hair and beautiful eyes, someone who is hauntingly beautiful.

“Hello, everyone.  I'm Alice Vancratt, and I hope we’ll all get along!”

I can’t help myself from uttering a small gasp. Is this what she meant when she said she’d make sure we’d be able to plan our hunting? I never would have thought she’d be bold enough to transfer schools.

Alice takes a seat at one of the empty tables on the other side of the room. We exchange a brief look, but nothing more.

As Kuksal begins to mark the roll, I can't help but stare in her direction. There are several other stares also directed at her, but for different reasons. I hope she doesn't get harassed by too many guys.

The bell for first period goes off, and we all begin to head off to our classes.  Alice stops me as I exit the class, pulling me to the side.

“Mind showing me the way to class?” she asks.

“What subject?”

She pulls out a slip of paper from her pocket - a timetable.  I skim over it, feeling the envious looks of people passing by.

“This is exactly the same as my timetable,” I mutter.

“Of course.  You’re my ‘cousin’, so the principal was kind enough to stick us in the same classes for convenience’s sake.”

“...Seriously?”

As I say this someone stops next to us.

“Alice. Need some help around the school?”

I don't even need to check to know that it's Leo. I'm about to leave him to it when Alice stops me.

“It’s alright, Bran has me covered.”

Leo shoots me a filthy look which Alice doesn't see, before smiling innocently. “Ah, that's great! Let me know if you need anything else, I'd be happy to help.”

Alice responds with an equally innocent smile. “I will.”

I have a feeling Leo’s not going to let this go so easily.  The moment he moves out of sight, Alice resumes our conversation.

“I don't like the look of that guy,” she whispers.

“What's not to like?”

She shrugs. “Just comes off as too convenient, I guess.  Almost as if he’s hiding his true self as well.”

She’s sharp. Not many people know about Leo’s flip side - the side he shows to the few people who don't worship him. It must be the vampire perception.

“Anyway, let’s go. I don't want to be late to my first class.”