Kidnapping someone unnoticed was easier said than done. There were no lack of humans, the building under his feet was full of them. No, the issue was the opposite, there were too many of them. For some reason, they slept in groups, and finding a lone one was no easy task. Even if he could remain unseen in the darkness and move without the slightest sound, pulling one out of a pile of humans were tricky. He felt like he was lucky the last time.

Were all humans equal to begin with? What if some tasted better than others. Maybe he should stalk through the whole building and try to see if some smelled better than others. He was about to do just that, but in the next second Ray froze. He even stopped breathing as he listened. He heard the faint sound of footsteps. He smiled. The person was alone, the sound of footsteps gradually getting louder. Thrilled, Ray turned the way the sound was coming from and waited patiently.

A few minutes later a young male turned a corner up ahead and headed his way. Pleased with his luck, Ray carefully descended towards the ground, like a predator lurking in the dark. Then he waited, motionless, the Shadowlight of the Moon and Stars shrouding him in the deep Night.

Ray could hear the man walking closer, ignorant. As the man passed him, Ray moved, grabbing the human from behind, clutching it to himself, not letting it breath. Ray enjoyed as the prey uselessly struggled as he gently pressed on both arteries in its neck, feeling the urge to take its blood, but resisting it easier than the first time. After a few seconds, the human’s struggling stopped as it fell unconscious.

The streets were deserted, and the Night silent. Ray was tempted to take a quick bite, but he discarded the idea right away. Safety first.

He threw his meal on his shoulder, its head dangling in the front, and considered if he should jump on the rooftops on the way back as well. But by now, the streets seemed completely deserted, and his hearing would warn him in time. He decided it was unnecessary, and started heading back down on the ground.

It was slower going, he often stopped to listen. He kept one hand around the human’s neck, pressing down from time to time to keep it unconscious.

Eventually, he was back high up on the cliff, with his meal still dangling on his shoulder. It was a bit tricky to climb up with one hand and extra weight, but he managed.

He didn’t have time to find a ledge, so he just started digging in right where he was. He was more experienced than last Night, the digging was faster. After he had some tunnel dug out, he finally had space to make a recess and block the entrance, to free himself from having to worry about the human while he dug the rest of it out. Even though the tunnel was only big enough to crawl through, the rock to block it was still heavy enough that he didn’t need to worry the human would be able to push it out.

It didn’t take long for Ray to make his upward spiraling tunnel with a little room at the end. He was hungry by the time he finished, but not as desperately as last time. Maybe because of last Night’s meal, or maybe because he was more efficient this time, he didn’t know.

Satisfied with his little space, he sat down and waited. He could hear the human crawling closer. He appreciated its courage, that it didn’t curl up in fear, too petrified to move.

The human soon arrived in the room, and it blindly reached out, trying to figure out where it was. As the human’s hand brushed against Ray’s feet, it froze.

Ray expected fear and panic, but the human remained calm as it pulled his knees under itself and touched its forehead to the ground. The pose was familiar from his old world, but this human had his palms facing upwards. He was also reminded of those servant-looking women the priestesses called slaves. They knelt in the same posture. So this human in front of him had to be another slave. Were all the people in the outer city slaves?

He focused back on the motionless human. It just knelt there without saying anything. Didn’t move, didn’t panic, its heartbeat remained steady. Ray found it somewhat intriguing.

In any case, he did not want the hunger to overwhelm him, turning him into a mindless beast. He stood up, wanting to satisfy his cravings, but stopped short right away as something occurred to him. Crossing his arms in front of his chest in thought, Ray considered the human.

He needed it to stay alive, so he could question it. Also, he decided to keep humans, so as much as he wanted to take the blood from the neck, he’d have to make do with the wrist, because he had no idea how to stop the bleeding.

He sighed, it wasn’t really appetizing. The human should be scared at least.

Breaking the silence, he asked, “Aren’t you scared?”

The human never even flinched, its heart beat steadily. It calmly and respectfully answered, “No. It’s an honor to be in the presence of the Bloodborn.”

Irritated, Ray crouched and grabbed one of the human’s arms, pulling it towards him. The human didn’t resist as he sank his Fangs into its wrist. Not deep, just enough for blood to seep out as he pulled them out.

Even if this way wasn’t to his liking, blood was blood. His enthusiasm grew as soon as the taste of blood hit his tongue, and the smell of it filled his nose. He was hungrier than he had thought, his control slipping, his excitement growing, he bit down again, sinking his Fangs deeper. Blood gushed and pulsed.

As the sound of the human’s erratic heartbeat hit his ears, his surprise made some semblance of clarity return to him. Cursing in his mind for going too far, he grabbed the human’s upper arm below the shoulder, pressing down on the artery to stop the bleeding.

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Pulling away from the wrist, he was taken aback as he looked at the human who seemed to be in a daze with misty eyes, heart beating fast, breathing roughly, almost panting. It wasn’t due to fear. Ray didn’t understand, and honestly, he didn’t care. What he cared about was how to heal the human’s wrist to keep it alive.

Considering how his Claws worked, he summoned all his willpower, telling himself he really wanted to heal the human as he spat on the wound.

Nothing happened.

“Pffft.” An unwelcome snort of stifled laughter wormed its way into his mind.

Annoyed, Ray snapped at Vorm, Instead of laughing at me, just tell me how to heal the human.

“And why would I do that when it’s more entertaining to watch you stumble around?”

Not that Ray would expect anything less from Vorm. He’d figure it out by himself then.

Either saliva wasn’t the answer, or he just didn’t find the right mood. In truth, he wanted to keep drinking the human’s blood…

Maybe he didn’t even have healing powers to begin with.

But there were other things he could try. What about his own Blood? He pricked two of his fingers and pushed them against the puncture marks on the wrist.

That was not the answer…

The human shrieked with an unearthly scream and convulsed in pain while Vorm roared with laughter.

Ray just watched the dying human numbly. Or maybe it wasn’t dying, but turning into a vampire? No, it didn’t feel like it. Ray was sure the human was dying. He sighed, tired. Keeping humans alive seemed to be more difficult than he had thought. What a waste.

“Nice healing, you are about to cure him of all his suffering. Permanently.”

Ha-ha… very funny.

“Or you know, you could just heal him?”

Just leave me be.

“Oh? I was about to tell you how to heal him, but if that’s what you want, fine.”

Ray just rolled his eyes. You wouldn’t tell me anyway.

“You need to ask nicely. Say please.”

Ray sighed, feeling defeated, but regardless, he said, Please tell me. He knew Vorm wouldn’t tell him, it was just messing with him like always. That egotistical asshole of a—

“Here. Just use this healing ritual.”

To Ray’s utter surprise, an image of a ritual popped into his’s mind. There was no time to wonder about it. It wasn’t too complicated, he started sketching it on the ground right away.

…He soon realized it was way more difficult than he had expected. He couldn’t get the circles to be circles, the straight lines to be straight. His frustration grew as he could hear Vorm’s occasional snickering.

The human’s heart stopped.

Cursing, Ray started pumping its chest.

“Why do you care so much? You can just snatch another one tomorrow.”

I’ve already gone through all this trouble, it would be too much of a waste to let it die. He answered while he kept pushing down on the human’s chest.

“Well, this was entertaining. You really don’t realize what you are, do you?”

I’m a vampire, aren’t I? Ray asked back distractedly. Was he doing this right? It was hard to tell even for him, the human was too low on blood.

“And what do you think vampires are? A pretty face and two sharp teeth?”

They also drink blood to live. With a sickening crunch a rib broke. Well, at least now Ray knew he was pushing deep enough. Not that it helped, at this rate the human was a goner. He snapped at Vorm in frustration, Can you just get to the point?

“What do you think your own Blood is for?”

I’ve already tried that, it just made it worse.

“……..to create the ritual with.”

Oh… Ray cut a finger on one hand and with the other kept pumping the human’s chest. A couple more ribs broke as he underestimated his strength.

He was about to start drawing with his Blood when an exasperated sigh stopped him.

“You know it was funny for a while, but by now I just want to cry.”

??? You yourself said to create the ritual with my Blood?!

“YES, CREATE. CREATE. NOT FUCKING DOODLE LIKE A TODDLER. JUST MAKE YOUR BLOOD CREATE THE RITUAL.”

I DON’T GET IT.

Annoyed at Vorm’s nonsensical explanations Ray slashed his own wrist with his Fangs and as his Blood gushed out, feeling mightily stupid, he said “Blood, create this healing ritual.”

Now I did EXACTLY as you told me to, and it still doesn’t—

Ray watched wide-eyed as his Blood started moving on its own, crawling onto the human’s skin. He recognized parts of the healing ritual everywhere, but he couldn’t comprehend how it all worked. The ritual lines created by his Blood softly glowed and the human’s heart started beating again on its own. The bleeding stopped, the wrist healed, its chest popped back up as the ribs healed, even some faint color returned to the face. Ray could feel the human was still low on blood, but would survive.

That wasn’t all. The ritual lines of his Blood moved again, gathering together and coming back to Ray. It felt strange, as if time itself rewound as his Blood was reclaimed and his wrist healed.

Ray was speechless, flabbergasted.

“See? I told you so.” Vorm smugly added.

Ray snorted. You could have explained it better.

“You are just making excuses. Not even a thank you.”

After you watched me struggle for ages laughing at me all the while? Then giving me vague explanations?!

“Yes.”

…Thank you.

“You’re welcome anytime.”

You will, of course, enjoy watching my futile struggles next time as well, I imagine?

“Yes, of course. I see you are learning.”

Shaking his head Ray decided engaging with Vorm was just a waste of time. After he healed the human he felt a bit less full, but the thirst for blood wasn’t yet intense. He sat down and started thinking about what to ask when the human woke up. But he could feel Night was coming to an end, and decided to lie down to sleep instead. The human wouldn’t wake anytime soon anyway.

He wished he himself wouldn’t wake till the Night came again. He hated the Day. He hated everything about it.