My mind is in a fog as I wake up in my bed. I'm once again feeling the warmth of naked flesh pressed up against me. How long has it been this time? I sit up in the bed and rub my eyes. As I take my hands away and open my eyes, I see the familiar silver manes of Jesi and Jeni lying beside me, their soft, plump bosoms heaving up and down with every breath they take. They begin to stir and sit up beside me, then greet me with a morning kiss on each side of my cheeks.

“Good morning, lover. How are you feeling?” Jeni asks.

“Like hammered shit.” I groggily respond.

“Would you like a pick-me-up?” Jesi asks.

“Yeah, I would.” I say.

“You may have your reward.” They both chant.

My fangs grow out. The smell of their perfume mixed with their hormones is intoxicating. I plunge my fangs first into Jeni, then Jesi, being careful to take only enough blood to energize me.

“How long was I out this time?”

“Only two days. Don't worry, we got you excused from classes. We said you took some pretty serious injuries. Not sure how we're going to explain how you healed so quickly, though.” Jeni told me.

Suddenly, Rebecca burst into my room, frantically huffing and puffing. After briefly catching her breath, she thrust something into my hand while barely pushing out, “Look....at.......this.” A terrified look was on her face.

I looked at the object Rebecca had placed in hand. Then my face went blank and pale. “Holy....fucking........shit. Where and who did you get this from?” I asked.

“It was in an envelope taped to our penthouse door. I saw it just now coming in. Look on the back.”

I turn the object in question over. On the back is written, “I know what you are.”

Jeni and Jesi look at Rebecca and me, confused. “What is it, darling?” Jesi asks.

“Look.” I hand the object over.

Jesi takes it from my hand and examines it. She immediately goes as ashen as me.

“This is.....you. From yesterday.” Jesi stammers.

“No shit. I thought everyone had been evacuated.” I say angrily.

“Lemme see, Jesi.” Jeni says.

Jesi hands over the object to Jeni. Jeni looks at it for a minute. First, she's confused, then angry.

“Who the hell took this photo?” Jeni shouts.

Jeni's shout must have echoed throughout the penthouse, because Hanneke, Aaboli, and Shizumi all came charging into my room.

“What photo?” Hanneke asks.

“Apparently, not all of the people got evacuated yesterday. Some dumbshit got a photo of me drinking the demon general's blood. And now it looks like the fucker might try to expose or blackmail me.”

“Kasou.” Shizumi utters under her breath.

“Shit doesn't even begin to describe it, Shizumi-chan.” I tell her. “If people knew that I'm a vampire, they may not put their faith in me. They might be afraid I might turn on them. People are scared of what they don't understand. A vampire that saves humanity? That could be too much to handle.”

Aaboli takes my hand and places it on her bosom. “You have us. We'll always be at your side.” All six girls lean into me and kiss my face.

“Thank you, girls, that means a lot to me.”

“What do we do now?” Rebecca asks.

“We find out who took it and find out what they want.” I reply. “But right now, I need to go outside and get some air. Maybe something to eat, I'm kinda hungry.”

Hanneke looks at me with concern. “Do you think that's wise? What if this person has already started spreading the photo along with the rumor of your abilities? You could be in danger. The life of our team is in jeopardy.”

I return Hanneke's concerned look. “Your concern is warranted, but I assure you, I'll be okay. Do you think this ass-hat would really be that fucking ballsy? I realize in this day and age nothing can remain a secret forever, but I'll be goddamned if I let this come to light. But, for now, I'm going out.”

I get up out of bed and head to the closet to get dressed. Shizumi reaches out and grabs me by the wrist. “Chris-kun, please don't do anything brash. We don't want you to get hurt, nor do we want you to hurt someone and get expelled.”

I stop dead in my tracks and turn my head in her direction. “Don't worry, Shizumi-chan, I'm in complete control.” Outwardly, I'm looking calm and collected, but deep inside, I'm seething with rage.

Jeni, however is quick to catch the look in my eyes. “Bullshit, I know that look. You're just as angry, if not more so, than the rest of us.”

I shake off Shizumi's grip on me. “Yes, I'm angry, but I'm not gonna fucking sit here and stew in it.” I continue over to the closet and start getting dressed. “I need to get out and do something before I lose my fucking mind.”

Rebecca pipes up. “Will you at least tell us where you're heading to so we know where to find you?”

“I think I'll head over to the training hall and run some combat simulations. Then, I'll head over to the cafeteria for some food. If you need me, call me.” I tap the left side of my head where my implant is.

I step outside of the penthouse and start to walk across the quad. Everything seems normal, but it feels like all eyes are on me. I look all around me across the campus. Students are enjoying the sunshine while studying outside. Couples are making out on the lawn. Jocks are tossing the football around. Other students are tossing the frisbee. Stoners are playing hacky-sack. I breathe a sigh of relief. I'm being fucking paranoid, I think, but then, it's not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

I finally make it to the training hall. I open the door and walk inside. I head for the locker room and go straight to my locker. I change out of my normal clothes and into my training gear. I walk into the arena and head over the weapon rack and pick up a sword. “Cortana,” I call out, “Run combat scenario Johns 4-6-Alpha, level 10.”

“Warning, running combat scenario at this level may cause traumatic injury or death. This level is unadvised.”

“Just fucking do it.” I snap back.

“Complied. Running scenario.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I activate the implant in my head to play music as the simulation starts. Demons begin appearing before me as I cut them down with ease. My rage is building as I'm thinking about the photo. Who did it? Why'd they do it? What do they have to gain? What's their motive? I push myself harder, faster, more intensely. I'm moving around the arena with enough speed to cause a wind storm. I can almost feel my blood-lust start to manifest, but how is this possible? My powers are sealed right now. I feel a tightness in my chest and I fall to the ground.

“Cortana, pause scenario.” I yell out. The simulation immediately halts in it's place. I can still hear the music pounding in my head, so I deactivate it.

Suddenly, a mysterious voice calls out to me from somewhere in the arena. “What's the matter, vampire, reach your limit? Can't fight without your whore twins by your side?”

This really pisses me off. I stab the sword into the ground and push myself to my feet. “Who are you, you fucking coward? You can expose me all you want, but don't EVER fucking bring Jesi and Jeni into this or call them whores! They are my betrothed, but then if you actually fucking KNEW me, you would have already known that!”

The voice laughs. “Oh, I know, vampire. But I don't care. Any woman who succumbs to a vampire is a whore. Your whole harem are whores. They've turned their back on humanity, so therefore, they are traitors. Traitors and whores.”

I shout back. “Don't you get it? I'm fighting to protect humanity! Just like you! We should be allies, not enemies!”

The voice sighs. “You don't get it. I once admired your strength. At one point, I was even envious of how strong you are. When you were teamed up with all of those girls, no, whores, my heart raced with jealousy. But to find out that you've been masquerading as one of us is a sin against man. I will never ally with a demon such as you.”

“You fucking take that back! I am no demon. Tell me what you want, and I'll do it.”

“So, you do have a sense of honor. And here I thought demons exhibited no such qualities.”

“I. Am not. A goddamned. DEMON! If you want me to fight you, just fucking say it! Name your fucking terms!”

“Ah, direct and to the point. Here are my terms. If you win, I'll destroy all evidence of what you are. If I win, I'll expose you for what you are and you will leave here in disgrace. I'll contact you in twenty-four hours. If you refuse, all evidence goes viral.” The voice disappears before I have a chance to respond.

I drop to my knees and let out a deafening yell. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU'LL FUCKING PAY FOR THIS, I FUCKING SWEAR IT! FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!”

I stand up and return the sword to the rack. “Cortana, end simulation.” The simulation fades and the light level in the arena returns to normal. I walk back to the locker room and strip down. I get into the shower and lather up. Suddenly, the ringtone goes off and the name on the caller ID shows that it's Hanneke.

“What's up, Hanneke?” I call out. “I'm in the shower.”

“Nothing. Just wanted to check on you and see if you were okay.”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” Do I tell her about the chest pain I endured? No, don't want to worry her or the other girls. They have enough on their plate right now.

“Okay. The other girls and I are headed over to the cafeteria for lunch. Are you gonna join us?”

“Yeah, I'll be there in about ten minutes.”

“Okay, see you in ten minutes. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I hear the disconnect tone and rinse off. I grab a clean towel from the towel hamper and dry off as I walk back to my locker. As I'm getting dressed, my ringtone goes off again. This time, the caller ID shows that it's Aaboli.

“Hey, Aaboli, I just got done with Hanneke, what do you need?”

“Oh, hey. I know. Did she tell you we were going to eat?”

“Yeah, she did. Surprised she didn't tell you she already talked to me.”

“She did. I just called to check up on you.”

“No need to worry. I'm fine. I'll be at the cafeteria in a few minutes. Tell the other girls not to call, I'm okay.”

“You did say to call if we needed you. We're worried about you and we do need you.” She emphasized the word need sexually.

“I get it, you just want the D,” I tease, “You don't want me.”

Aaboli lets out a small giggle. “Yes, but not entirely true. I do want you. Not just me, but Jeni, Jesi, Rebecca, Hanneke, and Shizumi as well. We all love you.”

“I love you all, too. I'll see you in a few minutes.”

The call ends and I walk out of the locker room. I start to jog across the quad towards the cafeteria. In a few minutes time, I make it to the cafeteria just as the girls walk up to the door. Ever the gentleman, I open the door for them and let them go first. We grab our trays of food and head towards an empty table where we can eat in peace.

“Girls, I'm not going to go into detail here in the open, but I just wanted to let you know that I got the gauntlet thrown down on me.” I blurt out.

“No shit, really? Who was it?” Jesi asks.

“Dunno. Couldn't see them. I'll tell you more after class.”

“ M'kay.”

We finish our meal and head for afternoon classes. As the afternoon lessons progress, I can't shake that morning's conversation with the mysterious stranger nor the aggravating chest pain out of my system. My anger starts to boil up again, and my blood-lust starts to kick in. Oh, shit not again, I think. I instinctively clutch my chest and fall to the floor. My heart feels like I'm going into cardiac arrest. Jesi, who is sitting right next to me, looks over at me and screams. It's the last thing I hear before I pass out.

I wake up to the sound of a heart rate monitor and the slight prick of an IV needle in my arm. I slowly open my eyes. There, standing all around me, are the girls. They all seem to be smiling, but I can tell by the swelling and redness of their eyes that they've been crying.

“Oh, thank God you're awake.” Hanneke says.

“We thought you were going to die.” Shizumi chimes in.

“You gave us quite the scare, darling.” Rebecca says.

I let out a slow and steady breath. “I'm fine, really. It's just stress from this whole situation.”

Jeni reaches out and smacks my face. “Bullshit. What the fuck happened in the training hall? Tell us everything. Now.”

I raise the head of the hospital bed up so that I can look at all of the girls. I take in a deep breath and let it out.

“Fine. The stranger says that if I don't fight him or her, 'cuz I honestly don't know who the fuck they are either way, they'll make the photo viral. If I lose the fight, I'll be exposed and have to leave.”

Jesi looks at me with disgust. “Well, that explains in detail about what you said at lunch.” She pokes a finger at my chest. “Now why are we here in the hospital with you attached to a heart monitor?”

I look down in shame. “During the exercise, my anger got the best of me and my blood-lust kicked in. It shouldn't have though, because of the seal. I've gotten angry before, I've felt rage before. I don't get it. Did I hit a ceiling that I didn't know that I have? It happened again in class. I feel ashamed. I was going to tell you after class.”

Rebecca stares at me coldly. “Were you going to tell us just about the duel and not burden us about your chest? You told us no secrets.” She angrily crosses her arms and turns her head away from me.

I look around at all of the girls as they make the same motion. “Come on,” I plea, “Really, I was. I promised there would be no secrets. I just didn't want to broadcast everything in front of God and everybody.”

Aaboli is the first to break. “Well, when you put it that way, we guess we can forgive you, right, girls?”

Jesi and Jeni uncross their arms and look back at me. “Yes, we'll forgive you.” Jesi says. “But you have to promise not to scare us like this again.” Jeni says.

I look into their heavenly golden eyes. “I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best.”

Aaboli leans in to hug me. “That's all we ask for.”

The other girls lean in to hug me and kiss my face. The smell of their combined perfumes and hormones start to drive me crazy with ecstasy.

“Okay, girls we can't get freaky in the hospital, as much as I want to.”

Just then, a knock raps on my door. The door opens and the doctor walks in.

“Hi, I'm Doctor Simmons, your cardiologist. Is it okay to talk?”

“Yeah, doc, come on in. What's up?”

“I must say, Mr. Johns, you have a unique blood panel. For someone who suffered a myocardial infarction at such a young age, your heart is too healthy. I find it curious, did you have heart problems growing up, Christopher?”

“No, just a blood transfusion when I was a kid for a rare blood disorder I have, doc.” I lied.

“I see. Do you have a physician who can verify this?” the doctor asks doubtfully.

Jeni interrupts and points to herself and Jesi. “Yes, our father will verify it for you. Here is his number.” She scrawls the number on a scratch piece of paper.

“Thank you. I'm keeping you here overnight for observation. Visiting hours end in three hours, so your team will need to leave by ten.” The doctor turns and leaves my room.

Once the door closes, Jesi, Jeni, and I let out a sigh of relief. “Shit, that was close,” I say.

“No kidding,” Jesi says, “good thing dad kept his medical license active all these years.”

Shizumi asks the important question. “When do you hear back from the stranger?”

I look back at her. “Sometime tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be outta this hell-hole by then.”

Hanneke grabs my right hand and brings it to her bosom. “Well, in the meantime, we'll keep you company until visiting hours are over.”

Rebecca grabs my left hand and repeats the gesture. “We sure will.”

All of the girls once again circle around me and lean in to kiss my face. It is the last gesture of affection that I remember before going to sleep.