Blood

"Find her..."

"My lord, we've tried, but she...we don't know how, but she's concealed her aura..." The small looked up into his master's green eyes. He was clearly frightened.

"I said FIND HER!!" The man jumped when he heard the bellowing of his master. He bowed deeply.

"Yes, I shall find her..." He was gone in a blink. The man with sea foam green eyes, and hair the color of an endless night frowned.

"How did get you away...my sweet Usagi..."

Mamoru woke up from a nightmare in a cold sweat. It was the same dream he had when Usagi first went missing.

"That's the first dream I have after days of no dreams at all" He said bitterly. He stood up from his bed, and looked at the city below him with a sadness no words could describe in his eyes.

"Usagi...what's happened to you?" He stood there thinking to himself as he watched the sun slowly rise above the horizon.

Matoki was lying in the hospital bed, not really knowing just why or how he ended up there. He didn't remember anything, just the sirens of the ambulances, and the pounding headache he had when he woke up. He slowly stood from his bed, and walked to a nearby mirror to examine himself.

"I look as pale as a ghost!" He examined himself closer, noticing the bandages on his neck. He looked at the bandage, not knowing why it was there. He carefully pulled the bandage off, and gasped at what he saw.

"I...It looks like...bite marks" He startled slightly when he heard the sound of a door closing behind him.

"Oh, sorry man, I didn't mean to startle you" Matoki smiled at his friend.

"It's ok, I was just thinking that's all." Mamoru gave him a thoughtful look.

"Do you remember what happened yesterday...I mean, you called 911 and all and I was..." Mamoru's eyes were full of shock.

"You don't remember what happened!?" Matoki blinked blankly at his confused friend.

"No...the only thing I remember is wiping down a counter at the arcade, then this girl...man, you should have seen her, I mean she was like...damn...anyway, I remember telling her that we were closed, and...that's it" Mamoru frowned, searching his friend eyes for any sign that he may be holding something back.

"Are you sure that's all you remember?"

"Besides the ambulance sirens, and waking up in this drafty hospital gown? Nope I don't remember a thing" Mamoru sighed loudly. He ran an exasperated hand through his ebony locks.

"So, what you do you know about vampires?" Matoki's faced look like a mix of amusement, and confusion, but only confusion was heard in his voice.

"Vampires!?"

"So, they called of the search?" Mamoru's voice was strangely calm to Usagi's father.

"Ye...Yes, they said that she...she would either turn up on her own or else..." His voice faltered. Mamoru felt an intense guilt for not telling them that he had seen there daughter, and she was ...kind of alive, and doing just well feeding off the blood of the innocent. He suddenly remembered why he hadn't told them he had seen her.

"Oh, Mamoru...Usa...Usagi...my baby" Mr. Tsukino gathered his wife into his arms, hushing the tears that spilled from her eyes.

"I...she never got a chance to love, to live...she was just so young...and..." She once again began to wail into her husband's arms. Mamoru's eyes suddenly looked almost ashamed.

"I promise, I'll find her for you..." Mr. Tsukino watched Mamoru's back as he left the house with some amount of awe.

"He was in love with her..." Were the words whispered from Mr. Tsukino's lips as he watched Mamoru leave the house, with a look of determination.

"Sir, Sir these books are very old! You can't just flip through them like that!" Mamoru looked up to see an old woman with silver hair, and glasses scowling at him.

"I'm very sorry, I'll be more careful, I promise." The old woman suddenly smiled down at him, causing Mamoru's face to contort in confusion. 'she isn't starring at me, is she...ewww she's old!'

"So, you're researching the history of the Vampire Myth huh?" He relaxed a little now knowing that she wasn't interested in him.

"Yeah..kind of" She smiled even wider.

"It used to be a secret passion of mine, I know where all the good books are, the really really old ones" She motioned for him to follow her, and he rose to his feet. He followed down the main hall, and into a dark stuffy room, that said had signs all over the place that said "off limits to non workers". The old woman reached for a book, but was too short to reach it. She turned suddenly when Mamoru reached up and got the book for her.

"That books has all the real stuff, non of the Dracula stuff, that's the real thing...you have to be careful with it though ok?" Mamoru nodded while he slowly turned the pages of the book.

"So why are you looking this stuff up anyway?" He looked up from the old book, and down at the old lady.

"You heard about what happened at that club right?" The women seemed to smile slightly.

"Yes, I did...it did sound kind of...strange"

"Yeah, well my friend was one of the victims"

"I'm sorry to hear that, don't worry son, they non longer feel pain, they're ..."

"She isn't dead" Mamoru interrupted. The women looked at him with knowing eyes.

"Make sure you read that book..." She turned to leave, but adjusted her glasses and took a good look at him before leaving.

"You know, you're just the type a vampire would go for" Mamoru looked up suddenly with confusion in his eyes. The women chuckled.

"Humans are often turned for beauty..." With that, she turned and left the room, leaving Mamoru to the ancient looking book.

Mamoru left the library knowing more about vampires than even Bram Stoker knew. First of all, the myth that vampires could only come into a home if they were invited, was a lie. Not only could they come into your house uninvited, but it was believed that they themselves started the myth, so that they could catch ignorant prey. Second, vampires had no reactions to holy relics. The cross was the cross, and holy water was just water, not weapons of destruction. The last and most important finding, was that vampires did in fact have souls. They were who they were in their formal lives, and sometimes took centuries to kill the emotion of guilt, in order to survive. That revelation made Mamoru almost feel guilt for the way he had talked to Usagi the night before. She was in fact still Usagi, and not a soulless demon, even if she did feed on the blood of the innocent. However, even with a soul, vampires lost all mental barriers when it came to action, so a vampire often acted to get what it wanted, and not what would be best at the time, which also explained the rise in libido of most vamps. They had nothing telling them that they shouldn't enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, so they acted and never thought. Everything else, however was fact. Vampires could be killed by fire, sunlight, decapitation, and a stake through the heart. They were stronger and faster than normal humans, and they also had hypnotic eyes. All of this Mamoru had experienced the night before with Usagi. It was also true, that vampires turned for beauty, strength, and even sometimes love, but if the vampire's sire, or the vamp that turned them, was killed, the turned vampire could once again become human. With that last bit of knowledge, Mamoru decided to put the crime fighting tuxedo mask on hold, and become the vampire hunting Mamoru. He was going to save Usagi, even if she didn't want saving. He was deep in thought when he realized that the moon was suspended hi in the sky. He had been in the library all day, and didn't even realized that it was dark when he left, too absorbed in thought to think of anything else. He sighed loudly and turned onto his street.

"What better time to start hunting..." he said dryly. He was all alone on the road, with no weapons to defend himself with, and he now knew that vampires were no myth. He shuddered when the wind seemed to get colder against his bare neck. He heard a noise off in the distance, and strained his ears to hear what it was. It sounded like...whimpering almost, crying. He began to walk towards the sound. When he reached the source, he found a little boy hunched over in a corner, holding his knees to his chest and shaking with fear. Mamoru spoke soothingly to the child.

"What's wrong little tike? Why ya cryin'?" The boy brought brown eyes full of tears to Mamoru's midnight ones.

"She...she tried to bite me, and my parents...I can't find my parents" The boy once again began to cry. Mamoru furrowed his brow. 'Did Usagi try to hurt him?'

"Where are your parents now?"

"I...I don't know, I got separated from them" Mamoru suddenly realized that the boy was still alive, and the vamp that attacked him was no where to be seen. It seemed pretty fishy.

"Where's the girl that tried to bite you now?" The boy’s eyes went wide with fear, and Mamoru knew his question had been answered. He turned around just in time to see a woman with red hair, and amber eyes jump towards him. He dodged just before her sharp nails could dig into his skin.

"So, the main course has finally arrived" She smiled at him with a smile that was on the verge of being seductive. Mamoru had suddenly realized, the boy was just a decoy, but if he didn't survive this, the boy would probably die too. He searched his surroundings quickly for anything he could use as a weapon. The red head vamp looked him up in down with a look of approval.

"Maybe instead of killing you, I'll just turn you instead" She took a step towards him.

"Wouldn't that be nice...I could have you every...single...night" Once again she smiled at him. Mamoru had enough of the vamp. He scanned once more for any item that could be used for a weapon. His eyes finally fell on the boy’s bookbag. He grabbed the bag from the boy and began to dig around. When he looked up again, the woman was running towards him. His eyes lit up when he found what he had been looking for. He pulled the pencil from the bag, and brought it level to the woman's chest just as she was within arm length. She staggered back when she felt the slender piece of wood pierce her heart.

"A FUCKING PENCIL!?" Those were her last words before she disintegrated into a pile of ashes. Mamoru let out a loud sigh and turned his attention back to the child. The kid’s eyes lit up when he realized he was no longer in danger.

"You...you saved me!" The boy ran to Mamoru and through his arms around his leg. Mamoru gathered the boy into his arms and began to carry him home.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Me, and my Mommy and my Daddy, we were all walking back from the mall when that really creepy lady attacked us. I was really scared." Mamoru frowned, knowing that his parents could be dead, the boy noticed his expression, and laid his fears to rest.

"Oh no, sir, my parents are OK, this really pretty lady, she came and took them, she said they would be fine, and I would be ok too, because someone was coming for me. She said I would be ok" Mamoru's eyes got big.

"Who...what did the girl look like?" The boy looked to the sky as if he was remembering an angel.

"She was really really pretty, she had long blond hair, and really pretty blue eyes...she looked like a princess" Mamoru smiled to himself. Usagi...she must have known that the vampire would have killed the kids parents, and left the boy because...because....

"Why did she leave you? Did she say?" The boy nodded his head.

"She said that the mean lady wasn't going to hurt me, and that someone would be there to get me in a few seconds. I think it was because the lady wouldn't let her take anyone else, and she knew I would be ok. The lady said she would catch bigger fish with me anyway. Turn right here, it's the third house on the left." Mamoru followed the boy’s directions, and walked up the porch to a large white house with blue shudders. He raised his finger to ring the door bell, but the door flew open before he had a chance.

"OH! My, baby boy..." A woman about 35 years old through her arms around the boy and began to cry, the boy just looked up at her.

"Mommy, I'm ok...this is Mamoru mommy, he saved me from the mean lady" The woman brought her eyes to the young man and through her arms around him as well.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!" While still in the woman's thankful embrace, he felt a strong hand grab his and begin to shake. He looked up to see a man about 38 with black hair.

"Thank you, is there anything at all we can do for you?" Mamoru began to shake his head no before he noticed the puncture marks on both the man and woman.

"Actually, how did that happen?" He said while pointing to the wounds.

"Oh this? We don't really now, that girl, she came and saved us, then everything goes blank, when we woke up, we were here." Mamoru frowned, then smiled brightly at the couple.

"I was just curious, well I gotta go now, so by" He waved goodbye to the couple and the child and left the happy household. He once again began his walk home, alone, and in deep thought. 'Usagi bit them...that's the only way they could have gotten the bite marks, but...she didn't kill them'

"Was the boy ok?" Mamoru's thoughts were interrupted by a small familiar voice. When he turned around, he was surprised to see a frail looking, pale, and shaking Usagi standing before him.

"Se...Usagi!?"

"It's...I'm ok, I just need somewhere to stay...for the next few days I...we have to hurry" He was now aware of her wondering eyes. She was afraid of something...someone.

"What if..."

"I can't promise I can control myself, but I won't hurt you, I swear..." He looked at her for a short while before she grabbed him by his arm and began to run.

"I don't have time for this, and neither do you...they're coming"

"Who's they!?" She was silent for a short while.

"Diameno..."

"Diameno?" When Mamoru looked up again, he noticed that they were right in front of his apartment.

"Hey...how did you know..."

"Stop talking and keep moving, we'll be safe once we get inside, they won't know I'm here" She pulled him inside his apartment building and towards the elevator.

"What floor?"

"Don't you know?...you know everything else"

"sorry but it's..." Her words were cut short when she suddenly felt faint and fell into Mamoru's arms.

"Usagi are..."

"No, I need...Mamoru san..." When she looked up again they were alone and inside the elevator, she suddenly had an urge...she wanted him. As if he read her mind, he sighed loudly and looked down at her.

"Just...wait until we get inside...ok?" She looked at him and nodded. Once they reached his apartment, Usagi slowly staggered into the room. Mamoru almost jumped when she pushed him onto his couch. She was immediately straddling his waist.

"Usagi, you...Usa...." She brought his eyes up to meet her own.

"I swear it won't hurt you...I just...Mamoru I need you" He looked into her eyes, and slowly moved his head to the side.

"Don't..." He gasped when he felt a sharp pain on his neck, and then an intense pleasure he had never felt before, then there was darkness.

"Mamoru...Mamoru?" He slowly fluttered his eyes open and was stunned to see the sky looking back down at him.

"Are you ok?" He tired to sit up, but he found himself to weak. He sighed heavily.

"Apparently not yet" She smiled slightly. He settled himself back in his bed, and noticed he was lying in Usagi's lap. She was softly stroking his ebony hair with one hand, slowly relaxing him back to sleep.

"I took more than I should have, but I was...weak to say the least." He gave her and understanding smile, before his eyes began to drift closed again.

"It's ok, I'm going to...(YAWN)...I'm going to kill the one that did this to you. You'll be...human again then" His head tilted to the side while Usagi continued to stroke his hair. He suddenly realized he had never felt so comfortable in his life.