In the Name of Justice: Chapter VIII
This is the last chapter I will be uploading today. The section at the end is Dreizehn's reflections after death, and the title is from the D song. I'm pretty sure it's not part of the Vampire Story, but it seemed to fit nicely. ^^ I hope you enjoy. ♥
Chapter VIII
Day Dream
Justice was awoken by the sensation of something sharp pressing against his chest. For a moment, the thought that he was being attacked crossed his mind, but he soon discovered the to be something far more innocent.
A cat stood on top of him, purring contentedly as it pawed his clothes and rubbed its head against his chin; happy to return the gesture, he ran his hand along the length of its spine, smiling to himself when it arched its body into his palm in response. He'd always held an affinity for cats - they were such beautiful, proud creatures, though seldom seen around his home area, unfortunately.
"Her name's Rodlin."
The voice caught Justice off-guard. He sat up at once, causing the animal to drop back onto the bed; only then did he catch sight of the figure on the other side of the room.
"What are you doing?" he snarled.
Nami stepped forward, clutching a cloth bag in her hand, which she placed at the foot of his bed. "You left this downstairs."
Outside, the sky was black, indicated by the lack of light filtering through the curtains, though Justice's eyes were accustomed to dark conditions. He watched as the girl made her way across the room and sat down next to him on the mattress.
"I realise I never got round to asking your name..." As her words trailed off, she plucked a thick lock of white hair from the man's face and twirled it between her finger and thumb. At once, Justice raised his hand to swat hers away, but the moment he moved, he was knocked back onto the bed.
"Stop-" He was cut off by the sensation of Nami's lips bearing down clumsily upon his. Her arms latched around his neck as she leaned into him, trying to push herself as deep as possible. Furiously, Justice wrenched his head backwards, took a hold of her shoulders and thrust her away as if she were a parasite.
Then all of a sudden, his whole body froze rigid.
It was as though his lower back had been struck with a rigid object, yet instead of a blunt hit, the pain was one that grew more and with each second until it was unbearable. Forgetting the woman for a moment, he reached round to the spot, shocked when his fingertips came into contact with the blade of what appeared to be a small dagger.
No sooner had he lifted his hand to the handle, however, he felt the knife being pulled sharply from his body. This time, there was no holding back the pained gasp as the full force of the agony began to spread across his lower back.
The blade flew into the air, the point aimed at his heart, but Justice was faster this time: in one swift move, he took hold of the dagger, leaped forward and pinned the woman lengthways across the bed.
With the wound burning him, it took almost all of his strength as a vampire to restrain her, though she eventually fell into submission. He plucked the knife from her bloodied fingers and pushed the edge against her jawline.
"Why?" he snarled.
At once, Nami began to struggle again, thrashing violently from left to right and kicking out. A knee landed in Justice's stomach, and for a moment he almost lost his grip on the knife, but he managed to wind his fingers in her hair and pull her head backwards so that her neck was pulled taut. A scream tore from her lungs, only to be silenced by the man's hand over her mouth.
"Do that again and I'll cut your throat open," he growled through gritted teeth.
The girl's eyes were wide and looked as though they were about to spill with tears, but Justice took no notice. Once he was sure she was still, he slowly pulled his hand away to allow her to speak.
"I'm sorry." The first words from her lips were barely above a whimper, as if it were taking every inch of her willpower not to cry out. "There was a man... He came yesterday morning with two other people. He said someone of your description would be passing through, and then he gave me money..."
Justice nodded, taking it in. "What was his name?"
"He didn't tell me," Nami said, then winced, feeling the biting edge of the blade against her skin. "I remember what he looked like, though: brown hair, quite tall, uniform..."
The man said nothing. Perhaps he had known it the moment he'd been attacked, but the confirmation of his thoughts made his mind cloud with rage. Judas. Who else would want him dead so badly? Yet how he'd managed to predict his movements with such precision was beyond him. The only conclusion he could draw was that he was being followed.
He was being followed.
Teeth gritted in rage, he glanced around the room, then returned his eyes to the trembling girl beneath him; he was furious, furious at the man for ordering his assassination, but equally, if not more so, at himself. How could he allow his movements to be tracked? Of course, this was the only village for miles around, so it wouldn't take a lot for one to guess that he would stop here, but was it really possible for Judas to be predict such movements through mere guesswork? Did he know he was visiting the Guardians? He was the one who had proposed the idea in the first place. What's more, he, too, was in pursuit of the Schwarzschild Sword, and despite the capabilities of his own army, it would be in his best interests to make sure that Justice was in no way able to gather his own.
If you try to hinder or oppose me in any way, then I shall make you suffer in ways... Unimaginable.
Justice cursed under his breath. He finally addressed the girl in a low, forceful tone. "Did he say whether he would return?"
There was no answer, so he repeated the question louder and with more aggression. The girl was clearly on the verge of tears now. "I-I don't think so."
If that was true, then Justice could only conclude that Judas was in a hurry. Slowly, and to the woman's obvious relief, he retracted the blade from her throat, though his left hand remained firmly wound in her hair. "Did he tell you anything else?"
"No, he only instructed me to kill a man with black and white hair if he came to this inn. He said you'd be travelling alone."
To Justice, that sounded almost too characteristic of Judas: giving orders, but leaving the rest to be guessed at. There was now no doubt in his mind that he was being pursued. When he thought about it, the girl was not to blame, and he felt somewhat cruel by interrogating her in such a manner; it was in no interest of his, however, to express an explicit kindness towards someone who'd tried to take his life, regardless of their motives.
Yet hadn't he, himself, been the robber of many lives?
How many people had he killed over the years? Surely the value of his own existence was not above that of any other he'd murdered - if anything, it was less, due to the absence of a family or people who would miss him should he disappear. Through his years of living, he had become hardened to the idea of stealing lives, like a person becomes accustomed to an unpleasant smell if they are constantly exposed to it, though that wasn't to say he didn't feel guilt each time he did so.
The knife hit the bed with such force it shook the frame, buried up to its hilt a mere finger's width away from the side of Nami's head.
Justice rose, climbed to the edge and slid to the floor, leaving the woman trembling in shock. Sighing to himself, he reached over and pulled back the curtains, drenching the room in night.
"I'm not going to kill you," he said. "However, I know where you live now, and no doubt will be able to find you if you move away. If I discover that you've spoken of this to anyone, then I shall track you down and go against my decision to keep you alive."
His fingers flicked back the latch, and with that the window slid upwards easily; when opened in full, it was just large enough of someone of his size to pass through.
The sensation of something brushing past his ankles brought his attention to the small creature at his feet. All this time, it had slipped his mind that the cat, Rodlin, had been present in the room with the two of them, yet now he felt a little guilty for ignoring her. Wordlessly, he glanced over at the quivering figure on the bed - or perhaps that was where his guilt lay, after all. The girl had managed to entangle herself in something that was far beyond her understanding, and he pitied her for it.
From the moon's position in the sky, Justice was able to estimate the approximate hour as a little short of midnight. Time was slipping away... He couldn't allow himself to linger on such thoughts if he were to reach his destination on time.
Clutching at her neck with shaking fingers, Nami turned her head to the right. Her breathing had become considerably shallow and her vision blurred, though she forced herself, as much as her body would allow, to concentrate on the area around the window and try to distinguish a figure from the darkness.
However, no matter how much she searched, there was none.
The man was gone.
---
Am I sleeping?
Am I awake?
God...
It's snowing, but I am unable to feel the cold against my skin; it is as if the snow is merely a vision, an illusion cast to break up the blackness of the sky above. Yet it is not a sky that I am familiar with: there are no stars here, no moon - only white flakes that fall in continuous succession, with no indication that they will ever stop.
Slowly, I stretch out my hand and try to snatch one from the air, but of course, it is a wasted effort. My body feels detached from my consciousness, as though I am viewing the world through another's eyes.
But no, this is me - the agonising pull in my chest is a certain reminder that I am in my own form and nobody else's. I would've thought that the pain, at least, would be one thing I'd be able to leave behind, yet it is ever-present, even here.
It is the pain of loneliness.
If I had known that this feeling would return after life, then surely I would have allowed myself to disappear completely. The memory of the sun against my skin, its heat scalding me to the point of unbearable anguish, is all too vivid in my mind: it is not an anguish that I chose to put myself through lightly. I can only admit, however, that it was a foolish decision, assuming my life as something so disposable; and it is only now, in this white world, that I realise the full consequences of my actions.
Perhaps if I lie here for an eternity, I will find forgiveness within myself; because in the end, is it not only a simple length of time, like a second or minute? I was promised an eternity of living, and yet here I am.
As a being arisen from the ashes, it seems only right that I should return to them. At some point, this pain will also cease to crush my body, but it seems that that is a blessing I shall have to wait for. It's not something I fear, though.
After all, here, I have the time to do so.
Next Chapter →
Chapter VIII
Day Dream
Justice was awoken by the sensation of something sharp pressing against his chest. For a moment, the thought that he was being attacked crossed his mind, but he soon discovered the to be something far more innocent.
A cat stood on top of him, purring contentedly as it pawed his clothes and rubbed its head against his chin; happy to return the gesture, he ran his hand along the length of its spine, smiling to himself when it arched its body into his palm in response. He'd always held an affinity for cats - they were such beautiful, proud creatures, though seldom seen around his home area, unfortunately.
"Her name's Rodlin."
The voice caught Justice off-guard. He sat up at once, causing the animal to drop back onto the bed; only then did he catch sight of the figure on the other side of the room.
"What are you doing?" he snarled.
Nami stepped forward, clutching a cloth bag in her hand, which she placed at the foot of his bed. "You left this downstairs."
Outside, the sky was black, indicated by the lack of light filtering through the curtains, though Justice's eyes were accustomed to dark conditions. He watched as the girl made her way across the room and sat down next to him on the mattress.
"I realise I never got round to asking your name..." As her words trailed off, she plucked a thick lock of white hair from the man's face and twirled it between her finger and thumb. At once, Justice raised his hand to swat hers away, but the moment he moved, he was knocked back onto the bed.
"Stop-" He was cut off by the sensation of Nami's lips bearing down clumsily upon his. Her arms latched around his neck as she leaned into him, trying to push herself as deep as possible. Furiously, Justice wrenched his head backwards, took a hold of her shoulders and thrust her away as if she were a parasite.
Then all of a sudden, his whole body froze rigid.
It was as though his lower back had been struck with a rigid object, yet instead of a blunt hit, the pain was one that grew more and with each second until it was unbearable. Forgetting the woman for a moment, he reached round to the spot, shocked when his fingertips came into contact with the blade of what appeared to be a small dagger.
No sooner had he lifted his hand to the handle, however, he felt the knife being pulled sharply from his body. This time, there was no holding back the pained gasp as the full force of the agony began to spread across his lower back.
The blade flew into the air, the point aimed at his heart, but Justice was faster this time: in one swift move, he took hold of the dagger, leaped forward and pinned the woman lengthways across the bed.
With the wound burning him, it took almost all of his strength as a vampire to restrain her, though she eventually fell into submission. He plucked the knife from her bloodied fingers and pushed the edge against her jawline.
"Why?" he snarled.
At once, Nami began to struggle again, thrashing violently from left to right and kicking out. A knee landed in Justice's stomach, and for a moment he almost lost his grip on the knife, but he managed to wind his fingers in her hair and pull her head backwards so that her neck was pulled taut. A scream tore from her lungs, only to be silenced by the man's hand over her mouth.
"Do that again and I'll cut your throat open," he growled through gritted teeth.
The girl's eyes were wide and looked as though they were about to spill with tears, but Justice took no notice. Once he was sure she was still, he slowly pulled his hand away to allow her to speak.
"I'm sorry." The first words from her lips were barely above a whimper, as if it were taking every inch of her willpower not to cry out. "There was a man... He came yesterday morning with two other people. He said someone of your description would be passing through, and then he gave me money..."
Justice nodded, taking it in. "What was his name?"
"He didn't tell me," Nami said, then winced, feeling the biting edge of the blade against her skin. "I remember what he looked like, though: brown hair, quite tall, uniform..."
The man said nothing. Perhaps he had known it the moment he'd been attacked, but the confirmation of his thoughts made his mind cloud with rage. Judas. Who else would want him dead so badly? Yet how he'd managed to predict his movements with such precision was beyond him. The only conclusion he could draw was that he was being followed.
He was being followed.
Teeth gritted in rage, he glanced around the room, then returned his eyes to the trembling girl beneath him; he was furious, furious at the man for ordering his assassination, but equally, if not more so, at himself. How could he allow his movements to be tracked? Of course, this was the only village for miles around, so it wouldn't take a lot for one to guess that he would stop here, but was it really possible for Judas to be predict such movements through mere guesswork? Did he know he was visiting the Guardians? He was the one who had proposed the idea in the first place. What's more, he, too, was in pursuit of the Schwarzschild Sword, and despite the capabilities of his own army, it would be in his best interests to make sure that Justice was in no way able to gather his own.
If you try to hinder or oppose me in any way, then I shall make you suffer in ways... Unimaginable.
Justice cursed under his breath. He finally addressed the girl in a low, forceful tone. "Did he say whether he would return?"
There was no answer, so he repeated the question louder and with more aggression. The girl was clearly on the verge of tears now. "I-I don't think so."
If that was true, then Justice could only conclude that Judas was in a hurry. Slowly, and to the woman's obvious relief, he retracted the blade from her throat, though his left hand remained firmly wound in her hair. "Did he tell you anything else?"
"No, he only instructed me to kill a man with black and white hair if he came to this inn. He said you'd be travelling alone."
To Justice, that sounded almost too characteristic of Judas: giving orders, but leaving the rest to be guessed at. There was now no doubt in his mind that he was being pursued. When he thought about it, the girl was not to blame, and he felt somewhat cruel by interrogating her in such a manner; it was in no interest of his, however, to express an explicit kindness towards someone who'd tried to take his life, regardless of their motives.
Yet hadn't he, himself, been the robber of many lives?
How many people had he killed over the years? Surely the value of his own existence was not above that of any other he'd murdered - if anything, it was less, due to the absence of a family or people who would miss him should he disappear. Through his years of living, he had become hardened to the idea of stealing lives, like a person becomes accustomed to an unpleasant smell if they are constantly exposed to it, though that wasn't to say he didn't feel guilt each time he did so.
The knife hit the bed with such force it shook the frame, buried up to its hilt a mere finger's width away from the side of Nami's head.
Justice rose, climbed to the edge and slid to the floor, leaving the woman trembling in shock. Sighing to himself, he reached over and pulled back the curtains, drenching the room in night.
"I'm not going to kill you," he said. "However, I know where you live now, and no doubt will be able to find you if you move away. If I discover that you've spoken of this to anyone, then I shall track you down and go against my decision to keep you alive."
His fingers flicked back the latch, and with that the window slid upwards easily; when opened in full, it was just large enough of someone of his size to pass through.
The sensation of something brushing past his ankles brought his attention to the small creature at his feet. All this time, it had slipped his mind that the cat, Rodlin, had been present in the room with the two of them, yet now he felt a little guilty for ignoring her. Wordlessly, he glanced over at the quivering figure on the bed - or perhaps that was where his guilt lay, after all. The girl had managed to entangle herself in something that was far beyond her understanding, and he pitied her for it.
From the moon's position in the sky, Justice was able to estimate the approximate hour as a little short of midnight. Time was slipping away... He couldn't allow himself to linger on such thoughts if he were to reach his destination on time.
Clutching at her neck with shaking fingers, Nami turned her head to the right. Her breathing had become considerably shallow and her vision blurred, though she forced herself, as much as her body would allow, to concentrate on the area around the window and try to distinguish a figure from the darkness.
However, no matter how much she searched, there was none.
The man was gone.
---
Am I sleeping?
Am I awake?
God...
It's snowing, but I am unable to feel the cold against my skin; it is as if the snow is merely a vision, an illusion cast to break up the blackness of the sky above. Yet it is not a sky that I am familiar with: there are no stars here, no moon - only white flakes that fall in continuous succession, with no indication that they will ever stop.
Slowly, I stretch out my hand and try to snatch one from the air, but of course, it is a wasted effort. My body feels detached from my consciousness, as though I am viewing the world through another's eyes.
But no, this is me - the agonising pull in my chest is a certain reminder that I am in my own form and nobody else's. I would've thought that the pain, at least, would be one thing I'd be able to leave behind, yet it is ever-present, even here.
It is the pain of loneliness.
If I had known that this feeling would return after life, then surely I would have allowed myself to disappear completely. The memory of the sun against my skin, its heat scalding me to the point of unbearable anguish, is all too vivid in my mind: it is not an anguish that I chose to put myself through lightly. I can only admit, however, that it was a foolish decision, assuming my life as something so disposable; and it is only now, in this white world, that I realise the full consequences of my actions.
Perhaps if I lie here for an eternity, I will find forgiveness within myself; because in the end, is it not only a simple length of time, like a second or minute? I was promised an eternity of living, and yet here I am.
As a being arisen from the ashes, it seems only right that I should return to them. At some point, this pain will also cease to crush my body, but it seems that that is a blessing I shall have to wait for. It's not something I fear, though.
After all, here, I have the time to do so.
Next Chapter →