Bloody Masquerade [private]

[cat.]

Kamijo
Lord of Vampires

The vampire council look up to him as their leader, and from that, for centuries he has been leading them.

Kamijo has been in hiding for over a hundred years, not wanting to show his face to the public eye. Only a few have seen him, and that few has been the vampires that were in the council. He was the one who set the rule that no vampire would feed on an unwilling mortal, which happened to work well. Vampires could only feed on those who were dying, or wanted to end their lives, which happened often in this time period surprisingly.

Now Kamijo is going to set forth and call out a masquerade, everyone was welcome to it if they wanted. Mortals and vampires were all invited from all over, and he had hoped that everyone would enjoy their time.

This vampire was charming, he knew how to speak to the ladies. He was a perfect gentleman, not discriminating against a vampire or a mortal woman. Most fell for his charm, making him a ladies' man. It was not a surprise that he wooed them, and he never meant to do it on purpose anymore. When he did it on purpose before, it was used to lure mortal women in so he could have their blood. Of course, this was way before the rule was set in place.

Kamijo was a smart vampire, knowing more history than anyone else. He is constantly reading something, expanding his knowledge beyond belief. Other than being smart, he also knows how to play piano. The piano was a way of showing his emotion when he didn't know how to express it. Emotions were played through his music, which he played a lot in his mansion.

He had been born a vampire, but he never knew who his parents were. Rumors were said that his parents were killed by hunters after his birth, which could be the whole truth of the matter. Hunters still existed, but he knew how to spot them out of the crowd, but would leave them alone until they started something.

Everyone knows Kamijo as a nice being, but he can turn mean when he felt threatened. Though no one has seen him for a little over a hundred years other than the council, so no one knows if he has changed or not. The new generation of mortals never has seen him once, so little is known of him, but through the stories that were passed down about him.

"You are cordially invited to Lord Kamijo's masquerade ball on the night of the next full moon. Present this invitation and you shall be granted entry in his grand ballroom. May vampires and humans unite together as one with no fear."​

 

[redblood]

A curious young woman stood outside of the mansion that would host a great masquerade ball this particular evening. Her name was Alice, and against her mother's will she did go to the last place her parents wanted to see her in. Vampires wasn't creatures her family accepted as human beings, blood sucking bastards was what they were called at the dinner table. It didn't help that her father was a hunter. As if he would care that the vampires had said long ago that they would no longer drink the blood of unwilling victims. He did not trust them in the slightest.

Alice on the other hand was curious, she wanted to know more about those creatures of the night. Her cousin often said that her curiosity would be the death of her one day, but she did not believe that. At least not tonight. After all, it was only a ball. They had their laws, and she were not going to let anyone suck her blood. She would not even dare let a boy give her a hickey for God's sake. Her father would kill both her and the guy.

Slightly nervous, the nineteen year old took up the invitation from her purse and walked forward. It was incredibly unusual for her to wear dresses, but on this special occasion she did. She would hardly be let in otherwise. And even if she did get in, people would just stare at her for being so incredibly odd. But it was a nice red dress, and it didn't feel uncomfortable so she wouldn't complain about it. It was the high heels that bothered her the most. But she could probably handle a few blisters.

A friend of hers had helped her with her hair. It had been braided on the sides and ended in a ball in the back. Alice had no clue how it was done, but it was certainly nicely done. The mask also gave her a bit of security. It was a masquerade ball, so everyone would have masks and no one would recognize each other if they didn't know each other from earlier. She would surely not know anyone, and if her father, God forbid, showed up, then she could sneak away without him noticing. Everything she wore was borrowed from friends, and he would probably not notice a girl similar to his daughter if he was there for hunting. Not if she escaped fast enough.

But she doubted he would show up, he wasn't so stupid as to raid a ballroom full of vampires alone. Especially not when there would be so many humans there. They could be endangered if he did. So if everything went as planned, then she would have a fun night, go back to her friend's place, sleep for some hours and get back home in the morning. And her parents won't suspect a thing.

Finally the moment came and she stepped into the big hall. It was impossible for her to see the difference between humans and vampires at first glance, but she could guess that the vampires outnumbered humans by a lot. Alice took another deep breath. She could not back out now, this was her chance to get her own opinion on them, instead of her fathers forced opinion. They couldn't truly be as bad as he had described them. Not if they made such a good law to help the relationship between the two species.

 

[cat.]

The guest were trickling in one by one, and the sound of music continued to fill the air of the mansion. People were talking to each other, mingling with one another. Some were dancing on the ballroom floor, while others stood around in the empty spaces around the room. The sea of masks were taking over, which was a good thing. No one was allowed in without one, it was a masquerade after all. As Kamijo stood at the top of the stairs, he looked over everyone to see that more people showed up than he expected.

"It is certainly a well turn out, wouldn't you agree?" A woman asked from beside him as they headed down the stairs together with their arms linked. She was a vampire, and one could tell by her pale skin against the colors of her blue dress. From behind the black mask she wore, her eyes were a very pale blue that seemed to glow.

Kamijo just observed his guests. No one knew who he was, since he was blending so well with the crowd. The vampire he was escorting through the ballroom was part of the council, one of his more trusted members. She was the one who immediately recognized him in the crowd of people, while it took awhile for the other council members to realize who he was. The vampire woman was named Elena. She was slightly older than Kamijo, but not by much. He was still wiser than her even if he was younger.

"The smell of these humans are slightly intoxicating," he said, adding a light laugh. "But it's a test for me since it has been so long since I have been near these mortals."

"And you will pass the test with flying colors," Elena responded, giving him a smile.

 

[redblood]

As expected, there was no blood drinking, and no orgy's in the corners of the room. It was simply a civilized party. If anyone would have gone there without knowing about the vampires, then they would probably not even realize that there were undead people among them. Not before they got closer and could notice some of the signs like their cold and pale skin.

Walking further into the ballroom, Alice started to wonder how she would even be able to start a conversation with anyone. She might just end up as a wallflower for the rest of the evening. Starting conversations with complete strangers had never come natural to her. It made her so nervous she usually ended up saying something stupid or something so obvious it sounded idiotic to point it out. Like the lovely phrase, what a nice weather we have today. It was the most horrible line to open up or try to stop a silence with in her opinion.

Before she would try to actually go up and talk with people she would definitely think of something good to say, so that she wouldn't end up going up to someone as a blabbering fool without anything to say. Now she truly wished she had brought a friend with her, Anna would have been so much better at helping her getting started with the socializing. But she was too frightened to go to a gathering with mainly vampires. You never know what they might do, was what she usually said.

Suddenly a chill ran down her spine. It felt as if someone was watching her, and when giving a fast glimpse around she indeed saw a few that glanced her way. Curious eyes looked from beneath the masks, as if she had done something that caught their interest. But so far she hadn't spoken a word, and she were not more beautiful than any other woman there. At least not in her opinion. While some seemed more innocently curious, others seemed more... Bloodthirsty? Maybe it was her imagination. Her fathers idiocy might be contagious after all.

She fast looked away, not wanting to seem rude for staring at anyone. Without her knowledge of it, her blood had appealed to many vampires in the room, which might have put her in a dangerous spot. That was, if the wrong vampire tried to get close. One without the strength to obey their own law. But even if she had known of her own scent, she would not have turned away as she believed they would not hurt a human in this day and age.

 

[cat.]

A sigh came from his lips as he glanced around the ballroom once more, but then suddenly a smell hit his nose. This certain scent made him stop in his tracks, which had never happened before. The smell of human blood never entranced him in this way, he simply ignored it before. Now this smell was absolutely beautiful. It did not take him long to pinpoint where the smell was coming from, and even Elena was looking to the mortal woman that carried the intoxicating scent.

Kamijo noticed the looks that his kin gave the mortal women. Some were curious, and others had that glint of red in their eyes. With that, he could tell they were new vampires when they had no self control. Something that he was used to, but very careful about. The vampire lord excused himself from the female next to him, making her break her train of thought and she had stepped away to get some fresh air to get away from the smell of the human. Out of all the humans, that one smelt the sweetest to the both of them.

He walked through the crowd in a swift manner, gracefully walking through with his head held high. As he walked, the more of the vampires noticed him. When they saw him, they would back up and try to ignore the scent. They knew who he was since he carried himself with high presence, like he was the most important being in the room, which was true. This was his home after all, and his ball.

The vampire made sure that the human woman noticed her before he walked up to her, not wanting to startle her. "Good evening," he greeted as he approached her. There were whispers coming from behind him. Vampires knew that he would not give just any mortal a conversation, and they also knew that he was getting in the way of anyone stupid enough to break rules.

"I am Lord Kamijo, and I formally welcome you to my ball," he spoke smoothly, giving her a kind smile and a pleasant bow. All the while, he had to resist the urge to want to get a small taste of her blood. She was pure, it was almost sickening to him.

 

[redblood]

Alice didn't want to believe that vampires were as inhuman as her father made them sound to be, so the thoughts that popped up in her head because of her paranoia was awfully disturbing to her. It was just stupid tales. Sure they drank blood, but only from consenting or already dying human beings. No one would attack her. And the stares might just be her imagination, they might not be looking at her. It might be someone else in the room that happened to be close to her, thus making the eyes from afar seeming to be put at her even though they were most certainly not.

The thought seemed to finally calm her. It was ridiculous to think that everyone would notice her of all people, so it was certainly a misunderstanding.

As the young woman collected herself, she noticed a man walking towards her. While she had no idea who he was, everyone else seemed to be well aware of it as they backed away to give him space. From the few things she could see, the man wasn't too bad looking. He had a nicely built body and his hair still seemed young and well cared for. From everyone's reaction to him, she had already guessed that he were a vampire. After all, she had never heard of any vampires backing away from a human to show respect, and humans would certainly not act like that without knowing who the person was.

Whispering started to spread through the room as the mysterious man greeted her a good evening. Then he presented himself. Lord Kamijo, the person whom had arranged the ball, and clearly a vampire.

"Good evening." She greeted back with a smile. How come someone like him suddenly spoke with her? Sure, a masquerade ball was meant to make everyone anonymous, but she doubted anyone else he didn't know was greeted like that. A formal welcome from the lord himself. "It's a wonderful ball you've arranged, and I am more than honored for such an unexpected greeting." She said clearly taken by surprise.

"My name's Alice." She introduced herself, which fell very flat in comparison to his title as a lord. Now she was certain that people was looking at her, though this time for a legit reason. Who wouldn't look when their vampire lord was talking to a human girl. That couldn't be something common. "I'm very glad you decided to let humans join in on such an extravagant gathering." She told him, trying to show her gratitude for being able to be there. "It's not something you see everyday. Humans and vampires together without arguments or fighting." It was certainly nothing that happened often. Humans didn't feel comfortable around vampires and as far as she had heard, vampires looked down on humans. But she had never met any before as her dad was far too protective, so she couldn't know how true that statement was.

 

[cat.]

Humans were so fragile, Kamijo thought as he looked down at her. He could almost hear the beating of her heart, as well as the blood coursing through her veins. She looked delicate as a flower, he observed. Even if he could not see her face behind the mask, he imagined her to be beautiful for a human woman. There were only a few mortal women that were beautiful to him, and those few have already passed away. It has been long since he found one striking.

As she spoke to him, he carefully listened to her words. Most humans weren't thankful enough like she was. They thought that he set the rule for pity for them, which was not true. There were many reasons why he did not want anyone to drink from an unwilling human, and those reasons still remained unknown to others. They did not need to know, but they always tried to question him. Too bad he was in the high seat of the council, no one can turn his rule around.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Alice," he spoke, her named rolled off his tongue. When he said those words, he grabbed her hand gently and raised it up to his lips to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles. Soon he looked up to her, letting his eyes connect with her own. "If I haven't had made that rule, I wouldn't have met an extraordinary woman such as yourself. Do you realize how lucky you are?" He gave her a small smirk as he slowly let go of her hand, a glimpse of his fangs could be shown.

This woman was lucky to be even in his presence, but there was a reason why she was. Her blood called to him, but he wasn't going to act on the feeling now. He was sure that the vampires around him were wondering what he was going to do with her. They wanted him to slip up, they wanted him to bite into flesh. One bite wouldn't kill, nor turn, her. Though if he were to bite her without her consent, the rule would be broken and vampires would run free to do what they wanted.

That was something he was trying to avoid, and he was keeping himself under as much control as he could.

 

[redblood]

She couldn't help it when a small blush covered her cheeks. She had never been used to such things like a gentleman greeting her with a kiss on the hand. Her blood was probably pumped around a bit faster for a moment, and she hoped that wouldn't bother him. If he was lord Kamijo then he must be quite old, at least compared to a human, so he should be somewhat used to the smell of human blood. But it was unnecessary to tempt fate by letting the heart go crazy over something so simple as a small kiss on the hand.

Then he said something odd. Extraordinary? How come he thought that? They had barely spoken for two minutes. What could she possibly have said in such a short amount of time to become extraordinary in his eyes? Alice could feel the stares becoming more intense the longer Kamijo spoke with her. Some of the stares seemed simply curious, or confused. But others seemed rather hostile. Was it because he was their lord and now he spoke to a human but not to them? Could be, but she couldn't read their minds so it was impossible for her to know for sure.

"How come you think I am the lucky one?" She asked. "If the rule hadn't existed I would just have gone on with my life not minding ever meeting you, as you clearly would have no interest in humans if that had been our reality." She started to explain. "But since you have made the rule, you do take some interest in humans and their well being and their interaction with your own kind, thus it's you who should be lucky since I could just have decided not to come today, and you wouldn't have met such an extraordinary woman either way. Lucky for you I changed my plans in the last minute." She said with a slightly teasing smile. She knew exactly how lucky she was, but when he put it like that then she couldn't resist to turn it around on him.

"Do you always see a woman as extraordinary after having spoken to her for less than five minutes?" She then asked curiously while keeping a slightly teasing smile on her lips. She was quite certain he just said it to make her knees weak. It would take a bit more than a few compliments for such things, though she probably only over analyzed it. Thinking of someone as a complete flirt after just two minutes of talking to them was a bit unfair.

 

[cat.]

Kamijo tried to avoid temptation. The blood running through this woman's veins started to call to him, and it was a miracle that he did not just sank his fangs into her skin. At least she started to speak, distracting him from his thoughts and feelings. He needed to keep himself under control for the sake of others around him. Eyes were on him, and one wrong move could put everyone in jeopardy. Oh, but he knew that some of the vampires wanted him to slip up, they wanted him to make that mistake. Now he wasn't going to break that easily.

When she started to turn his words around, he let a small smirk spread across his lips. "You are a smart woman," he commented, a small chuckle came from his lips. Alice was not like the rest of the women he met, and that itself intrigued him. It seemed like she was not afraid to give him a little tease, as to others would fall easy under his charm. She was someone he needed to try hard with, and he loved a challenge. "And that is why you are extraordinary, and that word does not easily come from my lips," he added.

Then the stares brought him into slight annoyance, everyone was paying attention to two of them. He glanced around for a moment, seeing the different looks that he got from other vampires. A small sigh of annoyance came from him, and he looked back at Alice. "If it isn't too much to ask, may I have the honor of speaking with you privately? I am not sure if you noticed the stares that are coming from everyone else, and I would love to speak with you without eyes on my every movement."

He just hoped that she would agree to it, but he would understand if she were to say no. Why would she want to be alone with a vampire? "However, I would understand if you said no," he added on. It was a gamble, but he was going to try. The worse she could say was no, and he would easily continue to speak with her in the ballroom with some eyes on them.

 

[redblood]

Well he certainly weren't like all the vampires from her fathers stories. Arrogant, hateful, would never accept a human talking back to them. Either she was incredibly lucky, or her father was incredibly narrow minded. Sadly enough it was most likely the latter. How could he believe such things about them when he never took the time to talk to them? Sure there were probably some bad vampires out there, but that didn't make the whole race evil. That would be like saying that one serial killer among humans made every human into a serial killer. It was flawed and ridiculous illogical logic.

As the stares seemed to become more and more intense, Alice became quite happy over his suggestion. There was no way she would be able to continue talking to him without feeling uncomfortable with all the eyes laid on them. On top of that she might just loose her temper and yell at them to mind their own business eventually. That might not be the best thing to do when surrounded by vampires.

The though never occurred to her that he might have bad intentions. Just like she would trust a human not to hurt her, she trusted him. And if she against all odds were murdered during the night by him, then there were quite a lot of witnesses. While the vampires might not be so inclined to testify about it, the humans would probably be once they knew that it was a human that had gone with him. Even with a mask on, everyone in the room whom didn't know who the vampire was at least knew that he was of great importance. So it would be quite foolish to decide to kill her after having had so many people witness him escorting her to a private room, thus she figured her life were in no danger. It would probably be a higher chance for her to be murdered on the way back home later that evening.

"I have no reason to say no." Alice told him. "You as a lord might be a bit more used to attention like this, but I am not. I prefer to keep my life and discussions as private as possible, which is quite hard in the current situation." She gave a glans towards the crowd, some seemed displeased when hearing that they might not be able to spy on their lord for much longer.

"We better not be gone for too long though, or else your groupies might get jealous." She joked as she looked back towards him, ready to leave at any time. Sure it might have been naive and stupid of her to walk away with a vampire, but wasn't it a bit better to only be with one instead of surrounded by one hundred of them? That was at least an excuse she would tell her dad if he ever got to know about it. Which he most likely wouldn't if she could do anything about it.

 

[cat.]

This woman before him was intelligent, and he had admired that. Who knew a mortal woman would be daring enough to joke around with him like that? What a lucky find, especially with a woman who had the scent of the sweetest blood. Any vampire would love to have her where he had her, but he was more delicate than any other. They would have approached her in a different way, a way that would most likely scare her off. At least he knew how to handle mortals, especially women. He knew how they should be treated.

"They will be fine with me gone for the moment," he told her, giving a grin before offering his arm to her. "Shall we?" As being a gentleman, he waited for her to accept his arm before leading her away from the crowd that started to form. Vampires were whispering to one another, obviously angry at the fact that he was not speaking with any of them. The vampire lord has not been around his kin for over a hundred years, and he decided to spend time with a mortal woman. It was unfair.

Kamijo led her outside to the balcony that over looked the garden. With the light of the full moon, it seemed the shine bright and lit the area enough so they could still see each other. The reason why he chose the balcony was because it was private enough for just the two of them, but also if she needed to, she could go back inside whenever she wanted. Being in a room alone with her would have been a trap for himself, as he did not fully trust himself to be consumed with temptation.

As he took them outside, he simply took his mask off and set it down on the rail of the balcony. "Wearing a mask for so long can get rather annoying," he said as he looked over at her. Now she could see his full face without hiding behind the mask. "And I would rather show my face to you so I am not a stranger any longer."

 

[redblood]

Alice accepted and took his arm in front of many pairs of displeased vampire eyes. The thought of being murdered on the street while walking home seemed more and more plausible. But there were rules both on the human and vampire side that should prevent such a thing. Hopefully they would respect their own laws enough to leave her alone.

Instead of going to a private room, they walked out on the balcony. The air was very refreshing compared to the air in the crowded ballroom. To her surprise, Kamijo then took off his mask. She had thought him handsome already when he first walked up to her, but now without the mask he had gotten as close to perfection as a human could get. Though since he weren't human, that might say very little of his actual looks. To a vampire he might be mediocre at best. She had no idea. But to her, he looked like perfection incarnated into one man. It made her hesitate a bit before taking off her own mask, as she almost felt ashamed over her mediocre looking face. Compared to him she could as well have been a rat.

"Mask or not, we are still strangers." Alice corrected him once her own mask was off. "Your face isn't the deciding factor on how well you know someone." She leaned on the balcony's handrail as she looked up at the moon. The full moon was truly a beautiful thing to see. It was hard to believe that some people thought a night like that meant bad luck, mainly because of all supernatural superstition that followed it around.

"Do you care to share the reason why I became the chosen one for the evening mister Kamijo. I do not believe that you greet every guest as you did me." She took her eyes off the moon for a little bit to give him a curious glance.

 

[cat.]

Kamijo looked down at her, watching as she took off her own mask. To his surprise, he found her absolutely stunning for a human woman. From the looks of it, she was also young. That explained why her blood smelt sweeter than the most. Usually the humans who mingled with vampires were a little older because they knew how to carry themselves around vampires, as to younger mortals did not. Though it was still strange to him how a lovely young lady can carry herself so well, because he knew the way most young women were.

"Ah, I see what you mean by that," he started, "But at least you now know my face, every little detail is great to know about a person. If need be, you will be able to describe who I am to someone if something were to happen. Of course, my dear, nothing will happen to you." He had to reassure her that nothing was going to happen when he was around her. Taking control of himself was easy to do at this point, the scenery of the outside made him distracted only slightly.

When she asked as to why he chose her, he wanted to be honest with her. Lying was never in his good graces, so he was always honest. "Believe it or not, but your blood called to me," he spoke, leaning forward against the rail so his elbows rested against it. He looked over at her, giving her a kind smile. "It may seem strange to think, but your scent gives off a pleasant smell. It attracted me to you, and I cannot explain why. I made sure to approach you first before anyone else. Other vampires would try to take advantage of you, they want to taste your blood."

No, he wasn't trying to scare her, he was stating the honest truth. The vampire made sure to stand a little ways from her, not wanting to seem like that he was trying to threaten her in any way. Self control. He was doing it well for now.

 

[redblood]

"If something were to happen to me, I doubt I would live to tell the tale either way." Alice laughed. It was a quite macabre joke, but there was no doubt in her mind that she would leave the party unhurt. Especially after he had so nicely reassured her of that. People met vampires all the time and came back without a scratch, so it would be quite the miracle if on the one and only night ever she met a vampire, that would be the night she would get killed or hurt by one. Not too likely in her own mind, so she was feeling as relaxed as when she hanged around humans.

His honesty was astonishing, it was clear from the moment he opened his mouth that he weren't lying to her. Even if she had doubt the honesty of his voice, the story he told her was too absurd to be made up. Maybe it sounded weird, but that's what she thought. Why would someone make something like that up when they could lie and say that they simply found them attractive, or it had simply been a coincidence or something else. His story didn't sound so weird it became unrealistic, but still weird enough to not be made up.

Alice was not too sure how to take the fact that her blood apparently was a vampire magnet. If anything could make her dad become even more overprotective, that fact would probably do the trick. "Isn't that normal? That vampires wants to taste human blood I mean." She asked. Her dad thought that blood was all vampires were capable to think about, but Alice remained skeptical. It wasn't like humans thought about food every second of their life, only when they needed to eat. "How does it work now with the law? How do you get enough blood to survive when you only can drink from the willing people? I can imagine that it's hard to get volunteers."

She had been quite curious of that for quite some time. Her dad only ever talked about what monsters they were, and she knew nothing else but that. Could they only survive on human blood? How long could they go without drinking? Were they truly allergic against garlic? She had been told very little as her dad had kept her away from it as much as possible. She only knew of what the myths said.

 

[cat.]

Kamijo looked up at the moon as it shone down on them, and he felt alive because of it. The moon was where he got most of his energy from, so it was perfect to host a ball on the night of a full moon. He was more awake than he had been in over a hundred years, he wasn't gloomy anymore. There was no way to explain why he was like that, but he was thankful that it was happening like that. At least he wasn't being bitter.

"Yes, it is normal, but your scent makes vampires want your blood more to be specific," he answered, unsure on how to explain that part to her. He wasn't sure if she was going to understand it. It was confusing to explain to a mortal different scents of a human being, so he would try his best to explain that to her at a later time. When she spoke about blood, he put himself in thought. He forgot what it felt like to feed off a human body, since he hasn't done so in awhile. All the blood he received was collected by the members of the council and it was given to him.

He looked back down at her, almost hearing her pulse. "Human blood is not the easiest to obtain, of course, not many want their blood to be taken away," he explained, "Though when we do have our volunteers, we keep them in mind. We don't drink from them fully, but only drink enough to sustain ourselves until the next time we need them. It's a little tricky, but it works for the most part."

Then he brought his hand up slowly, placing his fingers gently on the skin of her neck to feel her pulse and looked into her eyes. "I will be honest with you, Alice, it is not easy to be around humans again," he said, "Especially with you, but I am controlling myself well. Wouldn't you agree?"

 

[redblood]

His explanation about them wanting her blood more wasn't very satisfactory for the young mortal. It could be something like a certain kind of food was usually more desired than another, but change food into blood. But how come then that it sounded like he said that all, or at least many, vampires desired her blood more than others? Sure there were food that many humans liked, but they usually didn't share one single favorite dish. Maybe it was a vampire thing and she was thinking far too much into it.

It works for the most parts? What happens then in the instances when it does not work? Alice fast decided that she did not want to know the answer to that question. She wondered what would happen if the volunteers became even fewer than they already were. If not enough vampires could get the needed blood, would they go out on a rampage and take all the blood from unwilling victims instead? Hopefully she wouldn't live to see such a day. She could just imagine what a war that would create between vampires and humans.

Kamijo's hand traveled to her neck, and Alice let him rest it there on her pulse for a little while. What a weird man, he comes close to the very thing that he knows he can't drink and then does everything to get even closer even though it's already hard for his kind to restrain themselves. What a masochist.

"Indeed. Though for someone having a hard time being close to blood, you seem incredibly eager to get even closer. Should I be worried or are you simply that masochistic?" She teased him while her pulse went on a little bit faster. She might not be frightened of him attacking her, but her body still started to become slightly alarmed when the predator had his hands so close to her neck. Most people would probably listen to their instincts and back away, but instincts didn't always know best, so Alice stayed where she was.

"Can't you just drink animal blood? Isn't pig blood very close to human blood?" She asked. Maybe it wouldn't taste the same, but if it could keep them alive then what was the harm? But she weren't a biology expert, maybe it wasn't like humans and their meat, everything was eatable. Instead there might be something special in the human blood that made them able to drink it.

 

[cat.]

Perhaps he was being a masochist, but he would rather face the thing he couldn't have. The control he had was astonishing, as to others would try to corner this young woman without second thought. For him, it was a different story. Kamijo wanted to corner her, but he made sure that he didn't. Putting fear into her was not his intention, especially that he actually enjoyed speaking with her. She was a woman that had no fear of him, which was slightly foolish.

Her pulse quickened under his touch, and he kept his fingers there. Why didn't Alice choose to back away? Perhaps she trusted him to not attack her? To trust a vampire she just met was very brave. "There is no need to be worried, my dear," he commented, giving her a grin. "It has just been awhile since I have felt a human pulse, and yours is pleasant underneath my finger tips." Perhaps he sounded strange, but it was alright.

The mention of animal blood amused him, making him chuckle lightly. "Of course we feed off of animal blood," he mentioned, "But it doesn't give us the satisfaction that human blood gives us." Plus, the blood tasted different. Animal blood wasn't the best tasting thing to feed off of, but it helped curve their appetite for awhile. Vampires tried to avoid animal blood, but if they had no other choice, they would sink their fangs into an animal.

"Besides," he started as he looked in her eyes once more, placing his hand fully at the side of her neck. "It is far more amusing to feed from a human. Human interaction, in general, is better. You can see a human's emotion through their body, and mostly through their eyes." He moved closer to her, leaning in towards her and keeping a small distance away. "I can watch your emotions, and feel your energy."

Kamijo had no intention to do anything bad to her, but he was testing something. He wondered if this woman before him was strong enough to push him away, or if she will fall into a trance like others have in the past. Usually with connecting eyes, that is how he usually placed these women into a trance. His gentle touches always added to it as well. This was how he used to hunt a long time ago, and it usually did succeed.

 

[redblood]

Kamijo's behavior became stranger and stranger, at least compared to a human. But she did not mind, strange could be extremely fascinating. Especially when ones parents had been keeping her away from any and everything strange ever since she had been born. If her friend hadn't agreed to lie for her she would most likely not have come into this world for years to come, if she did at all. It wasn't like she had been trying to seek out these kinds of events, she had simply gone because she had found the chance.

And then Alice's suspicions was found to be correct. They could feed and survive on animal blood. But humans were their gourmet food so to speak. That luxurious food that you longed for but couldn't always get. It made it slightly harder to sympathize with them. She got to eat simple food like hot dogs and pasta everyday of her life, and never had she complained over not getting Russian caviar or something like that. She weren't certain how satisfactory Russian caviar was, but considering the prize it should be better than a cheeseburger.

Then everything seemed to change. Instead of just a few fingers on her neck, his hand was now laying on top of it. He looked her in the eyes as he spoke with such a soothing voice she almost forgot everything except for what was right in front of her. Her pulse was first exhalerating, but then it slowed down as he seemed to calm her. That if anything started to frighten her, as it didn't seem like her body was in control of its reactions any longer. For a second she thought of just giving in to her body and calm down with her, but the calmness made her far too alarmed.

Alice put a hand on his chest and pushed. Not hard, only so hard so to show that it was going too far. "If you can feel my emotions then you must know that I feel slightly uncomfortable right now." She told him. "You are very handsome, but it would at least take a dinner before I can comfortably stand this close to another... person." She had almost been about to say human being, but stopped herself in the last second. That if anything would nullify what she had tried to point out.

Once she broke the eye contact with him, it seemed like her heartbeat went back to normal. With other words, it was beating way too fast and told her to run out of there. Which she of course ignored completely.

"So, what was that? Some kind of mind control trick? I think you need some practice in that case." She then said. There had been no doubt in her mind that he had done something to entrance her. But she did not understand how it worked. Any normal human would probably have started running once they figured that out. But she figured he were simply messing around a bit. He wouldn't have done anything, after all, he gave his word. Though her father did always say, don't trust a vampire.

 

[cat.]

Kamijo grinned, loving the reaction that he received from her. Of course she started to relax at first, but then she became alarmed. Almost did she give in to him, he could sense it. Her body was slowly becoming calm, but her mind was still at alarm. That made her fight through the feeling, and pushed back. Good, she passed his test. At least she was willing to fight than give in, and that was what he liked. Humans needed a little more fight in them.

"I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable," he told her, truly sorry that he did, "I was testing your limitations, but you pushed me away before you succumbed to me. I put you in a small trance to calm your body down, but I could have done worst if I wanted. That was only a fraction I could do, but I am not going to explain what more I can do."

He took a step back from her, removing his hand from her neck. Surprisingly, she did not run away from him. She must have trusted him, which was a strange concept. Humans generally did not trust vampires, vampires had a long running of being deceiving creatures. Though, he had this feeling that if she found out his past, she would think twice of trusting him. For now, he wasn't going to mention any of that. This was probably going to be the only night that he would see her, to his dismay.

"Tell me, Alice, what made you decide to come here tonight?" He questioned, bringing back a normal conversation. Again he leaned forward against the rail, looking over at her with a curious gaze. There had to be a good reason why she came, especially for a young woman such as herself. Surely her parents wouldn't have let her go alone.

 

[redblood]

When Kamijo apologized, Alice did believe that he was truthfully sorry. Whatever her dad had said about vampires dishonest nature did not matter to her. The vampire in front of her seemed more trustworthy than most humans she had met. And even if he weren't, what did it matter? She would most likely never see him again after this night. The thought saddened her greatly, as she not only wanted to know more about vampires in general, but more about him. She wanted to get to know him, just as when she was interested in a human she just had met. Her dad would have become furious if he knew.

And of course she was incredibly interested in hearing more about what he could do, even though he had told her that he would not explain that to her. If she could she would certainly try to get that out of him at some point during the evening.

His hand lifted from her neck and the air started to warm her. She had barely even noticed how cold he was before he actually removed his hand. "I came for the same reason most others would. Entertainment." She told him. "At least that's part of the reason." She then continued, not feeling like concealing parts of the truth when he had been truthful about why he had walked up to her. "My dad is very... hateful towards your kind, and have told me my whole life that you're monsters." She explained. "I guess I wanted to see for myself what kind of monster would make up laws of not hurting humans, and then make a ball for both kinds. Call it teenage rebellion, or naive curiosity."

There was no way she would tell him about her father being a hunter. It wasn't because she thought he would kill her family because of it, but he had been hiding them for so long, making sure that no one followed him once he came home and making sure no one knew that they were his family, simply to protect them from any danger. If she told a vampire about him, then she would destroy all that work. She did trust Kamijo, but she also loved her dad enough to not reveal such a secret to someone she'd just met.

"So tell me Kamijo. What more can you do?" She then asked him leaning a bit closer. There was no way she would let that topic go when he had fueled her curiosity himself by mentioning that he could do more than what he showed her.