3 Sanguine Shadows

As the image flows, at first upon a black-and-white colored, beautiful house with a goth-like structure, and then flows into one of the rooms inside that house, levitating near the ceiling...

With a scratching sound, the window of Raphael's bedroom opens wide.

Through the opening made by the window, a skinny, tall being with sharp ears, and blood-red eyes, sharp long nails, and long black hair, pale skin, dressed in an expansive-looking suit crawls inside.

The being's eyes are glowing in the darkness of the bedroom while his erratic breath is echoing around.

But as it bends above and extends its skinny hand toward Raphael's bed which is right under the window, the being suddenly stops moving, realizing the bed is empty.

"Huh? " The man says as he narrows his sight upon the empty mattress.

"This... Why is he not here? " the man mumbles again, sensing a strange feeling that something is not right while listening to his senses.

The man quickly turns around, his senses screaming danger from behind while his gaze falls on the further pitch-black corner of the bedroom.

But to his surprise, no one stands there.

Because nothing happens at first, the man relaxes a little.

"Umu, I'm only two hundred years old and already paranoid... heh..." he even chuckles.

But a few seconds later, when the man is about to shift his gaze away to look elsewhere, a creature made from corrupted, black-and-white darkness forms in that corner and moves away, caught by the man's peripheral sight.

The man quickly looks back at the corner, but again, nothing is there...

"Am I going nuts? " the man asks himself a simple question, only to hear the answer he never wished to hear.

"No, you are not~"

Turning his face at the speed of sound, the man's sight finally caught the creature he saw before, now only sitting on the bed, enveloped by the moonlight of the four Nenktese moons.

With only his pure white eyes without any irises or pupils and a wide mouth full of long and sharp teeth visible, the creature made from flowing, corrupted darkness stands up and takes a step forward, out from the moonlight toward him as the man shudders in fear.

"Looking for someone? " Raphael asks with a smile as he focuses his gaze on the Vampire.

"What in the..." The man takes a step back in fear, his body tense from the unknown individual.

But before he can say more, or has a chance to jump out from the window, Raphael smiles widely and jumps at the man from the moonlight like a hungry monster, pulling him into the darkness of the room.

Flying through the air, the Vampire instinctively connects the fingers of his right hand, and using his claws like a blade, he pierces Raphael's chest with it.

But to his surprise, Raphael only laughs it off as they land on the floor of the room, the Vampire on his back, and Raphael upon him, pinning him down with his hands.

"So we are not gonna have a meaningful conversation now, are we..." Raphael says as the Vampire's eyes widen.

Grabbing the man's arm stuck in his chest, Raphael breaks and twists it with his right hand while squeezing the Vampire's neck with his left.

"AAAHHHH! " The man screams in pain as Raphael pulls the broken arm from his chest and shows it up to the Vampire's own mouth, saying: "Shut up you bitch... You chose this, I just wanted to have a small talk..."

For a few seconds, the silhouette of the Vampire struggles in Raphael's hands, kicking with his legs while trying to get free from his tight grasp, or at least pull his hand out from his own mouth, but each attempt is deflected by Raphel.

Until he himself finally lets go of the Vampire's hand and frees his mouth. 

"Ugh, what type of monster are you?! " The man says tiredly as he tries to pull his arms away from under Raphael who smiles even more widely.

"Your nightmare,-" Raphael says with a deep demonic voice while focusing his eyes on the Vampire under him.

Then, he continues with "-his nightmare,-" as his gaze shifts toward a room, that looks like, Kate's bedroom, where he sees an individual similar to the one under him, trying to climb up through the window. 

The last words "-everybody's nightmare~" come out as his gaze returns to the Vampire under him.

"For choosing the sin of trying to take my blood, and the blood of my mother-" the word mother came out from Raphael's mouth with anger "-I'm going to take your soul as a payment for this sin..."

"What are you? A Demon? " The Vampire chuckles slightly under Raphael, but seeing his appearance, his expressionless response, and hearing his next words, the man understands his boss sent him to hell, literally.

"Yes~"

"Eh? Wait, really? ...Fuck ...Look, we can-ugh..." the Vampire suddenly struggles to speak as Raphael presses him more against the ground.

"We can make a deal! Please don't kill me! Have mercy! " The Vampire is trying to negotiate but Raphael is not listening to his lies.

"You attacked me first... Sorry, I'm out of mercy~" He says with a wide smile. 

At that moment, Raphael opens his big, demonic mouth wide and bites almost half of the Vampire's neck, easily penetrating the pale skin with his countless, needle-like sharp teeth.

Covering the Vampire's mouth to prevent him from screaming, Raphel starts his feeding session.

But instead of taking the Vampire's blood, or flesh, Raphael goes straight for the soul as he promised, a habit of a demon.

A reddish power starts escaping the man's mouth, entering Raphael's as it lasts only a few seconds, but the power-up he is receiving is crazy... something he learned from Lucifer, his brother.

At first, he could not understand why God was so overprotective of something simple like the creation of souls, but after he became a demon, he understood its importance... as well as its taste, and it was delicious, always.

As he consumes the last remnants of the delicious feast, the lifeless corpse relaxes on the ground as a pillar of black-and-white flames erupts from the floor with Raphael in the middle.

'That's also a way of how to do it...' Vega comments as Raphael rises from the ground with narrowed eyes.

Somehow, the feeling he is receiving from those flames reminds him of someone he knew.

Transforming back to his human self while leaving his body covered in shadows, Raphael smiles and decides to leave this matter for himself.

"Well what can I say, I always loved to choose my own way~"

As those shadows covering his body begin to disappear, they show a fully black outfit.

Instead of wearing his striped pajamas, he is now dressed in a black hoodie and black jeans while on his feet is a pair of black-and-white, basketball sneakers from a famous player on Earth.

"This type of clothes used to be cool or "alright" on Earth... I wonder what type of brands and styles are on this planet..."

'What kind of shoes are these? ' Vega immediately asks.

"These are the shoes of a big Michael J from Earth. As I can see, no one will probably recognize them here but I always liked the brand... They have style~" Raphael replies with an excited smile as he starts to disappear from his bedroom in clouds of shadows.

'If you think so...' Vega suddenly says as Raphael narrows his eyes at the response but before he can say anything more, he disappears.

...

Kate's bedroom...

Opening the window to Kate's bedroom, a similar-looking being starts to crawl inside.

But to his surprise, the room looks totally different than the last time he was there.

"Hmm... someone here has a good taste~." The Vampire says in a low tone so as not to wake up Kate and stands up.

But as he is about to move closer to Kate's bed, a big shadowy arm suddenly grabs him from behind by his neck and pulls him down through the floor like it's made from water.

Immediately, thousands of demonic runes start to appear in the air of Kate's bedroom as well as the spaces of different rooms while the Vampire and Raphael fall through the floors of his new house.

Seeing the similarity between these and the ones he saw a few days ago, the man's eyes widened.

"Another Demon? Here? Boss you lied! " The man screams as Raphael starts laughing like the Demon he is while falling through the floors of the house as darkness covers them, and the image returns back to Kate's bedroom where everything turns to normal.

For a few seconds, nothing else except for the sound of an impact, sounds of struggle, and muffled voices followed by painful screams of the Vampire can be heard coming from the first floor.

Then all of a sudden, silence with the sound of something falling deeper into the house followed by the sound of the door being slammed behind could be heard.

And then again, only silence as Kate turns in her bed from one side to another, not aware of anything, enjoying the silence.

...

A few minutes later

Walking across the street with his hands in his pockets, Raphael wears a satisfied smile.

The Vampire he captured is tightly locked in his basement, ready for future questioning, and his mother is sleeping carelessly, what else could he wish for than a deserved night out? 

The four moons of Nenktese are glowing brightly, lightning out the way together with the orange-light street lamps.

A slight night breeze is playing around with people's hair as they are passing by, together with different-looking cars.

The night seems calm. 

'Well, that was one hell of a night, don't you think? ' Vega asks with a somehow excited tone as Raphael suddenly passes by a girl.

While he nods in response, for a split second, the girl's bright blue and Raphael's blood-red eyes meet.

And as a response to the sudden eye contact, a quick flash of countless images of the girl doing different things and hobbies with Raphael himself while also sharing some intimate moments together flashes through Raphael's mind, together with a sharp pain.

"AHhhh! " Raphael immediately diverts his gaze elsewhere, away from the girl while holding his head tightly.

'What the fuck was that?! ' He thinks, looking at the ground.

The girl, seeing Raphael's reaction quickly stops in her tracks and walks to him.

"Um, hello, uhh... are you alright? " She asks, slightly shy while holding some distance.

The slight breeze which was to this second pretty calm suddenly blasts as it brings the girl's sweet scent closer to Raphael.

Taking a few deep breaths, Raphael's senses enter a seventh heaven thanks to the sweet perfume of the girl. 

But as sudden as it all started, as sudden it ended and the wind calmed down again.

Understanding that he must now look like some addict on a drug, pretty scary for the girl, Raphael moves his head to the side.

"Ugh...Yeah... I'm okay..." Raphael takes his last deep breath as he adjusts his posture, feeling the pain leaving his mind.

"Oh, well, alright then... bye..." The girl says quickly as she turns and leaves before their eyes can meet again, but Raphael manages to see a slight blush upon the girl's cheeks before she turns.

Smiling while eyeing her back hidden under a pure white, suit shirt, and her slightly longer legs, watching her dark hair tight into a ponytail swinging from side to side while she picks up a call, Raphael unconsciously licks his lips.

"Damn, she's fine~" he whispers but decides to turn and walk away because of what he saw in his head.

"Vega? " he asks instead of following the girl like he would do in any other situation as he starts to walk again in an opposite way, away from the girl.

'Yeah? ' the A.I. replies instantly.

"What was that? Why all of a sudden I saw flashing images of the girl in my head? I don't know her... Or do I? "

"I mean, did Michael know her? " Raphael asks with narrowed eyes while shifting his gaze toward the four moons in the cloudless night sky, awaiting Vega's answer.

'Well...' the A.I. hesitates, taking its time for silence.

"Well? " Raphael asks as he wields his hand and looks at the silver ring on his finger with glowing eyes.

'Fine, that's because she is your target... Now, can you stop staring at me with those scary eyes? ' Vega explains vaguely as Raphael stops in his tracks.

"A target? " Raphael asks with narrowed eyes, turning his face behind, back at the girl who just disappeared behind the corner.

"Stop playing around and explain properly! " he growls angrily while turning his gaze back, looking at the silver ring with glowing eyes.

Fine, yeah... A target of your corruption~ as you used to say... And her name is Amy...'

...

Amy's POV... Before the encounter...

Walking from her house, Amy quickly approaches the gate, opens it, and closes it right after she is outside.

On the street, she looks around and sighs.

"Perfect... This is just perfect..." she says and pulls out her phone.

Dialing a random number, she starts calling while slightly adjusting her small checked skirt.

*Beeeb *Beeeb *Beeeb

After the fourth beeb sound, someone picks it up.

From the phone, a loud techno-like music can be heard mixed with the female voice of Amy's friend.

"Yes? "

"Jessica? Where are you? Why didn't you wait for me like you said you would?! " Amy speaks with an angry tone as she starts walking deeper into the town.

"Chill out Amy, okay? On the way, I met Rose and her group so I joined them." Amy's friend, Jessica replies.

"What? And from when you are friends with Rose? " Amy asks with a sharp tone as she takes a left turn.

Walking down the street, Amy's eyes wander around while she's listening to Jessica's explanation.

"Come on, now you are going to ask this? What about two days ago when you ask her out, huh? "

"That was because you were not available BECAUSE you went out with David, the biggest idiot in our Academy! " Amy replies.

"Uh huh, right... An idiot, but only when he is not with you... So now you are going to play THIS game, huh? You are only jealous 'cause you're still a virgin Amy..." Jessica says.

"Okay, you know what? Fuck this, I'm tired of your games. I'm always doing this struggle shit with you and honestly, it's annoying. I'm heading home..." Amy says, but when she is about to end the call, her eyes register a dark figure walking toward her.

After a few steps, the shadowy silhouette turns out to be the figure of a devilishly handsome young man dressed all in black, talking to himself.

Eyeing his figure and face, the time around Amy and the man seem to slow down as in Amy's POV, he's taking steps in slow-motion. 

"Come on Amy, don't even try to hang up on me now! You hear me? AMY?! You promised me we would go out! " Jessica's voice is echoing from the phone as Amy whispers in response.

"I... I'll call you back. WAIT! "

"Uhhh.... Oh, o-okay, I guess? " Jessica replies hesitantly as Amy ends the call.

Looking deeply at the figure and the face of the man in front of her, Amy's heartbeat starts to speed up, her hands begin to sweat and her throat starts to dry up.

'Damn, he's so fine~' she says with her inner voice as she wishes to meet his eyes while biting her lower lip.

'I wonder what color they have~' she thinks excitedly as she passes by the man with her "horny face".

Her face little lowered, her eyes looking deeply at him, her lower lip between her teeth, and her breath slightly aroused.

For a few seconds, she even wished the man to go with her to the club she was heading, so she could make Jessica jealous for also choosing a playboy like David, just like her.

But when his blood-red eyes with lizard-like structured irises meet hers, images of a chaotic, demonic being killing everything around and her home planet, Nenktese burning "alive" flashes through her mind and eyes, scaring her off.

Startled to death, the girl stumbles slightly as the man passes her but as she turns around, all of a sudden, she sees him bend down a little, holding his head in pain as if a Psychic attacked him.

"AHhhh! " the boy shouts while holding his head as Amy thinks about the images in her head. 

'What in the world was that?! ' She asks while looking around to see if someone is really attacking this beautiful angel, but sees nothing so without even thinking, she takes a few steps closer to the man.

It feels like something is calling her to him as if she is not in control of her own body.

"Um, hello, uhh... are you alright? " she asks all of a sudden with a slightly shy tone, pretty unusual for her as the wind around her starts to act strangely, circulating around the two young individuals as if protecting them.

But as suddenly as she entered this confusing state, she woke up from it.

'Eh? ' looking around, Amy's eyes widen when she wakes up and understands she is unconsciously using her magical powers of Air control while thinking about the man in front of her.

Wielding her hand slightly, the wind around stops blowing like a hurricane and returns to its calm state, when all of a sudden: 

"Ugh... Yeah... I'm okay..." the boy near her replies to her question, which slightly startles Amy again.

She completely forgot who she was there with!

Trying to comprehend the most calm and kind reply, while in reality having no idea what to say, Amy says:

"Oh, well, alright then... bye..." as she quickly leaves the boy and pulls her phone out again before their eyes can meet again.

Feeling his piercing gaze on her figure, Amy sights while feeling an unknown heat in her chest.

It was a sweet feeling, completely different from what she felt in the man's company.

Dialing Jessica's phone number again, Amy's phone starts to ring again.

"Yes? Did you change your mind?~ " Jessica's already slightly drunk voice echoes from the speaker as Amy replies.

"Jess, shut up and listen. I need to tell you something..."

"Oh, okay, I'm all yours~" Jessica jokes as Amy starts explaining what just happened to her, unaware of what else is awaiting her that night.

...

... ... ... ... ...

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