Vampire Rose de Capulet

Vampire Rose dé Capulet

Yuukie took his twin's hand in his own, staring deeply into his identical brown eyes. Ichirou –his brother – gazed at him with regretful eyes, tears threatening to bubble over his lower lids. Yuukie scowled. "Don't cry, Aniki …" he whispered to the slightly older male. "You didn't know your own strength. It's not your fault; Hikaru didn't tell you you'd be so strong …"

Ichirou's eyes suddenly flashed – yet they were still void of life. "Not my fault?" The other eight-year-old echoed in a distraught voice. "Jesus, Yuu-chan I killed our mother!" He cried out snatching his hand away. "I hate this!" He exclaimed angrily; "I hate being a vampire! I wish Hikaru had never turned me into one!" He began to cry, and Yuukie moved to wrap his arms around the slightly elder boy; allowing him to sob heavily into his chest.

The younger boy cooed to his brother, stroking his hair back; whispering words of comfort in his ear. Though he was the younger brother, he had always – ever since birth – been the mature one. And despite the fact that his heart was racing and his mind was frantic – he was feeling deathly afraid of his brother at the moment – he remained calm and stoic. He tried to remain calm as his brother's grip tightened on his shirt, tearing the strong fabric as easily as ripping a piece of paper. He tried to remain calm as his gaze was transfixed on the corpse that used to be his mother. He fought back the tears that threatened to come forth; swallowed down the shriek that attempted to slip past his lips. Now was not the time to be afraid; he had to be a strong brother – he had to be there for his Aniki, his help was necessary, and – despite the fear that was swelling inside of him – he was going to be there for him. Because that's what brothers do …

Since they had no father-figure in their life (their father had left them at a young age) he had to assume position; he had to be there for Ichirou, because no one else would be.

***

Three years had passed since that horrid, unfaithful night, and the twins had been adopted by a nice-looking family. The wife was American, the father Japanese – they had a cute puppy now Poco, and they treated the boys as if they were related by blood; as if they were really their children.

Ichirou adored them – Yuukie despised them. They were too kind; too generous; too aloof to the world; too oblivious … Despite all the signs – the super-human strength, the extraordinary speed, the long incisors – they failed to realize Ichirou wasn't of their world. Of course; that's not the only reason Yuukie came to resent them. The wife – Mary was her name – was a drug addict. She did almost every drug in the book. Yuukie had seen her do it once. Of course though, when he told Ichirou, he didn't believe him. "You're always making up lies about her. When will you just accept that she wants to help us?" He had asked in that snobbish I-know-everything eleven-year-old tone of his. Yuukie had merely narrowed his eyes and walked away …

The raven-haired boy sighed, staring at his brother, sinking even further into the warm bathwater that inhabited their tub. "Ichirou …" He said suddenly, staring at his older brother. The boy turned and looked at him, tilting his head. "Aren't we a little old to be bathing together anymore?" He asked nonchalantly, his eyes dull. Ichirou looked shocked. He opened his mouth – as if he wanted to reply – but refrained from doing so. Rather, the elder boy just shrugged, looking away.

And they were enveloped in silence once more. Yuukie huffed, ducking his head under the surface of the water for a few moments, his hair floating in gentle wisps around his face. When his head popped over the surface of the water and he opened his eyes – Ichirou was looming over him. He startled, his eyes wide and his heart frantic. "The Hell, Ichirou! Don't scare me like that!" When his brother continued to stare at him, Yuukie tilted his head to the side. "… What?"

"Yuu-chan …" Ichirou began hesitantly, staring his brother in the eyes. "Have you ever wanted to … Be like me?"

"What do you mean?" Yuukie asked, chuckling. "We're twins, silly. How more alike could we be?"

Ichirou shook his head, letting out a long sigh of frustration. "No! I mean … Do you want to be a Vampire?" Yuukie stared at his brother in stunned silence for a few moments. When the younger boy failed to answer, Ichirou spoke again. "I mean – I can turn you into one if you want me to …" He murmured, touching his brother on the shoulder with a damp hand. "That way … We could be the same …" He then touched Yuukie on the chest – where his heart should be. "No matter what, we'll always be the same- always have a little bit of each other still in us. We would really be brothers then … For life." Yuukie didn't know how to respond.

"I mean, I know Hikaru told us that if I were to turn you into a Vampire, it could cause some health complications – such as failure to ingest blood properly, possible hallucinations, unexplainable phobias, etcetera, because we're related by blood, but …" His eyes were frowning. "Please, Yuukie." It wasn't a question, it was a demand. "Please, I don't want to be alone anymore!" Tears swelled into his eyes and the younger boy felt his heart lurch for his elder sibling. He had never thought about it before – how lonely he must feel; how cut off from the rest of the world … How desperate he was to know that he wasn't alone … After a few more moments of hesitation, Yuukie spoke once more.

"Silly …" He whispered. "You were never alone … I'll always be there for you. Forever." He then tilted his head to the side. "No matter how sick I might get; I'll always be by your side …" He brushed the damp locks from around his neck and cupped his brother's cheeks, pulling his head close to his neck. "Go on, then … But please be gentle … Okay Aniki?"

Ichirou stared at Yuukie's neck for a while – his mouth watering as he stared at the soft pulsating of his Jugular vein beneath his flesh. He then grinned, baring his fangs. "Okay!"

***

Yuukie grinned s he dashed through the forest, his fangs bared, his eyes bright and alert. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins, giving him a thrill as he descended upon his prey. He leaped - crashing into his next meal, bowling it over onto the ground, pinning it down on the dank forest floor. His victim tried to scream – but could not for Yuukie had a strong hand clasped over his mouth. The sixteen year old flashed a toothy grin as his stomach growled, and he bent his neck down, licking along the Jugular Vein in his prey's neck, before piercing the soft flesh with his fangs. An almost silent yell for help escaped his victim's mouth, but there was no point as he drank the precious liquid with greedy, hungry gulps.

It had been weeks since he had last fed, and he wanted to savor every moment of it. Why hadn't he been feeding? Because, of course, his brother was the one who turned him into a Vampire. When they were eleven, Ichirou had told Yuukie about the complications that would be foreseen if a sibling – related by blood – were to turn his or her brother or sister into a Vampire (of course, their friend Hikaru Eto told them this much, for he's witnessed it from experience). There were several side-effects, but not all of them had made themselves present. Failure to ingest blood, nausea or vomiting, anemia, vertigo, increased heartbeat, delusions, paranoia and/or possibly death. Unfortunately – though it didn't happen often – Yuukie was experiencing the first four things listed. He'd have to go for weeks at a time without being able to feed, and sometimes he was genuinely worried that it would kill him.

So, he had decided to try his luck with feeding again – after all, it was better than not eating at all, right? Even if his body did purge itself later. So he drank greedily; hungrily; ridding the poor, defenseless human of its sweet and delicious blood – every last drop. Once he let the corpse fall to the ground, he waited for a few moments; everything felt fine, when suddenly – bile rose in the back of his throat and he dropped to his hands and knees; regurgitating on the forest floor. He tried to stop it – to no avail. It just wouldn't stop. Finally- when he was reduced to mere dry-heaves (some of his own blood coming up in the process) he sat up, his head pounding, his world spinning around him. He moaned, rubbing one of his temples in pain.

Once his dizzy spell was over, he looked around bleakly, his dull gaze flicking lazily around. His eyes rested on the corpse laying a few feet in front of him, and his body was suddenly drenched in a cold-sweat as he stared at the corpse. Instantly, images of his mother – his real mother came into his head, and he had to keep himself from crying out – biting down on his tongue to muffle his shrieks. He was remembering the day of her death – her accidental one. Ichirou didn't mean it – he was just too strong, she too weak. He had moved in to hug her tightly – they had forgiven each other after another one of their heated arguments – and he broke her – snapping her bones easily, leaving her to die.

He attempted to keep the tears from spilling over his eyelids by closing them and resting his head on the trunk of a tree. Those luminescent brown orbs only opened when he heard footsteps approaching, and he looked in the direction they were coming from. He frowned slightly. "Ichirou …" He murmured in his soft baritone. "I thought you were with Mary and Takuma." (He still refused to call his adoptive parents "mother" and "father.) "Helping them clean or whatever …"

"We finished over an hour ago … Yuu-chan, do you know how long you've been out here?" The raven shook his head sullenly. "Three hours, Yuukie. We were worried." That's when he saw the pool of vomited-up blood (and other remains from their breakfast of assorted human foods) and he scowled. "You still can't eat?"

Yuukie shook his head, and Ichirou moved over to him kneeling down beside him. "Maybe …" He trailed of, tipping his head back and moving the hair away from his neck. "If you try drinking my blood …" Yuukie – though puzzled – didn't hesitate to lean forward and bite into his brother's neck, groaning in delight as the sweet red liquid burst into his mouth and poured down his throat. Though he wanted to continue feeding until all of the blood was gone – he knew he couldn't – and pulled out only after a minute or so, swallowing his last mouthful. Satisfied – he licked the remnants off of his fangs and lips, before moving in to lick the excess blood off of his brother's neck and collar bone.

"Better? Do you feel like you have to throw up?" Ichirou's voice was soft, and Yuukie looked away. He did, actually. He could feel the vomit rising up in the back of his throat – but it never came – so he tried his best to swallow it down. It was simply stuck in the back of his throat … When he got no reply, Ichirou chuckled lightly, before leaning in and pecking his brother softly on the cheek. "I'm so sorry, Yuukie … I never should have begged you to-" He was cut off as Yuukie suddenly pressed a finger to the boy's lips, staring at him sternly.

"Stop talking." He grumbled. "You're giving me a headache." Though normal people would become offended if someone spoke to them like that – Ichirou was used to it; and just smiled, wrapping an arm around Yuukie's shoulder. The younger boy smiled back, resting his head on his shoulder. "I love you, Aniki." Ichirou was shocked, but he chuckled, resting his head on top of Yuukie's own. He hadn't called him "Aniki" in years … His heart warmed bit to hear those beautiful words come out of his brother's mouth once more.