4Prologue
Eight years back from present time.
A seven year old girl sits in her room, brushing her hair. Running the brush through her shoulder length blonde hair, the young girl closes her eyes and winces as it tugs on a knot. Pausing in her brushing, she opens her eyes and looks into the mirror at her reflection. A young blonde haired girl with albino skin stares back at her. The girl's onyx eyes are an endless black, but they still hold warmth and life. She frowns and begins to brush her hair once more, whispering quietly to herself.
"Father will return home soon…." The young girl is certain of it as she turns around to check the clock on the wall across from her small, wooden vanity table. She sighs and stands up, running her small hands down her nightgown, straightening the material. The blonde child walks over to her bed and lays down, hoping to fall asleep before her father and her problems come back.
The young girl is woken by a gentle shaking. It's not father, the girl thinks to herself while keeping her eyes closed. He would never be this gentle with anyone. It must be mother. She opens her eyes, and the sight of her mother brings a sleepy smile to her face. But not for long.
"Arisu," The said girl's mother begins, and the sound of fear in the women's voice causes her blonde child to sit up. "Your father has not returned home yet. I fear something has happened to him."
"What's the problem with that?" The child- Arisu- asks while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
The woman sighs softly, but Arisu still heard it. "You are too young to understand, my child." Arisu's mother pulled the blanket off of her child's legs and grabbed her hands, sliding Arisu gently of the bed and onto the cold wooden floor. "We need to leave."
"What? Right now? Why, mother, what's wrong?" The questions fall from the blond child's mouth as she follows her mother out of her room and into her mother's. The said women stopped and turned to face her daughter. Crouching down to the child's height, Arisu's mother spoke to her.
"We do not have much time, Arisu. I will explain to you quickly, but then you must promise to come and follow me, with no questions or hesitation." Her mother paused and Arisu nodded. "Alright. When your father and I met, it had been over a job from the Slayers Association." Arisu was confused but let her mother continue. "The Slayers Association is a large group of vampire hunters. They kill Level E vampires, or any vampires that prove to be dangerous to humans."
"Level E? What's that? And I thought that vampires were just in legends." Arisu interrupted, to confused not to ask.
"No, vampires are very real. There are different levels of vampires; Level A, Purebloods, are vampires whose blood holds no human 'contamination'. They are also the only vampires that are able to turn humans into vampires. Level B, Aristocrats or Nobles, are vampires whose blood holds a small amount of human blood in their ancestry. Level C, D, and E vampires are vampires who were originally humans, but were bitten by a Pureblood. They are ex-humans. Those of them who are stabilized are known as Level C vampires, and those who are not are known as Level D vampires. Vampires who have gone mad with blood lust are called Level E vampires." Arisu nodded, excepting her mother's explanation.
"Your father was a vampire hunter, before he quit and became a drunk." Arisu's mother continued. "He was sent into town to kill a Level E that was killing humans."
"But, mother. How do you know all this? Were or are you a vampire hunter?"
"No, Arisu. I am not a vampire hunter; I never was. But I was one of the humans the Level E kidnapped." Arisu's mother ignored her gasp and continued, speaking quickly. "I will skip to the point, for I don't know if a vampire has gotten to your father and is coming here now. Your father killed the Level E and saved my life. We started dating a while later and soon we got married and had you. I didn't mind that your father was a drunk, and I kept my knowledge of vampires a secret." The women stood up. "Now quickly, we must hurry and leave."
"Alright, mother." The blonde child reached up and grasped her mother's hand. The pair walked fast through the simple house, and was walking down the hallway the led to the front door. Just as Arisu's mother reached for the door handle, a figure dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of them. The women pushed her child behind her as she addressed the creature.
"What do you what, vampire?"
The vampire laughed. "So this is Sesu Sakebi's beloved family." Its voice was feminine, and had a strange echo-like sound to it.
"I'll ask you one more time; what do you want?" Arisu's mother asked the vampire as the said creature stood up and looked at the women and child before her. There was fresh blood trailing down her chin.
"My brother died at Sesu Sakebi's hands, so you shall die at mine!" The vampire lunged towards Arisu's mother. The women roughly shoved her daughter away from her and Mrs. Sakebi fell to the floor under the vampire's body.
"Arisu, run away! Leave now!" Her mother shouted at Arisu as she kicked the vampire off of her.
"I can't leave you here, mother!" Arisu yelled back, shaking as she watched the vampire run at her mother as the said women dug something out of her pocket.
"You have to! Run!" Mrs. Sakebi kicked the vampire in her chest, sending it stumbling backwards coughing. The vampire women looked at Arisu, her eyes blood red.
"The child…." The vampire murmured before charging at Arisu. The blonde girl screamed and ran towards the door.
"Don't touch her!" Arisu's mother yelled, kicking the vampire in the back of the head. The red eyes women turned to Mrs. Sakebi, battling her once again. Arisu didn't hesitate to run out the door this time, slamming the door behind her. The blonde child slid down the door, sitting and waiting.
Inside, Arisu's mother looked at the small black box in her hands. Quickly, she pulled out a wooden stick and struck it against the side of the box. With the match in her hands was lit, Mrs. Sakebi threw the match at the curtains, setting them on fire. A chain reaction soon caused the inside of the house to be covered in flames. The vampire didn't waste any time and ran at the women's still outstretched arm. Arisu's mother gasped as the vampire women sank her fangs into the human women's arm. The flames started to burn at the hem of Mrs. Sakebi's pants, as well as the vampire's.
"I will die if it means the cause of your death." Arisu's mother said, as her vision grew blurry.
"Well that's too bad," The vampire women ripped her fangs out of Mrs. Sakebi's arm, and the human women dropped to the floor. "Seeing as you will burn here while I kill your daughter." The vampire jumped through the window, leaving Arisu's mother burning alive.
Arisu gasped when the window next to the door shattered as the vampire women burst through it. Flames were licking at the open air.
"W-what did you do to my mother?" The young girl asked, slowly backing away from the vampire lady that stood there smirking.
"I killed her. But don't worry, you'll see her soon enough!" The vampire ran at Arisu, but the blonde child was already running. Arisu ran through the streets of the town, desperately trying to escape the vampire. Suddenly, her face connected with a man's chest, forcing her to stop. Arisu heard the vampire stop behind her, as it made a small, almost inaudible, gasp. A gun was cocked and Arisu felt the man move his arm to point his gun at the vampire.
Be careful! This woman is a vampire! Arisu tried to say, but was surprised when she found she couldn't speak.
The man didn't even pause as he shot the vampire. The creature turned to dust.
"I am Toga Yagari. Who are you, child?" Toga asked. Arisu opened her mouth but touched her throat to say she couldn't speak. He understood. "I see. No matter, come with me." Arisu didn't question the man and followed him. After all, he did just save her life.