The Wanderer

one: home

Akire covered herself from head to foot. The thick long sleeved trench coat  she donned offered just enough protection from the scorching heat of the sun. She had her hood up, her face very well hidden and her eyes were wrapped by a plain, white bandana. 

She trudged across the dusty road, a street familiar to her as the back of her hand. It was where she used to live with her family. She was headed towards their old dojo. At least, what was left of it.

She kept close to the buildings, taking cover in the shadows they cast. The trees were scarce in the area, unlike before. She remembered climbing the trees with her little brother and her best friend Akito.

A gust of wind blew across the street, slightly opening her hood’s flap. She hissed as the sun burned a small area of skin. She stopped to turn around and face the wall, waiting for her skin to heal. Once she felt it get better, she continued on until she reached a huge wooden gate, hiding a dilapidated dojo. 

Surprisingly, the dojo’s name, which as carved in a rich mahogany wood, was still in place by the right side of the gate. 

The wind rustled, sending vibrations everywhere. She was blind but she was also a vampire and that heightened everything else. Like a bat, flying blindly at night, these vibrations reflect the scene before her.

Home. 

This used to be home. 

She remembered how she was her father’s pride and joy. Shigure Moshimoto was one of the best samurai warriors of his time. He decided he wanted to train and develop other warriors to be like him before he would be too old to teach anything. This included his young daughter.

Akire took to the sword like fish to water. She was after all her father’s daughter. By the time she was 18, she became formidable with a Katana. 

She practiced her phases day and night while her little brother Ouiji shadowed her with a small wooden sword of his own. He was annoying as little brothers came but Akire loved him.

Akire stepped forward and laid her palm on the wooden gate. She felt the stirrings inside of her. The attack happened in the middle of the night. As fast as her father was, the monsters were faster. He never even drawn his Katana, he was on the floor, drained and dead.

Akire watched as her mother fell prey as well. She had tugged Ouiji away from the scene, to safety, her Katana tied to her back. But the little boy managed to squirm and rush towards their dead parents.

The monsters were in frenzy. 

She knew this now. The vampire blood flowing in her veins told her everything that happened that night and a string of nights after that.

She remembered the monster that bit her.

A very old vampire. 

She could tell by the memories he left when he imprinted himself into her system. It told of a different time. There were different people, dressed in different clothes. They spoke the old language; foreign but universal as some of the words used were still uttered today. 

Akire forced down the urge to watch the blurry scenes; the broken memories left by her sire in her head. She only wanted to peruse the ones that would lead her to the monster so that she could kill him.

But first, a visit to her home even though she knew what she would find. She knew more than half of the dojo was burnt to the ground. She was never sure what happened to her parents’ and brother’s bodies. She figured they were burnt to ash.

After the attack, she woke up blind, thirsty and burning up with fever. She was rescued from the rubble by the vampire who sired her. He must have thought she was worth something to him. 

What did he see when he bit into her? Was the vision shocking enough that he could stop drinking her blood and not drain her dead?

She remembered how he urged her to drink blood. She was too thirsty that she did not care who she drank from until she saw her face floating before her; memories of her, climbing trees and sharing peals of laughter.

She gasped and let go of the prey she was forced to drink from. She could remember the cold chuckle coming from the older vampire while she gagged and screamed.

She had drunk from her best friend. The evil monster made her take his blood! She could taste how sweet his blood was but as the waves of memories flowed through her, she was in agony. 

“Oh, don’t be so picky and dramatic young one! He’s collateral damage. Cattle.” A slithery voice taunted her. She tried to wretch the blood out of her system but it was of no use. 

“You can’t eject that out of your system. You are now a vampire but at least, you have his memories. I have to admit, not being able to express his tender feelings for you does bring a bit of bittersweet after taste, right?”

Akire had heard enough and with the blood rushing into her veins, she unsheathed her Katana and jumped towards the older vampire.

He laughed even louder as he dodged the attack with ease. He was older and definitely faster. With one swing, he had sent her flying across the room.

“Learn this young one. I will always be quicker, stronger and better! I made you because of a whim. I found you interesting enough… I can unmake you in a heartbeat!”

Akire cried out for him to kill her but he just laughed like a lunatic. He kicked the dead body of Akito and sent it flying towards her. She felt the vibrations headed towards her and was fortunate enough to extend her arms just in time, catching it.

“But since, I’ve already lost my killing mood. I’ll just leave you here and let you deal with daybreak. If you survive this change on your own, then you are welcome to find me.” He taunted. 

“But, it will be up to you whether you have the power to kill me. Revenge can be a bitter pill to swallow…”

And with that, he had disappeared leaving nothing but Akire, crying and holding her dead best friend in her arms.

A creak brought her back into the present. The sound also told her just how old and rusted the hinges of the dojo gates were. It grated her auditory senses, the most sensitive of all. She gritted her teeth and pushed again. This time, the gate gave way to her vampire strength. 

The smell of burnt wood was not as strong as that night, but the memory of it made it seem to her like the whole dojo burnt down only a night ago.

She didn’t have to wait for the wind to send her vibrations and paint her a picture. She knew the place well enough. She knew how many steps would lead her to the shrine she had made for her family and her best friend once she had enough strength and anger to live. The motivation was to live so she could avenge her loved ones.

It would have been easier to let go if he did not let her feed off Akito. All those feelings swirled around her mind. He loved her more than a friend. He was frantic that night, searching for her after the fires raged. He had run through the gates shouting her name and that was when he met the old creature. 

Everything went black after that; the last scene was the predator lunging for his neck. But as soon as the vampire tasted his memories, he stopped and said that he would save him for later.

That later was her. She was unconsciously forced to feed on her best friend. She had drained him dry.

She reached the cherry blossom tree just a few yards away from the better half of the dojo. She remembered how she managed to drag her best friend’s body to that spot and she dug, with her hands. 

It was typical, like in the movies, where it would rain hard after such disastrous scene. Perhaps the heavens do weep for the ravaged and those who died a merciless death. 

It made it easier for her to dig through the soft, wet earth. She was crying but she knew the water on her face was only rain.

Although vampire blood had not healed her sight, it had sealed the wounds so she no longer felt the pain. Her skin was burnt by the time she was bitten and that did not heal entirely as well.

Now, she could not shed tears. She could cry but her face would bleed blood.

The rustling of the leaves projected the site in front of her. She could see four stones, shabbily erected on the ground. 

One for each of her loved ones. 

She quickly left the dojo after digging, hoping to find or catch up to the vampire but she knew he was long gone by now.

Instead, she followed the scent of the rest of the monsters who fed. She wanted to slay them all but she needed to be wise. She had to learn from them their ways and how to survive, be strong and avoid daylight.

A woman pitied her. 

Haito was almost the same age as her mother. She was not as cruel as the rest and she had been a vampire for half a decade. She was sired differently but she wasn’t that averse to killing for blood.

“It’s a cruel way to live, Akire. But, it’s either kill or be dead. I don’t want to die just yet. Not now when I can finally have the strength to see the world and live my dreams!” Haito told her on the first night they hunted together when she asked why Haito would gladly drink from human beings.

Haito had taken Akire into her care. They stayed at the run-down building at the heart of the city, where the Old Hag was just around the corner. It was shelter against the sun.

At night, Haito would take Akire out to hunt. The first few tries, she refused to drink the blood that Haito offered. She feasted on cats instead and even the filthy rats.

“Akire, you will never get strong drinking animal blood. You crave human blood. It’s the only thing which makes us truly powerful as we should be.”

“I don’t want to kill anybody!”

Haito laughed and beckoned to her. They walked silently across the refugee camp set up by those who survived the attacks.

There were different people lying on cots, tents and even newspapers. They have lost their homes; loved ones and were even lucky to be alive and remain unturned.

“Look around you. These people are dying some, recovering. You can drink from those who are sick. Vampires never get disease.”

Haito stopped at the edge of the camp. She spied on one of the sick who was unluckily resting just a little bit near the clump of bushes. With speed that only Akire could feel, Haito grabbed the sick man and took him into the darkness.

Akire followed, listening to the vibrations. She was still getting used to having no sense of sight. But it was not totally foreign to her. While training to be a samurai, her father would blindfold her numerous of times and set her to work and spar with him.

Akire could smell the blood, it wasn’t as sweet smelling as the healthy ones that Haito would drink from but it was not that bad. 

Haito coaxed her to drink, to help end the misery of the old man. His heart was weak; both of them could hear it perfectly. 

Hunger drove Akire to drink from the dying man. She closed her eyes at the bliss the blood had given her. From that night, she vowed to survive on human blood but never killing anyone.

Haito had taught her how to feed and know just when she was close to killing a person. She also realized that her saliva could heal the puncture wounds and stem the bleeding. But she rarely did this to healthy humans. As much as possible, it was the sick and dying that she would feed on.

“I would not become the very same monster that ravaged my home and murdered my parents.” She said to Haito, a few days before she decided to seek out the vampire.

“You cannot fight who you truly are, Akire. But are you sure you want to live like this? You can easily just let go of your past and start anew. We could do it together! Surely, the past year has shown you how this curse can also be a blessing!” 

Haito said, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. Akire knew that the woman did not want her to leave. She had lost a daughter when she was human and somehow, the maternal instinct and the need for companionship made her clingy to the young vampire.

“I made a promise, Haito. I cannot thank you enough for the things you have taught me. I would never have survived if you did not help. I will forever be grateful. But I cannot go on living forever knowing that the people I love are dead and forgotten.”

“He made me this way. He killed my parents; my brothers and my best friend. He led that frenzy to my dojo! And he is going to pay.”

“His name is Charles Atkins.” Haito finally murmured. She had kept the name from Akire, hoping that through the months they hunted and bonded over being a vampire that the young one would forget about her quest for vengeance.

She should have known better. Akire was first a warrior before a vampire. Her sense of honor and love for family only heightened when she turned. There was no way she would forget and live with Haito forever.

“Thank you for telling me. I was wondering whether you would confess or not…”

Haito laughed but her eyes were sad. She touched Akire’s face. 

“Be careful out there. We are of strong species but there are also other monsters as strong, if not, even stronger than us. Beware of the wolf. Remember, Bran!”

Akire nodded. Bran was a pack leader that they met when they had sailed to Europe. 

Akire was also thankful to Haito for taking her away from the city and introducing her to new countries. Now, she had to make the return voyage alone.

Haito wanted to stay in Paris, to live like a queen among vampires and their human servants. 

“I will not let him catch me by surprise again.” Akire replied, referring to Bran before turning to leave. Just as she was about to disappear into the darkness, she turned around and smiled at Haito.

“Maybe when all of this is over and I survive, maybe I can allow myself to live for one more day or two. Just to live this life you dream of…”

Akire did not wait for Haito’s reply. She knew that the older woman was happy. It was in the air, she could taste it.

Now, Akire could begin her journey as the wandering vampire with only a name to lead her on. 

“I’m coming for you, Charles Atkins. You better be ready!”