For Eternity

-Part 2

Sugi’s hand moved at an inhuman speed as he scribbled away. The sound of the sharp point of the feather-pen scratching against the paper as the words was transferred into the book had its own alluring value to the vampire’s ears. Dark varnished leather bounded the many gold-edged pages. It was a beautiful book but it was what’s written in it that will count. In it, Sugi wrote of his mortal days, his entrance into nocturnal life and his life as a blood-thirsty predator.

Sugi looked at the sleeping figure on the bed. Yes, and he wrote about Ryu. So many pages of their meeting; they were fated to be together.

He returned back to the ink and paper. He used to write about the sun; of what he could remember about the sun. it’s been centuries since he last saw it but it was a small price to pay for eternal youth and beauty. Yet, sometimes, he missed the rays of warmth that he was never to touch again. He somehow craved his mortal past. But there was no undoing what’s done. He had known this ever since Yoshiki sank his fangs into him and granted him the immortality that came with supernatural powers and insatiable hunger for blood. Yoshiki was his Master; he was the first vampire. Yoshiki taught him what he had to know to survive and for that, he was grateful. But memories of Yoshiki brought out hatred from him. It reminded him of his unbroken bond with J. They share the same blood that was of Yoshiki’s.

They were brothers of the same kind.

***

My legs are hurting from running…but I can’t stop, the shadows are coming faster at me. I kept running although my lungs feel as if they’re about to explode…I run…but I have nowhere to go…Help…somebody help…anybody…

Ryu woke up with sweat drenching his body.

Another nightmare…

He closed his eyes as he pulled his knees up to his chest. His hand reached out for his Master. He was not there, Ryu sighed. He didn’t feel like sleeping again…those shadows chased him in his dreams. They seemed so real, the fear was so real. There was something odd about those dreams but Ryu just couldn’t put his finger on it.

He rose from the bed and strode to the window, letting a sliver of light enter by parting the drawn curtains. It was dawn, the sun peeked out slightly from the horizons. Dressed in his usual robes, he made his way down the stairs. The servants were up and was preparing his meal. They were reserved and hardly spoke a word to him. Now that Ino was not around, Ryu found awkward to eat alone and spend the days without any company. Sugi never appears in daytime.

***

Dusk seems so beautiful, especially when you’re sad and depressed and in no state to appreciate it. Ino sighed at the colors in the sky that were blending into one another, like a painting. The crowd on the street was thinning down; now only a few people strolled on the solid stone pavement. They regarded him with a look of suspicion. Feeling uneasy, he removed himself from the street and walked to find a quieter place.

The breeze was damp and unusually chilly; just to spite him. The thin robe was not enough to supply him the warmth his frail body needed. He knew this but yet he was reluctant to take any of the thick expensive coats Sugi had bought for him. This tattered robe was what he wore when he stepped into the mansion and he was determined to step out in it.

He found his mind wandering back to the past.

-He was young then…when Sugi saved him from the bandits. Weak, poor and scared then, he went under Sugi’ s protection. To express his gratefulness, he treated him with respect, never questioning his orders nor actions though he often wondered why Sugi was never around during the day or why doesn’t he eat during mealtimes or why doesn’t he seem to age with time. It had been nearly eight years since he was adopted by Sugi and in that period of time, Sugi never appeared to grow old, Ino noticed. But he kept his suspicions to himself. He had obeyed Sugi’ s every single word until now.-

Ino realized he had betrayed his Master. And he had betrayed him for the sake of a man that he barely knew; a man that was almost a stranger to him. A man that he got to know coincidentally but ended up falling deeply in love with. J.

Tears found their way to his eyes as recollections of their first meeting haunted him.

But he was so sure that J loved him. He saw it in his eyes. Still, he had instantly sensed the mutual dislike or rather, hatred, between the two. He need not ask. He understood immediately; it was to give up either his devotion for his Master or his attraction to J. He chose.

And he prayed that he would not regret his decision. Not now, it was too late.

***

J couldn’t help but feel something tugging at his heart as he followed Ino in the shadows. He was overwhelmed by the need to protect his beloved. But could he really love another person, especially if that person was a human? Humans were weak and J detested weakness. Ryu was Sugi’s weakness. Sugi was his brother. He could not possibly have a weak vampire as a brother. He had to eliminate Ryu and he thought he had until he appeared again before him that night. Yoshiki won’t be very happy.

But there was something about Ino, his vulnerability and innocence made him so pure; he was different from others of his kind, or so to J’s eyes.

" What do you think you’re doing?"

J turned around in surprise. Not many people(or vampires) could approach him without being sensed. Maybe I had let my guard slip, J thought.

" What I’m doing is none of your business, hide," he scowled at him.

" You should watch how you treat me, you know. Yoshiki’d be furious if…" The gleam in his eyes told J his implications.

" Don’t threaten me with his name!" hide merely chuckled at J’s outburst of anger, amused by how he could get heated up so fast. The other vampire ignored him despite the temptation of killing him.

" Well, how you gonna explain to him about Ryu? I’ve always said to him that you were never clean enough for any job. Sugi is still there in that mansion of his f**king that somebody that you supposedly killed half a century ago!"

" That’s not Ryu. If it was, he’d be old and withered," J frowned.

" True, true. But that still doesn’t explain why you smell of sex, does it?" hide pointed a finger at J. "Yoshiki hates his fledglings messing around with humans."

" As if you’re much better than me!" J said through clenched teeth.

" At least, I’m a better lay than you!" hide started laughing and J’s aura of anger was radiating dangerously. " And what’s more, I’m not his fledgling."

" I’m hungry. See you later, J!" He turned around but stopped for a while.

" And J?"

" What?!" God, this guy can be irritating!

" Once he knows…your object of affection’s gonna go *poof* " He blew into the night air. Quickly, hide disappeared into the dark mist of darkness above the roof.

The full moon shone brightly and outlined J’s figure. Crouching on the rooftop still, he saw Ino enter a rundown inn and he narrowed his eyes.

-No, I’ll never allow myself to be weak! Never.-

***

Ino scanned the state of the room he was given by the old innkeeper. Had he lived in the luxury that Sugi provided so much that he forgot how it was to be poor and penniless? The room was neat but the floorboards creaked and groaned with every careful step he took. The paint was peeling off the wall to reveal a disgusting shade of yellow beneath it. The whole place was stinking of disease. It made Ino feel sick. It made Ino crave for the warm fireplace and Persian carpets he had the night before and gave up when he walked out of the mansion.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he sat on the hard mattress. He was tired. The dreams came naturally to him as he fell into the land of slumbers. He need not change; he only have a set of robes in possession. In his almost-too-battered-clothes, he slept.

In his dream, he was happy. J was there with him, holding him in his arms and whispering into his ears, making him smile. In his dream, sadness didn’t exist; warmth and love were all there was. But he woke up with his face wet with his own tears. He wiped them off with his sleeve but they kept coming until Ino broke down into a weeping heap on the bed, clutching the blanket for whatever warmth it would give him.

He never felt lonelier in his life.

He didn’t remember falling asleep but the next thing he knew, it was morning. The sun rudely invaded the room through the cracks of the curtains. But he was shivering with cold. Wrapping the towel around himself, he trudged to the window. People were already busy setting up stalls and going to work.

He cleaned himself up as best as he could with the miserable basin and hard soap he found in the bathroom. The stairs groaned as he made his way down. The innkeeper smiled warmly at him.

" Good morning," he said.

" Good morning, young man. Where are you headed? I’ve never seen you around here before."

You have, you have. I was just filthy rich back then that you were afraid to raise your head to look at me. Now I’m just filthy. "Yes, this is a nice town. I was wondering where I could find a job."

" Job? Well, you can try the port," the old man shrugged and returned to keeping the account book.

Ino muttered a thanks and headed out for the port. As he neared it, he could hear the shouts of the seamen and the stench of fish, herbs, and logs. He saw men carrying sacks of goods and barrels of imported wine; they were covered in dirt and spoke coarse language. He inquired for work at the port-head. The gruff man in charge looked at him weirdly but gave him worn-out working clothes which reeked of sweat.

" Go west. You’ll see the Baltic King; the captain will tell you what to do."

That sounded simple enough except for the fact that Ino had no idea which direction was west. He asked around and found the ship somehow. Bold black letters spelled BA LTICK ING. Men were loading cartons of gunpowder off the huge belly of the ship. Soon, Ino joined them.

Sweat trickled into his eyes as he pushed the fully-loaded cart to the warehouse and back to the ship when it had been emptied off. Ino hoped he would survive although he was never this tired in his life. His stomach had to be fed and he forgot to tell the kind innkeeper that he had no money to pay for the room. Well, he would probably get kicked out once he found out.

While Ino was immersed in his thoughts, he didn’t see the sacks of salt falling from the stack. But he remembered the weight crushing him and darkness engulfing him as he fell unconscious. The workers stared at the wasted salt spilled on to the ground.

***

Ino woke up to a pair of green slit of eyes staring right into his. Ino thought he was in heaven and an angel was next to him because he was on silk sheets and the woman in front of him was too beautiful to be real. Her face was lovely, to say the least, with long wavy gold locks descending from the coil on top of her head, the pin securing the coil seemed to be pretty much useless except if you pawned it somewhere.

Ino opened his mouth to ask where he was but ended up saying, "I’m hungry."

" You are? I’ll get the maids to fetch you something to eat." ‘She’ was no woman. The voice was deep and undeniably, belonged to a man. Ino stared at the figure and before long, realized that it was indeed a man although the way he dressed could be deceiving.

" Ara…where am I?" He sounded hoarse and his throat felt worse than he sounded. His whole body was aching. As he stretched out his arms, he saw angry bruises appearing on the surface of the tender skin.

" You’re at my home. I brought you home from the port. I thought you were going to die when I saw those heavy sacks tumbling down on you. Are you feeling alright now?" the ‘man’ explained. Ino found himself staring at him. He was just so beautiful. And he sounded so kind.

" Who are you?" he asked softly, not wanting to sound rude to his savior.

" Me? I’m Hayashi." He paused for a second and smiled. "Yoshiki Hayashi."

***

***