"Do you like my gardens?" Mana smiled. "I walk in them every night. Usually with Yu~ki..." He sounded a little sad at the end. Shinya nodded, his voice quiet. "It’s very nice."

When they reached a bench in the center of a circle of flowers Mana gently pushed Shinya to sit. "Do you like it here, Shin-chan?"

"It’s very beautiful." He answered quietly. He didn’t really understand why he was there in the first place. But he was in fact afraid of Mana, after his attack from the night before he didn’t know what to do or say.

Mana smiled and brushed the hair away from Shinya’s face. "I like to look as your face, I’ll make sure those maids don’t let your hair fall in the way again...Would you like to go for a walk?" He stood and waved his hand off towards the forest.

Shinya stiffened, growing very tense.

Mana dropped in front of Shinya so he was eye level with him. "Don’t worry, I promise there won’t be a repeat of last night." He traced a finger against the vein again. "We can save the fun for later, ne?"

He pulled Shinya to his feet and quickly onto the forest path. The path off of Mana’s mansion was lit with torched on either side of the trail.

He must walk here often. Shinya thought.

"This trail connects to every road and path in this forest." He looked as the hopeful look growing on Shinya’s face. "But don’t think that you’d find your way around them. It took me years to learn the correct way to get from here to town on this trail." Shinya’s hope diminished quickly.

As an autumn leaf started to flutter to the ground Mana reached out and took it in his hand, twirling it teasingly at Shinya. Shinya relaxed just a bit, maybe Mana wouldn’t hurt him.

They walked on quietly, Mana gripping Shinya’s hand tighter. Mana loved the feel of the warmth radiating off Shinya’s body. He could hear the blood in his veins and smell the blood on the wounds along his jugular. Suddenly, Mana froze. A familiar scent and noise entered him.

Shinya looked at him confused and Mana’s hand tightened painfully. He watched Mana’s open his mouth to taste the air, turning his head to listen. "Oh, some fun may be near." He said it so bitterly Shinya was shocked. Up until now he seemed to calm at all times.

Shinya then very quietly heard something as well. It sounded like hoof beats from a horse. Over a slope in the path a horse came galloping into view. The rider dressed completely in a cream colored, tight fitting, riding outfit. Except for a red and black cape tied around his shoulders that hung down along the sides of the horse and contrasted deeply with the rest of his clothing.

He had the same flawless complexion as the beautiful Mana, except much less makeup and brown hair was very long bangs that hung over one side of his face, and the back securely tied and hung very long down his back. He only wore dark lipstick. Mana pulled the taller Shinya back behind him, still holding his hand in a death grip, as if to warn him that even though Shinya may be taller Mana is much stronger. Shinya tried to pull away, Mana gave him a hard shake and he quieted.

The rider stopped the horse and stared, shocked, at Mana.

"Gackt. What are you doing out here? You hate these forest trails."

Gackt studied Mana to a point that Mana looked as if he were going to explode from anger of him looking at him so coolly.

"I’m just going for a ride, Mana sama…I…never thought I would run into you out here. I didn’t know you went for walks anymore…"

Mana gritted his teeth and smiled wickedly. He gently pulled Shinya forward to stand in front of him and seductively nibbled on his neck. Shinya couldn’t help a moan. Mana smiled deeper when he saw Gackt shift uncomfortably. Shinya looked terrified but Gackt only glared. "Ne, I don’t want to walk alone. I brought a friend…I wanted to show him my paths. You know," Mana started to kiss lazy trails up the side of Shinya’s neck and face from behind. "He’s so much better than you, Gackt. His blood…it’s so much sweeter and thicker. Young. Unlike the old blood you have flowing through you."

Gackt watched Shinya tremble with fear and became angry. He didn’t like the victims to be scared, he liked to give them a quick death. It’s a reason he chose the dying or elderly. "Don’t play with your food."

Mana laughed, taken back by the sudden humor in Gackt. "Ne, I need someone to replace you…someone who can learn to be loyal. I made a mistake turning you, Gackt." Mana was now behind Shinya and wrapped his arms around him. One hand rested on his chest, while the other slid down Shinya’s chest and over his belly. Shinya jumped with fear and shock when Mana’s hand closed over him through his pants. He tried to pull away but Mana was holding him too tightly.

Gackt gritted his teeth. "What do you want, Mana? Why haven’t you left yet?"

Mana smiled and pulled his hand away from Shinya. Suddenly, he was in front of Gackt’s horse and held the reins. He jerked the horse so fiercely that Gackt fell from the back and the horse was shoved to the ground with Mana lurking around the horse’s neck.

"One, this is my land, and I’ll go wherever I damn well please. And two," Mana nodded to Gackt’s cape. "I gave you that, for your ‘loyalty,’ I want it back."

Gackt looked down at his beloved horse. The saddle had slid down to rest from the ground and dig into the side of the horse, it was kicking around, frightened and confused. Mana held onto it simply, forcing it to stay down. "Ok, just don’t hurt him." He took the cape off and threw it at Mana.

Mana laughed, he quickly shot a look over to Shinya to make sure he had not run off. He hadn’t. He stared from the protection of the side of a tree, transfixed at the strength of Mana as he held the horse. "Shinya, get the cape and put it on." Shinya was hesitant to move but at Mana’s soft but demanding look he did as he was told.

"Now, get away from my horse." Gackt demanded, so angry that the blood of his victim from earlier that night rose into his cheeks.

Mana looked back up to Gackt, hatred was clearly in his eyes.

"Go to hell." With that he sank his teeth into the horse’s jugular and ripped. He tore out the horse’s throat and buried his face in the wound, drinking as much of the blood as he could before, with a growl, Gackt threw him away from his beloved, dead horse. Mana slammed into a tree and felt to the forest floor, laughing. His face was covered with blood from being pressed against the wound and the beautiful makeup was ruined. Mana stayed where he was thrown, he didn’t look pained, but merely humored. He wiped some of the blood off onto his palm and licked it away. He laughed so hard that Gackt ran to him, wanting to hurt Mana in the exact same way that he had hurt Gackt’s horse.

With a gasp, Mana quickly rose and ran off like a shot. Gackt stared over at him where he stood with Shinya.

Mana placed his claw-like thumbnail against Shinya’s jugular and jerked him back against his chest. Gackt froze. He hated death; he hated the idea of having to feed off the living. When he was ‘turned’ Mana made him drink from the young and vital, who’s blood was young and sweet, but after he ran away from Mana and started his own ‘life’ he only fed off the old or dying. Their blood was sour from disease or thin from age but it was what he needed to survive, and even though he hated the idea, he could not bring himself to commit suicide.

"Gackt," Mana started, "go home. Unless of course you would like to force me to kill my little ‘blood donor’ here. I would rather not. His blood is so delicious that I want to keep him for a while...feed off him whenever I please."

Gackt looked at Shinya. Shinya was sobbing, his legs wouldn’t support him, and if Mana were not holding him up he would have surely collapsed to the forest floor by now. Some blood from Mana’s face wiped off onto his hair and left red streaks. His face was flushed and, despite how much he hated himself for it, Gackt felt himself growing hungry as he heard the blood pouring through the beautiful youth’s body.

Mana smiled again, no longer angry, as he saw the hungry, tortured look on Gackt’s face. "Hungry?" He giggled. "I remember your face you know, those hundreds of years ago when I first changed you. You refused to eat at first, but I could see the hunger on your face like I see it now. You were always fascinated when you watched me eat."

"I was disgusted." Gackt said bitterly. "I was never fascinated."

Mana laughed. "You can lie to yourself all you want, but you can’t lie to me...do you want to watch now?" The fangs slowly elongated themselves in Mana’s mouth and he teased his way towards Shinya’s throat.

"No! Don’t, Mana!" Gackt started to back up. He didn’t want to see it; he hated to watch Mana eat. He always seduced the victim first, and then tricked them by taking their life. Mana giggled and ran his tongue gently up Shinya’s neck. Shinya moaned. "Do you want to see me take his life, Gackt san?" Shinya’s dreamy look disappeared and he looked terrified, and then passed out.

"Stop it, Mana. Grow up."

Mana growled, dropping Shinya heavily to the forest floor. He walked and stood dangerously close to Gackt’s face. He saw the flash of red flickering in Gackt’s eyes. "You grow up, Gackt. Accept what you are! You are pathetic! You may not want to be a vampire, but it’s what you are! Why do you pity these humans?" He waved his arm towards Shinya. "They are our food! You do not pity food. You shut up and eat it!"

Gackt made a loud sound of disgust and shoved Mana as hard as he could. Mana flew backwards and crashed onto the dusty trail at least twenty feet away.

He ran to Shinya, who was still unconscious on the forest floor beside the trail. He started to lift him up into his arms but Mana had recovered and come back. He was much stronger than Gackt, and knocked him away with the back of his arm. "Get away from him!" He huddled Shinya up into his arms

Gackt scrambled to his feet as soon as he had recovered. "You can’t keep people like slaves!"

Mana turned to him, his eyes blood red. "Get the hell out of here!"