ℌ𝔞𝔯𝔟𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔥

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞

How many times must he be tormented by the same dream?

There he was, sitting across from a woman he had never met previously. He noticed how her eyes held a mischievous twinkle, somewhat reminding him of a cat playing with its favourite toy. The young woman, seemingly either in her late teens or early twenties, smiled charmingly at him but remained silent.

This is how it would always begin. At first, it appeared calm and the woman held an ethereal beauty he thought impossible for any being to obtain, but the more he observed, the more unsettling it became. Vanitas was certain he was staring into the eyes of a killer. While the rest of the dream, the nature surrounding them or any passerby - in short, while any living thing would get swallowed up in a sea of devastating flames, or decay and rot away, she would silently invite him to dance. It became a hellish wonderland that flirted with the border between life and death.

Still, there was something magnetic about the stranger that he couldn't quite explain. So entrancing, yet dark and evil. No matter how much his instincts screamed and begged him to run, he somehow always found a way to wind up back in her arms.

Her heels forced him to look up at her as they danced for what felt like forever. She was leading, guiding him flawlessly as they moved in sync. One hand on his waist and the other gently gripping his hand, at this point, it had become an oddly comforting feeling.

She brought her face closer to his until their noses grazed softly and breaths mingled. The music was abruptly cut off the moment she punctured his neck with her fangs. For the first few seconds, he'd writhe in her grasp before clinging to her desperately. Despite the repeating events, Vanitas always reacted surprised whenever she consumed his blood or at the way his head would reel in exhilaration even as his vision hazed.

************

Vanitas moved his hand to his neck, the same place the strange woman had bitten him. He felt nothing, no puncture wounds, no pain or bliss. Perhaps he was going insane, but everything was far too vivid for it to be a mere dream. Yet what else could it possibly have been?

"Oi, Quack. Are you really going through with this?" Dante, a dhampir, questioned while looking down at the people from the glass ceiling of the large aircraft.

His voice snapped Vanitas out of his dazed state and as the ice-cold air nipped at their exposed skin, the self-proclaimed doctor/ vampire specialist let out a chuckle, "Naturally. For I know that my target is within this very airship."

Unbeknownst to him, two individuals with eyes of red would make an appearance. One is a person who's curious and fascinated by the world around him and the different species that inhabit it, he's captivated by the littlest of things. Meanwhile the other is someone who believes the world is a tedious place and is looking for excitement, although the interest she shows in anything quickly fizzles out, nothing ever seems to keep her attention for long.

"𝑆𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑."

Within the aircraft was a woman named Amelia, she had light brown hair pulled back in a braided bun, and wore a frilly dress with a shawl wrapped tightly around her. The woman appeared weak and ill as she gasped for air and shivered every few minutes. She swayed as she walked, only taking a few steps further before realizing that someone fell into step beside her. A young lady.

Amelia took in the stranger's appearance. She was several inches taller, had a warm and inviting smile, enthralling e/c eyes and hair that seemed soft to the touch. She wore dark gloves that covered her well-kept, blood-coloured nails, a long black trench coat over a long-sleeved white shirt and a burgundy corset vest, she also wore dark pants and thigh-high boots. The word ethereal echoed in the brunette's head the more she looked into the beautiful mystery woman's eyes. Despite her beauty, something was unnerving about her, it was as if Amelia found herself in the presence of a predator.