A/N: hi y'all this is a little world i've had in my head since i was young and it's gotten so complex i just want to put it all into words. literally imagined this shit as an anime. i have a whole show in my head bruh!
so here we go (apologies if it is confusing at all, this chapter will mostly be about explaining the world and its situation)
Looking up at the cloudy, grey sky above, Elise kicked a rock and let out a puff of cold air. The rock skittered into the sewers next to her.
'Overcast. Typical.' she thought as the rock made a light plopping sound, hitting the bottom of the sewage.
Her blonde hair blew a bit in the sanguine wind, a single white streak of hair framing part of her face. The faint metallic scent of blood filled the streets of the somber cityscape which although was not unusual, the scent of death gave one a disturbed feeling no matter how many times you smell it.
After all, humans do not easily adapt to vampiric society.
—-————
In the city, one should expect to see some sort of bloodshed every day, or even, multiple times a day as vampires are not known to "peacefully" work things out with one another. And if it's a fight with a human? The human is more often than not dead as soon as the vampire lays their crimson eyes on them. Even though there are not many humans who are able to actually fight back against vampires, it can happen. A human's will to live can be a scary thing.
Reflecting the somber essence of the city, the sky is almost never blue but is instead always enveloped in a light fog with grey, overcast skies that block out most of the sunlight. These conditions are favorited by vampires, but for humans, Elise has learned that it isn't the most pleasant of living conditions. Due to the lack of sunlight, it's common for humans to experience vitamin D deficiency which has made them pale and weak in comparison to their former selves.
The constant rain did not seem to help matters much either.
These weren't always the human race's living conditions, though, as it was one big catastrophe that put the human race in this position in the first place. Years prior to the downfall of humanity, they did in fact govern most of the world before, and things did work out for a while, with the vampires being limited to the city and the humans residing in the outskirts, which were once lush forests, ripe with flora and other wildlife.
Humans conveniently lived in this part of the world for hundreds of years, using the fertile land's many resources to survive. They were happy with this arrangement. The vampires on the other hand, were not too keen on the food presented to them by their ecosystem, which included many different types of rodents and a few larger mammals. A satisfying meal is considered very important to vampires, almost sacred, as it not only has clear health benefits, but it increases their abilities and strength by a considerable amount. Feeding on just rodents and other unfulfilling animals left them hungry for more, practically starving for a taste of a real meal.
For a time, vampires would scour every corner of the world in search of a real food source, leading to many discoveries and advancements to their race. This caused conflict between the two races as the vampires were breaking the deal of not crossing into human territory.
Upon tasting human blood for the first time, all hell broke loose as the vampire race had finally found their one and only delicacy. Over time, the vampire population boomed and far surpassed the human population due to their very frequent breeding habits and newfound food sources. The human race began to become hunted.
Things got far out of control when the human government was overthrown and millions upon millions of humans were slaughtered and millions more imprisoned in camps to either be raised as livestock for slaughter or bred like animals to increase population numbers. It was a grim fate for most.
Sadly, the precious lands outside the city are now uninhabitable because of the immense bloodshed. All of the carnage drew hordes of night creatures to the forests—beasts that were once vampires who succumbed to starvation. They are the only creature that rival vampires in both strength and blood-thirst. They have immense strength that can easily tear through anything and multiple rows of sharp, jagged teeth that rip through bone and meat alike. These creatures soon realized that the forests were so abundant with bodies that they could vulture on and life that they could prey on, that the entire population of them moved into that part of the region. Compared to further in the bleak countryside, the forests were a goldmine for the night creatures.
To most vampires, humans are prey. They are very difficult for vampires to perceive in any other way for a number of reasons; with the main one being because they're simply just so different from humans. Through extensive research and experiments done on unlucky vampire subjects during humanity's peak, it was found out that their brains are wired completely differently.
Basically, their ability to understand human emotions such as empathy or compassion is majorly dampened. They are quick to anger, possessive, and predatory. Some are able to learn to be more civil or to understand human emotions but in the end, most decide to give in to their violent, manipulative nature.
More experimentation disturbingly revealed that vampires have a taste for blood, specifically human which resulted in the limitations placed on the vampire race out of fear. For years, their delicacy was hidden in plain sight.
Ironically, vampires do have similar physical qualities to humans with the exceptions being their slightly pointed ears, much paler skin, and most of all, their eyes that turn to crimson red at the sight or scent of blood. Combined with the ability to see in the dark, their senses, speed, and strength are almost unmatched. Some vampires may even cannibalize other vampires as their violent tendencies cause them to be prone to frenzies where they'll kill just about anything for bloodshed.
—————
Elise was almost at the school when she suddenly heard a terrible groan from the alleyway to her left along with some unnerving snickering. Turning her head, she squinted her amber eyes curiously as she was almost about to walk past where the sounds were coming from.
"Dude that thing is fucked up!" a teenager that looked to be around Elise's age jeered, half laughing at something on the ground.
He was wearing the same red and black uniform as her along with the younger vampire next to him. They were students, like her.
The younger student laughed at his friend's remark, then gave the thing far too harsh of a kick for something just helplessly lying on the ground. The thing let out another horrible groan, causing Elise to stop focusing on the two vampires and instead on the gory mess.
To her horror, it was a night creature, an oddly tiny one at that, but it was all disfigured and bloody with one of its eyes bulging out of its bloated face. Elise wanted to look away but couldn't help but morbidly watch as the two vampires kicked the creature senseless,
diminishing it of any life it had left. The two vampires were so enthusiastic to spill blood that they didn't even notice her watching them. She was practically in a daze, only having seen scenes like this from her window. Quickly, she sped away from the scene, coming to her senses.
In this world, both vampires and humans go to school by choice. Education and structure isn't exactly this world's strongpoint. Most humans who're still alive, choose not to attend school for obvious safety reasons, however, there are a few that do choose to go to school, although it is rare. Elise felt happy to be among that minority as all she really wanted to do was see the world, even if it's cruel and dangerous—but more importantly, a sense of direction.
No doubt, this world is dangerous but she couldn't just stay cooped up her whole life. Either way, she's going to die, so she doesn't want to die feeling lost and unfulfilled. Is she really supposed to just sit at home her whole life like her father wants her to? Elise loves her overprotective father dearly but he did shelter her to a bit too far of an extent. Only recently, after having a long argument with him on the matter, did her father start giving her more freedom.
Her dad grew up with just his mother until she died at the young age of 12, leaving him without a family. Much of his life was not a life at all but rather, survival. That was until he met her mother.
Elise doesn't have many memories of her as she died when she was about 8 but her father loves telling her stories about her rather rambunctious mother. He always compared her to a light in this dark world.
Her mother was a kind, adventurous soul who wasn't made for this world, according to her father. She didn't see all vampires as monsters and frequently would even befriend them, something Elise's father just couldn't understand. He never quite told Elise exactly what it was that happened to her but Elise knows that she is long dead, lost to this somber world. As she gets older, she begins to forget both her voice and face, haunted by the feeling of her gentle, nurturing touch— something she longs to feel again.
Letting out an apathetic sigh, her brown eyes peered up at the towering buildings surrounding her as she walked. They were huge, but in shambles, just like much of this city. Hopefully the school would at least be a bit less shattered than the rest of its surroundings.
She came to a stop once she realized she had gotten to the school and then took a look at the cement building in front of her. It was a decently sized building with large brick pillars lining the walkway. It didn't look the cleanest but was in better condition than she thought it would be. It was the only one left in the city, after all. The others were all abandoned, destroyed, or lost to the outskirts.
She took a deep breath and rushed inside, already feeling the many red eyes following her figure as she walked through the halls.
————
Walking down the hallways was a truly mortifying experience as expected. She was stared at like a piece of bloody, red meat by hundreds of beady eyes as she walked to her class. Normally that wouldn't bother her, since she was a human in a world full of vampires, but the sheer number of vampires in the large school did daunt her a bit. They could all turn on her at any given moment if they really wanted to. Not to mention she hasn't even seen a single other human so far. Was she the only one in the entire school?
Now, she was inside of the classroom, and the queasy feeling brewing inside of her stomach was still no better. Nobody was even really listening to the teacher's lecture as much of the room was filled with loud chatter. Trying to ignore all of the anxious thoughts rushing in, she shook her head and continued aggressively fiddling with her pencil as she tried to pay attention to the work in front of her. Everything was just very overstimulating for the girl.
"Livestock," a deep voice from behind her purred as she felt a piece of crumbled up paper hit the back of her head.
She tensed up and in a slight panic, accidentally flung her pencil onto the floor, right near the guys feet. Elise reluctantly turned around and was met with the pale face of one of her vampire classmates. He had dark, unkept hair, lazily pulled back into half of a bun. Funnily to Elise, his hair was a bit longer than hers. Unlike most of her other peers, his eyes were just black, probably his normal color.
She furrowed her brows a bit, puzzled as to why he wasn't bloodthirsty from her scent but then disturbingly realized it must mean that he had fed recently.
The male looked back at her, his arms crossed. He leaned back in his chair with his legs slightly parted. Some of his paper was torn up with the remaining pieces having odd doodles on them. He clearly wasn't paying attention either; it looked like he'd been making paper balls for a while.
"I've only seen you twice and I've noticed you seem to always have an inner monologue type of thing going on." he commented, curiously tilting his head at the silent girl. She could not tell if he was mocking her or not.
Her cheeks flushed a bit, already embarrassed by this encounter. Being cooped up for years hadn't exactly made her the social type or even allowed her to be for that matter.
"Would you stop with the pencil?" he said simply, still staring intently at the girl. He couldn't help but stifle a chuckle under his breath at the awkward human.
"Umm.. yeah, sorry." Elise awkwardly spat out, looking away from the male.
An amused smile flashed his pale face as he bent down to the side of his desk and picked up her dropped pencil. He handed it to her slowly, their hands brushing past one another. She felt a slight chill run down her spine. His hands were very cold in contrast to hers, which gave off a comforting warmth.
They stared back at one another with a type of fascination, the male's brows furrowed. His stare was harsh and seemed absent of any warmth or comfort. It was quite hard for Elise to tell if he was looking at her with contempt or intrigue.
His mouth parted again, slightly revealing his menacing set of fangs, "Sandalwood?"
For a second she was confused, but quickly realized he must have been referring to her perfume. She nervously shifted in her seat a bit, his eyes following her.
"You..." she started, taken aback, "You can smell my perfume? Wouldn't my blood just mask that scent?"
"Normally it would, but i'm not really itching for a drink right now." he replied, a half smile flittering across his face at the thought of his last meal.
She shuddered a bit, having a knowing feeling of what just flashed his mind.
Elise turned away from him, getting nervous from his off-putting aura. Were all vampires this intense?
His gaze remained on her as she turned around, traveling to her neck which was pristine and untouched. A sick smile painted his face as he realized the girl not only had virgin blood but seemed rather naive as well. So many vampires would be after her.
He felt excitement bubble in the pit of his stomach from the chaos this newcomer might bring.
——-—
At lunch time, Elise roamed the halls in search of a lonesome place to sit, away from all the prying, red eyes. Everywhere she went, students stared at her. She hadn't even attempted to sit in the cafeteria because that would probably not be pleasant at all based on her experiences in the hallways.
She sighed as she looked down at the sad lunch on her metal tray; diced up corn, broccoli, a cookie, and spaghetti. It wasn't the best combination and didn't even taste good either but it was something for her grumbling stomach.
Suddenly, the poor girl tripped over something on the ground and fell onto her knees, her lunch splattering everywhere. She let out a surprised yelp, stopping the fall with her hands. The spaghetti sauce was all over her shirt. She looked at it in disbelief as she had just gotten that uniform.
"You humans are so clumsy," that same deep voice from her first class spoke up, letting out an agitated groan. His voice had a slight rasp like he had just woken up from a nap.
Elise looked to her right, still on her knees, and froze upon meeting those same dark eyes as earlier.
She immediately sprung to her feet resulting in a mocking chuckle from the male propped up against the lockers below her, "You resemble a frightened doe."
Elise looked at him incredulously as he stood up, tiredly stretching. She hadn't realized how tall he was and how broad his shoulders were until now. Her eyes accidentally seemed to travel to his v-line as his shirt had lifted up from stretching.
Those thoughts of attraction clashed with the fear she felt, noticing he was slowly stalking closer. She began to back up, brought back to reality.
"The unsuspecting doe takes a drink from a suspicious lake, blissfully unaware of all the dangers in the forest surrounding her," his hand slammed onto the wall which was now right behind her, trapping her there, "right up until the point she is in the very palm of danger's hand." he spat out in a cold, mocking tone before lowering his head down to her neck and trailing his tongue across her skin.
Elise had no idea what to do; she was frozen in fear. The feeling of his tongue caused her to instinctually try to shove him off but he quickly squeezed his leg between her thighs and used his other free hand to pin her arms. She could no longer move.
The girl looked up at the male's face, which was some inches away, giving him a glare but not being able to utter a word. She hadn't even noticed the faintest blush adorning her cheeks at the feeling of the males leg being squeezed by her thighs.
He chuckled at the girl, quite enjoying her helplessness, "Only then, does she begin to shake and quiver. " the male jeered, "Frozen in place."
The dark-haired stranger gazed down menacingly at the girl in front of him. His eyes were harsh and cruel, like she had offended him some how.
Elise flinched, not daring to look back up into eyes.
He leaned closer to her neck once again but this time, fluttered his eyes shut as he took in her scent. He let out a breathy exhale, "Your scent is intoxicating, livestock."
She wanted to feel angry or violated but she couldn't seem to muster up those emotions and instead just stared at him dumbfounded, "What do you want?"
"What do any of us want?" he locked eyes with her, awaiting her answer.
She nervously took in a breath, beginning to feel a sense of panic. Her hands twitched in his grasp. He was still looking at her expectantly, clearly wanting an answer.
"Blood?" she replied weakly.
"Correct." he said, before harshly releasing her and removing his knee. She hadn't noticed his knee was supporting most of her weight as she stumbled against the wall for support.
She caught her breath and felt herself calm down now that she had her personal space back.
The girl then winced, noticing her knees were slightly burning.
Elise looked down and immediately felt a surge of panic at the sight of her scraped up knees. Had she been bleeding this whole time? No, it must have been when she tripped.
"Clueless." the main said simply, "What exactly in that walnut brain of yours made you think it was a good idea to come to this school?"
She only glared at the male, that sense of violation catching up to her, "I never thought it was a great idea, ever consider that I was just tired of rotting at home my whole life?"
He chuckled, "So, step into the lions den instead?"
Elise scoffed, reaching down to wipe her bloodied knees with a spare napkin, "You wouldn't understand. You've never had to live how I have had to my entire life."
The man looked down at her with curiosity, studying her, "And would you understand how I've lived?"
"Perhaps." she said simply.
Surprisingly, he seemed to have a distant look of understanding in his harsh eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if this world had not only affected humans, but seemingly heartless vampires as well.
"This world may be shattered, but I would like to learn how to survive in it rather than just keep being sheltered from it."
He looked down at the human girl in front of him, finding it interesting when she spoke, "Even if you die in the process?"
"My death is inevitable." she replied, "As a human, it is pointless to run from it."
"I see," he said, his eyes sparking with amusement, "I like you, livestock. You're not as stupid as you look."
Elise only rolled her eyes at the man.
His crimson eyes traveled down to her dirtied blouse and bloodied knees, "However," he started abruptly.
"I think.. you could use some help."
"Help?" she blinked. No way a vampire was offering her help.
"Yes. I'd rather not find your corpse in the hallway some day soon. Having a living human around here could be fun."
"And what does this "help" entail?"
"My blade." he said mischievously.
She didn't quite know what his intentions were but his offer wasn't very easy to refuse. She did really need some sort of protection while at this school.
"Alright." she replied, deciding to take his offer.
She hesitated for a second, considering what he wanted as compensation.
"...Are you going to ask for my blood in return?"
He laughed loudly, "No. I have plenty of that already, livestock."
Elise didn't fully trust his words but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, since he hadn't yet ripped her apart, like many others would have done already.
The strange pair continued conversing through the empty halls, exchanging names.
Yato had never had a real conversation with a human before.