Lurking in the Dark: Chapter 1
May. 24th, 2016 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matsu1ninoPairing: Matsumiya
Genre: AU, Fantasy/Horror
Disclaimer: As much as I'd love to, I don't own Arashi. I only own the plot.
Summary: When all this time I've been so hollow inside I know you're still there watching me, wanting me.
Author's Note: This idea had been on my mind for quite some time, so I figured I'd try it out. The summary quote is from the Evanescence song 'Haunted'.
The silence was deafening as Nino drifted through the seemingly endless hallways, his feet barely skimming the ground. Darkness had long since settled outside and it filled the young lord with a strange energy and thirst that needed to be quenched. He knew his package would be arriving at the mansion at any moment.
His home rested on the outskirts of the village, the mansion’s tall and frightful exterior usually enough to ward off mortals. Those few that were too curious or too stupid to keep their distance gave Nino a fantastic source of entertainment, though that was all they were. Scaring any who dared venture too close to what was his was all good fun but he never took it further than that. Nino wasn’t a hunter. Not in the traditional sense. He saw no purpose in venturing out in search for living blood when he could easily arrange to have servants deliver packages of fresh blood right to his door. His family insisted on having him make use of their countless servants, and he saw no better use for them. He certainly wasn’t going to have them wandering about his mansion. It was his home. Nobody else’s.
Yet as he crept through the halls, newest supply of blood in hand, Nino felt a distinct emptiness lingering in the only place he’d ever felt comfortable. It had been years, decades actually, since Nino had decidedly started living alone. In leaving his unbearably controlling family for the seclusion of his own private mansion, Nino had thought he’d brought peace to his immortal life. He wasn’t free of them entirely though as he was still forced to encounter his overwhelmingly traditional parents every now and then when they attempted to convince him to return, but in his own home he could exist mostly without their influence. He had never had second thoughts about his choice to leave. Why then did things suddenly feel so different? The solitude he’d once enjoyed felt like a crushing weight over his head, the calming silence having turned a maddening stillness that drove the young lord to the very edge of his sanity.
Nino weakly tried to shake such uncomfortable feelings away as he settled into the plush sofa chair resting by the window of his wide living area. He drew his legs up over the armrest as he tore into one of the blood parcels, feeling the thick liquid rush down his throat. It was warm and soothing, and lessened the unfamiliar loneliness he was experiencing as his hunger was satisfied. Pulling the sachet away from his lips, Nino licked the stray drops of blood away from his lips before running his red-stained tongue over his teeth. He wasn’t typically picky about what he ate which was why it was so hard to determine why the usually delectable blood of his evening meal tasted like little more than ash in his mouth.
There was no telling how long he remained like that, slumped across the chair with the empty package resting on his midsection, lost in the stillness of the night. All Nino knew was that it was a strange scuffling that drew him out of his contemplating. Alerted by the slightest of noise that had occurred, Nino knew whatever had caused it was on his property. He hastily pulled himself up, pacing down the hallway and out the door without a sound. He scanned his near black surroundings for any signs of an intruder. He couldn’t see anyone but the scuffling seemed louder as he glided across the courtyard towards the iron fence encircling his estate. An unfamiliar scent tainted the air, growing stronger as he neared the load of debris piled at the back of his house. It was mingling with the intoxicating aroma of freshly spilt blood that, in spite of having just eaten, made Nino’s mouth water, or would have if not for the strong smell of decay also present. Nino honestly didn’t know whether it was coming from the rubbish or the intruder. Regardless, Nino readied himself to remove the trespasser in the same way he dealt with all mortals who foolishly wandered into his home. He hovered off the ground, fangs bared as he jolted forward with an ear-splitting screech.
The intruder’s reaction, however, was far from what Nino had been expecting. Disguised by the darkness as easily as Nino was, the stranger recoiled at Nino’s unexpected arrival but quickly recovered and drew back in a defensive crouch. An inhuman snarl sounded from the man pressed against the ground. In hindsight, Nino should have immediately recognized that this was not a normal encounter, nor was it with a human, but the young lord’s head was still muddled from his earlier doubts. The smell of blood and festering matter masked other important scents which Nino otherwise would have been able to use to identify this being, as he would have done if he’d looked closer in the darkness and saw that the unusual shadows extending from the intruder’s figure were in fact part of him.
Nino met the man’s gaze for the first time that night, intrigued when he caught sight of the fierce glowing golden eyes staring him down. The young lord visibly relaxed as realization washed over him but the man refused to break his defensive stance. Rolling his eyes a little at the drawn back lip and piercing glare, Nino lowered back onto his feet.
“I admit you weren’t quite what I was expecting” he said as he crossed his arms, eyeing the intruder to take in his full appearance even in the darkness. The man looked feral in almost every aspect. His tatty clothes were a few sizes too large and practically falling off his thin malnourished frame. He was pale, too pale for a mortal Nino decided, his skin contrasting greatly with the dark mess of hair that reached as far as his shoulders. Nino’s gaze was drawn to the way the man’s leg was being held at an awkward angle beneath him. The smell of blood was radiating off him. The pointed ears extending from the intruder’s skull were almost flat against his head, a long black tail lashing furiously behind him.
Despite his shabby appearance, Nino wasn’t put off by him at all. If anything he was only further intrigued. He could see under all the dirt and rags the attraction this man held. From the sharp features of his face and intensity of his eyes to the slight but alluring curve of his waist, Nino could not look away from the sight before him. Beneath the course untamed look accumulated was indeed something beautiful.
“It’s not often I get visitors like you. What’s a shifter doing scavenging on private property?” Nino glanced at the toppled piles of debris. “You’re hungry” he guessed the answer himself. “What’s your name?”
The shifter hissed up at him, eyes narrowing threateningly into slits. Nino waited to see if he would answer, staring at the feline features adopted by the man. He sighed exaggeratedly whilst trying to hide the smirk that had formed on his lips. He supposed if this intruder wasn’t going to cooperate with him, he might as well have some fun with the situation.
“Okay then, kitty.” He grinned when the shifter snarled indignantly in response to the demeaning title Nino had chosen for him. His anger was only fuelled when Nino reached out his hand to pet his hair. The intruder snapped his teeth at the encroaching hand. Nino laughed. “My skin is impenetrable. You have no chance of—Ow!”
The shifter’s teeth actually made contact with his hand this time, surprising Nino with the sharp bite that felt almost strong enough to break the skin. He ripped his hand away to find slightly raised red abrasion. After staring at the mark in shock for a moment he turned back to the shifter, who drew his lip back to reveal his newly changed teeth.
“Vampire bat” A small impressed smile graced Nino’s lips as he recognized the fangs inside the shifter’s mouth. “You’re smarter than I thought, kitty.”
When the shifter attempted to turn, assumedly to flee, Nino caught another stronger whiff of the blood from his wound. It made him all the more difficult to resist. “I’d stay still if I were you” he warned. “That wound isn’t too deep but given how high up on your thigh it is it’ll hinder your movement regardless of what form you choose.”
Nino wasn’t expecting the shifter to listen to him and so was not affronted when he looked back over his shoulder to growl one final time before racing off into the darkness. Nino rolled his eyes again as he waited, knowing getting off his property would be no easy task with such an injury. Sure enough a loud yowl echoed soon after he’d vanished into the darkness. Nino flew through the courtyard after the shifter, finding the semi-changed body cradled at the bottom of the iron fence. His arms resembled broken skeletal frames that were slowly receding back into their normal shape as he fought a losing battle to retain consciousness, black feathers littering the ground beneath where he lay. The wound on his leg had reopened in the crash.
Lost in his thoughts, Nino was conflicted as to what to do. Some small voice in the back of his mind was telling him to just return to his home and forget everything about tonight’s encounter, yet he could not seem to move at all. It was as though his feet were cemented to the ground, preventing him from heading back to the mansion or moving any closer to the wounded shifter. All the young lord could do was watch as the intruder’s tail and ears slowly shrunk until they were absorbed into his body.
The strong stench of blood was making it harder and harder for Nino to focus. Mustering all the self-control he could so not to jump on the shifter and drain him, Nino crouched down and lifted his body easily before walking back in the direction of his home. When he came to his senses, he would blame his decision on the man so tempting and bleeding, but for now he was content to see how things played out while he remained lost in the ignorance of his own confusion. But first thing first. The others needed to know about this.
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Date: 2016-05-25 09:19 am (UTC)I've never read any fic quite like this so its really fresh and new for me, makes it the more interesting ><
I really cant wait to find out what happens next heheh~
vampire prince nino and shapeshifter jun ♡
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Date: 2016-05-25 09:38 am (UTC)I'm trying my hardest to make this story as unique as I can
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Date: 2016-05-25 09:48 am (UTC)but my ideas are nothing compared to yours hehe
Ganbatte! I'll be supporting you all the way :))
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Date: 2016-05-25 09:51 am (UTC)I'll try to update asap!
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Date: 2016-05-25 09:56 am (UTC)hopefully I will continue to inspire you.