One preppy-looking vampire sneered, which really ruined his good looks. âGot what you wanted, huh? I got what you want baby.â He flashed his teeth at her as he tried to capture her gaze and put her under his thrall.
Kyoko knew what he was doing⦠and felt instant satisfaction that no vampire had ever been able to take her will away during a fight. She looked him up and down. âI doubt it,â she taunted as she wondered if the loudmouth would make the first move. âThe sexually frustrated ones really are not my type,â She smirked when he growled.
At least these vampires looked normal. Well⦠about as normal as three young men that looked like they belonged on the college debate squad, wearing fangs could look. It wasnât every day you saw a vampire sporting Armani. Hell, these three would probably cry their undead eyes out if they got dirty. And, of course, she couldnât forget the deadly child that was watching them like some sick voyeur.
That thought made her shiver inwardly. Sheâd heard stories about that kind of stuff among vampires. Some of them would descend on the victim of their choice, and commence to drink or rape them while others watched. One thing the movies did have right is that vampires were very sexual creatures and many of them had no preference⦠man or woman it didnât matter⦠they did both.
âI wouldnât quit your day job if I were you,â She laughed at her own pun⦠then kneed him right in the groin. Another thing about vampires, they might be faster and stronger, but the males still had the same weaknesses as their human counterparts.
She ducked just as one came at her and was surprised at the speed it had⦠so much for normal. Sheâd never dealt with anything this fast before. She clenched her fist feeling the power of the spirit dart form in the palm of her hand.
Sidestepping another demon, she twisted her upper body as one of the vampires lunged past, striking at him with the dart. A cold and clammy hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked, causing her body to twist further⦠almost painfully. Kyoko used the momentum and let the rest of her body follow the move, grabbing the vampire by the sleeve of its jacket and slamming it to the ground.
They rolled once on the ground and came to rest with Kyoko sitting on loudmouthâs stomach. She had to move quickly or she knew she might not get another chance at this.
âHere is something for you,â she informed him. Raising her arm up, she stabbed down with the spirit dart. The third vampire slammed into her from the side⦠making her roll and skid across the ground. This time, she found herself on the bottom looking up.
Okay, this was starting to piss her off. Glaring up, she noticed this guy looked like a straight âAâ student who had decided to bring a gun to school. The sadistic hint of murder in his eyes was a dead giveaway.
âI donât think so buddy.â Bending her wrist at an odd angle, she touched the dart in her hand to his arm slicing it with only a small wound. She was rewarded when the vampireâs skin started to smoke⦠making him scream in agony. Bringing her knees up against her chest, she used her feet and legs to throw the demon off. It sailed a few yards away still screaming as its arm slowly melted from the rest of its body.
In a few moments, he would be nothing more than a bubbling puddle of dusty goop on the sidewalk that would vanish before the sun announced a new day. Kyoko had never thought much on where it went; she was just happy not to have to clean up the mess.
âJerk,â Kyoko threw the insult as she quickly regained her footing. She had been spoiled with fighting one-on-one over the years⦠so this was a new one for her.
She arched an eyebrow as the vampireâs scream quickly vanished. âObviously not a direct descendant,â she thought to herself. Her grandfather called them the gutter trash of demons, not pure blood vampires or demons⦠just half-breeds. But⦠they still carried the same name. The better grade of vampire, the slower they melted⦠gross but true.
She knew the ancients were said to be much more powerful than this, but even Grandpa Hogo wasnât sure if the pure blood vampires could withstand her spirit darts. Heâd once told her the spirit dart was nothing more than sunlight harnessed into a weapon that could only be conjured up by a priestess or a guardian.
Kyoko saw a fist coming for her face and turned her head to the side knowing she didnât have time to do anything to stop it. If she took the time out to play dodge ball, then there would be consequences and she would be on the losing side of them. Feeling the impact of knuckles split the skin on her cheek, she suddenly crossed the line from annoyed to pissed.
The last thing she needed was to go home looking like sheâd been in a gang fight. She growled when loudmouth got close enough to slash her shirt almost wide open, leaving four deep scratches across her left breast.
âPervert,â She hissed at him, knowing heâd done it on purpose. The leering grin he gave her confirmed it.
Her mother would worry if she came home wounded, but Grandpa Hogo would only help her get patched up and let her go to bed. He knew she healed ten times faster than a normal human. Heâd spent the last few years training her to be what she had become.
Grandfather had known about her long before she had ever been born⦠or so he said. The old scrolls passed down through the family told about the guardian heart crystal⦠and the priestess that possessed it.
At first she hadnât believed him, but her mind was abruptly changed when she was only ten years old. She saw him fight a vampire while he was walking her home one night from Tasukiâs birthday party. Sheâd been having so much fun that she had stayed even after the other kids had gone home.
When they were attacked, it had been very strange to see a man his age move with the same lethal grace of a skilled warrior. What was even stranger was that the demon had been very real. Sheâd run up to help her grandpa and hit the monster on the back with her fist⦠that was when she had first seen the spirit dart. It had still been in her hand as the vampire melted.
Once the fight was done and over with, Kyoko remembered asking her grandfather what exactly had attacked him. Grandpa Hogo then explained that while he was strong enough to fight the demons, he did not have the same power as Kyoko nor the ability to heal as quickly from injury.
He insisted that she had been born with a gift. Heâd seemed proud to witness it come to pass during his lifetime. This led to a long-winded explanation that the vampire was actually after her, that the demons had been stalking her since her birth⦠because of the holy power she housed within her soul.
He didnât know what the creatures could possibly use it for, but their lust for it had only become stronger over the years. Grandpa had come to the conclusion that maybe it had been placed inside her only to draw the demons toward her, so she could destroy them.
Kyoko still shivered in revulsion at that bit of news. Sometimes it made her wonder what else her grandfather had been hiding from her. One thing was certain⦠she hadnât looked at him the same since⦠neither had Tasuki, because Tasuki had followed them home that night and was a witness to the fight. That had only bonded her and Tasuki even closer together.
She shook the memory from her mind as she focused back on the fight. She quickly decided loudmouth needed to be the next to die before he somehow figured out a way to slowly strip her.
She lowered her arms⦠feigning pain so he would come at her once again. Despite their usually sexual nature, she wondered if all vampires were perverts or if it was just the ones she met. Just as he slammed into her and took her down, she watched as fear registered in his overly bright eyes. The spirit dart had impaled him in the last place heâd ever thought it would.
Yuuhi silently watched her fight wondering how a simple human female could take that much punishment and still be fighting. A normal girl would not fight at all. They would simply fall under the vampires thrall and do as asked. He was not pleased with this