ａ ｌｏｎｅｌｙ ｔｅｄｄｙ ｂｅａｒ

『 your p.o.v 』

          The mansion in the dead of night is a cold, quiet, and eerie place. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. This type of environment is very familiar despite the fact it puts me on edge. A sense of calmness washes over my anxiety as I enter the living room, the fireplace lit and the flames flickering some, embers flying off only to burn out before they even have a chance to land on the tiled floor.

          I feel as if this right here is where I'm most comfortable. In a large room, cold as ever with nothing but the fireplace crackling to life to watch over me. Though I can't help but expect to have someone walk in to keep me company. I wonder why that is..?

          As I tentatively approached the fireplace, I stopped just before I passed the couch. Sitting there without its owner is a small bear; a teddy bear wearing a cute pink vest and an eye patch over its left eye to be exact. It sits there idly on the couch simply minding its own business. Something tells me I should remember this bear...

          With little hesitation, I walk over and crouch down some to be more eye leveled with the cute stuffed animal. "You, little guy, are awfully familiar... Did you know that?" I asked more to myself than to the inanimate teddy bear. "You want to know why that is too don't you?"

          Unsurprisingly, the bear didn't respond.

          I stood up and gently grabbed the teddy bear, holding it as I wandered my way over to the fireplace. Placing the stuffed bear down lightly onto my lap, I sat down on the edge of the fireplace's border, enjoying the warmth radiating from the flames. This mansion really is too cold for my liking. I can almost feel the cold seeping through not only my school uniform but through my skin and straight to my bones...

          Do vampires need to be warm? I wouldn't think so, but, I could be wrong. It's nice to be warm though so maybe that's why they keep the fireplace lit? Or is it only for another light source? Gosh, now I'm curious if these creatures of the night actually require heat to function or if they can just survive in this cold mansion of there's with not a problem whatsoever. It would suck if they were just cold all the time don't you think? No one should always feel cold-

          "What do you think you're doing with Teddy?"

          I quickly looked back towards the large doors that lead out of the living room only to find an amethyst haired vampire now standing no more than a few feet away from me, a look of pure boredom gracing his features as his eyes narrow some in an almost accusing manner. "There was no one here and the teddy bear was all alone..." I mumbled in response, the vampire's glare only intensifying at my answer.

          In a dangerously low voice, the amethyst haired vampire crouched down just in front of me and murmured "no one touches Teddy and gets away with it."

          Before I could so much as register his words, he suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me up with ease, the teddy bear falling from my lap and lifelessly to the floor at our feet. He held my wrist high above his head, his grip tightening to the point I can feel my bones on the verge of snapping like a twig, our chests touching as he smiles wickedly at me. "W-What are you doing?" I stuttered out lamely.

          The amethyst haired vampire laughed at my pitiful state. "You're so weak- you can't fight back even the slightest bit can you?" His voice suddenly took on a calmer more concerned tone. "It's sad. You're like a trapped butterfly here with us, and yet, we can't truly harm you..."

          His grip on my wrist loosened as he brought my arm down to inspect the damage he's caused. There's sure to be a bruise by tomorrow night and he seems to understand that just as I do, a slight look of guilt flashing across his features for just a mere second before he smiles once more. "You're so fragile too, just like my dolls. You would be such a pretty doll. I might even consider dressing you up and allowing you to have sweets with Teddy and I sometime, if you're good from now on that is." He said, peering closer into my eyes so that our lips are now mere centimeters away from touching. "You'd like that, wouldn't you ___?"

          "Like we did back then..." I murmured softly under my breath.

          The amethyst vampires amused expression fell entirely as he stared at me blankly now. "What?"

          I shook my head some, blurry images flashing through my mind.

          "Try to remember ___."

          A young girl twirled around in the center courtyard of the large castle, her cute dress flowing out some as a young boy just slightly taller than herself approaches with a soft smile gracing his lips. He says something about how she's just as pretty as a doll, that he wishes he could play with her every night. But, he can't, and as his way of apologizing instead grabs her hand and leads her back inside the castle so he can share his candies with her.

          I blinked a few times at the amethyst haired vampire as the memory abruptly ended. "I would dress up and you'd have candies for us to eat inside the castle." I recited from the memory. "We were so young back then and you didn't have Teddy yet, why is that?"

          The vampires eyes widened some as he easily ignored my question. "You had a memory return?" He asked to which I nodded. "You really are her aren't you..?" He then whispered softly under his breath.

          "I don't understand..." I murmured in response as he wrapped his free arm around my waist and to the dip in my back, holding me firmly against his chest now with no signs of letting go.

          The amethyst haired vampire frowned. "But, if you are her, then where did you go back then? Why would you abandon us like that? What the hell were you thinking when you left us ___? Why aren't you dead?!" His voice continued to rise until, by the end of his questions, he was screaming.

          I wasn't given a chance to try and respond before his arm around my waist painfully tightened and he bit harshly into the side of my neck, causing me to scream out in nothing but pure agony. He was relentless in the force he used to so aggressively steal my blood. The vampire didn't give a damn about the pain he was causing, sucking and biting harder to his heart's content while I punched at his chest in vain for he only bit harder the more I punched.

          Why am I not dead?

          I couldn't help but repeat his question over and over in my head like a broken record stuck on repeat. Why aren't I dead? Is there a reason that I should be? And if this vampire really does remember me from when we were younger just as I do him, then, something must have went wrong for him to be getting so angry at me now when I can't remember a single important event pertaining to our linked pasts. I'm missing something important but, for the life of me, I can't remember what...

          "P-Please." I whimpered out just as my head began to spin, black dots now appearing in my vision.

          I could feel the vampire smirk against my skin. "Do you want me to make it hurt more?" He murmured once he had pulled back, his lips stained with my blood. "Or are you begging for death?"

          Not having much to any strength left in me, I could only grab at his uniforms jacket to try and keep myself grounded. Unconsciousness is on the verge of swallowing my being entirely and I doubt fainting into a vampire's waiting arms is the best thing to do considering he's now threatening to end my life right here and now.

          "Would you stop being so loud already?" A voice groaned from the couch placed beside the fireplace.

          The amethyst haired vampire stopped himself from biting my neck for a second time and instead glared at the blonde vampire lying down on the couch. He wasn't there only a few moments ago. "What are you doing here?"

          I rested my forehead against the amethyst haired vampire's chest, trying to regain my senses before I really faint into his arms.

          "I've been trying to sleep since this was a quiet place before you showed up to attack her." The blonde mumbled with a yawn as he reluctantly sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "What do you even want with her you little freak?

          "Such harsh words for vampires that are supposed to be brothers..."

          I frowned at the soft girl's voice. Siblings? Really? These vampires are siblings? I never would have guessed with how coldly they seem to treat one another. Not exactly the most loving and family-oriented of environments if you ask me...

          "She stole Teddy and needed to be punished." The amethyst haired vampire responded simply.

          "You just yelled at her for trying to keep your stupid bear company. She can't remember anything so stop screaming and leave her be." The blonde said, his tone low as he opens just one of his ocean blue eyes to look at his brother. "There's no point in yelling at her when she can't remember us."

          The amethyst haired vampire stayed silent and still for a moment before suddenly releasing me entirely from his hold. And, unsurprisingly, the second his arm slipped out from around my waist, my knees buckled and I unceremoniously fell to the floor. The teddy bear was lying next to me, just watching as I winced at the pain shooting up from where my knees have successfully been scraped by the tile floor. No matter how hard I try to lift myself up off the cold ground, my body won't cooperate. I'm too weak to so much as lift a single finger. All I can do is lie on the floor like the pathetic excuse of a girl that I am...

          "Fine. She can die here from blood loss for all I care." The amethyst haired vampire murmured as he crouched down, grabbed his Teddy, and smiled innocently as his crazed eyes met my own before standing back up. "Her punishment is over with anyways."

          In the blink of an eye, the amethyst haired vampire was gone. With every ounce of strength I have left in my weak body, I pushed myself to sit up instead of continuing to lie all splayed out across the cold tiled floor. The blonde vampire watches silently from where he still sits on the couch beside the fireplace, his attention trained on me. There's blood trickling down from the bite wounds on my neck, staining the collar of my shirt now as well as there being blood on the floor from the cuts on my knees. Gosh, there was nothing protecting me from that fall I just took. That other vampire could have at least warned me before he just allowed for me to collapse right at his feet like that. No consideration whatsoever for my wellbeing. How mean.

          "They can be nice, but, Kanato was angry. Please be patient with him..."

          With a soft sigh, I listened to the girl's voice in my head and nodded just the smallest bit. Alright. If she wants me to continue giving these vampires chances then I have no choice but to listen. I want to understand my past and clearly mine is linked with theirs somehow so I need to continue speaking with them if I ever hope of one day regaining my lost memories. Besides, I still feel comfortable and safe around them despite their cruel behavior so I don't particularly want to distance myself anyways. Guess that's weird to say when I was just assaulted, but, it's not like I can help how I feel either. They're important and I don't think any of these vampires could ever do something to make me truly hate them. In the end, I'll always forgive them

          Shifting my attention to the blonde vampire who's still looking at me, I offered him a small smile. "You don't have to s-stay here." I said to him softly, the stutter coming out as a wave of fatigue washes over me due to the sudden blood deprivation. "You weren't lying down when I first came in here so you probably only showed up because of your brother, right?"

          The blonde vampire didn't respond.

          "I'll get up when I have some of my strength back and I can clean the blood on the floor, it's fine." I murmured. "Or is there another reason you haven't left..?"

          The blonde closed his eyes for a moment, his long eyelashes brushing over his cheekbones as he once again opened his ocean blue eyes. "You don't remember us at all?" He asked.

          I sighed. "No. I'm remembering the smallest things here and there, but nothing concrete. Just moments, flashes of memories that aren't even connected..." I responded dejectedly.

          "..."

          The blonde stayed absolutely silent as he stared at me. I looked down to the tiled floor in response, not wanting to stare back at him or take the chance of getting lost in those beautiful ocean blue eyes of his. He's not dangerous in the sense he'll hurt me, at least from what I can tell that is. But he is dangerous in that I might grow to like him more than I should and considering these are a bunch of ruthless vampires, that's not very wise of me to do until I can truly remember them...

          A blanket was suddenly draped over my shoulders, the fabric soft and somewhat fluffy even. I glanced up and found that the blonde vampire was now gone, nowhere to be seen whatsoever. I glanced around and unsurprisingly, couldn't spot him.

Pulling the blanket tighter around myself, I shifted slightly closer to the fireplace and tried to enjoy the warmth radiating from the crackling flames while ignoring the falling embers that threatened to burn me if I got just a little too close.

          A sharp pain shot through my head, causing me to wince and tightly close my eyes in response. The pain didn't last very long, over in no less than a few seconds but was there nonetheless. Was it in response to me remembering a small part of my past about the amethyst haired vampire..?

          "A headache?" The girl's voice asked with a concerned tone.

          I nodded some as if she can see me. "Probably just from the blood loss." I murmured, not particularly caring if someone finds me supposedly talking to myself. What's the worst they could think of me? I'm just some blood deprived girl, nothing to see here.

          "Don't force yourself to remember things if it'll cause these headaches," the girl said thoughtfully, "nothing good will come out of you injuring yourself further."

          "Yeah, I understand that." I whispered in response. "But I still need to seek out my memories even if my headaches get worse. Otherwise we won't get anywhere."

          The girl stayed quiet.

          And now I'm talking to her as if she's an entirely separate entity from myself...

How lovely.

          I vaguely heard the girl sigh. "Just, don't push yourself too hard ___. There's still time to regain your memories. You're not in any sort of rush. What you should do is spend time with everyone and try to remember what you can while growing closer to these vampires. They'll open up soon enough, just give them time."

          "And why do you want me to get so close to them?" I asked softly. "Do you know something I don't..?"

          "Not exactly," the girl admitted, "but, I can feel that you're important to them even more so than how important they are to you and, in order for things to end in your favor, you need to become close with each of these vampires. Only then will things become clear and for them, they'll finally be at peace..."

          Slowly, I nodded. "Alright, I'll do it for both them and for myself."

          "Thank you ___."

          I pulled the blanket tighter around my shoulders, sighing softly under my breath at the fact I'm holding a conversation with the voice in my head. But, she's a constant and a comforting constant at that so I guess she's not too bad. Hopefully when I regain my memories, she won't simply disappear...

          "You're welcome."

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          So in every chapter that I write, I always try to include roughly two to three scenes involving different vampys or whatever have you. I don't know what possessed me to put Kanato and Shu in the same chapter together, but I have no regrets.~ (gotta love my little amethyst haired necrophiliac cutie pie ^^)

          Question of the Chapter: I'm curious! If you could only live with one of the three main families or Kino, which one would you live with? Honestly, I'd still pick the Sakamaki's x3 I love the Tsukinami's and Mukami's and Kino, but, no one can beat Kanato and Reiji for me :')

          Anyways, hope you liked the chapter lovelies and I'll try to continue updating a little more frequently! School is hectic per usual, but I'm ignoring homework in favor of writing so hopefully this pays off and I actually write decent things you all will love lol

          This is the last time I'll mention the Discord as well (because I'm sure this must get annoying xD) If you wanna join and talk with me or some other cool peeps about anime/ kpop then come on and join! The link is in my bio~ I'm currently making two of my friends watch Dialovers so, needless to say, I'm having fun because they're both boys and one wishes he was now Yui while the other is now horribly concerned for my preferences in guys- especially where Reiji, Laito, and Kanato are concerned :3

          As always, thanks for reading and hope everyone has a nice day/night/evening/life :')

                    ~ Love, Kat ♡