Chapter 2: Remnants

                       Night

My hands quickly find their way to hold my head tightly as I felt an excruciating pain inside it.

"Aah!" I groaned.

I slowly opened my eyelids, but my eyes can't see any. I tried to calm myself and closed my eyes again.

I heaved a deep sigh.

I’m still holding on to my head, as it hurts, a lot.

‘Is that just a dream? But how come that it feels real?’

I forced myself to stand as I gently opened my eyes. My sight became better now. I heaved a deep sigh.

That’s insane! That dream wants to drown me!

I shook my head as I tried to distract my thoughts into something.

My eyes roamed themselves on my apartment, it's just small compared to any, but at least it can accommodate me for my college life well. Plus, it is not too pricey.

I just cooked myself an instant noodle for there is still cooked rice left on my rice cooker.

I sat down on the chair and placed the food on my small table.

It is maybe too lonesome for others, but I prefer it.

Of course! I don't want my clan to appear out of nowhere. Especially they are all ghosts now.

"Yeah, ghosts," I murmured then let out a bitter laugh. I bit my lower lip as my gaze involuntarily fell. I hate this feeling, especially every time my eyes started to heat. I gulped as their memories flashed in my head.

"They were been slaughtered… like an animal, without a single drop of mercy."

I forced myself to looked up and covered my face using my both hands.

That is the reason why I wanted to be a lawyer, I want the person behind the mass killing of my clan behind bars. Or maybe sentenced to death.

That person is the reason behind my unfortunate state right now. He could have k*lled me too, but he didn't. He let me live alone, suffering from the pain, drowning on their left memories on my brain.

I fixed my sit. I suddenly lose my appetite.

I stood and forced myself to wash the plate I used, then went to my small bathroom to bathe.

I glanced at the small mirror placed there.

I checked my eyes, swollen as always, plus dark circles add a layer under them. I almost looked like a living corpse.

But something caught my attention. I smelled something pungent, an iron-like smell. My heart suddenly started to palpitate. My menstruation just ended days ago, and I didn't also feel pain there.

I don't know but my hands involuntarily touched my head as I felt the excruciating pain again. My eyes widened at a sudden realization, I swallowed the lump on my throat.

I glanced at the back of my head through the mirror and pulled some hair strands to give me enough view of it. And there I saw something...

"Aaaahhh!"

I screamed almost nonstop, but not until my knees fell on the tiles. Moment of silence devoured the whole place, almost making me deaf.

I closed my eyes as I decided to face the horrible truth.

There's dry blood on it, a lot. Then, that wasn't just a dream, it's all true, it’s all real!

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, almost making me running out of breath. My eyes stay widened, my hands were shaking uncontrollably.

Aah!

'Stop! My eardrums hurt!'

I suddenly stopped, my eyes almost popped out. I looked at my both side briskly, I can't be wrong... that voice came to my head!

Then I heard a shushed.

"What's happening to me?!" I held my head tightly as I tweaked my hair.

I lowered my head and put it on my knees. My lips were shaking tremendously.

I AM NOT SCHIZOPHRENIC!

Then I fell, as the excruciating pain devoured me. Leaving me in dark, as I lose the battle against my consciousness.

---

"I told you to shushed, didn't I?"

"Maybe?"

Then I heard a laugh.

I quickly opened my eyes and tried to stand out of my sleep, but something hinders me.

My eyes widened. "Who are you two?!" I blazed out. The back of my body bumped on the wall as I kept on trying to move backward. 

I panicked about how to fled away from here, but then I realized something. I'm in my room, in my apartment!

My eyes darted their glances on the two guys standing at the corner of my room. The first on the right crossed his arms, while the other one on the left waved his hands with a playful smile etched on his face.

"GET OUT!" I stood up as I pulled my blanket to smashed it on their face. I repeated it to shout many times and at the same time smashing them but I couldn't even make them flinch.

"Kill, what have you done to this girl?" The guy on the left laughed and holds his tummy.  "She's crazy!"

My eyes widened as I sensed familiarity in his voice. I stepped backward and almost held my breath.

He's the one who spoke inside my head!

"I'm starting to see you as a human-machine gun, Vogue. You're too chatty," The guy on the right said as he walked towards me as the other one followed him.

It made me swallowed the lump on my throat. What will they do? I want to run, but my feet lose all the courage to do so.

I made myself sat down on the side end of the mattress. Unable to think of any way to leave this two, or to fly away!

"Does it still hurt?" The second guy with perfectly combed hair placed his palm on the back of my head.

I quickly held my head as I tried to avoid his palm. But he resisted and still placed his palms on it.

"I'm the first one to ask, Mister. " I made eye contact with him. Not leaving his eyes for a second. "What are you two doing here!" I made sure to emphasized each word.

I examined his face. His eyes quickly brighten up. His cheeks became bloated as he quickly covers them to suppress his laugh. He darted his face on the other guy as he can't control his laughter anymore, he burst.

After a minute of him laughing, he fixed himself and partially bent his body. "Pardon us for being disrespectful. I am Ash Vogue, and we are here to tell you the weather report." He smiled widely and looked at the other guy then me.

My eyebrows arched. Is he kidding me? Weather report? I couldn't help but twitched my tongue.

I was about to speak but then the other guy came closer to the Ash guy and smacked him straight to his face.

"Don't make me want to throw you to the ocean," The guy said as his eyebrows met each other. Ash made his fingers into a peace sign then playfully laughed again.

"I'm sorry for him." He jerked his thumb to Ash and faced me with a serious face. I suddenly felt chills, I have this feeling that he was about to say something, bad.

"I'm Killix Bane, and we are just here to informed you about something." His Adam’s apple moved up and down as he thrilled his words. He looked at me straight into my eyes. "About the reason of that dry blood on the back of your head."

My eyes widened as my hands involuntarily touched the back of my head. But... t-the pain has gone, yet I can still feel the dry blood on it.

My heart started to palpitate. Bids of sweet quickly multiplied on my forehead. I gulped.

"W-what h-happened to me? W-what about i-it?" I anxiously asked. My gaze fell down but then quickly looked up as I heard his words.

"You died that night, Carnelian. You fell from the building, the back of your head hit the surface first. The two females along with you that night sucked your blood, but something strange happened..."

I gulped multiple times. I clutched the mattress as I leave a mark on it.

Sucked? So those glowing red eyes and fangs are real! They are monstrous creatures!

I only read this or watched this in movies, it can't be true.

But...but it happened to me, late last night, they planned to kill me. I saw their eyes glowed into red, before I even passed out that night, I saw their fangs.

It's all real!

I gulped as I rubbed my both hands together. My eyes can't focus on one thing. It seems uncontrollable. I took all the courage and spoke, "B-but what more strange happened than I died that night, and I'm still alive right now?!"

My chest moved ups and downs. I can feel something boiling inside me, but I choose not to leaked it out more.

Killix combed his messy hair as he looked at me, straight to my eyes. "A human blood can be supposed to quench a vampire thirst. But they died, we tried to revive them, but what comes more strange was that... they vanished on the thin air, not even leaving any remnants behind. "