The Lady’s Vile Charm:

I shook so bad I could barely speak. My heart pounded against my chest. “W-W-Who was Ruri-sama?”

Kaoru smirked at me. “Heh. Do you really want to know?”

Despite the obvious situation, I nodded my head. Kaoru sat down in front of me. I tried to ignore the hunger for my blood and misery in his eyes. He brushed the hair out of his eyes.

“I love Ruri-sama,” he replied. “Loved her with all of my being.” Kaoru shook his head. “No, words can’t describe how I felt about her. I would’ve damned my soul to hell just to have her. I still remember her beauty all those years ago.” Kaoru lay on his back on the floor.

-Edo 1399-

“It was snowing on that night. I don’t remember much about my old life. I think worked for a village doctor. It didn’t matter because I met her on that night.” His lips curved into a smile.

“The snow couldn’t drown out the deep black of her flowing hair. When I saw her walking in the distance, I thought I was in a dream. I just had to get a better look at this woman. Close up, I thought she was an angel. Unable to stop myself, I was the one who made the first move.

“‘Excuse me, miss,’ I spoke up. I didn’t think that she would even notice me. She walked by me when I first spoke to her. I can still smell the perfume from her to this day. As she crossed the bridge out of the village, I thought that it would be the last time we would cross paths. I started to go my own way when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that she had stopped.

“‘Can I help you?’ she asked. I couldn’t speak. I had built up an effort to notice me and now I couldn’t say a word.” (I myself found that rather hard to believe. Him being shy? That wasn’t the way I saw this monster. I happened to notice him glaring at me.

“Are you paying attention?” he asked.

“Yes!” I replied. Instead of snapping at me, Kaoru resumed his story.)

“‘Uh…’ I said. This dark-haired beauty tilted her head at me.

“‘Are you feeling okay?’ she asked. I could only nod at her.

“‘What is your name?’ I forced out of my mouth.” Kaoru chuckled to himself. “For some reason, the breeze drowned out her voice.

“‘What?’ I asked.

“‘Ruri,’ this woman answered. At the time, I believed that she was a rose without thorns. After that first exchange, I just had to pursue her.” (I frowned at his statement. Now why does that sound so familiar?)

“I tried to court her like a normal,” Kaoru went on. “At first, she reciprocated my affections. I felt so lucky. That spring and summer were the best times of my life. I even hoped to marry her one day.” The light dimmed in his face. “I should’ve known that I was only part of her game.

“For three years, she led me on. Ruri-sama ignored my letters and she didn’t show up in the places that we would usually meet. At first, I didn’t get it. I didn’t think much of it until six months later. Ruri-sama did her best to reassure me.

“‘I still love you, I really do.’

“‘But why do you keep avoiding me?’ I asked her. She refused to give me an answer. I ended up spying on her.” The fury broke in his voice. “It turns out that she was sleeping again with every man that crossed her paths. I tried to ignore it at first; I loved her after all. On our last winter together, I finally saw her real face.

“‘I never loved you,’ she told me on another snowy night. ‘You mean nothing to me.’ Because of her, I lost everything. My family either died or abandoned me. I became so poor that I sold almost all of my possessions to buy food. In the end, the bleak reality was all it took to make me kill myself.”

-Present Day-

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So… how did you turn into a vampire?”

Kaoru sat up. “When I did try to kill myself, I found that I couldn’t die. I didn’t know what happened to me. I woke in my room on the next sunrise confused. When I tried to go outside, the sun burned my skin. I rushed inside and found myself hungry for blood. I ended up living alone for years off of different women.”

I tilted my head at him. “What about Ruri-sama?”

Kaoru laughed to himself. “Many people that she is dead. That bitch was murdered by a scorn lover as they claimed, but her body was never found.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Get what?”

Kaoru sat up with his face within inches of mine. I tried to get up and run out the door, but he grabbed me by the wrists. His lips nearly touched my ear.

“She is you,” Kaoru whispered. “You are her reincarnation.” My eyes widened as my jaw dropped.

“No way…” I murmured.

“I will ruin you. I will take away everything you love.”

My stomach turned when we heard a knock on the glass doors.