Come Back To Me Riho!

--------------------------------------------------------------- 1 month later -----------------------------------------------------------

“Are you listening to me!?” Yayoi was rarely mad, at least not directly at Shido. He could feel Guni hiding safely in his hair. “ 15 people have died in the last month! 15! All drained completely of their blood! Don’t you dare give me the bull shit that its Cain! You know its not! You know its Riho! Pay attention to me Shido!” Hiding under his hat with his eyes closed and his feet prompt up on the desk really wasn’t working as well anymore. “15, Shido! 15 people have died because you won’t look for Riho! You have to find her Shido! You have to do something about this! More people are going te ate at her hands, are you just going to let it happen?! N.O.S. knows it’s a vampire Shido!” The last part made him drop his feet to the floor and push his hat up.

“So they have know it’s a vampire? How long did it take them to figure that out?” Yayoi’s face was flushed and her eyes sparkled with unleashed emotion. She raised her hand, and he knew he could stop her but he also knew he deserved it, and slapped him across the face. His eyes turned a gleaming yellow, and the pupils became cat like slits. He snarled and stood, his chair fell backwards as a result.

“What the hell do you what me to do?! Go after her! Go after her! What am I suppose to do when I find her?!”

“What you have to do!”

“And what is that, Yayoi?”

“If she won’t come back, you will have to kill her.” She said simply.

He stormed away from her and opened his bedroom door. Looking back with furious golden eyes he said “GET OUT! And don’t come back!” And he slammed the door and stomped into the darkness. He heard her car keys jiggle and his office door slam upon her departure. Adrenaline flowed swiftly through his blood and he was visibly shaken. Guni moved to his shoulder finally daring to peek out now that Yayoi was gone.

“You didn’t mean that, did you?”

“Yes I did!” he snapped at her. She fled back into his hair. Shido wasn’t angry at Guni, perhaps he was at Yayoi for suggesting he kill his child, his Riho, but he knew even that anger would pass. He rubbed his eyes and wished for an easy way out of a bad situation, of course there were no easy ways. He sat down on the bed. For a moment, it felt like Cain’s long figures were caressing his shoulders. Shido shivered. It was nothing more than old memories bubbling to the surface.

“15 people is a lot of people.” Guni said quietly buried somewhere in his lavender hair.

“It is.” He agreed.

“Does she really need that many people to live?”

“No, she can survive off less. Much much less. However the more she eats, the faster she will heal, the faster her powers will develop… and it satisfies the blood lust, or maybe it only intensifies it. I don’t know.” He fell backwards onto the bed and rested his head on his hands. “Perhaps Riho will leave the city.”

“I think she would have done it by now if she were going to leave.” His hair said back to him in a tiny voice.

“Why wouldn’t she? If the N.O.S. are here… perhaps there are other cities that do not have such law enforcement.”

“You are here.”

“So?”

“So I don’t think she is going to leave.”

”Because….?”

“Because she either misses you or… maybe she wants revenge. Maybe that is why she is feeding so much.”

With a sour smile, he replied, “I am so lucky to have such peaceful ex-lovers.”

“Is that what she is to you?”

“No.” He said sitting up and feeling rather awkward. * I don’t know what Riho is to me.* He hugged his arms feeling rather cold, or more preciously alone.

“Do you think I should look for her, Guni?”

She remained silent for a time, then answered, “Yes.” He trusted Guni’s opinion more than he would actually like to admit to her. He picked up his long trench coat and scarf before exiting the office.

Most of the murders occurred at the park around dawn. She could have found the people anywhere and lured them there. One man N.O.S. had determined to have been at a local club and had left with a young girl, only to be murdered at the park. That was all they had concluded. N.O.S. did not know where the other victims had been prior to the park. They had not even connected that the ‘young girl’ the man had left with was the murder. N.O.S. was still searching for the young girl hoping that she could explain some of what had happened.

N.O.S. was aware that Shido was a vampire and that he worked with Yayoi. They did know where his office was located but that was all. They knew very little about him and very little about any vampire that had ever been spotted in the city. Most of N.O.S. knowledge was about nightbreeds, vampires were a bit out of their league and if they didn’t admit to it, it didn’t change the fact that they were. N.O.S. needed him to deal with this situation, perhaps that was why Yayoi was so angry at him. But he suspected that she held him personally responsible for Riho since he had made her.

The night was young and there was not point in hanging around the park yet. He checked out the Groovy Dice Night Club first. This was where one of victims had been before Riho lured him away. Shido’s sensitive hearing made it painful to listen to the music. Everything was too loud. The clash of bodies and the mingled smell of smoke and sweat made searching for Riho difficult. He spent the night weaving his way in and out of the crowd, stalking from the shadows, he found nothing. When dawn approached, he left the club along with everyone else.

He walked over to the park with his hands in his coat pockets. The police had the park pretty well guarded and blocked off, they were always baffle the the new murders found in mornings light. Guni hadn’t said much for once. He suspected it was because of the loud music before and now perhaps for the enjoyment of the newfound silence. His shoes echoed a lonely note across the pavement. He found the park silhouetted by the creeping of dawn. He jumped over the police cars and into the trees without being noticed. Shido truly expected to find nothing and have to retreat to the office quickly. It was going to at best be only partly cloudy today. He was surprised to hear a muffled voice, and ran in that direction. Riho was bent over a man, who twitched as she feed. Shido ramped his body into hers sending her sprawling into the grass. She rolled and landed on her feet. Blood dripped from one side of her mouth.

“You can have him! I’m done anyway!” she spat and leapt away into the dark of the woods. He dug his nails into his palms. *What have I done to her? What did I create? * Garbled speech came from the man and Shido bent down next to him.

“You will be alright.” Shido told the man. “I’ll take you to a hospital.” The man grasped Shido’s collar and pulled his face down till his ear was no more than an inch from his lips.

“You…have… to…help…”

“I am going to get you to safety.” Shido replied scooping the man into his arms.

“them… she… will….she will… kill… the others…”

“Who?” The man’s eyes rolled back into his head and his hand fell away. “Who, who is she after? Tell me! Tell me damn it!” A light blinded Shido suddenly and he put his arm up to block it.

“That’s the vampire! Shoot him!” Shido dropped the body to the ground and fled. He could hear the bullets hitting the sidewalk only moments behind him.

“No, Stop!” It was Yayoi’s voice. The guns continued their assault; one bullet pierced his shoulder blade. He stumbled but continued onward.

-----

The office door banged open. Shido stripped off his coat and kicked the door shut. Guni flew out of his hair and floated before him.

“Are you alright?” Guni asked.

“As good as one can be for getting shot in the back.” He groaned, and began unbuttoning his shirt. The door slammed open.

“You have to get out of here!” Yayoi ordered.

“What?”

“N.O.S. will be here soon. Take what you can and go! Don’t come back! They will be waiting. You don’t have much time!” Looking at Shido’s agape face she stated what she felt was obvious, “They think you are the one who is behind the murders.”

“The man said she would be after others. He said to help them. Do any of the victims have connections to each other?”

“We don’t have time for this. Hurry! Get your things! Get out of here! Shido, they were not far behind me! I will tell them that you left out the window as I arrived. Hurry! Hurry! Grab anything you will need! Get clothes! Quickly!” She gave him a shove on the back, he moaned involuntary and went into the bedroom. Shido packed a small brief case with the bare essentials. Guni floated back and forth around the room as he stuffed his belongs into the case.

“Go to the roof! Travel across the buildings. I will tell them I saw you run down the alley. Hurry!” Shido fled at Yayoi’s command. He went up the buildings staircase and on to the roof. He could hear sirens in the distance. Shido knew where he would seek safety, he had not been there more than twice before. No one knew he had paid the rent there recently, not even Yayoi. It should be safe enough. Eventually N.O.S would search the roofs and it would be better to be inside a building then. Guni clung to his lavender hair as he began leaping across the buildings.