Monday

"Where are you?" I could hear myself screaming out into nothingness, as I sat up in bed after yet another of the dreams. It’s been happening for years, ever since my parents’ deaths. I have these dreams, I’m wandering about in a field, so empty and barren….looking for my parents, but they’re nowhere to be found. Every time though, I find two things, the first, my sword, blade buried deep in the ground, beckoning for me to retrieve it, so that we can once again triumph over the enemy. The second, however, is always a dark shape, monstrous, and unfathomable to even my own mind. It lacks any true shape, constantly shifting, and moving towards me. I grab the sword, and wait for it, but it’s foolish, I can’t harm this creature, it’s power is immense and ancient. I know not what it is, or who. I used to think it was my brother, but I’ve seen him in my dreams before, and every time, I best him in our inevitable battle. But this creature, I know not what it wants, it seems to follow me in my dreams, never quite harming me, but swinging its arms, created out of the flowing darkness that it is, at me. I can see claws, razor sharp, like a thousand blades being swung about hap-hazardly. I run from it, but it chases me, and eventually even I run out of energy, and I fall to the ground, Ketsurui in my hands, and it envelops me. Then I wake up, bathed in a cold sweat, barely discerning reality from the dreamland I’ve just escaped. I long to know what this thing is, what it wants, and why it’s following me. I went to a doctor about it once, the fool claimed it was simply a psychological trick of my mind, playing on the fears of my brother that I harbor deep within me, like the scared little girl I once was. He never understood, this thing, I don’t know how to explain it to anyone, but it just feels ancient. Normally, I don’t even bother thinking much of these dreams, seeing as I’ve had them for so long, but tonight was different…tonight, I could swear I saw a face forming in that blackness, getting ready to speak to me, right before I woke up. All this, coupled with the events of the last week or so, has me pretty shaken up. I’ve almost begun to wonder if maybe this thing is a vampire…after all, they’re ancient, able to seep into people’s minds, and I did kill one their little errand boys no more than a week ago. It’s all so ridiculous though, I feel like a little kid, thinking vampires are after me. I’ve never understood this crap. It’s not that important anyway, I’ve got work to do.

Tuesday

Well, my meeting with the decker went well yesterday, he gave me all the information he found on my brother. It appears that after a bit, he was moved elsewhere, to another city. Possibly Chicago, or New Orleans. I doubt that it’s New Orleans, having been there a little while ago. I feel sure that I would’ve felt his presence nearby, had he been there. Of course, I can’t really back that up, but somehow, I just know that when he’s near, I’ll be able to feel him. A couple more days, and I’m back on the job again. I hope we manage to pull this one off well, after all, the pay is high, and a little adventure never hurts. Ok, well, it does hurt, as I have learned all to well recently. But I guess nearly getting killed two or three times is but a small price to pay, when you’re getting information this valuable for it. I ordered more decorations for the apartment today, they should be arriving in less than a week. There’s nothing I love more than adjusting this old place to fit me more. If only mom and dad could’ve seen this, they would’ve been proud of me, I’ve come so far, and even proved wrong the assumption that women can’t handle battle like a man could. We’ll see about that. Well, I’m gonna sign off for now, I think I’ gonna head off to some clubs for a night of fun, might as well get in a few before this next run, you never know what might happen.

Wednesday

I forgot how much fun these clubs were, just escaping from everything for a while, dancing, and having fun. I can almost feel the music flowing, like the magic that I feel flowing through me sometimes. It’s a wonderful feeling, I’ll have to remember that club, it’s definitely one of the best I’ve been to. The only odd thing is, I saw a man there, doing nothing more than watching people dance. I thought nothing of it at first, until I realized out the corner of my eye, that he was only watching me dance. Then, when I turn to look at him, he’s gone. It left me with a very…I don’t know, chilling feeling in my bones, much like that I get when I see the creature in my dreams. I wish I had gotten a better look at him, dammit, maybe I’ll just go back tonight

Thursday

I went back to the club last night, and sure enough, he was there. This time though, I spent as much time as I could hiding in the shadows, watching him. There’s something very mysterious about him, almost like an aura that he gives off. I still couldn’t see any of his features, save for his eyes, they were a deep, dark blue, almost purple. At first I thought they might be implants, or cyber-eyes, but they were real. After watching him for as long as I really deemed necessary, I walked out of the shadows and approached him. My mind seemed to be screaming at me, "STOP THIS! NO GOOD WILL COME FROM TALKING TO HIM, STAY AWAY!" but I ignored it, and greeted the stranger, as though he were just another club hopper.

"Good evening, sir, you seem to be becoming a regular here, why don’t you dance?" I asked, not being able to think of any better way to start a conversation with a man that frankly, frightened me to death

"Mitsukai, if I may call you that, you must know as well as I, that I am not here to dance" He stated, in a tone so soft and subtle it was almost as though he didn’t speak, he just let the words float from his lips.

"Ok…well…now that we’ve got that out of the way, who are you? And why do you know my name?"

"Ah, child, there will be time for all this later, come with me, I have…something to show you"

Foolishly enough, I follow the man, out the back door of the club, an into a dark alley. He walked past me, saying nothing, waved his arm, and the back of the alley opened up, into something that looked like a set from a cheesy 30’s vampire flick, back before trid.

"Come with me, dear child" He beckoned me to enter, and so I did, and watched the "door" close behind me.

"Ok, look, I want to know who you are, now, I’m not playing this game forever"

"Well, young one, I am, well, how does one put this…..your brother, or, I was rather"

I didn’t let him even finish the sentence, I flung myself at him, pinning him to the ground, despite him being quite a bit larger than myself.

"You’re what?" I asked angrily "You will cooperate with me, or I’ll slit your throat now. Tell me what’s going on"

"Well, dear sister, as you well know by now, I did kill mom and dad, but that was a lifetime ago, quite literally even. See, shortly after arriving here, in Seattle, I unfortunately succumbed to that known as the HMHVV, and became what is known as a vampire. Now, you must imagine, upon my…transformation so to speak, that I realized a great many things. Including how stupid I had been as a human. Granted, I did slaughter our entire family on the whim of my commander, but only because I was stupid. Ever since then, I quit working for those bunch of idiots, and just left a fun little paper trail in case anyone tried to find me. Which of course, they never would, because the trail led to Chicago, and I’m still right here. Now, as to your revenge, well, I’m afraid that will have to be postponed inevitably, for I have much to do. On other hand, I was rather impressed with the way you handled that little shit I sent out after you. He had become a nuisance more than a useful servant, so I figured, where better to send him to die, than by your hands?"

"So…let me get this straight, you want me to simply walk away, and forget about what you did? I don’t think I can do that, despite the fact that you may well be capable of killing me here and now." I said, still trying to process all of this in my mind

"Well, you have a few choices, the first, and safest, for you, at least, is to walk away. Forget I ever existed, think of your brother as dead. For all intensive purposes, he is, you can leave all this behind if you’ll simply accept that. Also, I’m sure I could find a way to get you infected with the virus too, and we could work together, side by side, like a real family. After all, I am the only family you have left. Your third, and most, well, undesirable option, would be to let your anger rule you. You could attack me, and no doubt do quite significant damage to my body, but it will simply heal in due time, whereas you, would most likely not survive a fight with me, not anymore. I leave the choice to you, do you throw your life away for simple revenge? Or go on with life, and forget this ever happened?"

"I think I’d prefer to walk away" I stated plainly, although I could feel my rage boiling up inside of me….then suddenly, I could see the darkness from my dreams again….except this time it was defining itself in my mind, it was taking form, and what I saw scared me more than anything ever had. I saw myself. Or rather, an image of myself, it was like a daydream. I was standing in that field once more, holding Ketsurui by my side, watching this creature that had taken my shape approach. I could hear it whispering softly in my mind, you cannot walk away dear child, there is no escaping this destiny, so many years ago, you called to me, whether you knew it or not, subconsciously, you reached out and called me into you. I have been waiting for this moment for far too long for you to screw it up. You’ll just have to watch this time. I suddenly felt as though I were paralyzed, from head to toe, but I wasn’t falling over, instead I was moving. I felt my mouth uttering words that I didn’t put in it…

"Brother, you and I have a score to settle, you killed our family, ruined my life, and brought dishonor upon our name. There is no escaping this destiny of ours, your weakness has been proven, else you would have killed me as soon as you had the chance, but no, you let me grow up, become powerful, much like yourself. And now, it will come back to haunt you. Regardless of what you may be now, you are still the murdering beast that slaughtered our family, and for that you will paaaaaaaaaaaaayy!"