8. Rising Risks (2/2)

"you can call me chaos hunter. most people do." she rested her gloved hands on top of a chair, staring at the table instead of at him. "my people do not give their given names out lightly. the only person who knew mine is no more."

that accounted for the mourning ribbon, then. shou nodded and gestured for her to go on.

"two nights ago, i was waiting for him at my home. but he never made it. i felt something was wrong and went out to look. what i found was a monster bent over him, sucking his blood." her words fell like small chunks of

oken glass, ringing harsh and cold. "a vampire."

shou froze where he stood. "a vampire?" it had to be the one that lurking in the mansion and taking bites out of the staff. what were the odds of having two this close together? unless they were a team. it probably could happen. one vampire or two, this wasn't good news at all.

"i know what i saw." her eyes darkened in memory. "i couldn't see its face. there wasn't enough light. but i could tell what it was doing. i did manage to hit it, but i'm not sure of how much damage i caused. it got away before i could do anything else. it was too late for taro. i don't think he even recognized me after that."

shou bent his head in sympathy. that explained the ribbon, and her strike at him, more than he'd wanted to know. "did you find anything else?"

"no. vampires seldom leave much evidence behind them, other than their victims." her fingers tightened more against the chair, digging into the wood. "i came up here as soon as i could after taro was laid to rest. i'm going to search for the monster on my own, but i thought that you should know that it's in the area."

"thank you," shou told her. he decided in a moment that it would be better not to let on that there was a vampire in the mansion as well. whether or not it was the same one, it could cause too much of a panic if people caught wind that even their home could be invaded by the undead. and they still didn't know much about the vampire itself. shou was almost certain ryou would want to capture it before they made any major plans on how to deal with it. "let us know if you learn anything new, please? and we'll watch for it ourselves."

chaos hunter nodded,

inging her gaze up to look toward shou for the first time. her lips parted again, but nothing came from them, mostly because another voice spoke.

"we extend our sympathy for your loss, and if we can provide any assistance, let us know." ryou stood in the shadows of the doorway. shou didn't know if their visitor could recognize him or not from that. something certainly bothered her, given the paling of her cheeks.

"of course." she dropped her head for a moment before backing toward the door. "i should go."

she didn't wait for any kind of formal dismissal, leaving as quickly as she could without actually running out the door. shou looked up at his

other.

"what do you think bothered her?" she'd seemed fine right up until ryou arrived. his

other shrugged.

"people who have dealt with vampires can be strange for a long time afterward. i wouldn't be bothered by it if i were you."

shou nodded; his

other always knew best after all.

to be continued