Blood Of The Moon (ch5)

EALRY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

Claudine has to go back to the Alphas now. But Maya had sworn she'd find her again...

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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							Chapter 5. Deal With The Devils

The room is gold with the last fading rays of sunlight when Maya next opens her eyes.

It's now been several nights since she'd met Saijou Claudine, and she had known her guest was planning on returning to her captors soon.

But even so, she can't help the panic and dread that seize her as she wakes to an empty bed now.

Well, mostly empty.

Though Claudine has gone, Maya doesn't remain upset for too long. For, lying on the pillow there beside her, is an embroidered black headband.

Slowly, Maya pushes herself up and reaches for it, cradling it in both hands. This was Claudine's treasure, the only object she had left from her childhood as a normal human girl, something that her dear mother had given her.

The fact that Claudine had left it behind for Maya to find speaks volumes. This was the ultimate display of trust. Not only did Claudine trust Maya with taking care of her most precious treasure, but she also trusts Maya to come find her as she had promised so she can give it back to her.

"I swear it," Maya murmurs, letting her lips brush against the headband.

When she feels the bed where Claudine had lain, she finds the blankets already cold. She must have left hours before dawn, and been so meticulous and careful to not wake her, though Maya had to admit she was a rather deep sleeper.

With the level of caution which she'd come to understand Claudine possessed, she wasn't all that surprised that the wolf girl had managed to slip out without causing her to stir.

Even so, Maya gets up to check for traces of her around the apartment, but in the end she finds nothing other than that headband. If not for that, and Claudine's slight residual scent, she may have assumed it was all just a dream that lasted several days after all.

Maya returns to the bedroom to strip the mattress and bring the sheets and blankets to the laundry, as they still hold the faint scent of blood.

And just the mere thought of it makes her veins pulse; it's about time for her to feed again.

She growls in frustration as she goes about the mundane chores.

Before she'd met Claudine, Maya never thought much about her shifts at her job or her tasks of hunting every few nights. If anything, they gave her something to do other than hide herself away every night.

But now her entire body is itching with distress. She wants to search for Claudine right away. She wants to help her and get her away from the Alphas at any cost.

And you will, she reminds herself. But first you've got to let her do her part.

She has to remember Claudine's perspective on all of this. She's doing it to defend her parents from violent criminals who would be all too glad to pay them a visit and do them harm, should Claudine ever disobey them.

Maya bares her fangs subconsciously just thinking about it. For all she knows, Claudine could already be fighting right now, slaughtering whatever poor beasts the men had rounded up and tossed into the pit against her. Or worse, she could be the one getting killed for sport.

A sickening nausea clutches Maya's stomach at the mere thought of all the horrible things that could be going on there right now, and of all the gruesome scenes it must have witnessed over the past seven years. If the Alphas had been operating for that long without being detected or discovered, it meant that every person involved, including the patrons, must be sworn to secrecy. Claudine had probably done something horribly taboo in revealing everything to her.

But that was all the more reason why Maya needed to help her get out of there and stop those people once and for all.

She still doesn't know how she might go about doing that, or when. But she knows she can't just run into it blindly on the first night.

Her main objective for tonight is to find Claudine again and get her out for another day. Maya has to be satisfied with just that much to start.

And so she finishes her chores and eats a meager late-night breakfast before getting ready for her shift at the grocery store as if it were any other Tuesday night. She only takes a small handbag with her, and in it she safely tucks away Claudine's beloved headband.

Then, thinking back to a few nights ago when they'd first met, Maya also folds up a towel from the bathroom and packs that in as well.

The time for her to act isn't now.

For now, she just needs to gather information and begin forming a plan of some sorts.

It's the first time she's ever felt so anxious, and it's for someone else's sake.

Drawing in a deep breath, Maya has no choice but to head out the door and start her walk to the grocery store for her shift.

But the only thing filling her mind all the while is a girl without a headband.

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Claudine was surprised at how simple a task it was to sneak away from Maya when she was asleep. Then again, her host had stayed up many hours the past several days and nights to tend to her, so it's only natural she would sleep very deeply when she finally slept at all.

It had agonized her to leave her headband behind, but she needed to leave Maya a message. And it was also a promise to herself; she was going to come back alive to retrieve it from her, no matter what.

Though it still pains her to move around and walk, Claudine is out of Maya's apartment and halfway across town before nightfall, where the urge to shift forms is already prickling beneath her skin.

She limps along under the cover of shadows, never walking in the light of street lamps or open shops. The trek is arduous, though no matter where she's coming from, she knows the way back to that awful place.

After all, over the past seven years she'd run away from them hundreds of times, in any direction.

But she'd always gone back. Each and every time.

The scenery gradually fades from humble restaurants and family-owned businesses to darker, quieter buildings. She slips into the alleyways and follows the cold corridors known only to those involved with this unlawful cult.

She passes the dumpsters she'd often scavenge through when need be, rounds the dilapidated buildings that seem to ooze with steam and smog. She leaves behind the comforting sounds of strolling cars and laughing couples walking home to their cozy lives, and lets herself instead be swallowed by the moans of groaning woodwork and scuttling rats.

It's even worse coming here than usual this time, because she doesn't have her headband, which always felt like a reassuring touch in her hair.

The sharp scents hit the roof of her mouth, things like iron and acid and drugs.

She follows through the shadows, until she can make out the all-too familiar sounds of deep, hollering shouts and cruel laughter.

The building where the Alphas operate appears abandoned from the outside, and it's set far enough away from the rest of the town that anyone unaffiliated wouldn't ever bother to pass by, if they knew of it at all.

Her heart begins to pound as she comes to a halt at the side door, which is chained with heavy locks. With shaking fingers, she reaches out to rattle them in code.

A moment later, the door creaks open with the scraping sound of steel. A snorting voice greets her.

"Well, well, girlie. 'Bout time you came runnin' back with your tail between your legs." He laughs, and as she walks in she keeps her head bowed.

Inside, the air is hot and clogged with smoke and all kinds of horrible odors. Past the pungent liquor and narcotics is the underlying scent of blood and rotting flesh - whatever creatures they'd tossed aside and hadn't disposed of yet.

The door she'd entered through isn't the one for patrons, but for herself and the Alphas themselves only.

There are five of them in total who run this wretched place. Over the years she'd heard their names and seen their faces, but she does her best not to recognize them, not to look or remember. In her mind they're just faceless shadows. They aren't people she wants to remember, even though she know she'll probably never forget for however long she may live.

Presently, the other four of them look up and grin.

"There she is. Our top fighter."

"Back just in time, darlin'. We got a good fight set up tonight."

"If you'd been back any later, we just mighta had to pay them parents of yours a visit…"

The final man who spoke wasn't amused. His tone was low with warning, and a promise to make good on his threats if need be. Claudine turns to him, though she doesn't look him in the face.

"I want to make a deal."

The men whistle and hoot.

"Oh? Now that's a first."

"I barely even remembered she could talk, on account of all she ever does is howl and cry."

"Girlie, what makes you think you can walk in here and start spoutin' crap like that as if you were in charge?"

They move in around her like a pack of wolves themselves, leaving no room for escape. Her blood rushes, and instinct tells her to shrink away, to flee into the corner and cower. They'll beat and degrade her like always, but they'd always stop eventually… After all, she was their most prized fighter and the one that brought them the most profits.

"Profit." She chokes out the word she knows will appeal to them the most. All five of them stop chuckling for a moment.

"What's that, now? Speak up, girl."

Claudine's pulse is rushing in her ears. Outside, the night is pressing down, demanding she obey her curse and change forms. But she resists, needing to speak so they can understand her first.

"If you agree to my deal… I'll make you more money than before. I guarantee it."

The Alphas snort and stomp their boots, muttering to one another.

"Go on, you little freak."

Claudine clutches the ends of her shirt, which she only just remembers is the sweater Maya had given her. Most of the clothes she's wearing right now are Maya's.

Thinking of that girl - that vampire - eases Claudine's throbbing heart just a little.

If Maya chooses not to keep her word in this, then Claudine has dug her own grave. She knows that. But for whatever reason, she'd been desperate enough to trust her.

"I've got somewhere else to stay," she says. "Let me stay there. If I can rest there after the fights, I'll come back twice as strong and make each fight more impressive than the last-"

They cut her off with raucous laughter.

"Ya hear that, boys? She went and found herself a John who's gonna take real good care of her."

"Poor sap. Does he know you're a goddamn dog? You gonna eat him in his sleep?"

"And how, exactly, is this little arrangement of yours gonna make us profit, Girlie?"

No matter how many years she's done this for, and no matter how used to them she may be, every time she's made to interact with them is as terrifying as the first. Clinging to Maya's sweater is the only comfort she has now that her headband isn't with her. She just keeps thinking of the girl who has it now, of the person who promised she would come find Claudine again.

"Like I said," she mutters, fighting to keep her voice steady. "If you let me go there, I can heal faster, which means I'll be able to fight better when I come back. You know I'll come back…"

"Damn right you will," one of them snaps. "But we're gonna need more than that."

Claudine's pulse speeds up. The fact that he'd said that meant he was interested in the idea, at least.

"Sell my things," she offers. "That room where you'd kept me… sell everything in it. You won't have to feed me anymore, and there won't be any risk of people finding out about me. You'll be able to run your business with ease." She lifts her head just a little now, looking into the shadowy faces. "Think about it. I'll get my food and shelter elsewhere. You won't have to worry about it anymore. I'll come fight every time, and then you don't have to bother with me."

"Now where's the fun in that?" one of them grunts. "You wanna just come in to fight and then hit the road every time?"

"I say we keep her, Boss," another one says. "Ain't it fun to barge in and just knock her around sometimes?"

Claudine waits for the leader's input, trying to keep herself as calm as possible. While they're all ruthless brutes, the leader was the one that thought about things from a more logical sense, or so she'd come to believe.

He doesn't speak for a while, clearly mulling over her points.

"If we didn't have to keep her back there," he says. "We'd make a few bucks sellin' all that stuff. And not having an extra mouth to feed would be nice. Let someone else do all the work and we get all the benefits? Sounds good to me. Besides," he adds on, and Claudine can nearly feel his eyes piercing through her. "If I agree to this little deal of yours, maybe you'll quit causin' us so much goddamn trouble, isn't that right? Like lettin' them dogs loose before we can fight 'em. Doin' shit like that costs us quite a pretty penny, you know."

Claudine says nothing. She'd still continue freeing as many of the caged animals as she could from this hellhole, no matter how severely they'd beat her for it afterward.

The Boss ponders a moment longer, blowing out a puff of cigar smoke.

"So we sell all that stuff, don't gotta feed you or nothin', and you'll come back and fight? What am I sayin'? Course you will. Cuz you know exactly what'll happen if you don't." He utters a bone-chilling laugh. "We've been keepin' tabs on your folks, Girlie. Got someone watchin' em at all times. All I gotta do is say the word and-" He runs his finger sideways across his throat and makes a choking sound.

Claudine curls her fingers into the sweater until the threads begin to tear.

"I'll come back!" she yelps. "For every fight. I'll come back. You can up the prices too, because I'll make them more entertaining. I'll make you twice as much money."

The boss tosses his cigar to the floor and crushes it under his boot with a thud.

"You've got brains, Girlie, I'll give you that. All things considered, it does sound like a pretty good deal. Plus-" She still doesn't look at him, but she can hear the grin in his voice. "I think it'd be funny to let you have that false sense of freedom. Let you think you can get away from all this. But in the end you'll come back every time. Y'know why?"

She shudders as she hears another thud of footsteps, then another, until he's drowning her with his shadow. A hard hand grabs her by the hair and yanks her face up as she cries out. His rancid breath makes her eyes sting until tears well up.

"Cuz you belong to me, you little monster."

With that, he tosses her to the floor, which she hits with a concussive sound. Before she can try to get up, a boot collides with her stomach.

"Rough her up, boys," the leader snorts. "If she can still give us a decent fight tonight after that, then she's got herself a deal."

Claudine can't relish her small victory, because the heavy boots are already slamming down on top of her. They beat her all around the room, grabbing her hair, kicking her anywhere they can - her face, her stomach, her throat. They stomp on her back and on he fingers, all the while spouting curses and profanities, daring her to think for a second she could ever escape them.

And she knows she can't. She knows it's useless to even try.

Even now, she doesn't try to fight back. She just lets them hurt her until they're satisfied, by which point she's become so weak she wouldn't have been able to transform if not for the sheer, unbridled fear fueling her.

She shifts forms because she has to, because they'll kill her family if she doesn't. She'll fight any battle they give her tonight, no matter how helpless or innocent her opponent may be. It isn't a choice.

Before she knows it, she's viewing the world from her wolf form, groveling and limping no higher than the men's belts. They choke a collar of chains around her neck and kick her along toward the fighting ring, where at least a hundred patrons are already gathered. She can hear the whimpers and barks of the other dogs, smell their fear and their terror more strongly than everything else combined.

As the roars and shouts crack the air at the arrival of the champion wolf, Claudine sends out silent apologies for the terrible things she's about to do.

The chains drag her through the bars of a metal fence, where the forty-foot fighting arena opens up before her. The shouts and yells and hollers make her ears ache.

The first dog they send in can't even be half her size. It's nothing more than a house pet, one of the ones that isn't even trained for fighting. It doesn't stand a chance.

As a wolf, she can't cry.

So the best she can do is make it quick.

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Maya's shift is as uneventful as ever. The store is closed to customers at these hours, and her job is simply to stock shelves and take inventory.

There are a few other workers doing their own tasks around the store, but she barely encounters or speaks to any of them. Pleasant music plays over the intercom all the while, until Maya checks the clock to see her hours are over. She takes her leave.

By now her entire body is aching with hunger, and not simply the human kind.

As she exits the store and hurries out into the night, Maya licks her lips, imagining the saliva is blood as she swallows. She shakes her head, trying to keep her head clear and focused on what is most important right now.

Peering down into her bag, she touches Claudine's headband to remind herself.

She'd spent the past six hours quietly stocking food without speaking a word to anyone.

And yet, now knowing what she knows, she's painfully aware that Claudine's past six hours had been very different.

Maya can only imagine the nightmare she'd had to endure, not only tonight, but for years and years until now. Had those men beat her again? Had they made her kill again? How injured was she right now? Was she crying out in pain, bleeding? Was she thinking of Maya, waiting for her-?

It makes her sick, more so than the dizzying sensation that's stemming from her thirst for blood. She won't be able to take her time scoping out the crowds tonight to select the best possible prey. She's going to have to get a meal as quickly as possible to satiate herself, and then hurry to Claudine's side.

Maya rushes to the nearest night club and gets straight to mingling with the crowds. Even though her skin prickles with discomfort at diving in among the sea of drunken strangers, she ignores it.

This is nothing at all compared to what she must be suffering right now…

Anger flashes through Maya's veins as she considers what might be happening to Claudine right this very moment, what she's being forced to do and endure.

Maya ends up grabbing the wrist of the nearest girl, who seems delighted by her forcefulness. Maya doesn't even speak a word or attempt flirting as a guise this time. She simply leans in and sinks in her fangs to drink her fill, then erases the girl's memories and leaves her to another.

Somewhat calmer now with the fresh blood flowing through her, Maya pushes her way out and back into the night. She'd never fed so quickly before, or so out-in-the-open like that. She'd normally take her prey to some secluded corner or room, not bite them in the middle of the dance floor. Her concern for Claudine has made her more than a bit hasty.

The moon is waxing toward full, approaching a gibbous phase tonight as she hurries to the less favorable part of town. The lively sounds of humanity fade away behind her.

This is the place where monsters dwell. And not just vampires and werewolves, but things much worse.

At the very least, Claudine and Maya had never claimed to be human like they do. The Alphas, and anyone associated with them, were demons worse than what hell could produce.

Maya heads in the direction of the supposedly-abandoned building Claudine had told her about yesterday. She isn't certain how far she'll have to go, or how close she'll have to get, but she'll do whatever it takes to find her again.

Maya is fully prepared to charge into the center of the mob itself if need be.

That's why she's shocked when she hears a soft whimper when she's still several blocks away.

Maya stops at the end of an alleyway and listens closely. With her thirst quenched for now, her senses are clear and attentive. She catches the scent of blood on the air. The whimper comes again.

"Saijou-" The name falls from her lips in an anxious whisper. "Saijou-san-?"

There's a pained wheeze, but then that strangled sound once more.

Maya dashes into the darkness, her nocturnal vision working excellently even in the darkest corners. Her mind and heart are racing so loudly she almost doesn't hear the scraping of claws against the pavement.

She halts as a familiar wolf comes staggering out of the shadow of a dumpster. Maya's heart sinks and soars at the same time, as if being pulled in opposite directions.

But the relief of finding her is quickly outweighed by the despair of witnessing her agony all over again.

Claudine's whole body is covered in fresh wounds and scrapes, one of her ears has been shredded, and bite marks line nearly every inch of her. Her tail drags behind her and leaves a trail of blood. Her chest and mouth are drenched in crimson, in a way that's telling enough to show it isn't just her own.

How many had she been forced to kill tonight?

The moment Claudine lifts her head, there is so much anguish in her eyes that Maya almost misses that tiny spark of relief. Just like the first night, her eyes roll back as her body goes limp.

Maya drops to her knees and catches a broken girl in her arms.

"Saijou-san!"

She'd shifted back; either because she'd been too weak to retain her wolf form, or because she trusted Maya, it's uncertain. Maya clears the matted hair from her face with a gentle hand, cupping her bloodied cheek.

"Saijou-san…?"

Maya holds her in her lap and rummages for the towel in her bag. She covers Claudine with it, cleaning off as much of the blood as possible, then holding it over the wounds that are still bleeding.

Maya keeps her close, fearing one of the demons themselves might emerge to demand Claudine back.

But as the moments pass, the only sounds that fill the alley are Claudine's labored breaths.

Maya does all she can to stop the bleeding with what she has now at her disposal, all the while supporting Claudine in one arm. Maya is filled with empathy and fury, though ultimately the former wins out this time.

"Saijou-san? Can you hear me?"

She waits in tense silence. It hurts to hear Claudine wheezing like this. There's a bit of a gurgle in her chest, as though blood has leaked into her lungs. Maya passes her fingertips gently across her bangs, then reaches into the bag for her headband. Carefully, she slips it back into place for her.

Claudine stirs, her eyes shuddering open with a wince. Her voice tumbles out in a thin gasp.

"T-Tendo… Maya…"

Maya has never cried for anyone else's sake before, but she cries for Claudine a second time tonight.

"Yes... Just as I promised, I came to get you, Saijou-san. I'm taking you back with me. Please hold on."

Maya turns and coaxes Claudine to hold onto her back like before, having her wrap both arms around her neck. Maya covers Claudine's back with the towel to conceal all the blood, then grabs her legs and slowly gets up.

With night nearing its end, Maya sets a brisk pace for home.

Claudine's weight is like that of a young child's on her back. Maya worries that she might forget her enhanced strength and end up causing her more pain on accident.

She runs as quickly as she dares as the scent of blood wreathes around her more strongly than Claudine's scent can. She feels it oozing into her back, where Claudine's heartbeat is heavy and fast.

Maya decides it then and there. She'll kill every last one of them. They can't threaten the lives of Claudine's family if the Alphas are dead themselves.

But taking care of Claudine comes first.

The moon vanishes as the sky turns milky with early morning. Maya hurries onward, only slowing very briefly when she hears Claudine struggle to speak.

"Saijou-san?"

It takes her another moment to find her breath, but Claudine eventually repeats herself.

"Three days…" she gasps. "Every three days… I go back to fight… but other than that, I'm-"

Free.

Maya knows she doesn't trust the word just yet. Not when she's still undeniably bound to those monsters and their threats.

But this is surely the closest she's ever gotten.

Even if Claudine had escaped many times before, never before had she found the support of another person like herself. No normal human in their right mind would offer help to someone involved with such a tyrannical mob.

Only a vampire would be crazy enough.

Suddenly, Claudine lets out a strained cry and begins to lose her grip. But Maya immediately shifts forward to compensate for her weight, keeping a firm hold on her.

"I've got you," she murmurs. "I've got you, Saijou Claudine."

She is still for a moment, until Claudine has caught as much of her breath as she can, and reenforced her hold on Maya.

As the sun peeks above the distant rooftops, Maya's apartment is in sight. She makes her way to it slowly. As she climbs the steps, Claudine's voice mumbles in her ear.

"To think… a vampire of all things…"

And in spite of it all, Maya smiles.

"Come," she replies as they reach the top floor. "Once I've patched you up, I have some fresh steak to prepare."

She stops at her door and fiddles the key in, then pushes inside just as a beam of sunlight hits their backs. But Maya hardly even feels it.

She brings Claudine inside with her and lets the door close on the rest of the world.

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A/N: Claudine was granted her deal with the Alphas, and thus will receive a false 'freedom' with Maya. But is that a good thing, or more dangerous than her original deal...?