The Fallen Vampire

Taira couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss as he returned back to his temporary abode.

He hadn't laid his eyes on Vermeil or Yukiko in a couple of hours now.

While that wasn't necessarily a cause for alarm in itself, Vermeil had a tendency that she'd developed over the course of their marriage.

Simply put, she liked to distance herself when her mind was too far away from her.

And judging by the pills she made earlier today, she definitely must have had something more on her mind than just a simple contest.

'…It's been too long.'

Even though he was just getting back to the residence, Taira turned back around to go and find the girls himself.

But just as he crossed the threshold, Vermeil suddenly came walking through the courtyard entrance with their daughter in her arms.

Even though they hadn't done anything, they were still able to put a smile on his face just by arriving.

Especially Yukiko, who was probably the dirtiest that a little girl could be.

Today, Taira learned firsthand that the myth about little girls being cleaner than little boys was just that- a myth.

"My, my. I wonder what you could have done to end up-"

"Mommy cried!" Yukiko revealed- completely unprompted.

"Eh?"

"S-Snitch!" Vermeil yelled, completely flustered.

Yukiko didnt look bothered by that at all. Mostly because she didn't know what that meant.

Taira walked towards Vermeil without saying a word. But he could already hear her heart about to beat out of her chest.

He embraced her gently, so as not to spook her and cause her to shut down.

Even though she did shutter at his touch, she leaned into it even more. Almost as if she knew that this was what she needed in the moment.

"Do you wish to tell me what happened?"

Vermeil shook her head as she let Taira's body keep her upright.

"I do… Can you just give me until the morning though?"

"That bad, huh?"

"N-Not necessarily… I just need a little time to find the words is all."

Taira glanced at Yukiko.

"Mommy got into an argument with-"

"O-Okay! How about we get this little girl clean and make her some dinner, huh?" Vermeil covered Yukiko's mouth.

"Vermeil…"

"Taira…please." Vermeil begged quietly. "It was just a small thing that I don't need you to fly off the handle for. Dan Master Hideyoshi knew that I wasn't giving it my best in the competition and he wanted to know why, okay? That's all.."

Vermeil kissed Taira as a means of distraction. Yukiko covered her eyes in disgust.

Ordinarily, this would have worked just fine, but Taira had already been 'feeding' on the girls a lot today, so his brain and his business were not necessarily linked.

"Why did you not give it your all during the contest?" Taira asked between pecks.

Vermeil deepened her voice until she sounded like an evil overlord. "He was not worthy of my true power..."

Taira caught Vermeil by the face as she leaned in again. "Don't try to kiss me after using that extra creepy voice."

"I've never refused you once in fifty years of marriage, so you don't get to refuse me either!" Vermeil huffed.

"Alright..." Taira conceded.

Vermeil kissed him again a few more times before putting on that scarily deep voice again. "Mmm, that's nice."

"You're such a weird little human." Taira bit his lip so that he wouldn't laugh.

"Are you trying to say that I'm not funny?" Vermeil pouted- finally back to normal.

"You're not. I prefer to say demented." Taira turned his back so that his wife couldn't see him struggling not to smile.

Vermeil caught up to him quickly and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You see? I'm fine. There's no need for you to worry about me."

Taira knew that his love was trying to avoid something. As a matter of fact, she was going to great lengths to do so.

So just for the time being, he was going to allow her to hold onto her little secret until she decided she was ready to talk in the morning.

And if she wasn't… he had ways to get it out of her.

-

Now that the day had ended, Taira and his family were heading back to their bedroom together.

Yukiko was already asleep in Enyo's arms- having gone to sleep at dinner.

Taira started to to open the door when he suddenly paused and looked back at the girls.

"Should we not be letting Yukiko sleep with the other children? She can't stay in our bedroom forever aftera-"

"WHO SAID SHE CAN'T?!?" The girls roared aloud.

"…Nevermind then."

Taira slid open the door and let his wives and daughter inside.

"She'll get if she want to stop sleeping with us on her own before we know it." Inadu said. "We should let her be a-"

"Ina, stop. None of you move."

The wives froze dead in their tracks. Taira never spoke like this.

The girls watched his eyes narrow as he walked about the room.

He stepped over to the bed and lifted up one of their pillows.

He took one whiff and his face became ugly and horrific.

"DAI-SHI!!"

A frantic Shakti came running down the hallway stumbling.

In her arms she carried three of the sect's children with another one on her back.

Two were sweating horrifically, one had a nosebleed, and the other had remnants of bile on his chin.

"I-I'm sorry, but the children, they…"

Shakti's body wobbled and she took an unexpected tumble.

Aveena caught her and the children before they could hit the floor hard.

"Shakti! What's wrong?!"

Now, she could see that the giantess was sweating fairly hard too.

Her breathing was also shallow, and her internal energy was seeing a steady and concerning decline.

"I-I think they… poisoned.." Shakti heaved.

Aveena was horrified.

She looked back at Taira for answers but found nothing.

He was already gone.

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