(sorry it's late
)
If there was one thing vampires hated more than sunlight, it was being alone. Living forever wasn’t very fun at all if there was no one to enjoy it with.
The problem was, that’s what Jasper had been for years now: alone. With each day that passed, the vampire became more and more tired of it all. He tried talking to people and trying to make friends back when he’d first been turned, but it wasn’t easy when you have to sleep through the day. Eventually, people started getting suspicious and drove him away.
Since he’d given up trying to live among the humans, Jasper had become increasingly frustrated with his life. He’d tried living among the demons at one point in hopes that they’d understand his problem, but soon decided he didn’t like their attitude.
Barely a year later after he’d left the vampire learned that the demons had gone and killed all of the kitsune. One demon had done it; while the rest made sure the foxes didn’t escape. Once he’d heard that, Jasper knew he’d made the right choice.
Even if he’d had nothing even close to a friend since he’d left the demons, Jasper thought it was better than becoming a killer.
Sure, vampires killed occasionally when they had to feed, but unlike the demons, most vampires did it accidentally and didn’t enjoy it.
He flinched as the early morning sun finally peeked through the trees, the bright light hurting his eyes. Stepping back into the darker area of the trees, Jasper stopped and thought about whether or not he really wanted to go through with this.
Why not? He thought.
I have nothing else to live for. Nobody wants a vampire as a friend.Jasper took a breath to prepare himself, knowing he’d be in pain the second he stepped out into the sunlight; he’d purposely avoided feeding for almost a week to make it that little bit faster. Once there was enough sunlight, Jasper went to step out of the shadows of the trees, only to pause when he thought he heard a sound nearby. He brushed it off though as his mind trying to distract him and put an end to his plan. With a shrug, Jasper stepped into the sunlight.
He hissed in pain, the feeling similar to stepping into a burning hot shower and it was only going to get worse. It would be over soon though and then he would no longer have to deal with the pain of loneliness.
It took the vampire a moment after reopening his eyes to realise he’d even blacked out.
Jasper found himself on his knees, feeling something nudging one of his hands, which hung limp by his sides. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, the vampire realised the something was a young fox. There was something different about it though, he realised, something that made him think it wasn’t just one of the wild foxes that lived in the woods. It took him a moment to recall why the scent was familiar, having only come across it once before. There was no mistaking it though.
“A…kitsune?” Jasper lifted his hand a little, watching as the fox sniffed his hand.
“Are you alone?”
The fox’s response came as a whimper, its ears flat against its head. Yes.
Jasper sighed, willing himself to move. He scooped up the fox and forced himself to move into the quickly disappearing shade. It gave him a minute or so at least to decide what to do. He leaned against a tree, worried he wouldn’t be able to stand otherwise until he’d had a chance to recover a bit. He frowned as he looked down at the fox in his arms.
It was staring up at him with a sad expression, though he’d never known animals could do such a thing. He figured it was because kitsune also had a human form.
After seeing the look in its eyes though, Jasper made a decision.
“We can’t just leave you alone now, can we…?”
At the vampire’s words, the fox’s ears pricked up and it flicked its tail, looking hopeful. Jasper chuckled at it, the sound weak. He then stood up straight and moved away from the tree, groaning in pain.
The fox made an upset sound in response and jumped from his arms, running a short distance away before turning to look back at the vampire, hinting for him to follow.
After standing there a moment, Jasper gritted his teeth against the pain and followed the fox deeper into the woods, away from the sun.
The vampire didn’t remember much of their trip through the woods after that.
He had no idea how much time had passed since that day, Jasper just knew that the house he’d woke up in was unfamiliar to him. As he slowly became aware of his surroundings, Jasper also realised how much pain he was in.
Crying out, he went to sit up, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t bother struggling against it, he didn’t have the strength; starving and injured as he was.
“Shh, it’s okay…”
Jasper turned his head to look at the source of the voice, finding a boy sitting beside the couch he was laying on, holding a wet cloth in his hands.
“Are you the kitsune?” Jasper managed to ask, his voice rough from going so long without feeding; his throat burning.
The boy nodded, ducking his head to hide the sad look that appeared in his eyes at the mention of the kitsune. Jasper frowned and stared at him for a moment, trying to work out how old exactly he was. The vampire was terrible at guessing ages, having lost track of his own. He could at least tell the kitsune wasn’t an adult; he still had a youthful look about him. Maybe he was a teenager? Though, knowing he was ad at guessing, Jasper figured he could possibly be a year or two off being one still.
There was an awkward silence between them, broken eventually by Jasper sighing. “I’m sorry; I was just ask- Anyway, uh thanks… for helping me back there.”
There was another silence, the boy not responding to his thanks.
Jasper frowned, a hint of concern in his voice. “…kid?”
“You were going to die, weren’t you?” The boy finally asked; his voice quiet. He lifted his head, just enough to look at the vampire.
Not seeing any point in lying to him, Jasper nodded. “If you hadn’t woken me up.”
He lifted his head properly then, in a way that reminded Jasper of how the fox’s ears had pricked up in the woods.
“So I saved you?”
Jasper stayed quiet for a moment, recalling the reason he’d been in the sun in the first place and why he’d changed his mind.
“Yeah. You did.” He replied. “Uh- do you live here by the way?”
“Oh, yeah…” The kitsune sighed.
“All alone I take it?” Jasper guessed, frowning when the boy nodded. He went quiet for a moment, thinking about it. When he’d come up with a solution he tried to sit up, only to be reminded of the pain of his sunburned skin.
“Damn it.”
“Are you okay?” The kitsune asked worriedly.
“Yeah, yeah; I’m fine.” Jasper said, brushing off the concern. Lying back again, he smiled at the boy. “If you need a friend, I could stay. I mean, it would probably do
me some good to have one too…”
“Really? You’d stay? It gets kind of lonely here, it’d be great to have a friend.” The kitsune returned the smile before holding up the wet cloth. “Um, did you want me to finish what I was doing mister vampire? I-I know your injuries won’t get infected…but keeping them cool should help with the pain. At-at least a little-”
He stopped and frowned at the vampire, who was laughing at him.
“What?! What’s so funny?” The boy asked, pouting.
“You- What are you calling me ‘mister’ for? Nobody does that.”
Instead of getting upset, the boy crossed his arms, dropping the cloth on his lap. “Well I don’t
know your name.” The way he said it reminded Jasper a lot of himself.
“Ah right. It’s Jasper.” The vampire replied; ignoring the rude tone the boy had spoken in. “What’s your name then?”
The kitsune hesitated a moment, uncrossing his arms before responding. He smiled shyly, reaching up to brush a hand through his hair.
“It’s Alex.”
Wed Jan 15, 2014 2:23 pm
