damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 2

Wally woke as the intercom crackled to life and was surprised to find himself back in his room. The last thing he'd remembered was feeling relieved at finally beating off those dragonfly-lizard things. There'd been that weird intercom message, then... he wasn't quite sure what had happened after that, but he was certain it hadn't involved falling asleep. He'd be half-wondering if he'd dreamed the whole thing if it hadn't been for the nagging ache on his back and ankle from where he'd been bitten. A quick check revealed they'd been bandaged, apparently while he'd slept. He wondered if he had Kal to thank for that. Maybe he'd get the chance to ask later.

He jumped as the door swung open to admit the familiar face of the nurse who'd woken him yesterday. "Up already, are we?" she said cheerfully as she busied herself pulling out clothes. A blue shirt and a pair of jeans were passed to him. Wally blinked, he hadn't been here long, but he'd gotten the impression that the grey-and-smiley-face combo was standard.

"Does this mean I'm being released?" he asked, hope creeping into his voice.

The nurse turned back to him, pity etched on her features. "I'm afraid not, dear." She smiled brightly as she continued, "but today's when all the patients get a special field trip into town! Won't that be a treat!"

Wally stared at the clothes, his mind working away. He'd been trying to get into town and to a phone last night before he'd been attacked. But if they were going in today, this might be the perfect chance for him to contact the Justice League. He smiled warmly and thanked the nurse as she left to allow him to change, then happily allowed himself to be led to one of the buses, picking a seat about halfway down and sliding in to look out the window. It seemed like today was going to be brighter than yesterday, at least in the area of possible phone calls and rescues. About the only dark patch he could see was that the contents of his paper-bag breakfast were going to be nowhere near enough to fill the yawning pit that had taken the place of his stomach, and even that was tolerable when he was positive he wasn't going to be here much longer.

"And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me, and you see a blur around you fly, but it takes too long, it seems so slow to me..." he sung absently.

[Oh Captain, my Captain~]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"This whole other world thing is senseless," he blurted out without remorse. "There's only one kind of vampire, and that's how it should be." Because having fictional characters from books and movies and even fictional vampires was more annoying than it was amusing.

The amusement tended to fade within moments, and then it was just creepy and unnatural.

But he was civil enough not to point out that whatever she was, she was weak.

He furrowed his brow at her second question, momentarily waylaid from what he'd really wanted to discuss, now that they were past the whole 'I'm not human' thing. "What?"

"If there's only one sort of vampire, then that makes you the same as me," she pointed out patiently, though her voice was low, meant for his ears alone. To anyone beyond their seat, only her lips appeared to move slightly. "So make up your mind. Which is it. Are you a vampire or aren't you?"

It was pointless to try and hide the fact that she was now, since he'd obviously known that the moment he stepped on the bus and saw her. But that still didn't explain how he was different or what he thought a vampire should be.

"Ah, no," he interrupted quickly, his own voice coming quick and murmured. "There's really nothing similar about us." There was an air of inarguable finality about him, because if anything, he knew his own kind inside and out, the basic knowledge a child grew up with. There might have been plenty of things he didn't know about Landel's, but when it came to this, there was no need to doubt himself.

No vampire would like their lineage to be brought under question, and Aidou was no different. But he let out a low, silent sigh, and let the insinuation pass.

He gave her a long look, crossing his arms loosely. "If you want the truth, to me, you shouldn't exist. Like I said, there's only one proper kind of vampire, and that's me. But since you and your other friend are here, I have to acknowledge you. All I want to know is how well you're able to control yourself around the humans." And then, because he didn't want to be answered with another question, he explained in short: "We label ex-humans as the E class. There are only five classes."

Which, if one count, clearly meant that the E class was the lowest class. And the weakest.

"My brother, you mean?" Alice inquired curiously, then shrugged one slim shoulder. "We can control ourselves around humans. We make a habit of it, after all. We're one of the rare families that live peacefully among the humans. Edward and I, and our other siblings, even attend school with them, occasionally, when our cover in the real world requires it."

She frowned when he mentioned more about wherever he came from. "What do you mean five classes? Five classes for what?"

"That's not what I heard. Even under brainwashing, Edward's been a glutton."

There was only one reason for Aidou to associate with other creatures who preyed on humans, and that concerned his loyalty to Kaname-sama. It was also in regards to his own well being. The last thing he was going to put up with were other 'vampires' causing trouble in this ridiculously small prison where he would have to co-exist with them.

"Well, just a warning, I suppose," the noble continued. His tone was pleasant enough. "I can't tolerate creatures whose bloodlust gets out of control. Especially here, after all. How will you sate yourself?" This was an ex-human he was talking to. Different kind or not, dead or not, humanity didn't mix well with vampiric instincts.

He shrugged then, seeing no reason to withhold such basic information. "What do you think? Power. I don't know how you rank yourselves, but ex-humans are typically killed off soon enough, since they cause so much trouble for the rest of us."

'Just a warning', indeed.

Alice's golden gaze narrowed at the slight to her brother. Yes, something had happened before she'd shown up, but Edward never would have done that willingly. "Well, you heard wrong," she replied shortly, her expression dismissive as she turned away from him.

Despite his pleasant tone, she was beginning to get irritated. Or, more with the fact that she still needed to talk to Edward to find out what was going on, what had happened before her arrival. It bothered her more than she was letting on, but then, not knowing something usually did. Warning, indeed. Who did he think he was?

"We're vegetarians," she joked dryly, little humor in her tone. "Usually when we get hungry, we hunt animals. And as I said, all vampires where I come from were once human."

So she wasn't even going to try and defend the fact.

"Exactly. You were human," the noble returned without pause. He wasn't misled by her demeanour or her choice of words. "That has little bearing on how easily you can sink your fangs in their throats and rip them out."

If she were trying to imply that humans who were turned had a conscience when it came to their food source, Aidou was ready to disagree. Ultimately, bloodlust won out every time. That was what made ex-humans so pathetic.

"There are no animals here that aren't rotting and putrid. There's only humans with fresh injuries, day after day. So what will you do?"

"We'll think of something," Alice replied, shrugging. "We know our own restraint, we've lived with it for long enough. What do you do, if dinner is so hard to find?"

Was that what had happened to Edward? No, she couldn't see him letting himself go that long. Edward wouldn't have taken the risk, and she wasn't going to jump to any assumptions without talking to him. She knew him better than that.

"I'll take your word for it," said the vampire. For now, anyway. It was an unwieldy task to kill every one of them he came across as he was now, as he'd decided some time ago, but he'd also resigned himself to do it if it came down to it. At least this time, he assumed he wasn't going to be a babysitter for person with naive instincts regarding their own need for blood.

His best answer was, "I'm a noble. I definitely don't break my own rules, and creatures like us that seriously injure humans need to be killed." Consequently, the creatures who needed human blood to live.

There were also the freak cannibals like Roland who desired human flesh, but it was no different for them. It didn't matter. As far as Aidou was concerned, he didn't feel any guilt over taking lives in that sense.

"Anyway, I also wanted to ask: is that why you spend time with Bella? For that blood of hers."

Now Alice looked downright offended. "I do not stay around Bella for her blood!" she retorted, her golden eyes flashing with anger. "She's my best friend and future sister-in-law, that's why. I've never tasted her blood and I won't. She's not dinner, she's part of our family."

The bus lurched to a stop, Alice noted with relief, and she spring to her feet, the movement somehow still managing to be graceful despite the cramped quarters. "Now, if you're done with your interrogation, I'll be going."

And with that, she slid past him and headed down the aisle of the bus without a backward glance. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was over.

Day 35: Bus 2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject