"Oh? Do tell... why is it that your hand is without a scratch, then?"
Fuck...
I hadn't thought about that, but it seems that the woman in front of me was very perceptive. Or simply not stupid enough to forget what I said a few seconds ago.
"About that... I don't know myself." I shrugged at the very serious question while both of my eyes were closed. This was way too terrifying!
"Hmm... I suppose you leave me no choice then..."
As soon as I heard those words, I felt her two cold hands pick me up.
"Eh? What are you..." I finally understood why that wench was so afraid of this woman. It was because she was a vampire, or at least looked like one. I didn't know much about vampires besides the fangs and red eyes, though I wasn't sure about the latter. Still, seeing one in real life made me a little worried.
She's not going to kill me, right? Even though I had killed myself before waking up in this place, I was still afraid of pain. And it seems like the villains, or whatever that bitch was, liked to play with their victims. But this vampire felt more like a caring sister. Pretty funny, right? Comparing a cold-hearted blood-sucker to a sister is a bit much, but it's not really wrong.
In my eyes, this person treated me nicely. If anything, I was the one who lied to her in the first place. Though my lie was a foolish slip of the tongue.
"I'll take you back to my place," she calmly replied. "And don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you..." She tapped my nose with her finger. "Who could hurt such an angel like you..." she whispered into my ear.
Wow... She truly is like an older sister...
At this point, I could only look at the woman holding me in awe. There was simply nothing bad I could say about her. Not that I wanted to.
"Excuse me... but where are we going?" The beautiful woman was heading the way I came from, but it didn't look like she was bringing me back into the cave.
"Don't worry. I'm trying to find a good place to take flight... After all, I have to make sure our little angel feels comfortable." She looked at me with a warm smile on her face that did not fit her cold body at all.
I can't lie, I'm starting to feel a little skeptical about this. But what's the worst that could happen?
It didn't take long for us to reach a secluded place that had fewer trees.
As I looked at her alluring smile, I saw a pair of black wings spreading behind her back. It was an amazing experience, something that I could only dream about.
Then, she slowly rose into the sky without moving her wings. It made me a bit confused at first, but when I saw them flapping as we rose above the trees, I pushed away those pointless questions.
I really hope there won't be another torture chamber, but let's ignore all that for now.
After we rose from the ground and the vampire flew even higher, I saw the most beautiful sight in my life. For a person who was afraid of traveling by plane, I have to say that being carried over 50 meters in the air was one heck of an experience. It was also something I could never imagine in my old world.
"Is your home far away?" I asked, looking at the giant mountains surrounding us from all sides.
"It is a bit far... but don't worry, we'll get there in no time."
As it turns out, she wasn't kidding! We arrived at a small city of vampires, such as the one carrying me. All of them had different appearances, but the ones who saw me looked at me with curiosity. However, the moment they saw the person carrying me, they looked away.
But we didn't stop there; she took me to a big house that, if not for the lack of electricity, would look modern. It was a very comfortable house, not to mention a very clean one.
"Wow..." I made sure she knew that I was amazed with an involuntary slip of the tongue. "Your house is so... amazing." Not only was it spacious, but it was also warm!
The elegant vampire chuckled at my reaction. "It's not my house, but we'll be living together in here from now on."
I didn't care what she meant by that because I wanted to test the bed that was double-sized.
But before I could hop onto the bed, the woman gently took my hand and stopped me.
She looked at me with a faint, playful frown on her face. "You need to shower first."
"Where is the bathroom?" I said, trying to get to bed as quickly as possible.
"Let's look for it." She walked by me with a calm look on her face. She was the embodiment of composure, something that I could only dream about.
For my first time meeting such a beauty, I'd say I did a good job not falling for her completely. But a significant part of me wanted to snuggle into her embrace and stay there for the rest of eternity.
But let's put all that aside, for now.
Following her, I arrived at the bathroom. But before I could go in, she stopped me.
"What clothes do you like to wear?" she asked me, looking into my eyes with friendly curiosity.
What clothes do I like? Hm...
"Anything that's comfortable to move in, I guess?"
She nodded in understanding and left.
Without further ado, I stepped inside and closed the door.
And let me tell you, it was nearly the same as the bathroom back home! The ceramic walls were pure white, something that even I failed to maintain. But besides all that, I saw a metal showerhead! I may not be the brightest bulb, but even I know that people a few centuries ago didn't have metal showerheads.
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Or maybe they did? If so, I really am stupid.
I stepped into the tub after dropping the lab coat, hiding my nether regions. Of course, before I got in the tub, I made sure to get familiar with my new appearance.
It wasn't anything unreal that the color of my hair changed, but the saddest part was my height. I grew a dozen centimeters shorter...
At least I still have long hair.
After taking a very long and peaceful shower, I stepped out of the tub with water sliding down my body. Whoops... I hope she won't get mad...
Taking the towel from the radiator, I dried my body, leaving my hair a bit wet.
But now that I finally dried myself with the towel, I noticed that there weren't any panties!
Worried, I put the towel around my waist whilst holding an arm over my chest. Then, I opened the door.
"Oh? You showered for longer than I expected." The vampire arrived, moving the door out of the way.
Without a glance my way, she put the clothes on the table and left.
"Make sure to... never mind. I'll be waiting for you upstairs." She closed the door.
"Wow...." I've got to stop saying that.
As I began to put on the new clothes, I noticed that she understood my words perfectly. But I wasn't sure how unusual this attire would look to her.
She brought me a shirt, a bra, and 2 pairs of pants, probably expecting me to choose the one I liked the most.
But now that I looked at myself with the clothes on, I really began to think that this was wrong... Whatever, comfort is more important anyway.
In the end, I walked out of the bathroom with black pants and a green shirt.
I didn't really care about the clothes right now. After all, night was coming, and so was my time to sleep. Luckily, I won't have to spend the night in a lab.
As soon as I arrived in the bedroom, I saw the vampire lying in a separate bed. Yes, there were two beds! A small part of me wished that there would be one...
"Did you also take a shower?" I asked the vampire, disturbing her reading time.
"I did..." She flipped a page before adding. "Before I found you today."
I wanted to ask if carrying me got her dirty, but I simply couldn't dare to disturb her reading time again. She simply looked way too cute being all focused on her book like that!
Without a word, I got into my bed that was closer to the window and pulled a blanket over me.
It really was a... terrible day. Now that I think about it... Why am I so energetic? I never felt like this before, but something feels off. I just can't put my finger on it.
I finished that thought with a frown on my face as I turned to look at the vampire.
Noticing my curious gaze, she raised an eyebrow. "What?" she said.
Caught off guard, I began to panic, examining the room's interior. "I... What's your name?" Just kill me. This might be the most embarrassing moment of my pathetic life.
Closing her book, she turned the lights off in the room. "It's Viera... but you can call me Vi."
It was an unusual name, but cool nonetheless.
Unfortunately, I completely forgot how to act in these situations, so...
"Oh! Sorry, my name is Hila," I said, trying to shake off the embarrassment.
An amused smile spread across her face. "That's a beautiful name... but I still can't understand how you came into this place." She put her head on the pillow, looking at me with a question in her eyes.
"Uh..." Without thinking, I began to speak. "I just woke up there. I don't really know anything about it, but, as I said before, that... woman smashed my hand... Though, by the looks of it, it's completely fine?"
"Mhm..." Her gaze became a bit uncanny for the moment, but it all disappeared as she turned her back to me. "Go to sleep."
Whatever you say.
Without a shred of wariness, I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep.
After Hila fell asleep, Viera got out of her bed and walked closer to her.
She moved the blanket away to reveal the girl's neck. "What are you hiding..." she whispered, moving her head to the side to reveal her bare skin even more.
It was the usual vampire move to bite the neck, but Viera was a bit reluctant to do this. After all, she had shown a ridiculous amount of kindness to this stranger. So wouldn't killing her now make it all pointless?
Sighing, she settled for something less deadly.
Carefully raising Hila's hand, she cast a strange spell on her. Then, she bit down on her forearm, making sure she didn't feel a thing.
After a few moments of sucking blood, she released her hand.
Viera was ready to go back to bed after getting a taste of this peculiar stranger, but Hila's words before falling asleep made her freeze in place.
She continued to look at the bite marks left on her forearm.
She sighed again. "She might be a bit mentally..." Her words stuck in her throat as the wounds disappeared right before her eyes.
"What...?" For a vampire with more than a few decades of experience, she knew that no regular human was capable of this, even more so for a weak nobody like Hila. Yet here she was, healing a wound without even casting a single spell.
It also made Viera realize that she had been telling the truth all along.
"What is this...?" Curious, she conjured a knife out of blood and cut a small line on her hand. Blood began to seep out of the wound.
It was a shallow cut, but it still made her bleed a little. But then, quicker than before, the wound began to close on its own.
Viera was dumbfounded by the sudden discovery, but she also couldn't keep on cutting her up just to find out more. After all, she wasn't a deranged scientist who would cut open a teenager with an ice-cold face.
The mere thought of it made her feel appalled.
But the curiosity was getting the better of her because she drew another line on the girl's arm without even thinking.
Facepalming at the realization of what she had done, Viera wiped the blood away with her tongue and moved the blanket over her arm and neck.
"This is..." Struggling to finish a sentence, she rubbed her forehead and went to bed.
I don't know how much time had passed, but I think that this world might become the rubber room for me.
After falling asleep, I woke up inside a strange place that didn't make any sense. It looked like a foggy morning; only the fog made me completely blind to what was around me. I could touch and feel everything, but I couldn't see.
All I could do now was lie next to a tree and think about life. If that thing was even a tree.
It was strange how difficult it was to stay silent in this place. I just couldn't bear it anymore and started talking to myself, but that's not so bad. After all, I got myself to keep me company!
Anyway, I really am afraid of what might happen next. I could understand waking up in a different world, even if it was pretty unimaginable, but I could never imagine myself without sleep.
Sleep was the most important part of my day... every day, really. And now, I've been deprived of it... I think? It feels like I'm not even sleeping, but I can't feel that exhaustion that came from my body anymore. I was free of it. Sadly, I've been deprived of the other most important thing in my life—sight.
"Heh... talk about rambling, man, I really have become a total lunatic..." I muttered as my hand brushed against what felt like grass.
This kind of reminds me of philosophers, like how they are portrayed to be some old men under trees, thinking about existence while doing nothing in their lives. At least that's how I think it looked.
But I really can't find an answer to whether life truly matters. Sure, I might be excited to see what's in store for me tomorrow, but after a few years, I doubt this world will be different.
But why did I wake up in this place? Was I sent to suffer for all eternity after killing myself? If so, I'd expect the land to be a little more unbearable and... fiery? The world outside looked pretty amazing to me... aside from the lab part.
"Ah..." I tilted my head.
Was there really any point? If you think about it long enough, you're bound to find the same answer: that it's not. But how do those people live with a smile? I simply can't. There is nothing to live for.
My life feels like the moment before a purchase. At first, you feel awe for the new item, but after a few weeks it becomes a casual thing that doesn't make you feel excited in the least.
Like the time my Mom bought me a phone for my birthday, I was happy. But after a few weeks, I forgot about all the excitement. And it happened more times than I could ever count.
But was I wrong to think like this? If people are born to live their own lives as the holy lord of light dictates, then why do I have to 'suffer' for my choice?
I paused, staring at the fog with a deep scowl on my face. Speaking of which, what the hell was this damn place!? It feels like I'm just sitting here instead of resting, which is not a good thing... not a good thing at all!
If I always wake up here when I fall asleep, I'd rather die today!