Chapter 31- Ashtareth (Part 1)
Elio felt his bed shake, so he woke up from his slumber and looked left and right, completely confused and half asleep, his eyes half open as he rubbed them. That was when he saw a silhouette sitting on top of him, and his heart skipped a beat.
"AAAAGH!" He screamed as he pushed himself off the bed, falling on the ground with a loud thud. But, he didn't care as he quickly crawled away, trying to create as much distance as possible between himself and whoever that person was.
"Who the hell are you?!!" He yelled as he pressed himself against the wall. "What the hell are you doing in my room?!"
His first thought was naturally that this person was a thief. However, when his mind fully woke up a few seconds later, another possibility formed; his heart stopped beating for a second. The position the person was in, the circumstances… It was eerily familiar.
'Could it be…?' He clenched his teeth, his face paling at the mere thought of it.
"Mmmm~" However, the person didn't reply as she moaned sweetly and slowly rose from the bed. Her face was flushed red, and her eyes looked so lustful and in deep, carnal euphoria that she simply didn't seem like she was aware of anything around her.
Elio was mesmerized by what he was seeing. The woman was simply mind-blowing. It didn't even take a second for him to realize that she was the prettiest woman he had ever laid eyes on. Even Fiona, whom he thought was the prettiest in the world, couldn't hold a candle to her, and that wasn't because of mere 'looks'.
The woman's aura played the biggest part in moving his very soul. Something about her didn't feel human whatsoever.
"W-What are you…?" He whispered, almost in disbelief.
"Mmmm, your blood… Your blood, Elio…"
She spoke again with the sweetest, most melodic voice he had ever heard. Then, she stood up from the bed and started floating, her feet not touching the ground as she started approaching him.
"Did you awaken, Elio?" She asked. "The overwhelming vigor in your blood… It is far more potent than ever."
"W-What are you talking about?!"
'This is a vampire! This is 100% a vampire!' He yelled in his head as he clenched his teeth. 'I can't let her know anything!'
"Don't hide it from me, my sweet boy. Your blood tastes so much different from usual. You have made a mess out of me with a single droplet~"
"That voice…"
At first, Elio didn't notice it due to the shock, but when the woman spoke again, his brain suddenly halted as if it recognized something. He frowned and then stared up at her. Due to the darkness of the room and his mental state, Elio didn't notice a glaring detail. A detail that shattered his mind.
"Y-Y-Y-You…" He slowly pointed his hand up. "... Meli…ssa?"
He asked, almost like he couldn't even believe his own words. Yet, for some reason, he was almost certain of it. That was none other than Melissa, her facial features, her voice, and even her demeanor, and the way she called him. It was simply Melissa.
"Oh?" The woman seemed taken aback by his words. Her eyes widened before a gorgeous smile crept on her face. "... You recognized me, Elio?"
"..."
"Sigh, well, this is a good time as any." She said as she turned around and floated toward the light switch. Turning it on, Elio was finally able to see Melissa in her full glory. As he expected, the light illuminated many more details about her that made her even more ridiculously attractive. It was so hard to focus on her words even for him.
However, all his doubts dissipated upon seeing her face clearly. It was Melissa, through and through… Albeit, she looked a lot prettier with a way stronger presence than the sweet woman he knew.
Then, she slowly floated toward the bed. "I wasn't planning to tell you about this for a while longer. I have fallen in love with your blood, and it kept me postponing this moment. However… Today, what I tasted has changed everything… Arara, what have you done?~"
"... You're… What are you?" He asked.
'I must not reveal that I know what she's talking about.' He frowned.
The woman stared at Elio for a second; the silence suddenly went from jovial to subtly suffocating. Her smile faded away slowly, and her eyes sharpened. Elio felt a chill run down his spine as he anticipated what she was about to do.
"Elio."
"..."
"My sweet boy. You don't need to hide it." She said as she parted her lips. "You are awakened, aren't you? And you know exactly who I am."
"..."
"Haha, I could tell from your reaction that you knew what I am. But, since you're so sweet, I will introduce myself." She said. "Well, you would know me as your friendly neighbor Melissa. But my real name is actually Ashtareth, a vampire and the Queen of Eternal Sirene."
"...!!!"
If everything he heard before made him freeze, then that last sentence completely shattered it all. His eyes widened to the extreme.
'The queen of… Eternal Sirene?' He asked himself. 'Is she being serious? The queen of Eternal Sirene? The planet?'
The name was naturally something he was familiar with, as he had heard the story barely a few days ago. Eternal Sirene was the planet where Vampires first appeared, and it is the cause of everything happening on Earth.
That was the only name Fiona mentioned, and he doubted it would just be a coincidence. If that was true, then did that mean that the woman in front of him was perhaps the most important vampire in the entire world!
'What the hell is the damn queen of that world doing in my room?!'
"Haha, so you do also know what Eternal Sirene is. Mmmm, that girl had taught you well. To think you would have an idea about my birthplace." She rubbed her chin gently.
"W-W-What the hell is going on?!" Elio finally had the strength to utter something.
"Relax, honey. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to simply talk."
"What do you want from me? Why are you here in my room?"
"Well, it is a very long story, Elio. But, this isn't the time to tell you that story, so let's say, your presence in this world had caught my attention, and so I came down here to investigate. From then, I became addicted to you~ Your blood, your sweet personality, and your innocent smile. You are such a treat~" She said with a seductive and provocative tone.
"Were you the one… Were you the one who caused me all these nightmares all these years?" He asked as he touched his neck. Things started clicking in Elio's mind, and her words reminded him of many other unanswered things he had in the deepest parts of his mind.
Why the nightmares? Why did they begin randomly and never stopped? And most importantly, what caused these nightmares?
It all started making sense at that moment.
"Nightmares? Oh my sweet Elio." Ashtareth looked very concerned. "I didn't know sucking your blood was causing you discomfort in your dreams. I'm so sorry, honey. If I knew, I would've stopped immediately."
"..."
"All I wanted was just a single taste of your blood. Yet, that single taste made me hopelessly in love with it. It warms my body in ways I didn't think were possible~" Licking her lips seductively, she continued. "I need your blood to live now, Elio. Every drop of it is the sweetest nectar my tongue has ever tasted."