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Summary:

RP can be found here

Day 1


Something is wrong thought Xiu as he stared out to the empty morning street below. All was silent; as it should be, given the hour of the morning and yet…

Xiu was uneasy. There was just…something about the air that disturbed the white frei but Xiu simply could not fathom it. Was it the chill? Perhaps, but then again, the mornings were always rather chilly in this part of town. Was it the quietness? Couldn’t be. Xiu was never bothered by how quiet the early mornings were and was not going to start bothering about it now. And yet…

Blue eyes swept through the empty thoroughfare but rested on nothing. This was troublesome. Why was he feeling the way he was when there was nothing apparently wrong with anything at all?

A sudden movement in the one of many small streets suddenly caught the frei’s attention. Snapping his head in the direction of the movement, Xiu squinted but could not make out the silhouette of any living being be it human or animal but…

There was certainly something there. Flaring out his stone grey wings in growing agitation, Xiu continued to eye the street intently. What was it that he had just seen?

A swirl of blackness curled out and retreated.

Xiu stared mesmerized. That dark shape…he had seen it before but…not here. It was…at the graveyard wasn’t it? A memory stirred within the white frei’s mind. Yes, it was at the graveyard. With Lucia. The curling, shapeless black mass that was the aura of a ghost with a particularly nasty intention in mind. But…what was this? Why had Xiu seen it on this perfectly normal street then? Feeling uneasy, the white frei cast his glance elsewhere; eager to leave the horrible black swirl to its own devices. Perhaps it would go away when the sun came up. At least…Xiu hope so.

Floating back to his bed, Xiu picked up a novel he had been reading the previous night. Absently flipping through the chapters, Xiu began pondering about what he had just seen and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. Something was…simply not right.

Putting the book away, Xiu floated once again to the window. Was it just him or…despite the sun beginning to shine, the world seemed to be in a much darker sort of shade?

“Perhaps…I won’t go out today after all…,” said the frei quietly to himself.

Day 3


Xiu woke up feeling hungry. Well, he had been hungry two days ago but his appetite was dampened somewhat by this restless depressing feeling that seemed to prevail ever since the Hungry Ghost Month started. Today however, his nonexistent stomach had stamped its foot down and insisted that this feeling be damned. It wanted food and it wanted it fast. Xiu sighed. For something that did not exist, it sure was kicking up a fuss.

Taking a piece of memo paper and scribbling a hasty message informing Hazeline of his whereabouts, the white frei then floated to the front door of the bookstore. Slender fingers paused just a moment before the knob. Don’t be silly. Nothing’s going to happen. Xiu told himself as the painful memory of the disastrous Anime Convention came to mind. No, nothing like that is going happen again

The door opened and the frei floated out into the morning’s light. The air smelled fresh and there were the usual chirping of birds and the sound of morning marketers. Blue eyes trailed the length of the street. No, nothing amiss

Xiu flared his wings, stretching them. Perhaps he was thinking too much. Everything was fine. All he needed was some wholesome food and he’d be set for the day. The Hungry Ghost Month or whatever it was would pass soon enough.

Arriving at the park, Xiu was glad to see that there were many people about. That meant good feeding for him. Settling down onto a bench, Xiu waited patiently for some humans to pass by.

Soon, a young boy with a red toy boat jogged past, no doubt on his way to the pond. Xiu’s rune glowed slightly in anticipation of the incoming meal. However, there was something different about the meal human boy. It was not that the child was odd in any way but rather…his innocence…seemed to be enveloping him more than usual. Puzzled, Xiu nevertheless took a small portion of the child’s innocence; not enough to hurt the child and far from enough from satisfying the frei but if Xiu were to feed off enough people...

Blue eyes followed the path of the young child. Funny… thought Xiu with some measure of puzzlement. It seemed, no, felt as though the child’s enveloping innocence was a little less …enveloping?

Xiu frowned. How could this be? Narrowing his eyes, the frei was surprised to find that he could…actually see (provided he tried hard enough) the faint glow of innocence of the humans in the park. That in itself was unusual. Usually it was malicious thoughts that the frei was capable of seeing. Was it because of the Hungry Ghost Month? The world had taken on a darker shade ever since the Month had begun and perhaps this had provided the contrast needed to see the innocence of others? That was an interesting theory to think about…

The laughter of children made the frei look up and Xiu watched as the boy as well as a couple of other children placed their toy boats into the pond and began cheering their little battery operated boats on. Xiu smiled. That looked like fun and the boats were really going all out into the deep dark water.

Deep dark water?

Wait…just how deep was the pond anyway?

Blue eyes snapped open wide as the frei realized that the dark patch in the pond was actually…moving. Making its way towards the group of children playing; its dark seaweed-like tendrils were snaking their way around the toy boats and as it neared the first child, the tendrils drew back as the child’s innocence repelled the dark being. Shocked, Xiu turned his attention to the child that the dark presence had tried to reach and was surprised to see that there was no harm done. The tendrils move on, going from one child to the next, always being repelled by the innocence that blanketed each child like a shield until…

“No! DON’T!” shouted Xiu with horror when he realized that the tendrils were now coiling slowly but determinedly towards the human child whom he had just fed off. As with the other children, the child’s innocence glowed but not as strongly as the others and this seemed to trigger a sort of reaction from the dark coils. Suddenly, the coils lashed out and pulled the young child into the water. There were screams as the child struggled and the coils pulled, dragging the child ever deeper beneath the water’s dark surface. Luckily for the child, there was an elderly man fishing close by and at the screams of the horrified children, the elderly gentleman had instantly dropped his fishing gear and waded towards the floundering child. The old man had seemed to have a sort of shield around him as well and as the coils came into contact with the elderly gentleman, they retracted, leaving the young boy to the care of the old man. Picking the crying kid up, the elderly man turned and frowned at the other children. “Now look ‘ere. I be no da’n mum but you kids shouldn’t be shoving you pal into the water like that. The little tyke’s all wet n’ freezing.”

“We did not, sir! Truly we didn’t!” a young girl with brown locks exclaimed. “Johnny just fell in!”

“It’s true!” the other kids echoed with much nodding of the head. “He just fell!”

“ Well…I don’t know….,” the old man said with a scratch of his head. “Mighty fishy to me. Now you kids run along and get him dry…and I’ll-,”

What the old man would do, Xiu did not know. The frei had already left the park feeling sick to the core.

Day 5

(MSN RP)

Hazeline: *listens to the beeping of the phone*

Alex: *picks up her phone and flips it open, eyeing the unfamiliar number* This is Alex.

Hazeline: Umm, hi. Hazeline here. Hey Alex...I am worried about Xiu. He's not been his usual self lately...

Alex: Hey. *she greeted calmly, not recognizing the woman until she mentioned her Raevan - and that one, she did know* Xiu? *she frowned, thinking of Vyn's problem as well* What's he doing...or not doing?

Hazeline: He's been rather listless lately and...I don't know...he's been keeping to his room more often than not. Says he's reading but I'm not sure...

Alex: *rubs the bridge of her nose, frowning more deeply, wondering just /what/ the heck is going on with the Raevans lately* Have you confronted him? Or tried taking him out somewhere? I'm not sure what... *there's some tapping as she pulls up the information she has about him on her laptop* ...what the heck /does/ he eat?

Hazeline: I have but he just laughs in his usual manner and I am worried. He tells me that he's just trying out a diet plan of sorts...and he eats...innocence, at least that it what I assume from his explanation.

Alex: A /diet/? *she repeats in surprise, biting her lip* He's too young to diet. Okay, well...huh. He looked so good last I saw him. Does he feed automatically? For example, if he's surrounded by...innocence, does he naturally absorb it or is it a conscious effort?

Hazeline: Conscious. He tells me that the only takes a bit out of each human he feeds off. I tried telling him that he's fine as he is but...he well...ignores me politely? If that made sense...*laughs worriedly*

Alex: It makes sense. *she thought of Zul, who was quite adamant when insisting that Raevans did things differently than humans* Alright. What we can do is meet up at the Lab, and I can try to talk to him, or you can try to get out of him exactly what his 'diet' is. Frei's have such a strong development cycle during this part of their growth, it's important he doesn't short himself.

Hazline: I understand. When can I see you?

Alex: *there's fluttering as her calender is checked* I have a conference, but I can see you about this time next week, if that's not too long? Maybe give you some time to talk to him.

Hazeline: Sounds good. Thank you Alex.

Alex: My pleasure, Hazeline. Take care and call me if anything changes, okay?

Hazeline: Alright. Thank you and goodbye *hangs up the phone*

Day 7

Xiu ‘sat’ with the rest of the family in the living room as they watched an old horror movie. There was nothing particularly interesting about this particular movie as far as the frei could tell but Hazeline had insisted that they watch it in the middle of the afternoon. Kind of amusing, really thought the frei as he watched a couple of policemen on screen discussing the disappearance of a young woman. Hazeline seems to think that watching the movie by day was less frightening than watching it by night. But I suppose everyone’s entitled to their own opinions…

The movie continued, showing scene after scene of missing humans and the cult symbols left behind after each crime. The movie was beginning to drag and the frei found his attention wavering. The killer was obviously some demon possessing some unfortunate victim and the handsome hero was bound to solve the mystery before long. Xiu wondered if the rest of the family had figured out the plot by now and were only watching it for the sake of making the rental worthwhile.

There was a scream and in the next instant, Obvious Victim Number Four had died. Nothing noteworthy except…there was a puddle of blood spreading out onto the floor’s carpet as the victim lay twitching. The image disturbed Xiu on two accounts. One as it reminded him of a certain obese human not too long ago and another because of the amount of blood that was beginning to pool about the victim. The frei found himself mesmerized by the red liquid…

“That’s just gross,” Joshua’s voice said, snapping the frei out of his trance. “I mean…did you see how that knife when through him?”

“Yes, I did,” said Hazeline with a snort. “Let’s just turn this thing off, Joshua. What made you choose this trash is beyond me,”

“Aww, come on… it’s a good movie! Right, Xiu?”

“Huh?” said Xiu turning to look at the young boy. “Oh, umm…yes, rather…all those killing methods….”

And the blood…

“Xiu, is something wrong?” Hazeline asked anxiously as the frei floated off the sofa looking pale.

“No, nothing Hazeline,” mumbled Xiu with a shake of his head. “I just remembered…there’s a book that I need to finish… in my room,”

“Xiu?”


There was an audible click as the room door was locked.

Xiu leaned against the cool wooden surface of the door panting. What…was he thinking?!

The blood…

A sudden uncomfortable sensation in Xiu’s mouth began making it presence known. Confused, the frei instinctively drew his lips back and turned to face the mirror.

“No,…just…no,” said the Frei as he backed away from the mirror...





(artwork by xhheartskjj )

Biohazard

“No, Hazeline! I shall put my foot down on this matter! It’s ghastly that’s what it is!”

“Come on Mrs. Bedievier, it’s not asking much and … Oh for goodness sake! Xiu’s not a monster!”

“He’s close to it, Hazeline! Just look at him! What with his innocence feeding and now blood sucking. He’s no different than a demon! A polite one yes, but a demon nevertheless! I told you that soul tempering was wrong!”

-------------

The sound of Mrs. Bedievier the housekeeper and Hazeline arguing woke the sleeping frei up. Pushing the covers of his blanket gingerly away, Xiu listened to the argument that was taking place just beyond the room’s door.

“Well, at any rate I’m going out to do the morning’s shopping. I don’t know why I put up with this, Hazeline! It’s madness!”

There was a faint sound of pattering feet and then the opening and closing of the front door. Then silence….

Xiu sat gripping the edge of his covers tightly. He had not heard the whole argument but had heard enough to know the gist of it. It was the housekeeper again. Against his very creation from the start, this latest turn of events had simply pushed the poor lady off the edge. Floating up, Xiu gave his reflection a glance; then looked away. His eyes and rune were still a glowing blood red; as if to emphasize his blood drinking diet.

Feeling depressed, Xiu quietly exited his room to find Hazeline sitting quietly on the dining table with her breakfast untouched. At Xiu’s arrival, Hazeline hastily stood up and gave her frei a weary smile. “Good morning, Xiu. How are you feeling today?”

“I’m feeling well, Hazeline. Thank you,” replied Xiu quietly as he glanced about the kitchen. In a small discrete corner of the kitchen sat an insulated ice box. Gingerly lifting the cover of the ice box up, Xiu extracted a blood pack from it. The pack was just a couple of degrees above freezing point and the red liquid within it felt cold. Xiu’s invisible stomach lurched at the thought of consuming such a fare.

The look of the white frei’s face as he stared gloomily at the blood pack must have been rather obvious as Hazeline had then stood up and walked over to her raevan. Placing a hand gently on his shoulder, Hazeline gave the frei an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Xiu. Mrs. Bedievier is still being a stubborn old lady but…tell you what, since she’s not here at the moment…,”

“No, no, Hazeline. That won’t be necessary,” said Xiu hastily as he held the cold pack out of his guardian’s reach. “I-I can drink it cold. It’d be no different from a chilled beverage, really,”

With shaking hands, the white frei then tore the blood pack open and in his haste, a few drops of blood were spilled. The crimson drops dotted the surface of the white floor with startling contrast making the white frei cringe. Hazeline however, merely wetted a piece of paper towel with some disinfectant and wiped the stains away before discarding the waste into a bag labeled ‘Biohazard’.

Biohazard…

Was his…diet really that hateful? Did it really warrant such a treatment? Part of the white frei wanted to lash out, get angry, demand that he be treated like a…like a…like an equal! Not like some…beast!

But the other part of him just wanted it all to end. Quietly. With as little fuss as possible. The events of the days that followed after that fateful night was still painfully clear to the white frei. Xiu recalled the manner in which the housekeeper had practically screamed her disapproval at him when Hazeline and him had returned home during the early hours of the morning. The horrified expression on the housekeeper’s face when she took in his fangs and learned about his bloodlust…

And if that wasn’t bad enough, when Hazeline had brought back a supply of blood packs the next day, the housekeeper had insisted that those ‘ghastly things’ be kept out of her kitchen and claimed that if she ever caught Xiu trying to use any of the kitchen utensils, all hell would break lose.

Thus not even able to warm up his ‘food’ much less use a cup or bowl for it, Xiu had to put up with the consumption of cold blood straight from the packet before discarding it into a bag labeled ‘Biohazard’. Once the bag was full, Hazeline would send it to the lab for proper disposal. Xiu felt like an abomination every time his guardian did this.

“Don’t worry Xiu…a month would soon past…,” said Hazeline breaking the white frei’s thoughts. “Be strong till then,”

“Yes, Hazeline. I will. Afterall…,” said Xiu as he gave his guardian a determined glance “I would rather not have Mrs. Bedievier be proven right…,’

Summary:

RP can be found here

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