Vampire Nightlife

"What?" Lukas stared at Anthony uncomprehendingly before he clicked his tongue. "Now's not really the time for this kind of questions don't you think? We have people whose lives are in danger."

"And yet you spent enough time telling us about your Dream Eater," Philip said, shaking his head.

"Only because you asked!" Lukas scowled then turned to Anthony who wouldn't budge from the driver's seat nor turn on the vehicle. "Why is your question relevant? I'll end up doing the same thing anyway."

"Ah—ah, that's the thing, Lukas. I know I said that I wanted to stay—and you think it's just like a sudden decision—which is a bit like that… but that doesn't mean that I like the idea of you going out there alone even if you're this kind of special Vampire or whatever. It doesn't sit right with me, even if you possibly could succeed which is like…"

"What he wants to say is that no one is an island. Just because you can do something by yourself and think you're better off for doing it alone, it doesn't mean that's truly the case." Matthew said.

"As far as I'm aware—yes, it is a better case for me to do it alone." Lukas frowned. "Did you guys forget that your lives are at stake too? I can handle myself… but I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to the three of you. I'm strong, but not that strong, okay? So please leave, I don't want any more responsibility to bear on my shoulder."

"That… that makes an awful lot of sense." Philip muttered, glancing at Anthony.

The other Vampire's fingers reached out for the crossbow in the seat right next to him, but then also slowed down and hesitated.

"I see. So the reason why you want us to stay is because you're afraid that we'd get hurt." Matthew said.

"I—I just don't want any more deaths because of me." Lukas narrowed his eyes at them. "This medic and other Vampire already died and who knows what else is going to happen? When people come in contact with me, their lives don't necessarily—forget it. I'm just going, so don't come after me. I mean it!"

It was a stupid thing to say, but the longer that Lukas lingered, the more he ended up saying things that he hadn't want to tell anyone else.

Things that he couldn't even admit to himself.

Lukas ran back into the Dark Forest's entrance and left them there, concentrating on putting one foot in front of another and being keenly aware of his surroundings.

The sound of birds and other critters in the Dark Forest had turned into deathly silence, and as Lukas moved into another direction, he tried to keep his breathing calm and paced.

"You were quite… something back there." Drusilla commented.

"Are you mincing words or something?" Lukas spun around and quickly threw the dagger—it launched itself against the air and then struck a tree's trunk.

Lukas had been sure that there was something there. Something fluttering and shimmering, almost familiar, but now it was gone.

Lukas went to retrieve back the dagger, but as he took the dagger's hilt, he felt a presence above him. Camouflaged against the bark of the tree, a root-like monster threw itself down towards Lukas and tried to cover his entire face.

The creature's appendages swarmed all over Lukas' face. Something sickeningly moist and liquid started dripping all over him and the most pleasant of odors filled his nostrils along with the sound of gnashing teeth and jaws.

"The hell is this." Lukas plucked it out of his face and slammed it against the ground, the creature spinning against itself and then hitting the roots of the trees.

Lukas had a feeling that his entire face was red and blotchy from its attempts to suck or eat his face, but he didn't concentrate on that—instead he threw the dagger and struck the creature.

It let out a wail that made Lukas' ears hurt, an unnatural and grotesque sound that didn't seem right or proper and he covered his ears shut, almost feeling a hot liquid come out of them.

Lukas gritted his teeth and dashed forward, aiming and kicking the thing right against the tree until he heard a twisted crunch and thwack.

"Drusilla?" Lukas tried to call out.

"—h—ng?" Drusilla's voice waned in his head. It should have been unaffected because their connection was far more than a mere physical connection, but somehow there was a jam in their communication line.

"Hey, what happened?" Lukas asked, heard nothing but radio silence afterwards and then shook his head. If there was no answer, then he'd be fine on his own.

The Sanguise House dagger was still at the lifeless corpse of the creature and Lukas went to retrieve it, ignoring the liquid that coated it.

Lukas tried to wipe it away from the leaves of a nearby bush before he looked down at the remnants of the creature. "I knew that I was strong, but this is a little…"

It was a bit relieving to Lukas that this creature looked like some kind of tree creature, or an insect that tried to blend in with trees and attacked other critters afterwards—it was less painful to look at than say the weird pink fungus monster that Iolathane Durand showed way back in Nyx.

Although there was some similarities between them.

"It must be the tentacles or something. Like a weird evolution in this place… trying to attach itself to other creatures. Was this place really safe before?" Lukas asked himself.

With the silence that came afterwards, Lukas clicked his tongue and continued to inspect the corpse. If there was no Rhea, no Drusilla and no other people around to talk with him or anything—there was at least one thing that should have remained even after everything.

"Analyze? Read? Info—Status." Lukas corrected himself and before his very eyes the information revealed itself to him. It was just what he wanted.

[Corrupted Tree Blending Insect]