[Human] - Part Two (Patreon)

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Human

It came within the night.

At first it went in with but a crawl, silently, and without any warning, but soon it got faster. Walking with each step, then breaking into a run.

All for one singular purpose, whether that being intentional, or just the luck of the draw.

It was a fluke, or perhaps it wasn't. But there had to be some reason she was chosen.

It didn't use the door, no, it's snake-like fingers glided towards the window, opening it with an ease not human. She remembered she had locked that window, letting none within or without.

But even still, she didn't awake from her slumber.

Even as the beast crawled into her room she didn't even hear a whisper. It twisted like a spider, it's grasp attaching itself to the ceiling above. Like a fly on the wall, it went unseen, and then…

It struck.

XXX

It was cold, as the sound of knocking reached his ears.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

His eyes opened, as the midnight drowsiness reached into his eyes, causing his vision to be somewhat blurred. What was he doing again?

The sound of the knocking once again reached his ears, causing him to remember. Right— he was going to the door.

As he then got up, hoisting his legs over his bed, he leaned forward and stepped. But the knocking only continued to remain; in fact, it only increased in its repetition and volume. It couldn't be an intruder; someone trying to break into his house wouldn't be blatantly knocking on his door— and besides, crime was always low within the village. The thought got him a little worried, maybe it was Carmilla- maybe something had happened when she tried walking to her house so late in the evening? The thought let a lump form in his chest, as the drowsiness all but disappeared.

Maybe it was an emergency.

Rushing towards the door, he opened it, but the sight he saw on the other side was one he did not expect. It was a brown haired boy, with wild hair, he was about his age—the same, actually— with black eyes as well. He knew this person; it was his neighbor after all, and Hana's brother.

"Huh? Kiba, what is it?" He questioned, seeing that his neighbor looked at him with wide eyes, as if he were frantic.

"Naruto, it's Hana, she's awfully pale, and no matter how much we try she just won't wake up," Kiba stated. Naruto was the only doctor within the area, besides that, the clinic would be after hours at the moment, only having a single nurse within the night shift should the people need it.

Naruto nodded, his tiredness already gone from his system. Already set to grab his on-the-go medical equipment, he got to work.

The small walk to the Inuzuka home was a drawn-out one; it was filled with a tension that was so thick that a knife could cut through the cold night air that evening. He couldn't blame them, it was always hard when a loved one seemed to be in trouble, although he couldn't help but remark at how unexpected this was. After all, he had seen Hana just a few hours ago; it couldn't have been that long, she seemed fine— better than fine, after all, she did have the strength to rein in those powerful muts of hers.

Speaking of her dogs, he heard the distant echoes as he approached, as if they were crying out to the very moon itself that their master was possibly in trouble. Man's best friend, he supposed, but he couldn't help but find it odd that the three triplet dogs would be so on edge that evening. Truly, something must have started them immensely that night; it was the only explanation, and if he found the time, he could wonder what it was.

Stepping into his neighbor's home, he was greeted by the distraught view of the two dog-loving siblings' parents. They were an older couple, having a similar appearance to that of their children, that being both dark hair and eyes. Although the woman did seem to be the one to pass on the brown-haired trait that both her children inherited.

"Oh, thank goodness, Naruto, you're here," he heard the woman tell him, standing outside of what he assumed to be Hana's bedroom door. The blonde doctor merely nodded in reply, not bothering to look at them any longer as he rushed into the room.

"She's just been laying here all this time, she won't even move. And we tried to get her to eat something, but even then she can't even find the strength to do that," the father's voice told him at his backside. "Sorry to call you up so suddenly and at this hour, but we got a little worried, especially after seeing her like this."

Naruto considered the man's words as he observed the near-comatose girl in the room. As a doctor, he took in every detail about her, and sure enough, the girl's brother was right, he skin tone was a strangely pale— almost ghostly green— complexion. Her body was scrunched up, as much as it could be, as she lay down, with her arms nearly glued to her side as she looked off with an unearthly disposition he hadn't even seen in the most gruesome of patients. In all honesty, had he not seen the light flicker in her dulled eyes, he would have assumed she was dead. A corpse sitting within the strange girl's room that still held life in it.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed his surroundings, a slight breeze hitting across his skin. An open window? Which wasn't too unheard of for a person to do on a fall evening, it could get hot sometimes after all, but that's not to say it was common either. But still, it was a little strange that nobody in their family had thought to close it, but they were probably too focused on their daughter's and sister's condition to notice.

After taking note of that he couldn't help but scrutinize everything else within the room, and, to put it simply Hana's room was a far cry from his own. It was filled to the brim with objects and photos, particularly of her youth and family, as well as small keepsakes, likely from her childhood like stuffed animals and teddy bears. He realized she— Hana Inuzuka was cared for, and for that, he needed to save her.

Walking up to the girl's still body, he tried to communicate with her, seeing if he could garner some kind of response. "What's wrong, Hana? Aren't you hungry?"

Silence. There was nothing from the girl who held such a fire within her just hours before, and for that, even he got a little worried. Just what had happened to make her feel this way?

Flashing a small light within her eyes, he saw that her pupils were unresponsive. The darkness of her eyes was still dilated, as if her room were to be cloaked in darkness; they weren't even shrinking from his flashlight… strange. He went to check her pulse next, intuitively reaching for her arm like he had done many times before.

Cold. Her hands and wrist were ice cold— well, her window had been open, but even then after traveling here he knew it hadn't been that cold, it wasn't wintertime, and on a slightly warm, wind filled fall evening the girl's skin shouldn't be this cold. Aside from that, when he checked her pulse, he noticed the erratic and irregular beating of her heart.

He then went onto her stomach, slightly uplifting her shirt, as he took our his stethoscope, the woman's family looking on with bated breath. He checked her stomach, feeling and registering the shortened breathing of her lungs.

That settled it, given all the symptoms, he could come to an accurate conclusion of what exactly the woman was suffering from.

"As far as I can tell, no injuries." There wasn't a fever either. "Her pulse is a little fast, and her blood pressure is low." That, along with her ice-cold touch and shortness of breath, led him to one single conclusion.

"Anemia," he spoke aloud. It was the only possibility, a simple iron deficiency. But even still, it was very strange, from what he had seen of his neighbor before, she seemed perfectly fine, healthy even. So, how had she come down with such a sickness in a matter of hours? Perhaps she'd been suffering for a long time; she was just well at hiding it, and tonight was the night her willpower gave in; he knew her to be a stubborn woman after all. But even still, his theory left some room for doubt. "I'll have to do a blood test just to be sure," he spoke to everyone within the room, himself mostly.

He was too engrossed in his diagnosis that he almost didn't notice something about the woman, as her hair and clothing had mostly covered it. A pair of twin red marks appeared along Hana's neck; they weren't prominent, but not surely hidden either, and it was no wonder he didn't notice them the first time he inspected her.

Bug bites? He questioned, tucking the information within the back of his mind. Her window had been open after all, but even still, something was nagging at him to take recollection of this.

"It's over… she's gone."

The phone call whispered into his ear as a bitter haunting, like a ghost, echoing into the hollowness of his soul. He nearly dropped his cell in reply, the strength within his fingers leaving him, he only didn't loosen his grip on pure instinct. His arms began to hang lightly at his sides, his legs became weak, falling to his knees.

He knew the woman's condition had been bad, but he'd thought that he'd at least have enough time to wait for the blood test to go through.

He'd been wrong… dead wrong.

And now, patient zero had finally passed.

XXX

The next couple of weeks went on within a blur, with too many not small occasions happening within the small rural village on the coast of three mountains.

The first thing to happen was the enactment of Hana Inuzuka's funeral. The entire village gathered, and it was always a tough time when someone so young and prominent within the village passed away. She was the village's leading veterinarian, after all, so she got around to knowing a fair bit about the local pet owners within the town. The local shrine monks delivered a message, performing their own strange little rituals, something they did for every funeral that went on within the village.

The town was fairly spiritual and religious in nature, having a temple shrine at the top of one of the three mountains overlooking the village.

But after Hana's untimely demise, more and more cases started to pop up. Several other strange cases of anemia started appearing within the village, all of which led to their mysterious deaths. The Inuzuka family decided they would prefer he didn't perform an autopsy on the woman, even at his request. Of course, he understood why no parents would want their child to get mutilated, even if it was after death.

However, he would later find out that the mysterious cause of Hana's death would not end with the young woman. No, in fact, she was only patient zero.

From then on, more and more people's lives were cut short; some were old, way past their primes, and their immune systems were more likely to become compromised. But others were younger, adults, teens, and, most unfortunately, children.

Deaths within the village weren't uncommon, but in the small town of just about 1300 people, anything over ten was just unheard of. And as the town's leading doctor, he'd… he'd been forced to sign their death certificates.

That's when he realized: the town hadn't just been having a few small cases of sickness, but that it was indeed possible that they had a full-scale pandemic on their hands.

Life within the triad of mountains had been hard, and if he were anyone else, then he would've forgotten how many funerals he'd attended, but he hadn't. And even with all the people trying to act like everything was calm, he knew things weren't. In a way, it was frustrating how nobody would act in attempts to do anything about this sickness, but on the other hand, he could understand it. The people were distraught, and that much he could understand; he couldn't even imagine what the families of the departed were feeling. They were only trying to hide it within the shroud of normalcy to not cause a panic; that's why every shop opened at the dawn of the sun and closed when the day ceased. That was why the people still communed; they wanted to live on. But even still, he could tell this whole town was in a mess.

Right now, he was within a dark corner along the outside of the clinic, the side that bordered along the outskirts of the town and the forest. At his side was a multitude of objects he didn't quite bother paying attention to take note of, a few stray bottles and broken glass, some plastics, and of course, the large green dumpster they used to throw out all the things the clinic didn't have time or use for.

He just continued to stare, lost in thought, into the foliage of trees infront of him. He knew these woods, having been within them a number of times as a child, nowadays he often heard rumors of ravenous beasts or wild wolves howling in the night coming from outside the town. Of course, he never bothered to pay attention to such hearsay, but there were times he couldn't help but wonder what was truly out there, in this vast world of his…

"What a shit-show, this is…" he trailed off, his body feeling numb in the sunlight. Bringing his hand right back up toward his mouth, the still-sizzling cigarette was placed between his lips. He inhaled, a multitude of smoke and ash filling his lungs, as well as a somber feeling of contentment, as he breathed out, a small part of his worries leaving him.

"My, my, such a mouth you seemed to have developed in the years, whatever will we do?" The melodic tone of a woman reached his ears. Naruto recognized this individual instantly, even without looking at them. "You used to be such a good child…" her voice trailed off, filled with mirth, and he could tell that Carmilla had the same familiar teasing glint in her eye, a smirk, and a finger being placed along her soft lips.

"Yeah, well, you remember how we met, I don't think you remember what kind of child I was.

Eh, Carmie?" They did meet after he broke into her home, after all, he wasn't sure how as such he could be labeled a 'good child' after that.

A pale palm was placed along Carmilla's heart, as if clutching it if she were in pain. "Oh, how cold," she couldn't help but remark. "Of course, I remember, but you know how you were…" she said, protruding her lips, how a grown woman could look so cute with a childish pout he didn't know.

Before she took notice of what he was doing, she froze a little, "y'know, smoking is a bad habit, you really shouldn't be doing it," she lectured, he only gave her a dry look in her direction.

"Carmie, I am a doctor, I know what's bad for me," he replied in response.

"And yet you continue to still do it…?" She gave him a flat look, at hand at her hip, with her lips slightly quirked. A dry chuckle began to escape her lips, it was harmonious, and filled with mirth, but, like a siren luring her prey, he couldn't help but listen and find it pleasant.

"Ufufu, you always were like this, weren't you?" she smiled.

He raised an eyebrow, taking another drag of his cigarette. "Like what?"

That only seemed to cause the woman to smile more. "Contradictory." Was her firm response, and one he couldn't quite understand; she elaborated. "You're a doctor, yet you continue to smoke, even when you know it's bad for you. Such a thought, well… it's perplexing, you always were."

"You make it sound like it's such a bad thing."

Carmilla only shook her head, "Oh, on the contrary, your contradictions, well, to put it simply, they make you… They are what make you human. To want to live and yet to die, to want things that only serve to kill them, and to want to die, and yet their hearts are still beating. Surely, these contradictions, this contradictory lifestyle, they're what makes people, well… human," she surmised.

Naruto's lips quirked upward, a plume of smoke erupting from his lips. "Well, don't you make it seem like you aren't human?"

But Carmilla's smile only seemed to widen even more, "It does, doesn't it…" a teasing glint appeared within her eyes.

A grunt was her only response, as he only continued to take a drag from his cigarette. The small amount of ash built up along the edge as it fell to the ground along the wind, the kindling building up, radiating like the sun as it burned the white and orange paper. But still, even with the nicotine in his breath, his unease did not subside.

All the while, Carmilla only continued to stare at him, her crimson eyes watching his every movement. The rising of his chest, the action of bringing his fingers up to his lips, and the small amount of goosebumps along his forearm. But what she also saw were slight bags under his eyes, the slight flexing of his muscles whenever he moved, and the high amounts of concentration he put into even such a simple task as bringing a cigarette to his lips. Truly, how long had it been since he last relaxed himself?

"Y'know, the festival is tonight, you still have to keep your promise," Carmilla spoke up, changing the subject.

"Hmmm?" he hummed. Truth be told, as of late, he hadn't been interested in what happened within the village. No, what he had been focusing on was this strange disease that had been popping up, and how exactly to treat it. But he had heard talks around the clinic that the festival was still happening, a load of garbage if you asked him. Especially with this strange disease running loose, nobody knew how it was transmitted, and as such, nobody knew what to avoid. Such a mass gathering of nearly all the people within the village would likely cause it to spread at an explosive rate, something he effortlessly wanted to avoid.

In some ways, he could see their reasoning: they wanted things to appear normal. If the entire village was under constant distress, then the people would never be able to handle it, and as such, they could not allow the festival to not happen. But that still didn't mean the disease wouldn't stop spreading. Why couldn't people just see that? Didn't they understand that lives were at stake? Well, of course, they did. That's why he needed to continue to try and research what was happening; he couldn't take the time to go to some frivolous parade, lives were at stake.

"Oh no, don't you start thinking like that," A voice reached his ears, as two hands began resting upon his shoulders, immediately breaking him out of his thoughts. "I know what you're thinking, 'you want to stay cooped up in your little office trying to figure out what's happening', right? Well, I'm not going to let that happen; you are going to come with me to the festival tonight."

"Carmie, I—"

"Don't you 'Carmie' me, we both know you're not one to break your word, you never were." A pale finger was placed over his lips, as he was then forced to see the white haired woman in front of him. "Now, here's what you're going to do, you're going to go to whatever nurse you have to and tell them that 'you'll be taking the rest of the day off' then you're going to go to sleep. Get a good night's rest, and then you're going to wake up, dress, and look as fine as you can for the festival tonight. So we can have a good time, capish?" Harsh red eyes stared into his soul, and if he weren't in such a bad state of mind, he could have sworn that he saw her pupils form into slits. No, that couldn't be it, could it? He must be imagining things.

He simply nodded in response, he knew Carmilla could be scary when things came down to it, memories of their first meeting replaying in his mind. It was best for everyone if he were to just agree with these sort of things, especially for his health's sake.

"Good," the smile his friend gave him was one of pure satisfaction. "It's a date, meet me at the town center, it'll be great!"

Naruto's eyes widened. What did she say? "Hey now! What a sec—"

His sentence stopped, as a pair of red lips were planted across his cheek, it took a full few seconds for him to register what was happening. Carmilla, his longtime friend, and probably the one who understood him the most was kissing him! No, that couldn't be it, he was just tired, that must be it, he was imagining this.

Her lips were removed from him, and his mind couldn't take this revelation. "See you at seven!" She said, sauntering off.

Naruto couldn't help but admire her backside, every single sway of her hips as they moved left to right.

His cigarette fell to the ground, and as a heavy breeze entered his mouth, he was left gaping.

XXX

Hours later.

"Wow, Carmie, just— Wow…"

He was astonished, as right in front of him for all to see was the woman he had longtime thought about; and she was absolutely stunning. Her dress was red, sleeveless, with a single slit that ran through the middle that led to a mesh covering that did nothing to hide her curves, a tantamount of black fabric in a butterfly-like design being the only thing to hide her chastity. Her cleavage was low enough to see just how developed she had gotten from the once flat girl in his youth. A silver bat-like emblem was seen at the center of her bosom, as several smaller chains sprouted off towards her hips. Aside from that, she also had done her hair differently, as several large curls framed her face, she wore golden black shoes, with the same familiar red-rimmed hat atop her head, and black sunglasses over her eyes. (AN: Her Summer skin ascension)

Honestly, if he hadn't known better, he would have thought a goddess was before him. Well, that… or a beautiful seductive devil.

"And you're… entirely average," she bemused, and a slight frown across her face. And he was, his outfit still only consisted of his usual plain white lab coat, a white t-shirt, and a pair of black jeans. If she hadn't met him the morning before, she would have sworn he decided just to go into his usual outfit, but no. His lab coat was free of any stains, and his pants were devoid of any rips. Well, at least he'd decided to shave the stubble that had been growing across his face, and taken the time to get at least a few hours' rest, just enough to remove the deep bags that had once been under his eyes.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed."Hah, yeah, I kind of ended up sleeping too late, it was only like an hour ago that I woke up. It was only then I realized that I didn't have anything to wear tonight, and of course, I couldn't have gone all the way to the city to get a new outfit, not in that short amount of time, I hope that's okay?" he gave a nervous laugh at the end, hoping that Carmilla wasn't angered by his appearance.

The woman brought a finger to her chin in thought "Hmmm… well, I suppose in the end its partially my fault, I was the one to force you to get some rest," She told him, before adding in as an afterthought, "Even then we'll have to get you a better wardrobe for next time."

Blue eyes widened. "Wait, next time?" He questioned.

A coy smile wrapped around Carmilla's face, "Of course, you didn't think this would turn me off from you? And besides, honestly, your outfit isn't bad, far from it in fact, it's so… you."

"Me?" he questioned.

"Don't take it as a bad thing, it's just I remember when you used to say you wanted to become a doctor as a kid, you must be so proud of yourself, it makes me happy," she admitted. Naruto slightly nodded at that fact; he didn't know what to say.

Deciding to change the subject, he held out his hand, ready to enter the entrance of the festival. "Well then, shall we get going?"

Carmilla took his arm in stride, "We shall," she said with a small laugh, pale fingers covering her red lips.

The trip was a short one, but they saw many sights, lights were hung all around, as people paraded about. Several shop vendors had their doors open, ready to partake in all sorts of activities and hopefully garner a bit of profits as well. This was one of the main attractions of the village, and one of the few times they would actually gain a few visitors from the city.

According to legend, this town was first started as a sanctuary from yokai. A group of travelers ended up getting lost, and with it, they stumbled upon this valley within the three triple-peaked mountains. However, the hilltops were inhabited by all sorts of monsters, and as such, they were unable to leave the area. Making due, the group decided to live and reside within the valley, the group of monsters never parading into them and driving them off, or worse, massacring them. As time went on, many thought these monsters were thought to be protectors, helping ward off any sort of enemies of wildlife that might harm them. One such monster was the mighty Kyuubi, which resided at the top of the mountain that the local shrine temple resided on, which was said to be a wise mentor for those who were brave enough to trek up there. He didn't pay much attention to the rumors, but it was said that demons touched this village, and as such, they hosted a special festival for all of them to see to now evoke their anger for another year.

As they walked into the center of the village, he couldn't help but take note of the number of eyes looking at them. He wasn't surprised either, far from it in fact, he was an influential person, as much as he tried to deny it, being the lead doctor within the village. And besides that fact, Carmilla was just too stunning not to gaze upon; people had to be at least a bit interested that such a new and exotic person was hanging onto his arm in such a casual manner. The old crones within the village would have a field day with the gossip. The thought made him slightly nervous, if only for the fact it he knew it would just be so troublesome to deal with later.

A pale hand touched his cheek as he felt Carmilla get even closer to him. Leaning up to whisper into his ear, he heard, "Don't worry about them, let them talk, this night will just be us tonight, no one else's," she told him, a shiver running down his spine at the contact.

He merely nodded, not trusting his voice.

"Good," Carmilla smiled in satisfaction. "Now, I'd like to try that stall over there. Why don't you take me?"

Naruto cleared his throat, "I-I… of course, right this way," a slight bead of sweat forming down his brow, as he led the woman over to one of the vendors.

"My, my~ such a gentleman."

After getting some food and alot more stares, mainly from the shopkeeper, who had been enraptured by Carmilla's beauty, the two made their way back into the crowd.

"Wow, Japanese cuisine is something else!" Carmilla spoke, eating into the chewable treat along her stick. It was a set of dumplings, made from rice flour and mochi. "What do they call this again?"

"Dango, Carmilla, its called dango…" he told her, as the woman continued to eat into her stick, him doing the same.

"Marvelous, I can't quite remember when I ate something like this!"

"You really like sweet things, don't you?" he noticed. His mind was brought back to the past. Carmilla always did like sugar, even when they were young, when they would eat sweets until

The woman smirked, "Of course I do, sweet things truly are the best!" she sighed. "The only thing better is a good, nice glass of wine…" Before turning to the next stall. "Oh, would you look at that? There's some wine over there," she said, purchasing a bottle.

"Come now, Naruto, aren't you going to have a drink?" she asked, holding a bottle.

Naruto only shook his head, "I don't drink," he told her resolutely.

The silver haired woman frowned, "Is that so?" she asked, lowering her hands in disappointment. "I should have known, you are a doctor after all. How about we play that game over there?" she suggested, pointing to a local tent in the middle of the streets. As tens of kids were gathered around to both watch and play the game at the small table-like fishtank, she wondered what they were doing.

"Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, looking at where she was pointing. "I don't see why not."

"Great!" She stated, dragging onto his arm and pulling their way.

"You're excited about this festival, aren't you?" He noticed.

"Of course, this is my first japanese festival, why wouldn't I be excited?" she questioned, leaning forward to see the fish swim about, uncaring as the people gathered around them. "What exactly is this?"

Naruto chuckled slightly. She was really like a child, getting excited about things she didn't even know. Perhaps that was the beauty of it, and it was the mystery of it all that drew the things to her? Paying the nearby owner of the stall, purchased for a set of fishnets as well.

"Alright, the object of the game is to use these nets to catch the fish and place them within this bowl," he instructed.

"I see. Well then, I'll give it a shot" As the woman took one of the nets with a gusto. Instantly all her hopes were vanquished as she placed the net within the water, trying to catch a goldfish as she did so, the material breaking and the woman only being left with a small plastic ring on a stick.

"Hahahaha!"

"Its not funny," Carmilla pouted, how such a grown woman could pout he didn't know, but she looked stunning doing it.

"Hahaha!" Her pout only increased when Naruto continued laughing. "Alright, I'm sorry," he apologized, seeing the woman flushed in dismay.

"Look, Mom, I caught one!" a nearby child yelled in excitement.

"Nice job, dear, you did very well!"

Carmilla blushed even more out of embarrassment. Naruto sighed, "Okay, so here's what you do," as he waited, placing his own net within the water, effortlessly taking out and retrieving a fish from and placing it within the nearby bowl. Carmilla's eyes widened in amazement, "The key is to wait for the right moment, right when a fish is near the surface. Then you need to catch one fast, and with a steady hand, you see, the nets are made of paper, and getting the material wet will only make the paper weaker. And with a steady hand, you're able to catch a fish before they swim away," he told her, picking up a few more fish as he did so.

As the woman grabbed another net as well, waiting, observing for the right moment to strike. Seeing a stray fish go a little bit higher up in the water, she reached for it, finally picking the fish out of the water, hope-filled Carmilla's eyes… that was until the paper ripped, crushing the woman's aspirations, which were vanquished in an instant.

And with it, Naruto's laughter returned. "Hahaha!"

"It's not funny!" the woman shied away.

"It is funny!" Naruto barked out.

"Grrrrr…" Carmilla huffed before she felt something engulf her hand.

"Alright here," she heard out of the corner of her ear. She realized why her hand felt so warm as she saw Naruto's own had wrapped around it. Her cheeks flushed, as she held another paper net to catch the fish, the blonde's hand wrapping around her like a lifeline. "The key is a steady hand, remember?" he stated. She then noticed how close they were, feeling Naruto's breath along her skin, enough to make a shiver run down her spine. Her childhood friend was now behind her, using her hand as a guide, and she was utterly powerless to stop it. She said a stray goldfish swam up a litter farther than it needed to be, and that when they struck. If she were being honest, it all happened so fast, as in one swift motion, using her hand, Naruto picked the fish out of the water and placed it within the nearby bowl.

PLOP.

The sound of a fish hitting the water filled her ears, and she couldn't help but be amazed. "Wow, impressive."

"It was nothing," he brushed off her compliment, rubbing the back of his head lightly.

Carmilla shook her head, "No, it was. I couldn't even get one…" looking at the broken nets she had used earlier. "Not everyone can have as steady a hand as doctor after all," she said wistful, he disagreed.

"No really, it was nothing."

Carmilla frowned, before she told hold of his arm with a ferver, "come, lets go check out the other attractions before they set off the fireworks," she suggested, pulling the blonde away.

XXX

"Wow, they really are beautiful this time of year," the woman couldn't help but remark, something which he could only barely hear from her. He felt the cool breeze along his tanned skin, he took a sharp intake of breath, inhaling a large dose of the cleansed air out in the countryside, and he noticed the woman at his side did the same. As a soft smile began to make her way across her plump lips, a staple of the night. Her skin glistened even in the night sky, glowing a deep plethora of colors as explosions rocketed into the air. Fireworks, a complete marvel of both nature and science of chemistry and ingenuity mixed together, and yet he couldn't even bring himself to gaze upon them, too enraptured by her appearance. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as well, really taking in the coordinated display that illuminated the night sky; she couldn't seem to look away.

He didn't know how long it had been, but it seemed that somewhere along the line the display had reached its grand finale, his ears slightly ringing from the loud booms, yet he didn't care. He felt calm, possibly calmer than he had ever been in a long while. He needed this, probably more than he could have known. He had sunk himself too deep into his ambition, and perhaps he had sacrificed himself because of it.

One thing was for certain: he needed to clear his mind. It was at that moment that Naruto started to understand the villagers, even if only a little. The risk of death was always there, especially with this new, strange disease around, but even still, life carried on; it needed to. It was these little moments like this that made things worth it; it was the reason you didn't have to fear about the potential of someone else being the next victim. Maybe it was a bit ignorant, people would wash away their imminent deaths for the small prevalence of a distraction, but he understood it. It was just the nature of humanity, the nature of the people.

Carmilla turned to him and realized that he was staring, but instead of pushing him away, she only flashed him a coy smile, one filled with care and… something else.

In the halting of some other fireworks, she spoke, "Like what you see?" she questioned. "You know, it's been a few years since I've seen fireworks, sure, I've seen them, bigger ones, better ones, but none were as great as the ones here. Even with their mediocre budget and the fact that the only good viewpoint is within the woods, it doesn't matter. I've always felt at home within this village, with you…"

Naruto's eyes widened, realizing he has been looking at her too long. It was only then that he had processed her words, it didn't seem like the normal teasing tone that he was used to, it was something different. Her voice was filled with desire, with wanting, wait? Did she…

"Oh, please, you can't be that ignorant." He heard as the woman neared him, reaching her long, slender hands up towards his collar. Naruto was left unable to react, too stunned by the development.

A few stray words left his mouth, "Carmie, I—"

A finger reached his lips, "No, don't speak. There's a reason I came back, and that reason has been you." She neared him, leaning her head upward. Time seemed to slow down as the seconds passed by, yet her face only seemed to inch closer and closer.

In truth he desired her, and she desired him. It had been a long time since they both had seen eachother and yet their feelings still remained. They were each precious to one another, something that not even time could sever as their bond still remained. He longed for an interaction such as this, but even still, something felt… off.

He pulled away, a pit forming in his stomach long before he saw her reaction. "I'm sorry, Carmilla, but I can't do this," he told her, feeling a deep, increasing amount of self-hatred at that very moment. The woman infront of him choking back a sour and pained expression, as Naruto ran a hand through his blonde hair, "Look, if it means all the same to you I think we both have had a long night, why don't I walk you home and we can talk about this in the morning," he offered.

"I think you said enough," the woman said with a steeled expression, the happiness he had seen across her face just moments prior nowhere to be seen. He couldn't blame her, even as she stormed off into the distance, presumably toward her mountain abode.

XXX

He felt like shit, he really did, no matter how many times he had thought back on the situation that had been the only conclusion that his mind could come to as he recounted everything. Carmilla had come back for one singular purpose, and that wasn't to live within her family's vacation home or even to visit the place she had grown up in for the better part of her childhood. No, the reason had been him, the woman said as much. And it was then she presented her intentions to him— kissing him, or at least attempting such, and he rejected her. Ruining the special night and the reason she had arrived in the first place.

The worst part was that he didn't even know why.

Truth being told those years with her as his friend were probably the best within his life. He did have feelings for her, he might even go as far as to say that he loved her. The thought being crazy for him, that he truly and utterly loved that woman, but he did, even after all these years apart.

Yet, he still felt something was off, for a strange reason he couldn't place, when Carmilla had tried to put her lips on him, he wanted it. And yet he still pulled back, feeling a deep rising pit within his chest, like a brimming abyss inside a malting fire, and he had no idea how it got there.

Just why was he feeling this way? He had to wonder, was it because of what he told Carmilla, or was it something else entirely?

In reality, he didn't know, and so, pushing those thoughts to the side, he opted to once again take a look at his surroundings. He found himself monotonously going amongst the crowd of people as the festival went on. Lanterns hung around him, glowing their luminescent orange light as he descended the crowded street. Weaving in and out of as people flowed along each direction looking for their enjoyment, and even if he'd lived with most of these people for his entire life, faces began to blur, to the point where he wasn't narrowly seeing any of them. Instantly, he was hit with an abrupt amount of force along his shoulder, not an unusual occurrence within the crowd, but this one he absently took note of. That's when he noticed it…

Red.

The foul, harsh crimson redness of blood stained the whiteness of his lab coat as it covered his fingers. He recognized this substance almost immediately, especially considering his line of work.

Wait? Had he been stabbed?!

No, that wasn't it; there weren't any tears in his clothing, nor an exit wound in his chest. Aside from that, he wasn't feeling any pain, so the wound couldn't be his. That only left one other option: being a doctor, he instantly realized that someone else might be left wounded. Looking back, toward where he saw the person who had run into him had gone, he realized that spotting such a person in a crowd would be like trying to find a needle within a haystack. What's more, although he could only barely remember the interaction, he did remember for a split second that he recognized that they were wearing a kitsune mask. Even then, that wouldn't help; many people were wearing fox-like porcelain across their faces, and the event sold them in every local stand practically.

However, he realized there would be another way to track the individual, as if the person were leaking enough blood to stain his woredrobe, they likely wouldn't be in such good enough condition to not have a bit of leakage stain the ground as well. They were likely spreading a trail of crimson leading him right to them, something he could use to find the wounded person and hopefully treat them.

And that's what he did, and although it was difficult spotting such a trail— especially considering he had to spot the small droplets among a layer of feet standing atop it— he had managed. Which led him to eventually track the person down toward the edge of the festival, more toward the suburbs and houses where lanterns didn't hang.

A strange feeling began to run down his back the further he pushed forward, which only brought on even more questions. Why was a person covered in blood moving so far away from the event? The clinic was closed, but surely there were a few nurses or even a doctor like himself who could aid them in their time of need. But they were heading in the opposite direction, seemingly away from the people. That by itself was strange, but the destination he had tracked them down to was even stranger. The trail of blood and crimson led him toward a dark alleyway, one secluded and far from any people. The cold chill across his back and neck only increased the deeper he went, but even still, he pushed on. No longer just because helping people was his occupation, no, there was something within the alleyway he needed to see, needed to do. For himself, he pushed onward, despite the possible impending danger he was not oblivious to; he needed to see this for himself. The trail of crimson only increased as he went on.

Reaching the end of the path and the alleyway way it was then he saw it…

A pool of blood littered the stone and concrete floor, bubbling and leaking toward the side of a trash can… Instantly, he felt sick, even for him, such a gruesome and horrendous sight was enough to shake him to his core, as he fell to his back.

It was a person, no— a monster, with dark blackened eyes as dark as the night sky and midnight, with red irises as a liquid of an equal color was splattered along their mouth and face. Their skin was pale, unnaturally so, like a ghost, as long, sharp fangs splayed from their mouth. Although her fingers, spikes as they would be more accurately called, were black along their edges, and powerful enough to tear into any flesh they would desire.

As he then realized whose the body of blood he had been following originated from. Brown hair, dark eyes, red tattoos, a wild appearance that he recognized, it was the pale skin and dead look in his face that he didn't, especially on such a person.

Kiba Inuzuka, the brother of the late Hana Inuzuka that he'd come to recognize as patient zero, desceased, or so he thought…

His breath hitched, "H-Hana?!" He spoke aloud, he recognized those red face tattoos from anywhere, even from the angle of the side of her face, he was looking at her. As right before him sat a woman, hunched over her brother's dead body. The sound of mangled slurping and chewing reached his ears. She had been devouring him.

It was strange, even in his delirious state, he could make out just what she had done to him. Kiba's stomach was open, showing both his intestines and digestive and respiratory systems amid a river of blood. A serious wound by any measure, and if he had lost too much blood to recover from, not to mention the fact that the gaping hole in his stomach would need to be sealed by an expert surgeon. How long had it taken for this monster to tear him open like that? A minute? 30 seconds? 10? No, if this were anything like the predators he had seen in the forest, such as the coyotes and wolves, they were able to tear open a carcass in half in that time. Only five seconds were enough to do this damage.

Likely, if she were like any other predator, she uses her surroundings to her advantage as she hides within the crowd. Was this her first kill of the night? Probably not, it would explain the large amount of blood that had stained his wardrobe if she had done this to multiple people throughout the evening. The strategy she used was a simple one, one that most predators hunting large herds developed: wait, find the weakest or most vulnerable, and strike at them when they least expected it. She likely waited for people such as this to walk into an alleyway, or somewhere secluded enough that she wouldn't be spotted until it was too late. He found it a dull humor that the person she happened to attack just so happened to be her brother. Did she plan on attacking him? Or was it just pure happenstance that she was to come across her blood relative on this fateful night? He didn't know.

That's when the woman— No, the beast laid eyes upon him, his words and action being loud enough to draw his attention, it was only then he was able to fully gaze upon what was infront of him.

And for a second, her midnight eyes shifted back to their normal white, as she looked at him, and he meant really looked at him. Her face immediately turned a even whiter shade of pale, stricken with horror.

"N-Naruto?!" She yelled out, realizing where she was. Before turning, "K-K-Kiba?" he could see the gears in her head turning, as she saw the blood on her own hands.

"Hana!" he yelled out again, pushing towards her. He was painfully reminded that he was still on the floor as he tripped on the ground, spreading his body in blood once more.

"No!" Hana yelled out, sending a hand in her direction, her fingertips were still black, showing herself to still be the monster she was. "S-stay back! Don't move any closer!" His eyes widened as he saw her sclerea once again turn into black, fading to white, and then dark again. Flickering in and out like a broken lightbulb, destined to break as the hands of time tore through its fragile frame.

Hana's eyes immediately looked up, seeing the tall walls of the buildings around them on the edge of the commercial district. Without a second thought, and as her eyes once again turned midnight, she did the unthinkable, as she, in an impressive display of strength, leaped high. Easily and inhumanly jumping above the ceiling walls of the nearby stores that encircled them, as she ran off into the distance, away from his sight.

Naruto wouldn't have believed what he had just saw, if he had not seen it with his very own eyes.

End Chapter.