Sendo Erika was not a normal girl, she was different from others. Her mother was a half-vampire called a dhampir. As for her father, she doesn't know much about him, and she has never met him before. Her family only consists of her, her mother, and her big brother.
In this world, many magical beings exist in secret. She was one of them, a half-vampire. vampires are supernatural creatures of darkness.
They are very powerful, immortal creatures that can manipulate darkness to their will, but they do have a lot of weaknesses too, like they can't cross large bodies of water, can't go into sunlight, hate garlic, and they can't even enter buildings unless they are invited to come in.
But dhampirs like Erika, being half-human, don't have most of the weaknesses pure-blooded vampires suffer from. However, if there is one weakness that both dhampirs and pure-blooded vampires share, it is their thirst for blood. Vampires must drink human blood to survive. Erika didn't know what would happen if they stopped drinking blood, but she knew it wouldn't be good.
Unlike in stories, most adult vampires can control their bloodlust. Even if they starve, they rarely lose control. But the same couldn't be said for young ones. Because of that, vampire children are often locked away from the outside world until they gain control over their urges.
And so, the same happened to Erika. For the first seven years of her life, she was confined to her house. The only people she was allowed to see were her mother and brother. Her mother was extremely strict, and her brother, while kind, was always busy. So, she was left lonely.
She learned about the outside world only through TV, books, and stories. It fascinated her. She always dreamed of going outside, but her mother never allowed it. Erika thought she would always be alone… until that fateful day she met a certain boy.
It happened when she was seven years old. One day, her brother said they were going to visit their neighbours, a family of mages her family was close to. Erika was extremely nervous. It was her first time going outside or meeting other people, and they were humans. Her brother even said there was a boy her age there. Erika was both nervous and a little excited. She always wanted to talk to someone her age and make a friend. But she was also afraid. From what she knew through books and TV, humans and vampires were enemies. What if they hated her?
But she was wrong.
Hoshino Akira. He was a boy her age with snow-white hair and purple eyes that looked like they contained the sea of stars. When she first saw him, she thought he looked like a cute little doll.
He was a human, but also a magician. And like her, he had grown up alone. They quickly became close friends. Even after learning she was a dhampir, he stayed by her side. He was her very first friend. Sure, he was a bit strange, did whatever he wanted, but he was really smart and incredibly strong.
Erika's life changed completely after meeting him. She was allowed to go outside and play with him every day. She wasn't afraid of losing control anymore. Akira was strong. She couldn't hurt him even if she wanted to. He even promised to protect her if she ever goes out of control.
After meeting him, every day became fun. Together, they did all sorts of exciting things: building a huge roller coaster in his backyard, a massive racetrack with remote control cars the size of real ones, or even a snowy mountain in the middle of summer. He built something new every day. Even though she mostly just cheered him on, Erika had more fun than she ever imagined.
Two years passed like that. Erika turned nine. She and Akira still hadn't entered school like other children their age, but she was no longer lonely. In fact, she had even made another friend recently, a normal human girl named Haruna. For the first time, Erika felt like she had a normal life. And it was all thanks to Akira.
She believed that as long as Akira was with her, she didn't have to fear anything. Every day would be fun. She believed Akira would always be by her side.
She never once imagined that one day, she'd lose everything.
The day started like any other. Akira was late as usual, so Erika had to drag him to the playground to meet Haruna. They were having fun… until the sky suddenly turned black and a barrier trapped them inside.
Monsters surrounded them.
The moment they appeared, Erika felt a chill deep in her blood. She instinctively knew who they were, werewolves. Old enemies of vampires. She had heard stories about them from her mother, but they were far scarier in real life.
She was terrified, frozen with fear. But Akira remained calm. He grabbed Erika and Haruna and ran while her brother, Iori, stayed behind to buy them time. Just as they were about to exit the barrier, another one appeared, and they were surrounded again by even more werewolves.
Erika thought it was the end. But Akira fought them all by himself and defeated them easily.
He was strong. Super strong. Super smart. He could do anything. He promised he would always protect her. He even beat the werewolf leader easily.
So she thought everything would be okay. That they would go home like always.
But then it happened.
A werewolf, hiding in the bushes, suddenly lunged at her and Haruna. Akira was still fighting the leader when Haruna screamed. Erika froze in fear. She wanted to do something, but her body wouldn't move. She closed her eyes, bracing for pain.
But it never came.
She opened her eyes to see a spear of light piercing the werewolf, who turned to ash. But then she heard it, a terrible sound. Flesh being pierced. Akira's voice crying out in pain.
She turned to look, only to see the werewolf leader's hand piercing Akira's chest. His heart was crushed in its grip.
Erika was frozen in shock. She didn't know what to do.
Then, something miraculous happened.
A beautiful purple aurora surrounded Akira's body. Erika had never seen this before, but it felt familiar. Comforting.
Using that light, Akira defeated the werewolf leader, just like in the anime she used to watch.
But after the battle… Akira collapsed.
"Akira…!" Erika screamed, running to him. Haruna had fainted nearby, but Erika didn't stop.
Akira lay in a pool of his own blood. A gaping hole where his heart should be. He wasn't breathing.
"No… No, no, no…" Erika pressed her hands against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Trying to force the blood back in.
Her hands were soaked. The blood surrounded her. Normally, a young vampire would lose control in the presence of so much blood. Her blue eyes turned crimson, just like the blood covering her. But still, she didn't drink. She wasn't even tempted. Somehow, unconsciously, she resisted her bloodlust.
All she wanted was to save Akira.
But she didn't know how.
"Please… don't go… Mother… Brother… Someone… please save him…" she cried, calling out to anyone to save her friend.
Then suddenly.
A voice echoed in her mind.
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3… Can you hear me?"
It was the voice of a young girl, playful despite the situation. Erika gasped, looking around, but no one was there. Haruna was unconscious.
"Don't look around. We don't have time. Do you want to save him?"
"W-Who are you? Where are you?" Erika asked, panicked.
"As I said, there's no time. The link is faint. I can only reach you because your hands are soaked in his blood, so don't waste time. anyway, I know how to save him."
Erika's heart leapt. She leaned forward, gripping Akira tighter, "Tell me! I'll do it! I'll do anything!"
"You must drink his blood."
The words struck her like a slap, "What...?"
"Only by drinking his blood can a connection form between all three of us. Through that, I can save him. But you have to hurry. Only you can decide. If you don't, he will die."
Erika's stomach twisted. She looked down at Akira's blood, and the blood lust she was unconsciously suppressing started to kick in, but she tried her best to suppress it.
"I-I can't… I've never… not from a person… not from him…", Erika shook her head. She never liked drinking blood, she is half human after all, and that was Akira, her best friend. How could she do that?
"Listen, I know you are in the middle of an emotional conflict, but we don't have time for that. My connection is already fading, so choose fast, drink his blood or lose him forever," The voice urged her, but it was softer now, as if it was fading.
Erika bit her lip, in distress, but she nodded, no matter what, right now, she would do anything to save Akira.
Her fangs extended, resembling vampires in stories.
"I'm sorry, Akira…" She took a deep breath and, with tears in her eyes, she leaned down and bit his neck and started drinking his blood.
Akira's blood was unlike anything she had ever tasted, it tasted so good that it started overwhelming her, and she started to drink greedily, without realising.
And then it happened.
A soft crimson glow filled the wound in Akira's chest. From within the gaping hole, something began to form, a crystalline heart, radiating a beautiful crimson light. Erika felt some kind of connection to it, like it belonged to her.
It hovered for a moment, as if suspended by unseen threads, and then gently settled into place where his heart had once been.
The wound around it closed with glowing light, skin knitting back together, and he slowly started to breathe.
"Sigh, everything went well, job well done Erika-Chan", the mysterious girl's voice sounded once again in Erika's mind, as her consciousness wavered and she slumped forward, collapsing against Akira's chest and passing out.
From the top of a nearby hill, three figures watched the aftermath in silence.
Iori, Erika's brother, said nothing, but his fists were clenched.
Akira's parents stood beside him.
Yuki's face was unreadable, but her hands trembled slightly.
Ryuji exhaled in relief, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well… everything worked out as planned."
"You know, I am really mad right now, you guys put my sister in so much danger", Iori said calmly, but his crimson eyes said otherwise.
"You know, it was for their own good, and everything went as planned", Yuki said coldly.
Iori knew that too, but he still tried to argue, "I know, but they are still children, we should have…".
"You know what the stakes are here, we can't let our feelings get in the way", Yuki quickly shut Iori down.
Iori tried to say something, but in the end, he didn't.
"Take them back home and run a full check, and take care of the cleanup here, too. I will be back soon", Yuki looked at the kids one more time and turned around and walked away with an unreadable face.
"Where are you going?" Iori asked.
"Just a walk to calm down," she replied coldly.
Ryuji and Iori looked at her leaving figure without saying anything, because they knew.
Even if this was all planned, even if everything went well.
They hurt her son, and she was furious.
And tonight, a river of blood would flow.