Chapter Text
“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
2023
Tokyo
Ririka pulled out her keyring from her trouser pocket in front of the apartment building. There were at least a dozen keys on the ring, all from various properties, storage houses, and cars that she owned, scattered across the world.
Her studio apartment in Tokyo was a generous size. There were large windows on one side with gold shimmery curtains. The kitchen area was across from the windows, brick inlaid against the wall. A queen-sized bed with a metal frame was pushed up to one side of the studio room. A long horizontal mirror hung over it. The paint on the frame was chipping off as it was over a hundred years old.
On the other side of the room from the bed was a seating area of leather couches, an ornate rug, and an empty wardrobe. The last time Ririka had been here, the television hadn’t been invented yet. She dropped her leather duffel bag on the floor and flopped down onto the bed like a sack of flour. She closed her eyes, surprisingly happy to be somewhere familiar again.
1924 was the year she left Japan. She was 99 years of age at the time. The apartment had been kept in good shape by people who she had let stay here over the years. She had regularly paid for upkeep and cleaning. When she had tenants, she had deliveries of new, modern appliances like a washer and dryer ordered for the place. The whole front facade of the building had even been renovated once or twice.
Now, she was almost 200 years old.
As Ririka lay there in a gray t-shirt and black jeans, her eyes flew open when she realized she didn’t have a single phone number to call or a home address to find her old friends at. She cursed to herself for overlooking something so obvious.
She had one lead that crossed her mind. There was a bar that Yumeko had mentioned a few times in letters. A place where she and some of their close acquaintances would often meet since it was open to all monsters. They had Bloodwine on the menu, perfect for her since she was getting nippish. If only she knew the damn location of the bar.
Ririka’s only option was to go to Runa’s to ask around for the name. Runa’s was a strip club run by a succubus who everyone was at least acquainted with. It was exclusive to monsters, only because by reputation alone no humans dared to set foot there.
❅ ❅ ❅
The heels of Ririka’s black leather shoes clacked against the uneven pavement of the street. It was nearing dusk and the orange glow from inside the pubs and taverns shone onto her face.
The bright pink neon sign of Runa’s greeted her at the entrance. She shouldered one of the double doors open and was immediately met with the smell of cigarettes and cigars. Walking further into the dark club revealed scantily clad men and women in leather girdles, and attendants carrying cocktail trays. The colorful spotlights of the club reflected off the shiny, aluminum stripper poles and illuminated the clouds of cigarette smoke near the ceiling.
Ririka was scanning the room for Runa or any other recognizable face. A different succubus walked by her and dragged her finger along Ririka’s jacket collar.
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing here? Although, you look like you bite,” she giggled.
“Might you know where someone would find vampires and werewolves drinking at the same table? I need to know the name of a place like that.”
The succubus made a nonplussed sound.
“I’m sure you’ll have much more fun right here.” She pouted in mock offense and retracted her hand. “Unless you’re planning to put them on a leash I don’t see why you would go looking for any wolves. I promise that I smell much, much better.”
Surmising that the succubus would be of no help and only wanted Ririka's business via a VIP room, she opted to ask, “Can you maybe tell me if Sachiko Juraku is here?”
At that, she saw a spark of recognition in the succubus’s eyes.
She turned and pointed at the other side of the club.
Seated in a booth, Sachiko was sitting there with her pet, Mikura. And she was already watching Ririka with an amused expression.
“Thank you for the assistance.” Ririka handed the stripper a roll of singles. She couldn’t let her go empty-handed.
Ririka approached the booth, already wary of the woman before her.
“Do my eyes deceive me? Or do I see a ghost?” Sachiko leaned further into the upholstered seat. The collar around Mikura’s neck had a chain attached to it which Sachiko had curled around her palm. “It’s nothing less than shocking to see you after so many years.”
“It’s as if not a single day has gone by, though it has been many,” responded Ririka with her hands in her pockets.
Sachiko was a Purist vampire, one of the oldest and one of the deadliest. Though Bloodwine had existed for decades now, Sachiko openly chose not to ‘partake’. She quite liked playing with her food.
Mikura was her only non-human pet, her companion throughout the past few centuries. Many questioned the reason why Sachiko stuck with the redhead for so long, being someone who got bored quickly.
Ririka had the reason figured out. Sachiko’s ‘pets’ were human beings in most cases, who chased after her with open arms and lapping tongues. Sachiko’s allure was so strong that she could not just enchant multiple people at a time, but also control all of them to do her bidding without breaking her concentration.
On the other hand, Mikura was a vampire. She was no mere slave. She wasn’t prey in the natural sense, acting like a woman possessed. She had free will.
That made their relationship the only real one Sachiko has ever had.
Sachiko said to Ririka, “It’s been a hundred years, correct? The last I saw you, you were on the brink of death.”
She answered curtly, “I got better. Kirari and Sayaka saved my life.”
“Ah, yes. With their precious Bloodwine. Hard to imagine it’s already been a century since its conception.”
Ririka looked between Sachiko and Mikura. How many hundreds of people had been killed between the two of them, she couldn't even begin to guess. But the visualization made her skin crawl and she suddenly wanted to get out of their sight as soon as possible.
She said, “Since it has been quite a while since I was last in Tokyo, I’m looking for some people. Yumeko mentioned a bar the last time we exchanged letters. Do you know where it might be?”
“You still write letters?” Sachiko responded with mirth. “Do you not own a cellphone? It's not the 1800s anymore, Ririka.”
Ririka rolled her eyes. Maybe she didn’t want to be available for anyone to contact whenever they had the whim. Was that really so strange?
“Do you know where it is or not?”
Sachiko tilted her head. “You know I have little to no idea what goes on with you vegetarians. You must have sought me out for a different reason.” She leaned forward with her hand poised on her chin. If Ririka didn’t know any better she would have said she saw a forked tongue.
It had been risky of her to come here, Ririka knew. Sachiko’s whereabouts were predictable, which had made her easy to find, but that didn’t guarantee that she would willingly give her information.
“We’ve seldom spent quality time together, Ririka. You are one of the only creatures on this Earth that completely eludes me. You have so much strength within you, so much power, but you refuse to unleash it.”
Ririka refrained from rolling her eyes again.
“I am nothing special.”
“I can feel how it flows through you like red blood flows through veins. All you would have to do is say ‘kneel’ and any lesser being would blindly obey your commands.” Sachiko turned her head slightly towards Mikura and pulled on her chain, as if to emphasize her point. The breath left her lungs for a second but Mikura didn’t make a sound.
Sachiko continued, “I can assure you, it would take no effort on your part-”
A smack was heard when Mikura suddenly slapped Sachiko’s hand away. Sachiko’s eyes snapped to her in disbelief. Then, one corner of her mouth raised in delighted annoyance.
Mikura spoke up, “The bar is called Hyakkaou. It’s close to your apartment. Yumeko found some new boy toy there.”
Ririka thanked her lucky stars that a petulant slave was present who was prone to jealousy to save her from having to continue this conversation with her master.
Wordlessly, without a goodbye, Ririka turned and walked away, hearing the viperous sounds of Sachiko fading into the background, voicing the beginnings of her punishment towards Mikura.
The chain rattled again, more harshly, and this time Mikura elicited a sound that made Ririka quicken her steps to get out of earshot of what they were about to start doing.
❅ ❅ ❅
Hyakkaou. This was the bar Yumeko had spoken of. Ririka hoped she would be there as she stood outside the front door. Just beside it, there was a missing person poster on the wall for a young woman in her 20s. She had indigo-colored hair and violet eyes. She looked sweet and dear. Far too sweet and dear to be on a missing person poster.
When Ririka walked inside, the bell on the door jingled. The air was warm from all the patrons. To one side there were gambling tables where card games were taking place.
On the other side, the tables were occupied with creatures and nonhumans alike who were drinking beer and cocktails. Ririka saw a group of faeries flying by the chandelier. Below, some dwarves and gnomes celebrated a birthday. Ogres bickered over a recent baseball match. A lone centaur sat crying in one corner over a shot of vodka.
Ririka scanned the room and saw no sign of Yumeko to her dismay. With no other option, she approached the bar and took a seat. She might as well drink her fill of Bloodwine while she was here and ask the staff about her elusive cousin. A tall man was working the bar. He poured and mixed drinks in a quick fashion, clearly having worked at the bar for some time. He gathered four large pints of beer together and put them on a serving tray.
When his voice called out “Table 8!” a blonde woman passed by Ririka and hoisted the serving tray onto her shoulder before bringing it to the right patrons. The woman had turned away too fast for Ririka to get a good look, let alone to ask her about Yumeko.
“What would you like?” asked the young bartender. He looked no older than 20. He didn’t have a distinguishable smell, which meant he was wearing a masking spray. He had a natural rosiness to his cheeks, not from makeup, which meant he had a bloodstream. This at least told Ririka that he wasn’t a vampire like her.
“Bloodwine, please.”
He moved to get a wine glass and poured the deep red liquid into it from a bottle.
He placed it on the counter in front of her. She thanked him and instead of moving away like she expected, he instead asked her, “Is it your first time here? I don't really recognize you.”
“Yes,” she confirmed, “A family member recommended this place to me. I actually came here looking for her, but it seems she is doing other things tonight.” Ririka took a sip of her drink. It was pleasantly fragrant and chilled.
Someone gasped behind her and at that, the young man looked over her shoulder.
He exclaimed, “Yumeko! You’re early!”
Ririka just about registered what he had said when two arms enveloped her from behind, jostling the liquid in her glass.
“I almost couldn’t believe my eyes! It’s really you!”
Ririka let Yumeko hug her to her heart’s content while she awkwardly tried to return the hug from her position.
Yumeko pulled away to take in her appearance.
“Is it really you?”
“Yes, unless you're mistaking me for Kirari,” Ririka said. “It’s me, at long last.”
“Why didn’t you say you were coming back?”
Ririka swirled her wine in her glass.
“I didn't want to make a big deal out of it.”
Yumeko made a dissatisfied sound and gestured for the man to bring her a glass of Bloodwine as well.
When he put it down on the countertop, she caught his hand and sprinkled a few kisses over his knuckles.
Ririka barely raised an eyebrow at that. It wasn’t unusual for Yumeko to show affection in public, or to switch partners sporadically. The bartender must be the ‘boy toy’ as Mikura had mentioned.
Yumeko said to him, “I can see that you’ve already met my cousin.” She turned once more to her. “Ririka, this is Ryota. My boyfriend!”
She asked with interest, “How did you two meet?”
Ryota started scratching his neck nervously.
Yumeko giggled. “He gets embarrassed whenever we tell this story. We met on Monstr! Have you heard of it? It's a dating app where monsters, non-humans, humans, and mythological creatures can meet each other! He said in his bio that he was looking for true love. I just thought that was so honest and sweet, I just had to swipe right! And what do you know, it was a match!” She couldn’t help but blush.
Ririka had to admit it was heartwarming seeing Yumeko like this. She clearly liked him a lot.
He left to attend to other patrons for the time being while Ririka sipped from her glass again.
“You should get the app too!”
Ririka almost spit out her wine.
She choked for a second, only responding by giving Yumeko a look.
“You know how I feel about dating.”
“It’s just for fun. It's like a game. Like Candy Crush! All you have to do is look at pretty pictures and swipe. You don’t even have to talk to anyone if you don’t feel like it.”
Ririka hmm’d in mock contemplation as she wasn't really considering it.
“Can I filter it based on my preferences?”
“Of course.” Then, Yumeko’s expression changed. “You still have your rules. Don’t you?”
Ririka pursed her lips, knowing what Yumeko was referring to. “The way I feel about dating humans hasn’t changed. The same goes for any mortal being, thus taking creatures with finite lifespans off the table. I don’t want to fall in love and have to watch them slowly die over the course of our lives because I’m immortal and they’re not.”
“Maybe your allure isn’t so strong! Some humans have been known to resist it,” Yumeko argued. Ririka thought that was funny, knowing Sachiko had said just the opposite earlier.
“There is no proof.” Ririka shook her head. “A romance between a vampire and a human is simply not possible. I would never know if they’re with me because my allure brainwashes them into subjugation or if it’s real love.”
The allure was a simple survival ability. It only had an effect on humans- their only food source for eons. The sole purpose of the allure was to catch ‘prey’ more easily. A human that was in the vicinity of a vampire would naturally draw closer to them, intrigued, even attracted to them like a moth to a flame.
“Sayaka was immune to the allure.”
Ririka looked at Yumeko.
“One human over the course of all history is not reason enough to make me reconsider.”
“Well, it’s fitting that you mention that.” Yumeko timidly tucked her hair behind her ear. “Ryota happens to be human.”
Ririka gaped for a second, feeling slightly bad about all she had said right in front of Yumeko’s face.
“I didn’t know that. What I said made you feel awkward, didn’t it? Why didn’t you tell me from the start?”
“I was worried about how you would react. We’ve been an item for a few months.”
Ririka didn’t shake her head, only looking back down into the depths of her glass.
“I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, Yumeko. Sayaka was a human too and that turned out for the better. So, just do what you think is for the best and always take ownership of all your decisions. As long as you’re not hurting him,” she added with tepidness.
She knew that Yumeko held a completely different attitude towards life - and their immortality - than her. That it would reach this far didn’t surprise her. Yumeko was a risk-taker in all the ways that Ririka wasn’t. Why should it be any different in love?
“That’s the thing, he knows what I am but he trusts me nonetheless,” Yumeko started to explain. “I can’t say for sure if the allure plays a part in that but at least I can tell you our love is real. I know it is because he doesn’t want me to turn him. He wants to be human until the day he dies. He doesn't feel the need to change for me.”
“But doesn’t that cause you pain? You will never be able to grow old with him. You will bury him in the ground. Meanwhile, you will live forever and all you will have left of him is your memories.”
Yumeko regarded her with a small smile.
“Oh, Ririka. That’s exactly the beauty of it.”
Is that so? Ririka drained the last of her drink. The Bloodwine made her feel newly rejuvenated. If she had to choose, she would choose beauty without any pain at all. Luckily, she was free to live however she wanted and her choice wasn’t a difficult one.
“Fucking finally,” came a voice behind Ririka. “These nine-hour shifts are killing me!”
The blonde haired waitress from before victoriously tugged off her half apron and threw it at Yumeko. “It’s all yours, Dracula.”
“Hehe. Thanks, Mary.” Yumeko put on the apron and squeezed Ririka’s shoulders in a hug one last time before getting to work. Ririka realized then that Yumeko was employed at the bar, not just a regular client.
“Damn, it feels good to sit down,” said the waitress, ‘Mary’, who was lowering herself down onto the stool next to her. “I feel like I’ve been on my feet for a bajillion years.”
Without needing to place an order, Ryota knew what she was thinking and passed the woman a bottle of beer before going back to the other drinks. While she drank from it, Ririka couldn’t help but examine the woman next to her. Her eyeliner was dark but not thick. Her nose was straight, her skin was rosy but not pink. Her fingers were long and slender, posed elegantly on the countertop.
Ririka’s sensitive ears could hear the woman’s heart beating in her chest. She could smell the scent of her blood. It wasn’t calling to her, likely because she had just replenished herself with Bloodwine, but she was immediately apprehensive towards the woman’s presence.
Before she could look away, the woman next to her put her drink down and met her eyes.
“Why haven't I ever seen you around here before?” asked the waitress.
Ririka had spent many years learning how to read people. The woman seemed like the talkative type yet also like someone who didn’t care to waste their breath if she didn’t need to. Therefore, Ririka presumed that she wasn’t just making polite conversation, but rather she genuinely wanted to know. The big question was, did this woman's curiosity stem from herself or from the effects of Ririka's allure?
“I’m new in town.”
“Visiting?”
“Yes. But I don’t know for how long.” Ririka held her empty glass between her fingers on the countertop.
“Let me get you a refill. What are you drinking?”
“Bloodwine.” That’s when Mary paused, looking at her anew, likely only realizing just now that she was dealing with a vampire. But as soon as Ririka had even registered it, the woman unfroze and leaned across the bar with her hips pressed to the front to reach for the right bottle. She sat back down and poured another glass for her.
“I serve this stuff all the time but I’ve got no idea what it actually tastes like.”
“Would you like to give it a try?” Ririka held out the glass, offering it without complaint.
“Well... isn’t it... blood?”
“It’s only fake blood. And it’s fermented together with spices and fruits. It’s like any other wine if you think about it that way.”
“Except for the part where it tastes like blood.”
But the waitress proved to be less judgmental and more daring than her tone had indicated when she took the offered glass and had a generous gulp.
Ririka watched on with an impressed but equally amused gaze knowing fully what was about to come. The waitress immediately made a face and seemed to give swallowing her best shot before buckling to her body’s need to expel the repulsive substance in her mouth by spitting it back into the glass.
Ririka lamented, “You spit in my wine.”
She retook her glass with a dejected expression directed at it.
The woman wiped her mouth with her hand, not apologetic in the least.
“That shit is disgusting. How are you actually bothered by saliva but not by blood?”
Ririka said with a defensive tone, “I’m a vampire!”
The waitress chuckled and raised her beer halfway to her mouth. “You're not so bad for a vamp. I’m Mary.”
“Ririka. The pleasure is mine." She shyly tucked her hair behind her ear. "Now please, I’d like a new serving of my drink.”
“Sure thing. This one’s on the house,” Mary promised as she reached for the bottle of Bloodwine again.
"And for the record... I don't mind saliva. I just don't want it swimming in my beverages."
Without missing a beat, Mary asked, "Oh, so you want it somewhere else?"
Ririka closed her eyes in self-embarrassment.
Not even 200 years of experience were enough to save her from walking right into that one.