Lauretta 

Consumption of menstrual blood, mass death.

The moment I stood there, a melancholy, as if I were in a distant dream, coursed through my veins. After passing through a deep forest on the outskirts of town, I hesitated for a moment in front of an old mansion that came into view. It was the first time I had ever been there, so I had no idea what strange feeling was bubbling up within me. But…

“Does anyone actually live here?”

The sun was beginning to set, but as far as I could see, there were no lights on inside the mansion. Depending on the room, some of them might have even been pitch black. I continued forward, mind focused on such inconsequential things—and the door of the mansion opened as if to welcome me inside.

“...!”

A woman emerged slowly from the doorway, glowing white skin filling the darkness. It was no metaphor, her face was unusually pale—a brilliant white shining against black as though no blood flowed through her veins at all. She, whose visage held a touch of youthfulness while also exuding a strong, dignified presence, was impossible to look away from.

I found it both beautiful and terrifying.

“Hm…?”

Her mouth opened slightly, mouthing sounds that I could hear in my mind as clear as day, ‘Welcome back.’

Chills ran down my spine. I felt suffocated. My body was cold, but my blood simmered and bubbled hot within me. I couldn’t even tell if I was steady on my feet.

I’ve never been here. I’ve never seen her before–

I didn’t understand a single thing.

Suddenly, my strength was gone. My vision faded to black, only that beautiful yet repulsive white burning into my mind.

When I awoke, I was greeted by the sight of a dimly lit room. The flames of a fireplace flickered, illuminating surroundings reminiscent of an old nobleman’s residence. Even though I was awake, I felt as if I were in a dream.

“Oh, awake now, are we?” a voice with a pleasant alto tone spoke from the darkness. The way the sound entered my body felt surprisingly natural.

“Th-This is… inside the… mansion…? My voice was hoarse, my throat so dry that I couldn’t speak properly.

“Correct. You collapsed before your arrival, but it wouldn't be right to put a stranger in bed, would it?”

The reply had come from behind me, and that’s when I realized I was sitting in a chair. Why hadn’t I noticed what was happening to my own body?

“My apologies for the situation, but I can guarantee the comfort of that chair. It would seem that you were able to sleep quite peacefully.”

The voice from behind me drew gradually nearer—

“I suppose that means pleasant memories have taken root.”

A faint breath warmed my ear, and a shiver ran down my spine. And yet, I didn't turn around, my gaze focused straight ahead of me. Something was wrong. 

“Now then…”

When I heard her next words, she was standing right in front of me. She was terrifyingly pale and beautiful, as though she were artificial.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, chosen one. My name is—”

—Lauretta.

The name that came to mind naturally spilled from my mouth. Her eyes wavered slightly, and she lowered her gaze for just a moment as a smile formed on her lips.

"Well then, let's begin. From this moment on, I will be nothing more than a storyteller for you."

Lauretta Abenheid.

She was born in that very mansion. That place, now a mansion surrounded by a deep forest, was originally the territory of a noble family. It was a place kept secret and beyond human reach, ruled by a family possessing special blood and inherited power. The reason for such was incredibly simple—House Abenheid was a family of vampires.

It might seem like something to scoff at in a modern age overflowing with digital technology, but vampires were real. There was a country ruled by a sovereign of darkness, and a remote land where a blood drenched queen resided. The special powers they possessed could be a source of conflict or a powerful asset for the country they possessed. The shadows of history strewn across the lands would reveal the presence of such.

“I see…”

After hearing her story, I finally understood why I had been called here. The articles I was responsible for as a journalist were commonly known as occult.

“What’s wrong? Bored already?” she spoke with conviction, as if she was certain that was impossible. Somehow, it seemed that she—

‘--I understand.”

“This is a matter I should be responsible for, isn’t it?” I replied with equal conviction, entirely unaware of the expression on my face.

“Is that so? In that case, it seems I chose the right person.”

My heart skipped a beat seeing her faint smile. The dichotomy of her dignified tone and alto voice, and her beauty like that of a doll. The feeling of terror had already vanished.

“What is it? You look awfully happy.”

“Hm?”

It was a genuine question. I never would have imagined I was wearing such an expression.

“Well, I’m glad you’re interested. You acknowledge the value of the story I’m telling you.”

“It’s…” I tried to put my sudden feeling into words, but I stopped myself.

However, the rest came from her mouth, “Like speaking with a friend?”

“...!?”

“There is no need to be surprised. The answer lies within my story.”

Of course. If she truly wasn’t human, it would only make sense that she possessed supernatural abilities beyond my understanding.

“...Please tell me the rest.”

“Of course.”

I didn’t know where the truth lay. Certainly, her appearance gave off the impression of something other than human. Even the circumstances that had allowed for that conversation to occur were unclear, but my heart was racing.

The unknown—perhaps I would be able to see it with my own eyes once again.

Lauretta Abenheid was born into a family of vampires, but she said she was just an ordinary human being during her childhood.

“There are extremely rare cases of vampires awakening after their birth. I was one such case.”

Like something straight out of fiction, vampires apparently experienced a process called a “blood awakening”. Most vampires awakened in the womb and are born as such, but there were cases where the awakening did not occur. Lauretta did not awaken and was raised as a normal child.

“It’s strange to admit, but I was an innocent young lady who knew nothing of the world. That is, until I met a certain someone.”

The day before she turned ten, Lauretta had her first menstruation. She had never had any serious injuries before, but when she saw her hands dripping with red liquid, when she stained her lips red with it—that was when she first realized just how beautiful  blood was.

“Blood knows things that humans don’t.”

Lauretta’s words were incomprehensible to humans. Most people were repulsed by the taste of blood, and they wouldn’t learn anything from swallowing it. But Lauretta was different, she was able to discover a side of herself she didn’t know existed.

“But even then, it wasn’t enough.”

Her own blood did not awaken her, and her relatives wanted it to stay that way. If she remained human, she wouldn’t become an outcast of society. She could live her life as a human being. Lauretta was an obedient child, and so she chose to fulfill the wishes of her loved ones rather than pursue the unknown. She would live a quiet life as a human.

—How happy I would have been if such a thing were possible.

Around the time Lauretta turned fourteen, it happened—an aircraft made an emergency landing in the Abenheid territory. The pilot was merely a child, a boy of only sixteen years.

“Did you come from the sky?”

“Yes, from a long way off.”

“So you’re a traveler then?”

“I suppose you could say that.”

Lauretta was the first to find the child. Being close in age, the two of them shared many things in common—they knew the same flowers, buildings, stories. And then, there was the outside world. The traveler didn’t know much, but it was enough to satisfy the incredibly sheltered Lauretta. All she knew about the outside world came from books. No one ever taught her anything, but this traveler was different. However, he would only be there for a short time, only staying until his wounds had healed and his plane was repaired.

Lauretta was a good, obedient girl. She understood her situation well enough to decide to spend as much time as possible with the traveler in the meantime. However, she was keeping a secret from him. She belonged to a family of vampires, and she had tasted his blood while he was unconscious.

—The taste was so, so sweet.

It was a love that made her heart skip a beat. In her innocence, Lauretta had no way of knowing if that was her instinct as a vampire, or the beginning of pure love.

“May I write about you, Lauretta?”

“Write about me?”

The traveler told her that he loved to write stories. He could create entirely new worlds with words alone, and it brought him joy.

“That’s fine, but can you promise me just one thing?”

“Would you like to be the first to read it?”

“No, I’d just like to read it someday. That’s all.”

Lauretta knew. She knew how desperately the traveler wanted to write because his blood had told her so.

“I swear it. I’ll weave your story together and make sure to deliver.”

“Hehe, that’s a very nice line, traveler. In that case, may I ask for one more thing?”

“Hm?”

“I’d like the girl in the story to travel the world someday—to see how far the sky extends beyond the horizon.”

Don’t give up on your dreams, I want you to make them come true.

Lauretta superimposed this pure, perfectly natural wish onto another. A wish that would lead to the worst possible betrayal.

Some time had passed since Lauretta made that wonderful promise. The traveler, whose injuries had healed, was repairing the airplane with the help of the villagers and Lauretta’s relatives.The repairs to everything save for some machinery in the cockpit had been completed, and the plane was nearly ready to fly.

And that’s when it happened—the sky filled with noise.

“Isn’t that an airplane?”

“Yes. It’s a fighter jet, much more powerful than this plane.”

A formation of planes dyed the sky above the territory, the traveler’s expression making it clear that was not a good sign.

And then the assault began, the beautiful land that Lauretta loved so dearly was stained red. The roaring, the screams, the flames, the blood—everything mixed together and created a hell on earth.

“Run!”

By the time the traveler’s cry reached Lauretta, it was already too late. Arrows of fire rained down from the sky, scorching away all of the happiness that had been there.

Ah… This is the end.

There was nothing left but despair. And yet, Lauretta was still alive, unable to feel her arms or legs. But the warmth of human skin enveloping her made the reality clear.

“T-Traveler…?”

There was no reply. The traveler had protected Lauretta. With no regard for his own life, he simply tried to protect someone who had laughed alongside him. Would her mother and father have done the same? She didn’t know anymore, but she liked to hold on to the hope that it would be so.

Blood spills from the traveler’s forehead, wetting Lauretta’s lips, and how incredibly sweet it was.

Lauretta decided to stop being a good girl. She gave in to the allure of the neck before her, sinking her teeth in. She felt the skin break, and immediately the hot contents pulsate and flow into her mouth.

Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot.

Her body was burning, the heat unbearable. Her numb limbs became free. Pain transformed itself to pleasure.

—It feels so good—

As if to share her feelings, Lauretta bit her lip and poured her own blood into the Traveler’s mouth.

“Ah… Ahhh…”

The traveler gasped in agony. The blood forced its way down his dying throat, clinging all the way down. The persistent discomfort must have been incredibly painful.

“It’s alright, everything is alright. If you can accept whatever comes next, we can live forever.”

Everything she knew must be destroyed.

Passion consumed her. The blood strewn about pulsated and gathered towards her. The power of the vampire, which should have been mere fantasy, targeted the fighter pilot who had scorched the territory of Abendheid. 

Thin, red, thorn like objects shot upwards and burst in front of the plane, dyeing it red. The pilot, now with limited visibility, became terrified of the unknown enemy. In less than ten minutes, the fighter jet gradually fell and crashed into the ground below.

All life had been lost, and everything was stained the same color. Destroyed buildings, raging flames, scorched earth, the corpses—all of them had become equal. 

Red. Scarlet. Vermilion. Crimson. Like what a fetus would see within the womb.

Lauretta’s heart was calm, because she found that scene truly beautiful.

　――

　――――

“Is that the end of the story?”

“Well, it’s a good place to stop. It was a hundred years ago, I don’t remember all of the details that well.”

I looked at Lauretta suspiciously as she laughed softly. I understood the basics of the story, but…

“There are a few things I don’t understand.”

“What is it? Go ahead.”

“First, what happened to the traveler?”

“Vampires live with their kin for eternity.”

“Assuming everything you’ve said is true and you really are a vampire… How is he now?”

“You don’t need to ask that. The answer is clear, isn’t it?”

Lauretta’s words make me gasp. I had a strong premonition. I had to ask.

“Does the traveler remember your story?”

“Hah!” Lauretta laughed, sounding genuinely amused. 

I had no idea if she understood the meaning of my question.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure he doesn’t. Something that has been reborn can never be the same as it once was.”

That was the answer, the answer to why I had gone there. But there was one last thing—

“Are you really the Lauretta I know?”

“Yes, I’m the Lauretta you know.”

She answered in a soprano voice, discarding her previous haughty tone.

—A certain writer—

In a mansion deep within the forest lived a beautiful girl. Her appearance never changed, and her age was uncertain. She is said to be the inspiration for a story written by a particular author. It’s a story that has been adapted into every form of media—movies, dramas, comic books, video games… There’s probably few people in the world who haven’t heard of it.

The protagonist of the story is a silver haired vampire with otherworldly beauty, but the inspiration for the character was simply a human woman. How do I know what she looks like? Because whenever anything based on that story is created, she appears.

“Surely, these memories will be written in blood.”

True to her word, the story is etched into the hearts of many, as if every one of us was one of her followers.

There had been big news surrounding her recently. The mansion where she lived had burned down in a fire, but no bodies had been found in the ruins. Did she turn to ash like the legends, or had she vanished to a place unknown?

I’d like to believe it’s the latter. I’m sure anyone who read her story would think the same. Ah, I forgot there are people that don’t know the story. It’s so obvious. Why do I think that?

That was a story of a girl leaving her sheltered reality. I think all the readers interpret it that way.

　――

　――――

No matter how many words I used, I could never express my gratitude enough. That day, Lauretta Abenheid, who had been a bird in a cage, found the courage to fly outside for the first time.

It was reality, but not the truth. It was all coincidence, and yet inevitable. The plane that the traveler arrived on was originally equipped with a communication device. Everyone in the territory understood from the very start that the traveler had come to investigate the vampire's territory.

House Abenheid was a moderate faction of vampires. Tired of being used as tools by humans and living in hiding, they longed for their own destruction. For them, it was fortunate that their last child, Lauretta, was not awakened when she was born. She could choose to live as a human—as Lauretta, not an Abenheid. She wouldn’t have to bear the burden of being something nonhuman, and young Lauretta wanted to fulfill this dream.

Or so she had thought until she met the traveler. 

The world was vast, it was alright for a few monsters to live within it. That was the beginning of the story that would leave a mark on the world, and so Lauretta waited, and waited… She waited for the time when the person she had made a promise with would be guided to her side.

“The future is mine. Forever and ever and all eternity.”

The vampire and her followers traveled through the skies and across the world, in order to fulfill the promise that had been made long ago.