Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Illusions ❯ Toxic ( Chapter 26 )

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Shattered Illusions

Chapter 26: Toxic

By: Melissa Norvell

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The two girls stood at a humble-looking stand and sifted through the vast amount of herbs, trying to find the exact ones they wanted in order to make their special tea. Coscatta spied some nutmeg and placed it in a bag. She paid for her purchase and the two began to walk down the moderately populated cement walkways.

Turning to the petite girl, Millie decided to ask her first question. “What kind of person was Virgil?”

Coscatta didn't even have to think in order to answer that question. She knew her brother better than anyone. “He was very studious and serious. He made high grades in school and was at the top of his class. All of the girls liked him but he never showed any interest in them. My brother was also in tennis, archery and on the track team. Virgil was also the president of the student council. The only person he even acknowledged…” She tipped her head down with a look of anxiety. “…was Copernicus.”

A flood of visions came back to her senses as she recalled her brother's relationship with his master. That, more than anything she remembered vividly.

A boy, a little taller than Coscatta with long, blue hair pulled into a low pony tail in a navy bow stood in the door way. Virgil was very feminine and if he were in a dress, one could mistake him for a female easily. He was clad in a Victorian, double-breasted coat with knee length shorts, straps that held up his socks and brown, shiny loafers with golden buckles. He announced that he was home in a youthful, cheerful tone. When he saw the vampire walk up to him, Virgil gave a curt bow and inquired on how his day went.

Copernicus bowed in turn and told his donor that his day was uneventful and all he really did was sit back and sip spice tea. He bent down and placed a hand gingerly on the boy's porcelain cheek.

Virgil blushed slightly, and his voice trembled. “Copernicus…I mean, master…”

“Welcome home,” the vampire cooed and leaned in for a kiss. The boy's blush expanded across his face as he returned the sweet gesture.

Just at that moment, Coscatta walked up to the opened door, humming a quaint little tune. She took a step inside and froze immediately. Her blue eyes widened and a gasp escaped her throat as her satchel hit the ground.

Copernicus pulled away; his eyes looked to his other donor. “Good afternoon, Coscatta.”

Jealousy marred her face, and she could feel the pain and anger well up inside of her. The girl ran up to Copernicus intercepting his kiss with her own as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Virgil simply walked away without a protest. He was used to situations like these.

“He was intimate with my master. They often went back into his room, privately. I know they did more than study and Copernicus was that way to him. After only a year…” Her hand trembled with the mix of emotions she felt and she bit her bottom lip. “When I admitted I loved him.”

More memories invaded her mind, reminding her of that day. The day when her innocence was shattered, and her dreams were dashed.

Coscatta walked into her brother's study, where he sat at a large, mahogany desk. The boy was busily working on some kind of paperwork; it was more than likely an assignment for school. He glanced up from his work, long; blue bangs fell in front of his face.

“Dear brother, can I talk to you for a while?” It was an important matter that she wanted to discuss; otherwise she would not have interrupted him when he was in his study. Coscatta took great care to not interrupt him amidst his work.

Virgil put his paperwork down and leveled her with an inquisitive look. “What is it, Coscatta?”

“How do you feel about our master?” She knew what the truth was, but she wanted to know if he would admit it to her. Coscatta wanted to know how much of the truth she would tell him.

“I feel that he is very important to our lives, as the existence of the Boucellini family. We owe the Wittenbergs a great deal, so I want to help him as much as I can. I've spent countless amounts of time researching the vampuric society. I admire Copernicus. He's one of the few vampires who don't have an inflated ego. Considering his rank in society, that alone is remarkable. Most vampires have egos bigger than actors,” Virgil tactfully answered her question. In a way, that quelled part of her worries but in another, it only made the girl believe that he was hiding even more than she knew of.

“I'm…in love with him,” Coscatta waited for a reaction from her brother, but she was only returned with cold silence in return, so she continued. “I want to tell him, but I don't know how.”

Virgil's look hardened and his frown deepened. He seemed displeased with knowing that. “It's forbidden for us as donors to fall in love with our masters. Besides, he's royalty. What makes you think he would even consider you? Honestly, stop reading that vampire romance propaganda.”

His reaction only set rage into the girl's soul. Clenching her fists at her hips she shot back. “It's not propaganda! I really do love him.”

Virgil's eyes narrowed. “Stupid, little fool. You're going to get hurt. He's not some fairy tale prince from school. Don't be wooed by his good looks. He's not human. He's not even a part of your world.”

Those words struck her deep, more than anything. It was like he had ripped her heart out and savagely stomped it until the blood left each ventricle. It was the worst feeling in the world.

Millie's eyebrows creased in concern. “So, your brother stole him from you?”

Coscatta's bangs covered her eyes like veil and a frown adorned her face. Her voice was low and filled with sorrow. “I don't know. I loved my brother dearly and I'm devastated that he died. I cried for weeks on end and I had to comfort my master as well. He was a train wreck since Virgil left.” Tears ran down her cheeks as she sobbed. “Why? Why have I been robbed of my memories? I want nothing more than to catch the one who wrongfully murdered Virgil.”

The girl couldn't hold back the tidal wave of emotion she felt. Coscatta stopped and burst out crying. Millie turned around and wrapped her arms around the girl as the girl sobbed into her chest. Millie stroked the top of her head, hoping to provide some words of comfort. “I'm sure we'll find them. We've just got to, so he can rest in peace.”

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Copernicus and Tsubomi lay in his bed. The vampire was fast asleep; light breaths filled the air as he slept facing her. The tom boy just lay on her back, staring at the ceiling blankly. A slight pink was airbrushed onto her cheeks as she brought a finger to her lips.

Beside of her, the vampire stirred awake. “That…was nice. I'm going to be tired now. I feel so drained,” he sounded groggy, even though he had a light nap.

Tsubomi held her arm up to him, allowing him to drink from her. He took it gently and fed. “Hope you still like me. I'm not virginal.”

He pulled back, her blood on his lips. “If I take it, it's different,” Copernicus ran his tongue across her bite marks. “I do hope that you don't get sick from our escapade. Some people don't get used to it.”

“You were warm and it tasted strange but not bad. I hope it was pleasurable,” Tsubomi told him with a slight smile.

“Wouldn't have come if it wasn't.”

The blush only amplified on her cheeks, turning darker at the thought of the act that they just committed.

“You're cute,” Copernicus purred as he ran a hand through her hair and cuddled up close to her, releasing her arm. The tom boy wrapped her limbs around him. “I'm glad you wanted to give yourself to me but aren't you frustrated? Don't you want to be pleasured? As a man, it must be hard being the one who gives all of the time. Wouldn't you like to receive?”

Tsubomi felt her heart slam into her sternum painfully. “I still have to get used to the feeling. It kind of freaks me out and I don't want to be scared, so I'm taking my time.”

“Good boy.”

“Copernicus?”

“What is it, love?”

Tsubomi paused. “You called me…love?”

“That's what you are to me,” he didn't see what the big deal was. They were a couple now, so it was normal to refer to her as such things, right?

“I love you,” the tom boy placed a hand on his chest. “…so much…” Her voice whispered to her lover, which contrasted the awful feeling that bubbled up in her chest. `Why do I feel like crying? Why do I feel like I should be ashamed?' She laid her head on his chest. `Stupid Millie and her blow job jokes.'

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Yale was busy scrawling on a piece of paper, practicing his Old English font when the two girls came back from their shopping trip. He looked at the two as they walked in the door and stuck the piece of paper haphazardly into his pocket and stood up to offer his assistance and greet them, welcoming them home.

Millie cocked her head at him with a quizzical expression. “Are you okay, Prince Yale?”

Yale walked up and kissed her sweetly.

The girl smiled and thanked him. Coscatta merely sighed at their expression of love. It sickened her to see such things while she had the bear watching the love of her life flirt around with some unworthy, low blood boy. Millie apologized for what she had done. Knowing how Coscatta felt, she felt guilty that the girl had to see that.

“It's fine. I'm going to go and make tea,” Coscatta said coldly before she walked in the direction of the kitchen, carrying her product. Before she set foot on the tile, she paused and grabbed a book out of her bag and walked back over to the couple, handing it to Millie. “Oh, can you put this on the bookshelf for me?”

“Sure,” Millie smiled, taking the book from her as she retreated back into her room. When she got there, the school girl knocked on the door to make sure no one was in there. After no one answered, she slowly opened the door and peeked inside. `Okay, no one's in here.'

Deciding it was safe to venture further, Millie walked in the room and took a couple more confident steps inside. She tripped over a pair of Copernicus' shoes and stumbled into a bookshelf with such force that it knocked the books off of the shelf. The school girl covered herself as she was pelted with parchment. Along with the fallen books, a bloodied book tumbled to the ground and popped open. A few photographs flew out.

“Ow…” Millie groaned, rubbing her backside as pain shot through her body. “I'm such a klutz. I should really watch my step. Copernicus doesn't usually fling his clothes in the floor like that. I wonder where he and Tsubomi-kun are anyway. Hm?” Her garnet eyes fell on the open book.

`That book…' It was the same book she had seen before. She picked up a picture of what looked like Coscatta's brother and examined it. “This must be Virgil.” From the way he was described in her back story, she couldn't think of anyone else it could have been. She went to place the photograph back in the book but she saw the words `kill him' written and her curiosity got the better of her. Picking the book up and reading an excerpt her eyes widened and she gasped in horror. `What? Oh my god…' The picture tumbled from her hand and floated to the ground. “I have to tell Copernicus.”

Coscatta sat the tea cups down, filled with her nutmeg tea. She sat one down by Yale, Copernicus, who was dozing off and Tsubomi. Then she placed one in front of Millie and herself.

“Here your majesty, master, decoy boy, moi and boy love girl,” Coscatta told them in succession.

Yale took a sip of it. “Ah, nutmeg tea it's been years.”

Tsubomi sipped on it cautiously, and then gave the blue-haired girl a skeptical look. “Is nutmeg all you put in it? Mine tastes a little strange.”

Copernicus stared off into space as Yale took another drink.

“I don't taste anything strange,” the silent prince confirmed. To him, it was simply nutmeg tea and nothing more. There was no strange taste to it at all.

Tsubomi blinked and glanced around with a shocked, yet quizzical expression. “I can hear you.”

Yale looked at her and smiled. One very important fact had also just hit him. “This is the first time I've communicated with you.”

“Yeah, nice to know we can talk to each other,” Tsubomi noted, and then made an inward comment about the taste of the tea. `Maybe it was just me.'

“Maybe you ate something before you drank it and you still have the after taste.” That didn't make her feel any less better about her blow job session with her alleged master.

“Maybe,” the tom boy replied a little uncomfortably, trying to will back her blush. `Don't do it. Don't embarrass yourself in front of a prince.'

Millie sat there, not touching her tea and staring off into space with a dazed expression on her face. She couldn't stop thinking about the horrible words that she had read within the confines of the book. She needed to get the vampire alone, but how was she going to do that in this public setting?

Tsubomi looked to the dazed girl, then to her equally dazed lover who was trying to keep from falling asleep on himself. She sighed in defeat. So much for this not being an awkward moment. `Not both of them. What's the deal? I feel like I'm in a room full of zombies or something.'

“It's just nutmeg. You're just weirding out on something. Do you always think everything is suspicious?” Coscatta's sharp voice cut through her thoughts as the girl leveled her with a stiff glare as she put her hands on her hips appearing bigger than the sitting tomboy.

“My apologies.” If it was arguing that Coscatta wanted, Tsubomi didn't feel like doing it right now.

Yale waved a hand in front of the vampire's face as Copernicus finally stirred from his gaze with a `hm' uttered in question. Navy blue eyes panned over to the mute vampire.

Yale smiled at him in a playful way. “You are in this world. Did you do something fun while you stepped out?”

“I'm glad you can't talk,” Copernicus muttered.

“That's so cruel.”

“Shut up.”

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After their tea party was over, Tsubomi and Millie washed the tea sets. It was silent for a while and all that could be heard was the washing of dishes and clunking of porcelain as it was placed on the dish rack to dry. Blue eyes glanced over to the school girl and Tsubomi found it too quiet, so she decided to make a conversation with the girl. Besides, there was something she wanted to ask her that had been on her mind for a while.

“Hey, Millie.”

“Yeah?”

“How does sex feel?”

The girl paused and cocked her head with a quizzical expression. “Why? Do you want to do the deed with Copernicus?”

“I'm thinking about it,” Tsubomi continued to wash dishes. This was really awkward and the last thing she wanted to do was look at the girl while asking her such things.

Millie placed a finger to her chin and looked skyward for a moment before answering. “Well, since I'm a girl it's different but I'm sure you'd like it. It's the best. It's like a burning, uncontrolled feeling. It's kind of animalistic in a way and you can completely come undone.”

Tsubomi's face collided with the dish water in a violent splash that made Millie jump and whirl around to see the tom boy's long hair floating around her. “Oh my god, Tsubomi-kun!” She dropped one of the cake dishes. It shattered on the floor as she grabbed Tsubomi and pulled her from the water. `He's out cold. Why did he just pass out like that?'

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Tsubomi lay on Copernicus' bed, unmoving. Her hair was doused with suds and water and she was pale, nearly as white as the bed sheets below her. Copernicus sat to the right of her on the edge of the bed and Millie stood at the end of Tsubomi's feet that hung over the edge.

“What happened?” The vampire was concerned for his mate's condition.

“I don't know. He just passed out all of a sudden,” Millie was worried. Nothing like that had ever happened.

“Was he acting funny?” Copernicus asked.

“He kept kind of twitching. I asked about it earlier but he said nothing was wrong.”

Copernicus placed his hand over the tom boy's forehead. “Hmmm….He's got a fever. He's burning hot.”

Millie immediately headed towards the door but before she could make it out, she was stopped by the vampire asking where she was going and what she was doing. She educated him that she was going to get something and she would be right back. A few moments later, she came back with a cold, wet towel that she placed on Tsubomi's forehead.

“This might help,” she pulled away with a worried expression. “Man, he really is looking bad. He's so pale.”

“Perhaps we should call a doctor.” As much as it was against his code of letting anyone in the house, he didn't feel like he had much of a choice if he wanted his donor to live.

“Maybe…I mean, it was so sudden…I'm worried…” All she could do was watch on as her friend suffered on the bed. Millie just hoped that the cool towel helped ease some of her pain.

“Alright, I'm going to let him rest,” Copernicus rose off of the bed and leveled the girl with a serious expression and gave her the command to go and call the doctor.

Millie agreed and told him that if Tsubomi needed anything that she would personally get it for him. Copernicus told her to have Coscatta get it for her if she was too busy.

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A few hours later, Millie sat at the table in the kitchen, writing something down on a piece of paper with a concerned expression on her face. Yale walked by to put a tea cup in the sink and noticed the girl. He paused at the table and inquired her state. Millie told him that Tsubomi was sick and that she was worried about his passing out all of a sudden. Yale mentioned that perhaps Tsubomi was just exhausted. Millie noted that he was sort of flinching like he was fatigued or something, so it could have been a possibility. The prince placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, assuring her that Tsubomi would be alright. The school girl hoped so. She wanted to agree with the royal.

“What are you writing?” Her note caught his eye.

“A letter…to my parents,” Millie smiled endearingly at the parchment. “Maybe, when I get out of this situation, I can introduce you to them.”

Yale smiled at the thought. “I'd like that.”

`What do I do? I really need to talk to Copernicus. I don't trust Coscatta around Tsubomi-kun. I mean, it's all in the past and everything but still, it makes me uneasy.' She couldn't help but worry for Tsubomi's safety. If he were well, then he would be able to hold himself off against her but right now, in his debilitated state there was no way he could defend himself.

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Tsubomi slept soundly, nestled in the fluffy surface of the bed. As she was brought out of her slumber, rustling pricked her senses and she stirred awake wondering what the noise was. She thought it was Copernicus, so she said his name in question only to hear a click and have a gun pointed between her eyes. Her vision was fuzzy but she could make out the figure enough to know who it was. That distinct voice only clarified who it was.

“Don't move or I'll cover the room with your splattered brains,” Coscatta demanded at the other end of the barrel.

Tsubomi slowly came out of her haze, but her voice was groggy. “You…What did you…do to me…”

Coscatta smirked darkly. “I told you. You're in my way. By the way, you were right about the tea. I did do something to it, but it won't kill you. It just slows your reaction time and your awareness. You'll meet the same fate as my brother.”

“You…killed him?” Tsubomi was shocked that it was her. She knew that Coscatta was a bad seed, but she had no idea that the girl was this bad. Not only did she kill her brother, but she planned to kill her as well.

“You got that right and I'll kill you if you get in my way. Leave Copernicus alone and I'll keep you alive.” It was a simple demand; surely this boy could handle it.

Tsubomi glared the gun down with a look of determination. She had faced far worse than a little girl with a pistol and in a weaker state than she was already in. If she couldn't stare down death, then how was she going to be by his side when he faced off against Hide? “Even if I did, Copernicus wouldn't let me leave. Besides, I'd rather die than leave his side when he needs me the most.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm in love with him.”

That admittance only confirmed Coscatta's darkest fears. It was as if she had taken the gun and fired a shot into her chest. She could feel it savagely tear through the ventricles of her heart as shock and horror was clearly written on her visage.

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Millie walked into a room where she saw that Copernicus was alone. She slowly walked into the room with the bloodied book behind her back. She waited until the vampire turned around, so she wouldn't frighten him if he was doing any precision work. “Um…can we talk?”

“Millie? Did you call the doctor?” The vampire inquired. That was what her job was. He hoped that she didn't forget.

The girl looked a little guilty for not doing so. Her gaze was crestfallen before it turned serious. “Not yet…I think you need to hear something. First, or rather, I think you need to read something,” Millie presented him with the blood splattered book.

“That's Coscatta's diary,” the vampire noted with shock in his voice. It was something that was precious to his donor, something that he would never think about reading at all. It was important to make sure that his donor had her privacy, and it was an unspoken pact between them that he never touched it.

This only made Millie feel even guiltier, but at the same time her guilt was justified by the fact that she knew she wasn't in the wrong for reading it. Determination crossed her features as she looked him straight in the eyes. “I know. I knocked it off of the shelf when I went to put up another book for her after we went shopping. I shouldn't have looked at it. It's really important. Normally, I'd be against it, but I can't keep it from you.”

She opened the book to the page she bookmarked with the picture and handed the book to the vampire, who read the portion that Millie pointed out to him. Slowly, his visage transformed to one that held a look of shock and disbelief. Then it morphed into pure rage. Millie thought she had truly seen the soul of the devil in his eyes.

“What? Where is she?” He asked in a harsh voice that she had never heard before.

“I don't know. Maybe Prince Yale knows.”

More than anything, he had to get to Tsubomi before it was too late.

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“Why? Why did you kill him? He's your brother. Why would you hurt he and Copernicus like that?” If Coscatta truly loved him, then she would want him to be happy, no matter who he was with. Her jealousy was doing far more than turning her green, it was making her a lover scorned.

“Because I'm a bitter bitch. I loved him first. He was my master and I won't let you have him. You're both exactly alike. You sit back here and tell me how stupid I am for loving him, while you're back there fooling around and being intimate with him. What? Are you still trying to protect me, decoy boy? Was this in your plan?” Coscatta taunted the tom boy, daring her to make a move. She was just looking for any excuse to plan a bullet in this little prick's head.

“No, this was just recently. I never knew how you felt. I never knew you in general.” That girl was complicated, more so than the most elite of preps she attended school with in her high school days.

“You didn't care. You were too selfish to even care. I hate you. You both used me. You both wrecked my dreams to fulfill your own. Now I can get what I want by killing you,” Coscatta declared before her blue eyes widened. Tsubomi wore a shocked expression as well as the blade of the Rigatama stuck out between the petite girl's breasts, coated with a thin layer of blood.

Coscatta slowly turned her head in disbelief. “Copernicus…I…loved you…” She trailed painfully as tears fell from her eyes.

The vampire stared the girl down with cold eyes full of malice. “I hate you…I hate you with every fiber of my being, and I will never forgive you for what you did to Virgil,” his words were sharper than the blade of his sword, tearing what was left of her emotions down, and just when she thought a pain no worse could befall her, the man she viewed as her beloved master twisted his sword with a violent turn as blood rushed out of her mouth. “Rest in peace, Virgil. You have been avenged.”

With one violent move, Copernicus tore across her chest, chopping her arm off that held the pistol as blood showered the floor. Coscatta was killed instantly as she fell to the floor in a pile of splattered blood.

“Copernicus…” Tsubomi uttered his name in a mixture of concern and sorrow as she saw the look on her master's face.

A tear streamed down the side of the stoic man's cheek and collided with the ground, dispersing in a thousand fragmented crystalline droplets.

`That's the first time I've ever seen him cry.'

…To Be Continued