It was a beautiful night.

The sky was clear, the moon was full. The air was warm, and a slight breeze rustled the leaves of the trees.

It was exhilarating.

Souhei took a deep breath and grinned broadly, his eyes squinting slightly. This was perfect.

He grabbed his large black hat to keep it on his head as he leapt down from the tree branches. He didn’t have much time. His pursuer probably wasn’t far behind, and would catch his scent quickly.

A trap would work best.

He found a large stick and began drawing. A pentagram was basic magic, but for this kind of beast, it would do fine. Souhei muttered a few words under his breath and the star he had drawn glowed dimly for a moment, and then turned back to the color of dirt.

Souhei unzipped one of the pockets of the messenger bag on his shoulder and pulled out a tiny vial of red liquid. It was only a small amount of blood, but its scent would definitely be enough to get the creature’s attention. He poured it out into the circle, and then climbed back into the trees.

Then he waited.

It didn’t take long. Soon, a tall figure lumbered into the forest clearing.

It was a frightening beast. It looked like a large, dark man, with a hunched back, fingernails replaced with long claws, and sharp, prominent fangs. His hair was long and wild, nearly reaching his waist.

It was a demi-werewolf.

The creature sniffed the air twice, and Souhei could tell he had noticed the blood. Demis were always attracted to the smell of blood, unlike their smarter full-werewolf counterparts.

In an effort to find the source of the smell, the creature lowered itself to the ground, sniffing as it crawled along, until it finally wondered into the circle.

There was a great flash of light, and a large, translucent barrier formed around the beast, closing it off from the forest. It jumped up, roaring and pounding on the shield with its fists. It was trying to break it, but failing.

Souhei giggled and jumped down from the tree he had been watching from, holding onto his witch’s hat, which was covered with silver chains and stars, the same way he had before.

“Gotcha!” he snickered, prancing around the circle as the beast rammed itself against the shield. “Oh, stop trying. It’s impossible for anything but a witch to get rid of that.”

He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a small dart gun, loaded it, and shot the creature once. The dart passed right through the barrier and hit the wolf squarely in its right thigh. It paused, and before it could pull the dart out, it collapsed.

Souhei grinned. Leave it to Vermillion to make a sedative that powerful.

And again Souhei rummaged through his bag, this time pulling out a syringe and another vial. He filled the syringe with the clear liquid and tapped it twice, inspecting it carefully. Vermill may have made a fast working sedative, but it would need a little backup if it were to keep a demi knocked out all night.

He passed easily through the barrier, and inserted the syringe into the monster’s upper arm. Finding the right vein was easy. “Yessir,” he said quietly, smiling to himself as the syringe emptied, “You’ll make me a lot of money, that’s for sure.”

“Souhei.”

Souhei jumped, startled, and looked around wildly for whoever had said his name. A man in a simple pin-stripe suit appeared from the shadows of the trees. His dark hair was almost the same color as Souhei’s, but was chin-length and well-kept, not short and untamed like his. His eyes were a dark ruby, and he looked vaguely weary, ill.

“Are you quite done?”

Souhei stuck his tongue out in a childlike gesture. “You’re just in time, actually,” he said defiantly, “You get to help me carry him, Vance.”

Vance rolled his eyes. “Joy. And by ‘help you’ you mean I get to carry him by myself, right?”

Souhei grinned. “Of course!”

Vance took a couple steps closer. “It would be helpful if you would get rid of this barrier, then.”

“Oh, right.” The barrier vanished downward, as if it was being sucked back into the circle. Vance bent down to pick the monster up. “Ah! I almost forgot.” Vance looked up as Souhei reached into his bag yet again, and pulled out a large pair of scissors. “Do you know how much I could make for all that hair? Hundreds, I’m sure!”

Vance sighed and waited impatiently as Souhei cut the wolf’s hair as short as possible. “You know, I’m sure Vermill would like some of that,” he said offhandedly.

“He’s going to have to buy it, then!” Souhei said cheerfully. “I went through a lot trouble for this!” He tied the hair in a knot to keep it together and stuffed in his bag. Vance lifted the monster, which was a good bit larger than he was, onto his back.

Souhei used his foot to erase the pentagram on the ground, and when he looked up, Vance had already started to walk away. He skipped happily to up to him, and for a moment, they walked in silence.

Souhei’s cheerful demeanor waned, crushed by Vance’s drained one.

“Hey, Vance. You don’t look so good.”

“Oh, do I? I had no idea,” Vance replied sarcastically. Souhei furrowed his brow.

“Hey, I’m concerned for you! You don’t have to be so sour!”

“Sure, whatever.” Souhei crossed his arms and looked at the ground. Sure, Vance was never exactly merry, but he seemed to be especially unpleasant today.

They continued to walk, slowly, silently, uncomfortably. Souhei glanced up towards the sky, catching slight glances of the moon between the leaves of the forest trees. It must have been about midnight now.

“Hey, Vance?”

“Yes?”

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”

Vance paused to look over at his companion, and thanks to his particularly good night vision, could see the reluctant blush on his cheeks. He smirked.

“About a month now.”

He heard Souhei’s sharp intake of breath, and smirked a bit more.

“You idiot!” Souhei spat, and Vance liked the flustered tone in his voice. “And tonight’s a full moon, too! Do you want to be pain?!”

Vance shrugged, the monster shifting on his back because of it.

“It’s not like anything will change if I shrivel up and die in some hole somewhere.”

There was a sound like something flat hitting water that sent birds flying from the trees, and Vance staggering backwards.

Souhei had slapped him.

“What kind of resolve is that?!” Souhei was shouting. Vance couldn’t think of anything witty to say in response. He could only stare, wide-eyed. “Of course something will change! I’ll-”

Souhei’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked away, blushing of probably both anger and embarrassment. Vance looked at him for a moment, and then bent down, dropping the werewolf on the ground.

“You’ll what, Souhei?” Souhei looked up as Vance stepped closer, and began to take a few steps backwards. He hated when Vance’s eyes got like that. He had tried to overcome the instinctive fear, but never could. “Be alone?”

Souhei couldn’t take any more steps backwards. His back had hit a tree, and Vance was now very close. “Vance, don’t-”

“I’m starving, Souhei…”

And Souhei’s mind went blank. Vance’s whisper in his ear was like acoustic endorphins, making him feel drunk and sending shivers through his body. Damn the full moon. It gave creatures like them such amazing power. “Vance…” he murmured, and he could feel the slightly taller man sneer.

Souhei could no longer feel his legs, but Vance was keeping him standing with one of his in between them. Vance’s sharp teeth grazed his neckline, looking for the sweetest spot.

And when they found it, they sunk in.

Souhei gasped, his breathing becoming heavier. The sensation was startling, it always was. “Vance!” he panted, grabbing at the man’s clothing and trying desperately to control his body’s reaction to the hormones that were flooding his brain.

It was over quickly. Souhei collapsed, his vision blurred. He was going to faint, he was sure.

Vance ran his tongue along his lips, cleaning off any blood that might have been there. He was no longer smirking. “Sorry, Sou. Just be glad I didn’t suck you dry.” He turned, picking up the werewolf again. “God knows I wanted to,” he said under his breath, and Souhei could hear the leer return to his voice.

With the wolf on his back again, Vance turned back to where Souhei was on the ground. “Get up. There isn’t much farther to the car,” he said, nudging him with his foot.

“V-Vance…” Souhei mumbled, dizzy.

“Look, I can’t carry both you and this thing, you know.”

“I know! I kn…” Souhei put a hand over his mouth and gave up on talking. He felt sick. Goddammit, Vance…

He stumbled to his feet, and the world swam before him. Vance had taken his blood before, but never this much. What had he been starving himself for, anyway? Where had he been all month? This wasn't the first time he had disappeared, but...

What happened? Don’t I deserve to know?

Somehow, they made it to the car with out Souhei fainting. Vance dumped the werewolf in the back seat and got into the driver’s side of the car. Souhei managed to open the door before collapsing again. Vance made a “tsk” sound of displeasure, and had to reach across him and close the door.

Souhei barely heard the car start, but he watched blearily as the trees of the forest began to disappear. He was falling asleep, and he hated it. He didn’t usually sleep at night. His schedule would be completely thrown off because of this.

He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow, Vance would probably be in a better mood, and the Souhei could sell some of the demi’s hair to Vermillion. Vermill would probably push up his glasses and grin crookedly. He would try to haggle, but would probably fail.

Vance would probably get rid of the demi tonight, while Souhei was asleep. Maybe he would do some hunting for himself, too. He needed it, that was for sure. Souhei didn’t usually approve, but it didn’t want to have to his prey again.

He just better not take my money.

Souhei smiled to himself, and let sleep take him away.