Chapter 4

There's already something I can tell Virina about my race. Those ears are very sensible to sounds. Like, every sounds.

After we finaly got out of tha awakening building, I got assaulted by how loud the streets can be. So much that my ears flattened on my head almost instantly.

"Ugh. I'll have to get used to that aren't I?... Gods there's so much noise." I wince a little and look at Anna.

She's also grimacing a bit. I know vampires also get better hearing too. But it seems like it's still less than me because her face is still more relaxed than mine.

"Yeah. I guess we'll have too. It's not too bad for me. But if your hearing is as good as a real fox... I sympathize with you. Let's try to find a quiet restaurant shall we?"

She takes my hand again and give me a smile that makes me stare a second longer than usual. I nod and answer her smile with my own.

"I know just the place, and you know it too Jane."

Hmm. I think a little, confused by her words, before widening my eyes.

Yes. I know what place she's talking about. There's a little café in a corner of a quiet street. It's never crowded in here and it's often where we hang out with some friends.

"Yeah let's go there. It's been a while since we hung out there." I answer her, starting to pull on her hand, my tail swaying happily behind me and my ears perked-up again.

Anna simply laughed at my reaction and let herself be dragged. We are lucky, the café isn't far at all, maximum ten minutes of walking.

Of course my new traits do attract quite a few curious gazes. It's like having little needles pricking my ears and tail everywhere I go since it's what is focused on.

I also feel a few on my face, but those are mixed with something else than just curiosity. I'm actually glad I choose baggy clothes this morning.

Just before reaching the café two dude cut us off. On their faces is a smile, their eyes screaming lust.

Ugh, that's such a cliché I'm speechless.

"Hey there pretty ladies. What are you doing all the way over there? Wanna come with us drink for a bit? We know some good spots not far." One of them starts, he could be considered handsome on his own right and he seems to know it. Thinking nobody could resist his charms.

"Right, it's not really safe for two girls to wander around here. We could protect you both. We're pretty strong after all." The second continues.

"No thanks. We're fine on our own." Anna answer, her voice so cold it send shivers down my back. And theirs too based on the almost imperceptible tremble that goes through their bodies.

"Just leave us alone. Picking up girls like that, are you just sad and lonely? If that's the case just keep each others company, I'm sure one of you could take on the other." I add with a snicker.

Both of their faces go red with anger, the first that spoke took a step forward but is stopped by a blue almost translucent barrier.

"I think they said no, didn't they? If you don't want to suffer a world of pain I suggest you go on your way." A voice as cold, if not more, as Anna is heard. Followed by the clacking of short heels on the floor.

I'm sure I recognize that voice. And indeed, when I turn toward it I see someone we do know. It's a girl our age, clad in a simple beige t-shirt tucked into a beige skirt. Her legs are bare and ends with heeled ankle boots.

She has white hair and piercing blue eyes, her face seems gentle but there's already a maturity to it. She's as gorgeous as Anna.

Her name is Eliza Havenflow and she's one of our best friend. We've known her for ages.

The two scums in front of us seems ready to say something else, but Eliza doesn't let them. Another barrier appear near their necks, but this time it's the edge that is right against them. I can see it slightly sinking in, drawing a single drop a blood.

Their face go pale with fright and they scramble backward before turning around and running away.

I can't help but snicker at their sorry figure, running like is on their heels. Once they are out of sight, the barriers shimmer out of existence and Eliza turn toward us. She first eye Anna, then our linked hands. A perfect eyebrow lift and she look at Anna again.

"Hey there Anna. Did you find yourself a girlfriend? Does Jane knows?" She ask with an accusing tone in her voice.

Right, Eliza knows about me. Her and Anna often had fun dressing me up as much as they could. Of course I enjoyed it too.

I'm just a little confused about the way she asked that question.

"Hey Eliza, fancy seeing you here. But you are wrong, look at her properly will you?" Anna isn't fazed at all at the... Accusation? And just answer calmly.

Eliza turn toward me, eyes narrowed, and inspect me from head to toes. She stops for a few seconds on my ears and tail, her eyes widening a bit, then lock on my face.

Like she just received epiphany, her eyes widen even more and lit up. Her hand cover her mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Jane?! Is that you?! Omygosh you are so cute!" She pratically screams once the truth hit her.

"Hello Eliza. Yes that's me. And yes I was surprised too" I answer a little sheepishly. Her outburst surprises me a lot. She's usually the kind of girl that is always calm and collected. So hearing her scream in surprise is astonishing.

She takes a few steps closer and grab my free hand, Anna stiffen almost imperceptibly at that before relaxing. But I can't really pay much attention to her reaction because Eliza's face closes the distance to mine until our noses almost touches.

Her eyes are fixed on mine.

"Are you... Happy?" She whispers quietly, her voice laced with concern. It sends tingles from the tips of my ears, down my spine. Stopping only at the base of my tail.

I don't answer immediately, my mind a blank by how close she is. I can smell her scent, it's a mix of cinnamon and freshness.

"I... Yeah. Very." I stutter a bit, but manage to answer with a wide smile.

Her whole body visible sag with relief. Like I just told her she won a competition she trained for years.

A cough interrupt us and I jolt a bit backward, breaking out of the trance her eyes brought me in.

Eliza doesn't move or let go of my hand, but she glance meanfully at Anna with a smirk.

I catch my sister lifting an eyebrow before tugging on my hand, bringing me a bit closer to her.

"Well, since you are here too Eliza. Do you want to come to the café with us? We're starving and I won't say no to some cake." Anna ask her with a smile. Whatever is going on between them seems to be buried for the moment, with no trace of it on either of their faces.

"Yeah let's go. I was about to ask if you wanted to come with me for a cup of coffee. I want to know how your awakening did go" Eliza nodded her head, sporting a calm smile.

She straightened and up-close I see that she's also taller than me, around the same as Anna.

Damnit, I'll be the smallest again?

She doesn't let go of my hand though and guide us toward our destination.

With both flower in hand, we arrive at a nice little shop. It has a big window spanning the whole length of the front. There is various pot of flower of all size and colour, making it seems it's not a coffee shop but a florist.

A little bell chimed crisply, announcing our entry in the shop.

The interior is like outside, there's flower pots in most corners. A counter is in the back of the shop, in front of an assortissement of various blend of coffee. Those are nicely put, in a tidy order. I don't know what the labels means at all since I don't drink coffee. It's too bitter for me. Thankfully they also serves tea here.

The atmosphere is cosy and soothing, the tables and chairs are made of mahogany wood. We settle in a quiet and remote booth with a sofa and chairs on the other side of the table. There's very few customers so the noise is almost non-existent, a relief for my poor ears.

"So. Your dream came true." Eliza start, turning her head toward me with a smile.

For some obscure reasons I can't understand, both girls are sitting next to me instead of one in front. I shrug those thoughts and smile at our friend.

"Yeah. I guess it did. I have no ideas why though. And Virina didn't seem to know either. At least she didn't speak about it." I answer her with another shrug.

Eliza got her awakening a few months before us. But she still attended the same school as us for now, so she can start the new year in an academy at the same time as others, instead of starting in the middle of the year. That's how it works. If not, the newly awakened would be lost.

"Virina?" Eliza ask, lifting a eyebrow at Anna.

My sister shake her head and Eliza's expression smoothen. I'm pretty confused at their reactions.

"Something's wrong?" I ask them, looking at them one after the other.

"Nothing Jane, don't worry about it. Look our food is here." Anna answers me and divert my attention toward the waitress.

She put the order, we made just after sitting down, in front of each of us.

Anna got three pieces of chocolate velvet cake with a cup of black coffee. She loves chocolate to death. She always says 'without chocolate, life is bland and doesn't deserves to be lived'. I always roll my eyes in exasperation at that. But give her a box of chocolate? She'll be over the moon for the day.

I once gave her one. Very expensive and hard to get. I saved up for months to be able to afford it. Especially since I was planning to buy that violin at the same time.

She loved it and almost killed me in a crushing hug before kissing my cheeks so hard it stung.

A smile makes it way to my lips at that memory. I turn my head toward Eliza, to know what she got. And I'm not surprised to see a small piece of mint and vanilla chiffon cake, accompanied by an iced coffee.

I know she really like that combination. 'It's fresh and sweet, it helps calm my mind' she always say. I struggle a bit to understand that reason. But it's indeed always what she order. At least here. Well, as long as she enjoy it.

For me? Well, I got a nice cup of strawberry team and almost an entire pistachio cake.

I eagerly take my spoon to scoop a bite of my cake. When it enter my mouth I pratically vibrate with glee, my tail standing straight and puffed. Then I continue to eat, my head bobing side-to-side with my tail doing the same.

I vaguely hear some weird strangled noises coming from both my sides. Confused, I look at them and see their eyes almost shining while looking at me, one hand on their mouths.

"Shomeshing's wrong?" I ask them while tilting my head to the side, my words a bit slurred by the piece of cake I'm still chewing.

Both don't answer but still shake their head negatively.

The rest of the meal is pretty quiet, if you ignore the noises Anna and Eliza does sometimes.

Once we finished it I flopped myself against the back of the sofa I'm on, patting my belly with a contended smile on my lips. I take my tail in my arms and hug it to my chest.

Anna boop my nose with a laugh, shaking her head.

"Hey, don't fall asleep here." Her tone is an amused scold.

"But it's comfy like thaaat!" I whine, hugging my tail tighter against me.

I can see Anna struggling to restrain herself from just picking me up to hug me and my tail. A mischievous smile on my lips I wave the tip of the fluffy weapon in front of her. Her eyes are following it automatically and a laugh escape me.

"C'mon childrens, let's talk." Eliza interrupt our shenanigan with a stern tone but the smile she wear betray her amusement.

""Who are you calling children?!"" My sister and I answer at the same time.

Just because Eliza is a little older than us, she often play the role of the 'responsible' adult. Of course it's all her, even if she's more often composed, she can be as stubborn as a 'kid' like any of us. But it's true that in our circle of friends, Eliza is the one we let talk in case there's something to apologise or resolve. Like taking care of the chaos we sometimes bring. Yes. Sometimes. We can be well behaved. Ahem.

"Aah... You two, you are the kids here. Jane let go of your tail and sit properly and Anna stop trying to catch it"

""Yes Mom""

Despite complaining we still listen to her with smiles on our faces. I know that she won't leave us before we explain our awakening today. So I recount what happened this morning. Starting with our father 'warning' before going. At that she frown intensely. Of course, since we know each others since childhood, she knows how he is. How he doesn't like how I am, she did help us hide stuff I brought for myself. Even the make-up I would sometimes wear. With the help of her parents, they are among the sweetest peoples I know. They have always felt more like parents to me than my own.

We then take turns to explain how did the ceremony go. I was about to explain mine but Anna didn't let me start.

"The.. The scream she let out was... Horrifying. You know how she never cried of pain before? Even after our father beat her up? Even after... That incident? Well, this time it was raw" Anna's voice is trembling a little at that memory, her brows knit tightly. "That receptionist, Virina, stopped me from approaching. I almost lost control and attacked her. But she reassured me Jane was fine, no problems on her vitals. So I waited, in that violet light with grey specks spread sporadically. Then the screams stopped since Jane lost consciousness and that's when her body started to really change. The first thought that came to me while I saw that was 'she's going to be so happy'."

I took Anna's hand and squeezed it lightly, smiling at her. Of course my sister, as protective as she is, would try to attack an adult for stopping her from helping me. A teacher even. Well, we didn't know at that moment. But even for a healer, I'm pretty sure Virina would have been able restrain Anna easily.

"After that I woke up on a bed they have in case there's a problem in some awakening. I suppose I fit the bill in a sense" I continue with a rueful smile. "Then Anna showed me how I looked and we checked the weapons I resonated with. Since I was unconscious when it happened. Ah yeah, of course she almost crushed me to death with a hug, again."

I immediately duck and flatten my ears on my head to dodge the hand that tried to grab one ear.

"Hehe you missed!" I laugh at my sister, doing my very best to ignore the glare she sends my way.

"You little brat! Don't dodge if you dare!" She half-snarl at me, but I can see the smile on the corner of her lips.

"No way! You'll try to twist it!" I counter, narrowing my eyes at her.

My body suddenly freeze when I feel nails touching the base of my ear and lightly scratching. I feel my body almost melt from that heavenly sensation, burrowing into the sofa like I'm made of liquid. The mischievous hand belong to Eliza, using the opportunity I was distracted by Anna to reach out.

"H-hey Eliza, don't do that suddenly without a-asking please..." I stammer, my voice coming out weaker than I intended it to. It's hard to keep my tail from trashing all over the place, this sensation is way too enjoyable to keep my wits intact.

"Hmm? So it's fine if ask before?" She hummed in thought, her lips smiling. I can't stop a shudder going through my body. Something tells me that the way she's currently looking at me is slightly dangerous. But I can't pinpoint why.

Another hand sneak to my other ear, scratching the base just like Eliza is doing. And this time I have to catch my tail in my arms to burrow my face in it, hiding how red it has gotten. Eliza's hand already made my cheeks pink. But now it's worse, you could almost cook an egg with how warm I am right now.

"Wow. The touch is amazing Jane. Let me do that more often please!" Anna's voice barely register in my melting brain and I have no strength to deny or say anything.

A few minutes pass like that, and when the two girl's hands leave my ears I am but a melting puddle on the sofa. It takes me long seconds before I can find my bearings back and I almost run away to sit on a chaise in front of them, glaring at both with my ears flat on my head.

They just smile widely at that, almost daring me to deny how good that felt.

"Well, teasing you aside. Even if it's very fun." I glare again at Eliza's words, tucking my tail against my chest. "I'm sorry to ask but... How will you tell your father, Jane?" Her voice took a serious tone as she ask that, her eyes fixing on mine.

I freeze slightly. Yes. Our father. We need to go back home right? I need to confront him. I mean, it's not my fault right? I didn't ask to change into a girl. But I guess I can't fulfil his demands anymore. Being a 'real man'. Heck, I wouldn't do it anyway. He can shove that idea right up where the sun doesn't shine. He may be our father, but he has no right to decide who I want to be. I need to tell him that. But I'm scared, so scared of his reaction. If the timing isn't right, maybe he'll be drunk on blood again when we come back. No, it's not 'maybe'. He will be drunk on blood. It's almost a ritual at this point. Every day it happens.

The biggest problem with that is he restrain himself way less. I'm not scared for me no. I'm used to him beating me up on a whim. But I don't want Anna to be caught in the cross-fire. It happened one time. And I swore it would be the only one.

I flinch when I suddenly feel someone setting down next to me, prying open my fingers gripping my tail until it almost hurts. I turn my head and see Anna, she smiles at me while taking my hand in both of hers. Another shift in the air and another set of hands take my free one. Eliza did the same as Anna. Both smiling at me. They lift a hand and brush a thumb over the corner of my eyes, wiping tears that threatened to fall.

"It's fine Jane, I'll be there too you know that." Anna's voice is again sweet and soothing, her thumb still brushing my cheek slowly.

"And if you need, you know my parents will never say no to both of you coming to live with us. Hells they would be trilled, they love you both" Eliza quip from the side, her thumb also brushing my other cheek. I can feel them warming-up again with both women's slow caress.

I giggle a little at that. Yeah, they would totally be on board with that. Heck, they even asked multiple times if we wanted to come live with them. But we weren't 'adults' without the awakening at that time.

"Maybe, this time we'll take the offer. We'll see, but thanks Eliza. I mean it" I answer her, giving her the sweetest smile I can muster. "I guess it's time to go back. It's getting late."

One look at my phone inform me it's almost seven in the afternoon. We somehow spent the whole time in the café, chatting and messing with each other. I get up after taking back my hands, and stretch toward the ceiling, my tail standing straight behind me.

"Let's get 'home', Anna. We'll send you a message a bit later Eliza, thanks"

"Right. Let's go. If he try anything I'll fight him" Anna answer me while also getting up, throwing a few fake punches at the air like she's really hitting him.

[Jane and Anna father's POV]

Why are those two brats still not back from their awakening?

That question comes back often in my mind. And I certainly hope that half-man didn't flee because he failed me, again.

I don't even know why I left him alive. Like I said this morning. If my daughter Anna didn't help him get healed, he would have been left to die on the floor.

He's not worthy being a child of mine Mucs Denki, great vampire lord. I don't care if others are saying I can't call myself that. I'm a vampire for heaven's sake. I'm stronger than any of my so-called 'friends'. So what if I don't have the wings on my lower back?

Anyway

If he comes back with a half-baked weapon I'll just disown him and throw him in the street like the dog he is. The problem is Anna. She'll most likely follow him. I'll have to find a way to avoid that. Maybe locking her away? It could work. Then i'll have to work on changing her weird preferences.

I mean, what woman in their right mind would prefer other women instead of a strong man? That's weird and unnatural. We are made to lord over them.

Speaking of women, where is mine? Waiting for my dumb son of mine made me quite thirsty.

I get up from the sofa I'm lying on and make my way to the kitchen, using my better hearing to know she's in here. Preparing dinner.

I open the door and she turns around to look at me, a beaming smile forming on her lips. I can see it in her eyes, she's so far gone. But I can understand, I'm too handsome for a weak human woman to resist.

I cross the few meters separating us with a predatory smile, baring my fang to her. Once I'm in front I simply reach and grab her waist. I don't need to go easy so I just tilt her head on the side and immediately sink my fangs in her neck. I can feel her body trembling slightly before stilling. I take long gulps of blood, feeling my head getting a little floaty.

I lift my head, not bothering to lick or wipe the blood that dripped on her neck, just in time to hear the entrance opening.

Finally back? Took your sweet time you little shit.