The Church of the Black Rose's mailing list had a challenge:  Write a
vampire story, beginning on October first and submitting on October 31st
(both new moons), in honor of the anniversary.  Here is MY submission.

                                 Butaga[1]
                                by Jai-kun
     The meal, such as it was, was finished. Neither plate had been
touched, as
neither had the appetite to complete dinner.
     *The beast rose silently, demandingly, but was pushed down again...
{no...
not the right time...} but the beast was insistent.*
     Ryouga looked up, smiling slightly, but unable to hide his
nervousness, the
sweating NEED inside him. Today. Today he'd quell that need.
     Akari looked at him, her Ryouga-sama, the man it seemed she had been
waiting
for for all of her existence. Oh, she knew he loved another, but he'd grow
out of that. She'd been waiting far too long to be stopped by some crush of
convenience.
     She walked to him. "What is it, Ryouga-sama?" She smiled, bent near
him,
crouching to look into his eyes. "You seem..." she licked her lips,
"nervous."
     *The beast raged. SO CLOSE! There it was, a source of nourishment, of
lifes
blood, so CLOSE, and still being restrained! It had been too long, it
needed
to feed, and to feed NOW!*
     Ryouga practically leapt from his chair, turning his back, clenching
his
fists, trembling with obvious restraint. "Akari... I... I..."
     She leaned closer...
     *The monster raged. {SO CLOSE!! STRIKE! Give yourself the blood you
crave!}
Resistance was almost impossible*
     He whirled on her, taking her in arms she suddenly realized could
crush her,
his eyes wide, his mouth open slightly, the fangs gleaming slightly in the
light of the room. Akari swallowed thickly. "Y-yes, Ryouga-sama?
     *Barely, slowly, the monster was driven back, snarling, and the mind
unclouded*
     Ryouga's smile softened. "I lo-"
     "Akari!"
     *The beast rushed back. The old man could not see...*
     They parted rapidly, blushing as the old man bustled up, tears in his
eyes.
"More are missing, Akari! More of them are gone!"
     Ryouga regarded the old man curiously. "More what?"
     Akari hugged her grandfather. "Oh, no!" She turned shining eyes on
Ryouga.
"Someone has been kidnapping our pigs, Ryouga-sama!" she turned away,
covering her face. "We never see the monster, never know where the darlings
are taken, but for weeks pigs have gone missing! More and more, lately!"
She
sobbed into her hands in grief.
     Ryouga looked at her, put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Akari-chan, it
will be OK..."
     The grandfather regarded them, still trembling in fear and anger. "The
fool
let tracks this time! I've seen which way he dragged the pigs!"
     Akari's head snapped up. "You have? Oh, where?!"
     The old man looked coldly out the window, toward the edge of the farm.
"To
the old cave..."
* * * * *
     "The old cave?"
     Akari nodded, not looking at him. "We found it when I was a little
girl.
It's been on the edges o this farm for centuries, I think." Her face was
pinched and clouded, and she looked down, as if the weight of losing her
prized swine was slowly crushing her.
     Ryouga followed closely, both to offer protection and to keep from
getting
lost. Before long, they came to the cliff wall that housed the cave.
     The hole was dark, and the wind blew from the south. Ryouga pulled his
umbrella from his backpack.  "Akari, stay here."
     Akari looked up at him, and graced him with a small, sad smile.
"Nonsense,
Ryouga-sama. I've come this far, and we don't know how deep the cavern
goes..."
     Ryouga waged an inner war with his fears. "It could be dangerous..."
     Akari cut him off by entering the cave. "We have to find out..."
     As they stepped in, they were assaulted by the smell. Sickly sweet,
smelling
vaguely and sickly sweet, but mostly of copper and rust. It got stronger as
they went further, invading their senses as they tried not to pay
attention.
Ryouga had smelled this before, and he didn't like what it meant.
     It was the scent of blood.
     *With the scent fresh in the air, the beast raged again, barely held
in
check. {TAKE IT! TAKE IT AND BE DONE!}*
     Akari looked more pinched, more tense as they went further. There was
a
light ahead, maybe he could leave her there and go on. So far the cave
hadn't
branched.
     They rounded the corner, and the sight before Ryouga's eyes nearly
toppled
him in it's gruesomeness.
     A dozen pigs' bodies, hanging from stalactites and the cavern walls,
upside
down. Their snouts pointed toward the ground.
     Ryouga spun, trying to keep Akari from seeing the sight, but he was
too
late. She stared, transfixed, pale and wide-eyed.
     "R-Ryouga...sama... what...?"
     Ryouga left her, himself transfixed, teeth on edge with the site. He
noticed
first that there were no decayed or decaying bodies, only these semi fresh
ones.
     On closer examination, he saw that they were all...
     "...drained of blood." The words came out in a whisper. He heard the
ragged,
hissing breath from behind him, and turned, pale in the horror and nausea
     He looked at her, his... his beautiful ranch girl, his gentle peace
from the
torment of loving Akane, and was filled with terror.  In her place was this
crouching, graceful creature, her eyes glowing red, her eye teeth long and
curved and pointed.
     "Akari?! Akari-chan"
     She was crouched, but weeping, her fingers curled into hooks, panting,
her
tiny frame heaving.
     "I can't control it any longer, Ryouga-sama... The hunger is so
strong! The
pigs were enough for a while, but... there's only so much sustenance they
can
give!"
     Blood red tears streaked her eyes, and she crouched, half doubling
over with
pain, and half preparing to spring.
     Ryouga tensed, but it was too late, she was on him, and her strength!
     Before he could think more, he was raised, against the wall, looking
down
into her glowing eyes, watching with a strange fascination the blood red
tears flow down her cheeks.  He was dead... he knew it, but he wouldn't die
alone.
     Her voice shook as she lowered him.  "Ryouga-sama... forgive me... I
can't
stop it..." She closed her eyes, opening her mouth wide, wider, her fangs
gleaming before she struck, piercing the coratid artery smoothly and
allowing
the blood to flow between her lips and into her hungry, greedy mouth.
     The feeling struck Ryouga, of ecstasy, of love, of sorrow.  The
transfer of
images, of knowledge was overwhelming, and his mind drank as she drank of
him, his lifeblood and her knowledge flowing between each other like a
conduit.
     He could see all, know all in a tumbling of images and sensations and
emotion that threatened to overwhelm him even before death did. He could
see
that she had been transformed centuries ago by an ancient westerner, that
the
superstitions surrounding vampires were for the most part wild speculation
and fantasy, and that they could pass as a normal human being easily, being
of both the mystical and spiritual plane. He could see that she had been
plagued of dreams of a strong man and a black piglet, see that the man,
that
Ryouga, was who she knew as her soulmate. He could see that she loathed the
taking of human blood, and had turned to animals, but realized too late
that
this source would not give enough sustenance to appease the craving inside
her. And he knew she didn't want to live, not without him, not knowing SHE
killed him. He knew this, suddenly, clearly.
     His hand, unfrozen, guided by their mutual will, reached down, pulled
his
belt from his waist, and snapped it into the rigid blade he had used long
ago, the one he'd sworn never to use again after nearly killing Akane with
it.
     "No, Akari-chan...forgive me..."
     He was nearly drained completely, but he managed to coax the last of
his
strength and ki into his arm to make the swift slashing motion that removed
the beautiful head from her slim shoulders.
     She fell, the head detaching from his neck and rolling slightly away,
facing
towards him and the light of the evening sun.
     Ryouga slumped, fell on his side, his body fighting the coldness one
last
time, looking at her face... There was a slight smile there, and he, too,
smiled as his head hit the ground and lay still, a stream of crimson blood
making its way from her headless body to his lifeless mouth... and entering
it.
* * * * *
     The hole was dug, and the head put in, covered with rice and cherry
blossoms
from outside. The body was buried further back into the cave. No one would
be
the wiser, and all they would ever find in this cave would be the rotting
corpses of dead pigs.
     He picked up his sack and looked back one last time, noticing the sun
setting in the west by his shadow against the back of the cave.
     "Rest in peace, Beloved..."
     He straightened the sack and walked away, wandering as usual, but
knowing he
must now avoid this place with all his might.
     His eyes glowed and fangs, large and pointed, grew to touch his bottom
lip.
     There was still the old man to consider.  He knew Akari's secret. That
knowledge must die.
     And Hibiki Ryouga hungered.

[1] Butaga is Japanese for Pig-fang (This is taken from the Fanfic "Here's
Uma", in which Ryouga and Akari's son is named Butaga. The translation
given
there is as seen above. Gomen if it's wrong.)
Yes, it is true, that IS the sun behind Ryouga. There are many different
stories about the effects of certain things on vampires.  I basically took
my
definition of vampires from L.J. Smith's Dark World series.
I'd like to thank The BRML, and especially PAul Herring, for giving this
opportunity to expand my horizons.
I'd especially like to thank Tzigane for her continued support and gushing.
Yes, we of the mutual admiration society MUST stick together!
Thank you to San-chan, Kim, Sarah, and Jessica for telling me how wonderful
this story was (even though I thought it lacked), both before and after I
finished it.
Last but not least, thank YOU for reading, and liking... or not liking...
or
not caring... OK, Who's writing my notes?!
Jai-kun -- king of the... ummm... FORMER king of the Happyfic.