Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

213 Chapter 47.4 - Her Change

Maya's world was a tempest of conflicting emotions. As she drank from that neck, the rich taste of his blood flooded her senses, creating a strange dichotomy of pleasure and turmoil.

"Senior….. calm down."

But the moment Maya heard that voice, her movements came to a stop.

'Junior?'

The person whom she had just seen his body getting pierced by the claws…It was his voice. Then she realized the person whose blood she had been drinking was actually her Junior all the time.

Tears mingled with the crimson droplets, lost in the shadows of the cavern, a paradoxical scene of sorrow and sustenance.

'Why am I doing this?' The question echoed in Maya's mind, her heart torn between the thirst for blood and the agony of her transformation.

She felt a profound sadness, not just for herself but for the person she was feeding on. She could sense his pain, not just physical but emotional.

'Why am I here?'

Her crimson eyes, clouded with inner turmoil, met Junior's gaze. His touch disrupted the trance she was in, and for a moment, the act of feeding ceased. His gentle patting, his attempts to soothe her, sparked a flicker of warmth within her.

She could only convey her apologies to him. While he fought with the vampire, while he was injured from the fight, while he probably came here for her….

What was she doing?

Just like the same beast he had fought and trapped her, she was drinking his blood in ecstasy. She didn't even care about how he might have felt.

'Why is he doing this?'

As Junior reached for her face, gently pulling her away from his shoulder, Maya's lips quivered with unspoken words. She wanted to convey the conflict within, the battle between her vampiric instincts and the remnants of her humanity.

'He should hate me.'

She knew what she did was a betrayal. Betrayal to his trust…

Betrayal to his efforts. She knew she was a bad person for harming the very person who came to save her.

"It is okay."

However, despite her fears, Junior reassured her.

His words, soft and comforting, cut through the darkness that threatened to consume her. He encouraged her to drink if she needed to, assuring her that he was there for her.

'But, what if I turn into a monster just like them.'

She remembered the voice inside. She remembered how she disregarded everything and gave in to that feeling.

"It's okay. You can drink if you need to," He reassured her. "I'm here for you."

'No, don't stay that. If you say that…..'

She wanted him to hate her. She wanted him to despise her so that she could find the strength to hate herself. She wanted him to give her a reason to hate her….

She wanted to hate herself.

"B-but…..I will h-hu-"

"I am okay now."

But as his words conveyed otherwise, she couldn't find the strength to refute. As his cold hands, probably because of the lack of blood, caressed her flushed cheeks, she couldn't do it.

'I can't resist.'

Yielding to the gentle pat on her back, Maya's hesitation crumbled, and her eyes transformed into the vivid hue of a vampire.

"S-sorry….."

With a whispered apology, she plunged back into feeding, this time from his neck.

'His blood... it's different.'

Maya's inner turmoil persisted, but the warmth she felt was not just physical. Something, an energy that was inside him….it was different.

The rhythmic sounds of her gulping merged with the cavernous silence, and despite the unusual circumstances, a strange calmness settled within her.

'I like his blood.'

She finally admitted it.

The admission, unspoken, resonated in Maya's conflicted heart. The taste of Junior's blood was a revelation, a strange comfort amidst the chaos of her transformation.

The guilt and sorrow battled with the undeniable satisfaction, leaving her torn inside as she continued to drink from the person she never wanted to harm.

'But, no other blood can satisfy me.'

She didn't know why, but in this place filled with the blood of the vampire count and his victims, she felt repulsed by their smell.

The smell of blood emanating from them was supposed to make her feel the desire. But she felt the complete opposite. She felt repulsed by their existence.

However, that wasn't the case for him.

Maya's crimson eyes wandered around Junior's body as she fed. The torn and tattered clothes revealed glimpses of his bare skin. Though not overly muscular, his body bore the dense strength of rigorous training.

'He's been through so much.'

Her gaze traced the scars and marks on his body, a testament to the struggles he endured. Despite the hardships etched into his flesh, there was an undeniable resilience.

In this moment of vulnerability, as she drank from him, Maya couldn't help but acknowledge the strength that lay beneath the surface.

The repulsion she felt for the blood of the vampire count and any other human intensified. In contrast, the scent of Junior's blood, intertwined with the echoes of his struggles, held a strange allure that defied the vampiric instincts within her.

As she looked at his body, she unknowingly wanted to look at his face. She also needed to take a breather, so she stopped drinking for a second and raised her head.

'Ah….'

As her eyes met Junior's, a sudden awareness struck her. The crimson hue of her vampire's eyes locked onto him, and in that moment, a realization cut through the fog of her thirst.

'His cheeks are flushed.'

Junior's normally pale skin bore a flush, a subtle but noticeable change that accentuated the physical toll he endured.

"Haaaah…..haaaah….."

His breathing, usually steady, was haggard, mirroring the strain etched across his features.

'He's vulnerable too.'

In this shared vulnerability, the dynamics of the feeding shifted. The acknowledgment of his struggles became a tangible connection, bridging the gap between predator and prey.

"Finished?" He asked. His face was still the same, as he did not show much emotion. But inwardly, she knew he was showing concern for her right now, even though he was in pain himself. His eyes also looked tired, both physically and mentally.

The allure of his blood, now intricately woven with the echoes of his pain, transcended the primal instincts that drove her.

As the realization of Junior's vulnerability dawned on her, Maya couldn't help but feel a twinge of embarrassment.

The connection forged through this intimate act seemed to intensify, and she found herself averting her gaze, burying her face once again in the crook of his shoulder.

'I shouldn't be looking like this.' The deep purple hue of his eyes, tinged with fatigue, held a depth that made her uneasy.

It was an intimacy she hadn't anticipated, a vulnerability that transcended the act of feeding.

'It is so embarrassing.'

Hiding her face from his gaze, Maya lowered her head, seeking refugee at his long and white neck.

But as she inhaled, she lost herself in the unique scent that enveloped him—an amalgamation of his blood, sweat, and the earthy undertones of the cavern.

'No…..'

The combination, though unconventional, carried an undeniable allure, grounding her in the shared reality of their entwined destinies.

'There is nowhere to escape.'

In this place where the two stayed, she didn't have anywhere to escape from him.

His smell was different; his body was different. Everything slowly changed in her eyes. In a world filled with darkness, only he remained.

The embarrassment she felt at the intimacy began to mingle with a different emotion—one she hadn't anticipated.

'He is different. So different from everyone else.'

She knew this was different. This wasn't a feeling she got from anyone else. It felt so good. As she buried herself in his neck, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

"I can't lose you…"

The confession, though soft and barely audible, escaped her lips in a whisper.

"I won't lose you…"

The realization, woven into the very fabric of her being, anchored her to the unique scent enveloping her senses.

The cavern, with its echoes and shadows, became a witness to her silent musings. The unconventional combination of his blood, sweat, and the earthy undertones of the cavern held an undeniable allure that resonated with the transformation unfolding within her.

'I won't let this feeling go away…'

PAT!

At that moment, she felt a pat on her shoulder, as if he was calling her to look at him. Slowly, she raised her head, meeting the gaze of Junior, whose eyes were on the verge of closing.

"Are you finished?" His tired voice carried a sense of concern.

A shy nod was her response. The thirst that had tormented her seemed to have finally abated. The strange warmth of his blood lingered within her, replacing the void left by the vampire's offering.

His weary eyes met hers, and with an exhaustion etched on his features, he asked, "Is it okay if I rest a little?"

Widening her eyes, she noticed the toll his actions had taken on him. The concern in her eyes reflected the realization that he had pushed himself beyond his limits.

"It is okay," she uttered softly with a little guilt in her heart.

"Then…."

Following that, he closed his eyes.

THUD!

And his head fell onto her shoulders.

As he rested his head on her shoulders, she felt the weight of his weariness. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, once labored, gradually stabilized. However, with a gentle touch, she realized that his hand, which had been caressing her back, now fell limp.

"He lost consciousness," she whispered to the silent cavern, her voice a soft acknowledgment of the vulnerability that enveloped them both.

With care, Maya slowly rose from her seated position, cradling his head in her hands. A newfound energy surged through her, fueled by the satisfaction of her thirst being quenched.

"Sorry…."

Yet, intertwined with that vitality was a burgeoning sense of responsibility for his unconscious state.

As she gently held his head, she sat down with her knees bent. Then, she put his head on top of her thighs, making him comfortable.

'It said to do like this, right?'

She had never experienced a situation like this in her life before. But, she knew from the books she read that it was comforting when people lay like this.

As Junior lay unconscious on her thighs, Maya observed his pale features, the subtle rise, and fall of his chest with each breath.

'He is like a kid.'

Her fingers traced gentle patterns across his face, a tender caress that mirrored the softness of his sleeping form. In the dim light of the cavern, a delicate smile graced her lips—a quiet expression of the complex emotions churning within.

"I never thought I'd find myself in such a situation," she murmured to the slumbering Junior, her voice a soft whisper in the stillness of the cavern.

The moment of vulnerability and newfound strength marked a turning point in her existence.

As Maya gazed at him, a sense of protectiveness welled up, weaving an unspoken promise to safeguard the person who had unwittingly become an integral part of her transformed world.

"It is fine if I stay like this a little, right?"