The Blood is the Life VII Oh, Nabiiiiiiiki...? the Voice taunted. The vampire glided into the room where the frantic heartbeat had led her. She was a little disappointed; she had already dined in this room. Although... the window on the far side of the room was open, allowing the rain to drench the glossy wood of poor Mr. Tendo's floor. So the sneaky girl had gone up to the roof? Inconvenient. Then again, she had never really dined al fresco this way before... Chuckling, the vampire leaped out the window in pursuit. Nabiki was huddled on the roof, crawling along on the slick surface for fear of sliding off. The vampire had to chuckle again. Falling should be the least of that girl's concerns... Then she felt it - a deep, instinctive knowledge she didn't dare question. The storm was breaking up, and the sun would soon pierce the cloud cover. She'd have to hurry to get back to her lair in time. Cursing her luck, the vampire began her race home. "I'll have to finish this some other time!" she called over her shoulder. Nabiki stared after her in disbelief, clutching the roof tiles beneath her and thanking the Kami for her deliverance as the rain finally began to ease. Now, how was she going to get off the roof? And what had that monster done to Kasumi? Tofu skidded into the Dojo, out of breath, to be greeted by a gruesome tableau. Ryoga lay sprawled out on the floor, peaceful in true death as he had never been in life. Akane, her hands stained with blood, sat rocking Ranma's still form, her heartbroken sobs wracking her body. Certain that Ranma was dead as well, Tofu stepped softly into the Dojo. "Akane?" Tofu asked, and she jumped, staring in abject horror at Ryoga's corpse before she realized where the voice had come from. The moment she spied Tofu, she leapt up and ran to him for comfort. Ranma groaned as her head hit the floor with a thump, and Tofu had to fight the insane urge to laugh in relief. "Are you two Ok?" he asked instead, biting his tongue as the laugh tried to bubble up. This was neither the time or place, and Akane certainly wouldn't understand. Ranma staggered to her feet and took in the whole scene in astonishment. She gaped at Ryoga's dead body. Then she stared in further surprise at Akane's bloody hands. "You did that?" she asked incredulously. "You don't have to sound so surprised," Akane grumbled half-heartedly, then sighed. She couldn't muster the energy to argue with Ranma right now. There was too much horror, too much sorrow... "He asked me to." "He what?" Ranma's disbelief was plain, and that added a new layer of hurt to Akane's wounded heart. How could she explain what a tortured soul she had seen? Or how relieved and grateful Ryoga had been, to at least die as himself? "He asked me to! He was -" Tofu put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure it meant a lot to him that his friends gave him peace, in the end." Akane nodded, leaning on Tofu's shoulder wearily, so glad that he understood. Ranma watched the two skeptically. Grateful to be killed? What a load of - "Anyway," Tofu said, "We have to go check on Kasumi and Nabiki." "You mean -" Akane began, her eyes widening in new fear. "I mean that vampires can walk the earth whenever the sun isn't out. Whoever made Ryoga -" "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ranma said over her shoulder as she pulled the door open. "What about...?" Akane paused a moment, gesturing to indicate Ryoga's body. "We'll have to come back to it," Tofu answered reluctantly. At that moment, the sun finally broke through the cloud cover. A trickle of smoke started rising from Ryoga's hand as the faint patch of sunlight coming through the door lit on it. Akane gasped, and Tofu and Ranma both turned around in time to see Ryoga's entire body start to glow red. White-hot flames suddenly flickered into life, devouring the fallen vampire in a matter of seconds. All that remained was a small pile of ash that lifted and scattered in the breeze, and a charred mark on the glossy wood of the floor outlining the shape of Ryoga's body. "Supernatural," Ranma whispered, her throat dry. "Let's go," Tofu said anxiously. Kasumi and Nabiki weren't martial artists, and there hadn't been anybody but their father to defend them. Ranma and Tofu both ran out of the Dojo. Akane lingered for a brief moment at the threshold, glancing back at the spot where Ryoga had vanished. On an impulse she couldn't have explained, she hurried back in and scooped up a handful of the ashes. "Rest in peace," she whispered, then stepped back out into the world of light, throwing the ashes wide into the clean, rain-scented breeze as it rushed past. Akane sloshed toward the house just in time to see Ranma bound up onto the roof, scoop Nabiki up in deceptively frail-looking arms, and leap back down again, sliding a little as she landed ankle-deep in mud. Nabiki clung shivering to the pig-tailed girl for just a moment, then mustered what dignity she could as Ranma set her down carefully. Her clothes and hair were plastered against her, but she straightened up with such a regal air, nobody really noticed. "About time you came back," she said without rancor, looking at Akane and Ranma and trying not to cry from sheer relief. She had never thought to see the sun shining down on her again. "Where are Daddy and Kasumi?" The four of them plodded through the muck as quickly as they could, then raced into the house and split up, calling for the two missing Tendos. "Here!" Nabiki called from the kitchen, "Help me!" The others raced to meet her. She knelt on the floor cradling Kasumi in her arms, and there was blood running down the unconscious girl's shoulder and trickling from the corners of her mouth. Akane screamed hoarsely, and Tofu knelt by Kasumi, his face ashen. "She has a pulse," he said with relief. "Akane, Ranma, see if you can find Mr. Tendo. Nabiki, I'll need you to get some supplies..." "Dad? Dad, where are you?" Akane called, racing through the house. Her heart was racing in panic and she was trying so hard not to think about her father sprawled out on the floor like Mr. Saotome... she tripped over him. He was huddled up at the end of the hall, where the shadows gathered in spite of the sunlight that now brightened the house, and he was all but invisible in his dark gi. He groaned when her foot caught on him, and Akane choked back a sob. "Dad, are you Ok?" "Kasumi..." "It's Ok, Dad, Dr. Tofu's taking care of her. Can you walk?" Soun was bruised and shaken by his brush with the supernatural, but otherwise unharmed. With Akane helping him, he managed to walk down to the kitchen so he could see Kasumi with his own eyes. The tears that had dried up when his dear friend died now returned full-force at the knowledge that he had failed to protect his little girl. Akane and Nabiki rolled their eyes at each other, strangely relieved to see their father bawling like his old self. "She's fine, she's just fainted," Tofu mumbled distractedly, his professional training temporarily overriding his emotions, at least in part. His heart might be beating a weird syncopation at being this near to Kasumi, but it didn't shake his calm, detached bedside manner. Kasumi's eyelashes fluttered, and Tofu breathlessly waited for her to wake, barely aware of the anxious family members crowding around them. "My..." she sighed. Her eyes opened slowly, dim with confusion for a brief moment. At the sight of Tofu and her family all worried about her, she started to cry. The tears trickled slowly at first, then suddenly she was sobbing so hard she couldn't speak. "Found the garlic!" Ranma cried as he bounded into the room with an armful of withering blossoms. Akane noted sourly that he'd had time to find some hot water, too, while she was searching for her father and fearing the worst. "Good work. Let's get Kasumi to her room," Tofu said. "Mr. Tendo, I'll need you and Ranma to get some supplies while the sunlight lasts." A short time later, Tofu and Nabiki had Kasumi more or less settled in her bed, with the few salvageable garlic blooms set up as wards at the door and window. Ranma and Soun had left to get supplies, and had reluctantly taken Akane with them at her insistence. "I'm sorry to be so much bother," Kasumi said softly, her voice strained. "Never, sis," Nabiki answered, and Tofu echoed the sentiment. "But it was all - it was my fault!" she cried, and then continued before Tofu or Nabiki could shush her. "I knew it and I didn't - I didn't want to know, I didn't want to think about it and..." "It's Ok," Tofu said reassuringly, gently guiding her back onto her pillows and straightening the covers. "How long ago did this start? The wound on your throat wasn't new." "A month or so. Before I heard about Ryoga. I saw the wound..." and here she self-consciously tugged her hair down over her shoulder to cover the fresh white bandage, "and I didn't think anything of it! I really didn't!" "How could you not wonder about a wound mysteriously appearing like that?" Nabiki wanted to know. "Maybe," the doctor interrupted before Kasumi could get even more upset, "the vampire didn't want her to know. There might have been some kind of post-hypnotic suggestion." "I saw it and I didn't think anything of it except that I didn't want anyone to see it. I'd remember dreams of Her coming to see me and, and, and she was beautiful!" Kasumi began crying again, hugging herself as the tears coursed down her cheeks. "She was beautiful and I was so afraid of her but I kept hoping she'd come back!" "It's Ok..." Nabiki said softly. "No! It isn't! Poor Ryoga, and Mr. Saotome..." "I'm just glad you didn't join them!" Nabiki said emphatically. "But I caused their deaths..." "No, a vampire caused their deaths," Nabiki retorted, her voice turning hard as angry tears rose in her eyes. "A monster, Kasumi, not you." Kasumi cried hard enough to choke off her voice, nodding her head even though it was plain she still blamed herself. Nabiki awkwardly moved to pat her on the shoulder, and Kasumi threw herself in her little sister's arms. Hesitantly, pleased and a little embarrassed by the intimacy, Nabiki wrapped her own arms around Kasumi and gently stroked her hair, murmuring the same reassuring nonsense that had been told her on the day of her mother's death. "It's all right... this is all part of Kami's plan... everything will be Ok..." "I'd wake in the morning and wonder if I'd been sleepwalking again, but the dreams seemed so real..." "Ok, Kasumi, it's Ok. You didn't do anything wrong." "And then today, she opened a vein in her wrist and made me drink..." Tofu paled as the significance of this last statement hit home. He clenched his fists so hard the knuckles turned white, furious at his helplessness. If only he'd known! He would gladly have suffered through Hell itself for Kasumi's sake! "Oh, Kasumi," he whispered mournfully, and when the two Tendo girls turned to look at him he shook his head slightly, unable to put his regret into words, then pulled the small bottle of garlic oil from his pocket. Holding his breath and hoping against hope, he put a small drop on the tip of his finger and pressed it gently against Kasumi's forehead as he whispered a prayer for her protection. Kasumi wailed in anguish, and Tofu jerked his hand away quickly. An angry red weal appeared where the garlic oil had touched her. Nabiki quickly wiped the oil off, and glared at Tofu as Kasumi's tears started anew. Appalled, Tofu quickly put the cap on the garlic oil and mumbled an apology. "No, it's me!" Kasumi cried, pulling at her bangs to make them cover the burned spot. "Why did the oil do that?" Nabiki asked. "It didn't do that to Ryoga." "It might have, if I'd used it on him after..." "It was the prayer," Kasumi whimpered. "It's because I've drunk the Blood and now I'm unclean. If I die..." "We'll take care of it, Kasumi, I promise," Tofu said, grabbing her hands urgently. "We'll-" "Don't," Kasumi interrupted. "Don't tell me your plans. I don't want to know." Her eyes met Tofu's for one long moment, and then he nodded silently. "Sleep, if you can," he said gently. "The sun is high." Ranma, Soun and Akane arrived a short time later, their arms full of garlic blossoms. Akane could tell that Ranma was getting a little irritated at her tagging along everywhere he went, but she doggedly insisted on going with him when he went to set the wards throughout the house. How could she explain to him why it was so important to her? It wasn't just that his presence made her feel safe, or even that she wanted to be there if he wanted to talk about his father's death. It was some unnameable instinct that compelled her to stay by his side. Deep inside, she knew for a certainty that Ranma was in danger. Nabiki and Tofu were waiting in the living room when Ranma and Akane finished with the wards. Nabiki wryly informed them that Kasumi was fast asleep, and Soun had refused to leave her side. The last she had seen of them, Soun was busy sobbing quietly over his oldest daughter's pale hand. "Now, let's get down to business while the sun is still shining," Nabiki said seriously. "We've got to figure out who's behind all this. I had the chance to meet our vampire friend this morning, and it knew me. It called me by my name." She shuddered involuntarily. "But it could have found that out easily," Tofu interjected. "Especially if it had been keeping tabs on the house." "Or it could be someone we know," Akane asserted grimly. "But what if it isn't?" Tofu asked. "We don't have a lot of time to spend interrogating all your acquaintances." "Just what do you propose we do, then?" Nabiki asked, arching an eyebrow at him. "Look here," Tofu answered, pulling the wrinkled newspaper clipping out of his pocket and spreading it out in front of her. "He wouldn't or couldn't tell me before, but I think this madman might actually know who the vampire is. If we can find out the vampire's identity, we can go to those of your friends who can fight and ask them to help us. Ranma, you and I should go talk to the madman. Akane and Nabiki can stay here where it's safe." "I'm coming with you," Akane said firmly. Everyone looked to Ranma to see if he was going to argue, and he looked up from the article in surprise. "Huh? ...You should stay here," he finally said, but he already knew it was pointless to argue. She had made up her mind. "You'd be safer. This isn't any kind of place for girls." "I can take care of myself!" Akane snapped. "Besides, the safest place is with you and Dr. Tofu, right?" "Could we reach some kind of decision here?" Nabiki interrupted before Ranma could really get wound up. "Sometime before sunset, maybe?" "You're not going with us this time, and that's that," Ranma asserted, returning Akane's angry glare with one of his own. "I still think you shoulda stayed at the house," Ranma grumbled as the train raced towards Yokohama. "This is a serious matter!" Tofu hissed urgently at them before Akane could respond. "We have to find and destroy that vampire today - even a day is too long to wait! Poor Kasumi-" "What?" Akane gasped. "What about Kasumi?" "She's been a victim of the vampire all this time," Tofu admitted, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "She drank... she was forced to drink the vampire's blood this morning. If she were to die..." he heaved a deep sigh, "if she were to die she'd become one of them. We have to destroy that monster to free her!" "Does she know about this?" Ranma asked, never taking his eyes from Akane as she started sobbing noisily. Tofu reached out to her, and she huddled up against his shoulder and cried. "I fear that anything she knows, the vampire will know. I haven't said anything to her of our plans." "Ok, so we talk to the crazy guy, find out who the vampire is and kill it while it's still daylight. No problem," Ranma said confidently. Akane looked up at him and swiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Do you really think so, Ranma?" she asked in a wavery voice. "Sure, Akane. No sweat." Ranma managed a semblance of his customary arrogant smirk, and Akane actually seemed relieved. He wished he really felt that confident. A cold chill ran down his spine at the memory of what the vampire had done so easily to Ryoga and Pop. Ryoga, especially, had been a damn good martial artist. If the vampire could so easily defeat him... The train rattled to the next station, and complained with loud squeals and a few bumps as it slowly rumbled to a stop. Tofu, Akane and Ranma prepared to disembark as soon as the train finished its jolting halt. Ranma took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. He'd get the vampire's name from this crazy guy, even if he had to beat it out of him. Ranma 1/2 and all Ranma 1/2 characters are the creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. No claims to the above copyright are made by the author of this work.