Diabolik Lovers: Shattered Masks

01 ; predator complex

Time passes. You walk back and forth for what feels like hours, wearing a hole into the petal pink carpet beneath your feet. Eventually, you take to inspecting your uncomfortably rosy room, peering into every corner of it as a way of distracting yourself.

Every piece of furniture is in impeccable condition, and if circumstances were different, you'd be overjoyed to be here. The only flaw is that everything is unbelievably femenine - and just thinking about what that insinuates makes you see red. You can't help but imagine just how many girls younger than yourself must have been stuck in this room before you, frightened out of their minds by what the monsters they were fated to face could do to them.

You play the mediator of your thoughts as you look inside the closet, the drawers, underneath furniture - trying to find something, anything, that will tell you what to expect from this hellish place. Just as you begin to lose hope, you drop on your knees and peer underneath the bed.

It's something you've become accustomed to doing while travelling - a quirk that surfaced within after finding a used condom underneath the bed of your hotel room. You expect to find nothing of the sort here, so your stomach sinks hard when you spot an oddly shaped object on the floor, hands darting forwards to drag it out of the darkness after a moment of hesitation.

You are not sure what you were expecting, but it's certainly not what you find. That being a letter, sheathed inside musty, brown paper.

The envelope reads August the 14th, 1879 in handwriting so shaky that it's almost illegible. For a moment, you wonder if this is some sort of bad joke - if one of the brothers planted this here in order to provoke a reaction out of you. The envelope is peeling at the corners, just enough for you to know that it's aged and despite your pessimism, you tear it open it.

The letter that you pull out is written by a girl - a girl much younger than yourself, it seems, whom of which was stuck in the same predicament as you. She prattles on about the Sakamaki brothers from a perspective that is riddled by terror, describing horrors so graphic that you begin to feel a little sick. The next few lines reveal something that makes your jaw fall slack for a fraction of a moment.

As it turns out, the people you're living amongst are vampires.

You read the confession over and over, wrecked by both shock and terror. Against your better judgement, you can feel your previous bravery beginning to sink. You force yourself to exhale, biting down on your lip in the hopes that the pain will ground you. After reading what showing fear brought upon this girl, you can't afford to make the same mistake.

The letter ends - abruptly - with her wishing that your fate is kinder than hers was. You can only imagine by how her last paragraph is worded that she took her own life in the end. It's a miserable way to go down, and her final words cause your heart shatter to pieces.

Once you live here long enough, you come to learn that death is release. Goodbye.

You tuck the letter into your suitcase once your hysteria has dissipated, resigning yourself to the horrors that you're going to live amongst from here on out. You're going to die here. It couldn't be more obvious - and yet, instead of being afraid, all you feel is begrudging resignation.

Your new room feels like it's all but suffocating you, so you get up and leave, slamming the door behind you in some sort of defiance. The hallways twist before you, leading you to the entrance of the house after many confusing turns. You pull at the handle of the front door experimentally, snorting when it doesn't open.

Despite your brief moment of optimism, you wouldn't expect anything less. Imagine how ironic it would be if you could just walk out.

You turn with the intention of going back upstairs, stilling at the sight of one of the brothers spread across the couch. It's the blonde, Shuu, and his eyes are closed like he's asleep. You look at him for less than a second before averting your gaze, taking a step towards the staircase just to see if he'll stop you.

He does, calling for you in a tone that suggests that he's just woken up. "Come here,"

Despite wanting to rebel just to see how he'll react, you do as your told for your own good, standing across from him with an expression of grave resignation. The chances of him drawing blood for you are high, and you mentally prepare yourself for the pain.

Neither of you say anything as he pulls you by the arm, and you willingly collapse against his chest, seething at how helpless you feel. Shuu's body feels cold, artificial, like a mannequin. You can feel the absence of his heartbeat from where your hand is trapped underneath his collarbone.

"I'm going to drink your blood now," He murmurs, brushing your hair aside so that your throat is revealed to him. His fingers ghost over the veins there, and you can't help but feel like he's gauging you. "Does that make you afraid?"

"No," You answer between gritted teeth, cautious but earnest. You feel the way Shuu's hand stills against your neck for a microscopic of a moment, and make a sound of amusement despite yourself. "You don't scare me."

"Whatever," He husks out, sounding so indifferent that you almost believe it. You feel his head drop to the section between your neck and shoulder, cold tongue lapping over the skin there in a way that makes you want to gag. "Your blood is easier to enjoy when you're compliant."

And then he's biting down, sharp teeth intruding into your body before you know it. You try not to make a sound, wincing when pain erupts across every nerve on your shoulder. It hurts enough that you know you'll feel it for days, but at the same time, it's bearable. You're more worried that he'll sear one of your veins open with his teeth than anything.

Shuu drains you slowly, leisurely, until you begin to feel lightheaded. By the time he pulls away you're half expecting to pass out, the white spots on your vision causing your eyes to well with involuntary tears. Shuu stares at your face with a sliver of a smile - the first you've seen so far, notably - and you can't help but feel like he's mocking you.

"Crying already? I only bit you once," He whispers against your neck, and you fight the instinct to pull away, balling your hands into fists at your sides as a way of restraining yourself. "And you claim you're not afraid. What a bold faced lie."

The blonde doesn't say another word as he pushes you off him, and you catch yourself moments before collapsing on the floor, teeth gritting at the fact that your legs are unironically shaky. You righten yourself after a moment, shooting Shuu a look so foul that it's a surprise he doesn't go up in flames. You're lucky his eyes are closed, else you don't doubt for a second that you would have gotten in trouble for glaring.

"I'm not afraid of you," You spit out before you can help yourself, tone somewhere between furious and polite. "My body being receptive to pain doesn't mean that I'm scared of what you'll do to me. Don't misunderstand."

Your words yield no response, and are accompanied by a stifling silence that's broken only by the distant sounds of the outside world. You get a weird feeling that staying any longer will only call forth bad things, and the prospect makes you uncomfortable enough to turn on your heel and leave. Shuu doesn't open his eyes, not even once, but you see his jaw tick like he's holding down a laugh.

You can already tell this is going to be the start of something you are going to hate.

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updated as promised! i was actually writing this for subaru's route but then i was like, shuu would rock this chapter and changed lanes half way, lmao.

with that said, there isn't a poll at the end of this chapter because there's not really any decisions you can make to influence the story.

shuu's route is something i've already plotted out too much to change, in comparison to the others. so yeah. sorry, i guess?

but i hope you enjoyed it!