A Glimpse of the Past

I do not own any songs and/or musicians mentioned in this story.

                          Kaiba and I arrived at an outdoor mall and I looked around. There were various stores surrounding us, as well as hundreds of people walking by. All of their voices blended together into a low, continuous hum. Occasionally, a girl's laugh would pierce through the murmur, but that was it. I held my breath as my eyes darted around. The burn in my throat was getting worse, since I hadn't hunted in a week. I could normally go two weeks without a problem, but this was harder.

 

'Looks like I'm going to have to change up my life-style a bit,' I thought to myself.

 

"Why meet someone in a place like this," I asked.

 

"He wants an audience," Kaiba answered, searching through the crowd.

 

I saw someone make his way towards us and come into the clearing. He had messy black hair and dark brown eyes. My own deep purple ones widened in shock. This man looked so much like someone from my past, but a little less muscular. Rage built within me and I had to restrain from lunging forward. A deep growl rumbled in my throat and Kaiba shot a strange look at me. That stopped my voice dead in my throat. I mentally cursed myself for being so reckless. I couldn't risk exposing myself. Besides, the man from my past was long since dead.

 

"I didn't think you were one to bring a cheerleader, Kaiba," the man said.

 

I frowned.

 

"I hope you weren't expecting that. I don't cheer," I said to Kaiba, but he ignored me.

 

"Let's get on with this," he said to his challenger.

 

"Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Liam, and I will be known as the greatest duelist in the world once I defeat you," the dark haired man answered.

 

He put on a duel disk like Kaiba's and it lit up brightly.

 

"Let's duel," they both yelled.

 

"I'm out of here. I'll come back when your little game is over," I informed Kaiba before walking off.

 

He nodded slightly in acknowledgment, but nothing more. I walked into a nearby music store and browsed through what they had.

 

"What is this crap," I mumbled, seeing rows upon rows of CD cases depicting men and women with too many tattoos, too much jewelry, too little clothing, or any combination of the three.

 

I picked up one case and read the song titles on the back. I scowled before setting back down, though I would have liked to throw it.

 

'People today have no taste in music,' I inwardly muttered.

 

"Can I help you, miss," a feminine voice asked, walking up to me.

 

"No, I'm fine, but thank you. I'm just looking around," I answered with a slight smile.

 

The woman nodded slowly, her mouth dropped open. That was another reaction I had to get used to. I could almost hear Darren and my creator, Serephine, telling me to act like nothing was wrong. I walked past the auburn haired woman and towards the back of the store. There I found a lot of rock, alternative and goth metal. I picked up a CD by one of my favorite groups, Within Temptation, and glanced through the song titles. It was the same CD I had sitting in the house I shared with Darren. At that moment, I heard Kaiba grunt in pain.

 

My eyes widened and I dropped the CD back onto the shelf. I ran at a slightly faster than human pace out of the store. Someone made a comment about how I could have been an Olympic runner. I was next to Kaiba in under a minute, quickly weaving through the surrounding crowd. The fear within me quickly disappeared when I realized nothing was wrong.

 

"Nearly made my heart restart," I muttered as Kaiba drew another card from his deck.

 

"Looks like your cheerleader came back," Liam called.

 

I rolled my eyes and walked away again.

 

'I should have known it would be a false alarm,' I told myself.

 

I sat on a nearby bench and stared down at the small ring on my finger, my long black hair draping in front of my face. The ring was a silver band with Celtic designs carved into it. In the center was a smoky topaz, my birthstone. This was given to me by Serephine after she turned me into a vampire. Staring into the swirling amber color of my birthstone, my mind began to wander. I thought back to my human life, when things were simple. I was a pretty average young woman who had come from the average middle-class family. I earned good grades in school and, by the time I was twenty, was looking to further my education. Then, everything was destroyed that one night. That was the night I became a vampire. Another growl rumbled within me when I thought back to the events that took place before Serephine had saved me.

 

My memories were cut short when I heard someone approaching me, though they were still at least thirty feet away. I looked up and saw Kaiba nearing.

 

"I take it you won," I guessed.

 

"Of course," he answered.

 

I stood up and began walking alongside him.

 

"What was the look for earlier," Kaiba asked.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"You looked like you were going to kill my opponent."

 

"Oh... It's nothing. Just bad memories," I answered.

 

Kaiba glanced at me, but let the matter drop. The rest of the walk was silent.