Ferid stretched his arms between the blankets and closed his eyes, listening to the noises that surrounded him. His attention turned to Yurika's room, where it seemed that the girl was still sleeping. The vampire sighed and got up yawning. He changed quickly, then placed his long hair in his usual tail. He moved his eyes to the door and smiled unconsciously. After the conversation of the day before the girl had aroused the curiosity of the vampire who couldn't help but wonder why Yurika wanted to do something as impossible as freeing a demon. The vampire thought that soldiers were being educated to see demons as necessary weapons for their survival, the only way they could hope to win against vampires. So why did Yurika think otherwise? What made her feel this need? Ferid hoped to find it out one day. He would have liked to figure out what went through the girl's mind. At least he would have had some fun for a while.

Suddenly he heard a violent noise followed by a half moan coming from the other room. Without thinking twice, he went to the girl's room. He turned on the light and looked around briefly. He saw Yurika on the ground and rushed over her. "Oh, my God, Ferid." Almost screamed the girl when she saw the vampire not far from. "Yurika, what happened?" She looked back and the vampire noticed the girl's shoes on the floor. "I tripped..." She whispered in a faint voice. "Couldn't you look where you're walking?" Ferid asked, despite the fact that it was a lot of fun for him. "I had to go to the bathroom." The vampire bent over her, placed one arm behind her back and let the other slip under her legs. Yurika shuddered. "What are you doing?" "I'll put you on the bed." "I don't need it! I can do it on my own!" But when the vampire lifted her up, Yurika wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to it. She remembered her first day, when he had brought her like this to her room. At least on that occasion she was wearing her uniform while now she was wearing only that light nightgown through which she felt more of Ferid's cold touch. Yeah. Cold. Yet so delicate. When the vampire put her on the bed, the girl held her arms around his neck, and when she saw it, she rushed to move them. "Sorry..." she whispered. Ferid sat on the bed next to her. "Don't worry, Yurika, you didn't bother me." Then the vampire moved his face over her hair smelling it, slipped his hand over the girl's neck and moved her hair away from her, exposing her skin. Yurika held her breath when she felt the vampire's fingers caressing her neck slightly. A shiver crossed her back. "Don't worry, Yurika. I won't hurt you." Finally, the vampire's hand came off her neck and she sighed. Ferid watched her again for a moment. "I'm going to get breakfast. If you want to take advantage of it to get dressed." She nodded.

Ferid was going to spend the first few days with the girl, he had to get her used to his presence, but above all he had to get other elements, and he certainly couldn't do it while he was away from her. He knew perfectly well that the queen would appreciate his absence, she knew he wasn't liked by her, but also by other vampires and, in particular, by Mikaela. Yeah. He sighed. With a bit of luck things would have become really interesting, but it would have taken some more time before something could really happen. And he had to find something to fill his time with. He thought about what he could propose to Yurika, after all they couldn't spend the day discussing demons and he couldn't lose the whole day watching her while she was reading. They had to try something practical. Yes, but what? In fact, the vampire had some very interesting options in mind, all things he noticed while bringing the around his house. She couldn't cook. She couldn't dance. And she couldn't even play the piano. And it was in Ferid's plans to help the girl in these things. He would surely have preferred to teach her to dance, it would have been much more fun for him, especially because the two would have been forced to touch each other, but obviously the girl wouldn't have liked it. He didn't think that cooking was something extremely fundamental, he preferred to take care of it. It was one of the several ways to show the girl how dependent she was on him. And that was one of those things that she would have to keep in her mind. So the last option left to the vampire was the piano.
All he had to do was convince Yurika of it, but he wouldn't have the slightest problem with it. After all, he was used to manipulating people, even with the most subtle methods.

When he returned to the girl, he found her again dressed in a very simple dress that was too covering for his taste. Sooner or later he would have made those clothes disappear, especially if Yurika showed interest only in them. "Explain to me why, when you have a walk-in closet full of different clothes, you have to choose the most anonymous ones? I took great care in choosing them, you should try using them more." "I thought I was free to choose what to wear." Answered Yurika, particularly annoyed by the words of the vampire. "I thought you had more class. Obviously I was wrong. Come on, eat." The girl looked down and obeyed the vampire, even though his words had hurt and offended her. "I have some good news, Yurika. A half proposal, let's say." The girl looked up as if to ask what it was about. "Would you like to learn how to play the piano? You seemed interested in the instrument yesterday and I thought you might like it. "Learn to play the piano?" she repeated surprised. Ferid laughed. "Yeah, do you want to?" Yurika's eyes lit up, she had always dreamed of being able to slide her fingers on the keyboard and be able to produce those melodies that she loved so much and that, unfortunately, she could only hear with CDs. Playing the piano was not one of those activities required when you were part of the moon demon company, on the contrary it was seen as something perfectly useless. "Yes, that would be great." she answered enthusiastically, then she thought about it for a moment. "But... Would you teach me?" she hesitantly asked. "And who else?" "So you're really willing to teach me how to play it?" "Phew. I said yes." Then Ferid walked to the door. "Shall we go?" The girl looked at him for a moment. "Right now?" The vampire puffed. "Sure. What would you like to wait for?" Then Yurika hastened to follow him. Ferid smiled and closed the door behind them.

It was easier than expected and the girl had immediately accepted with enthusiasm; this was definitely another point in his favor and maybe after this service the girl could have thought of rewarding him, but he didn't fool himself, Yurika wasn't so easy to subject and he would have had to work hard if he wanted to succeed. "If you don't mind before you start, I'd like you to hear something I play." "Oh.... Sure, that's fine." Whispered the girl. So the vampire took his place on the piano and Yurika couldn't help but notice how elegant Ferid looked in that position. His fingers moved quickly on the keyboard and the girl, fascinated, immediately recognized Mozart's famous 'Turkish March'. It was completely different hearing it played live. After finishing the vampire looked up in her direction. "So, how did I seem to you?" "It was perfect." Ferid smiled. "Well, although of course I won't be able to start with such a piece with you, of course, but don't worry, little lamb. One day you'll get to play Chopin too. With a little effort everything is possible." The vampire stood up and gestured to her to sit down. Yurika took her place. "We'll start with some songs that are considered simple. 'For Elisa', for example." "Beethoven..." Whisper her. Ferid paused for a moment observing the girl's face and when she, pushed by the long silence of the vampire, turned around, Ferid had the confirmation of his little doubt. The girl's eyes were illuminated by the same light that he had seen in them while they were talking about the free of the demon. This was another card to play. "Even though I've always preferred Mozart, you know, he was a free spirit, a simply brilliant man." "Ah, well..." Yurika was answering, but then something came to her mind, something she had never thought of before. "You didn't just read these things in a book, did you?" Ferid smiled with surprise, he didn't expect Yurika to immediately give in to what he was alluding to. "Let's say I've seen him on many occasions and I've even managed to exchange a few words with him." The girl's eyes shone like never before. "What luck." She sighed after a while. "So if you're gonna be a good girl, I promise I'll tell you everything about it." And so began the first piano lesson.

In the following week the vampire noticed clear improvements from Yurika, and not only in the use of the piano. She seemed to be slowly getting used to his presence and having him around, but above all Ferid had managed to discover many things about Yurika. The girl wasn't only a lover of classical music, but she also greatly appreciated literature.
Although on the first day she chose a book about demons, she also had other literary interests: she read the most varied books. But soon Ferid realized that there was something else. Yurika wasn't like all the other girls, she seemed to have a very different effect on him. She was intelligent and the vampire appreciated being with her more and more, but in addition to this, his strong desire to sink his fangs in her neck grew and sometimes he was tempted to break the pact he had made with her. Nevertheless, he always tried to keep his joking behaviour and never revealed his difficulties in keeping calm. On the other hand, Ferid wasn't the only one to see things differently, Yurika's thoughts about the vampire had also started to change. She no longer saw him as a heartless monster, but she knew she had to be careful and not give him full confidence, after all it could have been a very well playd farce of the vampire. Yet Yurika had to recognize that it was a perfect farce, even though she was convinced that he wasn't lying to her about certain things: for example his infinite pearls of knowledge, but she tried not to be surprised too much by this, after all Ferid had probably experienced all those events that she had simply studied in books. And that was no small difference.

Obviously there were much more serious concerns that crowded her mind: she had been there with Ferid for a week now, yet the vampire had never tried to persuade her to drink her blood and she wondered how long the vampire's patience would last, certainly not forever. Many times she had happened to think about the place she called home and all the people who were part of her life. She wondered if anyone was worrying about her and she was shaken in her heart realizing that, probably, very few people would suffer her absence. One of them was definitely not her father. She was convinced that the only thing that reminded Tenri that he had a daughter somewhere would be that he had no longer anyone to blame all the time. She thought he would be happy: at least he would never see again that 'creature' that had taken away the woman he loved. Yurika's body trembled and from her eyes began to shed rivers of tears that the girl couldn't contain. She hated herself for it. That man had hurt her in every possible way and she was still there wasting her tears for him. Because, in spite of everything, she couldn't stop loving him; for her it would always be her dad.

"Don't tell me you're crying because I had to go away for a few hours!" Yurika turned to the vampire and hastened to dry her tears. "N-no...". Ferid looked at the girl's face, now streaked with tears. What made her cry? Maybe it wasn't his absence, but probably he was the cause. It was he who had kidnapped her and snatched her from her life, yet he felt the unstoppable desire to wipe those tears, to reassure her and hold her to himself, telling her that everything would go well. How much he wanted to do it. But he decided to ignore this absurd desire and talk to her as if nothing had happened. "As I told you, I'm going to have to go away today for a while, and in the last week I've often neglected my business, so I'd better get back on track. I wanted to tell you that you can continue to practice with the piano if you want. I think you can handle it without me." The girl stared at him for a moment. "All right, thanks." Another tear caressed her cheek and at that point Ferid couldn't resist the temptation. He raised his hand and wiped her tear with his fingers. Yurika remained motionless, her gaze fixed on the vampire's hand, with bated breath. Don't cry. The vampire thought, but once again his thoughts didn't turn into words. Yurika was a piece of meat. Of course, one of the best, but still a piece of meat with the purpose of quenching his thirst and making his days different. Nothing more, nothing less. He smiled. "See you soon, my little lamb." Yurika looked at the figure of the vampire as he left her room. Then she threw herself on the bed, eager to enter into a deep sleep, into a world that would take her away from her current situation.

13/07/2019