From a Black World

My world has always been black. For as long as I could remember it was always a dark and scary place and it never got better. After the war between King Alucard and King Yasu I had no one left. Both my parents died during the fight. I was just a baby then... And that's were things got worse. Half of the Chanture population fell, half of the Xolt population disappeared, humans ruled the planet and vampires were in hiding.

I lived in an orphanage for the longest time. I knew that place like it was the back of my hand. I remember that my room was thirty steps away from the stairs, that my roommate's bed was ten steps away from mine. The window was two steps to the left from my bed and that I would just stand by it and listen to the sounds of the town.

I remember when *they* came for me. I remember the sounds of three people walking up the old stairs. I remember the door creaking as they pushed it open. I remember the smell of the smoke that woman carried. I remember their rough mean hands inspecting me. I remember their cold malicious voices *grading *me.

"He's got fluffy hair," the man said, "An' it's white."

"Well, he's different from all the other Chantures we've seen around. And he's got amber eyes, looks like a real cat now don't he?" The female said.

"He's very smart, and his name is Jing. Jing, tell them how old you are." The caretaker said. He was a nice old man who truly cared about the children he took in.

"I'm 15," I said. I smiled and tried my hardest to look pleased.

"He's actin' like a real cat. Look at them ears; they're twitchin' to the sounds, Ma'am." I really didn't like the man's voice, he sounded uneducated and boorish. Like the only things he knew how to do was drink and fight.

"Yes yes, dear, I see that. Hmm," she trailed off. "He's tall; he appears to be strong, good looking...Boy, how graceful are you?" I took a sharp breath. I was blind, how graceful could I be if I couldn't see?

"Um...I don't really know, ma'am." I wrung my hands together.

"Well then show me!" She barked. I jumped and started to walk. Ten steps ...one...two...three...four...five...six...stumbled...

I tripped over her foot. I wasn't sure if it was there before hand or if she put it there but I tripped and fell flat on my face.

"What's wrong with you?" She yelled, "Can't you see my foot is there?"

I fought back the urge to cry and shook my head.

"No, Ma'am, I can't see..."

For the first time in my life I was glad I couldn't see because I knew that if I could I would have seen the two most wretched faces in Arcaina. Next thing I knew I was back at their tavern, but of course it couldn't have been any normal tavern...

*

Because I couldn't walk properly without studying the layout of the tavern I was told to sit in one place and greet customers. I was also told that I was too young to serve but just old enough to learn. So, for twelve hours a day I would sit on a silk cushion and greet who ever walked past me.

"Welcome to Flowers & Dance! I hope you enjoy your stay." Generally I said that about three times every hour. For the rest of the time I sat there day dreaming about what it looked like inside the tavern. It was probably smoky, with a few candles here and there. I knew there was a stage somewhere in the back where group Dancers went. Orgies weren't unheard of but they weren't very popular and so they cost extra.

Occasionally one of the female Dancers would stop by and give me something to drink or eat.

Sometimes they would brush my hair or decorate it, and they would even sometimes give me a back rub. All the while they would talk to me and tell me how they're day was going. If a customer came by we would both say the greeting. Sometimes the patron would want the Dancer and sometimes he'd ask for another but it was during those times I felt the calmest. The Dancers were becoming my friends.

At the end of each night a Dancer would help me up the stairs to my room, which I shared with three other male Dancers, and I would eat my supper. If I was lucky one of my roommates were gone, still with a patron. It was hard enough sitting all day, but then I would have to sleep so that I wasn't tired the next day. It was hard to sleep, though, when people are crying. I didn't understand why they were crying, and I never asked because at the time everything seemed okay to me. There was nothing wrong, I was treated with care and my job was easy. I just thought that they were being weak.

*

By the time I turned eighteen I had learnt how to play an enormous variety of instruments, and I could sing perfectly. This allowed me to do more than just sit by the door and greet people. I could make music! I really enjoyed that and I had a ton of patrons who liked it as well. After each song I got applause and cat calls. It made me feel special and proud.

One day a Dancer named Lily pulled me out of my room and into the dressing room. It smelt clean in there and I took a deep breath. She laughed as said that all the Dancers did that because it was so fresh and clean. Lily had been one of the Dancers who always made time in her day to talk with me. We became close. I really appreciated her time with me.

Lily helped me into new clothes, it felt really revealing. It felt like an oversized robe with a thick belt that covered half of my body. The sleeves of the robe kept falling off my shoulders and Lily said that it was supposed to do that. When I told her I didn't like it she said that she didn't either but it had to be worn like that.

My hair had grown past my shoulders and Lily started to braid it. Because I was working in the tavern as a Dancer I still had to grow my hair out. It was taboo for a Dancer to cut their hair. She twisted it and pinned it to the top of my head with a decorative hair clip. I could tell because my head was heavy.

"Jing," she said, her voice was soft. "Tonight you'll be singing again but this time it will be different, okay?"

"How will it be different?" I asked. I closed my eyes as she put some makeup on me. I didn't really know or care what kind.

"Tonight, if a patron wants to bed you Ma'am will let him." I stopped breathing. She patted my shoulder and rubbed my back. "I know, Jing, I know."

"...Lily," I could barely speak. My throat was dry and I couldn't breathe. "I'm a virgin."

"I know Jing," she whispered. She was crying and her voice was quivering. "I know and that's why I get to stay with you. You're first patron will have to pay extra and he'll have to tolerate my presence in the room. I'll be your guide tonight, okay? You'll just have to trust me. While you're singing tonight I'll be by your side dancing. It'll just be you and me, okay sweetie?"

I nodded because there was nothing left to say. I couldn't say no, I was afraid to say no.

After Lily finished dressing me she finished dressing herself. We walked side by side to the stage that I used to feel so comfortable singing on. I took a deep breath, plucked the strings on the instrument, and let loose.

My song was more sad than usual, but the crowed ate it. They loved it, and they loved Lily. I could hear the jingle of her beads, and the ringing of the bells in her hair. I knew she was a wonderful dancer, and I knew that together we made an unforgettable pair.

As soon as my song came to the unavoidable end Ma'am's voice filled the air. Cold, dark and husky, she had been drinking and smoking; probably with the Patrons, or trying to earn more cash. They started to bid on us. The highest we got was well over a thousand gold. The whole time I kept fighting back my tears. I didn't want to know what would happen if I cried in front of the crowed.

Our night was bought.

Lily took my hand and then the hand of our patron and we walked to the back rooms. The room we went to smelt husky and foul to my nose. Almost sour...It was the smell of sex and I learnt that later in life.

I felt a hand brush against my butt and I jumped away from it. I heard a deep chuckle and I closed my eyes. The patron was male...If I was lucky he would be kind to me...

"What's wrong with him?" He asked Lily. At least his voice sounded kind...

"Jing is a virgin, Sir. I am here today to help him through the process." I could almost hear the forced smile. I knew she would rather be in my place, and she knew at one point during his time with us she would be.

"Ah, so tonight is kind of like a Rite of Passage for you, huh?" he asked. He had taken his hand off my butt and put it on my shoulder instead.

I nodded, still too scared to speak.

"I see, I'll treat you as kindly as I can, okay?" he said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a kiss. The man was taller than me, but that wasn't saying much considering I was short.

His kiss went from sweet and tender to hungry. His tongue forced its way into my mouth. I didn't know what to do. At first I tried to pull my head away, but Lily whispered to me to stick my tongue in his mouth. So I did.

The man was very happy about that and started to suck on my muscle. I felt my knees buckle and we fell onto the bed. The patron laughed a little as he fell on top of me. I felt his dick on my stomach and I shivered. He started to kiss me again, but his kisses travelled from my mouth, to my cheek, to my ear. He started to nibble on my ear lobe and whisper sweet nothings into it. His hands travelled across my body and then under the robe. He found my nipple and rubbed it. I moaned.

"Did that feel good?" he asked, doing it again.

"Do you want me to do more?"

"It's okay if you do, Jing." Lily's words seemed to escape the patron, but I heard them. So I nodded. The man pushed the robe off my shoulders completely. I felt him move and the next thing I knew his mouth was latched over my nipple. I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to stay quiet.

"If it feels good Jing, tell him. He needs to know to make it better."

"Mmm..." I moaned. I could feel myself getting harder.

"That's it Jing, he's doing good isn't he?" She said. Something was different about the way she was talking. It was...sultrier. I wanted to know what was going on with her but I couldn't see. I couldn't tell what she was doing.

I felt his hands undo my belt and pull it off. I felt his warm hands push the robe open and I felt his hand explore my body.

"Haah....Mmm..." I moaned loudly. It felt so good, and at the same time I felt so embarrassed.

"That's right..."Lily huffed, "You keep doing what you're doing Jing."

"W-what are you doing L-Lily?" I asked. My voice was shaking. The Patrons body was moving down my own. He kissed his way down to my pelvis and kissed around it.

"You wanna know what your friend is doing, little one?" He asked. I nodded my head. "She's touching herself. She's watching us and touching herself...She's naughty isn't she? Her wet little pussy and her fingers..." He kissed the tip of my penis. "Does that make you hot?"

I was too busy trying to focus on not exploding.

That night went by too fast. I remembered Lily's moaning as she climaxed. I remember how much it hurt for him to be inside me at first. I remembered how good it felt later. I remember how well he treated me. And that was my problem.

That patron was too nice. He was abnormal. Men like him rarely came to the tavern, and if they did it was because they left their wife in the middle of the night to get something different.

That's what he did. His wife found out and she came to the tavern and slapped me. She said that I was just a whore and that what he did to me that night was nothing. She slapped me over and over again. No one came to stop her, not even Lily.

All my patrons after him were horrible people. They were mean, rough, and they liked to hurt me. One time I passed out while a patron was fucking me because he was choking me while he did it.

When I came to, he was still inside me.

It was after that night I started to cry.

*

Being blind was what caused me so much pain in the first place and it never helped. Sometimes the tavern would give Dancers time to go outside, but since I couldn't see I was never allowed out.

I always had to have another Dancer watching over me and they were never happy to do so. Ma'am always feared that I would fuck a female Dancer so she never let me stay with the girls. By this point I was twenty and I knew I liked men. Having sex with women was not really what I wanted, but of course Ma'am wouldn't listen to me.

When Lily found out that I liked men she became sad. She told me that she had really liked me. When Ma'am found out Lily was sold. I never heard her sweet voice again.

A week after she left, the Dancers were allowed to go out for a while. I was stuck inside the tavern, in my room, with another male Dancer. He was pissed because it was the second time he couldn't go out because of me. I just started to bawl. He was calling me names and yelling, telling me to shut up and that I was worthless. That made me cry even harder. He got fed up with me and started to beat me.

After the first five punches I couldn't feel anything anymore. I was laying on the ground numb, tears silently falling down my face. I blacked out for a while, and when I woke up I still couldn't feel anything. I was happy.

Perhaps I had died, that would mean I would never have to sell my body to another person ever again. But if that were the case, I wouldn't have heard her voice.

"You fucking whore!" It was Ma'am. She was yelling at someone again. "You asked him to fuck you? Who do you think you are? You deserved the beating, you slut!" Tears fell again...She was yelling at me. My fellow Dancer, a being who knew what it was like to live there, had said I asked for it.

It took me two months to heal.

*

Physically I was healed but mentally I was not. I stopped talking to people. I stopped fighting. When a patron started to get a little rough with me I just took it. I no longer care about anything. Occasionally at night a roommate would sneak into my bed and have his way with me, whispering what a dirty slut I was. I never tried to stop it, but I never wanted it. I just knew that no matter how hard I tried to get away they could always catch me. I knew that I couldn't tell anyone because they would say that somehow I deserved what I got. I knew that somehow it was my fault. So I took it. Soon, I didn't really think anymore. Life was all about pattern, wake up, eat, get ready for work, sing, get fucked, get ready for bed, get raped, try to sleep, repeat. Once I turned twenty one I was broken, just a shell of what was 'Jing'. I wanted to end it all...I just wanted to die.

It only took seven years for them to break me and once they succeeded nothing mattered anymore. I had stopped eating. So they forced me to eat. I had stopped bathing. So they pushed me into the tub. I had stopped drinking. So they dunked my head in buckets of water. That was my new life. I was a living doll.

*

I was no longer fit to have sex. I was deathly skinny, and according to Ma'am I was a walking skeleton and no one wanted to fuck bones. I was back to doing what I thought I loved; singing. But even singing had lost its luster. And I knew that men didn't care what they fucked as long as it had a hole because I was still being raped. I had lost the will the cry because of it.

I don't know why he came to the tavern. I don't know how he found it, but he did.

I was singing in the corner when I heard his boots stop right in front of me. He smelt different and yet familiar.

"How much for a night with you?" he asked. His voice was low, gravelly, and yet it was soothing.

"I'm not worthy of your time, Sir." I insisted. I could smell Ma'am walking towards us; her smoking habit had gotten worse over the years.

"Oh, fair sir! Welcome to Flowers & Dance! How may I help you this fine evening?" She called. I heard the man shift.

"How much for a night with this young man?" He asked. He was still trying to sleep with me and it made me wonder, for the first time in a long time, why me? He sounded kind, too kind. He reminded me so much of the night I had lost my virginity. I didn't want to go through it again...It was too much.

"Oh, you don't want him! He's all skin and bones, but if you want another Chanture we have others whole can fulfill your needs."

"No, I'd like him, please." At this point I was curious. I wanted to know what he looked like, I wanted to know why he wanted me, I wanted to wait and see what would happen, and yet I wanted him to ignore me and move on. He was kind...He was just too kind.

Ma'am sighed and agreed to let him have me for the night. She gave me to him for cheap because I was "broken". Ma'am led the patron and me to a back room. This one smelt clean for once, so it must have been sometime around noon. No one really showed up at noon for a fuck.

Before the door was shut he asked for a plate of food, he didn't really care what kind of food as long as it was delicious. Ma'am said sure and shut the door. I was undressing and laying on the bed by the time he finally shuffled. I was on my stomach with my hands opening me up for him.

"What are you doing?" He asked. I heard a chair move and I assumed he sat on it. My first thought was that he wanted a show. So I dipped my fingers inside of me and started to pump.

"You wanted this, right?" I asked with my face in the mattress.

"I never asked you to do anything. Why don't you stop that and talk to me for a bit?" I bit my lip. He wanted to talk? I was certain that he didn't know what the tavern was actually for.

"You do know where you are, right?" I asked. My tone was snarky, and with any other patron my ass would had been beaten blue. He made no motion to get to me.

"Flowers & Dance the brothel if I'm not mistaken." I heard a smile in his voice.

"If you don't want to fuck me why are you here?" I asked.

"Why does it matter?" He answered my question with one of his own. But it was a good question, why did it matter? I was still making money anyways and it was a good thing that I was finally not being fucked inside out. So why did it matter so much that a stranger wanted to talk to me? It was probably because it was the most *normal* thing anyone has done with me in over four years.

"You know what, Stranger, I don't really know. But if Ma'am finds out you're not using me, I'll be taking the blame. So what are we doing?"

"Are you blind?"

My ears twitched. It wasn't hard to tell that I was blind. I fumbled when I walked, even then, because Ma'am never let me study the layout. I was never told where things were and I never cared to try and learn. But I stumbled when I walked, my tail moved fiercely when I was in a new room. I jumped when I heard loud noises, all because I couldn't see what was going on. My world was always black.

"Yeah I am. Do you have a problem with it?"

"No I don't. I just figured if you were able to see you'd know that I'm not like most creatures on this planet. Your boss was giving me funny looks anyway." He sounded like he shrugged off my snarkiness with ease.

There was a knock at the door. I heard more shuffling, the door opening and then shutting. He walked back to his table and set whatever food he had down.

"Come here and eat, cat." He ordered.

"I don't know where the table is..." I mumbled.

"Also my name is Jing!"

"Alright then...Jing let me help you." I felt his hand tap mine and I took it for support. He gently held my hand and guided me to the table. He didn't pull me, or force me in any way. He just showed me the way. I was able to count fifteen steps.

"Thanks..."I said, sitting in the comfy chair naked.

"My name is Xe'Hul," he said. I could hear a smile in his deep voice. It was an odd name and I've never heard of it before. I was even more curious about this man. "Open up, Jing."