Lewis Lewin woke up shortly after, he was near the waterfall but far enough for the monsters not to see him.
For a brief moment, relief ran through his body, he thought he had woken from a terrible nightmare when he saw the blue sky. But all it took was turning his head for his torment to return in full.
At least the effect of the "Drink Me" had worn off, and his body was back to normal size.
He looked at his hand, it was gray like a corpse, but his heart was beating in his chest.
— Am I alive?
His mind remembered the Succubus' teeth tearing him apart.
— Haa!!
He got up screaming, his body trembled and a chill ran up his spine. Just thinking about the way he died, part of it came back like a ghost.
He had no idea how much time had passed since he died, after all time seemed the same. The only difference was the place, since all he could hear was the sound of blood gushing in the distance.
Gathering what little courage he had, he stood up on that reddish ground and yellowish grass.
A quick flutter of wings brushed his ear, at first it seemed like a mere mosquito, but it was too big to be one, and too small to be a person.
— You're not from here, are you?
Lewis turned quickly.
A fairy, a sweet and charming fairy with a purple dress and red hair.
— You are a...
The fairy stretched her hand toward Lewis' forehead.
— Aura!
POFT!!
A strong gust of wind hit his forehead, it had the intensity of a solid punch.It would probably bruise later...
Lewis touched his forehead. — Why did you do that!?
The fairy was impressed. — Hoo! You're not an undead!!
Her small hands joined over her chest in celebration.
— How incredible, you have rationality!!
— Of course I do, I'm a human being!!!
The fairy tilted her head. — Human? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?
Lewis swallowed dryly, but there was no reflective surface. He would have to trust the fairy's words.
— Did you come here to drink from the river?
— Do I look like a vampire to you?
— Actually yes.
He touched his own face, the fairy's words were starting to scare him.
— But I'm in the sun, so what?
— What does that have to do with anything? You could be a vampire with light affinity.
He narrowed his eyes. — Really? Have you ever seen one?
— Of course! — She celebrated again.
Lewis raised his hands trying to imitate claws. — The kind that turn into bats and only feed on blood?
The fairy scolded him.
— No!! — She hit Lewis' head. — That abomination is witch stuff!!!
He broke into a cold sweat. — And there are witches too...
— Of course there are, were you born in a hole not to know that!?
The expressions were strange, but easy enough to understand anyway.
But perhaps it would be more advantageous to look for a way to escape that place, rather than standing there blankly while a tiny fairy scolded him for thinking vampires turn into bats.
Finally, the fairy pouted and turned to leave.
— Wait! — She turned. — Can you at least tell me how to get out of here?
— Well, just go back the way you came.
He looked toward the direction where the waterfall sound came from.
— It's not that simple...
— Then you're stupid.
Lewis took a step forward to confront her, but the fairy just said "Aura" and a gust of wind hit his face.
This time it was so strong his nose bled.
— Aren't fairies supposed to be kind? — he said with his hand on his nose.
With little choice, he wandered through those red lands, praying not to run into a monster.
The vegetation was worthy of a nightmare, even the trees had a grotesque red tone. The most curious thing was that they still bore fruit, and large fruits that looked juicy.
But as a proper coward, Lewis Lewin did not dare to nibble anything from that place.
But noticing now, his clothes had been restored when he died. They seemed to be the same ones he wore when he got home.
Whoever recreated his body could at least have given him a weapon for defense.Not that it would be very useful...
His arms seemed allergic to muscle.
The grove was not as large as it appeared, it was inevitable that eventually he would have to enter the red forest. But sometimes anticipation was worse than reality, monsters that weren't there inside.
Better not take risks.
— You're disgusting!
A female voice came from behind some trees.
Lewis hesitated to go in that direction, but he was desperate. Still, it was better to be careful.
He approached slowly, looking around.
— You don't know what's good, you just keep drinking from that glass and pretending to be classy.
— At least I don't walk around smelling like blood. That's why you can't attract anyone.
Lewis stopped immediately, it was definitely not a good idea to follow those voices.
— Succubus again...
He tilted his head slowly and ended up seeing one of them wearing a short dress, then she tightened a leather belt around her waist.
It was somewhat curious, those two didn't have bat wings or pale skin, they looked like normal humans.
Well... at least if you ignored the conversation.
— Natanael must be mad at us.
— Let him wait! The brothel only opens at night anyway.
CRACK!
Lewis stepped on a twig.
For a moment his body froze, he felt his soul leaving his body.
— Did you hear that?
— Who's there!?
His body reacted automatically, his mind filled with the urge to flee. He bolted in the opposite direction and ran.
— No no no no no.
The image of being devoured haunted his thoughts, and before he realized it he was already inside the forest.
In his desperation he tripped over a root.
Something was coming at full speed behind him, the sound of branches breaking and impacts against trunks was like a bell from hell.
He turned, but only a blur passed before his eyes.
— Where are you going in such a hurry?
He looked up.
— Heeey! — snapping fingers to get his attention. — Dude, are you okay?
That woman had bat wings, her hair was blonde and curly. But her eyes were brown, and her face did not look threatening.
Soon the other one arrived.
— What happened to him?
— I don't know, he froze out of nowhere.
The other woman looked normal too, if you ignored the bat wings.
Her black hair and blue eyes were not frightening either. Both had white skin, but normal, very different from the first Succubus Lewis saw.
— Is he an undead? — said the black-haired one.
The blonde Succubus crouched. — Hey dude, can you talk?
— I-I... — he stammered. — I-I j-just want to get out of here...
— Look, he can talk!
Neither of them had the same ominous aura as the other, they even helped him stand.
— My name is Seraphine.
The blonde Succubus pointed at her chest.
— And that is Zdrada.
— I-I... My name is Lewis... Lewis Lewin.
Seraphine tilted her neck.
— Lewis Lewin? That's a tongue twister.
Zdrada tried to repeat the name quickly, but got tangled in the words.
— No no, I think it's "LE" with the tongue touching the teeth.
The two laughed trying to pronounce his name, but he couldn't shake the fear at all.
It was strange that Seraphine was still holding his arm, it almost felt like she was restraining him.
— You look like you're in the middle of London, what brings you here?
— I fell from the waterfall...
Seraphine looked impressed. — That one from the river? But you're clean.
Lewis swallowed dryly. — I-I was... swallowed...
Neither of them understood what he meant.
— I drank a vial called "Drink Me", I don't know if you know it...
— Oh yes! The shrinking vial!
— That's right...
— But how strange, how are you alive? The girls love eating little ones.
Lewis looked at Seraphine in fear.
That angelic face could fool anyone, but not a man who had already felt a woman's teeth.
— Ah... I see.
— So it's good you're a vessel after all. — said Zdrada.
Seraphine kept holding his arm, it was becoming uncomfortable.
— What is a... — he tried to pull his arm away — vessel?
Zdrada stepped forward. — They tell stories about vessels, they say they have gray skin like a corpse.
Seraphine pressed Lewis' arm against her chest.
— They also say they leave behind a black soul when they die.
— Really?
Lewis pulled harder, but Seraphine would not let go.
— Why the rush?
— Don't you want to have a little fun with us?
Lewis smiled nervously. — I-I really have to go now, you know... I have to go back to London...
— It's more than 62 miles from here, and it doesn't look like you have a carriage.
— I would love to stay but...
Seraphine pulled him closer, her strength far exceeded that of a normal human.She pressed his arm against her chest.
— Relax, we're not going to hurt you.
— Sorry but—
Seraphine grabbed Lewis' chin and kissed him. He could feel her tongue inside his mouth.
She threw him to the ground and held his arms, he was completely overpowered.
But she suddenly stopped the kiss and spat.
— What the hell is this!? He doesn't have a single drop of mana.
Seraphine let him go abruptly.
— Dude how are you alive!?
— Gross, you kissed an undead.
— But he talks!!
Zdrada kept teasing Seraphine, chanting:
"You kissed an undead"
In an irritating voice that stuck in the head.
— Oh come on, screw you.
Seraphine walked away, Zdrada followed still teasing her.
At least Lewis remained alive. Maybe even his short trauma with Succubus was gone, but another trauma with women might have been born.
He stood there thinking as he watched them leave, the sound of wind through the red leaves was his comfort.
— It was my first kiss...
What a tragic outcome.
— Not even a Succubus wanted me...
He was truly at rock bottom. If not even a creature made to feed on the most perverse desires of men accepted him, the situation was depressing.
Certainly if he tried something with a lady of the night, she wouldn't accept even if he paid.
Pathetic.
He looked in the direction where the Succubus went. At least he could confirm that his face was still human.
But he wasn't exactly human, nor a monster... but at least he was edible, though maybe not very appetizing.
Lewis touched his own chest, he felt his heart beating, he was certainly alive. He felt the blood flowing through his veins, however a doubt crossed his mind:
"How does it feel to have mana flowing through your veins?"
At that moment, maybe it was good he didn't have mana... but that Succubus might have been worth it just a little...
It doesn't matter!!
There's no use crying over spilled milk.
But he would definitely have to solve his mana problem as soon as possible.
After all, it wouldn't be good to spend the rest of his life thinking: "What if?" Isn't that right?