Fear of Water (Project Moon Bloodfiend Quest Reboot)

You wake up.

Reflexively, you rub around the side of your neck in a blind panic. There is nothing there, no wounds, no bite marks, absolutely nothing.

You immediately question everything you've experienced. Was it all just a dream? Some sort of elaborate hallucination? But the corpses are still here, so it can't be..

Even as you stand up and make your way out of the warehouse, your mind refuses to be at ease.

—
When you arrive home, you feel a peculiar thirst blooming in your throat. You open the tap to drink straight from the source when..

You pause.

You stare at the water.

And then you turn off the tap as fast as you can. You can't help it. It's like a violent revulsion has overtaken your body suddenly. You want to throw up. You leave the bathroom as quickly as possible, but not before witnessing a glimpse of yourself in the bathroom.

And as you're catching your reflection in the bathroom mirror, something catches your eye.

Your pupils are red and slitted. They've never been that color before.

—
This month's assignment was an open ended one, and you still can't focus on it because of this goddamned thirst.

Water would do no good. You know that. You couldn't bring yourself to drink water, you can't even look at it.

Stifling a full body shiver, you turn your attention back to the front of the class, where the students are currently presenting their assignments. One student presented a sculpture composed of nothing but raw animal meat. Another created a statue composed of the nail clippings of their neighbors, but the one that attracted you the most was the painting scavenged from the veins of the residents of the Backstreets, with the blood still preserved inside.

A drop of blood hits the pristine white floor, staining the pale tile a brilliant scarlet.

Your throat itches, and you don't know what happens next.

You start running towards the painting before you even know what you're doing. They're staring at you. They're all staring at you.

You lunge at the painting and start tearing it apart with your bare hands. You sink your teeth into the veins, savoring the blood inside. God, oh god! The taste is indescribable! It is the purity of sunshine. The warm memories you've shared with your family before everything went wrong. It is the subtle sweetness of sucking the nectar of a flower as an insect. It is everything in life worth living.

You drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and realize that you've drained it dry. You wail in frustration, not satisfied at all.

You realize that you're crouched over the floor, in front of the ravaged and ruined painting. Your mouth is stained with blood and everyone is staring right at you.

No no no.. oh god no..

You're just about to start begging for forgiveness when they all burst into applause.

"Incredible!"

"Such passion! The way you drank that blood.. it must've tasted awful.. but you did it for the sake of art!"

"I've never seen anything like it before!"

Even the Docent looks impressed, and the student who made the painting looks envious that he didn't think to do what you did.

You ignore all of it, because you understand.

There is something terribly, terribly wrong with you, and you must find out what.

—
As soon as class ends, you bolt to the private library.

You pay the necessary Ahn and the guards let you inside without any further fanfare.

You ignore the few people inside and move towards the internet aisle. You sit down at a computer yourself and begin frantically typing. Most of your queries don't net anything useful. but the terms: "Fear of Water" and "Blood drinkers" bring you to a report written by the Seven Association.

The report is about something called Bloodfiends. You frantically scroll through the entry, and realize in dawning horror that it fits everything you've been experiencing so far. The thirst for blood.. your sudden fear of water.. your red eyes..

You don't want to believe it. You can barely believe it, even with the evidence laid out in front of you. But your mother always told you that anything can happen in the City.

You place your head in your hands and begin thinking at a breakneck pace. What will you do now? Scavenge for blood like a monster? Become like one of those cannibals? Those freaks from District 23?

Then you remember.

You remember the taste of the blood. The feeling of warmth. The feeling of ecstasy. You'd do anything to feel it again. That incredible feeling..

And you realize what you must do.

You make your way back home as fast as you can and throw on the most obscuring clothing you can find, before heading out towards the crisp, cool night. Your thoughts are running at a million miles per hour, but they feel so clear now.

You are Dustin Bright. You are a Student of the Ring. You are a Child of the Backstreets. And as of yesterday, you are a Bloodfiend. And you will hunt.

---

Hunting Hour..
Hunt From Who?

[X] Rats
Petty thieves and organ harvesters who are constantly looking for a way to seek power. Unlikely to be missed by anyone.

[X] Syndicate Members
A few small-time criminals, also unlikely to be missed by any. They're a tougher sort though, but the blood just runs hotter.

[X] Scavenge from corpses
The Backstreets is no stranger to death. There should be a few bodies left here and there.

[X] Write-in

[X] Do not feed.
Lock the thirst away. Smother it deep.