Out in the dark woods, Drakus is on the prowl. He lopes through the trees at a swift, steady pace, the moonlight as bright as noon to his eyes. He sees the glow of electric lights that mark the campus buildings in the distance, and desire stirs in anticipation of the prey he will find there.

The sound of the discordant yet compelling music that suddenly reaches his ears is jarringly out of place, and he suddenly freezes. Nearby, so close even human ears might pick the sound up. One of the students with something playing music? Usually he just hears such things in the Dorms, and something is a little off about this. After a moment he realises what it is- there's only one instrument. A suspicion forms in his mind, but it seems too good to be true...

He quickly reaches the clearing where the sound comes from, and finds that he was correct. A student is here, alone, smoking and playing a guitar. Does she know nothing of the Island?

Drakus begins to lope about the clearing, feeling with all his inhuman senses. A trap? Is this student another monster in disguise? Has she been placed here as bait, by some students forming a militia, as occasionally happens?

No. She seems to be what she is. Alone, unaware, and helpless.

Finally, Drakus decides to make his move. As the girl finishes her cigarette, he steps out of the shadows. Over six feet tall in his human guise, he is pale and dark-haired, with a lean but powerful build. He wears a white shirt, dark pants and boots which pass at a cursory glance as what someone might wear on earth, though they are of rather more primitive weaving.

"The hour seems a little late for a student to be out of her room" he says, in an accent that sounds vaguely East European, though someone familiar with European accents might realise it doesn't seem to quite fit any country.

"Aren't there rules about these things anymore?"

The strnager smiles as he steps just close enough to not alarm her on personal space issues. His eyes roam briefly up and down her body, seeming to approve of what they see.

"Oh, I am most definitely male, and no student. I am Drakus."

He looks down at her, his eyes seeming as strange as the rest of him as they regard her from his substantial advantage in height. And his voice seems to have an amused, superior edge to it, as if he knows something she doesn't.

"So you casually flaunt the rules, eh? Have you considered that they might be there for a reason? That perhaps it isn't wise for students to wander about at night?"

Drakus chuckles.

"Spirited and independent, as well as ignorant. A rare and intriguing combination here. The naive lack of concern disappears all to quickly after a girls first month. I take it you've not made any friends here yet? Not had anyone give strange warnings? Not seen anything unusual?"

He leans casually against the tree. he's not concerned about the girl escaping- even if she'd normally be able to outrun him, which is unlikely, she's burdened by the guitar, which is hardly something she would want to run through dark woods with. And he gets the impression, as he touches the edges of her thoughts, that it's not something she'd easily leave behind.

"Nobody to tell you what really happens here? Nobody to tell you what this place is?"

Drakus smiles at her, his knowing gaze staying fixed on hers. Her stubborn passion and shapely body promises a most enjoyable time, but he is in no hurry, and for now enjoys taunting her with the knowledge of what is to come.

"A school? Well, naturally, that is what they tell you. And they do indeed go to great lengths to preserve the illusion. They hold classes, they keep things in order, they clamp down on any attempt to spread the word. Everyone knows, of course, if not everything then that this place is not right.

"You don't seem a stupid girl. Think on what you've seen. Does this place look to you as a place filled with young women should? Are they carefree and headstrong, is there laughter? Or... Do they scuttle about nervously, in groups, staying in public places and never going out after dark?

"Does the manner of the students not seem forced, somehow? Artificial? Or had you told yourself that this was just how they were after the evil staff had done molding them into good little girls, the way you tell yourself they never will with you?"

"Another word for suffering? Well, perhaps, but none as much as this place. Just ask any of the students!

"Tell, me, Leyna, since you seem to have some little knowledge of how the world works. What reason, what possible motivation, could there be for a charade that involves assembling so many young females in an isolated place? I'm sure you must be able to think of the most obvious one...

"Think on the students. Think on the other schools you've been to. Then think on the ones here. Are any of them less than stunning? Do any fail to measure up to the same standards of sexual desirability that you yourself meet?"

He stands, and casually begins strolling back and forth as he talks, his hands clasped behind his back, a carefully reassuring distance from her at all times, but requiring her to move if she wants to keep her eyes on him.

"Then think of where you are. Do you know where this island is? Can you ask anyone for help but the staff who brought you here? Can you think of any way to escape what you've been brought here for?"

"It wouldn't be allowed? Tell me, do you... Do your parents... Do ANY of the people back home who knew you were going away have any idea where this Island is? Had they even heard of Shokushu before this? Before someone appeared out of the blue with the offer of a place in a school nobody had heard of but seemed so very respectable?

"But you're right. Something like this couldn't go on without the authorities eventually finding out, and mounting some sort of investigation. It's too bad for them that there's no trail to follow. This island... It's not on your world, Leyna. The plane you came on? It went a lot further than a distant ocean. The students? They probably aren't even from the same world or time. Ask about, see if their memories of home fit yours exactly. All from the same year, all recall the same politicians and celebrities? I doubt they will.

"Which brings us to what part I play in things. Well, Leyna, it would come to you if you pondered the matter. You are on a remote island with an all-girl studentn populace, and you've just been told that this is a ruse to cover the sort of use that such pliant young females can be put to when they are helpless and far from home."

He stops, and stands before her with a slightly mocking smile on his face.

"So, Leyna, what part do you think I play in things?"

Drakus laughs, seeming not in the slightest bit intimidated by her.

"I'm sure you'll put up quite a fight, Leyna. And against a human rapist you might even win. But since you're not on your world, has it not yet occurred to you that the people who'll be enjoying your warm, firm body will be somewhat outside your experience also?"

His eyes change, becoming slitted as a cats, and beginning to burn with a fiery red light from within. His hands start to form long, sharp talons at the end of each finger... And he seems somehow larger than before, towering over her more than ever.

"I am here to partake of the headmaster's hospitality, Leyna. Which consists of my being able to sample the delectable students whenever I desire it. And this night, I desire it!

"And lo and behold, here is a most appealing new student, alone out in the woods and needing an introduction to her new life."