Clutter

A/N: Title has nothing to do with story. Okay . . . my first fanfiction in a long time. I'm rusty, but I hope that you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.

The old house was surrounded by a dense crop of trees, their dark, crooked trunks and twisted limbs reaching for the brick – red panes on the roof. The colour was so odd, against the grey stone of the rest of the building. The vibrant blue sky behind the tall house was a mockery. I had always loved the sky, so vast and open, seemingly endless. The clear blue could calm and excite me at the same time but now – now it was just . . . it reminded me of mother, like everything else I saw. I was still seeing her face in the clouds.

Six weeks, three days, thirteen hours, since she died. The Funeral had been awful. The white flowers had looked plastic – y and fake. The people in attendance sang a tune so dead and mournful, that I was surprised that my heart hadn't shattered from the lifelessness and pain in their dull tunes.

I had cried already. I cried in the waiting room, when I saw the doctor coming out of the hallway. He hadn't spoken and he hadn't needed to. I had seen mummy. I had seen her skeletal body beneath the white sheet, her rounded stomach protruding grotesquely. I had seen all of the tubes going in and out of the paper – thin skin on her arms, the chocolate brown curls that dropped from her head in clumps. I saw the horrific way the stomach moved when there was a contraction. I couldn't take it. I was a coward. I left.

And she died. The baby didn't make it either. The umbilical cord had gotten around its neck somehow. It didn't even take its first breath.

They were buried together. The Casket had been closed and when they were buried deep below, I knew that they were gone from my life for now, and I wouldn't be seeing them anytime soon.

Social Services had placed me in the care of my only known relative, Kaien Cross. That was why I was here, standing in front of his house, waiting to be let in. My only luggage was the large bag, filled to the brim with whatever clothes I could fit into it, and my schoolbag.

I had rung the doorbell five times already. He still wasn't there. I pulled out my cellphone - and the door opened.

Cross' sandy hair was pulled into a ponytail and a green blanket rested on his shoulders. He gave me a small, sad smile. "Hello, Yuuki."

The room that I was given was okay. The walls were white, and there was a bed, dresser and desk and chair. I stayed there until six, when that extraordinary sky was on fire with gold and red and pink. All I did was sit on the edge of my bed and think. And wonder and run around in circles within my own mind. Six hours and I hadn't fallen asleep. That was a new record. Cross called me down to dinner at around seven thirty. His voice had snapped me out of my daze. I told him that I wasn't hungry and he left me alone. It was so nice to have someone who at least understood.

When I had focused some, I realized something: sitting and thinking was what would kill me. It was breeding worry and so much paranoia. I needed something to keep me busy, so I pulled out my Kindle ("Happy Birthday, baby," were mummy's words when she gave it to me) and started reading the ridiculous romance I had downloaded weeks ago, for some odd reason. I immersed myself in the story, deliberately trapping myself in the main character's web of desire and joy and sorrow. It took my mind off of things for a while and, three hours later, I felt . . . content.

That was when I made the mistake. That was when I went to bed.

I had never quite outgrown my childhood fear of the dark and the monsters in it. Demons and ghosts and vampires were all the same, frightening creatures with the intention to hurt me. They lurked in the dark, because they would never be able to survive in the sunlight. But mummy's death . . . I haven't been terrified, lately. The grief took precedence over any fear in me. That was how it was tonight.

So, I put away my Kindle, and turned down the bed. I knew that I needed to grieve, but I couldn't spend my life like this. I was a jumbled mess and everything was so sad and out of control. But that would be taken care of at another time. I just wanted to sleep.

I walked to the light switch and turned off the lights.

The entire room was plunged into darkness in less than a second and it was startling, to say the least. But I got over it, just as I was getting over mummy's death. I stumbled to the bed and slipped under the cool, silky sheets and I lay there, for what could have been hours or millennia. At some point, I saw the yellow light under the door disappear. I heard Cross' door close, followed by the sound of running water. Then another door was shut, and silence followed.

It was going to be a long night.

My neck hurt. It was uncomfortable, the way the pillows were positioned. I raised myself slightly and re-adjusted my pillows, before laying back down. The still silence was driving me crazy, but I was too tired to do anything. I wanted to sleep but I couldn't fall asleep.

Sighing, I turned onto my left side, away from the window.

I felt my heart stop.

A pair of glowing red circles glared at me. It was set in a shadow that was unmistakable darker than the area around it. It killed my grief and fear took over. For a while, I lay completely frozen.

The creature stared at me.

I stared back at it, while pretending not to know what I was staring it.

It cocked its head to the side, and the red circles tilted.

My blood ran cold.

"I know you know," it rasped. "Let us not play these tiresome games."

I swallowed. The thing could probably hear my heart pounding. I could feel the blood rushing in my ears and it didn't feel right. But it had a point. There was no use in pretending and hiding anymore.

"What do you want?" I asked softly, not wanting to disturb this fragile, infuriating silence. And, I was afraid that any loud noises would provoke it. My eyes had finally found a definite shape and it was not good. The creature was in a low, crouching position, looking as if it would spring into action at any moment.

I felt . . . not too scared. Maybe I was depressed. Or maybe I was insane. But, either way, the fear was fading. I believed that I had accepted the possibility that I would die tonight. But, really, what did it want? I never did anything to anyone.

"So tell me," I said.

"You want to know?" it chuckled. "You are a motherless lamb. I would love to tear the flesh from your bone and suck out every last drop of the marrow. I would let the vultures pick over the parts that I did not want. I want . . . to devour you."

A tiny part of me, the part that had existed since birth, fainted. She was terrified, she completely understood what the creature was saying. She was a child, and she could cope with it better than the rest of me could. Because the rest of me was seventeen years old, and my rational mind was wondering why this creature was only showing up now. My scientific brain was curious, not afraid. She wanted to find out more about the monster. She won out.

She ignored the child who screamed at her to back down and sat up, demanding answers. "Who are you? Why are you here? Why didn't you ever come before?" This creature didn't look like something that my mother could stop. "What do you really want with me?"

It couldn't want to eat me, it just couldn't, I thought almost hysterically. But there was no room for hysterics. A strange calm was coming over me and everything felt so . . . out of order. Yesterday felt like a dream.

"That child inside your mother was my cousin. You remember his father, don't you? That tall, dark man -don't look at me like that – they were both going to die anyway. She would be able to never handle the birth and her body hadn't been enough to nourish him. It's common sense – "

The child part of me selfishly thought of herself and her own safety before others and she spoke next. "I don't care! What does that have to do with me?! What do you want with me?! I never did anything to you so leave me out of it!"

And the rational woman inside of me picked up the child and told her to be brave. And I shot out of my bed, ready to fight the little imp.

It was a bad idea. The imp stood, and the red circles glared down at me. It was no imp. It was at least 6'2", judging from the position of the eyes. I must have been in some kind of shock, otherwise, I would never be doing this. I would have already been long gone, hiding or trying – trying – trying – to wake Cross . . .

The creature seemed to pick up my thought as soon as it crossed my mind. I turned – and was knocked to the ground. Everything happened so fast. It twisted me in its grip so that I could stare into its horrifying face – you know, if I had been able to see in that kind of darkness – and it slammed me into the tiles lining the floor. Hard. Pain zinged through my back. I felt the jagged edge of now – broken tile digging into my back as wetness pooled underneath me. Blood.

The creature held me to the floor and when he spoke – oh, his voice. It changed. The harsh rasp had shifted to cold, liquid speech that made my heart thump oddly. "I want your flesh and blood. I told you that already. Surrender, and your death will be quick and painless. Resist, and you suffer. But either way, you die tonight."

I lay limply. I stared stupidly. The first blue light of the early morning flowed through my sheer white curtains. The shape of the creature was clearer now. It was that of a man. Oh, what had happened? How did I get here?

Did it really even matter?

I wasn't sure about how I felt about my imminent death, but I still had two questions for him. "How did you ever see me, or find me – you know, to know about me and to know that you wanted to . . ."

"I saw you with your mother."

"Oh. What is your name?"

" . . . You may call me Kaname."

"Okay –"

Pain burned through my neck. My jaw fell open so far in a silent scream, that I thought that it had become completely unhinged. Then a gaping blackness swallowed up the pale dawn light and I went to a place where I wasn't aware that I wasn't aware.

A/N: So . . . there it is. I hope you like it and please review. You can flame if you want, but constructive criticism is appreciated more. :) And tell me if you think I should leave it as a oneshot, burn it with a flamethrower(my sister's idea) or add chapters. And, yeah, I know I suck at writing horror, but I was in the mood to write it, so I wrote it. Anyway . . . review please! :)