Author's Note: Hello and welcome to my first fan fic! This story shall follow Zero Kiryu during the four years after the attack on his family. I do hope you enjoy it as Vampire Knight is one of my favorite animes and Zero is such a fun character to play with, though I don't think he enjoys it very much. Rating at Teen for mentions of blood and some violence.

Any way as for my disclaimer: I in no way shape of form own Vampire Knight. All rights belong to Matsuri Hino,LaLa magazine, Hakusensha, Shojo Beat, and Viz Media.

Red.

It was the only thing he could see. It covered the floor, coated his hands, and oozed from the two bite marks on his neck. Zero placed a trembling hand upon his open wounds and felt the blood seeping uncontrollably, warm and thick, like the tears leaking from his eyes. He wouldn't be surprised if his very tears were crimson.

He was all alone now, alone with the lifeless corpses that were once his mother and father. That woman, Shizuka Hio, was gone now. Gone. Like Ichiru. Zero clutched his head willing the pounding to go away. Thinking of his twin brother hurt. He wouldn't think of him, his heart simply couldn't take it.

How long had he been lying here? He could hear the clock upon the wall ticking loudly but he couldn't lift his head. He shut his eyes, trying to rid himself of the sight of his blood, his mother's blood, his father's blood. At that thought he began to hyperventilate.

Tick, tock, tick, tock

How could time be so cruel as to continue? And why was the pounding getting louder? He pressed his hands to his ears, but the sound became deafening.

"Damn it, open the door already, it's freezing out here," Toga Yagari demanded, pounding on the front door. He was dressed in a long trench coat and had a shotgun strapped to his back. His face held an elaborate eye patch covering up the damage he had received a few years ago from a level E attack. He looked up and saw lights shining through the second story windows. At the continued silence, he felt the growing sensation that something was amiss.

"Alright last warning before I break and enter," he called gruffly. When only silence was his reply, he kicked the door open. He walked into the foyer and looked around.

"Hey, anyone home?" he called. The Kiryus hadn't been called into action since their last assignment to take out a level E a month ago. Besides if they had been assigned a mission, they would have called him so he could watch over his apprentices, Zero and Ichiru. He looked upon the floor and saw an odd sight. There were cherry blossoms covering the hardwood. For some reason the sight made him uneasy. He quickly readied his shotgun, checking to be sure it was loaded with anti-vampire bullets, and proceeded cautiously down the hallway.

As the hallway curved, he saw a red smear on the wall. His visible eye widened and he raced into the living room. The pungent smell of blood reached his nostrils and he stared aghast at the crimson sea before him. He placed his hand over his mouth and resisted the urge to gag. Over the years he had seen many a gruesome sight and he had seen countless allies fall, but this, this was a slaughter, no level E would leave this much blood behind, let alone slay a family of vampire hunters as powerful as the Kiryus.

No, this was the work of a pureblood. But who? It couldn't have been the Shoutos or the Shirabukis; they were out of the country at the moment. And he highly doubted the last Kuran would do something so rash, not when his family had stood for pacifism. But who really knew what those self proclaimed aristocrats were capable of. He lowered his weapon and slung it upon his back.

Whomever is had been was long gone by now. He then remembered his duty. He had to ensure none of them were alive to be infected with the pureblood's poison. He walked over to Akane Kiryu first. Her eyes were wide and staring, glazed over in death. He bent down and lowered her eyelids. Next to her was her husband Daisuke, his silver stained with crimson. After checking for a pulse he concluded they had died of blood loss and were in no danger of becoming vampires.

He then looked over at their son, whether it was Zero or Ichiru, he couldn't be sure as the boy's face was turned away. He sighed deeply, such a waste of life, Zero in particular had such promise. He scanned the room but realized the second twin was missing. Either he was dead or the pureblood had taken him as a kind of pet. Just more evidence of how sick vampires were.

He bent down and gently turned the boy over, only to be met with resistance. Yagari's eyes widened as he felt the small boy tremble at his touch. The boy was clutching his neck and staring up at him fearfully; with an expression he had not seen since the night that level E had taken his eye.

"Zero?" Yagari questioned.

The boy swallowed hard but recognition flickered in his eyes.

"Ma- Master?" he breathed, his blood covered hand moving away from his neck as if to confirm he was really there.

He took Zero's hand in his own. The blood made it hard for his gloved hands to hold on.

"It's alright Zero, you're safe now," he said comfortingly. Yagari then looked at the boy's exposed neck and gasped. There were two small holes, healing far too rapidly to be natural. Zero realized that he had exposed his injured neck and took his hand away, clamping it upon his wounds.

Yagari took a step back. Zero had been bitten by a pureblood. There was only one fate left for him now. He instinctively reached for his gun but hesitated as he looked into Zero's frightened eyes. He knew the boy had learned what happened when a pureblood bit a human but knowing and experiencing it were two separate things.

He tried to think of some kind of solution. The Hunter Association would no doubt discover the boy's condition, and would doubtlessly try to destroy him before he became a level E, but if he gained that man's help, yes, he might have a chance at persuading the President. He quickly flipped out his phone and dialed the number. After a couple of rings he heard an answer.

"Headmaster Cross speaking," the man answered.

"Kaien, it's me," he said gruffly.

"Oh Toga! It's so wonderful to hear from you! You know it's been ages since we last met. You should come down to the school! We've almost finished construction on the Sun dorms and-" Cross said with his usual exuberance but Yagari quickly cut across.

"There's a situation Kaien," he said exhaling slowly."I need your help."

Author's Note: Well there's Chapter One, please review and let me know what you think. Oh and BTW the names of Zero's parents were just something I came up with as they don't have official names.