"So taste it and we'll never be alone

I'll take the first bite, yeah, I am ghost

Say good night to you, my darling, my darling"

-- Pretty People Never Lie Vampires Never Really Die by I Am Ghost

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1. What You See and What You Get

Reneey groaned as she was pulled by Lyn to the bookstore on August 7th. "Oh come on, Lyn! I already read the volume!" she whined.

"Yeah, but that was the directly-translated, somewhat illegal English version of the Japanese stuff you get online," Lyn said, not letting go of her friend's arm and continuing to drag her through the local Books-A-Million. "This is the official English volume! There'll be somewhat different words and stuff!"

Reneey rolled her eyes. "But the manga online directly subs the Japanese words into the English, not the shitty dubbed you get like Naruto!"

"You think my OCD cares? I have 6 volumes, therefore I must buy the 7th. It's the curse of the continued reading of a series. Although in this case it's good because it's a good series, but you get my freaking point."

Reneey groaned all the way to the manga aisle. "Fine! But after you get volume 7, we're going to FYE so I can get the soul candy and the Zero wallpaper!"

"If you have the money for it, sure. I'm saving the rest of my money for the Death Note box set, so you're not getting it." Lyn paused and shook her head. "Dang, I'm far too obsessed with random mangas."

"Dude, that soul candy costs one dollar and the wallpaper only costs five dollars," Reneey said with a grin. "And don't worry, at home I have bookshelves of Vampire Knight, Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyasha, and a hell of a lot of Shonen Jump."

"Yeah, all mixed up and with volumes missing in between," Lyn said, rolling her eyes. "I'm OCD durnit! They need to be nicely laid out, in order, and all of them there. Hence the box set! ... Anyway, I don't care if you have them, I want them."

"I have Inuyasha volumes one through six," Reneey muttered as she pouted and looked at the floor.

"And now I shall have Vampire Knight volumes one through seven!" Lyn announced as she snatched a copy over the head of a much shorter Vampire Knight fangirl who was standing in front of the manga rack. Then she grinned and turned it around so Reneey could see the cover and twirl it around in a singsong-type mannerism. "Maybe being five nine isn't such a horrible thing all the time, after all."

Reneey blinked and looked at the Vampire Knight cover that was in Lyn's hand, then took her own hand and covered Yuki and Kaname. "There! Now it's Zero and only Zero!" Reneey announced with a triumphant grin.

Lyn rolled her eyes and moved her hand to cover Zero too. "And now there's nobody on it at all!" She took on a sarcastically sad tone and muttered, "Crap, now I guess we have to find another one..."

Before Reneey could roll her eyes or Lyn could make another sarcastic comment, something happened. It was like one of those movies where everything spings and you feel like you're on a roller coaster ride about to barf. Your life flashes in front of your eyes, your head starts to get so dizzy that you can't even comprehend two plus two, your body feels like mush, and everything turns cold, freezing cold. Then a blast of light appeared coming from the Vampire Knight manga, a light so bright that it could outmatch the sun.

What was minutes seemed like hours until the two girls awoke in the middle of a snow scene. Reneey blinked as she slowly got to her knees. She noticed almost immediately that her outfit was different. Instead of wearing tripp pants and a black shirt, she was wearing black pants with a red shirt that had a symbol on the back shaped like a diamond cut in half with one side white and the other side black.

"Huh?" Reneey asked, feeling like she was drunk when she really wasn't. "Lyn? Lynni? Ya alright? Where the fuck are we?"

The girl next to Reneey raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

Lyn wasn't wearing the jeans and white shirt she had had on before; no, she was wearing shorts that were ripped in several paces and a long-sleeved white shirt that looked like it had been bought from some old store underground. Her hair was longer and wavier, her eyes red and silver instead of green. Bruises and cuts smothered her body and on her ankle was an anklet with a black-and-blue diamond, and right underneath that was a mark like a rose that looked like it had been burned onto her skin.

Reneey blinked. "Damn, what the fuck happened to you?"

Lyn's eyes might be differently colored now but they still had the same suspicious look when she narrowed them and growled, "Who are you to ask questions? Who are you at all?"

Reneey's mouth dropped open. "Wait, are you saying that you don't know me at all?"

"You talk like I'm supposed to," Lyn went on suspiciously. "Where did you come from anyway? You weren't here before, just some old man." She growled and brushed her fingertips over a gash on her other hand. "Last time I underestimate a weakling like that."

Reneey looked down, blinking. Did Lyn really not remember her? Did the one person who cared for her not remember her at all? Was she really alone again?

The girl blinked away her tears and shook her head. Now's not the time to be crying like you're some pitiful fool. Then she looked back at Lyn and said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Then again, maybe it's a good thing; maybe this way she won't know the pain her family caused her... but then again, it could also be a bad thing because of that...

"I think I'll decide that," Lyn countered, seeming to take no pity on the girl's tears, or at least not showing it if she did. "Tell me who you are and where you came from or I'll have to assume you're a threat and act accordingly."

"I'm Reneey Umbra and I'm from Uzbekistan. I'm not a threat... well, to anyone but bugs," Reneey said, grinning a little.

"Uzbekistan," Lyn repeated, still in a toneless, evaluative voice. "Then why are you here?"

Reneey said firmly, "Running away from home; and what about you?"

Lyn scoffed and stood up to look around and decide her next course of action, seeming to have decided this girl posed no immediate threat, at least. "That requires a home from which to run away; I have none. But you should get up and keep running if you know what's best for you."

"I don't want to ever go back home," Reneey said quietly. "But you're hurt; let me stay with you." Whether you know me or not, I'm still your best friend and you're still mine. I'll be damned if I leave you alone.

Lyn chuckled darkly, seeming to find some secret humor in that. "Trust me, girl, I'm not the one in danger here."

Reneey was never the patient one; whatever came first into her mind, she did, whether it was stupid or not. And that was the basic idea when she said, "I'll tell you how I know you if I can stay with you."

The tension that had ebbed away was back in a flash as Lyn tensed and her eyes narrowed dangerously all over again. But she kept her voice perfectly level as she said, "You said you were running away from home in Uzbekistan."

"Yeah, but that's only half," Reneey said with a sigh. "You're not going to believe this, but we're best friends. You're like a mother-slash-older sister to me and I'm like your little sister-slash-daughter. We met about three years ago. I think we're in another dimension... because before, we were at the bookstore looking at Vampire Knight manga, and well, now we're here."

Judging by the skeptical look on her face, Lyn was probably about to write all of this off as this girl being some insane asylum escapee and move on, right until the end of Reneey's little speech when she suddenly looked alarmed again. "Tell me something about me, then," she said slowly, taking a couple of careful steps forward. "If you claim to know me then prove it or leave now before I change my mind about treating you as a threat."

"You're nice and caring, but that doesn't stop you from getting pissed off and killing anything or anybody that hurts you or your friends. You feel pain inside of you every day but hide it with a smile. You may seem cold and aloof but really you care for others and don't want them to get hurt... with the exception of certain fuckers."

Lyn was silent for a long moment, and then she shook her head. "Nice try, but you're wrong. I don't have friends. I have no reason to smile for anyone else. And I don't feel anything anymore."

Reneey shook her head. "That's how you are from our world." She then pulled out her cell phone and brought up a picture of her and Lyn cosplaying at an anime convention.

Before Lyn could raise an eyebrow and think of a way to explain that away too, someone or something jumped from the trees and landed in front of the girls. The creature had gray skin and red, piercing eyes.

"Hm, fresh meat!" The creature cackled, but stopped at once when he saw Reneey's clothing. "Oh? An Umbra? Your family killed mine, but now I shall kill you!"

The vampire lunged at Reneey, managing to slice her shoulder open before she lost her balance and fell into the snow, her blood staining the pure silver ground. But as Lyn drew back with her eyes narrowed at the creature and prepared for a strike of her own, Reneey's fingers touched Lyn's anklet, and suddenly something snapped. Reneey's eyes went yellow and red with bloodlust, her nails grew longer, and she lunged at the vampire with inhuman ferocity and tore him to shreds.

Lyn could tell that this girl wasn't in her right mind, but exactly what was going on she wasn't sure of. Actually, there were only two things she knew for sure right now; one, this girl wasn't just a girl but a hunter; and two, she was very, very dangerous. Something about whatever was happening froze her in place though and she didn't move until Reneey turned again after the vampire was dead.

Still in her crazed state, she whispered, "Vampire... must kill..."

On her arm, there appeared a diamond that glowed brightly.

"I'm not level E, girl," Lyn said warningly as she took a step backward. "I can still think. I don't want to hurt you but I won't let you kill me either. Now back off before one of us does something we'll regret."

But Reneey showed no sign of backing off, just took a step closer still with that strange look in her eyes.

It had all happened in a flash, the rogue vampire attacking, Reneey snapping, and suddenly eight vampires appeared, circling around Reneey and Lyn.

"Kaname-sama!" one of the vampires whose name was Ruka yelled. "Look at the black-haired girl!"

Kaname's eyes went wide just for a bit. A vampire hunter, but not just an ordinary one -- one out of the Umbra family.

Ichijo sighed ashe walked by reading his manga. "What exactly are we here -- ag!" What he didn't see was (-coughduetohimreadingmangacough-) was the terrain in front of him, thus he slipped on a rock and crashed into Reneey, which made her fall and hit her head on the ground. As she fell unconscious, her eyes faded back to their dark brown and her nails went back to normal.

"Oh? Heh... sorry there, lady," Ichijo sweatdropped.

Ruka slapped her forehead. "Ugh! IGHIJO!"

Lyn didn't know who to glare at, so she compensated by standing very still and letting her eyes roam slowly around the half of the circle she could see. "Who the heck are you people and what in God's name is going on here?"

Kaname looked at Lyn and raised an eyebrow. "Hm, you're a vampire too? I'm Kaname, and these are Ruka, Ichijo, Akatsuki, Hanabusa, Senri, Rima, and Serian. We're from Cross Academy, the school for vampires and humans."

Hanabusa smirked and went over to Lyn. "My my, hello there. You seem to be bruised up, let me heal you."

Lyn's gaze only hardened as he came closer, even warier now than when Reneey had appeared out of nowhere and claimed to know her. "Or you could back off before you're the one who needs healing. I've had quite enough surprises today, thanks."

Hanabusa's smirk only broadened. "Ooh, a fiesty one."

Kaname seemed to ignore this and said, "You know, being alone here is dangerous. You could come with us to the academy -- you'd be much safer."

"At a school?" Lyn smirked and cast another suspicious glance around the circle of vampires. "Maybe you haven't noticed this yet but large groups of people don't exactly put me at ease."

"No, you see, this school is divided into two parts -- the day class, which are humans, and the night class, which are vampires. The headmaster trains us to control our thirst."

Lyn raised an eyebrow. "Then your headmaster has high hopes indeed, or else a very dangerous hobby."

"Hey, Kaname, what do we do about her?" Ichijo asked as he picked up the unconscious form of Reneey.

"We'll take her in," Kaname answered.

"What!?" Ruka snapped. "She's a hunter!"

"But she's human and she's hurt," Kaname pointed out. "If need be, we'll bind her."

Ichijo shrugged and merely said, "Whatever."

"Let me carry her," Lyn said abruptly. She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt protective of this girl. It didn't make sense, but it was a feeling deeper than just a hunch, and she didn't trust any of these vampires yet, regardless of whatever claims they made about learning to control their thirst.

"Are you crazy!? She could have killed --"

Lyn interrupted Senri this time: "Let. Me. Carry her." Her voice was more lethal now, more dangerous. Ichijo looked uncertainly at Kaname, who nodded, so Ichijo gave Reneey to Lyn.

"I will go with you to this school of yours for now," Lyn said, forcing her voice back to normal levels. "But only for now. Reneey and I... have things to discuss when she wakes up. Then I will be on my way."