Okay, so I know that Chapter 10 of A Lesson in Understanding just went up a day or so ago, but I really wanted to get at least this chapter of Part 2 up. Especially since I left it at such a cliffhanger... not that I did much better here.
Anyhow, thanks for everyone who stuck with me through the first part of this trilogy. With any luck, and a little harassing/encouraging from friends and loved ones, perhaps we'll see the next 9 chapters of this part and the 10 of the third. :) (hinthintwinkwink)
I must say before I let you get to the reading, that I'm sorry that this chapter is so short. It's more of a teaser, now that I think about it, but it serves its purpose for Chapter 2. I do hope that you enjoy it, though, because I am once again enjoying writing it.
Happy reading!
Lessons Learned the Hard Way
One
Naji's body shivered in his arms, making her seem even more fragile than ever. Kei kept running, ignoring the chilling cold of her blood soaking through his clothes. He could sense their pursuers more than see or hear them. As it was, they were racing the dawn as well.
"K-Kei," Naji rasped, clutching at his shoulder convulsively. "Wh-wh…"
"Quiet," he gasped, stumbling to a halt at the outskirts of an abandoned town.
He slipped into the shadows, aware of the sun creeping over the foothills. Naji's breathing was becoming shallower and shallower. Kei forced his way into a house and carried Naji into the basement.
"N-need-," Naji groaned. "Weak…"
"I know," Kei hissed. "I know, I know."
He climbed back to the top of the stairs and looked out. The first rays of sun were creeping in through the glassless windows. With a growl, he pulled the door closed and descended the stairs again.
"K-Kei!" Naji shrieked.
She lay in a widening pool of blood, shaking uncontrollably. Kei shrugged out of his blood soaked coat and spread it over her. Her wound wouldn't heal itself and ironically, she was bleeding to death. She needed to feed.
Now.
There was only one choice, but he was wary to do it. Still, as much as he hated and despised Naji, the better part of him couldn't let her die. Not after she'd accepted him since Luka's death. He chewed his thumb, her harsh breathing rattling in his ears. Even though it was all but forbidden, he knew he had to do it. Steeling his resolve, he knelt next to Naji, drawing her back into his arms.
"Naji," he whispered, reaching around her slender form to push back his right sleeve, exposing the smooth flesh of his forearm. "Naji, you need blood."
She looked up at him, her eyes burning feverishly.
"Please," he urged. "You can't die like this."
Naji's eyes ventured down to the arm that Kei presented to her. One shaking hand came up and latched onto his wrist as her teeth sank into his flesh.
Kei hissed, closing his eyes. She pulled deeply, making him weak almost immediately. Her grip on him grew tighter as her teeth sank deeper. The blood stopped flowing and her wound slowly healed over, but she didn't let go. Kei knew that she'd gone too long without feeding. Much more and she was likely to kill him.
"Stop," he gasped. "Naji… stop!"
With a cry, he ripped from her grasp, flinging himself across the room, away from her. Naji howled, but did not move to follow. Kei curled himself into a corner as the marks healed over slowly. As the last of the blood dried on his skin, Kei slipped into a world of darkness.
Three days later, when Kei could move again, he left Naji for good.
"Y-you're… a WHAT?" Rin screamed.
Kei couldn't decide what was worse: Rin's terrified and betrayed expression or Naji's shrieking laughter. Either way, he was lost for what to do.
"Yes, darling daughter of the Watchtower," Naji said, stepping away from Sho. "You've been in league with a vampire. How do you like that?"
Rin took the few steps between them, and before anyone could move, Kei found himself sprawled on the floor, blood trickling from his broken lip.
"You-," she growled. "You BASTARD! You're a… a… and you never… What the hell?"
She made to draw her sword, but powerful arms restrained her, pulling her away. Even held, Rin continued to spew anger and rage at Kei in four different languages as he pulled himself to his feet. Naji appeared at his side.
"Oh," she purred in his ear, sliding an arm around his neck to caress his chest, "she didn't know. Why haven't you told her, Kei? Are you ashamed? Do you despise what you are so much that you'd pretend to be human for her?"
Kei shook off his paralysis and tore away from her, anger rising in him. He uttered a sharp hiss at her.
"You! How dare you! You do not own me. You never have. Why are you trying to ruin my life? Again!"
Naji looked stung, her eyes flashing with anger.
"Ruin YOUR life? YOUR life? Kei, I'm the reason you're still alive!" she darted a hand out, catching Kei around the throat, squeezing. "If it weren't for me, you'd have followed my dear husband into death. I SAVED you Kei. And you left me. Abandoned me!"
With a scream of rage, she lifted Kei off of his feet as if he was nothing and cast him aside. He had no chance to stop his flight and he slammed into the wall. He cried out in pain as he felt something in his arm shatter, but it was only a brief discomfort as the bones began to knit themselves back together almost immediately.
"Kei, you are an ungrateful, poor excuse for a man," Naji hissed, moving toward Kei as he picked himself up off the floor again. "Why my husband ever thought to turn you, I will never know."
"It was his choice," Kei said, moving away from Naji, mind racing. "He saved me from a bad situation."
"Saved you?" Naji scoffed, following Kei's movements. "You call it a curse. Wretched creature, you are unworthy of him. How did you seduce him, hmm? Youthful play? Promises? Did you buy his affections, Kei?"
Kei kept moving away, watching Naji and her armed human guard. He shoved all thoughts of Rin and Sho from his mind, focusing all his energy, instead, on Naji, on keeping the vampiress distracted a little longer.
Rin listened to Kei and Naji fight, ignoring the confusion that welled in her mind. Her emotions were rampant, all her years of training as a vampire Hunter battling with her trust and respect for Kei. He hadn't threatened her in any way, but he had kept this secret from her.
"But," her mind tried to rationalize, "you've kept a secret yourself. Did you out and tell him that you're a-,"
Her thoughts were interrupted when she caught sight of Sho. His armed guard had moved away to watch the slow motion game of cat-and-mouse that had now moved to the other end of the bay. Sho had his head tipped back, all pretense of unconsciousness gone, and was attempting to free himself from the rope that bound him to the frame. He moved and caught sight of her staring at him. His eyes conveyed the anger and fear that his body fought against.
"Help us!" those blue orbs cried.
Slowly, keeping an eye on all the, momentarily, distracted armed men, Rin slipped a hand into her jacket. Naji had been careless in leaving her armed. On her left hip lay four of her throwing knives. She closed her hand around one and pulled it free. She had to be careful, precise. Rin took a step forward, then another and another. No one stopped her.
"Luka was a fool," Naji growled, still following Kei's retreat. "To sire a sniveling whelp like you, he must have been out of his mind."
"What about you, Naji?" Kei spat, venom in his voice. "He sired you, didn't he? Do you think he'd be proud of the true monster you've become?"
"How dare you!" she screamed, lunging at Kei when he moved into the open. "How dare you speak to me this way!"
Kei easily evaded her, using her anger against her. He laughed.
"Why, Naji? Because you are the one who is ashamed?"
Naji howled and lunged again. This time, Kei met her head-on, bearing the brunt of the blow with a growl. Rin took advantage of the moment of confusion the clash caused and threw the knife. True to her aim, the knife sliced through the rope. Sho hit the floor with a dull thud and a groan. Rin pulled her wakizashi free and ran to him.
Naji heard Sho's groan through her anger and tried to turn, but Kei tightened his hold on her. He had counted on Rin's liking of Sho to spur her into action, at least for the boy's sake. Naji clawed at him, tearing his jacket to shreds and leaving deep furrows in the skin of his back. He cursed darkly, but held on.
Rin cut down three of the men who tried to stop her getting to Sho before they opened fire on her. In close quarters, though, they didn't fire much for fear of hitting one another. She ducked low and ran, covering the distance in a matter of seconds and skidding to a halt next to Sho.
"Took you long enough," he panted, working the gag from his mouth.
"Sorry. I needed a new pair of shoes," she replied, yanking the dagger from her left boot. "Hands."
He held them out so she could cut through his bindings.
"Let's get out of here," she said, standing up and taking a sharp swing at an approaching guard with her sword. "Now."
Sho nodded, looking over at Kei. He was bleeding profusely from a number of slash and gouge wounds, but he held fast to Naji, grim determination in his eyes.
"Kei!" Sho yelled. "Let's go!"
The vampire looked over at him, tears leaping to his eyes as he held the thrashing woman.
"Go yourself!" he called, dragging her farther to the other side of the bay. "Get out, Sho! I'll catch up."
Sho, terror in his face, stepped forward, but Rin grabbed him, pulled him back, practically dragging him toward the doors. A bullet flying past his face brought him back to reality and he ran on his own. Rin stopped long enough to send a few sin-bom into their pursuers before charging into the dark factory.
They slammed out into the open air of the night, gasping beneath thunderheads that rumbled with thunder and glowed with lightning. Rin headed for the car, Sho on her heels.
"Kei had the keys," she gasped, collapsing against the hood.
"No problem. Keep an eye out."
Sho dropped to one knee next to the rear bumper, feeling around beneath it. He came up with a small silver box and slid into the driver's seat of the convertible.
"Coming?" he said, looking at Rin through the windshield.
She all but threw herself into the car as he opened the box and dropped a set of keys into his open palm. Throwing the box into the back seat, Sho started the car and sped away. Rin twisted around in her seat to watch stall forty-six vanish out of sight.
"They're not following us," she said, turning to face forward. "Weird."
Sho nodded, concentrating on his driving. Rin stared out at Mallepa flying past her, her mind a mess. After a few minutes of silence, she turned to her companion.
"Sho?" she said softly. "About Kei-,"
"Not yet," he said a little more sharply than he'd wanted. "Not here. Okay?"
Rin understood and nodded. When Sho was ready, he'd talk.
"Will they kill him?" she ventured, watching the man form the corner of her eye.
"I don't know," he whispered, pain in his voice. "I honestly don't know."
There were a few more moments of silence before Sho spoke again.
"Will you?"
Rin closed her eyes and didn't answer.
They climbed the stairs to the apartment quietly, Sho opening the door with the spare keys. He vanished into his room, closing the door behind him. Rin, fighting tears of empathy for the pain and loss that she knew her friend was feeling, went into the kitchen and removed her weaponry, laying it out on the table.
Sho reappeared ten minutes later in jeans and a sweatshirt. Rain was battering the windows and lightning forked through the sky. Rin handed him a cup of coffee as he sat down at the table.
"So," he said, his voice flat, "you want to know about Kei? I'll tell you what I can. You might want to sit down. It's a bit of a story."
Read and review please! (heart bubbles)
