Author's Note: This is my FIRST fanfic and I'm really excited about it! Please feel free to leave comments and critics for me xxx I have reworked this chapter so don't be surprised if it's different from the last time you read it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Seraph of the end

"RUN!"

This couldn't be happening. No, I wouldn't believe it! A few seconds ago, we had all been walking to our freedom. We were going to escape the vampire city and live together in the outside world!

"Everybody, we have to make a break for it!" Yuu shouted.

I couldn't move, I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe.

Mika had said he knew a way out, he had looked into my eyes and promised we would live free of the vampire's rule! He had gone out of his way to steal a map and gun for us! He had done the unthinkable and sold his blood for us! His plan was supposed to work! He had promised me!

"Sprint for the exit!" Yuu's scared face met mine, "Hurry!"

Behind me, my family started sprinting for their lives. Little Ako tripped and stumbled up the stairs, her cute pigtails flopping around in a frenzy! Fumie screamed as she ran, clutching her teddy bear for dear life! Tiny taichi latched onto her free hand. But tiny tai was the youngest of us all, there was no way he could keep up with his sister. His legs tangled together and he fell on the floor like a lost puppy. Kota was the last of us to run. She sprinted past me like a cheetah, her numerous soccer matches on the street finally paying off. I watched, frozen to the spot, as she pumped her arms and pushed her legs to move faster than she ever had before!

"RUN!" Yuu shouted again.

Before I could even think of taking a step forward, Lord Ferid shot past in a blur, knocking me backwards!

To my utter horror, Chihiro's body lay in a clump under me. Her sunken eyes were pulled shut and blood trickled from her open mouth. The tips of her blue hair were dipped into a growing puddle of blood, her blood! To my left, her glasses lay smashed at her feet. She had treasured them ever since the director gave them to her! I shook my head in disbelief, this wasn't happening! I must be dreaming! Right? Chihiro couldn't be dead… she had smiled at me just a minute ago…

"Didn't I just tell you?" Our vampire tormentor coked his head over his shoulders and smiled at Yuu, Mika and me. "I want to see your faces twist in despair."

In the blink of an eye, Lord Ferid sliced through Taichi's neck with nothing but his hand. His little body fell to the floor, smearing a trail of red as his head rolled away. Infront of my eyes, I watched helplessly as the monster cut down my siblings, one by one.

Chihiro, Taichi, Fumie, Ako and, Kota!

Soon, they all lay dead in pools of their own innocent blood.

"no…please stop…...PLEASE STOP!" Mika dropped to his knees and cried with all his might.

He begged for Lord Ferid to stop this massacre. But it was too late. He was a vampire and we were his little lambs. We were nothing but stupid livestock in his eyes, merely walking, talking bags of blood. He wasn't going to stop because we asked. He wasn't going to stop until every drop of our blood had bled from our cold, lifeless corpses!

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as my whole body shook with despair. This was it, I was going to die here. I, Akane Hyakuya, would die as nothing more than a vampire's juice box! My eyes would never see the sunshine again, my soul would never laugh again, I would die before I'd truly lived! Despair like nothing I'd ever experienced before sunk into my bones, drenching them in black sorrow. Every dream I ever had and all hope I ever held fell into an endless abyss. This was it... I was going to die here...

Bowing my head in a silent prayer, I waited for my inevitable fate to arrive.

"Akane!" My head shot up at the mention of my name, "Yuu?"

Within the blink of an eye, Lord Ferid stood towering over me. His red eyes twinkled with excitement. He looked me up and down casually as if he was merely criticizing my outfit. A sickening feeling bubbled in the bottom of my stomach. This vampire was sick! Playing with is prey like an excited cat! I gathered the courage to pull my hands up to my neck. If he wanted to murder me, then he was going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. No way was I going to stand around and let this monster drain my body of blood! I knew I was going to die here but I sure as hell wasn't going to go out as a drained corpse!

Closing my eyes, I waited for Lord Ferid to slice my head off.

"No way you idiot! I can't just leave you!" Yuu's voice echoed through the hall.

Why were they arguing? We were all about to die a violent death and my brothers were fighting?! The very idea felt so surreal, I nearly laughed at the absurdity of the whole situation. Here we stood, in the middle of a marble white hall filled with the blood and lifeless bodies of our family... and my last living brothers were fighting?

Suddenly, I felt Ferid's hand grab my dress. My whole body tensed as he proceeded to throw my tiny body into the air!

My eyes shoot open just in time to see Mika charging towards me, a gun in hand clearly aiming for Ferid. Inch by painfully slow inch, I braced myself for the inevitable collision with Mika.

One… Two… Three…

At the very last second, Mika dive-rolled to the side, missing me by a mere centimetre. A loud 'THUMP' soon followed as my body hit the ground with all the grace of a brick! Meanwhile, Ferid lowered his hand as his attention focused solely on Mika.

"Ahhhhhh, Mikaela," he said. "Your blood was particularly tasty, thank you for the treat."

Everything next happened in a blur... Lord Ferid attacked, A gunshot rang out, Yuu running past me, Mika's arm flying across the hall, the click of a gun, Yuu yelling, "DIE!", and then a final gunshot.

After a moment of silence, Ferid's body fell to the ground. Yuu kneeled next to Mika, clutching his hands in his own. Blood seeped out of the hole in his chest and pooled around Yuu's knees, staining his white pants red.

A thousand thoughts swirled in my head. Was Ferid dead? Had Yuu really killed a vampire noble with his own shot-gun? How was that even possible!? The truth is, it wasn't possible. Ferid was a freaking VAMPIRE! A bullet wouldn't kill him. My logic cogs began to turn. Yuu and I were still alive while Mika was dying. If Ferid wanted us dead, all he had to do was stand up? But he didn't. Meaning, he planned on us escaping… but why? What made US so special?

"MIKA, STAND UP!" I look up from my thoughts to see Yuu attempting to drag Mika's dying body up the stairs. "COME ON!" He cried.

My heart dropped into my stomach and anger rose to my head. Fine! If this monster wanted us to escape, then I would be more than happy to fulfil his wish! Rising to my feet, I sprinted towards my brothers. My legs pounded against the hard marble floor as I weaved around my siblings' bodies. My mind wanted to stop and look, to mourn their deaths and cry till my eyes ran dry. But Mika and Yuu needed me! "I'm sorry," I said. My legs continued to run past, a twinge of guilt and sorrow building in my chest.

I was two metres away when Yuu lost his grip and dropped Mika with a 'thud.' "go… you idiot…" Mika's lone hand reached up and pushed Yuu toward the exit, willing him to go! To just run! My pig-headed brother shook his head, "No! I'm not leaving you, Mika!"

"Over there!" The guards began to appear at the end of the hall, cloaks billowing as they ran. Mika fell limp on the stairs just as I reached the bottom step. His eyes were wide open, staring at nothing while a small smile played on his lips. Yuu sat speechlessly. I couldn't believe it either… Mika was dead?!

"Hey, you two! Stop!" One of the guards emerged from the shadows and spotted us. His red eyes flashed a warning. Either we stopped and died or we ran and 'possibly' died.

I turned to Yuu and our eyes met. A flicker of understanding passed between us. We had to run. Summoning every ounce of my willpower, I turned my back on my siblings… on Mika… and ran.

Together, we zoomed through tunnel after endless tunnel. For each one we passed, my legs became slower and the full reality of what had happened sank in. My family was dead. Everyone I'd spent my life growing up with had passed! Chihiro, dead. Kota, dead. Ako, gone. Fumie, gone. Taichi, beheaded! And Mika… Mika was...

The next thing I knew, I was outside. It was dark and snow-covered trees dotted a hilly landscape. Yuu was nowhere to be seen, only footsteps in the snow gave me an inkling as to where he had gone. A sigh escaped my lips. Of course, he had kept running. The dope probably hadn't even realised his sister was no longer beside him!

A cold wind flew past me and my body shivered as goose bumps spread across my bare arms and legs. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, adrenaline pumped through my veins and my lungs gasped for air. Was I safe? Was this the outside world? Had we really escaped? It seemed too good to be true. Yet, the freezing wind and snow biting my ankles told my mind it was true.

I abruptly realised I had no idea if there were any adults left outside?! The vampires told us no one above the age of thirteen was left alive after the virus hit. According to them, no human over the age of thirteen EVER survived above ground. Well, I was eleven and Yuu was twelve! That meant we had at least a year to find a cure… hopefully.

"There he is, just like the prophecy said." A male voice cut through the wind and travelled over the snowy hills. Who was that? What was he talking too? and why was he here?

Following Yuu's trail, I reached the top of the first hill just in time to see three strange adults approaching my crying brother. My heart clenched at the sight of him. Just like me, his eyes were red, his face tear stained, livestock clothes splattered with blood, and dreams shattered. We looked like we had just run through hell and back. Which in a way, we had…

The tallest one, a male and probably the one who had spoken, approached Yuu. He wore a strange military uniform and carried a glowing red sword. His black hair reminded me of Yuu's. While his purple eyes and aura of danger reminded me of my horrible monthly injections from the orphanage.

"Boy, I can give you the power to exterminate vampires," he said. Ah Ha! So, they killed vampires! But did that mean they could be trusted? The girl to the man's left offered her jacket to Yuu, wrapping it around his shoulders. Her strawberry blonde hair and sweet brown eyes radiated warmth. Instinct told me she could be trusted while the other girl to the man's right, could not. The way her straight hair fell and the way her eyes stared, sent shivers down my spine! Who were these people? And how were they still alive? They were adults and therefore, should be dead!?

My last living family member looked at the trio with a stunned expression. After a few seconds, the shock wore off and he wiped his eyes. "You're human?' he asked. The man nodded and explained the virus only killed the adults alive the night the apocalypse started. "My name is Lieutenant Guren Ichinose, the captain of the Moon Demon Company."

Conflicting thoughts swirled around in my head, trying to decide if I should run to Yuu's side or stay hidden. Hope urged me forward while fear kept me still. I still didn't know if these humans could be trusted? After all, their arrival was rather convenient. Did they always patrol the woods looking for kids and just happened to stumble across us by accident? Or was it set up? Ugh, like always, I had too many questions and no answers!

Yuu rocked from foot to foot, trying to make a decision. "What about Akane? Can she come too?" His eyes scanned the hills looking for me. Alright, I'm going to Yuu!

Suddenly, a hand clamped around my mouth and pushed me into the snow! Pure fear surged through my veins. What was going on!? "Make a noise and I'll kill you." A voice said. No! NO! I was dreaming, right? The guards couldn't have chased after us! Lord Ferid had said vampires found it difficult to navigate outside, so how? Who was holding me!?

"Where's your sister, kid?" Guren's voice sliced through the wind like a knife. "She should be behind me?" Yuu replied. The snow started to crunch as numerous footsteps started up the hill towards us.

In the blink of an eye, my capturer bundled my body into his arms and re-entered the escape tunnel. The dirt floor and rotten oak walls sneered at me, laughing at my predicament like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen! I tried screaming for Yuu, but the stranger quickly covered my mouth. He wrapped one arm around my waist and sunk to the ground. With my body pressed against his and my mouth held shut, I was helpless once again. The man lent down and whispered into my ear, "Listen, here they come." He turned my head towards the open door and unleashed a dark chuckle.

Yuu's head popped into view. He raised his shivering hands to his mouth and shouted my name. "AKANE! Where are you!?" Guren and friends trudged through the snow and joined him. "akane!", "AKANE!", "Akane?" Their voices blended together, filling the woods with my name.

As they drew closer to our hiding spot. Shaking my head from side to side and stamping my feet in the dirt, I tried desperately to scream for help!

"Mmmfff!" My pleas for help came out as nothing more than pathetic mumbling. An ant's shouts would have been louder than I was!

Yuu wandered around the trees and looked in the bushes. Guren and the girls climbed the other hills and shook the trees in their search. "Kid, your friends not here," Guren said. My brother shook his head and continued calling out my name. "AKANE! IT'S YUU!" The nice girl went over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure she was behind you?" At her question, Yuu scoffed. "Of course she was!" He said, "Akane IS here somewhere, I SWEAR!" The trio exchanged concerned glances. They didn't believe him…

Yuu pulled away from the blonde and moved towards the tunnel. He managed three steps before Lieutenant Guren stopped him. "You cannot go in there. If your sister is still down there, then she's as good as dead, kid."

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. Yuu was so close! He stood three metres away from where we hid and yet, he couldn't see me! Once again, I tried to call out to him, to make a noise so he would venture a little further. My legs stamped the ground and my hands clapped my sides but it wasn't enough!

Yuu turned his back on the exit and looked up at Guren. Panic burst into my chest like a lightning bolt! No, no, no, turn around! Please Yuu, turn around! I'm right here, IM RIGHT HERE! A mixture of tears and snot dripped from my chin and trickled down my neck. My whole body trembled with rage and fear as my brother took a single step away from me.

"I'm sorry, kid. But, she's gone."

For a split second, Yuu stood still, frozen in time like a statue. Then, as if fate had pierced him with an arrow herself, he clutched his stomach and fainted into Guren's arms. Both girls rushed to his side. The kind one checked his pulse while the scary one put her ear to his chest, checking for signs of life. "He's alright," Guren said. "He simply fainted at the news. Poor kid has been through a lot today." The girls nodded in agreement and took a step back. The man scooped my brother up like a baby and readjusted the other girls cloak to act as a blanket. "Let's go," He ordered.

The stranger held my waist tightly while we watched the three walk away. With each passing second, the group drifted further and further from my reach. A new wave of tears rolled down my soaked cheeks as the group's silhouettes faded into the distance.

When they could no longer be seen, my capturer snickered in my ear.

"They abandoned you," He whispered.

The stranger removed his hand covering my mouth and pulled me up under his arm, preparing to take off. Every survival instinct inside of myself erupted like a volcano!

Taking a deep breath, I screamed, "Yuu! Mika! Someone help me!"

The lifeless faces of Ako and Kota, Taichi's head and Fumie's screaming, flood into my mind. They were gone…they were dead… no one was coming to save me... memories of Mika's smile, Chihiro's singing voice, Kota's cheer after a soccer game, Ako and Fumies little arguments, tiny Tai's sobs in the night, and Yuu's hot-headed boasting flooded into my head. I was never going to see them again... our happy days at the orphanage and our peaceful life in Sanguinem was over... everything was gone!

Fear completely overwhelmed me, this was worse than death!

"Yuuuuuuuuu! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Greif consumed my soul, draining it of all the built-up hope, dreams, and love I cherished for four long years. Mika's promise of freedom, Yuu's talk of a vampire-free world, and all the little ones' excited chatter of a family home.

Gone! Dashed! Destroyed!

I couldn't breathe as the sadness and pain rocked me to the very core! In that moment, something deep within my spirit snapped.

Like a nightmare, the world began to darken. My vision turned red. Hot sticky tears of blood streamed down my cheeks. Pressure built and built up in my chest until a golden light broke forth, blinding me! The vampire dropped me like a hot potato and I sunk into the dirt. This was it, my life was over, finished, done! My family was dead! Yuu was gone! And I was alone! No one was coming to save me from this hell! One final, piercing scream of pain left my lips before my consciousness faded into nothing…

"Mum?" She stands in the middle of an empty room. "Dad?" Silence meets her calls. "Mika? Hello is anyone there?" The room around her begins to darken until she stands in an empty void. "Why did you leave us, Akane?" The voices of her orphan family echo through the darkness. Panic once again consumes her, "I didn't want to leave you! Please; Taichi, Ako, Kota, Fumie, Mika! Please believe me!" Her family members emerge from the void, glaring at her with hateful expressions. "You abandoned us, Akane." She shook her head and tried to run towards them. But the faster she ran the further they drifted from her reach. "Wait!" She screamed. Her family disappears and Yuu stands before her. His eyes are overflowing with hate and disgust. "You let me go, Akane! Just like you always do…" He turns and walks away, melting into the shadows.

"Nnnnooooooo!" I jolted awake. My lungs burned and my head pounded.

"Mika! Yuu! WHERE ARE YOU?" My eyes scanned my surroundings. Where were my family! Were they ok? Had it all been a bad dream? Yes! It had to be! I was safe in my bed, surrounded by everyone I loved. It had to be a dream, IT HAD TO BE!

But it wasn't and no one lay next to me.

Instead, I sat alone in an empty room, devoid of any furnishings, just like an isolation chamber.

"no… no… No!" Jumping to my feet, I ran to the nearest wall and hit it as hard as I could! "MIKA! Mika, where are you?!" My fists banged against the bare wall over and over again until my knuckles split and blood sprayed across the wall.

"Come on guys! This isn't funny! LET ME OUT!"

'BANG, BANG, BANG'

"Yuu! Mika! Kota! Come on, show yourselves!"

This wasn't real, I refused to believe it! My family was NOT dead! We still had so many things to do! Kota had a soccer match against the neighbours tomorrow! Fumie and Ako hadn't finished their chalk drawings yet! I still had to teach Chihiro how to cook curry and next week was tiny taichi's first blood donation! Mika and Yuu must be playing a trick on me again? YES! That was it! They were pulling another one of their famous pranks on me!

Placing my hands on my hips, I stepped away from the wall and called out to my siblings, "Ok guys, very funny! You got me. Now, let me out, OK!?"

Suddenly, the door to the chamber swung open.

A sigh of relief passed my lips and I smiled. "Ha ha ha, good one Yuichiro. You nearly had... me… there…"

My mystery capture stood at the door. He waltzed into the small cell and closed the door. His red eyes, pointy ears and fangs all screamed, 'VAMPIRE!' But his clothes were like none I had ever seen before? He wore a soldier's uniform with a long cloak just like a regular vampire. However, instead of pristine white clothes, his were jet black. He had extremely long, platinum blonde hair that reached his waist and he wore a single stud earring in his left ear.

"You're finally awake! I was afraid I'd killed you." He said.

"Wha… what… what's going on? Who are you!? Where's my family!?" Taking a step back from the vampire, my head started to spin out of control!

"Your family? Hmmmmm… Oh! You mean those kids? Yea, sorry kid but they're dead." He smiled sweetly at me like he'd just given a compliment. He waved his hand in the air as if he was swatting away a fly before speaking again, "Enough about them. The real question is, 'What's your name?'"

Memories of the massacre awoke in my mind. Snapshots of blood, screaming, dead bodies and Ferid flashed before my eyes. The whole room started to sway and twist. "No! Your lying!" I cried. Taichi's head, Chihiro's smashed glasses, Mika's empty eyes, Yuu fainting… Everything came flooding back to reality. They were gone, my family was dead and Yuu was gone!

Crumbling to my knees, tears streamed down my cheeks as my lungs gasped for air! Fear washed through my system like hot water. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead and back while vomit swirled in my stomach and threatened to rise. Miraculously, my chest began to glow gold, releasing rays of light through my dress! Finally, my whole world shattered into pieces… I was alone.

"Whoa! Don't freak out on me, kid!" The vampire rushed to my side and gingerly placed a hand on my back. He rubbed his hand in small circles and tried to calm me down. "It's ok, breeeaaath," He said, "Breath in… breath out… breath in… there you go! Nice and easy."

Very slowly, my breathing synched with his. The room stooped spinning and my heart rate returned to normal. My muscles relaxed and the glowing light faded away. I stared at my chest in a mix of awe and confusion. What was that light? That had NOT been there before?!

"Ok, let's try this again, "The vampire said, "What's your name, kid?"

With much reluctance, I pulled my gaze away from my glowing skin and glanced to my left. The vampire smiled reassuringly. "Akane Hyakuya," I whispered.

"Akane!" He addressed me by name, "You have got to stop scaring me like that or you're going to give me a heart attack!" The idea was completely ridiculous. A vampire didn't have a beating heart. So, therefore, couldn't die of heart failure. Technically, they were already dead anyway.

The vampire's hand ran up my back and brushed against my neck. Immediately, I tried to pull away but he was too quick! He wrapped his hand around my neck and pushed me onto my back. I tried to push him off but his grip only tightened the more I struggled. He shifted his knees to either side of my waist, straddling me. My hands grabbed his wrist and tried to wrench my neck free, "Let me go!" I said.

The vampire tutted like he was scolding a toddler. "Relax, I'm not going to kill you. I'll just take a sip, Ok?" He winked, sending a shiver from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. He bared his fangs and moved his hand up to my mouth, silencing all verbal attempts of resistance. I closed my eyes as his fangs pierced my neck and sunk deep into my veins.

"Arghhhh... stooop!" My strength drained away with every drop he took.

"Ahhhhh," The vampire pulled out his fangs and breathed in a whiff of my scent. I could feel trickles of my blood dripping onto the floor. "Let me get that for you," The vampire said. Gently, he ran his tongue over the wound, licking up the droplets. I wanted him to stop! This was wrong, just plain wrong! Yet, a tiny voice in my head wanted him to keep going… what was wrong with me? Had Mika felt this way when Ferid drank from him?

All too soon, the monster pulled away. "There, see? That wasn't so bad." He said, "Oh! by the way, my name's Julian."

I watched him closely as he greedily licked his lips and smiled. A part of myself was ticked! How could I have let a vampire drink from me!? They were all MONSTERS who murdered innocents for FUN!

But at the same time, a part of me wanted him to do it again. To sink his fangs into my skin and fill my body with forbidden pleasure… NO! Akane, STOP IT!

"In a few hours, we will arrive at my homeland," The sound of his voice provided me with a well-needed distraction from the torrent of conflicting thoughts. "You better rest," He continued. "You're going to need your strength." Thinking that was some type of explanation, he stood and exited the small room before I could say, "What?"

Thank you for reading my story! I hoped you enjoyed this first instalment I promise to upload the next chapter as soon as I can! xx