"Hunny, she's crying, would you please check on her?" A young woman says. Her crimson hair, reaching her mid back, lies messily over her pillow as she tries to sleep. A young man sits up, running his fingers through his short dark blond hair.
"Alright..." He yawns as he stands and walks out of the room. He passes several doors before finally opening one and walking in. When he steps into the room the crying stops. He picks a young girl up out of her bed. "Akiko, sweety, what's wrong?" he quietly asks. She buries her head in his chest.
"d-daddy..." she whimpers. He sighs and sits on her bed.
"What happened?" He asks quietly. She looks into his dark blue eyes, her own matching his.
"The... the people.... they're.... they're here...." There's a crash downstairs, and a scream of pain. The man jumps to his feet, running back to his bedroom where the young woman runs out to meet them.
"Take her! I'll deal with them." He says. The woman nods and takes the young girl, who clings tightly to her. The man grabs the handrail next to them and hops over. The woman sighs.
"I cant believe this..." the woman angrily mumbles. "Why would hunters be here? we've done nothing, and they know they wont live long if anything happens..." She looks at the child in her arms, then she goes back to the bedroom and sets her on the bed. "I'm going to help your father. Stay here sweety." The girl tries to rub tears away as she nods.
"O-okay mommee...." She quietly says. The woman smiles and kisses her forhead.
"I love you." The woman says as she runs out and hops the rail as well. She hears for the next 15 minutes angry yells and scuffling. then bang... bang... bang bang bang bang bang..... She shrinks into the bed, scared. there are footsteps, someone climbing the stairs. She crawls under the blanket, not knowing who it could be making their way to the room. The footsteps stop by the door, then continue to the bed.... the blanket is pulled off and she looks not into the eyes of her mother or father, but a stranger, who is covered in blood. The man points a gun at her, but a woman grabs his arm.
"Wait... we've been wanting a child to test." She says. He looks Akiko over, then nods.
"Alright..." He pulls out a box, then pulls a necklace out of that. Akiko looks at the golden heart as it turns, then is surprised to see on one side is a cross made of diamonds, and protruding from the center of the cross is a ruby rose. The man opens the heart, its empty inside the locket. The woman quickly carves a few symbols into it, then heads out the door. The man grabs Akiko, and she squirms.
"nooo!! let gooo!!" She says as she tries to free herself. He ignores her, keeping a tight grip on her small body. When they get downstairs she freezes, then screams. Her father, mother, and several others are lying on the floor, covered in blood, their eyes lifeless... they're dead. She squirms more and finally the man lets her go. She hits the floor, but quickly recovers and runs to her parents bodies. "mommee!!! daddy!!! wake up!!! please wake up!!!!" She says as she pushes her fathers body. She then moves on to her mother, with the same results, nothing.
"Come here child." She looks back at the woman and man, glaring at them. She knows they're the reason her parents wont wake up.
"no!" She yells in defiance. The woman walks over and she tries to run, but is grabbed and pinned to the ground by the man. The woman takes a knife and puts a drop of blood from each parent and puts it in the locket, then closes it and locks it with a small key. she puts it on Akiko, who becomes sleepy.... slowly her eyes close as her mind becomes foggy.......
CHAPTER 1:
It's a dark night, the scent of blood fills the air. A young girl sighs as she runs along a hidden path, clearly annoyed. She glances to her left at another path, and sees two girls sitting down, one looks injured. The girl stops when a fourth girl appears, followed quickly by two guys. one of the men's eyes flicker towards the first girl. She bites her lip and silently hops into the tree next to her, but again his eyes flicker towards her.
"I cant escape you...." the girl whispers so she can barely hear herself. the guy smiles slightly. When a third guy shows up Akiko sits down and leans against the tree. Her long crimson hair, with streaks of gold, tumbles over her shoulders. She yawns and waits. The faint sound of the first two girls squealing 'vampire' reaches her ears, and she cant help smiling. Finally three of the guys leave and the last guy and last girl pick up the two other girls, who had fainted, and carry them away.
"You shouldn't be sneaking out so late." She looks up. The guy who noticed her is standing on the branch. She smiles as he pushes some of his dark blond hair from his face.
"But onii-san, i was just trying to get them back to the dorm." She says as she stands. He shakes his head.
"Akiko-chan... you are a trouble maker." He laughs. She giggles. "You haven't gotten to come visit in a while... how have you been?"
"I've been alright... I miss spending time with you Akatsuki-sama." She sighs. He chuckles and gives her a quick hug.
"I miss spending time with you too Akiko-chan... now you shouldn't stay out too late. Yuuki-san might beat you back to your dorm, then you'd get in big trouble."
"I'm always in trouble anyways." they laugh and finally part. To Akiko's horror though, Akatsuki was right. Yuuki is just walking in, and she sees Akiko.
"Akiko-san, what are you doing out so late? You know the rules." Yuuki says.
"Uh... j-just restless.... I-I know... Wont happen again. Heh...." Akiko smiles nervously, then runs to her room. She sighs as she opens the door, tired. As she walks to her bed she looks at her roommate, fast asleep. The young girls glasses lie on her nightstand, and her short dark brown hair looks messy. Akiko falls onto her bed, exhausted. She didn't want to chase after the girls, but she cant help it, she wants to make sure there are no problems, no reason to get any vampires in trouble...
Its dark, no moon, and no light but the stars. Akiko is a young child, only 7, and is wandering alone through a forest. She's covered in blood, her eyes a dull, lifeless gray. She stumbles over a fallen branch and falls onto her hands and knees. Leaves stick to her hair and clothes as she tries to catch her breath. She hears leaves rustle and her eyes change to a dark, almost black, blue. She looks up into the sinister, flaming eyes of an angry woman. Her dark red lips are twisted into a viscous smile. Her short, flaming red hair gives her an even more frightening appearance as she opens her mouth, revealing her sharp, blood stained fangs.
"Your family, those hunters, destroyed one of the few remaining purebloods…. When you die, their remaining hope of living on dies with you…" she says. Her voice is soft, but it pours panic into Akiko as she scrambles to her feet and takes a few steps back, never turning away from the blood thirsty woman.
"G-Go away! I-I never hurt anyone!" In fear she grips the golden locket. She feels over the diamond cross and the ruby rose. The woman laughs and finally she turns and runs. She knows its useless, she knows that at any second she can be caught, and its game over. The vampire will bite her, and she'll either be turned into an ex-human, or be killed. When she breaks through the trees she trips over a branch, and is sent down a steep, rocky hill. She hit's a boulder, and a painful CRACK makes her wince. Her arm is broken, her right arm. She bites her lip as she opens her eyes, watching the vampire walk to her. She can feel blood trickle out the back of her head. She wont even be awake to die. The woman gets closer… closer… closer… she's almost there… almost here….
She's gone.
Akiko is surprised. She trieps to sit up and look around, but she screams as pain shoots through her. She falls back down, slipping into unconsciousness. She feels someone pick her up and begin walking, but she blacks out….
"Hey!" Akiko jumps. She's in the dorms, in bed. Her roommate is tapping her foot, arms crossed, already dressed in uniform. "Get up akiko! We have to get going!" Akiko sighs and rolls out of bed. She lands on her hands and knees, and winces. Her arm has never fully recovered from that night. She sighs as she stands and grabs her locket, giving it a light squeeze before getting reading for school…
CHAPTER 2:
"So Akiko-sama, you giving out chocolates to anyone this year?" Her roommate asks as they walk down the path behind a small group of girls, heading to class. Akiko giggles.
"Yeah, I do every year Alaine-chan." Akiko says. She looks up and stops, and Alaine does as well. Zero and Yuuki walk up to them. Damn it.... Akiko thinks. I'm in trouble.... why couldn't just Yuuki come though? i hate dealing with zero...
"Akiko-san, the chairman wants to talk with you." Yuuki says. Akiko sighs and smiles at Alaine.
"I'll catch up with you later Alaine-chan." Akiko says as she follows Yuuki and Zero. Akiko has met with the chairman only twice before. Once, when she first joined. And the other time was when she was had gone outside the dorm at night to see Akatsuki and ended up getting hurt. A student, who hadn't eaten in a week, couldn't help themselves and they tried to bite her. She pretended to faint when Yuuki and Zero had shown up and claimed amnesia, and was allowed to go back to her dorm with no more questions. As the door to the chairman's office is opened Akiko begins to feel uneasy. She didn't want to be here, to risk her memory being altered.
"Akiko-san...." She looks at the chairman, then bows.
"Wh-what is it sir?" She asks.
"Have a seat." She obeys and sits in a chair in front of his desk. "You two can go to class." He says. Yuuki and Zero nod and leave. Akiko grips her necklace tightly. "You've worn that since you've come here, is it special?" He asks, trying to make her relax.
"Y-yes sir... my mother, she said she made it special for me." Akiko says, not knowing exactly what special really meant in this case. The chairman carefully looks at the necklace, oddly drawn to the unique item.
"May i see it?" Her grip tightens. "Something wrong?"
"I've... I've never it off." Akiko quietly says. He raises an eyebrow, his curiosity in the necklace growing.
"Why?" Akiko looks off to the side, her fingers running down the costly jewelry.
"I… m-my mother, she said something terrible would happen if… if I took it off." She whispers. He stands and walks around the desk to her, the kneels to her eye level. Akiko lets him hold the locket, and he feels more and more drawn to it. Something about this pendant….
"This locket…." He pauses, then looks up at Akiko. "May I borrow it for a few hours?" He asks, wanting to open it and study it, wanting to know what it is that is so strange abut this thing in his hand. Akiko winces, not sure what will happen if she takes off the necklace. She nods though, and he stands and steps back. Akiko grabs the chain, then looks up at the chairman. He seems to be hiding his fear, however slight it may be. There is something about the necklace… her mother didn't lie…
"I-I'm sorry!" Akiko stands and bows. "I-I need to go back to class. I'm sorry sir." She runs out of the room before he can say anything else. The chairman doesn't move.
"That pendant… There's a strange… like a vampire…." He sighs, not sure what to think…
"Akiko-sama, come on! Wait up I wanna see the night class!" Alaine says as she grabs Akikos arm and pulls her back to the front of the crowd. Akiko sighs.
"Alright alright Alaine-chan…" Akiko says. Alaine giggles. Suddenly the girls start squealing as the night class approaches. Akiko is shoved back and forth as girls try to get to the front. "Hey! Stop it!" Akiko shouts. Another girl shoves her, but this time hard enough to knock Akiko to the ground. She closes her eyes, but opens them when she realizes she's been caught. She looks up into Akatsuki's eyes. "A-Akatsuki-sama."
"Akiko-chan, you should be a bit more careful." He says as he sets her down. Akiko blushes and smiles.
"Thanks." She knows she's being glared at, but doesn't care. This is her brother, the man who protected her. Suddenly there's a staff between them.
"Hey, Akiko-san get going to the dorms." Yuuki says. Akiko rolls her eyes and grabs the staff, spinning it and pointing it at Yuuki.
"Oh shut up prefect, he was just helping me." Akiko says. She hands the weapon back to Yuuki who grabs it, blushing slightly. Akiko smiles at Akatsuki. "I'll see you tomorrow Akatsuki-sama."
"See you tomorrow Akiko-chan." He chuckles as he rejoins Aidou on their walk to class. Akiko leaves the frenzied crowd and heads back alone to the dorm….
