Chapter 1. The Laboratory

I was searching for him, walking aimlessly, smiling at the little children that gawked at me. Of course they would, I am the oldest of us here after all, besides the vampires of course. After a certain age, I should have been taken to the experimentation laboratory but yet I wasn't. The reason is because I'm not human. Sure, I am as much human as anybody else but the only thing seperating me from them is that my strength, hearing, smell and speed are much greater than theirs. Just like a vampire's. But I am not one, I don't suck blood. And... I am immortal, I reached full growth a year ago. The vampires could never figure out what I was and that is why they're still keeping me. I am the only sixteen year old human here.

A year ago, new people joined us. By "us" I mean all the prisoners here, including me. His name is Yuichiro Hyakuya. His friend is Mikaela. A charming, gentle young boy that sacrifices himself to feed his family. Today, I decided I wanted to meet both of them. None of the children here knew about me because all the ones that did before, were killed.

...

I walked on the rooftop, I could observe everything from here. Yet couldn't find him anywhere. Disappointed, I jumped down from the rooftop.

My eyes widened in surprise, there he was ! Just in front of me, he was standing with his back to me. Mikaela was here as well. What were they looking at ? Not far from them was two little children drawing on the floor with white and pink crays. Even in this misery, they could make such a happy smile. But I saw trouble walking towards the two children. Two vampires guards. My blood went ice cold. I didn't know wether to move or not, to do something or not, so I just waited. The two vampires walked towards us with steady steps and the closer they got to the children, the more my heart pounded. I took a step forward, preparing myself to attack.

The two children stood in the vampire's way and with cold, merciless eyes, he kicked the young girl. A shriek left her lips as she flew off, landing hard onto the hard ground. Before Yuichiro could do something, I pushed off my weight with my foot and jumped above the two boys. I ran straight into the vampire's chest and struck him into the ground, breaking his nose and the floor at the same time. I could hear both Yuichiro and Mikaela gasping behind me. Before the vampire next to me could grab my throat, I grabbed the two boys as well as the two children and ran away as far as possible from the vampires. Yuichiro was yelling me to let him go and I did after a little while.

Before he started questionning me, I turned away from him and tried to see the little girl's injuries but she screamed at me.

"No...no !" She shrieked. "Go away, vampire ! She said as she made an x with her arms.

"Shush, shush... I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not a vampire." I said gently.

She stopped shrieking and stared at me with wide eyes, still wary. I grinned at her, showing my teeth the best I could. A giggle escaped her lips.

"See ?" I said with a smile.

The little boy had decided to go back to his home. The little girl I had saved was scared to be left alone and so she clinged onto my dirty shirt, until she fell asleep. Her name was Kako. I hadn't let Yuichiro or Mikaela say anything, so now they were both bombarding me with questions. Well that was mostly Yuichiro, Mikaela was more complimenting me.

"If you're not a vampire, then what are you ?" He asked me with wary eyes. "And why are you here ? Kids older than us are...there's no kids older than us."

"I don't know what I am. My five senses are much more enhanced than those of the humans, as you can see. I am stronger, faster, I can smell, hear and see just like a...just like a vampire. But I am not one. Like you said, there are no children my age but I am still alive because they don't seem to be able to figure out my true nature. And I am pretty sure I am as powerful as them." I said with a wink at the end.

"That's amazing, I've never met anyone like you !" Said Mikaela in admiration.

Yuichiro seemed lost in thoughts until he suddenly grabbed my wrist so hard it hurted.

"Teach me !" He said with determined eyes.

"Huh ?" Said Mikaela and I at the same time.

"Teach me how to fight vampires !"

"Sorry, but I don't know how to...I didn't learn any of this, I was born like this." I said apologetically.

He let go of my wrist, disappointed.

"What's your name ?" I asked even though I already knew it.

"Yuichiro."

"And I'm Mikaela, call me Mika and you can call him Yuu-chan !" He said enthusiasticly.

"My name is Zakuro. Nice to meet you, Mika, Yuu ! I said with a happy smile. "You should go home before those vampires come again."

"You're right. Let's go back Yuu-chan."

He pulled by the arm a struggling Yuichiro that still had questions to ask me. I watched them until they were gone and then looked at the little girl that was sleeping in my arms. I lifted her robe to see her injuries once more. The spot where she was kicked would be visible by tomorrow and it would hurt like hell. Hopefully, it's not as bad as I think it is. I carried her and searched everywhere where could have been her house but no one seemed to know where she lived. I had only one choice left. I put Kako on top of me to prevent her from sleeping on the cold stone ground. This was where I slept everynight. Under a stone staircase, on the hard ground. I had no home here. I'd grown accustomed to sleep on the stone but I never got accustomed to the cold of the night. But tonight I had Kako and the warmth of her body kept mine warm.

A few hours later, not quite knowing if it was daytime or still nighttime, I woke up with Kako still sleeping in my arms. Her peaceful sleeping face was so adorable. I got a closer look and I noticed bruises on her chin, neck, knees and legs...and the one on her stomach was big, and it looked painful. I was about to wake her up when suddenly I saw mika talking to one of the vampire nobles. I sighed. Sometimes, they would talk when no one was awake and they'd disappear together. Mika was giving his blood in exchange for decent food for his family. I watched the spot where they were standing a second ago, until they disappeared. A little moan escaped her lips. I looked down at her, worried and saw her face distorted in pain. The bruise on her stomach was blue and purple.

"Ouch..."

"Kako, what's wrong ?"

"It hurts..." She said with her tiny voice.

I tore my shirt into bandages and put it around her stomach. A yelp escaped her lips as I tightened the bandages around her and silent tears slid down her cheeks.

"Wait here, I'll go search for medicine."

She pleaded me not to leave her alone but I did anyway, I would be back soon. My strength wasn't just to jump up and down roofs or to punch some vampire's faces. I infiltrated inside the vampires headquarters when nobody was there and stole as much as I could. But stealing medicine wouldn't be that easy. I had to go inside the experimentation laboratory. Where they took the blood of human children. I had no idea how to infiltrate that sick place but I would somehow. Even if I got caught. I might as well just barge in and go straight to the point but that would be stupid. And beating the crap out of every vampire wasn't going to work either because I would get caught first, there were too many. Disguising myself would be a great plan if only my heart didn't beat so loudly. Not to mention the smell of my blood. Before I could think of any more insane plans, I bumped- ran into someone and knocked myself on the ground. I heard a familiar voice, groan. I looked up, startled.

"Yuu ! I'm so sorry, are you okay ? I said as he massaged his temples.

"Can't you look- Ah !! It's you !" He yelled at me as he saw who I was. "What are you doing here ?" He asked, surprised.

"What about you ?" I said half smirking

"I asked first." He said, frowning.

"I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to infiltrate the laboratory."

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Huh ?! Are you insane??"

"Kako is hurt and she's in pain. I'm going to steal medicine. I have already infiltrated more than once a vampire's headquarters but I have never infiltrated the laboratory. And that's the only place they store their medicine. I think."

"..."

"And I saw Mika, he was taking a stroll." I lied.

I turned around and headed to the laboratory, leaving Yuichiro without another word.

Two guards were posted in the back door. I was gonna go ahead with my third plan. I took a rock that was lying around and threw it at the smaller sized guard. He grabbed the rock before it hit his forehead, with one movement of his arm. Oversized clothes would look suspicious. I hid in a corner and waited. As I planned, the vampire came searching for me. When he got close to an arm's length, I grabbbed the back of his neck and hit his face into the wall as much as I could until he was unconscious.

I took his clothes and to my surprise, it fit perfectly. I tried to cover my neck with the hood to prevent the scent of my blood to spread too much. I entered the building, trying to calm down my frantic heart. I passed right next to the guard and the only thing he did was glance at me before I disappeared into the facility. It worked. I can't believe my plan worked. But let's not get hasty. I still had to search for the medicine.

I walked into a dark corridor and the room behind that door was full of machines, computers...but for what ? I wish I had time to break in their computers but getting medicine for Kako was more important. I continued to the next corridor. At the end was a door and a staircase. I decided to follow the staircase. This time, there was big metal boxes piled up together. At this moment, I had a VERY eerie feeling.

I felt like I shouldn't open them but...my curiosity was stronger than my fear. I slowly unlocked the box with my heart pounding, as my rational side screaming me to turn away. As soon as I opened the lid, I regretted it. What I saw was...horrifying and disgusting. I screamed at the top of my lungs. Children...dead bodies, that were missing an arm, a head or were cut open with the insides spilling out. I would have throwed up if I actually had food in my stomach. Is this what they do to young children ? They decapitate them and then just pile them up like they're trash ?

To be continued...