Shattered Iridescence.

Prompt - Red

-any of various colors resembling the color of blood; the primary color at one extreme end of the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 610 and 780 nm.

-something red.

oOo

Snow.

It fell all around in a haze of of pure untainted white. The tiny crystals landed on his outstretched hand and lay there for a moment before dissolving. His skin was icy cold, but still warm enough to melt them into droplets of water. The blood that stained his skin, like some perverse tattoo, leaked into the pure water droplets. He watched as they were stained - tainted - by the warm blood that drenched his skin.

Still warm. The only part of him that was.

And it wasn't just his blood. That was the worst part.

Everything was numb, but it was better that way. The silence was preferable to screams, the numbness was preferable to pain and nothing mattered anymore. If he opened his eyes he saw his house with the trail of crimson liquid that lead back to it. The lights were still on, giving some hollow impression of life. If he closed his eyes he saw that woman and the blood.

Horrendous, horrendous amounts of blood staining the white marble floor and their skin - which was just as chalky white. Vermilion lifeblood spread across her white kimono, almost staining her Obi completely. It was almost laughable really because white meant pure, innocent. Not her - not madness and cruelty wrapped up in an inhumanly beautiful female.

Red that stained the snow. Red that stained his soul. Forever and ever and ever.

Like that bite mark, which stung damn it!

The blood that stained his skin and wouldn't rub off because when he closed his eyes it was still there. Always there. Glaring and shimmering in the darkness. The red that still stained their skin where they lay on the cold floor with the white snow blowing in the open door and mingling with the red. White and red. Just like her fangs coated with his blood.

Red and White.

The numbness wasn't really a good thing at all. He knew that if he stayed out here long enough the cold would just consume him and it would all be over at last. He should have stayed with them. She should have just killed him. His knees crumpled as the cold became too much. Malignant chill that had been slowly seeping into his body. Water had already soaked through the thin clothes he had been wearing.

It wouldn't be long now until the cold finished him as she should have.

She took pleasure in pain. His pain.

"These eyes filled with hate are mine and mine alone."

Her rich, tinkling voice filled his head and repeated over and over again like some broken record. Those twisted words were only broken by the sound of the bells that had been tied around her waist. He could not close his eyes, could not bear to see the bright vermilion splashed across his eyes. If he kept his eyes open the white snow blocked everything else out. Not the sounds of the bells or her mocking voice, but at least it kept the sight of blood at bay.

The fact that those monsters actually enjoyed the sight - crimson - and the smell - like copper, salt and rust - confirmed the fact that they were animals. Monsters. Scum. Vampires. His train of thought was interrupted when a sinfully warm hand wrapped around his own arm and dragged him to his feet. The heat combined with his cold skin only mind it sting. He couldn't concentrate on them as they spoke.

Words melded together with the soft tinkling of her bells in the background; the feeling of her cold hand racking through his hair. His skin felt filthy from her touch. Why weren't they repelled?! Why didn't they just leave him there?!

A massive trench coat was thrown hastily over his shoulders as he was half pulled, half dragged, away. They didn't stop talking even as he was bundled into a car and sped away from his old home. Away from his torn life. Warm fingers prodded his neck just where she had bit him. Just where her fangs had sank into his flesh. Agony as it tore through the tender skin and pierced the tiny throbbing vein.

He flinched away from the touch continued to stare out the window as the snow covered trees swam past. Warm amber eyes regarded his expression calmly, but he could see the interest lingering in his features. Clinical, cold, examination. The man's expression morphed into a cheerful smile in the space it took him to blink.

"Kiryuu Zero, you will be staying with me from now on. I have a daughter, my little Yuuki..." The use of his name jolted him back to reality. He heard little else after the mention of 'Yuuki', though he continued to talk and talk.

His Yuuki was tiny and pale with long mahogany hair that reached almost her waist. She stared at her father as he would pushed past the threshold and the door was shut. Only then did she look at him was large, pity filled eyes. They were brown at first glance, but as she drew closer to him he saw a russet tone - a red - streaked through the iris. He flinched away from her touch.

White and red. Blood.

Blood.

Her tiny pale fingers wrapped around his shoulders and lead him upstairs to a bathroom covered in white tiles with steam rising through the air. All that filled his head with the sight of blood and the sound of her voice. When she looked at him, those wide eyes seemed to stand out most of all.

Because of the red splashed through her irises.

The colour of blood, of pain and of her. That woman. Vampire scum.

oOo

Later, as she crouched beside him and bandaged up his neck, she smiled at him. Her warm eyes twinkled and the red stood out even more. He watched her as she sat beside him and drank a heated drink from a pink mug. His sat at his side, untouched.

When she smiled the red was highlighted. When she smiled he felt something more than the numbness, the pain. Her voice faded into the background a little.

Red was suddenly warm, and soft and something else.

Her warm, soft, pale, fingers pressed against the side of his face as she tilted his head up a little and pressed the rim of the mug to his lips. The corners of his mouth tugged up a little, only a minute fraction, as she grinned widely when he accepted the drink.

Red was Yuuki.

Bring on the drabbles. Just me experimenting with some different styles and ways of seeing things. Maybe not drabbles, because those are supposed to be 100 words long, I think. Err, ramblings maybe? Written just for fun. The inspiration to start writing one of these series was 'Crimson Rhapsody', which is a brilliant ShiMa I would suggest to anyone.

Well, that's my shameless advertisement of the day over. Thanks for reading.

Silver xxx.