Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice does not belong to me. Is that a surprise or what?
Down that path, into darkness deep as hell...
Shit. This could not be happening. I quickly slid off my heels and looked around again. Those two shadows in the distance – they had been behind me for quite some time now, turning the corners that I turned and following the routes that I had taken. I was quite sure that they were closer than they had been a few minutes ago, and I had just realised that I had no idea where I was.
Great. I must have turned down the wrong road before, and doubling back was not an option right now, with those people behind me. Again, I though, this cannot be happening to me.
Okay, fine, it was way too late for a girl to be walking back home by herself, and this town wasn't exactly the most friendly of neighbourhoods, but still. I had refused to believe that I would be the next victim of these streets and so stupidly set out alone.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Just like everyone kept telling me I was. I started walking at a faster pace and looked back in dismay to see the two men even closer. Right. Well, no use running – even when I hadn't just been in an all-night party, I had never come better than last place in all those school sports days. My phone, I remembered, had been flushed down a dirty toilet a few hours ago by some jerks who I didn't know.
Right or left? To turn right meant turning into a small alley that looked more dangerous than the street to the left, but I didn't recognise either of them. I turned left and immediately realised my mistake – just a little way into this street, the way was blocked by a grey brick wall.
What kind of fricking moron puts a wall in the middle of a street?!
I tried to calm my breathing. Nothing to do except go back the way I came. My heart was pounding hard against my ribs as I turned around to face the men. They were less than ten metres away now. I took a deep breath and bolted.
An arm caught me in the stomach as I ran past them and I fell, winded. A face leered over mine and I felt a foot on my chest, pinning me to the ground.
"She's a pretty one, ain't she?" growled one of the men, the one standing over me. I managed to free one of my hands and attempted to hit and hurt something, but to no effect. Why hadn't I signed up for those self-defence classes?
"Just knock 'er out and let's go," said the other one. I felt someone drag me upright – I tried to say something, to shout for help, but a hand over my mouth and a kick to the stomach prevented that idea. I doubled over in pain and closed my eyes.
"Yeah, wait a moment, will ya?"
"Hurry up then," the other one said.
I managed to open my mouth behind the man's hand, and I quickly bit down hard on it. I heard a grunt of pain and, "You take 'er! The little slut just bit me!" He roughly pushed me over to the other man, taking care to kick me and twist my arm as I went – I staggered and felt a dry cloth gag forced into my mouth.
"Good evening," said a voice out of nowhere. I opened my eyes – that voice had definitely not been one of these men.
"You talking to us?" snarled the second man, the one I couldn't see.
"Clear your shit out of here!" said the other at the same time, twisting my hands harder. I squeaked in agony behind the cloth covering most of my face. Although I couldn't see the intruder, but he had to be nicer than these two guys… I looked closer at the scene around me.
"You need to learn to play nice," the voice said. I could've sworn I saw that shadow over there move; was that who it was? I couldn't tell if the speaker was a man or woman, and that might've freaked me out a little more if I hadn't been in fear of sudden death just then or silently screaming in pain.
"I said, get your fat ass out of here!
"Why don't you?" The speaker moved out of the shadows and smiled. Or at least I think he did. Or she. It was too dark to tell, really.
"Dude, let's just go," said the second kidnapper. Or was it the first? I couldn't tell any more, and I couldn't remember which one was the one holding me, and the blood was pounding in my head too loudly for me to tell who was speaking now.. "There's no point wasting your time with this freak."
"Shut the hell up," said the other. "No-one 'round here's gonna tell us what to do."
"You're gonna get the whole eastside gang on us – look, I'm taking the girl and going, alright?" I felt the man behind me move and I instinctively ducked my head – the blow glanced painfully off the side of my head instead and into his other hand instead. I felt a hard slap on my face as he swore violently. At least I'm conscious…
"Those losers, huh? Look, whoever the hell you are, I got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it," said the other man.
Whoever the non-kidnapper voice was, they were probably my only hope of getting out of this with some sanity… I struggled in protest. No use, though. My head was throbbing sorely and I had a feeling that something was bleeding. It probably wouldn't be too long until the one behind me got over his injured hand and took me out for good.
"Oh, I don't think so," the non-kidnapper said. As he moved fully into the moonlight, I could make out an androgynously beautiful face with pale wavy hair – and the gleam of bared fangs.
Vampire?
My mind was too jumbled for proper thoughts to arrange themselves. As soon as that word had entered my head, it was all too much. Swirls of colour erupted behind my bruised eyelids – I closed my eyes and saw pure black.
There was something around my neck and it was strangling me. I couldn't breathe – I had to get out, I needed air! I gasped for oxygen and opened my eyes.
"Who are you?" said a low voice from just behind my ear. I jerked into full wakefulness and tried to look behind me.
"Let… me… breathe! Ugh!" I choked out. Where was I? Was this one of those guys who had kidnapped me?
I felt the hold around my neck loosen and I breathed in a gulp of fresh air at once. "Who are you?" repeated the voice. It was a low voice and tinged with suspicion and dislike, but it was definitely not one of the men from earlier. It sounded younger, more wary.
"Who are you?! And why are you trying to throttle me?" I said angrily. I'd had enough of attempted murder for one day.
"Shut up and answer the question! Why are you here?"
"I'm Mikan Sakura and I have no idea why I'm here or where this is. Get your arms off my neck!"
"You must know why – stop playing stupid, little girl. Tell me, or I'll set your whole head on fire." A hand was thrust up in front of my face and the grip on my neck tightened again.
"I… don't know!" Set me on fire? With what? My head was spinning again and I felt ready to faint for the second time that day.
"Quit joking; tell me what you're doing here or-" he was cut off by a sudden loud crash, and I twisted round to see a large window shatter and something fly into the room.
"Luca, you're late," the throttler said, releasing me from his hold. Finally! I took a deep breath gratefully and sat up. I caught sight of my would-be strangler at the end of the couch – a boy, a young man about my own age with dark hair and a scowling expression. Well. That suited the tone of voice, anyway. The thing that had just broken in through the window was actually two things: another boy, this one with blond hair, and a giant eagle.
A giant eagle?
No, that could not be real. I suddenly remembered the fangs I thought I had seen back in the alleyway, and as soon as I remembered that, I wondered how I had got from there to this rather cosy living room with a giant eagle. Had someone brought me? Where were they now? And who were these two?
"Who are you?" I said out loud, watching the eagle carefully. It looked real enough, even through my blurry vision (I rubbed my eyes – must be a side-effect of getting punched in the face or something out on the street), preening its glossy feathers and fixing me with its fierce glare. I looked away. After all, something had to have smashed that glass.
"If you really don't know, there's no use in me telling you," said the dark-haired one. He turned back to the other boy – Luca, he had called him – and continued their conversation.
This was getting annoying now. "Who are you people? I just woke up here and I honestly don't know where I am or whose place this is, and then you just try and kill me and threaten to burn me or something when I tell you the truth and expect me to not ask any questions and just play along with your stupid little games! Where are we and how did I get here? Why is there a massive eagle sitting on the windowsill?"
Luca looked at me curiously. "Natsume, are you sure she's a threat? She seems pretty clueless to me."
That's right – just pretend I'm not there, will you? I was quite sure that I was not the Natsume he was talking to.
"I've never seen her before in my life," Natsume replied. "If she's not a threat, then I couldn't care less about her. She's just a kid, anyway; hasn't got her fangs yet. Let's go."
"If Narumi brought her here along with you, she must be someone worth saving, even if she's a bit dense. What's her name and family?"
"Why can't you just talk to me?" I said irritably.
Natsume ignored me, but Luca turned to me. "What's your name? What's the last thing you remember?"
"Mikan Sakura. I was walking back home last night, some guys tried to rape me, and then this other guy – or girl, I didn't really see – probably saved me, but I fainted before I could do anything else," I replied. "Are you going to tell me who you are?" This one, Luca, seemed much nicer than the Nasty Throttler Natsume.
Luca looked a little worried. "Sakura isn't a name I know… and she speaks in a strange way." He looked as if he was going to say something else, but a sudden loud banging noise on the wall next to me startled all of us.
"Luca, we have to go now. I don't want to have to thank that idiot Naru for saving my ass. We can discuss her later." Natsume started to climb onto the eagle as he spoke.
"Hey, wait!" I called, but it was too late. The bird launched itself out of the window, the two boys on its back. I belatedly realised that not one of my questions had been answered – well, the ones that weren't sarcastic – nor had they properly introduced themselves. Huh, discuss me like I was some kind of object.
God, why did guys have to be so irritating?
Arrogant bastards.
I lay back on the comfortable couch and tried to order my thoughts. Some time ago – I had no idea what time it was now or how long I had been unconscious – I had almost been, well, I didn't really want to think about what might have happened. It was still pitch-black dark outside, so I guessed that I'd been out for a few hours. Or maybe it was tomorrow night? I looked around for a calendar and didn't find one. That person who had in all probability saved me and brought me here – who were they? And those fangs. I shivered involuntarily. That Natsume boy had mentioned that word as well. Speaking of Natsume, why had he been so, well, nasty? Ugh. I could only assume that the abnormally huge eagle was some sort of pre-planned escape route relying on the help of his friend Luca, although as to why Natsume needed to escape in the first place was beyond me. And, I remembered, how exactly had he planned to set fire to me when there was obviously no fire in the room?
I sighed. This was all beyond me. I decided to wait until I had a little more strength or until my rescuer came in. Hoping for a distraction, I let my gaze wander around the room.
It was a normal sort of living room. A dark red couch with an overload of cushions, where I was lying, and a few armchairs. A few lamps with fancy silk coverings and many ornate mirrors, and a rather luxurious rug on the floor. There were also many beautiful and exotic flowers in expensive-looking carved pots placed around the room, I realised. More than I had thought before – there were plants everywhere, from the little ones on the bookshelves to the enormous multicoloured blossoms that sprang up in every corner of the room. In another contrast to the seemingly antique furniture and plant-life-filled atmosphere of the room, there were also a TV and a few high-tech objects that I didn't recognise at all. All in all, it seemed to be the home of a reasonably well-off plant-lover, although the broken window did distract a little from that. Vandalism. I snorted. That Natsume definitely seemed like a vandalist kind of guy.
I turned my head towards the window in question. The firefly lights of the town stretched out underneath, and I thought I could recognise a few landmarks such as that giant blue neon advert for the latest model in Penguin-Robots.
My thoughts about the Nasty Throttler Natsume and robots were interrupted by the door opening. I quickly sat up again and tried to make out the person coming into the room. The lamplight was dim and my eyes still felt a bit weak, but I could just about see pale yellow hair on a slim figure moving towards me.
"Oh, you're awake," it said happily. The same voice that I had heard outside on the street. The person sounded like a man, although I still wasn't really sure. I felt a bit stupid at the prospect of asking, so I didn't.
"Uh, yeah," I said. "What happened?" I hoped that this person would be slightly friendlier than Natsume. Ugh, I could feel myself getting cross at the thought of that jerk.
"You fainted, so I brought you back here. This is where I live; my name's Anju, but everyone calls me by my surname, Narumi. What's your name? And what happened to me window?" He frowned at the mess. "Did Natsume manage to break out through that? It's a penthouse drop, and I'm quite sure when I checked that he didn't have any stones on him."
Well, this guy seemed pretty nice, even if I did have no idea what stones had to do with anything. Then again, I knew Anju was a girl's name, and this person was wearing clothes that would have suited a girl – a white shirt with a stone pendant necklace and tight black trousers… I smiled and tried to look grateful rather than confused or scared. "My name's Mikan, Mikan Sakura. Pleased to meet you! Where did those men go? Can I call my granddad? Why did Natsume try to strangle me? This other boy who he called Luca flew in through the window on a giant bird and carried him off. They were so rude to me and didn't even say who they were or anything! And that Natsume one said he was going to burn my head off after trying to suffocate me just 'cos I didn't know where I was and because he didn't recognise me. Urgh!" My words were coming out in a bit of a loud rush. I hoped I didn't look too crazy.
"Oh, they probably just ran off. I should have known that Natsume would try something like that," he said, a slight smile on his lips. He was inhumanly pretty, I realised. Then I remembered that he might not be a he and carried on listening to what he was saying. I still wasn't sure if he was smiling at my insane babbling or the fact that his captive had escaped out of a top-storey window on a giant bird. "He can pay for the window later. About your granddad…" he trailed off, looking a bit unsure of what to say. He sat down in an armchair opposite the couch.
"What?"
"There's something I need to talk to you about," he said after a few seconds.
Right. That was strange. Hadn't I only just met him? And what was wrong with calling my granddad? Oh no, he must be really worried by now – I had promised to call him if I was getting back later than I expected, and now…
"What's the time?" I said aloud.
"Almost seven in the morning."
"So… what do you need to tell me about?"
He laughed nervously. "I think I'll wait until someone else gets here – probably in a few minutes – so they can talk to you instead… I always hate explaining stuff like this. Actually, no, don't bother. They'll probably all shout at me for shirking my responsibilities again." He paused, frowned, and didn't speak for a while. I sat there and willed angry psychic thoughts at the two men outside and Natsume, until Narumi finally said, "Is your grandfather your biological grandfather?"
"Um, no, why?" I was feeling more and more puzzled by the second and there was a growing sense of unease in my stomach. How had he known that I was adopted? Not even all my friends knew about that. Did I know this Narumi from somewhere? No, I definitely would have recognised someone like that.
"I thought not. How old are you? When did he adopt you? And another thing, you said that Natsume threatened you with his fire? Did he manage to actually burn you at all?"
Should I be answering these questions? This was really personal for someone I had known for five minutes. But he had saved me from those men… but then again, everyone always told me that I made these kind of stupid choices… but what harm could it do? If he already knew I was adopted, then there must be something else going on that I didn't know about, and I wanted that information. Whatever it was. Argh! Stupid decisions! This was probably another of my typically idiotic moments. I had a nagging feeling that I would pay for it later.
"Uh… I think he took me in when I was really little, less than a year old probably, but apparently I was just left on the street so I don't know when my birthday is or how old I really really am. I just made it up and decided that I was born on New Year's Day. But I've lived with my granddad for nineteen years, so I just say that I'm nineteen."
He nodded. "And Natsume?"
"I didn't see any fire…" I replied, confused.
"That fits in too." He sighed and looked straight into my eyes. "This is about your real family, Mikan."
My real family…
"What is it?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I knew my habit of being very loud and excitable at these kind of moments, but right now I didn't think my injuries could stand it. Speaking of which, where were my injuries?
"Where are my injuries?" I asked before he could open his mouth.
"I used a healing stone on them. But the main point is, I think I know who your parents are."
I tried not to think about what a healing stone might be and concentrated on the rest of his speech. "How do you know about this?" I asked. I was shaking slightly, I realised.
"Your mother, if I'm right, was an old friend of mine."
"How did you know her? How did you know she's my mother?" I couldn't believe this. Of all the chances in the world…
"You look exactly like her – and besides, it all fits perfectly," he said, smiling. "Almost the exact image, although she wore her hair much shorter." I could tell he was looking at my extravagantly long hair. Actually, it wasn't that long, just down to my waist. My granddad always insisted that it was much too long for a normal person, and a nineteen year old girl should not still be wearing her hair in pigtails, and had tried to force me to cut it many times.
My granddad-hair-cutting train of thought was derailed by Narumi speaking again.
"There's one more thing. If you're really her daughter, then you're also a vampire."
Thanks for reading.
