A/n: AU again! :D Read and tell me what you think :D The writing style I used here would be a little bit like the one I used in "Waking to a Dream" and by writing style, I mean how I describe, how long a chapter is, and stuff. And… I think the updates would be slower on this one…

Warning/s: OOCness, AUness

xxX~o~o~Xxx

Chapitre Un: Innocence

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There was a feeling of lethargy that moved around the house with the quiet sounds of the crickets and the orange glow of the sun ready to set. An opened window in his room let in the warm breeze, and it made him want to sink into his bed even more, to relax himself and to will away his busy thoughts with having nothing else to do.

Kaoru's ears perked up at the sound of the bell hanging on the door ring. He walked downstairs and went into the kitchen, the living room, and just about anywhere his parents usually occupied when home. His parents were gone and he was left alone now. He snuck to the door, even though nobody was there to see what he was doing, and turned the doorknob. It was unlocked! He could go out!

He opened the door fully, and stepped out into afternoon sun and looked up, shielding his eyes from the ball of light as he looked to the distance where the sky seemed to slowly disappear with a beautiful yet eerie shade of orange. He breathed in the smell of nature and looked about happily, he was finally out, and he could go exploring!

With each step he took around the garden, the bell around his wrist, the one on his charm bracelet, would give a soft cling as the wind passed him by, urging him to go venture out farther, farther than his parents would've allowed him. Kaoru walked over to the fence, opening the wooden door. A loud creak, as if it protested that he shouldn't go out, he shouldn't disobey his parents.

Beyond their garden stood a forest, a forest that his parents had forbidden him to go into. It was unsafe and dangerous, they said. And the more Kaoru wanted to go into it more. From his bedroom, he could always hear the soft humming of the creatures; the trees would wave to him, bidding him to go into its depths. The shadows seemed to dance in the moonlight, even as the trees stood still. And he was captivated by it each day that passed, each moment that he couldn't go into it, each time his parents would remind him over and over again how he should never ever go into the forest, no matter what.

Finally making up his mind, and knowing that nobody would find out anyway, he walked into its depths, the leaves crunching under his feet. He closed the fence gate behind him, and he set out to explore the forest.

Kaoru couldn't see what his parents found so dangerous about this place. There wasn't anything to see, there seemed to be no wild animals as well, and if there were, why was their house built so close to the forest anyway? Surely, they had enough common sense in them?

As the leaves were crunching under his feet with each step he took, he looked up, and saw the branches of deadwood hanging high, an archway above him. There were no leaves that swayed about, and he could distinctly tell where their garden ended. He walked in deeper into the forest, the shadows growing longer, darker, swallowing him into its endless depths.

Crows crowed a little distance away. A shiver ran up his spine as he finally realized the dark pathway he had been walking along. Everything was too surreal, a nightmare of some sorts, and it was still beautiful in his eyes. The light peeking through the deadwood would cast shadows around him and over him. The cold wind rushed pass him, he was startled a little as he heard his charm bracelet ting.

There had been no telltale sign of life as he ducked under branch after branch. His hand grazed over the rough branches he held unto whenever he stepped over tree roots. Suddenly, just as he thought there really would be nothing to see and no animals or life at all, all the crows took life and rushed pass him, hitting him as they flew by around him.

Kaoru brought his arms up and shielded his face from the onslaught of crows; he could feel their beaks across his arms, breaking his skin. He could feel the soft trickle of his blood down his arms, and he ran. He ran any which ward way his feet could bring him; he had to get out of here fast, away from the panicking crows. He didn't know in which direction he was going, all he could do was hear the crunching of the leaves under his feet, the rustle of his hair as he sped by against the wind and his blood thumping loudly in his ears.

When he was sure there were no more crows around him, he brought his arms down and gingerly looked at his shallow open-wounds. There were a few across his forearms, some on the side of his wrists and some on the back of his hands. Kaoru was breathing in heavily and he steadied himself by one hand on a tree trunk, his other on his knee as he was looked down on the ground beneath him. He brought a hand to his forehead, wiping away his sweat.

That was when he heard a scream.

Kaoru visibly flinched as he heard it pierce the silence that loomed around the forest. The piercing scream was shrill and high. It sounded so close by. He looked up, wanting to find the source of that scream, and regretted the decision immediately.

Only a few distances away from him, a few metres, he didn't care. The scene laid out in front of him made him want to scream out loud as well, in horror, in panic, he was scared.

A man, holding a limp woman in his arms by her waist, had his lips connected to her neck. Blood. His lips reddened by her blood, blood slowly trailed down her neck. Kaoru could see the warm, red liquid running down his throat. He pulled away, and he licked his blood stained lips as he smirked smugly down at his prey.

Kaoru brought his hands to his mouth as he slowly backed up, and he didn't notice the tree root that was in the way. He stumbled backwards, and fell on his tush, the dead dried brown leaves crunched under him, the twigs snapping under him. Panic set in Kaoru's eyes as he tried to stand up. Before he could get his proper footing though, a figure overshadowed him, there was the initial shock of the face being exactly like his, only older and much, much paler than his. He found himself suddenly caught in surprisingly very red eyes. Red like blood.

He crawled backwards, away from the figure that towered over him. Kaoru could feel the tears welling up at the side of his eyes, he was absolutely terrified and he had to get away. But he couldn't show he was afraid to this being, he brought his hands back against his mouth to stifle out another scream, his urge to shout out for help.

Calling for help was a useless cause, nobody had ever dared to venture out into the forest. And those who had, they returned without saying a word, not ever until the day they died. Those who hadn't, there weren't any search parties sent into the forest to look for any signs of them, for a corpse at least.

He closed his eyes, Kaoru though maybe all of this was an illusion, a nightmare from an anecdote he had been reading, and he fell asleep only afterwards. He hoped that this was just a horrible, horrible dream, that if he opened his eyes, he would wake up and find himself lying down on his bed.

Kaoru opened his eyes, and saw the person, the being, still standing there over him, his eyes glowing much redder than before. Kaoru's hand crawled over the dirt as he searched for something, anything to defend himself with. His fingers were able to grope a fallen branch right beside him, and swung it in front of, towards the being, with his eyes closed. Because if his eyes remained open, he found himself drowning in the other's blood-red eyes.

With his eyes slowly fluttering open, there wasn't anything in front of him anymore, there wasn't a sign of the person. But if he looked into the distance, Kaoru could see a fallen and limp female body.

Kaoru wanted to breathe out heavily, a breath of relief, but looking over above him, the moon was already up high and another feeling of dread ghosted over him. He had to get out of here, who knew what lay in this forest.

He stood up and started running home, he didn't care anymore as his clothes slightly ripped from snagging on the lower branches. Kaoru stumbled forward once again, his bracelet caught on a branch, pulled off of his wrist. He stood up, and didn't look back. The bell on his bracelet rung as the cold wind of the night passed by.

He didn't care anymore, he ran home.

Unbeknownst to him, a figure picked his bracelet up, his eyes glowing red, standing out in the blackness of the night.

To be continued…

A/n: ta da! What do you people think? I like the atmosphere of this fic… *laughs*

Review please :D