Hello! If any of you have read my previous work, it tends to be humorous in nature. This is my attempt to break from that. I want any reviews you can throw at me, positive or negative, just make sure you frame them politely.

This is mainly going to focus on OCs, but canon characters will appear.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.

Did you know,

That they were once like us?

That eagles dawned their shadowed robes,

To walk among the crows?

Now as they step on our necks,

They stare down.

And as our lungs fill with blood,

We drown in their eyes.

The chill light of dawn rose from the darkness to caress Rose's cheek. She stumbled forward, clutching her coat to her skin. Snow danced in her vision, dying against warmth. She breathed out a ragged and frozen breath, careful not to be loud.

The sun was just peaking through the night. It cast away the shadows with the ease of a king swatting dust. Beneath it, the city pulsed gently with life, though it seemed sleepy. Rose glanced about, drawing herself in closer to her garb. A dark, wool hood hid her features from the day.

This place was called Panis, "the breach" in the old tongue. Its ancient strength emanated from every building and tree, every stone and carving. Even at this hour, Rose couldn't go a block without seeing someone going about their business. Silently, to keep herself calm, she tried to remember what it had been called before. Old Porkland? New Yorkville… New York! That was it.

Rose picked up her pace. Her dark robes fluttered behind her like a faithful entourage, or a shadow. She was late. She was soooooo late. They were going to kill her. They were going to worry about her. And what was worse… they were going to come looking for her. She couldn't have that hanging over her head. She just couldn't.

As she raced on, she passed a stall. Its owner was tall and handsome, with African features and a well kept person. He squinted as the sun pressed itself against his skin, and he was already half done packing away his supplies for the day, but not even convenience stops a good salesman. He smiled his most charming, toothy smile, and stepped out in front of her.

"Hello young miss," he said, his smile widening. "Care for a souvenir? A tablet? A woman so lovely must really make sure to maintain her figure. You're so pleasantly thin; you must be on a diet. Indulge yourself a little. You've earned it." He pressed in closer.

Rose swerved to the side, stepping into the road for a brief moment. Her heart raced, and she could feel her blood pumping through every vein and artery in her body. She didn't stop.

But the salesman didn't give up. After a quick glance at the sun, he darted ahead of her, his smile still thick and luscious. "Darling, don't run off! You'll make a guy cry. Please, why not just try on one of these fabulous rings? Straight from the ruins of an old human jewelry store. An antique. C'mon." He reached out and gripped Rose's arm. She gasped and then pulled back.

"I'm a noble," she spat out. The man winced, and then stepped away. His eyes had widened, and his arms were waving about in apology.

"I'm so sorry. Please, my lady, let me take you to safety! The sun, it's probably unbearable for you. Oh God, I'm so sorry. Please, please forgive me. I'm sor-,"

"Don't worry about it," she muttered as she ran off. The man waited for what must have been minutes before he was calm enough to continue putting away his wares.

Rose rushed on, the fury of day swelling in her breast. She was so cold. The crunching of freshly fallen snow beneath her feet filled the cold world. But it would all be over soon. She just needed to get to the safe house. Nothing could stop her now.

When she reached the end of the block, she hung a right and almost slipped on the snow. Before she could complete the fall however, she caught herself and went on.

After a few minutes, she saw it. The church rose high and powerful in the air, its stained glass windows shining against the light of dawn. Its shadow fell forward like an outreaching arm, calling to her. She was almost there…

A hand grasped her shoulder like a vice. Her momentum shot the right half of her body forward, and then she fell into a pile of flesh and clothing. Her crimson hair spilled out from her hood, and she blinked up with fearful blue eyes. Her pretty face was contorted into a show of confusion. The dark man glanced down at her. His charming grin turned up into a smirk.

"Nobles run faster than that, bitch." He knelt down and grabbed at her neck. A strangled cry escaped before all she could do was gurgle her horror. "By my account, you owe me some money. And maybe a little blood." He licked his lips. When his tongue retreated back into his mouth it revealed a long, pinky thin claw. His eyes raged happily.

Something tensed inside him. Slowly, something dawned in his head. He sniffed the chilling air as the snow melted under Rose's body. He pressed himself in closer, and gave one more sniff. Afterwards, he paused. When he spoke, it was softly, and with a razor beneath his voice. "Just what are you?"

Bang.

The world went crimson. The gunshot sounded through the air, thudding into the man's side. He rolled off of Rose, leaving a red trail in the tainted snow. Before his attacker could get him again, he was on his feet.

A tall, lanky dark haired man- man, he couldn't have been over seventeen- glared out from a trench coat. Clasped in his hand was a long, thin handgun. It was smoking gently. "You have to the count of three to leave before I kill you."

The man sneered. "Who do you think you are? She lied about being a noble. That's a crime you know. I have every right to bring her in. She's lucky I didn't-"

"One."

He lifted an eyebrow, and then crossed his chest. "Oh, come on. We both know bullets aren't going to be enough to kill me. Let's stop acting like children and-."

"Three." A blast of scarlet burst from the muzzle of the gun, rippling and twisting itself so that it seemed like the splattering of blood against air. When it reached its target, it has formed itself into a cross. With the fury of a charging lion, it rammed itself straight into the dark man. He had time for only one scream before the fires of the weapon dragged him down. When the light died away, he had been reduced to a pile of dust. A cook, gentle breeze threw him to the winds and into the belly of Gaea.

"I never was all that good at math."

Rose had managed to rise from the snow. Her robes were soaked, and she had been chilled to the bone. "Thanks Tristan," she muttered.

There was a deafening silence. Tristan smoothed down his unruly hair. His teeth were clenched into an uneasy frown. "You just had to bring him all the way back here, didn't you?" Rose was silent. She watched her feet as if they could provide an answer. He continued.

"They're going to smell the blood for miles. Even from here. Even now. Did you even think of that? Why did you say you were a noble? The glamour? You could have been a perfectly normal one of these bloodsuckers and feigned tiredness, but no, it had to be a noble."

"I wasn't thinking. Tristan I'm sorry-"

"Exactly, you weren't fucking thinking. Now we have to uproot everything. Do you know how much danger you've put everyone into? We could all die because of this. God damn it." He turned away, back into the church, a shadow swallowed in light. Rose just kept watching her feet for a moment. She knew that she would have to move eventually. She knew that she would have to move eventually. She knew that she was putting them in more danger. It was just that standing there in the snow, as it fell to drape her shoulders and chill her head, she just wanted didn't want to move. Maybe if she just stood there forever, the vampires would skip her over. Maybe she would die in snow. Maybe she would freeze over, and one day some artisan would come by and carve her into something beautiful. She'd screwed up again.

For the second time that day, a hand grasped her shoulder. Unlike the first time, however, this one did not bring any anxiety. It was soft and kind, and a second after its arrival two powerful arms draped themselves across her back. A man placed his chin over her head. To an outsider, the action would look completely inappropriate. In reality, it was. In ancient times, such a move would have been known as a glomp, and would have also earned the reaction of a swift kick to the crotch. But this was just Dave.

"Watcha doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin?"

Rose shuffled her feet. "Moping."

"Hoooooooooooow cooooooooooooome?"

"Cause I ruined everything. Again." His arms grasped around her belly and twirled her like she was a child. When she looked up at him, it was like staring at a calmer, less lined version of Tristan. He placed his right hand atop her head and mussed it peacefully.

"We were going to have to move again in a week. Bro's just cranky. Don't worry about him." Rose tolerated having her hair mussed like an old veteran. It was just part of the generally pleasant experience of talking with Dave.

"He's such a dick."

Dave laughed. It was a pleasant sound. "Indeed. You'd be too if you had his job. Now go in and get your stuff. There's another church about half a mile north. It won't even take that long to move the stuff, and I'll warn the others so they don't show up unannounced. We're going to be fine. This is our time." Rose took it all in stride. She could feel tears forming at the edges of her eyes, but she didn't let herself show them. She smiled.

"Thanks Dave." The snow kept falling. The blood stained the floor. The shadow of the church cradles its children like a protective mother.

They would come. That was certain. But in this place, at this time, the vampires could not catch them.

This was still their world.

Not enough of our dear Mangaka friend's characters? Don't worry!Next chapter will have some of them.