Disclaimer= I don't own Vampire Knight, and this story is more loosely based on Blackened Wing's stories. Some aspects of the story, such as syndeos, etc. are all from her amazing imagination. =)
Also, this is the first story I've ever tried to write, so constructive criticism is welcomed. =3
The fear was overwhelming, freezing him, leaving him humiliatingly helpless. He longed for the safety of his parents arms, but they were too far away. He couldn't unglue his feet from the muddy ground, though he wished to go to them, to warn them. Whether she was rendering him like this by imposing her will upon him, or merely through the sheer terror she conjured inside him, he didn't know. It could surely be either, for he knew now, now that it was too late, that she was a pureblood.
All he could do was look at her, look at her stunning beauty as she swept forward, elegance and grace etched into each and every step. She moved like the predator that he knew her to be, slowly, and somehow sensually. Her long wave of beautiful hair fanned out behind her, glittering prettily in the silver glow of the moon that rose up around her like a halo. Her eyes were enchanting, big round orbs full of anger and hate and ecstasy as they focused on her prey. To his surprise, her eyes were completely devoid of the scarlet that would signal bloodlust, though it was clear she would be feasting on him regardless.
Her presence was suddenly before him, filling his world, and still he could not will his feet to move or his lips to sound an alarm to his parents. If he could alert them now, perhaps they could arm themselves, save themselves and his brother, but he was too weak. One of her long, slender arms slipped around his back, pulling him towards her.
She did not bite him straight away, instead she held him close, and nuzzled her face into his slender shoulder. Panic tore the breath from his lungs, curling icy tendrils up his back as her perfect lips met the perspiration soaked skin of his neck, parting briefly to allow the hard points of her ivory fangs to hover provocatively close to piercing him.
A small sound escaped from her, something between a moan of longing and a sickening hint of laughter, and then the barely held pretence of patience evaporated. She swept forward, claiming his neck fully in one swift movement. Her fangs were buried impossibly deep in his throat, and he let out a shuddering gasp as his humanity was stolen from him forever. The intensity of his pain grasped him violently. Suddenly his vocal cords released, and he found that he was screaming, voice high-pitched and shrill, childlike. His body was back under his control, but it was too late. Now that he was in her vice-like grasp all he could achieve was a slight wriggle that only bowed his head, giving her easier access to his neck.
The hauntingly beautiful woman withdrew her teeth from him, and he struggled against her, though he knew that his actions were pointless. She uttered a tinkling, musical laugh that sent another shudder of terror crawling up his spine. Her slim fingers twined in his hair, and then she was on him again, this time raking her teeth right through his aching flesh in two parallel lines of deep crimson. Her other arm was wrapped around him, holding his body to hers while she mauled him, tearing at his sensitive wounds.
It was obvious to him by now that she was not looking to feed. Thick, tacky blood was trailing down into the hollow of his collar bone and over his chest, and she was making no attempt to control the flow. Perhaps she wasn't even going to kill him. That thought prompted an almost overpowering surge of total horror; if he survived he'd end up a vampire. One of the filthy, insane parasites that his family lived to eradicate.
Oh God… I hope she does kill me…
Light had left his life, there was no hope. He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable whilst her fangs ripped and tore, his chest shuddering in despair.
The grass was damp and tickly against his face as he fell heavily to the ground. He kept his eyes closed, expecting her to follow him down and continue her barrage of harsh, rending bites. Her body did not find his, and he hesitantly allowed his eyes to flutter open. The vampire was no longer standing before him. He twisted his body, lilac eyes searching, one hand clamped over the centre of molten agony that once was his neck.
There was a resounding crack of gunfire, and another burst of melodious laughter from the pureblood. He tried to sit up, to see what was happening, to find his parents, but he couldn't lift his head from the ground. His vision swam, blurring at the edges. The pain in his throat was evolving, flowing inward, coursing through him right to his fingertips. The sensation was that of many red-hot, pointy needles searching through him, turning the internal switch inside him from 'human' to 'vampire'.
Zero awoke from the dream tangled in his bedclothes and gasping in small, pitiful sobs. His chest was so tight, constricted with bloodlust as he relived that disgusting memory for what felt like the millionth time. It seemed to hover there at the back of his mind, just waiting for him to close his eyes so it could release the hideous pain all over again, each and every night. He sat up slowly, wrapping both arms around his chest as though to physically hold back the bloodlust that was clamouring through him.
The loud chiming bells hollered, signalling the first of Zero's lessons, but he couldn't leave his dorm. He knew that the lilac in his eyes would have been completely dissolved by the crimson that was battling for his already tenuous control. He took a deep breath through his nose, attempting frantically to grab the reins on his aching need before it was completely beyond his ability to do so. His fangs were fully aroused, two sharp points digging into his trembling lower lip. They were throbbing painfully, a sensation that he was not yet accustomed to, and one he hoped would never feel natural to him.
Every day was bringing him closer toward the madness that lurked patiently in the darkness of his soul, waiting to destroy him when he finally slipped. He hugged himself tighter. He could feel it, and it scared him. He no longer cared what happened to himself, not since he had been turned, ripped bodily from the life he had always expected to have and into the miserable hell it was now. What really scared him, however, was that if he did fall to a level E that he would hurt, or, God forbid, actually kill Yuuki, the solitary ray of light in this black world.
Another pathetic sob escaped from him, followed by a surge of his intense self hatred. He was still herding his bloodlust, pressing it urgently backwards to where he could maintain his hold over it. Eventually his canines began to recede, and though he couldn't see them, he was sure the lilac had crept grudgingly back into his eyes. He bowed his head, forehead leaning against his knees, exhausted at the effort he'd exerted into controlling himself. Sweat was beading on his pale skin, gliding softly through his silver hair, gluing it to his face.
It disgusted him how hard it was getting to push these urges from his mind. It had never been easy, of course, but recently his need for blood was spiking. He'd all but drained Yuuki two nights ago, and yet the bloodlust was back already. Zero's desperation had been so strong last night that he'd forced some of the horrible chalky blood-tablets down, in such a state that he'd simply swallowed them dry. They had reacted with his system just as violently as the first time he had tried them, and though he wished there was some other way, it seemed like Yuuki was his only blood source at the moment.
He wondered briefly how long it would take her to give up on him, to realize his time was up. He wondered how she'd feel when he died. Her damn pureblood had better look after her, Zero thought with blossoming anger.
But of course he wouldn't, he'd end up turning her. That's what purebloods did, after all. That was his reason to live; he had to protect her from her darling pureblood, before she found out the hard way what his true nature was. His expression darkened as his ire expanded, but with it, so did his sense of purpose.
Now that he had stifled his bloodlust, if only momentarily, he decided to finally lever himself of off the bed and out of his sea of self-pity. Yuuki needed him, he would be strong, for her.
Aido searched through the thick wall of books he'd ended up surrounding himself with. The young noble was reclining on one of the chairs in the Moon dorm's library, even though the first rays of the morning sun were beginning to peek through the somewhat overcast sky. He hated having to stay up during the day, but Kaname had requested a report from him. It was true that the pureblood had asked him to bring it to him sometime next week, but Aido reasoned that the older vampire would be even happier if he had it compiled before sundown. Kaname had sounded unusually desperate in his need to delve deeper into the blood tablet formula.
Aido's aura grew a little stormy as he felt he could hazard a guess to the reason that the pureblood was so eager to improve his blood tablets. Yuuki's blood had been distracting him a lot of late, and at first Aido felt sure that Kaname must have been the one to spill it, no matter how much he knew the pureblood disliked the idea of creating ex-humans. Aido could simply not think it was another vampire; the entire population of the Moon dorm knew how much affection Kaname had for the human girl, whether they thought it was misplaced or not.
But the third time he found himself sensing her blood in the air, he was actually being told off by Kaname for one of his many careless remarks on how blood substitutes just weren't enough for him.
One of the other vampires was drinking from her, Aido was sure, and the thick white bandages she covered her neck with dispelled any doubts that may have arisen. He wondered if Kaname knew who was drinking from her, and why they weren't dead yet. Actually, it was a surprise that she wasn't dead yet. If Kaname had been any other pureblood he'd have destroyed her for sharing her life's blood with another, after he had made his love for her almost embarrassingly clear.
Aido sighed, rubbing under his eyes in mild fatigue. His firm grasp on medical science meant that his opinion was sought by many, and he was used to his fluctuating sleeping pattern. However, he had been working on his project for Kaname exclusively for almost a day, and though he had sworn not to give up until he found the answers he needed, he might need to break his promise anyway.
He stretched, deciding to check just one more tome before he gave up and retreated to his bed. He pulled a large, heavy book with a blue binding towards him, flicking through it intently.
Kaname was lost deeply in thought, wondering what he could do about Kiriyu. It was rather obvious that Yuuki cared for him deeply, so even though his every instinct screamed to rip the boy's throat out, he knew that the ex-human's death would quite possibly break her. He was afraid to think, would she choose him, or Kiriyu? It was a moot question anyway; one that he wasn't going to have answered any time soon.
He hoped that Aido might prove successful in his research, though he seriously doubted it. He was hoping to find a blood substitute that might agree with Zero's body, putting a temporary stopper on his bloodlust, even if it would do nothing for his disintegrating mind. He hated that Yuuki had to sacrifice her blood, but also knew that to interfere would be to push her away.
In a brief loss of control, Kaname found his fist reducing his desk to splinters. He ran both hands through his wavy, raven hair. Little shards of mahogany flew upwards, as Kaname's powers pieced the desk back together without any conscious decision on his part. It was so frustrating, in a way. Kaname had nothing against Kiriyu personally, though he knew the boy held a piece of Yuuki's heart, but the ex-human just made it so hard for anyone to approach him, especially vampires.
He could feel a deep thread of regret whisper through him, at the thought of what had been done to the hunter. It had not been Zero's fault, but nor had it been Kaname's. If only there was some way to reach out to him, so he could reach out to Yuuki too, stop both of them from hurting. But he feared that the stubborn ex-human would rather become a level E than accept the help of a member of the race that ruined his life.
Kaname's wine coloured eyes flickered towards the curtains, which were drawn to protect his sensitive, pale skin from the burn of the morning sun. With a wave of one slender, well manicured hand, they twitched aside. Kaname flinched slightly as the weak sunlight drew twin prickles of pain from his retinas. Yuuki should be heading to her first class now and he wanted to see her, free from the usual gaggle of loud, squealing Day class girls that unfortunately seemed to appear every time they met on the school grounds.
She could be a while, he knew. It depended on how long she'd had to spend herding the Day class girls back to their dorms. Whilst he waited, he reached into his top desk drawer, hand searching. His questing fingers alighted on the slim pill box containing his blood tablets, and he shook two of them out onto his palm. He held one up, studying it.
Sometimes it seemed to be a futile effort. The tablets would never become a widely used blood substitute, they simply did not give the partaking vampire the same satisfaction as drinking from a person. The tablets were bland, and most of all they lacked the intimacy and the dominance that were obtained through blood letting. Unless he could create something that other vampires might want to consume of their own volition the co-existence movement would never expand past Cross Academy. He knew that it was only used within the school grounds because a Kuran was promoting it, but even his considerable influence could not force them to be accepted outside of his syndeo. Still though, he had to try. He had almost secured the support of another pureblood, but whether the man would carry through with his promises was another matter entirely.
He let the pills drop into the crystal wine glass that had been forced to reassemble itself after his earlier recklessness, somehow managing to still hold the same amount of water it had started with. Sometimes it was good to be a pureblood, though it more often felt like shackles, tying him to a way of life that he did not necessarily wish to lead.
Yuuki hardly kept a regular schedule at the best of times, but she still hadn't left for her classes and it was late, even for her standards. It sparked a small glow of worry in the pureblood's chest. His concern was only exacerbated when the heady, intoxicating scent of her blood assailed his senses without mercy.
Ah, she must be feeding Kiriyu, he thought, slightly peeved. It had only been a short while since he'd last fed. He supposed that Yuuki was most likely safe; Zero seemed to care for her almost as much as Kaname did himself. He would never hurt her. At least, not intentionally…The last thought haunted him, but he forced himself to dismiss it.
Kaname's pupils had dilated widely. He had managed to construct a heavy barrier against these instincts, and so he calmly swirled his wine glass, allowing the crimson to spread completely within the small body of water. He drank it swiftly in two large gulps, which helped, somewhat dulling the effect Yuuki's blood tended to evoke in him. He waited silently for her to emerge from her dorms, for the scent of her blood to diminish as she covered the wound. It became clear that neither of these things were going to happen any time soon.
That flutter of panic was back, twisting in Kaname's stomach. He stood up, straightening the crisp white shirt that he was wearing instead of his school clothes; his classes wouldn't be starting until sundown, after all. He rushed to the door of his office with vampire speed and the door burst open as he touched it with his will.
Kaien Cross stood staring at Kaname with a somewhat shocked expression; the pureblood was a master of concealing his emotions and it was rare to see him in such a state.
"Kaname… Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly. The pureblood looked immaculate, his wavy hair sitting perfectly and his clothes looking smart enough to be mistaken for his business outfit, but something about Kaname's stance screamed of unease.
"Ah, yes," Kaname replied, a little surprised to see Cross standing outside of the door he had all but slammed open. "I'm a little busy, perhaps we could talk later?"
"Umm, Kaname, did you forget? We have two new students starting today," Cross began, consumed with concern. If there was something Kaname was not, it was a scatterbrain. "Miss Chie Nakamura is starting today, and you agreed to talk with her about the Night class. She's from Akihiko's syndeo."
Kaname's eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had been rather counting on the support of the other pureblood's syndeo and he could not believe he had been as stupid to forget that he was greeting one of his nobles. It seemed that Yuuki and Zero were playing much more heavily on his mind than he'd first thought. He would have to leave Yuuki for now. As much as it pained him to do so, he would be pretty much destroying any chance of co-existence if he did not show hospitality towards the young noble. Besides, Zero may be getting worse, but he still had a little time left before he slipped completely. She could probably be safe with him. It would still be nice to know for sure…
"She is waiting downstairs," Cross continued with a slight frown. He reached out one hand and hesitantly patted the vampire on the shoulder. He knew the pureblood had been extremely stressed of late. "Are you sure that you're okay?" his tone was gentle and his eyes held Kaname's with an unmistakeable expression of concern.
Kaname shrugged off the other man's worry and assured that he was fine. In truth, he was grateful that Cross was helping him with the co-existence movement. The look in his eyes had actually made Kaname feel a little touched.
Kaname followed Kaien to where the noble vampire waited for him, hoping fervently that he could wrap this up quickly.
Zero thought he might die, and at the moment he actually wished he would. He was a monster. He should never be allowed to inhabit the same world as the beautiful, kind girl that was lying at his feet. He leaned slightly, brushing some of her chestnut locks away from her face with one trembling hand.
After leaving his dorm he had ran into Yuuki. She was waiting for him, apparently. Being the sweet, considerate girl that she was, she had been worried for him when she didn't see him leave for his class. When she saw the tightness of his expression she understood his delay, and quickly offered her blood to him.
He had not wanted to drink from her, not in this state. There was too much of a chance that he would hurt her irreparably, and he was not willing to risk it. But she hadn't listened to him. She had only wanted him to feel better, but she did not understand the danger she was evoking. He turned her down again, pushing her out of the way as he headed towards the door. He had known that he had to leave, right now, or the temptation would override his control.
It was then that Yuuki had forced him to do the unforgivable. Lifting her hand she had scored two thin lines into the skin on her neck, freeing the blood that flowed beneath. Zero's world dissolved then into a heavy haze of scarlet. He could think of nothing, see nothing, feel nothing but the steady flow of blood pouring into him.
His senses had not returned until Yuuki's slight frame had collapsed against him, her slender body completely slack in his arms. In his total horror he had immediately withdrew from her, letting her fall to the ground.
He now knelt over her, trembling all over as he looked upon the hideous wound he had inflicted. It was almost an exact duplicate of the one he had witnessed Shizuka brand him with only minutes ago in his nightmare. With that thought he lost the last shreds of his control, and he broke into a series of hiccupping sobs, with fat, salty tears inching down his cheeks. He was in danger of throwing up.
One hand tried to hold the wound closed whilst the other searched for her pulse. It was beating, but faintly.
Kaname eyed the girl wearily. Her appearance was that of a girl no older than seventeen, but something about her told Kaname that she could not have been younger than a century. She was an extremely beautiful vampire, and her designer dress spoke of her family's considerable wealth. Kaname was not familiar with her family name, which was surprising as she seemed to be quite well regarded by Akihiko Honda if he was sending her into Kaname's syndeo. She was not a pureblood, but it was very clear that her bloodline was a powerful one, and he made a mental note to get Seiren to look into the young woman.
She held herself with the effortless grace that came with good breeding, and she regarded him coolly with hint of open curiosity. It was as though she was sizing him up, perhaps in regard with her own pureblood master, or perhaps more likely, for him.
Her hair was snow white despite her youthful looks, and it somehow only added to her pleasant appearance. It fell to the small of her back in an elaborate style that must have taken her an age to complete. Her eyes held his with an unreadable expression dominating them, and at first he took them to be a sapphire blue. When she turned her head slightly, though, they seemed to change colour to a hue of sea green.
She bowed slightly, letting her pale fringe fall over those stunning, canted eyes.
"I am Chie Nakamura. I'm here at Akihiko Honda's request, and I shall serve you in any way I can. I already have sufficient knowledge of your blood tablets to begin helping you with them immediately."
Kaname listened to her round off the rest of her resume, considering her whilst she spoke of her expertise. Although he could not pinpoint it, something about her screamed of potential danger. He was not gullible enough to trust a member of another pureblood's inner circle in any case, but she rang unusually loud in his senses. All vampires were attractive, but she was more so than usual with her slender yet curvy figure and her cute, round face and high cheekbones. Somehow this only made her seem more of a threat, and Kaname decided to make sure extra eyes would be watching her during her hopefully brief stay.
"That's excellent. You shall be joining the Night class here at Cross Academy, in order to increase the efficiency of our current blood substitutes. A resident of the Moon Dorm will be arriving shortly to lead you to your new residence. I hope you enjoy your stay here and I will hopefully see you later." Kaname turned; finally ready to see to Yuuki whilst the woman dropped another respectful bow.
"Oh, one more thing," Kaname started as an afterthought. Chie turned those hypnotizing eyes on him again. "While you are staying here you are to live on blood tablets only. There will be no feeding on campus."
The girl's face twisted in an unhappy expression, though Kaname was certain she had been told such before she was sent to the Academy by her master.
"Of course," she replied, after a silence that lasted longer than was comfortable, her face once more washed of all detectable emotion. "I will of course follow the rules of your syndeo whilst living under your hospitality."
Kaname did not doubt that she would follow the rules. She would not dare to disobey a pureblood; the punishment would not be worth it. He still disliked her hesitation, though. The girl was a supposed member of the co-existence movement though she appeared unwilling to even stop feeding from humans. It was a bit of a contradiction.
"Yes, of course," he replied. He somehow felt uncomfortable as he left, as though he had left a raging fire unattended to wreak as much havoc as it wished. As it was, though, he could not leave Yuuki any longer. He had to employ all his restraint to not simply flee from the room to her side.