Chapter 1

"Ichiru! Zero! Master Yagari!" I called from my mother's rose garden. All three turned their heads. I waved and asked my mom, "Can I go, mommy? Can I?"

Mother smiled and said, "Go ahead." I cheered and ran into Master Yagari's arms. He picked me up and gave me a hug.

"I missed you guys on your trip! How was it? What kind of vampire did kill? Was it bloody?" I asked question after question. Yagari smiled.

"The trip went good. Zero killed a Level E. And you know that when a vampire dies-" Yagari said.

"It turns to dust, I know," I interrupted.

"Yumi!" Ichiru said. I jumped from Yagari's arms and hugged him.

"Ichiru! Ichiru! Your back!"

I had always loved Ichiru and Zero. They were part of my family. I peeked over Ichiru's shoulder and looked at Zero. He was looking away from us. I let go of Ichiru and walked over to Zero.

"Zero, your back." I tugged at his arm, but he jerked and slapped my hand away.

"Zero!" I heard Mother call. Yagari grabbed Zero's arm and said, "Zero! How could you slap her?"

Ichiru pulled me away and grabbed my hand. "Miss. Suki, her hand is bleeding."

I looked at Zero and he looked at me. "Yumi? Yumi, are you ok?" Mother asked. I nodded. "Come on. Ichiru, Yumi, come inside now."

Yagari stayed with Zero. Ichiru pulled me along. When we got inside, Mother bandaged up my hand and sent me and Ichiru to the garden.

Later that night, I overheard Mother talking to Master Yagari.

"…is a vampire," Yagari said. I froze and leaned closer.

"Zero is a vampire? When did this happen? How long have you known? Who did this," Mother said. Zero…is…a…, I thought.

"Shizuka Hio. Do you remember when their parents died? Shizuka bit him as his parents died. She then left him there," Yagari replied.

"Did she bite Ichiru?" Mother asked urgently.

"Ichiru is fine," he answered. "but I think Yumi should stay away from Zero for a while."

I need to stay away from Zero? Zero was nice to me, maybe he freaked out because he hadn't seen me in a while. Maybe he saw something he shouldn't have and was thinking about it when I touched him, so he slapped my hand away.

"Zero…Zero saw Shizuka. He said she was going to kill something important to him. She also said she would have help from a close friend of his…" he said.

"Yumi!" Mother gasped. "My Yumi would never do such a thing!" she cried.

"Suki! Suki, calm down. If we can get Yumi to become closer to Zero we can change that…but there's still Ichiru. He might kill Yumi," Yagari whispered.

I shook my head and ran away. Ichiru would never kill me…would he? I ran into my room and locked the door. If my fate was to die, then I would avoid it at all cost. I grabbed a suitcase and started putting clothes away. I had to get away from here before I was killed. I opened the window, letting in the cold night air. I left nothing behind, not a note or a stuffed animal, nothing. I knew I would be hurting my mother.

"I'm sorry, Mother." I whispered and jumped out the window. I ran off into the woods, leaving my other life behind.