I don't really remember how I ended up stuck in a cage, but here I was. I had managed to get myself caught up on the wrong end of a tripwire. I had been looking for food, anything to keep me going just a little bit longer. My grand prize was a mixture of corn, alfalfa, and raw beef. I'm pathetic.
I crouched in the corner, leaning against the chain links of my cage. I was in the middle of nowhere. The sun would be setting soon and it got cold out here real fast, trust me I know. The trappers had the decency to set up under a tree in case it rained on whatever they caught. Unfortunately I hadn't a clue how long it had been out here for, I hoped at least two days, that way they'd have to come and check it.
Night fell over the countryside, it was almost peaceful out. Even with the light of the stars, it was still pitch black out. Granted I didn't need much light to see. The world took on a slight golden tint whenever the moon peeked over the top of the horizon, the result of my many defects.
The animals stayed away from my cage, though I could smell them, I didn't see them anywhere. They knew that anything inside this thing was marked for slaughter, I was no exception. Though I dreaded the trappers coming in to find a 17 year old girl in one of their traps, I dreaded what I would have to do to them when they got me out. It would be too much work to explain why I was in the trap, why I was alone in the middle of the sticks and most importantly, why I had glowing yellow eyes. I would have to rip them apart.
That thought was pushed out of my head and replaced by a new one. "Fuck it's cold!"
I leaned off the side of the cage and looked around. The only place that wasn't touching metal was the plate of meat mush in the middle of the cage. It smelled pretty rank and I hated the idea of sitting in it. It was either this or die of cold.
I got out of the corner and went over to the plate of mush and tried to settle in. It had a strange mix of crunchy and squishy texture to it. The wet sound it made when I laid down in it 'bout made me blow chunks. On the bright side, it was surprisingly warm. I guess the alfalfa acted as a conductor and the fact that it wasn't touching the metal was also a plus. I didn't much care. The countryside had granted me levity and I was thankful, if only for a moment.
The sun rose far too early, I can't recall when I fell asleep but the sun woke me up right quick. With any luck, the trappers would come and let me out. Then …
The smell of a human got me on my feet. I may've been a monster but I still wasn't goin' down swinging'. It was only one man, I could hear his heart. It was even, maybe 75 bpms. Don't ask how I know this. It sorta just clicked into place, like some fucked up jigsaw puzzle. The edges of my vision went a shade of gold and the world came into focus. I could see everything! The aphids on the leaves, the edges of the pebbles, all of it was in focus. It was a bit of a visual overload, but still really cool.
The man came into view, he wore glasses and had his hair pulled up in a ponytail. He had no gun. Why did he have to make it so easy? He did walk with a walking stick. Perhaps he could use it a pipe and defend himself that way. I can hear the hum in the air. The hunter in me is poised to strike.
He stops in front and stares right at me. The early morning sun obscures his eyes so I can't see them. He tilts his head to the side, confused. He looked almost childlike.
"Well aren't you all out of your element, little one." His voice his calm and high pitched. "Let's get you out of there, little pup."
I hiss in surprise and throw myself forward on instinct. He's smart enough to fling himself to the side. He caught the hem of my pant leg as I burst out. I ate dirt.
"Get off me!"
"You don't need to be afraid, I won't hurt you and I know you won't hurt me either." He spoke with gentleness.
That threw me for a loop. He didn't have much of a weapon, save that walking stick. He hadn't swung at me yet and the worst thing was that I now had dirt to add to the repertoire of shit I'm now covered in.
"How do you know that? I could tear you apart!" He was right but I kinda wanted to hear his reasoning.
"If you wanted me dead, you wouldn't be talking to me. You would have been snarling at me." Damn his logic!
"Fair enough, but why didn't you just beat me with your stick?" I asked.
"I don't believe in violence." He spoke with an aura of pride as if he took pride in his pacifism. I admit it, I envied him.
"And yet, you're a hunter." It wasn't a question.
"If you mean the boar trap, then no," He looked at the boar trap with hatred. "If you meant that I hunted vampires, then yes, I did."
The stupid part of my brain noted that it was hilarious that I was caught in a pig trap. Fuck you twisted hand of fate! I shook my head and refocused my still reddened vision
"Did?"
"Yes," there was that pride again. "I now am a headmaster at a school now."
"Really?" I couldn't keep the exuberance out of my voice. I might've been the only teenager in the world that missed learning, even if it was from my mother.
'Yes!" He chirped. "Though I think we can discuss that later. For now, let's get you cleaned up. No offense, you smell!"
"Gee thanks!" I can't deny him, I do stink. Still it's not nice to say that to a lady.
"Oh and by the way, what's your name?" He asks.
"Karasu, Karasu Parquet."
I walked with the strange man, who named himself as Headmaster Cross, back to his cabin. He said that he rented this place out during the summer, to enjoy the peace and quiet. It was old, rundown, and unassuming.
"It's lovely." I say.
"Isn't it though?" He grins and runs inside. I have to admit it. His joy is contagious.
I follow him inside and am surprised to find it's quite clean. It has a slight hint of lavender. Perhaps he's got some flowers growing in a sill somewhere. The rooms are lit with old fashioned lamps, or are at least at night. Now the daylight fills the rooms, all four of them. The thing that strikes me is that he's not alone. Someone is in the bathroom brushing his teeth.
He spots me in his reflection and whirls around. His eyes flash from lavender to crimson and my vision goes gold again. Huh, when did that stop? His hair is silver and the stupid part of my brain thinks of something my mama said when I was little
"All angels have white hair and subtle variations of blue." So close...
He's no angel, he's a monster. Just like me. His eyes are so inhuman and now that I catch his scent, I can tell he's not human. He's a vampire.
"Who is she?" His voice had a cold rasp to it, like it hadn't been used in a while. Headmaster Cross looked at the silver haired boy, quite shocked.
"Zero, you can talk!"
"Of course I can!" He looks a tad miffed. "Now who is the filthy mutt?"
"You're insane!" Zero whisper-shouted. Now that I could sit down and really look at him, I could only really see another monster. He's apparently a member of the Hunter Association, which is a contradiction in itself.
He had been arguing for my death for over an hour now. His argument hinged on the fact that I was acting feral since I came here citing that only a beast would consider a boar trap a viable source of food. I have no idea how he knew about that. He also brought up the valid point of how since he came in, my eyes hadn't faded.
The Headmaster's argument was basically, "teach them compassion by showing them compassion". I'll admit it; even I couldn't choose either side. I want to be good. I know I can be good. Just like Mama taught me. I was good.
The two talked like a father and son, despite the fact that Zero insisted they weren't related. The only difference was their dynamic was reversed. The Headmaster was a child, arguing to take in the stray mutt. Zero, however, was a level headed adult who knew better. As we all know however, you don't lose against the child's blackmail.
"Remember Zero, it was a risk to take you in, and that turned out alright." Headmaster Cross pointed out.
Zero 'bout lost it.
He went rigid. His eyes flared and his lip curled back over his fangs. Cross didn't bat an eye but I got to my feet. I was pretty passive through the whole argument but Zero losing his cool (you can't lose what you never had) and threatening Cross was where I drew the line. Even if he wasn't in any real danger, it was the least I could do to thank him for letting me out of the trap.
The same could be said for me, my eyes shown gold, my teeth, and I added a low growl from the back of my throat. The message was clear enough, don't fuck with Cross!
"Now ladies, calm yourselves, you're both lovely." Headmaster Cross did his best to relieve the tension. I think he only made Zero madder.
"Do you not see this, she wants our flesh! This beast is feral!"
"Hey, pardon me for defending a friend from a monster. And as a fellow monster, I can safely assert that you and I are one in the same save for the forms we choose to take." At that point Zero stormed off.
"Well, it's settled then. You will attend Cross Academy when the school year resumes in the fall. Good luck, friend." He gave me a warm smile and went off to find Zero.
That night, after the world's best shower, I slept on the couch. Once Zero had calmed down enough to make a public appearance, he was actually quite a quiet person. Zero was nestled in a nearby armchair. He had decided on watching me sleep. Yes, that is just as unsettling as it sounds. What is this, some mad-lived teen romance novel?
"Am I so enthralling that the idea of watching me sleep is just too much to resist?"
"Just making sure the Headmaster doesn't regret his decision to let you live." He spoke in a hush, so as to not wake the Headmaster.
"Then tell me, Zero, why do you want my head on a pike so badly."
"I've heard of your kind and they're just as vicious as the vampires. I don't like the idea of mixing the two monsters." He gave me an almost pained look, like he was remembering something particularly unpleasant.
"Who was she?"
"What?" Now that was the sound of a confused vampire.
"The vampire who hurt you, duh." Now I was just screwing with him now. "Or was it a guy, hey man I don't judge…"
"Karasu!" Zero whisper-shouted. His face was slightly red and he looked really uncomfortable.
"What I'm curious, I wanna know."
"Curiosity killed the cat, remember."
"Well it's a good thing I'm a dog then huh?"
"Whatever, you need to sleep. We leave for the Academy in the morning."
"Please, I won't be able to sleep anyways." I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and considering I was a puppy, that was saying something
"Fine," Zero conceited. "Her name was Yuki, she was my best friend. She had always been infatuated with a particular vampire and whenever she found out about what kind of a monster I was. She tried to help me. I begged her to stay away from us both, but she didn't listen. She joined him and still stays with him. We still go to school together. It still hurts to look at them."
He sounded broken. His voice had grown tight and he was doing his best not to sob. I immediately regret my earlier comments. He was in pain.
I got up and sat on the arm of the armchair and pulled him into a tight hug. He didn't flinch nor did he show any signs of disgust. He buried his face into my shoulder and I didn't recoil at the idea of having a vampire hear me. He was a broken little boy and he needed a hug, badly.
I rubbed comforting circles in his back and he let out a subtle whimper. I felt a few tears soak through my shirt; I didn't think he had the ability to cry. I scratched his back with my nails and hummed a quiet indiscernible lullaby. He pulled back a little bit and looked at me.
"Why are you being so nice to me? We hate each other remember?" He gave a slight tilt of his head.
"I can't stand to see anyone upset. No matter what the reason. As for what I said earlier, I do apologize. I was being' rather mean." I gave him my best warm smile and resumed my lullaby.
"Thank you," He laid his head back on my shoulder and relaxed enough that he fell asleep. He must've been exhausted. I uncurled myself from the chair and went back to my couch. Zero snored quietly in the chair.
That morning, I was up first. I guess Zero was truly down for the count because that boy was gone. Headmaster Cross got up not long after I did and we started on breakfast. I'll admit I love to cook. Mama said everyone, man or women, needed to learn.
The Headmaster and I didn't need to speak much. He had a passion for cooking and I just liked to watch him work. When food was clearly on the way, he asked me to go and wake the sleeping Zero on the couch.
"Oh and by the way, I should remind you that Zero can be a little bit irritable in the mornings. He doesn't have his gun on him I hope" He gave me a knowing look and I swear that man's eyes saw everything.
"Gee, I hadn't noticed!"
I walked into the sitting room and looked over at the armchair. Zero was still dead. He almost looked like a child when he slept. He snored subtly and he was curled up in a ball. I came over and knelt near his head. Rubbing his head gently, I whispered his name.
"Zero, Zero wake up. Breakfast will be ready soon."
He opened his eyes about halfway before shooting up in shock and whirling to look at me. His eyes were burning red but the moment he realized it was only me, they returned to a placid purple pigment.
"The Headmaster was right; you are irritable in the morning." I gave him a reassuring smile.
"Sorry, you startled me," he wasn't looking me in the eye. He had dark circles underneath his eyes that gave him the look of recovering from a broken nose. To sum it up, he looked like shit.
"You look terrible, couldn't sleep?"
"No, not really," He muttered
"Breakfast will be ready in a moment."
When I returned to the kitchen, I sat at the small dining table. I was a pale wooden round table that was only big enough to seat three. Cross had set out the plates as well as a glass of juice for each of us. It would be the first real meal I've had in almost a year.
Zero came in a couple minutes later. His hair was a mess and he still looked half asleep. He sat down across from me and commenced to stare at me. This boy had no sense of manners at all, did he?
"Zero, take a picture, it'll last you longer."
He snapped out of his daze. What was he thinking about anyway?
"Sorry, I zoned out." He still had a distant look in his eye. "How'd you sleep?"
"Not bad, all things considerin'
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked incredulously.
"Well I was being watched."
"That was a necessary precaution!" He defended.
"And it will no longer be needed," Cross interjected. I'd almost forgotten he was here.
"Thank God!" I shouted. Hey, despite the insight into his psyche I got last night. I still didn't like the idea of being watched over by Zero.
As Cross set breakfast down, the room fell quiet. I didn't mind the quiet, I was eating. It had been far too long since I'd eaten normal food so I was engrossed in it. They were also eating in silence, I'll admit it now, Headmaster Cross could cook.
When food was done with we sat there. Cross had a few things to iron out before we left so we had to stay seated.
"Karasu, please tell me, how long have you been on your own like this?" The Headmaster asked.
"About a year,"
"Why?"
"My house burned down, I had nowhere else to go."
"No relatives?"
"All died in the fire or, in the case of my father, MIA."
"You were educated privately?"
"My parents brought in a tutor. It was the summer so he wasn't there at the time."
"Were all your relatives … like you?"
"Yes, at least as far as I know."
"You'd be going into your final year of high school, correct?"
"Yes and can we stop with the interrogation?"
"Yes, I think that'll be sufficient. I'll see about digging up some of your records, perhaps we can see about that absentee father of yours." Cross stood up and gestured for us to follow.
They had apparently put their things in the trunk of a car last night so all we had to do was get in and drive. Zero and I sat in the back seat and Cross drove. I assumed Zero took the back seat with me so he could sleep, but he stayed awake.
We drove onto a dirt road that I hadn't noticed before. My senses must be getting dull. We then got onto a small paved road and kept on that for a couple of hours before finally getting onto a proper motorway.
I wanna point out that this was like only my third time in a car and I was nervous as hell. Mama never drove much and so it was not an experience I had ever grown accustomed to.
I was looking around and couldn't sit still. My leg kept twitching. I let out a nervous whine and I felt somebody scoot beside me. Zero had switched to the seat near mine. He reached out and squeezed my hand.
"Not good with car rides, huh?"
"No, I've only done it a couple of times. It's sorta unnecessary when you can walk as long as I can." I whispered to him.
He leaned over and wrapped an arm 'round my shoulders and pulled me into a one armed hug. He was surprisingly warm and it was definitely calming. I noted Cross's smile in the rear view mirror.
Zero rested his head on top of mine and didn't let go of my hand. He would rub my shoulder every time we hit a particularly bumpy bit of road or made to sharp a turn. And I swear Cross was doing it on purpose. Eventually Zero and I both fell asleep.
I awoke to Cross telling us that we were almost there. He was grinning stupidly. I nudged my head into Zero's shoulder and eventually he woke up. This time it wasn't as violent a reaction as the time previous, now he was simply embarrassed.
"Sorry, I fell asleep on you again, didn't?" His voice was low and scratchy again. He really wasn't a morning person was he?
"Yeah, but to be fair, I didn't stop you. On either occasion, it was partially my fault."
"And it's adorable!" Cross, and I shit you not, squealed. Sometimes, I wonder …
Zero rolled his eyes and scooted a little way away, though he didn't let go of my hand. He was a very strange boy, one minute he's staring at you with malice and contempt and the next he's falling asleep on your shoulder. He is by far the moodiest person I've ever met.
Then again, Cross was a character himself. On the one hand, he holds himself on a very mature moral code and yet can and will unabashedly squeal like a little girl. He's been so incredibly nice and yet I can't quite tell why.
It took ten more minutes to finally reach civilization. The town itself was small. People were horridly going about their busy lives. Some were selling food, others opening up shop for the day and even some were walking to work. I was almost surreal. It was just like the town that I grew up in.
I felt a pang of longing go through me. I missed home. I missed my mama, my auntie and uncle, even my shitty cousins. This place felt so familiar and so alien at the same time that I almost couldn't stand it.
Just like that, we were driving out. Zero must've sensed my distress for he squeezed my hand tighter.
That's when the smell hit me. Granted, Zero stank of vampire and I'd sorta gotten used to it. This was different; this was a whole coven of them. I could smell their scents in the trees. This place was covered in it. My vision tinged yellow again. I was in danger.
Zero squeezed my hand again.
"I know. I can smell it too. Don't worry, they won't get to you. Most of, if not all of them are asleep at the moment."
"That's gonna take some getting used to." Then something clicked in my head. "Hey, shouldn't you be asleep during the day; is that why you're so tired?"
"No, I take my classes in the day. So I'm up during the day." He said that as if it should've been obvious.
"Right…"
Then a tall building came into view. It was surrounded by several smaller and yet still daunting buildings. The grounds were well kept and as we got closer, I could see students milling about. They all wore the same black uniform and I was painfully reminded of the fact that I had to borrow Zero's clothes as I hadn't any of my own anymore. The fact that we were the same size in pants still made me laugh. Zero hadn't found it as amusing.
I could feel Zero grow more on edge the closer we got. He wasn't much a fan of this place. The vampire hunter in him must be wrenching at the presence of so many vampires. Worse still, it must be a painful reminder of what happened with Yuki. It couldn't be easy coming back here.
The car came to a slow stop in a parking place hidden amongst the trees. I got out.
"Welcome to Cross Academy." Cross spoke.
