No…

This can't be happening…

A sharp pain broke through the palm of my hand as the wood of the now broken chapel bench pierced through it. I gasped, choking for air, but the dryness and aching in my throat had yet to cease. I pulled up my hand, watching in both amazement and horror as the wound healed itself within seconds. I then looked up to Viktor, fury seeping through my veins when I saw that he was laughing at me. In fact, he was laughing so hard that small drops of blood were pooling at the corners of his eyes.

I stood up again, gritting my teeth because of the uncharacteristic quickness of the movement. "What did you do to me?!" I roared, wincing when my voice echoed painfully; it was loud. My ears were a lot more sensitive than before.

Viktor smirked, shrugging his shoulders. "Last time I checked, we both drank from each other. It was very steamy and hot. You woke up, probably noticing that your hearing, and sight…" Viktor paused to look down at the pair of glasses that I had discarded away on the carpeted floor.

I glared at him in distaste. His sadistic type of jolliness was really beginning to get on my nerves

"…Were better," Viktor continued. "That's what a vampire's blood does. It compensates for the physical weaknesses of you humans. You should also be a lot stronger and faster than before~!"

Viktor placed a finger against his lips, humming in delight. "Oh, and you're not actually a vampire by the way. You should have seen your stupid piggie face! Aha~! So naïve and gullible! It's hard to come across someone this pure these days."

I let out an incoherent grunt when a new wave of thirst and longing rocked through my body. I involuntarily licked my lips, the sound of Viktor's pulse drawing me closer to him. I looked at his pale wrist, only to force myself to look away again, biting my lip hard enough to draw blood.

"What am I then?" I croaked. I was feeling too weak to show that thing just how furious I was. It felt as if my entire life force was draining away. The world was brighter, the sounds louder; but it was my mind that was slowly beginning to deteriorate. My sanity was slipping away. It was being replaced with a thirst so raw that it was virtually uncontrollable.

"You're not quite a vampire yet," Viktor said with yet another leering smile. "You're more like a fledgling. You're neither human nor vampire."

"In order to survive, you'll need to drink my blood. If you don't drink my blood, your body will begin to reverse the change, which is too much for a human immune system to handle. You will die if you don't drink my blood," Viktor repeated with much unnecessary emphasis on the whole drinking his blood part. The bastard was clearly getting off on the fact that my survival was entirely dependent on him now.

He could always be lying, but at this point, I didn't care. I was already walking away from him, intending to use one of the broken pieces of the chapel bench to pierce my heart with. I still had my friends back at the University to protect. It was only a matter of time before this thing forced that information out of me with his mind control powers.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Viktor patronized, still not even bothering to leave his position at the center pedestal. He must have preferred to watch my humiliation from above; the best spot in the entire damn room.

"A stake to the heart won't kill you! That's one thing about fledglings that I've always been envious about. Unlike real vampires, fledglings can't be killed by wood. Fledglings have remarkable healing powers. The sun only makes them uncomfortable, and they show no real aversion towards silver. I suppose that their short life span must have something to do with these abilities. A vampire's blood will only last them so long before their bodies begin to reject the change. You're damned either way. Don't drink my blood and die or drink my blood and die later."

"Or," Viktor mused, continuing on as I showed no interest in speaking to him. "You choose to become a full vampire and serve under me. I prefer not to control my kin unless I absolutely have to, so you need not worry about me abusing my power. I'd like to say that I'm one of the kinder nobles out there. Besides, it's not fun for me to control those whom I'm interested in. You were the first human who dared to look me in the eyes. Your hatred for vampires intrigues me, Yuuri Katsuki. I would very much like for you to be mine. It would be such a shame for you to die when you're this young and beautiful to look at."

"I'm not becoming a vampire for your amusement," I spat, kneeling to the ground when the thirst became too much for me to handle. "I'd rather die."

"Come now," Viktor chided. "There's no need to be so stubborn. I promise that the process is completely painless. All it takes is one simple burial ritual and then you're mine…forever."

"Forever, you say?" I asked.

"Yes," Viktor grinned. "Forever. So, what will your answer be?"

"Well, since you put it so nicely: go stake yourself."

I coughed, hacking so harshly that the dry skin of the inside of my throat began to peel.

Viktor's facial expression darkened. "There's that disobedience again," he tutted. "I must do something about that if you're to spend the rest of your life with me."

Stands of hair flew out of my face as Viktor flashed towards my kneeled position in the blink of an eye. A pale wrist was shoved into my face. Viktor used his other hand to grab my hair, forcing me to look up at him.

"Even though you're about to die, you still look at me with hatred. Drink, little piggie. Give in to the temptation. It's only natural for you to give in to your most primal of desires. Sustain yourself through me…"

Viktor pet my hair, while I closed my eyes, shaking my head.

"J-just, kill me already," I practically begged him. "I'm not as interesting as you think I am."

More like I don't want to become a toy for you to play with.

THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!

The sound of Viktor's pulse became to omaddening for me to handle. I opened my mouth, feeling two sharp canines protrude from my gums on instinct. They were shorter than the typical vampire's. If I had to describe them, they were more like needles in comparison to the sharp canines of a true vampire.

I could feel all sense of control leaving me. I swallowed heavily, shaking my head and moving backwards, only to have Viktor firmly press his wrist into my face again. This continued until I had somehow fallen onto my back. Viktor was now sitting on top of my waist, straddling me as he persistently held up his wrist to my mouth.

"Stubbornness will get you nowhere," Viktor chuckled. "There's nothing redeeming about that trait, other than the fact that it's annoying. I'd rather not have to use force. It's so tiresome and boring!"

I moaned when Viktor shifted his position, rubbing against my torso. "Perhaps this will persuade you."

Viktor bit into his wrist, causing several droplets of his blood to splatter onto my face. I turned my head away one second too late. A drop of blood fell into my mouth, the sweetness of its taste quickly eroding at my will power.

In a jerked movement, I grabbed onto Viktor's wrist, sinking my teeth into his exposed flesh. I drank heavily, feeling my body fill with pleasure and a wholesome form of satisfaction. Tears of blood streaked down my face as I continued to drink from him. I've never hated myself more for doing something so repulsive and despicable. Two gulps later, and although far from satisfied, I somehow found it in myself to push Viktor's wrist away from my face.

"T-that's enough!" I cried. "I drank from you…now get off me!"

Viktor leered down at me. "How amusing. You show a commendable amount of self-control for a mere fledgling. Although, must I remind you that I'm the one who does the ordering around here? I'll let your insolence slide just this once. Next time, I won't be so lenient."

I growled something unintelligible in response, prompting Viktor to laugh again. "Are you sure that you don't want more? You hardly even drank from me. You'll last another two days at most."

I smirked up at Viktor. "I must be dying in two days then."

"Not if I don't let you," Viktor retorted, huffing with a gleam of arrogance in his cold blue eyes. He looked at me as if I were a mere child.

"That's what you think," I said in a hoarse whisper, a warm tear of blood escaping down my right cheek.

Viktor reached down to squish my lips between his cool fingers. "Stop talking. You're really beginning to annoy me," he glared. "You'd do best not to get on my bad side. I wouldn't put it past myself to rip out your tongue and then force feed it through your ungrateful, bratty mouth."

I was past letting myself be scared by his empty threats. I don't know why, but there was something about me that fascinated this thing. I could just be pushing my luck, but an instinct in my gut told me that he wouldn't actually have it in himself to harm me so seriously. He had a temper, sure, but it appeared that he liked to talk more than act. The bastard said that he was a noble, which meant that he was one of the more powerful vampires. He probably had everything handed to him; it frustrated him that I refused to willingly bow down at his feet.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The front doors of the church shuddered and quaked as something outside began to pound against it with the force of a mini freight train.

"VIKTOR, YOU BASTARD!" A familiar cruel voice screeched. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

Viktor crawled off my lap, cupping both hands to his face in feigned shock. "Uh-oh. It looks like I forgot about him again. How my kitten truly despises to be ignored!" he mused.

Viktor grabbed my hand, forcefully tugging me to my feet. "Invite him in," he ordered, tightening his grip around my wrist.

I simply ignored him, turning my head to the side.

"I said, let him in."

My head erupted with an immense amount of pain. My thoughts shifted, coming up with every possible reason about why I should listen to Viktor. I could feel myself caving, my body trembling from the pain. I was a subject to his control, and yet, for reasons inexplicable, I was now able to resist his demand. But not without repercussions, of course. My body continued to convulse, several more tears of blood slipping down my cheeks. It felt inherently wrong not to listen to Viktor; my will ached to concede to his demand, but my consciousness fought back.

I let out a guttural scream as the pain only continued to get worse. My chest felt like it was going to burst. I felt guilty, ashamed, tortured, and paradoxically inclined to listen to him. I bent down, grabbing onto the nearest not-broken chapel bench.

"I-I won't," I choked.

Viktor's face flashed with a brief look of surprise before it hardened again. "Interesting," he growled. "It appears that your half-transformation has offered you a new form of resistance. You can refuse my commands, but at the cost of much physical pain. I wonder what ability you'll acquire when you become a true vampire…"

Viktor looked at my arm, which was holding onto the bench for support, and then up at me again, a cruel smirk playing onto his face. "I have no choice now but to discipline you into compliance."

Viktor moved his hand down in a blur, snapping and breaking my arm right at the elbow. I screamed and fell down to my knees, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'll repeat myself again," Viktor snarled. "Let him in."

I refused to respond to him.

Viktor then kicked me in the abdomen. I coughed up blood, and wiped at my face, wincing when I felt the broken bones in my arms and ribcage begin to heal themselves already.

Yuri Plisetsky…

"I…I…Yuuri Katsuki, invite and welcome you, Yuri Plisetsky into this church."

The moment that I said this, the front doors burst open, the same young-looking vampire from before storming into the room with a look furious enough to wilt an entire field of flowers.

"Ah, Yuri!" Viktor's voice boomed with joy. "You've finally come to join me! Did you find another human to feed from?"

The boy vampire scoffed. "Of course I did, jackass. Have you no faith in me?"

"I'm an atheist," Viktor chuckled. "I don't believe in faith."

Yuri opened his mouth in retort, only to growl lowly in his throat when he spotted my slumped over position on the ground. "Viktor," he began in a low voice. "What the hell did you do to this pig?"

Viktor smiled. "I made him into a fledgling~!" he trilled.

"You fool! What will the Council do when they hear of this?!"

Viktor shrugged, bluffing off his counterpart's rage with an indifferent breath of air. "Eh, who cares? My blood is pure enough that they won't dare to challenge my decision… They didn't do anything when I converted you."

"That was two hundred years ago!"

"And what a wonderfully sassy two hundred years it's been!"

Yuri crossed his arms. "You must get rid of him. The Council won't be as lenient this time. You and I both can be killed for your impulsiveness! You've been pushing their buttons for far too long. Your arrogance blinds you to the repercussions of your actions."

"Aw, is my little kitten jealous at the prospect of having a little brother?" Viktor cooed, the grave tone of Yuri's voice going completely over his head.

"You know what I find to be really funny? You guys both have the same name, except this little piggie," Viktor gestured down at my grappling form. "Spells his name with two U's."

I hissed lowly to myself. Viktor must have looked into my mind when he had fed from me earlier.

"I'm not jealous! All the more reason to kill him if he has the same name as me!" Yuri fumed. "Knowing you, you'll just end up killing him when you get bored, and that's only if, by the small unlikely chance, that the Council does decide to permit this pig's conversion."

"Da, I could very well end up killing him, but that's up to me, not you and your petty adherence to the Council's loosely enforced rules. This world is now under the control of all vampires. I refuse to subject myself to those weak, power hungry imbeciles. We've always thrived under anarchy. There is absolutely no need for rules in a world where the strong prey on the weak."

Yuri furrowed his pale brows in anger. "You can't truly believe that they'll let you get away with this! There's still time. We can kill him before they find out!"

Viktor shook his head. "Yuri," he warned. "That's enough. I've already made my decision."

"For fuck's sakes! Listen to me!" Yuri exploded. "You can't get away with everything, you know!"

"I'll do as I please," Viktor said coolly. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like for you to leave us. I have some unfinished business to take care of."

"If you turn him into a vampire, I'll kill him at the first opportunity that I get," Yuri threatened, his blue-green eyes glowing with challenge.

"Do that and I'll kill you right afterwards," Viktor growled back. "Make no mistake. Time means absolutely nothing to me if my wishes are betrayed."

Yuri's face paled. "I hope you're happy. Your selfishness has just killed us both. The Council never forgives…it never forgets…"

Yuri turned on his heels.

"Where are you going?" Viktor asked in a sharp voice.

"I'm getting the hell out of here. I want absolutely no part in this. If I leave now, I still might be spared," Yuri answered.

Yuri sped out of the church in a blur of blond hair.

Viktor sighed. "Children these days. Always so rebellious. Anyways, where were we? Ah, yes, about my offer…"

Viktor pinched my chin with two fingers, tilting up my head so that I was looking at him. "Do you wish to become a vampire now or later?" he asked.

"Never," I coughed.

Viktor let go of my chin. "Later it is then. I must say that I'm a bit relieved by your answer. I'm afraid that giving away so much blood has made me tired. I must retire for the day in order to regain my strength."

"Don't bother coming back," I glared. "I won't be here, that's for sure."

Viktor bent down, bringing his face so close to mine that our noses touched. His skin was uncomfortably cold. "You forget that by swapping blood we are now bonded together. Whether you like it or not, I'll know where you are at all times."

I sharply moved my head away from his.

"Tsk! So rude!" Viktor exclaimed. "You're lucky that I'm being this nice to you. There's a reason that I have so very few kin in this world. I don't hesitate to rip apart and destroy those things in this world that I hate."

"What if those things hate you right back?" I panted.

"Ha! You've got the quite the mouth on you. No matter, you're no longer amusing to me right now. Go off and do as you please, I won't follow after you. You won't last very long without my blood. Human food won't satisfy you, and neither will their blood. Not even the blood of ten humans will be enough to quench your thirst. It is my blood that is keeping you stuck in this half-transformed state, and it is my blood that will either be the life or death of you.

"The pain and temptation of your thirst will only grow with time. When it becomes unbearable all you have to do is call for me. Only when you're begging and grovelling at my feet will the real fun begin. Good bye, little piggie. I look forward to seeing you kiss the ground before me."

Viktor turned his back to me, the sides of his face spreading into a sadistic grin.

"Get back here, you bastard! I'm not done with you!" I stumbled onto my feet, but the thing had already left the church in blur that was too quick for the eye to catch. Another blood-splotched tear trickled down my face. I just felt so lost. I was neither human nor vampire. I didn't belong anywhere.

But, I still had a home and friends to go back to. The thirst that I had felt before was gone. Maybe Viktor was bluffing. Maybe the sharpened effects of his blood would go away after time. Yeah, that was the only hope that I could hold onto. Vampire were notorious for being cunning liars. He was probably just trying to manipulate me into becoming one of his blood-sucking slaves.

However, none of this explained why he had decided to let me go so easily. Vampires were naturally forceful and egotistical beings. It was unheard for them to set their prey free.

Not wanting to jinx my luck, I decided to leave the church and head back to the University. I got by much quicker than usual, sprinting at a speed that was too agile for a human, but much too slow for a vampire.

The sky was getting lighter, and I didn't want to take my chances of dealing with a rabid werewolf. I had only heard stories about them, none of which were good.

…

By the time that I had come to stand before the gates of the University, the sun was just beginning to rise. Oddly enough, I hadn't encountered any vampires on my trip here. I had seen eyes staring at me in the darkness, but none of them had dared to approach me. I must not have smelled like a human anymore, which was most likely the effect of that thing's blood running through my veins.

I stopped before the metal gates, looking up at the brick columns that held it in place. The University had been a private campus, with gates surrounding the entire space that it covered. I just so happened to be entering at the main front gates, where all persons of our group checked in after we had been out on a scavenging mission.

If anything, the University was probably one the safest places for us humans to stay. The buildings that we lived in were far enough away that the vampires couldn't set them on fire, and therefore stake us out. Not to mention the invisible barrier that prevented them from entering without invitation.

One time, a vampire had attempted to throw a Molotov cocktail over the front gate, but thankfully, the barrier had prevented it from entering; the result of which was one severely crispy, dead vampire. That was another weakness of all vampires; if burned for long enough, their healings powers would fail and they would die.

Vampires were hardly interested in staking out my group of friends anyways. There were only six of us in total. There were more humans scattered around the city for the vampires to leech off of. During the initial phases of the takeover, people panicked and had left the University to find their families. Since my family was back in Japan, I had nowhere to go. It's been two months since the phonelines have gone down, so I'm at a complete loss as to whether or not they're alive. The other people who stayed back were also exchange students save for Leo, a Mexican-American who lived here in Detroit.

RUSTLE!

A rustling in the trees above me made me aware of the fact that I was being watched. I wonder who was on guard tonight? That's another one of our group's main rules. Two people are always to stand guard at the front gates of the University. The other exits were blocked over with whatever silver chains that we had been able to find lying around in the now desecrated city.

Patrol was only conducted at night, since it was the vampires that we were more comfortable with defending ourselves against. This meant that we all slept during the day, while the werewolves prowled about. All that we knew about werewolves was that they too required permission to enter human dwellings. From what I've heard, they didn't have the power of mind control. Still, that didn't make them any less scary. We have yet to learn about their weakness, let alone how to kill them.

My ears perked at the sound of familiar bickering.

"Mickey, calm down will you? It's fine, he doesn't appear to be a vampire."

"Telling me to calm down only makes me more nervous!"

"Uh, guys?" I called out, cupping my hands over my mouth. "It's me, Yuuri."

Two figures hopped down from the trees above, their feet neatly landing onto the surface of the brick wall that hugged the University's perimeter. They were both dressed in black, their eyes hooded by the visors of their head caps. Both were also carrying sharpened wooden stakes in their hands.

"Yuuri? Is that really you?!" Emil's sing-song voice echoed. "What happened to your glasses? I hardly recognize you ahahaha!"

"OOOF!" Emil cried out when Michele violently elbowed him in the stomach.

"Keep it down, moron. You're going to attract the leeches!" Michele hissed, halting my chance to answer Emil's question.

Emil pouted. "Sorry for being glad that my friend's alive."

"You can be glad once we're inside!"

Emil and Michele stepped out into view, the cover of the tree no longer hiding them. Michele was a lean, medium height Italian exchange student with reddish brown hair, sharp purple eyes, and a permanent scowl on his face. He had a much nicer twin sister named Sara, who was also part of our group, and would go to the ends of the Earth in order to protect her. The twins had both been fourth years like me at the University before the world had been turned upside down. Fair warning, don't ever piss off Michele. You'll regret everything when he angrily shoves a fist up your ass in retaliation, uh, not that I've had that done to me!

Emil, on the other hand, was much warmer than Michele, and was probably the bubbliest person of our group. He was perhaps too kind, in fact. He trusted just about everyone, and could hardly ever say no to a person. This usually resulted in Sara ordering him around and getting him to do plenty of chores for her, such as taking over her guard duties or whatnot. Emil was a Czech exchange student who had been in his second year of schooling before, well, you already know what I mean at this point…

Much to the latter's dismay, Emil was also slightly taller than Michele. He had sweet, doe-like blue eyes, messy, light brown hair and a faint beard to match. In contrast to Michele, Emil was a bit more muscular in form.

No matter, those two combined were probably the best guards in our group. Michele had even killed a vampire once, which is a pretty disgusting sight, I'll tell you. A vampire exploded into a pile of guts and blood whenever they were staked right through the heart. Don't tell Sara I told you this, but I've caught Michele sneaking off Campus to hunt vampires before. Sometimes Emil would join him, but I kept my mouth shut, as I knew that a big fight would ensue if the rest of our group members had found out about this. It was another rule of ours that only one person could leave the University at a time. We were already low in numbers as it was, and getting along with each other was imperative to our group's survival.

Michele leered down at me in suspicion. "Where's your bag? Did you get any food?" he asked.

I shook my head, swallowing nervously. "No, I was chased off by vampires and had to leave it behind."

Michele inhaled sharply and opened his mouth in retort, but I was quick to interrupt them. "I took shelter in a church until it was too early for them to be outside," I lied. "They wouldn't have been able to follow my trail."

Michele grunted in approval, while Emil nodded his head seriously, stroking his beard in contemplation with two fingers.

I thought it best not to tell them about my encounter with thing one and thing two. For all I knew, the effect of his blood would wear off with time. Or perhaps I was just in denial. I didn't really have time to think through my possible courses of action before I got here. The University was the only home that I had left; my family was here, no matter how dysfunctional they were.

Emil checked his wristwatch. "We should probably head inside now. The sun will be up in a few minutes."

Michele growled his assent, throwing over a rope ladder for me to climb up the wall with.

I gulped, suddenly fearful that I wouldn't be able to enter the campus without permission. My fear was quelled when I found myself able to climb up the wall without any barrier to block my entry. I brushed off the dust from my pants, looking up to Michele with a weak smile on my face. Believe it or not, I was actually a very shy and anxious person to be around. It was only when my life was in danger that my personality become cold and calculated; it was the only emotional guard that ensured my survival.

Michele clicked his tongue at me. "What the fuck happened to you? There's blood all over your face."

I nervously rubbed at the back of my neck, remembering how I had been crying tears of blood earlier. "I, um, don't really remember. I fell a lot when I was running away. I didn't even realize that my glasses had fallen off until now," I forced out a chuckle in order to make myself seem more believable.

Michele fingered the cross pendant around his neck, still looking at me with an evident amount of skepticism. I didn't have the heart to tell him that vampires weren't affected by religious items. Either way, Michele was still a devoted Catholic. Who was I to take away from his religious beliefs?

"That's the last time that we're drawing straws. It looks like I'm the only one who can go out and get shit done," Michele grumbled to himself.

"That's not true!" Emil blurted out, only to be ignored. "I brought back food just last week."

I bowed my head in mourning. Our group had only begun to draw straws for our scavenging missions ever since my best friend, Phichit, had disappeared a month back. We had to make an assumption for the worse and presume him to be dead. The grief of Phichit's death was still too fresh for me. I forcefully blinked back tears, reminding myself that if I cried blood, my friends would automatically be suspicious of me.

Since Phichit's disappearance, everyone but Michele and Emil were terrified of the prospect of having to leave the University on their own. The only reason that we took turns was simply because we couldn't have the same people going out all the time. Continuity in our patterns had the potential to alert the vampires of our presence.

Michele glared at me again. "You better be able to see without those glasses of yours. We already have enough dead weight in our group as it is."

"I can see you right now, can't I?" I joked with a weak amount of sarcasm. Michele obviously didn't find this funny as he scoffed in response.

I gasped when Emil pulled me into a tight bear hug. I cautiously forced my mouth shut when I heard the sound of Emil's strong heartbeat. "I'm so glad that you're okay. We were all so worried, even Mickey!"

"Was not!" Michele snarled.

"Was too!" Emil grinned, pulling away from the hug. "He wanted to go out there and see if you were okay, but I held him back. Sara would literally murder me if I let her precious brother get hurt," he teased.

Michele curled his upper lip at the both of us. "What the fuck ever. Let's just get inside already before the leeches send out their dogs."

All three of us climbed down the wall by using the conveniently placed branches of the oak tree situated by the front gates. We then headed for the dorm building that we were all staying in. Michele would look back at me in suspicion every now and then, but Emil didn't appear to be too worried about my change in appearance. I would have to be extra careful in front of Michele until the effect of his blood wore off…

We entered the dorm building, making our way to the commons room. There we found the rest of our group sitting in the lounge's leather arm chairs, sleeping bags curled up at their feet. They must have been too worried to sleep on their own.

Leo, the American member of our group that I had mentioned earlier, nudged shoulders with Guang Hong, who had fallen asleep next to him on the arm chair.

Leo was a Mexican-American with medium-length brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin, and prominently thick eyebrows. Like Emil, he had been a second year student at the University. Leo was a very caring and loyal person, and had made it his responsibility to look out for Guang Hong, the youngest member of our group.

Guang Hong was a Chinese exchange student who was smart enough to begin his first year of University at the young age of seventeen. He was a timid, shy mannered boy with a mop of light brown hair, and soft brown eyes with slight flecks of amber in them. He was delicate in frame; the boy wasn't built for combat or any other form of conflict. But, Guang Hong sure was smart, I'll give him that. It was because of him that we had somehow managed to keep the electricity going in the building. He was currently working on getting the hydro system up and running. For now, we had no choice but to shower in the University's many fountains.

"Nice to see that you made it back, Katsuki," Leo smiled warmly at me, covering his mouth as he let out a large yawn.

"Yeah!" Guang Hong piped in shyly, looking down at his feet. "We were really worried."

"OMG!" A loud squeal caused me to look over to my right. Sara, Michele's twin sister, came sprinting towards me, her arms held out for a hug. Sara had the same tan skin and purple eyes as Michele, but their personalities couldn't have been any different from each other. Sara was a lot more outgoing and flirtatious than her older brother.

"Yuuri, what happened to you?!" Sara spluttered, skidding to a stop before me, her long black hair whipping behind her. "There's blood all over your face!" she exclaimed.

"I ran into some vampires, but was able to get away from them," I answered.

Sara's eyes widened in concern.

I gulped, clenching both fists tightly. I could hear everyone's heartbeat, and although I wasn't thirsty right now in particular, I still didn't feel comfortable or safe being around them.

"It's alright!" I waved my hands to quell Sara's worried expression. "They didn't hurt me," I lied once more. "I just fell a lot. You know how clumsy I can be!"

A tear slipped down Sara's cheek as she pulled me into a hug. "Thank God you're okay," she sniffed.

"Oi!" Michele roared. "How come you don't hug me like that?"

Sara pulled away from the hug. "Why would I need to hug you if you're already latched to my side like a needy koala 24/7?!" she retorted.

The twins quickly slipped into angry Italian, bickering back and forth while Emil laughed at their comically angry expressions.

Leo caught my eye. "I'm assuming that you didn't come back with anything?" he asked.

I silently shook my head.

"Don't worry, we won't hold it against you," Leo reassured me. "The fact that you went out on your own is a feat in itself."

"You were really brave, Yuuri," Guang Hong added. "I would have never been able to do what you did."

"And you'll never have to," Leo fondly looked down at Guang Hong. "We need you and your crazy smart brain alive. I'll volunteer in your place if need be."

"Oh Leo," Guang Hong blushed a faint pink. "You're just so cool," he gushed.

"Nah, I'm just looking out for a friend," Leo waved off Guang Hong's comment with a humble crinkle of the eyes.

I awkwardly cleared my throat. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to wash up and get some rest. I'm not feeling very well."

Sara and Michele halted their argument, the former of which began to fawn over me like a worried mother hen. Sara walked over to me, placing a hand against my forehead. "You don't appear to have a fever," she remarked, raising a perfectly plucked brow at me.

"Sara, leave him be," Michele of all people came to my defense. "You don't know what he's been through."

"Oh fine," Sara huffed. "Good night to all of you brutes then. A girl's gotta get her beauty sleep, am I right?"

Emil was the only one who agreed with Sara's sarcastic statement, as per oblivious usual.

I said my goodbyes one last time before I headed up to my old dorm room, grateful that I was finally alone. I had never been a very social person to begin with. Phichit was the only person whom I had been close with before the takeover, but now, I was all alone, with only his empty bed as a grim reminder of our friendship.

I took off my grimy clothes, washing my face with a basin of luke warm water resting on top of my dresser. I changed into a fresh set of baggy and comfortable clothing, resignedly climbing into the rickety twin mattress of my bed.

It wasn't long before I had fallen asleep.

…

I tossed and turned in bed, waking up every now and then from the pain of a piercing headache. I could feel him attempting to pry into my thoughts, but just like before, I had managed to block him out for the most part. The pain was still the same, causing bloody tears to streak down my face.

I turned onto my side, licking my chapped lips. The thirst was slowly beginning to creep back. It wasn't just like any other hunger that I've experienced before. My entire body was draining and aching for something to fulfill its cravings. I refused to let the hunger get to me, firmly clamping my lips shut. It didn't help that the throbbing heartbeats of my friends were testing the limits of my willpower further. It didn't matter that we were scattered across several floors in the dorm building; I could still hear them, their breathing, and even their voices.

Where are you? Viktor's voice broke through my mental barrier.

I sat up from the shock of this, grabbing my temple with both hands and squinting my eyes shut. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" I screeched at no one in particular.

Come to me.

My blood is yours.

Let me satisfy you.

I growled low in my throat, slamming my hand against the firm mattress of the bed. "I DON'T NEED YOU!"

I waited five minutes…ten minutes…up to an hour in fact. I didn't hear his voice again, but I was too rattled at this point to go to sleep. The sun was beginning to set anyways; it wouldn't be long before everyone had woken up.

I stood up from bed, crossing over to my wardrobe to look at my reflection in the mirror. My skin was unnaturally pale save for the dark purple circles under my eyes and the red streaks of blood from my long-dried tears. I ran a hand through my damp black hair, removing the fringe from my face. My cheekbone structure and jawline had become sharper and much more pronounced.

I shook my head, refusing to ogle at myself for any longer. Just when I had finished wiping my face with a cloth, someone rapped their knuckles against the door to my dorm room.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion, walking over to open the door. Michele stood at the entrance of my door, looking tense and suspiciously secretive.

"Michele?" I questioned. "What are you doing up this early?"

It wasn't actually early, since we all slept during the day. If I had to guess, it was probably around five PM.

Michele flippantly ignored my question. "How come you were screaming?" he pried, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Bad nightmares, I suppose," I answered, averting my gaze away from his stern purple eyes.

"Whatever," Michele rolled his eyes. "Emil and I are going for a hunt. Care to join us?"

"Oh, um, I don't really think that's a good idea."

"Che," Michele growled. "Typical Katsuki. Always pussies out when the going gets tough!"

"It's not that!" I protested. "What if we die? What will the others do?"

Michele grabbed onto the sleeve of my hoodie, pulling me forward. "Well, I guess that we can't die then. Hurry up! We have a good two hours before the others begin to wake up."

"At least let me change first!" I spluttered.

Michele rolled his eyes once more, letting go of my sleeve. "Fine. We'll be waiting for you up at the front gates. You have ten minutes."

Michele turned around to leave, looking over his shoulder. "Learn to live on the edge a little. It's about damn time that we humans learn how to fight back," he huffed.

I simply stood there, unable to think of a retort to that statement.

Risky as this hunting trip would be, Michele was right: It was about time that we defended ourselves and fought back. Hiding in the University like helpless sitting ducks wasn't how I wanted to live the rest of my life.

The tables had turned.

The prey would now become the hunters.

A/N: Ahhhhh! The fandom has spoken: this is no longer a one-shot. Ugh, I hate to say this (mostly because I really did enjoy writing this chapter), but updates for this story are going to be largely response-driven. I'm very short for time (I despise University so much omg), and have too many ongoing writing projects to update them evenly and consistently. I'll be giving first priority to my more popular stories. Many thanks for all of your support! Anyways, if you want to grab the attention of my very flustered and overwhelmed brain, make sure to follow, favourite and review! It gives me the green go-ahead to begin writing xD

Have a great day/ night!

-Ella