Chapter 2: SHATTERED
12 hours after Rido is defeated, Cross Academy
Kainen Cross point of view
Kainen Cross was exhausted as he stood before the door of the Cross Academy guest quarters. He was covered in the ash of vampire remains. Bits of flesh and grime stuck in his long tangled blond hair. His heavy jagged edge broadsword, inscribed with the words "Crossing Justice," was coated in dark brown dried blood.
The Hunter Association President had betrayed him. The President had collaborated with the Vampire High Council and ordered an entire battalion of ex-human Level E vampires to attack his precious school which had a human Day Class, and a vampire Night Class.
Three hundred fifty seven: that was how many vampires the Headmaster slayed today. It was a massacre right out of his memories when he was a legendary Vampire Hunter. It was a past he wanted to forget. He dared to dream of a day when humans and vampires could co-exist in peace. The school was a manifestation of this dream, and now it lay in shambles. 40% of the buildings were in ruin. Broken stones. Fallen walls. Caved-in roofs. This had been another tragic day in his long life. And the day wasn't over yet. On the other side of the door, a heart was breaking.
"Zero? Are you in there?" He knocked cautiously on the ornately carved rosewood door. "We need to talk."
Cross didn't like rushing Zero, he would rather give the boy time to recover, but there was simply too much to do and time was not a luxury. He had to act fast, because their enemies, the 'old school vampires,' moved faster. "I have a key, Zero. I'm coming in." Cross slowly put in the key, and opened the door. He wasn't sure what kind of emotional state Zero would be in. According to Aido, the notorious eavesdropper of the Night Class, Zero was last seen saying goodbye to Cross' adopted daughter, Yuki Cross, on the roof of the Moon Dormitory. He had planted a long passionate kiss on her in front of everyone. Aido was moved to tears by the raw display of emotion, but then afterward he wanted to beat the crap out of Zero for saying he would kill Yuki if he ever saw her again.
Cross shook his head. Why did Zero have to be that way? There were only two temperatures with the lad, scorching or frigid.
Zero's philosophy was simple. Vampirism is evil and must be purged from the world. That was the purpose of his life. He was born from an ancient family of vampire hunters, the Kiryu. The strongest Hunters of the Kiryu all had similar traits, silver hair and light purple eyes. It was literally part of his genes to hunt vampires down. Zero's fondest wish was to find a way to kill the Pure Blood vampires. They were the source of the contagion. Ironically, Zero's wish had been granted when the vampires made him into one of their own. Zero's first attempt to kill a Pure Blood ended in failure. He wanted revenge on the woman who turned him into a vampire. Zero's second attempt to kill a Pure Blood was a success. Rido Kuran was no match for the angry Kiryu boy. Rido had made the fatal mistake of threatening to kill the one person Zero loved with all his heart. Love is a powerful weapon, but it's also a sword that cuts both ways.
Cross opened the door. The sun had not set yet, but the room was almost entirely dark. Zero was definitely in here. In the far corner of the room, he heard labored breathing. Zero had taken several deep wounds in the battle. The smell the blood was thick in the air.
"Would you like me to keep the lights off, Zero?" Cross waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He noted that the bed comforter had been thrown over the window, blocking out the late evening daylight entirely.
Cross waited for a response. Nothing. He took a hesitant step forward. Something crushed under his boot. He stepped back. White powder. A blood tablet. In fact, there were blood tablets scattered everywhere. The room was a mess. The coat rack was laying on the floor. The bed table overturned. Chairs tipped on their sides. Blood was smeared all over the walls in a repeating pattern of the Hunter's Seal: a cross with four daggers. It's the same seal tattooed to Zero's neck meant to tame him.
Good grief.
The guest quarters was filled with expensive furnishings to impress prospective parents. Cross hoped Zero didn't cause too much damage. The troubled teen was prone to violent outbursts, but this seemed especially over-the-top for him.
"Are you okay, Zero?" Cross stepped into the room, closed the door behind him, and locked it. "It's just me, Headmaster Cross. No one else. Whatever you would like to talk about, I'm here for you." Cross carefully picked his way around the debris. "Or if you would like, we don't have to talk at all." He plopped down on the bed, and let out a long sigh.
The Headmaster could see better in the dark now. He could thank his superior Hunter night vision for that. He watched the corner of the room where Zero was huddled into a ball. Draped around him was a white sheet pulled from the bed. Spots of blood stained the sheet's surface.
Seeing Zero hiding under a blanket brought to mind a frightened child hiding under the covers, scared of the monster under the bed.
A few minutes passed. The sound of Zero's panting was unnerving. The Headmaster began to fidget. He used the expensive white silk sheets to clean his sword. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he broke the silence.
"Zero. I can assure you, no matter how many tears you shed today, you have not cried more than me. I lost everything. My ideals. A daughter. The school. The Night Class. The Day Class... It's over. My phone is ringing off the hook with angry parents pulling their children out of the academy, and that's even after I did a mass memory wipe on all but 4 of the students. I have been forced out of retirement. I'm now the acting President of the Hunter Association. I'm up to my eyeballs in a witch-hunt for the traitors among us. You're the one person I can count on. I need your help."
Zero's head turned slightly below the hood of the sheet. His face was lost in shadows, but his eyes glowed brightly red in the dark. The last bit of humanity in Zero had died today. He was now a full fledged member of the Night Clan. It was Zero who was the monster under the bed. Hiding below a sheet was not going to change it.
This next bit of news was going to be harder to tell Zero.
"The Council of Elders was annihilated. It wasn't just the conspirators that were killed, every single one of them was wiped out. There is no vampire governing body left standing. Kaname Kuran is taking over. There is only one way a vampire becomes that powerful. He must have eaten hundreds, perhaps thousands of Pure Bloods. Your sire, Shizuka Hio, was only his most recent victim. Kaname is not what he seems. He must be an ancient. It's the only explanation. He's dangerous, Zero. His wrath is awesome. I shudder to think what will happen if you go after Yuki."
The panting abruptly stopped.
"I'm sorry this is a lot to throw at you at once. I have some news which I hope will provide some comfort to you. As the new President, I have already changed your brother's status from traitor to hero. I gave Ichiru a full pardon. He will receive a Hunter funeral with honor this evening along with eight of our brethren who also died today. I received a letter in the mail from him postmarked yesterday. I would like for you to have it. Inside the letter he left a detailed list of all the conspirators in the Hunter Association and the Vampire High Council."
Cross smiled sadly. "He played a dangerous game, your brother. He was a triple agent surrounded by high ranking Vampires and Pure Bloods that could have easily snapped his neck without a second thought if they caught onto his real agenda. He was investigating on his own the wide sweeping conspiracy that included your parents among the list casualties. Ichiru was exceptionally brave. You are identical twins after all. We may never truly know what was going on in his mind, or why he did what he did. For all we know, he was competing with you the only way he knew how. He was too weak to be a Hunter, but he was a clever spy. A Kiryu to the last breath. I'm proud of him. I hope you are too."
The bed began to vibrate. It was faint at first, like a large truck had just driven pass, then it grew stronger. The bed popped up and down with a loud thud, then lurched violently to the left. A gilded family portrait of Cross, Zero, and Yuki fell to the ground and shattered on the marble floor. The sound of crackling glass drew Cross's attention to the window. The blanket hanging over it slipped loose and fell to the floor. Window panes were missing. Those that remained had cracks spreading through them like a giant spider web.
Cross had seen this before. When Kaname became angry the windows would shatter. Yesterday, when Yuki's Pure Blood was unsealed the windows shattered again.
And now Zero…?
Cross spun wide-eyed and looked at the symbols smeared on the walls. Zero wasn't hiding from daylight! He was hiding from what he couldn't control! He must have been trying, over and over, to perform the sealing ceremony on himself.
Cross quickly bent down to Zero and shook him. "Try to calm down, Zero." He pulled the sheet away. What he saw made him want to cry all over again. Zero was in appalling state. The Hunter's Seal on his neck was burning hot to the touch. It was flashing red, like a warning sign. Blood was weeping out of Zero's mouth, ears, nose, and eyes. There was a sheen of blood sweat all over him. His normally bright silver hair was matted and stained pink with blood. Zero had stopped breathing. This is bad. Very bad.
Just how much Pure Blood was inside the poor lad?
Pure Blood was a poison. Hunters were able to survive small doses of Pure Blood, but Zero must have consumed a horrific amount of Yuki's blood while she was human. When her true nature was unsealed, Zero gained tremendous power, but at what cost? His body couldn't hold that much toxin. It was starting to break down. He was showing all the signs of severe poisoning.
Cross whipped out his cell phone, "Momoyama-san, I have an emergency. Bring the car to the guest house immediately!"
He turned his attention back to his foster son. "Come on Zero. Stay with me. We need to get to Headquarters. Can you stand?" Zero began to shiver uncontrollably. His eyes rolled back into his head. His lips were turning purple. He was going into shock.
Cross quickly gathered Zero into the thick comforter to keep him warm, threw him up over his shoulder, and raced down the hallway to the car port. Zero's arms and legs flopped lifelessly against him as he ran. Cross had lost many things today. He wasn't about to loose the last Kiryu too. Not on his watch.
Coming soon, Chapter 3: Shindo makes a fateful decision!