A/N- I am sorry for the delay in publishing the next chapter. I sort of lost my motivation then caught it again a couple of days ago. I hope you enjoy this. I will be going back over the first two chapters and editing things so the story will make more sense. Please bare with me because this is my first fan fiction and I'm only getting started! So expect that Chapter 1 + 2 will be made longer and in more detail. Thank you for your patience in reading this. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. . Also criticism is greatly appreciated so please review... OK I'll shut up now..
When her memory spasms ceased, her mind settled on a single long memory...
The car door thudded as Ema got out of the vehicle. The window rolled down to reveal her mother's sad face. "Do you really have to go? I never met these people in my life! How am I supposed to act around them?!" Ema whined at her.
"You are fully aware that I have to leave for Korea and I can't afford the flight for me AND you. I'm really sorry but these are the only relatives we have left in Japan. You should make the most of it and do something that would have made Gregory happy." Her mother smiled a small sad smile at her daughter, when she mentioned Ema's father. "Besides, you're sixteen for goodness sake! Get your act together and be a woman! What would Greg think if he saw you like this?!" Ema's mother yapped in frustration at her daughter. Her father passed away a little while after they returned to Japan. He caught anaemia or something and never got out of it. Ema could still vividly remember the funeral they attended not three months ago. The black garments everybody wore, the pouring rain, the casket being lowered into a never ending abyss of darkness... NO! Snap out of it! She thought to herself shaking her head from left to right. She understood the fact that her mother had to leave for Korea to go and work as a model, to earn her some living so they wouldn't end up on the streets...
"Alright. I understand. You have to work and I have to stay strong. I'll be waiting for you ok?" She gave her mother a quick goodbye hug trying to reach through the tiny window opening. She blew her a goodbye kiss as the black Volvo drove into the distance. Now that she had time to think things through, the hug she gave her mother was more forceful than she would have liked. It was as if she was leaving me forever... Nah that can't be it! She's my mother! What mother abandons her own child at a place she never set eyes upon then drives off into the distance never to be seen again... Wait... What am I thinking about!? "Argh! I'm so confused!" Ema exclaimed before slapping her cheeks in an effort to calm herself.
As she gazed upon the metallic gates and the mansion behind it, the gateway opened with a slight creaking sound. With cautious steps, she stepped through and looked around. A couple of paces from where she stood, was a tall crystal fountain. However, dusty and no water was coming out... Her gaze roamed around the mostly empty yard and settled on a patch of red in the corner of the garden. Her curiosity drove her forward towards the mysterious plot of redness.
Upon rounding the corner of the mansion, her eyes met thousands of red roses. Everywhere she looked there was a rose carefully blooming in its own space. As she looked beyond the sea of crimson, she could see another batch of white flowers ahead. More roses? She thought, and sure enough, when she went to investigate, there was a sea of snowy white roses. As her eyes scanned each flower, a bright smile lit up her face. She leaned in to smell one and the fragrance brought back many memories of England and her own rose garden. Ema set her luggage on the gravel pathway where she stood and bent down to pick a rose. However, upon touching the stem, she pricked her finger on a thorn. "Ouch." She looked at the bead of blood forming on the cut. Then, she heard a voice behind her.
"What are you doing here? You do know this is trespassing right?" A voice as cold as ice blew against her ear. She yelped and jumped away, almost tripping over her own bag. "I-I-I'm supposed t-t-o be living here." She answered the boy that was stood in front of her. He looked like a typical teenager, hands in pockets, loose jacket, pants rolled up to the knee, an unbuttoned shirt, a smirk on his face and a loose tie. His hair was the colour of the setting sun but his eyes were what fascinated her the most. They were as green as the evergreen trees in Sherwood Forest back in England. When she answered quietly, his eyes narrowed to slits, and he took one step towards her, quickly closing the gap between them. She held her head down in embarrassment and put her hands behind her back.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked in a hushed voice, as his hand reached out to grab her injured hand. She gasped as he placed the wounded finger into his mouth and began sucking it. His eyes widened but before she could get away, he was on top of her. She didn't even know how she ended up on the ground, it was all happening too fast. "Hey! What are you doing, get off me!" She cried.
"Shush or someone might hear us." Was all he said as he leaned down and began licking her neck vigorously. Ema shivered at the sensation but pushed at his chest anyway. "Stop it! What do you think you're doing!?" She managed to shout out in between gasps.
"Oh you should fully know that Yours Truly is about to take you." He whispered against her collarbone. "Wh-wh-whaat!? Get off me!" She screeched and struggled in his grasp. It was then that she heard footsteps coming their way, but before she could shout for help, the mysterious boy clasped his hand on her mouth.
"Ayato, where are you. Do you know when that person was supposed to arrive? I guessed she might've arrived since I could smell her blood... AYATO! Where are you!" A tall purple-haired boy appeared in the clearing ten roses away from us. He looked like a butler in the neat outfit of his, and the black rimmed glasses perched on his nose, added to the effect. The boy's, whose name was Ayato, hand clasped even tighter around her mouth until she started to whimper in pain. That's IT! She screamed in her thoughts, then she bit down hard on the hand that was covering her mouth. "OW!" Was all he said, and removed his hand from Ema's face, a trail of red following it. However, this was enough to bring the purple-haired boy to our hiding place and make Ayato sit up in displeasure.
"What are you DOING! I thought I told you to do this sort of thing in your room. You are in the garden where everybody can see you. Don't you have any shame?" The boy stood straight and looked down on Ayato in disdain. "And you, are you perhaps the person that was supposed to come here three hours ago?" He turned his deadly gaze on Ema who was still lying on the ground, her hair creating a halo of blonde, around her face.
"Y-y-yes sorry, that's me." She tried blindly to stand up but Ayato was still on top of her. She pushed him off and she hastily stood on her own two feet. "I apologise about my appearance but my name is Ema Koyori. Nice to meet you, eerrr..." She bowed and looked in his direction with a little confusion. "Reiji Sakamaki," he said then turning to Ayato he said, "Go and get everybody in the gathering room. We're having a meeting." Turning back to Ema he scowled and demanded an explanation as to why she was in the garden and didn't come through the front doors. "Your punctuality is appalling."
"Well, I wanted to see what looked so beautiful from a distance. It turned out this well kept garden of roses can strike anyone as truly breath-taking" She said with a bright smile on her face. Reiji pushed his glasses up and ordered her to follow him inside. She grabbed her luggage and ran after him toward the creepy looking house. Here we go...
Reiji led her through a maze of corridors and all the while Ema gazed up at the paintings on the lilac walls. Reiji noticed her staring and stopped, quickly explaining, "Just so you know, these paintings are real and invaluable. So if you would be so kind as to not touch any of them." He didn't wait for her response just carried on with his unnaturally fast stride. From the distance, Ema could hear a piano being played. The beautiful melody made tears swell into her eyes.
"What a beautiful piece..." She murmured.
"What was that?" Reiji asked over his shoulder not even slowing down for Ema to catch up. Ema, now flustered, shook her head violently, "Oh it was nothing!" She said, scratching behind her head and smiling awkwardly. However, Reiji was already at the end of the corridor and waiting for her in front of a set of doors from behind which, the mesmerising melody could be heard. She ran up to the doors and held her breath.
When the green double doors opened, Ema stood there astonished. She didn't expect the room to be so BIG! It was at least the perimeter of her own house! At the thought of her house, the one she had to leave behind in England, with its small interior and cosy look, she felt a pang of homesickness.
As the doors hit the walls on either side, the music suddenly stopped and the boy who was playing the piano, stood up. His hair was like burning fire and the green piercing eyes seemed ablaze too. In fact if Ema could recall correctly, he looked a bit like Ayato in some places. However, probably the biggest difference was their way of talking and moving. This boy's posture showed his whole personality. The hat perched on his head was tilted at an angle and he was wearing the same sort of clothes as Ayato, however more dishevelled. His voice sounded so seductive, Ema tried her best to suppress a blush.
He looked dangerous. But not in the violent way. In the romantic way. This didn't look good.
"Hey there, Bitch-Chan~" Was all he said. Ema politely bowed and introduced herself. "H-hello. My name is Ema Koyo-" She was cut off by a smirk coming from the left of her. She turned her head to find Ayato perched on the armchair, with a hand across his mouth trying to suppress his smile. "Huh? What are you laughing at?" Was it something I said? She thought in bewilderment as he openly laughed at her. However, his laugh was cut off when Ema shrieked. Something just licked her cheek. She spun around to find a boy with lilac hair and similarly coloured eyes, holding a teddy bear, staring at her with a creepy-looking smile on his face.
"You taste like candy." The boy said, he appeared to be a year or two older than her but his posture and dress arrangements reflect on his personality the most. He looks like a ten-year-old! She thought but didn't voice her thoughts in case something came up and she would be in trouble for being rude.
Now HE looked dangerous.
"Wha-" She gasped and took a step back, almost tripping over her luggage (again). But before she could turn around and put some space between them, she was grabbed by a strong pair of hands and seated on the couch. She looked up to see sea-blue eyes staring down at her. This boy's hair was blond with darker tips as though he dip-dyed them. He didn't look especially happy to have her here so she kept quiet and arranged herself on the sofa.
"Quit making so much noise." He said and made his way over to a couch a couple of paces away, to lie down. She saw him turn the volume up on his music player as he closed his eyes and snoozed. What a weird guy...
Suddenly, there was a bang on the wall behind her. "What is this pitiful human doing here!" She saw yet another boy about her age, maybe a year older, with silver-white hair and piercing, blood-red eyes. Those orbs, although full of rage now, looked like they were hiding something from her. His accessories and posture rung warning bells to Ema. This one's also dangerous. He looked like he was ready to start a fight with somebody, but quickly calmed down under Reiji's piercing gaze. He seems somewhat reliable... Not as much as Reiji but reliable nonetheless. She mused.
" Ah! Bitch-Chan! ~ What ARE you doing here? ~" The boy who was playing the piano suddenly appeared next to her, sitting two centimetres away from her. She jumped back in astonishment as he leaned forward expecting a quick answer. "Huh? ~ You don't want to answer? Are you trying to get to me? ~"
"Wah! No! I came here to live with you!" She squeaked and muttered to herself, "I thought mother took care of everything, but it seems like they don't have a clue about me being here..."
It was then that Reiji spoke up. "You are quite correct." He said pushing up his glasses. "You have to live here with us because you have nowhere else to go since your mother left for Korea and your father passed away." He stated, and Ema sat there completely dumbfounded.
"How did you know?" She asked with a shocked expression, as the silver-haired boy crossed his arms in annoyance. He DEFINATLEY doesn't look happy to have me here...
Reiji just calmly answered, "Your mother explained the whole situation to me over the phone the other day." Ema never heard that her mother made such a phone call, let alone know the number to these creepy teenagers. However Reiji seems the only calm and reasonable one out of the rest of them... And so is that silver-head over there. Her gaze wondered to the boy leaning against the wall looking really irritated. Their eyes met and he hurriedly turned his gaze away. She was sure she could see a tiny fleck of a blush creeping up his cheeks. She was snapped back into attention by Reiji's next words. "My guess is, she had no clue whatsoever as to whom she was sending her daughter to be living WITH." He added.
"What do you mean?" Ema asked nervously, "She said we were some sort of long distant relatives and the only ones left in Japan." With that Reiji nodded much to Ayato's disapproval.
"What do you mean relatives? I never heard of anybody to be related to us. Let alone a human girl..." Ayato exclaimed seemingly annoyed too.
"Yes. I would like an explanation." The lilac-haired boy said.
"'Relatives' was the term used to make this deal agreeable." Reiji sighed and occupied the armchair opposite Ayato.
"Well that explains why I never heard of you, Bitch-Chan~ it's good to know we're not related; maybe we can have a veeery long relationship with you... Hmmm? ~ What do you say? ~" The piano-playing boy smiled seductively. Ema couldn't help but get flustered. She started to get a bit uncomfortable.
"Umm...Hey, Reiji," She started, just to change the subject."What do you mean by 'relatives' being the term to make this deal agreeable? What deal?" Ema's face was a mixture of confusion and fear.
"The answer is simple. We're not related." The purple-headed boy answered shortly. He seemed to have avoided her question though. He sighed again and pushed his glasses up. "Now that the business is taken care of, let us introduce ourselves. I am Reiji Sakamaki, as you know, the second oldest son in this household. The boy lying on the sofa, and being a complete nuisance to everybody, is Shu, the oldest son." Reiji seemed to have spat out those last three words but Ema couldn't be sure. She looked over at Shu but he seemed unfazed by his younger brother's words. She was still pondering over Reiji's last response.
"We're not related"
If we're not related then what am I doing here? Ema mused, she was in complete shock when he said that but she guessed her mind didn't comprehend it yet. "Hey wai-" She was cut off by Ayato.
"Ayato's my name. You won't get away from me next time, Pancake. I'm third oldest." Ayato smiled an evil smile, all the while staring at her from his armchair. He propped his chin up on his knee, and wouldn't turn his gaze away. Wait what?! PANCAKE? ME?! She thought in fury and opened her mouth to protest when she was interrupted yet again.
"I'm Kanato nice to meet you. Say 'hi', Teddy. We're fourth down the line aren't we Teddy?" The lilac-haired boy spoke next. He hugged his bear tight and stared at Ema.
"So, Bitch-Chan~, you never answered my question, but nevertheless, my name is Laito~ Fifth son.~" The boy who played the piano said. He draped his arm over the back of the couch making Ema feel even more uncomfortable. He smiled alluringly in hope to win her over but Ema just turned her face away with a blush turning her face slightly pink.
Finally, the silver-haired boy said his piece. It was short and simple if not a little harsh, but the way he said it seemed to strike something in the bottom of Ema's heart. He seemed cold on the outside, but Ema had a feeling he was a different person underneath all that. "It's Subaru. Youngest. Now get lost." He said and leaned against the wall looking very annoyed. Reiji, continuing with the formalities asked Ema to introduce herself.
"O-oh of course! I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Ema Koyori. Nice to meet you all." She bowed like it was customary in Japan and smiled. However her smile quickly faded once she glanced at the six brothers. Except for Shu, whose eyes were closed, every pair of eyes was trained on her. Like a deer caught in the spotlight. She thought until Reiji broke the silence.
"Well there is one thing you must understand while you reside in this mansion. The biggest fact is that we, are all vampires."
"Vampires"
It was what Reiji had said. Vampires. Ema looked around once more and all eyes (except for Shu, they were still closed) were focused on her. Tired of waiting for her reaction, Reiji cleared his throat and continued, "You must fully comprehend the situation that you're in. Once your feet touched this ground you were dedicated into our care, so we can do with you as we please. You, are our prey." With the last line Reiji looked directly at her with eyes narrowed. Ema opened her mouth then closed it again. She didn't know what to say. So she didn't say anything and ran out of the room. The last thing she heard before the doors shut were Reiji's cruel words, "Her manners are unacceptable!"
As she rounded a corner she saw the front doors over the railings, through which Reiji led her. On the way there, she encountered Kanato who said, "You're time will come." But she stopped and ran the other way through another corridor to the left. Petrified of these teenagers and their games, she frantically looked for an escape route. All the doors were locked and she couldn't even consider using the windows. She was on the second floor! When she finally arrived at the grand stair case, a hand upon her shoulder prevented her to take another step forward. She was spun around and cornered against the wall, by no other than Ayato himself.
"Now, you can't escape Yours Truly" he smiled in victory but Ema shrank down and dunked under his arm. She fled down the stair case, with Ayato's maniacal laughter following behind. She just reached the main entrance, she touched the doorknob when-
A/N (again) - Thanks for reading. I wanted to create somewhat of a cliff hanger, if you know what I mean. :P
