On the other side of the gate we found ourselves at the top of a green, grassy hill. There was not a cloud in the beautiful midnight sky, and the air smelled of flowers. It was beautiful, and we knew we would never want to leave, which was lucky as when we turned around again, we saw to our surprise that the hole we had crawled through was gone. It was as if it had never been there. We took this in stride and headed down the hill.

At the base of the hill was a beautiful, quaint little village: perfect for a midnight snack. As I said we had run out of blood ages ago, and we were both wracked with headaches from our hunger. We found a house nearest to us, door opened to let in the cool air, when suddenly --

"Hey!"

Flandre and I squealed at the sudden noise and whirled around. I half-expected the gatekeeper to be behind us, but this time it was a white-haired woman dressed in a blue dress. Her hands clenched into fists and she sprinted towards us, pinning us both to the ground in one fell swoop.

"What are you people doing here?" she hissed, glaring knives at us.

Flandre held up a hand to obliterate her, but I stopped her, not wanting to cause trouble in our hunger-weakness.

"Hmm," the woman hummed. "You two definitely aren't human. What are you? Why are you here?"

"We came through the gate," I said simply, weakly pointing a finger towards the hill we had just come down.

Backing off of us and standing up, the woman let out a low curse. "Damn it, that Hong! She must have been taking a nap again. I could kill her if she weren't a youkai!"

Suddenly feeling safe, I stood and helped up my sister. "We're vampires," I whispered softly. "We were hungry. Please, let us go. We'll find a deer or something. We're weak right now -- we haven't eaten in hours. Please."

I looked down at my sister, and she smiled brightly. "Please!"

Sighing, the woman shook her head. "There's a farm nearby with cattle. Please don't hurt any of these humans -- I own this village and I can't let them come to harm. Follow me." Without another word, she spun on her heels and walked off. We quietly followed.

"What's your name?" Flandre asked politely, skipping along the path.

"Keine," she said curtly. "And you?"

"I'm Flandre!" my sister cried, skipping higher.

"Remilia," I answered, looking around the village. "So you own this village?"

"I do," Keine replied. "I am also the schoolteacher for all the human children. But lately there has been such a boom in newcomers thanks to our new, lazy gatekeeper that it's been hard to keep up."

We walked on in silence for a long time, before I burst: "Does a man named Vladimir live anywhere around here?"

She whirled around and shot me a glare. "Vladimir?"

Surprised by the sudden change of tune, I nodded quietly.

Giving a small 'humph,' Keine turned again and led us on. "He was a vampire too, as I'm sure you're aware if you're looking for him. He became such a nuisance that we sealed him away on his own island. He can't get out, and as for getting in, well, I don't know why you'd want to."

"Please," I said quickly. "Please, take us to that island. I need to see him. He left months ago, and -- and -- Please, I need to see him."

Heaving a great sigh, Keine muttered grudgingly, "I can't leave the village for long, but I'll point you in the right direction." Raising a hand and pointing her finger, she said, "Head due west and turn take the right road when it forks in two. Follow the trail until the forest ends and you'll hit the edge of the lake." Casting us a grim smile, she continued, "You're vampires, and though you hide your wings, I know they're there. You'll be able to fly across."

"Will we be able to make it by morning?" I asked, looking up at the moonlit sky.

"It'll cut it close, but if you hurry, there won't be a problem. Perhaps you should just fly the whole way to be quicker -- going through the forest might disrupt the youkai living in it."

We bade our farewells and watched as Keine floated back towards the human village. Without further ado, Flandre and I kicked off the ground and into the sky.

It was a quick flight over the vast lake. As soon as we made it above the trees of the forest we could see Vladimir's mansion on the island off to the distance, and we headed straight towards it. In minutes we were on his doorstep.

My heart pounded almost out of my chest as I shakily held up a hand to knock on the enormous wooden door. I must have hesitated a mite long, for Flandre, without warning, blew the door open. I silently cursed her but nonetheless it was an entrance, and we quietly slipped inside.