Chapter 6

Eri sat on the couch while we stood around her. She had changed her clothes, but I still found my eyes dropping to where she had been shot, almost expecting her to start bleeding at any moment.

Vashyron seemed to be frustrated the most. I understood what he was thinking. Eri could be like us; supposed to die but still lived.

I had tried to commit suicide my jumping off Chandelier, Vashyron had been attacked and stabbed by an Outside human, and Zephyr had survived his execution of two bullets to the head.

The three of us had survived because some entity intervened with our fates.

It could be possible, but given her appearance, it must have been something else.

"Eri, can you please tell us anything?" I asked softly, trying not to scare her more than we already had.

"No. Tell us everything from the beginning." Vashyron dropped onto the couch beside her, plopping his dirty boots onto the coffee table.

Why must he do that? He knew how much I hated when they made unnecessary messes.

Eri rubbed her red eyes and nodded.

"I-I-I don't remember much as a kid; everyday was just about the same. The room Zero and I stayed in had no windows, only two beds, a few cabinets that were always locked, and the few things we were given, like books.

"I honestly don't know what happened, but we were put to sleep often, and when we would wake, things seemed…different. My eyes started changing, and Zero started looking different.

"I panicked when I woke up in Stephen's house. I wasn't with Zero, which terrified me more than anything. We were let out more; once for breakfast, and once for dinner. I had more books to read and paper to draw on, but I was scared.

"Zero came to my room one night and picked the lock. He said he would be back soon for me, and just left. Sometime passed, and I thought I could do what he did. I did manage to escape, but those bad men caught me and dragged me away. You guys know that rest…"

I handed Eri several tissues, feeling terrible for the poor girl.

"There's just too many blanks," Vashyron mumbled.

I nodded, agreeing.

Eri had cleared something's, but not enough.

"It doesn't explain what you are," Zephyr said rather coldly.

I shot him a look, but Eri didn't seem to be bothered.

"I just don't know! I'm a freak, I understand that, but why can't I just be free? I want to run outside and get hurt, and to know the feeling of healing slowly. I don't care what it takes, I just want to know why this had to happen to me. Why was I held prisoner? Why was I given strange needles? Why am I even alive?" It seemed like Eri had finally reached her limit.

I sat beside her and let her stain my shirt with tears.

I looked at Vashyron, and he nodded.

I lifted Eri's head off my shoulder so I could look her in the face.

"Eri, we'll help you, okay? We only need you to be brave and come with us, okay?"

Eri blinked away tears.

"W-Where?"

"To Stephen's manor, of course."

We prepared for two days; buying ammo and making sure our guns were in perfect condition.

Our plan was to make it look like we had no business on level one at all; just showing Eri, my cousin, around. We were well known as Hunters which could be a problem, but we wore casual clothing to blend in more.

Square Garden was near Stephen's manor, which couldn't be any more perfect.

Zephyr groaned as we stepped out of the elevator, taking Eri's hand. He protested all they way up, but we told him it was necessary to make us seem off guard for anything that could happen.

"Why can't she hold your hand?" He snapped at Vashyron.

"Because, kid, you're closer to her age. It would look weird if Leanne or I were," Vashyron shrugged as Zephyr glared at him.

I had to admit, the fact Zephyr was still so shy around girls was rather adorable. He refused to look in Eri's direction, no matter how many times she pointed to stores or something pretty.

We crossed one of the many bridges, Eri coming to a sudden halt. She ripped her hand from Zephyr's to run off, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled backwards.

"Where are you going?" I questioned.

Eri ignored me and tried to get out of Zephyr's tight grip.

"L-Let me go!" She practically screamed.

"Shut up, idiot! You're causing a scene!" Zephyr struggled to hold her in his grip.

My eyes went wide as he hit the back of her head in the right spot, knocking her out.

"What the hell was that about?" He muttered, picking Eri up.

I froze as I felt the cold metal of a gun pressed against my head and a knife blade brushing against the skin of my neck.

"Put her down. Now,"

My breathing increased as he cocked the gun. Killing me wouldn't be hard at all.

Zephyr's face twisted with rage, but he obeyed by dropping Eri. He pulled out his own gun, seeming hesitant.

I trusted Zephyr completely to not miss.

The gun and the knife dropped away from me, to my relief. The man dropped what I realized was my own gun in my hands and pushed Zephyr out of the way, kneeling beside Eri.

He was strange; his dirty and ripped clothes clearly from the lower levels. A hat similar to the ones the rebels wore sat on his head, large glasses covering his eyes.

The three of us pointed weapons at him, but he didn't seem to take notice.

Zephyr fired one bullet; the man's hat flying off to reveal messy dark hair. He didn't seem to care; just pulled Eri into his lap.

"Eri Deary, please wake up," He gently slapped her cheeks until she came to.

She didn't react at first, but suddenly started crying.

"Y-Y-You idiot!" She hit his chest lightly, making him laugh.

"Same as ever, just prettier, I see." He slipped off his glasses, and to my surprise, he was actually rather attractive. If I had to guess, he was probably only a year or two older than I was. Like Eri, his ears were pointed, but his eyes were a blood red. I shivered slightly, finding them creepy.

"Who are you?" I had a good idea, but I wanted to make sure.

His head snapped up, his eyes narrowed into a glare. I froze, seemingly unable to move.

"Her fiancé. Now scram, before I knock your heads in for hurting her."

Eri slapped his cheek gently, her own a bright red.

"D-Don't be stupid, Zero. They saved me a while ago. I've been living with them," Eri stood and brushed off her pink dress. Zero followed her actions, frowning.

"I don't like you," He jabbed his finger at Zephyr. "You smell like death, and you hit pretty girls."

Zephyr being Zephyr, refused to stand down.

"She wouldn't calm down, you know."

Zero shrugged.

"That's no excuse, you know. I'd never hit the girl I love,"

"At least I make sure the girl I love is safe instead of running off-" He fell silent, obviously embarrassed.

"W-Whatever. Let's just go finish this." Zephyr started walking, but none of us followed.

"What are you guys planning?" Zero's earlier hostility seem to be gone.

I looked at Eri. A smile she was trying to hide was on her face, her eyes darting to Zero every few seconds. Finding out Zero was her fiancé was a bit of a shock for me. He seemed just way too old for her.

"We want answers from Stephen," Vashyron answered.

Zero shook his head.

"Don't bother. He'll tell you some crazy lie and make you feel like you need to chase someone else. Do you have somewhere we can talk?"

Vashyron and I hesitated. Could we really trust Zero? He wouldn't even think of putting Eri in harm's way, but what about us? I had been held at gun point.

Zero smiled.

"Don't worry, you guys helped Eri out, even if you were being played by Stephen."

"Being used?" Well, we felt like babysitters, but other than that…

Vashyron nodded and started walking back to the elevator.

"We need answers, and if you have them, great."

We all agreed that we would talk over dinner and wait until tomorrow to face Stephen after we knew all of the missing details.

Zero, being covered almost head to toe in dirty, took advantage of the shower to clean up. He was a little taller than Vashyron, so he borrowed his clothes. Zephyr's would have been way too small.

I squished meat and spices in a bowl, deciding burgers would probably be easy enough. Zero said to make a lot, but how much was a lot?

"Where are Eri and Zero?" I had put Vashyron in charge of cooking bacon for the burgers.

"Our room, I think. He said he wanted to talk to her privately or something,"

Vashyron chuckled, thinking something perverted. I let it slide, his reward for helping. If he said anything over dinner, however, he would be getting the usual slap to the face.

I dropped the last burger on a plate after grilling ten, hoping it would be enough.

"Can you take this out? I'll get Eri and Zero." I handed the plate to Vashyron, and untied my apron, returning it to its hook.

I knocked on our bedroom door, opening it.

"Eri, Zero, dinner is ready-" I wasn't sure if I should have been embarrassed or not, but Eri defiantly was.

"Great, I'm starving." Zero got off from on top of Eri, grabbing his shirt from the floor before leaving.

"E-Eri?"

She stood as well, her face several dozen shades of red.

"I-Its not w-what it l-l-l-looked like," She stuttered.

"Are those…bite marks?" Her neck was almost covered in the small, round puncture marks. I was surprised to see them open, and not fully healed.

"I don't mean to see rude, Eri, but isn't he a little too old for you?" I was worried about her. I didn't want this older, much older guy taking advantage of her like this.

Eri made an odd face, and before I knew it, she was giggling loudly.

"S-Silly, I'm older than he is,"

No way. There was no way in hell that kid was younger than she was. When did he hit puberty, when he was seven?

"He's fourteen?" I questioned, hoping she wasn't just trying to get off the hook.

She blinked, shaking her head.

"He's fifty seven, and I'm fifty eight."

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