Running, that's what I kept doing. Even when I was phasing and un-phasing, I kept on running. It didn't hurt at first; it felt more like a gentle tingle was running up and down my body. I guess my body refused to feel any more pain.
When I came to a stop however, it all came over me at once. It was like somebody was stabbing me with iron needles that they'd heated over a fire beforehand. I bit my lounge to stop myself from screaming. I looked over at my arm and saw that it was red and raw. I had a feeling that it was like this all over. After a while though the pain eventually subsided; or at least the physical pain did.
I kept crying though. I'd sobbed the entire two mile run to the lake. When I phased in, I whined mournfully, I couldn't dare risk a howl. Whoever was burning down my house was sure as hell gonna come looking for me. Still, the idea that my family, my pack, was dead was just too horrible a concept to think about.
I remember reaching the lake about half an hour after the sun had risen. I sat just inside the tree line with my clothes in tatters around me. I had managed to shed most of them while running (don't ask how I managed that) but still some had gotten torn and frayed in my haste. I scanned the lake for any signs of life, there weren't any.
By mid-day, I was sure there wouldn't be anybody coming so I redressed and took off. Despite myself, I let out a low mournful howl.
I woke with a start, the only light in the room coming from the clock on the nightstand. That would be the second time in the past two weeks I've relived that night. I looked at the clock, 4:30 am. Joy!
I got up, grabbed a spare uniform and cleaned myself off. What I was about to do was demonstrably risky. Zero could violently reject my offer. He could resent me for even offering myself as a living blood bank. Yes, he did need it and he was going to drink it. Even if I had to shove the bottle down his throat, he was going to drink.
When I was all cleaned up and dressed, I grabbed the vial from under my bed. It was a little unnerving looking at a bottle of my own blood. I clutched the bottle close to my chest as I climbed onto the lip of the fire escape. It was slow going but I made it work. When I knocked on the window, nobody answered. That was odd. I knocked again and still no sign of life from inside. I hesitated for a moment then let myself in.
I found him lying on his bed. He was very much awake and alert and again in his underwear. Classic Zero! I set the vail on the window sill when I climbed in. He glared at it with a look of both intense loathing and want.
"Well, this explains a lot." Zero said his voice far off and distant.
"I'm guessing you smelt me last night."
"Every vampire on campus could smell that."
"Yay!" Even in the most serious of moments, I'm still an ass.
"You scared me quite badly last night." His voice was still dreamy and his gaze was quite far off. "I thought you had hurt yourself because of me."
"What'd make you think that?" I had a funny feeling that I already knew the answer.
He sighed deeply. "Yesterday, I snapped at you. I shouldn't have done that. When you left, I felt so guilty and when I smelt your blood…"
"Zero, I would never hurt myself just because you were in a bad mood." I crawled over to his side and rested my head on the edge of the matters. "If nothing else, I did this to help you."
He sat bolt upright. "What do you-?"
"Zero, you're in a lot of pain. You can't sleep, your eyes are so red and discolored that you have to wear sunglasses to hide it and I've never heard you yell at anybody like that. You need this!"
"But what if-?"
"It won't hurt me, I asked and this stuff is as safe for you as water." I grabbed the vial and held it aloft. "Now drink."
"I can't Yu- Karasu; I can't do that to you." That stung, a lot.
I decided to play dirty. Aido mentioned that my blood smells good and judging by his fixation on the bottle, Zero agrees. I leaned up to look him square in the face. I held the bottle up and uncorked it. The pop of air sent a blast of scent right into his face. For added affect, I swirl the glass vial around to waft even more of the smell into the air.
"Yes you can Zero. Now please drink it, for me."
The affect was instantaneous. His eyes grew dangerously bright and his breath held itself in his throat. His expression was that of someone being electrocuted. He reached a very shaky hand out and clasped the vial firmly in his hand. He gingerly put it to his lips and began to drink.
Despite his earlier hesitation, once he started drinking he couldn't stop himself. His gulps were greedy and what took me ten minutes to fill took Zero a minute to drain. When he pulled back; his mouth was stained red and a pair of long white fangs were protruding from his mouth. Zero pulled himself into a ball. His eyes were still burning red but now they were cloudy with tears. I didn't think it was possible but here it was. Zero was crying.
I climbed up onto the bed beside him and wrapped my arms 'round his shoulders. His head lulled against my shoulders so out of instinct I nuzzled the top of his head affectionately. His breathing was slow and ragged and after a few moments of pained silence he spoke.
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't be acting like this. It's not fair to you." Zero sniffed.
"It's alright Zero, everybody has those times when all they need is a good cry. There's no need to be ashamed."
"Yes there is. When me and Yu- stopped talking, I told myself that I would never drink from another living being again. I kept that promise for damn near three months and tonight I broke that promise. I'm just as much of a monster as a Level-E."
"That's a load o' bullshit."
"How do you mean?" Zero looked up at me with shining (and thankfully purple) eyes.
"Well for one thing, I've never seen you attack a student. Second of all, you're probably the most kind-hearted and patient person I've ever met. Thirdly, you have enough restraint to hold back the urge to bite people even if it physically causes you pain. I know several werewolves that have trouble with that. Fourthly…"
"Okay Okay! I get it! I'm not a monster." Zero put his hands up in mock surrender.
"And hey listen, don't ever assume that just because you say something mean or yell at me for something, that I'll leave you. You're stuck with me friend; get used to it." Out of spite, I gave him a noogie.
He pushed me away but more in a playful sort of way. He was grinning. Woo, the playful Zero is back!
"Hey, you should probably get dressed. The sun'll be up soon and unfortunately you cannot go to class in your boxers. If only…"
"Oh, r-right, um could you um stand up and uh turn away?"
"Really this again?"
"Humor me."
"I'll never understand how Zero: the badass vampire/vampire-hunter who can stare down pure bloods, vampire hunters, and ME can still be afraid of getting dressed in front of a girl."
"Like I said, karma is indeed a fickle bitch."
"That may be true but I'm still not getting up."
"I could slam you into the wall…"
"Oh so that's what this is about?"
Zero's face flamed up and this time he pushed me clean off the bed and onto the floor.
"Point taken," I said as I peeled myself off the floor and stood facing a wall. I heard the familiar sound of rustling fabric as Zero dressed. Again I tuned into the sound of his heart and heard a light delicate flutter. Note to self, make more dirty jokes and collect date, evaluate accordingly.
When he finished, Zero came over and tapped me on the shoulder. His tie still wasn't tied right. "You know sometimes I think you intentionally incorrectly tie your tie just so I'll do it for you."
"Oh so you figured that out did you?" Holy balls I was right. Awesome!
Zero had to dawn his sunglasses again as he still had the dark bags under his eyes. And like the idiot he is he almost left without wiping the blood off his face. I stopped him just before he opened the door.
"Hold up stupid." I steered him over to the sink and took a damp rag and started to wash away the blood. Thankfully his fangs had retracted so when the blood was all gone he looked exceptionally ordinary.
"You do realize that I am eighteen years old and that I can wipe my face without help?"
"Actually I thought you were seventeen. Huh the more you know."
"Yeah I turn nineteen this year." Zero rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment.
"Oh really, I didn't know that either. Why such a late bloomer?"
"I missed a year of school. After I was turned I didn't attend school right away so…"
"No need to explain, I completely understand." And with that, we left the dorm.
That day was probably one of the most surreal days of my life. For one thing, Zero wasn't in severe pain and was actually quite pleasant. He was also able to stay awake for the entire day. Whatever's in my blood musta surely been workin' because Zero actually looked and acted alive.
His good mood seemed to have an effect on the student body because they were certainly more chipper and not in the 'I'm a hyperactive hormone fueled douchebag' kinda way either. More like they were generally more tolerable and even on the rare occasion pleasant.
Even Professor Yagari seemed less bitter and hateful. Oh sure, he didn't take anybody's shit but when class was over he pulled me aside and asked how Zero was. I told him that it had worked and that Zero would be back to normal at least for a little while.
The weird part was that Yagari gave me a kind smile, cursed at me (but in a friendly way) before sending me along.
This day was strange but somehow normal. If that's what you could call it.
Thee really strange part happened during P.E. We were running laps and for once I was actually enjoying myself. Weird I know but I was actually having a good time. Ever since my house burned down I've gotten a sick kick out of running really fast. It was fun to come out of nowhere and outrun the track stars with little effort. I have some issues.
The point is that I was running along the outer bend of the track; that particular part of the bend was facing some trees that were normally used for crossed country. So I was skirting 'round the outermost edge of the bend when I saw a pair of great big yellow eyes. When I went back to the spot where I saw the eyes (with Zero's accompaniment) and they were gone. Whoever it was though certainly didn't wanna be found because they'd done their best to cover their tracks and I couldn't pick up a scent at all. Weird…