Author Note: Chapter edited / revised by Dark Phyre.

Constructive reviews are welcomed - it would help me improve my writing - however be nice. If you have questions related to this story you're free to ask - however do not ask for spoilers because you won't get it. Sorry, I am in "mean mode" these days.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or its characters


Chapter VII

After many solitary days of staying in her room without allowing another presence around her, especially Zero's, Maria decided to set her sorrow aside and investigate Zero's private life. In those lonely days she had been locked in her room, her thoughts flied only about the woman who made Zero, her lover, act like a womanizer. She was curious about any woman who was able to cause Zero to toss aside any trace of good will.

Her mind wondered where he could have met her, and her mind provided the most plausible answer: St. Elisabeth Academy. She called her father and put her plan into action.

When she stepped out of the room she said no word to the hunter who was at her door. He stayed there for hours, day after day, begging for forgiveness. Not even once had she answered him.

He had wanted to touch her and apologize again, but her gaze, which once was soft and filled with love for him was now empty, void of any emotions. He closed his mouth and his gaze left her – he was too ashamed to utter even a few apologetic words.

A few days later, Maria received the package she had been waiting for, and the next day she found out who was the cause of her miserable life.


St. Elisabeth Academy wasn't too different from Cross Academy. The students were all rich children with promising futures. The common uniform was black – a knee dress and a white shirt for the girls. At first glance, everything seemed normal.

When she stepped inside, Academy students' eyes glared at her. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation – at Cross Academy, the same thing had happened. No matter where they were, humans reacted the same way when a vampire was around. They couldn't stop themselves from feeling attracted to them, in more ways than one.

Luck, or better say the strings she pulled, made her in the same class with Zero. His eyes were filled with shock when he saw her fragile form entering from under the doorframe. He had wanted to talk with her, but she avoided him – she had no intention of talking with him, and even less in forgiving him.

She stayed in her seat, fighting with her herself not to glance at Zero. She needed a distraction and she found it pretty quickly when her ears perked up. She heard some boys talking about a mysterious woman with a huge success when it came to men.

Her body trembled, and somehow she knew they were talking about the woman who stole Zero's reasoning. Her heart beat faster in her desire to see who this woman was.

The door opened and Maria knew— it was her. From the aura she radiated, Maria could tell she was no ordinary vampire - she knew her rival was a pureblood, and a beautiful one at that. Her newfound rival seemed to be the only one who broke the school etiquette, the one who refused the wear a uniform.

Maria's eyes watched her closely and saw how her rival's eyes lightened when her gaze stopped upon something…someone. Maria followed her gaze, and her eyes stopped upon Zero's form. Maria didn't need words to confirm her suspicions – her sweet look and his guilty one was enough to know she was the one.

Maria was enraged. She knew better than anyone Zero's hatred towards purebloods, and he was the one who had fallen into the trap of one. She needed a lot of force to keep her calm and not make a public scene.


When the bell rang the end of the first period, Anya left the room. Zero did not follow her, but Maria was the one who did. She needed to have a confrontation with the pureblood who twisted her life.

When Anya dashed out the classroom she wanted her hunter to follow her, but instead she found herself faced with a small female vampire. All the nobles she had met showed her obedience, but the one she was in front of her showed her only defiance, disgust.

"You should show respect to the ones who are higher than you." Anya was bothered by this vampire's lack of respect. She wanted her to know her place in society.

"Why should I? The only purebloods I show respect to are the Kuran's – the royal family of vampires - and the Hio's whom I am related to. To you, I will never show respect." Anya could feel the anger in her voice. "Besides, why should I respect the pureblood who bedded my lover?"

The moment those words left Maria's mouth Anya understood from where her hatred was coming from.

So, she is the noble vampire who's his girlfriend, she thought slyly. And apparently she knows what happened between me and her man. Hmm…she seems fragile, the kind of woman a man would want to protect from any kind of danger.

"So, you're the famous lover of my hunter-san…I wondered what you would look like, what he fancied you for. Well, I know now."

Maria heard her speaking and in her words there were no traces of any signs of regret or shame for what she did. Moreover, she knew Zero had someone else, but she did not care.

Maria didn't know how it happened, but her body seemed to move by itself and her ears caught a strange sound – she had just slapped the female vampire who felt no shame for her actions.

It was for the first time when Anya's cheek had been hit – she was enraged.

"Do you have no shame?" Maria spat furiously. "You're a disgrace to our race! You pay respect for nothing. You want only to destroy others. And you even enjoy it! You're the perfect example of why your presence in this world is a mistake." Maria turned on her heels and left behind an enraged vampire.

She should pray to not meet with me, ever again, Anya thought cruelly. Or else I will rip her apart, and I won't care about the consequences.

When Anya left the classroom, he knew she wanted him to follow her, but how could he? Zero saw Maria leaving the classroom as well. He hoped she didn't go after Anya – he still hoped Maria wouldn't be able to figure out who the woman he had cheated on her with was. That could only lead to disaster.

He was in the hallways absentmindedly staring out the window when his eyes caught Maria. She left the Academy's grounds, not stopping to look back. He wanted to look after her, but when he turned around, Walter was behind him, requesting a conversation with him.

They looked for an empty room where no one could hear their talk. The one who broke the silence was Anya's faithful servant.

"Due to your misconduct, your girlfriend had been violent with my lady." Zero was shocked. His fragile Maria had showed violent behavior?

"I can put her behavior aside, knowing what happened beyond your lady's chamber doors."

"I do not care about your girlfriend's mental state, but I do care about my lady's. My lady, being the mistress of a former human is shameful – she deserves more than you. Moreover, it is shameful for my lady to be hit by a lower rank vampire. I would like to ask you to stop your relationship with my lady. You're not fit for her."

"I didn't think Maria would know who the woman I was unfaithful with is, and I did not expect her to have violent behavior. She is a docile vampire. Everything is my fault."

"I know it's your fault. Home, you had had a woman already, and here you decided to put your hands on another one. The first one finding about the second was a matter of time. And I do not approve of you for my lady. Moreover, I do know about your mission here. You have come here to hunt my lady down. Around you she is in constant danger. Cease your presence around my lady."

"My mission…"

"If I feel for a moment that my lady's life is in danger, I will kill you. And trust me, I will. Consider yourself warned." Walter turned on his heels and headed to the door. Before opening the door he spoke again to Zero.

"You should pay more attention to the female vampire who just left this academy. She's the only victim here." And then he was gone.


Zero stayed in that room for mere minutes, thinking at what happened in the past couple days: he gave in to his target's charms, his lover found out about him being unfaithful, and his lover confronted his new mistress. A frail vampire was now suffering, because of him.

Hell, his life had been simple before this damned mission. He cursed the day he accepted the mission, he cursed Cross Kaien for proposing it in the first place.

Zero stormed out the room and went to look for the mad, red-haired vampire. Her body had been put through physical violence – she would be pissed.

He found her in the room where everything started – the room where she made her advances on him. Her eyes were red, ready to shatter everything around her.

"We need to talk." He said to the angry vampire. "I heard you had an encounter with Maria and I know what she did to you."

Hearing his words, she recalled memories of the event. She could still feel the pain on her cheek. The windows cracked from her fury.

"I will kill her. This has been the first time when someone dared to defy me like that. She dared to raise her hand to me. She's already dead."

"No, she's not. I will never allow you to hurt Maria. Do this and I will kill you."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing from him. They shared passionate, hot love-making, and he dared to show concern for the other, but not for her who had been physically abused.

"We shared the same bed. Hell, you felt great when you were with me, and all you care about is her?"

"Don't play the victim here. If there is a victim here, it's Maria, not you. If you hadn't tried to seduce me I wouldn't have ever slept with you, and Maria wouldn't be in this predicament. She's the only victim here."

He talked as if he was blaming her for everything.

"Hunter-san, you're guilty, just the same as I am. Yes, I seduced you, but you were the one who gave in to you manly senses. I did not force myself on you. You took me of your own free will. If you felt nothing for me, my seduction wouldn't have worked on you. You were attracted to me too; this works both ways."

She was right. He felt attracted to her. Maybe because she was so different than other purebloods he had met. But he wasn't sure if that attraction was love. He heard somewhere that men felt attracted to women that they had no feelings of love for.

"I know I am guilty, too. It was a mistake, letting trivial things cloud my judgment. I have betrayed the person who was on my side when I need her the most. When I felt like I was sinking, she was always there to pull me to the surface, and bring light into my life."

While he was talking, a painful expression took form. Anya could tell he thought of her – Maria – as a precious person to him, and the guilt he felt was too big to hide.

"What did she do for you while you were down? I can support you in your bad days, too, you know."

"That's none of your business. Now, I am going to go find my love. And I warn you – touch her and you're dead!"

The moment Zero left the room tears flooded all over her face. It was for the first time when she felt more than a simple attraction to a man, and this man's heart belonged to another woman. They had shared their blood and body, and he was thinking only of the other one.

Not even or a single moment when they were talking did he notice her heart being shattered to pieces. He showed no concern for her feelings. He even threatened her with death if she will took action against the female vampire who physically hurt her. But the pain caused by Maria was nothing compared to the one caused by the silver-haired hunter.

Sometimes words could kill.


Maria couldn't stand in that academy any longer. While she was talking with Anya, she could smell the vanilla scent that had come out from Zero's pores. She was sick, only imagining her in Zero's arms. His arms should have embraced only her, Maria, not another woman.

She needed air, so she ran away. She walked aimlessly down London's streets. Her eyes couldn't see, not even the silly humans who were on the streets with her. She was only aware of their presence when she bumped into them. She wasn't aware of cars either, not until their horns screamed into her ears.

She was a total mess. Suddenly she felt like she was suffocating – people on the streets took the oxygen she needed. Her eyes spotted a place in a park and she headed there. She sat on a bench and her eyes finally spilled the tears she had held in for so long.

She didn't know how much time she stayed on that wet bench. She did not even notice when the rain started to fall in heavy waves. The cold water passed thought her thin clothes, soaking them; the cold of it passed through her bones. Her body was trembling, but she had no power to lift it up and go to a warm place. She had no will. She felt like her body was betraying her, just as Zero had.

Suddenly, her ears heard a loud scream. She shockingly found her body moving to the direction of the sound. When she reached it, she found Rose trying to defend herself from a vampire – a former human, soon a level e – the same who attacked Rose that one night, the same vampire who managed to run away from Zero.

Maria wasn't a fighter. Her special ability didn't allow her to fight – her skill was to use animals to collect information. But somehow she had to find enough power to defend herself and the innocent human being.

"Stop right there!" her voice did not have the power to make a vampire obey her command. "What do you think you're doing? Leave that girl alone!"

Rose took advantage of the distraction and ran away – she went to look for help.

Maria was left alone with a hungry beast, and to him, her blood seemed more delicious than his previous human prey.

"You look delicious!" his voice was low and husky. "You look better than the other one. I will make you my meal."

He jumped in her direction. His claws wanted to rip her skin apart and let her blood flow like a flood. Maria was fast enough to avoid her skin being torn to shreds, but not fast enough for her clothes not to suffer some damage. She had been in the heavy rain for maybe hours – she felt the encumbrance of her wet clothes weighing her down.

"You should know your place, level e! You don't even deserve to be called vampire. You're out of the pyramid."

"I am hungry. You took my meal. You're perfect to replace it with. I want to feel your blood flowing down my throat."

He jumped in her direction again with his claws, a perfect killing machine. She dodged his attacks, but soon her moves slowed down and his claws finally came in contact with his victim. At first he wounded her right arm.

Her blood fell on the wet ground – his senses were filled with her sweet scent. His eyes became crimson red and he pounced at her. This time she couldn't avoid his sharp claws stabbing ather body.

Maria felt her blood leaving her body. Her legs losing any strength she had in the first place, her attacker lowered himself over her. Her eyes closed.


Walter decided to look for the female vampire who hurt his lady. He had no intention of forgiving anyone who showed disrespect for his lady.

When he was at the point of giving up, he found Rose. She was panting and asked for his help.

"Walter, I need your help. Please come with me and save her from that beast."

"Save who?"

"You must help Mister Kiryu's lover." He did not care about Maria's physical integrity. Not when she hurt his lady, but he was a man. He couldn't heartlessly close his eyes when a woman was asking for his help. He couldn't just stand by and let a man hurt a woman.

"That beast attacked me first, and she stopped him from hurting me. I ran away to look for help, but here I can only trust you or Mister Kiryu. She will die. Walter, please help her!"

He allowed himself to be dragged to the place where his help was needed.

When he got to the right place, he found an unconscious woman on the wet ground, blood slipping out from her wound right under her heart, and a beast hovering above her form, ready to feast upon her blood.

That vampire did not have a human form anymore. If he wasn't killed soon, humans would fall as his victims. Walter pounced in his direction. The beast dodged, leaving his victim free. The level e had no intention to fight this time, too. His opponent wasn't a sickly vampire anymore.

He ran away searching for another victim.

"Walter, she's bleeding." The moment the danger ceased, Rose went to Maria's side to check her condition. "She's badly wounded. If we don't hurry, she might die."

Walter looked at her unconsciousness body. "She won't die. She lost a lot of blood, but she won't die. She's a noble vampire, and they're stronger than a human."

"She wasn't strong enough to get herself out of this predicament."

"True. I guess we should take her home." Walter lifted her light body up off the bloodied, wet-floor.