The Seventh Bite


The overcast clouds suffocated the air and hung low against the sky, grinning down at the small and inferiority of humans. It mocked and dared to rain, glaring down at the two figures walking through the maze of alleyways, broken and dirt paths through to the iron gates of a mansion. The dark and shadowy figures walked with a precise and smooth step, almost gliding along the broken bricks. Their trench coats clung to their body like a second skin, and their jet black hair covered their unmistakable vicious velvet eyes. They walked in silence, only the soft echoes of their steps bounced off the walls.

"Kaname-sama" A soft voice spoke,

He looked back to the small figure, red eyes drowned in innocent concern. He gave her a soft smile before reaching his hands to entwine with hers.

"Everything's okay Yuuki"

They continued their journey through the small town until they reached a secluded house on the incline of a hill, old and rickety. Kaname unclasped the lock of the gate and walked towards the oak front door, Yuuki in tow. With the click of the door opening, a noir silhouette appeared, letting them into the dark of the house.

"Is everything prepared?" Kaname asked

"Not yet Kaname-sama, all the noble families will be attending your party, however the Hunter's Association is demanding to intervene and join as well."

Yuuki's eyes shot up, staring intently at the unknown individual.

"So let them join."

She looked at Kaname in confusion, who paid no attention to her.

"As you wish"


It is always reassuring to know, that no matter the situation, the consequences and the sins, the sun will rise and shine. There will always be another day, that no matter what, the rays of perspiration will honour civilisation with its presence. Despite the sins committed, the words said, and the hearts broken, there will always be another day. It sure as hell is reassuring.

Within the twenty-four hours of a day she was a saint, gone broken hearted, gone rogue, transformed into the devil's advocate. Sold her soul for a mere penny, the small affection of being wanted, and a ticket to wonderland. It was as if she looked down the rabbit hole, the small dark abyss of a black hole, never knowing what was on the other side, leaning too far in, resulting in her wrists meeting the ground. She fell to the other side, she looked too far down the depression. Trapped in the creation of her own doings, a world created as a consequence. Beneath the blankets of mischief and darkness they were, doing the deeds only devils did, pledging their words of wickedness- to wickedness. She felt the rough of his fingertips play with her hair, her skin, her emotions- all which shattered at the mere friction. Her legs were losing their strength as he began to consume her, attacking her innocence until her back met with a wall. His voice mocked her, slurring words she couldn't make out, eating at her dulled exterior.

"Yori" His voice would slur, every syllable dipped in danger and a drunk haze,

Her head was spinning in an ominous motion, waves of obscurity overcasting her vision, impairing her to the core. She could barely feel his hands travel across her abused body, staining her porcelain translucent skin with his vice. He tangled his hands in her hair, tugging and pulling her hair back, enjoying the sounds of pain she gave out.

"Yori" He repeated

She shut her eyes tight, ignoring and blocking out the cursing silence, and numbing herself, like a doll- accepting it. She didn't repel as his teeth bit through her skin, breaking and bleeding. Her breathing became uneven as her interior and exterior began to panic. Out of mere panic, her hands came up to grasp the collar and front of his unbuttoned dress shirt, nails digging but also pushing away.

"Yori," He spoke again-

She opened her eyes and stared into his, clouded with lust and a blank slate of emotion. She blinked back tears forming in the corner of her autumn pupils, and continued to blink until the image of his figure faded and turned to white.

She laid still, tears falling down her cheeks and staining her pillow. She sat up, wiping the moist salts from her eyes with the back of her hand, her breathing uneven and her head spinning. Her small fingers clutched at her chest as she tried to erase the image, the thought- the memory away. Beads of sweat and fright left the pores of her neck.

She shook her head a little too rough as she jumped off her bed and made her way towards her small nook of a window, eyes grazing the horizon of a green field. 'Two weeks' She thought to herself, 'Two weeks without him- them, anyone'. Mornings and nights passed like a mantra, one after another until days became weeks. She became a reclusive hermit, tucked herself away into the small confines of her jail, her room, and her cocoon of protection, which also acted as a hell. She would think, over think, replay memories and images, cursing and condemning herself. Her decisions and mistakes would cloud her eyes, engulf her mind in a series of unfortunate events, of misadventures which she finally realized she brought upon herself.

'No' she stopped, 'Yuuki brought upon'. A darker alter ego was growing deep inside Yori, one that was begining to surface, overrun her normal self, tainting her mind with once biased truths. A seed planted into the depths of her mind, growing with each passing day, as their- her life declined into shambles, interlocked with Zero's, both suffering from the same inevitable fate. Both chained by the wrists to each other, linked to the friendship and betrayal of Yuuki, they were both cursed.

She abandoned that train of thought, left it to rot and diminish under the pressure, like many of her other musings. A Sunday afternoon, with a mocking sun, and a quartet of daisies, blooming flowers and green grasses to accompany it. Peers and kin devouring the land from corner to corner, laughing, speaking, everything Yori wasn't. Her mind began to wonder again, into uncharted territories, into a zip lock file categorized under the title of Zero. Where was he? How was he doing? Did he- She stopped. 'The bond' her mind played at. She'd always wondered, why she couldn't feel the bond like he did, like a sixth sense, like a child's book being read so easily. She didn't ever feel anything beyond the spectrum of her own five senses. This lead to various questions of 'Did he just not feel anything?' to 'Did the bond ever even exist?'. Not even when she left him, or he left her- the latter, did she feel a pang of something in the corner of her core. It was nothingness, loneliness and emptiness. She fought against it, but she knew that as long as her heart kept beating, their bond remained.

With a much needed exhale, she moved out of the streams of sunlight and changed into casual shorts and a tank. She made her way towards the melted lake dripping in blooming aquatic life and sat at the edge of the water, picking at the flowers and grass, flicking pebbles and dirt into the water. A small hint of a smile played on her lips as a koi nibble at the floating grass.


The wind embraced the buildings and atmosphere, bringing in the new birth of life, of spring. Its strong gust blew leaves across the pebble-studded footpath. The snow had already melt, dispersing from existence and the lakes were slowly defrosting, life beginning anew. The warm rays of light attacked the fields of lush greens and yellows, flooding it with beauty. The cool touch of the wind played at the fingertips of tree branches, stinging and breaking off the leaves.

Tucked away in the depths of Cross Academy, Zero sat lazily against the wall, his head hung back with white stands of hair covering his face. His breathing was shallow, tired.

"How was your last mission? Did everything go okay?"

"It was fine, as always"

"How are you feeling?" A voice asked, concern evident in his tenor

"Tired."

"Still? After all this time?"

The sound of a mumble responded-

"Have you eaten lately?" Cross began

"No."

"How about the tablets I gave you?"

"I don't need them."

"Zero." Pause, "You can't keep this up, you'll wear out if you continue this. You have to go to school tomorrow"

"I know."

"You won't be able to avoid her. If you don't eat- with your bond, the risks-" A pregnant pause tore the room, "You might-"

"I won't. Don't you trust me?"

"I do. But-" Cross began "But I've never seen you like this. This is worse than when you and Yuu-"

"I know." Zero simply replied, his voice harsh and dry. He stood up from where he sat, his eyes remained a crimson red as he began to walk towards the door, he felt harsh hands grip his arm.

"Zero. Yori isn't like Yuuki, remember that." Cross said as a matter of fact before letting go. Zero stared at him with intent and flickering anger before storming out of the room.

Cross exhaled a breath he unconsciously held in. His worries grew larger by each passing day, Yuuki, Zero and now Yori, an innocent young girl, with bright future laid out before her, stripped and torn from the path of rationality and right. She fell into the hands of unfortunate mistakes, now tied by blood, Cross wasn't so sure as to the future anymore.


Yori was tucked away in her room, sitting by her bed. Her hair grew a few centimetres longer, almost touching her shoulders. She grew paler, returned to her natural routines, occupied her physical and metal self with studying and avoided all human contact. Her auburn eyes were half empty and dulled to the core. The past two weeks since then, she engulfed herself in self-pity, desperation and salvation. Consumed herself in a life of an introvert, avoiding all contact. Her mind lingered at the strings, it began to move towards an aspect she locked away long ago.

"Zero," She breathed in an inaudible whisper, her fingers unintentionally reached up to feel the pulse of her neck, grazing across the scars he left her. There it remained etched to her body, like a tattoo permanently engraved on her skin. It healed, but would never disappear, constantly reminding her of her past and of him.

She shook the thought away, like every other memory of the past, she dispersed it and tucked it away into the deep crevices of her head. She sat up from her bed, her eyes peering outside through the translucent curtains. It was spring; life was beginning anew yet nothing felt new, no rebirth, just simply another season. The lake melted long ago, burning evidence of the cool ice and their minuscule moment spent together, now, it was congested with families of ducks and a variety of fish. The hedges and edges of the park and school grounds was abundant with refreshing greens, the trees shed its dead leaves, the grass grew tall and the flowers began to refurbish itself into the community.

She breathed silently, their short spring break was over, and school- life was back on play.

She took modest steps down the hallways, swarmed in students beaming on about their holiday adventures and the gossips that accumulated over the break; it was a typical first day back to any high school. Students were overly excited to see their friends, the level of sound was just below deafening, teachers were somewhat less excited, yet they were still content. The hallways were washed in laughter, chatter and smiles, the default setting of spring. Yori however, stuck out like a sore thumb, she made her way through the crowds, dodging and maneuvering around the students towards homeroom. She said soft apologies to the people she bumped into and tried to avoid as much contact as possible.

"Have you heard about Zero? Apparently he travelled all the way over to Europe to escape Yori because she broke up with him in the winter"

"No, didn't Zero break up with her? Just look at her, she's so cold and bizarre"

"Were they ever a couple to begin with?"

"I thought Zero was with Yuuki"

What did she expect? She was Yori, an ostracized adolescent girl stuck in her own world- no, Zero's world. Weeks had passed since she had encountered Kaito, and even longer for Zero. The rumour mill was over-flooding with false pretenses, as well as some actual information that held some degree of truth. All the comments and behind the back talking was old, she grew numb to these kinds of things, especially when they grew at an all time peak when Yuuki left. They mistook her and Zero's relationship, somewhat friends, as secret lovers. She never understood who would falsify and come up with these lies, they were nothing of the sort. They had an agreement of equal exchange, the company and affection of one another, which in their desperate and lonely state, they dealt upon. They both yearned for the same thing, the crevice left by Yuuki, a close friend and companion, to be occupied by the simple touch of another being.

'But I got greedy' her mind played. She didn't own him, she had no rights over him, they weren't in a relationship, they were barely legible friends for that matter. But their lust for contact overran them, consumed their minds and clouded their senses. They grew too deep- delved too deep into something they never knew would- could have happened.

The whispers grew to an inaudible hush, eyes and muffled slurs covered by hands, as a figure walked around the corner, down the hallway. Confused at the sudden change in atmosphere, from a deafening uproar to one of whispers and stares, she diverted her eyes to the direction her peers were glued to. Silver hair, pale flickering eyes, deathly expression and ominous aura. It was Zero. He slowly walked down the hall, students shifting away from his bee-line, almost like the splitting of seas. His eyes were lifeless as he walked through the crowds, he gave no attention to anyone but the blur of a destination before him. He trudged, for what seemed like hours, down the corridor, inching closer and closer to Yori.

She was struck, her body paralysed and sculpted to where she stood. He was approaching, like a premonition, he was a predator coming in on his prey, claws out and everything. As he neared, his pace relatively slowed down into small smooth steps, his eyes locking with hers in an intense hypnosis. She held her breath as he was one step away. Only one… step-

The shove of his shoulder meeting with hers broke her instance, his stride never breaking as he continued down the straight corridor. She stood, embarrassed, scared and confused, the sparks of hatred and emotion that flooded their battle of eyes resulted in a shove of his shoulder causing her to lose some balance at the most.

Finally, she released a relief breath as the moment was long over, and the usual environment returned to its norm. Collecting herself, she followed Zero down through the flocks of students towards their first, but definitely not last class together for the day. It was the beginning of a renewed season.

The day ended as slowly as it started, the last class dismissed three minutes before the actual time. But it felt likes years before she could find the strength to stand and leave the room, especially with the suffocating atmosphere of Zero sitting behind her, she could feel the prickles of his glares poke in at the back of her neck.

Neck.

Her fingers unconsciously made its way up to touch the small barely visible scars of his punctures, feeling the melodic throb of her jugular pass blood through. She felt a slight chill run down her spines as her mind replayed the pain and sensation of his hands grazing her back, neck- cheeks. She paused, threw herself away from the thought and took bigger steps towards the door than usual, trying to escape his presence as fast as she could.

She felt a sense of disgust as she walked into her room, her mind flooded in unwanted flashbacks. She threw the door open in her bathroom and ran the tap, washing her flushed face, trying to cool down the nerves flaring up. Images, voices, blurs and slurs of his voice, his face and his touch began consuming her, the thought sensation of his teeth as it broke and pierced her skin. His rough hands clasped against the blades of her shoulder as she tried to withhold a whimper and gasp. His voice and cold skin under the hot spray of water as he spoke illiterate strings of words to her. The noise and animalistic growl he made as he devoured her blood. The word he said as he bit into her the last time.

She threw her hands to her face as she tried to withhold the tears aching to surface.

The unfamiliar touch of hands grazing her exposed shoulders, the whimper she made as the tips of his fingers lightly came to touch her pale cheeks. The way his lips curved to a pitiful grin as he dipped his head down to meet his lips with hers in an unpleasant kiss. The way his foreign voice breathed her name, and her soft pleas of 'Kaito.' His grin never left his expression even when he let go of his grip on her wrists. He took a step back from Yori before saying 'Leave.' She left within the second.

She felt her legs give in as she leaned against the nearby wall and sunk down to the floor. She felt defeated; her once assertive exterior diminished and broke. She was never this weak, she never relied off of one person so heavily. Her mind has never played such tricks on her; she forced herself to believe her logic, but was thrust into a world with the unimaginable. She didn't have any feelings beyond a mutual friendship with Zero, she made herself believe that- it was just a simple contract she, no- they both couldn't keep to. It was as much of his fault as it was hers. So why did she feel such guilt consume her. She didn't belong to Zero, so why did it eat her insides when she made a deal with the devil. Why did she feel like she betrayed someone so close and dear to her? She clutched at the hem of her skirt, fighting back the emotion welling up in the bowels of her stomach.

She felt her mind pause. Her head full of contradictions.

She was weak, but to an extent. She did rely off of someone, almost as heavily as she did with Zero. She relied off of Yuuki- her best friend, to be there when she needed her, to be the roof to her house. She believed in her logic, but in the back of her head, she always knew that something else existed beyond the realm of real. And though she tried desperately to not admit it, she did have feeling beyond friendship with Zero. The contract was merely the seed that grew into these feelings and emotions she felt towards him. Their codependence of one another grew and whether they knew it or not, was when they started to sink deeper and deeper into the uncharted areas they never wanted to be in. She didn't belong to Zero, but her blood did- and as of now, so did her mind.


So.. How has everyone been? Its always a bit- how can I say this.. awkward updating a story that hasn't been updated for about.. a year. I wasn't lying when i said i had a draft. I really did have one, it was just all mixed up and all over the place. And as of now, i THINK i know where i'm heading. I have a destination i want to reach and hopefully, you'll help me get there! I hope everyone has been well, i can't tell you how sorry i am for not updating so much sooner. I can't promise anything, but i won't give up on this story. I hope you guys can understand, and stick with me until the end, well yeah. I hope you enjoy it, theres no biting, or well.. anything particularly exciting in this chapter. I know, i'm the worst, coming back from a year hiatus with this. But come on, you have the huge cliff hanger and twist going on in the previous chapter, we need to calm down and have some down time before the real juicy things can happen again!

And yes, please review! They really help act as motivators to update! As always :)

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