A Sweet Fanged Smile

*Rises from coffin* Hiya!
I really love writing stories like this one. I'm the extremely shy girl in the back of the class who seems nice, gets good grades, and is always writing in a little, black notebook. People assume it's a journal or, if I let them look at it, a sweet little story and not a dark novel (believe it or not, the dark stuff in my usual stories majorly excels what I put in this). I've always been really timid and unsocial, so I put a lot in my writing and acting. Don't get the wrong idea though, my life isn't dark at all... I just think it's fun to freak my mom and friends out with dislodged heads and gruesome deaths! ^-^

I'm thinking that I'm gonna have to copy the original story and do the whole skip a year thing, otherwise this will end up being a four thousand page story. I'm a little off with the time line anyway so I doubt it will have to much of an impact... At least I know how to continue it from that point.

I'm so horrible... I ruined a peaceful wedding with a vampire attack... Oh well, it made a good story!

ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING MY STORY *pauses for breath* I CAN'T BELIVE PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE IT AND WANT TO READ IT THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME THANK YOOOOOU! *lunges out to hug all of you like Kaien Cross*

CHAPTER 8

Gone,

All hope is gone,

Lost,

Never to return,

Vanished,

Disappeared from my sight,

Revenge,

What I sought,

Hurting,

What I felt,

Darkness,

What surrounds me,

Death,

What shrouds me,

Madness,

What controls me,

Gone, lost, vanished, revenge, hurting, darkness, death, madness,

Crazy,

Insane,

My mind, my heart, my soul,

Lost in the darkness that I can't escape,

Everything is gone.

"Don't hurt 'im! Stop it, don't hurt 'im no more!"
The boy barely even glanced at her before returning to his task of kicking the other boy cowering on the ground.
"Why're ya hurting 'im?"
The boy turned and leered at her. "'Cause he's a vampire, dat's why! Get outta here, ya stupid kid!"
"No! I'm not gonna, not 'til ya stop!"
The boy curled up into a ball saw his chance when the others were distracted by the girl. He jumped up from the ground, gave the boy a blow to the jaw, punched his follower on the skull from behind, grabbed the girl's wrist and dashed away out of the alley. Once he got out, he took her by her shoulders and swiveled her around to face him. "Ya gotta get outta here, 'kay? Go back 'ome!"
She sniffed and restrained a sob. "Whatta 'bout you? Ain't ya hurt?"
"Doesn't matter, ya just gotta get away from here a'ight? Now!"
She nodded and took off in the direction of her empty looking house and only returned to the alley the next day.
To her surprise, the boy was there with a bandage on his cheek and a grin on his face. "'Ey, yer the girl from yesterday." He tipped up his hat, walked with a natural swagger in his step, and tied a bow back in her hair. "Dat's a thank ya gift fer helpin' me out. The name's Akihiko, but ya can call me Aki, 'cause we're friends now, a'ight?"
She played with the ribbon in her hair and absolutely beamed. "I'm Kanako, but ya can call me Kana. 'Ey, are ya really a vampire like 'e said?"
The smile dropped from his face. "Yeah. I was bitten almost a year ago. Do ya care? Can we still be friends?"
The beam was still present across her face. "Yep, 'course we can!"
That was Kanako Aoi's first love.

"G' mornin', Aki. 'Ey, what're ya doin'?"

Aki closed one eye and held his thumb up in front of his face. "Drawin' a picture of ya."

"Really? Lemme see!"

He pulled the book back toward his chest. "Nuh-uh! Not 'til it's done!" He glanced up at the sky, put his hand out, and felt a wet raindrop smack into his palm. "We better go. It's rainin'. Your parent's aren't 'ome, are they?"

Kana shook her short, brown hair furiously from side to side.

Aki's dark blue eyes followed it like they were being hypnotized. "Why dontcha come to my place then? C'mon, I'll make hot chocolate," he said cheerfully, extending his hand.

Kana took it and swung it back and forth. "'Kay!"

"You can sit down by the fire place, I mean, if you wanna."

"I do," she said, plopping down beside it. "Aki, 'ow old are ya?"

Aki wrung his hat out in the sink, in a few seconds, magically produced the creamy, chocolate liquid, and sat down beside her. "Twelve years and countin'. Whatta 'bout you?"

She pushed her lips out, turned her head away from him and pouted, "I'm only ten."

Aki laughed then turned his eyes away from the flickering flames to face her. His eyes focused onto her neck.

"Whyda you get to be twelve when we're the same height-"

The clatter of a glass echoed around the room and hot chocolate sizzled onto the fire.

Aki had Kana pinned down against the wood floors, eyes locked on her neck, heart thumping so loudly that she could almost hear in beating out of his chest. "Aki? What're ya doin'?"

He lowered his head of shaggy, brown hair down toward her shoulder and ran his tongue up her neck.

Kana tried to kick him off, but he was, in fact, quite a bit stronger than her and he easily remained in place. He felt his fangs grow, but he couldn't restrain himself. Her blood smelled so good. So intoxicating. So tempting.

Aki sank his fangs into Kana's throat.

"OUCH! A-Aki stop! It hurts! Stop it!" Her blood tainted the wood a deep crimson and Kana could hear him slurping it voraciously. His pretty, white smile that she had admired so much, stained scarlet. "Aki, lemme go!" Kana was finally able to get her feet underneath him and slam him into the back wall.

A low growl rumbled deep in the back of the vampire's throat and he looked up with murderous eyes, licking the blood from his chin. When he saw the terror in Kana's eyes as she covered her bleeding neck with her palm, something buried deep inside his mind snapped. He wiped his mouth with his white knuckle, looked down at his fingers, painted with the sweet, red liquid, grit his teeth, and ran away out the door.
Kana, tears raining down her cheeks, gathered her balance and followed him out. "Aki! Aki, wait up!"

Kana found him, curled up and shaking in the same alleyway where they had first met. "I didn' mean to, I just-" he cut off and is eyes turned red again at the sight of Kana's blood. His tongue flickered over his lips and suddenly he pounced on her again.

Kana squeezed her eyes shut tight, instinctively reached into her pocket for the knife her parents had given her, and put it out in front of her chest before he knocked her down. "No!" She felt his grip on her slack, heard him cough, and felt something splatter onto her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Her knife had found its home in Aki's heart.

He coughed blood again and he could feel his life slipping away. "Please," he whimpered, "please, just kill me."

"Aki! Aki, no! You can't-"

She felt his fingers wrap around her hand and jam the knife farther into his chest until his brown shirt turned dark red. "Kana," he was having difficulty swallowing, "only the strong survive, I'm just not strong enough. I'm sorry. 'Ey, I'll always love ya, ya were like a lit'l sister to me. Dat's my picture, it's done now. I love ya, I promise." Then he took his last, rattling breath, placed a crumpled piece of paper in her hand, and laid down on top of Kana.
Dead.

"I wanna become a hunter."

The association president, who had some feminine traits but was not a cross-dresser yet, scoffed, "You 'wanna'? How old are you, kid? Have you even graduated high school?"
"Fourteen, never set foot in one, but I'm tellin' ya; I can do this."
He jeered at her again. "Sorry, I need a little more information than that. You're just going to have to come back in a few years." He shooed her away with a wave of his hand.
Kana, in retaliation, pounded both of hers down onto the desk. "I can hunt vampires!"
"I believe you, you're just not what we're looking for."
Kana scowled and turned away with a swish of her coat.

Concealed in the shadows, a man with long hair had been calming watching the affair and decided his knife could use a little action, his sword saw enough. Besides, he could see the familiar glint of a blade between her cloak and knew it was her main weapon. Why not give her a chance to prove herself? He threw the knife directly at her head.

Kana didn't even look his way. Already skilled with a knife, she caught it between her middle and forefingers, twisted her wrist, and threw it behind her over the opposite shoulder.

It lodged itself centimeters away from the president's dull, green eyes.

Kana stared coldly back into them. "I suggest you think twice 'bout me."

He swallowed his pride and cleared his throat. "Wait, I may... Reconsider."

Later, outside the building, the man who had thrown the knife approached Kana.

"I didn't need your help!" she snarled.

"Of course you didn't , but in return for my help; I want you to come under my training."

"What, so you're my teacher now or somethin'?"

"Exactly, that's the one condition to your becoming a hunter."

"I'm really gonna be a hunter? Yeah!" she shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

The man stuck out his hand. "Kaien Cross."

Kana's eyes widened, then she smirked and shook it. "Nice to meetchya, Mr. 'Vampire without Fangs'. Kanako Aoi."

"First assignment." Cross said, tossing an envelope to her.

"Two of 'em?"

"I was assigned to handle the first, you are supposed to take care of the second."

"Finally," Kana breathed, tucking her hands behind her head. "Where're they at?"

He handed her a piece of paper with the address and Kana scowled. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's your hometown, isn't it?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

He flicked a glance her way, then switched his gaze back into the distance. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Hold 'im down for me, will ya?" Kana threw one leg over the vampire and shot it a look as dirty as the one it was giving her. It snapped its bone-crushing jaws, ferocious fangs grinding together, red eyes reflecting the glint of the knife Kana raised. She brought it down and stabbed the vampire's skull. "Only the strong survive," she whispered, "so I'm gonna become the strongest."

For just a moment, so quickly even Cross didn't catch it, a smile flickered across her bloodstained face.

"Kanako, let go!"

"Kana, Kana!"
"Kanako, listen, can you hear me?" He avoided one of her lashes toward him.

"Kana, don't make me do this!" Raiden could feel electricity welling up inside of him.
"Drop it, stop! Stop!"

"KANA!" Raiden grit his teeth and sent a surge of electricity into his wife.

She screeched in agony and fell into his arms, unconscious. Her blood-covered knife clinked to the ground and a light wind dusted it with the ashes of the vampires who had perished during Kana's reign.

Raiden tapped the door lightly. "Kana? Can I come in?" when he didn't hear an answer, he pushed the door opened with a creaky swing.
Kana had a dying cigarette in her mouth, eyes glazed over and staring blankly into the distance. She was still in her ragged, bloody, wedding dress. "It was a good thing you shocked me," she said in a voice that harbored no emotion.
Raiden eased himself onto the bed beside her and took her hand. "Scared the hell out of me when I did. I knew it was the only option but I didn't know if I could just knock you out or if I would end up killing you. You can ask Kaien, I must have checked for your pulse at least twenty times and I was as white as a sheet."
"Raiden, y'know why I was known as the Joker in my hunting days? Because I would laugh. I would grin from ear to ear, laugh demonically, scream 'only the strong survive', and stab them over and over long after they were dead. I was a monster and I loved it. I loved killing them."
Raiden pulled her head down onto his shoulder. "Shh. You're not a hunter anymore. You're a doctor, do you remember why you became a doctor?"
Kana stared off into space. "... No."
"Well, you told me it was so you could help people." Raiden picked up a sketch of a young girl with a ribbon in her hair. "People like him. What was his name again? Akihiko?"
"Yeah, Aki."
"Well, he was definitely a good artist. I couldn't draw like that in a million years ."
"I believe you, I've seen your artwork... Why didn't you just kill me then?" she said softly.
"Because I'm selfish. I didn't want to live the rest of my life without you, so I'm making you endure it with me. Besides, why ruin a perfectly good wedding?"
Kana snickered, "Some wedding, huh?"
"Who cares? We're married now, that's all I wanted."

Takuma spun Shika around the floor slowly. "I find it surprising you've never danced before, although I know it would be a little complicated if you were to attend a soiree."

Shika twirled in a circle and nearly lost her balance. "Dancing throws off one's equilibrium. The need never arose before now."

"Well, it's a good thing you're a quick learner."

Shika was silent for a moment, racking her brain for the next set of movements. "Will Mizuki be attending?"

"Yes. I expect you'll get many offers to dance; the day class's fascination with the night class still astounds me."

"Who will you be dancing with?"

Takuma paused, repeating the the familiar foot pattern before speaking again. "Anyone who asks me, I suppose. It would be rude to decline. What about you?"

"The same goes for me," Shika replied.

Later, at the dance:

"No, it's my turn!"
"Nuh-uh! I want to dance!"

"He's mine! Besides you've already danced with him three times!"

Takuma smiled awkwardly and tried to calm the situation. "Ladies please, you'll all get your chance-"

"Takuma." Shika extended her hand and somehow melted right through the eager girls like a shadow.

Takuma accepted it and pulled her out to dance, He flicked a glance towards Mizuki, who was chatting with her roommate, then back to Shika as they swayed across the floor. "You and Mizuki are dressed as polar opposites, aren't you?"

Mizuki was in a dress as black as night while Shika contrasted her in a dress as white as snow. Despite her usually Gothic-like appearance, it suited her marvelously. "That is what she told me as well."

The song ended and within seconds Shika has vanished into the crowd and Takuma was swamped, once again, by fangirls. Behind him, someone cleared their throat. "Sorry to rain on your parade, but I haven't had the pleasure." Mizuki gave him her hand. She was wearing a black, lace glove and had kept her glasses on this time around.

Takuma thought her a welcome relief. "Pleasure is all mine," he said with a smile.

After a few steps, Mizuki shifted her position so her hand wasn't pressed against Takuma's, but so both of them were around his neck and and his were wrapped around her waist. Takuma felt her edge toward the back of the room and gave a glance to the other girls. Almost instantly he averted his eyes from their penetrating, death glares. Slowly, they dematerialized into the crowd of dancers.

Mizuki rested her head down on his slender shoulder. "This is nice," she said softly.

"Peaceful," Takuma said, nodding in agreement.

Mizuki exhaled and, when the song ended, pulled him away and leisurely strolled out onto the terrace. "It will be a full moon soon," she said thoughtfully, gazing up at the stars. "Does the full moon really affect vampires?"

Takuma gripped the railing and looked up into the sky as well. "Not as intensely as one would imagine."

"I like the stars. They were born from stars, you know. Vampires, I mean. The moon sent the the stars – its servants – to the Earth so they could investigate it. But it ran into a problem; the Earth liked the creatures from the sky, so it set up a barrier so his sky-beings could never leave. Vampires are just fallen stars that got trapped on Earth. Kind of romantic in my opinion."

"Yes. It's a nice way of thinking about it."

Takuma decided now would be a good time. The inky-black, crushing darkness faded away into the the shadows, shooed by the glittering twinkle of the stars. The moon reflected back the last light of the day, moonlight poured over Mizuki's pale face and gave it a glowing appearance. Her black dress billowed in the slight breeze, a small smile played across her lips, and her dark eyes morphed into the night sky.

Mizuki felt Takuma's hand lightly touch her face. He pulled her in, kissed her cheek, and whispered;

"I love you."

END OF CHAPTER 8