A/N: Hey ... yeah, I'm finally back *apologetic smile* I didn't die and I didn't disappear off the face of the earth, no worries! *sweatdrop* I'll tell you later the reason for my disappearance if anyone's interested ... I don't wanna bore you with my life story and put u off reading this. XD This is a long chappie to make up for my long absence. Gomen ne! If any of u readers are still there ... thanks so much for sticking by me. Oh, and one more thing, thank you guys so much for all the reviews! It's nice to know that there are still people out there that support this story. And sorry for the lack of review answering, to be honest, I've lost track of replies! *ashamed* I'm so sorry! But I promise it'll be back to normal this chappie onwards. As always, please excuse any dumbness ... I'm trying to get this out as fast as possible so there's bound to be big dumb mistakes that I'll miss ... sorry!

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Cruel Fate

At the precise moment that the pain consumed him, Shiki gratefully let his trembling hold on his consciousness slip away. As for Rido, who was putting all his concentration into trying to win the mental battle, realisation of what had happened had not yet reached him. So it came as quite a surprise when suddenly Shiki's surprisingly strong hold on his consciousness faltered and he went rushing forwards, once again in control. However, it was not a pleasant experience. Pain immediately tore through his being and he cried out, his agonised scream echoing around the stone walls. Breathing laboured, he looked down at his hands, slick with blood, and it took a moment for his logic to break through the thick haze of disbelief and make the connection between his bloodied hands and the gaping wound in his chest, the blood-coated dagger abandoned at his feet beside an accumulating pool of blood.

The figure against the wall stirred, and blue eyes tinged with red fluttered open, panic clear within their depths. Rima was starved of blood and the hunger was clawing ruthlessly at her, but she fought to contain her vampire nature. Shiki was hurt somewhere and she needed to find him …

Pushing herself from her position on the cold stone floor, it didn't take long for her to pinpoint the source of the enticing smell. Her red eyes flared brighter for a moment, glowing eerily in the darkened room. She was beside him in a flash. The chain around her wrist severely restricted her movements, but luckily for her, Shiki and Rido's mental struggle had brought Shiki's body closer to her than before. Panic overtook her and she dumbly fumbled for his face, trying to bring his eyes up to meet hers.

"Shiki! Shiki! Are you alright? What happened?"

Shiki's body convulsed and jerked once in her hold, before he slumped forwards into her arms. A fine, dark mist started to evaporate from his body.

"No! Shiki, you can't die! You-you can't leave me!"

Her voice was an anguished whisper, unable to summon the energy required to produce anything more. Perhaps she had to be thankful for her vampire nature – otherwise she doubted she would have been able to make her way to him in the first place. Had she been a mere human, as drained of blood and nutrients as she was, it would have been near impossible for her to summon the mental strength, never mind the physical. The part of her that scared her most, however, was that her quick motion to his side had momentarily been stirred by bloodlust. For a terrifyingly significant moment, she had wanted to hurt him. She had wanted to drink his blood. Rima could feel her heart pounding violently against her chest. On top of her fear and shock, there was now also a suffocating self-loathing. In her eyes, that consuming feral urge to drain the blood of the one she loved was disgusting, unforgivable. That momentary experience would live to haunt her for the rest of her life. That is, assuming they would both make it out of here alive, which wasn't looking too promising at the moment. There was a pool of blood beside the two figures that was steadily spreading, and the red, enticing liquid was soaking into both their clothes, tormenting her, tempting her. But no, Rima adamantly controlled herself, despite the fact that her eyes were still a tell-tale glowing red that so much resembled the accumulating liquid seeping from the wound in Shiki's chest. Her throat burned more than ever and the pain was excruciating, but Rima firmly told herself that her suffering could be nothing compared to what Shiki was feeling. She couldn't be a coward.

Luckily for Rima, even until this day, she had never witnessed the death of a vampire. She had heard all about it of course, how the body eventually dissipated into thin air, turned into dust. She had also heard that the body of purebloods shattered into a million crystalline pieces. This memory replayed mockingly in her head as a new wave of panic hit her. The black vapour continued to emerge from Shiki's still body.

"Shiki …" she whispered weakly through her tears. "Shiki! Baka! Wake up!"

She shook him gently in her arms, but there was no response.

"SHIKI!" This time her voice was stronger as frustration and desperation kicked in. When she was once again greeted with silence, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She knew it was no use panicking any more, it wouldn't help the situation. Instead, she gently rolled Shiki's limp body over so that he was lying in her lap and she could inspect the wound. With a small thrill of hope, she noted that the dagger had missed his heart, if only just. That would mean … he wouldn't die straight away, right? She repeated that observation in her head, trying to reassure herself. She had to believe there was hope. If there was no hope for him, there was no hope for her either. She would never get out of there by herself and they both would perish in the darkness and loneliness of the basement. However, this thought was far from Rima's mind at the moment, as quite frankly, she hadn't ever considered a future without her beloved Shiki. Put simply, she didn't want to live if he no longer existed.

With the result of her inspection firmly in mind, she then proceeded to make some quick mental calculations and decisions. Shiki was a pureblood, and purebloods were strong in nature. He only needed time to mend. Given he had enough rest and blood. Rima glanced at the pool of blood and the red liquid that continued to emerge from his chest. At this rate, he wouldn't have enough blood to heal. He would die of blood loss. Thinking quickly, Rima tore a strip of fabric from the bottom of Shiki's shirt and pressed it firmly to the wound, trying to stem the bleeding. Much to Rima's relief, this action resulted in a pained moan from Shiki. It hurt her to know that she was bringing him more pain, but she knew it was necessary. At least she was now slightly more reassured by the fact that he didn't seem as lifeless.

"Shh … I'm sorry …" she whispered in his ear, before gently brushing her lips over his in apology. "I love you, Shiki. Hold on, it'll all be okay."

Shiki's lips tugged into a weak smile as his hand slowly came up to rest over hers on his chest, squeezing her hand gently in acknowledgement.

As the blood flow gradually lessened, Rima began to think of a way to make him drink from her. The neck was the best place to draw blood from, but she didn't want to put any unnecessary strain on his wound, especially considering that she had only just managed to slow down the bleeding. Weighing up her options and making up her mind, Rima quickly brought her free hand up to her lips and bit into her wrist, watching as the blood welled up from the wound.

Shiki's eyes were open in a flash as he caught the alluring and unmistakable scent of Rima's spilled blood.

"… Baka … what are you doing?" Even as he spoke, his eyes began taking on the same red tint that adorned Rima's.

"Shh. You need to drink."

Shiki turned his head away in stubborn refusal.

"No … you're already drained … "

She cut off his words with a gentle finger on his lips.

"Exactly. That monster has drunk from me so many times already, and I'm still sitting here. Once more can't hurt." She smiled gently down at him, slight amusement in her gaze. Before he could protest any further, she brought her bleeding wrist to his lips, letting a drop of blood fall onto his lip. Out of reflex, his tongue snaked out and licked it away, and the taste exploded in his mouth. That tiny droplet of blood triggered a reaction that was like flipping a switch; he was overcome with a desire so strong it was all he could think about and he quickly latched onto the wrist presented before him, drinking the sweet healing elixir.

Rima's lips curved into an amused and triumphant smile, as she started to feel slightly more relieved. Now that the bleeding had stopped and he was replenishing his blood supply, surely he would heal?

It wasn't long before Shiki pulled away, conscious of Rima's drained state. He licked the small puncture wounds closed, before kissing her pulse. Rima tried to get him to drink more, but he adamantly refused, effectively silencing her equally stubborn protests when he firmly stated with a wry smile that they both needed to reserve their energy in order to make it out alive. Rima knew this was true and eventually agreed with a sigh of frustration.

Shiki smiled slightly at this and squeezed her hand gently.

"I'm just going … to close my eyes a bit, okay?"

Rima returned his smile bravely, even while panic started to slowly claw its way up her throat, suffocating her. To her fearful eyes, his gaze seemed to hold a sense of finality … as though he was saying goodbye … A whole range of undesirable questions started to settle themselves in her head, multiplying fast like a plague. What if he was lying? What if he was really dying and was only trying to hide it from her? What if he didn't wake up? What if it wasn't enough? What if even after all her efforts, he would die anyway? Closing her own eyes to hide the tears threatening to spill, she took a shaky breath to calm her racing heart. Trying to reassure herself, she told herself that he needed to rest in order to heal, and it would be okay. She repeated this thought like a mantra, clinging to the hope and belief with all her might.

When she opened her eyes again, Shiki's eyes were already closed, a faint smile on his face. He looked so peaceful, so serene … it seemed unearthly … like an angel. As much as the thought warmed her heart, it also set in another jolt of panic, and she had to concentrate on the faint sound of his breathing to reassure herself that he was still alive.

However, as she observed his still figure, her brows knitted together into a frown as her heartbeat sped up. The mist continued to evaporate from his body, and seemed to be getting thicker and appeared to be rising faster. Was this death? Rima knew that if what she had been told was true, his body should dissipate into crystals, as he was of pureblood origin.

But what if this is happening because of Rido's possession? ... A small voice whispered in her head.

The thought made fresh tears spring to her eyes and this time, she let them fall. The crystal drops left her eyes and fell softly to Shiki's face below. With a sinking heart, Rima knew that this was now beyond her control. There was nothing more she could do for him. It was now up to Shiki … and fate. The mist was rising thick and fast, obscuring Shiki's body from Rima's eyes. It seemed to be pulling from his very essence, the boundary between the mist and Shiki's body blurred and indefinable. The voice in Rima's head whispered the words that were plaguing her mind but she refused to acknowledge. Her heart clenched and the tears fell quickly from her eyes, the drops mingling with each other and running down her cheeks in an endless stream. She turned her head away from the dark mist and her eyes fell upon the bloody dagger lying beside them, glinting like it was the answer to all her pain …

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Yeah, I seem to have a thing for cliffies, don't I? *uneasy smile* Please don't hate me! Well, as I promised, I do in fact have an explanation for my lack of updates. First of all, I had all my exams and as soon as that was out the way, I was whisked away for a nice long relaxing holiday and I had no access to a computer. Now that I'm back, I'll try to have the next (and final! Eeek!) chappie out within the next few days. As I said, thanks so muchos to any of you guys still out there for sticking by me all this time. I wouldn't blame you for abandoning me ... I'm a terrible person! Gomen ne! T_T