I'M BAAACK! :) *Que insane laughter in distance*

I'd like to thank a guest reviewer who pointed out I had jumped from third person to first person on some of the chapters, that has hopefully been fixed.

I'd like to take the time to thank those who have reviewed so far: ShyPenuin, Mad Girl With A Keyboard, High on the Rainbow, Cerulean Twin, MasqueradingChaos, BeautifulWonderland256, Jewelbug22 and Kira God of Death. And as always thank you to all who have faved and followed.

Chapter 9: Light POV

The bastard had flinched. Light tossed him a wooden stake and he flinched. What hunter flinched when confronted with wood? Ryuuzaki should have just caught it and gone about his day, but he flinched and that made all the difference. Any hunter would instinctively catch a stake, be it silver or wooden, it was something you had to learn if you wanted to not only survive, but work within a team. Instead of instinctively catching it though, he had instinctively flinched, almost as though he were afraid of touching it. That made no sense, even a fledgling could hold a wooden stake without anything happening to them, a silver stake on the other hand. Silver and holy water were the only common ground between the vampire societies, they didn't discriminate between the princes, old-ones and fledglings. The only difference was with the princes and old-ones the stakes had to be left in if they weren't going to be immediately disposed of, as opposed to the fledglings who would die just like a wooden stake killed them.

So someone who flinched when thrown a stake, had an aura of power, only went by an alias and had managed to worm his way into the hunter circle. That coupled with what that old-one had said all those days ago about there being a prince in town pointed Light towards the conclusion that Ryuuzaki was the prince. 'But why would a prince bother with entering a hunter circle?' That was the only thing that currently stumped Light, if Ryuuzaki were a prince then there had to be a reason why he and his family weren't dead. Hell, the guy was in their home. Instead he worked his way into the hunter circle and now came on a hunt, unless he was planning on leading them into a trap, but that made even less sense. 'Maybe I'm just looking too much into it.' Ryuuzaki may have only been hunting for a short period of time and didn't know all the ins-and-outs of hunting. Matsuda was the same in the beginning and he came from one of the twelve blood-lines, a diluted one but one none-the-less.

Looking into yet another empty room on the floor Light finally realised that Ryuuzaki was no longer with him. Spinning in a full circle Light eyed the rest of the unsearched corridor. Instinct telling him that there was nothing on the floor but empty rooms, training had him hurriedly checking the remaining rooms just in case. Rushing back to the door which led to the stairwell, chanting under his breath for Ryuuzaki to not be dead when Light found him, he rushed up the stairs and opened the door to the second floor.

The 'yes!' that had come to mind was immediately overwritten with 'oh shit!' as Light surveyed the scene he had just stumbled upon. The floor was a mess of blood sprayed across all surfaces, loose papers scattered on the floor, upturned chairs and equipment and lifeless bodies. In the hall were ten fledglings, in the center of their circle was Ryuuzaki facing away from Light. It couldn't be helped that the moment he opened the door and walked onto the floor, drew the fledglings attention to him. Not that it mattered, there were ten vampires with Light's name on them. All he had to do was get Ryuuzaki out of the danger zone.

'And if he had kept the stake he would have had a weapon to defend himself with.' It couldn't be helped now. Clenching a stake in his hand as he shifted his weight to his other foot, he and the vampires eyed one another in hostile calculation. They were in a ring around Ryuuzaki, so it was a good thing that Light had brought with him something that could scatter the ring. Slowly reaching into his pocket, he palmed the glass bottle of holy water. The fledglings wouldn't know how badly the holy water would harm them that kind of knowledge didn't come within the vampire instruction manual. Not that there was one. To Light's knowledge all information and training given to a fledgling was from their sire, and these ones clearly didn't have one of those around.

"You know Ryuuzaki, if you had simply taken the stake, you wouldn't be in this situation. Also, rule number one of going on a group hunt, don't separate from your partner unless you're dead or have a death wish." Light said as he approached the group, having already unscrewed the lid on the holy water. The vampires hissed in warning, though it appeared as though they were reluctant to move from their current positions. 'What on earth?' Mentally shrugging Light swiftly angled the bottle and flung the contents across those gathered. Howls of pain and smoke rose from those gathered as they broke formation crying from the attack.

Light lunged at the vampire closest to him and staked the vampire before she even knew what happened, bursting into ashes Light had already moved on to the next vampire, a male this time. Dodging a badly thrown swing of a fist and staking the vampire, mentally calculating his score. 124. Spinning and bringing his arms to block an attack he kicked the attacker and staked him against the wall, turning him to ash. 125. Looking around he scowled as he noticed the vampires fleeing; their skin badly burnt and still smoking, Ryuuzaki had also vanished though Light didn't spare a second thought on him as he chased after the seven fleeing vampires. Catching some who thought to try and hide in the hospital rooms. Piles of ash the only things left behind, covering his mouth and leaning over slightly as Light tried to regain his breath. He'd managed to take down nine, which was 134 kills.

Grinning widely Light straightened and went to turn, now planning on once again hunting for Ryuuzaki, when an arm shot out lightning fast and slammed him brutally against the wall. Blood began to trickle down the back of his neck as pain blazed throughout his throbbing head and his vision swam.

"Not so tough now," A gravelly voice hissed into his ear, even as a beefy hand wrapped itself around Light's throat and lifted him above the floor so his own weight was chocking him.

Struggling against the grip even as his vision swam and air ceased to pass through his lungs unhindered, Light lashed out with the stake in an attempt to catch the vampires arm. 'Stupid, careless, moronic mistake.' Gasping as the need for air overwhelmed him Light began scratching at the hand that held him. Vision fading in and out as he watched a mouth full of fangs lean slowly towards his exposed throat. 'No!' Light increased his struggles, now tinged with desperation, as he attempted to avoid the mouth. A clenched fist swung at his head and clipped him across his temple and cheek, adding to the pounding in his skull but bringing with it the sting of a broken cheek bone. Blood pooled into his mouth and began to trickle down the back of his throat as he struggled to not only breathe, but keep himself conscious and away from the fangs.

Fangs which brushed against his unguarded throat. A series of events followed in slow motion after that. The fangs brushed against Light's skin, he felt himself loose the battle against the rapidly approaching unconsciousness, a flash of white behind the vampire holding him, followed by the feeling of falling and he fell into darkness.

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