Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or its characters. I do however own Annabelle Locke.
Chapter Ten
Vampires do not exist.
Vampires do not exist.
Vampire cannot exist.
They can't exist because…because…
Would that mean everything in the world is a lie?
Would that mean everything that I had learned, had experienced, was just a lie? A non-truth? Something that no longer mattered because this, right here in front of me, this thing, was real?
"I love that face you're making." That thing, whatever it was, said to me. "It sends chills down my spine."
But if vampires existed didn't that mean werewolves and zombies could too? Did that mean that this world was full of abnormal entities laying low in the dark, seeking human flesh for their bellies, desiring out vitality to strengthen their own?
He took a step closer.
Because if that were true then everything would be a lie. From the start of my life to its end, that would mean our simple mortal lives as humans were nothing. It would mean that we were simply prey for the higher status, like a mouse to a hawk or a bug to a frog -- we were food. So then did that mean that everything we learned and did in our lives were worthless, because in the end it was up to these creatures to do to us what they pleased?
A low, screechy chuckle filled the air, followed by a putrid smell of copper. Susan cried out and called to me desperately.
My cheeks were wet.
And then if our lives were useless, and our blood food, what were we? We were nothing. We were no longer masters of Earth, but a smaller life form that fed another. We weren't all powerful humans, we were…nothing. Worthless. Meaningless.
"Your thoughts are delicious." The man --no, the vampire, cooed. "I can taste your tears on my tongue."
So if I was a victim and he the predator, did that mean I had to lay down and succumb to my fate? Perish because this creature wanted me too, because in the higher scheme of things he was stronger then I, designed to be my murderer? If he were my murderer and I his victim, why did I feel so scared? Why could I feel my pulse quicken with each small step he took towards me, closing the distance and sealing my fate further. This was supposed to happen, wasn't it? I was supposed to die as food.
"Anna! Anna, please snap out of it! Anna please!" Susan cried. Her tears matched mine in an infinite flow of terror.
Because I was crying. I could feel it. With each blink of my eyes a single drop of liquid would escape and leave a long trail of cold down my cheek. I hadn't cried in years. Was I crying now because I knew death was inevitably going to meet me? Did I not have a choice in this matter?
I had to have a choice. Everyone has a choice. But the mouse cannot choose to be killed by the hawk if the hawk wills the mouse to be killed.
My fingers brushed against something on the counter, and I picked it up absently.
The distance was filled with one quick stride of the man. Susan screamed as his hands wrapped around my arms, yanking me close to his body, my face buried in the white cotton shirt that smelled of decay. Greedy breath stroked my ear; a chuckle sifting from his lips.
"You're all mine," He breathed. I felt pressure on my cut shoulder and flinched, but his hands kept me still as stone. He pulled his hand back so that I could see his face and fingers. What I saw sent my stomach swirling. Though completely white, his skin looked deathly translucent, and his eyes were the color of blood --they smouldered. Those long teeth, so close to me, made my head ring. On his finger was a single ribbon of my blood, dripping from the tip a small droplet, which landed against my cheek. He held the finger above me so that I could get a clear view as he lowered it towards his mouth, pushing forth a pink tongue to catch a drop that was about to fall.
But what drove me to the next action was instinct and instinct alone. No sane part of my brain would have thought of such a thing. It was the mouse trying to free itself from the hawk's grasp, the bug that spouted wings and flew away before the frog had time to catch it. But instead this time, as a human, my weapon consisted of a long tubular object: a pencil.
With one of his hands gone from encircling me and raised for me to watch, he had unknowingly left one of my arms open and limp. Although my right hand was sprained, I clenched it around the pencil until I could feel the whiteness of my knuckles, the tension of the skin, and then quickly, my pulse heightening, I raised it above my head.
He didn't have time to react. His eyes locked onto the sharp point of the object, but even though he moved his bloody hand away from his face, leaving my blood untested, he couldn't stop me in time. The pencil's point drove straight through the jelly of his iris, gushing from it a thick stream of blood. Gerald screamed and pushed me away, and I fell to the floor with a grunt. The vampire thrashed around, blood seeping from in-between his fingers, running luridly across his wrist. The orange object stuck out of his eye socket at a strange angle.
But there was no time to gawk at the damage I had done to him. No time to wait until he withdrew the pencil and came after me with anger in his eyes, mixing dangerously with his hunger. Panicking, I scurried over to Susan, breathless and out of my mind.
"We have to get these off you!" I shrieked, pulling at the ropes that knotted her ankles and wrists together.
"You stupid bitch!" Gerald howled.
"Anna I'm so--"
"Shh."
I tugged at the ropes; they didn't budge.
Susan whimpered and struggled, tears continuously flowing down her cheeks. I wiped one away and held her face in my hands, forcing her to look at me. Those big sea-salt eyes were full of fear, a fear that only represented my own. No matter how much I tried to get the ropes off they wouldn't budge, and it was so dark that even just finding the pencil was a coincidence --anything like scissors would be a miracle to come across.
"What?" She whispered, her voice saturated in a silent trepidation.
"You stay here and don't make a sound." I answered just as quietly. Our breathing was rough. "I will come back for you when I--"
"No you can't! It was my fault you came--"
I shook my head. "No, it wasn't. Now just please stay silent. I'll take care of him and come back to get you, I promise."
Susan sobbed. "But he's a…He's a…"
"Shh. Don't worry about it. I'll be back."
"But Anna--"
"it's the only thing--"
"Found you." Gerald hissed from above me, making me jump. Cold fingers dug into my back, tearing easily through the uniform jacket. I gasped, Susan screamed, making my ears thrum, and Gerald laughed manically, hauling me up as easily as if I weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred and ten. With a straining muscle in his arm which I could feel, he whipped me around quickly, throwing me like I was a rag doll.
Arms out, I tried to catch myself on the counter, but my right hand twisted painfully and I collided with it instead of grasping it to straighten myself out. I flipped over the wooden surface and tumbled onto to the other side, my stomach bumping into the corner of a toppled over computer.
"Ah," I groaned, stroking a bump against my head with two fingers.
"It would have been less trouble if you died how I wanted you to." Gerald hissed through canine teeth, slipping over the counter and landing gracefully on two feet. With one hand he reached up and wrenched the pencil from his eye socket. A waterfall of scarlet liquid glided down half his face, soaking and spreading quickly through his white shirt.
Nausea struck me hard. I tried to sit up, but his hands were there first, forcing me back onto my feet by the collar of my shirt. Susan shrieked, ignoring my orders to keep quiet.
"Anna! Anna!" She cried.
Gerald chuckled, and I got a sweep of putrid breath across my face. His voice, like harpies, whispered into my ears. "Once I'm finished with you, I'll move onto her. Aren't I lucky, killing two birds with one stone?"
I ignored him and dug my nails into the skin of his wrist, but he returned my assault with a bitter laugh, unyielding in his hold on me. "You were lucky with finding that pencil and getting me when I had lowered my defences. But girl, I am a vampire. Do you think vampires are built to be hurt by measly mortal nails?" He threw his head back and laughed. "I am invisible. And you, my dear, are not."
One hand released me and wrapped around my throat, forcing the air out of my lungs. It tightened when I began to flail, and after awhile, when my vision spun in circles, I could only resort to grabbing onto the coolness of his wrist and trying to pry him away. But he didn't budge.
Was I really going to die? Here and now to this thing, that couldn't possibly be what he said he was: a vampire. I couldn't believe that, not even when he tilted my head back and I felt a cool rush of air against my throat.
"Your smell is so repulsive." He murmured, chalky lips moving against the base of my neck. "You're a real vampire repeler. I wonder why that is."
I moaned a quiet sound of protest, chocking on the lack of oxygen. His fingers let up for a second, giving me a chance to breathe, and he chuckled. "Don't want you to die right before I bite you, do I?"
When I tried to kick him, the tight grip returned and he rose me up and off my feet, to a point where I was flailing miserably in the air. With his free hand, he tore off the black jacket and ripped open one button on the white undershirt, exposing my neck. A whimper fled my lips.
It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I wasn't supposed to die like this. Not by some fictional fairytale character! This had to be a nightmare. It just had to be.
"But it isn't." Gerald plucked my thought from the air, and I moaned again when his lips came back down against my throat, testing the area. My knees wobbled. It was a good thing I wasn't on the ground, or else I would have toppled over. Every part of my body was flaring with cold, grotesque chills. "Now let's taste you."
"Anna!" Susan cried.
"No!" I shouted in unison, feeling the lips part against my flesh.
And then there was a blur of something in front of me and a loud rumble of…thunder? And the next thing I knew I was on the ground, on my stomach, clutching my fingers to my throat and gasping for air. The world around me blurred to a point where I saw doubles, then when it calmed I rolled over on my back and looked up at the man who had just nearly bitten me. His crimson eyes were elsewhere, in front of him. When I looked around, my first instinct was to find a weapon of some sort, but a familiar figure caught my attention and held it.
Zero was in the doorway. There was a silver gun in his hand, the same one he had yesterday at the pet store. The barrel smoked; it had just been used.
Gerald hissed and took a step back. "You're ruining my fun, vampire hunter." His eyes, briefly, flickered to me.
"Vampires don't deserve to have fun." Zero replied coolly.
I shifted on the ground and rolled back over onto my stomach, my eyes searching for something I could use-- anything that could be formed into a weapon. While Zero held his attention, perhaps with this time I could be some sort of help. The relief was so strong that I just wanted to mold with it personally.
Through the dimming light of outside, barely visible anymore, my fingers scrapped around on the ground, pushing away papers and gliding over indescribable objects until I found something that reminded me, with their two looped handles, of scissors. A cry of triumph escaped me
There was a tug on my back, and quickly, before I realized it, I was being brought to my feet again, this time with my back against the chest of the creature; the scissors were lost to my prying fingers. Gerald's arms wrapped around me, pinning me to him; one arm snagged me in a headlock. When I opened my eyes, Zero's face was angry, a silent growl on his lips. He was only about a few meters in front of the both of us, the gun still raised, this time both at Gerald and me. I was being used as a shield.
"You wouldn't want to shoot through the girl, would you?" Gerald laughed against my ear, holding me almost protectively in the fold of his arms. I gasped and struggled, but he tightened his hold compulsively. "Vampire Hunter, what will you do now?"
Zero's eyes were conflicted, as if weighing out the options. For a second I wanted to just tell him to shoot through us both, even though that would inevitably mean my death, but at least if I died, I'd bring down this monster with me.
"You're so unfair, girl. Thinking of giving up your life to bring me down." Gerald murmured into my ear, amused, then made a sound like he was chiding me.
"Zero!" I called, my voice hoarse and weak and frightened. Those violet eyes flickered to me, and I held them as best as I could even when I so desperately wanted to close them. "Just freaking shoot the gun!"
His eyes narrowed, but his indecision was decided, cleared. He straightened out his arm, pointed the gun towards both of our heads. I closed my eyes, not exactly wanting to watch the bullet make contact with my forehead. And then I waited.
The man behind me shifted in disbelief. "What? You plan on killing her too!?"
"If it means your death, vampire." Zero answered acerbically.
I heard the withdrawal of the safety and knew that in seconds I would be a muddled mass of bleeding flesh on the ground beside this monster. And I was far more patient for this death then the other one, far more willing. Because at least it was from a human.
That felt funny to say.
So did this mean that vampires did exist?
Involuntarily I smiled, and opened myself up to meet death.
"No Zero don't!" A female cried out.
And the bullet didn't come. The vampire behind me tensed, but I didn't feel dead. Yuuki's voice was still ringing in my head. When I opened my eyes the brunette was in front of Zero, grasping the gun and shoving it towards the sky. His face was angry, torn and disfigured, lips pulled back over his teeth as he tried to wrestle the silver object away from her.
"What are you doing? Let go!" He protested.
"You can't hurt her! There has to be another way!" Yuuki shouted.
Yes, there had to be another way. I didn't want to die. A pang of heat rose through me, and then I felt smothered by these arms around me, holding me. I began to struggle again, given this second chance time to rethink my whole suicidal plan.
The vampire didn't let me go. "A companion of the Vampire Hunter's?"
Yuuki reached down under her skirt and withdrew a small metallic stick, which grew in length when she whirled around and faced us. "Level E." She said quietly, brows knitting together.
"Level E?" I whispered to myself, trying to make sense of it.
Gerald threw back his head and laughed, the chest I leaned against rumbling. "You sound like you are surprised! Ahh, I can't believe we've been disrupted. I was looking forward to sinking my teeth into your flesh." I felt the brush of something against my neck, and then realized it was Gerald's nose and mouth. I flinched and tried to recoil from it, but his iron grip stopped me from moving.
"Stop! Don't do that!" Yuuki said, concerned and worried and frightened. She shifted to come closer, but Zero pulled her back.
Just then a sound came from above. The vampire holding me whirled quickly, snapping my head back to the side, making my vision blur. The arched stained glass window on the second floor buckled and then burst open, and two figures slipped through quickly, landing on two feet in front of us. When one of them stepped forward and the minimal light glimmered on his face, I gasped.
"Ichijou?" I voiced my disbelief. In his hand was a sword. Behind him, stepping up, was the red haired Night Class student, Shiki Senri --I had heard of him, but had never met him. Both dazzled my eyes again with their infinite beauty.
"Damn!" Gerald growled. "What's this? Vampires hunting vampires?!"
Wait, what?
Time came to an altering slow, and I watched silently as Ichijou raised the sword towards us. "Let the girl go." He said, his voice surprisingly calm.
Did that mean they were…could that mean that the Night Class were really…
It couldn't be true.
None of this could be true.
All of it had to be a nightmare, and I was the center of its malevolent cruelty. I had to get away. I had to. If I didn't I'd…I'd….
I would what?
I would scream.
A loud sound tore through my throat, filling the room with my strained voice. I could feel the startled tension shoot up Gerald's body, and I took that single moment of distraction to lean down to dig my teeth into the flesh of his wrist. Blood seeped into my mouth, down my chin. My teeth hit bone. Gerald howled and pushed me away from him, and I tumbled to the ground.
"Damn woman!" He growled.
I didn't have much time. He was empty handed with hostages, and that gave the rest of the two sets of people a chance to kill him. I could already feel the recognition shoot through him. Then I felt the hands on my back, faster then an average person's. But I was already prepared.
"Don't touch me!" I yelled, twisting onto my back and plunging the scissors from the ground into his thigh. Blood squirted from the wound in rivers, running onto my clothes, turning my undershirt crimson. Gerald roared in pain, and I could feel his fingers circle my wrist, crushing my bone as he tried to pry me away from my weapon. But I didn't stop there. With a cry of terror, I forced the metal in deeper, dragging it down in a low cut, tearing muscle and veins with it. More blood hit me, showering my black hair in red. The smell of copper was everywhere.
Something grabbed my hair and yanked back my head, and when my eyesight brushed Gerald's I was suddenly flying. The air pushed against me, and the back wall collided painfully into my back. Books fell down on either side of my fallen form.
"Anna!" Yuuki cried out.
I could only see darkness around me; feel the pain of my sore body; hear the screeching of Gerald as he was backed into a corner.
"Don't!" I heard him howl. "No!"
"I'm sorry. But you've done wrong." Ichijou's voice came over on the air. "You must be disciplined for it."
Then I heard a scream, and then gurgling, and soon a sword being sheathed. I didn't hear the fall of a body.
"Anna!"
I heard footsteps but raised my hand to stop them. "No," I huffed, exhausted. "Susan…Over there." My voice failed me. I swallowed. I could taste blood in my mouth, and wondered sickly if it was Gerald's. I opened my eyes to see where I had landed. A pile of books lay across my legs. I was against the farthest wall opposite the pay counter. Weakly, I moved a finger to point in that direction, but a voice made that gesture unimportant.
"Yuuki! Yuuki! Oh god, someone help! That thing! He was a…was a…" Susan's voice was shrill.
A vampire… I thought, unable to believe.
Ichijou turned to me, his face unreadable. Beside him was a pile of grey…ash? Shiki leaned in towards him and his lips moved inaudibly. Ichijou nodded.
After Yuuki finished unbinding Susan, the small blue-eyed girl broke into a loud sob. She shook her head, voicing everything that I was thinking myself as I lay here, unable to move. "It was terrifying! He was a Vampire! He kidnapped me to get to Annabelle! He almost killed her! Oh Annabelle," Her eyes moved to me. "I'm so sorry!"
Yuuki and Zero exchanged looks, and then both of them looked to Ichijou, expressing a silent communication.
"Don't worry." I said softly. "I'm fine."
With one hand out to stable me, I hoisted myself up, using the deformed bookshelf as leverage. The pain in my entire body outweighed the burning in my right hand.
"Anna!" Yuuki was at my side in an instant, helping me stagger to the middle of the library. I didn't thank her when she let go, instead turned to look at the two Night Class students.
Did this mean they were…but they couldn't be. A rush of memories collided with me, forcing the wind from my lungs. I buckled, but Yuuki helped me stable myself once more.
"Ichijou." Zero said, his expression serious.
"Yes." Ichijou nodded and stepped towards Susan. The small brunette flinched when his hands touched the top of her head, and a bright purple light orbed at the place where he touched. Her eyes dimmed, her mouth opened, and then she fell slack. With his arms already out and waiting, she fell into them. He placed her down against the ground gently and turned to look at me next.
I stiffened.
What the hell had just happened?
My breath caught, and I pulled my arm away from Yuuki. But then both of her hands were on my arms, and when I looked at her, her eyes were sincere, apologizing to me silently. What was going on? What was happening? Why was Susan unconscious?
"What are you--" I turned to see Ichijou advancing. His own eyes displayed his apology. "What did you do?"
"I'm sorry Annabelle. Please don't make this hard." He said softly.
To hell with you. I had just learned that -- No, vampires didn't exist. It had all been just a big mistake, something that would turn into a joke sooner or later. Gerald had just been some nut job that thought he was a vampire. That's it. I flinched when Ichijou came closer.
My heart thudded in my ears, my lungs on fire. My whole body on fire.
No. No, no, no, no.
Fear welled up inside of me. Time slowed until I was seeing only my instincts. And my instincts were telling me to run.
"No!" I shouted, flailing suddenly, taking Yuuki by surprise.
She gasped as I tore away from her, sending her to the floor.
"Yuuki!" Zero called.
But I couldn't stay. My feet were moving beneath me. My shoulder collided with Zero, forcing him out of my way as I stumbled out the front door, tripping on my own two feet.
"Annabelle!"
It was dark and cold, and the sky was clear and starry. Each clap of my foot sent the air escaping out of my lungs, leaving me running on adrenaline and fear alone. My body screamed to me as I fled through the town, yearning for rest. I couldn't give it that. Not after what had just happened. After I was just confronted with that. With the truth. The cold bitter truth that burned me.
They couldn't be real!
It had to be a mistake, a stupid bloody mistake.
Vampires were mythical creatures that people made up in their minds. Nothing like that could ever walk this planet, not unless this planet was a total lie. Not unless everything I knew as the truth shattered around me, leaving me in a bucket full of my own confusion, alone and desperate for answers.
I was aware of the tears running down my cheeks, dripping from my chin and sticking to my neck. That was twice today. Twice I cried. My emotions were leaking from me in bodily fluids now, instead of raging anger. What was I going to do?
I passed a boarded up house, and a small closed shop. No lights were on now. Possibly everyone had gone to bed. It was a good thing too. They would worry if they saw a girl running, blood splattered over her clothes and hair and face. I didn't want to have to explain.
What would I say? That I saw a vampire?
No, not a vampire. Something else.
It had to be something else!
"It had to be!" I closed my eyes and focused on moving. A straight path was in front of me; I didn't have to worry about hitting a corner of a house or garbage pail. "They can't!"
My feet caught and I tripped, but even though I fell low to the ground, my arms flailing, I managed to get back up and continue, hoping that the others weren't on my tail. Hoping that Ichijou wasn't going to do whatever it was he did to Susan. Because if he did, I would scream and scream and scream. That wasn't normal. That purple light wasn't something that anyone else could do. It was something another creature could do. Would do. But why?
What had happened to Susan?
There was too much to think about. My head felt like it was going to explode. I brought up a hand to hold it, to try and stop it from toppling over and bringing me with it. What was I supposed to believe? Was I supposed to be angry, sad, terrified, confused? All the conflicting emotions brought more tears to my eyes, which spilled over more and more, making me feel more stupid.
"No…." I breathed; my breathing was rough, making my words short and unclear. "It can't be true…"
I opened my eyes for a second, to make sure I was on the right path, to make sure I wasn't going to run into a wall. I didn't want to open my eyes. It felt like if I did I would let the horrible things back in, see the unwanted. Fear entered me again.
Something was blocking my path. Something dark and tall, something that was so close that I couldn't stop myself from running head first into it.
The body was cold and hard, and I knew it was a body because it felt like one, was dressed in soft clothes and smelled of something sweet. And I knew that maybe, perhaps, it was someone here to rescue me. Maybe I'd be brought to safety with this figure, because he was there to protect me. Right?
But what if he was a … something else? Non-human?
I cried out and pushed away from the body, staggering back and stopping only to look up at the face.
And I was both terrified and relieved at what I saw.
"Kaname-sama!" Yuuki's voice came down the street, but I didn't turn.
Those dark eyes were darker at night, that pale skin stronger, radiating more so then ever. If Ichijou was a --something else, then did that mean he was too? Is that why I was so lost around them. Because they weren't human? Because they were…were…monsters?
"Yuuki." The cold, masculine voice seeped from his lips in a low melody. His eyes flickered to the girl behind me, standing possibly a few meters away. I didn't have the courage to face her. Not now. "Zero."
My body tensed. I had only heard the one set of footsteps, but as I turned reluctantly the two prefects came into my sight. The intake into my lungs was painful. Yuuki's face was torn, Zero's serious. I was being hunted by them. They wanted to capture me.
"Her memory?" Kaname's voice said softly, monotone.
"Ichijou wasn't able to." Zero replied bitterly.
"And the vampire?"
"Taken care of."
"Then all that's needed to be done…" Kaname shifted in front of me, and I turned only to wince at the contact of his hand, both hands, holding my face still in his grasp, forcing my eyes to look up and at the dark, smouldering depths of his own. My breathe caught. "Poor thing."
It happened very subtly. At first I saw his face clearly, then it blurred around the edges. A perfect face distorted by a rush of energy that surged through the contact of his hands and ran low into my blood, stopping my heart for a mere second. My thoughts slowed as if I were getting sleepy, but I could feel the intrusion; A strange pressure that tugged at things in my head, pulling at them with a gentle force that frightened me. I tried to stop it, I tried to erect barriers, but they were knocked down as easily as my will to comply to the invasion.
A small cry sifted from my mouth; I barely heard it. But the hands holding me stayed, and I reached up to grasp onto the backs of them.
What was he doing?
Weakness entered me, pulling me down into itself. I felt sleepy, exhausted. The days events were taking their toll on me. Purple light sparked from the corners of my eyes.
I remembered it from somewhere…but where? Where had I seen that light?
I refocused on the face in front of me. Emotionless. My fingers twitched against the sleepiness, rubbing the flesh of his fingers. I blinked, and he blurred more.
But he wasn't the only thing that blurred. It was hard to recall what happened just now. Something about…about…
About…
What was it about again?
Why didn't I know?
What was I thinking about?
…Vampires.
"Ah! NO!" My voice was alien to me, a second person's voice. Not my own. My fingers, brushing Kaname's, turned vicious, and I dug my nails into his fingers. "Stop!"
I shook my head.
His brows knitted together in slight frustration; he held my face tighter.
The world blurred again. The intrusion was no longer gentle but fierce. Everything began to slip away faster now.
"No!" My voice faltered weakly, but my panic strengthened me. With a scream I forced both hands against his chest; he let go almost instantly. I didn't look back when I ran passed him, but I could hear Yuuki's footsteps and him telling her to stop. Then I was alone.
The darkness welcomed me when I swerved out of town and up into the greenery. It invited me as I pushed into the closest forest, passing trees and breaking dried twigs on the forest floor beneath my feet. It welcomed me when I fell, smashing the front of myself against the ground. And it welcomed me when I breathed it in, hyperventilating, crying.
Vampires, my brain told me.
Vampires.
Vampires.
Vampires.
I was scared of Vampires.
…Vampires existed.
And then I met darkness.
A/N: This must be the longest time i've gone without updating. Hmmmm. Well, my friend came over with a new game, and we got caught up in it non-stop for a few days. Teehee.