Enjoy this chapter. It's a longer one too!

The looks of anger on Sora's face was horrible. It gets worse when Mika pulls her backward where she is a few steps behind him. She tries to take a step forward, but Mika jerks on her shirt halting her movements. She looks up at him trying to gauge his reaction. She can only see a small portion of his face. It's not enough to even figure out what he is thinking. She hears a growl of pure frustration and looks toward Sora.

His fists are balled up, and his whole body is tense as his glare is on Mika once again.

"Release her at once!" He didn't seem to care that he was shouting at such a late hour. She flinches as it echoes down the street. It would draw attention. The humans would see Mika and not interfere, but the vampires might.

"Sora, please calm d-"

"Shut up, Atsuko!" His angry glare focuses on her once again before they flick back to Mika. He takes a few steps toward him. "I asked you before what you wanted with her! Why are you here with her?! Why are you following her again?!"

Her mind goes blank. Again? What does Sora mean? This was the first time Mika had been with her when he followed her home. Her eyes drift up at to Mika as she tries to comprehend what Sora had said. Mika doesn't answer he just continues to stare at Sora as he advances closer. Sora's snarl breaks her thoughts, and she looks back at him. He couldn't seriously be considering attacking Mika could he? He wouldn't stand a chance. She tries to lunge toward Sora to stop him from reaching Mika. She had to get between them. She'd protect Sora from Mika if she had to.

"I said to let her go," Sora angrily shouts as Mika once again pulls her back by her shirt. Her own anger flairs at being trapped. She needed to stop this before it got out of hand. She had to protect Sora.

Sora turns his angry gaze to her, and she can see a flicker of betrayal on his face. "How could you? How could you sell your blood to this leech? You just needed to ask for help! Do you even trust us?! Huh?"

She's stunned as tears well up. She thrashes in Mika's grip, though he doesn't let go. "I trust you, Sora! I love you guys! I'm not selling my blood! I promise!"

She lets out a choked sob as she gives up momentarily. She could barely see through the tears. She tries to focus on Sora's blurry shape and plows into everything she wanted to tell him before he could even say anything.

"I was approached by a noble. I thought he wanted blood, but he didn't! He wanted me to play with one of his servants! I thought that it was maybe a child. I should have known when he said they were my age. I should… I didn't think it through. He said he'd get you guys food, good food. I just wanted you to not have to do anything. I wanted to take care of you! I shouldn't have, I know now. I'm trapped." She sags leaning on the nearest thing for support which happens to be Mika. She didn't care how it looked or what he thought as she lets out another sob fighting to keep her voice. "I can't escape. The noble told me that if I didn't do what he wanted than he'd kill you guys! I don't want to risk it."

"What does he want you to do?" It was Mika asking this. His voice was soft, softer than she's ever heard and that makes it worse. The thought of what Ferid wants to do makes her feel weak all over again. She finds herself unable to even speak. She barely registers that her shirt has been released as she feels arms around her holding her tightly and shaking. She doesn't care who it is. She feels so overwhelmed by everything that she just buries her face into the person's shoulder and collapses against them. She can hear them talking. She didn't care to listen, but she did. The words just have her pressing closer to the person comforting her.

"You haven't drank her blood, but you looked like you were going to. You reached out to. I've seen that hungry look before. You are just using her to get her blood. You would have bled her dry and left her in the streets. You leeches don't care about us. We are nothing to you," Sora says. She hears his voice close so she assumes it's him holding her. It's silent for a while, and she feels the arms constrict making it hard for her to breathe, but she doesn't fight it. She doesn't want him to let go. "Get away from us! Stay away from us, leech! She isn't safe around her! I don't trust you and neither will she!"

It's silent for a while after that only broken by the noise of her crying. Once she finally gets herself together, she finds that it is indeed Sora who is holding her. She pulls away gently and looks around. There is no trace of Mika at all. Sora pulls on her and tries to get her to stand. She finally gives in and follows him the rest of the way home. They find themselves sitting outside on the steps. She's hugging her knees. It was clear that Sora wanted her to talk, but he was going to give her time. She finally gives in and explains everything with as much detail as she can. He just sits beside her silently glaring at the street. She ends with, "the noble wants me to get Mika to drink my blood. I don't know why, but he says I have a year to do it. Mika says he doesn't have any interest in blood, and he's ne-"

"He has," Sora states bluntly and finally turns to look at her. His teal eyes full of worry. "He was going to tonight. I couldn't stand that look he was giving you. You were so out of it that I thought he already had. It scared me. I don't want you to ever give your blood up to them like that. It's one thing to do it at the bank."

He looks down at his hands and falls silent. She's stunned. Mika was going to attack her? How could that be? They had spent hours together, and he never even indicated that he was going to. It hurt. She felt betrayed.

She had trusted him. Was he the same as all the others?

No, she didn't want to think so. She wraps her arms around her stomach and starts to rock herself. They fall into silence for a short time. Sora suddenly reaches over and puts his hand on her shoulder. He has a gentle look on his face making him look older than he was. "So that purple haired one has nothing to do with you right?"

She shakes her head not trusting her voice.

"Good," he nods and then lets out a sigh. "That blonde one…. This is the second time I have seen him. He was watching you and Izumo with a strange look on his face. I assumed he was after you because you've been so weird lately. I confronted him, and h-"

"Sora! How could you do that? Do you know how dangerous that is?" she tries to keep her voice down, but she finds herself raising her voice as she cuffs him over the back of his head. He grunts and glares at her.

"Shut up and listen, dumbass!" he snaps at her ignoring the disapproving look on her face at the name. "I confronted him, but he wouldn't answer me. I knew something was wrong. I wanted to approach you, but you seemed distant and always gone. I never knew when you came home."

She watches him sadly and then looks away from him at the ground. They lapse into silence for a few minutes before she kicks at the ground. "I'm sorry. I should have been upfront about it, but I was afraid of what you would if you found out what was going on. I tried to come up with a plan to protect you from him. I hate that noble. He…. He is so creepy. The only one who treats me nicely is Mika."

Sora snorts, and she shoots him an irritated glance that he shrugs off. He just focuses on the ground before him again thoughtfully. She decides to continue, "I didn't mean to hurt you or lie to you. I just didn't want you caught up, but you are. I've put everyone in danger. I just…."

What did she want to say? She stares at the ground as if it will give an answer to her. A hand closes over her wrist and pulls. She looks up startled at Sora. He gives her an excited look and drags her into the house. Izumo is still sitting up. He gives Atsuko a wide eyed look, and she realizes in horror that he had likely heard everything that had happened. Sora seems to ignore this fact as he pulls her to the kitchen pulling out every single knife they own and throwing them on table.

"Sora! The kids are sleeping," she hisses at him looking at the shifting lumps. Izumo moves to her side and slides a hand into hers. She looks down at him and gives him a reassuring squeeze. He smiles a little and leans into her side as she looks back at Sora, who is masterfully sorting the knives according to size. "What are you doing?"

"We can leave," Sora mutters as he focuses on the task. It makes Atsuko stiffen at the thought. Had Sora thought of the same escape plan as her? It couldn't be. Finally, he pauses and looks up at her. She slowly shakes her head.

"We can't. We have no idea what we are doing. We don't know where we are going. It's too dangerous, we will need a sure path and time to th-"

"We've already done that," Izumo whispers. Her eyes snap down to him. He looks away from her and presses into her harder. She couldn't believe it. "You weren't around to see it. I don't blame you though. We wanted to help. We wanted to save you from them."

"Sora," Atusko says softly and looks up at him with a hard look. "Do you even know what you are doing?"

He nods and puts his hands on the table leaning over toward her. His eyes become bright with determination. "I found an easy path. A kid a couple streets showed it to me. It's like the sewer. It has to lead outside or at least away from here. Izumo scoped out the entrance. It isn't far from here. We have weapons."

"Those are not weapons, Sora, they are kitchen knives," Atsuko deadpans. She silently looks over the knives thinking it through. "Don't they patrol that area?"

"No, I went there at night. It seems they don't think we'll try to escape. They believe us to be broken. The city guards don't even really guard the city. They wander around at night and torture those who are caught outside their houses. They are more for what is outside. Or what they tell us is outside," Sora says as he goes back to sorting the knives. "We have it figured out. We were going to wait a little longer, but the kid told me that they were planning on putting a heavy grate over the entrance to the sewer. We have to do this now."

He looks up at her and adds, "there has to be other humans out there. There has to be. We do this, and we are free. No more giving blood, no more nobles. Nothing. Izumo and I have run the route several times to commit it to memory. We have thought of everything. Nothing can go wrong. Vampires are too proud to go down into the sewers, and the smell should cover up our scent. It's a maze down there. Izumo has run through it several times during the day. He says it's huge. They can't track us. We found the easiest closest exit. We will make it in a half an hour tops."

She stares at him then looks down at Izumo. Both are staring at her expectantly, like they wanted her to make the final choice. She runs through everything Sora has said. Izumo had a knack for remembering things. She felt she could trust his judgement. Slowly, she nods.

"Tonight?"

Sora nods. "Right now."

She bites her bottom lip. She still couldn't find any holes in their plan. Maybe it was the exhaustion. Maybe it was emotional distress. She finds herself look from Izumo and Sora to the little ones. They couldn't stay here. She didn't want them to. She feels the tension build up in her body. It was all happening faster than she thought possible.

"Fine, right now." She tugs on Izumo. He releases her. They both go and wake up as many as they could. She ends up carrying the youngest one as Izumo and Sora pack themselves with knives. Sora adds a couple to the folds of her clothing just because.

Then it is time. It all happens in a blur. Izumo leads the way with the little ones fanning around behind him rubbing their eyes and making little kid noises. Her hair stands on end at every shadow. She holds the youngest closer to her chest. It was happening. Her dream of saving her family.

She feels a giddy feeling as they enter the sewer with no problems she glances at Sora, and he grins at her. She can't help but grin back at him. It was all so easy. It made sense. The children did revolt, but they didn't ever try to leave. The vampires likely wouldn't notice a few missing kids anyway. She carefully keeps Mika as far away from her mind as she can. She was hurt that he was like so many others. She didn't want it to interfere with her mood.

There are so many twists and turns in the sewer that she soon feel lost. Izumo never falters though. The suffocating smell had dimmed down some. She wasn't sure if she was just losing her sense of smell or if she could smell fresh air fast approaching.

She guesses it is the latter since Izumo had picked up his pace. The little ones grumble loudly still not awake as they follow after him. Just as they turn the corner, the tunnel opens into a dimly lit room. It makes the hair on her body stand on end. Something was very wrong with this room. Shadows stretched further than they should. Izumo stops just before stepping into the room and looks back.

There is a door at the other end of the room. The room is covered in pipes used for who knows what. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. She passes the youngest one off to Sora and whispers, "Is that the door outside?"

Izumo mutely nods. The room was so creepy it was hard to want to even talk at all. She gently pushes her way to stand beside Izumo. It wasn't far from their location, but something was so off about the room. She couldn't place it. She didn't want to. Something was wrong.

She could feel it. And it honestly scared her. She didn't want the little ones going out into the open space where they would even easier to pick off should something go wrong. She turns to look at Sora. "I am going to go to the door. You are faster than I am. I'll make sure nothing is in the room, and I'll have the door open. Izumo will stay beside the kids here. I want you to ferry them as fast as you can across this room, Sora. I'll be waiting by the door to get them outside as you do. Something doesn't feel right."

Izumo nods as does Sora. They take a few minutes to find a small area that the little kids can hide in. It's not much just an abandoned crate. It'd fit Izumo and the others while they waited. She drags it closer to room, but it is still far enough away that they wouldn't be able to see anything if something went wrong. She helped the kids down inside. It was cramped, and they all complained. Izumo finally got them to settle down by presenting them sweets they had bought with the money Ferid was giving her. She nods to Sora who had switched the youngest for a nine year old. He was holding her hand in his own as she cowered behind him. She could tell they were worried and that scared her even more than the creepy tunnel.

Atusko turns and slowly makes her way back to the room. She pauses trying to find anything. Something to give her the indication that she might be stepping into a trap, but there is nothing. She takes a few steps out into the room freezes and looks around. Nothing. Not even rats.

Warning bells ring in her head, but she couldn't remember if rats were day time creatures or more nocturnal. She continues to slowly make her way across the room. She finally feels the cold door beneath her hand. She slowly turns the handle. It resists. Her heart drops as she throws her weight against the door. It finally caters after the third or fourth attempt. She stumbles forward a little. Fresh air slams into her face, and she can't help but be in awe of it. It's been years since she smelled anything like it. She shakes the thoughts from her head and quickly searches outside for something to hide the kids. Sadly, there is nothing. It makes her heart sink, but she pushes the thought aside. It wouldn't be for long. She turns and steps back into the room giving a signal to Sora to come out.

He makes it half way across the room before she feels something she dreads. A breath on the back of her neck. Sora freezes halfway across and has a knife in his hand as he pulls the little girl close to him. He backs away from Atsuko with wide horrified eyes. She doesn't want to turn. She doesn't want to see who it is. Her eyes close against the tears. Why? Why did fate hate her so much?

"Atsuko," Sora whispers horrified. Her eyes snap open as she sees him looking to his right. A hooded city guard is standing there a cruel grin on his twisted face as he advance around behind Sora cutting his exit to the tunnel off. Sora halts his movements not wanting the girl to get any closer to the vampire. He pulls her in front of him trying to use his larger body to shield her from the vampire's eyes. He glares hatefully at the vampire. Atusko lunges forward wanting to protect them both. An arm wraps around her chest from behind pulling her back into a solid chest as she feels breath on her cheek.

There is a laugh. One she doesn't recognize. It makes her blood run cold. The one behind her must be a city guard as well. She starts to flail. It only makes him laugh louder. Thoughts of her family being in danger fuels her to fight back. She feels his hand come around to grab her chin. He was going to drink from her!

She shifts enough that her teeth are able to sink into his hand. She bites as hard as she can. She doesn't care if she breaks his skin or not. Her body flails as she brings her heel down onto his foot. His glove prevents her from breaking the skin, and the boot protects his foot. He still lets out a hiss of pain.

"Bitch!" His hand is ripped from her mouth. She is spun around and pain explodes over the side of her face. She loses her balance as he hits her. She hits the floor hard. Dark spots cloud her vision as she fights to regain her composure. The vampire had hit her hard. She could taste blood. She'd split her lip. Her tongue throbs painfully. She must have bitten it. She couldn't tell. The whole side of her head was a massive throbbing pain.

She tries to stand up, but she can't. She hears a scream. It came from the girl. Her body hits the floor beside Atsuko. Bile rises up as she drags herself closer fighting the pain in her head. She had to focus! She had to!

'No, please no!'

There is blood around the girl, but she appears to be breathing. Atsuko is afraid to move her. She rubs her hands along the girl. She can feel the wet warmness of blood, but she doesn't feel anything else. Her arms give out beside the girl as she collapses on top of her. She pants for breath. She feels herself slipping a little more before Sora's face flashes before her eyes. She had to save him. She fights the haze lifting herself off the girl. She didn't know if she had hurt the girl worse than she already was.

'Sora, I have to find Sora.' She forces herself to stand. Her head spins at a sickening rate. Her whole world tilts violently to the left. She stumbles that way. She can hears screams and the sound of fighting. Her body tries to give out. It all goes deathly silent. She lets out a cry trying to force her body to where she last heard noise. Her eyes won't focus. All she can see is dark shapes.

"So…ra…." She feels her body giving out. Pain flairs through her chest as she collapses. She expects the pain of the floor, but she doesn't feel it. Her mind is hazy though. Maybe her body had just given up the fight for now. When she comes too, she knows that she will feel it.

"Please." She didn't know who she was pleading to. She just wanted Sora. Wanted to hear his voice. Just as she slips out, she hears a voice at her ear whisper softly.

"You are so stupid." Her world goes black. What had she done?