A/N: Will make this short because I've kept you waiting for months and I didn't mean to I'msosorrytimegetsawayfromme. Enjoy, see you at the end of the chapter. (Quote from "S.O.S. (Anything but Love)" by Apocalyptica ft Cristina Scabbia. Chapter title inspired by same song.)

Bound to your side I'm trapped in silence
Just a possession

x

Chapter 10: SCARE ME

Only when they stepped through the doors did the full wrongness of this situation fully hit Zero.

He was working, in collaboration, with Kaname. He was letting other people think that he was something equivalent to Kaname Kuran's sex slave. He was a puppy, trailing blindly after Kaname, who had a plan in motion, in which Zero was most likely just an expendable piece.

He did not know how he was going to get through this night even long enough to get away from him.

Two things gave him slight comfort. After tonight, if they had not rescued Yuuki, they would be a step closer to finding her. And also, after this night was over, he hoped it would be made obvious what he and Kaname really were.

What they really were. The thought brought Zero up short for a second. What they really were.

What is that, exactly?

At any rate, he'd do his damn best to get the image of him as Kaname's sex slave out of people's imaginations.

Zero brought himself back to his current surroundings, wondering if he had missed anything important. Fortunately, the two vampires still seemed to be exchanging pleasantries.

"It has been some time," Kaname was saying in a low, polite voice as they walked down a cool entrance hall, approaching the grand staircase. Zero glanced around surreptitiously. There were several doors on either side of them, each exactly opposite to each other. There were two halls, both on different sides of the staircase, each going further into the palace. His view got cut off when he put his foot on the first step of the stairs.

"Yes, indeed. How is my great nephew doing?" The man leading them had light, shoulder length hair and a small scar near his right eyebrow.

"He is well, presently. But I think you have been seeing more of him than myself."

Zero furrowed his brow as he listened. He wasn't sure who this man was, only that he was Senri Shiki's great uncle, supposedly, and therefore, distantly related to Kaname. The politeness between him and Kaname was visibly fake. But the man didn't choose to respond to Kaname's suggestion, instead, quickly changing the subject. "The main gathering is just up here. Do you require a collar for him?"

It felt like a rubber band had snapped inside Zero's head. A—

Kaname sounded darkly amused. "I don't need a collar to keep him chained to me, but thank you."

That bastard, Zero thought viciously, briefly clenching his fingers into hard fists. That fucking bastard. I'm going to kill him.

Kaname had his own plan, did he? Zero was almost looking forward to completely fucking it up.

He just had to get away. The thought of doing this made their entrance into the ballroom, just past the top of the grand staircase, more bearable. Every vampire in the room, though not as many as he had expected there to be, turned to stare at Kaname Kuran, dragging (at least not literally) his new pet in tow. Zero couldn't help feeling awkward, for several reasons. Everyone in this room was their enemy, he and Kaname were aware of it, and they were aware of the fact that Kaname did not trust them.

He was also here as Kaname's pet.

The situation was so wrong. Zero felt worse and worse about it with every passing moment, but he reminded himself that he wasn't going to fall into doing whatever Kaname wanted so easily.

It was uncomfortable, having to follow Kaname into the room. He was so used to standing around the perimeter, observing. He didn't interact.

Zero blinked, realizing that everyone in the room had sunken into a low bow, in homage to the pureblood. Zero hid a scowl, staying exactly as he was. Fortunately for his precious image, this didn't seem to be odd behavior. The stares he was getting didn't seem horrified or dismayed—they were, as Kaname promised they were going to be, curious and intrigued.

Kaname looked over his shoulder at Zero, graced him with a small smirk, and made to walk forward.

"Kaname," Zero hissed, eyes darting around at the quickly approaching figures. One man was already a mere five yards away, calling out a warm "Kaname-sama!"

Kaname tilted his head, smiling politely at the man and completely ignoring Zero. Zero fought to urge to kick him in the back of the knee. Instead, he looked down, saying a silent thank you that his bangs were long enough to hide his eyes from view so he could look around the room freely.

It was fairly small, and that was just as well, for there were only about forty to fifty people there. Zero was pretty certain that not everyone here was aware of the exact reason why Kaname was here, though that didn't lessen his dislike or contempt for them. To be friendly enough with whoever Rido was as to merit an invitation, put them in his bad book.

"Ah, it is a pleasure," the man said, and Zero glanced at him through his eyelashes. He was bowing politely, but when he straightened, his eyes were on Zero. Zero subtly watched the man glance at Kaname, then gesture at Zero. "May I?"

May I? Zero thought, his pulse skipping a beat. What the hell did that mean?

Kaname barely glanced back at Zero, but his voice held a threat of warning. "Careful."

The man hesitated, then stepped forward, reached out, and took Zero's chin in his hand. Taking Kaname's word to heart, he carefully forced Zero's head up.

The second the vampire's fingers touched his skin, every fiber in Zero's being screamed for him to reach out, grab the beast's wrist, flip him onto the ground, and make it violently clear to him that if ever touched Zero again, the last thing he'd see would be a bullet going in between his eyes.

Careful.

As much as he wanted to, he knew he'd have a time trying to get out of the room and accomplish anything if he attacked the man.

"He's quite lovely," the man murmured, lightly pushing against Zero's chin so his face turned, showing the man his profile.

"Thank you," Kaname replied. "But that's enough."

The man's fingers slid off of his face. Zero kept his eyes trained on the ground, vaguely wondering if the certain spot he was glaring at would burst into flame if he stared at it for too long.

The vampire and Kaname talked idly for another minute, about what, Zero couldn't say. He was too focused on trying to calm down.

Soon, a whole slew of vampires crowded in on the pureblood. If another one of them touched him like he was some sort of trained dog, Zero might have to kill them.

The third one to talk to Kaname was a woman, and she directed the conversation's topic towards Zero. She made a subtle hint at desiring to inspect him.

"I'd prefer him remain primarily untouched, save for myself," Kaname said softly to the woman.

She giggled a little. Zero was completely disgusted at this point, and it had barely been half an hour.

The crowd finally left Kaname alone. Before they came back, or another group charged them, Zero stepped closer to Kaname and repeated his name in a hiss.

Kaname turned his head. He put his finger on Zero's lips. "Zero-chan, behave yourself."

I'm going to put a bullet in his skull.

"I have to fucking piss," Zero snapped, moving his head to the side to knock Kaname's finger off of his mouth.

Kaname's expression didn't change, though Zero was sure the pureblood wasn't happy about Zero's blatant disrespect in public.

Kaname turned his head, and Zero realized he was about to be ignored for another thirty minutes when he caught sight of another small group of vampires, sure to grow larger, walking towards them.

"Tch," Zero muttered. He made to turn and go, without Kaname's permission or not.

He'd barely moved, maybe shifted his shoulder back a couple of inches, but Kaname was suddenly directly in front him, one hand on his left jaw, gently cupping his face, forcing his head up.

Kaname leaned forward, speaking softly. Their lips brushed as he murmured, "I'm thirsty. Go wait for me in the room at the end of the hall, on the right."

Zero was momentarily shocked, but he quickly recovered, turning on his heel and walking out of the room with his head lowered.

Son of a bitch. I got you, didn't I? Zero thought smugly. Kaname would do anything to avoid looking suspicious, so instead of letting Zero suddenly leave his side in a supposed act of defiance, he gave everyone in the room the idea that Kaname had told Zero to leave so that he could come by soon to—

Drink my blood.

Zero's insides clenched, and he swallowed back bile, giving his head a small shake as he left the room. The thick door shut with a hollow thud behind him.

He looked around. The castle was empty. No guards, no nothing.

I'm going to find Yuuki my way, Kuran.

Zero gave the door to the right a dirty look, then took off down the grand staircase.

x

It was a good thing Zero had tried his best to dull his vampire hunter senses in the car. If he hadn't, he wasn't sure that he could have held back in killing that one man who had touched his face.

Kaname was the only one who—

What the hell are you thinking? Zero growled to himself. No one can do that.

He put his hand in his jacket, his fingers grasping at nothing. Damn. I never should have let him talk me into going without the Bloody Rose.

He'd have to make do.

There was no guard, no butler, no nothing by the front door, or anywhere downstairs. Zero quickly stepped off of the staircase and leaned against the side of it, scanning the room. There were plenty of doors, as he had noted before. He stepped away from the stairs and turned around. He was a little startled to see a door behind the staircase It seemed to be parallel to the doors upstairs that led into the ballroom, where everyone was.

He walked towards it, grimacing at the sharp clack his shoes made against the gleaming stone floor. He paused, considered for a moment, then ripped them off of his feet, tying the laces of each shoe together and tossing them over his shoulder. His steps from then on were gratifyingly silent, and quick as well. Kaname was going to figure out very soon that he wasn't going to some stupid blood feeding room or the bathroom, or wherever, if he hadn't already.

Zero stopped by the edge of the door, placing his hand on it as he listened very hard. He sensed nothing on the other side, could hear nothing.

He gripped the handle and pulled it open.

The draft of cold air that hit him was mildly surprising. After a second of assessing that there was nothing immediately over the threshold, he stepped through the doorway, quickly shutting the door behind him.

He was grudgingly grateful that seeing in the dark was no longer a problem for him, because if it had been, he would be at a huge disadvantage right now.

A human would have been lucky to look down and see their feet. Likely, they would have taken one step forward and broken their neck.

There were stairs, going past a point even Zero's eye could see, probably leading to far underneath the castle. Zero figured that if Yuuki was here, she was either at the end of these stairs or somewhere completely opposite, probably in one of the turrets.

If that was the case, it would probably be almost impossible to keep looking without running into Kaname.

Arrogant asshole has probably figured it out by now, Zero thought as he walked down the stairs, keeping all his senses on the alert.

So then, he'd better keep moving.

x

Kaname had tried twice to leave the room, but the leeches kept coming and coming, and to keep up appearances, he had to politely sate their desire to have tedious, pointless, conversations.

Finally, he made a crude allusion towards what was waiting for him outside the room, and he was let go with sickening laughs.

His great uncle stopped him right at the door. "I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

Kaname lifted his chin and stared at him levelly. This man, out of everyone in the room here, was the most aware of where Yuuki was.

"Thank you," he simply said, then stepped out of the room.

The door hadn't finished shutting behind him by the time he was halfway down the stairs. He had no illusions about what Zero was doing, or what the boy thought he was doing.

He certainly didn't have to go to the bathroom, that much Kaname had known from the start. Really, hadn't expected Zero to listen to him in the slightest.

Kaname stopped at the bottom of the stairs and closed his eyes.

He turned around. He could feel Zero, but he was—

Original, Kaname thought dryly when he saw the door leading to the basement behind the stairs. He paused, only for a moment, then began to stride back up the stairs. He pushed back his reluctance. Zero was going the wrong way, that much he knew, but he would have to go back for him later.

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden, pained shriek that echoed violently in his mind. His pace increased tenfold.

Yuuki.

x

Zero had been walking for about ten minutes now without any sort of disturbance. He frowned as he walked deeper underground, picking up the pace. When the hell was it going to end? And where was Kaname?

Zero glanced over his shoulder, but there was no sign of the pureblood, no feeling, nothing.

Suddenly, Zero's feet were on level ground. He stumbled violently, nearly falling flat on his face but fortunately stopping the fall by pressing a hand against the rough stone wall. That had been unexpected.

He straightened up, eyes narrowing as he scanned the room. The stairs ended in the middle of it, it being a decently sized, but not ridiculously large, bare stone room.

Bare, except for one thing; it sat directly in front of Zero. A stone coffin, connected to the ground. A funnel hung from the ceiling, dripping blood into it, making Zero's teeth ache painfully.

What the hell was this? Zero felt a cold rush of fear, suddenly hoping with all of his might that Yuuki was not here, because if she was, there was only one place for her to be.

He steeled a quiet breath, then walked steadily over to the coffin, not stopping until he was right next to it.

Blood was curling up toward the edges of the black rectangle, which, on close inspection, didn't seem to be like any other coffin he had seen before. Zero couldn't see a bottom of any sort—it seemed to be an endless pit. He glanced at the funnel, dripping blood. He swallowed his thirst as he frowned. What—

"Kiryuu?"

Zero whirled around. Senri Shiki was stepping out from behind the stairs Zero had come down, looking just as confused and surprised as Zero was.

"What's going on?" they both asked, Zero's voice admittedly more gruffer and demanding than Senri's.

Senri glanced at what was behind Zero. His eyes widened, and he had only managed to say, "Hey, Kir—" when Zero slumped to the floor, completely blacking out.

A blood tendril crept back into the confines of the rectangular hole, and a low voice murmured, "Senri."

x

The door in front of Kaname led outside, to the top of the castle's tallest turret, resting in the middle of the building.

It shattered as Kaname took a step toward it; his shoes pressed down on the splinters as he stepped through the doorway, cracking a good few into even smaller pieces.

There were about fifteen hunters standing in a circle, alert and watchful, eyes fast on Kaname.

Yuuki was slumped on the floor in the center of the circle, unconscious.

Kaname's eyes snapped from her still form to the hunter who stepped out from the circle, closer to the pureblood.

"Kuran," the hunter said. His voice was a low growl, and he, like all of the hunters around him, wore a dark hat pulled low on his forehead and a black scarf wrapped up to the edge of his nose. All Kaname could see were dark, brown eyes.

"Would you care to tell me the meaning of kidnapping an innocent girl?" Kaname asked quietly, his voice deceivingly calm.

"She is far from innocent," the hunter said to Kaname.

Kaname's eyes glinted. Of course, they would say that, if their goal was to exterminate all the purebloods.

What stupid, stupid fools. Kaname was certain half the reason Rido was working with these idiots was to simply annoy him.

He turned around, eyes lighting on a small boy who had just appeared in the doorway. Speak of the devil.

The little boy smiled, his blue and red eyes each lighting up in turn. "Kaname, did you like this little game? I thought it would be interesting to see what you would do if I took her."

Kaname turned back to the hunters. He lifted a hand, swiping it almost gently across his body. Simultaneously, each of the hunters bodies seemed melt, fold in on themselves, and disappear.

He'd kill them a thousand times over for touching Yuuki.

The little boy giggled, watching calmly as Kaname walked over to Yuuki and gathered her up in his arms.

"You know I had them knock her out," he taunted. "They told her to try and remember. She didn't react very well."

Kaname's muscles tightened. The little voice continued, "She screamed, started clutching at her head. She was probably hallucinating. They did her a favor by putting her out."

A fissure appeared in the stone at their feat.

"Was that the entire point of this, Uncle?" Kaname murmured. "Simply to provoke me into a reaction?"

Rido laughed, skipping a little as he stepped forward out of the doorway. "I thought it would be interesting to see what you'd do. I didn't think you'd bring your pet. But that was a surprise from the beginning." Rido chuckled, the sound coming out of the boy's mouth as a low giggle. "I told Shizuka about her, you know." Rido smiled at him. "And after I had her lover killed, that's when she told you that she was going to get her hands on the princess."

Kaname's eyes were unreadable as he watched Rido speak.

"She hated me. She was willing to do anything to kill me," Rido said slowly, tauntingly.

"She tried."

Rido's smile was wicked. "She lured you out with the fake threat of hurting your princess. Just the slightest threat to her life will get you moving..." The little boy's hands gestured toward Yuuki in his arms. "This girl was always a weakness for you. Shizuka exploited that, and hoped to kill you and have your power."

"I think that body has gotten the best of you. Let's move past storytime."

Rido smiled at him. "Even with her own revenge giving her power, she stood no chance against you. You won out over her and even got a toy to play with. He must be a lot of fun. But why did you bring the boy here?"

Kaname didn't miss a beat. "I couldn't have you tampering with it."

Rido smiled, the expression angelic and cute on the young boy's face. "Oh. Were we not allowed to touch him?"

He turned, bounding away down the spiral staircase. Kaname's heart beat hard, once, against his chest. Zero. He had to get to him. Kaname's blood was inside Zero, and although it was too indirect to resurrect him, Rido would surely have fun with such an opportunity.

This is why he never should have left my sight. He is a stupid, stubborn mule.

He looked down at Yuuki, sleeping in his arms. She appeared unscathed. The hunters had probably cast some sort of charm on her to put her into a deep sleep.

He held back a frustrated grunt. Damn.

A small breath escaped his lips, and with it, a flurry of soft, black bats seemed to melt out of his jacket. He let go of his grip on Yuuki, watching as the bats covered her body, flapping their (his) wings quickly to stay aloft. Soon, none of Yuuki could be seen, and the bats converged, disappearing.

Cross would take of her. Kaname didn't have any time to lose.

His head suddenly throbbed, and he put a hand to it, his brow furrowing in the slightest.

He's moved.

x

Zero felt very sluggish as he came to, his fingers curling against a rough, gravelly stone floor. He opened his eyes, trying to orient himself.

He was no longer in the room with the strange coffin; the room he lay in now was considerably smaller. Oddly, an ornate, plush velvet chair sat a little ways to the right, completely out of place in the dingy space.

Someone was sitting in it. Zero rolled off of his side, catching himself with his hand, grunting when his entire body tingled like it had fallen asleep. His elbow buckled and he had to catch himself with his forearm to avoid smacking his face against the floor.

"You're awake," a familiar voice murmured. Zero blinked, his mind buzzing dully. What was wrong with him? He felt very slow to react, and his thoughts were moving about as fast as molasses.

"I drugged you, in my own way," the voice said. Gravel crunched as the speaker stood, stepping over to where Zero lay. A hand touched his shoulder, turning him over and pulling him into a sitting position.

Zero frowned. "You…?"

There was something wrong with Shiki, but it took Zero too long to place it.

His eyes were two different colors, the left a light piercing blue, the right a bright, scarlet red. Also, Zero did not know the A class vampire very well—they'd maybe spoken once before this evening—but the sly smirk currently residing on the boy's face was wrong—it wasn't Shiki.

"Who're you?" Zero managed to spit out.

Shiki looked pleased with Zero's question. "You're clever, aren't you? My nephew picked a good pet."

Zero's mind was struggling to understand what was being said. "Kaname." Weren't…But if this isn't Shiki…What the hell is going on?

Shiki leaned forward, so close that his nose brushed against Zero's neck. Dimly, Zero realized that the absence of any sort of tie in the wardrobe must have been purposeful for easy access to that part of his body. "Mm. I smell his blood inside you." He grinned against Zero's skin, his hot breath too close to Zero's neck for comfort. He tried shuffling backwards, but Shiki easily followed the minimal movement and tightened his grip on Zero's shoulder to keep him in place.

"Yuuki," Zero mumbled, hoping to delay whatever Shiki was going to do and also get some information as to where she was.

"She's fine. Kaname found her easily, of course. She's safe now."

Zero didn't know how to feel at that news. He wanted to get up, get out of this creature's grip, but his entire body felt numb, and his mind was moving too slowly to properly put up any sort of fight.

"I knew that you would bite her. You should be careful about who you trust back at the school." He paused, nuzzling his nose against Zero's skin, inhaling deeply. When Zero proved himself incapable or unwilling to answer, he continued speaking. "I'm surprised he didn't rip you apart for biting his precious girl. But then again, there are the facts that you are his pet and I trust he plans on putting you to good use."

Use?

"No," was all Zero could manage.

"I'm afraid so," Shiki murmured. "He doesn't care for you. And you don't know anything about him."

Zero meant that no one was going to be using him, and he didn't have any illusions about Kaname nor did he care about this guy's rambling. But he didn't have enough energy to put that into words.

He felt something sharp press against his neck, and then, there was a crash. Shiki was ripped from Zero's side. Without the hand holding him up, Zero began to fall back, but before he could hit the ground, he hit something soft and warm.

"Rather violent," he heard Shiki's voice say from somewhere behind him.

"I told you that I do not want him being tampered with."

Kaname.

Zero blinked, narrowing his eyes as he tried to clear his vision, blurry from all the sudden movement. He saw Shiki straightening up, turning to smirk at Kaname, who had pulled Zero into a standing position and was holding the hunter against him.

"I have some things I want to attend to, so I won't be at the school right away. I trust you will be prepared when I do come."

Zero was pressed against Kaname's body, so he figured that was the only reason he felt the momentary tensing of his muscles.

"You can do nothing without me," Kaname said, and then he turned, walking through a doorway in which the door was spontaneously missing.

Ah. They had been in a small closet behind the stairs that led to the basement.

He blacked out again, giving into the sensation that had been pulling at his brain since he opened his eyes ten minutes ago.

A/N: First off, the great uncle is...Shiki's great uncle, the one that he greets way earlier in the manga right before Rido takes over him, if I am remembering right. I'm not actually sure if there is a small scar by his eye or if that was just a random drawing line or wrinkle (I am no artist) but I just decided to make it a scar. I'm also not quite sure how directly he is related to Kaname, so please just don't worry about the minor details D:This is a written for fun /serious (tehe) story. Relaxx *tries to tell herself this*
So yes, this chapter, Rido had some fun with Zero and Kaname, and we finally get the short version of why Kaname went out to the Kiryuu's house "that winter night." This will be touched on in more detail in a few chapters or so, so hopefully any confusion will be cleared up then.

I have read this chapter over and over AND OVER again and I can't do it anymore... dlfkjas mistakes, die.

Reviews are really so greatly appreciated, they keep me going! Thank you so much. (BTW...That Kaname/Zero action in chapter 82.. omnononomYES. I made a poll about it and thought it was public for like a month...and just realized it wasn't. But now it is, so go vote for the fun of it!:D)

And for you pervs that are mostly in this for the hardcore smut (because I know I would be...) Just wait. It's coming. Or should I say cumming. Feel free to read my other fics while you wait, they are smutcity. Woot.