Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or its characters. I do however own Annabelle Locke.
Chapter Eleven
I awoke in a room not my own.
The walls were white with brown embroidery, the floors wooden. Across from me the windows were dark --indicating that it was night, and the curtains were a dark red on either side of them. There were large oak cabinets with doors of glass, from which behind were possible medical supplies. To the side of me long flowing green leaves cascaded down a white nightstand, tickling my arms with its tips. In the center of it was a large orange flower, full blossomed, with yellow pollen coating its inner petals. There was a note on the side, a small rectangular card with a beautifully scripted signature on it, which I picked up and squinted at.
From Ichijou. Get better.
While it took me that second to understand what the card meant, something in my peripheral vision shifted, and startling me, I dropped the note and it fluttered to the ground.
In a chair beside the white cot I was laying down in was the Chairman, his eyes intent on my face behind his glasses. It took me a moment to find my voice, but when I did, it was hoarse and beaten.
"Where am I?" I mumbled, raising a few fingers to my forehead. It was clammy and hot.
A sound came from the Chairman as he cleared his throat, and then he leaned forward. "You are in the infirmary. The doctor says you have a high fever. Nothing to be completely worried about, but you'll need to rest it off for a few more days."
"The infirmary," I repeated, tiredly intrigued. I took another peek around the room; noted its bright, charming hospital lights. As something dawned on me, I pulled myself up in the bed, expectant for answers. "How long have I been here for, Cross?"
"Two days," He answered simply. "Kiryuu-kun found you in a forest on the outer edges of town. He thought it best that you be brought here right away, and I can see that he was right. You're very ill."
Again I felt for my temperature by putting my fingers to my forehead: hot and sweaty, like I was on fire. But I didn't feel any less sick then I normally did. I just felt exhausted, unnaturally drained. I closed my eyes for a moment, then shook my head. "No, I'm fine." I insisted.
"Even if that is true, I have asked that you stay here for a few more days." The Chairman smiled. It was a tense smile. There was more on his mind then just small chat. "We don't want you walking around with a fever, do we?"
"Of course not." With a sigh, I folded my head into my hands, cradling my face until my palms were burning from the temperature. My right hand throbbed, and I pulled it back to view the neatly, re-wrapped bandages. Something strange entered me then, and I squinted my eyes shut at the unknown feeling. Was it knowledge? Did I forget something vital? It felt like my body was taking on a far heavier weight then usual. "Cross…"
The Chairman looked up from fiddling with the flowers on the side table.
"Chairman…" I began again, "Why was I in a forest?"
His face grew taut, strained, as if he didn't want to hear that question leave my lips. But there was nothing I could do about taking it back --I needed to know the answer because…
Because I couldn't remember why.
I drew my legs up close to my chest, and formed a lock with my arms around my knees. Something I needed to remember was there, inside of me. Why couldn't a pull it back into focus? It was like there was a small barrier between me and that knowledge. I needed to knock it down.
The Chairman had seated himself back in the small, light brown stool when I looked up to gauge his reaction again. He folded his arms across his chest, and his jaw visibly tightened. It was a weird look for him --completely and utterly business-like, and there was a strange seriousness and prodding in his eyes that made me crave that hidden knowledge even more.
The Chairman started out by asking, "Why don't you tell me what you do remember from that night, Annabelle?"
For a moment I concentrated, trying to dig up what I didremember from my mind. I remembered the library with its cold arched stone and weathered doors, and I remembered Susan, her eyes wide and her lips chapped. "Susan." I answered breathlessly. "Susan was lost and I tried to find her. I went to the library and…" My mind pulled a blank. I bit my lip to try and bring back my focus, but after a second nothing came. A whole chunk was just…missing.
"I don't know." I muttered. When the full dawning of that knowledge, or the lack of knowledge, cascaded over me, I reached up and grabbed onto my hair, panicked. "I don't know! I can't remember! But it was…it was…"
Scary.
The Chairman was at my side, rubbing a hand against my arm, trying in a desperate father-like approach to calm me. But I shook him off with a shrug of my shoulders, and turned to bury my head against my knees.
"Why can't I remember?" I croaked. My heart had begun to involuntarily pick up its pace. There was something key I was missing, something that had changed me. I needed that information. Where was it, and why wouldn't it come back to me? Instead I looked to the Chairman for answers --his face was torn between two undistinguishableemotions. "Why can't I remember?" I asked him. "Why is there a…blank spot?"
No, not a blank spot, a temporarily missing spot. I could feel the knowledge tinkering around in my head, but I couldn't grasp it.
The Chairman leaned away from me, his expression guarded. There was something he wasn't telling me, something he knew and didn't want to tell me because, with my assumption, he didn't know if I could handle it. I didn't know if I could handle it. But I needed to know. There was something wrong with this situation, something terribly wrong. Without that memory I would be lost forever.
With my left hand I reached out and grasped his sleeve, yanking him forward so I could get a better look into his eyes. I hadn't noticed until my vision clouded that there was moisture building in my eyes. "What did you do?" I questioned softly, a small undercurrent of panic lancing through my voice. "Why can't I remember? Why? What did you do?"
His face softened, but his lips remained unyielding to form an answer to my question. My voice rose on the verge of hysteria, "What happened!?" I began to shout, forcing my hand to loosen the fabric of his arm and wrench the covers from my body. I was dressed in one of my white nightgowns, but the frantic emotional surge overloaded that small humiliation. "What did you do?!"
My shoes had been taken off, so the white tiles were cold against the soft pads of my feet when I stood up quickly --a little too quickly. My vision twirled like a spinning top and a wave of nausea struck me hard in the stomach, my head pounding. The Chairman was by my side again, grabbing onto my arms to keep me from falling onto my face, but I didn't want him to touch me --I didn't want anyone to touch me-- so I swatted his hands away and shouted. "Don't!"
The Chairman leaned away, dropping his arms, concerned. I sat back on the bed and shook my head until it dropped into the safe comfort of my palms. "Why won't you answer me?" I pressed quietly. "Why won't you tell me what happened. I already know that it was…it was…frightening."
Again he remained silent, and when I looked up there was a pained expression on his face, thoughtful and willing to tell me, but restrained in another sense -- like he didn't know if I should know. But I had to know.
"Ugh!" I threw up my hands and stood again, this time cautious not to send my body into an uproar. The ground twisted regardless, and I stumbled instead of walked around the cot, passing him while I had the thought on my mind. "Fine. If you won't tell me, then I'll ask Susan or Yuukior Zero. I'm sure they'd be able to tell me everything."
"Annabelle, this is a serious matter." The Chairman said.
I stopped and then regarded him coolly. "I know! I can't remember anything and you aren't going to tell me, are you?" My voice cracked as I took in a deep breath, "And I know that it was something important! Chairman Cross, I know it!"
He went silent, and then broke into a large grin that startled me. "Let's go out for dinner and sit around a nice table and talk about it, okay? What restaurant would you like to go to?"
"Stop that," I ordered, unable to take his humour realistically. He was just trying to change the subject. "Like you said, this is serious, right?"
He calmed instantly. "Yes, this is serious."
"Then I'm going to get answers one way or another. Now!" I squared my shoulders to try and make myself look determined, but the fire that passed through me made me stagger, and I ended up hunched and grasping onto the metallic pole lining the hospital bed. I raised my hand bitterly to stop the Chairman from stepping over and bombarding me with worries. Being ill was such a pain. "Alright," I huffed, "So I'm not exactly up for the full-powered search."
"Lay down then Annabelle and get some much deserved rest," The Chairman gestured to the bed. "We will speak of this later."
"No, we won't." I shook my head, and raised my chin stubbornly. "I didn't mean that I wasn't going to bother, I'll just have to take it slower." I decided to elaborate again, "Chairman, if I'm not going to get answers from you as to why I can't remember…then I'm going to find them out for myself."
I pushed off the railing, turned my back, and ran to the door. But something tall was blocking the only exit and I nonchalantly bumped into it. My head spun when I pulled away, a sweet perfume rushed into my nostrils and made me double over more. Instinctively I grabbed onto the sleeves of two long arms, and bowed my head to stop the twirling.
"What the hell…" I finally fumed quietly, closing my eyes --the smell was getting to my head-- and pushed back against the body.
And froze.
It should have been obvious who it was with the lack of heat, and the feelings that surged through me when that being was around. But the dizziness that struck me when my eyes met that of an emotionless Kanamewas terrifyingly strange, and I wobbled back until I was re-bracing myself against the metallic rail.
Something seemed to click when I examined the face; the black pits that were his eyes, the smooth pale skin, like porcelain, the perfect hair and the full sensual mouth from which behind were--
"Kaname-kun," The Chairman's brows rose. "What are you doing here at a time like this? The night class--"
"They're fine." He replied tonelessly. "I actually came to check on the girl, Annabelle. I see she is awake. How are you feeling?"
My breath caught when his eyes slid back to mine. Something about them was so familiar and scary, like I'd seen them in a different time. I waited for his face to blur and I didn't understand why. I didn't answer his question, but Kaname didn't wait when he saw that my lips had sealed closed, that I was suddenly holding back a splurge of emotions. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
"How much does she remember?" He directed this question to the Chairman as if I had suddenly disappeared.
The Chairman shrugged and glanced at me from behind his glasses. "I'm sure it will come in due time, Kaname-kun."
Kanamenodded, twisted his head so that his eyes read mine for a single second before returning. "Are you willing to trust that secret in another person's hands?"
"What secret?" I cut in quickly, not feeling that being left out of a conversation with me as its main focus was fair. "Are you talking about the other night?"
Taking a seat, Chairman Cross rubbed a hand against his chin, thoughtfully. I whirled on Kaname instead. "Does this mean that you're in on it too? That you know what happened? Because if you do, by all means, tell me!" My hands fisted; I could feel the digging of my finger nails against my sprained hand and winced. But chose to ignore the otherwise perfect 'ow' comment. Instead I became annoyed. "What is wrong with the both of you? Why won't you tell me?" My voice lowered dangerously, and it quivered again. "Why didn't you tell me he," I gestured to the tall, perfect male, "that he was…"
And then I stopped.
Not because I didn't know what the end of that sentence was, but because I did know. Because my tongue swelled inside my mouth and a lump formed in my throat, just as a wave of fever heat rushed through me and knocked me off balance. I stumbled, unable to breathe, grasping the metal rail with both hands instead of one.
"Annabelle!" A shift and screeching of something against the floor indicated that the chairman had stood up quickly, forcing his chair a few feet back.
The memories hit me one after another, like a tidal wave breaking through the ocean and crashing to shore. I sucked in a breath, watching as my mind retold what it had forgotten, grasping at the floating bits of knowledge and forcing them back together. In a line, slow and painful, I saw it. I saw him, them. I saw Susan, frightened and tied up, I saw the librarian, cold and menacingly hovering above me in a lean, hungry way. I saw his teeth, I saw his blood-red eyes. I saw the desire flaring in his blood as he desired my blood. And I remembered the vampire book I had taken out. And that one word hit me the hardest, like a swift, strong punch to the gut.
Vampire…
I gasped and my knees buckled below me, forcing me to slid slowly to the ground as the realization showered through me one current after another.
Vampires.
Vampires.
Vampires.
How could I have forgotten? How could that thing, that creature, escape my memory even for a moment?
Gasping, I brought my eyes up from the ground, everything shifting dizzily with it, spinning. "Vampires…" I breathed, hardly even able to voice it, hardly able to think it. "You…" I looked at Kaname's tall, lean figure. "You're…you too?"
I felt like I was floating on air, but that that air was as thick and heavy as a hundred pound weight, and it made me fall. Gravity was pushing me so far down that I didn't even know if I could resurface. Vampires? No, it couldn't be. The librarian couldn't be. It was a nightmare, right? Because if it wasn't a nightmare then it was reality, and if it was reality then that meant the whole world was one big lie.
"Annabelle…" The Chairman came up beside me and grasped onto my arms, lifting me easily onto my feet. "Lay down. I think it's time you learned the truth."
"No!" I pushed back, forcing my feet away from him. Stumbling, I returned to my slumped, horror-stricken position against the cot. My breath was shallow in my ears, which rung. "You're not…you can't be…"
"I'm not." The Chairman answered softly.
"A vampire?" The words were alien as they left my lips; a hushed whisper that shocked me with its emotional strain. My eyes clouded, but I wasn't sad --I was terrified. My heart was thundering loudly and painfully in my chest, and incoherently I placed a hand against my chest to calm it. "It had to be a nightmare…why would he…how could he…" My voice failed me, leaving me speechless. A hard lump clogged my throat at the memory of bloodlust fangs.
"Perhaps, Chairman," Kaname said from his place, having not moved an inch from my small melt down, "it would be best if I finished."
My eyes didn't shift from the white comforter in front of my bowed head. Their words were meaningless; everything was meaningless.
"Wouldn't it be best to try and explain the situation?" The Chairman paused, gauging my stunned, paralyzed form. "I'm sure…this would effect anyone as much as this."
"Of course it would. However, the option is there if you wish to choose it." A small sounding breath came from Kaname's lips. "If you wish to trust your work in another person's hands, I cannot stop you."
There was a long silence. One which passed quickly because of my slow, agonizing thought process.
They weren't denying it. Not once had I heard the Chairman say that I was mistaken, that I was wrong to think that fairytale creatures existed. He was as reluctant to shoot down the option as a nightmare as he was to tell me why it wasn't one. And I knew it was because he couldn't. Because if he did tell me everything was alright and I had just been dreaming, then he'd be lying to me.
"Anna," The Chairman's voice was sincere, concerned, and I felt the brush of his hand against my upper arm.
What we both hadn't been expecting was my reaction. Instead of trembling and opening up to that comforting touch, I whirled and struck my hand across his, knocking it back as if it had burned through my skin. Because it had. I had trusted the Chairman since the first day I was sent up there to meet him, and now suddenly it felt like broken glass was falling over my head. He had lied to me. He was lying to everyone.
"Don't touch me!" Trembling, I pulled my hands back from the metal rail and touched them to my burning cheeks. Moisture collected against my fingertips: tears. "You're a liar! You knew what those things were!"
At the word 'those' I gestured a hand violently in Kaname's direction. "You can't deny it, can you!? I knew something was wrong when I first came here! I could feel it! Why, why, why?!"
The rising heat in my body sent my head aching, and I slipped my hands from my cheeks into my hair, grasping my head in two hands.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to tell you sooner. You have to understand that this secret is to stop students from acting like this." Business-like again, the Chairman had begun to bleed everything out to me.
How was I supposed to act? Was I supposed to be happy? Was I supposed to smile and say everything was okay because originally I had found vampires to be interesting? I had found vampires to be interesting in books, only books. In reality things that killed humans --fed from them to sustain their life-- scared me. I rocked back on my heels, found myself sitting down on the bed, wide-eyed, speechless.
The Chairman took my shocked form as an advantage. That or he was simply a blunt person, and that since I knew everything already, there was no need to withhold the information.
"Cross Academy is a school where both vampires and humans live together in harmony," He said seriously, pulling back his stool and sitting down on it. "The Night Class students, as you know, are those vampires."
"Evil vampires…" I whispered, touching two fingers to my hot neck.
"No." The Chairman shook his head. "The Night Class are a group of vampires who are being taught to live in peace with the humans. Evidently we try to reach the young vampires in order to bring peace to the nearby future. That is our goal."
"But nobody knows…" I muttered tonelessly, gazing at the wall over the Chairman's head, not really seeing it.
Because vampires existed. How could they possibly? How could these creatures come from the books to live amongst us. They eat us.
As if hearing that assumption in my head, the Chairman narrowed his eyes and continued, "They don't drink blood. We have managed to find a supplement to sustain their bloodlust."
"But they're vampires…" I looked around the room, noticing the second presence had vanished. Kaname had left. "…vampires exist."
"Yes." The Chairman closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Vampires exist. But Anna, it is a secret that you cannot tell anyone. If the information were to get out--"
"There would be trouble." I filled in quietly.
"Yes." Cross agreed.
I nodded dully, returning my eyes to the small, safe spot on the wall. Then with a deep breath, I pulled myself back onto the bed, remembering the fever I was cooking up in my body, and laid down on the pillow. "I think I need to sleep." I muttered. "I think that if I don't sleep, I'm going to scream at someone."
The Chairman agreed wordlessly, and stood from his chair.
"Because if I don't sleep," I continued, folding my arm across my forehead, feeling the heat burn my flesh, "I'm going to faint."
"Yes. I will get the doctor to have a thorough look at you tomorrow." Chairman Cross pulled the blanket up and over my body, his expression still blatantly concerned. "Are you okay Anna?"
"I'm as okay as I will ever be after finding out that everything on this planet is a lie." I replied flatly, staring at the ceiling. "I just need sleep. I just need to think." Rubbing a hand against me eye, I pulled in a deep, long breath; it was shaky. "If I can't have that I'll…"
"I understand." The tea-colored haired man paused before he turned and left, then he surprised me by rubbing a hand on the top of my head, father-like. "This isn't an easy thing to be told. But I'm sure I can trust you. So please Annabelle, don't tell anyone."
I nodded apathetically.
"We'll speak about this more tomorrow."
A worry compelled me to say more. "Chairman?"
"Yes?" He replied gently.
"What about Susan? Is she okay?"
"She's doing just fine. Now good-night Annabelle."
And then he left. When the last flap of his green shawl vanished behind the closing door, and the lights dimmed until it was dark, I turned my head and gazed out the window. At the moment, I was so lost. Lost because I didn't know what to believe, what to think. Lost because I didn't know who to trust anymore. Lost because I was, in all, placed in a situation that flipped my life upside down, and sent me hurtling to the ground.
What was I going to do?
How was I going to be able to live with this knowledge?
No, a small voice in my head said to me, this isn't real.
But it had to be because I saw it for myself, had everything explained to me briefly.
No, the same voice denied, none of this can be real. It all has to be a lie.
My fingers flexed beside me, bringing in the cots under sheet. Already I could feel the re-thundering in my chest as my heart picked up its panicked beat. How could the Chairman ask if I was alright? How could he think that I'd take this with a certain serenity? He basically told me vampires existed. That the Night Class, they were vampires. I swallowed. That the time the blonde had pinned me against the wall, forcing his breath against my neck, had been an act of vampirism, and at the time I was going to become a meal?
I shuddered.
Hadn't the Chairman told me the Night Class were good vampires?
No, not vampires. They couldn't be. Could they?
No.
No, no, no, no, no!
There was no point in trying to sleep, or even pretending to; I knew darkness wouldn't envelop me like it had the other day, when I hadn't known the truth, so instead I flipped the covers off again and sat up. My head was throbbing, sending me jostling with sickness, and my stomach clenched tightly. But what was I if I couldn't even live through this after I'd just realized that--
No. Everyone is just crazy. I'm the only sane one here.
Yes, that was believable in its own mixed sense. Maybe this was all a joke. A joke my grandmother and the police back home were playing on me to frighten and scare me, to make me realize my mistakes and change. That seemed far more realistic then what I was already shown. That path of knowledge was much easier to cope with too, and I'd feel so much better if I could fully believe it.
But I was torn. Half of me was in thick denial, another processing the possibility that maybe perhaps, even in this world, strange things could happen.
But vampires?
No, not vampires. Never vampires.
Carefully, I stood up from the small infirmary bed and made my way to the door, dipping only when a wave of fever spouted through me. One thing kept pounding on the insides of my mind, over and over again until I had no other choice but to comply. I slipped my hands against the door frame, breathed in until my lungs were strained to the point of exploding, and then opened the door.
Outside was ominously dark, an expanse that swallowed me whole as I shut the door behind me and adventured into the deserted hallway. Small shafts of pearly light came through the few windows on this floor --which ever floor this was. Moving a hand to my head, feeling its pounding, silent objection, I forced my legs to move until I was steadily walking down a set of stairs. As my body heaved with the nausea of fever, I grabbed onto the wooden banister and slowed my pace. Eyes darting from one dark corner to the next, I tried to force together in my aching head where I was and what was the quickest route of here.
Because I was running.
If I stayed here any longer, I didn't think I'd be able to take it. Like I was taught in my neighbourhood back home: run when your life depended on it.
My life depended on it now.
Slowly dragging my hand across the wall to keep me from falling, I bit my lip and narrowed my eyes against the darkness, hoping to find some sort of clue as to which floor I was on. Eventually I stopped at a tall window and looked out of it. I saw the forked road in front of the Academy, but it was a level higher then normal, meaning I was currently on the second floor and needed to go down another set of stairs --something I was not looking forward to. The sky was dark, clouds building up along the moon. Only a few pin pricks of white were visible towards the horizon. It was going to rain --another flaw that dampened my already bitter mood.
When the next set of stairs came into focus, I was all but pleased to drag my heavy laden body down them. But once my feet brushed against the cold, lower floor, I sighed in visible relief. No one had caught me. Even though I was radiating heat from every body part imaginable, no one had noticed and slipped out to follow me. For a second I wondered if it was the weekend and that was why the Night Class weren't popping up one after another to scare me, but then I remembered that the chairman had asked Kanameabout the Night Class an hour ago, and instantly I dispelled that thought. Either the things just didn't care, or they did and just chose to ignore me.
I shuddered as I stumbled to the front door without leverage to keep me from tumbling over, and raised a hand to stroke the fine delicate knob. I was very aware of the pounding in my chest. The thought of being in a place with vampires when I was laying feverishly in the infirmary, weak and vulnerable, shook me to the very soul. There was no other choice then to leave. If I wanted to stay safe, then this was the best bet and way to do so.
I opened the door and welcomed the cold air. Autumn was coming fast by the feel of the small ice chips imbeddedon the wind, and I knew, even if I hadn't seen it before, that this place would look even more superb then it did now in the summer. Autumn was my month. Even though my birthday was in the spring, I'd always had a certain love for the withering and the dying, because I knew that sooner or later more beautiful things would grow in their places. A second passed of me standing still, eyes closed, breathing in deeply the nourishing air that seemed to wash away all the strain of my body, feeling it cool the smouldering heat plastered over my forehead.
Then I got moving.
The path to the Sun Dorm was as expected: deserted. The only thing I encountered were trees on either side of me before I got to the bridge, perched over the mound of fresh water, and passed by it. I wanted to dive into that water if it had a chance of rejuvenating me. I felt parched and burned, dizzy and sick. But I had to suck it up either way, because if I didn't I wouldn't be able to get out of here successfully.
Inside the Sun Dorm it felt absurdly more familiar and welcoming then the Academy, and I walked up the stairs and turned into my hallway with relief clinging to the backs of my shoulders. The rest of my body was, unfortunately, heavily weighed down by a deep worry and fear of leaving, or believing, which ever one. As soon as I opened the door to mine and Kohana'sroom, I quieted instinctively, assuming Kohanawas already asleep. Which she was, indicated by the lump beneath the emerald green comforter. I weaved around the dresser and towards my closet, where I furtively withdrew my suitcase and dufflebag. Once I had finished cleaning out my supposed school bag, I began to empty out my dressers and shoved the clothes into the packs. Then I got dressed in a pair of black pants, red T-shirt and a jean jacket. No way would I leave without my beloved make-up, so after I was done, I slipped into the bathroom and cleaned off my side of the marble counter, returning with a pile of eyeliner, lipstick, blush and foundation.
"What are you doing?"
I froze, and looked up from making space in my suitcase for the cosmetics. Kohana was slightly raised in her bed, rubbing a hand sleepily over one eye and then moving it to the next. She yawned and frowned.
"Anna, I thought you were sick…" Her voice distinctively held the note of fatigue, and I wondered if she was still half asleep. I hadn't yet been bombarded with questions. Perhaps, if she was still slightly in dream land, I could sneak out without warning her of anything suspicious.
"I am sick," I said slowly, careful not to say too much.
"Why are your bags packed?" She yawned again.
"Uhm…" I chewed my lip until I could pull something believable together. "The Chairman asked if I had any clothes I'd like to wear. I'm staying in the infirmary for a few more days --you know, because I have a fever and all. And he just didn't want me to be in the same clothes."
Kohana shut her eyes and made a small sound, like she was agreeing with me vaguely. Then she laid her head back down on the pillow. "Night." She mumbled.
Releasing a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, I stood up extra quietly and slipped the dufflebag over my shoulders, then reached down to haul up my suitcase. "Night," I replied. It sounded more like a goodbye.
I had everything I needed now, so I no longer needed to stay. I opened the door and slipped out, closing it softly behind me. Then I was in darkness. As I made my way down the hall and back down the steps --seemed like I'd been doing a lot of climbing-- I lowered my eyes to the ground and bit my lip, forcing the gears in my mind to work again. For once I wished my brain would shut up and listen to my body, but it's denial and its truth were forcing me to think.
Was this a good idea?
Of course it was a good idea. Leaving was the best thing to do in some strange situation like this. I never once omitted the fact that I was being completely ridiculous. Because of course I was being ridiculous. I was being both ridiculous for leave and believing the Chairman's words. Even though I knew both were right.
So yes, I was doing the right thing.
Outside again with the cold air, I shivered and put down my suitcase to remove a dark blue jean jacket and slip it over my shoulders. Then with one foot in front of the other, my feet as heavy as lead, I began to make my way back over the bridge and towards my safe exit out of here. It was only when I was in front of the Academy again that I took in a deep breath and steadied myself before I fell over. I should have taken a few aspirin because my world was spinning again, my head weighing down the rest of my body.
But if I nearly survived a close encounter with death, then surely living through this was nothing. Pushing forward was for the best. I needed to do this. I needed to rid myself of crazy things like vampires. Cross Academy was just not for me. My leaving would be positively beneficial for it. It had only begun to see real mischief when I was here anyway --the estranged girl who stole a car. I was sure that with my presence gone, this school would heal. So with my head high, my slackened grip on my suitcase re-energized, I turned my heel after giving the Academy one last glance and began my journey home.
But I was stopped by a voice. A voice that made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. "And where are you going?" It said angrily.
"I'm going." I replied bitterly. "As in, going home. I don't think I want to attend this school anymore thank-you. Not after what happened a few nights ago. I'm sure you remember it, don't you, Zero?" Those cold violet eyes met mine in a lock of mutual abhorrence. For a minute we both sat, drowning in our conflicting emotions. Then I brought myself back with a large, heavy breath, and turned my eyes up into the dark heavens above. "Go away. I've already made up my mind. I can't…possibly stay here knowing all that I do."
"So Kuran-senpai decided not to," He muttered, mostly to himself. I didn't want the answer for I didn't have time, so I quieted down the curiosity and questions building inside of me. Zero, returning from his thoughts, narrowed his eyes. "Does the Chairman know about this?"
"Yeah, because I thought the Chairman would approve of me abandoning my education." I replied sarcastically.
His lips pulled back in a half snarl, and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his Sun Dorm uniform jacket. "You're not authorized to be wandering out night. Go back before I make you." He threatened.
For a split second I glared, and then I leaned back and started laughing. "Oh, yeah, like you could. Look, prefect, I'm going to do what I want. So just back off, okay? I don't need this bullshit."
Then I twisted around and started up my pace. Zero's strong hand wrapped around my right wrist and tugged, forcing me back around until I was gasping and wide-eyed, like I'd just been thrown about like a rag doll. He now stood in front of me, blocking my exit. Pain burned up my arm and I flinched, bringing up my other hand to try and remove his fingers from my hurt bones.
"Ow, you bastard! That fricken hurt!" I cursed.
"I'm not in the mood to play around," He told me, violet eyes darkening. "Now go back to your dorm."
His fingers loosened and I instantly cradled my hand against my chest, clenching my teeth to try and restrain myself from hitting him. It didn't exactly work as I wanted it to. With my left hand, I curled it into a fist and lashed out, snapping it sideways in an attempt to strike him across the face. He caught it easily with one hand, long sickly pale fingers folding against mine and tightening. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. Zero was angry.
"Why won't you just leave me alone?" I shouted after a fleeting second. "I don't want to be here! Did you not see what happened that night?"
"I was there you idiot!" He retorted sourly. "Of course I saw what happened, I'm not blind!"
With as much strength as I could muster with a fever, I tried to pull back my hand. His fingers tightened again. I growled. "Then you clearly saw what I did! Vampires, right?"
He paused, scrutinizing my face, and then tossed my hand back as if it had suddenly burned him. "How much did the Chairman tell you?"
With both my hands, I threw them up and clutched them to the top of my head as if I was going insane. Because it felt like I was. "I don't know!" I yelled. "Why the hell do you care? All he said was that 'yes, vampires do exist'! Now let me guess," I pointed a finger at him. "You were in on it too, huh?"
His eyes slightly widened before narrowing into moon-shaped slits. "Why do you care?"
"Why do I care?" My voice became shrill. "Are you stupid? I was just told that vampires --you know, the things that bite you and--"
"I know what they are."
"Yeah, well, try being in my shoes! I think I'm going insane! That or I'm in a never ending nightmare!" I fisted my hands in my hair. "Which one would you prefer, Zero? Hmm? Insanity or nightmares?"
He didn't answer.
"So neither, right? I wish I could have that option. But I don't have it, do I?" I lowered my hands and glared at him, breathless. My head pounded with heat and distress from my shouting. "Now," I said, trying my hardest to sound calm after the whole breaking down moment, "get out of my way."
At first it looked as if he'd object, but then he closed his eyes, forced his hands back in the black jacket that hung loosely from his shoulders, and stepped out of my way.
"Yeah, I thought you'd comply." I hissed, reaching down and picking up my suitcase.
He glared, but this time when I passed him he didn't stop me. This was it then, I was finally going. I was going to take this knowledge to the grave, seal it up inside of me until it was buried so deep that there was no possible way of resurrecting it. If vampires did exist, and humans were the prey, I don't think anyone would want to know. The secret was safe with me.
Even though it made me feel completely insane.
Without a glance back, I began to make my way down the path leading to my supposed rescue.
Yay! Vampire Knight Soundtrack to listen to while I write. (cheers)
So I know...long time since I last updated. But alot of stuff has been happening...hardly any of it good. Most of the time I just couldn't write. But hopefully i'll be out of the slum soon.
Thanks for the reviews guys! I appreciate them very much. (smiles) I'll try, and try, and try to get these chapters updated as fast as possible. So stay tuned! (corny television line.) Muahah.