It was now morning. Mika had quickly prepared some breakfast and they had finished that up as quickly as possible to get started on the investigation of what was actually behind this. Yuu and Shinya found themselves in the gaming room. Shinya was looking through all the video games they had and Yuu was watching from the sidelines.

"Are we sure this holds any information?" Yuu asked while watching Shinya work.

"Nothing can be said for sure," Shinya answered while looking through the games. He picked out one game and started reading on the backside.

"What are you doing?"

"Apparently this game is about setting bombs to make the other players blow up. If you blow up, stand in the path of a bomb, you die. If you are the last one standing, you win. It's an old game… I think it's at least ten years old, if not even older, maybe from the 90's." Shinya said.

Yuu started looking through the games and noticed a similarity. "You're right, there are a few more games like that… but why?" he asked.

"I don't know… but…" Shinya opened the container of the game he had in his hands. "This one is empty," he said then.

"How come?" Yuu asked while looking over Shinya's shoulder.

Shinya didn't answered he just turned on the TV as it started in gaming mode. Then a game appeared.

"I think Mito-chan played this to get some practice in it," Shinya said. "We played it on the first day and she lost. I remember that she told me, Guren, Sayuri-chan and Shigure-chan to play the game with her on the night before Sayuri-chan and Shinoa-chan were murdered," Shinya explained.

"You remember that far back?" Yuu asked.

"It felt like I'd experienced something similar before," Shinya said thoughtfully. "I couldn't remember when I had that experience, but this just makes me more certain. Mito-chan was practicing this game to try and beat us in it," he smiled.

Yuu started looking through the other games. There were a lot. In the very back he even found some visual novels. At this point, Shinya had turned back to look at them too.

"What are these?" Yuu asked.

"Visual novels, single player games," Shinya answered in a tone that clearly indicated that he didn't find them very interesting. Yuu understood. From what he had seen, most of the others were more found of the multi-player games.

Yuu decided to look closer at the visual novels. The first one he looked at was called Bakemonogatari Portable. From what Yuu could read on the backside, it was about vampires and some other unimportant stuff. The next he found was called Diabolik Lovers. Whatever the plot actually was, Yuu could quickly conclude that this was also about vampires. Another one was called Rosario + Vampire Capu2 – The Rhapsody of Love and Dreams. Yuu didn't even have to look at the back to know that this was another vampire-related game.

"What's with this?" he asked.

"What's with what?" Shinya asked.

"Why are all the games I've been looking at about vampires?" Yuu asked while looking up from a fourth game about vampires.

"I think some girls tend to feel some kind of attraction towards the supernatural. Especially vampires who have been labeled as being super good looking in modern teens literature, has become popular," Shinya explained.

"How do you know?" Yuu asked.

"Think I read an article somewhere about it in the past," Shinya answered. "And these are also some love-story games, so it's kind of obvious," he smiled before he laid eyes on one game that Yuu hadn't looked at yet. He reached past the teen and grabbed it and read the title and then on the backside.

"This is interesting" he said. "Some kids are stuck in a survival game? This actually seems like a game," he smiled as he finished reading and opened up the machine to take out the bomb game that Mito had been playing.

"Are you going to play it?" Yuu asked.

"It doesn't appear to hold any vampires and it also differs in the way the summary is written and the design, so why not?" Shinya asked before opening the container of the game. Then he stared.

"What is it?" Yuu asked.

Shinya sighed and lied back on the floor. "Oh well, guess we shouldn't waste time on this. The game isn't even there anyways," he said.

Yuu barely even got the time to wonder why before an announcement was made by Ferid, who informed them that the time to investigate was up and they now had to face the last trial.

Yuu and Shinya got up from the gaming room floor and headed out to meet up with everyone else as the trial could begin.

Everyone met up in silence and also followed Ferid inside the trial room in silence. They all found their stands and stood up on them only waiting for the trial to begin.

"So, what is the task at hand exactly?" Shigure broke the silence as the first one.

"Well," Ferid smiled. "You want to know what happened before you woke up here, don't you?" he asked. "If you figure it out, I will allow you to go free, but if you are unable to figure it out, I'll just…" he got a thoughtful smile on his face. "Find a good punishment for all of you?" he suggested.

"Okay," Yuu said smiling, confident that they would be able to beat Ferid at this game. He had all his friends after all. "So, let's start by discussing whatever we've found out."

"Oh," Ferid said. "Just a little catch. Until you have uncovered all the information I gave to Mika-kun, he is only allowed to answer either yes or no. I don't want this to be too easy."

"That's unfair!" Yuu exclaimed.

"It's fine," Mika answered. "I didn't get that much information anyway," he said.

"So… what did you figure out, Yuu-kun?" Yoichi asked.

"Well," Yuu looked unsure. "Not much, other that Mito had been playing some game at night and we got some strange visual novels," he said.

"Strange?" Mitsuba asked. "What do you mean?"

"All of them were about vampires in one way or another," Yuu said. "That's the only notable thing we discovered in the gaming room."

"Why vampires?" Shigure wondered.

"Shinya said it's because they're popular or something," Yuu answered.

"That's about right," Shinya said.

"But what are visual novels doing here in the first place?" Yoichi asked.

"I just gathered up some random games for your entertainment," Ferid answered. "It might also be because I have a general fondness of vampires myself. It is fun to see what ideas people come up with,"

"Why do you have that kind of interest, it's weird," Mitsuba declared.

"Don't you believe in the unknown too?" Ferid asked.

"Is this just a fondness of the unknown?" Shinya asked while raising an eyebrow at the strange way Ferid was talking.

"Maybe?" Ferid smiled calmly.

"What's next?" Shigure asked. "Are you going to say that you too are a supernatural creature?"

"If he is, it's probably not just a supernatural creature," Yuu said. "I know I'm not that smart… but considering the themes of the games in the gaming room, wouldn't it be easy to assume that he's actually a vampire?"

"Yes," Mika answered.

"What?" Yuu turned to Mika. "Are you saying Ferid is a vampire?" he asked.

"Yes," Mika answered.

"Ups," Ferid smiled. "Guess I said too much."

"Well, that's what you get for not keeping your mouth shut," Shinya said.

"What other clues have we got?" Shinya asked.

"This," Shigure held out a burnt piece of paper. "It doesn't hold much information, but a few words are clear. It is an experiment report written about a girl named… Akane I think… It is from some place called Hyakuya labs. It also says something about experimentation and something called Seraph of The End," she summarized.

"Akane?" Yuu mumbled. It seemed to ring a bell. He remembered a girl's face, brown eyes and long brown hair in a braid. A warm feeling came along with the image. He wasn't sure how to describe it. Like he felt loved, cared for, like he belonged somewhere. It felt like "Family…?" he then mumbled.

"Does the paper say anything else?" Shinya asked.

"Only something about progress and a place called Hyakuya Orphanage," Shigure said.

"Akane… could it be the name of a kid's pet, and then they are from Hyakuya Orphanage?" Mitsuba suggested.

"I don't think that's it," Yuu said. "I think Akane is a person, a child from Hyakuya Orphanage,"

"How can you be so sure?" Mitsuba asked.

"Well…" Yuu trailed off. "It's just… I think I remember a face in relation to that name, Akane." He said.

"Yes," Mika said.

"Do you remember her too?" Yuu asked.

"Yes," Mika said though there was a tiny hint of doubt in his eyes.

"You are supposed to remember her, you knew her in the past? Did I know her too?" Yuu asked.

"Yes," Mika answered.

"So, not only are you suggesting that this Akane was a human experiment, but are you also suggesting that the two of you were human experiments?" Shigure asked.

"I don't know." Yuu turned to Mika. "Are we?" he asked.

Mika shrugged, not being entirely sure of what Yuu was asking.

"Are you human experiments?" Shigure asked.

"Yes," Mika said.

"We also found a list of so-called spell organizations," Mitsuba said. "There were two marked to exist in Tokyo, Japan. Mikado no Oni and Hyakuya Sect," she summed up. "The head of Mikado no Oni is Hiiragi Tenri, nothing is known of Hyakuya sect though,"

"Except that they were involved with human experimentation," Shigure said drily.

"Are there any other spell organizations in Japan?" Shinya asked.

"There is one in Nagoya called Mikado no Tsuki," Mitsuba read. "The leader is… Sakae Ichinose, but that has been scratched out. I don't know why," she said.

"I think I do," Shinya said. "I think he's dead."

"Then who is the new leader?" Yoichi asked. "They must have gotten a new one since then?"

"Is that really important?" Mitsuba asked.

"I have a feeling I should know…" Shigure said.

"I just wonder why Guren is popping into my head," Shinya said.

"Maybe because he is the leader of Mikado no Tsuki?" Yuu suggested the most likely answer that wouldn't be completely useless.

"You're right," Ferid's smile seemed to widen. "Guren, who was participating in this game, was the son of Ichinose Sakae, Ichinose Guren. Just like Kureto is the son of Hiiragi Tenri."

"Are you starting to tell us our actual names?" Mika asked.

"Can you speak now?" Yuu asked.

"I told what I knew," Mika said. "That Ferid is a vampire, that we know a girl named Akane and that the three of us were all human experiments of the Hyakuya Sect,"

"I can say your names if you want it that badly," Ferid sighed, but the smile remained. "Shindo Mikaela and Amane Yuuichiro, or as you are known today, Hyakuya Mikaela and Hyakuya Yuuichiro," he said.

"So what everyone thought was our names was actually just a short version?" Yuu asked.

"Or your nicknames," Ferid said. "We also have Kimizuki Shiho, Goshi Norito and Narumi Makoto who are all commonly known by their surnames. And then there are those who are actually called by their first names, Hanayori Sayuri, Yukimi Shigure, Juujou Mito, Sanguu Mitsuba, Saotome Yoichi, Hiiragi Shinoa, Hiiragi Mahiru and Hiiragi Shinya," Ferid listed.

"I'm not buying it. I'm not gonna believe that I'm related to a person who would kill someone in cold blood," Shinya stated.

"I did hear someone say you were adopted to marry Mahiru, but my points aren't valid," Ferid smiled.

"Reminds me," Mika said. "You said you had some pictures of a catastrophe that happened eight years ago, right?" he asked.

"Correct," Ferid said.

"Show them," Mika said, his eyes narrowed a bit.

"Only if you pay me," Ferid said.

"Will you show them to everyone?" Mika asked.

Ferid seemed to think that through before he nodded. "Yes, I suppose I will." He said.

"Then I pay the prize," Mika said.

"What prize, what's he talking about, Mika?" Yuu asked. But before he could get an answer, Ferid was standing by Mika's side, already having his fangs buried in Mika's neck. Mika just stood still and let him do it.

"Stop it!" Yuu yelled, confused. He didn't receive a reaction though. Not until about a minute had passed and Ferid finally let go to look up at everyone else.

"There was actually one truth that Mikaela-kun didn't tell you," he said.

"What?" Yuu asked.

Ferid smiled before pulling Mika's lower lip down to reveal his teeth. "See there?" he asked. "He actually has some rather sharp fangs compared to humans, don't you think?" he asked.

"That's just-" Yuu tried to interrupt, but Ferid wasn't finished.

"I have them too, sharp fangs that can pierce through human skin, right into their veins to suck out their blood. But he does differ from us complete vampires," Ferid said. "He isn't entirely complete as you can see in his blue eyes. So I've been visiting his room every night to give him the blood of the one who turned him into a vampire," he said.

"You don't mean…. Mika… " Yuu couldn't find the words to finish his sentence.

"He is a vampire, just like me," Ferid said.

"Get away from me," Mika said, now turning to push Ferid away.

"So cruel," Ferid smiled before disappearing from Mika's side and reappearing on his seat. "I have to show you some pictures now, since Mika-kun donated his delicious blood,"

As such a canvas came down from the ceiling and pictures appeared on it. The first one was of a burning town. The next was of people who were lying on the ground, appearing to be sick. One had already died it seemed. The third was of children, dressed in identical black and white uniforms with a collar around their neck.

"What…" Yoichi stared at the pictures.

"What's this supposed to be?" Mitsuba asked, looking at the pictures with horrified eyes.

"What happened?" Shinya asked.

"I think…" Yuu trailed off while thinking. "Tokyo is burning on the first picture, due to… people getting sick and dying suddenly? And then there are children who look like they have been captured…"

"Here's another one," Ferid put on a new picture, showing children with some kind of tube attached to their collars. It looked like something was going through the tubes, coloring them red.

"They are having their blood taken, right?" Yuu asked.

"Indeed," Ferid smiled.

"So, the world ended because of a disease, and then, somehow, the children survived and were captured by someone who wanted their blood." Yuu concluded.

"You're smarter than you're made out to be." Ferid smiled. "Here's a last one, as a reward." He showed a last picture of a bright room, with a bloodstained floor and bodies of children, dressed in the same uniform as the children on the two previous pictures.

"Why are they… dead?" Yoichi asked.

"Were they murdered?" Shigure asked.

"No," Yuu said. "I think… I think they were trying to escape from those guys who took their blood?"

"Vampires," Mika said in a low voice before going on in a louder voice. "Their blood was taken by vampires, just like ours! Our family, Yuu-chan!"

"Yuu-chan?" Yuu turned to look at Mika, but before he could finish his action, Mika had moved up to him and wrapped both arms around him.

"Yuu-chan! I remember!" he exclaimed. "We used to live in the Hyakuya Orphanage but then the catastrophe happened and we were taken by the vampires. You, me, Akane and everyone else. After four years I thought we'd found a way to escape but then Ferid showed up just before we reached the exit!"

"Mika?" Yuu said in a slightly questioning voice as he now responded to Mika's hug. As Mika explained everything, he remembered too. He remembered all that Mika had said. He remembered the children, Akane, the day when Mika had come home with that map leading to the exit, their hope and their despair when Ferid showed up. The others had all been killed and Mika's arm had been torn off, he had been dying and told Yuu to run.

"It's… it's my fault," Mika said.

"It's my fault," Yuu argued. "I ran away and was saved because… I met Guren!"

"Who was part of the black demon company," Shinya continued.

"At one point, we became friends, Yuu-kun," Yoichi said. "And we ended up joining the Moon Demon Company along with Shinoa-san and Kimizuki-kun, and formed a squad with them and Mitsuba-san."

Ferid chuckled. "It appears you have uncovered the truth behind the world outside, as well as my identity. So, I guess I lost this game. But at least I didn't get bored."

"Now, how do we get out?" Yuu asked.

"Easy," Ferid said. "There should be an exit right between the media room and the dining room, go there and you'll find a direct way outside," he said.

Without offering Ferid another word, everyone turned to head towards the exit. Mika let go of Yuu because it would be difficult for the both of them to walk otherwise.

No one said a word as they walked through the hallways for the last time. They were all simply trying to comprehend the facts and process all the memories they had just regained.

They all stopped in front of the door that led to the outside. No one said a word at first before Mitsuba broke the silence.

"Are we sure we want this?" she asked.

"What else is there to do?" Yuu asked. "There is still a world out there. We've lived in it for eight years. What's going to be different from then and until now?"

Mitsuba bit her lip. "You… you're right," She looked up and smiled at Yuu. "Sorry, Yuu," she said.

"Yuu-chan?" Mika asked. "We're still family, right?" he asked.

Yuu smiled at him. "Weren't you the one who told me that all children from the Hyakuya orphanage are family?" he asked.

Mika's face lit up as he nodded and smiled. "I guess I was," he said.

Yuu then turned to the door. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I want to rediscover what's out there," he said before reaching out and grabbing the door handle. Then he opened the door and all of them went outside to the world they had come from.

This is the end, guess they survived.

About those visual novels, I don't know most of them at all. I went and googled visual novels and looked through what I found in search for something including vampires. If I failed, I'm sorry, but that was at least my intent.

Anyways, the story is now over. I hope you liked it. I'm wondering about something. Which case did you find was the best? I don't need a reason if you don't want to tell me that, but I'm curious as to know where I might have done the best job.

Thank you to noname 635 for favoriting and thank you to AmayR, Clovely Rainbow x, and Shiranai Atsune for following. I'm happy about that.

Thank you for reading

Jackie