Well, the summer is almost over and I finally got the time to write! I hope you all had a wonderful time and to my fellow readers at the East coast, I hope you and your families are safe and sound. As always, reviews and comments are much appreciated. Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Kain stepped out into the night. The moon was shining dimly thru a milky layer of clouds. He was wearing the clothes Akane had given to him, the mask securely stowed away in the back pocket of his pants. He would put it on later.

The air was crisp and smelled of leaves and soil. Kain took a deep breath, enjoying the cool air on his face for a couple of seconds.

He looked around and found Akane standing about a hundred feet away from the cabin. To each side, there was one wolf sitting and the three of them looked like dark statues.

Kain went down the stairs and closed the distance between them. Once again, he marveled at her magnificence. Tall, proud and incredibly beautiful. The fact that she was half Kuran scared him a little. But that was not entirely true either, it was not that he was afraid of her, it was more like an absurdly silly shyness which befell him whenever he got close to her.

Coming to a halt a couple of feet away from her, he could see the moon light reflecting in her eyes.

Akane inclined her head.

"I never introduced you properly to the two companions of mine."

The two wolves pricked up their ears instantly and looked up to Akane as if they knew exactly that she was going to talk about them.

"The male's name is Chiko and the female is Chichi. I chose Chiko as the one who will be accompanying you tonight." Said wolf wagged his tail shortly and looked at him. It was the same wolf who had picked him up from the gas station and who had found him in the woods after he followed Akane.

Kain didn't know what to answer so he simply nodded. The male had dark brown fur with strands of grey in it and his eyes sat like black shiny beetles in his face. Kain hadn't seen many wolves before but he could tell that the wolf was huge, reaching up to the middle of Akane's thigh. In the meantime, the female was whimpering quietly, stomping anxiously with her paws. The female wolf was more petite than her companion with lighter fur and what seemed to Kain a friendlier face. But that was probably just an extrinsic feature, Kain had no doubt that both animals were dangerous hunters and ferocious fighters.

"Well, shall we?" It was already completely dark and Kain wanted to leave. Chiko trotted over to him, turned around to face his master, waiting for her approval.

Akane padded the female wolf's head in a comforting manner, making her calm down significantly.

"Chichi and I will be waiting for your safe return." And with that said, they both were dismissed. Kain was sure that he had been missing a good amount of the communication since he wasn't able to share the bond.

Chiko was about to leap forward but Kain hesitated. He had the feeling that Akane was holding back. She looked worried, her eyes bearing a watery shimmer and he scrambled for words, wanting to tell her that he would take good care of the wolf.

"We'll be back soon, I promise," was all he could manage to say. Judging from the expression on her face, it wasn't enough.

Impatiently, Chiko gave a short bark, drawing Kain's attention away from Akane. The next second, the wolf started to run, gaining ground quickly. With one last glance at Akane's dark figure, Kain turned around and followed the animal into the woods. There wasn't much he could do for her anyway.

He was able to catch up in a short amount of time and soon they both were running silently next to each other, Chiko leading the way.

Kain's thoughts were spinning. He hated to leave Akane like that, obviously upset. Her eyes… he had never before seen eyes like hers. Again, he wondered what it was that drew him to her. Taking the time he had known her into consideration, she actually was a stranger to him but he didn't feel that way. It rather felt strangely pleasant to be around her and he didn't meant holding her in his arms with that - that had been excitingly sexy. He shook his head and suppressed the memory of that particular moment, he couldn't have that right now.

Her similarity with Kaname had shocked him. When he had seen them both standing next to each other in the woods, it was almost frightening how striking the resemblance was. At this particular moment, he hadn't paid much attention to it, but now, looking back, he had to say that Akane bore all the features of the Kuran family. Luckily for her, she hadn't inherited her father's heterochromatic eyes. She got not only the grace and beauty but also the charisma. It was almost…

Kain stopped so abruptly that he was having difficulties keeping the balance. The woods seemed to be spinning around him and he braced himself, putting his hands on his knees. Could it be? It would explain why he felt the way he did around her. But that wasn't not possible, was it?

The wolf who had noticed by now, too, that Kain had come to a halt trotted back to where Kain stood and sat down in front of him, cocking his head. Patiently, the dark grey animal waited for Kain to speak. Kain straightened, inhaling deeply.

"Oh don't you look at me like that," Kain blurted out, reproachfully. This was idiotic, talking to a wolf, that was. But honestly, the whole situation was messed up, he started with the wrong foot from the very beginning, crashing the tiles in the shower before he had left the mansion. So what could be so bad about talking to an animal? He sighed, running a hand thru his hair. The wolf was still sitting there, staring at him.

Kain looked up thru the trees into the night sky. There were a few ragged clouds moving above, but mostly, it was clear with stars scattered across the canopy. It was actually a beautiful night. For a minute or so, he simply stood there, letting his mind calm down enough to get some sense into the things he had just discovered.

Akane was a pureblood. And if that alone wasn't enough, she was also Rido Kuran's daughter and therefore Kaname's cousin - a fact that made her a highly ranked vampire. If the vampire society found out that there was another member of the Kuran family everyone would surely be shocked by that revelation. Purebloods were both adored and feared by lesser vampires at the same time due to their power they had over the rest of their kind.

But besides all the political implications, one question burned at the tip of his tongue: Why hadn't he noticed the first time he had seen her? Not that he knew many purebloods but from what he could tell, they were like beacons in the dark, sticking out not only because of their extra-ordinary beauty but also because of their incredible power which transcended their physical form, making the air around them buzzing with energy. So why was it that Akane was different? Why didn't she make him feel the way he felt when he was around Kaname?

Kain's head started to spin from the speed questions assailing him now. Had he been so attracted to her because she was a pureblood? If that was the only reason, if there was nothing genuine about his feelings towards her, wasn't he supposed to feel at least some sort of relief about that? He simply would fulfill his task here and go back to the Kuran mansion where Hanabusa and Ruka would be waiting for him to return. His love for Ruka would come back to him with full force, making him forget the kiss Akane and he had shared. Kain waited for the realization to kick in and his feelings to be set straight again but no such thing happened. Frustrated with himself, he ran a hand thru his hair and let his head fall back.

He had no clue how long he had been standing there in the middle of the woods, staring into the night sky, when he felt a warm, wet touch on his left hand. He looked down, bemused, to see the wolf nuzzling his hand with his nose.

The wolf was right, they needed to keep moving. This wasn't the time and the place to sort out his emotions. Whatever he was to find in his heart, he wouldn't find out right now.

Padding the wolf's head, he said: "Ok then. Let's move on."

The wolf gave a short bark, turned around and leaped forward. Kain did the same, holding the pace and together, they made their way thru the darkness.

After some time, the terrain changed. They had left the deep of the woods and were now entering an rocky area with lesser trees, moving slightly downhill. In the distance, Kain could see the lights of the small town. They had approximately 5 miles or so left, Kain estimated.

Again, having four feet, the wolf was clearly in advantage for moving on this compound. Kain tried to keep up and thanks to his vampire speed and agility, he was able to compensate the lack of two more legs.

Quickly, they approached the town. As Kain could see now, it actually was more like a village, small houses huddled against each other with narrow streets cutting thru, mostly covered in darkness at this time of the night with only a few street lights here and there. They kept right since the building complex they were supposed to check out laid on the West side of the town. If he recalled the map correctly, the park behind the quarters passed on to the woods seamlessly so it would provide them enough cover to allow them to get close enough.

At one point, the wolf suddenly stopped and gave a low bark. Kain came to a halt after a second, too, and looked at Chiko who was closing the distance between them. The wolf circled around him and drew the mask from his back pocket. Kain couldn't refrain from grinning and took the black piece of fabric out of the wolf's muzzle. Akane was really watching him closely. The sole thought sent a shiver down his spine and his stomach did some sort of somersault.

"Jesus Christ, just get a hold to yourself," he muttered to himself, thankful for the darkness hiding the redness in his face. This wasn't the time for things like this!

The wolf barked again, pushing Kain's hand with his nose.

"Ok, you're right. I'll put it on." Kain pulled the mask over his face, making sure that none of his hair was showing. He turned around to follow the wolf who was already moving again.

They were close to the village now. Kain could smell the humans who were sleeping in their homes, completely oblivious. He smelled the garbage and the sewage water, mixed with the aroma of the various dishes which had been served for dinner. Sometimes, he condemned his vampire senses. Not for any money in the world would he want to live in a town, not to mention a larger city.

The nearer they came the lesser the trees, making it difficult for them to find cover. Silently, the moved from one bush to the next, always avoiding the lights, radiating a dim light into the forest. The were about to reach the edge of the park when Chiko suddenly stopped right in front of him, a low growl emanating from his chest. The hair on the wolf's neck stood up and Kain crouched behind the animal, listening into the silence of the night.

They were maybe 100 yards away from the park. Kain could see the quarters thru the thicket, the park area lying quietly before them. But then he glimpsed a movement at the right side of the park area, near the brick wall, out of the corner of his eye. He looked closer and suddenly he saw two more figures skirting the edge of the woods. Trying to concentrate harder, Kain closed his eyes to give his sense of hearing a boost. The sound of the breezy wind became a storm in his ears but Kain fought it down, reaching out to the hunter's building with his senses. After blinding out the white noise, he was able to hear voices coming from behind the brick wall. They were muffled as if commands were given in a whisper. Kain's ears also picked up a couple other sounds: a clicking noise, feet pattering and clothes rustling. The clicking noise most likely came from weapons being loaded. It was hard to tell how many people there were but Kain had counted five clicks so it might be safe to assume that there were five on the premises and at least 3 more already out in the woods. That would make eight in total.

Damn, there was no chance to get near the building tonight. But even more important, what was going on here? Did they know that he was coming tonight? Kain couldn't believe that, it was highly unlikely, although not completely impossible, that somebody had tipped them off. So why were they swarming out? From the way the soldiers were moving it looked as if they were looking for someone or something. Whoever it was, he or she couldn't have gotten far, probably hiding in the woods. Anyway, it wasn't safe for him and the wolf to be here.

Chiko turned to look at him. Kain motioned his head into the direction from where they had come from to tell the animal that they needed to retreat. The wolf understood immediately and without hesitating the grey furry figure headed past him, vanishing into the thicket.

Kain cursed silently. This wasn't going according to plan. Kaname had given him three days and now, the first chance had already passed before he had gotten the opportunity to check things out at all. But soon enough, there would be more than a handful of hunters out in the woods, fully armored. And he didn't need to guess what would happen if they were to find him sneaking around. And above all, the building complex seemed to be guarded more heavily than they had anticipated which led to the next question - what the hell was IN the building that had to be protected?

He was thinking hard now. Maybe he could use this moment when all the guards were out in the woods looking for whatever it was to get into the building? Just one quick glance and he'd be out again in a minute or so. Yeah, like hell, this sounded reckless in his ears, that was all but calculated risk, it was more like a suicide mission since he had no idea what to expect once he got past the brick wall. And getting himself killed hadn't been part of Kaname's orders.

Another glance in the building's direction told him that the gates were opening to spit out more guards, each of them heavily armed. He had heard correctly. Five. Three of them were heading to the left and the other two were walking out on the green of the park, moving quickly into his direction. And as if this wasn't bad enough, one of them got a dog on a leash. Not any dog, it was a huge beast, his eyes gleaming in the dark and saliva dripping from his lips. Its paws were as big as saucers and from the way it was sniffing the ground and pulling the leash, it had probably found a trace already. Like this, there was no chance for him to get thru the building. He had no choice other than to retreat.

He turned around and started to run after the wolf when he heard a rustling in the bushes not far away of him.

Immediately, he sought cover, hiding behind one of the nearest tree. Chiko was already gone, probably way ahead of him, so he was all by himself. Heart pounding, Kain kept still, trying to listening to any sound. There was a good chance that he had missed any soldier who was already out in the woods, just because he had been too distracted by the things going on around him. He scolded himself for being so thoughtless but there was no time to dwelling on it now. If he wanted to get out of it alive, he had to act NOW.

Cautiously, he peeked around the tree, checking out if there was was any instant danger lurking in the shadows of the surrounding thicket. Nothing.

He once again extended his vampire hearing, scanning the area for any unusual noises. A low growl came from the direction of the rustling, followed by some sort of whimper but Kain couldn't say if it was a human sound. A second or two later, there was a commotion as if a fight was going on and he heard a loud yowl which made Kain's heart skip a beat, an icy feeling settling in his stomach.

"Shit", he cursed. No chance that the guards wouldn't have heard that. The monstrous guard dog started barking wildly. It ceased after a couple of seconds and Kain could hear hushed voices echoing across the park. Apparently, the guards were re-grouping in order to explore the area where he was in. Lovely.

The longer he stayed here the more precious time he waisted to get away. But he couldn't just let it go, not if Chiko was in danger or injured in some sort of way or even worse so he came out of his cover and moved silently to where the noise had come from. He could hear the guards' feet moving over the ground, rustling of fallen leaves but nothing noticeable, all noises blending in the soundscape of the night perfectly. They were well trained. One more reason to vanish, the sooner the better.

Quickly, he gained ground, cutting thru some bushes, passing a couple of trees, well aware of the guards behind him - but there was nothing what could have prepared him for what he saw when he reached the place where he had heard the fight coming from.

Kain stepped into a small clearing, only a few square feet of size. The smell of blood washed over him like a wave, almost knocking him off his feet. What the hell? Swaying, he had to blink once or twice to see thru the thick red mist that was clouding his sight. The smell was so intense that Kain had the impression of the air surrounding him had turned red.

Blood was a powerful liquid, transporting all kinds of information. Vampires could not only smell if a person was healthy or not, they also drew on a much deeper level - emotions, memories and thoughts. A very strong mix of pain, fear and desperation was gilding the scene, Kain had to struggle to keep his breath going while he took in the scene.

Kain's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach, leaving a nauseous feeling in his intestines, like if he had just had a ride in an elevator which was going down too fast.

"Shit."

Chiko was laying on his side with a gash at his shoulder, bleeding. The wolf raised his head to look at him.

Kain felt a sudden relief, releasing his breath. The animal was alive and though the wound looked bad, he didn't think that it was life threatening. But it meant that he would need to carry the wolf back to the cabin since there was no way Chiko would be able to walk. It would slow them down considerably though and with all the blood they would also leave a trace.

The person who had done this to Chiko hunkered down next to the wolf, sobbing quietly and holding what it seemed an injured hand. The wolf must have bitten her. The surrounding trees let thru only little light but Kain could see that the woman had short gray hair and was wearing a whitish lab coat. The weapon, a knife, laid next to her feet.

Something about her reminded him of a detail he had seen earlier and he looked closer at her. The scar which crossed her left cheek stood out in a ghastly white color and Kain immediately recognized her as the woman from the pictures Seiren had showed him the day before. She was rocking back and forth, muttering to herself. With some effort, Kain was able to make out the words 'hurt' and 'coming' but beyond that, the bubbling didn't make any sense to him. She probably was in shock. He would deal with her later.

Without paying any further attention to her, he rushed over to the wolf's side, taking off his mask at the same time. He ripped it open and since it was made of elastic material he was going to use it as a pressure bandage to stop the bleeding. His shirt would serve as an extra bandage to hold it all together. Kain took off his shirt and started working since there wasn't any time to loose.

A cool breeze caressed his torso but he ignored it. The cold wouldn't do anything to him, at least not anytime soon. He was more worried about the hunters who were out there in the woods and certainly looking for them.

He worked fast and tried to dress the wound as quickly as possible without causing too much stress to the animal. Chiko laid quietly thru the whole procedure. When Kain was done, he looked at his work and decided that it had to do for the moment. There was no time for being overly accurate.

Next, Kain turned to the woman. She looked terrified, eyes open wide from fear. She was staring at him but he couldn't say if she was actually looking at him. It didn't matter, anyway. In her current state, he wasn't sure if any kind of mental suggestion would work on her and he didn't want to risk to start a fight with her. Whatever Kaname's order might have been, Chiko wasn't going to run back to Akane's place so his choice was made. Since he couldn't carry both, the woman had to stay back. They would have to come back for her another time.

Letting out a sigh, Kain stood up, taking the animal with him. He shoved one hand under the wolf's head, the other under his hip, hoping that the move wouldn't stress the wound too much. He cradled the animal and wanted to leave when he felt a hand closing around his left ankle.

He looked down at the woman. Her face looked old and pale but it carried a determined expression.

"Take me with you," she whispered. "They are coming for me. Please!" Panic was all over her voice.

She looked over her shoulder, clearly frightened. Kain could her the soldiers moving thru the underwood. It wouldn't take long before they would find them here. And suddenly, it hit him. They were out in the night because of the woman kneeling in front of him. She must have escaped. So he had interpreted the expression she bore in the pictures Seiren had showed him correctly. She was a prisoner herself.

The decision was made in a blink of a second.

"Can you run?" Kain asked her.

She looked at her hand, then back up to him and nodded.

"Well, let's go then. And take the knife with you." He turned around and started to trot at a moderate pace so he could be sure that the woman was able to keep up.

His mind was racing while he ran, the wolf heavy in his arms. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to escape their hunters. What they needed was some kind of distraction.

He stopped and turned around. The woman came to halt next to him several seconds later, panting.

"Stand behind me," he advised her and she did as told. Carefully, he put Chiko down in front of his feed. He stood comfortably then, concentrating on his inner fire. It was always there, idling in the back of his mind, a constant warmth that flooded thru him. Now all he needed was the small flame to flare. He gathered his strength and watched with his inner eye how the flame grew bigger and bigger. A pool of liquid heat filled his palms and Kain opened the gate to release to fire from his hands.

Flames shot out, long rays of heat, setting the ground on fire several yards away. Since it hadn't been raining for a couple of days the leaves on the ground were dry enough to nourish the flames. The fire spread quickly, creating a sizzling hot barrier between them and the hunters. The flames would also burn any trace of them which gave them the advantage they needed. By the time the fire was out they would be gone.

Kain allowed himself to admire the beauty of the flames for a few seconds. They tainted the night sky in a gleaming red and he watched, mesmerized, as the flames awakened to life, devouring the trees around them.

Reluctantly, he pulled away. He scooped up the wolf and turned around. The grey haired woman looked at him, aghast, and she started to say something but he cut her off.

"Let's go before the fire catches up."