I do not own the characters Haruka Tenoh or Michiru Kaioh as they belong to Naoko Takeuchi. The rest are mine.

My updates might take a bit longer than usual. I'm going to be busy at work for the next two weeks. I'll try to get a chapter up every couple days though. :D I like when you guys ask questions though so I can answer them in the next update. Although, I know I've been avoiding a few common questions. Mostly regarding Haruka's father and the vampire from the beginning of the story. Don't worry you will find out! Just not yet... ;) Short chapter mostly for a small shock factor. I'll try to have the next one up as soon as I can. It will probably be another short one. Hope you guys enjoy! :D

Chapter 13

Joe quickly picked up the Kris and charged after Amara. "Joe, take my old car. The keys are inside." The blonde looked down at Michiru as she placed her in the Ferrari. "I'm sorry, Michiru."

Once she had sat on the driver's side she tore off the jacket of her tuxedo and carefully removed the replica from Michiru's stomach. Once the weapon was removed blood began to pour out of the wound at a quicker pace. She quickly pressed the jacket onto the wound and held it firmly. "Stay with me, Michi." Amara tried her best to drive with one hand on the wheel and the other on the jacket.

The second she arrived at the hospital she ran in carrying a gravely wounded Michiru. "Help me! She's been stabbed!" Amara ran to the desk. In seconds Michiru had been taken away and the blonde was left with blood stained hands in the waiting room. She paced the room until Joe came in.

"Haruka. I can't believe you." He approached the blonde that had been pacing the room and shook her furiously. "I need to talk to you, alone." Joe said as to not cause a scene around the other people in the room. He led her outside and unloaded on her. "I can't believe you did what you did. The old Haruka would have never put Michiru in danger." He readied a fist and swung at Amara but it was caught by a man behind him.

"Alexander?" Amara questioned the man that caught Joe's fist.

"I won't let you lay a hand on Lady Amara." Alexander spoke.

Joe turned to see a vampire standing behind him.

"Lady Amara." Alexander had suddenly given Amara the title her mother once had. "I agree with him. The old you would have never done that. You would have never been so careless and put her in danger."

"What do you know, Alexander?" Amara crossed her arms over her chest.

"You're different now. You need to learn how to control yourself." Alexander continued to speak in the same respectful tone as he always had.

"Are you here to kill me?" Amara looked into Alexander's eyes to be sure he was not lying.

"No." He spoke with his thoughts in unison. "I could care less about the death of Lady Angeline."

"Why do you call me Lady Amara?"

"It's the title given to the head of the clan."

"Head of the clan?" Amara questioned the man in her thoughts. She never intended to end up the leader of her clan. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You're the head of the clan now. It's passed down to the children of the leader should the leader ever die, which is rare. We don't find ourselves dead very often."

Joe had been standing silently as he heard the entire conversation. Any hunter in their right mind would kill both of the vampires standing in front of them. Something kept Joe from using the weapon on either of them.

-Maybe Haruka is up to something. Maybe she will find a way to end the war. - Amara could hear Joe's thoughts.

"Haruka would have never devised a plan that put that girl in danger." Alexander eyed Amara as he spoke. "I can see you love her by the way you talked about her. Why did you put her in danger?"

Amara pondered the reason herself. Why did she even want Michiru involved in the plan? A part of her wanted Michiru there to watch her back… but another part was careless enough to make a plan that would put her in danger. "I don't know."

"It's because you are still young and can't control certain things. Your mind has been polluted with the blood of those two Lilin women you've been with lately. Right now you are Amara. You need to find Haruka. I don't like Amara as much as I liked Haruka."

The blonde girl continued to think on her actions. Alexander was right. Ever since the night with the two women she felt a bit different. "I need to find my old self again. I would have never been so careless as I was. Joe, why did you go through with it?"

"I ain't stupid. I agreed to help you but that didn't mean I was going to. I wasn't gonna put her in danger."

"You still had the replica made for me and you gave her the other one." Amara questioned Joe.

"I had it made because I knew you were probably spying on me. That's why I had two made. I knew she wasn't going to go back to the life so I planned on taking the fake one back eventually. I was never gonna do it and then you kidnapped me. Then I knew it was all going to shit. You're just lucky I kept that blade tucked away on myself the entire time I had it."

"I can't believe myself." Amara looked down at her hands that were covered in the blood of her ex. The sleeves of the white under shirt she had on were covered as well. Lucky for Amara the wound she succumbed to sealed up quickly. Michiru was not as lucky. "I'm going to go wash my hands and wait to see how she is doing."

After she had washed her hands she returned to the waiting room. A couple police officers had entered the area to question her about the stabbing. With ease she made up a false report for the cops to go off of. Then she waited. Michiru had been taken to surgery. She continued to pace the room. A few of the people in the waiting room stared at her blood soaked sleeves; luckily her crimson vest hid the blood from her own wound. Alexander stood silently in a corner of the room. Amara stopped to look at him- she had questions for him when the whole ordeal was over.

A couple hours went by which made Amara worry. She glanced back at Alexander for reassurance. The man nodded. He kept his mouth closed the entire time to hide his fangs. Joe sat in a separate corner away from the two. Amara would often look in Joe's direction to see what he was thinking. It upset her as she read his thoughts. Joe thought of his own daughter's death all the while thinking if Michiru was going to succumb to the same fate.

Someone finally came from a back room and approached Amara. "She's stable. She's going to make it. You can come and see her for a moment."

"Thank you." The blonde began to follow the man. Joe had jumped up and followed as well with Alexander behind the two.

Amara and Joe entered the room while Alexander took his position outside. The two approached the bed Michiru lay in and looked down at her. Michiru's eyes were still closed. 'She's fine.' Amara thought and sat down in one of the chairs in the room. 'I can't believe I was so careless. I'll never bother her again with this life.' Amara smiled to herself as she thought of Michiru finally living her dream.

"Alexander." Amara had poked her head out of the room. "I need a pen and paper."

"I'll get it for you." The man bowed and left to find the requested materials and returned after a moment.

Amara sat down in the room again and scrawled a note for Michiru. She was not going to stay for her ex to wake. Michiru would be furious to see Amara in the room. The blonde wrote every thought that came to mind.

"Joe," Amara approached Joe with a folded piece of paper to hand it to him. "I know you don't like me anymore. You won't hear from me ever again after I leave this room. I just want you to give this to Michiru when she wakes up. I promise you one thing. I'll bring an end to this war if it's the last thing I do." She handed Joe the note she had written. "I'm sorry for everything."

Joe took the paper and stared at Amara for a moment. –I hope you know what you're doing. I hope you end the war.- "I never want to see your face again." It had become clear to Amara that Joe hid his true feelings inside.

"You won't and neither will Michiru." She looked down at the sleeping goddess and took her hand. "I'm sorry it ended this way." She kissed the back of her hand as she used to do months ago when they first met.

Xxxxxxxxx

Amara returned to the mansion and had a talk with Alexander. She had so many questions for the man that had been at her mother's side for so long.

"Alexander." She looked into his eyes. "I'm tired of being left out in the dark. Each day it seems like I find out something new. I want you to explain things to me."

"I will tell you everything, Lady Amara."

"Haruka. I don't like who Amara was either."

"Lady Haruka." Alexander corrected himself with a smile.

"Why didn't you come to my mother's aid when you knew she was in danger?"

Alexander took no time to think about his answer. "She wanted to kill her only daughter. What kind of mother wants to kill her child?"

"I thought you were working for her though."

"Your mother isn't the person you believed her to be. She played the kind mother game well. When we first brought you in here she wanted to find out what she could about you. Each time you visited she would tell you what you wanted to know. And each time you left she would turn to me and tell me you could not be trusted. You had been raised by humans. If she had raised you herself your loyalties would have been with us. She knew of the weapon killing our clan mates. She also suspected you might have had something to do with it, and that it was possible you knew where the weapon was. She was a very intelligent woman. The night you went with the hunters to the neighborhood where the two Lilin had been wreaking havoc – that was a set up."

Haruka sat quietly as Alexander explained everything. It made sense as to why the Lilin had been running rampant.

Alexander continued. "One of the Lilin escaped and that was when Lady Angeline learned the truth. The Lilin told Lady Angeline you were helping the hunters."

"I don't understand why you would let me kill her and not come to her aid."

"When she first talked about getting the weapon to kill you, it bothered me." Alexander shut his eyes and lowered his head. "The only reason I served Lady Angeline was because she saved me from my mother. My mother, too, wanted me dead. Lady Angeline killed her, drank her dry. Remember she told you- if a Lilin was to ever do that, they would never be the same? It was too late and I had already sworn my loyalties to her. She saved me and I was to serve her. I made a blood oath with her that I would serve her until the end of time."

"Were you the man that took me from her after I was born?"

"It wasn't me."

Haruka sighed, she wished Alexander had all the answers for her. "I'm still trying to find out why someone took me."

"Lady Haruka, you were taken because you were born different from all of us. Lady Angeline and I were never able to figure out how. In today's world there are two clans of Lilin- the clan you are now in charge of and the clan that Lucas Grey is in charge of. But there were once three clans. Victor Barlow was the leader of the third. Victor always wanted the three to become one but that would make a breed of Lilin too powerful. Each clan has their own special powers.

"We have the power to charm a person while Victor's clan causes fear. Lucas Grey's clan, well, they are very secretive about their ability. We can only speculate what they can do. The man you met in Atlanta was Lucas Grey.

"There is something else-it's about your father. When Angeline first met him she had fun with him. It excited her to think this man was different from humans. I'm sure you know he was orphaned as a child. He's a hunter but doesn't know it."

Haruka's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yes, he is. The choice was made to destroy Victor's clan long ago so that a Lilin would never be born of all three bloodlines. The child would unite us."

"Wow, okay. This is insane."

"You asked so I am telling you."

"You said Victor's clan caused fear?" Haruka pondered.

"His clan was destroyed centuries ago. So we don't know where you received that power from."

Haruka tapped her chin with her finger. Was his clan destroyed? She remembered back to the night she had been attacked by a Lilin months ago-the night she mistook for a nightmare for a while. Then the same man that was in her house the night her father took her out for her birthday. He projected the fear into her. "Are you sure his clan is gone?"

"I watched as Victor was drank dry with my very own eyes. He was the last surviving member of his clan at that time."

Haruka continued to tap her chin deep in thought. Then who was the man that she had encountered?

"Now that Lady Angeline is gone I am here to serve you. I swore I would serve her family. She never intended to have a child but she did."

Haruka looked back to Alexander. "I can't believe I killed my own mother."

"I'm still curious as to how you knew what she was planning."

Haruka perked a brow and smirked. "I have my sources. I also killed her without a second thought. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"I don't think you are a bad person, as long as you stay being Haruka and not Amara."

She sat for a moment pondering on the entire situation. For a couple weeks she heard her mother's thoughts on killing her. Perhaps that was why she had no second thoughts to kill her first? "I need to be alone for a while." Haruka disappeared to a balcony outside and leaned onto the railing. Night had fallen. She stared into the stars as though they would have the answers for her.

"I hope you're alright, Michiru." She whispered. "I hope you will find your happiness."

Xxxxxxxxx

The next day word had spread throughout Haruka's clan-Lady Angeline had been killed. The shock hit many of the Lilin hard. Angeline had been the leader for at least a millennium. Some new faces appeared in the mansion Haruka was now owner of. They all wanted to see who had ascended. A few were not too happy to find a half-breed in charge and challenged Haruka but her combined abilities gave her the upper hand.

Haruka had grown fond of the outfit that Michiru and Blake had given her for her birthday. On any given day she would be seen wearing something in the similar fashion minus the tuxedo jacket. She admired the new look. A crimson vest over a white under shirt with the sleeves rolled up complete with black dress pants.

She took time to explore the mansion and read through any paper work she could get her hands on. A couple rooms in the basement caught her attention when she would pass by them. One room had a faint beeping noise and the other simply seemed out of place. Haruka had passed by these rooms a few times and questioned what was behind them.

"You won't like what's in those rooms." Alexander would tell her each time he found her questioning what lie behind each door. The doors were locked and she had no key to the rooms. It aroused her suspicion even more.

"Why don't I have a key to these doors?" Haruka asked Alexander as she pressed her ear up to one.

"If you saw what was behind those doors it would upset you."

She heard the beeping noise again when she tried to hear what was on the other side. "This is my home. I want to know what's behind this door." There was more than one beeping sound when she listened closer.

"I warned you." Alexander said and removed a key he had on a chain around his neck. He opened the lock and pushed the door open.

The room was pitch black minus a few small lights that appeared to be on a couple machines. Haruka entered the room. The smell of blood engulfed her. "Alexander, what's in this room?" She searched for a light switch on the wall.

"I told you- you won't like what's here." He turned a light on and revealed what was in the room.

It made sense now where the blood came from. Haruka stood in shock. The room resembled that of a hospital. "I can't believe this." Humans lay on hospital beds with IVs and needles hooked to their arms. Haruka walked up to the first person she saw and gazed down at woman in a deep sleep.

"I'm sure you always wondered where the blood came from." Alexander followed Haruka closely.

"I can't believe this." The blonde continued to gaze down at the woman in the bed. "This whole time-this is where the blood was coming from." Haruka reached and touched the woman's arm. "I want them released. This is barbaric and just wrong.

"I can't release them, Lady Haruka."

"Why not!?" Haruka's eyes were full of tears. "You can't just tell me you think it's right to have humans down here. Humans that don't have a choice. They just lay here and whenever we get hungry we just turn a faucet on and it drains them. Where's the right in that?"

"I can't let them go because they agreed to it."

"Why would anyone agree to living like this?"

"They all have their reasons."

Haruka walked to the filling cabinet that was setting next to the woman's bed. "I don't understand why anyone would agree to it." She opened the cabinet and found a single folder inside. The name on the folder read 'Rose Crane'. "There better be a good reason behind this." Haruka was mixed between anger and pity. She thumbed through the file.

Rose Crane

Blood type: O+

Age: 34

Gender: F

Height: 5'3''

Weight: 122 lbs

Haruka read through the writing within the folder. "She agreed to live like this to help pay for her son to get a heart operation he needed. She still has four more years." Haruka looked down at the woman that was sleeping peacefully and put the file back in place.

The next person she approached was an older man. She opened the file next to his bed as well.

Christian Cole

Blood type: A –

Age: 54

Gender: M

Height: 6'1''

Weight: 213 lbs

She read through his file quickly as well. "He's here to help pay off gambling debts. He has another year." Haruka shook her head.

"It's an agreement they came to. They came here of their own free will. I don't much like the idea either but Lady Angeline has done this for a long time now."

As much as it pained Haruka to see these people living like this she knew she could not do anything. They had signed a contract. "Isn't there another way to obtain what we need? What about the servants that walk around the mansion? What did they agree to?"
"Their contracts are much different. Most of them were homeless and we took them in. We feed them and they work for us."

"Why do they have to be enthralled?" Haruka placed the second file back into the cabinet.

"So they won't remember anything they see here. If one didn't like what they saw and ran away to tell the police. How do you think we would explain ourselves to the police?"

"Who handles these contracts?"

"You do now. Each contract was made with Lady Angeline and if her untimely death was to arise it would be passed down to you just as everything else was."

"I don't understand one thing. How did I break the treaty by feeding off of humans? Mine was an accident, I didn't know what was happening. But this… this has been going on for years."

"The hunters know we need to feed. They also know it's wise to let us do so. Under the treaty we agreed if we were to feed off a live human it had to be the human's choice. This is the solution Lady Angeline came up with."

Haruka looked back down at the man on the table and back at the woman. He had no ring on his finger but the woman did. "What does her husband think happened to her? She's married."

"It's all too common. People go missing and then they suddenly reappear." Alexander shook his head. "I never liked the idea but we need a way to sustain ourselves."

"I need to get out of this room. I can't look at these people anymore." Haruka walked to the entrance of the room and turned back. There were about a dozen people in the room. "I want to know what's behind the other door. I can't imagine anything worse than this."

"Very well." Alexander left the room and turned the light off. He locked the door carefully and placed the key back around his neck. "There's no shock factor in the other room, mostly it's empty." The two approached a second door that was at the end of the hallway. The door was made of reinforced steel. It had several bolt locks covering part of the frame along with a few chains crossed over it. In the center of the door about eye level appeared to be a small sliding type window for one to look through.

"It better not be a prison."

"It is a prison." Alexander said as he took a key ring from his pocket and flipped through the keys.

Haruka felt her heart sink as he spoke those words. She already did not like the idea she was born the way she was. Now she was starting to see the reality behind everything.

"It's not a prison for humans. Don't worry." He unlocked the several locks that held the door closed and released the chains.

The door was heavy as he pushed it open. This room was pitch black as well and smelled of metal and iron. He turned on the light from the switch outside. In the center of the room was a table, the table was the only thing in the room. The entire room was made of reinforced steel and iron. The size of the room was quite large- about thirty feet by thirty feet and the ceiling was about twenty feet high as well. It was lit with a dim light above the table.

"I don't understand." Haruka approached the table and looked down at it. It had restraints hanging down the sides of it. "What do you keep locked in here?"

"We don't keep anything locked in here. Not at the moment."

Haruka observed the table closer and touched some of the restraints. The restraints were made of thick chains.

"If a time were ever to arise that we needed to kill a Lilin we have this room. The Lilin that does the killing is placed in this room. It's not fun going through the whole ordeal and it often leaves the Lilin in a temporary coma." Alexander explained.

Haruka turned back to Alexander. "It's like what my mother said. When a Lilin kills another by drinking their blood they are locked away. This is where you lock them away." She looked back down at the table. "I think I'm done exploring for the day." Alexander nodded and they left the room. He locked the room up again and they left the basement.

"Oh. Well, hello again!" A familiar voice greeted them as they entered the living room.

Haruka turned to the voice. A man sat on one of the fine couches. One side of his hair was combed down neatly while the other side was a complete mess. He was wearing two different shoes and mismatched clothing with a white and red polka dot bow tie. She recognized him instantly as the crazy man from Atlanta.

"Can we help you?" She raised an eyebrow as she questioned why he had invaded her home.

"Oh oh. Yes. Yes actually. You can help me. I never introduced myself by the way! My name is Lucas. L-L-Lucas Grey!" As he bowed something that looked like old cheese fell out of the front pocket of his shirt. He quickly picked it up and put it back in place after giving it a good sniff. "I'm actually here on business."

"Business?" Haruka continued to question the insane man.

"Yep. Well, that and I came to meet the new person in charge-it's you. Ah ha. I knew you would do it!"

Haruka looked at Alexander questioningly. "Excuse us for a minute, Mr. Grey." Haruka took Alexander outside to the hallway and left Lucas in the room. She glanced back at him to witness him quickly take his shoes off and switch them to the other foot.

"Alexander," Haruka rubbed her forehead. "what's wrong with him, and why is he here?"

"He's… well…" Alexander was unsure of how to answer the question. "In your mother's clan you became leader once she was dead. You inherited her position. His clan is different. You have to kill your way to the top. He killed many Lilin to get to where he is and in the end he paid the price. He may seem like a harmless crazy man but he can be dangerous, very dangerous."

"Right, the toxic blood. Killing that many would have that effect on someone in the way it has affected him." Haruka leaned around the corner and saw Lucas still debating on which foot the shoes really belonged on. "I don't know what he wants from me. Let's see what he wants."

"Oh, you're back!" Lucas greeted the two as they reentered. "Hey, okay-so. I have something important I need you to do."

"Go on." Haruka nodded.

"I want you to kill me."

"I'm sorry, say that again." Haruka was unsure of what he meant.

"Oh, this life has taken its toll on me." Lucas continued. "I'm tired of living. I regret everything I did to get to my position. It's not fun when you sit alone and your dishes start talking to you."

Haruka looked at Alexander. He shook his head at her.

"No. I want you to leave my home." Haruka commanded.

"Pity." Lucas glared at her. "You will have to do it one day. And no, nope. You can't use that weapon either. I know it's not in your possession. You doubt me, I know. Time will come when it will happen."

"Leave my home." Haruka ordered him.

"I'll see you again sometime." Lucas took one last look at Haruka and skipped out of the room.

Alexander watched Lucas leave until he was out of sight. Haruka looked into the man's thoughts. –Could this be the second step to uniting the two clans?- His thoughts poured into her mind.

"Alexander." She interrupted his thoughts. "What does he want?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Alexander scratched his chin.

One thing Haruka liked about Alexander was he never lied to her. She knew what he was thinking and he always answered in unison with his thoughts.