Hey everyone ^^ I'm back off hiatus. Thanks to my best friend (who helped me write this chapter) I was able to finally update. I guess you could say I had writer's block for a while. ^^;; I hope you guys enjoy this really amazing chapter written by Nata and I. We were killing each other while writing it. Haha. But it's one of the best written things we've done in a long time.
If Nata helps me (bug her a lot), I will be able to update weekly again. I definitely missed you guys on my hiatus and thought about you a lot.
Well, read the chapter now. I'll see you after the chapter. *waves*
"So, how was the ball?" Rachel asked in her singsong voice. She had made good on her promise to bring her teddy bear, Rosie, and was clutching the poor bear tightly in her arms. Carmen seriously hoped Rachel wouldn't misplace her bear, who knew what Rachel would do to the unlucky fellow that happens to touch it.
They were both sitting in Carmen's room. Rachel had made one of her surprise visits while Carmen was busy doing homework.
Carmen desk chair and was looking at Rachel, who was sprawled out on Carmen's bed. Carmen looked down at the floor with a soft smile of her face remembering the previous night. Unknowingly, a small tint of pink appeared on her cheeks that made Rachel a very curious being. A devilish smile made its way onto Rachel's face. "Sooooo… what happened?" She sat up and started to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. "It must have been something pre~tty good if it makes you blush like that." Rachel's face became even more devilish, if that was even possible. "Will I be getting an honorary brother-in-law sooner rather than later? 'Cause if I am, I so call being your maid of honor!"
"What?! Rachel! It was just a dance!" Carmen quickly brought her back to reality. Rachel's imagination was always a bit crazy. Rachel threw herself back on the bed and started laughing hysterically. Carmen just shook her head watching her best friend.
Rachel wiped a tear from her eye from laughing so hard. "I still call being your maid of honor, but tell me what happened at the ball. I'm really curious." She leaned as close to me as she could while still sitting on the bed.
Carmen smiled a bit at her. "Well... I danced. The end." Carmen, then, turned herself on her chair and started back on her homework.
"Right," came Rachel's sarcastic voice. She got off the bed and draped herself on Carmen's shoulders. "Tell me!" she commanded in her most serious voice.
Carmen laughed a bit; Rachel did not fit the serious type. Carmen turned her head to face Rachel. "If you go over and sit on the bed quietly while I finish my homework, I will tell you what happened."
"But being quiet is so boring! Can't I do something else!?" Rachel complained.
Carmen sighed. Rachel sitting quietly was an impossible thing. "Go explore or something. Just don't get in trouble."
Rachel stood up and stretched, but before she could leave the room, stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, shoot! That was tonight!"
Carmen had a confused look on her face. "What's tonight?" Usually Rachel would tell Carmen every little thing about what's going on in her life, so for Carmen to not know was something unusual.
"Oh, just some boring family matter, but it's required for me to attend." Rachel tried to wave it off as nothing so that Carmen wouldn't get suspicious. But Carmen knew Rachel better than that. "I'll see you later, okay? You better tell me what happened during the ball, or else." Rachel smiled then left the room.
Carmen attempted to go back to finishing her homework, but it didn't work out well. Thoughts of what this "family matter" was danced across her mind. After a moment, Carmen flung her pencil down on her desk and grabbed her jacket. She wasn't sure why, but something inside her told to follow Rachel; Rachel was never one to hide things from her.
The Night class was getting ready for the Gala, and Seiren couldn't help but dwell upon on her failure considering that Carmen girl. Kaname had been displeased with her for some time now, and that made Seiren displeased with herself.
"So what do you think Kaname-sama is going to do with that Carmen girl? She just can't stay out of trouble, and whenever we try to remove her by erasing her memory, she just bounces back." Ruka asked Seiren as they got ready for the night's Gala.
Seiren sat down in front of her vanity and brushed her hair. Ruka stood behind her and slipped on her dress.
"That girl is a problem for Kaname-sama." Seiren stated, more to herself then to Ruka. Finished getting ready, Seiren stood from her vanity and walked to the door of their dorm room.
"Hey! Where are going!? I need your help." Ruka shouted out after her.
"I'm taking care of some loose ends."
'Hindsight is twenty-twenty.' Carmen thought, clutching her jacket tight around her shoulders. The temperature was dropping as the sun set over the horizon, and Carmen had long since lost track of her best friend.
Seiren sat in a tree and watched Carmen walk around with no idea where she was. 'Too easy.' She thought to herself before dropping down and walking up to Carmen. "Are you lost?"
Carmen spun to the direction of the voice. "Seiren-sempai, I didn't see you there." she said in a relieved tone. She became a bit embarrassed once she realized that she was, in fact, lost. "Uh... I was looking for someone, but I can't find her. Have you seen a girl carrying a Christmas teddy bear?"
Seiren didn't let any emotion peak through although this was the girl that brought her so much grief. "Yes, I have. Do you want me to show you where she went?"
Carmen smiled gratefully; her nose and cheek slightly pink from the cold. "That would help a lot. Thank you."
Nothing else passed through Seiren's lips and she pressed on, expecting Carmen to follow.
"So you're dressed very nicely. Is something special going on?" Carmen asked. Seiren said nothing and didn't even turn around to glance at Carmen. The silence was bothersome, but Carmen did not attempt to make small talk again.
They arrived at a rather large building fifteen minutes later, where Carmen can see people dressed in fancy dresses -like Seiren's- entering. Seiren ushered her in through a side entrance.
"Are you sure she's here, Seiren-sempai?" Carmen asked, walking down corridor after corridor. While Carmen was relieved to be out of the bitter cold, something about the entire situation felt a little bit... off. 'But this is Seiren-sempai, not some random stranger. I know I can trust her.' she thought to herself.
Seiren eventually stopped in front of a small mahogany door. "Your friend should be on the other side."
"Thank you so much, Sempai. You have no idea what this means to me." Carmen thanked her. Seiren didn't say anything, but rather just walked away leaving Carmen alone. Carmen didn't think much of it. She turned to the door and slowly opened it. She peeked her head inside finding a crowd of people in fine dress who reminded her of Rachel's family.
Her eyes searched through the crowd before finally finding her friend. Or at least, Carmen thought it was her friend. She had never seen Rachel look so... behaved, mature, cold. Yet, there she was, dancing elegantly with another businessman. Carmen didn't think Rachel could even dance up to this point, when she considered all of Rachel's failed attempts at dancing with friends. Just passed Rachel, Carmen could see Rachel's father and mother, and to the right was-
"Someone brought a fresh snack."
Carmen had shivers sent down her spine from the tone of the voice. Turning her head, she saw a man who was dressed like everyone else, but his eyes seemed familiar. She tried to back away from the man, but instead bumped into another individual holding a glass of what appeared to be wine. The individual dropped their glass just as Carmen fell backward onto the hard tiles. She felt a sharp pain in her hand and looked to find that the glass had made a cut in her palm. At that moment, the music stopped and all eyes were on her.
"A human?" The same question echoed again and again throughout the ballroom. Carmen was slightly confused at the label, but her attention wasn't focused on the voice. Rather, Carmen's attention was focused on the glowing eyes of the man who had startled her in the first place. They were glowing red. The man licked his lip, and Carmen saw the sharp looking fangs poke through. Her pulse beated loudly in her ears and unknown to her, the ears of all the others in the room.
The man started walking closer to Carmen. His eyes filled with hunger. "I wonder who brought the human snack?"
"I did. And she's not a snack," snapped a cold yet familiar voice.
"Rachel-sama, you brought this...pet?"
"I did. And she is no snack, so get your eyes off of her." Carmen was lifted from the floor by Rachel's surprising new strength. "Akatsuki Kain, carry the human." Rachel ordered. Kain was only a few passes away and lifted Carmen up easily into his arms. Carmen took one last glance around the room as Rachel led them out, and noticed Kaname and Yukki standing on the other side of the ballroom.
The door closed behind them as they left the room. Rachel led them to another, smaller, empty room nearby. Carmen was placed on one chair, and Rachel sat in another. Rachel peered over at Kain. "Leave us."
Kain left the room, and Rachel's personality did a complete turn.
"Carmen! Are you okay?! What are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous it is here? How did you even get in?!" Carmen was ambushed by Rachel and nearly choked from her tight embrace. Carmen winced when she automatically used both hands to catch herself from Rachel's attack. Rachel then seemed to remember Carmen's injury, and sighed. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag." she mumbled.
Rachel lifted Carmen's hand to her lips. "What in the world are you doing, Rachel?"
"Healing you. A pureblood vampire's saliva has healing properties." Rachel licked at Carmen's cut before Carmen could pull her hand away. She watched dumbfounded as the cut healed right before her eyes.
"What's going on, Rachel?" Carmen asked slowly and softly.
Rachel shifted uncomfortably.
"Up until this point, my parents had forbidden me to tell you. They said if you were to find out, you would have to do so on your own." Carmen's gaze never left her healed hand.
"Wait. You just said you were a- ah!" Carmen screamed and clutched her head.
"Carmen!"
Different images passed through Carmen's mind's eye. Her, wandering around the Cross Academy grounds and watching Aidou-sempai interact with two day class girls. Getting ambushed in an alleyway on her way to spend time with her friends. Several other images flashed also; Carmen could distantly hear Rachel calling out to her. Then it all became so clear.
"You're a vampire. And-and- you've been lying to me for all these years-" Carmen trailed off. Rachel flinched.
"Carmen, please don't say you hate me." Rachel begged.
"I could never hate you, Rachel. We're practically sisters. It- It just hurts a little bit, to know you've been lying to me for so long."
"Not because I wanted to!"
The room went silent. Rachel wrapped her arms around Carmen.
"Just don't hate me. I couldn't bare it if you hated me because I'm a vampire. You're my best friend in the whole world."
Carmen hugged Rachel back. "I can't hate you. Years of friendship don't just wash down the drain. And- and I don't care that you're a vampire. You're too special to me for me to care. Just- never lie to me again. Not like this. Promise?"
"Promise."
There was a knock on the door, and Kaname entered into the room. Rachel's arms tightened around Carmen. "Well, Carmen," Kaname started out, "you have, yet again, discovered our existence."
Carmen used one of her hands to rub the back of her neck. Rachel glared at Kaname. "Mess with her memory again, Kuran-san, and I won't be held responsible for my actions." Rachel's cold voice was back.
Kaname merely glanced at Rachel before continuing, "You are allowed to keep your memories. This way you will be less trouble for us."
Carmen bowed respectfully to him. "Thank you, Sempai."
Rachel stood up and beckoned Carmen to follow. She walked up to Kaname, glared at him, and led Carmen out of the room. They left the mansion and went back to her room in the Sun Dorm.
When they entered Carmen's room, Rachel glanced at her sheepishly. "Hey Carmen?"
"Yes?"
"Can I spend the night? Please? I'm going to be in trouble when I get home."
Carmen laughed a bit before nodding her head, "Yeah, of course."
Rachel took off her shoes and sat on the bed. "You're the best, you know that?"
Carmen smiled and took off her coat. "You keep telling me that." She hung it up on the hanger and took her shoes off.
Rachel laid down and mumbled, "Don't ever leave me," and fell asleep.
"I won't," Carmen whispered her reply. As she watched her best friend fall asleep, a thought crossed her mind. 'I never did tell her what happened at the ball.' She, then, went back to her desk and continued her homework as her best friend slept.
Well what did you think? Nata: Shi-shi. I'm sick and tired of writing, next time, you are writing at least 50% of it.
^^;; I'm sorry, ok? I was crazy busy during the time we were writing this. Blame Chola, she dragged me into a lot of things.
So yeah, Favorite, follow, review this story and I will be a happy demon editor. (Inside joke, sorry. Nata gets it.)
Nata say bye to the readers.
Nata: Go jump off a cliff, readers. ;o;
Well that's not very nice. o_o