Note: Sorry for the delay! I wrote most of this chapter like a week and a half ago but then ran into this weird "writer's block" where I couldn't write but didn't run out of ideas at all?
It was weird. Regardless, chapter 21 is out!
I apologize for any mistakes that may appear in this chapter.
[Handguns and Second Chances]
-21: Guilty-
"Send me to jail. I'm not guilty, but I'm used to it."
– Giacomo 'Fat Jack' DiNorscio (Find Me Guilty, 2006)
"When we do something wrong it is tempting to feel very guilty in the hope that by making ourselves suffer we can make everything OK. It is also possible by feeling guilty we in some respects try to draw sympathy or even pass on our guilt to someone else.
Quite often it is difficult to give up our sense of guilt, our mind likes to judge people and ourselves. The mind can be also liable to dwell on the negative side of things. If we identify ourselves only with our mind and thoughts guilt is likely to remain."
–Excerpt from The Hunger of Darkness and the Feast of Light, Part 1 by Sri Chinmoy
Sunlight filtered in through the curtains casting its glow upon the floor while leaving the rest of the room in a shadow. Kain's long arms were draped over the back of the dark red velvet sofa as he sat there solemnly in the late afternoon sun.
With the light casting shadows in his wild hair and accentuating all the right things he may have been quite the sight to an on-looking eye. Except the mirthless look in his eyes ruined the picturesque pose.
On the other end of the sofa Hanabusa sat leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. Fingers laced together, he stared off into space, the same look marring his seemingly angelic face.
"What's wrong with you two?" came Ruka's voice as stood in the doorway of Aido's room. "You're both acting like your pet hamster died or something," she commented eyeing their solemn expressions.
The depressed aura in the room kept the girl from walking in further as she felt it may suffocate her. Something was definitely wrong with these two. Kain was always more laid back so for him to lounge on a sofa all day was normal. But for someone as energetic as Hanabusa to do the same was quite abnormal. Besides, they really did look like their pet hamster died.
Kain suddenly lifted himself off the expensive piece of furniture and shrugged his white jacket on. "I'm leaving early," he said in a monotone voice, his eyes never meeting Ruka's.
"Me too," Aido chimed in following his cousin.
"Going to bury your dead hamster?" Ruka teased Kain as he brushed past her in the doorway, hoping it'd cheer him up.
Kain looked over his shoulder. "Stop it, alright?" he asked with an indignant expression on his face. Ruka was either being really stupid or just poking fun at what happened.
Kain hoped it wasn't the latter, but had to accept the fact that it might as well be. After all, it was seemingly taboo to have friends outside of their little vampire circle.
Without another word, or as much as even a glance, he walked out and Aido followed with his head low and hands shoved deep into his pockets – the stance being highly uncharacteristic of him.
Kain loved Ruka but there was always a limit to things.
* * * * * * *
He was tense. Nervous. Edgy even.
"Please stand back!" Yuuki yelled pleading as she desperately tried to push back the crowd of love crazed teenage girls.
The cold breeze swayed the bare tree branches. Even in this weather the devout fans were there to support their idols. Maybe if they knew what those beloved idols of theirs were they wouldn't be so obsessed. Or maybe it would increase their obsession further. Leave them thinking it romantic to be whisked away by a handsome bloodsucker into the night.
"Zeeroo! Help me!!!" Yuuki yelled, straining to keep the girls from trampling her.
The vampire heard her but her words didn't get through to him. Not even the annoying shrieking and 'kyaas' got to him. In his mind he was somewhere else, where under the silver light of the moon blood stained the perfect white snow. It was his fault. The bullet should have hit him, not her.
The gates creaked on their hinges as they always did. Someone needed to oil those damn things. An outburst of fanatic screams followed the creak only to be cut in half.
Whispers erupted among some of the girls. "Where's Aido-sempai?" one girl asked confused and disappointed, her question echoed by a few other girls.
"What about Wild-sempai?" another girl asked.
The whispers caught Zero's attention. His clouded eyes cleared as he surveyed the crowd. Aido Hanabusa and Akatsuki Kain were nowhere in sight. His jaw clenched and his teeth ground together. He knew exactly where those two were.
* * * * * * *
"Akatsuki-san, Aido-san…" Chairman Cross greeted the two vampires with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. Tired and worn, the man graced bags and dark circles under his slightly bloodshot eyes. The low light in the hallway cast shadows upon his face, making him look far grimmer than he really was. It was the visage of an exhausted man, an image that neither was quite ready to see on Chairman Cross.
They both gave him small nods in return. "So, how…?" Aido trailed unable to find the courage to ask what he really wanted to.
The Chairman's expression gave nothing away as he motioned for them to follow him and opened the door to a room. The scent of blood and antiseptics hit them hard. "Hey guys," Lycian greeted them as he rinsed a bloodied cloth.
The werewolf stood beside a dresser, upon which piles of wet cloths, some bloodied, were stacked alongside clean ones. He was rinsing a cloth in a large bowl filled with warm water, now stained red with Hunter's blood. His face slightly pale, he was just as exhausted as the headmaster was.
To their right, Hunter lay unconscious on her bed under a set of clean sheets. Her complexion ashen, lips chapped and purple circles around her once vibrant silver-blue eyes. "How is she?" Kain asked trying to breathe normally against the stench of blood.
"She'll be fine," Lycian said from where he stood.
"We worked all night and all day to get the bullet out and patch her up, but she'll make it," Chairman said from behind them.
"Hunter's still slightly feverish since she did lose a lot of blood. We transfused some from Lycian since his was the closest thing to what's in her veins, let's just hope it doesn't backfire," the man added tiredly.
"She's tough as nails I tell ya," Lycian chimed in dropping the cloth into a pile of other rinsed cloths. He placed his hands on his hips and joined the three men gathered around the unconscious girl.
"To be a moon-based wolf and make it after being shot with a silver bullet is really amazing," the werewolf said with a small smile.
"What do you mean?" Kain asked finding himself confused. He wasn't told that bit of information.
Lycian looked at him briefly not understanding the question at first. "Ah, you weren't told, I forgot," he said when things clicked. All the two vampires knew was that Hunter was shot and that it was bad. "Well, you see, Hunter is a moon-based wolf, meaning she responds to the moon and certain things associated with it – like silver. I know it sounds like an old wives' tale, but that's just it," he said.
Walking over to the dresser, Lycian picked up a silver rifle bullet, Hunter's blood cleaned off of it. "That's the bullet that hit her," he explained holding it up to the vampires. "For a wolf like her to be hit with one of these generally means death…" he broke off eyeing them. "But because our little Hunter is tougher than a coffin nail and because the bullet didn't hit any vital organs she'll be as good as new in a couple of weeks," he finished with a grin.
The way he talked about her was as if he was a mechanic at a collision repair center, summarizing the damage of a car to their owners and the process of what needs to be done. It was almost as if patching up Hunter was as easy as replacing the front bumper on a car.
"Basically her recovery rate was slowed down to almost a human's just because it was a silver bullet. If it was any standard bullet or even anti-vampire one, she would have recovered in an instant," Kaien added. If he hadn't been so tired he'd be having a field day learning all those things about Hunter's kind. An exhausted sigh escaped the Chairman's lips. A mountain of paperwork awaited him back in his office too.
"Ah, night classes are about to start, I don't want you being late boys," Kaien suddenly said after checking his watch. He ushered the two vampires out of Hunter's room like a nurse.
Looking over his shoulder he looked at Lycian. "I suggest you get some sleep too, Lycian-san, I'll send Kiriyuu-kun over to watch Hunter-chan," he said to the werewolf.
"Alright, I'll just finish cleaning up," Lycian replied and stuffed the rinsed and dirty rags into a large garbage bag with intentions of taking it down to the laundry room. He was hungry and exhausted.
* * * * * * *
Two days after the incident Hunter was still unconscious. It really wasn't much of a surprise, considering her wounds. Walking to their next class, Lycian and Zero made their way down a corridor. Yuuki and Yori trailed behind them, deeply engrossed in their conversation about the upcoming break. The winter break was weeks away but many students were already exchanging their plans for the vacation. It was only natural.
"So I'm really thinking of going home for the break," Lycian said to the prefect beside him.
The two have gotten closer but to say that they were friends would be a little farfetched. They got along and Zero became used to his presence. Initially he thought that the werewolf stuck around simply because of Hunter. To see him stick around even in the girl's absence was not something Zero expected.
Regardless, Kiriyuu found the werewolf's company far more tolerable than most of those around them. Sometimes he thought Lycian talked too much and had way too much energy for someone his age but he figured it was just his personality. He loved Yuuki and she annoyed him sometimes too. Nobody's perfect.
"I think I ought to go see my folks, y'know? Haven't seen them in months so I think it'd be nice," Lycian continued on, though Zero didn't bother to comment. Unlike Lycian, he really had nowhere to go. Cross Academy was his home and Yuuki along with her psychotic headmaster father were his family whether he liked it or not.
Then there was the issue of Hunter. Lycian even called his father about Hunter's condition only to be told that she would recover faster if she woke up and ate lots of meat. That really didn't help considering she was still in a coma. No one knew how fast she was going to recover or how much longer was she going to remain in her comatose state.
Looking straight ahead his violet eyes spotted a familiar mop of blond hair and a dark green shawl. What was Chairman doing in the hallway?
"Kiriyuu-kun! Lycian-san!" Kaien Cross called out waving to them.
Zero groaned inwardly. Shouldn't have wondered about what that man wanted. He shouldn't have even spotted him in the hallway, just ignored his existence. Maybe then he'd get away from the eccentric happy-go-lucky-let's-make-peace-between-vampires-and-humans attitude. As if that was even possible.
In theory the idea may have sounded good but in practice it didn't do as well. Humans and vampires had a predator-prey relationship. The only way to keep predators from killing prey is in captivity and by keeping the predator well fed. Satisfy the hunger and you satisfy the need to hunt. What the Chairman was doing was literally putting wolves and rabbits in the same cage. The vampires may refrain from attacking humans at the academy but outside in the real world the chances of things staying peaceful were rather slim.
Thinking that, he felt like a moron. A bona fide moron. If he wouldn't have denied Hunter her meat she wouldn't have had the urge to go out – and hunt. She wouldn't have gotten shot either, he told himself. Zero knew it was his fault Hunter got hurt. His ego and foolishness were the sole reason she was in a coma with a bullet wound in her shoulder.
"I need you guys to do me a favor," Chairman Cross said as they walked up to him.
Favor, great…Zero thought eyeing the former vampire hunter suspiciously.
"Sure, what do ya need?" Lycian asked earnestly. Sometimes the guy was too nice for his own good.
"I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on, so do you think you could change Hunter-chan's bandages after classes are over?" the blonde man asked pushing up his glasses.
"Everything we need is in her room, right?" Lycian asked jerking his head slightly to move the curls out of his face.
"Yeah, on the dresser," Kaien confirmed.
Readjusting the backpack on his shoulder Lycian grinned. "Alright, we'll do it, right Zero?" he asked looking over at the prefect beside him.
Arms crossed over his chest the vampire looked at them dully. "Yeah," he voiced, shoved his hands deep into his pockets and began walking away.
Lycian bid farewell to the Chairman and caught up with Zero. "I get to see Hunter's twins again! Score!" He cheered in a sing song voice.
Zero looked over at him confused. What twins was he talking about? "What are you talking about?" he asked the werewolf.
"Oh you know, her twins. Her bodacious tatas," Lycian said bouncing invisible breasts in front of his chest. "The big B.O.M.B.S! Don't tell me you don't want to see them! She's got the biggest watermelons out of all the girls in this school," he said like a hormone driven thirteen-year-old.
Not only was Lycian a werewolf but apparently also a pervert. No wonder he accepted the Chairman's request so zealously. Zero's brow furrowed a little as he wondered how old the guy next to him really was.
"She's only seventeen and she's already got a 34D cup and it's all real. Besides that, she's got star-quality looks, a smoking hot body, and a tight little ass with the right amount of booty," Lycian continued as he fantasized about Hunter's body.
"Really…" Zero said dispassionately. He never looked at Hunter in that way. He's already seen her half-naked multiple times and he wasn't as obsessed with her 'smoking hot body' as Lycian was.
Lycian looked over at Zero slightly surprised the prefect wasn't as enthusiastic as he was. "Don't tell me you're so gentlemanly that you never wondered how she'd look naked or that you never wanted to spank that perky little ass of hers," he said as he pushed open the door to their classroom.
Looking up, Zero noted that Yuuki and Yori were already seated. A group of girls huddled in the front of the classroom and gossiped. Some of the guys that sat all the way at the top were laughing while some students just patiently awaited the instructor's arrival.
"No, I haven't," Zero replied as he made his way to an empty upper row. He didn't like sitting around a lot of people.
"Oh man, you are one of those straight up gentlemen that do the whole 'respect-the-ladies' thing," Lycian said smugly as he followed him. "You honestly never thought about her like that? Damn," he added in slight disbelief as he took a seat next to Zero.
Me a gentleman? Zero wondered. No, he wasn't a gentleman, not at all. Being a gentleman included being nice to everyone, especially all women. Doing things like opening and holding the door for them, letting them go first and etcetera. He wasn't even that nice to Yuuki.
"I wouldn't say I'm a gentleman," he said to the hormone driven guy beside him.
"Then are you in love with her?" Lycian asked, his chocolate brown eyes lingering on the vampire as he awaited his response.
Zero coughed as if he choked on air. "W-what?" he asked finally turning to look at him.
"I'm serious, you two are pretty much glued at the hip and I think you'd make cute kids," he replied pulling out a notebook and a pen.
An image of black and white snarling fanged puppies with glowing crimson eyes formed in Zero's mind.
"That's a definite no," he said disgusted. "I'm around her because I've been forced into it since her day one here. There's really nothing to like about her either," he paused, memories of all the headaches Hunter has given him playing in his mind.
"She has the etiquette of a college frat boy, she's completely and utterly lazy, has absolutely no respect for anyone, says whatever she wants, cusses like a sailor, and honestly - I don't know if that thing is even a woman," he ranted enumerating just some of the things he hated about Hunter. But did he really mean what he said?
"C'mon, she's not that bad is she?" Lycian asked. He'd agree with Zero on some of the things, like her bad language, but Hunter really wasn't as bad as he made her out to be.
"Hunter is a petulant little brat," Zero said, his tone final.
That's some pent up anger, Lycian thought amused. "Does that mean I can have her?" he asked mischievously.
"Knock yourself out," Zero replied with a shrug though once again he wasn't sure if he meant what he said.
Their teacher soon walked in and the class fell silent. "Open to page two-seventy-five," the teacher ordered picking up a piece of chalk and began writing on the chalkboard.
This was the first time Zero was glad that the teacher showed up on time.
* * * * * * *
All chatter and noises gradually faded as Lycian and Zero made their way up to the floor where Hunter's room was. The sun was already hanging low on the horizon, casting a golden orange glow upon the world. Yet the warm hues did little to warm the freezing cold of the winter.
Turning a corner, the sun's dying light no longer reached them. Surrounded by doors on both sides, the hallway was poorly lit by small wall lamps that were mounted too far from one another, leaving pools of darkness in result. Zero's and Lycian's eyes adjusted instantly, they were night creatures after all.
Lycian could feel the tension in Zero's muscles. The guy had been stretched like a piano wire since the night of the incident. He knew that the prefect was blaming himself for what happened.
Probably thought it was wrong to talk about Hunter the way he did too.
But it wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was an accident. There was no way for him to stop the bullet. Even if it pierced him first.
The door to Hunter's room groaned on its hinges quietly as Zero pushed it open.
"Still out," the werewolf commented making his way over to the bundles of fresh bandages atop the dresser. It was impossible to predict when Hunter would awaken from her coma, or if she would ever wake up from it in the first place. It could be any second, two days from now, months, or never.
* * * * * * *
Blue eyes staring into the darkness, Hunter wondered where she was. She couldn't feel or see anything. Under normal circumstances she would more than likely be freaked out but for some reason the darkness was soothing.
Hm…am I dead? Or is this a dream? She questioned as she floated in the black world. If this was a dream she wouldn't be able to think it is a dream, she was able to deduct that much. Did that mean she was dead?
Her mind scrambled for the answer but she was too hungry to bother with something as philosophical as to whether she was dead or alive. If I'm dead I wouldn't be so fucking hungry, she thought finally. Ah shit, what am I then? She asked.
Hungry and in pitch black where she couldn't even see her own hands, neither dreaming nor dead, Hunter could only think of steak. Was this some sick trick Zero was playing? Did he lock her in some dark cellar?
The thought sparked an idea in her mind. If she wasn't dreaming and if she wasn't dead, and if there is a miniscule possibility that the damn fanged bastard drugged her and locked her in somewhere there had to be an exit. There always was. If there's an entrance there's an exit. Simple as that.
Hunter moved and began feeling around, only to find nothing. No cold ground or slick old cellar bricks. No warm bed sheets or old musty carpeting. I'm hungry, I want steak, she announced to herself. A rare fillet mignon sautéed in wine, tenderloin or a sirloin steak would be great too. A grilled New York strip steak marinated in bourbon and other spices for hours before grilling would make her day.
Drooling like a starved animal, Hunter recalled the first time Zero made her steak. It was done medium rare, sautéed in dry white wine and some onion and herb mixture. It was tasty, juicy and absolutely delicious. Would have been better without all the rice and wasabi on the side but it was amazing nonetheless.
"Zero, make me a fucking steak! I'm starving here you bastard!" she said aloud to herself. "No wasabi either!" she added as she drooled at the mere thought of eating a juicy fillet mignon.
Did you hear something? A voice echoed in the darkness. Hunter's eyes darted about curiously. Did someone say something?
A big juicy steak appeared before her. "Oooh, steaaakk…" she drooled reaching out for it forgetting the voice.
Hunter grabbed onto the giant steak with both of her hands and licked it. "Delicious, yummy yum, yum," she purred licking the steak. Biting into it she savored its taste. "Just like Zero's steak," she commented as the delicious flavor took over her senses.
I swear she just said 'steak' or something like that. The voice said again. Wait, what the hell is she doing? It asked.
Is she coming to? Another voice asked. Hey, Hunter…the voice called out. Something began shaking her shoulder as well.
Hunter growled. "My steak!" she snarled sinking her fangs into the meat. No one was going to take her steak from her. No one, not even if they were to threaten her life.
* * * * * * *
Lycian and Zero watched bewildered as Hunter chomped down on her pillow, growling and covering it in drool. "My steak, mine…" she growled gnawing at the pillow.
"Dude, what the hell is she doing?" Lycian asked watching in pure astonishment as she ripped the pillow case with her teeth.
Speechless, Zero had no idea what to do. They came in to change her bandages when she suddenly started talking in her coma slash sleep about steaks…and him.
"Hunter, wake up," he said shaking her unwounded shoulder.
The girl growled in response.
"Try taking the pillow from her before she actually eats it," Lycian offered taking a step back. If she was going to attack anyone or anything, he'd rather not be it.
Zero cautiously tugged at Hunter's pillow only to have her growl at him more ferociously. He narrowed his eyes. If she eats the pillow he's going to be in trouble with the Headmaster. With one hard tug he ripped the pillow from Hunter, making her teeth clamp against each other.
Hunter's eyes snapped open. "Bitch gimme back my steak!" she yelled infuriated at Zero.
Lycian burst out laughing. Holding his stomach he choked out between laughs, "ha-ha-oh-my-god-that-ha-ha-was-hilarious!"
Hunter looked at them confused. Zero was holding a torn drool-covered pillow and Lycian was laughing on the other side of room. A shot of pain suddenly rang through her right shoulder. "Aw fuck!" she cursed catching onto her wounded shoulder. "Ow, ow, ow!!!!" she yelled curling into a ball.
"Hunter!" both Zero and Lycian called out simultaneously.
Zero dropped the pillow and went to her side. "Hunter, sit up, you're only going to open up your wound," he said trying to get her to sit up.
"Aaaahhhh!!!!" Hunter screamed as tears formed in the corners of her eyes, though refusing to fall.
"Hurts like a biaaaatch!!!" she yelled in agony sitting up as Zero told her. "What the hell did you do to me?!?!" she demanded.
A pang of guilt struck Zero and his stomach sank low. Did she really not remember?
P.S. If I had Hunter "croak" then it would be the end of story. That's down right impossible when there's still real romance yet to be established.
Also, sorry for cutting this chapter a bit short. Initially I was going to make it waaaayyy longer but I felt like I was delaying the update and this was also a good way to end a chapter.
I already started chapter 22 so hopefully I'll finish it faster than the last two. No promises though.
Oh, and I know I could have made "Hunter's awakening" far more romantic by making Zero sit by her bedside and hold her hand and apologize for what happened and etcetera and then have her wake up and smile at him and say it's okay but that was just way to cliche for me. Overdone, is all I can say. Besides, I think this was far more in-character for them both.
Anyway, you all ought to brace yourselves for the next chapter. Hint: we'll find out who dunnit.