Author's Note: Woot! New chapter! BUT! Before I start ranting up here I must say that I'm utterly impressed by the 100+ reviews! Thanks guys!
NOW - onto the usual ranting! First, this is only a FILLER chapter. Meaning it's not that great. I hate writing fillers. Unfortunately they're a necessary evil...
I'm really trying to keep Zero in-character. It's hard.
I also added *time* in this chapter to keep things organized.
This time I'm going to reply to reviews at the end of the chapter so you guys can enjoy the story first =).
[Handguns and Second Chances]
-25: Missing -
"Sometimes goodbye is a second chance…"
Second Chance by Shinedown
-2:15 A.M.-
Running as if Hell itself was on her tail, Hunter ignored the icy winds that stung her face, reddening her cheeks. She had to get away, there was no other choice. Why? Because there was no way in hell she'd go back with Sister Katherine. Not after what she heard.
It was one of the worst blows she had ever received emotionally. Now the idea of viewing Sister Katherine as her adoptive mother seemed preposterous. The nun may have raised her but she also betrayed her in the worst way imaginable. Not only did the woman hide the death of her best friend from her but even implied that it would have been better if she were dead. Who the fuck says that?
So maybe her true nature was a bit of an inconvenience. But if Katherine knew of her bloodline from the very beginning and had a problem with it, why did she even bother raising her? If it were better if she were dead then they should have left her to die, out in the woods where her biological mother had left her.
Why let me live and then want me to die later? She wondered jumping over a fallen tree with the ease of a deer. Why – she jumped over another rotting log – why feed me all those pretty little lies?
Hunter jumped over yet another fallen tree but this time slipped on some ice. "Shit!" she cursed aloud as she flipped backwards. Her back hit the log with a dull thud, the impact causing her to cringe. With a groan she got off the snow covered ground and resumed her running. There was no time to brush the snow and dead leaves off her coat. She had to get away – away from Sister Katherine, away from the academy – even away from Zero.
A pang of emotion echoed in her heart and her breath caught in her throat at the thought of the vampire. A part of her wanted to run back to the academy, to shove him against a wall, to take control over him. She wanted him, it was that simple.
You idiot! She scolded herself mentally. He was a vampire, she was a werewolf. Maybe that didn't matter as much as the fact that he was already in love with someone else. What had she been thinking? Kissing him, desiring him…when she perfectly knew his heart already belonged to another. She chided herself for her stupidity and pressed on, the soles of her boots crushing twigs under the white snow.
When another branch snapped in the distance Hunter skidded to a stop. Straining her ears she listened for more movement but there was none. Was it her imagination? It must have been. After all she was beyond paranoid since she was running away. She had to keep moving.
With her nerves strung as tight as the wires on a piano she started walking. She was now hyper-attentive to the minutest of noises as her paranoia spurred her forward. She wanted to run but she also wanted to know if she was really being watched.
The wind picked up, swaying the bare trees, causing the grotesque branches to scratch at the starless sky. Hunter tensed, stringing her nerves even tighter. There was someone or something watching her.
She whirled around doing a three-sixty, her now silver eyes taking in the smallest of details of the dark forest. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she heard the snow crunch to her side followed by a low growl.
Hunter turned slowly, her gaze meeting a set of amber eyes. Before her, on its hind legs stood a large werewolf, holding a dead sheep in its powerful jaws. It was quite a gory sight. The werewolf looked like something one would see in a Hollywood movie, all muscle and fur, standing on two legs like a human but instead of hands it had two large paws and a wolf's head. Hunter instantly realized that it was a turned werewolf and not a born one.
The beast's fur bristled as another feral growl rumbled in its throat. It was threatening her.
A huge wave of relief rushed over Hunter. So it wasn't anyone from Cross Academy! It's that mutt that's been stealing sheep! She thought relieved, unafraid of the werewolf or the threats that came from it.
The werewolf released the sheep from its jaws, letting it drop on the snow like a limp ragdoll. It then lowered its head and snarled viciously at her, its hot breath a small cloud in the icy wind.
"I don't want your sheep, it's gross, I'm leaving," Hunter said to the werewolf and turned around resuming her walk. Even though this was the werewolf that was the reason she got shot that one time she had no intentions of getting into a fight with anyone or anything. Currently her priority was to get away from Cross Academy as far as possible.
The werewolf suddenly lunged at her. Hunter dodged with ease and looked at the animal annoyed. "Oi! Dumbass! I don't wanna fight you!" She yelled at it.
The beast snarled at her once more. "If you wanna talk then change into your human form 'cause I don't understand rahwrahrah!" She exclaimed dodging another attack.
Wait, didn't Lycian say that turned werewolves couldn't shape shift at will like the born ones? That once they turned they would remain in the gruesome form throughout the night only to return to being human during the day with no recollection of what they did? Hunter pondered as she continued to dodge the attacks. She wasn't sure as to whether her memory was correct or not. It wasn't as if she ever paid attention to Lycian or his talks about werewolves. She could only remember vague details of the lectures.
The werewolf's jaws suddenly clamped down on her arm. If she wasn't a wolf herself, her arm would have been crushed. She glared at the beast menacingly. "Pathetic," she growled and kicked the werewolf away from her.
Her raven tail unfurled from under her coat and her small hands were now adorned in razor sharp claws. She snarled at the werewolf, brandishing her own set of large incisors, ready to tear through flesh.
When the werewolf lunged at her, she didn't dodge this time but instead caught its mandible, sinking her claws into the flesh before bringing down the animal to her level and wringing its neck as she ripped its jaw apart.
"What a waste of time," Hunter muttered dropping the dead werewolf. She then crouched down to clean off her bloodied hands in the snow, her body returning to its human form. I hope they haven't noticed that I'm gone, she thought straightening herself.
A sigh escaped her as she turned to resume her walk. Hunter barely managed to take a step when something whizzed through the air and struck her. "Fuck! Ow!" She cursed as something stung her shoulder. Before she could inspect the cause of her sudden pain her head pounded painfully and she dropped down to her knees.
"What the hell?" She asked holding onto the ground as her world began to spin. "Aaaahhh!" She screamed from the intensifying pain. Her cranium felt as if it was going to explode.
Another silent shot whizzed through the air, this time striking her side. The pain was now blinding and she fell into the snow in a heap, her vision blurring.
Someone approached her as she could faintly make out a silhouette. "Well, well....just look at what we have here," a masculine voice said.
Hunter tried to push herself up with her arms but they gave out and she collapsed back into the snow, paralyzed by the pain.
"My, isn't this a strong one!" another male voice joked, his silhouette appearing behind the first one.
The first voice barked with laughter. "Hell yeah, two shots and the bitch is still up!" He said in a gravelly voice.
"Shit dude, look at this!" A third male voice said. "Bitch ripped his jaw apart!" He added almost fascinated by the gore.
"Fuck, that's somethin', she really gonna be worth a lot," the gravelly voice said again.
"Forget that shit, we gotta bag 'er up and get the hell outta here before someone finds us!" The second voice snapped gruffly.
Bastards...Hunter thought bitterly in her head before her mind slipped into unconsciousness.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-4:00 A.M.-
"Lycian-san! Lycian-san!" Chairman Cross whispered harshly trying to wake the sleeping teen.
"No mom, I didn't eat the cookies...." Lycian mumbled sleepily into his pillow, turning away from the headmaster.
"Lycian-san!" Cross called out again slightly shaking Lycian's shoulder.
Lycian chuckled into his pillow as he dreamed about watching Hunter undress.
"Lycian-san!" Cross shook him harder.
This time Lycian rolled over to look at the nuisance that was trying to wake him. "Huh?" He asked slightly cracking his eyes open.
When he saw the Chairman hovering over him in his robes and shawl he screamed. "Waah! What the hell are you doing here!?!?!" He exclaimed suddenly awake as he jumped to the other side of his bed, creeped out by the blonde man.
"Your mom just called, she wants to talk to you, she said it was urgent," Kaien said dismissing the rude response. He was already used to such behavior from having to deal with Zero.
"A-alright," Lycian said and got off his bed, following Cross.
When they made their way to the Chairman's Office, Cross showed him the phone and stepped out to give him some privacy.
"Mom, do you have any idea what time it is over here?" Lycian asked dully as he picked up the phone.
On the other end his mother sobbed. "Lycian!" She cried into the phone. "Y-your father and…and Gabriel..." her voice broke as she was unable to finish the sentence.
Lycian was now wide awake and alert. "Wait, wait, what do you mean? What happened? Tell me!" He demanded suddenly worried and confused. His mother was a strong woman and to hear her cry like this was alarming.
"O-our pack was attacked..." she paused as a sob raked her."Alex and Gabriel....they took them...." she paused again. "Your father...h-he....he was severely injured protecting them..." she then broke down completely, her loud sobs reverberating through phone lines, reaching him as if she was right there with him.
Lycian's heart sank down to his stomach. Alex was his best friend and Gabriel was his little brother. He slammed his fist against the wall. "When did this happen?!" he asked as fury began to course through his veins.
"Y-yesterday," his mother cried on the other end.
"How bad is it?" He asked referring to his father's injuries.
"He's in intensive ca-care…" she replied with a sob.
"Do you know who took them?" He pressed, though he knew he shouldn't push her too hard.
"Hunters…not from the association…" she said, her voice croaky from crying.
His jaw tightened. If the hunters weren't from the association it only meant one thing. The people who took Alex and Gabriel were poachers – the kind that hunted anything nonhuman for financial benefits.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," he reassured his mother. "I'm leaving the academy right now, hang in there," he added and hung up before she could protest.
"Chairman Cross!" he called out walking through the office.
"What is it?" The man asked utterly confused and concerned.
"Get me a car ready to take me to the train station – I need to go back to Italy. Something came up," he said quickly, walking out into the hallway with the headmaster in tow.
"Did something bad happen?" Kaien asked now fully concerned.
"Poachers took two of our pack members….one of them was my little brother and my father is injured – I have to go back. Please don't tell Hunter this. Just tell her I went back to take care of something," Lycian explained as he was already back in his room packing a duffel bag.
"Alright, I'll go get the car," Kaien replied understanding the magnitude of the situation and left hastily.
"Thanks," Lycian called out after him as he tripped over his pants trying to pull them on.
In seconds he was fully dressed and packed. Cross came by once more to tell him that the car would be ready in a few and to wait for it outside in the front courtyard. He thanked the man once more and was now making his way outside.
"Shit, it's cold," he muttered when the icy wind mixed with snow hit him. Taking a quick glance at the ominous sky he cringed inwardly. There was going to be a snow storm. Great…just fucking great…I hope the train doesn't get delayed, he thought as he made his way down the stairs onto the courtyard.
He shifted on his feet and looked around. Roughly ten feet from him he saw a tall girl with long blonde hair, kicking the snow. It was Ruka and she seemed angry.
"Hunter this! Hunter that! It's always all about her!" She grumbled pulling her coat tighter. "Even Kaname-sama talks about her!" she was seething with jealousy. "What does she have that I don't?!" she asked rhetorically, kicking more snow.
Lycian eyed her curiously. This wasn't the Ruka he was used to seeing. He found the situation mildly entertaining considering his circumstances.
"I'm sick of that inbred runt!" She exclaimed angrily.
At that Lycian chuckled, catching her attention.
"What's funny mutt?" The vampire asked in a degrading tone.
Lycian flashed her one of his infamous women-killing smiles. It was charming yet suave and at the same time slightly cocky because girls liked bad boys. "It's amusing to see you so ruffled…" he replied smoothly.
"And for your information, I'm not a mutt, honey. I'm a pureblood, so I think you should call me Lycian-sama and not mutt," he added with a saccharine smile.
"As if," she sneered crossing her arms over her chest.
He eyed her with mild scrutiny. The sound of snow crunching under tires told him that the car was coming. An evil thought came to his mind so he walked up closer to Ruka and leaned in close to her ear. "Oh, and to answer your earlier question – "he paused briefly as the headlights came up, bathing them in a golden glow, "– she has boobs."
Before Ruka realized what the werewolf just said he was already in the car laughing. "Don't stay out too late or you'll catch a cold sweetheart!" He called out through the lowered window, blowing her a kiss as the car drove away.
Heat rushed to Ruka's face and she clenched her fists. "Stupid dog!" She snarled angrily and stomped back to the Moon Dorms.
Lycian watched the vampire make her way back to the dorms briefly before turning around to face the front. He hadn't expected to run into Ruka like this or to catch her randomly fuming, away from the vampire nest called the Moon Dorms. Thinking about her insult towards Hunter made him sigh. Vampires…they think they're better than everyone else, he thought with slight bitterness. The teasing was fun though, he couldn't deny that. There was always pleasure to be found in ruffling someone's feathers.
"To the train station, sir?" The driver asked calmly.
"Yeah," he replied relaxing in the back seat and thought about his family. This was going to be a long journey. I hope you're alright Gabe...
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-7:37 A.M.-
"Zero?" Yuuki called out, her voice muffled by the door. "Zero? Are you up?" She asked, this time letting herself in.
Hesitantly, she treaded into the dark room. Small sun rays filtered in through the gaps where the thick curtains failed to cover the windows, allowing her to see. "Zero?" Yuuki called out his name once more as she walked up to his bedside.
The prefect was out cold, her words not reaching him. It annoyed her.
"Zeerrroo....wake up!!" She demanded more bravely now, shaking his shoulder. "You're going to be late for class!"
"Shut up, you're noisy," Zero finally mumbled before grabbing Yuuki and pulling her down onto his bed. He pulled her closer against him and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I'll feed you later..." He mumbled nuzzling into her hair.
Yuuki froze unsure as to what she should do. Zero nuzzled into her neck as he made himself comfortable. "You smell weird..." he said sleepily after a second when he couldn't detect the tell-tale scent of honeysuckle.
At that Yuuki snapped, shoving him away. "I don't smell weird! I showered!" She yelled hitting him repeatedly.
The hits woke him up. He sat up on his bed, catching her fists to cease her onslaught of punches. "Yuuki?" He asked groggily, confusion written on his face. "S-sorry..." He muttered letting her go.
"What was that all about anyway?" Yuuki asked agitated, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry...I was having a weird dream..." He replied even more confused as to why he thought she was Hunter and why on earth he pulled her down onto his bed. What was worse was the fact that his head pounded mercilessly.
"Y-you're going to be late for class," Yuuki stated slightly flushed as she was still embarrassed and left his room.
When she slammed the door behind her, he dropped back down onto his bed. "What the hell?" He asked himself aloud. His head hurt like hell, he was thirsty, had a cottonmouth and he mistook Yuuki for Hunter. Showing up to class on time was the least of his worries.
"What's wrong with me?" He half growled and got off the bed.
Yuuki was the one he loved and the one he wanted to be with. His attraction towards Hunter was only temporary from drinking her blood. It was her blood he wanted and not her. Or so he kept telling himself.
Zero dressed in his uniform and made sure Bloody Rose was in place. One of the benefits of being a guy was that guys didn't have to spend an hour in the morning to get ready. He took a quick glance in the mirror, fixed his tie and headed out to Hunter's room.
Hunter's room was empty and she was nowhere in sight. Strange...he thought but pushed it aside. She was probably in the bathroom or something weird like that. It was rare for her to be up this early but then again she did go ridiculously early to sleep the other night.
He made his way to her nightstand and picked up the assignments. Leafing through them he plucked out the chemistry one. "I'm too retarded to understand this chemical ratshit..." he read aloud and smirked.
The truth behind this assignment was that their Chemistry instructor never assigned it. He simply stuck it in there because he was suspicious if Hunter was actually doing her homework or bribing Kain and Hanabusa into doing it for her since, little to her knowledge, she was getting perfect scores on all of her assignments.
That being said, he got his hands onto some Night Class homework - a benefit of being a prefect - and slipped it into her daily pile of homework.
At least now he was reassured that the girl actually did the work.
Now where was she?
Zero shrugged the thought away. It was better this way. Who knows what he'd do if they were to be alone.
He made his way to the kitchen, chugged some milk straight from the carton to get rid of his cottonmouth and then proceeded to his first class, hoping not to run into Hunter.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-5:33 P.M.-
Hunter awoke with a pounding headache. She groaned as she rolled over on the hard floor, feeling sore in all of her joints. She then got up on all fours and stretched, arching her spine as a loud yawn escaped her. What the hell happened last night? She wondered scratching herself behind the ear. Wait...
She looked down and saw two large furry black paws. What the fuck?! She jumped startled only to have her back collide with steel bars. Why the hell am I in a cage?! Why the hell do I have paws?! She didn't know what to do with herself or what to do in general.
Eyeing her cage she noticed a metal bowl filled with water and on the top of the cage lay heavy chains and a large dog collar with inward spikes. She walked up to the water bowl and looked at her reflection.
Instead of her face she saw the one of a large black wolf with piercing silver eyes. Wah! She jumped back from the water bowl knocking it over. The metal clanked and water spilled all over the cage. Ah, great...just fucking great...she thought then eyed her paws once more. They were huge. She tilted her head and saw that the only thing she was familiar with was her tail.
Wait...so I'm in a cage...in a wolf's body....well at least I look like an oversized wolf rather than that thing I killed in the woods....and...? Her mind drew a blank.
Hunter mentally traced back her steps from the night before. She drugged Zero, ran away from the academy, killed the werewolf - and then - she was shot. Not with bullets but something more like a tranquilizer...or was it something else? And then she lost consciousness. Now that she was in a cage she could only assume she was kidnapped. But why was she in her full wolf form she didn't know she had in the first place?
Her sensitive ears picked up the sound of footsteps. "Hello?" She tried asking but the words only came out as a small bark. Ack! I can't even talk?!
A door opened revealing a relatively tall man with a three-day stubble. There were several scars on his rough face, the biggest one slashing vertically down his temple. The smell of chicken meat wafted over to her.
"How are ya girly?" The man asked in a deep gravelly smoker's voice.
Hunter growled at him. It was the bastard that shot her.
"Oh, got lotta attitude don't cha?" He asked with a sneer.
She only growled at him again, this time making her growl deeper and more threatening. If she could talk she'd cuss him out and demand to be released.
The man laughed and popped open a small gate in her cage and shoved in another metal bowl. "Eat up, girly, so that fur of yours stays silky," he said and backed away from the cage.
Hunter got up and sniffed the meat. It was leftover chicken. Mostly bones and a little bit of meat. You can't be serious and expect me to eat this? She wondered looking at the man as if he was crazy.
"What? Not good enough for ya?" He asked looking at her with disbelief.
In response, Hunter turned around and curled up in a ball at the back of her cage. She had no intentions of eating leftovers. All she wanted was Zero's steak.
Her heart suddenly ached at the memory. Damn it...she cursed, now aggravated with herself and her emotions. He's taken, she told herself. Besides, at this rate I'll probably never see him again, she thought as a wave of depression took over her.
"Tch, fucking wolf," the man spit and left, slamming the door behind him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-7:00 P.M.-
Smoke and stench of alcohol mixed with body odor hung like a pregnant cloud in the air. "Morgan on the rocks," Yagari said pushing an empty glass towards the bartender.
"Morgan on the rocks, comin' right up!" The bartender, a young man in his early twenties with a bad haircut, said and bustled behind the counter.
The vampire hunter sat hunched on his bar stool awaiting his next drink. He's already had a few but not enough to feel the effects of alcohol. Having had just completed an extermination job he felt as if he deserved a drink or two...or more.
"Here you go sir," the bartender said sliding him the whiskey.
Yagari caught the glass and took it up to his lips. He then took a slow drag of his cigarette, savoring the nicotine. A small group of rowdy men came into the bar, joking and cheering.
"Ha-ha! That was fuckin' great man!" One laughed, his laughter followed by an advanced smoker's cough.
"Fuck yeah, dude!" Cheered another from the group.
Yagari saw the three men take a seat in a booth behind him. They ordered a pitcher and continued to talk about something that apparently was awesome. He had no clue what that something was though.
"Man, just wait till Julio finds out about what we caught the other night! Guy's gonna shit a brick!" One of them, presumably the youngest of the three, said cheerfully.
"Fuck yeah he's gonna shit a brick. Fuckin' shitbag was braggin' on the phone yesterday sayin' they caught two pureblooded Benandanti, well big whoopdie-fuckin'-doo!" The one with the gravelly smoker voice said.
"So what're we gonna do with the bitch?" The younger one asked.
"Shit, I dunno, I mean...she a fucking Hati man, those are like almost extinct," smoker voice said scratching the three-day old stubble on his chin.
"Even if we were to skin 'er and sell 'er for the fur we'd make millions," the third one finally chimed in gruffly.
"Ah, but she's so fine, I don't wanna just kill her yet," the young one said in a tone that suggested he wanted to do some indecent things to this 'bitch.'
By now Yagari was all ears. They were talking about a female Hati wolf - and the only one he knew of in this area was Hunter. Was it really Hunter they were talking about or was there another wolf like her? He wanted to find out.
"She gotta tight little body like a dancer, man, it'd be a waste to just sell her for the fur," the young one continued dreamily.
"We can sell 'er for the fur or we can breed 'er then sell the pups. If we did that we'd never have to work another day in our lives," smoker voice said as he sipped on his beer.
"Yeah, but where are we gonna get another Hati? Or Skoll?" The young one asked doubtful.
"It don't gotta be a Hati or Skoll, any pureblood would do, they'd still sell high," smoker voice said dismissing his companion's doubts.
"And I tell ya we better just sell 'er for the fur - bitch is somebody's pet," the third one said in his husky voice.
"How do you know?" The young one asked curiously. He seemed to be the naive one of the group.
"How do I know? Bitch won't eat what we got on our table and you tellin' me she's no one's pet? She's fuckin' spoiled rotten, I tell ya," gruff voice said before slamming his empty beer mug on the table.
"Shit, Mikey's got a point," the one with the smoker's voice said. "If she's really someone's pet then it won't be long before they start lookin' for 'er," he added thoughtfully.
"Well it ain't like we can skin her now," the young one said. "It takes a week for that shit to make the form permanent in a regular pureblood - this is a fuckin' Hati we're talking about!" He added heatedly.
"Got that right," gruff voice replied.
"I say we fight 'er till the form's permanent," smoker voice said pouring himself more beer from the pitcher.
"Aye, that gonna make us a shit load of cash too!" The young one cheered.
They better not be talking about Hunter, Yagari thought as he tried to digest what he just heard. He tried listening in on more but the three changed their subject from the Hati to what they were going to do with the money.
Feeling uneasy, he paid for his drinks and left the bar. He had to get back to Cross Academy and make sure it really wasn't Hunter that they were talking about.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
-Later That Night-
"Where is she?!" Zero snarled shoving Kaname against the wall with enough force to crack it.
"I don't know what you're talking about Kiriyuu," Kaname replied as the prefect held him up by the front of his shirt with the Bloody Rose pointed at his temple.
"Bullshit!" Zero snapped. He spent the entire day searching for Hunter.
At first he didn't notice that she was missing until he prepared her steak and didn't have her jumping all over him to get it. Normally, regardless of where she was within the academy, she would always smell the food so not seeing her then was really what sent him searching for her.
Unfortunately after the early morning snow storm there were no tracks left anywhere on the grounds or in the forests and she was nowhere to be seen. The only one on campus who would have gladly ridden of Hunter was Kaname, thus automatically becoming the prime suspect.
"What the hell did you do with her?" he growled, pushing the gun's muzzle harder against Kaname's temple.
"I didn't do anything!" Kaname retorted with annoyance, this time using his powers to shove Zero away.
"Zero! Kaname-sempai!" Yuuki yelled running in. She was scared of them fighting. "Please! Stop this!" She begged with urgency as she tugged on Zero's arm to keep him from lunging at the pureblood.
Zero threw a quick sharp look at Yuuki then put his gun back in its rightful place. "If you had anything to do with this I promise you I will kill you," he said to the pureblood venomously and left.
Walking out of the Moon Dorms he ignored the death glares he received from the other vampires. He knew that Kaname hated Hunter because he paid more attention to her than to Yuuki. It wasn't as if he did that by choice. The Chairman assigned him to "watch-duty" over Hunter and he was simply doing his job. Besides, if Kaname really wanted to protect Yuuki why didn't he watch over her himself?
Or was it all to torture him? To be beside Yuuki and to never be able to tell her how he felt because she already loved Kaname did in fact torment him. But was that bastard sadistic enough to get rid of Hunter because she messed up his plans a little?
That, he didn't know.
And out of all times that Lycian could have actually been useful, he had to go back to Italy. Could Hunter have gone to Italy with Lycian? Cross said that he left alone. Either way, contacting Lycian was his best shot.
Zero made his way back to the main building and walked into the Chairman's Office. "Do you have Lycian's number?" He asked the blonde man.
"Yes...do you miss him already?" Kaien joked handing him the werewolf's number scribbled on a piece of paper. He had yet to be informed of Hunter's disappearance.
"No," Zero replied flatly, snatching the number from him. He picked up the receiver and dialed the long number.
"What is this about?" Cross asked getting serious.
Zero listened to the rings. "Hunter's missing," he told the headmaster bluntly.
"What? What do you mean Hunter's missing?" Cross demanded, his face full of fatherly concern.
"Hello?" Came Lycian's voice on the other end.
"Lycian?" Zero asked ignoring the Chairman's inquisition.
"Yeah?" Lycian replied, his voice tired as if he hadn't slept in a while.
"It's Zero," he said into the receiver.
"Oh hey buddy, you missed me already?" Lycian asked as his voice lifted in tone.
"No, is Hunter with you?" The prefect asked casually. What's with them thinking he missed the guy?
"Uh, no, why would she? I left at four in the morning and just got home. Thought I was gonna get motion sickness from those bullet trains dude," the werewolf said casually with a small laugh. "Is everything okay?" He asked when Zero didn't say anything.
A knock resounded on the door catching both Zero's and the Chairman's attention.
"Come in," Cross said wondering who would be coming to see him at this hour.
The door opened and Yagari came in with a strange expression on his face.
"Yagari-san!" Cross exclaimed genuinely surprised to see his old friend.
"I hope your wolf isn't missing," Yagari said grimly.
Is it me or does this chapter feel like there's something missing? And I don't mean Hunter, lol. I don't know, but I feel like I missed something...
Anyhow, lorraine019 gave me an unusual request - draw a picture of Hunter. I'm considering it so I might do it. It might take some time as the closest thing I have ever drawn to a human was a stick figure but I'll give it a shot!
Haimaru - I have absolutely no idea why VK characters lick their victims before biting them. And yes, you're absolutely right, Dracula just chomped down on them like Hunter on a steak. Heh, maybe they lick them to clean their necks? Like 'lemme lick that dirt off your neck darlin' so it doesn't taint the taste of your blood....' ???? Or is it a fetish??? o_O
To everyone else: I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story. I'm trying my best to keep all the VK characters as close to their original personalities as possible. I don't think it'd be this much fun if they all just jumped on my OC like a fat menopausal lady on a cheeseburger.
Aside from all that - I'm sure many of you are wondering why I got rid of Lycian and sent him back to Italy. Well, if I had him stay at the academy it'd be a lot easier for them to find Hunter and that would be no fun - AND - what's happening to him in Italy will be relevant to what's happening at the academy....it's like killing two birds with one stone.
Now, a million dollar question to all writers who are reading this - has story research ever ruined a potential story? Like, have you guys ever had this great idea for a story and then started doing research for it only to find out something that completely ruined your story? Or am I the only one?