The sun was moments from rising when Subaru opened his eyes. He found himself in his bed, the last of the moon's luminosity spilled over him and across the floor board, but it stopped when it reached a shadowy figure.
Kamui was waiting patiently against the wall; his cold amethyst eyes were cautiously watching his brother as he sat up in a sitting position. Subaru caught his gaze but turned away bitterly.
Kamui step forward but denied as he stayed put at the wall, not bothering to move into the light and show his face. His face was darkened except for those eyes.
"Subaru. . ." Kamui finally spoke, his tone solemn. "What I did back there . . . I didn't want to lose you."
Subaru's eyes narrowed and gazed out at the window, the moon was starting to sink back into the clouds.
"You didn't know what you were doing. . ." Subaru murmured. "You were just being protective, maybe too protective." His hands clutched at the sheets, he stared down at his gloved hands and noticed that they were new since the others were damp from the rain. He was in his plain pajamas, but he always had to wear gloves to prevent the scars from showing.
Kamui closed his eyes and finally stepped into the light, revealing that his face and hands were dirty and that his clothes were rumpled up.
"I buried Mitsuki's body if that makes you feel any better." Kamui confessed, still keeping his somber tone.
"Where!" Subaru inquired his tone quite the opposite as it was raucous. "At the place where you killed her!"
Kamui cringed by the outburst but he shook his head. "She's buried under a tree in the clearing."
"You couldn't bury her in the cemetery!" Subaru exclaimed.
"The cemetery is where the church is, and I told you not to go near that place again." Kamui remarked.
Subaru threw the sheets off of him and he stormed over to the door, almost ripping out the doorknob as he angrily yanked it open. He turned to Kamui who didn't make a move, still staying at his spot under the dying light.
"What about her family? They can't see her as well? I'm going to bury her body in the cemetery, and don't stop me. I already forgave you, Kamui, don't make me change my mind." Subaru muttered and he slammed the door shut behind him.
The sun was climbing its way to the sky when Subaru found Mitsuki's body in a wooden coffin. He frowned, he wished that the coffin was in better shape, but at least Kamui put her in something. Subaru easily picked up the coffin and carried it over to the cemetery as quick as he could.
Once he reached a nice, empty spot, he started to dig a deep enough hole to put the coffin in. When he was done, he opened the coffin to find Mistuki's slowly rotting body. The wound on her chest was cleaned, but her pained expression was engraved in her face.
"I'm sorry, Mistuki. . ." Subaru bent down and placed a kiss on the girl's cold forehead as tears flowed freely from his eyes. He closed the coffin after taking one last look and soon covered the hole.
He placed a few flowers that he previously picked up and placed them on top of the hole. This was going to be her grave marker till he found a proper tombstone. After he did this, he clasped his hands together and made a quiet prayer.
A rumble, then a clap. A flash of lightening, lighting up the church. Lighting up the young woman who was dressed in deep crimson, a few shades darker then her short, curly red hair.
The young woman was praying, her eyes closed and surrounded by candles feeding dancing flames. Rain battered down on the windows, making it sound as if people were dancing on the roof. The wind howled, the rain came down harder, and the thunder was the steady drum beat. A perfectly unsettling melody.
The woman shivered. Her dress wasn't particularly warm, and the candles didn't provide enough heat to keep the goosebumps from rising on her flawless skin.
Karen Kasumi let out a soft breath, steadying her thumping heart in order to keep her concentrate. The pattern of her breathing echoed in her ears, making the storm sound as if she was hearing it from under water.
The church doors flew open, the wood slamming against the walls with great force. Karen's body jolted, and her eyes flew open. Wind wailed through the air, snuffing out all of the candles. Rain splattered against the cement floor of the church. A deep crimson...
Another heartbeat. Ragged breathing. The chattering of teeth. A violent flash of lightening shone the spotlight on a dark silhouette.
With reflexes born from her vampire blood, Karen drew her dagger from her stocking. With fire in her eyes, she eyed the silhouette at the door.
A ragged breath. A ragged breath that forced itself to calm. Two heartbeats. And loud enough that Karen thought it would send her flying- Three heartbeats. Three heartbeats. Two breaths. No humans.
The lightening flashed once more, along with another rumble of thunder, and the silhouette collapsed to the floor.
Karen rushed forward, and swallowed a bitter taste in her mouth. On the ground lay a fellow vampire. A fellow female vampire, black hair curled and matted and drenched, white skin cut open and oozing dark red blood.
A pregnant vampire. Three heartbeats. Two heartbeats. One breath.
"Miss, Wake up! Miss! Miss! Wake up!"
Eyelids fly open. Karen placed a warm cloth on the young mother-to-be's head.
"Good afternoon. How do you feel?" Karen asked softly, bending down so that she was face to face with the young woman.
"Sore... weak..." The bed-ridden vampire replied with a strained voice. Her eyes widened, and her hand flew to her stomach.
"Are they- are they-"
"They're fine," Karen said, smiling sweetly.
"Aren't you worried? Wouldn't most people have let us die? I mean... twins...!"
"I don't believe in such nonsense. Saying that they would be a curse. Ridiculous." Karen said, waving her hand and brushing off the superstition.
The black haired vampire smiled and relaxed, caressing her stomach.
"Where's the father?" Karen asked. The young woman looked down, her hair dropping in front of her face, hiding her eyes.
"We ran into some hunters on our travels. They attacked my husband and I. He told me to run, to save the baby..."
"Baby?"
"He doesn't know. Doesn't know about the twins... But... it's been a few days, and... no sign of him..."
"I'm so sorry..." Karen gently placed a hand on a bandaged shoulder, and the black haired vampire look at it, before smiling.
"Thanks. It's been a long time someone has treated me with kindness...With genuine kindness, not the type that people buy from the markets and think it will make them wealthy."
"...I've never heard it said like that before... would you like some water?" Karen asked, standing up.
"Yes, thank you."
Karen sat on a stool, watching as the young vampire in front of her sipped water from a mug.
"Do you think that you're husband is still alive?" Karen asked. The woman didn't hesitate before nodding.
"I am certain that he is alive. And I am not delusional- he is most definitely alive."
"But there's no way that you can be su-"
"Do you know of pentagram bonds?"
"...Yes? O-Oh...But you do not carry the scars on your hands, which must mean that you were the instigator!" Karen exclaimed.
The young woman laughed.
"Don't look so shocked. I do not know, it may be due to the fact that I am of noble blood, but my husband insisted that I be the instigator. Or it might just be that he likes be bossed around by a woman, I do not know."
Karen laughed.
"I choose to say that it is the first of those options." Karen said with a smile. The mother-to-be took a large swig of water from her mug and gulped it down.
"You know, I would too."
"My oh my, it seems we haven't been formerly introduced. I am Karen Kasumi," Karen held out a hand. The other vampire smiled and took the hand with her injured one.
"I am Sumeragi-..."
Karen continued to watch the young vampire with a soft smile crossing her rosy lips. She was about to go up to him till she felt a disturbing presence before her. She turned and saw a tall man with haunting amber eyes and a smile that resembles a cat that has murdered a mouse. He strolled casually over to Karen, taking steady steps that sent the beatings of her heart to race and her shoulders to tense up, but she willingly drew out her claws.
"What business do you have here?" Karen hissed, her eyes flicking to a bright gold.
"I could ask the same for you," The man stopped just a foot away from the woman. His smile not ceasing, especially when his gaze caught Subaru who was still praying silently at the grave.
"I heard that Subaru was hurt by his own brother . . . I can now see why. Such a pity . . . oh well."
"What do you mean?" Karen asked, her eyes narrowing. "Kamui would never do anything to hurt Subaru."
"Oh, so that's what the brother's name is," the man's smile vanished, being replaced with a grave expression. "It wasn't right for Kamui to do such a thing, after all. . . Subaru has such a fragile heart."
"Who are you! And how do you know Subaru?"
"How do I know him?" The man repeated in a more slow and humdrum manner, his voice without emotion. "Let's just say I was there on the night where we killed off a vast majority of you vampires and Subaru was one of those victims that I had fun torturing . . . well, he was probably the most fun considering that he was able to stay alive." The man exclaimed pleasantly, another smile slithering up, but this one was more psychotic.
Karen's eyes widened in shock but then she threw her claws at the man with such cursory that it would've been impossible for the man to dodge. Nonetheless, he easily grabbed hold of Karen's arms, giving them a tight squeeze as he lifted her up in the air.
Do you really think you can stop me?" The man asked. "Do you know how easily I was able to kill all of those vampires? They were weak . . . vulnerable . . . just like you." A strange, bird like creature appeared on the man's shoulder, glaring darkly at Karen as it flew up in the air.
Its wings were pitch black and casted a shadowy appearance that could completely cover the sky. It struck down towards the woman, but Karen managed to rip her arms out of the man's grasp and retreat back, landing gracefully on top of a statue of an angel. Her claws were intact and were ready to kill this man, or at least prevent him from going near Subaru.
She watched cautiously as the man - no, this man was too frightening, too intimidating, too powerful- the hunter walked up towards her, his arm extended out as a long, black sword formed. The handle had a demon eye embedded into it that twitched disturbingly as it looked around in a circular formation. The hunter gripped at the handle, lending the blade to trace along the ground, cutting through the grass with ease.
"Let's make this quick, shall we?" The hunter inquired, his focus was back on Subaru who went off to find some more flowers. He was completely oblivious to what was going on several feet away from him.
Karen jumped down from her stealth position and slid around some tombstones promptly as she headed towards the hunter. Her claws met with the blade, the impact almost throwing her off but her claws wrapped around the blade and were ready to break it. But the sword extended more and acted like a whip as it grabbed Karen's neck, the blade cutting through her neck.
Karen then used a powerful kick from her high heel shoe to retreat back. She hid behind a tall tombstone and lightly touched her neck; blood was meandering down and staining the collar of her dress.
She kept her breathing silent as she heard the hunter's footsteps coming towards her. Karen rushed to another tombstone, kneeling down as she tried to think of a plan to get rid of this man. She was about to get up and show herself, but then she felt another presence before her. The tombstone that Karen was concealed behind broke apart and a sword stabbed Karen in the back and tore through her bones.
Karen let out a gasping breath, clutching her bleeding chest. She reached up with the hand stained in her own blood and grasped the golden crucifix around her neck, praying in a rapid whisper, her claws scratching at her neck.
"Miss. Kasumi!" Subaru exclaimed, running up to the woman, a small collection of flowers dropping from his hands. "Are you alrig- oh my. . . oh my go. . . " Subaru eyed the gaping wound in Karen's chest with horror.
Karen extracted her claws before the boy could notice and she took hold of his shoulders. She brushed a delicate hand across Subaru's cheek, his eyes reflecting concern as he saw the cuts on the woman's neck.
"Subaru, please listen to me, I want you to go back to the mansion and stay there, just stay there with Kamui and everyone else. You'll be much safer there than anywhere else here. Please go, now."
"I . . . I don't understand." Subaru exclaimed. "What's going on?Who did this to you?"
"I can't explain now, please, go back to the mansion." Karen urged, her voice shaking.
"Miss. Kasumi. . ." Subaru looked more closely at the wounds but Karen covered them up to the best of your ability.
"I'm fine, Subaru, just go back to the mansion."
"You're dying! Unless there is a second meaning that I don't know of, that doesn't come under the definition of 'fine'!"
"I can't explain, you need to go back, now!" Karen explained urgently as tears rolled out of her eyes. But before Subaru couldn't do anything, the hawk like creature soaring above them descended, changing into a brutal sword, smashing into Karen's chest, removing all strings that tied her to life.
The blade retracted from Karen's body and she fell forward into Subaru's arms. The blade retracted, returning once more to it's hawk form, letting out a high pitched cry. Its cold eyes glared down at the vampire who was quaking with fear.
Covered in Karen's blood, Subaru got to his feet and ran from the bird who was now chasing him. But it was seeming to catch up to him, as if it was holding back on purpose and chasing him into a trap.
Subaru hurried desperately to the church steps, barging open the heavy doors. Once safely inside, Subaru gasped for breath that didn't seem to reach his lungs.
"H-Help. . . somebody. . . please. . .!" Subaru gasped, his eyes were suddenly covered by a hand slunk out of the shadows. A numbing sensation overwhelmed him and he slumped into the body of a priest, the only priest at this church.
Seishiro smiled softly, caressing Subaru's cheek and wrapping his other arm around the limp body. "I won't let anyone interfere with us, my dear Subaru-kun."
A/N:
Tsubasa- We're back~~ It's been forever since we last updated. All completely and utterly my fault. I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this fic yet! We're gonna update a lot faster now, because it's my summer holidays~ So... yeah! Drop in a review if you feel like it.