~O~

"Zoran! Zoran, wait up!" Loran called out to his brother. Zoran stopped walking and turned around. Loran noticed that Zoran had covered his face up again with the overly-long neck of his shirt. It had surprised the gray-haired Vampire when he saw his brother with his face and fangs exposed earlier; Zoran never uncovered his face.

"What is it?" Zoran asked, his voice a bit colder than Loran was accustomed to. But Loran ignored that hostility in his brother's voice and said, "I was just checking on you. You weren't acting like yourself back there….." Zoran's behavior back in the main room and in Sinclair's study had been completely out of character from what Loran was used to seeing.

Loran was used to seeing his brother hide in the shadows and make himself scarce. But Zoran actually getting into a fight had been a total shock to him. Loran placed a supportive hand on his brother's shoulder and said, "If there's something wrong, you can tell me. You know that, Zoran. I'm here to help you if you ever need it."

Loran knew he was the only person, other than Alucard, that Zoran trusted enough to confide in. So, it was somewhat hurtful to the gray-haired Vampire to know that his own brother, his own flesh and blood, wasn't coming to him for help when he so obviously needed it. Zoran glanced down at Loran's hand on his shoulder, and brushed it off.

"I don't need any help," he said bitterly and started walking down the hall again. Loran stood there, rooted in his place for a moment while the shock wore off. When he fell back to his senses, he chased after Zoran again. "Zoran! Stop! Talk to me!" he said and stood in front of his brother, blocking his path of travel down the hallway.

Loran didn't like seeing his brother like this. Zoran narrowed his uncovered eye at Loran and said harshly, "Alright, I'll talk. I'm sick of all this." Loran staggered back a bit from surprise, but also to give his brother some space; it was quite obvious he needed it at the moment.

"What do you me, Zoran?" the gray-haired Vampire asked. Zoran began to laugh, something that Loran hadn't heard his brother do in many years, and said, "Everything. I'm sick of everything. I'm sick of these monsters that I am forced to live around, all because you think I am unable to hold my own and take care of myself in the world that you try to shelter me from, while you let people walk all over you in an attempt to peacefully make that damn world for me."

Loran was speechless. He had never seen this side of Zoran; the only side he had seen, was the docile, frightened side that had been there since they were kids.

Zoran began to shake his head and said, "Well, you know what? I'm tired of sitting by and waiting for you to create that world for me to live in with your naïve methods. I've known for years that this world will never change. It will always be cruel and unforgiving, just like it is to that human that was Turned by Sinclair, the one that you wanted to save from being needlessly killed, when in all actuality he's done more damage to himself by living."

Zoran's words then struck Loran; he was talking about Shun. "What do you mean?" Loran asked, trying to figure out what his brother was talking about, "What about Shun?" Zoran shot a disapproving glare at his brother and said, "Always so clueless to the world, brother. You only see it the way that you want, and that leaves you blind while I see it for what it has always been. If you weren't so ignorant, you would have been able to notice how that monster…..Shun…..Has been destroying himself all this time."

Loran was still shocked by all of the things Zoran was saying, but he was pushing them to the side. Right now, he wanted to know what was wrong with Shun. "What do you mean? Is he sick or something?" the gray-haired Vampire asked, but his question only seemed to earn him a chuckle from Zoran.

His brother's expression fell to one of seriousness as he said, "He's been sneaking into the supply rooms, stealing blood mixtures to feed his addiction that's been slowly eating away at him." Loran felt his eyes widen. He thought about all of the times that Shun suddenly fell ill, or would act strange.

The gray-haired Vampire had always just attributed it to something like stress of the weight that had been placed on the raven-haired teen's shoulders so suddenly. Addiction was the last thing that had crossed his mind, and now that he knew the truth, Loran couldn't help but agree with his brother's statement about him being ignorant to the world.

It was true; Loran only saw what he wanted to see. "Oh, God," he said under his breath. Loran knew he had to tell Sinclair this. They had to try and help Shun. But Loran became worried at what Sinclair might do to Shun when the Vampire Lord discovered that he had been stolen from.

He decided not to dwell on that thought for very long. Loran looked back up at his brother and told him, "I didn't think you felt like that about all of this." He motioned to the cavernous walls around him. Loran had thought that the enclave and being under Sinclair's watch was the best thing possible for his brother.

He knew that in the Clan that Zoran would be safe, shielded from the world that always hurt him. Loran couldn't have been more wrong.

Zoran frowned and said coldly, "You'd know if you bothered to ever ask me what I really wanted, rather than taking my life into your own hands and doing what you thought I wanted. But I've had enough of that. I'm not going to stand in the shadows anymore and back down like the helpless soul you've made me out to be. I'm tired of standing down and being viewed as weak and helpless. No more. I'm going to fight back from now on. I'm going to make my own world worth living in on my own with my own methods, not yours, brother."

Zoran walked around a stunned Loran and didn't say another word as he vanished from sight down the hallway. Loran, still shocked, leaned against the wall and tried to absorb what had just happened. Had he really been wrong in what he was trying to do for Zoran?

Had he done more damage than help? Loran didn't know anymore. All of the things he had done all these years had been in the best intentions, in the name of helping his brother.

Loran ran a hand through his gray hair and pushed himself off the wall. He then began to walk down the hall, in the opposite direction of his brother, to find Sinclair and inform the Vampire Lord about the dark discovery that he had just learned from Zoran.

~O~

Alice had jumped when her phone suddenly began to ring and buzz on the nightstand. At the time, she had been gathering her dirty clothes so Kato could take them and wash them, so she had an armful of shirts and pants in her hands.

Alice quickly sat the clothes down on her bed and picked up her phone. She felt her breath hitch; the caller ID was from her back-up phone. Shun, she thought to herself and unconsciously brought her hand up to her neck and touched the location of the two puncture wounds.

She snapped back into focus and answered the call. "Hello?" she said and sat down on her bed, beside the mountain of clothes. "Hey," Shun said back. Alice noticed his voice didn't sound as steady as it usually was. She felt her concern build and she asked, "Is everything alright?" There was a short pause before Shun responded back.

"Not exactly…," he said softly through the other side of the phone. Alice stood up and began to pace around her room, a habit that she had whenever she knew she would be on the phone for a while. "What's wrong?" she asked as she trailed her hand along the wooden surface of a dresser.

This was the reason she had given Shun her back-up cellphone, just in case a time rose when something was wrong, or if he just wanted somebody to talk to. And at the moment, it seemed like it had been a really good idea.

She heard Shun take in a deep breath before he finally said, "There's…..There's a lot going on where I'm at, too much for me to really go into detail on…..And I really…..I really need to get my mind off of those things before I snap….."

Alice felt her heart ache for Shun. He sounded so tormented, so hurt; she couldn't even begin to imagine what was happening to him now. "You can tell me what's wrong, Shun," Alice told him, even though she was sure he already knew that. She half-expected there to be another pause in their conversation, but she was proven wrong when Shun told her, "I….I was kind of hoping to see you tonight….Walk around the city and get some fresh air to help and clear my mind, you know…."

Alice tensed up. "Tonight? You mean…..In the city….At night?" she asked and suddenly felt like that was the stupidest thing that could have come out of her mouth. Of course he meant at night. But that wasn't exactly what she was getting at.

"Yes," Shun replied. Alice made her way over to her window and glanced at the cityscape and at the setting sun. "But, Shun, there's Vam-" She cut herself off before the rest of the word could escape her lips. He finished the sentence for her.

"Vampires, I know. But I promise you they won't hurt you as long as you're with me. I won't let them hurt you," he told her. And Alice knew he meant it. He would keep her safe from the creatures that threatened innocent people at night. But she was still apprehensive about going out into the city at night; it just wasn't safe. Alice hadn't realized that she had been silent for a while until she heard Shun's voice again.

"Please, Alice," he begged through the phone. He wanted to see her. He wanted to talk to her. Who was she to deny him such a simple request? Alice touched the puncture wounds on her neck, which were still covered with a band-aid, and said, "Alright, Shun. But we'll have to meet up after the others go to bed, or else they won't let me leave." Alice could almost see the smile that she knew Shun had on his face.

"Alright. We'll meet up at the park….And, Alice…..Thank you," he told her before hanging up the phone and ending the call. Alice slowly lowered her phone down and stared at her home screen's wallpaper of her, Runo, and Julie.

She locked the screen and brought the phone up to her chest and held it close as she thought about what she had just agreed to. She was going to go out into the city, at night, the time when the Vampires roamed about and killed any living thing that moved.

But I'll have Shun with me. He'll keep me safe, Alice reassured herself. She did feel safe with Shun beside her, she always had. She thought back to several nights ago, after she had allowed him to take her blood, and how that had been the first night Alice felt secure enough to turn the lights out in her room since the killings began.

She knew as long as Shun was with her, nothing bad would happen, that he wouldn't allow anything to lay a hand on her. With those reassuring thoughts in her mind, Alice told herself that she should enjoy the night. Not only was her little outing going to be for Shun's benefit, but also for her own.

It would give her a chance to get out of the house that had started to feel too small. She could breathe in fresh air from somewhere other than the windows. The thought brought a smile to her face.

Alice set her phone back on her nightstand and went over to her bed, where she scooped up the pile of clothes that she had been holding onto when her phone rang. She held the wrinkled shirts and pairs of jeans tightly in her arms as she left from her room and carried them downstairs to the Marakura's laundry room.

~O~

"What?" Sinclair said in disbelief. Loran stood in front of the desk that the Vampire Lord sat behind and nodded slowly. "You heard me right, Sir. Shun's been breaking into the supply room and taking blood mixtures for his own use," Loran repeated.

Sinclair ran a hand through his golden hair, which had begun to feel thinner the past couple of days from all of the stress, or it might have just been his own imagination. Alucard folded his arms over his chest and said, "I've noticed something has been up with him as of late, but I couldn't figure out what. I suppose I thought like everyone else and assumed it was nothing but stress weighing him down."

Sinclair glanced back at Loran. The Vampire Lord had taken notice of the grim expression that Loran had worn upon entering the study, and he had a feeling that expression wasn't from finding out about Shun's addiction. But Sinclair didn't want to pry in the affairs of the gray-haired Vampire just yet; he'd wait till later to do that.

Loran took a deep breath and wore a determined expression like he usually had on and said, "We need to help Shun. He's become too much of a valuable asset for us to lose now, especially seeing as we're getting ready for our confrontation with Alexander." Sinclair's lips turned down into a frown.

He shook his head and told Loran, "I'm afraid we can't do that right now." Loran's raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why not, Sir? We can't afford to wait too much longer to get him help. If we do, we might not be able to do anything for him," the gray-haired Vampire said frantically.

As if on cue, Alucard spoke up and said, "He's gone. I went to bring him here to the study so he could speak with Sinclair, and he's not in his room. He's not anywhere in the enclave, and we haven't the slightest idea as to where he has gone."

Sinclair nodded grimly and added, "So, all we can do is wait till he returns to the enclave to confront him." Loran sighed heavily and sat down in a chair; the Vampire looked immensely worn out. Alucard leaned against Sinclair's desk and asked, "Would cleansing Shun's blood even help at this point?" Sinclair thought about it. If Shun had been stealing and using the blood mixtures for as long as Loran told them, then there would be a decent build-up in the raven-haired teen's bloodstream.

And their method for cleaning out impurities from a Vampire's blood, via transfusion through IV line, was questionable at this point. Sinclair thought about how they cleaned out the dose of Alexander's drug that had been forced into Shun.

That had only been one shot, and it had taken a while to get all of the drug out of his system. Sinclair didn't even want to think about how long removing this much of the drug it would take. They were looking at days, maybe even weeks till the raven-haired teen was remotely better.

"All we can do is wait and see how all of this plays out," Sinclair stated flatly. The Vampire Lord then stood up from his desk, strode across the room to his bottle of blood, and poured him a glass. He tilted the glass back and drank it all in one go.

The crimson liquid warmed his body on the way down; Sinclair hadn't even realized he had been that thirsty. But with all of the madness that was going on outside, and now inside, of his Clan, he had paid himself little attention. As Sinclair poured him another glass, he didn't take his gaze from the blood as he said, "Alucard. Loran. If you two don't mind, I would appreciate some time to myself to think all of these problems over."

Loran nodded and left out of the room without question, but Alucard lingered for a bit. "Are you sure, Sir?" he asked. Sinclair's lips turned up to a small grin. Alucard…..Faithful, Alucard. He turned to meet the worried face of his second-in-command and told him, "Yes, I'm sure. You are dismissed for right now, Alucard. Go and get yourself some rest, or a drink of blood in the meantime."

Alucard appeared a bit reluctant at first, but he knew there was no point in defying his superior's orders, and left out. Now, Sinclair was alone in his study, and the silence was almost deafening; he had grown so accustomed to the sounds of panic and sheer chaos over the past several weeks.

Now, peace and quiet could probably run him crazy if he let it. Sinclair sat back down at his desk and stared at his half-full glass. There were so many problems stacking up in front of the Vampire Lord. There was the biggest problem, being Alexander.

Then, there was the matter of the Blight epidemic and the possible involvement of the Society, on top of the stress of training his underlings for the upcoming fight. Now, there appeared to be some discontent in his Clan, on top of Shun's deadly addiction that had just been revealed to him.

Sinclair sighed and stared down at the crystal glass of blood in front of him. His anger was boiling around inside of him, and he narrowed his eyes at the glass. Next thing he knew, the glass shattered, sending shards flying into the air; one piece flew past his face and grazed his cheek, drawing some of his own blood.

The crimson liquid in the glass flew into the air, splattering the walls and his desk. Sinclair brought his hand up to the cut on his face and wiped the blood away with his fingertips. He then stared at it for a moment before bringing his blood-covered fingers up to his lips, where he licked the blood off.

chapter title based off the song Falls Apart by Thousand Foot Krutch. Okay, so i came up with an idea for a sequel to this story, even though i wasn't planning on one. -.- way to go, overly creative brain.

It would just work out better if I made a sequel, seeing as I don't really have a solid idea of how to end this story, and I haven't done a sequel in a while; i think the last one I did was for my zombie fic.

Anyway, I have the full cover to the sequel on my profile, and the song that I'm going to base it off of under my Youtube links. Check em out. Read and leave a review on the way out. ~Copperpelt~