Author's Note: It's been a hot ass minute since I uploaded anything on this site, but I have faith I might manage to be consistent with uploading this go around. I recently graduated from university so I have more time for my hobbies which is nice!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight or any recogniseable characters or places. The JSS sentiment is from the walking dead and definitely not an original concept.

Warnings: If you know the facts of life, we should be good to go, but notable warnings for the story (not necessarily this chapter) are as follows: torture, kidnapping, experimentation, themes of non-graphic SA, swearing, self-harm, and scenes of a sexual nature. I will add as the story progresses.

Other than that, please R&R and enjoy 😊

Kaname choked on a silent scream, the dry skin of his lips cracking open as his back arched unnaturally off of the floor. Pain electrified across his nerve endings. His teeth clenched audibly as he tried in vain to keep his composure. In his mind, Rido had left him in control of his speech and body autonomy, wanting to watch him try to escape or fight back feebly in his weakened state, giving him a false sense of some control. Kaname was unsure what was a greater hit to his damaged pride: his family watching him writhe in the dirt in agony in his mind palace, or his physical body having been presented to them as a broken doll puppeteered with a lazy flick of Rido's wrist earlier that morning. Silent, paralysed- eyes dead like a corpse. Hopeless and resigned to his fate. A boy King, on his knees, not daring to even think of asking Gods above for mercy. He would not beg Rido to stop. He could endure this. This penance had to be done to protect all those that he held dear in the walls of the Academy. If Kaname could entertain him for long enough, Rido would stop looking for Yuki. His malignant touch could not corrupt her as it did to his mother. She had been a wraith floating through the hallowed halls of Kuran Manor. Her wailing a piercing shriek that as a boy Kaname had covered his ears with his hands to block out. A sound that he pretended not to have borne witness to come morning. Kaname was not the son she had birthed. But he was a good son, willing to pretend that all was fine, and not shatter the illusion she was so careful to master come daytime even in front of the servants, who would share tired smiles when she turned her back.

Despite being conscious in his mind, Kaname was acutely aware of the strain his physical body was enduring. Rido had been starving him. Keeping him on the brink of madness. He couldn't use a spark of his once infinite power to heal himself. All of the purebloods focus and remaining energy was concentrating on keeping the memories at bay, blocking out the most heart wrenching ones and painting white the faces of those in his memories of those he trusted and cherished most least Rido turn his sights on them and hurt them to torture Kaname further. Kaname's mind palace was once an organized fortress, but now it had been decimated. The infection of Rido's exploration had begun to rot the very foundations. The once clinical white halls of his mind place had now begun to resemble the dungeon that Rido had been locking him up in for all those months.

When Rido attacked the school, he had intended to take Juri's daughter for his own. Kaname had helped her escape from the school, her powers not honed enough to offer her protection from him. Kaname traded himself for the safety of the remaining students in a heartbeat. It was an offer Rido could not have refused. Kaname could not fault Zero for not sacrificing Ichiru to gain his full powers and take down Rido with them. There was nothing that Kaname would not do for his family. And so, they had left the Academy without looking back, the pureblood was not naïve enough to believe they would not be returning. Rido had been happy to stay on the downlow and let them settle into a false sense of security for almost half a year. He was confident in his victory, cocksure that when they returned those who had chosen to remain, and fight would kneel willingly before him to spare as much life as possible just as Kaname had. Rido, Kaname was displeased to note, he had been right. Despite sending the human day class students' home and replacing them with this generation's finest hunters, no one had been a match for Rido who had been gorging on Kaname's blood to regenerate his depleted powers.

Rido enjoyed playing with his food, finding pleasure in presenting Kaname in shackles like a trained dog to the shocked eyes of his classmates. Kaname hadn't lifted his eyes to make contact with anyone as he was dragged passed them. The night class president had quickly become accustomed to the weight of metal around his wrists and ankles, the skin sore constantly and chaffed raw. It would bleed occasionally from friction and sharp points that Rido hadn't taken the time to file down. His displeasure primarily lay with the cast iron bar that had been forced between his fangs, which caused him to drool unsightly down his chin. Also of annoyance was the thick leather strap that held it in place which would periodically rip loose strands of his hair from his scalp. His hearing was in working order. He was all to aware of Aido's heart skipping a beat before beginning to race, Takuma's stuttered breath, Cross's growl, Zero's quiet exclamation of "fuck" had all but broken him. At least Yuki wasn't amongst the crowd. Rido noticed her absence almost immediately, scanning the faces of the students as his lips uncurled from a feral grin.

It was clear that the students had hoped Kaname was playing a part, ready to break free at the first signal and take Rido down. Hope died in their hearts, the light leaving their eyes. It was clear they did not know where Yuki was and did not believe she would return with their salvation either, hence their wayward hope in their class president. Misplaced they could see, but Rido wanted to show just how far from grace their leader had fallen. A click of Rido's fingers had broken the deafening silence that had settled over the hall. The students and teachers who had chosen to remain shuffled nervously waiting for immeasurable pain to befall them. A bewitching to overcome some poor unfortunate soul when he grew bored of playing with Kaname.

Kaname had dropped to his knees, the greasy tresses of his hair hung in his eyes, the cold seeping into his bones as his knees made contact with the concrete. A selfish part of him wished for death. Rido's chuckle vibrated around room his arms which had been raised to the sky in a mockery of the Messiah, came to rest on either side of Kaname's face. He cooed into his ear, one hand gripping his chin with his claws, the other at the back of his head gripping his hair and forcing him to bare his neck. Kaname feel himself cringe internally, humiliation threatened to flood his pale cheeks with colour but he forced himself not to react. He could feel Rido's hot breath on the sensitive skin of his jugular vein. It was a familiar feeling to him now, but no less unpleasant than the first time Rido's fangs had ravished his neck. He was not a gentle feeder, messy and inconsiderate in his technique. Kaname absently wondered if Rido was simply a sadist or if this carnal play extended to when others fed on him. The pureblood was inclined to think that Rido was too proud and arrogant to let his lovers feed on him, that he would view it as a form of submission. The smell of his own blood was pungent, it smelled malnourished and was laced with fear. His stomach threatened to turn, and he wondered if Rido was enjoying the taste despite the staleness, knowing that he was the cause of it. Or if the enjoyment arose simply from the power play of dominating him to his will.

Looking from a distraction, Kaname let curiosity betray him. His eyes flickered briefly over a select few in the crowd. His followers faces betrayed their righteous anger, but they too kept their heads bowed, not out of the respect that Rido sought, but because they couldn't bear to watch the defilement of their leader. To Rido, it must have sounded like applause. The hunters who had been stationed at Cross Academy since Kaname left had far less reservation with gawking at the display. Their disgust at the nature of feeding would have been no less had it been any other vampire. To them, all vampires were beast in human form, and it was their job to exterminate such monstrosities. Fear of vampires, death and the unknown had long since been trained out of them, the only fear they had was Rido biting them and turning them into the very thing they hunted. Cross look unperturbed but to those who knew him well the blank expression spoke a thousand words. Strain could be seen in the slight twitch of tension in his brow, and clench of his jaw. Unlike his comrades, Cross was a man cultured on vampire society. He knew the intimacy of feeding was reserved for family, for lovers. He was watching a violation of one of his children, as all the students were, in front of an audience that should never have borne witness to it. And he was powerless to stop it.

Rido did not bother to close the bite his fangs had made. The puncture wounds bled heavily, red liquid trailing down and staining the fabric of his clothes. Kaname didn't care to wipe it away. The scent was a becoming a distraction for the night class whose instincts told them to kill for a taste of pure blood, but their morals recoiled at the thought. Zero was also affected, knowing first-hand how rich Kaname's blood tasted, the explosion it caused as it heightened his senses with one drop. He could understand how vampires drove themselves to madness after being exposed to such a drug and the withdrawal that came after the high. What he could not understand was Rido's unnecessary cruelty. Even whilst Kaname and he had been at each other's throats, he had to admit that Kaname was always gentle with him in those moments he had to feed. Patting his hair and being a solid unwavering presence when it got to much. There was always a soft unreadable look in his eye when he held him that Zero wished he'd tried harder to discern. The prefect longed to be able reassure Kaname that he would get through this just as Kaname had always done with him on those long nights. 'JSS' Zero thought, willing Kaname to hear him. 'Just survive somehow,' he prayed.

Without Rido's hand tugging roughly on the strands of his hair Kaname's head whilst feeling like it was stuffed full of cotton wool, became too heavy for his neck to support. He keeled over, his face hitting the stone with a resounding smack. Shiki cried out on his behalf, wanting to make a run for his cousin but knowing he couldn't risk drawing his father's attention to him anymore than he already had.

A buzzing rang in Kaname's ears. He felt drunk, woozy, and nauseous, vision swimming and coming in and out of focus. He could hear Rido addressing the spectators, giving an impassioned speech mocking their bravery as foolishness. He reminded Kaname of cartoon villain, but unlike in those shows that he used to watch with Yuki as a child, he did not believe the hero was going to save them once the villain had revealed their grand plans in their speech. He questioned if killing his level E's had been worth staying at Cross Academy for. Was it worth their lives? They were no match for him and they knew it. His monochromatic gaze swept over the students, a smirk stretching across his features as he settled on Ruka.

"Ahh" Rido moaned appreciatively basking as she shifted uncomfortable at his attentions but trying to settle an indifferent expression on her face and failing. Kaname attempted to stand, a breath coming in sharp exhales with exertion. He felt triumphant at the small victory of getting his balance on one knee, but that soon faded as Rido kicked him hard in the side. The crack of his ribs blinded his vision with forsaken white light. He had lost count of how many times Rido had struck him, breaking bones with the same delight a spoiled child would after breaking the chalk that belonged to another child on the playground.

"Come here little dove." He took Ruka's answer for granted. Stepping on Kaname's prone form deliberately, an arm outstretched as he pulled her tightly to his chest. His arms found her waist as one would with a lover. Akatsuki was in the front row of students also. The fire welder's appearance was living up to his nickname "wild", looking like he had not rested since Rido's return. The washed-out palette of his face was accented by the burning rage in his eyes. The fire elementals hands were clenched at his side in a tight fist, his fingernails digging into the palm of his hand in frustration. The pureblood continued to watch him, Akatsuki becoming more and more murderous as silence ticked on. Everyone was hanging on waiting for Rido's word, inflating his ego immensely.

"Rumour has it that your powers extend beyond compulsion. That you can not only put thoughts in people's heads but project what they are thinking." His index finger ran teasingly down Ruka's cheek, slowly making its way to the unblemished skin of her neck. A shiver overcame her, unconsciously pushing her further back into Rido's grasp and away from comfort. She forced herself to look up at him as she answered. She would cope, somehow, just as Kaname was coping. "Yes" she answered simply, not liking where this was train of thought was going.

"Good" Rido breathed out, the word ghosting along her skin, the fine hairs standing to attention. "I wish for you to show these lovely people just who Kaname Kuran really is." Arrogance oozed out of him at everyone's confusion. Ruka risked glancing out of the corner of her eye at her Lord. Kaname had always been a solid presence in their lives. Truthful. Fair but firm. He would be a great king one day. And whilst he had been understandably reserved with the majority of students due to the societal expectations that came with being a pureblood, with his inner circle this was not the case. They had seen more than a glimpse behind Kaname's mask of indifference, treating him like any other student which was always answered with a ducked head and a boyish smile when he thought no one was watching. Those he dared let close to him knew that he was far more human than anyone would believe. Rido paid no attention to concealing his amusement at the hushed whispers and sideways glances coming from across the room. Ruka did not answer, feeling that it was entirely rhetorical.

"You're not just a Kuran, are you? You're the Kuran. First of your kind. First of your name" Rido's laughter grew almost manacle. "Aren't you dear ancestor." Understanding dawned on them slowly, rats gnawing at their stomachs. Rido had somehow awoken the most powerful pureblood in history without anyone noticing. And now, he was under his spell. Everyone was aware of the ancestor's former glory as a warrior and leader, his accomplishment of bringing together vampire and hunter societies like no one else had dared to accomplish had stood the test of time. And now, Kaname was helpless but to do the bidding of a tyrant as his master commanded. Kaname looked defeated, the secret had been a terrible burden that he had never planned to share. His shoulders lost their tension as he sagged in on himself. He couldn't bring himself to look to see any possible betrayal from his friends that he had been lying too consistently. He knew that Rido was planning to extract has inner most thoughts, and his other carefully guarded secrets. He didn't think he had the energy for this trial.

"We are fucked." Kaito pointed out helpfully. Yagari slapped him upside the head for the comment. Zero wanted to agree with Kaito but wisely stayed silent. His gut told him it was going to be alright; it had never let him down before. Kaname was one of the most conniving bastards he had ever met. Zero knew there had to be a plan in motion in the background unknown to them, Kaname was too good a chess master to be beaten so easily. Kaname looked like the personification of abject misery with nothing left to give. And yet, Zero continued to believe in him and placed his faith in a man that he trusted and felt an indescribable connection with even though he didn't understand why.