Author's Note: I'm so terribly sorry I've been neglecting this story forever! I hate to leave ppl waiting, but a lot of my time as of late has been devoted to my other fic Vengeance, not to mention hours upon hours of work. *rolls eyes* But anywho, at least I've been able to jam out another chapter. Hope ya like! ^_^
The room was presently engulfed by darkness, save for the blue glow of a computer monitor. A brown-haired boy lay asleep at a desk, his hand resting on a few keys, as if he had fallen asleep in the middle of performing a task. His upper body was bathed in the iridescent light emanating from the computer. All was quiet, for the time being.
Tai slowly began to stir when a picture of a mailbox flashed on his screen, and a computerized voice alerted him that he had received mail.
"Huh?" he muttered, his eyes red and partially swollen, evidence that he had been crying. They slowly fluttered open and hazily gawked at the screen in front of him. Tai brought his right hand up, which had been hanging loosely to the floor, and placed it over the mouse. He double-clicked the mailbox icon and watched as another window began to load up.
"From Izzy?" he mumbled, and began to scroll down the contents of the email. His eyes soon began to open wider at what he read. Tai glanced down at his watch. It was close to ten. He leaned back in his chair and reached for his phone, which was on a nearby dresser. His eyes scanned the rows of numbers, as he absently dialed.
"Hello?" he greeted, as the phone was picked up.
"H-Hello." Replied a shaky voice.
"Is Izzy there?" he inquired.
"Tai?" the voice asked.
"Yes Mr. Izumi, it's me." he quietly yawned.
"I'm sorry Tai," the voice came more rapidly. "I'm in a hurry, the ambulance just left for the hospital with Izzy. His mother went with him. I have to meet them down there…I…" he paused.
"What!?" Tai interjected, "What happened? Mr. Izumi!?" Tai waited fearfully for the older man's reply.
"Something attacked him." He said after a long lapse of silence.
"What attacked him? Is he alright?" Tai demanded, but somehow in the back of his mind he knew what had happened.
"I…I don't know." Mr. Izumi all but sobbed. "I have to go Tai, I have to be there. I'll keep you updated." He said and hung up before Tai could get another word in.
Tai stared at the phone in disbelief. "Dammit! Dammit!!" he cried, clenching his fists. He was about to throw the phone in frustration, but quickly dialed another number instead.
"Tai? What's up?" came the muffled reply from Matt as he waved for his dad to go back to bed. Mr. Ishida stood in his bedroom doorway for a few seconds before turning on his heel and going back into the room.
"What!? Are you sure?" he exclaimed running a shaky hand through his blonde hair.
"I'm serious man! The vampire got him!" Tai yelled into the phone. "I'm tired of this! I want Sora back!" he screamed hysterically.
"Calm down Tai, going berserk isn't going to help Izzy or get Sora back. We need a plan." Matt explained.
"I have a plan." Tai announced. "I'm going there right now! I'm going to get Sora back and kill that bastard!"
"Whoa, wait a minute Tai, I don't think that would be wise."
"I don't care! All I know is I'm sick of my friends being hurt by this son-of-a-bitch!"
Matt took in a deep breath, trying to mentally rationalize the situation. "Look Tai, you're mad, you're upset…just…" he paused, not knowing or unsure of what to say.
"No you look!" Tai spat back, startling the blonde on the other end. "Izzy sent me this information! This is how we kill him! If…if something happens to him tonight, I don't want his research to have been done in vain…" Tai became silent on the other end.
Matt's blue eyes scanned the ground, searching for appropriate words, but falling short of any.
"All I'm saying," Tai broke the silence, this time his voice sounding more reasonable than hysterical, "is that we've never gotten anywhere by just sitting around and waiting for the bad guy to come to us. We always faced them head on."
"I understand Tai." Matt replied.
"Y-You do?" Tai stuttered, somewhat surprised. Matt never readily agreed with him, at least not that fast before.
"Yeah. This is important. So, what did you have in mind?" Matt asked whole-heartedly.
"Well…" Tai hesitated, coming to the conclusion that rushing in, as Matt had previously advised, wouldn't be the best option, "tomorrow morning, we're going back to the cemetery. I think I know where that vampire is hiding, but I think he's got help. Izzy sent me this thing saying he had two brothers. I know Kari and I met one of them that day."
"Yeah, and T.K. and I, I think we met the other." The blonde replied, as if to finish his friend's thought.
"Well, the place where we met him, it was in this system of underground caves." Tai continued.
"You think they're hiding down there?" Matt queried, shifting the phone from one hand to the other.
"Where else? We didn't find any other place they could be." Tai explained.
"Alright then, tomorrow morning it is. I'll call T.K." Matt answered.
"Um…just one more thing…"he mumbled. Matt had to hold the phone closer just to make out his last statement. "…can you be ready in fifteen minutes?" Tai asked, his voice lowering considerably, almost into a soft whisper.
"Sure, but what for?" Matt responded, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm going to have my dad take me down to the hospital to see Izzy, we'll pick you and T.K. up on the way. I'm going to call the other kids, to let them know."
"Okay Tai, see you in a few." Matt said, as he hung up the phone. He stood in the hallway for a few minutes, clutching the crest he wore around his neck. He opened his palm and stared down at it, remembering why he had acquired it Matt tucked it back into his shirt and went to his room to grab some pants and socks.
The automatic sliding doors of the hospital opened with a shushing sound, as five sets of shoes entered and treaded down the hall towards the lobby.
Mr. Kamiya strode up to the front desk, where a young nurse sat, nearly falling asleep at her post.
"Excuse me," he said, lightly rapping on the desk to draw her attention.
"Oh!" she replied, rather startled and began to compose herself. "May I help you?"
"Yes, we're looking for Koushiro Izumi's room." He replied, glancing back at the four anxious faces.
"Koushiro, Koushiro…Kou…here it is!" she exclaimed, as her eyes scrolled down the list of new patients, finally stopping at the name Izumi. "He's in the ICU sir, I'm sorry, but you are not permitted to see him unless you are a member of his immediate family."
Mr. Kamiya's facial expression drooped in unison with the four teenagers standing behind him.
"Can we see his parents?" Tai asked hopefully.
The nurse gazed at his weary expression. It looked as though he had been up most of the night.
"I'll notify them for you." She said, picking up the phone.
A few minutes later, Izzy's mother emerged from one of the elevators located in the lobby. Her mouth gaped open partially, as if she were still in shock, and her eyes did little to mask her present condition.
"I'm so glad you all came!" she nearly sobbed. Kari rushed over to her and gave her a comforting hug.
"How is he Mrs. Izumi?" she spoke softly.
"The doctor's say he'll need some blood transfusions, but that he should be fine by morning." She said, wiping the fresh tears from her eyes before they had time to spill. "He went into cardiac arrest before we arrived at the hospital…Kari…I…I can't recall a time when I ever felt so helpless, so vulnerable."
"It's alright Mrs. Izumi," Kari hushed the older woman. "He'll be alright."
The others stood back and watched nervously, not sure of what to do or how to act. T.K. twisted his hat in his hands and stared at the ground, while Matt bit his lower lip and darted his eyes around the waiting room. Tai was the only one standing with his fists clenched and a pure look of determination on his face.
"Let's go home." He muttered.
"But Tai, we just got here." T.K. reminded him, giving the older boy a puzzled look.
"There's nothing we can do here. We'll go home and rest up for tomorrow." He stated solemnly. His father placed a firm hand on his son's shoulder. Tai let out a tired sigh, and the group huddled around Mrs. Izumi, giving her words of confidence and promising to return when Izzy was able to have visitors.
"Thank you all." She smiled weakly, and waved them off as the group exited the hospital.
Out in the parking lot a cold wind rushed over the group, making them all shiver.
Tai gazed around cautiously, half expecting a vampire to show up.
"Take it easy son." His father said, opening the car door as everyone climbed into the vehicle.
"What is it man?" Matt asked as the two occupied the back seat with T.K. in the middle, slowly dozing off.
"I know he's here." Tai stated, his face plastered against the car window, searching the parking lot for the dark figure.
"Maybe you're just tired, and your mind is playing tricks." Matt suggested skeptically as he also was searching the rows of cars from his side of the vehicle. Tai whirled his head around to see the blonde peering out of his own window and gave him a half smirk, which he missed seeing entirely, as he was busy looking for a certain creature of the night.
"Come on Matt, a cold breeze in the middle of summer?" Tai rolled his eyes and a yawn escaped his lips. "Not likely…" he trailed off, his eyes beginning to flutter shut. Mr. Kamiya watched the rearview mirror with sleepy eyes, as all three boys in the backseat drifted off into slumber.
Tai had been right of course, as a dark figure emerged from the shadows of the parked cars. He quietly set his gaze on the car rolling out of the parking lot and into the vacant streets of Odaiba.
"We shall see." He nodded, his eyes narrowing into two tiny slits, almost as though he knew what the group of teens had planned. Shrouding himself with his cape, he ascended into the night sky.
Okay, not such a bad place to leave off, eh? At least it's not one of those dreaded cliffhangers, like the ones I use quite frequently in my other story. =) As always, I humbly request you R+R.