11.

Raven stood for a long time with Cerise in her arms, sensing that the girl drew some kind of comfort from her. After a time, she directed Cerise to the couch and sat her down, trying desperately to think of something to say. She knew that Cerise needed to be comforted, she'd escaped from a father who mistreated her in way's Raven probably didn't even know the whole scope of, but there was a point where everyone became to 'clingy' for Raven, and Cerise was quickly reaching it.

This was all with about forty five minutes until sun up, a fact which Raven kept right at the front of her mind.

"Cerise," Raven said, after a time, "why did your father do this to you?" She didn't know what kind of answer to expect, or if Cerise even had an answer, but it needed to be asked eventually, it might be important.

"Because he likes it..." she said, almost immediately. She had her fingers locked together and hung loosely between her knees, and she looked like she was trying to set the floor on fire with her gaze alone. As far as the answer went, Raven was taken aback by it for more than a few moments. She expected something a little more...substantial, but then again, she was talking to vampire, and so decided to put all expectation aside. Cerise apparently wasn't finished talking, either. After a lengthy pause, she had more to say on the subject.

"The vampire's...they feed on blood, but suffering...it's like snack food for them. They don't need it, but they love the way it tastes..."

"And they...feed from you?"

"Yes, in both ways. Each night they would drink my blood..." She swept her hair aside and revealed the side of her neck. It had an ugly scar on it, a wound that looked like it had been dealt by a wild animal, something that suggested the tender flesh there had been violently torn open over, and over and over... Raven tried not to react, but her eyes widened, and she felt a tear swell. "After that..." Cerise blinked and two tears rolled down her cheek and off into her lap, but her tone remained that of restrained sorrow, she sounded like she was too tired to cry, or just tired of crying. "...after that they would do other things...sometimes they would whip me, sometimes they would stick needles in my arm, full of something that burned...the more I screamed...the more I tried to make them stop..." She stopped talking, her condition no longer allowed her the means to speak. Her cheeks were wet and her lower lip trembled. Raven was trying to figure something to say to make everything alright, something to make her stop crying, maybe even smile. She looked like the type of girl who had a winning smile, but as of yet, Raven had never seen it. Raven got up and started to head towards Cerise, again feeling that perhaps physical contact might calm her down, but suddenly Cerise's head shot up. She didn't see or hear anything, because there was nothing to satisfy either of those senses, but she felt something.

"They're here," she said, her voice now instantly aware, and not cracking at all from the tears. Raven looked around but saw no one.

"Who's here?"

"My father's men," Cerise replied. As she did, the proximity alarms went off, and the room was plunged into the red light of the alert. The huge screen switched on, and showed the outside of the main doors of the tower. Outside were gathered about ten rather large men wearing black suits. They weren't trying to break in or prepare an ambush or anything like that, but instead, they seemed to be waiting patiently. One of them tried knocking on the door, which of course went unheard since Raven and Cerise were several floors above it.

"It looks like they want to talk..." Raven said

"Don't go! Don't trust them!" Raven looked down at the girl, who now wore a much more determined look. Her eyes glowed in the semi darkened room.

"I'm not afraid of them, Cerise," Raven said confidently, "and besides, we can't leave them out there. Don't worry," she bent down and placed a reassuring hand on Cerise's shoulder. "I won't let them take you, trust me." Cerise did. Cerise knew that as long as Raven was breathing, she would protect her, she could feel it coming from her, that unerring care and determination. It gave Cerise strength.

"Let's go see what they want." Raven smiled slyly.

They walked, hand in hand, down to the main doors of the tower, where the knocking on the door boomed out and echoed all around them.

"We have come for the girl," came a muffled yell.

Raven pressed the button to unlock the doors, and they swung open with mechanical precision. The man who was knocking nearly fell into the tower, but regained his composure before his collapse.

He pointed at the two girls, and gave a red eyed stare to Cerise (who had taken up a defensive position behind Raven. She felt Cerise's grip on her cloak tighten when the man pointed at her). Raven looked stolidly at the large man, not reacting at all. She held out her arms to guard Cerise from any possible attack.

She heard Cerise coo behind her, which filled Raven with hard resolve, as well as a nearly uncontrollable rage.

"I'm going to make this simple for all of us," Raven said, looking determinedly at the group of men. "Cerise," she turned to face the girl, "do you want to go with these men?" Cerise was cowering behind Raven, and nervously shook her head.

"Then she stays!" Raven waved her hand in the air and the lead man was surrounded by a black aura. He flew backward and bowled the others over. Raven shut the doors and grabbed Cerise's hand.

"Come on!" She said, and pulled her deeper into the tower.

As she dragged Cerise by the arm, Cerise planted her feet and stopped them both.

"What are you doing? We have to get to a safer location!"

"It's not me they're after..." Cerise said shakily.

"What do you mean? There's no one else here, they have to be after you!"

Raven was near yelling, and quickly checked herself. Whatever the situation, the poor girl did not need to be yelled at.

"You're here," Cerise said gravely.

"Me?" The door behind them crumpled to the ground, and the men from outside started to stream in.

"Get them!" One of them shouted. Raven stood and faced them, but knew before she did that it would soon be a hopeless endeavour. She was outnumbered twenty to one, and would have to protect Cerise at the same time.

"Cerise...run..."

"I can help," Cerise replied, holding her ground.

"Run!" Raven yelled, but saw that the men were already surrounding them.

"Now! Get them!" They all started to advance.

"You won't take her,"

Raven wheeled round, for it was Cerise who had spoken those words. A change had come over her, her eyes were glowing an intense red, her lips curled into a snarl that showed off her long, sharp teeth. Before Raven could say anything more Cerise lunged at the closest of the intruders. She brought her fist down into the mans face and a sharp snap told everyone that Cerise had just broken something in that mans head. Raven shook herself out of the surprise she felt, and turned to face what men she could.

"Get out of my house," she hissed. She raised her hands and five of them went flying backwards, as if hit by a wall of air.

Raven turned and saw all that Cerise had done in those short seconds. Two of the attackers lay on the ground bleeding. One was clearly unconscious, half his face was turning purple and black, starting at the small indentation Cerise's fist had made in his cheek. The other, Raven thought, had to be dead. His throat was thrashed open, and he wasn't moving. Cerise was already at work on her third victim, and Raven could see that, like her teeth, her finger nails had grown into sharp points, which she was using to pummel a man to the floor.

"Send back up! Now!" One yelled into a radio he was carrying. Raven wasted no time in dispatching him, raising him to the roof at a staggering speed, and knocking him out. She let him fall under gravity to the ground, and he landed in a lifeless pile. His message was sent, however, and not ten seconds later, dozens more men (Who were, apparently, lying in wait outside in case the two girls managed to make it out of the house) started pouring in, all of them wearing identical black suits. Raven looked at them with a growing dread. There was no way she could take them all, not even with Cerise's help.

"Take me!" She yelled at the lead runner of this new group, "take me and leave her alone."

"Sorry," he said in an accent Raven couldn't quite place, "our orders are to take both of you!"

Raven could see clearly to the outside through the two toppled doors that once stood in front of her, and smiled at what she saw. She grabbed Cerise and pulled her cloak around them both.

"Sorry, guys, but its sun up, I think you know what happens now." She smiled maniacally. The sun crept slowly over the horizon, and golden light slowly ran over the ground, and in through the broken front doors. It hit the group of vampire's, and to Raven's surprise - and horror - nothing happened. The one in front of her leered down, bearing his fangs.

"I know what happens, girl, but I think you watch too much television."

The last thing Raven saw was his fist, rushing at her.

As she fell, her last thoughts were of Cerise, and how she had failed her.