Memoir

Summary: Sequel to "Forgotten." "Time really does change everything, doesn't it? Hard to believe I'm the same person." Hiei/OC

Author's notes: Yeah. I guess I didn't quite make it clear in my last author's notes, so I'll go ahead and clear things up now: I'll be taking some time off from fanfiction AFTER and ONLY AFTER I'm COMPLETELY FINISHED with this fic. Don't freak out—I won't leave you guys waiting for an ending for a month. That would be horribly cruel.

Even for me.

Anywho, thanks for the reviews and the support; it's always great to hear what you guys think. And it really sucks that I can't respond to you all here because of that stupid new rule. Well, c'est la vie, right?

Thanks again to Moojuice for beat reading for me.

On with the fic.

Chapter Eighteen: Not the Light

Sangre tossed Akiko onto the ground, smirking as her blood spattered when she hit the dirt. He put his hand to the opening in her side, letting her blood flow onto his palm. Akiko felt a burning warmth surrounding her wound.

When the yokai removed his hand, the wound was gone. He pulled her up into a sitting position, one clawed hand entwined in her hair, holding her head to face him. She struggled in vain to break free of his grip; his other hand grasped her wrists, ending her fight.

He watched her with mocking amusement as she gave him a glare full of burning hatred.

"Don't fret," Sangre laughed, releasing her wrists and head forcefully. "Someone will come for you. We just have to wait."

Akiko narrowed her eyes. "What if no one comes?"

Sangre gave a cold laugh and took hold of one of her hands. He dragged one long claw through it, slicing open her palm; he raised her hand to his mouth, smirking. "I think I'll be able to deal with that."

The yokai licked the blood off of Akiko's hand, then, laughing at her look of disgust, conjured a crystal goblet into his free hand and with the other squeezed Akiko's wounded hand over the cup. Before long, the cup was half filled with her blood. Akiko watched with revulsion as the yokai took a long swig from the goblet.

"Why do you do that?" Akiko asked, finally turning away from him.

Sangre smirked. "Sustenance, of course. Without blood, I could not exist. And it's how I gain powers from others—through their blood."

He drifted into silence for a moment before adding an afterthought.

"Hiei is the same way. Sustained by blood."

At this, Akiko turned back to Sangre.

"You didn't know that?" Sangre questioned, raising an eyebrow. "He's a dark man. And secretive. Always has been. I'll tell you this—I'm not capable of half of the cruelty he is."

As soon as the scent of her blood had reached him, Hiei knew that Sangre had taken her.

And he wasted no time.

The blood scent had faded to nearly nothing; she was still alive and, more or less, uninjured.

But, knowing Sangre, Hiei doubted that would last much longer.

Hiei's pace increased.

Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara lagged behind Hiei, struggling to keep the black blur that was his outline within their sight.

"He's in just a little bit of a hurry, isn't he?" Yusuke said sardonically.

Kuwabara nodded. "He's probably thinking about what Sangre's gonna do to Akiko. I mean, Hiei does know the guy. He's probably got a pretty good idea of what will happen to her."

"Yeah, probably," Yusuke agreed. "Hey, Kurama, what's the deal between Hiei and this Sangre character? How do they know each other?"

Kurama shrugged. "I've got no clue. I'd never heard the name before this whole situation arose. I'm afraid if you want to know that, you'd have to ask Hiei."

"Right, like he'd tell us," Kuwabara mumbled. "Well, whatever went down between them, it must've been something pretty damn bad. I don't think I've ever seen Hiei so mad before.

"He looks downright murderous."

Author's notes: Before anyone even asks, the chapters WILL be getting longer; please don't ask me about chapter length—I just go with the flow, to use a bad cliché. Anywho, I hope you guys like the chapter, short as it is. The next one should be ready… I dunno. Soon, I suppose. Umm…yeah. Thanks for reading. Please review!