Chapter 9

"Rei?" Max called out into the unlit hallway. Rain was pouring outside and the thunder roared as lightening lit the house for a brief second. Max was growing more fearful by the second. His father was fast asleep, but Rei had yet to come home. What if he was caught in the storm? Whimpering Max tried not to show his fear.

Everything seemed so much more threatening tonight. He'd wandered around his house in the middle of the night millions of times before, but never had he been afraid like he was now. His heart was pounding against his chest and sweat was caking his body. His breathing came out uneven and his body was shaking uncontrollably.

Maybe a glass of milk will help, Max thought silently. He'd give anything to stop feeling like someone was going to pounce on him at any second. It felt utterly horrible to be so scared and not be able to do anything about it. He hadn't felt this helpless since his parents' fighting.

"Did Rei ever tell you that vampires can smell fear?" a cryptic voice sang from the shadows.

Max jumped and spun around in circles trying to catch sight of the owner of the voice, but no one was there. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was he really so terrified that he was hearing voices now?

"Your fear radiates off you in waves young one," The voice said again with a cackle.

Whimpering Max scooted away from where he thought the sound was coming from. "I don't like this game any more," he cried.

"A game?" Cruel malevolent laughter echoed off the walls.

Max protectively wrapped his arms around himself and tried to hold in his tears. He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. What was going on? Who was in his house? "W-who a-are yo-you?" the blonde stuttered out.

"That answer is quite simple really." The voice said joyfully, no longer bouncing off the walls.

Finally able to locate where the voice was coming from Max turned to find a man dressed in black with steely gray eyes staring intently at him sitting on his couch. Involuntarily Max shivered at the gaze he was receiving, which caused the man to smirk.

Max didn't like the man's smirk. Unlike Kai's or Rei's it held evil intent behind it. When Rei and Kai smirked it just looked smug or teasing, but this man looked as if he were thinking up all the possible ways to kill the blonde there on the spot.

"What?" The man said while tilting his head to the side. "Don't tell me I scared you. I was just fooling around." The man smiled at Max but when the blonde retreated back a step the man frowned. "Don't tell me Rei didn't tell you who I am?"

"Rei said he had a friend visiting," Max's voice was shaky, but he spoke anyways. "He said he was going to make sure that there wouldn't be any trouble while you were here."

The man smiled wickedly down at the child revealing his white flesh piercing fangs. Max could feel himself gulp down his terror at the sight. He'd never been afraid when he had seen Rei's fangs but for the first time in his life did he realize how much danger came from those two teeth. "Did he now?" The man spoke in an amused tone.

"So you're Rei's friend right?" Max asked hopefully.

A dark chuckle filled the air. "No child, Rei and I are not friends."

Max's hopeful expression dropped and he began to back away from the vampire. "What are you to Rei then? Why would he make sure you are safe while you're here?"

The man laughed at Max's innocence and took a step towards the boy. "Child, think about what Rei said to you? What were his exact words?"

Kai and I have been out every night to make sure nothing goes wrong while they're here.

Max gasped in horror as the words clear as day filled his head. Rei hadn't meant that Kai and him would be helping this man by keeping him out of trouble, but by preventing him from causing it. Before the thought fully processed through Max's head he turned and ran for the stairs.

"Oh no you don't!" The man yelled and gave chase after the blonde child.

Max knew he couldn't out run a vampire, but he had to try. Pushing himself to the limit he ran, jumping over furniture, and tossing items to the ground, anything to stall. He might have made it too if half way up the stairs the vampire hadn't grabbed his ankle and pulled him down.

Panic spread through Max. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. His blood raced through his veins painfully fast, and the only thoughts he could form were screams of mercy and begging to not die. Was this how it felt for all of Rei's victims. What a cruel fate. The feeling of being prey was the worst feeling in the world.

Opening his mouth Max tried to scream for help but no sound came out. Instead his lungs burned from the sudden loss of air, and he became deafer to the world around him.

The vampire chuckled at the pathetic sight Max made. It was always fun to take people who said they loved the supernatural and then turn them into fear stricken idiots. "Poor baby. Rei may have told you about vampires but you want to know something?" The vampire leaned down close so he was whispering in Max's ear, causing the blonde to hyperventilate. "Knowing about something and actually experiencing it are two different things."

Those were the last words Max heard before his world went black.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Rei brushed back his wet bangs in an annoyed manner. The rain was still pouring which wasn't good news for Kai and him. "This is useless! The rain is washing away their scent! There is no way we can find them in this weather!"

"We have to keep trying." Kai persisted. "Not just for us, but for Tyson and Max. If our Sires get a hold of them who knows what they'll do."

Rei kept silent. Pondering what Kai said. "What makes us so sure they'll hurt Max and Tyson. I'm sure it's us they want, considering what we did all those years ago."

Kai glared at Rei as they searched up and down the empty streets not minding the freezing cold rain. "Did you not forget what they did shortly after they turned us! They killed ort families! Our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, any blood relation we had they killed!"

Rei balled his hands into fists. Even after centuries his hatred for their sires could not be tamed, but still… "We got our revenge centuries ago, Kai, and they know it. So now they're out for their own revenge, but Tyson and Max have nothing to do with this! Why would they want to bring them into this?"

Kai's glare grew more intense. "Because they know we care about them," he hissed out venomously.

"But what pleasure would they get out of hurting children?" Rei asked frustrated.

Kai laughed half-heartedly at the question. "What pleasure do you get out of hunting your prey Rei?"

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.

Akira: In the last chapter I meant to tell everyone what a Sire was, but I forgot. Sorry about that, so I'll now have Tyson and Max explain it.

Tyson & Max: (dressed in Scientist costumes) Thank you Akira.

Tyson: A sire is the creator vampire. When a vampire creates another vampire (also referred to as a fledgling) the new vampire refers to it as its sire.

Max: For example: If Rei were to turn me into a vampire he would be my sire and I would be his fledgling. However if Kai were to turn me into a vampire Kai would be my sire, not Rei.

Akira: Any questions?