Chapter Six:

Yuki pulled out her phone as it vibrated. Sayori was calling her, probably to make sure she was all right, but she sent her to voicemail and continued following Ichijo. The formal vampire led her through the large double doors of the mansion to a high flight of stairs in the foyer. The ceiling must have been at least twenty feet high, with a giant chandelier at the very top, lighting the room with ease. There were large rooms to either side of her, filled with decorative furniture and couches, and a set of couches and chairs and a long coffee table sat at the center of the foyer. A few other doorways were beyond and past where she could see. An elegant carpet blanketed the ground at her feet, and a red carpet seemed to lead forward, down a strange hallway beyond the staircase.

"Follow the stairs to the second floor and take the right hall. Kaname's office is the last door, at the very end of the hall," Ichijo said, before slightly bowing his head to her and walking off to the right room. Yuki watched him until he was out of sight, and all she could see was a large empty room where he'd gone through, a substantial, tasteful dining room table on top of another large carpet, with at least fifteen chairs around it. This place seemed like it was made for royalty.

Yuki started heading for the staircase and wrapped her small fingers around the railing. She'd never noticed the size of her hand before but thought that maybe the things in this house were larger than normal. She felt so small and meek in comparison to it all. And she'd never been in a place so luxurious in her life. The chandelier alone looked like it would cost as much as her entire house.

At the top of the stairs, the hallway reached to the left and to the right, and another long carpet, a dark red color, was rolled out along the floor. She paused to glance to the left hall, noticing a couple doors on either side, and then a sharp turn to the left. She wondered what was in all these rooms. The right side ended where she could see. There was only one door on either side of the long hall, and a third, larger door at the very end. It was cracked open, and a bit of light was coming through onto the floor.

She approached the door cautiously, making as little sound as possible. She wasn't sure why she was trying to be quiet, but she realized that besides Ichijo, she hadn't seen any of the other vampires from the car ride. They'd all gone ahead of her and then disappeared before she'd even entered their home… Their home. Is that what this place was? This was where Kaname ate and slept and spent his nights when he wasn't visiting her…? In a mansion like this, surrounded by all these other vampires. It seemed like a dream.

"Ruka…" his beautiful voice said, and Yuki snapped to attention outside the cracked door. It was him. It was Kaname. His voice was as beautiful as always… but he sounded pained. She wanted to help him if something was wrong, but her legs were frozen. Something about his voice wasn't right.

"L—Lord Kaname…" a woman's voice whispered, and she sounded strained. Yuki slowly and quietly moved her head to see through the crack in the slightly opened door, and there he was… Holding on tightly to a woman with long, light brown hair. "I'm going to… I can't anymore…" And then the woman collapsed, and Kaname held her in his arms. She was unconscious as he held her, and his eyes glowed red. A small drop of blood caressed the side of his mouth and dripped down to his chin. The vampire let the woman drop to the floor, while at the same time, his eyes moved and directly met Yuki's.

Her eyes widened and her heart pounded. Her instincts told her to run, and for a second, she fought it. But without another though, her legs moved, and she was running towards the staircase. She couldn't see clearly. She couldn't think clearly. She knew he was a vampire, but she'd never seen him hurting someone before. In that moment… he'd truly looked like a monster. She shouldn't have been here. She wasn't meant to see that, she knew. Kaname was… To her, Kaname was…

"Where are you going?" a voice asked from behind her, sounding bored. Yuki whipped around in her panic to find the tall man with the orange hair, Akatsuki, from the car ride. "I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to leave," he added stoically, leaning against the wall and checking his nails.

Yuki just ignored the large vampire and hurried down the stairs as fast as she could. She had to get home now. She wished Kaname hadn't seen her. Was he going to follow her? Was she being chased at this very moment?

She missed a step and tumbled forward, but something caught her and she looked up.

"Yo," Idou said cheerfully, making a peace sign with one hand, while the other stayed firmly around her. "Did you see Lord Kaname already? That was fast."

"She saw him drinking," Akatsuki said, now leaning against the wall by the double front doors. The man was still looking over his fingernails. "From Ruka," he added, with an extra tone of malice.

"It's fine. She knows what we are," Idou replied, and then looked back down at her. "Don't you, Yuki?"

"Look at her, she's panicking," Akatsuki sighed. "Just erase her memories and be done with it. Our gang leader will be finished in a minute, I bet. Just send the human girl back upstairs when he's finished… And I'll take care of Ruka."

"Fine—"

"Let her go."

Yuki jumped again at the sound of his voice, and Idou immediately placed her down on her feet and took a couple steps back. She clutched her hands to her chest and brought her eyes to the top of the staircase, where he stood looking down at her.

"Yuki…" he said, and his voice was back to normal—calm and sad. "I thought you would be here a bit later. Please come back upstairs."

"Wha… What were you…"

"We can talk in my room. Come." He held out his hand, motioning for her to come to him, but her legs were frozen again. "Don't be afraid of me, Yuki." But she was. Or at least, she had been for a split second. When their eyes met. When he let that woman fall to the floor and his blood red eyes turned to her, as if she was next. Her legs still wouldn't move, and she saw Kaname close his eyes and lower his head. He let out a slow and quiet exhale. "I'll have someone take you home, then. Please forgive me." But as he turned to head back down the right hall on the second floor, her legs finally found their strength again and she took a quick couple steps forward.

"Kaname!" she shouted, her eyes going wide once again. He paused and turned back to her and she didn't know why, but the fear of what she'd just seen was easily overpowered by the fear of him leaving her. And as if he understood what she was thinking, he nodded once at her.

"Come."

He outstretched his hand again and she breathed for a few seconds before climbing the stairs. She didn't know when, but the other two vampires had disappeared to somewhere else in the house while Kaname had been speaking. She still wasn't sure where the others had gone off to, though.

"This way," he said, once she reached to second floor. She slowly held out her hand and he took hers, leading her to the left.

"But I thought…"

"That was my office. For work." He paused and Yuki wondered if drinking blood from women was what he meant by "work". "We'll go to my room. I hope you don't mind staying the night, but it would be troublesome to have someone bring you home this late in the day. The sun will be going down soon."

"You want me to stay the night?" She gulped. In a house full of vampires… She wasn't sure how she felt about all this. She'd only learned some of the world's secrets a short time ago, and now she was in the middle of it.

"I've prepared for you to have your own bed and space, so please don't worry. I would like to make this a home for you, as well. Somewhere you can go if you need to clear your head, or anything you like. This is my home. I hope you can come to think of it as a home for you, as well."

"That's…" She wanted to say that separate beds were unnecessary, but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea, either. It was just that she'd always slept in his arms, every night he stayed with her. It would be strange to do otherwise, now.

"I apologize if that's too forward. You're always welcome to return to your home. This is not meant to be a prison. Or feel like one."

"That woman… that you—"

"Ruka," he said, cutting her off. Yuki felt a slight sting that he cut her off to say the woman's name. It sounded almost defensive. "She's fine. She just needs some rest… I've known her for over a decade. She stays here with everyone else. Vampires sometimes drink from each other, so as not to feed on humans. We don't want to hurt anyone."

"So… she's a vampire," Yuki breathed. Of course, Kaname wouldn't have hurt someone, especially a human. He wasn't like that. He wasn't a monster. She knew him. "Are you two… close?"

Kaname let a small smile decorate his perfect lips. "Yuki, you've nothing to worry about. I was only feeding on her."

"That's not… I wasn't… I didn't mean… I just—"

"It's all right." He motioned to a set of double doors ahead. "We're here." He opened one of the doors and held it for her. She stared at him for a moment, unmoving. "I made you a promise, didn't I?"

"W—What?"

"Hn," he breathed. "You're anxious. Sit down." He motioned for her to enter the room once again, this time nodding towards a burgundy sofa on the right side of the room, back facing a large window, with dark red curtains. Dark red seemed to be a common theme in this house. "I'll have some tea brought upstairs for you. After you've calmed down, then I'll answer your questions. I need to finish something quickly, so I'll be back in a few minutes. Wait for me here."

Yuki nodded up at him and took a step inside the vast bedroom, but as soon as she crossed the threshold, Kaname was gone, off to finish whatever business he had to take care of. She fleetingly wondered if he had more "work" to do.

She took in the room as best she could. The curtains blocked most of the light from entering, so it was relatively dark, even for late in the day. The sofa sat beside an armchair made for one, and a glass-top table sat in front of them. There was an ornate bed against the right wall in the corner. Its four wooden beams held thick, off-white curtains, that were pulled tight against each piece of wood. She was sure that if they were released, no light would be able to get through them, and inside would be as dark as a moonless night. The sheets and blanket were also just as thick but looked fluffy and comfortable. The pillows at the head barely covered the massive headboard, yet looked like they could each swallow her whole.

Besides those few pieces of furniture, the window and a large rug at her feet, Yuki stood in an empty room. For its size, there wasn't much inside. There was a thin lamp beside the sofa that she noticed, as well. The walls were a light color, and the ceiling was white. No posters or decorations hung on the walls, and even the door was brown and wooden with a simple, golden knob—plain.

She sat on the sofa and tried to remember the questions she'd written down earlier in class, but as usual, her traitor mind was going a bit blank from all the new sights she was taking in. At the very least, she now wanted to know about his work. And to find out more about vampires and his way of life. She was curious about the others that lived in this mansion, and she wanted to know more about that woman… Ruka. She wanted to know her part in all this craziness, and what made her so special that she'd been invited into this bizarre world. She could feel that Kaname could be dangerous. She could sense it when his glowing eyes had landed on her. If she didn't already know him, her instincts clearly told her that she was his prey. And it was only her knowledge of him that confronted those instincts and forced them aside. But she couldn't deny that she was still afraid, in the back of her mind. The other vampires that lived here did truly make her heart beat faster, as if she needed to run away.

"Lord Kaname ordered this for you," a stern voice called, and Yuki jumped, brought out of her own thoughts. She turned to find a lean woman, about her size, with silver hair and beautiful lavender eyes. Her skin was a creamy pale and she held a silver tray in one hand, a cup of tea and saucer placed neatly on top with a white, cloth doily.

"What…" she dumbfoundedly replied. This woman was a vampire. It was easy to tell for her now because they were all so strikingly beautiful. Everything about their appearance was flawless and radiant. And Kaname especially. Or maybe that was just because of her feelings towards him.

"It's a peach ginger blend," the woman said, stepping forward and placing the tray onto the table in front of the large sofa.

"Thank y—" Yuki blinked once and the woman was gone. Could all vampires move with such speed?

She looked over at the tea and slowly walked around the table. She sat on the burgundy couch and tilted her head back, breathing up at the white ceiling. What was she even doing here? Her father would worry about her when she never came home. How could she stay the night without getting in trouble? Why would she even want to? Kaname always came to her… This was so different from what she'd known. And from what she thought getting to know her nighttime visitor would be like.

In fact, she had no idea what she'd been expecting. She'd always come up with dreams and stories in her head, but nothing like this. He'd always been a silent protector, someone who held her and made her feel safe from the small worries of the world. He was her guardian angel… not a red-eyed demon.

"You haven't touched your tea."

She brought her eyes down to see him standing in the doorway, arms crossed, with the top button of his shirt undone.

"It's still hot," she said softly, although she had no idea if it had cooled a bit or not yet.

"I'm glad you came here. I have too much to do here, and I wouldn't have been able to stay with you tonight."

"What kind of work do you do?" she quicky asked, and Kaname sadly smiled. He uncrossed his arms and walked forward, gently sitting beside her.

"So eager to lose your innocence…" He said under his breath, but she caught the words.

"You don't want to tell me?" she frowned.

"I just want you to be happy, Yuki."

"You always say that…"

"Because it's the truth."

Yuki pursed her lips and tried again. "What do you do for work?"

"Officially? I own a small café in the city."

"And… unofficially?"

"I am a pureblood vampire. It's my responsibility to lead my race."

"…Lead? What does that mean?"

"There are five levels of vampire. You've met with a Level E already."

"Those… creatures."

"They were once human. They are ex-humans who never fully transitioned. They come from my kind's cruelty. Some lesser vampires will half-turn humans, either by accident or for fun. The cravings for blood eventually drive the human insane, and they fall into Level E, acting only on animal instincts and hungers." Yuki gulped. So that creature that attacked her was once a human, just like her… "Level D are ex-human vampires who have completed a transition. They are by far the weakest of my kind, and yet make up the majority of our population. Level C are vampire-born. They are vampires who have a lot of humans in their lineage. Level B are the aristocrats, and they make up the rest of the people in this house. They are vampires with very few humans in their lineage. Level A are purebloods. We are the most powerful and have no humans in our bloodline. There are only seven pureblood families remaining, and we lead our people."

"So… a human can turn into a vampire. And vampires can also be born."

"Yes."

"How do you… lead other vampires?"

Kaname closed his eyes and breathed for a moment. He tilted his head and put his lips to her hair. "You still haven't touched your tea."

Yuki quickly leaned forward and grabbed her tea off the saucer and put the rim to her lips. She took a small sip and held the cup with both her hands. "And what about the others that live here? Why do you all live together?"

"It's safer this way. We all work nearby, and they are all children of aristocrats—and vampires that are part of the senate, or the Vampire Council." He placed one hand at the top of the sofa behind her head and Yuki mentally took note of his movements around her. "And since I am the only pureblood in the city, they follow me."

"Follow you how?"

"They assist in anything I may need."

"So, you're like their boss. And you tell them what to do?"

"In a sense. Purebloods have the ability to control and manipulate others, both vampires and humans alike. However, I don't believe this power is beneficial to anyone, so I don't use it unless absolutely necessary. These vampires have never disobeyed me, and I have their trust. There is no need to force them to do anything."

"You can… control humans?"

"To an extent, yes."

"Could you make me do something right now?" she asked, placing down her tea. But Kaname frowned and his expression looked pained.

"I would never do that to you, Yuki," he said, his voice deep and slow.

"Oh… I just meant something small. Like, could you make me sip my tea—"

"—I will never use my powers against you." His voice grew a bit colder, and she decided it was best to drop the subject.

"What other powers do vampires have?"

"It varies. Aristocrats have notable abilities, like control of certain elements. As the vampire level drops, the powers become so weak that they're basically non-existent, like in a Level D. All vampires have increased strength and speed, and healing abilities. And many have varying mind control abilities. Only purebloods can use such things on other vampires. Lesser levels can only manipulate humans."

"And… what about you? What can you do?"

"Many things."

"Like?"

"One day I'll tell you, but not now. It would be too much. Don't you have any other questions for me?"

"Well… yes, I do. I wanted to ask about the bond you told me about, and more about what it does."

"My bond to you?" Yuki nodded. "I told you, I felt it the moment you were born. When you took your first breath, it felt as if I'd finally taken mine."

"And then you waited thirteen years just to see me?"

"Of course not. I was always watching over you, even when you were very young. I never wanted to intrude on your human life until it was necessary. I only came to you with purpose when you started giving off the mating scent."

"Mating scent… what is that?"

"As a human female, you have a cycle that prepares your body for pregnancy with a human male. As a female who's been bonded to by a vampire, your body recognizes this, and goes through a different kind of cycle, that prepares your body for pregnancy with a vampire male. Your human cycle causes you to bleed." Yuki gulped, getting a bit flustered with the current topic. "Your bonded cycle causes you to give off a certain scent. And this scent is something that my kind can sense from miles away."

"But why would they come to me? Don't they have their own bonds?"

"No, Yuki. For a vampire, a bond is rare. It's one thing for a vampire to love a human and choose to marry them. It's another matter to be bonded, and mate with the one you marry. On one hand, a human female cannot conceive a child without a male vampire being bonded. However, a male human can impregnate a female vampire under the right circumstances."

"I don't understand why the Level E creatures or other vampires would seek me out then… if I can't have children with them."

"That's not true. You can conceive during the correct time in your cycle with any male vampire, not just me. But it is the result of me bonding to you when you were born. Level E and common vampires will sense this and seek you out with that purpose in mind. It is also especially strong because I am a pureblood. Vampires with a long lineage of mixed breeding with humans are more likely to bond to one. But my kind, who have no humans in our ancestry, is the rarest, and it makes your scent very… potent."

"And… when I was giving off this scent," Yuki said, uncomfortable with the terminology he was using. "That's when you would stay with me through the night?"

"Most of the time."

"Most?" she asked, tilting her head. His arm still rested on the couch behind her. He leaned forward a bit and she froze.

"There were some nights I couldn't bare to be without you. Sleeping alone within such a short distance from you is agonizing. If I could, I would have you by my side, always." He leaned slightly closer and Yuki's eyes lowered to his perfect lips. They parted and he gently exhaled. She couldn't help but mimic him, and quickly breathe out, her heart beating a bit harder than usual. "On those nights, I just needed to hold you in my arms. Just listening to your heartbeat can make my worries disappear for a while."

Yuki slowly lifted her right arm and placed her hand against the side of his face. He exhaled and closed his eyes, leaning into her hand. He seemed so peaceful here. She scooted forward and placed a soft kiss on his left cheek. He let out a quick breath and the corner of his mouth crooked up into a slight smile.

"I'm beyond happy when you're with me, too, Kaname."

His eyes opened a bit, just as he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. His hands came forward, one placed carefully on her leg and the other on her shoulder. He kissed her again, with a breathy inhale and a quiet, but calming sound on his exhale. Yuki breathed him in and let out a small sigh, her body folding into his hands, and her mind melting from the kiss.

Yuki jumped as a sudden knock came from the double doors. Her eyes quickly opened and she was staring right into Kaname's blood-red orbs. A sound alike to a low growl came from deep in his throat as his eyes glowed dangerously. His gaze was drawn to the doors, as if he was trying to glare at whoever was beyond them.

"Lord Kaname," a voice called from the hall, "You have a visitor. Someone from the Senate is here to speak with you."

There was a long pause before his eyes stopped glowing, and the pureblood sighed, removing his hands from Yuki and pushing himself off from the couch.

"Please tell them to wait in the study. I will be down in a moment," he said.

"Yes, sir," the voice called from the other side of the closed doors.

"Kaname…" Yuki said, feeling a cool chill tingle through her skin without him beside her. She watched him as he buttoned up the top buttons on his shirt and headed for the doors.

"Wait here. Don't leave this room," he ordered.

"I—I don't know if I can stay here, Kaname. My father will worry when I haven't gone home."

"Your father knows where you are," he replied tersely, and Yuki creased her eyebrows. How…? "There's nothing to worry about. I will be back when this business is concluded. Stay here."

"But—"

Kaname shut the door behind him, leaving Yuki with even more unanswered questions.