Chapter 1:The Cursed
Kai stood on the street, arms folded across his muscled chest and bright eyes focused straight ahead. The wind was biting at the exposed skin of his face, but he didn't feel it. In fact, he hardly felt anything; his mind was far too focused on other things.
He didn't think he'd come back to this place-the place where his life had changed forever-but, for some reason, this was where his contact wanted to meet. And he couldn't afford to take the time to set up another meeting.
The sky was dark, opaque and starless, full of shadows. That should have even a warning of what was to come-and, in its own strange, subversive way, it was.
The ghosts came upon him like birds of prey and one of them pressed a wrist to his mouth, making Kai gag as the metallic taste of blood suddenly filled it. It had always been rumoured that the blood of a lamia was sweet-apparently, though, they were really just that: rumours.
The Russian teen fought savagely to break free of the iron grip on his throat, but his captor would not relinquish it and he could not escape for he was simply not strong enough.
He felt his stomach churn as the warm, viscous liquid streamed down his throat and he had to resist the urge to throw up all over the hand that was in front of his mouth. In normal circumstances, such a thing would be just punishment for his assailant; however, these were not normal circumstances.
When the bleeding wrist came away from his lips, he instinctively spat, his body making the attempt to purge itself without his consent. A tightening of the hand on his windpipe stopped him and he coughed wetly, pinkish saliva running down his chin.
His features contorted into a pained expression, he forced himself to speak, addressing his assailant. "Why are you doing this to me?" he choked out hoarsely, Russian accent thick with blood and lack of air.
He recoiled at the rush of putrid, venomous breath that hissed past his ear, preceding the high and almost appallingly girlish voice that answered him, "I'm afraid this is what must be done to those who question us;you signed your own death warrant the second you decided to do so,"
The grip on his neck was suddenly released and he was tossed bodily to the damp ground like a rag doll before that same voice spoke again-only this time, the speaker was obviously addressing someone else.
"Kill him and let's get out of here. We have other matters to deal with tonight."
Whoever he was talking to obeyed and Kai felt his neck being subsequently broken. The last thing we saw before the world want black was a pair of familiar cat-like amber slits.
His eyes focused on the expensive watch strapped around his right wrist. It was a few minutes to midnight: if his contact was coming, he should be here in a few moments.
The white light of a hospital room blinded him when he opened his amethyst orbs to linoleum walls and a low, colourless ceiling. He squeezed his eyes shut again and let out an unwilling groan. His eyes and throat were burning like acid and sandpaper, and his gums stung, as if something was trying to break out of them.
All in all, he was in complete agony.
"Not taking too well to the change, are you?" an unfamiliar accented male voice observed bluntly, sounding as though it was coming from right next to him-but when he tentatively re-opened his eyes to locate it, he found that the speaker was actually standing against the wall at the other end of the sanitized, white room.
The Russian teen opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a dry, feeble croak. He swallowed thickly around the lump in his throat before trying a second time.
"What do you mean?"he asked carefully with a slight wince;well, his voice was still a croak, but at least he was actually able to form words this time.
The speaker moved into the light at the end of Kai's bed, the fluorescent bulbs above throwing his features into sharp relief. He had pale skin, just like Kai, and also similarly angular, almost aristocratic features: high set cheekbones, a smooth jawline and perfect Greek nose. But that was where their similarities ended.
By far the most noticeable thing about him was his long midnight-coloured hair; it fell past his waist and would have made him look like a girl if it wasn't for his rough, undeniably male face and the twin crossed swords tattooed on his right forearm, which was bared by the rolled-up sleeves of his black trenchcoat.
Furthermore, the majority of his face was shielded by the black Ray-Bans perched on the cleft of his nose, making it impossible to gauge his expression.
"You were fed a lamia's blood and then killed, were you not?" the taller male questioned rhetorically; without waiting for a response, he continued, "Now you're going through the Change. The Eidolons apparently saw fit to turn you into a vampire."
Kai sat up so quickly, he got dizzy when all of the blood suddenly rushed to his head. "What?" he burst out harshly, gritting his teeth to fight back the wave of nausea that was threatening to overcome him.
"The only thing left to make the transition complete is to feed on a human," the midnight-haired man told him matter-of-factly, knowing that the former human would have to take his statement at face value.
Kai cursed violently in Russian. "Those bastards. I didn't even do anything to them. Why would they do this to me?" he growled, punching the bridge of his nose to try and alleviate the vicious headache that he was getting.
"I don't know-but there is a way for you to get revenge," the latter pointed out, being deliberately vague as the lenses of his dark glasses flashed oddly.
Both of Kai's slate eyebrows shot up in suspicion.
"Oh yeah? And just how is that?" the younger challenged disbelievingly, forcing himself to look up without flinching at the pain in his head.
His companion's upper lip curled slightly in faint amusement.
"By finding the others like you-namely the Panther, the legendary vampire lords, the Legacies, the white dragon, and the Reaper," the stranger declared, making Kai blink-especially at that last one.
The Reaper.
He was familiar with that name-who wasn't?. It was famous throughout the world, known as the only one to ever escape the Eidolons and get away alive. But no one knew the man's true identity-not even, it was rumoured, the majority of the Eidolons themselves.
So, naturally, Kai's slate brows furrowed at hearing that he was on the list of people required to get his vengeance.
"No one knows who the Reaper really is; how am I supposed to find him and get him to work with me?" he questioned with an uncharacteristic note of helplessness in his Russian accent.
The man in the sunglasses gave him a mysterious grin.
"Something tells me, Master Hiwatari, that you'd be the type to find a way around that," he commented; then, he paused, and added in a more serious tone, "But here's some free advice: start with the Panther. Find a secure way to put the word out that you're looking for a meeting with him. Once you convince him, the others will fall into place, including the one person I know will be able to lead you to the Reaper."
Rather than alleviating Kai's consternation, those words seemed to only make it worse.
"What makes you so sure?" the dual-haired man asked, frown deepening.
"Let's just say I have a sixth sense about this," the blacknette replied, turning to leave. Then, over his shoulder, he said, "Of course, this is all assuming you even survive the day-which, in order to do so, you will have to complete the transition and feed on a human. Your choice."
With that, the stranger walked out of the hospital room without a backward glance, leaving Kai to his conflicting thoughts, and an extremely important decision to make.
He had no idea who that man was. They'd never met before and Kai had no reason to trust him-but something about the stranger's words made him think that they were the truth. After all, some of those names sounded pretty impressive, and it made sense that an organization like the Eidolons would require some pretty powerful people to destroy-and the pain Kai was currently feeling really made him want to destroy them.
And therein lay his choice.
In order to take his vengeance, he had to live-and to do that, he had to feed on a human's blood. And human, according to the stranger, was something he no longer was.
An uncharacteristically vicious grin twisted his lips.
It looked like there was going to be blood spilled tonight.
When the hour and minute hand joined on the twelve, Kai was able to hear footsteps approaching him, and, with his enhanced night vision, he was able to see the new arrival long before he reached him.
Standing at the mouth of the narrow passage was an unfamiliar teenage boy. He was shorter than Kai and of average build, with strange pure white hair that ended just above his shoulders-a sharp contrast to his guileless grey eyes.
His hair wasn't the only strange thing about his appearance, either. The other boy was clad in an interesting combination of silver and black robes and a white fur-lined cloak that was shredded into spikes at the bottom in a fashion that suggested it had been done deliberately.
And then, of course, there was the mark tattooed over his left eye and superimposed down his left cheek:a crimson pentacle with a single line trailing out of it on the same side as the only hand he wore a glove over. That was what really drew the fledglingincendus' attention, for it was a mark he had never seen before in his life.
That mark was how Kai knew this was the person he was waiting for; he had been told about it in advance.
But that didn't stop him from asking a few extra questions as precautions.
"Who are you?" he asked the boy coolly as he came toward him, Russian accent betraying nothing-but his eyes were narrowed.
The white-haired boy smiled without humour-a smile that didn't quite reach his dead gaze.
"A friend of mine sent me; the Panther,"he stated matter-of-factly, deliberately not answering the question Kai had asked. He locked eyes with the silent incendus without blinking before adding, "Word is that you've been looking for him to help you take down the Eidolons." It wasn't a question.
The Russian's expression stayed blank.
"And how would you know that?" he rebutted softly, neither denying nor confirming the latter's statement, keeping his voice carefully schooled into a tone of no emotion as his red-rimmed amethysts bored holes into granite.
His companion met his gaze with a look that he couldn't quite read.
"Oh, I have my sources," he replied evasively with a barely perceptible edge to his British accent now-one that Kai wouldn't have noticed had it not been for his enhanced hearing. "But anyway, the Panther is in hiding, and if you want to find him, I'm your only chance,"
Kai arched a single slate eyebrow in obvious suspicion.
"And how do I know that I can believe you?" he queried silkily, folding his arms across his chest, the intensity of his stare increasing.
The younger bore his glare calmly, answering without hesitation.
"My name is Allen Walker," he introduced himself, inclining his head when he saw the flicker of recognition in the other's gaze.
"That's right, you've heard of me. I was the Panther's partner. The Eidolons killed my parents so I have no qualms about taking you to meet my friend so you and he can figure out a way to make them pay for their sins," he finished firmly, surprising Kai with the amount of venom he put into those last few words; from his face and demeanour, the Russian would have pinpointed him as someone who still retained the childish belief that the world was actually a nice place.
After scrutinizing Walker carefully for any hints of deception, he made a choice.
"Fine," he surrendered dully, "Take me to see your ''friend''. But, if you're leading me into any sort of trap, I swear I'll rip your heart out and feed it to you."
That threat was left dangling as Allen turned on his heel and lead him out of the darkened alley where, weeks ago, he'd made his first kill.
They walked in silence until they came across a nondescript building at the edge of the Shinjuku district, Japan's center of criminal activity.
"He's waiting for you in there," Allen told Kai, pointing his index finger in the direction of one of the building's upper floors, "I can't stay long, but I'll wait until you know this isn't a trap before I take off."
Kai didn't respond, brushing past the shorter teen and heading for the building's back entrance. He cautiously turned the doorknob, and, upon finding it unlocked, stepped over the threshold and began ascending the metal stairs in front of him.
Once he reached the floor Allen had indicated, he found himself in a large space filled with packing crates and lit by a single dying bulb hanging front the center of the ceiling. He scanned the inside of the chamber critically, and his red-rimmed eyes narrowed when they landed on the silhouette of another man.
From what Kai could make out, the man was tall, maybe even taller than him. He was lankier than Kai as well, but the dual-haired male couldn't tell much more since the rest of the other man's form was hidden in shadow.
The silhouette shifted in the corner and a bass tone punctuated the air.
"So, you're Kai Hiwatari,"the taller man observed without emotion, choosing not to step into the light so he could scrutinize the vampire from a distance, "I didn't think you'd show up."
Kai snorted.
"Your lapdog didn't exactly give me much of a choice," he stated sardonically, red eyes gleaming in the darkness as he tried to make out more of the other's features. Even with his enhanced sight, he still couldn't see very much and he didn't like being at that disadvantage.
"Lapdog? "the Panther repeated dubiously in a deep, Japanese baritone to match Kai's Russian accent.
"The white-haired kid, "Kai elaborated bluntly, flicking his gloved fingers.
The other man's lips twitched slightly and he muttered something that sounded oddly like ''Moyashi'' with obvious amusement before raising his voice and adding at a more normal volume, "A favour he owed me, not a lapdog's errand."
"So, what is it you want from me?" Kai wondered dully, tone making it clear that he didn't really feel like arguing semantics.
"It's really not fair to keep the guy on tenterhooks, Yu," a light, airy voice commented as a short, orange-haired boy appeared in the doorway, leaning against the side of the frame with his hands in the pockets of his beige pants and one ankle tucked behind the other, "I mean, he did come all this way."
Kanda glared daggers at the new arrival, his eyes gleaming like electricity.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me by that name?" he growled harshly, his Japanese accent coming through in his evident anger.
The green-eyed redhead grinned.
"Come on, I wanna know why you brought Hiwatari here, too, Yu!" he pressed, ignoring the Japanese man's obvious irritation.
''Yu'' rolled his eyes expressively. "For the record, my name is not Yu. It's Kanda," he told Kai pointedly, turning back to the Russian male, "And the baka usagi over there's name is Lavi. And the reason why I've had you brought here is because I have something you want. Correct?"
"And that something is you yourself, Kanda—or rather, your power, to be more exact. I need your power in order for my plan to work,"Kai intoned.
"And what plan is that?"Lavi challenged loudly from Kanda's back, his stance looking a little less relaxed now.
The redhead felt his hackles rise with the nonchalant tone in which the Russian responded, "I want to bring the Eidolons down-and for that, I require a very specific list of people on my side, the pinnacle of which is you, Kanda,"
When Kanda simply stared, Lavi felt compelled to ask him to elaborate.
"Why do you want the Eidolons?"he questioned curiously, raising his crimson eyebrows.
"They owe me their lives-for taking mine," Kai untied his white silk scarf and bared his neck, revealing the two livid puncture marks at his nape, contrasting fiery red against the inhumanly pale skin.
The taller male's gaze lasered in on the bite marks.
"They turned you into a vampire?" he quipped, sounding faintly bemused. He made a soft, thoughtful noise, "I've never really known them to give their victims a chance to live. "
Kai was about to ask him exactly what the other meant when Kanda stepped into the light and Kai was able to see the meter-long katana sheathed at his hip. "Mugen,"he mumbled under his breath, clearly stunned. Then, his gaze found the distinctive ''ghost'' tattoo on the elder's neck and his shock turned into suspicion. "You're one of them."
Kanda's slender gloved hands curled into fists at his sides and he stared Kai down with onyx voids that reminded him of black holes. "Was one of them," the Japanese man corrected softly, breaking the ominous silence.
Re-tying his scarf so the ends trailed behind him, Kai frowned. "How did you get them to let you leave?"
"I didn't," Kanda said flatly, apparently unwilling to explain further.
A single slate eyebrow cranked up on Kai's white forehead, making it obvious that he didn't understand-so Lavi cleared his throat to clarify his companion's words, "He left without them knowing and now he's wanted in four countries, including this one. That's why he had the Beansprout set this up for him-not that Allen has any objections, of course. He'll get fair compensation in exchange, after all."
The tips of Kanda's ears turned faintly pink and he gruffly changed the subject.
"If I join your crusade, I'll be risking more than just my own life-so I would like to know why I should put myself in jeopardy for a man I've only just met," he declared bluntly, cutting to the chase.
Kai paused, taking the time to consider his words before answering. He knew he was only going to get one chance to convince the Panther to help him with his mission-so he had to make it count.
"They cost me my humanity, and they cost you your freedom, so I think we both deserve a little retribution," Kai explained frankly, meeting his intense gaze without blinking.
"I'm not looking for retribution," Kanda stated dully, knuckles whitening, clenched over the pommel of his silver katana. "I'm looking for my life back."
"I can get you your life back-if you help me get my revenge," the phoenix declared, lifting his chin so fire clashed with ice in a silent battle of wills.
The taller appeared to think over his words, expression unreadable behind his dark, rimless sunglasses.
"So, who else is on your list?" he asked carefully after a long pause, one corner of his mouth slightly upturned.
A faint smirk slowly curled the Russina's pale, flawless lips as he answered swiftly, "You mean besides you? Quite a few others, actually-not the least of which are the white dragon, the legendary vampire lords, and the Reaper."
"The Reaper?" Kanda repeated sceptically, raising his thin, dark eyebrows.
"Yes,"Kai affirmed, his smirk turning mischievous.
Kanda fell silent again, contemplating that list of people. Those would be some strong allies if Hiwatari managed to get them all to agree to help him-and apparently, he already had the strongest of them all on his side. If Kanda joined him, he might actually have a chance at getting some semblance of a normal life back-and therein lay his decision.
"Fine. I accept,"he consented.
Kai held out one of his gloved hands and the former Eidolon shook it. One down, He thought with satisfaction.