Chapter 3: A New Beginning

Yuffie's eyes fluttered open hesitantly and she surveyed her surroundings.

"Where am I?" she thought aloud.

She tried to stand, but her legs gave way beneath her.

"You're still too weak; don't try to get up just yet," came Vincent's smooth voice.

She looked up and found him perched comfortably on a high window ledge.

"Vincent?" she asked confusedly, "What am I…why are you…"

She broke off and scratched her head, utterly befuddled.

"Your memories will return soon, they tend to fade as you change, but you'll recover them," he continued.

"What do you mean 'changed'?" she asked.

HE sighed but did not respond.

Suddenly, she felt a twinge of pain in her neck. As she raised a hand to her throat to investigate, a vision of the source of the pain flashed in her mind and she remembered the earlier events.

"Y-you bit me!" she shrieked as she felt the two tiny puncture wounds beneath her fingers.

"About that….I'm sorry," he mumbled, "But if you don't want to die I suggest you drink soon."

Yuffie remained stricken dumb with a look of bewilderment.

"Drink what?" she asked, "What did you do to me?"

Before he could respond, a low groan issued from a dark corner of the room.

"Ugh! My head," Reno croaked, "Where am I?"

"Reno?" Yuffie called, "Thank God, let's get outta here!"

As Reno tried to move he found he was restrained by thick, iron shackles.

"Couldn't have you running off now, could I?" Vincent said nonchalantly, not even bothering to remove his gaze from the ground in front of him.

All at once, he jumped down from the window sill and helped Yuffie to her feet. He supported her weight and brought her over to Reno's side.

"I'll explain everything to you both in time, but first, Yuffie, you need to feed before it's too late."

He stretched a thin, pale wrist toward her and smiled.

Yuffie looked up at him, puzzled, but as her eyes met his wrist she felt a strange sort of instinct kick in. She grabbed his arm in her hands and sunk her teeth into his icy flesh. When she had been completely satiated, she released her grasp and wiped off the small trail of blood running down chin. She smiled serenely, but soon the smile faded as her gaze fell upon Reno's horrified expression. Her rationality immediately snapped back into focus and she pulled back.

"What am I doing?" she cried, "I just bit YOU! What the hell is going on?"

"You still don't know?" Reno piped in, "When he bit you he turned you!"

"Turned me? Into…"Yuffie's mind suddenly clicked, "Into a VAMPIRE?!?"

Vincent nodded and let his head drop remorsefully.

"About a month ago, Hojo's men captured me again and he stole the protomateria inside me that holds back my berserker transformation. Now I can no longer control when my body changes and the beast takes over. That's why I've been hiding out here since my escape from Hojo's laboratory."

"So, when I came down here earlier and found you, you couldn't control your beasty side and it took over and attacked me," Yuffie interpreted, "Then why did you say you didn't know what was happening…and why do you have Reno chained up?"

"To answer your first question, the pain I felt when I transformed earlier was more powerful than it has been yet. I wasn't sure that I was actually changing. I also only just came to understand what had happened while I was Hojo's prisoner. To your second question, I was afraid that when Reno couldn't find you and he came looking and found me that he would alert Shinra to my whereabouts and when they stormed the house I would change and take them all out. I don't want my hands sullied with anymore blood. That's why you're still alive, Yuffie. Somehow my true self broke through and made the monster inside me submit before it killed you."

"Well, let Reno go and we'll leave you be," Yuffie pleaded, "We won't tell Shinra you're here, Vincent. I wouldn't do that to a friend, nor would I let Reno."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied, "You are not yet fully aware of your capabilities as a creature of the night. If I let you two go, there's no telling what could happen."

"No!" Yuffie yelled, "YOU bit ME! YOU did this! And YOU no longer get to call the shots!"

"Yuffie," Reno interjected, "He's right. We both have to stay here. You, for your own protection, have to stay, and I'm staying to insure your safety. I'm not gonna leave you alone here with him when you are in such a fragile state of mind and body."

"Then it's settled," Vincent muttered, "You both will stay here with me until I deem Yuffie able to control herself on her own."