Explanation of my lateness at the end of this chapter. Please read there if you have any real questions.
Disclaimer: Yeah, I still don't own Ouran High School Host Club.
"Talking"
Thinking
"Izumi's telepathic communication with Hikaru"
Enjoy the longest chapter I've ever written! :D
Hikaru looked up at his brother with apologies written all over his face. Kaoru grabbed the phone and looked over it quickly, then glanced at his brother with worry in his eyes.
What was she up to? The question flashed through the twins' minds. A couple of weeks had passed since the "incident". It had been all over the news. The police, FBI, family, friends, continued to question the seemingly now Mentally Scarred twins. Everyone was talking about it. Two brothers coming from a very rich and famous family, found in an abandoned building, alone, injured, covered in blood, and shaken in terror. Nobody except them (and their parents, of course) knew what had really happened. Hopefully they would never find out. But now, the cause of their dilemma was beckoning the newly formed vampire to do her bidding, whatever twisted thing it may be accounting that she's anything but sane. The thoughts of what may happen caused shivers to go down the brothers' spines.
"Kaoru," Hikaru started, turning to his brother once more. "I'm sorry, but I have to go..." He released his hand from his brother's shoulder, but never let go of the contact between their eyes. "Listen, we'll do something later, Okay?"
As Hikaru pulled away, his brother clasped his hand. "Hey, wait!" Kaoru called, trying to stop him. The hand he was holding was yanked away as the older twin turned to leave. "Hikaru!" But he was running away. Out the fine doors and into the courtyard, and eventually out of the School.
The younger one's hand remained suspended in the air as he watched his twin leave him. He slowly let it fall down, staring off with worry in his eyes and praying his brother would come home safe.
Dirt and gravel were kicked up with every stomp of Hikaru's feet. He only glanced back slightly, mourningly, as he'd remembered the look on his brother's face. Hikaru closed his eyes and looked turned back forward. A not very wise decision on his part, only him realising this once he'd hit his face into the sign in front of him.
Hikaru staggered backward, holding his head that was still shaking from the impact. He hadn't felt any pain, nor was their even a bruise or scratch where he'd been hit. A pang of sadness throbbed through his body as Hikaru had strangely wished he'd actually been slightly injured. Now that he'd become a vampire, things like pain didn't affect him anymore. However, his senses had gone completely out of whack. He could see (if he really strained) about a mile farther than normal humans could. He could hear even the tiniest tinkle of a pin hitting the ground in a loud room. He could smell things from distances farther than one could imagine, not to mention his acute sense of the mouth-watering scent of a human's blood. This, was hard to get used to.
But, oddly enough, these senses had been dulling since he'd been first turned. Hikaru didn't know whether to be relieved or afraid. To him, it almost felt like he was dying. Hikaru sighed, releasing the tension and anger only slightly from his chest. Maybe this was normal. Maybe this was something he was going to get used to. All this vampire stuff was really getting annoying.
Oh, right vampire. Izumi. Oops. Moaning, Hikaru slapped his hand to his face. Dammit... he thought. I need to get to Izumi ASAP. I guess I just have to keep...wait a minute...Where the hell am I going? Hikaru looked around, noticing that he didn't have any clue where he was. He childishly stomped his foot to the ground in frustration, causing mud to splatter everywhere and coating his new pants.
"Damn it!" he cursed once more, head turned upward facing the sky, as if he was blaming God for everything that had happened. Blaming him for getting lost. Blaming him for the helplessness he's been feeling. Blaming him for everything little thing being a vampire had put him through. It seemed to be an act of desperation, like he had no where else to turn.
"Well!" he called once more. "What am I supposed to do now?"
As if in response, rain began to patter to the ground. It splashed his face, and dripped through his black locks of hair. He closed his eyes instinctively, protecting them from the falling drops. It poured down harder, soaking the older Hitachiin to the skin. Of course, he wasn't cold in the slightest, but it was still pretty irritating.
"Great!" He cried with a dry laugh. "Whoop-dee-freaking-doo! Of course it would rain! WHY would I expect anything else?" Hikaru kicked at the ground again, not caring if it'd just made things worse. He threw the backpack that he'd been wearing to the pavement, splashing the now forming puddles everywhere. He clenched his fists in anger. The anger that had been welling up in him forever. The anger that he'd been bottling up in him since the beginning. The-
"Well, geez. Do you really need to throw a temper tantrum?"
Hikaru fell backward in shock. The voice sounded like a whisper in his ears, but when he'd looked, no one was there. What was even more worrying was the all-too sickly familiar tone. Hikaru recognized it immediately. And immediately, his heart plummeted into his stomach. A nauseating sensation wafted through him.
"W-what are you doing? How are you talking to me?"
"Well, aren't you shallow. It's called a soul-link. It's a bond a vampire shares with his creator, allowing the master full-access to his little minions thoughts and feelings. This also gives them a kind of tracking device, letting them know how to find each other. Didn't you at least do a LITTLE research during your absence?"
Hikaru twitched in irritation. The LAST thing he needed was to be reprimanded by this...this...demon. No, wait. Scratch that. Vampire. Though, the word 'Vampire' had a little bit of lingering sexiness to it. Quickly, he corrected himself. Demon ghost girl. Yeah, that fit. He stopped, realising that his mind was once more getting off track.
"Sh-shut up! Just tell me how to use this 'soul-link' or whatever!" He called to Izumi. His face turned a soft shade of pink when he realised how stupid he must look to be yelling to air. Some passerbys looked at him strangely. Some of them had witnessed his little "show" from earlier, and they stared at the poor vampire with a scared look on their faces as they hurried their kids, and themselves, away. Great. Now everyone thought he was insane. Just perfect.
Flustered, Hikaru changed his means of communication. "I hate you," flashed silently through his brain.
"Pushy, pushy..."she seemed to murmur boredly. "Fine, listen closely, because apparently you're tiny cranium can't comprehend this information if I give it to you to quickly."
Hikaru twitched in irritation, but still lended her his ear, eager for the instructions. He was hoping that if he'd learned to do this, then he'd be able to figure out the rest of all this "Vampire" business.
"Okay, close your eyes, relax..." she ordered him, the twin obeying. "Now, imagine yourself in a completely black room. Get rid of your surroundings, this is the only place you should be in. Concentrate..."Hikaru exhaled deeply, releasing himself from the world around him. Soon, his vision was clouded by darkness. "Good. Now, imagine yourself in this dark room, standing in front of a door. Walk towards it." Hikaru did so, finding a small, ivory white door that would fit for a crawl space. The room seemed to elongate as he hurried towards it. finally, he reached it. It was small, he'd have to crawl through it if he wanted to get to the other side. A bronze door knocker shaped like a lion was on the front. Cobwebs covered the front of it, which was also coated in dust. There was a tiny keyhole in the bottom left corner, but there happened to be no handle above it. Hikaru crouched down to look through the hole. There was no light on the other side. There was no darkness either. No, all he could see was a red eye staring back at him.
Hikaru's stomach churned. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened. He managed to choke out a disheveled "What?" before jumping back at least two feet in shock.
"Hey, get a hold of yourself!" Izumi ordered loudly into his ear, shaking him awake from his trance. "Now, do you see the door? Answer me fool!" The demand was obnoxious, and not to mention it hurt his ears. He clasped his hand over it in pain.
"Yes! I see it! Jeez!"
"Good, now enter the room."
Hikaru crawled up to the door once more, peering again through the keyhole. The red eye was still looking back at him, but it seemed to glint, mocking him. It rolled upward in irritation. Hikaru recoiled slowly, not knowing whether to be amused or annoyed. He chose the latter (naturally), and began to search the door for some way to get in. He couldn't find anything to help him. Only one glinting white door, standing impending in the middle of nothing.
"How do I get in?" he called to her.
An angry voice responded, "What do you mean, 'How'?"
"I mean, there's no freaking handle! What do I do?"
"Oh, you're useless. What the hell do you think you do before you enter a closed room?" the limited response just made the older Vampire more angry. "Really, I thought I taught you about manners the last time we'd met!" there was an exasperated sigh. "You knock on the door, fool."
Hikaru twitched slightly at the obvious response. He raised his hand reluctantly, hesitating to knock. Finally, he rapped his knuckles lightly on to the cool surface. No, wait, scratch that. The front of the door was hot. Burning hot. It scalded his fingers the second they made contact. Hikaru looked at his hand in shock as he felt a slight stinging sensation.
His shock was quickly replaced with intrigue when the door began to open. When it did, the room flooded with light. Closing his eyes, he crawled through the tiny entrance and was quickly met with a rushing feeling.
"You're doing great!" Izumi called to him. "Now, reach out and grab the black ribbon!"
Hikaru managed to open his eyes just a little to see a swarming mass of threads, yarn, strings, and ribbons were glowing profoundly in the center. His hand flailed out wildly, trying as hard as he could to get the specific choice. Finally, he found something warm. It pulsed in his hand like a heart beat. Like it was alive. Peering out he saw his catch. A long, flowy, ebony ribbon.
"Now pull!"
Hikaru yanked backward, and it opened a box. A music box. Soft music began to play, filling the room with a peaceful tune. The melody played through his ears and into his soul. It filled his body with knowledge, but still felt like a whisper of a willow. Suddenly, Hikaru's eyes flashed open. He was back on the streets where he'd been what seemed like hours ago. But no one had changed.
"Now," Izumi started once more, speaking calmly. "Come find me."
As he felt the hair rise on the back of his neck, Hikaru knew she had left. Closing his eyes once more he felt a tugging at his body. No, his soul. Opening his eyes, he ran towards where the unseen hand seemed to be dragging him. It rounded him through streets, corners, alleys. He stomped through the park, picking up dirt with each pound of his feet into the cool earth beneath him. Hikaru sprinted at a constant pace. It was quick, getting him to his destination in not a long period of time.
A wind blew by him as he stood in front of an old shop. The feeling had left. The tension was released. He was free. Of course, that was a foolish thought. Never would Hikaru be truly free. Not with that evil witch keeping his life in her clutch. No, he was a slave to fate.
The shop was quaint. The red roof was faded, and the paint was chipping. Some weeds were needed to be pulled. A garden was laid out in the front yard. Ivy wrapped itself around the gutter, giving the entire home a jungle feeling. Was this where Izumi had been hiding all along? Hikaru walked briskly towards the door. The wood on the porch bent and creaked under each step of his. It was a flimsy wood, not the most durable. As Hikaru knocked on the door, the patter of the rain on the cement outside lessened to a soft lull. The scent of the drops still lingered in the air; a homely escence, just adding to the entire feeling.
Hikaru received a wake-up call when two hands dragged him into the shop. He stumbled over his feet and fell to his knees before the older one, not a very graceful act for a vampire, but then again, he was still sort of an amateur...
"Took you long enough!" Izumi cackled above him. "Seriously. You're a vampire, where's your super-human strength?"
Glaring up at her, Hikaru felt irritation well up once more in his gut. "I'm still getting used to this stuff so shut it."
The female vampire shook her head. "I was serious. By being a vampire, you shouldn't have stumbled when I pulled you in and when it would've taken you just seconds to get here. Though you may be immature, that doesn't mean that you should be this weak. Unless..." she paused, staring down at the older Hitachiin with narrowed eyes. "How's your 'diet' been?"
Picking himself up off the ground, he looked at her with a raised brow. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I've been eating three meals a day if it really concerns you."
"No," she said gravely, "I meant, how much has your blood intake been?"
A chill ran up Hikaru's spine at the question. To be completely honest, he hadn't had any blood since the last time he'd seen his "master". Never had he really been interested in it until today when he'd seen Haruhi. "I...What does it matter?'
The other vampire gave a cat-like grin that could've easily rivaled that of a Hitachiin. "What matters is that if you don't drink enough you'll grow weaker. More irritable. It would just be a matter of time before you lose your humanity completely. Finally, you die. Do you really want that, Hikaru-kun?"
The answer wasn't really needed, but no. No he did not. Normally, one would think death to be a bad thing. Hikaru closed his eyes. So many life-or-death decisions needed to be made in such a small amount of time; it was overwhelming. Her chilling stare sent chills up his spine, until she started to lean in closer to him, that was when he recoiled.
"You know," she purred "I'm quite hungry right now..." Izumi rolled his head to the side, revealing his neck. His eyes widened, and he immediately jumped away.
"W-what the hell are you doing?" he cried, shocked, and slightly perturbed. Had she really just been about to feed off of him? "Are you insane?"
Izumi frowned, "What's wrong? I told you I was hungry!"
"'What's wrong'? You were just about to freakin' drink off of me!"
Izumi rolled her eyes. "Please. That was what you were really worried about? Vampires drink each other's blood all of the time." She spoke as if she wasn't an insane vampire that was about to kill his brother a couple weeks ago. AKA a total psychopath. Hikaru gritted his teeth together in frustration. It was nearly impossible to deal with someone like this!
"Not you and me. Now, what did you call me here for?" he changed the subject, deciding that if dwelled on the last train of thought any longer it would only result in an even greater migraine.
"There's a ... Client I need you to go fetch. Are you up to it?" Izumi answered casually.
"I guess."
"Okay then! Here's his address." She handed him a small slip of paper, folded hamburger-style. Hikaru sighed and turned to leave, already thinking this was all going to be a waste of his time. How typical.
SLAM! Hikaru fell back against the walls of the old, abandoned brick house. His back arched upward at the contact, and he was shocked to feel the pain jolt through his body like electricity.
"Ah..." The Hitachiin groaned. "Dammit, what's wrong with you?"
The man standing in front of him raised a brow. He had a sturdy stature; standing taller than most. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, but his deep aqua eyes, peering out from underneath shaggy dirty blond hair, looked at him with a feeling of a thousand years worth of wisdom. His face was slightly unshaven, stubs of hair sticking out of his chin. All of these details were almost completely irrelevant but what really pissed Hikaru off was the cocky smirk the other wore on his face.
"What? THIS is who that crazy bitch sends me? A runt like you?" He let out a dry laugh. "And to think she was once the most powerful being on earth, but now she's sending me someone else to do her bidding!"
Hikaru turned red at his insults. How dare he look down on me like this! How DARE he act so superior! The rage built up in his gut, burning like a forest fire, and consuming every inch of his body.
"Shut..." he started, voice low, head bowed. "Shut your mouth!"
The man turned back around to meet his opponent's eyes. "Or what?" he inquired, the sly grin returning.
"Or I'll... I'll..." Hikaru fought for words, but they still seemed to fail him. No, really... what AM I going to do? Then, something snapped inside of him. Of course! What would set anybody off? "I'll take you back to Izumi!"
"-SAMA! IZUMI-SAMA!"
"... S-sama..." Hikaru corrected reluctantly, clamping a hand over his ear, which was throbbing from the outburst his 'master' had.
The man in front of him's face darkened. "No. There is no way I'm going back there, so I guess I'll keep quiet."
Gah! That won't work! He needs to come back! Hikaru scratched his head in frustration, and growled lightly. Ooooh, I guess I have no choice... "I'll- I'll fight you!" he called out, failing at the attempt to sound intimidating. His voice came out unlevelled and cracked at the end.
The man rolled his gleaming eyes. "No way! I'm not going to attack a kid like you. I mean, even I have some pride!"
"Challenge him to it! Kaine never backs down from an actual challenge!"
Fine, fine! "I-I challenge you!"
"Call him a senile old man!"
Will you shut up? Hikaru sighed, hating what he was yet again getting himself into. "I challenge you, you 'senile old man'." he stated boredly, his words coming out lifeless and sarcastic.
Kaine growled like a wolf, true annoyance settling on his face, replacing the conceited smile he'd worn before. "So you really are one of Izumi's dogs... Well, I guess I can't say no to that. Hope you can handle what's coming to ya, kid."
The man disappeared from his sight. Hikaru whirled around, desperate to gain his (much more powerful) opponent once more in his plain of vision. A fist struck out from the side of him and hit Hikaru square on the left of his jaw. He fell backward once more, crashing into the glass coffee table, which shattered upon contact. Hikaru stumbled as he regained his footing, spitting out the black vampiric blood that coated his mouth.
Once more, he was in way over his head.
The man sitting just feet away from the Oohtori stood up abruptly, the shadows now only covering half of his face. "Are you quite sure of what you're telling me, Kyouya? " his father asked gravely.
Kyouya bowed his head so his ebony hair fell in the way of his face. "Quite, father. Hikaru has shown all of the signs. He hates the light. He has inhuman strength, which I'd observed as he'd nearly ripped the stuffing out of our expensive couch with his bare hands. He seems touchy and irritable, and hates being around other humans so much that he ran out during the day-"
"Those are not enough signs to show that he has been, in fact, turned!" The elder man in the back of the room nearly yelled, rage lashing out enough at Kyouya so much that he managed to express a miniscule flinch. "If there is nothing else, there is no need for you to have called me here! I am sick of you wasting my time."
Kyouya's father turned to the seething older man. "Mr. Yamato, if you could just listen-"
"I am sorry that my presense troubles you, Yamato-sama, but I have more information that may be worth your time," Kyouya interrupted his dad abruptly with a voice that hinted much irritation and anger.
The two turned to look at him. "Well, then," Yamato finally spoke, "spit it out!"
Kyouya coolly pushed up his glasses. "The location of where the Hitachiin brothers were found two weeks ago also happens to be the same place that we'd managed to finally find a much hunted, extremely powerful older vampire. The only name that we've gotten about her is "Izumi", so we don't know much about he rmuch earlier life."
Yamato narrowed his eyes. "'Izumi', huh? Sounds familiar."
"Izumi has, in the past, been quite known for her 'habit' of turning other humans into their own kind. At one point in the 1800s she'd had an entire army of vampires built up. They'd caused many outbreaks and deaths, giving the family much trouble to sustain them. I believe that Izumi may be trying to recreate the incident that had happened so long ago."
"Che." The older man spat. "If that's the case then we have no choice! The Oohtori family has a bloodline traced back to 1200 AD of elite vampire hunters. It is our job to exterminate all of their kind, which includes your friend at school, too."
Kyouya's eyes widened. "Yamato-sama, we can't resort to that just yet!"
"And what makes you think we can't?" He asked, obsidian eyes flaring.
The younger Oohtori didn't answer. His father took this chance to speak. "Mr. Yamato, if you could please try to understand... Kyouya is quite close to everyone in his group of friends, and that includes the Hitachiin!"
"The well-being of humans comes before this 'friendship' your son has!" Yamato retorted. He stopped and deepy inhaled, pinching the bridge ofhis nose. "Fine. Kyouya, watch over this 'friend' of yours. If he makes any move, ANY slip up, I order you, as the head of the vampire hunters, to eliminate him."
Kyouya bowed to his superior, before turning quickly on his heel, and leaving the dark room.
Explanation: I SUCK. What at? School, behavior, and updating. Procrastination rocks! :D :D
BUT I'M REALLY SORRY FOR LATE UPDATE. Luckily, I made it up (hopefully) with a huge-ass chapter. As always, REVIEW!