I stared wide eyed at the sight before me.

"You ok, Cid?" Asked a voice in front of me.

I nod and look at the unconscious silver haired boy on the ground. Vincent had saved my life once again. He had come in at the last moment and, with lightening speed, knocked the boy unconscious and step in front of the bullet.

The raven turned around to look at me, the bullet hole in his chest healing quickly. I took in a shaky breath and exhale soundlessly. He shook his head and picked up the boy gently.

"You have to quick and not hesitate in situations like these. If you do, you might find yourself killed," the vampire whispered sternly, making me look away in shame.

"I'm sorry. I… I just-"

"You were thinking of your brother, weren't you?" It was more of a statement then a question. "You were, weren't you?" He sighed and placed the poor boy on the small cot. "You need to stop thinking of these things, Cid. What's past is past; you need to forget."

"That's what I've been trying to do, but everything I do does nothing to help me!" I yelled out suddenly, making him jolt. "I just… I just want to forget that had ever happened."

"I do too Cid. If it keeps you sane, I do too," he whispered, pulling me into a half hug. I hugged back, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. "You should get some rest."

"No, I don't need rest. I've had plenty of it already," I sighed. "You should get back to sleep, you need it more then I do. I don't think I'll even be able to sleep anyway."

He gave me a sad smile and picked back up the silver haired boy. "I'll get him to the infirmary before he awakes and get this virus out of him." He suddenly went wide eyed and snapped his mouth shut.

"Virus?"

"Uh-um… I need to get going," he stuttered out, turning on his heel towards the door. He didn't get far when I stood in front of the door to keep him from going any farther. "Cid, step out of the way."

"I don't think so. There's something going on around here that you're not telling. What virus? I didn't hear any kind of virus going around," I growled out, my voice rising by each passing moment. "What's going on?"

The raven opened his mouth then closed it, then opened it again but closed it once more. I tapped my foot, waiting for a reply. Something was up and I need to know before I do something drastic. I coughed to gather his attention, snapping him out of his thoughts. It looked like he had been thinking of something to say.

"Well?"

He sighed and moved the boy into a more comfortable position. "Cid, I don't know where to start." He took in a shaky breath and exhaled slowly. "The virus that is in him," he looked down at Yazoo, "was the same thing that made you brother go crazy."

"My brother was infected with some sort of virus?" He nodded. "That means we could have saved Weiss?" He shook his head and let out a deep breath.

"No, he was too far in the darkness that he was no longer human. The virus had taken control over his whole body that he could no longer be helped. We were too late. But Yazoo here has just started to show the first sign of the virus and needs medical help right away."

"So," I began with a small sigh, "it really isn't a virus."

"No, we just call it that to keep people under control. If you let the darkness inside you get too much control, you'll lose your humanity and become a monster that even pure blood vampires are afraid of. Luckily we got to Weiss in time before he became stronger."

"What's making people lose their minds and fall into darkness?" I was getting anxious and nervous by these things I had never heard of before. And I was still learning.

"Hope. They loose hope,"

Vincent and I looked towards the door that we hadn't realize that was open. The vampire that stood in the door looked almost exactly like Vincent that I was surprise when I heard that they weren't brothers.

"Nero," Vincent greeted with a quiet nod. The vampire nodded back, his raven hair fell over his shoulder. His red eyes held no emotion. "But you are right. People fall into darkness because they loose hope and want the pain to stop."

"And they think that falling into darkness and letting it take control over them is the only way to make the pain stop," Vincent finished.

I nod slowly and look down at my feet. I snap my head up when I feel a hand placed on my shoulder. Nero looked at me with concern, his pale skin shining in the candle light. Vincent had already gone to the infirmary so that left me alone with the other pale vampire.

"You ok Highwind?" He asks me, not sounding much concerned.

I nod and step out of the office, wanting to get far away from this room. At first I took a couple of steps backwards before turning around and running down the hallway at full speed, not knowing where I was going.

I ran until I ran out of breath and fell to my knees. I let out a loud cry before falling into quiet sobs, tears falling down my cheeks like rain drops. I had never felt so much sadness before in my life.

My brother could have been saved, but we were too late. And that's what makes me angry. I should have known about this stupid virus, but there were a lot of things that I didn't know about, still don't. It was like I was kept in the darkness.

"Come on Cid; get a hold of your self. You're 29 years old and here you are having a brake down. Pull it together!" I tugged at my hair and forced myself to clam down.

I whipped away the tears from my face and took my first look around of where I was. I was still in the castle's boundary, good. But I was outside away from the castle, not good. Vampires and other creatures could be lurking around here, so I better get a move on.

I stand back up, groaning when it started to rain. I've never really liked the rain; it always makes me feel a little down. But I guess it fits perfect with my mood. Boy do I feel the need to kill something.

I sigh and walk back towards the castle, not noticing the eyes that were glaring at me from afar.


"Is that him, Master?" Asked a little girl that looked to be around nine. Her eyes glowed red as her canines poked between her lips. She watched the blond man walk back to the castle.

The man beside her chuckled evilly. "Yes it is Shelk. Yes it is." White hair stuck to his pale face as it continued raining, along with his black cloak.

"You want me to neutralize him?"

"No, not yet. He stills need time to prepare. He's gonna need it." And with that, they disappeared in the fog.


The hairs on the back of my neck stood erect, giving me the feel that someone was behind me. I looked around to find no one there. Well of course not, not with all this fog gathering up. Wait…

Fog?

This is bad. If I don't get out of here now, I might become vamp food. So, I started to run again, but this time towards the castle instead of away from it. I need get to get back to the castle as fast as I can.

I also need sleep and food. I need Vincent. I need that god damn vampire. I don't care if he's a guy. I just need him and I need him now. But what I need to do right now is get back to the castle and set a perimeter around the castle's boundary.

Something's here and need to talk to Vincent about it. He is the head honcho and everything. Plus everyone depends on him anyway. He is the most feared vampire anyway.

I run until I reach the building and burst in through the front doors, making several people and vampires jump. I must be a sight to behold. My hair all wet and sticking to my face and my wet clothes sticking to my body. Yeah, I certainly do.

"Where's Vincent?" I ask, out of breath.

The vampire closest to me shudders and answers with a quiet, "Still in the infirmary." I nod a thank you and take off running again towards the infirmary.

I burst in, scaring the living day lights out of the raven. He clutched his unbeating heart in surprise and growled at me. I chuckled nervously and sat down next to him. It seemed like the boy was still unconscious, but he certainly looks better.

"Damn it Cid, are you trying to kill me? And why are you wet?" He growls

"No, but you wouldn't be able to even if you tried," I smirk at his pout. He's just so cute. "Anyways, I'm thinking about setting up the perimeter. And I was outside."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I just have this feeling in my gut that says I should. Something's out there Vince and I don't like it."

"Did you see anything out there?"

"No, but I felt a presence there; it felt familiar. Like I've been around this thing before, but I just can't place my finger on it."

For a moment, I thought I saw a look of horror. But it was gone a second later. It must have been my imagination. I clear my throat, and turn back towards the door. "I'm going to set up the perimeter."

He nods and looks back at the boy's chart he had been holding in his hand. I nod and exit the infirmary and down the hallway. I wave at a couple of vampires and people as they pass by and continue walking to Vince's office. I move one of the paintings over that covered the perimeter button and press it.

I look out the window and see a flash over the boundary walls that protected the castle and barer went up over the walls and castle.

"Ok, now that I've done my job, I'll just go take a nap," I smile to myself and walked out of the office.

Boom!

"What the hell?!"

--


Another cut off! Sorry.