"Author's" note: Finally! It's done! And just before Christmas too. Grins. Anyway, I spent the whole day revising stuff here and there. Do remember to leave a review after reading. I thank all who added my story to their favs and those who have reviewed. All in all, I wish all you readers out there a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice and it's a fact.

Chapter 6 – The start of hell

A coarse hand slammed onto the table, almost breaking it in response to the two copses lying before him. How dare they fail when they were one of the best he had?!

"Dispose of these failures!" his voice was a deep booming baritone, not bothering to disguise the anger in them. Hot fury burned deep in his veins as he collapsed onto an arm chair. How could that filthy royal blood handle two at once?!

"You are all dismissed, leave me!" He snapped, waving an impatient hand.

Sensing their master's dreadful mood, the terrified slaves and servants fled instantly, lugging the corpses along with them. Only one was left, mocking his direct orders. Grabbing the nearest item he could find, he flung the porcelain vase across the room, intending to hit the lone figure standing there. The vase however smashed across the wall instead, shattering into a million pieces that could never be replaced. The figure walked forth with a taunting smile of someone born imprudent. Light revealed a lady dressed in skimpy clothes and a white mask.

"Pink panther," he snarled a curse, reaching for something else to aim at her.

He was however stopped by a crushing force which gripped his arm. The delicate skin of the lady brushed across his face as she climbed onto his lap.

"Chill, let's not be hasty. I bring good information," her voice curled over him in her usual drawl. She released his arm and wagered a photo in front of him.

"See here, the new plaything of Hyuga," she jabbed in the middle of the photo. The man relaxed unconsciously, pulling the lady to sit on his lap.

"If you do capture her, he will come to you."

She pointed her finger to another position.

"How do you know he will come," the man questioned her. She snorted, and without warning, kissed him full on the lips as if telling him it was a foolish question.

"I have a feeling he will, someone will either sent him or he will come himself. After all it seems that this girl is important, too important to lose..."

o.O.o.O.o

Flashback aka Dream

"Will you play with me?" A desperate plea resounded above the noise.

The dark figures that were once playing paused, their heads whipped at his direction, but none dared to even answer him, what's more fulfil his simple request. Taller figures immediately rushed towards their child, pulling them from his sight. They bowed respectfully and left, urging their child to do the same. In no time, the playground was cleared.

The child swallowed hard, fighting the urge to cry. His bangs conveniently hovered over his ruby red eyes. Turning to the last person, he asked once more, this time with more sincerity, expecting an earnest reply.

"Ka-san, will you play with me?"

A female vampire pregnant with her second child rose from her hidden spot, coming into view. Her raven hair was coiled up neatly in a bun. Her eyes, a perfect shade of red, eyed him sadly. The vampire shook her head, ruffling the child's raven locks to ease his disappointment. He will lead a hard life, being one of the last male royals. Flopping down on the swing, she beckoned the child to her side. She grabbed the child's hand and held it gently against her ever growing tummy.

"But, she will play with you in a few years time," she gave the child a gentle smile as she watched the delight sprang back into his eyes.

"Really?"

"Hai, you must protect your sister, okay Natsume?"

The lady instructed, preening her child's hair fondly. The child bobbed his head up and down, puffing up his chest as his pride swelled up in him. He rested his head against her tummy, hearing the miracle that was growing within.

They sat quietly for a moment, each savouring the precious moments that would never last. For in the near future she would be gone from his life, gone to the heavens above, leaving him only with her last will as a mother.

Startling the child by suddenly getting up from the swing, the lady reached out her hand to her child, waiting for him to accept it. The child gave an untainted, innocent smile as he placed his hands unquestioningly onto hers. Together, they headed home, leaving the swing in its slow rocking motion...

"Natsume, lesson's over," a voice whispered beside him, interrupting his dream. He stirred slightly, allowing his comic book to slide from his face – an indication to his best friend that he was now awake. A hand shot out, successfully catching the comic book before it could touch the floor. Ruby cat-like eyes slid opened shortly after the book was slammed shut in his hand.

This was not the first time his best friend had disrupted his sleep, but it was certainly the first time he had such a "nice" dream of the past, which was not what he needed to be reminded of. Dropping the comic book into the drawer, he noticed the class had indeed ended. The mathematics teacher, Jin...or whatever he is called has just exited the classroom. Chattering, gossips and even occasional squeal erupted in the classroom, almost turning him deaf, especially the loud soprano voice of a certain brunette before him, comforting yet terribly annoying. She apparently, was calling out to Imai, who had plainly ignored her. She stole a glance at him, but immediately looked away with a mixture of suspicion, fear and disdain.

Several days had passed by since that incident. Both parties had come to an agreement that both will remain a stranger to the other, though one was obviously threatened to agree. Since then both have been true to their words despite the furious glares the brunette gave him. Still, they made no contact nor breathe a single word to the other. But recently the brunette had been casting him more than just angry glares and she certainly wasn't doing well to hide any of them. Her eyes would slide to its side and eyed him in the scornful, fearful, but surprisingly suspicious manner as she had done. In fact she had taken the liberty to stink the whole classroom with garlic and onions.

What on earth was she thinking?! Practically everyone, whether vampire or human crinkled their nose as she walk past, distancing themselves at least 10 feet away from her. At last, Imai saved the day by stealing and disposing or those foul items. Still the brunette reeked of the thick pungent odour, causing everyone to shun her, steering out of her way. It was definitely connected to him. Natsume could somewhat figure out how much the silly brunette had known about his identity. He admitted that he had been rather careless around her. He was not going to like what he hears when he confronts the brunette. She wasn't supposed to be involved in this. He growled. This was getting too troublesome. Dragging his bag off the chair and over his broad shoulders, he headed for the exit.

"Natsume?" Ruka called out; puzzled by his best friend's actions, but the vampire just waved his hand dismissingly and walked out. Ruka sighed, sometimes he just doesn't understand him, but since he had the whole day free to himself, he might as well make the best of it. He hurriedly packed his items and left quickly to escape the clutches of Hotaru Imai.

o.O.o.O.o

"Order! Fish chips 3 plates, lamb stew 1 large and erm...1 plate of lemon salmon," she shouted above the din. The rusty wheels of her skates spin once more in the direction of the counter. Scooping up a tray of drinks, she headed towards a couple, nimbly avoiding the pervert at table 13. While her physical being was at the café, we can't guarantee she is mentally there too. Natsume Hyuga, that bastard. A few days ago she had incidentally chanced upon a book that prompted her to guess the true identity of that guy. "Dracula" it read on the headings. The similarities between Dracula and Natsume Hyuga were pretty close. Both were incredibly mean and love to torture others, so says Mikan Sakura the victim. The onion and garlic had not work to her dismay, but decrease her popularity even more if she even has it. Dark clouds hung morbidly around her. Her day has once again been spoiled by that idiot.

The door bell clinked, signalling a customer. Forcing a sickeningly sweet smile to her lips, she turned to face her customer.

"Irasshai...mase" (guess who?)

The devil has arrived and without warning grabbed her on the wrist and started pulling her away.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed in rage, putting up a futile struggle against his grip.

"I have work to do. I'll get fired. Unhand me!"

But the customer made no reply, dragging her along without care.

"I'll sue you for sexual harassment, I swear,"

Natsume glanced at her, fairly amused yet annoyed. Does this girl ever shut her mouth? He did not dare to test it out and he resorted to clam a hand directly over her mouth, muffling her meaningless curses. He smirked when the brunette quiet down, leading her with an iron grip towards a back alley. He was however puzzled on why there were people after the brunette. O well, they are going to be quits with that. On and on they went, twisting here and there until Mikan could not tell where she was. At one point, she was "asked" to remove one of her skates, then another at some other place. Finally, they reached a dead end, to Mikan's relieve. She was getting slightly nauseous, thanks to the sharp turnings here and there.

"Be silent, I mean you no harm," Natsume finally released his hold on her mouth, which he regretted when the brunette raised her voice.

"Hyuga, what..."

Thankfully, before she could say a word she was cut off by him.

"They are coming."

"Who?"

Natsume snarled a curse, pulling the brunette towards him. Twisting and tapping something, a door open to reveal a small enclosed place full of junk rubbish. As soon as they entered, the door snapped silently shut. There, he pushed her on the ground beside a huge item, following after. With that done, he draped a dull coloured cloth he had found from some washing line over them. A finger pressed against the dent on the brunette's lips. It felt unexpectedly soft to him and had a sudden urge of stroking them. Erasing those thoughts away, Natsume waited patiently for their intruders to pass. His sight focused on a small hole at the side. It was not long before they were rewarded with footsteps. Mikan squirmed uncomfortably beneath him to get a better view of the hole. It seems that she was quite observant. But this wasn't really the best position to be in. Natsume gulped he felt his blood surge and his heart hyperventilating a little for his liking. This really isn't the best postion to be in.

"Darn! Where is she?" a scrawny rough voice snapped impatiently. Natsume focused his attention back to their intruders.

"Quit ye yelping and go search over there. She should be around here. If we can't find her we're going to get skewered" another voice responded.

His eyes narrowed to get a good look at them.

"Crap! Her scent stopped here. They must have gone to the roof top." The first voice said.

"She ain't here," the second voice replied

"Shucks, they must have tricked us!" the first voice cursed. A huge thud was heard right after that, possibly from the leap taken by the second voice to return to ground. Both then foolishly left without fully combing the place.

Just for assurance, Natsume waited until he could hear them no more, before removing the cloth. They were lucky that second voice missed the blind spot.

"Can you get off me now?" a very pissed voice came from underneath him, reminding him of the position he was in. Smirking, he leaned forward instead, whispering mischievously into her ear, "What if I don't want to?"

The effect was hilarious to him. The brunette had stopped wriggling and was staring at him, terribly annoyed, but one could not miss the horrendous blush on her face. He snicker softy at her reaction but his laughter was still audible. It angered the brunette even more. Natsume lifted himself from the brunette. He stood up, listening to see if the two pursuers had enough sense to come back. Convinced that they aren't, he stared at the brunette who had already gotten up. She was just a feet a way from him. He couldn't help but size her up. 'The waitress uniform did look better on her than the school uniform,' he mused. His eyes roamed to the spot below the ear lobe, just below the jaw, the perfect place to bite and draw blood out of that fair skin of hers. He shook his head, sensing another urge and battle coming on. He cursed violently.

"Get away from me, baka youjo!"

He snapped through clenched teeth, shoving the brunette away. His jaw flexed dangerously, face contorted with pain. The brunette however did not heed his warning and remained frozen at her position. He heard his name from her parting lips, each syllabus was another complication.

Waves of pain seared through his body, penetrating his soul as he struggled to hold back his cry for help. Hungry flames enveloped him as the temperature soared to an uncomfortable height. He backed against the wall for support, oblivious to the flames that crackled around him.

The bottle of blood pills which he was holding melted into a pool of liquid which slipped in lumps off his hand. The capsules released the scent of a familiar smell – blood. The little remains of the glass shards pierce into his skin when he unintentionally clenched his fists into tight balls, allowing gaps for the dark liquid to flow out. It dripped, forming swirling and sickening designs on the floor, intensifying the scent of blood.

The scent wafted past his nose, just a tiny whiff of it, but it was enough to break the vampire and release something much sinister. It was enough to make him lose control of himself. The flames tamed itself, dying down into a small ball of fury which whisked around its user.

The brunette approached the dangerous person before her.

"Nat...s..."

But before she could even complete the word, she was pinned against the wall at inhuman speed. Two hands shot past her head, slamming onto the wall, trapping the brunette in a human cage. The owner leaned forth, closing the distance between both bodies such that the brunette could feel the heat radiating off him. His head buried further into the crook of her neck. His tongue flicked out similar to that of a predator, slowly cruising up the side of the brunette's throat, sending an involuntary shudder down her spine.

Her eyes widen in shock and horror as she felt the cold canines pressed against her skin. She was right, he was a vampire. A sharp pain coursed through her veins as the two canines piercing her porcelain skin, working their magic. She stifled a cry of pain as the canines dug deeper. Blood gushed out of the wound, satisfying the vampire.

Was she going to die? Her surroundings are starting to spin about her, whirling threateningly. She was still young. How did her so-called saviour become her murderer? She felt her energy being sapped away as she struggled against unconsciousness. How was she going to prove that she was no useless person? Too late, she told herself. Closing her eyes as she let the inevitable happen, sliding into a semi-conscious state. A hand somehow supported her back as she sank downwards into oblivion.

Ending note: This is a pretty short chapter. Hmmm…Anyway, reviews!