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Disclaimer: Blood+ ist meine nicht

Chapter Twelve

Screaming…

They were screaming….why were Kai…and Julia…screaming?

Suddenly my mind became my own once more, and I looked around the room in shock. Whatever humans had occupied the place before, now only bits of flesh and blood and bone were scattered about the blood-soaked floor. My heart was beating so fast I felt like puking. It was me. I realized with bile rising in my throat. This was what I had just done. Because I was a monster. Hagi walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked, concern thick in his voice.

I opened my mouth to speak but the words were strangled. Dropping my sword, I fell to my knees, splashing even more blood onto my already stained clothes. But even still, the tears did not come pouring down my cheeks. I tried desperately to recall why we were even here. Oh…the twins. I looked up to see Kai and Julia pulling them out of their captive tubes, a greenish liquid spilling out and mixing with the red. One of them, body limp in Kai's shaking arms, had a slightly bluish complexion tinting her body. Julia looked down at him, the other girl coughing and sputtering in her arms. "Is she…?" Julia started, not able to finish the words.

Kai just nodded and buried his face in the girl's cold shoulder, tears streaming down his face as his body shook with the choked sobs. "I'm so sorry…so sorry…" he whispered bitterly before setting her down and standing up. "We can't stay here. And we can't take her with us, it would only leave the option of this happening again."

Julia nodded and I realized his eyes had darted to me when he said 'this'. I hung my head in shame, unable to stand up. I couldn't even save them both…and I had…I had…"Get up, Saya," Hagi said, pulling me up himself, his voice soothing yet demanding all at once.

Hagi pulled me onto his back and I buried my face there, unable to face even the blurred moonlight outside. As we left, the caged beasts were completely silent. In fear, I realized. In fear of me. I'm certain they had heard the screams. The entire walk home was a silent one, the twin that lived holding hands with Julia and Kai, her face painfully blank. What had she been through? We arrived back at the bar and Julia laid the girl down on the couch before returning to the kitchen with Kai. I had missed the words passing between them, and when I walked in I was confused. "I'll do it, I should," Kai said, face strained but no longer crying.

Julia just stared after him as he left, a long sigh leaving her lungs. "You should just…go to bed Saya," she said, and I almost flinched from the fear I detected in her tone.

But it was fear and something else…what? My body still hadn't moved an inch, I felt I couldn't, and Hagi picked me up and carried me up the stairs, placing me on the bed without a word. Had I frightened him too? I turned away from him, my face buried in my pillow as I squeezed my eyes shut. Hagi lay down next to me, one arm draped lazily over m stomach. "Thank you," I whispered, thankful for the delicate gesture, and drifted off to an exhausted sleep.

"Saya? Saya!?" came a voice, but my mind was too far gone to recognize the voice.

The scientists before me scrambled from their chairs like mice, and I smiled. So weak, so insignificant. Stumbling over the numerous chords and such scattered about the floor, I laughed, a low growl-like noise coming from my throat. And then it was my blade meeting bone, my eyes meeting screams; fear. They scrambled away from me, legless, armless, and still I went for them. There would be nothing left. Nothing. I continued my fury induced madness in a blaze of red, the whole ordeal flashing before me like a blood red garden. Blood like rain…so wrong yet so sweet…

And then they were gone. Eradicated by the beast snarling inside me. Only bits hinting at something human remained. Then I gulp caught my attention and I spun around. It was Kai and Julia and Hagi. The fear in Kai and Julia's eyes just infuriated me more, and I stepped towards them with my blade raised high. And then they screamed…

"No!" I shouted, awake and panting in a cold sweat next to Hagi.

He was gazing down at me quietly, unsure of what to say, I'm sure. "I tried…I tried to attack you guys…and Julia…and…oh god…I'm a monster!" I whispered, my voice distant even though we were right next to each other. "Why are you still here, Hagi? I think you'd be better off living your life not knowing who I am. Or who you were. Leave me alone and be happy."

Before the tears had a chance to fall, Hagi had already wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. "That's not going to happen," he said in his deep voice. "I could not leave even if I wanted to."

"Why not?" I almost shouted.

Then his lips were pushed against mine, no longer gentle and unsure but instead rough and hungry. This was his answer, I suppose. Wrapping my arms around his back, he leaned over me and pinned me down with the weight of his lean body. The burning intensity of his gaze had me breathless, and I pulled him down for another kiss. "This is what I choose," he replied, teeth grazing my lips slightly. "To stay…"

A/N: Am I cruel for ending chapters like this? I'm sorry, it's just a bad habit, honestly. But if it keeps you reading, then hey, I'm doing my job I suppose. Review Please!