Author's Note: If anybody has not gotten the messages on my profile page, I have re-written the majority of this story. Without reading the re-written chapters before reading this chapter, the plot may not be understood. I had to make significant alterations because I changed my main conflict.
Disclaimer: Vampire Knight does not, has not, or will not ever belong to me. I only ask that nobody takes my characters or ideas.
Not my Time
A Vampire Knight Fanfiction
Chapter Seventeen: A Face in the Crowd
"Why do they have to be so loud?" Nasrin groaned, as she rolled over in her bed, and folded her pillow over her ears. "Don't they realize that I've got a headache?"
Yawning, I sat up in bed, and glanced at the alarm clock on my nightstand. "It's not even four in the afternoon," I realized, aloud. "I don't even think classes have finished for the day."
For a few minutes, I wondered why the Day Class girls were so keyed up, and then I remembered that the annual winter festival dance was scheduled for this Saturday. Last week, the Day Class girls had practically been non-existent because one of the stipulations for attending the dance was that they needed to pass all of their exams in order to avoid working backstage. Obviously, exams had reached completion, so the girls had resumed their daily worship routine with increased fervor.
Since it was impossible to return to sleep with all the shouts of "kyah, kyah" outside the dorm, I climbed out of bed, put my robe on, and went to sit in the window seat. I climbed behind the curtains shielding the room from the sun quickly, so Nasrin would not begin berating me for worsening her headache.
From my perch, I could see a large crowd forming in front of the Moon Dorm. Although I had known how rambunctious the fangirls could become, I had never seen anything quite like the scene below. Girls were climbing onto each others' shoulders in order to scale the gates or walls, and the number of girls in the crowd increased by droves, which only made them more frantic to stand out from the other girls. Some of the girls had brought signs, as if they were picketing, and others were holding flowers and candies.
"They try much too hard," I announced to Nasrin; although, I was certain she didn't care. "They're treating this week as if it were a rally – not a dance."
My only reply was a muffled rant from Nasrin which I couldn't make out. For the past few weeks, she'd been afflicted with migraines, and hadn't been attending classes, or leaving our room at all. Worried that I was in danger of being attacked, Ichijou had gone to Kaname to insist that I be transferred to a separate dorm, but to his disbelief, Kaname refused to even consider Ichijou's proposal. Since he could do nothing else to protect me, Ichijou had stuck to my side like glue whenever possible. A few days, he'd kept me up all day by dragging me into his room to read manga, or watch rakugo DVDs. During these prolonged stays with Ichijou, I only became more concerned for Nasrin, and finally unleashed my pent-up emotion on Ichijou when he refused to permit me to return to my room. Although I'd immediately regretted taking my frustration out on him, his efforts to keep me away from Nasrin relaxed somewhat.
Watching four girls who'd managed to somehow climb one on top of the other, I finally decided that I would have to do something to control them, so I left the window seat, and pulled one of my uniforms out of my closet.
"Those fangirls are ridiculous today, Rinny," I informed her. "If someone doesn't do something quickly, they'll invade the Moon Dorm." When Nasrin didn't even give a muffled response, I paused, then approached her. "Nasrin…" I whispered, seriously. "Are you all right? These headaches have lasted for almost a month now…"
Nasrin nodded slowly. "I'm just tired, Lily," she told me. "Actually, I was feeling better until those annoying fangirls resumed their hysterics."
Patting her on the head lightly, I told her, "All right. But you tell me if anything's wrong!"
"I will make it obvious if something is wrong," Nasrin assured me.
After brushing out my hair, I grabbed my messenger bag, and opened the door. Luckily, I was looking up because Ichijou was standing just outside the door. For a moment, I wondered whether he'd set up some sort of watch.
"Lily-chan, you're up already," he greeted me. "Of course, I don't know why I'm surprised… The fangirls are making a ridiculous amount of noise today."
"Yeah… I'm going to go help Yuuki and Zero control them," I informed him. "There are countless girls, and they each seem to have a different strategy to be seen… They're actually scaling the wall with varying levels of success, so…"
Ichijou placed a hand on my shoulder to gain my attention. "No; I want you to stay here," he replied, disapprovingly. "The fangirls always act this way when the headmaster permits the Day Class and the Night Class to interact, so there isn't anything you can do to stop them. You'll only get yourself injured, and then you won't be able to attend classes."
Although I wanted to argue, I knew that ultimately Ichijou was right. Attempting to control the fangirls on an average day had given Yuuki, Zero, and me difficulties. Rushing out into the fray would probably only make the fangirls more upset. Ever since my transfer to the Night Class, the fangirls had managed to discover new ways to make my life difficult. One evening, a hostile group of fangirls had even attempted to abduct me, and if Ichijou had been less observant, they would have succeeded.
Being dragged toward Ichijou's room brought me out of my reverie quickly. "Well, since you're up, you can read some more of my manga. I ordered a bunch the other day," he told me.
"You know, I used to like manga until you started shoving it down my throat," I remarked, much more seriously than I would have in the past.
Ichijou's next idea was even worse than his first. Excitedly, he exclaimed, "Actually, I've had an even better idea, Lily-chan! I like to create stories, and you're an excellent artist. Between the two of us, we could create our own manga!"
Leading me into his now too familiar room, he didn't give me a chance to protest this idea. Unlike mine and Nasrin's, his room was laid out more like a flat. An entry-area, a sitting room, and two bedrooms (although, I was informed that Shiki's room used to be the living room, and the current living room used to be devoted to Ichijou's books), and the overall size of the suite was considerably larger than Nasrin's and mine.
"Too bad Shiki isn't here," Ichijou continued, pulling me into his bedroom. "We could use him as a critic."
Finally released, I massaged my upper arm. Sometimes I wasn't certain Ichijou was aware that he was bruising me. While he disappeared into the bathroom to fill a glass with water, I sat in a chair close to Ichijou's cluttered desk. Despite my own desk not being perfectly organized, Ichijou's desk wasn't even visible underneath the pile of loose papers, textbooks, half-read manga volumes, and notebooks. Beneath the debris of paper, scattered pencils and pens lay hidden. The mess on his desk was so extreme that he'd been forced to position a smaller desk kitty-corner to the desk he'd been provided with. If I hadn't been concerned that Ichijou had a method to his madness, I would have organized his desk for him weeks ago.
When Ichijou came back with a glass full of red-tinted water, he resumed his idea of creating a manga. "You're really interested in mythology, and I always thought it would be fun to create a manga based off the vampires at this school, so why don't we combine the two together? It would be interesting because vampires like the dark, but most of the mythological figures prefer the light." He pulled out a sheet of paper. "First, we'll need to establish the plot. Who's your favorite god or goddess, Lily-chan?"
I had been thinking about his cluttered desk still, and when he addressed me, I jolted slightly. "Huh? Oh… Diarmaid... God of the Underworld," I answered, distractedly.
At first, Ichijou appeared to be shocked, but then he smiled, and scribbled it down on the piece of paper. "Terrific idea! We could focus on two outliers in each society: A vampire who prefers the light, and a god who prefers the dark!"
"He doesn't prefer the dark; he's withdrawn himself because humanity lost their faith in him. Humanity associates Diarmaid with darkness, so he hides himself to avoid their judgment," I corrected.
To my surprise, Ichijou was still convinced I was theorizing for our manga. "That's even better! Maybe the vampire discovers this about the God of the Underworld when he saves her from…"
"Drowning," I interrupted, unthinkingly.
"You've considered this idea before, haven't you?" Ichijou realized, looking up from his writing. "Of course you would… You're a creature of light living with creatures of darkness… Sometimes I forget… I mean, I remember that you're human, but I forget that living in darkness isn't what you'd prefer."
Feeling pressured by Ichijou's expression of guilt, I quickly reassured him, "I've gotten used to living here; I mean, it's not that I don't worry occasionally, but I actually would be more concerned going back to the Day Class…" I cast a concerned glance out the window, and was horrified to find a few Day Class girls glaring up at Ichijou's window. "Especially now…"
Although I was concerned about the fangirls, I noticed that one of the girls was waving with extreme enthusiasm from atop the wall. Despite the glass muffling her voice, I could hear her calling, "Lily! Lily!" Suddenly recognizing the girl from her various pinned up braids, I gasped.
Following my gaze, Ichijou quickly stood, and closed the curtains, so the fangirls couldn't see into his room. "Sorry for causing you trouble, Lily-chan," he apologized.
"Oh, that's all right," I replied, still looking at the curtains and thinking about the girl. How had she managed to convince her parents to permit her to attend this school? And why had she switched so late in the semester?
"Oh… I'd better change. It's almost seven," Ichijou told me. "Wait here; we can go down together."
A short while later, Ichijou and I were making our way down to the foyer when we were stopped by a maid. I expected that she wanted to speak with Ichijou since he was the vice dorm president, but instead she addressed me.
"Lily-sama, a couple of letters arrived for you," she told me, holding out a tidy stack of six letters.
"Oh, thank you," I replied, taking the letters, and glancing through them quickly. The first was from Shawn, and I quickly moved it to the back of the stack, so I wouldn't have to see his name. The next one was from Scott, the one after from my brother, the next one from Felicity, and then, an official looking envelope with the title of a governmental office listed on the return address. My breath caught in my chest, as I tore it open, and withdrew the documentation inside.
Stunned, I read through the document three times before simply staring at it blankly.
"What is it, Lily-chan?" Ichijou asked. Glancing up, I realized he was concerned.
"It's… Uhm… Sorry… Not bad news; it's just that I didn't think she would actually succeed…" I told him. When Ichijou only looked confused, I continued, "My aunt was granted custody of me."
"Oh… Well, I guess that means you'll be transferring out of Cross Academy next semester," Ichijou replied. "Kaname won't be happy; ever since you arrived at Cross Academy, he's reminded us that you're always to be 'kept safe.' I never understood why he was so interested in you." Realizing that he'd inadvertently implied that I wasn't valuable, Ichijou rubbed the back of his neck, then added, "Not that you're not worth keeping safe, Lily-chan…"
"I know what you mean," I assured him before he could begin rattling off every character trait that made me important to him.
As we resumed walking to the foyer, I placed my letters into my bag. Already I could hear the deafening roar of the fangirls outside the gates. Although I normally worried about the fangirls abducting me, tonight I was certain they would succeed. There were so many of them, and I knew one particular girl amongst them was quite determined.
"This isn't going to end well tonight…" I whispered to Ichijou, worriedly. "I can tell something is going to happen… I just want to apologize in advance."
"Apologize? For what? Being concerned?" Ichijou replied, smiling in a bemused sort of way. He waved Kain and Aidou over quickly, then told them, "Lily's worried the fangirls are going to attack her en masse. To be honest, I'm concerned, as well, and I would feel better if she were protected on all sides this evening."
Thus, when the doors of the Moon Dorm opened, I wasn't certain what was worse: The fangirls themselves, or the fact that they watched three of the favorite Night Class boys forming a protective guard around me.
"That's not fair! Why is she so special?" fangirls from various positions demanded.
"Yeah! She and Yuuki keep all the Night Class boys for themselves!" several more fangirls agreed.
Over the crowd's shouts of agreement, I made out one specific voice shouting, "If we rush them all at once, we could overtake them!"
Recognizing the voice, I nearly dropped to my knees in surrender; instead, I settled on muttering, "Oh, no…" I would have added more, but the crowd of fangirls suddenly began rushing us, and Yuuki stumbled backward into Aidou, who immediately dropped back to tease her.
Ichijou grabbed my arm, and pulled me closer to the door, but a crowd of girls who had taken advantage of Yuuki's distraction a few steps back, quickly overtook him, and we became separated. On my other side, Kain reached for me, but not before one of the girls had caught hold of the collar of my uniform, and wrenched me into the horde of fangirls.
As I was dragged through the crowd, I demanded, "City, you devil! You created this ruckus, didn't you?"
Between bursts of laughter from the girl who'd grabbed me, I made out, "Well, I had to see you, but I was told the Day Class and Night Class weren't permitted to visit each other. 'No exceptions.' That's what Headmaster Cross said when I insisted that we were best friends," Felicity replied. "Think I showed him who's boss!"
"Well, we're together now, so slow down!" I told her, trying to keep my voice serious. I didn't want to admit that it was fun to cause trouble after so many weeks of Ichijou doing everything he could to keep me away from difficult circumstances.
Felicity didn't stop running, as she answered, "Nope. Phase two. Escape the school-grounds while everyone's distracted."
Bursting out of the fangirl swarm, Felicity made for the forest. "I'm not allowed to leave school-grounds!" I informed her. "City!"
Without glancing back toward me, Felicity demanded, "Since when has not being allowed prevented us from doing things? Remember Donald?"
"You mean Donal?" I teased, laughing lightly. "Fine. I've been wanting to do something adventurous, and besides, I have a lot to catch you up on." As an afterthought, I ordered, "But at least slow down! They aren't going to release the dogs on us!"
Finally slowing down, Felicity panted, "I spread word… all throughout the day… to gather as many of those fanatics as possible… I gave a speech at lunch – in secret because it's more likely to be spread in whispers that way – and I informed those mindless drones of all the Disciplinary Committee weaknesses I'd observed from afar last week." As if feeling the need to explain, she added, "I was exempt from exams, and I was bored. I considered trying to speak to you from the sidelines, but we have so much to catch up on, and well… This is more like old times anyway."
"Really good cover… Those fangirls hate me for 'stealing' all the Night Class boys," I informed her.
Felicity nodded. "I know. Used that information, too. Part of my speech. I made up a rhyme for you. I'll let the fangirls surprise you with it tomorrow; it's from me with love," she grinned, folding her hands mockingly over her chest.
Despite my anxiety for whatever rhyme she'd created in my honor, I laughed. "And here I was thinking you weren't jealous about my being surrounded by all those handsome boys," I told her, halting at the wall.
"Oh, please… You know I would rather have spontaneity, than beauty. I couldn't even imagine liking any of those students! They're arrogant, and haughty! Especially that tawny haired girl! She yelled at me this morning about my braids – a real class act that one. She even had the gall to tell me that I had no class!"
"Well… You did climb on top of the wall, and proceed to shout my name repeatedly…" I reminded her. "We were all trying to sleep."
Smiling surreally, Felicity shrugged. "Just wanted to let you know that help had arrived," she told me, a false note of sweetness in her tone. "Can't imagine you were at all pleased to be trapped with the elite students. I mean, you might be smart, but you've never been arrogant enough to flaunt it like they do. I couldn't imagine why you would have wanted to switch into that class."
"Complicated; when we get over this wall, I'll tell you about it," I assured her, studying the eight foot wall preventing us from heading into town. "How did you manage to get onto the wall around the Moon Dorm?" I asked.
"With this," Felicity informed me, holding up a rope attached to a metal hook. "Nicked it from the horse stable during PE. I'm telling you… I'm prepared."
After whirling the hook above her head for a moment, Felicity threw it over the top of the wall with amazing accuracy, and a faint click resonated momentarily as she cut the slack out of the rope. "Wow… What did they teach you at that British boarding school?" I asked, not certain whether or not I should be impressed by Felicity's skill at creating diversions and scaling walls. "You're more devious than I remember."
From half-way up the wall, Felicity called, "Complicated; like you're being in the Night Class."
Once Felicity was atop the wall, I grasped the rope, and quickly climbed up beside her. From on top of the wall, I looked out, and I could make out the school-buildings and the Moon Dorm from where I stood. In the distance, I watched Ichijou running out of the school-building, and searching frantically. Even from the outskirts of the school-grounds, I could hear him calling, "Lily-chan."
"He'll be worried about me," I informed Felicity, seriously. I bent down to grasp the rope once more. "I should go back; he'll be beside himself with concern."
To my surprise, Felicity ignored me, and continued gathering up the rope. With a shrug of her shoulders, she replied, "Let him worry. Let them all worry. Serves them right for trying to keep us apart."
"City… Wow… The deviousness…" I answered, grinning.
Glancing down at my hands, I realized that they were red and raw from climbing up with the rope. Quickly, I reached into my bag for my bottle of antiseptic and a gauze pad. "Are your hands bleeding?" I asked Felicity.
Momentarily, she didn't answer, and only focused on positioning the hook into the wall, so we could scale down the other side. Instead, she held up a gloved hand. "Prepared," she repeated. Noticing that I was about to clean my hands, she reminded me, "You're going to have to scale down, so you might want to wait for that."
"Right," I replied, and nervously looked out over the grounds. To my relief, Ichijou looked too frantic to consider following the scent of my blood, and he was busy searching in the wrong direction for me. "You purposely went in the opposite direction of the Sun Dorms, didn't you?"
"Yep; spontaneity and cleverness always outwit beauty and brains," Felicity called up from the ground below. "Your turn!"
Bending down, I took the rope in my hands, then proceeded to scale down the wall. "I can't believe I'm doing this in a skirt… And without gloves! Ouch… These rope burns are going to be insufferable…" I told Felicity.
Despite continually positioning my feet securely before gliding down, I still managed to slip, skid the rest of the way to the ground, and land hard on my back. For a moment, I stared up at the darkening sky, and wondered how Felicity could have ever convinced me that escaping Cross Academy during the night was a good idea. Now that we were over the wall, I wasn't even certain what shops would be open in the town.
"I came here a few nights ago," Felicity told me. "The art shop stays open until nine tonight, and there's a café that remains open until eleven. I was thinking we could go to the art shop first because I need to gather supplies for a few of my projects, and then we can head to the café for a coffee."
As I pulled myself up to a sitting position, I replied a bit nervously, "Sounds good. Just let me… clean my hands off a bit."
Pulling out my antiseptic and gauze once more, I quickly poured liquid on my hands, and wiped them off, so the wounds wouldn't be clogged with debris. Afterward, I wrapped each hand in non-stick bandages I had begun to carry with me. I wasn't certain whether vampires would be roaming the streets of the town below or not because I had never considered asking. It had been my habit to go into town during the daytime, and then I'd been banned permanently from traveling into town, so I had never needed to know whether a nocturnal society was present outside of Cross Academy.
"You're a bit thorough… They aren't bad scrapes," Felicity commented, watching me.
"Oh, you know me… I might not be prepared to climb walls, but I'm always prepared for injuries," I told her, trying to grin.
I climbed to my feet, then followed Felicity down a narrow path through the woods. "We'll come out near the outskirts of town," she called over her shoulder. "I discovered this route last week when I got really bored. I don't even have a roommate because my parents think I'll corrupt anyone who has any contact with me for even a moment. Do you know why they sent me away to that boarding school in Britain?" Before I could answer, Felicity blurted out, "Because they thought I was a bad influence on you! How absurd is that?"
"Whoa.. Wait a moment… I thought it was because I lied to them about going to a horse show with my father when we really were in Chicago for the weekend," I replied. "I always thought they believed I was the bad influence."
"Hardly! I overheard them discussing it, and they were saying things like 'The Waters' family will hate us forever if Felicity keeps getting Lily into trouble.' They were terrified that I was going to create another me," Felicity laughed.
Laughing under my breath, I couldn't help agreeing with Felicity's parents. If it hadn't been for Felicity, I probably would never have done anything adventurous in my life. When she went away to boarding school, I had missed all the adventures we'd had. At first, I hadn't realized how much I had enjoyed running amuck, and I'd initially enjoyed not getting myself into trouble. However, after a few nights and weekends with nothing to do except study and complete art projects, I began longing for something exciting. Part of the reason I took up rodeo eventing was because I didn't have Felicity dragging me into trouble.
Exiting the woods, Felicity asked, "So, have you seen Donald recently?"
Grinning, I replied, "Donal has missed us. For all his complaining, when I showed up alone to that lighthouse, he just about cried."
Laughing, Felicity nearly cheered, "Yes! I always knew he secretly was pleased to see us! Why else would he always have tea and scones waiting all the time? And I bet he had a telephone, but just didn't want to admit he didn't want to call our parents."
Still giggling over the elderly caretaker of a dilapidated lighthouse we used to break into frequently, Felicity and I entered the art shop.
After weeks of not being able to purchase new art supplies, I immediately forgot about Felicity, and began selecting supplies that I'd needed to re-stock. Pens, pencils, and paper first, and then I moved on to study the more advanced mediums the art shop had to offer. I selected some watercolor pencils, then some watercolor paint, and finally a set of plastic sheets that seemed fun to experiment with.
Behind me, Felicity was studying the labels on some toner, and already held various chemical solutions in her basket. She had never had the patience for anything more complicated than sketching, coloring, and photography. From the fifth grade, she'd been dedicated to breaking into buildings in order to photograph all the debris. She enjoyed old things, and thinking about what might have happened to the buildings or their occupants. Despite appearances, Felicity was clever, and sensitive to others, and she wasn't nearly as reckless as people liked to believe.
Grinning over her shoulder, Felicity told me, "There's an abandoned building not too far away. I've been thinking about breaking in to photograph it; maybe not tonight, but later sometime."
"You don't waste any time, do you?" I replied, sarcastically.
I placed my items on the counter for the clerk to ring up, then placed them all in my messenger bag. Feeling satisfied that I would be able to survive another few weeks until winter break, I smiled to myself. My art supplies had been running especially low since being banned from going to town.
A few minutes later, Felicity and I were on our way to the café for a coffee break. To my surprise, it was not the same café that Ichijou had brought me to my first time into town. This café was positioned off the beaten path, and was located in an older and more decrepit building. Surrounding the café was not an atmosphere of welcome, but a darker and more dangerous atmosphere.
Halting, Felicity realized, "Oh… I forgot… It opens at eleven… A bit odd, but they have really good desserts…"
Initially, I took her words less seriously than I should, then I quickly looked at her with wide eyes. "Opens at eleven?" I repeated. "This café must be owned and operated by vampires! City, we can't be here!"
Without waiting for a reply, I grabbed Felicity's arm, and dragged her away from the café, and back into the downtown area.
As I dragged her away from the café, Felicity protested, "Hey! Why are you being so strange? Do you really believe in vampires? Look, I've gone to that café twice, and I've never had a problem."
"City, there's something I ought to tell you, but you can't tell anyone. I'm not supposed to tell anyone – I promised the headmaster I wouldn't – but knowing how you like to sneak around, and that you're very good at it, I think you at least should know the danger you're in," I told her, seriously. "I don't know why I hesitated to tell you the truth…"
"What truth? What are you talking about?" Felicity demanded, looking over her shoulder, as if she could still see the café. "I was looking forward to a piece of cake tonight, you know!"
Sitting on a bench, I told Felicity, "It's about Cross Academy, and its Night Class. The reason why I'm in the Night Class is because the Night Class is for vampires."
Laughing nervously, Felicity questioned rhetorically, "Are you trying to tell me you're a vampire?"
I shook my head, and regretted opening this topic in the manner in which I had. "No; I'm not a vampire, but the rest of the Night Class consists of vampires," I corrected. "I was placed in the Night Class as an experiment to test the theory of vampire-human coexistence. The headmaster of Cross Academy created the Night Class to prove that it was possible for humans and vampires to coexist peacefully."
Smiling bemusedly, Felicity shook her head, and released a nervous chuckle. "No… Nice try, Lily, but comedy isn't your strong suite. Cut the crap…" Only a moment later, she suddenly exclaimed, "I can't believe it! All this time I've been wandering around foreign cities at night, and I was at-risk of being attacked by a vampire? How thick can I be? Or maybe… No… Can't be…"
"What? What's wrong?" I asked, frightened that she might have been attacked before; however, when Felicity continued, I almost burst out laughing.
"My blood must not smell good!" she cried, and genuine tears leaked from her eyes. "I've wandered around at night consistently since fifth grade, and never once was I preyed upon by a vampire!"
I patted Felicity on the back supportively. "Don't worry about it, City. I wasn't preyed upon either, and I used to train horses for vampires," I comforted her. "Bleeding and everything, but never bitten once… Well, just once…"
Recalling the attack by the level E, I rubbed my neck, as if the wound would suddenly appear once more.
"You knew about vampires, and you didn't tell me? I thought we were best friends!" Felicity demanded, wiping her eyes.
Hastily, I denied, "No! I didn't know; I was a bit thick, too! It took coming to Cross Academy to finally discover that vampires existed outside of legend, and I only learned it then because I overheard a conversation a couple of vampire girls were having."
For a few minutes, Felicity and I sat in silence. Felicity seemed to be lost in her thoughts, and even I couldn't imagine what she was thinking about. Knowing Felicity, it could have been anything from considering the dangers involved in attending Cross Academy to trying to out-do my revelation.
"You all right, City?" I asked, concerned over her prolonged silence.
"Yeah… Just… The potential threat of vampires puts a damper on escaping the school-grounds at night… From what I can tell, the headmaster seems to have created a system for the coexistence of vampires and humans – the Night Class seems to be reasonably well-behaved, and I only identify their odd quirks in hindsight. However, I don't think I'll be sneaking off into the night as much…" Felicity replied. "What I don't understand is… what do they feed off of in order to live peacefully? Or does the headmaster provide them with offerings…"
"Oh, the Night Class has blood tablets that reduce their urge to drink blood," I explained. "They seem to work; I can tell because I've been living with the vampires for almost two full months now, and I haven't been attacked yet. Or at least, not by one of the Night Class' members."
Felicity asked another question, but I became distracted by a figure lurking in the shadows of a nearby alleyway. Due to my previous experience, I immediately identified the figure as a level E vampire; it was easy to tell from the hungry look in the creature's eyes, and the way it watched Felicity and me so intently. Any other vampire would have decided to ignore two Cross Academy students – especially when one of them was sporting the Night Class uniform.
"City… I think we ought to leave…" I whispered to Felicity, trying to keep my voice calm.
I had no intention of explaining the entire vampire society, or their intricacies to Felicity. My only desire had been to inform her about vampires in order to give her the knowledge that her night quests into town came with the inherent risk of wandering into vampire society.
Felicity peered around the streets until she spotted the darkened figure I'd spotted. "Is that a… vampire?" she asked. To my surprise, and horror, she speculated, "That doesn't look like one of the Night Class vampires… It's…"
Grabbing Felicity's arm, I began dragging her in the direction that would lead back to Cross Academy. "Let's go… It isn't safe…" I repeated, nervously glancing over my shoulder. A feeling of unease settled over me as I realized the vampire had vanished.
"But it's gone now…" Felicity told me, looking over her shoulder, too. "Isn't that good?"
I shook my head. "They're fast. It might be following us, or trying to cut us off…" I answered. "I have a staff, but… I've only ever killed one level E, and I can't remember how I managed it…"
Suddenly, Felicity perked up. "Hey! I could use my skill as a rodeo clown, and distract the vampire while you use your staff to kill it! Instead of it setting a trap for us, we'll be setting a trap for it! Brilliant, right?" Before I could stop her, Felicity had pulled a small knife out of her pocket, and had pierced her own flesh.
Angrily, I retorted, "That is the stupidest thing you could have done!"
Sensing the vampire descending on us, I grabbed Coimirceoir, and extended it quickly. After months of not using it, the staff felt heavy and foreign in my hands, but I managed to maneuver it into the vampire's chest, and flung the vampire away with all my might. Apparently, I was unaware of my own strength. When the vampire collided with a nearby building, part of the brick crumbled, and an especially large brick fell onto the vampire's head, causing the vampire to disintegrate immediately.
"Wow…" Felicity gasped. "You're good. I thought that would be much more difficult…"
Nodding my agreement, I quickly placed Coimirceoir back into my bag. Although Felicity was asking questions about my staff, I interrupted, "Let's get back to Cross Academy. Sometimes Kaname sends members of the Night Class to hunt down level E vampires, so they might be on their way here…"
Quickly Felicity began striding toward the outskirts of town, and I followed after her. "I definitely do not need to be caught wandering outside of the school-grounds," she informed me, seriously. "Especially not with you. The only reason they permitted me to attend Cross Academy was because they believe we can't meet since we're in two separate classes."
The rest of the way back to the walls surrounding Cross Academy, we walked silently, and as carefully as we could manage. One of the items Felicity had not thought to bring was a flashlight, so we stumbled, and tripped the entire length of the path back to the wall. By the time we finally broke into the small clearing, Felicity and I were both concerned about the scrapes we'd procured.
Just as I was about to pull out my antiseptic and bandages, I heard a whispered conversation occurring on the other side of the wall. Recognizing the voices as members of the Night Class, I waved frantically at Felicity before kneeling and pressing my ear against the wall to better overhear their conversation.
"Her scent is strong here," Aidou observed; his voice was serious, and more business-like than usual. "She definitely came this way… I wonder…"
Kain's voice was as calm as ever, despite asking, "Do you think she climbed this wall? Why would she do that?"
"The more important question is how…" Aidou corrected. "A vampire could leap over a wall this high, even while carrying somebody… Ichijou, are all the other Night Class students accounted for?"
"All except Nasrin Gates," Ichijou informed him. Even without seeing him, I could tell that Ichijou was beside himself with concern, as well as regret. Proving my point, Ichijou chastised himself, "I should have looked after her better! If only I hadn't let those fangirls separate me from her, this situation wouldn't be happening! I tried warning Kaname about Nasrin, but he wouldn't let me move Lily to a different room… And then Lily didn't take my warnings seriously…"
"No… It's my fault," Aidou admitted. "I was too busy teasing Yuuki Cross to realize that Lily had been kidnapped. If anyone's going to be blamed for Lily's disappearance, it will be me. I bet Kaname-sama will slap me again…"
To my horror, I exclaimed, "That devious little liar… I was concerned for her! She just wanted to cut classes!"
"Shush it, Lily!" Felicity ordered, under her breath.
Everything went silent on the other side of the wall. Felicity and I exchanged nervous glances, as we realized that we were about to be discovered only a few feet away from our pursuers.
"Did you hear something?" Aidou asked. "I thought I heard Lily's voice for a moment… It sounded close…"
"I heard it, as well. It sounded as if it came from the other side of this wall," Kain verified.
Glancing up, I realized that Ichijou had already leapt to the top of the wall, and he was scanning the trees below for us. Hoping that pressing my back to the wall would make me invisible, I was horrified when Felicity punched me in the arm violently.
Rubbing my shoulder, I questioned, "What was that for?"
"You always give us away! Donald, the Junkyard; Madame Fleur's Antiques… Inevitably, you always do or say something that gets us caught," Felicity replied, vehemently. "It didn't matter so much back then, but if I get expelled from another school only a week after arriving, my parents are going to home-school me!"
After a moment of thought, I answered, "I'll give you Madame Fleur's Antiques, but all the other times you played a significant role in us getting caught… including this time. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
Felicity snorted, but didn't reply.
Ichijou leapt down from the wall, and landed softly despite the speed at which he fell. For a moment, a feeling of fear overtook me, and I was reminded once again that despite acting human-like, Ichijou was a vampire. Felicity's gasp made me aware that she mirrored my fears. However, I had grown accustomed to the vampires' abilities, and only a few moments after Ichijou landed near us, I felt myself relax once more. My only true concern was how to explain how and why Felicity and I were outside the Academy's grounds at night.
To my surprise, Ichijou seemed not to notice Felicity's presence at all. Instead, he addressed me, softly, "Lily-chan, are you all right? Did you fall? Or were you…"
Initially, his actions appeared very normal, despite not recognizing that a Day Class girl was also present. As Ichijou knelt beside me, and surveyed my wounds, I didn't feel even the slightest twinge of fear. After spending almost two months living and attending classes with vampires, I had become complacent about potential attacks from fellow students. Although I was occasionally wary of Aidou, or other vampires I didn't have as much contact with, I had learned to trust Ichijou instinctively. Out of all the vampires, he always struck me as the one least likely to lose himself to scent of blood. Even when his devoted fangirls injured themselves, he merely helped them up, or asked if they were all right; the thought of them being an accessible food source didn't seem to occur to him.
When Ichijou didn't move away for an excessively long time, my trust slowly began fading. Despite the return of nervousness, I still did not understand the gravity of the situation until I felt Ichijou's breath on my neck, and heard Kain exclaim from some distance away, "Vice president!" Before Kain had even finished speaking, Ichijou's fangs sank into my neck. I was too startled to consider resistance, and only a small gasp escaped my lips.
Compared to the bite of the level E, Ichijou's bite was practically painless. His fangs slid slowly, and neatly through my flesh until they were embedded firmly inside my neck. A tingling sensation occurred briefly before being replaced by numbness, and as Ichijou sucked in a mouthful of blood, I noticed that I felt more pressure than pain. Even so, I felt myself trembling slightly, and knew that I shouldn't permit Ichijou to make a meal out of me.
Not knowing what else to do, I attempted to push Ichijou away from me. Despite knowing that my strength was nothing compared to Ichijou's, I believed once he felt me struggling, he would snap out of this intoxicated state. However, instead of coming to his senses, Ichijou gripped my wrists tightly in one hand, and used his other hand to grasp my hair by its roots. When I continued my attempts to evade him, Ichijou forced me to extend my neck further by pulling my hair back.
As agony settled over me, I ceased my acts of resistance, and distracted myself from my suffering by staring at the constellations above.
I haven't been able to study the stars recently… I need to brush up on my star-gazing abilities before Midwinter… I guess I might as well recite what I know, while…
My thoughts progressively grew more disconnected the longer Ichijou continued to drink my blood, and I became concerned that he had no intention of stopping. Already, my vision was becoming blurred, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. Numbness had replaced the initial agony of keeping my neck extended, and Ichijou had relaxed his grip on my hair once I'd stopped pulling away from him.
Thinking that I might be able to wrench myself away from Ichijou now that his grip had slackened, I shook my head weakly, but only succeeded in making myself dizzier, and Ichijou simply returned to gripping my hair tightly, as if to remind me of how easily he could regain control. Relaxing once more, I realized that if I hadn't been capable of escaping Ichijou before, I wouldn't be able to escape after losing so much blood. My only chance of survival would be if Ichijou suddenly decided to let me go, or if someone else forced him to let me go.
Why didn't Kain or Aidou intervene? Where did they go? I heard Kain's voice, but I never saw him… And City… Why didn't she do something?
Fearing that nobody was going to save me, I finally gave in to the urge to cry. As tears streamed down my face, desperation consumed me, and somehow I managed to wrench my hands out of Ichijou's grip. Despite this success, I wasn't able to do the same with my neck for fear of severing myself further. However, as my vision darkened, I understood that if I couldn't force Ichijou to release me soon, I would likely die of blood-loss.
Bracing myself, I violently twisted my head away from Ichijou. An excruciating pain radiated from the wound in my neck, but I was too relieved to notice.
Finally… It's over… I thought, closing my eyes. When I'd pulled away from Ichijou, I had fallen to the ground in a heap, but I'd lost so much blood that I never felt the impact. All I want to do is sleep… He'll come to his senses now, and he'll bring me to the infirmary… I'm certain he never intended to drain me…
Just as I was about to permit myself to be overtaken by darkness, I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. Forcing myself to remain awake, I watched as Ichijou resumed drinking my blood.
He wasn't looking at me; he didn't even seem to be aware that I was present. All that he's thinking about is blood… Even after nearly draining me…
"Ichijou…" I whimpered. "You're… killing me…"
When Ichijou finally raised his head, and looked at me, I was startled to see that his eyes were crimson instead of green. Although I'd known that vampires changed their eye colors when they were acting based on their vampire instincts, I had never understood how frightening the difference was. The Ichijou I knew seemed to have been consumed by the red-eyed monster drinking from my wrist.
Why hasn't anyone come? Where did Kain and Aidou go? Where's Felicity?
Without looking, I knew that nobody was near us. If people had been present, they would have stopped Ichijou from harming me. However, I recalled hearing Kain's voice shortly before Ichijou had bitten me, and I wondered why he'd abandoned me.
I'm too weak to prevent him… If he's this fixated, then I have no chance… I thought, as grogginess overtook me.
Closing my eyes, I thought I heard a shout somewhere in the distance, but I found a more comforting scene behind closed eyes: Darkness.
Chapter seventeen revised! Also, I removed chapters 18-23 because I've decided not to keep any parts of them; no sense in using chapters as place-holders when they're no longer applicable to my story.
By the way, it isn't random that Lily was attacked by Ichijou, and then not saved by Kain or Aidou; my next chapter will be from Ichijou's point-of-view, and (hopefully) the attack scene in this chapter will make more sense.
Let me know what you think. :)
Cheers,
Mango