Disclaimer- I don't own Vampire Knight

Chapter 23

Games

Kaname lifted his head from his hand, the distant look he wore fading as he turned to look out the nearest window. Though his face gave nothing away his aura did, it fluctuated angrily. No, anger wasn't quite correct. Rage would be more fitting for the feeling that washed over him and that permeated the air of the room.

"Kaname?"

He ignored the person calling for him, instead focusing on the distant aura he could always feel no matter where he was and the emotions that were suddenly ripping through the normally calm, happy person.

"Kaname?"

Turning his cold eyes on the person addressing him, he fixed Kaien Cross with a glare that nearly turned the man to ice. "I'm afraid this meeting is over for now. Excuse me."

"What do you mean this meeting is over?" Cross inquired as Kaname stood from the chair he had been in without another glance in the man's direction.

"Reina's in danger," was his only answer before Kaname glided to the door.

Stepping into the dimly lit hallway where Kain and Aido waited, both men looked up at the pureblood uncertainly. His aura was rather unforgiving and they weren't quite sure what had happened. They waited for Kaname to say something, but he simply disappeared, his body becoming a dark, velvety substance that appeared to evaporate into nothingness.

Kain and Aido exchanged glances before turning and leaving the hallway themselves.

Having seen the pureblood lord disappear along with his two minions, Yagari sauntered into the meeting room that Zero and Cross were still sitting in, pulling his cigarette from his mouth while he went. "What's going on?"

Cross glanced over his shoulder at his longtime friend. "It seems that Reina is in danger. I'm assuming Michael has made his move, Kaname and the others have already left to help. I have no doubt that Kaname will make back to the manor, but the others will most likely be held up by the Level D vampires that have been created in the area."

Frowning, Yagari walked over to Zero and lazily ruffled his silver hair. "What should we do?" He asked boredly, ignoring Zero's threats as he leaned into his apprentice's chair and blew smoke into his face.

Cross glanced at his disheveled friend before switching his attention to Zero who was twitching with pent up frustration and was clearly resisting the urge to strangle his former teacher. "Well, what do you want to do, Zero?"

Zero looked at Cross for a moment before standing up himself. "You two can do whatever you'd like. I can reach the house a lot quicker than either of you."

"Won't the hundred or so vampires surrounding that place be a bit difficult to get through on your own?" Yagari asked.

Fixing the dark haired man with a look that clearly said he felt he was being underestimated, Zero scoffed. "Did you forget who you were talking to? Of course I can get through."

"Is she in danger?" Cross inquired seriously, eyes focused on Zero..

Taking a glance out of the same window as Kaname had, Zero took a few seconds to study the quickly darkening world outside. A thoughtful frown creased his handsome features and he nodded. "Yeah, she's in danger."

Rising from his own seat, his demeanor resolute and stern, Cross sighed. "Then we'll meet you at the manor as soon as we can."

Zero nodded and strolled quickly from the room. His feet carried him to the main entrance of the old, imposing structure that was the Hunter's Association Headquarters and into the forest beyond. Having become rather accustomed to the powers and abilities that he had gained even though he loathed using them, Zero could move quickly and fluidly over long distances when need be. Like now, he melted away into the shadows of the forest as if he was nothing more than a phantom.

Her entire body froze, even her breath halted in her lungs while her sapphire eyes stayed fixed on the painfully familiar face of her former lover. When she was finally able to take in a shaky breath, her whole body trembled with confusion and disbelief. She had no idea what to do or what to say. All she knew was that Takuma Ichijo was standing on her doorstep smiling at her as if he had never left her side.

"Takuma?" she repeated again, barely above a whisper.

Warm, salty tears built up in her eyes and she took a hesitant step forward before stopping and swallowing. It couldn't be real. That's what she was saying over and over again to herself while letting her eyes roam over the body of the man she had so dearly loved what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Hello."

The sound of his voice, soft, airy and so very familiar made Reina's tears pour from her eyes and trail down her cheeks. Her knees grew weak and she lifted a hand, reaching towards the smiling face to see if he was solid and not just a figment of her imagination. When her fingers lightly brushed over his cheek, she chocked on a quiet sob before closing her eyes in an attempt to try and clear her mind and find a way to deal with the shock of seeing Takuma standing before her.

Instead of clearing her mind, Reina found a flurry of disturbing images flying quickly through her mind. They were all images she had seen before. In the nightmares that haunted her. Her eyes snapped open and all air was knocked from her lungs as her vision swam and her body went numb. A delicate hand rose to cover her mouth and the other to rose her stomach to try and calm the sheer panic and disbelief that made her feel as if she would vomit. She stared into the green eyes that were peering at her with a look mixed with hate and disgust, a look that didn't belong in the eyes of the man before her.

She was confused, frightened and wanted nothing more than to crumple to her knees in front of the man she had thought was dead, but was clearly alive. His anger and hate that were directed at her made her wonder what had happened to him in the years he had been gone, the Takuma she knew and loved didn't have the ability to hate anyone, he was far too kind. But this man, this Takuma, was so full of violent emotions that she had a hard time believing that it was really Takuma, her Takuma, at all.

The dark aura that clung to him like a second skin didn't seem possible for the man that she remembered so fondly. Reina could remember what his aura had felt like, but because she had had to relearn everything after Michael had temporarily killed her vampiric side she had no idea if the warm aura she knew was the same aura as the one that now assaulted her with coldness. Part of her wanted to believe that it wasn't Takuma that stood before her, his kind smile morphing into a feral leer. There was just no way that the Takuma she remembered could ever become so full of hate and anger.

However her eyes were telling her that the man she was staring at was in fact the Takuma she knew and had loved.

"Aren't you going to invite me in, Reina, dear?"

Reina blinked, taking a step back when Takuma stepped towards her. The wood flooring was slippery beneath her bare feet and she winced when she stepped on a piece of the vase she had dropped.

"Such a lovely smell," Takuma stated boldly when the light scent of fresh blood met his nose.

Cocking her head, Reina narrowed her eyes to study the man before her more closely. The voice, though familiar, didn't seem right. There was something in the tone and a subtle lilt that she knew Takuma had never possessed that made her begin to doubt that the person stepping closer towards her was really Takuma. Taking another step back, Reina looked searchingly into the eyes of the man approaching her.

"Mother, are you-"

Reina's eyes widened and she snapped her head towards the sound of her daughter's voice. Emiko was standing towards the top of the stairs, her sapphire eyes fixed on the man that stood just inside the door.

"Emi," Reina whispered, her body becoming overwhelmed with a nauseating fear as she recalled all of the dreams she had in which the Takuma she had once loved so much was replaced by some twisted version of himself. A version similar to the one that now stood before her. Dreams in which he tried to kill Emiko in front of her eyes, where he tried to kill her too. "Emi, get your brother and-"

"Now, now Reina, the poor girl has never had a chance to meet her father. Don't take that away from her," the beautiful yet sinister man cut in, fully entering the house and shutting the door behind him.

The man stepped closer to Reina who stood between him and the stairwell that Emiko stood, transfixed, at the top of. Snapping out of her stupor, Reina took another step back and kept herself positioned between the stairs and the man who she was struggling to believe wasn't Takuma, but her eyes wouldn't let her believe anything else. Her eyes were telling her that despite what her body and her heart felt that the man in front of her was in fact Takuma.

"Emi, get your brother and hide," Reina instructed her young daughter sternly. When the blond girl didn't obey, but only continued to stare at the man who was sneering up at her, Reina grew impatient."Go," she screamed at her daughter that was frozen in fear on the steps.

Her mother's shouts snapped the eight year old girl from her confused thoughts. She knew the man below, recognized his face and aura, but he was nothing like he was supposed to be. He was wrong, everything about him was wrong. Turning on her heels, Emiko fled the stairs, her golden hair dancing behind her as she ran to retrieve her younger brother.

Takuma tutted, shaking his head in disappointment as Emiko disappeared. "That wasn't necessary, I have no intention of hurting her. Not at the moment, anyways."

Eyes narrowing when Takuma turned his attention back to her, Reina held her ground and remained silent.

Sighing, Takuma ran a hand through his straw colored locks and shook his head as if disappointed. "I hope you realize that it doesn't matter where they hide, I will find those precious little children. Emiko and Haruka, wasn't it?" He asked, shrugging carelessly.

"Leave my children alone," Reina said strongly, curling her small hands into fists to try and keep her body from trembling.

An amused smirk appeared on the handsome face of Takuma Ichijo and the tall, thin man began to walk closer to Reina who backed up further until she bumped into the bottom step. Frowning, but not taking her eyes from the advancing man, Reina attempted to turn to her left, away from the stairs and towards the more open area of the entry. She didn't get far when cold fingers latched onto her throat, keeping her from moving any further.

She hissed to show her displeasure, but didn't try to struggle out of the tight grasp. "What do you want?"

Chuckling, Takuma pushed Reina backwards, forcing her to crash into the stairs. Before she could stand up, he positioned himself over her, pinning her in her place.

"What do I want?" he repeated. "Has your beloved husband really not told you anything?"

Reina's eyes flashed uncertainly. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come now, dear. Can't figure it out for yourself? Take a good look into my eyes and tell me what you see."

Blinking and taking a shuddering breath, Reina fidgeted uncomfortably. Slowly, she let her eyes fully meet the green orbs that were staring down at her with the hunger of a starved wild animal. Only now she noticed that the eyes meting hers weren't quite green. They were a smoky gray with traces of a dim, dull green.

"Impossible," she muttered, her face draining of all color and her chest beginning to rise and fall in response to the panic and confusion that was building up in her. She shook her head slowly in disbelief even though she knew the gesture would do nothing to make the truth any less true. "You're dead," she whispered. "Kaname killed you."

"Now which one are you talking about, dear, me or the original owner of this body?"

Taking a shuddering breath, Reina shook her head again. "What did you to Takuma?" She asked quietly, her voice beginning to fill with horror before she took a short pause before speaking a name she thought she would never have to again. "Michael Takamora."

A wide grin spread across Takuma's face and his shoulders bounced as he chuckled in dark amusement. "I took over his body, of course."

"Why?" Reina asked, her eyes growing watery once again.

"Because it was available," Michael replied.

"You had no right-"

Shushing her, Michael laid a finger over Reina's mouth. "I had every right to take this body for my own. I'm a pureblood, Reina, the lower classes exist only to do our bidding. It is a shame that it's not the body of a pureblood, but still he was quite strong, so it wasn't a total waste."

"Bastard," Reina hissed, salty tears slipping from her eyes and trailing down her chin.

Clucking his tongue, Michael wagged a finger back and forth. "Now, now there's no need to get angry. Besides," he said silkily, leaning closer to Reina and brushing some of her hair from her neck while he lightly breathed over her white skin. "It's not like you can harm this body. The body of the one you once loved so much."

Grinding her teeth together, Reina fisted her hands and clenched her eyes shut. Ignoring the feel of the warm puffs of air that were caressing her skin, she tried to tell herself that Takuma was dead and that the man that had her pinned to the stairs deserved the worst kind of death imaginable for all of the pain he had caused. Taking a deep breath she let her eyes reopen and all that Michael saw before he flew off of her and slammed into the door was a bright flash of crimson.

Slowly getting to her feet, Reina kept her head lowered, but the red glow her eyes were emitting and the ominous threat in her aura were not things that she bothered to try and hide. "How dare you," she hissed, the tears that were streaming down her chinks tinted red from the glow of her eyes. "I am no longer the weak little girl you remember, Michael. The title of the queen of our race wasn't given to me lightly. I will teach you what happens when you abuse the laws of our kind."

The delicate, pale hand that lifted from her side was completely steady even as thick reddish black liquid weaved around between her thin fingers. Her head stayed lowered, her long white hair obscuring most of her face, even though she didn't have her eyes on him she had no problem using her abilities to tightly pin the blond vampire to the door. Tendrils of dark smoke that seemed to appear out of nowhere were wrapping themselves around his body, crawling over him like vines and securing him to the door so that he could hardly move a muscle.

Enduring this without a word, Michael waited until the tendrils to begin wrapping around his throat before he spoke up. "R-Reina...W-What are you doing? It hurts.."

Reina's eyes widened and she ground her teeth together, her fangs piercing through the think pink skin of her lower lip and causing two thin trails of red to leak from them. "Shut up, Michael," she demanded, the fingers of her hand mercilessly curling causing the vines around the hijacked body of her former lover to tighten.

A strangled cry of pain filled the air and Reina had to squeeze her eyes shut as Takuma's voice begged and pleaded for her to release him, to explain what was going and even saying that he loved her.

"Shut up," Reina screamed after hearing the painfully familiar voice despairingly murmur its lover for her for the fifth time. She dropped to her knees, tears pouring down her cheeks and dripping on to the fabric of the knee length light gray lace skirt that was spread around her. Her hands curled into fists and her shoulders began to shake. "Just shut up," she mumbled weakly.

"See, what did I tell you, Reina, dear? You can't harm this body," Michael taunted proudly. "Now, shall I explain why I came here or should I just show you?"

The tears streaming down her cheeks were never ending and Reina shook her head, not wanting to show Michael how much he had gotten to her. "Just leave me alone, Michael. Haven't you ruined enough lives?"

Roughly, grabbing Reina's chin, he smirked down into her desperate eyes, his fangs glinting in the light of the chandelier above them. "No. You ruined my life and I will ruin yours by taking everything you ever cared about. While you watch of course because what fun would it be otherwise?"

She said nothing while Michael continued to smirk darkly down at her, when he released her chin she let it drop into her chest in defeat.

"Now let's see... who should I start with?" Michael mused thoughtfully.

Eyes widening when she sensed three new presences suddenly appear in the room, Reina's head shot up and her eyes that had returned to their normal sapphire color met with the crystal blue eyes of Hanabusa Aido. Beside the stunned and confused looking boy was his taller cousin, Akatsuki Kain.

"I must say you two arrived much sooner than I thought you would," Michael stated with sadistic glee. "Thank you for being so quick, Father," he said, glancing behind Reina at the tall figure looking over her.

"Reina-sama," Aido cried trying to run towards the fallen pureblood.

"Hana," Reina yelled, rising to her feet when the blond boy was thrown backwards with so much force that even after slamming into his cousin, both boys flew threw the wall that divided the entrance from the entertainment room. She had barely taken a step forward when her eyes widened and a shout of surprise erupted from her. Invisible energy had slammed into her torso and sent her smashing into the stairs, shattering several of the wooden beams with her back.

"Still haven't learned to behave I see."

"Daiki Takamora," Reina said, her teeth clenched together as she struggled to remove herself from the mess of the stairwell. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Women were meant to be seen, not heard. So keep your mouth shut," Daiki growled ruthlessly.

Reina's face distorted into a look of pain when her head was forced back to slam into the stairs.

"Don't get too carried away, Father. I want her conscious when I murder her precious little friends," Michael reminded his angered fathered.

Groaning, Reina struggled to sit up, but yelped when her hair was entangled in Daiki's fingers and she was roughly pulled up from the mangled mess she was in.

"I told you," Reina murmured quietly, stopping after being pulled forward several steps, her eyes growing red while her fangs pressed against her lips. "I'm not the same weak little girl I was the last time we met."

Michael's eyes widened, but he couldn't move quick enough in the stolen body of the aristocrat and was forced to watch as Reina's eyes grew red with anger and determination. Even his father was stunned with the speed and grace she was able to move with, so much so that he barely registered the hand that was thrust through his chest, piercing brutally through his heart before his head snapped backwards with a sickening crunch.

Turning her head to look over her shoulder at Michael, Reina barely twitched her fingers and simultaneously sent Michael slamming into the wall that now had a gaping hole in it and sent a powerful surge of energy through Daiki's chest, making his heart explode before he could attempt to heal himself.

Red crystals and dust showered into the air and clattered to the floor around Reina, who paid them no heed as she stepped towards Michael, her aura thick with anger and rage.

"If you think I'll let you harm a single person I care about, you're wrong. Dead wrong," she said threateningly.

Michael began to giggle and laugh like a crazed lunatic and Reina narrowed her eyes, watching him closely. "You think that will stop me from taking everything from you, just like you took everything from me?... You really don't know me at all, do you?"

"You're forgetting that I'm the pureblood queen of our race," Reina replied. "How exactly do you think you will be able to do anything at all to me or anyone I care about?"

"Simple," Michael answered, grinning at her. "After all, I still have a few cards up my sleeve."

Tilting a brow upwards, Reina folded her arms over her chest and kept her eyes on Michael. "Oh really and what makes you think I'll allow you to use them? If you're in Takuma's body and Takuma is dead then there really is no reason for me to hesitate in killing you and letting the man I loved rest peacefully."

"Who said he was dead?"