Hey peeps! I apologize for the wait. My life has been very hectic, and I was just really uninspired, but lately I've been thinking about what to do next with this story, and here I am. I hope it was worth the wait, and thank you all for sticking with me. Now this chapter will get a little weird, and Jaden will probably be very OOC, but...let's just say he has a change of heart (wink wink). Trust me, everything will be explained in the chapters to come.

Rose Bud

Chapter 7

Trusting Again

xXXx

Darkness. That was all Jaden could see. He had no idea what was going on, and it scared him. He had never liked the dark, it had always creeped him out, and being alone made it even worse. Ever since he was a child, he had hated the darkness, had hated being alone. That's why he always tried to be friends with people. He felt that if he was alone, then darkness would consume him, and he didn't like that. So this wasn't exactly his cup of tea.

"Hello?" He called out, hoping for an answer, but not expecting one.

"Hello, young one," said a female voice, a voice that held wisdom and power and seemed to vibrate through the air.

Jaden jumped, startled at actually hearing someone. He looked around, not seeing anyone. "Who...who are you?"

The woman chuckled. "I am what you would call a goddess, of sorts."

Jaden, still looking around confused, asked, "Goddess? Of...what?"

"Of Vampires."

Jaden froze. "Va-va-vampires?" He asked, he had a bad feeling all of a sudden.

"Yes, but do not fear, young one," she said reassuringly, almost as a mother would, and Jaden visibly relaxed. "I would never dream of harming you. You have a part to play in the years to come."

"What do you mean?" Jaden asked.

"You will see, young one. It takes time for things to be revealed. Your mate is a very powerful being, almost as powerful as his father who rivals even me. He is the one gifted with the power to protect you. And you will need that protection in the months, even years, to come."

Jaden, still very confused by the crypticness of this person, asked, "What are you talking about?"

The woman chuckled, "I am talking, Jaden, about your mate, Chazz."

Jaden looked up into the darkness angrily. "I hate Chazz, he is not my mate. I like girls, not guys."

Again, the woman chuckled, "In our world, sexual preference has no meaning. It is love that rules our world. And stop trying to deny something that everyone else can see as clear as day. Denying your love will only create a rift between the two of you. A rift that at the moment, is not a good thing. Your mate, as well as Zane and Atticus, are very special vampires. They all have important rolls to play in your world."

"Wait!" Jaden said, even more scared now, "You're saying that Chazz, Zane and Atticus are all...vampires?"

He heard a sigh, "They would never hurt you, young one. Chazz cares about you, and the others care about their mates as well."

"You mean Zane and Atticus both have mates too?"

"Of course, every vampire has a mate whether it be another vampire, a mortal, or another being. Zane's and Atticus's mates are Bastion and Syrus."

Jaden looked a little disgusted. "Zane's mate is his brother?"

He heard another sigh. "No, young one. Zane's mate is Bastion, Atticus's mate is Syrus," the woman sounded slightly annoyed.

Jaden breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god, that may have been a little weird."

"You are a little weird, young one." Jaden looked up again. "You really are my childe's mate."

Jaden once again was confused, he seemed to be feeling that a lot lately. "Your child?"

"Yes," she said, "All vampires are my children. I am their goddess after all. My mate and I were the first. And all the lines can be traced back to us. Although some of the broods are more powerful than the others."

"What?" Jaden asked.

But then they heard voices calling his name. "Jaden! Jaden!"

"I am sorry young one, but our time grows short. Your mate and his friends will explain everything. I wish you luck."

Jaden felt the voice grow quiet, "Wait! I need to know more!"

"It's time to go home, Jaden," said a voice behind him. He knew that voice.

Jaden turned to find Chazz standing in front of him in all his glory. 'Beautiful' he thought. He didn't know where it had come from, so much weird stuff was going on lately, but he felt safe now that Chazz was here. And strangely, after his talk with the goddess, he felt his true feelings for the Obelisk start to come through. "Chazz," he whispered.

The vampire smiled and walked towards him, till they were inches apart. Chazz reached up to caress Jaden's cheek. Finding he liked the touch Jaden relaxed into it, his eyes locked with Chazz's. "I know you have questions, Jaden," he said calmly, "and they will be answered, but you must trust me that everything will be revealed in their own time."

"I trust you, Chazz. I don't know why I do. I've been so confused these days, but now things are starting to make a little more sense. And I find that...I feel something for you, I don't think it's love, but I believe, that in time, that's what it will become."

Chazz looked at Jaden, his face showing know emotion, scanning Jaden's face, as if to make sure this wasn't a joke. Jaden looked pleadingly at him, and he caved. He smiled before leaning down to place a chaste kiss on Jaden's lips. "I can wait," he said before everything went white.

xXx

As Jaden slowly awoke he became aware of several things. One, he could hear a blaring siren, but from what he couldn't tell. Second, he was lying on a bed, one much more comfortable than his own in Slifer. And third, he could feel a warm hand on his forehead. He knew almost immediately whose hand it was, and when it was drawn away he let out a little whine as the warmth disappeared.

He heard a chuckle to his right and opened his eyes, only to close them against the bright light of the room. "Hey Marc, dim the lights will ya?" He knew that voice. Trying to open his eyes a second time, Jaden found that the lights weren't as bright, but he could still see Chazz sitting next to him. He smiled up at the Obelisk, who smiled back.

"Well, lookie who's up." Jaden looked to his left to see Atticus, who had spoken, Zane, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis, Chazz's two cronies, Marc and James, and a girl who looked a lot like Chazz.

Jaden smiled at his friends. "Hey guys," he said as he sat up, with a little help from Chazz, "How's it going?"

"You tell us," said Alexis. "We're not the ones who have been asleep for about an hour."

Jaden smiled at her, "I'm fine, except for the fact that I feel as if I've been hit with a two ton truck," he said as he rubbed his head.

The group of Obelisks laughed, while the Slifers looked at them confused. Jaden looked over at Chazz, who wasn't laughing but was blushing instead.

"What?" The Slifer asked.

"It's my fault you feel that way. That stunt I pulled earlier is what caused you to feel like that, but it should ware off soon," Chazz said embarrassed.

Jaden just looked at him confused, "What stunt?"

"It's nothing," Chazz replied.

Jaden, figuring it wasn't important, realized that one of their usual group was missing. "Where's Bastion?" As soon as the words had left his mouth the Obelisks looked at Zane sadly, who looked sadder than all of them. "Zane?"

The older boy looked up at him before turning his head towards the darkest corner of the room. Following his gaze Jaden saw Bastion, in a way that he had never seen the Ra before. Bastion had his back against the wall, with his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees, and his chin on his knees. But what startled Jaden the most was the emptiness that could be seen in Bastion's eyes.

"Bastion?" Jaden called out. Nothing, not even a twitch. "Bastion what's wrong?" Jaden asked as he slowly stood.

"Jaden," Chazz said standing as well in an attempt to get the Slifer to lay down again, but he froze at the glare he got from his mate, and slowly backed off as Jaden moved toward his friend.

Kneeling in front of the Ra, but still not getting any reaction, Jaden put a gentle hand on his arm, still nothing. Not removing his hand Jaden looked to the group behind him, "What's wrong with him?" He asked, concerned for his friend.

"He is afraid of the truth," said the girl that Jaden didn't know.

Looking at her questioningly Jaden asked, "And who are you?"

"Jaden," Chazz said stepping in, "This is my twin sister, Aly."

Aly nodded in greeting, and Jaden returned it, awe showing in his face. 'Since when does Chazz have a sister, and a twin at that?'

Deciding not to voice his question, remembering that things would be explained in time, Jaden asked her, "What do you mean he's afraid of the truth?"

"He's afraid of Zane, and what he is," Aly responded.

Jaden was going to ask something else when Syrus butted in, "But why would Bastion be scared of what Zane is? It's not like Zane is some monster or something, he's just my brother." Syrus never saw his brother flinch at being called a monster.

"Well," Aly said, "technically he's not a monster."

Syrus looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Aly looked at Zane who was standing right behind his little brother. "Syrus, I'm not human," he said. Syrus looked at him confused. "In fact," he said looking around, "Most of us aren't." Syrus looked around, and as he did he saw Chazz, Aly, Atticus, Marc, and James all smirk at him. "We're vampires."

Pause.

"Oh, boy," said Chumley, shaking with fear. "They're all gonna kill us."

"No their not," said Jaden all attention turning to him. "Their not like that. They won't kill us." Jaden turned to look at Chazz. "They need us, so they can't kill us. Isn't that right Chazz?"

Chazz smirked as he walked towards him. When he was right in front of the Slifer, Jaden was reminded of what happened in the dream. "Your right," said the Obelisk. "I need you."

Syrus looked at the two, "What the heck is going on here?"

"I don't know," said Chumley, "But I'm getting a headache."

"Well, here's it all in a nutshell," Aly said all attention back on her. "Chazz, Atticus, Zane, Marc, James, and I are all vampires. Now here's some info for ya. All vampires need a mate to live, or a significant other as you will. The mates are always chosen by fate, and are always destined to be together, no matter what. The mate of a vampire is a blood source for said vampire, as well as a companion eternally. Now, since your all probably wondering, Jaden is Chazz's mate, Bastion is Zane's, Syrus is Atticus's, Marc and James are, well, each others', and my mate is back at home." Aly took a breath as if she had said all of that in one, which she probably had.

Syrus and Chumley, the only two seemingly out of the loop here, went, "HUH?"

But before anyone could even think of explaining in more detail, and a little slower, the building started to tremble, and far off they could hear part of Duel Academy falling apart.

"What's going on?" Alexis asked.

"I think Chazz's earlier fiasco made the building's structure unstable, now it's collapsing," Aly yelled over the noise. The group heard a loud crash outside the room, as one of the walls collapsed. "We gotta get out of here!"

As they all quickly headed for the door, Zane, acting on instinct, quickly picked Bastion up off the floor and carried him out of the room after the others. They all ran down the hall to the exit before Jaden even noticed that there was no one in the halls.

"Where is everyone?" He asked.

Chazz answered, "They all got out at the emergency siren, they're all probably off the island by now."

As they kept running the exit came into sight, and dodging a few falling pieces of the ceiling and walls, they ran outside.

But before any of them could breath a sigh of relief there was a set of screams and they realized that Jaden and Syrus were nowhere to be seen. "Oh no," said Atticus, starting to get stressed out. "Where'd they go?"

The group looked around but couldn't see them. Then, "Looking for something?" Turning towards the voice the group saw Dr. Crowler walking towards them.

Chazz and Atticus stepped forward, glaring daggers. "As a matter of fact, we are," said Chazz. "You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"

Dr. Crowler smirked, "I might."

Zane stepped forward, after depositing his mate in Marc's arms, "They were just with us, how could you have taken them when they were right here?!" He growled.

Crowler just smirked again before looking towards the sky as two men with black scaly wings descended to the ground. Each carrying a Slifer.

The three growled. "Give them back Crowler!" Chazz yelled.

"Sorry, I'm afraid I'm simply following orders."

"Orders," Aly asked, "From who?"

"That would be us," said a different male voice. Aly and Chazz both tensed as their worst nightmares came over the hill they were standing on.

"You," The twins growled, but the two strangers just smirked.

xXXx

Please don't kill me, cause if you do you won't find out what happens.

R/R