I had a dull, rugged countenance as my black eyes drifted from the night sky to the grey wilderness before me. I whispered soft words of comfort as I continued to shudder violently by the presence of twisted shadows and the cutting air, hope extinguishing inside me when I came to a cruel realisation.

I had no place in this world that I truly belonged to. With my lover gone, my family turned against me and the entire world heaving upon my shoulders, I have only my own intellect for support.

"Life is cruel," I breathed from my cracked, icy lips, now seeing that the scenery was like a consuming funnel of heavy blackness, the sight of death itself perhaps. It made me almost cry with fear, clench my fists with a sudden outburst of fuming anger and anticipation to smash something to pieces. Why did my life have to be this way?

Rido, that monster, ruined everything. He caused the wretched passing of Juri, Haruka and the corroding evil influence on my brother and sister. I still wonder how Kaien, my father, plays in all of this. Is he just as malevolent and despising as Rido, or is he my ally?

I didn't want to continue being the only one who had a kind, selfless heart. I wanted somebody else who sympathised and empathised as much as I did, who sacrificed and cared, someone who wasn't controlled by hatred... But is there really such a person who is purely good? Even Zero, who I believed to have nothing but kindness and light beaming within him, sliced me into nothing but fragile, broken pieces.

I utterly wished for those pieces to be put together again.

Branches snapped, dog-like hair pricking my skin as I felt something move past my cold flesh. I flinched, turning around cautiously, almost falling to the ground in buckling fear. It was a wolf about six times the size of the average species, its large paws digging angrily into the ground, it's eyes beaming yellow and lustful, it's fur as black as night and a husky growl ripping through it's bared teeth.

Holy shit. Too bad I don't have any silver bullets or wolfs bane. Plan B is to run.

My feet scraped the dirt when I bolted and didn't stop, even when I felt like I was choking on my own dying breath. Spiked vines would cut into my skin as I ran for my life, drawing scarlet liquid that seemed to gleam in the spite dusk. Halting to a hard stop, my hands and nails were suddenly clawing solid stone as the path I had been so dangerously following came to an abrupt end. How could a forest just be cut off like that?

I could hear the ragged breathing from the beast that stood dominantly before me, except that wasn't all that my ears were open to. A gun shot fired, ear-splintering and echoing and crashing like a tidal wave.

And then a particular voice struck me, a voice that was strangely recognisable, a voice that was thick with angst and had a cutting, sharpened edge.

"Throwing yourself towards danger again, Val?" Harsh but slightly mocking, I knew in that instant who it was. He stood before me, his skin splattered with blood and mud, his silver locks tangled and almost completely shading his bloodshot eyes, his entire being nothing but dishevelled.

The wolf fell back into the trees as soon as he appeared, but I wasn't sure whether it was actually leaving or preparing itself for another attack. Bewildered, I eyed the man in front of me of which I never thought I would see again.

Zero.

And he was directing his Bloody Rose gun right at the centre of my head.