Rin stood beside her mother, looking at her tortured expression before looking at Saeth's retreating form with a slight frown; finally finding what used to be there…or still is. Lightning flickered in the sky as Saeth stood outside the hospital, looking up with a dazed look on his face. Rain fell on his face and he closed his eyes, his hands in his pockets, letting the rain over come him. His silver hair plastered to his face and a peaceful calm swept over him as his shoulders slumped a bit in serenity. Solemn footsteps were heard not too far off, coming closer. He sensed the person behind him, cold and shivering from the rain, drenched as he was; the person hesitated to speak.

"You still love her don't you…" came Rin's voice

"…Yes…I do." he replied after a moment, slowly opening his eyes and turning to face her with quiet intensity "There never was a reason for me to stop…"

She looked up at him, shivering from the cold rain, searching his eyes. For a moment, she saw a flicker of, what she thought, the man her mother fell in love with. She pondered for a moment as the rain continued to pour, soaking them both to the bone. Again…Silence.

"Why did you tell her?" she asked at length "…You both would've been happy if you didn't say anything."

"But…then that would be wrong…as she ages, I will not." he replied looking at her, a sad smile on his face "She would figure something is wrong and then it wouldn't be right…so it would be untruthful to her and me."

Rin saw the truth in his words and felt how distressed he truly was. He never meant to hurt her mother, he wouldn't even dare. Seeing her in this way must've killed him. Now she felt truly terrible about hunting this man. He was just…in love.

"I'm…sorry" she said, her teeth slightly chattering

"There's nothing to be sorry about." he said "Don't apologize."

They stayed silent and she shivered before looking up at him again, the rain making her hair stick to her face and drip.

"You know…I know what it feels like to have loved and lost as well" she said

"Do not try to compare you with me" he said in a slightly cold voice "We're nothing alike in anyway…"

"I'm just trying to-…" she started

"You don't know what its like do you?" he snapped all of a sudden, scaring her a bit making her step back before he realized what he had done and calmed down

He stayed silent for a moment, recollecting himself.

"Living forever…" he whispered "No one really knows how long forever is until you actually live it…Trying not to fall in love because of the hurt that comes when you humans go the way you do…"

Rin didn't understand and looked at him slightly confused before it slowly pieced in. If he had met her mother when she was young in her teens that should have made him currently maybe in his late forties, yet he didn't look a day over 20 or so.

"How old are you?" she asked after a moment

"A few years or so shy of 600" he said before looking up at the sky that had lightened up somewhat and the sun shined through some clouds "I don't bother to count anymore"

Oddly, time seemed to stop completely as the people around them stopped moving except for the both of them. Rin was confused but Saeth knew full well of what was going on. It stopped raining as the droplets were frozen in time. Rin watched in fascination, touching one, making it move. He put a firm hand on her shoulder, making her look at him while he looked ahead, his eyes dark and foreboding. His eyes darted back and forth, scanning the area like a cat analyzing its surroundings. He could hear the buzzing of a bullet and his eyes widened in rage as his lips peeled back in a nasty snarl showing his fangs before fiercely grabbing Rin and shoving her behind him. His body gave a violent jerk as the bullet pierced through him.

"Saeth!" she shouted as the vampire's eyes widened in pain and he fell to his knees

When she kneeled beside him, he got on all fours and vomited blood, his arms shaking and a small sound of a gasp escaping his lips as he stared blankly at the blood on the ground. The blood was dark, almost black. He was bleeding internally. The bullet just barely missed his heart.

"Protecting a human." said a sinister voice "How touching..."

"Who are you!?" shouted Rin