Chapter 1: A Funny Thing Happened to Me on My Way to the Circus

"T-Tuomas…"

The large oak door creaked as the small force of a pale hand pushed it open. What the owner of this pale hand saw was nothing short of horrifying. There, lying naked and motionless was a pale boy who looked as if he were not a day older than nineteen. His fair, powder blue hair was messy and disheveled. There seemed to be no puncture wound but there was a large pool of blood around the lower part of his body and despite the screams that had permeated into the hallway, a soft smile was permanently formed upon his lips.

Standing in front of a full length mirror that was placed in the corner of the room was a man in a black jacket, white collared shirt, black pants, and shiny black shoes. He was straightening his collar when the boy walked in and had turned once he heard the creak of the door. The man smiled, a gleam of evil in his eyes. The boy hadn't noticed him until he heard the smooth baritone voice calling to him. "Claus, my dear Claus," the man cooed to the boy as he stepped towards him. Claus, visibly mortified, took a step back. The man outstretched a hand to Claus. "Come now Claus, it's okay. Your brother is just fine."

Claus, the boy, shook his head. "H-He's dead…You killed him!" His British accent was evident in his young voice. Before the man could say anything more, the boy shot down the hallway with inhuman speed.

The man frowned as two large men in suits appeared at the door. "Go after him. Bring him back." The men nodded, running after the boy with equally inhuman speed. The man sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration as he walked over to the blue haired teen on the floor. He nudged the lifeless head with his shoe, getting a better look at the boy's face. Seeing the serene expression, he chuckled, and then his chuckling grew into booming laughter that echoed throughout the cold, dark, empty hallways as the sun began setting in the sky outside the window behind him.

xXx

Aki found herself walking down the street alone, iPod blasting Nightmare Before Christmas music into her ears through her red, apple shaped headphones. She had noticed the temperature drop a bit after the sun had set thirty minutes earlier. All day, she had been wandering around town with nothing much to do and then an hour earlier she had checked her phone messages. She hummed along with Sally's Song as she pondered L's message once more, unable to keep her mind off of it.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, someone bumped into her from behind. The sheer force of the impact sent her falling to the ground. With cat-like reflexes, she used the force, hands coming in contact with concrete and then sending her back up to do a flip in the air. She landed on her feet a yard in front of the person who had run into her. Aki turned, removing her headphones, to tell them off, but stopped herself to see a boy who appeared to be around the age of twelve or thirteen standing there, out of breath. He wore a grey hoodie, blue jeans, and an old pair of sneakers. His red-violet hair framed his pale face which, despite the raggedness of the boy's breath, was free of any blush. The boy's ice blue eyes were filled with terror. However, there was one thing she was certain of: this boy, whoever he was, was a vampire.

For a moment or two, they just stared at each other, chocolate brown meeting icy blue. The boy was shocked at the girl's acrobatic skill. Just who was she? Another vampire? No, she didn't seem like one and she was far too tan. Had she really just flipped into the air, a human? She was wearing jeans, a baby blue shirt with short sleeves and a skull and crossbones on it over a navy, long sleeved shirt, and a pair purple flats. Around her neck hung a pair of red, apple shaped headphones that looked, literally, like someone had cut a small apple in half and then the halves glued to either end of a headband. They sat on a navy blue scarf that wrapped around her neck. Atop her head was a baby blue hat with an intricate white design sewn into one side. Her hair was brown and curly, reaching about midway down her back. Around her shoulder was the strap to a black messenger bag with what looked like the vampire squirrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas on the front of it. And, as he had mentioned to himself before, she was tanned, more so than a Japanese person.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a distant voice. "I think he went this way!" Hearing these words made the boy's eyes grow in fear. "P-please, you must help me!" The British accented boy spoke in an urgent tone, despite his hushed volume. Aki, a little taken aback, quickly nodded, a determined expression forming on her face.

Aki grabbed the boy by the shoulders and shoved him into a nearby alleyway. He fell to the ground and then glared at the girl who raised her index finger in front of her closed lips as a sign to keep quiet. The boy nodded and scrambled to hide behind the large trashcan that made its home in the alleyway. Then, promptly, Aki fell to the ground, an audible thud as her butt met cement. "Ow!" she howled. "Hey, get back here, kid!" Aki made sure the pursuing men could hear her. Sure enough, two large men in suits appeared around the corner, rushing up to her. One offered Aki a hand to help her up.

"Good evening, Miss. We heard your cry, so we came to help you. Are you all right?" said the first one. They both looked exactly the same with their slicked back, black hair and sunglasses. They looked like they were from the CIA, but Aki could tell that they were vampires, not human spies. Aki gave them a big smile and took the offered hand. "Oh, I'm fine. Thank you so much. Some kid just bumped into me and then ran off that way." She pointed further down the street. "I bet he was just some stupid pickpocket street rat. I hope he didn't take my wallet." For effect, Aki looked through her messenger bag for her wallet, which was in the bottom of the bag where she left it.

At her story, the men looked at each other and nodded. "I see," said the second one. "That kid's actually been causing trouble around here. He's a thief."

Aki blinked, a worried expression forming on her face. "Oh my!" From behind the trashcan, the boy put a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing. Was this girl for real? "Well, you had better catch him soon. He might come back for my purse!"

The men nodded. "Oh, we will, don't worry about that," assured the first man. "Take care, ma'am," they spoke in unison before running off at regular speed so as not to raise suspicion in the girl before turning the corner, at which point they sped off at their top vampire speed.

Aki waved goodbye as they ran off and then sighed and relaxed as she saw them turn the corner. She turned to the alley where the boy was standing, clapping. "Very nice performance," he remarked sarcastically. Aki pouted, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Hey, they bought it," she retorted.

"Well, thanks, Miss. I had better get going." The boy turned to leave but he stopped, feeling a hand grab the hood of his sweater.

"Not so fast," Aki barked. "You're not going anywhere until I get some answers. Who are you?"

The boy growled, struggling to pull away from the female's iron grip. "My name's Claus. There, now let me go!"

Aki yanked him towards her and spun Claus around to face her, placing her hands firmly on his shoulders. "It's nice to meet you, Claus. My name is Aki Kitazawa."

Claus grimaced, deigning to the girl. "Likewise," he replied sarcastically.

Aki glared down at him in frustration. "You're from England, right?"

Claus rolled his eyes. "No, I'm from Guatemala. Of course I'm from bloody England!"

Aki growled, ignoring his insolent tone. "Alrighty, then, riddle me this, Sherlock: What are you doing here so far away from home and why were those guys running after you?"

At this, Claus fell silent, the terror returning to his eyes. Suddenly, tears replaced terror and he hung his head and began crying. "H-he killed m-my…brother…T-Tuomas."

Aki frowned. "Who?"

Claus began sobbing as he brought his hands to his eyes. "T-the Master…"

Aki hugged the boy close to her. "It's okay, Kid," she tried to comfort Claus. Claus welcomed the contact, wrapping his arms around the girl as he buried his head in her shirt, his sobs becoming muffled. They stood there for a minute or two while Claus just cried and cried. "Oh, no," Aki thought. "This kid must be one of those vampires who were kidnapped, poor Kid. Who knows what they've been doing to him. I have to find out more…but not now. I have to call L about this as soon as I can."

Once he had calmed down, he loosened his grip on Aki and stepped back a little. "I'm sorry," Claus apologized as he wiped at his eye with his sleeve, his head and eyes lowered as he looked at the ground. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you. I know you were only trying to be nice. Thank you for helping me out."

Aki shook her head, placing a hand on the boy's head. "Don't worry about it. Besides, you look like you've been through a lot. I understand." Claus nodded, eyes still lowered. Aki smiled, offering him her hand. "C'mon, come with me. I doubt you have anywhere to go but I know somewhere where you can stay."

Claus blinked up at her and then looked at her hand. He glanced up at her smiling face again, a little skeptically, before taking Aki's hand. Aki grinned wider before leading him down the street, reaching into her bag. They came to a halt as Aki pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a number and then brought it up to her ear, waiting for whoever it was to pick up. "—Li? Where's your dad?...Never mind. Hey, look, I need you to pick me up…No, I'm not lost. I found a little lost kitten that needs a home, and…Can you please just pick me up!…I'm in Shibuya, outside that ramen shop…Yeah, that one…Okay…okay…okay! Just get here! Bye!" With that, Aki hung up her cell.

Li had no idea what she was in for and neither did Claus.

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Oooh! Wasn't that exciting?! ^o^ A few characters are introduced in this chapter. Isn't Claus adorable? X3 And I know you all are jealous of my acting skills. Ha ha! ^n^

The name of this chapter was inspired by a play by the name of "A Funny Thing Happened to Me on My Way to the Forum." Again, it is an obvious choice for the title. I have never actually seen the play but I thought that the name fit. I love the little phone conversation at the end of the chapter. w I had a lot of fun with that.

Well, that's all I will say for now. Feel free to ask any questions and leave a lot of reviews! Until the next chapter, ja ne. X3