Hello. I'm very sorry it took me so long to update. I would have updated Wednesday but things have just started coming up and I have not been able to catch a break! So here is your overdue Chapter Thirteen. Enjoy!


The Story of Amara Kuran | Mariah Bryant

Book One, Chapter Thirteen

My Story

"Ichijo!" I gasped.

He smiled, and slowly his eyes got wider and wider. "Amara Kuran. Is it really you?"

"Oh my, Ichijo! It has been an eternity! I am so happy to see you! You are attending Cross Academy?" I dropped Mike's arms and walked to my old friend.

"I am Vice President." he said proudly.

"Well, I'm getting impatient. What the hell is going on around here?" barked a man who looked similar to the short one with the grim voice.

Ichijo cleared his throat awkwardly. I met the eye of the rude one.

"And you are?" I demanded.

"Akatuaki Kain, at your service. This is my cousin, Aido Hanabusa. That is Ruka Sounen and that's Seiren. We are friends of Kaname-sama. Who are you?"

I noticed right away that Ruka was a very shy girl and was in love with my brother and that Hanabusa was boastful and in love with my brother. Akatuaki was usually apathetic. Seiren was Kaname's bodyguard. It was a good group.

"I am Amara Kuran. It is nice to meet friends of my brother's." I extended my hand to Akatuaki.

Akatuaki simply gawked.

I smirked. "Hmm. Would you all like to come in?"

"We saw the incident with Senri and his great-uncle and the assassins – we overheard a bit of it, too – and now we are really confused," Hanabusa said. I realized that he wanted to be called Aido and that the nickname that he loved was "Idol". His cousin, he thought, was called "Wild" by human females because he looked so calm . . . like he was about to do something.

I smiled. "I was just getting ready to explain." I looked quickly at my brother as I guided the vampyre teens into the room to sit on the beds. He actually seemed pleased.

No. It was more than that. Kaname was happy that his friends had come to our rescue knowing very little and without being asked. Before, had he ever considered anyone a friend?

"I had no idea Kaname-sama had a sister." Ruka remarked.

Seiren seemed grim and unsurprised. Ichijo was feeling self-conscious. Zero was leaning against the wall, tense.

"I came back from America when one of the senate's assassins finally found me. Kaien was willing to help me if I attended the day school, so I did. Today the senate caught up with me and summoned me to my trial." I told them.

"What did you do?" Ruka asked.

"It is a long story." I no longer felt comfortable telling my past.

"Amara, everyone is here for you. They will be on our side." Kaname assured me.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. "I do not trust them yet."

"You are going to have to. They are loyal, but it will be hard for them to help us if they do not understand everything that is happening and why."

"How about this: Amara will tell me in the hallway in English while you tell your friends in Japanese, since I cannot understand it very well, anyway." Mike said slowly.

I stared at him. Kaname did too, then nodded. Mike took my hands and led me out of the room.

***

Amara's story as told by Kaname to his friends:

It was fourteen years ago. Mother was screaming awfully loud. Father could do nothing but hold her hand. The doctor worked hurriedly, his eyes wide. He was breathing hard, too. It was hot in my parents' bedroom, though I was unsure how, being that it was winter. The doctor, Father, and I were dressed in heavy suits. We were forced to burn large candles and oil lamps, because it was nighttime and the mansion was without electricity.

It had gone out the moment the sun went down.

Mother's eyes were wide. She was strong, but she was a timid woman. However, this amount of fear had never showed up on her face before. Not even when I was really little, and had hidden in the closet thinking I had convinced my Father to play hide-and-go-seek with me. She had on her nightgown, but it did not make a difference. She was the pinkest I have ever seen a vampyre. She was not mad with pain but it seemed like any minute she would be.

"Doctor . . . how much longer?" she panted.

"It is really hard to tell." he admitted, perplexed.

"It is not supposed to be like this – what on Earth could be wrong?" Father asked, his intense eyes not intending to scare the doctor but nevertheless glowing red.

"It has been four hours," Mother groaned. "It started the second the sun set!"

The doctor's eyebrows were nearly touching at this point. Though he was young, it occurred to me that looked ancient. He was supposed to be the best vampyre doctor in the world. It really scared me that someone with his gift of intelligence had no idea what he was doing anymore.

I had to wonder if my mother was dying. Was I seeing her for the last time, her screaming in agony, her entrancing face turned ugly by pained and terrified expressions?

Mother began to cry between her screams, though not with pain or fear. She was worried for her baby.

Father kissed her tenderly. His face lingered close to hers and he whispered comforting things to her.

The nurses all stood around the bed doing nothing but trying to give the Kurans privacy. A few stared at the walls silently. A few examined paintings. A few simply gazed off in space. They could not even look at one another.

I hiccupped a little, about to cry.

Father turned to me and gave me as much of a reassuring face as he could. Then he signaled a nurse. "Please, take my son out of the room. Kaien and Cho can care for him."

The nurse nodded and took my hand. Her face cold and hard, she led me from the room. I stared at the scene behind me, unwilling to leave. But I knew that when my Father asked me to do something, it was always best to comply. She closed the door behind us and led me to the parlor, where an assortment of friends waited for word of a healthy Kuran baby.

Everyone leapt to their feet at our entrance. At hearing my mother continue to scream, they became confused.

"Is everything all right?" Ichio asked shakily.

The nurse remained stone-faced. "She is in a lot of pain, and there are no signs of progress." she said, then left.

I turned to the crowd. It consisted of the Ichijos, the Kains, the Aidos, and Kaien and Cho Cross. (No children had come.) All of them could be trusted. I walked to Kaien and let my head droop.

"I am worried about Mother. Father does not seem hopeful that she will make it through." I murmured.

Kaien knelt to my size and took my chin. "Kaname, do not worry. A pureblood has never died in childbirth. It is impossible." Then he laughed. "Your younger sibling simply does not know what to do. Your mother will be fine . . . I mean, besides having a rowdy baby."

It was true, if only the first part. I wiped my tears. Cho knelt and hugged me, smiling.

"Would you like to take a walk, Kaname?" she asked.

I thought for a second, then nodded. She took my hand and we walked together outside in the gardens. Kaien followed behind us. All was silent except for the night and an occasional wale from the house. The stars above outshone diamonds and the full moon was perfectly white – not yellow or even crème, but white – and very big. It seemed to rejoice.

Time passed in a very strange manner. What seemed like forever was only a minute.

"Kaname," Cho said finally, "would you like to make a bouquet for your mother?"

I loved the idea. She very much deserved to have beautiful, sweet-smelling things. I was about to pick a beautiful blue flower, then paused and turned to Kaien and Cho, who were now holding hands and watching me.

"I do not know whether the baby will be a boy or a girl." I told them.

Kaien smiled wider."Just pick whatever flowers she likes the most. Your mother will love it."

I thought long and hard about which ones she liked the most until I found some beautiful white tulips and some magnificent purple daisy-looking flowers. In the lighting, I also found some flowers that seemed to be black. I had no clue that they actually were black – black beauties, to be precise. The way that they simmered in the moonlight was incredible. I arranged the bouquet and held it very gently, marveling at it.

Cho and Kaien were looking at the house, I noticed, and I frowned. I thought hard about what had grabbed their attention, then I realized: there was no screaming.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Kaien turned very slowly to me.

Just then, Ichio's son peeked his head out of the front door. "Kaname! Come inside, quickly!"

I almost dropped the flowers as I sped back through the garden. Cho and Kaien were in pursuit. We raced up the steps, Ichio and his son running behind us. Without knocking, I flung open the door (as well as a small child could) and walked into my parents' bedroom. I froze.

On the opposite side of the room from the bed, the doctor was slouched in a chair and nurses were tending to him like relentlessly. They fanned him and gave him water and placed moist rags on his forehead. The nurses were talking to him, calling his name. His head was flopping around. I only thought about this for a moment before turning my attention to the silent side of the room.

My Father was bent over my mother, blocking my view. I walked further into the room after seeing that a blanket made my innocent eyes safe from indecency.

Mother's lips were grey and slightly parted. Her skin was so pale it was almost see-through. Her hair was in a long, fuzzy braid. Her eyes were closed, and her head was rolled to the side. In her limp arms was a bundle, which father was touching gently.

At my arrival, Father smiled at me and nodded for me to climb onto the bed. I did so awkwardly because of the height of it. On my hands and knees I approached my mother and the bundle. I felt a wave of relief so intense that I could have sobbed when I saw that my mother was breathing.

"Kaname, this is your sister: Amara Kuran." Father said, loud enough that the men and woman standing in the doorway could hear. He pulled the blanket away from the baby's face so that I could see.

What was lying in my mother's arms was surely a doll. She had a full head of white hair, perfect black eyelashes, beautiful pink lips, and snow-white skin. I marveled. This was a baby, but she looked nothing like a baby.

To test it out, I whispered her name. Perhaps, I thought, I would find out whether or not she was really a baby. "Amara?"

To my immense surprise, her eyes opened very slowly. Her eyes . . . were indescribably beautiful, with light blue and purple and silver. She focused on me, and her face became content. I swear to you: I saw her smile. Then she drifted back to sleep.

"She is special, is she not?" Mother whispered. I looked over at her to see that she was smiling at me the same smile I just saw on my baby sister's face. "Right after she was born, she started glowing white and she made the most beautiful, squeak-like noise you can imagine. The doctor passed right out, but she started floating in mid-air and did not fall. The light did not hurt, Kaname, but it made everything white. Then, it was over, and she floated back down into your father's arms. She sighed, and after looking at him, then me, she went to sleep."

"Your sister is one gifted child." Father said.

Bewildered, I looked back down at the baby. Then I remembered the bouquet in my hand and gave it to Mother. She smiled and thanked me. I cocked my head when I saw that the white, black, and purple were the perfect flowers for the occasion.

Word spread very quickly about the special new Kuran. People of all classes came to see her for themselves. Ichio was in love with her. The grumpy and cross old man softened tremendously at the sight of her. The entire senate came to see her at his request, and they announced a soiree in her honor. It was held in our mansion, but they were just as much hosts as my parents.

She attended the soiree in my mother's arms, dressed in a light blue silk dress with a lace bow sash and trim. She wore a matching bow around her head. Her booties were even made of silver silk. She was so beautiful. Many women asked to hold her, and they passed her around without problem. Amara was like a princess and they were her subjects. They all tried to coddle and gush over her, but when they met her calm eyes they treated her like royalty.

I was there, too, talking with people. Many men talked to me, whereas it had always been casual greetings in the past. When Amara started glaring at particular women, I would ask to hold her, myself. Then I would give her to Mother after a short while to start a different line. My mother was not used to the attention her daughter brought to her.

My father hovered as closely to the baby as I did. He always had his eye on her. He looked at me with as proud eyes as he did at her. The night went very well until midnight.

Shizuka Hio entered the room and people nodded or bowed their respects, but resentfully. She was not well-liked, as you know. She was not even dressed very well. She walked right up to my mother (who was holding Amara at the time) and smiled.

"May I hold the baby?" she asked.

"Of course, Hio-sama." my mother said, and handed Amara to her.

Then, something really weird happened. Amara looked Shizuka right in the eye and screamed unlike a baby has ever screamed before. She began glowing white again, and her purple eyes flashed. The scream lasted for what seemed like forever. Mother held Amara to her, but she continued to glare at Shizuka with the intense fury of a thousand men. Her scream was like a battle cry. Meanwhile, Shizuka was crumpling like she was in pain and holding her ears. She had a huge wince on her face that did not leave.

When her eyes batted open and two red-tinged tears rolled down her face, panic broke out. Father yanked Amara into his arms and ran out of the room. Mother knelt to tend to Shikuza, who gradually felt better. She and other women laid her on a couch on one of the walls and gave her cool rags for her head. They cleaned up the bloody tears and whispered to her. Her hearing had been restored fully, and she felt like she was in the ocean as compared to being in the middle of an atomic bomb explosion.

In the nursery Amara had stopped screaming, but was still glaring and breathing hard. She was angry with Father for taking her away. She grunted and huffed and pouted.

"Amara, you cannot hurt people like you hurt that woman today. I know that you can probably sense that she is dangerous, but you have to be polite, anyway." Father was surprised about her ability, of course, but he would handle it professionally nevertheless.

At this point, I had abandoned mother and ran after my sister and Father. I walked into the room to see Amara sitting propped up between Father's large hands on her desk of drawers, pouting and looking at me. She then pointed downward, somehow at the exact spot that Shikuza was laying.

"Murder." she said, very clearly, looking at Father.

My father and I gawked at her, and exchanged glances. She had probably never even heard that word before.

"Kill." she told me very deliberately. "Kill murder . . . er. Kill."

Downstairs, rumors were starting. Amara, everyone knew, was incredibly strong. By nature, she would rule. But now she was also dangerous. People did not come over anymore, except for our friends.

Then there was one other visitor. Shiki.

Mother, Father, Shiki and his wife were all talking in the parlor. After drinking glasses of blood, they had a servant bring in Amara and me to introduce ourselves to Shiki. I had insisted on carrying the little girl, though she was chubby and probably weighed just thirty pounds less than me. I noticed on the trip down the stairs that she looked really depressed, and was deep in thought. When I gave her to Shiki's wife to hold, she glared at Shiki.

When his wife handed Amara to him, all of the fake gushing in the world (he was talking about her beauty and her power) did not keep Amara from softening up. She wiggled in his arms until she was in standing position, and she pushed him away until her arms were fully extended.

"Oh, dear. Do not worry. She is obviously very curious about you." my mother laughed, though it was clear on everyone's faces that we were worried.

Amara started glowing and everyone was too bemused and in awe to move. The wind picked up inside the house, whipping everyone like a tornado. "Murder!" Amara screamed at him. "Murder!" Where she was touching him, he turned really red and began to smoke.

I lurched forward and took her into my arms, ignoring the burn. I raced up the steps to her room. The wind was still whipping madly, but now my sister was sobbing. It was the first time she had cried, and she was sobbing.

I sat in a rocking chair and rocked her back and forth, telling her things. "It is okay. He is not what you think. There are lots of creepy vampyres out there, but not all of them mean bad. Like Ichio – he really creeps me out, but he is a nice man. Right?"

Amara shook her head. "Bad! Bad peeple! Bad, horrible peeple!" she sobbed.

I took a deep breath. "I know. It is a rough world we live in. More people are out to get us than we even know. But we must persevere and show no tarnish. We are the Kurans, and we have to be strong. We have to lead. Got it? Things will be okay if we make them okay." I told her.

I swear she understood me, and the wind died down. Then her lower lip began to quiver and she squeezed her eyes shut. The three-month-old buried her face in my stomach and sobbed brokenly. I rocked her all night.

Time passed without incident, then. Amara grew as fast as – if not faster than – a human. She did not forget to glare at people she did not approve of, but she did not show her wrath again, no matter what. Neither Shiki nor Hio came anywhere near us again, though, and servants started filing out of the door. Some people, however, got closer to us. Amara grew to really like the aristocrat named Botan, and Ichijo became the person I could lay my trusts in. There were very few friends, though. It was not even weird that we had vampyre hunter visitors, such as Yuki's parents. (They never brought you, Yuki.) The parents of children my age did not bother telling them about Amara, because of personal reasons. I did not understand then.

I suppose they feared Amara.

There were a few times when curious families looking for power visited Amara, but she would clutch Mother and would not be held by them. There were fellow purebloods who introduced their children to her, but Amara only stared at them. She did not speak to people she did not know. She was not shy; she just did not talk to strangers. She wanted to get to know them better before she said something.

Other than that, she continued to overwhelm her parents with her abilities. She was horribly calm and caring. She warned us when someone was going to enter a room and told Mother about women who would look funny at Father that night, before it happened. It was so natural to her to know everything past, present, and future. She could read minds, too, and often responded to things that we thought. It was obvious that that was how she learned how to speak: she combed through our vocabularies to find what she wanted to say and how to say it.

When we were together, Mother, Father, Amara and I had lots of fun. Amara loved the purple, white, and black flowers in the garden. Cho and Kaien visited often, the happy couple that they were. Amara loved them like a second set of parents. I loved them, as well. Seeing all of the love around me really affected me.

But then it became obvious to me that there was something major wrong. Something was horribly bad. Amara got quiet, and I found my parents talking seriously before bed. My parents had touched on the subject a few times before, but now the conversation was longer and more emotional and much more frequent. Every night.

One night I was standing at their door and I heard her little two-year-old feet lightly padding down the hall toward me. I turned to her, afraid she would make noise and alert our parents to my eavesdropping. She only took my hand and smiled at me. Bewildered, I allowed her to lead me to her room. She and I played dolls like we had before she had gotten quiet.

A few weeks later I walked into the bedroom and approached my parents. "I want to know what is going on." I told them.

Mother was near tears. "Your sister is so powerful that she considered a threat amongst aristocrats. Because they are the majority of the senate, we fear the worst."

I looked at my father, then again at Mother. "Shiki . . ."

Father nodded. "Shiki has wanted to be the president of vampyres for a long time. Your sister has greatly upset him."

I was silent, for I understood Shiki's power and his sick level of monstrosity. I had heard much about him, and had seen him for myself. I understood very well that Shiki was able to act. As radical as he was, his act could be anything. The father of Senri is a pureblood.

I felt the familiar, strong presence and turned to face my sister, who was standing in the doorway, smiling. "Will you play with me, Brother?"

I regarded my parents, then went with my sister to her room where we played house with her dolls.

So, my parents were called to the senate. Usually they did not care about matters that went on there, but this one was special and their votes were necessary.

Shiki had finally convinced the senate that Amara was dangerous and the senate was meeting to discuss what should be done about her. They sought to gather all of the information that they could to make her seem as evil as possible. Shikuza did not show up, which made them unhappy. My parents were very good in the senate, and were very convincing. Because of them, Ichio, and our other friends and fellow pacifists when it came to the relationship between humans and vampyres, the meeting lasted for weeks. My parents returned to the mansion drained and stressed every day, only to return the next night.

My sister asked to play with Takuma Ichijo. I was a little happy about that, myself. Our parents asked Cho to go with us to their mansion while they went to the senate building, and she agreed. So she accompanied us and we played with him for an hour, then stopped. Ichijo and I talked, but Amara was very distant. Gradually, she went from happy to worried. She paced and stared out of the window. Her eyes got wider and wider.

Then she gasped and started screaming.

I ran to her and threw my arms around her, but she did not stop screaming. "What is the matter?" I asked frantically, but she was so shaken she only stared into my eyes, her face like she had just seen a ghost.

"Mother and Father. I want to go home!" she said quickly.

"Are you homesick?" Ichijo asked.

Amara turned to him and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am homesick." she took my face in her tiny, dainty hands. "Kaname, take me home. We have to go home."

It was her first time at someone's house without our parents – other than Kaien and Cho's home at Cross Academy. Usually she was pretty adventurous, but our parents were always nearby. Plus, I was worried about them, too, as sickly as they seemed when they got home from the senate. So I picked her up and thanked Ichijo, and told him I was sorry we were leaving so soon. We walked down the steps to find Cho talking with my comrade's mother. Cho was a little alarmed, but complied.

On the ride home, Amara stared out of the window at the full moon, never moving. It made her even more beautiful.

We pulled up and the driver let us out of the limo.

She turned to me, smiling, and then spun around and raced for the house. "Split up! The first one to find Mother and Father wins!"

Cho turned to me. "Are they supposed to get home early today?"

I did not know, but I knew not to question Amara. I smiled at her. "I will search the West Wing."

"I will search the North." She smiled back playfully. We both took off.

My sister was long-gone when we flew into the house. I ran up the steps and flung open every door in sight. I knew that there were rooms they would almost certainly not be in, but I searched them anyway in the name of good fun. I was smiling, thinking every now and then that I was going to come across Amara behind one of the doors, but I did not. I did run into Cho on the balcony. She was grinning, too.

But then a scream broke through the night. It was one I had not heard in years.