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~Polynox

Chapter Three:

It'd been a couple days since I met Kaname in the forest. Or, I thought I met him. Was he just another figment of my imagination? He was there and gone in the blink of an eye. Father kept a close eye on me, worried about my health. I tried not to let me curiosity draw me outside to the forest again.

I was sitting on the sofa, picking at the edge of the blanket that was wrapped around me, when I remembered something Kaname had said. "I attend an academy nearby, farther off in the woods, about a mile or so away."

"Father?" I asked, keeping my eyes down in thought.

"What is it, Siron?" He stepped out from the kitchen, dawned in his uniform, meaning he was about to leave for work.

"Is there a school in the woods?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I do recall a Cross Academy . . . Why do you ask?"

So there actually was a school out there . . . "I was just wondering. I overheard someone talking about it."

He was silent again, and when I looked up he was staring at me.

"Is something wrong, father?"

"No, guess my mind just wandered." he mumbled something under his breath and then went to the front door, pulling on his coat. "I'll be home later, around supper time. I'd rather you not go out while I'm gone, but if you do, stay away from the woods."

"As usual, Father." I said, my eyes falling down again.

He grunted in reply, and then the front door shut behind him.

I fell over, so I laid on my side. I pulled one of the sofa's matching pillows under my head and closed my eyes. Slowly, I drifted to sleep, my mind filled with mysterious strangers, dark forests, and cold hands wrapping around my throat.

When I woke up, it was cold. Very cold. My blanket was gone, and I was laying on hard tile, or something of the sort. I sat up quickly, confused. As I looked around, infinity seemed to stretch before me. I don't know how to describe it, exactly. There was a lack of walls, of things to break up the space, and where I sat seemed to drop off to nothingness a few feet from me. There was nothing of colour . . . I couldn't even describe it as black, white, or even grey. It just simply didn't exist.

Shakily, I stood up, and peered over the edge of the square I stood on. It led to absolute nothingness, and if I fell, I would surely cease.

A deep, faint chuckle echoed in my ears. It was hard to place where it was coming from, since there was nothing or nowhere it would reverberate from.

"Is . . . someone there?" My voice was tiny, but a murmur of a sound in this large space. I wrapped my arms around myself, seeking warmth and comfort.

"Ah, Siron, so oblivious . . . so weak." The man's voice cut right through me, almost like a physical blow, and I had to take a step back.

Then, another person was on the platform with me. I jumped back, almost slipping from the edge, but found balance and repositioned myself a safe distance from both the man and the seemingly long fall to my death.

He stared at me, in complete silence that rang in my ears, almost enough to make a person go deaf. His eyes burned through me, one ice blue, the other the same colour as Kaname's had been-a deep, rich burgundy.

He smirked at my staring at him, and for some reason I felt my cheeks grow hot.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked, monotone voice completely void of emotion.

I shook my head, not sure what to say.

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Of course not. But I guess a reintroduction is in order. I am Rido. Who I am to you though-that, you will have to figure out on your own." His smile was mocking, his eyes so deep and . . . menacing.

I swallowed, my throat tight. "Can you explain anything?" my voice rang urgent, and Rido raised his eyebrows. "Please, anything? I am about to go mad . . ."

He chuckled, making me grow silent. "I am afraid not, dear Siron, or else Kaname would have already. In time, as I believe he said?"

I couldn't reply. What was going on . . .?

My eyes brimmed over with tears of frustration, and I hung my head, not able to look at him. "Why is this happening to me?"

He did not reply. When I looked up, he had a thoughtful expression on his face, but still said nothing.

I heard the sound of movement, cloth against cloth, but it did not come from Rido nor myself.

Rido sighed, looking up. "Damnable brat. Well, that is your cue to wake up, dear Siron. We'll meet again." His eyes went dark.

He vanished, and so did the floor below me.

I started, jumping forward, almost falling off of the couch, but a hand wrapped around my arm, keeping me from going any further.

I turned my head, and froze, as I looked into dark wine eyes, staring down at me calmly.

"Kaname . . . ?" my voice trailed off.

He reached out, letting go of my arm, and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"Siron."

My cheeks heated, remember his lips touching my chin. I shook my head. It was definitely not okay to get flustered over a figment of your imagination.

"What's going on?" I asked, eyebrows furrowing.

He sighed, eyes deep with unreadable emotion. "Alas, I still may not tell you. In time,"

"That again?" I sounded irritated-but I was, so why hold it back? "Why can you not explain anything? Why is this happening to me? Am I simply going mad?"

He smirked. "I wish I could. I simply wish I could tell you everything, but it is not that easy. You must find for yourself, and when you do, it if your decision what to do."

I slouched, defeated. "I don't understand."

"You do not need to." He opened his mouth, as he were to say more, but glanced towards the front door and back. "We'll speak later," he said, and leaned forward, pressing his lips to my forehead.

The front door swung open, and when I turned my head back from seeing my father waltz in, he was once again gone. I sighed, and stood, greeting my father.

"How was work?"

"It was fine." he said, but his gaze seemed far off.

"Are you alright, father?" I asked, worried. Maybe his work was finally getting to him.

"Ah, I'm fine, Siron. I was just thinking, you know. Maybe I shouldn't have taken you out of school."

"But it's safer, I suppose." I said, trying to comfort him. "A lot of students are being home schooled, now, too."

He shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the coat rack. "But would you want to go back?"

"I . . . suppose. Why, father? Are you going to enlist me back in Saint Moer?"

"No," he sighed, looking down at me. I furrowed my eyebrows in question. "You know that school you mentioned earlier?"

My stomach dropped, but I said nothing.

"I think you should go there . . . Attend Cross Academy."