~Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight. ~

Chapter Two

~Mira~

After what felt like forever, I was finally able to make my way off the train. Looking at a map, I could see that I was still pretty far from the academy. It would have taken practically all day to walk there, so I headed for the near by bus stop in hopes of catching one soon. I only had to wait a few minutes before the bus arrived. Surprisingly, only a few people got on with me, and there was only one other person already on the bus other than the driver. I took a seat near the front and watched out the window. I must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing I knew I was the only passenger left on the bus and the sky was just getting the first hints of pink and purple that indicated evening. The driver must have noticed me because he shot me a glance.

"Well kid, either you're going to have to get off or give me some idea where you need to be."

I looked away from the window. "I need to get to Cross Academy." I watched to see his reaction. He went pale and maybe even a little green.

"Why on earth do you want to go there?"

I turned back to the window. "I have business there." The driver seemed to remain physically uncomfortable with me there in the silence that followed. Before long, we stopped before a rusty, broken down gate. I stood on the bottom of the step of the bus looking at the scene before me. A little farther off, I could see buildings that looked like they hadn't been occupied in at least a decade. I looked back at the driver and noticed he was shaking slightly. "Is this really the academy?" He nodded,

"If you don't believe me, look at the plaque." I stepped of the bus and began to thank him but before I could say anything the doors closed and he speed off. I raised an eyebrow and turned to walk over to the gate. I took a look at the plaque and, even though the words were severely faded, I could make out that it was Cross Academy. I cautiously made my way past the gate and to the first building. The door was already half rotted of its hinges so I had little trouble getting in. I searched the bottom floor for any signs of life, and found none. I had more hope for the second floor, though. As I went along, I began to find things like handheld mirrors and hairbrushes. While it was satisfying to find signs that people had been here, it was obvious they had not been used for a while. However, in one of the very back rooms, I found something with promise. It was a pill bottle filled with little red tablets. Some were spilled on the floor and unlike the other items I had found, this one was not covered is dust. I took a few tablets out of the bottle and stashed them in my pockets. I wanted to examine all the evidence at once instead of one at a time. I made my way back down to the first floor and was about to walk out the door when I saw a shadow. I sucked in a breath and stopped, my eyes fixed on the shadow. After a moment it disappeared and after waiting a moment longer, I walked out of the building and backed away from the direction I saw the shadow go. I kept walking backwards until I bumped into something. Quickly stepping forward and tuning around, I saw a boy a bit older than me standing there with his arms crossed. He was tall with silver hair and striking violet eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

I quickly recovered from my shock and narrowed my eyes. "I could ask you the same thing." He said nothing, but continued staring at me. I stared right back. Finally he shrugged.

"I live here, not that it's any of your business. Now it's your turn."

"My turn for what?"

"To say why you're here."

I quickly thought up an excuse. "I travel around a lot and I was looking for a place to stay for a while and passing by this just looked awfully convenient." He looked skeptical but it didn't seem like he was going to push. He looked away and sighed.

"Alright then, come with me."

With that he walked past me. "Wait, where are we going" He looked over his shoulder at me.

"You need a place to stay, right? There are plenty of rooms around here and besides, I would probably get scolded if I made you leave."

I followed his across the grounds to a larger building. As we walked, I couldn't help but think how strange he was. He couldn't be a vampire or else he would have already attacked me, but he was so cold and distant. He must have said something while I was lost in my thoughts because stopped to get my attention. "Huh?"

"I asked what your name is."

"Oh, it's Mira." At this, he flinched ever so slightly and quickly turned back around to continue walking. After a moment, I spoke again. "What about your name?" This time he didn't stop or turn around.

"I'm Zero."

~And here we are again. Sorry it's taken me so long to do any updates. Ii will try to stay on top of it more. Anyway, I hope you liked chapter two! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought. ~