They arrived in the abandoned town just as the sun was making it's morning ascent. Even upon approach both Zero and Rei could sense an aura of death radiating from the area. On the surface it seemed to have just been an ordinary town whose inhabitants had for some reason or other decided to move on- albeit in a hurry, possibly running from someone or something, judging from the remnant of trampled upon clothes and items that still sparsely littered the area. Traces of which could be seen hiding in the crevices of the broken-down buildings and structures, and barely protruding from under years of blown dirt and soil across the roads.

Under the surface however, while Rei could only feel the death crawling under her skin, Zero could actually smell it. While he couldn't see any blood, his senses could smell it everywhere. Whatever had happened in this area had been BAD. It must have been a bloodbath as even now, so many decades later the smell permeated the air, flooding his senses and making him both sick and threatening to trigger a transformation in him at the same time. Zero had to stop to gather himself as he almost instantly became overwhelmed.

Realizing that Zero had come to a halt, Rei paused and looked back towards him.

"Zero? What's going on? I know you feel this too, but are you okay??"

Rei's face immediately drained of all color as she looked at his. She'd expected him to be as affected as she was by the ill aura of the area, but this seemed to be something much worse than that. She could see he was struggling heavily with fighting off his vampire transformation, but at this point she knew he'd mastered that, so for Zero to have to struggle meant that whatever he was sensing here not only had to be an obscenely large amount of blood but also had to be another powerful force at work.

Rei glanced around at the busted and tattered remains of the town. They'd known coming in that something bad had happened here but she began to severely doubt that they had understood the magnitude of just how bad that something may have been…

She cautiously rushed to Zero's side. She wanted to make sure he was okay, but also knew enough to know that if he was fighting internally right now, it might be smart to make sure that she stayed wary. She'd only seen Zero lose control once and that was long ago when he had first finally caved to his transformation and was still new to this. Even then he hadn't been in this much disarray.

"Stay back."

Zero didn't look up as he spoke to her, but Rei could hear the effort in his words.

She stopped cold in her steps towards him. Thinking quickly about the best and safest way to handle this, she considered what they had in their inventory that might help, and the best route to take if things went south and he ended up losing control. Guarded, but increasingly worried about him, Rei racked her brain while never taking her eyes off him.

Zero had now sunk down to one knee and was holding himself, one hand clutching his chest while the other ran wildly through his hair. Rei wasn't sure that this was a battle that he was winning…

"Zero…you need to let me know what's going on and how I can help…. While you still can…" Rei raised her hand and carefully circled around towards the side of him, her mind still spinning and trying frantically to formulate a best and worst-case scenario for this situation.

Zero raised his head to look at her and Rei had to stifle a small gasp. His eyes were flickering between their usual gray and the transformative red, but the red that kept appearing was deeper than usual. It was somehow darker and much more ominous. His fangs had already protruded and they too were different. The points seemed sharper and they were definitely more threatening, longer with a more vicious curve. Rei felt her blood run cold. What exactly was going on here?

"Zero, what the actual fuck? What is happening right now?" She fought the automatic urge to take a step back. Her instinct told her that if she did, it would only make things worse. Whatever animal was building up inside him was going to take that as an invitation and his internal struggle would just get that much harder.

The effort was clear across Zero's face. His brow was creased with effort, and now one of his eyes was remaining a solid gray while the other was a deep and deadly dark red.

"This place is covered in blood Rei…" He growled. "But it's not just that. It's something more…" He paused and heaved heavily. "it's the overwhelming amount of blood, but it's also something else along side it. A power of some kind. Something that's amplifying it or changing it. Something that's still lingering here…it's affecting me."

Zero was trying his best to fight it, but he felt like something was pulling him into blackness. He knew that if he fell he was going to lose complete control of himself, and while that scared him, the thought of losing himself didn't scare him nearly as much as the thought of what that meant for Rei. He was paralyzed at the thought of blacking out and hurting her, and as hard and painful as it was, it was this singular thought that made him keep fighting to hold on to his control.

In actuality she could probably take care of him fairly easily if it came down to that. He'd seen her put down stronger vampires than him. But two things plagued his mind – one was that whatever was gripping him was changing him, he didn't feel like a normal vampire any longer, it was doing something abnormal to his body- increasing his power in an unpredictable way that he didn't like.

Second, was the question of whether or not Rei would even hurt him. This was the question that Zero was most preoccupied with. After everything that had transpired between them lately, he had no idea where Rei's feelings for him stood, but knowing her… knowing her, even if she really did hate his guts, he still doubted that she would be able to kill him, not even when faced with death herself. This is what worried him the most. Because if whatever this was overtook him, he felt certain that death would be the only way to stop it.

"Run." He grunted. He didn't think she'd do it, but it was the best he could offer, and probably their best chance. He'd hold out as long as he could...

Zero looked up at her, his face was twisted in pain and Rei could see that his one gray eye was now flickering between red and gray.

It looked like time was up. 'Shit.' Rei thought as she grabbed hold of the sack she was holding. She'd only come up with 3 options. One of them would be hit or miss, one had the propensity to be lethal, and the other was basically 100% fatal. Before she could fully weigh those options, she found herself on her back with Zero on top of her, his hands pinning her shoulders to the ground and grinding her forcefully into the warm, hard, stone and dirt beneath her. Rei instinctively zipped her head to the side, narrowly avoiding it as Zero brought his head thrashing down, his mouth snapping towards her neck.

Frowning, Rei had only a moment to reflect on how he seemed to almost be possessed, akin more to a wild animal than any vampire she'd seen before. Far worse even than the Level 1's fully degraded. He seemingly had no will of his own. Or sanity. Plus he was strong. Stronger than any normal vampire should be. This wouldn't be easy. As she deftly twisted to avoid yet another attack, Rei looked into his face and sighed. Looked like option 2 would have to be it. She hated taking the risk, but…

Before she could move and faster than a flash Zero's hands moved from her shoulders and grasped her wrists, seizing them and pinning them by the sides of her head. Rei's eyes shot open in shock. 'So fast!' She hadn't seen that coming and hadn't planned for it, almost as though he'd read her next moves before she could make them. Keeping in line with that, before she could buck her hips to throw him off, he moved to straddle one leg between hers, pressing her down between him, the pressure preventing her from moving.

Rei's mind was calculating fast. All of a sudden he was two steps ahead of her and the situation had gotten away from her and become instantly deadly. Her movements were now limited and option 2 was next to impossible. She was furiously strategizing her way out of the situation when she felt something wet hit her face. Certain it was saliva from his open mouth coming to tear a chunk out of her, Rei looked up preparing to head butt him and instead saw grey ripples behind his dark crimson, tear-filled eyes.

Her mouth went dry and she lost focus for just a moment. 'This is it' Her subconscious spoke to her. 'This is the opening he needs to kill you. You just gave it to him.' And still she couldn't break her gaze from him as another tear dropped from his eye.

"…Rei…" his voice was low and so sad. "You…you have…to kill me." Zero forced the words out, it was painful to even get them out, but he was terrified. If he hurt her, if he killed her… the thought was unbearable. He felt like his brain was splitting, the pain was maddening and the more he tried to fight it the more he was certain that it was going to tear him apart from the inside out. But still… if he didn't…. Through the haze of pain he could see Rei under him, her soft purple eyes didn't show fear but instead were filled with concern. For him. Ugh. She really didn't change, her own life on the line and still…

"Zero?" She called up to him softly. "I can see you're still there fighting, Zero. Thank you…"

Zero clenched his eyes shut and dropped his head down, his forehead on hers, the tears still in his eyes dropping into hers. He could still hear her voice, it was soothing, and it helped.

"It's okay, you've got this, I promise. Just trust me"

She said the words, but Zero could feel he was losing the battle. Something inside him wanted her, but wanted her dead. It told him to tear her throat out then and there. He was shaking and he couldn't stop. He wanted to let her arms go, but he hadn't been able to even gain control of his own body. Blackness was overtaking him.

"Zero, open your eyes. Look at me."

He couldn't. He didn't have control of his eyes - they weren't his any longer. Besides, he didn't want to. Would it be the last time he saw her? He wouldn't be able to live with himself, he knew that much. Just thinking about it, he could feel his heart rotting and his soul dying off.

"Look at me."

He could still hear her voice, at least there was that much. It was a struggle. The last of himself that he could give, and his final push through the blackness that had taken hold of him. Zero forced his eyes open and met hers.

Suddenly, Rei lifted her head and kissed him. It was sudden and quick. Her lips pressed firmly to his and her tongue flowed into his mouth. She tasted sweet and earthy, and for a second it was enough to bring him back to his senses. But only for a second. He could feel it as the darkness took over him completely. He had one last glimpse of her eyes and then he felt his head pull back as his fangs veered forward towards her unguarded neck and the blackness overtook him again.

When he awoke, Rei's limp body lay under him, a pool of blood under her head and two gash marks in her exposed neck. Zero shot up to his knees and grabbed her, her head rolling lifelessly in his arms, her skin so cold to his touch. The world immediately started to spin as he began hyperventilating. Gasping for air, he placed Rei down and quickly turned away from her, falling to all fours and heaving and throwing up. He tried unsuccessfully to catch his breath and gather his thoughts while his stomach continued to clench and unceremoniously vomit up its entire contents. A loud roar was echoing in his head as his tears flowed freely, dropping and mixing with the soil and vomit below him.

"Ugh. Looks like it worked, thank goodness."

At the sound of the voice, Zero startled and rolled over, nearly landing in his own puddle of puke. He stared frozen and wide-eyed at Rei, who was slowly sitting up, and putting her head between her legs.

"The trick is to not move too fast and keep your head down for a bit." She said calmly, her eyes assessing Zero as she put a hand to her head.

"Rei…What the…I thought…" Zero stammered, his head spinning as he turned to vomit once again. As he finished, he turned back to Rei who was still sitting with her head lowered and looking at him with a confused expression, her face still void of color.

"You thought what now?"

Zero crawled over to her and put his hand on her face. It was still fairly cold, but a little warmer now. He stared into her eyes and then put his hand to the bite marks on her neck.

"I thought you were dead." He saw Rei's eyes widen at his statement.

"I…I thought I…killed you…". He'd thought for a moment that she might laugh, but instead she thought seriously about his statement.

"I see. I'm sorry, I didn't realize". She gave him a small smile and rubbed his cheek. "Ahh, wow, you're so cold…. I guess I should explain-"

Without thinking Zero grabbed her and pulled her to him. He sat her between his legs, embracing her in his arms and holding her tightly against him. "Yeah, explain, but for the moment, just do it from here."

Rei flushed. She was uncomfortable but she understood. The events had been traumatic, and even she hadn't known how it would all turn out. She'd made some pretty big gambles and luckily they'd both come out on the other side okay. She'd hate to see what it might have done to him if she'd gambled wrong… Slowly she raised her arms and gave him a light squeeze. Allowing herself a small bit of gratefulness that he was safe and seemingly back to normal.

So, while encircled in Zero's arms she explained to him a bit about her journey to the cliff side safe house with Kaname and Roi, and the new knowledge that she'd picked up along the way about the properties of some of the different plants and berries in the surrounding regions. A few of these which she and Zero had passed during their current trip and which Rei had been periodically collecting for their different uses. One such plant was the 'Blackwater' weed which caused temporary paralysis and an almost instantaneous sleep effect. (She remembered that one clearly, because after Roi and Kaname had talked about it, she had later joked to Kaname that if Roi didn't settle down she was going to slip it into his water that evening). When she'd come across it on their journey, Rei hadn't hesitated to grab a bit and stuff it into her bag, seeing many potential uses for it.

As Zero had began struggling with his transformation, that weed had become option number 2 and she'd immediately grabbed it from her bag. It was only option number 2, because while Rei knew what it could do, she also knew that too much was deadly, and she didn't know enough details about it's use – such as how long it would take to take effect and how long the effects would last once it did. It was a risk, but it seemed to be her best bet especially once her shoulders had been pinned down. At that point, with the level of strength that he'd used, she'd had to consider the possibility that if he pinned her hands it would be a wrap and any option for survival that required her hands would be out of the question. With that in mind, she'd preemptively put a piece of the weed in her mouth as she'd twisted and dodged his attacks. It was harmless until it was broken down so she'd held it carefully in her mouth as insurance just in case.

When the worst had actually happened and she'd ended up completely pinned and unable to implement her plan, it was Zero's last brief return to himself that had given her one final opening. She had chewed the weed to activate it and then kissed Zero, using her tongue to push the chewed weed and as much of her saliva as possible into his mouth. She knew it would put them both out, but her hope was that it would put him out faster and longer. She'd been wrong on both of those counts. He'd managed to get his fangs into her right before she passed out, but apparently he hadn't done too much damage before the drug kicked in and knocked him out too. She guessed the pool of blood he'd seen was a combination of the blood from her neck and her head hitting the ground in the attack. The cold body temp and vomiting were just expected side effects of the drug.

Zero seemed to take the explanation in stride. It was a risky chance that she'd taken, but he was glad for it. He didn't see too many alternatives for how this could have ended well otherwise. Again, he found himself grateful that it was Rei by his side in this situation. She constantly proved herself to be more capable and fearless than anyone he'd known, and she never ceased to amaze him with her ingenuity.

Rei herself was just reeling at her luck that they had both survived it all unscathed. Her head had cleared and the nausea had now dissipated, so it looked like they were out of the woods as far as that was concerned. The second part of her bet was still on the table though, and that was the gamble on what would happen now. Would things just pick back up where they left off? And once the drug had completely worn off would Zero go back to having to stave of whatever crazy bloodlust had come over him before? Rei was hedging her bets that he wouldn't. She thought that whatever was at play had had its chance at him and now that it had lost, he was free of it. It was only a guess though, and so they had better prepare now for the worst-case of that scenario.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, twisting around to try and give him another once over.

Zero frowned. "I don't know. Annoyed I guess. That it was Kaname that inadvertently saved the day…."

Rei rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth in annoyance. "Okay, well that's another issue for the therapy couch, but right now I'm talking about whatever was overtaking you before- Is it still there?"

Zero looked at her. "No. Honestly it's really strange, but it's completely gone. Don't get me wrong, I can still smell the blood. The area is literally soaked in it, but it's normal now. The dark stigma coating it is gone and whatever was trying to pull at me and turn me, I don't feel it at all anymore." He absently pulled her closer, rubbing his face against her. "I'm just glad that you're safe… I've never felt so out of control before…"

Rei could feel the tremors from his body as he spoke and she leaned deeper into him, trying to help calm him. She could only imagine the feeling of losing control like that, and she knew she and Zero were very similar in their need to constantly maintain control over their emotions and actions, so she understood very well just how traumatizing this was for him.

With a shudder, Zero tightly wrapped his arms around Rei pulling her firmly against him. He closed his eyes and deeply inhaled the scent of her hair.

"Thank you." He murmured, his voice muffled by her head pressed against his lips. "Your quick thinking saved us both". He pulled back and caught her eyes. "No matter the situation, I can always count on you Rei…I rely on you more than you know."

'You're everything to me', he thought to himself. Before she could respond, Zero kissed her lightly on the forehead and stood up, extending a hand to pull her up after him, and then walking briskly over to begin retrieving the dropped bags that had been left at the town's entrance.

He knew that there had been a point in his life where he would die for Yuki without question. He still would. But Rei… he couldn't live without Rei. Zero knew that now for sure. If she died again, he would follow her without hesitation. The world without her wasn't one he wanted to be in, and if he was going to be in it, he wanted to be in it by her side. Assuming that is that she would still have him. It would be her choice now, but he knew his without a doubt. He looked over at her- the wind blowing through her distressed hair, the fierce look on her face- and he wondered again where her heart currently lay, and if he even still had a chance at winning it.