The Assassin (one-shot)

‘I’m going to die!’ the young girl thought, feeling trapped. ‘Why did this happen??’.

She retraced through her memories. Everything started absolutely in a normal way, in a normal. Having her favorite drink in her favorite pub. Seeing a good looking guy in that pub was no surprise. It always happened. Said hot guy was having a drink with another guy at the table. He was laughing, shooting glances at the people from time to time. He had beautiful eyes. Next to them was another group of people. Five, in total. They appeared to be discussing something, business most likely. They didn’t seem as regulars, she would have recognized them. They were also enjoying their drinks as they were speaking, mixing a work meeting with a pleasure meeting. Her eyes went back to the guy at the table next to them. He got up from his table, said something to the person at his table, and then went for the exit. He was tall, well built. Probably somewhere in his twenties. His long hair looked so beautiful and soft, yet so manly on him. She wondered how it felt to touch it, just a bit. As he graciously brushed by her in his leave, she felt a bolt of electricity shoot through her body. A shiver went through her spine, she couldn’t place it. When she turned around to steal another glance, he was gone.

After some time, people were starting to leave the pub. Before she knew it, the only tables that were occupied were hers, where she was with her friend, and the other table with those five people. Not long after, they left as well. Seeing it was already late and almost closing time, she decided they should also be on their way, and asked for the check. She liked this place; drinks were good, AND cheap.

She bid her farewells to her friend and started for her home. It wasn’t a long walk, so she was enjoying the night air. It felt so cool, and the fresh air seemed to soothe her sense of smell as she walked passed a building and turned the corner towards a small alley, a shortcut to her home.

‘No…’ she frowned. ‘This isn’t right…’, she thought as she sniffed the air. There was this smell that didn’t quite fit in the night air. It smelled… she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, she only knew that she didn’t like it. Turning another corner, her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the smell.

Death. Corpses. Five, in total. The same people that were lively drinking at the table next to them were now lying in their own pools of blood on the concrete. The blood kept flowing out of their bodies, until it reached, she saw then, a pair of leather combat boots. She didn’t even notice the man dressed in all black in the middle of the file of corpses until something shone from his hand. A knife. A weird looking knife, that is. And it was all covered in blood. He turned his head, taking notice of her staring at the scene.

“Now this is inconvenient,” he said in a voice that was meant to be annoyed, but it came out more like amused. “You weren’t supposed to see any of this,” he said as he fully turned towards her, now walking in her direction. “Now I’ll have to deal with you as well,” he finished.

She gasped. Walking towards her with a bloody knife in his hand, with a smirk plastered on his face was the same guy she saw earlier in the pub, his eyes now burning through her own.

Terrified, she let out a scream. Activating every muscle she had in her body, she ran for it. Ran as fast as she could, as far as she could.

“Oh, don’t choose the hard way! Please?” she heard him calling out as she was running away. She didn’t care where to, only as far away from him as she could. After running for a few good 10 minutes of running, she came to the conclusion that she finally lost him. Leaning on the trunk of a large tree in a park she came across, she was now catching her breath. He wouldn’t find her here, she was sa-

“Tired of playing cat and mouse yet?” came a voice from the other side of the tree. She bolted up from her place, staring at the person that was now sitting casually on the ground with his back on the trunk of the tree.

She ran again. In this situation, this was all she could do. But she couldn’t run endlessly like this. She needed to find a place to hide in. A place where he couldn’t reach her, where she would be safe.

She almost yelled of happiness when she came upon the police station. She could ask them for help. A wave of relief went through her as she stepped through the entrance of the police station. She desperately grabbed the arm of a random policeman that was drinking his coffee.

“Please! I need your help!” she cried, the policeman dropping his coffee from the sudden movement, but then grabbed the hand that was holding his own arm with his other hand.

“Alright, just calm down,” he said. “Just tell me what’s happening.”

After a few glasses of water, she was able to finally calm down. She felt safe now that she was here.

“Alright, so let me get this straight. You witnessed a guy murdering five people, and when he saw you, he tried to kill you too,” the cop asked.

She nodded.

“Can you give me a description of him?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “He has long brown hair, and…” she was now at loss for words. Even though she ogled him for an entire night, she couldn’t remember anything aside from his hair and his black clothes. Anyone on these streets could be wearing that. But then she remembered something. “He had this weird medallion at his neck on a long chain.”

The cop nodded.

“I’ll form a search party. Don’t worry, we’ll find him. And we’ll keep you safe until we do.”

She smiled, followed by a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” she said.

The cop smiled.

“No problem. It’s our job to protect the citizens.”

She returned his smile. It was explained to her that two cops will be placed on guard outside her home in case he showed up. When she was driven towards her home, she could already see the cops placed in front of the mansion she lived in. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was keeping in.

Entering the house was one of the hardest things she ever did. Paranoia was still creeping in, turning around at every strange sound. The cop that accompanied her kept reassuring her, that if anything happened, they’d be just outside.

She nodded, half heartedly. Looking on the bright side, he couldn’t possibly know where she lived. She didn’t have any reasons to be frightened.

She went inside, locking all the doors and windows. She knew that the cop had a spare key so he could enter if something were to happen. Turning on the hot water in the tub, she dived in and let herself by relaxed by the nice aromas. Roses. She loved roses.

She deserved this night’s sleep, she thought as she went out of the bathroom.

“You sure like taking long baths, don’t you? Even though I would too, with a tub that big…” she heard behind her. Jerking her head around, she saw the same expression of the guy that brought her terror. This time, she could clearly see the green eyes of a mystical gleam, even in the dim light. She let out another scream as she ran. How did he get in without being noticed? She ran towards the window of her bedroom, since she knew the two cops would be right down.

But they weren’t. The car was empty and no one seemed to be patrolling.

“Look there,” the terrifying, yet deep and soft voice said behind her, pointing over her shoulder.

   There they were. A few meters away, the two cops were at the shade of an old big tree on her lawn.

Both dead.

“They were both kind enough to let me in,” he added, dangling the key from her house in front of her face. He jerked his hand away, but he caught her, her back hitting hard on the wall and his knife now on her throat. But instead of just slicing it completely open, he just gently cut a bit so that a few drops of blood were flowing out. He studied the blood on the knife for a few moments, a sly smile now on his face as he raised his medallion. Which she now realized it wasn’t exactly a medallion. It looked like a vial… a vial filled with blood. He let her drop of blood from the knife go into the vial, as he studied it smugly. “Souvenir collected,” he said, now lifting his head up to face her with his hypnotic green eyes. “And now it’s time to finish the job.”

She tried once again to shove him off, and succeeded, but he caught her again right away.

“Why…” she asked, her strength now leaving her. She could almost hear the smirk in his voice when he answered.

“Rule one for an assassin: never leave any witnesses,” he whispered in her ear and she felt a stab in her stomach, his knife piercing her in two different places, doubling the pain. He lifted her up, placing her on her bed. She could see the moonlight shining on his face, making his eyes gleam. His long hair was falling down on her face as he placed her, and she felt herself losing consciousness.

“Sleep well, my princess,” he said as he kissed her forehead.

For some reason, she felt at ease. Maybe because she knew she was dying. Maybe because she was accepting her fate. Maybe because those green eyes still looked hypnotic. She closed her eyes and drifted into nothingness, where she couldn’t feel pain anymore.

Vampire Knight OS - Part XI

Part XI: The First 'Alfa'

‘She’s an Alfa…’ Aidou thought, unable to speak. Both his wounds and the shock didn’t let him say it out loud. He was just watching as the prefect and Leo were going at each other. The sight in front of him was hardly something you could ignore, given that, even though in human form now, those two were like two beasts fighting for supremacy. He couldn’t figure out how could such massive creatures compress into such tiny creatures like humans and still keep the power. Seeing them in combat, he could almost hear the thunder.

Instead, he saw lightning. A huge lightning bolt he recognized as being Rima’s hit right between Leo and Lacry, separating the bests. Lacry came out of the cloud of dust, coughing up as she was trying to orient herself around. It was then when she saw Aidou on the ground, supported by a tree. His wounds were very bad, especially the one he got to the stomach, and he was pale, even paler than a vampire should be. Taking advantage by the diversion caused by Rima’s lightning, she went towards him to check his condition.

“Oh boy, this is bad...” she said as she kneeled next to him and saw him from up close. “Hang on in there, just a little more until we get out here!” she said as she went to tend to the wounds. She didn’t need to do anything though, since Aidou froze the wound so that no more blood would come out. Of course, leaving it like that would mean hypothermia, and that wasn’t good either.

Why was she helping them? He couldn’t figure this out. She was a lycan. And an Alfa, nonetheless. It bugged him. Apparently, she and Leo also knew each-other, so it added to his suspicion… even though they apparently hated each other… or at least Lacry did, judging from the way she was glaring at him. Aidou didn’t know either what to think of her.

He tried getting up, ignoring the pain that stabbed through his body. So this was how humans felt when they got wounded… and stayed wounded. With his fast healing, he never had to experience this level of pain which kept dragging on and on. It usually healed before it managed to get bad. But now…

“Idiot, what are you doing?! If you move now, you’ll bleed to death!” Lacry said, trying to bring some sense into him. “Stop moving!” she continued, seeing that he was still getting up even with her screaming at him.

“You’re the idiot, we need to get out of here before he comes out!” he protested.

“Not until you-” she started but stopped mid sentence as something ‘hit’ her. “Oh no,” she said as she turned towards the dusty area, alarmed. “He’s gone.”

“He’s…” he repeated, looking in his direction. The dust was now starting to set in, and it confirmed Lacry’s statement that Leo was no longer then.

But then, another thought hit him. Looking around, he searched for another person that was supposed to be there.

“Where’s Rima?”

***

‘He’s close.’

Rima was now catching up with Leo’s scent. She was aware that what she was doing was probably completely madness. She knew that he wouldn’t kill her, but chances that he’d continue his plans for turning her into a lycan were very high. Even so, she couldn’t simply let him slip away like that, because if she did, they’d be back to square one. If she at least knew where his hideout was, maybe she could prevent him from attacking her friends by having the upper hand. She would gather some hunters and surprise him before he gets to surprise them.

“That would have been a very good idea if I weren’t able to read your mind,” she heard Leo saying somewhere near her. How could he have missed his scent? She looked left and right in the woods, but couldn’t see him anywhere. She didn’t know where his voice came from.

A pine cone fell from the top of a tree right in front of her. Only the way it was falling vertically told her that it wasn’t actually a fall, but a throw. Looking up, she saw Leo as relaxed as ever on a thick branch, holding a few pine cones, crouched with his elbows on his knees. He was wearing an amused smile on his face.

“Words are needless, apparently,” she said as she looked at Leo. All the time while she was following him, she knew that he’d be able to read her mind anytime, though she just hope he wouldn’t do that while he was fleeing from the scene. Which she couldn’t explain why he did. She figured it had something to do with the prefect girl. From the way they were fighting, it pretty much looked like an even match.

“Believe me Rima, Lacry doesn’t have anything to do with my leaving from there. I just wanted to give you two some time, but I see you didn’t want my offer and that’s why you’re standing in front of me right now,” he said, and then he smirked. “Maybe you simply can’t stay away from me after all.”

‘You wish’, she said in her mind, knowing at this point that he’s probably reading it. She was starting to panic a bit. She knew that he wouldn’t kill her, but that didn’t help relieve the pressure. No, he wouldn’t kill her. He’d drive her to the point where she’d be unable to move, walk or think, play with her mind, then turn her into a lycan. Which was worse than death.

His amused smile turned into laughter, and it proved to Rima that he was still snooping through her mind.

“I like your thinking, but no, I won’t do that… not now, at least. Even though Lacry pretty much complicated things by showing up, it also means that things got far more interesting than they were before. I’m really curious what you two will come up with,” he said.

“You seem pretty confident that you’ll win either way,” Rima said.

“Oh, I really am,” he answered. “You two have a lot in common, and that will make this game all the more interesting.”

“A game? Now you’re treating this as a game? You’re despicable!”

“And that, my dear, is not something you just found out,” he said, with that smile still plastered on his face. Rima couldn’t express into words how much she despised him. She knew that’s how he was treating all this, but hearing him say it out loud made her even more enraged. Her only desire was to punch him until his teeth fell out one by one and his face got to the point where it’s be completely unrecognizable. She wasn’t sure how she’d get close to him enough to do that.  Last time she just got lucky when she managed to him in the balls, and that was because he was holding her by her arm.

Leo snorted.

“That really hurt, you know. You can’t simply go hitting guys in the jewels. It won’t look good on you having that reputation when you want to go on dates,” Leo pointed out. “You’re creative though, so that’s good. It proves you have great lycan potential.”

“Oh, you’re creative enough for the both of us,” Rima said sarcastically. His mind wasn’t creative, it was just plain sick. And she didn’t have to snoop through his mind to know that like he did.

‘You could too, if you wanted to,’ he said, and she realized that he said it only in her mind. It seemed weird, seeing him talk in front of her, but not actually seeing his lips move. But what he said stroke to her as even weirder.

“What do you mean by that?”

Indeed, reading his mind could prove to be a lot more convenient that going blindly around, trying to figure out where he plans to strike next. The thought was short-lived though, since she knew that everything that came out of his mouth was either a scam or a scheme. It was probably just a trap meant to lure her.

Leo smirked. Apparently, he went into her head again. He got up on both of his feet and then jumped from the tree, landing in front of Rima.

“Why don’t you just ask Lacry? I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to talk to you,” he said, showing his characteristic smile.

“Wh-”

She stopped mid-sentence and stepped back as his body started to tremble and his skin was changing color.  She saw lycans in wolf form, but she’s never seen the process of transforming. It was actually quite a gruesome sight. That tiny shape turned into that huge black wolf. It just didn’t make sense.

The wolf made a strange puff, and for a second there, Rima thought it was laughing. Which was odd, because she couldn’t figure out how in the world could a wolf laugh. Its eyes which were now green were staring into Rima’s blue eyes, and it made Rima feel weird. Her body felt as though it was starting to burn from the inside, and she knew that at this point, her eyes started to change color and turn red. It was craving for something, and it took every ounce of control she had to not go over to the wolf’s side. Only, she didn’t know what it was craving for…

‘It’s my blood,’ she heard Leo’s voice echoing in her head. Apparently, he could do that in wolf form as well. ‘Your body’s calling for it through the link, asking to complete the transition.’

“No way in hell!!” She yelled out loud. “You’re not telling me what my body wants and doesn’t!” She didn’t want her body betraying her like this, so it should sure as hell listen to her.

The wolf’s gaze never left her.

‘Ignore it all you want, Rima. Deep inside, you know you want it. Even if you don’t know it yet.’

The wolf now was starting to leave, but turned it’s head around to look at Rima one last time.

‘Next time, there’ll probably be less chit-chat. See you around!’ the wolf said and winked before he started running, now disappearing into the woods. If she didn’t have so many things on her mind, she would have probably found that funny. It’s not all the time you see a wolf wink.

One thing was on her mind now though. She had to talk to that prefect.

***

And boy, was she mad. For a second there, Rima thought she would turn wolf and rip her into shreds. That’s what the look in Lacry’s eyes said she wanted to do. Instead, she just started yelling.

“Are you freaking suicidal?! Damn, I had no idea you were this kind of reckless idiot!! If I knew, I never would have come along in the first place and I would have simply just let you get goddamned killed by your stupid actions!!”

Rima was surprised Lacry wasn’t already throwing punches. Her eyes now seemed to be burning yellow.

“I had my reasons,” Rima said. Unfounded reasons, she added in her mind. “But let’s leave that aside for now. We need to talk.”

“Oh, you think?!” the girl said exasperatedly. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along!!”

“I still don’t trust you! You could very well be our enemy, disguising yourself a friend!”

“Oh, so I save yours and this blondie’s butt-” Lacry said pointing at Aidou, “-and I’m still the bad guy?! Wow, that’s some awesome gratitude! My work here is done!” she yelled out.

“You turned into a wolf in front of or very eyes, and apparently you’re not just any normal lycan. It’s normal that I have my suspicions about you since you didn’t tell us anything!

“I was about to tell you, but that asshole showed up! What was I supposed to do, chat with you while he’s mincing your friend?!”

“I…”

She had a point though. Rima now recalled that before the attack, Lacry seemed to want to tell her something.

“Weren’t Alfas supposed to be more united, seeing that there’s only so few of you left?” asked Rima. Her tone wasn’t invasive and threatening anymore, she just wanted to know.

Lacry crossed her hands in front of her chest. She was still pretty much glaring at Rima.

“And do all purebloods get along with each other, since ‘there’s so few of you left’? Last I heard you guys were eating each other for immortality,” Lacry said, and then stopped, weighting the next words she was going to say. “And I’m not really an Alfa..” she said.

This stroke Rima as odd. She was bigger in size than the average lycan, almost as big as an Alfa. She didn’t see her partially transform that, but Rima had a hunch she could do that as well.

“If you’re not an Alfa, then what are you?”

Lacry’s expression softened as she looked at Rima when she asked that question. It seems she saw that coming.

“I’m like you, Rima… I was a vampire once.”

***

“You… what?!”

Of all things she expected Lacry to say, this wasn’t even on the list. She knew they had plans to start turning vampires into lycans, but she didn’t think they actually succeeded in doing that, which is why the witch was so desperate.

“Rima, how do you think they’d know Alfa blood is the key to completing the transition? Don’t you think there’d have to be a prototype there somewhere?”

“So you’re saying Leo turned you?”

“By sheer turn of events, at least on my part. I got in the mess with the witch, she cast the spell, I stumbled across Leo, got in a fight with him and bit him. It was a big mistake, but I was pretty much out of control…”

“So by ‘at least from your part’, you mean that he already knew about this even then?” Rima asked.

Lacry stopped to think about it. After a moment though, she answered Rima’s question.

“I think he had a hunch about it, but still wasn’t sure about his theory. At least that’s what I saw in his mind after the transition completed and I was a werewolf…

Why don’t you just ask Lacry? I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to talk to you, Leo’s words repeated themselves in Rima’s head.

“You can read his mind,” Rima realized. That’s what he meant by that.

“Most of the time…” Lacry added with half of an awkward smile. “Same goes for him. With time, we learn to block our mind away from someone else getting in, but at times when the mind is relaxed or there’s something disturbing the concentration, the one can easily slip into the other’s mind,” she explained, seeing as Rima was listening, taking in the information. “When his ‘barriers’ are up, I can just sense him when he’s around, kind of like you do…”

Rima was evaluating everything. If she could also learn to block him from getting into her head, things could be a hell of a lot easier.

“How do you do that? Blocking him out?” Rima asked.

Lacry smiled. Her smile was now kind, understanding.

“I’m going to teach you, but it’s going to be a difficult process. You have to clear your mind of everything, yet you still want to keep your mind there. It’s going to be tricky…”

“I bet…”

Closing your mind, yet keeping it open. It already sounded confusing, but she believed she could nail it down if she really tried. Everything suddenly got real. Before Lacry appeared, there was this grain of hope that this might be just one of his experiments which might just as well fail. Now that hope was gone.

“Why us?” Rima asked her.

Lacry’s smile saddened.

“Some vampires are more special than other vampires. Some were born that way, lived that way. But once a vampire has a certain ‘awakening’ in his life, a change takes part in their body and it makes their body cells feel more vulnerable… I don’t understand it either, but it’s like having your immunity system down…”

“I was awakened as a pureblood,” Rima realized. “Does that mean that you too…” she was now looking at Lacry, her eyes wide.

Instead, Lacry shook her head.

“No, I wasn’t a pureblood. This is the other type of awakening I was talking about… those who were initially human… my condition was worse, since… I fell into level E when Leo found me…”

“So you were once human…”

Rima felt sympathy for this girl. Before this, she was probably just a human that didn’t even know vampires existed until she was turned, went level E, and then turned again into a werewolf. She went through so many things, yet she was this young.

.Lacry nodded.

“But…” Rima added, “… since you were level E, didn’t changing into a lycan help you from falling even deeper into madness?”

Lacry cringed.

“Yeah… but it also meant that I’d be sired to the one that turned me. Believe me, it took me almost two years to weaken that bond. Before that, I didn’t have a choice but to execute everything he told me to. That’s how bad it was.”

“But now you’re free,” Rima added.

“Not completely..” Lacry said. “Yes, now I can resist it, but there’s still a part of me deep down that still listens to the bond and it’s waiting for me to clack and give in. You too have to be strong, Rima,” Lacry said, her eyes pleading.

“Don’t worry,” Rima said to the girl. This time, she was hit by a boost of confidence. “He’d have to make me drink his blood first, and I’m not stupid enough to drink from him myself.”

“Ouch,” Lacry said, but now smiled. It wasn’t that sad anymore now. 

Call of the Fallen: Chapter 1

“I hate him! You can’t even imagine how much I hate him right now!”

Lacy went out of the school like a storm which threatened to destroy the whole neighborhood. She was so angry that she could commit a murder. Even her best friend, Hannah, could barely keep up with her at the pace she was going.

“Calm down Lacy, before you do something stupid!” said Hannah, hoping it would get to her. “Talk to him! Maybe you’ll get him to change his mind! Or talk to the headmaster, maybe he will get him to change his mind!”

“Didn’t you see that he didn’t even want to listen to me?! My dad hates me! And the headmaster’s both afraid of my father and sick of me! I can’t get out of this!” yelled Lacy so loudly that probably the entire neighborhood heard her. She had no idea where she was heading to. She didn’t want to go home, because her dad was sure to go there once he finished with the headmaster and the paperwork.

“He’s your father, Lacy, he can’t hate you! He’s probably just mad, but I’m sure he only wants what’s best for you!”

“Oh, so sending me to hell’s distance in Sterlington is his way of telling me how much he loves me, huh? Awesome way to show affection,” Lacy said with sarcasm.

“Lacy, you beat a guy so bad you almost brought him into a coma! You’re lucky you weren’t arrested for that!”

“The guy was a stalking freak, what else was I supposed to do?! Didn’t you see how he just kept showing up?! When he started touching me, I just lost it!”

“You thought he was cute at the beginning!”

“Well said, AT THE BEGINNING! Before he showed his true nature and made me get transferred for it! It’s a ten hours ride, I won’t be able to see anyone! He’s better pray he stays long enough in that hospital so I don’t get my hands on him before I leave, because if I ever see him again…” Lacy said, at this point almost growling.

“Oh, Lace…” Hannah sighed.

They reached a small park and Lacy sat on a bench to calm herself for a bit. Thinking about it, she probably had it coming. Given that her dad, John Maxwell, was head of the Ministry of Education, he cared a lot about image. Those kinds of people usually have kids going to Harvard, Yale, Stanford or whatever kinds of universities like those. Lacy wasn’t like that. She was more the practical type. She didn’t believe in staying for hours in front of an open book reading about stuff you do in life. She didn’t have the patience for that. She believed in experiencing it herself, then learning from it. The only reason she hadn’t left John’s house yet was because she was still in high school, but that would change once this year is over and she’ll graduate. With that, she’d get a job and leave that house once and for all.

“I don’t want to leave, Hannah…” she sighed.

“I don’t want you to leave either,” Hannah said, hugging Lacy. “But think that you only have this year until you graduate. Just try not to get into too much trouble; I won’t be there to bail you out anymore if you do,” she added.

Lacy smiled. That’s why she was best friends with Hannah. She always took care of Lacy, making sure that she doesn’t go over the line or lose control. Given Lacy’s character, one day she’d be quiet, shut down, and the other she’d do a lot of stupid stuff which she would later on regret.

“I promise I’ll try,” she said as a reply to Hannah’s advice. She had that specific smirk on her face though, which made Hannah roll her eyes.

Well, the worst already kind of happened. She’s being transferred, she won’t be able to see her friends anymore, and the place she’s going is more or less like a prison. What else could possibly happen? 

***

Once home, she stood in front of the house door for about a few minutes, thinking. She had the feeling that if she went in, she’d have her head chopped of. Once she placed her hand on the door knob, a lot of thoughts went through her head. She could run away. The temptation to do that at this point was very big.

But where would she go? She didn’t have a job yet, so she couldn’t afford renting a place to stay in. Hannah would gladly take her in, but Lacy knew there was barely any space in that small house for another person. Hannah had a big family, and Lacy didn’t want to trouble her like that. She cared too much for her.

Defeated, she pulled the knob and went inside. Just like she thought, her parents were waiting for her in the living room. Her dad standing, looking as cold as ever, and her mom, Julie, was sitting on the couch, her eyes red. She cried, it seems. It was the only thing Lacy felt fad for, seeing her mom suffer. She saw Lacy as a daughter, not as a political image which would or would not make her look good.

“I believe we have to talk,” said her father. Looking at him was like looking at stone. Cold. Impassive.

“No. We don’t,” she said in the same cold tone. “I’ll be leaving and your problems will leave as well with me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to pack my things,” she said, as she started for the stairs which led to her room upstairs.

“See, this is why I’m sending you to Stephen the Great. It’s a good high school and it will hopefully send you back on track. The way you are now, you are just a disappointment to your family,” he said, echoing through the large room.

She always knew he considered her as a disappointment, from the very moment she was born. It was the way he was treating her. Like a stranger, someone who wasn’t like him at all, someone who wasn’t his daughter at all.

But this time, she didn’t just ignore it. She snapped.

“Maybe I don’t care if I don’t live up to your expectation! And maybe I don’t care about your image! You obviously don’t care about us,” she said, glancing at her mother too which looked like she was about to faint, “given that you’re always away from home and you’re practically just a ghost in our life, so why would I care what you think? Who knows, maybe you even have another family somewhere out there and you keep swapping between them-”

A slap across her face made her stop in shock. A slap that was delivered to her by John. Shock was then replaced by anger, but she simply glared at him.

“I’m actually very glad I’m leaving this place,” she said as she turned around and went to her room. She didn’t want to hear any more of him.

 Shutting the door to her room, she threw a suitcase on the bed and started throwing clothes in it. Hearing her door opening made her go into full defensive mode, but when she saw it was her mother, she relaxed. She gave her mom a smile, which was genuine. She was always happy to see her. Julie was a best friend to her, and provided it didn’t include John, she’d always listen to Lacy, give her advice and not judge her. Maybe she hated her a bit for not standing up against John, but that wasn’t enough to make Lacy cherish her. She hoped that one day she’d do the right thing and leave it, though she figured that you can’t really mess with a woman in love.

“Hey,” she said as Julie stepped into the room. Her mother smiled kindly, but you could see how sad this made her. She felt guilty for not doing anything for Lacy.

She just placed her hand on Lacy’s cheek.

“Does it still hurt?” she asked, and Lacy realized that Julie was talking about the slap John gave her.

“It’ll pass,” Lacy answered. It still burned a bit, but she barely even noticed it before her mom mentioned it. She was too worked up.

She sighed.

“When am I leaving?” Lacy asked.

Her mother’s smile now turned into a sad one.

“Tomorrow morning,” she said.

“Tomorrow morning, huh..” she repeated, but more like to herself. Apparently, John wasn’t wasting time. “Well, Hell… here I come.”

Vampire Knight OS - Part X

Previous chapters: Rima escaped from Leo’s clutches and returned to her sister, Yuuki, and to Shiki. But this isn’t like she escaped danger at all. Apparently, the spell cast by an evil witch that’s trying to turn vampires into lycans has connected her to Leo in a way she doesn’t actually feel comfortable with. Especially since he’s using that to hunt her and her dear ones down, Akito being his first victim.

Part X: The Prefect

It wasn’t easy carrying an unconscious lycan all the way down to the hideout.

“Damned idiot, wake up already…”

She knew better though. With the wound Leo gave him, Akito would take a while to recover, even with his healing abilities. At least in his case, it seems his wounds healed much faster than when she was hurt. Probably the poison or whatever his claws injected in her affected vampires only.

She had to check if everyone else was alright as well. Even though their leader, Leo, was at Rima’s sight, a pack of Alfa followers surely weren’t something you could deal with and escape uninjured. With no knowledge on them or plans at all, being taken by surprise like that, in a place they considered a ‘safe house’, they’d be lucky if they even escaped with their lives. If anything ever happened to Yuuki…

She then thought for a bit about this. It hadn’t been a long time since she discovered that Yuuki and Kaname were actually her family. Even so, she grew so close to them, especially to Yuuki, that it felt strange. She didn’t feel like this towards Kaname, for example. Of course, she did feel all the respect towards him, but she didn’t feel as close to him as she felt towards Yuuki. Maybe it was the respect she was brought to have towards Kaname, the pureblood, before she discovered she was one herself. Maybe it was Yuuki’s clumsy way of getting under people’s skin. The way she cared so much about her loved ones…

“Rima!”

Hearing her call out to her as she reached the hideout (now a totally exposed hideout) made her smile in relief. She survived. Her sister survived. And apparently, apart from some minor injuries, she seemed unharmed. Kaname and the rest did a good job protecting her.

“Help me take this one inside, will you? He weights a tone…”

“I heard that…” came a grumble from behind her. Being carried – or more like dragged – on Rima’s back, Akito was now starting to regain his consciousness. Of course, that didn’t mean he could now officially start jumping around. He still had the big wound in his abdomen, caused by Leo’s claws, and if the healing process wouldn‘t be faster in his case, he would have long since died.

Hearing him, Yuuki chuckled.

“It seems you’re ok, if you guys are already like this,” she said as she took Akito’s left arm and then threw it over her shoulder for support, leaving Rima to shift and take his right side. Since Akito was now awake and he could (barely) walk, the weight less heavy now.

“How’s everyone on your end? Are they alright?” Rima asked, and she noticed that right Away, Yuuki’s face now showed concern and sadness.

“Fortunately, nobody died … most of us escaped only with a few injuries, but Ruka-senpai and Kain-senpai were badly injured. Both of them were still unconscious when I went searching for you. After the Alfas retreated, Kaname, Aidou-senpai and Shiki-senpai went to search the area to see if there are any others still lurking around. That’s all I know for now.”

They now arrived at what was once their hideout. Rima knew they’d probably move out soon. She wondered if there would be any point to it now though, since her bond with Leo would make it impossible for her to hide from him. Maybe the best idea would be her moving out by herself. Leo could only track her down, so if she completely cuts off contact with people, they would be safe as long as they hide somewhere away from her.

“I know that face,” Akito said, looking down at Rima. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but whatever it is, it’s stupid. So just stop.”

“Oh, good, you’re healthy enough to talk and give advice,” Rima said. “That means you’re also able to walk by yourself now,” she said as she slid off from under Akito’s arm. As a result to that, Akito instantly lost balance and almost collapsed even with Yuuki holding him. The face he had resembled one of an abandoned puppy and Rima barely kept herself from laughing out loud.

“Did I hallucinate the Rima from a while before? You were so much kinder to me then…”

“You were also bleeding to death and less talkative. It was an exception.” Rima said with a straight face.

“Good, now I know what I have to do when I want a reaction from you…”

Rima glared at Akito in a God-forbid-you-ever-do-that kind of way. She didn’t want to admit it, but she didn’t want him to go through that again, especially not in front of her.

Akito instinctively ducked behind Yuuki, looking at Rima through a single eye which went out of hiding.

“Yuuki-chan, please save me…”

Yuuki couldn’t help but start laughing. It was a relief for her to see both of them acting so lively and like their normal selves, despite everything that happened. She couldn’t imagine what could possibly go through Rima’s head right now. Having a lycan- no, an Alfa on your track definitely wouldn’t strike anyone as something comfortable. And she knew. Even though Rima seemed physically alright, her face betrayed concern.

Which grew even worse as she opened the front door. Rima’s shock couldn’t be held back anymore once she saw the scene in front of her.

Kain’s left arm was injured in such a way, Rima wondered how it was even holding to his body. Since the wound didn’t heal – being caused by an Alfa and all – he had to have his arm stitched a lot. He even seemed to have several injuries to his head, which again, were closed with stitches. Ruka on the other hand, had most of her body bandaged. Stomach, legs… every place on her body seemed to be torn. With injuries like that, it was a wonder she was still alive. Both of them were unconscious, lying on the couches after they had their wounds tended to.

Rima heard talk in the office through the open door, which she knew were the others that haven’t been injured this bad. She recognized Aidou’s voice yelling out.

“This was not a fair battle! If it had been, things would have been much more different than this!”

Everyone had these dark faces. Their flesh wounds seemed to be smaller, but the wounds they had to their spirit seemed extremely big. Being taken by surprise and outnumbered like that… even though Kaname was a strong pureblood, he wasn’t almighty.

“Aidou… battle is never going to be fair. You either have the upper hand or not.” Kaname said. “We just need to find a way to get the upper hand. In the meantime, we’ll have to change locations, because-” Kaname started, but was interrupted by Rima coming into the room.

“That’s not going to be of any use.”

Silence fell. Everyone was now staring at her, interested in what she had to say.

“Rima…” Shiki said with a smile, seeing she was safe.

Rima smiled kindly to him and then turned back towards Kaname.

“Explain,” he encouraged.

Rima took in a deep breath and started to tell them everything.

“It’s not going to be of any use because he can sense me. He can track me down wherever I go. That spell they cast on me, those things inside me,” she said, referring to the rooks “They created a link between me and him. He can get into my head whenever he wants, making it impossible to hide.”

The way Shiki was looking at her now pained her. His face showed a worry which Rima wanted to simply erase. She didn’t want to make Shiki worry like that…

“As I thought, he came to you when they attacked, right? That’s why I didn’t see him around when his whole pack was attacking us,” Shiki said.

“Yes…” Rima said, leaving out the fact that the reason he came was to threaten her that he’d be attacking those around her. Even though one of them would be his next target, she hoped they could find a way to win before there are any more casualties were made. She didn’t want them to feel that they all had axes against their throats.

She then continued.

“Long before they attacked, I kept having dreams where he showed up, saying that he’ll come soon. I didn’t know about the link, so I just took them for being simply nightmares. If only I paid more attention to them…”

Rima was now close to tears. It was her own stupidity which brought them into this. Those dreams, those hallucinations, they didn’t seem normal. Of only she had taken them more seriously…

A strong hold brought her back to reality. She hadn’t noticed she was crying. She hadn’t noticed Shiki coming and taking her in his arms. She could now feel the warmth, even though his body was vampire-cold. It was only her that recognized that warmth. With it, she could feel at peace. She could feel safe.

But she knew better.

“No… as long as you’re all around me, no one is safe. He’ll just come and hurt all those dear to me until I give in. I don’t want anyone to get hurt or worse, to die, because of me!”

“Leaving you alone isn’t an option either, Rima! Do you seriously think I could just abandon you like that?! Don’t you remember our promise?!”

That he’ll always stand by her side and protect her, no matter what. Yes, she knew. And seeing him like this right now made her realize how much her decisions hurt him. She kept pushing him away. She kept saying that she was doing this to protect him, but she only ended up hurting him.

“Yes… I’m sorry…” was all she could say at this point. She didn’t even know why she was apologizing. She simply wanted to bring some peace of mind to the man she loved. Loved…

Shiki smiled a bit, a kind smile which brought warmth her.

“Don’t ever give up…” he said as he kissed her forehead.

“I won’t,” she replied with a smile, looking at him.

From the room, next to the door, Rima was startled by the sound of struggle followed by a large thud on the door and then something heavy falling on the floor. Releasing herself from Shiki’ arms, she opened the door which was already partially open, and saw Akito on the floor, with Yuuki holding his arm.

Rima looked at him, unable to ignore the scowl he had on his face and how stupid the scene looked.

“… what are you doing down there?” she asked.

“Inspecting the floor…” he said, grumbling, as he got up and went back towards the other injured people in the room.

Rima turned towards Yuuki, not understanding the situation, which only made her sister smile awkwardly and say “Yes, inspecting the floor… that’s what he was doing… heheh…” she said as she got up as well and went into the office, trying to shake off the subject. “So what are we going to do now?”

Silence fell. No one knew exactly knew what exactly would be their next step.

Only Kaname seemed to be contemplating an idea. Yuuki noticed how deep in thought he was.

“Kaname…” Yuuki said, hoping to encourage him to speak out.

Kaname raised his head and looked at Yuuki, then shifted his eyes towards Rima. With a sigh of defeat, he finally spoke out.

“Even if we try to hide, it seems that won’t be of much help. So our only choice would be to go somewhere where we will have protection and allies when the enemy comes. A place which isn’t isolated from the world and where we can get hunters around, since their weapons seem to be able to cause damage to these lycans.”

“And that place would be…” Aidou started, started to figure out where Kaname was going with this.

“Yes. We will have to return to Cross Academy.”

***

It seemed logical. The needed hunters, and since the Hunter Associations were vampire-proof, the only solution seemed to be Cross Academy. That would provide them better protection than if they’d be hidden in isolation where they’d be found either way. The Academy had Kaien Cross, history’s most legendary vampire hunter which even though he retired, he’d still be able to aid them. Touga Yagari would also probably help, simply because he’d be worried if Zero Kiryuu comes back.

As soon as Ruka and Kain's wounds healed enough to move around, Kaname sent out a notice and they all set off for the underground tunnels connecting to the Academy.

“I’m still not so sure about this,” Rima said.

The academy had human students in it. Going there would surely place them in danger. She couldn’t figure out how the Chairman agreed to this, since he wouldn’t want to place them in dangerous situations. Rima was assured that Kaien Cross was aware of the danger, but since they helped in the incident with Rido Kuran, the Chairman agreed to provide them with protection.

‘Typically the Chairman…’ Rima thought.

She then looked towards Yuuki. Even though she didn’t say anything against it, she looked still reluctant to go back. After all, before she awakened as a pureblood, she was a (human) prefect there, a guardian. And even though she knew most of the students there had their memories erased, a selected few still remembered the incident and that all students of the Night Class were actually vampires. Provided they never say anything about it, they were allowed to keep their memories. One of them was Sayori Wakaba, Yuuki’s best (human) friend.

‘Yori-chan’ Yuuki thought. She chose to remember Yuuki the way she was, a vampire. She said that no matter what happens they would still be best friends. Sayori was the only reason she felt a bit comfortable with going back.

Rima reached out to take Yuuki’s hand, trying to give her at least some comfort.

“It’s going to be alright,” Rima said and smiled kindly, making Yuuki’s tense body relax for at least a bit. Yuuki smiled and nodded in response.

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t waaait to see my little fans again!” Aidou said loudly, referring to the human girls from the academy. “I hope they remember me! And if they don’t, they’ll surely keep me in mind after the very first day!” he said enthusiastically.

Akito, which was also accompanying them, leaned in closer to Rima and started whispering cautiously.

“Was he always like that…?” he asked.

“You’re exactly the same,” Rima said bluntly.

Akito looked shocked.

“Am not!”

That made Yuuki burst into laughter. The atmosphere was finally lifting up, thanks to them.

“We’re here,” Kaname said and silence fell again. There it was, the station. Cross Academy. They have arrived to the place where everything started.

As they got off the train, on the platform they could see a girl wearing the Day Class uniform and a prefect badge. The new guardian, Rima figured. She was wearing her long, dark brown hair down her back and her arms were crossed in front of her, standing straight and confident. Unafraid.

Rima wondered if this girl actually knew they were vampires. Would a human stand like this in front of a group of vampires without being afraid? Then again, since the Night Class continued going after the Rido incident, someone had to protect the humans from the vampires. Yuuki left, so no wonder the Chairman found someone else to do the job.

Still, something felt strangely off about this girl, Rima couldn’t exactly place it. Her yellow eyes staring at her the way they were, like they were inspecting her, made Rima feel anything but at ease. What was wrong with that girl?

“Cuuuuuuuuuute!!!!” Rima jumped as she heard Aidou’s shout. “Yuuki-chan, she might even rival you as a prefect, not as you are now, but as the prefect you were before, not that you weren’t adorable then either-” Aidou started stuttering. Yuuki laughed and went towards the girl.

“You must be here to greet us, I’m sorry for the trouble…”

The girl smiled, making her eyes actually stand out even more. Yuuki now noticed that if you looked from the right angle, you could see some green tendencies there too.

“It’s no problem. As a prefect, I have to welcome the new students coming to our academy… though you, as the previous prefect, must know as well.” She glanced over at Rima, then at the other vampires. “I will now escort you to your dormitory.”

“Thank you, Prefect-chan!” Aidou said enthusiastically as he dropped his arm over the girl’s shoulder. The girl pushed it away, apparently not being too fond of such close contact.

“Aidou-senpai…” Yuuki said with an attempt of a smile which turned awkward, realizing what this girl’s fate will be. She reminded her of the days when Yuuki was a guardian and had to put up with Aidou’s flirty character which only managed to turn all the Day Class girls against her. At this point, she felt sorry for the girl.

“Hey, I’m Yuuki, what’s your name?” she asked as she realized that they haven’t introduced themselves yet.

“Me?” the girl glanced, looking at Yuuki now. “I’m – ”

“YUUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!” the Chairman yelled out before the girl managed to say a single word. “My dear Yuuki, Daddy missed you so much! Call me Father, like you used to!” the Chairman cried happily, typically him, clinging to Yuuki like for dear life. At this point, Yuuki thought that she’d die of suffocation before she died of lycan attacks.

“Cha-… Dad, I’m really happy to see you too!” Yuuki said as she hugged him back. She actually meant those words. It actually felt really good to be around the man who raised her, her father. Even though he wasn’t her real father, Yuuki thought of him as her real one.

She gently released herself from the hug and smiled at him, being hit by a wave of nostalgia.

“We need your help…” she said.

Kaien Cross smiled knowingly, placing his hand on her head.

“I know. I know mostly what’s going on from Kaname-kun, but I’ll also need more details…” he said, and then looked at Ruka and Kain “… and also about why you two are still in that condition.”

Both of them looked at the ground. They both felt shameful about the outcome, no matter what everyone said.

“We weren’t strong enough…”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Rima stepped in. Though usually silent, this time she couldn’t just say nothing. Even purebloods had a rough time with those Alfas; imagine what a fate would usually fall on normal vampires. Those guys proved how strong they were by the simple fact they were still alive.

“Rima…I’m sorry for everything that happened,” the Chairman said. “You can stay here as long as you need, I will get some hunters from the association to aid us soon.”

“Thank you… I know this must be hard on you because of the human students…”

“Don’t mention it. We’ll figure something out,” The Chairman said. “Now, I guess you are all very tired, since it’s daytime. You should go to your rooms to get some sleep. I readied all of your former rooms for you.”

“Thank you,” Rima answered.

“Follow me,” the prefect said. Rima couldn’t help but notice the strange stare she was giving her. It didn’t feel cold, yet it didn’t warm her at all either. Her eyes seemed to hold secrets, and to be honest, it made Rima feel nervous.

‘She’s just weird…’ she said in her mind, as if to convince herself. But she still couldn’t shake off this feeling. She already got into trouble before for not listening to her instincts.

“We can go by ourse-” Rima started to say to the prefect, but once the gate to the academy opened, she saw this extremely familiar setting which once was part of her everyday life.

“Kyaa, I told you I saw Idol-senpai! He’s back!!” screamed a girl which apparently was part of the Day Class.

“Welcome back, Idol-senpai!” screamed another, and then some other girls started screaming for Kaname, Kain and Shiki. Some were even whispering about Akito, which kept silent until now since he was still feeling weird from being in a place surrounded by vampires, but now he was completely taken aback by the scene.

“Wow…”

The girls now all started to push and Rima feared they might be in danger now that Kiryuu wasn’t around. He was the only one who could actually stop this herd, and now that he wasn’t around, these girls could prove to be more dangerous than even a pack of lycans.

Except, in an instant, they all stopped. Straight in line. Rima even wondered if that silver head miraculously appeared from somewhere, but no, all of them were actually looking in a cold sweat at the new prefect… which was glaring at them.

“I’m sorry… it seems that since you guys are back, their fanning over you seems to have kicked in again. Nothing unmanageable though…” the prefect said.

“Oh, hi girls! How are you all doing??” Aidou said enthusiastically to the excited crowd.

Rima mentally facepalmed herself. This was so typical of Hanabusa Aidou that it seemed stupid. It was like they were all returning back to normal. Rima then realized that maybe this was Aidou’s intention all along… that, or he actually is a womanizer.

“Kyaa, Idol-senpai, we’re doing perfectly fine, now that you’re here!!” the girls screamed excited in unison.

“Thanks, you guys are all so nice, just as I remembered you! I’m sure we’ll have a great time together again!” he said as he dropped his arm around the prefect’s shoulders. This only set the Day Class crowd of, screaming stuff like ‘it’s always the prefect!’.

Aidou smirked. “I’m sure they’re very jealous of you now,” he said, close to her ear.

The prefect, previously calm, now seemed to be trembling with anger as she finally snapped. She punched Aidou in the head so hard, everyone thought his skull would crack. Fortunately, it didn’t, but it did leave Aidou staring at her having no idea how that actually happened.

“They hated me before as well, so that’s no big deal,” she said, dusting her hands. “Now, I suggest we start moving, before these things make their first victim.” She glared at the girls who were calling her ‘demon’ and sorts, silencing them at once. Everyone figured she probably had a bully reputation around them.

They all agreed, moving forward. All the way to the dorm, someone from the group would be chuckling because of the incident. Yuuki thought Akito might have a seizure from all that laughing.

Rima caught the prefect looking at her again. She didn’t know if that look was a glare or not. She just tried to ignore is as much as possible until they reached the dorm.

***

They slept for most of the day. Since they arrived somewhere around noon, they had all the time to get enough sleep. Rima even went to some of the classes afterwards, just to get the feeling that things are the way they were before.

“I hear Chairman Cross had a hard time convincing Yagari to come back as a teacher after the incident. The vampires in the Night Class apparently hate him for that.” Shiki, who was accompanying her, said.

“Yeah…” Rima said, though absently. She was taking in the surroundings. This was the place where everything started. This is where she awakened as a pureblood. This was the place where the lycan fight first started.

“I’m going to get something to eat. Do you want to come too?” Shiki asked.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rima saw a shadow moving behind the trees. She now knew whose scent it was.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up with you later” Rima said. Shiki gave a smile and a nod, and then left.

Rima headed towards the trees. This had to end now.

“Stop hiding and get out,” she said loudly.

From the shadow of the trees, the girl prefect stepped out. She was now standing face to face with Rima.

“You’ve been giving me these looks all day and I also saw you following me around several times. What do you want?” Rima inquired.

“We need to talk,” the girl simply said.

“Need to talk? I don’t even know you! Who are you!?”

“I know you! It’s exactly because I know what you’re going though that I want to-”. Suddenly, the girl stopped as if she had just been hit by a lightning bolt. “No…” the girl said, looking very alarmed for some reason. “He’s here…” she said to herself, her voice almost down to a whisper. She looked at Rima with those golden eyes of hers which held such force that Rima found herself unable to move for a moment.

“Just stay here!” the prefect said, running off towards someplace Rima had yet didn’t know.

“Hey, wait!” Rima said, chasing after her. Something about the look she had concerned her. Plus, she had this heavy feeling in her stomach which she couldn’t exactly place.

***

“Damn, that guardian! How could she do that to me in front of all my fans?!” Aidou said loudly to himself, stomping the ground. He was now next to a small pond on the Academy borders, and in his irritation, he froze a small layer above the water. “I mean, what’s wrong with her?! I’m ‘Idol-senpai’, I’m supposed to be an idol for girls, not getting punched by them!!” he was now yelling his issues to the pond, as if it was now his best friend.

“Fuu, you sure have some issues there.”

The apparently mocking voice came out of nowhere, taking Aidou by surprise. He didn’t sense a presence coming closer. Searching for the source of the voice, he saw a person with black hair and black eyes playing with a small rock in his hand, and sitting on another bigger one. No matter how you looked at him, this guy looked as if he was at a picnic.

“And you are?” Aidou inquired, eyeing him cautiously.

Leo stood up, relaxed. He looked at Aidou for a bit, and then shrugged.

“Apparently, your bad luck,” he said, and then smirked. He bolted towards Aidou to strike a blow.

Fortunately, Aidou had good reflexes and managed to freeze a wall in front of him before his attacker got to him. Hopefully, the guy would simply slam into the wall and give Aidou enough time to finish him off.

“Heh, the ice user,” Leo said, as he seemed to be inspecting the wall made of ice. “I heard of you, you were quite an issue for my pack. Your name is… Hanabusa, if I remember correctly?”

“Not for you, it isn’t.” Aidou glared and was now ready for another attack.

“You’re right, I feel like sneezing every time your name comes around. Now, shall we begin?”

“Begin wh-” Aidou started, but was taken by surprise when he felt a pair of claws dig into his shoulder. At a very fast speed, Leo ripped off a bunch of flesh from it and left a very big wound in its place. Aidou screamed in pain. He knew that a flesh wound caused by an Alfa would heal much slower than a normal wound in his case. Last time, he only had some broken wounds, but since it didn’t have anything to do with the flesh they healed quickly. Not the case for this one though.

He looked around. Leo wasn’t anywhere in his sight. He knew that he was somewhere in hiding, but it seemed that he could somehow hide his presence. The scent was faint.

“Tag! You’re it!” Leo said as he dug another pair of claws in Aidou’s back. How in the world did he manage to move that fast? Aidou didn’t even get the chance to see him!

But even though he just got hit, he used that exact moment to make the best out of his reflexes. He quickly turned around, and caught Leo not moving long enough to freeze his legs. That should keep him from moving for a while.

Leo stared at his legs, then at Aidou.

“That is so not fair-play,” he said, though he seemed amused.

“Suddenly attacking people behind their backs isn’t fair-play either,” Aidou countered.

“You’re right, my bad… but I love this game way too much to step out of it so fast.”

Much to Aidou’s amazement (and horror), steam started to come out of the ice, and by a simply push of his legs, Leo broke the ice and released himself.

Stepping out of the ice shards, Leo shrugged.

“Warm body. Can’t stay frozen for too long,” he said, having his usual smirk in its rightful place.

Aidou was left without words as panic crept in. His usual way of freezing wouldn’t work. He’d have to find a way to get out of this, and fast. He was loosing a lot of blood, and without his regenerating power, he wouldn’t last much longer.

He ran towards the trees on the edge of the pond and immediately heard Leo sigh.

“Seriously? Is this your master plan? Hiding?” Leo said, sounding disappointed. “Well, if this is the way you want it, then I’ll be ‘it’,” Leo said, as he started chasing after Aidou.

Hiding behind a tree, Aidou was trying to catch his breath. ‘Think Hanabusa, think!’ he thought, as he was looking around for ideas. And looking at the pond, he got one.

He went out from the cover of the trees and faced Leo, this time, his eyes confident.

“Bold, I might say. You could have still survived a couple more minutes if you stayed in hiding. I do admire your guts though.”

Aidou didn’t say a word. One moment he was standing there, and in the next one he was engaged in a hand-to-hand combat with Leo. He knew he wouldn’t have the advantage in it, as he already got a few more wounds from it. But it was still worth a shot. Seizing the right moment, he clasped Leo’s hands in his and froze them together with his. He knew they wouldn’t stay frozen for long, so he had to act fast. He used that moment to jump into the pond, dragging Leo after him.

This apparently took Leo by surprise for a moment, since he didn’t seem to notice the ice was gone from their hands the moment they dived into the water. Aidou quickly got away from him and froze his whole body in the water, freezing the rest of the pond as soon as he safely got out of it. That Alfa could probably melt a little ice on his body, but he couldn’t possibly melt a whole pond.

Breathing heavily, Aidou crawled towards a tree and sat there, leaning his back against it. His whole body hurt like hell. He froze the places where the bleeding was at its worst, but they were still big. He could barely move now.

‘I won…’ he thought as he smiled. He was breathing almost normally now as the adrenaline was wearing off. Though as a consequence to that, his wounds were now starting to hurt even more.

Something strange caught his eyes though, as he looked towards the lake. Smoke was coming from the ice and he could hear some cracks. Those cracks soon became louder until there was an explosion right where he froze Leo. Something then jumped right from the middle of that explosion, landing straight on the ground at the edge of the pond.

Aidou was left speechless. Standing in front of him was the biggest, most gigantic wolf he had ever seen. Bigger than any lycan he had ever seen. And he did see quite a lot of those lately.

‘So this is an Alfa…’ he thought, no more strength left in his body to even talk. The enormous black beast looked at Aidou with a pair of big, dark green eyes. Aidou could swear it even smirked, though he couldn’t imagine how a wolf could possibly do that.

The wolf lowered on his front paws, preparing to attack. After that, he launched himself towards Aidou.

‘This is it…’ Aidou thought as he closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see how the beast was going to tear him limb from limb until he died.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

The scream made Aidou open his eyes and he saw the prefect running towards them with such a speed, he was afraid her body might break apart.

‘No… stay away…’ Aidou only managed to say in his head. ‘A human’s no match for a-’

He stopped thinking the moment he saw the girl running towards them turn into an enormous silver wolf, almost as big as the Alfa. Both beasts clashed with such a sound that it rivaled a thunder. Both of them were sent into different directions, reverting to their human forms as they fell. Leo was now back on the edge of the pond while the guardian landed in front of Aidou.

He smirked, seeing the girl which was giving him a death glare.

“Lacry…”