[VK] Shades of Grey - Chapter 2
Title: Shades of Grey
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,083
Characters/Pairings: Zero, Misaki, and more OCs
Notes: Well, I did warn that there would be a bunch of OCs that would take quite a prominent role in the story, considering this wholly new setting. Misaki finally bears the consequences of being human among vampires. Thank you to my beta (I'm sorry I forgot wrote it here! >_<) shapby and my faithful reader, teruame.
Previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1
Misaki was enjoying the long break from the hustle bustle that was known as university. She decided to indulge herself by spending her time outside from the mornings after having a French breakfast, courtesy of the native French roommate with her friends in the apartment, and telling them her plans to check out the art exhibition in Musée National d'Art Moderne and visit La Galerie D’Architecture.
She intended to get back to the apartment before it was dark so she could join the Balfolk that was going to start few hours before midnight. She was excited to join in the newly-initiated folk festival, especially with the chance to learn and watch traditional folk dances.
Her friends simply exchanged knowing looks towards each other when she made it as if they were as excited as she was at the opportunity. They were aware that among the three of them, she was the one who was excited the most to join the festival. She didn’t fail to notice the look of relief hidden behind their eyes, seeing the enthusiasm in her.
She had yet to tell them of her condition, wanting to settle few things first with herself. She hid her fears and doubts well enough, but she knew that they felt something off nonetheless. That was the thing with girlfriends. It was the reason why she decided to do this, so she could remind herself that there was still more to life.
That was the plan. Or at least, she thought it was.
She managed not to stay too long at the art exhibition, reminded by her hungry stomach. But as she laid eyes on the new architecture books in La Galerie D’Architecture, a whole section of the kind of books she had been looking for in the library, she couldn’t help herself. She moved from one shelf to another. From one stack to another. If she could, she wanted to borrow all the books.
However, there were limitations of how many books she could borrow and carry back home. Thus most of the time was spent choosing which books she would read in the library and which she would borrow. And she also made a stop at the bookshop where she browsed through the books she would likely need during the next semester, and bought some of them, adding more weight into her large bag she fortunately had the habit to take whenever she went to La Galerie D’Architecture.
All the while, she couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that she was being watched. She tried to catch anything out of ordinary from the corner of her eyes, but she found nothing. There were no alarming flashes of image of yet, so she dared to walk by herself to the direction of the shared apartment, even as darkness slowly descended upon the city. When she took a turn to a small street, her steps faltered.
The street was oddly deserted; no sign of people passing by as if there was an invisible barrier that made no one chose to take this street. She immediately tensed when she heard slow and steady steps of shoes against the pavement. Slowly she turned towards the direction of the only person besides her in this street, finding a well-dressed man in his forties. He walked calmly to her, only stopping few steps before her to give a measure of privacy. He smiled politely and gave a slight bow that was often given from a gentleman to a lady.
“Excusez moi, do you happen to be mademoiselle Hisakawa?”
There was no immediate answer, Misaki watched the man warily. She couldn’t really figure out why a man suddenly appeared to address her. At first, she was tempted to answer that he got the wrong person, but she knew that the question was purely rhetorical and simply out of courtesy. Her eyes slightly narrowed, the man was no ordinary human.
“What can I do, monsieur?” her voice rang loud and clear in the silence, not giving away her feelings.
“Well, I’m sorry with the inconvenience, but you’re making it difficult for me to talk to you…”
He wore a monocle on his right eye. The first thought in her mind was he was a noble or at least an underling of a noble. He slowly stepped forward to her direction, his hands spread apart as a gesture of well intention --though she knew that it contrasted greatly with his need to meet her in the intentionally made-to-be deserted street to simply talk to her.
Despite the urge to step backward to keep the distance between them, she remained unmoving; her eyes stared straight into the man’s eyes.
“If you want to talk with me, why can’t we somewhere else? You’ve chosen the oddest place to talk. I think you’re the one who make it difficult, monsieur,” she spoke with impeccable French.
“True. True…” He chuckled, though his eyes held no mirth.
“So what do you want to talk about? I need to be somewhere else.”
“Well, I want to ask you about the man you’ve been seen with?” She tried not to show any kind of reaction at the question.
“What man?” Her tone was sincerely curious, although she was aware of whom the man might mean.
“A Japanese man… A tall silver-haired man with a tattoo on his neck.” He gestured casually with his hand of the description.
“You mean Kiryuu?” She cautiously avoided using his first name.
“Ah, yes. Kiryuu…” The man spoke as if he just knew the name of the man he was looking for.
“Who is he?”
“Just my former senior in school. Why would it matter?”
“It matters. Because what kind of senior would visit his junior if he is required to cross great distance to do it?” She couldn’t ignore the feeling of the déjà vu the words incited. It held the same sentiment Sonia gave her way, but somehow, she had the feeling that the same answer wouldn't satisfy this man.
“Because he happened to be nearby?” she shrugged carelessly while discretely assessing her surroundings to plan an escape.
“Ah, that was so nice of him, wasn’t it?” He smiled and took another step closer to her, “But that’s not what we think, mademoiselle.”
Suddenly he was within arms’ length, his smile seemed more menacing as he calmly explained, “Your senior is the president of Hunters’ Association whose duty was to exterminate beings named as vampires.”
“Vampires?” she tried to sound incredulous, taking a small step behind to maintain the distance.
“Yes, vampires… And the most interesting thing is… that he is one himself and yet he has done more damage to the vampires than his predecessors by that very strength that was blessed to him as a vampire. Having the blood of the pureblood and hunter in his veins, he becomes a danger to the ones who created him, who gave him that power… He must be stopped. However… he has no weakness… he has nothing we can exploit. He has no family. His closest people are mostly capable hunters, until we found out about his random visits to Paris.”
The man was getting too close to comfort; he casually pulled off his white gloves as he explained. He tilted his head, a triumphant smile on his face,
“And I have reports of his sightings with a young woman. That young woman… is you, mademoiselle.”
“So? It doesn’t mean anything.” She kept her face as normal as one could when someone asked her such things without having any meaning behind it.
“Oh, it does,” he clucked his tongue, “every vampire has his or her unique scent in their blood, so when that vampire doesn’t only feed on their victim…”
Suddenly, he disappeared from her sight and she felt a sharp pain on her arm.
A drop of blood fell on the wet floor of the alley.
“Your blood has his scent on you.” A whisper on her ear.
Fortunately she had seen this coming and before he could grab her, she already ducked from his reach and slipped through him. She ran at full strength and not in straight line, knowing that with vampires’ speed and agility he could easily catch up to her if she were to be predictable. Sharply, she took a right turn right before he appeared next to her. She couldn’t hide a smirk as she heard a loud noise of impact and a slight pained voice. A sudden vision appeared before her, forcing her to drop down right before a clawed hand could hurt her.
Another vampire!
She added more speed into her run, while cursing herself for not taking a cab home and choosing her usual shortcut home, which was quite in a distance from the main street. It was usually safer than the streets, knowing the people around the vicinity, but now the area was deserted because of the festival. However, she knew the area better than her pursuers, so she wouldn’t need to think to walk through the mazes of the area and could focus more on her foresight. In addition, the natural environment would help to cover her scent if what he said was true. A slight frown marred her features as she recalled his words.
Did he mean that she drank Zero’s blood?
But she didn’t drink his blood, she was sure of that. Or…
She thought of the life growing within her… Could it be because of her children? No, she shook her head; she learned that during pregnancy, the blood of the child didn’t mix with of the mother. But the children would likely inherit their father’s vampire blood that could end up in her system, and that was the only explanation she had.
She had no time to ponder on this. She had roughly torn the end of her dress to clean up the blood out of the cut on her arm and threw it away, taking another torn piece to dress her wound while running. Inwardly she hoped that it was enough to hide her scent. She hid herself into bushes, trying to catch her breath and access more information regarding her pursuers. She knew there were more than one, but she didn’t know how many and the darkness made it no easier to distinguish ordinary human and vampire.
Her hand flew on her stomach. Although its appearance didn’t show the signs of life within, she could feel the slight swell under her fingertips. It was good enough that the person only went as far as suspecting her drinking Zero’s blood, and her attempt in evading them this long would pretty much support that suspicion. It would be very bad if they came to the conclusion that she shared the blood through the children in her womb.
Suddenly, she stiffened in her place, ceasing her thoughts. The sounds of crickets and bugs that usually could be heard throughout the night were suddenly gone. And she knew it meant one thing.
Her pursuers were here.
She remained still, keeping her breathing silent and her senses alert. The vampires were no different than predators in the wild. They could be as silent as they wanted to in order to seize their prey. She had no choice but to rely on her foresight.
Suddenly a hand pierced through the bushes in front of her, staggering her back but before she could move further, realizing this was their plan, she ran to the side of the bushes.
“Get her!”
She took a wild turn to a small alley that appeared to act also as a storing place which she used to scattered about on the alley to slow them down. When she narrowly dodged a basket thrown at her, a man stood before her and grabbed her hand roughly.
“Let go!” She managed to remember the basic of self defense: stepped on his foot and kicked him between the legs. It wasn’t particularly strong but it had the element of surprise, enough to release his firm grip on her.
She was about to continue her run, when her shirt was roughly pulled back. Fortunately she managed to spin herself and release his hold or she’d be likely thrown hard against the wall. She narrowly ducked a large chunk of garbage thrown at her, saved only by her foresight.
She ran as fast as she could, running left and right, in an irregular pattern that was difficult to follow. Her lungs were burning, her feet were screaming out in protest, but she could not stop, not if she wanted to live, not if she wanted to protect her unborn children. One of her hand had always been on her slightly swelling stomach since she started running. It was only few more turns to get to the streets where the festival was. She just needed to get there….
She had seen it coming, but unfortunately, she was not as fast the vampire so she could only braced herself as she was thrown hard to the wall, her head and back were colliding painfully against the rough surface, stealing her breath away, and nearly her consciousness. She held her stomach protectively even as she slid weakly to the ground.
She coughed feebly, her chest constricted painfully as she tasted copper tang in her mouth. The simplest gesture of breathing sent waves of agony through her.
Fractured or broken rib, punctured lung, at worst... At least he didn’t get her stomach…
Even through the haze of pain her mind was still able to think clearly, going as far as checking her bodies of the injuries sustained. She really was too good at compartmentalizing.
She slumped weakly against the wall, having barely any strength to keep herself upright, let alone to keep conscious. She was slightly aware of her life preserving liquid, trickling down her head that had hit the wall with such brutal force. Head wound, maybe a slight concussion, she mentally added to her list of injuries.
Fear and dread were noticeably absent from her, she felt oddly calm and detached. It might be due to the pain, or due to her natural defense mechanism to shut down her senses in order to dull the pain which would be too great to bear. However, she was losing blood and her consciousness would soon follow suit. She would not be able to do anything when the remaining pursuers finally caught up and she was aware what she was right now: she was no different that an enticing prey with blood oozing from her wounds.
“Well, well, well… That’s quite a chase you managed to lead us on.” Finally the owner of that familiar voice of the leader of the pack that hunted her appeared before her.
The vampire who succeeded to hurt her obediently stepped back to give way to the well-dressed man whose appearance remained neat as if he wasn’t affected by the pursuit. He appeared to be mostly unscathed, unlike most of his underlings, speaking of his skill that undoubtedly placed him as the top of the small pyramid of the group. A sinister smile graced his twisted features, greatly satisfied to see the condition she was in.
He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Her first reaction was to back down, but she couldn’t find the strength to move, with her broken, battered body and the wall behind her. She tried not to flinch as he knelt down before her, swiping his long finger over the wet blood on the corner of her mouth then putting it into his mouth.
“Mmm… I can see why he’s attracted to you. You have such a luscious scent… and taste.” His hungry red eyes were blazing as he tasted her blood. “I think it’ll leave a better message if I were to completely drain you than to simply hurt you…”
Misaki had long tuned out the vampire’s words, reaching out deeper into her consciousness. She knew what she was about to do was greatly forbidden, having been warned of its consequences repeatedly, but she had no other options. She had to live, or at the least, her children had to live.
She probed deep into her mind and made a vivid image of people, of police officers coming through the dark alley and made the vampires scattered away. When a pair of sharp fangs was about to descend to sink itself to her flesh, her vision became true.
All of a sudden sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard, echoing loudly against the narrow brick walls, completely catching the pack off guard. A uniformed man whom she vaguely recognized at the corner of her eyes as the Paris’ police officer appeared from the darkness, immediately pulling out his gun the moment he laid his eyes on her and the threatening man hovering before her.
“Stop right there or I’ll shoot!” the man cried out, and like a signal, other uniformed officers appeared from behind him and from the other side of the alley, trapping the three vampires.
They could easily overpower them she knew, but there were too many people not to attract attention, and they were most likely told to be discreet and so they did the smartest thing, they left. She was vaguely aware of the disgruntled look the leader gave her way, but she could care less as she felt throbbing pain in her head, slowly turning into sharp, constant pain that made her feel that her head was going to explode anytime. She knew that this were the consequences she had to pay. And all she could think of as she was slowly sinking into the darkness was one person.
Zero…
*
*
*
Wild, frantic silver eyes opened up in a sudden.
Zero found himself on a familiar dark-leathered recliner, before large oak table with papers strewn over it, surrounded by shelves of books around the room. He ran his hand in her messy hair, figuring that he must have dozed off when he was working on some paperwork. But he couldn’t shrug the feeling that woke him up. His senses were suddenly heightened, as if there was approaching danger. But the danger felt distant, as if it wasn’t around him… or meant for him.
When that thought crossed his mind, his eyes widened in horrible realization, making him straightened up on his seat. He had this feeling before, when he felt her blood was spilled.
His first reaction was to deny it; he hadn’t been in contact --drunk her blood, his inner self corrected-- with her for more than three months. It couldn’t be possible that he still had that kind any connection with her. He stood up from his chair, moving to grab some drink to clear his mind. He was just imagining things; she was safe in Paris, far away from here, far from the chaos that he brought. It must be the stress getting to him. He shook his head and drank the cold liquid in one gulp. However, the feeling didn’t go away. Instead, it was getting worse.
He glanced at the old wooden clock hanging on the wall, mentally counting back the time back there. He moved swiftly to the drawer where he put his disposable phones. He chose one phone that had yet to be used more than one occasion. He dialed the numbers he remembered by heart by now, his fingers moved before his mind could follow.
When he heard the familiar ringing, it just occurred to him that he didn’t know what to say. He had made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t contact her again and this would only undo his attempt to keep her safe from him. Before he could back down and cut the line, he heard the phone picked up, but the voice who greeted him was not her familiar voice, but a mechanical voice telling him in French that the phone was inactive.
He frowned at this. He could never imagine her turning off her phone. She had once mentioned that because of the hectic life in Paris, she couldn’t leave her phone off, even for a day. She was required to keep in touch in everything or she might be missing something important, not to mention it was also her guardian’s request. The uneasy feeling he had suddenly grew stronger with this.
He dialed the necessary numbers before he connected to the operator, whose standard words were cut curtly,
“Paris, France.”
He was walking back and forth in his office; agitation was clear in his posture as he waited for the phone to pick up, so intent in getting through that it never occurred to him what he would say if Misaki’s roommate who answered instead of Misaki. However, when the phone was finally picked up, he didn’t need to think about that at all.
“Hello? Who is this?” He barely caught the words as it was spoken in quick French; it took him a while to decipher what it meant.
“Is Misaki there?” Not wanting to give away his identity yet.
“She’s in the hospital. We’ve just got the call. They told us it was urgent. I’m sorry,” and before he could fully comprehend everything, the line went dead.
He was too stunned to register the steady beeping of the connection lost. His mind repeated the words and the tone of the speaker as she spoke it. It was spoken in little thought and much emotion. Only few emotions so strong that it would garner such reaction and make her divulge such information to strangers.
Panic… and fear.
Misaki was in a hospital. They have just got the call. And they said it was urgent. His mind quickly concluded the whole meaning that Misaki was badly hurt and it just happened recently, precisely when he felt that sudden warning which meant that his instinct was right.
For a moment he stared blankly on the phone, his mind going through every possible action, but in the end, he knew that he couldn’t just stay and wait. He walked briskly to the door, taking his coat. When he stepped out, he was greeted by his secretary who immediately stood up at the sight of him.
“I’m leaving.”
“But, President…” The woman was clearly surprised by the sudden proclamation and the fierce look in his eyes.
“Don’t tell anyone where I’m going. Just leave a message on my voicemail if there’s anything urgent.”
If he was any other man, he would just leave without a word, but his sense of duty had always been great, and it didn’t allow him to neglect his duty even if what he was doing was not related to his duties. Only then he left his study, and left the headquarters without being seen by anyone. When he was in a safe distance away, he booked for the earliest flight to Paris. Although he knew it would take hours that wasn’t fast enough for him to reach her, he had to go. He had to see her safe by his own eyes.
Please be safe… Please be safe.
He kept repeating those words in his mind like a silent prayer. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t.
If he did…
He didn’t let himself think of what might happen if he were to lose her.
*
*
*
A man in white lab coat and stethoscope rounded his neck was standing in a dark room filled with medical equipments that were usually found in a doctor’s room. In his hand was an antique pocketwatch that gentlemen of old used to wear, but when he closed the silver cover, instead of smooth surface, there was an engraving upon the surface, which was of an eagle with its wings and claws spread apart. With careful consideration, almost with utter reverence, he put the watch back into his pocket. Then the man looked up, as if he was sensing something. A glimpse of a worried frown could be seen on gracing his features.
“That’s quite a lot of blood…”
Right on cue, the door to his office opened, revealing a woman dressed in nurse clothes whose expression confirmed his suspicions,
“Doctor Baudin. There’s an emergency.”
The light from the hallways shone through the darkened room, giving clearer view of the doctor who had the appearance of a kind aged man that easily gained the trust of his patients. He merely nodded to the nurse and walked out from his office in a brisk pace that doctors adopted whenever they tried to reach their patients in a hurry.
“The patient is female. 20 years old. Multiple wounds and bruises. She already lost a great deal of blood before she arrived.”
“How bad it is?”
“She has a head wound. Broken if not fractured ribs. Internal bleeding…” the nurse trailed off, listing the injuries their patient sustained, disbelief colored her tone despite the professional façade she wore. It was no different for him.
“What happened? Did she fall over the stairs or something? Was she involved in a car accident?” Baudin frowned; the nurse hadn’t told him the cause of injuries while it was supposed to be standard procedure.
“From the police, the preliminary investigation suggested that she was thrown against a wall.”
Baudin’s steady steps faltered for a moment before they retained their former pace.
“That’s impossible.” That explained the nurse's reaction.
But the doctor knew that it was possible. He had seen enough what human could do to one another, and he knew that regardless how strong the human was he wouldn’t be able to cause so much damage, unless there was an involvement of those immortal beings. He gritted his teeth in anger, he knew that not all of them were bad, the one he served was testament to that, but sometimes he thought that those beings’ existence was dangerous by itself.
“She’s been prepped for surgery.” The nurse concluded after listing all the necessary precautions to preserve her life.
“Alright.” He was ready to scrub in, before the nurse stopped him by the arm when she received the newest report of their patient.
“There’s something else. She’s 15 weeks along.” This time the nurse didn’t hide her concern, mirroring his own reaction. He didn’t say anything else, but entered the operating room.
He nodded to the team inside the room, each to their own responsibilities. For the first time he finally had a good look on his patient. Although he couldn’t fully see her face due to the breathing tube, he saw a glimpse of youth from her features. She still had a long life to live for, and a child to take care of. He wouldn’t forgive whoever did this, immortals or not.
He closed his eyes briefly, regulating his breathing in order to release his anger. It wouldn’t do now for him to lose his composure, his patient needed him. When his eyes were opened, there was only steely determination. With a curt nod from him, the race against time was started.
*
*
*
Zero immediately looked for a public phone the moment he landed on the Charles de Gaulle airport. After more than 12 hours flight, normal people would need a while to regain their feelings on their limbs. In times like these, he was inwardly glad that he wasn’t one. He didn’t know what hospital Misaki was treated and he knew he couldn’t call to her apartment, knowing it must be empty and he didn’t have her roommates’ number.
He could only do it the traditional way, by asking every single hospital in Paris and looked for any patient named Hisakawa. He couldn’t recall which hospital it was that he called but finally he found the response he wanted and without wasting any time he memorized the name and address of the hospital and found a taxi waiting outside to get him there.
When his eyes finally caught the sight of the hospital where she was supposedly treated, he could barely contain himself to just stop the taxi and go there on his own. Everything became a blur afterwards to him, he barely remembered giving the driver the fee that was more than it should be, he barely remembered getting into the hospital and asking for a patient by her name. His body seemed to have its own mind, needing not his mind’s orders to reach his destination.
The first thing he saw when he was about to reach the room where she was treated was her two friends sitting on the bench at the opposite wall to the rooms. He wasn't surprised for their presence, knowing that they were virtually family to Misaki as she made them her next-of-kin during her stay in Paris. A part of him absently wondered whether she knew that this was going to happen to her while the other part of him that was more in touch in reality managed to catch the looks in their faces. They seemed trying to console each other, to his own dread. The dark-haired one was the first to see his arrival, and when she recognized him, her eyes narrowed in dislike. The other one who wasn’t facing him seemed to realize her friend’s expression and finally turned to look at his direction, but there was nothing but surprise on her face unlike her friend.
“Zero?” It was her whom he remembered as the suburban French girl, Tanya and she was the one who seemed less against his presence here.
“I heard the news when I called last night,” he explained his presence without being asked further.
“So it was you?” the other, Sonia looked at him accusingly, but Zero returned the glare calmly.
“What happened?” instead he turned to the shorter woman who seemed more likely he got more information from.
“I… We don’t know… All we know that she was attacked on her way home. Fortunately there were police officers nearby because there was a festival. When they heard something suspicious, they found her being surrounded by people. She was very badly hurt,” her voice broke as she said this, but she continued telling him,
“She had lots of wounds from what we’re told and lost a great deal of blood. Doctor said that if it were a little too late, she might die.” Tears already started gathering in her eyes.
“How is she?” he pressured, as much as he felt the same way as the girl, he was much better at keeping his composure and he knew that he needed to know that she was safe.
“She’s in coma.” The answer surprisingly came from Sonia; his surprised eyes met her hard ones. “They managed to stabilize her and treat her injuries, but it seems the head wound she had was more serious that it seemed.”
“What do you mean?” His composure started to falter, fear and dread gnawing painfully inside him. A part of him wanted to shut his ears and to deny the words spoken of her condition.
“The chances of her to regain her consciousness are slim to none.”
He was completely taken aback, he felt that his heart stopped beating and his breath caught in his throat when he heard the statement. His eyes instinctively went to the room where a familiar outline of lying figure could be seen through the lidded curtains. His first reaction was to deny it and burst into the room to see that she was alright, but he found no strength to take a single step into the room, to her, fearing that he would see that it was indeed the truth.
“How did this happen?” Instead he spoke so softly that it was nearly a whisper.
“The police can’t tell much, but there are things that don’t make sense,” there was a pause, “Her injuries suggested it was caused by her impact to the wall, but it was too severe for a mere impact.”
His silver eyes widened and quickly narrowed as suspicions grew in his mind. He knew those kind of injuries, injuries that couldn’t be inflicted by normal people unless they had the blood of vampires in their veins either by choice or by inheritance. Was this a coincidence? Or was it only him overanalyzing things? He ran his hand through his hair out of habit. A gesture wasn’t missed by the sharp-eyed Sonia.
“You know something about her attackers, don’t you?” Sonia’s dark eyes seemed only darken further.
“It’s nothing.” His face was completely calm, not giving away anything, and it only aggravated the dark-haired woman.
“Nothing!” Angrily, the woman stood in front of him while Tanya looked from her friend to him back and forth, wanting to stop the confrontation that she knew that would likely to happen with their emotions on the edge.
“Sonia!” Tanya avoided looking into his eyes. He was aware that unlike Sonia, Tanya was more intimidated by him and his attitude which was most people’s thought about him and how he preferred that way. She was more afraid of his reaction with her friend’s outburst, not knowing how he would react.
“You better tell me, monsieur, because I know you’re involved in this somehow.” Sonia paid no heed to the younger woman’s attempt in calming her down, instead she pushed ahead, mercilessly prodded his chest with her finger.
“Why is that?”
“Why? Maybe because you’re the only man that’s close enough to Misaki and the only one who might be the father of the children she bears.” Finally, at the mention of children, Sonia got a reaction from the indifferent man, his eyes widened in pure surprise.
“Children?” Disbelief and confusion colored his voice and his eyes. Sonia didn’t fail to notice this and realized that he didn’t know as much as they --her roommates and friends-- didn’t.
“Yes! She’s pregnant! With twins! They’re yours, aren’t they?”
“…It couldn’t be…”
Those were the words he could only utter, his mind could hardly accept the continuous and merciless barrage of information that he failed to know. His instinctive reaction was to deny it, but he knew that it must be his. He knew her, he knew that he was her first and only. He knew that she was not the kind of girl to give away herself to anyone, unless she had no choice. The choice he didn’t give to her, he thought painfully, he had taken away many choices from her.
Sonia was about to continue her tirade, but when her eyes met his, all the words she wanted to say were lost. She recognized the look very well; she knew it all too well. The look of great pain and sadness. The look of complete self-loathing and admonishment.
Suddenly she realized why she never grew a liking to this man, why she tried to make her friend not to get too close with him, because he reminded her of her old, insecure self who grew up in such environment that she learned that people never did something without having a reason to do so. She grew up with the mindset that no one was to be trusted and she was the only one she could rely on. She was too used to sharp words and harsh treatment that when someone treated her with kindness she could only turn it down in suspicion and ended up hurting them even when she truly wanted to accept and return the kindness given to her.
This man was no different…
When she realized this, her anger slowly dissipated. That was why she didn’t want Misaki to get too close to him, because she could tell, she could see from the way his eyes softened whenever he laid his eyes on her, the way his lips curved in slight smile whenever he saw her smile, the way he let go all of his pretenses whenever he was by her side… She knew he truly and deeply cared for her. The more he cared, the more likely he would hurt her more.
Because he didn’t know how not to.
She knew that she didn’t need to say anything more, because he already understood the reason for her anger and already blamed himself for everything that befell on Misaki. She decided that there was no need to lay all the blame and take out her anger on him anymore. Feeling slightly guilty and ashamed of herself for her own outburst when she rarely let her emotions take control,
“I’m sorry… I… didn’t mean to take it out on you…” Sonia reluctantly apologized to Zero, unable to look at him in the eye.
“…You have the right to. It’s not like I’m completely blameless.” The cold, detached façade was once again on his face, to her disappointment, recognizing the easiest way to ignore the pain.
“…The children are alright, though,” Tanya finally found her voice, feeling relieved that both of them managed to get their emotions under control and trying to give good news among the bad news they kept giving the silver-haired man. “The doctors were skeptical at first, seeing their mother’s condition, but it appears that they are unharmed and they’re likely to survive.”
He couldn’t deny that it was good news, but it wouldn’t matter if the mother didn’t survive. The twins would need more their mother than this kind of father who couldn’t even protect her.
“Do you… want to see her?” Tanya asked carefully. She never felt easy in any kind of silence, but this silence greatly unnerved her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she got his attention, but he didn’t say anything. He was greatly tempted to accept that offer, but he didn’t want to see her yet… not before he found the people that hurt her and demanded their responsibility.
“I’ll see her doctor first,” he spoke firmly. Now that he had a purpose, he regained his bearings completely once again and set his priorities.
“His name is Doctor Baudin,” Sonia told him, seemingly unsurprised and unaffected by his indirect refusal to see her friend, “You can see him in his office. Just walk down the hall and turn right until you reach the doctor’s area. Just look for his name plate on the door.”
Zero nodded his thanks to the woman; all traces of their previous argument were no longer there. Sonia merely nodded back and let him go. Tanya who was confused with the sudden change between the two of them could only look at her and his retreating back,
“Why do you let him go?”
“He won’t see her… Not until he’s settled everything…” Sonia knew that posture very well. She knew the tension hidden beneath his calm façade and she knew the only way to release it was to find the person responsible. She just hoped that he wouldn’t get himself killed in the process.
*
*
*
Zero followed the directions given to him, and without difficulty he found the area where the doctors were. He traced the doors until he found himself before a closed door with the name Baudin written on the nameplate. He knocked the door twice to signal his presence.
“Come in.” A deep voice answered from behind the door.
He opened the door to find an aged man on the side of the room, his back to him, reading black and white images on the board. When he was fully inside the room, suddenly he felt tingling in his spine that made him instinctively wary. The man wearing the white coat finally turned towards him, giving him the opportunity to study the doctor.
“Please be seated,” Baudin gestured to the empty chairs across the table with a friendly smile. Zero took one of the chairs and seated himself as the doctor did the same. The doctor had the appearance of a man in his fifties, which would make him an ancient and powerful vampire whose presence he wouldn’t be able to easily ignore if he was one, but he didn’t, thus excluding the possibility that he was a vampire. Which only left one remaining possibility, and it would be rather difficult to prove.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m here for one of the patients,” Zero cut before the man could ask his name, Baudin didn’t seem to recognize him of yet, or he was that good of an actor. His mind swiftly went through several ways to prove his suspicions. “Hisakawa Misaki.”
“Ah,” a shadow seemed to flicker over his wizened face when he mentioned her name, “You’re a friend of hers?”
“I'm here on the behalf of her guardian, Matsushita. I believe he has informed you that I'd be acting as her guardian until he arrived here. I'd like to know more of her condition.”
Cool silver eyes gazed over Baudin, unconsciously made the other man nervous, as it was seen from his movements, “Ah, he did mention that he would send someone in his behalf. Umm, let me look it up.” He gave Zero a kind and unsuspecting smile as he leafed through the papers on his desk, most likely looking for the paper from Matsushita that gave him the authority over Misaki on his behalf.
Before the man could find out who he was, Zero knew he had to act fast, using the man's distraction to carefully pull out a thin, long metal out of his sleeve, which has become his secondary weapon after Bloody Rose and his main weapon when he required stealth the most. With the slightest flick of his wrist, the sharp metal was sent hurling through the air with such speed that it was barely visible to the eye, managing to graze the older man on his cheek.
“Ah,” whether it was out of instinct or something else, the man’s hand quickly reached out to his grazed cheek while the other hand went for a pack of tissues on his table. However, the hand did little to hide the supposedly grazed cheek as Zero’s sharp eyes unfailingly noticed how the graze was disappearing under the blood. And the blood…
He knew that scent of blood.
Before Baudin could register what was happening, he found himself staring at the barrel of a gun right on his face. His eyes widened in surprise and his body immediately stiffened at the familiar click resounding in the silence of his room.
“What’s a vampire servant doing here?”
Rating: T
Word Count: 7,083
Characters/Pairings: Zero, Misaki, and more OCs
Notes: Well, I did warn that there would be a bunch of OCs that would take quite a prominent role in the story, considering this wholly new setting. Misaki finally bears the consequences of being human among vampires. Thank you to my beta (I'm sorry I forgot wrote it here! >_<) shapby and my faithful reader, teruame.
Previous chapters: Prologue, Chapter 1
Misaki was enjoying the long break from the hustle bustle that was known as university. She decided to indulge herself by spending her time outside from the mornings after having a French breakfast, courtesy of the native French roommate with her friends in the apartment, and telling them her plans to check out the art exhibition in Musée National d'Art Moderne and visit La Galerie D’Architecture.
She intended to get back to the apartment before it was dark so she could join the Balfolk that was going to start few hours before midnight. She was excited to join in the newly-initiated folk festival, especially with the chance to learn and watch traditional folk dances.
Her friends simply exchanged knowing looks towards each other when she made it as if they were as excited as she was at the opportunity. They were aware that among the three of them, she was the one who was excited the most to join the festival. She didn’t fail to notice the look of relief hidden behind their eyes, seeing the enthusiasm in her.
She had yet to tell them of her condition, wanting to settle few things first with herself. She hid her fears and doubts well enough, but she knew that they felt something off nonetheless. That was the thing with girlfriends. It was the reason why she decided to do this, so she could remind herself that there was still more to life.
That was the plan. Or at least, she thought it was.
She managed not to stay too long at the art exhibition, reminded by her hungry stomach. But as she laid eyes on the new architecture books in La Galerie D’Architecture, a whole section of the kind of books she had been looking for in the library, she couldn’t help herself. She moved from one shelf to another. From one stack to another. If she could, she wanted to borrow all the books.
However, there were limitations of how many books she could borrow and carry back home. Thus most of the time was spent choosing which books she would read in the library and which she would borrow. And she also made a stop at the bookshop where she browsed through the books she would likely need during the next semester, and bought some of them, adding more weight into her large bag she fortunately had the habit to take whenever she went to La Galerie D’Architecture.
All the while, she couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling that she was being watched. She tried to catch anything out of ordinary from the corner of her eyes, but she found nothing. There were no alarming flashes of image of yet, so she dared to walk by herself to the direction of the shared apartment, even as darkness slowly descended upon the city. When she took a turn to a small street, her steps faltered.
The street was oddly deserted; no sign of people passing by as if there was an invisible barrier that made no one chose to take this street. She immediately tensed when she heard slow and steady steps of shoes against the pavement. Slowly she turned towards the direction of the only person besides her in this street, finding a well-dressed man in his forties. He walked calmly to her, only stopping few steps before her to give a measure of privacy. He smiled politely and gave a slight bow that was often given from a gentleman to a lady.
“Excusez moi, do you happen to be mademoiselle Hisakawa?”
There was no immediate answer, Misaki watched the man warily. She couldn’t really figure out why a man suddenly appeared to address her. At first, she was tempted to answer that he got the wrong person, but she knew that the question was purely rhetorical and simply out of courtesy. Her eyes slightly narrowed, the man was no ordinary human.
“What can I do, monsieur?” her voice rang loud and clear in the silence, not giving away her feelings.
“Well, I’m sorry with the inconvenience, but you’re making it difficult for me to talk to you…”
He wore a monocle on his right eye. The first thought in her mind was he was a noble or at least an underling of a noble. He slowly stepped forward to her direction, his hands spread apart as a gesture of well intention --though she knew that it contrasted greatly with his need to meet her in the intentionally made-to-be deserted street to simply talk to her.
Despite the urge to step backward to keep the distance between them, she remained unmoving; her eyes stared straight into the man’s eyes.
“If you want to talk with me, why can’t we somewhere else? You’ve chosen the oddest place to talk. I think you’re the one who make it difficult, monsieur,” she spoke with impeccable French.
“True. True…” He chuckled, though his eyes held no mirth.
“So what do you want to talk about? I need to be somewhere else.”
“Well, I want to ask you about the man you’ve been seen with?” She tried not to show any kind of reaction at the question.
“What man?” Her tone was sincerely curious, although she was aware of whom the man might mean.
“A Japanese man… A tall silver-haired man with a tattoo on his neck.” He gestured casually with his hand of the description.
“You mean Kiryuu?” She cautiously avoided using his first name.
“Ah, yes. Kiryuu…” The man spoke as if he just knew the name of the man he was looking for.
“Who is he?”
“Just my former senior in school. Why would it matter?”
“It matters. Because what kind of senior would visit his junior if he is required to cross great distance to do it?” She couldn’t ignore the feeling of the déjà vu the words incited. It held the same sentiment Sonia gave her way, but somehow, she had the feeling that the same answer wouldn't satisfy this man.
“Because he happened to be nearby?” she shrugged carelessly while discretely assessing her surroundings to plan an escape.
“Ah, that was so nice of him, wasn’t it?” He smiled and took another step closer to her, “But that’s not what we think, mademoiselle.”
Suddenly he was within arms’ length, his smile seemed more menacing as he calmly explained, “Your senior is the president of Hunters’ Association whose duty was to exterminate beings named as vampires.”
“Vampires?” she tried to sound incredulous, taking a small step behind to maintain the distance.
“Yes, vampires… And the most interesting thing is… that he is one himself and yet he has done more damage to the vampires than his predecessors by that very strength that was blessed to him as a vampire. Having the blood of the pureblood and hunter in his veins, he becomes a danger to the ones who created him, who gave him that power… He must be stopped. However… he has no weakness… he has nothing we can exploit. He has no family. His closest people are mostly capable hunters, until we found out about his random visits to Paris.”
The man was getting too close to comfort; he casually pulled off his white gloves as he explained. He tilted his head, a triumphant smile on his face,
“And I have reports of his sightings with a young woman. That young woman… is you, mademoiselle.”
“So? It doesn’t mean anything.” She kept her face as normal as one could when someone asked her such things without having any meaning behind it.
“Oh, it does,” he clucked his tongue, “every vampire has his or her unique scent in their blood, so when that vampire doesn’t only feed on their victim…”
Suddenly, he disappeared from her sight and she felt a sharp pain on her arm.
A drop of blood fell on the wet floor of the alley.
“Your blood has his scent on you.” A whisper on her ear.
Fortunately she had seen this coming and before he could grab her, she already ducked from his reach and slipped through him. She ran at full strength and not in straight line, knowing that with vampires’ speed and agility he could easily catch up to her if she were to be predictable. Sharply, she took a right turn right before he appeared next to her. She couldn’t hide a smirk as she heard a loud noise of impact and a slight pained voice. A sudden vision appeared before her, forcing her to drop down right before a clawed hand could hurt her.
Another vampire!
She added more speed into her run, while cursing herself for not taking a cab home and choosing her usual shortcut home, which was quite in a distance from the main street. It was usually safer than the streets, knowing the people around the vicinity, but now the area was deserted because of the festival. However, she knew the area better than her pursuers, so she wouldn’t need to think to walk through the mazes of the area and could focus more on her foresight. In addition, the natural environment would help to cover her scent if what he said was true. A slight frown marred her features as she recalled his words.
Did he mean that she drank Zero’s blood?
But she didn’t drink his blood, she was sure of that. Or…
She thought of the life growing within her… Could it be because of her children? No, she shook her head; she learned that during pregnancy, the blood of the child didn’t mix with of the mother. But the children would likely inherit their father’s vampire blood that could end up in her system, and that was the only explanation she had.
She had no time to ponder on this. She had roughly torn the end of her dress to clean up the blood out of the cut on her arm and threw it away, taking another torn piece to dress her wound while running. Inwardly she hoped that it was enough to hide her scent. She hid herself into bushes, trying to catch her breath and access more information regarding her pursuers. She knew there were more than one, but she didn’t know how many and the darkness made it no easier to distinguish ordinary human and vampire.
Her hand flew on her stomach. Although its appearance didn’t show the signs of life within, she could feel the slight swell under her fingertips. It was good enough that the person only went as far as suspecting her drinking Zero’s blood, and her attempt in evading them this long would pretty much support that suspicion. It would be very bad if they came to the conclusion that she shared the blood through the children in her womb.
Suddenly, she stiffened in her place, ceasing her thoughts. The sounds of crickets and bugs that usually could be heard throughout the night were suddenly gone. And she knew it meant one thing.
Her pursuers were here.
She remained still, keeping her breathing silent and her senses alert. The vampires were no different than predators in the wild. They could be as silent as they wanted to in order to seize their prey. She had no choice but to rely on her foresight.
Suddenly a hand pierced through the bushes in front of her, staggering her back but before she could move further, realizing this was their plan, she ran to the side of the bushes.
“Get her!”
She took a wild turn to a small alley that appeared to act also as a storing place which she used to scattered about on the alley to slow them down. When she narrowly dodged a basket thrown at her, a man stood before her and grabbed her hand roughly.
“Let go!” She managed to remember the basic of self defense: stepped on his foot and kicked him between the legs. It wasn’t particularly strong but it had the element of surprise, enough to release his firm grip on her.
She was about to continue her run, when her shirt was roughly pulled back. Fortunately she managed to spin herself and release his hold or she’d be likely thrown hard against the wall. She narrowly ducked a large chunk of garbage thrown at her, saved only by her foresight.
She ran as fast as she could, running left and right, in an irregular pattern that was difficult to follow. Her lungs were burning, her feet were screaming out in protest, but she could not stop, not if she wanted to live, not if she wanted to protect her unborn children. One of her hand had always been on her slightly swelling stomach since she started running. It was only few more turns to get to the streets where the festival was. She just needed to get there….
She had seen it coming, but unfortunately, she was not as fast the vampire so she could only braced herself as she was thrown hard to the wall, her head and back were colliding painfully against the rough surface, stealing her breath away, and nearly her consciousness. She held her stomach protectively even as she slid weakly to the ground.
She coughed feebly, her chest constricted painfully as she tasted copper tang in her mouth. The simplest gesture of breathing sent waves of agony through her.
Fractured or broken rib, punctured lung, at worst... At least he didn’t get her stomach…
Even through the haze of pain her mind was still able to think clearly, going as far as checking her bodies of the injuries sustained. She really was too good at compartmentalizing.
She slumped weakly against the wall, having barely any strength to keep herself upright, let alone to keep conscious. She was slightly aware of her life preserving liquid, trickling down her head that had hit the wall with such brutal force. Head wound, maybe a slight concussion, she mentally added to her list of injuries.
Fear and dread were noticeably absent from her, she felt oddly calm and detached. It might be due to the pain, or due to her natural defense mechanism to shut down her senses in order to dull the pain which would be too great to bear. However, she was losing blood and her consciousness would soon follow suit. She would not be able to do anything when the remaining pursuers finally caught up and she was aware what she was right now: she was no different that an enticing prey with blood oozing from her wounds.
“Well, well, well… That’s quite a chase you managed to lead us on.” Finally the owner of that familiar voice of the leader of the pack that hunted her appeared before her.
The vampire who succeeded to hurt her obediently stepped back to give way to the well-dressed man whose appearance remained neat as if he wasn’t affected by the pursuit. He appeared to be mostly unscathed, unlike most of his underlings, speaking of his skill that undoubtedly placed him as the top of the small pyramid of the group. A sinister smile graced his twisted features, greatly satisfied to see the condition she was in.
He stepped forward, closing the gap between them. Her first reaction was to back down, but she couldn’t find the strength to move, with her broken, battered body and the wall behind her. She tried not to flinch as he knelt down before her, swiping his long finger over the wet blood on the corner of her mouth then putting it into his mouth.
“Mmm… I can see why he’s attracted to you. You have such a luscious scent… and taste.” His hungry red eyes were blazing as he tasted her blood. “I think it’ll leave a better message if I were to completely drain you than to simply hurt you…”
Misaki had long tuned out the vampire’s words, reaching out deeper into her consciousness. She knew what she was about to do was greatly forbidden, having been warned of its consequences repeatedly, but she had no other options. She had to live, or at the least, her children had to live.
She probed deep into her mind and made a vivid image of people, of police officers coming through the dark alley and made the vampires scattered away. When a pair of sharp fangs was about to descend to sink itself to her flesh, her vision became true.
All of a sudden sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard, echoing loudly against the narrow brick walls, completely catching the pack off guard. A uniformed man whom she vaguely recognized at the corner of her eyes as the Paris’ police officer appeared from the darkness, immediately pulling out his gun the moment he laid his eyes on her and the threatening man hovering before her.
“Stop right there or I’ll shoot!” the man cried out, and like a signal, other uniformed officers appeared from behind him and from the other side of the alley, trapping the three vampires.
They could easily overpower them she knew, but there were too many people not to attract attention, and they were most likely told to be discreet and so they did the smartest thing, they left. She was vaguely aware of the disgruntled look the leader gave her way, but she could care less as she felt throbbing pain in her head, slowly turning into sharp, constant pain that made her feel that her head was going to explode anytime. She knew that this were the consequences she had to pay. And all she could think of as she was slowly sinking into the darkness was one person.
Zero…
*
*
*
Wild, frantic silver eyes opened up in a sudden.
Zero found himself on a familiar dark-leathered recliner, before large oak table with papers strewn over it, surrounded by shelves of books around the room. He ran his hand in her messy hair, figuring that he must have dozed off when he was working on some paperwork. But he couldn’t shrug the feeling that woke him up. His senses were suddenly heightened, as if there was approaching danger. But the danger felt distant, as if it wasn’t around him… or meant for him.
When that thought crossed his mind, his eyes widened in horrible realization, making him straightened up on his seat. He had this feeling before, when he felt her blood was spilled.
His first reaction was to deny it; he hadn’t been in contact --drunk her blood, his inner self corrected-- with her for more than three months. It couldn’t be possible that he still had that kind any connection with her. He stood up from his chair, moving to grab some drink to clear his mind. He was just imagining things; she was safe in Paris, far away from here, far from the chaos that he brought. It must be the stress getting to him. He shook his head and drank the cold liquid in one gulp. However, the feeling didn’t go away. Instead, it was getting worse.
He glanced at the old wooden clock hanging on the wall, mentally counting back the time back there. He moved swiftly to the drawer where he put his disposable phones. He chose one phone that had yet to be used more than one occasion. He dialed the numbers he remembered by heart by now, his fingers moved before his mind could follow.
When he heard the familiar ringing, it just occurred to him that he didn’t know what to say. He had made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t contact her again and this would only undo his attempt to keep her safe from him. Before he could back down and cut the line, he heard the phone picked up, but the voice who greeted him was not her familiar voice, but a mechanical voice telling him in French that the phone was inactive.
He frowned at this. He could never imagine her turning off her phone. She had once mentioned that because of the hectic life in Paris, she couldn’t leave her phone off, even for a day. She was required to keep in touch in everything or she might be missing something important, not to mention it was also her guardian’s request. The uneasy feeling he had suddenly grew stronger with this.
He dialed the necessary numbers before he connected to the operator, whose standard words were cut curtly,
“Paris, France.”
He was walking back and forth in his office; agitation was clear in his posture as he waited for the phone to pick up, so intent in getting through that it never occurred to him what he would say if Misaki’s roommate who answered instead of Misaki. However, when the phone was finally picked up, he didn’t need to think about that at all.
“Hello? Who is this?” He barely caught the words as it was spoken in quick French; it took him a while to decipher what it meant.
“Is Misaki there?” Not wanting to give away his identity yet.
“She’s in the hospital. We’ve just got the call. They told us it was urgent. I’m sorry,” and before he could fully comprehend everything, the line went dead.
He was too stunned to register the steady beeping of the connection lost. His mind repeated the words and the tone of the speaker as she spoke it. It was spoken in little thought and much emotion. Only few emotions so strong that it would garner such reaction and make her divulge such information to strangers.
Panic… and fear.
Misaki was in a hospital. They have just got the call. And they said it was urgent. His mind quickly concluded the whole meaning that Misaki was badly hurt and it just happened recently, precisely when he felt that sudden warning which meant that his instinct was right.
For a moment he stared blankly on the phone, his mind going through every possible action, but in the end, he knew that he couldn’t just stay and wait. He walked briskly to the door, taking his coat. When he stepped out, he was greeted by his secretary who immediately stood up at the sight of him.
“I’m leaving.”
“But, President…” The woman was clearly surprised by the sudden proclamation and the fierce look in his eyes.
“Don’t tell anyone where I’m going. Just leave a message on my voicemail if there’s anything urgent.”
If he was any other man, he would just leave without a word, but his sense of duty had always been great, and it didn’t allow him to neglect his duty even if what he was doing was not related to his duties. Only then he left his study, and left the headquarters without being seen by anyone. When he was in a safe distance away, he booked for the earliest flight to Paris. Although he knew it would take hours that wasn’t fast enough for him to reach her, he had to go. He had to see her safe by his own eyes.
Please be safe… Please be safe.
He kept repeating those words in his mind like a silent prayer. He couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t.
If he did…
He didn’t let himself think of what might happen if he were to lose her.
*
*
*
A man in white lab coat and stethoscope rounded his neck was standing in a dark room filled with medical equipments that were usually found in a doctor’s room. In his hand was an antique pocketwatch that gentlemen of old used to wear, but when he closed the silver cover, instead of smooth surface, there was an engraving upon the surface, which was of an eagle with its wings and claws spread apart. With careful consideration, almost with utter reverence, he put the watch back into his pocket. Then the man looked up, as if he was sensing something. A glimpse of a worried frown could be seen on gracing his features.
“That’s quite a lot of blood…”
Right on cue, the door to his office opened, revealing a woman dressed in nurse clothes whose expression confirmed his suspicions,
“Doctor Baudin. There’s an emergency.”
The light from the hallways shone through the darkened room, giving clearer view of the doctor who had the appearance of a kind aged man that easily gained the trust of his patients. He merely nodded to the nurse and walked out from his office in a brisk pace that doctors adopted whenever they tried to reach their patients in a hurry.
“The patient is female. 20 years old. Multiple wounds and bruises. She already lost a great deal of blood before she arrived.”
“How bad it is?”
“She has a head wound. Broken if not fractured ribs. Internal bleeding…” the nurse trailed off, listing the injuries their patient sustained, disbelief colored her tone despite the professional façade she wore. It was no different for him.
“What happened? Did she fall over the stairs or something? Was she involved in a car accident?” Baudin frowned; the nurse hadn’t told him the cause of injuries while it was supposed to be standard procedure.
“From the police, the preliminary investigation suggested that she was thrown against a wall.”
Baudin’s steady steps faltered for a moment before they retained their former pace.
“That’s impossible.” That explained the nurse's reaction.
But the doctor knew that it was possible. He had seen enough what human could do to one another, and he knew that regardless how strong the human was he wouldn’t be able to cause so much damage, unless there was an involvement of those immortal beings. He gritted his teeth in anger, he knew that not all of them were bad, the one he served was testament to that, but sometimes he thought that those beings’ existence was dangerous by itself.
“She’s been prepped for surgery.” The nurse concluded after listing all the necessary precautions to preserve her life.
“Alright.” He was ready to scrub in, before the nurse stopped him by the arm when she received the newest report of their patient.
“There’s something else. She’s 15 weeks along.” This time the nurse didn’t hide her concern, mirroring his own reaction. He didn’t say anything else, but entered the operating room.
He nodded to the team inside the room, each to their own responsibilities. For the first time he finally had a good look on his patient. Although he couldn’t fully see her face due to the breathing tube, he saw a glimpse of youth from her features. She still had a long life to live for, and a child to take care of. He wouldn’t forgive whoever did this, immortals or not.
He closed his eyes briefly, regulating his breathing in order to release his anger. It wouldn’t do now for him to lose his composure, his patient needed him. When his eyes were opened, there was only steely determination. With a curt nod from him, the race against time was started.
*
*
*
Zero immediately looked for a public phone the moment he landed on the Charles de Gaulle airport. After more than 12 hours flight, normal people would need a while to regain their feelings on their limbs. In times like these, he was inwardly glad that he wasn’t one. He didn’t know what hospital Misaki was treated and he knew he couldn’t call to her apartment, knowing it must be empty and he didn’t have her roommates’ number.
He could only do it the traditional way, by asking every single hospital in Paris and looked for any patient named Hisakawa. He couldn’t recall which hospital it was that he called but finally he found the response he wanted and without wasting any time he memorized the name and address of the hospital and found a taxi waiting outside to get him there.
When his eyes finally caught the sight of the hospital where she was supposedly treated, he could barely contain himself to just stop the taxi and go there on his own. Everything became a blur afterwards to him, he barely remembered giving the driver the fee that was more than it should be, he barely remembered getting into the hospital and asking for a patient by her name. His body seemed to have its own mind, needing not his mind’s orders to reach his destination.
The first thing he saw when he was about to reach the room where she was treated was her two friends sitting on the bench at the opposite wall to the rooms. He wasn't surprised for their presence, knowing that they were virtually family to Misaki as she made them her next-of-kin during her stay in Paris. A part of him absently wondered whether she knew that this was going to happen to her while the other part of him that was more in touch in reality managed to catch the looks in their faces. They seemed trying to console each other, to his own dread. The dark-haired one was the first to see his arrival, and when she recognized him, her eyes narrowed in dislike. The other one who wasn’t facing him seemed to realize her friend’s expression and finally turned to look at his direction, but there was nothing but surprise on her face unlike her friend.
“Zero?” It was her whom he remembered as the suburban French girl, Tanya and she was the one who seemed less against his presence here.
“I heard the news when I called last night,” he explained his presence without being asked further.
“So it was you?” the other, Sonia looked at him accusingly, but Zero returned the glare calmly.
“What happened?” instead he turned to the shorter woman who seemed more likely he got more information from.
“I… We don’t know… All we know that she was attacked on her way home. Fortunately there were police officers nearby because there was a festival. When they heard something suspicious, they found her being surrounded by people. She was very badly hurt,” her voice broke as she said this, but she continued telling him,
“She had lots of wounds from what we’re told and lost a great deal of blood. Doctor said that if it were a little too late, she might die.” Tears already started gathering in her eyes.
“How is she?” he pressured, as much as he felt the same way as the girl, he was much better at keeping his composure and he knew that he needed to know that she was safe.
“She’s in coma.” The answer surprisingly came from Sonia; his surprised eyes met her hard ones. “They managed to stabilize her and treat her injuries, but it seems the head wound she had was more serious that it seemed.”
“What do you mean?” His composure started to falter, fear and dread gnawing painfully inside him. A part of him wanted to shut his ears and to deny the words spoken of her condition.
“The chances of her to regain her consciousness are slim to none.”
He was completely taken aback, he felt that his heart stopped beating and his breath caught in his throat when he heard the statement. His eyes instinctively went to the room where a familiar outline of lying figure could be seen through the lidded curtains. His first reaction was to deny it and burst into the room to see that she was alright, but he found no strength to take a single step into the room, to her, fearing that he would see that it was indeed the truth.
“How did this happen?” Instead he spoke so softly that it was nearly a whisper.
“The police can’t tell much, but there are things that don’t make sense,” there was a pause, “Her injuries suggested it was caused by her impact to the wall, but it was too severe for a mere impact.”
His silver eyes widened and quickly narrowed as suspicions grew in his mind. He knew those kind of injuries, injuries that couldn’t be inflicted by normal people unless they had the blood of vampires in their veins either by choice or by inheritance. Was this a coincidence? Or was it only him overanalyzing things? He ran his hand through his hair out of habit. A gesture wasn’t missed by the sharp-eyed Sonia.
“You know something about her attackers, don’t you?” Sonia’s dark eyes seemed only darken further.
“It’s nothing.” His face was completely calm, not giving away anything, and it only aggravated the dark-haired woman.
“Nothing!” Angrily, the woman stood in front of him while Tanya looked from her friend to him back and forth, wanting to stop the confrontation that she knew that would likely to happen with their emotions on the edge.
“Sonia!” Tanya avoided looking into his eyes. He was aware that unlike Sonia, Tanya was more intimidated by him and his attitude which was most people’s thought about him and how he preferred that way. She was more afraid of his reaction with her friend’s outburst, not knowing how he would react.
“You better tell me, monsieur, because I know you’re involved in this somehow.” Sonia paid no heed to the younger woman’s attempt in calming her down, instead she pushed ahead, mercilessly prodded his chest with her finger.
“Why is that?”
“Why? Maybe because you’re the only man that’s close enough to Misaki and the only one who might be the father of the children she bears.” Finally, at the mention of children, Sonia got a reaction from the indifferent man, his eyes widened in pure surprise.
“Children?” Disbelief and confusion colored his voice and his eyes. Sonia didn’t fail to notice this and realized that he didn’t know as much as they --her roommates and friends-- didn’t.
“Yes! She’s pregnant! With twins! They’re yours, aren’t they?”
“…It couldn’t be…”
Those were the words he could only utter, his mind could hardly accept the continuous and merciless barrage of information that he failed to know. His instinctive reaction was to deny it, but he knew that it must be his. He knew her, he knew that he was her first and only. He knew that she was not the kind of girl to give away herself to anyone, unless she had no choice. The choice he didn’t give to her, he thought painfully, he had taken away many choices from her.
Sonia was about to continue her tirade, but when her eyes met his, all the words she wanted to say were lost. She recognized the look very well; she knew it all too well. The look of great pain and sadness. The look of complete self-loathing and admonishment.
Suddenly she realized why she never grew a liking to this man, why she tried to make her friend not to get too close with him, because he reminded her of her old, insecure self who grew up in such environment that she learned that people never did something without having a reason to do so. She grew up with the mindset that no one was to be trusted and she was the only one she could rely on. She was too used to sharp words and harsh treatment that when someone treated her with kindness she could only turn it down in suspicion and ended up hurting them even when she truly wanted to accept and return the kindness given to her.
This man was no different…
When she realized this, her anger slowly dissipated. That was why she didn’t want Misaki to get too close to him, because she could tell, she could see from the way his eyes softened whenever he laid his eyes on her, the way his lips curved in slight smile whenever he saw her smile, the way he let go all of his pretenses whenever he was by her side… She knew he truly and deeply cared for her. The more he cared, the more likely he would hurt her more.
Because he didn’t know how not to.
She knew that she didn’t need to say anything more, because he already understood the reason for her anger and already blamed himself for everything that befell on Misaki. She decided that there was no need to lay all the blame and take out her anger on him anymore. Feeling slightly guilty and ashamed of herself for her own outburst when she rarely let her emotions take control,
“I’m sorry… I… didn’t mean to take it out on you…” Sonia reluctantly apologized to Zero, unable to look at him in the eye.
“…You have the right to. It’s not like I’m completely blameless.” The cold, detached façade was once again on his face, to her disappointment, recognizing the easiest way to ignore the pain.
“…The children are alright, though,” Tanya finally found her voice, feeling relieved that both of them managed to get their emotions under control and trying to give good news among the bad news they kept giving the silver-haired man. “The doctors were skeptical at first, seeing their mother’s condition, but it appears that they are unharmed and they’re likely to survive.”
He couldn’t deny that it was good news, but it wouldn’t matter if the mother didn’t survive. The twins would need more their mother than this kind of father who couldn’t even protect her.
“Do you… want to see her?” Tanya asked carefully. She never felt easy in any kind of silence, but this silence greatly unnerved her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she got his attention, but he didn’t say anything. He was greatly tempted to accept that offer, but he didn’t want to see her yet… not before he found the people that hurt her and demanded their responsibility.
“I’ll see her doctor first,” he spoke firmly. Now that he had a purpose, he regained his bearings completely once again and set his priorities.
“His name is Doctor Baudin,” Sonia told him, seemingly unsurprised and unaffected by his indirect refusal to see her friend, “You can see him in his office. Just walk down the hall and turn right until you reach the doctor’s area. Just look for his name plate on the door.”
Zero nodded his thanks to the woman; all traces of their previous argument were no longer there. Sonia merely nodded back and let him go. Tanya who was confused with the sudden change between the two of them could only look at her and his retreating back,
“Why do you let him go?”
“He won’t see her… Not until he’s settled everything…” Sonia knew that posture very well. She knew the tension hidden beneath his calm façade and she knew the only way to release it was to find the person responsible. She just hoped that he wouldn’t get himself killed in the process.
*
*
*
Zero followed the directions given to him, and without difficulty he found the area where the doctors were. He traced the doors until he found himself before a closed door with the name Baudin written on the nameplate. He knocked the door twice to signal his presence.
“Come in.” A deep voice answered from behind the door.
He opened the door to find an aged man on the side of the room, his back to him, reading black and white images on the board. When he was fully inside the room, suddenly he felt tingling in his spine that made him instinctively wary. The man wearing the white coat finally turned towards him, giving him the opportunity to study the doctor.
“Please be seated,” Baudin gestured to the empty chairs across the table with a friendly smile. Zero took one of the chairs and seated himself as the doctor did the same. The doctor had the appearance of a man in his fifties, which would make him an ancient and powerful vampire whose presence he wouldn’t be able to easily ignore if he was one, but he didn’t, thus excluding the possibility that he was a vampire. Which only left one remaining possibility, and it would be rather difficult to prove.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m here for one of the patients,” Zero cut before the man could ask his name, Baudin didn’t seem to recognize him of yet, or he was that good of an actor. His mind swiftly went through several ways to prove his suspicions. “Hisakawa Misaki.”
“Ah,” a shadow seemed to flicker over his wizened face when he mentioned her name, “You’re a friend of hers?”
“I'm here on the behalf of her guardian, Matsushita. I believe he has informed you that I'd be acting as her guardian until he arrived here. I'd like to know more of her condition.”
Cool silver eyes gazed over Baudin, unconsciously made the other man nervous, as it was seen from his movements, “Ah, he did mention that he would send someone in his behalf. Umm, let me look it up.” He gave Zero a kind and unsuspecting smile as he leafed through the papers on his desk, most likely looking for the paper from Matsushita that gave him the authority over Misaki on his behalf.
Before the man could find out who he was, Zero knew he had to act fast, using the man's distraction to carefully pull out a thin, long metal out of his sleeve, which has become his secondary weapon after Bloody Rose and his main weapon when he required stealth the most. With the slightest flick of his wrist, the sharp metal was sent hurling through the air with such speed that it was barely visible to the eye, managing to graze the older man on his cheek.
“Ah,” whether it was out of instinct or something else, the man’s hand quickly reached out to his grazed cheek while the other hand went for a pack of tissues on his table. However, the hand did little to hide the supposedly grazed cheek as Zero’s sharp eyes unfailingly noticed how the graze was disappearing under the blood. And the blood…
He knew that scent of blood.
Before Baudin could register what was happening, he found himself staring at the barrel of a gun right on his face. His eyes widened in surprise and his body immediately stiffened at the familiar click resounding in the silence of his room.
“What’s a vampire servant doing here?”