Vampire Knight Chapter 5

“Zero! Zero, where are you?” Yuki ran up the winding stairs, up to the top of the tower. She tripped slightly on the hem of her dress, but it didn’t stop her. She kept going. “He’s okay, he has to be,” she kept repeating to herself. “He’s okay. He’s okay. He has to be okay.”

***
The ballroom filled with shrill cheers when “Still Doll” finally ended and, sweaty, Kanon accepted the applause. Jacob was also clapping when he was interrupted by Stephanie and Josh.

“We can’t find Yuki or Zero!” Josh shouted in between gasps.

“We checked the Dormitories and the bathrooms, but we can’t find them anywhere,” added Stephanie.

Jacob thought back to when he had seen a strange woman and Zero react wildly. “Tower,” he breathed to himself.

“What, Jacob?” Josh asked.

“Did you check the tower?”

“Jacob, no one goes there.”

“Isn’t it off-limits?” Stephanie offered.

“Then it’s the perfect place.” Jacob grabbed Josh’s arm. “Josh, Stephanie, get the others and head for the doorway. I’ll meet you there later.” Then he ran off, in the direction of the stairs.

When he was near the bathrooms, Rima stopped him. “Jacob!” she pleaded, grabbing his arm.

Jacob turned to her. His expression was strained. “I have to go, Rima,” he told her.

“Really? Well…uh…we can meet later, or you can call me, or—Mmph!” The feel of Jacob’s lips lightly pressed against hers cut off Rima’s sentence. She felt emotions of mixed happiness and surprise when he pulled away.

“I’m sorry, Rima. I really have to go. I’ll call you.” Then he darted off.

Rima lowered her head sadly and spotted something red on the ground. It was the rose that had been in Jacob’s pocket; it had fallen when he and Rima kissed. She knelt, picked it up, and lifted it to her nose. And she smiled.   

***
Zero’s Bloody Rose gun clicked as he cocked it and pressed it to the woman’s head. The woman glared at him with blood-colored eyes. Fangs poked out from her lips. “Go ahead, Zero,” she said, “pull the trigger.”

There was silence. Then there was Zero’s strained breathing as his arm shook. The chains on his gun clinked softly. His silver hair was matted to his sweaty forehead. His fingers tightened on the gun, but he could not shoot.

“See?” the woman cackled madly. “You can’t! You can’t shoot me, can you, child? It’s because I gave you life as a vampire!”

“Damn it, Shizuka Hio! You gave me life as a half-breed!”

“It doesn’t matter. You are a disgrace. I shall dispatch you; you don’t deserve to live!” Zero’s body slammed against the opposite wall after a blow from Shizuka, and she took out her knife as he lay dazed on the floor. “You’ll be dead, just like your ‘mommy’ and ‘daddy’…”

“Freeze!” Yuki came busting in with her Artimis Rod wielded in a defensive pose in her hand. This only made Shizuka happier, and she swung her arm back to hurl the dagger at Yuki instead.

“Yuki, watch out!” screamed Jacob’s voice as he flung himself in front of Yuki and caught the dagger with his arm. The force of the throw pinned him against the wall, stuck, unless he was to rip his arm off. Blood soaked the floor and the wall. Jacob’s face twisted in pain and suppressed screams.

The rest of the Disciplinary Committee members came rushing in, but to no effect. Shizuka laughed maniacally and sent Alyssa and Kiana flying into the wall with a wave of her hand. She flicked her finger at Morgan and she crashed into Josh, who knocked Raquel, Stephanie, and Emily down the stairway. The five Committee members did not reenter the room.

Shizuka straightened to her full height and licked her hungry lips. “Now for the final event,” she drawled. “You can watch your friends transform into vampires and see them suffer until they die!”

“No!” Zero and Yuki cried in unison.

“Zero!” laughed Shizuka. “Hold the Yuki girl so she can’t escape!”

Zero jerked over to Yuki and wrapped his arms around her, rooting her to the spot. Yuki looked confused.

“Let me go, Zero!” she ordered.

Zero’s face was red and sweaty. He had a pained expression. “I’m…trying…I can’t resist…My control is gone!”

The two watched Shizuka slowly walk to Kiana. Her taloned fingers stroked her cheek. “You will suffer the same fate as Zero,” Shizuka whispered, and there was a disgusting slurping sound as she sunk her teeth into Kiana’s neck.

“Stop it, Shizuka!” Zero demanded, but Shizuka only laughed. He saw her walked over to Alyssa and do the same thing as she chuckled quietly. Yuki’s tears plopped onto Zero’s sleeve.

When she had finished, Shizuka grasped the hilt of her knife and twisted it free of Jacob’s arm. “I want my dagger back,” she explained maliciously as Jacob groaned and crumpled to the floor. Then she threw her head back and gave a final, demonic laugh as she transformed into a crow and flew from the room.

Zero had control of his body now. He let Yuki loose, and she ran to Jacob’s side, her eyes tearing up. Zero examined Kiana and Alyssa, who were vampires now that they had been bitten by a pureblood. His eyes flooded with tears.

There were booming footsteps up the stairway as the Headmaster busted in, Morgan and Josh at his heels. “What is going on here—oh, my goodness! Yuki! Take them to the infirmary, now!”

Yuki rushed out of the room, dragging Alyssa, Kiana, and Jacob behind her. The Headmaster put a consoling hand on Zero’s shoulder. “Zero, what happened?”

“Jacob and Yuki…that woman…” Zero wiped the tears away and stared imploringly into the Headmaster’s eyes. “I-I couldn’t protect them!”

“They’ll be okay.” The Headmaster patted Zero on the back. “I promise you.”

***
Kaname sat quietly in the Moon Dormitory, his dark-haired head in his palms, wondering about Zero and Yuki. Then he heard a soft beating of wings; he looked up to see a familiar crow had flown through his window. When the crow transformed, her pink-and-white kimono was stained with blood, as was the corners of her mouth and her chin.

“Kaname-sama,” the woman said, inclining her head and using the Japanese title of “sama” for addressing people of royalty.

“Shizuka Hio,” Kaname replied, lifting his head. “What brings you here?”

“Senpai, I have bitten two of the Disciplinary Committee members. Also, I might have killed one.” She had called him “senpai”, or “upperclassman”.

“Why?” Kaname was worried. “You didn’t hurt Yuki, did you?”

“Of course not, senpai. I only wanted to please you.”

“How can the transformation of two Disciplinary Committee members and the possible death of one bring me happiness?” He rose along with his voice, angry.

“I have enhanced our side,” pleaded Shizuka desperately, “and weakened theirs!”

Kaname smiled and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Come here, Hio,” he ordered tenderly, stroking her bloodstained cheek.

“Yes, senpai,” Shizuka breathed, closing her eyes.

Kaname held her neck in his strong, gentle hands and extended his fangs. “I need to use your blood,” he said, letting his teeth slowly sink into her.

“Senpai?” Shizuka’s voice had been overtaken by her pleasure.

“Hio…”

“I like the way you say my name, Kaname-sama.”

Kaname’s eyes turned fiery and crimson. He let his hands drift into the small of her back…and then plunged his fingers into her body. His hand protruded from her stomach. He pressed his cheek to hers and watched the life fade from her surprised, confused eyes, listening to her shuddering gasps for breath. “I don’t need you hurting the ones I love,” he whispered to her. He let her bleeding body crumple to the floor and watched it turn to dust. “Rest in peace,” he said, licking the blood from his hand, “Shizuka Hio.”