• CHAPTER 19 - HIS TRUE VAMPIRE FAÇADE

    Some incidents seem to happen over and over again, almost like déjà vu. However, you think you know the outcome after you experienced it once before, but the future could always change.

    Even when Kai had a firm grip on my hand, it was still shaking. My legs were becoming weak and numb. Kai released my hand and wrapped an arm protectively around my waist and held me close at his side. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the three hungry greedy wolves eyeing me.

    "Leave," snarled Kira, bearing his teeth.

    The Werewolves ended up staring at Kai and Takeuchi in the eyes. Kai stiffened and it went dead silent. The only sound penetrating the night was the subtle frozen breeze that brushed my scent around. I couldn't smell myself, but the Werewolves could, seeing as they inched themselves even closer.

    "Kai, why are you so quiet?" I whispered again.

    "They're talking to me through their heads since they can't talk when they're Werewolves," Kai whispered back.

    "We're going to ask you again," Akatsuki threatened, "we want--need--you to leave."

    The wolves snarled and stared at Kai again. In a split second, Kai had both of his arms around me and pushed me back against a tree and Takeuchi, Kira, and Akatsuki held their guard up even more as the Werewolves tried to pounce. Takeuchi ripped out a deafening snarl and Kira and Kai ripped out a growl just as loud.

    "Uketomeru, get Arisa out of here now!!" Akatsuki demanded.

    Kai grabbed my arm and started dragging me away. I tried to pull against Kai but it was futile, "I don't want to leave you guys!"

    Kira smiled half-heartedly, "We'll all be fine,"

    "No!" and Kai pulled me farther.

    I heard the wolves bark and snarl as Kai drug me further into the frozen forest. He was going much too fast for my pace and I continued to trip over enlarged tree roots and pot holes. Flurries ebbed from the sky and gradually fell heavier every few seconds. Kai got fed up with my slow pace and he picked me up again and sprinted deeper into the forest. I had fast enough reflexes to close my eyes right when Kai picked me up. After a couple of seconds, we came to an immediate halt. Kai searched our surrounding, a growl still vibrating in his chest.

    "Kai, what were they thinking?" I wanted to know what went on in the Werewolves' heads that made him freak out right away.

    He ignored me and continued to search. He carried me to a nearby tree, perhaps the biggest one in the forest, and stuffed me into a giant crater below it that formed into a small cave and he climbed in after me. He sat himself in front of me, almost on top of me, and never took his eyes off of the outside as the snow fell heavier still.

    "Kai?"

    Kai glared at me in the eyes and his eyes were slowly turning a ferocious maroon. I held my breath, afraid of what he might do. His expression softened but his eyes never did.

    "You don't want to know what they were thinking," he growled.

    I took his word for it and looked down and shivered some more. Kai continued to stare at me, "I'm sorry I brought you into all of this,"

    "It's not your fault, Kai. It was all meant to happen, wasn't it?"

    Kai sighed, not sure how to answer. He kissed my forehead and released his grip on my arm after I winced from the pain of the cut from a couple of days ago.

    "Do you need more blood?"

    He shook his head, "I can't risk unveiling where you're hiding now,"

    Oh, right. The Werewolves would catch the scent of my blood and find us, "Kai, I'm scared,"

    "It'll be alright," he reassured half-heartedly.

    "I'm not scared for me. I'm scared for you and everybody else." I stared at him in the eyes, showing him I was dead serious. I couldn't care less if I died, just to be sure everybody else wouldn't die because of me.

    Kai grabbed my head with both of his hands and kissed me boldly. He pulled away about an inch, his eyes growing redder, "Don't think that, don't ever think that,"

    "Then tell me everybody will be okay and mean it!" tears were starting to well up and I started hyperventilating out of fear and anger.

    Kai pressed his thumb against my lips and kissed my forehead again. He didn't know how to answer. I started crying, but tears were absent. I shook my head right away, not allowing myself to cry. I wanted to show Kai I could be brave. My whole body jolted as I could hear gunshots and violent barking. I screamed and Kai held me close to him. I tried to loosen myself from his arms.

    "Kai, you need to go out there and fight with everybody else!"

    "I'm not going to leave you," he whispered.

    His eyes were unbelievably red and they were almost glowing. His expression was hard and cold. I touched his face and looked down, avoiding eye contact with his sinister eyes.

    "I love you, Kai,"

    Kai growled...at me, "Quit acting like that. We'll be fine." he hissed.

    I sighed and lowered my hand and cuddled up against Kai's torso, awaiting the dawn to break.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    It was a little lighter outside when I woke up again. It wasn't midnight and it wasn't dawn, and it still wasn't time for the Werewolves to turn human again. I was surprised the Werewolves didn't find us yet.

    "Don't be so sure about that," Kai whispered.

    I looked up at him and his attention was still turned to the opening of the crater we had been hiding in. Kai growled and I only assumed I was woken at the right time. I heard snow crump very quietly outside of the tree.

    "If there's a Werewolf here," I started in a whisper, "then where is everybody else?"

    "They're fighting the other two Werewolves. They're doing fine. It'll be dangerous by dawn, though because that's when Werewolves, unbelievably, are actually at their strongest points."

    It didn't make sense that Werewolves were strongest right before they change back to human. I sighed in relief that everybody else was okay.

    "Matsuda will meet up with us at dawn," Kai reassured.

    It sounded like everything was going just fine, that I didn't have to worry about anything, that is until the Werewolf pacing himself outside tried to shove himself into the crater Kai and I were in. I shouted and Kai held me tighter to him and tried to pull us back further, but we couldn't back up any further. The large white-haired Werewolf snapped his jaws at me and I recoiled my feet away from him. Kai gripped my clothes tighter and I could feel his body tense up more than ever.

    "Kai--,"

    He sprung out of our hiding whereabouts and dove at the Werewolf, vanishing from my sight.

    "Kai!"

    I tried to make myself move, but I was too afraid I might see something horrendous outside. I swallowed hard after a moment of silence and made my way towards the exit of the hiding hole and withdrew right away and curled up. I was too scared to even see if Kai was okay. I heard rustling and growling from outside and my heart started beating again.

    "Arisa, run! Get out of here!" it was Kai.

    I sighed out of relief and after another moment I finally processed what Kai was saying. Without any more hesitation, I scrambled out of the hole and darted towards whichever direction I saw first and that was straight. I didn't look back as I heard Kai shout profoundly at the Werewolf, just like when we were attacked the first time. I shook my head and kept running as I saw the sun slowly start rising. The Werewolves would turn human at any moment. This is the most dangerous time right now.

    I caught myself on a tree after running for several minutes and forced myself to breathe again. I wheezed and continued to make my way through the forest with no sense of direction. I couldn't hear anymore shouting or howling or gunshots. It's either I was too far away or the battle had already been won. I peeked through trees and saw the pastel colors of the sun shine through. I winced as I looked down and realized I had been running through the snow barefoot. I paced around frantically, looking for some place to hide where Kai could still find me.

    I made my way through a thick crowd of trees and when I got through, a large cave camouflaged by snow opened wide to the dawn. As I climbed on a rock wall leading up to the cave, about 7 feet tall wall, I felt warmth oozing down the ball of my foot. I sat down and turned my foot over and panicked; blood. The wolves would find me without trouble now. The goddamn snow and ice cut my foot open! I jumped down into the snow again and started trying to wash the blood off with snow; not a good idea.

    "There you are," snarled a sinister voice.

    My body froze where it was and my lungs stopped moving. A Werewolf had found me, but how?!

    "They sent me to come looking after you," I could tell he was smirking by the tone in his voice.

    I took a few shaky breaths, stood up slowly, and reluctantly turned around. The Werewolf was human. His pants were all pat down and dirty and wet from the snow, only making me assume he hid them somewhere before he transformed. His chest was bare, his hair was bleached a blond color and the roots of his hair were brown, and his eyes were a gunmetal color.

    "Wh-what did you do with the others?" I forced myself to choke out.

    The wolf boy chuckled, "I didn't do anything to them. It's yourself you should be worried about." he smirked again.

    My hands were shaking uncontrollably again. Where was Kai when I needed him the most? Was he still fighting the other Werewolf? I only prayed in my head that Kai, Kira, Akatsuki and Takeuchi were all still safe. The boy chuckled again.

    "You need to say your own prayers," he clamped onto my throat with one hand with incredible force, "little girl."

    I tried to scream, to shriek, I even tried to kick at him, but I was rendered motionless by my own fear. He picked me up by my throat so my feet were at least a foot off the ground and he glared at me in the eyes.

    "Do me a favor and scream for your little boyfriend,"

    Before I could react, he threw me against the rock wall leading up to the cave. I caught my breath and choked a few times and coughed. He slowly inched his way towards me and I backed into the cave.

    What a stupid idea.

    He grabbed the collar of my shirt again and threw me onto the ground, knocking the wind out of me for a few seconds. I got onto my hands and knees and coughed a few times and straightened out my vision.

    "C'mon, scream!" he shouted in amusement.

    He kicked me on the left side, right in the ribs. I heard a crack and I was sent rolling towards the end of the cave. I moaned and held my ribs; one, maybe two, were broken. I winced at the pain surging through my side every time I took a breath. I limited my breathing as the wolf boy inched himself closer again. He smirked.

    "You're a brave girl, you know,"

    I'd have made a smart-a** remark about that, but I was afraid to talk too.

    "But the more you piss me off, the less likely your boyfriend and I will be able to fight so soon," he snarled.

    I glared at the wolf boy, "So that's why I want you to scream when I eat you. That way I can fight him immediately after gaining immortality."

    "You sound...retarded when...you say that...," I smirked through my pain.

    The boy crouched down and played with a few strands of my hair, "Don't you think it's well worth it to sound retarded and have all of eternity to make up for it?"

    He rolled me over so that my back was against the back wall of the cave. I peeked past him at the cave opening, waiting for the silhouette of Kai to appear, but no such luck.

    "He'll arrive when you scream,"

    Okay, he was just making me sick. I glared at him with the most threatening glare I could manage. But for him, it was only amusement and he threw his head back and laughed. He looked down at me again.

    "You're amusing. No wonder the blood-sucker chose you."

    I smirked, "I didn't become his by choice," it was true.

    He pulled me towards him a little and sprawled me out on my back on the wet cave floor. He ran his fingertips over my face and my throat. He had a look of disgust on his face.

    "You're not the only brave one. Werewolves would never dare to swallow blood." he whispered.

    At that, he popped his hand against my right ribs, breaking another one or two. I moaned louder, on the verge of screaming, but I didn't want to do as he said. Pain pierced on both sides of my body with every breath I drew, only widening the smile on the wolf boy's face. I continued to wince and moan as I slowly wrapped my arms around myself and called out for Kai in my head.

    "Go...away...," I demanded barely in a whisper.

    He ignored me and grabbed my right arm. He wrapped one hand around my wrist and grabbed my jaw with his other hand. He turned my head so he was looking me dead in the eye.

    "I won't enjoy this any more than you will," he hissed, all humor in his voice vanished.

    I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut, afraid he would break my jaw too. He chuckled once again, "You wouldn't be able to scream if I do that, now would you?"

    He clamped onto my forearm with his other hand and inhaled the aroma on my wrist. He pressed his lips against the underside of my wrist and inhaled even deeper, preparing himself. I held my breath and prepared myself as well; there was no way out of this now. He growled silently, his fangs shimmering in the dawn's rays. Without another second to waste, he bit into the big blue vein in my wrist. I gasped and my hand twitched uncontrollably for a few seconds, then went limp. I had no idea it would be so easy for him to cut through my skin; I had forgotten Werewolves had fangs as well.

    "No...," I winced.

    He drank the blood slowly, but in big gulps. He never took a breath because if he did, he'd have to start all over again.

    "Stop," my voice was becoming louder, "Stop!"

    I felt a pressure against my forearm as he squeezed it. After a fraction of a second, the second most deafening sound echoed off the cave walls. I couldn't feel it at first, but I felt the pain after I saw it; my forearm had been snapped in half. One of the two bones was snapped in half just by the boy putting pressure on it with his thumb. When I fet the pain, that's when I screamed. I screamed loud, allowing all of the air out of my lungs and I thrashed around, trying to release myself, increasing the chance of a rib puncturing a lung. I felt the wolf boy squeeze my arm harder. I shook my head.

    "No, no!!" I screamed.

    It was too late. He snapped the other bone in my forearm in half as well, letting my arm become nothing more than a chew toy.

    "Kai!!"

    I tried to inhale deeply, tried to catch my breath, but was stopped short by the pain in my sides. The only way I could get air was to hyperventilate, which I was more than capable of. I wanted to give up, to think Kai wouldn't be coming. He was probably still fighting with the other Werewolf boys. I watched my blood ooze out of my arm and I could feel the wolf boy sucking the blood out through my whole body. I was getting dizzy and lightheaded. It was going to be the end; I almost wanted it to be.

    "Kai...," I breathed under a whisper.

    The blood didn't stop flowing. It overflowed the boy's mouth and he tried to swallow it faster. I guess immortality took a little longer than I had expected. I was on the verge of closing my eyes, not wanting to witness anymore, until something clouted into the boy's back and crashed him against the cave wall, dropping my limp numb arm onto the ground and continued to let it bleed. A gunshot went off and I looked up at who had run into the boy; Kai. I would have cried, called out his name, and embraced him, but it would have been the worst time.

    A growl ripped through Kai's chest as he held the wolf boy against the cave wall where a crater had been formed. The boy looked back at Kai through the corner of his eye with an expression that said he was bored or not surprised.

    "Oh, so you finally came," he sounded pissed. His chances of immortality had been ruined.

    "You won't," Kai started calmly, but there was a threatening and sinister tone to his voice.

    Kai grabbed the boy by the back of the neck and threw him through the air towards the opening of the cave. The wolf boy flipped through the air just in time to land on his hands and feet. Kai turned towards the wolf boy, one fist clenched and the pistol in his other fist.

    "Ever touch her again!!" he blustered and it also echoed off the cave walls.

    My heart skipped a beat; I had never seen him so furious. I was...scared. Kai turned towards me and kneeled down.

    "Arisa," he gasped.

    I hyperventilated with shorter breaths than usual. Very carefully, Kai's hand extended towards my face and he placed it delicately against my cheek, treating me like a porcelain doll again. He rubbed his thumb against my eyebrow and his face was pained. I let out a tearless cry and peeked over at the wolf boy. His thumb and index finger were shoved into his chest near his heart, digging for something. After another second, he pulled out a bullet from Kai's pistol. Kai clenched his pistol and his jaw and continued to stare at me. I looked back up at him and I could see the sympathy and apologies written all over his eyes.

    I let out nothing more than a single tear and Kai was standing up again, facing the boy. The boy stood up and rubbed the bullet hole in his chest.

    "That stung a little," he complained.

    Kai growled quieter, pulling the corner of his mouth up to reveal one set of fangs. The wolf boy smirked, "What, you angry I almost gained immortality before you?"

    The wolf boy dove at me and Kai got in his way. It almost sounded like a car crash when they collided, and the boy kept trying to shove his way past Kai to get to me. Out of angry reflexes, the wolf boy stomped on my broken arm, causing me cry out loud and let the tears overflow. Kai grabbed onto the boy's throat and collided him into one of the cave walls, creating a large crater where the boy's body was. I peeked at the boy again and his face actually had a look of panic. He clawed at Kai's arm, trying to fight him off. Kai squeezed the boy's neck harder and slammed him against the other wall on the other side. Kai pressed the barrel of his gun against the wolf boy's abdomen and shot about five times.

    "Gonna take more than that," said the wolf boy, smirking lightly.

    Kai pulled the boy back and slammed him into the crater again. He turned the boy around so his stomach was pressed against the rock wall. Kai pressed his foot on the bottom of the wolf boy's back and grabbed onto the boy's right arm.

    "Who said I was done yet?" Kai hissed.

    Kai moved back lightly, pulling at the boy's arm. The boy started thrashing around, trying to throw Kai off.

    "No!" he shouted.

    It was too late. Kai burrowed his talons into the boy's arm and pulled back with such force. The boy shouted profound words and I had finally realized his missing right arm. I stared at the ground at their feet and there the arm lay, surrounded in an ocean of blood. The scent of blood even overflowed my senses and I couldn't bear to think about the struggle Kai was going through. Kai turned the boy around again and slammed his back into the wall. Kai grabbed onto the boy's head and glared at him.

    "I don't care if you're just a kid. You won't get away with what you did." he growled.

    Kai hesitated for a moment and then, without thinking anymore, he punctured the boy's throat with his teeth, blood fountaining out in every direction. I would have gotten sick right away if I hadn't been so consumed by horror. Kai ripped his teeth out of they wolf boy's throat and pulled out his gun once more, shot the boy in the head once, slammed him against the wall again, and shot his head again. Kai tossed the boy's corpse aside and it freely fell to the ground. He turned towards me, out of breath.

    "Arisa," he panted.

    I was afraid. I didn't want him to approach me. Beaten and mangled, I stared at the sinister bloody silhouette of the man whose arms I've fallen into.