• CHAPTER 107 - STAY BACK

    So...how would I break it to Kai that there's a six-year-old Vampire child in the house? I guess I could wait until the last minute...I think. But how do I explain it to unexpected company?

    The whole time I was sleeping, Ai was still being the little artist at work. She brought a clipboard with her to sit next to me on the bed and draw as I slept. I didn't want her to be in a different room than me; I was too paranoid that she could have gotten hurt. It was uneasy for me to sleep but it was all part of being a guardian, right? Akatsuki must have been the same way when I was living with him for the month Kai and I were apart. The difference was that Akatsuki was afraid I'd hurt myself or that Kai would come back; I was afraid that Mayura or Hitoshi would come find Ai and kill her.

    Every now and then while I was sleeping, I'd be awakened by Ai's subtle crying. My heart tore in two every time I would think about her loss; her and I were similar in a way, only she was six. Losing your mother at such a young age and not seeing your father for over a year was such a burden for somebody as young as her. Kai would help us find her father, wouldn't he? He wasn't the kind of person to let down a mere child.

    As soon as I woke up in the mid afternoon, Ai had already fallen asleep in the bed next to me. She must have passed out right away because all of her drawing supplies were sprawled all over the bed. I managed to get out of bed quietly and clean up her mess. It confused me at first as to why she had just gotten to sleep but it took me a second to remember she was a Vampire child; she was nocturnal. She almost appeared as a normal human child, however; she had no talons yet and her fangs were only so small. I stowed her drawing supplies in the drawer in the nightstand next to the bed and snuck out of the bedroom, keeping the door open.

    I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket--forgetting for a second it was in there all night--and was about to dial Kai's number until I remembered he was trying to get back to his normal sleep schedule. I wouldn't be able to contemplate waking him twice; that would be a double sin. I was still iffy whether or not I should tell him about Ai; maybe I could somehow reunite her with her father before Kai got back? Yeah right, what were the chances of that? He could have been dead for all Ai and I knew.

    I snuck back into the bedroom and subtly pulled the Necromantic Hunter gun out of the bag from last night and headed into the bathroom with my robe. A shower would surely help me think and relax. I was careful to try to listen closely to what was going on in the bedroom, afraid to leave Ai alone. I hopped out as quick as I could and wrapped myself in my robe as soon as I was done drying myself off. Sneaking back into the bedroom, Ai was still sound asleep and the house was still peaceful.

    "It's...uneasy," I mumbled to myself about the silence.

    I hurried back into the bathroom after forgetting the gun in there and came back out into the living room. My paranoia caught up with me after hearing a poof noise and I clutched the gun tightly in my hand. I knew there was somebody else in the house at that moment but I couldn't see where. I quickly turned around to sneak a peek at Ai and froze at what I saw; a man...there was a man standing at one edge of the bed, staring at her. There was something ominous about him; he couldn't have been human.

    "Ai!" I darted towards the bedroom.

    The man's eyes never tore off of Ai and there was a sinister look in his gaze, much like a Vampire or Werewolf's gaze when they use the immobility charm. Before I could reach the bedroom, something knocked into me hard and knocked me flat on my back. A couple of warm hands clasped around my throat and squeezed tightly, slaughtering my air supply. I averted my vision and my eyes ended up meeting with the eyes of the lady from last night; she was Mayura, right? She had the same menacing look in her eyes and she reeked of death, even to me.

    "You vermon," she hissed, "helping a rotten child such as her."

    I'd have protested against her but I literally had no air to breathe. She was incredibly strong for a girl, too strong for a girl. My hands clasped to her shoulders--unable to reach her neck--and my nails burrowed into her skin. I didn't have much chance of escaping her grasp so why not fight back? From the corner of my eye, the man in the bedroom carefully scooped Ai out of the bed and into his arms. He must have been Hitoshi, Mayura's lover?

    "Don't you dare tear your eyes away from me! I want to see the light escape your eyes!" Mayura shouted at me, her voice showing a light English accent.

    Watch the light escape my eyes? I was sure I was dealing with a psycho woman but Ai was my first priority; I couldn't let them take her away! She was sound asleep in Hitoshi's arms, not able to notice me dying on the floor. I reached above my head, trying to feel for my gun but it was beyond my reach. Mayura's hands tightened more around my throat and I groaned, trying everything I could to catch my breath but it was useless. I allowed the adrenaline to rush through my body and I grasped her hair tightly, a typical move to do in a girl-girl fight.

    Her grip was becoming too tight; it was causing tears to gather in my eyes and everything was starting to blur. This girl seriously had an intention to kill me with her bare hands without remorse. I reached further to grab my gun but it had flown too far away after I was knocked to the ground. I gripped her wrists and my nails burrowed into her skin, actually drawing blood. My feet were kicking from underneath her and the adrenaline was pumping like crazy. A small smirk formed at the corner of her mouth as soon as she noticed my eyes starting to roll back. A last-minute idea came in my mind and I felt around my neck where Mayura's hands weren't at. She squeezed yet harder, giving me the slight impression that she hand the intention to snap my neck.

    "Come on," Mayura sneered. "Just a little longer..."

    I ripped the necklace off of my neck--hoping it was the right one--and stabbed Mayura's left thigh with it. After realizing it was the right necklace--the one with the bullet--I'd have sighed in relief but my air supply was still cut off. I burrowed the bullet further into her leg, knowing it would hurt her if she was human or not. She hissed sharply at me and I felt around for whatever I could get my hands on. The bullet obviously didn't phase her much and I reached up the end table a foot away from me and grabbed the first thing I felt--a lamp. Without another thought, I slammed the lamp against Mayura's head, shattering it to bits, and she finally collapsed.

    I clasped my throat as soon as her putrid hands released it and took the biggest breath I had ever taken in ages. I rolled onto my side and noticed Hitoshi drop Ai on the couch nearby. Hitoshi rushed over to the seemingly unconscious Mayura. Lying down on the floor, I attempted to catch my breath halfway and I weakly made my way onto my feet. I peeked over the back of the couch and Ai was just waking up.

    "N-Nana...?" she came into consciousness. "Nana?"

    "Ai, go...away," I gasped through my weak throat my hand was clasped over.

    Ai peeked over the couch and her eyes widened at the sight of Mayura and Hitoshi, "No!"

    "Ai, leave," I pleaded.

    The room fell silent and I heard nothing else happening. I warily made my way to the breakfast bar for support and as soon as my hand reached the counter top, I blacked out.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    "...na? Nana?"

    A tiny hand gently shook my shoulder worriedly. My face was pressed against something cold, much like the kitchen floor. Ai shook me a little more urgently and I groaned at a throbbing pain coming from my head. I barely cracked my eyes open and I noticed Ai kneeling in front of me with an incredibly worried complexion.

    "Nana?" her voice was shaky.

    "Ai?" I groaned. "Oh God..."

    "Nana, careful," she informed me. "Your head."

    "My..." I propped myself on one elbow and pressed my other hand against the back of my head and flinched at the pain. I pulled my hand back and my fingers were coated in my blood. "Oh..."

    "It was Mayura; she hit your head with your gun."

    I glanced around the kitchen floor and surely enough, the gun was only a foot from me and a small trail of blood led to the bullet I jostled into Mayura's leg; she must have tossed it back. I rested my head back down on the floor and groaned, feeling nauseous. Every breath agitated my throat and caused my head to throb more. Ai carefully wrapped one of her arms around me and held me close to her.

    "Nana, Nana, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm so sorry."

    I groaned again, "You...did nothing wrong,"

    "They tracked me here and hurt you!" she cried. "I thought you were going to die like mommy did."

    I managed to halfway sit up and I held Ai close to me and allowed her to sob on my shoulder again. The poor child didn't deserve to see something like that. She shouldn't have seen Mayura try to kill me, she shouldn't have even seen her own mother killed in front of her. So much happened to Ai already and she was only six years old. Nothing was fair, especially in the life of a Vampire.

    "I'm sorry, Ai," I apologized sincerely. "I'm so sorry you had to see."

    She didn't see all of what happened, but much more than what was necessary for somebody her age. Just because she was a Vampire didn't mean she was as stable as others. I pressed my hand against my head again to suppress the bleeding. It wasn't bleeding too much but it was more than what I liked. I managed to hesitantly get on my feet after picking up my gun and bullet necklace. I'd have to thank Akatsuki greatly for the bullet and thank Kai for the gun...if Kai would ever find out. I knew it was horrible of me to not want to tell Kai some things but...I wouldn't even want him to worry even more.

    "They didn't hurt you, did they?" I pulled her back.

    Ai shook her head, "No, but they said they will be back," she bit her lip.

    "s**t," I cursed to myself. Kai needed to come back right away...but--Goddammit.

    "Nana?"

    I sat myself down on a stool at the breakfast bar, too dizzy and weak to stand on my own any longer, "Don't worry, Kai will be here soon,"

    "I'm...I'm still sorry," she apologized again and kept eying my hand with the blood.

    My lips pursed together and I slowly headed to the bedroom with Ai tagging close behind, clinging onto my bathroom robe. I was relieved to see my cell phone was untouched and I grabbed it right away, ignoring the fact I was holding my cell phone with my bloody hand. I flipped it open and speed-dialed Kai's number while sitting myself on the bed. Glancing over at the alarm clock, I hadn't realized how long I had been knocked out; the clock said seven twelve so I was out for about four hours.

    "Hello?" Kai answered his phone, sounding a little concerned.

    "Hey, Kai?" I whispered, exhausted. "Do you think you could come back home within the next day or two?"

    "Why? Is something wrong?" he was sounding more concerned.

    "Well..." I bit my lip. "I...I just miss you...and I guess I'm a little worried to be alone."

    "Yeah, of course I can come back,"

    "What about Takeuchi and Miku?" I remembered. "They probably don't want to come back already."

    "They're staying for a few months, I was only here for assistance," he sighed. "When do you want me back?"

    "Anytime tomorrow or the day after," I halfway started regretting it. "Just take your time, it's not an emergency. If Miku and Takeuchi still need you then go ahead and stay."

    There was a pause, "Okay, I'll let you know when I'm on my way," he sighed. "I love you."

    "I love you too," and we hung up.

    I bit my lip, indecisive of whether asking Kai to come back early was a good idea or not. I didn't know if Kai would be too paranoid now or not. Would I even have time to gather an explanation for a six-year-old Vampire child in the house and a Necromantic Hunter and her lover that tried to kill me? It wasn't totally inconspicuous or anything.