Vampire Knight Fan Fiction ❯ Entwined ❯ Into the Lion's Den ( Chapter 1 )

Entwined

Into the Lion's Den

Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from any of the ideas, characters, names, etc that I have used from Vampire Knight. Original characters are all mine of course.

A/N: Longer chapter. Whoo! *grins* Hope you enjoy, and as always, reviews are welcome. This chapter is a bit of a slow starter, but bear with me. Scene setting and all that. *winks*

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Zero slipped a hand inside his leather jacket, his fingers brushing against reassuring cold metal. The Bloody Rose. A reminder of his past that now seemed so long ago. He briefly gripped the pistol before allowing his hand to drop to his side again.

His amethyst eyes scanned the street ahead of him. It was night and there were very few street lamps in this neighbourhood, but Zero's eyes had no problem picking out details in the dimness. There were several cars parked on either side of the street, none of any sizeable value, not in this area. Zero looked further down the street, his gaze skimming past the almost identical looking tenement buildings, until he found what he was searching for. An alleyway that led off to the left. The only one on this street.

He began to walk towards it, slowly, cautiously. His eyes darted from the entrance of the alley to the street around him, and back again.

As he neared the entrance, he paused. It was only a few feet away now. He focused his senses, trying to pick up the presence of anyone, or anything nearby. Nothing. Zero frowned. It was far too quiet. Perhaps he had been too rash. He laughed inwardly at that thought. Of course he was being too rash. He was backed into a corner with no way out, except...

Zero shook the thoughts from his head, his eyes narrowing as he hardened his resolve. He brushed a few strands of his short silver hair away from his forehead. His hand came away damp. He was sweating despite the cool night. As if in response, the feeling in his chest tightened, and his breathing became shallower. Not now, not yet. He pressed his lips together into a thin line and took the last few steps to the entrance of the alley. Through sheer willpower, he forced the feeling threatening to overwhelm him to the back of his mind.

Zero peered around the corner of the building, hugging the stone wall closely. He could see refuse sacks piled up against the left wall, almost all the way to the back of the alley which ended abruptly with a high brick wall. He could see nothing breaking the monotony of the tenement building's wall on the right side, apart from boarded up windows, none of which were on the ground level. Lucio Revelli's description of the building had been accurate. As he took a few steps closer he saw the uneven stonework on that right side. The ground level windows had been bricked up.

Zero returned his attention to the alley itself. Nothing moved, not even a rodent skittering amongst the garbage. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he slipped towards the right wall, silently. He crept up the alleyway slowly, his right palm sliding along the cool masonry of the building.

Halfway up the alley he paused as his fingers came to rest upon an uncharacteristic ridge in the stonework. He turned to take a closer look. As his gaze took in the details of the wall, nothing seemed to look out of place. He frowned and ran his fingers along the wall horizontally. There it was. A definite indent in the stone, which seemed to be all but invisible to the naked eye.

Zero shifted his booted feet closer to the wall and slid both hands along the ridge, in opposite directions. The indent ran vertically along the wall and, as he crouched, he noted, all the way to the ground. As he stood once more, he followed the indent upward. It seemed to end about a foot above Zero's head, where it was intersected by a horizontal ridge.

A smile pulled at Zero's lips as realisation dawned on him. He quickly followed the horizontal ridge to the left and found it intersected with yet another vertical one just a brief distance away. This was a doorway. A cleverly disguised and well hidden doorway, but a doorway nonetheless. If Zero had not been actively looking for something hidden along the wall, then he would have surely missed it.

His fingers now eagerly set to work within the boundaries of the ridges, looking for some way, some mechanism or other, to open the door.

A frown passed across his handsome features as he slowly and deliberately felt his way over every inch of the disguised stone doorway. His search finished at the bottom, and he leant back on his haunches as he let out a small, frustrated sigh. Nothing. There didn't seem to be any way of opening it from here.

He rested one forearm on his thigh while he absently massaged his chest through his shirt, the tightening sensation returning once more. His gaze dropped to the ground, his mind trying to figure out an alternative solution.

Zero's eyes narrowed as he noticed something that seemed out of place. He crept a few feet along the wall and peered down at what initially looked to be a crumbled and fallen piece of masonry. He looked up towards the roof of the building. The structure was most certainly in a state of disrepair, grubby-looking, but none of the stonework or even the woodwork were yet in such bad condition that it had started to come away from the building itself.

Zero's gaze returned to the uneven shaped block on the ground. He reached out with one hand tentatively. It rocked slightly at his touch. He pulled at it, and saw that what initially looked like a relatively small piece of rubble was actually quite a bit larger and extended into a snug fitting hole in the building's wall.

Zero continued pulling at the block, sliding it along the ground towards him. He was sure something was hidden inside the recess the rubble was blocking and so was quite surprised when the stone suddenly stopped moving, as if it were caught on something inside the wall. He gripped the stone more forcefully, placing his feet further apart for more leverage, and using a good deal of his more than ample strength, he yanked hard.

The stone didn't budge at all, which resulted in Zero losing his grip as well as his balance and falling unceremoniously on his backside into the large garbage pile behind him.

“Crap.” He muttered under his breath, as the sound of crushed tin cans and foam boxes echoed into the too still and quiet night.

Zero held his breath and tried to steady the accelerated beating of his heart. He listened for any sign that his impromptu noise making had been heard. He let his breath out slowly and silently. Seemed he had gotten lucky.

He pushed himself up out of the pile of refuse sacks, slowly, cringing at every creak and crackle. Looking back up at the tenement building in front of him, he nearly fell back into the garbage again, in surprise.

The disguised door was now fully open, revealing a dark corridor leading further into the building. Zero looked from the doorway to the stone he had been pulling on and back again. He smirked in understanding. It had just been a simple mechanism after all. He had apparently been trying to over-complicate it.

Still, he had heard nothing when the door had opened. Whoever had designed the contraption must have been highly skilled.

Zero slipped silently across the ground, returning to a standing position beside the open doorway. He leaned into the opening slightly, his back against the outer wall, so his head would be the only visible part of him from the interior of the building.

His gaze took in the corridor. It extended only a short distance with only one door leading off of it, directly opposite the outer door. The corridor was uncarpeted, the floor seeming to be made of concrete. Dusty concrete. It looked like no-one had used this passage in a long time.

Zero leaned back against the outer wall, resting his head lightly against the cool stone. Perhaps he had been wrong. Or possibly Lucio had directed him to the wrong building. Maybe they weren't here. But then, who would have gone to such great lengths to construct this hidden door? Yes, it was quite possible that they had moved onto other, better areas, but would they have left the mechanism in working order?

He closed his eyes, trying to discern the best course of action.

As if in answer, a soft crunching noise to his right brought Zero out of his reverie. His head snapped round, his eyes opening and focusing on the source of the sound. The stone. It was sliding along the ground, seemingly of its own accord. It was, Zero realised, slipping back into its original position in the wall. Zero looked to his left. As he had suspected, the disguised door was now sliding silently back into place. The mechanism was on a timer.

Zero groaned slightly. He could always wait until the door and its stone counterpart had completed their closing cycle and then re-open it.

Zero shrugged and pushed himself away from the wall.

What did it matter?

He slipped inside the corridor, shuddering involuntarily as the door closed silently behind him.

* * *

It took a few seconds for Zero's eyes to adjust to the complete and utter darkness that enveloped him inside the tenement building.

His acute senses protested at the thick and musty atmosphere that assaulted them. The air was stagnant and he could feel his chest constricting further as the dust he had unsettled with his movement, slowly floated upwards.

Zero resisted the urge to sneeze and moved forward as carefully as possible to avoid kicking up any more of the offending dust into the air.

After several moments he was standing in front of the only interior door leading off of the corridor. It was made of a dark wood and looked so old that Zero feared it would fall apart if he merely touched it. The only adornment on the door was a small brass knob. Zero reached out and gingerly wrapped his fingers around it. He leaned forward, close to the door but refraining from touching it. He listened carefully, trying to make out any sounds on the other side of the wooden barrier. He could hear none.

Slowly and deliberately, he twisted the metal knob and pulled the door towards his body, silently hoping that it opened inwardly. He breathed a sigh of relief as it did just that and opened the door wide enough so that he could peer around it and into the next room.

Zero's eyes widened at the sheer contrast of the room that lay out before him to that of the corridor he was standing in. The floor was covered with a lush dark red carpet, immaculately clean. The walls were half panelled in mahogany, the section above painted in a rich ivory colour.

The room itself was rectangular with two other doors leading out of it in addition to the one Zero was peering around. The doors were in considerably better condition in this room and, Zero noted with a quick glimpse, the door he was standing behind was a lot sturdier than he had initially thought. It, along with the other two doors, had been polished and smoothed, and looked almost new.

The room was empty apart from a plush sofa along one wall and three armchairs. Zero stepped cautiously inside, closing the door slowly behind him.

This was obviously an entrance or waiting room of some sort and he was thankful there was no-one `waiting' here at the moment.

He glanced from the door on the left wall to the one on the right. One way was as good as the other, he supposed. He headed to the left and grimaced as he noticed the trail of dust he was leaving on the pristine carpet. He shrugged it off. If anyone was here, they'd realise his presence soon enough.

Zero reached the door and, as before, he leaned close to listen for any sign of movement on the other side.

After a few moments, he began to pull away and reach for the shiny brass knob, having heard nothing. Suddenly his body tensed and he halted his motion.

Were those footsteps he had heard?

Leaning close again, he listened intently, his arm reaching instinctively for the Bloody Rose under his jacket.

He frowned as seconds went by and again he heard nothing. Then his body tensed once more. The softened thud of footfalls on a carpeted floor. There was definitely someone in the building, most likely not the next room, but somewhere in that direction.

Zero slipped the pistol from its holster and gripped it loosely in his right hand. The familiar feel of the weapon was comforting, bolstering his resolve and confidence.

In one swift and silent movement, Zero twisted the door knob with his free hand, pulled the door open and slipped into the next room, the Bloody Rose leading.

Zero scanned the room, his pistol raised, following his gaze. He relaxed slightly as he realised this room was also empty, dropping the arm holding the Bloody Rose to his side, slowly and cautiously.

A quick assessment of the room revealed it to be of similar design to the room he had just left. One other door led out of the room, and to Zero's surprise, it was ajar. Light filtered into the room from the open door, causing Zero to strafe to the side, seeking the safety of deeper shadows. He kept his attention firmly fixed on the open door as he scurried to the adjoining wall. He placed his back against it, peering into the gap on the hinge side of the door.

Movement directly in front of him suddenly brought his attention back round. A figure was dashing across the shadows of the room, straight towards him. Zero didn't have the time to make out exactly who or what it was. On instinct, within the few heart beats it took to register the figure's approach, Zero had swung his right arm up, aimed the Bloody Rose and pulled the trigger. The distinctive sound of a single gunshot echoed throughout the room.

The figure continued forward for another few steps but then abruptly stopped in its tracks. Just as it crossed the line of light caused by the partially open door, it looked down. Zero saw it was a man, looking to be in his early thirties. The male clutched desperately at his chest, mouth gaping in a silent scream. The horrifying look quickly vanished as the man dissolved into dust.

No, not a man, Zero corrected.

He hurried around the door. His presence would certainly be known now. That gunshot would have been heard throughout most of the building.

Zero rushed somewhat blindly into the next room, the glare of the light hurting his sensitive eyes. He didn't take the time to examine the room in detail, just enough to make sure he was alone.

A scurrying noise to his right confirmed his gunfire had been heard. The sound was similar to the noise a dog's claws make when trying to rush across a tiled floor. It caused a shiver to run up Zero's spine in anticipation. He headed straight towards the sound. This is what he had been looking for. The nest.

Zero didn't slow his pace as he neared yet another closed door, instead merely dipping his shoulder and barrelling right through it, nearly ripping it from its frame. He barely felt the impact, so attuned was he to that scraping sound coming closer and closer.

One thought kept running through his head though. Why can't I sense their presence? His other senses were telling him in no uncertain terms that the creatures were nearby. It was slightly bewildering.

Zero staggered to a stop as he realised the room he had just entered was absolutely massive. It was as if the rest of the tenement building had been gutted from the ground to the top floor. What lay before him now was a cavernous, barren room with solid round pillars stretching from the floor to the six-storey high ceiling.

Zero's eyes narrowed as he spotted the source of the noises. Scampering towards him on all fours, snarls on their faces, were six beasts in human form. Those beings he despised the most. Vampires.

* * *

Arlena Lowe swung her legs over the edge of the ledge and surveyed the scene playing out below her.

The low level vampire who had trespassed on her territory had, quite surprisingly, killed the underling she had sent to deal with him. And quite easily too. But what was most astonishing was the method he had used. A gun. And no ordinary gun at that. It was a vampire hunter's weapon. How could a vampire use a vampire hunter's weapon? Unless...

Arlena's lips curled into a smile.

“Ah, the fates are cruel to you, my friend,” she whispered, her attention on the silver-haired form several floors below her.

She watched calmly as Zero killed, quickly and efficiently, the first two vampires that came into range of that deadly weapon. He then rolled around one of the many pillars in the room, avoiding the claws of a vampire who had leapt at him. Scrambling to his feet, he ran out from behind the pillar.

Arlena cocked her head to one side. Why would he leave himself open like that? With still four vampires remaining in the room, that was just reckless. Of course, the lower level vampire, couldn't possibly know that Arlena was sitting above him, watching him do battle below. She had been meticulous with the wards she had set up in this building. Both defensive and offensive. No sounds could be heard from the outside, and anyone who trespassed within the building's walls would find they would be unable to sense the presence of anyone under the wards' protection.

She leaned forward, resting her slender forearms on her knees. Her long, unnaturally dark red hair fell forward with the change of position, and she flicked it away irritably with the back of her hand. As she returned her attention below, her green, almond-shaped eyes widened slightly.

The silver-haired vampire had led her four subordinates into the centre of the room, into the open. It seemed a suicidal tactic for someone so badly outnumbered. Zero, however, proved her wrong, as he deftly dived and rolled in and out of range of each of the vampires' slashes, punches and kicks. It was like some sort of peculiar dance, and the low level vampire seemed to be the far superior dancer. Steadily the other vampires' numbers dwindled, until there was just one opponent remaining. With a clear snarl of frustration, the vampire leapt at Zero, landing on top of him. Arlena heard the now familiar sound of the hunter weapon firing, and her last subordinate was reduced to dust.

She let out a small, exasperated sigh as Zero got to his feet, brushing the remains of her unfortunate underlings from his clothes.

“My my, aren't you a bothersome one?”

Arlena slipped off the ledge, dropping several floors in the blink of an eye and landing with cat-like grace on the balls of her feet, knees bent in a crouch, directly behind Zero.

Her landing, she knew, had been deathly silent, but there was no way the wards she had in place could mask her presence, her aura, now that she was this close to the other vampire.

She saw him reacting, beginning to turn, that deadly anti-vampire weapon still in his hand.

With all the speed of her race, Arlena rushed forward, grasping Zero's gun arm at the wrist, just as he swung around. Her other hand encircled his throat, and with the force and speed of her forward momentum, she threw him to the ground.

He landed harshly on his back and Arlena heard the breath knocked from his lungs. She used her advantage to roughly twist the silver-haired vampire's wrist, forcing him to drop the gun.

Her hand around Zero's throat tightened, beginning to cut off his air supply. She had him pinned, helpless and totally at her mercy. With this knowledge, she met his gaze, eagerly anticipating the hopelessness she knew she would find in those amethyst depths. A flash of anger passed across her face as she was sorely disappointed. The look he gave her was not of defeat. His jaw was clenched, his breathing shallow, under the weight of her body. His eyes narrowed as their gazes locked, but she could not miss the hate that emanated from them, nor his defiance.

“Who are you?” she hissed, slackening her grip on his throat slightly, to allow him to reply.

The pinned vampire snarled at her, attempting to shift his weight to get some leverage to heave her off of him. Arlena felt him tense under her, and she tightened the grip of both her hands briefly, leaning her head close to his.

“Surely you know what I am. Your meagre senses must be screaming the fact at you. You must know I can kill you with the smallest of effort. So don't make this situation any worse for yourself than it already is.” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper, and eerily calm.

Zero clenched his teeth together, and Arlena could see he was restraining his anger, but she also noticed he had stopped his struggling.

“Good, I'm glad you understand.” The angry expression she wore subsided a little. “Now, tell me... who are you, and why have you foolishly trespassed here?”

The silver-haired vampire had kept eye contact continuously since Arlena had first initiated it. That fact grated on her nerves for some reason. He didn't fear her, she realised. This low level vampire was very unusual, even more so than she initially thought.

Zero's voice cut through the silence of the cavernous room, sounding hoarse, and tinged with controlled fury. “I came to kill you all, or die trying.”

Arlena pushed herself away from the other vampire slightly, raising an eyebrow at his words. She hadn't expected that reply.

“I'm sorry. I can't comply with your wishes. Either of them,” she purred at him.

Zero's handsome features twisted with rage. “I murdered your kin. Why don't you just kill me? It's what you monsters do, isn't it?” the young vampire practically spat the words at her.

“You monsters?” Arlena echoed. “Don't you mean, we?” A smile formed on her lips. “Or do you not consider yourself one of us?”

Amethyst eyes flashed. “I'm nothing like you!”

Arlena's smile widened and she traced a finger of the hand around the other vampire's throat along his jaw line. “Who are you trying to convince, my dear?”

Zero turned his head away from the touch, breaking eye contact, and sneering disdainfully.

“I thought as much,” the red-haired vampire whispered, as much to herself as to Zero.

Suddenly, she released the other vampire's throat from the vice-like grip, causing Zero to turn his head back towards her, startled. She swung her now free hand, forming a fist. It connected solidly with Zero's jaw. He grunted at the impact as his eyes rolled back in his head and Arlena could feel the strength fade from him.

“Sleep well, young one. You will need your rest for what is to come.”

Arlena Lowe stood, giving the unconscious form of the silver-haired vampire one last glance, before walking away.