Vampire Knight Fan Fiction ❯ Entwined ❯ Shell Shock ( Chapter 8 )

Entwined

Shell Shock

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: Review responses for the last chapter are up on my forums. As you should know by now, you can access it from my profile page. *smiles* Thanks for everyone who has reviewed so far. It really does spur me on to write more! ^^

Apologies that it took me quite a bit longer to get this chapter posted than normal. My body decided to contract flu on top of the already broken ribs that I have, so that wasn't entirely conducive to thinking straight. *sob* Anyway! It's all done now, so do enjoy! *smiles*

----------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------

Zero's legs finally buckled and he slumped to the floor. His fingers came up to his lips, touching them gently, the feeling of Kaname's kiss still lingering there. His breathing was still a little erratic even though the pureblood had left the room several minutes ago, and he inhaled deeply, trying to steady himself.

Zero doubled over as a wave of nausea washed over him, threading his fingers into the plush carpet. The cramping in his stomach wasn't being caused by the recent intimate contact, though. He was disgusted with himself. He hadn't been repelled by Kaname's advances, his body had actually responded positively, leaving him with a longing he couldn't reconcile with. He was sure it was the vampire part of him that was acting so traitorously. He had always been at odds with that side of himself and he simply refused to accept there being any other cause.

He slowly dragged himself over to the bed and slumped onto the mattress. Burrowing into the sheets, he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that sleep would claim him soon so that he could forget all that had just happened. It seemed that his mind had other plans though.

Images of the pureblood stalking towards him, a predatory look on his graceful features slipped to the forefront of Zero's thoughts. That expression had inexplicably suited him. Of course it had. That's what vampires are born to do. Prey on the weak. Zero buried his face into the pillow with a groan. If his musings continued down this path, he would begin to get angry. He didn't need his temper flaring up on top of the feeling of disgust that was floating around his stomach.

This was something he would have to put to the back of his mind so he could focus on what he intended to accomplish. He had made it clear to Kaname that he wanted him to slow his advances and even though he wasn't entirely sure the pureblood would follow his wishes, he was sure he'd be able to stop him in the future. The brunette didn't come across as incredibly cruel, the marked difference between him and his contemporaries, even though his demeanour could indeed be just a facade. Zero mentally shrugged. All would be revealed soon enough. He just needed to concentrate on his own goals.

He rolled onto his side. His stomach seemed to be settling down now. Finally, he could get some rest.

* * *

Kaname turned his head abruptly as he realised his name was being called. His thoughts had been wandering again. His eyes locked with those of Hanabusa Aidou. He had been staring at the pureblood with a look of what had appeared to be irritation. It had quickly faded when he had turned towards him. He couldn't really blame the noble though. It wasn't the first time his mind had drifted away from their current discussion, even though he suspected that wasn't the sole source of Aidou's irritation.

“I apologise. It appears I haven't been getting enough sleep recently.” Kaname still held Aidou's gaze, unwaveringly.

The blonde suddenly looked away, an expression of guilt on his face. “Oh no. You don't need to apologise.”

The pureblood smiled slightly at Aidou's servile nature. “You were saying?”

The noble cleared his throat and turned back towards Kaname. “We've been receiving some strange reports from our overseas branches. There have been some hostile takeovers of rather large, profitable companies recently.”

Kaname raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like anything out of the ordinary to the pureblood. Such was the corporate world.

Aidou noticed the brunette's reaction and continued. “All of the companies have been vampire owned and when I say hostile, I mean it in the more literal sense.”

Kaname leaned forward in his chair. “You are inferring violent, physical takeovers?”

The blonde nodded. “The general public know nothing of this, but whoever is behind it isn't trying to keep it a secret from those in the target demographic.”

“Scare tactics,” Kaname muttered.

Aidou nodded once more. “Yes, and there isn't a clear perpetrator. I must admit, I have to congratulate them on their ingenuity. At first glance, it seems multiple organisations are behind this, perhaps several houses who have joined together to expand their power-base. Once you delve deeper though, the pattern clearly points to a single architect.”

Kaname's eyes narrowed. “It could be quite possible that there are indeed multiple houses involved, following the lead of one.”

Aidou leant an elbow on the table in front of him, resting his chin in his hand. “That would be a viable assumption, had I not probed deeper. All of the source companies pretty much exist in name only. They are cover businesses. It will take some more investigation, but the trail so far seems to lead in one direction.”

Kaname frowned. He couldn't possibly fathom the reason for this sort of hostility. Vampire society existed in a delicate balance. The various pureblood houses held power within their own territories. There were, of course, attempts at expansion, but it mostly happened in the business world, and in a very subtle way. Kaname had increased his own power-base by opening several overseas branches, but it had taken many months of negotiation with the houses currently reigning over those regions. Forceful takeovers were unheard of. Still, vampires were known for their ambition, so it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise.

“Has there been any activity locally?” Kaname returned his attention to the blonde.

“Not yet.”

“I see. Well, continue your investigation, Aidou, but be covert. We don't need to make ourselves targets unnecessarily.”

The blonde nodded, almost a bit too eagerly. “Of course.”

“I'll contact Seiren and see if she can discover anything else of value.” Kaname pushed himself away from the table and stood. “Oh, and Aidou?”

The blonde looked up, expectantly.

“Good work.” Kaname smiled slightly as he turned to leave.

The noble veritably beamed at the pureblood.

* * *

Arlena stood before a large, but mostly rundown looking detached villa. She scanned over the exterior of the building. It was two storeys high, constructed of brick and wood. The doors and windows seemed to be in poor repair. Gaining entry would be a simple task. For all intents and purposes, the home appeared to be abandoned, but Arlena's enhanced senses could pick up a presence within. She cocked her head to one side. There was only one way to find out who it was.

With feline grace, she leapt over the tall fence and landed softly in the unkempt grass surrounding the building. She padded silently around to the side of the building, keeping a watchful eye on the windows for any sign of movement. It was the small hours of the morning so the darkness of night covered her passage, but she was having difficulty determining what sort of individual resided within the villa, so she wasn't taking any chances.

She noticed a narrow wooden balcony above her along the second floor of the building and with a brief flex of her leg muscles she jumped up and grabbed onto the railing, deftly pulling herself over it and crouching on the wooden panelling. The entire structure didn't feel entirely secure and it creaked slightly beneath her weight. A quick examination of the wall revealed a single door. She crept over to it and focused her senses onto the interior of the building. The single presence she could detect was on the ground floor.

She gave the door a brief but firm push. A quiet splintering noise emanated from the barrier before it gave way and swung open. Arlena slipped quickly inside and pushed the door shut. It hung somewhat awkwardly from the damaged hinges.

Arlena glanced down at her hands and wrinkled her nose in disgust as she brushed off whatever muck that had been transferred from the door. She was really starting to wish she had sent someone else in her stead. Of course, that hadn't been possible. She had to perform this bothersome research by herself. She let out a silent sigh and pushed further into the building.

The room she had entered had been what looked like a guest bedroom. It appeared to not have seen any occupants for a long time. She disregarded her current surroundings and peered out into the hallway through the open door. There was no visible lighting from her position on the second floor. She frowned. Things just weren't adding up. Why couldn't she detect who or what this person was? Why were they deliberately hiding their presence here? She growled slightly under breath. She hated being at a disadvantage.

She crept down the hallway to the top of the staircase. Peering down into the darkness she could make out no movement, or anything remotely suspicious. Her sensitive nose did pick up a slight scent wafting up the stairs. She raised an eyebrow. It smelled like cooked vegetables.

She made her way cautiously down the staircase, keeping her senses on high alert. She followed the increasing scent along the ground floor hallway, nearing the source. As she turned a corner she stopped. There was a dim light source emanating from behind a partially closed door at the end of the hall.

She slipped silently towards the room she believed to be the kitchen and placed her hand on the door, preparing to open it quickly.

“Excuse me?”

If Arlena had been anything other than a vampire, and a pureblood at that, she would have jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice behind her. Instead, she spun around, her hand poised to strike the fool who had snuck up on her. As she did so, she could swear the male who was now in front of her let an `eek' pass his lips. He raised his hands in a calming manner. Arlena paused mid-way through her strike, strangely disarmed by this man's behaviour.

“I didn't mean to startle you.” The man's voice sounded sincere enough.

Arlena narrowed her eyes, taking in the slightly dishevelled long, light brown hair that was tied back behind the man's head, his widened light brown, almost amber eyes that were a little distorted by his glasses, his lean build. Arlena guessed the man to be in his thirties, though his eyes seemed to belong to one who was much older. He looked weary, worn out. Everything about this man screamed unthreatening, but something within her told her to be wary, to not let her guard down around him.

“Who are you?” she hissed at him.

The man let out a small chuckle. “I should be the one asking that. You're the one who snuck into my home.”

Arlena couldn't deny the man's logic, but she was in no mood to act the sociable guest. She wondered where he got his confidence from. No normal human would act so laid back around an intruder. Still, introducing herself would do no harm.

“I am Arlena Lowe,” she stated simply.

The man raised his eyebrows. “Oh, then it is a pleasure, Miss Lowe.” He dropped his hands to his side and swept into a low bow. “I am Kaien Cross.”

Arlena took an involuntary step back. This man's attitude was really setting her off-balance. He seemed to know of her, and that name, Cross, sounded very familiar to her.

He straightened back up with a smile on his face. “Well then, shall we get some tea?”

For once in her life, Arlena was speechless. The last thing she had expected the house's resident to be was amiable towards her, let alone offering to sit down and drink tea with her. The first thing that crossed her mind was that this was some form of trap or ploy. Yet, she couldn't sense any other presence nearby, and felt no hostility from this Cross. She shrugged. If the man was planning anything to harm her, she would deal with it when the time came. First, she would try and get some information from him. She nodded at the brunette, who smiled at her in return. He walked past her and into the room she had been about to enter earlier.

She followed him and entered a very clean and rather well-equipped kitchen. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the house she had seen so far. Cross motioned to a stool by the large central work surface with a mumbled `please', as he busied himself preparing the tea.

Arlena perched herself on top of the stool and leant her arms on the unit in front of her, her gaze never leaving the back of the mysterious man. She smirked as she looked over his apparel. He was wearing an overly large cardigan and baggy trousers, making him look older than he appeared to be. Though the impression this man gave off was that he was indeed a lot older than he seemed. He was definitely human though, so that shouldn't have been possible.

Cross turned and walked towards the central unit with a tray in hand. He set it on the table and motioned towards the teapot, cups, sugar and milk.

“I'm not sure how you like it, so please, help yourself.”

Arlena took a cup from the tray and set it before her. Grasping the teapot, she poured herself some of the steaming liquid. The aroma was pleasant and she allowed herself to smile a little. She set the pot back down and nodded at the man.

“Thank you.”

Cross grinned at her. “Ah, so not one for accompaniments then?”

Arlena met the brunette's gaze. She was sure there was a double meaning in there somewhere. “No.”

The man continued to smile at her, seemingly innocently. “So, what brings you to my humble abode?”

The pureblood looked away briefly. She wondered how much she should reveal to this man, if anything at all. How forthcoming would his answers be if she blatantly lied?

She turned back to Cross.

“Well, I recently met someone who I believe is an acquaintance of yours. After looking into his history, I discovered he stayed here for quite some time. I thought you might be interested in knowing.” It was close enough to the truth to not sound like a complete lie.

Cross raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Who might that be?”

Arlena studied the other man's face carefully as she replied. “Zero Kiryu.”

She was utterly surprised when the man didn't react whatsoever. He simply stared at her for a few moments. Finally, he parted his lips to speak. “Who?”

Arlena clenched her jaw. She was sure this man knew exactly who she was referring to. “Silver haired young man, tattoo on his neck, about this tall.” She demonstrated with a motion of her hand.

Realisation seemed to dawn on Cross' face. “Oh! I think I know who you're talking about. Zero, eh? Was that his name?” He paused as if in thought. “My my, looks like my memory isn't what it used to be.”

Arlena frowned. Was Cross deliberately trying to irritate her?

“You said you'd met him recently? How's the little rascal doing?” The grin was back on Cross' face.

Arlena decided to play along for now. “Not well. He appears to be rather suicidal.”

“Eh?” The man's expression appeared confused.

“You wouldn't happen to know why that would be, would you?”

Cross frowned, concern creasing his forehead. “No... he was fine when he was here, from what I can remember.”

Arlena was sure he was lying. How was she going to get the information out of him? Beat it from him? No, he didn't seem the sort to relent under torture. Time for a different strategy.

“I see. That is a shame. It appears you will be no help with his current predicament then.”

The brunette's gaze suddenly intensified. “What do you mean?”

“I mentioned he was suicidal, yes? Well, he appears to have tried to attack someone in a rather powerful position. It proved unsuccessful and he's being held captive. This person has some ties to his past and is keeping him alive for some reason. I was hoping to find some information as to the link so I could use it as leverage to free him.”

Cross' usual carefree expression seemed to dissolve, replaced with a serious and almost threatening one. “And why would a pureblood wish to insert herself into such matters?”

Arlena's mouth dropped open. What? How the hell? She pushed herself hastily away from the central unit, knocking the stool over in the process. She quickly reclaimed her composure, straightening herself and glaring at the man.

“What are you talking about?”

The brunette stood opposite her, leaning lightly against the unit, his gaze locked with her own. He didn't reply. And then realisation hit. Cross! Kaien Cross! How on earth could she have forgotten? The reputed top vampire hunter of his time. His time... several decades ago, before...

Arlena's eyes widened. Just how old was he? And how had one of his stature managed to evade the purging?

“Are you going to answer my question, Miss Lowe?” Cross' voice was level.

The pureblood's mind was reeling, but she had enough of her wits to answer the man. “He is unique. It would be a shame to see his life wasted.”

He turned away from her. “I see.”

Arlena wondered if the man had a death wish, knowing that she was a pureblood and turning his back to her.

“You... How are you still alive?” It wasn't the sort of question she would normally blurt out, but she couldn't help herself.

Cross turned back towards her, a grin back on his face. He brought a finger to his lips. “Shh, don't tell anyone.”

She half expected the man to wink at her. Thankfully, he didn't.

“I suppose we have a lot to discuss, Miss Lowe. Shall we retire to my study? It will be more comfortable there.”

Arlena eyed him suspiciously.

“Alright,” she replied hesitantly.

* * *

Zero hadn't seen Kaname for several days since their `kissing' incident. This had surprised him. Was the pureblood really following his wishes? Still, the lack of interaction between them wasn't exactly helping him discover anything of value.

He was still visiting the gym every day, and had already been earlier this evening. He had even taken to visiting one of the libraries frequently, reading through the many volumes that were stored there. There was so much information that it was difficult to sieve through, though. It would take an eternity to find something of relevance, let alone learn enough to piece together whatever the pureblood was up to. No, the best source of information was Kaname himself.

With that in mind, Zero was now walking around the expansive estate, hoping to bump into the pureblood. He was damned if he was going to ask one of the staff where the brunette was. He didn't want to come across as eager. No, an `accidental' meeting would suit just fine.

As he traversed the main building, he came to realise the atmosphere of the place felt oppressive. The occasional staff member he walked past didn't seem to be overly stressed, not that he was expert on vampire body language, but something was definitely out of place.

As he entered the foyer for perhaps the third time that night, he noticed Aidou walking towards him. Their eyes met.

“Ah, Kiryu.”

Zero simply nodded at him, keeping any bitter retorts firmly behind his clenched teeth.

The noble moved to walk past him, as if their conversation were over, but then he abruptly stopped by his side.

“I believe you've not seen Kaname for a few days. Perhaps now would be a good time?”

Zero scowled at the blonde. “What's going on?”

Aidou smirked in response. “Oh, it appears Kaname is in a bit of a bad mood. He seems to have a soft spot for you though. I really think you should go see him.”

Bad mood? That didn't sound enticing...

“In fact, I insist.” Aidou took hold of Zero's arm lightly and started guiding him to the stairs. “Everyone's been so nice to you. I think it's about time to repay some of that kindness.”

Zero shrugged out of the noble's grip. “Don't touch me,” he growled.

Aidou's amiable expression faded. “Listen. You know I don't like you, but I can't think of anyone else who'd be able to go in there and talk to him without losing a limb, so do us all a favour?”

Zero was positive that the noble's intentions weren't entirely honest, but he really did want to speak with Kaname. He had to get a rapport going and the sooner the better. This was probably not the best situation to do that, but if he managed to improve Kaname's mood and gain the thanks of the other vampires on the estate, it would make his life so much easier.

“Fine,” Zero muttered.

Aidou grinned and started walking up the stairwell. “Follow me then.”

He did just that, trailing the noble by a few paces, up the stairs and along several corridors, until the blonde stopped before a sturdy wooden door.

“This is Kaname's room. He's all yours.”

Zero glared at Aidou's choice of words. He watched the blonde smile and walk slowly away. He could swear he heard a chuckle as he turned the corner of the corridor.

Now he was standing outside the pureblood's room, he could feel his presence on the other side of the door. His aura was intensely bleak. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He would not be intimidated by Kaname.

He raised his hand and knocked firmly on the door. Zero waited for several moments, but there was no response. He knocked again and heard a hissed `enter'. He twisted the door knob and opened the door. Stepping inside, he surveyed the room. It was a spacious living area, with an adjoining bedroom.

“Close the door.”

Zero followed the voice to its source. Kaname was sat in front of a desk close to a large window, a chess board before him. He followed the instruction and shut the door behind him.

He took a few more steps into the room before stopping when the pureblood spoke once more. “What are you doing here?”

Zero's gaze took in the brunette's features. He was wearing his usual calm expression, but it looked infinitely colder than the times he had seen it before. Indeed. What was he doing here? He suddenly felt that maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.

Kaname glanced up from the chess board, impatience expressed in his brown eyes. “I gave strict instructions to not be disturbed.”

Anger flared up within Zero. He wasn't one of the pureblood's mindless minions, to be ordered around upon his every whim.

“I must've missed the memo,” he retorted, sarcastically.

Kaname stood abruptly, knocking several of the chess pieces on the board over, his eyes flaring crimson. Zero's heart jumped in his chest.

“You came here to deliberately goad me?” The pureblood's voice was restrained.

Zero stared at the brunette. He was seriously angry, nothing like he had seen before, not even in Arlena's cell. But Zero too was angry. Kaname had no right to take his ire out on others. He took several steps forward, his teeth clenched.

“No. I was asked to come here because you've got everyone else in the building scared half to death.”

Kaname stalked out from behind the desk and towards Zero. He stopped in front of him. “And you're the good Samaritan?”

Zero stared defiantly back into the pureblood's eyes. “Looks like I'm the only one with the balls to stand up to you.”

Kaname's hand shot up to the ex-human's throat and gripped tightly. “You're the only one who's stupid enough. There's a reason I asked not to be disturbed.”