Vampire Knight: Redemption

A Blood Red Journal

Chapter 7 (Ashley)

"Ashley I know the stitches are gone now, but you still have a broken ankle. Don't overdo it." Parker warned as he lowered the x-Ray. I sat on a hospital bed swinging my feet listening to him.

"I know, I know." I got off the bed and smiled at him. He sighed.

"Do you need painkillers?" He asked and I pulled the bottle out of my pocket.

"I'm good." I said as I shook it. He took it and opened it.

"You've only used a fourth of the bottle?" He questioned.

"You know I'm good with pain." I countered. He sighed.

"Good thing you aren't on antibiotics." I thought I heard him murmur. He handed the bottle back to me. "Be very careful." He warned.

"Relax, I'll be fine." I replied. I slipped them back into my pocket and headed to the elevator. That took me longer than it should have, since I was still using a crutch. Once I stepped out of the lobby I paused. I had the rest of the day off from school, since it was a Sunday, and debated what to do with it.

"Oh yeah. I wanted a journal to start keeping track of everything that has gone on lately." I remembered. I smiled and started limping, but I did not know where I was heading toward. After wandering for a little while I came across a bookstore, a bookstore I had never seen before.

I slipped inside and was surprised to see no one else there. A small bell dinged as the door shut behind me and I jumped. I laughed under my breath at myself for being silly and moved through the store, brushing my fingers over the spines of some of the books I knew. They had a nice selection of books: I was quite surprised to see that they had a lot of modern books as well as plenty of classics.

"Can I help you find anything?" An older man came up to me with a smile.

"Hi. Oh... um... I'm looking for a journal." I said.

"Follow me." The man led me to the back wall where there was an entire shelf of what I guessed were journals. Some I dismissed immediately as they were to flashy, but my eyes were drawn to the bottom shelf which was lined with old fashioned leather journals.

Almost hidden in the corner was a navy blue journal with a crest engraved on it and a silver lock. It took me a moment to crouch down and pull out the journal, but as I ran my fingers on the cover I knew I wanted it. "Does this open?" I asked the store man.

"It does. I'll fetch the key if you'll wait here a moment." He said before slipping away. I looked back at the journal and traced the crest. There were two distinct parts: a crescent moon with a snake wound around it. It looked like some kind of family crest.

There was nothing engraved on the back, but I did notice there seemed to be a pattern stained into the leather. It was faded or it may have been rubbed out: I couldn't tell. The pattern itself was almost certainly deliberately put there by someone, but it was impossible to distinguish exactly what they had put.

"Here is the key." I jumped at the old man's voice and had to take a moment to recover before I could stand.

"Thank you." I took the key and went to open the journal but the man placed his hand over the cover.

"Wait until later to open it." He said.

"Only after I buy it you mean?" I questioned.

"Yes, only I'm going to give it to you for free." He said.

That surprised me. "Really? Why?" I asked.

He smiled. "You seem like an avid reader. Just come by and get books here and I'll consider it even." He said and I smiled.