Blood Rose (Midnight Rose Sequel)

Chapter 15: The Visitor

Two months had passed since the whole mess had started. Two months, two Hunter's Moons have passed by now. And things felt like they had only gotten worse.

The routine was still the same. Maki would hide and barricade herself in Kaito's room, and Kaito would be chained and locked up in the basement with some animal blood so he could consume some blood. The routine was the same, but that didn't mean that things had gotten better. Kaito still screamed at random points in the night, but that wasn't the worst of it. He started to hallucinate and he would black out a couple of times. When he came back from blacking out, he'd find himself healing after injuring himself after struggling so much. He keeps hurting himself unintentionally and his behaviour seemed to be even more unpredictable the morning after the Hunter's Moon. He also noticed that a coupe of links in the chains looked like, they were ready to snap. His dark instincts were getting more and more out of control, and he needs to stop it before it gets worse.

And all too soon, the Hunter's Moon would return in one day.

Breakfast was almost too tense for everyone in the household. No one wanted to stay silent, but they didn't know how to start a conversation either. There was food on the table, but no one could eat that much of anything. It was a challenge to even try. No one could think about anything else other than the Hunter's Moon. They all knew that Kaito was becoming more unpredictable. There was a risk that he would break free this time. Kenzo was contemplating on staying down in the basement to try to keep Kaito calm. However, he had a feeling that Kaito would refuse the offer, no matter what. He didn't want to risk harming his family after all. Maki didn't want to leave him down there for another night, but she didn't know what she could do. She wanted to make sure that those nights of terrors end for good. Everyone at the table kept going through thoughts like these over and over again, until they heard something. At first they thought that it was nothing, but then it got louder. It was something like a rumbling noise.

"What's that sound? An engine?" Yuuta finally asked, looking towards the window. She wasn't wrong. It did sound like an engine of a vehicle. But that can't be right. Not that many people, other than the delivery service, come out here. In fact, hardly anyone in the nearby town knew that the house existed. Suddenly feeling like he was on high alert, Kaito stood up and went towards the window. Maki followed his example, mentally preparing herself for a possible fight. They stood there, waiting as the rumbling sound grew a little louder. There was about a few more seconds before their postures relaxed.

"Kaito?" Kenzo asked, his voice full of warning of any potential danger.

"You've got to kidding me." Kaito sighed again, suddenly leaving to get to the door.

"Who is it?" Kenzo asked again as he and Yuuta approached the window.

"An acquaintance." Maki simply said before she followed Kaito. The elders looked out the window, seeing someone dismounting a motorbike as Kaito approached the rider.

"Can't get you off my back, can I?" Kaito shouted as he got closer. He stopped a few feet away from the bike with Maki stopping next to him.

"Not a fucking chance, kid. Just checking up on things." Mondo smirked. He looked like he was glad to see that both students had made it safely to their destination. It didn't go without saying that Kaito was quite glad to see the biker. It could mean possible good news in regarding to the Vampire Hunter situation. However, he was a little nervous as well. He didn't want to drag anyone else into the dark instincts problem, but he might not be able to avoid it. He could try, but he had doubts that it would happen. Besides, maybe Mondo knew of a way to help.

"So, what's happening back at the city? Is it safe to go back yet?" Maki asked, getting straight to the point without batting an eyelid.

"Not yet. Kyoko's workin' her ass off to deal with the Vampire Hunters." Mondo sighed, lowering his head and causing his pompadour to hide half of it. Kaito and Maki remain silent as he continued. "There's progress, but it's slow. Still too risky for you both to go back to school. Just gotta hold out a little bit longer." It wasn't the news that they were hoping for. They honestly believed that Mondo would come with better news than that. Seemed like the chaos was still going on. At least the problem was being dealt with, albeit slowly.

Mondo was about to add something else, but then he went silent as he looked up. Kaito felt tense as he had a feeling as to what the vampire was doing. He was taking in the weary and worried looks from the elders. They had a reason to be worried because he was a stranger but something else seemed to be wrong. Kaito and Maki did look happy to see him and grim from the bad news, but Kaito seemed to flinch away a little from the human as she tried to place a hand on his shoulder. It was like he was afraid to be touched by her. Or her being too close to him. There was also some sort of tension that seemed to cause more suspicion to the biker. And then Mondo spotted the two small hole like scars on Maki's neck. And knew immediately where they had come from.

"Okay. What the fuck is goin' on here?" He demanded, glaring at Kaito. The student internally groaned. 'Here we go again.' Was all that he thought.

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Everything was explained all over again, this time to Mondo. Everyone gave themselves a shared amount of time to answer as the vampires and human sat at the dining table. The hot drinks that were made, had gone stone cold. No one left out any details or tried to sagar coat anything. All the details from the ambush in the forest, to Kaito's imprisonment and behaviour during the Hunter's Moon were told all too clearly. Nothing was missed out. Mondo didn't say anything, but judging by the look on his face, he was ready to explode and tear Kaito a new one as he occasionally glared at the student. It looked like it took everything he had to not charge at Kaito right then and there. He sat there silently, which made Kaito worry even more as the seconds ticked by. He even stuttered over a few of his words when it was his turn to talk.

"Son of a bitch." Mondo muttered the second that everyone finished explaining what had happened. Before anyone could stop him, he suddenly got up and stomped over to Kaito. He didn't have any time to react as he was suddenly grabbed by the hair and was forcefully dragged from his seat.

"OW! HEY!" Kaito yelped, feeling like if he didn't move, his hair would be ripped right off of his scalp.

"Excuse me, young man!" Kenzo shouted after them, shocked and appalled by this sudden action. Mondo didn't listen and proceeded to drag Kaito out of the house. Kaito stumbled to keep up as he tried to pry the hand off of his hair. Maki rushed out after them, ready to fight against Mondo. They had gotten a good distance from her, stopping right at Mondo's motorbike.

"Mondo! What-" Kaito shouted, still staggering to keep up with the older vampire until Mondo suddenly let go. Kaito let out a groan as he was finally freed from the tight grip that the biker had on him.

"Get on." The biker ordered, mounting his bike.

"What?" Kaito exclaimed, rubbing his scalp tenderly.

"Get on the fucking bike!" Mondo demanded, his voice like venom.

"Okay, okay. Mind telling me why though." Kaito whined and he hesitantly mounted the bike. He had a bad feeling about this. Mondo didn't answer the student. He only briefly looked at Maki, who was now charging towards them, her face looking dark. He normally doesn't show when he feels it, however he couldn't help but feel scared by the human suddenly coming towards him. He immediately turned on the engine and without warning, sped off, giving Kaito only a split second to hang on to him.

Maki tried to take off after them, but she wasn't fast enough. By time she reached where the vehicle had been parked, they had already disappeared all too fast down the road. She barely heard Kaito shouting at Mondo over the roar of the engine. She wanted to chase after them, but she had no chance of chasing down a motorbike that was clearly over the speed limit. Despite the urge to chase after them, Maki reminded still for another reason. Kaito trusts Mondo in a way, and Maki trusted him too after he helped to sneak them out of the city. She had a feeling that Kaito would be okay.

But if he wasn't, Mondo had better watch his back.