Bloody Petals

Chapter 29

Zero woke up feeling a little more than lightheaded. He felt like he had a fever but he knew it was something else. It felt like the time when his power wanted to get out of his body but also knew that it was something else this time. It was something bigger, something more deadly and more painful.

"Zero, there's nothing wrong with you... That feeling you have is because of the fact that your hunter blood is waging another war with your vampire blood. And I believe... your vampire blood is winning."

He could still hear Kaname's soft but cool voice as the latter whispered those very words in his ear. He fisted his fingers on his shirt as he felt the nerve-wracking pain that shot out throughout his chest up to his head. He felt like his head and his heart would be cracked open. He wanted to scream in pain but vaguely remembered that he was in the Moon Dorm, not to mention he was currently on his way to eat dinner... no, breakfast. He felt so hungry somehow and he thought that eating might ease a little of the pain his body was in right now.

"Good morning, Kiryuu-sama. Um, are you alright..?" An unknown voice greeted him from behind.

Zero, despite the pain continuously racking his system, knew by instinct to appear cool and composed in front of the vampire as if nothing was wrong.

He turned his head over his shoulder and greeted the vampire as well. "Good morning." He didn't need to address the vampire's question too. It was obvious that he was fine only from the way he stood straight in front of the other male. The vampire blinked and bowed before walking past him. Zero waited for another minute before he started walking again, this time more careful of his surroundings than earlier.

As he wandered the long hallway of the third floor and descended down the stairs to the second floor, he came up with a rather lonely thought. Was Kaname always like that..? The pureblood was taught how to act in front of other vampires, especially in front of his subordinates. No one should be aware whether he was hurting or not since it could be very dangerous if someone were to use that opportunity to harm him more. He also mustn't expose his weaknesses, or any other negative trait, in front of anyone to protect his pride and dignity as a pureblood. That meant that even if the pureblood was in pain or sadness, no one would actually notice anything... No one would come and comfort him... No one... There was no one he could rely on... to wipe away the pain and sadness for him...

"Ah, Kiryuu... sama." Zero wore his usual scowl the moment he heard the voice.

"What do you want, Aido..?" He said as he descended the stairs down to the first floor. What greeted him were the rather grim faces of the noble vampires in the living room. He felt his heart immediately filled with dread as he readied for another end-of-the-world news. His eyes immediately searched for the pureblood among the noble sitting together in the couches but didn't find him anywhere. Fortunately, he felt Kaname's presence in the kitchen. It eased the dread in his heart. However, there was a strange smell in the atmosphere that he couldn't put his nose on. That made his eyebrows furrow even more.

"Kaname-sama is in the kitchen... if you're looking for him." Aido merely voiced.

He narrowed his eyes at Aido, scrutinizing the blonde for anything suspicious, but the noble vampire gave nothing away. The hunter sighed to himself as he walked past the blonde.

"Kiryuu, I mean, Zero-sama, you should pray before you eat breakfast." Zero's head turned in the direction of Kain's voice. The redhead looked very serious so the hunter seriously doubted that the former was messing with him. And Kain wasn't the type to tease people. So what the hell did he mean by 'pray before you eat'?

"Akatsuki!! You should get punished for your rudeness!!" Aido's booming voice made Zero turn to the blonde. He was in pain, it was early in the morning for him, and he just had an annoying nightmare. Could Aido get any louder?