Vampire Knight: Punishment ((COMPLETE))

12- Suffering

Croy appeared by Lee's side on the night-class balcony, his eyes wide with shock. This was unusual for a vampire; they usually stay calm and collected. Lee wasn't in the slight bit surprised. He looked back at Croy with understanding.

"Now you know the truth," Lee said coldly. 

Croy sputtered, "B-But how? Chalice...Chalice died! Lee, she died!..Did she not?"

Lee sighed, looking away from him. All the vampires in the night-class were probably listening in. It was time to tell them. It was time for everything to unravel. He gazed up at the full moon just peeking out of the treeline outside. 

"You know little about the story." Lee turned to face Croy. "Long ago, the vampires discovered a child of Sara and Ouri, two Pureblood vampires. Before Ouri was murdered, of course. Sara kept the girl in hiding. She had one of her aristocrat followers raise her. Sara named her Chalice. Well, that's the only thing you do know. That aristocrat servant was your mother, wasn't she?" 

Croy was silent, remembering playing with Chalice when they were kids. How she was so beautiful. So bright. How could he not see it? Blake looked almost exactly like her.

"You also know the Kurans, Kaname and Yuki, were good friends of your father's. So it wasn't a surprise when they took me with them to daily visits. My father wanted me the marry Chalice. It was neither of our choices, but we had no problem with that, of course." Lee trembled. "Yuki and father were slaughtered by humans. Chalice lived far away, still being raised by your mother. I...I was so angry. I lost control. I murdered hundreds of humans. It got to the point where I wouldn't even drink their blood. The council heard of this...they had me attend their court, and they later sentenced me to death." Lee stopped, taking a deep breath to gain control of his emotions before he finished his story. Anger shone bright in his eyes, threatening to rip someone to shreds. 

"Word traveled quickly, but Chalice was quicker than that. Her powers were amazing. She was already halfway across the countrysides when my sentence was decided. She was smart, strong, beautiful, and terribly quick.

"They held the knife to my neck. That silver knife with the roses, marking my death. Just before they swung, Chalice took the hit, her life ending right before me. I sat there, staring at her for almost three days. The Council said Chalice had served my sentence, my punishment, for me. She had taken her life to save my own," Lee hissed, his anger and cruelty showing on his perfect, slender face. "She was stupid! Just stupid! She took my punishment..." Tears fell from his face.

"But it turns out I inherited my grandmother's ability. I was able to bring her back...but the Council had their own abilities. They decided to take partial mercy on Chalice since they thought well of her. She was reincarnated into..." He forced himself to say, "a human." 

Croy's eyes were wide. Leesa was behind the door, listening in. Chalice!...Chalice is actually Blake?! Leesa thought of all the times she had hated Blake. Jealously. Anger. But Blake had been pure of blood all along. It made her feel small compared to her. That was why Lee was so lonely. Why he wouldn't love her. She'd never have been considered. Anya heard of this story, smiling insanely. She had known all along. 

Croy trembled. "How...how could you stand being alone for all these years?"

Lee stared up at the sky. "Because..all along I knew as many times as I suffered over her, she was suffering a thousand times more."

"How do we bring her back?"

The Pureblood smiles, his eyes shimmering with pain. "I've started the first of the process. Piercing her neck. She's slowly remembering, but it's her choice whether she wants to unleash the vampire inside her. If she doesn't, her mind will spiral into chaos and insanity. I sense she's suffering now." He stands, breathing in. "It's time. It all goes down tonight."

Blake lay on the floor of her bedroom, trying to breathe. What was happening? She was in so much pain. Her mind didn't have a minute of break. Thoughts, images, pictures raced through her head. She suffering. Blake felt something inside of her. Growing. Slowly. She was the only one who could unleash it. It was the true her. She was ready.