Tangled Fates {Tokyo Ghoul/Seraph of the End}

Chapter 7

A slim, sliver haired figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Aha!" Ferid Bathory laughed. "I have been waiting for you... My poor little lambs."

Mika stared, shell-shocked as he stared up at the vampire.

"Yes. That look!" Ferid sang. "That expression on a human's face when hope turns to despair. That is the reason why I keep playing this little game."

Mika's eyes widened in horror. Hide backed away, herding the younger children away from the vampire.

"Game?" Yu whispered. "This was all a trap?"

Before their eyes, Ferid disappeared. A small sound of pain resounded behind them.

"Wha...?" Hide whispered in confusion. The girl who had been holding his hand only moments ago had disappeared.

He whirled around and saw Ferid dropping a small body to the ground.

"Aw, it's dead." Ferid sighed in disappointment. "Looks like I drank too much."

Hide's face contorted into a horrified expression. "N-no..."

"YOU BASTARD!" Yu screamed, whipping a gun out of his pocket. He shot the bullet with incredible precision and it flew directly at the vampire.

Moving so fast that he seemed to teleport, Ferid leapt to the side, dodging the bullet.

"He... dodged it?" Yu whispered.

"Oh dear, is that my gun?" Ferid sighed. His grin reappeared. "How exciting! You still have the spirit to fight! In that case, why don't I give you a shard of hope? You see... that map is real. If you run straight down that corridor, you will exit to the outer world. Once outside, I will have difficulty following you."

"Of course, you'll have to get past me first. I wonder... what will your screams sound like?"

A brief moment of silence followed. Yu gritted his teeth.

"RUN!" He yelled. "We'll hold him off! Sprint for the exit!"

No one moved, shock written across their young faces.

"GO!!!" Yu screamed.

Everyone broke from their stupor, dashing for the exit. Ferid only smirked.

Yu whirled around. "We just need to buy them enough time to-"

A choked scream reached their ears. Yu whirled around, watching a now headless body slump to the ground.

"No..." Mika whispered. "Stop..."

Yu and Hide's screamed intertwined, echoing through the chamber as Ferid dashed to another fleeing child, piercing his hand through the boy's chest.

Ferid's eyes drifted away from the slaughter and towards the side corridor that held Prisoner 240. He then looked down at his arm, where a would lay still tender and slowly healing.

'Injuries caused by those ghoul teeth really take forever to heal.' Ferid thought, slightly irked. 'Even so, it'll be worth it if 240 does his job correctly. Jason should be there with him now...'

Thirty minutes earlier~

Echoing footsteps reached Kaneki's ears.

In the years he had spent in that chamber, Kaneki unintentional memorized the sounds of his visitor's footsteps. The heavy echoes of Jason's leather soles. The quiet, quick tapping of the nameless assistants that fed him blood through a tube. The sharp, purposeful clicks of Krul's heels. And of course, the light, rhythmic walk of Ferid Bathory.

Kaneki stared down at his feet as the footsteps grew closer. Without looking up, he asked, "What do you want, Ferid?" Kaneki's throat burned as he spoke, the words coming out shakily, yet still emotionlessly.

The silver-haired man smirked. "What a cold greeting. And after I came all this way to make you a deal."

Kaneki looked up, his cold, apathetic gaze meeting Ferid's. "Why would I trust you?"

"Because I could kill your family any time I felt like it." He answered simply.

Kaneki strained against his chains, leaning towards Ferid. "Don't. You. Touch them." He whispered coldly.

Ferid smiled. "That's what I'm here to discus. I need you to do me a favor. In return, you and your precious family will receive freedom and allowed to leave this place."

Kaneki looked up at him. "I'm listening."

"Jason's become a nuisance and has been gaining too much influence here. Unfortunately, if I kill him, both Krul and his followers will turn on me. Eat my flesh and kill Jason. Once you break free, you can go get your family and you may leave without restraint. Fail, and your family dies, starting with the loud orange one."

Kaneki hesitated, thinking it through. Ferid would have to make the first move by giving him flesh. After that, he would have the power to break free and fight Jason with his own power. There would be no room for Ferid to betray him, up until the promise of not being pursued. But by then, he'd already have been given a greater chance than he's had in years.

"I'll do it." Kaneki agreed.

Ferid's smiled widened. "Excellent. If make a move before Jason comes back, your family is dead." He remained.

Kaneki nodded, and Ferid extended an arm to Kaneki.

Without hesitation, kaneki bit into the flesh. For the first time in years, Kaneki felt something dangerous growing inside him.

Hope.