Once Upon a Vampire's Dreams

The New Arrival

The girl woke up to cold air on her face. She'd never felt something
so refreshing before. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw
were the stars winking down at her from the inky blackness. The stars
were all she'd dreamed them to be. Yes, when she was young she had
seen them from the window in the room she had been kept in, but that
had been many years ago and was nothing like seeing them now.

She looked up at the vampire who was carrying her. She could get a
better look at him now that Claude wasn't shoving her face in the
carpet. He looked sad, she could see it in his eyes. It was a deep
sadness, soul deep and aching. He blamed himself for something he
couldn't have changed.

The vampire must have felt her looking at him for he looked down and
smiled when he saw she was awake. "Hello. My name is Kaname Kuran," he
said in a velvety voice. "Do you have a name?"

The girl shrugged and shook her head. If she'd had a name, she had
never known it. Most people called her "Girl" or "Hey, you."

Kaname smiled sadly. "I was afraid so. Do you mind if I call you
Claudia?" he asked.

The girl shrugged. Claudia was as good a name as any, she guessed.
Claudia reached up and gently tugged on the collar of Kaname's white
jacket.

He looked down at her. "What is it?"

She pointed down at the ground.

Kaname frowned. "Are you sure? You're pretty badly injured."

Claudia nodded vigorously. Sure her injuries hurt, but it was nothing
she hadn't dealt with before. It was normally much worse.

As Kaname set Claudia on her feet, she saw an enormous building loom
through the darkness. It looked like a mansion, but also like a castle
at the same time. It was magnificent.

Claudia caught Kaname's attention and pointed to the building.

"That's the Moon Dormitory," Kaname explained. He elaborated as he saw
her confused expression. "You're at Cross Academy. There are two
classes: the Night Class and the Day Class. The Night Class is made up
of vampires and the Day Class is all humans and doesn't know that the
Night Class are vampires."

Claudia nodded. Then she pointed to herself, then to the Moon
Dormitory and looked at Kaname, tilting her head in confusion.

"I asked the Headmaster to enroll you in the Night Class. I hope
that's all right. If you want, you can transfer to the Day Class if it
makes you more comfortable," Kaname told her.

Claudia shook her head. She had more experience with vampires than
humans. The only contact she'd had with humans was the occasional
servant. At least she knew where she stood with the vampires.

Claudia followed Kaname up the steps of the dormitory. The doors were
huge, towering above her head. Kaname grasped the handle and opened
the door. The hinges gave a hollow squeak that Claudia heard echo
through the building.

"Welcome home, Lord Kaname," a golden- haired vampire said. He had
bright green eyes and seemed like a very easy-going person.

Claudia peered around Kaname's arm. Her eyes widened. Sitting on the
low, red velvet couches were vampires. Lots of vampires.

Takuma noticed Claudia. He smiled. "Who's this?"

Claudia clutched Kaname's sleeve and ducked behind him. She knew
Kaname said the class was full of vampires, but she didn't think
there'd be so many!

Kaname looked down at her. "This is Claudia. She's joining the Night Class."

"Wonderful," Takuma said. "My name is Takuma Ichijo."