Yuto stood in front of the cell. It was his second time staring at the prisoner. The prisoner was slumped on the floor. Beside her are empty plates of food and cups of water.

“I can see that you are well-fed.” He commented.

The prisoner smiled at him. He could make out the pretty face and astonishing smile despite the dirt that had covered her.

“But then I could still make use of your blood.” She commented.

Yuto snickered. “As if  I will allow you to take anymore.”

The prisoner laughed weakly. “I could always call for it.”

Yuto gritted his teeth. “Call it, for all I care. I would rather die of blood lost rather than give it to you.”

The prisoner stared at him. “What a noble intention you have there. But of course I know that you know that I would not do that to you, simply because, I know that you know that you have huge worth for me. I can’t afford to loose you. I will still use you well.”

“And you intend to do that by taking over my mind? Is that it?”

“Oh, I can definitely do that if I want to. But not now, probably some other time.”

Yuto stared at her in contempt. Why was he blessed with such a vampire, of all? “Suit yourself but I will make sure that I’ll be dead before you can even do that to me.”

“Oh, such suicidal boy. I am getting fond of you every minute, you know.” The vampire said smiling at him.

“I don’t care.” Yuto answered and walked away.

“I already told you to stay away from the prisoner.” Yuki hissed as Yuto passed her.

“I know!”

“You are stubborn. Let us see where your hard head will bring you.” She commented.

Yuto nodded. “Yes! Let us see!”

Yuri found himself swinging alone in the playground. The park had been empty for days. Nobody attempted to go out anymore let alone let their children play outside. Since the vampires were at large, people had kept to themselves, they didn’t want to trust anyone else but themselves.

Yuri couldn’t really blame them. He couldn’t even feel of trusting himself. He was the dreamer but he didn’t even know how to use it into his advantage.

“Chinen Yuri.” A voice called from his back.

“Yes?” He didn’t need to look back to the voice since he was well familiar with it.

“Jhenie-sama needs you.” She said.

“Do you know that it is dangerous for you to be out here?” he asked.

“So to you.”

Yuri nodded. “Do you know that I really hate being serious?”

“Do I seem like I care?” she retorted. “Come, you are needed in the mansion.”

Yuri stood up. “Can I just tell my mom?”

She shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

Yuri took his phone and dialed his mother’s number. He had already learned how to make up so much lies. He couldn’t believe that his mother still buys them though his lies get worse and worse every time.

“What does Jhenie-sama want from me?” Yuri asked.

“If I am allowed to tell you then I could have already told you!”

“Why do you always have to be angry at me?” Yuri asked in curiosity.

“Why would I even be angry at you?” she asked.

Yuri shrugged. “How would I know that?”

Hana shook her head and led him towards the Cadillac. It was a  very silent ride towards the mansion.

“Jhenie-sama…” Hana called when she approached Jhenie. “Chinen-san is here.”

“Thank you, Hana.”

Hana bowed before going away. As she passed him, she gave him a sullen look.

“Is she always that grumpy?” he asked.

Jhenie smiled. “Only to those who are very important to him.” She answered and let him take a sit. “We’ve checked the book and no we haven’t decoded anything yet but Satomi is working in it already.”

“Satomi?”

“Yes. She had worked in the archives before. We think that she could have seen it already, somewhere.”

Yuri nodded.

“You know, Yuri-kun, I still couldn’t understand why you didn’t bring this to the hunters.”

“The group decided it.” Yuri answered.

“And what did you say about this idea?”

“I don’t have any say to this?”

Jhenie gave out a tired heave. “Very well. We will try to do our best about this.”

“Hontou ni Arigatou.” Yuri said and bowed. “If there is nothing else, I will go now and check on Kei. He is hard on himself.”

Jhenie chuckled and nodded. “Yes. You need to go and check on him. He kept on blaming himself for all that happened to Haruka.”

Yuri was consumed by loneliness as he saw Kei staring at the unconscious body of Haruka. It was an unpleasant sight. His usually glowing skin became pale and lifeless.

Yuri sighed. When was the last time Kei remembered to shave for heaven’s sake?

“Nii-chan…” Yuri called after he got tired of staring at his co-jump member.

Kei slowly looked at him to acknowledge his presence but immediately focused his attention to the vampire in front of him.

“Have you seen the weather forecast today, nii-chan.” Yuri almost scolded himself for his lame excuse of starting the conversation.

Kei shook his head but didn’t take his eyes off Haruka. Yuri felt stupid. Of course, he hadn’t seen the weather forecast. Kei haven’t even see the sun let alone watch the weather forecast.

“Yuri, do you think she will still wake up?” Kei asked after a while.

Yuri felt his heart sink at the question. “Of course nii-chan…” he answered though he was not confident in his own words.

“You are lying Chinen-kun. You also think that she will not wake up anymore.” Kei declared.

Yuri couldn’t say anything. Kei saw into him. He always knew that Kei knows him more than himself. The guy is so sensitive that he can feel the feeling of others.

“How long do you think will she stay that way?” Kei asked. “A decade, a millennium perhaps. Do you think she still need blood when she stay that way for that long?”

Yuri shrugged his shoulder. “She’ll probably get thirsty and wake up to look for her lifeline. She is hard headed, you know. Nobody can stop her.”

“Yes, she is.” Kei agreed. He sighed. “So, I’ll really just have to wait until she became thirsty then.”

Yuri tapped Kei on the back. “Don’t worry nii-chan, she’ll come around, you’ll see.”

“I hope it is soon, Chii. I hate waiting.”

DAIKI stared at Jhenie while she tapped on her computer. She might have felt his gaze as she looked up at him. “It’s rude to stare, don’t you know?”

Daiki just continued to stare at her. “I felt sorry for Kei.” He commented. “All these years I’ve seen him struggle. For everything… Popularity, is studies, being a Hunter. He juggles his time for all his activities but he never did anything half-heartedly. He always put his best to everything. He doesn’t deserve this.”

Jhenie smiled at her lifeline. “You’ve known Kei all these years so you know that he will survive this as I believe that Haruka will survive this. She had been gone through worse. She survived, and she definitely will.”

Daiki sighed and focused his attention on the ceiling. “I hope so, too. I hope we can find the rio-bios so this ordeal will end already.”

“We will. We will not let Haruka be taken away from us. Not not. Not ever.”

Daiki stood up and went behind Jhenie. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“What’s that for?” Jhenie asked.

Daiki chuckled. “Nothing, just for being there.”

Jhenie giggled at the thought. “By the way, have you figured out how to make it work.”

“Oh well, it will definitely be a big help when you are fighting.” Jhenie commented. “I’ll also look for other ways to help you.” She said.

“I don’t know. Maybe, it is just a mere coincident. Maybe, it is really you who did it unconsciously.” Daiki concluded.

“I would have felt that.”

“Well, you are unconscious, how would you feel that?”

“That’s it. I am unconscious so I wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“It is just one possibility, baby. You probably had more powers than you know.”

“No, believe me, it’s yours and not mine.”

KEITO TOOK SHIZUKA’S DAGGER FROM HIS BOOT. He toyed with the blade as he admired its silvery color. He smiled at himself as he raised the dagger towards the shining moon. He knew of the stupidity that came to him. He was a free meal laid at the bench by the park.

He was an open prey. He was defenseless. He was probably even suicidal at this point. He didn’t want to be bothered though. He couldn’t really do that.

He sighed and sat up. He stared at the dark sky. When will the night end? He wanted the answer to this question.

He clutched his chest. Even the day that he found out that blood monsters are real, his never ever beat properly. He was not as brave as his friends, nor was he better. He just wanted to go back to his guitar and finish the song that he had started before Ryutaro was gone.

Since then, he had not held that paper anymore. It laid there on top of his clean table beside the guitar that he had been using. He wiped the silvery blade of the dagger. He couldn’t even remember how many times he had admired it. It was not very HIM to like such object but he didn’t really have a choice. He needed to like these pointy objects. He needed them. He needed to use them.

Keito closed his eyes and smiled. He smelled the air. He smiled. He was really an easy target that night, alone in the deserted streets.

He sighed. He shouldn’t really have to smile at his stupidity but the stench in the air made it hilarious. He was expecting it ever since he concluded that his theory is right about that smell.

Two sets of feet landed beside him. Then two more landed at his back.

He stared at the reddish eyes of the vampires in front of him. “Are you going to drink my blood?” he asked.

The vampires snickered.

Keito laughed wholeheartedly. He spread his arms as if welcoming those who are in front of him in his arms.

The vampires stepped back. They might not have expected that he will do such a thing. Keito blinked twice. “Don’t you want me?”

“What the?!” one of the vampires in front of him gritted in anger.

“Kill him!” one at his back shouted.

He smiled anticipating the attack. He saw the two baring their teeth rushed towards him. He felt the other two leaped up and all he could see was the fast blurry movements of the monsters.

… the monsters that he once thought never existed in this world…

…the monsters that he chose to finish everything for him…