Kaito Tomoe's Story

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Kaito was calmly observing their surroundings. They were standing a top an area of shipping containers, looking down at the concrete stacked with crates and other things awaiting to be sent overseas. Beyond that was murky gray water edged in black and green; it was a place Kaito would most definitely never swim in. "Are you nervous?" He looked up when his boss addressed him, he could see that Shiro was hungry and revving for something to eat but whenever Kaito made the suggestion for him to drink his boss turned away as if the idea repulsed him. What good was Kaito if Shiro wouldn't drink his blood? It made the Ghoul feel awfully useless although he never expressed this to his employer.

"No, why would I be?" He questioned when Shiro's hand suddenly came up and pet his cheek. Kaito had braced himself for a slap as his boss could be rather unpredictable at times, but the hand was a gentle caress and Shiro's hand embrace strangely warm despite the fact that he was technically dead. Kaito nearly closed his eyes to savor the rather odd feeling, but caught himself and straightened. He looked down at the clipboard he nearly always carried in order to hide the blush that was coming across his face and wondered whatever could be going through Shiro's head.

"Stay here," Kaito looked up once more only to watch his boss take off across the shipping containers and crates, showing off his power despite his small stature. Kaito sighed and a ran hand through his blonde hair, knowing that it was going to be another long night if Shiro didn't eat something soon. Hopefully he would find a snack among the imps that were lingering below. The call of one of the pesky humans rose up to where Kaito was stationed, his voice shrill and a bit panicked as if they had not been awaiting for the young businessman. It was rather sketchy meeting out here and Kaito wondered why Shiro had ever agreed to go.

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up. It wasn't chilly, so the goosebumps were not from the cold which could only mean one other thing; they were being watched. The Ghoul took a step forward and hesitated, Shiro had told him to stay put. Should he warn the vampire? He didn't want to interrupt the meeting if it was important, but if the eyes he sensed were hunters then they could be in serious trouble. What would his father do? He tried to think, gripping the clipboard in his hands so hard that the wood creaked.

"Shiro we're being watched!" Kaito finally called, hoping that his boss could hear him over the sound of construction and forklifts that had all decided to come to life at once. He cursed and began to pace when a black elegant, slender car caught his eye. Petrov. The Ghoul froze, the very thought of seeing Shiro's father again made him feel sick to his stomach. The last time they had met Petrov had made a few passive aggressive marks about getting rid of the assistant since Shiro had only ever drank from him once. Was his boss aware that his father was here?

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So he had chosen wrong..... Kaito sighed, sometimes it felt like no matter what he did it would be the wrong thing. "Now, now Pet." Kaito's body stiffened at the familiar voice. His hands clenched around the clipboard once more as he turned towards the old vampire, Shiro's father. "You mustn't be shouting something so dangerous." It took everything Kaito had not to roll his eyes at Petrov. Shiro's laughter began to rise from below them, tickling Kaito's ears. He turned to see whatever could possibly be so funny only to catch a view of Shiro cackling and the humans backing away.

"Tell the boy, this is not the time to lose control and to meet me in the car. We have some things to discuss. Gag him with your blood if you must, just do your job." Kaito nodded his head and bowed respectfully before replying with a quick "Yes sir." Only straightening once Petrov walked away. His hands un-clenched and Kaito breathed a sigh of relief, being around that man always made him nervous. Now.... He turned towards where Shiro was preparing the lambs for the slaughter and sighed knowing his boss would not be happy with him.

Nimbly Kaito made his way down to the pavement and said from behind the vampire, "Your father has requested your presence. He's waiting for you in the car." Although he was quite calm on the exterior, there was a sense of urgency in Kaito's tone that should hopefully alert Shiro that Petrov meant business.

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They were dead, they were dead and it was all Kaito's fault! He was supposed to be standing watch, but had fallen asleep from the exhaustion of having pulled a 24 hour shift. The limo was overturned, laying on it's side with fire spilling out of the broken windows. Kaito had tried to pull the limo driver free from the wreckage to no avail and had sustained burns, cuts, and shards of glass embedding into his skin. Shiro and Petrov had not been in the vehicle, they were battling for their lives down below and as Kaito realized that the driver was already dead and turned to go assist his boss someone had hit him over the head and punched him in the stomach. With his head spinning Kaito fell to the ground and clutched his abdomen with scarred and bleeding hands, pain searing his body.

When his vision finally returned to normal Kaito saw that Shiro was struggling. He unsteadily rose to his feet and jumped down two crates to the ground level, unsheathing the knife he kept in his pockets for emergencies. Kaito fought his hardest, but they were overwhelmed and Petrov was the first to go down. The older vampire's body was mutilated to the point where it was nearly unrecognizable as him and his blood spilled into the murky water of the docks. Shiro was next, the pure white hair of his boss stained crimson and a bullet hole ripping clean through his skull. A silver bullet, a death sentence to vampires.

That was it, he was done for. They closed in around Kaito, laughing at the size of the knife he brandished. Some sort of terrible, animal like noise came from within Kaito as he fought for his life; blinded by fury and rage. One of them caught him in the back with a knife and then it was over; a whistle that sounded from their leader, calling the faithful dogs back. Kaito slid to the ground against a brown box, exhausted, confused, enraged, and saddened. His boss was dead, the father of his boss was dead and there was nowhere left for him in this world. He slid to the ground, resting his cheek against the concrete and closing his eyes; allowing the pain to wash over him. Tears pricked his amber orbs and his sobs broke the silence; mixing with the hollow sound of water lapping against the dock.

Petrov's phone began to ring and Kaito ignored it. He felt nothing for that man, in fact, Kaito was rather relieved that the old vampire was finally dead. He had been nothing but a nuisance and a bully to Shiro in the guise of acting as a faithful father who wanted nothing more then his heir to succeed. In truth he was a puppet master, pulling the strings of his favorite toy; making it jump over impossible hurdles to please him. It was Shiro's death that tore Kaito apart; he had been rather fond of his boss and even though Kaito knew he would never be as good of a Ghoul as his father, he believed he was filling in his shoes quite well; aside from the fact that Shiro refused to drink from him.

Petrov's phone finally ceased it's incessant ringing only for Shiro's to start up. Shakily Kaito rose to his feet and walked over to the body of his boss, fishing the phone out of the man's coat pocket. "You've reached Shiro's assistant Kaito, whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" He hobbled back over to the crate he had been leaning against, figuring that bleeding to death here, surrounded by the sound and smell of the ocean wouldn't be so bad.

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The voice on the phone yelled at him and Kaito winced, "It's me Carth, I'll be there as quick as I can!" Kaito hung up afterwards as there was nothing really to say to the vampire. He was familiar with Carth, he had met him once or twice but the two had never been properly introduced. Kaito dropped the phone onto his lap, his breathing coming out in short, uneven bursts. Kaito could hear the blood swimming in his lungs, his ribs crackling with every breath. Despite the intense heat coming off of the burning limo, Kaito felt cold.

He closed his eyes and waited, listening to the screech of wheels and the pounding of footsteps as the vampire approached the scene twenty minutes later. Kaito didn't move, he didn't have the energy left to lift his head up and give a proper greeting. Kaito must have given the impression of the worst ghoul ever, first allowing his master to die and now not properly greeting Carth. Quickly the vampire approached the boy, wasting no time as he hounded the ghoul with questions. "What happened? Are those two bodies Petrov and his son? How are you still alive? Kaito opened his mouth to answer and winced. The vampire seemed to understand and bit into his hand, lifting it to Kaito's lips. "Drink," Kaito did as told, feeling weird about drinking someone else's blood.

"We were ambushed by hunters. I was supposed to be standing watch but I fell asleep and they blew up the limo. There were so many of them, I tried to help Shiro and Petrov but there were so many of them. They got Petrov first, the old man didn't stand a chance and then Shiro...." Kaito trailed off as the memory was painful. Watching the seemingly invincible vampire go down like that was not something he wanted to think about. He looked over at the pile of ash that was Shiro's remains.

Tears pricked Kaito's eyes once more and he felt pathetic crying in front of someone so powerful. "What am I supposed to do? Shiro... He was the only thing I had left and I failed him." He was so pathetic, covered in blood and crying. It would be better if Carth just killed him now.

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Enoch had not returned to their flat in days. He had gone out to take care of some business two nights before the ball and with each passing day Neptune grew more and more worried. At first she had planned to wait in the apartment like he had instructed, Enoch had promised he would be back but now Neptune was beginning to doubt. Panic flooded her mind and she wondered if he was abandoning her, just like every other good person that had ever come into her life. Had she done something wrong? Was she not a good ghoul? Neptune had done everything Enoch had ever asked of her. Except two days ago when he had picked out two different shoes.... She had refused to go get the matching one because she was manning the stove to make pancakes.

But he wouldn't have left over something as silly as that... Would he?

Neptune suddenly decided that she had waited long enough, she slammed her tea cup down on the table and went up to her bedroom to change into something more suitable for traveling. She was just taking her dress off when the window exploded and glass shattered across the room; scratching her body with tiny cuts. The ghoul looked around for something to defend herself with when she remembered the silver knife under her pillow and ran for it just as someone burst in through the broken window. She pulled the knife out and held it in front of her, legs shaking as he smirked and drew a gun from his waist holster.

"You think that little knife will hurt me?" He taunted, waving around his gun and turning the safety off. "Yes." Neptune replied simply, glad that she sounded a lot more confident then she felt. Another came in through the window and whacked his partner across the back of the head. "Our orders aren't to kill it, we need the kid alive so her master will come for her."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Neptune spat, "I live alone." The two looked at her, clearly confused. They glanced back and forth between each other and the girl standing in her underwear, brandishing a knife; then burst out laughing. "I nearly fell for that," the older of the two said and stepped forward, "now come quietly and you won't get hurt." Neptune gripped the knife harder and lunged, dodging his first bullet. She plunged the knife into the first gun wielder's arm, making him drop his weapon. He screamed, cursing her out and wrestling her to the floor. She stabbed him again in the leg this time and he grappled the knife from her grip, holding it up against Neptune's throat. She kicked him between the legs, causing him to fall to the side. He moved the knife from her neck and sliced her cheek as he rolled off of her. Neptune kicked him the rest of the way off and ran for the door, his partner leveling his gun and shooting her in the leg causing Neptune to fall and a scream to erupt from her lungs.

The one Neptune had kicked in the groin stood and motioned for his partner. Neptune attempted to army crawl towards the stairs but pain shot through her body whenever she moved. They grabbed the girl and dragged her back into the room, slamming the door shut and gagging her before exiting the apartment through their preferred method; the window. Once on the ground level they tied up Neptune's arms, not bothering with her legs since they figured the bullet wound would prevent her from going anywhere.

They stuffed Neptune into the trunk of an awaiting silver car and began to drive. Neptune struggled and let out a muffled scream, sliding around as the car drove. Minutes passed, then hours in maddening silence; the only noise was that of the road under her. Finally the car stopped and her captors popped the trunk open. They were at a gas station on a back road. Neptune knew this rest stop, they weren't far from one of Enoch's vampire friends. The one Neptune had stabbed in the hand undid the gag from her mouth and offered her a bottle of water; she chugged it thirstily, not caring about the liquid that spilled onto her body. "I have to pee," Neptune said when she finished and he looked at his partner nervously. The man simply nodded his head and he pulled Neptune out of the trunk, holding her arm tightly and leading her to the bathroom inside.

No one blinked an eye at the nearly naked girl being dragged to the restroom, in fact they acted as though this were a daily occurrence. "Go quickly," he said and undid the ropes on her hands, standing by the bathroom door to ensure she couldn't get away. Neptune went inside and to her delight there was a window. She limped to the far end of the restroom and shimmied the old screen up; wondering if she would fit. She had gotten about halfway through, but the window was small and Neptune scrapped and scratched herself as she clawed her way out and fell on her butt on the other side of the gas station. She broke into a run in the direction of the vampire Alan White's house, knowing there was a ball tonight and that he would not be pleased if she showed up in her sorry condition without her master, but Enoch had told Neptune that if anything ever happened to him to go to Alan right away.

Night had fallen by the time she reached White's property, her body sore and her bullet wound throbbing. It was dangerous showing up to a party full of vampires with open wounds, but at this point it was a risk Neptune was willing to take. She knocked on the door, crossing her arms self consciously as a butler opened it and looked the girl up and down. "I think you have the wrong address," he said distastefully and began to close it, but Neptune stuck her foot out to prevent him from doing so. "I have to speak to Alan White, it's about my master. He's gone missing."

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"Listen there was nothing you could have done," Carth placed his hand on Kaito's shoulder, causing the ghoul to wince. The vampire's touch was light, but Kaito's body hurt all over. Carth's words stung, they were true but that didn't make it hurt any less. "If anyone is to blame here it's me, I was suppose to be your back-up but I got held up in other matters." No, he would not allow this vampire to take on the blame. If he had been here during the battle he would be nothing more than a pile of ash, just like Kaito's master. "It's better that you came late." Kaito muttered, glad that he had at least showed up. If Carth hadn't come when he did Kaito surely would be dead from loss of blood. "As to what you should do, the only sensible thing now would be for you to rest up for the night to allow your body to heal up."

Yes that sounded like a good idea, healing. But where? Surely he couldn't go to a hospital and Carth seemed to confirm this fact, it was too suspicious and with injuries like these the local authorities would attempt to get involved and there was no way Kaito could tell them what happened; one because it wasn't believable and two because he wasn't quite sure what went down himself. Everything was still a blur, the only thing Kaito knew for certain was that Shiro and Petrov were dead and Carth, one of Petrov's associates was standing before him. "so I'll take you to my place, it's the least I can do given the gravity off the incident tonight." Kaito looked up quickly, attempting to suppress the grimace of pain that was trying to snake its way onto his face. "Really?" He asked incredulously, wondering why this vampire who didn't know him and had no relation to him would offer to allow Kaito to heal in his home.

The vampire placed his jacket around Kaito's shoulders and assisted him to his feet. Kaito attempted to walk as much as he could, limping with one dead leg dragging behind him as Carth half dragged him towards their destination. The town was mercifully empty and the lobby of the building they entered contained only the receptionist who seemed to know better then to ask any questions. Soon enough they were in Carth's apartment and the vampire allowed Kaito to walk on his own. He still felt weak but regardless managed to support himself as Carth pointed out the guest room. "Thank you, I really appreciate it." Kaito said and handed the man his coat back before limping to the door and entering the space. He closed the door, not wanting the vampire to see how truly pathetic he was and struggled to remove his shoes, pain inclining up his leg whenever he moved it a bit. Kaito's left leg was still dead aside from the little shocks of pain running through the limb that startled him and delayed his attempting to shimmy out of his dirty clothes. Kaito settled on simply removing his shirt and further inspected his wounds in the mirror.

They were slow to close, but they were healing. It was a relief, but also terrifying to know that he had this sort of ability. Feeling drained Kaito collapsed in bed and curled onto his side on top of the covers, tears pricking his eyes once more as a sob was quietly ripped from his throat. "It's all my fault, if only I had been stronger," he whispered through tears before falling asleep.

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It had taken years of sleeping through the day and taking pills so that his body would become acclimated to the backwards habits of vampires. Waking up during the evening came easily now so when Carth knocked on the door Kaito was already rising. He stumbled to the entryway and opened it up, discovering the vampire was holding up a tuxedo and two invitations. "Scrub yourself up nice kid because we've got a ball to attend and hurry up we don't want to be too late in arriving or all the best liqueur will have gone!"

"Um, alright." He managed, taking the suit from Carth, a bit dumbfounded by the sudden turn in events. He placed the tuxedo on the bed and closed the door, going to the bathroom and turning on the shower. Kaito stripped himself of his pants and boxers, stepping under the hot stream and watching the blood and dirt splash onto the tile and slither down the drain. The feeling in his leg had finally returned, but it seems that not all of his wounds had healed. Kaito's right arm was almost completely numb, he could lift it a little and wiggle his fingers around but attempting to hold the soap or shampoo bottle resulted in it slipping out and clattering to the floor. He grit his teeth, determined to not allow this development to get in his way and stepped out of the shower squeaky clean.

He had no spare underwear and so Kaito put his boxers back on and returned to the room, putting the tuxedo on and wondering where Carth had obtained such a suit and why he had it in Kaito's size. Perhaps it was borrowed? No, considering the style and amount of lint clinging to the garment it had been in storage for quite sometime. He looked in the mirror and carefully did the bow tie, then ran his fingers through his hair (or at least the working ones) in an attempt to look presentable. Kaito looked around for his shoes and discovered that they had been replaced by a pair of fancy black loafers. Was this Carth's doing? He wondered and stuck his feet in them before exiting the space.

"I'm ready, thank you for the clothing." He said as he entered the main room of the apartment. His stomach growled, but Kaito ignored it. He would eat at the ball, there was no need to further inconvenience Carth.