• CHAPTER 122 - IT'S A DEAD HEART BUT IT STILL ACHES

    How is it that such a simple and romantic night could end up as disaster? So typical in the fantasy life.

    .:{{Kai's Perspective}}:.

    "Arisa, Arisa," I panicked, still holding Arisa's face in my hands. "Arisa, can you answer me?"

    Her breathing was still uneven and her eyes never opened but she was just conscious enough to speak with her mind, Burning...

    My mind ceased and I leaned in closer, panicking more, "Venom? Did they infect you?"

    Taking another deep breath and releasing it quickly, she was succumbing more into unconsciousness. She was unable to answer my question, abandoning me in more worry and paranoia. They couldn't turn her into a Vampire, could they? It was against the contract, was it not? But what did she mean by "burning"?

    It could have been the scathing sting from her wounds but it really could have been venom. Her body movements didn't signify that she was infected but I couldn't be too cautious. I leaned my head down and pressed my lips against one of her wounds, taking in a sample of her blood. It still tasted the same; it must have been the pain of her wounds that were pungent.

    I'd have went off on a vehement spree, but I was too disconcerted about Arisa. Scanning her and the room once more, there was way too much of her blood outside of her body. I reached for her coat and draped it over her, hearing subtle rumbles of thunder outside. An infinitesimal cry broke from her chest and the tears escaped once more, seeping into the lacerations on her face.

    "Arisa, I'm bringing you to a hospital," I whispered and brushed her bangs out of her face. "You're losing too much blood."

    I wasn't sure if she could hear me or not, but just in case, I wouldn't want her to stress more if she were to question where we were going or who was even carrying her. Her blood loss was massive; she was disoriented. Her skin was probably becoming colder but I couldn't really tell with my low body temperature, but I noted her face growing paler and her cheeks burning red from fever.

    Scooping her into my arms and holding her close to me, I teleported to the nearest hospital a few miles away but teleported down the block from it; I wouldn't want people to freak out. Hurrying into the hospital, there were very few patients and their attention was focused on Arisa and I. There was no way in Hell I would tell anybody what truly happened.

    "I need a doctor!" I called out. "Somebody get her some blood!"

    No less than thirty seconds later, a doctor and a few nurses appeared with a stretcher at hand. I loaded her onto the stretcher and walked beside her as the nurses rushed her into the emergency room. After I notified the nurses of her blood type--Vampires can tell a blood type by the mere taste, and, in Arisa's case, I couldn't determine that so I told them she was AB+--they excused me from the emergency room as they hooked the bag up to her and started working on her right wrist; it apparently had been fractured.

    The anger was boiling up again severely as I stood outside of the room, listening to Arisa's suffering in her mind. After a few moments, she slipped into unconsciousness and I relaxed only a fragment. Minoru and Kaiba...I wanted those two to be deceased, along with Hisao. I could have cared less that he was Ai's father; Ai didn't deserve to be his daughter and Arisa didn't deserve to suffer such consequences. The only good thing that came out of this attack was that Arisa couldn't be murdered by them, not until I was eventually forced to guide her.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    .:{{Arisa's Perspective}}:.

    After trying vigorously to keep myself awake, I finally gave up and caved into unconsciousness after the doctors stuck the IV into my hand. I was too scared to fall asleep; I didn't know if I would wake up or not. My body was in so much pain and I was nauseous beyond belief.

    I became conscious a long while later but I kept my eyes closed, too tired and weak to open them. Kai's index finger was gracefully rubbing my left bicep and he would sigh every few minutes. I knew he was watching me in dire concern, waiting for me to wake up. But with my luck, if I would wake up, I'd see the gates of the afterlife and be greeted by the unfortunate news. But Angels didn't have such cold fingers, so I couldn't have been dead.

    Out of a random paranoia, I immediately shot upright on the hospital bed and shrieked. I was remembering everything, the mirrors, the vampires, the beating, the mirrors. Kai immediately gripped my shoulders and helped me lie back down; so I really wasn't dead. I survived that attack, but who was to say it couldn't be worse with the contract? Wait, the contract; that wasn't it?

    "No, it wasn't," he mumbled. "Stay down."

    I paused for a few seconds and tears streamed down my face, definitely displaying my emotional turmoil. That could have been the contract's doing, but it wasn't because Kai didn't consciously bring me to them, they didn't force him. They were merely stalking us, wanting to sample my blood.

    "Kai..." I squeaked. "They're not immortal, are they?"

    He shook his head, "No, it's forbidden since I didn't bring you to them forcibly,"

    "It hurts..." I cried. "Kai, it hurts..."

    Kai's face fell to sorrow and he carefully climbed onto the hospital bed with me, much like he did back in December after Takeuchi was almost killed. Kai cradled me close to him while I was still lying on my back and he kissed the top of my head. My stomach was killing me from the lack of blood and my chest was hurting badly; I probably pulled something with my horribly erratic breathing.

    "Fortunately, the bite wounds will heal within three to four days," he sighed. "But the lacerations will require more time."

    "How did you know my blood type?" I burrowed my eyebrows together after spotting the bag of blood next to my bed. "I didn't even know it."

    "I told them AB but you really don't have a blood type," he thought for a moment. "For average humans, they would die if they were to receive the wrong blood type but any blood put into your body converts."

    "So...I can take in any blood type? And I won't die from it?"

    He smiled faintly, "Yes," his face went grim. "May I ask you something?"

    "Anything," I blinked tiredly, finishing up my tears.

    "Minoru, did..." he hesitated. "Did he do anything?"

    "Anything...?"

    "Minoru is...he's one of those Vampires from the legends, the one who...seduces his victims..."

    "Sedu..." I caught on and sobbed, thinking back. "No, no, he didn't."

    Kai caressed me with his eyes drowning in concern, "Are you sure? Are you being honest?"

    I thought a little harder, my head a little foggy from the loss of blood, and I sobbed a little more, "He...he tried to," I explained honestly. "But I used the bullet Akatsuki gave me; I managed to burrow it into his chest and he stopped." I took a deep breath, unintentionally causing my chest to ache again. "He was so close but I wouldn't let him...I wouldn't let him, and that was how I got all of these bruises and gashes--"

    I broke out another sob and let it all out, all of my fear. I was alive but I still almost got something taken from me, something almost as valuable as my own life. I couldn't even begin to imagine how worried Kai was, what his reaction was. My memory was somewhat faint towards the end of the attack since I had lost so much blood but I remembered that I never opened my eyes to see if it was Kai carrying me, and there was a high-pitched ringing in my ears, causing me to be unable to hear his voice at the time. I had shut my body down, thinking Minoru and Kaiba would end up killing me but they couldn't purposefully do that. I knew for sure that I could never look in another mirror again.

    "How are your wrists?" Kai broke the silence.

    "They hurt," I looked away. "They sting."

    "Your right wrist was fractured,"

    "Oh," I remembered. "Minoru was the one who bit into my wrists. He bit my right one hard enough to fracture it."

    Kai wiped away my tears with his thumb and he kissed the crown of my head. He slipped his fingers through the fingers on my left hand and he kissed my cheek. I never would have imagined that a date with Kai would end up with such deadly consequences. I knew Kai would quarantine me for a long while but I really didn't care too much; I needed to spend as much time with him as I could.

    After a long moment of silence and steady breathing, a nurse timidly opened the door to my room and poked her head in. Kai and I glanced over at her and her complexion showed a hint of awe when she saw Kai and I lying with each other. She greeted herself--Mrs. Nakawa--and asked if it was an appropriate time to remove the bag of blood; the only reason why she asked for permission was because Kai wasn't budging from the bed.

    She removed the needle carefully from my arm and stuck a small cotton ball on it with some medical tape around it, as though I had just donated blood. After setting the empty blood bag into a small bin, she reached over for the television remote and handed it to me with a smile. She exited the room and I timidly turned on the television, not knowing if Kai really wanted it on or not. He didn't seem to mind; he merely pressed his cheek against the top of my head and would sigh every few minutes.

    Just as I was about to change the channel, the news came on with the top story of the day. I figured I could see what else was wrong with the world, so I hung around that channel for a little longer. Unfortunately, the top story was a little too freaky. The volume was low but when the camera switched to a scene recorded earlier, my heart stopped. There were a few policemen at the carnival, at the mirror room Minoru and Kaiba held me at.

    "An investigation was put into action immediately after a phone call was received by an anonymous citizen, claiming he heard screaming coming from the fun house and, as suspected, a crime has most likely been committed. Inside the mirror room, there is shattered glass and streams of blood all over the ground and some of the walls. It's unknown as to whose blood it is, but DNA tests will be performed for the next few weeks to determi--"

    Kai had taken the remote from me and shut off the television and I didn't blame him; I was lying down with my eyes wide open and my mouth agape. He hissed Minoru's name, most likely letting me know that it was Minoru who called the cops after him and Kaiba departed. No, I couldn't let that happen...

    "No, Kai, no..." I gasped. "I-I can't let the media search for me again..."

    "Again?" Kai propped himself onto one arm.

    "After my parents were murdered, the media tried to hunt me down, tried to interrogate me, because I was the one who survived that night," I covered my face. "Oh God..."

    Kai held me a little closer to him, "Just stay calm for now; the tests take a few weeks to confirm. You need to concentrate on your wellness."

    I was feeling nauseous again, sick to my stomach. Minoru was so twisted, wanting to put me through even more torture. The whole world was sick and twisted, I wanted it all to stop. Running away wasn't an option anymore; there was nothing I could run away from. I was trapped; I was going to be murdered mercilessly in the future, no matter how much Kai and I wanted to deny it. The fact that my murderers attacked me only signified that the day was coming sooner and sooner. Soon enough, Kai would lose all control of himself and we would both be doomed to an inevitable fate.

    It was too late; there was no way out of the contract now.