Chapter 1: Zero's Perspective
A scream. Blood everywhere. A grinning demon who smiled at me as she came nearer. I was backed into a corner. There was nowhere to go—
I sat up in bed with a start. Sweat drenched my body and I couldn't calm my breathing. I slowly brought the back of my hand up to my glistening forehead and wiped away the moisture collected there. I sighed in frustration. This was the third time this week that I had had this dream.
My breathing finally back to a normal rate, I lifted the covers off of my body and got out of bed, walking to the bathroom adjoining my room. As I looked in the mirror and saw my face, I sighed.
My silver hair was a mess and my lavender eyes were decorated with dark circles. My skin was still damp from my nightmare as well as the skin on my bare chest. I splashed cold water on my face and hair and dried myself with a towel. Walking out of the bathroom, I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and groaned as I read the numbers that told me I should not be awake at this ungodly hour.
Climbing back into my bed, I closed my eyes and attempted to convince sleep to come to me. Though my eyes were closed, behind them I could see a memory as clear as if it were happening in front of me.
The night was four years ago. It was just shortly after my parents had been killed by the Pureblood vampire Shizuka, and my twin brother had betrayed me. I had been having a nightmare, similar to the one I had just had, and had woken up with a start. I had been shaking violently. I had thought fleetingly about going to Yuki's room. She was a little like my adoptive sister, but there had always been more of a "best friends" kind of bond when it came to us. I had quickly rejected the thought of going to her. This was my problem and I shouldn't trouble her with such petty things.
However, against all odds, there had been a timid knock at my bedroom door right then. Miraculously, Yuki had stepped in. "I had a nightmare…do you mind if I stay here tonight?" she had asked innocently, her doe eyes pleading. I remembered thinking it was strange that she didn't seem to be flustered at all as she always was after a nightmare, but I had nodded and moved over to let her crawl into the bed beside me. As she had lain down, I had rested my head on her shoulder and said "Don't worry, it was only a dream," more to myself than to her. She had sighed contentedly and gently started stroking my head. I had felt so comforted by her in that moment that I allowed myself a tiny smile as I drifted off to sleep with my head on her shoulder and her fingers lightly playing with my hair.
I opened my eyes, startled by a sound in the hallway. It was the soft padding of feet that could only belong to Yuki; the only other person it could be was the chairman, and for him to have been that quiet would have been just shy of a miracle. I made a split-second decision to fake sleep. I knew that if she were to come in and find me awake, it would be very hard to keep myself from asking her to stay, and the headmaster had long before made it clear to us that it was wildly inappropriate for young adults of opposite sexes to be sharing a bed.
I heard a slow creak as the door was opened a crack. "Zero…?" I heard her whisper at the door. When I didn't answer, she softly stepped into my room and tiptoed across the floor, coming to stand near my bed. I opened my eyes a crack to see what she was doing.
Yuki was looking at me with a sweet smile, a look that was almost tender in her large brown eyes. She carefully tucked a loose strand of her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ear and gently pulled the blankets covering me up closer around my neck, tucking me in. She carefully brushed my unruly bangs out of my eyes and I wasn't able to help the soft, contented sigh from escaping. Dropping her slender arm back at her side, Yuki whispered "Goodnight, Zero" almost inaudibly. I sighed, already drifting off to sleep, as she made her way to the door and slipped out into the hallway, quietly shutting the door behind her.
