Edited 18/04/2016

Low voices. Unfamiliar voices. Voices speaking softly, as if trying to keep their conversation a secret. What could they be talking about?

The little girl's eyes slowly open, still heavy with sleep. She turns under her warm blankets and stares up at the white ceiling, blinking drowsily. The child continues listening to the voices for awhile, when her breath catches in her throat. Her heart begins to beat a little faster in her chest, the girl suddenly feeling uncomfortably warm.

Those voices didn't sound like her parents. Who did they belong to?

Carefully sitting up, so as to keep her bed from creaking, the little girl pushes back her blankets and looks to her door, left open only the slightest amount. Her parents always did that, though it wasn't necessary. She didn't need the hallway light to come into her room as she slept. She wasn't afraid of the dark, not like her little brother.

Pressing her feet to the carpeted floor, the little girl climbs down from her bed and cautiously walks to the door, pulling it all the way open.

Her blue eyes search the hallway for a few seconds, making sure no one is there, before she sneaks out of her room and heads left down the hallway. Pausing at the next door, the little girl peeks in, feeling somewhat relieved to see that her little brother is still asleep. Curled up comfortably in his thick blankets, the little girl can only see her brother's mop of lavender coloured hair poking out.

Quietly pulling the door closed behind her, the girl steps backwards and continues on towards her parents room, a nervous shiver travelling up her spine as the soft voices suddenly fall silent.

She didn't know what was going on and she wasn't sure who those voices belonged to, but something certainly didn't feel right about any of this. A strange chill hung in the air, adding to the small girl's uneasiness.

Stopping at the last door in the hallway, directly in front of her, the little girl places her hand on the door knob and turns it. She opens the door as quietly as she can, peeking inside to make sure no one unfamiliar is around. A puff of warm air escapes the girls lips, visible due to the cold temperature of her parent's room.

Still uncertain that everything is alright, the girl hurriedly sneaks inside her parent's room and approaches the foot of their bed, feeling restless.

Pausing to rub at her arms for warmth, the girl looks to her parents window, only to see that it is wide open. She blinks in surprise as the thin curtains flutter in the cool breeze, wondering why her parent's had left their window open during the night. They never usually did that, especially when it was this close to Winter.

"Mommy?" the little girl asks in a hushed tone, turning back to the bed as she rests her hands on the edge of it. "Daddy?.......Are you awake yet?"

The child remains silent for a few seconds, waiting for one of the adults to reply, or at least stir in their sleep. Even a snore from her Father would be welcome.

"Mommy" the girl tries again, whispering a little louder as she tugs on the blanket, "There are people in the house.........Mommy? Are....Are you listening?"

A slight pout of annoyance makes its way onto the child's face, before she grapples onto her parent's bed and swings one short leg up, climbing atop the mattress in a clumsy manner. She crawls on her hands and knees towards the headboard, only to freeze at the sight of her parent's faces.

Both adults lie with their eyes closed, resting comfortably on their backs as if they were merely sleeping. Deep slash wounds mark their throats however, with thin streams of dried blood sliding down their necks and staining the cream coloured pillows. Flecks of the red liquid are splattered across the headboard as well, with only a minuscule amount of blood having made it onto the blanket.

Above and below each of the singular slashes across the adult's throats, two small holes pierce the flesh, though no blood seeps from them, having dried up hours ago.

The little girl stares at her parent's pale faces, her eyed wide and disbelieving. She hesitantly leans forwards and touches her Mother's cheek, before quickly flinching away at the chill of it.

Tears fills the child's once innocent eyes, her whole body starting to tremble and her breath quickening.

"M-Mommy?" the girl asks loudly, panicking. "Daddy? What's wrong?"

Feeling scared by their unresponsiveness, the little girl quickly shuffles backwards, almost falling right off the bed in her haste to get away. She turns and runs for the door, only to come to a halt at the sight of an unfamiliar man blocking her way.

The girl takes a fearful step backwards as he silently stares down at her through hooded eyes. He folds his hands casually behind his back, almost as though he were merely waiting for a bus.

Her back now pressing against the foot of her parent's bed, the little girl is unable to suppress a squeak of fright, wide eyes locked on the man as he slowly crouches down. He smiles kindly at the girl and nods his head in a greeting.

"Forgive me for scaring you" he apologises in a warm voice that immediately calms the girl a small amount, "I didn't realise there were any children in the house."

"Who are you?" the girl ask in a whisper, reaching up to wipe at her tears.

"I'm a friend of your parents" the man responds, his caramel eyes flicking up to the bed. "A work friend you might say. I know them very well."

"Wh-What's wrong with them?" the child asks in a shaking voice, her lower lip trembling. The man's eyes drop back to the girl, watching her for a few moments as he tries to figure out the best way to explain such a situation to a young child. Could children understand a concept as grim as death, or even murder? Usually he would be rather frank about a circumstance such as this, but with a child, and such a distressed one at that, he didn't have the heart to be so unfeeling.

"I'm afraid your Mother and Father have become the victims of bitter revenge" the man explains, before heaving a deep sigh and rubbing at his chin. "What am I saying, you won't understand what that means........."

"Hey Boss?" a male voice interrupts from the hallway. "There's another kid in here. A boy."

"That's my brother!" the little girl cries in alarm, afraid the strange men might try to take him away. As she tries to run forwards, the green haired man crouching before her reaches out and places both hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Don't worry" he says reassuringly, "We won't do anything to him. We're friends with your parents, remember? We aren't here to hurt you."

The little girl blinks her blue eyes a few times, more tears leaking from them and sliding down her cheeks.

".....What's your name?" she eventually asks, to which the man smiles.

"My name is Warren" he replies pleasantly. "What's your name?"

"I'm.....I'm Aurienne" the girl replies with a sniff, wiping at her eyes again, "But Mommy and Daddy call me Aurey....."

"Well then Aurienne" Warren says, rising to his feet, "How would you and your little brother like to come with me? I'll make sure you're well taken care of, for your parents."

* * * *

"Oh wow, just look at them!" the ginger haired girl squeals, pressing her palms to her flushed cheeks. "They're all so......so beautiful!"

Seated to the right of the excited teenager, a girl with long pink hair, pulled up into two ponytails, rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"While I agree that they're good looking" she states flatly, pulling a face, "You really need to calm down Kalel. You're being so embarrassing right now!"

"Ahhh, I'm sorry Annie" Kalel apologises, grinning sheepishly as she continues to fidget in happiness. "We never get to have joined assemblies with them, so I can't help freaking out a bit!"

"You're not the only one by the looks of it" the lavender haired girl sitting on Kalel's left muses, a highly unimpressed expression on her face as she turns her head. She tries to resist the urge to roll her eyes, seeing most of her classmates whispering animatedly and wiggling around in their seats.

"Yeah, but you're the only one who's not impressed Aurey" Kalel giggles, elbowing her friend playfully. "Annistar is pretending like they're no big deal, but even she's more interested than you are!"

Annistar scowls stubbornly and turns her head, one ponytail flicking Kalel in the face. Her onyx coloured eyes drift to the side though, subtly watching the incoming students as they find their seats.

Aurey crosses one leg over the other and adjusts the hem of her black skirt, also watching the incoming students, though she struggles to keep the look of disdain from showing in her expression.

Dressed in the same black skirts and pants, grey sweaters and white shirts, a small number of students take their seats at the front of the assembly hall, seemingly unaware of the fuss they'd caused among the rest of the student body.

While Aurey and her classmates all wore purple ties and ribbons under their shirt collars, these students had to wear dark blue, signalling the difference between them.

All graceful and pleasing to look at, it was no mystery to mostly everyone why their presence would cause a buzz among the school. Assemblies like this rarely happened, bringing both halves of the school together, so Aurey supposed she couldn't really blame them all for being a little restless.

Did they have to stare so openly though? Aurey almost felt sorry for her classmates, seeing them just about drool and froth at the mouth like that....

Nodding to himself as the last student is seated, a tall, neatly dressed man with dark blue hair ascends the stairs of the stage at the front of the hall and stands behind the awaiting podium. He taps the small microphone attached to its surface, to make sure it is working, before clearing his throat.

"Good morning students of Shiraki Institute" he announces with a smile. "First of all, I would like to thank all of the Day School students for getting up extra early to make it to this assembly. I know it's a lot earlier than you usually have to be awake before classes, so good job making it here on time."

Kalel grins to herself at the praise, despite it not being directed at only her. Annistar, unhappy about having been made to get up so early, grunts some sort of incoherent response, to which Aurey can't help giggling.

"And a big thank you to you Night School students as well" the Headmaster continues, smiling at the small mass of students seated at the front of the hall. "I realise you've just finished a long night of classes, so I'll try to make this as quick and painless as possible."

"As you are all aware" the blue haired man carries on, pushing his frameless glasses up a little, "Recently we had you all vote on candidates that you would like to see representing each half of the school as our Representatives. Well, some of the other staff and myself have tallied up the votes and we can now announce the winners."

Aurey almost jumps with fright as Kalel suddenly turns towards her, hazel eyes glimmering and a determined look on her face.

"Ohhhhh!" she breathes, shaking her fists up and down. "I hope you win Aurey! You'd be such a good Rep!"

Aurey leans back from Kalel and shakes her head vigorously, shoulder length hair swishing back and forth.

"No way" she objects, sweat dropping at the idea. "I don't even want to be a Rep. The only reason my name was considered is because you volunteered me against my will!"

"Well, so many people wanted you to be our Rep" Kalel insists, "So I won't be a bit surprised if you win!"

"Representing the Day School for the coming year will be......" the Headmaster trails off, pausing for dramatic effect, ".....Aurienne Walker!"

Aurey immediately turns to glare at Kalel, as her fellow Day School students break out into applause and cheer for her, clearly happy with the decision. Kalel sees the look of pure horror on her friend's face and leans over, clapping enthusiastically.

"Go on Aurey!" she urges, before reaching up and playfully flicking the large, floppy bow in Aurey's hair. "Get up there!"

Seeing that Aurey doesn't want to move, Kalel and Annistar both shove the unwilling girl out into the aisle. Right herself before she can trip over, Aurey sends her two friends an irritated look, before sighing to herself and trudging up to the stage. Kalel smiles proudly at Aurey's back, with Annistar placing two fingers in her mouth and whistling loudly. They knew their friend was going to be perfect for the job, despite her reluctance.

Ascending the few steps of the stage, Aurey accepts the red ribbon the Headmaster holds out to her, sighing again as she swaps it with the purple one already around her neck.

Every year a single Representative was chosen from the Day and Night Schools, with the victorious candidates donning red ribbons and ties to signify their positions.

"And moving on to this year's Representative from the Night School" the Headmaster continues, "We have.......Riah Shiraki!"

Aurey's shoulders droop as the school explodes with loud cheering and clapping, though most of it is being done by the Day School girls. From her position on the stage, Aurey watches with a frown as a tall male with messy, chocolate brown hair rises from his seat and saunters over, a closed eye smile on his face.

He accepts his new red tie from the Headmaster with a handshake and stands beside Aurey, his six foot three frame towering over her much shorter five foot eight one. As Riah opens his eyes and sends Aurey a congratulatory smile, the girl blanches and takes a subtle step to the side, not at all wanting to stand so close to him.

The tall brunette is seemingly amused by this and chuckles to himself, pulling off his blue tie to replace it with the red one. He doesn't do it up however, something that immediately ticks Aurey off.

Everyone else had to tie theirs up, so what made Riah think he was any different to them? Did he think he was above the rules or something?

"A big congratulations to both winning candidates" the Headmaster says sincerely, holding up one hand for silence. "Becoming a Representative of the Institute is no simple task, but we expect both Aurey and Riah will rise to the challenge and look after both the Day and Night School students well! Now, we will have a few words from our new Representatives. Aurey, ladies first."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Aurey steps up to the podium and looks out at the quiet audience, trying not to let her sudden nervousness overcome her.

"Thank you to everyone who voted for me" Aurey begins seriously, ocean blue eyes twinkling in the hall's bright lighting. "Your confidence in me is enough to push me to do the best I that can in acting as your Day School Representative. I look forward to our coming year together and hope that I can live up to the great examples of our previous Representatives. Thank you."

Aurey heaves a sigh of relief as the audience claps appreciatively, taking up her place beside Riah again, though she makes sure to keep a little distance. Spotting Kalel and Annistar grinning at her from the crowd, Aurey can't help smiling to herself.

Maybe being the Day School Rep wouldn't be as bad as she first thought.....

Following suit, Riah takes his place at the podium and rests his hands on each side of it, clearing his throat. Raising his head, the brunette gives his fellow students a closed eye smile.

"Thanks" he says simply, before turning away and standing beside Aurey again, still grinning brightly. The lavender haired girl's eyebrow twitches at Riah's speech, her hands balling into fists and crushing the purple ribbon held between her fingers.

Was he serious?! All Riah had to say was thanks? Could the Night School student never take anything seriously?

'Whoever voted for him must've been on drugs of some kind' Aurey think dryly, trying to make her expression a little friendlier as the Headmaster steps forwards again. 'He's definitely not responsible enough to be a Rep.'

"Let's give our new Reps one more round of applause as they head back to their seats" the Headmaster insists, waving a hand towards Aurey and Riah.

Giving the blue haired man a nod of respect, Aurey spins around and brushes past Riah, nimbly descending the steps and making her way back over to her friends. Riah shoves his hands in the pockets of his pants and strolls away from the stage casually, his maroon eyes hooded and his mouth curved up in an amused smile.

"You did really well Aurey" Kalel whispers as the girl squeezes past and dumps herself back into her chair. "I would've been so nervous up there!"

"I was too busy being in shock about becoming a Rep to be nervous" Aurey replies flatly, deadpanning once again. "Plus Riah was annoying me, so I forgot about everyone looking at us."

"How was he annoying you?" Kalel queries, tilting her head to the side. "He didn't do anything wrong, as far as I saw anyway."

"The fact that he breathes annoys you" Annistar states smartly, leaning forwards to smirk at Aurey. "I dunno what your problem with the Night School is, they seem alright to me."

"Yeah" Kalel agrees, hazel eyes shining, "They're always so polite and well behaved."

"They're just angels aren't they?" Aurey replies sarcastically, though she is unable to resist grinning to herself when Kalel pokes her tongue out. While her friends had asked her why she didn't like the Night School quite a few times in the past, Aurey didn't ever really elaborate on her reasons. Kalel and Annistar wouldn't understand.

Well, they might understand, but they wouldn't believe her anyway.

"I don't want to stretch this assembly out any longer than necessary" the Headmaster continues, Aurey focusing her attention back on the man, "So I think we'd better leave things here for now. Day School, have a good day and work diligently in today's classes. Night School, sleep well!"

As the Headmaster turns away to descend the stage steps, everyone begins rising from their seats, the sound in the large hall picking up as students start to chat amongst themselves. Annistar slowly stands uo and throws her arms in the air, yawning while she stretches.

"Real lady-like Annie" Aurey comments, poking the shorter girl in the stomach as she steps past. "I can see your belly when you do that."

Annistar automatically lurches forwards at the jab, glaring at Aurey as she and Kalel begin to giggle. The pink haired girl straightens up and tugs at the hem of her white shirt, lower jaw pushed forwards like a child.

"I don't have a belly thank you very much" she retorts, marching towards the exit. Kalel and Aurey exchange entertained looks with each other, before jogging after their friend. While Annistar often seemed unfriendly, both girls had known her long enough to know that she wasn't really mad.

As Aurey and Kalel trail behind a small crowd of their fellow Day School students, they step outside, only to shiver at the crisp morning air.

"It's still kinda chilly in the morning huh?" Kalel asks, hugging herself. "I know it'll warm up later, but still. I don't understand why Annie isn't wearing her school sweater!"

"I suppose it's only been five weeks since Winter" Aurey replies, watching the small puffs of warm air escape from her lips as she speaks, "And Annie likes the cold, so she'll be alright."

"She's gonna get sick" Kalel decides, bouncing up and down in a bid to warm herself up. "I hate the cold! I just want to wrap myself in a blanket and drink some hot chocolate."

"You can do that later if you want" Aurey chuckles, giving the ginger haired girl a knowing look, "But we have classes first and by the time they're over, it'll be warmer than it is-"

Aurey cuts herself off, eyes narrowing at a female Day School student who is talking with a tall, silver haired male. The girl seems to be speaking a mile a minute, her eyes sparkling with excitement and her cheeks flushed a cute shade of pink.

The male, a member of the Night School, leans in towards her, arms crossed over his chest. He smiles charmingly at the blonde haired girl and nods as she continues talking, seemingly interested in what she's saying. The girl pauses as he asks a question, tilting her head to the side, before tapping her chin in thought.

The Night School student's dark blue eyes widen slightly when she finally replies to him, a smirk spreading across his pale face.

Now frowning to herself, Aurey moves away from a confused Kalel and stalks towards her fellow Day School student. As she dodges around other people and draws closer to the two that are the focus of her attention, Aurey's scowl deepens, hearing that they are discussing blood types.

Rudely stepping between the two, Aurey glares up at the Night School student and places a hand on his chest, roughly shoving him backwards. The blonde behind Aurey gasps in surprise, while the young man she'd been talking to straightens himself up and adjusts his shirt collar.

"It's time for all Night School attendees to be returning to their building" Aurey announces sharply. "You shouldn't be here talking to Day School students Kiersten."

"Aurienne" Kiersten greets coolly, raising one silver eyebrow. "You've always been cold, but now that you're a Rep, you think it's okay to push other students around like that?"

"We weren't doing anything wrong Aurey" the girl adds, looking a little annoyed that they'd been interrupted. "Kiersten was just talking to me."

"See?" the silver haired male asks, smiling charmingly. "It was just an innocent conversation. You're overreacting."

"An innocent conversation?" Aurey questions, folding her arms. "About blood types?"

A brief look of suspicion flashes across Kiersten's face, before he laughs sheepishly and reaches up to push some of his hair back. He didn't realise Aurey had heard that part, but what did it matter to her anyway?

"Different people like to discuss different topics" Kiersten replies nonchalantly, shrugging one shoulder. "Are you really gonna get mad about it?"

"What's going on over here?" a curious voice suddenly asks, to which Kiersten, Aurey and the blonde girl turn their heads. The Day School student's eyes immediately turn into pink hearts, her hands clasped together beneath her chin.

"Riah!" she exclaims happily.

Aurey lets out a low breath and scowls at the sight of the brunette's teasing grin, his eyes closed. As if things weren't already annoying enough.....

"Oh nothing" Kiersten answers, pointing to Aurey with his thumb. "The Day School Rep is just picking on me again, like usual."

"What do you mean again?" Aurey shoots back meanly. "This is the first time I've caught you out since being appointed as a Rep."

"Yeah" Kiersten agrees smartly, "But you're still always picking on me anyway."

"Aurey" Riah reprimands jokingly, shaking a finger at the irritated girl before she can snap at Kiersten again, "Why do you always have to be so mean to the Night School? You should be nicer!"

"I've told you a millions times" the lavender haired girl informs Riah coldly, avoiding his question, "Only my friends can call me Aurey. We aren't friends."

"How can you be so heartless Aurey?" Riah continues, placing one hand over his heart, completely oblivious to the vein now pulsing on the side of Aurey's head. "You've hurt my feelings."

Suddenly jabbing one finger towards the large, forest-like garden ahead of her, Aurey scowls at both members of the Night School, trying to control her temper. She hated speaking with any of them, but mostly Riah, as it seemed that he enjoyed pushing her buttons.

"You're supposed to be on the other side of the garden" Aurey reminds the two males seriously, brows furrowed, "Before eight o'clock in the morning. It is now eight fifteen, so you're breaking the rules."

"Seeing as we just had an assembly" Kiersten argues, "I'm pretty sure no one but you cares that we're here right now Aurienne."

"They never seem to care when we're here no matter what time it is" Riah chimes in cheekily, maroon eyes filled with amusement as Aurey exhales a deep, exasperated breath.

"Look" the girl addresses Riah, regaining her cool, "You're the new Representative of the Night School and you have to lead by example. Can't you just take responsibility for once and be a good example to the others? If you don't follow the rules, how can we expect everyone else to?"

Kiersten rolls his dark eyes at this, as Riah blinks, mulling over Aurey's words. After a few seconds of silent thinking, he grins again and raises one hand in a thumbs up.

"Alright Aurey" he finally responds, "We'll leave you guys alone for now and head back to School........We wouldn't want to stress Aurey out and give her a hernia on her first day as Rep, would we Kiersten?"

The silver haired male doesn't reply for a few seconds, merely staring at Aurey and smirking meanly. He didn't care that she wanted him and Riah gone. He didn't care that she was mad. Kiersten had never liked Aurey anyway, so the fact that she was trying to boss him around like this was only succeeding in making him want to disobey her.

Aurey's shoulders fall at Riah's mocking tone, suddenly feeling drained from having to deal with him and his annoying, jokester attitude. How he had been chosen to represent one half of the Institute was beyond her......

"Whatever" Kiersten sighs, rolling his neck as he turns around, seemingly bored with the whole situation now. "You're no fun Aurienne. I don't even want to hang around if you're gonna be here to kill the fun."

"Someone has to be responsible enough to kill the fun if rules are being broken" Aurey retorts under her breath, watching as Kiersten retreats towards the forested garden that separates the Day and Night Schools.

"Aw, you're not a fun killer Aurey" Riah assures the girl, walking backwards and waving good bye, "You're just way too uptight. Loosen up a little, huh? See ya later!"

"Hopefully not" Aurey mutters, shaking her head as she turns around. "Are you okay Elena?"

"I was" the blonde haired girl complains, pouting childishly, "Until you came and interrupted. Kiersten has never spoken to me before and you wrecked it Aurey! He might never talk to me again now!"

"If you're lucky" Aurey replies, one hand on her hip as Elena sends her a flat expression.

"I don't get why you don't like them" she comments. "They're so friendly and polite. Not to mention incredibly handsome! How can you not wanna talk to them?"

".......Please just go to class Elena" Aurey sighs, massaging her temple with her finger tips. "I'd hate for you to get into trouble for being late."

"Oh, alright" the blonde obliges, a faint smile on her face as she turns to walk away. "Thanks for looking out for me Aurey, even if it wasn't necessary.....Oh, and congratulations on becoming the Day School Rep too."

"Thanks" Aurey responds, sighing again as the blonde girl hurries off. "I already wish I hadn't won the title though."

* * * *

Aurey watches Kalel with both eyebrows raised, her eyes hooded and a knowing smirk on her face. Annistar perches on the edge of her bed, watching with vague interest as she unties her ponytails and brushes her long, pink hair.

"It's just so exciting!" Kalel squeals, her ginger hair flopping around as she eagerly bounces up and down on her bed. "So, so exciting!"

"You're going to hurt yourself" Aurey muses, sitting on her own bed and lying back when Kalel comes to a stop, relieved that the shorter girl is no longer jumping.

"I'm not going to hurt myself" Kalel argues, her large eyes sparkling, "And I don't understand how you can be so blasé about this whole situation either!"

"What situation?" Aurey asks with a yawn, folding her arms behind her head. She cries out in fright when she is suddenly hit in the face with a pillow however, sitting boltright up and staring at Kalel incredulously. "What was that for?!"

Kneeling on her bed and frowning cutely, Kalel raises another pillow in a threatening manner, to which Aurey lifts her hands up in defence.

"You know what I mean Aurey!" the ginger haired girl presses. "You get to work alongside Riah, one of the best looking boys in the entire school! So many girls would kill to get that opportunity, and you don't even care!"

"What's so great about him though?" Aurey asks, genuinely confused. "He's annoying, just like the rest of them."

"How is he annoying?" Kalel inquires, throwing her head back and raising her palms up towards the roof in feigned distress. "How are any of them annoying? You're so silly Aurey, you deserve another pillow to the face!"

Quickly leaping to her feet, Kalel grins and flings her second pillow at the lavender haired girl, only for Aurey to duck at the last minute. As Kalel complains about missing her target, Aurey sweat drops and glances at the window the soft projectile had hit. Her sapphire eyes widen slightly, spotting something moving through the dark outside.

"You know you'll never win that argument Kalel" Annistar chuckles lowly, pulling on her pyjamas. "Aurey hates Riah, for no reason."

"Maybe he did something to her back when she first started here" Kalel suggests, looking to Aurey for an answer, though the girl is too busy staring out of the window to notice. "Or maybe they knew each other before they came to the school?"

"Nah, that's not it" Annistar decides, lying down on her bed and adjusting her blankets. "Aurey's just stubborn. She decided not to like them, so she never will."

Annistar and Kalel both jump with fright as Aurey suddenly leaps away from her bed and heads for the door, struggling to pull her shoes on as she rips it open.

"Sorry guys!" she apologises loudly, bumping her shoulder against the doorway and almost tripping over in her haste to leave. "Just remembered, I forgot to see the Headmaster about something important.

Annistar and Kalel both blink as Aurey slams the door, question marks appearing over both of their heads.

What could be so important that she'd race to see Headmaster Fujimura at this time of night?

* * * *

Elena glances around nervously, twirling the ends of her hair around her fingers as she makes her slow way through the garden. She squints her eyes, trying to see better in the dark, though it is to no avail.

Shiraki Institute, much like the town it resided in, had been built right in the middle of a large forest and the designers of the school had decided to keep a small part of it in place, to separate the two halves.

Elena had never walked through the garden at night, and it suddenly seemed so much scarier and more eerie in the darkness. There weren't even any lights set up, unlike the rest of the school campus.

Shivering with both cold and a small amount of fear, Elena continues forwards, eyes peeled. Where would he be? It's not like he'd said where exactly he would wait, and besides, Elena had no idea where she was going anyway.

"You made it" a male voice suddenly cuts through the silence of the night, making Elena freeze, her heart pounding. "I'm glad......."

Looking to her right, Elena is unable to hold back a deep sigh of relief, seeing a tall figure leaning his back against a tree, arms crossed. Inhaling a calming breath, Elena allows a nervous smile to stretch across her face, before she runs over to the waiting male.

Glancing up at him through her lashes, Elena blushes, noting that even in the dark, he is incredibly handsome. Why he'd suddenly taken an interest in her, Elena had no idea. She wasn't about to complain though. A member of the Night Class had asked her to secretly meet with him, and Elena was hoping she'd have a good story to tell her friends whenever she ended up heading back to her room!

"It's good to see you again Kiersten" Elena says softly, holding her hands in front of her demurely. "I wasn't sure if you would even come, after what happened with Aurey earlier...."

Rolling his eyes as he pushes away from the tree, Kiersten lets out a short laugh, though he is anything but entertained. He had an agenda tonight, and seeing as the rest of the Day School would now be in bed, even Aurienne couldn't ruin his plan.

"Please" Kiersten scoffs, the left side of his slightly curled hair pushed back stylishly. "Don't worry about her. Even she couldn't stop me from making it tonight."

Elena's eyes widen as Kiersten steps closer to her, averting her eyes and blushing an even brighter shade of red. She swallows the lump in her throat, able to hear the sound of her heart thudding in her ears.

"Y-You must really like me" she decides quietly, eyes timidly flicking back up to Kiersten's face, "If you're willing to break the rules like this."

"Oh, uh, yeah" Kiersten agrees, hooding his eyes and smirking down at Elena, stepping even closer to her. "I do like you Elena. A lot in fact."

The blonde girl's eyes widen as Kiersten leans down and places a hand on her cheek, his face so close, she could almost kiss him. If she were brave enough.

"I have to wonder though" the silver haired male utters lowly, his warm breath tickling the skin of Elena's neck, "How much do you like me? Enough to do me a little favour maybe?"

"O-Of course" Elena responds automatically, too entranced by Kiersten's closeness to think properly. "What......What do you want me to do?"

Eyes narrowing at the girl before him, Kiersten slides his hand down to Elena's neck, his cool touch sending a tingle down the blonde's spine.

"Keep quiet" Kiersten whispers sinisterly, using his free hand to tightly grip onto Elena's shoulder and hold her in place. "Don't scream, or else."

"Huh?" the girl asks in confusion, a look of horror crossing her face as she sees Kiersten's eyes begin to glow a bright red colour, like two rubies. He sends the girl a nasty grin, his incisors extending into sharp fangs.

Before she can so much as try to get away, Kiersten swiftly cranes his neck down and bites into Elena's throat, his fangs easily piercing her soft flesh. Blood drips from the wounds, though Kiersten tries to catch as much of it as he can.

Just as Elena begins to shake violently out of fear, a loud gunshot rings through the air, something hot slicing right past Kiersten's ear. He pulls his fangs from Elena's neck and jumps backwards, his red eyes noting a small dent in the ground beside his feet. The silver haired male then turns his head, glaring up at something in a nearby tree.

Aiming a silver gun at him, a thick chain attaching it to a body holster under her shirt, Aurey stares at Kiersten through hooded eyes, her face void of any emotion.

Seeing a terrified Elena collapse to her hands and knees, Aurey leaps down from the tree and lands beside the girl in a crouched position, gun still trained on Kiersten.

Elena looks up at Aurey through wide, wavering eyes, trembling fingers clutching at her bloodied neck. She is unable to speak out of shock and fear, though Aurey can hear how ragged her breath is. Her brows beginning to furrow at the sorry sight of her fellow Day School student, Aurey rises to her feet and turns her attention back to Kiersten, now feeling angry.

"I won't miss next time Kiersten" Aurey promises, her voice low and livid. "So you'd better stay away from her."

Kiersten's blood stained mouth begins to curl upwards as he straightens his posture, raising one hand to wipe the red liquid from his lips and chin.

"Well, would you look at that" he chuckles darkly, eyeing Aurey's gun, "Our new Day School Rep is actually a Vampire Hunter. The dislike you've shown towards the Night School in the two years you've been here suddenly makes so much sense to me."

"How pathetic" Aurey berates, scowling angrily, "Luring an innocent girl out here, just so you could attack her like this. What were you thinking?!"

"I was hungry and she made for an easy target" Kiersten laughs uncaringly, his cold gaze making the injured Elena flinch backwards. "Humans are so stupid. They'll fall for a Vampire's charm every time."

"You Vampires are disgusting" Aurey growls, struggling not to pull the trigger on her gun, "Using a young girl's naivety against her like this. You could have killed her!"

"You didn't give me the chance" Kiersten scoffs, tilting his head to the side as he studies Aurey closely. "To think, you've been hiding the fact that you're a Vampire Hunter for two years. I never would have guessed."

"I'm good at what I do too Kiersten" Aurey assures the silver haired Vampire stonily, "So don't push me......"

Hooding his still glowing eyes, Kiersten crosses his arms over his chest and smiles, though it is anything but friendly.

"Are you threatening me Rep?" he questions, only to pause at the sound of someone else approaching from behind him.

Aurey immediately draws out a second gun with her left hand, aiming it at the newcomer as she continues to point the other at Kiersten.

Now close enough to be recognisable to Aurey, Riah pauses beside Kiersten, the uncertain expression fading from his face as his eyes widen at the situation before him. He stares at the bloodied and trembling Elena for a few seconds, before his maroon eyes travel over to Aurey and take in her cold expression. His focus swiftly changes to the two guns in Aurey's hands, noticing that one is trained right on him.

"Anti-Vampire weapons?" Riah inquires softly, hooding his eyes and turning his head slightly as Kiersten barks out a sharp laugh, gesturing to Aurey.

"Our Day School Rep is a Vampire Hunter Riah" the male sneers, not seeming to be worried about his predicament at all. "Who'd have guessed it huh? A small, nasty bitch like her....."

"With one shot to the head or heart" Aurey counters, "These guns would allow me to reduce the both of you to ash, yet you choose to taunt me. You're not a smart creature, are you Kiersten?"

"Aurey, there's no need for that" Riah tries to convince the girl as he takes a step forwards, pulling his hands from his pockets and raising them innocently. "I understand that as a Vampire Hunter, you must be angry right now-"

"Angry is an understatement" the lavender haired girl interrupts, her finger itching to pull the trigger as Riah takes another step towards her.

"-But I really need you to put the guns away" Riah continues, smiling despite the tense situation. "Trust me, I'll deal with Kiersten back at the Night School. There's no need for this situation to get any worse."

"Why would I be stupid enough to put my weapons away" Aurey questions lowly, not backing down, "When I'm facing two Vampires, one of whom just attacked one of my classmates?!"

"I'm sorry for what Kiersten did to her" Riah apologises, eyes still focused on the angry girl with the guns, "And I will absolutely deal with him later. I can assure you that he'll be punished for his behaviour tonight."

"I highly doubt that" Aurey retorts, switching her furious gaze over to Kiersten when he scoffs loudly, rolling his eyes. "I'd be better off just punishing him now. At least that way, no more human students will get hurt by him!"

"Aurey" Riah addresses calmly, bringing her attention back to him and smiling warmly, "I heard that gunshot all the way from the Night School. I can imagine that some of the Day School heard it as well, and they'll be just as concerned about it as I was. We need to wrap this up quickly, before anyone tries to investigate."

Aurey stares at Riah for a few moments, deciding what to do, when she sighs heavily and lowers her weapons. She keeps a firm hold on them however, narrowing her eyes at Riah when he also sighs, though his is one of relief.

"You're a liar" the lavender haired girl states icily. "You didn't come here because you heard a gunshot. You're a Vampire. You came here because you smelled Elena's blood."

Riah regards Aurey seriously, before closing his eyes and smiling at her, walking towards Kiersten. He drops his hand down onto the silver haired Vampire's shoulder, gripping it so tightly that Kiersten begins to complain.

"Are you going to be alright to deal with Elena?" the brown haired Vampire asks, his eyes still closed. When Aurey doesn't reply, he gets the hint and forcibly turns Kiersten around, pushing him back towards the Night School. Aurey's jaw sets when Riah pauses however, turning his head a little.

"Are you alright Elena?" the brunette asks softly, though the girl is still too astonished to reply. She merely turns to look at him, eyes as wide as saucers and fear written all over her now pale face.

"You better keep walking Vampire" Aurey warns Riah sharply, raising one gun up and aiming it at him again, "Before I change my mind and pull this trigger."

Maintaining his closed eye smile, back to Aurey, Riah pushes against Kiersten's shoulder and the two of them walk off in silence, disappearing into the dark forest. Aurey stares after them, waiting until she's sure that they're gone, when she releases a sigh and replaces her weapons in the holster around her waist, hidden beneath her shirt and jumper.

Spinning around and dropping to her knees, Aurey places one hand on Elena's shoulder to steady her. Raising her free hand, Aurey tilts the blonde girl's chin up with her fingertips, inspecting the damage Kiersten had done.

It was lucky his fangs hadn't torn Elena's jugular, or she'd be in some serious trouble. Vampires often went for the jugular when they attacked a human, so either Kiersten hadn't wanted to kill Elena or he was just very clumsy in his attack.

"A-Are they Vampires?" Elena asks Aurey in a strained voice, tears filling her eyes when the lavender haired girl nods in response. "I d-didn't think they were real....."

"Unfortunately they are" Aurey replies quietly, pulling out a mobile phone and quickly punching in a number. She places the phone to her ear, holding it in place with her shoulder as it rings. "I'm sorry to do this to you Elena."

Not giving the blonde girl any time to react, Aurey pushes her fingers into the pressure point in Elena's shoulders. Her eyes immediately roll into the back of her head, with Elena slumping forwards just as someone answers the phone.

"I figured you'd be calling" a male voice says, sounding troubled. 'I heard the gunshot before."

"Headmaster" Aurey greets, hoisting the unconscious Elena over her shoulder and carefully rising to her feet, "I'm going to need you to erase this one's memory. She was attacked."

There is silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, before Headmaster Fujimura heaves a sigh.

"Fine."

* * * *

Riah and Kiersten walk through the forest in silence, with the brown haired Vampire releasing his friend as soon as they are a safe distance away from Aurey.

While Riah knew Aurey didn't like anyone from the Night School, he never imagined she was a Vampire Hunter. She'd never done anything to give it away, but then again, the Vampire students had never given her a reason to give her identity away.

Riah figured she just had some sort of weird, human grudge against the Night School students, because she was certainly always very kind and caring with the other humans.

They were going to have to be very careful now that Aurey had revealed her secret occupation. Clearly she wasn't the forgiving type, and Riah had seen the intent in her eyes.

She would not hesitate to kill any of them, if she so felt the need.

"What did you do that for Kiersten?" Riah asks, reopening his eyes and regarding the silver haired Vampire seriously. "You could've gotten into a lot of trouble for that.......Well, I guess technically you did. She could have killed you back there."

"Heh, she doesn't scare me" Kiersten replies confidently, turning his head to look at the taller Vampire now walking beside him. "But it's pretty interesting that she's a Vampire Hunter huh? I never would have guessed it. I thought Vampire Hunters were supposed to be big and tough, not small and weak looking."

"They come in all shapes and sizes" Riah informs his friend, hands in his pockets again, "To fool you Kiersten........Though I am just as surprised as you are. You didn't tell me either, why did you attack Elena like that? Did she provoke you?"

"Nah, it was just for a bit of fun" Kiersten laughs, eyes beginning to lose their glow. "Earlier she told me her blood type was B positive, and you know that's my favourite. How could I resist?"

"Take blood caplets like the rest of us?" Riah suggest with a smile, to which Kiersten pulls a face, wrinkling his nose.

"You know they're not as good as the real thing" he states dryly. "It's like drinking thick, flavoured water."

"Probably because that's exactly what it is" Riah chuckles, earning himself a curious look from Kiersten. He studies the brunette for a few moments, suspicion creeping into his eyes.

"You can pretend that blood didn't affect you all you want Riah" the silver haired Vampire sneers, smirking knowingly, "But your body contradicts your actions. Your eyes are glowing right now. You wanted that blood just as much as I did."

Blinking in surprise, Riah turns his head away, usual cheery smile fading into a blank expression.

"I'm fine" he replies simply, hooding his bright red eyes.