Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 20 - I Want to Live

I woke up, sweat rolling down my face. It had been a while since I woke up like that. Normally I'd have Salem beside me, but lately he's been spending time with Zero which I'm fine with. Kuragari entered my room and offered me breakfast, but I said I wasn't hungry. I left my room, feeling the sun on my skin. I leaned up against a big tree and sat down. My mind wandered as I looked at people going in and out of the interrogation room. I started to zone out. 'How would we find a cure for Zero? Who else is a victim to Takashi's brainwashing?' As I slowly started to drift off to sleep, I suddenly felt a wet substance on my face. Salem had started to lick my face. I laughed. "Hey bud, did you sleep well?" He nodded with a snap of his mouth. I started to play with him. He rolled on his back as I scratched his stomach. Later on, Saturn came to us and joined in on the roughhousing.

Time past as we all hung out together. Suddenly, we heard a scream. It came from the interrogation room. I stood up. "What the hell was that?" I said. My eyes fixated on the window that was on the back wall of the interrogation room. The window smashed and Zero came jumping out of it. "Crap!" Saturn was quick to react and started to chase after him and Zero ran into the fields. Me, Salem, Haru, Karuma, Ryou and Haruto all ran after him. I leapt and turned into my wolf form. Saturn hopped onto Salem mid run, and everyone fell behind. Me, Salem and Saturn followed Zero all the way to a canyon. "WOAH!" Saturn and Salem stopped as they saw Zero jump over the canyon and land on the other side. He kept running. I didn't stop. I ran past the two and jumped over the canyon, barely making it.

"ALANA! THAT'S OUT OF OUR TERRITORY!" She called out to me. But I didn't care, I chased after him. "ZERO COME BACK!"

I yelled. He didn't react. He kept running and running until I managed to corner him at a wall. We were now in a forest of some kind. There was a cliff, and we were at the bottom of it. He tried to climb the cliff but failed. Zero turned to look at me. His eyes were filled with fear and tears. I turned into my human form and put my hands out. "Hey... don't be scared. It's just me." I showed him my hands, hoping that he would remember. He growled at me, loudly. "It's ok..." I slowly walked towards him. "It's Alana," I said softly to him. He stopped growling at me. Instead, he stood still. It was like time had slowed down. "Zero?" I said softly to him. He tilted his head slightly at me. Suddenly, I heard someone clapping their hands at the top of the cliff.

"Great job Zero!" I knew that voice all to well. Takashi jumped down from the top of the cliff in front of Zero and smiled at me.

"Good evening Alana, care to have a friendly chat?" Takashi's smile sent chills down my spine. "What do you want?" I asked with rage. "I should be asking you that," He said to me. "What's that supposed to mean?" I was getting quite annoyed at his games. I just wanted Zero.

"One more step... and I have full permission to end your pathetic life here and now." Takashi pointed to my foot. I realized that I was right on the line between the hunting grounds, and his territory.

"Give Zero to me... and we won't have any problems," I said as I stood firmly on the ground.

Takashi shook his head and sighed.

"I'm afraid I can't do that now. You see? Zero belongs to me now." I was enraged when I heard this. My blood boiled to the point where I just wanted to kill something. And I could. "You don't get to decide that!" I yelled. He chuckled.

"Oh... but I do..." That was the last straw. Out of rage I stepped over the border and turned into my wolf form, running to Takashi and launching myself at him. I was going to kill him. I was so close to his neck. Just a few more inches and I could easily kill him. But it was too good to be true. I suddenly saw Zero's face right in front of my eyes. Blood stained the grass and trees... and my face. I turned back into my human form. I was too stunned to speak. What had I done? I looked down at Zero's body before me, his blood spilling from his neck. I screamed. So loud I screamed. Even the birds had stopped chirping. Many tears fell from my horrified eyes as I saw what I wish would never come to pass. Zero wasn't moving. Zero wasn't breathing. Zero... was dead.