Shed, Slain, Shattered - A Vampire Knight Fanfiction

Chapter 7

Kaien frowned, hesitating outside her door. Three days and no one had seen her leave her room. She hadn't been to class and wouldn't let anyone come in to talk to her. He turned the knob and walked in, shutting the door behind him. The curtains were drawn, leaving the room in total darkness. She sat at the window, staring at the fabric. If she noticed that he had come in, she didn't say anything.

He stared at her for a few seconds before going to the window and throwing the curtains open. "Elise, what are you doing? You can't go back there, not when you've finally found the sun again." She glanced at him before looking away, raising her hands up to shut the curtains.

"Get out," she said quietly. When he stood there with his arms crossed, unmoving, she snarled at him. "Get out! Leave me alone! Or I'll kill you." She looked back down at the table, bile rising in her throat.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk to you. Please-" She looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears. "-just leave." He stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. She listened as he rustled through his bag. After setting a small thermos on her desk, he turned and left.

Takuma waited near the top of the stairs, his usual smile replaced by a concerned frown.

"I take it that went about as well as my attempts did."

"I don't know what's eating at her. She's acting like she did when I first found her. She relapsed, but I don't know why. You wouldn't happen to know anything, would you? She's been like that since you both got back from that soiree." Takuma gave a small shake of his head. "Well, she'll just have to work it out. We can't do anything for her if she won't let us." He gave Takuma a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about her. She's tougher than she looks. She'll get back up again, she always does." Takuma nodded and looked back down the hall as Kaien made his way out of the dormitory. What happened while I was gone? And why did grandfather insist I leave early and bring her home?

*

Yagari stared at the empty desk, a scowl on his face. Absent again. Did I do something to scare her off? He shifted his attention back to the class. They were all working on essays for this week. She hadn't even come in to get the assignment. Vampires don't get sick. She's avoiding class on purpose.

After a few minutes of watching them scribble away in their notebooks, he said, "Well, you all get the assignment, so since there's no questions I'll just head out. Have them finished by Monday. I'm not gonna bother coming in for the rest of the week." He left the room, making his way back to the moon grounds. Glancing up at her window, he noticed the curtains were shut.

When he got upstairs he walked in without knocking. She was face down at her desk, her hands drawn over her ears. When he moved closer she flinched, a hiccuppy sob coming from her. She was shaking and she looked like she hadn't changed in days. The room was stuffy, as if it hadn't been touched in a week. It was dark and dank, like it was a basement and not the second floor. A certain heaviness rested in the air, choking the life out of the atmosphere. He tried to ignore the instinct to reach for his pistol.

"Elise," he said softly, his boots thudding as he moved towards her.

"Don't come any closer!" she screamed. "Don't come closer, don't come closer." Her voice fell to a mutter, repeating the same over and over. He ignored her pleas and came to a stop next to her. She flinched and went quiet as he placed a hand on her back and shook her slightly.

"Elise, what is it?" Another sob came from her, then a sniffle, then silence. "Elise, please, look at me." She rolled her head to the side to look at him. He brushed her hair out of her face and tilted his head so they were at the same angle, eye to eye. "What happened?"