A New Family

The Beginning of the End

Just when everything seemed to be coming together, it had to be crushed.

We were all talking to Yuu when I heard a strange noise coming from behind me. Not thinking anything of it but still wanting to check, I nonchalantly turned my head to see the thing that would forever turn my world upside down.

The director was staring off into space as blood dripped from her mouth and nose.

"Director?!" I screamed. She looked vaguely in my direction before falling heavily to the floor, right on her face. The children screamed and hid behind Yuu, Mika, and I, while the three of us were starting to notice the chaos going on outside. People were screaming, cars were careening all over the roads, a plane crashed off in the distance near the horizon. I snapped back to reality and ran over to the director.

"Please be okay, please be okay, please........" I muttered frantically as I placed two fingers on her neck to check for a pulse. I sat in tense silence for a moment before dropping my hand. There was no sign of life at all; even her body heat was slowly fading away. 

"Sachiko, come here......." Mika whispered seriously. He never called me by my full name, so I knew something was very, very wrong. I went and stood by him and followed his line of sight. He was staring out into the streets, where a crowd of hooded figures was following a small girl with pink hair. Suddenly, a voice filled the air.

"This is a warning. A lethal virus has been released and is spreading among you filthy humans! This is the end of mankind!" the voice said. My jaw dropped slightly and the air left my lungs. "However, we found that the contagion does not affect those who are less that 13 years old. This troop, under the command of Krul Tepes, will henceforth be in charge of all children from this district. Please follow our instructions."

"Director!" one of the kids cried from behind us. We turned to see them crowded around the body of the director. They thought she was still alive...... "Mika nii-chan! T-the director!"

"Sachi, Yuu, watch the kids! I'll go check on the diretctor!" Mika ordered. Before he could run over, I grabbed his shoulder and shook my head sadly. "Sachi, what are you saying?" he whispered.

"She's gone Mika. Dead. We have to focus on getting these kids to safety," I explained. He absorbed the information for a moment before nodding and calling the kids over. 

"Stay with us, alright? We can't help the director, but we can help each other," he told the kids.

Haruka and a little boy took hold of my hands; I noticed Mika's and Yuu's hands were being held as well. We stood near the window, watching for anything else to happen, when we heard a noise near the closed door. Footsteps? Suddenly, a shadow passed through the window we were near. A cloaked vampire was standing at the last window pane, holding his gloved hand up to it. The glass shattered inward and flew all around us. I put my arm out in front of a group of the kids and herded them backwards away from the vampire. The door then opened to reveal yet another cloaked vampire. The pair of demons stared at us intensely and cornered us in the back of the room.

We were restrained and loaded into trucks along with every single other child in Tokyo. Needless to say, it was dead silent in the back of those trucks; everyone was far too terrified to say anything. We all huddled up with the people we actually knew and tried to comfort the younger ones who were silently trembling. Mika, Yuu, and I sat along the right side of the truck and had our arms wrapped around the surrounding children. Haruka sat in my lap and held Yuu's hand. Mika was on my other side with a girl leaning on his shoulder. Being the oldest in the truck, we were the only ones who could actually somewhat comprehend the amount of danger we were in. I looked over at Mika with a grim expression and sighed. He sighed as well and shook his head in utter dismay. Yuu was staring off into space and clenching his fist.

When we reached our destination, the vampires herded us out of the truck and into long lines. We slowly inched forward towards a station where a vampire sat and handed packages to each child that came up. When I finally came up to the station after quite a while of waiting, the white-haired vampire started asking questions.

"Name?" he asked dully.

"Sachiko Hyakuya," I responded in a shaky voice.

"Age?"

"Eight..."

"Height and weight?"

"124 centimeters and 24 kilograms."

He wrote down the information as he got it then handed me a package, telling me to move on to the station up ahead. I followed his instructions and approached the next station, which had no line.

"Name?" the vampire asked.

"Sachiko Hyakuya," I again stated. The vampire looked through a list and gave me a piece of paper.

"Follow these instructions to find your living quarters. You'll be living there from now on," he droned as if he was sick of saying the same thing over and over.

The instructions led me to a small shack of a house hidden in a small alley. I tried not to think about where I was at and carefully opened the front door. I found the scared faces of my family staring back at me. "Hey, everyone," I greeted tiredly.

"Sachi-chan!!" Haru yelled excitedly as she ran at me with her arms wide open. I caught her and pulled her up into a tight hug. "I thought you'd never get here!"

"Well, I'm here now Haru-chan. No need to worry!" I told her. I set her down and looked up at the rest of the group. To be honest, they looked positively haggard. But who wouldn't look that way in our situation? 

I sat down and opened the package I received from the vampire. It contained a uniform, a thin blanket, and a pillow. I looked around and noticed for the first time that everyone was already wearing their uniform, so I went and changed into my own. It was a black and white dress that went to just above my knees. I set up my blanket and pillow in the loft where everyone would sleep.

When the kids all went to sleep, I stayed up to talk with Mika like we usually would. Yuu volunteered to watch after the kids while they slept.

"Are you alright, Sachi-chan?" Mika whispered sadly. I sighed and nodded. "Good. I was worried when you didn't show up with the rest of us."

"I was in the back of the line," I explained quietly. Mika stared at me for a minute before approaching me and pulling me into a hug.

"We'll get through this somehow. We just have to use our heads," he muttered after a moment, then he pulled away from me. "By the way, Merry Christmas."