Circuit ( A Vampire Knight Fanfic)

Chapter 3: A Try at Normal

Author's Note: For those of you who are achingly curious, Maya has not been bitten by Shizuka. 

Maya tossed and turned in her bed, not used to the stiff mattress that had prevented any sleep after her classes, trying to prepare for the long night ahead. It had been a couple of weeks since school had begun, and she had been too focused on school work and keeping the Day Class away from the Night Class to be worried about anything else. It was only when she was alone and trying to sleep, did everything come back to plague her thoughts. 

She sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes with tired fingers and, grabbed her watch, seeing that it was almost 5:00 p.m.

There was no way that sleep was going to find her now, knowing that Zero would come to get her for switch-over. Pulling a book off of her bedside table, she skimmed through it. Most of the text talked about the different classes of vampires. Maya had done a bit of study before her arrival at Cross Academy to see what kind of vampires she would be dealing with. Purebloods and Aristocrat vampires were the ones who were attending, being able to afford to come because they had the same idealistic pacifist views. 

Her gaze ran down the page, stopping at one paragraph in particular that pertained to Level E's. These types of vampires were the kind that the Hunter's Association were in charge of tracking down and killing. Maya had had several first-hand experiences in dealing with Level E's, having been sent on several field missions over the past few years. They were bloodthirsty, insane creatures who had lost their link to humanity. 

She slammed the book shut, throwing it on the floor before flopping backward on her bed, hair splayed in every direction while staring up at the ceiling. She threw an arm over her eyes. Maya had killed one person that she had loved, and it had shaken her to her very core. It had caused her to make a silent promise that she would never let anyone she was close to getting hurt like that ever again, even if it meant throwing herself into the path of the proverbial bullet. 

(Memory-Four Years Prior)

Kaito handed Maya the letter to the mission they were to be assigned to. She was confused, seeing the haunted look in his eyes before she read the letter.

To Kaito and Maya Takamiya, I hereby assign the two of you, giving you full permission to carry out the duty in any way you can to exterminate the following target listed below.

Name: Jaxton Takamiya

LKL: Southern part of town inside abandoned engine factory

Length of Mission: Less than 24 hours

Date of Departure: Tomorrow

Personal Note: I'm very sorry to have both of you take care of this, but I know it will give you closure. Sincerely, Association President.

Maya looked up from the letter, tears filling her eyes. "Jax?"

Kaito nodded. "Yeah." His voice was rough. "He must have finally degraded to Level E..."

She felt like she was going to vomit. Jax had been their oldest brother of the three of them and had been bitten by a pureblood a year prior to their parent's murder. He'd dropped out of training at the Association and placed himself in isolation to keep from harming anyone, but that caused him to go into extreme bloodlust. Since there was no hunter to supervise or watch him, he'd gone into hiding and now...he'd finally lost the part of him that made him human.

"We'll leave at dawn tomorrow," Kaito said. "You should get some sleep."

Both of them knew that was not happening tonight. She ended up pulling a stress-induced all-nighter, sleeping in the car on the way to the abandoned factory, but only managing to catch a few minutes worth. Despite the sleep deprivation, she was fully aware of her surroundings. They pulled up to the factory, which was fenced, city-owned property, but since some Hunters worked in the city government offices, they were allowed access to any abandoned area of the city. Climbing over the fence and careful not to make too much noise. Abandoned buildings were a hotspot for Level E's on more than one occasion.