The Vampire's Love

Chapter Five - Rosaline, Kaname and Zero! Oh My!

The walk back to the academy was uneventful. Rosaline stuck close to Kaname the entire time. She felt comfortable with him now, surprisingly; it was like they were old friends.

Kaname walked close to Rosaline so he catch her when she tripped, which was frequent. Rosaline was still pretty disoriented. It felt like the world was tipping and spinning around her.

She and Kaname were met by Zero at the door to the main building when they returned to the academy. He opened the door as Kaname started to escort Rosaline up the steps and stopped dead when he saw her. “Rosaline?” he asked quietly. “You’re back?”

“Mhm,” Rosaline told him. She looked at him strangely. “Zero, are you alright?”

Zero enveloped Rosaline in his arms and pressed her head to his chest. He set his chin on top of her head. “Thank goodness you’re alive.” Then he pulled away and looked Rosaline in the face. “You fell out a window! Are you crazy!?” he yelled.

Rosaline felt Kaname tense up behind her. Slowly, she reached back and grabbed his hand gently. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “This is how he shows love.”

Zero took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. “When I ran down there and you weren’t there, I thought…” he trailed off. Zero looked her over; his eyes alighted on the remains of her ripped and bloodstained sleeve. He sighed. “And you’re bleeding.” Zero covered his eyes with a hand. “Why are you bleeding? Again?”

“She was attacked by a Level E,” Kaname said. “It found her in town.”

Zero hung his head. “What am I going to do with you?” He grabbed Rosaline’s hand and pulled her inside the building. She looked over her shoulder one last time at Kaname and noticed he still had that sad expression on his face. She couldn’t help but wonder why.

Zero pulled Rosaline up the stairs in the foyer and drug her down the hallway that led to the infirmary. He slowed down and twisted so he faced Rosaline. He backed her against the wall and put his arms on either side of her.  Zero leaned his head in close to Rosaline’s until they were a few mere millimeters apart. “What were you doing with that monster?” he asked. His voice was low and Rosaline suddenly realized why almost all the girls in the Day Class were afraid of him.

“You should at least be happy that someone saved me,” Rosaline retorted.

“You wouldn’t need to be saved if you weren’t so oblivious!” Zero yelled at her. “One of these days, no one’s going to be there to save you and you’re going to be dead!”

“Well maybe that wouldn’t be so bad,” Rosaline told him. She ducked under Zero’s arm and walked off toward the infirmary.

“Do you want to die?!” Zero yelled after her.

Rosaline flipped around, angry. “And what would you care if I do?” she asked and then turned around, stalking toward the infirmary.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

            Kaname was sprawled across the divan in his office. There was a light knock on the door. “Come in, Takuma,” Kaname told him.

            Takuma opened the door and walked in. “How’s Rosaline?”

            Kaname turned his head toward Takuma. “She’ll be fine. She was attacked in town by a Level E, but it only managed to scratch her.” Kaname stared at the ceiling. “Takuma, did you ever learn about Rosaria Hikari?”

            Takuma looked at Kaname strangely. “Yes, why?”

            “What did they say about her?” Kaname asked.

            “Just that she was engaged to a Kuran but she was murdered by her sister’s husband the day before the wedding,” Takuma answered. “But that was thousands of years ago. Why do you ask?”

Kaname smiled at Takuma. “Nothing important.”

“All right then,” Takuma said slowly. He quietly left Kaname to himself.

Images flashed through Kaname’s mind of his childhood. He remembered playing with Rosaria like it was yesterday.

Kaname walked into the estate’s extensive, snow-covered gardens, looking for Rosaria. He needed to find her; their parents had something very important to tell them.

“Rosaria!” Kaname called out, cupping his mitten-covered hands around his mouth to try and amplify the sound. With his luck, she fell asleep somewhere trying to hide from him again. Finding her could take hours.

“Kaname!” Rosaria shouted gleefully. Kaname looked around, but he couldn’t find her. “Up here, silly!” she yelled at him.

Kaname looked up and saw Rosaria standing on a branch of the giant cherry tree that dominated a whole corner of the gardens. She was waving vigorously at him. Then she lost her footing on the ice-covered branch and fell through the air. All Kaname heard was Rosaria’s scream and then a sickening thud. He rushed over to the base of the tree; he was beside himself with worry that Rosaria had hurt herself.

Rosaria was nowhere to be found when Kaname reached the tree. All he saw was her purple scarf laying in the snow. He picked it up; clutching it tightly in his hand. He looked around desperately, trying to find her. Then a large mound of snow next to his boots started moving.

As Kaname watched, Rosaria’s head popped out of the snow. She shook the snow off her hat and beamed up at him. “You found my scarf,” she said brightly and started giggling.

Kaname couldn’t help but smile at her as he helped her up out of the snow. Rosaria brushed the snow off her dress and Kaname handed her the scarf. She took it and then leaned up to wrap it around his neck. “You keep it,” she told him. Rosaria then turned and skipped away in the direction on the house. Kaname stared after her in wonder.

Kaname sighed. Those had been happy days for both of them. Life was filled with the joy of being together, knowing it would be like that forever. And then she had been taken from him.