FOUND

AN: So I've been writing the other fic 'Forever Yours' for a few months now. The idea for this story however was just brewing in my head for the past few weeks and I've been contemplating on whether or not to start writing it before I wrap up the other fic. I haven't become disinterested in the other one, and I do plan to wrap it up shortly. But this fic just wouldn't leave my mind so I had to get it down.

It's basically a vampire fic about the RK gang. It's set in the present day, and it has all the usual characters. The only one that I added was Ninna who is Yahiko's love interest. Oh and I also employed my own rules and myths about 'modern day vampires', which you'll get more details of in the story.

I enjoyed reading so much of the vampire fics so I suppose I was inspired to write one of my own. In that sense, I would like to dedicate this fic to all of you who love to read and write RK Vampire fics. Hope I can do it some justice. Enjoy!

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Darkness had washed over the countryside as a cold rain settled in and thrashed down upon the earth. The mountainous terrain was interrupted only by hundreds of year of old trees piercing the night sky. Miles of thick forest coated every inch of the countryside in a dark cloak.

Lightening bolts crashed through the sky and temporarily illuminated an ominous, centuries-old castle high atop one of the peaks. Its old stone pillars stretched to the heavens and glistened under every earth-shaking crackle of lightening.

Miles below its entrance, down a winding, single-lane paved road, a silver Bentley Continental sped towards its destination. The treacherous conditions of the road and weather didn't slow its ascent.

The chauffer was a rather large, muscular man. His brow was thick, making his dark eyes look even smaller than they actually were. The black uniform he wore could barely mask his bulging muscles and enormous frame. He drove the passenger, the owner of the manor, dutifully as his eyes only focused on the rode ahead of him.

The man in the back seat sat in complete silence and studied the terrain as they sped past it. Amber eyes flashed back and fourth as his gloved hands rested on his knees. He wore a black, formal business suit and a black trench, which matched the black leather interior of the car. His face was stone and showed no signs of emotion as he continued to carefully survey the lands, his lands.

There had been rumors going around about wolves trespassing into his territory. He'd purposely warned them all in his household, especially the young ones, to emerge only in packs just as the wolves did. He had no desire to start another war after centuries of peaceful solitude, and so he tried his best to keep his clan away from them. For now they were only rumors, but if they were true, if the wolves had dared to enter his domain then they would have to pay for their mistakes.

As images of blood and war raged through his mind, something outside in the rain caught his senses. He'd lived in this domain for centuries and the slightest displacement of even the wind that charged through the region, would instantly alert him. There was something outside that shouldn't have been.

"Stop the car!" he commanded.

Instantly the car screeched to sudden halt but the passenger in the back didn't even budge under violent motion. Not waiting for the large driver to customarily open his door, the passenger exited the car first. He pulled outside with him an unusual looking cane. He didn't use it as a crutch and in stead he gripped it trustfully by his side.

Amber eyes glowed against the blackness of the air and he walked in silence towards the direction of his interest. Red bangs matted down around his delicate facial features under the weight of the constant rain, and he made no attempt to brush them aside. The rest of his fiery mane was pulled back into a pony tail at the nape of his neck and held in place by a thick leather band.

Slowly he inched towards a precarious cliff at the side of the road. As he neared, the coopery smell of blood permeated the air and left its incomparable taste on his tongue. The smell was strong and he could sense that quite a large amount of blood had been carelessly and savagely spilt recently.

His senses were triggered on alert, and he slid out the silver blade from the sheath of his 'cane'. He carried the blade with expert skill and took a familiar stance as he neared the strongest area of the now rotting blood.

As he neared the edge and looked over the smell of rotting flesh flooded his nostrils. There, just a few feet below him was a mass of decaying corpses. Some had their insides torn out and only the empty cavities where left behind. Others had been decapitated and still more were mutilated in the most gruesome manner. Blood gushed and coated the rocks and ground beneath every limb and lifeless body. It mixed with the rain water and slithered down in a sickening display of violence. Any other person would've been shocked and horrified at the finding, but the amber-eyed man merely continued to survey the area.

He let out a small growl of distaste and mumbled, "Wolves" into the night air. He heightened his senses even further and scanned the area for the mangy creatures. The large chauffer had run up behind him and awaited his next order.

After several more seconds of looking over the scene and finding nothing, the man returned his sword to his sheath and turned to the chauffer, "We must return to the castle immediately!"

The large man acknowledged the command with a bow, "Yes Sire".

As the two men made their way back to the car, something else caught his attention. He turned once more in the direction of the cliff and looked around the area. His ears flickered and he cast his sight everywhere to find out what the sound was. It was barely audible, yet there it was after every few seconds. A constant thumping in his ears, slow and strained, but it screamed to him.

Finally his sight came across a dark figure strewn aside the road a few feet from where he stood and near some thick brush. He walked towards it readied his hand once more on the hilt of his sword, preparing to strike at a moments notice. He held his breath in anticipation as he stood over the figure and peered down. The faint thumping in his mind finally made sense when he realized that it was the beat of a human heart. The mass that lay before him, soaked by the rain and mud, was a human barely clinging to life.

He thought twice and then yet again about proceeding to interfere with the inevitable. The human wouldn't survive much longer as its breathing was already labored and its heart rate grew more erratic. He could smell fresh blood coming from it and then a labored gasp for breath escaped from its throat. It was more of a groan out of sheer pain, and he could finally tell that it was a woman.

She seemed to have suffered extensive wounds, but miraculously still clung to life. As he looked down at her, slowly she twisted her frail frame towards him and he got a better look at her face. Her skin was pale from the extensive loss of blood, and marred with dirt here and there. Even through the dirt smeared all over her, he could make out angelic features that complimented her slender frame. Ebony locks were strewn about and mixed with the mud and rain water on the ground and he was unable to tear his gaze away from her.

His eyes watched in fascination as her full lips parted momentarily and another groan of pain came out. Her arms wrapped around her torso and she shriveled under the intensity of her wounds.

She seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness and he wanted to continue to gaze down at her as the last of the life force bled out. He wanted her to momentarily open her eyes one last time so that he could look into them just as he did the others.

He could now also see her wounds more clearly and saw that the flesh just below her ribs was torn raggedly apart. Recognizing the familiar wound he thought about the ghastly, sharp claws that had dung into her and ripped the tender flesh. "Beasts..." he mumbled and wondered how the woman could continue to thrive after such an attack.

His thoughts were disrupted by his servant's appearance by his side once more. "Sire? What would you like to do with her?"

Unmoved by the words he quickly unsheathed his sword once more and raised it in a motion to strike the feeble woman. "This will end your suffering" he thought. Just as he made up his resolve to bring the blade down upon her, a faint cry escaped the woman's lips once more. He could have sworn that she'd spoken words for only his ears as his servant showed no indication of hearing anything. Sword still in hand, he remained frozen, looking down upon the angel that lay before him. "It's not your time. Yet" he thought as he sheathed his sword once more.

"Bring her".

With that he turned and headed back towards the car. The large servant gathered the limp woman in his arms easily and followed behind his master.

After depositing the woman in the back seat of the car the occupants continued their drive up the winding path of the mountain. Using his trench coat to cover her, he sat in silence staring at her and thinking about what was to come.

He needed answers as to who she was and where she had come from. How could she have survived an attack that was meant to kill every last one of the people that she was with? Who had attacked them, and why? For those answers he needed her to survive.

"I only hope that you're strong enough a bit longer" he thought while looking down upon her.

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Finally the silver Bentley crept past the large iron gates at the entrance of the castle and completed its journey home. For the second time that night, the master did not wait for his door to be opened for him. In stead he opened the door and climbed out only to crouch back down into the car for the third occupant. Carefully and effortlessly he scooped up the unconscious woman into his arms.

Without another word to the chauffer he glided through the castle's main entrance with her safely tucked in his arms.

As his clothing still dripped from standing in the rain where he found the woman, he gently placed her on a plush couch in the main room. The room was filled with everything one would expect a palatial estate to be filled with: priceless paintings, original statues, frescos, imported rugs, expensive furniture, and chandeliers that dripped with opulence. Rich jewel-toned colors of ruby red, emerald green, sapphire blue and luminous gold seeped from every surface and trinket in the space and beyond. A grand fire-place made of marble stood as the anchor of one large wall and emitted warmth from his core. Large windows draped with lush fabric extended the length of the gigantic, cathedral-like walls.

In the middle of the room was a set of couches and sitting chairs where the occupants of the household would gather for formal and informal meetings. He looked down at he woman and studied her in the warm lights of the fireplace, candle lights, and chandeliers. He saw her chest rise and fall and her breathing was still labored. Mercifully though, she was still alive as the beating of her heart danced in his ears.

Just as he rose from his spot next to her resting form in order to seek the assistance of his medically-inclined friend, a familiar voice called out to him from behind.

"I see you're finally home. And you brought a guest." A man of towering height appeared in the large doorway of the room. He was dressed in an expensive looking white suit, which was only disrupted by his unruly brown hair. Warm brown eyes looked in anticipation towards the shorter red-headed man and then towards the unconscious woman on the couch. A smirk crossed his features and he strolled casually inside towards the couches to get a better look.

As he focused in on the form his smirk widened to a grin, "So I see Kenshin has finally brought a woman home for the night."

Kenshin didn't seem fazed by the taunting and answered his friend immediately.

"Sano, please call Megumi at once. She's been attached by wolves it seems and we need to get her tended to immediately." His tone was serious and the taller man at once looked again towards the figure on the couch.

His friend crouched back over her and gently peeled the black trench coat that had been wrapped tightly around her. She was badly hurt and bleeding profusely. Without another word, Sano retreated out of the room to find Megumi.

Meanwhile, Kenshin looked back down at the woman and realized that she looked very young. He gently brushed aside some of her wet, ebony bangs that stuck to her face. Her skin had grown cold but still remained soft under his touch. She responded slightly to his touch by stirring, but still did not open her eyes.

Moments later Megumi and Sano rushed back into the room. She carried a small black bag containing her various instruments and was at Kenshin's side looking over the young woman in an instant.

"It looks bad." She reached down and felt the woman's slender wrist for a pulse, then placed a finger under her delicate nose to feel for breathing. "I don't know what I can do for her, but I'll try. Please send in some servants to assist me and wait outside".

Kenshin only nodded as he heard Sano summon a few servants to assist Megumi. Before exiting the room and closing the door behind him and Sano, Kenshin heard the tearing of the young woman's shirt as the doctor examined the wounds more closely. The two walked into the hallway.

Sano spoke first "Who is she?"

"I don't know" was the simple and honest response.

"Where did you find her?"

"On the side of the road a few miles from the castle."

"How do you know..."

"There were over a dozen others. But they did not survive. I suppose she somehow managed to escape and collapsed on the side of the road. They all looked like they'd been torn apart. From what I suspect, it looks like the handy work of wolves."

A few moments of silence filled the space as the two men pondered the implications of what Kenshin had seen. Finally, Kenshin spoke, "I want you, Aoshi, and Yahiko to go and look everything over once more. You can't miss the stench of the blood on your way down the mountain side. Report to me as soon as you get back, and go prepared."

Sano wasted no time in following his orders and asked one more question that had been bothering him. "By the way, why did you bring her here?" His question was blunt and to the point.

Kenshin was quiet for a few seconds before answering, "We need answers that only she can provide. If she survives."

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Well that's that for now! I just had that imagery of a dark, dreary, stormy night in the middle of seemingly nowhere. It's just the beginning and I haven't even formally introduced anyone yet. But I can imagine that you all already know who everyone is (except for probably the driver who's just more of an extra than anything else).

I will try my best to update this fic as soon as possible, but I must say that I don't intend to abandon the first one that I started. With this one, 'Second Chance', I want to really take my time and be more methodical in the plot and how it unfolds. The other fic is loosely based on real events but this one is obviously pure fiction.

Well my first vampire fanfic...please read and review!

Thanks!