A/N: I'M ALIVE. I know. It's been forever... I just hate posting anything I'm not satisfied with, and having little free time doesn't help that perfection-complex.

*squeals* BUT I'M SO GLAD YOU ALL LIKE IT. AND OH MY GAWD SOMEBODY SHIPS MY OC. Honestly, I wasn't thinking of doing a romance, because I'm really crap at it (both IRL and in writing, unfortunately), so if I do, it'll take a while for any relationship milestones... not to mention either of them actually admitting their feelings/the fact they're in a relationship...

And to answer your question PepperCornPie, initially I was only going to be following the anime, but now I've started incorporating the manga, so its probably going to be 40% anime, 40% manga, 20% original - up until the anime ends and then 60-70% manga with some overreaching anime-related story-lines, etc. as well as more of my own.

To everyone who reads, follows, favourites and/or reviews - you're all freaking amazing. Thank you! Also you remind me update, which is awesome, because I'm really forgetful (something you all probably realize by now... *sweatdrop*)

NOW ON WITH THE CHAPTER.

Disclaimer: Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino. I only own my OCs; Maya, Katsumi and Aiko.

WARNING: this fanfic contrain dark themes; mentions of death, serious injury, murder and suicide.

Chapter 13 - Puppet on a String

The small fire crackled and flickered, the light it cast reflecting off my glasses and hiding my eyes as my uniform burned.

My thoughts were far from the situation before me, my mind and gaze's attention lingering on my right hand, which was wrapped in gauze and bandages.

The one clutching my bloodied white collared shirt - what remained of my uniform.

Thankfully, I had at least couple of spare uniforms to wear, I thought as I stood there wearing some spare light coloured clothes that I could bleach later, but this one would have to go.

But my hand wouldn't move.

It wouldn't throw the stupid shirt on the damn fire.

'Why?' I asked the Hooded Woman in my mind.

Over and over, as the night wore on, and my time before morning grew shorter.

But she never answered.

Because, you see, that blood... it wasn't just mine and Shizuka's. It was Kuran Kaname's too.

It got there after my complete and utter failure, when he ordered me to assist him to the old dormitories.

"Matsumoto"

So focused on trying to be deaf, I didn't realize Kuran was speaking to me at first.

"Matsumoto" his voice was more strained this time, it was what finally got my attention.

But I couldn't look at him.

Zero, I mean.

So I kept my eyes trained on the floor as I made my way over to Kuran - did I ever mention how much taller Kuran is compared to me?

The top of my head barely reached his damn shoulders, so you can imagine just how uncomfortable it was to help him across the room and then up the stairs.

But holy shit was I relieved to be out of that room.

I'd be lucky if I didn't burst into fucking tears before Kuran and I had parted ways for the night.

Once we'd finally arrived - and I had yet to breakdown (again), thankfully - I helped him to one of the rooms.

The furniture was covered in white sheets, and I had to monopolize some of them into bed sheets for his majesty to rest on.

Sorry. Trying to convert my bottled up emotions into bitchy thoughts... it's not really working, by the way.

Since my hands were still covered in vampire blood, She was still there, having followed us the whole way.

She and Kuran seemed to be having some sort of stare off, believe it or not, but they didn't speak.

I don't think she can speak in that form, except through my thoughts. Which is still weird, by the way.

Finally, he turned to me.

"I am aware of your... dreams"

I swallowed, eyes narrowing slightly.

... well, this can go nowhere good.

I said nothing.

"From now on, if you are to... 'see' anything regarding me or Cross Yuuki, you are to come to me immediately" his voice had taken on an authoritative tone. One, that quite frankly, scared the absolute shit out of me.

I nodded, voice caught in my throat.

But he wasn't satisfied with that.

"I need your word" he clarified "I need your promise"

My eyes broke away to glance at the Hooded Woman before flickering back to Kuran.

Seriously? She told him that too?

Well, shit.

Shit fucking shit.

He was on my top five list of people I didn't want knowing about all this shit.

For this exact fucking reason.

Yet here we are.

I opened my mouth to speak.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in.

"I promise" I said, my tone emotionless and barely audible in the quiet of the old building.

... fuck you, Kuran.

I didn't burn the shirt.

I let the fire burn out, scattered the ashes and then walked back to my dorm room.

The sun was just about rising by the time I got back.

I went straight to the now useless ice box hidden in my wardrobe, emptied out the contents, folded up the shirt so the blood wasn't immediately noticeable - by the human eye - and then sealed it and hid it away again.

After that, I grabbed a fresh uniform and ran straight for the showers. Luckily I got there before anyone else - so no one saw the horror show I probably was - and spent the next twenty minutes scrubbing off all the blood caked on to my skin and bleaching out those poor clothes.

When I got back to my room, I cried.

A lot.

I actually ended up having to go back to the bathroom to wash my face because of all the crying I did.

How the hell do you think you'd react after realizing there were quite literally strings tied to you? That at anytime you could be controlled by some age-old powerful vampire with a murderous obsession?

Fuck. My. Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife.

I went for a run after that, trying to distract myself, and made it to breakfast early enough that I didn't run into anyone else. Grabbing a couple of apples, I went back to my dorm room, eating as I walked, and got presentable, red ribbon tied in a bow and black socks pulled thigh high. I wrapped my purple scarf around my neck and pulled on some black finger-less gloves to hide my hand bandages, luckily it was starting to get colder now, so hopefully no one would question them.

Arriving in the classroom before anyone else, I took up my usual seat and waited for homeroom to begin.

"Maya-chan?"

Glasses lopsided, my head jerked up from the desk to see the room filling with other students. Shit. Did I fall asleep?

"Maya-chan?"

Fixing my glasses, I quickly turned to see it was Yori who was speaking to me, she had a concerned look on her face "morning, Yori-chan" I said, with a small smile.

Instantly her worried stance relaxed slightly and a relieved smile slipped onto her face "I'm glad you're feeling better"

That's right. I'd had the last few days off. I completely forgot. Damn it, I could've skipped for another day.

"Yeah... me too" I replied, stifling a yawn.

What was the lie that Kaien told them? That I'd got a stomach bug or something?

I talked idly with Yori for a little while after that, and she updated me on the little normal things I'd missed while I was off 'sick'. Like winter homework assignments and any new classwork we were doing - it didn't take long for me to get back up to speed.

It was nice. The normalcy of it all.

Then the homeroom teacher arrived, with Yuuki right behind her, who shot me a worried look before hurrying to her seat.

I simply smiled back, but my expression dropped tiredly the second she turned away.

I should've taken another day off, especially after everything that happened last night... I need to allot some serious clocking-out-of-reality time, and soon.

In the mean time, I continued resting my head on my hand as I thought, cheek pressed against my palm.

After homeroom ended and our first class began, I tried paying attention to the lesson in an attempt to distract myself, but my thoughts kept drifting to other things.

Fucking stressful things.

By the time the last class of the morning came around, I realized my brain couldn't recall anything the teachers had been lecturing and that by trying to empty mind of stressful thoughts, I'd only allowed it to drift into a sort of sleepy fog.

The time my eyelids stayed closed from blinking went from seconds to minutes and then... I was falling.

I landed in the snow in the barren forest, staring up at the clouded dark grey sky.

"Maya!"

My eyes snapped open. I was back in the classroom. Yuuki was staring down over me with an expression on her face that was a cross between worry and bewilderment, one hand on my shoulder where she'd shaken me awake.

I was lying on the goddamn floor.

And the whole bloody class was staring.

Fuck.

"Cross-san, Wakaba-san, please take Matsumoto-san to the Infirmary" the teacher managed to say over the chaos of all the students trying to get a look at what happened.

"Yes, sensei" Yori's soft voice replied from behind Yuuki, and I didn't resist as they helped me to my feet and we left the classroom.

To say the least, Katsumi was not all surprised to see me when we showed up in her office. She thanked Yori and Yuuki for helping me there and then told them to go back to class.

Shortly after they left - Yuuki a bit reluctantly - Katsumi confronted me.

"You look like shit"

I halfheartedly glared up at the dark-haired woman, who only stared back unimpressed.

"Did you get any sleep last night? I said you had to have a steady diet and sleeping pattern" she scolded "that means three square meals a day and at least six hours of sleep, you know"

Sighing at my lack of verbal response, she made me eat two pieces of fruit - and take another two with me - before she released me back to my dorm room where she practically ordered me to take those damn pills and sleep for the rest of the day.

I didn't want to got to sleep.

In fact, it was one of the last things I wanted to do right now... but the second my head hit the pillow... I was in dream land.

I was immediately hit with a jumble of memories. Each crossing over each other and faded figures that walked all around me, all their voices loud in my ears, almost deafening.

Slowly, my brain began sorting through, allocating places in the barren forest for the memories by making buildings appear across the landscape, and the voices softened to a more manageable level - but I could still hear the others, the less emotionally charged memories, chattering away in the background. Like white noise.

I ignored them for the most part, choosing instead to focus on the memories I could see playing out before me in the dreamscape.

Some were scenes I'd already seen, while others I remembered watching, events that had taken place long before I arrived in this world. Back when all this was just fiction to me.

It was as I was walking through these memories, that I began to notice a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. The visible memories began becoming distorted and blurred as the nagging grew into a dull throbbing... pain.

Frowning, I turned and started walking back through the forest of my dreamscape, trying to follow the feeling that only became sharper as time went on.

Eventually I came to a nondescript stone building, and I reached out to push the large wooden doors open.

The second my hand touched the wood, the scenery changed.

I was in a dark room.

A room that stank with the thick iron scent of blood.

Dread hit me like a punch to the gut.

I heard a jingle of chains in the darkness. As if something was... moving. Like whatever was here, was reacting to my sudden presence.

Two glowing eyes appeared, staring straight at me with a gleeful smirk.

One bright red... and the other an icy blue.

I froze, eyes wide.

Instantly the pain in my head sharpened, like a needle had been shoved into my brain.

I fell to the floor, clutching my head. Screaming.

"NO!"

I was breathing hard, blankets wrapped around my legs as if I'd been thrashing in my sleep. And I was crying again.

Clutching my aching head, I curled up in to a ball underneath the blankets.

Once I managed to regain control of myself, I slowly dragged my body from the tangled covers and checked the time.

It was a few hours later, Day classes would only just be finishing... and thank god for that. Cause that means no-one just heard me screaming...

I pulled my legs up to myself, clutching them to my chest as I worked to steady my breathing.

He's not here yet, damn it. He's not here yet. He's not here yet. I just have to keep reminding myself that.

He's not here yet.

You know, until he actually gets here. Possessing his illegitimate son.

I'm surprised he hasn't used someone else to try and fuck with my mind. After all-

That was when my eyes, which were absentmindedly searching for my glasses, saw them sitting in front of a small glass vase.

A small glass vase full of pink six-point star lilies.

... oh, I am so going to fucking kill her.

Grabbing the vase, I stormed over to my room's open window, and with a roar I threw the thing as far as I could - which was actually pretty far, considering my sleep deprived state - and completely ignored the distant crash of glass shattering in the Sun Dorms' courtyard.

Then I hastily dressed in my uniform from earlier, grabbed my prefect armband, and stormed out of the room, intent on heading straight for the fucking Moon Dorms.

I was already halfway there when I ran straight into Yagari of all people.

"Excuse me" I breathed through gritted teeth while attempting to move around him.

"Where are you going, girl?" he asked, grabbing my forearm.

"My name is Matsumoto Maya and I'm going to give that sneaky little bitch a piece of my mind" I snapped.

Pulling me around to face him, Yagari continued with narrowed eyes "explain"

I clamped my mouth shut.

There wasn't time for him to interrogate me out in the open like this, the Day Class would be coming this way very soon. If I could just stall long eno-

"Wha- what are you doing?" I hissed as he began walking, forcing me to tag along with him as my arm was still in his grasp "Ya- Yagari?"

He didn't answer me, but I figured out where we were going soon enough. Especially when he dragged me to the hallway outside the Chairman's office.

I was not a happy camper.

Who the fuck did Yagari think he was? I was just- oh. Oh shit.

I was just going to barge into the Moon Dormitory, right when a bunch of grumpy vampires would be waking up for class.

Well.

Yagari just stopped me from doing something incredibly stupid.

Apparently my brain blocks out my self-preservation when I get that angry.

And before you ask, yes my anger runs out of steam pretty quickly once I realize my split-second 'let's deal with it right fucking now' plans are at best fucking stupid - and at worst suicidal.

This doesn't mean I'm not still pissed off at Aiko though.

Just saying.

Shit. Don't cry. Not again, for fuck's sake.

I seriously need to deal with my shit. But I can't. Because I can't talk to anyone. Not about what's really bothering me anyway...

Probably having felt my muscles relax as I calmed down, Yagari let my forearm slip from his grip and we stopped walking.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I'm such a fucking idiot.

Slowly, I looked up at him from over the top of my glasses "thanks"

Yagari stared at me for moment "you need stow your crap, kid" he sighed frustratedly "you can't afford to be reckless like that. That kind of attitude could get the average hunter killed -and you're not even a damn hunter. Let alone as strong as an average one"

I knew that. I always knew that.

But him saying it out loud still felt like a kick in the gut.

"Maya-chan?"

I turned around to find Yuuki standing in the hall, she looked nervous for some reason.

"Thanks for the talk, Yagari-sensei" I said, looking back at him "I'll be going now"

I could feel Yagari's eyes watching me for a bit as I jogged over to Yuuki, but then he turned and stormed into the Chairman's office.

Despite my intense curiosity, as an attempt to distract myself from the turmoil of emotions I was feeling and figure out what the hell was going on with Yuuki at the same time, I turned my attention to the girl standing beside me as we left the admin building "are you okay, Yuuki?" I asked "you just seem a bit... off"

"Eh? Am I okay? I'm the one who should asking you that!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing - really! I'm just a little tired is all. And I'm worried about Zero..."

Sighing, I nodded, clearly seeing she wanted to avoid the topic for now, for whatever reason.

"Do you want to go check on Maria?" I asked, and Yuuki instantly looked grateful at the sudden topic change, agreeing readily.

Weird. I'm definitely going to have to look into that.

Chapter End

A/N: Again, apologies for the long gap in chapters. I just want to put out quality chapters instead of half-assed ones...

Thank you to everyone for your patience - please remember to follow/favourite and/or review! I love absolutely reading them~!

Thanks,

Milley02