A/N: This is in the same vein as Zinging in the Train, but with Haru being born to the guy she humiliated at the front desk instead.

1. Prove

You can prove there's more to you

You cannot be afraid

-'Come Alive', The Greatest Showman

xxXxx

To whom it may concern,

First off, if you're reading this because I'm in the process of dying, and the only way to save me is to turn me into a monster, please only do so if you are convinced that there's any happiness waiting for me as a monster. If not, look in my phone for what appears to be boring lists. It's actually incriminating evidence to put that jerk in jail for life if we're lucky.

If one of my sperm donor's men or even he is reading this, I'm not sorry for what I'm planning to do. Don't bother asking why; he spends all of his attention on monsters. There's no reason for me to not follow his example, especially since there's no one willing to form an actual attachment with me in this horrible place.

If you need a name to put on my epitaph, it's Haru. Sorry about no last name, but I honestly don't know if my sire changed it when he changed his and asking will only guarantee that I won't like the answer if he promises to 'fix' it. Don't worry about me having any mourners. I flat out guarantee that my sire is going to be a lot more upset about losing his toy than about losing me.

P.S. If he's reading this, don't blame Dracula for the fact that you don't have a daughter anymore. You lost me long before I made up my mind to escape, with or without a supernatural companion.

Haru held up the plain white fabric, pursing her lips to make sure that the fabric marker wasn't bleeding out or smudging her words.

If her plan didn't work, or only half-worked, this would be the last word anyone would ever hear from her. She flicked the fabric up and down like shaking the wrinkles out of a sheet, but it was really to help the paint marker dry a little faster.

It was almost daybreak. She had to time this just right, or everything was going to come crashing down.

Her large brown eyes closed, wishing that she had more to fight for than petty spite and only a vague hope that her plan would make anything better.

She checked her watch, nodding to herself that it was time to set things in motion. Now that the ink on the scrap of fabric was dry, she folded it very carefully before unbuttoning enough of her pure white shirt and tugging the shirt under it out of the way to safety pin the message to the tight bandages over her chest and buttoning herself back up.

True, it might not have been the best place to put her potential suicide note, but her pockets were either claimed by the plan or would have been too obvious for someone to ask a premature question. It just wasn't worth the risk of leaving it in her room where someone could find it in case someone decided to check on her ahead of schedule.

The young woman carefully pressed an ear to her door to ensure that the soldier on patrol was nowhere near her hallway. She took in a steadying breath before leaving her room and carefully locking it behind her so that no one would suspect that she was up this early.

That had been another brilliant detail. Everyone was so used to her sleeping later than what was allowed for the hired help, that no one would bother asking if she had finally managed to stay up the entire night.

Haru hated everything about her 'home'. Everything was a sterile, unrelieved white that would have been more typical of a hospital than a private island. Even the people that lived in what should have been a paradise were required to wear nothing but white.

'This is how pathetic my life has become,' Haru griped in her mind as she slipped into a janitor's closet. 'I'm getting excited about even the chance I might be able to wear a green dress soon. Maybe even blue.'

Emptying one of her pockets, Haru carefully slipped on the gloves that were long enough to be lost inside her buttoned sleeves before slipping on a full head mask of a sheer enough white that she'd be able to see through the fabric and make her fine brown hair cling to her scalp.

Now the only clue to her identity was her build. She did somewhat feel bad for the five men in the compound that could pass for her body type if there were security cameras where she was going, but there was only so much she could do.

Any one of them could have gotten their hands on the anti-gravity belt prototype.

Haru jabbed her thumb into the center of the belt she was wearing under her clothes, grateful that she had even remembered to wrap an extra bit of cloth around the mechanism so that the white light wouldn't alert anybody.

Her body immediately floated a good five inches from the ground, somewhat dizzying her but she had practiced enough with the belt not to lose her focus. Haru had thoughtfully put herself against a shelf before activating the belt so that she could guide her body to the small air vent over it. A quarter turn of each screw later, courtesy of a visit she paid to the closet two days ago, and the grate came off very easily. Just inside the air vent was a length of pure white rope and a thick metal bar that she immediately strapped to herself.

Slipping a long magnetic pole from one sleeve, the teenage girl was able to set the grate back into place after her, just in case someone needed Windex before her task was done. But since there wasn't room for her to slip the pole back to its place, she was forced to leave it with the grate.

This was the tricky part. Haru had spent the last three days memorizing the route she was meant to take in the air vents, but she had to do a vast majority of it by feel. Only rarely was there light from one of the grates facing up at her, but that only served as a better warning to be quieter than a mouse.

If only that was the only reason this trip was unpleasant. The conditioning unit wasn't used at a high enough capacity to sweep away the thick layer of dust. Haru did was she could to not touch her clothes to more of the filthy metal than she had to, but thanks to the antigravity belt, there were still little bumps along the way from the walls and ceiling that were sure to leave her white outfit grey by the time this phase was over.

But the anti-gravity belt was helping out enormously with her silent passage, since crawling would have made a very distinct sound to anyone with half a brain. Wondering if this is how astronauts felt, she repeatedly used her hands to only brush at the tight walls around her and project herself forward, always forward. Her legs screamed in protest at being held perfectly parallel to all the sides of the air vent, but at least she was conditioned enough to keep going anyway.

Her heart broke as she drew closer to her destination. Not because she had lost her way, but because it wouldn't have mattered by now if she had.

Another scream of terrible pain rippled through the air, tired and near the end of its strength. Despite herself, Haru quickened her pace until reaching the lower grate she wanted.

It was even worse than she feared. The owner of those terrible screams was strapped to a table that gleamed with a genuine silver surface, and the manacles on his wrists and ankles were the same hue, leaving deep ugly marks on the pale flesh.

There was another gleam of silver from a knife. Haru carefully braced her legs and one arm against the sides of the vent before deactivating the gravity belt.

She'd need to be as steady as a rock for this next part.

"Where is she?" the blocky man demanded while brandishing his weapon. "Give it up! She can't be worth all this, can she?!"

Dracula panted from the pain, actual tears running down his face as his eyes refused to focus on anything.

Haru quickly slipped her weapon of choice out from her other sleeve. It had taken her a bit of practice with it, but she was feeling confident that she wouldn't miss her mark. She loaded the carefully-packaged ammunition into the needed slot.

"Well?! Will you deliver her whereabouts or not?!" the man demanded before adding a hard slap to the face for good measure.

Not bothering to turn his head back after the slap, Dracula muttered something almost too soft to be heard as Haru slipped the thinnest part of her weapon between the metal bars of the grate and took aim. She also took in a long, practiced breath that wouldn't be heard.

"She died for me. I'll happily return the favor."

Just as the captor was taking in his breath to start raging again, Haru blew as hard as she could.

Her mark was true. The copper-ended dart hit him right between the shoulder blades. The blocky raging man jumped in surprise, turning around quickly to see the culprit, but Haru had already yanked her weapon into the grate.

"How on earth did a mosquito get all the way in here?" he raged, not in the mood for this as he slammed the knife onto the table by the vampire's waist and vainly tried to reach his own back for the telltale prick.

It took a moment, but his small black eyes blinked stupidly before he fell over in an unconscious heap, knocking the side of his head against the silver table.

That was Haru's cue!

Another pocket produced a small gun that wouldn't do much in a fight but should be enough for her purpose. Quickly setting the barrel of the gun where she knew a screw to the grate was, she shot three times in different screws, praying that if anyone could hear it, they'd brush off the pathetic sounds. The last screw was tight enough for her to be able to slide the grate out of her way with the ease of a cupboard. It was hanging a little crookedly thanks to the gunshots, but it was still holding.

Haru knew Dracula could see her now but was too busy unstrapping the bar and rope from her torso so that she could set it over the grate's opening on one side. As mentioned, the steel bar was solid, and easily a foot longer than the almost tiny opening she was going to exit. The rope had been given a very complicated knot on that rod to keep from slipping loose.

Thankful now for all the physical education that had been shoved down her throat, the young woman made a swift climb down the rope. She paused only once to look at the vampire and tap two fingers to her mouth to encourage his silence.

The look he gave her was more than shocked. But now she could hear his flesh sizzling against his silver trap.

Haru hopped the remaining two feet down, giving him a gesture of patience with one hand as she nearly ran for the large man she had always dreamed of defying. She grabbed the control freak by his armpits and used every ounce of strength she had to drag him to the large computer that was wired to the silver table.

It was even harder to keep her movements as sure and arrogant as a man's.

Since the heavy man was redundant to a fault, Haru had no trouble breaking into his computer. She was just able to rip off one of his gloves and press his hand against the scanner after she had raised him to a sitting position next to it.

"Password," the computer asked in a bored tone.

Haru swiftly yanked out her cell phone and played the recording she had waiting. 'Not even this can give me away! They're all standard issue!'

"I hate monsters!" the fallen man bellowed like a trumpet through the phone.

"Voice key correct," the computer confirmed, finally allowing Haru the option she wanted.

She pressed the correct button with a certain satisfaction.

The silver manacles on Count Dracula's wrists and ankles immediately retreated inside the table, making the vampire eagerly roll himself off it and onto the stone floor as if it were a feather bed.

Haru's heart swelled with sympathy, but now wasn't the time to get sentimental. Grabbing her prey by the armpits again, she started dragging him to the table that he had specially made for the vampire he had spent the last ten years trying to hunt down.

Okay, maybe she wouldn't be able to do this part. The man really was larger than her and seemed to weigh as much as a house. Being scrawny was useful when she needed to crawl through an air vent, but a disadvantage when she had to manhandle someone bigger than her onto a somewhat tall table.

Much to her surprise, Dracula was able to rise to his feet and reach out with his shaking arms. Even though he was weak with fatigue, pain and hunger, he was able to throw the man onto the silver table as easily as a rag doll, though being careful not to touch the surface again.

Haru arranged his legs in the appropriate position, noted with delight that Drac was doing the same with his captor's arms, and quickly tapped on the computer's control panel.

The manacles sprang back into place over the bulky man's ankles and wrists, so Haru locked the computer again before emptying two more of her pockets.

She offered the orange to Dracula, who swallowed it whole with relief, and used the duct tape to wrap around the new captive's mouth and head a few times to delay him from activating the computer when he was eventually found. On top of that, he was going to lose a lot of hair and at least a majority of his mustache when someone tried to free him. She left the roll of duct tape connected to the length wrapped around his head for just one more little insult, since she knew that wasn't how this kind of thing was meant to be done.

But she noted with a certain delight that Dracula was angrily removing a cell phone from their captive's pocket that wasn't standard issue on the island. But at least he knew enough not to use it in here, pocketing the device for now. Now that he had been given a bit of sustenance, his raw flesh and slashed chest was starting to heal over, and even his old-fashioned clothes and cape were losing their cuts and rips.

Haru pulled out another orange while running back to her rope, but Dracula had other plans. After swallowing the second orange, he very literally swept the girl off her feet and rose like a shot to the open grate.

Without wings, she noticed.

"I'll follow," he breathed into her ear before helping her slide into the grate first.

By the time Haru had moved deep enough into the grate to give him room, she craned her head underneath her just enough to see him change into purple mist, and the rope fly up into the grate like someone was slurping a noodle. Just before the grate slid back into place, Haru saw the mist reform into a small black mouse.

'Don't remember hearing he could do that," Haru couldn't resist thinking without being impressed. She pressed the button on her antigravity belt again and began backtracking the path she had memorized.

It was a little more eerie on the return trip. When she was coming to the vampire's rescue, she knew for a fact that she was alone up here, and all she had to worry about was anyone below hearing her. But cynic or not, she was now all alone with not just any vampire, but the Undead King himself.

Haru was reasonably certain that he had figured out that she was friendly, but she couldn't hear him following her. He was levitating behind her like a balloon after a child, the best clue being his pinpricks of glowing red eyes.

After the third time that she stopped to look behind to make sure she hadn't lost him, she felt a tiny weight settle on her shoulder.

"Does this help?" he breathed next to her ear again, making the poor girl try not to laugh out of sheer nerves.

But it definitely helped. Arriving back at the janitor's closet was almost immediate now that she wasn't constantly looking behind her. Her legs were definitely tired of being held up by her sheer willpower by then.

The tiny black mouse rose from her shoulder and carefully scouted it out with his eyes and ears while she waited a few feet back. He gave her a miniscule thumbs up with a tiny paw before turning back into purple mist and taking the grate with him into the janitor's closet.

Haru was halfway out before Dracula reached up, grabbed her by the shoulders, and nearly yanked her out of the air vent to hug her tightly.

Despite the horror stories she'd been force-fed over the years, there was absolutely nothing seductive about the gesture, and he didn't seem to care that he was getting dust all over him from her clothes.

Her breath staggered in her throat as her eyes went wide with disbelief. No one had done this to her since a little after coming to the island! Unable to restrain herself, she clung to his chest, burying her face into a vest that was no longer ripped as she tried desperately not to cry at how good this felt!

"This is twice you've come to my rescue," he informed her while running a long-fingered hand over her head mask like he couldn't believe that she was really there.

Haru flinched in surprise, breaking away from him enough to notice that he was levitating himself to accommodate her antigravity belt. "Me?" she asked with surprise, ripping off the mask so that he could get a better look at her. "The demon girl from the train?"

The ancient vampire nodded without the slightest hesitation or surprise as he took in her features even more eagerly than he had accepted her oranges. "You were no demon. Only the bravest human I'll ever meet."

Haru blushed since that wasn't the kind of thing people around here normally said about her. She gave a nervous look at the janitor's door before deactivating the belt.

But because Dracula was still holding her, she had to wait for him to settle on the ground as well.

"Would you mind turning around for a second?" she whispered, tugging at spot on her sleeve that was now dark with dust.

It was a good thing she had prepared for this as well.

Dracula didn't answer, but he did release the girl before steadfastly turning his back on her.

Haru started by placing the grate's screws on a nearby shelf. She wasted little time working off the shirt, the gloves, the pants and outermost layer of socks since the inside of the air vent had been incredibly dusty. She had wanted to wear shoes for the escape, but she only had two pairs, and she didn't want to bring attention to herself by publicly wearing the fancier boots she had to be arm-wrestled into wearing.

Now in only two pairs of socks and her pajamas, she finished by taking off the antigravity belt and setting it on top of the dust-ridden clothes with the mask and slipping her phone into the elastic waist of her pants. Feeling strangely secure about doing so, Haru gripped Dracula by the hand to let him know she was decent. "Can you set these deep enough inside the grate so that no one will tell we've been here?"

He gave her a warm smile before using his purple mist to grab the bundle and throw it deep into the grate. The screws were levitated next, and the grate was now eager to be firmly set back in place.

The screws were set in so tightly, that it wasn't likely that anyone would think this would have been the exit point.

"Let's get back to my room before anything else. Would you mind riding in my hand?" she whispered while holding it out as if expecting to be given something. "This outfit doesn't have pockets, so this is the best we can do for now."

Dracula nodded his agreement, turning into purple mist again that centered on her outstretched hand until he was once again the tiny mouse.

Haru bit back her first instinct to scream and chuck him against a wall before pressing her ear to the door again.

Silent as the grave.

Haru still opened the door slowly so that it wouldn't make much noise, peeked out to be completely sure no one was around, and quickly made her way back to her own locked door. Despite no one being around, she was very careful to keep her hand cupped in such a way that it was almost impossible to tell if she was holding anything against her pant leg.

The young woman had to physically force herself not to slam the thick door shut behind her, but she still rested against it with a sigh as one hand locked it up. She breathed several times with relief as Dracula reassembled himself by her side to eye the small, boring room that was every bit as white and sterile as the torture chamber he had been rescued from.

"Are all the rooms in this place so boringly predictable?" he asked with tired contempt.

Haru nodded before making her way to the simple white dresser to pull out the largest drawer. He followed her curiously and was delighted at the small bounty revealed as the slender girl restacked her folded pants to the side for him to peruse.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what else you can have-" she apologized, but he was already digging into a large bag of raisins.

"This is fine," he assured her between mouthfuls, making her take a few steps back with some relief, pulling off her plain white sleep shirt.

"Don't turn around. I need to do something embarrassing for the plan to work." The top of her was now only covered by tight bandages that had held her chest in like a man's. She wasn't as well-endowed as some of the women on the island, but Haru considered the extra precaution worth it to keep suspicion off her.

"What is the plan?" the vampire couldn't resist asking after swallowing, but he was able to force himself not to turn around to look at her while asking it.

Haru winced as she unfastened her suicide note first, and then undid the second safety pin so that she could start unwinding the long bandage. "Unfortunately, it's going to be long and awkward for both of us. You're going to want to scream in frustration more than once, but the only way it's going to work is if you let me handle everything at least until the second safe point."

"That's not answering my question," he informed her shrewdly, setting down the empty raisin bag to move his calmer attentions to a can of dried figs. The more he ate, the more quickly his remaining rips and flesh wounds healed until he only seemed tired. Even his disheveled black hair was falling into place.

Haru tried not to smile grimly as the last of the bandage fell away so that she could pull on her sleep shirt again. "To keep suspicions down, I'll need to keep to my normal dialogue and routine for a few hours. There's a small crack in the security I can exploit, but only if I don't bring attention to it. It would be better for you to call for backup at the second safe point, because then we'll have a head start on anyone here."

She pulled one of her bigger pillows out of its pillowcase and used the small rip in it to shove the bandage into it, ripping the fluff inside in half to make the wraps as hard to notice as possible.

That bandage was now the only clue that what had happened could be traced to her. It would have been smarter to get rid of it in the grate with everything else, but she also knew that it would be three days until anyone would be touching her bed linens for laundry day.

By then, it would be far too late.

"I was counting on you riding in my pocket as a bat the whole time, but a mouse is probably better." Then Haru remembered why he still had his back stubbornly to her as she carefully put the pillowcase back on, with the ripped part facing the inside hem. "It's safe to look at me now, but you might want to use the bathroom quickly."

That private bathroom was probably the only hint that she was a person of rank on the island, because the bedroom itself was too small to take much note. Even her clothes were the standard issue of every inhabitant.

Dracula gave her a deep grateful look, but didn't waste time rushing through the door she was pointing at, still carrying the remains of the figs.

He didn't take long, but Haru was still done rearranging her pants so no one could tell that she had a secret food stash before he came back out. He had even taken the trouble to get rid of the remaining dust on his clothes.

Haru sighed before looking up at the vampire. He was nearly twice as tall as her, clearly stronger than a human even in his weaker state, and yet he wasn't challenging her plan or coming up with a reason why he should be in charge of their escape.

Though it should have frightened her, she took his long-fingered hand and held it between her own with a certain firmness. "I'll need you to fall asleep in the pocket of that set of pants," she informed him, giving a small head gesture at the pair of white pants lying slightly askew over the others in the open drawer. "You'll be blind and voiceless until I directly tell you it's safe to talk. It's not much of a plan, but I've been looking over escape routes for years, and this one has the best chance of succeeding. Are you willing to trust me?"

His ice blue eyes seemed to melt before he wrapped her in another hug. "You over any human. I can't wait to re-introduce you to everyone!"

"Shh!" she hissed, wiggling out of his embrace to point imperiously at the folded pants. "Don't make me say the phrase. We'll both need some sleep before things start happening."

He sighed tiredly in complete agreement before turning into purple mist that poured itself into the upmost pocket of the top pants in the drawer.

"Sweet dreams," she told him, shutting the drawer after him before tiredly placing her phone on its charger and marching to her own bed.

Naturally, just as she reached it, she noticed one last detail Dracula needed. Muttering angrily to herself, Haru grabbed the scrap of cloth, folded it nicely, and returned to her drawer. "One last thing?" she asked a little sheepishly, making the tiny mouse tiredly poke its head out of her pocket. "Would you hold onto this for me in case I don't make it?"

Dracula glared at the folded note before turning the dark look up at her. "You will make it. If it's the last thing I do."

She sighed tiredly. "Please? For me?"

Now that she knew she had been the girl on the train, it wasn't that big of a shock that he relented.

ooOoo

"RISE AND SHINE, SLEEPING BEAUTY!" a familiar voice hollered as her foot was painfully yanked.

Haru yelped from being awoken so rudely, even though she had worn multiple pairs of socks until right before going to bed an hour ago for this exact reason. "Do you have to do that, Yubaba?! Every stinking morning!" she raged while sitting up with a glare.

A squat woman with a giant mole between her large eyes was giving her a wide grin that screamed she enjoyed this part of her morning. "Just making sure you aren't sleepwalking again, dearie."

Haru gave an exasperated growl while throwing the covers off her. "I haven't done that in five years, woman! Come on, couldn't you have done something different to wake me up for today? Rang a bell in my ear or flicked the lights on and off?" She stormed over to her pure white dresser, yanking and slamming the drawers while grabbing bits of clothing from each one. 'I hope Dracula will accept my apology for screaming this much.'

"If it works, I don't see a reason to change a thing," her keeper smirked, hobbling over to the bathroom door and resting against it as usual to keep the girl from leaving her sight.

"I'm also not a little girl, anymore," Haru griped, carefully gripping the armful of clothing so that she wouldn't accidentally put pressure on her pant pockets. "I know how to dress myself without an audience."

"When your father adjusts his expectations of my duties, I will be happy to comply."

Haru glared but used the only loophole she was allowed in this regular argument with Yubaba. Throwing a bedsheet over herself, Haru managed to switch clothes in about two minutes. But she still had to keep the bathroom door open when she got ready for the day.

That was one of the reasons Haru had grown to hate the one that sired her. Leaving her to be raised by servants while he ran off chasing vampires was one thing, but never accepting her pleas or hearing her protests about wanting a little privacy? Thank heaven she took baths at night, or Dracula would have overheard that argument, too!

It still hurt that he was overhearing how she was being treated like she was still a child. She could feel him trembling in her pocket, but hoped he'd be able to keep a grip on his temper.

Haru could barely force herself to endure the morning routine. Yubaba was too harsh with brushing her shoulder-length hair again before styling it into an old lady's bun that mirrored her own, and her breakfast of eggs and bacon were still too greasy for her to actually enjoy eating.

It was too bad that bacon grease stained anything white. Dracula might appreciate the bacon after all that fruit as his first decent meal in at least three days.

Thinking about the mouse in her pocket quickly became the only thing forcing Haru to hold herself together. If she had thought yesterday had been bad before rescuing Dracula, then actually sneaking both of them off the island was going to be even worse.

"Do we really have to have garlic at every meal?" she complained, pushing back her plain white plate when the only thing left on it was some buttered toast that had been heavily dusted with garlic salt.

"Yes, we do. Especially now that the king of vampires is under this very roof!" Yubaba shuddered while shoving the toast back at her charge while gnawing at her last piece of bacon. "I don't blame the bags under your eyes, girlie. I haven't been able to sleep with that… thing on the island with us!"

Haru grumbled but ate the toast to keep up with the usual routine. 'At least your mood hasn't soured from losing sleep, you hag!' "There, done!" she snapped, shoving the empty plate away and going for the door.

"Wait for me to finish, girlie. Your father very specifically told me you are not to be alone in the compound until after he's done with that monster."

Haru banged her head against the door and left it there until Yubaba was eventually done with her own breakfast. 'Oh, he doesn't think of me for birthdays or holidays, but he'll remember I exist when a monster shouldn't be able to touch me. I hate my life.'

xxXxx

In a hallway on the other side of the compound a rough hour later, the conversation hadn't gotten any better.

"Double shifts again?" Haru complained when she noticed her standard-issue bag once again had enough food in it for two meals instead of one when the corporal handed over her supplies. "I'm never going to catch up on my schoolwork if I keep getting commandeered for-"

"Watch your attitude, missy," the big man growled at her like he had missed too many meals. "We have to make use of everybody we can if a rescue attempt is made by the monsters, no matter how… unfitted that body is for dealing with monsters," he added with a sneer while giving her slight form a look of contempt.

Haru glowered at him for the common insult, praying that his gaze would stay away from the pocket that had a slightly trembling mouse. "My standard post?"

"That's right, missy. Don't dishonor us by getting distracted by cloud gazing or daydreaming about any of the privates."

"Eww," Haru muttered under her breath, marching away from the man and into the large door leading out to a hangar where there was an army of motorcycles, both the ones that could fly and the ones that could go over water.

Every single one of them were pure white, naturally.

Haru made for her customary water bike, rubbing the spot between the handlebars gently before grabbing the plain white helmet waiting on her seat.

"Eww?" one private asked her waspishly as he got ready on the bike behind her. "You're not exactly a beauty contestant yourself, you know."

"I was referring to your personalities," Haru countered coolly before almost slamming her helmet on and mounting her bike.

They had been insulting her long before the girl started griping about everything, it was only fair to get in a few insults back.

She took special care to keep her legs where they normally were, although she knew Dracula was nearly getting crushed in her tiny pocket from her leg position, but she didn't dare shift around to make him comfortable until she was out of sight from all these people that hated her for not really being part of their little brotherhood.

It was too bad there was enough room in the helmet for the 'old lady' bun. Haru would have delighted in the excuse to pull it out without getting screamed at again.

"You're no beauty queen by that scale, either," another private sneered as he made his own preparations to ride.

"I never claimed to be," Haru responded with all the ease of a recitation while adjusting her satchel in front of her almost like a kangaroo pouch.

This was yet another reason she was all too eager to leave the island for good. Dracula had been the first person in at least eight years to sincerely say something nice to her and hold her like she meant something.

For that, she'd happily lay down her life for him again.

After what felt like a century, the large hangar door slowly slid up, and the twenty motorcyclists revved their engines for takeoff.

Now that the helmet was covering her face with dark glass, Haru didn't have to mask the wild smile of anticipation any longer.

At the usual signal, the first row raced to the water that the dock was gently slanted towards. They split into different directions after a few yards, allowing the next row to do the same.

Haru supposed she should be grateful that her life was predictable enough to be mistaken for a Groundhog Day situation. She was low on sleep, high on the idea of never returning to this cold place, and almost ready to jump out of her skin with nerves.

Despite all these distractions, her body knew what to do. As soon as her row could skid out to the rolling sea, her hands automatically began directing the course to her personal lookout point. No conscious thought was required, save for one thing she had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming at the top of her lungs.

'So long, suckers!'