Note: this is an AU fanfic.

As I've said in my other fanfics, I'm currently looking for a beta-reader, so if there is any kind soul out there that would be willingly to help me I would be very grateful! You can just leave a comment below!

Edit: I decided to re-do this whole chapter, and I couldn't have done it without my lovely beta, KingSirahk! Thank you for all your valuable inputs and support!

Any comments are highly appreciated! (They are my fuels for my writing!(*´꒳`*))

It was clear to Akihito that the person before him wasn't human.

A pair of golden eyes reflected back at him from the shadows. Above the canopy of the forest trees, the moon rose from its slumber, rising up from behind the dark blanket of stormy clouds.

Slowly, the bright light of the wintry moon pushed the curtain of shadows away, revealing a man with ivory skin and hair as black as a raven's feathers. His commanding stature was wrapped in a cloak that seemed as if it was darkness itself.

The man smiled. A pair of sharp canines glistened coldly under the pale light.

Slowly, he approached Akihito.

In the distance, deep within the dark forest, a wolf howled to the full moon.

Across the forest where the village was situated, there was an antediluvian castle located on a cliff overlooking the forest. Inside the cold stone walls, there lived an old vampire.

In exchange for the rest of the villagers' lives and the protection from other creatures and vampires, the old vampire would select a sacrifice, usually a child. The sacrificial mark would appear somewhere on their body. Once the child reached the age of eighteen, they would be sent to the castle and never be seen again.

Centuries went by and the old vampire nearly wiped out the village with his demand of a sacrifice every year. Nearing to their wits' end, the village elders met in collusion to discuss fleeing from the anathema when a miracle happened.

A new vampire came and took over the territory. As to how it happened, no one really knew. During the few centuries he had been there, he never requested a single sacrifice and peace finally settled over the village.

Time flowed on like a river, carrying the dreadful memories of the old vampire with them. Overtime, the villagers gradually forgot that vampires even existed.

Until the day the sacrificial mark appeared on Akihito.

"Ow!"

Akihito's eyes flew open in alarm as something hard slammed against his left side.

Brain foggy with sleep, it took him a minute to realize he was currently on the floor, his legs tangled in the blanket. It seemed that he had once again rolled off the edge of the narrow bed while asleep.

He sluggishly untangled himself as he yawned, and the remnants of the dreams dispelled into the morning air.

The sun was already up and the sound of a faint laughter floating up from below.

He rubbed his shoulder and walked over towards the window, and with each step a metallic chinking noise echoed behind him. As he neared the window, he was abruptly jerked to a stop. He glanced irritatingly at his feet, and saw that the chains around his ankle had twisted together. Akihito clicked his tongue in irritation. At least today would be the last day he would be bound to these chains. He yanked the knot free and took the remaining few strides to the thin slits that served as his window in the high tower. From there, he could just get a glimpse of the village below.

The small houses with smoke rising steadily out of the chimneys; the women bustling around with washings in their arms; the children laughing and running on the lush green grass; the cows grazing at the meadow, flickering their tails every so often; the men readying their weapons to set off to hunt.

It was such a quotidian scene, yet in Akihito's memories, he had never experienced it.

The sound of locks being unbolted brought Akihito back from his thoughts. The thick wooden door that served as the only entrance out of the tower opened with a deep groan.

Several people came in, carrying a washtub, pitches of water, clothes, and plates full of food.

"Takaba-sama." They all bowed reverently towards him.

He simply nodded apathetically.

After finishing washing and getting dressed, they laid his breakfast on the table and all departed. The screeching sound of the bar being secured across the door killed the tiny appetite Akihito had. He stared at the food glumly, wishing he could throw them at the village elders' face. He sighed, and headed towards the long mirror in the corner of the small room. His fingers gently touched its cool surface. A young man with blond hair stared back at him, with apprehension coloring his brown-hazel eyes. The pure white robes he wore especially for today only complemented his porcelain skin. But it was not these that held his attention. His travelling eyes stopped at the small mark at the top of his chest.

The mark that sealed his fate.

It was shaped like a rose surrounded by a crown of thorns. The dark coloured symbol laid flat against his heart and when Akihito ran his finger over it, he couldn't even feel any difference as if it had always been a part of him.

The forest floor was abundant with pieces of rocks and twigs. Every time the rickety wheels of the wooden carriage went over an uneven surface, it would jolt and Akihito would land heavily against the wooden seat. His backside had long begun to ache. Alongside, his entourage consisted of no less than ten men, all riding on horses surrounding his carriage. From an outsider's view, the horse riders were part of a procession, but Akihito knew that they were there to prevent him from escaping. The old geezers that were the village elders wanted to make sure he doesn't make one last escape before he was sent to his death.

The empty carriage he was in only emphasised his solitude. He didn't bother bringing anything with him since he will be gone from this world soon. Plus, the few possessions he had in the tower consisted of a stack of books that were tattered beyond repair so he had decided to leave them behind to rest peacefully in the tower.

He tilted his head and glowered towards the heavens outside the window. An endless black sky spread out before his eyes. Not a sliver of moon or a speck of star were visible tonight. A gnarly hand of an ancient tree whipped across the window. The loud rap made him jump and he cursed under his breath. The only time he was allowed out turned out to be his last. Even though he had long been prepared for his fate, the trepidation in his heart could not be smothered.

He doesn't know anything about the vampire, only the name the village elders whispered in the dark, Lord Asami Ryuichi of Sion, "Asami-sama".

Why does it have to be him? If the sacrifices were randomly chosen, why him out of all the others? Was it some kind of fate? A sin to repent for from a past life? Or does he just have bad luck?

As he casted aspersions upon those that made his life miserable the carriage came to a screeching standstill. Akihito toppled forward, his face nearly slamming against the wooden bench in front of him. After he regained his balance, he scowled as he tore open the door to see what had stopped them.

A giant man had appeared in front of their cavalcade, carrying a lantern that effused an eerie green light. His blond hair was dyed a green tint by the light. Behind him was an extravagantly ornamented carriage pulled by six black horses, none of which made any noise.

A cold and deep voice rang out in the silent forest. "Takaba Akihito. I will escort you to the castle from here."

Wordlessly, Akihito got off the cart. He could feel the twenty or so eyes on his back. Still, he would not give them the satisfaction of thinking he was scared. He kept his back straight as he marched forward, though he clenched his hands into fists to stop them trembling.

"Wait!"

A hand grabbed his wrist.

The young man who drove the carriage had run up to him as he was halfway to the black carriage. A name floated at the back of Akihito's brain for this man, but the terror of heading off to the unknown had numbed his mind, so he simply stared blankly back at him. A wave of gasps of horror rippled from behind them, but the young man took no notice. His eyes showed panic and horror, and was that regret in there too? Akihito didn't know.

"Akihito, I-"

The horse tied to the wooden carriage brayed loudly, drowning out the man's words. The sudden cacophony made the man jump. He shook his head dazedly, as if coming back to his senses.

He let go of Akihito's wrist, "Sorry. I'll see you again sometime, right?" He smiled shakily.

Akihito stared in wonder at the man. Did he hit his head somewhere? It was something that was likely never to come to pass but seeing the desperation on the other young man's face, he simply nodded and disappeared into the black carriage without a word.

Inside, the soft velvet seats were a stark contrast to the hard seat of the carriage he was just on.

This carriage glided smoothly along the uneven paths with alacrity, never emitting a sound, not even the sound of the horse hooves clipping on the ground.

Even though the giant man had hung the lantern inside the carriage, the task of driving without any light did not deter him and he drove the carriage forward without any hesitation towards Akihito's doom.

"We are here."

Akihito sat up with a start. Somehow he had managed to fall asleep. The blond giant was holding the door open for him, looking at him impassively, and Akihito hurriedly alighted the carriage. Outside, an enormous Stygian castle towered before him. An aura of darkness seemed to hang in the air. It clung to the castle walls and merged with the shadows of castle grounds. Akihito swallowed noisily, fear began to slowly coil upwards from the bottom of his stomach.

"I'll take it from here, Suoh." The sudden voice nearly made Akihito jump out of his skin and he whirled around to face the source of the sound, blood pounding in his ears so hard that he could feel his whole head throbbing. A tall man stood a few paces behind him, as if he had materialised out of the shadows. In the dimness, Akihito could only tell that he wore a pair of glasses.

The blond man nodded. He sat back on the perch of the carriage and without any prompt, the horses pulled the carriage away, merging into the night.

The bespectacled man turned towards Akihito, "If you would follow me please," and marched forward towards the giant iron door, seeming oblivious to the other's plight. Once he reached the door, it swung open noiselessly all on its own, like a giant mouth of a monster's cave. Akihito could see the inside was lit with candles that flickered weakly, as if a slight breeze could extinguish it. Steering his nerves, Akihito entered. No sooner did he step inside the threshold the door swung tightly shut behind him with a thud, like the sound of an executioner's blade to the executing block. Akihito gulped as his skin prickled with panic, but all of a sudden, as if a breath of life had been blown throughout the castle. The once weak flames began to burn brightly, like a thousand little suns, blazing fiercely against the stone walks.

The light revealed a castle much different from the picture Akihito had painted in his mind from the rumours. The castle was grand with a wide open staircase greeted them with open arms and colossus white columns chiseled with intricate designs that buttressed up to the ceiling in the majestic entrance. Throughout the flights of stairs and corridors the man led him through, paintings with gold frames and expensive looking foreign tapestries hung on the walls.

Finally, they reached a room where the man with glasses stopped at and opened the door. It led to the inside of a capacious room. Akihito stood gaping at the door.

"This will be your room from now on. The washroom is in that door over there. If you require any amenities, please do not hesitate to let me know." He bowed and when Akihito turned towards him to thank him, he was already gone.

Left alone, he took a tentative step into the room, taking in the extravagant room. A giant four poster bed laid in the east of the room, plump pillows stuffed at the head, so different from his narrow hard bed in the tower. Akihito kicked off his shoes and his feet immediately sank into the thick fur rug that covered up the entire room. He walked up towards the bed and gently touched the soft duvet. It sank like soft clouds under his fingertips. In the middle, a soft set of nightwear and towel were folded neatly. Fatigue suddenly washed over him. At least it seemed like they intended for him to stay alive until tomorrow morning. Akihito took the towel and pyjamas and headed towards the washroom. As he entered, a soft scent of flowers drifted towards him. It was bigger than his entire room in the tower. In the middle of the marbled tiled floors, a bathtub filled with warm water awaited him with red petals floating on the surface.

Feeling slightly rejuvenated after a long soak and wearing his soft new clothes, he began to inspect the room. That's when he noticed with elation that one of the walls seemed to be covered with a thick curtain of dark scarlet colour with gold trims. Excitement surged through his veins. Maybe it wasn't too late to escape. This 'Lord Asami of Sion' doesn't seem to be in the castle tonight. If he was, the tall man surely would have brought him to the lord of the castle first? Yet before his fingers could brush against the curtains, all of a sudden he felt weightless. Then in the next second, his back thumped against the soft bed with someone leaning over him.

The man's beauty was inhuman. It was as if a painting of a deity by a master painter had become alive and stepped out of the canvas into the mundane world. An Adonis walking among mortals, none who are worthy look upon him and it was the man's gold color eyes that hypnotized Akihito with their enthralling stare. A sudden flicker of an almost memory invoked a sense of familiarity within him.

The man smiled, displayed a pair of sharp white fangs against his blood red lips. Golden irises glowed irresistibly in the candlelight and Akihito was mesmerized at the wicked beauty before him. Even without seeing the fangs Akihito knew that he couldn't be human. No human could reach such perfection. It was only when Akihito tried to reach for his face, to touch the untouchable, that he realized both his wrists were pinned onto the bed above his head by an icily cold hand.

The trance ended and Akihito began to try and pull his wrists out from the iron grip."Wha-Let go!"

"Akihito."

The compelling voice was a husk baritone enriched with sultriness that made Akihito shuddered. Just the single word and Akihito felt his resistance gradually ebbing away and the hazy spell returned, muddling up his mind.

Suddenly, he felt a chill enveloped his body as his shirt ripped open to reveal his chest.

Akihito tried to protest feebly but the cool sensation cut him off. The vampire traced the symbol with his icy finger. Akihito shivered against the cold touch. His reaction seemed to please the vampire as a smirk graced his full lips and he leaned down towards Akihito's neck.

A warm tongue ran up his throat to the base of his ear. Everywhere the lips had touched Akihito could feel a trail of heat following it. The soft lips lightly pressed against his jaws before travelling to the hollow base of his throat, listening to Akihito's erratic pulse. Then, a pair of sharp teeth replaced the tongue and grazed against the side of his neck. Akihito squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable pain of the bite, the feeling of blood being drawn from his body, and his life slowly sucked out of him...

...

He opened his eyes and amused golden eyes stared back at him.

"Scared, Akihito?"

The mist that clouded Akihito's mind instantly vanished and anger replaced it. He opened his mouth but before a single word could be uttered, the vampire closed the gap between them, his cool mouth upon Akihito's.

Instantly, heat bloomed inside Akihito's chest like a rose blooming in season. His heart sped up as if there was a hummingbird inside his ribcage, desperately beating its wings. Everything seemed irrelevant. Only the velvet lips on his mattered. A hand snaked behind his head, locking him in place. It didn't matter that he was currently in a vampire's lair-

Vampire?

As if a bucket of crushed ice had been thrown over him, Akihito came back to his senses, horrified. Without realizing what he was doing, he slammed his foot against the man's stomach. Or what should have been the man's stomach. It felt like he had just kicked a giant boulder. Pain exploded up through Akihito's foot and leg.

"Ow!"

The vampire froze, eyes wide with surprise before he sat up at the edge of the bed and let out a musical laughter as if Akihito's action had been something truly entertaining.

Akihito sat up as well and glared at him, his breathing still ragged from the kiss and pulled his clothes tightly around his body.

The vampire's eyes twinkled like gold as he regarded Akihito.

Akihito wiped his mouth which was still damp from the kiss with the back of his hand. "You-what was that?!"

"A kiss." The vampire replied nonchalantly, seeming to enjoy the young man's reaction.

"A kiss-?" He repeated back with disbelief. Heat exploded across Akihito's cheeks as he thought what had just transpired. Still, he glared at the vampire with all the anger he could muster, his eyes clearly conveyed the message: Who the hell is this rude bastard?

The vampire didn't seem interested in answering Akihito's unspoken question. He reached his hand out and Akihito's body went rigid, but he only lifted his injured foot. His cold hands felt soothing against Akihito's burning foot. Elegant long fingers gently probed at the tender skin. "Does it hurt?"

"...No..." Akihito muttered.

The vampire smiled again and carefully placed his foot back down.

"It's not broken. But this is the first time that I've been kicked by a human," he mused, his eyes glittered with mirth.

"Serves you right," Akihito mumbled angrily and retracted his foot away from the vampire's reach. He curled protectively into a ball in the corner of the bed. He only hoped that this vampire was a temporary guest of 'Lord Asami' and that he would never see this bastard again.

Hopefully a meteor will land on the bastard's head on his way home.

"Ahem."

The man in glasses stood there at the doorway, a thick wad of documents in his hand. Akihito felt goosebumps rising up his arms. He never heard the man arrive. Wait, how much did he see?!

Expressionless, the man in glasses spoke in a voice that betrayed nothing. "Asami-sama, these papers still await your attention."

Asami-sama?

He turned to look at the vampire sitting a metre away from him.

Wait, this is Lord Asami of Sion?!

A hint of horror gradually mixed in with his anger.

Did I just kick THE Asami-sama?!

"I'm busy." Asami's tone was cool, his eyes never leaving Akihito's face, but that didn't deter the other man.

"Takaba-sama must surely be tired from his long journey. It's best if he rests for the reminder of the evening."

Asami sighed, and he acquiesced to the other man. With a hint of a smile on his lips and a small nod of his head, he looked into Akihito's defiant stare and said, "Sleep well, Akihito."

Then, without a sound both men were gone with the door closed firmly behind them, leaving Akihito with nothing but the heat lingering on his lips and neck.

Finally unfreezing his muscles, Akihito angrily hurled a pillow towards the door ten seconds too late. It landed with an unsatisfying soft thump against the door. He threw himself under the duvet, mortified. What the hell was that about? It didn't matter whether or not that person was Lord Asami of Sion or not, that doesn't make him able to do whatever he wants, so surely he deserved that kick. But he did kick the vampire. Will the date of his death sentence move up? But he didn't seem to be angry. The vampire's actions were abstruse and the more Akihito thought about what had happened, the more baffled he became. And worst of all, a tiny part of his brain whispered that he didn't hate the kiss.

After turning and tossing for hours, he finally fell into an uneasy sleep, anger and confusion and something else unfamiliar to him still swirling in his mind.

The room was still. Not even a single dust stirred, as if a magical spell had been casted upon the room.

A dark, human shaped shadow sat at the edge of the bed, bending over the sleeping figure. His hand softly touched the pale cheek, brushing the stray strands of blond hair away from the sleeping face. A melancholy expression flitted across the raven haired vampire's face and he looked at the boy, whose quiet breathing was the only sound in the castle. The boy frowned in his sleep and mumbled something incoherent. Asami gently touched the wrinkles between the brows. The boy's long eyelashes quivered slightly against his cheeks, before the wrinkles smoothed out and he sighed deeply, as if content, and once again fell into a deep sleep, wrapped in the gentle scent of lavender that drifted throughout the room.

In the dark, Asami whispered softly, "You are finally here, Akihito."