Oh wow, I just realised this is already 20 chapters along XD Good on me. Ok, I'll let you get to the story now.

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I didn't know how long I cried for. Maybe it was a few minutes, or maybe it was for hours. It felt the same to me, just crying and emptying out all the feelings I should have felt the minute I left.

Did that make me cruel?

To only realise now?

Were those tears just to comfort myself that I wasn't cold-hearted?

Was I forcing myself to cry?

The mere thought of that was enough to send me into tears again, curling tighter into the ball I already was.

I was enclosed by the door and walls, but it felt like I was sitting alone in an empty desert, slowly bleeding out tears with people staring. What would they say?

Such a selfish child.

She's sixteen. Now she's eighteen.

Her poor mother. Driven to insanity with her child's selfishness.

She's lucky to have held in there for so long.

At some point, I stopped crying. Whether it was from exhaustion or just draining all the water in my body, my eyelids began to flicker closed and I didn't feel like a bloodthirsty vampire.

I just felt like a hollowed-out shell.

"Saki?" Yagari's rough voice echoed in the empty hallway outside. The front door shut closed and I heard the click of a light switch. Light began to spill out from beneath the door I was curled up against, and I blinked my watery eyes against the prick of light.

The handle to my room was pressed downwards, and I felt the door begin to push against me. Part of me debated whether to keep leaning against the door and refuse entry, or move aside.

I scrambled up from the floor, letting the door swing open, light blinding me from behind Yagari's broad frame. Rubbing my eyes, I faked sleepiness, hoping Yagari wouldn't notice that there were more tears than there should be from a yawn.

"Tired?" Yagari's features slowly came into view as my eyes accustomed to the light. Relief sank into my bones when I realised he hadn't noticed.

"Yeah," I pretended to stifle another yawn. "It was busy last night and this morning."

This morning?

Well, standing there for hours can be tiring.

Hours?

Shut up.

"It's not your fault Shina left," Yagari gave me an all too familiar stare with his one blue eye. The stare that blatantly said, 'I know you're hiding something and I think I know what it is'.

"I suppose," I replied, trying to keep my face neutral and act normal. Act normal. Act normal.

What is normal?

Should I be burdened with guilt?

Or should I be care-free and pretend I'm not affected?

Pretend you're not affected?

"Why did Mum leave then?" I blurted out, desperate to tell myself it wasn't because of me. Maybe because it was me.

Do you remember when you stopped calling her 'Mum'?

You thought she abandoned you.

But it was the opposite.

Yagari hesitated and his eye flickered from me to the ground. My shoulders sagged, and my heart sunk. I already knew the truth, but the knowledge that Yagari probably hated me deep down only made it worst.

What have I dug myself into?

"Sit down," Yagari crossed the room to seat himself on my bed, his dusty brown coat creasing on the bedsheets next to him. I sat down on the armchair across the room for him, staring at the ground. Where should I look?

"Shina - your mum, did not leave because of you," Yagari began, very firmly. Part of me didn't believe him, and another part began to wonder if Yagari could become the dad I never had.

"There's no doubt that for whatever reason she left, it was related to Ereon. That is for sure."

He was silent for a moment.

"I won't deny that you were related to her going to Ereon...but it wasn't completely your fault either."

"What are you saying?" I was done with caring about my feelings and other people caring. After how I trampled over everyone else's without a care, it only seemed fitting mine were chucked in a meat grinder.

"Look, Shina was already in an emotional state after you left. We assumed Ereon must have promised her something, possibly related to you."

"He promised he could bring me back to her?" The news didn't horrify me as much as one would have thought it could. If anything, the possibility sounded quite farfetched to me - how did Ereon even know about me? "What does he even want with Mum?"

Yagari was silent, his features faintly illuminated by the light through the doorway.

"We've considered all the possible reasons," he admitted at last. "And one of those possibilities are hybrids."

"Hybrids?" I frowned. Yagari nodded in reply.

"Vampire and hunter hybrids, to be more specific," Yagari confirmed.

"I thought hunters were just humans with vampire DNA," I pointed out, beginning to doubt this discovery. "How do you create a hybrid?"

"We're assuming they'll be something like the result of a half vampire, half human child," Yagari got off the bed to begin pacing around the small room. His boots solidly hit the floor as he marched.

"Which is?" I prompted him. I never actually knew what happened if a vampire and human had a child. After all, to be a vampire, it's either all in or all out.

"They're like...half vampire," Yagari gestured with his hands. I raised an eyebrow. He conceded. "Well, they have both human and vampire characteristics. They can touch Hunter metal and use it as well, but they're also harmed by it if it cuts them. Possibly kills them."

"Ok," I nodded slowly. "What about fangs?"

"We don't think they have them," Yagari replied, marching with longer and agitated strides. "But it could be a recessive gene."

"A what?" I'd never been good at school and now, I began to wish Yagari wouldn't sound like a biologist. Since when did Hunters need that knowledge?

"A recessive gene," Yagari repeated. "You know, which is the reason why you look like your grandmother even if your father looks nothing like her."

"I do?" I could barely remember my grandmother and Yagari knowing her better than me made me question his age.

"It was an example," he stared at me with his one eye.

Right.

"So basically, it's mainly chance of whether they have fangs or not," Yagari continued without waiting for my reply.

"Ok." It was probably best to just go along with it and hope somewhere along the way that I understand it.

"Problem is, we don't know how many of them there are," Yagari continued. "We can't waste any more time, given with every second we spend trying to find their numbers, more could be...produced."

"So we're just going to charge in?" I couldn't help but feel skeptical. I've never seen the hunters as soldiers in battles, rather just as solo, duo or trio players, going after a marked vampire. Their attitudes were probably a lot better than a certain Hunter's though.

"After we find Ereon and scout a bit," came the vague reply. How long would that take? Weeks? Months? And who exactly were the scouts?

"So until then, what do I do?" It wasn't like I could go to school, nor was I a hunter. And I didn't even know what vampires did.

"You can help out with the scouting and planning," Yagari replied, surprising me. What he said next wasn't as surprising as it was horrifying. "I want you and Zero to team up and become partners."

"Huh?" I stared at Yagari dumbly.

"You heard me," Yagari stared evenly back, pausing in the middle of the room.

"That's a good joke," I attempted a smile. "Nice of you to try and cheer me up."

"I'm serious," Yagari resumed pacing, crossing his arms. "Most hunters fight in pairs since it's dangerous fighting a vampire. We need to up the security with this supposed war as well. Zero has never fought with anyone else."

"If he's made it this far, he can go a bit more," I suggested. "I'm fine on my own."

"No, you're not," Yagari's reply was brief and may as well have been a slap to the face, as he turned once again to wear down the floorboards.

"Are you calling me weak?" My defensive nature rose to defend myself. Although he might have been right.

But I didn't need a bodyguard.

"I'm not saying you're weak," Yagari sounded amused as he turned once more, his back facing me. His strides shortened until he faced me again. "You've just never been trained. Rather, you don't have the skill."

"So I can be trained," I perked up. "Just give me some fighting lessons and I'll be good."

"Of course," Yagari replied, surprising me. "Zero can teach you."

Have I ever called myself an idiot before?

Hi guys! Sorry, it's a short chapter and I've tried but my creativity has been absolutely exhausted with all my assignments (especially in Visual Arts) and homework. I'm so braindead now, I'm literally a walking zombie. If I could go back in time, I would go right back to the start of high school and just party my life until now. I know updates have been really slow but I'm thinking I really need to get started on some actual action, sooo, hopefully that will come soon :)
Also, don't forget to comment and vote - Thank you!

Cheers!

~Evil_Incubator