Yu~ki struggled down the hall, finally after minutes of searching for the correct door he held onto the doorknob, about to thrust himself into the room. Then he heard another scream, a different scream… "Mana! Oh God!" Yu~ki froze. Mana’s scream, a scream Yu~ki knew so well, joined, and then there was silence. Yu~ki’s hand shook furiously on the doorknob and he jerked away. He gritted his teeth and felt a cold tear run down his face. Bastard! That bastard!

Yu~ki stumbled back to his room and slammed the door behind himself as he fell into his room. Leaning back against the door he slid to the floor and sobbed. He swore to himself that Shinya would be gone as soon as he could get him out of the castle! Mana was his, not that bastard Shinya’s! He collapsed to the floor and sobbed himself to sleep.

He sat with his fists forcing imprints into the red, velvet armrests of the high back chair he sat on in front of a roaring fireplace. He took a large gulp from his wineglass; the thick liquid ran down his throat before he had a chance to swallow.

On the floor beside the fireplace his loyal, old butler lay dead with his eyes open staring blankly into the air in Gackt’s direction.

Gackt sniffed as an enormous tear rolled down his white cheek and rested against his chin. Angry tears such as these hadn’t come in such a long time. Seeing Mana must have caused it again. So long ago, had it really been nearly five hundred years since he’d been in love with Mana? He would see him sometimes, and Mana of course tried to made him hurt every time, but he had never attacked him...

That poor boy that Mana held that night caressed his body and teased him with his fangs. He wasn’t interested in the youth, was he? He was really just taunting Gackt? Maybe, but maybe he was right. The youth’s blood was probably much better than his own. Gackt only fed on the old…like his old butler that he had, to his own surprise, became so agitated that he fed on him and killed him. He preferred the young…it had been so long since he had tasted one he barely remembered the taste. He didn’t want to feed on the young; they had their entire life ahead of them. Mana always made him feed on them, for when later when Mana and Gackt had their sexual encounters Mana could feed on Gackt and taste the best blood.

Mana wanted to hurt him. He always did. For Christ’s sake he killed his beloved stallion! Gackt jumped to his feet and threw the wine glass across the room and it smashed against the stone wall and sent blood splattering into the corner of the room. Mana had hurt him, so now he would hurt Mana back.

Shinya woke up alone in bed. When he had fallen asleep the second time Mana had been lying over him, stroking his hair. But now he was alone. He looked at the small, winding clock beside his bed. It was nearly 2:00 AM. He knew Mana would still be awake; he usually was until just before dawn and then would disappear into his bedroom.

Shinya sat up. He shuttered at the cold. Across the room the fireplace and dwindled to practically nothing and Shinya was still above the covers, except for where Mana and turned them up and across his lower half. In his sleep, the blankets had fallen away.

He slid off the bed to collect his clothes and put them on. He winced and he moved and looked down. "Oh..." The back of his thighs were dripped in blood, his blood and the sheets where had had been lying were also covered with a dark red stain. He shifted to mindlessly pick up his clothes and winced again, feeling fresh blood escape him. Very carefully he moved down towards the end of the bed and wrapped his dressing robe around himself. The cold silk make him feel even colder in the frigid room.

He jerked up his head when he heard a loud noise from the hall, it sounds like shattering glass. He thought of the floor -to-ceiling, stain-glass window at the end of the hall.

Shinya slowly (because he had to move slowly) crept to his doors and opened one slightly. He crept out into the hall and moved towards the windows. He saw no one in the hall. In front of the window, Shinya stood and looked at a large pane that was smashed out. The blue glass lay strewn out over the floor. Who had done this?

He thought a moment as he pulled his robe tight and tied the flimsy sash around his waste. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought. Mana would probably be working in his study; he usually did about this time of the night. Yu~ki had been told to go to his room hours ago, and would probably be asleep at this hour. Maybe Kozi? Or one of the young maids he had met?