1 The Beginning

"Beep...Beep...Beep" the alarm drones on as Yukari stirs in bed. She slowly looks at the time and reluctantly gets up. What day was it again? She picks up her phone and checks the date in the calendar. Today is the 32nd year that her parents have been dead.

~Flashback~

Yukari's mom was killed by vampire hunters when she was seven years old. She can still remember it clearly, how They had come during the night on her birthday.

She had no idea what was happening, except that there were bad people surrounding her home. She could remember her mother rushing frantically into her room and grabbing her and taking her to the cellar, telling her to hide and not make a sound.

Yukari wanted to be a good girl, and listened to her mother. She stayed quiet and hid and everything around her went quiet until she heard a shrill scream.

'Mom...' she thought as she heard a gunshot and a thud as if a body had hit the ground. Looking between the cracks of the hidden cellar, Yukari could see the shape of a body lying lifeless on the floor above her.

She felt it first, the warm droplet that had seeped through the cracks. Reaching up to wipe the warm liquid from her face, her heart dropped. Looking at the dark colored liquid on her fingers, she then knew. This was blood... Her mother's blood.

Yukari couldn't help the tears that started falling from her eyes, choking back her sobs so the bad people wouldn't hear her. Who are these people? Why are they so cruel, she thought to herself.

After listening to make sure the hunters had left, Yukari walked from the cellar, going to her mother's lifeless body.

"Mom... mom... mom! Why mom?" She couldn't hold back her sobs anymore and let out a scream. She continued to scream as she held her mother's head in her lap, letting her tears descend onto her mother's gentle face.

She felt it first, the cold barrel of a gun against the back of her head. Then she heard the click of the gun.

"I'm sorry...." She heard a man's voice. She slowly turned her head to stare at the man, tears still streaming down her face.

The man, taken aback by the little girls appearance, slowly lowered the gun. She's so young, he thought. He slowly kneeled in front of the little girl and laid his gun on the floor.

In the report, it didn't say anything about a child, only about an older vampire who was a female. Is this little girl her daughter?

He looked at the little girl again then at the woman's head lying in her lap. There was a resemblance. Rubbing the back of his neck, he let out a sigh. I can't very well kill her... She's just a child. I guess I could always take her in, but why would you want to live with someone who was from an organization that's supposed to kill vampires and the same organization that just killed your mother? This is going to be difficult... He sighed again.

"I guess I'll start by introducing myself," he said with a warm smile. "My name is Timothy Graves. I sincerely apologize for what happened with your mother... I don't exactly agree with how the organization does things."

He closed his eyes. "I won't harm you in anyway... All I'm doing is asking, but you can't stay here anymore. So would you like to come with me? I promise I won't hurt you and its better than being found by the others, since I'm pretty sure they'll be back to clean up... So what do you say? I'll take you somewhere safe."

Yukari looked into the man's eyes. She could see he was sincere and that he wasn't lying. She would probably be better off going with him, but she didn't want to leave her mother. She looked down at her mothers gentle and loving face.

She then looked back up at the man name Timothy. "If I go with you... will you please give my mother a proper burial? Its all I ask." her voice cracked.

Timothy stared at the girl. A burial? Does she know how long that will take. Rubbing the back of his neck he replied "Okay, but I want to ask first. What's your name?"

"Yukari..." she replied softly. She watched as the man stood up.

"Yukari, huh. That's a pretty name." He bent down and picked up the girls mother. After picking her up, he saw Yukari dart into a room and come back with a sheet.

"Please...wrap my mom...in this..." She said as she handed Timothy the sheet.

Timothy quickly wrapped the woman in the sheet and started walking towards the front door. Yukari quickly followed behind wearing nothing but her nightie.

Stepping outside, the ground was blanketed in snow. Yukari looked up at the sky as snow began to fall once more. She held up her hand catching a flurry. It's so cold now. Is mom cold? She wondered.

She stared at the back of Timothy has he walked in front of her, stepping in the tracks he made. She noticed that the blood of her mother had started soaking through the sheet. The man continued to trudge through the snow with Yukari on his heels until they came to a stop in front of an old willow tree far from the house.

Setting the woman down, Timothy headed towards an old shed nearby in search of a shovel. Yukari watched as he walked towards the shed, glimpsing every now and then at her mother's form. Kneeling in the snow, Yukari patted her mother's head ever so gently until Timothy returned with a shovel.

He began shoveling, huffing every now and then. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally finished digging, and gently sat the girls mother inside the hole. He never noticed that Yukari had left, until he saw her walking towards him holding some type of blue flowers.

She gently placed them on top of her mothers form and said a silent prayer. She stepped back, away from the hole and watched as Timothy began to throw in the dirt. This was the last time she would ever see her mother.

Yukari held back the tears that wanted to pour over her eye lids, remember what her mother had once said. "You should never cry Yukari. If you cry, the fairies will never visit you. So be a big girl and never cry okay?" She could remember her mothers gentle face and calming voice whispering to her.

I wont cry mom. I wont cry! I will be a big girl, I will! She thought to herself.

After finishing up, Timothy finally realized that Yukari wasn't wearing a coat or shoes. She must be freezing, he told himself as he took off his coat and wrapped it around her little shoulders. He looked into her eyes and truly felt sorry for the little girl. "To keep your feet from getting frostbitten, let me carry you?" He asked.

Yukari nodded as he slowly lifted her into his arms. "Let's get you somewhere warm and we will see what to do from there," he said, beginning to walk away from the grave.

After walking for about 30 minutes, he noticed the soft even breathing of the girl in his arms. Yukari had fallen asleep. He couldn't blame her. She had just witnessed her mother being murdered, walked god knows how many miles in snow wearing nothing but a nightie, and is being taken in by a stranger. She should hate him, but instead, she had looked at him with trusting eyes. This little girl is going to be the death of me, he thought.

~Present~

Yukari continued getting ready, repeating her daily routine. Eat breakfast, take shower, brush teeth, put on uniform, and check the news. This was how her life had been for the past 32 years since losing her mother.

Walking out the door to her apartment, her phone started ringing. Answering it as she walked down the stairs of her apartment building, she waited for the person on the other end to talk.

"How's my sweet Yukari doing this fine morning? Have you eaten breakfast yet? Did you get enough sleep?" Timothy's voice droned on through the speaker.

"Yes, yes, and yes. And before you ask, I'm heading to the grave site since its the anniversary of her death." Yukari replied stopping in front of the flower stall a few blocks away from her apartment.

"You don't have to worry about working today by the way. I asked the boss for a day off for you. I'm such a good parent aren't I? How about eating dinner with your dear old dad, hmm? We haven't eaten together in a while!" he continued talking.

Yukari waved down a taxi and crawled in the backseat. "Thank you...and I don't know if I'm up for dinner or not. I might just go back home and lounge around and eat instant ramen or something" she replied, looking out the window of the taxi. She watched as the scenery changed as the taxi headed out of the city.

"Well if you change your mind, you always know where to find me. Stay safe Yukari, the feral situation is getting worse." Timothy said with worry in his voice. "If anything happens, contact me immediately, okay?"

"Okay... I got to go, I'm at the site" She replied and slowly hung up.

Of course she was just lying. She didn't really like talking. She had always been a quiet girl, even before the death of her mother, but she became even more so after. She continued looking out the window, watching as the leaves continued to fall from the trees. It's a late winter, she thought. Usually by this time, there would be snow on the ground and the trees would already be bare.

The years keep changing, but my emotions and myself never change. My mother has long since decayed, but her grave still remains.

The taxi finally came to a stop by an old trail with stone steps leading down. Yukari slowly began descending down the steps holding the bouquet of blue flowers close to her chest. After walking for a good 20 minutes, she finally came to a stop in front of the old willow. Kneeling down in front of the makeshift tombstone, Yukari gave a silent prayer. She then laid the flowers across the grave and wiped the face of the tombstone.

"Another year has past. Everyone at the association are still cold towards me. It's to be expected though when your a 'monster'. I'm still healthy and I am even going to college now. Everything that I'm taking is mostly review though since Timothy has taught me different things. How are things in Heaven? Is the sun warm? Are you happy and smiling?" Yukari sat in silence, waiting for a reply that would never come.

After a few minutes, Yukari stood and sent another silent prayer. "I'll be off now mom. I'll come again soon."

She began walking back up the stone steps only to stop abruptly. She turned in a circle surveying the area. Everything was deathly still and silent. Something was wrong. She didn't have time to dodge before a figure pounced on top of her, causing them to tumble down the stone steps.