Arrival

 I stared outside the window as the rain poured down in sheets. The autumn weather was finally kicking in now that we were in early October. The view from the window was completely distorted by the rain pelting the glass. I rested my chin against the palm of my hand and sighed. The beautiful view from Kaiba’s office was nothing to look at now. I could hear Kaiba typing on his keyboard and occasionally writing down a few notes on the notepad next to his laptop. For the most part, the room was silent. My eyes darted around what little view I had, searching for any sign of Darren. Finally, the silence was broken when my phone started ringing and I immediately picked it up.

 

“Hello,” I answered.

 

“I’m here. I’m at the front doors,” Darren said.

 

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

 

I closed the phone and ran out the door. I took the elevator down to the first floor, which took far too long for my taste. Once the doors opened, I ran across the floor and threw my arms around Darren’s neck. His black hair stuck to my face from the rain drenching him. Darren wrapped his arms around me and gave me a tight squeeze.

 

“Ready to meet Kaiba,” I asked when I let him go.

 

“Of course,” he answered with a smile.

 

Darren and I took the elevator back up to the top floor and we saw Mokuba standing in the hallway. He was struggling with a large stack of papers.

 

“Mokuba, let me help you with those,” I offered and took the top half of the papers from him.

 

“Thanks, Scarlett. Is that your brother,” he asked.

 

“Yeah. Mokuba, this is Darren. Darren, this is Mokuba, Kaiba’s little brother.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Darren answered.

 

“What are all these papers for anyway,” I asked.

 

“They’re a bunch of things Seto needs to sign,” Mokuba answered.

 

“Sounds fun.”

 

Darren chuckled and we began walking down the hall again.

 

“Darren, go ahead and open the door. He’s not busy or anything,” I said as we neared Kaiba’s office.

 

My brother knocked twice on the door before opening it for Mokuba and me.

 

“We bring paperwork and my brother,” I called with a smile.

 

Mokuba and I set the papers on Kaiba’s desk before moving on to introductions.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet the one Scarlett has told me so much about,” Darren answered, holding out his hand.

 

Kaiba shook it and I could see the slight frown form when he felt Darren’s cold hand. The CED then cocked and eyebrow at me for Darren’s comment.

 

“I had to give him a status report,” I defended.

 

“I have to say, you’re the only person my sister’s ability worked both ways on.”

 

“Why exactly are you here,” Kaiba asked, getting straight to the point.

 

“My sister will need my help and I intend to give it. It’s as simple as that.”

 

“And how long do you plan to be staying?”

 

“As long as necessary.”

 

“Kaiba, he’ll be in your way even less than I am,” I added.

 

Kaiba nodded before glancing at the paperwork on his desk.

 

“Those are all the papers you need to sign,” Mokuba said, noticing his brother’s eyes.

 

“We’ll be going now,” Darren added and turned to leave.

 

I followed after and took him down to the apartment he’d be sharing with me.

 

“Welcome to our temporary home,” I said with a smile as Darren set down his suitcase and put his backpack next to it.

 

“It’s nice,” he mumbled, looking around.

 

“The only problem with it is location. It takes a half-hour to get to some decent hunting grounds.”

 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Scarlett,” Darren answered.

 

“Of course it will be. You’re better at the whole self-control thing than I am. It’s been a bit of a struggle now that I’m in the city.”

 

“It’s your first time living in a city since you were turned. It’s only natural.”

 

I cocked an eyebrow at my brother.

 

“Darren, we’re hardly natural. Hell, we have to pretend to be brother and sister for the sake of our cover. Granted, we act like siblings, but that’s beside the point,” I answered.

 

Darren simply chuckled.

 

“Don’t you think it’s a little dangerous to be having this conversation so loudly?”

 

“He’s already figured I’m not human, but he doesn’t know what to call me. He doesn’t believe in our kind, or anything supposedly mythical for that matter,” I whispered.

 

My voice would have sounded like a low hum to a human if there had been on in the room.

 

“All the better, then,” Darren said in the same low whisper.

 

“Not really. He’s more suspicious now. What if something happens because he decides to go looking for answers?”

 

“We’ll just be careful. Scarlett, I swear I won’t let anything happen to put you through the pain I saw.”

 

“I just don’t want to expose us,” I mumbled.

 

Darren put his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

 

“You won’t,” he answered, a softness in his purple eyes.

 

I wrapped my arms around my brother and held him tightly. He rubbed my back to calm me down. I pressed my forehead to the base of his neck and could read his thoughts.

 

‘What if that’s the reason his death would hurt her,’ Darren wondered.

 

I pulled away and gave him a confused look. He shook his head.

 

“I was just toying with an idea. It’s highly unlikely,” my brother answered and moved to pick up his things.

 

I couldn’t help but wonder what idea he could be toying with that he didn’t want me to know.