This was inspired by xxMikeyxx's Sweet Addiction. All credit goes to him/her (I assume xxMikeyxx is a he, but it doesn't say on the profile *sweatdrops*).

So, let the story begin!

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Abel Nightroad nervously walked into the huge building, his older brother, Cain, a few feet ahead of him. He didn't get why his older brother had to send him to this place. Some random therapy thing, he didn't know much about it. But when Cain had walked in while Abel was just about to... no, Abel wasn't going to even think it... still, when that happened, he woke up slightly. Things weren't the same any more – he wasn't the same person he had been before. He wasn't the same person he had been before he found out that he was a freak. Before he found out he didn't have real parents, no relatives apart from Cain, Seth, and at the time, Lillith(1).

That was when he started. He knew he shouldn't, but it was so... fun, almost. Breaking the rules. Keeping it secret from Cain. Cain, the one who told him. The one who... again, Abel skipped that train of thought. He had started... and it felt so brilliant that he continued, even though he knew what he was doing to himself. Then one day, after constant put-downs from Cain and thinking too much about Lillith, he'd accidentally gone too far. Cain had found him, called an ambulance and the worst thing was, there had been absolutely no change in the expression on Cain's face as Abel slipped into unconsciousness.

About two days later, Abel had woken up in hospital, feeling like total shit with his brother in the room. Cain had emotionlessly informed him that as soon as he was recovered, Abel was being sent to St. Alessandro's Mental Facility.

And then the day came. Abel didn't protest. In fact, he didn't speak a word. Seth had cried and screamed, and hit Cain. Cain just hugged Seth. And Abel watched, tears forming in his eyes at Seth's attempts to stick up for him. It was useless. Cain was sending him into a loony bin, and he deserved it. He was meant to be there.

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"Hey guys, we gotcha some news!" Leon said, dropping into 'his' seat in the canteen. Each of the group had chairs where they sat in. Esther was next to him, then Hugue. Opposite Leon was William, and next to him was Tres. The remaining chair was empty. No-one had ever sat there.

"News?" Esther perked up at the mention of some change.

"Yeah, it's good too. Word is, there's a new kid." Leon dropped his voice, smirking. He looked at them, his dark brown eyes gleaming.

"New kid? Are they a boy or a girl?" Hugue asked interestedly, pushing blonde hair away from his face.

"We dunno yet. We think they're a boy, though." Leon said, shrugging. He leaned back in his seat, tilting his chair back on two legs, surveying Tres' reaction.

"Hn." Tres muttered. He was the only one without a roommate; he knew for certain that he would get the new kid landed on him. Great, just what he needed. Another thing he knew for certain was that the new kid would ask for a transfer within a week. His 'affliction' drove people away – that was why he was the only one without at roommate.

"Heh, we getcha pain. Remember how it was with Hugue?" Leon laughed at the memory. Hugue was touchy about his beginnings with Leon, due to the fact that he tried to drive Leon away by any means possible. He had never quite forgiven Leon, even though they were best friends.

"Yeah, we get it. Anyway, do you know anything about the newbie?" Esther hurriedly cut in, not wanting Hugue to get annoyed. She could see the green eyes beginning to glow in anger.

"Nope. Nothin' at all." Leon grinned. He watched the glow leave Hugue's eyes.

"Then we're all on the same page." Tres said quietly.

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"This is your room." A female nurse, who Abel hadn't really paid attention to, informed him, stopping in front of a door. She had said her name was Kate. Abel looked at her properly for the first time and saw that she was actually quite pretty, not that she was his type, but pretty nonetheless. She had long blonde hair that fell down to her waist (2) and clear blue eyes. And anyway, she was around twenty-one, Abel guessed, and he was sixteen. The idea of going out with someone five years older than him wasn't too appealing... even if there was anywhere to actually go out to. This place was so far away from civilisation it took at least an hour to get to the nearest town, Albion.

Abel realised what she had said, nodded his thanks and entered. Someone was already sitting on the bed furthest away from him with their back facing Abel. Abel quietly closed the door behind him, clearing his throat. The boy looked around at him, and Abel saw that his new roommate was around his age, with light brown hair and slanting chocolate brown eyes.

"Uh... hi. I'm new here, my name's Abel." He awkwardly introduced himself.

"Hn. I'm Tres." The boy, Tres, muttered, turning back away from Abel. Abel walked over to the bed that Tres wasn't sitting on and dumped his bag on it. Fortunately, he had been allowed to pack his own bag, and had hidden things that he knew he would need. He had anticipated that Cain might find out, and prepared himself for the circumstance. Abel rummaged through his clothes and found his favourite trainers at the bottom. They were old and worn, and closer to grey than white. The laces were rainbow-coloured but faded from age and washing, but Abel didn't care. The shoes were comfortable and easy to get on and off – he didn't have to untie the laces to get them on and off. He lifted them out of his case, the material of the inside comforting against his fingers. Abel tentatively shook them. He heard the almost-silent, yet welcoming rattle with a smile on his face. He had all he needed.

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1 – I think it's Lillith...

2 – I'm improvising here, live with it.

So, how do you like it? I've found myself in a bit of a slump lately, so I decided I would do something different. Also, a message to people who have read Sweet Addiction, I give full credit for the initial idea, but I do take credit for the mental 'illnesses' that the characters have. Well, not that much. But anyway, I DO NOT claim this idea as my own, and if xxMikeyxx is reading this, I would like to congratulate him/her on a really cool story ^^

So, I'm outta here. See ya ^^

AB-chan