Warnings: strong language, violence/abuse, character death, magic, smoking, drinking, implied sex, emo-ness, OOC-ness to the extreme, OCs
I'll try to update either once every two weeks or once a month. Reviews are nice~ I may not continue this...
Matthew stood patiently in front of the apartment's door. His gloved hands were stuffed inside his oversized red coat, and snow clung to his light blond hair, turning it a near white. One maple leaf backpack was slung over his right shoulder, and another blue and white bag was beginning to slide off his left. With a trembling breath, he knocked twice more on the dark green door. His knocking was soft and timid, but it had been fifteen minutes already. Alfred should have heard him by then.
He leaned down and unearthed the welcome mat from underneath a small pile of fresh snow. The blue and white bag landed in the slush, but he didn't notice as he fished around on the ground. Quickly, his hand made contact with a frozen spare key, and after a moment of fighting with the lock, he let himself inside his brother's apartment. He flipped the nearest light switch on and tossed his two bags off to the side, near the couch.
Alfred was a surprisingly neat person, and he kept his place in an orderly fashion. The walls of the whole apartment remained a generic eggshell white, and even the beige carpets had their 'new house' brightness to them. A worn tan couch was pressed up against the wall, and a newish red blanket was folded and hanging over the back. On either side of the couch were end tables with lamps, and across from the couch on the other wall was a small flat screen television. The television was surrounded by a neat yet tiny entertainment system with minimal DVDs, CDs, and movies. The room was neat but barren because of Alfred's 'two part time jobs to pay just the bills' budget.
"Alfred!" Matthew called, walking from the living room to the kitchen. He found his brother sitting at his two person table, staring blankly into a bowl of cereal. "Alfred, are you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on the others shoulder. He felt Alfred's grumble through his back, and he pulled his twin back. The others normally bright blue eyes were unfocused and dull. "Al?" Matthew mumbled, worried.
Alfred blinked, groaned once more, and abruptly stood. "I'm alright, Mattie." he grumbled, cracking his neck to the left. His eyes went over his nearly empty kitchen, and he sighed as he snatched up his bowl of cereal. "How ya doing?" he asked, taking the bowl to the sink.
Matthew flinched as the faucet came to life, and for a moment, he watched as Alfred drained the bowl of milk and tossed out the soggy cereal. He shifted awkwardly from side-to-side as Alfred dumped dish soap into the bowl and began scrubbing. He didn't answer until Alfred looked up from his dishes with an expecting look. "I'm great, Al." he said, truthfully.
"And that ass you call your boyfriend?" Alfred wondered, turning the water off with a snap. A small smile crept across his face when he heard Matthew's groan.
"Gilbert's fine, and he isn't an ass." he responded.
"What about work?" Alfred mumbled. "Is being a big star business man all it's cracked up to be?"
"Work's great. I got a promotion two weeks ago, and thanks to the raise, Gil and I were thinking about finally moving into a bigger place." Matthew said, smiling. His smile faltered when he saw Alfred was slightly unshaven with bluish bags under his eyes. "Are you alright?"
Alfred dried his hands and left the dish out to dry. He looked up at Matthew, knowing he looked as exhausted as he felt. "You only come around once every few months, Mattie. I don't want to waste our time by telling you about my boring life." he laughed, dryly. "Did you bring a movie or something? I don't have much here, but what I do have is pretty sweet." he said, ignoring the look the other was giving him.
"Yeah, I brought a movie, but still, tell me what's wrong."
Alfred walked past him without a sideways glance. "What did you bring? It's not some French shit, right? God knows they can't make movies to save their lives." he said, turning on his television.
"Al, we need to talk." Matthew insisted.
"I have some popcorn if you want to make some. It's movie theater styled, so it's really good."
"Al-"
"Where's that movie, Mattie? We can't get start 'till we have the movie." Alfred growled.
"Alfred!" Matthew snapped, slamming his fist down on the table. "Tell me what the hell is wrong. I'm your brother; you know you can tell me anything without me judging you. Just tell me what has you so...so...so much like a zombie. Al, I've never seen you so out of it, and I'm worried. Even Gil noticed you weren't yourself the last time you visited us, and that was six months ago!" he said, tears pricking at his bluish purple eyes.
Alfred slowly turned to face Matthew, and he sighed. "You want to know what's wrong? I have two jobs, but I can barely afford the rent to this shit hole. I haven't had a single day off since you visited last, and my bosses are such dicks that work me like a horse. I'm on call twenty-four seven, and I haven't been able to get a full night of sleep without dreaming about asshole customers and bosses. And do you know whats the worse thing? I think my neighbor fucking died, but no one's done anything about it! There's a weird smell coming through the wall that smells just like rotting flesh." he yelled, clenching his fists.
"Al, I-"
"You what? Feel sorry for me? Want to help me? There's nothing either you or I can do! I barely graduated from high school and can't afford to go to college. There is no way I can get a better job, a better house, or a better life. My life is in the garbage, and all I can do is hope I go down painlessly while listening to whatever shit is playing on the radio. Now sit down and shut up so we can watch this fucking movie." he snapped. "If you want popcorn make it yourself." He fell onto his couch, pulled his blanket over his shoulders, and left Matthew to put the movie in the player.
For a moment, Matthew was shell shocked, but once he recovered, he went and popped some corn before putting in the movie he had brought with him. He knew from Alfred's outburst there would be no safe way to bring up the topic once more. All he could do for the rest of his trip was play ignorant and try to ignore the strange smell drifting into the apartment.
XXXXXX
Matthew left later the next day.
Alfred had seen him off with a pleasant smile, but the moment Matthew's foreign car was out of sight, his smile fell to a cold scowl. He loved his brother to death, but it pissed him off to see the other so happy and successful. He was his twin, so wasn't he supposed to understand what he was going through? There was no way Matthew could know, and Matthew was the only one who even had a chance of understanding.
He didn't feel like going back to his apartment, so he began walking deeper into the city. Snow crunched underneath his feet, and he swore his breath froze the moment it left his mouth. Where he was going was unknown to him, but he figured he would know when he got there. He noted he was in a bad part of town, and the number of sex stores and strip joints he passed couldn't be counted on both hands- there were too many. Every person he passed either gave him a flirty look or glared at him like he was Satan (or the cops, which ever was worse in that part of town). Even the alleyways seemed to scream 'you really shouldn't be here'.
He had just decided to turn around when he saw the building. It stood four stories tall; the top three were grey with all the rectangular windows covered by blankets or curtains. The bottom story looked similar, but most of the front wall consisted of large windows covered by thin purple sheets with a door between the windows. Light was just barely visible from the other side of the sheets, and they made the words painted on the glass stand out.
"'Cafe Insomnia', huh?" Alfred read, raising an eyebrow. Silently, he wondered if it was just another sexed up building living in fear of the cops, or was it an actual cafe? Surely, hookers needed their mid-afternoon latte like your everyday business man, too. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one saw him as he pulled open the door. A bell rang as the door swung, and automatically, his eyes were invaded by a bright white light.
The walls of the cafe were a light green with matching dark brown and green tiled flooring. The left wall was a bar section with tall stools, and the right side of the place were small round tables with steel chairs around them. The front of the room was a large counter with coffee and latte related things behind a decorative glass. To the right of the counter was a flight of stairs, and behind the counter were double swinging doors. Basically, it looked like your everyday cafe. There were even scantly dressed patrons drinking from green and gold mugs.
Blinking back his surprise, Alfred walked to the counter and looked up at the menu boards on the wall. All the words were hand written in perfect script. There was a wide variety of things to order, including small pastries and breads.
Suddenly, the double doors swung out, and a man hurried behind the counter. "Welcome to Insomnia. How may I be helping you this evening?" he asked, smiling. The man was a bit shorter than Alfred, and he had a very lean frame. His eyes were a bright blue that contrasted greatly with his brown hair. On his white dress shirt was a name tag reading 'Toris'.
Alfred smiled a bit and sighed. "Do you have anything that makes your life generally better?" he asked, leaning against the counter.
Toris nervously looked towards the stairs and glanced back at Alfred. He gulped and bit his bottom lip. "Follow me." he said, aiming for the stairs.
Uncertainly, Alfred followed a few steps behind the nervous man. When they reached the top of the stairs, they turned and climbed yet another flight of stairs. From the short few glances of the second floor, Alfred could tell it was a living area with several couches and a large television. He thought he saw an open door with a bed inside, but he couldn't be sure. He was whisked away too quickly to confirm what he thought he saw.
The stairs ended in a door much like the entrance to the cafe. Toris knocked on it softly. "Master Braginski, you have a customer." There was a moment of silence before he turned to Alfred. "You may go in now." he mumbled, stepping aside on the stair.
Alfred stepped past him, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach. He grabbed the door knob, turned it, and push the door open. The room on the other side was the same size as the cafe only it was filing cabinets up to the ceiling on either side of the walls. The very back wall was yet another flight of stairs, but it, too, was surrounded by cabinets. In the very center of the room was a large arm chair, and sitting in the chair was a man.
The man was tall with both long legs and a long torso. His shoulders were wide while his waist was lean and appealing. He had silvery blond hair with a very boyish style. His nose was on the larger side, but it added to the man overall charm. The final thing Alfred noticed were his inhumanly purple eyes. He was so absorbed by the man's eyes that he didn't realize the door had shut behind him and was locked.
"Good evening." he greeted with a sickeningly sweet smile.
Words left him, but he managed a nod. It wasn't much of a greeting, but it was better than blurting out nonsense.
The man continued to smile, but it looked plastic and practiced. "You want something from me, da?" It was phrased as an question, but it was delivered as a demand.
"I. Uh. Who are you?" Alfred stammered.
A crease slightly appeared in the pale skin between the man's eyes- a sign of annoyance, but that creepy ass smile remained. "You will not answer a question with a question. It is not polite. However, I suppose I could answer your question." he said. "My name is Ivan Braginski."
"I'm Alfred Jones."
"Now, what do you want from me?" Ivan said as if he hadn't heard the others introduction.
Alfred shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I don't think I need anything." he lied.
"I didn't ask what you need. What do you want?" he growled, his smile falling just the slightest. "Toris wouldn't have brought you here unless he knew you wanted something from me. Now, tell me."
"Well, I jokingly told him I wanted a new life, but there isn't much anyone can do about that." Alfred shrugged. A cold shiver ran down his spine when Ivan's smile grew once more.
"Tell me about yourself. What kind of life do you lead?" Ivan purred, turning his head just the slightest.
"It's not much of a life, really. I work part time at Wal-Mart and McDonald's, and between the two, I get about twenty hours of work each week. I have just enough money to pay the rent and feed myself, but that's about it. My heat's about to go out, but I won't be able to pay for it for at least another two weeks." he sighed. He looked up to see if the other was bored yet, but Ivan was still giving him the same look. If anything, it was a prompt to keep going. "I don't get out much; I'm too busy. I don't have any family in the city, so it gets really lonely around here. I'm just tired of it all." he said, shrugging once more. "That's my story. It sucks, I know, but still, it's the only one I have."
Ivan was silent for a moment before abruptly standing. He stood a good three inches taller than Alfred, and it was slightly intimidating. "I can make your life better, Alfred." he announced.
Alfred's blue eyes went wide, but then he let out a broken laugh. "Dude, getting my hopes up is a dick move." He turned around and grabbed the door handle, but it wouldn't open. "You locked me inside here?" he growled.
"I'm not 'getting your hopes up'." Ivan shrugged. "I can make your life better as it is my job." He went to the back of the room and opened one of the many filing cabinets while Alfred turned once more to watch him. He picked up a piece of snow white paper and a pen from the cabinet and shut it silently. In a few long strides, he stood in front of Alfred and held the items out to him. "You will quite your other jobs and begin working here. I will pay you twice what you make at both, and you can move into this building for cheaper rent. All you have to do is sign this contract." he promised.
His hands seemed to move on their own as Alfred snatched away the paper. He read the paper over twice. It was all there in black and white. "Are you serious?" he wondered, staring at the paper as if it was holy.
"Just sign on the line." Ivan replied. He placed the pen in Alfred's hand, and their skin made contact for just a second.
A cold jolt shot through Alfred's arm, and he jerked away with wide eyes. The pen fell to the ground with a small thunk, but for the moment, he didn't notice. He was completely focused on whatever just happened.
Ivan's smile fell, and his gaze shifted to the pen. "Pick it up and sign the paper." he growled, turning around. He went to the chair and sat down, watching Alfred as he picked up the pen.
"Just sign it." Alfred mumbled, pressing the pen to the paper. Soon, his name was signed in blood red ink. He handed it to Ivan with a small smile. "It will take two weeks for me to officially stop working at Wal-Mart and McDonald's if I put in my warning tomorrow." he said, his smile slowly growing.
Ivan hummed and stood, looking over the paper.
"Really, Ivan, thank you so-" His words were caught as a hand wrapped around his throat. Fear rose up in his stomach when he saw the violent look in the others amethyst eyes. Alfred's hands flew up to his throat, trying to pry the fingers off his skin. Little cold sensations were shooting through his body, making him lose control over certain limbs for a few moments before regaining control again. He struggled the best he could, but his body surrendered on its own.
Black spots began to invade his vision, but he couldn't look away from those hypnotizing eyes. He felt himself slipping away, but just as he knew he was fading, the grip on his throat disappeared. He collapsed onto the ground and greedily gasped in air.
"You do not know me. You are not my friend. You do not have the right to call me by my first name. You will call me 'Master Braginski', or you will be punished severely. Do you understand me?" he growled, giving Alfred a swift and sudden kick to the ribs.
Alfred began hacking and coughing, but he managed to send the tall Russian a glare. "F-fuck you." He managed to sit up on his own, but he had to use a nearby cabinet to stand. "I'm leaving and never coming back." he growled. His knees locked when Ivan's smile turned psychotic.
"You won't be leaving, Alfred." he cooed. He gripped the American's chin and forced the younger to look into his eyes. "You won't do anything without my permission from this point." he laughed.
"Why is that?" Alfred spat, trying to make his voice sound harsh.
Ivan giggled and let Alfred's chin go only to wrap his arms around him in a loose hug. "Because," he whispered into his ear, "you sold me your soul."
Ivan's cold breath made a shudder run down Alfred's spine, and his breath caught in his lungs. "My soul?" he wondered, breathlessly. "That contract said nothing-"
"That's because you don't know how to read between the lines." Ivan huffed, shoving him away. He laughed once more when Alfred fell to the ground. "I own you- body and soul. I suggest you don't forget that."