January 29, 2010

It's been two months since Dad died. It's been five months since I've seen Sulpher. It's been even longer since I've felt close to someone. She looks at me like it's my fault Dad died. It's my fault he wanted to drink and drive, I guess. I didn't know. I barely made it out alive myself. It's shameful to admit but, I wish I had died with him. I wouldn't have to see her cry. I wouldn't have to face the fact that my older brother wouldn't even come to our father's funeral, or even visit me in the hospital. This emptiness inside me, it seems like my only company.

She's kicking me out. I have no right to live in the house of the man I killed, she said. Maybe she's right. Maybe she's wrong. I never really knew the man I called my father. Sulpher despised the man. Claimed that pure venom flowed through the man's veins.

I'm moving to Vegas, to live with my cousin Flay. It's been a while since I've seen him, so I'm a little nervous. I know he'll greet me wholeheartedly. That's what I'm afraid of. I've never been to Vegas before, and Flay's only been there a year. Actually, it's my first time leaving West Virginia. He says I'll love it, which means I'll hate it. Still, I have nowhere else to go, and at least I know Flay will be there for me. Maybe it'll be nice to finally get rid of this emptiness. This new chapter of my life starts tomorrow. I only hope I don't somehow screw this up.

Vayne Aurelius

The sun peeked through the curtains, old, musky, ratty things but they were all Flay had at the moment, and shined in his eyes. He groaned. Being awake was too painful. Being alive was too painful. He rolled over, away from the light, back into the shade. How long had it been since he wanted to get out of bed, since he had energy? He sighed. He wanted nothing more than for the sun to just leave him alone, like everything, everyone else did. Except the nightmares. They never left, and he had a gut-wrenching feeling that they never would.

The alarm rang. That meant it was 9 A.M. Time for his pills, bunch of good they did him. He slowly worked his way out of the bed and stood up, then scratched the back of his head. There's one obstacle out of thousands accomplished. If only Dr. Zeppel knew how ignorant and grating that sounded to him, each and every time he said it. He opened the drawer of the bed stand next to him and pulled out a prescription bottle, popped the lid off and took two of his pills dry. Hopefully he'd choke on them. His wish never came true, as usual. It felt like he'd been performing this morning ritual for years, instead of just a month and a half.

There was a knock at the door.

"Vayne, it's 9 o'clock! You can't possibly still be asleep. The early bird catches the worm!" Flay's booming voice sounded like it was next to him, not separated by a thick wooden door. "Breakfast will be done in two minutes. I expect to see you there in 90 seconds." As he listened to Flay's retreating footsteps, he couldn't help but smile a little, even if it didn't reach his eyes. Classic Flay, running his house like a well-tuned machine. How could he expected any less?

He stood there for a long moment, trying to predict the rest of the day. It couldn't be too bad, right? It certainly couldn't be worse than its predecessors. He grabbed a green polo and a pair of old, faded jeans and slapped them on. He inhaled deeply, and put his best happy face on. It wouldn't do for the whole world to see him for who he really was, especially Flay. Good God, he could never let Flay know. The thought struck sheer terror through his heart.

"Vayne, you are late. Just be glad that I am in a gracious mood today and that you are my cousin, or else your punishment would be fierce!" At first, Vayne wasn't quite sure if he should take his older cousin seriously...until he laughed in his usual fashion. He silently thanked whoever would listen for Flay being in a gracious mood.

He took a seat at the dining table between him and Roxis, who had roomed with Flay for the past three years. He had met Roxis a few times before, since he was Flay's personal assistant and traveled with him. Even though they were the same age, he acted so much more mature and stand-offish, but they still got along fine. Neither one of them acted like normal, fun-loving young adults, after all. He gave a quick nod to the blond, who was reading the morning newspaper, and was glad to receive a nod in return.

He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, Flay. It won't happen again."

"Damn straight it won't. Next time, I will not be gracious and it will not matter if you are blood, I will make sure of it." He cracked his knuckles and smiled. Vayne made a mental note to try and wake up at dawn from now on. Better safe than sorry.

"Flay Gunnar! You be nice to Vayne! It's his first day! You apologize to him right now!"

Vayne turned in his chair to face the new voice. Behind them stood a pretty and young girl, he guessed close to his age, scowling at Flay with her hands on her hips. He had no clue who she was, and yet she somehow knew him, or at least of him. Maybe she was a friend of Flay's. He couldn't imagine Roxis having any close frinds.

"Ah, Vayne, meet the lovely Pamela, our housekeeper. Are you ready to serve us breakfast now?"

Her scowl deepen, which didn't take away from her beauty, he noticed. "No! Not until you apologize for being mean."

Vayne thought he saw a look of defeat in his eyes, but he must have imagined it because his face was a mask of confidence. "But Pamela, I told him to be here in 90 seconds, and he arrived in 93 seconds. It is not my fault he was late. I was merely warning him that next time, it would be wise to arrive on time. But, to appease you, I will apologize. Vayne, I'm sorry that you were late."

Roxis quirked an eyebrow. "That wasn't really an apology, you know." But his words fell on deaf ears as Pamela accepted the pseudo-apology and skipped to the stove to start serving breakfast.

"Um, Miss Pamela..." Vayne scratched at his head. "How do you know me?"

She laughed as she turned to face him. "Please, just Pamela. Miss Pamela makes me feel so old. I'm not that much older than you, silly boy. I'm only Flay's age."

"Oh, I see." He smiled at her, a weak attempt but it was genuine. " You don't look much older at all. Really, I thought you had just started college."

She giggled. "Listen to him. The boy has a glided tongue, Flay. You never told me that."

He snorted. "You never asked."

"Still so mean..." She rolled her eyes playfully. " I was informed a few days ago that his shy and sweet younger cousin was moving in, so of course I took an interest in you. You sound quite the opposite of Flay."

"He obviously is, since he can't even complete a simple wake-up call. I gave an order, he should have followed it."

"..I'm sorry, were you talking? I thought I heard a buzzing noise, but I'm not quite sure."

Roxis grunted. "Pamela, as much as I enjoy this display of witty banter, our eggs are getting cold."

"Oh, whoops!" She tried to amend her mistake with a dazzling smile that would have worked on anyone, including Roxis. He rolled his eyes and grunted, which eventually turned to a small chuckle.

No one knew, not even himself, that a smile grew on Vayne's face. Maybe this move wasn't so bad, after all.