A/N: I do not own Nightlife, Caliban Leandros, Niko Leandros, or any of the characters so contained in the works of the Cal Leandros series. These characters are owned by Rob Thurman.

I'm just borrowing the ideas for my own twisted games.

What would happen if Niko was not a saint, but a sinner? What if Cal was an abomination...but Niko was a monster? How would their lives be changed? It's a dark descent into the depths of depravity, dependence, hate, and abuse. Strap yourselves in tightly. It's going to be a violent ride.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Physical and emotional abuse, self-injury, alcohol abuse, victim complex, murder, torture, non-consensual kissing, and overall misuse of Cal and total destruction of Niko's character.

I do not own the song used to start the chapter!

Nightlife AU - Inculabula
Part of the Malum in Se universe

Inculabula: From the Latin: ab inculabulis, or "from the cradle" or beginning. From the earliest stage or the very beginning of something.
Malum in se: Evil in and of itself, an act that is considered wrong to commit.

Prologue: Monsters

You love the way I look at you
While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through
You take away if I give in
My life, my pride, is broken

You like to think you're never wrong (you live what you've learned)
You have to act like you're someone (you live what you've learned)
You want someone to hurt like you (you live what you've learned)
You want to share what you've been through (you live what you've learned)
-"Points of Authority," Linkin Park

I'm a monster. Let's get that down first, because it's true. An abomination, a breed apart, a blood-thirsty slavering thing.

I'm not all human. I'm part Auphe. Elf if you want to be literal, but these sure as hell aren't your normal elves of fantasy. Oh no, these are the ones that would ride the mystical hunt down on your ass and eat you after they finished skinning you alive. Dig deep into the darker parts of mythology and you'll find the terrified rumors of the Auphe. Bloodlust and hate and carnage. Monsters with pale white skin and hair and dark jagged claws, a thousand metal fangs and murderous red eyes.

For the better, I look like my human mother. Sophia, she of the fortune-telling lies and the gold-gobbling greed. They paid her to have me, the monsters did. She agreed for the gold, but instead got stuck with me. I'm a beautiful monster, she told me, and hell if that wasn't true. She told lies to everyone else but she told me and Niko the truth. It hurt more, you see. She was a bitch that way. I've got her grey eyes, her dark hair, and her smoky-velvet voice; best of all, I pass for human on the outside. I've got all the right arms and legs, joints and organs, even if my skin is pale as pale and I can never get a good goddamn tan. Sucks to be me.

Niko, on the other hand, he looks nothing like Sophia. He took after his dad, a right sorry bastard who, while all human, was a monster in his own way. Niko's got the same grey eyes I do, but his hair is a pale Greek blonde and his skin a gypsy olive-tan; he's built like a Roman god with the nose to match. He's good looking and he's always got girls after him, but I love to give him hell over his nose. I mean, with a conk that big, who could resist? He tried giving me black eyes for it but gave up on that; I can out-stubborn him any day of the week, even when he beats my ass black and blue and broken.

Niko's a monster that way, but that's okay. He's a better man than I am; and what's better still, he's my brother. He loves me and he's stood by my sorry ass for years. He's kept me safe and he's kept me alive and so what if he's got a heavy hand when he's angry? It's nothing I don't deserve. I'm a monster, after all.

Monsters don't get a happy-ever-after.