Chapter 1: Sparks Ablaze
AN- The story starts here, guys. There will be some POV switches.
This story is a lot darker than anything I've written before. I honestly was not aware I could write stuff like this...
BTW, new jobs are a bitch. I'm basically running on Java Monster and cigarettes at this point. So don't hold your breath for updates,since I really don't want any of you dying on me.
Warnings- Abuse and foul language.
Disclaimers- not owned by me. I forgot that in the last chapter. Consider it disclaimed.
…...
Friday, February 3rd
Roxas' alarm went off promptly at seven. Another day to face.
His first action, as always, was to look to the daily countdown.
191 days. that's all left between me and freedom.
Getting ready for school was the scariest part of the day. Roxas could never be sure if Larxene was back, if she was still awake, if she was in the living room passed out, or in the kitchen, waiting for him... afternoons were okay, she was usually gone again by the time he got home from school... but mornings could be terrifying.
Roxas rolled out of bed, standing up and stretching, and then wincing. His ribs were sore, his muscles stiff. He carefully pulled off his sleep shirt, looking into the full length mirror on his closet door.
No wonder his ribs were sore.
His entire left side was a sickening purple-black, edged in yellow and green.
His latest 'fall down the stairs' had definitely left a mark.
Gingerly, he reached into the closet, pulling out a tee shirt and jeans. Throwing on a zip-up hoodie, just in case, he opened his bedroom door as quietly as he could, hoping to not attract attention before he got to his shower.
No such luck. Vanitas was already awake, and headed down the hall.
"Morning, ickle Roxykins!" he said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
The blonde said nothing. Roxas knew by now if he answered Vanitas, the black-haired boy tended to take it as a challenge.
Roxas was almost to the bathroom when Vanitas spoke again. "Tell Ventus I want to see him before you two leave for school, okay, Roxas?"
Roxas paused, nodded without turning to Vanitas, and then continued into the bathroom he shared with Ven, closing the door quickly behind him.
He pulled off his hoodie again, looking at the bruises again. They looked even worse in the brighter light, stretching from right under his armpit to the edge of his pajama bottoms.
"God damn, Roxas. Is that from last night?"
Roxas jumped a little, not having heard his twin enter the bathroom.
"Yeah..." Roxas said quietly.
Ven shook his head, looking Roxas dead in the eye. "You gotta start speaking up, Roxas. You know she only beats on you this much because you don't fight back." his twin admonished.
"Vanitas wants to talk to you before we leave." Roxas deadpanned.
The other boy flinched a little, but he said nothing more.
Roxas was worried about his twin. He didn't know everything about what went on between Ventus and Vanitas, but he knew his twin was scared of being alone with him. And the bruises Ven had come away with a few times? Roxas didn't blame him.
The twins were silent as they got ready for school.
…...
Ven was worried about his twin. Larxene's beatings were just getting worse, the closer they got to turning 18. She knew she was going to lose her control over him soon.
But Ventus also feared for himself sometimes.
Vanitas was... insatiable.
As they headed out of the house to walk to school, Vanitas spotted him. Ven had been hoping to avoid him, but no such luck. The black haired boy pulled him by the arm into the coat room and shut the door.
Immediately, Vanitas had his lips against Ven's, forcing him into a deep kiss.
Ven knew better than to refuse. He allowed it to happen, not exactly participating, but not pushing him away. Vanitas forced his tongue into Ven's mouth, exploring the blondes mouth. When he finally pulled away, Ventus gasped fro breath.
"Thought you could get away from me this morning, did you?" Vanitas asked silkily.
"I... I forgot..." Ventus mumbled.
Vanitas grinned maliciously. "Now, now, love, we both know that's a lie. And you know how I feel about lying..." he stroked one finger down Ven's jawline, and then grabbed him by his hair, pulling his face back roughly. "You're not going to forget again anytime soon, are you?" he phrased it as a question, but Ven knew better. It was a demand, and Vanitas expected to be obeyed.
"No..."
"No, what?"he breathed hot against the blondes throat, tugging viciously at his hair.
"No, Vanitas." he whimpered. He hated the power Vanitas had over him.
"Good." the black-haired boy grinned sadistically. "Now, when you get home from school, I expect you to be waiting for me in my room. No loitering around, blondie. Precisely at three thirty. that's when I'll be home, and I expect you to be there waiting for me."
Ventus glared. "Yes, Vanitas."
The golden-eyed boy let go of his hair, and Ventus escaped from the coat room. He caught up with Roxas, who was waiting for him outside the front door.
"You okay?" his twin asked quietly.
Ven bit his lip. "I'm fine. Lets get to school."
Roxas looked worried, but Ven couldn't tell Roxas what was going on. Roxas would be disgusted.
Nobody could ever know what was happening between him and Vanitas.
191 days until we escape this hell.
…...
School was an escape. Seven hours of freedom. Even more tonight, since he had a meeting with Miss Heartilly tonight about running the lights and sound for the upcoming choir performance.
Roxas had been running the light and sound booth since freshman year. He'd been looking for something he could do after school, that could keep him out of the house, where he wouldn't have to interact with people. What better than sitting alone in a booth above peoples heads? Plus, Miss Heartilly was really nice, and didn't ask a lot of questions.
At 7:45, he met up with his best friends, Hayner, Pence, Namine, and Olette. The five of them had banded together over the years, being the outcasts of their grade. Pence was the awkward geek, Olette was the nerdy gamer girl, Hayner was the troublemaker, Namine was the lesbian artist, and Roxas was the painfully shy theater rat. They'd come together out of mutual fear of being alone, and had become closer friends than any of them had expected.
"Hey, Roxas!" Namine said brightly. "How are ya doing today?"
"I'm fine." Roxas said quietly.
Olette looked at him worriedly. "You sure? You're limping a little bit, hon. Are you okay?"
Shit.
"I... I fell down the stairs... tripped over a shoe..." Roxas mumbled.
Namine looked concerned. "Roxas, you have to be more careful! Your going to really hurt yourself one of these days!"
"I know..." the blonde boy looked at his shoes. Just once, will anyone ever question my lies? Disbelieve that I can really be that clumsy?
But everyone took his lies at face value. No one questioned him.
It was just another day.
…...
"Ven, are you okay?" Aqua asked, concerned.
Ven jolted back to his friends; he'd been staring off into space again. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind, is all."
Terra grinned. "I know, man. All this college shit's a pain in the ass, right?" the taller boy punched Ven in the shoulder playfully. "Hey, you wanna hang tonight? My folks are gone, which means I've got the big-screen in the living room to hook up the xbox."
Ven shook his head. "No, man, I got stuff to do after school. Gotta study for Vexen's big test on Monday, dude." More like fight not to lose whats left of my pride to Vanitas, but hey, they don't need to know that.
"Come on, dude! You got all weekend! Why don't you take off tonight, and-"
"Terra, shut up." Aqua interrupted. "If he wants to study tonight, let it go, okay? You have all weekend..." she grinned. "Besides, if we wait till Saturday, I can come over too. I gotta work tonight."
Aqua, you're a freaking lifesaver...Ven thought in relief.
He knew Aqua suspected there was more going on at home then he let on. But neither he nor Roxas let anybody know the truth.
They'd tried that once. It hadn't ended well.
More specifically, it ended with Larxene being pissed that the authorities were being called on her, and breaking Roxas' nose and two of his ribs.
They'd never called the cops again.
"Earth to Ventus!" Terra called. Ven snapped out of his reverie.
"Dude, you're out of it today. We gonna head to class, or what?" he asked.
Ven shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, man, lets go. Sorry, I'm just stressed out."
"No worries man. Just don't let shit get to you, okay?" he paused. "You know I'll help you out if you need though, right Ven? You just gotta say the word."
Ven smiled. "I know, Terra. I appreciate it."
Such a good guy, a good friend... if he knew what Vanitas does to me... what I let him do... he'd never look at me again.
…...
By the Roxas and his group met up again at lunch, the whole school was abuzz with gossip.
"There's a whole group of new kids. From Hollow Bastion. And they're hot."
"They got kicked out of their last school!"
"They're in the witness protection program!"
"Who the hell cares, they're hot!"
There was four of them. A tall redheaded boy, an emo looking guy, a tall girl with pink hair, and a black-haired girl. They entered the cafeteria together. They sat at a table in the back, ignoring the inviting stares of everyone they walked by.
The table they sat at, coincidentally, was right beside the one Roxas and his friends had claimed as their own.
Apparently, they were not aware of the social hierarchy of the cafeteria. The pretty people sat in the front.
Only the freaks sat back here.
Even Ven, Roxas's own twin, didn't sit this far back. He was an athlete. He was middle of the cafeteria special.
So Roxas and the others were not prepared for the train of popular kids coming back here to meet them.
First it was Sora and his followers. Riku and Kairi were attached to him, but it was Sora that led. He was the class president, the self-appointed welcoming committee, and one of the most obnoxiously happy people Roxas had ever met.
Seeing him get shot down was good for Roxas' soul.
It started out normally enough, Sora bouncing over to the table excitedly. "hi! I hear you guys are new here. I'm Sora, and I'm the senior class president, and this is Riku and Kairi, and we're just so-"
"You know, kid, I really don't give a shit. Why don't you take your pep squad back up front and leave us the hell alone?" the redhead said blandly.
Sora just stopped dead, gaping. "But, I just..."
the pink haired girl smirked. "Beat it, kid, we don't care. We just wanna eat in peace."
Sora blinked a few times, and then he teared up. He turned away and practically ran out of the cafeteria. Kairi chased after him, and after giving them a nasty glare, Riku did too.
Hayner sniggered into his pizza. The rest of Roxas' friends were just amazed at the gall.
Next up was Seifer and his buddies. It went exactly the same, except Seifer didn't cry. He just glared and walked away.
This time, Pence and Olette were giggling, too.
Finally, it was Demyx. Dem was a nice guy, but he was kind of a moron sometimes. When the redhead started in on him, he just didn't get it. It wasn't until the pink haired girl started spelling it out that they "weren't interested in his god damn marching band or his 1980's mullet, so go the fuck home" did Demyx finally get it.
The look on Demyx's face was priceless.
By this time, even shy Namine was laughing, and Roxas had cracked a smile.
The redhead looked over at them for the first time. "Amused, are you?" he asked languidly.
Hayner grinned. "Its nice to see the people on top get taken down every once in a while."
The pink-haired girl grinned. "Ain't that the damn truth." she turned to Axel for a second, and they seemed to communicate something without speaking.
The girl turned back and said, "My names Lumaria. This is Axel, that sleepyhead over there is Zexion, and the artist here is Xion. Who are you guys?"
"I'm Hayner."
"Pence."
"I'm Olette. Its nice to meet you!"
"I'm Namine, and this is Roxas."
Roxas stayed silent through the whole exchange, staring into his tray. The others talked animatedly, but Roxas was paralyzed in his shyness. He just didn't do well meeting new people. Especially in groups. He was seriously contemplating just escaping altogether and leaving the cafeteria...
"So you're Roxas? How come you need others to introduce you?" a voice asked from beside him.
Roxas jumped six inches in the air and let out an 'eep!' of fear.
The redhead, Axel, jolted a bit too. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Its... its okay..." Roxas practically whispered.
Axel smiled kindly. "Too many people here for you, huh?"
Roxas blinked a couple times, then nodded slowly.
"We still have twenty five minutes. You wanna walk in the courtyard with me for a bit? Get some air?" Axel asked softly.
Roxas looked up and nodded. Axel stood up, jostling Roxas' bruised side in the process. Roxas hissed with pain.
"Are you okay?"Axel asked, worriedly.
Roxas looked away. "Yeah... fell down the stairs last night..."
Axel gave him a disbelieving look. "Do you fall down stairs often, Roxas?"
Roxas said nothing, just stood up with his tray, and headed towards the front of the cafeteria. He dumped his untouched food in the garbage, and headed out the door, without looking back.
By the time he got outside, he was almost hyperventilating.
He can't know. Why is he asking? I can't tell anyone, if the cops get called again, Larxene will kill me this time, last time was bad enough plus, what about Ven? And our inheritance from Dad? If we get tossed in the system again, we could lose it all, we could get split up, and if the cops don't take it seriously again, Larxene'll kill me for sure, I gotta get away, this guy can't know, I gotta-
"Roxas?"
The blonde stopped dead. He was in the courtyard now, headed toward the trees that led away from school grounds.
"Roxas, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push. I just... I've seen this before."
Axel stepped closer. Roxas didn't turn around, but he didn't bolt, either.
"Please, Roxas... I don't wanna scare you off. I just... I just want to get to know you. Can you give me a second chance?"
Roxas was silent for a minute.
"...Yeah."
Roxas turned a bit, just enough hat he could see the gangly redhead in his peripheral vision. Axel stepped forward, so that he was level with the blonde.
"I just wanna get to know you, Roxas. I promise, I'll try to not ask you questions like that until your ready to answer, okay?" Axel's voice was gentle.
Roxas blinked at him for a second. "...why?" he asked quietly.
Axel grinned. "Because, Roxy, your cute, and you seem like the type I could get along with, if I can get past your shell. Plus, someone told me you run lights and sound for the school productions. And I kinda wanted to know I you wanted an assistant."
"An... an assistant?"
Axel's smile broadened. "Yeah! Like, your still in charge, but I'll help you out? Cause I used to that stuff at my old school. And I figure an extra pair of hands is always good."
Roxas smiled faintly. "Usually... usually I have Nami help me. But she hates it. She only does it cause she feels bad, and no one else... no one else wants to bother. so... an assistant would be... nice." the blonde stuttered out.
"Well this sounds like the start of a beautiful friendship." the red head said enthusiastically.
Roxas nodded. "I have a meeting tonight after school... with the thespians club... do you want to go, and talk to Miss Heartilly with me?" Roxas asked.
"Sounds like a plan, Roxy. I'll meet you there!" Axel held out a hand, and Roxas shook it tentatively.
An assistant... a new friend...who knows, but he wont ask... this day just officially got better. Maybe 191 days isn't so long after all...
…...
when Ven had seen his brother all but run from the cafeteria at lunch today, he had immediately stood up to follow him. But Terra had put a hand on his shoulder.
"wait a second."
Ven followed his friends pointing finger to see the new kid, the gangly redhead, follow immediatley after him. Guy looked genuinely upset, worried almost.
Ven had sat back down slowly. He would let his brother and the new kid figure it out.
And if the guy hurt him, he'd have Terra beat his ass. Simple as that.
Ven sat in his last class of the day, listening to Mr. Vexen droning on about molecular bonds, dreading the final bell.
When it finally came, and they were released for the weekend, Ven packed his things slowly. He had half an hour... before Vanitas was home.
…...
chapter one complete! Any questions?
Send me some reviews guys, cause I need some love!
