Chapter III

Building Fear

I do not own any characters in this, Hoshino does.

Lavi awoke to a chill and a bitch of a headache, it was as if a hammer was having a seizure inside his skull and insisted that it hit everything it could reach making a heavy pulsing feeling throughout his entire scalp.

The teenagers hand shot up to grip his head, they only got a few inches until he seemed to tug his whole self up in the attempt. Quickly looking up, and regretting the sharp movements of his head, he saw that both his wrists were bound tightly to the wooden headboard of the four poster bed.

… Wait, bed?

Taking this state of shock as a key time to observe his surroundings, the redhead absorbed the facts that he was bound to a bed, in a dark room, a creepy room actually, with no windows in sight, yeah a really creepy room, and only a lamp hung as far as he could tell due to the canopy in his way, it smelled a bit like death…

Another chill hit the boy causing him to see that he no longer had his scarf, jacket, boots, socks or anything on his person for that matter, save for his black thin undershirt and normal work pants, which actually were only tan dirty khakis that Bookman insisted on him wearing at all times while working.

Bookman! Where was that old fart anyway?

The name of his teacher/boss sparked a vital question in the muddled teenager's brain, how the hell did he get here? He tried to think back on the last time he was conscious, something like a delivery… no… a pickup? Yeah, that was it; he was getting books from the slums.

But that didn't explain why he was bound. Lavi put his intense memory skills to work as he attempted to remember everything with all these distractions in play.

He left around the late afternoon…

Called to the shop while at Lenalee's…

Bookman gave him a list of weird books, he had been sick again…

Lavi had gotten to the town…

The shops started closing so he headed back… right?

No, something's missing…

Trying again, Lavi tried to put in all of the small details in his mind. There had been six blond whores and twelve brunettes, one had pulled him to the side saying how cute he was. Another man had hit him saying to get off of his claim, was that why he had the headache? No, he was just whacked by the burly man, Lavi dealt with Panda; those would give you a migraine. Something else was off.

Again and again the lithe boy tried, but nothing was working, something was missing. It was like he was watching a film but the pictures freeze and start up again somewhere else, making you miss a major part of the movie.

Each bit of his memory he played out in his mind, Lenalee's house, the call, the books, his illness, and the town, everything he could recall into the tiniest, most minuscule details his brain could manage. There had been a man smoking about four point seven hundred and thirty-two ounces of marijuana, there was one whore who flashed a man that had a star shaped mole two point four-seven-nine-one inches away from her left nipple, he stepped on thirty-two bugs, big and small, on his way with one man who cried at his feet for killing his children which were two crickets, his eyes were so bloodshot they hurt to look at.

Nothing leads to how he got here, Lavi sighed, ready to give up on his attempt to even his thoughts when something clicked. What had happened after the lights in the town went out; he couldn't have just headed home. He wouldn't be here!

Rapidly shifting all the sights and sounds he had seen and heard through the entire trip. The lights in the shop had turned off, the street lights went on.

Something about the lights…

His boots had been clomping against the uneven cobblestone on his way home in the dark and dank area of the town.

Something about the steps…

His muscles had been tense, as if avoiding looking at something, like trying to set a pace and not slow down or speed up.

But from what…?

What was he hiding from? What was he scared of? What was he avoiding?!

…What had he run from?

And just like that, everything that happened flooded back. It was more like a tsunami with how fast the knowledge had hit, the panic, turning around, kicking, running, six blocks, rank drinks, fabrics, teenagers, pain, chill, black.

Everything.

Panic and fear boiled up inside him, why was he dragged here, what had he done to be taken? People were dragged off in the night, no doubt about that. Serious offenses came with serious a punishment, that's how it went here. But he had done nothing, he had touched no one. He was doing his job!

Suddenly, color drained from his face like he had just had a pitcher of freezing water dumped right onto his face. People were being taken for other things too, murder reports had filled the papers, some had died of blood loss, or internal bleeding, all related with that red life juice. He knew one victim personally, Matthew was a loud, and somewhat annoying human being. He had red hair like Lavi but was much more muscular and fit.

In fact all of the victims had red hair, every single one. Their ages varied; sixteen and twenty-two were the youngest and oldest. All reported missing, gone for a few days, and dumped back on their doorsteps in a bloody heap. Matthew had died two weeks ago.

Was he next? He didn't want to die like this! He had Bookman to take care of and logs to fill; he couldn't die like this… not yet.

Struck with grief and fear, Lavi fell into a fitful sleep.

Chaffing palms, bleeding fingers, dripping eyes,

Splintered floorboards, locked doors, spoiling pies.

Handmade patches, flying feathers, muffled cries,

Lonely shopping, elders snooping, compulsive lies.

When the teenager woke he didn't even realize he had been crying, things were blurry through his watery eyes but he could still tell something was there that wasn't there before. Doing his best to pull himself into an upright position, which ended with a reclined slouch, he forced his eye to look ahead.

A slight pressure came just below his left eye, it felt calloused but still a bit smooth. A finger. Lavi thought as it moved away from his line of sight, his vision had cleared from the padded fingers movements and he saw a man.

He was young, early to mid twenties he would guess; he had a very nice face too. The man was of obvious Portuguese decent, that much was clear in his sleepy state. He had broad shoulders and tan skin, though Lavi couldn't see his eyes, his mop of curly black hair was in the way.

The ministrations of the man put Lavi's own hair on end; he still couldn't fully address the whole situation. He was in pain and sleep deprived and-

Where was his hand going!? Lavi shot out in a blind struggle against the now stunned man, succeeding in knocking clean off the bed with his flailing legs, no no no no no no!! He couldn't do that, not that! Had to get the hand away, get away get away get away!!!!

Feeling a sudden heavy pressure on his pelvis, his eyes shot up clouded with confusion and unease coming face to face with the Portuguese man.

"Hey calm down boy, I'm not going hurt you! Just relax; you don't need to be so scared!"

Not all of the man's words reached the convulsing youth's ears. In fact, all he caught was. "Down… boy… I'm… hurt you… just… need… scared." He was shaking too much from pure fear of the situation to be able to read his lips properly, too bad he only caught the bad words.

The man was once again shaken around by the thrashing boy, he was so thin, so lithe, so beautiful… but right now he was also panicking, and now was not the time for that.

He quickly pushed his hands up against the boy's forearms, successfully pinning him to the headboard and applying more weight to his midsection to keep him down.

Lavi felt his arms become more trapped than they previously were, his entire body pinned by this larger one. He was trapped; he was trapped by a possible killer, and was going to die. Shaking so hard you would think he was having a seizure, Lavi did the only thing he could do.

Lavi began to cry.

The man was stunned, frozen to the spot really, as he stared dumbfounded at the shaking and now crying boy. He was that scared?

When the wheels began to turn in his head again, the adult quickly began to try and calm the currently sobbing boy. Now was defiantly not the time for this kid to have a breakdown, she would be here soon and seeing the boy like this would provoke her.

Lavi couldn't control his sobs anymore, his shoulders shook, his lip quivered and he couldn't imagine how much of a baby he looked like right now.

He knew he didn't have much time, the boy could not be seen like this in front of her. Bad things happened when she got like that…

Quickly moving his hands away from the trembling boy's arms, he wrapped an arm around his waist while his other hand ran his fingers through the redhead's messy hair. He put his face near his ear and tried to calm him down, whispering comforting things to him. With God's grace he could get him cleaned up before anything bad happened to the kid.

The redhead could hardly believe what was happening, he was being held in a, what he dare say comforting, position with his hair being stroked and soothing thing's being whispered in his ear. Just what the fuck was going on? One second he's bound to a bed alone the next he's being held like a baby.

"Are you alright now menino? You gave me quite a scare." Lavi looked up to realize that the man was talking to him, a scowl made its way across his face. This guy was scared? Who was the one bound to a bed stripped of most of his clothes in a room he didn't know the location of? Him that's who!

"Last time I checked I was the one that was stripped of clothing."

"I did that so you wouldn't get overheated."

"Mind if I ask some questions then?" Lavi could hear his own bite in his voice.

"Why of course you may, I think my guest should be treated properly."

"What's your name?"

"My name is Tyki."

"Why am I here?"

"You were wanted."

"How did you find me?"

"It was a matter of 'guess and check'." That set something off in his stomach; he was a target in the first place. This wasn't just some random kidnapping.

"Well then Tyki, will you untie me?"

"No."

"What happened to treating a guest?"

"I believe in partial hospitality."

This was getting him nowhere, Tyki wasn't going to tell him shit and he knew it. That hand reached out again, going for his face. Lavi immediately began to panic.

Nonononononononononononon-

"Menino! Calm down, why are you so scared?" Why, why? Did this guy really have to ask, he was captured, taken, bound, and a guy was on top of him! Why the fuck wouldn't he be scared!?

"Get off of me! No, no, no! Don't!"

Tyki was beyond confused, why was the boy so afraid of his hand? He was calm before, maybe due to drowsiness. No that wasn't it; He had lashed out when he went to the right side of his face.

"Don't touch it! No!"

Lavi had been beyond reason at this point, once again to wrapped in his shock and fear. There was no calming him down like before.

"Don't touch it! Stay away from me!"

Don't touch what? His face, he already did before. What in God's name was he so scared of?

"Stay away from them! You can't touch my eyes!!"

His eyes…? He only had one didn't he? The other was simply a patch over where on should be, right?

"Lavi, talk to me. What are you so scared of?" Lavi began to try to regain his breathing, he needed to calm down, those gold eyes were so similar to that night, yet they seemed so different… why? The ones during the chase were an eerie yellow, but his were more like a warm brown flecked with yellow.

"Y-y-your h-hands, don't t-t-touch my e-e-eye patch P-please!"

Lavi began to attempt to fend off the hand began to pet his cheek, attempting to jam his head underneath his arms having little success.

"Menino, you need to relax a bit. I was just cleaning your face, is it that your hands are bound?" Tyki attempted to reason with him, he needed him calmer soon, very soon.

Lavi once again attempted to nod, stifling a cry as Tyki reached above him to untie the bindings. Tyki once again began to clean his face, noticing the drastic change in how calm he was this time.

"Ne… Tyki?"

"Yes Lavi?"

"Why do you need to clean my face?"

"Someone will be here soon."

"Who?"

Lavi heard a clicking noise coming through the door to his right, it sounded like skipping and a faint giggle.

Tyki sighed a bit and turned to Lavi with a somewhat grim expression.

"My sire."

- - - -

Wow, seven pages! I didn't really like this one as much, a little too out of character for me. Give me feedback on Tyki! I need to know whether to change or keep his attitude, I most likely won't but I want to know what you think!

By the way, thank you for so many reviews!! I was so happy! 3