Chapter 3

Tavros huffed angrily and tightened the pillow atop his head, trying to block out the incessant banging coming from downstairs. Though the activity in his house had limited itself to strictly nighttime (when he was home the most), the level of noise had increased dramatically. The Taurus could hardly sleep, and when he did, he usually woke because of some physical act of violence. Last night, after plugging in his headphones and cranking the volume to try and sleep, he was yanked by his uncovered ankle out of bed to find the wires cut and his iPod fried. Resigning himself to another night with no sleep, Tavros removed the pillow and stared at his ceiling. That is, until something on the other side of the room caught his eye. And that was quite a feat, seeing as the attic ran along the entire top of the house. Breath caught in his throat, he slowly sat up and saw that his movements were tracked by two glowing yellow eyes.

"It's totally an animal, totally, it's alright, squirrels and stuff find their w-way into attics all the time..." Tavros whispered quietly, voice wavering. He stared back at the unblinking eyes, their strange yellow glow permeating the darkness of the room.

"Shoo." he said, trying to come off as serious, stern. He sounded like a grade schooler. He guessed it was some sort of animal that wormed its way in his house. Yes, because animals had glowing eyes. It didn't look very big, not that he could see an outline, but the eyes weren't very high off the ground, just kind of suspended about a foot. He sat up straighter, making a go away gesture with his hands. Goosebumps rose on his arms as Tavros realized that it was completely and totally silent. He could hear his own heartbeat thumping in his ears, nearly drowning out a quiet vibrating sound. It might have been coming from outside, the Taurus reasoned, but as it deepened in pitch and increased in volume, Tavros realized that it was, in fact, coming from the other side of the room. Tavros watched with horror as the eyes slowly rose, never leaving his, to an astonishing height at least two feet over his own.

The now discernible growling was equal to that of a lion about to pounce. Tavros's heart was speeding and a cold sweat had formed on his skin. He didn't know what to do. Oh God, what could he do? Was this how he was going to die? What did this... thing want with him? Why was it here? Why him? Why his house? Panic tightend the Taurus's chest to the point where it was difficult to breathe. All he wanted were answers. And to live. He nearly cried when he heard a deep, raspy chuckle from the darkness of the room. It seemed to reverberate in the air around him, piercing him.

"This is my house. All things in it belong to me as well. Which means you are mine. So states my contract." The voice hissed. Then- nothing. When Tavros blinked, the eyes were gone, along with the pressure and tense atmosphere. He needed out of here, out of this house. He stayed awake, plauged with visions of the eyes and threatening, joyless laughter.

OoO

Kanaya tutted at her friend's sorry state, noting his lack of personal care and all around poor attitude. Her girlfriend, who has yet to have a moment to spare for the young man, continued to talk business over the phone in the other room.

"Tavros, darling, please sit. Your pacing is making me nervous. Rose will attend to you shortly, I'm sure. In the meantime, why don't you try to relax?" Kanaya offered Tavros a seat next to her on the couch, passing a cup of tea into his shaking hands. Smiling, she patted him on the shoulder, and the poor thing jumped. It had been nearly two months since they had last spoken, work and "a situation back home" keeping the Taurus from a long needed visit. She was more than happy when she heard that her dear childhood friend would be moving here, and nearly begged Rose to find him a house near theirs. However, being two very successful women, they could afford something a great deal more expensive than the newly independent Latino. Thus, her better half found him an extremely cheap house a few neighborhoods away.

The younger man finally seemed to loosen up a little, leaning back into the couch and exhaling tiredly. Kanaya let out a softer, happier sigh as he leaned his head on her shoulder. The woman could feel him drifting off, and slowly brought a hand up to stroke his unkempt mohawk. Just as Tavros began snoring lightly, Rose strutted into the room, ready to chat, raising her eyebrows at the scene before her. The blonde caught her girlfriend's eyes and nodded as she put a finger to her lips. Smiling, she sat on the other side of Kanaya and picked up a book.

The next hour or so was spent in comfortable silence. Eventually, however, the peace had to be broken by Rose's phone triling some rather obscene rap music. She glared at the phone before accepting the call, standing and walking out of the room. Kanaya was just able to catch "Goddammit Dave, I told you to stop messing with my phone," as Tavros stirred beside her. She smiled warmly at him as he stretched his arms above his head. The t-shirt he was wearing, being a little too small for his body, rode up a little as he did so. And not that Kanaya would be one to look, but a couple marks that looked suspiciously like bruises showed themselves, and the Virgo had to fight down her incredulity. That anyone would hurt Tavros was beyond reason. The only acceptable excuse she could come up with was that her eyes were playing tricks on her. When the Taurus found that Rose was in another conversation, he excused himself, promising he'd come over again sometime. At the door, she wrapped him in a tight hug. She pretended not to notice the slight wince on Tavros's face.

I don't mean to disappoint, but I'm going to stop the chapter here. I had a lot more planned, but things in the fic aren't working out like I originally thought, so I might drop it. Just a warning. Sorry for the inconvenience.