My assignments are over and uni has finished for three weeks. Thank god for small mercies! I've written this as a thank you for waiting, and for not bitching about me not being about to update. It's quite a short chapter so I hope you are all too happy about the fact I've updated to complain that it is too short. I will try and make the next chapter a little bit longer! I'm not exactly sure where this fic is going, it seems to have a mind of its own but I promise it'll be good.
Mikinyet, snowdragon, tyleet88, Kami-Crimson, Morte-di-Angeli
Thanks to all of the above for reviewing the last chapter! This one is for you guys!
xxxx
Deviants
Chapter Nine - Life Goes On
The fire alarm was going off.
He grumbled in his sleep as the noise slowly pulled him into consciousness. Someone banged on his door as they ran past, heading for the stairs and the exit.
He climbed out of bed, pulled on a pair of boxers that were laying on the floor. He grabbed his coat from the back of the door and checked his pockets for his keys. Last time there had been an evacuation he had managed to lock himself out. It had raised questions as to how he had managed to unlock his door without his keys. It was unwanted attention and he hated any kind of attention on him.
There was another bang on his door and he jerked it open.
"I'm coming," he snarled at his flatmate.
"Thought I should check," she winked at him. His coat was wide open, revealing his body and she was more than happy to take in the view.
"What time is it?"
"Four thirty."
"Who the fuck set the fire alarm off at this time?"
The girl shrugged as she lead the way out of their flat and down the stairs. They left the building and stood in the compound. There was no sign of a fire and he wasn't happy that he had been woken up.
"We need to do a roll call," the warden yelled over the top of the crowd of students. Everyone seemed to gather around him at once and raised their hand as he called out their name.
"Maxwell?"
The boy in question raised his hand and his name was ticked off the sheet.
"Think we can go back in?" he asked. "Its far too early to be out of bed."
"There are lessons at nine so you will be getting up soon enough anyway."
"So?" he snapped. "I didn't need to be rudely awoken by the fire alarm."
She smiled at him.
"You are not a morning person, are you Duo?"
The boy glared at her. He was only a morning person when he was woken up at a reasonable time.
It had been eighteen months since Kendal had died and Duo had been moved to a special college for the mentally unstable. It was more like university than anything. He was living in Halls of Residence with his own room and own en-suite. He had five other flatmates, all of them mental unstable. He got his meals cooked for him and his living fees were all being paid for by the government. One of the good points to being an orphan.
He was attending lectures that the government had laid down for him.
Duo didn't mind the living situation but there was something not quite right about one of his lecturers. He liked to test the sanity of his students, or his studies as he called them. He paid too much attention towards Duo for the boy to feel comfortable around the man. He seemed to like Duo's ability to moved things with his mind.
The main thing Duo didn't like were the rumours that he heard. There was a boy, in the year above Duo, who had special abilities and had been taken into the government care. He was used, so the rumours said, to carry out special missions that no else could. Duo got an uneasy feeling that his own deviant behaviour would land him in the same kind of situation. It was the main reason he had stopped using that ability and always made sure never to lock himself out of his room again.
"You ok there?" the girl waved her hand in front of Duo's face.
"Ash, I'm fine."
Ashley was one of Duo's flatmates. She was clinically insane for hearing voices in her head. She would just randomly start talking to herself and had once convinced herself to jump out a window. She had been eight at the time. She was placed in the asylum for her own safety.
"Just want to sleep, huh?"
"Yes."
After half an hour of waiting, the warden gave the all clear and they were allowed to return to their rooms.
"See you in a few hours," Ashley called as she entered her room and locked it behind her.
"Night," Duo replied as he continued down the corridor until he reached his own room and let himself in.
He undressed and climbed back into his bed. It was already cold and he tugged the covers around him tightly. He knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon. The bed was far too cold and the halls far too noisy.
Duo's eyes stared at the ceiling. It had been over a year since he had seen any of his old friends but he still missed them... Especially... Duo turned over on to his side to look at the dark room. The only light came from his laptop. It was the small red power light, flashing to inform him that it was in stand by mode.
Duo tried to focus on that light and refused to let himself think about his old friends and everyone that once mattered to him.
There was ten of them, all lined up perfectly in a row. Each were different in looks but all matched in fitness and ability.
He walked up and down them, a file in his hand that held all of the critical information that he needed to know. He only wanted the best and these ten were the best but now he had to choose one.
His eyes came to rest on a Asian boy with dark brown hair and Prussian blue eyes. The boy stared straight ahead, there wasn't a hint of emotion of his face. Nothing.
"This one," the man pointed at the Asian boy. "He's perfect."
"Sir, he is one of the best but he is also so young that his age..."
"Is a good thing. The younger body can take much more damage than an older body and survive. Get him prepped and ready to go by sunset. I don't want failure."
"Yes sir."
The man gave a sharp salute to the older man who once again turned back to the boy with a smile.
"Yes. You'll be perfect."
Duo tried to force himself to pay attention to the man that was standing in front of the group. His eyes felt heavy and he found himself yawning more than once. He hadn't slept for a couple of days. His mind wouldn't seem to relax. There was something wrong, it kept telling him. It was a nagging feeling that wouldn't go away.
"Are we keeping you up, Maxwell?" the lecturer asked. He stopped in front of Duo's desk and the braided boy raised his eyes to met his.
"No, sir."
"Then pay attention. I want to see you after class."
Duo let the comment wash over him. He really didn't like this man.
"Duo, what's wrong?" Duo's flatmate Ash poked her friend in the back.
"Its nothing," he replied. "I'm just tired."
She frowned at him.
"I can hear it."
"What?" Duo turned to look at her. His eyes wide as she spoke.
"I can hear them screaming."
"Who? Who's screaming?"
She turned her gaze away from his.
"Your friends."
Duo lent forward, ignoring the fact he was in a class and should be paying attention to the lecturer.
"My friends? They are all here."
"Your old friends. From long before you came here."
"How..."
"They are screaming in pain. They are begging for help. Something terrible is coming. Duo."
"What?"
She opened her mouth again but before a sound came out she gasped, her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed off her chair and onto the floor.
The whole room went into a state of panic. Duo darted forward, knocking his own chair over in his attempt to reach his friend.
"Ash?" he tapped her face. "Ashley, wake up."
The lecturer knelt down by the two. Duo had picked Ash's head off the floor and was cradling her close to his body. His fingers felt for a pulse.
"Take her to the nurse," the man ordered Duo. "The rest of you, classis dismissed. Maxwell, I want you to come back here straight after you leave her in the care of the nurse, understand me?"
Duo gave a nod and with the lecturer's help, he picked her up in his arms, one arm under her knees and one around her shoulders. Slowly Duo carried her away.
Tbc…
Well, what do you all think? Please, keep on reviewing and I'll try and get the next chapter out within a week.
Thank You
Shinigami195