Author's Note: Just a short chapter to tide you guys over. Thanks so much for the continued support. I think I'm going to have 2 or 3 more chapters. To be honest, I'm really excited to get this story over with and start something new. I've had this idea to write this since early last year and I'm just happy I'm finally getting it out of my brain and onto paper. Like Maya Angelou said, there's nothing worse than bearing an untold story inside you. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh and follow me on Tumblr. My username is Devillace. I noticed it didn't show up before haha.

Disturbia
Chapter 9

Sora clutched at the sink with clawed, bleeding fingers and stared in horror at the mirror. His jaw was slack, tongue out to give him a better view of his sharpened, protruding canines.

His gums were torn apart, blackened with dried blood, and when he touched them they pricked his finger. A tiny pearl of blood seeped forward and Sora felt a strange, dizzying vertigo that made Sora grasp the sink with all his might for fear of falling. His strength was not his own. He tilted the sink with just that force and quickly he let go and fell backwards, hitting his head on the back wall of his cramped bathroom.

He had just woken up like this last night. In his bedroom, his body haphazardly on the bed. The pain he felt when he awoke was unlike anything he had ever experienced. His bones felt broken and twisted, a hard pressure, a deep throb that rose to the surface and ached. His mouth was sore; the feeling he had when his wisdom teeth were coming in but twice as worse.

He hadn't felt like himself. The first night he was stuck to his bed. He couldn't move, stuck curled into himself as he shivered and shook and cried. It was all he could do. That and think of course, but even that was filled with a distorted static that had drove Sora insane. But in the midst of the chaotic imbalance of his brain he was able to think back on blinking moments of the previous night.

He remembered being with Zack when they were attacked. Sora thought of it in bits and spurts. He remembered blood shooting from his mouth when the vampire abused him. He remembered the sharp collision of his head against the pavement. That's it. Everything else was black.

Then he woke up here.

Today was different than yesterday. Today, Sora was at least able to get up out of bed. And upon further inspection, Sora almost wished he hadn't.

There was no writhing at least, Sora thought as he stood up and dared to cast another glance at his reflection before turning away and walking back into his bedroom. He sat on the bedroom and stared down at the carpeted floor; blank, empty.

He knew what happened to him.

They turned him. That gold-eyed vampire maybe? Yuffie? He still couldn't believe she had been there. He recognized her voice without a second thought even after all those years. At least he had gotten some answers then about where she was. But he still hadn't seen Riku. Maybe he really was gone.

Either way, it didn't matter anymore. Sora was a vampire now. The thought made him sick to his stomach, but then again, his insides were all over the place anyways. He felt like he could wretch at any second.

His life was ruined, he felt. What was he supposed to do now? He was he going to face Leon and Aerith and Zack. His breath caught in his throat. Leon...when Leon found out he'd-

Knock-knock-knock.

Sora froze.

Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock.

"Sora? Are you in there? Open up."

It was Leon. He sounded worried, but it was already evident in his urgent knocking.

Sora didn't know what to do. His heart raced. All he could think about was Leon's promise to kill Riku. Because he was a vampire. Wouldn't that be his first instinct as soon as he saw Sora? He didn't think he could hide it from Leon either. Just the presence of the other body was enough to give Sora a rush. All he could feel was the warmth of the body; that warm blood coursing through his body.

No, no. Sora had to get out of here. Leon wasn't safe. Sora wasn't safe.

"Zack told me what happened the other night. Sora, let me in."

Oh no. He must know. Sora had to get out of here. There was only one window in here and it was Sora's only chance. While Leon pounded at the door Sora ran towards the barred window and in a moment of wistful thinking, he attempted to pry the bars open with his hands. It worked, Sora thought in horror.

He managed to fit his body through the opening, and with one final glance as Leon called out to him, he climbed down the fire escape while the heat of the sun left pin-pricks over his entire decaying body.

–

Maybe Sora could begin to understand why Riku had avoided him for all these years. Now that Sora was a vampire he couldn't begin to imagine facing Leon. Not like this. Being around people in general left a bad taste in Sora's mouth. Copper blood that stained his tongue.

He cut himself before. He pricked his finger and smeared it on his bottom lip. Let his tongue slip across the broken skin. His eyelids slipped down over, his eyes rolling back into his skull. It was the best food he'd ever eaten. The sweetest drink he'd ever tasted. The most pleasurable sex he'd ever had.

He wasn't in the right frame of mind to even comprehend how strangely this was. How much of a stretch it was and how this wasn't normal.

It was like he didn't care.

And suddenly there were footsteps and Sora fell backwards in surprise, catching himself on his fridge. The food tasted like it was well past expired when Sora tried it. The groceries Leon had bought him were going to rot.

It was probably Leon again. And just as Sora began to head towards the window he heard a voice. It stopped him cold.

"Sora? It's me..."

"Riku..." Sora said to himself as he looked over his shoulder at his door. After all these years. Finally, Riku had come to him. If he had been human, maybe he would have cried. But all he could do was feel his own body radiate. Calling to the warmth of Riku's blood. This happened even with other vampires? No, no. It wasn't as much of a craving for blood as it was for contact.

Sora was confused about his kind. Was he living, was he dead? He bled. He must still be alive. But Sora was more confused about Riku. Why was he here? He had to know he was a vampire; that couldn't be a coincidence that he appeared only after Sora was turned.

"Please, let me in."

Sora stared at the door for what felt like an eternity. Insignificant milliseconds in the eternity that was now his life. He breathed, he stopped. Then he walked forward.

His eye caught the cross that still stay guarding the side of the door frame. It was for this moment. It was to keep Riku away. Did he want to keep Riku away? Even if he wanted to take it down, he was sure he couldn't even touch it. Sora was glad he couldn't. He still was bitter at Riku for abandoning him for so many years.

"Say I can come in," Riku said again with a light tap-tap against the door.

Enough bitterness. Riku was here now. And it was a moment Sora had been waiting for for a long time now. Despite his own anger. Despite Leon's threats. It was his choice now.

He opened the door. That moment seeing Riku was unlike any other.

His hair had grown longer. He stood straight and tall, drowning in black clothing. His jaw was clenched tightly, chin trembling. He looked almost as scared as Sora was. But his lip pulled back into a trembling half-smile. "S-Sora," he said with a small shake of his head. He had lost any of that innocence his eyes had once held. He wasn't Riku he laid in the snow with. He was the monster they ran from that night. And Sora's heart sank when he remembered: so was he.

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked. "Finally." He breathed these last words and stepped back for Riku to come inside. Riku took a step forward but stopped himself with a wince, as if there was something preventing him from stepping forward.

"That cross," he said through gritted teeth.**He dropped his head down and he looked to be in a

It was radial and it burst through the seams of existence. Sora didn't know how he could feel existence but it was there now. Being a vampire...it changed him.

Sora looked at the cross. He had never been too religious. Leon prayed to God every day. Riku didn't believe in Him. So then, how was it the cross could have such an effect? Maybe He was real. Sora inhaled a sharp breath and narrowed his eyes.

"I can't let you in." He didn't sound sorry; no, Sora was done with apologies. Instead it was a kind of assertion because Sora didn't want to allow Riku back into his life just like that. It wasn't fair.

"You left me for years. Why?" The question burst forth from his mouth like a rat bursting from a snake. It didn't want to die off without being known. Sora didn't want to die without asking Riku that one question. Why did you leave? Why didn't you come back when I needed you most?

Riku swallowed. "I can't talk...not with that cross."

Sora narrowed his eyes, lowered his head, his messy bangs casting shadows across the light of his eyes.

"You don't really have a choice. I want to know."

"Okay." Riku exhaled deeply and stood straight, stared at Sora with a look on his face that clearly meant he was serious. This was it. Sora would finally get answers. "I wanted to come back to you after those vampires turned me. It wasn't because I was mad at you or anything." There was a visible weight that freed from Sora's shoulders. He rememebred how hard it was in the beginning to let himself become caught up in the real possibility that Riku hated him; then he would have really been alone.

"You weren't? Not even a little bit?" Sora couldn't help it that his eyes dropped and he swallowed hard. Riku wasn't mad?

"No." Riku shook his head and let out a deep sigh. His lower lip trembled. "I was too scared to be angry." He looked away, as if shamed that his emotions were betraying him. Sora didn't mind it if Riku cried. It mean they were still human. "You don't know what it's-" He stopped himself and his eyes trailed up and down Sora's entirety. "I never thought I'd see you with fangs. Fuck. This isn't what was supposed to happen."

"What does that mean? You planned something?"

"No. Like I said...I needed to stay away from you. I don't want to get into everything. It's...tough to think about. But Vanitas found him when I was barely turned. Vanitas is the vampire who attacked you. He found me...he'd known me since we were kids. Said he'd been waiting for me to grow up so that...it doesn't matter anyway." The more he spoke the more his words seemed strained. The words became more difficult. And Sora wanted to reach for his mouth-bitten gloved hand and pull him in from the snow and bury his nose into his hair. Like they used to be. But if he pulled him would Sora be tempted to sink his fangs into him? Was that Sora's new reality?

"It does matter."

"He just...took me in and gave me purpose. I shouldn't have went with him, but I was scared and confused. And he didn't want anything to come between me and him? I was like his protegee. He wanted to kill you. I wouldn't let him."

Riku swallowed. "At first I stayed away from you because I was afraid of what you'd think. If you saw me like this...but then...it was out of your protection, Sora. I wouldn't let him hurt you." Sora's hard gaze softened significantly and Riku stepped forward, only to wince and grit and lean heavily against the door frame.

"All this time...I thought you abandoned me." But Sora understood now. Riku wouldn't lie. And Sora had always been hopeful, but what he should have been was patient. "At first I thought you were dead...and I felt so guilty." Sora pressed a hand to his face, his knuckles rubbing at his burning eyes. He felt the sting of tears, but there were none.

"It wasn't your fault. Vanitas was after me. He would have had me regardless. I'm just glad you got out of there."

"I swear Riku..." Sora began, let out a shuddery breath and face contorting into one of pain. It was all this pain that wore in the tension in his eyebrows. Memories of that night; beliving with all his broken heart that Riku was dead. "I thought you were behind me. I thought you were right behind me..."

"Don't even think about it. We're here now. Vanitas is dead. I killed him last night. We can be together again." When Sora looked up, Riku was smiling. There was still Leon. Sora couldn't forget about him. But right now, all Sora could truly think about Riku standing there with that smile and everything just felt so right.

"Come in, please." Sora stepped aside and Riku smiled, that pain and weight freeing him and allowing him entrance into Sora's house. He closed the door behind them and immediately Sora jumped forward and wrapped his arms around Riku, burying his face. There was no urge to sink into the warm flesh there. Just the joy and elation of finding a piece of home to carry around with you.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen. I'm sorry he did this to you."

"Turned me into a vampire..." Sora just began to close his eyes and really let himself melt into Riku but Riku pulled away with a sudden seriousness in his face that Sora recognized and didn't like. That face was familiar and Sora always hated it. It always meant bad news.

"Vanitas...he didn't turn you into a vampire, Sora.

His brows dropped, head tilted to the side as Riku pulled his body away and all of that warmth was gone and Sora felt his body go rigid again. It was a painful ice that pricked at his flesh. It was that moment falling ino the waterway that stuck to his skin like a second layer of frost.

"He didn't?"

"No...it was me."

Sora blinked. The words repeated like a stupid mantra. It...had been Riku...