Chapter 8: Rood

Another question reached my ears: how does everyone age?

The most human-like creatures age just like humans do (creatures who use magic for example).
Werewolves age just a little slower. They are mortal, but have animal instincts and heightened strength and senses.
Vampires don't age at all. They stay the same from when they are bitten. Vampires are technically immortal, but can be weakened enough to kill them by not giving them any blood.
Demons age really slowly, and have the ability the stop the aging process (think incubi). They are also technically immortal in general, but there are different kinds of demons, so that rule might not apply to all.
Creatures who die mostly pass away, unless they still have some unresolved business left on earth. In that case, they come back as ghosts. Grandpa Rome for example, vowed that he wouldn't leave the school unprotected, and came back to his position as headmaster. He was a muse as well back when he was still alive.

Again, if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask them! I'm happy with the feedback.

Also a little warning: there will be a tiny bit of gore coming up.

xoxox

The remainder of the week was rather uneventful. Alfred got away with that one day of attention. Alfher never noticed he had been gone and Rome was in a terribly good mood for some reason, so he decided not to give him any more punishment if he promised not to fight again.

No one mentioned Ivan's absence. Not that it really mattered, because now it was Saturday, and he would have to see the guy again.

After telling his twin that he was going to Kiku, Alfred made his way to the cemetery for his date-that-was-so-not-a-date-oh-my-god-how-can-you-even-think-that.

He settled down on a tombstone after a quick apology to the person occupying its grave. Hey, you never know who might come back as a ghost to haunt you.

When the blond felt a speck of snow on the tip of his nose, his first reaction was to look around and search for Ivan's presence. However, when he couldn't find the demon anywhere, he let his gaze wander up.

Several tiny snowflakes were swirling about, dancing through the air. Alfred breathed out, a cloud of frosty dust escaping the cavern of his mouth.

Winter was approaching. Winter meant Christmas and the holidays, hot chocolate by the fireplace, ice skating and snowball fights. But it also meant longer nights, which lead to less sleep and more work. You could say that also meant more time for hunting, but there were less people outside on a cold snowy night.

Winter was a time of joy, but also one of suffering. Alfred used not to care, since he never went hunting anyway. But now, with the ritual coming so close and his new interactions with a certain icy monster, he didn't know how to feel about it anymore.

The vampire perked up when he heard a set of footsteps. They were soft but audible to his oversensitive ears. The owner stopped somewhere behind him, as if he could fool the other into thinking he was gone.

Alfred looked over his shoulder, finding nothing but darkness. The teen cleared his throat and spoke up, voice echoing over the empty cemetery.

"I know you're there dude. Come out and show yourself."

A low chuckle could be heard before Ivan stepped into the light.

The silvery shine in his greyish blond locks was reinforced by the reflecting moon behind him. The Russian was clothed in an oversized grey-beige trench coat, either to further conceal his figure or maybe suppress his powers – Alfred could only guess. The white scarf was draped around his neck as always, and those long bony fingers were hidden behind black leather gloves. The Slavic demon's heavy boots made almost no sound as he treaded the earth, bits of ice and snow fluttering up from where his feet made contact with the ground. Ivan would look absolutely perfect with a snowy background.

"Privet Alfred. I am happy to see you came."

"Not like you left me any choice…" the boy mumbled.

He jumped off of the tombstone and casually sauntered over to the other.

"All right, let's get this over and done with. Where d'ya wanna go tonight?"

Ivan muffled an amused giggle by his hand.

"Always so impatient~" the demon nearly purred.

Alfred rolled his eyes before folding his arms.

"Well, it's not like I wanna be here, so let's just get on with it."

Ivan's face dropped for the tiniest of seconds before morphing back into that trademark smile of his.

"If you insist, dorogoy."

Alfred huffed.

"And would you stop calling me that?! Or at least tell me what the F it means!"

Ivan lowered his eyelids.

"'My lips are sealed,' I believe the expression is."

The vampire angrily flipped him off before walking away.

"Ah, where are you going?" Ivan called after him, taking big strides to catch up.

"Leaving. Because apparently you only called me all the way out here just to make fun of me."

Ivan put a hand to his chest. For once, Alfred didn't have to shudder at the touch, frosty skin safely separated from his own by several layers of clothing and gloves.

"Prosti. I will stop now da? And then we can go do what I originally wanted to do."

Alfred raised an eyebrow at his sudden polite behaviour. Normally the demon would have lunged at him, not apologize for his rudeness. Oh well, the guy did suffer from some severe mood swings. Better to just ignore it and take him up on that offer.

Alfred sighed.

"Okay then Ruski. What is it you wanted to do?"

Ivan smiled, eyes twinkling with glee.

"We are going to do the hunting da?"

What.

Did Ivan- Did he just use the H-word?

Did he just say they were going out hunting?

Now?

But-but…

Ivan knew his secret! The commie fucking knew there was no way he could hunt!

Or did the Russian perhaps think that he could, but just chose not to?

This was… This was bad… He could feel himself panicking at the mere thought…

'Okay Jones. Breathe. Just breathe. Everything's going to be all right.'

The icy demon watched in silence as different emotions shot over the blond's face.

Shock: his eyes growing wide, mouth slightly agape, breath-intake cut short.

Anger: eyebrows knitting together, sapphires intensifying, nostrils flaring.

Fear: pupils growing smaller, lips trembling ever-so-slightly.

And then he finally closed his eyes, slowly taking in fresh air to try and compose himself.

Ivan tilted his head and smiled, a small twitching upwards at the corners of his mouth. He had no idea why the vampire displayed such a wide arrange of emotions, but it certainly was very interesting to observe.

"Are you ready to leave now?" he asked as soon as his companion seemed to have calmed down.

Alfred re-opened his eyes, watching the other warily.

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because…" Alfred clenched his fists. "Because I can't."

Ivan cocked his head to the other side.

"Oh, you are referring to what happened last time? Do not worry dorogoy. I will be the one doing the hunting. It is feeding time after all. You are simply to assist me."

Alfred opened and closed his mouth, wanting to protest but not knowing how.

Ivan laid a gloved finger over his thin smirking lips.

"Hush now little one. You are to follow my orders. Remember? And do not say that I have given you hard tasks. You know I have gone easy on you."

Other than the unnecessary violence, unwanted touching and way too much time spent together, Alfred had to admit he was right. Ivan hadn't exactly made him do anything too embarrassing or gave him tasks that were impossible to complete. It was still slavery, but… a good kind?

Alfred hung his head in defeat.

"Fine," he said, for what sounded like the millionth time that day.

Ivan smiled once more, a real smile this time.

"Come."

xoxox

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing… *Click*

"Moshi moshi."

"Hello Kiku? It's Matthew. Can you give me Alfred for a moment?"

"Aah… Gomenasai, but Alfred-kun is not here at the moment."

"…I see…"

After ending the call with a lengthy exchange of polite greetings, one thought crossed the blond's mind.

'Why is my twin lying to me?'

xoxox

The two monsters were standing in an empty street, Ivan peeking around the corner and keeping a close eye on passers-by. His pupils honed in on every single one of them, as if scanning all the possible prey before choosing the best pick.

Meanwhile, Alfred was trying his hardest not to panic.

'It's okay Jones… You'd have to try hunting again eventually… And it's just assisting, you don't have to do any killing yourself…'

He looked up when Ivan tapped him on the shoulder. The demon pointed at a shady-looking man hurrying down the main street.

"You stay here, I will chase him to you."

Before Alfred could protest, the other had disappeared.

"Braginsky!" the vampire hissed, but no reaction came.

Alfred carefully peeked his nose around the corner, watching the man. He looked blissfully unware of what was about to happen to him.

He flinched when the streetlights suddenly went out. The man was immediately on guard, his head jerking left and right. Of course he couldn't see a thing.

The human was about to continue on his way when a wall of ice manifested itself right in front of his eyes.

"Okay, whoever's fuckin' with me, show yourself!" the man yelled.

Alfred held his breath when he saw him pull out a gun. This was not just an innocent walking enthusiast.

Ivan made his next move.

The man began screaming when the demon placed himself behind the ice, features enlarged by the reflection and eyes looking like hellish orbs. Their prey forgot that he was armed and instinctively started running, straight towards Alfred's hiding spot.

The teen took in a breath and stretched his leg.

The man cursed plentifully as his foot got stuck behind something and his face hit the pavement. He was given no time to look at his attackers, as Ivan seemed to teleport behind him, grabbed him by his hair and smashed his skull in on the pavement.

Alfred had to look away when he heard that sickening crack. The smell of blood filled the air. He clasped a hand over his nose in order not to get tempted by it.

The moment he did look back, he found himself unable to tear his gaze away a second time.

Ivan looked like a vicious beast, straight from ancient legends.

His large figure sat bent over the body of his diseased victim, concealing it from the eyes of curious onlookers. His hands and the area around his mouth were soaked with blood. His eyes were blazing, red for once the overpowering colour.

There was nothing elegant or graceful about him as he parted his lips and sunk his now tainted teeth into mushy flesh. They slid down like knives through butter, breaking skin and cutting through muscle. He sucked on the mutilated shoulders, eyes closed in rapture as his tongue slid down the hole he had created. Once he reached the bones, he simply cracked them down the middle to reach the soft organs behind them.

Alfred whimpered. Nausea washed over his body, finding no way to relieve itself. He wanted so desperately to run away and never return to these images, but he just couldn't.

Finally, Ivan noticed the other's distress. He lifted up his face, wiping the crimson liquid from his mouth.

"Oh, sorry. You must be hungry too, da?"

With a disgusting wet sound he ripped a piece of flesh from the man's torso. He then held the bloody meat out for the other, smiling sweetly.

"Here you go. But do not ask for more."

Alfred stared at the piece for a total amount of five seconds. Then he found his voice again.

"You- We… You killed him!"

Ivan cocked his head to the side.

"Da. That is usually the case when you hunt, right?"

He tried to force the meat upon his companion, but Alfred slapped it out of his hand. His face was contorted by repulsion.

"You killed a human being! And you think I'm gonna help you eat him?! No way dude, this is sick!"

Ivan got up and began to carefully approach him.

"But Alfred. That is what we are. This is what we do."

The boy frantically shook his head, backing away from this nightmarish hallucination.

"Not me! I don't… I'm not…"

Ivan successfully trapped him against the wall, forcing his gaze up.

"Yes you are."

He then grabbed the other's chin, putting pressure to his jaw and forcing his mouth open. He let his bloodied thumb graze a pointy tooth.

"You are a vampire, dorogoy. There is nothing you can do to change that. And vampires need blood."

Alfred pulled his head loose and looked to the side, spitting out the bile that had been forming in his throat. His body was shaking with suppressed hysteria, trying its hardest to contain the upcoming thirst.

"That's the whole problem, you damn commie! I don't want their fucking blood! I just want to go to the movies and feed my homework to the dog and eat hamburgers and ice cream in front of my TV!"

He wriggled himself free. Ivan, surprisingly enough, did nothing to stop him. The emotion on his face was unreadable.

Alfred slowly backed away, refusing to look at the mangled corpse.

"Please stop wasting your time with me. I'm dead meat anyway."

And with those words he turned around and ran off, sprinting home as fast as his legs could carry him.

Ivan didn't move, staring after him with hooded eyes and hanging arms.

The moment Alfred got home he raced up the stairs and leapt onto his bed.

There he could finally let out the scream of desperation he'd been holding in.

xoxox

It was Monday morning.

Alfred was sitting at the breakfast table, drinking blood through a straw. Not that he felt much like drinking blood at the moment, but his body needed it.

His head was supported by his left hand, eyes staring at a wrinkle in the wallpaper. He wasn't very keen on seeing Ivan again today. Not after chickening out last Saturday. The guy had probably given up on him by now. Turned him in. Maybe the police would be waiting when he arrived at school. Or Ivan himself, ready to tear his limbs off.

A hand waved in front of his face.

"Earth to Al! I've been talking to you for the last five minutes now!"

Alfred tried to smile at his twin, but it didn't reach his eyes. Uncle Sam briefly looked up from where he'd been typing away on his laptop.

"Anything wrong kiddo?"

Alfred shook his head before going back to slurping at his breakfast.

"Nah, nothing's wrong. Just… I was just thinking, that's all."

Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"And does this 'thinking' of yours perhaps have something to do with Ivan?"

Alfred went wide-eyed and spat out his blood. After couching and cursing (and getting lectured for using such language by his aunt), he gaped at the other, dumbfounded.

Could his brother read minds?

"Nuh uh! I wasn't thinking about him at all! Just, uh, other stuff!"

Uncle Sam looked up again.

"Ivan? I don't recall ever hearing you mention him… He's a friend of yours?"

Alfred frowned and hissed at no one in particular.

"He, my friend? Don't make me laugh! He's just some weirdo, that's all."

Matthew mumbled something, just loud enough for his twin to hear.

"A weirdo you've been spending a lot of time with lately…"

Alfred shot the boy an angry glare.

"I already told you, Matthew. He's just helping me with my homework."

Lady Liberty perked up at hearing him say that.

"Someone's actually helping you with your homework? Oh dear boy, that's simply wonderful! Maybe now you'll finally be able to pick up your grades! Tell me, what's he like?"

Alfred mentally cursed himself. He hadn't wanted to think about Ivan at all, let alone talk about him.

"Yeah Al, tell us," his brother insisted, reddish mauve eyes deceivingly innocent.

Alfred sighed when he saw three pairs of eyes staring at him expectantly.

"Well… For starters, he's a demon."

"A demon? Not another one like that Bonnefoy kid, right?" his uncle asked in alarm.

Sam Jones wasn't exactly happy with his adopted sons being friends with an incubus.

"No, no! This one, he… Controls ice. And stuff."

Lady Liberty looked thoughtful.

"A demon who uses ice… You said his name was Ivan? …I think I've heard Akantha(1) mention him once… Yes, I remember now. Ivan Braginsky, correct?"

Alfred nodded.

"I thought so. Akantha did have some good things to say about him. Apparently he's a very diligent history student."

She smiled at her boy and ruffled his hair.

"It's good that he's helping you with your homework, Al. I'm happy for you."

Alfred was getting a little embarrassed under all the attention. It wasn't that much of an achievement to make new friends…

And he wasn't even friends with Ivan, dammit! After what happened over the weekend, they probably weren't even 'slave and slave-master' anymore.

He spazzed a little when he felt a nudge against his elbow. Matthew stared at him with big, sad eyes.

"I already told you this Al, but you know you can tell me everything. Right?"

Alfred smiled.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry 'bout Ivan, bro. We're really not friends, he's just helping me with some stuff."

Of course that stuff wasn't homework, but he wasn't lying if he said it like that.

Kumajiro suddenly set his paws on the table.

"Why is being friends bad?"

Alfred snorted.

"Because he's weird, duh! Always so smug about himself, thinks he owns the school and that everyone should listen to him and do as he says… He's just so annoying!"

Matthew swallowed a giggle.

"You know Al? That actually sounds a lot like you before the ritual became such a big deal."

Alfred paused.

He and Ivan were alike?

…

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. No way. There was nothing he and the commie had in common.

Nope.

xoxox

Ivan didn't show up that day. Alfred was incredibly relieved over that fact. Not only was he not in jail, he also had some time off from the creepy demon. Finally.

So of course, the first thing he did with his regained freedom, was go tease Arthur.

"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggggggggggggyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" he shouted at the top of his longs, joyfully leaping into the arms of one of his best friends.

Only to send the two of them tumbling to the ground.

"Alfred, you git! Get off of me!" the Brit cursed, squirming underneath him.

Alfred laughed obnoxiously as Gilbert came to the rescue and lifted him up.

"Now don't go crushing my new guitarist!" the wolf snickered.

Alfred's eyes went wide.

"Guitarist? Your? Iggy, are you two in a band?!"

After the werewolf helped Arthur up as well, the mage turned his outrageous eyebrows towards the sunny blond. His scowling was underlined with a smirk.

"Correction: we are going to be in a band. Auditions are next weekend."

Alfred smacked him harshly on the back.

"I always told you that you had to do something with that guitar of yours! You rock! So it's just you and Gil?"

The werewolf placed an arm around his shoulders.

"Tonio said he would probably join too, but only if his parents allowed it. Man, for a bogeyman he really is a sissy!"

Alfred gave him a high-five.

"Having him would be nice though," Arthur mused. "If he can get Lovino and Feliciano to attend the repetitions, then we'll certainly write great numbers…"

Alfred snapped his fingers.

"Now that you mention it! Feliciano says he's willing to give me inspiration, so maybe if I ask him to do it for you instead, he'll say yes!"

Gilbert howled approvingly.

"That would be awesome! You do that, Spatz!" Suddenly his grin went even wider. "Oh yeah, that reminds me!"

He whistled loudly while wagging his tail. Arthur and Alfred both looked up when a tiny yellow bird came flying straight at the albino.

"Gilbird!" Arthur laughed.

"What's a Gilbird?" the vampire asked, watching as the animal landed on Gilbert's shoulder.

"Right, you don't know yet! Alfred, this is my new magical pet! Say hello Gilbird!"

The chick chirped.

Alfred carefully patted it on the head.

"So you have a pet now? Cool!"

"You mean awesome!"

"Guys…" a soft voice said.

"But why name it Gilbird? Being a bit egocentric again?" Alfred snickered.

Gilbert gave him a playful pinch.

"Not egocentric, awesome! There's a difference you know!"

"Hey, guys…"

Arthur suddenly hushed them.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, eyes narrowed in apprehension.

They all glanced around.

"No, I don't- Ah!"

"What 'ah'?"

"There are two Alfreds!"

"Ah! You're right!"

"GUYS!"

Werewolf, vampire and mage nearly fell to the ground when Alfred's doppelganger raised his voice.

Gilbert blinked, and then grinned.

"Oh, it's you Birdie! Sorry for not recognizing you-"

"Now's not the time Gil!" Matthew said. "We're supposed to be in class right now! The bell rang like three minutes ago!"

The boys looked at each other, and then raced away as fast as possible.

Matthew sighed.

"We're not that much alike… Are we, Kumakoki?"

"Who?"

"Matthew…"

xoxox

Alfred was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. There were planets and stars painted on the surface, showing his love for space, as well as a self-drawn alien he'd given the name Tony. The walls were red, white and blue, the American flag pinned to one of them and posters of superheroes and McDonald's on the other three. He had a goldfish in a round bowl on his desk, which he often referred to as his whale. The current fish was Mr. Whale the 23rd. …He wasn't such a good pet owner.

Ivan hadn't showed up for the entire week. Not that he'd been paying attention to that. He was happy if anything! Finally no more feeling cold, no obnoxious giggling, no touching, …

He'd just gone back to is normal life. Which frankly meant back to Francis trying to grope him, back to daily reminders of the ritual, and back to mean whispers in the dark and graffiti on his locker. It was as if, as long as he was with Ivan, nobody dared even look his way.

But he wasn't planning on making use of that. The hero can take care of himself.

Alfred looked at his backpack and groaned. Should he make his history homework, or just keep lying here? Option one involved not getting scolded at, but since he was a failure anyway, option two was a lot more tempting.

Option two it was.

Just as Alfred closed his eyes with a content sigh, his phone went off. The teen grumbled as he rolled over and reached for the damned thing.

"Hello?" he said, as soon as he'd taken the call.

"Yo loser! The Awesome Me is inviting you to go to that new film, The Scalding! Wanna come? Artie, Kiku, Tonio and Francy-pants are going to be there as well."

Alfred grinned.

"The movies? Yeah sure, I'll come!"

And that was why one hour later, the vampire was sitting in a comfy chair, bag of popcorn in hand, waiting for the movie to begin. Gilbert and his so-called 'Bad Touch Trio' were chatting away excitedly, and Kiku and Arthur had gone off to make a quick stop by the bathroom before the film started screening.

Alfred was checking his smartphone, re-reading his last blog entry.

Life sucks

And no, that's not a pun or a metaphor for anything. Think about it. One day we're born, and from that day on we're already working towards our death. Pretty grim thoughts coming from my mouth, you say? Well it's the truth.

I'm going to die. Every single day again that thought keeps spinning through my head. Yet somehow, it doesn't scare me. Probably because my brain doesn't want to accept it, or maybe it's just unable to make any sense of that thought. Maybe it thinks I can still stop it from happening.

Well, let's hope my brain is right on this one. It is the brain of a hero, so that has to count for something right?

Sorry for the downer, folks. But it's not like anyone reads these anyway.

So, yeah.

Signing off.

-American Vamp-

It was true. No matter how much the thought of dying should scare him, it just didn't. Maybe it would once the ritual was around the corner, but now?

The sunny blond glanced down when his phone vibrated in his hand.

Silver had replied again.

Macabre

When did you get so philosophical, 'AV'? Your other entries usually consist of you whining and saying you hate others. Is this topic not too difficult for you? Please, enlighten me.

-Silver-

Alfred scoffed at the screen and immediately wrote a reply.

Mind your own business

What's it to you, huh? I can bitch all I want, this is the worldwide web bud!

-American Vamp-

The moment he posted that, he already started regretting it. The only reason he'd snapped at the other was because people had been calling him an idiot all week long, and he was starting to get sick of it.

Silver replied almost instantly.

Just a question

I am sorry if I have somehow offended you, that is not what I wanted. I really would like to know why you are thinking about death that much. Is there some event that triggered this?

-Silver-

Again

I repeat my previous statement: what's it to you?

-American Vamp-

Reason

I read a book about death once. It talked about subjects like 'Why are we here,' 'What is the purpose of life,' 'What happens after we die,' … Rather fascinating. Yet completely illogical.

Why should we have a purpose to exist? And even if we do, how are we to know this purpose? What happens if you fulfil it? Would you just instantly vanish? And what happens to those who do not have a purpose?

…I do not want to die. Not that I can so easily, for that matter. You talk about death like it is no big deal. But it is.

So one last time, I ask you.

Please, enlighten me.

-Silver-

No words

…Wow, I think I found someone who's in even deeper shit than I am. Sorry to hear that buddy.

And about that thing you keep asking me. I guess I don't really care because I've either given up, or I think I'm in a dream and I'll wake up any second now.

Life was so much easier three years ago. Back when I wasn't alone. Back when people thought I was the cool kid, when everyone came to my parties and wanted to hang out with me. Ever since they stopped liking me, I guess I just stopped caring.

I have no idea why I'm telling you this. You probably don't even really wanna know. Maybe you just have nothing better to do than listen to some stranger complaining. I dunno.

But you sound like a nice guy, if you look past the insults. Or girl, you never know.

So thanks, I guess. For listening.

-American Vamp-

You're welcome

Thank you for sharing. And do not worry, I am a guy. ;) If you ever want to talk again, just send me a message. I am always free.

And you are not alone.

-Silver-

"Hey Alfred, put that thing away! The movie's about to start!"

While he did so, the vampire felt oddly lighter than he'd felt in a long while.

xoxox

Reviews are as always very much appreciated!

Tip of the day
Song: Can't take my eyes off you - Boys Town Gang
Story: Dear Diary - ai08 (Read the diary of Alfred, a college student who is definitely not attracted to his Russian stalker.)

1) Akantha is the personification of Ancient Greece, and the history teacher in this story.

Words:

Rood: Red (Dutch)
Moshi moshi: Hi (when answering the phone)
Gomenasai: I'm sorry
Spatz: Sparrow