Author's Note: And here we are: the chapter where Tyson and David reveal how they became vampires and why they ended up on the run. It might also be the longest chapter; there is considerable ground to cover. This is going to be a flashback, so I'll be using italics for the whole thing except when Tyson is reading someone's thoughts or when he and David are using sign language. The SL dialogue will be identified by double colons.

Rated M for violence, strong violence, adult themes, and M/M love scenes

Disclaimer: The Twilight books and characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing except my OC's.

Elements

Chapter 10: Long Story, Part 3 – The Burning Time

Tyson groaned and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, barely able to keep his balance. His head was throbbing and felt like it was about to explode. He felt the urge to vomit but managed to choke it back.

When the headache faded to a dull roar, he lifted his head and looked around. The room was brightly lit – which only added to his pain – and done all in white. There were a pair of what looked like hospital gurneys on one wall and several glass-fronted storage cabinets on another. Several rows of large drawers took up the wall opposite the gurneys. From the looks of the place, Tyson guessed that he was in a morgue.

A small rustling noise behind him alerted him to another presence in the room. He spun on his knees and nearly threw up from the suddenness of the move. He raised his fists, ready to fight. But instead of an attacker, he found David rolling onto his back and squeezing his eyes shut against the brightness of the light.

"Cheri," he said and scrambled over to the other boy. He laid a hand on David's cheek, caressing the light tan skin. The pain etched into David's fine-boned features slowly dissipated and he opened his eyes. Relief flooded through Tyson's body as the grey orbs focused on him and lit up with recognition. He helped him sit up and held him steady while he regained control of his gag reflex.

When he was awake enough to look around, David turned to Tyson and signed, ::Where are we?::

::I don't know,:: Tyson signed back. He looked around again. ::The closest I can figure is that we're in a morgue.::

David's eyes widened and he pointed behind Tyson. The bigger boy turned around and saw that they had company.

A man and a woman stood roughly twenty feet away, well out of Tyson's reach. They were quite the couple. The man was maybe six feet tall and muscled like a quarterback, the light glinting off his platinum-blond hair. The woman was a couple of inches shorter, although her true height was masked by the presence of four-inch stiletto-heeled boots. She had brunette hair and a cruel smirk on her face.

They were both white as a sheet and their skin glittered under the harsh fluorescent lights. The most startling feature they had in common was that their eyes were red. That alone was enough to tell Tyson that they were far beyond normal. He positioned himself in front of David and lifted his fists, ready to fight even if he wasn't in the best of shape at the moment.

"Oh, isn't that adorable?" the woman said in a somewhat high-pitched voice. "He thinks he can fight us." She smiled and Tyson was reminded of one Discovery Channel special about great white sharks.

"It's only natural, my dear," the man said, taking a couple of steps toward the boys. "Human nature being what it is, I would expect nothing less. Rising up and willing to take on any opponent, all in the defense of his mate." He grinned, showing unnaturally white teeth. "I would expect nothing less from a soldier."

Tyson glared at him, narrowing his sapphire-blue eyes. "And what makes you think I'd fight for you?"

"Because I don't plan on giving you a choice," the man replied. He darted forward, faster than Tyson could follow, and jabbed a steel needle into his chest. A few milliseconds later, he'd done the same thing to David.

How's he move so fast? Tyson thought. He didn't get a chance to consider the question because his mind was suddenly consumed by blinding pain.

The burning started in his heart and spread everywhere, a horrific sensation that made him feel like he was on fire. How he kept from screaming, he didn't know, but he got the impression that it wouldn't have helped. This must be what it feels like to be burned alive, he thought. He managed to look at David and saw that his lover was feeling the exact same thing. The smaller boy was screaming, even though no sound was coming from his mouth.

Tyson fought through the pain to move to David's side, pulling him up and hugging him tight. They wrapped their arms around each other and shut their eyes, trying their best to block out the pain and failing miserably. He could feel David's face pressing into his neck, the lithe body shuddering as the pain continued on its way.

"Impressive," the man said. "They're in unendurable agony and yet they're not screaming for death. They will make excellent additions to our coven once they're properly trained."

"It's pathetic how they're holding on to each other, and unnatural," the woman said. "I'll separate them."

"No," the man said. "Let them cling to each other, if it brings them some comfort. Besides, Bon-Bon, you must learn some tolerance. Times have changed since you were turned. Such relationships are no longer considered taboo, and even if they are..." He paused for a moment, thinking it over, and then went on. "We will leave them together. If we keep them both alive, we'll have excellent leverage." He looked at the two boys huddled together. "Love may make the world go round, but it also makes for a useful bit of extortion." He turned and started for the door. "Come. Let's leave them to it."

Bon-Bon scowled at the boys for a moment, then turned and followed the man out. Tyson and David were left alone to burn.

/ \\\\

It seemed to take forever, but the pain finally subsided and they were finally able to relax a bit. Tyson felt strange; his nose was twitching from an overload of olfactory stimuli, as if it had grown sharper while they were burning. He opened his eyes and gasped.

Everything stood out, absolutely everything. He could see the pock marks in the ceiling and walls; they'd looked so smooth before. And the floor...he could make out the subtle swirls and deformities in the otherwise mirror-perfect finish. He went completely still and was a little unnerved by how quick and natural it felt.

David lifted his head, keeping his eyes closed. Tyson's own eyes widened as he took in the changes in his lover.

David had been beautiful before, but now he was breathtaking. His skin had been tan, the result of eighteen summers' worth of sun. He'd been a lovely shade of brown all over, with no tan lines anywhere. That tan was gone now, replaced by white marble.

The biggest shock came when David opened his eyes. Tyson gasped as he took in the unthinkable sight: where they'd been grey before, now they were the same blazing red as the man's eyes. But Tyson's own reactions were placed on the back burner when David was able to focus on him.

The smaller boy gasped and pushed against Tyson's chest like he was trying to get away. Tyson tightened his grip a little and David winced as if he was in pain. He redoubled his efforts and Tyson let go to keep him from hurting himself.

David's efforts were more strenuous than they'd realized. He pushed himself away harder than he intended and propelled himself into the wall between the gurneys. The impact left a human-sized crater with zigzagging cracks nearly a foot long spiderwebbing out from the perimeter. He sat up, made a pained face, and set about examining himself for any injuries.

Tyson stared in shock. It didn't look as if David had suffered the slightest injury from hitting the wall. If anything, he'd been knocked back to his senses by the impact. Mon Dieu...what did that bastard DO to us?

David finished his self-inspection, seeming much calmer now. He looked up at Tyson and tilted his head a bit. The expression on his face was a perfect match for the one that Tyson felt on his own. Shock and denial, with just a dash of wonder and insanity... Yeah, "insane" was the perfect word for their current situation. Which made the next occurrence the second-to-last straw.

What happened? Your beautiful skin...and your eyes. Good God, they're not blue anymore... David crawled over and knelt in front of Tyson. He touched his fingertips to the bigger boy's face and slowly drew them along Tyson's jawline. The sensation was strange and familiar at the same time; it wasn't the same. Instead it felt as if Tyson could feel every ridge of David's fingerprints rasping along his skin. Tyson grabbed David's wrists and held his hands still, mouth open in shock. It was maybe a minute before he realized that he'd stopped breathing.

"Did you just talk?" he asked. David shook his head.

"Then how..." Tyson stopped and pursed his lips as an absurd possibility occurred to him. "Think of that one New Year's Eve. The most important details."

David frowned as if Tyson had lost his mind, but he complied. Okay. Now what...Ah! The feel of your lips on mine, the taste of your tongue. Your arms around me, pulling me closer...you're kissing me as if you'll never get another shot at it...I wonder what it would feel like now...

"All right, you can stop now," Tyson said. He was breathing a little fast, but that was to be expected. He hadn't just heard David's thoughts; he'd also gotten the feelings and sensations associated with the memory. Good God, I can read minds, he thought.

Any further contemplation was put on hold when the man and Bon-Bon entered. They each were dragging a teenage girl by one arm. They dumped the girls in front of the cabinets and the man squatted down a few feet away from the boys. Tyson kept his eyes locked on him while David stayed zeroed in on Bon-Bon.

"Well, well," the man said. "You're finished baking. How do you feel?"

"What the FUCK did you do to us?" Tyson snapped.

The man threw his back and laughed. "That's all the answer I need," he said. "My name is Rex, and I've just given you and your mate a great gift. I've made you into vampires."

Tyson narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. A growl started low in his chest and he tensed as if ready to pounce. "You expect us to believe that pile of horse shit?" he asked in a dangerous tone. Although there wasn't enough evidence to support Rex's claim, too many strange things were happening to discount it completely. "Vampires don't have red eyes!"

Rex smiled, flashing his teeth. "Forget everything you think you know. Most of those stories are just myths. Crosses, holy water, garlic...total bunk, as is needing an invitation to enter anyone's home. On another note, it's not unheard of for vampires to get dismembered from time to time. Vampires who lose body parts can reconnect them as long as they're not lost or burned. As for sunlight, it can't hurt us, but it does make us resemble disco balls with arms and legs. Which is why it's not a good idea for us to wander around during the day. It would attract too much attention, you understand." He spread his hands palms out as if to say "And there you have it."

"Of course," Tyson said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I figured you wouldn't believe me, so I brought a little visual aid." Rex pulled a portable sunlamp from one of the cabinets, aimed it at his face, and switched it on.

The effect was rather spectacular. The light hit his skin and shattered into countless rainbow-colored shards, splashing across every surface it could reach. Tyson and David stared at this display for a few seconds before Rex shut off the lamp and tossed it aside.

"That was a full-spectrum sunlamp," he said, "capable of generating light virtually indistinguishable from natural sunlight. And you can see for yourselves that I'm not burning or melting, nor is my eyesight affected in any way. Vulnerability to the sun is one of the many myths forced on us by the Volturi in the last few centuries."

Tyson frowned, wondering who these "Volturi" were, but decided not to pursue the question. He'd already gotten the answers from Rex's thoughts and none of them were pleasant. "And I'm guessing you're about to explain their so-called 'laws'," he said.

"Well, there's really only one law and it's pretty easy to remember: Keep the existence of vampires a secret. If a vampire were stupid enough to reveal himself to anyone, he'd be responsible for containing the leak. Failure to do so might result in the Volturi stepping in and that would not be a good thing for anyone." Rex stood and grabbed one of the unconscious girls and dragged her over in front of Tyson. "Although," Rex went on, "if a human found out and kept his trap shut, there's a good chance that they'd never find out. The Volturi aren't really all that vigilant. They only take care of large-scale security risks that threaten to expose us all."

"You don't have a very high opinion of them, do you?" Tyson asked.

"No, but I do respect their power. Power is one thing that all vampires crave and the Volturi have it in spades. I went to their home city about seventy years ago, hoping to join them. I have the ability to assess physical and psychic potential and I thought that they'd find this useful. Unfortunately they already had a vampire with that skill and I was politely rejected. So I decided to prove myself. I figured that if I delivered enough vampires with unusual talents, they might finally accept me. I've had several successes over the years, but none of them could get me what I wanted." Rex looked at the rows of drawers and frowned. Tyson guessed that he was frustrated by his inability to fulfill his ambition.

Rex turned back to the boys and continued. "And then I stumbled across the two of you. Just catching sight of you for two seconds was enough to tell me that you would be more powerful than all those others combined. Your strength coupled with the savant's technical skills... Not even the Volturi would be able to stand against you. Such POWER..."

Tyson grimaced at the raw avarice on Rex's face and in his voice. It was enough to make him nauseous. "We don't want to fight anyone. We just want to go home."

"But you can't go home," Rex said. "And you can't ever see your family again. If you did go back, you'd drain them dry without a second thought. Speaking of which..." He nudged the girl with one foot. "Drink up. You're going to need it."

Tyson and David looked up at him, identical horrified expressions on their faces. "We're not going to kill them," Tyson said. "I don't care if we are vampires. We're not killers!"

"That will change soon enough," Bon-Bon said, speaking for the first time since she'd come in. "Now just eat your Happy Meals like good little boys and then we can start your training." She favored them with a cruel smile that only served to piss them off.

"Come now," Rex said. "You must be thirsty. Such incredible dryness in your throats, just begging to be quenched... You do know what vampires eat, right?"

Tyson hadn't noticed the burning in his throat until Rex had brought his attention to it. Now that he was conscious of it, it felt like someone had taken a blowtorch to his esophagus. He didn't need his newfound telepathy to know that David was feeling it too. They both pushed it aside and returned their focus to the problem in front of them.

"Yes," Tyson said, "but there must be other ways to satisfy the thirst. You may have turned us into predators, but we won't become murderers."

"The only alternative is animal blood. It works just as well as the human kind, but I wouldn't recommend it." Rex pushed the girl closer. "Now drink. I'm not going to say it again."

"Good. Then we won't have to refuse again." Tyson could feel the burning and he knew that the girl's blood would soothe it. But his parents had raised him and David to revere human life and they wouldn't turn their backs on that lesson now.

He felt rage rising inside him. Ordinarily, he would've held it back; given his size and strength, it would not have been a good thing if he released it whenever the mood struck. But now...he just wanted to kick Rex and Bon-Bon's asses all the way to New Orleans. There was just one question he needed answered first.

"Why us? Why'd you choose us?"

"I already told you: because you have such potential. All we needed was the right bait to get you here. A Halloween rave, the perfect lure for hormone-crazed teenagers. But you were the only ones who got the message." Rex grinned, obviously congratulating himself on his cleverness.

And THAT was the last straw. Tyson let loose a roar that shook the walls and pushed his rage at the two vampires in front of him. They slammed back into the wall without him having gotten anywhere near them and were pinned like bugs in a trophy case. So I'm telekinetic too, Tyson thought. How convenient.

"Cheri," Tyson said, "see if there's anything we can use to kill these two." David immediately started rummaging through the cabinets, looking for anything useful.

"Wait!" Rex shouted. "I thought you didn't want to become a killer!"

"That only applies to humans," Tyson replied. The tone in his voice was enough to freeze anyone's heart, even that of a vampire. "As for any vampires who piss us off, we'll do to them what we're about to do to you. Discretely, of course. After all, we wouldn't want to attract any undue attention." He sneered as he said the last part, injecting some of Rex's callousness into the words.

David had just finished piling up all the wood he could find: chairs, a couple of tables, several mops and brooms. It added up to a good-sized mound; Tyson knew it would suit their needs perfectly.

David moved the two sleeping girls to a safe distance from the pile; then he doused the broken wood with formaldehyde and set it ablaze with a lighter he'd found hidden in one of the cabinets. The resulting flames reached nearly to the ceiling.

Tyson pulled Bon-Bon to him, holding her off the ground with his brand-new telekinesis. There was fear in her eyes, but she was defiant to the last. Even as Tyson and David tore off her arms and then her legs, she shrieked curses and obscenities at them. The tirade ended only when Tyson threw her head into the fire.

They were about to repeat the performance with Rex when they heard a creaking sound from above. They looked up and saw that the ceiling had caught fire and was close to collapsing. Tyson looked at David, then at the girls. They had to get the humans out of here or they would die.

David nodded as if he'd read Tyson's mind and looked at the wall with his crater in it. He narrowed his eyes and concentrated, pushing hard with his mind and sending chunks of concrete a good forty feet from the building. He picked up one girl and motioned for Tyson to get the other. He dashed out into the night, confident that the bigger boy would follow.

Tyson picked up the second girl and turned to go. Just as he was to jump through the hole, Rex screamed, "I WILL FIND YOU! NO MATTER HOW FAR YOU RUN OR HOW LONG IT TAKES, I'LL FIND YOU AND RIP YOUR FUCKING HEARTS OUT!"

Tyson just looked at him with pity in his eyes, then turned and followed David into the warm November night.

Author's Note: And that's the end of the Long Story. It was something of a rush job; there's bound to be some mistakes I missed. I hope you enjoyed it and per usual, please read and review. Thank you! :D

Author's Note #2: The foursome will be coming up in the next few chapters. It won't be in the next chapter, but it will happen soon. Thank you for your patience. :)