Tainted Love
Part One- Malicious Intent
Author's Note: Damn. It did load. That part didn't know up on my screen...grrr..
Chapter 5
"What are we supposed to do about him!?" "How am I supp'sed ta know?" "Since when did I become a halfway house for the living and the dead!?" "Undead." "Shut up Anthony!" Cat could hear the angry voices from far away, but she didn't want them to come any closer. Her neck was throbbing, her wrist was throbbing, she felt like she had been through the mill several times, and only had vague memories of cyan colored eyes and someone kissing her neck and then.and then.
She moaned, rolling over, unaware of the person watching her. He sat in an armchair, next to her bed, his eyes never leaving her weak form. He had a mug in his hand, and slowly brought to his lips, savoring the smooth taste of blood, her blood actually. He knew that he shouldn't have done that, taken enough blood to fill the mug halfway, but he couldn't help it. Necromancer blood, now that's a treat. Racetrack and Spot had done well this time.
Cat opened her eyes, and she knew that she wasn't in her room. She stared up at the dream catcher above the bed, dangling purple and blue feathers. Curling up in the dark blue satin sheets, she breathed in a familiar smell.the smell of Gee.
So she was in Gee's room, interesting. Rolling over, she came face to face with a person she didn't really know. His eyes were light greenish brown, as luminous as a feline seeing in the dark. She had a feeling that he was one of them otherworldly vampire people. His hair was light brown and a little wavy, curling a little at the base of his neck. He had a feeling of being old, but she could bet her immortal soul that this was just how vampire's felt.
"You're afraid." He spoke, his voice cutting through the darkness like a knife. Cat sat up, suddenly wishing she hadn't; the pain in her neck felt the need to remind her that it was there.
"No I'm not," she replied, not the least bit defensive. Cat was more.matter of fact. The boy smiled, showing a little bit of fang, and Cat couldn't help but chuckle.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked. His voice was free of an accent; time had done that to him. He expressed no emotion now; he felt no need to.
"Showing fangs, what a vampire thing to do," she remarked. "I've known about you guys for a week, and already I'm picking up those little things you do that just scream vamp." He arched an eyebrow at her, before filling the room with his laughter.
It was almost tangible; Cat couldn't help but reach up, her fingers slightly bent, in hopes of touching that silky laughter. No normal human being could laugh like that, and the icy wind of fear touched her heart, he wasn't human. It sent a shiver down her spine as her eyes followed the mug in his hand as it went to his lips again.
What was in the mug?!
Racetrack watched Gee pace angrily around the room, running her fingers through her strange, dark blue streaked hair. Sometimes he believed it was actually natural.
She whirled on him, anger sparkling in her pale blue eyes.
"Well, you get right back on that phone and tell him that we don't care what happens to Jack's little pet!" The only thing Racetrack could do was nod, it was the day after the full moon, and he knew that her blood was still heated from the night before. He was lucky to be invited in, and he couldn't help but laugh as his eyes drifted over to Spot.
He stood in the hallway, leaning against what looked like thin air, but it was really the barrier that kept most uninvited vampires out. Gee took great pleasure in watching him attempt to get in, but fail. Spot watched her with angry eyes, trying to catch her gaze. So what if his downfall was pride? He was so sure that a werewolf would still be bound by his gaze, but as she walked passed him, their eyes locked and she had no reaction.
"Anthony, you're not on the phone yet!" Racetrack flinched at the use of his real name, but he let it slide. Gee stopped in front of Spot, hatred burning in her eyes. Spot looked unaffected.
"Spot, don't mess wit her, alright?" Racetrack said, dialing the phone and turning away from them, intent on his conversation.
Gee met his gaze with no problem, and a sleepy, appraising grin came to Spot's lips.
"You know, you're prettier than I thought originally," he said. Gee raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really?" She asked. He nodded.
"Now if you just let me in.we'll."
Gee slammed the door in his face.
"Dammit!" Spot cried, pounding his fist against the door. Gee snickered to herself and turned to Racetrack, who gingerly put the phone down as angrily as possible.
"Well?"
"Nuttin," he replied. "Line's busy." They both exchanged looks.
"Busy?"
"Vampires gotta life too y'know," Racetrack said, a little huffy. Gee plunked down in a chair next to him, it was interesting, she didn't like vampires, hated them! Yet here she was, one knocking on her door outside.
"How do we deal with it, Anthony?" She asked. "I mean, I wanted to become a vampire hunter, I was all ready to go out and stuff like that, but here I am, Patrick Conlon wanting to get in outside, an another vampire actually in my house.." She glanced around. "Where's Jack?"
Racetrack felt a little bad about keeping the fact that he was a vampire from Gee, but she trusted him, and he liked that, so to her, he was just Jack's blood slave. That explained the fact that he smelt like a vampire, all blood slaves had that strange, Vampiric smell about them. Jack and Spot of course knew about Racetrack's little secret, but Jack couldn't care less, and Spot was just adding that to the list of deep, dark, secrets he could ruin his sire's life with.
"How am I sup'osed ta know?" He replied, trying not to let the bitterness seep into his voice. Blood slaves were supposed to like their masters apparently.
"Last time I checked, he went to check on Cat, but I mean...she was sleeping, how interesting could that be?"
Racetrack was already on his feet, heading for Gee's bedroom. Watching someone sleep was very interesting to vampires, too interesting. Jack had dulled himself throughout the years, and human suffering no longer made him suffer himself. He was almost like Spot, except for after Spot slaughtered someone; he would still shed a few tears for his lost humanity. Racetrack himself hoped that his own humanity was still intact.
"You know, in all my years, I never came across a Necromancer as powerful as you," Jack observed, looking at her appraisingly. Cat shrugged, her eyes searching the nightstand next to her. She would have used the powers she could feel bubbling beneath the surface of her skin, but the more she thought of it, the less she believed she could use it again.
"Now you've seen everything," Cat muttered. Wasn't there a cross around here? Gee seemed very anti-vampire, or at least she thought Gee was, obviously not, considering the fact that a random vampire was lounging in Gee's room.
"No, I haven't," he replied.
"'Scuse me, am I interruptin' somethin'?" A semi-familiar person poked his head into the room, and Cat immediately went out to feel him, see if he was a vampire. The boy looked at her and she was immediately met with a staticy feeling in where the sense of his aura should be. Maybe he was a psychic, like Switch and Ash were.
The vampire gave the boy a cold look. "Not at all, Racetrack, Cataluna here was just waking up."
Cat let the use of her full name slide, messing with a vampire at the moment wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. She looked at the semi- familiar boy, Racetrack it was, and smiled as though he were he savior.
"Yeah, I'm up.and hungry actually," she told him. He smiled at her, his warm brown eyes lighting up. Cat decided that she liked this boy, this Racetrack, he was pretty cute, with dark hair and those chocolate colored eyes, he also seemed the most normal person here, so far.
"I'll get Gee ta make ya somethin' or.somethin'," he said, his grin never faltering. Cat couldn't help but smile at him, what could she say? His grin was infectious.
"Take your friend with you," Cat said, jerking her thumb in the vampire's direction, Racetrack met the vampire's eyes.
"Let's go, Jack, let tha goil get dressed in private." Jack's eyes swept over Cat, who blushed, suddenly realizing she was dressed only in a white dress shirt with gray pinstripes and nothing else. She drew the dark blue satin sheets around her, her face burning with embarrassment.
Jack smirked, and got up, leaving the room with Racetrack.
Spot leaned against the door now, pouting that he was the only vampire not allowed inside. What was so wrong with him? Jack was just as homicidal, maybe more so! But Jack didn't kill Gee's friends, so it was all Spot's fault. He didn't get those humans, or werewolves.or whatever.
Why didn't he just leave? Oh yeah, because that Gee girl was kind of cute, so was that Necromancer. There was also that little business about Jack's blood slave, Spot couldn't remember his name, which he was apparently supposed to help out with.
But how could he help if he wasn't even allowed in the official unofficial base of operations!?
Lestat wouldn't be stuck out here like this, Spot thought bitterly. Oh no, he wouldn't even give these pathetic excuses for vampires the time of day! Or night as it were.
He slid into a sort of crouching sitting position, still against the door. Maybe Racetrack was right, he was getting too into Anne Rice books. He wasn't Lestat! He could walk in daylight, even though it kind of drained on him, Anne Rice's vampires were stuck indoors when the sun rose.
Still, Spot loved those books; he wanted to be in them. They made him feel like he had a purpose in all this, which was more than he ever got from his pathetic excuse for a sire, more a Louis than anything else. The whole vampire glorification theme of those books made him feel privileged, chosen even, it made him feel special.
He banged his head lightly against the door, hopefully Gee would get annoyed and let him in. No one could really resist his adorable charms for long.
Cat pulled the black spaghetti strapped shirt over her head, looking into the mirror. With the dark gray pants with black pinstripes, she almost looked human. Although she wasn't really.right? She felt a little weird; someone had gone into her house and got some of her clothes. They knew where she lived?
She ran Gee's brush through her short dark hair and looked in the mirror. A vampire bite on her neck looked back. Cat bit her lip, holding up her hand to see the other one on her wrist. The one on her wrist was a little more recent, which made her wonder if the contents in Jack's mug were hers.
Picking up the white dress shirt, she slipped it on, it might not have matched perfectly, but she didn't care. She felt drawn to it, like it was a comforting teddy bear or something. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, she looked like hell. Her violet black eyes were surrounded by flesh almost the exact same color, and she was disgustingly pale. Cat's head swam, how much blood did she lose?
She practically stumbled into the kitchen, walking in halfway through a conversation that halted as soon as she managed to get into the room. Gee looked at her as though she was a pathetic flood victim, Jack just looked bored. Racetrack was on the phone, cursing to himself as he turned it off and set it back down. He smiled when he saw her, and she smiled back.
"How are you feeling?" Gee asked gently.
"Augh."
"Just what I thought." She got up and took Cat's arm, gently leading her to a seat. Cat was distinctly aware of a light pounding noise coming from the door.
"Someone wants to be let in," she said. Gee rolled her eyes.
"It's just Patrick," Gee replied dismissively. Cat shot a confused look to Racetrack.
"Patrick's one-a the more dang'rous vamps in town," he explained. "He was the one that did Ash an' Switch in. The rest-a us normal people jus' call him Spot."
Gee gave him an annoyed look and addressed Cat. "He's the one who attacked you last night."
"You were tasty." Jack mumbled under his breath, Racetrack shot him a look.
"Anyways," he said, changing the subject. "What're we gunna do 'bout David? Don't he have Mush?" Gee handed Cat a cup of strong coffee and a plate of cherry pop-tarts and sat back down.
"I suppose," Jack said nonchalantly, apparently Mush was his blood slave, but he didn't seem to care. Cat took a sip of the coffee and coughed, her eyes going wide. Everyone glanced at her, and she blushed.
"Strong coffee," was all she could say. Gee pushed a bowl of sugar and a little pitcher of cream towards her.
"He ain't answerin' his phone, don't get me started on how I don't get how vamps even carry phones," Racetrack remarked. "I guess we're jus' gunna have to meet him, that's how ya really talk ta vamps these days."
"Showdown," Cat replied. Everyone shot her a look again.
"We're going to have to bring a gift though, you know how psycho David is," Jack said. Gee shrugged.
"Handle everything Jack," she said. Usually she would never, ever tell a vampire to handle everything, but Jack seemed trustworthy.
"First, you gotta let Spot in before he goes crazy and eats your neighbors." A storm passed through Gee's eyes before she slowly got up, heading for the door. A sharp pain in her neck reminded Cat about what this boy could do.
"Fine, Patrick, you can-"Gee went quiet.
"Whass wrong?" Racetrack asked. The blue stripe haired girl turned back to the three sitting at the table.
"He's gone." Cat rolled her eyes.
"Perfect."
Watching, always watching. They were so interesting, these people, he couldn't help but smile as he watched them pass through life, not stuck there, like he was. Sure, there were some stuck there like he was, but they were happier, they were still able to pretend like they were living.
He felt so old, but that was because he was old. He was also lonely; there was no one to help him. Maybe he wanted a mother, since his mother was taken from him when that terrible wonderful horrible liquid was held to his lips.
Clack click clack, his ancient wooden sword tapped lazily on the ground, as he watched the people go by. A girl of about seventeen saw him, compassion blooming in her jade green eyes immediately. He laughed to himself; she must be new to the city.
She made her way over to him, bending to his level. "What's wrong little guy?" she asked, smiling broadly. "Are you lost? How old are you?"
Les doubled over, coughs wracking his little body as though it would split him apart at the seams. He was near eleven, but as he looked up at her, he gave a pathetic little smile. It wasn't hard, he was quite pathetic.
"Seven," he told her. She held out her hand to him. Les found that he liked the way the sunlight filtered through her curly auburn hair, so bright it hurt his eyes. .
"Don't worry," she said softly, assuring. "I'll help you find your mother." He made a show of hesitating before he took her hand.
Oh, don't you worry my dear, he thought to himself as she led him gingerly through the crowd. You've helped me find one already.
Dun dun dun..to be continued! We're officially halfway done with Part One! Yay! ::confetti::
Author's Note: Damn. It did load. That part didn't know up on my screen...grrr..
Chapter 5
"What are we supposed to do about him!?" "How am I supp'sed ta know?" "Since when did I become a halfway house for the living and the dead!?" "Undead." "Shut up Anthony!" Cat could hear the angry voices from far away, but she didn't want them to come any closer. Her neck was throbbing, her wrist was throbbing, she felt like she had been through the mill several times, and only had vague memories of cyan colored eyes and someone kissing her neck and then.and then.
She moaned, rolling over, unaware of the person watching her. He sat in an armchair, next to her bed, his eyes never leaving her weak form. He had a mug in his hand, and slowly brought to his lips, savoring the smooth taste of blood, her blood actually. He knew that he shouldn't have done that, taken enough blood to fill the mug halfway, but he couldn't help it. Necromancer blood, now that's a treat. Racetrack and Spot had done well this time.
Cat opened her eyes, and she knew that she wasn't in her room. She stared up at the dream catcher above the bed, dangling purple and blue feathers. Curling up in the dark blue satin sheets, she breathed in a familiar smell.the smell of Gee.
So she was in Gee's room, interesting. Rolling over, she came face to face with a person she didn't really know. His eyes were light greenish brown, as luminous as a feline seeing in the dark. She had a feeling that he was one of them otherworldly vampire people. His hair was light brown and a little wavy, curling a little at the base of his neck. He had a feeling of being old, but she could bet her immortal soul that this was just how vampire's felt.
"You're afraid." He spoke, his voice cutting through the darkness like a knife. Cat sat up, suddenly wishing she hadn't; the pain in her neck felt the need to remind her that it was there.
"No I'm not," she replied, not the least bit defensive. Cat was more.matter of fact. The boy smiled, showing a little bit of fang, and Cat couldn't help but chuckle.
"Why are you laughing?" he asked. His voice was free of an accent; time had done that to him. He expressed no emotion now; he felt no need to.
"Showing fangs, what a vampire thing to do," she remarked. "I've known about you guys for a week, and already I'm picking up those little things you do that just scream vamp." He arched an eyebrow at her, before filling the room with his laughter.
It was almost tangible; Cat couldn't help but reach up, her fingers slightly bent, in hopes of touching that silky laughter. No normal human being could laugh like that, and the icy wind of fear touched her heart, he wasn't human. It sent a shiver down her spine as her eyes followed the mug in his hand as it went to his lips again.
What was in the mug?!
Racetrack watched Gee pace angrily around the room, running her fingers through her strange, dark blue streaked hair. Sometimes he believed it was actually natural.
She whirled on him, anger sparkling in her pale blue eyes.
"Well, you get right back on that phone and tell him that we don't care what happens to Jack's little pet!" The only thing Racetrack could do was nod, it was the day after the full moon, and he knew that her blood was still heated from the night before. He was lucky to be invited in, and he couldn't help but laugh as his eyes drifted over to Spot.
He stood in the hallway, leaning against what looked like thin air, but it was really the barrier that kept most uninvited vampires out. Gee took great pleasure in watching him attempt to get in, but fail. Spot watched her with angry eyes, trying to catch her gaze. So what if his downfall was pride? He was so sure that a werewolf would still be bound by his gaze, but as she walked passed him, their eyes locked and she had no reaction.
"Anthony, you're not on the phone yet!" Racetrack flinched at the use of his real name, but he let it slide. Gee stopped in front of Spot, hatred burning in her eyes. Spot looked unaffected.
"Spot, don't mess wit her, alright?" Racetrack said, dialing the phone and turning away from them, intent on his conversation.
Gee met his gaze with no problem, and a sleepy, appraising grin came to Spot's lips.
"You know, you're prettier than I thought originally," he said. Gee raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really?" She asked. He nodded.
"Now if you just let me in.we'll."
Gee slammed the door in his face.
"Dammit!" Spot cried, pounding his fist against the door. Gee snickered to herself and turned to Racetrack, who gingerly put the phone down as angrily as possible.
"Well?"
"Nuttin," he replied. "Line's busy." They both exchanged looks.
"Busy?"
"Vampires gotta life too y'know," Racetrack said, a little huffy. Gee plunked down in a chair next to him, it was interesting, she didn't like vampires, hated them! Yet here she was, one knocking on her door outside.
"How do we deal with it, Anthony?" She asked. "I mean, I wanted to become a vampire hunter, I was all ready to go out and stuff like that, but here I am, Patrick Conlon wanting to get in outside, an another vampire actually in my house.." She glanced around. "Where's Jack?"
Racetrack felt a little bad about keeping the fact that he was a vampire from Gee, but she trusted him, and he liked that, so to her, he was just Jack's blood slave. That explained the fact that he smelt like a vampire, all blood slaves had that strange, Vampiric smell about them. Jack and Spot of course knew about Racetrack's little secret, but Jack couldn't care less, and Spot was just adding that to the list of deep, dark, secrets he could ruin his sire's life with.
"How am I sup'osed ta know?" He replied, trying not to let the bitterness seep into his voice. Blood slaves were supposed to like their masters apparently.
"Last time I checked, he went to check on Cat, but I mean...she was sleeping, how interesting could that be?"
Racetrack was already on his feet, heading for Gee's bedroom. Watching someone sleep was very interesting to vampires, too interesting. Jack had dulled himself throughout the years, and human suffering no longer made him suffer himself. He was almost like Spot, except for after Spot slaughtered someone; he would still shed a few tears for his lost humanity. Racetrack himself hoped that his own humanity was still intact.
"You know, in all my years, I never came across a Necromancer as powerful as you," Jack observed, looking at her appraisingly. Cat shrugged, her eyes searching the nightstand next to her. She would have used the powers she could feel bubbling beneath the surface of her skin, but the more she thought of it, the less she believed she could use it again.
"Now you've seen everything," Cat muttered. Wasn't there a cross around here? Gee seemed very anti-vampire, or at least she thought Gee was, obviously not, considering the fact that a random vampire was lounging in Gee's room.
"No, I haven't," he replied.
"'Scuse me, am I interruptin' somethin'?" A semi-familiar person poked his head into the room, and Cat immediately went out to feel him, see if he was a vampire. The boy looked at her and she was immediately met with a staticy feeling in where the sense of his aura should be. Maybe he was a psychic, like Switch and Ash were.
The vampire gave the boy a cold look. "Not at all, Racetrack, Cataluna here was just waking up."
Cat let the use of her full name slide, messing with a vampire at the moment wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. She looked at the semi- familiar boy, Racetrack it was, and smiled as though he were he savior.
"Yeah, I'm up.and hungry actually," she told him. He smiled at her, his warm brown eyes lighting up. Cat decided that she liked this boy, this Racetrack, he was pretty cute, with dark hair and those chocolate colored eyes, he also seemed the most normal person here, so far.
"I'll get Gee ta make ya somethin' or.somethin'," he said, his grin never faltering. Cat couldn't help but smile at him, what could she say? His grin was infectious.
"Take your friend with you," Cat said, jerking her thumb in the vampire's direction, Racetrack met the vampire's eyes.
"Let's go, Jack, let tha goil get dressed in private." Jack's eyes swept over Cat, who blushed, suddenly realizing she was dressed only in a white dress shirt with gray pinstripes and nothing else. She drew the dark blue satin sheets around her, her face burning with embarrassment.
Jack smirked, and got up, leaving the room with Racetrack.
Spot leaned against the door now, pouting that he was the only vampire not allowed inside. What was so wrong with him? Jack was just as homicidal, maybe more so! But Jack didn't kill Gee's friends, so it was all Spot's fault. He didn't get those humans, or werewolves.or whatever.
Why didn't he just leave? Oh yeah, because that Gee girl was kind of cute, so was that Necromancer. There was also that little business about Jack's blood slave, Spot couldn't remember his name, which he was apparently supposed to help out with.
But how could he help if he wasn't even allowed in the official unofficial base of operations!?
Lestat wouldn't be stuck out here like this, Spot thought bitterly. Oh no, he wouldn't even give these pathetic excuses for vampires the time of day! Or night as it were.
He slid into a sort of crouching sitting position, still against the door. Maybe Racetrack was right, he was getting too into Anne Rice books. He wasn't Lestat! He could walk in daylight, even though it kind of drained on him, Anne Rice's vampires were stuck indoors when the sun rose.
Still, Spot loved those books; he wanted to be in them. They made him feel like he had a purpose in all this, which was more than he ever got from his pathetic excuse for a sire, more a Louis than anything else. The whole vampire glorification theme of those books made him feel privileged, chosen even, it made him feel special.
He banged his head lightly against the door, hopefully Gee would get annoyed and let him in. No one could really resist his adorable charms for long.
Cat pulled the black spaghetti strapped shirt over her head, looking into the mirror. With the dark gray pants with black pinstripes, she almost looked human. Although she wasn't really.right? She felt a little weird; someone had gone into her house and got some of her clothes. They knew where she lived?
She ran Gee's brush through her short dark hair and looked in the mirror. A vampire bite on her neck looked back. Cat bit her lip, holding up her hand to see the other one on her wrist. The one on her wrist was a little more recent, which made her wonder if the contents in Jack's mug were hers.
Picking up the white dress shirt, she slipped it on, it might not have matched perfectly, but she didn't care. She felt drawn to it, like it was a comforting teddy bear or something. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, she looked like hell. Her violet black eyes were surrounded by flesh almost the exact same color, and she was disgustingly pale. Cat's head swam, how much blood did she lose?
She practically stumbled into the kitchen, walking in halfway through a conversation that halted as soon as she managed to get into the room. Gee looked at her as though she was a pathetic flood victim, Jack just looked bored. Racetrack was on the phone, cursing to himself as he turned it off and set it back down. He smiled when he saw her, and she smiled back.
"How are you feeling?" Gee asked gently.
"Augh."
"Just what I thought." She got up and took Cat's arm, gently leading her to a seat. Cat was distinctly aware of a light pounding noise coming from the door.
"Someone wants to be let in," she said. Gee rolled her eyes.
"It's just Patrick," Gee replied dismissively. Cat shot a confused look to Racetrack.
"Patrick's one-a the more dang'rous vamps in town," he explained. "He was the one that did Ash an' Switch in. The rest-a us normal people jus' call him Spot."
Gee gave him an annoyed look and addressed Cat. "He's the one who attacked you last night."
"You were tasty." Jack mumbled under his breath, Racetrack shot him a look.
"Anyways," he said, changing the subject. "What're we gunna do 'bout David? Don't he have Mush?" Gee handed Cat a cup of strong coffee and a plate of cherry pop-tarts and sat back down.
"I suppose," Jack said nonchalantly, apparently Mush was his blood slave, but he didn't seem to care. Cat took a sip of the coffee and coughed, her eyes going wide. Everyone glanced at her, and she blushed.
"Strong coffee," was all she could say. Gee pushed a bowl of sugar and a little pitcher of cream towards her.
"He ain't answerin' his phone, don't get me started on how I don't get how vamps even carry phones," Racetrack remarked. "I guess we're jus' gunna have to meet him, that's how ya really talk ta vamps these days."
"Showdown," Cat replied. Everyone shot her a look again.
"We're going to have to bring a gift though, you know how psycho David is," Jack said. Gee shrugged.
"Handle everything Jack," she said. Usually she would never, ever tell a vampire to handle everything, but Jack seemed trustworthy.
"First, you gotta let Spot in before he goes crazy and eats your neighbors." A storm passed through Gee's eyes before she slowly got up, heading for the door. A sharp pain in her neck reminded Cat about what this boy could do.
"Fine, Patrick, you can-"Gee went quiet.
"Whass wrong?" Racetrack asked. The blue stripe haired girl turned back to the three sitting at the table.
"He's gone." Cat rolled her eyes.
"Perfect."
Watching, always watching. They were so interesting, these people, he couldn't help but smile as he watched them pass through life, not stuck there, like he was. Sure, there were some stuck there like he was, but they were happier, they were still able to pretend like they were living.
He felt so old, but that was because he was old. He was also lonely; there was no one to help him. Maybe he wanted a mother, since his mother was taken from him when that terrible wonderful horrible liquid was held to his lips.
Clack click clack, his ancient wooden sword tapped lazily on the ground, as he watched the people go by. A girl of about seventeen saw him, compassion blooming in her jade green eyes immediately. He laughed to himself; she must be new to the city.
She made her way over to him, bending to his level. "What's wrong little guy?" she asked, smiling broadly. "Are you lost? How old are you?"
Les doubled over, coughs wracking his little body as though it would split him apart at the seams. He was near eleven, but as he looked up at her, he gave a pathetic little smile. It wasn't hard, he was quite pathetic.
"Seven," he told her. She held out her hand to him. Les found that he liked the way the sunlight filtered through her curly auburn hair, so bright it hurt his eyes. .
"Don't worry," she said softly, assuring. "I'll help you find your mother." He made a show of hesitating before he took her hand.
Oh, don't you worry my dear, he thought to himself as she led him gingerly through the crowd. You've helped me find one already.
Dun dun dun..to be continued! We're officially halfway done with Part One! Yay! ::confetti::