Wow, here it finally is, the second chapter of Darkness in Shadow. I have done a lot of thinking about this story, but I haven't had hardly any time to work on it. But, now I have, and here's the next chapter. Oh, and just so we all know, Weiss and Farfarello will come into the story, but it won't be for a while. Sorry to all you fans out there. In addition to being like Interview with the Vampire, I discovered it's also a lot like The Vampire Armand too.
Special thanks to everyone who reviewed my fic on ff.net. Kachira (Love you babe!), Tri (I'm glad you liked it), J-chan (Aw, thanks, hun), CW (You're so sweet), Suki (Canines, got it, thankies), LP Teufel (Thank you), Sahel (Glad you liked it), Akurei (I'm also going for Armand and Denis, but yeah, it's kinda a combination of all of it), a (Of course I will!), Mariah (*blush* Good. Stay tuned), Frysa (No rushing the arts, hun. It will just get better, I hope, and it will be finished eventually. But there's a lot of stuff I want to write into it), Crystal Dawn (Yay! Vampire stories are cool!), lyla (Sorry for such a long wait), FallenPheonix721 (Arigatou), and Yami Kitsune (I love vampire stories too). Thanks to you all especially, and to anyone else who read my fic but did not review it. If you leave me a review, I promise to thank you personally each chapter.
~*~
Warnings: yaoi, angst, violence, language, shota, lime, death of non-important characters
Rating: R for language, adult themes, and violence
Pairings: As of right now, SchuxNagi
… centered means change in view but not time
~*~ means time or scene change
'Italics' mean thought
~*~
Chapter 2: Better From Here
What time was it? It didn't seem that late, but the lights hadn't changed since last night… He was so warm… There was something heavy on top of him…
Nagi blinked narrowed, midnight eyes and gazed around, trying to remember what had happened last night… He felt so tired and sore…
There was a blanket over him, in a bed that was not his own… He sat up slowly, feeling a bit dizzy. He looked around, trying to place what had happened. A sudden pull in his neck brought it all back. Schuldig… and the other man… Bradley Crawford? He rubbed lightly on both sides of his neck. He could feel the raised bite marks. It seemed like they were healing rather well, and they hardly hurt at all.
Nagi groaned and stretched lazily, glancing around, trying to find Schuldig, but he did not see him. But there was a piece of paper on the bedside table. He picked it up, squinting against the bright light to read it.
Good morning, kitten. I hope you are feeling better. You need to rest and eat. There is food in the refrigerator downstairs. Eat all you want. Do whatever you like until Brad and I get up. But, whatever you do, don't touch our coffins until we are awake, or you could destroy us. Once we're up, I will take you out and get everything you've ever wanted. Make sure you rest. See you at sunset. Schuldig.
Nagi slowly set the note down and looked around, trying to find Schuldig's coffin. He hadn't seen it before, but, as he peered over the other side of the bed, he saw a long, sleek, black casket that was easily hidden by the bed if one surveyed the room from the doorway. He whimpered softly, suppressing a shudder. He could not imagine the German just inside the heavy lid.
His stomach growled loudly. He didn't eat a whole lot normally, but he hadn't eaten in nearly twenty-four hours, and he was feeling incredibly hungry, as well as just a bit anemic. He slowly pushed the blanket back, shivering at the cold. He was still naked, but not aching at all, like he usually was in the mornings after he had finished with his usual dealings every night. That was a good sign. That probably meant no one had slept with him in his lazy drifts of consciousness.
He slowly reached for his clothing, then decided he wanted to take a shower first. The warm water would feel good, and Schuldig had said he could do whatever he wanted. He slipped into Schuldig's bathroom and turned the hot water nearly all the way up. He stepped into the scalding spray, delighting in the way it made his used body feel so much cleaner and newer.
He took a long, hot shower, washing all the filth from his body, then set to washing his baby-fine, dark brown hair. It looked so much better when he was done, so shiny he was sure he could see his own reflection in it, if such a thing had not been physically impossible. He dried off with one of the big, soft, fluffy towels, pulled on his street-smudged clothing, and made his way downstairs.
Nagi found the kitchen, and, true to the note, there was plenty of food there for him, everything from sushi to noodles to things he wasn't even sure what they were (certainly not Japanese) but still tasted very good. He ate and drank heartily til he no longer felt empty and light-headed. Then he napped on the couch, watching whatever came across the big-screen TV. One thing was for sure: the two vampires certainly knew how to live extravagantly.
~*~
Nagi was asleep when Schuldig finally came downstairs just past sunset. He stood on the stairway looking down at the baby teen who was curled up in a ball on the couch, snoozing peacefully. The TV chattered softly across the room, and Schuldig turned it off with a click of the remote as he knelt down by Nagi's head. "Nagi kitten?"
The tiny eyelids fluttered weakly, then opened blearily. Schuldig smiled softly. "Good evening, katzechen."
Nagi blinked again, trying to focus in on the stark, white face that gazed down at him, before smiling back, his eyes clearing. "Konbanwa, Schuldig-sama."
"Are you feeling better?"
"Hai, arigatou." Nagi sat up slowly, brushing his still-damp bangs out of his eyes.
"Good. I want to take you shopping."
"For what?" Nagi asked, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Probably clothes. You need better stuff than those rags you're wearing."
Nagi clutched lightly at the collar of his shirt. "Oh…"
"So, ready to go?"
Nagi gazed up at him through slightly narrowed eyes. "Why are you doing this?"
"Cause I want to, baby. If you're going to stay with us, you gotta look good."
"Whoa whoa. Who says I'm staying with you?" Nagi demanded angrily.
"No one, but do you really want to leave?"
Nagi was silent.
"Thought so. If you really wanted to leave, you would have already."
Nagi smirked slightly. "I may not stay. Depends on what you have to offer."
"Oh, come on, kitten. Face it. Your life sucked before you came here. Bradley and I can take good care of you for nothing more than your cooperation."
Nagi hesitated again. "As much as I'd like it, you can't do that every night or I'll die."
"Oh, you think that's all I can do?" Schuldig purred. He grinned and reached out to the reclining teen, running a hand lightly but firmly over the front of the boy's pants.
Nagi inhaled sharply, his hips arching upwards towards the touch. He moaned softly, his eyes falling closed.
Schuldig grinned softly, feeling the boy's sex harden instantly under his touch. "You like that, kitten?"
"Mmm-hmm…"
"You want more?"
"H… hai…"
Schuldig smiled at him. "You see, kitten, you serve other purposes… My little nympho…"
Nagi's eyes flew open in shock. He had never told anyone that secret! Ever! The only person other than him who knew was the doctor who had examined him. The fact that this man knew was not only shocking, it was enough to make him irate. That was rare for Nagi, who rarely showed emotion to anyone other than what would get him paid well.
"How dare you!" he spat, sitting up angrily and pushing the hand away from his body. The smirk on the German's face was too much to bear. "How dare you say that to me!"
The man's smirk only got deeper. "Why not, katzechen? It's true, isn't it?"
"How do you know?" Nagi snarled softly, his midnight eyes full of blazing fire. "No one knows about that!"
Schuldig smiled at him in a condescending way. "You have such interesting thoughts, Nagi."
Nagi glared at him. "You bastard.
"Such language, kitten. It's not a big deal."
"You can read my thoughts?"
"Ja. That came when I became a vampire. It's my gift."
Nagi glowered darkly. "My thoughts are none of your business."
"Oh, I'm not going to tell anyone your secrets, kitten. In fact, I think I can help you."
"Help me?" Nagi questioned softly, the fire still in his voice.
"Ja. Your clients… They never satisfy you, do they, baby?"
Nagi glared and looked away. Schuldig shook his head slowly. "Don't make me read your mind to find out."
Nagi made a soft sound in the back of his throat that sounded like a growl. "No."
"See? That wasn't so difficult. Now, kitten, I could help you with your petty desires. You see, vampires don't get tired out. And I certainly would love to fuck with a pretty, little slut like yourself."
Any other person might have been offended, but the nasty words were tender to Nagi's ears. "You… you can do that?"
"Certainly. Now, we can't procreate, but, since it's with you, baby, it doesn't matter."
Nagi smiled ever so slightly. "Guess not."
"So, you want it then?" Schuldig purred softly, reaching out again to stroke lightly at the teen's crotch.
Nagi moaned softly and nodded, his eyes falling closed. "Please…"
"Please what, katzechen?"
"More…"
"Later." Schuldig let go suddenly and stood up. Nagi's eyes flew open, and he gazed up at Schuldig with disappointed, pleading eyes.
"Now… I need you… Once you start, you can't just leave me…"
Schuldig smiled softly and gently rested a hand on Nagi's pale cheek. "I can take it away, kitten. One little thought, and I can make your petty desires go away." Something pressed into his mind, something heavy and tingly, as if there were carbonated bubbles in his brain cells. The next moment, he felt the tightness in his groin, the feeling that plagued him nearly every day for hours on end, suddenly left him, as swiftly as it had come. He inhaled sharply, glancing up at Schuldig with hopeful eyes.
"Can you take it away forever?"
The redhead shook his head slowly. "Not forever, baby. Not with my power. I'm not that strong yet. Maybe as I get older… But enough yakking. We're going shopping now."
~*~
Shopping proved to be an understatement. Schuldig went absolutely wild with spending, buying clothes, electronics, shoes, toys… Anything that Nagi even glanced at twice was instantly his, and Nagi did a lot of glancing. In three hours, Schuldig had bought him more things than he had ever imagined having in his entire life. He noted though as they passed through one store that Schuldig did not pay for everything they bought. Oh, he paid for a good portion of it, all of it with cash he pulled from somewhere on his person. But sometimes the cashier would just slip everything into a bag and hand it to him with a happy smile before quickly hurrying off to attend to something.
"Isn't that stealing?" Nagi questioned the first time it happened.
Schuldig glared at him, as if warning him to keep his voice down. "Yes, it is. But we paid for some of it. Besides, that's what vampires do. We rule over these pitiful humans. They just don't know it. And what's a few measly articles of clothing going to really do in the long run? They're just clothes, and they're just humans."
Nagi fell silent, thinking about this for a while. But, as the night progressed, he became caught up in Schuldig's buying frenzy again. They seemed to attract a lot of attention, a tiny, pale waif and a white-faced, flame-haired gaijin, rushing from store to store. But he didn't care. He was having too much fun.
"Enjoying yourself?" Schuldig asked as they sat down at a table in the quiet food court, Nagi with a bowl of ice cream.
"Very much," Nagi agreed, taking a large bite and letting the ginger flavor fill his mouth and go straight to his head. "I have money, but most of it goes for rent on my place."
"That little shitty one room apartment you call home?" Schuldig asked, leaning back in his seat. There were only a few bags by his feet. Most of it was to be delivered to their house tomorrow.
Nagi sighed and took another bite. "Yeah. Almost ten thousand yen a month. But, if I don't have it all, the landlord usually takes off a bit if I give him a blowjob or something."
"Well, forget him. You're mine now, and if anyone tries to take you away from me…" He left the threat hanging, his green eyes glimmering a bit.
Nagi swallowed his ice cream hard, feeling the cold sting all the way down. "Can… can I ever go home?"
"You don't need to go home. You have nothing there you need. I'm giving you a new home."
Nagi smiled softly. "I know."
"I'm just surprised you managed to find a place to live and still make pretty good money on your own."
"I've had pimps before." Nagi frowned into his ice cream at the memory. "But they would take everything I had and then leave me unable to work for a week when they were done with me. I slept in a room with at least a dozen other kids. It was no life. Now, on my own, I'm free to do what I want."
Schuldig was silent, listening to Nagi talk and watching the way his body moved slowly back and forth as he spoke. "Ja. Now you're my kitten, and you'll service only me. And Bradley, if he ever comes to his senses and decides he's not asexual."
"How old is he anyway?" Nagi asked, licking a droplet of ice cream off the corner of his mouth.
"I'm not really sure. He fought in the American Revolutionary War, he told me. He was wounded and near death when his maker found him and gave him the Dark Gift."
"Dark Gift?" Nagi questioned.
"How you create another vampire. You take their blood and then they drink yours."
"Have you ever done that to anyone?" Nagi asked, wide-eyed, wondering if there were more vampires out there that he might know about.
"I haven't. Bradley says there are more, but I've never seen them at all. I know he sired me, but I'm not sure if I'm the only one."
"Whatever happened to the vampire that sired him? Where did he come from?"
"That I don't know. And don't bother asking him. He won't tell you."
"It doesn't seem like Brad likes me," Nagi said softly.
"He doesn't like anyone. Just polite around him and call him Crawford, not Brad, and he'll warm up to you eventually. And if he ever wants anything from you, give it to him."
"You mean, if he wants to drink from me?" Nagi asked softly, taking in another spoonful of slowly melting ice cream.
"Blood, sex, whatever. I doubt he'll ever want you, but if he does, you do what he says. And he'll start to like you."
"You two seem so different," Nagi said, licking the back of his spoon slowly. "I don't see how you can put up with each other."
Schuldig went quiet a moment, then leaned back in his seat. "That's a story for another time."
Nagi nodded in agreement, swallowing another mouthful. "Can I ask how old you are?"
"Not very old… Still a fledgling in Brad's eyes… He made me back in the 1960's… I was twenty-two… I'd be somewhere in my sixties now, I think…"
Nagi swallowed again, thinking to himself for a bit before a new question started to form in his mind, but he didn't want to ask, as his last couple questions had been rather rude.
"Curious kitten, you can ask me."
Nagi blinked in surprise. He had already forgotten the vampire could hear every thought he had. "Well, I… I was wondering why of all the people in the world, you chose me?"
"Well, that's difficult to explain." Schuldig leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest, gazing off into space. "I like you, kid. You have spirit. You can stand up for yourself. You aren't afraid to speak your mind. And you're pretty. That was a big plus in your favor."
"I'm pretty?" Nagi questioned. Almost everyone he talked to said he was 'cute'.
"Yeah. Not just pretty. You're beautiful, kid, whether you realize it or not. You're so delicate and gorgeous… A real knockout."
Nagi blushed and gazed at him through thick, black lashes. "Arigatou."
Schuldig smiled back at him, his fangs glinting just a bit. "Hurry up and finish your ice cream, kitten. I still need to hunt, and I don't want to wait too long."
Nagi hurried to spoon the last few large mouthfuls of ice cream to his mouth. "Do I get to go with?"
"No. I don't think you can keep up, kitten. I'll take you back home, and you can hang out there until I come back."
Nagi pouted slightly. Schuldig smiled and reached out to ruffle his baby-fine hair affectionately. "So cute. Don't worry, katzechen. When I come home, we can have some fun. Promise."
Nagi grinned brightly and took the last bite of ice cream into his mouth. "Okay."
~*~
Schuldig tucked Nagi into his bed, smoothing down the soft bangs. "You just wait here til I get back. Shouldn't be too long."
Nagi nodded sleepily, feeling a bit sluggish from his ice cream. "Okay."
Schuldig kissed his forehead, then turned and vanished down the staircase. Nagi curled into the soft blankets, closing his eyes. He thought he might have fallen asleep, because he awoke when he became aware of someone watching him.
He blinked and turned his eyes towards the doorway. Schuldig's compatriot, Bradley Crawford, stood in the doorway, looking as if he might have been standing there for several minutes already, just watching him. Nagi blinked again and sat up, suddenly wishing Schuldig was there as he gazed into Crawford's coffee-amber eyes. "Hello…"
"What was your name?" the man demanded in a short, clipped burst of Japanese.
Nagi blinked in surprise, pulling the blankets closer to him. "Naoe Nagi."
The man nodded once, then turned and disappeared through the door again, and Nagi could hear his immaculate, white shoes clicking professionally on the stairs. Nagi stared after him. "Strange…"
"Oh, trust me, he's a pain in the ass," came a sudden voice right next to him on the bed. Nagi yelped and yanked away.
Schuldig smiled sweetly at him from where he was seated on the edge of the bed. "Sorry I scared you, baby."
"It's okay." Nagi gave him a sheepish smile, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "I didn't realize you were there."
"I wasn't," Schuldig replied simply before leaning over him, pinning him to the bed with his weight. "Miss me, kitten?"
"Hai." Nagi gazed up at the older man, trying to look at him closely in the dim light. The German's face was no longer stark white, but looked nearly human. Nagi could see the blood inside of him coursing through his pale skin, coloring it a dark flesh tone. It made him seem so much more human, so much more attractive than he already was. Jade green eyes gazed hungrily down at him from eyes that also seemed to course with blood, but yet not take away from the beautiful green that seemed to shimmer in the soft lighting.
"Good." A soft mouth descended on his, and Nagi felt the press of the man's tongue against his teeth. Instinct parted his lips, tongue pressing back. He could taste something in his mouth, something coppery and salty… Blood! He whimpered and pulled away, but the German pulled his face back gently with large, soft hands. "Shh… Relax… It won't hurt you."
The mouth came down again, and Nagi braced himself for the copper taste again, but it did not come. Something else flowed into his mouth… Something endlessly sweet and warm…
'Drink', came a soft, soothing voice in his head.
Nagi closed his eyes slowly, relaxing in the German's arms, obediently swallowing. The sudden buzz that followed afterwards made him feel so warm, so on fire… It was like a charge of electricity going through his body, making him moan and writhe softly beneath the vampire.
"Shh, baby, shh. Feels good, ne?"
"Mmm-hmm…"
"More?"
"Hai…"
The mouth came down again, and Nagi again felt the sweetness against his tongue. He swallowed again, then became aware of the German's hands wandering over his tiny body, stroking, caressing, squeezing, driving him crazy with his touches. He moaned loudly and squirmed, wanting more, reaching up to hold him closer. Schuldig smiled softly and undid the buttons of Nagi's shirt faster than Nagi thought would ever be possible without ripping it. The next minute his mouth was everywhere, biting, nipping, sucking, lapping, until Nagi cried out in pleasure, hands stroking through the bright red hair.
Clothing evaporated like water after that, and the night was filled with their soft moans and cries of pleasure. Nagi drifted off to sleep just before dawn, a contented smile on his pale face. Schuldig kissed him gently on the forehead, pulling the blankets over the teen's naked body, then retreated to his own bed, pulling the black lid over him as he nestled down on the blood red satin. "Sleep well, kitten. It will only get better from here."
~*~
There we go, second chapter all finished. Please review. I need reviews to keep me writing. I'm sorry not much action happened in this chapter. Next chapter will be better, promise. More of Crawford, for those of you who like him. Please review! And thank you so much for reading!
