A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I'd love it if you'd review for this chapter as well!
Disclaimer: I own Mae, who isn't even in this chapter, but whatev. The rest of the characters belong to Square Enix and yadda yadda, you know the drill.
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT: CHAPTER FOUR
Riku was so jealous of Kairi that he could hardly stand it. He knew it was wrong of him to feel anything besides friendship for Sora, but he did, and there was nothing that could change that.
The streets of New Orleans were beckoning him, like a sign to go out and get over Sora. He knew he had to. It wasn't healthy for him to be in love with his best friend, and he knew it. He had to clear his mind of everything.
Two other men were also walking down the street. They were walking arm in arm like two brothers, or perhaps two lovers. Riku noticed them coming towards him right away. They were wearing matching black leather jackets, and they both had beautiful silver hair, much like his own. One's hair was long with bangs that fell in his eyes, and the other had hair almost identical to Riku's. Their eyes were so unnaturally green that Riku could see those eyes glowing from ten feet away. They were beautiful, like a pair of angelic silver twins, glowing in the night.
The two men stopped as Riku approached, and Riku felt himself grow almost nervous as they did so. He wondered if the men would talk to him.
The shorter one grinned at Riku, showing a row of perfectly aligned teeth, with molars that looked as if they had been filed down to points. For affect, Riku thought to himself, smiling shyly back.
"What's a pretty boy like you doing out here in the streets at this time of night all alone?" Said the shorter one. His voice was high pitched and rang in the air like silver bells.
Riku shrugged and felt a blush grace his face. He was only wearing a t-shirt underneath his black sweater, and suddenly wished he had thought to wear something warmer.
"Are you looking for someone?" The other man asked Riku, tilting his head slightly as though he were amused. His voice was slightly deeper and quieter.
Riku shook his head. "I'm just out for a walk." He replied.
The shorter one hadn't glanced away from Riku for a second. Finally he said, "We're looking for someone, ourselves."
The other one laughed and said, "Yes, but perhaps we've already found him."
"I'm Kadaj, and this is Yazoo," said the shorter one, slightly nodding at Riku. "Will you walk with us?"
Riku was so enthralled by their beauty and was so eager to get over Sora, that it took him about two seconds to say yes. Kadaj put Riku's arm in his, and they walked to some apartments, chatting casually along the way.
By the time they were in the men's apartment, and Yazoo went into the dimly lit kitchen to get some drinks, Riku was aware that he was in deeper than he had planned. He was at these men's home, where it was dark, and they were offering him alcohol.
Kadaj nodded for him to sit on the couch, and Riku did so, watching as Kadaj stripped off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack, even though it was extremely dark, and Riku had to squint to see him. The apartment smelled strongly of cologne and wine.
When Yazoo returned with glasses of some type of hard liquor Riku had never tried, the situation was so dreamlike that he downed the glass in seconds, and Yazoo poured him another before taking down several shots himself. Kadaj joined them, and in half an hour, the three of them were all so drunk none could remember the sentence they'd just said.
Before Riku was aware of what was happening, Kadaj was on top of him, weighing him down into the cushions of the couch, smelling strong alcohol and some other smell that was familiar and yet too faint to be sure of what it was. Kadaj kissed him hard and raked his hands through his hair. Riku was so drunk he didn't even know what was happening until he felt a sharp pain in his neck and realized what the smell had been. It was blood.
The pain grew sharper as he felt Kadaj sucking at his neck, and then he felt another mouth bite into the soft flesh right beneath his belly button. He was whining in pain but was so drunk and felt so weak that he could do nothing to stop any of it. He saw Kadaj get up and shove Yazoo away from him, and he said, "We don't want to kill him, you idiot. I like this one. We should keep him."
Seeing their two pale faces in the darkness above him, watching Yazoo nod in agreement, Riku felt himself losing consciousness. "That's it," He suddenly heard Kadaj say from somewhere close to his ear, "Go to sleep, and when you wake up, you'll be new again."
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Riku woke up with a pounding headache and unbearable light shining in his eyes. He was too tired to move or protest, so he simply lie there with his eyes shut, even though the light was still bright enough that he could see it through his eyelids.
The first thing that crossed his mind was his mother. She'd be worried sick if he had been gone all night. He knew she had probably already called the cops or something equally dramatic.
For a minute he couldn't remember where exactly he was. Maybe the thing with the two silver haired men had been a dream. A horribly beautiful dream, but a dream all the same. Perhaps he was in his bed, and the light was the sun shining in through the window.
The only thing wrong with his theory was that his bedroom faced away from the sun, and hardly let in any sunlight.
Wondering what the hell was going on, he propped himself up on his elbows and opened his eyes. He was in the room that he'd passed out the night before. It was the same living room that had been pitch black last night. Kadaj's coat was still hanging on the coat rack, and he saw his own sweater flung across the room on the floor, but he couldn't remember ever taking that off.
The room was furnished nicely, with all of the wood a matching oak, and the couch which he lay and two chairs were furnished with plush fabric. He could see straight into the kitchen, which had a green marble counter with bottles of wine and rum on it. In the other direction he could see a dark hallway, where he was sure the bedrooms were.
He wondered what to do. Here he was, in this apartment that belonged to two beautiful men that had…what had they done? He had been so drunk. Hadn't they attacked him somehow? Riku ran a hand over his neck and found the tear holes there.
They'd bitten him? He vaguely remembered feeling throbbing pain in his neck and lower stomach, and feeling their bodies on top of him, so that he could barely move. Suddenly, he felt panicked. What was he going to do? How was he going to get out? Would they hurt him?
He stood up and went to the door. He could easily unlock it and walk out.
But before he got anywhere, I strong grip was on his shoulder. Riku turned his head wearily and looked up into the stunning green eyes of Kadaj.
"Riku, darling, where you thinking of leaving?" He asked, his voice slightly bitter.
Riku's stomach nodded as he thought of being trapped in the apartment with two…well, whatever they were. They were obviously strong and smooth enough to hurt him, but Riku wasn't willing to stick around long enough to find out.
"You mustn't leave before you understand, I'm afraid." Kadaj said, shaking his head softly. He was only several inches taller than Riku, with a thin build, and he was wearing a tight black wife-beater and some jeans. Still yet, Riku could sense his power and let the older man lead him over to the couch and sit him down.
Kadaj took a deep breath and looked Riku in the eye. "I am a vampire." He said simply, his voice serious and yet he said the statement as if it were a common thing to hear.
Riku shook his head and laughed nervously, running a hand uneasily through his tangled hair. "Listen, it was nice to hang out with you guys and all, but this is getting really weird. I should go." He stood up to leave, but before he realized it, Kadaj was in front of him, blocking his way, with a grip of steel on his arms. In shock, Riku allowed Kadaj to push him back into his seat.
Kadaj looked a little annoyed. "You must listen, Riku, that's my first lesson for you. And never get out of your seat unless your Creator is finished speaking."
Riku smirked, although he was getting more afraid by the second. Was this guy insane? Was this a joke? What on earth was going on? All he knew was that he had to leave, and soon.
"Okay," He said slowly, "The jokes up, buddy. You either tell me what you want or I'll get up and go home."
Kadaj took his hand firmly and said, "I know this is not going to make much sense to you now, but tomorrow night it will make more sense than anything else ever has. I am a vampire, and last night I gave you the immortal kiss."
His eyes were like green fire, and held to Riku's as though he would never let go. Stunned to silence, Riku listened to the man speak of these things he didn't understand, would never believe in a million years.
"I sired you because I wanted you. I knew it from the moment I saw you that you would be my Childe and I would teach you the ways of becoming a vampire as if you were my own son." Kadaj continued, and he ran a thin finger over Riku's knuckles, tenderly, like a lover might.
Riku flinched, and waited for him to go on.
"Tomorrow night you will change. You will grow fangs; your reflection will disappear from the mirrors. Your green eyes will turn like mine, like a cat's. You will see perfectly in darkness, and be immune to all illness and pain. You will be immortal. You will then feel the thirst, and you will satisfy it by drinking, all of which I will teach you, as your Creator."
Riku sat there, staring at Kadaj as if he were mentally unstable, which to Riku he absolutely was. He swallowed his fear, despite he was freaked out beyond all belief, and said, "I'm leaving. You're insane."
He got up, and despite Kadaj's attempts to stop him, he pushed past. Riku was at the door before Kadaj had somehow sped up in front of him, blocking him from the door, and was baring his teeth, the teeth Riku remembered noticing vaguely last night that had been filed down to points.
He bared them in Riku's face. Riku struggled against the other man, but found himself extremely weak. He could hardly even move to get away from this man, let alone try to get away. He yelled an attempt for someone to help him, but before he knew it he was up against the wall and Kadaj was pressing his teeth to the flesh of Riku's neck.
Riku screamed as he felt the teeth bite him just enough to bring blood, and then let go. Kadaj threw him against the opposite wall, where he sat, slumped against it.
"You're really sick, you know." Riku whimpered, massaging his neck where there were two small pink dots.
Kadaj moved closer to Riku and towered over him like an evil master. He smirked and said in a quiet voice. "Do you believe me now?"
Riku laughed bitterly but his laugh shook with his fear. "I believe that you are some messed up weirdo, and if you don't let me go…" Riku trailed off. He had no threat to give. Kadaj smirked.
"Someone will come and find me."
"But you don't believe I'm a vampire, and that you will be too, within a day's time?" Kadaj inquired thoughtfully.
"No." Riku spat.
Kadaj, once again with such speed and agility that Riku hardly even saw him move, took him into the bathroom and shoved him hard into the mirror. Riku fell, his nose beginning to bleed, which enticed Kadaj, though he suppressed his thirst.
Kadaj watched as the now crying, hurt, and afraid Riku slowly hoisted himself up and looked into the mirror. Where he saw himself, standing there looking beaten and pathetic, alone.
He whipped his head around beside him and saw that Kadaj was still there, with that same smirk as if he knew this would happen all along.
Riku could feel his pulse pounding in his throat as Kadaj said, holding out a hand, "You must believe me now."
Riku had no choice but to believe. There was no other possible explanation. He was stunned so badly that he feared he would pass out, so afraid of the truth that he couldn't even think about it.
"I…I…" he croaked, but he could not find the words.
Kadaj pulled Riku in close to him and held him there, in his arms, against his chest, rocking him like a child. "I know this is hard to understand, but it had to be done. I needed you Riku, and you will thank me once you are immortal."
Riku began to cry, the kind of crying that is uncontrollable and consists of incomprehensible sobs. He didn't understand anything, this couldn't be real, what about his family, his friends, his life?
"I…this has to be a dream!" he sobbed into the older man's chest, grasping him because he was the only thing he had to hold onto that felt real. Kadaj kissed his forehead and hummed near his ear. It sort of reminded Riku of his mother, the way she used to rock him to sleep and sing right near his ear when he was younger, when he thought the monster in the closet was the scariest thing imaginable.
"I know it seems like a dream," Kadaj said softly, continuing to rock him and kiss him. As much as Riku wanted to push him away and never turn back, he also wanted to get lost in the silver hair and cool voice and warm body.
"It isn't a dream, Riku. I did this to you because I need you, as I now see you need me." Kadaj said. It sounded like the voice of God, ringing in Riku's ear, and yet he knew his words could only come from a work of Satan.
Yet still he stayed in his arms like a lover might, with his face buried in Kadaj's chest, and somehow he knew that it had to be this way. Kadaj would become everything to him and lead him through this knew life. It had to be done.
And now that Riku thought about it, he really didn't have that much to let go. Family had never been his top priority, and neither was school. He wanted to become a vagabond as soon as he graduated, and he didn't care to marry or have children either, it wasn't really his style. In fact, it wouldn't bother him much to leave it all behind, his whole life, one life in exchange for another, except…
Except Sora. As soon as he imagined the boy that he once held in his arms, that he once felt like nothing could tear them apart…he was going to have to leave him for a life of immortality. Riku couldn't bear to see him again, not now. How could he say goodbye? What was there to say?
And yet he knew that it was for the best that he never see him again. He knew that Sora did not love him the way he wanted him to, and never would. The only thing Riku would get out of their friendship now was constant heartbreak, and he didn't know how much more of that he could take.
The bathroom door opened with a loud crack and Yazoo stepped in and crouched down next to the two boys, his long hair falling over his eyes and Riku like a waterfall of mystical waters. Riku's eyes were puffy and blurry and he couldn't see more than an outline of Yazoo.
"How did he take it?" Yazoo asked, and Riku felt his hand trailing on his back, comforting, and yet somewhat alarming. He wasn't used to being touched so much.
Kadaj sighed but still held Riku. "Better than I thought." He answered.
Yazoo positioned himself on the floor next to him so that his head rested on Kadaj's shoulder and he looked down at Riku with adoration. "He will make a beautiful immortal." He mused.
Kadaj nodded and kissed Riku's head. "Indeed," He said quietly, "He completes us."
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The next day, Kadaj and Yazoo cut Riku's hair, telling him that if he didn't cut it now, it would never grow again once he became immortal, and he was bound to go missing and someone would recognize him.
Yazoo cut it, because when Kadaj took the scissors, he dropped them on Riku's foot, emitting a large, girlish scream on Riku's part, and about thirty minutes of stifled giggling from Kadaj.
They did it in the bathroom, over the sink, because the two vampires were far too lazy to sweep up the hair.
"How short do you want it?" Yazoo asked, taking the pair of kitchen scissors in his hand.
Riku was very skeptical. He was skeptical about the whole ordeal. He believed they were vampires, and he knew that he would soon have to live like them, off the blood of humans, and live like a nomad for eternity. But he was even more skeptical about having a bad haircut until the end of time.
Riku shrugged, and Yazoo practically lunged for his hair and began snipping away at the back. "Not too short!" Riku yelped, refusing to look up into the mirror, where he knew he would see a pair of scissors floating in the air, and him looking like a distressed five-year-old girl.
When Yazoo was done, Riku looked up cautiously in the mirror to see his new image. He was quite satisfied with the haircut. He had a bit of side-bangs, like Yazoo himself, and the hair was just off his shoulders and cut at an angle. He wouldn't mind spending eternity looking that.
He told Yazoo that he was very satisfied, and then Kadaj informed him that he would have to sneak home that night and get all his belongings. Riku was afraid to go back, and didn't want to, for fear he would force himself to stay home. He already missed the scent of his house, a mixture of potpourri and smoke, compared to the aparment which smelled like booze and blood.
That night he went alone, and he snuck through the his window that he knew would be unlocked, because he always left it that way unless Sora got bored and wanted to sneak in for the night. He pushed this thought away and crawled into his dark bedroom.
He looked at the alarm clock on his dresser and saw that it was 10:30, and knew that in only an hour and a half he would become immortal. He looked around his room, trying to think of what to pack.
Riku had always been very proud of his room. It reflected everything he was. He had posters of AC/DC and Iron Maiden, poems he and Sora had written, and tons of pictures of his friends. He tried not to become emotional as he took a backpack and peeled several pictures of Sora off the wall.
The first he took was one of the two of them that Tidus had taken when they were on a bus taking a field trip to a museum. Neither of them were looking at each other or the camera, just staring up ahead with the wind whipping in their hair.
The second was a school picture, and the third was Riku's favorite. It had been one of Sora when he wasn't expecting it. It was at someone's birthday party, and Sora was clutching a plastic cup of beer in his hand. Selphie and Aerith had forced him to wear eyeliner and tight pants, and he was sitting on a brick wall looking absolutely miserable and yet absolutely beautiful at the same time. When Riku had taken it, he didn't expect it to turn out so well until he got the photos developed and secretly looked at the picture whenever he was lonely or wanted Sora there with him.
He crossed the room to his closet and shoveled in as much clothing as he could possibly pack, and said goodbye to his bedroom, a feat that was very hard for him. He had grown up sleeping in that bed, playing with Sora on that floor, with all his things and his life on track. And now he was saying goodbye. He did so quickly, and despite his attempts to leave and not turn back, he crept down the hall to his mother's room.
His mother had raised him alone, and he had never met his father because he had died in the Army before Riku was even born. She never dated again, but she raised Riku well and cared for him even though Riku often mistreated and lied to her. He had never thought of how much he really loved her until he saw her, sleeping in her bed, with her gray-streaked black hair falling around her on the pillow.
He had never noticed how aged she looked, how beaten and tired she looked now as she lay before him. He walked slowly to her bedside and simply looked at her, tried to memorize every line in her face so that he could have the picture of her simple beauty forever.
He thought to lean down and kiss her forehead, but before he knew it, her eyes slowly fluttered open. She looked up at him with deep green eyes just like his. He thought to run, to get out while he could, but he could tell that she was hardly awake and would never remember this in the morning.
"Riku?" She said slowly, her voice scratchy.
Riku worried that she would realize what was going on, that he was leaving her, and freak out like he knew she was bound to.
"Hi, Momma." He whispered.
Her face contorted in confusion. "Where have you been?" Her voice was soft, and he knew she was probably only half-way awake, and probably would fall back asleep.
Swallowing a considerably large lump in his throat, he said to her, "I'm leaving, Momma, and I won't be coming back."
Her eyes fluttered as if she would drift off again, but she managed to whisper, "You're not?"
Riku shook his head and let his hair fall in his eyes. He watched as if it were slow motion as a tear dripped off his face and his the carpet. He tried to take it like a man, but he couldn't bear it. His voice sounded strange when he replied softly, "No."
His mother closed her eyes and nodded her head. "You come to me tonight like an angel."
Riku knew that he had to get out before things got worse. "I'm no angel." He said. And it was true now, it was really true. He was hardly human anymore, even.
"You are to me." He knew she was gone off to the world of sleep as soon as the last word left her tired lips, and he knelt beside her and wept quietly by her hand, stroking it, memorizing with his fingers the way her veins stuck out on her hands, and the ring she always wore on her pinky, the one that was her birthstone, a ruby, the deep red that Riku had always found beautiful.
He pulled himself together and kissed her head. "Goodbye, Mother." He mumbled. He nearly fell out the window as he left, blinded by tears and pain, wondering if he should go to Sora's to say goodbye, but he couldn't find the strength to even think of him. It took every molecule of strength in him to get back to the apartments, where Kadaj and Yazoo were waiting for him, where he knew his destiny was, to be immortal.
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Okay so there it is. Yazoo and Kadaj, in case you didn't know, are two beautiful silverhaired men from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the movie that I'm dying to to see. Since I haven't seen it, the characters may be OOC, but there's no way I would know that, I just knew I wanted them in my story. So there they are!
Please read and review! Next chapter will be up soon.
-Mel