This horrible feeling... Why couldn't it just all end right now? If that happened then at least he wouldn't have to go through all of this horrible pain. Yet that's exactly what life was, and ironically he'd never noticed that fact before. Without the suffering what could he be happy to have in his life? But does any human... or non-human deserve to go through this much?

Honestly Heero couldn't believe that was a fact. In fact he wanted it to be nothing but a phase that would soon pass. Yet it was obvious from what he'd learned in the last ten years that without finding his partner this agony would continue until the moment he lost any trace of humanity left in him. Undead or not there was still something inside of him that kept him from completely becoming the beast he's destined to be. All vampires have it, but usually they never last more than about a hundred years with no partner.

Even if they're just temporary... Heero needed someone to take that place, and if he ended up uncovering his true partner then he'd just discard the temp. That was the only plan he could come up... and that's where Zechs came into the picture. Zechs was an attractive man, and no person could deny it.

He was tall with beautiful pale skin showing his family's status in the human world, and his stunning blue eyes were to die for. Unfortunately in Zechs' case that literally what happened. Heero hadn't really intended to take the man away so suddenly, but it was impossible to stay away from such an enchanting person that finally the vampire gave into his desires and stole Zechs away in the middle of the night.

When the blonde aristocrat woke up to find he'd lost everything he'd ever gained in his human life... he took it rather well. Much to Heero's surprise there was actually a sort of relief that Zechs expressed when he heard everything. The only thing he'd told Heero on that first day was, 'I'm just glad I no longer have to bear the burden of that family...'

----

Waking up in a cold sweat was not what Heero had been hoping for, but the dream brought back many memories that made him feel guilty. It made him wonder if he was really good enough to do the same thing to Duo. What if the history repeated himself and he ended up killing Duo as well for another person he believed to be his partner?

"No, Duo is different from Zechs..."

Heero wanted to say that he hadn't just impulsively taken Duo away, but wasn't it exactly the same? The vampire had watched Duo for a couple of years before finally making his move, but he'd only watched Zechs for a few months before taking him. Still there was a time Heero had almost decided to forever bind himself with Zechs believing the blonde vampire was his true partner.

That was the night he'd gotten some crazy urge to go speak with a fortune teller just to see what she'd say about them. Because of that fortune-teller Heero had waited to see if this person with 'amethyst eyes' would appear just as she claimed. Almost exactly as the woman had predicted it was only about fourteen years later when Heero had finally caught sight of an orphan with stunning amethyst eyes.

After that he became absolutely focused on studying everything about the young man, and waited until he was at least to an age he could be considered a man. When that time came Heero made his move, and had never regretted it until now...

Why had this dream shaken him up so badly? Perhaps it was the timing that caught him off guard with that bloodling threatening to make him regret what he'd done. The bloodling hadn't really made him worried at first, but suddenly there was something inside of him warning him something was going terribly wrong. As he pulled the slightly open to view the time of day he found it to be nearly sunset, and Duo hadn't returned yet.

There was definitely something wrong... Never once had Duo decided to spend the entire day out in town for fear of recognition. Sometimes the half-vampire was reckless when it came to hiding his identity, but he was a complete moron when he knew what was at stake. Then came the feeling of endless hunger...

Never had he experienced such a strong urge to feed... That meant something had happened to Duo!

Heero grabbed the same cloak he always wore when he emerged in the daylight and burst out of his room. Sally surprised him as she just stood outside his door silently, and he nearly broke her nose flinging the door open.

"Why are you standing outside my door? I almost hit you because of your carelessness." Heero didn't wait for a response from the blonde vampire, and instead turned his attention to the doors leading to the world of humans. Sally grabbed his arm and stopped him, but he refused to look at her. "Let go of me Sally, there's something wrong."

"Master Heero! You can't go outside and risk yourself! Let me or one of the other servants go in your place!" She just didn't understand exactly what was going on! If Heero was separated from Duo for too long... who knows what is bound to happen. "Please just stay here and allow me to go out for him. I used to be an infamous bounty hunter if you don't remember!"

Sally was right... but Duo wasn't just his partner keeping his sanity. Unlike most vampires, he had a bond that he knew breaking would destroy him entirely. Heero hesitated to call it love, but for lack of a better word that's what he described it as. The vampire had fallen hopelessly in love with the half-vampire, and losing him now would result in dire consequences for everyone... In his rage even the rats of the town wouldn't be spared.

After another moment he finally looked her straight in the eye, "If you don't bring him back alive and well... You shall truly find out the wrath of an unrestrained full-blooded vampire."

----

Worry was the first emotion to actually set in once Thomas saw the sun setting on the horizon and did not see even a little hint of Duo. What if something had happened to the only person to actually treat him with true signs of actual affection. Then came fear... what if Duo was hurt or dying somewhere and he was just standing here not doing a thing to help?

Then again, what if he was just late and would be here in a few minutes? That's why Thomas had resolved to stay next to the school in case that was the situation. Yet there was a distinct feeling he had that it wasn't just a simple punctuality problem with Duo, because he knew how paranoid the half-vampire was about Thomas. Even with only being around him for a few days, it showed quite a bit. Still, he didn't want to jump to unnecessary conclusions just to discover nothing was wrong.

Once the sun had set beyond the huge mountains though... no longer did Thomas feel the previous worry or fear for Duo. In fact all he felt was anger and betrayal. In his mind Thomas had known all along putting his trust in someone like Duo would only end up with him out on the streets again. But something about the half-vampire had really made Thomas want to open up to him and place his trust there.

"Why did I have to be such an idiot?" Thomas was sitting in the little area where all the children had gone to immediately after school. Instead he'd decided to wait for Duo at the schoolhouse knowing it would just help the day go smoother. After the sun had set and all the children left the area Thomas had finally gone there and started to plan what he should do. "Of all nights... he had to abandon me on the first night of winter... I didn't dress for this kind of weather..."

Pondering his choices, Thomas had chosen the warmest spot he'd imagined there was. It was next to the tree where he and Julia had sat down for the first time when he was actually a child with a family. Now he was back to his life as an orphan, he supposed, and most likely it would be a short one. Even though he was a child, Thomas wasn't totally ignorant to what was happening in the world.

All of the most recent people to move into this town in the last year told tales of their escaping from 'The Black Death'. At first no one believed these people until finally word came from various sources that the rumors were true. Yet this little area is so isolated from the rest of the world that luckily no serious epidemic had started here. There were one or two people here or there, but not like in the other towns.

Just as Thomas was about to make himself comfortable he caught a person lurking in the shadows. It was a man, and quite a tall, burly one at that. He was coming right towards Thomas, but probably hadn't seen the orphan yet. The boy hid himself behind the trees shadow discreetly as the burly man was followed by a thin young doctor.

"Your wife will definitely recover within a few days if she continues taking this remedy. I've specially made it for her, so there is nothing to worry about." The young doctor seemed so sure of himself, but there was something in the way his hands continued to fidget that showed his nervousness.

"People are saying she has the Black Death! Nobody's been cured of it yet!"

Almost like another person had taken over the fidgeting young man became confidant. "Sir, just because she has one of the symptoms... the rosy rings, right? It does not definitely mean she has the Black Death. Believe me, just allow her to rest and do not allow her near the children or anyone else."

Thomas was silent as the two of them wrapped up the conversation and headed back to the tall man's house. He had a horrible feeling having overheard such a terrible conversation... Yet he wanted to trust the doctor and believe that the man had finally created a remedy. There was not telling for sure, but Thomas tried to put it out of his mind as he curled up on the ground and tried to force himself to sleep.

Somehow he'd managed to fall asleep, but he woke up before morning which he hadn't expected. He felt someone was nearby, and was getting a horrible feeling. As he carefully looked at his surroundings he heard someone breathing heavily, and they were nearby. As he surveyed the surroundings he finally was able to see the person who was breathing so heavily standing over him.

He contemplated what running would do and if the person would try to catch him. But then all he could think about was where that awful smell was coming from... it came out of nowhere and he couldn't figure out what could possibly smell this bad. The person above him got on her knees and reached out to touch Thomas. He jumped up and backed away from her.

That's when he realized where the smell was coming from... the woman had 'The Black Death' and was beginning to rot. Thomas ran away from the woman and from the realization that if she had touched him he could've been infected! The doctors in town told people that it was a disease that was contagious by touching skin-to-skin. He wasn't sure if that was accurate or not, but he wasn't about to risk it.

After he realized he'd run far enough away he slumped against the wall and just felt the exhaustion setting in. Looking around he realized that he was in the better part of town compared to where he usually hung around. This was the part of town where Julia probably lived, and maybe even that evil guy Rudolf. That just made Thomas angry to think that Julia liked Rudolf so much...

He's the only reason she goes to school is what she said. So what was Thomas to her? Probably just a friend or something like that... but that's not what he wanted to be. What he wished to be was something like her beau... But that wasn't likely at all because of their differences.

She was born in a high class while he was the lowest of the low. There was no chance he'd ever get to be with her. It didn't help that he had fallen hopelessly in love though, because she's the only girl he ever thought about so fondly.

He fell asleep once again on that street corner thinking of Julia, and had very pleasant dreams.

----

Duo felt his body aching all over, but most of all felt a terrible emptiness. Something of this caliber had never plagued Duo, and he couldn't figure out why. He tried to sit up and his body made sure it was really difficult. His head was pounding, and all of his muscles were screaming in agony. The only question that Duo had was why the hell was he in this much pain?

He tried to take in his surroundings, but everything was distorted and unfamiliar. So instead of continuing to figure out where he was, the half-vampire just closed his eyes and laid back down.

The only thing he could tell was that this was obviously a place made to hold someone captive. There were chains around his wrists that kept him on 30-foot long chains. Long enough to not let him wander, but at least the person gave him some room to move about his small cell. Most likely the restraints were just a precaution in case he got violent. He didn't think they were necessary, but obviously the person who'd put him in here thought it was.

"So you've finally woken up." A voice was mocking him, but Duo was in too much pain to sit up and see who it was. It obviously wasn't anyone he knew, not that he expected any of his friends to ever take him captive, but as far as he was aware he'd never done anything to this person. "I can't believe the legendary vampire lord Heero would take you of all the people he had to choose from."

In a way the voice reminded him of what Zechs was saying before... is it really that unbelievable that he got together with Heero? According to the fortune-teller their relationship was destiny. So why is it that everyone was so against them ever even being in the presence of each other?

"You moron, wake up!" Somehow the person had gotten into his cell and was standing right beside him. To make Duo 'wake up' the person kicked him hard in the ribs, and Duo knew it probably had just broken at least one rib. He rolled onto his side as a defense, but the guy wouldn't let him. Instead he was picked up and forced on his feet. "You're nothing like I expected... but I can say some rumors about you are true."

"Rumors...? Who are you?" Duo blinked as he looked directly at the face of a young man whose looks betrayed his strength. "What the hell is going on?"

"I suppose you don't really remember me that well, do you? Just a little while ago I came to say hello to Heero, and I made him a promise I intend to keep." Without warning the young man was using his finger to trace the line from Duo's neck to his collarbone. Duo immediately tried to pull away, but was unable to. "So you're not as dumb as you look."

He let Duo go with a smirk and began to walk away without answering any questions. Yet the half-vampire wasn't ready to allow this guy to go without even finding out where he was or why he was here. "Who are you?"

The young man sighed and looked down at Duo as if he was absolutely pathetic, "If you must know my name it's Janus."

Even though Duo knew the two of them had never met, the name sounded so familiar to him. Where had he heard it before? He allowed Janus to leave in order to ponder why the name was familiar to him. So once again he was left alone in the dark room with no knowing where he was or why he was here. But at least he knew something now, even if it is just a name.

He tried to remember if he'd ever heard the name before, but nothing came to mind. The year he'd actually been half-vampire Heero had never spoken about other vampires that much. At least not vampires outside of their own castle, and even though he felt stupid now Duo never believed there were many vampires outside of Heero's castle. Now he was able to see how obvious it should've been that there are plenty of other vampires out in the world, but maybe he just didn't want to believe that.

It made him feel superior to everyone if he was one of the few vampires rather than just one of many vampires. His head began to pound telling him to just stop thinking and go back to sleep, but Duo didn't think it was such a good idea. He didn't want to let his guard down even for a second if he could help it, but obviously his body had other plans. Instead of obeying him when he wanted to sit up, Duo's body remained motionless on the dirt floor. At least he was able to recognize that the floor was dirt which was a sign his head was beginning to clear. Now everything looked a little more clear and less distorted compared to earlier. Yet he still couldn't figure out where he was.

Finally after a few more hours, Duo's body could no longer try to function and he ended up falling asleep. His sleep was cursed with nightmares of things he didn't imagine were possible. But he was woken up as two men were unlocking his restraints. His first thoughts were to try and escape, but his body was still too exhausted to do anything but allow the men to drag him to their destination. As they were taking him to the new area the only thing Duo could remember from his horrible dream was the feeling of dread and fear.

When he tried to remember anything that was happening in the dream or who was there all that came up was a blank. Even so Duo had the distinct feeling of déjà vu like perhaps this was exactly what his dream had been about. Once he realized this was his chance to figure out where he was apparently they had already gotten to the place these huge men had been ordered to bring him. They dropped him and Duo looked around to find himself most likely in the basement of a castle similar to Heero's.

"I like this place much better than the other area, don't you?" Janus was smirking at Duo as the half-vampire tried to get up. "I wouldn't put so much effort trying to do the impossible. As soon as I brought you to my territory I drugged you to make sure that you wouldn't cause any trouble."

Duo knew it should've been obvious that he'd been drugged, but it was hard to think clearly in this state. "Why did you bring me here? I haven't done anything to you, and neither did Heero..."

Janus laughed and this seemed even more familiar to Duo as the vampire moved closer. "That's where you're wrong Duo... Heero was the one who initiated this by stealing my prey from me. That's not even the worst part though, he let her go. No vampire in their right mind would let easy prey like that escape, and especially after he went through the trouble of stealing her from me!"

Finally managing to stand up Duo was starting to feel his head clear a little, and his body was responding better. "All of this over something so stupid? You must be out of your mind."

"You've done something as well Maxwell," the vampire said Duo's name with such spite that it made the half-vampire freeze up. "You've taken such a great vampire as Heero and turned him into something so pathetic! Don't think that the rest of us vampires haven't noticed how much he's changed from how he used to be. I used to look up to that loser, and now I'm ashamed for saying so. And it's all your fault he's become this way."

Duo was still frozen by how this stranger knew his name... he had never even told anyone besides Heero his surname before. So how did this guy know it? Obviously Duo did know Janus from somewhere, but he was finding it impossible to remember.

Who is Janus? Or who was Janus before he became a vampire?

----

Here's another chapter just to show the story is still going!

Merry Christmas to all you guys!

Please R & R!

Shari Maxwell