Chapter Music: "Twinkle, Twinkle" from the "Dead Space" OST.
Rust on the Lock.
Chapter 4.
How I Wonder What You Are.
In the dark blue sky you keep, and often through my curtains peep. For you never shut your eye, till the sun is in the sky. As your bright and tiny spark lights the traveller in the dark - though I know not what you are - twinkle, twinkle, little star.
ooo
For the past couple of weeks, Lex and Maxi have been meeting up in the apartment complex playground at seven o'clock in the evening, and they have been playing together every night until ten o'clock, when Lex has to go to bed. He still doesn't know when Maxi goes to bed, but he doesn't think to ask. Lex tries not to think about asking a lot of things. He doesn't see Mr. Read that often, and he really hopes he doesn't see him anytime soon. Maxi said that his dad works late on the nightshift, and that is all he said. He didn't seem to mind that he had to stay all alone during most of the night, since he gets to play with Lex, to keep him company.
Lex hasn't told his other friends about Maxi yet. He has only just met him, and the tyke is awfully shy anyway. Introducing him to lots of people at the same time may rattle him a little. He's a fragile kid, after all. Just one step at a time.
"Your hands are massive!" Maxi squeaks, smiling as he presses his palm against Lex's, giggling at the size difference. Lex smiles too, chuckling through a closed mouth. They were playing on the swings a while ago, until Lex started to feel tired, so they went to hide under the wooden castle frame. Maxi is still acting playful, snuggling up against the bigger boy as he sits on his lap. The little lad is still very bouncy and giddy. Honestly. Lex doesn't know where he gets his energy from.
"I think it's more of a case for you being tiny" Lex points out. He laces their fingers together, warmth against cold skin. "…I'll have to go inside soon, Maxi. It's getting late."
"Oh, please don't." Maxi leaches onto the largest boy's shirt, a killer but cute pout on his bottom lip. "It's the weekend. Surely you can stay out a little bit longer. Please, Lex."
Lex laughs and shakes his head. "Alright, alright. Stop begging. I'll stay out until Dad calls me, but only because it's isn't a school night."
"What's your school like, Lex?" Maxi asks in a soft, little voice, a even softer smile on his slight mouth. "Is it a nice school?"
Lex nods his head, his eye focused on Maxi's pink mouth. "It's great… as far as schools go." He runs his index finger over the line between the kid's bottom lip and the skin of his chin. "Has your dad enrolled you into a school yet?"
Maxi pulls away, soft mouth tensing, and he looks at the ground. "No, but we are going to move sooner or later, there's no point."
"Oh." Lex tilts his head to the side. "That's too bad… Maxi, have you ever been to school?"
"Of course I have!" Maxi blurts out, defensive and insulted. "I'm not stupid or anything!"
"I know you're not! Sorry. I just didn't know."
"…Alright… Oh, look!" Maxi points back out of the castle enterence, a big grin on his face. "Look, Lex. It's snowing! It's really snowing." He jumps off Lex's lap, and wiggles out of the castle into the open playground, giggling. Lex sighs, smiling to himself and follows.
Cold, fragile flakes are falling from the black sky above, from nowhere, landing on his face and melting in a instant. It is indeed snowing, and that makes him smile. He can't go to Icicle this year, but the Icicle weather seems to be coming to them instead. He sticks out his tongue, catching some of the flakes in his spit. A rather large snowflake lands on the very tip of the damp muscle, and he shivers from the chill, broad shoulders shacking.
Maxi copies and doesn't shiver an inch.
Lex doesn't notice, as he is far too busy looking up at the sky in wonder and awe.
No matter how old you get, the first snowfall of the season always amazes people. He pushes his gloved hands into his coat pockets, and blinks when he feels something large inside. Then he remembers, and pulls out the paper bag of pick-and-mix sweets be bough during lunch today. Grinning, he manages to pull out two sweets - a lime jellybean and a foam banana - and pops them into his mouth. "Want some, Maxi?"
The smaller boy turns around to face him, arms still out to embrace the snow, and his head cocks to the side as his gaze falls on the white bag. He reminds Lex of a curious kitten. "What's that?"
"Pick-and-mix." Lex stretches his arm out, shaking the bag so the sugar goods rattle and bump together. "Take as much as you want."
Now Lex knows that, normally, a little kid would jump to the chance of free candy, and their grabby hand would be in the bag in a flash… But Maxi is not like that at all, opting to just stare out the bag, his pretty face scrunched up in confusion and uncertainty. His arm relaxed a little, dropping down. "What's wrong?"
"…I'm not allowed sweets" Maxi mumbles, shaking his head.
"…Not even one."
"No. Not allowed."
"Are you allergic to something?" Lex asks. "Or hypoactive?"
"No, no. I'm just not allowed to have any."
"Oh, come on. I'm sure one can't hurt." Lex walks on over to his friend, holding the bag up again, smile friendly. "I won't tell if you won't."
Maxi can't resist the handsome smile on Lex's face. He isn't rude, so being the polite young boy he is, he timidly reaches into the sweetie bag, and pulls out a jelly-baby. A fat, red, flour-covered jelly-baby that reminds Maxi of a hardened, deformed blood clot.
It doesn't help.
He can feel the taste of bile building in the back of his mouth already, but he swallows it all back down, and pops the clot-baby into his mouth, chewing fast and his face becomes more white by the moment. Lex stares, unsure about what is happening. Then Maxi claps his hand over his mouth, and goes running across the playground, disappearing around to corner to the dumpsters. A sound of someone gagging and throwing up follows.
When Lex gets there, Maxi is just vomiting stomach acid. He didn't even manage to open the dumper's lid and throw himself over the edge, so sick is splattered on the ground, up onto the dumper's side. Lex shudders as he sees the state of the sick: dark, and it looks sticky, like melted black toffee, but it doesn't smell sweet. Not at all.
Maxi must be really, really ill.
"I'm sorry, mate," Lex mumbles. "I shouldn't have made you." Maxi takes a few breaths, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. He looks more white and frail then normal.
"It's not your fault," he tells Lex, voice wavering and weak, snow clinging to his hair. "…I think I better go inside now."
"Yeah. You do that." Lex strokes the hair out of the kid's eyes. "Go and get some sleep. You'll feel better."
"Yeah. I hope so." Maxi wraps his arms around Lex's waist, giving him a farewell hug. "Night-night."
"Goodnight." Lex nuzzles the boy's scalp. "You're going to be alright?"
"Yep. Don't worry."
Maxi gives his pal a trooper's brave smile, showing him that he's perfectly fine, then makes his way towards his building. Lex watches him until the lad is safe behind the door, then looks down at his sweetie bag. He has never seen someone have a reaction to one jelly-baby like that before. Maybe they are bad sweets… but they look and taste alright to Lex, and they are all in-date. He brings the bag to his face, and inhales the aroma.
No poison.
Just the smell of tangy sugar, and artificial fruit flavourings.
OOO
"- And finally, our main story on this snowy Monday morning: the search for missing college student, Victoire Seras continues. Twenty-one year old Victorire, from the Costa del Sol, was taking a holiday break in Midgar with her fellow students until twelve days ago, where she was last seen leaving the 7th Heaven bar at about midnight, with a young man, said to be in his early-twenties; eye-witnesses' descriptions of the man are so far between, police have said they cannot rely on the information fully.
"The press have started to question the opposability of this disappearance could be linked with the murder of twenty-three year old waitress Mina McMurray, now known to the public as the infamous "Ritual Murder." Earlier this afternoon, the captain of the Midgar Police Force, Seifer Almasy, along with Captain Squall Leonhart of the Radiant Garden Force, spoke in a media press-conference about the missing girl. This following is a segment of the conference:"
"The disappearance of Miss Seras has sent an unnerving wave of panic and worry across the media, and the public. Her family, and indeed her friends, have been gravely effected by this, and are praying for their loved one's safe return. As our duty, we are trying our very best to find her, and to also bring an end to the suffering of Mina McMurray's family, who wish for their daughter's murderer to get what he deserves."
"Captain Almasy, is there any positive evidence that this disappearance is linked with the so-called "Ritual Murder"?"
"I do believe that this is a very common question being asked at this time. I'll allow Captain Leonhart to answer."
"Thank you, Almasy… At this current time, there is virtually no evidence that the disappearance of Victoire Seras is linked to the murder of Mina McMurray; apart from the obvious fact that both victims were young women in their early twenties… However, at this time, we are not dismissing the possibility of a link between the two events either. If that is the case, the police will work long and hard to find Victoire, before she falls into a similar, devastating fate as-"
"-BUT DON'T CRY LIKE A BITCH WHEN YOU FEEL THE PAIN!"
"Demyx, I was listening to that," Lexaeus grunts, furrowing his brow at the boy across the shop. "Turn it back."
"Oh, come on!" Demyx spins around in the chair behind the counter restlessly. "That news-thing was boring the crap out of me."
"At least turn off that rubbish music, then" the man orders. "It nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Oh, fine. We can sit in silence." With a moody frown, Demyx switches the radio off, and folds his arms over his chest. "I hate those press-conferences. They are so boring to listen to… How do you cope with them when you were in the force, Lexaeus?"
"A half-bottle of whisky" Lexaeus jokes, a smirk on his lips. "It made picturing everyone in their underwear far more easier."
"So you weren't so nervous?"
"No. It was just plain funny."
From the stockroom, Saïx and Vexen come out half-carrying, half-dragging a new, still taped-up box along the floor. Saïx looks around, puzzled. "What happened to the radio?"
"We can't listen to it, because Lexaeus is a boring old fart," Demyx huffs.
"Oh. Alright then." The men manage to drag the box over the window, and Vexen cuts the flaps open with his craft knife. Many volumes of LOVELESS are inside the box.
"These books have been on demand, but no one has come by today." Vexen rolls his eyes. "Why did we even bother with the order?"
"Vex, have you not seen the snow?" Lexaeus laughs. "It's probably inches thick out there. Not many cars can get through that."
The phone rings out, and Demyx grabs the reviver sharply. "Joe's Meat House. You pick 'em, we kill 'em…"
"Demyx!"
"I mean, Academic's… Oh, hi, Xaldin. It's you. What's up? …Drinks? Oh, yeah! I can totally go… Yes, I'll bring my ID this time. Just a sec." The boy covers the mouth piece with his hand, pulling the receiver a little away from his head. "Xaldin wants to go boozing tonight. Anyone going?"
"Xaviera is at her mother's today" Vexen says, and that always means 'yes'.
"I will" Saïx mumbles with a shrug. "It's been a about you, Lexaeus?"
The brunet thinks about it. "...I'll have to make sure Lex knows first."
Demyx nods and turns back to the phone. "We all can… 'Kay. See you at seven." He puts the phone back down onto the cradle with a clatter.
OOO
By midday, Demyx and Saïx left for lunch, but Vexen and Lexaeus have stayed in the store, eating sandwiches they made themselves this morning. As Lexaeus starts on his bunch of green grapes, the front door opens, bell jingling.
"Hey, guys."
"Rinoa?" Vexen stands and greets the girl at the door, brushing snow off her shoulders for her. "What are you doing here?"
"I came for a book," Rinoa smiles sweetly. "Obviously." She gently pushes his hands away, not wanting to be fussed about. "Don't worry. I'm fine."
"Is it should a good idea for you to be walking around in the cold?" the old man asks. "While you are, well, in your condition?"
"She's not a cancer patient, Vexen" Lexaeus sighs, amused.
"I was taking Squall some lunch" Rinoa explains, pulling off her woollen gloves, pulling the right off by the middle finger with her teeth, "and I need to pick up a book order anyway, so I stopped by."
"I better go get your book then." Vexen takes a pause to remember. "…It was that baby book, wasn't it?"
"Yes." Rinoa furrows her brows together, looking a little annoyed. "Squall's idea. The worrywart." As Vexen slips into the backroom, Lexaeus stands and walks around the desk, brushing the crumbs off his palms.
He chuckles. "You're a good girl, talking Squall his lunch," he smiles. "Couldn't he buy some food from a store?" A soft sigh escapes Rinoa's lips, and Lexaeus blinks at her. "Rinoa?"
"…To be honest," the girl mumbles, "Squall hasn't been eating much at home lately, and I think he skips lunch when he's at work. So I'm taking him something he might like t make sure he will eat."
"Oh." Curious, Lexaeus leans back on the front desk, arms folded. "Maybe he is just stressed. You know, about the murder. And now this missing girl, and you are expecting a child in a few mouths. That's a lot to take on."
"Hmm…" Rinoa shifts her weight to her left foot. "I hope this whole messy business finishes soon. I think all of this captain stuff is getting to him now." She jumps a little bit as a large hand rests lightly on her shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze.
"Speaking from experience," Lexaeus says softly, "I know how hard it is to be captain of the force, but I also know that Squall is strong-willed, and can handle himself. That is why I nominated him when I went into early retirement. So just focus on yourself and the babe, alright?"
Rinoa smiles. "Thanks, Lexaeus."
OOO
Rinoa has been to the police station countless of times. For parties mostly, but she used to stop by after work to wait for Squall, so they could walk home together. Sometimes they would take his squad car, and ride it up to the woods and park up then. It would often lead to making out, or making love. Young love, and all that.
Last time, inthe fall, they forgot about protection.
The floor is just as polished and pale as ever, splattered with wet were people have dragged themselves in from outside, that made her feet squeak against the ground. Padded chairs are lined up against the wall, soldier-like, and the clock behind the reception desk is correct to the last second.
She manages to catch the reception girl before she runs off on an errand. The rookie smiles at her. "The captain isn't back from his press-conference yet, Rinoa. If you want to wait around, he shouldn't be too long." So, the woman sits herself on one of the brown chairs, alone in the reception area, passing the time by flicking through the baby book. It's just a standard how-to guide, covering subjects like feeding, nappy changing, bathing. The bare-bone basics. It's like Squall thinks they should go back to school for childcare. Silly boy.
"Excuse me. Do you need anything, ma'am?"
Rinoa looks upward, and comes face-to-face with a blond man, dressed not in the Garden's black police uniform, but in navy blue. The pips on his shoulder tell her that he is a captain too. She puts the book anyway, and stands up promptly, brushing wrinkles out of her skirt. "I'm fine, thank you. I am waiting for Captain Leonhart for… a domestic matter."
Blondie's eyes widen a touch. "You are Rinoa Heartily."
A bit surprised, Rinoa nods her head. "Y-Yes… How did you know?"
"I'm Captain Cloud Strife of the Kalm force." The man offers a hand. "I've been working with your partner on the murder case."
"Oh. Yes, I recognize you now. Off the telly." Rinoa faces and shakes Cloud's hand. "Pleased to meet you."
"And you, miss." Cloud's smile is friendly, and a little tense. "I hope you are not here to see Squall for a emergency."
"Oh, no" the girl laughs. "I just brought Squall some lunch… Tell me, Captain Strife-"
"Please. Cloud."
"Okay. Cloud, has Squall been eating properly?"
After a moment of brief thought, the man sighs, shoulders dropping. "To be honest, Rinoa - I am allow to call you Rinoa, right? Thank you - I really don't see Squall eating that much, and I've been in his company a lot lately. He eats like a bird, if you know what I mean."
"I thought so."
The double doors open, and Cloud smiles at the newcomers. "Look, here he is now."
Rinoa perks up a little, and sees her lover walking towards them, looking quite concerned by her presents. Another man is with him; another blond with a scar on his face.
"Rinoa," Squall arches a brow, "what are you doing here?"
"Don't worry. I'm not here for anything bad." Rinoa looks from Squall's scarred face, to the another marred by a cut. "You must be Seifer, hmm? I'm Rinoa. Squall's girlfriend. He's told me quite a bit about you. Nice to meet finally you."
"Umm. Y-Yes" Seifer stutters. "Nice to meet you too, miss."
"Give us a moment." Fast and swift, Squall catches Rinoa under her arm with his hand, and promptly pulls her to the side, away from earshot. When he lets her go, he talks in a quiet voice.
"Rinoa, what's wrong? Is it the baby? You shouldn't be walking around outside in this weather-"
The girl rolls her eyes. "Don't be daft, Squall. I just brought you some lunch." She rummages through her bag, and pulls out a clear, microwave-proof tupperwear box. "It's just some left-overs, but it will be just as good if you heat it up."
Squall has to smile. "Thanks, dear. You shouldn't have."
"Well, someone has to look after you," Rinoa shrugs, smiling back. "By the way," she adds, "what time are you coming home? You need to get dress and everything."
The man blinks. "…For what?"
Rinoa's eyes widen in shock. "For dinner, Squall! Remember? We were going out because you've been stuck here, and we've hardly seen each other. I can't believe you!"
"…Oh, Gods. That was tonight?" Squall claps a hand to his mouth, wanting to slap himself. "Rinoa, I'm sorry. I forgot."
"Obviously." Rinoa scowls, brows knitting together. "We planned this ages ago, Squall!"
"I know, I know, but please understand." Although scared about the possibility of having his arm ripped off, Squall places a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "We are swamped here, with the murder case, and now this missing girl, and- I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you later."
"…You better, Leonhart." Rinoa hands him the plastic box, and after a moment of hesitation, gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. She smells clean, and Squall feels even more guilt. "Don't stay out too late, darling… See you when you get home." And then she leaves without another word, tightening her scarf around his neck and pulling her hat down. Squall watches her slip through the doors into the snow without looking back at him. When she is gone, he looks down at his tupperwear box, and pops open the lid.
Rinoa's chicken caesural.
Seifer slowly walks over to Squall, as if he is trading on eggshells. "Trouble at home?"
Squall shoots him a glare. An nasty, dirty look, staring daggers into him, then storms passed him, to go to the break room and microwave his lunch, then go to his office to eat in peace, straight from the tupper-box. Seifer blinks, looking back at Cloud. "What just happened?"
Cloud shrugs. "Maybe you were being intrusive."
"I was not. I was just seeing if he was going to be alright."
"Just leave him be." Cloud places a hand on the other captain's shoulder. "Let's just get some coffee from the machine, and join the others in the briefing room."
"What about Leonhart?"
"Leave him to simmer down for a moment. He'll be alright. He's got dinner to eat."
OOO
Evening time.
Zexion sits down on the toilet in the motel room's on-suit, seat fully down, and quickly punched in a number into his mobile phone. He's shivering, but not because he is just sitting here in his boxer-shorts and his own flesh, and this little dingy motel bathroom has a draft running through it; the tiny window leaving a small gap open at the bottom. He is shivering, because he doesn't really like his place. The dickhead could have paid out more for a hotel uptown, but beggars can't be chooser, right? A job is a job.
Placing the phone to the side of his head, Zexion listens to the ringing, waiting.
Ring-ring. Ring-ring. Ring-ring.
He hangs up, then retypes the number, placing it to his ear again.
Ring-ring. Ring-ring. Ring-ring.
Again, he hangs up and phones the same number again.
Ring-ring. Ring-ri- Crack.
"Hello, Papa."
Zexion can't help smiling at the sound of Maxi's voice. "Hey, mate. Mm, I'm going to come home a little later then planned. The guy I'm with… He's wants more hours then he ordered at first, so I'm going to stay for a little longer. I'll be back well before sunrise though, so don't worry about that.
"…"
"Maxi?"
"…Alright." The boy sounds sad, and Zexion's heart twists painfully. "See you when you get back. Love you."
"I love you too."
Dial tone.
Zexion stands and puts his mobile back into his bag, zipping it up. A loud bang at the door makes him jump, and a angry voice bellows at him.
"I'm not paying you to stay in the fucking bathroom all night!"
Zexion sighs, and drops his boxers. He quickly fixes his hair into a sexy bed-head style, then puts on his fake, seductive smile. His slut smile. He turns towards the door, and struts out into the bedroom confidently. His inpatient client stares at him hungrily for only a moment, then grabs him in anticipation.
OOO
"Key, key, key, key, key… Where's the key?"
Maxi scratches his head in puzzlement. He knows he put the key down somewhere in the den. He thought it was on the coffee table, but now it seems to have grown legs and ran off without him. Such a naughty key. He can't get out of the flat without it… but to be honest, Maxi shouldn't really have a key of his own. Zexion thinks that he has all the keys, but one evening, Maxi took a set of them, and had them cut behind his papa's back. That was very bad of him, but that was the only way of getting out like… well, normal. He can't keep going through the window. Maxi sighs.
"Guess I need to do that tonight after all." He pulls on his puffy, padded coat, then skips into the tiny, little bathroom. He pulls the latch on the frosted window and pushes it up. It creaks, groaning for oil, but the boy ignores the plea, clambering onto the windowsill. He knocks a bottle of shampoo onto the floor with his knee. "Whoops." He doesn't pick it up again. He checks that the coast is clear, that no people are in the courtyard below. No one. Not even Lex. Which is good.
He swings his legs over the ledge, dangling in the air against the brick outside wall, ducking his head under the window. Balanced perfect on the outside ledge, Maxi closes the window to ajar.
Then jumps. Five floors to the ground.
He lands in the snow perfectly on his feet, then loses his balance and falls onto his bum with a bump. "Whoops."
He stands up again, brushing the snow off his person, looks around again, sees nobody, and goes off to sit on the climbing frame. After a while, Lex comes out through the front door of his building. When he sees Lex, Maxi smiles broadly. Lex is a good distraction; during these evenings, Maxi can forget that his father is draining people's blood ,or getting pounded into the mattress by some horrid, perverted businessman whose not satisfied with the love he gets at home. Maxi furrows his brow for a second. Nasty, gross men. "Good evening, Lex."
"Hey, Maxi." The bigger boy climbs up the bars, and take his seat next to his newest little mate. "I got a really good idea today. Have you been to Midgar lately?"
"Erm… No," Maxi says.
"Because all the city's Christmas lights are up," Lex grins. "Do you want to go and see them with me sometime. There will be lots of market stalls up and there is a ice skating rink in the central park this year. I'll pay for everything so… do you want to go?"
"Yeah!" Maxi's eyes shine with glee. "I'll love to! Can we go right now?"
"Erm." Lex's lips purse in an awkward fashion. "That's a bit sudden, don't you think? I mean, don't you won't to ask your dad or something?"
"He isn't in, and he won't be back until very late. Can we just go now, for a couple of hours? Pretty please."
"Umm…" Lex bites down on his lip, hesitating. "…I-I guess we can go. For a couple of hours. There and back. Nowhere else. Okay?"
"Yes-yes," Maxi grins, sharp pearl-whites on display.
OOO
Midgar is alight with strings of green and red fairy lights, golden neon shaped into cartoon snowmen, snowflakes, presents, and bells. Along the streets, buzzing with life and shoppers, window displays match the season. Clothes shops have manikins wearing woollen fashion, angel wings, and tinsel halos. Toy stores have teddy bears and rag dolls wearing paper crowns from crackers. A butcher, who has a big pig model out in front of the shop, bearing chalkboards on either side, had dressed it up as a Santa, so it could advertise the special offer on the turkeys hanging in the frosty window.
In the centre of the business district, there is a large, park-like patch of grass. During the year, it is normal quiet, where people can go to eat lunch in the sun, but, every year on Christmas time, a small market opens there, and it's always amazing to look at.
Lex and Maxi have already spent an hour in the city, and they have had a great time already. They find the man-made ice-skating rink in the very middle of it all, and the boys spent a good while standing at the side, laughing at people who kept falling over, and landing on their bums. They had a look around the shops and stalls, and admired the goods, and trinkets on sale - Maxi really liked the patch-work quilts. Lex preferd the glass hanings for tree By eight o'clock, they sit down on a free bench, and Lex tucked into a bag of popcorn he bought for himself. Maxi said he wasn't hungry.
"So," Lex says around his mouthful of food, "what did you ask Santa for this year, Maxi?"
Maxi smiles, shaking his head. "I'm not that naïve, Lex. I know there is no Santa."
"Oh… Well, what did you ask your dad for?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"Well, I haven't asked my dad for anything yet. I don't know what I want."
"I don't really want anything," Maxi shrugs.
"…You must want something" Lex mumbles, in disbelieve. "Every child wants Christmas present."
"Not really." Maxi jumps off the seat, and brushes himself off. "Can we find a quiet place to stay for a while? It's getting a bit noise."
"…Sure." Lex throws his paper bag into a litter bin, and the lads go off along the streets, and down an alleyway, out of the way of everything. "Maxi, are you alright? Do you have a headache?"
"A little bit." Maxi places a hand over his forehead. "I'm not used to big crowds, but I'm okay…" He trails off, starting passed Lex and points. "What's that?"
Lex turns around. Down the alley, there is a glimpse of a large factory-like building down there, surrounded by a tall, barbwire-topped fence. "…That's the Shin-Ra building. You know, the power company."
"Oh." Maxi's feet seem to have a mind of their own, and he starts to walk down the way, until he reaches the fence, fingers twisting around the metal wire. "It's not every big."
"They have other buildings around the place" Lex tells him. "My dad used to be in SOLDIER for them. They just have Turks now.
"I see… This place look interesting." The youngster starts to walk down the pathway, along the length of the fence. Lex stares after him, and watches his friend as he crutches down, tugging at the fence.
"Maxi, what are you doing?" he asks. The fence gives, and Maxi pulls the wire away, making a hole big enough to crawl through. Lex blinks. "How did you do that?"
"It was loose already," Maxi smiles. He knells down on all fours, and shuffles under the fence. Lex's eyes widen.
"Oh, no. Wait a moment." He runs on over to the hole, but Maxi is already on the other side, out of reach. Lex shakes his head, a little annoyed. "Maxi, this is trespassing. You can't go in there."
"I just what to have a look. Are you coming or not?"
"Maxi, it is not a good-"
"I would like you to come." The little boy smiles ever-so sweetly, cheeks rosy, and everything almost perfect. "If we get caught, you can blame it all on me."
"…I guess, if the Turks find us, we can cry and say we got lost on a tour or something. And we are going straight home after this." Nerve broken, Lex crawls under the fence after him, and the boys go exploring. Sometime later, after just finding a sealed crate labeled "TOP SECRET" next to a dumpster, Maxi finds a door ajar. He scratches and picks, squeezing his fingers into the gap. Slowly, it creeps open, the hinges rusted and brown. Behind the door, there are stairs, leading upwards and twisting at corners.
"What did you find?" Lex asks, catching up to him. He looks up, seeing where the stairwell leads. "No alarms have gone off."
"I think it goes straight to the roof," Maxi smiles. "Let's go."
As the boys climb up the steps, on the other side of the building, from the woods, four creatures catch a scent of cleanliness, earth, and dead blood.
OOO
From the top of the roof Lex, wrapped up with his hood up, can see the whole of central Midgar. From the developing slums in the west, to where protected woodlands grow to the east. A cold breeze blows over his face, awaking his senses. The sky is a dark purple, clouded over and starless. He just sits on the tar-coated roof, hugging his knees, staring at the site before him.
"AVALANCE blow-up the old Shin-Ra building years ago," Lex says softly, towards Maxi, but it could have been to anyone. "They were seen as terrorists, but they were trying to save the planet, so I never understood why people called them that. But, I was only little when that stuff happened. Five or something. You didn't understand much when you are that young, you know… You know, Maxi… Maxi?" He turns around, and finds the littler boy standing on the edge, looking towards the woods. Lex stands up suddenly. "…Maxi, get down from there!"
"Something isn't right," Maxi says, his voice wavering with slight worry. "Someone is out there… It can't be…"
"Maxi, I'm not fooling around. It's dangerous standing up on that ledge."
"They can't be here." Maxi is in another world all together. His legs are shaking, lip quivering. He tries to take a step back. "We ran so far away. They can't have found us already."
"Maximus!"
Maxi jumps from the shout, and his foot slips on a patch of ice, making him slip. Lex leaps forward, to pull him back, but it happens too fast.
Maxi falls over the edge, screaming.
Lex backs away, hands over his mouth, face turning white. He can't believe that see up witnessed. He saw Maxi… die. He buries his head into hands, and starts to cry. Maxi is dead, laying in the snow on the ground, possibly bleeding with his skull mashed open. How can Lex explain this? He can't even look over the side to see the body.
Maxi is…
There is a scrap, then another, and a bit of a groan. Lex hiccups, and looks through his gloved fingers. A pale, bare hand suddenly slides over the top of the ledge, then another, and Maxi pulls himself up over the side, tumbling onto the roof as he gasps for breath, shivering in shock. He looks over to Lex, who just stares back, horrified. "How did you…"
Maxi frowns, pulling himself up onto his feet. "…I didn't want you to find out," he whispers. "At least, not like this. Never like this…" There is noise from the other side of the door to the stairwell. A slam of the ground floor door, the clattering of feet against the metallic steps. Maxi gulps. "Hide…"
Lex is frozen on the spot, in a moment. "…How did you-"
"I will explain later." Maxi grabs Lex by the arm, his grip like a vice, and pulls him around the corner from the door, pushing him onto the ground. Lex lands hard, and stares up in disbelieve.
"How the hell did you-"
"Just be quiet, stay hidden, and stay downwind." Maxi runs off around the corner again, leave Lex alone and confused.
"But-"
The heavy door slams open, and Lex shuts his mouth.
Enter four strangers, stage left.
OOO
Maxi recognises the four people straight away; the red-hot colour of Axel's and Alexa's hair, the golden gems that are Xigbar's and Xenos' eyes. They are hardly wearing anything: loose shirts, baggy jeans, summer sneakers. The grown men are wearing jackets, but they are wide open, inviting the chill. The girl is wearing little more then a hoodie dress, and knee-height, black, lace-up boots. No tights, nor socks.
Maxi swallows some spit, and raises his shoulders.
"Told you I smelt him" Xigbar grins, absolutely proud with himself. "A bit more earthy then normal, but, still, here he is."
Xenos smiles joyfully. "We are so grad we found ya, mate."
"We were so worried about you, bud." Alexa skips forward towards him, raises her bony hand up to touch him. "It's been ages and-" Maxi jumps away from her, his eyes sharp and bitter, and Alexa backs away again, slowly, back towards her father's side. "You don't have to be so hostel," she mumbles. "Hasn't Zexion taught you some manners during the years?"
"…You should have stopped looking for us years ago," Maxi tells them, suddenly sounding very mature. "We can't come back, and you know it." Axel take one step forward, and Maxi takes six back. "Don't come any closer or-or…" Without a though, the little boy climbs up onto the roof ledge again, and points towards the ground, five stories down. "Don't come any closer, or I'll jump."
Axel barks a light-hearted laugh. "Ha. Isn't that cute?"
"Now really, kid. What do you think we are? We know you will survive the drop." Taking a step closer, Xigbar extends a hand towards the little child. "Come home with us, tyke."
"My home is where my father is" the boy tells them, furrowing his brow.
"Your daddy is coming along too." The one-eyed guy waves his hand in a coaxing manner, his smile nice, scar bending around his dimple. "Come home, kiddo."
Slowly, Maxi's expression soften. He looks like he is holding back a gallons of tears. "…You know why we can't come back."
Xigbar sighs, running a hand through his slick hair to pull out his hair tie. "We don't care about the reason. We will sort it all out. You will come back to the clan."
"I don't think Papa would want that."
"I didn't say "you should", I said "you will"." Xigbar is loosing his cool, and he is a laid-back kind of bloke. "We have enough of this. You and Zexion have put us through this crap for ten years, and we are tried of this."
"Dad, don't-"
"Your father's right, Xenos." Axel's voice is a growl, stoping the boy mid-sentence. "Either you come with us willingly, little boy, or you come back in fucking pieces-"
Slam
They all pause, and turn around. The door is wide open, hinges creaking as the wind pushed is from side to side. Down the stairwell, the sound of running boots is become quieter and farther away.
Maxi whimpers. "Lex…"
"…That earthy smell is gone," Xigbar says calmly. "Someone was here."
Xenos starts to worry a little. "What if they get someone?"
"They won't," Axel smile. "Alexa. Fetch."
"Wait! No!" Maxi screams, but they don't listen. Alexa is through the door, and disappears down the stairs in an instant. There and gone like a flash of crimson lightning at sunset.
He can't let this happen. Blood boiling, Maxi grits his teeth and runs, pushing past Axel, makes Xigbar fall over, leapfrogs over Xenos, and closes the door behind him. He grabs a broom left behind a forgetful old cleaner, and slides it through the door handle. Fists bang, nails scratch, and voice bellow on the other side. Axel is screaming every swear under the moon, but Max is already down the stairs, running.
Hopefully he isn't too late.
OOO
Lex has never run so fast in his life. His heart is pounding against his ribcage. A layer of sweat is forming on his forehead. His breath is short and rapid. He has never been so scared in his life.
Who were those people? What are they?
He trips and yelps, stumbles down a couple of stairs, manages to brace himself on the rail before he can crash all the way down. He presses his cheek against the cold stone of the wall, his breath harsh and rough in his throat, his heart still fast and startled, fluttering like a petrified butterfly. He closes his eyes. There is silence, not counting the creaking piping along the skirting boards. He can't stop shuddering, his nerves wrecked and ruined with lack of rest and fear. He has never been so scared before, and that was the most terrifying thing about it all. He is out of control.
Thump.
The boy's eye shoot open, a bead of cold sweat trickling down his nose.
Thump-Thump- Crash-Scrap- Thump-Thump-Thump!
Something is coming down the stairs.
Fast.
Lex jumps to the other side of the step and looks up the stairwell, the steps and banister twisting forever skyward above him, like a tight spiral with no end. The boy can see nothing, but can hear it. The sound of feet pounding against the hard steps, skipping many of them, getting closer. For a second, a flash of red appears and disappears a few floors up.
"Shit!"
Body in auto-drive, Lex's legs start running down the stairs again. He runs and runs, but it feels like he is getting nowhere. As if he is running in circles, and his predator is just getting closing to him. So close. Too close. After such a long, long time - or maybe it only felt like that - he actually smiles when he gets to the final floor, and the fire door is before him. He jumps the last three steps, tripped over his feet, and slams into the door.
It doesn't even move an inch.
"No, no, no!" Lex panics, both hands gripped on the bar, pushing it over and over again, tears starting to form in his eyes as his stacker gets closer, and his heart speeds up again to the point of exploding. "Oh, come on. Please. Please open up! Please Gods! Please!"
He can hear his chaser catching up on him, their feet light on the ground, like they are stomping on air. All of the sudden, Lex lets go of the bar, tightens the muscles in his arm and bangs himself against the door, trying to hit it open with his elbow and arm. The door finally starts to give, the locks shifts, letting it swing open for the lad, revealing the vast ground covered in white snow. Lex stumbles out, a weak, tired smile on his face.
Freedom. At last-
The creature, like a large cat, pounced on his back, digging its talon-like fingers into his shoulders, and pushes him to the ground. Lex screams, getting snow into his mouth and almost chocking on it. He tries to spit it out, only to have more fill his gob. He manages to worm around on the ground, turning his body up.
The redhead girl pins him down to the ground, the balls of her hands nailed into his arms. Her emerald eyes are full of confusion, wide and round. Her slim eyebrows are hitched high up her brow, then slowly lower down into a furrowing scrawl.
"Who the fuck are you?" she growls.
Lex starts to shout and fights against the hold, and manages to free his arm, reaching up to claw at her face. The girl squeals in surprise, trying to slap him away, but keeping him trapped under her on the ground by grinding her hips down into his gut, her bootleg legs tightening around his.
"Get off me, you freak!"
"Keep still- Ah!"
Lex manages to clap his hand around her skull, grasp her short hair and pulls it hard, tossing her to the side. He rolls over, his face hitting the bitter chill of the powder again, and manages to get to his knees.
All of a sudden, he pauses for a moment - in surprise, maybe worry - as he feels liquid trickle down his cheek, gathering at the corner of his mouth. It's only now he can feel the sharp pain in one pinpoint area of his face. He gingerly brushes his fingertips over the source of the wound, and a small piece of glass falls from his cheek. Somewhere in the snow, a empty, smashed beer bottle is hidden under the white.
There is a feline growl.
He stares back at the girl.
She is staring back, her eyes even more wider now, as if they are going to take over her entire face. Now, Lex see her in a new light: grey and silver strands in her hair, hollow and shadowy sockets, mouth salivating like that belonging to wild, staved beast.
Her iris burn with green fire of animalistic hunger.
She is a monster.
In impossible panic, Lex tries to get back onto his feet, struggling with a numb body, locked knees. He falls again, and hears the girl, the monster, whatever the fuck she is, scream like a feral lion cub, and scramble to her lanky, spring-loaded legs. Lex thinks he is going to die, and he has to face the facts that he is never going to grow up. It's a grim reality to face for a child, but he has to. He closes his eyes, and covers his ears, and prays to any god listening for his end to be quick and painless.
The back door slams open, and a sprinting, panting child runs across the ground, kicking up snow behind him, but he hardly trips, hardly stumbles.
As the redhead pounces, the runner jumps too, and the three collide together.
Lex goes flying from the impact, and hits his head on a rocky lump in the ground.
All goes black.
OOO
"…"
Maxi doesn't dare open his eyes, fearing the worst. He has a head - Lex or Alexa's - under his small hands, skull and skin broken open, hair and blood and sticky muscle-and-brain mush between his spindly fingers. Like lumpy jam from a smashed jar. He can't tell for seeing but he can feel that the face is turned fully into the snow, and their hair is roughly the same length. The mush has taken away the real texture of the strands - Lex's soft curls or Alexa's courser spikes - and it's all too slippery now.
If it's Alexa, she will awaken and repair herself in a day or so.
If it's Lex, Maximus Read has committed inattention manslaughter.
"…Please don't let this be Lex."
Maxi opens his eyes a little, looking through his eyelashes.
Red hair with red blood.
He breathes a sigh of relieve. Alexa is flat on her face, fisted arms sprawled out like crocked angel wings. One eye is visible and drunk-cloudy, half-open like her mouth. Red liquid is dripping from the gapping cavity. The pure white snow around her is splattered with scarlet.
Maxi removes his messy hands from her head, and looks beyond Alexa's still body, to find Lex laying nearby. He must have banged his head, because the boy looks like he's sleeping, a frown on his lovely face. Slowly, Maxi crawls over to Lex, and carefully moves the human's head onto his lap. He's getting vampire blood all over his face, but Maxi doesn't care about that at the moment. He checks over the boy's face, but there are only bumps and bruising.
Maxi smiles. Lex is just fine.
OOO
"Holy shit." Axel looks towards the ground, seeing his daughter with her head leaking blood and other crap everywhere. He knells down by Alexa's side, shaking his head. "Maxi really did a number on her."
"'Can't see the little bugger anywhere" Xigbar huffs, looking around, "or his friend."
Xenos is the only one frowning over Alexa's wounded state. He sits down in the disturbed snow turns her around, making her close her eyes with a gentle pull of her eyelashes. Her dead irises were freaking him out. "Will she be alright? …I mean, her head is, like, all smashed everywhere and stuff."
"She'll be fine." Axel shifts the girl's body around a little bit, and picks her up in his arms. She doesn't make a noise, not even a whimper or a airy moan of pain. Alexa is a picture of a violence, tragic-looking death, like a car crash victim or a suicidal jumper. He pulls her arm up so it isn't dangling lifeless by her side, letting it rest her stomach. "A long sleep is what she needs and then… hang about…" He turns her clenched fist around, and his eyes widened as the sight of cloth, maybe nylon, trapped in the cavity of her hand. "She's got hold of something."
"Really?" Xigbar walks on over, taking hold of Alexa's rock-hard fist. "Let's take a little look-see." The nerves in her muscles had turned stone-like, and unmoveable when they turned dead, so Xigbae has to use both of his hands to get the fist even slightly open. It's like trying to open an all-flesh oyster without a blade. Doing it the gentle way isn't working, and Xigbar huffs tiredly. "…Do you mind if I-?"
"Go ahead" Axel shrugs. "Anything to get it open."
"Right." Xigbar nods his head, and clutching the girl's wrist tightly with a embracing left hand, he grabs her thumb with his right, and breaks the bone along a joint. He then snaps back her index finger, her middle finger. Axel doesn't flitch at the noise but Xenos does, slightly. It sounds like brittle twigs under feet.
Xigbar pulls out the piece of brownish nylon, with a small splatter of dry blood in the corner. He places it against his nose, taking a sniff. The stench of human enter his senses, and a small, pleased smile dresses his lips. "Well, well, well. She may have let Maxi slip, but she managed to get something helpful after all."
Alarms ring from within the building behind them, wailing and calling out into the open. "About time those lot worked out we were here," Xigbar huffs. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
The men head for the barbed-wired fence, but Xenos stays by the puddle of blood. He knells down again in the snow, and starts to shovel up cool white into his hands, and plops it onto the red, burying it away from sight the best he can. It's a mess, but the red is gone after a fast moment. He feels a little better, not having a friend's fluid laying there like rainwater.
"Xenos!" The boy turns around. Xigbar has a hand on the fence. Axel has already jumped the fence, and has disappeared into the forest. "Come on, Xen. We gotta get going." The man jumps over too, perfectly landing on his feet and running off into the woods. Xenos stands and pulls his hands from the snow. Some of the blood has gotten onto his fingertips. He licks them clean, moaning over the taste and sensation.
Before the Turks could burst through the doors onto the grounds, the four vampires are already hidden in the deep, blackened shadows of the forest, running in the opposite direction of a sprinting Maximus…
OOO
As Lex starts to come around, he can hear running water close by, and a cold chill all over him. He only has enough energy in his shuddering nerves to open his eyes just a touch. He can see forest scenery; evergreen shrubs, snow-covered dirt ground, a little brook too fast to freeze over yet.
He feels so cold and stiff. So scared. The last thing he remembers is… vampires.
Icy tears spring to his eyes. He was so close to death. He could have died at the hands of a bloodsucking monster. He uses to think the idea of monsters was cool. Awesome even. Now he is shivering in fear from them. He feels a small coat over his frame. It smells clean and soft, just like little Maxi.
He fears a tiny, fragile child.
Still crying silently, Lex tries to focus on something nice, like…
When he was little, and he got upset over something at school or a scary dream, Lex would climb into his father's bed and Lexaeus would give him a cuddle, and sometimes he would sing to him. Just little soppy nursery rhymes but they made Lex feel better about everything…
Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are.
Gods, he misses those days. He misses being young and having no worries, apart from what flavour ice cream he wanted and what to do on rainy days… and he misses all the silly little things. He wants them all back.
"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky."
Lex wants tonight to be a dream, a nightmare. He wants to wake up, back in his own comfy bed, and everything is back to normal, where he is warm and safe and there are no monsters. Everything is normal and great again.
"When the blazing sun is gone, when he nothing shines upon, then you show your little light, twinkle, twinkle, all the night."
Someone is singing… It sounds so soft and soothing. Nothing like the rumbling warmth of his father's voice, but it's still… nice. Very nice… and scary. Hauntingly familiar.
"Then the traveller in the dark, thanks you for your tiny spark. He could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so."
Gathering all the strength he can, Lex manages to push up on his elbows, groaning with the ache, and looks up towards the sky, towards the bare, leafless boughs of the oak tree he is laying under. A figure is sat quite high up the said oak, sat perfectly sit on a branch, safe for legs swings slowly and steadily.
"…Maxi?"
"In the dark blue sky you keep, and often through my curtains peep, for you never shut your eye, 'till the sun is-" Maxi stops singing suddenly, looking downwards with large, glowing eyes. Lex shivers under the stare, cowering. Maxi smiles brightly.
"Lex, you're awake!" he says in a cheery voice, overjoyed to see that his friend is alright. He jumps down of the tree, landing perfectly on his feet. "Thank goodness. You hit your head very, very hard. I was starting to worry." He takes a few little steps over to Lex, and reaches out to touch his pale cheek. "You look so ill. We better get you-" With only an inch of air between finger and face, Lex makes a panicky noise, like a whimper, and shuffles away from Maxi. The vampire blinks, withdrawing his hand. "I'm not going to hurt you… but if you don't want me to touch you then I understand."
Lex never takes his eyes away from the creature. He feels weak. Like he can't prevent anything from happening to him, even if he tried to prevent it. Maxi just stares back, trying not to seem hurt. "…I'm not going to kill you. I promise."
"So you say." A cold shiver passes through Lex, and he looks down, realising that he is missing his shirt. That is why he had the coat over him, to keep him warm. "Where are my clothes?"
Maxi turns and picks up some cloth. It's Lex's shirt. He holds it out with both hands like a present.
"I had to wash Alexa's blood out" he explains. "I cleaned up your cut too. The scent of your blood is… quite potent." Lex shudders, but not from the cold this time. He snatches his shirt back, and pulls it on hastily. It's not damp, but it's really cold to the touch. Maxi sighs. "Lex, I'm sor-"
"I don't want to hear anything from you!" Lex snaps, pulling his own coat on now. He gets up onto his feet sharply, becomes dizzy and nearly falls over as he tries to stumble off, hopefully in the direction of a public pathway.
"Lex, wait." Maxi walks up to him. "Where are you going?"
"Away from you!" Lex sounds bitter and angry, and is resisting the urge to vomit. "Why am I even talking to you? You're a monster. I'm going home."
"We are miles from the apartments, Lex, and it's not safe."
"I'm not safe with you either! I rather take my chances with a pedo-rapist then you at the moment!"
"Lex! Please!" Maxi grabs onto his sleeve, sharp nails digging into rough fabric. "Let me explain! Please!"
Lex pauses, his mind splitting his half; wanting to listen, wanting to run away. He turn his head and growls under his breath. "What the fuck are you?"
"…My father and I…" Maxi says, stumbling over his own tongue. "We are vampires."
All at one, Lex's body seems to freeze, and starts to shudder violently, the cogs within his mind starting to turn and spin madly, matching the quickened rhythm of his heartbeat. It all made sense now. This explained oh-so many things: why he never saw the Reads out and around during the day, why Maxi doesn't eat in front of him, why the boy is so jumpy and giddy during the evening hours, how we survived the fall of the building…
They are monsters.
"…Please tell me you are joking" Lex pleas, his voice nothing more then a hoarse whisper.
"I wish I was." Maxi presses a hand to his chest. "I am a calmae vampire. One of normal traits. So is Papa. We were turned… quite long ago, and we have been jumping from town to town since forever." Lex is still, but pure fury is bubbling up in his blood, like fire and brimstone.
"…How old are you?" he asks, voice wavering.
"I'm nine."
"Don't lie!" Maxi jumps back a little and Lex pauses, taking a breath. "…Vampires can live forever. You could be any age… How long have you been… around?"
"…For about four centuries" Maxi answers, "…And a half."
Lex is as pale as the snow. "…You are a four hundred and fifty year old vampire child."
"No. I'm nine."
"You're not!" Lex bellows. He screams, and walks aimlessly around the place, his head between his hands. "You may look nine and act nine but you're still-" He freezes again, a thought flashing through his mind. "…The ritual murder." He turns around and stares at Maxi. "That girl's body was drained of her blood… It was you, wasn't it? You and your dad killed her and drank her blood!"
"She didn't suffer" Maxi tells him, shaking his head. "Papa kills quickly."
"…Shit, you did drink from her!" Lex doesn't know what to do. He wants to cry and faint, run away and throw himself into the bitter cold ground all at the same time. Maxi reaches out to touch his arm, but he just pushes his hand away. "Don't touch me! I don't want you anywhere near me! Go away!"
Maxi looks upset, like he is going to cry himself. "Lex, please." He walks a little closer, with the bigger boy backing away even more. "I don't mean you any harm. I like you. I saved you for the others. I really do like you."
"Stay away, freak!" Lex refuses to listen to him. He is still backing away, cold tears starting to drip from his eyelashes, rolling down his cheeks. "I hate you! I really, truly hate you!"
Maxi sobs loudly. Everything is going wrong, terribly wrong. "Lex, please don't say things like that… I don't hate you. My feelings are the complete opposite"
"I said I hate you! Got the message? I. Hate. Yo- Ahh!" Lex falls backwards over a raised root of the tree, and he lands in the white powder, a sharp shock of pain running up his spine He howls in pain, but opens his eyes as soon as something quite heavy sits itself across his stomach, trapping him under their weight. He stares up, skyward, and sees Maxi above him, straggling his hips to keep him pined down, his small hands resting against the human's chest. He stares down at Lex with such a upsetting, heartbroken expression… and he's crying.
Crying blood.
Crimson, shining tears, standing out against his pale skin, running together like river tributaries, like a red spider's web in need of repair. It's the most haunting, most creepy and most prettiest sight Lex has ever seen. He hiccups a sob, his shoulders still shuddering but he is far more calmer. Still scared but calmer.
"…Please go away, Maxi" he pleads, his voice crocking from his screaming.
"No" Maxi whispers. "I don't want to… because I like you." He lays down across Lex's body, chest-to-chest, and manages to snake his arms around his friend's neck in an embrace. Lex closes his eyes again, placing his arms around Maxi's waist.
This vampire, this monster is real and he saved his life.
He's his friend.
"…I don't hate you, Maxi."
"…Thank you." The little boy sits up again, wiping the red tears away with the back of his sleeve. He smiles. "It's late… Let's go home."
OOO
When the boys finally get back to the apartment complex, it's the wee hours of the morning, well past midnight. Lex feels half-dead, his limbs numb and his eyes heavy, but Maxi keeps tugging at his arm to keep him moving. Not even a small nap on the underground trams helped him out.
As they walk into the playground, Lex looks up, sees the widow of his living room aglow with light, and frowns deeply.
"My dad is going to kill me."
"He won't." Maxi takes hold of Lex's hands and blinks up at him, eyes large and glowing. "If he loves you, he won't be angry forever… Lex, please don't tell your daddy about what happened tonight."
"Like he would believe me anyway" Lex huffs, looking away to shrug.
Maxi frowns even more. "You don't want to be my friend anymore, do you?"
Lex looks down at the vampire's face, and that pleading, innocent expression makes his stomach sink. "…I can't really hate you after you saved my life… Thanks…"
Maxi smiles. "There's no need for that. I'm just glad that Alexa didn't bite you."
"…Are you going to tell me who they were?" Lex asks.
"Maybe. One day. Not tonight though." Maxi keeps an air of mystery around him, sounding so very mature, a mismatch to his sweet, underage face. "Just go inside and sleep. Don't try to worry about anything. It's going to be alright… Goodnight, Lex."
"Goodnight." Without thinking, Lex gives the bloodsucking (cutest ever) monster a big hug before watching him walk towards the second building. Maxi pauses when he realises that Lex isn't going inside.
"…What are you waiting for?"
"For you to get inside. I'm just making sure that you get in alright."
"…Alright" Maxi mumbles, "but just so you know, I didn't get out through the door tonight."
"So how did you get out?" Lex asks.
"Up there." Maxi points out to the slightly open bathroom window. "And I don't have a door key on my person."
"Then you are going to jump up?" Lex asks, partly disbelieving the facts, trying to remember that he was talking to a dead boy.
Maxi smiles, shrugs, then faces the building and runs towards it at full, frightening speed. Lex flinches and looks away, eye covered, thinking at any moment, Maxi was going to crash against the building and break his nose… but he hears scraping, and sneakers, and fingernails against brick and window ledges, and when he opens, Lex can't see a little boy smashed against the bricks, or on the ground at all.
He looks up, and finds Maxi high above, sat on the ledge of his bathroom window. At any moment, he could fall off but he doesn't, managing to pushing the window up a little more and slipping inside, out of sight altogether. Lex stares blankly at the window, waiting to see if the bathroom light will turn on, or if Maxi will reappear, but he doesn't, so Lex gives up and goes inside.
In the lift, he thinks about what he is going to say to his dad. The truth? No. He won't believe that… and he told Maxi, in a way, that he won't do that anyway. As far as his father knows, vampires are a work of fiction that live on the pages of books, and in the darker parts of human imagination. As far as his dad knows, Zexion and Maximus Read are humans. Weird, anti-social, and a little freaky, but humans nonetheless.
Lex gets off on his floor and walks down the corridor to his flat. He just stares at the door, fearing the worse. As soon as he steps through the door, his dad is going to kill him. That's the source of the dreading feeling he has in the pit of his stomach.
Swallowing his fear and some bail collecting in his throat, the boy reaches out and turns the door handle down, pushing it open. The set of keys left in the keyhole on the other side of the lock jiggle louder then anything, and someone in the living room shifts sharply in their armchair.
"Lex! Is that you?"
The boy doesn't answer, just closing the door softly behind him and turning the key, so the lock clunks shut. His father shouts again, sounding very angry. "Lex Aeleus Stone, you better answer me!" Nothing, and Lexaeus sighs, annoyed, getting up out of his armchair. "Gods alive, where the hell have you been? No note. No one knows where you are. I go trekking up and down the streets searching. You don't answer your frigging phone, and now you come walking in at two o'clock in the morning! You better have some pretty good rea-"
But as Lexaeus turns into the hallway, he pauses, no visible anger in his face as he stares as the shivering, miserable, battered boy before him, with his eyes watering and his bottom lip quivering. "…What happen to you?" Lex bursts into tears, crying loud and painfully, covering his face with his hands, ashamed and tired. Lexaeus makes shushing noises, shaking his head. "Shh, Lex. Lex. Sweetheart, I'm not angry at you. I just- I got worry and..." He kneels down on the floor on one knee, and opens his arms wide, welcoming. "Come here, darling."
Lex runs into his father's arms and locks his own around the his neck, like he is never going to let go again. Lexaeus runs his hands over the child's face gently, a frown on his mouth. "Gods, you're shivering. What happened to your face?"
"Dad… I was mugged. Sort of," Lex lies. "I went to the shop to get something for tea, and these two teenagers grabbed me, and tried to take my munny off me, but they didn't take anything. I still have my phone and anything. I didn't let them take them."
"Lex, I don't care about those things. I care about you." Lexaeus shakes his head, shuddering with bitterness, feeling that he's failed as a father. "What did they do to you?"
"They gave up after a while, and beat me up one last time, and left me in the alleyway. I wanted to phone you but my battery went flat, and was too scared to move so I stayed there until I felt safe to run home again."
"Did you see who they were?"
"…No …They were wearing balaclavas… I'm sorry, Dad."
"It's fine. It's fine." Lexaeus gives his son a kiss on his forehead. "You're safe now, and that's all that matters… You poor thing." He picks the kid up and carries him off to the bathroom. "Let's get you washed and looked over, then I'll make you some breakfast-in-bed."
Lex nods his head and buried his face in the crook of the man's neck. That was the most biggest lie he has ever told his father in his life.
OOO
It's now five o'clock on Tuesday morning, and Zexion has only just got home. He locks all the bolts on the front door behind him, then sighs shallowly. He feels unclean, dirty. He always does after whoring himself out, to put it bluntly. He hates doing it, but that is all he seems to be good for. To be a living, breathing sex-doll. As long as he was pretty and had a hole for the clients to fit in, he would get cash and that's all that counted.
He walks into the bedroom and finds Maxi wrapped up in the bed, curled up under the covers, looking perfectly innocent and peaceful. Zexion smiles at him but he doesn't pet the child's head, or kisses his cheek like a good father. He can't, not while he is still filthy and disgusting. He couldn't get his son dirty too. So he goes to the bathroom to clean.
Every time Maxi sees him after so-called working, Maxi says that Papa smells of one thing: Rape.
And, bless him, he's right and they both know it.
After filling the bathtub with lots of cold, pure water, Zexion strips off (for the third time tonight) and gets in. He sits there, scooping the water up in the cupped palms of his hands, and pours it over his shoulders and down his back, onto his face. He feels a little better; still dirty but he feels a bit cleaner.
He looks down at his body - slender, white and scarred. The perfect fuck-doll.
Closing his eyes, Zexion sighs out and doesn't breath back in again. He stops himself from breathing all together. His eyes still blink, his fingers twitch and move, and his toes can curl and flex, all without oxygen.
Slowly, he lays back into the water, submerging his entire body into the cold liquid. He stares up at the ceiling through the water, and it looks wavy and shimmers, like a dream, his hair swaying slowly like sea plants on a reef. Feeling ever so tired and happily numb, Zexion turns onto his side, cheek pressed against the bottom of the tub, and pulls his legs up to his chest, placing one of his arms under his head for comfort. He closes his eyes once more, falling into slumber.
Looking like a drowned corpse, or maybe a unborn foetus in a pouch of fluid, Zexion sleeps soundlessly. He won't wake up for another hour or two.
A/N: The victims' name come from vampire fiction: 'Mina McMurray' is a not-so-hidden reference to Wilhelmina Harker (née Murray) from "Dracula", and 'Victoire Seras' is a play on the name Seras Victoria, who is a main character from the manga series "Hellsing". They renamed nameless before because I didn't have this idea beforehand.
And the song I had in mind when Demyx changes the radio station is "You're Going Down" by Sick Puppies. Sorry for the massive delay in updating!