Chapter Music: Cold Inside by Hurt.
Rust on the Lock.
Chapter 6.
Dead, Though I Seem Alive.
He was meant to get lunch for himself and the others back at the shop, but when Lexaeus passes the police station, he stops and looks at it. Really looks at it. He isn't reminiscing about the good old days on the force; he had stopped doing that ages ago. He is thinking about Lex.
Whoever attacks his boy had no right, and Lexaeus would willingly rip those thugs limb from limb in revenge, but Lex didn't know who they were, and didn't see their faces, and that made things tricky. The boy was obviously scared by the whole thing, even asking his father not to follow on with going to the police… but he had to. He had to do something. He wouldn't be a good dad if he didn't.
He hangs around outside the station for a while. He couldn't go in, with young faces that would recognise him and talk at him, about how great it was when he walking the blue line of the law. It would be nice, but distracting. So he stays in the snow, with his coat collar pulled up around his neck to shield him from the icy winds, until he spots a young skinny man with spiky brown hair stomp down the steps and head down the opposite way of the street.
"Hey. Hey, Squall!"
The young captain stop and turns, surprised to see his former superior catching up with him.
"Lexaeus?" He smiles a little when they are face to face. "H-Hey. How are you doing?" He nearly salutes, but he remembers that Lexaeus told him to stop doing that ages ago, so he just pretends that he is brushing hair out of his eyes. "It's been a while."
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Too long… Where are you heading?"
"The café around the corner. It's my turn to pick up the lunch order."
"Ha. It's my turn too at the shop. I'll walk with you."
There is a bit of a silence as the men trudge through the snow in sync, and Lexaeus can't tell with it's awkward or not. It shouldn't be. He was friends with Squall after all… but it had been awhile since they saw each other.
"…How's the Ritual thing going?"
Squall glances over, arching a brow. "Pardon?"
"Why, you know. I though you might have been… stressed," Lexaeus shrugs. "When I was on the force, hell, we never faced something so gruesome."
The younger man sighs, his lips tightening into a thin line. He mumbles as he holds the café door open for Lexaeus.
"No offence, Lexaeus" he says, quiet so no one can hear, despite the lack of customers today, "but you're a civilian. I know you used to be my superior and everything, but we can't give out information out to people who are not involved." He expected Lexaeus to look hurt, but the man just shrugs like it was nothing.
"I understand, Squall. Need to know basis." He pauses his talk to turn to the girl behind the counter. "Ah, our usual order, please… I just thought you might like to talk about it with someone who was on another level."
"Yeah… Just a sec." Reaching into his back trouser pocket, Squall whips out a crumpled piece of note paper, and begins to recite his lunch order for the day. "Okay, we need one turkey on white; two BLTs, one of rye, other on wholemeal; one cheese toastie; three cheese and ham all on white, but one wants tomato and another wants lettuce and tomato; a chicken noodle soap to-go; and four pieces of cheesecake. For drinks, seven coffees, one with sugar, two with milk, two with both; a earl grey with milk; and a green tea."
Looking up, and seeing the confusion on the young waitress's face, Squall realises that he had been daft, and just hands over the paper and lets her go back into the kitchen.
"That's one big order" Lexaeus smirks. "Who wants cheesecake?"
"The girls and me."
The man chuckles a little. "Well, I guess a little dessert doesn't hurt."
"…Actually, that's my lunch."
"What?"
"And a coffee."
"Squall, sorry for sounding like a fussy mother, but… that's not a good diet for a young boy."
The caption actually cracks a smile, shaking his head slightly. "Rinoa tells me that too when she's not being angry at me."
"Rinoa's not happy at the moment?" Lexaeus picks up a couple of plastic forks from the tub on the counter, and slips them into his jacket's inner pocket. "Well, girls get very sensitive when they are pregnant. It's all the hormones and pain they have to go through."
"Hmm." Squall doesn't tell Lexaeus that he had to blow Rinoa and their date off for his work, and when he got home late, she had locked the flat's front door and hadn't made him anything to eat for his tea, or breakfast the next day. It's only now she is starting to cook for him again. The boy looks around the café, seeing if anyone would listen in, then turns back to Lexaeus. "I'll be honest with you, Lexaeus. The Seras girl. At this point, it's highly unlikely we are going to find her alive. It's been ages since she went missing, and no one has seen her. If that blood-draining maniac got a hold of her, we might as well start on a murder case."
Lexaeus arches a brow, but shows no anger or surprise to Squall's confession. "Sounds like you are giving up on the case entirely."
"No, no. I'm not. I'm just… I don't know, tired. This and the baby and Rinoa. I mean…" Squall sighs and seems to deflate with his exhale. "It would be so much easier if you were still with us, Lexaeus. You were always good at balancing these things, and keeping things going."
"I think you're being a little hard on yourself." A large, rough-skinned hand falls firmly, but gently onto the boy's shoulder, and Squall feels his shoulders relax under its presence. He didn't even release he was so tensed up until Lexaeus touched him. "Don't work yourself to destruction, Squall. Maybe… you need a vacation or something. Take a break, for your own sake."
"…I don't think so. Thanks anyway."
The girl returns from the kitchens and gives Lexaeus a bag full of boxes and plastic bottles of drink. He gives her the correct change, and turns towards the door, looking at Squall one last time.
"Well, I guess I better get going or everyone will be hungry and angry when I get back… Take care of yourself, Squall."
"Yeah. You too, Lexaeus…"
As Lexaeus walks out into the street and the cold wind, he looks through the large window of a café to see Squall leaning up against the counter, head down. He couldn't see his face, but he guesses the boy is frowning. It's kind of sad, seeing him like that. When Lexaeus was captain, Squall was eager to learn, to help in cases, even when he wasn't involved in one he would try to put his two words in. He had good promise and now he looks beaten, worn out. A real shame. Maybe it was better that he didn't ask Squall to track down some teenaged punks for him at the moment.
Remembering Vexen's bitchy attitude from the last time he came back late from getting lunch, Lexaeus turns tail, and walks into the falling snow before him.
OOO
The closest Shiva temple to Radiant Gardens is ten miles out into the rural fringe, where there is only farmhouses, holiday cottages and a hell of a lot of sheep.
This temple is, by far, not the largest in the world, for Shiva nor any other God, but it's quaint and with a bit of spit and polish, it comes out looking lovely. Within the grey stone walls, the temple is different shades of calm, relaxing blues and whites. The stain-glass windows cast cold-coloured light along the marbled floors. All the padded, mahogany seats face towards the alter at the end of the hall, where a towering glass statue of Shiva Herself stands, arms open, tall and brave - a figure of a willowy, busty, beautiful creature, wearing little clothing, with clawed hands and fingers, Her long, thick hair groomed into twisted ropes.
It's the evening, and Aerith is still tidying up after midday services. Books need to be sorted, charity donations need to be counted, wilting lilies and snowdrops need to be replaced-
A pair of hands grab her from behind.
"Boo!"
"Ahh!" She struggles against the bear hug but relaxes when she sees who is it. "Get off me, Zack."
"What?" Zack grins, looking mischievous and goofy all at the same time. "Am I not allowed to hug my own girlfriend now?"
"Not when she is busy" Aerith sighs, wiggling away. "I'm almost done. Go wait over there somewhere." She waves her hand in some general direction, not really paying attention to where she was waving to. With that said, Zack sighed softly, but childishly, and dumps himself on the top step leading to the alter. He cradles his head between his leather-gloved hands. "So how was work?" Aerith asks.
"Not too bad… I guess" Zack mumbles with a half-hearted shrug. "Boring though… Did you hear about the Shin-Ra building?"
"Yes. It was on the radio. Have they gone over to bug you yet?"
"Of course they have. It's Shin-Ra. You know Tseng and Elena, right? They sent them over to bug Seifer. Not every fair I dare say. Well, anyway, some of us are going over tomorrow to check it out."
"Hmm."
"And Squall and Seifer's bickering is getting annoying by the hour."
"Oh?"
"I mean, it was sort of funny at first, but I mean, come on! Are you men or what? And Irvine said they have been like this since they were kids. Seriously, they both need to grow a pair."
"Um-hmm."
Realising Aerith was only humming to be nice and wasn't really paying attention, Zack looks around the church absently, placing his hands on his knee neatly. "Did Vexen come today?"
"I haven't seen him yet," the woman answers softly, quietly pruning. "Do you want to see your little playmates?"
"Hey. Xavi and Xosé are good kids. Tons of fun-"
"And happen to have the same level of humour you do" Aerith smiles.
Zack furrows his brows. "That's a little insulting, don't think you?"
The women tilts her head to the side and pretends to think about her statement. "…You are right! The children have a far more dry sense of humour then you do."
As Zack is about to defend himself, the heavy old doors at the template entrance open to ajar, letting the chilly winds in and making the icicle-shaped glass of the light hangings jiggle and clink. Vexen sticks his head around the door, his scarf loose and dangling around his neck.
"Evening."
"Good evening, Vexen." Aerith walks over to greet the man at the door, tightening her white rode around her body to keep herself from shivering. "It's quite late, you know. The last services ended a little over a hour ago."
"It's those road." The man's nose wrinkles, like it always does when he is annoyed, as he brushes snow dust off his shoulders. "Knee-deep at least. I was considering not coming in today, but Xaviera is always demanding and told me we had to come. Just like her mother that one."
"Well, at least you got here alright. Hello, kids." Aerith smiles at Xaviera and Xosé as she steps back to let them in. They smile and wave back.
"Oh." Vexen glances back outside, and points the little sensor on his key ring towards his car outside. "Hope you don't mind, the children brought a friend."
"Well, anyone is welcome to-"
Suddenly, a flash of purple and black runs by Aerith, startling her, but it didn't stop until it reached the alter and nearly bowled Zack over too. Zack stared up from his seat, and it took a moment to realise that the flash was actually a taller-then-normal lass with long black curls and crazy braids for hair, glowing violet irises of a mako, and a big grin showing off the wire of braces around her pearly whites.
"Hey Zack." She sounded breathless, but not from running. She was too fit to lose breath from that. "I'm Xenia. You went to my school a little back and - Gods, I sound so lame - I couldn't get the chance to see you, so I- Sorry, I know I sound dumb. I just like, with you and AVALANCHE, I really look up to you and, ya know, I wanted to see you properly, so here I am!"
It finally clicked with Zack and he smiles. The girl is a fan, and Zack likes fans. Not to sound bigheaded or anything, but he likes it when kids come up to him and look up to him like a role model… Or maybe a titan.
"Oh, yeah! Xav and Xosé talk about you sometimes."
"Really?"
"This is the one who punched a senior student in the face" Xaviera says reminding the man. "And broke his nose."
"Let's take a look at you." Zack stands up, hands on hips, playing the master, the knowledgeable one before a new student. He takes a studious look of Xenia, looking up and down. She was just wearing a jacket, and it was obvious she is strong and lean. Must play a lot of sport, along with being blessed with good genes and nutrition. "Hmm. Where are you from, missy?"
"Gongaga" Xenia answers, full of pride. "Like you."
"Thought so." Zack's smile grows bigger, nodding. "They grow them strong in Gongaga."
"So what the hell happened to you?" Xosé asks, and that makes the girls laugh a little. Zack furrows his brow. There was a time where Xosé and Xaviera looked up at him with admiration, but the fascination wore off in time and now they just see him a regular old Zack now, a equal… or maybe knowing these two, a underling. The brats.
Taking the distraction as a chance to flee, Vexen follows Aerith into the backroom, and she makes him a cup of tea, super sweet with a splash of milk.
"I don't think we will be staying long," he says with a matter-of-fact tone. "It's already sundown, and it will be difficult to get back down the hill in the dark with all that snow, and I need to get Xenia back to Xaldin before her curfew… Do you and Zack need a lift, Aerith?"
Aerith shakes her head, putting away prayer books into drawers. "Thanks, but Zack brought a police car up here, so we'll be alright." She turns her attention to sheet music scattered about and under the table in the middle of the room. "And I told the priest that I would clean up after service on my own so he could go home while it was still light."
Vexen smiles. "…You know, for a terrorist, you have such a good person.
Aerith laughs softly under her breath. "Ex-terrorist, thank you very much…" She turns back to her sheets. "And you are very nice for a Shin-Ra scientist. To think my friends and I used to try to destroy your carer."
"I hated that job anyway." Vexen crosses his arms, perching on the corner of the desk. "I only got into it for the munny, and it was easy. Family links and all that."
"…Have you seen your uncle since then?" Aerith asks, wondering if it's her place to give such personal questions.
"Nope, and Xaviera hasn't seen grand-uncle Hojo either. He was never one for children anyway. The girl's attitude would have driven him insane… well, more insane, as the case may be."
Aerith smiles. "Xavi is a very free-spirited young thing. She could be anything when she's older."
"Only because she will scare people to get to the top." Vexen peeks out through the opened door, sees the children happily playing around with Zack. Satisfied that they are distracted, he turns back to Aerith. "Do you have the present?"
"Of course I do. Like I would forget it. Do you have the munny?" she asks back. Vexen nods once, and from his wallet, he pulls out a couple of munny notes. Aerith strolls over to the desk, and from her handbag produces a small, light blue box, tied up with a white ribbon to keep the lid on. They exchange items. "I hope she likes it."
"I hope so too." Vexen hides the book in his jacket's inside pocket. "Took me enough trouble to get it for her."
OOO
He couldn't believe that he was doing this.
He cleaned himself up, had put on his best shirt and pants, and even went out of his way to find a couple of bottles of wine to take the other night, since he didn't know if he preferred red or white. He was all ready, managed to close his apartment door behind him, get outside, track through the snow… and now Zexion was standing outside the door to the other building, he can do nothing but feel like a fool.
He can't do this. Lexaeus is a nice guy, and he will want to be friends and get attached to him, and when Zexion gets attached to people, bad things happen. Terrible things. It was bad enough to have Maxi run around the place looking for children to play with, now he's doing the same thing.
"This doesn't have to be a start of a friendship" Zexion tells himself, reassuring his confused little head. "He just wants to see you for one night, talk and stuff. Then you can stop it there." And if he didn't go, Lexaeus would think something was wrong, and that might make things even worse.
He made himself breath steady, and looked along the line of buttons on the intercom from the one with a tag marked 'STONE' in black capital letters. He was just about to press it, when the door opened and a boy almost bumped into him. The boy stepped back into the doorway again and started at him, dark eyes widening with surprise and fear. Zexion stared back, taking in the squared features, and curly brown hair, and then relaxed, lowered his eyelids at the kid. "You're Lexaeus' son."
The boy nodded his head, lowing his eyes down to the doorstep as if ashamed of something. "Yes, sir. I'm Lex… It's nice to meet you, Mr. Read."
"It's nice to meet you too, Lex" Zexion says, but doesn't give his voice any emotion. "Your father is expecting me."
"Yeah. He told me you were coming around. He's upstairs. 506." Lex steps back and holds the door open. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Zexion gives the boy a nod and steps inside. When the door closes behind him with a heavy metal slam, he realises that he was actually inside, and he was actually doing this. His legs and hands seemed to work on their own accord, and they made him go inside the lift and press the half-lit number five button. When the doors opened again with a little din, he steps out, and his head is light and dizzy as if it was full of helium. He have fed a couple of nights ago, but only off the blood of a sheep, and it wasn't that helpful to keep him going. He feels shit now.
It takes him awhile but he manages to find the door with the tarnished gold 506, and knocks on the door with a rap of his knuckles. He gives himself a quick look over, pushing annoying licks of hair out of his eyes, dusting his trouser leg off. He waits patiently for a while and nothing happened, so he knocks again, a little harder, only to have the door open and his knuckles bump against a broad chest under a cotton shirt. He withdraws his hand sharply.
"You're here," Lexaeus smiles.
"Y-Yeah. Your son let me in. Am I late?"
"No, no. You're alright. Come on in."
The big guy steps back and lets Zexion into the entrance way. As the boy stepped in, he got a sense of warmth from the place, which was a nice change from the hallway and his own apartment. He let Lexaeus take his coat off him, and he takes his shoes off by the door, and looks around. He feels cosiness, that the place has actually been lived in for a while. It feels safe, like a proper home.
"Do you want me to turn up the heating, Zexion?"
Zexion blinks, and realises that he is embracing himself, and Lexaeus must have read this as him trying to keep warm. He drops his arms.
"No, no. I'll be fine. It was just so… nippy out there." He remembers the plastic shopping bag in his hand and offers it to Lexaeus. "I got some wine."
"Oh, lovely." Lexaeus takes the bag and pulls out a bottle to check the label, and nearly drops it in surprise. "Zexion," he quickly looks in the bag to check the other. "These are really expensive, aren't they?"
"They are?" Nervously, Zexion twists his hair around his fingers, other arm over his chest. It's been a long while since he bought wine, and he wasn't sure what was considered a nice prize for a gift, and what was considered to be showing-off anymore. "I just thought… They were nice. I guess I have expensive taste."
"You can say that again." Slowly getting over his shock, Lexaeus takes the bottles into the kitchen. "I'll pout us some red and put the white in the fridge. Make yourself comfy, Zexion."
"Thanks." The vampire makes his way into the living room, and takes a look around, holding his arms over his chest again. He likes this place. Soft brown wallpaper and burgundy drapes and carpeting that where obviously picked out by a woman, a couple-year-old sofa set and a black leather recliner facing a decant flat-screen telly on a oak cabinet that matched the coffee table and bookcase, which has its back against the far wall and was full with books, with photo frames set up in front of them close to the edge. Many photo frames in fact. He was about to pick up one of the photos to have a closer look, when Lexaeus looked around the corner and his voice started him.
"Would you prefer something else from wine, Zexion?"
The boy shakes his head. "Wine's fine."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Alright… You can help yourself," the man smiles, pointing towards the coffee table. Only now did Zexion realise that Lexaeus had laid out various bowls of snack foods out for them, chips, pretzels, olives and the such. Out of courtesy, Zexion picks up a small cracker, places a slice of cheddar on top from the cheese board and pops it into his mouth, chewing in a smile. As soon as Lexaeus returned to the kitchen, he runs over to the wastepaper bin in the corner and spits his mouthful out before he vomits.
He composes himself and returns to the bookcase, looking over the photos again. He spots one with Lexaeus in uniform.
"…You're a police officer, Lexaeus?" he calls out.
"Hmm?"
"In this photo. You're in uniform."
"Oh, that. Yeah, I used to be, way back when. I'm retired now."
"Oh. Why?"
"Reality shock. Got shot in the leg during a raid and, you know, bad leg and the shock…" Lexaeus comes out from the kitchen with a wine glass in each hand, giving one to Zexion. "I couldn't keep going through life like that as a single parent, you know?"
The vampire blinks. "Single? I thought you were married. With the…" He points to the gold band on Lexaeus' left hand. The man looks at it for a time and shakes his head. "No, no. I'm widowed. This is more of a… memento now."
"Oh!" Zexion's eyes widen. "Sorry. I didn't know."
"It's fine." They sit down on the big sofa and Lexaeus takes a drink. Zexion just wets his lips. "It happened ages ago."
"Was she Lex's mother?"
"Hmm."
"I see." Zexion puts his drink down and sighs. "Maxi's mother died too, so I guess we are in the same boat." Lexaeus frowns into his glass as he drinks. He wanted to find common ground with Zexion, but dead lovers was never a good start. "Excuse me for being blunt," the smaller man says, "but how did she die?"
"Car accident. It was horrific. Turned-over truck and anything… And your girl?"
Zexion lolls his head to the side, looking up at Lexaeus for a beat, and his eyes seemed to flash as he was remembering, then looked down.
"Bad birth. She was young and very weak in the body, and Maxi's coming into the world was complex. She was happy though, that the baby was alright in the end. She died a day or so after, leaving a young boy in charge of a tot.
Lexaeus doesn't know how to react to that, but tries to think of something to comment on. "…You look too young to be a father to anyone."
Zexion half-chuckles. "I tell myself that every time I look in the mirror." Every time he looks into the mirror, Zexion wishes that the myth that vampires don't have reflections was true. Instead of blank glass, he saw a fool, a idiot, a horrible little creature. "I don't like calling Maxi a mistake… but to be careless was a silly… no, a stupid thing to do. Now I have a little child to look after while I'm hardly out of childhood myself… However, I have too much pride to step down from challenges, I would like to think. I do anything for that kid."
"I can see that." By now, Lexaeus was refilling his glass again, and he takes a drink from it straight away. "That's why I feel bad now, thinking you might have hit him. I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
"No, it's not… Does Maxi get bullied a lot?"
Zexion wets his lips again, to think about what to say. "…Hard to say. He doesn't tell me everything… Given the chance, he can make friends with anyone, but he is physically weak, you see. People, some people, like to pick on the weak or the different in order to feel superior… I was like Maxi when I was young, but worse. I was very different." He laughs a little more. "I was so lame. Still am."
"I don't think you're lame."
"Well, you don't know me."
"I know a couple of things about you."
Zexion laughs under his breath. "Okay. You have me there." He shifts his weight to the side, and he turns to face Lexaeus, stare squared off with his. "But I think it's a little unfair that you know stuff about me, when I hardly know anything about you."
Lexaeus blinks. "…W-What do you want to know?"
The boy shrugs. "Anything. Childhood. College days." He points over to the photo across the room. "I'm sure you have good stories from the force."
Lexaeus thinks over a moment. He wasn't realised Zexion hasn't eat at all in front of him, despite all the food in front of him. "Well, there was a time we were called to get a naked fan off a blitzball stage…"
OOO
It was starting to snow again, so Lex and Maxi retreated inside, into the basement under the complex. The basement is split into various rooms, filled with various amounts of rubbish and things in storage. There is one room with a busted lock that had the least amount of stuff inside - boxes in the corners and the like - so some of the kids that live here had made it like a den, with a old sofa which was left down there in the centre, with a couple of boxes acting as a coffee table. They had found a knackered portable TV and radio too, but they couldn't get a signal underground so they were mostly used for videos and CDs.
Lex checked that the room of vacant first, then let Maxi follow him in. They hung their wet coats over a abandoned chair, then settled down on the sofa.
"This places smells of mothballs," Maxi says, "and sticky smoke."
"Yeah," Lex shrugs. "Sometimes the older kids come down here to do drugs."
"That's a dirty habit." The little boy slumps on the couch as if sleepy. He looks older then he is meant to, his bluish-grey hair more of a matted steal than silver, his skin paling sickly, a tired looked around his eyes that hides his shiner under purple shadows. His hand lays limply on his slightly swollen tummy.
He hasn't a lot of energy tonight, and he didn't play much outside, just wanting to sit for long whiles and curl up on himself. He was a old man in a soft young shell, slowly showing the archaic being within.
Lex ruffles his damp hair a little. "Are you hungry?"
Maxi nods. "But it shouldn't concern you."
"Yeah, but-"
"It should not concern you."
Lex shuts his mouth again. Maxi sounds harsh, but he knows this is a warning. From what Lex had learned from his novels and the like, a human shouldn't get on the wrong side of a hungry vampire.
As the human shuffles around in his seat, looking a little uncomfortable, Maxi sighs and lolls his head to his direction, making hazy eye contact. "I drank not that long ago, a couple of days in fact, but it was the blood of a pig and it wasn't enough to quench it. Now, I am hungry again."
Lex thinks a little. "…We have black pudding in the fridge. I can get you that if you want."
Maxi giggles. "Thanks, but the blood in that will be too solid for me to eat."
"…What about human blood?" Lex leans over a little closer to the vampire, now baring a curious look. "Aren't you killing more people?"
"…Papa said it is too risky to kill more girls at the moment. The media is buzzing, or something like that. That's what he said."
"Ah." Lex thinks. "You're not breathing properly."
"I am."
"You're not even breathing now."
When Maxi breaths, his chest and the swell of his tummy raises and falls lightly. Now, they are both still, and the slight, almost mute whistle his nose makes when he breaths isn't there at the moment. The boy shifts uncomfortably.
"…Your scent is very strong."
"…Meaning?"
Maxi looks away. "To me, you smell like the earth. Rich, fertile, almost volcanic… Me and Pa find that sort of smell delicious."
Lex's eyes widen and he almost leaps off the batten sofa at that statement. "You want to eat me?"
"No, no, no. I never said that. I don't want to eat you." Maxi shakes his head, but he remembers the times he thought, almost fantasised about sinking his teeth into his friend's flesh, taste hot red fluid on his tongue, and feels shame.
It was common practice for children vampires to offer their blood to one another. Some even make them into games, like kiss chase, running around and squealing at the bites, until a hour later, where they are a sleepy, bloody heap all together, covered in teeth marks. Maxi, many years ago, was exposed to this sort of sport, and now his most favourite drink was from children. It was sweeter in a way, and Maxi always craved more.
"Do I scare you, Lex?"
"You always do." The human frowns, now more sad then fearful. "So you are very hungry then?"
"Starving." Maxi stands, almost falls over with dizziness, but keeps himself up, embracing himself. "I think I better go home. I shouldn't have really come out tonight. Bye, Lex" He walks over to the door, pressing hands against his stomach. Maybe he can fine something running around in the bushes outside before he goes to bed.
"Max! Wait!"
Before he can even touch the door handle, Maxi looks back around to the sofa again, and is surprise to see Lex unbuttoning his shirt, just a little.
"What are you doing?"
"You're hungry" Lex says calmly, almost matter-of-factly. "So, when hungry, eat."
Shocked, Maxi realises what the other lad is suggesting, and he runs out of the door fast. Lex runs after him, and pulls him back into the room easily, shutting the door again and drags across the room, giving him a little shove onto the sofa.
Maxi looked out of him, feeling trapped. "You're crazy!"
Lex shrugs. "I guess I am."
"Lex, I can't drink you! It-It-It would really hurt, and you'll- feel bad for ages."
"I'll try to cope."
"I'm leaving."
The vampire tries to get up off the cushions, but Lex just climbs on top of him and pushes him back down, pinning his arm back down. "Why do you have to be so difficult? Are all vampires this stubborn?"
"Let. Me. Go!" Maxi manages to free a leg, and gives Lex a quick, shape knee to the stomach. It's enough to knock the wind out of his body, and he realises his hold on the vampire's arms. Maxi had no choice be to stay laid down on the sofa, being trapped under Lex's weight still as the boy coughed and gagged, but he calmed down, closing his eyes and finding his breath again. "…I understand what you are doing, Lex… But we mustn't do this. It's bad."
"…I'm only… trying to help" Lex pants, only managing to talk. (Maxi could really hit when he wanted to.) "You can't go around being hungry though. What if you like… attack someone? Just because you're hungry. Do you want that to happen?"
"Well… No, but…" Maxi has no answer to that, and just looks away. Lex can see in his eyes that he was contemplating the pros and cons, the idea of crossing the line, drinking the blood of a friend. "…You won't turn into a vampire from being drawn from… I guess… If you are willing enough… I won't be able to take too much from you, since you're so much bigger then me." Animal hungry was winning over moral, mortal thought. Although Lex was glad that Maxi wasn't going to be starving, he felt a chill of fear down his spine. He was actually going to be bitten by a vampire, like what happens in books and films. It is not as glamorous as in the movies though: no towering black castle, no haunting music, or lightning storms, velvet robes and . They are just a couple of kids in a dingy basement of an apartment block full of unwanted junk. And that made it seem even more real and scary.
Lex tries to be brave, and lowers his head down, levelling his neck to Maxi's mouth. The little boy's lips pull tight into a pale line. "Lex… you are sure?"
"Maxi! For the love of Gods, just do it!"
Lex presses down more, and out of reaction, Maxi yelps and bites. Sharp teeth puncture skin and flesh, and Lex almost cries in bitter, grim pain. To stop himself from screaming out, he has to bite on Maxi in return, clamping his jaws down the shoulder under his head as hard as he can. Tears was springing to the corner of his eyes and his body tried to curl up into a protective ball, only forcing Maxi closer to his chest. The vampire is long gone, sucking and licking up the yummy the red liquid like a baby to warm milk.
The pain is intense, but slowly, surely, Lex doesn't find himself crying out, but laughing softly, actually laughing, enjoying.
It burns him.
OOO
"..Thin… coming round… Her eyes are opening."
"Alexa?"
The girl groans and turns away from the boys' faces, burying hers in a pillow. Xenos gives her shoulder a timid shake. "Alexa. Red. Wakey-wakey. How you feeling?"
"…Bloody hell." Alexa doesn't move from her protective foetus position. "…Like shit… It's like I've had a piano dropped on me."
"Don't think Maxi weighs quite that much." Xaime clambers over her, moving from one side of the bed to another. He tries to turn her around slowly. "Xenos, go get Larxene."
"Right." The younger kid runs out of the bedroom, leaving Xaime alone with the irritable lass.
"Come on, Red. Let's take a look at you." He coaxes her to lay her aching head on his lap, and he removes the bandages tangled within her hair, then pull off the padding underneath. Beneath, there is a scabby bald-patch, in a deep red colour that only just stands out from her fiery locks. The brain tissues and the bone marrow has completely healed, but the skin has far to go. It's growing so slowly, hair has already started to grow back before it.
"How does it look?" Alexa asks, voice groggy.
"Honest," the boy says, redressing her crown, "it's like a manky cat rash."
"Joys." The girl closes her eyes again, still tired. "Next time I see Maxi, I going to smash the brat's head to a pulp with a brick. See how he likes it. Ow… Where's my dad?"
"Gone out feeding with everyone… Xemnas and Xoán have been gone for a couple of days though."
"…How long was I out for?"
"Nearly a week all together. You were in and out a lot"
"Oh, crap."
Feet come stumping quickly up the stairs just outside the door, and then Larxene appears with a man's shirt on (looks like Axel's, maybe), wet hair, and every little else on. Not even make-up. She must have been having a bath or something. In her hand, she holds something in her metal.
"Good. You are actually up this time." The woman always seems a little annoyed about something, and Alexa couldn't tell if she was annoyed by Alexa only now just gaining conciseness after so long, or she had her bathing disturbed by the children again. "Come one then. Up, up." She grabs the girl by her hair and pulls her up, making her sit. Alexa pulls away with a scream and her hands on his head, blood-tears springing to her eyes from the hundred-pin-spiking ache boiling up her scalp.
"Fuuck. My heead. Larxene, you bitch!"
"Quit complaining and take your medicine." The woman presses the silver-plated whisky flask into the girl's hands, up against her chest. "Rabbits blood. Not the best, but it will give you a kick start." She shakes her head as Alexa struggles with the lid. "Can't believe you took a beating off Maxi of all people. The kid is as soft as butter."
"He wasn't on his own, Larxene," Xenos pipes up. "There was someone he was trying to protect."
"I know. You already said that." Larxene looks down at her hand, and turns her nose up at the skin dust and blood glop she had picked up from Alexa's head, and proceeds to rub it clean against the shirt without a second thought. "I'm surprised Zexion let Maxi off his lead and get close to humans… He must be losing it… Anyway, I'm going to finish my bath." The woman turns tail and wonders off out of the bedroom door. "You better drink all of that, Alexa."
The girl takes a swig, and it taste bad and feels congealed. It's already aged, but she was really hungry, so would eat anything. "…Where did you say Xemnas and Xoán are?"
"Read Hunting" Xaime grins.
"But we lost Maxi. They could be anyway."
"Well, thanks to you" Xenos says, looking very pleased, "we have a lead… Dad had to break your fingers to get it, but, still."
Alexa looks down at her right hand and sees how crooked and stiff her fingers are, like a old man's hand. She puts them into her other hand and simply snaps them into place again, like she was just cracking her knuckles. It didn't hurt at all.
OOO
"And when we actually found the dog, it ended up on the school's roof, and Irvine suddenly thought he was the world's greatest climber and went up a fire escape and jumped onto the same level of the dog. It was up three floors are something like that. If he had tripped, he could have broken something."
"Haha. Was he on something that day?"
"Not sure. Anyway, when he got up there, he had suddenly realised he was a few feet off the ground and froze up on the spot on a ledge between the dog just sat there and a drop. We had to get the firemen in, and they had a better time getting the dog down then Irvine. He wouldn't let go of the railings up there."
Zexion laughs. "Gods, how did you cope? You must have the temperament of a saint!" He looks down at his watch and blinks. "Hmm. It's getting pretty late. I need to get back to Maxi."
"I guess it is getting pretty late…" Lexaeus lets out a yawn, deep like a lion's roar. "Wonder where Lex is at. He went out ages ago."
"Um, Lexaeus."
"Yes?"
"I just wanted to say thanks, Lexaeus."
"For what?"
"I'm not sure. For tonight, I guess. I… move around a lot so I don't have time to make friends, but this… it was fun." Without thinking, he places a pale little hand on the man's thigh and smiles up at him. "You're a great person."
Suddenly, Lexaeus becomes very aware of that hand on his leg, and he stiffens up, hands clenching. He feels a little uncomfortable, but doesn't know how to tell the boy. Luckily, the big slam of the front door signalling Lex's return made Zexion jump and he pulled his hand back.
There is a lot of clattering out in the hallway; shoes being kicked off to the side, socked feet slipping of the laminated flooring, mumbled swears as the teen bumps into the telephone table.
"Lex, is that you?"
The living room door is thrown open, and Lex is there, a big grin on his lips and his hair tousled and curled. His clothes are messed up too, everything buttoned up around his neck.
"Evening!" says the boy.
Zexion stares, confused, and Lexaeus cocks a brow. "…Have you been hanging around those bad kids from the other building again?"
"What? No. I've been on a run. I feel great!"
Unsure, Lexaeus gets up and walks over to the boy in three quick strides, catching his chin between his fingers. He first smells his son's hair, but can only smell snow and his normal musk. Lexaeus makes a thoughtful sound.
"Breath."
Still grinning like a idiot, Lex exhales a little puff of air into his father's face. Nothing. He just smells of chewing gum.
"Can I go to bed now?"
"…Yeah, sure." Lexaeus lets go of the boy, and Lex turns around, almost falls over to the side, then wonders off down the hallway towards his room.
"G'night, Dad" he calls out before closing the door behind him. "G'night, Mr. Read." Then there is a sound of bed spring squeaking under the weight of a tired child, and all is quiet.
Zexion stands up, looking puzzled. "Is he alright?"
"He's better then he was… I guess this is a good sign." Lexaeus shakes his head. "He… hasn't been that well lately."
"…Well, he seems happy now."
"Yeah… Let me get your coat." Lexaeus grabs the jacket from the pegs near the front door, having to kick Lex's snow-wet boots out of the way before he tripped over them. He held out the jacket, and help Zexion put it on his slender arms and rounded shoulders. "I'm sorry I talked your head off for most of the evening," he smiles. "I'm not much of a talker normally. I must have bored you half to death."
"No, no. It's been fun listening to you." Zexion smiles back, cheerfully. "You're really interesting." When he realises how creepy that sounds, he looks away, looking embarrassed. Lexaeus feels a little flattered.
"Well, maybe we can do this again sometime."
"…maybe." With a coy little grin, and a wave of his fingers, Zexion slips out of the front door, and heads homewards down the corridor. Lexaeus closes the door, not even bothering to see if the boy disappears into thin air again. He rests his back against the door, and closes his eyes with a long, deep sigh. He felt his cheeks, his whole face burn out to the point he swears that he can see his own skin glowing under his eyes. Despite being so suddenly feverish, he places his large hand on his leg, and he can still feel the cold radiating of Zexion's handprint on his thigh as if those slim, icy fingers where still there. He can't stop cupping his hand around the patch and pretending its was.
OOO
"…Dad, my feet hurt."
"Then take your shoes off and put your feet in the snow" Xemnas shrugs. "I don't see why you have to tell me."
Xoán just sticks out his tongue, and leans up against a tree to take off his boots and socks. The snow between his toe felt nice, and he lets himself sigh with relief. "Can we go back yet? It's two o'clock now, and we've been walking around for ages."
"I know." But the man keeps on walking away, deeper into the shadows. The boy has to break into a jog to keep up.
"We've been doing this for ages. How do you know wolves will be around here anyway?"
"I don't."
"We are too close to the towns to find wolves."
"Hmm." Xemnas thinks about this for a moment. True, wolves don't really like being near the humans normally, but there was always a chance a pack thought differently. "You never know, boy," he says after a while. "There might be some who twigged that humans are a prim creature to scavenge around. Besides, we can't give in. This might be the only way in which we can locate Zexion and Maximus."
"I know… but still- Hey, wait! Dad, look." Xemnas turns around just in time to see where Xoán is pointing, to see a beast with a brown fur coat slip away under the trees. Satisfied with his find, the man start off into the woods, following the tracks of paw prints in the snow and mud. "Stay there, Xoán. They may not like one many human-liking bodies about."
It doesn't take long to find a pack of wolves hanging around a large tree with twisted, raised roots. Xemnas can see the bitches staring from underneath as he approaches. They are possibly worried about any cubs they may have hiding with them. He has no interest in those, so Xemnas has straight to the alpha, the biggest, toughest looking wolf here, keeping eye contact with the animal. Just in case.
"I don't mean any harm" he says in a soothing tone. "I am actually in need of your assistance." He knells down on the back of his heels, to get to their level, to show them that he is not fearful, or a threat. He is not interested in having his face ripped off and having to went for it to grow back painfully for the next two weeks. "My coven are on the search for some other vampires we know, and the only clue of their way about we have is some cloth from a human they are in contact with… We were hoping, if you would to kind, to use the scent of his blood and sweat to track him down, please."
The alpha tilts his head to the side, pondering, then looks towards three young males on his flank. They step forward, and Xemnas takes out a plastic sandwich bag from his coat pocket. The piece of coat cloth was sticking to the sides, as the blood had dried against them, but just opening the bag a touch was enough. The wolves took turns to stick their muzzles into the bag, and as soon as they picked up the scent of child, flew off into the shadows of the woods, towards the way of towns and villages.
Xemnas smiled. The hunt would soon be over.