Sorry it's been so long but I've been busy with school and trying to find a job. I've gotten so many reviews it makes me so happy! Anyway, I still don't like this title... so if anyone has any better ideas please let me know!
Axel was curled up on his side, chained to the floor down in the dank basement of that old house in Edge. Slowly healing wounds made him hiss and sob occasionally in discomfort as
salt was slowly pushed out of the seeping gashes. How had he ended up like this? How did such a proud young man turn into this pathetic excuse of a creature? His thoughts
wandered to Reno and, by association, to the night when his life was essentialy ruined, though he'd do it all again if given the choice.
Axel was walking home from work, a worn jean jacket thrown lazily over his shoulder and his hips swaying in a cocky swagger. He'd finally gotten a promotion! No more washing dishes! Now he
could afford to spend some time with Reno; the boy would be undoubtedly surprised and happy to see his elder brother/father-figure home so early. But, Axel mused, it was pushing 11 o'clock
at night so he might already be asleep. Oh well, he'd surprise him with the news in the morning. Then a prickling itch began to irritate the back of his neck in that way that he knew meant he
was being watched. However when he turned to look behind him, nothing but the empty street was there. He was about to continue on his way home when a breath flew past his ear and he
froze in something akin to fear.
"I've been watching him you know? How long do you think you can protect the little brat? I think I'll take him tonight. Tell me, Axel," a deep voice that froze the blood in his veins and paralyzed
his body spoke in his ear. "How fast can you run?" And then it was gone and Axel found he could move again. Who the hell was that?! Spinning around in a circle he saw nothing and no one.
Little brat? What little… oh my god…! Reno! Dropping the jacket to the ground Axel put all his energy into a dead sprint, racing home as fast as he could.
Even at his top speed it was ten minutes before he slammed open his front door, shot past a small, well-used piano and flung open the door to his brother's room. For a second time that night
he found himself unable to move, frozen in shock as he watched his little brother crying silently on the bed as some figure sucked viciously on his neck, one hand tucked down the front of the
young boy's sleep pants. The sight of blood slipping past the creature's lips and down his brother's neck was what snapped him back to reality. With a cry like a wounded animal he practically
ripped the blue haired monster from Reno's body. It didn't seem fazed however, as it reached back and threw Axel easily back into the hallway.
With a groan he picked himself back up and, grabbing an old vase from the hall table, smashed into the back of the monster's head as it turned its attention back to the red-haired boy who had
wriggled out from under the monster and crawled into a corner. The monster stumbled before it whipped around to face Axel.
"You little shit!" It hissed, its golden eyes narrowing in fury. "How dare you attack me? You think you can protect the brat forever?"It yelled the last bit as a clawed hand shot out and wrapped
tightly around Axel's throat and forced what air that was out of his lungs with a quick knee to the gut. Gasping in pain, he struggled to free himself as his acid green eyes locked onto the
frightened blue of his younger brother. Those eyes that swum with tears and fear as he reached weakly out for his older brother, silently asking for protection that Axel knew he couldn't give.
"Please," he managed to gasp around the tightening hold. "Take… take me instead…. Y-you can do what… whatever you want with me j-just leave Reno al-alone….." The golden-eyed monster
tilted his head to one side, looking thoughtful.
"Tell me, Axel: would you be willing to live with an eternity of suffering if only to keep your brother safe from me?" Axel nodded weakly, black spots swimming in his vision. He'd do anything to
keep him safe….
"Then you'll let me turn you," the creature smiled then. "As a bonus I'll even change the little brat's memory so he won't have to remember your 'death'. What do you think?" He released his
hold on Axel and the red-head hit the floor with a thud, gasping heavily for breath before he whispered:
"Give him something… to make him hate me…." At the vampire's (for that was what Axel was now sure it was) confusion he clarified. "It'll be easier… for him to survive on his own… to forget
me… if he hates me…." Saix laughed at this; the logic of humans.
"As you wish, but first, he watches you die." Quick as lightning Axel was once again on his feet and pressed tightly to the monster's chest, crying out in pain as razor sharp fangs pierced the
skin on his neck. Teeth, tongue and jaw worked to force the blood quickly from his body and, all too fast, his vision faded and he slumped fully into the vampire's cold embrace. Reno's scream
was a like a distant roar in the background as he hit the floor once more. His last human memory was of the hazy, fuzzy sight of the vampire holding a squirming, bawling Reno and pressing his
hands to the boy's temples. A moment later, as everything in Axel's vision went black, young Reno fainted and was left on the floor by his bed, while his older brother was carried bridal style
through a deep swirling shadow and out of his life.
Reno shot up in a cold sweat, shaking and tears running down his face as he heaved for air. What a horrible dream, he thought, as he pressed the palms of his hand to his eyes, trying
to remember the details but found them slipping through his fingers like water until nothing was left but the remaining fear that faded soon after. With a sigh of resignation he looked
around the apartment he was in; it wasn't his. With a small start he remembered feeling too uneasy to sleep alone in his own place so Tseng had offered his couch and Reno gratefully
accepted. Groaning weakly and seeing that the sun had not yet risen, he laid back on his makeshift bed to try and get some more sleep.
Early that morning, Tseng was crouched on the floor by the couch, gazing at the sleeping red-head's exhausted-looking face. Carefully, he reached out a pale, long fingered hand and
brushed the red fringe back out of Reno's eyes before he allowed those fingers to cautiously glide down to cup his cheek. Leaning forward, keeping a wary eye out for signs of waking,
he brushed his lips against Reno's slightly chapped ones. That small taste of spice, alcohol, coffee and something undeniably Reno made him want more but, with his red-headed
subordinate in such a delicate state, he didn't dare risk a second kiss. So, with a sigh he stood and made his way to the kitchen to make breakfast for the two of them.
And that's how Axel became a vampire! Poor Axel.... And Reno almost remembered too! And horray for slight Tseng/Reno action!