Chapter Three: Sour Truths

Sasha's sleep was a restless, fickle one.

The nightmares followed him from Seattle were assuring him that they were in for the long haul. The first one of the night was vague more like a waking vision then an actual nightmare but it still clung to him like tar the next morning. All he could remember was blood and screams after that nothing but the sounds of crying. His second nightmare transitioned from the first. It carried over the sobs from the prior dream, the landscape unfurled around him and instantly he recognized where he was. The field didn't have any name, at least not one that was commonly known but even then Sasha could recognize it. This was where Cam and he had flown together before the change, the grass was long which meant that it was in the fall but that wasn't what really brought the fear into the young incubus' heart.

The sky was black, starless and a void, it's only light was from a crimson moon that lifted slowly into the sky; a great macabre eye watching over the field with morbid fascination. The sobs returned again. They were louder, more distinct. Like something was clawing at its throat from the inside out. The grass was stained by the from the bloody moon it's gaze splashing gruesome color every where. The great parted slowly like the opening of the red sea giving Sasha a path towards the sobs. There he was tan body stripped bare under the blood moon.

"Cam?"

Sasha's voice sounded strange even to himself and he reached out for his friend. But the boy screamed in pain and lifted into the air. In one second the body turned around and Sasha tried not to scream. It was like someone had taken a dull knife and carved out everything below Cam's ribs, the scream silenced and instead of looking down at Sasha with a pair of dead lifeless eyes. A pair of red on black ones glint above a wicked smile.

Then everything burns.

Sasha shoots up in bed, sweet soaking his sheets through. In his stressed state, the red head had lost control over his glamor which caused him to become deeply tangled in the bedsheets. Peeling the soaking wet sheets from his shoulders and chest the young incubus was careful not to rip them to ribbons as he tossed them into the corner. Staying in his bare form, Sasha walked slowly to the motel room's lackluster bathroom. Upon actually stepping into the bathroom for the first time the incubus had to take a moment to adjust to the insanity of the decor.

The walls were covered in black and pink paisley wallpaper; the tiles of both the floor and shower repeated that color scheme. The bathmat and the toilet seat color were a faded pink with shaggy fibers. Sasha wondered for a moment which of the love birds had been responsible for the color choice and if it was the same in every room. If he was going to be honest with himself, he was gonna have to pick Donna because he couldn't see Floyd picking anything but plaid and deer heads. Chuckling to himself Sasha hoping into the freezing water hoping that it would scourge of the nightmare as well as the sweat.

After finishing a shower so cold Forsty's snowballs would have shrank right off. the young incubus pulled on his clothes and attempted to make his hair have some semblance of a style. When that failed Sasha raked his fingers through it three times and got something the the effect of being well dressed. Flashing a smile the red haired incubus sauntered out the front door and gave a none committal wave toward Floyd. Just before the older man disappeared into the main office Sasha remembered he needed a bit of information.

"Floyd!"

The man popped his head back outside, "Yes'em?"

"I was wondering, which way is it too the school."

"Damn boy your sister really didn't tell you anything." Floyd chucked as he stepped fully out of the office.

"Yeah that's Shi, figured I'm smart enough too figure it out.

"Shows what she knows."

Sasha couldn't help but flinch at the statement, he knew that Floyd had meant it as a joke but he was also sure that that statement had been though about on the other side. That somehow Shi had done a horrible job of raising him. or worse that because of his genetics it was only a matter of time. that Shi shouldn't feel bad at least he couldn't poison the rest of them anymore. The young incubus felt his body shake with anger and he tried to calm himself down, knowing that he couldn't afford to change in broad day light. Floyd must have picked up on the redheads uneasiness.

"You alright?"

Sasha nodded and faked a smile, "Yah just a little tired is all."

"Well if you wanna get to the school, I don't mind driving you."

"No thanks Floyd," Sasha could feel the sincerity, "just point me in the right direction."

"Sure just take a left at the first intersection and keep going."

"Thats it?" the young incubus scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah you cant miss it."

Suddenly the redhead was happy that he hadn't taken up the offer because as he moved through the streets it became fairly obvious that very little of the school was driven to school. In fact as Sasha stepped onto school grounds he saw only five big yellow buses and considering the size of the gray stone building, it didn't seem likely that many people arrived that way either. Opening himself up slightly, Sasha allowed the emotions of the masses funneling into the building to wash over him. There were bursts of infatuation and passion but the over riding emotion was fear. Total fear, depression and worry. It was all over the building like a layer of dust. The young incubus couldn't help but gulp as he passed under the front door's archway.

Swinging a left inside the doorway, Sasha stepped out of the noisy hallways and into the relative calm of the main office. It was a large open area more like a librarians' desk then anything else with four woman sitting behind it. As he walked toward them, one of the woman rose from their seat and came over to greet him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he made a note to himself to apologize to Aunt Shi. The woman was relatively unimpressive expect for her platinum blond hair and a rack that would be more at home in Pamela Anderson's swimsuit then in a highschool. But as he smiled brightly, Sasha bit his tongue to keep his words behind his teeth.

"I there, can i help you?"

"My name is Sasha Kelly, i'm a new student here."

"Oh yes, Mr. Kelly." She smiled and started collecting paperwork, "We've been expecting you, if you dont mind waiting we can have someone show you around the school after homeroom."

"That's fine."

The incubus turned away and leaned against the desk, eyes moving over the relatively empty office. The rushing sounds of the entering students had long since dissipated to a hum that seemed to come from the very school itself, like it was one large purring animal. Sasha eyes settled across the room on a collection of paper and tiny trinkets, all of which surrounded pictures. Sasha knew what this was, a kind of memorial of mourning and he felt it pluck at it heart because in some cases the young man swore he could feel that pain that came from them. The need to make things make sense again.

The first picture was of a big bruiser of a man, dark brown hair and a thick goatee. The young man's neck was looking as if it was about to burst free from his suit collar. the name underneath declared him Matt Hughes, the center.

Next to Matt Hughes' picture was the running back, Reggie Jackson, with coffee-colored skin and smaller angular feature portrayed a strong sense of grace. Sasha was willing to guess that Reggie was a flirt and a heartthrob from the sheer number of pictures and papers that had been stuck around his picture.

The linebackers Derek Scott and Trey Michaels passed over the young incubus gaze with little recognition, both had brown hair and dull eyes.

The final picture nearly knocked Sasha flat on his ass, the man that stared back at him from the picture recalled so many memories. Their was an eerie similarity to Cam, it wasn't something physical as much as the way his eyes seemed to push out from the flat image. Nate Capra, had short cropped hair and an olive tone to his skin. Sunkissed that what the man was. Was the only real way to describe him.

"Sasha Kelly?" a voice said beside him, startling the young incubus.

The young man turned from the picture and nearly shouted when he took in who had spoke. It was like the man from the picture had stepped right off the page except there two thing off about that idea. One was the dark hair that had been close cropped in the photograph was long and shaggy with bangs that obscured part of his face. The other was the eye, where the images' eyes were a cold and hard blue this man's gaze was soft but penetrating. A loop-sided smile played on the young mans face as if he knew exactly what the incubus was thinking.

"That's my brother, I'm Max." He smiled and held out his hand, "Max Capra."

The redhead grabbed the hand, still dumbfounded, "You guys look so much a like."

"Twins, he's my older brother by three minutes and twenty seconds."

"Sorry you guys must get that a lot." Sasha joked.

The young man's cheery expression fell, "Not as often as you would think."

Smooth Sasha, the incubus chastised himself, this wasn't exactly a good way to start communicating with someone. Especially the relative of one of the victims, he needed to comfort and question. When Sasha finally managed to look back up, Max had cleared most of his emotion right off of his face. Back was his smile but it was false. The man held open the door and slowly began the tour. He took him through the separate wings of the school explaining how each area focused on a different student; math, science, history, the art and gym. On several occations throughout the tour Sasha noticed that the other had loosed up and the incubus had even caught Max giving him curious sideways glances. As they reached the office the two boys stopped and Max handed over a slip of paper.

"You're classes."

"Thank max."

"Hey Sasha," Max shuffled his feet against the floor, "I was wondering, I mean I know its your first day and all but I need to get out of here. It reminds me too much of my brother, i was wondering if you would want to ditch with me."

The incubus chuckled, "Sure, what did you have in mind."

"Just follow me."

The two boys slipped out of the school with minimal effort and moved across the grounds as quickly as they could but as they crossed the street, all of the sidewalk sprinklers timed on. Even thought instinct told them to run to avoid getting too wet by the time they escaped they had each been soaked too the bone. Sasha fought to repress a growl he was sick of having items of cloth sticking too him. Although he did have to admit it had a desired effect on Max, the stocky athletic frame that had gifted his bother was obviously shared by him. But Max was hiding it, the thought moved through his head slowly. Was he ashamed of it? Before Sasha could say anything, Max tugged on his arm and lead him up a different street.

"Come on, my house is this way."

Sasha was sure how exactly they had managed to get to Max's home, but why the time the stumbled in both boys teeth were clashing against each other violently. Max said something about getting a towel and some change of clothing to which Sasha just nodded softly. As he stood waiting he stripped off the sopping wet t-shirt and kick of his shoes with a disgusting squelching noise. When Max came back to find his guest he was dressed in just a pair of warm boxers and a lopsided smile with a towel over one shoulder. Sasha took the towel and the extra boxers but really he took this moment to look at Max.

He was tall and broadly built but even in his own home had had this undeniable skittishness, it reminded Sasha of an Ox or a Clydesdale or some other hooved beast of burden. Before Sasha could laugh, max returned with a glass lightly amber colored liquid. Even from this distant it smell good, the young incubus gladly accepted the drink with a smile. Max returned the grin with his lopsided one yet again.

"Here try this it will warm ya up right."

Sasha sipped the girl and sighed softly as the tastes moved over his tongue. There was the warm slightly sour burn of the alcohol but as it rested in his stomach it did warm him, but that was really caught his attention. It was the play of sugar against lemon in his mouth with the little sneaking taste of cherry. The incubus made a popping sound with his mouth before turning to his host with an incredulous look.

"How do you know how to make this?"

Max closed his eyes and spoke slowly and controlled, "My mom's a drunk, not a like slur her words drunk. More like a wake up in her own sick drunk."

"I'm sorry"

"it not your fault, only thing about it was i was basically a practiced bartender by the time i wan six."

The young incubus hung his head, instantly "Man that's fucked up."

"Yeah it is," Max said soberly before perking up, "this is actually my own twist on a whiskey sour."

Time passed in a flurry of hours and more drinks, pretty soon both boys where drunk and had been nursing their most recent drinks much more slowly. They had talked about family and Max had been curious about where Sasha had come from before. The incubus hated to lie so he attempted a half truth about from being far away but had to leave because of family drama. Obviously it had worked because Max has only nodded knowingly, the redhead hadn't meant to spy on the others feelings but with the booze in his system it was much hard for him to keep himself out of Max's head. Confusion and attraction and depression mingled back and forth over the poor guy, until his eyes lit up with a devilish glint

"I got an idea."

"What?"

"Truth or Dare." Max smiled.

Sasha couldn't help but laugh. "Truth."

"What's your natural hair color?"

"This is my natural hair color."

Max coughed on his sip, "Liar, prove it."

Sasha stood up and wiggled his eyebrows as he rolled the waistband of his borrowed boxers down. at first Sasha watched as Max's eyes moved quickly over the markings, trying to figure of how far down they went. Then the other boys jaw dropped as he caught sight of the same brilliant red that sat on Sasha's head. Pleases with himself the incubus sat back down and smiled before speaking.

"My turn, truth of dare."

"T-truth." Max stuttered.

"I got to assume with you being as big as you are that you play football, can you think of any reason why your brother got sick and not you?"

A blush worked across the others tan neck, "Well actually i dont play football."

"Why the hell not?"

"Honestly because I'm a freak."

Sasha chuckled, "Some how I really doubt that."

"I am!" Max whined, "Please just."

"Prove it."

What happened next could be blamed on so many things. It could have been the copious amounts of booze, it could be the waves of confused attraction that were coming off of Max, or it could have been Sasha's need for proof. What ever caused it, Sasha was not ready to find himself pinned down against the couch by the weight of Max straddling his hips. He wasn't ready for the sloppy way that the larger teen's hands tried to snake around the incubus' neck. And he most certainly wasn't ready for the quick retraction of Max's lips from hims; before Sasha could recapture them or moan in protest the boy had moved from his seat across Sasha's hips and walked into the kitchen. The sound of sobs quickly followed.

A/N: Yay this story isn't dead lo.

- WordDemon