A/N: Wrote this listening to 'Black Balloon' by the Goo Goo Dolls in a dark room as loud as I could make it without busting my ear drums. I think it worked, don't you? But I'm also kind of figuring out that this is a dark story, and may possibly change to an M rating at some point in the future. Cody, who really is based on Cain, isn't… haunted enough yet. Hmmm… *evil smile* We'll have to fix that.

The inspiration for this chapter was about the only thing I took away from 'the Unborn'- which sucked on ice. Barbie as Cinderella beat it in plot. But , though it was horrible, there was a rhyme in the movie, 'In the Kingdom of the Blind, the one eyed man is King', which I found pretty cool. The scene in the club bathroom, where the bugs start pouring out of the sinks, toilets, etc, there's graffiti in her stall with this saying and a giant eye.

Warnings: male/male flirtation (aw, shut up- It's not too fluffy)


Inthekingdomoftheblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomoftheblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomofhteblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomoftheblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomoftheblindtheoneyedman


The Kingdom of the Blind – Scene I

By Tsuki

He really is quite interesting looking. I've never seen hair so dark, or eyes so serious, or such pale skin. He looks a bit like a ghost. The black carriage he arrived in pulled off, horses tossing their manes and clopping away. I watched the boy, or, rather, the young man. He must be the son of the Countess; who else would it be? Arriving so late, with such little notice, so close to nightfall… It had to be Cody Gabriel. I leaned back in the tree I was precariously perched in, idly reaching up to scratch the side of my nose. Cody knocked on the door, immediately welcomed by a maid. After showing him in, she glanced around, as if she were looking for me.

But that, of course, was ridiculous.

With a sigh I slid from the tree and headed toward the manor.

"Where were you?" the maid, who know recognized as Mira, a middle-aged woman well used to the ways of the house, hissed. "Your father wants you to welcome in the guest!"

"Yeah, yeah…" I brushed past the blind servant, turning with a look of regret as she closed the heavy doors on the darkening sky. Goodbye, freedom…

I paused before heading into the Great Hall, where Mira had shown the boy. After a moment's thought, I pulled my goggles over my eyes from their place on the top of my head. They masked the world in a green light, hiding my eyes in the process. I smoothed down my jacket, checked my trousers and boots for mud, and wafted silently into the hall.

Cody was looking over a relief in the marble wall. It stretched a half dozen yards, portraying the man born blind washing in the Pool of Siloam. He didn't turn, didn't startle as I glided silently in. I smirked, thinking that, like all other visitors, he hadn't heard me coming.

I stopped, standing just behind his elbow. "Welcome to Beth Manor…"

He didn't jump, didn't screech, didn't fall over and have epileptic heart failure, all of which many have done in his shoes. Instead, he turned around and said, mildly, with a small, half-smile, "Good evening."

I resisted, barely, the urge to make a face (he was no fun). Instead I surveyed him skeptically. "Are you Cody Gabriel?"

"I am."

"I'm Jared Benson."

He nodded once, surveying me with his expressionless eyes, then turned back to the relief. "This is an interesting scene to have built into your home, isn't it?" He reached out and ran two long, slender fingers along the curve of a ripple in the pool.

"Yes, it is. My father had it commissioned a long time ago, along with the other works you see in this room. There's the conversion of Saul, the healing of Bartimaeus, the blind men and the elephant."

"All of these stories have to do with sight, don't they?" Cody turned, standing in the center of the room. "That's interesting."

"We-"

The tap of footsteps stopped me from explaining. I circled slowly, expecting a servant to have shown up, and, instead, discovering my father. He stalked through the door, his own, mobile black aura accompanying him as he went, seeming to darken the room we stood in, deepening the shadows of oncoming night. He stood, in the forefront of the room, commanding all attention, as always.

My father… No, Demetrio. Demetrio was a frightening looking man. Lank black hair hung to his shoulders, covering the left side of, brushing the top of the long, black cloak he always wore. Black boots, black trousers, and a loose, black linen shirt; Demetrio was in eternal mourning. Mourning for my mother, his wife. When she died, so did my father; all that was left was this husk of a man.

"Are you Cody Gabriel? Oscar's son?" He asked quietly. The room seemed to grow smaller as he narrowed his eyes at Cody. He nodded. "Yes, you are, though you don't look much like him. Welcome to the manor, my dear boy." The way he said this last made it clear that Cody was anything but. "I'm afraid supper has already been held, but I can get one of the servants to bring some leftover to your room, if you wish."

"No, thank you. I don't want to be any trouble."

"Rather too late for that, boy. But I appreciate your concern. We're short-staffed at the moment; one of the maids is sick with stomach pains. She's new to the area, Jesse believes she ate something that didn't agree with her." Jesse was the dignified butler. Demetrio listened to him and spent more time with him than his own son. "I bid you good evening, Cody. Jared."

And, on that note, he swept out again, cape billowing around him, propelled by his long, brisk strides.

I sighed. "I suppose I should show you to your room now." I hated seeing Demetrio. It took something out of me, something important; it made me feel like a falcon with a broken wing.

Trapped.

"Yes, I suppose you should," Cody agreed. I led the way wearily up the long, winding stairs to the second floor. The halls were deserted, the windows wide and gaping; black nightmare holes in the flickering candlelit corridors. A soft wind floated in, and I felt my spirits lift, just a little, as it wrapped around me body, ruffling my clothing and hair. I could hear Cody chuckle behind me, a little breathless from the heavy scent of the forest.

I stopped at the door of a seldom used guest room. "This is it. It may be a bit dusty, but you should be fine. There is a bell by the bed If you need to call a servant."

"I see." He pushed open the door and glance in, before returning to the hallway. "Wait a moment, please." Before I could realize what he was doing, he pushed my goggles up, back into my hair. I stared with shock at him, my eyes adjusting slowly to the now-normally colored world. The little half-smile appeared on his face again. "I thought so. You're actually cute, without those things on."

I watched, my whole body frozen in fiery shock, as Cody slipped into his room and quietly shut the door.


Inthekingdomoftheblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomoftheblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomofhteblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomoftheblindtheoneeyedmaniskinginthekingdomoftheblindtheoneyedman


A/N: Whoo. i wrote that in -hmmmm- less than five hours. Is it too short? -panics- OH MY DARNIT ITS TOO SHORT!!

please review? o3o