The full moon rose high above the dark buildings in the cloudless night sky, its ghostly rays stretched and grasped the edge of the cursed streets of the enormous city. Standing atop one of the silvery skyscrapers was a lone dark figure framed in the eerie moonlight. A long jacket floated behind him in the wind and his short dark hair whipped around his sullen face. He surveyed the people in the streets and alleys below him as they carried on with their nightlife, drinking and fighting and inviting in strangers for coffee and sex. He could smell the blood flowing through the city; it was calling to his Hunger. A Hunger that was growing larger every day, it was starting to overcome him. His will to fight it was slipping. He would find himself lost in moments where he wasn’t even conscious of himself. The Hunger would consume him, wear him down until it was all that was left inside him, soon it would become him. He had to get away from all these people, the temptation to satisfy his need was too strong.

The black-clad young man took a flying leap off the roof of the glimmering building and landed on a brightly lit one a little distance away, with a speed that made him nothing more than a shadow in the night. He moved like this until he got to the edge of the city where the moonlight brushed his face. It was seedier but at least he wouldn’t be noticed. He could blend in relatively well wherever he went, but he got more noticed in public places. Apparently a slender attractive man in tight black clothes attracted a lot of stares on the public streets. In the back of a dark alleyway he jumped down from the loose-shingled roof of a decrepit building and hit solid ground with nothing more than a gentle tap of his heel on the pavement. He stepped out and into the light of the street lamp with an imperceptible squint of his eyes, and spotted an old shack of a bar straight ahead. Well, if he had to quench this overwhelming thirst then he’d rather do it with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. His steps made no noise as he crossed the broken paved street to the dilapidated bar.

He opened the paint stripped door and found the inside of the bar was clean but old. There were a lot of older biker men and young kids trying to slip under the age radar, most had beers in their hands but some had whisky. He walked up to the counter and tapped on the wood. A young man popped up from under the counter, he too seemed to have slipped under the age radar. He was stunning in a pair of tight faded jeans and a black muscle shirt. The boy had long chestnut hair that brushed his thighs just under the curves of his firm ass, of which the short haired man got a good look at when the boy turned to reach for a bottle of beer.

“I’ll take a shot of JD. No ice.” He told his handsome bartender in a deep husky voice that caused the boy to pause. The braided man looked down at the beer he had grabbed, then switched it for a bottle of JD and a glass. He poured the young patron his drink and couldn’t help himself from glancing up at the boy, which was exactly what the darkly clothed man wanted. He had ways of making people think things and do things, just by looking into their eyes. Unfortunately for the young man at the bar he never got the chance to use his little gift because once he looked into the bartender’s eyes, the shocking violet that stared back at him stunned him so much his mind froze up. The warm smile the waiter gave him made him almost regret trying to use his talents, even if he just wanted to get a kiss and nothing more. He threw a few bills on the counter to pay for his drink, and took a swallow without even a hint of a grimace.

“Most people ‘round here just want a few beers and a fight. What are you lookin’ for?” The boy’s smooth baritone drifted seductively into the highly sensitive ears of the young bar patron and stirred something inside him. He watched the braided bartender’s fluid actions as he took the money and stuffed it into his back pocket with a hypnotic grace. He hadn’t felt desire like this for a long time. He always felt the Hunger but that was different, it was a pain deep inside you that made you aware of how weak and dependent you were. Desire though, desire was a sweet torture that went even deeper.

“A good drink.” The bartender smiled at the unusual answer, and the young man drank it up greedily, unlike his forgotten Jack Daniel’s. He could feel the life energy pulsing through the waiter’s veins from the other side of the bar. It was so strong he could taste it, smell it. It was good too, damn good. Heero swirled the amber liquid around in his glass and took a whiff of it to clear his sensitive nose and his mind.

“We’ve got everything you could want here.” Was the waiter’s vague and seductive response. The smirk that crept onto the dark haired man’s face was nothing short of devilish, but he hid it in his drink. The bartender just busied himself with screwing the lid back on the Jack Daniel’s bottle while he looked for the spot he had grabbed it from. He set the bottle back on its shelf with his braid swishing around him as he moved, and turned back to the newest patron of the bar.

“What’s your name stranger?”

“In this lifetime I’m Heero Yuy, and you are?” Heero asked, his voice dropping just a little, his rolling Japanese accent coming out a little stronger. He tried to fix the boy with his eyes, he definitely wanted to see what was in this young bartender’s head. It usually wasn’t very hard to do, his eyes were a uniquely dark shade of blue and most people were intrigued by them; drawn to them. This particular waiter however, was proving difficult to ensnare. He wasn’t even sure why he wanted this guy to tell him things. Why did he even care what the man’s name was, it’s not like he was going to see him ever again after he was done with his drink.

“Uh, uh, uh. Never tell your name to a stranger.” The bartend admonished in a sarcastic rendition of a third grade teacher. He even shook his finger at Heero, of course all that did was make the short haired boy want to lick and do other things with that finger. The bartender glanced behind him and did a double take. “Oh Shit!” Heero quirked an eyebrow at the sexy bartender’s strange actions.

“Alright everybody, last call. After this one you gotta hit the old dusty trail!” Duo shouted so the whole shack could hear. They groaned but took their last swigs, grabbed their jackets, and one by one they headed out the paint chipped door. Behind them they left dirty glasses on old polished wood tables. There weren’t many decorations in the place, a few things hung on the wall, some dusty signs that had the different beer logos on them and that damn painting of the dogs playing poker. The acrid smell of cigarette smoke was strong and the air felt heavier, mustier. ‘Perfect’ Heero thought, with this young beauty all alone maybe he could a little action yet, nothing too bad he just wanted to feel the boy’s lips maybe get to touch his hair.

Heero waited until he could catch the boy’s eye, that was all he needed. He chugged the last of his drink and set the glass down in front of him. The bartender came to pick it up and Heero got his chance. Just as the boy reached for the glass his eyes darted up to look at the short haired boy. Heero caught the other boy’s eyes and let loose just a little of his power. He sent images into the longhaired beauty’s mind of their naked, sweaty, writhing bodies. He allowed the boy to see his desires. How he wanted to stroke him, and run his fingers through his hair and kiss him passionately while he held the other boy’s bare chest against his and licked wet trails down his neck to his collarbone. He watched as the bartender faltered with the glass almost dropping it in the process. By the looks of the boy’s face and the blush on his cheeks that only Heero’s eyes could see in the darkness of the bar, the young blue-eyed man was glad that his beauty enjoyed these thoughts.

The long haired boy hopped over the bar counter and began to circle the tables, collecting all the half empty glasses left behind. Heero watched him in rapt fascination, he hadn’t been so intrigued by a mortal before. There was something in the way the boy moved with more natural grace than he had ever seen in a human. He bet the guy danced like his life depended on it, and his body could probably move and bend like living water. Heero stored that little observation away for later use. Maybe he would be privileged with seeing that body in action tonight, dancing of course. First things first though, the boy’s name. Heero stood up and took a winding path through the tables to stand close to his beauty.

“Do you need any help?” He mentally groaned at the predatory glint in his voice. He could tell the boy had picked up on it too, he saw his shoulders tense and his back straighten. He could feel the boy’s blood rushing faster, and his heart beating quicker. The boy was nervous, damn. The smell of the blood in the boy’s veins was so overpoweringly strong that he could taste it in his mouth. He could feel something inside him waking, something primal and insatiable. Then suddenly it hit, he blacked out and felt the Hunger pulsing inside him. He couldn’t get a straight thought through his head; all he could do was feel the blood pumping through the other boy. He fought with everything he had, his mouth had gone dry and there was a terrible cramping in all of his muscles. He knew he was starving himself to death, but as long as he could restrain it, then he was not going to feed. And he was definitely not going to feed on this boy, he was too full of life. That was it, the boy was full of what his cursed body needed. A life force so strong he could feel it by just being near him, without even biting the boy first. This was why he was loosing his will to the Hunger, he had gotten to close to the boy, and the increased heart rate really only made things worse for him.

“Thanks pal, but I do it every night so it’s no problem.” The guy was still focused on picking up those glasses. He wasn’t half as flirtatious as he had been behind the bar, but Heero had known then that it was mostly a ploy to get him to keep drinking. It was true, however, that the other boy thought Heero was attractive, he could sense it. But right now Heero could tell that the bartender just wanted him gone. He was a threat to the boy now that the bar was empty and they were alone. Fear, that was all he was ever going to be good for, that’s what he was cursed to for all eternity.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Heero said, and although he apologized in monotone, he sincerely meant it. There was so much about this young man that he wanted to know, but of course he could never get to know this boy. He was not allowed to know or be known by anybody. Solitude was the curse of his kind, because of fear he was forced into secrecy. To be alone was his fate, the curse of his kind. He walked back over to the bar and grabbed the leather coat that he didn’t remember taking off, which made him wonder how many times that night had he lost his mind to Hunger, if even for a second, and was not aware of it. Since he wasn’t aware of himself when possessed by the Hunger, he often didn’t remember what happened during these lapses.

He heard the boy approaching, felt that his heart rate had slowed down to its normal pace. He turned to find the boy behind him, who in turn gave him a nig lopsided grin. Heero just stared at the strange boy that stood before, now even more intrigued by the young man.

“Hey I didn’t mean to offend. I’ve just had a few incidents here when it’s late, so I’m kind of cautious.” Heero couldn’t help it, he sniffed the boy’s blood and came to the conclusion that one of these incidents had never been rape, the blood was too pure. Unfortunately the smell of the boy’s pure, rich blood nearly sent him into another blackout.

“Yo Duo, I’ll lock up tonight. You go ahead and go home.” Hollered an older man in a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, who had just stepped through a door behind the bar that obviously led to a storage area. Heero didn’t have to have his extra sense to know the man wasn’t a mortal, he shared his curse, the Vampire curse. The guy wore sunglasses at night, what else could he be but a Rothani. Duo set the glasses in his hands down on the counter and gave the old man a brief thumbs up with a “Thanks Howard,” before he jumped up and slid over the countertop and disappeared behind the door the man had just come from.

The strange old man looked at Heero and they both knew that they were looking at vampires. The boy could feel the old man’s eyes narrowing even though he couldn’t see them. He knew the guy was sizing him up, determining if he was a threat. A few seconds later Duo popped back out of the door carrying a beat up black backpack and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt which made him look a little thicker and meaner. Duo slung his pack onto the counter and hopped right back over heading for the door without even a second glance at Heero. This made the vampire smirk though, he could tell that the boy, Duo, was trying to not look at him. He turned to follow the other boy out the door but was stopped by the older man who had obviously used his unnatural speed to get in front of Heero. But Heero’s senses were beyond the everyday vampire, and he was able to follow the old man’s movements easily. He could also sense the protective aura the man had for the beautiful long haired boy.

“Don’t you touch that boy, I don’t care if you are a Dilluvian. You can’t just have whatever you want no matter how powerful you are. Because if you do, I won’t rest until I’ve hunted you down and found a way to kill you.” Heero could see the man’s eyes glowing behind his glasses, which meant he was feeling extreme emotion. He tried to pull it off as anger, but Heero sensed mostly fear flowing in the man’s veins.

“You can sense my blood is starved, but I don’t intend to feed tonight. Your boy is fine. I was toying with him I admit it, but I never intended him harm.” Heero’s monotone did not seem to calm the man. The shining pupils behind the sunglasses were suddenly gone meaning the man had closed his eyes. Heero loosened his protective walls and allowed the older man to sense him. It took a few minutes, his psychic power obviously weaker so it took a lot of concentration for him, where as to Heero it came naturally. The man’s eye’s shot open and Heero knew he had allowed too much access to his thoughts.

“So you plan to kill yourself do you?” The old man looked a little shocked at the boy before him. He could find no remorse in those startling blue eyes, no sorrow or regret. Life held nothing for this boy, but he wasn’t really a boy was he. No he was old, the man could sense that he was very, very old. Maybe one of the first vampires, maybe this is how he would feel in a couple more hundred years; a complete indifference to life and death. Is this why he clung to the young bartender so desperately? The boy wasn’t truly his son but being around him made the old man feel alive, and he wanted to protect that innocence with every fiber of his undead body. Heero did not respond to his question, he simply moved around the older guy and went to leave the bar. The man watched him leave, he was too stunned at how willing this boy was to give up his own life to make any more threats at him.

Heero stepped out into the brisk night air smelling car exhaust and greasy food, he shrugged his jacket on and began the walk back home not bothering to stick to the shadows. His mind was wrapped up in the boy he had just met, he hadn’t been interested enough in something to use his powers in a thousand years. And even then it hadn’t been nearly as penetratingly intense as it was for this boy, nor had he been desirous for the little girl. He was more curious about her lack of fear, a vampire’s curse was fear yet she seemed immune. That had ended in disaster and he hadn’t even really spoken to a mortal since. It seemed that the gods of temptation had chosen him to toy with today, for a few blocks ahead he spotted the haunting young man. The boy had stopped to wait for the lights of the crosswalk to change, his braid snapped behind him like a whip in the wind. Heero paused, he wasn’t positive if he wanted to meet with this boy again. Which intrigued him, he was never unsure of himself. He finally decided that he really couldn’t care if the guy was afraid of him. He would never see this boy again and probably wouldn’t meet someone as intriguing for another millennia or more, if he survived that long. He walked up next to the boy making as much noise as he could to warn him of his approach. The beauty turned to him, those striking amethyst eyes sparkled in the night-lights of the city. He did his best to look unimposing as he strolled over to where the boy stood.

“Hey.” The boy greeted him as he stopped next to him in the light of the street lamp. Heero nodded in acknowledgement, he wasn’t good at conversation. Since his curse had destined him to an eternity of solitude it wasn’t really a priority of his to get to know people who would just die anyway.

“Cold out tonight don’t you think?” The boy was charming, and there was something behind his eyes that told Heero of a hidden intelligence. He had street smarts that few others possessed, a natural instinct about people and real life problem solving.

“Yeah, the wind makes it worse.” He said, though he really couldn’t feel the cold right now, he hadn’t fed in over a month and there wasn’t much blood left in his veins to feel cold with. His monotone had frightened the boy a little, his heart had given a quick jump at the emptiness in his voice. It was hard to talk emotionally about something you couldn’t feel though, and he hadn’t been able to experience much of anything in a long time. He supposed it had made him bitter in the beginning, but now he didn’t even feel that. All emotion had been wiped from him over the centuries of solitude. That wasn’t completely true now though, tonight he felt desire, curiosity and uncertainty. It was the closest he had come to feeling alive again in a long time.

The lights changed and they walked together across the sidewalk. He could feel the blood pumping faster through Duo’s body, the boy was scared he thought that Heero was following him. It was strange that they were heading in the same direction, but a coincidence and nothing more. He wasn’t in the mood to get to know someone right now, he was trying to end his pathetic existence he didn’t need a hindrance this late in the game. Duo, however, seemed to think that talking would subside his fear and tried yet again to engage in friendly conversation.

“So where you headin’?” The chestnut beauty tried to sound casual, but there was an underlying tone of weariness that Heero could feel as well as hear. Duo wanted an explanation as to why he was following him. He wished the boy would stop being so jumpy though, the increased heart rate made the blood so much easier to smell and feel. It would call to his Hunger and it made it hard to keep himself in control. He was seeing spots in his vision and felt the need numbing his defenses and cramping his muscles especially in his chest. It was spreading, he could feel it in his heart now. He was running so low on blood that each pump was a sharp pain.

“The university downtown, I live in Monaghan Hall.” Heero responded with the same lack of affect, but this time the words he spoke seemed to calm the boy down a lot.

“Hey, I go there too. I live in Jackson.” He seemed so relieved that Heero was also a college kid, but he was still on his guard just as Heero thought he would be. Those street smarts were incredible, his intuition was almost as unnatural as Heero’s. But his blood was pure, so very pure, a vampire had never touched it neither, it seemed, had another human. He was sure the old man, Howard, had seen to that because he had sensed a couple other vampires sitting at the tables in the bar, and he had felt their eyes on both him and Duo. The boy was still talking, Heero tuned out his growing Hunger pains to listen to his beauty speak.

“We’re like right next to each other, it’s crazy that I’ve never seen you before. Or hell maybe I have and don’t even know it.” The boy could chatter on forever, but his voice was smooth and soothing and although listening to mortals prattle on about inconsequential things that only mattered in their narrow, limited world usually bored him, he found he wanted to hear what Duo said, what he thought about, what he cared about. He was intrigued by this young man and there was no denying it anymore, nor ignoring the curiosity was becoming so great. Unfortunately as his interest in Duo grew, so did his Hunger but it was still within his control.

“No, I would remember you if we had ever bumped into each other.” He was very serious, and his tone was too. At first Duo had thought it was a cheap come on, but the tone had been so unmistakably sincere that Duo believed him even though his mind had trouble accepting it. Heero sensed the whole debate in his companion. He also felt the boy’s heart flutter yet again, but this time it was different, there was no fear in his blood. For all the emotions this young man could feel, he certainly kept himself looking fairly neutral. Not even that, the boy looked like he hadn’t a care in the world but Heero could sense that it was quite to the contrary. There was heaviness on this boys mind, a weight on his shoulders yet he hid it so well. His mask was perfect, it was so unsuspecting that behind this jester was a man with instinct and intellect as sharp as a killer’s or a soldier’s.

“Well I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around campus now, pal.” Duo flashed him a carefree grin that Heero could swear would disarm any enemy. Heero snorted and shrugged his vampire ears picking up the sound of Duo’s head turning to look at him, he felt the boy scrutinizing him. Then the boy laughed, and Heero was confused which fascinated him more because he was never confused. He was over a thousand years old, he had seen it all and nothing really surprised him any more. Except this boy, Duo, he had been able to keep the vampire on his toes all night.

“You’re a lot quieter than you had been in the bar, were you trying to get a free drink?” He wasn’t sure why he wasn’t trying to seduce the boy anymore, he still felt desire for the boy but he wasn’t interested in manipulating him. He wanted to get to know the man behind the carefree clown, which pissed him off because now he would have one regret when he finally died.

“Hn. I get tired of playing games.” Heero responded in his brusque accented voice. Duo was silent for a little bit, Heero could feel him contemplating his statement. He was trying to decide if there was a hidden meaning behind it, if Heero was still a threat. There was no escalating fear, so Heero assumed that his answer was, perhaps not a normal response, but accepted never the less.

“Yeah, people always play games with each other. It does get old fast, but if I play the game right then I’m not late paying tuition.” Duo chuckled but it faded quickly, Heero failed to see the humor in the statement. There it was again, that darkness, that heavy cloud that surrounded the boy. He hid it so well, Heero wanted to know what had happened to give a mortal such deep sorrow that he had never felt in someone that had not been cursed.

“We’re here.” Heero informed the other boy in his hardened monotone that was the result of years of not bothering to communicate on a normal level with mortals. Duo stopped shocked that they were already at the university. It seemed to have taken no time at all when usually the dark walk home felt like an eternity. Duo turned to face the handsome stranger not sure how to part with the boy. Heero could feel Duo getting nervous his heart fluttering, his blood racing, his palms sweating just a little. The beautiful bartender was debating how to ask him if they could meet again, he was thinking about just slipping him his number. Heero had to hide a smirk when he felt Duo think about them sharing a kiss goodnight. The braided boy pushed that thought away quickly.

“Maybe we could get lunch tomorrow, to make sure we don’t accidentally miss each other.” Heero said to relieve the boy’s nerves, but it only got his beauty more excited, which was both good and bad. He liked that Duo wanted to talk to him more, but the blood was now pumping through his beauty’s veins at breakneck speeds and it was calling to him. He could almost feel it rushing through him, taste it as it flowed into his mouth. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Duo smiling and nodding.

His blue eyes changed, they took on a silvery hue but it was faint because he was so weak right now. He stepped closer to the young man in front of him. He took a deep breath inhaling the scent of the rich life force that flowed through the boy’s blood. His fangs protracted just slightly, not noticeable to Duo who was shyly scratching his head and looking around while he tried to think of something to say to the cute stranger. Heero, however, was unaware of his own actions right now. He was trapped in a dark dying part of his mind while the Hunger took control of his body. He was suspended in darkness. It was all he could see, he had no memory, and his thoughts seemed stuck like him in the dark.

Heero’s body leaned in just barely touching Duo, he let his head drift down so that his lips just barely grazed the soft skin of Duo’s neck. He inhaled the smell of the blood just under the flesh. He could the vein pulsing right beneath his mouth. He felt the flow of blood change directions in the boy’s body, he smirked and let out a low chuckle at the other man’s enjoyment of their contact. Duo had frozen still in a mixture of fear and pleasure, Heero’s lips on his skin were making his mind blank out and the rich vibrating chuckle he felt only worsened his growing situation, soon this would become very embarrassing for him if he didn’t get the cute stranger to stop. For some reason though, he became suddenly aware of how cold Heero’s body was against his, maybe the shock of the stranger’s body against him was wearing off. It was definitely wearing off, and he was very aware that he didn’t even know this guy. Duo was scared now, Heero was being so forward, so aggressive. Heero opened his mouth his fangs running a thin trail down Duo’s neck, never piercing the skin. He was toying with his prey, which was a mistake for the Hunger to do.

Duo felt his mind going completely blank, he was drowning in a sensual pleasure that he had never known before, but he was so afraid at the same time. He couldn’t believe how much his body was responding to this stranger, it was almost unnatural. And then it was gone, he was left lingering in something of an after shock when all of a sudden Heero’s body seized up and collapsed in his arms. Duo was shocked that Heero had just passed out on him, had he been drinking all night? He hadn’t seemed drunk when they were talking, but some people could hide it well right? That would explain the brazen advances that came out of nowhere.

The bartender, who was used to dragging people out of the bar after fights and had a surprising strength for his thin frame, lifted the unconscious stranger and dragged his limp body up three flights of stairs and down a long hall way until he finally reached the door of his room and was able to balance the boy against the wall while he fumbled around with his keys. He stumbled into his room with his heavy load leaning precariously against him. His blonde roommate turned around and jumped at the site of the lifeless body he was dragging beside him.

“Duo, what happened? Who is this?” The blonde’s aquamarine eyes were wide with fear. He had always been a worrier especially when it came to his bartending loud mouth of a roommate. The blonde, Quatre, had already leapt out of his chair and was on the other side of the comatose body trying to help relieve Duo of some of the weight. Together, they hefted him over to the lower bunk, Duo’s bed, and hoisted him up so he was lying on his back looking up at Quatre’s upper bunk. Well he would be if he hadn’t been lying unconscious with his eyes closed. When they had laid him down Quatre took a good look at the boy’s face and almost screamed but didn’t, he definitely jumped a few feet though.

“What’s wrong Q? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” For Quatre indeed had gone pale and was staring in shock and disbelief at the boy in Duo’s bed.

“How could it be, Heero?” Duo looked shocked at his roommate who had just said the name of a stranger he had met in the bar. Could it be possible that sweet little Quatre knew somebody like this? He decided he had to find that out.

“How did you know his name Kat, do you know this guy?” Quatre still stood very still but he slowly nodded his head, he turned to Duo with so much fear and regret in his eyes that Duo was almost sorry for bringing the guy here. Quatre’s eyes had always told what he was feeling Duo, however, had mastered his mask so well that even his eyes only told what he wanted them to.

“Duo listen, I want you to go to the bathroom and get a wet washcloth.” Duo stayed still for a moment puzzled at his friend’s behavior, but he trusted Quatre. So he grabbed his white washcloth and ran down the hall to the bathroom on his floor. While he waited for the water to get warm he thought about the night and decided that this had definitely been the strangest one of his life. He ran the washcloth under the tap and squeezed out the extra into the sink. At a sprint he made it all the way back down the hall and bust into his room at full speed. He stopped frozen at the doorway, more shocked than he had ever been in his life at the scene he saw before him. Sweet, quiet, caring Quatre was holding a knife to his palm and blood was dripping onto the carpet and he was swearing up a storm.

“Shit Heero, you idiot! I don’t know if you’ll make it through this time.” There were a few tears in Quatre’s large eyes. “Damn you, you didn’t intend to survive did you.” Quatre walked over to the bed, blood pouring from his hand. Duo finally gathered himself up enough to make a garbled sort of choke. Quatre stopped and turned to look at hi. Fear and guilt so blatant on his face that Duo wanted to tell him that it was okay, even though he was damn sure that something was very wrong.

“Oh, it’s no use keeping it a secret. This is going to take all night and I can’t try and help him while I send you out on stupid errands.” Quatre set down the knife and turned to face his roommate. “I’m going to tell you something Duo and I want you to promise me you won’t freak out.” Duo didn’t move, he didn’t acknowledge Quatre in anyway. He just stood there, staring at the red that was seeping out of Quatre and on to the ground. Quatre decided to plow on anyway.

“Duo, this guy is a vampire and so am I. He’s dying though and I have to save him. Duo this man is a very good friend of mine and he’s in trouble you have to help me save him.” The desperation in Quatre’s voice is what finally snapped Duo out of his stupor, but when he processed what had he had been told he really just couldn’t wrap his mind around it. This was all just too unbelievable.

“Quatre?” Duo asked with a calm voice, all this information hadn’t really settled into his head yet. Not that he would have believed any of it anyway.

“Yes Duo?” Quatre was surprised by his friend’s relaxed composure, he was sure the young man would have freaked out and told him he was insane.

“Quatre, I’m not sure if any one told you when you were a kid, but vampires aren’t real. They don’t actually exist.” Duo was still standing in the doorway, he realized this and stepped in and closed the door. He did not, however, step any closer to his crazy roommate and the strange attractive man in his bed.

“Look Duo, I know your strong, could you just watch him while I call Trowa.” Duo was so confused. What did Trowa have to do with all this? Why did you need to be strong just to keep your eye on a man in a coma? This was so not Duo’s night, he could feel it. His roommate and best friend was a nut job and so was his roommate’s boyfriend, and to top it off there was an equally crazy and unconscious man lying in his bed that he now had to keep an eye on. Wait that wasn’t the best part, he still found himself attracted to the knocked out loon. A little bit of reality hit him and to tell the truth he was damn scared now, but he didn’t let it show, now was not the time to show any weakness. He looked down at his hand and the dripping washcloth he had forgotten about still dangling in his grip. He walked over to the lifeless boy and placed the damp cloth on his forehead, not sure what good it was going to do but he just felt like he had to do something or he was going to loose his mind with all the questions he had. He looked around the room for something to occupy his mind with. Quatre had gone into their little study room and was whispering on the phone, he looked at the desk next to him and saw that Quatre had set his dirty knife on the edge of it. He grabbed another washcloth from his shelf and picked up the pocketknife. He wiped it as clean as he could get it, then just kept on wiping while he stared at the face of the man who in one night had turned his world upside down.

He was strikingly good looking, probably the best looking man Duo had ever seen, but he was still pissed at him for ruining his life. Now he would have to tell the school that his roommate was crazy. Quatre would get kicked out and he would lose his best friend. This just sucked, Duo really couldn’t think of anything better to describe his night.

“Why do all the good looking one’s have something wrong with them?” Duo asked to the air, and jumped when he saw movement coming from the bed out of the corner of his eye. He looked over at the supposedly unconscious inhabitant of his bunk, the guy didn’t look like he moved a millimeter. Duo got up and leaned in over the limp form, he reached for the washcloth. It probably wasn’t doing any good anyway but at least getting it warm again would give him something to do. Duo took the washcloth off the boy’s forehead, a few wet strands of hair coming with it. He knew he was being stupid but the guy was gorgeous. And before he had found out that everyone around him thought they were vampires, the stranger had seemed pretty nice too, if not a little reserved. Duo ran his fingers along the brow of the young man, brushing away the stray hairs he found there. He was just about to give in to the urge to run his fingers through that wild silky hair when the unconscious boy beneath him jerked. It scared Duo half to death and the boy jumped a foot in the air, hitting his head on the top bunk and dropping Quatre’s knife that he had still been holding.

“Oh shit.” He swore when he saw the red liquid on the knife’s blade and the streak across Heero’s arm. There wasn’t a lot of blood but it still made the poor boy panic. He tried to pick the knife up off the bed, but was so jittery from Heero’s sudden convulsion that he only succeeded in dropping it again. For some reason, probably that his brain was still frozen in fear and his fight or flight response was on overdrive, he found himself functioning on pure instinct. So instead of letting the knife hit the ground, instinct told him that if something was falling you should catch it. When he caught it, he did so by pinching the blade but his pointer finger slipped and got jabbed by the knife’s point.

“Damn.” He swore again and jammed the injured finger in his mouth to suck the wound, an old habit from childhood. When he realized what he was doing he ripped the finger out of his mouth as fast as he could and grabbed the cloth he had used to clean the knife and spit in it. Quatre came running out of the other room at the sound of Duo’s cussing and saw the braided boy holding a bloody knife and spitting into a bloody washcloth.

“Duo! What the Hell happened.” Quatre ran over to him and stared at the knife before taking it out of the boy’s hands. It wasn’t his blood he smelled on the blade. It was Heero’s. Had Heero tried to attack Duo and the boy had defended himself. He looked over to Heero to see where he had been wounded. He saw the small cut on his arm was already healing, though it was taking much longer than it usually did. A tribute to how weak the boy was right now. Duo watched wide-eyed as Heero’s arm began to visibly heal itself, and that definitely wasn’t natural.

Heero struggled against his dark confines. He knew that if he didn’t get out, then Hunger would use his body to get what it wanted. He pulled with all his might, his muscles straining against the blackness that held him tight. His body sagged in his shadowy shackles and he hung there for what seemed like an eternity, until a small light broke through the heavy, oppressing darkness. It started out as a small pinpoint, but grew to a bright violet beacon that began to fill the darkness around him. It was a life force, which meant someone’s blood had mixed with his own. It was far away though, and out of his reach, if he tried hard enough maybe he could break free and get to it. Suddenly something moved next to him, a large dark shadow was racing for the light. It was Hunger, he knew it was, and he knew he had to beat it there or Hunger would be able to claim who ever this poor soul was.

He struggled with everything he had, his muscles bulging as he ripped free inch by inch from his black prison. The second he felt his body break free he sprinted off at full speed to beat Hunger to the light. He was fast, and was quickly barring down on the dark wraith in front of him. He was going to do it, he was going to beat Hunger even if it meant his death. No… he wasn’t. The light suddenly grew again and it hit Hunger first evaporating him into it. Heero screamed, but it didn’t matter. Once again he was being sucked back into the darkness, not allowed to go near the violet light. Duo’s mouth dropped in a silent scream as Heero’s body rose unnaturally from the bed. The dark haired boy sat still for a moment, before he turned his shinning blue eyes on Duo and bore holes into him with his stare. Duo backed silently away as Quatre rushed forward to hold Heero down. They began to struggle with each other on Duo’s bunk. Duo was so lost, he thought Quatre had said he was friends with this guy and now they were fighting. Heero’s cold burning eyes stayed fixed on the braided boy as he struggled in his weakened state against the blonde restraining him. Duo shuttered at the deep growls the boy was making as he tried to break free from Quatre’s grasp, despite how scared he was he couldn’t help himself from thinking what the boy might sound like in the throws of passion. In fact he couldn’t get the lustful images out of his mind, he felt himself being drawn to the thrashing boy on his bed by the same strong sexual desire that had possessed him outside. It felt like his mind was being fed these images and there was no button to push to make it stop.

“Duo! Is there any possibility that his blood could be flowing inside you right now!” Quatre yelled as he pushed Heero’s jerking form down into the mattress, as the crazed vampire tried to bite and slash his way out of young blonde’s unshakable grip. Duo was struck dumb with fear and confusion. The question didn’t make any sense, what did he mean ‘flowing inside him?” Did he mean that their blood had just somehow got mixed or that they had had sex or something? Nothing made sense, Quatre wouldn’t ask something like that, but something must have happened because this boy seemed to have it in for him. Those cold eyes were devouring his soul. His body actually felt colder, like the heat was being sucked from him.

“I don’t know, maybe from the knife but not a lot.” Duo watched Quatre’s face twist into horror at this news. The blonde doubled his efforts to keep the boy at bay, but it seemed that even in his weakened state Heero was too much for anyone to handle. ‘Damn you Heero, damn you.’ Quatre thought over and over again as he felt his strength slipping away from him.

“This can’t be happening. Duo listen to me, if you start to feel strange I need you to tell me!” The boy was loosing the battle against the stranger, Duo could tell. He went over offering to help Quatre, but his roommate yelled at him to stay as far away as he could. It was true too, that when he had got even a little closer Heero’s lashing out to get free seemed to triple. His eyes even looked like they glowed brighter, and he growled at Duo revealing a pair of large sparkling white fangs. ‘People weren’t supposed to have fangs,’ Duo thought ‘but vampires did.’ Could it be true, could Quatre be sane and everything he said true? Duo just didn’t know what to think anymore.

He took one last look into those unnatural glowing eyes, and that was when the pain started. At first it was just an aching burn in his muscles, but it quickly escalated to a sharp ripping pain that shot up and down his body. He screamed at the incredible, horrible agony that slashed through him like a dull saw slicing through his insides. Quatre whipped around, almost forgetting his hold on Heero who had began to struggle harder when Duo screamed.

“Duo!” Quatre yelled, but it was drowned out when the braided boy screamed again as another wave of unbearable pain tore his body in half. “It feels like someone’s trying to… twist all my muscles… and tear them apart at the same time… while shoving a giant… fish hook through them.” He managed to get out between sobbing pants and silent moans of anguish. He collapsed against the wall furthest away from the bed and grabbed his stomach in pain as he groaned through now more frequent waves of torture.

“Shit!” Quatre swore, and he finally lost his control over Heero, who threw him aside and jumped to the floor in one swift motion. He walked so smoothly that he seemed to glide across the floor to where Duo lay in too much pain to make a run for it. The braided man tried to get up but only succeeded in stumbling a little before the pain doubled him over and he was left huddling on the ground. Heero swooped down on him and drew a line down the curvature of Duo’s neck, causing the hunched over boy to shutter despite himself. Wherever Heero touched him, it seemed the pain would ease and be replaced by pleasure. Heero smirked and lowered his head for the strike, his fangs protruding and almost glowing in the dimly lit dorm room. Quatre struggled to get up, but Heero had managed to sum up enough of his power to put a paralyzing curse in his touch.

Just as Heero was about to sink his fangs in, the door to their room burst open and a tall young man with odd light brown hair burst in at full speed and tackled the crazed vampire. Duo recognized it as Trowa, Quatre’s boyfriend since before Duo had even known them, who was pinning Heero to the carpeted dorm floor. Unfortunately for Duo, the pain was only growing and now he found himself slipping out of consciousness. Even when he was conscious though his vision was blurred with dark spots. The weak hex had worn off of Quatre and he now raced over to Duo and put a comforting arm around his friend, but his eyes were anything but a comfort, they looked so sad.

“Trowa.” He said loudly, to be heard over Heero’s snarling and fighting. “We have to let him do it.” The cinnamon haired boy whipped around and stared at his blonde lover as though he were from another planet. “What are you talking about Quatre?” He sounded calm but there was the slightest hint of fear and disbelief in his voice.

“Duo has drank, don’t ask me how it’s not important now. He will die soon unless we let Heero finish the circle.” Duo choked at the mention of his own eminent death. He wanted to ask what all this meant but there too much pain to try to form words, they all just came out as groans of agony. Trowa was still for a moment, even Heero seemed to know what was going on he barely struggled at all against the tall boy. Finally Trowa nodded and let go of Heero’s wrists. Duo freaked out, they were going to let this madman have him? Some friends they were.

“Don’t worry Duo, both Trowa and I will stay right here to make sure Heero doesn’t go to far.” Quatre hugged him tightly. Was that supposed to reassure him, it took both of them to keep him off now and the guy was supposed to be near death. Duo really didn’t like his odds for survival, and he didn’t even know what they were going to let the guy do to him. The pain was too great to fight though, so he had no choice but to accept the fate given to him by his best friends. Trowa stood up off of Heero, and the dark haired vampire slowly got up and walked over to sit next to Duo. Trowa came over and stood behind Heero, and Quatre stayed on Duo’s other side.

Heero was gentle, his hand brushed away stray hairs at the nape of Duo’s neck. He leaned down slowly, giving Duo time to prepare himself for what was coming. He kissed Duo’s neck allowing his tongue to swipe across the flesh beneath his lips. He did this for a while, lapping at a spot on Duo’s neck and placing tender kisses there. Duo was loosing the battle against the desire Heero’s ministrations caused him, he felt a sharp pinprick like the one he felt when he had jabbed himself on the knife. The pain was nothing compared to what he was feeling at the moment in the rest of his body. It didn’t hurt that much anyway. Like getting your ear pierced, the pain was gone so quick you didn’t even have time to really feel it. But this pain got replaced with a more sensual and intimate pleasure than he had ever felt before.

Heero had given up and sagged in the black chains that held him a captive in his own mind, when something touched his foot and it felt warm and safe. He opened his eyes and watched as the violet light crept slowly up him, warming his frozen body. He welcomed it, allowed it to claim him. He was able to feel again, he could feel warmth and he smelled something, like a cologne but it wasn’t his. He was coming back to life, he had senses again. He could feel himself sitting on something solid, but he was leaning against something firmly soft and warm. The light was coming from whatever this object was. He could taste, there was something warm and sweet and bitter in his mouth. It was blood, he was collecting his thoughts and he could recognize the taste of blood. But this was pure and rich, like nothing he had ever tasted before.

Then it all came to smashing into him like a brick wall. Shit! He was feeding, this was blood and he was feeding off someone. He ripped himself away as fast as he could. He could see the room swirl into focus around him, there were people but it was all hazy.

Duo just lay there, he felt tired but all the pain had left him as soon as Heero had done whatever he had done to him. He was sure this was how it felt post orgasm, he didn’t know for sure but this had to be it. Except for how tired he was, everything else on him seemed to be in better shape than it had ever been before. He felt incredibly strong, his hearing seemed better, and his vision was sharper, even the dark didn’t seem so well…dark. He looked around the room and could see the short haired stranger struggling to prop himself up off the ground. Trowa was standing over him and it looked like he was telling the boy something. He could feel Quatre holding him and rubbing his arm in comforting circles.

“Quatre, what just happened?” Heero looked up at Duo when he heard the boy speak.

“I think I’d like to know that too. Why am I not dead?” He sounded pissed. Heero managed to sit up all the way and found himself looking into a pair of confused violet eyes. “I remember you, I just met you.” Heero looked around at everyone, Quatre and Trowa weren’t unusual, but why was this guy hanging out with his friends, and how did he get here? Questions flew through his mind, and as always, it was Quatre who came to his rescue. He heard the blonde empath’s soft voice interrupting his thoughts, and he knew Trowa could hear it too. Quatre was able to pick up on his confused emotions, but Heero was the only one who could actually read and send thoughts. Trowa, on the other hand, was connected to Quatre and they were able to communicate at all times with each other telepathically.

‘Hold on Heero.’ Quatre pleaded with him in his mind. ‘He’s more frightened than you are, we need to answer his questions first.’ Heero turned back to Duo who looked like he was torn between passing out right there and screaming at someone for not telling him what was going on.

“Duo.” The braided boy’s head snapped in Heero’s direction at the sound of his name on the stranger’s lips. His eyes narrowed and the vampire could sense fear and resentment rolling off of him. “Quatre is trustworthy, he will explain what has happened.” He said this a lot more tersely than he had planned, and it came out sounding like he was frustrated or annoyed by the boy.

“I know I can trust Q, it’s you I’m not sure about.” Duo ground out dangerously, he did not like being cornered and he really didn’t like not having all the information. It made escaping harder, and if there was one thing he was good at, it was running. Heero paused, something didn’t seem right to him, then it struck him. Nicknames?

“Do you know Quatre and Trowa?” Duo seemed puzzled by the harmless question. He analyzed it for any hidden meaning or possible vulnerabilities he would be giving away if he answered.

“Yeah, and Q seems to know you too, which is the only reason I’m putting up with this nonsense.” Duo looked like he was going to punch the next thing that came near him, he was so angry and confused. “But I’m getting tired, so if somebody would please explain what the hell is going on, maybe I wouldn’t feel like I should be putting in a roommate transfer form.” Duo whipped around on Quatre, who sat quietly next to him unsure of how to start his explanation.

“Duo it’s just really hard to explain without you thinking I’m nuts.” Duo let out a barking laugh, but it was a cruelly sarcastic one.

“I already do Kat, you’re all off your rockers. Normally I don’t mind crazy people, I’m a little crazy myself, but this is going way too far.” Quatre just shook his head, this had already gone bad and he hadn’t even started the explanation.

“This is stupid, we don’t need to soften the blow. We just need to tell him what’s going on.” Duo could have kissed Heero for being so blunt, that’s what he wanted, the facts and as many as he could get. He loved Quatre, but right now he didn’t want the fluff, he just wanted to know why this night had gone so horribly wrong. And damn it, it was his Friday night too.

“Duo, we’re vampires. Trowa’s not, but he knows we are. I’ve known Quatre for four hundred and thirty seven years. And before you say ‘there’s no such thing as vampires’ like they all do, I’ll tell you that right now I’m looking at you and I see proof otherwise.” Quatre sighed and shook his head.

“Way to lay it all out there Heero. Now he’s gonna’ have a nervous breakdown or something.” Heero finally managed to stand up straight with a little help from Trowa.

“I am not. I’m gonna’ call psychiatrics on you all.” Duo said with a groan as he started to struggle to get up, but he didn’t make even half as far as Heero before he slid back down the wall into a heap on the floor.

“Before you do that, I suggest you do take a look in the mirror.” It was Trowa’s deep calm voice this time. There was just something about Trowa, a mysterious wisdom that made you not even think to argue with him. Quatre helped Duo up and they limped together over to the mirror that sat on top of Duo’s dresser and balanced against the wall. Duo propped his body against the dresser and leaned in closer to the mirror. He didn’t see anything, what were they talking about? It was official now, they had lost their minds and were suffering from mass hallucinations. Then something at the base of his neck caught his eye, and Quatre brushed away the hair that had fallen out of the braid during all the activities of the night.

Duo couldn’t help it, he gasped at the two pinpricks in his neck, there was a little blood still smeared around them. He whipped around and had no idea how he hadn’t noticed the thin trail of red on Heero’s chin. Heero looked at him and new immediately where his gaze was, he wiped his hand across his chin and saw the red streak when he drew it away. There it was again, that damn guilt he felt every time he bit someone, wait he had bit Duo. Oh no, not this one, he had so much life in him why did it have to be this one. That was all he was ever going to be good for, destroying this world one innocent life at a time.

Duo stayed frozen in front of the mirror, he was sure that if he looked at it long enough he would realize that he was just being sucked into their mass hallucination and it would just fade away. Quatre had backed away trying to give him space and air, all he really felt like doing was making a run for it and never coming back. Unfortunately all his stuff was here and he still didn’t know what was going to happen to him. He felt Quatre coming back over to him and placing his hands on his shoulders. He hadn’t realized he had closed his eyes, or that he was squeezing them so tightly shut. The hands on him felt much stronger though and the smell of Old Spice told him it definitely wasn’t Quatre.

He opened his eyes to find himself staring at the reflection of two icy blues ones. Heero’s eyes really were an unnaturally dark shade of blue. Damn his traitorous body, he wanted to hit the guy and lean back into his chest at the same time. He was so confused, how was all this possible. He couldn’t wrap his mind around anything that Heero had told him. Vampires? It just wasn’t possible. But damn that firm grip of Heero’s was doing something to him.

“Vampires don’t have reflections.” Duo said meekly, he was pretty sure he was going into shock. Heero looked away from the mirror and straight at Duo, sending chills down the braided boy’s spine. He was trying to bring back some of the old jester in him, anything to make this situation feel less grave. He wanted to run, he wanted to hit Heero and run. He wanted to be able to just close his eyes and have this whole night would turn out to be some weird nightmare. He would wake up in the storeroom of the bar with Howard shaking him and telling him to go home.

“You can hit me if you want.” Heero stated coolly. The guy never said more than what was necessary; he was so strange. Why did he want to get hit, most people weren’t too eager to get their face smashed in. Heero could pick up on Duo’s confusion, but he wasn’t about to tell him that getting hit by his victim would make him feel a little better. Something occurred to Duo just then, and he hoped he wasn’t right.

“How did you know that? How did you know that I had seriously considered putting my fist in your face just then?” Heero just looked away, nobody responded for a very long time.

“Oh this is pointless, keeping secrets now is stupid. He’s going to need to know everything, he’s part of it all now.” What did Quatre mean ‘he was part of it?’ He didn’t think he wanted to be apart of this, whatever it was. But he didn’t have time to think about that Quatre was plowing on and he was finally going to get some answers.

“Duo, Heero’s a very old, very special breed of vampire with many powers. Empathy is just one of them, most of the time he can read exact thoughts, sometimes it’s just impressions of thoughts or feelings. He can also send thoughts into other people’s minds if he can get good eye contact with them.” This was too much, he couldn’t handle all this right now. He wanted answers, but he wasn’t ready right now. Quatre was right, he needed softening up, to be eased into this. He really needed to lie down. Damn, whatever Heero had done to him was going to knock him off his feet for a while. He wandered over to his bunk where Heero had been laying just a few moments before. He sat down but immediately the exhaustion took over and he fell down onto his pillow.

“He needs to rest now. We’ll tell him what he needs to know tomorrow.” Heero once again seemed to be reading his mind. ‘Not just seemed,’ Duo corrected himself. He was reading his mind. Duo’s eyes fluttered closed, he didn’t fall asleep but he was certainly on the brink of it.

“Why did you let me drink from him? I know you wouldn’t make that kind of sacrifice Quatre. And how come it doesn’t feel like he’s dying?” Duo didn’t want to listen in, but he couldn’t help it. There they went again, talking about his death. Why did everything have to come back to his death? If he fell asleep right now, would he ever wake up again?

“I’ll explain it to you tomorrow, with Duo. Until then I can feel how exhausted you are. Try to rest, I know you very rarely sleep but make an effort to calm a little before you have to face Duo.” Duo could not grasp what they meant by any of this, but it sounded like they were going to explain it to him tomorrow. He strained to stay awake to hear any last bit of conversation that he could.

“Heero why are you trying to kill yourself?” Duo heard Quatre ask in a hushed voice, they must have thought he had fallen asleep. Heero would know though, he could probably sense him listening right now.

“Yes I can Duo. Go to sleep.” Duo could have sworn there was a little mirth in that monotone. But he didn’t bother to worry about it too much. He was already drifting off when he heard the door of their room open and a few goodnights being said. Right before he drifted off he heard the door close again and Quatre whisper goodnight to him. He didn’t respond though, he didn’t think he could if he had wanted to his head was so messed up. So he slipped into an uneasy sleep filled with a tangled web of unsettling and confusing dreams