Crimson Ties Part 1
Over the course of his last studies as a high school student, Duo put a lot of thought into college thanks to his meeting with Father Maxwell. By the time his school's winter break was up, he even came to look forward to the possibility.
In being a ward of the state with the government's financial support, the teenager was able to look at the best schools. With every campus he visited and every interview he had, his excitement over leaving the rectory only grew.
The fact that Maxwell did not run into many Infected in his searches also helped.
Since those blood suckers were close to immortal, not many wanted to spend their prolonged days in classrooms. Most vampires were in their own form of government and other officiating roles. Just how those blood-suckers believed they were entitled to a different form of legislation than humans was yet another strike against them as far as Duo was concerned.
Difficult as it was for him, the braided youth was able to endure the few times when he did find himself in the presence of an Infected. It only reassured him all the more that he would be able to deal with being out in the world that they shared.
Through all of his researching, in the end there was only one college that Duo was interested in.
VCU- the Virginia Commonwealth University. On top of having sprawling acres of beautiful landscaping and nature both surrounding and running through the campus, there was a wide variety of fields that its students could take. Or someone as suddenly unsure of what they wanted to do with their lives as he was, it was the perfect place to have a look into dozens of options that he might take to.
Much to Father Maxwell's pleasant surprise, the campus was more than two hours away from his church. Clearly, the old man had expected his pupil to choose a place much closer so as to fall back on something familiar if things ever became challenging.
But Duo was fully accepting of the possibilities that came with this drastic change in his life. And when the acceptance letter came in, he was sincerely elated by the announcement.
Graduation came and went with honors and accolades for his ending his high school career in the top three percentile with honors. Summer went much more quickly that he'd imagined, considering how anxious he was to be off to VCU.
And before he or anyone knew it, Maxwell was in his private quarters in the rectory packing the last of his things before heading off on his adventure. Dressed in the priest outfit for the last time for a long while, he was about to finish with the task when a soft knock rapped against his closed door. Swinging his braid behind the shoulder that it had draped over, he moved to pull back on the doorknob.
Sister Helen stood on the other side with a warm smile as she nodded, "Hello, Duo." Holding up the stack in her hands, she offered, "I thought that you could use some new towels to take to your dorm."
For the first time since he'd made the decision to go off to college, the teenager felt his heart break a little in leaving the only family that he had known for the last ten years behind him.
Though she was young enough to be more of an older sister to him, Sister Helen had been a second mother during his stay at the church. She had been one of the first to bring him under her care when it was clear that there were no adoptive prospects for him. Probably the one who knew him better than even Father Maxwell, she was going to be one of the hardest to have to say goodbye to.
His mouth curling up in a smile, Duo stepped aside so that the lovely young woman could enter as he replied sincerely, "Thank you, Sister, but you didn't have to go to all that trouble."
Lowering the pile of towels beside one of the suitcases on top of his bed, the nun waved a hand and huffed, "Oh, it was no trouble at all." Their eyes meeting, she folded her hands at at her waist and took a deep breath.
"I am going to miss you," she grinned sadly. "However, I am also very happy that you are doing this. I am certain that it's the best thing for you."
Swallowing past the lump that had formed in his throat, Duo sighed, "I'm going to miss you, too." Quickly closing the distance between them, he gave his 'mother' a tight hug.
Chuckling quietly as she returned the embrace, Sister Helen stepped back and shook her head, "Well, it's not as if this is goodbye forever, so no need for sadness today." Gently cupping the side of the boy's cheek, she kissed the other and winked, "Try to not get in too much trouble out there, will you?"
It was Duo's turn to puff out a sharp breath and he snorted, "Don't worry. I'll be good enough to stay out of prison." Laughing, the nun waved as she stepped out of the room.
With a deep sigh, Maxwell looked back to the assortment of luggage on his bed. Never before had he realized how much he actually owned. Mind set to finishing his packing leaving enough time to drive to his new home at a decent hour, he set back to work before he started doubting his choice to go.
* * * * * *
The departure from the church and the people that he had grown up with was every bit as difficult as Duo expected it would be. Still, he put on a brave smile and threw a few jokes. Replacing his priest garb for jeans, sneakers and a black T-shirt, he stowed his bags in the back of the like-new-Taurus that been a graduation gift and drove off as his 'family' waved from the steps of the rectory.
It was all too powerful a thing to see the church vanish from the sight of the rearview mirror. And if that was not proof enough of how on his own he was, the vanishing city really hit the braided teenager.
Nerves crept up, but there was also a thrilling sense of longing to know what lay ahead. Though Maxwell had never gone through life completely alone, he was sure that he was capable of handling himself.
When Richmond came into view, the braided student smiled to himself. Much larger and far more urban than his hometown, the city was filled with tall buildings of businesses and neighborhoods. In the heart of it all, there was an array of things that a person could do.
Since the university was just on the outskirts of it all, its residents were close enough that they could walk to take in the sights and attractions that the city had to offer. Busy as the activity in Richmond was, there was still a safeness about being there that many other metropolises did not have.
If ever there was a place for a person to be able to make the most of his opportunity to experience the world well beyond the parameters of their comfort zone, this was the perfect place.
Finally, VCU came into view. A haven of tranquility in the middle of the busy city of concrete around it, entering the campus made it feel as though its visitors were entering into a little piece of heaven away from the commotion of every day life.
Lowering the speed of his car, Duo navigated the cobble-stone streets winding through the campus as he took in his surroundings. He took in a deep breath of the warm, late-summer air scented with lush grass and flowers to release a deep sigh of content.
Everything about the school, from its lilac bushes and hills spotted by blossoms of every color in the rainbow to the facilities that had once been mansions and grand stables to wealthy families that were the first to live there was portrait-perfect. The newer buildings that held the classrooms had been fashioned to look like their periodic neighbors.
If one did not know better before setting foot on the property, they never would have believed that they were on the grounds of a university.
Students, teachers and administrators walked about between buildings while others played games of Frisbee and touch football in the parks. Most of those close enough to the red Taurus passing by stopped to smile and wave at the new face. Grinning back, Duo waved in return.
Yea, he decided, this was definitely a place that he could consider home.
Reaching Excalibur, one of all-male underclassmen dormitories, the braided teenager parked in the lot beside it to step out of his car so that he could have a good look at the building. As one of the renovated mansions, the residence stood at three floors high with its earth-toned exterior retaining its original and unique design as a long field lay before it.
Dozens of upperclassmen were assisting the freshmen with their moving into the building, a handful of them approaching Duo. "Need a hand with your stuff?" the first of the trio asked with a friendly smile.
Blinking in surprise, the freshman grinned widely, "Yea. That'd be great. Thanks, um..."
The tall blonde grinned and held his hand out as he introduced, "Alex." Turning to the two young men behind them, he informed, "These guys here are Mueller and Trent. We're all junior student ambassadors here at VCU."
Nodding firmly, Maxwell shook all their hands and smirked, "Duo. Freshman, in case you couldn't already tell." That earned him a round of laughter as he led the way to the trunk of his car.
Each of them grabbing either a box, suitcase or duffle bag, the juniors guided the braided youth towards Excalibur. Peering over his shoulder, Mueller's dark eyes fell on their new acquaintance as he inquired, "Which room are you in?"
"201," Duo answered while adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder without dropping his rack of CDs that he was carrying at the same time. He looked ahead just in time to catch the knowing glances that his aids shared. Frowning, he questioned, "Is something wrong?"
At that, Trent turned his head of wavy brown hair back and reassured, "Oh, it's just that we know your roommate. Quatre's a good guy... just a little different. Considering some of the other sophomores that you could have been placed with, you got lucky."
"Quatre," the braided student repeated quietly to himself. Raising his voice as they avoided the other teenagers walking in and out of the dorm, he frowned, "How badly 'off' is he?"
Mueller shook his head, smiling, "He's a Winner, a pretty wealthy family of scientists, so the guy's a genius. But where he exceeds in the brain category he lacks in how to interact with others, so he's very quiet and keeps to himself a lot. But like Trent said, he's a good guy. You don't have anything to worry about. We saw him moving back in earlier."
Relieved by that, Duo simply nodded and followed his guides up the short rise of stairs of the dormitory entrance. Passing the desk of the on duty security guard in the lobby, they ascended the main staircase to the second floor. The navigation through the hallways was easy enough even as the busy movers passed by.
A short walk to the start of the hallway later, they reached the closed blue door with the gold leaf-painted numbers 201. Making his way to the front of the pack, Maxwell took a deep breath and adjusted his belongings to free a hand to knock before he turned the doorknob to push his way inside. His head peeking inside, he called, "Hello?"
Inside, the room was more than adequate to house two people comfortably. And there was a clear split down the center of the room with the half furthest from the door arranged with personal items from the cloth draping on the walls to the, colorful rug of ornate stitching on the floor.
While he may not have been the most worldly person, Duo recognized the Arabian details from his studies. Blinking his violet eyes I surprise, he turned just in time to catch the head that peered around the shelving unit pressed against the foot of the made bed.
"Oh," the blonde greeted as he stepped out into the open. "You must be my new roommate." Stepping forward, he stretched a hand out and grinned, "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. Nice to meet you."
The easy smile instantly put the braided youth at ease and he gladly returned it. Carefully lowering his CD rack and backpack, he shook the offered hand and nodded firmly, "Duo Maxwell. Good to meet you, too, Quat." As soon as the name came from him, he winced when his roommate blinked. "Sorry," he chuckled, "I have a habit of shortening names."
Laughing, Winner practically beamed, "No need to apologize. You just took me by surprise since I just never had a nickname before. I like it." When he turned back, Maxwell realized that the juniors were in the process of setting the things they had carried down on the floor without making a point of hiding their surprised expressions.
Clearly they were not used to the young blonde being so talkative.
In catching their shock, Quatre blushed and ducked his head with a deep frown before he hurried back to his desk that was against the wall hidden on the other side of his tall dresser. Shoulders slumping, Duo frowned as he stared off to where his roommate vanished. Turning back to the upperclassmen, he smirked and shrugged, "Well, I can take care of the rest of my stuff from here, guys. Thanks a lot for the help."
Their friendly smiles returning, the trio waved and headed for the door as Alex parted with a smirked, "Well, see you around, then. If you need anything, just come find us." On that note, the group headed back out.
Spinning back around, Maxwell looked back to the other half of the room where the quiet taps on a keyboard filled the air. This was a good opportunity, he realized. Grinning to himself, he accepted the challenge that he gave himself and left the room to collect his last couple of bags from his car.
* * * * * *
There were a few things about Quatre that Duo picked up on as he unpacked and made his half of his dorm room feel like his own. Aside from the obvious interest in Arabian culture, the blonde definitely liked his privacy. He had opted to take the half of the room without the window. And his desk was all but completely blocked off by his furnishings.
It was all too familiar to Maxwell.
Giving his roommate the space he clearly wanted as he worked at his computer, the braided teenager placed all of his belongings, made up his bed and hung the posters of his favorite rock bands. Once he was finished and happy with his arrangement, he went to work on his next assignment.
As he craned his neck into the cubby that the other teenage had made, Duo rapped his knuckles on the closet beside him as he called, "Knock. Knock."
His back to his roommate while he continued to stare at his computer monitor, Quatre jumped with a gasp. Spinning his wheeled chair, his wide eyes blinked at the smirking face watching him. Slowly releasing the air that had hitched in his lungs, the blonde placed a hand over his heart and chuckled, "Sorry. I... I wasn't expecting that."
Maxwell grinned and pointed towards the door with his thumb as he announced, "I was going to hit the cafeteria for dinner, if you'd like to come with me. I'm sure you would have to have an appetite after working as hard at avoiding me as you have been."
At the offer, Winner's mouth fell open. "Y-you wouldn't mind the company?" he stammered, looking every bit like an anxious puppy would at its owner at the prospect of a walk.
"Why not?" Duo smiled, shoulders shrugging. "You'll have a better idea of what's safe for me to eat and what will have me in the bathroom all night since you've eaten here before."
In a flash, the sophomore turned back in his chair to save whatever it was he had been working on and turned off his computer. Practically jumping to his feet, he laughed, "Sounds good to me!" Leading the way out into the hallway, there was no hiding the slight bounce in his steps.
As he closed the door to their room, Maxwell chuckled quietly to himself. Stage one had gone over a lot easier than he'd expected.
Walking along with his roommate through the facility, the braided teenager decided to open up a conversation by asking, "So, where are you from and what brought you to VCU?"
"Oh, well, I am the fifth generation that has been here in America since my descendents moved here from Saudi Arabia. They started off in New York where my great, great, great grandparents developed a keen interest in science that's been passed down in the family," Quatre replied in a rush that almost had Duo's head spinning.
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "My grandfather and father founded the Winner Enterprises that they made famous with their chemical engineering work. Naturally, they wanted me to fall in line with taking over the business, but my sisters are more interested in that world."
His hands waving about as he spoke, the Arab went on, "I prefer genetic science since there are so many more interesting possibilities with just the human body. Did you know that there are organisms within us that have yet to be tapped into even at this day and age?!"
"Whoa, there, buddy!" Duo laughed when he was finally able to get a word in when they were already outside. Shaking his head, he reassured, "I don't mind the history lesson, but that's a lot to take in at once."
Blushing, Quatre sucked his head with a sheepish, "Sorry. I don't normally do a very good job at talking to people." A frown marring his face, he stared down at the pavement as he stated, "I never had many friends growing up since my parents had me home schooled by brilliant professors, so I haven't had a lot of exposure in to how to interact with others outside of my family. I do a pretty good job of scaring people off, like my last roommate."
The corners of his mouth curling up, Duo gave him a friendly slap on the back. "I was able to pick up on a lot of the signs as soon as I met you since I've been there," he shared. "Maybe I didn't have the wealthy, brilliant family that you do, but it took a lot for me to make and keep friends."
Stunned, Winner looked over at his roommate and responded, "You had trouble with that? It seems to come so naturally to you."
Chuckling, the braided teenager met his eyes and grinned, "Thanks. But it took work. I'll be happy to help you out. And as a science major, I could use your smarts to get me to pass through my math courses. It's my absolute worst subject, but you'd have to be a whiz at it since you're into science."
"That sounds like a more than fair trade. I love all forms of math," the blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Of course the classes I'm taking are the most advanced ones that the school can provide, so I can take a few steps back to mentor you."
Of course the comment was not meant to be an insult to Duo's intelligence, and he knew that so he snickered and shook his head in amusement. So he was going to have a bit of his work cut out for him, but he knew that he was going to like this Quatre a lot.
Making a new friend on his first day was certainly a good start to his new life.
* * * * * *
Once the two new friends had their carefully selected food on their trays, they took up one of the empty tables. "So you were going to become a priest?" Quatre marveled, his enlarged eyes taking his roommate in as he took the seat across from him.
"Well, I lost my parents when I was almost nine years old, so I was taken in by their church's orphanage," Duo explained. Reaching for the bottle of ketchup at the end of the table, he said, "For a long time, I just thought that it only made sense to go into the priesthood since I was never adopted. Life at the rectory was all that I knew."
Captivated, Winner never took his eyes from his companion as he scooped a forkful of potatoes up. "What made you change your mind?" he questioned.
Maxwell lowered the bottle again as he laughed quietly, "My mentor, Father Maxwell, knows me better than I know myself. He could see the rebelling streak that I had between my smoking, swearing and sneaking off with friends."
Stabbing a slice of beef, he shrugged, "If he hadn't convinced me to seriously consider college, I wouldn't have really thought over my future the way I have this last year. It got me wise to how I was only taking the easy way through life and I don't want that."
"Good thing he was able to get through," Quatre grinned. Biting his lip, he hesitated before asking timidly, "Mind if I ask what happened to your parents?"
It was an obvious question and Duo had prepared himself for it to keep the rage from building in him. Taking a deep breath after he swallowed his first bite, he met the eyes watching him and answered simply in a growl, "Vampires. For some reason, my parents thought it best to leave me behind for the so-called honor of being part of the yearly Harvest."
Nearly dropping his fork, the blonde managed to snag it before it fell to the ground. "B-but I thought that parents are always excluded from that," he breathed, skin paling.
"Well, they made a mistake in checking into my parents' history," the braided teenager hissed under his breath, feeling his anger growing the more he discussed the topic.
Shaking his head, he urged, "Anyway, I'd rather not talk about that right now." He pulled in another deep breath to ebb the heat that was raising his temperature and sighed, "As far as I know, there are no Vampires here. I haven't even seen signs of a Companion."
The sudden, uneasy shift in Quatre's body had Duo sitting upright.
In little more than a whisper, Maxwell breathed, "They're here."
TBC...
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