This is the first day of my last day
Built it up, now I take it apart
Climbed up real high, now fall down real far
-Lyrics from 'Wish' by Nine Inch Nails
Crimson Ties Part 19
Walking through trees and stepping into the opening to see the cathedral-like building that he'd only caught sight of from a distance before this night, Duo's violet eyes blinked as he took in the massive, ancient structure.
Its tall steeples back dropped by the forest that shielded it and the skies darkening both by the descending sun and the thick clouds that were rolling in quickly, the old building gave off an eerie feeling to the boy of nearly nine years old. Biting his lip, he reached up to take hold of a familiar hand in a tight grip.
Her long, blonde hair flowing on the gentle breeze, his beautiful mother turned at his squeeze. Smiling that loving smile at him, she shifted the hem of her long, green dress to kneel before him. "Oh, my beautiful son," she sighed, green eyes sparkling even with the absence of the sun to catch them.
Cupping her boy's face in her hands, her grin seemed to sadden before she tilted her head up to press a soft kiss against his forehead. "Your father and I love you very much," she whispered when she pulled back to stare into his violet eyes.
"Duo," his father smirked while he lowered himself down. The lack of light made his short, brown hair seem darker than its usual chestnut shade. But his blue eyes never lost their intensity. Lightly patting down the back of his son's shaggy mane, he smirked, "Your mother and I have something very important that we need to do inside. In the meantime, you need to stay here until we come get you."
Confused, the child turned to look to his mother again. Taking a deep breath, she cleared her throat and said, "If we are still gone well after dark, come and look for us. Any of the Vampires inside will be able to help you from there. Otherwise, there is nothing inside that you would need to see before that time. You understand?"
All that Duo wanted was to make his parents happy. If there were Vampires around, there would be no fear of harm. His mother and father would tell him all of the wonderful things about the race, how kind and good they were. Nothing bad would ever happen as long as they were here... even if something did feel weird about this.
Finally nodding, the boy replied, "O-okay."
"That's our boy," his father smiled proudly. Kissing the little one's head and hugging him tightly, the tall man looked to his wife.
Resting her hands on their son's shoulders, the blonde woman held his gaze with hers and breathed, "You are so special, Duo... and not only to us. I hope that you never forget that, my darling."
She turned sad again, making the child worry. But before he could ask what was wrong, his father lightly patted the side of his face with a wink. Then, his parents took each others hands and smiled to him as they turned and headed for the brick building.
Duo stayed by the trees as he was told. And with a gasp, he watched in surprise as other people, lots of them, entered the clearing to walk up the tall stairway and disappear inside the dark entrance at the top. Resting a hand on the tree trunk beside him, he kept his sights on his parents as they calmly followed through the tall arches of the opening.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Within the offering room, its golden walls almost sparkling with the hundreds of candles that gave it a warm and cozy feel, the Vampires in charge of overseeing the Harvest were making the finishing touches to the offering tables. Only the finest of linens and softest of pillows were to be used in making those humans that were sacrificing themselves as safe and comfortable as possible.
Standing on top of the balcony that overlooked the floor where hundreds of those beds were being arranged, Treize took a deep breath that he released in a slow sigh. This was never an easy time for him, or any of his kind. Yes, this was a ritual that had been agreed upon between the humans and the Infected, but it only served as a reminder of just how different his kind was in their need for blood to sustain themselves.
Even if the living were on the verge of dying long and painful deaths, happy to give their life essence away to slip away from the world in a peaceful end while saving another, the Vampires would always be seen as monsters and demons by many because of their need. Already, dozens and dozens of starving Infected that had not taken a Companion were pacing anxiously for their chance to feed.
The sound of the side doors opening brought the Chairman out of his dark thoughts. As he turned to the source of the sound, looked down to see who was entering, his eyes widened with a gasp. Pushing his hands from the railing that he was holding, he hurried down the stairs where he met his wife.
"I had no idea he was this bad off," Une whispered, voice dripping with concern as she followed her husband around the tables. Not far off, Relena and Karl looked on with wide eyes while Noin and Zechs reluctantly held them back to keep the new arrivals from being overwhelmed by being surrounded.
When he and his wife neared their friends, Treize froze at how limply Heero was hanging in Wufei and Anna's arms as they carried him into the room. Even more pale than he should have been, the Original's eyes were closed and his head rested heavily on his sister's shoulder. Eyes red and wet with tears, the redhead turned to the Council heads when they hurried close.
Instantly springing to action, Lady Une rested a hand on the small of Chang's back to bring his focus on her. "This way," she urged. Nodding firmly, the scaly Vampire made sure to gently lead his wife along as to not jolt their brother. With all eyes in the room on them, they went to the front of the line of tables.
Meanwhile, a very concerned Trowa and Midi joined Relena as well as the rest of their friends. His voice low, Karl leaned towards the couple to ask in a breath, "How long has be been like this?"
"It came on so fast," the brunette replied back just as softly, her shimmering brown eyes never leaving her cousins across from them. Her hands kneading together nervously, she shook her head, "There was no warning, he just started declining rapidly and nothing could help him. If this doesn't work..."
A small whimper broke from her, stopping her words and Trowa came up to pull her into a fierce embrace. Swallowing roughly, Barton bit his lip and fought to keep himself together. Karl kissed the top of Relena's head when her own tears fell with a quiet sob.
Zechs and Noin kept a silent vigil over them all, torn between giving into their own emotions and remaining strong for their friends' sakes. But that didn't mean that they had to stand around, watching helplessly. "We need to talk to the living that are in the waiting area," the tall blonde suggested quietly to his wife.
"Perhaps we can find a couple of volunteers who would be willing to come in early," his wife nodded. Together, they hurried for the stairs of the balcony and made their way through the closed double doors.
Helping her brother sit up in the chair that she and Wufei lowered him into at the first station of tables, Anna cupped the sides of his face and kissed his forehead. "Heero?" she called quietly. "Heero, please look at me."
Slowly, his cobalt-and-gold eyes blinked open. Disoriented and confused, he frowned with a croaked, "An... na?"
More tears steamed down the redhead's face as she nodded, a tiny smile of relief at his finally being alert tugging her lips. "You're going to be okay, brother," she promised with a whimper, her cool hands gently brushing back his long bangs and caressing the sides of his face to keep him focused. "Wufei and I are going to stay right here with you until your strength is back."
Cracking a small, sad grin of his own, Yuy struggled but managed to reach up with a shaking hand to wipe away some of the tears from her face as he whispered, "Hate... seeing you cry."
After spending the last couple of days as being the rock of his family, that gesture nearly undid all of Wufei's resolve. Swallowing roughly, he had to look away when his eyes began to sting.
With a whimper, Anna took her brother's hand and kissed its damp palm. "Well, there won't be a need for tears after tonight. This will all be over soon," she reassured.
Catching Treize and Lady Une from the corner of her eye and seeing the harness strap in their possession, the Irish Vampire bit her lip and nodded to her friends before she stepped away to leave them to the work of securing her brother into the chair.
The moment that his wife was away from the seat, Wufei closed the distance between them to wrap his arms around her tightly. Shaking, the redhead strangled a sharp sob as she buried her head in his shoulder and held on with all her strength.
"Shh," the scaly Vampire whispered into her ear before he rained kisses on her head of thick, red curls. "Everything will be alright now. Heero's where he needs to be. We got him here in time."
Of course their brother would be well again after his feeding. But there was that underlying reality that it was only a matter of time before he would be this bad off again... and he would be beyond any help eventually. How much time did he actually have after this?
Such were the musings that Wufei knew were killing his dear wife. It pained him to no end to see her so distraught, knowing that her fears of Heero's deteriorating condition were valid. No amount of soothing or reassurances would ever take away the gravity of the situation.
And when... no, if Yuy were to die, Chang knew that Anna would be lost without him. Whether or not they were each other's companions, they were part of each other's existences... loved each other so that there would be no end to the grief were that to be taken away.
This was all a terrible glimpse into what was to come.
"We have two volunteers," a familiar voice announced. Keeping their arms around each other, the couple looked to find Zechs and Noin running up to them. The tall blonde informed them, "There is a young couple who are very anxious to come in right away. They were just cleared by the facilitators. Between the two of them, they'll be more than enough."
Gesturing to Heero, Lucrezia offered, "We can bring them in now to have them prepared. We shouldn't wait any longer than we have to."
Treize straightened himself after securing the harness that he and his wife had used to keep their friend upright. Meeting his cousins' gazes, he nodded firmly, "Do it."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dark as the sky was with clouds, Duo knew that the sun was still up. He promised his parents that he would wait until night before he went inside to find them, but he was scared. Something was wrong, he could feel it. His mother wouldn't have been so sad if everything really was okay.
So, he waited until there were no other people around for a long time before he climbed the steps leading up to the cathedral. When he reached the entrance, he blinked in wide-eyed shock in seeing just how many there actually were inside. From where he watched outside, it seemed like a lot had come but now that he could see them all... there were more around than he could have ever imagined seeing in one room.
That also worked to Duo's advantage. He'd been lost in crowds before, being as small and fast as he was. Quietly and quickly, he made his way between every man and woman gathered around. Looking for any signs of his parents, he knew that enough time had passed that they must have been at the front of the lines... or already inside the double doors blocked by a handful of Vampires.
Patiently, the child sat back, lost in the crowd, and watched... waited for an opportunity. Before long, he picked up on a pattern of how many groups were allowed beyond the doors from time to time. Seeing one of those groups being formed, he made sure to slip in at the last second when everyone else was distracted as the doors were opened to them.
Once he was inside the room of gold, Duo fought the urge to gasp. He'd never seen anything as beautiful as the space and noticed that they were walking along a balcony.
A look through the columns of the railing showed the ground below to be lined with tables made up like beds with chairs beside them. For those beds that had people lying in them, there was a Vampire sitting in the chair, appearing to be whispering to the humans from where he watched.
Blinking, the shaggy-haired boy stayed back as the rest of the group he had snuck in with continued on.
In a low crouch, he peered through the banister to watch what was happening below. Squinting his eyes, that was when he had a better look at what was happening... and his eyes grew with a gasp when he realized that the Infected were not whispering to the living, but drinking from their necks.
Panic rose up. Crawling along the abandoned balcony, he moved closer to the stairs as he searched for his parents. They wouldn't... they couldn't have come here to feed a Vampire. It didn't make sense.
...But they were here. And there was an Infected with his fangs buried in his father's neck.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Duo heard his shrill voice pierce through the room before he even knew that he had spoken or half-flung himself over the railing. His mother and father were so still with their eyes closed and they were as white as she sheets that they were lying on... never moving even when he yelled.
No, no, no! This wasn't happening!
Tears in his violet eyes, he screamed at the Infected that raised his head of dark hair to look up at him in surprise, "No! You're killing them!"
"Heero, stop!" someone cried. The Vampire stood then, blood dripping from his exposed fangs as he seemed to not know where he was or what was going on.
On the floor in a nearby corner, Wufei and Anna's heads were raised to stare at the boy in complete disbelief. "This isn't happening!" the redhead whispered. Equally stunned, the scaly Infected's own enlarged eyes only shifted from the crying youth to Treize when he spotted him running for Heero and all attention returned to them.
Cupping Yuy's face in his hands with a frantic gaze that willed his disoriented friend to focus, the Chairman cried, "Heero, listen to me! You have to stop!" Finally, the euphoric cloud that shrouded the cobalt eyes cleared.
His head shaking in the palms holding him, Heero's fangs retracted as he stammered, "T-Treize? Please tell me that I did not hear that boy right."
Their heads snapped back up along with everyone else in the room to find that the child was gone and the double doors of the balcony were swinging back and forth, a rise of voices coming from the waiting room beyond.
On his feet in an instant, Yuy was wiping his mouth with the back of an arm as he called back to his siblings, "Anna! Wufei!" Already on his heels, his siblings charged the stairs along with him as Trowa and Midi were fast behind while the other Infected continued to reel over the events that had just unfolded.
Within the waiting room, there was mass confusion as Vampire and living alike were looking to one another for answers of what they had just seen. And there was still a gap in the masses that made a clear way to the cathedral's front stairs.
Her jaw falling open, Midi gasped, "Oh, dear God. He's all alone out there."
"We need to split up," Trowa suggested. "Before he gets too far, we need to make sure that he's alright." There was no need for the reminder of how they were in a building filled with blood-thirsty Vampires who were just looking for a fresh kill.
Nodding firmly, Heero tore his gaze away from the entrance and told his family, "We don't have a lot of time. Split up. He's either heading back into the city or deeper into the forest."
Four of the Infected that had been stationed to work in the check-in points rushed up. At the front of that team, was the tall and intimidating Hector. Jasmine, his alluring Hispanic wife, Nigel, their lanky but strong cousin and his striking, blonde bride, Heidi were all right behind. "We saw him run north, deeper into the wood," the clan leader informed.
"We should still head for the city as well, in case he changes course," Wufei suggested, keeping an eye on the pack. "He'll be from this area and the city will be more familiar to him, if he knows how to get there from here." There was the quickest flash of disappointment at his idea that flashed across the clan's faces.
In seeing that, Chang glanced to Heero, Anna and Trowa. Their telling sidelong looks back told him all too well that they had noticed what he'd picked up on as well.
They were being led the wrong way on purpose. A mark had already been put on the boy's head. The clock was ticking away faster than they'd first feared.
Speaking up quickly, Heidi stated, "We'll cover the area along with you. The last thing that poor boy needs is to get lost when there are so many dangers around."
Anna forced a smile and nodded, "That's very nice of you to help. We will have to hurry." Not waiting for further acceptance of their offer, Hector and his clan were off.
His eyes narrowing heatedly, Heero looked over to his family and growled deeply, "Get the weapons."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Crying silently as he ran through the trees, Duo hurried for the city as fast as his legs could carry him. Before he broke through the woods, he felt as if he was being followed by something very, very fast. If he was going to survive the night, he needed to find shelter... quickly.
Those Infected had been feeding. There would be others looking to drink from him now that he was alone.
Alone... Mom... Dad... they were gone. They left him behind to become offerings to those monsters. Now, he had no one to defend him from the same terrible creatures that had taken them from him.
Faster. He needed to run faster.
Heart hammering in his chest and breath coming in sharp heaves, the child broke into the city at last. Calling for help would only put others at risk. He needed to hide, stay low until the Vampires that had followed him were gone. They wouldn't be able to stay around waiting for him forever when there would be other eyes watching.
An alley. Duo recognized an alley from the blur of the empty streets that he was running down. The sewers would be the perfect place for him. Nearly ready to collapse from his frantic charge, he slid before one of the raised grates at the middle of the stretch.
Lithe and small enough to fit between the bars that closed it off, the boy crawled into the dank, dark cubby. A metal beam just inside was strong and long enough for him to make a perch that kept him out of the slimy pit below.
Biting his hand, Duo forced his labored breath to relax enough that it couldn't be heard by the specially heightened ears of the Infected that were all so close behind him. To his relief, his pants eased into slow, quiet pulls.
Moments later...
"We have to make this quick," a deep voice snapped. "The Yuy and Barton clans are not far behind us. And if they know that we're intent on making him our next meal-"
Another voice hissed, "I know what that would mean for us! Shut the hell up now and keep looking! That little brat can't be far."
Huddling himself in a tight ball in the shallow sewer below, Duo sniffled and fought the urge to let out even a whimper. Large violet eyes peering beyond the barred grate, he watched as the black-booted feet of the Vampires that had chased him walked past without a sound.
Everything that he knew about Vampires from what his parents had taught him had been used. He'd hid in a place where the scent of his blood would be thrown off by other smells. And what could be more horrendous than the stench of grime and whatever else was floating in the murky water only a couple inches below his dangling feet?
Still, he prayed that it would be enough that the Infected who were so close to finding him would go away.
"I still don't see why those wretched human-lovers wouldn't just include him in the ritual," the voice of a female vampire muttered. "Such a waste to let him be taken into the sanctuary of the Church. He won't have much of a future now that his parents are dead."
More terrible visions of his mother and father's blood flowing from their bitten necks filled the long-haired boy's vision. Squeezing his shimmering eyes closed tight, he bit his bottom lip to hold back the frightened sob that almost broke free.
The harshness of his teeth plowing into the flesh drew warm blood that dripped down the side of his mouth. With a gasp, his eyes shot open wide in terror.
A foot thumped down on the other side of the hooded grate. With a deep, sinister chuckle, the owner of that foot whispered, "There you are."
TBC...
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