Hush little baby don't say a word
And never mind that noise you heard
It's just the beast under your bed
In your closet, in your head
              -Lyrics from 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica

Crimson Ties Part 21

Duo still had a small smile on his face when he sighed in his claw back to the world of the living. When his violet eyes blinked open and focused to take in his unfamiliar surroundings, that grin fell away as he tried to sort through his disoriented thoughts to where he was.

The events of the prior evening came back quickly- his drive to see Heero after school, his talk with Wufei, Anna and Midi and the snow storm that kept him with them for the night.

Pushing himself to lie on his back, the braided teenager stared up at the high ceiling of the cozy guest room. For being surrounded by Vampires in their home, he'd had one of the best nights of sleep that he could remember.

Were this the same time last year... well, Maxwell wouldn't have set foot anywhere near an Infected's home for one. And he would never have trusted them enough to close his eyes for more than a blink in their midst.

But this, like so many other things when it came to Heero and his family, was as easy and as comfortable as breathing.

Shedding the comforter around him, Duo willed himself to leave the soft, queen-sized bed to shuffle his socked feet towards the large window. He winced against the brightness that greeted him when he pulled the thick curtains back.

Everywhere he looked, the trees and hills beyond the balcony were covered with snow that reflected the brilliant sun hanging in the clear skies. Going bythe angle of natural light, he'd slept in much later than usual.

From his perspective on the second floor of Trowa and Midi's estate, the living guessed that more than a foot of snow had fallen overnight as opposed to the originally predicted few inches. Mentally snorting at the ever inconsistent accuracy of the local weatherman, he moved for the pile of fresh clothes he'd picked out from the many that had been saved for him.

As he pulled on the sweater and black jeans, Maxwell couldn't help but be impressed at how perfectly they fit him. Midi had been the one who went to all the trouble of buying clothes for him in the hopes that he might be spending time over and it seemed she had an impeccable eye for size.

Eyeing himself in the mirror, the teenager rebraided his hair and brushed down the front of the deep blue sweater that he'd picked out. It was one of many that he had to choose from, but this was the one that stood out. He didn't need to dwell over why that was the case since it was the same shade as a certain pair of eyes that he constantly saw in his dreams.

Content with his appearance, Duo made his way from the room and took to the stairs. He was half-way down to the first floor when the pleasant smells of eggs, bacon and other breakfast foods cooking filled his nose. Shaking his head in amusement, he silently thanked Midi for her desire to be the consummate hostess.

Peering into the living room on his way to the kitchen, an unexpected sight had the braided scholar freezing as his widened eyes blinked. "Quatre?" he greeted, his voice echoing his surprise at finding his roommate sitting with Wufei and Anna.

The scientist grinned widely as he looked over his shoulder to his friend and rose to his feet. "Hey, Duo," he replied cheerfully. "I thought that I'd stop over for a visit since I haven't been here in a week. It's hard to stay away from Midi's cooking that long." Anna and Wufei chuckled softly when he flashed them a cheeky smile.

"A week, huh?" Maxwell smirked. "I didn't think that even you could spend as much time in the lab as you claimed you were." Biting his lip as the blonde approached, he frowned, "Sorry that you felt you had to lie to be able to come here."

Shrugging, Winner smiled, "No need to be sorry. I'm just relieved that everything seems to be smoothing over enough for you to feel comfortable enough to sleep over."

There was more to this visit, Duo had the feeling. Quatre was very easy to read when there was more on his mind than what he was letting on. For the time being, he'd let it go. It was late in the morning and the smells that continued to drift from the kitchen made his stomach growl loudly.

Giggling, Anna rose from her lean against Wufei in the loveseat that they were sharing to walk towards the braided living. "Midi went to work as soon as she heard you stirring," she informed. With a wink, she beamed, "And good morning."

When she leaned in to peck his cheek, Maxwell returned the gesture instinctively as he replied in kind, "Good morning." Pulling back, the redhead's eyes drifted down to the blue sweater in a quick flick of motion and a pleased smile tugged her lips.

Clearly, she picked up on the link that the color had to her brother's eyes.

"Duo," Chang nodded firmly, his voice polite and friendly as he neared to exchange a firm handshake with their guest. "I take it that you slept well, considering how it's nearly noon."

Releasing the smooth scales, the braided living responded, "Like a baby. I haven't rested that well in forever." The Infecteds smiles grew further across their faces.

From down the hallway, Midi's voice called in a sing-song, "Breakfast is ready!"

*   *   *   *   *   *

It continued to amaze Duo how easy it was for him to fall into this arrangement, seated at a table and enjoying a meal with Vampires.

Quatre provided a lot of lively conversation as he caught up with his friends, recalling his week at school and news of his own family's endeavors. No where near as awkward in his banter as he had been when Duo first met him, the braided teenager couldn't help but be proud of his roommate in how far he'd come in a relatively short period of time.

Even the infected noticed enough of Winner's change to praise him and to commend Maxwell, saying how good he was for their blonde friend.

Once he and his roommate finished their breakfast and the dishes were cleared away, Duo waited until he and the others were seated in the living room where he scanned their faces, smirking, "So... what else is going on that you're not telling me?"

Just as he'd expected, Quatre was the most expressive in his reaction in his opening jaw and widening eyes as he looked frantically to the Vampires. Folding his arms, it was Wufei who chuckled deeply, "Very observant. You're more like Heero than you realize."

Maxwell ignored the skip of his heartbeat at what he took as a real compliment in being compared to the missing Infected. Sitting forward on the couch he occupied with Winner, he focused on the family across from them and frowned, "Where is Heero, anyway? What business is he off on?"

Silent conversations were exchanged through glances between Chang, Anna and Midi. Then, drawing a deep breath, the redhead gazed back on her 'little brother' and replied solemnly, "We decided last night that since we disclosed what had happened at the Harvest, we would come forward with everything that you don't know about us and our kind. Quatre has a part in the revelations, which we'll get to soon."

The tension in his shoulders easing, Winner gave her a firm nod as he leaned back into the soft cushioned back of the sofa. He flashed his braided friend an apologetic grin.

For the briefest of moments, Duo wasn't exactly sure that he wanted to hear whatever more it was that had been kept from him. But that uncertainty was pushed aside by his need to know everything that he could about these creatures that had not only come into his life, but who had very quickly become a very important part of it.

Swallowing roughly as he made himself comfortable, watching the Vampires in an urge for them to go on.

Wufei bent at his waist in the recliner that he sat in and propped himself up with his arms folded atop his legs, hands folded. The braided teenager's eyes fell on him and he began, "You recall the term Rogue coming up in the story I told you last night... after we took out Hector and his clan?"

"Yea," Maxwell replied, his braided head nodding as he blinked in confusion over what the significance of the word was. "I thought that was just used to describe them for trying to get away with killing me when I wasn't part of the Harvest."

Her own head nodding, Anna responded, "You're right on that note. Any Vampire that tries to claim the life of a living is a Rogue."

She paused before informing in little more than a whisper, "And we have reason to believe that there are more of them around. I'm sure that you're aware of some of the news of disappearances throughout Virginia and the neighboring states?"

Violet eyes widening, Duo felt the hairs on his arms stand up at the chill that ran through his body.

The image of that missing person flyer that he'd seen nearly a year ago on a rainy day... Crystal Donson. To this day, he still remembered her name, her long blonde hair, laughing green eyes and smile that glowed without a care in the world in the picture on the poster.

"O-oh my God," he breathed, feeling his skin paling. Shaking his head, he admitted, "Before, I... I was blaming it all on Vampires out of spite, but I never really believed..." Recalling how hateful and angry he had been towards the Infected and how quickly he passed the blame, the guilt was nearly choking him even now knowing that his initial hunch was right.

Unable to look the family in the eyes, Maxwell's head dropped so that he could stare at the ground.

Midi was sitting on the arm rest beside him, rubbing his back soothingly as she smiled sadly, "It's alright, Duo. You did nothing wrong by your accusations and there is no offense taken. In a way, we all wish that more living would have been more leery of being around our kind with the strange occurrences for their safety."

Only partially relieved of his shame, the braided teenager lifted his gaze back to his would-be siblings and inquired, "You're absolutely sure that it's Vampires that are involved with this? Rogues?"

If that truly was the case, there was little to no chance that those poor souls that had been taken might still be alive.

Wufei straightened himself in the recliner, taking his wife's hand when she stood beside him. "We're more than certain," he answered. "There are little things that humans miss in the details of the crime scenes that only we can pick up on to link them to other Infected."

He paused before adding, "For the time being, we have to hope and pray that all of this stays only between those of us who can keep that secret since we're not just talking about one or a few Infected that need to be brought to justice."

Violet eyes narrowing in thought, Duo questioned, "What more is there?"

"That would be where I come in," Quatre announced with a raised hand as if in class.

Clearing his throat and shifting in his spot so that he was turned fully towards his roommate, the blonde said, "Samples of blood too small for any human to find were discovered at the crime scenes by our friends here. I'd spent weeks analyzing them for a possible DNA link to the database of Vampires registered around the world."

Duo nodded. That registration was one of the many regulations ordered by the government of the living that every Vampire register themselves to make their whereabouts known at any given time to assure that there would not be a turned human as the identity of the creature responsible would not remain hidden for long before they were put to death.

Now that he'd become close to some of those Infected, the braided teenager's stomach churned at the unfairness of their being treated like child molesters by having to report where they were for the world to know.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Winner went on, "I was only a week into the analyzing when I realized that there were no matches anywhere. So, I dug deeper and deeper, peeling back the layers and making some pretty startling discoveries along the way that only called for more research before I could determine that my findings were right."

With his head, the blonde gestured to Chang as he stated, "Wufei is the last legally turned Vampire before the law was enforced that if an Infected was to take a human as their mate they would be their Companion. I used samples of his blood to compare to the ones scraped together for my studies."

Somehow already sensing where this was going, Duo felt his heart rate rising as his eyes grew. "And?" he pressed in little more than a breath.

Quatre licked his lips and shifted again, this time out of nervousness before he frowned, "Whatever these things responsible for this are, they're of three, four and five generations beyond his progression. The mutations in their DNA is complex and changing rapidly even as we speak. So, we don't even know exactly what we're up against... but it's bad. Real bad. And there's no telling how many of them are out there."

Turning his head to run his eyes over the exposed scales of Wufei's skin, Maxwell could feel sweat beading on his brow. It was because of his being a second generation Infected that he was shielded from any harm of blade, bullet, flame or the like.

If these creatures out there were mutations beyond even his capabilities, who knew what they were capable of... what attributes they had that could make them impossible to stop.

"Holy shit," was all that Maxwell could manage, voice strangled from the terror setting in.

Bad wasn't the word. There was no word to accurately describe this grim situation. Everyone, living and Infected alike, was potentially in great danger.

Heero.

Jumping to his feet, Duo glared heatedly at his immortal friend as he cried, "Heero's out there looking for these things, isn't he?! That's where he, Trowa and Zechs went out on 'business'?! He... They could all be killed!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he spun towards Midi. Opening and closing his mouth, he couldn't find his voice to make an apology. It was her husband that was out there, after all. And he was all too aware of how she fretted over the ones she loved. Just because she seemed strong now, she had to be worried sick. Trowa was her world.

Biting her lip, the brunette took a deep breath and smiled. "We all know the risks involved in the hunts that we go on," she said quietly. "And we take those chances willingly for the protection of both our kinds. If word were to ever get out that there are Vampires turning humans there would be an uproar over the breach in the treaty that had been created. There would be situations worse than the witch hunts for our kind."

With a shudder, Midi stated, "What's more, the living would be completely helpless in stopping these monsters. We're the only ones that can keep more disappearances from happening. Thousands of our own have made the ultimate sacrifice in seeing to that over the centuries by defending the peace from any and all potential threats by becoming Preventers."

Slowly sinking back onto the couch, Duo whispered, "Preventers?"

Anna responded, "An organization of sorts that Treize and Lady Une established. Those of us who had no qualms of killing our own for the better of humanity and Infected alike joined to be armed and ready whenever needed. Wufei, Heero, Trowa and I have been Preventers for nearly as long as we've been Vampires. We've seen a lot of things... but nothing like this."

Dampening his mouth that had dried up on him, Maxwell glanced up to Midi and squeezed her hands that were folded in her lap. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier," he told her quietly. "You must already be beside yourself over Trowa being out there."

"It's okay," she reassured with a quiet chuckle as she squeezed back. "This is difficult for me, but I'm proud of him. Nodding to her cousins, she smiled, "As I am proud of all my family for putting themselves in harm's way for others."

Looking back down at her braided guest, she giggled, "I'm not exactly comfortable with the thought of taking another's existence, otherwise I would have enlisted as well."

At that, Wufei snickered, "You're too much of a nurturer, cousin. And there's nothing wrong with that. We need that, too. It's nice to come back to a bit of peace at home after we've been in the field." Midi brightened at that, happy to know that she was able to help... that she served a purpose of sorts.

Tender as the moment was, Duo was far too on edge to take it all in. Heero was still out there, in the field as it was called. He was putting himself in danger to save humans that would never even know what he was risking so that they might go on about their lives without a care.

Maybe the living were the only targets of these monsters, but there was little doubt that they would kill anything that tried to get in their way.

Leveling his 'siblings' with his violet eyes, he said, "I want you to tell me everything that you know about these things already."

Chang's mouth curled up in a lopsided smirk. Taking a deep breath, he stated, "We could be looking at anywhere between three and ten of these Vampires... maybe even more. So far, three have been confirmed by Quatre. They travel in groups, but spread out enough that they move fast and don't draw attention to themselves."

Running a finger along the back of his wife's hand, he continued, "They're smart, keeping their strikes far enough apart both in time and location that there is little done to link them and bring about more focus from authorities. Along with that, the living start feeling safe again before long and their guards are down."

"From what we can tell, there is no rhyme or reason to the victims that they choose," Anna added. "There's a variety in age, gender, race and nearly every other possible way that they can be different. It's another well-thought out plan on their part since there would be no way of profiling their specifications."

She bit her lip before she admitted, "Tying them down to a certain location is nearly impossible since they've crossed state lines quickly. Most of the work that we're doing out there for the time being is not only tracking them, but letting them know that we're onto them in the hopes that they'll start moving on if not stopping their attacks all together. Since our Council would surely sentence them to death if they were ever brought in, they'll make sure that they're not taken before them."

Wufei shrugged, "We stay in small packs so that we can travel as quickly and easily as they are without being noticed by any of the humans to cause alarm. Because we don't know how these things are staying ahead of us, we cut off communications between those of us on the hunt and those who stay behind."

Resting her head on her husband's shoulder, the redhead concluded, "It's been months since their last strike, the longest they've remained dormant so far as we know. And we're doing everything that we can to make sure that it stays that way. Eventually, we'll run into them and they'll be dealt with so that they can't hurt anyone again."

Unable to help but be reassured by their confidence that the situation was under control, Duo finally eased a bit.

But he was also silently thankful that he had an extra stash of cigarettes stowed away in his car. His nerves were going to need them.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Heero growled quietly to himself as he struggled to remove a bag of blood from his supply. For the last couple of days he'd gone completely without, which wouldn't have been a problem for him before when he could last weeks on a fresh drink. Now, his hands were shaking almost uncontrollably he was weakening so quickly.

At last, he was able to get enough of a hold on the first and brought it to his mouth. Sinking his fangs through the plastic, he greedily drained the contents. With rough gulps, he took in the warmth and euphoric high that came with the feed as his eyes closed. It only took seconds to feel his strength returning.

Drinking every last drop, Yuy crumpled the emptied bag before placing it back in the medical cooler. Heavily leaning his side against the tree that he had all but collapsed next to, he sighed deeply... content and rejuvenated now, but also grimly accepting that his time was running out on him.

"Are you alright?" Trowa asked quietly, allowing the concern to seep into his voice.

His cobalt eyes opening to look up at his cousin, Heero nodded firmly, "Yea." Pushing himself up to his feet, he stared out beyond the thick over of trees that shielded their camp. In the empty clearing beyond, the snow on the ground lay without a single blemish... pure and clean as it reflected the multitude of colors in the heavens created by the setting sun.

To any untrained eye, no one would see anything out of the ordinary about the serene sight. For the three Preventers, however, they easily spotted the shift in the white blanket where tracks had been covered. A wide dip in the snow revealed where someone had fallen before they were ambushed, the evidence of the attack carefully concealed.

It was a short-lived reprieve from sights like this.

Walking up to stand beside his friends, Zechs looked out with them to the clearing that they'd discovered hours before. "They're on their own hunt again," he frowned deeply. "This is getting to be worse than we feared."

"And they've sent their message back to us with this attack," Trowa hissed through his clenched teeth.

Heero nodded firmly, his own eyes narrowed as he muttered, "They're not afraid of us and they're not going anywhere."

TBC...

 

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