Clouded Heart

Chapter 7

"Hello, sweet cheeks. It's strange to see you out and about..." Lyall said as he poked his head down to be in Kyousuke's line of sight.

Kyou blinked, then, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"Nothing really. Can't a vampire go out for a midday stroll?" he retorted.

" Not really. That whole sentence itself is a little weird to think about..." Kyousuke said and shifted on the bench, ready to leave. He then had a thought and relaxed back against the back of the bench.

He turned fully to Lyall. "Aloys seems to listen to you. Why is that?"

Lyall invited himself into Kyou's space.

"I turned him into what he is. He's not able to disobey me."

"You turned him what he is," Kyou repeated, not fully sure what Lyall meant.

"Into a vampire, darling. He cursed me, of course, and tried to kill me for years after that, but as you can see, I'm still here," Lyall smiled, his strong white teeth flashing as he held up a hand and took a bow.

" You are fucking insane. The both of you." He would have said more, but the look on the redheads face was unsettling.

"It's fun to choose who lives and who dies though. His blood was everywhere and his heart was pulled out of his body but still beating," The vampire said with a shiver and a grin.

"Then why did you help him?" He asked, his curiosity winning out over the disgust rising up in his mind.

"His blood lust was so rare for a human. It was delicious and I wanted to see what would happen," Lyall responded matter of factly.

Kyou decided he did not like this guy, perhaps even more then he disliked Aloys."Well the next time you go and decide on saving someone's life, make sure you are careful. Karma has a way of biting people in the ass," he said darkly.

Kyousuke looked at the sky. The sun was setting now, and would be dusk soon. He sighed. He really didn't want to go back…

Lyall seemed to sense his trepidation.

"Trouble with the wife?" he asked Kyou mockingly.

He frowned. "Fuck you."

"Do you want to come to the bar? I'll tell you more about Aloys…"

Kyousuke had trouble deciding between the two crazy vampires, but Aloys seemed to make him the most uncomfortable at the moment, so he nodded and stood to follow Lyall to Pandora. It was definitely NOT because he wanted to know more about Aloys.

They walked a short ways to the train.

" Why don't you use your powers to take us straight to the bar?" Kyou asked quietly.

Lyall laughed. "Only Aloys can do that," he explained. "My powers rest with the mind."

"The mind?Are you like a hypnotist? Can you read minds?"

"More like I can just skim surface thoughts and alter memories of those with a weak mind. I can take memories from others for myself as well, though I do miss when I was able to work with the souls of those who came to me for help," he hummed quietly. "The more acquainted I am with the individual,the more I can do, but on principle most don't try to befriend a Sire. It's considered very presumptuous," Lyall added with a laugh.

Kyou looked around and saw everyone in the train was paying them no mind even though there was a man talking openly about being a fiend.

"You're using it right now, aren't you," Kyousuke said rhetorically.

"Naturally," Lyall responded then pointed towards the door. "We are getting off at the next stop."

Kyousuke followed the vampire out of the train when the doors opened and out onto the street.

From there the two made their way to Pandora's Box.

"So, Aloys has bit me before..." Kyou said nervously.

"Are you asking me if you are going to change?" Lyall laughed as he lead them around back and through the staff entrance. "Don't worry, darling, there are rules for vampires."

"Like what?" Kyousuke started to ask but a ring went off and they both looked down at their cell phones.

"Excuse me for a moment; I must take this," Lyall said and went off as he answered the call.

He left Kyousuke alone in the dim hallway. Kyou considered staying put but he was never told to not wander around-plus he worked here. He didn't see anything wrong with having a look around.

Kyou made his way to the nearest door and opened it a crack. It was a storage room. He frowned. He decided to check a few more and found they were the same.

This seemed to be a recurring theme. He frowned again and was about to leave to go to the bar when he heard a muffled thump.He froze and waited.

It came again.

It was coming from behind a door at the end of the hallway. Kyou knew that it was just a pantry for the alcohol that Lyall kept for high paying customers and patrons.

He normally wouldn't think much of it, but the bar was closed and Lyall had gone off in the opposite direction to answer his call. Kyousuke swallowed.

There came a quiet thump again and Kyousuke's curiosity got the better of him once again. He crept up to the door and lifted the latch as quietly as possible before he peered in.

Kyou saw two figures at the back of the room. They were pressed close together and the shorter of the two was being held up to the others face level. The taller figure had two very familiar looking horns...

A small moan reached Kyousuke's ears. He blushed when he realized what was going on.

"Enoch…" the shorter person said softly in a breathless whisper before the sound of wet and filthy kisses filled the air.

Kyou chose at that time to make his exit as discreetly as possible. He felt himself turn red as a beet as he turned and fled into the main room of the bar.

The purplette sat down at the bar telling himself to not about what he had just witnessed.

Kyousuke sighed and buried his face in his crossed arms. Why was it always him? He had to have the WORST luck in the universe. He must have really screwed up in a past life…

He was started out of his wallowing when Lyall found a seat beside him.

"Sorry about that. Now, what were we saying? Oh, yes vampiric rules."

Kyou straightened. "Yes. You were able to turn Aloys into a vampire, so I wanted to know what that means for me…"

"Well, you don't have to worry bout a thing, my Kyousuke.There are classes of vampires and each in turn have their own set of rules that must be obeyed. We have brokered peace between the human world and the Otherworld for millennia so it should not be surprising that there is some semblance of order," Lyall said and leaned elegantly against the bar. He looked very handsome with his long, dark red hair was tied in a low ponytail at the base of his neck. His amber eyes missed nothing as he stared at the human before him.

Kyousuke tried to copy Lyall's pose but was soon cramping up. He settled for slumping against against the counter.

"I'm not your 'darling' anything," he retorted.

Lyall continued to smile as he talked like Kyou hadn't spoken.

"At the top of the pyramid are the vampire's queen. She has absolute rule over our race. She has the final say over all decisions involving vampiric rule. Next are the sires. We have the queen's ear and when she dies she will decide one of us to be her successor to the throne. Who that will be will be based on her favorite.

" Sires also have the ability to make new vampires, or fledglings. Aloys is still technically a fledgling, and my subordinate. This means he can never disobey or betray me. He shares my blood and my life span. As long as I live, so does he- unless he meets an untimely demise."

" But aren't vampires immortal? You are undead, right?" Kyousuke interrupted.

Lyall shook his head.

"No. We are not undead.We are demons by nature, and living creatures just like you humans. We live and we die. So, naturally to avoid the later, we just do what we need to survive. We obtain contracts, well, blood contracts to be specific.

" Sires create fledglings through these contracts. In return for their life energy, we grant them powers in their rebirth. They gain benefits from us but their usefulness and strength are usually dependent on how strong their sire is.

" To continue giving us life energy from them, they must consume others' blood. If they don't there are consequences.They get weak, tired, irrational, and dangerous.If it progresses to a certain extent, it will eventually lead to a painful death. So when Aloys bit you, he was just taking your energy. There's nothing to worry about.

" You look confused," Lyall mused when his explanation was done.

"I am. Why do they have to drink blood? Why can't they produce their own energy if they aren't dead?"

Lyall seemed amused and surprised at Kyousuke's question.

" At the transition of the contract, the human's life is placed in a suspended state. It's placed between one beat of their heart and their last right before death. That's why many assume we are undead. There is no heartbeat, nor a pulse. There is no need breath, or a need to age. There is just a urge to consume."

Kyou was horrified at what that meant. "That sounds horrible!" He stood up. "That is the most fuckedup thing I've ever heard in mylife!"

Kyousuke's own heart was beating wildly, and his hands shook with fear and adrenaline.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Did you even bother to explain this to Aloys! He's stuck in a hell like this day after day? No wonder he's got such a fucked up way of thinking, too!You're just sick."

Lyall just grinned and leaned his cheek against his palm. "If you are this upset, then don't ask questions you don't want the answers too, Kyousuke ~"

Kyou felt so angry for some reason.His legs shook as he walked back toward the door he came through.

"I'm leaving."

"Well have good rest of your day, Kyousuke, dear. I will see you soon~" Lyall said and wriggled his fingers in mock friendliness.

He didn't reply as he stormed out. It was almost completely dark by the time he arrived home, having walked all the way, and Kyou was unexpectedly glad to see it's run down exterior.

He slammed open the door and kicked off his shoes. With a groan of relief he went into the kitchen for a drink. He didn't bother to turn on the lights because he knew where everything was in that way one does after they live somewhere long enough.

Kyou reached for a glass in the cupboard, and whether it from the darkness or his shaking hands, he dropped it. It shattered against the floor.

He instinctively dropped to a knee and began to pick up the big pieces. He felt a prick on his thumb but he ignored it. Kyou continued and just finished cleaning up when Aloys spoke quietly.

"Are you alright? I thought I smelt blood."

"I'm fine…" he said as he put the broom away. "It was just a knick."

Kyou turned and saw Aloys leaning against the frame, one hand in his slacks pocket casually. He felt his eyes tearing up.

Without his consent, Kyou's body moved. He suddenly had his arms around the vampire before he realized it.

"I'm sorry for going through your study again without permission," he said. "I won't do it again."

He felt Aloys stiffen is surprise then relax.

"Well, I wasn't really that angry to begin with. I know your personality and knew you would go in there again eventually…" he said and awkwardly put an arm around Kyousuke. He then put a second arm around him. " I never realized we are almost the same height~" he laughed.

Kyou rolled his eyes mentally and automatically looked up. He never realized it either. Aloys' face was almost directly in front of his. In the dim light from the over the stove light, Aloys' eyes glinted.

Kyousuke blushed as he faintly remembered his dream. He felt himself being pulled into the moment, his face getting closer to Aloys, but thankfully before any stupid mistakes could be made the front door burst open, bringing in Kain.

Kyou quickly let go of Aloys and stepped to the side.

"I'm home!" The blue haired teen said, sounding almost breathless to Kyou.

"And where were you all day?" Aloys asked, an eyebrow raised and still leaning into the door frame.

"Nowhere special. Just with Enoch-"

Kyousuke choked on his own spit.

"Are...you okay?" Kain asked as he set his bag on the counter.

Aloys looked at Kyousuke as well.

"I'm just fine… couldn't, uh, couldn't be finer! In fact, I'm the finest I've ever been! I'm going upstairs now! Completely fine! Have a good night!"

He then ran upstairs and securely shut his door. He leaned against it and took a deep breath.

"What the actual fuck???"